the same time the real character of the men is precisely the same as it was before. “In addition to these considerations, I was well aware how important is the dignified office of an ecclesiastic; and what a weight of responsibility rests upon those who, by accepting benefices, undertake the spiritual guidance of their fellow men; and I was deterred from entering upon the clerical functions by the strictness of the precepts which are inculcated by the ancient doctors of the church. For when I was informed by these most holy men, whose works I had perused, to what uses the wealth of the church ought to be appropriated—that he who does not work, ought not to eat—and that the labourer in spiritual things ought to be content with food and raiment; and when I was conscious that I was unfit for the discharge of clerical duties; and when I knew that I could obtain food and raiment by other, though certainly more laborious means; I thought it advisable—not indeed to contemn the former pursuit, but to adopt the latter, which seemed more suitable to my disposition. That warfare is, I must confess, better and more illustrious in which men can attain to a greater pitch of merit, provided they conduct themselves according to the rules of religion and their office. But after maturely examining my own strength and ability, I was afraid of engaging in a field, in which I should incur the almost certain danger of basely yielding to the adversary, or of falling in the combat, to the hazard of my soul.