hEre endeth the book named the dictes or sayengis of the philosophres enprynted. by me william Caxton at westmestre the yere of our lord .M.CCCC.Lxx vij. Whiche book is late translated out of Frenshe into englyssh. by the noble and puissant lord Lord Antone Erle of Ryuyers lord of Scales ... Dictes and sayings of the philosophers. 1480 Approx. 295 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 79 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-09 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A20416 STC 6828 ESTC S106576 99842290 99842290 6934

This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal. The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A20416) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 6934) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1475-1640 ; I-4:18) hEre endeth the book named the dictes or sayengis of the philosophres enprynted. by me william Caxton at westmestre the yere of our lord .M.CCCC.Lxx vij. Whiche book is late translated out of Frenshe into englyssh. by the noble and puissant lord Lord Antone Erle of Ryuyers lord of Scales ... Dictes and sayings of the philosophers. Mubashshir ibn Fātik, Abū al-Wafāʼ, 11th cent. Mukhtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim. Rivers, Anthony Woodville, Earl, 1442?-1483. Caxton, William, ca. 1422-1491. [156] p. Printed by William Caxton, [Westminster : 1477 [i.e. ca. June 1480]] A translation, by Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, of a French version by Guillaume de Tignonville of a compilation ultimately based on: Mubashshir ibn Fātik, Abū al-Wafā'. Mukhtār al-ḥikam wa-maḥāsin al-kalim. Revised and edited by William Caxton. Title from colophon, [K]2r. Text on [A]1r begins: [W]here it is so that euery humayn creature by the suffran̄ce of our lord god is born̄ [and] ordeigned to be subgette and thral vnto the stormes of fortune .. Actual publication date from Needham. Signatures: [A-I K⁶]. The first leaf and the last two leaves are blank. Reproduction of the original in the British Library.

Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.

eng Philosophy, Ancient -- Quotations, maxims, etc. 2003-05 Assigned for keying and markup 2003-06 Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-07 Sampled and proofread 2003-07 Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 Batch review (QC) and XML conversion

Uhere it is so that euery humayn Creature by the suffran̄ce of our lord god is born̄ & ordeigned to be subgette and thral vnto the stormes of fortune And so in diuerse & many sondry wyses man is perplexid with worldly aduersitees. Of the whiche I. Antoine wydeuille Erle Ryuyeres. lord Scales &c̄ haue largeli and in many diffirent maners had my parte. And of hem releued by thynfynyte grace & goodnes of our said lord thurgh the meane of the Mediatrice of Mercy whiche grace euidently to me knowen and vnderstonde compelled me to sette a parte alle ingratitude. And droof me by reson & conscience as fer as my wrecchednes wold suffyse to gyue therfore synguler louynges & thankes to god And exorted me to dispose my recouerd lyf to his seruyce in folowīg his lawes & com̄andemēts. And in satisfaccōn & recōrence of myn̄ Inyquytees & fawtes before don̄. to seke & excecute the werkes that myght be most acceptable to hym And as fer as my fraylnes wold suffre me I rested in þt wyll & purpose Duryng that season I vnderstode the Iubylee & pardonn to be at the holy Appostle Seynt Iames in Spayne whiche was the yere of grace a thousand. CCCC. lxxij. I determynyng me to take that voyage shipped at southampton in the moneth of Iuyll the said yere. And so sayled from thens til I come in to the. Spaynyssh see there lackyng syght of alle londes. the wynde beyng good and the weder fayr Thenne for a recreacion̄ & a passyng of tyme I had delyte & axed to rede som̄e good historye And amōg other ther was that season in my cōpanye a worshipful gentylman̄ callid lowys de Bretaylles whiche gretly delited hym in alle vertuouse and honest thinges, that sayd to me he hadde there a booke that he trusted I shuld lyke right wele, and brought it to me, whiche book I had neuer seen before. and is called the saynges or dictis of the Philosophers ¶ And as I vnderstande it was translated oute of latyn in to frenshe by a worshipful man callid messire Iehan de Teonuille somtyme prouost of parys Whan I had heeded and well loked vpon it as I had tyme and space I gaaf therto a veray affection. ¶ And inespeciall by cause of the holsome and swete saynges of the paynems whiche is a glorious fayr myrrour to alle good crysten people to beholde & vnderstonde. Ouer that a grete comforte to euery w •… l dysposed soule. It speketh also vniuersally to thexample. weell and doctryne of alle kynges prynces and to people of euery estate, It lawdes vertu and science It blames vices and ygnoraunce. ¶ And all be it I coude not at that season ner in alle that pylgremage tyme haue leyzer to ouersee it wele at my pleasure. what for the disposicions that belongeth to a taker of a Iubylee and pardon ¶ And also for the grete acqueyntaunce that I fonde there of worshipful folkes, with whom it was sittyng I sholde kepe good and honest companye, yet neuertheles it rested stylle in the d •… syrous fauour of my mynde entendyng vtterly to take therwyth greter acqueyntaunce at som other conuenyent tyme. ¶ And so remaynyng in that oppynyon after suche season as yt lysted the kynges grace comaunde me to gyue myn attendaūce vpon my lord the Prince. and that I was in his seruyse / whan I •… dde leyser I loked vpon the sayd booke. ¶ And at the last concluded in my self to trāslate it in to thenglyssh tonge / wiche in my Iugement was not b •… fore. Thynkyng also ful necessary to my said lord the vnderstādyng therof. And leest I coude not at al tymes be so wele ocupied or sholde falle in ydlenes / whan I myght, now and thenne I felle in hande with all And drewe bothe the sentēce and the wordes as nygh as I coude. Neuertheles I haue •… hen seyn & herde of other of the same bookes which differēce & be of other inportaunce And therfore I drede that suche as shold liste to rede the translacon̄ & haue veray intelligence of ony of thoos bookes eyther in latyne or in frenshe sholde fynde errours in my werke. whiche I wold not afferme cause of the contrary. But allegge the deffaulte to myne vnconnyng. with the dyuersytees of the bookes. humbly desyryn̄ g the reformacon̄ therof with myn excuse. and the rather syn after my rudenes not expert I in my maner folowed my copye and the ground I had to speke vpon as here after ensiewis.

SEdechias was the first Philosophir by whoom thorugh the wil and pleaser of oure lorde god Sapience was vnderstande and lawes resceyued. whiche Sedechias saide. that euery creature of good beleue ought to haue in hym sixtene vertues ¶ The first vertue is to drede and knowe god and his angellys ¶ The seconde vertue is to haue discrecion to dis cerne the good from the badde and to vse vertu and fle •… ices ¶ The thirde vertue is to obeye the kynges or princes that god hath ordeyned to reygne vpon hym and that haue lordship and power vpon the people ¶ The fourthe. vertue is to worship hys fadre & hys modre ¶ The fyfthe vertue is to do. Iustely and truely to euery creature aftir his possibilite ¶ The sixte vertue is to distribute his almes to the poer people. ¶ The seuenthe vertue is to •… epe and defende straungers and pilgrymes ¶ The eyght ver tue is to bynde and determine him self to serue onr lorde god ¶ The nynthe vertue is to eschewe fornicacion ¶ The tenthe vertue is to haue pacience. ¶ The enleuenth vertue is to be stedefast and true. ¶ The twelfthe vertue is to be peasible and attemperate and shamfast of synne ¶ The thertenthe vertue is to loue Iustice ¶ The fourtenthe vertue is to be liberal and not couetouy ¶ The fyftenthe vertue is to offre sacrifices to our lord god almyghty for the benefices and gracis that he sheweth hym dayly ¶ The sixtenthe vertue is to worship god almyghty and to put hym hooly in his protection and defence for resistence of the in fortunitees that dayly falles in thys worlde ¶ The saide Sedechias saide that right as it apparteineth to the people to be subgect and obbeissant to the Royal mageste of thayr kyng or prynce right so it behoueth their kyng or prince to entende dyligentely to the wele and gouernaunce of hys people, and rather to wil the wele of them than hys owne propre lucre. for by similitude ryght so is the kyng or the prince with hys people as the soule with the body. And sayd Sedechias, yf a kyng or a prince enforce hym self to gadre money or tresor by subtyl exortacions or other vn dewe meanes he ought to knowen he doth amysse, for suche tresor may not by gadred wythoute the sequele be to hys daunger or depeopulacion of hys Royaume or countrey ¶ And said Sedechias, yf a kyng or a prynce be negli gent and sloughtfull aud take no hede to serche and enquere the disposicion and workis of hys ennemyes. then •… ent wyll and dedis of his subgettys he shal not be long in surete in hys Royame ¶ And said. Sedechias the people is fortunat and happy that haue a goode and a vertuous kyng or prince discrete ande wyse in scyences ¶ And mykyl ar the peple infortunat whan eny of thyes thynges lak in their kyng or prynce ¶ And saide Sedechias yf a kyng or a prynce for slouthe or leue to do eny of the litil thynges that hym ought, and is ordeygned he shulde execute lightly after he leueth greter vndon and soo consequently he may lese alle, ryght as a litill sekenesse or hurt withoute it be sone and wele remedied, may cause the dystruction of all •… the hole body. ¶ And saide Sedechias yf a kyng or a prynce byleue the fayre wordes ande flate •… yngis of hys ennemyes hauyng no Respect to their wer •… ys it is meruaylle but the sayd kyng or prynce therby sodaynly take harme. ¶ And said Sedechias. It apparteygneth to a kyng or a prynce to enfourme hys sone in vertue and science and howe he shall gouuerne hys lande aftir him howe he shulde be rightwys to his people. howe he sholde loue and haunte hys knyghtes not sufferyng them to vse to mykel hunting is nor other Idelnesses, but instructe hem to haue goode eloquence and to eschewe alle vanitees. ¶ And sayd Sedechias It apparteyneth to a kyng or a prince. yf he wol haue eny nygh seruaunt first to knowe hys guydyng and condicions and howe he gouuerneth hym silf in hys house and amongis hys fellawes. and yf he vnderstande hym of goode condicion and gouuernaunce hauyng pacience in his aduersite reteyne and take hym than hardely ¶ And ellis to beware of hym ¶ And sayd. Sedechias yf thou haue a verry true frende that loueth the wele thou ought to take hym more in thy loue and fauour. than eny of thy kennesmen desiryng thy deth for to haue the succession of thy goodys ¶ And sayd Sedechias commonely euery resemblance delyteth other ¶ And said Sedechias he that will not be chastysed by fayre and swete wordes. ought to be cor rected by sharp and harde corrections. And sayd Sedechi as the grettest richesse is satisfaccion of the herte And said he is not riche, to whom richesse lasteth not, ne whan they may be lightly taken awaye, But the best richesse is that thing, that dureh perpetuelly ¶ And said Sedechias the obeissaunce don by loue is more ferme than that, that is don by myght or drede ¶ And said that experyence is a goode chastisement ¶ And sayd the lokyng vpon the ende of the worke, yf it be good. yeueth hope to the begynnyngAnd saide, that goode renōmee and fame is right prof fitable in this worlde / the dedes therof auaileth in the other worlde ¶ And saide. it is better a man to holde his peas than to speke my •… he to eny ignorant man̄. and to be a lone than to be a cōpayned with euill people ¶And saide whan a kyng or a prince is euill tacched and vicioux. better is to thaim that hath noo knowlege of hym than to thoos that be grettest maisters in his house ¶ And saide. better is a woman̄ to be. bareyn̄ than to bere an euill disposid or a wikked childe ¶ And saide. the com̄panie of a pour wiese man is bettir than of a riche ignorant that weneth to br wyse by subtilitee ¶ And saide. he that offendeth god his creator. by gretter reason he faileth to other ¶ And saide bileue not in hym that seith he loueth and knoweth trowth and doth the contrarye ¶ And saide. the ignorante men wol not abstyn̄ them from their sensualitees but loue their l •… f for thair pleasaunces what defence so euer be made vnto t •… m. right as children̄ enforce them self to ete swete thin ges. and the rather that they be charged the contrarie. but it is other wiese with wiesemen̄ f •… r they loue their liues but onely to do goode dedis. and to leue Idelnesse & the delecta con̄s of this worlde ¶And saide. howe may be cōpared the werkes of theim that entende the ꝑfection of the goode thinges perpetuel. to thaim that wol but their delites trāsytory ¶And saide that the wiese men bere their greues & sorowes as they were swete vnto them. knowing their trouble paciēt ly taken. the ende therof shalbe to their merite ¶And saide þt it is ꝓufitable & good to do wele to them that haue deserued it And that it is euille doon to doo wele to thaym that haue nat deserued it / for al is lost that is yeue vnto them right as the reyne that falleth vpon the grauel ¶And said he is happy that vsith his dayes in doyng couenable thinges, and takith in this worlde but that, that is necessarie vnto hym and may not forbere, Applying him self to do good dedis & to leue the badde ¶ And sayd a man ought nat to be demed by his wordes, but by his workis, for comenly wordes ben vayne, but by the dedes is knowen the harme or the prouf fit of euery thingAnd said whan that almes is distribute to pouer indigent peple, it proffiteth as a good medicine couenably yeuen to them that be seke, but the almes yeuē to the not indigēt is a medicine yeuē without cause And said, he is happy that withdraweth his ere & his eye from alle vyle thinges ¶ And said, the moost couenable dispen ce that eny man may make in his lyf, is hit that is sette in the seruice of god & in good workis. And the second is that is spēded in necessarie thīges that may not be forborne as mete drinke clothing, & for remedies ayenst sikenesse: the worste of all is that is dispended in syn & euil werkis.

HErmes was borne in egypte. and is as mykyl to say ther as mercuri, & in ebreu as Enok which was sone to Iareth the sone of Matusale, the sone of Malaleel, the sone of Caynan the sone of Enoes sone of Seth sone to Adam, And to fore the grete flode called Noes flode After that was ther another litil flode, whiche drowned, but the contre of Egypte onely afore the whiche the said Hermes departed thens. and went through alle landes tyl he was four soore yere olde and. ij. And wyth him hadde lxxij, personnes of diuers tonges whiche alweye stered and exhorted the people to obeye our lord. & edified Cvm. to wues whiche he fulfilled with sciences. And was the first that fonde the science of scoles. & establisshed to the people of euery clymat lawes couenable and apparteignyng to thair opinions. to the whiche hermes the kyngis in thoo dayes yaf grete audience and obeissaunce in all thair landes & so did ab thenhahitantis of the. Isles of the see he constreyned them to kepe the lawe of god in saing trouthe to dispise the worlde to kepe Iustice, to wynne the saluacon̄ in the other worlde. he com̄aunded orisons & praiers to be saide and to faste euery wyke oōn day. to destroye the ennemiyes of þe lawe to yeue almes to the pour goddis people. that is to say to the feble and Impotent. he com̄aunded that porke flesshe and camelys shold •… be eten̄. and suche semblable me tes. and com̄aunded them expressely. that they shulde kepe them fro pariury. he stablisshed many festis at certain seasons and ordeigned also diuers persones to offre sacrifices at the rising of the sonne. and som other at the first newe moone. and at the coniunction of the planettes & also whan the planetes entre in to their houses. and whan they ascēded and whan they discended. The sacrifices were of many thinges. that is to say of roses. of flours of greynes of whete. of barley. of frutes. of grapes. of licours. of wynes. And the same hermes saide. that it was noo Recompense sufficient. to thanke god onely for the grace he hath sent vs ¶ And saide. O thou man yf thou dredest god wele. thou shuldest neuer falle in to the patthes that bringeth man to harme ¶ And saide. make not your clamours to god as Ignorauntes ful of corrupt wil fulnesse. and be not inobedient vnto oure lorde god. nor trespassours to his lawe. And wil noon of you do to your felowe. otherwyse than ye wolde be don to. but by concordaūt and loue to gyders. vse fastyngis and orisons in pure & clene willes. constreyne you to do goode dedes humbly and withoute pryde in suche manere as of your werkes may growe good fruytes. and kepe you oute of the companyes of theues of fornycatours. and of thoos that vse eu •… lle werkis. ¶ And said kepe you that ye be not 〈◊〉 and let trouth be alwey in your mouthe, and swere not but ye and nay, enforce you not to cause them swere that ye knowe wille lye. lest ye be parteners to theyr pariury. put your trust in god that knoweth alle seccetes and he shal Iuge you in equite. at the grete day of Iugemēt when he shall yeue remuneracions to the good for theyr goode •… nesse and punysshe the euyll for theyr wykkydnesse And sayde ye be certayn that the redemptour our lord is the gret teste sapience. and the gretteste dilectacion that one ought to haue. of whom alle goodenesse cometh, and by whom alle the yatis of witte & vnderstanding ben opened ¶And god that hath loued his seruātis hath yeuen them discrecion & hath establisshed prophetes & propheciers. & ministres fulfilled with the holy goost by the whiche he hath manyfestely shewed vnto them the secretis of the lawe & the trouth of the sapience to entēte that they shuld escheue al errours & applye them to alle good dedis And said vse sapience & folowe the lawes, be mercyfulle and garnisshe you wyth goode doctrines think & loke wel vpon your we •… kis wythout hasting you, to mykyll & in especiaal whan ye shal punissh nnsdoers and yf ye vse eny manere of thinge likly to syn̄e be not shamefaste to with drawe you therfro and to take penaunce for the same for to yeue other exemple for yf it be not punisshed in this worlde it shalbe at the greete day of Iugement and suche shalbe tourmented with grete peines whitoute ony pyte taken vpon them ¶ And saide correcte you by your self and folowe the wiese men lernyng of hem good vertues & lette all your desire be to wynne good renō mee and fame. employe not your tyme and your mynde in •••• hede nor in malice ¶ And saide loke ye sette noo vay ••• to the noysaunce of eny body. nor that ye seke thaire hurtes by cautesses or sotiltees. For suche workes wol not be hid. but at the last th y wol apoere ¶ And saide con ••• eyne you to annexe the loue of god and of your feith vnto sapience. and yf ye do so all your lyf. it shalbe to you a grete & a prouffitable wynnyng. & of that noble vertue shal come vnto you greter benefices. than yf ye sholde assē ble grete golde and siluer or other tresours not durable. for it shalbe to you a grete richesse in the other world that neuer shal haue ende ¶ And saide. be al one within and withoute in that ye shal speke. & be w re that your wordes be not contrary to the thoughtes of your hert ¶ And saide hūble and obeye your self to your kyng and your princes. and worship the grete ministres vnder them. loue god & trouth & yeue true counsaile to that entent ye may the more hoolly with your good penan̄ce be in the waye of saluaciō And saide, yelde louīg vnto your lord as wele in your tribulacion as in ꝓsperite in your pouerte as wele as in your richesse And sayd. ye shal bere hens non other thingis but your werkis, and therfore, be ware that ye Iuge not vniustly and desire rather to haue pouerte in doing good dedes, than richesse in syn̄, for richesse may soon be lost, and good dedis shal euer abyde And sayd be ware of to mykyll laughing and mokkyng eny persone, al be it, ye perceyue in him eny foule or euyll tache. yet rebuke them not dishonestly. but thinke that god hath made you all of one matere & might haue made you as euil as he, wherfore ye ought to thanke his goodenesse that hath shewed you suche grace, & hath kept you from myschef in the tymes past and present, ¶ And pray him of his mercy he wol so kepe you forthe And said if it fortune that the ēnemyes of our feith wil dispute with you. by diuerse & sharp seyngyes, ansuere them in swetenesse & in humylite prayng god to be of you: counseile. & that he will addresse all his creatures to the goode feith for theyr perpetuel saluacion ¶ And saide be silent in counseil and be wel ware. what ye speke afo •… your ēnem •… lest •… e resem ble him that seketh a 〈◊〉 to be b •… tyn wi •… h all. And sai •… ye may not be Iuste withou •… e the drede of our lord god b •… whiche ye atteyne 〈◊〉 of the holy gost that shal o •… n •… ou the gates of paradis wherin you: soule •… •… hal ē •… e with th •… s that haue deserued euerlastīg lyf. and said eschewe 〈◊〉 cōpa ny of thoos that loueth you not of 〈◊〉 peple of 〈◊〉 m •… & of ignoraūt •… And whan •… e 〈◊〉 eny good thought e •… e cu •… e it & ye may incōtinēt leste ye 〈◊〉 set or withdraw •… n ther fro by eny 〈◊〉 or euil 〈◊〉 And said haue no enuie though thou se eny prosperice come to an euil man for hy •… ende shal not be goode. ¶ And said make your children lerne goode in their youthe or they falle to malice. and so ye shal not synne in them ¶ And saide. worship and pray to our lorde with a clene wil & adresse al your desirs to him and he shal helpe & enhance you. what part so euer ye go. & subdewe your ennemyes vnder you ¶ And saide. whan ye wil faste. make first clene your saules of al filthe that your fastīg may com̄ of pure hert without eny euill cogitacions whiche god reputeth vile. and as ye ought to abstene your self from metis. so ought ye to abstene from synne for it satisfieth not to spare metes. and do euill dedis ¶ And saide. in your yonge age visite our lordis houses and lette al your orisons be in swettenesse & humilite without pompes or pride. And whan ye be mooste mery in your houses with your folkes. haue in remembrance our lordis poure in digent people. and departe vnto them your almes ¶ And saide. yeue conforte to prisoners. to them that be in sorowe and trouble / hele the seke. clothe the naked. yeue mete to the hungery. drīke to the thurs •… y. harberowe pilgrimes make satisfacion to your creditours. and paciently suffre the Iniuries that ben don vnto you ¶ And saide. disconfort nat them that ben in affliction but helpe them with swete and pleasaunt wordes ¶ And if it be suche as afore haue hurte you benignely for yeue it them. satisfying you with the peyne that they suffre ¶ And saide. enforce your self to win ne frendis. & than first preue them ar ye put to moch truste in them lest it be to youre hurt and that after therof ye repente you ¶ And saide. he that god exalted in this worlde ought to take no pride nor vayneglorye in hit. nor repute him self gretter than oon̄ of his felawes for god hath made riche and poure of oon̄ creacon̄ through whiche all be egall ¶ And saide beware that in your Ire or Indignacion ther escape out of your month noo foule wordes for it is dishon neste and engendreth hate. it is not conuenyent for him that wil haue scyence. to seke it by mede or for money. but onely by delectacon̄ and by cause it is more precious than other thinges ¶ And saide that kyng is good and noble. that causith in his Royame goode lawes to be kepte & mainteyned. and the badde to be layde downe ¶ And saide largesse and liberalite is knowen. whan a man is in neces site & pourete. & pacience. whan oon hath pouwer to Iuge & be auengedAnd saide. he that worshiped the wyese men loneth Iustce. and doth goode dedis. and enforceth hym to wynne sciencis and good condicions and therfore he shal finde that that liketh hym in this worlde or in the other ¶ And seith. he is vnhappy bothe here and there that hath witte and wol lerne noo science ne doctrine ¶ And saide he that wol not teche that that he vnderstondeth in science & good condicions. he shalbe partenar to the Ignoraunse of frouward folke And he that denyeth to teche science to him that it is couenable vnto. he ought to be depriued of his benefice in this world. but ther is noone that doth so saue Ignoraunt folkis whiche comonely been enuious froward and il willedAnd saide. liberalite and largesse is bettir in science than in richesse for the renomme of a wyseman abideth. and the richesses abideth not. And a man ought not to offende nor hate him. that hath trespassed vnto hym. but ought to do goode ayenst harme for the wer kes of the wiesemen is preued in. iij. thinges that is to seye to make hys ennemye hys frende ¶ And to make the iude connyng. And to reforme the euyl disposed vnto goodenesse ¶ And sayd, He may be callyd good whan other fare the bettir for hys goodenesse ¶ And said he that loueth the wele of hys neygbour as hys owne ¶ And saide That grete science prouffyteth litill to a couetous man But lutil scyence prouffyteth moche to him that withdraweth his courage from couetise ¶ And said. That the lyff may be resembled to the fleyng of an arowe. And the deth is like the lyghting therof. ¶ And said, It is more merytory and bettir to haue pytie vpon the foole than vpon the worldely wyseman ¶ And said, He that holdeth hym not satysfied with that, that god had sent hym Deserueth not to haue more. ¶ And sayde, A reporter or a contryuer of talys comonely, other he lyeth to hym that he telleth them, or he is fals to thoos that he hath seyde yt of ¶ And said derysion and scornyng putteth a way and wastith loue as the fiere doth the bronde ¶ And sayde. The enuyous man is frendely to hym that is present, & in his absence is his ennemye, and so sheweth him his frēde by worde. and ennemye by dede ¶ And said, An enuious man serueth of noght but to dysprayse alle other ¶ And sayde he is right sure that feleth him self withouten gilt, & is in none surete that wol not knowe his owne gilt. And sayde. Beware obeye not vnto couetise for whan ye wold it wol not obeye vnto you. ¶ And saide, He that yeueth good conseille to other folkis, begynneth to do prouffit to hym self, & was axed of the said hermes what it was that moost letted & troubleth man, he ansuerd Ire & enuie, after they axed hym wherfore. the wiese man stode more atte yates of the riche man, than the riche man atte yates of the wiese man. And he answered. the wiese man knoweth the prouffit of the riche. & the riche knoweth not the prouffit of the sciencial wiese man ¶ And saide. he that hath witte and discrecion and knoweth it not indede resembleth the •… ree. that bereth noo frute ¶ And saide. he is wiese that knoweth Ignoraunce and he that knowith it not is igno raunt, and he that knoweth not him self. howe sholde he knowe or deme another ¶ And saide ther be. ij. manere of men the don seketh and can not finde, the other findeth and can not profite ¶ And saide sapience is like athinge fallen in a watre. whiche can not be founde. but by them that wol serche and fette it from the bottom ¶ And saide with oute chastite a man can not be very parfightly wiese and withoute witte he may not be parfight in science ¶ And saide discipline is the ornament of witte. with the whiche euery man ought to enriche him self ¶ And saide it is not honest to chastise a man afore all folkis rather a part ¶ And said whan a man often̄ excuseth him self of his knowen gilt. it causith his errour the more to be remēbredAnd said. the ignoraunt persone is but litil. al be it he be old. and the wiese is moche. al be it he be yong ¶ And the worlde dispraiseth nowe adays thoos that a for it was wont to worship and the erthe wasteth and eteth them that afor it was wont to norysshe and fede ¶ And saide. the fole is knowen by his wordis. and the wieseman by his werkis And sayd ther be fewe folkis enuioꝰ of a dede man but ther be many that wol lye vpon them ¶ And said be mery and gladde and It suffyseth to angre thenuyous man And ther was axed of the sayd hermes, why he ma ried him not, he ansuerd, he that can not swymme in the see alone howe shulde he bere another in his necke swymming. And said kepe the oute of the company of a Iange ler which resembleth to a thyng that semeth good a ferre, & nygh It is right noght ¶ And said He that wolle do euyll at thyn Instaunce ayenst another, Ryght to wille he at his Instaunce do ayenst the ¶ And said He that will preyse the of vertues that ben not in the, & thou reioyce hit he may wele allegge the vices that he seth in the. ¶ And saide, Ire troubleth reason and letteth alle goode werkis and furthereth alle euyll, ¶ And said he that laboureth in that, that may not auayle, leseth therfore that, that myght prouffite ¶ And said the hurte & the trouble that is don & caused by euyll peple lettith the desire and wele of the goode And said whan thi frende erreth or mystaketh him ayenst the. yet as moche as thou may departe not from hys amytiee, but assaye the meanes to redresse him ¶ And said Wyse kynde and true is he, that wille lyghtly foryete the errour of his frende ¶ And saide, It is bettir chastyse thy self than lete other do. And said The goodenesse that cometh of an Ignoraunt man, Is like therbys that growe on adong hille And said an euyll felawe is like atree kyndeled wherof the one branche setteth the other afiere ¶ And saide, The noblest thyng that god hath made in thys worlde is a man, & the richest thing to him is reason b •… the whiche he kepeth iustice & escheweth synne And said 〈◊〉 fole wol knowe in him self no vile thing & the ignoraūt weneth lightly a thing be other than it is. and the suspec tious. man maketh many doubtes of that that he knoweth ¶ And said a Right recom̄endable thing in heuen and in erthe is atrue tunge ¶ And said a kyng or aprince ought nat to yeue lorshippes nor auctorites. but to goode & merciable folkes. And therfore they shuld loue them as the fadre doth his children̄ ¶ And saide it sholde suffise a man and ought to holde himself recōpensed whan his aduerse partie required him pardon ¶ And it was axed him what was a liberal thinge. he saide to yeue siluer to vnknowen men for the loue of the knowen men. and to for yeue them that haue noied hym. for the loue of them that haue 〈◊〉 him ¶ And said the lyf in this world is so shorte that ther ought none conceyue hate nor wyll harme to other And said establisshe & ease thyn Ire. with thy pacience thin Ignorance with thy sapience. thy foryetfulnesse. with thyn re membraūce ¶ And said it is a goode signe, whan a childe is shamefasée, for it sheweth he shulde haue wit And said it is well don that thou do goode while thou art in prosperi te for parauenture in aduersite thy pouer sh •… ll 〈◊〉 ¶ And said he puttis him in dāger that abideth in a 〈◊〉 wher ther is no lord. that woll auenge the Ini •… s don̄ thert •… wher ther is no Iuste Iuge. wher ther is no wyse 〈◊〉 . wher there is non haboundant market. and where there is no ren nyng water ¶ And said it apparteigneth to euery man with all his power to seke science. and the: with to fo •… tif fi hym hauyng a good eye vpon his enemyes. and beware he be not reysed to highe in pride by lordship or other richesse. his will his wordes and his dedis alwaye to be egall and so shal god loue hym and his succession And sayde ther may none escape to be atte grete day of Iugemēt and his helpe shalbe ther by .iij. thinges. Discrecion, chas tete, and goode werkis. Alle thynges may be lefte, Saue goode dedis Alle thinges may be chaunged, Saue nature Alle thinges may be redresshed and reformed, Saue euil dedis, Alle thinges may be ess •… ued, Saue deth, and the sentence of oure lord.And saide It is no meruaille though he be goode, that is not couetous, But It were grete meruaylle, If a couetous man were goode ¶ And saide The errour of a wysemā may be resembled to a Crased shyp, whiche in dro wnyng her self, Dro wneth many other ¶ And said, truste is in maner of a bondeship And mystrust is a liberte ¶ And the saide Hermes correctyng kyng hamon yaue him this precepte & charge, loke that first affo re al thingis ye loue, drede, and obeye, our lord god And said all men that haue dominacion & lordship vpon the peple ought alwaye of necessite, to haue .iij. thinges in mynde, First to remēbre the peple, that be sugect vnto him Secundely al be it that they be in his seruitud, yet ought he to his power to kepe them in fraunchyse and liberte and nat in thraldom / Thirdely Howe his lordship and power in thys worlde may not long endure ¶ And saide, o kyng hamon it behoueth the to kepe thy soule, Right wysely in wyl and worde, and thou oughtest not to be slowthful to the distruc tion of the mysereauntes, but to constreyne them to obeye our lord god & desire not to haue eny richesse without it be rightfully goten. For thinke verily the peple wol alwaye •… ye to them that doo rightfully and wele, and that wolle mayntene them and there may noo wele be in a Royam̄e withoute it be habūdaūt of people for the decay of a Royam̄ is fawte of people. And if they with drawe hem the prince is left lorde alone and therfore remembre wele thy dedis and estsones thinke on thy saule and put in that garison all that thou shalt haue nede of in the other world. And yf it happen that thou must goo in the werre in thyn own̄e persone. beware wele that thin ennemyes supprise the not by slowthfull soiournyng ¶. And when thou goost to bataile loke that first thou solicite and exorte thy people as corageousely as thou can. and loke that alle thyn habi •… mentis of werre be redy. and euery man set in his warde and appointed howe they shal fight and sette oute ¶ And beware wele that thou be not supprised by thyn ennemyes. for lakke of wache and good espial. ther fore multiplie thy scowte wache and thyn aspies so that thou mayst alwaye knowe the guyding of thy ennemys and loke that thou be sure they deceyue the not. ¶ And whan thou shalt commaunde thy folkes to do eny thing loke secretely whether they haue obserued it after theyr charge or nat. whiche shall make them drede the more to offende the. ¶ And whan thou shalt commaunde eny settres to thy klerke to be made, signe nor seale them not til thou haue ouerseen thaim. for many haue ben des •… y ued therby. ¶ ware thou be not to familyar with them that thou knowes not. vttre not the secretes of thy here but to them that thou haste preued. and knowest true vnto the. ¶ Gouuerne the so wysely. that thy knyghtes and thy people may haue pleasir of the. and be gladde to be in thy company. And delite them to se the rightfulle and of good gouernaunce. Slepe no more than shal suffyse onely for the sustentacion of thy body. and the rest of thy herte. and entremet •… not nor let thy werkys be, but in rightwysenesse and trouth withoute dissimulacion. and slouthe nor delay not that thou must nedely execute. Sustey ne and loue also thoos that be the grete multiplyers, that ys to saye. the cōmones that labour the erthe, by tylth and so wyng sedes vpon the same by the whiche the royaumes and the people be susteyned. the knyghtehode multyplied and the houses fulle of richesse. wherfore suche wol be kept and cherisshed.And It behoueth openly to worship thoos that be goode. euery man after his discrecion condicion and science to that entent, that the peple may so knowe them. and be bonteuous to alle thoos that seke sciences. to corage them the more to lerne and entende To studye. so that the royaumes or prouynces may be the better for thair connynges. ¶ Besye thy self to punysshe malefactours. and thoos that putteth the in daunger or trouble within thy wyaume or lordship. make stryke of their hedes publykely that other may take example by them. to a thee •… fe lete his hande be stryken of To a robber of the hygh waye let him behanged. that the waye may be the surer Bren the Sodomytes and punysshe the men taken in fornycacion after their estate. ¶ And the women in like wyse. Ware the of the wordes of lyers. and suche punysshe. se the pryfonners ones in a moneth ¶ And Delyuere thoos that ought to be delyuered, and yeue them of thyn almes: p •… •… sshe incontinent thoos that haue deserued It, Yet not so hastyly but that they may haue dysir of repentaunce. and that other let hem be kept til thou knowe the trouth whether they be gylty or not Beware also. Vse not thyn owne coū seyle onely. But be auysed by men of Age and discrecion ¶ And suche as been experte in many thynges And whan thou shalt fynde ony suche Iust and rihtfully be coun seyled by him ¶ And elles reporte the to the mooste holsome opynyon of alle thy counseyllours. and god shall helpe the. ¶ And said. He Is noble that vsith goodenesse. And It is a grete goodenesse to vse Iustyce and chastyte. and to yeue lyberally or It be axid.And sayde. whan ¶ A kyng or a prince can nor wille restrayne hys euyll vices and couetise. howe shulde he repreue his seruauntes. & whan he can not correcte his propre seruauntis. howe shulde he correcte and gyde alle his people. and specialy thoos. that ben ferre from hym. Therfore It behoueth A kyng or a prynce fyrst to be lorde ouer hym self And after vpon other by ordre. ¶ And sayde. A good kyng or a prynce shulde not be to full of Suspection for It wol make men drawe from hym. And also he ought not to haue eny of that disposicion in his house ¶ And in especyall. Bakbyters. Contryuers or Reporters of tales For whan there Is dyuysion or trouble in A kyngys or in a prynces house. Lyghtly no good Counseyllours or seruauntis wylle abyde there.

