ro than forthon as euery he had ben to fore
yf he wold And thus he respited hym of his deth by his debonairte. And
in lyke wyse rede we of the kynge pirre to whom was reported that they
of tarente had said grete vilonye of hym. For whiche cause he maad alle
them to come to fore hym And demanded of them yf they had so sayd. Than
oon of them answerd and sayd/ yf the wyn and the candellys had not
fayllyd/ thys langage had ben but a Iape/ In regarde of that we had
thought to haue doon/ Than the kynge began to lawhe/ for they had
confessid that suche langage as was sayd and spoken was by dronkenship/
And for this cause of debonairte the peple of tarante toke for a custome
that the dronken men shold be puuysshyd/ And the sobre men preyfed. The
kynge than thus ought to loue humylyte and hate falsite after the holy
scripture that speketh of euery man generally/ For the kynge in his
royame representeth god/ And god is verite/ And therfore hym ought to
saye no thynge but yf hit were veritable and stable. Valerius reherceth
that Alixandre wyth alle his ooste rood for to destroye a cyte whyche
was named lapsare/ whan than a phylosophre whiche had to name Anaximenes
which had ben to fore maistre & gouernour of Alixandre herd and
understood of his comyng Cam agayn Alixandre for to desire and requyre
of hym. And whan he sawe Alixandre he supposid to haue axid his
requefte/ Alixandre brake his demande to fore and swore to hym to fore
he axid ony thynge by his goddes. That suche thynge as he axid or
requyryd of hym/ he wold in no wyse doon/ Than the philosopher requyred
hym to destroye the cyte/ whan Alixandre understood his desire/ and the
oth that he had maad/ he suffrid the cyte to stande and not to be
destroyed For he had leuer doo his wyll than to be periured and forsworn
and doo agaynst his oth/ Quyntilian saith that no grete man ne lord
shold not swere/ but where as is grete nede/ And that the symple parole
or worde of a prynce ought to be more stable than the oth of a
marcha[=u]t/ Alas how kepe the prynces their promisses in thise dayes/
not only her promises but their othes her fealis and wrytynges & signes
of their propre handes/ alle faylleth god amende hit &c. A kynge also
ought to hate alle cruelte/ For we rede that neuer yet dyed ony pietous
persone of euyll deth ne cruell persone of good deth Therfore recounteth
valerius that ther was a man named theryle a werke-man in metall/ that
made a boole of coppre and a lityll wyket