In the first place there is no good ground for believing that the moral condition of the priesthood was worse in 1500 than it had been for a long time; indeed, there is good evidence to the contrary, that things were tending to improve, if not at Rome yet in many parts of Christendom.

If objectionable practices of the priests had been a sufficient cause for the secession of whole nations, the Reformation would have come long before it actually did.

Again, there is good reason to doubt that the mere abuse of an institution has ever led to its complete overthrow; as long as the institution is regarded as necessary, it is rather mended than ended.

Thirdly, many of the acts that seem corrupt to us, gave little offence to contemporaries, for they were universal.

If the church sold offices and justice, so did the civil governments.