[Sidenote: They can do evil, but this they could not do, if they retained
the power of doing good.
Chaucer - Boethius
naturel ordre he for-leti? ?ilk beyng
?at 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 ?ou wolt sein ?at shrewes
mowen. ? Certys ?at ne denye I nat. ? but certys 3316
hir power ne descende? nat of streng?e but of feblesse.
[Sidenote: They can do evil, but this they could not do, if they retained
the power of doing good.
]
for ?ei mowen don wickednesses. ?e whiche ?ei ne
my?ten nat don yif ?ei my?te{n} dwelle in ?e forme {and}
in ?e doynge of goode folke. [[pg 117]]
[Sidenote: This power, then, clearly shows their impotence.]