TAc sayd, he that can not refrayne his Ire hath no power ouir hys witte. And said a wyse kyng or a prince ought not to make comparisons nor dispute in discrecon̄ with a greter and myghtier than he is ¶ And said whan a kyng or a prince hath conquered and ouer come his ennemyes he ought to maynteyne them in Iustice. in good custumes and liberalite and pacience And so may he make of ennemyes his frēdes And said yf a kyng or a prince assemble an outrageous tresur and dispende it not •… t it apparteyneth he shal lese both it & his Royaume ¶ And saide the people ar to the kyng as the wynde to a grete fyere. for the more the wynde is. the stronger is the fyere And saide a kyng or a prince ought to knowe thoos that wele and truely haue serued him and establisshe thoos a boute hym self after thaire trouth witte & con̄yng and ought to yeue and be boun •… evous vnto theym aftir theyr merites And yf he yeue by wil to noughty folkis that haue not deserued it / it puteth a weye the courage of his goode sernauntis. to serue hym wele eny lenger. and so shal he be bastily so full of noughty people that when he wolde he can not be delyuerede of theym ¶ And saide it is conuement for a kyng or aprince to lerne and knowe but not all for there is many thinges that a kyng or a prince ought not to knowe nor vnderstonde.

Alquinus sayde. that men receyue grete benefices dayly of god our creatour al be it that they be synners Then they be boūde to thanke hym for hys graces. and to aske hym pardon for thayr trespasses ¶ And said many thyngis seme right good. that be •… ull badde. and after gretely blamed. And many thyn •… es be dispraysyd in the begynnyng. that afterward ben founde goode and desiredAnd sayde Bettir it is to the to haue grete necessite, than to borowe of him in whom thou hast no truste ¶ And sayde If thou laboure to teche a foole, the more shal folye encresse And said I merueil of thoos that absteyne them from metis noyng to the body and maketh none abstynence of synne ¶ And said mul teplye silence. for that auoydeth perelles and vse trouth Whiche discipline shal maynteyne the and thy werkis & he that wol wele kepe the feyth, ought to leue to his frende of hys goode, and to be gracious to them that he knoweth good and no denyer of Iustice to his ennemye, and to eschewe alle thyngis. that toucheth disworship.

OMer was an anucient vercifier in Grece and of the gretest astate there. he was after moyses. v. •… . lv. yere he made many goode thingis. and all •… the vercifiers of grece folowed his discipline. The whiche omer by fortune was taken and emprisoned and put to be solde as a prisonner or a bondema ¶ And t •… an one axed hym. whens he was. He sayd of his fad •… e and of his modre. will thou that I shal beye the And •… e 〈◊〉 why axest thou me counseyle what thou wo •… 〈◊〉 with 〈◊〉 siluer ¶ And they axed him. Wherto he was goo •… 〈◊〉 sayd To be deliuerd.And so abode long in pr •… son ¶ And at the last they lete him go. He was A man faire formed. and of large statu •… e. and lyued. Cviij. yere. And here after folowe his seyinges. he is discrete that can refrayne his tonge ¶ And said •… e that we •… kith by conseil yeueth him self rest, and labour to other. And saide it is a frendely lyuyng to d •… le withoute fraude and •… rat, And saide acompanye the with good people. and thou shalt be on of hem. acompanye the with badde, & thou shalt be on of thoos And saide he is good and liberal that applieth him to good werkis and •… lene. and that putteth them in execu con̄ or euer ther come eny occasion of empeschement. And said the hert shyneth in vertue and is sure whan it is set in sapiēce And fraud & barat is in the fruit of euill though •… s ¶ And said the mouth sheweth ofte. what the hert thinketh ¶ And said the looke sheweth somtyme the dis posicion of the hert a fore the wordes been spoken ¶ And saide it is agrete surete for a man to purueye by tyme in his causis ¶ And saide it is merueile of a man. that may be in resemblaunce to god. and enforceth him self to be like beest •… s ¶ And saide beware thou do ne take noo thing that thou ferest to be accused of. for if thou do. thou shalt be the accuser of thy selfe ¶ And saide payne thy self to winne good condicions and vertues. for therby vices & harmes 〈◊〉 eschewed ¶ And saide ther was somtyme a wiese man skaped out of a broken and lost ship in to an Isle of the see. and so beyng ther alone drewe a figure of geometrie vpon the sandis. where with he was fonde by certaine shipmen. that brought hym to the kyng of that grounde tellyng hym that cas and auenture. And therfore the kyng sent through all hys prouinces. and charged them thy shulde enforce them self to lerne and haue suche connyngis as shulde byde with them after theyr ship were lost. that is to say. science and goode werk •… s ¶ And a man berith with hym .ij. vesse •… s the on be fore and the other be hynde. In that 〈◊〉 be the 〈◊〉 and vices of other folkis, In that behynde be his owne ¶ And saide to his sone. Beware that thou be not couetous, for yf thou be couetous, thou shalt be pouer And saide If thou be pacient thou shalt be preysed / If thou be prowde, thou shalt be blamed ¶ And said. a man is bettir than al other bestes of the erthe. ¶ And saide Sapience is to werke by science And sai •… e knowlege is bettir than ignoraunce ¶ And said thys world is an house of marchaundyse som wynne therin by their goode dedis. and somme liese by thaire euill gouernaunce ¶ And said by grete dylygence som men atteyne to their purpose. ¶ And saide. he that hath grete myght and gouernaunce in thys worlde, ought to haue no grete reioyssyng and he that hath noon, is dispreysedAnd saide ther is no wikkedder thyng than lyeng. and ther is no goodenesse in alyer

SAlon was of Athenes and made many bookis of predicacions ¶ And establysshed the lawes there whiche athenes was a Cyte in thoos dayes fulfil led with wysemen he hadde many verses techyng folkis to eschewe their propre willes. ¶ And saide Whan thou wilt doo ony thyng folowe not thyn owne wil but seke counsey le and therby shalt thou knowe, the trouth of the werkes ¶ It was asked him, What was the mooste difficulte in a man ¶ He answered. To knowe him self. To kepe hys fraūchyse or liberte. To speke in places where he ought not, To be angry, with that he may not amēde & to coueyte that, that he may not haue. ¶ And said the thingeis of thys world ar establisshed by lawes, and the lawees be sustyned by. ij. thingis that is to say by swerde and by banere ¶ And said to his disciples. wave that ye be noo mokers for that engendreth hatteredAnd saide the ber tuous laudes of a man be not thoos. þt he yeueth him self but thoos that ben yeuen hym for his goode werkes. And it was asked him who was liberall he saide. he that vsith liberalite. not couetyng other menne •… goodes ¶ And said an euill tonge was sharper than a glay •… e A riche man as ked him what were his goodis. he •… answered my tresor is suche that no man may haue yt withoute my wyll and may not be mynisshed for no thing that I yeue of it. but thou maist departe with noon̄ of thyn̄ withoute dymynuacion ¶ And said yf thou wilt. the loue of thy frende shal abyde ferme vnto the. be curteise to him and spare him in his angre or errour ¶ And saide. thou owghtest not to yeue a man greter preisyng in his p̄sence than he is worthy for he knoweth the trouth And was axed him howe a man shold wynn̄ frendes. he answered in worshipping & seyng good of them in their absence. And said agoode saule hath ney ther to grete Ioye nor to grete sorowe for she reioyseth nat but whan she seeth goode thynges and noon̄ euyll. and hath no sorowe. but when she seeth the euill thingis and noon̄ goode And whan she loketh on all the world she seeth the goode & the euyll so entermedled that she sholde not simply reioysse her self nor trouble her self angrely ¶ And saide a kyng that doth right & Iustice shall reigne and gouerne wele his people, & he that doth Iniustice and violēce seketh another to reigne for him And said it behoueth a kyng or a prince first to ordre & dresse him self & after to dresse other, or ellis he shulde be like him that wolde dresse his shadowe a for him self, ¶ And yt was askid of hym Whan Contrees and townes wer wele gouerned, He answered and said whan their prynces rule them, after their lawes.

SAbyon was a grete deffendour of his neyghbours & hadde certayn frendes whiche a kyng wolde slee And whan the saide sabyon vnderstode it he went with them in resistence of the said kyng whiche kyng assembled so grete nombre of knyghtes ayenst him, that he was discomfit & taken, and was commāded to be put in engyne and tormēted, withoute he wolde accuse them that wer cōsenting to make werre ayenst the kyng, whiche Sabyon ansuerd that for no payne, he wold not telle that thyng, that shulde noye his frendes, ¶ And in dede beyng in the engyne cutte his tonge with his owne teth, to thentent that he myght not accuse his felowes and frendes. And the sayde sabyon lyued. xlviii. yere, and her after folowed of his seynges to his disciples ¶ And sayd yf ye lese eny thing say not ye haue lost it but saye ye haue restored that was not youres And sayde to one of his discipples, multiplie thy frendes and that shal asswage thy care ¶ And sayde a wyseman ought to be ware. howe he weddeth a fayre woman for euery man wil desire to haue her loue, And so they wol seke their pleasirs. to the hurt and displeasir of her housband And sayde. Delectacion in richesse is a dangerous vice ¶ And there cam one of his seruauntis vnto him on a tyme and tolde him that his sone was dede. he ans uerd that he knowe wel that he was mortal & not inmortal and a man ought not to drede the deth of the body. but the deth of the saule. Oon̄ asked why he said so. considering that he helde thoppynion that a resonable saule myght not dye. he aunswerde whan a resonable saule is conuerted to the nature of a beste withoute vse of reason al be it that it be sustaunce incorruptible. yet is she reputed for dede. for she leseth the Intellettif lyffe. he founde a yong pour man sitting vpon the see syde wepyng thaduersitees of this worlde. to whom he saide. dyspaire the not. for yf thou were with grete richesse in the myddel of yondre see in grete danger of thy body. and of thy goodis, thou wolde wisshe right bertely to be here with oonely thy lyfe saued. Also. and if thou were prisoner. and the kepers wold selle the. and take from the all that euer thou haddest thou woldest be glad to haue oonely the deliuraunce of thy body the yong man aunswerde that he tolde him trouth, wele than saide Sabion̄ vnto hym. nowe thynke than that thou hast ben in al this daūger and hast ascaped them. and art nowe at thy free liberte. therfore holde the content with the state that thou nowe standest in. And so the yong man departed gretely reecomforted.

YPocras was disciple to Esculapius the second whiche descended of blode Royall. And he was the first fynder of the art of phisike. whiche he she wed and taught to his children̄ and com̄annded it shulde not be lerned to eny straungers. but oonely from the fadre to the sone And so the saide sciēce to rest in them And com̄an̄ded that thy shulde dwelle in the middel habitacion of grece in. iij. Isles. And ypocras restd in the Ile of. Thau And in the. ij. other Isles the studye was lest in his dayes The oppinion of the first. Esculapius. was that phisyke shuld be vsed onely by experience for it was neuer founde but onely therby. and so was it vsid. M. CCCC. yer after til that another phisiciē came callid Methioꝰ whoos opynion was that experience withoute Reason. was a dan gerous thing. And so thy vsed these. ij. opynious. vij honderd yeer. till another phisicien cam called ¶ Bramardos. whiche dispraised thexperience. sayng that to many errours grewe thrby and that in occupying phisike a man ought to vse reason onely Not with standing he had. iij disciples whiche helde after him. iij. diuers opinions. The on vsed experience onely. The other reason onely The. iij subtil craftes and enchantementis. and soo these. iij. weyes were vsid. vij. C. yer till that plato cam, whiche taught diligentely the seyngis of his, predecessours in hys science and shewed that experience onely was dangerous and reason onely cowde not be sufficiēt & tooke the bookes aswele of subtil crafte, and enchaū •… emēt as thoos of onely reason / aud brent them all but thoos that were of reason and experience to gider he reteyned and kept •… em and com̄anded that they shuld be vsed, and after his deth he lefte the crafte to. v. of his disciples The first to ordeigne phisike to the body The. i •… . to boxe and to lete blode. The iij. to hele woūdes The. iiij. to bele seke •… yen. The. v. to knytte and hele broken bones And after this came Es •… lapius the. ij. which caught diligentely the diuerse opiniōs And in especial thoos of plato, whiche he vsed and toke for most true and resonable. And he left after hym. thre disciples that is to sey Ypocras and. ij. other whiche dyed and so rested that science and crafte onely in him. than rested ypocras alone parfight in vertues in his dayes vsing reason, The whiche ypocras seeyng the crafte of physike in weye of perdicion because alle his felawes were dede. and that he was left onely in the Isle of thau. Thought that he wold for the moost prouffyt that the craft therof were shewed. ande taught not onely to his children and kynnesmen But generally to alle that were apt to lerne it Ande dampned in that science dyuers thinges and added to certayn compylacions in breue wordes. And commaunded hys, ij. sones that were maistres of sciēces that they shuld shewe It generally. for he sayde It was more couenable It shulde be taught to straungers able and apt to the love than to his owne kynnesmen not dysposed to lerne. And as he ordeigned was doon ande Is vsid to thys daye, and in hys lyff he shewed hit to dyuers straungers and made hem expert theerin, takyng promysse of them to teche it further / It happed that a kyng of perse callede defour sent vnto the king of thysle of Thau called pylate praieng him to sende him ypocras, ande he wolde yiue hym. C. kyn tawes of golde, ande than was the lande of grece deuyded in many kyngdoms, of the whiche somme gaf truage to the kyng of perse, And so dyd that of Thau, The whiche bade ypocras go to the saide kyng of perse, for to hele certayn pestilences that were than in his Royaume Seyeng If he went not, It myght be to grete a danger to the Isle seyng the sayde pylate was not of power to resiste the saide kyng of perse, The whiche ypocras ansuerd that he wolde neuer goo to hele the ennemyes of grece Also then habitaunties of the townes where he duelled in. said they hadde leuer deye than ypocras shulde departe from hem. The saide ypocras was. Cxlvj. yere after Nabugodonosor. he made diuers bookis of phisik of the whiche. xxx. be hadde and of thoos xij. the most be studyed by ordre Other bookis be also hadde of ¶ Galyens makyng. The saide ypocras was of littel stature grete heded. croke backed. moche studyeng and of littell langage. and moche lokyng down̄ to the erthe, holding in his honde a flabotomye of munycion for latyng blood or a grene braunche proufficable to the eyen, he leuyd four soore. vj yeres wher of he employed. xvii. in studye & the remenaunt in excercising of his connyngis. And here foloweth dyuerse of his seyngis: Pouertie in furete is better than richesse in fere ¶ And said that the lyf is thought short. the peyne is thought longe / experience harde to com̄e bye, and Iugement daūgerous ¶ And said the helth is not to be slo withfull in goode excercises nor to fill hys body with wynes and metes. ¶ And saide it is better to amynusshe that hurteth than to encresse that helpeth ¶ And said. the herte is tourmented by. ij. passions, that is to saye, with sorowe and thought of sorowe cometh the dremes and the fantesyes. and of thought cometh the wakyngis and vnrestis. and sorowe is a passion of thinges past. and thought is fere of thynges to come ¶ And said. that saule is lost that setteth hys entent vpon wordely thynges. that is to say in couetise. And said he that wol the lif of his saule lete hym mortifie hit & yeue it payne in thys world And said ther may wele be loue bitwene. ij. wysemen. but not bitwene. ij. foles. alle be it that their foolyes bee equall. for wyt goth by ordre and may concorde in one sentence. but in folye is no due ordonnaunce and therfore may they neuer concorde in loue ¶ And sayd a man ought not to swere. but yt is so, or it is not so ¶ And saide holde you content with that. that ought suffise you. and so ye shall not haue no gruggyng, the lesse grugge ye haue. the more y •… fle fro malice and wikkedenesse withdrawe you also from synne. & seke thende of vertues and goodenesses ¶ And saide. He that wol be fre let him not coueyte that thinge, that he may not haue, for and he do he is bounde therto. and therfore yf thou wilt haue that thou desirest desire that thou mayest haue. ¶ It was as •… red of hym a question of euyl and vile thinges To the whiche he ansuerd noo thing. They asked him wherfore he spake not. He sayde that silence was the answere of suche questions ¶ And sayde / Thys worlde is to noo creature perpetuel. therfore then let noon differ •• or delay to doo goode thinges as longe as he may. And namely that. that he sholde wynne goode renomme therby ¶ And saide He that knoweth not trouth is rather lyke not to do it, than he that is enfourmed and taught ther to. ¶ And sayde Science is like a rote of a Tr •… e, and operacion is like the braunches. and science is like a thing engendryng And operacion is like a thing engendredAnd saide, Take a litill of science at ones. so that thou maist kepe it and lerne more. For yf thou wylt take more at ones than thy wytte may suffise thou mayest lightely forgete all.

PItagoras saide, that it is a Right blessed and a noble thing to serue god. & to sayntifie his sainctes to dispreyse the world. to vse Iustice and of alle vertues. the moost principal is to absteyne hym from synne. And it is good to vse fastynges & studyes and to make hym to be biloued. And it is goode to haue sciēce to vnderstande the trouth of thinges. and to lerne it to the men ande shewe it to the women he ordeigned also predicacions and to polisshe and enourne the speeche ¶ And saide the saule is perpetuel and couenable to receiue merites and peynes. he moderated so his mete and hys drinke that he was at noo tyme fatter nor leener than other. he was a subtil man and loued aswele to do goode to his frendes as to him self. sayng the goodis of frendes ought to be comyn He made. CC. four score volumes of bookes. and was borne in the countre of Samye ¶ And said an harme not durable is bettir than a welthe not abiding. And that was wreten both in his seale and in his girdil ¶ And said as the begynnyng of our creacion cometh of god. right so is it behoueful. that at our ende our saule retourne to him. And said if thou wilt knowe god enforce not thy self to knowe the wordely people. and said a wysman reputeth not the worship of god in wordes but in dedes. And said sapiēce is to loue god, and he that loueth god doth that god loueth And he that doth the werkis that god loueth is toward god. and he that is toward god. is nygh vnto hym And said god is not onely worshipped by the sacrifices or by other oblacions don vnto hym. but by the wylle and acceptable ententis ¶ And sayd he that clatereth moche it is signe that he hath litill knowlege ¶ And said at all tymes whatsomeuer thou do, haue in thy remembraūce th •• god is by the and knoweth thy thoughtes, and seeth thy dedes. And therfore by reason, thou oughtest to be ashamed to do amysse. ¶ And sayde God onely knowith the wyseman that dredeth him, and merueylle not though the people knoweth not the ¶ And saide God hath not in thys worlde a more couenable place, than in a clene and a pure soule. ¶ And saide a man ought to speke of honest and good thynges, ande ellis harkyn to them that wylle t •… lke therof ¶ And sayde / grugge ande eschewe al vyle •… nges aswele of the, as of other / but in especiall of thy 〈◊〉 . ¶ And saide purchasse the goodes of thys worlde in •… htfull laudable & worshipfull manere & dispende them in like wyse ¶ And said kepe thy pacience whan thou herest lesinges, and do thoo dedis that noman may speke harme of, and entende to the suretie of thy body, be attemperate at thy mete in thy drynke, in thy lying with women and in all thyn other labours. ¶ And saide, enforce thy selfe to do soo wele that other men haue enuie at the. ¶ And sayde Dispende not to outrageousely nor be not to scarse, so that thou be not bounde to thy tresore, haue therin attemperaunce and mesure, whiche in all thinges is prouffytable ¶ Ande sayde. Be wakyng and herkenyng to thy counseile. for thy nedis, for yf thou slougth it, or slepe it, hit myght cause the to be partener of thy owne deth ¶ And sayde medylle the not to do eny thyng. that ought not to be doon And said he that is not content can not atteyne to trouth And sayd. he that hath no science, ought to be dyspraysid And sayd the Iuge that demeth not Rightfully, deserueth grete blame. ware that thy tunge speke no vilanye nor that thou yeue thyn eeres to here it. And said a man ought not tenforce hym self in this worlde, to make pourchasses nor byldyngis to serue other after hys deth. but ought to peyne hym to wynne and to gete suche thyngis as may prouffit him after hys deth ¶ And said. It is bettir to a man to lye vpon the harde grownde beleuyng fermely in god. than to lye in abed of gold, puttyng doubtes in him ¶ And said. let thy marchaundise by spirituell and not corporell. and thencresse and wynnyng shal be goode. and durable ¶ And saide. he that hath 〈◊〉 vpon hys owne saule fereth our lorde. ¶ And saide whan thou wilt sette vpon eny man. thinke thou woldeste deffen de the yf thou were set vpon ¶ And said dispose thy saule to receyue alle goode and couenable thynges ¶ And said sette a syde the vanytes of thys world. for they lette and empesche thy reason ¶ And said. thou oughtest not to slepe eny nyght. til thou hast remembred and considered they dedes of the day past. ¶ And yf thou haue weldoon be gladde & Ioyoꝰ therfore. and thanke god ther of. And yf thou hast erred and do on a mysse. repente the ther of and aske forgeuenesse and pardon of god. and in so doyng. thou mayest opteyne vnto hys grace ¶ And sayde. whan thou shalt begynne eny werke, pray god of helpe to brynge yt to a good conclusion ¶ And sayde yf thou haue haunted eny felowe. and se hys companye is not couenable vnto the. spare it. and ye •… dele so that he be not after thin ennemy, proue euery man by his dedis, and not by hys wordis. for thou shalt fynde many of euyll werkis. and goode wordes ¶ And sayde. a man may not refrayne hym from doyng amysse. but whan he hath trespassed. let him beware to fall eny more in that errour. And saide. wyne is ennemye to the soule in taking of it outrageousely. and is like settyng. fyre to fyre. And sayde. aseruaunt ought to be obeissant vnto his lorde, but not so absolutely that he lese therby alle his liberte & fraun chise ¶ And saide, It is more couenable for a man to suf fr •… d •… th. than to put his soule in perpetuel derknes. And soyde. Lette not to doo goode dedis. though they be not plea saunt to the worlde ¶ And saide. dele alwaye so to thy power. that thy soule may stande in goode and noble state whatsomeuer falle of thy body ¶ And sayde. Aclene and pure soule hath no delyte in wordely thynges, ¶ And sayde, go not the pathes that thou maist gete hatered by Ande sayde. thou oughtest to wynne frendis, for the maynteynyng of thyn astate. and do not thoo thynges that thou couetest. but that thou oughtest to do. and take hede whan thou shalt speke. and whan thou shuld holde thy peace

