POLITICAL SONGS. (continued 2)

Translation.—Now comes the time of May, when the rose will open,—when the seasons will be fair, and the nightingale sing,—the fields will be green, and the gardens will bloom;—I have found behind me a thing which I will relate.

Of my King of England, who is in a good ship,—a valiant knight, hardy, and loyal,—and of Edward his son, who hath flaxen hair,—it pleases me to make a saying which is quite new.

And of that King of France, that long baron,—who held Normandy wrongfully by ill event;—long time did he settle his house upon Paris,—that he never but for a war alone put on his spur.

Lords, attend to me; you must not laugh:—all the world ought to cry this news which I bring.—The other day there was at London a great assembly;—there no baron, from the best to the worst, would move,

But they would all come to this great debating.—There would have been done such a thing, I believe truly,—that it would have caused the French King a great fright—concerning the lands which he holds against the English people.

Lords, it is a long time since Merlin prophecied—that Philip of France, a lord who was formerly,—should conquer all the land, such as it is, on this side;—but, at all events, I say it, the English will still have it.

Now is come the time that the English would make an inroad,—if he should find the French inclined to grumble,—who would appear frightened by swords and by greyhounds(?),—that he would have no courage to grumble against the English.

The good King of England drew himself on one side,—he and Richard his brother, as angry as leopards.—He sighs from behind, and so cries with alacrity,—“O God! how may I have my part of Normandy?”

“Do not disturb yourself at all,” said the Earl of Gloucester,—“you may still do it; such things may still easily be,—if God preserve my backside, my foot, and my right fist,—thou shalt still be entire master over Paris.”

The Earl of Winchester said to the noble King of England,—“King, King, wilt thou follow? Set agoing the war,—and I will conduct thee all thy people in abundance:—at this juncture thou wilt be able to conquer Normandy.

“If I can constrain the King of France to a battle,—and I can strike him with my lance behind,—I think that I shall make him fall so hard—that he will break his head, or my tail will be broken.

“I will take good right, if I can, with God’s will,—when I shall have in my hand Normandy and Poitou,—I will make my English people approach to Paris,—and then I will go to take France in spite of the Earl of Anjou.

“By the five wounds of God! the French are in bad case;—if I can lay hold upon them, truly they shall be punished.—When the English go there, there will be a great disturbance;—God’s death! I think they will all fly away.”

Sir Simon de Montfort heard this speech,—then he leaped on his feet; he did not look very handsome.—Says he to the English King, “By the body of the holy Lamb!—now let this thing alone; the Frenchman is not a lamb.

“If you attack them, they will defend themselves:—he will burn all thy tents to ashes.—There is no man so valiant who dare wait for him;—they will be in ill case whom the Frenchman can catch.”

“What is that you say, Simon?” replied Roger Bigot;—“do you take the King for a simpleton and a fool?—if you are so bold as to say another word,—you will not serve yourself with your best coat.”

“Sir Roger,” said the King, “for God’s sake! dont be in a heat;—I am not so angry against this scamp.—I dont care half a farthing for all the French that are;—I will do as I like, let the matter go as it will.

“I will easily take Paris, I am quite certain;—I will set fire to the river which is called Seine;—I will burn the mill; this will be a very grievous thing,—if they eat no bread all the week.

“By the five wounds of God! Paris is a very great city!—There is a chapel, of which I am desirous;—I will cause it to be carried in a rolling cart,—straight to Saint Amont in London, just as it stands.

“When I have led all my ships to Paris,—I will cause the Chancellor in the monastery of St. Denis—to crown Edward on his flaxen hair.—There I will kill for you cows and pigs.

“I believe that you will see there a great feast,—when France shall have crowned Edward’s head. He has well deserved it, my son; he is no fool;—he is a good knight, brave, and courteous.”

“Sir King,” said Roger, “for God’s sake, listen to me;—thou hast pierced me behind, so much has pity overcome me;—Now may God Almighty ordain by his commandment,—that thou perform this thing very gloriously!”

The decisive battle of Lewes, in 1264, was the subject of great exultation amongst the adherents of Simon de Montfort. The following song, in English, is directed against the king’s brother, Richard Earl of Cornwall, who had become very unpopular by his foreign schemes of ambition. He took shelter at a windmill, after he saw the king’s party defeated.

SONG AGAINST THE KING OF ALMAIGNE.

[MS. Harl. No. 2253, fol. 58 v^o, of the reign of Edw. II.]

Translation.—Sit all still and listen to me:—the King of Almaigne, by my loyalty,—thirty thousand pound he asked—to make peace in the country,—and so he did more.—Richard, though thou art ever a traitor,—thou shalt never more deceive.

Richard of Almaigne, while he was king,—he spent all his treasure upon luxury;—have he not of Wallingford one furlong:—let him have, as he brews, evil to drink,—in spite of Windsor.

The King of Almaigne thought to do full well,—they seized the mill for a castle;—with their sharp swords they ground the steel,—they thought the sails had been mangonels—to help Windsor.

The King of Almaigne gathered his host,—he made him a castle of a mill-post,—he went with his pride and his great boast,—brought from Almaigne many a wretched soul—to garrison Windsor.

By God, that is above us, he did great sin,—who let the Earl of Warenne pass over sea:—he hath robbed England both the moor and the fen,—of the gold and the silver, and carried them hence,—for love of Windsor.

Sir Simon de Montfort hath sworn by his chin,—had he now here the Earl of Warenne,—he should never more come to his lodging,—neither with shield, nor with spear, nor with other contrivance,—to help Windsor.

Sir Simon de Montfort hath sworn by his head,—had he now here Sir Hugh de Bigot,—he should pay here a twelvemonth’s scot,—he should never more tramp on his feet,—to help Windsor.

