Pro ●n 〈…〉 SIc dulce 〈…〉. Et nomen vicgis 〈…〉 meter●●m Amen   
SCala perfecconnis   

Capla prime partis/  
¶ HEre begin the chapters of this present volume of waltere hylton/ named in latin Scala perfecconnis englished the ladder of perfection/ which volume is divided in two parties/ The first book of this present volume containeth. lxxxxiii. chapitours/ The second book xlvi which hole volume amo●●teth. C.xxxix. chapitours/  

That the Inner having of manes soul should be like to the utter: Capitulum primum  
Of active life and the works thereof/ Caplm two.  
Of contemplative life and the works thereof Caplm three  
Of the first part of contemplation/ Caplm iiii.  
Of the second part of contemplation/ Caplm v.  
Of the lower degree of the two. part of contemplation: Caplm vi  
Of the higher degree of the two. part of contemplacionn/ Caplm seven.  
Of the third part of contemplation: Caplm viii.  
Of the twyning of the third part of contemplation fro the two. part/ and of the praising thereof/ Caplm ix.  
How the showing to the bodily wits and the feeling of hem may be both good and evil/ Caplm x▪  
How thou shalt know when the showing to the bodily wits and the feeling of 'em been good or evil: Caplm xi.  
what knyttith Ihu to man's soul: and what loseth him therefro/ Caplm xii.  
How & in what things should a contemplative man be occupied/ Caplm xiii.  
How in reason & will virtue beginneth/ and in love & in liking it is made perfit/ Caplm xiiii  
Of the means that bringeth a soul to contemplation/ Ca: xv.  
what a man should use & refuse by the virtue of meekness. c.xvi  
who should blame men's defawtes and dame 'em. and who not/ Caplm xvii.  
why men should worship other: and low himself in her own heart under all other/ Caplm xviii.  
How men should do that wantith the feeling of meekness in attecconn/ not dreading toomuch therefore/ Capm nineteen  
How hypocrites ● heretics for wanting of meekness highen himself in heart before all other/ Caplm xx  
what things men owen to believe by a syker faith/ Ca xxi.  
How a stable intent is needful to these that should please god and discretion in bodily works/ Caplm xxii.  
Of a little rehearsing of things said before/ and of making of oftering that should be offered to god/ Caplm xxiii  
Of prayer that is speedful to get dens of heart & virtues/ xxiiii.  
How men should pray/ and whereon the point of her thought shall be set in prayer/ Caplm xxv  
Of the fire of love Caplm xxvi  
That the certain prayer in speech ordained of god & of holy church is best to hem that been new turned to god & to devotion/ xxvii  
what peril is to men that in the beginning of turning to god leaven the common prayer of the ordinance of holy church/ and give 'em to meditation/ Caplm xxviii  
Of the second manner of prayer/ that is in speech not certainly followeth the stirring of devotion/ Caplm xxix.  
That the second manner of prayer pleaseth moche god/ And maketh a man to have him in body as he were drunken/ and maketh him in soul to be wounded with the sword of love Caplm thirty.  
How the fire of love wasteth all fleshly lusts as other fire wasteth all bodily thing/ Caplm xxxi.  
Of the third manner of prayer that is only in the heart with out speech outward/ Caplm xxxii  
How men should do that been travailed with vain thought in her prayers/ Caplm xxxiii  
Of meditation of sinful men after that the● been holy turned to god/ Caplm xxxiiii.  
That the meditation of the manhood of christ: or of his passion is ye●en freely of the holy, ghost. And how it shall be known when it is yeven/ Caplm xxxv.  
That the meditation of the passion of christ is withdrawn fro 'em that it is yeven to oft scythes for divers causes/ Ca xxxvi  
Of divers temptations of the fiend/ Caplm xxxvii  
Of divers remedies ayennst temptations of the fiend/ Ca xxxviii  
How that god hem that he chesith: he suffereth to be tarried & tempted/ and afterward comforteth hem & stableth 'em in grace Caplm. xxxix  
That a man should not give him to idleness ne lightly leave the grace that is yeven him of god/ Caplm xl  
That a man should know the measure of his yeft: that he may desire & take a better when god will give it/ Caplm xli.  
That a man should travail to know his own soul & the myghtes thereof: & break down the ground of sin therein/ ca xlii.  
How a man shall know the worthiness & the worship of his soul that it had first of god/ and what wretchidnesse & mischief it is fall in for sin/ Caplm xliii.  
¶ How every man may be saved by the passion of christ: be he never so wret chid/ Caplm xliiii.  
¶ That a man should be busy to recover again his worthiness: & reform again in him the image of the trinity. Caplm xlv.  
¶ How Ihu shall be soughte:: desired: & found/ Caplm xlvi.  
¶ what profit it is to have the desire of Ihu/ Caplm xlvii·  
¶ where & with what thing Ihu shall be sought & found/ Caplm xlviii.  
where Ihu is lost & found again through his mercy/ ca xlix  
what letteth a man to here and see Ihesu within himself/ Caplm. l.  
¶ That meekness and charity been the special lyvereye of Ihesu/ through the which man's soul is reformed to the likeness of him/ caplm. li.  
How a man shall see the ground of sin within himself Caplm. lii.  
To what thing is the image of sin like/ and what it is in itself/ caplm liii.  
¶ who so will find Ihesu him behooveth abydyngly to travail in ghostly darkness against the image of sin/ Caplm liv.  
what is properly th'image of sin. & what cometh out thereof Ca iv  
what pride is & when it is sin/ Caplm lvi.  
when pride is deadly sin. & how it is in fleshly living men deadly sin/ c. lvii  
How pride is in hypocrites deadly sin c. lviii.  
How pride in heretics is deadly sin/ Caplm lix  
How stirrings of pride & vainglory in good men been but venial sins/ Caplm lx.  
How divers states in holy church shall have divers medes in heaven/ and of two special medes in heaven/ Caplm lxi.  
A short stirring to meekness & to charity/ Caplm lxii.  
How a man shed know how moche pride is in him/ ca lxiii.  
Of envy & ire. & of her branches/ and how in stead of sin man's person is oft hated/ Caplm lxiiii  
That it is much mastery to love men's persons/ and wisely hate her sins/ Caplm lxv  
That for the same deeds divers men shall have divers medes Ca. lxvi  
That all men's good deeds should be apprevid that hath likeness of good: save the open heretic/ & of the cursed man/ Caplm lxvii.  
That no good deed may make men saaf without charity And that charity feel they only that been meek/ Ca lxviii.  
How a man shall wite how moche wrath & envy is hid in the ground of his heart. Caplm lxix.  
By what tokens thou shall know if thou lovest thine enemy/ And what ensample thou shall take of christ for to love him/ Caplm lxx  
How a man shall know how moche covetise is hid in his heart/ Caplm lxxi.  
How a man shall know when he sinneth not in eting & drinking. & when he sinneth venial: & when dedeli/ Caplm lxxii  
How the ground of lecheris should be destrdyed with ghostli travail & with bodily/ ca lxxiii.  
That a man should be besie to put away all stirrings of sin/ but more besie of ghostli sins than of bodily/ Caplm lxxiiii.  
That hunger and other bodily pains let much ghostly working/ Caplm lxxv.  
what remedy a man shall use against default made in eating or drinking/ Caplm lxxvi.  
That through busy desire & travail for meekness & charity a man cometh sooner to other virtues than by travail in hemselfe/ Caplm lxxvii  
Of the darkness of the image of sin/ and what cometh in by the windows thereof/ Caplm lxxviii  
That the soul for default of knowing of itself gooth out by the v. wits to seche outward liking: Caplm lxxix  
That a soul should not beg without forth/ but within of Ihu that it needeth/ Caplm lxxx/  
That the hole of the imagination needeth to be stopped aswell as the windows of the wits Caplm: lxxxi  
when the use of the wits is deadly sin/ and when venial. Caplm lxxxii.  
¶ How a ghostly man or woman shall have 'em that come to hem/ Caplm lxxxiii.  
Of the dark image of sin: & of the clothing thereof/ lxxxiiii  
which been the limbs of the image of sin. caplm lxxxv  
whereof the image of Ihesu is made/ and whereof the image of sin/ & how we been passing forth in th'image of sin/ Caplm lxxxvi.  
¶ How we should crucify this image of sin/ and quicken the image of Ihu/ Caplm lxxxvii.  
what profit cometh of keeping of the heart. and how moche the soul is/ and what it loveth/ Caplm lxxxviii  
How the image of sin shall be broken down/ lxxxix  
How a man shall have him to the stirring of pride. and of all other vices/ Caplm lxxxx.  
what thing helpeth most a man's knowing/ and getteth to him that him lackyth/ and most destroyeth sin in him/ Caplm lxxxxi.  
How a man shall be shapen to the image of Ihesu/ and Ihesu shapen in him/ Caplm lxxxxii.  
The cause why this book was made: And how she should have her in reading therof· that was made to. Caplm lxxxxiii   
HEre endeth the chapters of the first book. And after followeth the first part of this present volume/   

That the Inner having of man's soul should be like the utter Caplm primum  
GHosti sister in Ihesu christ I pray the that in the calling which our lord hath called the to his service thou hold the paid. and stand steadfastly therein/ traveling busily with all the mights of thy soul by the grace of Ihu christ: for to fulfil in soothfastness of good living the state which thou haste take in likeness & in seeming/ And as thou hast forsake the world: as it were a deed man turned to our lord bodily in 〈◊〉 of men Right so that in thine heart might be as it were 〈◊〉 all earthly loves & dreads/ turned holy to our lord Ihu 〈◊〉 wite thou well a bodily turning to god without th● 〈◊〉 lowrng. is but a figure & a likeness of virtues. & no 〈◊〉/ wherefore a wretched man or woman is he 〈◊〉 leaveth the Inwardly keeping of himself/ & shapeth 〈◊〉 out forth only a form & likeness of holiness: in 〈◊〉 thing/ In speech & in bodily works: beholding 〈◊〉 deeds. and deming her defawtes/ weening himself 〈◊〉 when he is right not. and so beguileth himself 〈◊〉 not so. but turn thy heart with thy body principal 〈…〉 shape the within to his ly●knes by meekness & 〈◊〉 ghostly virtues. and thenne art thou truly turned to 〈◊〉 not that thou so lightly on the first day may be to 〈◊〉 thy soul by fulhede of virtues: as thou might with 〈◊〉 be closed in a house. but that thou should know that the 〈◊〉 of thy bodily closing is/ that thou might the better com●●● ghostly closing/ And as thy body is closed fro bodily conversation of men/ right so that thine heart might be enclosed fro● fleshly loves & dreads of all earthly things/ And that th●●●●●ghte the better come therto· I shall tell the in this lityl writing/ as me thynkith.   

¶ Of active life. & the works thereof/ Caplm two  
THou shalt understand that there is in holy church two manner of lives as saint gregory saith. in the which christian men should be safe/ That one is called active. 
Greg.  & the other contemplative/ without one of these two. no man may be saved Actyff life lieth in love & charity showed outward by good bodily works in fulfilling of God's commandments/ & of the seven. works of mercy bodily & ghostly to a manes even christian This life longeth to all worldly men which have richesses & plenty of worldly goods for to spend/ And so to all other the which have state office or cure of other men. And have goods for to spend. lerid & lewd: temporal or spirytuell/ And generally all worldly men are bound to fulfil it after her might & cunning: as reason & discretion asketh/ If he much good have/ moche good for to do/ If he lityll have. less may he do/ And if he nought have/ thenne must he have a good will These been works of active life other bodily or ghostly/ Also a great part of active life lieth in great bodily deeds. the which a man doth to himself/ as great fasting: moche waking/ and other sharp penance doing for to chastise the flesh with discretion for trespass before done/ And by such penance for to refrain lusts & likings of it/ and to make him buxum & ready to the will of the spirit/ these works though they been actiff. they help right moche. & ordaineth a man in the beginning to come to contemplative life/ if they been used with discretion   

¶ Of contemplatiff life & the works thereof/ Caplm iii.  
Contemplative life lieth in perfit love & charity feeled inwardly by ghostly virtues & by soothfast knowing & sight of god & ghostly things/ This life longeth to hem specyalli the which for the love of god forsakith all worldly richesse warshippes: & outward besines/ & holy yeven hem body & soul after her might & cunning to the service of god by ghostly occupation/ Now thenne sith it is so that thy state askith for to be contemplatiff/ for that is th'intent of thy enclosing. that thou might more freely & entirely give y● to ghostly occupation/ Thenne behooveth the for to be right besie both night & day with travail of body & of spirit: for to come to that life as nigh as thou mayst by such means as thou hopest were best to the. Nevertheless before that I tell the of the means: I shall tell the first a little more of this life contemplative: that thou might somewhat see what it is/ and sithen set it as a mark in the sight of thy soul: whereto thou shalt draw in all thine occupation/   

¶ Of the first part of contemplation/ Caplm iiii·  
COntemplatyff life hath three parts/ The first lieth in knowing of god & ghostly things getten by reason: by teaching of man: & by study in holy writ/ without ghostly affection & july savour feeled. by the special gift of the holy ghost/ This part have specially lettered men & great clerks which by long study & travail in holy writ comen to this knowing more or less after the subtilty of kindly wit & continuance of study. of the general wit that god giveth to every man that hath use of reason/ This knowing is good/ and it may be called a part of contemplation. in asmuch as it is a sight of soothfastness. & a knowing of ghostly things Nevertheless it is but a figure & a shawwe of very contemplation/ for it hath not ghostly savour in god: ne inwardly sweetness/ the which no man may feel but if he be in great charity/ For it is the proper well of our lord/ to the which cometh none alien. But this manner knowing is common to good & bad/ for it may be had without charity: & therefore it is not very contemplation/ As oft scythes hypocrites & fleshly living men have more such knowing than many other christian men. and yet have these men no charity. Of this manner knowing speaketh saint paul thus/ Si habuero omne scienciam. & no verim misteria oina. caritatem autem non habean. nihil sum. 
Cor i3.  If I had full knowing of all thynges·s & I knew all brevities. & I had not charity. I am right nought/ Nevertheless if they that have this knowing keep 'em in meekness & in charity: & flee worldly & fleshly sins after her might; it is to hem a good way & a great disposing to very contemplation/ if they desire & may devoutly after the grace of the holy ghost/ Other men that have this cunning & turneth it to pride & vainglory of henself/ or in to covetise & desiring of worldly states. 
Greg.  worships & riches/ not meekly taking it to the praising of god: ne charitably spendeth it in the perfect of her evencristen. some of 'em fallen other into heresies & errors/ or in to other open sins/ by the which they slander henself & all holy church/ Of this cunning saith saint paul thus. Sciencia inflat. caritas antem edificat/ knowing alone lifteth up the heart into pride/ but menge it with charity: & thenne turneth it into edification/ This knowing alone is but water unsavoury & cold/ And therefore if they that have it would meekly offer it up to our lord/ & pray him of grace/ he should with his blessing turn the water in to wine/ as he died at the prayer of his mother at the fest of Architriclyne/ that is for to say/ He should turn the unsavoury knowing in to wisdom. and the cold naked reason in to ghostly light & brenning love by the yeft of the holy ghost/   

¶ Of the two. part of contemplation/ Caplm v.  
THe two. part of contemplation lieth principally in affection without light of understanding of ghostly things/ and this is commonly of simple & unlettered men/ which yeven 'em holy to devotion/ & this is feeled on this manner/ when man or woman in meditation of god by the grace of the holy ghost feeleth fervour of love & ghostly sweetness by the mind of cryst● passonn/ or any of his works in his manhood/ or he feeleth a great trust in the goodness & in the mercy of god f●● the forgiveness of his sins: & for his great yeft of grace. 〈◊〉 else he feeleth a dread in his affection with great reverence of the privy ●omes of god/ the which he seeth not/ & of his rightwylnes. Or in prayer he feeleth the thought of his heart draw up fro all all earthly things. strenyd together with all the mights of his heart: upstyeng to our lord by fervent desire & with ghostly delight And nevertheless in that time he hath no open sight in understanding of ghostly thynges·s ne of brevities of holy writ in special/ but only that him thynkith for the time no thing likyth him so much as for to pray or think as he doth. for savour delight & comfort that he findeth therein/ And yet can he not tell what it is. but he feeleth it well: for it is a yeft of god For out of it springen many swete· tears: brenning desires/ & still mournynges·s which scoureth & cleanseth the heart fro all the filth of sin/ & maketh it melt in to wonderful sweetness of Ihu christ. buxum. soople: & ready to fulfil all God's will/ In so much that him thinketh he maketh no charge what cometh of himself/ so that God's will were fulfilled with such many stirrings more than I can or may say/ This feeling may not be had without great grace/ & who so hath it for the time he is in charity/ which charity may not be lost ne lessed though the fervour of it pass away: but by a deadly sin/ & that is comfortable: This may be called the two. part of contemplation/ Nevertheless this part hath two. degrees/   

¶ Of the lower degree of the ii· part of contemplation/ ca vi:  
THe lower degree of this feeling. men which are active may have by grace when they been visited of our lord as mightily & as fervently as they that give 'em holy to contemplative life & hath this yeft. but this feeling in his fervour cometh not always when a man would. ne it lastith not full long. It cometh & goeth as he will that giveth it/ & therefore who so hath it. meek himself. & thank god: & keep it privy/ but if it be to his confessor/ and hold he it aslong as he may with discretion/ And when it is withdrawn dread not tomoche. but stand sadly in faith & in a meek hope/ with patience abiding till it come again/ This is a lityl tasting of the sweetness of the love of god/ of the which david saith thus in the sawter/ 
P· xxxiii  Gustate & videte qm suavis est dns/ Taast ye & see ye the sweetness of our lord/   

¶ Of the higher degree of the two. part of contemplation/ Caplm seven.  
THe higher degree of this part may not be had & holden but of 'em the which been in great rest of body & soul/ the which by grace of Ihu & long travail bodily & ghostly feeleth a rest of heart & cleanness in conscience. so that hem liken no thing so much for to do/ as to sit still in rest of body/ & for to always pray to god. & think on our lord. & to think sometime on the blessed name of Ihesu which is comfortable & delectable to hem/ that by the mind of it they feelen hem fed in her affection/ And not only of the name. but all other manner prayers: as the Pater nost & the Auee/ or ympnes or psalms & other devout sayings of holy church are turned as it were in to a ghostly mirth & sweet song ● by the which they are comforted & strengthened against all sins. & much relieved of bodily disease. Of this degree speaketh saint paul thus ●olite inebriari vino: 
Ephe. v.  sed īpleamin● spu scon. loquentes vobis metipis in ympnis & canticis & psalmis spunalibus. cantantes & psallentes in cordibus uris dno/ Be ye not drunken with wine/ but be ye fulfilled of the holy ghost saying to yourself in ympnes & psalms & ghostly songs: singing & psalming in your hearts to our lord/ who so hath this grace keep he himself in lownesses/ & that he be ever desiring for to come to more knowing & feeling of god in the third part of contemplation/   

¶ Of the third part of contemplation/ Caplm viii.  
THe third part of contemplation the which is perfit as it may here lieth both in cognition & in affection. That is to say/ in knowing & in perfit loving of god. And that is when a man's soul first is reform by fulhede of virtues to the image of Ihu/ And afterward when he is visited he is taken in fro all earthly & fleshly affections: fro vain thought & ymaginynges of all bodily creatures/ & as it were much ravished out of the bodily wits/ And thenne by the grace of the holy ghost is illumined for to see by undstonding sooth fastness which is god & ghostly things with a soft sweet brenning love in him so perfectly that he be ravished of his love. so the soul is oned for the time & conformed to the image of the trinity/ The beginning of this contemplation may be felid in this life/ but the fulhede of it is kept into the bliss of heaven Of this oning & conforming to our lord speaketh saint paul thus/ Qui adheet deo. unus spns ● cum illo/ That is to say/ who so by ravysshing of love is fastened to god: thenne god & his soul are not two. but both one/ And soothly in this oning is the marriage made betwixt god & the soul: the which shall never be broken/   

¶ Of the twyning of the three part of contemplation. fro the two. part of the praising thereof/ Caplm ix  
THe other part may be called brenning love in devotion/ & this brenning love in contemplation. that is lower. this is the hier. that is swetter to the bodily feeling/ this inwardly feeling better to the ghostly feeling. For it is more inward. more wothy: more ghostly: more wondful/ For this is verily a tasting so lityl as is & a earnest of the sight of heavenly joy: not clerli. but half in darkness. the which shall be fulfilled & openly cleared in the bliss of heaven: as saint paul saith/ Videmus nunc ꝑ spclm in enigmate. 
i· cor·· i3.  tunc autem videbimus fancy ad faciem/ we see now god by a mirror as it were in a darkness/ but in heaven shall we see openly face to face. This is the illumination of understanding in delights of loving as david saith in the sawter. 
Psalm· C. xviii  Et nox illuni naron mea in deliciis meis/ 〈◊〉 night is my light in my delight Thother part is milk for children/ this is hole meet for perfit men: the which have wits assayed to know good fro evil: as saint paul saith/ Pfectorum est solidus ribus. 
Hebr v.  q hennt sensus exercitatos ad discre●ōem boni & mali/ The working of the full use of this yefte may no man have but he be first reformed to the likeness of Ihu by fulhede of virtues/ Ne there may no man living in deadly flesh have it continually in his fulhede & in the overpassing: but by times when he 〈…〉 iiii is visited/ And as I conceive by the writing of holy men it is a full short tyme. for soon after he falleth in a sobirte of bodily feeling/ & all this work maketh charity/ Thus as I understand saith saint paul of himself Sieve excedimus deo. sive sobrii sumus vobis. caritas xpi urget nos/ wherther we overpass our bodily wits to god in contemplation. or we are more sober to you in bodily feeling. the charity of christ straineth us. Of this part of contemplation & of reforming to god speaketh saint paul openly thus/ Nos autem revelata fancy gliam dni speclam transformati in eandem ymaginem a claritate in claritaten· tanquamm a dni spu And this is thus moche for to say Saint paul in the person of himself & of perfit men saith thus/ we first reform by virtues. the face of our soul unhelid by opening of the ghostli eye beholden as in a mirror heavenly joy. fulshapid & ovyd to th'image of our lord fro clerete of faith into clerete of understanding/ or else fro clerete of desire in to clerete of blessed love/ & all this is wrought of the spirit of our lord in a man's soul as saint paul saith: This part of contemplation god giveth where that he will/ to lere & to lewd: to men & to women occupied in prelacy: & to solitary also/ But it is special not common/ & also though a man which all his life is active have the yeft of it by a special grace/ nevertheless the fullness of it may no man have but he be solitary & in life contemplative/   

¶ How the showing to the bodily wyittes & the feeling of hem may be both good & evil/ Caplm. ten  
By this that I have said may thou somewhat understand that visyons or revelations of any manner of spirit in bodily apering. or in imagining sleeping or waking/ or else any other feeling in the bodily with made as it were ghostly. other in swooning of ere: or savouring in the mouth: or smelling at the nose: or else any sensible heat as it were fire glowing & warming the breast or any other part of the body/ or any other thing that may be feeled by bodily wit though it be never so comfortable & liking/ they been not very contemplation/ ne they ●en but simple & secondary though they been good in reward of ghostly virtues & of this ghostly knowing & loving of god/ But all such manner of feeling may be good/ wrought by a good angel/ and they may be deceivable/ wrought by a wicked angel. when he transfygurith him in to an angel of light/ wherefore sith they may be both good & evil it seemeth well they are not the best. For wite thou well that the devil may when he hath leave feign in bodily feeling the likeness of the same things the which a good angel may work/ For right as a good angel cometh with light: so can the devil/ And so of the other wyttis/ who so had felid both/ he should well tell which were good & which were evil/ But he that never felid neither: or else but that one: may lightly be deceived/ They are like in the manner of feeling outward: but they are full divers within/ And therefore they are not for to desire greatly. ne for to receive lightly/ but if a soul might by the spirit of discretion know the good fro the evil that he were not beguiled/ as saint john saith/ Nolite credere omispui. sed ꝓbare si ex deo sit/ Saint john biddeth us that we should not trust to every spirit/ but we shall assay first whether he be of god or no/ wherefore by one assay I shall tell the as me thynkith how thou shalt know the good fro evil   

¶ How thou shalt know when the showing to the bodily wyyttꝭ & feeling of 'em been good or evil/ Caplm xi.  
IF it so be that thou see any manner of light or brightness with thy bodily eye/ or in imagining other than every man see/ or if thou here any merry wondful sownyng with thy bodily ere. or in thy mouth any sweet sudden savour other than of kind. or any heat in thy breast. as it were fire. or any manner delight in any part of thy body/ or if a spirit bodily aperith unto y● as it were an angel for to comfort the. & teach y●. or any such feeling which thou knowest well that it cometh not of thyself ne of no bodily creature/ beware in that time or so ne after. & wisely behold the stirring of thy heart: If thou be stirred because of the liking that thou felist to draw out thy heart fro the mind & the beholding of Ihesu christ & fro ghostly ocupation: As fro prayer & thinking of thyself & thy defaw●es/ fro thinwarde desire of virtues & of ghostly knowing & feeling of god/ For to set the sight of thy heart & thy affection/ thy delight & thy rest principally therein/ weening that it should be a part of heavenly joy & of angel's bliss/ & for thy the thynkith that thou shouldest neither pray ne think not else but all holy tent thereto for to keep it & delight the therein/ This feeling is suspect & of themmye/ & therefore though it be never so liking & wondful. refuse it & assent not thereto/ for this is the sleight of themmye. when he seeth a soul that would inteerly give it to ghostly ocupation: he is wondly wroth/ For he hateth no thing more thenne for to see a soul in a body of sin to feel verily the savour of ghostly knowing & the love of god. the which he without body of sin lost wilfully/ And therefore if he may not let him by open sins. he would hind him & beguile him by such vanity of bodily savours: or sweetness in the wits for to bring a soul in to ghostly pride & in to a falls sikernesses of himself/ weninge that he had thereby a feeling of heavenly joy: & that he were half in paradise for delight that he feeleth about him: when he is near at hell yates/ And so by pride & by presumption he might fall in errors or heresies or fantasies. or in other bodily or ghostly mischiefs/ Nevertheless if it be so that this manner of feeling let not thy heart fro ghostly occupation/ but it maketh the more devout & more fervent for to pray/ it maketh the more wise for to think ghostly thoughts/ And though it be so that it astonye the in the beginning/ nevertheless afterward it turneth & quickeneth thine heart to more desire of virtues/ and increaseth thy love more to god & to thine even-christian/ Also it maketh the more meek in thine own sight/ By these tokens may thou know that it is of god made by the presence & the touching of a good angel/ & that is of the goodness of god either in comfort of simple devout souls for to increase her trust & her desire to god for to seek thereby the knowing the love of god more perfitly for such a comfort/ or else if they been perfit that feelen such delight: it seemeth thenne that it is an earnest & as it were a shadow of the glorifyeng of the body which it shall have in the bliss of heaven. I wot not whether there be any such man living in earth/ This privilege had marry mawdeleyne as it seemeth to my sight in the time when she was alone in the cave thirty. winter/ & every day was borne up with angels & was fed both body & soul by the presence of 'em: thus we read in the story of her/ Of this manner assayeng of working of spirits speaketh saint john in his pistle thus. & teacheth thus/ Omnis spns' q soluit ihmm. hic non est ex deo. Every spirit the loseth or unknyttith Ihu. he is not of god/ these words may be understood in many manners/ Nevertheless after one manner I may understand 'em to this purpose that I have said.   

¶ what knitteth Ihu to man's soul: & what loseth him therefro/ Ca xii.  
THe knytting & the fastening of Ihu to a man's soul: is by good will & great desire to him only for to have him & see him in his bliss ghostly/ The more that this desire is. the faster is Ihu knit to the soul: The less that this desire is the loslyer is he knit: Thenne what spirit or what feeling that it be the which lesseth this desire & would draw it down fro the steadfast mind of Ihu christ. & fro the kindly styeng up to Ihu/ this spirit will unknit ihu fro the soul: & therefore it is not of god: but it is the working of themmye/ Nevertheless if a spirit or a feeling or a revelation make this desire more. knit the knots of love & devotion to ihu faster: & open the eye of the soul in to ghostly knowing more clearly: & maketh it more meek in itself this spirit is of god/ Here may thou see somewhat that thou shalt not suffer thy heart wilfully for to rest ne for to delight holy in no bodily feeling of such manner comforts or sweetness though they were good. but thou shalt hold 'em in thy sight nought or lityl in reward of ghostly desire & on stedfaff thinking on ihu/ ne fest the thought of thy heart overmuch on hem   

¶ How & in what things should a contemplative man be occupied/ Caplm xiii.  
But thou shalt ever seek by great business in prayers that thou might come to the ghostly feeling of god/ And that is that thou might know the wisdom of god/ the endless might of him/ the great goodness of him in himself & in his creatures/ For this is contemplation/ & that other is none. thus saith saint paul/ In caritate radicati & fundati. 
Eph· iii.  ut possitis comprehendere cum oimbus scīs que sit longitu do & latitudo. sublimitas & profundum/ Be ye rooted & grounded in charity that ye might know he saith neither sound of the ere ne sweet savour in the mouth: ne none such bodily thing. but that ye might know & feel with all hallows which is the length of the endless being of god/ the breed of the wonderful charity & the goodness of god/ the height of the almighty majesty of him. & the groundless deepness of the wisdom of god In knowing & ghostly feeling of these should be the ocupation of a contemplative man/ For in these may be understand the full knowing of all ghostly things/ This occupation is that one thing: the which saint paul coveted saying thus/ unum que retro sunt obliviscens. in anteriora me extendan. sequor si quo more do comphendan suꝑnum branium/ Thus moche is to say/ ●o thing. 
Phil. iii  as hoo saith. is best to me for to covet/ and that is that I might fogete all things the which been behyndwarde or backward/ and I shall stretch out mine heart ever forward for to feel and to gripe the sovereign meed of the endless bliss/ Hynwarde are all bodily things/ forward are ghostly things/ And for saint paul would forget all bodily things: & his own body also. with that that he might see ghostly things/   

¶ How in reason & will virtue beginneth. & in love & in liking it is made perfit/ Caplm xiiii.  
NOw I have told you a lityll of contemplation what it should be: For this intent that thou might know it and set it as a mark before the sight of thy soul/ and for to desire all thy life time to come to any part of it by ● grace of our lord Ihu christ/ This is the conforming of a soul to god/ the which may not be had but if it be first reformed by fulhede of virtues turned in to affection. & that is when a man loveth virtues/ for they been good in henself/ There is many a man that hath virtue of lownes. patience & charity to his even-christian. & such other only in his reason & will/ & hath no ghostly delight ne love in 'em/ For oft-times he feeleth grutchinge. heaviness & bitterness for to do 'em/ & nevertheless yet he doth 'em only by stirring of reason for dread of god/ this man hath virtues in reason & in will/ but not love of hem in his affection But when by grace of Ihu & by ghostly & bodily exercise reason is turned in to light: & will in to love. thenne hath he virtues in affection/ For he hath so well gnaw on the bitter bark of the not that he hath broken it: & feedeth him with the kernel/ that is to say/ The virtues which were first heavy for to do: are now turned into a very delight & savour: as when a man liketh in meekness: in patience: in cleanness: in sobyrte: & in charity. as in any delights/ ●othly till these virtues been turned thus in to affection. he may well have the two. part of contemplation/ but the iii soothfastly shall he not take/   

¶ Of the means that bringeth a soul to contemplation. Caplm xv:  
NOw sithen virtues are disposing to contemplation. thenne it behooveth the use certain means for to come to virtues Three means there been which men most commonly usen y● yeven hem to contemplation/ As reading of holy writ & of holy teaching: ghostly meditation: & besie prayer with devotion: By meditation shall thou see as I said thy wretchedness/ thy sins. & thy wyckidnes/ As pride: covetise: gluttony: sloth: & lechery wicked stirrings of envy/ ire: hatred. & malemcolye: angrines: bitterness: and unskilful heaviness/ Thou shalt also see thy heart full of vain shames and dreads of thy flesh and of the world/ Alle these stirrings wyllen all way boylle out of thy heart a water will run out of the spring of a stinking well. & let the sight of thy soul that thou mayst never see ne feel clearly the love of Ihu christ. For wit thou well till thy heart be much clensid through stable troth & besie beholding of christ manhood fro such sins. thou may not have ghostly knowing of god perfitly witnessing himself in the gospel thus. Btī mundo cord qm ipsei de ū videbunt. 
Math v.  blessed be clean of heart. for they shall see god. Also in meditation thou shall see virtues which be needful to y● for to have. as meekness: mildness: patience. rightwisnes:: ghostly strength temperance: cleanness: peace: & soberness: faith: hope: & charity/ these virtues thou shall see in meditation. how good how fair how profitable they been/ & by prayer thou shall desire 'em & get 'em. without which thou may not be contemplatif. For job saith thus. Inhabundancia igredieris sepulcrum. 
job. v.  That is to say. thou shalt in●plēte of good bodily works & ghostly virtues enter thy grave. that is the rest in contemplation/   

¶ What a man should use & refuse by the virtue of meekness/ Caplm xvi▪  
NOw if thou shouldest use wisely ghostly works & sickerly travail in hem. the behooveth to begin right low/ Three things the needeth to have first. upon that which as on a siker ground thou shall set all thy work. these three are meekness: siker faith. & hole intent to god/ First the behooveth to have meekness in this manner/ thou shalt hold thyself in thy will & in thy feeling if thou may unable to dwell among men. & unworthy to serve god in conversation with his servant unprofitable to thy evencristen: wanting both cunning & might to fulfil good works of actif life in help of thy evencristen: as other men & women done. And therefore as a wretch & outcast: & refuse of all men & women art sperred in a house alone/ that thou shouldest dear ne grieve no man or woman by evil ensample. sith thou canst not perfect hem by good working/ ●uer this that behooveth to look feather that s●●h thou art so unable to serve our lord by bodily works outward. 
Trent. iiii.  how moche more behooveth y● to hold the unable & unworthy to serve him ghostly by inward occupation/ For our lord is a spirit as the prophet saith. Sp̄s ante faciem nostram  dns/ Before our face a ghost is our lord cryst/ & the kindly service to him is ghostly/ as he saith himself. Veri adorantes adorabunt prēm in spu & veritate/ Sothfast servants shall worship him in spirit & soothfastness/ then thou that art so boisterous. so lewd: so flesshli: 
Ioh. iiii.  so blind in ghostly things/ & namely of thine own soul: which the behooveth first to know if thou shouldest come to the knowing of god/ How shouldest thou thenne feel thyself able or worthy for to have state or likeness of contemplative life/ the which life as I have said lieth principally in ghostly knowing: & feeling of god. This I say to thee: not that thou shouldest forthynke thy purpose. & be mispaid with thy enclosing. but that thou shouldest feel this lownesses soothfastly in thy heart if thou might/ for it is sooth & no lees/ And thenne thou shall desire night & day after thy might for to come as near as thou mayst to that state which thou hast take/ trowing steadfastly that it is best to the by the mercy of god. for to travail in/ And though it be so that thou may not come to the fulhede of it here in this life. that thou might be in the beginning of it. & trust sickerly for to have the fulhede by the mercy of god in the bliss of heaven/ For soothly that is my life/ I feel me so wretched & so freyle & fleshly/ & so for fro true feeling fro that the I speak: that I can not elliss but cry mercy. & desire after as I may with an hope that our lord will bring me thereto in the bliss of heaven/ Do thou so. & better after that god giveth the grace/ The feeling of this lownes shall put out of thine heart unskilful beholding of other men's deeds/ and it shall drive the holy to behold thyself/ as there were no man living but god & thou/ And thou shall dame & hold thyself more vile & more wretch than is any creature that beareth life. that uneath shall thou suffer thyself for the greatness & number of sin & filth that thou shall feel in thee/ Thus behooveth the for to feel sometime if thou wilt be very meek For I tell the soothly. if thou wilt be truly meek thou shalt think a venial sin in thyself more grievous & painful to y● and greater be in thy sight sometime. than great deadly sins of other men/ This is sooth to the if thou will be contemplatife. for this skill/ That thing the which putteth thy soul or lettith it most fro the feeling & knowing of god: oweth to be most grievous & painful to thee/ But a venial sin of thyself letteth the more fro the feeling & perfit love of Ihesu christ than any other manes sin may do: be it never so much seemeth it thenne that thou should more arise in thine own heart against thyself for to hate & dame in thyself all manner of sin which letteth the fro the sight of god/ more than against the defawtes of other men/ For if thine heart be clean of thine own sins/ soothly the sins of all other men should not dear y●●nd therefore if thou will find rest here & in the bliss of heaven/ after the counsel of one of the holy faders say every day what am I/ and dame thou no man/   

¶ who should blame men's defawtes & dame 'em. and who not/ Caplm xvii.  
But now seest thou how may this be. sith it is a deed of charity for to blame men of her defawtes/ and for to dame 'em far her amending it is a deed of mercy/ As to this I answer as me thinketh/ that to the or to any other the which hath stat● & purpoos of life contemplative it falleth not for to leave the keeping of himself/ and for to behold & to blame other men of her defawtes/ but if it were full great need/ so that a man should peryssh but if thou blamed him/ But the men which are actyf· and have sovereignty & cure over other as prelate's & curates & such other: they are bound by their office & by way of charity for to see & seek. & dame rightfully other men's defawtes/ Not of desire & delight for to chastise hem. but only for need with dread of god & in his name. for love of salvation of her souls/ Other men that are active & have no cure of other men. they are bound for to blame other men of her defawtes by the way of charity only that when the sin is deadly/ and it may not well be corrected by none other man and when he trow that he the sooner should be amended by his undtaking/ Else it is better that he cease. That this is soothe it seemeth by saint john which held the state of contemplative life. & saint peter which had the state of acty● life. when our lord in his last sowper with his disciples at the privy stirring of saint peter to saint john told saint john how judas should bitraye him/ saint john told it not to saint peter as he asked/ but he turned him & laid his heed upon Christ's breast. and was ravished by love in to contemplation of God's privities And so medefully to him/ that he forgot both judas & saint peter/ in tokening & teaching to other men which would be contemplative. that they should dispose 'em for to do the same.   

¶ Why men should worship other and low henself in her own heart under all other/ Caplm xviii.  
THenne seest thou here somewhat that thou shalt neither dame other men/ ne conceive against 'em wilfully none evil suspicion/ but thou shalt love 'em/ ne see thou no default in 'em/ and worship 'em in thy heart such as leadeth in the world active life/ and suffren many tribulations & temptations which thou sitting in thy house felyst nought of/ And they have full moche travail & disease for her own & other men's sustenance/ and many of 'em had well liefer serve god if they might as thou dost in bodily rest/ And nevertheless they in her worldly business flee many sins/ the which if thou were in her state thou shouldest fall in/ and they do many good deeds which thou could not do/ It is no doubt that many done thus. which they been. thou wost not/ And therefore thou shalt worship al. & set 'em in thy heart all above the as thy sovereigns/ and cast the down under her feet that thou be vilest & lowest in thin own sight: for it is no dread ne no peril to the how moche thou may low thyself beneath all other. though it were so that in God's sight thou hadst more grace than any other. But it is peril to the to high the & life thyself in thy thought wilfully above any other man/ though he were the most wretch: or the most sinful caitiff that is in earth/ For our lord sayth· 
Luc· xiiii  Qui se huliat exaltabit. et qui se exaltat huliabit/ who so hieth himself. he shallbe lowed. and who so lowyth hymself· he shall be hied/ This part of meekness that behooveth for to have in thy beginning/ and by this & by grace shall thou come to the fulhede of it & so of all other virtues For who so hath one virtue. he hath all other virtues. asmuch as thou hast of meekness. so much hast thou of charity. of patience. & of other virtues though they been not showed outward/ Be thenne besie to get meekness: & hold it for it is the first & the last of all virtues/ It is the first: for it is the ground as saint austin saith/ If thou think for to build an high house of virtues/ ordain the first a deep ground of meekness. Also it is the last/ for it is keeping & saving of all other virtues/ saint gregory saith/ He that gathereth virtues without meekness. he is like to him the which maketh & beareth powder of spicery in the wind/ Do thou never so many good deeds/ fast thou: wake thou. or any other good work do thou/ if thou have no meekness/ it is nought that thou dost/   

¶ How men should do that wanten the feeling of meekness in affection not dreading toomuch therefore/ Caplm nineteen.  
Nevertheless if thou may not feel this meekness in thine heart with affection as thou wouldest do as thou may meek thyself in will by reason/ trowing that it should be so as I say/ though thou feel it not/ And in that hold the a more wretch that thou may not feel soothfastly thyself as thou art/ And if thou do so. though thy flesh rise there again. and will not assent to thy good will. be not tomoche adread. but thou▪ shalt bear & suffer the false feeling of thy flesh as a pain/ & thenne thou shalt despise & reprove that feeling. & break down that rising of thine heart: as thou wouldest be well paid for to be trodden & spourned under other men's feet. And so by the grace of Ihu christ through steadfast thinking on the meekness of his precious manhood shalt thou much abate the stirrings of pride/ And the virtue of meekness that was first in thy nakid will shall be turned in to feeling of affection/ without which virtue either in true will or in feeling who so dispose him to serve god in contemplative life as the blind he shall stumble: & he shall never come thereto/ The higher he climmyth by bodily penance/ & other virtues/ & hath not this meekness. the lower he falleth/ For as saint gregory saith/ 
Greg.  He that can not perfitly despise himself/ he found never yet the meek wisdom of our lord Ihu christ   

¶ How hypocrites & heretics for lacking of meekness hyen himself in her heart above all other/ Caplm xx.  
hypocrites ne heretics feel not this meekness neither in good will ne in affection/ but full dry & full cold arn her hearts & her reins fro the soft feeling of this virtue/ and in so much the ferder they been fro it. that they ween that they have it/ They gnaw on the dry bark without. but the sweet kernel of it & the inly savour may they not come to/ They show outward meekness in habit & holy speech: in lowly bearing/ & as it seemeth in many bodily & ghostly virtues/ But nevertheless in the will & in thaffecconnaffection of her heart where meekness should be: it is faint/ For they dame & despisen & setten at nought other men that will not do as they done & teach/ they holden 'em either fools by vncunnyng: or blinded by fleshly living And therefore life they himself upon high in her own sight above all other. weening that they live better than other: & that they have only the soothfastness of good living: & in ghostly feeling & singular grace of god both in knowing & in ghostly feeling passing other men/ And in this sight of henself riseth a delight in her hearts in the which they worship & praise himself. as there were none but they. They praise & thanken god with her lips. but in her hearts they steal as thieves the worship & the thanking fro god. & settith it in himself/ and so they have neither meekness in feeling ne in will/ A wretched caytyff or a sinner which falleth all day. & he is sorry that he doth so though he have not meekness in affection/ he hath it in a good will/ But an heretic or an hypocrite hath neither/ For they have the condition of the pharisee/ which came as our lord say the in the gospel with the publican into the temple for to pray And when he came he prayed not ne asked aught of god. for him thought he had no need. but he began to thank god & said thus/ Lord I thank the that thou givest me grace more than to other that I am not as other men be/ robbers lechours/ or other such sinners/ And he looked beside him & saw the publican which he knew for a wretch: knocking on his breast only crying after mercy/ thenne he thanked god that he was not such one as he was/ for lord he said I fast twice in the week/ & I pay truly my tithes/ And when he had do. our lord said that he go home again without grace as he came. & gate right nought/ But now sayest yu. wherein trespassid this pharisee sith he thanked god & was sooth that he said/ As to this I answer & say that this pharisee trespassid in asmuch as he deemed and reprevid in his heart the publican which was justified of god/ And also he trespassed for he thanked god only with his mouth/ but he delighted privily & wilfully by a privy pride in himself of the yefts of god: stealing the worship & loving fro god. & set it in himself/ This same condition of this pharisee soothly hath heretics & hypocrites/ They will not gladly pray/ and if they pray: they meek not henself knowledging truly her wretchedness/ but they make himself by a fening for to thank & love god/ and speaketh of him with her mouth/ but her delight is vain & false and not in god/ And yet they ween not so/ they can not love god/ For as the wise man saith/ Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris/ It is neither fair 
Ecc xv●  ne seemly praising of god in the mouth of a sinner/ wherefore it is profitable to the & to me & to such other wretches forto leave the condition of this pharisee & feigned loving of god. and follow the plublican in lownes/ asking mercy & forgiveness of sins. & grace of ghostly virtues. that we might afterward with a clean heart soothfastly thank him & love him/ and give him holy the worship without feigning/ For our lord askith this by his prophet/ Super quem reqescet sp̄s meus. 
Isay· 66  nisi super hunilem contritum spu & trementem sermones meos? Upon whom shall my spirit rest/ & he answereth himself & saith. upon none but upon the meek poor & contrite in heart & dreading my words? Thenne if thou will have the spirit of god ruling in thy heart: have meekness & dread him/   

¶ What things men own to believe by a siker faith/ ca xxi  
The two. thing which the behooveth for to have is siker troth in all th'articles of the faith & in the sacrament of holy church/ trowing hem stedfastli with all thy will in thy heart/ And though thou feel any stirring in thy heart against any of 'em by suggestion of thine enemy for to put the in doubt of 'em be thou steadfast & not tomoche adread of feeling of such stiringes/ but forsake thine own wit wytout disputing or ransacking of 'em/ & set thy faith generally in the faith of holy church/ & charge not the stirring of thy heart/ which as the seemeth is contrary thereto/ For that stirring is not thy faith/ but the faith of holy church is thy faith/ though thou never see it ne feel it/ And bear thenne such stirrings patiently as a scourge of our lord/ by the which he will cleanse thy heart & make thy faith steadfast/ Also the behooveth to love & worship in thy heart all the laws & ordinance made by prelate's & ruler's of holy church other in declaring of the faith or of the sacraments or in general of all christen men/ meekly & truly assent to 'em/ though it be so that thou know not the cause of her ordinance/ And though the think that some were unskilful: thou shalt not dame 'em ne reprove 'em/ but worship 'em all though they long but little to y●/ Ne receive thou none opinion ne fantasy ne singular conceit under colour or more holiness as some done that are not wise/ neither by thine own imagining. ne by teaching of none other man. which contraryeth to the the least ordinance or general teaching of all holy church. And over this thou shalt hope steadfastly that thou art ordained of our lord to be saved. as one of his choose by his mercy/ & stir not fro this hope what so thou herist or seest/ or what temptation thou be in/ And though thou think so the great a wretch that thou were worthy to sink in to hell for that thou dost no good/ ne servest god as thou shouldest do/ yet hold the in this troth & in this hope/ & ask mercy· & all shall be right well/ ye & though all the devils of hell appeared in bodily likeness sleeping or waking saying to the that thou shouldest not be saved/ or all men living in earth/ or all the angels in heaven/ if it might be said to the the same/ thou shouldest not leave 'em. ne be stirred moche fro the hope of salvation This I say to thee/ for some been so weak & so simple that when they have yeven himself all holy to serve god after her cunning if they feel any stirring within by thencasting of themmye/ or else fro without of any of the devils prophetis which men callen soothsayers that they should not be saved/ or her state of her manner of living were not pleasant to god/ they been astonied & stirred with such words/ & so for vncunnyng they fall some time in to great heaviness/ & as it were in a despair of salvation/ wherefore as me think it is speedful to every creature which by the grace of our lord ●hū christ is in full will to forsake sin/ & as clearly as his conscience telleth him he suffereth no deadly sin rest in him that he ne shryveth him soon thereof. & meek him to the sacraments of holy church/ for to have a trust of salvation/ And moche more than they that yeven 'em holy to god. & fleen venial sins after her might/ And on the contrary wise as perilous it is to him which lieth wittingly in deadly sin for to have trust of salvation/ & in hope of the trust will not forsake his sin ne low him truly to god & holy church/   