And sayde. he refreyneth him from couetise that letteth not to spende hys goode for his frendes ¶ And sayde. put alle couetise from the. and than shalt thou apper ceyu •… trouth. ¶ And said. He is not verry pacient that sufferyth but as moche as he may. But he is presentely pacient. that suffereth ouer his power ¶ And sayde Pytagoras. Ryght as a leche ys not reputed nor taken for goode nor connyng that heleth other. and can not hele him selfe. right so ys he noo goode gouernour that commandeth other to eschewe vices. and nether can nor wyll leue them hym selfe. And sayd the worlde varieth nowe with the and nowe ayenst the, If it be vith the, thynke to do wele, & yf it be ayenst the, take it paciently ¶ And saide many harmes cōme to beestes. by cause thy be domme. and vnto men through their owne speche ¶ And saide. harde it is to greue him that can absteyne him from. iiij. thingis that is to witte hastynesse, wilfulle frowardenesse. pride. and slowthe. for hastynesse causith repentaunce. wilfulle frowardenesse causeth losses. pryde causeth hattered. and slowth causeth dispreysing. He sawe a man right nobl •… and richely arrayed, whiche hadde vyle and foule wordes To whom he sayde. Other speke after thyn arraye. or lete thyn arraye be aftir thy wordes. The kyng than of Ceall •… desired hym to dwelle with hym To whom he saide. th •… w •… kes and thy demeanyngis be contrarye to thy prouffyt And thyn office is not wele executed. for thou distroyest the fundement of thy feyth. wherfore I wol not dwelle with the, for the physicien. Is not sure. for amongis hys pacientis. he may take sekenesse ¶ And sayde. If thou w •… that thy childeren or thy seruantis do no fawtes thou 〈◊〉 reste a thyng innaturall ¶ And sayde. The soule that is in the company of goode peple is in delectacion and Ioye And when it is amonge euyl It is in sorowe and l •… uines se.. ¶ And sayd. The wyseman thenketh on the wele of his soule as attentyuely as other attēde to the wele of theyr bodyes ¶ And saide, take frenship of hem that thou seest folowe trouth, & thinke or thou werke. And saide right as a physicien can not hele hys pacient wythoute he telle hym the trouth of hys disease. right so may not a man be wele counseylled of hys frende withoute he telle hym the playnesse of hys cause ¶ And saide many ennemytees gro wen for faulte of trust betwix parties, and trust causeth often many harmes ¶ And whan pytagoras sat in hys cheyre he vsed in shewyng his doctrines to saye. mesure your pathes and go the right weye. & so shal ye go surely Attempre you from couetise, and your goode astate shall dure. vse Iustice, and ye shal be byloued and dredde. kepe nat your body in grete delectacions for and ye so do ye shal not con fusteyne the aduersites that myght falle vnto you. ¶ And he sawe an olde man that was shamefast to 〈◊〉 . to whom he sayde ¶ Science is bettir in age than in •… gth. ¶ And sayde ¶. If thou wylt dispreyse hym. •… at thou hatest. shewe not that thou art hys ennemye And saide. a goode kyng or a prince ought to thinke diligenteli to the state and guydyng of hys lande. and ought to ouersee hyt as often as a goode gardyner doth his garden ¶ And saide hyt behoueth a kyng to yeue ex •… ple him self to kepe his lawes / and se that his next kynnesmen and frendes do so after him and it apparteneth not to a kyng to be prowde nor to do after hys owne wil only nor to ride couertely / nor in noo der •… re nyght but gladdely shewe him self open faced a mongis his people and cōueny ently be conuersant amongis them without ouer moche famylyarite. ¶ And whan a kyng or a prince shal go to his rest. that he se ther be goode wache. and yf thy faylle theryn that he punysshe them wele / and to beware to ete the mete that a Ialous woman yeueth hym or eny other suspect persone. ¶ And sayde. the wele disposed man remembreth, but hys synnes, and the euyll disposed hath mynde, but on hys vertues It fortuned his wyff was deces sed in aferre countre, and som axed hym If there were eny dyfference to dye in their propre lande or ellis ferre frō thens, He ansuerd. whersomeuer one dye, the weye to the other world is alle like ¶ And sayd to a yong man that wolde not lerne in his youthe If thou wolle not take peyne to lerne thou shalt haue the peyne to be lewde. and vnconnyng. And saide god loueth thoos that bee disobeissant to euyll temptacions ¶ And saide, good praeyer is one of the beste thinges a man may present to god, & yf thou axe him eny boon lete thy werkys be agreable vnto hym

DYogenes otherwyse called dogly by cause he hadde som condicions of a dogge, and he was the wysest man that was in hys dayes. He dispraysed gretely the worlde, and lay in a tonne, Whiche he tourned for his auantage from the sonne And the wynde, as it pleased hym, and therin he rested whansomeuer the nyght fill vpon him, He ete whansomeuer he was hungered were it by day or by nyght in the strete or ellis where wythoute eny shame therof. ¶ And was content wyth .ij. gownes of wollen cloth in the yere. ¶ Ande so he leuyd and gonuerned him self till his deth ¶ Somme axed him Why he was called dogly, he sayde be cause I barke vpon the fooles and fawne vpon the wysemen. ¶ Alexsandre the grete cam vnto hym of whom he toke litle regarde. be axed hym why he sette so litil by hym. seyng that he was so myghty a hyng and hadde noo necessite, he ansuerd I haue noght to •… o nor sette by him that is bondeman to my thrall. why qd Alexsandre. am I so than / ye said diogenes. for I am lord and maistre to al couetise. and holde her vnder my fete as my thrall and couetise is thy maistresse, and thou art bounde vnto her. and so art thou bounde to my thrall Than sayd alexsandre. yf thou wylt axe me eny thying of thys worlde I wol yeue it the Dyogenes answered. why shulde I axe the eny thing. while I am Richer than thou art. for that littil that I haue contenteth me bettir than all the grete quantite that thou hast satisfieth the. I pray the stande out of my light. and take not from me that. that thou maist not yeue me. wele qd alexsandir. who shal bery the whan thou art ded He answerd. he that wol not suffre the frenche of my careyn aboue the erthe ¶ And the sayde diogenes saide he is not parfitely goode. that doth but onely absteyne him from euil dedis. he sawe a Iong man of good and vertuouse disposicion. whiche was euil visaged. to whom he saide the goodenesse and vertues that be in the yeue beaute in thy face And som axed him whan it was tyme a man to ete He saide whan he hadde apetite and mete. and if he hadde noon / whan he myght gete it ¶ And said it is goode a man kepe hym from the gyle of his ennemy. And the enuie of his frende ¶ And said right as a man appe reth greter in a myst than in a clere weder right so appereth more his vice in his Ire than in his pacience ¶ And said to alexsandre thinke not thou art the more worthy for thy beaute. tresour and riche araye, but onely for thy liberalite and goodenesse. ¶ And sayd when thou dispreysest a vice in another man. loke that thou vse hy •… not thy self And sayde whan thou seest adogge leue his maistre, & folo we the Dryue hym a waye. for right so wil he leue the to go to another. He sawe a man that prayed god to yeue hym sapience, To whom he sayde thy peticion auayleth not, with out first thou payne thy self to lerne it. And saide. of alle vertues of humanite, the greter quantite therof is the bettir saue of wordes And said it is not honest to yeue praysing to a man of a thing that he hath not deserued He sawe a peyntour that was waxe a physicien. to whom he saide thou knowest that men myght se at the eye, the fawtes that thou didest in thy crafte but nowe they may not be perceyued for they ar hidde vnther the erthe. And he sawe right a faire persone, whiche was a foole. and than he sayde. ther is a fay re house. and right an euyll hoste herborowed therin ¶ He sawe also afoole sitte in a wyndowe. And he sayd. Tlrr sittith astone vpon a stone. ¶ One axed hym What was loue He sayde. It was A sekenesse that grewe of Idelnesse and for lakke of vertuouse excercise. ¶ One axed hym What was richesse He sayde Absteynyng from couetise

¶ The sayd. Dyogenes was in a season seke. and his frendis cam to vysite him. Seyng dowte ye nat. for your sekenesses come but of goddis wylle. He ansuerd Therfore am I the more aferd. ¶ He sawe an old man that dyede his heeres ¶ To whom he sayde ¶ Thou maiste wel hyde thy whyte heeres. but nat thyn age ¶ And sayde. It is more behooffull. thou goo to the leche. Than the leche to the. And semblably I seye it of the leche of the soule. ¶ And sayde. Dyogenes If thou wylt correcte eny man shewe it not by vyolence. But as the surgyen doth to the seke. that is to saye softely and pacient ly but and thou wilt correcte thy self. dispose the as the hurt man. doth to the leche. It was axed hym howe a man myght kepe hym from ire. he answered a man ought alle waye to haue in Remēbrance that he can not at all tymes be serued but somtyme shalbe feyn̄ to do seruice. and also h •… •… ul not be alweye obeyde but at sumtyme he must obeye. and he shal not at alle tymes be suffered in his wylle but at sumtyme he must suffre hauyng thys in his mynde. it shulde appease hys Ire ¶ And ther come agester a fore Alexandre sittyng at his dyner. whiche prāised hym outrageosely. and diuerse herkened gr •… etely ther to, the said dyogenes began to ete faster than before. som axed hym why he herkened not the feyre seyngis of the gester / he an swered. I do more prouffitably than to herken lesyngys what is shuche praysing worth. whan he is neuer the better therfore ¶ And saide yf thou talke wyth astraunger speke not to moche, til thou haue first made comparison by twene the connyng of his science and thyn. and yf thou fynde thyn better than hys, speke the boldelier and ellis holde thy peace and lerne at hym ¶ Dyuers dylicious persones blamed hym of hys manere of leuyng and he said. it lieth wele in my power yf me lyst to lyue after your guise / but it is not in your power to lyue after my maner ¶ And it was tolde hym that certayn persones hadde saide euyll of hym in hys absence, he answered it shal not hurte me though a man strike at me and touche me not. ¶ And sayd. it is a churlissh condicion to answere dishonestely, and a noble condicion to answere pacyently. ¶ And sayd, Ther is no greter tresour than Dyscrecion and wytte, Nor greter pouerte than Ignoraūce Nor better frendeship than goode condicions, nor bettere guyde than Is goode fortune. ¶ Ande sayde, Sekenesse Is the pry son of the body. Ande sorowe Is the prison of thy soule. ¶ Ther was a man of grete byrthe that re buked hym. To whom he sayde / My blode ande linage is enhaunsede by me. ande thyn Is hurte ande lowed by the ¶ The sayde. Dyogenes was of lytille speche ¶ And one asked hym Why he spake noo more, He answered Ther was grete vertue in a mannys eeres ¶ Ther was a man sayde hym grete vylanye to whom he sayde No worde One asked hym Why he ansuerde not. ¶ He sayde I coude do hym no greter dysworshyp than he doth hym selfe, For he hath contrybued blame vnto him that hath not deserued it. ¶ One asked hym. How he shulde trouble hys ennemyes. He answered. Enforce thy self to be vertuous and goode. ¶ And If thou wilt. that thy goodenesse appere grete vnto straungers, Repute them thy self to be litylle ¶ And sayd. If thou yeue power to thy wyff one ly to trede vpon thy fote on the morowe she wold trede vpon thy hede, ¶ And sayd Company of women Is an harme that can not be escheuedAnd sayd He that doth good for the goodenesse of hyt onely, ought not to drede byfore whom he doth hit nor for the praysing ne blame ther of. One asked him whan he shulde knowe his frende he said in necessite for in prosperite euery man is frendely Ther was another man said vilanye vnto hym wher at he toke non angre It was asked hym why he was so pacient he aunswred other hath he said soth or lied yf he haue said trouth I ought not to be angry. ande yet lesse if he haue liede he sawe a man clater so muche that ther cowde noo body make hym holde his peas to whom he saide. frende thou hast ij. eeres and but on tunge wherfor thou oughtest to herken double asmoche as thou spekest. he sawe a faire yong man that dede grete diligence to lerne to whom he saide ye do pas singly wele to make your dedis assemble your beawte.

SOcrates in grekes tonge is to say. keper of Iustice he was maried ayenst the custume of that coū tre whiche was that good and vertuous people shulde be wedded to gedres / to thentent that theyr lynage myght be the better but he wedded the worst woman that was in all the lande ande hadde. iij. children by her. he loued and worshipped sapience somuch, that it was a grete hynderaunce to all his successours. for he wolde not suffre hys science to be written̄ And saide that science was pure and clene. wherfore it was couenable she shulde be onely sette in mynde and corrage and not in skynnes of dede bestes nor in no suche corrupte thingis and therfore he made noo bookis nor yaue no doctrine to his disciples. but onely by wordes of discipline. and that opinion he helde of. Tumo whiche was his maister for as the saide Socrates bryng of tēdre age axed his maister why wil ye not suffre me to write the doctrines that ye teche me Tumo aunswered hym couetest thou more the wild brestes skynnes to be worship ped with sapience. than thengyne of man I sette the case that one mete the in the wilde feld. and axe the cōseile vpon a question. were it good that thou shuldest saye let me go home & ouer see my bookes first. It were more honest to ha ue a recours to thy remembrāce and therupon briefly to de termyne, It were so certainely sayd Socrates, wel then reteyne it wel in thy mynde. that thou shalt lerne. And put it not in thy booke in which opinion the said Socrates rested, he defended that no man shulde worship false ydolles but wolde that all honnour and worship shulde be referred to the creatour of alle thyngys. and for that opynyon he was condēpned to deth by. xij. Iuges of Athenes. whiche ordeigned that he shulde drinke certeyn poysons, wherof the kyng of that countre was sory. but he co wd not reuoke the sentence. he gaf him as long respit of his Iugemēt as he myght. The said kyng hadde a ship charged with thynges that in certayn tymes shuld be offred in the temple to the ydoles. he hadde a custume that he wolde yeue no Iugement and especyally vpon mannes deth till the sayde ship were retourned to athenes / whiche was not yet com home And vpon her com̄yng home one of Socrates felawes called Inclites tolde hym in the prison / that the saide ship sholde come to the porte on the morowe or the next day. wher fore he saide. It wer good that we shulde yeue. CCCC. peces of golde to thy kepers. that they wold leete the secretely escape and than myghtest thou go to rome and nedest littill to drede them of athenes. he answered. all that I haue is not worth four honderd. pecis of gold. no said Inclites. I and thy frendes haue so moche whiche we woll gladdely yeue thy kepers to saue thy lyf if it please the. to the which socrates answered this cyte wherin I must suffre deth. is the naturall place of my birth wherin I must dye without deseruyng onely by cause that I repreue hem for doyng in iust dedes, and for worshippyng the false and vayne ydolles and that I wolde haue them honour the true god. wherfore I saye, If thyse men of my nacion persecute me for sustey nyng & seynge trouth. right so wil strangers do whersoin euer I become for I wol neuer spare to say trouth nor vse lesinges, and certaynly thoos wolde haue lesse mercy of me than thoos of thys towne, were in I am born, It happened that he therde daye his disciples cam vnto him & fonde hym in pryson, by the comaundement of the, xij Iuges they axed hym many dowtable questions, touchyng the soule, he ansuerd them, as largely and as gladely as euer he dede wher of they merueylled to see so grete constaunce in a man so nygh his deth, One of his disciples called Deman said maistre I knowe wele It is an harde thing to the. for to shewe and teche vs in the caas, that thou nowe standest in & l •… kkyng of thy lore is to us a damegeous thing, for in this worlde hast thou no felowe of good doctryne, Socrates ans uerd Spare not to enquere of me what it pleaseth you for it is to me a grete pleaser, they axed him questyons of the soule, whiche he ansuerd, & after they axed him of the state of the worlde, and composicion of the Elementis whiche al so he ansuerd right xerfundely, And he saide vnto them I trowe the hour of my deth approcheth nygh I wil bayne me & make me clene in thys world, & sey myn orisons to thentent that I shall haue no payne after my deth wherfore I pray you spare me for a while, he entred a hous and bayg ned hym & said his orisons, & than called his wyf & childe ren & gaue them many feir doctrines & bad them payne them for to do goode adresse their saules to him that alle created and than cam one from the Iuges to hym with poyson to drinke ¶ And said O socrates thinke not that I am he that maketh the to dye / for I knowe thou art the best man that euer cam in thys lande but I am sent from the Iuges for to sle the, & here is the cōfection that thou must drinke ta ke it paciētly sithen thou maist not scape it / Socrates said I take it with goode hert, & knowe wele thou art not gylty therof, & so drinke it And whan his frendes sawe that they made grete weping & lamentacion wherof he blamed them seying I haue sent a waye the women by cause they shuld not do as ye do, he went alitil from them & saide O god haue mercy vpon me, & anone his sinewes shranke his fe •… e wexed colde, & than he leide him doun, one of his disaples tooke a bodekyn & prikked him in his feete, and axed hym If he felt eny thmg. And he saide naye, than he prikked him in his thyghes, and axed him if he felt it, he sayd naye Anone the colde strake vp vnto his sydes than socr •… tes saide whan the cold cometh to my hert I must nedis dye Than saide Inclites O dere maistre welle of sapience and of science correct and teche vs yet, while thy speche lasteth to whom he said I can non other wiese shewe you nowe dye ng than I haue doon afore in my lyf. the said Inclites sai de syr comaunde me what thyng ye wil. he answered noo thyng. aud lift vp his eyen to the skye seyng I present my sowle to the maker of alle the worlde and so dyed ¶ The sayd socrates hadde. xij. M. disciples and disciples of his disciples. ¶ And in hys lyf he deuysed that men shulde be guyded after. thre. ordres that is to saye in Clergie, in knyghthode & in commones, and ordeigned the clergie aboue the knyghthode. the knyghthode aboue the peple and that the clergie shulde pray for the knyghthode and the peple, the knyghthode sholde defende the clergie & the peple the people to labour for the clergie and the knyghthode ¶ The sayde socrates was of rede colour, & of competent stature hore heded, and wele faced, demure of speche, a grete studyer and loker vpon the erthe. aud whan he spake he wagged his litil fynger, he lyued four score. ij. yeres, & was written in his scale, pacience & good byleue in god maketh a man victorious, Ande was wrytten in his girdel, hauing respect and consideracion to thende of euery thing causeth the salua ciou of the soule & of the body, he establisshed lawes whiche were sent into the Eest, West, South, & North, and all was gouerned by them. ¶ And said the first thing that thou shuld fixe thy wyl in is to kepe dyuyne Iustice & to applye thy wil to the same, and not to do sacrefices nor no iniuste thinges nor to swere no false othes, And said, right as a man is heled of his sekenesse, by vertue of a medycine, right so is an euyll man heled of his malice by vertue of the lawe ¶ And said to his disciples I am a tilman, and vertues ben the sedes, and study is the water that moisteth them ¶ Wherfore yf the sedes be not clene. nor the water sufufficient, what someuer be so wen profiteth litil And said one ought to merueile at him that forgeteth the perpetuall goodenesse of the other worlde, for the goodes of this worlde that is not durable ¶ And said. the wele disposed soule loueth to do wele. and the euyl disposed soule loueth to do •… rme And said the goode soule graffeth godenesse and the fruyt ther of is saluacion And the euil disposed graf feth vices, and the fruyt therof is dāpnacion. And said the goode saule is knowen by that she receyued gladly trouth & the euil saule by that she receyueth gladly lesinges ¶ And saide that when apersonne dowteth in dowtefull thingis and is stedfast in thoos that been open and euiden •… to the eye, it is signe that he is of good vnderstandingAnd said that the saules of them that ben good, been sorowfull of the werkis of them that been euill ¶ And said the man that foloweth couetise leseth him self endelesly, & at the last is al dishonoured And whoo that hates it geteth ynough, & at the ende is right wele worshipped And said that the goode saule saueth him self. & other ben saued by him ¶ And said the saule knoweth all thinges & than he that knoweth his saule, knowyth euery thing. & he that knoweth not his saule, knoweth noo thing And said he that is keytif to him self, he is more keytif to another & he that is liberall to him self / is com̄onely liberall to another ¶ And said litil teching suffiseth to the goode saule, & to the euill saule moche teching may not a wile And saide that. vj. maner of men be / that neuer be out of angre that is to witte the first is he that may not forgete his trouble the. ij. an en •… ous man that dwelleth with folkis newly enrichyd. she. iij. he that dwelleth in aplace. where another hath thriuen & he can finde no prouffit there. the. iiij. a riche man fallen in pouerte. the. v. he that enforceth him self to com to the state that is not bylonging to him to haue And the. vj. he that hath dwellith with a wyeseman, and hath noo thing lerned of hym. And said who so payneth hym self to shewe doctryne to a man of euyll courage, resembleth to him, that woll maistric a strong hors / whiche if he yeue him not a strong bitte with a corbe, he shal neuer con gouer ne him And saide to moche haunting felisship engēdreth no grete loue bitwene them / & absteynyng frō them causeth ennemytees, & than it is best to dele therin moderately And said he that doth goode is better than the goode. & he that doth euill, is wors than the euill ¶ And saide science is had by diligence of men, But discrecion cometh of god And said wysdom is the leche of the lawe, & moneye is the sekenesse & when the leche may not hele him self, howe shulde he hele a nother And saide thou maist not be perfyttely good if thou hatest thyn ennemy, what shalt thou be than if thou hateste thy frende. And said this world may be likened to away ful of thistles in a manere hidde, wher a man is prykked that ētreth in it, & if he aspie them he wol beware of it, & said he that loueth the worlde, hath but labour, & he that hateth it hath rest ¶ And saide he is right simple that is certayn to departe from this worlde, & besieth him to make in hit his bildingis ¶ And said thy worlde is like a light brēning fyre, wherof alitil is goode to kyndylle his light to shewe him the wey, & he that taketh to moche therof may lightely bren hem self with all ¶ And said he that setteth all his mynde in this worlde, leseth his soule, & he that thinketh on his soule hateth this worlde And said he that loueth thys worlde may not fayle to fall in one of these. ij. inconuenientis or both, that is to say, other to displease our lord god or ellis to be enuied at of myghtier men then he is And said a man that seketh to haue ennemyes seketh his distructiō & he that hath many enuy •… rs & ennemyes is in the danger of euil fortune ¶ And saide this worlde is but a passage in to the other worlde, and ther fore. he that puruei •… th him of thingis necessarie, for that passage, is the surer for al ꝑills ¶ And saide trouble not thy self gretly, with wordely ac quisicions, but resemble the birddes of the skye whiche in the mornyng seke but their refectiō for that day & sembla by the wilde bestes that com̄e oute of the monteynes for to seke their fode, and cit nyght repeire home ayen ¶ And sayd the errour is knowen in the ende to be euill and that that is goode is the more clerly seen after, ther by Plato toke upon him to go in a wyage and desired to knowe of Socrates howe he shuld gouerne him self ther in and he saide dowte the of thoos, that thou knowest, & beware of thoos that thou knowes not, & go not by nyght, ete noon herbes that thou knowest not / & loke that thou kepe the high weye, though i •… be the benger entende not to chastise him that is out of alle reason, for thou shalt make hym ther by thin enemy And sayde lye not with a woman withoute necessite constrayn the ¶ And saide two thynges be laudable that is for to saye, lawe and sapience, lawe kepeth rightwysnysse, and sapience causith good condicions. Socrates acompanied him self with a Riche man. and they mette theues in an hygh waye, the Riche man said It were dan̄gerous to me if they knowe me ¶ And socrates said It were the better for me, If y were knowen by them ¶ And said a wyseman ought to vse hys dayes in one of these two maneres that is to seye. in that that may cause hym to haue Ioye in thys world and in the other. or in that, that may cause him to haue goode name in this worlde And sai de this worlde is delectacion of an houre, & sorowe of many daies, & the other worlde is grete reste & long ioye And said whosomeuer teche the one worde of sapience doth the more goode, than if he gafe the of his golde, And saide swere not by our lorde, for no maner of lucre al be it thy cause be true for som wol thinke thou forswerest thy self And said take hede howe thou yeuest thy yeftes, for som sīple folkes yeue to the vnnedy, & refuse hit to thoos that haue nede And said If thou wilt wynne a frende speke good of him for goode 〈◊〉 engendreth loue, & euill speche engendreth hatered And said a kyng ought to put from him al euil disposed •… sones for the harme that they of his cōpanye do is reputed his dede, And said he that erreth & knoweth hit. & after 〈◊〉 him therof hath deseruid pardon And said he that •… dleth to correct euery man causeth the moost part to hate him. And said to a man that hadde reproued his linage If I be the worse for my linage as thou sayest thy linage is the worse for the ¶ And said he that seketh the delices of this worlde is like vnto him that seketh to drink zarab we nyng it were water & renneth to drinke it till he be wery, & whan he cometh to hit, he findeth no thing & than he is more thristy than he was before, for zarab is a myst in a medew / whiche at somtime by reflection of the sōne semeth a water & is none in dede And said a man hath neuer perfyte reste & ioye in thys world for he can not al waye perseuere in delectacion & possesse his winning & oft hath trouble & angwysshe, aswele forlosse of his frendis as otherwyse. And said the loue of thys world stoppeth mannes erres, from hering sapience, & blynfildeth the eyen from seing trouth. & hit causeth also a man to be enuied & kepeth him from doyng goode dedis And saide he that loueth & vseth trouth hath moo & greter seruauntis than a kyng And saide he is not free that byndeth him to another And said afferme no thing, til thou knowe the trouth nor do no thyng but it be couenable nor begīne no thing, but yf thou se howe to bringe it to goode conclusion, Ther was a riche man saide to him, O socrates why art thou so poure, To whom he ansuerd If thou knowest what is pouerte. thou woltdeste haue more sorwe of thy pouerte than of myn ¶ And sayd It is a grete merueile to se a wyseman angry. And sayd the deth is a thing that may not be es chewed & ther ought none to drede hit / but suche as haue comitted grete imquite and don litil iustice, wherfore they shulde drede dampnacion for their demerites after their deth ¶ And said good deth is not to be dispised, but to be magnified & preysed for it makith trāsmutacion from the worlde of vnclennesse and shame to the world of worship. from the world not durable to the worlde perpetuel from the world of folie and va •… rites to the world of sapience reason and trouth ¶ And fro the worlde of traueile and peyne to the worlde of consolacion and reste ¶ And said, It is merueile of him that dowteth to dye, and doth thinges contrari to his saluacion And said. deth is lyffe to him that knoweth to haue ioye after it ¶ And said he that liueth wele shal dye wose And said better it is worshipfull deth than shamefull lyfe And said deth is the rest of couetous people for the lenger they lyue the more multiplie their couetises. & so deth is they more couē able for them, than lyf, for the deth of euil people is the wele and surete of the good Because they shall do nomore synne nor hurt to the people ¶ And said the lyf Iugeth inderectely amongis the dede ¶ And said. one ought not to wepe for him that is slayne with out cause. but for him that hath slayne him, for he that sleeth vniuste ly, dampneth him self. ¶ And said he that dredeth eny thing, ought to his power to be ware therof Also he that dowteth to haue peines for his synnes after his deth ought so to dele, that he may escheue that parell ¶ And said whan thou wolt do eny thing loke for what occasion hit is And if thou seest the ende therof goode / haste the conclusion. and ellis resiste thy wil ¶ And saide bettir is to a man to liue harde. than to borowe of him that reputeth his litil lones & yeftes to be grete & withoute cause wol think a man to be in his danger ¶ And saide take in no preisyng the lone or yeft of him that hath disworshipped the for the dishonour & shame therof is more than the wynning He loued alwey to lerne, wherof som rebuked him. to whom he said, the grettest shame, that can come to an olde man is to be ignorāt, he fō de a yong man that hadde folisshly spent & wasted his substāce & was broght to suche pouerte. that he was feyn to ete olyues, to whom he saide if the olyues hadde be as goode to the at the begynnyng, as they be nowe. thou shuldest haue hadde yet largely of thy goodes ¶ And saide ther is noo difference bitwix agrete teller of tydyngis. and a lyer ¶ And said the noblest thing that children may lerne is science, for therby they eschewe to do euill werkis ¶ And said the gretest wynnyng that a man may haue, is to gete a true frēde, he herde a man say that one was surer in keping his tunge, than in moche speking for in moche lāgage one may lightli erre. To whom he said one ought not to vnder stande that in them that speke wele. And said the proffit of silence is lesse than the prouffit, of speche, & the harme of spe che is more, than the harme of silence. And saide one may knowe a wyseman by harkēyng & holding his tūge, & a mā may knowe a fole by his moche claterī g And said he that wol not holde his peas til he be cōstreyned is to blame & he that wil holde his peas til he be boden speke is to be preysed And said It is an ignorant thing to dispute in thingez that may not be vnderstande. & saide the meane is best in all thinges And said moche rēnyng maketh moche werinesse. & saide if the witte of a man ouer maistrie not his frailte, he shal sone be ouercome & brought to nought And said he is abeest that can not discerne the good frō the euill And said he is a good frēde that doth the good, & a myghty frēde, that defendeth the from harme, he wrote vnto a king re conforting him whan his sone was dede in this maner god made this worlde an hous of delectacion & reward & the trou bles in this worlde causen remuneracion in the other And said no man ought to repute him self wyse And said this world yeueth exemple to thoos that abyde by thaim þt depart And said the losse of sōme is lernīg to other. And said he that trusteth in this worlde is deceiued, & he that is suspectious is in grete sorw One of his disciples gafe him a gyfte & he was troubled with al It was axed him why he reioysed it nat he said the recepcion of this gifte hath procured his worship & put me in his dāger And said be to thy fader and to thy moder, as thou wilt thy children ben to the And saide be not to angry nor to wrathfull for that is the werke of a fole And said one ought to haue shame to spe ke that he hath shame to do ¶ And saide refrayne the from vices in thy youth & it shalbe the feirest garment, that thou maiest were ¶ And saide gouerne the so to thy power, that noman say harme of the, albe it, it were lesynges, for all men knowe not the trouth, & yet they haue eeres, plato desired him to answere in. iij. thingis & he wold be his disciple the first was what maner ofmen one ought to haue moost pite of. the. ij. wher fore som mennis wirkis preue not, the iij. bowe a man shulde do to haue retribucione of our lord The first he auswered that a man ought to haue pite in. iij wieses that is to seye of agood man in the hādis of ashrew •… for he hath ther but al sorowe, & of a wieseman in the gouer naūce of a foole which is to him gre ¶ heuynesse & a liberal mā in the subiection of a kaytif for he hath therby grete tri bulaciō The ij. their werkis preue nat that haue goode cōn seil, & werke not ther after, & haue richesse & wil not dispen de hit for their nede The. iij. is the goode retribucion, that one receyueth of our lord god com̄eth to be entierly obeissāt vnto hym, & absteine him from synne. & whan plato was thus answered, he becam his disciple al his lyf And the sai de socrates seide dispreise thy bodeli deth & it shalbe the lyf of thy saule, folowe Iustice & thou shalt be saued. And said awiesemā resteth & deliteth him whan he findeth trouth And saide awiesemā ought to speke with an ignorāt as the phi sicien doth with his pacient ¶ And saide he that taketh his pleasance in thys world must nedis falle in one of these. ij causes that is to say other to lakke, that he coueteth or to lese that he hath wonne with grete payne ¶ And said to one of his disciples. suffise the to ete that wille take awaye thy hungere. & dryncke that wil stanche thy thurst remēbring wele thy soule. & folowe goode werkis, serne sapience of the moost wysemen that be in thy dayes, escheue the ginnes that women set to take men with al for they be hīdrers of sapyence, And said he that loueth this world is like to him that entreth in to the see for if he escape the parels of the same mē wol seye he is fortunat. & if he be perisshed they wol sey he is wilfully disceyued And said man hath pouer ouer his wordis til they be spokē. & whan he hath ones vttered them he hath no power ouer hem. And saide he that hath no power to refreyne his tonge hath no myght to resist all his other delectaciōs, And said silence & speche is goode in diuers wy ses & places And said if a man be moche herde speke. one may knowe if he be discrete or not & if he holde his peas or speke litil. one wil the rather deme he be wyse And sayd whan a man speketh he ought to considere what he wil seye for better it is he cōsidere. than another shold. And said to one of his disciples whan thou wilt speke. speke cu: toisely or hold thy peas. and said he that holdeth his peas or speketh litil lerneth atte speche of other, & if he speke, other lerne at his wordes One axed him what was a goode purchasse. he ansuerd that / that groweth in the spēding therof. And said drōkenship vndoth a mā / & said one ought not to axe cōsei le of him þt hath his herte al sette to the world for his adius shalbe but after his pleasāce, & said good cōseil sheweth often the ende of the werke, ther was a womā þt called him olde and said his face was right foule To whom he answered theu art so derke & so troublous amyrour that my beawte can not be perceyued therin ¶ And said he is discrete that kepeth wele his secretes, & he is not wyse that discouers them And said a man ought to kepe secrete that he is desired to kepe, & he is more to preise that kepeth that thing secrete whiche he is not desireth to kepe ¶ And said if thou can not kepe thyn own̄ secretes, moche lesse woll he kepe hit, to Whom thou hast told hit to. one axed hym why a wiese man wil desire to haue counsaile. he seyde leste his wyll be in eny wyse medled with his witte ¶ And said he that is of good condicion is of good and sure lyf, and is beloued of good people and he that is of euill condicions is euyn the cōtrary. And saide to one of his disciples, truste not thys worlde. for it paieth neuer that it promitteth ¶ And said acustume you to be content with litil. for ye shal fynde hit for the best. and that shall come vnto you, repute it not for litil, for it may encresse, & multiplie, but seke to wynne frendes in very loue shewyng them noo signe of hate. and one axed him what differēce was betwene trouth and lesin gis, he said as moche as is bewene the eere and the eye ¶ And said he that desireth to haue more than suffisaūce hath that proffiteth him noo thyng ¶ And said to one of his disciples, trust not in the tyme. for it faileth Incōtinēt to him that trustith ther to ¶ And said ware thou be not disceyued by thy beaute, and by thy youth. nor by the helth of thy body for thende of thy helth shalbe sekenesse. & the en de of they sekenesse shalbe deth & thou maist not escheue the diseases of this world, ther was neuer Ioie withoute sorwe nor neuer light withoutderkenesse. nor neuer rest withoute labour nor assemble without departing And said. like as the fortune of thys worlde. shal make thy reioysing vpon thin enemy right so may it make thin ennemy haue reioy sing vpon the. ¶ And said he that stablissheth, & setteth him self in couenable place, is the more sure for the peryls of this worlde ¶ And saide. he that is fulfilled with the loue of this worlde disposeth hym to. iij. thinges, that is to saye, first to pouerte, for he shall neuer atteyn to the richesse that he desireth, Secundely, to suffre payne, thirdely to besynesse, without expedicion ¶ And said telle neuer thy conseyle to him that is angry whan one praieth him to kepe it secrete, One axed him what he had wonne by his science be said I am as a man sitting on the see syde & biholding the simple folkes wraped in the wawes of the see ¶ And said grete fredom growith by seruice, for the more one serueth the more fre he becometh, ¶ And said. he that wil wynne frendes lete him loke first yf he can refrayne them from couetise, & if he can, rest than with them & ellis sone to departe And said if thou be not couetous, thou may rest in euery place And the said socrates had many seynges ayenst wo men whihe is not translated, And it was axede of him to what science it was best to sette his childe to scole, he ansuer de, to lerne that. that is bothe proffitable in this worlde & the other / one axed him whan he begāne to be wyse & vertuous he ansuerd / whan first I refreined my self wil And saide whan a man is so diligent to lerne, & loueth so wele science that he taketh non̄ hede of preysing nor dispreising for the lo re therof than is he wyse It was tolde him that ther had de no credence be yeuen to alle his wordes he answered. so that my wordes haue be good and reasonnable I yeue no grete forde who hath beleued them or no ¶ And saide. he i •… good in the hyest degre of goodenesse. that enforceth him to be good him self And he is in the. ij. degre that enforceth hym to cause other to be good, and he that rekketh of none of thiese ij. is to be dispreisedAnd saide. to his disciples be not d •… sirous to haue the goode not durabll. but couette to haue that is perpetuelly goodAnd saide. be not inquisitif vpon other folkys lest they be inquisitif vpon the ¶ And said put wit and discrecion afore the in alle thy werkes. and thou shalt be the better garnysshed whan thou shalt com to the execucion of the same ¶ And saide for bere not to do goode dedis all be it they be vnknowen There was one dis preysed his face, to whom he saide it was not in my power to make my face, and therfore I ought not be blamed if it be foule / that that I haue power ouer I haue made fair and that that thou haddest power ouer thou hast soyledAnd said be true vnto him that companyeth with the, and beereth trouth vnto the. and thou shalt be the more sure to eschewe dan̄giers And sayd do to other as thou woldest they shuld do to the And do to noon other but as thou woldest be doon to ¶ And saide a man ought to be corrected by experience and taught by the mutacion of this worlde And said he is liberall that hath greter delectacion to haue good renoume than money ¶ And saide pacience is a strong castell. and hastynesse engendreth repentaunce ¶ And said honour is the fruyte of trouth, and for thy trouth thy frendes shal worship the And thy goodenesse shalbe knowen not sparīg to do that, that shalbe prouffitable ¶ And said, it ought suffise a man to knowe and vnderstande that, that he seeth dayli fal in this worlde for ther by he may lerne newe scien ces, he ought to be worshipped that willeth wele to euery man, and he that wol other menns harmes putteth him self in grete perille, but the Iuste man resteth in surete ¶ And said he that kepeth him self wele is a grete conquerour, and he that settith so litil by him self that he thenketh not on his saule, leseth him silf, he that is pacient doth wele and shal not repente him, & he that holdeth his peas saueth hys daunger ¶ And said let thy sedes be goode workes, & thou shalt gadre flours of Ioye and of gladdenesse ¶ And said, thou shalt haue rest in the companye of a wyse man: labour in the companye of a foole ¶ And said to be satis fied with littel is worship / and not to be satisfied with moche is shame ¶ And said enquere whan thou hast doon eny deffaulte, and yf thou haue erred correct thy self and repent the and aftir that repentaunce ware thou falle noo more therto, and loke thou vaunte the not of eny of thy goode dedis ¶ And saide he that preiseth him that doth wele is partener of his goode dedis ¶ And said accompanye not with him that knoweth not him self ¶ And said he is in grete reste that refrayneth him fro angre ¶ And said he is wele disposed that can tempre his delyng and his speche ¶ And saide take noo shame to here trouth of whom so euere thou herest it, for trouth is so noble that it worship peth thoos that prouoūce it ¶ And said that thing that kepeth a man from shame is better than the richesse purchas sed therby. And said many men may aperceyue fawtis in them self. that fynde fawtis in all other, ¶ And sayd to a man that fled venquisshed from a bataille, thou doost euyll to flee from the honorable deth to the shamefull lyff ¶ And said he that erreth, or he knowe the trouth. ought the sonner to haue forgeuenesse And said moche wyne & sapience may not acorde, for they be in maner contrarious And said suffisaunce is a castel that kepeth wysemen frō euyll werkis. And said if he can not eschewe ire yet kepe it sekret. And saide that thing that a foole leseth can neuer be recouerd, but a wyseman can lese no thing, There was a foole that blamed him, wherfore one of his felawes axed him leue to auenge him, to whom he said awyseman yeueth neuer licence to do amysse ¶ And said all thinges be strēg thed & susteined by Iustyce, & all thinges be amunysshed & feblisshed by Iniustice ¶ And said all that thou doost may not be kept conseile, al be it, it be nat newe vnderstan den it shal be knowen at somtyme. ¶ And said good renomme is bettir than richesse / for richesse woll be loste and renōme wol laste Sapiēce is a riches that wil neuer faile nor adminysshe ¶ And said, ware the of drōkenship for the wit that is ouercome with wyne, is like the hors that casteth his maistre ¶ And said take hede of the guydyng of him that thou axes conseile of, it he gouerne him self euill by liklyhode, right so wil he guyde the, for be reason he ought to loue him self better than the. ¶ And saide he ware thou breke not the lawes that be for the cōmone prouffyt ¶ And saide pouertee is better than euyl goten richesse And saide a mā without sciēce is like a royame without a kyng And saide a kyng ought to take none to his seruice but suche as he hath preued afore good and true ¶ And said he that taketh al men in like condicion, may not make hem al his frendes ¶ And saide / committe all thy causes to god with out eny excepcion And said, repute not thy synnes litil nor magnifye thy good dedis for thou shalt haue nede of them yf they were more ¶ And said to his disciples, beware of thys worlde & thinke it is a thorny busshe that thou must trede vpon ¶ And said like as thoos that be wordely wyse kepe them from angre in the presence of their kyng by as grete reason ought they to be ware, howe they āgre them afore god that is to vnderstanden in euery place for god is ouer all ¶ And said he that is long or he be angry, is har der to appease, than he that is lightly wroth / right as the gre ne wode is hotter than the other whan it is wel kyndelyd Ther were brought afore him certayn people whiche said dy uers Iniures to him, he answered, if ye haue •… ny other ma tere to wynne of me then thys, do it or ellis holde you •… pras Ther was greter reuerēce made to another man than to him wherfore oon axed him if he had eny enuie therat le answe red if he had more sciēce than I, I wolde haue hadde ēuie at him or ellis not And said. sapiēce & goode renōme is not founde but in goode ꝑsones wherfore they be better than the grete richesse that is founde in fooles & euil people. & said thy saule ought to thinke wel, & thy body to helpe therto And said that thou oughtest kepe secret in thy corrage dis couer it not to euery man And said oon vnto him þt sawe him in a pouer clothing thys is not Socrates thus pouerly arraied that yaue the lawes to þe people of athēs to whom he answerd, þe true lawis not mad by good arrayemēt but by vertue reason and science ¶ And said to his disciples Dyspreyse the deth, and semblably drede hit ¶ And sayd a wyseman ought to knowe what is his soule

