of women ne can nothing hide, save that which they wot not. philosopher sayeth, In wicked counsel women venquishen men. these reasons I ne owe not to be counselled by thee.2 1 8 After, the And for Whan Dame Prudence, full debonairly and with great patience, had heard all that her husbond liked for to say, than axed she of him licence for to speak, and said in this wise: My lord, quod she, as to your first reason it may lightly been answered, for I say that it is no folly to change counsel when the thing is changed, or else when the thing seemeth otherwise than it seemed before. And moreover I say, though that ye have sworn and behight to perform your emprise, and nevertheless ye waive to perform thilk same emprise by just cause, men should not say therefore ye were a liar ne forsworn, for the book saith that the wise man maketh no leasing when he turneth his courage for the better. And, all be it that your emprise be established and ordained by great multitude of folk, yet thar 5 you not accomplish thilk ordinance, but you liketh, for the truth of things and the profit ben rather founden in few folk that ben wise and full of reason, than by great multitude of folk there every man cryeth and clattereth what him liketh; soothly swich multitude is not honest. As to the second reason, whereas ye say that all women ben wick; save your grace, certes ye despise all women in this wise, and he that all despiseth, as saith the book, all displeaseth. And Senek saith, that who so wol have sapience shall no man dispraise, but he shall gladly teach the science that he can 9 without presumption or pride, and swich things as he nought can he shall not be ashamed to lear hem,10 and to inquere of less folk than himself. And, sir, that there hath ben full many a good woman may lightly be preved; for certes, sir, our lord Jesu Christ wold never han descended to be born of a woman if all women had be wicked; and after that, for the great bounty that is in women, our lord Jesu Christ, whan he was risen from death to life, appeared rather to a woman than to his apostles. And, though that Salomon said he found never no good woman, it followeth not therefore that all women be wicked; for, though that he ne found no good woman, certes many another man hath found many a woman full good and true; or else, peradventure, the intent of Salomon was this, that in sovereign bounty 12 he found no woman; this is to say, that there is no wight that hath sovereign bounty save God above, as he himself recordeth in his Evangelies; for there is no creature so good that him ne wanteth somewhat of the perfection of God that is his maker. Your 1 Ought not. 2 These three last sentences are not in the MSS., but are an insertion of Tyrwhitt's, translated from the French Melibée. third reason is this: ye say that if that ye govern you by my counsel it should seem that ye had yeve me the maistry and the lordship of your person. Sir, save your grace, it is not so; for, if so were that no man should be counselled, but only of hem that han lordship and maistry of his person, men nold not be counselled so often; for, soothly, thilk man that asketh counsel of a purpose, yet hath he free choice whether he wol werk after that counsel or none. And as to your fourth reason, there as yesain, that the janglery of women can hide things that they wot not, as whoso saith that a woman cannot hide that she wot; sir, these words ben understood of women that ben jangleresses and wicked, of which women men sain that three things driven a man out of his house, that is to say, smoke, dropping of rain, and wicked wives; and of swich women Salomon saith, that a man were better dwell in desert than with a woman that is riotous; and, sir, by your leave, that am not I; for ye have full often assayed my great silence and my great patience, and eke how well that I can hide and hele 2 things that men oughten secretly to hiden. And, soothly, as to your fifth reason, whereas ye say that in wicked counsel women venquishen men, God wot that thilk reason stant here in no stead; for understondeth now ye axen counsel for to do wickedness, and if ye wol werken wickedness, and your wife restraineth thilk wicked purpose, and overcometh you by reason and by good counsel, certes your wife ought rather to be praised than to be blamed: thus should ye understond the philosopher that saith, In wicked counsel women venquishen hir husbonds. And there as ye blamen all women and hir reasons, I shall show you by many ensamples that many women have been full good, and yet ben, and hir counsel wholesome and profitable. Eke some men han said that the counsel of women is either too dear or else too little of price; but all be it so that full many a woman be bad, and hir counsel vile and nought worth, yet han men founden full many a good woman, and discreet and wise in counselling. Lo Jacob thorough the good counsel of his mother Rebeck, wan the benison of his father and the lordship over all his brethren. Judith, by her good counsel, delivered the city of Bethuly, in which she dwelt, out of the hond of Holofern, that had it besieged and wold it all destroy. Abigail delivered Nabal, her housbond, fro David the king, that wold han slain him, and appeased the ire of the king by her wit, and by her good counselling. Hester, by her counsel, enhanced greatly the people of God, in the reign of Assuerus the king. And the same bounty in good counselling of many a good woman moun men read and tell. And, further more, whan that our Lord had created Adam, our form® father, he said in this wise; It is not good to be a man alone; make we to him an help semblable to himself. Here moun ye see that if that women weren 5 8 Their. not good, and hir counsel good and profitable, our Lord God of heaven wold neither had wrought hem ne called hem help of man, but rather confusion of man. And then said a clerk once in two verses, what is better than gold? Jasper. What is better than Jasper? Wisdom. And what is better than wisdom? Woman. And what is better than a good woman? Nothing. And, sir, by many other reasons moun ye seen that many women ben good, and hir counsel good and profitable. ... Whan Melibee had heard the words of his wife Prudence, he said thus: I see well that the word of Salomon is sooth; for he saith that words that ben spoken discreetly by ordinance ben honeycombs, for they yeven sweetness to the soul and wholesomeness to the body; and, wife, because of thy sweet words, and eke for I have preved and assayed thy great sapience and thy great truth, I wol govern me by thy counsel in all thing. This is probably one of the passages that have been conceived to have most of a rhythmical character; yet its balanced style does not go beyond what is not uncommon in rhetorical prose. Part of the measured march of the language may arise from the French tale, in perhaps its original form, having been in verse. What is called the Persones (or Parson's) Tale, which winds up the Canterbury Tales, as we possess the work, is a long moral discourse, which, for the greater part, is not very entertaining, but which yet contains some passages curiously illustrative of the age in which it was written. Here is part of what occurs in the section headed De Superbia (Of Pride), the first of the seven mortal sins. Tyrwhitt justly recommends that the whole "should be read carefully by any antiquary who may mean to write De re Vestiaria of the English nation in the fourteenth century.” 