but certes of alle wommen / good woōman foond I neuere
¶ And also
certes / If I gouerned me by thy conseil / it sholde seme that I hadde ~
yeue to thee ouer me the maistrie / and god forbede / that it so weere
¶ For Ihūs Syrak seith / that if the wyf haue maistrie / she is contrari-
ous to hir housbonde
¶ And Salomon seith
¶ Neu
ere in thy lyf
/ to thy
~wyf
/ ne to thy chil
d / ne to thy freend
/ ne yeue no power ouer thy
self
. For bettre it were
/ that thy children aske of thy
persone
/ thynges
that hem nedeth
/ than thou be thy self
in the handes of thy childr
ē
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¶ And if I wolde werke by thy conseillyng ; Certes / my conseillyng
moste som tyme be secree / til it were tyme þt it moste be knowe
and this / ne may nogħt be
Whanne Dame Prudence / ful debo-
nairly and with greet pacience / hadde herd / al that hir housbonde
liked for to seye ;/ thanne axed she of hym licence for to speke / and
seyde in this wise
¶ My lord quod she
/ as to your
firste reso
ū / c
ertes
it may lig
ħtly been answere
d ¶ For I seye
/ that it is no folie
/ to
chaunge conseil
. whan the thyng is chaunged
¶ or elles
/ whan
~ the thyng semeth
/ ootherweyes
/ than it was biforn
¶ And moore ~
ouer I seye / that thougħ ye han sworn and bihigħt to parfourne youre
emprise ¶ And nathelees / ye weyue to parfourne / thilke same empise
by Iuste cause ; men sholde nat seyn therfore / that ye were a lier
ne forsworn
¶ for the book seith / þt the wise man maketh no lesyng
whan he turneth his corage to the bettre
100
¶ And al be it so / that
your empise be establissed and ordeyned / by greet multitude of
folk ; yet thar ye nat accomplice thilke ordinaūce / but yow
like
¶ For the trouthe of thynges / and the profit been rather foun-
den in fewe folk that been wise / and ful of resoū / than by greet
multitude of folk ther euery man / crieth and clatereth / what that
hym liketh ¶ Soothly / swich multitude is nat honeste
¶ As to
the Seconde resoū /. where as ye seyn þt alle wōmen been wikke ;
Saue youre grace / certes ye despisen alle wommen / in this wyse /
&
Senec seith / that who so wole haue sapience / shal no man despise
but he shal gladly / techen the science that he kan with outen persumpciou
or pride /
And swiche thynges // as he noght ne kan / he shal nat been a-
shamed to lerne hem and enquere of lasse folk / than hym self /.
105
And
sir / that ther hath been many a good wōman / may ligħtly be preued /
¶ For certes sir / our lord Ihū crist wolde neuere haue descended to be born
of a wōman / if alle wōmen / hadden ben wikke /
And after that for
the grete boūtee that is in wōmen / oure lord Ihū crist whan he was
risen fro deeth to lyue / appeered rather to a wōman / than to hise ~
Apostles
¶ And thougħ that Salomon seith / that he ne foond neuere
wōman good / it folweth nat therfore / that alle wōmen ben wikke
For though that he ne foond no good wōman /. certes ful many another
man / hath founden / many a wōman ful good and trewe
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¶ Or elles par-
auenture / the entente of Salomon was this / that as in souereyn bōute
he foond no wōman /
this is to seyn / that ther is no wigħt þt hath
souereyn boūtee / saue god allone / as he hym self recordeth in hys ~
Euangelie /
For ther nys no creature so good / that hym ne wanteth
somwhat of the parfeccioū of god / that is his maker