PLaton is by interpretacion as moche to seye as ended or fulfilled & was of grece, by his faders syde he was of the noble esculapius kynnerede & by his moders syde of the kīnered of zalon that ordeigned diuers lawes, as it is abouē saide, he dwelled with socrates the spa ce of / v, yeres, & after the deth of the sayd socrates he vnderstode that in Egipte were certayn of pytagoras disciples to whom he went, & proffyted moche in lernyng with them. he retourned then ayen to Athenes, & there he ordeigned .ij. scoles & vsed laudable lyff, in doyng goode werkis helping & nourisshing the nedy peple And they of Athenes wold haue made him their lorde. he refused hit vtterly for as mo che as he knewe them of badde & wikked cōdicions / & knewe wele that he coude not lightly chaūge their disposiciōs, & al so he wyste wele if he shuld correcte them like as it appertey ned they wolde serue him as they did socrates, The sayde plato lyued. lxi. yeres a man of good discrecion. disposicion, & right pacient, & a grete yeuer of his good to pouer men & to strangers & he had many disciples, amōge the whi che .ij. of them after his deth. that is to witte zenocrates & Aristotiles helde the scoles. And the said Platon dide teche his sapience by allegorye, to thentent that hit shulde not be vnderstande but by wytty men, ¶ And he lerned hit of Tymed and of socrates, he made .vj. bookis and preched and taught the people that they shulde yeue graces and thankes to god for his goodenesse and mercy and for that he made them all egall in so moche. that be a man neuer so mighty, his power can no more, than yf he were a poure crea ture, resiste ayenst deth, semblably he hadde thanke god for the witte that he hath yeuen to man. ¶ And said ymagyne no thing to be in him, but that, that is nedfull good and couenable. And said, be not couetons vpon word ly goodes / for god hath ordeygned that we shulde haue suffisaunce in thys worlde. And suche suffisaunce is called Sapience, The whiche ye ought to haue with the drede of god. whiche is the keye of goodenesse. wherby ye may entre and atteyne to the goode and true richesse of this world, le uyng to do all thing that may cause hattered and euill will, for and ye wist howe summe thinges that ye loue & preyse, ar euill and vyle, ye wolde haue them in more hatered than loue. And saide. directe and amende your self and after labour to correcte other and if ye do not ye shalbe dāp ned And I telle you. the thing that hath made me moost gladde. Is that I haue not sette by golde ne siluer. for if I hadde gadred grete tresor I shulde haue hade many heuy thoughtes, where I haue nowe Ioye & gladdenesse. whiche encresse daily in me in lernyng wysdom. And for to sete you wete. that gold and siluer aren not good. to be ouer moche set by ¶ Ther is summe countre that a littill yuory or vnycorne bone. Is bought for a grete somme of gold And in other places. men take glasses bras and other suche thinges. for as moche gold. And therfore if it were perfytely good of hit, self, hit shulde be egally chosen and loued ouer alle like as sapience ys chosen and loued in euery Cuntre. ¶ And said. Enquere and seke to haue vertues, & ye shalbe saued praise no foule thingis and blame no thing that is laudable, & trauaile you not for to wynne thinges, that shal lightly be lost, folowe after your good predecessours arraye you with iustice and clothe you with chastite, and so ye shalbe happy, & your werkes lauded And sayde Custoume is a grete thing. And said the wikked werkes dampne and distroye the good as the bitrenesse of the aloe tre distroyeth the swettenesse of the hony, And said. A wyseman ought not to think on his lossis, but ought to kepe wele the remenaunt of his goodAnd said he that doth not for his frendis while he may. they wol leue him whan he shal haue moost nede to them ¶And said that sapience is good, for she can not be lost as other catalles and wordely goodes maye And it was axed him wher by awyse man myght be knowen, & he ansuerd whan he woll not be wroth of the iniures that ben don vnto him & reioyseth him not when men preyse hym. ¶ And It was axed of him / howe men might beste be venged of their ennemyes, he ansuerd for to be vertuous. and to do good and noble dedes ¶ And said to his disciples. Enforce you to gete Sciences. by the whiche ye shal dyrecte your soules And do your part for to kepe the lawe in suche wyse that your maker may be content wyth you ¶ And he sawe a yong man that had solde, the lyuelode that was com to him by succession ¶ And he dispended it amysse in grete dyners and other mysrewle To whom he said the erthe eteth other men. but thy self eteste the erthe. And it was axed of him. why it is That tresour and science may not accorde to gyder. And he answered and sayd that one thing, hool a cōplisshed may not be d •… uided And said that he that trustes in his fortune. And is not som what besye and diligent to laboure in goode werkis the goo de resorted from him, as doth the arowe from the stone that it hath light vpon And said. he that techeth goode to other and doth it not him self. Is like to hym that lighteth a candell to another, and goth him self darkeling And saide a kyng ought not to be gretely praysed, that reygneth onely but vpon his subiectes, but he ought to haue lawde that reigneth and hath lordship wpon hys ennemyes And said. he that gadereth and assembleth moche siluer ought not to be called riche, but he that dispendeth it worshipfully and laudably. And som asked him howe one might kepe hin from nede, and he answered if men be riche let hem lyue temperately, and sobrely. and if they by pouer lete hem laboure diligentely. Than som axed him of howe moche goode a man ought to be content. And he answered to haue so moche as he neded nat to flatre nor borouwe of other ¶And said to his disciples, whan ye shalbe we •… y of studyeng, sporte you in redyng goode stories. ¶ And sayd, that the wyseman ought not to coueite the richesse of hys frendes. lest he be hated and dyspreysed therfore ¶ And said Alitill good is a grete thing yf thou be content ther with ¶ And said it is bettir and a more couenable thing to akyng, to remembre and se to the goode gouernaunce of his people the space of aday, than for to daunce & sporte him a hole yere. And sayd werkis doon by wysdom causeth knowlege of thingis & them discreteli to dis cerne, & werkes doon by ignorāce is an vnknowen thing tille trouth stable & sette them in their right wey, & workis doon by lesingis is for to disordre goode thīges & put them 〈◊〉 of their propre placis ¶And saide thou shalt neuer be pacient whyle thou art couetous, And it was asked him howe he myght haue lerned so moche wysdom, he ansuerd by cause I haue putte more oylle in my lampe to studie by than wyn in my cuppe. And it was axed of him what man is moost couenable to gonerne a towne, And he ansuerd he that •… n wele gouerne him self, And it was also axed of him what man was moost worthy to be called wyse. and he ansnerd he that taketh moost hede to goode conseile and casteth moost dowtes ¶And said that the vessels of golde be proued and knowen by thair sowne, if they be broken or hoole. soo ar men proued and knowen by their speche if they be wyse or fooles. ¶And it was axed him whiche be the moost Ignorant men in their dedis, And he saide suche as werke moost after their owne conseyll, and that obeye to them self, and for deffault of goode aduisement dispose hem hardely to do wykkid dedes And they asked him who dooth moost wrong to him self. And he said. he that meketh him to thoos that he ought not ¶And saide the ignorant people Iugeth lightly the fairenesse or the filth that they se outwarde. & the wyseman Iugeth by that. that they se of mannes condicions ¶And said he findeth sapience that seketh her by the right weye. and many erre by cause they seke her vnduely and blame her without cause And said he that is ignorant of good sapience. knoweth not him self. & he that knoweth not him self is of al igno •… untis the moost ignoraūt, And he is wyse that knoweth Ignoraunce. and he that knoweth it not is ignoraunt ¶And saide wrath ledeth shame in a lece. And said The king resembleth to a grete Ryuere growyng of litil a •… d smale rennyng watres and therfore if he be swete the litill shulde be swete ¶And if he be salt the litill shulde be salt ¶And said be wele ware that in bataille thou truste not al onely in thy strength dispreysing thin naturall witte for often engin causeth victorie without might, but vnuethe may men haue victorie by strength withoute vse o •… naturall polycie. And saide wordes without goode effec •… is like a grete watre that drowneth the peple & doth it self no prouf fyt ¶And saide a suspection man is of euill condicions and lyueth in sorowe ¶And saide be not wyllyng to vse eny wordely delectacions / in to the tyme that ye se whether witte and reason graunte ther to. And if thiese two accorde thou maiste wele and lightly knowe the fairenesse. and the filth therof. And in what wyse they wrie. and what difference is betwene hem ¶And sayd. The Reames aren somtyme lost by neglygence And somtyme for vsing to moche Idelnesse & also by to grete trustyng in fortune. Also whan men entende not to encrese the peple to inhaby •… the lande And Also when werre lasteth long ther in And sayd. The ende of Indygnacion is to be ashamed of him self. ¶And It was axed hym howe A wyseman coude be troubled ¶And he answered. Whan he is com pelled to telle the trouth of an vnknowen thyng to him

¶And sayd. Whan thou shalt se A man of good disposicion. and fulle of perfectyon. thou ought to do after hym. fore couetise is bothe weke and seke in hym And said, dispraise not alitill goode thing for it may encresse. And said, blame not nor rebuke a man whan he is wroth. for than thou mayest not directe him ¶ And said be not gladde of the euill fortune of another, for thou kno west not howe the worlde may tourne ayenst the. ¶ And sayd stable thy witte bothe at thy right hand and thy left And thou shalt be fre ¶ And saide, ther be thre thinges that doth me harme to se, that is to saye A riche man fallen in pouerte, a worshipfull man dispraised, and a wyseman in okked, and soorned by ignoraunte people. ¶ And said. be not in felisship with the wikked men for, noo goo de that they can promise the. ¶ And said whan a wyaume is in prosperite, Couetise is bounde to the king, & whan it is in aduersite, the kyng is bounde to couetise ¶ And said. Co uete not that thy thing ben hastely don, but desire only that they be well don And said a man ought to be better contēt & is more bounde to his prince, for oon fairre worde of hym than yf other hadde geuen him grete giftis ¶ And said, the gyftes that be yeuen to the goode people, asken retrybucion & the gyftes that be yeuen to the noghty people, causen them but to aske more ¶ And said, the wikkidenesse foloweth after the wikked men, and dispraiseth alle goodenesse. like as the flye that setteth her vpon corrupt thinges, and leueth the swete flowres. ¶ And said. haste thou not to preyse eny thing vnto the tyme, that thou knowest yf it be worthy, for to be praysed or not ¶ And said that a wyseman ought not to exalte hym self by fore the vnconnyng but meke hym and thanke god that it hath pleased hym to exalte hym in grace / and put peyne to bringe hym out of his Ignorance in the waye of rightwysenesse & cortesie for if he shulde rebuke him shamefully it shulde be cruelte & to istructe him easely is courteysie And said that. ij. disputers disputing & arguyng. for to haue knowlech of the trouth of a thīg, haue no cause to be wroth to gidre for their questyon falleth to oo conclusion, but & if the one thinketh for to conquere the other, they may haue lightely hatered to gider. for as moche as ich of them wolle brige his felawe to his owne entente & so to subdue his opynion. And said whan thou wilt borowe or axe eny thing of ony man, if it be refused the, thou ought to be more asha med of thin askyng than he of his refus And said he that can not nor will gouerne him self is not able to gouerne many other And said a wyseman ought to aske curteyse ly & mekely, & with fewe wordis like as the leche that d •… aweth more bloode of a man mekely & wythout noyse than doth the sincerolle that pryeketh faster & maketh more noyse And said a mā of feble courage annoyeth him lightly of that he loueth ¶ And said enforce thy self to knowe god & drede him, & peyne the for to knowe thy self & to teche other and rather to do so than to besy the in thin other daily occupacions And said Desire no thing of god, but that is prouffitable but desire of him the good that is durable loue not simply the goode lyff here, but principally the good ende And said he is vnhappy that cōtinueth in his malice & thinketh not on his ende ¶ And saide reken not thy gettyng in thynges that been from the, ne cary not to do for them that haue don for the. tille they aske the, the recompense ¶ And sayd. He is not verry wyse that gladdeth or reioysed him in wordely prosperitees, and is troubled in ad uersitees ¶ And said the filth of wordely witte is knowen in moche speche ¶ And said first thinke & afterward speke & than execute, for thinges chaunge lightly ¶ And said, angre the not sodeynly, for if thou acustume it. it woll tourne ones to thy harmes ¶ And said. If thou be will ling to yeue eny thing to eny nedy body. tary not till to mo rouwe. for thou knowest not what may befall to the. And yeue to him that may not labour ne gete his liuing And said be not wyse onely in seyng. but in dedes. for the speche wasteth in the world and the sapience of dedis, is prouffita ble in the euer lasting world. And said, our lord accepteth him for noble. that doth goode werkis though he be peasible & of fewe wordes. and reputeth for euill the praieres & sacrifices that ben doon by euill people ¶ And said, If thou laboure to doo goode. thou shalt therfore suffre no peyn. for if thou hast difectacion to do synne. thy dilectacion shall va nishe and be none, and thy synne shal abide euer with the And said. haue in mynde the daye that thou shalbe called to thy Iugemēt, & thou shalt here nothing & than thy clatteryng toung shalbe still the thought shal faile the, thyn e •… n shal be derke, and thyn humanite shalbe cōsumed in to the erthe, and thy witte so corrupt. that thou shalt haue no power to fele the stenche of thy body. nor howe the wormes shal suke thy roten kareyn. Also haue in mynde the plaor wher thou shalt goo. the lordis and the seruauntis shal be alle like in the sayd place. and that ther may nother fren de ne foo hurt nor helpe the. ¶ And therfore ser •… e good sciences and disciplyne. for thou shalt not knowe whan thy departyng out of thys world shalbe and yet be certayn that a mongis all the yeftes of god, sopience is the moost exellent, she yeueth goodenesse to the good peple & pardonneth to the wikked their wikkednesses. thinke & haue in thy mynde cōtinually that thou haste a de, & trust not in eny thingis of thys moeuaeble world. be wele ware that thou do no foule dedis. for no delectacion nor wīningis, & be ware that for the variable plaisaūces of thys wikked world thou lese not the ioyfull & euerlasting blysse ¶ And saide loue sapience vnderstande & herken the wysemen, & be obeyssant to thy lorde werke not but in due tyme. & yet ta •… hede howe thou shalt do it, loke that thou say no worde vnconuenient, & be not prowde for no richesses. ne despeire the not for no euyl fortunes be wele disposed to all peple & dispray se no man for his mekenesse ¶ And said that thou reputeste no vice in thy self, blame not another though he doth it. & thou ought not to desire to be preysed of vertues that be not in the, ne do no suche thing that thou woldeste blame or disprayse another if he did it. Thou must do suche thingis as ben good & couenable though they be forboden the And sayd Awyseman ought to repute his errour grete & his good dedis litill ¶ And said afolye ys to cut the vynes, & take awey the euil branches therof & to leue wythin our self the couetises. & other wikkidnesse. And saide like as we kepe our self from the multitude of metes for the helth of our body we ought to by as grete reason to abstein vs from vices, for the saluacion of our soules, And said he that addeth to his gentilnesse noblesse wyth good maners and condicions is worthy to be praysedAnd that he taketh and suffiseth him onely. with the gentilnesse that co meth to him by hys kynred, withoute purchassing eny other vertues. ought not to be called good, nor to be holde noble ¶ And said, if thou fele thy self more true to the kyng, than other ben, and that thy wagis ben like to theires or lesse, yet thou ought not to compleyne therof, for thin ar lasting, and so ar not theires And said, If eny haue enuie at the, and by enuie saith euill of the, Sette not therby, and thou shalt haue peas with hym, for he seketh not but for to haue noyse with the And said men ought to kepe wele their halidayes, that is to witte principally from euill doyng.And said. the more that thou art exalted in high astate the more thou ought to be meke and curteise to the people to the ende, that their loue may abyde with the, yf eny thing shuld befall the. other wyse than wele ¶ And said onneth may a man kepe the loue of his fren des. if he wol correct him rudely of his faultes ¶ And said awyseman ought for to chese goode men to be his ser uauntes, like as men chese the goode grounde for to labour hit.

