Diues [et] pauper

Caplm .xvij.

DIues. whether is periury mo¦re synne or manslaughter. ¶Pauper. Periury is more. For as saynt Poule sayth ad Hebr .vi. Men sholde swere by theyr better and theyr gretter / & of euery contrauersy / that is to saye of euery cause that is in debate to conferme the true parte / the laste ende is an othe. For euery su¦che cause is termyned & ended by an othe. And sythen it is so that the cau¦se of manslaughter & of euery open synne touchynge mannes dome mus¦te be termyned by an othe. Periurye muste be taken for a passynge synne and soo it is. For who soo forswereth hym wyttyngly he forsaketh his god & therfore periury is the gretest synne of all synnes next ydolatrye / for it is ayenst the seconde cōmaundement / & inmedyatly ayenst god / & in despyte & forsakyng of god. But manslaugh¦ter is inmedyatly ayenst man. And though man with manslaughter gre¦ued god full sore / yet he forsaketh not god ne despyseth hȳ / ne dyshonoureth hym so moche as he doth by periury. And as y^t phylosophre sayth. In prin¦ci.^• meta.^• Amonges hethen men othe hath euer be worshypfull. For euery secte Iewe Sarasyn Paynym fleeth to swere falsely by his goddes name as moost inconuenyent / & yf māslaugh¦ter were more synne than periury / it were but a folye to trye the cause of manslaughter by an othe. For it is se¦mely that he that was not aferde to do the grete synne of manslaughter / sholde lytyll drede to falle in y^t synne of periury yf it were lesse. And thus sayth saynt Thomas in qōe d qðlibe et Io. in sū .li.i. ti. .q̄ .xxiiij. vt{rum}. ¶Di¦ues. Yf all men charged periury and false othes as y^u dost / many man had ben hanged & drawen and slayne in otherwyse that yet lyue & fare wel. It is full harde so lyghtly to slee a man with a worde whan his lyfe may be

saued with a worde / for a man costeth full moche or he come to be a man. ¶Pauper. Therfore men sholde be∣syly flee periurye and false othes. For ther is no thynge that causeth so mo∣che manslaughter and shedynge of blood as periury doth. ¶Diues. She we me that I praye the yf thou can. ¶Pauper. Salomon sayth Eccle .x. The kyngdome is fletted and chaū∣ged fro nacyon to nacyon for wron∣ges / vnrightfulnes / and despytes do∣ne to goddes name in dyuerse gyles. But periury is cause of all false do∣mes and wronges / and of all vnright fulnesse / cause of gyle and of treason and of grete dyspytes that ben done to god and man. For as I sayd fyrste Euery cause muste be ended by wyt∣nesses or by questes / the whiche ben sworen to saye treuth / and also by a Iuge whiche is sworen to god and to the kyng for to deme rightful domes And yf they that ben charged for to saye the treuth gyue none answere to forswere them and to lye / they shall dysceyue the Iuge / and do hym gyue a false dome. Suche periurers robbe men of theyr good / & dyshereted mo∣che folke. They saue stronge theues / & slee true men. Suche robbe folke of theyr good name / suche ben false to god / to the kyng / & to prelates of ho∣ly chirche. Suche ben cause that this londe is in poynte to be loste & to be chaūged to an other nacyon & in to a newe tongue. And that may not be without shedynge of moche blood & manslaughter. And so periury is cau¦se of moche manslaughter. Also per∣iurye is cause that we haue soo many theues and manquellers in this lon∣de / for they hope alwaye to be saued by periury and falshode of questmon¦gers y^t for a lytyl good wyll forswere them. And therfore in hope of periury they ben so bolde in theyr synne to rob¦be slee & brenne / for though they ben taken yet they hope to scape by periu¦ry. And yf they were syker that ther wolde no man ne womā forswere hȳ to saue them / they wolde neuer be soo bolde to synne / & all other sholde be y^• more aferde to synne / yf they wyste wel that true dome sholde passe with out periury. Suche synfull wretches as the {pro}phete Ysaye sayth .xxiij. they haue put theyr hope all in lesynges & in {pro}iury / & by lesynges falshode & per¦iury ben they mayntened & not chasty sed. Also it is a synne ayenst kynde to saue a theef in dyspyte of god / whose name they forswere ayenst his cōmaū¦dement. For he byddeth that ther shol¦de no man take his name in vayne. Also he sayth. Non suscipies vocem mendacij. nec iunges manū vt {pro} im∣pio dicas falsū testimoniū. Exo .xxiij. Thou shalte not take the voyce of lesynges / ne Ioyne thyn honde in ma¦kynge of couenaunt to bere ony false wytnesse for the wycked man to saue them. Maleficos nō pacieris viuere. Exodi .xxij. Thou shalte not suffre wytches and open malefactours ney∣ther felones a lyue / but slee theym in chastysynge of other. Slee one & sa∣ue many one. Also this is a synne a∣yenst kynde & ouer grete folye / a man to slee his owne soule without ende

to saue a theef that neuer wolde doo hym a good tourne / but alwaye redy to robbe hȳ & perauenture to slee hȳ whan he may. It is a grete folye to offende god by periury to plese a theef a manqueller that offendeth god & al the contree Suche ben lyke the Iewes that saued Barrabam y^• stronge theef & manqueller / & slewe swete Ihesu so∣uerayne treuth that neuer dyde amys And as holy doctours tellen y^t a man sholde rather suffre the moost dyspy∣tous deth of bodye than he sholde for swere him or do ony dedely synne. Mo¦che more he sholde not forswere hym ne do no dedely synne to saue a theues lyfe that god & londes lawe cōmaūde to slee. It felle late in this londe that a Scotte appeled an Englysshe man of hygh treason / whan he sholde fygh¦te byfore a Iuge in theyr cause / the Iu¦ge as the maner is put them both to theyr othe / whan the Scotte sholde swere he sayd to the Iuge. Lorde I ca¦me not hyder to swere I cam to fyght for my chalenge was to fyght / & ther¦to I am redy / but swere wyll I not / for I made no chalenge to swere The Iuge sayd that but yf he wolde swere that his appele was true / ellys he shol¦de be taken as a cōuycte and a taynt traytour / and be hanged & drawen without fyghtynge. And so he was / for he wolde not swere wyttynge wel that his appele was false / and made only for malyce as he knowleched er ••e deyed. This man myght haue sworen / and happely haue hadde the better of his aduersarye and escaped the deth with grete worshypp in this worlde. But yet he had leuer to deye dyspytefully than for to do dyspyte to goddes name / to swere false therby / & leuer to deye bodely than to do that periury to god & slee his owne soule. For he helde it as it is a gretter syn∣ne than manslaughter. And though he wolde auenge hȳ on man for ran∣cour of herte / yet on god he wolde not venge hym by periury. And so god sa¦ued them both fro periury & māslau∣ghter & gaue them grace to dey in cha¦ryte & make amendes to god & man.