THE HOMILIES OF
THE ANGLO-SAXON CHURCH.
THE FIRST PART,
CONTAINING
THE SERMONES CATHOLICI,
OR
HOMILIES OF ÆLFRIC.
IN THE ORIGINAL ANGLO-SAXON, WITH AN
ENGLISH VERSION.
VOL. I.
By BENJAMIN THORPE, F.S.A.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE ÆLFRIC SOCIETY.
MDCCCXLIV.
PRINTED BY
RICHARD AND JOHN E. TAYLOR,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
PREFACE.
The work now presented to the Members of the Ælfric Society, the first fruit of its praiseworthy attempt to rescue from oblivion the literary remains of our forefathers, was selected for the earliest publication of the Society, on account both of its valuable matter and the beautiful medium by which it is conveyed.
Of the author of the Sermones Catholici we know nothing with certainty beyond his name, though from the words of his own preface, where he speaks of king Æthelred's days as past, and informs us that in those days he was only a monk and mass-priest, it follows that he was not Ælfric archbishop of Canterbury, who died in the year 1006, or ten years before the death of king Æthelred.
With better foundation we may assume him to have been Ælfric archbishop of York, who presided over that see from the year 1023 to 1051[1]. Against this supposition there seems no objection on the score of dates, and that the composer of the 'Sermones' was a person of eminence during the life of archbishop Wulfstan, of whom, according to our hypothesis, he was the immediate successor, is evident from the language of his Canons, and of his Pastoral Epistle to Wulfstan, in which he speaks as one having authority; though in the first-mentioned of these productions he styles himself simply "humilis frater," and in the other "Ælfricus abbas[2]," and afterwards "biscop."
Of Ælfric's part in these Homilies, whether, as it would seem from his preface, it was that of a mere translator from the several works he therein names[3], or whether he drew aught from his own stores, my pursuits do not enable me to speak, though it seems that no one of his homilies is, generally speaking, a mere translation from any one given Latin original, but rather a compilation from several. Be this, however, as it may, his sermons in either case equally exhibit what were the doctrines of the Anglo-Saxon church at the period in which they were compiled or translated, and are for the most part valuable in matter, and expressed in language which may be pronounced a pure specimen of our noble, old, Germanic mother-tongue. Of those doctrines it would not be consistent with the object of the Society, nor am I qualified to hazard an opinion: my labour has, consequently, been limited to that of a faithful transcription of what I believe to be the most complete manuscript, and to a conscientiously correct translation of that transcript, as literal as my acquaintance with the language and my notions of good taste permitted[4]; and I venture to hope that such a translation, though unattended by a commentary, will be regarded with interest by the members of each of the great communities into which the Christian world is divided.
Besides the Homilies, the chief works attributed to our Ælfric are,—
I. A Grammar of the Latin tongue, printed at the end of Somner's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, with a Glossary of Anglo-Saxon words[5].
