The.xiii. chapyter

BUt now good readers yf that yt so were, that one […]ounde two men stādyng to gether, & wold come steppe in betwene theym, and ber[…] them in hand they were about to fyght / and wold wyth that worde putte the tone prete[…] backe with his hande, and all to buffer the tother about the face / and then go forth and say that he had parted a fray, & pacyfyed the partyes: some men wolde say agayne (as I suppose) that he had as lyu[…] hys enmy were let alone with hym, and therof abyde the aduenture, as haue such a frend steppe in betwene to parte theym.

How be it yf this pacyfyer of this dyuysyon wyl say that this is nothyng lyke the present mater, bycause he stryketh neyther parte, but onely telleth the tone y• tothers fautes / or ellys (as he wyll saye) telleth thē theyr fautes both: yf yt so happeth good readers he found a man that were angry with his wife (and happely not all wythoute cause) yf this maker of the boke of dyuys[…]on wolde take vpon hym to go & reconcyle them agayn to gether / and helpe to make them at one / and therin wold vse this waye, that when he hadde theym both before hym and before all theyre neyghbours to, then sauynge for some chaung to make yt met[…] for theyre persones, […]lles he wolde begynne holyly wyth y• same wordes in effect wyth whyche he begynneth his indifferente mylde boke of dyuy […]ion / and for an enter into his mater fyrste wolde saye thus vnto them / who may remember the state that ye stande in, wythout great heuenesse and sorow of hert? For where as in tymes passed hath reygned betwene you cherite, mekenes co[…]orde, & peace / there reygneth now angre, and malyce, de[…]ate, dyuysyon and stryfe. whych thynge to se so mysfortune betwene any two crysten folke, is a thynge myche to be lamented / & then myche more to be lamented, when yt myshappeth to fall betwene a mā & his wyfe. And many good neyghbours gretly meruayle I wysse, vppon what causes this great grud[…]e is gro[…]en. And therfore […]o chente[…]t that ye man r[…]moue y• causes and amende these maters, & therby then by the gra[…]e of god agree / I wyll tell you what I here men saye that the causes be. And nowe after holy prologe made / go forth and tell them that some folke say, the wyfe hath this euyll condycyon, and some other saye that she hath that euyll condicyon, and yet other some saye that she hath a nother euyll condycyon / and so wyth twenty dyuerse some sayes of other mē, say there hym self by the pore woman, all the mychyefe that any man could dyuyse to say / and among those, some thynges peraduēture trew, which yet her husbande hadde neuer herde of byfore. And some thinges false also / wherof bycause y• pacyfyer wolde be put vnto no profe, he wold not sa[…] them as of him felf but bryng thē forth vnder y• fayre figure of some say. And when he had all sayde then yet at the laste say thus mych of hym self. As for these thynges here & there I haue herd some other saye / whether they say trewe or no the charge be theyrs for me. But yet in good fayth good […]yster, syth ye knowe that the dyspleasure and grudge that your husbande hath to you, is growen vppon these causes / I meruayle mych my self that you do vse the same condycions styll. I wysse tyll you meke your self & amēde them, this anger of your husbande wyll neuer be well appeased.

Lo wyth suche wordes he voydeth the colour of hys fayre fygure of Some saye, eyther by forgetfulnes, or els by the playne fygure of foly. For whan he sayth of hym self, that she kepeth those euil condycyons styll and amendeth them not / he sheweth y• all hys Some sayes be of his owne sayenge, though he myghte happely in some of them here some other saye so to bysyde.

But than yf amonge all these fawtes so my[…]dely rehersed agaynst her, he wolde to shewe somwhat of hys indyfferencye, tell her husband hys pars verse to / and saye, But yet forsothe your wyf[…] hath not geuen you so many causes of dyspleasure for nought. For I wyll be play[…] wyth you and indyfferent bytwene you bothe, you haue […] some thynges towarde her not delte very well nor lyke a good husbande your selfe.