ARistotle by interp̄tacion in grekes tōge, is fulfilled or complete of goodenesse. And he was sone to Nichomacus. the whiche was right connyng in fisike and a good fisicien, & was boren in the Towne of Stagree. and he was of the kinned both by his fadirs syde, and by his modirs syde of Esculapius of the whiche he re byfor hath bemade mencion for he was in hys tyme the moost excellent. And the best of al the grekes, and whan the sayde aristotle was .viij. yeres of age hys fadyr put him in the cite of Athenes that than was called the Cyte of wysedom. and there he lerned Gramare R •… torike and other bookes of poetrie. And therin he studyed. the space of .ix. yeres prouffyting greteli therin ¶ And in thoos dayes men sette moche store by the forsayde sciences and was their opynion that it was the laddre to go vp in to all other sciēces And certayn other wyse men at the same tyme as Pytagoras and pytoras and dyuers other reputed and held the sayd sciences for no sciences and did but mocke and scorne theim, that lerned them Sayng that such science as Gramare Retorik and poetrye, were not couenable to come to eny wysedom And that Gramare is not but for to teche the children. Poetrye but for to telle falles and to make lesynges, Retorike for to speke faire and in termes. And whan Aristotle herde this wordes he had grete merueyle therof and was gretely agreued wyth such as helde the same opynyon. And strength him after his power to susteyne alle maner of Gramaryens the po •… s and also the Retoriciens And said pleynly that Sapience can not excuse her of the said Sciences for Reason is an Instrument of wytte. as It appereth openly. that knowyng of eny thing is to vse of Reason, and thys preroga tiue. whiche god had yeuen to men is right noble and worthy. to thentente that amongis the men he shuld be holden for the mooste Noble and mooste wyse that mooste vseth reason ¶ And that better and more couenably receyueth in his herte thynges. ¶ And telleth hem in place. and tyme couenable. And for as moche as Sapyence is moost noble of alle other thynges she ought to be declared by the best rayson and couenable manere and by the moost pleasannt and short wordes that can be doon without errour or letting the sentence for if the reason be spoken inparfeitely the name of wisdom ys loste therby, and so is the speker in fawte And so the herers resten in dowte of the sentence ¶ And after that aristoteles cowde the sciences abouen said he lerned of plato in aplace Called Epidenie Ethikes ande the .iiij. sciences theolegi kes, and at that tyme he was .xvij. yeres of age, and whan plato went the secōd tyme into Cecile, he left Aristotiles in his place in the said towne of Epidenie, In the whiche he taught the sciences and lerned than after the deth of plato the kyng phelipe of macedoyne sent for aristotiles whiche went to him in macedoyne and ther dwelled with him du ring his lyf teching contynnaly the said sciences and af tir the deth of kyng phelippe Reigned his sone Alexandre the grete And whan, Alexandre departed from macedoyne for to go into the Countre and region of dayse thoo retourned Aristotiles to athenes and there he dwelled .x. yeres studyng til that he becam a souuerain clerk, & apre •… st accused him by enuie to the Citezeins telling hem that he worshipped not their ydolles like as other people dide 〈◊〉 that tyme wherof aristotiles was aduertised and hastyly departed fro Athenes and went into that to wne of setagire where he was borne fering that they of ¶ Athenes wold haue don to him as they dide to socrates if he hadde dwelled lenger with theym ¶ And he ordeined aplace in setagire where he helde and kept the seoles yeuing many good in structions to the people. And occupied the tyme in good dedes. ¶And dede grete almesdedis to poure people. and maried many pouer children that wer fadir and modir lees and he taught benygnely alle tho that wolde studye what astat or nacion that euer they, werof, and ediffied & bilded newe ayen the said Cite of stagier and therin ordeigned lawes. and yaue instuictions to kyngis and princis whi che they toke and kepete right reuerentely. and after he deyde in the age of .lxiij. yeres. they of Stagire toke his bo nys and right worshipfully put hem in ashryne wher they held their counseile for his grete witte, and also for the gre te and feruent loue that they hadde to him, and as often tymes that they hadde ado eny grete matere for to •… ue tlr de claracion therof, the men whiche were of counseile wol •… •… o and stande as nygh the saide shryne wher the bonys 〈◊〉 as they cowde for to haue knowlege of the trouth of 〈◊〉 in a tere, and thus they did for to worship him the m •… and their opinyons and verry trust were for only beyng 〈◊〉 the said shryne their wittes shulde be the bettir and theyr wnderstandyng, more pure and subtill ¶And the said Aristotill hadde in his tyme many kynges sones that wer his disciples. and he made in his dayes wele an. C. bookis of the whiehe we haue nowe .xxviij. in logike. v •… ij. in natu re the booke of Ethik the booke of politik the booke of. Methafisike that is named theologike & the bookis of the wit tes of geometrie, and plato rebuked him by cause that he wrotte his sciences in bookis, to whom he said in excusiug him that it is athing knowen and notified ynowe that all, thoo that loueth, science ought to do nothing that shulde cause the losse of her And therfore It is good to compose and make bookis by the whiche sciēce shalbe lerned, & whan our memorie shal fayle it shalbe recouerd by mene of bookis for he that hateth science shal not proffite in hit though it be so that he se the bookis & biholde hem yet shal he sette not by it, but departe wors & lesse wyse than he was a fore. & I haue made and ordeigned my bookis in suche forme that the wyse men shal lightly & aisely vnderstande hem but the ignoraunt men shal haue but litil auayle by hem ¶And the saide Aristotiles held gladly in his hande an Instrument of the sciēce of the sterres. And saide to kyng Alexander he that hath in this worlde good & laudable name & the grace of god ought to aske ne desire non other thing And saide thus to him, directe thy self first for yf thou be not iuste howe maist thou wele directe thy people. & yf thou be in errour thou canst neuer gouerne hem wele, for a pouer mā can not make another riche, he that is disworshipped can not worship another, he that is right feble may not helpe another & so may not goodely ne wese eny man directe another, but if he directe him self first. And therfore if thou woll take of the filthes from other. clense thy self first, or ellis thou shalt be as the leche that is seke & can not hele him self and traueileth to hele other that haue the same sekenesse ¶And sayd It is a grete a vancement to the people to haue a right wys kyng ¶And It is a grete corrupcion vnto theym to haue a corrupt and mysruled kyng ¶And saide. kepe the fro couetise for thou oughtest to thynk and remembre wele that It is not laudable thyng to haue richesses in thys worlde. and shame in the other seyng that this worl de is no more but onely abaytyng place for to go to the other worlde. ¶And said, If thou wol be riche suffise the with suche as thou hast, for he that hath not suffisaunce can neuer be riche what goodes that euer he hath ¶And sayd If it were so that by euill doyng It shulde fortune the to ha ue som good, & by wele doyng to haue som harme, yet eschewe the euill orellis thou shalt be deceyued atte last & euir do wele & atte last thou shalt be remunered therfore And said suche thing as thou praysis vpon thy self blame it not vpon another. and do nothing to other, but as thou wolde sé it wer don to the, refrayn thyn owne wille, & hate not other men be not enuious, and haue him not in Indignacion that hath offenseth the, for no man can somtyme esche we errour, be not couetous, for couetise lettith the mānes reason & taketh aweye the knowlege of trouth, do not vncouenable werkis, take compaynie with wyse men and studie in their bookis, fle lesinges, for the lyers lyeth not but for vnkno wing of reason & of her saules, the lest harme that can fall to alyer, is that noo man bileueth him of nothing that be saith, neuertheles a man may bettir be ware of a theffe than of alyer ¶And said the hertis of good people accorden togiders, like as renning watre with the watre of the see. & the hertis of euil people can not lightly accorde, al be it that thei be togidres, as the vnreasonable bestes that playe & lepe togidre & sodaynly falle to fighting ¶And said, ordeigne that your offices and auctoritees ben yeuen to them that lo ueth & foloweth trouth & right wysnes and cause them to haue rigorous peynes þt ben harmedoers & loueth falshode & decepcion And said, If ye haue do wte in eny thing counseile you to wysemē & if thei dispraise you therof be ye neu wroth therfore and yf a man hath som vice & beside that hath many vertues ye ought not therfore to lete to aske him cōseile And said many man shal both lette and trouble them that can not helpe hym And saide Iustice is a mesure the whi che god hath ordeigned vpon the erthe by the whiche the fe ble is defended from the myghty, and the true from the vn true ¶And saide the wyseman knoweth what ignorance is, in asmoche as somtyme he hath ben ignorant but the ignorant was neuer wyse & therfore he knoweth not what is wysedom ¶And said to Alexandre, ther be may litil besinesses in thy Royame & many grete & generall & if thou ye ue pouer to eny persone vpon the grete, & thy self to occupie the litil thou shalt wele witte & perceyue that grete domage shul therby fal to the in tyme comyng, if it falle not sonner And said liberalite is to yeue to nedi peple or to him þt hath deserued it, so that the gift be after the possibilite of the yeuer for he that yeueth ouer reason ought to be called a waster & not liberal, And said sapiēce is the defense of the soule & myrrour of reason wherfore he is right blessid þt traueilleth to haue her for she is the fōdemēt & the roote of al noble dedes & laudable thingis & by her we may winne the good en de and kepe vs from peyne euerlastyng, And said O alex andre if thou vse thy pouoir and lordship other wyse than thou oughtest to do, thou shalt be enuied, of enuie shal com lesingis, of lesingis shal com Iniustice & ennemytee, of In iustice and ennemyte shal com bataile. and by batayll the lawe shalbe perisshed, the people hurt, and thy possessions lost. ¶But yf thou vse thy lordship as thou oughteste to do. trouth shall encresse in thy Royaume. of trouth shall come Iustice, of Iustice loue, of loue grete yeftis, & su retie by the whiche. the lawe. the people and thy good shal be maynteyned & encrece ¶And said he that maketh his Royaume seruaunt to the lawe shal reigne, & he that taketh & put out the lawe from the royame shal not reigne. And said. A kyng ought to be of goode & strong courage, to remēbre wele the ende of the werkis, & to be courtoys & fre. & to refrayn his wrath wher it apparteigneth and shewe hit where it nedeth, to kepe him from couetise, to be true to gouerne him as nygh as he may after his good predecessours to yeue to his men as they haue deserued. to deffende & kepe the lawe & the feith. & euir to do wele after his might, & yf the strength of his body faile him thenne to kepe the might of his corage, by the whiche he shalbe the more assured in al his nedis. And said the kyng that gouerneth him & his roaume wele by his wysdom Is worthy to be greetly praised & lauded ¶And said to Alexander, seche to wynne the ri chesses that be not trāsitories. the lyf that is not moeuable the kingdoō that can not be taken aweye from the & the euer lasting Ioye, & be piteful but not somoche that thou stāde in daungir therby, do pugnicion & Iustice to thaim that haue deserued it without delay trauaille the to fortiffie the lawe for in that is the loue & drede of god. & whan thou shalt be cōpelled to take vēgeaunse of thyn ēnemy put it not ouer til another daye for the fortune, & cōdicions of this worlde in oeue & chaunge of tētymes sodaynely ¶And said thou ought not to hate him that saith the sothe nor to chide him that kepeth the feithe but he that shal do cōtrarie to the feith be thou his ēnemy with al the pouer of thy reame, and said It is bettir that thou correcte thy self and amende the after the exemple of thy predecessours, than thy successours shulde amende him aftir the exemple of the ¶And said worshippe the goode men & therby thou shalt haue the loue of the people and sette not all thy will in this world in the whiche thou maist not long abyde, And saide worshippe sapience & for tiffie it by good maistris disciples & scolers, worship hem paye for their expencis & kepe hem of thy household. aftir that thou shalt se they shalbe prouffited & sped in the scien ce And thou shalt fynde that grete prouffit & worship shal come to the therfore ¶ And saide he is of bygge & strong corage of good discrecion & laudable feith, that bereth pacientely all his aduersitees for a man can not be knowen in his prosperite. ¶And saide thou ought to thinke that the wekest of alle thyn ennemyes is stronger than thy selfe ¶ And said thou ought to cherisshe thy knyghtis & thy yomanry, & to haue hem in as grete loue in tyme of peas as in tyme of werre, for if thou sette litill by them in tyme of peas, they shal forsake the whan thou shalt haue more ne de of hem And said the grettest prouffit that thou canst do in thy royame is to take aweye the wikkid peple, & to rewar de the goode. And saide a man is of euyl cōdiciou that taketh no hede but to the vices & fawtes of other in dispreysing of them ¶And said worshipful deth is bettir than sha meful lyf And said the sapience of a man of lowe degre is worship & the folie of him þt is of high degre is a shame & auarice is the thīg that taketh awey the name of gentilnesse. And said the good prīce ought to goune the peple as his good predecessours haue don & to loue & cherisshe the good and true peple more than his tresour or other wordely goo des, and to delite him in that, that he hath rightwysly, and not wrougfully ¶ And said no man ought to be ashamed to do Iustice, for if the kyng be not iusticial he is not knig but he is violent and rapax ¶ And said the wikkid men obeye for drede, and the goode for theire goodenesse ¶ And said men ought to do wele to the good people & to chastise the wikkid by rigour. ¶ And said wrath ought not to be to sharp ne to swete, and he wrotte an epistyll to Alexādre that the kynges been worshipped for. iij. thinges that is to witte for instruction of good lawes, for conquestes of lan des & regions and for to peoplishe & distroye desertes & 〈◊〉 dernessis, and he wrotte also to alexandre that he shulde not be willing to correcte all mēnes faw •… to 〈◊〉 for it lieth not entierly in mannes pouer to kep •… him from doing euil, & therfore it is good somtyme to fory •… ue 〈◊〉 & if it be so that of nede pugnicion must be don, men ought to shewe that thei do it by cōpulsion to amende & pug •… the errours & not in manere no •… by weye of 〈◊〉 & he sawe a man that hadde his hand smytten of fo •… thef •… e that he had don. And he said for asmoche as that man had taken from other suche as was not his owne. men haue taken frō him that, that was his. & said thou maist not so wele cause thy peple to loue the as to cherisshe hem & shewe hem right wysenesse, & if thou doost the contrary though thou hast the lordship of their bodies thou hast not the lordship of their her tis ne of their courages, & that shalt thou finde whan thou callest vpon their seruise at thy nede wherfore it is a grete dāgier for a •… ing to do iniurie & do make his peple hade him And said he is right happy that can chastise him self takīg exemple by other, And said fortifie your soules with goode dedes & departe you from couetises which distroyeth the feble corages ¶ Ther is nothyng that maketh a man lesse to be sette by, than to preyse and boste him self of his good dedis And it was axed of him what is the cause that wysemen wol not be wrothe & eny man wol teche hem. And he ansuerd for asmoche as wysemē knowen that sciēce is a right prouffitable thīg. And said he that wol not nor can not do wele atte lest ought to kepe him from euil doing And said to his disciples loke that ye haue. iiij. eeres. ij. for to herkēe & lerne sciencis & proffitable thingis, & the other, ij, for your other wordely besinesses, The moost profitable thing to the world is the deth of the euil peple. And saide a man may not be so wele knowen, as in grete auctorite. And said in al thingis the lest quātite is the lighter to bere sauf only in sciēces, for he þt hath moost therof the lightelyer may he bere it And it was axed of him what was the moost couenable thīg for a discrete man to haue, And he ansuerd that, that shulde abide with him if he wer ascapede out of a drowned ship in the see, And said men ought to loue to lerne the best of the sciēces as the bees loue the swetest of the floures, & he had a noble & worshipfull heritage of the which he lete ot •… r haue the gouernance & wold not go theder him self And it was axed him the cause And he ansuerd that, he that oftenest goth to se his heritagis hath the mo displeasirs. And said the tonge of a foole is the key of his secret And said to one that was slowthful & wold not lerne, sithen thou wol not take the peyne for to lerne. thou shalt haue the peyne to be lewde & vnconnyng. And said kepe the from the feliship of him that knoweth not him self. ¶ Tho that been dayly enclined & vtterly disposed to vices may not encresse in good ne proffyte in science, And saide if thou woll haban done to thy body alle his wil thou shalt be the worse both in helth & in alle other thinges. and atte last thy soule shalbe dampned therfore. He that is entierly enclined to do fornicacion may not be praysed ne come to good ende ¶And said a mery man wol not lightly be wroth. A liberal man may not wele be enuious, ne a couetous man content with his richesse. And said the man is preued & tryed by his werkis as the gold by the fyer, One of his disciples made to him an euill raport of one of his felawes. to whom •… e said I wol not beleue thyn euill wordis ayenst thy felawe nor I wol not beleue his euil wordes ayenst the And said like as the rayn may not proffite to the corne that is saw •… vpon the drye stones, nomore can studieng auaile to afoole A mannes tonge sheweth his witte or his folie ¶ Experience ought to correcte a man and to helpe hym to liue wele And saide sapience maketh richesse to be faier & hydeth po uerte, It was axed of him what was fayer speking. And he ansuerd to speke litille & laudably & to yeue reasonable answeres. & he wrote thus to alerādre, ye be a noble & migh ty kyng & more mighty than ye were & shal encrece yf ye di recte & gouerne wele & iustely your peple / and in so doing the people shal obeye you, but if ye be an extorcioner & take all their good from them than ye shalbe lord of the pouer peple & than shall ye be like him that hath leuer gouerne the dom beestis than the mē, ne ther is nothīg so couenable to aking as to coueyte vnduely the goodes of his peple ¶ And said he that hath a litil of trouth desireth to haue more, And said reason maketh a man to be more souuerain than beestis & he that hath no reason is but a beeste in many thinges the newest is the best, but loue is contrarye, for the elder it is the more it is worth, & one Abrakyn lord of sciences axed him what thing a man ought to lerne first that seketh sapience, to whom he answerd the gouernement of the saule, In as moche as she is euerlasting & more noble without eny comparison than eny thing that we haue ¶ Than they axed him howe may the saule acquere sapiēce, and he answered as a seke man seketh his fisicien and as a blynde man enquereth of the colours to theym that se hem / and it was axed of him, howe a saule might se her self, and he answered the saule that lakketh sapiēce can se nothing as the eyen with out light that nether se hem self nor other ¶ And said all manere of thinges haue propertes, and the properte of discrecion is to chese wele the good from the euill ¶ And said the lordshippes wonne by study dangiers and peynes and so kept, ought wele to contynue & prospere And thoos that be lightly wonne & kept in. Ioye and plesaence, comme to a litil prouffit atte last, & we se cōmoneli the townes wherin the inhabitauntes take grete labour be wele maynteyned and encresse with grete richesses, and the townes full of pleasaunce & delices fal to ruyne & distruction ¶ And said hastinesse of speche maketh men to erre And said I merueille howe he þt men lawde without cause accept it & is pleased with all, & he of whom men say euill without cause is angry with al And said loke that thou be not as the bulter whiche castith the floure & kepeth the brenne ¶ And saide men ought not to take the gouernāce of the peple to a child to him also that can not knowe the nedis of the poure peple to him that is couetous, to him that wil werke withoute de liberacion, ne to him that is vēgeable And saide ther is no difference bitwix a childe of age & a child of maneres as of condicion what age that euer he be of, for tbe condiciōs of men aren knowen & shewed by dedis & not by age ¶ And saide It is nedeful to a man if he wol be good that he be able of him self to knowe trouth & do it in dede or ellis that he lerne hit of other / for he that of him self can not vnderstande hit nor wil lerne hit can not be good And saide goodenesse is diuided in. iij. maneres. the first is in the soule the second in the body. and the therde in the operacions wherof the moost noble is the goodenesse of the soule for in vsing the vertue therof, is fonde & knowen the forme in good dedis And said a man findeth sapience and good condicions in long lernyng of veray sciēce, And said ther be many persones that knowen the good werkis & do hem not whiche res •… blen the seke folkis þt axe helpe & cōseil of the leche & do no thīg ther aftir, & therfor the bodyes ben without helth & the soules without blessidnes And said one may knowe the in ward disposiciōs of a mā b •… his outward operacions, And said wele doing is a laudable thīg, neuthelesse it is somwhat harde to do / but lightly one may do euil as an a •… chier to fai le of the butte is no wōder, but to hitte the prike is a greet maistrie. & said in diuers manere we may be euill but we may not be good but in one wey, & said default of witte cau seth many harmes & maketh many men to fal by ignorāce Not knowing what thing to be don or left ¶ And said Aged folkis louen togider / and so doo not childeren for olde folkis haue their delectacions like / & yong folkis in diuers weyes ¶ And said agrete acōplissing of mēnes feli cite is to be wele frended than a man without felisship can not haue hole felicite ¶ And said euery man hath nede of frēdis, whether he stādeth in goode caas or in badde, if he stā deth in euill cōdicion, they for to helpe him, and yf he stāde in good caas, he to make mery and cherysshe them that they may helpe him to resiste inconuenientes that might falle ¶ And said noon hath delectacion in iustice, but the iuste man, none hath fauour to sapiēce but the wysemā and noon loueth frendeship but the true frende ¶ And said the wikkid men susteyne their perilles by their bodely strength and the good men suffre their parilles paciently by the ver tue of thair saules which pacience cometh not by might of arme nor of hande nor non other mēbre, but onely of grace of the saule, and therby to resiste ayenst couetise and other grieues of thys world trusting therfore aftir to come to blisse & he wrote to kyng alexādre in this forme, thou ough test to obeye wele the cōmandemētes of god, for he hath yeue the thy desires, and all that thou hast axed of him ¶ And said sapiēce is lyf & ignorāce is deth and ther fore he that is sapiēt is a lyue, for he vnderstādeth what he doth & he that is ignorāt is deed for he vnderstādeth not his doyng And said the ātiquite of the tyme maketh the werkis olde & bydeth no thīg but renōme which resteth in the hertis of þe successours / it is nedeful than to cōq̄re good renōmee & therby shal ēdure noblesse, & said lesing is the sekenesse of the saule whiche can not be heled but by the meane of reason whiche lieth neuer ¶ And saide A moche wyseman is he that pro nounseth not the thinges into the tyme that he is present that wol vnderstande hem. ¶ And the best speker is he that speketh not til he is wele purueyed what he shal saye. & the best werkeman is he that beginneth not his werke into the tyme that he hath wele disputed and auised it, in his herte Nether is none that ought to haue so moche thought as the wyseman. for it is necessarie to him to be purueyed and certayn of his werkis ¶ And said men are more enclined to couetise than to reason. for couetise hath acompaigned them from their childehode. & reason cometh not to them till that they be of parfyte age ¶ And saide. the children hate their maistres whan they teche hem for they knowe not what good may befall them therby, but think only the labour of the peyne of their lerning And the said Aristoteles callid Alexādre axing him questions vpon the gouernāce of the lordis & of the peple. to whom alexandre yaue good ansueres. But neuer the lesse Aristotiles beet him with a Rod. And it was axed of him why he had beet him with oute cause And he ansuerd this childe is like & able to be a grete lord & a myghty kyng. And I haue bete him all onely for to holde him lowly. and in mekenesse fo •… he shalbe to soon prowde ¶ And saide If thou canst directe another. directe him as thy self. And a yong man axed him why he was so pouer. To whom he answered. My pouerte hath no thyng offensed me. ne doth me no harme But thyn hath doon the and shalle do harmes ynowhe ¶ And sayd. The Royaumes by maynteyned by the lawes ordeigned by the kyng and princes ¶ And said the kynges and princes ben susteyned & vphold by knight hode, ¶ And the knyghtis ben maniteyned by moneye, & money cometh of the people, and the people is gouerned by Iustice without whiche no Royaume may prospere

ALexander the grete was sone to phelip king of macedone, whiche phelip regned. vij. yere. And the said. Alexander began to regne in the. x viij. yer of his age And he said to his people in thys wyse, Fayr lordes I will in no wyse be contrarye to your wylles ne to your dedes But I shewe to you that I hate frawdes & malices, & as I haue louid you duryng my faders lyf, so wil I doo in tyme comyng And I bothe counceylle & pray you that ye drede god obeye him as souerayn of all And chese him for kyng / & be most obeyssant to him that shal best pour ueie for the good astate of his peple & that shal be most debo nayr & mercyful to poure folkes that beste shal kepe Iusti ce, & the right of the feble ayenst the myghty, him also that shal best dispose for the publyke wele, & for no delectacion of worldly pleasāces shal not be slowful to kepe & defēde you and by whom ye shal be defended & all euill & harmes, by the meane of his good dedes shal be destroyed, and him that most hardyli shal put him forth for to destroye your ēnemi es, For suche ought to be chosen kyng and none other, & whan his people had herd the reasons abouesayd and kno wen his grete discrecion wytte and vnderstāding they were gretly ameruaylled and, answered to him thus ¶ We haue herde and vnderstand thy grete reasons. And haue resseyued and resseyue thy good counceyll, and therfore we wole and byseche the that thou Reygne and haue the lordship vpon vs duryng thy lyf. we hope that ther is none that hath so wele deseruid to be our kyngAnd thus they chees him to ther kyng and to their lord and coroned him & yaf him their blessinges, and praid to god that he wold blesse & mayntene him. ¶ To whom he said I haue herde the prayer that ye haue made for me, beseching to god that he wol stedefaste the loue of me in your hertes & corages And that by no maner of the delectaciō he suffre me to do thing ayen your proffites ne to my disworship, & sone af ter he sent lettres to alle the prynces and goode townes of his Royaume, ¶ And whan he had sent his lettres One daire kyng of perce & of mede sent to Alexandre for tribu te like as he had of his fader. And he sent him word that the henne that leyd that egge was dede ¶ And after this Alexander made grete conquestis. and whan he had co •… iquered Inde he went to •… contre cassid bragman, the whiche whan they wiste his comyng, they sente many wyse men to him, whiche salewd him & saide, sir Alexauder thon hast no cause to werre vpon vs, ne to be •… il willig, for we ben both poure & meke, & we haue no thing but only sapiēce, the whiche if thou wolt haue, pray god that he wol yeue her the. for by batayll thou shalt neuer haue her. Ande whan alerander herd hem saye so, he made al his Ooste to tarye & with fewe of his knyghtes wente within the said contre for tenquere further of the trouth ¶ And whan he entred wyth in the same ground. he fond many pouer foolkes women & childeren al naked gadering herbes in the feldes And he axid of them many questions. to whiche they answered right wysely, and than he bad hem axe of hym somme thing that myght doo hem good & to all their people, & he wolde yeue it hem gladdy ¶ And thenne they said. Sir we axe the none other thing but þt thou wilt gyne us euer lasting lyf Thē ne Alexāder ansuerd & said, how might a man make other mēnes liues euerlastīg, whā he may not lengthe his owen lyf an our And that ye axe of me is in no mannes power that lyueth. Than they said to him. Syth thou hast goode •… nowleche therof. wherfore trauayllest thou thy self to dest •… oye all the world, and to gadre all the worldly tresours and wost not whan thou must leue hem, Thenne ¶ Alexan der said to him. I do not alle these thinges that ye say of my self. but god hath sent me thurgh all •… the worlde for te •… alte and magnifye hys lawe and to destroye them that 〈◊〉 not in him. ¶ And somtyme. Alexander wente 〈◊〉 visyting his lordes and enqueryng of her 〈◊〉 And vpon atyme he cam in to a towne of his owne

