The.vii. chapyter

The mesenger moueth a questyō / it a man be sworne by a iudge to say the trouth of hī self in a cryme wherof he ys had suspect / whether he may not lawfully on hys othe swere vntrewth / where he thynkyth ye treuth cā not be ꝓuyd agaīst hym. wherūto thauthor āsweryth yt he is boūdē vppō ꝑell of ꝑiury to say & cōfes trouth And yt mych more syn & folye bothe was it thē for ye mā yt thus was abiuryd to forswere him self in the thīg yt he wist well wold be ꝓuid / & a shame lesse foly to stand styll by hys ꝑiury / whā he saw ye mater so clerely ꝓued in dede. And wt thys fynyshyth he ye mater of hys abiuracyon.

IN good fayth q he I begyn in thys mater to be of your mynd For ye mater beyng so playn & clerely ꝓued / it was & is both syn & foly to stand ī ye deny[…] ̄g. But there cometh a thīg in my mīd thogh it be sūwhat out of our mater / wherin I wolde be glad to here what ye thīk. what thyng ys y• q I[…] Mary q he I haue hard sū well lerned men say yf a mā were accused of a faut yt were trew in dede / yet if it be secret & cā not be ꝓued / in ā othe put vnto him he may & ought to swere nay because y• of secret & vnknowen thyngꝭ no mā […] be hys iudge. For onely god is iuge of manꝭ harte. And / yf he shold cōfesse it where he nedyth not before […] cōpetēt iudge / yt is to wyt hys secrete faut opē ly before mē wherof only god is iudge / thā shuld he defame him selfe / & yt were, grete syn. For holy scrypture sayth / curā habe de bond noīe. Take hede of thy good name. Et meliorē nomē bonū q diuitie multe. Better ys a good name thē mych rychesse. And yt saythe also / Maledictꝰ homo q negligit famā […]uā. A cursed ys yt man yt careth not what mē say of hī. And therfore I haue hard som well lernyd men say / yt in this case a man may boldely deny the matere vppon hys othe be yt neuer so trew / so yt yt be so secrete as yt be not able to be ꝓued by wytnesse. Forsoth quod I it ys a large & a long mater to speke of ꝑ […]ury. But as for thys poynt I hold it ī my mynde lytyll questyō. For I holde thys onys for a sure & ā infallible cōclusyō / yt a mā may neuer lawfully be forsworne. Mary trouth it is yt a mannys oth receyueth interpretacyō / & is not alway bounden precysely to ye wordis. As yf a iuge wold swere me generally in a courte to make trew āswer to such thyngꝭ as shuld be asked of me / & after myne othe gyuen / he wolde aske me certayn questiōs of maters nothing be lōgīg to hym / I were not by myn othe boūden to make hym answere / for as mych as no such thyng was ī myn oth intended. And therfore if a prest yt had herd a m̄nys confessyō were called before a iudge & sworne for a wytnes / he myght boldly swere he knew nothynge of ye mater. Not for ye comē glose yt ye cō fessyō was not made to hym as to him self but as to goddꝭ mynyster / but for yt ye law dyschargyth hym of shewīg eny such thīg / no lesse thā yf hys othe were geuē hym in thys maner / what knowe ye of this mater out of cōfessiō. For els yf there were a tyraūt yt wolde cōpelle hym by expresse wordys to swere what he knew by y• m[…]nys cōfessyō / y• cōfessor had in my minde no remedy but to tell hym playnly / syr I wyll not swere for you nor in such mater make you eny ā swere to dye therfore / not for eny thīg yt I know in ye mā for this mater thogh I tolde you all hys hole cōfessyō a non / but for the euyll yt shulde grow by such a precedēt. For yf I shulde now excuse an innocente swerynge truely that I harde no suche thynge in hys confessyon / I shulde in some other cause eyther be forsworne / or by my refusinge to swere I shulde make the man the more suspecte / ī that I refuse to swere as myche for hym as I dyde for a no[…]ther. And therefore wyll I not make eny answere in thys for ye perell yt may fall in other. And wyth thys answer[…] or such other must he playnly refuse to swere what payn so euer he sholde endure therfore. And in lyke wyse yf eny iudge wolde gyue an othe to eny persō to tell hym ye truth of eny cryme / which were so secrete as the iudge had neuer hard eny thīg therof / but wold for hys onely pleasure know by the mānys oth whither ther were ꝑaduēture eny such thing or not / ye ꝑtie may deny to swere or to make hym answere therin. But ō ye tother syde yf he be denoūced or detected vnto hym / eyther by commune fame or other īformacyō / wt such cōiertures & lykelyhedꝭ as the law geueth ye iudge authorite to gyue ye ꝑtie an othe for ye ferther serch of ye mater / ther is he playnly hoūdē vppō payne of eternall dānacyō wt out coueryng or cautell to shew & disclose ye playne trouth / & to haue more respect to hys soule thā to hys shame. For as for those textꝭ whych ye alledged / be far from thys poynt. For they nōe other mean / but y• a mā shold in hys lyuyng auoyd […]ot onely synne / but also all occacyōs wherby mē might haue resonable cause falsly to dy[…]fame him. And it was neuer mēt of ye shame yt a man taketh of hys owne cōfessyon for hys synne cōmytted in dede. For by yt he lesyth not hys good name / but getteth hys good name amōg good folk. & as for of euyl mēnꝭ wordꝭ ther is no rekenīg. But surely as I say yf a mā had bē as yll as a deuyll / & after repētīg his syn wold for ꝑte of hys penaunce wyllyngly offer hym self to ye sufferaūce of open shame / ther were no good cristen mā yt wold after yt lyke ye man yt wors / but a grete deale ye better. And yf all suche opē cōfessyō were synne / there was mych syn vsed amōg good folke many day in Crystꝭ chirch / whā yt was mich better thā yt is now. Lo Achā yt had cō mytted sacrylege wherof ys wryten in Iosue / was exorted by Iosue to cōfesse hys faute opēly / & gyue glory to god yt had detected him by lottis. And so dyd he / and mekely suffered for hys syn as well the shame & wōder of the worlde / as the payn ād bytternes of deth. And therfore I no more dout of that the[…]e / but that he is a glorioꝰ saint in heuen / thā I dout of yt these ye cryst promysed Paradyse hangynge on ye crosse. And […]urely yf mēnys old fautys were styll theyr īfamy after theyr amēdemēt / thā was saynt Peter lytell beholdē to saīt Mathew & other of hys felows yt haue slaūdred hym in theyr gospels / tellyng how shāfully after all hys crakꝭ he forsoke his mayster & forsware hī both. yf a good man ware naght / ye bet[…] he was ye more synne it is & ye more shame also. And ys yt not thā ī resō ō ye tother syde yf a naughty mā wax good / ye worse he was ye better is for hī & ye more worship also? Our lord sayth hī self yt for one sī ner comīg again to grace / ther is more ioy ī heue than vppō almost an hūdred good folk yt neuer sinned. And rekē we then yt man shamed by ye knolege of his […]yn here amōg synfull mē / whose hūble cōfessiō & me[…]e amēdemēt wīneth him so mych worship in heuē? Trust me truly whā a mā hath done euyll if he be duly sworē / it is a worshipfull shāe & a ioyfull sorow to cōfesse ye treuth and good folke though they abhore ye sī / yet loue thei & cōmed ye mā / as one yt was noght & ys good. And ye shame yt he cōceyueth ī hys harte afore ye worlde / geteth hym grete honour afore god. & ye shorte glowīg here in his chekis spedely burneth vp & wasteth / yt neuer wastyng fyre of hell / standyng hym ferther in stede of grete ꝑte of his purgatory. And therfore to ye poynt yt we speke of wtout longe ꝓcesse I tell you playnly my mynde / yt no man can be excused from the ꝑell of ēdlesse dānaciō / yt wold vpō boldnes of eny doctors opynyō / hyde or couer hys faute by eny cautell / after a lawfull oth gyuē him to tell ye playn trothe therin. And who so wyll say ye cōtrary he must nedys hold playn agaynst ye law / & say yt no iuge may lawfully gyue an othe to the ꝑty. wherof shuld the othe serue yf ye party myght lefully forswere hym self? And also yf ye iudge may not lawfully giue hym y• othe / thā may he refuse to swere / & may not first swere & thā say false. whych euery man must vppō dāpnacyō eschew though he folily take an othe / where he lawfully myght refuse yt. Forsothe quod he me thynketh ye take the sure way. well q I yf this be so in one yt is sworē where ye mater as he thinkyth cā not be well ꝓued / how farre wronge went the man that we speke of / to forswere hym selfe in a mater of prechyng / yt he wyll well was so opē yt it wold be playnly ꝓued what synne was therin / & what synne & foly thereto was there to stycke styll in hys ꝑiury / whā he saw ye mater a[…]lredy proued so clerely & by so many / so good / so honest / & so indefferent / yt he coulde nothing now wyn by ye dē […]e[…] but euyll opyniō / & almost a dispayre of his amē demēt in all yt euer hatd hī? In good fayth q he all this is very truthe & ther for we shall let him a lone tyll god send hym better mynde.