Be it agreeable to thee, or disagreeable, Sir Edward,—thou shalt ride spurless on thy hack—all the straight road towards Dover;—thou shalt never more break covenant;—and that sore rueth thee;—Edward, thou didst like a shrew,—forsookest thine uncle’s teaching.

The following long, but singularly interesting, poem may be considered as the popular declaration of the principles with which the barons entered into the war, and the objects which they had in view. It bears internal proofs of having been written immediately after the decisive battle of Lewes; and the moderate and deeply moral and religious feeling which the reforming party here shows, even in the moment of triumph, is extremely remarkable, and is closely connected with the complaints against the licentiousness of the other party in the satyrical songs which precede. We might almost suppose ourselves transported to the days of Wickliffe or Cromwell.

THE BATTLE OF LEWES.

[MS. Harl. 978. fol. 128, r^o. of the middle of the 13th cent.]

Translation.—Write quickly, O pen of one who, writing such things as follow, blesses and praises with his tongue, thee, O right hand of God the Father, Lord of virtues, who givest prosperity at thy nod to thine own, whenever it is thy will; let all those people now learn to put their trust in thee, whom they, who are now scattered, wished to destroy—they of whom the head is now taken, and the members are in captivity; the proud people is fallen; the faithful are filled with joy. Now England breathes in the hope of liberty; [10] to which (England) may the grace of God give prosperity! The English were despised like dogs; but now they have raised their head over their vanquished enemies.

In the year of grace one thousand two hundred and sixty-four, and on the Wednesday after the festival of St. Pancras, the army of the English bore the brunt of a great battle at the castle of Lewes: for reasoning yielded to rage, and life to the sword. They met on the fourteenth of May, [20] and began the battle of this terrible strife; which was fought in the county of Sussex, and in the bishopric of Chichester. The sword was powerful; many fell; truth prevailed; and the false men fled. For the Lord of valour resisted the perjured men, and defended those who were pure with the shield of truth. The sword without, and fear within, routed the former; the favour of heaven comforted very fully the latter. The solemnities of the victor, and the sacred crowns, [30] give testimony on this contest; since the Church honoured the said persons as saints, and victory crowned the true soldiers. The wisdom of God, which rules the whole world, performed miracles and made a joyful war; caused the strong to fly, and the valorous men to shut themselves up in a cloister, and in places of safety. Not in arms, but in the grace of Christianity, that is in the Church, remained the only refuge for those who were excommunicated; after deserting their horses [40] this counsel alone occurred to the vanquished. And her whom previously they had not hesitated to profane, her whom they ought to have honoured in the place of a mother—in her they seek refuge, though little worthy of it, and seek their defence in embracing the wood of salvation. Those whom prosperity caused to despise their mother, their wounds compelled to know their mother. When at Northampton they succeeded by treachery, the faithless children despised the church; with the sword they disturbed the bowels of the holy mother, and in their prosperity [50] did not merit a successful war. The mother then bore the injury patiently, as though heedless of it, but not letting it pass unmarked: she punishes this and other injuries which were afterwards added, for the madmen ravaged many churches; and the band of enraged men, which has now been thrown into confusion, mercilessly spoiled the monastry which is called Battle, of its goods, and thus they prepared a battle for themselves. The Cistercian monks of Robertsbridge [60] would not have been safe from the fury of the sword, unless they had given five hundred marks to the prince, which Edward ordered to be received, or they had perished. By these, and similar deeds, they merited to give way and succumb before their enemies. May the Lord bless Simon de Montfort! and also his sons and his army! who, exposing themselves magnanimously to death, fought valiantly, condoling the lamentable lot of the English who, trodden under foot in a manner scarcely to be described, [70] and almost deprived of all their liberties, nay, of their lives, had languished under hard rulers, like the people of Israel under Pharaoh, groaning under a tyrannical devastation. But God, seeing this suffering of the people, gives at last a new Matathias, and he with his sons, zealous after the zeal of the law, yields neither to the insults nor to the fury of the king.

They call Simon a seductor and a traitor; [80] but his deeds lay him open and prove him to be a true man. Traitors fall off in time of need; they who do not fly death, are those who stand for the truth. But says his insidious enemy now, whose evil eye is the disturber of peace, “If you praise the constancy and the fidelity, which does not fly the approach of death or punishment, they shall equally be called constant who, in the same manner, go to the combat fighting on the opposite side, in the same manner exposing themselves to the chance of war, [90] and subjecting themselves to a hard appellation.” But in our war in which we are now engaged, let us see what is the state of the case.

The earl had few men used to arms; the royal party was numerous, having assembled the disciplined and greatest warriors in England, such as were called the flower of the army of the kingdom; those who were prepared with arms from among the Londoners, were three hundred set before several thousands; whence they were contemptible to those, [100] and were detested by those who were experienced. Much of the earl’s army was raw; fresh in arms, they knew little of war. The tender youth, only now girt with a sword, stands in the morning in battle accustoming himself to arms; what wonder if such an unpractised tyro fear, and if the powerless lamb dread the wolf? Thus those who fight for England are inferior in military discipline, and they are much fewer than the strong men, who boasted in their own valour, [110] because they thought safely, and without danger, to swallow up, as it were, all whom the earl had to help him. Moreover, of those whom the earl had brought to the battle, and from whom he hoped for no little help, many soon withdrew from fear, and took to flight as though they were amazed; and of three parts, one deserted. The earl with a few faithful men never yielded. We may compare our battle with that of Gideon; [120] in both of which we see a few of the faithful conquer a great number who have no faith, and who trust in themselves like Lucifer did. God said, “If I should give the victory to the many, the fools will not give the glory to me, but to fools.” So if God had made the strong to conquer, the common people would have given the credit of it to the men, and not to God.