¶ How a stable intent is needful to these that should please god/ and discretion in bodily works/ Ca xxii.  
THe three thing which is needful to the for to have in thy beginning. is an hole & a stable intention. that is for to saey/ A hold will & a desire only for to please god/ for that is charity/ without which all is nought that thou dost And thou shall set thine intent always for to search & travail how thou might please him. no time for to cease wilfully of good occupation other bodily or ghostly/ Ne thou shalt not set a time in thy heart. as thus long thou wouldest serve god. & sithen to suffer thin heart wilfully fall down into vain thoughts & idle ocupations/ weening that it were needful for saving of thy bodily kind: leaving the keeping of thy heart & good ocupation. seeking a rest & comfort for a time outward by thy bodili wittis. or inwardli vanities. as it were for recreation of thy spirit/ for it should be more sharper afterward to ghostly travail/ for I trow it is not sooth/ I say not that thou may in deed perform thine intent. for oftsithes thy bodily need. eting drinking sleeping & speaking/ & the freiltee of thy flesh shall let the be thou never so busy/ & hinder thee/ But I would that thy will & thy intent were always hold to travail ghostly or bodily. & no time to be idle/ but always lifting up thy heart by desire to god & to the bliss of heaven whether thou eat or drink. or oni other bodily travel that thou usest: asmuch as thou may wilfully leave it not/ For if thou have this intent it shall make that ever quick & sharp in thy travail/ And if thou fall by freilte or negligence in any idle ocupation or vainspeche it shall smite upon thy heart sharply as a prick & make y● for to irk & be weary of all vanities/ and for to torn again hastily to inward thinking of Ihu christ. or to some good occupation/ For anence thy bodily kind it is good for to use discretion in eting drinking & slepyng· and in all manner bodily penance. & in long prayer by speech/ or in bodily feeling by great fervour of devotion other in weeping or such other/ & also in imagining of the spirit when a man feeleth no grace/ ●n all these works it is good to keep discretion/ for the mean is the best/ But in destruing of sin by keeping of thin heart. & in continual desire of virtues. & the bliss of heaven/ & for to have the ghostly knowing & the loving of Ihu christ hold thou no mean/ For the more that it is of this the better it is/ For thou shalt hate sin & all fleshly loves & dreads in thine heart without seesing. And thou shalt love virtues & cleanness: & desire 'em without stynting if thou might/ I say not that it is needful to salvation/ but I hope it is spdeful. and if thou keep it thou shalt profit more in one year in virtues than thou shalt without this profit in seven. years/   

¶ Of a lityl rehearsing of things said before/ & of making of offering that should be offered to god/ Caplm xxiii.  
NOw I have told the first of end which thou shalt behold in thy desire/ & draw toward it as nigh as thou may/ Also I have said the of the beginning what that needeth for to have/ as meekness siker troth/ & an hole intent to god/ upon the which ground thou shalt set thy ghostly house by prayer & by meditation & other ghostly virtues/ Thenne say I to the thus/ pray thou or think thou. or oni other deed that thou dost good by grace/ or bad by thine own freilte/ or what that thou felist seest or hearest: smellest or save rest withinforth in thy bodily wits/ or within in imagination knowing or feeling in thy reason/ bring it all within the troth & the rules of holy church/ & cast all in the mortar of meekness/ and break it small with the pestle of dread of god/ & through the powder of all this in the fire of desire/ & offer it so to god/ and I tell the forsooth well shall that offering like in the sight of thy lord Ihu/ and sweet shall the smoke of that fire smell to the face of thy lord Ihesu/ This is for to say/ Draw all this that thou felyst within the truth of holy church. and break thyself in meekness/ And offer the desire of thine heart only to thy lord Ihu for to have him and nought else but him/ And if thou do thus/ I hope by the grace of christ thou shalt never be overcome by thine enemy/ This taught us saint paul when he said thus/ Sive manducatis sive bibitis. sive quicquid aliud facitis. 
1: cor ●0.  oina in nomine dni facite/ whether ye eat or drink/ or what manner of deed that ye do/ all do ye in the name of our lord Ihu christ/ forsaking yourself/ and offer it up to him/ Means which thou shalt most use as I have before said arne prayer & meditation/ first I shall show the a lityll of prayer/ & after of meditation   

¶ Of prayer that is speedful to get cleanness of heart and virtues/ Caplm xxiiii.  
PRayer is profit & spedful to use for to get cleanness of heart by destroying of sin and receiving of virtues/ Not that thou shouldest by thy prayer make our lord know what thou desirest For he knoweth well enough what the needeth/ but for to make the able & ready by thy prayer that thou might receive as a clean vessel. the grace that our lord will freely give to thee/ which grace may not be felt till thou be as said & purified by the fire of desire in devout prayer. For though it be so that prayer is not the cause for which our lord giveth grace/ nevertheless it is a way by the which grace freely yeven cometh to a soul/   

¶ How men should pray/ and whereon the point of her thought shall be set in prayer/ Caplm xxv.  
But now desirest thou peradventure for to know how thou shouldest pray/ And upon what thing thou should set the point of thy thought in thy prayer/ And also what prayer were best for the for to use/ As to the first I answer and say thus/ That when thou art wakened of thy sleep/ and ready for to pray. thou shalt feel thyself fleshly and heavy ever dounwarde to vain thought. other of dreams or fantasies or of unskilful business of the world or of thy flesh/ Thenne behooveth the for to quicken thine heart by prayer/ & stir it as much as thou may to some devotion/ And in thy prayer that thou set not thine heart in any bodily thing/ but all thy travail shall be for to draw in thought fro beholding of all bodily thing/ that thy desire might be as it were naked & bare fro all earthly things/ ever upward styeng unto Ihu christ. whom thou may never see bodily as he is in his godhead. ne by bodily likeness in imagination/ But thou may through devout & continuel beholding of the meekness of his precious manhood feel the goodness & the grace of his godhead: when thy desire is eased & holpen and as it were made free fro all fleshly thought & affections. & is moche life up by ghostly might in to ghostly savour & delight in him of his ghostly presence· & hold therein moche of the time of thy prayer so that thou hast no great mind of earthly thing/ or else the mind grieveth y● but lityl/ if thou can pray thus/ thenne canst thou pray well/ For prayer is nought else but a stying desire of the heart in to god: by withdrawing of the heart fro all earthly thoughts/ And so is prayer likened to a fire/ which of his own kind leaveth the lownesses of the earth/ & always styeth up in to thayer Right so desire in prayer when it is towchid & lightened of the ghostly fire which is god. it is ever upstyeng to him that it came fro/   

¶ Of the fire of love/ Caplm xxvi.  
A● men that speaken of the fire of love known not well what it is/ for what it is I can not tell thee save this I may tell y●: that it is neither bodily. ne bodily feeled/ A soul may feel it in prayer or in devotion. which soul is in the body/ but he feeleth it not with no bodily wit/ For though it be so that it work in a soule· the body may torn in to an heat/ & as it were chafed for liking travail of the spirit/ nevertheless the fire of love is not bodily. for it is only in the ghostly desire of the soul This is no doubt to no man or woman that feeleth devotion/ But some been simple & ween by cause it is called fire that it should be hot as bodily fire is/ & for thy I say that I have said   

¶ That the certain prayer in speech ordained of god & of holy church is best to 'em that been new turned to god & to devotion/ Caplm xxvii.  
NOw as to the other. for to know what prayer were best for to use/ I shall say as me think/ Thou shalt understand that there been three manner of prayers The first is prayer of speech made specially of god. as is the pater nost: & made also more generally by thordynaunce of holy church. as matins evensong & hours. And also made by devout men of other special sayings as to our lord & to our lady/ & to his saints/ As to this manner of prayer which is called vocal me thinketh unto the that art religious & by custom & rule art bound for to say mateyns & hours I hold it most speedful for to say 'em as devoutly as thou mayst/ For when thou sayest thy mateyns/ thou sayest also thy pater nost principally & other more/ For to stir the to more devotion was it ordained for to say also psalms & ympnes & such other which been made by the holy ghost as the pater nost is/ And therefore thou shalt not say 'em hastily & recklessly as thou were evil apaid that thou art bound with 'em/ but thou shalt gather thine affection & thy thought for to say 'em more sadly & more devoutly than any other special prayer of devotion. trowing forsooth that sith it is the prayer of holy church/ there is no prayer so profitable to the which is vocal forto use commonly as that is. And so shall thou put away all heaviness/ & by grace thou shalt turn thy need in to a good will: & thy bond in to a great freedom. that it shall no letting be to the of ghostly ocupation. And after this thou may if thou will use other. as thy pater nost. or any such other. & of these in the which thou feelest most savour & most ghostly comfort in/ y● hold I best to thee. this manner of prayer is speedful commonly to every man in the begyning of his conversion for to use most of any ¶ other ghostly occupation/ For a man in the beginning is rude & boystous & fleshly but if he have the grace/ & can not think no ghostly thoughts in meditation. for his soul is not yet cleansed fro old sin/ & therefore I hope it is most speedful for to use this manner of prayer/ as for to say his pat noster & his ave: & to read upon his sawter/ & such other/ For he that can not run lightly by ghostly prayer. for his feet of knowing & of loving been seek for sin, him needeth to have a siker staff for to hold him by/ This staff is special prayer of speech ordained by god & holy church in help of menis souls/ By the which prayer the soul of a fleshly man that is always falling dounwarde into worldly thought & fleshly affections shall be life up fro hem & beholden by it as by a staff. fed with sweet words of the prayer as a child which milk/ & ruled by it that he fall not in to errors ne fantasies by his vain meditaconns'/ For in this manner of prayer is no deceit who so will steadfastly & meekly travail therein/   

¶ What peril is to men that in the beginning of her turning to god leaveth the common prayer of thordynaunce of holy church/ and yeven hem to meditation▪ Caplm xxviii.  
THenne may thou see by this that these men if any be such that in the beginning of her conversion or soon after when they have felt a lityl ghostly comfort other in devotion or in knowing & are not yet stabled therein: they leave such prayer vocal tosone & other bodily exercise. & give 'em holy to meditation they been not wise/ For oft scythes in her rest for her meditations they imagine & think on ghostly things after her own wit & follow her bodily feeling/ & have not yet received grace thereto: & therefore they by undiscretion oft scythes overtraveyle her wittꝭ·s & break her bodily might. & so they fall in to fantasies & syngler conceits or in opyn errors: & let the grace that god giveth hem by such vanities. the cause of all this is a prive pride of himself. as when they have felt a lityl grace they ween it so much passing other that they fall in vainglory. & so they lose it/ ●f they wist how lityl it were that they feel in regard of that y● god giveth or may give. they should be ashamyd to speak ought thereof. but it were in great need/ Of this manner of prayer by speech. speaketh david in the sawter thus/ Voce mea ad dnm clamavi. 
P· xiiii.  voce mea ad dnm depcatus sum/ ●oo david the prophet for to stir other men to pray both with heart & with mouth said/ with my voice I cried to god. & with my speech I besought our lord/   

¶ Of the two. manner of prayer that is in speech not certain. but followeth the stirring of devotion/ Caplm xxix  
THe two. manner of prayer is by speech/ but it is not of any certain special saying/ And this is when a man or a woman feeleth grace of devotion by the yeft of god. & in his devotion speaketh to him. as he were bodily in his presence with such words as acordeth most to his stirring for the time. & as cometh to his mind after divers rewards which he feeleth in his heart/ either rehearsing his sins & his wretchedness. or the malice & the sleights of the enemy/ or else the mercy & the goodness of god/ And with that he crieth with desire of hert● & with speech of mouth to our lord for succour & for help. as a man that were in peril among his enemies. or in sickness showing his sores to god as to a leche/ saying as david said: 
P· c. i●●.  ●ripe me de inimicis meis deus meus/ A lord deliver me of mine enemies/ Or else thus/ Sana Eccliam meam qr peccavi tibi/ A lord he'll my soul. 
P· xl.  for I have sinned against thee/ Or such other as cometh to mind. And also him thinketh so moche goodness & grace & mercy in god that him likyth with great affection of the heart for to love him & thank him by such words & psalms as acordeth to the loving & praising of god. as david said Confitemini dno qm bonus. qm in scls mina eius. 
P·  Love ye & praise our lord. for he is good/ & by such other as he is stirred to say   

¶ That the two. manner of prayer pleaseth moche god. & maketh a man to have him in body as he were drunk/ & maketh him in soul to be wonnded with the sword of love/ Cplm thirty  
THis manner of prayer moche pleaseth god. for it is only of the affection in the heart/ & therefore it goth never unsped without some grace/ this prayer longeth to the two. part of contemplation as I have said before/ who soon hath this yeft of god fervently/ him behooveth for the time to flee presence & company of all men: & to be alone that he be not letted/ who so have it hold it while he may/ for it may not long last in the fervour For if grace come plenteously. it is travailous wondfully to the spirit: though it be liking/ And it is much wasting to the bodily kind who so moche use it/ For it maketh the body if grace come mightily for to stir & turn here & there as a man that were mad or drunken & could have no rest/ this is a point of the passion of love/ the which by great violence & mastery breaketh down all lusts & likings of any earthly thing/ & it woundeth the soul with the blissful sword of love. that the body falleth down & may not bear it This touching is of so great might that the most vicious or flesshli man living in earth: if he were well touched once mightily with this sharpelswerde/ he should be right sad & sober a great while after: & loath all the lusts & likings of his flesh: & all earthly things which he had most delight in/   

¶ How the fire of love wasteth all fleshly lusts/ as other fire wasteth bodily things/ Caplm xxxi.  
OF this manner of feeling speaketh the prophet jeremy thus. 
Tren·  Et factus est in cord meo quasi ignis estuams claususque in ossibus meis. & defeci ferre non sustinens/ This is thus moche for to understand The love & the feeling of god was made in my heart not fire/ but as fire glowing/ For as bodily fire brenneth & wasteth all bodily thing where it cometh/ Right so ghostly fire/ as is the love of god brenneth and wasteth all fleshly loves & likings in a man's soul/ And this fire is stokyn in my bones/ as the prophet saith of himself: That is for to say/ This love fulfyllith the might of my soule· as mind reason & will of grace & ghostly sweetness/ as marrow fyllith full the bone. & that within. & not without in the wits Nevertheless it is so mighty within that it smiteth out in to the body and maketh all the body quake & tremyse/ It is sofer trow the bodily kind & so uncouth that he can no skill on it. and may not bear it/ but faylith & falleth down as the prophet saith/ And therefore our lord temperith it. and with draweth the fervour: & suffereth the heart to fall in to a sobirte of more softness/ who can pray thus oft. he spedyth soon in his travail/ He shall get more of virtues in a lityl time than some man without this or another as good shall get in long tyme. for all the bodily penance that he might do/ And who hath this. it needeth not for to charge the bodily kind with more penance than it beareth/ if he have it oft/   

¶ Of the third manner of prayer that is only in the heart without speech outward/ Caplm xxxii  
THe three manner of prayer is only in the heart without speech by great rest & softness of the body & of the soul/ A clean heart him behoveth to have that shall pray well thus For it is of such men & women that by long travail bodily & ghostly/ or else by such sharp smytinge of love as I have before said comen in to rest of spirit/ so that her affection is turned in to ghostly savour/ that they mow nigh continually pray in her heart/ and love & praise god without great letting of temptations or of vanities. as I have before said in the second part of contemplation/ Of this manner of prayer saith saint paul thus/ Name si orem lingua: spiritus meus orat. mens autem mea sine fructu est· Quid ergo? 
Cor·· xiiii.  Orabo & spiritu orabo & mente· psallam spiritu psallam & mente That is to say/ if I pray with my tongue only by the will of spirit & by travail/ the prayer is medeful. but my soul is not fed/ For it feeleth not the fruit of ghostly sweetness by understanding/ What shall I thenne do saith saint paul/ And he answereth & saith/ I shall pray by travail & desire of the spirit/ And I shall pray also more Inwardly in my spirit without travail in ghostly savour & sweetness of the love & the sight of god/ by the which sight & feeling of love my soul is fed/ Thus as I understand saint paul could pray/ Of this manner of prayer speaketh our lord in holy writ by figure thus/ Ignis in altari meo semper ardebit. & cotidie sacerdos surgens mane subiciet ligna ut ignis non extinguat/ 
Levit. 6.  This is for to say/ The fire of love shall ever be light in the soul of a devout & clean man or woman/ the which is the altar of our lord/ And the priest shall every day at morn lay to sticks & nourish the fire/ That is to say/ This man shall by holy psalms: clean thoughts. & fervent desire nourish the fire of love in his heart that it go not out in any time/ This rest our lord ye●yth to some of his servants as it were a reward of her travail. & a shadow of the love which they shall have in the bliss of heaven/   

¶ How men should do that been travailed with vain thoughts in her prayers/ Caplm xxxiii·  
But now seest thou that I speak over high to the in this manner of prayer/ for it is no mastery to me for to say it/ but for to do it there is the mastery/ Thou sayest that thou canst not pray thus devoutli ne so holy in heart as I speak of For when thou wouldest have the mind of thine heart upward to god in thy prayer. thou felyst so many thoughts in vain of thine own deeds before done or what thou shalt do/ & of other men's deeds/ and such many other/ letting & tarrying the so that thou mayst neither feel savour ne rest ne devotion in thy saying/ and oftsithes the more thou traveilest to keep thine heart: the ferder it is fro thee: & the hardersomtyme fro the beginning to the last end: that the think it is but lost all that thou dost/ And unto this that thou sayest that I speak to high to the of prayer/ I grant well that I speak otherwise than I can or may do/ Nevertheless I say it for this intent/ that thou shouldest know how we ought to pray if we died well/ And sithen we may not do so/ that we know thenne our feebleness mekely· and cry god mercy/ Our lord bade thus hymsel when he said/ Diliges dnm deum tuum ex toto cord tuoex tota aia tua. 
M· xxii.  & ex oibus viribus tuis/ Thou shalt love god of all thine heart and all thy soul. & all thy might/ It is impossible to any man for to fulfil this bidding so fully as it is said. living in earth/ And yet nevertheless our lord bade us for to love so for this intent as saint bernard saith/ that we should know thereby our feebleness/ and then meekly cry after mercy/ and we shall have it/ Nevertheless I shall tell the as me thynkith in this asking/ when thou shalt pray make thin intent & thy will in the beginning as hole & as clean to god as thou mayst shortly in thy mind/ and thenne begin & do as thou mayst. And though thou be never so much letted against thy first will. be not adread: ne to angry with thyself/ ne inpacyent against god: that he giveth the not the savour & ghostly sweetness with devotion as the thinketh that he giveth to other creatures/ But see thereby thine own feebleness: and bear it easily/ holding in thine own sight thine own prayer feeble as it is with meekness of heart/ trusting also sickerly in the mercy of our lord that he shall make it good & profitable to the more than thou knowest or feelest/ For wit thou well that thou art exscused of thy debt: & thou shalt have meed for it as for an other good deed that thou dost in charity though thine heart were not thereupon in the doing/ Therefore do that longeth to the. and suffer our lord to give what he will: and teach him not And though thou think thyself reckless & negligent/ and as thou were in great default for such things/ Nevertheless yet shalt thou for this default & all other venyals which may not be eschewed in this wretched life life up thine heart to god/ knowledging thy wretchedness/ & cry mercy with a good trust of forgiveness and strive no more therewith: ne hang no longer thereupon as thou wouldest by mastery not feel such wretchedness/ ●eue of & go to some other good deed bodily or ghostly/ and think for to do better another time/ But though thou fall on another time in the same. ye an hundred times/ ye a thousand times/ yet do as I have said: and all shall be well/ Ferder more a soul that never may find rest of heart in prayer/ but all her life time is striving with her thoughts and tarrieth & trowbleth with hem/ if she keep her in meekness & charity in other sides/ she shall have full moche meed in heaven for her good travail/   

¶ Of meditation of sinful men after that they been hooli turned to god/ Caplm xxxiiii.  
Now of meditation shall I tell that a lityll as me thinketh Thou shalt understand that in meditations may no certain rule well be set every man for to keep/ for they are in free yeft of our lord after the divers disposynges of chosen souls/ and after the state that they been in/ And also after that they profiten in virtues & in her estate. so he increaseth her meditations both in ghostly knowing & loving of him. For who so is ever ylike wise in knowing of god & ghostly things it seemeth that he waxeth but a lityl in the love of god/ & that may be showed opinly in th'apostles. when they in the day of pentecost were fulfilled with brenning love of the holy ghost. they were made neither fools ne foltis/ but they were made wonder wise both in knowing & speaking of god & of ghostly things/ asmuch as a man might have in flesh living/ Thus spekyth holy writ of 'em/ Repleti sunt oens spu scton. et ceperunt loqui magnalia dei/ They were fulfilled of the holy ghost/ and they began to speak the great marvels of god/ And all that knowing they had by ravishing in love of the holy ghost/ diverse meditations there been/ which our lord putteth in a man's heart. Some shall I tell the as me thynkith for this intent/ If thou feel any of 'em that thou shouldest the better travail in 'em/ In the beginning of conversion of such a man that hath be much foiled with worldly or fleshly sins/ commonly his thought is most upon his sins with great compunction & sorrow of heart/ with great weepings and many tears of the eye/ meekly & busily ask mercy & for yevenes of god for 'em/ And if he be touched sharply for our lord will make him soon clean/ him shall think that his sins are ever in his sight so fowl & so horrible that uneath shall he mow bear himself/ And though he shrive him never so clearly/ yet shall he find fighting & freting and biting of his conscience that him shall think that he is not shriven right/ And uneath shall he mow have any rest/ in so much that he should not endure such travail ne were it that our lord of his mercy comforteth him sometime as he will by great devotion of his passion or of some other as he will give it. Upon this manner worketh our lord in some men's hearts more or less as he will/ And all this is the great mercy of our lord that not only will foryeve the sin or the trespass/ but he will both forgive the trespass & the pain for it in purgatory for such a lityl pain here of biting of conscience/ And also if he will dispose a man to receive any special gift of the love of god/ him behooveth first to be scoured & cleansed by such a fire of compunction for all the great sins before done/ Of this manner travail speaketh david in many places of the sawter/ and specially in the psalm Miserere mei deus/ 
P· l.    

¶ That the meditation of the manhood of christ or of his passion is yeven freely of the holy ghost/ And how it shall be known when it is yeven/ Caplm xxxv.  
ANd then sometime after this travail. and sometime with all. such a man or else another the which by grace of god hath be kept in Innocence/ our lord giveth a meditation of his manhood/ as of his birth or of his passion. and of the compassion of our lady saint marry/ when this meditation is made by the holy ghost/ then it is right profitable & gracious/ And that thou shalt wit by this token/ When it is so that thou art stirred to a meditation in god/ and thy thought is suddenly drawn out fro all worldly & fleshly things and the thinketh as thou seest in thy soul thy lord Ihu in a bodily likeness as he was in earth/ and how he was taken of the jews and bound as a thief/ beaten & despised. scourged & demid to death/ How lowly he bore the cross upon his back and how cruelly he was neyled thereupon/ Also of the crown of thorns upon his heed/ and of the sharp spear that stykked him to the heart/ and thou in this ghostly sight felyst thine heart stirred to so great compassion & pity of thy lord Ihesu the thou mornest & wepest & criest with all the mights of thy body and of thy soul/ wonderyng the goodness & the love. the patience & the meekness of thy lord Ihu/ that he would for so sifull a caitiff as thou art suffer so moche pain/ And nevertheless thou felist so much goodness & mercy in our lord that thine heart riseth up in to a love & a gladness of him with many sweet tears: having great trust of forgiveness of thy sins and of salvation of thy soul by the virtue of this precious passion/ That when the mind of christ's passion or any point of his manhood is thus made in thine heart by such a ghostly sight/ with devout affection answering thereto/ wite thou well then that it is not of thine own working. ne feigning of no wicked spirit/ but by the grace of the holy ghost For it is an opening of the ghostly eye in to christ's manhood And it may be called the fleshly love of god/ As saint bernard calleth it/ 
Bern:  In as moche as it is set in the fleshly kind of christ/ And it is right good and a great help in destroying of great sins/ and a good way to come to wertues/ and so after to contemplation of the godhead/ For a man shall not come to ghostly light in contemplation of christ's godhead/ but if he come first in imagination by bitterness and by compassion/ and by steadfast thinking of his manhood/ Thus saint paul died/ first he said thus/ Nichil indicavi me scire inter vos. nisi ihmm xpm et hunc crucifixum/ I showed you right nought that I couth· 
p· cor. 6.  but Ihesu christ. and him crucified/ As if he had said/ My knowing and my trust is only in the passion of christ/ And therefore said he thus also/ Michi autem absit gloriari nisi in cruce dni nostri ihu cristi/ 
Gal. 9.  Forboden be fro me all manner of joy & liking but in the cross and in the passion of our lord Ihesu christ/ And nevertheless afterward he said thus/ Predicamus vobis xpm dei virtutem & dei sapienciam/ As who saith/ first I preached of the manhood & the passion of christ/ Now I preach to you of the godhead. 
p· cor. ●.  As thus/ That christ is the might of god/ and the endless wisdom of god/   

¶ That the meditation of the passion of christ is withdrawn fro 'em that it is yeven to oft scythes for divers causes/ Caplm xxxvi.  
THis manner of meditation a man hath not always when he would/ but when our lord will give it/ Unto some men and women he giveth it all their life time by scythes when he visiteth hem/ As some men be so tender in her affection that when they here men speak/ or else that they thinken of his precious passion. her hearts melten in devotion/ and arne fed and comforted against all manner temptations of the enemy/ And that is a great yeft of god/ To some men he giveth it first plenteously/ and afterward he with draweth it for diverse causes Other if a man wax proud of it in his own sight/ or for some other sin/ by the which he maketh himself unable for to receive the grace/ Or else our lord wythdrawyth it/ & all other devotions sometime fro a man or a woman/ for he will suffer him to be assayed by temptations of his enemy/ And so will he dispose a man for to know and feel himself more ghostly/ For he said so himself to his disciples/ expedit vobis ut ego vadam/ Si enim non abiero: 
joh· 16.  peraclitus non veniet ad vos/ It is speedful to you that I go fro you bodily/ For if I go not the holy ghost may not come to you/ For as long as he was with 'em they loved him moche/ but it was fleshly in his manhood/ And therefore it was speedful to hem that he should withdraw the bodily form fro her sight/ that the holy ghost might come to hem/ and teach 'em for to love him and know him more ghostly/ as he died on the day of pentecost. Right so it is speedful to some that our lord withdraw a lityl the bodily and the fleshly likeness fro they of the soul that the heart might be set and fixed more besily in ghostly desire/ and seeking of his godhead/   

¶ Of divers temptations of the fiend/ Caplm xxxvii.  
Nevertheless it behooveth a man to suffer many temptations first/ And these temptations fallen oftsythes to some men & women after when comfort is withdrawn/ upon divers manners by malice of the enemy/ As thus. when the devil perceiveth devotion much withdrawn. that the soul is left as it were naked for a time/ then sendeth he to some men temptations of lechery of gluttony. so hot & so brenning/ that 'em shall think that they feeled never none so grievous in all her life time before when they gave hem most to sin. In so much that they shall think it impossible for to stand long and suffer that they ne shall needs fall but they have help/ And therefore have they thenne moche sorrow/ both for lacking of comfort and devotion which they were wont to have/ And they have much dread of falling fro god by such open sins/ And all this werkyth the devil at the sufferance of god for to done hem forthynke her good pourpoos/ and turn again to sin as they were wont to do/ But who so will abide awhile and suffer a little pain/ and not turn again to sin for no thing the hand of our lord is full near/ and helpyth right soon For he keepeth him full sickerly/ and the man wot not how as the prophet david saith in the person of our lord. Cum ipso sum in tribulacione. 
P· 9●.  eripiam eum & glorificabo eum/ I am with him in his tribulation/ and in temptation I shall deliver him/ and I shall make him glorious in my bliss/ Some men he tempteth by ghostly sins maliciously. as by mystrowing of the faith or of the sacrament of our lords blessed body/ Also of despeyr or of blasphemy in our lord or oni of his saints/ or loathing of her life/ or bitterness or unskilful heaviness/ or of toomuch dread of himself and of her body if they put 'em holy to God's service/ Some men he tempteth also. and namely solitary men & women by dreads and ugliness. and quakynges and shakynges/ either appearing to 'em in bodily likeness or else in ymagyning sleeping & waking/ And tarrieth 'em so that uneath may they have any rest. And also on many other wyses he tempteth. more than I can or may say/   

¶ Of divers remedies against temptations of the fiend Caplm xxxviii.  
Emedie to such men & women that arn thus travailed. or any otherwise. may be this/ first that they will put all her trust in our lord Ihu christ/ and bring to mind often his passion: and the pains that he suffered for us/ and that they then trow steadfastly that all sorrows & travail that they suffer in such temptations/ which to an uncunning man seemeth a forsaking of god/ That it is no reproving ne no forsaking/ but assaying for her better/ Either for cleansing of her sins before done/ or for great increasing of her meed & disposing to moche grace/ if they will suffer a while/ and stand fast that they torn not again wilfully to sin/ Another remedy is. that they dread not ne charge not as for a sin. ne set not at heart such malicious stirrings of despair or of blasphemy or of the sacrament. or any such other that were ugly for to here/ For the feeling of these temptations fileth the soul no more than if they heard an hound berke. or a flee bite/ They tarien the soul/ but they apeyre not the soul if a man will despise 'em. and set 'em at nought/ For it is not good for to strive with 'em for to put hem out by mastery/ For the more that they strive with such thoughts. the more they cleave to hem/ And therefore they shallen as much as they may draw out the thought fro 'em/ and set it to some other occupation/ And yet if they will ever hang upon 'em/ then it is good to hem that they be not angri ne heavy to feel hem/ but with a good trust in god bear 'em as it were a bodily pain & a scourge of our lord for cleansing of her sins. as long as he will for his love/ as he was scourged & bore the cross for her love/ And over this it is good to hem for to show her hearts to some wise man in the beginning before they been rooted in the heart/ and that they leave her own wit and follow the counsel of him/ And that they show 'em not lightly to none uncunning or worldly man which never felt such temptations/ For they might lightly bring a simple sole in to despair by vncunnynge of himself/ Of these manner of temptations by the which a man seemeth forsaken of god and is not/ In comfort of 'em that be tempted our lord saith thus by his prophet/ In modico dereliqui te. 
Isa. liv  & in momento indignaconnis me percussite/ et in miseraconnibus meis multis congegabo te/ In a lityll I for left thee/ That is to say. I suffered the for to be tarried a lityl And in a point of my wrath I smote the. that is to say/ All the penance & the pain that thou sufferest here is but a point of mi wrath in regard of the pain of hell or of purgatory And yet in my manifold mercies I shall gather together thee/ when the thinketh that thou art forsaken. thenne shall I of mi great mercy gather the again to me/ For when thou weenest that thou art as it were lost: then shall our lord help the as job saith/ Cum te consumptum putaveris: 
job xi.  orieris ut lucifer et habebis fiducian/ That is to say. when thou art brought so low by travail in temptation that the thinketh none help ne no comfort. but as thou were a forloor man/ yet stand stiffly in hope & pray god. and soothly thou shalt suddenly spring up as the day star in gladness of heart: and have a very trust in god as job saith/   

¶ How that god hem that he chooseth he suffereth to be tarried & tempted. and afterward comforteth 'em. and stableth 'em in grace/ Caplm xxxix.  
ANd also in comfort of such men that they should not despair in temptation. the wise man saith thus of our lord/ In temptacōne ambulat cum eo/ In primis elegit eum. 
〈◊〉 iiii.  timorem & metum & approbaconnem inducit super illum. et cruciabit illum in tribulacione doctrine sue donec temptet illum in cogitacon nibus suis. et credet anime illius. ad iter directum adducet illum. & firmabit illum & letificabit illum/ et denudabit abscondita sua illi: et thezaurisabit super illum scienciam & intellectum justice/ This is thus moche for to say/ The wise man for he would that no man should despair in temptation. in comfort of 'em saiht thus/ In temptation our lord forsaketh not a man. but he gooth with him fro the beginning in to the last end/ For he saith/ first he chooseth him/ And that is when he draweth a man to him by comfort of devotion/ And afterward sorrow and dread and assaying he bringeth upon him And that is/ when he withdraweth devotion and suffereth him to be tempted/ And he saith that he turmenteth him in tribulation until he have well assayed him in his thoughts/ And until a man will put all his trust in him fully/ And then after this our lord bringeth him out in to the right way/ and testenyth him to him and gladeth him/ and sithen showeth him his pyvytees/ and giveth him his treasure of knowing & understanding of rightwiseness/ By these words of holy writ may thou see that these temptations or any other be they never so ugly. to a man that by grace is in full will to forsake sin arne speedful & profitable if he will suffer as he may and abide God's wyll· and not turn again to sin which he hath forsaken for no sorrow ne pain ne dread of such temptations/ but ever stand still in travail and in prayer with good hope/ Our lord of his endless goodness having pity & mercy of all his creatures when he seeth time he layeth to his hand and smiteth down the devil & all his power/ and easeth 'em of her travail/ And putteth away all dreads & sorrows and darkness out of her hearts/ and bringeth in to her soul's light of grace/ and openyth the sight of the soul for to see that all the travail that they had it was speedful to hem/ giving to hem also a new ghostly might to againstand all the fondynges of the fiend/ and all deadly sins without great travail/ and leadeth 'em in to a sadness of good virtues living/ In the which if they been meek he keepeth 'em unto her last end/ and then he taketh 'em all holy to him/ This thing I say to the if thou be tarried or travailed with any such manner of temptations/ be not tomoche adradde/ but do as I have said and better if thou may/ And I hope by the grace of Ihesu christ thou shalt never be overcome by thine enemy/   

¶ That a man should not give him to idleness ne lightly leave the grace that is yeven him of god/ Caplm xl  
After this when thou art escaped such temptations or else our lord hath so kept y● as he doth many by his mercy that thou hast not be tarried moche with none such/ Thenne it is good to the that thou turn not thy rest in to ydilnesse For there is many a man that taketh rest upon him to soon But thou shalt it thou wilt begin a new game and a new travail/ And that is for to enter within in to thine own soul by meditation for to know what it is/ And by the knowing thereof to come to the ghostly knowing of god For saint austin saith/ 
Aug·  By the knowing of myself I shall heat the knowing of god/ I say not that it is needful to the & debt for to travail so ne to none other man/ but he feel him stirred by grace as he were called thereto/ For our lord giveth divers gifts where so he will/ not to one man all/ ne to all men one/ save charity which is common to all men/ And therefore if a man or a woman have received a yeft of god. as devotion in prayer/ or in the passion of christ/ Or any other be it never so lityll/ leave it not to soon for none other/ but if he feel soothfastly a better/ But hold that he hath and travail therein stably/ ever desiring a better when god will give it/ Nevertheless if that be withdrawn somewhat and he seeth a better/ and feeleth his heart stirred thereto/ Thenne seemeth it a calling of our lord to the better/ And then it is time that he follow after for to get it/ and fulfil it as swiftly as he may/   

¶ That a man should know the measure of his gift that he may desire and take a better when god will give it/ Caplm xli.  
Our holy faders here before taughten us that we should know the measure of our gift/ And upon that work not taking upon us by feigning more than we have in feeling/ We may ever desire the best/ but we mow not ever work the best. for we yet have not received that grace/ a hound that runneth after the haar only for he seeth other hounds rene when he is weary he resteth him or turneth him home again But if he run for he seeth the haar/ he will not spare for weariness till he have gotten it/ Right so it is ghostly/ who so hath grace be it never so lityll/ and leaveth wilfully the werking thereof/ and maketh himself to travail in another which he hath not yet/ only for he seeth or heareth that other men died so/ soothly he may run awhile till he be weary/ And then shall he turn home again/ And but he bewaar. he may hurt his feet by some fantasies or that he come home But he that werkyth in such grace as he hath/ and desireth by prayer meekly and lastingly after more/ And after feeleth his heart stirred for to follow the grace which he desired/ he may sickerly run if he keep meekness/ And therefore desire of god as much as thou may/ without measure or discrecy on of all that longeth to his love or to heaven bliss/ For who so can most desire of god/ most shall feel of him/ But werkyth as thou mayst: and cry god mercy for that thou mayst not/ Thus it seemeth saint paul said/ unusquisque habet donum suum a deo. 
p̄ cor seven Eph. iiii p̄. cor. it.  Alius autem sic: alius vero sic/ Itm̄/ unicuique nostrum data est gracia scdm mensuram donacionis cristi. ●tm̄ Divisiones granrum sunt. ●lii datur sermo sapiency. alii sermo sciencie. etc./ Itm̄. Vt sciamus que a deo donata sunt nobis Saint paul saith that every man hath his yefte of god/ one thus. and another thus/ For to every man that shall be saved is yeven a grace after the measure of christ's yeft/ And therefore it is speedful that we know the yefts which arn yeven us of god that we might work in 'em/ for by those we shall be saved as some by bodily works: and by deeds of merci/ some by great bodily penance/ some by sorrow & weeping for her sins all her life time/ some by preaching & teaching/ some by diverse graces & yefts of devotion shall be saaf & come to bliss/   

¶ That a man should travail to know his owoe soul and the mights thereof/ and break down the ground of sin therein/ Caplm xlii.  
Nevertheless there is one work which is needful and speedful to travail in/ And I hope an high plain way as much as may be in man's work to contemplation/ And that is a man for to enter in to himself for to knoew his own soul/ and the mights thereof/ The fairness and the towlnes of it/ In this Inward beholding thou shalt mow see the worship and the dignity which it should have by kind of the first making/ And thou shalt see the wretchedness and the mischief which thou art fall in for sin And of this sight shall come a desire with great longing in thine heart for to recover again that dignity & worshypp which thou hast lost/ Also thou shalt feel a loathing & a grysing of thyself with a great will for to destroy & bear down thyself and all things that let the fro that dignity and that joy/ This is a ghostly travail hard & sharp in the beginning who so will quickly travail therein/ For it is a travail in the soul against the ground of all sins lytill & moche. which ground is nought else but a falls misruled love of man to himself/ Out of this love as saint austin saith springeth all manner of sin deadly & venial. And soothly until this ground be well rasaken & deep doluyn/ & as it were near dried up by outcasting of all fleshly & worldly dreads and loves/ a soul may never feel ghostly the brenning love of Ihesu christ/ ne have the homlynes of his gracious presence/ ne have clear sight of ghostly things by light of understanding/ This is the travail that a man behoveth to draw his heart & his mind fro the fleshly love & the liking of all earthly creatures/ fro vain thoughts & fro fleshly imaginations. & out fro the love and the vicious feeling of himself/ that the soul shall mow no rest find in no fleshly thoughts/ ne earthly affection/ then in as much as the soul may not find his ghostly rest in the love and in the sight of Ihu christ/ it behooveth nedelynges suffer pain/ This travail is somdelyche strait & narrow/ And nevertheless I hope it is the way which christ teached to 'em that would be his perfit lovers in the gospel saying thus/ Contendite intrare per angustam portam/ qm arta est via que ducit ad vitam. 
Luc. xiii·  et pauci inveniunt eam/ strive ye for to enter by a straight gate/ for the way that leadeth to heaven is narrow and few men findeth it/ And how strait this way is our lord telleth in a nother place thus/ Si quis vult venire post me abneget semetipmm & toliat crucem svam & sequatur me/ Itm̄: 
M· xvi.  Qui odit Eccliam svam in hoc mundo/ in vitam eternam custodit eam/ That is to say/ who so will come after me/ forsake himself & hate his own soul. That is to say/ Forsake all fleshly love and hate his own fleshly life/ and vain liking of all his bodily wits for love of me And take the cross/ That is to say/ Suffer the pain of this a while/ and thenne follow me/ that is to say. in contemplation of my manhood & of my godhead/ This is a straight way & a narrow that no bodily thing may pass thorough it/ for it is a sleeng of all sin as saint paul saith/ 
Col. iii.  Mortificate membra vestra que sunt super terram/ immundiciam libidinem concupiscenciam malam/ Slay your membres upon earth/ not the membres of the body but of the soul/ as uncleanness lust & unskilful love to yourself and to earthly things/ Therefore as thy travail hath been here before for to againstood bodily sins & open temptations of the enemy as it were fro without. right so the behooveth now in this ghostly work within thyself for to destroy and break the ground of sin in thyself asmuch as thou may/ And that thou might the more readily bring it about/ I shall tell the as me thinketh   

¶ How a man shall know the worthiness and the worship of his soul that it had first of/ And what wretchedness & mischief it is fall in for sin/ Caplm xliii.  
THe soul of a man is a life made of three mights/ mind reason and will. to the image & the likeness of the blessed trinity/ In as much as the mind was made mighty & steadfast by the virtue of the father almyghtihode. for to hold him without forgetting. distracting or letting of any creature/ And so it hath likeness of the father/ The reason was made bright & clear without error or darkness as perfitly as a soul in a body unglorifyed might have. And so it hath the likeness of the son/ which is endless wisdom/ And the love & the will was made clean brenning in to god without bestly love of the flesh or of any creature by the sovereign goodness of god the holy ghost/ And so it hath the likeness of the holy ghost. which is blessed love/ so that a man's soul which may be called a made trinity was fulfilled in mind: sight & love of the unmade most blessed trinity which is our lord/ This is the dignity the state & the worship of a man's soul by kind of the first making/ This state thou had in adam before the first sin of man. But when adam sinned chesing love & delight in himself and in creatures/ he lost all his worship & his dignity. and thou also in him. and fell fro that blessed trinity in to a fowl dark wretched trinity. that is in to forgetting of god/ and unknowing of him/ and in to a bestly liking of himself/ And that skilfully/ For as david saith in the sawter/ Homo cum in honore esset non intellerit: comperatus est iumentis insipientibus & silis factus est illis/ 
Psalms  A man when he was in worship he knew it not/ And therefore he lost it and was made like a best/ See now thenne the wretchedness of thy soul/ For as the mind was sometime stabled in god/ right so now it hath forgotten him/ and sekyth his rest in creatures: now from one to another/ and never may find full rest/ For he hath lost him in whom is full rest/ And right so it is of reason/ and the love also/ which was clean in ghostly savour & sweetness/ now it is turned in to a fowl bestly lust & liking in itself. & in creatures/ and in fleshly savours both in the wits as in gluttony & lechery/ and in imagining/ as in pride vainglory & covetise/ In so much that thou mayst unneaths do any good deed/ but if thou be defoiled with vainglory/ Ne thou may not well use none of thy v. wits cleanly in no creature delectable/ but if thy heart be taken & engleymed with a vain lust & liking of it/ which putteth out the love of god fro the heart as in feeling/ and the ghostly savour that it may not come therein/ Every man that liveth in spirit knoweth well all this This is the wretchedness of the soul and the mischief for the first sin of man/ without all other wretchedness & sins which thou hast wilfully put thereto/ And wite thou well though thou had never done sin with thy body deadly ne venial but only this that is called original for it is the first sin/ and that is not else but losing of thy rightfulness which thou was made in should thou never have been saved if our lord Ihu christ by his precious passion had not delivered the and restored the again/   

¶ How every man may be saved by the passion of christ be he never so wretched/ Caplm xliiii.  
ANd therefore if thou think that I have here before spoken to high to the. for thou mayst not take it ne fulfil it as I have said or shall say/ I will now fall down to the as low as thou will for my profit as well as for thine Thenne say I thus/ though thou be never so much a wretch have thou do never so much sin/ forsake thyself & all thy works good & bad/ cry mercy. and ask only salvation by virtue of this precious passion meekly & trustly/ and without doubt thou shall have it/ And fro this original sin & all other thou shalt be saaf. ye and thou shallbe saaf as an anchor incluse/ And not only thou. but all christian souls which trusten upon this passion. and meken himself/ knowledging her wretchedness: ask mercy & forgiveness and the fruit of this precious passion only. lowenge himself to the sacraments of holy church. though it be so that they have been encumbered with sin all her life time/ and never had feeling of ghostly savour or sweetness/ or ghostly knowing of god. they shallen in this faith & in her good will by virtue of this precious passion of our lord Ihu christ be saaf & come to the bliss of heaven/ All this knowest thou well· but yet it liketh me for to say it. See here the endless mercy of our lord how low he falleth to the & to me and to all sinful caitiffs/ Thenne ask mercy and have it/ Thus said the prophet in the person of our lord. 
Iohis. ●  Ois enim quicumque invocaverit nomen dni. saluus erit Every man what that he be that calleth the name of god/ that is to say/ askith salvation by Ihu & his passion: he shall be saaf/ This certify of our lord some men taken well and been saved thereby/ and some men in trust of this mercy & this courtesy lyen still in her sin/ and ween for to have it when hem lust/ and then may they not. for they are taken or they were/ and so they damn himself/ But then sayest thou/ if this be sooth then wonder I greatly for that I find in some holy men's books/ Some sayen as I understand that he that can not love this blessed name Ihu ne find ne feel in it ghostly joy & delectable with ghostly sweetness. in the bliss of heaven he shall be alien and never shall he come thereto/ soothly these words when I hem red stonyed me and made me greatly afeard/ For I hope as thou sayest that by the mercy of our lord shall be saaf by keeping of the commandments/ and by very repentance for her evil living before done/ which felt never ghostly sweetness ne inly savour in the name of Ihesu/ And therefore I marvel me the more that they say contrari hereto as it seemeth/ And unto this I may say as me thinketh that her saying if it be well understand is sooth/ and is not contrary to that that I have said. For this name Ihu is nought else for to say upon english but heler or he'll/ Now every man that liveth in this wretched life is ghostly seek/ For there is no man that liveth without sin which is ghostly sickness/ as saint john saith of himself & of other perfit men thus/ Si dixerimus qr pccm non habemus. 
Ioh.  ipsei nos seducimus et veritas in nobis non est/ If we say that we have no sin we beguile ourself. and there is no soothfastness in us. And therefore he may never come to the joy of heaven unto he be first made hole of this ghostly sickness/ But this ghostly hele may no man have that hath use of reason: but if he desire it & love it: and have delight therin· in asmuch as he hopith for to get it/ Now the name of Ihu is no thing else but this ghostly he'll/ wherefore it is sooth that they say/ that there may no man be saaf but if he love & like in the name of Ihesu/ For there may no man be ghostly hole/ but if he love & desire ghostly health/ For right as if a man were bodily seek. there were no earthly thing so dear ne so needful to him ne so moche should be desired of him as bodily health/ for though thou wouldest give him all the richesse & worships of this world and not make him hole if thou might/ thou plesest him not/ Right so it is to a man that is seek ghostly and feeleth the pain of ghostly sickness/ no thing is so dear ne so needful ne so much coveted of him as is ghostly health. and that is Ihu/ without which all the joys of heaven may not like him/ And this is the skill as I hope why our lord when he took mankind for our salvation he would not be called by no name that betokenid his endless being or his might or his wisdom or his rightwiseness/ but only by that the betook nid the cause of his coming. & was the salvation of man's soul. which salvation betokened this name Ihu/ Thenne by this it seemeth sooth that there shall no man be saaf but if he love salvation only for to have it through the mercy of our lord Ihun· & by the merits of his passion/ which love he may have that livyth & dieth in the lowest degree of charity/ Also I may say on that other party that he that can not love this blessed name Ihu with ghostly mirth ne increase in it with heavenly melody here/ he shall never have ne feel in heaven that fulhede of sovereign joy. the which he that might in this life by abundance of perfit charity in Ihu shall feel & have/ & so may her saying be understand/ Nevertheless he shall be saaf and have full meed in the sight of god/ if he in this life be in the lowest degree of charity by keeping of God's commandments/ For our lord saith himself thus. 
Ioh.  In domo patris mei mansiones multe sunt/ In my faders house are many sundry dwellings/ Some are perfit souls the which in this life were fulfilled of charity. & grace of the holy ghost/ and song lovynges to god in contemplation of him with wonderful sweetness & heavenly savour/ these souls for they had most charity & grace of the holy ghost shall have highest meed in the bliss of heaven/ for these arn called God's darlings/ Other souls that are not disposed to contemplation of god. ne had not the fulhede of charity. as apostles & martyrs had in the beginning of holy church. shall have lower meed in the bliss of heaven/ for these be called God's friends/ Thus calleth our lord in holy writ chosen souls saying thus/ Comedite amici. et inebriamini ca●issimi/ My friends eat ye. 
Cant  & my darlings be ye drunken/ As if our lord said thus/ ye that be my trendes. for ye kept my commandments. & set my love before the love of the world/ & loved me more than any earthly thing ye shall be fed with ghostly food of the breed of life/ But ye that be my friends that ye not only kept my commandments but also of your own free will fulfilled my councils: and over that ye loved only & entirely with all the mights of your soul. & burned in my love with ghostly delight as dieden principally the apostles & martyrs. and all other souls that might by grace come to the yeft of perfection/ ye shall be made drunken with the highest & freshest wine in my cellar/ that is the sovereign joy of love in heaven/   

