And for to bryng to mynde the Articles of the Feyth to owre purpose, wythowte the which a good sperit may lytell avayle, ffor Dyane we shall take God of Heuen, the which is withowte onv spotte off onclen love, to whome a thyng foulede with synne may not be agreable. To the knyghly spirite þan it is necessari to beleve opon the Maker of heuen and of erthe, as þe fyrst Article of the Feyth seith, the which Seynte Petir the apostel sete, [“Credo in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem, creatorem cœli et terræ”].[[253]]
XXIV.
Be thou leke to the godesse Ceres,
That tooke fro noon but yafe to corne encres;
In syche wyse abaundonede shulde be
The[[254]] good knygh, well sette in his degre.
Ceres was a lady that fond the craft to erye[[255]] the londe, for aforne gaineyers swe withowte laboure[[256]]; and because þat þe londe bare the more plenteously after þat it was erryed, thei seide that she was godesse of cornes, and thei called the londe after hyr name. Wherefor it wold be seide þat, as þe lande[[257]] is habaundone[d] and a large yefer of all goodes, on the same wyse shuld a good knygh be habaundonede to all personys and [ought] to gyffe his helpe and comfort aftyr hys power. And Arystotyl seyth, “Be a lyberall gyfer and thou shall hau frendys.”
Here [for] Ceres, to whom þe good knygh shuld resemble, we |f. 26.| shall take the Sone of God, whom the good spirit sholde folowe, þe which hath yoven so largely to vs of hy goodnes,[[258]] and in hym shuld be belewede stedeffastly, as the .ii.o Article seith, the which Seynt Jon sette, [“Et in Ihesum Christum, filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum”].
XXV.
All hye vertues as that he wyll sette,