14. Compare the cases. You wish to excuse a
decurio, when it is not allowed the Church to excuse a priest.
Wills are written on behalf of ministers of the temples, no profane
person is excepted, no one of the lowest condition, no one shamelessly
immodest, the clergy alone are excluded from the common right, by whom
alone common prayer is offered for all, and common service rendered, no
legacies even of grave widows, no gifts are permitted. And where
no fault can be found in the character, a penalty is notwithstanding
imposed on the office. That which a Christian widow has
bequeathed to the priests of a temple is valid, her legacy to the
ministers of God is invalid. And I have related this not in order
to complain, but that they may know what I do not complain of; for I
prefer that we should be poorer in money than in grace.