¶ That a man should be busy to reckon again his worthiness/ and reform again in him the image of the trinity/ Caplm xlv.  
Nevertheless though this be sooth of the endless mercy of god unto the & to me & to all mankind/ we shall not therefore in trust of this be the more reckless wilfully in our living/ but the more busy for to please him/ namely now sithen we are restored again in hope by the passion of our lord to the dignity & the bliss which we had lost by adams sin/ And though we might never get it fully here/ yet we should desire that we might recover here living a figure & a likeness of the dignity that our soul might be reformed as it were in a shadow by grace to the image of the trinity/ which we had by kynde· and after shall have fully in bliss/ for that is the life which is very contemplative unto begin here in that feeling of love. & ghostly knowing of god by opening of the ghostly eye which shall never be lost ne be taken away. but the same shall be fulfilled otherwise in the bliss of heaven/ This behyght our lord to marry mawdeleyne which was contemplatif/ and said thus of her/ Maria optiman part elegit que non auferetur ab ea· 
 That mary had chose the better party that is the love of god in contemplation/ for it shall never be take away fro her/ I say not that thou may her living recover so hole ne so perfit cleanness & Innocence knowing & loving of god as thou haddest first. ne as thou shalt have/ ne thou may not escape all the wretchedness & pains of sin/ ne thou living in deadly flesh may destroy & quench all holy the false vain love in thyself/ ne flee all venial sins that they ne will but if they be stopped by great fervour of charity spring out of thine heart as water doth fro a stinking well/ But I would that if thou might not fully quench it. that thou might somewhat sleek it. and come to the cleanness of soul as near as thou mayst/ For our lord behight the children of Israel when he lad 'em in to the land of behest/ And in figure of 'em to all christian men thus/ Omne quod calcauerit pes tuus. tuum erit/ That is to say/ Als moche land as thou might tread upon with thy foot of very desire. 
Deut· two  so here moche shall thou have in the land of behest/ that is in the bliss of heaven when thou comyst thither/   

¶ How Ihesu shall be sought. desired: & found/ ca xlvi  
Seek then that thou hast lost that thou might find it/ well I wot who so might once have an inward sight a little of that dignity and that ghostly fairness which a soul had by kind. and shall have by grace/ he should loath and despise in his heart all the bliss. the liking: and the fairness of this world as the stench of a carrion. and he shall never have will for to do other deed night & day saving the freelte and the bare need of the bodily kind but desire. mourn. & pray and seek how he might come again thereto/ Nevertheless in as much as thou hast not yet seen what it is fully/ For thy ghostly eye is not yet opened/ I shall tell the oo word for all in the which thou shalt seek desire and find it. for in that one word is all that thou hast lost/ This word is Ihesu/ I mean not this word Ihesu painted upon the wall/ or written by letters on the book. or formed by lips in sound of the mowthe/ or feigned in thy heart by travail of thy mind/ For in this manner wise may a man out of charity find him. But I mean Ihesu christ that blessed person god and man son of virgin mary/ whom this name betokenith that is all goodness: endless wisdom/ love/ and sweetness/ thy joy. thy worship. and thine everlasting bliss/ thy god: thy lord. and thy salvation/ then if it be so that thou felyst a great desire in thine heart to Ihesu. either by mind of this name Ihesu. or by mind and saying of any other word/ or in prayer. or in any deed that thou dost/ which desire is so moche that it putteth out as it were by strength all other thoughts and desires of the world/ & of the flesh that they may not rest in thine heart/ then sechest thou well thy lord Ihesu And when thou felyst this desire to god/ to Ihesu. all is one helped and comforted by a ghostly might/ in so much that it is turned in to love and affection/ ghostly savour and sweetness/ In to light and knowing of soothfastness/ so much that for the time the point of thy thought is set upon no thing that is made/ Ne it feeleth no stirring of vainglory ne of itself neither/ ne none other evil affection/ for they mow not appear that time/ But only is enclosed. rested: softed. anointed in Ihesu/ then hast thou found somewhat of Ihesu/ Not him as he is. but a shadow of him. For the better that thou findest him/ the more shalt thou desire him/ then by what manner prayer or meditation or occupation that thou may have greatest and clennest desire to him. and have most feeling of him/ by that ocupation thou sechest him best and best findest him/ Therefore if it come to thy mind/ as it were asking what haste thou lost/ and what sechest thou lift up thy mind and the desire of thy heart to Ihesu christ though thou be blind and nought may see of his godhead And say that him hast thou lost/ and him would thou have. and no thing but him/ to be with him where he is/ None other joy none other bliss in heaven ne in earth but him/ And though it be so that thou feel him in devotion or in knowing/ or in any other yefte what that it be/ rest not there as though thou hadst fully found Ihesu. But foryete that. that thou hast found/ and always by desiring after Ihesu more and more for to find him better/ as though thou hadst right nought found in him/ For wite thou well what that thou felyst of him. be it never so moche. ye though thou were ravished in to the third heaven with paul/ yet hast thou not found Ihesu as he is in his joy/ Know thou or feel thou never so much of him/ he is yet above it/ And therefore if thou will fully find him as he is in the bliss/ of loving cease thou never while thou livest/ ne of ghostly desiring/   

¶ What profit it is to have the desire of Ihesu/ Caplm xlvii.  
soothly I had liefer feel and have a soothfast desire and a clean in mine heart to my lord Ihesu cryst/ though I see right lityll of him with my ghostly eye than for to have without this desire all bodily penance of all men living/ all visions or revelations of angels appearing/ songs and so wnynges. savours and smells. brenynges. and any likynges or bodily feelings/ And shortly for to say. or all the joy of heaven and of earth which I might have without this desire to my lord Ihesu/ david the prophet felt as I say as I understand when he sayd· thus/ 
P· lxxii.  Quid enim michi est in celo et a te quid volui super terram/ Lord what thing is to me in heaven/ or what would I without the above earth/ As if he had said thus/ Lord Ihesu what heavenly joy is liking to me without desire of the whiles I am in earth/ or without love of the when I come to heaven/ As who say: right none. Then if thou will feel any thing of him bodily or ghostly/ covet not but for to feel soothfastly a desire of his grace and of his merciful presence: that the thinketh that thine heart may find none other rest in no thing but in him/ Thus coveted david when he said thus/ 
P·  Concupivit anima mea desiderare iustificacōnes tuas in omi tempore/ Lord my soul coveted the desire of thy rightwiseness in every time/ Seek then as david died desire by desire/ And if thou may feel by thy desire in prayers and in meditations the homely presence of Ihesu christ in thy soul/ bind thine heart fast thereto that it fall not therefro. And if thou stomble· that thou may soon find him again/   

¶ Where and with what thing Ihesu shall be sought & found/ Caplm xliii.  
Seek then Ihesu whom thou hast lost/ He will be sought/ and he may thenne somewhat be founden/ for he saith himself/ Omnis qui querit inveniet/ Every man that sechyth shall find/ The seeking is travailous. but the finding is blissful/ Do therefore after the counsell of the wise man if thou will find him/ Si quesieris quasi pecuniam sapienciam & sicut thesaurum effoderis illam: 
ꝓuer, xx.  tunc intelliges timorem dni & scienciam invenies/ If thou seek wisdom the which is Ihesu as silver & gold and delueste deep thereafter thou shalt find it/ The behooveth for to delve deep in thine heart. for therein he is hid/ and cast out full cleanly all loves & likynges sorrows and dreads of all earthly things/ and so shalt thou find wisdom Ihesu/ Be thou thenne like to the woman of the gospel of the which our lord saith thus/ Que mulier habens dragmas decem. 
〈…〉  & c·s what woman is that. that hath lost a dram that she ne will light a lantem and cast her house upsodown and seche till she find it/ As who say none. And when she hath founden it she calleth her friends and saith to hem thus/ maketh mirth with me & melody. for I have founden the dram that I had lost/ This dram is Ihesu that thou hast lost/ And if thou wilt find him/ light up a latern that is God's word as david saith/ 
●s. cxviii  Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum/ Lord thy word to my feet is a lantern/ Bithys' lantern shalt thou see where he is and how thou shalt find him/ And if thou wilt thou may with this light up an other latern: that is the reason of thy soul/ For as our lord saith/ Lucerna corporis tui est oculus tuus. The laterne of thy body is thy bodily eye/ Right so may be said that the lantern of thy soul is reason. by the which the soul may see all ghostly things/ By this lantern may thou find Ihu and that is sooth if thou hold up the lantern fro undneth the bushel. 
Luc. 10.  as our lord saith/ Nemo accendit lucernam & ponit eam sub modio sed super candelabrum/ There is no man that lighteth a lantern for to set it under a bushel but upon a candlestick/ That is to say/ Thy reason shall not be overlaid with earthly business ne vain thoughts & earthly affections but aye upward above all vain thought & earthly things as much as thou may/ And if thou do so thou shalt see then all the molle & all the filth and small motes in thy house/ for why he is light/ That is to say all fleshly loves and dreads in thy soul/ Not all· 
P· xxiiii  for as david said/ Delicta quis intelliget/ who may know all his trespasses/ As who say no man/ And thou shalt cast out of thine heart all such sins and sweep thy soul clean with the bosom of the dread of god/ and with the water of thine eyen wash it. and so shalt thou find thy dram Ihesu/ He is dram he is penny. he is thine heritage/ This dram will not be founden so lightly as it is said/ for this work is not of one hour ne of one day/ but many days and years/ with much sweet & swink of body and travail of the soul/ And if thou cease not but seek besily. sorrow and sigh deep/ mourn stillly. & stoop low till thine eyen watren for anguish & for pain for thou hast lost thy treasure Ihu. at the last when he will well shall thou find thy dram Ihesu/ And if thou find him as I have said. that is if thou may in cleanness of conscience feel the homely and the peesfull presence of that blessed man Ihesu christ as a shadow or a glemering of him/ Thou may if thou will call all thy friends to the for to make mirth with the & melody for thou hast founden the▪ dram Ihesu/   

¶ Where Ihesu is lost and founden again thorough his mercy/ Caplm xlix  
SEe now thenne the courtesy & the mercy of Ihu. thou hast lost him. but where? soothly in thy house/ that is in thy soul That is to say/ if thou hadst lost all the reason of thy soul by the first sin thy soul should never have found him again/ but he left to the thy reason. and so he is in thy soul/ and never shall be lost out of it/ Nevertheless thou art never the nearer to him till thou have found him/ He is in the though he be lost fro thee/ But thou art not in him till thou have found him/ then was this his mercy that he would suffer him to be lost only where he may be found/ It needeth not to run to Rome ne to Iherusalem for to seche him there/ but turn thy thought in to thine own soul where he is hid. as the prophet saith/ Vere tu es deus absconditus soothly lord thou art an hid god/ & seek him there. 
M· 13.  Thus saith himself in the gospel/ Simile est regnum celorum thesauro abscondito in agro. quem qui invenit homo abscondit & pre gaudio illius vadit· & vendit universa que habet. et emit agrum illum/ The kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure hid in the field. the which when a man findeth for joy of it he gooth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth the field/ Ihesu is treasure hid in thy soul/ then if thou might find him in thy soul. and thy soul in him/ I am syker for joy of it thou would give the liking of all earthly thing for to have it/ Ihesu sleepeth in thy heart ghostly· as he died sometime bodily when he was in the ship with his disciples But they for dread of perishing wakened him. and soon after he saved 'em fro tempest/ Do thou so. stir him by prayer/ and wake him with great crying of desire/ and he shall soon rise and help thee/   

¶ What letteth a man to here and see Ihesu within himself/ Caplm L.  
Nevertheless I hope better that thou sleepest ofter to him than he doth to thee/ For he calleth the full oft with his sweet prive voice/ & stirreth thine heart full stilly that thou shouldest leave all other jangling of all other vanities in thy soul/ and only take keep of him for to hear him speak Thus saith david of our lord/ Audi filia & vide et inclina aurem tuam & obliviscere populum tuum & domum patris tui/ My daughter here and see and bow thine ere to me. and foryete the folk of thy worldly thoughts. and the house of thy fleshly and kindly affections/ Loo here may thou see how our lord calleth the and all other which wyile hearken to him/ what letteth the thenne that thou may neither see him ne here him/ soothly there is so moche din and crying in thine heart of vain thoughts and fleshly desires that thou may neither hear him ne see him/ Therefore put away unrestful din. and break the love of sin & of vanity/ and bring in to thine heart love of virtues and full charity. and then shalt thou here thy lord speak to thee/   

¶ That meekness and charity been the special livery of Ihesu/ through the which man's soul is reformed to the likeness of him/ Caplm li.  
AS long as Ihesu findeth not his image reformed in the. he is strange and the ferther fro thee/ For thy shape the for to be arrayed in his likeness/ that is in meekness and charity/ the which arn his liveries/ And then will he homelyche know thee/ and show to the his pryvetees/ Thus said he himself to his disciples/ 
Ioh xiiii  Qui diligit me diligetur a patre meo et manifestabo ei meipmm/ who so loveth me he shall be loved of my father and I shall show myself unto him There is no virtue ne no work that thou may do that may make the like to our lord without meekness and charity/ for these two arn specially to god most lief/ And that seemeth well in the gospel where our lord speaketh of meekness thus/ Discite a me quia mitis sum & humilis cord/ 
M. two.  Learn of me he said not for to go bare foot ne for to go in to Desert/ and there for to fast forty days/ ne yet also for to cheese you disciples/ But learn of me meekness/ for I if thou drew in to thyself thy heart thou shouldest not find nought/ but thou shouldest find Ihesu/ Not only the naked mind of this name. but thou shouldest tynde Ihesu cryst in conscience readily teaching thee/ Thou shouldest find light of understanding: and no darkness of vncunnyng/ Thou shouldest find love & liking of him. and no pain of bitterness & heaviness/ But for thou art not reformed therefore when thy soul cometh in fro all bodily things. and findeth nought but darkness & heaviness/ him thinketh an hundred winter to he be out again by some bodily delight or vain thought. and that is no wonder/ For who so cometh home until his house and findeth no thing therein but stink & smoke. and a chiding wife he would soon run out of it/ Right so thy soul when it tyndeth no comfort in itself but black smoke of ghostly blindness. and great chiding of fleshly thoughts crying up on the that thou may not be in peace/ soothly it is soon weri till it be out again/ This is the darkness of conscience/   

¶ Who so will find Jesu him behooveth abidyngly to travail in ghostly darkness against the image of sin/ Caplm liiii·  
Nevertheless in this dark conscience behoveth the to swink and sweet/ That is to say/ The behooveth to draw in to thyself thy thought fro all bodily things as much as thou may/ And then when thou findest right nought but sorrow & pain. and blindness in this darkness/ if thou will find Ihesu the pain of this dark conscience the behooveth suffer. and abide awhile therein/ And here the behoveth to be waar that thou take Ihesu christ in thy thought against this each darkness in thy mind/ And by busy prayer and fervent desire to god/ Not setting the point of thy thought in that foresaid nought/ but in Ihesu christ which thou desirest/ Think stiffly on the passion and on his meekness and thorough might of him thou shalt arise/ Do as thou wouldest bear it down and go through it/ Thou shalt agryse & loath this darkness. and this nought right as the devil: and thou shalt despise it and all to breast it/ For all within this nought is Ihu hid in his joy whom thou may not find by thy seching/ but if thou pass the darkness of this conscience. This is the ghostly travail that I speak of/ And this travail is cause of all this writing/ for to stir the thereto if thou feel grace/ This darkness of conscience & this nought that I speak of is the image of the first adam/ Saint paul knew it well/ for he said thus of it/ Sicut portauimus ymaginem terreni hominis. 
Cor·· 〈◊〉  ita portemus ymaginem iam & celestis/ As we have here before borne the image of the earthly man that is the first adam/ right so that we might now bear the image of the heavenly man which is Ihesu the second adam/ He bare this image oft full heavy/ for it was so cumbrous to him that he cried out on it laying thus/ O quis liberabit me de corpore mortis huius/ O who shall deliver me fro this body & this image of death/ And then he comforted himself & other also thus/ Gracia dei per ihmm xpm/ 
Ro. 〈◊〉  The grace of god by Ihesu christ/   

¶ What is properly the image of sin/ & what cometh out thereof/ Caplm lv  
NOw have I told the a lityll of this image how it is nought/ Nevertheless if it be fer fro thy knowing how it might be an image/ for nought is but nought. but so might thou not lightly understand it. I shall tell the more openly of this image as me thinketh/ This image is a falls misruled love unto thyself/ Out fro this comen all manner of sins by seven Rivers/ which be these/ Pride. Envy. Ire. Accidie. Covetise. gluttony. and Lechery/ Loo this is somewhat that thou may feel/ By one of these rivers runneth out all manner of sin and putteth the out of charity if it be deadly sin/ or it letteth the fervour of charity if it be venial/ ●ow may thou grope that this image is not nought/ but it is moche of bad for it is a great spring of love unto thyself with such seven rivers as I have said/ But now sayest thou how may this be sooth/ I have forsaken the world/ and I am stoken in an house/ I meddle with no man/ I chide not/ I strive not/ I neither buy ne sell/ I ne have no worldly business but by the mercy of god/ I keep me chaste and withhold me fro delights/ And over this I pray I wake/ I travail bodily and ghostly as I may/ How should thenne this image be so moche in me as thou speakest of/ As to this I answer & grant to thee/ that I hope thou dost all these works & more thereto▪ and yet may it be sooth as I say/ Thou art busy upon thy might for to stop the rivers wythouten/ but the spring within on hap thou levest hole/ Thou art like to a man the which had in his yard a stinking well with many rennynges fro it. He go & he stopped the rennynges and left the spring hole/ and wend all had be syker/ but the water sprang up at the ground of the well/ and stood still so much that it corrupted all the fairness of his garden/ and yet runneth no water out/ ●yght so may it be with thee/ If it be so that thou hast by grace stopped the rivers of this image without/ so much it is well/ but be ware of the spring within/ soothly but if thou stop & cleanse that as much as thou may it will corrupt all the flowers of the garden of thy soul/ show they never so fair outward in sight of men/ But now sayest yu. whereby shall I know that the ground is stopped/ if I travail about it/ As unto this I shall tell by assay how thou shalt know this image if it be in thee/ and how much it is in the and thereby shalt thou wite how moche it is stopped & how lityl also in thee/ And asmuch as pride is the principal river I shall tell the thereof first/   

¶ What pride is/ And when it is sin Caplm lvi▪  
Pride is not else as clerks say but love of thine own excellence. that is of thine own worship/ Thenne the more thou lovest & likest in thine own worship. the more is the pride/ and so the more is the image in thee/ If thou feel in thine heart a stirring of pride/ thou that art holier. Wiser better▪ and more virtuous than another is/ that god hath yeven the grace for to serve him better than other done/ & thou thinkest all other beneath the and the aboven hem/ or any other thought of thyself/ which showeth to thy sight of thy soul an excellence & an overpassing of other men or women/ and of this stirring thou felyst love & delight and vain plesing in thyself that thou art so/ this is a token that thou bearest this black image/ which if it be prive fro men's eyen. nevertheless it showeth him openly in God's sight/ But now sayest thou that thou may not flee such stirrings of pride/ for oft thou felist 'em against thy will. and therefore thou holdest hem no sin/ or if they been sin they been nought but venial/ As to this I say thus that the feeling of these stirrings of pride or of any other the which springen out either of the corruption of this fowl image or by incasting of the enemy. it is no sin in as much as thou felyst hem/ and that is a grace & a privilege by virtue of the passion of Ihesu christ granted to all crysten men baptised in water & in the holy ghost/ For soothly to jews & sarrazyns which trow not in Ihesu christ. all such stirrings are deadly sins/ For saint paul saith. Omne quod non est ex fide pccm est/ All that is done withouten truth in christ is deadly sin/ But we christian men have this privilege of his mercy that such feelings are no sin. but they are pain of the original sin/ Nevertheless when by negligence & by blindness of thyself this feeling is received unwarly in thy thought. and turned in to love & liking/ then is there sin more or less after the measure of the love/ sometime venial. and sometime deadly/ when it is venial & when deadly/ fully can I not tell thee/ Nevertheless a lityll I shall say as me thinketh/   

¶ When pride is deadly sin. And how it is in fleshly living men deadly sin/ Caplm lvii·  
THenne the stirring of pride is received & turned in to liking so much that the heart chooseth it for a full rest & a full delight. and secheth none other end but only liking therein/ thenne is this pride deadly sin/ for he maketh & chooseth this delight as his god without againstanding of reason & of will and therefore it is deadly sin/ But now sayest thou/ what fool is he that would cheese pride as his god/ no man that liveth would do so/ As unto this I say that I can not tell the in special who sinneth in pride deadly/ but in general I shall say that There is two manner of pride/ The tone is bodily pride. the other is ghostly pride/ Bodily pride is of fleshly living men. Ghostly pride is of hypocrites & heretics/ these three sin deadly in pride/ I mean of such a fleshly living man as saint paul speaketh of thus/ Si scdm carnem vixeritis moriemini/ If ye live after your flesh ye shall die/ Then say I thus that a worldly man which loveth & sechyth principally the worship of himself/ and chesyth the liking of it/ as rest of his heart and the end of his bliss he sinneth deadly/ But now sayest thou/ who would cheese love of his worshypp in stead of his god/ As to this I say thus/ that he that loveth his worship as for to seem better & greater of estate than any other/ and traveleth about it as much as he may if he love it so much that for the getting of it the keeping & the saving of it he breaketh the commandment of god: or brekith love & charity to his even christian. or is ready & in full will for to break it rather than he should forbear his worship. or lose it either of his name or of his state/ or of fulfilling of his will: soothly he sinneth deadly/ For he loveth his worshypp and chesyth it more than the love of god and of his even crysten/ And nevertheless the man that sinneth thus deadly he would say with his mouth that he will not cheese pride for his god/ But he beguileth himself for he chooseth it by his deed/ Nevertheless another worldly man that loveth worship of himself. and pursueth thereafter if he love it not so much that he would for the getting or the saving of it do a deadly sin or break charity to his even christian/ he sinneth not deadly but venial/ more or less after the measure of his love and his liking with other circumstances/   

¶ How pride in heretics is deadly sin/ Caplm lviii  
AN heretic sinneth deadly in pride. for he chooseth his rest & his delight in his own opinion and in his own saying/ for he weeneth that it is sooth/ which opinion or saying is against god & holy church/ and therefore sinneth he in pride deadly for he loveth himself and his own will & wit so much that though it be openly against the ordinance of holy church he will not leave it but rest him therein as in sothfasnes▪ and so maketh he it his god/ but he beguileth himself/ For god & holy church arn so oned & accorded together that who so doth against that one he doth against both/ And therefore he that saith he loveth god and keepeth his biddynges/ and despiseth holy church. and setteth at nought the laws & the ordinances of it made by the heed and the sovereign in governance of all christian men/ he lieth he chooseth not god. but he chooseth the love of himself contrary to the love of god/ and so he sinneth deadly/ And in that he weeneth most to please god he most dysplesyth him/ for he is blind and will not see/ Of this blindness and this falls resting of an heretic in his own feeling speaketh the wise man thus/ Est via que videtur homini recta/ et novissima eius ducunt ad mortem. 
ꝓ●●. xiiii  There is a way which seemeth to a man rightful/ and the last end of it bringeth him to endless death/ This way specially is called heresy/ For other fleshly sinners that synen deadly and lain therein commonly they suppose amiss of himself. and feelen biting in conscience that they go not in the right way But an heretic supposeth that he doth well & teacheth well and yet no man so well/ And so weeneth he that his way were the right way/ and therefore feeleth he no biting of conscience ne meekness in heart/ And soothly but if god send him meekness of his mercy. at the last end he gooth to hell/ And nevertheless yet weeneth he for to have done well and geten him the bliss of heaven for his teaching/   

¶ How pride in hypocrites is deadly sin/ Caplm lix.  
THe hypocrite also sinneth deadly in pride/ He is an hypocrite that chooseth vain joy of himself. as the rest and the full delight of heart upon this manner of wise/ when a man doth many manner of good deeds bodily and ghostly and thenne is put to his mind by suggestonn of the enemy beholding of himself and of his good deeds/ How good how holy he is how worthy in men's doom/ and how high in God's sight abouen other men. he perceiveth this stirring and receiveth it wilfully/ for he weeneth it be good and of god in as much as it is sooth for he doth these good deeds better than other men And when it is received thus by assent of his will as good year riseth of it alone and a delight in his heart of himself that he so much grace hath that it ravisheth his mind out of all other thoughts both ghostly and fleshly for the time & settyth it in vain joy of himself as in a rest of his heart/ This ravishing in ghostly pride is delectable/ and therefore he keepeth it holdeth it and nourisheth it as much as he may For this love and vain delight he prayeth and waketh. he fasteth and weareth the hair/ and doth other afflictions. and all this grieveth him but lityll/ He loveth he thanketh god sometime with his mouth/ and sometime wringeth a tear out of his eye: and then he thinketh all saaf enough/ But soothly all this is for love of himself which he chooseth and receiveth as it were love and joy in god/ and in that is all the sin/ He chesyth not sin wilfully as for sin/ but he che●yth this delight and joy that he feeleth for god/ as the rest of his soul the which is sin wythouten displesing or again standing of will/ For he weeneth it were a joy in god/ and it is not so. and therefore sinneth he deadly/ job saith thus of an hypocrite/ Gaudium ypocrite ad instar puncti/ Si ascenderit in celum superbia eius & capud eius nubes tetigerit. 
job. 20●  velut sterquilinium in fine perdetur/ The joy of an hypocrite is no more than a point/ For if he sty in to heaven with raising of heart/ and his heved touch the skies at the last end he shall be casten out as a dung heap/ The joy of an hypocrite is but a point/ For if he worship himself never so moche. and joy in himself never so much all his life time/ and depeynte himself with all his good deeds in sight and in loving of the world/ at the last it is right nought/ but sorrow & pain/ But now sayest▪ thou that there are few such or else none that is so blind that would hold and cheese vain joy in himself as for joy in god/ As unto this I can not say ne will not though I could/ but one thing I tell that there are many hypocrites/ and nevertheless they ween that they been none/ and that be many that dreaden himself as hypocrites. and soothly they are none/ which is one and which is other god knoweth/ and none but he/ who so will meekly dread▪ he shall not be bigyled/ And who so weeneth to be siker. he may lightly fall/ For saint paul saith/ Qui se existimat aliquid esse cum nichil sit. 
Gal. ●.  ipse se seducit/ who so weeneth himself to be ought when he is right nought/ he beguileth himself/   

¶ How stirrings of pride and vainglory in good men been but venial sins/ Caplm lx  
Nevertheless a man or woman which disposyth him to live contemplative/ if it be so that he forsake him self as in will/ and offer him holy to god with a full general will that he would not sin in pride wittingly: ne have joy in himself wilfully but only in god if he could and might/ And after this full will offered to god he feeleth many stirrings of vainglory/ and delighteth in 'em for the time for he perceiveth 'em not. This liking is but venial sin and namely if it be so that when he cometh to himself he reproveth himself and ayenstondeth this stirring with displesing of will/ and asketh mercy and help of god/ Then the liking which before was sin/ out lord of his mercy soon forgiveth it/ And yet he shall have meed for his good travail in the ayenstonding/ And that is a courtesy of our lord granted to all those which arn specially his servants and more homely of his court/ as are all those that for his love forsaken in a good true will all worldly and all fleshly sin/ and yeven hem holy body and soul unto his service in her might and her cunning/ As done principally anchors encluse and true religious/ the which for the love of god and salvation of her soul's entren in to any religion approved by holy church/ Or else if it be so that they entren first for a worldly cause as for her bodily sustenance/ or for some other such/ if they repent 'em and turn it in to a ghostly cause as for the service of god/ these as long as they keep this will and pursue it as they may upon her freelte are true religious/ Also what man or woman that he be in what degree he be in holy church pressed clerk or lewd man/ widow or maiden or wife that will for the love of god and salvation of his soul forsake all the worships and likings of this world in this world in his heart truly and fully betwixt god and him and all wilful business and earthly things to the bare need/ And offer his wyll●nteerly for to be his servant upon his might by devout prayers and holy thoughts. with other good deeds that he may do bodily and ghostly and keepeth his will whole to god steadfastly/ All these be specially God's servants in holy church/ And for this good will and good pourpoos that they have of the yeft of god they shall increase in grace and in charity here living/ And they shall have for this special will a special meed in the bliss of heaven before other chosen souls which offered not holy her will and her body to God's service/ neither openly ne privily as they dieden/ All these which I call God's servants and of his court more special/ if they by freelte and by unkunning when they feel such stirrings of vainglory for the time delighten therein/ and perceiven it not for her reason and her wit is letted by the liking that they feel that it may not see this stirring/ They sin not deadly in this liking of vain glory/ For that will that they have generally set in her heart before to please god/ and for to forsake all manner of sin if they knew it keepeth 'em here in such stirrings and in all other that comen of freelte that they sin not deadly/ And shall keep as long as the ground of that will is kept hole/   

¶ How divers states in holy church shall have divers medes in heaven/ And of two special medes in heaven/ Caplm lxi.  
ANd over this I say more in comfort of the and of all other having the state of anchor incluse. and also by grace o● god in comfort of 'em all that enter any religion approved in holy church/ that all those that by the mercy of our lord shall be saaf they shall have a special meed and a singular worship in the bliss of heaven for her state of living before other souls that had not that state in holy church though they been never so holy/ which worship is better than all the worship of this world withouten comparison/ For if thou might see what it were thou wouldest not for the worship of this world if thou mightest have it withouten sin change the state either of anchor or of religious. ne lose that singular meed in the bliss of heaven/ which meed is called accidental meed/ Nevertheless that other men mistake not this that I say/ Therefore I shall say it more openly/ Thou shalt understand that there are two medes in the bliss of heaven/ which our lord giveth to chosen souls/ The tone is sovereign and principal/ As is loving and knowing of him after the measure of charity given of god to a soul living in deadly flesh/ This meed is best and sovereign for it is god himself/ And it is common to all the souls that shollen be saaf in what state or degree that they been living in holy church more or less/ after the quantity and the mochenes of her charity in his life what degree he be in. For he that most loveth god in charity/ he shall have most meed in the bliss of heaven/ For he shall most love god and know him and that is the sovereign meed/ And as for this meed it shall fall that some manner of man or woman/ as a lord or a lady/ knight/ or squire/ merchant/ or plough man· or what degree he be in man or woman shall have more meed thann some pressed/ or frere/ monk/ or canon/ or anchor incluse/ And why? Soothly for he loved god more in charity/ An other meed there is/ that is secondary which our lord giveth for special good deeds that a man doth wilfully over that he is bounden to/ Of three deeds principal doctors of holy church maken mind/ Of martyrdom. preaching. and manhood/ these three works as for an excellence in as much as they passen all other shall have special meed which they callen aureole. And that is nought else but a singular worship and special token ordained of god in reward of that special deed before other men/ that died not so over the sovereign meed of love of god/ chyche is common to him and to all other/ Right so it is of all other special good deeds/ the which if they been done soothfastly arne specially acceptable to the sight of god/ and in the doom of holy church they be excellent/ As arne enclosing of anchors done by the authority of holy church/ Also entering in to any religion approved. And the straighter that the religion is the more excellent is the deed in the doom of holy church/  
Also after these and beneath these the taking of the order of pressed either for cure of men's souls/ and for to minister the sacraments of holy church/ Or else for singular devotion to please god and profiten her even christian by the sacrifice of the precious body of our lord Ihesu christ/ soothly they be special deeds/ and excellent openly showed in the doom of holy church/ and in the sight of our lord/ when they be done soothfastly for god they be excellent/ and they shullen have special meed each man in his degree in the bliss of heaven/ The state of bishop and prelate is above all these deeds as for this accidental meed/ That this is soothe it s● myth by holy writ where it saith thus in the prophet Danyel/ Tu autem vade ad tempus prefinitum et requiesces ●t stabis in sort tua in fine dierum/ This is for to say thus moche/ The angel when he had showed to Danyel the pryvytees of god he said to him thus/ Go thou to the rest of thy bodily death/ and thou shalt stand in thy sort as a prophet at the last day/ And soothly as Danyell shall stand as a prophet at the last day of doom and have the worship and the excellence of a prophet over the sovereign blessed meed of love and sight of god/ Right so shalt thou stand as an anchor in that sort/ & a religious in the sort of religion And so of other excellent deeds/ and have a singular worship passing other men at the day of doom/   

¶ A short stirring to meekness and to charity/ Caplm lxii.  
NOw by these words thou may if thou wolte trow 'em/ conceive comfort for thy degree of living/ and also matter of meekness/ For though it be so that thou shalt have so moche meed specially for thy state of living if thou be saaf/ Nevertheless it may be that there is many a wife and many worldlyche woman shall be nearer god than thou/ and more shall love god and better know him than thou shalt: for all thy state/ And that ought to be a shame for the but if thou be bisye for to get love and charity as fully and as perfitly as a worldly man or woman/ For if thou may have as much charity of the gift of god as he or she hath that dwelleth still in worldly business/ thou shalt have as much of the sovereign meed as he shall. And thou shall over that for that state which thou hast taken have a singular meed and a worship which he shall not have/ Thenne if thou will do well meek thyself and forget thy state as it were right nought For it is sooth. by itself it is right nought/ And that thy desire be and thy business for to destroy sins/ and for to get charity & meekness & other ghostly virtues/ for therein lieth all/   

¶ How a man shall know how moche pride is in him/ Caplm lxiii.  
I Have nigh forgotten this image/ But now I turn again thereto/ if thou will wit how moche pride is therein/ Thou may yet assay thyself thus/ Look now wisely/ & flatter not thyself/ if loving praising or worshipping. or fleshly favour of worldly men or of other be liking to thine hert·s and torn it to vain gladness & well paying of thiselfe/ Think stillly in thine heart that men sholden praise thy life/ reward thy speech more than of other/ And also on contrary wise/ if it be so that men reprove thee/ and setten the at nought/ Hold the but a fool or an hypocrite/ or if they slander the. or speak evil of the falsely/ or in any other way that they disease the unskilfully/ And for thy thou felyst in thine heart a grievous heaviness against hem/ and a great rising in thine heart with againstanding for to suffer any shame or villainy in the sight of the world/ If it be thus with the it is a token that there is moche pride in this dark image seem thou never so holy in the sight of men/ For though these stirrings been not but lityll and venial/ nevertheless they shown well that there is moche pride hid in the ground of thine heart/ as the fore dareth in his den/ these stirrings with many more ●●●●ngen out of this image so moche that thou may unneaths do any good deed but it shall be meddled with some pride or vain delight in thyself/ And so with thy pride thou defowlest all thy good deeds/ and maketh hem loothsom in the sight of thy lord/ I say not that they are lost. for they are meddled with this pride/ But I say that they are not so pleysaunt to thy lord as they should be if they were simple and truly rooted in the virtue of meekness/ And therefore if thou wilt have cleanness of heart. for to come to the love of god/ the behoveth not only flee the rest of thin heart in vain glory by wilful assenting to pride/ and also the reckless ●ykyng therein of thy freelte if it be against thy will/ But also the feeling of thy pride thou shalt flee and eschew as much as thou may/ But that thou mayst not do but if thou be full quick and ready about the keeping of thine heart/ as I shall tell after/   

¶ Of Envy and ire and of her branches/ And how in stead of sin man's person is oft hated/ Caplm lxiiii  
Turn this image up so wwne/ And look well therein. and thou shalt find two membres of envy and ire fastened thereto/ with many divers branches springing out of them/ The which let love and charity/ the which thou shouldest have to thine even christian/ The branches of ire and envy are these/ Hatrede. evil suspicion/ falls and unskilful deeming/ malecolye rising of heart against hem/ despising and unkindness. and bachiting: and myssayenge/ unskilful blaming/ mysliking. anguisshe. and heaviness against hem that dispisen the or speak any evil of the· or against the A gladness of her disease/ a felnes against sinful men and other that will not do as the thinketh they should do with great desire of thine heart under colour of charity & rightwiseness that they were well punished and chastised for her sin/ This stirring seemeth good/ Nevertheless if thou ransack it well thou shalt find it more sometime fleshly against the person than ghostly against the sin/ Thou shalt love the man be he never so sinful/ and thou shalt hate the sin in each man what he be/ Many are beguiled in this/ for they set the bitter in stead of the sweet. and taken darkness in the stead of light against the prophet saying/ We vobis que dicitis malum bonum & bonum malum ponentes lucem tenebras & amarum dulce. 
●say· ●.  woe be to 'em that sayen good is evil and evil is good and setten light as darkness. and bitter in stead of sweet. Thus done all though that when they should hate the sin of her even christian. and love the person/ they hate the person in stead of the sin. and ween that they hate the sin/ wherefore it is a craft by itself who so could do it well/   

¶ That it is mastery to love men's persons and wisely hate her sins/ Caplm lxv  
IT is no mastery for to wake & fast till thine heed ache. ne for to run to Rome & to Iherusalem upon thy thy bare feet/ ne for to start about & preach. as if thou wouldest torn all men by thy preaching/ Ne it is no master for to make churches or chapels: for to feed poor men & make hospitals. but it is a mastery a man to love his evencristen in charity & wisely hate the sin of him & love the man/ For though it be so that all these deeds before said are good in henself. nevertheless they are common to good men and to bad/ for each man might do 'em if that he would & had whereof/ And for thy for to do that each man may do I hold it no mastery/ But for to love his even christian in charity & hate his sin. may no man it do but oonli good men which have it of the yeft of god and not of her travail. 
Ro▪ ●  as saint paul saith/ Caritas dei diffusa est in cordibus vestris per sp̄m sccm qui datus est vobis/ Love & charity is shed & spread in your hearts by the holy ghost. which is yeven to you/ And therefore it is more precious & the more dainty for to come by/ All other good deeds withouten this make not a man good ne worthy the bliss of heaven. but this alone: and only this maketh a man good & all his good deeds medeful/ All other yefts of god & works of man are coming to good & to bad/ to chosen & to reproved/ but this yeft of charity is only of god & of chosen souls/   

¶ That for the same deeds divers men shall have divers medes Caplm lxvi.  
A Good man for the love of god fasteth waketh. gooth on pilgrimage/ and forsakyth all the likings of the world soothfastly in his heart wythouten feigning/ he shall have his meed in the bliss of heaven/ And an hypocrite for vaynglori of himself doth the same deeds/ and receiveth his meed here/ Also a very preacher of God's word fulfilled of charity & of meekness sent of god and of holy church received if he preach and teach God's word/ he shall have a special meed of god/ that is the aureole for his preaching/ An hypocrite or an heretic that hath no meekness ne charity. ne be send of god nor yet of holy church/ if they preach they have her meed here/ Also a good man in worldly state for love of god maketh many churches/ chapels. abbeys. hospitals/ and doth many other good deeds of mercy/ he shall have his meed in the bliss of heaven/ not for the deed in itself/ but for the good will & the charity that he hath of the yeft of god for to do though good deeds/ An other man for vanity of himself and worship and pleasing of the world. and for his own name doth the same good deeds and hath his meed here/ The cause is in all these that the tone hath charity and the other none which is one and which is other our lord knoweth and none but he/   

¶ That all men's good deeds shall be approved that hath likeness of good. saaf the opyn heretic and the cursed man. Caplm lxvii.  
ANd therefore we should love and worship all men in our hearts. & approve examine & receive all her deeds that have the likeness of goodness though the doers in God's sight been bad save of the opyn heretic and of the opyn cursed man/ Of these two specially we shall flee and eschew the presence & the cōminyng with 'em/ And we shall reprove and refuse her deeds seem they never so good as long as they be rebel to god & holy church/ As if a worldly cursed man make a church or feed poor men thou may sickerly hold it nought and dame it as it is/ Also if an opyn heretic which is rebel to holy church preach & teach/ though he convert a hundred thousand souls/ hold the deed as to himself right nought/ For these men are opynly out of charity/ without which is all nought that a man doth/   

¶ That no good deed may make men saaf without charity/ And that charity feel they only that been meek/ ca lxviii  
ANd therefore it is a great mastery a man to cun love his even christian in charity/ All this saying may be openly proved by saint poulis words thus/ Si linguis hominum loquar & angelorum/ caritatem non habuero. nichil sum/ Et si habuero omnem fidem ita ut montes transferan. 
p. cor·· i3  caritatem autem non habeam. nichil sum. Et si noverim misteria oina. et si destribuero omes facultates meas in cibos pauperum/ et tradidero corpus meum igni ut ardeam/ caritatem autem non habuero nichil michi prodest/ Saint paul in praising of charity saith thus/ If I speak the language of all men and of angels also/ if I have no charity I am right nought And if I have so great faith that I may turn hills and bear 'em away/ and I have no charity I am right nought And also though I had all manner of knowing of all pryu●tees/ without charity I am right nought/ And if I give all that I have to poor men and my body to the fire to be brent. and I have no charity it profiteth me ryȝt nouȝt/ Hear it seemeth by saint Paul'S words that a man may do all good deeds bodily wythouten charity/ And that charity is nought else but for to love god and his even crysten as himself. How should thenne any wretched caytit living in earth what that he be have delight or trust or sikerness in himself for aught that he can or may do with all his bodily mights or his kindly reason/ sith all this is nought worth withouten love & charity to his even christian/ And this charity may not be gotten with working of himself/ for it is a free yefte of god sent in to a meek soul/ as saint paul saith. who then dare hardly say that I have charity or I am in charity/ soothly no man may say it sickerly/ but he that is perfitly and soothfastly meek/ Other men may trow of himself/ and hope that they been in charity by tokens/ But he that is perfitly meek feeleth it/ and therefore might he sickerly say it/ Thus meek was saint paul/ and for thy said he thus of himself/ Quis seperabit nos a caritate dei? Tribulacon an angustia. etc./ who shall depart me fro the charity of god? tribulation or anguish. etc./ And he answereth himself and saith/ There shall no creature put me fro the charity of god which I have in christ Ihesu/ Many men done deeds of charity and have no charity as I have sayd· For to reprove a sinner for his sin to his amending & in covenable time it is a deed of charity. but to hate the sinner in stead of the sin: it is against charity/ He that is verily meek can departed that one fro that other. and no man but he/ For though a man had all moral virtues of all philosophers he could not do this/ He should ken hate the sin in all other men for he hateth it in himself/ But he could not love the man in charity for all his philosophy/ Also if a man had knowing of all clergy & of divinity. and be not soothfastly meek he shall lightly err & stumble and take the one for that other/ But meekness is worthy to receive a yeft of god the which may not be learned by cunning of man/ And therefore he that is meek can hate the sin and truly love the man/ But now peradventure thou beginnest to dread for that I have said that charity may not be gotten by no work that thou may do/ How shalt thou thenne dooo/ As unto this I say that there is no thing so hard to get as charity/ this is soothe as within our travail/ And on the contrary wise I say that there is no yefte of god that may so lightly be had as charity/ For our lord giveth no yefte so freely ne so gladly ne so commonly as he doth charity/ How shalt thou thenne have it sayest thou. Be meek & low in spirit and thou shalt have it/ And what is lighter for to do than for to be meek? soothly no thing/ then seemeth it that there is no thing that so lightly may be had as charity/ and therefore the needeth not to be moche adradde/ Be meek & have it/ Thus saith james th'apostle. Deus superbis resistit· hunilibus autem dat gracian/ Our lord he saith ayenstondeth proud men/ but to meek men he giveth grace/ which grace is properly his charity/ for after the measure of thy meekness so shall thou have charity/ If thou have meekness inperfitly only in will: not in affection. then shall thou have inperfyte charity This is good/ for it sufficeth to salvation as david saith Inperfectum meum viderunt oculi tui/ Lord with thine eyen of mercy thou seest mine imperfection/ But if thou have meekness perfitly. 
P.  thenne shalt thou have perfit charity. and that is best/ The t'other behooveth us needily to have it if we will be saaf. and this should we desire/ then if thou ask me who is perfitly meek/ thou shalt no more have of me of meekness at this time but this/ He is meek that soothfastly knoweth himself as he is/   

¶ How a man shall wite how moche wrath & envy is hid in the ground of his heart/ Caplm lxix.  
NOw turn yet again to this image if thou wilt assay how moche ire & envy is hid in thine heart that thou felyst not/ Look well and behold thyself wisely when such stirrings of ire & envy against thine even christian springen out of thine heart/ The more stirred that thou art by melancholy bitter or wicked will against him. the more is this image in thee/ For the more thou grutchest by impatience either against god for any tribulation or sickness or other bodily disease sent of god/ or against thine even christian for ought that he doth against thee/ the less is the image of Ihesu reformed in the. I say not that such grudgings or fleshly angrynes am deadly sins/ but I say that they let the cleanness of heart and peace of conscience that thou may not have full charity by the which thou shouldest come to life contemplative/ For that end is the purpoos of all my saying. that thou shouldest not only cleanse thine heart fro deadly sins: but also fro venial as much as thou mightest. And that the ground of sin might by grace of Ihesu christ somewhat be slecket in thee/   

