"The Lord grant thee thy desire, my child!" said Cobham. "Yea, and I think he will; for there is none that striveth to do his work unto whom some part shall not be given. It may not be according to his desire, in the way which he has marked out for himself; but to work in the Lord’s vineyard will not be denied him. But come, let us see how thou wilt teach the people. Wouldst thou tell him who has done evil to go and confess him to the priest that he may, by him, be absolved, and then go and sin over again?" "Nay, surely," answered the boy, his eye kindling, "for the priest hath no power by his word to forgive sins, but God only; neither will _he_ do it unless the sinner earnestly repent him of his sins, steadfastly purposing to lead a new life in the future, by God’s help. Unto the Lord only must the people shrive themselves." "Yet the priests will tell thee that in the Scriptures standeth this verse: ’Confess your sins one to another.’ What sayest thou then?" "Let the priest bend the knee before me and the people, and confess his wickedness; then at the end--if there be any end--I will in my turn shrive myself to him, and to all people, for so saith the Scriptures." Cobham smiled at the boy’s logic. "True, my son, thou sayest rightly; but suppose then that they put thee to the test, how instructest thou the people then?" "I shall tell the people," said the boy stoutly, "that there is no more of the real flesh and blood of our Saviour in the wafer and wine of the holy mysteries after the words of consecration than before." "Yet, my son, beware lest thou then fall into error. Christ doth say when he presenteth the paten and the chalice to his disciples, ’This is my body, this is my blood;’ therefore he _is_ present under the form of bread and wine in the sacrament, though the substance of the bread and wine be still therein contained. Take heed not to fall into the great error either of declaring the elements to be absolutely changed into the flesh and blood of Christ, or, on the other hand, of denying his perfect spiritual presence in the mysteries he has ordained. Thou hast been well taught; hold fast the form of sound words contained in this Holy Book, then shall our Lord hold thee fast in his heavenly kingdom. But now, my son, thou knowest well that the priest is not convinced by this, but is rather incensed thereby, because he loveth darkness rather than light; and to stop thy mouth he will excommunicate thee as a heretic forever from the church of God. What will thou do then?" To understand the full force of excommunication, we must remember that the excommunicated person was put under a sentence of absolute outlawry. His relations and friends were forbidden to give him any comfort or assistance under penalty of the same curse. None might give or sell him shelter, food, or clothing; and at his death his unburied body was cast into unhallowed ground, or left for the beasts and birds of prey to feed upon.