II. A short astronomical treatise, entitled De Temporibus Anni[6].
III. An abridgment in Anglo-Saxon of the Pentateuch, the book of Joshua, and the book of Judges, printed by Thwaites[7].
IV. A Treatise on the Old and New Testaments[8].
V. Excerpta ex Libro Æthelwoldi de Consuetudine Monachorum[9].
VI. A Latin Dialogue, with an interlinear Anglo-Saxon gloss[10].
VII. Ecclesiastical Canons, addressed to Wulsine, bishop of Sherborne.
VIII. A Pastoral Epistle, written by command of archbishop Wulfstan.
IX. An Epistle entitled "Quando dividis Chrisma[11]."
X. A Collection of Homilies on the Saints' days observed by the Anglo-Saxon Church.
Though the present is the first edition of these most ancient sermons in any of the Germanic tongues, it may be interesting to some readers to be informed that two attempts at publishing them were made in the early part of the last
In assigning to Ælfric, archbishop of York, the honour of being the author of the Homilies and other works enumerated above, it would have been gratifying to add, that the character of that prelate given by the chroniclers was beyond a doubt all that could be desired, and such as to render it highly probable that to him we are indebted for those noble and holy labours. Unfortunately the case is otherwise, the few facts recorded of Ælfric of York being for the most part quite irreconcileable with the portrait of the pious student which our imagination spontaneously draws, on calling to mind the exertions in the cause of religion and learning attributed to our Ælfric. Of the archbishop, Malmesbury speaks in terms of no ordinary severity, asserting, that at his instigation Hardacnut caused the corpse of his brother Harald Harefoot to be taken from the grave and decapitated, and afterwards thrown into the Thames; also, that being exasperated against the people of Worcester, who had rejected him for their bishop, he again instigated the same king to burn their city and confiscate their property, under the pretext of their having resisted the royal tax-gatherers[13]. The better testimony of Florence of Worcester, with regard to the first of these transactions, is, however, less prejudicial to the character of Ælfric: he says merely, that Ælfric, archbishop of York, with others was sent to London by the king for the purpose of digging up the body of Harald and casting it into a fen[14]. Of the second transaction Florence makes no mention. But the earliest account is that in the Saxon Chronicle[15], and in this it is simply said, that "he (Harthacnut) caused the dead body of Harald to be taken up, and had it cast into a fen:" to Ælfric and the others there is no allusion whatever. In the same record his death is mentioned in the following terms of respect: "This year (1052) died Ælfric, archbishop of York, a very venerable and wise man." It is also stated that he was the accuser of earl Godwine, of the earl of Kent, and of Living, bishop of Worcester, as the murderers of the young Ælfred, the son of Æthelred[16].
The manuscript from which the text of the present volume is taken belongs to the Public Library at Cambridge. It is a small folio and probably coeval with its author, though hardly, as it has been supposed, his own autograph copy[17]. It is not perfect, having suffered mutilation in several places, but its defects are all supplied in the present work from another MS. in the British Museum[18]. For the most liberal use of the Cambridge manuscript, I beg leave, on the part of the Ælfric Society, to express the sincerest thanks to the Syndics of that University.
To W. E. Buckley, Esq., Fellow of Brasenose College, and Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the University of Oxford, I return my sincere thanks for his kindness in removing my doubts of the integrity of the text by collation with the Bodleian manuscript; also to my greatly respected friend, the Reverend Daniel Rock, D.D., I acknowledge myself much indebted for the kind promptness with which he at all times satisfied my inquiries respecting the ancient observances of the Church, as well as other points of doubt, which his deep knowledge of ecclesiastical antiquities so well qualifies him to solve.
The second volume, containing Homilies for another year, is in preparation, and will, it is hoped, be laid before the Members of the Society in the course of the year 1845.
B. T.
Notes to Introduction
[1] See also H. Whartoni Anglia Sacra, t. i. p. 125.
[2] He was abbot of Eynsham. See Biogr. Brit. Lit. p. 482, n. ‡
[3] Among his sources he mentions Smaragdus and Haymo: of these the former was abbot of St. Mihiel, a monastery in the diocese of Verdun, in the eighth century. He wrote commentaries on the Scriptures, Sermons, etc. Haymo was bishop of Halberstadt, about the middle of the ninth century: he compiled, from the works of the fathers, commentaries on almost every part of the Scriptures. There was also a Haymo of Canterbury, who wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch, Isaiah, etc., of whom see Biogr. Britan. Lit. vol. i. p. 510. The other sources mentioned by Ælfric are too well known to need further notice.
[4] It is right to observe, that in the MS. the texts taken from the Gospels are frequently of very great length; these I have ventured to abridge, presuming that all readers of the Homilies have a copy of the N. T. either in Anglo-Saxon or English.
[5] Ælfrici Abbatis Grammatica Latino-Saxonica, cum Glossario suo ejusdem generis. Folio. Oxon. 1659. That the author of the Grammar, the compiler of the Homilies and the translator of the Heptateuch was the same individual, is evident from the prefaces to those works.
[6] Published at the expense of the Historical Society of Science, in a volume entitled 'Popular Treatises on Science written during the Middle Ages,' edited by Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., etc. etc. 8vo. 1841. That this work is by our Ælfric is evident from his own words immediately following his last homily: Her æfter fyligð án lytel cwyde be gearlicum tidum, þæt nis to spelle geteald, ac elles to rædenne þam ðe hit licað.—Hereafter follows a little discourse concerning yearly tides, which is not reckoned as a sermon, but is else to be read by those whom it pleases. MS. Cantab. p. 492.
[8] A Saxon Treatise concerning the Old and New Testament, written about the time of king Edgar by Ælfricus Abbas, etc., by William L'Isle of Wilburgham, Esquier for the King's bodie, etc. 4to. Lond. 1623.