For thys I knowe my selfe▪ that ye haue vsed to make her to homely wyth you, and haue suffred her to be to […] idle, and suffred her to be to […]yche co[…]ersaunt amonge her gosseppys, and you haue gyuē her ouer gaye gere and to mych money in her purse / and surely tyll you mende all this gere for your part, I can not myche meruayle though she do you dyspleasure. And sometyme euyll wordes bytwene you causeth debate on bothe sydes. For you call her (as I here saye) cursed quene & shrew / & some saye that she byhynde your backe calleth you knaue & cuckolde. And I wysse suche wordes were well done to be lefte on bothe sydes / for surely they do no good. And therfore yf all the[…]e wordes were prohybyted on bothe sydes vppon greate paynes, I thynke it wolde do great good in thys byhalfe.

Now gete you hense as wyfe as a calfe wolde I wene the good wyfe saye to thys good goostely pacyfyer. For spake he neuer so myldely, and wolde seme neuer so indyfferent / though he loked therewyth ryght simply, and helde vp also bothe hys handes holyly, & wolde therwith swere to the woman full depely, y• hys entent were good, and that he nothynge mente but to brynge her husbande & her at one / wolde she thynke you for al that byleue hym? I suppose veryly naye, nor her husbande neyther yf he were wyse, all though he saw some parte of hys tale trewe / as none is so folysshe to saye all false, that wolde wynne hym credence. But byleue the husbande as he lyste / I durste be bolde to swere for the wyfe, that he shold neuer make her suche a fole, as to byleue that he ment to mende the mater, wyth rehersynge her fawtys mo then euer her husbande had herd of, and some of them false to / and than colour all hys tale wyth hys proper inuenciō of Some say. But she wold for his some say shortly sai to hī, I pray you good mā Some saye gete you shortely hense. For my husbande and I shall agre myche the soner yf no such brother Some say come wythin our dore.

Now of very trouth thys pacyfyer, as some saye, goth yet wurse to wurke ī his boke of dyuisyon, then this Some say, that we put for a sample bytwene the man & hys wyfe. For he gathereth fyrst all the causes of dyspleasurys that he can fynde out or dyuyse / and dyuerse of them suche as few ley people vnlerned, ye & fewe of the lerned to, had any thynge herd of byfore, as are dyuerse of those which he gathereth out of Iohn̄ Gerson.

If he saye that he ment as Gerson dyd, that he maketh mencyon of them bycause he wolde haue the clergy mende them / surely who so for suche good wyll telleth a man hys […]wtes, vseth to tell hit hym secretely / and so dyd Iohn̄ Gerson hym selfe when he wrote them in latyne, & not in the vulgare tunge.

But this pacyfyer cōtrarywyse bycause he wolde haue the lay peple both men & women loke on them, doth translate them into englysh / where as Iohn̄ Gerson wolde not that a man sholde reproche & rebuke y• prelates before the people.

Also this pacyfyer aggreueth (as mych as ī him lyeth) the clergye of englande, for vse of the lawes not made by them selfe, but be the comon lawys of all chrystendome.

If he wyll say that he blameth but theyr abuses therof the trouth appereth in some place otherwyse in hys boke. And yet syth he proueth that poynt but by a some saye / he myght wyth the same fygure laye lyke fawtes in the temporaltye concernyng the lawes of thys realme, and proue it in lyke wyse wyth a greate Some saye to. And therin he sheweth hym selfe not indyfferent whan he bryngeth in the tone and leueth the tother out. And on the tother syde, yf he bryng in the tother to / thā shall he make two fawtes for one. For if he handle them as truely as he handeleth these / than shall he make two lyes for one.

And yet bysyde all the fawtes that he bryngeth in vnder some saye and they say / some that him selfe sayeth without any some say, be such as some saye that he can neuer proue, and some they say be playne and open false.

By all whyche maner of handelynge it appereth, that yf the man meane well hym selfe (as by goddes grace he doth) than hath some other sotle shrew that is of his coū sayle deceyued him, not onely in the mysse framynge of hys mater more towarde diuysyō then vnyte, but also by causynge hym to plante in here & there, some suche worde as myghte make hys beste frendes to fere, that he greately forced not for the furtheraūce of the catholyke fayth.