(342)
¶ In hem is þe substaunce of euery lone:
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What folk cheuyce, as mochil as doon they?
Excellent Prince, I demë your persone,
To hem and to al othir, in good fay,
Wole holdë þat ye heeten hem alway,
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And so to do, god, þe auctour of trouthe,
Yow graunte! and elles certes were it routhe.
(343)
¶ If þat a poorë man breke his byheste,
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Or do ageyn his oth, or seel, or lettre,
Men hente him by þe heed, and him arreeste,
And to prisón he gooth; he gette no bettre,
Til his mainpernour his arrest vnfettre;
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And yit he moot þe cours of lawe abyde,
Or his mainpernour mot deffende his syde.
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(344)
¶ Among the poorë peple thus it goth,
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Thei, for vntrouthe, han smert & open schame;
And if a lorde his bond breke, or his oth,
ffor soþe it is a foul spot in his name;
Thogh men dare not opynly him diffame,
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Thei þinke, al be it þat þei no thing speke;
In swichë lordës is vntrouthe I-reke.
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(345)
¶ And syn a kyng, by wey of his office,
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To god I-likned is, as in manere,
And god is trouthe itself, þan may the vice
Of vntrouthë, naght in a kyng appeere,
If his officë schal to god referre. [folio 42b] [¶ Iacobus iij. Si quis verbo non offendit, perfectus est vir.]
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A besy tongë bringeth in swiche wit,
He þat by word naght gilteþ, is perfit.
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