ABSTRACT
Religion – the needs of the people in this sphere seem at the moment to be limited, both in the towns and the countryside, to vain spectacles and ceremonies. Attendance at Mass, listening to the sermon, going to Vespers, that’s good enough; but submitting to confession, taking communion, abstinence from meat, or fasting is nowhere commonplace, and practised only by a tiny number. In those parts of the countryside where there are no priests, a lay official (magister) officiates and everyone is well content. The priests in rural areas are mostly indifferent. In the towns this indifference can be found also, but it is less marked. Some prefer the constitutional [clergy], but only a few; those [priests] who have sworn the oath of loyalty have more adherents; however, it is those who have declined to swear any oath who are the most ardently followed.