2 Now ben there two manner of prides: that on of hem1 is within the heart of a man, and that other is without; of which soothly these foresaid things, and mo2 than I have said, appertainen to pride that is within the heart of man. 3 And there be other spices that ben withouten; but, natheless, that on of these spices of pride is sign of that other, right as the gay levesell at the tavern is sign of the wine that is in the cellar. And this is in many things, as in speech and countenance, and outrageous array of clothing; for certes if there had ben no sin in clothing Christ wold not so soon have noted and spoken of the clothing of thilk rich man 1 The one of them. • The meaning of this word, which at a later date appears to have been pronounced and written lessel, is unknown. See Tyrwhitt's note to Cant. Tales, v 4059, and Glossary, ad verbum; and note by the editor, Mr. Albert Way, on pp. 300, 301, of the Promptorium Parvulorum, vol. i., printed for the Camden Society, 4to., Lond. 1843. 2 More. * Species, kinds. in the Gospel and, as Saint Gregory saith, that precious clothing is culpable, for the dearth of it, and for his softness, and for his strangeness and disguising, and for the superfluity or for the inordinate scantiness of it Alas! may not a man see as in our days the sinful costlew array of clothing, and namely1 in too much superfluity, or else in too disordinate scant ness. As to the first sin, in superfluity of clothing, which that maketh it so dear, to the harm of the people, not only the cost of the embrouding, the disguising, indenting or barring, ownding, paling, winding, or bending, and semblable waste of cloth in vanity; but there is also the costlew furring in hir gowns, so moch pounsoning of chisel to maken holes, so moch dagging of shears, with the superfluity in length of the foresaid gowns, trailing in the dong and in the mire, on horse and eke on foot, as well of man as of woman, that all thilk training is verily (as in effect) wasted, consumed, threadbare, and rotten with dong, rather than it is yeven to the poor, to great damage of the foresaid poor folk, and that in sondry wise ; this is to sayn, the more that cloth is wasted, the more must it cost to the poor people, for the scarceness; and, furthermore, if so be that they wolden yeve swich pounsoned and dagged clothing to the poor people, it is not convenient to wear for hir estate, ne suffisant to bote hir necessity, to keep hem fro the distemperance of the firmament. ... Also the sin of ornament or of apparel is in things that appertain to riding, as in too many delicate horse that ben holden for delight, that ben so fair, fat, and costlew; and also in many a vicious knave that is sustained because of hem; in curious harness, as in saddles, croppers, peitrels, and bridles, covered with precious cloth and rich, barred and plated of gold and of silver; for which God saith by Zachary the prophet, I wol confound the riders of swich horse. These folk taken little regard of the riding of God's son of heaven, and of his harness, whan he rode upon the ass, and had none other harness but the poor clothes of his disciples, ne we read not that ever he rode on ony other beast. I speak this for the sin of superfluity, and not for honesty whan reason it requireth. And, moreover, certes pride is greatly notified in holding of great meiny, whan they ben of little profit, or of right no profit, and namely whan that meiny is felonious and damageous to the people by hardiness of high lordship, or by way of office; for certes swich lords sell than hir lordship to the devil of hell, whan they sustain the wickedness of hir meiny; or else whan these folk of low degree, as they that holden hostelries, sustainen theft of hir hostellers, and that is in many manner of deceits; thilk manner of folk ben the flies that followen the honey, or else the hounds that followen 3 Imitating waves. 1 Especially. 2 Embroidering. 6 Punching. 6 Slitting. 8 Body of menials. the carrain; swich foresaid folk stranglen spiritually hir lordships; for which thus saith David the prophet, Wicked death mot come unto thilk lordships, and God yeve that they mot descend into hell all down, for in hir houses is iniquity and shrewedness, and not God of heaven: and certes, but if they done amendment, right as God yave his benison to Laban by the service of Jacob, and to Pharaoh by the service of Joseph, right so wol God yeve his malison to swich lordships as sustain the wickedness of hir servants, but they come to amendment. Pride of the table appeareth eke full oft; for certes rich men be cleped1 to feasts, and poor folk be put away and rebuked; and also in excess of divers meats and drinks, and namely swich manner bake meats and dish meats brenning" of wild fire, and painted and castled with paper, and semblable waste, so that it is abusion to think; and eke in too great preciousness of vessel, and curiosity of minstrelsy, by which a man is stirred more to the delights of luxury. LITERATURE AND LEARNING IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. UNIVERSITIES. A FEW facts which are important rather as forming epochs in the chronology of our subject, and for the results by which they were followed, than in themselves, constitute the main part of the history of learning and literature in England during the fifteenth century. The actual contributions of this age to our national literature are smaller in amount and value than those of any preceding space of time of the same length since the Norman Conquest. The ferment of studious enthusiasm which had been excited in men's minds in the beginning of the preceding century had, in a great measure, spent itself before the beginning of this. According to an oration delivered before the pope and cardinals by Richard Fitz-Ralph, Archbishop of Armagh, in 1357, the 30,000 students of the University of Oxford had even by that time decreased to about 6000. The popular veneration for learning had also, from various causes, undergone a corresponding decline; and, instead of the honors formerly paid by all classes to talent and scholarship, and the crowding of eager multitudes around every eminent doctor wherever he appeared, we perceive now the aspect of general indifference, and encounter occasional instances of the 1 Called, invited 2 Burning, |