Great Britain -- History -- Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066; Middle Ages -- Sources
§ 35. Yet neither is thy sensual mind (which is overcome by the excess
of thy follies) at all checked in its course with committing so many
sins, but hot and prone (like a young colt that coveteth every pleasant
pasture) runneth headlong forward, with irrecoverable fury, through the
intended fields of crime, continually increasing the number of its
transgressions. For the former marriage of thy first wife (although
after thy violated vow of religion she was not lawfully thine, but only
by right of the time she was with thee), was now despised by thee, and
another woman, the wife of a man then living, and he no stranger, but
thy own brother's son, enjoyed thy affections. Upon which occasion that
stiff neck of thine (already laden with sins) is now burdened with two
monstrous murders, the one of thy aforesaid nephew, the other, of her
who once was thy wedded wife: and thou art now from low to lower, and
from bad to worse, bowed, bent, and sunk down into the lowest depth of
sacrilege. Afterwards, also didst thou publicly marry the widow by
whose deceit and suggestion such a heavy weight of offences was
undergone, and take her, lawfully, as the flattering tongues of thy
parasites with false words pronounced it, but as we say, most wickedly,
to be thine own in wedlock. And therefore what holy man is there, who,
moved with the narration of such a history, would not presently break
out into weeping and lamentations? What priest (whose heart lieth open
unto God) would not instantly, upon hearing this, exclaim with anguish
in the language of the prophet: "Who shall give water to my head, and to
my eyes a fountain of tears, and I will day and night bewail those of my
people, who are slaughtered." For full little (alas!) hast thou with
thine ears listened to that reprehension of the prophet speaking in this
wise: "Woe be unto you, O wicked men, who have left the law of the most
holy God, and if ye shall be born, your portion shall be to malediction,
and if ye die, to malediction shall be your portion, all things that are
from the earth, to the earth shall be converted again, so shall the
wicked from malediction pass to perdition:" if they return not unto our
Lord, listening to this admonition: "Son, thou hast offended; add no
further offence thereunto, but rather pray for the forgiveness of the
former." And again, "Be not slow to be converted unto our Lord, neither
put off the same from day to day, for his wrath doth come suddenly."
Because, as the Scripture saith, "When the king heareth the unjust word,
all under his dominion become wicked." And, the just king (according to
the prophet) raiseth up his region. But warnings truly are not wanting
to thee, since thou hast had for thy instructor the most eloquent master
of almost all Britain. Take heed, thereof, lest that which Solomon
noteth, befall thee, which is, "Even as he who stirreth up a sleeping
man out of his heavy sleep, so is that person who declareth wisdom unto
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account