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 demand for dispensations, and the strongest possible impetus was given to their issue by the enormous wealth which they brought into the papal exchequer.

But with the money there entered into the system the most demoralising influence in the world. Dispensations were easily granted to the wealthy, hard to obtain for the poor. All the evidence available demonstrates that the marriage system, with its rigorous theory and numerous dispensations, had come to work so badly, that in every part of Christendom men's consciences were restive. It was inevitable that the Reformation would make its influence felt in the law and practice of marriage.

In the year 1520 Luther put forth from the press the book entitled "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church" In this work he discusses the different parts of the Christian system, and shows how they have been mishandled and depraved under the rule of the Papacy. In the section treating of