IX. THREE THINGS DESTROY THIS WORLD.
THERE is nothing in this tract which can give us any certainty as to authorship or date. It should be noticed that the false confessors are friars; and that the lawyers, who are charged with gross hypocrisy, are priests.
The complaints of packing and bribing juries are worth notice.
Copied from the Corpus MS. X. and collated with the Dublin MS. AA.
| False confessors are the chief cause of sin, since they excuse sins on condition of gifts to religious houses. They waste money in luxurious living, and get dis|pensation from their rule | p. 181 |
| Wicked lawyers encourage quarrels, suborn perjury, pack juries, oppress the poor. They pretend to be religious | 182 |
| Ecclesiastical lawyers worst of all. They uphold the Civil Law above God's Law. They make divorces, and raise quarrels between man and wife | 184 |
| False merchants cheat, and teach their apprentices and servants to cheat. They are usurers | 185 |
| False confessors worst of all, since they encourage the rest | 186 |