¶ By what tokens thou shalt know if thou lovest thine enemy/ And what ensample thou shalt take of christ for to love him/ Caplm lxx  
FOr though it be so that thou felyst none evil against thine even crysten for a time/ yet art thou not syker that the ground of ire is quenched in thee/ ne yet art thou not lord of the virtue of charity/ For suffer him touch the a lityll by angry or a shrewd word/ & thou shalt feel anon if thine heart be yet made hole by fullness of charity/ The more thou art stirred & evil willed against the persone· the ferder art thou fro charity/ And if thou nought be stirred against the person. neither by angry cheer outwarde· ne by no privy hate in thy heart for to despise & dame him or for to set him at nought. but the more shame or villainy he doth to the in word or in deed the more pity & compassion thou hast of him. as thou wouldest have of a man that were out of his mind/ And the thinkyth thou canst not find in thine heart for to hate him. for love is so good in himself/ but pray for him & help him. and desiring his amending/ not only with thy mouth as hypocrites can do. but with affection of love in thine heart/ thenne haast thou perfit charity to thine even christian/ This charity had saint stephen perfectly when he prayed for 'em that stoned him to deed/ This charity counseled christ to those that would be his perfit followers when he said thus/ Diligite inimicos urons unfacite hiis qui oderunt vos/ & c· 
M. v●  loveth your enemies & do good to hem that haten you/ prayeth for hem that pursuen you And therefore if thou will follow christ be like to him in this craft/ Lere for to love thine enemies & sinful men/ for all these arn thy even crysten/ Look & bethink the how christ loved judas which was both his deadly enemy and a sinful caitiff How goodly christ was to him. how benign. how curteyes/ & how lowly to him that he knew damnable/ and nevertheless he chase him to his apostle: & sent him for to preach with other apostles/ He gave him power for to werche miracles▪ he showed the same to him good cheer in word & in deed as he died to other apostles/ He wish his feet & fed him with his precious body/ and preached to him as he died to other apostles/ he wried him not openly for it was privy/ ne myssaied him not. ne despised him not. ne spoke never evil of him/ & yet though he had done all these. he had said but sooth/ And overmore when judas took him. he kissed him & called him his friend/ All this charity showed cryst unto judas the which he knew for damnable. in no manner feigning ne flattering but in the soothfastness of good love & clean charity/ For though it were sooth that judas was not worthy for to have had any gift of god or any sign of love for his wyckidnes nevertheless it was worthy & skilful that our lord should sheew as he is/ He is love & goodness to all his creatures as he died to judas/ I say not that he loved him for his sin. ne he loved him not for his chosen as he loved saint peter/ but he loved him in asmuch as he was his creature. & showed him tokens of love if he would have be amended thereby/ Follow after somewhat if thou may/ for though thou art stoken in an house with thy body· nevertheless in thine heart where the stead of love is thou should mow have part of such love to thine even christian as I speak of/ Who so weeneth himself to be a perfit lover & follower of christ's teaching in his living. as some man weeneth that he is in asmuch as he preacheth & teacheth. & is poor of worldly good as christ was/ and can not follow christ in this love & charity for to love his even christian each man good & bad friends & foes wythouten feigning flattering & despising in heart against the man. angrynes malicious reproving: soothly he beguileth himself/ The nearer that he weeneth he be. the ferder he is/ For christ said to 'em that would be his disciples thus/ Hoc est preceptum meum ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos/ This is my bidding that ye should love together as I have loved you. For if ye love as I have loved thenne are ye my disciples/ But now saist thou. how shalt thou love him that is bad aswell as him that is good/ As unto this I say thus. that thou shalt love both good & bad in charity but not for the same cause as I shall tell how/ Thou shalt love thine even christian as thyself/ Now thou shalt love thyself only in god or else for god/ In god thou lovest thyself when thou art rightful by grace & virtuous/ and lovest not thyself but only for that rightwiseness and virtues that god giveth the then lovest thou thyself in god for thou lovest not thyself but god/ Also for god thou lovest thyself/ as if thou were in dedeli sin and wouldest be made rightful & wertuous. thenne lovest thou thyself not as thou art/ for thou art unryghtful but as thou wouldest be/ Right so shall thou love thine even christian/ If they been good & rightful/ thou shalt love 'em by charity in god only for they been good & rightful/ for then lovest thou god in hem as goodness and rightwiseness. more than if they been bad in deadly sin/ as thine enemies that haten the or other of the which thou hast full evidence that they are not in grace/ yet shalt thou love 'em/ not as they be. ne as good men & rightful men/ for they arn bad and unrightful/ but thou shalt love 'em for god that they might be good & rightful/ And so shalt thou no thing hate in 'em but that thing that is contrary to rightwiseness/ and that is sin/ This is as I understand the teaching of saint Austyn for to depart the love of the man fro the hate of the sin & the love of thine even christian/ He that is meek or would soothfastly be me can love thus his even crysten·s and none but he/   

¶ How a man shall know how moche covetise is hid in his heart/ Caplm lxxi·  
Lift well up this image and look well about. and thou shalt mow see covetise and love of earthly things occupy a great party of this image. though it seem lityl Thou hast forsaken richesse and moche haviour of this world/ and art spered in a dungeon/ but hast thou forsaken cleanly the love of all this/ I hope not yet/ It is less mastery for to forsake worldly good than to forsake the love of it/ peradventure thou hast not forsaken thy covetise/ but thou hast changed it fro great things in to small/ as fro a pound unto a penny/ and fro a silver piece unto a dish of an halfpenny This is a simple change/ thou art no good merchant/ these ensamples arn chyldisshe/ nevertheless they betoken more/ If thou trow not me assay thyself/ If thou have love and delight in the having & holding of any thing that thou hast such as it is/ with the which love thou feedest thine heart for a time Or if thou have desire & yearning for to have some thing that thou haste not/ with which desire thine heart is travailed & stourbled by unskilful belynesse that the clean desire of virtue & of god may not rest therein/ this is a token that there is covetise in this image/ And if thou wolte assay better/ look if any thing that thou hast be taken away fro the by mastery or by borrowing. or by any other wise. and thou may not get it again/ and for thy thou art diseased angered & troubled in thine heart both for thou wantest that thing that thou wouldest have/ and may not have it/ and also against him that hath it thou art stirred for to strive & chide with him for he might restore the again & will not/ this is a token that thou lovest worldly goods/ For thus done worldly men/ when her good & her richesse is taken fro 'em they arn heavy sorry angry and chiding & striving against 'em that have it openly by word & by deed/ but thou dost all this in thine heart privily where god seeth and yet thou art in more default than a worldly man. For thou hast forsaken in likeness the love of worldly things/ but a worldly man hath not so/ and therefore he is exscused though he strive and pursue for his goods by lawful ways for to have 'em again/ But now sayest thou that the behoveth for to have thy necessaries of such things as longen to the as well as a worldly man/ I grant well thereto/ but thou should not love it for itself/ ne liking have in the holding ne in the keeping/ ne sorrow ne heaviness feel in the losing or in the withdrawing of it/ For as saint gregory saith/ asmuch sorrow as thou hast in losing of a thing. 
Greg.  so moche love hadst thou in the keeping/ And therefore if thine heart were made hole/ & thou hadst soothfastly felt desire of ghostly things: and had there with all a sight of the least ghostly thing that is. all the love & the liking of any earthly thing thou shouldest set it at nought/ it should not cleave upon thee/ For to love and for to have more than the needeth skilfully only for lust & liking it is a great default/ Also for to fetchen thy love upon the thing that the needeth for itself/ it is default but not so great But for to have & usen that thing that the needeth without love of it more than kind or need asketh without which the thing may not be used/ it is no default/ ●othli in this point as I trow many that have the state and the likeness of poverty arn much letted & hindered fro the love of god/ I ne accuse no man ne no state reprove/ for in each estate some arn good and some arn other/ But one thing I say to every man or woman that hath taken the state of wilful poverty whether he be religious or secular or what degree he be in/ as long as his love & his affection is bounden and fastened as. & it were glued with the love of any earthly thing that he hath or would have/ he may not have ne feel soothfastly the clean love and the clear sight of ghostly things/ 
Augus.  For saint Austyn said to our lord thus/ Lord he loveth the but lytill/ the loveth any thing with thee/ that he loveth not for thee/ For the more love and covetise of any earthly thing is with thee/ the less is the love of god in thine heart/ For though it be so that this love of earthly thing putteth 'em not out of charity but if it be so moche that it strangle the love of god and of her even christian/ soothly it hindereth hem and letteth 'em fro the fervour of charity/ & also fro that special meed which they should have in the bliss of heaven for perfit poverty/ and that is a great loss if they might see it/ For who so might know ghostly meed how good how precious and how worthy it is/ for it is aye lasting/ he would not for the love of all earthly joy or haviour of all earthly thing if he might have it without sin let ne less the lest meed of the bliss of heaven which he might have if that he would/ I speak ferther than I do. But I pray the do thus as I say by the grace of god if thou may or any other man who so will/ For that were a comfort to my heart that if I may not have it in myself as I say. that I might have it in thee/ Or in any other creature which hath received more plenty of his grace than I/ Butler see now then sith covetise in the naked ground letteth a man or a woman so much fro the ghostly feeling of the love of god/ how moche more thenne it letteth & cumbereth worldly men & women the which by all her wits & bodily business night & day study and travail how they might get riches and plenty of worldly good/ They can none other delight have but in worldly things/ ne they will not for they seek it not/ I say no more of 'em at this time: for in this writing I speak not to hem/ But this I say/ if they might see and would see what they do/ they should not do so/   

¶ How a man shall know when he sinneth not in eating & drinking/ and when he sinneth venially/ and when deadly/ Caplm lxxii.  
YEt may thou see more in this image though it be dark. and that is flesshli love to thyself. in gluttony accidie and lechery/ these fleshly likynges maken a man full bestly and far fro the inly savour of the love of god. and fro the clear sight of ghostly things/ But now sayest thou. Sith the behoveth nedelynges eat & drink and sleep. and that may thou not do withouten liking/ therefore the thinketh this liking is no sin/ As unto this I say. that if thou keep in eating or drinking and in other needful things of thy body measure in thy need/ and thou receivest no more liking than kind asketh/ And all this thou dost for ghostly delight which thou felyst in thy soul/ I grant the forsooth that thou then sinnest right nought therein/ for then can thou well eat & sleep/ soothly and withouten doubt I am full far fro that knowing and fir fro the working/ For to eat I have by kind/ but to cunne eat I may not but by the grace of god. Saint paul had by grace this cunning as he saith himself thus/ ubique & in oimbus institutus sum. scio saciari & esurire/ habun dare & penurian pati. 
Phillip iiii  Oina possum in eo qui me comfortat: I am informed & kenned in all things. For I can hunger & I can eat. I can with plenty and I can with poverty/ I may all in him that strenghthith me/ Saint austin said till our lord thus Lord thou hast teached me that I should take meet as a medicine/ 
Augus.  Hunger is a sickness of kind/ and meet is a medicine there to/ Therefore the liking that cometh with all in asmuch as it is kindly & needful it is no sin/ but when it passeth into lust & into wilful liking thenne it is sin/ And therefore there lieth all the mastery for to ken depart wisely need fro lust & wilful liking they are so knit together/ and that one cometh with that other. so that it is hard for to receive that one as the need & reprove that other as wilful lust the which oft cometh under colour of need/ Nevertheless sith it is so that need is the ground of this▪ and that need is no sin/ for be a man never so holy him behooveth to eat & drink and sleep therefore the lust & the liking that cometh under the colour of this need & passeth this need is the less sin/ For a man sinneth not deadly commonly in gluttony. but if he be encumbered with other deadly sins beforn done/ thenne may he the light liar sin deadly in this/ For it is sooth he that chooseth lust & liking of his flesh & delights in welfare of meet or drink as full rest of his heart that he would never have other life ne other bliss but live ever in such lust of his flesh if he might. it is no doubt but that he sinneth deadly/ for he loveth his flesh more than god/ But he that lieth in deadly sin of pride or envy or such other he is so blinded by the devil that for the time he hath no power of his free will/ and therefore he may not well againstood fleshly likings when they come but falleth down wilfully to hem as a best doth to karyon/ And in asmuch as he hath no general will before to god principally by cause that he is in deadly sin. therefore the lust of gluttony the which he falleth in lightly is to him deadly sin/ for he maketh none againstanding general ne special. But another man or woman which in grace or charity hath always a good general will to god in his soul whether he sleep or wake eat or drink or what good deed that he doth. so that it be not evil in itself by the which will & desire he chooseth god above all thing. & hath liefer forbear all thing of the world than wrath his god for love of him/ This will though it be but general it is of so great virtue by the grace of our lord Ihu that if he fall by freelte in lust & in liking of meet & of drink or of such other sickness. either by excess of toomuch eting or to often or to greedily or to lustily. & delicately. or tosone in untyme. it saveth him & keepeth him fro deadly sin/ And this is sooth aslonge as he is in charity by other deeds. & keepeth his general will to all that he doth. and namely if he know among his own wretchedness & cry after mercy. and be in purpose specially to againstood such fleshly lusts for our lord is good & merciful. & these venial sins of gluttony he forgiveth right soon unto a meek soul/ For the stirring & the liking of gluttony in asmuch as they are hardest for to flee by cause of need of the bodily kind among all other sins are most exscuable & least perilous/ And therefore thou shalt not rise against the ground of this sin as thou shalt against all other sins/ for the ground of this sin is only need which may not be escaped but if thou wilt do worse as slay the need as many fools done/ which sholden slay the thief and spare the true man/ That is to say/ They sholden slay unskilful lust & the wilful liking. and spare and keep the bodily kind. and they do not so/ But against all other sins thou shalt arise for to destroy not only deadly sins and the great venyals/ but also against the ground of hem as much as thou mayst/ See by this skill/ Thou may not live without meet and drink/ but thou may live without lechery if thou will & never but the better/ And therefore thou shalt not flee only the deed of it which is deadly sin. but also wilful liking of it in thine heart withouten deed which is venial sin/ & sometime it is deadly. but also thou shalt travail against the ground of it for to destroy the feeling & the rising of fleshly stirring/   

¶ How the ground of lechery should be destroyed with ghostli travail & with bodily/ Caplm lxxiii.  
But this travail against the ground of lechery shall be ghostly/ as by prayers & ghostly virtues. and not by bodily penance. For wite thou well that if thou fast & wake & scourge thyself/ and do all that thou can/ thou shalt never have the cleanness & the chastity without the yeft of god & the garce of meekness/ Thou shouldest sooner slay thyself than thou shouldst slay fleshly stirrings & feelings of lust & lechery either in thine heart or in thy flesh by any bodily penance/ But by the grace of Ihesu in a meek soul the ground may be moche stopped & destroyed. and the spring may be moche dried/ And that is very chastity in body & in soul/ On the same manner may be said of pride & of covetise and of such other. for thou might live if thou were not proud ne covetous/ And therefore thou shalt destroy all the feelings of 'em asmuch as thou may/ But in gluttony thou shalt rise & smite away the unskilful stirrings. and save the ground hole/   

¶ That a man should be busy to put away all stirrings of sin/ but more busy of ghostly sins than of bodily Caplm lxxiiii  
ANd therefore he that riseth against the feeling of fleshly liking in meet and drink more fully and more sharply than of pride or covetise/ which for they seemen fair aren not lightly reproved/ Or of Envy. or of Lechery/ I say that he is half blind/ for he seeth not yet ghostly uncleanness/ As of pride and envy how fowl it is in God's sight/ I hope if a man might see with his eye ghostly how foul pride and covetise arne in the sight of god/ and how contrary to him/ He should more loath a stirring of pride and the vain liking of it/ And also he should the more agryse and rise against that evil will of envy or ire to his even christian than many a stirring or liking either of gluttony or of lechery/ Nevertheless all men weenen not so/ For commonly men arn more eschew for to feel a stirring of fleshly sin/ and have for it more sorrow and heaviness than for the great likings in vain glory or in other ghostly sins/ But they arn not wise/ For if they will understand holy writ & doctors saws thereof/ they sholden find as I say/ which I ne may ne will rehearse now/ I will not excuse 'em that fallen in likings of gluttony and lechery that they sin not/ For I wot well that all the spices of 'em arn sin more or less after the measure of the lust of the sin and other likings with wilful circumstances/ But I would that thou knew and charged all/ ilk a sin as it is/ more the more/ as arn ghostli sins/ less the less arn as fleshly sins. And yet shall thou nevertheless hate and flee all both bodily & ghostly upon thy might/ For wite thou well that fleshly desires and unskilful likings in meet & drink/ Or any likynges that longen to the body passing reasonable need. though they been not alway great sins to him that is in charity/ nevertheless to a soul that desireth cleanness and ghostly feeling of god they arn full heavy painful and bitter and moche for to eschew. For the spirit may not feel his kindly savour with in. till the flesh have lost his bestly savour withouten/   

¶ That hunger and other bodily pains letteth much ghostly working/ Caplm lxxu·  
ANd therefore if thou wilt come to cleanness of heart the behooveth againstand unskilful stirring of fleshly desires/ But against the ground thou shalt not rise. as I have said before/ For the ground of it is need. as kindly hunger which thou shall nedelynges feel and tent thereto in time/ and help thyself against it by medicine of meet. as thou wouldest help thyself reasonable against a bodily sickness/ that thou might more freely serve god both bodily & ghostly/ For wite thou well what man or woman that shall be occupied ghostly in thoughts: unskilful pain or hunger wilfully taken or bodily sickness in the stomach or in the heed/ or in other party of the body for the default of good ruling of himself. by toomuch fasting. or by any other wise/ shall moche let the spirit/ and moche hinder him fro the knowing & beholding of ghostly things/ but if he have the more grace/ For though it be so that bodily pain/ either of penance or of sickness or else bodily occupation sometime letteth not the fervour of love to god in devotion/ but oft encreasyth it/ Nevertheless I hope that it letteth the fervour of love in contemplation the which may not be had ne feeled sadly but in rest of body & of soul/   

¶ What Remedy a man shall use against default made in eating or drinking/ Caplm lxxvi.  
FOr thy doo● thou skilfully that longeth to thee/ and keep thy bodily kind upon reison/ and suffer god then send what he will hele or sickness/ take it gladly/ and grudge not against god wilfully/ Do thou as I say: take thy meet as it cometh/ And ordain for it if need be upon reason/ And take it gladly as for need/ But be well waar of lust that cometh with need/ eschew to much as well as to lityll And so when thou hast done/ and then it cometh to thy mind the biting of conscience that thou haste eaten toomuch/ And so then beginnest for to tarry thee/ and draw to over moche byttyrnesse/ lift up the desire of thine heart to thy good lord Ihesu/ and know thyself for a wretch and a beast/ and ask him forgiveness. and say that thou wilt amend it/ and trust of forgiveness/ Leave of then and tarry no longer with all/ ne strive not much as thou wouldest destroy it utterly/ for it is not worth for to do so/ Thou shalt never bring it so about/ but readily ordain the redi to some other occupation bodily or ghostly/ after thou felyst the disposed that thou mightest more profit in other virtues/ as meekness and charity. For wite thou well he that hath in his desire & in his travail none other reward to none other thing but to meekness and charity/ aye crying after 'em how he might have hem/ he shall in that desire/ working folowand after profit and wax in all other virtues/ as in chastity abstinence and such other if he have but lityll reward in 'em in a year more than he should withouten this desire profit in seven/ if he strive with gluttony lechery and such other continually/ and beat himself with scourges each day fro morrow to evensong time/   

¶ That thorough by desire and travail for meekness & charity a man cometh sooner to other virtues than by travail in himself/ Caplm lxxvii.  
GEte to the then meekness and charity/ And if thou wolte travail & swink besily for to have 'em. thou shalt have enough for to do in getting of 'em/ And if thou may get 'em/ they shall rule the & measure the full privily how thou shalt eat and how thou shalt drink and succour all thy bodily need that there shall no man wite it but if thou wolte/ & that shall not be in perplexite ne in ire ne in anguysshnnes and heaviness ne in lusts ne in likings. but in peace of glad conscience which a sad restfulnes. I speak ferder than I thought to have spoken in this matter. but nevertheless do if thou may as I the say. & I hope god shall make all well/ by this that I have said may thou somdel see in this image of sin how much it letteth thee/ The gospel saith how Abraham spoke to the rich man that was buried in hell on this wise/ Chaos magnum inter nos & vos firmatum est ut hii qui volunt transire ad vos non possunt nec huc transmeare/ There is a great chaos. that it to say a thick darkness between us & the that we mow not come to the ne thou till us/ This dark image in thy soul and mine also may be called a great chaos/ that is a great darkness. for it letteth us that we mow not come to abraham which is Ihesu/ and it letteth him that he will not come to us▪   

¶ Of the darkness of the image of sin. And what cometh in by the windows thereof/ Caplm lxxviii.  
Lift up thy lantern and see in this image five windows by the which sin cometh in to thy soul as the prophet saith/ 
 Mors ingreditur per fenestras nostras/ Death cometh in by our windows/ these windows arn the five wits by the which thy soul gooth out fro by himself/ & sechyth his delight and his feeding in earthly things against his own kind/ As by the eye for to see curious and fair things/ and so of other wits/ By the unskilful using of these wits in to vanity wilfully/ thy soul is moche letted fro ghostly wits within/ and therefore the behoveth stoppen these windows or spear hem/ but only when need asketh for to open 'em/   

¶ That the soul for default of knowing of itself gooth out by five windows to seche outward liking. Caplm lxxix.  
ANd that were lityll mastery to the if thou mightest once see thy soul by clear understanding what it is and how fair it is in his own kind/ Ne it were that it is so overlayed with a black mantel of this foul image. but for thou knowist it not. therefore thou leavest the inly sight of thyself & sechest thy meet forth withouten as a best unreasonable. thus saith lord menacing to a chosen soul in holy writ. Si ignoraste o pulcra inter mulieres. 
Cant· 1.  egredere & abi post vestigia gregum sodalium tuorum et pasce edos tuos/ Thou fair among women if thou know not thyself. go out and walk after the steps of the flock of thy fellows and feed thy gete/ & it is thus moche for to say/ Thou soul fair by kind made to the likeness of god freel as a woman in the body fo● the first sin by cause that thou knowest not thyself/ that angel's food should be thy delyces within/ Therefore thou ghost out by thy bodily wits and sechest thy meet and thy liking as a beast of the flock/ that is as one reproved/ and therewith thou feedest thy thoughts and thine affections which arn unclean as goats/ It is a shame to the for to do so/   

¶ That a soul should not beg without forth but with in of Ihesu that it needeth/ Caplm lxxx.  
ANd therefore turn home again in thyself and hold the within/ and beg no more withouten namely swines meet/ For if thou will algates be a beggar ask and crave within of thy lord Ihesu/ for he is rich enough/ and gladlier will give the than thou wilt ask/ And run no more out as a best of the flock/ that is a worldly man or woman that hath no more delight but in his bodily wits. And if thou do thus thy lord Ihesu will give the all that the needeth/ For he may lead the in to his wine cellar/ and make the for to assay of his wines which the liketh best for he hath many tons/ Thus a chosen soul joying in holy writ saith of our lord/ Introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam/ 
Cant▪ ●.  A king lad me in to a wine celer/ And that is for to say●/● In as much as I forsake the drunkenness of fleshly lusts and worldly likings/ which be bitter as wormode/ f●r thy the king of bliss lord Ihesu led me in/ That is to say/ first in to myself for to behold and know myself/ And after he led me in to his celer/ that is to say. aboven myself by overpassing only in till him. and gaaf me assay of his wine/ that is for to taast a sickness of ghostly sweetness and heavenly joy/ these be not words of me a wretched caitiff living in sin/ but they arn words of the spouse of our lord in holy writ/ & these words I say to the that thou might draw in thy soul fro withouten/ and follow after as thou may/   

¶ That the hole of imagination needeth to be stopped as well as the windows of the wits/ Caplm lxxxi  
But now sayest thou that thou dost so/ thou seest no worldly things ne hearest none. ne hast none use of thy bodily wits more than need asketh/ and for thy thou art enclosed/ As to this I say. If thou do thus as I hope thou dost then hast thou stopped a great window of this image. but yet art thou not siker. for thou hast not stopped the prive holes of the imagining in thine heart/ For if thou see me not with thy bodily eye thou may see me in thy soul by imagination/ and so mayst thou do of all bodily things/ Thenne if thy soul be fed wilfully by imaginations of vanities of the world. and desiring of worldly things for a wilful comfort & ease/ soothly if thy soul be within as for the bodily wits. it is nevertheless full far withouten by such vain imagination/ But now askest thou whether it be any great sin a soul for to occupy him in such vanities either in wits or in imagining/ As unto this I say that I would that thou shouldest never ask man this question/ For he that wilt soothfastly love god he askith not cominly whether this is greater sin or this/ For him shall think what thing letteth him fro the love of god is great sin/ and him shall think no thing sin but that thing which is not good. & letteth him fro the love of god/ What is sin but a wanting or a forbering of good/ I say not that it shall be painful to him as a deadly sin or a venial should been. ne I say not but that he knoweth deadly fro venial and more fleeth it/   

¶ When the use of the wits been deadly sin. and when venial/ Caplm lxxxii.  
Nevertheless some deal shall I say to thy question. For thy desire draweth more out of mine heart than I thought for to have said in the beginning/ Our lord saith in the gospel thus/ Homo quidam fecit cenam magnam etvocavit multos & misit servum suum dicere invitatis ut venirent/ Primus dixit. Villain emi. 
Luc. xiiii  rogo te habe me excusatum/ Scds dixit/ juga boun emi quinque et eo probare illa/ Et tercius dixit. Vxorem duxi ideo non possum venire/ A man made a great supper and called many thereto. And sent his servant at supper time after 'em that were prayed/ The first exscused him and said on thy● wise that he might not come for he had bought a town/ The t'other also excused him that he might not come for he had bought five yockes of oxen and go for to assay hem/ The third for he had weddded a wife/ I leave for to speak of the first & of the last/ and I tell the of the myddelest of him that bought the oxen/ for he is to this purpoos/ five yockes of oxen betoken the five wits which arn beestly as an ox. Now this man that was called to the supper was not reproved for he bought these oxen/ but for he go for to assay hem and so he would not come/ Right so say I to thee/ For to have thy wits and use 'em in need. it is no sin/ But if thou go wilfully for to assay 'em by vain delight in creatures thenne it is sin/ For if thou cheese that delight as for a final rest of thy soul. and as a full liking/ that thou kepeste none other bliss to have but such manner worldly vanity thenne it is deadly/ for thou chesest it as thy god/ and so shalt thou be put fro the supper/ For saint paul forbid us that we should not assay our wit so when he said thus/ Post concupiscencias tuas non eas. Thou shalt not go after thy lust. ne will fully assay thy likynge/ A man or a woman that is encumbered with deadly sin shall not well escape deadly sin in this though he see it not/ but I hope it toucheth not thee/ Nevertheless if thou by freelte delight the in thy wits & such vanity/ but in that thou keepest the in charity in other sides/ and thou chesest not this delight for a full rest of thy soul but thou set test aye god before all thing in thy desire. this sin is venial after the circumstance more or less/ ne thou shalt not for these venial sins be put fro the supper in the bliss of heaven/ but thou shalt want the taasting & the assayeng of that delicate supper living in earth/ but if thou be busy with all thy myghtes for to againstand such venial sins/ For though it be so that venial sins break not charity/ soothly they let the fervour and the ghostly feeling of charity/   

¶ How a ghostly man or woman shall have 'em to 'em that come to hem/ Caplm lxxxiii.  
But now sayest thou that thou may not keep the fro hearing of vanities. for divers men worldly & other come oft for to speak with the. and tell the some tales of vanity As unto this I say thus/ that communing with thine even christian is not moche against the but helpeth the sometime if thou werche wisely/ For thou may assay thereby the measure of thy charity to thine even christian whether it be moche or lityll/ Thou art bound as each man & woman is to love thin even christian principally in thine heart & also in deed/ for to show 'em tokens of charity as reason asketh after thy might & after thy knowing/ Now sithen it is so that thou owest not to go out of thine house for to seek occasion how thou might profit thine even christian by deeds of mercy/ by cause thou art encloos· Nevertheless thou art bounden for to love 'em all in thine heart/ and to 'em that come to the to show 'em tokens of love soothfastly/ And therefore who so will speak with the what that he be. or in what degree that he be and thou know not what he is ne why he cometh/ be soon ready which a good will for to wite what his will is/ Be not dangerous ne suffer him not long abide thee/ but look how ready and how glad thou wouldest be if an angel of heaven would come so & speak with the. so ready & so buxom be thou in will for to speak with thine even christian when he cometh to the for thou woost not what he is ne why he cometh ne what need he hath of the. or thou of him till thou have assayed/ And though thou be in prayer or in devotion that the thinketh loath for to break of. for the thinketh thou shouldest not leave god for no man's speech/ me thinketh not so in this caas. For if thou be wise thou shalt not leave god. but thou shalt find him and have him & see him in thine even christian aswell as in prayer/ But on a other manner thou shalt have him than in prayer/ If thou canst well love thine even christian it should not hinder the for to speak with 'em discreetly/ discretion shalt thou have on this manner as me thinketh/ Who so cometh to the ask him meekly what he will/ And if he come for to tell his disease & for to be comforted of thy speech here him gladly/ and suffer him say what he will for ease of his own heart/ And when he hath done comfort him if thou can gladly. goodly and charitably. and soon break of/ And thenne after that if he will fall in to idle tales or vanities of the world or of other men's deeds/ answer him but litylll ne feed not his speech/ and he shall soon be weary. and soon take his leave/ If it be an other man that cometh for to teach the as a man of holy church here him lowly with reverence for his order/ And if his speech comfort the ask of him. and make the not for to teach him/ It falleth not to the for to teach a pressed but in need/ If his speech comfort the not answer little. and he will soon take his leave/ If it be another man that cometh to give the his alms. or else for to here the speak. or for to be taught of thee. speak godly & mekeli to hem all. reprove no man of his defawtes/ it falleth not to the but if he be the more homely with the that thou woost well that he will take it of thee/ And shortly to say as thou conceivest that should profit thine even christian namely ghostly may thou say if thou can and he will take it/ And of all other things keep silence asmuch as thou mayst/ and thou shalt in short time have but little press that shall let thee/ Thus me thinketh/ do better if thou can/   

¶ Of the dark image of sin/ and of the clothing thereof/ Caplm lxxxiiii.  
BY this that I have said may thou see a lityll the darkness of this image of sin/ not for I have described it fully to the as it is for I can not/ Nevertheless by this lityll thou may see more if thou look well/ But now sayest thou whereby wost thou that I bear such an image about with me as thou speakest of/ As on this I can answer/ I may take upon me a word said by the prophet/ 
〈◊〉. 12.  & it is this/ inveni idolum michi/ That is to say/ I have found a false image that men callen a mawment in myself well fowl disfigured & forshapen with wretchedness of all these sins which I have spoken of/ by the which I am casten down in many fleshly likings & worldly vanities fro cleanness of heart & feeling of ghostly virtues more than I can or may say. and that me repenteth & I cry god mercy/ By this wretchidnesse that I feel in myself more than I have said may I the better tell the of thine image/ For all come we of adam & of eve clothed with clothes of a beasts hide/ as holy writ saith of our lord thus. Fecit deus ade & urori eius tunicas pelliceas/ 
Gen. 3.  Our lord made to adam & to his wife clothes of a beasts hide/ In token that for his sin he was forshapen like to a beast/ with which bestly clothes we all been borne and umbilapped and disfigured fro our kindly shape/   

¶ Which been the limbs of the image of sin/ Caplm lxxxv.  
then is this an ugly image for to look upon/ The heed is pride/ For pride is the first & the principal sin as the wise man saith/ Inicium omnis pctī superbia/ 
Ecc●●.  The beginning of all manner of sin is pride/ The back & the hinder party of it is covetise. 
Phillip 3.  as saint paul saith/ Que retro sunt obliviscens in anteriora me extendo/ I shall foryete all worldly things which arn backward/ and I shall stretch me forward to endless things/ The breast in the which is the heart is envy/ for it is no fleshly sin but it is a devils sin as the wise man saith/ invidia diaboli mors intravit in orbenter rarum. 
Sap. 2.  Imitant illum oens qui ex part eius sunt/ By envy of the devil death cometh in to all the world/ For thy all thoo that are of his party follow him therein. The arms of it are wrath in asmuch as a man wreketh him of his wrath by his arms against crystis bidding in the gospel. 
 Si quis te percus serit super unam maxillam prebe sibi alteram/ If a man smite the upon the tone cheek with his hand. thou shalt not smite him again but offer him that other cheke· The belly of this image is gluttony as saint paul saith/ Esca ventri et venter escis. 
 deus hunc & has destruet/ Meet serveth to the belly. and the belly serveth to get meet/ but god shall destroy both belly & meet/ That shall be at the last end in the full reforming of his chosen & in deming of reproved/ The membres of it are lechery of the which saint paul saith thus/ Non exhibeatis membra ●estra arma iniquitatis ad peccatum/ ye shall not give your members specially your prive membres for to be arms of sin/ The feet of this image are accidye/ Therefore the wise man saith to the slow for to stir him to good works/ Discurre festina suscita amicum tuum/ That is to say/ Renne quickly about unto good works and haast the soon/ for the time passyth/ 
ꝓu. ●.  and raise up thy friend which is Ihesu by devout prayer and meditation/ Here hast thou heard the membres of this image/   

¶ Whereof the image of Ihesu is made. and whereof the image of sin/ and how we been passing forth in the image of sin/ Caplm lxxxvi.  
THis is not the image of Ihesu but it is liker an image of the devil/ For the image of Ihesu is made of virtues with meekness & perfit love & charity/ but this is of false fleshly love to thyself with all these membres fastened thereto This image bearest thou & every man what that he be until by grace of Ihesu it be somedeal destroyed & broken down/ Thus it seemeth that david saith in the sawter book/ Verump tamen in imagine pertransit homo. 
P· 3viii  sed et frustra conturbat This is for to say/ Though it be so that a man were made in the beginning to the image of god stable & steadfast/ nevertheless by cause of sin he forthpassith living in this world in this image of synne· by the which he is unstable & troubled in vain/ Also saint paul speaketh of this image thus Sicut portauimus ymaginem terreni hominis sic portemus ymaginem celestis/ That is to say/ If we will come to the love of god/ as we have here before borne the image of the earthly man. first adam that is the image of sin. Right so now let us bear the image of the heavenly man Ihesu which is the image of virtues/   

¶ How we should crucify this image of sin. and quicken the image of Ihesu/ Caplm lxxxvii.  
WHat shall thou thenne do with this image/ I answer the by a word thou the jews said to pylat of christ. 
Ioh. 1●.  Crucifige eum/ Take thou this body of sin & do him on the cross/ That is for to say/ Break down this image & slay the false love of sin in thyself/ as Christ's body was slain for our sin & our trespaas/ Right so the behooveth if thou wolte be like to christ slay thy bodily liking and fleshly lusts in thyself/ 
Gal. ●.  Thus said saint paul/ Qui autem cristi sunt camen suam crucifixerunt cum viciis & concupiscenciis/ these that arn Christ's followers hath crucified and slain her flesh that is the image of sin with all the lusts & the unskilful likings of it/ Slee thenne and break down pride. and set up meekness/ Also break down ire & envy and raise up love & charity to thine even christian. Also in stead of covetise. poverty in spirit/ In stead of accidy. fervour in devotion with glad readiness to all good deeds/ And in the stead of gluttony & lechery. sobirte & chastity in body & in soul/ This considered saint paul when he said thus/ Deponentes veterem hominem cum suis actibus qui corrumpitur scdm desideria erroris. 
Ep●. iiii  et induite nowm hominem qui scdm deum creatus est in sanctitate & justicia/ ye shall put down the old man that is the image of sin of the old adam with all his membres/ for he is rotin in desires of error/ and ye shall shape you & cloth you in a new man which is the image of god by holiness & rightwiseness and full heed of virtues/ who shall help the. break down this image/ soothly thy lord Ihesu/ In the virtue & in the name of him shall thou break down this mammet of sin/ Pray him besily and desire. and he shall help thee/   

¶ What profit cometh of keeping of the heart/ And how much the soul is. & what it loveth/ Caplm lxxxviii:  
GAder thenne thine heart together and do after the counsel of the wise man when he saith thus/ Omi custodia serva cor tuum. qm ex ipso vita procedit/ with all thy business keep thine herte· for out of it cometh life/ And that is sooth when it is well kept/ For then wise thoughts clean affections and brenning desires of virtues & of charity and of the bliss of heaven comen out of it. and maketh the soul to live a blessed life/ Also on the contrary wise if it be not kept/ then as our lord saith in the gospel/ De cord exiunt cogitaciones male que coinquinant hominem/ Evil thoughts and unclean affections comen out of the heart the which defoulen man as our lord saith/ They either benymme the life of the soul by deadly sin. Or else they feeble the soul and maken it sick if they been venial/ For what is a man but his thoughts and his loves/ these maken a man only good or bad/ As moche as thou lovest god and thine even christian and knowyst him. so moche is thy soul/ And if thou lityll love him. lityll is thy soul/ & if thou nouhgt love him. nougte is thy soul/ It is nought as for good/ but it is moche as for sin/ And if thou wilt wite what thou lovest look where upon thou thinkest/ For where the love is there is the eye and where the liking is there is most the heart thinking/ If thou love moche god/ the likyth for to think moche upon him/ And if thou love lityll/ then lityll thou thinkest upon him/ Rule well thy thoughts and thine affections and then art thou virtuous/   

¶ How the image of sin shall be broken down/ Caplm lxxxix.  
Begin then on and break this image when thou hast inwardly bethought the of thyself and of thy wretchedness as I have said/ how proud. how vain. and how envious/ how malencolyous/ how covetous/ how fleshly/ and how full of corruption/ Also how lityll knowing feeling or savour thou haast of god/ and of ghostly things/ How wise. how quick/ and how moche savour thou hast in earthly things/ And shortly that the thinketh the also full of sin as the hide is full of flesh/ Be thou not to much adread though thou think so of thyself/ And when thou hast done thus life up thenne the desire of thy heart to thy lord Ihesu/ and pray him of help/ Erye to him by great desires and sighings that he will help the to bear this great burden of this image. or else that he will break it/ Think also such a shame it is for the to be fed with swines meet of fleshly savours that shouldest feel a ghostly savour of heavenly joy/ If thou do thus/ then beginnest thou for to arise against the hole ground of sin in the as I have said/ And it may so be that thou shalt feel pain and sorrow/ for thou shalt understand that there may no soul live without great pain but if he have rest and delight either in his creator or in a creature/ then when thou risest against thyself by a fervent desire for to feel of thy lord Ihesu/ and for to draew out thy love fro all bodily things/ and fro rest in thy bodily feeling. in so much that thou art encumbered of thiselfe/ And the thinketh that all creatures risen against thee/ and all things which thou hadst delight in before turneth the to pain/ And when thou forsakest thus thyself/ and thou may not lightly find comfort in god/ nedelynges thy soul shall suffer pain/ Nevertheless I hope who so would suffer this pain awhile steadfastly cleaving upon that desire and naked mind of Ihesu christ/ and upon desire that he would not have but his lord and fall not lightly therefro/ ne seek no comfort outward for a time/ for it lastyth not long/ Our lord is nigh and soon shall ease the heart/ For he will help to bear thy body full of corruption/ And he will with his merciful might of gracious presence break down this false image of love in thyself/ Not all at once/ but lityll and little till thou be somdele reformed to his likeness/   

¶ How a man shall have him to the stirring of pride and of all other vices/ Caplm lxxxx.  
AFter such an hole rising against thyself when it is passed. thou shalt more sobirly and more easily rule thyself/ And the more sadly for to keep thy thoughts and thine affections for to know 'em whether they been good or bad And thenne if that thou feel a stirring of pride in any manner of spice of it/ Be soon well waar if that thou may/ and suffer not it scape lightly away/ But take it in mind and rent it break it and despise it/ and do all the shame that thou may thereto/ Look thou spare it not. ne trow it not speak he never so fair/ for it is false though it seem sooth as the prophet saith/ Popule meus qui te beatum dicunt ipsi te desipiunt et in errorem mittunt/ That is to say thus/ Thou man of my people they that say thou art blessed and holy. 
Isay· 3.  they beguile and bringen the in to error/ And if thou do thus often besily thou shalt by the grace of Ihu within short time stop moche of the spring of pride. and moche abate the vain delight thereof that thou shalt uneaths feel it/ And when thou felyst it it shall be so weak and as it were half deed that it shall not moche grieve the. And then shall thou mow have a ghostly sight of meekness how good and how fair it is and thou shalt desire it & love it for the goodness of itself/ that the shall liken for to beholden as thou art. and if need be for to suffer gladly despite and reprove for love of rightwiseness Upon the self manner when thou felyst stirrings of ire & of malemcolye rising of heart or any other evil will against thine even crysten for any manner of cause though it seem reasonable and for charity bewaar of it/ and be ready with thy thought for to refrain it that it turn not in to fleshly appetite. again stand it and follow it neither in word ne in deed asmuch as thou may/ but as he riseth smite him down again/ and so shalt thou slay it with the sword of dread of god that it shall not grieve thee/ For wite thou well in all these stirrings of pride vainglory. envy or any other that as soon as thou perceivest it and with displeysaunce of thy will and of thy reason thou againstand it thou sleest it. though it be so that it cleave still upon thine heart against thy will & will not lightly pass away/ dread it not/ for it letteth thy soul fro peace▪ but it ●●foyleth not thy soul/ Right so upon the same wise shalt thou do against all evil stirrings of covetise. accidy. gluttony. or lechery/ that thou be alway ready with thy reason and thy will for to reprove 'em and despise hem/   

¶ What thing helpeth most a man's knowing & getith to him that he lackith and most destroyeth sin in him/ Caplm lxxxxi.  
ANd that may thou do the better & the more readily if y● be busy for to set thine heart most upon one thing and that thing is nought else but a ghostly desire to god for to please him/ for to love him. for to know him. for to see him/ and for to have him by grace here in a little feeling. & in the bliss of heaven in a full being/ This desire if thou keep it shall well tell the which is sin & which is not/ & which is good & which is better good/ And if thou wilt festen thy thought thereto it shall teach the all that the needeth/ and it shall get the all that the wanteth/ And therefore when thou shalt rise against the ground of sin in general or else in any special sin. hang fast upon this desire. and set the point of thy thought more upon god whom thou desirest than upon the sin which thou reprevest/ For if thou do so thenne fighteth god for thee/ & he shall destroy sin in the. Thou shall much sooner come to thy pourpoos if thou do so than if thou leave thy meek desire to god principally. & will set thine heart only against the stirring of sin/ as though thou wouldest destroy it by mastery of thyself/ thou shalt never so bring it about/   

¶ How a man shall be shapen to the image of Ihesu/ and Ihesu shapen in him/ Caplm lxxxxii.  
But do as I have said and better if thou mayst/ And I hope by the grace of Ihesu thou shalt make the devil a shamed/ And all such wicked stirrings thou shalt break away/ that they shall not moche grieve thee/ And upon this manner wise may the image of sin be broken down in the and destroyed: by the which thou art forshapen fro the kindly shape of christ's image/ And thou shalt be shappen again to the image of Ihesu man by meekness and charity and then shalt thou be full shapen to the self image of god here living by a shadow in contemplation & in the bliss of heaven in full soothfastness. Of this shaping to the likeness of christ speaketh saint paul thus/ Filioli quos iterum perturio donec  formetur in vobis/ 
Gal. iiii  My dear children which I bear as a woman beareth her child unto christ be ayenshapen in you/ Thou hast conceived christ by troth and he hath life in the in asmuch as thou hast a good will & a desire for to serve him and please him/ but he is not yet full shapen in the ne thou in him by fullness of charity/ And therefore saint paul bore the & me and other also with travail as a woman beareth a child unto the time that christ hath his full shape in us and we in him/   

¶ How a man shall be shapen to the image of Ihesu and Ihesu shapen in him/ Caplm lxxxxii.  
WHo so weeneth for to come to the werching & to the full use of contemplation and not by this way/ that is for to say not by full heed of virtues he cometh not by the door and therefore as a thief he shall be cast out/ I say not but that a man may by the yeft of god have by times a taasting & a glemering of life contemplative/ Some man in the beginning/ But the sad feeling of it shall he not have/ for christ is the door and he is porter/ and withouten his leave & his lyvereye may there no man come in as he saith himself/ 
Ioh. iiii/  Nemo venit ad patrem nisi per me/ No man cometh to the father but by me/ That is for to say/ No man may come to the contemplation of the godhead but he be first reformed by fullness of meekness and charity to the kycknesse of Ihesu in his manhood/   

¶ The cause why this book was made. And how she should have her in reading thereof that it was made to/ Caplm lxxxxiii.  
LOo I have told the a lityll as me thinketh. first of contemplative life what it is/ and sithen of the ways which by grace leden thereto/ nought for I have it in feeling and in working as I have it in saying/ Nevertheless I would by these words such as they aren/ first stir mine own negligence for to do better than I have done/ And also my purposes is for to stir the or any other man or woman that hath taken the state of life contemplative for to travail more besily and more meekly in that manner of life by such simple words as god hath give me grace for to say/ And therefore if any word be therein that stirreth the or comforteth the more to the love of god/ thank god. for it is his gift. and not of the word/ And if it comfort the not or else thou takest it not readily/ study not tolonge thereabout but lay it beside the till another time/ and give the to thy prayer or to other ocupation/ Take it as it will come and not all at ones/ Also these words that I writ take 'em not to straitly but there that the thynkith by good advisement that I speak to shortly either for lacking of english or wanting of reason I pray the amend it only where need is/ Also these words that I write to the they longen not all to a man that hath active life/ but to the or to any other which hath the state of life contemplative/  
¶ THE grace of our Lord Ihesu christ be with thee/ AMEN   

