Part 12

_Here foloweth yᵉ applycacōn of yᵉ example to purpose._

T[h]enne sayd the Emperours sone, lorde haue ye vnderstande what I haue sayd. Themperoure sayd ryght well. Tho sayd the sone, My mooste honourable [et] redoubted fader, all thoughe yᵗ god hathe gyuen [et] indued me wᵗ wysdome [et] vnderstandyng aboue many other, yᵗ sholde not be in appayrynge of youre honoure [et] myght, but more for the preseruacyon of the same. So in lyke wyse yᵉ kynges maieste which was no thynge to yᵉ hynderaunce of his fader, but rather for his worshyp [et] proufyte, for as long as they lyued they were honoured in his realme. Than sayd themperoure, My dere sone I wyll all hole resygne to you thempyre too gouerne, for I perceyue well by youre narracōn yᵗ ye haue to me declared, yᵗ it is beste to me [et] moost for myn ease yᵗ I leue this besynesse [et] labour [et] take me to more reste, for I am olde [et] feeble. The sone answered his fader, My lorde fader, so shall it not be, but as longe as ye lyue ye shall haue the auctoryte and myght of thempyre to do and commaunde as it apperteyneth vnto an Emperour, but in all besynesses yᵗ are labourouse I wyll alwayes be redy to mynystre [et] to serue you accordynge to my dute.

[How Judgement was given upon the Empress and how that she and her Lover were both put to death.

[Then the Emperor commanded the judges and justices to sit in judgement and to bring again the Empress before them; with the Ladies and also the Ribauld, her best beloved, cloathed in the vesture and habit of a woman, whom he did cause to stand next unto the Empress; then the Emperor's son asked sentence and just judgement upon them, saying,

[My most honourable Lord and father, even as you are Emperour of the World; and that your majesty and power requireth to do true justice unto all your subjects that desire it: so now I demand that you this day do give right sentence and true judgement upon the untruth, falshood and shame which were put and alledged unto me by the Empress; for the which accusations I have been seven times led unto the gallows and have stood in great jeopardy and peril of my life; and also that she hath been to you untrue of her body as you have seen by good proof made before you; and on the which I ask judgement; and therefore command your Justices and Judges to give sentence thereupon, according to Right, Equity and Law.

[As soon as the Empress heard this, she fell flat to the earth before the Emperor and asked mercy and forgiveness for her just offence and misdoing; but it helped nor profited nothing, for the son would have right and desired Judgement. Then spake the Judges and Justices, her own misdeeds condemn her, and the report of her Lemmon by her kept and found; therefore we give sentence against the Empress, that she shall be bound to a horses tail and drawn through all the streets of the city to the place] of execucyon [et] there to be brent. [et] we iuge also [et] gyue sentence ayenste the rybaude yᵗ he shall be quartred [et] smyten in peces [et] his flesshe caste vnto yᵉ houndes, and byrdes of yᵉ ayre for to deuoure hym, [et] this se_n_tence was approbate [et] alowed of all people. ¶ Hereafter in shorte tyme deyed yᵉ Emperoure, [et] Dyoclesyan his sone gouerned [et] ruled thempyre wᵗ grete wysdome, [et] helde [et] kept his maysters wᵗ hym in grete honoure [et] glorye. By whoos cou_n_seyll [et] wysdom he gouerned the Empyre, yᵗ he excelled all his predecessours in rychesse [et] in doynge iustice [et] ryght. And his maysters loued hym aboue all other thynges in the worlde. So that many tymes they put themselfe in grete perylle [et] ieoperdye of ther lyues for hym. And so they ended theyr dayes in grete joye [et] honoure, and cōmended theym to almyghty god.

¶ Thus endeth the treatyse of the seuen sages or wyse maysters of Rome. Enprented in Flete Strete in yᵉ sygne of the sone, by me Wynkyn de worde.

FOOTNOTES.

[Footnote 1: See _Antiquary_, vol. v. p. 157.]

[Footnote 2: An 'r' has been interpolated with the pen.]

[Footnote 3: Misspelt _Ulrgilius_ in the text.]

[Footnote 4: The last seven words are repeated in the original.]

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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

1. Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

2. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors.

3. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.

4. Since the character that looks like a figure seven (7) with a horizontal line through it is not available in some fonts, the abbreviation ([et]) has been used to represent it. It is often used in place of the word "and" in the 1520 text.

5. The forward stroke character (/) is often used to represent a comma.

6. The Pilcrow ( ¶ ) character normally represents the start of a new paragraph. The original 1520 text in this eBook is not divided into modern paragraphs. Pilcrows would have been inserted where, on reading the text, a new paragraph would be expected. They have been left as printed in the original book.