ll have great cause gladly to be content, for
the great comfort that we may take thereby. For we remember that in
the patient and glad doing of our service unto that man for God's
sake, according to his high commandment by the mouth of St. Paul,
_"Servi obedite dominis carnalibus,"_ we shall have our thanks and
our whole reward of God.

Finally, if we remember the great humble meekness of our Saviour
Christ himself--that he, being very almighty God, "humbled himself
and took the form of a bondsman or slave," rather than that his
Father should forsake us--we may think ourselves very ungrateful
caitiffs (and very frantic fools, too) if, rather than to endure
this worldly bondage for awhile, we would forsake him who hath by
his own death delivered us out of everlasting bondage to the devil,
and who will for our short bondage give us everlasting liberty.

VINCENT: Well fare you, good uncle, this is very well said! Albeit
that bondage is a condition that every man of any spirit would be
very glad to eschew and very loth to fall in, yet have you well
made it so open that it is a thing neither so strange nor so sore
as it before seemed to me. And specially is it far from such as any
man who hath any wit should, for fear of it, shrink from the
confession of his faith. And now, therefore, I pray you, speak
somewhat of imprisonment.

XIX

ANTHONY: That shall I, cousin, with good will. And first, if we
could consider what thing imprisonment is of its own nature
methinketh we should not have so great horror of it. For of itself
it is, perdy, but a restraint of liberty, which hindereth a man
from going whither he would.

VINCENT: Yes, by St. Mary, uncle, but methinketh it is much more
sorry than that. For beside the hindrance and restraint of liberty,
it hath many more displeasures and very sore griefs knit and
adjoined to it.

ANTHONY: That is, cousin, very true indeed. And those pains, among
many sorer than those, thought I not afterward to forget. Howbeit,
I purpose now to consider first imprisonment as imprisonment alone,
without any other incommodity besides. For a man may be imprisoned,
perdy, and yet not set in the stocks or collared fast by the neck.
And a man may be let walk at large where he will, and yet have a
pair of fetters fast riveted on his legs. For in this country, you
know, and Seville and Portugal too, so go all the slaves. Howbeit,
because for such things men's hearts have such horror of it, albe