[Sidenote: When you see apparent irregularities--unexpected and unwished for--deem them to be rightly done.]
þan what so euer þou mayst seen þat is don in þis [world] vnhoped or vnwened. certys it is þe ry[gh]t[e] ordre of þinges. but as to þi wicked[e] oppiniou{ n} it is a co{ n}fusiou{ n}.
[Sidenote: Let us suppose a man so well behaved, as to be approved of God and man--but not endowed with firmness of mind, so that the reverses of fortune will cause him to forgo his probity, since with it he cannot retain his prosperity.]
but I suppose þat som man be so wel yþewed. 4008 þat þe deuyne Iugement { and} þe Iugeme{ n}t of mankynde accorden hem to gidre of hym. but he is so vnstedfast of corage [þat] yif any aduersite come to hym he wolde for-leten p{ er}auenture to continue i{ n}nocence by þe 4012 whiche he ne may nat wiþholden fortune.
[Sidenote: A wise Providence, knowing that adversity might destroy this man's integrity, averts from him that adversity which he is not able to sustain.]
¶ þan þe wise dispensac{ i}ou{ n} of god spareþ hym þe whiche man{ er}e adu{ er}site *my[gh]t[e] enpeyren. ¶ For þat god wil nat suffren hym to trauaile. to whom þat trauayl 4016 nis nat couenable.
[Sidenote: Another man is thoroughly virtuous, and approaches to the purity of the deity--him Providence deems it an injustice to oppress by adversity, and therefore exempts him even from bodily disease.]
¶ An oþ{ er} man is p{ er}fit in alle uertues. { and} is an holy man { and} neye to god so þat þe p{ ur}ueaunce of god wolde demen þat it were a felony þat he were touched wiþ any aduersites. so þat he ne 4020 wil nat suffre þat swiche a man be moeued wiþ any [[pg 140]] manere maladie. ¶ But so as seide a philosophre [the moore excellent by me]. þe adu{ er}sites comen nat (he seide in grec[;]) þere þ{ a}t uertues han edified þe bodie 4024 of þe holy man.
[Sidenote: Providence often gives the direction of public affairs to good men, in order to curb and restrain the malice of the wicked.]
and ofte tyme it bitideþ þat þe so{ m}me of þinges þat ben to don is taken to good folk to gouerne. for þat þe malice habundaunt of shrewes sholde ben abatid.
[Sidenote: To some is given a mixture of good and evil, according to what is most suitable to the dispositions of their minds.]