From these considerations it may be concluded that the warlike men did not fear God, wherefore they did nothing to prove their constancy or fidelity, [130] but they showed on the contrary their pride and cruelty; and wishing to confound those whom they despised, issuing forth boldly, they perished quickly. Exaltation of the heart brings on ruin, and humility merits to receive the divine grace; for he who does not trust in God, God overthrows his pride. We may bring forward as examples Aman and Mardocheus; we read that the former was arrogant, the latter a true Israelite; the gallows which Aman had prepared for Mardocheus, [140] in the morning the wretch bore it himself in order to be hanged upon it. The queen’s banquet blinded Aman, which he reputed as an extraordinary privilege; but his vain expectation is turned into confusion, when after the feast he is dragged to the gallows. Thus sorrow followed close upon joy, when it coupled death with the end of the feast. Very differently, it happens, to the Israelite, whom, by God’s will, the king honours. Golias is overthrown by the stroke of a little stone; [150] nothing profits him whom God pursues. Add to the various reasons already mentioned, that the stinking bawds collected with them so many strumpets, amounting to seven hundred, which they ought to have known to be fraudulent persons, disciples of Satan to deceive men’s souls, and matches to set them on fire, treacherous scissars to cut the hairs of Samson, inflicting the stains of base action on the wretches who are not strong in heart, [160] nor made firm by the grace of the divine gift, but animals dedicated to the lust of the flesh, by the uncleanness of which, reduced to the level of brutes, they ought not to be worthy of victory, who grovelled in the foul luxury of the flesh; they diminish their strength in the stews which they had made, therefore they were unworthy of the attributes of knights. A knight is girt on the thigh with a sword, that it may not be ungirt, and that vile deeds should be eschewed; the body of a new knight is accustomed to be bathed, [170] in order that he may learn to be clean from unlawful deeds. They who had newly married lawful wives, were not fit for the Lord’s warfare, as the battle of Gideon witnesseth, much less those whom the furnace of luxury hath injured with its fire. Why then should God help adulterers, and not rather strengthen clean children? Let them be clean who desire to conquer in fighting; they who vanquish their faults are in the way to triumph; first let them conquer their vices, [180] who wish with justice to have the victory over sinners. If the just man seems sometimes to be vanquished by the impious man, on the contrary he should be reputed the conqueror; for neither can the just man be vanquished, nor the unjust man conquer while he is the enemy of the law.

Listen to the equity of Earl Simon: when the royal party would be satisfied only with his head and his life, nor would allow his head to be redeemed, but would have it cut off, by whose confusion they hoped the body of the people should be confounded, [190] and the greatest part of the state brought into danger, so that the most grievous ruin would immediately follow;—may it be very long before this happen!—Stephen, by divine grace, bishop of Chichester, groaning deeply for the immense evils which were then impending, (without exaggeration,) the two parties being persuaded to treat of a peace, received this answer from the Earl: “Choose the best men, who have a lively faith, [200] who have read the decretals, or who have taught, in a becoming manner, theology and sacred wisdom, and who know how to rule the Christian faith, whatever they may resolve by sound doctrine, or whatever they may have the courage to decree, they shall find us ready to agree to what they shall dictate, in such a manner as that we may escape the stigma of perjury, and keep the league as children of God.” Hence it may easily be understood by those who swear, and show little reluctance to despise what they swear, receding quickly from it although they swear to what is right, [210] and not rendering whole what they have promised to God, with how much care they ought to keep their oath, when they see a man neither avoiding torment nor death on account of his oath, which was made not inconsiderately, but for the reformation of the fallen state of the English nation, which the fraud of an inveterate enemy had violated. Behold Simon, obedient, despises the loss of property, submitting himself to punishment, rather than desert the truth, proclaiming to all men openly by his deeds more than by his words, [220] that truth has nothing in common with falsehood. Woe to the perjured wretches who fear not God! denying him for the prospect of an earthly reward, or for fear of imprisonment or light punishment; the new leader of the journey teaches to bear all that the world may inflict on account of truth, for it is this which can give perfect liberty. For the Earl had first pledged his oath that whatever the zeal of the wise had provided for the reformation of the King’s honour, [230] and for the repression of wandering error, at Oxford, he would steadfastly keep it, and would not change the law then ordained, knowing that such canonical constitutions, and such catholic ordinances for the pacific conservation of the kingdom, on account of which he had before sustained no slight persecution, were not to be despised; and because he had sworn to hold them firmly, unless the most perfect doctors of the faith should say, [240] that the jurators might be absolved, who had before taken such oath, and that no further account was to be made of what they had sworn. Which, when the said bishop recited to the king, and perhaps the artificer of fraud was standing by, the voice of the crowd of arrogant courtiers was raised high, “See now the soldier is to give way to the sayings of clerks! The military order subjected to clerks is debased!” Thus the wisdom of the Earl was despised; and Edward is said to have answered thus: [250] “They shall have no peace unless they all put halters about their necks, and deliver themselves up to us to be hanged, or to be drawn.” What wonder if the Earl’s heart was then moved, when nothing but the pain of the stake was prepared for him? He offered what he ought to do, but he was not listened to; the king rejected measure, forgetting what was good for him. But, as the event of the matter next day taught him, the measure which he then refused, afterwards was not to be had. In the evening was derided the Earl’s devotion, [260] the shock of which, next day, was found to be victorious. This stone, long rejected from the doorway, was afterwards fitted to the two walls. The division of England was on the verge of desolation, but the corner-stone was there as a help to the division, the truly singular religion of Simon. The faith and fidelity of Simon alone becomes the security of the peace of all England; he humbles the rebellious, raises those who were in despair, [270] reconciling the kingdom, repressing the proud. And how does he repress them? certainly not by praising them; but he presses out the red juice in the hard conflict; for truth obliges him to fight, or to desert the truth, and prudently he chooses rather to devote his right hand to the truth, and by the rough way, which is joined to probity, by the harder and shorter way which is unpleasant to the proud, to obtain the reward which is given to those who use force, than to displease God by shrinking, [280] and to promote the designs of bad men by flight. For some men had studied to erase the name of the English, whom they had already begun to regard with hatred, against whom God opposed a medicine, since he did not desire their sudden ruin.

