IV Homo quidam habuit duos.-LUKE XV. II. LUKE saith that Christ told how a man had two sons; and the younger of them said unto his father, Father, give me a portion of the substance that falleth me. And the father de-parted him his goods. And soon after this young son gathered all that fell to him, and went forth in pilgrimage into a far country; and there he wasted his goods, living in lechery. And after that he had ended all his goods, there fell a great hunger in that land, and he began to be needy. And he went out and cleaved to one of the citizens of that country, and this citizen sent him into his town to keep swine. And this son coveted to fill his belly with these holes that the hogs eat, and no man gave him. And he, turning again, said, How many hinds in my father's house be full of loaves, and I perish here for hunger. I shall rise, and go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned in Heaven and before thee; now I am not worthy to be cleped thy son, make me as one of thy hinds. And he rose and came to his father. And yet when he was far, his father saw him, and was moved by mercy, and running against his son, fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned in Heaven and before thee; now I am not worthy to be cleped thy son. And the father said to his servants anon, Bring ye forth the first stole, and clothe ye him, and give ye a ring in his hand, and shoon upon his feet. And bring ye a fat calf, and slay him, and eat we, and feed us; for this son of mine was dead, and is quickened again, and he was perished, and is found. And they began to feed him. And his elder son was in the field; and when he came and was nigh the house, he heard a symphony and other noise of minstrelsy. And this elder son cleped one of the servants, and asked what were these things. And he said to him. Thy brother is come, and thy father hath slain a fat calf, for he hath received him safe. But this elder son had disdain and would not come in ; therefore, his father went out, and began to pray him. And he answered, and said to his father, Lo, so many years I serve to thee, I passed never thy mandement; and thou gavest me never a kid, for to feed me with my friends. But after that he, this thy son hath murthered his goods with hooris is come, thou hast killed to him a fat calf. And the father said to him, Son, thou art ever more with me, and all my goods be thine. But it was need to eat and to make merry, for he this thy brother was dead, and liveth again; he was perished, and is found. A SHORT RULE OF LIFE If thou be a lord, look thou live a rightful life in thine own person, both anent God and man, keeping the hests of God, doing the works of mercy, ruling well thy five wits, and doing reason and equity and good conscience to all men. The second time, govern well thy wife, thy children, and thy homely men in God's law, and suffer no sin among them, neither in word nor in deed, up thy might, that they may be ensample of holiness and righteousness to all other. For thou shalt be damned for their evil life and thine evil sufferance, but if thou amend it up thy might. The third time, govern well thy tenants, and maintain them in right and reason and be merciful to them in their rents and worldly merciments, and suffer not thy officers to do them wrong nor extortions, and chastise in good manner them that be rebel against God's hests and virtuous living, more than for rebellion against thine own cause or person. And hold with God's cause, and love, reward, praise, and cherish the true and virtuous of life, more than if they do only thine own profit and worship; and maintain truly, up thy cunning and might, God's law and true preachers thereof, and God's servants in rest and peace, for by this reason thou holdest thy lordship of God. And if thou failest of this, thou forfeitest against God in all thy lordship, in body and soul; principally if thou maintainest Antichrist's disciples in their errors against Christ's life and His teaching, for blindness and worldly friendship, and helpest to slander and pursue true men that teach Christ's Gospel and His life. And warn the people of their great sins, and of false priests and hypocrites that deceive Christian men, in faith and virtuous life, and worldly goods also. If thou be a labourer, live in meekness, and truly and wilfully do thy labour; that if thy lord or thy master be an heathen man, that by thy meekness and wilful and true service, he have not to murmur against thee, nor slander thy God nor Christendom. And serve not to Christian lords with murmuring, nor only in their presence, but truly and wilfully in their absence, not only for worldly dread nor worldly reward, but for dread of God and good conscience, and for reward in heaven. For that God that putteth thee in such service wots what state is best for thee, and will reward thee more than all earthly lords may, if thou dost it truly and wilfully for His ordinance. And in all things beware of murmuring against God and His visitation, in great labour and long, and great sickness and other adversities, and beware of wrath, of cursing and warying, or banning, of man or of beast. And ever keep And patience and meekness and charity both to God and man. thus each man in these three states oweth to live, to save himself and help other; and thus should good life, rest, peace, and charity be among Christian men, and they be saved, and heathen men soon converted, and God magnified greatly in all nations and sects that now despise Him and His law, for the wicked living of false Christian men. THE CLERGY SUBJECT TO THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE WORLDLY clerks and feigned religious break and disturb much the king's peace and his realm's. For the prelates of this world, with priests less and more, write in their laws that the king hath no jurisdiction nor power of their persons, nor the goods of holy Church. And yet Christ and His Apostles were most obedient to kings and lords, and taught all men to be subject to them and serve them, truly and wilfully, in bodily works and tribute, and dread them and worship them before all other men. First, the wise King Solomon put down an high bishop that was false to him and his realm, and exiled him, and ordained a good priest for him, as the third book of Kings telleth. And Jesus Christ paid tribute to the emperor, and commanded men to pay him tribute. And Saint Peter commandeth in God's name Christian men to be subject to every creature of man, either to the king, as more high than other, or to dukes, as sent of him to the vengeance of misdoers, and praising of good men. Also Saint Paul commandeth by authority of God that every soul be subject to higher powers, for there is no power but of God; princes be not to the Wilt thou not dread the dread of good work, but of evil work. potestate? Do good and thou shalt have praising thereof, for he is God's minister to thee unto good. Soothly, if thou hast done evil, dread thou, for he beareth not the sword without cause, for he is God's minister, avenger unto wrath to him that doth evil. Therefore be ye subject, not only for wrath but for conscience. Pay to all men debts, both tribute and custom, and dread and honour and love. And our Saviour Jesus Christ suffered meekly painful death of Pilate, not excusing him from his jurisdiction by his clergy. And Saint Paul proferred him ready to suffer death by doom of the emperor's justice, if he were worthy to death, as Deeds of Apostles teach. And Paul appealed to the heathen emperor from the priests of the Jews, for to be under his jurisdiction and to save his life. Lord who hath made our worldly clerks exempt from kings' jurisdiction and chastising, sith God giveth kings this office on all misdoers? Certes no man but Anti-Christ, Christ's enemy; sith clerks, and namely high priests, should be most meek and obedient to lords of this world, as were Christ and His Apostles, and teach other men both in word and deed to be mirror of all men, to give this meekness and obedience to the king and his rightful laws. How strong thieves and traitors be they now to kings and lords, in denying this obedience, and in giving ensample to all men in the land for to be rebel against the king and lords! For in this they teach lewd men and commons of the land, both in words and laws and open deed, to be false and rebel against the king and other lords. And this seemeth well by their new law of decretals, where the proud clerks have ordained this,—that our clergy shall pay no subsidy nor tax, nor helping of our king and our realm, without leave and assent of the worldly priest of Rome; and yet many times this proud worldly priest is enemy of our land, and privily maintaineth our enemies, to war against us with our own gold. And thus they make this alien proudest priest of all other to be chief lord of all goods that clerks have in the realm, and that is of the most part thereof. Where be more traitors both to God and holy Church, and namely to their liege lord and his realm; to make an alien worldly priest, enemy to us, chief lord of the most part of our realm ? CHAUCER [The year of Chaucer's birth is unknown: it may be reckoned as not later than 1340. He was born in London, the son of a wine merchant; and by the circumstances of his birth and fortune found himself admitted to a knowledge of different ranks of society and different occupations: he was early a courtier, he saw something of war and was prisoner for a short time in France; later, he had considerable experience of affairs, both of routine work in a government office, and of more exciting diplomatic commissions. His prosperity was not uniform, and he was not rich when he died in 1400. Το his immediate and vivid knowledge of various aspects of mankind, he added a great amount of learning. Chaucer's prose works are four in number :-(1) a translation of Boetius, de Consolatione Philosophia, referred to in the Prologue to the Legend of Good Women, and the poem to Adam the Scribe: (2, 3) two of the Canterbury Tales; Melibeus, told by Chaucer himself, from Jean de Meun's abridged French version of the Liber Consolationis et Consilii of Albertano of Brescia (1246); and the Parson's Tale, mainly from the Somme le Roi of Frere Lorens (1279): (4) the Treatise on the Astrolabe, written in 1391 for the author's son Lewis. Boece has been edited by Dr. R. Morris, and the Astrolabe by Professor Skeat, for the Early English Text Society. The Chaucer Society has printed the Liber Consolationis, edited by Dr. Sundby; l'Histoire de Mélibée et de Prudence, as incorporated in le Ménagier de Paris, was published in 1846.] THE value of Chaucer's prose lies chiefly in the fact that it was written by Chaucer. Of the four prose treatises belonging to him, there is none that is not translation, close or loose. In his poetry also Chaucer is a "great translator," but there the proportions of original and translated work are different, and there the translated, or derivative, work has an interest and originality of style that is wholly wanting to the prose. The prose works, however, are not to be neglected. : Chaucer has two different manners of working in some of his writings and from some points of view he is an original inventor; more frequently he appears as an agent for |