[9] An edition of the Anglo-Saxon text of this work, with a translation by W. E. Buckley, Esq., Fellow of Brasenose Coll. and Prof. of A.-S. in the Univ. of Oxf., is announced for early publication by the Ælfric Society. The ealdorman Æthelweard, son of Æthelmær, mentioned in the preface to the Homilies and other works of Ælfric, is without doubt the chronicler of that name, concerning whom see Literary Introd. to Lappenberg's 'History of England under the Anglo-Saxon Kings,' p. xlv.
[10] According to the Oxford MS. of this Colloquium, it was originally composed by Ælfric (of Canterbury or York?) and enlarged by his pupil Ælfric Bata. It is printed in the 'Analecta Anglo-Saxonica.' For more ample information concerning the Ælfrics the reader is referred to Mr. Wright's interesting and useful publication, 'Biographia Britannica Literaria; Anglo-Saxon Period,' edited for the Royal Society of Literature.
[11] The three last-mentioned works are printed, with a translation, in the 'Ancient Laws and Institutes of England.' It appears from a note at the end of Matthew in the C.C.C.C. MS. of the Saxon Gospels, that an Ælfric was either the translator or copier of the Gospel of St. Matthew, if not of the four Gospels. See Notes to my edition of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels.
[12] Elfrici Homiliæ, edit. El. Elstob. (fol. Oxon. 1715.) Of this first attempt only thirty-six pages were printed. Her second attempt was under the title, "The English-Saxon Homilies of Ælfric, Archb. of Cant., who flourished in the latter end of the tenth century and the beginning of the eleventh. Being a course of Sermons collected out of the writings of the ancient Latin Fathers, containing the Doctrines, etc. of the Church of England before the Norman Conquest, etc. etc. Now first printed, and translated into the language of the present times by Eliz. Elstob. fol. Oxon. 1715." Of this only two leaves were printed. A copy of both is in the Brit. Mus. See Biogr. Brit. Lit. p. 493. Mrs. Elstob also published Ælfric's Homily on the birth-day of St. Gregory, with a translation. 8vo. 1709. Reprinted with some account of Mrs. Elstob in 1839.
[13] De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum, lib. iii.
[14] Fl. Wigorn. Chron. ad a. 1040.
[15] Ad ann. 1046.
[16] R. Wendover, t. i. p. 478.
[17] The handwriting, though very nearly alike, is not the same in the two parts of the MS.; they also occasionally differ in orthography, 'middangeard,' for instance, in the first part being in the second constantly written 'middaneard.'
[18] MS. Reg. 7. c. xii.
SERMONUM RUBRICÆ QUI IN HOC VOLUMINE CONTINENTUR.
CONTENTS.
Page Præfatio 1 Præfatio, Saxonice 2 I. De Initio Creaturæ 8 II. De Natale Domini 28 III. Passio Beati Stephani Protomartyris 44 IV. Assumptio S. Johannis Apostoli 58 V. Natale Innocentium Infantum 76 VI. Octabas et Circumcisio Domini 90 VII. Epiphania Domini 104 VIII. Dom. III. post Epiphania DominiERRATA.
p. 3. l. 15. For Æthelmære read Æthelmær.
p. 6. l. 2. For ormatan read ormætan.
INCIPIT PRÆFATIO HUJUS LIBRI.
IN NOMINE DOMINI.
Ego Ælfricus, alumnus Adelwoldi, benevoli et venerabilis Presulis, salutem exopto Domno Archiepiscopo Sigerico in Domino. Licet temere vel presumptuose, tamen transtulimus hunc codicem ex libris Latinorum, scilicet Sancte Scripture in nostram consuetam sermocinationem, ob ædificationem simplicium, qui hanc norunt tantummodo locutionem, sive legendo sive audiendo; ideoque nec obscura posuimus verba, sed simplicem Anglicam, quo facilius possit ad cor pervenire legentium vel audientium, ad utilitatem animarum suarum, quia alia lingua nesciunt erudiri, quam in qua nati sunt. Nec ubique transtulimus verbum ex verbo, sed sensum ex sensu, cavendo tamen diligentissime deceptivos errores, ne inveniremur aliqua hæresi seducti seu fallacia fuscati. Hos namque auctores in hac explanatione sumus sequuti, videlicet Augustinum Hipponensem, Hieronimum, Bedam, Gregorium, Smaragdum, et aliquando Haymonem; horum denique auctoritas ab omnibus catholicis libentissime suscipitur. Nec solum Evangeliorum tractatus in isto libello exposuimus, verum etiam Sanctorum passiones vel vitas, ad utilitatem idiotarum istius gentis. Quadraginta sententias in isto libro posuimus, credentes hoc sufficere posse per annum fidelibus, si integre eis a ministris Dei recitentur in ecclesia. Alterum vero
PRÆFATIO.
