he be cause men shold haue the lasse pite of them.
Whan he had made this hole of copper/ he presented
hit unto a kynge which was callyd philarde that was
so cruell a tyrant that he delited in no thinge but
in cruelte And he told hym the condicion of the bole/
Whan philarde herde and understode this/ he alowed
and preysed moche the werke/ And after sayde to hym/
thou that art more cruell than I am/ thou shalt assaye
& prove first thy sente and yeft/ And so made hym
to goo in to the boole and dye an euyll deth/ Therfore
faith Ouide ther is no thinge more raisonable than
that a man dye of suche deth as he purchaseth unto
other Also the kynge ought souerainly kepe Iustice/
who maketh or kepeth a royame with oute Iustice/ of
verray force ther muste be grete robberye and thefte
Therfor reherceth saint Augustyn in a book which is
intituled the cyte of god/ that there was a theef
of the see named diomedes that was a grete rouar and
dide so moche harme that the complaintes cam to fore
Alixander whiche dide hym to be taken & brought to
fore hym/ and he demanded hym wherfore he was so noyous
& cruell in the see And he answerd to hym agayn/ for
as moche as thou art oon a lande in the world/ so
am I another in y’e see/ but for as moche as
the euyll y’t I doo is in oon galeye or tweyne
therfore I am callyd a theef/ but for as moche as
thou dost in many shippis and with grete puyssance
and power/ therfore art thou callyd an emperour/ but
yf fortune were for me in suche wyse/ I wold be come
a good man and better than I now am/ but thou/ the
more richer and fortunat that thou art/ the more worse
art thou/ Alixander sayd to hym I shall change thy
fortune in suche wyse as thou ne saye/ that thou shalt
doo hit by pouerte/ but for euyll and mauaiste/ And
so he made hym ryche/ And thys was he that afterward
was a good prynce and a good Iusticyer/ The kynge
ought to be soueraynly chaste/ And this signefyeth
a quene that is only on his ryght syde For hit is
to be beleuyd and credible that whan the kynge is a
good man Iuste. trewe & of good maners and condicions/
that his children shall folowe gladly the same/ for
a good sone & a trewe ought not to forsake & goo fro
y’e good condicions of his fader. For certes
hit is agaynst god and nature in partie whan a man
taketh other than his propre wyf/ And that see we
by birdes/ of whom the male and female haue to gyder
the charge in kepynge and norisshinge of their yonge
fowlis and birdis/. For some maner of fowlis
kepen them to theyr femeles only/ As hit appereth
by storkes dowues and turtils/ But tho fowles that
norisshith not their birdes haue many wyues and femelles/
As the cock that no thynge norisshith his chekens/
And therfore amonge alle the bestes that been/ Man
and woman putteth most theyr entente and haue moste
cure & charge in norisshyng of their children/ And
therfore doon they agaynst nature in partye whan they
leue theyr wyues for other women/ Of this chastete
reherceth valerius an example and faith that ther was