Against the vice of sloth in honesty;

And but his heir love virtue as did he, _except._
He is not gentle, though he rich seem,
All wear he mitre, crown, or diadem.

Vicesse may well be heir to old Richesse, _Vice: Riches._
But there may no man, as men may well see,
Bequeath his heir his virtue's nobleness;
That is appropried unto no degree, _rank._
But to the first father in majesty,
That maketh his heirés them that him queme, _please him._
All wear he mitre, crown, or diadem.

I can come to no other conclusion than that by _the first stock-father_
Chaucer means our Lord Jesus.




CHAPTER III.

THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.


After the birth of a Chaucer, a Shakspere, or a Milton, it is long before
the genial force of a nation can again culminate in such a triumph: time
is required for the growth of the conditions. Between the birth of
Chaucer and the birth of Shakspere, his sole equal, a period of more than
two centuries had to elapse. It is but small compensation for this, that