"All vacabondes and myghty beggers, the whyche gothe beggynge from dore to dore, and ayleth lytell or nought, with lame men and crepylles, come unto me, and I shall gyve you an almesse saluberryme and of grete vertue. The mendycans be in grete nombre, wherfore I wyll declare unto you some of theyr foolysshe condycyons. These fooles, the whiche be founde in theyr corporal bodyes, wyl nourysh and kepe dyvers chyldren. The monkes have this myschefe and the clerkes also, the whiche have theyr coffers ful of grete rychesses and treasoures. Nevertheles yet they applye themselfe in the offyce of the mendycans, in purchasyng and beggynge on every syde. They be a grete sorte replenysshed with unhappynes, saynge that they lede theyr lyves in grete poverte and calamyte; and therefore, they praye evry man to gyve them theyr good almesse, in release of theyr payne and myserye. And yet they have golde and sylver grete plentye, but they will spende nothinge before the comyn people. Somtyme the cursed taketh the almesse of the poore indygente. I fynde grete fautes in the abbottes, monkes, pryours, chanons, and coventes, for all that they have rentes, tenementes, and possessyons ynough, yet, as folkes devoyde of sense and understondynge, they be never satysfyed with goodes. They goo from vyllage to vyllage and from towne to towne, berynge grete bagges upon theyr neckes, assemblynge so moche goodes that it is grete mervayle, and whan they be in theyr relygyous cloysters, they make them byleve that they have had lytell gyven them or nothynge; for God knoweth they make heven chere in the countre. There is another sort of pardoners, the which bereth relyques aboute with them, in abusynge the pore folkes; for and yf they have but one poore peny in theyr purses they must have it. They garde togyder golde and sylver in every place, lyke as yf it grewe. They make the poore folkes byleve moche gay gere. They sel the feders of the Holy Ghoost. They bere the bones of some deed body aboute, the which, paraventure, is damned. They shewe the heer of some old hors, saynge that it is of the berde of the Innocentes. There is an innumerable syght of suche folkes and of vacabondes in this realme of Englonde, the which be hole of all theyr membres and myghte wynne theyr lyves honestly. Notwithstondynge they go beggynge from dore to dore, because they wyll not werke, and patcheth an olde mautell or an olde gowne with an hondred colours, and byndeth foule cloutes aboute theyr legges, as who say they be sore. And oftentymes they be more rycher than they that gyveth them almesse. They breke theyr chyldrens membres in theyr youthe, because that men sholde have the more pyte of them. They go wepynge and wryngynge of theyr handes, and counterfettynge the sorrowfull, praynge for Goddes sake to gyve them an almesse, and maketh so well the hypocrytes that there is no man the whiche seeth them but that he is abused, and must gyve them an almesse. There is some stronge and