PREFACE.
Ic Ælfric munuc and mæssepreost, swa þeah waccre þonne swilcum hadum gebyrige, wearð asend on Æþelredes dæge cyninges fram Ælfeage biscope, Aðelwoldes æftergengan, to sumum mynstre þe is Cernel gehaten, þurh Æðelmæres bene ðæs þegenes, his gebyrd and goodnys sind gehwær cuþe. Þa bearn me on mode, ic truwige þurh Godes gife, þæt ic ðas boc of Ledenum gereorde to Engliscre spræce awende; na þurh gebylde mycelre lare, ac forþan þe ic geseah and gehyrde mycel gedwyld on manegum Engliscum bocum, þe ungelærede menn þurh heora bilewitnysse to micclum wisdome tealdon; and me ofhreow þæt hí ne cuþon ne næfdon þa godspellican lare on heora gewritum, buton þam mannum anum ðe þæt Leden cuðon, and buton þam bocum ðe Ælfred cyning snoterlice awende of Ledene on Englisc, þa synd to hæbbene. For þisum antimbre ic gedyrstlæhte, on Gode truwiende, þæt ic ðas gesetnysse undergann, and eac forðam þe menn behofiað godre lare swiðost on þisum timan þe is geendung þyssere worulde, and beoð fela frecednyssa on mancynne ærðan þe se ende becume, swa swa ure Drihten on his godspelle cwæð to his leorning-cnihtum, "Ðonne beoð swilce gedreccednyssa swilce næron næfre ær fram frymðe middangeardes. Manega lease Cristas cumað on minum naman, cweðende, 'Ic eom Crist,' and wyrcað fela tacna and wundra, to bepæcenne mancynn, and eac swylce þa gecorenan men, gif hit gewurþan mæg: and butan se Ælmihtiga God ða dagas gescyrte, eall mennisc forwurde; ac for his gecorenum he gescyrte þa dagas." Gehwá mæg þe eaðelicor ða toweardan costnunge acuman, ðurh Godes fultum, gif hé bið þurh boclice lare getrymmed; forðan ðe þa beoð gehealdene þe oð ende on geleafan þurhwuniað. Fela gedreccednyssa and earfoðnysse becumað on þissere worulde ǽr hire geendunge, and þa synd ða bydelas þæs ecan forwyrdes on yfelum mannum, þe for heora mándædum siððan ecelice þrowiað on ðære sweartan helle. Þonne cymð se Antecrist, se bið mennisc mann and soð deofol, swa swa ure Hælend is soðlice mann and God on anum hade. And se gesewenlica deofol þonne wyrcð ungerima wundra, and cwyð þæt he sylf God beo, and wile neadian mancynn to his gedwylde; ac his tima ne bið na langsum; forþan þe Godes grama hine fordeð, and þeos weoruld bið siððan geendod. Crist ure Drihten gehælde untrume and adlige, and þes deofol þe is gehaten Antecrist, þæt is gereht, ðwyrlic Crist, aleuað and geuntrumað ða halan, and nænne ne gehælð fram untrumnyssum, buton þam anum þe he sylf ær awyrde. He and his gingran awyrdað manna lichaman digellice þurh deofles cræft, and gehælað hí openlice on manna gesihþe; ac hé ne mæg nænne gehælan þe God sylf ær geuntrumode. He neadað þurh yfelnysse þæt men sceolon bugan fram heora Scyppendes geleafan to his leasungum, seðe is ord ælcere leasunge and yfelnysse. Se Ælmihtiga God geðafað þam arleasan Antecriste to wyrcenne tácna, and wundra, and ehtnysse, to feorþan healfan geare; forþan ðe on ðam timan bið swa micel yfelnyss and þwyrnys betwux mancynne þæt hí wel wyrðe beoð þære deoflican ehtnysse, to ecum forwyrde þam ðe him onbugað, and to ecere myrhðe ðam þe him þurh geleafan wiðcweðað. God geðafað eac þæt his gecorenan þegenas beon aclænsade fram eallum synnum þurh ða ormætan ehtnyssa, swa swa gold bið on fyre afandod. Þa ofslihð se deofol ðe him wiðstandað, and hí þonne farað mid halgum martyrdome to heofenan rice. Þa ðe his leasungum gelyfað, þam hé arað, and hí habbað syððan þa ecan susle to edleane heora gedwyldes. Se arleasa deð þæt fyr cymð ufan swilce of heofonum on manna gesihðe, swilce hé God Ælmihtig sy, ðe ah geweald heofenas and eorþan. Ac þa cristenan sceolon beon þonne gemyndige hu se deofol dyde þa ða he bæd æt Gode þæt he moste fandian Iobes. He gemacode ða þæt fyr come ufan swilce of heofenum, and forbærnde ealle his scep út on felda, and þa hyrdas samod, buton anum þe hit him cyðan sceolde. Ne sende se deofol ða fyr of heofenum, þeah ðe hit ufan come; forðan þe he sylf næs on heofonum, syððan he for his modignysse of-aworpen wæs. Ne eac se wælhreowa Antecrist næfð þa mihte þæt he heofenlic fyr asendan