¶ Hear begin the chapters of the two. book/  

¶ That a man is the image of god after the soul and not after the body/ Caplm primum  
How it needeth to mankind that only through the passion of christ should be restored and reformed that was forshape by the first sin. Caplm scdm  
That the jews and paynims and also falls christian men been not reformed effetually through the virtue of the passion for her own default/ Caplm iii.  
Of two manner of refourmynges of this image/ one in fullness another in faith/ Caplm iiii.  
That reforming in party is in two manners. one in faith another in feeling/ Caplm v.  
That thorough the sacrament of baptism that is grounded in the passion of christ this image is reformed fro original sin/ Caplm vi.  
That thorough the sacrament of penance that standeth in contrition confession & satisfaction this image is reformed fro actual sin/ Caplm seven.  
How in the sacrament of baptism & of penance through a prive unperceivable working of the holy ghost this image is reformed though it be not seen ne felt/ Caplm viii.  
That we should believe steadfastly reforming of this image if our conscience witness to us a full forsaking of sin & a true turning of our will to good living/ Caplm ix·  
That all the souls that lyven meekly in the faith of holy church and have her faith quickened in love and charity been reformed by this sacrament/ though it be so that they may not feel the special gift of devotion or of ghostly feeling/ Caplm x.  
That souls reformed needen ever to fight and to strive strongly against the stirrings of sin while they lyven here And how a soul may know when it assentyth to stirring and when not/ Caplm xi.  
That this image is both fair and foul while it is in this life here though it be refourmed· and of diversity of feelings privily had between these souls that been reformed/ & other that been not/ Caplm xii.  
Of three manner of men of the which some been not reformed/ and some been reformed only in faith/ and some in faith and in feeling/ Caplm xiii.  
How men that been in sin forshape himself into divers beasts likeness. & they been called the lovers of this world/ xiiii  
How lovers of this world unablen hem in divers manners to the reforming of her own soul/ Caplm xv.  
A little council how lovers of this world sholden do if they will be reformed in her own soul before her parting hens/ Caplm xvi.  
That reforming in faith and in feeling may not suddenly begotten but by grace and much bodily & ghostly travail in length of time/ Caplm xvii.  
The cause why so few souls in reward of the multitude of other cometh to this reforming in faith & in feeling/ xviii  
another cause also of the same/ and how wilful bodily customs indiscreetly rewarded & used sometime hindereth souls fro feeling of more grace/ Caplm nineteen.  
How that without moche bodily & ghostly business & without moche grace and meekness souls may not be reformed in feeling ne be kept therein after they come thereto/ xx.  
An entry how a soul shall have her in meaning and working that will come to this reforming by ensample of a pilgrim going to Iherusalem/ And of two manner of meekness/ Caplm xxi.  
Of taryenges & temptations that souls feelen by her ghostly enemies in her ghostly knowing and going to Iherusalem and of remedies against hem/ Caplm xxii.  
Of a general remedy against wicked stirrings and painful taryenges that fallen to her hearts of the flesh & of the world and of the fiend/ Caplm xxiii.  
Of an evil day and a good night what it meaneth/ and how the love of the world is likened to an evil day. and the love of god to a good night/ Caplm xxiiii.  
How that the desire of Ihesu felt in this lightsome darkness sleeth all stirrings of sin and ableth the soul to perceive ghostly lightnings fro the heavenly Iherusalem that is Ihesu/ Caplm xxv.  
How a man shall know false illuminations feigned by the fiend fro the true light of knowing that cometh out of Jesus and by what tokens/ Caplm xxvi.  
How great profit it is to the soul to be brought through grace in to lightsome darkness/ and how a man shall dispose him if he will come thereto/ Caplm xxvii.  
That in reforming of a soul the working of our lord Ihesu is departed in to four times/ that is calling. ryghting magnifyenge. & glorifyenge/ Caplm xxviii.  
How it falleth sometime that soul's beginning and perfyting in grace seem to have more love as by outward tokens than some have that been perfit and yet it is not so in sooth within/ Caplm xxix.  
On what manner a man shall have knowing of his own soul/ and how a man should set his love in Ihesu god and man one person/ Caplm thirty.  
How this manner of speaking of reforming in feeling of a soul shall be take and on what wise it is reformed/ & how it is found in saint poulis words/ Caplm xxxi.  
How god openeth the Inner eye of the soul to see him/ not all at ones but by divers times/ and of three manner of reforming of a soul by ensample/ Caplm xxxii.  
How Ihu is heaven to the soul/ & why he is called fire. xxxiii  
Of two manners of love formed and unformed what it meaneth/ and how we been behold to love Ihesu moche for our making/ but more for our ayenbyeng/ but althermoost for our saving through the yefts of his love/ Caplm xxxiii.  
How that some soul loveth Jesus by bodily fervours and by her own manly affections that been stirred by grace and by reison. And how some loven Ihesu more restfully by ghostly affections only stirred Inward thorough special grace of the holy ghost/ Caplm xxxv.  
That the yet of love among all the yefts of Ihesu is worthiest and most profitable/ And how Ihesu doth all that is well done in his lovers only for love/ and how love maketh the using of all virtues & all good deeds light & eesy/ xxxvi.  
How love thorough gracious beholding of Ihesu sleeth all stirrings of pride and maketh the soul for to lose savour and delight in all earthly worship/ Caplm xxxvii.  
How love sleeth all stirrings of wrath and envy softly and refourmyth in the soul the virtues of peace and patience and of perfit charity to his even christian/ as he died specially in the apostles/ Caplm xxxviii.  
How love sleeth covetise lechery and gluttony/ and sleeth the fleshly savour and delight in all the five bodily wits softly and easily thorough a gracious beholding of Ihu/ xxxix  
What virtues and graces a soul receiveth thorough opening of the Inner eye in to the gracious beholding of Ihesu/ And it may not be gotten only thorough man's travail/ but thorough special grace & travail also/ Caplm xl  
How special grace in beholding of Ihesu wythdrawith sometime fro a soul/ and how a soul shall have her in the absence and presence of Ihesu/ And how a soul shall desire that in it is alway the gracious presence of Ihu/ Caplm xli.  
A commendation of prayer offered to Ihesu of a soul contemplatyffe/ And how stableness in prayer is a syker work to stand in. And how every feeling of grace in a chosen soul may be said Ihesu/ but the more cleaner a soul is the worthier is his grace/ Caplm xlii.  
How a soul through the opening of the ghostly eye receiveth a gracious love able to understand holy writ/ And how Ihesu that is hid in holy writ showeth himself to his lovers/ Caplm xliii.  
Of the prive voice of Ihesu swooning in a soul whereby it shall be known/ and how all the gracious Illuminations made in a soul been called the speakings of Ihu/ Caplm xliiii  
How thorough gracious opening of the gholy eye a soul is made wise meekly and soothfastly to see the diversity of degrees in holy church. as traveylling/ and for to see angels kind/ first of reproved/ Caplm xlv.  
How by the same light of grace the blessed angels kind may be seen/ and how Ihesu is god and man above all creatures after that the soul may see him here/ Caplm xlvi.   
¶ Here endeth the chapters of the second book/   
¶ Here after followeth the second book of master walter Hylton/  

¶ That a man is the image of god after the soul and not after the body/ Caplm primum  
FOr asmuch as thou covetyst greatly and askyst it for charity for to here more of an image the which I have before times in party discrived to thee/ therefore I will gladly with dread fall to thy desire/ and helping the grace of our lord jesus christ. in whom I fully trust. I shall open to the a lityll more of this image/ At the beginning if thou wilt wite plainly what I mean by this image. I tell the forsooth that I understand nought else but thine own soul/ For thy soul and my soul and every reasonable soul is an image. and that a worthy image/ for it is the image of god as the apostle saith/ Vir est ymago dei/ That is to say/ A man is the image of god. 
 and made to the image and to the likeness of him/ not in the bodily shape without but in the mights of it within as holy writ saith. Formavit deus hominem ad ymaginem & similitudinem svam/ That is/ Our lord god shope man in his soul to his own image & likeness. This is the image that I have spoken of/ This image made to the image of god in the first shaping was wonderly fair and bright full of brenning love and ghostly light. but thorough sin of the first man adam it was disfigured and forshapen in to a neither likeness as I have before said. For it fell fro the ghostly light & that heavenly food in to painful darkness and lust of this wretched life/ exiled and flemyd out fro the heritage of heaven that it should have had if it had stand still in to the wretchedness of this earth: and afterward in to the prison of hell there to have be without end/ from the which prison to the heavenly heritage it might never have come agayen but if it had be reformed to the first shape and the first likeness But that refourming might not be made by none earthly man/ for every man was in the same myscheyff/ And none might suffice to help himself and so much less another man/ Therefore it needeth to be done by him that is more than man that is only god/ and that was skilful that he should reform and restore man to bliss if he should be saaf/ which of his endless goodness first shope him thereto How thenne it might be reformed. and how it is reformed to the first likeness by him that formed it by the grace of god I shall tell thee/ For that is the intent of this writing/   

¶ How it needed to mankind that only thorough the passion of christ it should be restored and reformed that was forshape by the first sin/ Caplm two.  
THe rightwiseness of god asketh that a trespass done be not forgiven but if amends be made for it if it may be done/ Now it is sooth. mankind that was hole in adam the first man trespassed against god so wonder grievously when it forfeited the special bidding of him/ and assented to the false counsell of the fiend. that it deserved rightfully for to have be departed fro him and dampened to hell with outen end. so farforth that standing the rightwiseness of god it might not be forgiven. but if amends were first made and full satisfaction therefore/ But this amends might no man make that was man only. and comen out of adam by kindly generation for this skill/ For the trespass and unworshyppe was endless great/ and therefore it passed man's might for to make amends for it/ And also for this skill/ He that hath trespassed and shall make amends him behooveth for to give to him that he hath trespassed unto all that he owe though he had not trespassed/ And also over that him behooveth give somewhat that he owe not but only for that he trespassed/ But mankind had not wherewith that he might pay god for his trespaas over that he ought him/ For what good deed that man might do in body or in soul it was but his debt/ For every man ought as the gospel saith for to love god with all his heart and all his soul and all his mights/ and better might he not do than this/ And nevertheless this deed sufficed not to the reforming of mankind/ Ne this might he not do but if he had be first reformed/ then needed it that if man's soul should be reformed/ and the trespaas made good/ that our lord god himself should reform this image/ and make amends for this trespaas sithen that no man might/ But that might he not do in his godhead/ for he might not ne ought not to make amends by suffering of pain in his own kind/ therefore it needed that he should take the same mankind that had trespassed and become man. And that might he not do by the common law of generation. For it was impossible God's son to be borne of touched woman/ therefore him must become man thorough a gracious generation by the working of the holy ghost of a clean gracious maiden our lady saint Mary/ and so was it done/ For our lord Ihesu God's son became man/ and thorough his precious death that he suffered made amends to the father of heaven for man's guilt/ And that might he well do for he was god. and he ought not for himself/ but in as much as he was man borne of the same kind that adam was that first trespassed And so though he ought it not for his own person/ for himself might not sin/ Nevertheless he ought it of his free will for the trespaas of mankind/ the which mankind he took for the salvation of man of his endless mercy/ For soothe it is. there was never man that might yield to god any thing of his own that he ought not. but only this blessed Ihesu. For he might pay god one thing that he ought not as for himself/ and that was nought but one thing. that was to give his precious life by wilful taking of death for love of soothfastness/ This ought he not/ As much good as he might do to the worship of god in this life: all were but debt/ But for to take death for love of rightwiseness he was not bound thereto/ He was bound to rightwiseness/ but he was not bound to die/ for death is only a pain ordained to man for his own sin/ But our lord Ihesu sinned never ne he might not sin/ and therefore he ought not for to die/ then sithen he ought not for to die. and yet wilfully he died/ then paid he to god more than he ought/ And sithen that was the best man's deed and most worthy that ever was done/ therefore was it reasonable that the sin of mankind should be forgiven/ In as much as man kind had found a man of the same kind without weme of sin/ that is Ihesu that might make amends for the trespaas done and might pay our lord god all that he ought and over more that he ought not/ then sith that our lord Ihesu god and man died thus for salvation of man's soul. it was rightful that sin should be forgiven/ and man's soul that was his image should mow be reform and restored to the first likeness and to the bliss of heaven/ This passion of our lord and this precious death is the ground of all the reforming of of man's soul/ without which might never man's soul have be reformed to the likeness of him. ne come to the bliss of heaven/ But blessed may he be in all his working/ Now is it so that thorough the virtue of his precious passion the brenning sword of cherubin that drove adam out of paradise is now put away. and the endless gates of heaven arn open to every man that will enter in thereto/ For the person of Ihesu is both god & king of heaven in the bliss to the father/ & as man he is porter at the gate ready to receive every soul that will be reformed here in this life to his likeness/ For now may every soul if that he will be reformed to the likeness of god/ sith that the trespaas is forgiven/ and the amends thorough Ihesu is made for the first guilt/ Nevertheless though this be sooth all souls have not the profit ne the fruit of this precious passion/ ne am not reformed to the likeness of him   

¶ That jews and paynims and also false christian men been not reformed effectually thorough the virtue of the passion for her owe default/ Caplm iii.  
TWo manner of men be not reformed by the virtue of this passion/ One is of 'em that trow it not/ a other is of 'em that love it not/ Jews and paynims have not the benefice of this passion/ for they trow it not/ Jews trow not that Ihu the son of the virgin marry is God's son of heaven/ Also the paynims trow not that the sovereign wisdom of god would become the son of man. and in man heed would suffer the pains of death/ And therefore the jews held the preaching of the cross and of the passion of christ nought but slander and blasphemy/ and the paynims held it nought but fantome and folly/ But true christian men held it the sovereign wisdom of god and his great might Thus said saint paul/ Predicamus vobis cristum crucifirum iudeis quidem scandalum. gentibus autem stulticiam. ipis autem vocatis iudeis & grecis xpm dei virtutem et dei sapienciam That is we preach to you that ye trow that Ihesu cryst crucified the son of marrow is God's son sovereign virtue and wisdom of god/ the which Ihesu to jews & paynims that trow not in him is but slander and folly/ And therefore these men by her untruth putten himself fro the reforming of her own soul/ and standing her untruth shall they never be saaf ne come to the bliss of heaven/ For sooth it is/ fro the beginning of the world unto the last ending was there never man saaf ne shall be saaf but if he had troth general or special in Ihesu christ/ to come or I come/ For right as all chosen souls that were before the incarnation under the old testament hadden truth in christ that he should come and reform man's soul/ either openly as patriarchs and prophets and other holy men had/ or else privily and generally as children and other simple and inperfyte souls hadden that knew not specially the privity of the incarnation/ Right so all chosen souls under the new testament hath truth in christ that he is come/ either openly and feelingly and ghostly men and wise men have/ or else generally as children have that deyen christened/ and other simple and lewd souls have that be nourished in the bosom of holy church/ Sith this is sooth then thinketh me that these men greatly and grievously erren/ that say that jews and sarrasyns by keeping of her own law may be made save/ though they trowen not in Ihesu christ/ as holy church trow/ In as much as they ween that her own troth is good and siker and suffisant to her salvation. And in that truth they done as it seemeth many good deeds of rightwiseness/ And peradventure if they knew that christian faith were better than her own is/ they would leave her own and take it/ therefore that they should be saaf/ Nay it is not enough so/ For christ god and man is both way and end/ And he is mediator betwixt god & man/ And without him may no soul be reconciled/ ne come to the bliss of heaven/ And therefore they that trowen not in him that is both god and man may never be saaf ne come to bliss/ Other men also that loven not christ nor his passion be not reformed in the soul to the likeness of him/ And these men be false christian men the which be out of charity/ and lyven and dyen in deadly sin/ these men trowen well as it seemeth that Ihesu is God's son/ And that his passion suffysyth to salvation of man's soul/ And they trow also all the other articles of the faith/ But it is an unshaply truth and a deed: for they love him not. ne they cheese not the fruit of his passion/ but they lain still in her sin and in the false love of this world unto her last end/ And so they been not reformed to the likeness of god. but gone to the pains of hell endlessly. as jews and sarrasyns done/ and in to much more greater pain than they/ In as much as they had the truth and kept it not/ For that was more trespaas than that they had never had it/ then if thou wolte wite which souls be reformed here in this life to the image of god thorough the virtue of his passion/ soothly only those that trowen in him/ and loven him/ in which souls the image of god that was thorough sin forshapen· as it were in to a fowl beasts likeness is restored & reformed to the first shape/ and to the worthiness & worship that it had in the beginning/ without which restoring and reforming shall never soul be saaf ne come to bliss/   

¶ Of two manner of refourmynges of this image/ one in fullness. another in faith/ Caplm iiii.  
NOw sayest thou how may this be sooth that the image of god. the which is manes soul might be reformed here in this life to his likeness in any creature/ It seemeth nay. it might not be so/ For if it were reformed then should it have stable mind/ clear sight and clear brenning love in god and ghostly things everlastingly as it had in the beginning/ But that is no creature as thou trowest living here in this life/ For as against thyself thou canst well say the think the full far therefro/ Thy mind thy reason and the love of thy soul arne so much set in beholding and in love of earthly things/ that of ghostly things thou felyst right little/ Thou felyste no reforming in thyself/ but thou art so unbilapped with this black image of sin for aught that thou may do. that upon what side thou the turn thou felist thyself defoiled & spotted with fleshly stirrings of this foul image: other changing felyst thou none fro flesshlynes in to ghostlines neither in prive myghtes of thy soul which in ne in bodily feeling without/ wherefore ye thinken that it might not be that this image might be reformed/ Or else if it might be reformed/ Thenne askest thou how it might be reformed/ To this I answer and say thus. There is two manner of reforming of the image of god which is man's soul/ One is in fullness/ Another is in party/ reforming in fullness may not be had in this life/ but it is delayed after this life to the bliss of heaven/ where man's soul shall fully be reformed. not to that state that it had at the first beginning by kind. or might have had thorough grace if it had stand hole/ But it shall be restored to much more bliss and moche higher joy through the great mercy and the endless goodness of god than it should have had if it had never fallen/ For then shall the soul receive the hole and the full feeling of god in all mights of it. without meddling of any other affection/ And it shall see mankind in the person of Ihesu above the kind of angels oned to the godhead/ For then shall Ihesu both god and man be all in all/ and only he. and none other but he as the prophet saith Dominus solus exaltabitur in illa die/ That is our lord Ihesu in that day that is everlasting day shall be highed only. and none but he/ And also the body of man shall thenne be glorified/ For it shall receive fully the rich dowary of unde delynes with all that longeth thereto/ This shall a soul have with the body/ and moche more than I can say. But that shall be in the bliss of heaven and not in this life/ For though it be so that the passion of our lord be cause of all this full reforming of man's soul/ nevertheless it was not his will for to grant this full refourming right anon after his passion to all chosen souls that were living in time of his passion/ But he delayed it unto the last day And that was for this skill/ Sooth it is that our lord Ihesu christ of his mercy hath ordained a certain number of souls to salvation which number was not fulfilled in the time of his passion/ And therefore it needed that by length of time thorough kindly generation of men it should be fulfilled. Then if it had so be that as soon after the death of our lord every soul that would have trowed in him should by his life have be blessed and full reformed without any other abiding/ there would no creature that lived thenne have be that he ne would have received the faith for to have be made blessed/ and then should generation have ceased. And so should we that are now chosen souls living and other souls that come after us not have been borne/ and so should our lord have failed of his number/ But that may not be/ And therefore our lord purveyed moche better for us in that that he delayed the full reforming of man's soul till the last end. as saint paul saith/ Deo pro nobis melius providente. ne sine nobis consummarentur/ That is. 
He●●.  Our lord purveyeth better for us in the delay of our reforming than if he had granted it thenne/ For this skill that the chosen souls here before should not make a full end without us that come after/ Another skill is this/ For sith that man in his first forming of god was set in his free will and had free choosing whether he would have fully god or noo· It was therefore reasonable that sith he would not cheese god thenne but wretchedly fell from him/ If he should afterward be reformed that he should be set again in the same free chesinge that he was first in. whether he would have the profit of his reforming or no/ And this may be a skill why manes soul was not reformed fully as fast after the passion of Ihesu christ/   

¶ That reforming in party is in two manners. one in faith another in feeling/ Caplm v.  
A Nother reforming of this image is in party: and this reforming may be had in this life: & but if it be had in this life it may never be had. ne the soul may never be saaf/ But this reforming is on two manners/ One is in faith only. Another is in faith and in feeling. The first reforming in faith only sufficeth to salvation/ The second is worthy to have passing meed in the bliss of heaven/ The first may be had lightly and in short time/ The second may not so but thorough length of time and moche ghostly travail/ The first may be had with the feeling of the image of sin/ for though a man feel no thing in himself but all stirrings of sin and fleshly desires. not ayenstonding that feeling/ if he wilfully assent not thereto he may be reformed in faith to the likeness of god/ But the second reforming puttyth out the liking in feeling of fleshly stirrings and worldly desires/ and suffereth no such spots abide in this image/ The first reforming is only of beginning and profiting souls. and of active men/ The second is of perfit souls and of contemplative men· For by the first reforming the image of sin is not destroyed. but it is left as it were all hole in feeling/ But the second reforming destroyeth the old feelings of this image of sin/ and bringeth in to the soul new gracious feelings thorough the working of the holy ghost/ The first is good. the second is better/ but the third that is in the bliss of heaven is moos best/ first let us speak of that one and sith of that other/ and so we shall come to the third.   

¶ That thorough the sacrament of baptism that is grounded in the passion of christ this is reformed fro original sin/ Caplm vi.  
TWo manner of sins maketh a soul to lose the shape & the likeness of god. That one is called original that is the first sin. tother is called actuel that is wilfully done sin. these two. sins put away a soul fro the bliss of heaven. & dampneth it to thendless pain of hell. but if it be thorough the grace of god reformed to his likeness or it pass hens out of this life/ Nevertheless two remedies aren there against these two sins/ by the which a forshapen soul may be restored again/ One is the sacrament of baptism against original sin/ another is the sacrament of penance against actuell sin/ A soul of a child that is borne and is unchristened by cause of original sin hath no likeness of god/ He is nought but an image of the fiend and a bronde of hell. But as soon as it is crystened it is reformed to the image of god/ and through the virtue of faith of holy church suddenly it is turned fro the likeness of the fiend and made like an angel of heaven. Also the same falleth to a jew or to a farracyne the which or they been crystened be nought but manciples of hell/ But when they forsaken her error and fallen meekly to the truth in christ. and receive the baptism of water in the holy ghost. soothly without any more tarrying they be reformed to the lickenesse of god so fully as holy church troweth. that if they might as soon after baptym pass out of this world. they should straight flee to heaven without any more letting/ had they done never so much sin before in the time of her untruth/ and never should they feel the pay●ne of hell ne of purgatory/ And that privilege should they h●ue by the merit of christ's passion/   

¶ That thorough the sacrament of penance that stond●●h in contrition confession and satisfaction this image is reformed fro actual sin/ Caplm seven.  
ALso what christian man or woman that hath lost the lickenesse of god through a deadly sin breaking god●dis commandments/ if he thorough touching of grace soothfastly forsake his sin with sorrow and contrition of heart. and be in full will for to amend him/ and torn him to good living/ And in this foresaid will receiveth the sacrament of penance if he may/ Or if that he may not he is in will thereto. soothly I say that this man's soul or woman's that was forshapen first to the likeness of the devil thorough deadly sin is now by the sacrament of penance restored and shapen again to the image of our lord god/ This is a great curteysie of our lord and an cudeles mercy that so lightly forgiveth all manner of sin/ and so suddenly giveth plenty of grace to a sinful soul that asketh mercy of him/ He abideth not great penance doing ne painful fleshly suffering or he forgive it/ But he asketh a loathing of sin and a full forsaking in will of the soul for the love of him. and a turning of the heart to him/ This askith he/ for this giveth he/ And thenne when he seeth this without any delaying. he forgiveth the sin and refourmyth the soul to his likeness/ The sin is forgiven that the soul shall not be dampened/ Nevertheless the pain detted for the sin is not yet fully forgiven/ but if contrition and love be the more/ And therefore shall he go and show him and shrive him to his ghostly father. and receive penance enjoined for his trespaas. and gladly fulfil it. so that both the sin and the pain may be done away or he pass hens/ And that is the skilful ordinance of holy church for great profit of man's soul. that though the sin be forgiven thorough the virtue of contrition/ nevertheless in fulfilling of meekness: and for to make hole satisfaction he shall if he may show to his pressed plener confession/ for that is his token & his warrant of forgiveness against all his enemies. and that is needful for to have/ For if a man had forfeited his life against a king of this earth it were not enough to him as for a full sickerness for to have only forgiveness of the king/ but if he have a charter the which may be his token and his warrant against all other men/ Right so may it be said ghostly/ If a man have forfeited against the king of heaven his life through deadly sin/ It is not enough to him to full sickerness for to have forgiveness of god only by contrition between god & him. but if he have a charter made by holy church if he may come thereto And that is the sacrament of penance the which is his charter & his token of foryevesse/ For sith that he forfeited both against god and holy church it is skilful that he have forgiveness for that one and a warrant for that other/ And this ●o skill why that confession is needful/ Another skill is this/ For sith this reforming of the soul stondyth in faith only & not in feeling/ therefore a fleshly man that is rude and boystouse & can not dame lightly but outward of bodily things should not mow have trowed that his sins had been forgiven him but if he had some bodily token. and that is confession thorough the which token he is made all siker of forgiveness if that he do that in him is/ This is the troth of holy church as I understand it/ Also another skill is this/ Though the ground of forgiveness stand not principally in confession but in contrition of the heart. and in forthynkyng of sin/ nevertheless I hope that there is many a soul that should never a feeled very contrition. nor had full forsaking 〈◊〉 if confession had not be/ For it falleth oftsythes that 〈◊〉 time of confession grace of compunction cometh to a 〈◊〉 that before never felid grace. but ever was cold and d●y● and ferder fro feeling of grace/ And therefore sith confession 〈◊〉 so profitable to the more party of christian men holy 〈◊〉 ordained for the more sickerness generally to all christian men that every man & woman should once in the year at the lest be shriven of all her sins that come to her mind to her ghostly fader·s though they had never so much contrition before time/ Nevertheless I hope well that if all men had been as busy about the keeping of themself in eschewing of all manner of sin/ And had comen to as much great knowing and feeling of god as some man hath/ That holy church should not have ordained the token of confession▪ as for needful bond for it had not needed/ But for all men arn not so perfit. and peradventure moche of the more party of christian men is unperfect. therefore holy church ordained confession· by way of general bond to all christian men that will know holy church as her mother. and will be buxom to her bidding/ If this be sooth as I hope it is thenne erreth he greatly that generally saith that confession of sins for to show a pressed is neither needful to a sinner ne beautiful/ and that no man is bound thereto/ For by that that I have said it is both needful & spedful to all souls that in this wretched life are defoiled/ thorough sin/ and namely to those that arn thorough deadly sin forshapen fro the likeness of god which may not be reformed to his likeness but by the sacrament of penance that principally standeth in contrition & sorrow of heart/ and secondary in shrift of mouth following after if it may be had/ Upon this manner by this sacrament of penance is a sinful soul reformed to the image of god and to his likeness/   

¶ How in the sacrament of baptism & of penance thorough a prive unperceivable working of the holy ghost this image is reformed though it be not seen ne felt/ Caplm viii.  
But this reforming standeth in faith & not in feeling/ For right as the propirte of the faith is for to trow that thou seest not. right so it is for to trow that thou felyst not. But he that is reformed in his soul by the sacrament of penance to the image of god he feeleth no changing in himself neither in his bodily kind without ne in the prive substance of the soul within other than he died. for he is as he was unto his feeling/ and he feeleth the same stirrings of sin and the same corruption of his flesh in passions & worldly rising in his heart as he died before/ And nevertheless he shall trow that he is thorough grace reform to the likeness of god though he neither feel it ne see it/ He may well feel sorrow for his sin and a torning of his will fro sin to cleanness of living if that he have grace and take good keep of himself but he may neither see ne feel the reforming of his soul how it is wonderly & unperceyvably changed fro the filth of the fiend unto the fairness of an angel thorough a prive gracious working of the holy ghost/ That may he not see but he shall trow it/ And if he trow it. then is his soul reform in truth/ For right as holy church trowith by the sacrament of baptism soothfastly received a jew or a sarrasyn or a child borne is reformed in soul to the likeness of god thorough a prive unperceivable working of the holy ghost/ not againstanding all the fleshly stirrings of his body of sin. the which he shall feel after his baptism as well as he died before. Right so by the sacrament of penance meekly & truly received a falls christen man that hath be encumbered with deadly sin all his life time is reformed in his soul within unperceyvably. out taken a turning of his will thorough a prive might & a gracious working of the holy ghost that suddenly worketh/ and in time of a monent or a twinkling of an eye ryghttyth a froward soul. and turneth it fro ghostly filth to fairness unseeable/ and of a servant of the 〈◊〉 maketh a son of joy/ and of the prisoner of hell maketh a perceiver of heavenly heritage not againstanding all the fle●shly feeling of this sinful image that is the bodily kind▪ For thou shalt understand that the sacrament of baptism or of penance is not of that virtue for to let & destroy utterly all the stirrings of fleshly lusts and painful passions that a man's soul never feel no manner rising ne stirrings of 'em no time/ For if it were so then were a soul fully reformed here to the worship of the first making/ But that may not be fully in this life/ But it is of that virtue that it cleanseth the soul fro all the sins before done/ And if it be departed fro the body saveth it fro damnation. And if it dwell in the body it giveth the soul grace to againstand the stirrings of sin/ and it keepeth it in grace also that no manner of lusty stirrings or of passions that it feeleth in the flesh be it never so grievous shall dear it ne depart it fro god as long as it wilfully sentyth not thereto/ Thus saint paul meaned when he said thus/ Nichil dampnaconnis in hiis qui non scdm carnem ambulant/ That is. 
Ro· viii.  these souls that be reformed to the image of god in faith thorough the sacrament of baptism or of penance shall not be dampened for feelings of this image of sin/ if it so be that they go not after the stirrings of the flesh by deed doing/   

¶ That we should believe steadfastly reforming of this image. if our conscience witness to us a full forsaking of sin. & a true torning of our will to good living/ Ca· ix.  
OF this reforming in faith speaketh saint paul thus justus ex fide vivit/ The rightwisman liveth in faith That is. 
〈◊〉. x.  He that is made rightful by baptism or by penance he liveth in faith/ which sufficeth unto salvation and to heavenly peace as saint paul saith/ justificati ex fide pacem habemus ad deum/ That is: 
Ro· v.  we that be righted and reformed thorough faith in christ hath peace and accord made betwixt god and us. nought ayenstonding the vicious feelings of our body of sin/ For though this reforming be prive and may not well be felt here in this life/ nevertheless who so trow it steadfastly. and shapyth his works bisely for to accord to his troth/ and that he turn not again to deadly sin Soothly when the hour of death cometh. and the soul is departed fro this bodily life then shall he find it sooth that I say now/ Thus said saint john in comfort of chosen souls that lyven here in faith under the feeling of this painful image/ Barissimi. & nunc sumus filii dei: sed non dum apparuit quid erimus/ Scimus autem qm cum christus apparuit tunc apparebimus cum eo similes ei in gloria/ That is: My dear friends we be now while we live here the sons of god/ for we arn reformed by faith in christ to his likeness But it showeth not yet what we arn/ but it is all prive/ Nevertheless we know well that when our lord shall show him at the last day/ then shall we appear with him like unto him in endless joy/ If thou wolte wite then if thy soul be reformed to the image of god or no/ by that I have said thou may have entry/ ransack thy conscience. and look what thy will is/ for there in standeth all/ If it be turned fro all manner of deadly sin. that thou wouldst for nothing wittingly and wilfully break the commandment of god/ And for that thou haste misdone here before against his bidding thou hast shriven the thereof meekly with full heart to leave it/ and art sorry that thou didst it/ I say then sickerly that thy soul is reformed in faith to the likeness of god/   

¶ That all the souls that lyven meekly in the faith of holy church/ and have her faith quickened in love and cha●ryte been reformed by this sacrament/ though it be so that they may not feel the special gift of devotion or of ghostly feeling/ Caplm x·  
IN this reforming that is only in faith the 〈◊〉 part of chosen souls leaden her life that setten her will steadfastly for to flee all manner of deadly sin/ and for to k●pe 'em in love & charity to her even christian/ and for to kep● the commandments of god after her cunning/ And when it so is that wicked stirrings and evil wills risen in her hearts of pride or of envy of ire or lechery/ or of any other heed sin they againstand 'em and striven against hem by displeasing of will/ so that they follow not in deed these wicked wills/ And nevertheless if they fall lightly as it were against her will thorough freelte or vncunnynge/ as soon her conscience grieveth hem and pynyth hem so grievously that they may have no rest till they be shriven and may have foryevenes'/ soothly all these souls that thus lyven in this reforming and been found therein. in the hour of death they shall be saaf/ and come to the full reforming in the bliss of heaven/ though it be so that they might never have ghostly feeling ne Inward savour. ne special grace of devotion in all her life time/ For else if thou say that no soul shall be saaf but it were reformed in ghostly feeling that it might feel devotion and ghostly savour in god as some souls done thorough special grace. thenne should few souls be saaf in reward of multitude of other/ Nay it is not for to trow that that for the souls that only arn devout. and by grace come to ghostly feeling. and for no more our lord Ihesu should have take mankind/ and suffered that hard passion of death. It had be a little purchaas to him for to have come fro so far to so near/ and fro so high to so low for so few souls Nay his mercy is spread larger than so/ Nevertheless on the contrary wise if thou trow that the passion of our lord is so precious. and his mercy so much that there shall no soul be dampened. and namely of no christian man do he never so evil as some fools ween/ soothly thou erreste greatly/ Therefore go in the mean and hold the in the mids. and trow as holy church trow/ And that is that the most sinful man that liveth in earth if he torn his will thorough grace fro deadly sin with soothfast repentance to the service of god/ he is reformed in his soul/ And if he died in that state he shall be saaf/ Thus behight our lord by his prophet saying thus/ In quacumque hora conversus fuerit peccator & ingemuerit. 
E· xxviii  vita vivet et non morietur/ That is/ In what time that it be that the sinful. man is turned to god fro sin and he have sorrow therefore he shall live. and he shall not die endlessly/ And on the other side who so livyth in deadly sin and will not leave it ne amend him thereof: ne receive the sacrament of penance/ or else if he receive it he taketh it not soothfastly for the love of god/ that is for the love of virtue & cleanness but only for dread or shame of the world/ or for dread only of pains of hell/ he is not reformed to the likeness of god/ And if he die in that plight he shall not be saaf/ His troth shall not save him/ for his truth is deed and lackyth love. and therefore it serveth him not/ But they that have troth quickened with love & charity arn reformed to the likeness of god. though it be but the least degree of charity. as arn simple souls the which feelen not the yeft of special devotion ne ghostly knowing of god/ as some ghostly men done. but trowen generally as holy church trowith. and knoweth not fully what that is. for it needeth not to hem· And in that trow they keep 'em in love and charity to her even christian as they may/ and fleen all deadly sin after her cunning/ and done the deeds of mercy to her even christian All these longen to the bliss of heaven/ For it is written in the apoc· thus. Qui timetis deum pusilli et magni laudate 〈◊〉 This is/ ye that dreaden god both small & great thank him By great arn understand souls that arn profiting in 〈◊〉 or else perfit in the love of god. the which arn reformed in ghostly feeling: By small arn understand souls unperfect of worldly men & women. and other that have but a ch●●dis knowing of god and full lityll feeling of him. but 〈◊〉 brought forth in the bosom of holy church and nourished with the sacrament as children arn fed with milk/ All these should love god and thank him for salvation of her souls by his endless mercy & goodness/ For holy church that is mother of all these and hath tender love to all her children ghostly prayeth and asketh for hem all tenderly of her spouse that is Ihesu and getteth 'em hele of soul thorough virtue of his passion/ And namely for 'em that can not speak for 'em self by ghostly prayer for her need/ Thus I find in the gospel. That the woman of Chanee asked of our lord he'll to her daughter that was travailed with a fiend/ and our lord made first danger by cause she was an alyene/ Nevertheless she ceased not for to cry till our lord had granted her asking. and said to her thus. Aa woman moche is thy troth be it to the right as thou wilt/ In the same hour was her daughter hole. This woman betokenith holy church that asketh help of our lord for simple vncunnynge souls that are travailed with temptation of the world/ and can not speak perfectly to god by fervour of devotion ne brenning love in contemplation/ And though it seem that our lord make danger first by cause that they arn as it were aliened fro him/ nevertheless for the great truth & desert of holy church he granteth to her all that she will/ And so arn these simple souls that trowen steadfastly as holy church trow/ & putten 'em fully in the mercy of god/ and meken hem under the sacrament and laws of holy church made saaf thorough prayer and troth of her mother holy church/   

¶ That souls reformed needen ever to fight and strive against the stirring of sin while they lyven here/ And how a soul may wite when it assentyth to the stirring. and when not/ Caplm xi.  
THis reforming in faith is lightly gotten/ but it may not so lightly behold/ And therefore what man or woman that is reformed to the sickness of god in troth moche travail and business must they have if they will keep this image hole & clean that it fall not down again thorough weakness of will to the image of sin/ He may not be idle ne reklees for the image of sin is so near fastened to him/ and so continually pressyth upon him by diverse stirrings of sin/ that but if he be right well waare he shall full lightly through assent fall again thereto/ And therefore him needeth ever be striving and fighting against wicked stirrings of this image of sin/ and that he make none accord therewith/ ne take no friendship to it for to be buxum to his unskilful biddynges/ For if he do he beguileth himself But soothly if he striveth with hem him needeth not much dread of assenting/ For strife breaketh peace and falls accord. It is good that a man have peace with all thing save with the fiend and with this image of sin/ for against hem him needeth ever fight in his thought and in his deed till he have gotten on 'em the mastery. and that shall never be fully in this life/ as long as he beareth and feeleth this image/ I say not but that a soul may thorough grace have the higher hand over this image so farforth that he shall not follow ne scent to the unskilful stirrings of it/ But for to be so clean delivered fro this image that he should feel no suggestion ne jangling of fleshly affection ne of vain thought no time may no man have in this life/ I hope that a soul that is reformed in feeling by ravishing of love in contemplation of god may be so far fro the sensuality and fro vain imagination and so far drawn out and departed fro the fleshly feeling for a time that it shall not feel but god/ but that lasteth not ever/ And therefore say I that every man behoveth stryffe against this image of sin/ and namely he that is reformed in faith only that so lightly may be deceived therewith/ In the person of which men saith saint paul/ Caro concupiscit adversus spiritum et spiritus adversus camen That is: 
 A soul reformed to the lickenesse of god fightith against the fleshly stirrings of this image of sin/ and also this image of sin striveth against the will of the spirit This manner of fighting of this double image saint paul knew when he said thus/ inveni legem in membris me is repugnantem legi mentis mee et captiuum me ducentem in legem peccati/ That is/ I have found two laws in myself One law in my soul within/ and another in my fleshly limbs without fighting with it that oft leadeth me as a wretched prisoner to the law of sin/ By these two laws in a soul I understand this double image/ By the law of the spirit I understand the reason of the soul when it is reformed to the image of god/ By the law of the flesh I understand the sensualytees which I call the image of sin/ 
Ro. seven.  In these two laws a soul reformed leadeth his life as saint paul saith/ Mente enim seruio legi dei. carne enim legi peccati/ In my soul that is in my will and in my reason I serve to the law of god/ but in my flesh that is in my flesshli appetite I serve to the law of sin/ Nevertheless that a soul reformed shall not despair though he serve to the law of sin by feeling of the vicious sensuality against the will of the spirit by cause of corruption of the bodily kind. saint paul excusyth it saying thus of his own person/ Non enim quod volo bonum hoc ago. 
 sed malum quod odi hoc facio. Si autem malum quod odi hoc facio. non ego operor illud sed quod habitat in me peccatum/ I do not that good that I would do. That is. I would feel no fleshly stirring. and that do I not/ But I do that evil that I hate. That is: The sinful stirrings of my flesh I hate/ and yet I feel hem/ Nevertheless sith it is so that I have the wicked stirrings of my flesh/ and yet I feel hem and oft delight in hem against my will they shall not be rehearsed against me for damnation as if I had done hem/ And why? For the corruption of this image of sin doth hem· and not I ●oo saint paul in his person comforteth all souls that thorough grace arn reformed in faith that they sholden not tomoche dread the burden of this image with the unskilful stirrings thereof/ if it so be they sent not wilfully thereto/ Nevertheless in this point many souls that be reformed in truth arne oft times much tormented & troubled in vain as thus/ When they have felt fleshly stirrings of pride or enuye· of covetise or lechery or of any other heed sin. they wot not sometime whether they sent thereto or no. & that is no great word/ For in time of temptation a freel man's thought is so troubled & so over laid that he hath no clear sight ne freedom of himself/ but is taken oft with liking unwarly. & gooth forth a great while or thenne he perceive it/ And therefore fallen some in doubt & dwere whed they sinned in time of temptation or no/ As against this point I say as me think/ that a soul may have assayeng in this manner whed that he assent or no/ If it be so that a man is stirred to any manner of sin. and the liking is so great in his fleshly feeling that it trowblith his reason. & as it were with mastery ocupyeth the affection of the soul/ nevertheless he keepeth him that he followeth not in deed/ 〈◊〉 he would not if he might but is rather painful to him for 〈◊〉 feel the liking of that sin. & fain he would put it away 〈◊〉 he might/ And thenne when the stirring is overpased he is glad & well paid that he is delivered of it/ by this assay may he wite. that were the liking never so great in the fleshly feeling that he assented not ne sinned not namely deadly. Nevertheless ● remedy there is siker to such a simple soul that is 〈◊〉 in itself & can not help it the he be not to bold in himself 〈◊〉 weening that such fleshly stirring with liking are no sins. 〈◊〉 he might so fall into retchlessness & into false sikernes·s Ne 〈◊〉 that he be not to dreadful ne to simple in wit for to dame 〈◊〉 all as deadly sins nor as great venyals for neither is sooth. but that he hold hem all as sins & wretchedness of himself. & that he have sorrow for hem & be not to busy for to dame hem neither deed li ne venial. But if his conscience be greatly grieved that he haastly go & show to his confessor in general or in special such stirrings. & namely every stirring that beginneth to festen any rote in the heart & most ocupieth it for to draw it down to sin & worldly vanity/ And thenne when he is thus shriven generally or specially trow thenne steadfastly that they been foryeven. & dispute no more about 'em that arn passed & forgiven whether they were deadly or venial. But that he be more busy to keep him better against 'em that arn coming And if he do thus thenne may he come to rest in conscience/ But thenne some arn so fleshly & so vncunnyng that they would feel or see or here her forgiveness of her sins as openly as they might feel & see a bodily thing/ And for asmuch as they feel it not so therefore they fall oft in such weeres and doubts of himself & never may come to rest/ and in that arn they unwise. for faith gooth before feeling/ Our lord said to a man that was in the palsy when he healed him thus/ 
 Confided fili remittunt tibi pccā tua/ That is: son trow steadfastly thy sins arn foryeven thee/ He said not to him see or feel how thy sins arn foryeve thee/ for the forgiveness of sins is done ghostly & unseeable thorough the grace of the holy ghost. but trow it/ Right on the same wise. every man that will come to rest in conscience him behooveth first if he do that in him is trow without ghostly feeling forgiveness of his sins/ And if he first trow it/ he shall afterward thorough grace feel it. & understand it that it is so. 
●say. seven  Thus said the apostle/ Nisi crederitis non intelligetis/ That is: But if ye first trow ye may not understand/ Troth gooth before & understanding cometh after/ the which understanding that I call the light of god if it be gracious a soul may not have but through great cleanness as our lord saith/ Beati mundo cord qm ipsei deum videbunt/ blessed be clean of heart for they shall see god. 
M. v.  not with her fleshly eye but with the Inner eye that is understanding cleansed & lighted thoruh grace of the holy ghost for to fee soothe fastness. that which cleanness a soul may not feel but if he have stable troth going before as th'apostle saith/ Fide mundans corda eorum. 
Act· xv.  That is our lord cleanseth the hearts of his choose thoruh faith/ therefore it is needful that a soul trow first the reforming of himself made thorough the sacrament of penance thouh he see it not/ and that he dispose himself fully for to live rightfully & virtuously as his troth asketh/ so that he may after come to sight & to the reforming in feeling/   

¶ That this image is both fair & fowl whiles it is in this life here though it be reformed/ And of diversity of feelings privily had between these souls that been reformed and other that been not/ Caplm xii.  
Fair is man's soul. and fowl is a man's soul/ Fair in as much as it is reformed in faith to the likeness of god/ But it is foul in asmuch as it is meddled with fleshly feelings & unskilful stirrings of this fowl image of sin/ Fowl without as it were a be'st/ fair within like to an angel/ Fowl in feeling of the sensuality/ fair in troth of the reason/ Fowl for the fleshly appetite. fair for the good will/ Thus fair & thus foul is a chosen soul/ saying holy writ thus/ Nigra sum sed formosa filie jerlm sicut tabernacula cedar et sicut pellis salomonis/ That is. 
 I am black but I am fair & shaply ye daughter of Jerusalem as the tabernacles of cedar as the skin of salomon/ That is ye angels of heaven that arn daughters of the high jerlm wonder not on 〈◊〉 ne dispyce me not for my black shadow/ For though I 〈◊〉 black without by cause of my fleshly kind as is a tabernacle of cedar/ Nevertheless I am full fair within as the skin of salomon. for I am reformed to the likeness of god/ By cedar is understand a reproved soul the which is a tabernacle of the devil/ By salomon is understand our lord Ihesu For he is peace and peaceable/ By the skin of salomon is understand a blessed angel in whom our lord dwelleth/ And is hid as is the life hid in the skin of a quick body/ And therefore is an angel lyckened to a skin/ then may a chosen soul with meek trust in god & gladenes of heart say thus/ Though I be black by cause of my body of sin as a reproved soul that is one of the tabernacles of the fiend/ nevertheless I am within full fair thorough truth & good will like to an angel of heaven/ For so saith he in another place/ Nolite considerare me qd fusca sum. qm decoloravit me sol. 
Cant. i.  That is: Behold me not that I am swart for the son hath defaded me/ The son maketh a skin swart only without and not within/ and it betokenith this fleshly life/ Therefore saith a chosen soul thus/ Reprove me not for I am swart. for the swartnesse that I have is all without of touching & of bearing of this image of sin/ but it is no thing within/ And therefore soothly though it be so that a chosen soul reform in faith dwell in this body of sin and feel the same fleshly stirrings/ and use the same bodily works as doth a tabernacle of cedar so farforth that in man's doom there should no difference be betwixt that one and that other. Nevertheless within in her souls there is a full great dyversite· and in the sight of god there is full moche twinning/ But the knowing of this which is one and which is other is only kept to god▪ for it passeth man's doom & manes feeling/ and therefore we shall no man dame as evil for that thing that may be used both evil & well. A soul that is not reformed is take so fully with the love of the world/ and so much overlayed with the liking of his flesh in all his sensuality that he chooseth it as a full rest of his heart. and in his prive meaning he would not else have but that he might ever be siker thereof. He feeleth no liquor of grace stirring him for to loath his fleshly life ne for to desire heavenly bliss/ And therefore I may say that he beareth not this image of sin/ but he is borne of it as a man that were seek and so weak that he might not bear himself/ And therefore he is laid in a bed and borne in a lytere/ Right so such a sinful soul is so weak and so unmyghtis for lacking of grace that he may neither move hand ne foot for to do any good deed: ne for to againstand by displesing of will the least stirring of sin when it cometh/ but it falleth down thereto as it were a be'st upon carrion/ But a soul that is reformed though he use his fleshly wits/ and feel fleshly stirrings/ nevertheless he loatheth 'em in his herte· for he would for no thing fully rest in 'em/ but he fleeth the rest as the biting of an adder/ and had liefer have his rest and the love of his heart in god if that he cowde· and sometime desireth thereto/ and often grudgeth of the liking of this life for love of the life everlasting/ This soul is not borne in this image of sin as a seek man though he feel it. but he beareth it/ For thorough grace he is made mighty & strong for to suffer and bear his body with all the evil stirrings of it without hurting or defoyling of himself/ and that is in asmuch as he loveth 'em not. ne followeth hem not· ne scenteth not to hem the which arn deadly sins as another doth/ This was bodily fulfilled in the gospel of a man that was in the palsy. and was so feeble that he might not go/ and therefore was he laid and borne in a lytere and brought to our lord/ And when our lord saw him in mischief of his g●●odnesse he said to him/ Surge et tolle grabatum tuum et 〈◊〉 in domum tuam/ That is: Rise up and take thy bed and 〈◊〉 in to thy house/ And so he died. and was hole/ And soothly right as this man bare upon his back when he was made hole the bed that before bore him/ Right so it may be said ghostly that a soul reformed in faith beareth this image of sin the which bore him before/ And therefore be not adread toomuch of thy blackness that thou haste of bearing of this image of sin. But as against the shame & the discomfort that thou hast of the beholding of it/ and also again vpbraydyng that thou felist in thy heart of thy ghostly enemies when they say to the thus/ where is thy lord Ihus. what seekest yu. where is the fairness that thou speakest of. what felist thou ought but blindness of sin/ where is that image of god that thou sayest is reformed in thee/ Comfort thiselfe and be faithful stiffly as I have before said/ And if thou do so thou shalt by this troth destroy all the temptations of thine enemies/ Thus said the apostle paul. Accipe scutum fidei in quo omnia tela hostis nequissima poteris extinguere/ That is: 
Eph. 6.  Take to the a shield of steadfast troth thorough the which thou may quench all the brenning darts of thine enemy/   

