¶ Ne knowen þei nat þan wel þat þei foreleten þe good wilfully. { and} turnen hem vilfully to vices. ¶ And in þis wise þei ne forleten nat 3296 oonly to ben my[gh]ty. but þei forleten al outerly in any wise forto ben
[Sidenote: For those who neglect the common end of all beings, cease to exist.]
¶ For þei þat forleten þe comune fyn of alle þinges þat ben. þei for-leten also þerwiþ al forto ben.
[Sidenote: You may marvel that I assert that the wicked, the majority of the human race, have no existence--but it is, however, most true.]
and p{ er}auenture it sholde semen to som folk þat 3300 þis were a merueile to seyne þat shrewes whiche þat contienen þe more p{ ar}tie of me{ n} ne ben nat. ne han no beynge. ¶ but naþeles it is so. { and} þus stant þis þing
[Sidenote: That the wicked are bad I do not deny--but I do not admit that they have any real existence.]
for þei þat ben shrewes I denye nat þat þei ben shrewes. 3304 but I denye { and} sey[e] symplely and pleynly þat þei [ne] ben nat. ne han no beynge.
[Sidenote: You may call a corpse a dead man, but you cannot with propriety call it a man.]
for ry[gh]t as þou my[gh]test seyn of þe careyne of a man þat it were a ded man. ¶ but þou ne my[gh]test nat symplely callen it a man. 3308
[Sidenote: So the vicious are profligate men, but I cannot confess they absolutely exist.]
¶ So graunt[e] I wel for soþe þat vicious folk ben wicked. but I ne may nat graunten absolutely { and} symplely þat þei ben.
[Sidenote: That thing exists that preserves its rank, nature, and constitution, but when it loses these essentials it ceases to be.]
¶ For þilk þing þat wiþ holdeþ ordre { and} kepiþ nature. þilk þing is { and} haþ 3312 beynge. but þat þing þat faileþ of þat. þat is to seyne he þ{ a}t forletiþ naturel ordre he for-letiþ þilk beyng þat is set in hys nature.
[Sidenote: But, you may say that the wicked have a _power_ to act, nor do I deny it; but their power is an effect of weakness.]
but þou wolt sein þat shrewes mowen. ¶ Certys þat ne denye I nat. ¶ but certys 3316 hir power ne descendeþ nat of strengþe but of feblesse.
[Sidenote: They can do evil, but this they could not do, if they retained the power of doing good.]
for þei mowen don wickednesses. þe whiche þei ne my[gh]ten nat don yif þei my[gh]te{ n} dwelle in þe forme { and} in þe doynge of goode folke. [[pg 117]]