mæge, ðeah þe hé þurh deofles cræft hit swa gehiwige. Bið nu wíslicor þæt gehwa ðis wite and cunne his geleafan, weald hwa ða micclan yrmðe gebidan sceole. Ure Drihten bebead his discipulum þæt hí sceoldon læran and tæcan eallum þeodum ða ðing þe he sylf him tæhte; ac þæra is nu to lyt ðe wile wel tæcan and wel bysnian. Se ylca Drihten clypode þurh his witegan Ezechiel, "Gif þu ne gestentst þone unrihtwisan, and hine ne manast, þæt hé fram his arleasnysse gecyrre and lybbe, þonne swelt se arleasa on his unrihtwisnysse, and ic wille ofgan æt ðe his blod," þæt is his lyre. "Gif ðu ðonne þone arleasan gewarnast, and he nele fram his arleasnysse gecyrran, þu alysdest þine sawle mid þære mynegunge, and se arleasa swylt on his unrihtwisnysse." Eft cwæð se Ælmihtiga to þam witegan Isaiam, "Clypa and ne geswic ðu, ahefe þine stemne swa swa byme, and cyð minum folce heora leahtras, and Iacobes hirede heora synna." For swylcum bebodum wearð me geðuht þæt ic nære unscyldig wið God, gif ic nolde oðrum mannum cyðan, oððe þurh tungan oððe þurh gewritu, þa godspellican soþfæstnysse þe he sylf gecwæð, and eft halgum lareowum onwreah. For wel fela ic wat on þisum earde gelæredran þonne ic sy, ac God geswutelað his wundra þurh ðone þe he wile. Swa swa ælmihtig wyrhta, he wyrcð his weorc þurh his gecorenan, na swylce he behofige ures fultumes, ac þæt we geearnion þæt ece lif þurh his weorces fremminge. Paulus se apostol cwæð, "We sind Godes gefylstan," and swa ðeah ne do we nan þing to Gode, buton Godes fultume. Nu bidde ic and halsige on Godes naman, gif hwa þas boc awritan wylle, þæt he hí geornlice gerihte be þære bysene, þylæs þe we þurh gymelease writeras geleahtrode beon. Mycel yfel deð seðe leas writ,
I Ælfric, monk and mass-priest, although more weakly than for such orders is fitting, was sent, in king Æthelred's day, from bishop Ælfeah, Æthelwold's successor, to a minster which is called Cernel, at the prayer of Æthelmær the thane, whose birth and goodness are known everywhere. Then it occurred to my mind, I trust through God's grace, that I would turn this book from the Latin language into the English tongue; not from confidence of great learning, but because I have seen and heard of much error in many English books, which unlearned men, through their simplicity, have esteemed as great wisdom: and I regretted that they knew not nor had not the evangelical doctrines among their writings, those men only excepted who knew Latin, and those books excepted which king Ælfred wisely turned from Latin into English, which are to be had. For this cause I presumed, trusting in God, to undertake this task, and also because men have need of good instruction, especially at this time, which is the ending of this world, and there will be many calamities among mankind before the end cometh, according to what our Lord in his gospel said to his disciples, "Then shall be such tribulations as have never been from the beginning of the world. Many false Christs shall come in my name, saying, 'I am Christ,' and shall work many signs and wonders, to deceive mankind; and also the elect, if it may be. And unless Almighty God shorten those days, all mankind will perish; but for his elect he will shorten those days." Everyone may the more easily withstand the future temptation, through God's support, if he is strengthened by book learning, for they shall be preserved who continue in faith to the end. Many tribulations and hardships shall come on this world before its end, and those are the proclaimers of everlasting perdition to evil men, who afterwards for their crimes suffer eternally in the swart hell. Then Antichrist shall come, who is human man and true devil, as our Saviour is truly man and God in one person. And the visible devil shall then work innumerable miracles, and say that he himself is God, and will compel mankind to his heresy: but his time will not be long, for God's anger will destroy him, and this world will afterwards be ended. Christ our Lord healed the weak and diseased, and