Page:The Life of Sir Thomas More (William Roper, ed by Samuel Singer).djvu/113

 brance of an emperor who ordained a law that whosoever had committed a certain heinous offence, (which I now remember not,) except it were a virgin, should suffer the pains of death; (such a reverence had he to virginity.) Now so it happened that the first committer of that offence was indeed a virgin, whereof the emperor hearing was in no small perplexity, as he that by some example would fain have had that law put in execution. Whereupon when his council had sat long, solemnly debating this cause, suddenly rose there up one of his council, a good plain man amongst them, and said, Why make you so much ado, my lords, about so small a matter? let her be first deflowered, and then after may she be devoured. And so though your lordships have in the matter of the matrimony, hitherto kept yourselves pure virgins, yet take good heed, my lords, that you keep your virginity still. For some there be that by procuring your lordships first at the coronation to be present, and next to preach for the setting forth of it, and finally to write books to all the world in defence thereof are desirous to deflower you, and when they have deflowered you, then will they not fail soon after to devour you. Now, my lords, quoth he, it lieth not in my power but that they may devour me, but God being my good Lord I will so provide that they shall never deflower me.

In continuance, when the king saw that he