Ne vertu, which was bodely,
That nys destruid and lost therby.
Ensample that it hath be so
In boke I finde write also.
[Tale of Phaeton.]
Phebus, which is the Sonne hote,
That schyneth upon Erthe hote 980
And causeth every lyves helthe,
Hic contra vicium necgligencie ponit Confessor exemplum; et narrat quod cum[1180] Pheton filius Solis currum patris sui per aera regere debuerat, admonitus a patre vt equos ne deuiarent equa manu diligencius refrenaret, ipse consilium patris sua negligencia preteriens, equos cum curru nimis basse errare permisit; vnde non solum incendio orbem inflammauit, set et seipsum de curru cadentem in quoddam fluuium demergi ad interitum causauit.
He hadde a Sone in al his welthe,