Conscience of this counseil tho Comsede for to laughe, And curteisliche conforted hem, 14410 And called in alle freres, And seide, "Sires, soothly Welcome be ye alle To Unitee and holy chirche; Ac o thyng I yow preye, Holdeth yow in Unitee, And haveth noon envye To lered ne to lewed, But lyveth after youre reule, And I wol be youre borugh 14420 Ye shal have breed and clothes And othere necessaries y-nowe, Yow shal no thyng faille, {440} With that ye leve logik, And lerneth for to lovye. For love lafte thei lordshipe, Bothe lond and scole, Frere Fraunceys and Domynyk, For love to be holye. "And if ye coveite cure, 14430 Kynde wol yow teche That in mesure God made Alle manere thynges, And sette hem at a certein And a siker nombre, And nempnede names newe, And noumbrede the sterres. _Qui numerat multitudinem stellarum, et omnibus eis, etc._ "Kynges and knyghtes 14440 That kepen and defenden, Han officers under hem, And ech of hem a certein. And if thei wage men to werre, Thei write hem in noumbre; Alle othere in bataille Ben y-holde brybours, Pylours and pyke-harneys, In ech a place y-cursed, Wol no man tresore hem paie, 14450 Travaille thei never so soore. "Monkes and moniales, And alle men of religion, Hir ordre and hir reule wole To han a certein noumbre, Of lewed and of lered, The lawe wole and asketh {441} A certein for a certein, Save oonliche of freres. "For thi," quod conscience, "by Crist! 14460 Kynde wit me telleth It is wikked to wage yow, Ye wexen out of noumbre; Hevene hath evene noumbre, And helle is withoute noumbre. For-thi I wolde witterly That ye were in the registre, And youre noumbre under notaries signe, And neither mo ne lasse." Envye herde this, 14470 And heet freres to go to scole And lerne logyk and lawe, And ek contemplacion, And preche men of Plato, And preve it by Seneca, That alle thynges under hevene Oughte to ben in comune. And yet he lyeth, as I leve, That to the lewed so precheth; For God made to men a lawe, 14480 And Moyses it taughte. _Non concupisces rem proximi tui._