¶ Of three manner of men of the which some been not reformed/ and some been reformed only in faith/ and some in faith and in feeling/ Caplm xiii.  
BY this that I have said may thou see that after divers parties of the soul be divers states of men/ Some men be not reformed to the likeness of god/ and some be reformed to the likeness of god/ And some arn reformed only in faith/ and some be reformed in faith and in feeling/ For thou shalt understand that a soul hath two parties/ That one is called sensuality and that is fleshly feeling by the five outward wits/ the which is common to man and to be'st/ Of the which sensuality when it is unskilfully and unordynatly ruled is made the image of sin/ when it is not ruled after reason/ for then is the sensuality sin/ That other party is called reason/ and that is departed in two/ In the over party & in the neither/ The over party is lickened to a man/ for it should be master and sovereign and that is properly the image of god/ For by that only the soul knoweth god and loveth him/ And the neither is lyckened to a woman/ for it should be buxum to the over party of reison/ as woman is buxum to man/ and that lieth in knowing and ruling of earthly things: for to use 'em discretely after need. & for to refuse 'em when it is no need. for to have ever with it an eye upward to the overpartie of reason with dread & reverence for to follow it. Now may I say that a soul that liveth after likings and the lusts of his flesh/ as it were an unskilful be'st. and neither hath knowing of god ne desire to virtues ne to good living. But is all blinded in pride/ fret with envy. overlayed with covetise/ defoiled with lechery/ and other great sins/ Is not reformed to the likeness of god/ for it lieth and resteth fully in the image of sin. that is sensuality/ Another soul that dreadeth god/ and ayenstondeth deadly stirrings of the sensuality/ and followeth 'em not/ But liveth reasonably in rueling and governance of worldly things/ and setteth his intent and his will for to please god by his outward works is reformed to the likeness of god in faith/ And though he feel the same stirrings of sin as that other doth/ it shall not disease him for he resteth not in hem as that other doth/ But another soul that fleeth thorough grace all deadly stirrings of the sensuality and venyals also farforth that he feeleth 'em not is reformed in feeling/ for he followeth the overparty of reason in beholding of god and ghostly thynges·s as I shall tell the afterward/   

¶ How men that been in sin forshapen himself in to diverse beasts likeness/ And they been called the lovers of the world/ Caplm xiiii.  
A wretched man is he then that knoweth not the worthiness of his soul ne will not know it/ how it is most worthy creature that ever god made out take an angel whom it is like to. high above all other kind bodily. to the which no thing may suffice as full rest/ but only god/ And therefore he should no thing love ne like but him only/ ne covet ne seek but how he might be reformed to his likeness. but for he knoweth not this. therefore he seeketh & coveytith his rest & his liking outward in bodily creatures worse than himself is/ Unkindly he doth & unreasonably he werkith that leaveth the sovereign good & everlasting life that is god unsought and unloved unknown and unworshipped. and chooseth his rest & his bliss in a passing delight of an earthly thing/ Nevertheless thus done all the lovers of this world that have her joy & her bliss in this wretched life/ Some have it in pride & vainglory of himself/ that when they have lost the dread of god they travail & study night & day how they mow come to worship & praising of the world/ and maken no force how it be so that they might come thereto and overpass all men either in clergy or in craft in name or in fame. In riches or in reverence. in sovereignty & mastership. in high state & lordship Some men have her rest in riches and in outrageous haviour of earthly good. and setten her hearts so fully for to get it. that they seek not else but how they might come thereto/ Some have her liking in fleshly lusts of gluttony & lechery and in other bodily uncleanness/ And some in oo thing and some in another. And thus wretchedly these that done thus forshapen himself fro the worthiness of man. and torn 'em in to divers beasts lickenes/ The proud man is turned into a lion for pride: for he would be drade & worshipped of all men/ and that no man againstand the fulfilling of his fleshly will neither in word ne in deed/ And if any man would let his mysproude will. he we●ith fell & wroth. and will be wrought of him as a lion wrekith him on a lityll be'st/ This man that doth thus is no man for he doth unreasonably against the kind of a man/ and so he is turned & transformed in to a lion/ envious & angry men arn turned in to hounds thorough wrath/ an envy that berkyth again her even crysten and bityth 'em by wicked & malicious words/ and grevytgh hem that have not trespassed with wrongful deeds. harming hem in body & in soul against God's bidding/ Some men be forshapen in to asses the be slow to the service of god. and evil willed for to do any good deed to her even christian/ They arn ready enough for to run for worldly profit & for earthly worship or for pleisaunce of an earthly man/ But for ghostly mede· for help of her own souls: or for the worship of god they are soon irk they will not thereof/ And if they ought done they gone but apace and with froward will/ Some are turned in to swine for they are so blind in wit & so bestly in manners that they have no dread of god: but followen only the lusts & likings of her flesh/ and have no reward to the honest of man/ ne for to rule 'em after the bidding of reason/ ne for to restrain the unskilful stirrings of the fleshly kind. but assoon as a fleshly stirring cometh of sin they are ready for to fall thereto and follow as swine done/ Some men are turned in to wulfes that lyven by ravin as falls covetous men done that through mastery & overleding robben her even cri●●● of her worldly goods/ Some men are turned in to foxes as false men & deceivable men that lyven in treachery & guile/ All these and many other more that lyven not in dread of god. but breaken his commandments forshapen himself fro the 〈◊〉 of god/ and maken hem like to bestes·s ye & worse than beasts for they are like to the fiend of hell/ And therefore soothly 〈◊〉 men that lyven thus if they been not reformed when 〈◊〉 hour of death cometh. and the souls of hem are departed 〈◊〉 the bodies. thenne shall her eye be opened that is now stopped with sin/ and then shall they feel & find the pain of 〈◊〉 wretchedness that they lived in here/ And for asmuch as the image of god was not reformed through the sacrament of penance in 'em neither in faith ne in feeling here in this life they shall be as cursed cast out fro the blessed face of our creator/ and they shall be dampened with the devil in to the deepness of hell there for to be without end/ Thus saith saint john in th'apocalypse/ Tumidis et incredulis execratis & homicidis fornicatoribus venificis et ydolatris & omibus mendacibus pars illorum erit in stagno ardenti igne & sulphur. 
Apoc. ●  That is. To proud men & mystrowing men to cursed and to men sleers. to lecherous & covetous. to poisoners & worshippers of mawmetes. and to all falls liars her deal shall be with the devil in the pit of hell brenning with fire & brymston/ If the lovers of this world would oft think on this how all this world shall pass & draw to an end. and how all wicked love shall be hard punished. they should within short time looth all worldly lusts that they now most like/ and they should lift up her heart for to love god/ & they would busily seek & travail how they might be reformed to his likeness or they pass hens/   

¶ How lovers of this world unable hem in divers manners to the reforming of her own soul/ Caplm xv  
But now saith some of 'em thus. I would fain love god & be a good man·s & forsake the love of the world if that I might/ but I have no grace thereto. If I had the same grace that a good man hath I should do as he doth/ But for I have it not. therefore I may not/ & so it is not to me to wite but I am excused/ Unto these men I say thus sooth it is as they say that they have no grace/ and therefore they lain still in her sin & may not rise out/ But that availeth 'em not against god. for it is her own default/ They unable hem by divers ways so much that the light of grace may not shine to hen rest in her hearts. For some are so froward that they will no grace haven they will no good men be/ For they wot well that if they should be good men they must needs forbear the great liking & the lust of this world that they have in earthly things/ and that will they not. For hem thinken it is so sweet that they will not forgoo it/  
And also they must needs take works of penance/ As in fasting. waking: praying/ And many other good deeds doing: In chastising of their flesh/ And in withdrawing of their fleshly will/ and that may they not do/ For it is made so sharp and so dreadful to her thinking that they uggen & lothen for to think upon it/ and so cowardly & wretchedly dwell they still in her sin/ Some would have grace as it seemeth and begynen to able hem thereto. but her will is wonder week/ For assoon as any stirring of sin cometh though it be contrary to the bidding of god. they fall anon thereto/ for they are so bound through custom by oft falling and oft assenting to sin before: that hem think it impossible for to againstood it/ and so feigned hardness of performing weekyth her will. and smytith it down again: So me also feelen stirring of grace. as when they have biting of conscience for her evil living. & that they should leave it But that is so painful to hem & heavy that they will not suffer it ne abide it: but they flee therefro & foryete it if they may so farforth that they seek liking & comfort outward in fleshly creatures. so that they should not feel this biting of conscience within her soul/ And more over some men are so blind & so bestly that they ween there is none other life but this. ne that there is no soul other than of a best/ & that the soul of a man dieth with the body as the soul of a be'st/ and therefore they say: Eat we. drink we: & make we merry here/ for of this life we been siker: we see none other heaven/ soothly such are some wretches that say thus in her hearts/ though they say it not with her mouth/ Of the which men the prophet saith thus/ Dixit insipiens in cord suo non est deus/ That is/ ● unwise man said in his heart: there is no god/ This unwise man is every wretched man that liveth & loveth sin. and ●hesith the love of this world as rest of his soul: he saith there is no god/ not with his mouth. for he will speak of him some time when he fareth well fleshly as it were in reverence when he saith blessed be god/ Sometime in despite when he is angry against god or his even christian. and sweareth by his blessed body or any of his members/ But he saith in his thought that there is no god/ and that is either for he weeneth that god seeth not his sin. or that he will not punish it so hard as holy writ saith/ or that he will foryeve him that sin though he see it not/ or else that there shall no christian man be dampened do he never so evil/ Or else if he fast our lady fast. or say every day a certain orison/ or here every day two. masses or three or do a certain bodily deed as it were in worship of god. he shall never go to hell do he never so much sin though he forsake it not/ this man saith in his heart that there is no god/ But he is unwise as the prophet saith/ For he shall feel & find in pain that he is a god whom he forgot & set nought by/ but set by the weal of the world as the prophet saith/ Sola vexacio dabit intellectum auditui/ That is: 
 Onnly pain shall give understanding/ For he that knoweth not this here ne will not know it: shall well know it when he is in pain.   

¶ A lityll counsel how lovers of this world should do if they will be reformed in her soul before her parting hens Caplm xvi.  
these men though they wot well that they be out of grace & in deadly sin they have no care ne sorrow ne thought therefore. But they make fleshly mirth & worldly solace asmuch as they may/ And the ferder they been fro grace the more mirth they make/ & perchance some held 'em well paid that they have no grace that they may as it were the more fully & freely follow the liking of fleshly lusts. as though god were a sleep & might not see hem/ And this is one of the most default that may be/ And thus by her own frowardness they stop the light of grace fro her own soul that it may not rest therein/ the which grace in asmuch as in it is shineth to all ghostly creatures ready for to enter in there it is received: as the son shineth over all creatures bodily ther● it is not letted/ thus saith saint john in the gospel. 
Iohis: 1.  Lux in true bris lucet et tenebre eam non comprehenderunt/ That is/ the light of grace shineth in darkness/ that is to men's hearts that are dark through sin/ But the darkness taketh it not/ That is these blind hearts receive not the gracious light. ne have not the profit of it: But right as a blind man is umbilapped with the light of the son when he standeth therein. & yet seeth it not. ne hath no profit thereof for to go thereby/ right so ghostly a soul blinded with deadly sin is all unbelapped with this ghostly light. & yet he is never the better/ for he is blinded & will not see ne know his blindness/ And that is one of the most letting of grace. that a wretched man will not be a know of his own blindness for pride of himself or else if he know it he chargeth not. but maketh mirth & game as he were over all siker/ Therefore unto all these men that are thus blinded & bound with the love of this world/ & are fowl forshape fro the fayrhede of man I say & counsel that they think on her soule· & that they able hem unto grace asmuch as they may. and that may they do upon this wise if that they will/ When that they feel himself out of grace & overlayed with deadly sin: then that they think what mischief & what peril it is to hem for to be put out of grace & departed fro god as they been/ For there is no thing that holdeth 'em fro the pit of hell that they ne should right soon fall therein but a bare syngyll thread of this bodily life whenby they hang/ what lightlier may be lost than a sengyl ●h●ede may be broken in two/ For were the breath stopped in her body: & that may lightly fall. her soul shall pass forth & anon be in hell without end/ And if they would think thus they should quake & shake for dread of the rightful domes of god. & of the hard punishing of sin/ and they should make sorrow & morn for her sin & for lacking of grace/ and thenne should they cry & pray that they might have grace/ & if they died thus thenne should grace fall in & put out darkness & hardness of heart and weakness of will/ and give 'em might & strength for to forsake the false love of this world as much as is deadly sin/ For there is no soul so far fro god thorough wickidnes of will in deadly sin: I out take none that liveth in this body of sin that he ne may through grace be righted & reformed to cleanness of living. if he will bow his will to god with meekness for to amend his life. and heartily axe grace & forgiveness of him/ & excuse our lord▪ and fully accuse himself/ For holy writ saith. Nolo mortem pcconris sed magis ut connertat et vivat/ That is. Our lord saith: I will not the death of a sinner but I will more that he be turned to me & live/ For our lord will that the most froward man that liveth forshapen through sin if he torn his will and ask grace that he be reformed to his likeness/   

¶ That reforming in faith & in feeling may not suddenly be gotten by grace & much bodily and ghostly travail in length of time/ Caplm xvii.  
THis reforming is in faith as I have before said that lightly may be had/ But after this cometh reforming in faith & in feeling that may not lightly begot but thorough long travail & moche business/ For reforming in faith is common to all chosen souls though they been in the lowest degree of charity/ But reforming in feeling is specially of these souls that may come to the state of perfection & that may not suddenly be had. but after great plenty of grace & much ghostly travail a soul may come thereto/ and that is when he is first healed of his ghostly sickness/: and when all bitter passions & fleshly lusts. & other old feelings are brent out of the heart with fire of desire and new gracious feelings arne brought Inn with brenning love and ghostly light/ Thenne right nigh hygheth a soul to perfection and to reforming in feeling/  
For soothe it is. right as a man that is brought nigh to death through bodily sickness though he receive a medicine by the which he is restored & siker of his life/ he may not therefore anon rise up & go to work as an hole may for the feebleness of his body holdeth him down that he must abide a good while & keep him well with medicynes·s & diet him by measure after ye●echynge of a leech till he may fully recover bodily heel. Right so ghostly· he that is brought to ghostly death through deadly sin though he through medicine of the sacrament of penance be restored to life that he shall not be dampened/ nevertheless he is not anon hole of all his passions & of all his fleshly desires. ne able to contemplation/ but him behoveth abide a great while. & take good keep of himself/ and rule him so that he might recover full hele of soul. for he shall langern a great while or that he be fully hole/ Nevertheless if that he take medicines of a good leech. & use 'em in time with measure & discretion he shall much the sooner be restored to his ghostly strength. & come to reforming in feeling/ For reforming in faith is the lowest state of all chosen souls/ for beneath that might they not well be/ But reforming in feeling is the highest state in this life that the soul may come to But fro the lowest to the highest may not a soul suddenly 〈◊〉. no more than a man that will climb upon a ladder 〈◊〉 setteth his foot upon the lowest steel may at the next flee up to the highest/ But him behoveth go by process one after another till he may come to the ouerest/ Right so it is ghostly. no man is made suddenly sovereign in grace: but through long exercise and sly working of a soul may come thereto/ namely when he helpeth & teacheth a wretched soul in whom all grace lieth/ For without special help & Inwardly teaching of him may no soul come thereto.   

¶ The cause why so few souls in rewarnde of the multitude of other comen to this reforming in faith and in feeling/ Caplm xviii.  
But now sayest thou. Sith our lord is so courteous of his goodness. & of his gracious yefts so free/ wonder it is thenne that so few souls as it seemeth in reward of the multitude of other may come to this reforming in feeling/ It seemeth that he were dangerous & that is not sooth/ or that he took no reward of his creatures. the which by taking of faith are become his servants/ Unto this I may answer & say as me thinketh. that one encheason is this/ Many that are reformed in faith sentten not her hearts for to profit in grace. ne for to seek none higher estate of good living thruh busy travail in praying & thinking. and other bodily & ghostly working/ but hem think it enough to hem to keep henselfe out of deadly sin. and for to stand still in that plight as they are in/ For they say that it is enough to hem for to be saaf and have the least degree in heaven/ They will covet no more/ Thus perchance doth some of the chosen souls that leaden in the world active life/ and that is lityll wonder of 'em/ For they are so occupied with worldly business that needeth for to be done that they may not fully set her hearts for to profit in ghostly working/ And nevertheless it is perilous to hem. for they fall out all day/ and are now up & now down. & may not come to the stablynes of good living Nevertheless they are somewhat excusable for her estate of living/ But other men & women that are free fro worldly business if they will & may have her needful sustenance with out great bodily business. specially as religious men & women may that bynden himself to the state of perfection by taking of religion. and other men also in secular state that have moche reason in great kindly wit. & might if they would dispose 'em there to come to much grace/ these men are more to blame. for they stand still as they were idle & will not profit in grace. ne in no ferder seeking for to come to the love and the knowing of god afore soothly it is perilous to a soul that is reformed only in faith and will no more seek profit. ne give him besily to ghostly travail/ for he may so lightly lose that he hath. and fall again to deadly sin. For a soul may not stand still always in one state while that it is in the flesh/ For it is either profiting in grace or peyring in sin/ For it fareth by him as it doth by a man that were draw out of a pit. & when he were up he would no fir go than the pits brink/ soothly he were a moche fool. for a little puff of wind or an unwarly stirring of himself should soon cast him down again worse than he was before/ Nevertheless if he flee fro the brink as far as he may & go forth on the earth. thenne though there come a great storm he is the more siker. for he falleth not in the pit/ Right so ghostly. he that is drawn out of the pit of sin through reforming of faith/ & when he is out of deadly sin he thy●●kyth himself siker enough/ And therefore he will not profit but hold him still as he is by the pyttis' brink as near as he may soothly he is not wise/ for at the least temptation of his enemy or of his flesh he falleth in to sin again/ But never theles if he flee fro the pit. that is if he set his heart 〈◊〉 for to come to more grace. & for to travail besily how he 〈◊〉 come thereto. & give him heartily to praying: thinking & other 〈◊〉 works doing/ though great temptations rise against him 〈◊〉 falleth not lightly to deadly sin again/ And soothly it is 〈◊〉 to me the sithen grace is so good & so profitable why a 〈◊〉 when he hath but a little thereof/ ye so little that he might no less have that he wool say hoo/ I wool no more of this/ for I have enough/ When I see a worldly man though he have of worldly good moche more than him needeth/ yet he will never say hoo/ I have enough I will no more of this/ But he will covet more and more: and travail all his wits and his mights/ And never will stint of his coveytise till he may have no more/ Moche more then   

¶ How that without moche bodily and ghostly business and without moche grace and meekness souls may not be reformed in feeling/ ne keep therein after they come thereto/ Caplm xx.  
NOw saist thou. Sith it is so that reforming in faith is so low and so perilous for to rest in by cause of dread of falling again/ And reforming in feeling is so high and so syker/ who so might come thereto. Then coveyteste thou for to wite what manner travail were most speedful for to use/ by the which a man might profit inn. and come thereto. Or if there were any certain travail or special deed by the which a man might come to that grace and that reforming in feeling/ As unto this I say thus/ Thou wottest well that what man or woman will dispose him for to come to cleanness of heart and to feeling of grace him behoveth have moche travail and great fighting in will and in work lastingly against wicked stirrings of all the heed sins/ Not only against pride or Envy but against all other with all the spices that comen out of them/ as I have said before in the first writing. For why? Passions and fleshly desires let the cleanness of the heart and peace in conscience/ And him behoveth also for to travail for to get all virtues/ Not only chastity and abstinence/ but also patience and mildness/ charity and meekness & all the other/ And this may not be done by one manner of work/ but by diverse works and many after sundry dispositions of men/ As now praying: now thinking now working some good works/ now assaying themself in diverse wise/ In hunger: in thirst: in cold: in suffering of shame and despite if need be/ And in other bodily disease for love of virtue and soothfastness/ This knowest thou well/ for this redest thou in every book that teacheth of good living/ Thus saith every man that will stir men's souls to the love of god/ And so it seemeth that there is no special travail ne certain deed through which only a soul might come to that grace/ but principally through grace of our lord jesus. & by many deeds & great in all that he may done. and yet all this is lityll enough/ And one skill may be this. For sith our lord Ihu himself is special master of this craft: & he is special leech of ghostly sickness: for without him all is nouite. it is therefore reasonable that after that he teacheth & stireth so a man follow & work/ But he is a simple master that can not teach his disciple while he is in learning but ever one lesson/ & he is an unwise leech that by one medicine will he●e all sores/ Therefore our lord Ihu that is so wise & so go●e for to show his wisdom & his goodness he teacheth divers 〈◊〉 to his disciples after that they profit in her learning. & giveth to divers souls sere & divers medicines after the ●●lynge of her sickness/ Also another skill is this: If there 〈◊〉 any certain deed by the which a soul might come to the profit love of god thenne should a man ween that he might come thereto by his own work & through his own travail as a merchant cometh to his meed by his own travail only 〈…〉 his own work/ Nay it is not so ghostly in the love of 〈◊〉 For he that will serve god wisely & come to perfit love 〈◊〉 god. he shall covet to have none other meed but him 〈◊〉 But then for to have him may no creature deserve 〈◊〉 by his own travail/ For though a man might travail 〈◊〉 much bodily & ghostly as all creatures that ever were might. he mygghte not deserve only by his works for to have god to his meed: for he is sovereign bliss & endless goodness. & passeth without comparison all men's deserts. & therefore he may not begotten by no manes special works as bodily meed may/ For he is free & giveth himself where he will. and when he will. neither for this ne for thee/ ne in this time ne after that time/ For though a soul work all that he can & may all his life time/ perfit love of Ihesu shall he never have till our lord Ihesu will freely give it/ Nevertheless on that other side I say also I hope he giveth it not but if a man work & travail all that he can & may. ye till him think he may no more/ or else be in full will thereto if he might/ And so it seemeth that neither grace only without full working of a soul that in it is/ ne working alone without grace bringeth a soul to the reforming in feeling/ the which reforming standeth in perfit love & charity/ But that one joined to the other/ that is grace joined to working bringeth in to a soul the blessed feeling of perfit love/ the which grace may not rest fully but on meek souls that been full of the dread of god/ Therefore may I say: he that hath no meekness ne doth his business. may not come to this reforming in feeling/ He hath not full meekness that can not feel of himself soothfastly as he is/ As thus/ He that doth all the good deeds that he can/ as in fasting: waking: wearing of the heir. & all other suffering of bodily penance/ or doth all the outward works of mercy to his even-christian: or else Inward/ as praying: weeping: sighing/ & thinking if he rest ever in hem & lean so much to 'em: and rewardeth 'em so greatly in his own sight that he presumeth of his own deserts. and thinketh himself ever rich & good holy & virtuous/ soothly aslong as he feeleth thus he is not meek enough/ Ne though he say or think that all that he doth is of God's yeft & not of himself. he is not yet meek enough for he may not make himself yet naked of all his good deeds/ ne make him poor soothfastly in spirit/ ne feel himself nought as he is/ And soothly until a soul can feel ably thorough grace nought himself. and barren him from all the good deeds that he doth thorough beholding of soothfastness of Ihesu he is not perfitly meek/ For what is meekness but so the fastness? Soothly nought else/ And therefore he that thorough grace may see Ihesu how that he doth all/ And himself doth right nought but suffereth Ihu work in him what him likyth. he is meek/ But this is full hard. & as it were impossible. & unreasonable to a man that worcheth all by manes reason/ and seeth no ferder for to do many good deeds/ & then for to arrette all to Ihu. and set himself at nought/ Nevertheless who so might have a ghostly sight of soothfastness him should think it full true and full reasonable for to do so/ And soothly he that hath this sight shall never do the less/ but he shall be stirred for to travail bodily & ghostly moche the more and with the better will/ And this may be one cause why some men peradventure swink & sweet & pine her wretched body with outrageous penance all her life time/ and are ever saying orisons & sawters and many other deeds/ and yet may they not come to the ghostly feeling of the love of god as it seemeth that some done in short time with less pain. for they have not that meekness that I spoke of Also on that other side I say he that doth not his business that thinketh thus. whereto should I travail/ whereto should I pray or think wake or fast/ or any other bodily penance do for to come to such grace sithen it may not be gotten 〈◊〉 had but only of the free yefte of Ihu/ Therefore I will aby●● in flesshlines as I am. and right nought do of such works▪ bodily ne ghostly until he give it/ For if he will give it he asketh no working of me what so that I do. & how lityll that I do I shall have it/ And if he will not give it. traueyl● I never so fast therefore I get it never the sooner/ He that saith thus may not come to this reforming. for he draweth him self wilfully to idleness of flessheed: & unableth him to the yeft of grace in asmuch as he putteth fro him both Inward working that standeth in lasting desire & in longing to Ihu & outward working by travail of his body in outward deeds. so may he not have it/ therefore I say he that hath no true meekness ne full heartily business other inward only by great fervour & lasting desire. and busy prayer and thought in god. or else both Inward & outward. may he not come to this ghostly reforming of his image/   

¶ An entry how a soul shall have her in meaning & worchinge that will come to this reforming by ensample of a pilgrim going to Iherlm. And of two manner of meekness Caplm xxi.  
Nevertheless for thou covetest for to have some manner working by the which thou might the rather nyghen to that reforming/ I shall say as me thinketh by the grace of our lord Ihesu the shortest & the readiest help that I know in this working/ And how that shall be I shall tell that by an ensample of a good pilgrim upon this wise/ There was a man that would go to Ihrlm. And for he knew not the way he came to another man that he hoped knew the way better thither. and asked whether he might come to that city/ that other man said to him that he might not come thither without great disease & moche travail/ For the way is long & perilous and full of great thieves & robbers/ and many other lettings there been that fallen to a man in the going/ And also there are many sere ways as it seemeth leading thydwarde/ But men aldaye are slain & dispoylled and may not come to that place that they coveten/ Nevertheless there is one way the which who so taketh it and holdeth it he wool undertake that he should come to that city of jerusalem. and he should never lose his life. ne be slain ne die for default He should oft be rob and evil beat and suffer moche disease in the going. but his life should be saaf/ Thenne said the pilgrim/ So that I may have my life saaf & come to that place that I covet to. I charge not what myscheyff I suffer in going/ And therefore say me what thou wilt and soothly I behote the for to do after the. That other man answereth & saith thus/ Lo I set the in the right way/ This is the way And that thou keep the learning that I teach thee/ what so thou hearest seest or felyst that should let the in the way abide not with it wylfully/ tore not for it restfully. behold it not: like it not: dread it not/ but ever go forth in thy way. & think that thou wouldest be at Ihrlm/ for that thou covetest. & that thou desirest. & nought else but that. And if men rob the & dispoyll thee: beat thee: scorn thee: despise thee/ strive not again if thou wolte have thy life/ but hold the with the harm that thou haste▪ & go forth as nought were. that thou take no more harm And also if men will tarry the with tales. & feed the with losings for to draw that to mirths: & for to leave thy pilgrimage: make a deef ere & answer not again/ and say nought else but that thou wouldest be at Ihrlm/ And if men proffer the yefts & will make the rich with worldly good tent not to hem think ever on Ihrlm/ And if thou will hold this way & do that I have said. I undertake thy life that thou shalt not be slain. but thou shalt come to that place that thou covetest to/ Ghostly to our purposes: Ihrlm is asmuch for to say. as a sight of peace/ and betokeneth contemplation in perfit love of god/ For contemplation is nought else but a sight of god which is very peace/ then if thou covet for to come to this blessed sight of very peace. & be a true pilgrim to Ihrlm 〈◊〉· though it be so that I were never there: nevertheless as 〈◊〉 forth as I can I shall set the in the way thydwarde/ The beginning of the high way in the which thou shalt go/ is ●●fourmyng in faith grounded meekly in the faith & in the 〈◊〉 of holy church as I have said before/ For trust sickerly though thou have sinned here before· if thou be now reform by the sacrament of penance after the law of holy church that thou art in the right way/ Now thenne sithen thou art in the syker way if thou will speed in thy going & make good journayes▪ that behoveth to hold these two. things often in thy mind. meekness & love: and that is: I am nought I have nought.. I covet nought but one/ Thou shalt have the meaning of these words in thine intent & in habytt of thy soul lastingly though thou hawe 'em not ever specially in thy thought. for the needeth not/ meekness sayth· I am nought/ I have nought/ Love saith I covet nought but one: & that is Ihu/ these two strings well festned with the mind of Ihu maketh good a cord in the harp of the soul when they been craftily touched with the finger of reason/ For the lower thou smites upon that one the higher soundeth that other/ The less thou felyst that thou art or that thou haste of thyself through meekness/ the more thou covetest for to have of Ihu in desire of love/ I mean not only of that meekness that a soul feeleth in the sight of his own sin for freelnes & wretchedness of this life or of the wretchedness of his even-christian/ For though this meekness be sooth fast & medicynable. nevertheless it is boisterous & fleshly as in regard not clean ne soft ne lovely/ But I mean also this meekness that the soul feeleth through grace in sight & beholding of the endless being & the wonderful goodness of Ihu And if thou may not see it yet with thy ghostly eye. that thou trow it/ For through sight of his being either in full faith or in feeling thou shalt hold thyself not only the most wretch that is. but also as nought in substance of thy soul though thou hadst never done sin. And that is lovely meekness For in reward of Ihesu that is soothfastly all: thou art right nought/ And also that thou think that thou hast right nought: but art as a vessel that standeth ever to me as nought were therein as of thyself/ For do thou never so many good deeds outward or inward till thou have & feel that thou haste the love of jesus: thou hast right nought/ for with the precious liquor only may thy soul be fulfilled & with none other/ & for asmuch as the thing alone is so precious & worthy therefore what thou haste or what thou dost hold it as nought for to rest in without the sight of the love of Ihu. Cast it all behind the & forget it that thou might have that. that is the best of all/ Right as a true pilgrim going to Ihrlm leaveth behind him house and land. wife and child/ and maketh himself poor & bare fro all thing that he hath that he might go lightly without letting/ right so if thou wilt be a ghostly pilgrim thou shalt make thyself naked fro all that thou hast. that are both good deeds & bad and cast 'em all behind the that thou be so poor in thine own feeling/ that there be no thing of thine own working that thou wilt lean upon restyngly/ but ever desiring more grace & love/ and ever seeking the ghostly presence of Ihu/ And if thou do thus then shalt thou set in thin heart fully that thou wouldest be at Ihrlm & at none other place but there/ And that is. thou shalt set in thine heart holy & fully that thou wouldest no thing have but the love of Ihu & the ghostly sight of him as he will show him/ for to that only 〈◊〉 thou made & bought/ and that is thy beginning & thine ending thy joy & thy bliss/ And therefore what so ever that thou h●ue. be thou never so rich in other deeds bodily or ghostly but if thou have that & know & feel that thou hast it. hold that thou hast right nought/ print well this reason in thy meaning of thy heart. & cleave sadly thereto. and it shall save the fro all perils in thy going. that thou shalt never perish. & it 〈◊〉 save the fro the thieves & robbers the which I call unclean ●●●rytes. that though they spoil the & beat the through divers 〈◊〉 thy life shall ever be saaf/ And shortly if thou keep 〈◊〉 as I shall say the thou shalt escape all perils & mischiefs. & 〈◊〉 to the city of Irhlm within short time/ Now thou art in the way and knowest what the place hight & whyd thou shalt draw to/ begin thenne for to go in thy journey/ Thy forth going is nought else but ghostly working & bodily also when need is. which thou shalt use by discretion upon this wise/ what work that it be that thou shalt do after the degree & the state that thou stondist in bodily or ghostly if it help this gracious desire that thou hast for to love Ihesu: and make it more hole: more easy & more mighty to all virtues. & to all goodness. that work hold I best: be it preaching. be it thinking/ be it reading: be it working/ And as long as that work strengthyth most thy heart & thy will to the love of Ihu. and farthest draweth thine affection & thy thought fro worldly vanity it is good for to use it/ And if it be so that through use savour of that lesseth·s & the thinketh an other work savoureth the more. and thou felyst more grace in another/ take another & leave that/ For though thy desire & the yearning of thine heart to Ihesu should be ever unchangeable: nevertheless thy ghostly works that thou shalt use in praying or thinking for to feed and nouryssh thy desire may be dyvers·s and may well be changed after that thou felyste the disposed through grace in applying of thine own heart/ ●or it fareth by works & by desire as it doth by sticks & by a fire/ For the more sticks are laid to the fire: the greater is the fire/ Right so the more divers ghostly working that a man hath in his thought for to keep hole his desire: the myghtyer & more brenning shall his desire be to god And therefore look wisely what work thou canst best do. & that most helpyth for to save hole this desire to Ihu if thou be free and art not bound but under the common law. and that do/ Bind the not to wilful customs unchaungably that should let the freedom of thine heart for to love Ihu if grace would visit the specially/ For I shall tell the which customs are ever good and needful to be kept/ Loo such custom is ever good to hold that standeth in getting of virtue & letting of sin. & that custom should never be left/ for thou shall ever be meek: pacyent· sober & chaste if thou well do. & so of all other virtues But the custom of another thing that letteth a better is good for to leave when time is there a man may/ As thus If a man have in custom for to say thus many deeds/ or for to think this manner of thought thus long time/ or for to wake or kneel thus long or any other such bodily deed. this custom is for to leave sometime when reasonable cause lettith. or else if more grace cometh otherwise/   

¶ Of tarienges & temptations that souls feel by her ghostly enemies in her ghostly knowing and going to Ihrlm. and of remedies against hem/ Caplm xxii.  
NOw art thou in the way & woost how thou shalt go Now bewaar of enemies that will be busy for to let the if they may/ for her intent is for to put out of thine heart that desire & that longing that thou hast to the love of Ihu and for to drive the home again to the love of worldly vanity// for there is no thing that grieveth 'em so much/ these enemies are principally fleshly desires & vain dreads that risen out of thine heart through corruption of thy fleshly kyn●e/ and would let thy desire of the love of god that they might fully & restfully occupy thine heart/ these are thine next en●●●es/ Also other enemies there are. as unclean spirits that a●●besy with sleights & wiles for to deceive thee/ But one r●●medie shalt thou have that I said before/ What so it be th●● they say trow 'em not but hold forth thy way & only 〈◊〉 the love of Ihu/ Answer ever thus: I am nought I have wrought I covet nought but only the love of our lord Ih●● If thine enemies say to the first thus by stirrings in heart th●● thou art not shriven aright. or there is some old sin 〈◊〉 thine heart that thou knowest not ne never were shriven 〈◊〉 And therefore thou must torn home again & leave thy desire 〈◊〉 shrive the better/ Trow not this saying for it is falls/ for y● art shrive trust sikerly. & that thou art in the way & the needeth no more ransacking of shrift for that that is passed/ Hold forth thy way & think on Ihrlm/ Also if they say that thou art not worthy to have the love of god. whereto shalt thou covet that thou may not havene art not worthy thereto. Trow 'em not but go forth and say thus/ Not for I am worthy but for I am unworthy· therefore would I love god/ For if I had it. that should make me worthy/ And sithen I was made thereto though I should never have it yet will I covet it/ and therefore will I pray & think that I might get it/ And then if thine enemies see that thou beginnest to wax bold and well willed to thy work. they begin to wax afeard of thee/ Nevertheless they will not cease of tarrying the when they may as long as thou art going in the way/ what with dread & menacing on that one side. what with flattering and false pleasing on that other side for to make the break thy purpose and turn home again they will say thus. If thou hold forth thy desire to Ihesu so fully traveling as thou beginnest. thou shalt fall in to sickness or in to fantasies or in to frenesyes as thou seest that some don Or thou shalt fall in to poverty and bodily mischief. and no man shall well help thee/ Or thou might fall in to prive temptations of the fiend that thou shalt not help thyself For it is wonder perilous to any man for to give him fully to the love of god and leave all the world. and no thing covet but only the love of hym· for so many perils may fall that a man knoweth not of/ And therefore torn home again and leave this desire/ for thou shall never bring it to the end/ and do as other worldly men done.  
Thus say thine enemies. but trow 'em not/ but hold for the thy desire/ and say not else but thou wouldest have Ihesu and be at Ihrlm/ And if they perceive then thy will so strong that thou wilt not spare for sin ne for sickness. for fantasies ne for frenesyes/ for dowtes ne for dreads of ghostly temptations/ for mischief ne for poverty/ for life ne for death. but ever forth thou wilt with one thing? and no thing but one. & make deef ere to hem as though thou heard 'em not. & holdest the forth stiffly in thy prayer & in thine other ghostly works without stinting with discretion after counsel of thy sovereign or of thy ghostly father/ then begin they for to be wroth and to go a little nearer the. Thenne they begin for to rob the & beat the and do the all the shame that they can/ And that is when they make that all the deeds that thou dost been they never so well done are denied of other men as evil: & turned in to the worse party/ And what so ever it be that thou wouldest have done in help of thy body or of thy soul it shall be letted or hindered by other men. so that thou shalt be put fro thy will in all thing that thou skilfully coueytes. And all this they done that thou shouldest be stirred to ire or malencoly or evil will against thy evencristen/ But against all these diseases & all other that thou may feel use this remedy/ Take Ihu in thy mind and anger that not with 'em/ Tarry not with 'em. but think on thy lesson that thou art nought that thou hast nought thou may noughtelese of earthly good thou covetest nought but the love of Ihu and hold forth thy way to Ihrlm with thy occupation/ 〈◊〉 nevertheless if thou be tarried sometime through freelte of thy●●● with such uneases that fallen to thy bodily life through 〈◊〉 will of man or malice of the fiend. assoon as thou may 〈◊〉 again to thyself leave of the thinking of thy disease & 〈◊〉 forth to thy work/ Abide not long with hem for 〈◊〉 thine enemies.   

¶ Of a general remedy against wicked stirrings & 〈◊〉 taryenges that fallen to her hearts of the flesh & of the 〈◊〉 and of the fiend/ Caplm xxii●.  
ANd after this when thin enemies see that thou a●te 〈◊〉 well willed that thou art not angry nor heavy ne w●●the ne moche stirred against no creature for ought that they may do or speak against the. but settest thy heart fully for to suffer all that may fall. ease or unease: praising or lacking. and that thou wilt charge no thing with that that thou might keep thy thought and thy desire hole to the love of god. thenne are they much abashed/ But then will they assay the with flattering and vain pleasing/ And that is when they bring to the sight of thy soul all thy good deeds & virtues/ & bear upon the that all men praisen the & speaken good of thy holiness/ and how all men love the & worship the for thy holy living/ Thus done thin enemies that thou should think her saying sooth & have delight in this vain joy and rest the there in/ But if thou do well thou shalt hold all such jangeling falsed & flattering of thine enemy that proffereth the to drink venom tempered with honey/ And therefore refuse it & say thou will not thereof. but thou would be at Ihrlm/ such lettynge thou shalt feel or else other like. what of thy flesh what of the world. what of the fiend more than I may rehearse now/ For a man aslonge as he suffereth his thought wilfully run about the world in beholding of sundry things he perceiveth few lettings: But assoon as he draweth all his thought & his yearning to one thing only for to have that. for to know that: for to love that/ and that is only Ihu/ thenne shall he well feel many painful lettings For every thing that he feeleth & is not that that he coveteth is letting to him/ Therefore I have told the of some specially as for example/ And overmore I say generally that what stirring that thou felyste of thy flesh or of the fiend pleysaunte or painful/ bitter or sweet: liking or dreadful. gladsome or sorrowful that would draw down thy thought & thy desire fro the love of Ihu to worldly vanity. and let utterly thy ghostly covetise that thou haste to the love of him. & that thy heart should be occupied with that stirring restyngly. set it at nought/ receive it not wilfully. tarry not therewith tolonge. But if it be of worldly thing that behoveth needs to be done to thyself or to thine even-christian. speed the soon of it. and bring it to an end that it hang not on thine heart/ If it be another thing that needeth not or else it toucheth not the. charge it not. jan gill not therewith. ne anger the not. dread it not: like it not. but smite out of thine heart readily. and say thus/ I am nought: I have nought. Nought I seek ne covet but the love of jesus/ ●rnyghte thy thought to this desire & strength it. and maintain it with prayer & with other ghostly works that thou forget it not: and it shall lead the in thy right way & save the fro all perils. that though thou feel 'em thou shalt not peryssh/ And I hope that it shall bring the to perfit love of our lord Ihu/ Nevertheless on that other side I say also/ what work or what stirring it be that may help thy desire strength it & nouryssh it. and make thy thought ferrest fro lust ● mind of the world more hole & more brenning to the love of god whether it be praying or thinking. stillness or speaking: reading or hearing/ onnlynes or comoning: going or ●●●tynge keep it for the time & werche therein as long as 〈◊〉 lastyth/ If it be so that thou take therewith meet & drink 〈◊〉 as a pilgrim doth/ and keep discretion in thy worching 〈◊〉 counsel & ordinance of the sovereign: For have he 〈◊〉 so great haste in his going/ yet he will eat & drink & 〈◊〉 Do thou like wise/ For though it let the one time 〈…〉 further the another time/   

¶ Of an evil day & a good night what it meaneth 〈◊〉 the love of the world is likened to an evil day▪ and 〈…〉 of god to a good night/ Caplm xxi●●●▪  
IF thou wilt wite thenne what this desire is 〈…〉 Ihu/ for he maketh this desire in the & giveth it 〈…〉 he it is that desireth in thee/ and he it is that is desired/ 〈…〉 and he doth all if thou might see him/ Thou dost nought but sufferest him work in thy soul/ and assentyst to him with great gladness of heart that he wouche safe for to ●oo so in thee/ Thou art nought else but a reasonable Instrument wherein that he worcheth/ And therefore when thou felyst thy thought by touching of his grace take up with desire to Ihu with a mighty devout will for to please him & love him. then think that thou hast Ihesu. for he it is that thou desirest Behold him well for he gooth before thee: not in bodily likeness but unsenseably by prive presence of his might/ Therefore see him ghostly if thou may. and fasten all thy thought & thine affection to him. & follow him where so he gooth. for he shall lead the the right way to Ihrlm. that is the sight of peace & contemplation/ Thus prayed the prophet to the father of heaven saying thus: Emitte lucem tuam & veritatem tuam. ipa me dedux erunt et adduxerunt in montem scm̄ tuum & in tabnnacula tua: 
P. xlii.  That is/ father of heaven send out thy light & thy soothfastness. that is thy son Ihu/ & he shall lead me by desire in me to the holy hill and in to thy tabernacles. that is to the feeling of perfit love & height in contemplation/ Of this desire speaketh the prophet thus. Memoriale tuum in desiderio aīe mee. Aina mea desideravit te in nocte: 
 sed & spus meus in pcordiis meis. That is: For de Ihu the mind of the is printed in desire of my soul/ for my soul hath desired the in the night. and my spirit hath coveted the in all thynkynges/ And why the prophet saith he hath desired god all in the night as a tymefull space bytwix days two/ For when one day is ended another cometh not anon/ but first cometh night & departeth the days sometime long & sometime short/ and thenne after cometh another day/ The prophet meaned not only of this manner of night: but he meaned a ghostly night/ Thou shalt understand that there been two days or two lights/ The first is a falls lygte. the second is a true light/ The false light is the love of this world that a man hath in himself of corruption of his flesh/ The true light is the perfit love of Ihesu feeled thorough grace in a manes soul. The love of this world is a false light/ For it passeth away and lasteth not/ and so it performeth not that the it behoteth/ This light behight the fiend to Adam when he stirred him to sin and said thus/ Aperientur oculi vestri et eritis sicut dii/ 
Gen. 3.  That is/ your eyen shall be opened and ye shall be as God's/ And he said sooth there. For when Adam had sinned anon his Inner eye was sperred & ghostly light withdraw. and his utter eyen were opened/ and he felt & saw a new light of fleshly liking & worldly love that he saw not before/ And so saw he a new day but this was an evil day/ For this was it that job waryed when he said thus/ Pereat dies in qua natus sum/ That is: 
job 3.  Peryssh the day in the which I was borne/ He waryed not the day running in the year that god made/ but he waryed this day that man made. that is the concupiscence & the love of this world in the which he was borne though he feeled it not· Thenne this day & this light he asked of god that it should perissh & no longer last/ But the everlasting love of Ihu is a true day & a blessed light/ For god is both love & light. and he is everlasting as saint john saith/ Qui diligit deum manet in lumine/ That is: He that loveth god dwelleth in the light Than what man perceiveth & seeth the love of this world falls & failing. and for that he will forsake it & seek the love of Ihu/ He may not assoon feel the love of him. but he must abide awhile in the night/ for he may not suddenly come fro that one light to that other/ that is fro the love of the worl●● to perfit love of god/ This night is nought else but a forbearing and a withdrawing of the thought and of the soul fro earthly things by great desire & yearning for to love and see and feel Ihu & ghostly things/ This is the night/ For right as the night is dark and ever hiding from all bodily creature: and a restynges of all bodily deeds/  
Right so a man that setteth him fully for to think on jesus/ and for to desire only the love of him is busy for to hide his thought fro vain beholding and perceiving. and his affection fro fleshly liking and loving of all bodily creatures/ So that his thought may be made free and not subject. ne his affection bound ne pined ne troubled in no thing lower or woors than himself/ And if he may do so thenne it is night with him: for thenne he is in darkness/ But this is a good night & a light darkness/ for it is a stopping out of the falls love of this world. and it is a nyghing of the true day/ And soothly the derker that this night is the nearer is the true day of the love of Ihu/ For the more that the soul may through longing to god be hid fro noise & dine of flesshli affections & unclean thoughts the nearer is it for to feel the light of the love of him for it is even at it/ Thus seemeth it the prophet meaned when he said thus/ Cum in te nebris sedeo dns lux mea est. That is: when I sit in darkness our lord is my light/ That is: when my soul is hid fro all stirrings of sin as it were in sleep: thenne is our lord my light. for then nigheth he of his grace for to show me of his light/ Nevertheless this night is sometime painful/ first when a man is much fowl and is not through grace used to be often in this darkness but would fain have it. and therefore he setteth his thought & his desire to godward asmuch as he may/ he would not feel ne think but only of him. and by cause that he may not lightly have it therefore it is painful/ For the custom & the homelynes that he hath had with sins before of the world & of fleshly affections & earthly things. and his fleshly deeds prees so upon him and ever smite in by mastery & draw down all the soul so hem that he may not well be hid fro 'em assoon as he would/ Therefore this darkness is painful to him/ and namely when grace towchith not abundantly/ Nevertheless if it be so with the. be not to heavy ne strive not much as though thou wouldest through mastery put 'em out of thy thought/ for thou may. not do so but abide grace: suffer easily. and break not thyself toomuch And slily if thou may draw thy desire and thy ghostly beholding to Ihu: as if thou wouldest not charge 'em. For weet thou well when thou wouldest desire Ihesu and only think on him. and thou may not freely for precyng in of such worldly thoughts: soothly thou art outward of the falls day. and thou art entering in to this darkness/ But thy darkness is not restful by cause of disease & vncunnynge and uncleanness of thyself/ And therefore use it oft & it shall by process through feeling of grace be more easy and more restful to thee/ And that is when thy soul through grace is made so free & so mighty & so good and so gathered in to itself that it list not to think on right nought/ Thenne is it in a good darkness/ This nought I mean thus. that a soul may through grace be gathered into itself freely & holy: and not be driven against the will ne drawn down by mastery for to think or like or love with cleaving of affection to any sin or vainly any earthly thing then thinketh the soul nought/ For thenne thynkith it of none earthly thing clevyngly/ This is a rich nought/ And this nought & this night is a great ease for the soul that desireth the love of Ihesu/ It is in ease as for thought of any e●●dely thing/ nevertheless it is full busy for to think on him/ What thing thenne maketh this darkness? soothly nought else but a gracious desire for to have the love of Ihu/ For that desire & that longing that it hath that time to the love of god ●or to see him & have him driveth out of the heart all worldly vanities & fleshly affections. and gathereth the soul in to itself. and occupieth it only for to think how it might come to the love of him/ And that time may it freely & devoutly behold Ihu whed it will pray or think. & so it bringeth it to this right nought. & soothly it is not all dark ne nought when it thinkyth thus For though it be dark fro falls light it is not all dark fro the true light. for ihu that is both love & light is in this darkness whed it be painful or restful/ If it be painful thenne he is in the soul as traveling in desire & longing to light. but he is not yet as resting in love ne as showing his light/ And therefore it is called night & darkness in asmuch as the soul is hid fro the false light of the world. and hath not yet fully feeling of true light: but is in abiding of that blessed love of god which it desireth/ Thenne if thou wolte wite when thou art in this syker darkness & when not/ thou may assay thus & seek no ferder but thus/ When thou felyst thine intent & thy will fully set for to desire god. & think only ●n him/ thou may as it were first ask thyself in thine own thought whether thou covet for to have any thing of this life for love of itself/ or for to have the use of any of thy bodily wits in any creature/ And then if thine eye answer the thus/ I would see right nought/ and thy mouth. I would savour right nought/ and after thine ear. I would here right nought/ & thy body. I would feel right nought/ And after if thine heart say. I would think right nought of earthly thing ne of bodily deed/ ne I would have affection fastened fleshly to no creature but only in god/ and to godward if that I could/ And when they answer all thus to the & that is done full readily if grace touch the. thenne art thou entered somewhat into this derkues/ For though thou feel & perceive glentynges & proferynges of vain thoughts & precing in of fleshly affections. nevertheless thou art in this profitable darkness if it be so that thine thought be not fixed in 'em/ For such vain imaginations that fall in the heart unavisedly trowblen this darkness/ and pineth the soul somewhat by cause that it would be hid fro hem & may not/ but they do not away the profit of this darkness/ for the soul shall by that way come to restful myrknes/ And thenne is this darkness restful when the soul is hid for a time fro the painful feeling of all such vain thought. & only is rested in desire & longing to Ihu with a ghostly beholding of him as it shall be said afterward/ But that lasteth but a while whole/ Nevertheless though it be but a short time it is full profitable/   

