And in like maner if I had no nother felynge in my
fayth that
couetousnesse were synne / then that the spiritualtie
so sayth / my faith coude be but weake and faintie / when I se
how the pope wyth wiles hath thrust downe the emproure / and how
the bisshopes and prelates be cropt vpp. an hye in all regyons
aboue their kinges and
haue made them a seuerall kingdome and haue goten
in to their handes all most the one halfe of euery realme
whiche they diuide amonge them selues / geuinge no laye man ony
parte wyth them / and hepynge vpp bisshoperike vppon
bisshoperike / promocyon vppon promocion / benefice vppon
benefice / with vnions and tot
quottes robbinge in euery parish the soules of
their fode and the pore of their due sustynaunce: ye and some
preachinge that it were lesse sinne to haue .ij. wyues then
.ij. benefices / but whyle they be yet
younge & hote / and therfore thynke
couetousnesse greater synne then lecherye: which same / when
they be waxed elder and their
complexcyon some what altered / thinke that
couetousnesse is as small a synne as lechery / and therfore
take all that cometh. And if
any man cast theyr preachynge in their tethes / they
answere that they be better lerned and haue sene further. If I
saye / I haue no nother felinge that couetousnesse is synne /
then the preachynge of these holy fathers / my faith were bilt
but vppon a weke rocke or
rather on the soft sonde. And therfore oure defenders
do ryght well to fome out their awne shame and to vtter the
secret thoughtes
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