4.—The Craft of Deyng.[1]
Efter the dear [i.e. dier] be informyt of thir temptaciouns, at will be put to hyme, he ſuld be demandyt, Fyrſt, gyf he be blyth at he deis in the faith of criſt and of haly kirk, and ſyne gyf he grantis at he has nocht leuit rycht wyſly, as he aucht to do, and gyf he forthinkis his myſdedis, and gif he has wyll to mend thaim at his poware. Syne ſuld he ask at hym, gyf he trowis that criſt, godis ſonne our lord, deit for hym, and al ſynaris; and gif he thankes hyme thar of with al his hart, And gyf he trowis ony oþer ways than be the faith of hym and ded to be ſauf. Than byd hyme be ſtark and ſykir in that faith, and have hop of nan vthir thinge for temptacioune of the deuill: and gif thi ſynis be laid befor the by the angell gud or Ill, ſay than, "the paſſioune of criſt I put betuex me and my ſynis, & betuex me and the eternall ded, the ded of criſt." And alſua, he fuld be examynit in the arteclis of the treuth, that is to ſay, gyf he trowis in the faþer, and in the ſone, and the haly gaiſt, and ane anerly god, makar of hevyne and erde; and in our lord Ihesu criſt, anerly ſone to god by natur, at our lady mary euervyrgne conſauit by þe werkis of the haly gaist, but ſeid of man: the quhilk tholyt ded one the corß, for ws ſynaris, and was grawyne and diſcendyt to hell, to radem our eldaris at had hope of his cumyne. The quhilk raiß one the thrid day, fra ded to lyf, one his awne mycht, and aftendyt to hevyne, & ſytis one his faderis rycht hand, and fra thyne, in the ſamyne wyß as he paſſyt, is to cum agan one domys day to Iug all mankynd. Als he ſuld trow in the haly gaist, & in the bydingis of haly kirk, and the ſacramentis þarof. He Suld trow Alſua, in the reſurrectioune of al mem, that is to ſay, at the ſam body and ſaull, as now is, ſal met to-gyddyr and tholl perpetuall Ioy or payne. He ſuld nocht anerly trow in thir xii arteclis, bot als in the haly wryt, and haf his hart rady to do thar-to, as his curat chargis hyme; and he ſal forſak al hereſyß ande wichcraftis, forbydin[g] be haly kyrk. Als þe fek man ſuld aſk mercy with al his hart, of the ſynis done agane þe lufe, gudnes, and mycht of god, and erar for the luf of god, than for the dred of ony payne; alſua, he ſuld ſykirly think that in caß he mend of that feknes, that he ſal neuer wylfully ſyne in thai ſynis, na in na vthir dedly: For in the thocht, at the ſaull paſſys fra the body [it] is tan For euer, and thar after ched or rewardyt ay leſtandly, as the angellis was in the begynyng.
Comparing this with the extract from Wyntown, we see at once the striking similarity of the language. Although here the past participle ends in -yt instead of -yd, the orthography of the Middle Period otherwise scarcely appears in it. Its close correspondence with the following specimens from Hampole is no less marked:—
- ↑ Ratis Raving, and other Moral and Religious Pieces, in Prose and Verse. Ed., from Camb. Univ. MS. KK. 1, 5, by J. Rawson Lumby, M.A. Early Eng. Text Soc., 1870.