¶ How that the desire of Ihesu felt in this lyghtsom darkness sleeth all stirrings of sin. & ableth the soul to perceive ghostly lightnings fro the heavenly Iherusalem that is Ihesu/ Caplm xxv.  
THenne sithen this darkness & this night is so good & so restful though it be short that standeth only in desire & longing to the love of Ihu with a blind thinking on him how good thenne & how blessed is it for to feel his love. & for to be illumined with his blessed unseeable present light for to see soothfastness/ the which light a soul receiveth when the night passeth & the day springeth/ This I hope was the nyighte that the prophet meaned when he said: My soul hath desired the in the night/ As I have before said. it is much better to be hid in this dark night fro beholding of the world though it were painful: than for to be out in false liking of this world that seemeth so shining & so comfortable to hem that are blind in knowing of ghostly light/ For when thou art in this darkness thou art much nearer Ihrlm than when thou art in the mids of the falls light/ Therefore apply thine heart fully to the stirring of grace & use for to won in this darkness. and by oft assayeng to be homely therein & it shall be so ●●e made restful to thee/ And the true light of ghostly knowing shall spring to the. not all at ones: but privily by lityll & by lityll/ as the prophet saith: Habitantibus in regione vmbre mortis. lux orta est eye/ That is: To dwelling in the country of shadow of death light was sprungen/ That is: Light of grace sprungen and shall spring to all them that can won in the shadow of death/ that is in this darkness that is like to death/  
For as death sleeth a living body & all fleshly feelings of it right so desire to the love of Ihu feeled in this derkes sleeth all sins: all fleshly affections. and all unclean thoughts for the time/ And then nyghest thou fast to Ihrlm/ Thou art not there yet. but by small sudden lyghtynges that glidyrth out of small caves fro that city shall thou mow see it fro far or that thou come thereto/ For wite thou well though that thy soul be in this restful darkness without troubling of worldly vanities/ it is not yet clothed all in light: ne turned all in to fire of love/ But it feeleth well that there is somewhat above itself that it knoweth not ne hath not yet. but would have it & brennyngly yerneth it/ And that is nought else but the syighte of Ihrlm without forth. the which is like to a cytee/ that the prophet Ezechyell saw in his visions/ He saith that he saw a city set upon an hill heldinge to the south that to his sight when it was moten was no more of length & of breed than a reed that is vi. cubytes & a palm of length But assoon as he was brought in to the city & looked about him thenne thought him that it was wonder much/ For he saw many halls & chambers both open & pryvee. He saw gates & porches outward & Inward/ and moche more building than I say now on length & on breed many hundred cubits/ Thenne was this wonder to him how this city within was thus long & so large that so lityll to his sight was when he was without/ This city betokeneth the perfit love of god set in the hill of contemplation. the which unto the sight of a soul that without the feeling of it traveleth in the desire toward seemeth somewhat/ but it seemeth but a little thing no more than a reed that is vi. cubytes & a palm of length/ By vi. cubits are understand the perfection of manes work/ And by the palm a little to wching of contemplation/ He seeth well that there is such a thing that passeth the desert of all the working of man a little as the palm passeth the vi. cubytes'/ but he seeth not within what it is/ nevertheless if he may come within the city of contemplation/ then seeth he much more than he saw first/   

¶ How a man shall know false illuminations feigned by the fiend fro the true light of knowing that cometh out of Ihu and by what tokens/ Caplm xxvi.  
But now bewaar of the midday fiend that feigneth light as it came out of Ihrlm and is not so. For the tend seethe that our lord Ihu showeth light to his lovers of so the fastness/ therefore in deceiving of 'em that are unwise he showeth a light that is not true under colour of a true light and deceiveth 'em. Nevertheless how a soul may know the light of soothfastness when it shineth from god & when it is feigned through the enemy shall I say as me thinketh by an example of the firmament/ Sometime the firmament showeth a light fro the son/ & seemeth the son & is not And sometime showeth the true son truly. A knowing of that one from that other is this/ The feigned son showeth him not but bitwix two black reyny clouds/ Thenne by cause the son is near there shineth out fro the clouds a light as it were a son & is none/ But the true son showeth him when the firmament is clear or much cleared fro the black clouds/ Now to our purpose/ Some men as it seemeth forsaketh the love of the world & would come to the love of god and 〈◊〉 the light of understanding of him. but they will not com● through this darkness that I have spoken of before/ They will know himself truly ne meekly what they have been 〈◊〉 ne what they are yet through sin/ ne how nought they are 〈◊〉 her own kind against god/ They are not busy for to entry in to himself all other things outward left. and flee all wicked stirrings the risen in her hearts of pride envy ire or other sins through lasting desire to Ihu in praying & in thinking: in silence & in weeping/ and in other bodily & ghostly exercise as devout men & holy men have done/ But assoon as they have forsake the world as it were outward in likeness or else soon after they ween that they are holy and able for to have the ghostly understanding of the gospel and of holy writ/ and namely if they may fulfil letterly the commandments of god & keep 'em fro bodily sins that they ween that they love god perfitly/ And therefore they will anon preach & teach all other men as if they had received grace of understanding in perfection of charity through special yeft of the holy ghost/ And also they are much more stirred for as much as they feel sometime moche knowing as it were suddenly yeven to 'em without great study before had. and also much fervour of love as it seemeth for to preach troth & rightwiseness to her even-christian/ Therefore they hold it as a grace of god that visiteth 'em with his blessed light before other souls/ Nevertheless if they will look well about hem they shall find that this light of knowing and that heat that they feel cometh not of the true son that is our lord Ihu. but it cometh fro the mercy fiend that feigneth light & lykneth him to the son And therefore shall he be known by example before said/ Liyghte of cunning that is feigned by the fiend to a dark soul is showed bitwix two black reyny clouds/ The over cloud is presumption & higheng of himself/ The neither cloud is down putting & a lowenge of his evencristen/ Thenne what light of knowing or feeling of fervour that it be that shineth to a soul with presumption & highenge of itself & disdain of his evencrysteu the same time feeled it is not light of grace yeven of the holy ghost though the knowing in itself were so thefast. but it is either of the fiend if it come suddenly or else of man's own wit if it come by studye· And so it may well be known. that this feigned light of knowing is not the light of the true son/ Therefore they that have this knowing on this manner are full of ghostly pride & seen it not. they are so blind with this feigned light that they hold the highness of her own heart & thumbuxonnes to the laws of holy church as it were perfect meekness to the gospel & to the laws of god/ & they ween that the following of her own will were freedom of spirit/ & therefore they begin to rain as black clouds water of errors & heresies: for the words that they shown by preaching sownen all to bacbiting & to striving & to discord/ making reproving of states & of persons/ and yet say they that all this is charity & zeal of rightwiseness/ But it is not so the. for saint james th'apostle saith thus/ Vbi enim zelus & contencio ibi inconstancia & omne opus prawm/ Non est sapiencia hec desursum descendens a patre luminum. sed est trena ainalis & diabolica/ That is: where so envy is & fliting there is unstablynes & all evil work/ And therefore that cunning that bringeth forth such sins cometh not from the father of light that is god/ but it is earthly beestly & fendly/ And so by these tokens that are pride presumption unbuxomnes Indignation 〈◊〉 biting & other such sins for these followen after. may the feigned light be known fro the true/ For the true son shineth & showeth him not by special visitation for to give light of understanding or perfit charity to a soul but the firmament be first made bright & clear fro clouds/ that is▪ but if the conscience be made clean through fire of brenning desire to Ihesu in this darkness the which wasteth & burneth all wicked stirrings of pride. vainglory: ire envy: & all other 〈◊〉 in the soul as the prophet saith/ Ignis ante ipsum 〈◊〉 et inflammabit incircuitu inimicos eius. Fire shall go 〈◊〉 him: That is desire of love shall go byfor Ihesu in 〈◊〉 soul/ & it shall brene all his enemies/ that is: it shall waste all synes/ For but if a soul be first smitten down fro the height of itself by dread & meekness. and be well examined & brent in this fire of desire/ and as it were purified fro all ghostly filth by long time in devout prayers and other ghostly exercises it is not able to suffer the shinynges of ghostly light/ ne for to receive the precious liquor of perfit love of jesus/ But when it is purified and made subtle thorough this fire then may it receive the gracious light of ghostly knowing and the perfection of love that is true son/ Thus saith holy writ: 
Mal iiii  Vobis qui timetis deum urietur sol justice/ The true son of rightwiseness that is our lord Ihesu shall spring to you that dreaden him/ that is to meek souls that meken himself under her even-christian by knowing of her own wretchedness/ and casten himself down under god by noughting of himself in her own substance thorough reverent dread and ghostly beholding of him lastyngly/ for that is perfit meekness/ Unto these souls the true son shall spring. and Illumyn her reason in knowing of soothfastness/ and kindleth her affection in brenning of love and then shall they both burn and shine/ They shall thorough virtue of this heavenly son burn in perfit love: and shine in knowing of god and ghostly things/ for then they been reformed in feeling/ Therefore he that will not be deceived I hope it is good to him to draw down himself and hide him in this darkness/ first from entermeting of other men as I have said/ & forget all the world if he may and follow Ihesu with lasting desire offered in prayers and thinking on him/ then I trow the light that cometh after this darkness is siker and soothfast/ and that it shineth of the cite of Ihrlm from the true son to a soul that traveleth in darkness/ and crieth after light for to wyssyn it the waey. and comfort it in travail. For I hope after true darkness before cometh never feigned light▪  
That is if a man truly and fully set him to forsake the love of the world/ And may thorough grace come to feeling and knowing of himself/ And hold him meekly in that feeling/ he shall not be deceived with none errors ne heresies/ ne with fantasies/ For all these comen by the gate of pride/ then if that pride may be stopped out/ then there shall no such sin rest in a soul/ And though that they come and proffer hem they shall not enter/ For grace that the soul feeleth in this meek darkness shall teach the soul sooth fastness. & show to it that all such proferynges are of themmye/   

¶ How great profit is it to the soul to be brought through grace in to lyhtsome darkness/ And how a man shall dispose him if he will come thereto/ Caplm xxvii.  
THere are many devout souls that through grace come in to this darkness & feelen the knowing of hemself· and yet wot they not fully what it is/ and that unknowing in party hindereth hem/ They feel well often her thought & her affection drawn out and departed fro the mind of earthly things and brought in to great rest of a delectable softness with out pinfull trowbling of vain thoughts or of her 〈◊〉 wits/ and they feel that time so great freedom of spirit ● they may think on Ihesu peaceable/ and offer her psalms ● prayers mightily savourly & sweetly to him as long as 〈◊〉 of bodily kind may suffer it/ They wot well that th●● feeling is good/ but they noot what it is/ Therefore unto 〈◊〉 such souls I say as me thinketh: that this manner of 〈◊〉 though it be but short and but seldom it is soothfastly 〈◊〉 darkness that I speak of/ For it is a feeling of himself 〈◊〉 and a rising above himself through brenning desire to the ●●yghte of Ihu/ Or else if I shall say more soothly. this gri●●ous feeling is a ghostly sight of Ihu/ And if they may keep 'em in that rest or bring it through grace in to a custom so that they might lightly & freely have it when hem like and hold 'em in it/ they should never be overcome by temptation of the fiend ne of the flesh/ ne by errors ne heresies: for they are set in the gate of contemplation able and ready for to receive the perfit love of Ihesu/ Therefore he that hath it it is good that he know it meekly/ ●repe it tenderly/ and poursew it fervently that no creature let him utterly from it that he ne follow it when he may/ And that he forget and set at nought all thing that should put him fro this if he be free of himself/ and may do what he will without slander or disease of his even-christian/ For me thynkith that he may not come to this rest lightly but if he have great plenty of grace/ and set himself for to follow after the stirring of grace/ And that oweth he for to do/ For grace will ever be free/ namely fro sin and worldly business. and from all other things that let the working of it though they are no sin/ Nevertheless another soul that hath not yet received this fullness of grace if he desire for to come to this ghostly knowing of Ihesu/ as moche as in him is he must able himself to it/ and put away all lettings that stoppen grace as much as he may/ He must learn for to die to the world and forsake the love of it truly/ first pride bodily & ghostly/ that he desire no worship/ worldly cunning. ne worldly craft/ benefices ne richesse/ precious clothing: ne worldly array/ ne no thing where through he should be worshipped above other men/ He shall covet none of all these/ But if they been put upon him. take 'em with dread so that he be poor both outward and Inward/ or else fully Inward in heart/ And that he covet for to be forgotten of the world that men reward him no more be he never so rich ne so cunning than the poorest man that liveth/  
Also that he suffereth not his heart rest in beholding of his own deeds or in his virtues/ weening that he doth better than another/ for he forsaketh the world and other done not so/ and therefore setteth well by himself/ Also he must leave all rising of heart and evil will of ire and envy against his evencristen/ And that he disease no man ne anger him unskilfully in word ne in deed/ ne give any man matter where thorough he might skilfully be angered or stirred/ so that he might be free fro every man/ And also that he forsake covetise that he covet right nought of earthly good/ but only ask his bodily sustenance that him needeth and hold him paid when god stirreth other men for to give him/ And that he put no manner of trust in haviour of any worldly good/ ne in help or favour of any worldly friend but principally and fully in god/ For if he do otherwise he bindeth himself to the world/ And he may not therefore be free for to think on Ihesu/ And also gluttony and lechery and all other fleshly uncleanness utterly he must leave. that the affection be bound to no woman by fleshly homelynesse/ For it is no doubt that such blind love that is sometime atwyxe a man and a woman/ and seemeth good and honest for asmuch as they would not sin in deed/ in the sight of god is full unclean and well great sin/ For it is a great sin that a man shall suffer his affection that should be festened to Ihesu and to all virtues and to all ghostly cleanness for to be bound wi●h any fleshly love of any creature wilfully namely if it 〈◊〉 so much that it beareth down the thought: and maketh 〈◊〉 unrestful that he may no savour have in god/ Thus 〈◊〉 it wilfully that a man doth it and saith it is sin 〈◊〉 is so blinded with it that he will not see it/ And also 〈◊〉 a man covet not delices of meats and drinks only 〈◊〉 of his flesh/ but hold him paid with such 〈…〉 may easily have without great business namely if 〈…〉 what meet it be that will do away hungers/ and keep the 〈◊〉 in common strength unto the service of god/ And 〈◊〉 grudge not ne strive not ne anger him not for his meet though he be sometime not served as the flesh would/ All these sins and all other must be forsake utterly in his will and in deed when he may. And other things that letteth him so that he may dispose him for to think freely on Ihesu/ For as long as these lettings and such other hang upon him he may not die to the world: ne come in to this darkness of knowing of himself/ And therefore that he might come thereto he must do all these. as saint paul died saying thus/ Michi mundus crucifixus est & ego mundo/ This world is slain & crucified to me: 
Gal. v:  and I to the world/ That is: He that hath forsake the love of the world in worships and riches in all other worldly things before said for the love of god. & loveth not it ne pursewyth not it but is well paid that he hath right nought of it ne would have though he might. soothly to him the world is deed/ for he hath no savour ne delight therein/ Also if the world set him at nought and hath no reward to him. ne favour ne worship: ne set no price by him but forgetteth him as a deed man/ then is he deed to the world/ And in this plight was saint paul set perfectly. and so must another man in party that would follow and come to the perfit love of god/ For he may not live to god fully but if he die first to the world/ This dying to the world is this darkness/ and it is the gate of contemplation and to reforming in feeling. and none other than this There may be many sundry ways & sere works letting and leading sundry souls to contemplation/ For after divers disposynges of men and after sundry states. as are religious and seculars that they are in. are divers exercises in working/ Nevertheless there is no gate but one/ For what exercises it be that a soul hath. but if he may come by that exercise to this knowing and to a meek feeling of himself/ and that is that he be mortified & deed to the world as in his love/ and that he may fe●le himself sometime in this restful darkness/ by the which he may be hid fro vanity of the world as in his love. and that he may feel himself what he is soothly he is not yet come to the reforming in feeling/ ne hath not fully contemplation He is full far therefro/ and if he will come by any gate. he is but a thief and a breaker of the wall/ And therefore as unworthy he shall be cast out/ But he that can bring himself first to nought through grace of meekness and die on this manner he is in the gate/ for he is deed to the world. and he liveth to god/ Of the which saint paul speaketh thus: 
Col. ●.  Mortui enim estis et vita vestra abscondita est cum xpo in deo/ ¶ ye are deed/ That is: ye that for the love of god forsaken all the love of the world are deed to the world with christ in god/ That is: ye live ghostly in the love of Ihesu/ But your life is hid from worldly men as christ liveth and is hid in his godhead fro the love and the sight of fleshly lovers/ This gate our lord himself showed in the gospel when he said thus/ Omnis qui reliquerit patrem aut matrem fratrem aut sororem propter me centuplun accipiet et vitam etnam possidebit Every man that forsaketh for my love father or mother sister or brother/ 
 or any good earthly he shall have an hundredth fold in this life/ and afterward the bliss of heaven/ This hundredth fold that a soul shall have if he forsake the world is nought but the profit of this lightly darkness/ the which I call the gate of contemplation/ For he that is in this darkness and is hid thorough grace fro worldly vanity he coveteth nought of worldly good/ he sechyth it not/ he is not tarried therewith/ he looketh not after it/ he loveth it not/ And therefore hath he an hundredth fold more than the king or than he hath that coveteth most of earthly good/ For he that nought coveteth but Ihesu hath an hundredth fold/ For he hath more rest: more peace in heart/ more very love and delight in soul in one day than he that most coveteth of the world/ And hath all the well of it under his welht hath in all his life time/  
¶ This is then a good darkness and a rich nought that bringeth a soul to so much ghostly ease and so still softness/ I trow da●yd meaned of this night/ or of this nought when he said thus/ Ad nichilum redactus sum et nescivi/ That is: I was brought to nought. 
P.  and I wist not/ That is The grace of our lord Ihesu sent in to mine heart hath slay ne in me/ and brought to nought all the love of the world and I wist not how/ For through no working of myself ne by mine own wit I have it not but of the grace of our lord Ihesu/ And therefore me thinketh he that will have the light of grace and fulsomly feel the love of Ihu in his soul he must forsake all the falls light or worldly love and abide in this darkness/ And nevertheless if he be adread first for to won therein torn not again to the love of the world but suffer awhile: and put all his hope and his trust in Ihesu/ and he shall not long be without some ghostly light/ Thus biddeth the prophet/ Qui ambulat in tenebris et non est lumen ei. 
 speret in dno & invitatur super deum suum/ who so gooth in darkness and hath no light. that is: who so will hide him fro the love of the world and may not readily feel light of ghostly love despair not/ torn not again to the world but hope in our lord and leen upon him/ that is: trust in god/ & clean to him by desire. and abide awhile and he shall have lyight ● For it falleth thereby as it doth if a man had be a great while in the son/ and after that came suddenly in to a dark house there no son shineth. he should be as he were blind. and see right nought/ But if he will abide awhile he shall mow see soon about him/ first great things and sithen small/ And sithen all that ever is in the house/  
Right so it is ghostly: He that forsaketh the love of the world & cometh to himself in to his own conscience that is first dark somewhat/ and blind to his sight: But if he stand still and hold forth with busy praying and often thinking of the same will to the love of Ihu/ he shall mow see afterward great things & small that he first knew not/ Thus seemeth it that the prophet behight thus saying/ Oriet in tenebris lux tua. & tenebre tue erunt sicnt merid●es: et reqen dabit tibi dns ds tuus et implebit Eccliam tuam splendoribus/ Light shall spring to th' in darkness/ That is: Thou that forsakest soothfastly the light of all worldly love and hidest thy thought in this darkness/ light of blessed love & ghostly knowing of god shall spring to thee/ and thy darkness shall be as midday/ that is thy darkness of traveyling desire & thy blind trust in god that thou hast first shall torn in to clear knowing & in to sikerness of love/ And thy lord god shall give rest to thee/ That is Thy fleshly desires and thy painful dreads & doubts: & wicked spirits that have continually before hand travailed the all these shall work and lose moche of her might/ and thou shalt be made so strong that they shall not dear y●/ For thou shalt be hid in rest fro 'em/ And then shall our lord fulfil thy soul with shynynges/ That is: when thou art brought in to this ghostly rest thenne shalt thou more easily tent to god and nought else do but love him/ and then he shall with beams of ghostly light fulfil all the mights of thy soul. Have thou no wonder though I call the forsaking of worldly love darkness/ for the prophet calleth it so ●●ynge thus to a soul/ Intra in tenebras tuas filia caldeorum/ Go in to thy darkness thou daughter of Chaldee/ That is ● Thou soul that art as a daughter of Chaldee for love of the world. forsake it and go in to thy darkness/   

¶ That in reforming of a soul the working of on●● lord Ihesu is departed in to four times/ that is. calling righting: magnifying & glorifying/ Caplm xxviii.  
LOo I have said to the a little if thou covet for to be reform in feeling how thou shalt dispose the toward in thy forth going/ Nevertheless I say not that thou may do thus of thyself/ For I wot well that our lord Ihesu bringeth all this to the end where so he will/ For he only thorough his grace stirreth a soul. and bringeth it in to this darkness first: And sithen in to light as the prophet saith/ Sicut tenebre eius. ita & lumen eius/ That is: 
 Right as the light of knowing and the feeling of ghostly love is of Ihu/ Right so the darkness. that is the forsaking of worldly love is of him for he doth all/ He fourmyth & refourmith He fourmyth only by hymself· but he refourmith us with us For grace yeven & aplienge of our will to grace worcheth all this/ And on what manner wise he doth that. saint paul rehearseth thus/ Quos deus pnscinit fieri conformes ymaginis filii eius hos vocavit. Et quos vocavit hos iustificavit. Et quos instificavit hos magnificavit. Et quos magnificavit hos et glificavit/ these that god knew before should be made shapely to the image of his son. these he called. these he righted. these he magnyfyed: & these he glorified/ Though these words may be said of all chosen souls in the lowest degree of charity that are reform only in faith: nevertheless they may be understand more specially of these souls that are reform in feeling to the which our lord god showeth much plenty of grace and doth moche more business about hem/ For they are his own sons specially that bear the full shape & the likeness of his son Ihu/ In the which words saint paul departeth the working of our lord in four times/ first is the time of caliing of a soul fro worldly vanity/ and that time is often easy & comfortable/ For in beginning of torning such a man that is disposed to much grace is so quickly & so feelingly inspired. & feeleth oft so great sweetness of devotion. & hath so many tears in compunction that he thinketh him sometime as he were half in heaven/ but this softness passeth after for a time/ And thenne cometh the second time that is the time of righting that is travelous/ For when he beginneth for to go forth myghtly in the way of rightwiseness. & settith his will full against all sin without & within· & stretcheth out his desire to virtues & to the love of Ihu thenne feeleth he much letting both with himself of frowardness & hardness of his own will/ and fro without forth through temptation of his enemy that he is oft in full great torment/ And that is no word/ For he hath so long be crooked to the falls love of the world that he may not be made right/ as a crooked staff may not be made even but if he be cast & weyked in the fire/ Therefore our lord Ihu seeing sendeth what thing is ●● hoveful to a froward soul suffereth it to be travailed & ta●●ed by sundry temptations. and for to be well examined thorough ghostly tribulations that all the rust of uncleanness might ●● brent out of it/ And that shall be both within of 〈…〉 dowtes & perplexitees that it shall nerehande fall in disper●● and it shall seem as it were forsaken of god & left all in the hands of the fiend out taken a lityll privy trust that 〈…〉 have in the goodness of god & in his mercy. For that privy 〈◊〉 our lord leaveth in such a soul go he never so fe●re 〈◊〉 it. by the which the soul is borne up fro despair & saved 〈◊〉 ghostly mischief. And also without itself it shall be 〈◊〉fyed & pined in the sensuality/ either by divers sickness or 〈…〉 able torment of the fiend. or else through a privy might 〈◊〉 god the silly soul by feeling & bearing of the wrerched bo●y shall be so pined. & it shall not wite how that it shall 〈◊〉 suffer for to be in the body ne were that our lord Ihu kep● 〈◊〉 therein/ And yet nevertheless had the soul liefer for to be in 〈◊〉 this pine than for to be blinded with the falls love of the wo●●de. for that were hell to such a soul/ But the suffering 〈◊〉 this manner pine is nought but purgatory/ and therefore he suffereth it gladly/ And he would not put it away though he might/ for it is so profitable/ All this doth our 〈◊〉 in great profit of the soul/ for to drive it our of the sensualytee/ that it might receive ghostly light/ For after this when the soul is thus mortified and brought fro worldly love in to this darkness/ that it hath no more savour ne delight of worldly liking than of the straw/ But he thinketh it bitter as wormode/ then cometh the third time of magnyfieng/ And that is when the soul is reformed in feeling in party. and receiveth the yeft of perfection & the grace of contemplation/ and that is a time of great rest/ for thenne is Ihu more homely with a soul/ And after this cometh the fourth time of glorifyenge/ That is when the soul shall be fully reformed in the bliss of heaven/ For these souls that are thus called fro sin and thus righted or else on other manner like by divers assaying both thorough fire & water. and afterward are thus magnified they should be glorified/ For our lord shall thenne give hem fully that they here coveted/ and more than they could co●eyte/ for he shall areyse 'em above all other chosen souls to the evenhede of cherubin & seraphyn/ sithen they passed all other in knowing & loving of god here in this life/ Therefore he that will come to this magnifyeng dread not this righting/ for that is the way For our lord saith by his prophet a word of great comfort to all such souls that are examined with fire of trybulacy on thus/ Puer meus noli timere. Si transieris per ignem flamma non nocebit te/ That is: My child if thou pass thorough fire dread not for the flame shall not dear thee/ It shall cleanse the fro all fleshly filth/ and make the able to receive ghostly fire of the love of god/ and that needeth for to be done first For as I have before said. it may not else be reformed in feeling/   

¶ How it falleth sometime that souls beginning at profiting in grace seem to have more love as by outward tokens than some have that been perfit/ and yet it is not so in sooth within/ Caplm xxix:  
But now sayest thou how may this be sooth/ For there are many souls new turned to god that have many ghostly feelings/ Some have great compunction for her sins. & some have great devotions & fervours in her prayers. & often have sundry teachings of ghostly light in undstonding: & some men have other manner feelings of comfortable heat & great sweetness/ and nevertheless these souls come never fully in this restful darkness that I speak of with fervent desire & lasting love & thought in god/ Thenne askest thou whether these souls be reformed in feeling or nought/ It seemeth yes. in asmuch as they have such great ghostly feelings that other men that stand only in faith feel not of/ Unto this I may say as me thinketh. that these ghostly feelings whether they stand in compunction or devotion or in ghostly imagination are not the feelings which a soul shall have & feel in the grace of contemplation/ I say not but they are soothfast & graciously yeven of god/ But these souls that feelen such are not yet reformed in feeling. ne they have not yet the yeft of perfection ne ghostly the breninge love of Ihu as they may come to/ And nevertheless often it seemeth otherwise: that such souls feel more of the love of god than other that have the yeft of perfection/ in asmuch as the feeling showeth more outward by great fervour of bodily tokens. in weeping praying kne●●●ge & speaking & other bodily stirring. so farforth that it seemeth to another man that they were ever ravished in love/ And though me thynkith it is not so/ well I wot that these manner feelings & fervours of devotion & compunction that these men feel are gracious yefts of god sent in to chosen souls for to draw 'em out of worldly love & fleshly lust that hath been long time rooted in her heart. fro the which love they should not be drawn out but by such feeble stirige of great fervours: ne● theles that the fervour is so much in outward showing it is not only for mochenes of love that they have but it is for litylnes & weakness of her soul that may not by'r a lityl touching of god for it is yet as it were fleshly festned to the flesh & newly was yet departed fro it by ghostly mortifyeng: & therefore the lest touching of love & the lest sperkil of ghostly light sent fro heaven in to such a soul is so much & so comfortable & so delectable over all the liking that ever it felt before in fleshly love of earthly thing that it is overtaken with it/ And also it is so new & sudden and so uncouth that it may not suffer for to bear it but brestyth & showeth out in weeping sobbing & other bodily stirring Right as the costrell that is old when it receiveth new wine that is fresh & mighty: the costrell bolneth out and is in point for to cleave & breast until the wine hath boiled & spourged out all unclenesse/ but also soon as the wine is fined & cleared thenne it standeth still & the costrel hole/ Right so a soul that is old through sin when it receiveth a little of the love of god that is so fresh & so mighty that the body is in point for to cleave & to break ne were that god keepeth it hole But yet it brestyth out at the eyen by weeping/ and at the mouth by speaking: and that is more for weakness & feebleness of the soul than for mykilnes of love/ For afterward when love hath boiled all the uncleanness out of the soul by such great fervours thenne is the love clear & standeth still: And thenne is both the body & the soul much more in peace/ and yet hath the soul much more love than it had before though it show less outward/ For it is now all hole in rest within: and nought but lityll in outward showing of fervour/ And therefore I say that these souls that feelen such great bodily fervours though they been in moche grace are not yet reformed in feeling/ but they are greatly disposed toward. For I trow that such a man namely that hath be greatly defoiled in sin shall not be reformed in feeling but if he be first brent & purified with such great compunctions going before/  
Another soul that never was moche defoiled with love of the world but hath ever be kept fro great sins in innocence may lightlier & more privily without great fervour showed outward come to this reforming/ Thenne is this sooth as I hope that such comforts & fervours that a soul feeleth in the state of beginning or of profiting are as it were his ghostly food sent fro heaven for to strength him in his travail/ Right as a pilgrim traveleth all day meteles & drynkles·s and is nerehonde overcome with weariness falleth at the last to a good Inn. and there hath he meet & drink/ and is well refreshed for the time/ Right so ghostly: a devout soul that will forsake the love of the worlde· & would fain love god/ and setteth all his business thereto: prayeth & traveylleth all day bodily & ghostly/ and sometime feeleth no comfort ne savour in devocon/ Thenne our lord having pity over all his creatures that it should not perish for default ne torn in to heaviness or grudging sendeth it among his ghostly food & comforteth it in devotion as he voucheth safe/ And when the soul feeleth any comfort thenne holdeth he him well paid for all his travail & all the disease that it had on the day when it fareth well at even by feeling of any grace/ The self wise falleth it of other souls that are profiting & ferfor the in grace They feelen oft times gracious towchynges of the holy ghost in her soul/ both in understanding & sight of ghostly things and in affection of love/ But yet been they not reformed in feeling/ ne they are not yet perfit/ for why all such feelings come to hem in that state as it were vnw●arly/ for they come or they wite it/ and goth fro hem or they wite it/ and they can not come thereto again. ne wot not where they shall find it for they have not yet homlynes with hem of thought and lasting desire in Ihu/ ne the eye of her soul is not opined to the beholding of ghostly thynges·s but they nigh fast toward. And therefore they are not yet reformed in feeling/ ne they have not yet the full gift of contemplation/   

¶ On what manner a man shall have knowing of his own soul/ and how a man should set his love in Ihu god and man one person/ Caplm thirty.  
IT needeth a soul that would have knowing of ghostly things for to have first knowing of itself/ For it may not have knowing of a kind above itself but if it have knowing of itself/ And that is when the soul is so gathered in to itself/ & departed fro beholding of all earthly things & fro the use of bodily wits that it feeleth itself as it is in the own kind without a body/ Thenne if thou covet for to know & see thy soul what it is· thou shalt not torn thy thought with imagination in to thy body for to seek it & feel it as it were hid within thine heart. as thy heart is hid & holden within thy body/ If thou seek so thou shalt never find it in itself/ The more thou secheste for to find & feel it as y● wouldest feel a bodily thing. the fir thou art therefro/ For thy soul is no body but a life unseeable. not hid & held with in thy body as a less thing is hid & holden within a more but it is holding & qukning thy body much more than thy body is in might & in virtue/ then if thou wilt find it withdraw thy thought fro all bodily thing outward & fro mind of thine own body. also fro all thy five wits asmuch as thou may. and think on the kind of a reasonable soul ghostly as thou wouldest think for to know any virtue as soothfastness or meekness or any other wertue/ Right so think that a soul is a life undeadly & unseably/ and hath might in itself for to see & know the sovereign sothfastnes·s & for to love the sovereign goodness that is god/ when thou seest this then feelest thou somewhat of thyself/ Seek thyself in none other place/ but the more fully & the more clearly that thou may think of the kind & the worthiness of a reasonable soul what it is. & what is the kindly werking of it the better seest thou thiselfe/ It is full hard for a soul that is rude & moche in the flesh for to have sight & knowing of it or of an angel or of god It falleth anon in to imagination of bodily shappe· & it weeneth thereby for to have the sight of itself. and so of god and so of ghostly things/ And that may not be/ For all ghostly things are seen and known by understanding of the soul not by imagination/ Right as a soul seeth by understanding that the virtue of rightwiseness is for to give to every thing that it oweth to have/ right so & on such a manner may the soul see itself by understanding/ Nevertheless I say not that thy soul shall rest still in this knowing/ but it shall by this seek higher knowing above itself & that is the kind of god/ For the soul is but a mirror in the which thou shalt see god ghostly/ And therefore thou shalt first find thy mirror and keep it bright & clean fro fleshly filth & worldly vanity/ and hold it well up fro the earth that thou might see it & our lord therein also/ For to this end traveylen all chosen souls in this life in her meaning & in her intent. though they have not specially the feeling of this. And therefore it is said before that many souls beginning & profiting have many great fervours & moche sweet devotion and as it seemeth brenning all in love. & yet have they not perfitly love ne ghostly knowing of god/ For wite thou well feel a soul never so much fervour/ so much that him thikith that the body may not bear it. or though he melt all in to weeping. as long as his thinking & his beholding of god is most. or all in imagination & not in understanding. he come not yet to perfit love ne to contemplation/ For thou shalt understand that the lou● of god is on three manner wise/ Al are good. but eachone is be●ter than other/ The first cometh only thruh faith without gracious imagination or ghostly knowing of god/ Thi● love is in the least soul that is reformed in faith in the lo●●est degree of charity/ And it is good: for it sufficeth to salvation/ The second love is that a soul feeleth through faith & imagination of Ihu in his manhood. This love is better than the first when the imagination is stirred by grace? for why the ghostly eye is opened in beholding of our lords manhood/ The third love that the soul feeleth through ghostly sight of the godhead in the manhood as it may be seen here/ that is best and most worthy/ and that is perfit love· this love a soul feeleth not unto it be reformed in feeling/ Souls beginning & profiting hath not this love. for they can not think on Ihu ne love him goodly but as it were all manly & fleshly after the conditions & likeness of man/ and upon that reward they shape all her working in her thoughts & in her affecconns'/ They dread him as a man & worship him and love him principally in manly imagination and go no ferder/ As thus: If they have done amiss & trespassed against god they think thenne that god is wroth with hem as a man should if they had trespassed against him/ and therefore they fall down as it were to the feet of our lord with sorrow of heart & cryen mercy/ And when they done thus they have a good trust that our lord of his mercy will foryeve 'em her trespass/ This manner of doing is right good/ but it is not ghostly as it might be/ Also when they will worship god they present 'em in her thought as they were before our lords face in a bodily likeness. & imagine a wondfull lyhyte there our lord Ihu is/ and then they reverence him & worship him & dread him/ & fully put 'em in his mercy for to do with 'em what he will/ Also when they will love god they behold him worship him and dread him as a man. not yet as god in man either in his passion or in some other thing of his manhood and in that beholding they feel her hearts much stirred to the love of god/ This manner of working is good and gracious/ but it is much less and lower than is the worching of understanding/ That is when the soul graciously beholdeth god in man/ For in our lord Ihesu are two kinds. the manhood. and the godhead/ then right as the godhead is more sovereign and more worthy than is the manhood/ Rygh so the ghostly beholding of the godhead in Ihesu man is more worthier. and more ghostlyer. and more meedful than beholding of the manhood alone/ whether he behold the manhood as deadly or as glorified/ And right so by the same skill the love that a soul feeleth in thinking & beholding of the godhead in man when it is graciously showed is worthier ghostlyer & more meedful than the fervour o● devotion that the soul feeleth by imagination only of the manhood show it never so much outward/ For in reward o● that this is but manly/ for our lord showeth him not in imagination as he is. ne that he is/ for the soul might not that time for freelte of the flesshede suffer it so/ Nevertheless unto such souls that can not think of the godhead ghostly that they should not err in her devoconn· but that they should be comforted & strengthened through some manner Inward beholding of Ihu for to forsake sin & the love of the world. therefore our lord Ihu tempreth his unseeable light of his godhead and clotheth it under bodile likeness of his manhood. & showeth it unto the Inner eye of a soul. and feedeth it with the love of his precious flesh ghostly/ The which love is of so great might that it sleeth all wicked love in the soul & strength it for to suffer bodily penance & other bodily disease in time of ne●● for love of Ihesu/ And this is the shadowing of our lord jesus over a chosen soul. in the which shadowing the soul i● kept fro brenning of worldly love/ For right as a shadow is made of a light & of a body: right so this ghostly shadow is made of the blessed unseeable light of the godhead & of the manhood ooned thereto showed to a devout soul/ of the which shadow the prophet saith thus/ Spnsante faciem nostra● xp̄s dns sub umbra eius vivemus in't gentes/ Our lord cryst before our face as a spirit under his shadow we shall live a 'mong folk/ That is our lord Ihu in his godhead is a spirit that may not be seen of us living in flesh as he is in his blessed light/ therefore we shall live under the shadow of his manhood as long as we are here/ But though this be sooth that this love in imagination be good/ Nevertheless a soul should desire for to have ghostly love in understanding of the godhead. for that is the end & the full bliss of the soul/ and all bodily beholdings are but means leading a soul to it/ I say not that we should refuse the manhood of Ihu and depart god fro man. but thou shalt in Ihu man behold dread. wonder. & love ghostly the godhead/ And so shall thou without departing love god in man· and both god & man ghostly and not fleshly/ Thus taught our lord marry mawdeleyne that should be contemplative. 
Joh. x.  when he said thus/ Noli me tangere non dum enim ascendi ad patrem meum/ touch me not I am not yet stied up to my father/ That is to say: Marry magdalene loved well our lord Ihu before the time of his passion/ but her love was much bodily & lityl ghostly/ She trowed well that he was god but she loved him lityll as god/ for she kouth not thenne/ & therefore she suffered all her affection & all her thought fall in him as he was in form of man/ And our lord blamed her not thenne but praised it much/ But after when he was risen fro death and appeared to her she would have worshipped him with such manner love as she died before/ and thenne our lord forbade her & said thus/ touch me not: That is. Set not thy rest ne the love of thine heart in that form of man that thou seest with thy fleshly eye only for to rest therein: For in that form I am not stied up to my father. That is I am not even to the father: for in that form of man I am less than he: touch me not so. but set thy thought & thy love in that form in which I am even to the father/ that is the form of the godhead/ and love me: know me. & worship me as god & man godly/ not as a man manly/ So shalt thou touch me/ For sithen I am both god & man. and all the cause why I shall be loved & worshipped is for I am god/ and for I took the kind of man/ And therefore make me a god in thine heart and in thine love/ And worship me in thine understanding as Ihesu god and man: sovereign soothfastness and sovereign goodness and blessed life for that I am/ And thus taught our lord her as I understand and also all other souls that are disposed to contemplation and able thereto that they should do so/ Nevertheless other souls that are not subtle in kind. ne are not yet made ghostly through grace it is good to hem that they keep forth her own working in imagination with manly affection unto more grace come freely to 'em/ It is not siker to a man to leave one good thing utterly till he see & feel a better/ Upon the self wise it may be said of other manner feelings that are like to bodily/ as hearing of delectable song/ or feeling of comfortable heat in the body: seeing of light. or sweetness of bodily savour/ these are not ghostly feelings. for ghostly feelings are felt in the mights of the soul/ principally in understanding & love. and lityll in imagination/ But these feelings are felt in the mights of the body in imagination/ & therefore they are not ghostly feelings/ But when they are best & most true. yet are they but outward tokens of the july grace that is felt in the mights of the soul/ This may be openly proved by holy writ saying thus/ Apparuerunt aplis disꝑtite 〈◊〉 taqm ignis. seditque supra singlos eorum sp̄s scuns/ The ho●ly ghost appeared to th'apostles in the day of pentecost in the li●kenes of brenning tongues & inflamed her hearts. & set upon each of 'em/ Now soothe it is the holy ghost that is god in himself unseeable was not that fire ne the tongues that were seen. ne that brening that was felt bodily. but he was unseeable felt in the mights of her souls/ for he lightened her reason/ & kindled her affection through his blessed precense so clere●i & so brennyngly that they had suddenly the ghostly knowing of soothfastness & the perfection of love as our lord behyght hem saying thus/ Spns' scuns docebit vos omne veritatem/ That is. 
Io●.  the holy ghost shall teach you all soothfastness/ thenne was the fire & that brenyg nought else but a bodily token outward showed in witnessing of that grace that was Inwardly felt/ And as it was in 'em/ so is it in other souls that are visited and lightened within of the holy ghost. and hath with that such outward feeling in comfort & witnessing of the grace in ward/ But that grace is not as I hope in all souls that are perfit but there our lord will/ Other Inperfyte souls that have such feelings outward & have not yet received Inward grace it is not good to hem to rest in such feelings outward/ but in as much as they help the soul to more love· & to more stablynesse of thought in god/ For some may be true & some may be feigned as I have said before/   

¶ How this manner of speaking of reforming in feeling of a soul shall be take And on what wise it is reform and how it is found in saint Paul'S words/ Caplm xxxi.  
NOw I have said to the a lityll of reforming in faith. and also I have touched to the a lityll of the forth-going fro that reforming to the higher reforming that is in feeling. Not in that intent that I would by these words set God's working under a law of my speaking. As for to say thus worcheth god in a soul & none other wise/ Nay I mean not so. But I say after my simple feeling that our lord worcheth thus in some creatures as I hope/ And I hope well that he worcheth other wise also that passeth my wit & my feeling/ Nevertheless whether he work thus or other wise by sundry means in longer time or shorter time/ with moche travail or lityll travail/ if all come to one end. that is to the perfit love of him/ thenne it is good enough/ For if he wool give one soul on one day the full grace of contemplation & without any travail as he well may/ as good is y● to that soul as if he had be examined pined mortified and purified twenty winter/ And therefore upon this manner wise take in my saying as I have said. & namely as I think to say/ For now by the grace of our lord Ihesu shall I speak a little as me thinketh more openly of reforming in feeling what it is and how it is made. and which are ghostly feelings that a soul receiveth/ Nevertheless first that I take not this manner of speaking of reforming of a soul in feeling as feigning or fantasy/ therefore I shall ground it in saint poullis words where he saith thus/ Nolite comformari huic sclosed reformamini in novitate sensus vestri/ That is: ye that are through grace reformed in faith conform you not hensforwarde to the manners of the world in pride in covetise & in other sins. but be ye reformed in newehede of feeling/ Loo here thou may see that saint paul speak of reforming in feeling/ And what that new feeling is. he exponeth in another place thus/ Vt impleamini in agnicione voluntatis eius in omi intellectu et sapina spunali/ That is: we pray god that ye may be fulfilled in knowing of God's will in all undstonding and in all manner ghostly wisdom/ This is reforming in feeling/ For thou shalt understand that the soul hath two. manner of feelings One without of the five bodili wits. another wythin of the ghostly wits the which are properly the mights of the soul/ Mind reason & will/ when these mights are through grace fulfilled in all understanding of the will of god & ghostly wisdom thenne hath the soul new gracious feelings/ That this is sooth he showeth in another place thus/ Renovamini spu mentis vestre et induite nowm hoinem q scdm deum creatus est in justicia: scintate & vitate Be ye renewed in spirit of your soul/ That is: ye shall be reformed not in bodily feeling ne in imagination but in the over party of your reason/ And cloth you in a new man that is shapen after god in rightwiseness holiness & soothfastness That is: your reason that is properli the image of god through grace of the holy ghost shall be clothed in a new light of soothfastness/ holiness. & rightwiseness/ And then it is reform in feeling/ For when the soul hath perfit knowing of god thenne it is reformed/ Thus saith saint paul/ Expoliantes veteren hominem cum actibus suis induite nowm qui re novatur in agniconne dei scdm ymaginem eius qui creavit eum/ Spoil yourself of the old man with all his deeds That is cast fro you the love of the world with all worldly manners And cloth you in a new man: 
Col. 3.  That is: ye shall be renewed in the knowing of god after the likeness of him that made you/ By these words thou may understand that saint paul would have men's souls reformed in perfit knowing of god. for that is the new feeling that he speaketh of generally And therefore upon his words I shall say more openly of this reforming as god giveth me grace/ For there is two manner knowing of god/ One is had principally in imagination. & lityll in understanding/ This knowing is in chosen souls beginning & prouffiting in grace that known god. & loven him all manly. not ghostly with manly affections & with bodily likeness as I have before said/ This knowing is good. and it is likened to milk by the which they are tendly nourished as childn until they been able for to come to the faders board and take of his hand hole breed. Another knowing is principally feeled in understanding & lityll in imagination/ For the understanding is lady & the imagination is a maiden serving to the understanding when need is/ ●rnowyng is hold breed meet for perfit soul's/ and it is reforming in feeling/   

