A. Diplomatic Edition of the Emmanuel College
Fragment
[Far] lenger place to my reasons, seyng that euen so
as ye cō ║ playne of vs, ye also cōplayne of your
owne honours, ║ gyuyng occasyon that your fawtes may be manyfest
║ to all the worlde / whiche as yet are vnknowen to mo= ║
che people. This sayd by Affranio, Hortensia in this ║ wyse as
foloweth dyde begyn. ║
I(5) Perceyue you Affranio so very cruell, & vnto
║ vs so coniured an hole enmy, that yf ye were ║ assured
yt trouth shold be dryuen out of ye worl ║ de / & faythe loste & dystroyed /
& the chyrches ║ defoyled / moche sooner wolde ye consent to
ye ║ ruyne of heuen & erthe, than ye
wolde [a]bsteyne your ║ odyo[u]s purpose of say[i]ng euyll by
women. yet by as ║ moche as though your subtyl speche doth
surmoūt me ║ in dysputaciō, your euydent coleryke
enuy is sufficiēt ║ to abate the weyght of your wordes /
& to ma[ke them] ║ lyght & wtout
credence. And yet if yt women durst deny ║
without shame that men are ye purchasers in louyng,
║ I am sure yt your secrete conscyence within
you repro= ║ ueth you, & maketh you to thynke all the
contrary / ad ║ monysshing you of the manyfolde gracious
requestes ║ that ye can make, that whyther we wyll or not it be=
║ houeth vs to yelde as ouercome. wherfore yf in flate= ║
ryng vs thus ye can fynde wordes to deceyue vs, it is ║ no wonder
yf in dyspreysynge vs, ye be inuentyf by ║ your reasons for to
confoūde vs. But for all that these ║ your audacyous
facyons be not gretely to be alowed, ║ in that our ferefull
dulnesse and your extreme knowle ║
ge doth make a
lesyng seme to be true. And yet though ║ I dyde nothyng but holde
my peas, w
tout doubt sym= ║ plenesse whiche
is subgect to many wronges & outra= ║ [F2
v] ge oughte to be worthy of supportacion, for bycaus[e]
║ that who that hath leest knowlege & vnderstandyng, ║
sholde take councell of them y
t be more dyscrete and
pru ║ dent. The whiche we do whan we ygnourauntly fay ║
lyng, beleue the coūcell of you y
t ought to
be y
e wysest, ║ in suche wise that ye of all
the ygnoraunt errour be vn ║ to thē the cause, which as
dishonest you do disdayne. |[ By this reason vnto you of whome all the
euyll pro= ║ cedeth double blame ought to be imposed / & nat
with= ║ standynge your counsell, yet happeneth it often vnto
║ them that insueth it, that before the parfyte agremēt
║ they fele a meruaylous difference betwene the reason ║
and the affecc[y]on / but for what purpose shuld it serue ║ me to
brynge forth reasōs and [t]o argue agaynst them ║ that for
them and in theyr fauoure hathe approued & ║ made the lawes
and all the ordynaunces. what con= ║ [stitucyon may I allege]
vnto vnreasonable [p]sons whi ║ che wyll nat receyue reason,
& the whiche hath made ║ the statutes vnto their owne
aduauntage, contrarye ║ vnto vs theyr mortall enemyes. And
therfore nat so ║ as ye ought you wold haue it, but euen so as it
semeth ║ best vnto youre pleasure w
t
thinfamye of your fautes ║ you do vs blame & sclaūder,
and yet more wolde ye do | hauynge none that wolde withsaye you / in
asmoche | as we nat beynge of auctoryte to ordayne, nor can nat ║
alege y
e lawe accordyng vnto our ryght, nor we haue
║ none that in our fauer wyll wryte, but you that haue ║
the penne in the hande as it pleaseth you so do you dis= ║ pose
and wryte. wherfore who that suffereth nat, ║ beynge of power to
do any other thing than to suffre, ║ is more rather strengthed
than vaynquesshed / and it ║ foloweth nat for all that that in
the malyce of youre