Hence let the English learn to call in strangers, if they wish to be exiled by strangers. For these when they wish to enlarge their own glory, and wish their own memory to stand always, study to associate with themselves very many of their own nation, [290] and by degrees to make them the principal nobles; and thus grows the confusion of the natives, with indignation and bitterness of heart, when the chief men of the kingdom feel themselves to be beaten down by those who make themselves their equals, taking from them the things which ought to appertain to them, growing by the things by which they used to grow. The King ought to honour with escheats and wards his own people, who can help him in various ways, who, by as much as they are more powerful by their own strength, [300] are so much the more secure in all cases. But those who have brought nothing, if they are enriched by his goods, if they are made great who were of no account, such men, when they begin to grow, always go on climbing till they have supplanted the natives; they study to avert the prince’s heart from his own people, that they may strip of glory those whose ruin they are seeking. And who could bear such things patiently? Therefore let England learn prudently to have a care, lest such a perplexity should happen any more, [310] lest such an adversity should fall upon the English. The Earl studied to obviate this, because it had gained too much head, like a great sea, that could not be dried by a small effort, but must be forded by a great assistance from God. Let strangers come to return quickly, like men of a moment, but not to remain. One of the two hands aids the other, neither of them bearing more really the grace which belongs to both; let it help, and not injure, by retaining its place. [320] Each thing would avail its own possessor if they come so; the Frenchman by doing good to the Englishman, and not seducing by a flattering face, nor the one withdrawing the goods of the other; but rather by sustaining his own portion of the burden. If his own interest had moved the Earl, he would neither have had any other zeal, nor would he have sought with all his power for the reformation of the kingdom, but he would have aimed at power, he would have sought his own promotion only, and made his first object the promotion of his friends, [330] and would have aimed at enriching his children, and would have neglected the weal of the community, and would have covered the poison of falsehood with the cloak of duplicity, and would thus have deserted the faith of Christianity, and would have subjected himself to the retribution of fearful punishment, nor would he have escaped the weight of the tempest, And who can believe that he would give himself to death, that he would sacrifice his friends, in order that he might thus raise himself high? If those who hunt after honour cover their object cunningly; [340] always meditating at the same time how they may avoid death; none love more the present life, none choose more eagerly a position devoid of danger. They who thirst after honours dissimulate their aim, they make themselves cautiously the reputation which they seek. Not so the venerable Simon de Montfort, who, like Christ, offers himself a sacrifice for many; Isaac does not die, although he is ready for death; it is the ram which is given to death, and Isaac receives honour. Neither fraud nor falsehood promoted the Earl, [350] but the Divine grace which knew those whom it would help. If you consider the time and the place of the conflict, you will find that they promised him a defeat rather than victory; but God provided that he should not succumb. He does not take them on a sudden by creeping stealthily by night; but he fights openly when day is come. So also the place was favourable to his enemies, that thus it might appear plainly to all to be the gift of God, that victory departed from him who put his trust in himself. [360] Hence let the military order, which praises the practice of the tournament, that so it may be made expert at fighting, learn how the party of the strong and skilful was here bruised by the arms of those who were feeble and unpractised: that he may confound the strong, God promotes the weak, comforts the feeble, lays prostrate the firm. Thus let no one now presume to trust in himself; but if he know how to place his hope in God, he may take up arms with constancy, nothing doubting, [370] since God is a help for those who are on the side of justice. Thus it was right that God should help the Earl, for without God he could not overcome the enemy. Of whom should I call him the enemy?—of the Earl alone? or should I recognise him as the enemy of the English and of the whole kingdom?—perhaps also of the Church, and therefore of God? And if so, how much grace ought he to have? He failed to deserve grace who trusted in himself, and he did not merit to be helped who did not fear God. Thus falls the boast of personal valour, [380] and so for evermore praised be the Lord God of vengeance! who gives aid to those who are destitute of force, to a few against many, crushing fools by the valour of the faithful; who sits on a throne in heaven above, and by his own strength treads upon the necks of the proud, bowing the great under the feet of the less. He has subdued two kings and the heirs of kings, whom he has made captives, because they were transgressors of the laws; and he has turned to shame the pomp of knighthood with its numerous retinue; [390] for the barons employed on the sons of pride the arms, which, in their zeal for justice, they had taken up in the cause of the kingdom, until victory was given them from heaven, with a great glory that was not expected. For the bow of the strong was then overcome, and the troop of the weak was established with strength; and we have said that it was done by heaven, lest any one should boast of it; let all the honour, on the contrary, be given to Christ, in whom we believe! For Christ at once commands, conquers, reigns! [400] Christ delivers his own, to whom he has given his promise. We pray God to grant that the minds of the conquerors may not attribute their success to themselves, and let what Paul says be observed by them, “He who would be joyful, let him be joyful in God.” If any one of us indulge in vain glory, may God be indulgent to him, and not angry! and may he make our party cautious in future; lest deeds be wanting, may they make themselves a wall! May the power of the Almighty perfect what it has begun, [410] and restore to its vigour the kingdom of the English people! that glory may be to himself, and peace to his elect, until they be in the country where he shall lead them. O Englishmen! read this concerning the battle of Lewes! by the influence of which you are saved from destruction: for if victory had gone over to those who are now vanquished, the memory of the English would have lain in disgrace.