And sawe two men of the same towne bysore a Iuge pletyng of the whiche one said to the Iuge. Sir. I haue bought an hous of thys man. And longe after I h •… ue founde with in the same a tresour vnder therth •… , whiche is not myn. ¶ And I haue offred to diliuere it to hym. ¶ And he hath refused it, wherfore Sir I biseche the that he be compelled to take it for as moche as he knoweth it is not myne for I haue no right therto. ¶ Thenne the Iuge comāded his aduerse partie •… ansuere to the same. and thenne he said. Sir Iuge that same tresour was neuer myne but he hath, edyfyed in that place that was byfore comyn to alle tho that wolde haue edyfyed ther in ¶ And therfore I haue no right to take it. And thenne they bothe required the Iuge that he wolde take it to him self, to whom he answe red and said / sithen it is so that ye saye, that is ye haue no right to whom the heretage hath longed and yet longeth where the tresour was founde, hou sholde I haue eny right therto that am but a stran̄ger in that caas, and neuer a fore herde speke therof ye wolde excuse you therof and giue me the charge of the tresour, that is euill doo ¶ Thenne 〈◊〉 axid of him that had founde the tresour whether he had o •… childeren, whiche answerd he had a sone, and he axed th •… other in like wise, & he said he had a doughter. Thenne t •… Iuge said & Iuged that amariage sholde be made bitwen them and that they sholde haue the tresour by that meane And whan Alexander herde this Iugement, he had grete meruayll therof, and said thus to the Iuge. I trowe that ther is not in al the world so rightwis ne so trewe a Iuge as thou art, And the Iuge that knewe him not saide and axed of him whether ony Iuge wold haue don other wyse Ye certaynly said Alexander in many landes. Thenne the Iuge hauyng grete meruayll ther of axed of him whether it rayned and the sonne dide shyne in tho landes, as though he wold haue sayd that hit was meruayll that god shuld sende ony light or rayne or other good thinges to them that doo not ryght & trewe Iustice And therof Alexander had gretter meruaylle than byfore and said that ther were but fewe suche people vpon erthe, as they were in that san •… e And as Alexāder wente out of that lande he passed th •… rgh a cite, in whiche al the houses of that cyte were of one •… igh 〈◊〉 & byfore the dore of euery hous was a grete pytte or graue in whiche cyte ther was no Iuge, wherof he had grete meruaylle. And axed of the inhabitantis therin wherfore suche thingis sholde serue. The whiche ansuerd him & said First for the outrageous height of houses. loue & Iustice can not be longe in a town a mong the peple, And they sai de that the pittes or graues were their owne houses to which they sholde sone go to & there dwelle vntil the day of Iugement And as touching that they had no Iuge, they said that they made good Iustice of them self wherfore they ne ded no Iuge. Thenne Alexander departed from them right wel plesed. And a fore his deth he wrote a lettre vnto his moder desiring her to make no sorowe for him ¶ And sone after Alexandre died & was put in a Coffre of gold & buried in Alexsandre. & he was born theder with grete reuerence by kynges princes & other grete lordes, that kept & fulfilled his testamēt as he had ordeigned. Thenne stert vp one of the grettest lordes of them that kept hym & said thus. They that neuer wepte for other kynges, now ought to wepe for this same And tho that neuer had meruaill of aduersite, shold now haue meruail of the deth of this king And he desired the other lordes that they shuld saye somme good thing for to cōforte the peple that was gretli dismaied & troubled for the deth of kyng alexandre, or for the deth of the worthyest kyng that euer was Thēne one of them said king alexādre was wōt to kepe gold & seluer, & now gold & seluer kepe him And he said it by cause of the chest that his body laye in which was of gold And another said alexāder is depted fro sinnes & filthes & now his soule is with the good soules which ben purified And another said alexāder was wonte to chastise alle men, and now he is chastysedAnd another said, the kynges were wonte to dr •… de him and now the pourest man of all the world dredeth him not ¶ And another said, yester day all the erthe suffiseth not to Alexāder, & now the lengthe of his body suffiseth him And another sayd Alexāder might here yesterday & no bo dy durst speke ayenst his wille, and now euery man may speke & he heerith not ¶ And another said the mor •… that thastate of kyng. Alexāder was grete and more exellēt the more is thoccasion of his deth greuous & pytefull ¶ And a nother said thoo that sawe not yesterday ¶ Alexāder fe •… ede him gretely, & now thoo that see him fereth him not ¶ And ther said Alexāder was he whoos enemyes durst not com •… nere him, and now his frendes dispreyse and wil not see hym ¶ And whan Alexander began to regne he wa •… bu •… xviij. yeres of age And he regned. xvij.. yere of the whi che euiployed. ix. yeres in bataylle and in conquer •… ng And. viij. yere he restyd hym visiting the groundes and landes that he had conqueryd ¶ And he had victorye vpon xxiiij. maner of langages ¶ And in two yeres he sought all thorient and occident, And the nombre of his knightes that were comonly of his retenew and at his wages were CCC. xiij. M. without yomārye & other men necessarie to his werres ¶ And he deyde in the eage of. xxxv. yeres. and he was of sangweyn colour, his face ful of poc •… is. One of his eyen graye and that other black, smale & sharp 〈◊〉 vi saged like a ly on ¶ And was of grete strengthe & loued moche warres fro his chyldehode vnto his lyues ende. And he comanded that the people shold worship god & •… epe hem from synne. ¶ And saide the world is not susteyned but comonly by science And the royames be not directed but by the same, & alle thinges ben gouerned by reason And saide sapiēce is messagier of reason ¶ And it byfelle that Alexander passid thurgh a toun wherin. vij. kynges had regned byfore And he askid yf ony of their kin •… ede was alyue, And they of the toun said ye, a sone of one of the said kinges And alexāder desired to see him ¶ And the p •… ple saide to alexander that he was euer in the chirchyerd And alexander wente to see him. & axid of him wherfore he a bood so in the chircheyerd, & why he wold not take vpon him suche astate as his fader had & his. Auncestris, as other men doo. Seyng that it was the will of all the peple ¶ And the yong child ansuerd & saide O right bounte uous kyng I haue here a thing to do, the whiche whan I ha ue don it, I shal do thy comandemeut, To whom thenne alexander axed what thing it was that he had to do there And he ansuerd I am sechyng the bones of my fader & of myn auncestris kynges for to put hem a part frō the other but I finde hem also semblable that I can not knowe one from the other ¶ Thenne alexander saide to him, thou ough test tacquere worship in this worldAnd If thou haddest good and strong corage, thou mightest haue all thy faders goodes and of thy pr •… decessours & alle ther honours To whome the yong child ansuerd & saide. I haue good her te. And alexāder axed him wherin. And he saide by cause that I haue foūde lyf without deth, •… ougthe without eage. xi chesse without poute, Ioye without troble. & helthe without sekenes Certaynly said alexāder of all these thīges haue I none, Thenne sayd the childe yf ye wil haue hem axe hem of him that hath hem and he may yeue hem and none other Thenne Alexander said that he had neuer seen man of so grete discrecion ¶ Alexander vsed euery day to be in a cer tayn place, for to here the complayntes of euery body And it was so that vpon a day onely ther cam none to complayne vnto him ¶ And therfore he wolde not that day sholde be put in the nombre of the dayes of his regne ¶ And whan he was redy to fyghte with kyng daire, it was told him that the same daire had with him more than. ccc. M. good fyghting men. wherto he ansuerd and said a goode cooke ought neuer to be abasshed to see in his kechyn many s •… eep among other bestis ¶ And the patryarkes & pr •… lates that were for that tyme cam and said to him. God hath yeue to the lordship vpon many royames, regions and contree •… to thentente that thou sholdest haue many children begoten of thy body, for to haue the succession of the same after thy deth, and therfore it were good that thou sholdest •… aue ma ny wyues ¶ Tho whom he ansuerd. that it shold torne him to grete ashame that had ouercome alle the mightyest men of the world / for to be disconfited by women ¶ Ther cam to him a pouer man wel and wysely spekyng whiche was pourly arayed ¶ To whom, Alexander sayd I haue meruaylle that thy clothyng is not after thy spech •… , For ther is bytwene them grete difference, Thenne the pour mā sayd O myghty kynge I may self lerne to speke and to haue reason with me, and ye maye resonably clothe me, thenne. Alexander made him to be clothd with one of his best gownes Also ther passed a theef byfore alexādre that was goyng to be hanged, whiche saide O worthy king saue my lyf for I repente me sore of my mysdedes. Thenne Alexander comanded that he sholde be hanged whyle he had goode repentaunce ¶ Also vpon a tyme one axed of him x. pieces of goold, To whom Alexander said thou art not worthy to haue so moche ¶ And he saide to him ayen, Syr if I am not worthy to haue so moche yet ar ye able to yeue it me ¶ And alexander axid of Aristotle what thing a good and a manly king ought conttnuelly doo ¶ And he ansuerd that he ought to thynke euery nyght to the goode gouernaunce of his people, & the day folowing to put it in effect ¶ And it was axid of him what thing was moost delectable in conquering of landes and of contrees. And he saide the mooste delectacion was to gyue largely and recom pense them that haue doone hym good seruise. ¶ And he axid of Aristotle by what mene he shold be counceilled And he ansuered and saide, Ordeine vpon the gouernemēt of thy houshold hym that hath many seruaūtes & can wele rule and gouerne them, & make hym thy ꝓcurour and receyuour of thy money that hath grete liuelode and spendeth discretly and notably ¶ And a Patriarke axid of hym what he wolde do with so many men as he had, And he an suerd I that am lord of them that ben grete and myghty lordes may wel forbere to be lord of their seruauntis, And ther cam two men before him differēt of opinions to whom he said, the sentēce that shal plese that one shal displese that othir, & therfor cōsente ye to the trouth, & that shal plese you bothe ¶ And it was axid of hym why he worshippid more his mastir than his fadre And he ansuerd for as moch as I haue of my maister euerlasting lyf, And I haue of my fader lyf but for a certayn tyme ¶ And whan dares dough ters were taken it was tolde him that they were right fayre and therfore he wolde not see them feeryng to haue don ony dishonest thinges, sayng that grete dishonour were vnto him that had oucome so many notable & manly men in the bataylles, yf he shold be oucomen by women beyng in his prysons. ¶ And it bifelle that one made a longe sermon byfore him whiche noyed moche to alexāder wherf •… re he sayde the predicacion is not to be lawded that endureth ouer the power of the herkeners but that is good that endureth after the possibilite of them that hereth it ¶ And it was axid of him how men myght acquyere the loue of other men, & he ās uerd in doyng hem good. or els atte leste in doyng hem no ne harme, And said men sōme tyme throue better by theyr ennemyes than by their frendes ¶ And it was axid of him how he myght be so mighty, consideryng that he was so yong of age. And he said for as moche as I haue tranaylled tacquere frendys, & yeuen to myn ennemyes. and by thys maner I haue power vpon hem alle ¶ And said it is a grete losse to a man to lose his frendis and more than to lese his sone or his tresour ¶ And said the frendes that be acqnerid by good dedes. ben better than tho that ben acq̄rid by force ¶ And vpon a tyme as alexander wente to sporte him priuely. certayn men beyng at a wyndow keste wa ter vpon him, wenyng that he had ben one of their felaws & whan they sawe þt it was alexāder they were gretely aferd & alexāder badde hem be not aferd sayng þt they had weted no ne but him þt they thought to wete. & as aristotle taught 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 many kynges sones with Alexander, he axed ones of one of hem, what shal thou gyue me whan thou shalt be a kyng The whiche said I shal make the my grete gouernour, & in like wyse he axid of another, whiche saide I shal yeue to the half my royame, And thenne he axid of alexander, whiche ansuerd him thus Maistre enquere of me not this day vp on that, that I haue to do to morowe, for whan I shal see that I neuer sawe, I shal thinke that I neuer thoughte, but if I regne as thou sayst I shal thenne do as thou shalt see and thinke to be couenable. And thēne Aristotle saide to him Certaynly I wote wel that thou shalt be a grete & a mighti kyng. for thy face & thy nature sheweth it so ¶ Alexander sayde to one that long had ben his lieutenaūt & had neuer rebuked him of no vice I am no thing pleased with thy seruice, Why sire said his lieutenaūt By cause saide Alex ander that I am a man as another & erre & haue erred ma ny a tyme, sith thou cam in my seruice, & thou sawest neuer no fawte in me therfore thou art not suche, as I ought to haue to be my lieutenaūt, for thou art not wyse, and if thou hast seen & knowen my fawtes and not corrected me therof Thou art not trewe to me. And he said Reason letteth not to acquere science, but slouth dispraysith it. And somme axed of a wyse man called Nychomake, what was the cau se that men obeyed so lightly to Alexādre. And he said by cause that he was vertuous, that he hath wel kept Iustice & he had ben of good cōuersacion and of right excellent go uernement And there were two men whiche axed euerych of them to haue to his wyf the doughter of a riche man, of whiche two. one was riche and the other poure And the fader yaf the doughter to the poure man. wherfore, Alexāder axid of him why he did so, And he saide by cause the riche is ignorant & like to become a poure man. and the poure is wyse & able to become a riche man, ¶ Alexander axid of a wyse philosophre by what mene the royames were wel dire •… tid & holden in goode astate. And he ansuerd by obeyssaū ce of the peple & the Iustice of the kyng ¶ And as Alexā der foughte ones in bataille many women cam in the same bataill ayenst him thēue he withdrawe him hastely & said to his men if we sholde haue victory of this bataill where thise women ben, it were no worship to vs, & if they had the victorie, thēne it were to vs a ppetuel shame / wherfore we shal not fighte ayenst them whyle the womē ben ther And saide it is a perillous thing a man tabide so long in the see that the storme & tēpest come vpon him, that may well dep •… e during the faire weder In like wyse it is of them that dwel in princes & kinges houses ¶ And saide, it is a foule thing to a man to haue grete wordes without effecte, & it is a fay re thīg to him that put his werkis bifore his wordes And said the grettest & most laudable liberte that is to a man, is to kepe him from couetise And whan his fader cōmanded him that he sholde gladly here the cōmaundementis of his maistre, he saide, he wold not onely here them, but he wold fulfille them with glad herte to his pouere And said It is worse a man to haue defaute of discrecion / thēne of richesses

THolome was a right wyseman & wele vnderstāden, & in especial in. iiij. sciēcis that is to witte, Geometrie musike, arismetrik & astrologie, & he mad many good bokis a mong the which one is callid Almageste the which is of Astrologie, & he was borne in ¶ Alexandrie the greteste cyte that is in the land of Egipte. & ther he made his consideracions in the tyme of kyng Adryan. and made his dictions vpon the consideracions at Roodes, he was not kyng all be it that many personnes calleth hym kyng. And he lyued. lxx viij. yeres. ¶ And said. he is wyse that disposith his tonge to speke of god, and he that knoweth hym not is the moost foole of alle. ¶ And said, he that is enclyned to his wille is nyghe to the Ire of god, and the nerer that a man approucheth the deth / the more he ought to laboure and traueyll to do wele ¶ And said Sapience abydeth no lenger in the hert of a foole. than a fleyng thing that may not tarye in thaier. ¶ And sayd good wytte and good discrecion ben fellawes, ¶ And sayd A man of good sapience can not dye, ne a man of good vnderstandyng can neuer be pouer ¶ And said Sapience is atre that wexeth grene in the hert and fructifieth in the tonge ¶ And said Beware that thou dispute not with hym that hath no knowlege, ne yeue not thy conseyl but to him that askith it, ne telle not thy secret but to hym that can kepe it. And said he that wol lyue wele ought not to kepe in his hert all his aduersitees And said the mays tre of a grete house hath many melācolyes And said speke wysely aswele for thy self as for all other And said yf thou mayst not eschewe sōtyme to be wroth atte lest lette not thy wrath last lou •… ¶ And said the hertis of good peple ben the castell & forterescis of secretes And said a man that is not to be correctid by other mē may surly correcte them of their faultes. And said he that askid cōseil of the wysemā and doth ther aftir whether it turneth him to good or to euill he ought not to be blamed therofAnd saide. It is bettir, a kyng to directe his peple, than to haue grete habondaunce of knyghtis ¶ And sayde Surete putteth a weye sorowe and fere empescheth gladnes ¶ And saide The wordis of god auayleth not to them that haue put al their hert to the worlde ¶ And said It is to grete folie a man to thinke to moche on the thinges that passith his vnderstandingAnd sayde men been of two, natures som wolle neuer be content howe be it that they finde ynough, & som other seke and finde nothingAnd said men cause tacquere & geete money. And money is the cause tacquere men, ¶ And saide. He of the whiche the Science excedith his witte may be likened to a feble shepherd that hath a grete heep of sheep in his kepyngAnd saide he that hath put al his entente to his flessly delites, is more bōde than a keytif And said the hygher that a man is exaltid in his lordship, the more greuous it shalbe to him to fall from the same And said thought is the key of certaynete And saide the reffuses of a nygard ben bettir than the largesces of a prodygall waster ¶ And saide. thou canst do nothing so acceptable to god as to do wele to him that hath offensed ayenst the ¶ And saide if thou wol be wyse be not in feliship wyth foolis. but be euer in feliship with them that ben wyser than thy selfAnd saide the soule can not be decey ued into the tyme that the body taketh his ende. And said ¶ Folye is the gretteste ennemy that ony body may haue And said Good will is the fondement of alle good werkes. & good werkis is the messagier in the other world And said he that kepith the good opynion and leueth the euill yeueth grete reste to his herte ¶ And said Sekenesse is the prison of the body and saluacion of the soule

ASsaron sayd that a kyng in his kyngdom may be dōmaged and hurte, and specially by fyue thinges, the first is by to grete drienesse as to be iij. yere without Rayn. the seconde is by expending more than his lyuelode cometh to the therde is, to vse to moche woōmen wyne & huntyng, the fourthe is to be of euill maneres & of wicked condicions & also to be to cruel & vengeable, the fyfte is, to haue many ennemyes. ¶ And said the moost notable maneris & condicions & the moost prouffyta ble is to be liberal and true of his worde. ¶ And said he that is liberal may not lyue amys, the true speker may not be shamed of his speking, the meke & lo wly man can not be hated, the sobre man can not be seke, & he that wele & dyli gently vnderstondith to his bysenesse may neuer repente therof & bringeth hym to good perfection And said a king or a prince ought not to truste them that disprayse hym in him that is couetous, in him that is com from grete pouertie to grete richesses in him from the whiche he hath taken the goodes and lordshippes, in him that hath suffred many domages and hurtes for the wyall mageste & ordinaunce Ne in him that hath made eny aliaunce or promesse with his ennemyes, & he ought to be wele ware that he yeue no po wer to non suche as thoo abouesaide And sayd It is an impossible thing a man to kepe him from falling in som fawte that is exaltid with a kyng in grete magnificence without desserte And said whan a wyse prince knoweth that eny of his men had offenseth ayenst him, he ought has tely to enquere the trouth of the dede. and the quantite of the trespas. and yf it be don wylfully or by ignorance, and also If he was wont to do so. and yf he be like to falle therin ayen. And vpon euery of the same pointis to Remedye hastely ¶ And said. The kynges seruauntis ought to shewe in seruyng hym their good vertues their feith the noblesse of their kynrede. to thenteute that the kyng may bettir knowe hem and do to euery of them as he shal haue deseruedAnd saide. If a kyng loueth and cherissheth the vntrewe and wikkid men as them that been good and true. he ought not to be called kyng for he is not like to reygne long.And said. If the kyngis conseyllours his physicien and hys confessour deleth wyth other thynges. than langith to their offices ¶ The kyng shall contynuelly be endommaged. seke of body. and of the soule ¶ And like to come to a foule ende

And saide. He that sayth not trouth to hys leche And he that counceylleth wyth his frend •… And •… elleth him not the trouth of his counceylle. he distroyeth him self. ¶ And Assaron sayde. A kyng sholde not commytte to another the besynes. that ys necessarye to hym self for to do ¶ And Assaron sayde. The moost secrete counseylle of the kyng Is his conscience and his good dedes is hys best tresour. ¶ And of alle men. the trewes •… is the best ¶ And the best Rychesses ben they that be truely and duely goten. ¶ And he sayth a kyng sholde committe his besynesses to him that he hath proued in fayth in witte and in good gouernaunce, and if he may finde no suche take him that hath euer be conuersant with wyse men ¶ And he said a wyse kyng of good vnderstonding amendeth and auaylleth moche his counseillonrs ¶ And he sayth whan a kyng of good discrecion hath to do two right hasty thinges, he sholde begynne at the noblest and at the most pronffittable And yf they ben bothe two of one estate, begīne at that whiche may best be recouerd in tyme comyngAnd he sayth yf a kyng be mercyfull, his besynes shal goo wel. his wysedom shal auayle him in tyme comyng, yf he be trewe his people shal reioyse with him, & yf he be Iuste. his regne shal endure ¶ And he sayth kyn ges sholde gete good renōme and other mene dignitees by good mesure, for ontrageousnes is not enduryng. ¶ And he sayth yt belongeth to a conquerours kyng to sette and kepe good Iustice in his Reames and other lordshippes go ten ¶ And hou be it that it is a greuous thing to conquere them yet is it a more greuous & more chargeable thing to kepe them wel ¶ And he sayth he that is most complete of witt, is he that knoweth him self. And that departed him not from thobeyssaūce of god for what maner occasion that cometh to him, & that contynuelly thanketh him for the goodes that he hath sent him ¶ And assaron sayth that an euill lawe & the loue of a shrewe lastth no lenger than the shadowe of acloude ¶ And assaron sayth that a wyseman enforceth him to fle and wythdraweth from harme. And the foole doth grete payne to fynde hit And assaron sayth whan a wyseman that is counceylour or offycer to a kyng seeth that the kynge wille doo or saye ony thing domageable and harmefull to hym or to hys Royaume or to his people and subgettis he shold addresse and remembre him of good examples of cronyckes and histories of his noble and wyse predecessour concernyng vnto that purpos in so moche, that the kyng conceyue and haue knowleche that he sayth it for his wele and worship ¶.

