Polit. Poems, ed. Wright; i. 266.
'Ever be giving of somewhat, though it be but a cheese, or a piece of bacon, to the holy order of sweet St. Francis, or to any other of my [i. e. Antichrist's] friars, monks, canons, &c. Holy Church refuseth nothing, but gladly taketh whatsoever cometh.'—Becon's Acts of Christ and of Antichrist, vol. iii. p. 531 (Parker Society). And see the Somp. Tale, D. 1746-1751.
254. In principio. The reference is to the text in John i. 1, as proved by a passage from Tyndale (Works, ed. 1572, p. 271, col. 2; or iii. 61, Parker Soc.):—'Such is the limiter's saying of In principio erat verbum, from house to house.' Sir Walter Scott copies this phrase in The Fair Maid of Perth, ch. iii. The friars constantly quoted this text.
256. purchas = proceeds of his begging. What he acquired in this way was greater than his rent or income. 'Purchase, ... any method of acquiring an estate otherwise than by descent'; Blackstone, Comment. I. iii. For rente, see l. 373.
We find also:
'My purchas is theffect of al my rente'; D. 1451.
'To winne is alway myn entent,
My purchas is better than my rent.'
Romaunt of the Rose, l. 6837;
where the F. original has (l. 11760)—'Miex vaut mes porchas que ma rente.'