To whom shall the noble Edward be compared? Perhaps he will be rightly called a leopard. If we divide the name, it becomes a lion and a pard:—[420] a lion, for we have seen that he was not slow to meet the strongest; fearing the attack of none; making a charge in the thick of the battle with the most unflinching bravery, and as though at his will, and wherever he went, as if, like Alexander, he would soon subdue the whole world, if the mutable wheel of Fortune would but stand still; in which, although he stand at the top, let him know that his fall is near at hand, and that he who reigns like a lord will not reign long. Which, in fact, has happened to the noble Edward, [430] who has manifestly fallen from his unstable position. He is a lion by his pride and by his ferocity; by his inconstancy and changeableness he is a pard, not holding steadily his word or his promise, and excusing himself with fair words. When he is in a difficulty, he promises just what you will; but as soon as he has escaped the danger, he forgets his promise. Witness Gloucester, where, as soon as he was out of the difficulty, he revoked immediately what he had sworn. The treachery or falseness by which he gains his ends [440] he calls prudence; the way by which he arrives at his object, be it ever so crooked, is reputed to be straight; when wrong serves his purpose, it is called right; he calls lawful whatever he wills, and thinks himself absolved from the law, as though he were greater than a king: for every king is ruled by the laws which he enacts. King Saul was deposed, because he brake the laws; and we read that David was punished, as soon as he did contrary to the law; hence, therefore, let him who reads know, that he cannot reign who does not keep the law; [450] nor ought they, whose province it is to do so, to elect such a man for their king. O Edward! thou desirest to be made a king without law; they would be truly miserable who were ruled by such a king! For what is more just than law, by which all things are ruled? and what more true than justice, by which all things are administered? If thou wouldest have a kingdom, reverence the laws; they are but rough roads, which are opposed to law, rough and crooked roads which will not lead thee to thy journey’s end; but if thou keepest the laws, they shine like a lamp. Therefore avoid and detest treachery; [460] labour after truth and hate falsehood. Although treachery may flourish, it cannot bear fruit; the Psalm may teach thee this; God says to the faithful of the earth, “They are my eyes, and it is my will that they shall sit with me at the end of time.” Observe how little thou hast gained by thy treachery at Northampton; the heat of deceit does not warm like fire. If you will compare treachery to fire, feed studiously such fire with straw, which ceases to glow as soon as it is burnt up, [470] and is consumed almost as soon as kindled. So passeth away vanity which hath no roots; rooted truth is not subject to vicissitudes: therefore let that alone be permitted thee which is lawful, and let not what the double man shall say please thee. A prince shall project things which are worthy of a prince: therefore take the law under thy protection, which will make thee worthy to govern many, worthy of the principality, of the aid of many, and of a numerous retinue. And why lovest thou not those of whom thou desirest to be king? [480] Thou choosest not to profit them, but only to govern. He who seeks only his own glory, everything that he governs is ruined by his pride. Thus recently the whole which thou governest has been ruined; the glory which alone thou soughtest is past.

Lo! we are touching the root of the perturbation of the kingdom of which we are speaking, and of the dissension of the parties who fought the said battle. The objects at which these two parties aimed were different. The king, with his, wished thus to be free: [490] and so [it was urged on his side] he ought to be; and he must cease to be king, deprived of the rights of a king, unless he could do whatever he pleased; it was no part of the duty of the magnates of the kingdom to determine whom he should prefer to his earldoms, or on whom he should confer the custody of castles, or whom he would have to administer justice to the people, and to be chancellor and treasurer of the kingdom. He would have every one at his own will, and counsellors from whatever nation he chose, [500] and all ministers at his own discretion; while the barons of England are not to interfere with the king’s actions, the command of the prince having the force of law, and what he may dictate binding upon every body at his pleasure. For every earl also is thus his own master, giving to every one of his own men both as much as he will, and to whom he will; he commits castles, lands, revenues, to whom he will; and although he be a subject, the king permits it all. Which, if he do well, is profitable to the doer; [510] if not, he must himself see to it; the king will not hinder him from injuring himself. Why is the prince worse in condition, when the affairs of the baron, the knight, and the freeman, are thus managed? Therefore they aim at making the king a slave, who wish to diminish his power, to take away his dignity of prince; they wish by sedition to reduce captive into guardianship and subjection the royal power, and to disinherit the king, [520] that he shall be unable to reign so fully as hitherto have done the kings who preceded him, who were in no respect subjected to their people, but administered their own affairs at their will, and conferred what they had to confer according to their own pleasure. This is the King’s argument, which has an appearance of fairness, and this is alleged in defence of the right of the kingdom.

But now let my pen turn to the other side:—let me describe the object at which the barons aim; and when both sides have been heard, let the arguments be compared, [530] and then let us come to a final judgment, so that it may be clear which side is the truest. The people is more prone to obey the truer party. Let therefore the party of the barons speak for itself, and proclaim in order by what zeal it is led. Which party in the first place protests openly, that it has no designs against the kingly honour; nay, it seeks the contrary, and studies to reform and magnify the kingly condition; just as if the kingdom were ravaged by enemies, [540] then it would not be reformed without the barons, who would be the capable and proper persons for this purpose; and should any one then hang back, the law would punish him as one guilty of perjury, a traitor to the king, who owes to his lord, when he is in danger, all the aid he can give to support the king’s honour, when the kingdom is as it were nigh its end by devastation.