LEgmon was born in Ethyope and lerned his science in the londe of Asteyn in the tyme of king dauid the prophete. And was bought by a Iewe for an esclaue or bondman for. xxx. marck And his maistre pleyed gladly atte dise. and ther ran by fore his maistres gate a Ryuer. And on a tyme as his maister & an other man playde atte dyse, they leyd & sette an owche to plege, that who of them lost a game. shold do the wille of the winnar. or he shold drynke alle the water that ran & passed afore his yate. So it happend that his maistre lost. And that other comaunded him. that he sholde do hoolly his comā dement. And the loser ansuerd that he was redy to be at his Iugement. Thenne he said to him. thou shalt gyue me alle the good that thou hast of ony valewe. or thou shalt drynke all the watre of this Ryuer. And he that had lost demanded only respyte of one daye for tauise him. & that other graunted it to him And thus he abode in his hous right pensyf and ful of thoughte how he might escape fro this perille. And as he was in this thought legmon his bondman and seruaūt cam home & brouht vpon his necke a burthen of wood and salewed his maistre. ¶ The whiche gaf him no answere. for the thought that he was in. Howe be it he was accustomed for taraysone hym for the good wordes that he fonde in him, & thenne legmon said to hym Maistre who hath angred or greuid the And he answerd nothing agayn And legmon said maistre telle me the cause of thy sorow and woo, For I shal lyghtly remedye it if I may. and thenne his maistre reherced to hym all the fayte as is afore reherced, And thenne legmon said to him that he sholde in no wyse abasshe him ¶ For he wold gyue him good counceyll. Thou shalt demande him sayd he. if thou shalt drinke that the ruyer cōteyneth now thys present tyme or ellis all that, that shal renne and come continuelly, and I wote wel he shal saye that thou shal drinke al that it conteyneth now, and whan he hath so said, thou shalt saye to him, that he stoppe and make the riuyer to stā de without rennyng ony more, & that thou art redy to drinke hit that it holdeth now, and thus thou shalt wynne thy cause ¶ Whan the maister, herde the counseyll of his bondman he was moche recomforted And in like wyse on the morn̄ he said to him that had wonne the owche, & in thys wyse he escaped from the paryll, and fro thēne forthon he afranchised legmon ande made him fre that a fore was bonde and thrall And he dyde and gaf him moche good and was reputed for right a wyseman ¶ And one of his felawes of tyme past mette him on a tyme ¶ And demanded of him art thou not he that were wont to kepe sheep with me. And he answerd yes, how said that other who hath sette the in thys estate I shal telle the said legmon sayng of trouth to be trewe, and not tentende vpon vnprouffitable thinges. ¶ And it was sayd. that a voys apperyd to him whiche sayd to hym, wolt thou be a grete lord vpon therthe and he ansuerd yf god will, I will obeye him but yf he wille yene me the choyse and my playsir, I wyll peas One asked him wherfore he wolde not be a kyng, he ansuerd / yf I iuge rightfully, I may not eschewe the hate of many men. And yf I dissimile, I shal withdrawe me fro the way of paradyse I hadde leuer haue in thys world suffisaunce with pouerte & wynne the blysse of that other world than for to loue to be hyghe reysed in this world ¶ And da uid was in a place where moche peple spack among whom legmon was stylle, and he demanded him wherfore spekest not thou, as other doo. he ansuerd by cause ther is no word good but of god, ner no good silence but to thinke on god ¶ And this Iewe that was maystre of legmon gaf hym moche good, the whiche he distributed in almesse, and lente it to pouer nedy people withoute vsure. And therfore god multiplied all his goodes gretly ¶ And it is said he lef te all his richesses and made hym self a recluse in a tēple solitair •… y vnto his deth, and there prechid many fayre thm gi •… wysedoms to his sone. ¶ And said, Sone take abstinence & restrayne thy will, For yf thou preyse the wo •… de and the diuerse aduentures that dayly comen in doyng of fensis in thinge deffended of god, thou desirest but deth ther fore enforce the teschewe the euil and to folowe the good for the good mortifieth and destwyeth the euyll ¶ And sayde sone speke euer of god, and god shal euer put good wordes in thy mouth. ¶ Sone sette alway thyn owen werkys to fore thyn eyen, ¶ And other mēnys behynde the a parte Sone whan thou seest ony synnar, repreue hym not of his fawtes, but thynke on thyn owne wher of thou shalt yeue acompt ¶ Sone employe not thy corage in the loue of this world. whiche is a thing that passeth and deceyueth alle them that affie in hit. And hold the content with litill, & coueyte not the goodes of other ¶ Sone sette attemperaūce in thy lyuyng. and be replenisshid with Sapience and conuerse wyth wysemen and so mayst thou gete wysedom ¶ Sone be simple. well doyng. thinkyng moche. and of fewe wordes, but if they be trewe, and be no grete lawgher And be not dispreyser ne mocquer of other, be stylle and not ful of langage, for I haue ofter repented me of moche speking than of beyng styll. Sone Beware that the cock be not erlyer awaked in the morenyng than thou And drede god and kepe the from vayn glorie. Sone Beware that thou be defrawded for to byleue. that thou hast in the thing. whiche thou haste not. though that men bere the it on honde by flaterie ¶ Sone who loueth god best, dredeth him most. ¶ Sone lerne goodnes & after teche it forth to other. For doctours and techers wyth their techinges ben lykened vnto sprynging welles rennyng of whiche the peple ben continuelly seruid, and yet they abide alway full. And knowe thou sone that if a foole speke, he shalbe mocqued for his vncurtais speche, If he be still & speke not, he shal thinke euil, if he do ony thing / it is euill & loseth hys tyme, if he sette him to studye, he shal lese his dispēce & shal not prouffite, if of auenture he be riche he shall be proude & presumptuous, if he be poure, he shal fall in despayr. If he haue ony good garment, he wil be proude therof, If he demaū de ony thyng, he shall axe it vncurtaisly, and yf ony man axe of him to borowe. he shall denye it. If he gyue ought he shal reproche hym. yf a man gyue to him he shal conne him no thanke. whan he is mery or Ioyous it is out of me sure. And whan he is angry he is in like wyse, yf men telle him ony thing in secrete, he shal discouer it, yf he haue puissance or myght, he shal secretly seche occasion to do euill & shal trete his subgettis by vyolence. yf men felawshipe with hym, he shal make hym angrye, yf men folowe hym he fleeth the peple / who so wil correcte him, he wil not do for him but shal hate his corrector, And his felaws shal hate hym, yf he speke he wil be herd. And yf other men speke he will not here them, yf men praye hym to pardone another he shal not do it, he loueth better deceyt than trouthe, a man may not put him from his oppynyon, For euer he will haue his by him self, and who so doth euill, he reputeth it fowel don, yf he studye or speke with wyse men, he wil not me ke hym self nor take hede to hem And yf he be with a mo re fole than he is him self, he shal deffame and mocque 〈◊〉 he shal comande them to doo well. And he wil do the worst he can, And he shal comande them to saye trouthe & he shal lye, his dedes shal be moche discordaūt to hys wordes for yf his tōge saith one, his herte thinketh another yf þu be riche he saith þu art an vsurer, yf thou be poure he shal se •… e noght by the. yf thou do wel, he saith thou dost it by ypocrisie, yf thou do euil, he wil deffame the, if thou giue to him be wil •… lle the waster, yf thou gyue to him noght he shal holde the for a kai tyf & nigard. yf þu be debonayr, he shal saie thou art a beste. & who so draweth him fro his cōpanie, he saith he doth it for pri de. But the wysemā is al of other cōtrary condiciōs for he hath cōtinēce, iustice besines foryeuenes & mekenes he •… an wel speke, and be stylle in place & tyme, he knoweth & doth wel. he hath his seruaūtis in his puyssaūce & poure, he is li berall to demaūders, he is wyse in speking, and wel vnderstāding the wordes of other, If he lerne, he shal meue good questions, If men do him good he shal thanke hem, who telleth him his cōseyll, he shal kepe it secrete, & he shal truste wel in other, if he yeue, he gyueth gladly without reproche. he wil do to none other man, but as he wolde be don to. If he be riche he shal not be proude therof, If he be poure or riche he shal not forgete god. he shal alway prouffite in science. he gyueth credence to him that techeth him, he shal not grutche to a greter than he is, nor dispreyse a lasse, he shal axe nothing but if he haue right therto, he is agreable in his answers, & saith no thing but if he knowe it wel, he hydeth not his sciēce / the more he accompanyeth the men, the more he loueth them, he cōstreineth his will to trouth, whether it will or not, he correcteth him self geuing example to other, he is lightly torned to do well, if he bere witnes, it shalbe veritable, if he be a Iuge he shal iuge & do all thing truely, if men do him harme, he shal do good therfore, he coueyteth not the goodes of other men. he reputeth him self as a stranger in this world, & thinketh not, but on his departing, he doth wel and comandeth other to do the same, he defendeth euill and kepeth him self fro doyng it. And that lyeth in his herte the tonge pronounceth, and his dedes ben accordyng to his wordes. Sone vnderstande wysdom and excersise the same without thinking on other thinges for whan thou hast goten it, thou shalt be euer in Ioye ¶ And knowe that it is not goten but by debonairte & by good keping of thy tunge For the tunge is the dore of the almer •… ye of sapience, wher in euery man may wel entre, yf it be not shett, And therfo r •… men sholde kepe well the keye, that is to saye the tunge more besily than his gold or siluer. ¶ Sone lose not thyn owen thinges, for kepynge of strange thynges. For thy propre thinges ben thy goodes whiche thy saule shal bere wyth hym, And the richesses that shal abyde after thy deth shal come to other men, Sone honoure wysedom. And denye it not to them that desire it, & shewe it not to hem that despyse it ¶ Sone who that hath mercy on other, shal haue mercy on hym self ¶ Sone be thou content with that thou hast withoute coueytyng of the goodes of other, or of that whiche thou knowest, thou mayst not haue ¶ Sone receyue pacyently the wordes of correction and, of prechyng though they be hard & greuous And said he is right vnhappy that hereth & vnderstōdeth not, & yet he is more vnhappy that hereth & vnderstādeth & nothing prouffiteth to hym sone acō panye the with them that god loueth ¶ Sone yelde than •… kyngis to our lord god of the goodes that he hath made the to resseyue in humilite / & departe them to thoos that be nedy Sone yf thou haue don ony good þt the semeth good, giue no laude ne preising to thy self therof, for þu wotest not if god be pleasid with al or not, In euery worke is comonly som thing euer contrarye, & thaduersarye of the worke is proude thought, sone coueyte not the delites of this worlde but only them þt may make the nyghe to god Sone truste thou very ly in god & loue them þt obeye him & haue thē in hate þt disobeye him, sone ther is nothīg more acceptable to god thā goo de vnderstāding & that is in ten condicions that is to weten in not preysing him self, in wel doing, in beyng content of thinges nocessarie to the lyf, to gyue of his goodes for god dis sake. to will worship to him self, to kepe him self from doing shameful thingis in geting science & connyng al the dayes of his lyf, to kepe him self from angre. In giuing his loue to all them that desire it. And to repute him self werst, and the other better. for the men ben of two maners. Somme ben good. and som ben badde, Wherfore a man shold homble and meke him to bothe, to the goode in praying god to make him semblable & like to hem, to the euyll for as moch as it is not knowen. whether his goodence be within him hyd. And he wyl not shewe it by wyn glorie. And in doyng thise thinges is a man reputed for sage & wyse. Sone worshipe god and praye him that he wil kepe the from hauing an euil wyf & he wil teche & enforme her for ther is none other remedie. Sone shewe to other suche as thou hast lerned, ne felauship the not with shr •… wys. that thou be not one of them, & haue thou none affiaūce in the •… hous where the peple lyue this day & deye to morowe Sone enhabyte thy self with the wyse men continuelly, for god enlumineth their hertes by wordes of sapience in suche wyse as the goodes vnder erthe ben moysted by rayne and with dewes. And somme men saye that legmon is buried in a toun called karaualle bitwene the mesquitte and the marche, And ther ben buried. lxx. prophetes that deyde after legmon the whiche the children of ysrael kept so long in hostage that they deyde for hunger And whan Legmon was nygh his deth he wepte sore. & his sone axid him why he wepte for fere of deth or for sorowe that he had to leue the world. ¶ He ansuerd I wepe for non̄e of the two thinges but I wepe bicause I haue a way for to goo. from whiche I sawe neuer man come agayn, and I bere but litill vytaill with me. & am charged with many grete charges. And I wote neuer whether I shal be aleged & discharged ar none whan I shal come to thende of my waye ¶ And he say de to his sone, Sone thou oughtest to drede god & not only to be worshipped of men ¶ Sone whan thou comest in apsa ce where shal be spoken of god, abyde there, for if thou be a fooll, thou mayst be amēded. & become wyse, if thou be wyse thou shalt encrece thy wysdom, & if god sende them ony good thou shalt haue thy parte, but & yf thou haunte places where god is not spoken of, all the contrarye shal happen to the so ne be aferd of the vengeance of our lord as moche as thou mayst, & drede him & cōsidre his right grete puissance and might ¶ And said in like wyse as in geuing largely a man maketh of his enemy hys frende, right so by pryde a man maketh of his frende his enemy ¶ And said the wode shewith the wysedom of the man & therfore ought a man to be wel auised what he saith. ¶ And said atrewe man resteth in his trouthe, & the reward of a lyar is, that he be not bileuid of that he reherseth ¶ And said reherce ne tel nothing to him that wil not bileue the ne demaunde not that thing that thou wost wel shal not by graunted to the ne promyse no thing but thou mayst and wilt holde and kepe ¶ And saide thou oughtest a loue all thing fle the companye of a lyar, & yf thou maye not eschewe his compa nye, atte leste beware that thou bileue no thing that he saith And said sone sette the not in the hiest place for it is better that thou be taken vp fro the lowest place for to sitte in the hyest than to be taken from the hyest and be sette al benethe ¶ And saide Sone yet ones I comande the that thou drede god aboue alle thinges, for that is thing rightfull & prouffitable to the, ¶ And do so that alle thy thoughtes be alway in him and thy wordes semblably. for the spekyng and thinkyng in god surmoūteth alle other wordes and thoughtes as he him self surmoūteth alle other creatures And therfore men ought to obeye him. notwithstonding ony other thing that they ben constreyned to, Sone make thy orisons & prayers duly to him. for prayer is as a ship that is in the see. for yf she be good she shalbe sauf and all that ben therin. And if she be euill, she shal perisshe & alle they that be therin And saide A man may lightly fynde his liuyng and his necessitees in this world. which is of litill duryng as to vs creatures. but a man sholde pour ueye him of thinges necessaries, for to bere with him whan he shal departe hens ¶ And saide, How may a man make another to chaunge his wille. that can not refreme his owne will ¶ And said Good will ys one of the goodes wherof god is seruid, And gladly to here thinges lowable is to him agreable. And a curtoyse ansuer ought moche to be preysed ¶ If the behoueth to sende ony message or legacion. sende a wyseman and if thou maist none finde goo thy self ¶ And said byleue not him that lyeth to the of another man, for he shal lye in like wyse to another mā of the And saide it is more light to chaūge montaignes fro one place to another. than for to make him vnderstā de that hath none entendement ¶ And said do not that of which thou sholdest haue shame to see another do it. Two pacientis ben in thys worlde of whiche one is he that seeth & endnreth paciently that he hateth, & that other is to refrayne his wil. Ther ben thre estates of men that ben knowen but in thre maners, that is to witte the paciēt is not knou en but in his aduersite & in his Ire. The valyant man is not knowen but in warre And the frende is not knowen but in necessite, ¶ Of alle other maners & condicions the worst is a man to be suspecionous of his frende. and to discouer thinges secrete, to haue truste and affiaunce in euery man. to speke ouermoche of thynges vnproffitable and to be in daūger of euil peple for couetise of goodes tem porell, ¶ And saide the thought is the myrrour of the man wherin he may beholde his beaute & his filth ¶ And he saide beware & kepe the for to be suspecōus. for suspecion taketh a way the loue fro the peple Witte without doctrine is a tre without fruyte. And said for to be Ioyous & to salewe eue ry man gladli, to be liberal in gyuyng & receyuing & to for gyue gladli his euil, wil makē a mā to belouid of eche body.

ANese the philosophre saith, Whan men were olde Their vertues ben dispysed, And the riche men ben more ferful than poure men. ¶ And he said the noble deth is better than a vyle domynacion And said the moste and grettest ewre or happe of a man is to haue a good felawe, nowe thenne accompanye the with good peple and thou shalt be one of them ¶ One of the grettest vylonyes & iniquitees of the world is for to do vylonie vnto an impotent ꝑsone And said If thou hast don ony trespas or sinne repence the anon without abiding vnto the moren 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 And he said thou oughtest to gyue him thanke, that doth the good of what cōdicion that he be of, so that he do it liberally & in good entente And said he may not knowe ne apperceyue many thingis, that can not apperceyue ne knowe him self, And said if thou wilt haue enduring loue with another put thy self in payne tēforme him in goode maners & said yf a king be iuste & rightful he shal seygnorie & be lord ouer the corages of his peple if he be otherwyse though he be named for thaire kyng yet wil they haue their corages

SAcdarge saith that the werkes of this vnto another world ben guided by two thingis one is by science of whiche the soule is adressyd. & that other is bysenes of whiche the soule & the body ben entreteigned & kny •… And said men leue for to do moche harme & euil whan they doubte & fe re our lord, and said noblesse of lignage is right couenable to receyue sciēce, Thentenciō of the mā shold be for to refrai ne his corage from fylth & foule thinges, for the good lyf maketh the good renōme & causeth a good ende, he is right exessēt which is honourable in al his •… isportes, & of whom the wytte surmonteth the Ire He saide late it suffise to the to be so wyse, that thou cāst do wel & kepe the fro doyng euil Ther is nothing so euil vnto a man, as to be euil en •… ctri ned, and in especyall, whan he is yssued of noble and good lignage And said for to conne science / it is a right honourable & prouffitable thing For by hir the goodes of this world and of that other ben goten, A wyse man wil nothing haue of his prynce but that whiche he hath goten by sayng trouthe and by his good werkes. ¶And sayd he is a good lord that taketh vpon him payne to kepe his sugdttis in suche wyse, as he kepeth his owen body. and that he be not so rigorous and opressing. that them behoueth to leue his lordship ¶And that also he be not to them so debonayr. that they dispyse his maundementis ¶And he said the most curteys gyuer is he. that gyueth without axing ¶And saide In what someuer place thou be with thyn ennemye / be it in disporte or other wyse. make all way good wacche on thy self though so be thou be strenger than he and mightier yet laloure al way to make peas ¶And sayd in like wyse as it is grete peyne to the body of a man to susteyne thing that is inpossible to him, right so is it agreuous thing to a wyseman for to teche a foole ¶And sayd A suspecious man may neuer haue good lyf And saide. he is right Ignoraunt and vnkynde that can not gyue thankyng for the goodenesse that is don to him. but yet he is more vnkynde that denyeth it to other ¶And sayde. He that demaundeth but reason is able to wynquysshe and ouercome his ennemye

THesille saide Thou oughtest to lone bettir the Rude wordes that ben prouffitable and true. than the swete wordis that ben of deceyte and flateringe Som men put venym in swete drinkis and the medicines that sonest heleth people. aren byttre, and of euille sauour And saide. It is a foule thing to be so curious for the fedyng of the body. that it hurteth bothe it: the soule And saide as a shipman taketh not the see without he seth that he hath a couenable wynde. no more shuld a man dispose him to ony maner werkis without that it were conuenable for the soule, And said thou oughtest to do that, that is most proufytable for the body. and rather that. that is moost couenable for thy saule. & not to do the contrarye ¶And said he that can wele conseille other, ought to conseille wele hym self and haue remembraunce to the saluacion of hys saule, for it is a grete vice, to a man to worship & helpe ano ther and disworship and hurt hym self ¶And said as it bycometh euill a man, that hath afoule & vnclene body to be clothed with cloth of gold or with cloth of sylke. right so it is afoule thing to haue grete beawte of body and of vysage and be full of euill werkys. And said we ought by reason to kepe cleenly our bodyes. we ar mor specyaly bounde to kepe honestly and wese that. that yeueth vs know lege of our lord god. that is the wysedom of the saule and not to hurte or ouercom it with meetes or drynkes. And it was axid of him howe a man myght kepe him from Ire And he ansuerd, in remembryng that it is inpossible he shulde al weye be obeyed, but that he must somtyme obeye And that he shall not alwaye cōmaunde but he shalbe cō maunded. And also that god seeth all thing. & yf he hath this in consideracion. he shulde not longe be wroth, and he sawe agrete fatte man to whom he saide thou paynes the sore to breke the wallis of thy pryson, ¶And said whan thou shalt correcte another shewe hit not like him that wold benge him of his ennemy but do as the phisician that cour toysely speketh to his pacient. And whan thou shalt correcte thyself shewe the as the hurt man doth to hys leech

SAint Gregorie seide Recomaunde to god the begynnyng & the ende of al thy werkis And said studie, and trauaylle to knowe alle thinges, and reteyne and holde wyth the thoos that ben moost proffytable, ¶And saide. pouerte is euyll. but euill richesse moche worse And said be thou pacient and haue reason in thy wrath, and lighte thy self wyth Sapience in stede of cādel and presume not to be better than thou art. but thinke thou art dedely. Repute the for a straūger & thou shalt worshippe the straungers ¶And saide whan thy ship shal be laden with grete transquillite than thou oughtest fere to be drowned ¶And said men ought to receyue meryly alle that god sendeth hem. ¶And said the hattered of good men is better than the loue of euyl peple ¶And sayd frequente and haunte the companyes of wysemen and not of the riche ¶And saide dispraise not a litel of goode thin ges. for they may gretely encresse and amende ¶And said Endure paciently without takyng vengeauce.

GAlyen was one of the. viij. leches Right excellent in medycine. whiche were al. viij. superlatyf aboue all other lechis. of the whiche the first was Esculapyus The seconde Gorius The therde Myrius The four the Promenides. The. v. platon. The. vj. Esculapius the seconde The. vij. Ypocras The. viij. Galyen whiche had none like to him, He was borne after the Incarnacion of oure lord. ij. C. yeres And he composed and made wese a iiij. C. volumes of bookis among which therben, viij, that ben studyed in suche thinges as men desire to lerne of the art of medicine. his fader was right diligent to put him to the scole & spendid moche good vpon him, & sent hym in to the countre of Asie in the cite of Pargame. Athenes Rome & Alexādrie, for to finde the best maistres, And there he lerned physik geometrie, gramayre, and other scienc̄es And he lerned physik of a woman called cleopatre whyche taught hym many goode herbis. And prouffitable to all manere of sekenesses. And he dwelled long in Egipte for to knowe all thyse herbis ¶ And long after he deyed nygh the Cyte of Escam, fast by the grene see. in the marches of egypte. And in his youthe he desired gretly to kno we the science demonstratiue. And he was so enclyned to lerne hyt. that whan he departed from the scole wyth other childeren his mynde was euer vpon that. that hys mayster hadde taught hym. wherof his felowes mokkyd hym And axed hym why he wolde not play, and sporte hym with hem. To whom he sayd. I take as grete pleasaunce to recorde my lesson. as ye do in your pleyes. wher of hys said felawes hadde grete meruaylle. ¶ And sayde that hys fader was happy to haue suche a childe. and to put hym to the scole. that so wele loued wysdom. hys fader was a grete labourer. his graunt fader was a souerayn maystre carpen ter. and hys grauntsirs fader was an harper and meter of landes whiche is the science of geometrie. Galyen was at Rome in the reigne of kyng Octauyen whiche reygned after Adrien and their he made a booke of anascomie and many other traityes. Som sey that grete part of hys bookis were brent and among hem som of aristotilles bookys written with his hand & of danagoras & of. Andromache and a booke that he hadde made of trya •… les for venyms. & taught the kyng of grece to breke the hilles. and felle the vallees and to make pleyne weyes in ther countres and edyfied. Cytees and closed hem wyth bigge walles and also to make ryueres renne thorugh the townes ¶ And in other places. where nede was And to do all other thinges that were to the commone proffyt ¶ And in thoos dayes they hadde more delectacion aud pleasaunce to the goode rule and gouernaunce of their lordship than to the ease & pleasaunce of their owne bodyes. And their hertis were moche sette to haue goode vnyuersitees & scoles of grete clerkes. And specially in physyke ¶ And also they ordeigned in euery Cuntre and region certayn folkis to gader herbes & to breng them to the maistres of physyke for to preue them by experience ¶ And the same herbes thus approued were sent to the kinges closid and sealled with their sealles. to thentent that they shulde not be chaunged and than the kynges ordeigned hem for seke folkis ¶ And the said Galyen sayd wysdom can not prouffit to a foole Ne wi •… e to him that vseth it not ¶ And sayd Heuynesse cometh of the thinges passed. and thought of thinges to comme And Galyen was foure score yere and. vij. whan he sayd that many grete lordes be Ignoraunte. Whan they be more enclyned to haue fayre horsses and riche gownes. and other Iewels. than to wynne goode fame by good condicions ¶ And saide The physiciens were wont to haue lordship and to gouerne seke folkis and to cause them to do suche thinges as were most expedient and prouffitable for their helth. and no seke man durst disobeye his physycien but shulde be compelled to obeye him wherfore they were the the soner recouered and hole. ¶ And nowe the leches been subgettis to the seke folkis And be compelled to handylle hem easely. and softely ¶ And to yeue hem swete drinckis thogh it auayleth hem but litill, and ther fore is ther the more sekenesses, and lenger vnhelth ¶ And said, somtyme thoo that were moost sobre in their metis and lest dranke wyne were best byloued and most praysid, and nowe the most glottons, and thoo that oftenest ben dronken ar the most set by, and the rather sette atte grete lordes bourdes, whiche yeueth euill exempell to other And said thou mayst wele Instructe all men, sauf onely thoos that be withoute shame. ¶ And said, a man that knoweth wele him self hath pouer ynowe to correcte him self ¶ And said a man may loue him self so moche, that he is deceyued therby for we se many that wene and seme to be goode, and ar contrarye, ¶ And said, he is iuste that may bothe do right or wronge and yet kepe Iustice. And •… e is wyse and dyscrete that knoweth that, that suffisith to be knowen and that doth vertuousely to euery creature And sayd like as a seke man desireth, not to departe from his phisicien, till he hath recouerid his helth whiche he cowde not do by him self In like wyse a man ought to desire the companye of a confessour for the helth of his saule And he sawe a man that was gretly made of and cherisshed with kynges for the strenght of his body of whom he sayde, perauenture It shal cause him to repente hit at last

IT was asked of one called protege, wherfore it was that one of his neyghbours made dye his here in blak, he ansuerd, by cause no man shulde aske to lerne sapience of him, & plures sayde, the more good that a foole hath the more he is fowle. And it was axid of one aristan, whan it was goode to lye with a woman, he ansuerd, at altymes whan a man will hurt enpayre and feble his body, And yt was asked of dymicrates wherby he knewe and perceyued best his witte ¶ He ansuerd In that, that I thynke, I vnderstande aud knowe but littylle ¶ And saide the wyseman that replieth ys bettir than the foole that accordeth to euery porpose, And ther was awyse man called azee, that was a prisonner to whom his mays ter axed, of what kynrede he was He ansuerd enquere not of my lynage, but axe of my prudence and connynge, and was axed of another called, Sygonce. also prisonner of one that wolde haue bought him, wherto he was good. And he ansuerd to be deliuerd, and another man axid of hym If it ware goode that he shulde bye hym. To whom he ansuerd I am nothing worth but ye or som other bye me, & a nother saide he dispraisith him self. that dispraiseth alle other, and yeueth him self lawde. And ther was one that praied god to kepe him from the daunger of hys frendis And it was asked him, why he prayed not rather, that god sholde kepe him from his enemyes than fro his frēdes ¶ And he ansuerd, for asmoche. as I may wele kepe me from myn ennemyes in whom I haue no trust, but I may not kepe me from my frende whom I truste. It was axed of awyseman whiche be the moost noble worldly thynges To whom he ansuerd, to loue sapience, and to hate fooly nat to be aschamed to lerne And it was axed of Archasā whiche be the sciences that children shulde lerne ¶ He ansuerd thoos that cause them to hate ignorance in their age

