on the side/ wherby men myght
put in them that shuld be brent therin/ And hit was maad in suche
manere/ that they that shold be put and enclosid therin shold crye
nothinge lyke to the wys of a man but of an oxe. And this made 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