2628. 'Quoniam excessus tunc sunt in formidine, cùm creduntur iudicibus displicere'; Cassiodorus, Variarum lib. i. epist. 4.
2629. Lat. text:—'Et alibi dixit, Iudex, qui dubitat ulcisci, multos improbos facit'; slightly altered from Publ. Syrus, Sent. 526:—'Qui ulcisci dubitat, inprobos plures facit.'
2630. From Rom. xiii. 4. For spere, as in all the copies, Chaucer should have written swerd. The Fr. text has glaive; Lat. gladium.
2632. Ye shul retourne or have your recours to the Iuge; explanatory of the F. text—'tu recourras au iuge.'
2633. As the lawe axeth and requyreth; explanatory of the Fr. text—'selon droit.' For this use of axeth (= requires), cf. P. Plowman, C. i. 21, ii. 34.
2635. Many a strong pas; Fr. text—'moult de fors pas.' MS. Hl. has:—'many a strayt passage.'
2638. Not from Seneca, but (as in other places where Seneca is mentioned) from Publilius Syrus, Sent. 320 (ed. Dietrich):—'Male geritur, quicquid geritur fortunae fide.'
2640. Again from Publilius Syrus, Sent. 189 (ed. Dietrich):—'Fortuna uitrea est; tum quum splendet frangitur.'
2642. Seur (E. sure) and siker are mere variants of the same word; the former is O. F. seur, from Lat. acc. secūrum; the latter is from Lat. sécŭrus, with a different accentuation and a shortening of the second vowel. We also have a third form, viz. secure.
2645. Again from Publ. Syrus, Sent. 173:—'Fortuna nimium quem fouet, stultum facit.'