And it was axed of another. why he wold haue no siluer and he answered. for asmoche as it cometh to men by fortune & is kept by nygardship & couetise & is often fo lish •… ly spent & to euyl vse, And another saide the loue of a foole shalbe more noysant to the than his hatered. And ther was a man that saide to another, I shall put my peyne and dyligence to distroye the. ¶He ansuerd and said I shal enforce me to distroye thy malyce. & appease thyn Ire And ther cam bysore a kyng .iij. wysemen The one was a greke. The other a Iewe. And the therde a sarasyn. of whom the said kyng desirid. that ych of them wold vtter som good and notable sentence. Than the Greke sayd I may wele correcte and amende my thoughtis, but not my wordes. Than the Iewe sayd I haue meruayll of them. that saye thinges preyudiciall, where scilence were more prouffitable. ¶And the sarasyn saide, I am maister ouer my wordes / or it be pronunced / but whan it is spoken I am seruaūt therto. ¶And It was axed one of them Who myght be called a kyng And he ansuerd. He that is not subgect to his owne will ¶And assaron saide to an euille payer that desired to borowe money of him, that he wolde lene him none. for I knowe wel that he coude not displease him so moche in refusing the lone, as in axyng him his payemēt ayen ¶And saide, The wysemen speke with good deliberacion, & the fooles speke without aduisement ¶And Teofrates saide he is of good condicion that reporteth & sayeth good of other folkis, & kepeth secret their defaultes And it was axed of disconie what thingis were most necessarie for a man to kepe him out of other folkis daunger And he answered If he be riche to lyue moderately. and yf he be pouer to laboure dylygentely ¶And Nycomake said ther is not so goode a doctour, as discrecion, ne so goode apre cher as ihe tyme, & he that correctith hym by other is right diligent & wele occupyed. And it is bettir to take exemple by other than other to take yt by hym ¶And Thymetus said. medle nor vndertake not with the gouernaunce of a foole. for he can not peyse nor conceyue, what good thou doost to hym, no more than a horse or other beestis take hede wheder they be charged wyth gold or grauell, and yt was axed of Aathelyn. why men been punisshed for their mysdedes. and not for their thoughtes ¶He sayd their thoughtes aren reserued onely to god ¶And 〈◊〉 menyus sayd, ther be .iij. thyngis that a prynce ought to eschewe. The fyrste is to moche drynkyng. The seconde is to moche delectacion in musyke. ¶And the therde do tyng of women, for thyse .iij. thyngis put awey alle his other good thoughtes ¶And sayd thought for thingis lost and euill doon. that can not be amended foryetyng therof is the medycine. ¶And sayd trouth is good to be sayde. & specially whan it prouffyteth euery body. And said. If thou can not atteyn to the wysedom of auncient men at the lest studye and see ther bookis & somme profyt thou maeyst haue therby. And quidarius said I haue mer uayle of thoos that blame so moche the foule thingis vpon other and think hem fayr vpon hem self Dimycrates saide pacience is a castelle imprenable & worship is the fruyte of trouth & repētaunce is the fruyte of haast And it was axyd of dithomages, why the riche men be more prowde than wysemen, & he sayd for the wysemen knowen and dreede our lord and vnderstande what offence pride is vnto him. but the riche man taketh none hede therto. And som axed of him whiche was better to haue sapience or richesse. And he sayde. ther is no goode richesse, but it be aswele proffytable in the other world as in this. but sapiēce is good for either world. It was tolde Aristotles that a man had said goode of him. Aud he saide I shal recompense it, They axed him In what maner. And he sayd I will seie of him in like wyse ¶And Octyphon saide A mannes witte can not at teyne to do thinges aboue his vnderstanding. but vndre he may execute like as ye may put no more wyn in a pype than it cōteyneth but lesse ye may ¶And Oricas saide a man of goode vnderstanding may wele eschewe grete quātite of the infortunes of this world. like as the goode shipman knoweth by experience the weder likly to be in the see ¶Samaron saide I haue lost all that I had, & therfore I fere no thing, And saide In all thy entreprises, haue more truste in thy science than in thy strength ¶Gregorius saide, The peyntours may wele make pictures semblable to thinges But the propre thing none can make, but only god & nature ¶And the kyng Armesys calling to him his brethren saide to them, If ye wol repute & take me, but only as your brother I wil shewe you that I am your kyng, but & ye take me for your kyng I shal shewe you, that ye ar my brethren And Tales milostius saide I haue grete meruay le of them that for wordely goodes put hem dayly in perille by londe & by water of deth / aswele by fete of merchādise as other wyse, not knowing who shall succede or depart their good after their deth, & myght with lesse daūger & peyne lerne Sapience. by the whiche ther goode name and fame shulde be more lawded and praysed, as it is sayde in a pro uerbe, he is not dede whoos renomme and fame lastith Pyctagoras sayde, Science hath non ennemyes, but ignorant men ¶And saide clateringe of fooles is displeysir to wysemen, Lyke as the stenche of a kareyn is to them that smell it, for the foole knoweth no more the fawte of his spe che than the kareyn doth of his stenche, And it was axed of another howe men myght kepe him from moche drynking And he ansuerd in beholding wele the grete Incon uenientis that be fall to dronken men. ¶And Eugen •… saide Many persones hauyng reason and vnderstandyng axen candell, and light for to ete theyr mete, but fewe persones ther be that kyndelle & sharpe their wyttes in geting sciences for the prouffyte of their saules. And Esecon sa •… de, deth is displesaunt to all persones sauff to the wysemen for sapience is the thing that moost lettith the fere of deth And adrien saide, If I shulde not loue sapiēce, but be cau seshe dispraised deth, yet shulde I loue her ¶And hermes sayde the grete prouffyt that I haue founde in sapience Is that I haue composed and knyt alle my thoughtes in one And quiramis said Amā may not be withoute thoughtes than he ought to remēbre the thinges ppetuel And said som thinke it goode, that euery body were of like condycion but thinketh the contrarye, for then euery man wolde commande and non obeye. And demepates said whan thou to mest in to a straunge countre, herken disigently. after the langage & reason of the peple ¶And if thou fynde thy self as wyse or wyser then they. Endoctryne them. And ellys peyn thy self to lerne of theyre lore and doctrine rather than to besy the in other ydell and wyne occupacions ¶ A phylosopher whiche was dysciple of Pytagoras saide, He ought not to be callid manly that wylle strike him. that can not defende him self ¶ And Silde seide in all thingis the meane is best ¶ And to lyne warely is a grete tresure ¶ And to lyue wastfully causith pouerte ¶ And it is inpossible to please all men ther with And saide. be not wroth with him that sayth trouth. haue pacience and good shal come to the therfore ¶ And said the wykkid lordis resemble to the dronken men that in their dronkenship hate all fayre and goode vertues. and louen alle vices and filthys but when his dronkenship is passed he is ashamed of his dedis ¶ And saide. A kyng of goode witte & discre cion ought to be wele content and pleased, when men offre him their seruice And ought in his peas and prosperice to worship & cherisshe his knyghtis & men of werre and to paye them wele their wages. all be it he wene to haue none ennemyes, for he can not be sure, howe sone he shal haue nede of his seruauntis ¶ And Melious saide He is not riche to whom the richesses lasten but litil. ne fre whan they may be lyghtly taken. But the laudable Rychesses len thoos. that duren perpetuelly ¶ And Brakalyke sayd, The couetous man. hath noo reste. ¶ And the nygard may neuer by Ryche, ¶ And Phelype kyng of Macedone saide to thoos that counseylled hym to bren the Cyte of Athenes ¶ whan he hadde wonne it. We shuld than seme men dyscounfyt. where we haue ouercomme our ennemyes ¶ And Archydes sayd. The tunge may welle make lesyngis. wythoute thassent of the herte And ther fore it is conuenient that the tonge and the hert be of one opynyon ¶ And said, Make no desir to god for that, that thou mayest wele haue, whiche is suffisaunce but pray and require him that, that thou hast may suffise the Pitagoras saide, he that beleueth not the resurection of man is like a dome beeste that fallith for febilnes ¶ And said A man ought to do his werkis, by deliberacion, & by grete prouision and not sodaynly ¶ And said yf thou wil excede thyn ennemy, calle him no foole nor taletellar nor obiecte none of his vices, for thy blamyng wer to him agrete laude. ¶ And saide he that wolde be laudid of his work •… s ought to haue a trewe frende to reporte them ¶ And said kepe thy frende aboue all thingis ¶ And thinke what •… est thou shalt haue, yf thou lake a trewe frende, if thy house fall down, thou shal not lese therby, but the departing of the sto: nes & the tymbre, but if thou lese thy frende, thou mayst ge •… therby many ennemyes. ¶ And saide whan a man is in grete Ire & wrath, he may be likened to an house taken with fire in which, for the quātite of the smoke & of the noyse of the fiere, ther may no man see ne here therin & may also be likened to a shyp in an outrageous tēpest in the see, whyche wil not be wele condyted nor stered for the feruentnesse of the same tēpest, & so whan a mānes blode & corage is ste red with wrathe and Ire, ther may no persuasions nor hol som counseil auail nor stere him to his proufit, & is so curs sid that a litill sparke of hyt makith lightly a grete fiere yet wrath is many atyme pacefied by silence, as the fiere quenchith when the brondis be taken awey, Also a dronken man can nat perceyue his drōkenship til he be sobre, & after whan he seeth another dronken, he knoweth therby in what was he was in ¶ Also the angred man retourned by his paciēce & seeth another angry, may wele perceyue his owne defawtes ¶ And saide. We see comonly women sonner angry than men, the seke men rather than the hole. the olde man lightlyer than the yonge. wherfore it is to be thought that wrath cometh of feblenesse of courage, And a maistre rebuked his clerck seyng, holde thy peas bondemans sone And he ansuerd, I am not the lesse worth for my kynne But thou art the wors for thy condicions ¶ And saide A wyseman ought to saye that, that is cōuenient & somtyme to here that, that is not to be said ¶ And saide ther is no thing that greueth somoche thy frende, as to shewe him that thou hast him suspect And saide Companye & dele so with the peple, that they wissche after thy p̄sense. whan thou art absent, & that they lament & be waile thy deth a man wepte whan his sone was boren, And it was axid of him why he wepte & ought rather to be ioyefull. And he ansuerd I wepe for my sone that goth nowe to warde his deth, And it was axed of him what maner peple be leest behated And he ansuerd thoo that may nother helpe nor hurt & that doth nother good nor harme, for the euil peple hate the goode, & the goode hate the euil And saide Custume is harder to bre ke than nature. And said ther ben, ij, maner of abstinēce One is with goode wyl. & the other by force. whiche is not goode. And a nother saide, speke but prouffitable thinges nor ete no more than for thy sustynaūce, & seke to haue nothing, but that is possible to be had. ne compleyne the not of thy frendis, take non̄ vnhope of that. that thou maist not amende Aske nothing of the couetous man, teche that thou can, yeue that thou hast. haue pacience in thyn aduersitees Do to be written in thy seale or in thy signet / bothe goode pe ple and bad shal ende, & beholde that sentence often. And said. Short remembraunce & hastenesse of speche maketh many a tyme man fayle and erre in his Iugement. And one Rebuked a wyseman, To the whiche the wyseman saide. Thou rebukes me nat of alle my vices. And It was axid of him, why he wolde haue no sone. he ansuerd I had leuer be withoute. for whan I beholde the grette loue that a mā hath to his chylde & the grette peynes & troubles he hath to bryng him vp, and atte last must lese him, that sorowe were more to me, than the Ioye. It was aduised one that was goyng in a ferre vyage, that he shuld nat holde his Iurney, lest he dyed therin ¶ And he ansuerd That deth is alle one to me, be it in other Countrees or at home And It was axid of another what thing is not to be don though it be iuste & trew And he ansuerd a man ought not to prayse him self. of eny of hys goode dedis ¶ And saide It is somtyme good to spare the sothe for to yeue hope to his ennemyes, & to saue his frendis frō deth for trouth nedeth not alwayes be saidAnd it was axid of him what thing was most delectable ¶ And he ansuerd helthe whiche is not sure to be kept long in one degre & is moste diffycile. ¶ And said. A man that desireth to come to eny grete wele, ought not to leue it though he atteyn not therto at the first. but ought to continue his entreprise for it cometh at one tyme. that cometh nat at. C. And saide the wyseman is not deceyued by flateringis deceyuable or swete wordes, like as the snake, whiche ys taken & eten by the pecok in beholding the fayr fethres of his tayle. And awitty prince may helpe him in his warres aswele with bad peple as with good in diuers maners ¶ And said If thou ha •… e a man. thou oughtest not therfore hate all his seruantes ¶ And said. Though a man haue bought abooke It compelleth hym not to studye and rede therm Aud said. Men ought to serue god in. x. maneris. that is to wytte. to yelde him graces. for the benefetes that he hath yeue hym. to bere paciently hys aduersitees to speke trewly. to paye all that he promytteth, to Iuge right wysely to be temperate. to do goode dedis after hys pouer or he be required. to worschipe hys frendis. to foryeue the fawtes of hys ennemyes. to desire nor do ony thyng to ony man but as he wolde be don to ¶ And one was blamed bicause he hadde yeuen his siluer to an euylle persone. beyng in ne cessite •… And he said I haue not yeuen hym my siluer for hys badnes. but by cause he was in necessite ¶ And saide excercite of diuers labours is helth and delectacion of the body ¶ And was axed him. sithen whan he was waxed wyse. And he ansuerd. sithen the tyme that I began to disprayse and mystxyst my self. he herde a man reherse lesingis and vntrewe wordes. To whom he sayd. If thou hardest another fey. that thou sayest. thou woldest not byleue him wherefore thou maeyst wel thynke noman bileueth the ¶ And Aristophanus sayd. Victorie of worde is not victorie in dede. but the veray victorie is in the werke. And Anaxagoras sayde A good wyseman fereth not the deth for wysedom gouerneth hys wytte. hys tonge & hys voyce trouth gydeth his herte and his will, pytie & mercy ben his frendis. seking of wysemen ben his fete, his lordship is Iustyce. his reigne is mesure. his swerde is grace, his wepen is peas, his arowe is saluacion, his knyghthode is the counseylle of wysemen. his ornamentis ben strength, his tresoure is discipline. his loue is the companye of good peple, his loue & all his desir is to fle synne & to serue & loue god. And saide A grette tresour is to haue frendis & is a noble affection, wherfore it is conuenient to cherisshe & kepe hem wele, & to winne one by another as oon byrd draweth many moo into his company And a kyng axid of a wrse man whom he reputed able to be a good Iuge And he ans uerd He that is not deceyued by flateries / þt is not corrupt by yeftes, & is not deceyued for fawte of discrecion ¶ And another saide Sclandrers ben wors than theues, for theues stele but the goodes & sclandrers take & distroye loue And another said worship yeuen without cause atte last tourneth to shame. ¶ And another saide It were better to be in companye & conuersaunt with a serpent. than with an euil woman. And saide one ought to doubte the subtilitees & craftes of his ennemy if he be wyse, and if •… e be a fole th •… drede his folies And another said the most liberal in this worlde is he that reputeth for a grete thing the goode dedis that be don to him & that he reputeth for litil that he hath don to other & that holdeth him content with that he hath be he pouer or riche. & said the moost nigard of al men is he that axid inportunatly after he is ones denied & refused his asking, and another said enuie distroieth the world & freteth & wereth it as the filth of a gonge doth euery swetnesse. & another said, like as no thing may be writen in a peyre of tables all redy wryten in, with out the first writyng be put out, All in like wyse the vertues and noblesses may not be hadde in no body withouten the vices & wrecchednesses been first put awey And another saide like as a man may not all at ones, by holde with one eye the skye, & with the other the erth, In like wyse a man may not arredye & dispose his wytte to vertues, & to vyces to gyder ¶ And another saide the right stedefaste loue is whan the frendis ben of like con dicions, and yf they be dyuerse or contrarious vnneth that loue many long endure ¶ And saide peple ought to dowte their kyng & him obeye with fere & in loue. And som axed him whan the witte of man was parfeyte ¶ And he sayd whan that he speketh trouth ¶ And another saide the enui ous hateth the liberall, and the nygarde is wroth with that another spēdeth And another said al getting may not be iustified ne helth may not be by glotonie, n •… frēdeship with decepcion ne noblesse with badde discipline ne loue with pri de ne iustice with necessite ne rest of hert with enuie ne wit te & discrecion with vengeaunce nor ꝓces without conseill And another said truste not a foole nother for loue ne for neyghbourship for it were as good to haue to thy neyghbour ahouse take with fiere. & another said he is thy grete ēnemy whoos werkis ben harde bittre & noyeng to the & his wordes swete & curtoys, & another said the wysemen endure here al their lyues lasting, & after their deth their goode wor kes shal lastē in mēnes myndes. & another said cōsideraciō of the ende of the workis helpeth moche to the goode cōclusiō And another said, thou ought to loue though thou be not louedAnd another sayde afoole weneth ener that god hath no thing wele don nor employed, but that he hath ye uen him & semeth that he coude haue made & ordeigned this world bettir than god hath don, how be it he can not goune his owne persone onely And another saide be willyng to yeue the nedy peple, & in so doyng thou shalt do seruice & ple aser to our lord god And another said bettir is a man to holde his peas than to contrarye & argue with a foole / & is as good to haue the ennemyte of bad peple as their frende ship, & the harde & the sharp lyf in wele doyng. is bettir than the swettest in doyng euil dedis, & it is bettir to be without fame than to haue hit bad, & pouerte is bettir than the riches of keytyues. & the poure man without vices is bettir than the riche man that is worshipped for his synnes And ano ther saide It were bettir not to knowe an inuiste kyng than to be his cōseyllour, or next in his grace And another said If thou yeue for to haue fame only therby that is not life ralite for thou dost it but forthyn owne auayse ¶ And ano ther said He ys of no laudable lyf that is not this day as good or bettir as he was the day passed And another said thou shalt not mowe haue that. that thou desirest withoute that thou bere paciētly the greues that thou woldest not haue And another said a man shalbe in thy handes as long as he shal truste the And it was axid of a wysemā, why he desired not to haue a sone, he ansuerd by cause that I haue had ynough a do for to chastise my body and to adresse my soule without hauing eny other ꝑsone to rule or teche ¶ And it was axid of him, who was he that most repenteth him in thys world.And he answered. The wyseman at hys deth, by cause that he hath not wrought allwayes after sapi ence & he that hath don goode to an vnkinde man. And it was axed of him, what thing ēcresed the lawe He ansuerd trouth. And what sustyneth trouth, Reason and wytte & wherby is wytte gouerned, by kepyng of the tong, & howe is the tonge kept, with pacience, what causeth pacience deed of god. and what causeth dred of god. Often to speke & remembre deth, and to considere and knowe his fraylnes ¶ And other said superfluyte maketh the body seke wyn troublith the wytte, wrath is contrarye to wysedom, but tem perance conforteth the hert, and put aweye al heuinesse and causith helth. ¶ And saide howe be it that a wyse man be of lowe kynred yet is he noble, and though he be astranger he shold be worshipped, & though he be pouer yet the peple haue nede of him ¶ And auother saide he that endureth & taketh no payn in his youth restith him not in his age. And ano ther sayde the errour of a foole yeueth litille veste to hys thoughtis. And another saide the tonge of adiscrete man is in his herte & the herte of a foole is in his tonge, And a nother saide not withstanding thy nature vse euer more goode & laudable cōdicions And another said a mā ought cōtinuelly to enquere what men say of him & where in they lawde him & wher in thei blame him if they lawde him he to yeue that cause continuelly withoute pride therof & yf they blame him, he to beware from fallyng any more in to that caas and not to hate hem for thair auertissement ¶ And saide he is, wyse that is humble and meke in his myght & pouoir. ¶ And whan he is in grete astate to dysprayse the world, and is attemperate in grete auctorite. And one desired of a wyseman to telle him the difference bytwyx this world and the other world. And he ansuerd. this world is Adreme, And the other world is a thyng a wa kedAnd another saide. Bettir is to speke wele than to kepe scilence. and bettir to kepe silence than to speke euil And another saide I haue acompayned me with the riche men & haue seen their riche arraye clothing & other thingis better than myn were. wherof I had suche enuie & mesan •… o lye that I myght haue no reste in my self, Than I acompayned me with pouer men, like as I was, & than I was satisfyed & in peace And another saide like as a man that is in a derke kaue may not se his propre figure. In like wyse the soule that is not clene nor pure may not clerely se perceyue ne knowe the trewe and perfytte goodenesse of almyghty godAnd another saide like as the children whan they be borne in peyne & entred into this world reioysse hem after whan they be grete, & fele the delices and eases therof, In like wyse men be sorowfull whan they shal dye. yet if they haue lyued wele. they go after in to a 〈◊〉 world. where they than shal resioysse them perpetually ¶ And another said, As the goodenesse of wysemen goth eumore in a mending In like wyse goth the malices of the fooles euery day in empayringAnd another said If thou correcte a wysemā, he shal thanke the therfore, & if thou teche a foole. he shal dyspreyse the ¶ And saide He ys thy verray frende that in thy necessite offerith him self & alle his goodes vnto the And another saide the gouernour of a wyseman is pacience and the goueruour of a foole is pride. And another said a man that is slowthfull in his werkis is cōmonely enuious of the wele of other men ¶ And another sayde It is goode toenquere twies of thinges vnknowen, for the first question is of wille, and the seconde is of discrecion And another saide trouth is goddes messager wherefore she must be worshipped for the loue of her maister ¶ And another said, he that multiplieth hys temporall goodes dyminueth his espūalles. And another saide thoos that byleue and drede god stedfastlye haue not delectacion but onely in him & in his werkis ¶ And another saide the moost laudable werkis that one may doo is to obeye the maundemētes & pleaser of our lord god, and the werke of the body Ioigned to the werke of the herte is more laudable than the werke of the herte onely ¶ And another said the euile creatures been wors than serpentes lyons or caraynes, And in like wyse as vpon the erthe, ther is nothing bettir than the goode creatures Right so ther is no thing wors than thoos that be wykked. ¶ And another saide he that taketh vpon him higher astate, than to him bilongith, putteth grete peyn to be euill spoken of ¶ And a nother saide he that will haue reste in his lyf, ought to kepe hym from. iiij. occasions, the first is that he ought not to be wroth though som creature lyue, whiche he wolde haue dede seconde is yf som dye whiche he wolde haue alyue. th •… therde is. yf he hath not that, that he desireth. and the fourthe is. yf he see that fortune raise and bring vp somother of lower degre than he is ¶ And another saide to entermedle and dele litille with wordely werkis is a thing that may beste kepe a man from alle inconuenientis. ¶ And another saide the more a wyseman is alone the greter is his Ioye be it day or nyght And another said the euil disposed king is like a caraygne þt maketh the erth stenke aboute it, & the goode king is like the fayer rēnyng ryuire that is prouffita ble to the creatures And another said The wysemē ar nat content to prouffite onely them self, but semblably do auā tage to other, & the fooles hurte not onely them self, but rather take grete labour to hurte & trouble other folkes And another said, a foole for a litill thing exposeth him •… ightly to fortune. And said thou maiest not be so wele arrayed nor be seen, as with trouth, And another saide absteynyng from wrath and couetise is a laudable thing aswele in this worlde, as in the other ¶ And another saide, he that yeueth conseyle & praysith it him self wold feyn be callid 〈◊〉 And another said lete not to do wele though thy good dedis ben not knowen, for wele doyng is so goode of hit self that it shalbe willable ynough to the att •… last And another sai de, a man of goode discrecion, ought not to excercise hym in thinges inpossible, ne say thinges not willable, •… e spende more than his wynnyng is, ne promette more, than he may fullfille And another said, a mā may haue but payne & labour in thys world And said he that eteth not shal dye for hungre, & if he eteth more than ynough he shalbe seke wherfor it is a difficile thing to a mā to be longe in helth And another seide trust him not that forswerith his fe •… th for worldely thinges And another said Idelnesse eng •… dreth ig noraūce, & ignoraūce engēdreth errour. And another said thou shalt fīde eueri where clothing mete, & place for to dwelle in if thou be ought, but & that suffiseth the not þt is to the necessarie, thou shalt be subgect to couetise, & yet thou shalt lakke thy desir And another said In lōg sleping is no ꝓffite, but harme is to vse it, & a man ought to beware that he dispēde not half his lyf in Idelnesse, And another said the goode soule, wol haue no rest in this world than he that wol haue a goode soule, ought to beware of to moche rest, And another said beware of the cōpanye of a lyer in all thy werkis, be they in grete auctorite or in smal And another said he that loueth the with feynt loue & for wordely thingis shal hate the in like wyse, but he that loueth the for the ꝑpetuel we le shal growe eumore in thy loue. And another said goune the so wele that thou kepe the from euil doing, & suffise the with the goode dedis that thou shalt do besyde, And another sayd he that wil wite whethir his soule be noble & clene. or foule & corrupt, he ought to cōsidere his disectaciō & his cōscience, & if he delyteth him in doyng good vertues & noble thī gis without harm, than his soule is clene & noble, & if he delyteth him in doing foule & trāsitorie thīges & of no value than his soule is foule, for euery thing resioyeth with hies semblable, the good with the goode, & the euil with the euill And another saide, he is happy that goeth the right wey, for he findeth sōner therby the place whedir he wold go, & he that gooth oute of his weye / the more he gooth, the ferther he is behinde And it was axid of a wyseman what was ꝑ •… aytte folye, he ansuerd to think to com to a good astate & ꝓsperite by bad werkis, to loue falshed & hate trouth, to take delecta ciō in richesses, & to trust euery man. & it was axid of him what is the signe of litil forsight & litill knowlege, he ansuerd one to yeue trust wher he hath ben deceyued. And suffise you with þe trāslaciō of þe sayngis of these philosopheres

HEre endeth the book named the dictes or sayengis of the philosophres enprynted. by me william Caxton at westmestre the yere of our lord. M. CCCC. Lxx vij. Whiche book is late translated out of Frenshe into englyssh. by the Noble and puissant lord Lord Antone Erle of Ryuyers lord of Scales & of the Ile of wyght, Defendour and directour of the siege apostolique, for our holy Fader the. Pope in this Royame of Englond and Gouernour of my lord Prince of wales And It is so that at suche tyme as he had accomplysshid this sayd werke, it liked him to sende it to me in certayn quayers to ouer see, whiche forthwith I sawe & fonde therin many grete. notable. & wyse sayengis of the philosophres Acordyng vnto the bookes made in frēshe whiche I had ofte afore redd But certaynly I had seen none in englissh til that tyme ¶And so afterward I cam vnto my sayde lord & tolde him how I had red & seen his book And that he had don a meritory dede in the labour of the translacion therof in to our englissh tunge, wherin he had deseruid a singuler lawde & thank ¶ Thenne my said lord desired me to ouersee it and where as I shold fynd faute to correcte it wherein I answerd vnto his lordship, that I coude not amende it But yf I sholde so presume I myght apaire it For it was right wel & connygly made and translated into right good and fayr englissh, Not withstondyng he willed me to ouersee it & shewid me dyuerce thinges whiche as him semed myght be left out as diuerce lettres missiues sent from Alisander to darius & aristotle and eche to other. which lettres were lityll appertinent vnto the dyctes 〈1 page duplicate〉 〈1 page duplicate〉 and sayenges aforsayd for as moche as they specifye of other maters, And also desired me that don to put the said booke in enprinte. And thus obeyng hys request and comaundement I haue put me in deuoyr to ouersee this his sayd book and beholden as nygh as I coude howe It accordeth wyth thorigynal beyng in frensh ¶ And I finde nothyng discordaunt therin. Sauf onely in the dyctes and sayengys of Socrates, Wherin I fynde that my saide lord hath left out certayn and dyuerce conclusions towchyng wymen, Wherof I meruaille that my sayd lord hath not wreton them. ne what hath meuyd him so to do Ne what cause he hadde at that tyme. But I suppose that som fayre lady hath desired him to leue it out of his booke Or ellyes he was amerous on somme noble lady. for whoos loue he wold not sette it in his book, or ellis for the very affeccion loue and good wylle that he hath vnto alle ladyes and Gentylwomen. he thought that Socrates spared the sothe ¶ And wrote of wymen more than trouthe. whiche I can not thinke that so trewe a man & so noble a Phylosophre as Socrates was sholde write other wyse than trouth For If he had made fawte in wryting of wymen. He ought not ne sholde not be beleuyd in his other dictes and sayinges. But I apperceyue that my sayd lord knoweth veryly that suche defautes ben not had ne founden in the wymen born and dwellyng in these partyes ne Regyons of the world. Socrates was a Greke boren in a ferre Contre from hens. Whyche contre ys alle of othere condycions than thys is. ¶ And men and wymen of other nature than they ben heere in thys contre For I wote wel. of what someuer condicion women ben in Grece. the women of this contre ben right good, wyse, playsant, humble, discrete, sobre, chast, obedyent to their husbon dis, trewe, secrete, stedfast, euer besy, & neuer ydle, Attemperat in speking, and vertuous in alle their werkis or atte leste sholde be so, For which causes so euydent my sayd lord as I suppose thoughte it was not of necessite to sette in his book the saiengis of his Auctor socrates touchyng women But for as moche as I had comādement of my said lord to correcte and amende where as I sholde fynde fawte and other fynde I none sauf that he hath lefte out these dictes & saynges of the women of Grece, Therfore in accomplishing his comādement for as moche as I am not in certayn wheder it was in my lordis copye or not. or ellis perauenture that the wynde had blowe ouer the leef, at the tyme of trans lacion of his booke, I purpose to wryte tho same saynges of that Greke Socrates, whiche wrote of tho women of grece and nothyng of them of thys Royame, whom I suppose he neuer knewe, For yf he had I dar plainly saye that he wolde haue reserued them inespeciall in his sayd dictes Alway not presumyng to put & sette them in my sayd lordes book, but inthende aparte in the rehersayll of the werkis humbly requiryng all them that shall rede this lytyll rehersayll that yf they fynde ony faulte tarette it to Socrates and not to me whiche wryteth as here after foloweth.

SOcrates sayde That women ben thapparaylles to cacche men, but they take none but them that wil be pouer, or ellis them that knowe hem not And he sayd that ther is none so grete empeshement vnto a man as ignoraunce. and women ¶ And he sawe a woman that bare fyre, of whom he saide that the hotter bare the colder

And he sawe a woman seke. of whom he saide that the euyll restyth and dwellyth with the euill ¶ And he sawe a woman brought to the Iustyce. and many other wymen folowed her wepyng. of whom he sayde. the euyll ben sory & angry by cause the euyll shal perisshe. And he sawe a Iong mayde that lerned to write, of whom he saide. that mē multiplied euyll vpon euyll ¶ And sayd that the Ignoraunce of a man is knowen in thre thynges. That is to wete Whan he hath no thought to vse reason, Whan he can not refrayne his couetises, ¶ And whan he is gouerned by the conceill of wymen in that he knoweth that they knowe not. ¶ And he saide vnto his discyples, Wylle ye that I enseygne and teche you, howe ye shal mowe escape from alle euille ¶ And they ansuerd, ye, And thenne he saide to them ¶ For what someuer thyng that it be. kepe you and be wele ware that ye obeye not to wymen, Who ansuerd to him agayn: ¶ And what sayist thou by our good moders and of our susters. He saide to hem. Suffise you. with that I haue sayde to you, For alle ben semblable in malyce. ¶ And he saide. who someuer wyll acquere and gete science. late him neuer put him in the gouernaunce of a woman. And he sawe a woman that made her fresshe and gaye. to whom he sayde, Thou resemblest the fyre For the more wode is leyde to the fyre the more wole it brenne. ¶ And the gretter is the hete ¶ And on a tyme one axid him, what him semed of wymen. ¶ He ansuerd That the wymen resemble vnto a Tre called Edelfla Whiche ys the fayrest tre to be holde and see that may be But within it is ful of venym. And they saide to him and demanded wherfore he blamed so wymen. and that he him self had not comen into this worlde ne none other men also with oute hem, He ansuerd. The woman is like vnto a Tre named Chassoygnet. on whiche tre ther ben many thinges sharpe and pryckyng. whiche hurte and pryek them that approche vnto hyt ¶ And yet neuerthelesse that same tre bringeth forth goode dates and swete. And they demanded hym. why he fled from the wymen. ¶ And he ansuerde For as moche as I see them flee and eschewe the goode and comonly do euill ¶ And a woman sayde to him. wylt thou haue ony other woman than me ¶ And he ansuerd to her Arte not thou ashamed toffre thy self to him. that demandeth nor desireth the not.

LO these ben the dictes & sayengis of the philosophre Socrates whiche he wrote in his book ¶ And certaynly he wrote no worse than a fore is rehersed And for asmoche as it is acordaūt. that his dyctes and sayengis shold be had as wel as others therfore I haue set te it in thende of this booke And also somme ꝑsones perauenture that haue red thys booke in frensshe wold haue arette a grette defaulte in me that I had not do my deuoir in visiting & ouerseyng of my lordes book acording to his desire. And somme other also happely myght haue supposed that Socrates had wreton moche more ylle of women than here a fore is specified, wherfore in satisfieng of all parties & also for excuse of the saide socrates I haue sette these sayde dyctes & sayengis a parte in thende of this book, to thentent that yf my sayd lord or ony other persone what someuer he or she be that shal rede or here it, that If they be not well plesyd with alle that they wyth a penne race it out or ellys rente the leef oute of the booke, Humbly requyryng and besechyng my sayd lord to take no displaysir on me so pre sumyng but to perdone where as he shal fynde faulte, and that it plese hym to take the labour of thenpryntyng in gre & thanke, whiche gladly haue don my dyligence in thaccomplisshyng of his desire and comandement, In whiche I am bounden so to do for the good reward that I haue resseyuyd of hys sayd lordship, Whom I beseche Almyghty god tencrece and to contynue in his vertuous disposicion in thys world. And after thys lyf to lyue euerlastyngly in heuen.

Amen.
Et sic est finis.

Thus endeth thys book of the dictes and notable wyse sayenges of the phylosophers late translated and drawen out of frenshe into our englisshe tonge by my forseide lord Therle of Ryuers and lord Skales. and by hys comandement sette in forme and emprynted in thys manere as ye maye here in thys booke see Whiche was fynisshed the xviij. day of the moneth of Nouembre. and the seuenteth yere of the regne of kyng Edward the. fourth.