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.
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