The adversaries of the king are enemies who make war upon him, and counsellors who flatter the king, who seduce their prince with deceitful words, [550] and who lead him into error by their double tongues: these are adversaries worse than those who are perverse; it is these who pretend to be good whilst they are seducers, and procurers of their own advancement; they deceive the incautious, whom they render less on their guard by means of things that please them, whereby they are not provided against, but are considered as prudent advisers. Such men can deceive more than those who act openly, as they are able to make an outward appearance of being not hostile. What if such wretches, and such liars, [560] should haunt the prince, capable of all malice, of fraud, of falsehood, excited by the spurs of envy, should seek to do that extreme wickedness, by which they should sacrifice the privileges of the kingdom to their own ostentation, that they should contrive all kinds of hard reasons, which by degrees should confound the commonalty, should bruise and impoverish the mass of the people, and should subvert and infatuate the kingdom, so that no one could obtain justice, [570] except he who would encourage the pride of such men as these by large supplies of money; who could submit to the establishment of such an injury? And if such, by their conduct, should change the state of the kingdom; if they should banish justice to put injustice in its place; if they should call in strangers and trample upon the natives; and if they should subdue the kingdom to foreigners; if they should not care for the magnates and nobles of the land, and should place contemptible persons over them; and if they should overthrow and humiliate the great; [580] if they should pervert and turn upside-down the order of things; if they should leave the measures that are best, to advance those which are worst;—do not those who act thus devastate the kingdom? although they do not make war upon it with arms from abroad, yet they fight with diabolical arms, and they violate, in a lamentable manner, the constitution of the kingdom; although not in the same manner [as a foreign enemy], yet they do no less damage. Whether the king, seduced to give his consent, not perceiving the design, should approve measures so destructive to the kingdom; [590] or whether the king should follow such an injurious course with an ill design of setting his own power above the laws, abusing his strength to please his own will; if thus or otherwise the kingdom be wasted, or the kingdom be finally left destitute, then the magnates of the kingdom are bound to look to it, that the land be purged of all errors. To whom if such a purgation of errors belongs, if such a provision belongs to them to regulate customs, how can it otherwise than appertain to them [600] to look out that no evil may happen which would be injurious? Which, after it has happened, they ought to remove, lest by a sudden occurrence it give those who do not provide against it cause to grieve. Thus, in order that no one of the aforesaid things may happen, which may hinder the form of peace and good customs, but that the zeal of the experienced men may find what is most expedient for the utility of the many, why is a reform not admitted, with which no corruption shall be mixed? For the king’s clemency and the king’s majesty [610] ought to approve the endeavours, which so amend grievous laws that they be milder, and that they be, while less onerous, more pleasing to God. For the oppression of the commons pleaseth not God, but rather the commiseration whereby the commons may have time to think upon God. Pharaoh, who so afflicted the people of God, that they could with difficulty repair to the oracle which he had appointed to Moses, was afterwards so punished, that he was obliged to dismiss Israel against his will; and when he thought to catch them after they were dismissed, [620] he was drowned whilst he thought to run through the deep. Solomon was unwilling to bruise Israel, nor would he reduce to servitude any one of the race; because he knew that it was God’s people over whom he reigned; and he feared to hurt the imprint of God; and he praises mercy more than judgment, and the peace of a true father more than execution.

Since it is clear that the barons have a right of doing all this, it remains to answer the king’s arguments. The king wishes to be free by the removal of his guardians, [630] and he will not be subject to his inferiors, but be placed over them; he will command his subjects and not be commanded; he will be humiliated neither to himself nor to those who are his officers. For the officers are not set over the king; but on the contrary they are rather the noble men who support the law. Otherwise there would not be one king of one state, (?) but they would reign equally to whom the king was subject. Yet this inconvenience also, though it seem so great, with the assistance of God, is easily solved: for we believe that God wills truth, [640] through whom we dissolve this doubt as follows. He is said to be, and is in truth, one king alone, by whom the universe is ruled in pure majesty; who neither wants help whereby he may reign, nor even counsel, in as much as he cannot err. Therefore, all-powerful and all-knowing, he excels in infinite glory all those to whom he has given to rule and, as it were, to reign under him over his people, who may fail, and who may err, and who cannot avail by their own independent strength, [650] and vanquish their enemies by their own valour, nor govern kingdoms by their own wisdom, but in an evil manner wander in the track of error. They want help which should assist them, and counsel which should set them right. Says the king, “I agree to thy reasoning; but the choice of these must be left to my option; I will associate with myself whom I will, by whose support I will govern all things; and if my ministers should be insufficient, [660] if they want sense or power, or if they harbour evil designs, or are not faithful, but are perhaps traitors, I desire that you will explain, why I ought to be confined to certain persons, when I might succeed in obtaining better assistance?” The reason of this is quickly declared, if it be considered what the constraint of the king is: all constraint does not deprive of liberty, nor does every restriction take away power. Princes desire free power; [670] those who reign decline miserable servitude. To what will a free law bind kings?—to prevent them from being stained by an adulterated law. And this constraint is not one of slavery, but is rather an enlarging of the kingly faculty. Thus the king’s child is kept from being hurt; yet he is not made a slave when he is thus restricted. Nay, the very angels are restricted in this manner, who are confirmed from becoming apostates. For, that the Author of all things cannot err, [680] that He who is the beginning of all things cannot sin, is not impotence, but it is the highest degree of power, the great glory of God and his great majesty. Thus, he who may fall, if he be kept from falling, so that he may live free from danger, he reaps advantage from such keeping, nor is such a support slavery, but it is the safeguard of virtue. Therefore that there be permitted to a king all that is good, but that he dare not do evil,—this is God’s gift. They who keep the king from sinning when he is tempted, [690] they serve the king, to whom he should be grateful, that they deliver him from being made a slave; so that those by whom he is led do not overcome him. But he who should be in truth a king, he is truly free if he rule rightly himself and the kingdom; let him know that all things are permitted him which are in ruling convenient to the kingdom, but not such as destroy it. It is one thing to rule according to a king’s duty, and another to destroy by resisting the law. The law receives its name from binding (a ligando), [700] which is so perfectly said of liberty, whereby it is served gratefully. (?)

