486. 'He was very loath to excommunicate those who failed to pay the tithes that were due to him.' 'Refusal to pay tithes was punishable with the lesser excommunication'; Bell. Wyclif complains of 'weiward curatis' that 'sclaundren here parischenys many weies by ensaumple of pride, enuye, coueitise and vnresonable vengaunce, so cruely cursynge for tithes'; Works, ed. Matthew, p. 144 (cf. p. 132). 487. _yeven_, give; A. S. _gifan_. _out of doute_, without doubt. 489. _offring_, the voluntary contributions of his parishioners. _substaunce_, income derived from his benefice. 490. _suffisaunce_, a sufficiency; enough to live on. 492. _lafte not_, left not, ceased not; from M. E. _leven_. 493. _meschief_, mishap, misfortune. 494. _ferreste_, farthest; superl. of _fer_, far. _muche_, great. _lyte_, small; A. S. _lyt_, small, little. [46] 497. _wroghte_, wrought, worked; pt. t. of _werchen_, to work. 498. The allusion is to Matt. v. 19, as shewn by a parallel passage in P. Plowman, C. xvi. 127. 502. _lewed_, unlearned, ignorant. _Lewed_ or _lewd_ originally signified the people, laity, as opposed to the clergy; the modern sense of the word is not common in Middle English. Cf. mod. E. _lewd_, in Acts xvii. 5. See _Lewd_ in Trench, Select Glossary. 503-4. _if a preest tak-e keep_, if a priest may (i. e. will) but pay heed to it. St. John Chrysostom also saith, 'It is a great shame for priests, when laymen be found faithfuller and more righteous than they.'--Becon's Invective against Swearing, p. 336. 507. _to hyre._ The parson did not leave his parish duties to be performed by a stranger, that he might have leisure to seek a chantry in St. Paul's. See Piers Plowman, B-text, Prol. l. 83; Hoccleve, De Regimine Principum, ed. Wright, pp. 51, 52; Spenser, Shep. Kalendar (May). 508. _And leet_, and left (not). We should now say--'_Nor_ left.' So also, in l. 509, _And ran_ = Nor ran. _Leet_ is the pt. t. of _leten_, to let alone, let go. 509. Here again, _së-ynt_ is used as if it were dissyllabic; see ll. 120, 697. 510. _chaunterie_, chantry; an endowment for the payment of a priest to sing mass, agreeably to the appointment of the founder. 'There were thirty-five of these chantries established at St. Paul's, which were served by fifty-four priests; Dugd. Hist. pref. p. 41.'--Tyrwhitt's Glossary. On the difference between a _gild_ and a _chantry_, see the instructive remarks in Eng. Gilds, ed. Toulmin Smith, pp. 205-207, 259. 511. 'Or to be kept (i. e. remain) in retirement along with some fraternity.' I do not see how _with-holde_ can mean 'maintained,' as it is usually explained. Cf. _dwelte_ in l. 512, and _with-holde_ in G. 345. 514. _no mercenarie_, no hireling; see John x. 12, where the Vulgate version has _mercenarius_. 516. _despitous_, full of _despite_, or contempt; cf. E. _spite_.