The fourth bough of avarice is false claiming; that is, running upon others wrongfully: to this sin belong all the fraud, all falsehoods, and all guile(s) that come in pleading. In this learning Dame Avarice has many scholars, both of clerks and of laymen, and especially seven kinds of folk that all study thus. The first is the false plaintiffs, that make false pleas, and seek false judges, and long time, and false witnesses, false advocates, false letters, in order to grieve others and oppress the people wrongfully, either in a Christian court or in a secular court. The second are the false fugitives that flee and [do] not what is right, and seek exceptions and respites, in order to deprive others of their own. The third is the false witnesses; these make the false marriages; these steal the heritages, (and) thus do so much evil and harm as none can amend; and all this they do through their great covetousness. The fourth is the false pleaders, that receive and sustain wittingly false causes, and plead them for hire and for gifts, which they take on the right hand and on the left, and often lose good suits by their sin, or because of ignorance or through sloth turn aside the rights and do all the wrongs on account of their covetousness, as those that are masters of guile and of dispute and of false accusation. The fifth is the false notaries that make false letters and forge the seals, make wicked libels and too many other falsehoods. The next is the false judges, that incline more to one side than another through gifts or through promises or through entreaties, or for love or for anger or for dread, and unbind suits wrongfully; and have great costs made, and take great gifts, sometimes from the one, sometimes from the other, sometimes from both, and sell their judgments, or let them come to nothing; and do poor men great harm, which they cannot amend. The last are the evil assessors, that give evil advice to the judges, and cause suits to be lost on account of the services that they give. All the persons before mentioned are bound to give up what they have had wrongfully of others, and the harm that others have had by them. THE FIFTH BOUGH OF AVARICE.