Let every king bear in mind that he is a servant of God; let him love that only which is pleasing to Him; and let him seek His glory in reigning, not his own pride in despising his peers. A king who wishes his subject kingdom to yield obedience to him, let him render his duty to God in other things truly; let him know that obedience is not owing to him who denies the service in which he is bound to God. Again, let him know that the people is not his but God’s; [710] and that it is profitable to him as his help: and that he who for a short period is placed over the people, soon, closed in marble, will be buried in the earth. Towards them let him make himself as one of them; let him regard David joining the dance of the maids. I wish one similar to David may succeed the king—a prudent and humble man, who would not injure his people; in truth, who would not hurt the people which is subjected to him, but would exhibit towards them a loving regard, and would aim at their prosperity; [720] the commons would not allow him to suffer wrong. It is hard to love one who does not love us; it is hard not to despise one who despises us; it is hard not to resist one who ruins us; we naturally applaud him who favours us. It is not the part of a prince to bruise, but to protect; neither is it the part of a prince to oppress, but rather to deserve the favour of his people by numerous benefits conferred upon them, as Christ by his grace has deserved the love of all. If a prince love his subjects, he will necessarily be repaid with love; [730] if he reign justly, he will of a necessity be honoured; if the prince err, he ought to be recalled by those whom his unjust denial may have grieved, unless he be willing to be corrected; if he is willing to make amends, he ought to be both raised up and aided by these same persons. Let a prince maintain such a rule of reigning, that it may never be necessary for him to avoid depending on his own people. The ignorant princes who confound their subjects, will find that those who are unconquered will not thus be tamed. If a prince should think [740] that he alone has more truth, more knowledge, and more intelligence than the whole people, that he abounds more in grace and the gifts of God, if it be not presumption, but it be truly so, then his instruction will visit the true hearts of his subjects with light, and will instruct his people with moderation.

We instance Moses, David, Samuel—each of whom we know to have been a faithful prince; who suffered many things from their subjects, [750] and yet for their deserts they did not cast them off, nor set strangers over them, but governed by means of those who were their own people. “I will place thee over a greater people; and I will slay this people” saith God. “I had rather die, than this people should perish,” answered kind Moses, who was worthy to govern. And thus a wise prince will never reject his people, but an unwise one will disturb the kingdom. Wherefore, if a king is less wise than he ought to be, [760] what advantage will the kingdom gain by his reign? Is he to seek by his own opinion on whom he should depend to have his failing supplied? If he alone choose, he will be easily deceived, who is not capable of knowing who will be useful. Therefore let the community of the kingdom advise; and let it be known what the generality thinks, to whom their own laws are best known. Nor are all those of the country so uninstructed, as not to know better than strangers the customs of their own kingdom, [770] which have been bequeathed from father to son. They who are ruled by the laws, know those laws best; they who experience them are best acquainted with them; and since it is their own affairs which are at stake, they will take more care, and will act with an eye to their own peace. They who want experience can know little; they will profit little the kingdom who are not stedfast. Hence it may be collected, that it concerns the community to see what sort of men ought justly to be chosen for the utility of the kingdom; they who are willing and know how, [780] and are able to profit it, such should be made the councillors and coadjutors of the king; to whom are known the various customs of their country; who feel that they suffer themselves when the kingdom suffers; and who guard the kingdom, lest, if hurt be done to the whole, the parts have reason to grieve while they suffer along with it; which rejoice, when it has cause to rejoice, if they love it. Let us call attention to the noble judgment of King Solomon: she who did not feel horror at the cruelty of dividing the infant, [790] because she did not feel for it, and wanted maternal love, shewed, as the king testified, that she was not its mother: therefore let a prince seek such [councillors] as may condole with the community, who have a motherly fear lest the kingdom should undergo any sufferings. But if any one be not moved by the ruin of the many—if he alone obtain what pleas he will—he is not fitted to rule over the many, since he is entirely devoted to his own interest, and to none other. A man who feels for others, is agreeable to the community; [800] but a man who does not feel for others, who possesses a hard heart, cares not if misfortunes fall upon the many—such walls are no defence against misfortunes. Therefore, if the king has not wisdom to choose by himself those who are capable of advising him, it is clear, from what has been said, what ought then to be done. For it is a thing which concerns the community to see that miserable wretches be not made the leaders of the royal dignity, but the best and chosen men, and the most approved that can be found. For since the governance of the kingdom is either the safety or perdition of all, [810] it is of great consequence who they are that have the custody of the kingdom; just as it is in a ship; all things are thrown into confusion if unskilful people guide it; if any one of the passengers belonging to it who is placed in the ship abuse the rudder, it matters not whether the ship be governed prosperously or not. So those who ought to rule the kingdom, let the care be given to them, if any one of the kingdom does not govern himself rightly; he goes on a wrong path which perhaps he has himself chosen. The affairs of the generality are best managed [820] if the kingdom is directed in the way of truth. And, moreover, if the subjects labour to dissipate their property, those who are set over them may restrain their folly and temerity, lest by the presumption and imbecility of fools, the power of the kingdom be weakened, and courage be given to enemies against the kingdom. For whatever member of the body be destroyed, the strength of the body is diminished thereby. So if it be allowed even that men may abuse what belongs to themselves, [830] when it be injurious to the kingdom, many immediately after following also the injurious liberty, will so multiply the wildness of error, that they will ruin the whole. Nor ought it properly to be named liberty, which permits fools to govern unwisely; but liberty is limited by the bounds of the law; and when those bounds are despised, it should be reputed as error. Otherwise you will call a raving madman free, although he be at enmity with everything like prosperity. Therefore the king’s argument concerning his subjects, [840] who are ruled at their own choice by whom they will, is by this sufficiently answered and overthrown; since every one who is subject, is ruled by one who is greater. Because we say that no man is permitted all that he will, but that every one has a lord who may correct him when erring, and aid him when doing well, and sometimes raises him up when he is falling. We give the first place to the community: we say also that the law rules over the king’s dignity; for we believe that the law is the light, [850] without which we conclude that he who rules will wander from the right path. The law whereby is ruled the world and the kingdoms of the world, is described as being of fire; which contains a mystery of deep meaning: it shines, burns, warms; shining, it hinders the wanderer from quitting his right path; it avails against the cold; it purges and burns to cinders some things; it softens what is hard, and what had been raw the fire cooks; it takes away numbness, and it does many other good things. The sacred law is equally serviceable to the king. Solomon asked for this wisdom; [860] its friendship he sought with all his might. If the king want this law, he will wander from the right track; if he does not hold it, he will err foully; its presence gives the power of reigning rightly, and its absence overturns the kingdom. This law speaks thus, “Kings reign through me; through me justice is shown to those who make laws.” No king shall alter this firm law; but by it he shall make himself stable when he is variable. If he conform to this law, he will stand; [870] and if he disagree with it, he will waver. It is said commonly, “As the king wills, so goes the law:” but the truth is otherwise, for the law stands, but the king falls. Truth and charity and the zeal of salvation, this is the integrity of the law, the regimen of virtue; truth, light, charity, warmth, zeal burns; (?) this variety of the law takes away all crime. Whatever the king may ordain, let it be consonant to these; for if it be otherwise, the commonalty will be made sorrowful; the people will be confounded, if either the king’s eye want truth, [880] or the prince’s heart want charity, or he do not always moderately fulfil his zeal with severity.