the devil, who is called Antichrist, which is interpreted, Opposition-Christ, weakens and enfeebles the hale, and heals no one from diseases, save those alone whom he himself had previously injured. He and his disciples injure men's bodies secretly through the devil's power, and heal them openly in the sight of men: but he may not heal those whom God himself had before afflicted. He compels, through wickedness, men to swerve from the faith of their Creator to his leasings, who is the author of all leasing and wickedness. Almighty God permits the impious Antichrist to work signs, and miracles, and persecution, for three years and a half; for in that time there will be so much wickedness and perversity among mankind, that they will be well worthy of devilish persecution, to the eternal perdition of those who incline unto him, and to the eternal joy of those who by faith resist him. God also permits that his chosen servants be cleansed from all sins through great persecutions, as gold is tried in fire. The devil slays those who withstand him, and then, with holy martyrdom, they go to the kingdom of heaven. Those who believe in his leasings, those he honours, and they shall have afterwards eternal torment for reward of their sin. The impious one will cause fire to come from above, as it were from heaven, in sight of men, as if he were God Almighty, who rules over heaven and earth; but Christians must then be mindful how the devil did, when he prayed to God that he might tempt Job; he made fire to come from above, as if from heaven, and burned all his sheep out in the field, and the shepherds also, save one who should announce it to him. The devil sent not fire from heaven, though it came from above; for he himself was not in heaven, after that he, for his pride, had been cast out. Nor also hath the cruel Antichrist the power to send down heavenly fire, though he, through the devil's craft, may so pretend. It will now be wiser that everyone know this, and know his belief, lest anyone have to await great misery. Our Lord commanded his disciples that they should instruct and teach all people the things which he had himself taught to them; but of those there are too few who will well teach and well exemplify. The Lord also cried, through his prophet Ezechiel, "If thou warnest not the unrighteous, and exhortest him not, so that he turn from his wickedness and live, then shall the wicked die in his iniquity, and I will require from thee his blood," that is, his perdition. "But if thou warnest the wicked, and he will not turn from his wickedness, thou shalt release thy soul with that admonition, and the wicked shall die in his unrighteousness." Again the Almighty spake to the prophet Isaiah, "Cry and cease thou not, raise thy voice as a trumpet, and declare to my people their crimes, and to the family of Jacob their sins." From such commands it appeared to me that I should not be guiltless before God, if I would not declare to other men, by tongue or by writings, the evangelical truth, which he himself spake, and afterwards to holy teachers revealed. Very many I know in this country more learned than I am, but God manifests his wonders through whom he will. As an almighty worker he works his work through his chosen, not because he has need of our aid, but that we may earn eternal life by the performance of his work. Paul the apostle said, "We are God's assistants," and yet we do nothing for God without the assistance of God. Now I desire and beseech, in God's name, if anyone will transcribe this book, that he carefully correct it by the copy, lest we be blamed through careless writers. He does great evil who writes false, unless he correct it; it is as though he turn true doctrine to false error; therefore should everyone make that straight which he before bent crooked, if he will be guiltless at God's doom. Quid necesse est in hoc codice capitula ordinare, cum prædiximus quod xl. sententias in se contineat? excepto quod Æthelwerdus dux vellet habere xl. quattuor in suo libro.