ved the false suspicion of the people. For they accounted him
for so evil that they reckoned in their mind all his goods wrongly
gotten, because he was grown to substance in that office that was
commonly misused with extortion. But his words declared that he
was deep enough in his reckoning so that, if half his goods were
given away, he would yet be well able to yield every man his due
with the other half--and yet leave himself no beggar either, for
he said not he would give away all.

Would God, cousin, that every rich Christian man who is reputed
right worshipful--yea, and (which yet, to my mind, is more)
reckoned for right honest, too--would and could do the thing that
little Zachaeus, that same great publican, were he Jew or were he
paynim, said that he would do: that is, with less than half his
goods, to recompense every man whom he had wronged four times as
much. Yea, yea, cousin, as much for as much, hardly! And then they
who receive it shall be content, I dare promise for them, to let
the other thrice-as-much go, and forgive it. Because that was one
of the hard points of the old law, whereas Christian men must be
full of forgiving, and not require and exact their amends to the
uttermost.

But now, for our purpose here: He promised neither to give away
all nor to become a beggar--no, nor yet to leave off his office
either. For, albeit that he had not used it before peradventure in
every point so pure as St. John the Baptist had taught them the
lesson: "Do no more than is appointed unto you," yet he might both
lawfully use his substance that he intended to reserve, and
lawfully might use his office, too, in receiving the prince's
duty, according to Christ's express commandment, "Give the Emperor
those things that are his," refusing all extortion and bribery
besides. Yet our Lord, well approving his good purpose, and
exacting no further of him concerning his worldly behaviour,
answered and said, "This day is health come to this house, for he
too is the son of Abraham."

But now I forget not, cousin, that in effect you conceded to me
thus far: that a man may be rich and yet not out of the state of
grace, nor out of God's favour. Howbeit, you think that, though it
may be so in some time or in some other place, yet at this time
and in this place, or any other such in which there be so many
poor people, upon whom you think they are bound to bestow their
goods, they can keep no riches with conscience.

Verily, co