These three things being supposed, whatever pleases the king may be done; but by their opposites the king resists the law. However, kicking against it does not hurt the prick; thus the instruction which was sent from heaven to Paul teaches us. Thus the king is deprived of no inherited right, if there be made a provision in concordance with just law. For dissimulation shall not change the law, [890] whose stable reason will stand without end. Wherefore if anything that is useful has been long put off, it is not to be reprehended when adopted late. And let the king never set his private interest before that of the community; as if the salvation of all yields to him alone. For he is not set over them in order to live for himself; but that his people who is subject to him may be in safety. You must know that the name of king is relative; you should know also that the name is protective; wherefore he cannot live for himself alone [900] who ought by his life to protect many. He who will live for himself, ought not to be set over others, but to live separately from them that he may be alone. It is the glory of a prince to save very many; to inconvenience himself in order to raise many up. Let him not therefore allege his own profit, but have regard to his subjects in whom he is trusted. (?) If he work the salvation of the kingdom, he acts the part of a king; whatever he does contrary to this, he fails in that point. The true province of a king is sufficiently clear from these arguments; [910] that he is ignorant of the condition of a king who is occupied only with his own affairs. For true charity is as it were contrary to self-interest, and an indissoluble league to the community, melting like fire everything that is near, as is done with wood which they subject to the active fire to increase it, and then in return it is taken away to decrease it. Therefore if the prince will be warm with charity as much as possible towards the community, if he shall be solicitous to govern it well, [920] and shall never be rejoiced at its destruction; wherefore if the king will love the magnates of the kingdom, although he should know alone, like a great prophet, whatever is needful for the ruling of the kingdom, whatever is becoming in him, whatever ought to be done, truly he will not conceal what he will decree from those without whom he cannot effect that which he will ordain. He will therefore treat with his people about bringing into effect the things which he will not think of doing by himself. Why will he not communicate his councils [930] to those whose aid he will ask supplicatingly? Whatever draws his people to benignity, and makes friends and cherishes unity, it is fit the royal prudence should indicate it to those who can augment his glory. Our Lord laid open all things to his disciples, dividing from the servants those whom he made his friends; and as though he were ignorant, he often inquired of his people what was their opinion on matters which he knew perfectly. Oh! if princes sought the honour of God, [940] they would rule their kingdoms rightly, and without error. If princes had the knowledge of God, they would exhibit their justice to all. Ignorant of the Lord, as though they were blind, they seek the praises of men, delighted only with vanity. He who does not know how to rule himself, will be a bad ruler over others; if any one will look at the Psalms, he will read the same. Joseph as he ought to teach princes, (?) on which account the king willed that he should be set over others. And David in the innocence of his heart [950] and by his intelligence fed Israel. From all that has been said, it may appear evident, that it becomes a king to see together with his nobles what things are convenient for the government of the kingdom, and what are expedient for the preservation of peace; and that the king have natives for his companions, not foreigners, nor favourites, for his councillors or for the great nobles of the kingdom, who supplant others and abolish good customs. For such discord is a step-mother to peace, [960] and produces battles, and plots treason. For as the envy of the devil introduced death, so hatred separates the troop. The king shall hold the natives in their rank, and by this governance he will have joy in reigning. But if he study to degrade his own people, if he pervert their rank, it is in vain for him to ask why thus deranged they do not obey him; in fact they would be fools if they did.