CAP. XI. These claim the worship and honour which belong to God alone, and the goods which they unjustly seize are never restored. The shepherd preys like a wolf upon his own sheep. CAP. XII. He who is promoted to dignity in the Church by simony is like the thief who enters not by the door into the sheepfold. The Church is a congregation of faithful men, and the clergy are no better than the laity, except so far as they lead better lives. Yet they lay burdens upon us which they will not bear themselves, and do not follow their own precepts. They bear the keys of heaven, but they neither enter themselves nor allow us to enter: they set no good example to their flocks. CAP. XIII. A prelate should be a light to guide his people by example, and he should encourage them by his voice, and also reprove and restrain. The oil with which he is anointed is a type of the qualities that he ought to display. CAP. XIV. At the Court of Rome nothing can be done without gifts: the poor man is everywhere rejected. The spirit of Antichrist is opposite to that of Christ, and there are many signs that he has already come. CAP. XV. Our prelates aim at the mere outward show of sanctity and refuse to bear the burden of Christ. O God, in thy mercy restore them to the state which they have lost! CAP. XVI. Rectors of parishes, too, err after the example of the prelates. They are luxurious in their lives, and many desert their spiritual cures, in order to frequent courts and great households, with a view to promotion. CAP. XVII. Another gets leave from the bishop to leave his parish on the plea of study at the universities; but there he learns and teaches only lessons of unchastity. The Church, which is his true bride, is neglected, and harlots receive the tithe which belongs to God. CAP. XVIII. A third rector resides in his parish, but spends his time in sports, keeps well-fed horses and dogs, while the poor are not relieved or the sick visited, makes his voice heard more in the fields and woods than in the church. He lays snares too for the women of his parish, and if their bodies be fair, he cares not how their souls are defiled. CAP. XIX. Another neglects his cure of souls and makes money by buying and selling. He is liberal of his wealth to none but women; and if benefices were inherited by the children of those who hold them, the succession would seldom fail. CAP. XX. The priests without benefices, who get their living by ‘annuals,’ are equally bad: the harlot and the tavern consume their gains. Let none admit these to his house, who desires to keep his wife chaste, anymore than he would admit pigeons to his bed-chamber, if he wished to keep it clean. CAP. XXI. These infect the laity by their bad example. The bishop ought not to ordain such men; and he who might prevent an evil and does not, is equally guilty with him who causes it.