f the Laity are usually so extremely tender of the spiritual
welfare of the Clergy, that they are apt to wish them but very small
temporal goods, lest their inward state should be in danger! A thing,
they need not much fear, since that effectual humiliation by HENRY VIII.
"For," say they, "the great tithes, large glebes, good victuals and warm
clothes do but puff up the Priest! making him fat, foggy, and useless!
and fill him with pride, vainglory, and all kind of inward wickedness and
pernicious corruption! We see this plain," say they, "in the Whore of
Babylon [_Roman Catholic Church_]! To what a degree of luxury and
intemperance, besides a great deal of false doctrine, have riches and
honour raised up that strumpet! How does she strut it! and swagger it
over all the world! terrifying Princes, and despising Kings and Emperors!

"The Clergy, if ever we would expect any edification from them, ought to
be dieted and kept low! to be meek and humble, quiet, and stand in need
of a pot of milk from their next neighbour! and always be very loth to
ask for their very right, for fear of making any disturbance in the
parish, or seeming to understand or have any respect for this vile and
outward world!

"Under the Law, indeed, in those old times of Darkaess and Eating, the
Priests had their first and second dishes, their milk and honey, their
Manna and quails, also their outward and inward vestments: but now, under
the Gospel, and in times of Light and Fasting, a much more sparing diet is
fitter, and a single coat (though it be never so ancient and thin) is
fully sufficient!"

"We must look," say they, "if we would be the better for them, for a
hardy and labouring Clergy, that is mortified to [the possession of] a
horse and all such pampering vanities! and that can foot it five or six
miles in the dirt, and preach till starlight, for as many [5 _or_ 6]
shillings! as also a sober and temperate Clergy, that will not eat so
much as the Laity, but that the least pig, the least sheaf, and the least
of everything, may satisfy their Spiritualship! And besides, a
money-renouncing Clergy, that can abstain from seeing a penny, a month
together! unless it be when the Collectors and Visitationers come. These
are all Gospel dispensations! and great instances of patience,
contentedness, and resignation of affections [in respect] to all the
emptinesses and fooleries of this life!"

But cannot a Clergyman choose rather to lie upon feathers th