 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
282
CHURCH WORLDLINGS.
Not many noble, mighty, wise, or greatAre call'd of God: the scripture saith, not Many,—
Whereby the Few be call'd; it saith not Any:
Some then there be, set high in Church and State,
Who yet shall reach to Heav'n's unbounded bliss,
For having here well earn'd the labourer's penny,
And not betray'd their Master by a kiss:
Likewise, of old quoth holy Chrysostome,
Few clerks be saved;—for so he reckoned then
That trumpeters and liveried serving-men
Themselves to royal feasts could scarcely come:
Few, not condemning all; yet, by that Few
Excluding some, the many faithless some,
Who barely preach,—but never practise too.
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