¶ How god openeth the Iner eye of the soul to see him not all at ones but by diverse times/ And of three manner of reforming of a soul by ensample/ Caplm xxxii.  
A Soul that is called fro the love of world & after that is righted and assayed. mortified & purified as I have before said: our lord Ihesu of his merciful goodness refourmyth it in feeling when he wouchyth saaf/ He openeth the Inner eye of the soul when he lighteneth the reason through touching and shining of his blessed light for to see him and know him. not all fully atones/ but lityll & lityll by divers times as the soul may suffer him/ He seeth him not what he is. for that may no creature do in heaven ne in earth/ Nor he seeth him not as he is/ for that sight is only in the bliss of heaven/ But he seeth him. that he is an unchanble being: a sovereign might: sovereign soothfastness: sovereign goodness: a blessed life: an endless bliss/ This seeth the soul and moche more that cometh with all not blindly & nakedly and unsavourly as doth a clerk that seeth him by his clergy only through might of his naked reason/ but he seeth him in understanding that is comforted & lighted by the yeft of the holy ghost with a wonderful reverence & a privy brennning love. and with ghostly savour & heavenly delight more clearly & more fully than it may be written or said/ This sight though it be but shortly & lityll is so worthy & so mighty that it draweth & ravisheth all the affection of the soul fro beholding and the mind of all earthly thing thereto for to rest therein evermore if it might/ And of this manner of sight & knowing the soul groundeth all his working inward in all the affections/ For thenne it dreadeth god in man as soothfastness wondereth him as might/ loveth him as goodness/ This ●●ighte and this goodness and this knowing of Ihesu with the blessed love that cometh out of it. may be called reforming of a soul in feeling. and in faith that I speak of.  
It is in faith/ For it is dark yet as in reward of that full knowing of Ihesu with the blessed love that cometh out of it that shall be in heaven/ For then shall we see him not only that he is. but as he is/ As saint john saith/ 
p. ●●. iiii  Tunc videbimus eum sicut est/ That is: Then shall we see him as he is/ Nevertheless it is in feeling also as in reward of that blind knowing that a soul hath standing only in faith/ For this soul knoweth somewhat of the very kind of Ihesu god through his gracious sight/ but that other knoweth not. but only trowith it is soothe/ Nevertheless that thou the better may conceive what I mean I shall show these three manner reforming of a soul by ensample of three men stonding in the light of the son/ Of the which three one is blynde· another may see but he hath his eyen stopped/ the third lokyth forth full sight/ The blind man hath no manner knowing that he is in the son/ but he trow it if a true man tell him/ And he betokeneth a soul that is only reformed in faith that trow in god as holy church teacheth & wot not what/ This sufficeth as for salvation/ That other man seeth a light of the sone· but he seeth it not clearly what it is for the lid of is eye letteth him that he may not see/ But he seeth through the lid of his eye a glymering of great light And he betokeneth a soul that is reformed in faith & in feeling: and so is he contemplative/ for he seeth somewhat of the godhead of Ihu through grace/ Not clearly ne fully. for the lid that is his bodily kind is yet a wall bytwixe his kind and the kind of Ihu god & letteth him fro the clear sight/ But he seeth through this wall after that grace towchyth him more or less that Ihu is god. & that Ihu is sovereign goodness & sovereign being. & a blessed life/ and all that other goodness cometh of him/ Thus seeth the soul by grace notayenstonding the bodily kind. and the more clean & subtle that the soul is made. and the more it is departed fro flesshlyhede the sharper sight it hath & the mighty love of the godhead of Ihu/ This sight is so mighty that though none other man living would trow in Ihu ne love him he would never trow the less ne love him the less: for he seeth it soothfastly that he may not untrowe it/ The third man that hath full sight of the son he trow it not/ for he seeth it fully/ And he betokeneth a full blessed soul that without any wall of body or of sin seeth openly the face of Ihu in the bliss of heaven/ There is no faith/ and therefore he is fully reformed in feeling/ There is no state above the second reforming that a soul may come to here in this life. for this is the state of perfection & the way to hevenwarde. Nevertheless all the souls that are in this state are not all like farforth. For some hath it lityll shortly & seildom. & some longer clearer & oftiner: and some hath it best clearest & longest after the abounding of grace/ & yet all these have the yeft of contemplation/ For the soul hath not perfit sight of Ihu all at ones/ but first a little & a little/ and after that it profiteth & cometh to more feeling/ And as long as it is in this life it may wax more in knowing & in this love of jesus/ and soothly I wot not what were more lief to such a soul that hath felt a lytill of it than utterly all other things left & set at nought. Tent only thereto for to have clearer sight & clenner love of Ihu in whom is all the blessed trinity. This manner knowing of Ihu as I understand is the opening of heaven to the eye of a clean soul of the which holy men speak of in her writing/ Not as some ween that the opening of heaven is as if a soul might see by imagination thru● the skies above the firmament how our lord Ihu sitteth in his majesty in a bodily light as much as an hundredth sons Nay it is not so. ne though he see never so high on the manner soothly he seeth not the ghostly heaven/ The higher he styeth above the son for to see Ihu god so by such imagination. the lower he falleth bineth the son. Nevertheless this manner sight is sufferable to simple souls that can no better seche him that is unseeable/   

¶ How Ihu is heaven to the soul. and why he is called fire/ Caplm xxxiii.  
WHat is heaven to a reasonable soul/ soothly noughteelles but Ihesu god/ For if that be heaven only that is above all thing/ thenne is god only heaven tomanes soul for he is only above the kind of a soul/ thenne if a soul may thorough grace have knowing of that blessed kind of Ihu▪ soothly he seeth heaven for he seeth god/ Therefore there are many men that erren in understanding of some words that are said of god/ for they understand 'em not ghostly/ Holy writing saith that a soul that will find god shall life upward the Inner eye & seek god above itself/ then some men that would do after this saying understand this word above himself as for higher setting in stead & worthiness of place as one element or planet is above another in setting & worthiness of a bodily place/ But it is not so ghostly. For a soul is above all bodily thing: not by setting of stead: but by subtlety & worthiness of kind/ Right so on the self wise god is above all bodily & ghostly creatures not by setting of stead but through subtlety & worthiness of his unchangeable blessed kind And therefore he that will wisely seek god & find him he shall not run out with his thought as he would climb above the son & part the firmament and imagine the majesty as it were of an hundred sons/ he shall rather draw down the son & all the firmament & forget it. and cast it beneath him there he is. & set all this & all bodily thing also at nought/ and think thenne if he can ghostly both of himself & of god also/ And if he do thus: thenne seeth the soul above itself/ thenne seeth it in to heaven. Upon this self manner shall this word within be understand/ It is commonly said that a soul shall see our lord within all thing & within itself/ sooth it is that our lord is within all creatures. but not on that manner that a kernel is hid within the shell of a nut. or as a lityll bodily thing is holden within another moche/ but he is within all creatures as holding & keeping hem in her being through subtlety & might of his own blessed kind & cleanness unseeable/ For right as a thing that is most precious & most clean is laid inerest/ right so by that likeness it is said that the kind of god that is most precious most clean and most goodly ferrest fro bodilyhede is hid within all things/ And therefore he that will seek god within he shall gorget first all bodily things for all that is without. & his own body/ and he shall forget thinking of his own soul. & think on the unmade kind. that is Ihu that made him: quiknith him. holdeth him. & giveth him reason & mind & love the which is within him through his might & sovereign subtlety/ Upon this manner shall the soul do when grace to wchyth it. or else it will but lityl avail to seche Ihesu. and to find him within itself & within all creatures as me thinketh/ Also it is said in holy writ that god is light/ So saith saint john. Deus lux est/ That is. God is light/ This light shall not be understand as for bodily light but it is understand thus/ God is light. That is. God is troth and soothfastness/ for soothfastness is ghostly light/ Thenne he that most graciously knoweth soothfastness best seeth god/ And nevertheless it is likened to the bodily light for this skill/ Right as the son showeth to the bodily eye itself and all bodily thing by it/ right so soothfastness that is god showeth to the reason of the soul itself first. and by itself all other ghostly thing that needeth to the knowing of a soul/ Thus saith the prophet/ Dne in lumine tuo videbimus lumen/ Lord we shall see thy light by thy light/ That is: we shall see the tha● art soothfastness by thyself/ On the self wise it is said that god is fire/ Deus noster ignis consumens est: That is 〈◊〉 lord is fire wasting/ That is for to say: God is not fire elementare that heateth a body and burneth it/ but god is love & charity/ For as fire wasteth all bodily thing that may be wasted/ Right so the love of god brenneth and wasteth all sin out of the soul. And maketh it clean as fire maketh clean all manner metal/ these words and all other that be spoken of our lord in holy writ by bodily likeness must needs be understand ghostly: else there is no ●a●our in 'em/ Nevertheless the cause why such manner words are said of our lord in holy writ is this/ For we are so fleshly that we can not speak of god ne understand of him but if we by such words first be entered in/ Nevertheless when the Inner eye is opened through grace for to have a little sight of Ihu/ thenne shall the soul torn lightly enough all such words of bodily things in to ghostly understanding/ This ghost opening of the Inner eye in to knowing of the godhead I call reforming in faith & feeling/ for thenne the soul somewhat feeleth in understanding of that thing that it had before in naked trowing. and that is the beginning of contemplation/ of the which saint paul saith thus/ Non contemplantibus nobis que vident sed que non videntur Quia que videntur temporalia sunt. 
S. cor iiii.  que autem non videntur etna sunt/ That is: Our contemplation is not in things that are seen. but it is in things unseeable/ For things that are seen are passing. but unseeable things are everlasting/ to the which sight every soul should desire for to come to both here in party and in the bliss of heaven fully/ For in that sight & in that knowing of Ihu is fully the bliss of a reasonable soul & endless life Thus saith our lord/ Hec est autem vita eterna ut cognoscantte verum deum et quem misisti ihmm xpm/ 
〈◊〉. seven.  That is: father this is endless life that thy chosen souls know the and thy son whom thou hast sent one soothfast god/   

¶ Of two manner of love reformed & unformed what it meaneth/ And how we be behold to love Ihu moche for our making/ but more for our again buying/ but all thermooste for our saving through the yefts of his love/ caplm xxxiiii.  
But now wonder'st thou sithen this knoweng of god is the bliss & the end of a soul? why then have I said here before that a soul should not else covet but only the love of god/ I spoke no thing of this sight that a soul should covet this/ Unto this may I say thus/ that the sight of Ihesu is full bliss of a soul: and that is only for the sight but it is also for the blessed love that cometh out of that sight/ Nevertheless for love cometh out of knowing & not knowing out of love/ therefore it is said that in knowing & in sight principally of god with love is the bliss of a soul and the more he is known the better he is loved/ But for asmuch as to this knowing or to this love that cometh of it. may not the soul come without love/ therefore said I that thou shouldest covet love/ for love is cause why a soul cometh to this knowing and to this love that cometh of it/ And o● what manner that is I shall tell the more openly/ Holy writers say and soothe it is that there is two manner of ghostly ●●ue/ One is called formed. another is called unformed/ Love unformed is god himself the third person in the ●●●nyte. that is the holy ghost/ He is love unformed and 〈◊〉 as saint john saith/ Deus dileccō est/ God is love: 〈◊〉 is the holy ghost/ Love formed is the affection of the 〈◊〉 made by the holy ghost of the sight and of the knowing 〈◊〉 soothfastness that is god. only stirred and set in him/ 〈◊〉 love is called formed for it is made by the holy ghost/ 〈◊〉 love is not god in himself for it is made. but it is the love 〈◊〉 the soul felt of the sight of Ihesu and stirred to him 〈◊〉 Now may thou see that love form is not cause why a 〈◊〉 cometh to the ghostly sight of Ihesu/ And some men 〈◊〉 think that they would love god so brennyngly as it 〈◊〉 by their own mighte· that they were worthy for to have th● ghostly knowing of him/ Nay it is not so. But love 〈◊〉 formed that is god himself is cause of all this knowing/ For a blind wretched soul is so far fro the clear knowing and the blessed feeling of his love thorough sin and freelte of the bodily kind that it might never come to it. ne were it the endless mochenes of the love of god/ Butler thenne by cause he loveth us so much therefore he giveth us his love that is the holy ghost/ He is the yever and the yeft. and maketh us then by that yeft for to know and love him/ ●o this is the love that I spoke of that thou shouldest only covet and desire this unformed love that is the holy ghost/ For soothly a less thing or a less yeft than he is may not avail us for to bring us to the blessed sight of Ihu/ And therefore should we fully desire and ask of Ihu only this yefte of love that he would for the mochenes of his love so blessed touch our hearts with his unseeable light to the knowing of him and depart with us of his love that as he loveth us that we might love him again/ Thus saith saint john/ ●os diligamus deum qm ipse prior delixit nos/ That is: 
p. Ioh.  Love we god now for he first loved us/ He loved us moche when he made us to his likeness▪ but he loved us more when he bought us with his precious blood through wilful taking of death in his manhood fro the power of the fiend & fro the pine of hell. but he loveth us most when he giveth us the yeft of the holy ghost that is love· by the which we know him & love him. & are made syker that we are his sons chosen to salvation/ For this love are we more to him bound than for any other love that ever showed he for us. either in our making or in our ayembyenge/ For though he had made us and bought us: but if he save us with all? what profiteth it else to us our making or our buying/ soothly right nought/ Therefore the most token of love showed to us as me thinketh is this/ That he giveth himself in his godhead to our soul's/ He gave himself first in his manhood to us for our ransom when he offered himself to the father of heaven upon the altar of the cross/  
This was a right fair yefte and a right great token of love/ But what time he giveth himself in his godhead ghostly to our souls for our salvation/ And maketh us for to know him. and for to love him/ then loveth he us fully/ for then giveth he himself to us/ and more might he not give us/ ne less might not suffice to us/ And for this skill it is said that the ryghting of a sinful soul thorough forgiveness of sins is arected and appropered principally to the working of the holy ghost/ For the holy ghost is love/ And in the righting of a soul our lord Ihesu showeth to a soul most of his love/ for he doth away all sin and oonyth it to him/ And that is the best thing that he may do to a soul/ and therefore it is appropered to the holy ghost/ The making of the soul is appropered to the father. as for the sovereign might and power that he showeth in making of it/ The buying of it is aretted to the son as for the sovereign wit and wisdom that he showed in his manhood/ For he overcome the fiend principally through wisdom and not thorough strength/ But the ryghting an● the full saving of a soul by forgiveness of sins is apr●pred to the third person that is the holy ghost/ For therein showeth Ihesu most love unto manes soul/ And for th●● thing shall he be most loved of us again/ His making i● comen to us and to all unreasonable creatures/ For as he made us of nought. so made he hem/ And therefore is this we●ke greatest of might. but not most of love/ Also the bye●●ge is comen to us and to all reasonable soul's/ as to Iewes ●●arracyns and to falls christian men/ For he died for all soule● ylyke/ and bought 'em. if they will have the perfit love 〈◊〉 it/ And also it sufficeth for the bienge of all though it be so● that all have it not/ And this work was most of wisdom not most of love/ But the righting and the hallowing of our souls through the yeft of the holy ghost. that is only the working of love. And that is not comen but it is specyalle gift only to chosen souls/ And soothly that is most working of love to us that are his chosen children  
This is the love of god that I spoke of which thou should covet and desire: for this love is god himself and the holy ghost/ This love unformed when it is yeven to us it worcheth in our soul all that good is▪ and all that longeth to goodness/ This love loveth us or that we love him. for it cleanseth us first of our sins: and maketh us for to love him. & maketh our will strong for to againstand all sins: and stirreth us for to assay ourself through divers exercise both bodily & ghostly in all virtues/ It stireth us also for to forsake the sin and fleshly affections and worldly dreads/ It keepeth us fro malicious temptations of the fende· and driveth us out fro business & vanity of the world: and fro conversation of worldly lovers/ All this doth the love of god unformed when he giveth himself to us/ we do right nought but suffer him and assent to him: for that is the most that we do that we assent wilfully to his gracious working in us/ And yet is not that will of us but of his making: so that me thinkyth that he doth in us all that is well done. & yet see we it not/ And not only doth he thus: but after this love doth more. for he openeth the eye of the soul. and showeth to the soul the sight of Ihu wonderfully: and the knowing of him as the soul may suffer it thus by little & by little. and by the sight he ravisheth all the affection of the soul to him. and thenne beginneth the soul for to know him ghostly & brennyngly for to love him/ Thenne seeth the soul somewhat of the kind of the blessed godhead of Ihu how that he is all and that he worcheth all. & that all good deeds that are done & good thoughts are only of him for he is all soverein might & all soverein soothfastness & all sovereign goodness/ And therefore every good deed is done of him & by him. & he shall only have the worship & the thank for all good deeds and no thing but he/ For though wretched men steel his worship here for a while/ Nevertheless at the last end shall soothfastness show well that Ihesu died all▪ and man died right nought of hym sefe/ And then shall thieves of gods good that are not accorded with him here in this life for her trespaas be deemed to death. and Ihesu shall be fully worshipped & thanked of all blessed creatures for his working/ This love is not else but Ihu himself that for love worcheth all this in man's soule· and reformeth it in feeling to his likeness as I have before said & some what as I shall say/ This love bringeth in to the soul the full heed of all virtues and maketh him all clean & true soft & easy. and turneth him all in to love & in to liking/ And on what manner wise he doth that. I shall tell the a lityll afterward/ This love draweth the soul fro vain beholding of worldly things in to contemplation of ghostly creatures & of God's pryvitees/ fro flesshlihede in to ghostlynes/ fro earthly feeling in to heavenly savour:   

¶ How that some soul loveth Ihu by bodily fervours & by her own manly affections that been stirred by grace & by 〈◊〉 And how some loven Ihu more restfully by ghostly affecc●ōs only stirred Inward through special grace of the holy ghost▪ Caplm xxxv.  
then may I say that he that most hath of this lo●● here in this life most pleaseth god. and most clear 〈◊〉 shall have of him/ and most fully love him in the 〈◊〉 of heaven/ for he hath the most yeft of love here in earth/ The love may not be had by a manes own travail as some 〈◊〉/ It is freely had of the gracious yefte of Ihu after moch● bodily & ghostly travail going before/ For there are some ●●uers of god that maken himself to love god as it were by her own might/ for they strain himself through great violence and panten so strongly that they braced in to bodily fervours as they would draw donwe god fro heaven to hem/ And they say in her hearts & with her mouth/ A lord I love the and I would love thee: I would for thy love suffer death/ And in this manner of working they feel great fervour and moche grace / And soothe it is me thinketh this working is good & medfull if it be well tempered with meekness & with discretion/ But nevertheless these men love not ne have not the yefte of love on that manner as I speak of: ne they ask it not so/ For a soul that hath the yeft of love through gracious beholding of Ihesu as I mean. or else if he have it not yet: but would have it. he is not busy for to strain himself over his might as it were by bodily strength for to have it by bodily fervours: and so for to feel the love of god. but him thinketh that he is right nought▪ & that he can do right nought of himself. but as it were a deed thing only hanging & borne up by the mercy of god/ He seethe well that Ihu is all & doth all. and therefore asketh he nought else but the yeft of love For sithen that the soul seeth that his own love is nought. therefore it would have his love for that is enough/ Therefore prayeth he and that desireth he that the love of god would touch him with his blessed light that he might see a little of him by his gracious presence: for then should he love him/ And so by this way cometh the yeft of love that is god in to a soul/ The more that a soul noughtith itself through grace by sight of this soothfastness some time without any fervour outward showed. and the less that it thinketh that it loveth or seeth god. the nearer it nigheth for to perceive the yeft of the blessed love/ For then is love master & worcheth in the soul: and maketh it forget itself. and for to see and behold only how love doth/ And thenne is the soul more suffering than doing. and that is clean love/ Thus saint paul meaned when he said thus/ Quicunque sp̄u dei agunt hii filii dei sunt/ All these that are wrought with the spirit of god are God's sons. 
Ro· viii  that is souls that are made so meek & so buxom to god that they work not of himself. but suffer the holy ghost stir 'em and work 'em in the feelings of love with a sweet cord to his stirrings/ these arne specially God's sons most like unto him/ Other souls that can not love thus but traveylen himself by her own afflictions and stir himself through her own thinking of god & bodily exercise for to draw out of himself by mastery the feeling of love by fervours & other bodily signs love not ghostly/ They 〈◊〉 ne well & medefully if so that they will know meekly that her working is not the kindly gracious feeling of love. but it is manly doing by a soul at the bidding of reason/ And nevertheless through the goodness of god by cause that the soul doth that in it is. these manly affections of the soul stirred 〈◊〉 to god by man's working are turned in to ghostly affe●●cōns. and are meedful as if they had be done ghostly in the f●●ste beginning/ And this is a great courtesy of our lord showed to meek souls that turneth all these manly affections of kindly love in to the affection and in to the meed of his own love: as if he had wrought 'em all fully by himself/ And 〈◊〉 these manly affections so turned may be called affections 〈◊〉 ghostly love through purchase not through kindly bringing fourth of the holy ghost/ I say not that a soul may work ●●che manly affections only of itself without grace/ for 〈◊〉 well that saint paul saith that we may right nought 〈◊〉 ne think that good is of ourself without grace/ Non 〈◊〉 sumus sufficientes cogitare aliquid ex nobis quasi ex nobis. 〈◊〉 sufficiencia nostra ex deo est/ That is. we that love god ween 〈◊〉 that we suffice for to love or for to think good of ourself only/ but our suffising is of god/ For god worcheth in 〈◊〉 both good work and good will as saint paul saith/ Deus ● qui operat in nobis et velle & perficere ꝓ bona voluntate/ That is: It is god that worcheth in us good will and fulfilling of good will/ But I say that such affections are good made by the will & mean of a soul after the general grace that he giveth to all chosen soul's/ not of special grace made ghostly by touching of his gracious presence as he worcheth in his perfit lovers as I said before/ for in unperfit lovers love worcheth ferly by the affections of man. but inꝑfyte lovers love werchyth nearly by her own ghostly affections: & sleeth in a soul for the time all other affections both fleshly kindly & manly. and that is properly the working of love by himself/ Thus love may be had in a little in party here in a clean soul through the ghostly sight of Ihu. but in the bliss of heaven it is fulfilled by clear sight in his godhead/ For there shall none affection be feeled in a soul but godly & ghostly/   

¶ That the yeft of love among all other yefts of Ihu is worthiest & most profitable/ And how Ihu doth all that is well done in his lovers only for love/ And how love maketh the using of all virtues and all good deeds light and easy/ Caplm xxxvi.  
Ask thou then of god no thing but this yeft of love that is the holy ghost/ For among all the yefts that our lord giveth there is none so good ne so profitable. so worthy ne so excellent as this is/ For there is no yefte of god that is both the yever & the yeft but this yeft of love/ And therefore it is the best & the worthiest/ The yeft of prophecy the yefts of miracles working. the yeft of the great knowing & counseyling. and the yeft of great fasting or of great penance doing: or any other such are great yefts of the holy ghost. but they are not the holy ghost/ For a reproved soul & a damnable might have all these yefts as hath a choose soul/ And therefore all these manner yefts are not greatly for to desire ne moche for to charge/ But the yeft of love is the holy ghost god himself. and him may no soul have & be dampened with all/ For that yeft saveth it only fro damnation: & maketh it God's son perceiver of heavenly heritage/ And the love as I have before said is not the affection of love that is form in a soul: but it is the holy ghost himself that is love unformed that saveth a soul/ For he giveth himself to a soul first or the soul loveth him/ and he formeth the affection in the soul: and maketh the soul for to love him only for himself/ And not only that: but also by this yeft the soul loveth itself & all his even-christian as itself only for god/ And this is the yeft of love that maketh shedding atwyx chosen souls & reproved/ And this yeft maketh full peace atwyxe god & a soul. and oonyth all blessed creatures holy in god for it maketh Ihu for to love us and us him also: and every each of us for to love other in him/ covet this yeft of love principally as I have said/ For if he will of his grace give it the on that manner wise it shall open & lighten the reason of thy soul for to see soothfastness that is god & ghostly things/ And it shall stir thine affection holy for to see soothfastness that is god & ghostly things/ And it shall stir thine affection holy & fully for to love him/ And it shall work in thy soul only as he will. and thou shalt behold Ihu reverently with softness of love and see how he doth/ Thus biddeth he by his prophet that we should do saying thus/ Vacate & vide●e 〈◊〉 ego sum deus/ Cease ye and seeth that I am god/ That is: ye that are reformed in feeling and have your Iner eye opened in to sight of ghostly things cease ye some time of outward worching and see that I am god/ That is: See only how I Ihesu god & man do/ Behold ye me for I do all/ I am love: and for love I do all that I do: and ye do nought/ And that this is sooth I shall show you/ For there is no good deed done by you: ne good thought felt in you: but if it be done through me/ That is. Through might and wisdom. and love mightily: wittily and lovely/ else it is no good deed/ But now is it soothe that I Ihu am both might and wisdom and blessed love and ye nought: for I am god/ Then mow ye well see that I do all your good deeds/ And all good thoughts: and all your good loves in you: and ye do right nought/ And yet nevertheless been all these good deeds called yours/ Not for ye work 'em principally. but for I give hem to you for love that I have to you/ And therefore sithen I that am Ihu. and for love doth all this. cease thenne ye of the beholding of yourself: and set yourself at nought & look on me. and see that I am god. for I do all this/ This is somewhat of the meaning of the veers of david before said/ See thenne and behold what love worcheth in a chosen soul that he reformeth in feeling to his likeness when the reason is lightened a little to the ghostly knowing of Ihu. and to the feeling of his love/ Thenne bringeth love in to the soul the full heed of virtues. and turneth 'em all in to softness & in to liking as it were without working of the soul: for the soul striveth not moche for the getting of 'em as it died before. but it hath 'em easily & feeleth hem restfulfully only through the yeft of love that is the holy ghost/ And that is a well great comfort and gladness unspeakable when it feeleth suddenly and wot never how the virtue of meekness & patience sobertee & sadness chastity & cleanness lovered to his even-christian. and all other virtues the which were to him sometime travailous painful and hard for to keep are now turned in to foftnes & liking and in to wondfull lightness: so farforth that him thynkith no mastery ne no hardness for to keep every virtue. but it is most liking to him for to keep it: & all this maketh love/ Other men that stonden in the comoetee of charity & are not yet so farforth in grace. but work under the bidding of reason they striven & fighten all day against sins for the getting of virtues: and sometime they been above and sometime beneath as wrastleers are/ these men done full well/ They have virtues in reason & will. not in savour ne in love: for they fyighten with himself as it were by her own might for hem/ and therefore may they not have full rest ne fully the higher hand/ Nevertheless they shall have moche meed: but they are not yet meek enough/ They have not yet put henself all fully in God's hand: for they see him not yet/ But a soul that hath ghostly sight of Ihu taketh no great keep of striving for virtues for that time/ He is not busy about 'em specially but he setteth all his business for to keep that sight & that beholding of Ihu that it hath for to hold the mind stably thereto: and bind the love only to it that it fall not therefro: & forget all other things asmuch as it may/ And when it doth thus thenne is Ihu soothfastly master again all sins: & bishado with it with his blessed presence and getith it all virtues/ And the soul is so comforted & so borne up with the soft feeling of love that it hath of the sight of Ihu that it feeleth no great disease outward/ And thus sleeth love generally all sins in a soul: & reformeth it in the new feelings of virtues/   

¶ How love through gracious beholding of Ihu sleeth all pharynxes of pride: & maketh the soul for to lose savour & delight in all earthly worship/ Caplm xxxvii.  
Nevertheless how love sleeth sins and reformeth virtues in a soul more specially shall I say. and first of pride & of meekness that it contrary virtue thereto/ Thou sha●● understand that there is two manner of meekness/ One is ha● by working of reason/ Another is felt of the special gift of love/ Both are of love: but that one love worcheth by reason of the soul. but that other he worcheth by himself The first is unperfect: that other is perfit/ The first meekness that a man feeleth of beholding of his owns sins and of his own wretchedness through the which beholding he thinketh himself unworthy for to have any gift of grace or any meed of god/ But him thinketh it enough that he would of his great mercy grant him forgiveness of his sins/ And also he thinketh him by cause of his own sins that he is woors than the most sinner that liveth/ and that every man doth better than he/ And so by such beholding thresteth he himself down in his thought under all men/ And he is besie for to againstand the stirrings of pride asmuch as he may both bodily pride & ghostly: and despiseth himself so that he assenteth not to the feelings of pride/ And if his heart be taken sometime with it that it be defoiled with vain joy of worship or of cunning or of praising or of any other thing/ as soon as he may perceive it he is evil paid with himself and hath sorrow for it in heart and asketh forgiveness of it of god. and showeth him to his confessor▪ and accuseth himself meekly. & receiveth his penance/ This is good meekness. but it is not yet perfit meekness. for it is of souls that are beginning & profiting in grace caused of beholding of sins/ Love worchyth this meekness by reason of the soul/ perfit meekness a soul feeleth of the sight & the ghostly knowing of Ihu/ For when the holy ghost lighteneth the reason in to the sight of soothfastness how Ihu is all & that he doth all/ the soul hath so great love & so great joy in that ghostly sight/ for it is so sothfaste that it foryeteth itself. and fully leaneth to Ihu with all the love that it hath for to behold him/ It taketh no keep of no unworthiness of itself ne of sins afore done/ but setteth at nought itself with all the sins & all the good deeds that ever it died. as if there were no thing but Ihu/ Thus meek david was when he said thus/ Et substancia mea tanqm nichilum ann te/ That is: 
P· ● xxxviii.  Lord Ihu the sight of thy blessed unmade substance & thine endless being showeth well unto me that my substance & being of my soul is as nought anence thee/ Also anence his even-christian he hath no reward to hem ne deeming of 'em whether they been better or worse than himself is For he hold himself & all other men as it were even ylike nought of henself anence god▪ & that is soothe/ For all the goodness that is done in henselfe or in hem is only of god whom he beholdeth as all/ And therefore setteth he all other creatures at nought as he doth himself. Thus meek was the prophet when he said thus/ Omes gentes quasi non sint sic sunt coram eo et quasi nichilum & mane reputate sunt ei/ All men are before our lord as nought. 
Isay ●.  & as unnotefull and nought they are accounted to him/ That is anents the endless being and the unchangeable kind of god mankind is as nought/ For of nought it is made & to nought should it torn but if he kept it in the being that made it of nought/ This is soothfastness and this should make a soul meek if it might see thorough grace this soothfastness/ Therefore when love openeth the Inner eye of the soul for to see this soothfastness with other circumstances that comen with all. thenne beginneth the soul for to be soothfastly meek/ For thenne by the sight of god it feeleth and seeth itself as it is/ And then forsakith the soul the beholding & the leaning to itself: and fully falleth to the beholding of Ihu/ And when it doth so. then settith the soul nought by all the joy & the worship of the world/ For the joy of worldly worship is so little & so nought in reward of that joy & that love that it feeleth in the ghostly sight of Ihu & knowing of soothfastness. that though it might have it without any sin he would nought of it/ Ne though men would worship him praise him & favour him: or 〈◊〉 him at great state it likyth him nought/ Ne though he ha● cunning of all the seven. arts of clergy & of all crafts under the son: or had power for to work all manner miracles. he hath no more deinte of all this ne more savour of hem than to gnaw● on a dry stick/ He had well liefer foryete all this & for to be alone out of the sight of the world than for to think on 'em & be worshipped of all men/ For the heart of a true lover of Ihu is made so much & so large through a little sight of him & a little feeling of his ghostly love that all the liking & all the joy of all earth may not suffice for to fill a corner of it/ And thenne seemeth it well that these wretched worldly lovers that are as it were ravished in love of her own worshypp/ and poursewe after it for to have it with all the might and all the wit that they have/ they have no savour in this meekness/ they are wonder far therefro. But the lover of Ihu hath this meekness lastingly. and that not with heaviness & striving for it/ but with liking & gladness. the which gladness it hath not· for it forsaketh the worship of the world/ for that were a proud meekness that longeth to an hypocrite/ but for he hath a sight and a ghostly knowing of soothfastness and worthiness of Ihu through the yeft of the holy ghost/ That reverent sight and that lovely beholding of Ihesu comforteth the love so wonderfully and beareth it up so mightily and so softly soothly that it may not like ne fully rest in no ne earthly joy. ne it will not/ He maketh none force wherther men lack him or praise him/ worship him or despise him as for himself/ He setteth it not at heart neither for to be well paid if men despise him as for more meekness. ne for to be evil paid that men should worship him or praise him/ He had liefer for to foryete both that one & that other: & only think on Ihu & get meekness by that way/ And that is moche the sykerer way who might come thereto/ Thus died david when he said/ Ocli mei semper ad dnm qm ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos/ That is: 
P· xiiii.  Mine eyen are ever open to Ihu our lord for why? he shall pluck my feet fro snares of sins/ For when he doth so thenne forsaketh he utterly himself & undcastyth him holy to Ihu/ & thenne is he in a syker ward for the shield of soothfastness the which he holdeth keepeth him so well that he shall not be hurt through no stirring of pride as long as he holdeth him within the shield as the prophet saith/ Scuto circumdabit te veritas eius non timebis a timore nocturno. 
P· x.  soothfastness shall umbiclyppe the with a shield. & that is if thou all other things left only behold him/ For thenne shalt thou not dread for the nights dread/ that is: thou shalt not dread the spirit of pride whether he come by night or by day. as the next veers saith after thus/ A sagitta volante in die/ Pride cometh by night for to assail a soul when it is despised & reproved of other men that it should by that fall in heaviness & in to sorrow/ It cometh also as an arrow fleinge on the day when a man is worshipped & praised of all men. 
P. x.  whether it be for worldly doing or for ghostly that he should have vain joy in himself restyngly. and falls gladness in a passing thing/ This is a sharp arrow and a perilous/ It fleeth swiftly. & it striketh softly. but it woundeth deadly/ But the lover of Ihu that stabli beholdeth by devout prayers & busy thinking on him is so umbilapped with the siker shield of soothfastness that he dreadeth not: for this arrow may not enter in to the soul/ Ne though it come it hurteth not: but gleuteth away & passeth forth/ And thus is the soul made meek as I understand by the working of the holy ghost. that is the gift of love/ For he openeth the eye of the soul for to see & love Ihesu/ And he keepeth the soul in that sight restfully & sickerly/ And he sleeth all the stirrings of pride wonderfully & privily & softly: and the soul wot never how/ And also he bringeth in by that way soothfastly and lovely the virtue of meekness/ All this doth love. but not in all his lovers 〈◊〉 full/ For some hath this grace but shortly and lityll as it 〈◊〉 in the beginning of it. and a lityll assaying toward. for the conscience is not yet cleansed fully through grace/ And so●● have it more fully. for they have clearer sight of Ihesu. and they feel more of his love/ And some hath it most fully. for they have the full gift of contemplaconon/ Nevertheless he that least hath on this manner as I have said. I hope soothly he hath the yeft of perfit meekness. for he hath the yeft of perfit love   

¶ How love sleeth all stirrings of wrath & envy softly & reformeth in the soul the virtues of peace & patience & of perfit charity to his even-christian as he died specially in the apposles/ Caplm xxxviii.  
Love worcheth wisely & softly in a soul there he will for he sleeth mightily ire & envy and all passions of angrynes & melancholy in it· and bringeth in to the soul virtues of patience & mildness peasibylite and lovered to his even-christian/ It is full hard & a great mastery to a man that standeth only in working of his own reason for to keep patience holy rest & softness in heart & charity to his even-christian if they disease him unskilfully and done him wrong that he ne shall somewhat do again to hem through stirring of ire or of melancholy either in speaking or in working or both/ And nevertheless though a man be stirred & troubled in himself and made unrestful. be so that it be not to much passing over the bonds of reason. and that he keep his hand & his tongue and be ready for to foryeve the trespass when mercy is asked/ yet this man hath the virtue of patience though it be but weak & nakidly. for asmuch as he would have it and traveleth besily in refraining of his unskilful passions that he might have it/ and also is sorry that he hath it not as he should/ But to a true lover of Ihu it is no great mastery for to suffer all this/ For why love fighteth for him and sleeth wonder softly such stirrings of wrath & of melancholy. and maketh his soul so easy & so peaceable so suffering and so goodly thorough the ghostly sight of Ihesu with the feeling of his blessed love that though he be despised & reproved of other men: or take wrong or harm shame or villainy he chargeth it not: he is not much stirred against him/ He will not be angered ne stirred against him/ for if he were much stirred he should forbear the comfort that he feeleth within his soul. but that will he not/ He may lightlier forget all the wrong that is done to him than another man may foryeve it though mercy were axed/ And so he had well liefer forget it. for him thinketh it most ease to him/ And love doth all this. for love openeth the eye of the soul to the sight of Ihesu. & stablith it with the liking of love that it feeleth by that sight 〈◊〉 comforteth it so mightily that it taketh no keep what 〈◊〉 men jangle or done against him/ It hangeth no thing 〈…〉 him/ The most harm that he might have were a 〈…〉 of the ghostly sight of Ihu/ And therefore it is liefer 〈…〉 for to suffer all harms than that alone/ All this may the 〈◊〉 do well & easily without great trowbling of the 〈…〉 when disease falleth all without forth & towchet● 〈◊〉 the body· as is bachiting or scoming: or spoiling of 〈◊〉 as he hath/ All these grieveth nought/ But it gooth 〈…〉 nearer when the flesh is touched & he feeleth smart 〈…〉 is harder/ Nevertheless though it be hard & Impossybly 〈…〉 frail kind of man to suffer bodily penance gladly 〈…〉 without bitter stirrings of ire anger & 〈…〉 Impossible to love that is the holy ghost for to 〈…〉 in a soul there he toucheth with the blessed ●●fte 〈…〉 But he giveth a soul that is in that plight 〈…〉 of love. and wondfully fasteneth it to Ihu. and 〈…〉 it word far from the sensualytee through his 〈…〉 and comforteth it so sweetly by his blessed presence 〈…〉 soul feeleth little pain or else none of the sensualy●● 〈…〉 is special grace yeven to the holy martyrs/ This grace 〈…〉 apostles as holy writ saith of 'em thus/ Ibant 〈…〉 a conspectu consilii qm digni habiti sunt pro 〈…〉 cotumelian pati/ That is: The apostles go joying 〈…〉 counsel of the jews when they were beaten with 〈…〉 and they were glad that they were worthy for to suffer 〈…〉 bodily disease for the love of Ihu/ They were not stirred 〈◊〉 ire ne to felnes to be avenged on the jews that beaten 〈…〉 a worldly man would be when he suffered a little harm 〈…〉 never so lityll of his even-christian/ Ne they were not stirred 〈◊〉 no pride. ne to hines of henselfe & to disdain: & to deeming of the jews as hypocrites & heretics are that will suffer much bodily pain. and are sometime ready for to suffer death with great gladness & with mighty will as it were in the name of Ihu for love of him/ soothly that love & that gladness that they have in suffering of bodily mischief is not of the holy ghost It cometh not fro the fire that burneth in the high altar of heaven: but it is feigned by the fiend inflamed of hell: for it is fully menged with the height of pride & of presumption of hem self & despite & demyuge & disdain of 'em that thus punissh 'em/ They ween that all this is charity. & that they suffer all that for the love of god: but they are beguiled of the midday fiend A true lover of ihu when he suffereth harm of his evencristen is so strenghthed through grace of the holy ghost. & is made so meek so patient so peaceable. & that so sthofastly. that what wrong or harm it be that he sufffe of his evencristen he keepeth ever meekness/ He despiseth him not: he deem him not but he prayeth for him in his heart & hath of him pity & compassion much more tendly than of another man that never died him harm/ And soothly better loveth him & more fervently desireth the salvation of his soule· by cause that he seeth that he shall have so much ghostly profit of the evil deed of that other man though it be against his will/ But this love & this meekness worcheth only the holy ghost above the kind of man in 'em that he maketh the true lovers of Ihu/   

¶ How love sleeth covetise lechery & gluttony. and sleeth the fleshly savour & delight in all the v. bodily wits softly & easily through a gracious beholding of Ihu/ Caplm xxxix.  
covetise also is slain in a soul by the working of love: for it maketh the soul so covetous of ghostly good and to heavenly riches so ardaunt that it setteth right enough tby all earthly things/ It hath no more dainty in having of a precious stone than a chalk stone/ ne more love hath he in a hundredth pound of gold than in a pound of lead/ It setteth all thing that shall perish at one price/ No more he chargeth that one than that other as in his love/ For it seemeth well that all these earthly things that worldly men let so great price of & love so deyntly should pass away & torn to nought both the thing in itself & the love of it/ And therefore he bringeth it in his thought by time in to that plight that it shall be after: and so acounteth it as nought/ And when worldly lovers striven & fyghten. & plead for earthly good who may first have it: the lover of Ihu striveth with no man but keepeth himself in peace. and holdeth him paid with that that he hath & will stryne for no more/ For him thinketh that he needeth no more of all the riches in earth than a scant bodily sustenance for to save the bodily life with all aslonge as god will. and that he may lightly have/ And therefore will he no more than scantly him needeth for the time that he may freely be discharged fro business about the keeping & the dispending of it. and fully give his heart & his business about the seeking of Ihu for to find him in cleanness of spirit: for that to all his covetise? For why: only clean of heart shall see him Also fleshly love of father & mother and other worldly friends hangeth not upon him/ It is even kutte fro his heart with the sword of ghostly love that he hath no more affection to f●der or mother or to any worldly friend than he hath to another man. but if he see or feel in 'em more grace or more virtue than in other men/ Out take this: that his father & his mother had the self grace that some other men have/ But nevertheless if they been not so: thenne loveth he other men better than hem: that is charity/ And so sleeth God's love covetise of the world. & bringeth in to the soul poverty in spirit/ And that doth love not only in 'em that have right nought of worldly good but also in some creatures that are in great worldly state & have dispending of earthly riches/ Love sleeth in some of 'em covetise so farforth that they have no more liking ne savour in having of 'em than of a straw/ Ne though they be lost for default of 'em that should keep 'em they set nought thereby? For why the heart of God's lover is through the yeft of the holy ghost taken so fully with the sight of the love of another thing that is Ihu. & that is so precious & so worthy that it will receive none other love restyngly that is contrary thereto/ And not only doth love this but also it sleeth the liking of lechery & all other bodily uncleanness. and bringeth in to the soul very chastyte· & turneth it in to liking/ For the soul feeleth so great delight in the sight of Ihu that it liketh for to be chaste & is no great hardness to it for to keep chastity. for it is so most ease & most rest/ And upon the self wise the yefte of love sleeth lusts of gluttony & maketh the soul sober & temperaunte. and beareth it up so mightily that it may not rest in liking of meet & drink. but it taketh meet & drink what it be that least grieveth the bodily complexion if he may lightly come thereto/ Not for love of itself. but for the love of god/ On. this manner wise the lover of god seeth well that him needeth for to keep his bodily life with meet & drink aslong as god will suffer 'em to be together/ Thenne shall this be the discretion of the lover of Ihu as I understand that hath feeling & working in the love. that upon what manner that he may most keep his grace hole & least be letted fro working in it through taking of bodily sustenance: so shall he do/ That manner of meet that least letteth & least troubleth the heart and may keep the body in strength be it flesh be it fish be it breed & ale: that I trow the soul chooseth for to have if it may come thereby/ For all the business of the soul is for to think on Ihu with reverent love ever without letting of any thing if that it might/ And therefore sithen it must nediss somewhat be letted & hindered. the less that it is letted & hindered by meet or drink or any other thing the liefer it is/ It had liefer use the best meet & most of price under the son if it less letted the keeping of his heart than for to take but breed & warter if that letted him more/ For he hath no reward for to get him great meed for the pain of fasting. & be put thereby fro softness in heart: but all his business is for to keep his heart as stably as he may in the sight of Ihu & in the feeling of his love/ And soothly as I trow he might with less liking use the best meet that is good in the own kind than another man that worcheth all in reason without the special gift of love should mow use the worst. out take meet that through craft of curiosity is only made for lust/ That manner of meet may he not well accord with all/ And also on that other side if little meet as only breed & ale most helpeth & ceseth his heart & keepeth it most in peace it is most lief than to him for to use it so: & namely if he feel bodily strength only of the yeft of love with all/ And yet doth love more for it sleeth accidye & fleshly idleness. and maketh the soul to be occupied in goodness & namely Inward in beholding of him. by the 〈◊〉 of which the soul hath savour & ghostly delight in prayeng● in thinking & in all other manner of doing that needeth 〈◊〉 be done after the state that he is in without heaviness or pay●●ful bitterness whether he be religious or secular/ Also it 〈◊〉 the vain liking of the v. bodily wits/ For the sight 〈◊〉 eye: that the soul hath no liking in the sight of any 〈◊〉 thing. but it feeleth rather pain & disease in beholding of it be it never so fair. never so precious never so 〈◊〉 And therefore as worldly lovers renes out sometime for to 〈◊〉 new things for to word on 'em: & so for to feed her heart with the vain sight of 'em/ Right so a lover of Ihu is busy for to run away & withdraw him fro the sight of such manner things that the Inner sight be not letted/ for he seeth ghostly another manner thing that is fairer & more wondful & that would he not forbear/ Right on the self wise is it of speaking & hearing/ It is a pain to the soul of a lover of thun for to speak or here any thing that might let the freedom of his heart for to think on Ihu. what song or melody or mynstralsie outward that it be if it let the thought that it may not freely & restfully pray or think on him. it likyth him right nought/ And the more delectable that it is to other men the more unsavoury it is to him/ And also for to here any manner of speaking of other men but it be somewhat touching the working of his soul in the love of Ihu: it likyth him right nought: he is else right soon weary thereof/ He had well liefer be in peace & here right nought.. ne speak right nought than for to here the speaking & the teaching of the greatest clerk of earth with all the reasons that he can say to him through man's wits. but if he can speak feelingly & stiryngly of the love of Ihu for that is his craft principally/ And therefore would he not else speak: here ne see but that might help him & ferder him in to more knowing. & to better feeling of him/ Of worldly speech it is no doubt that he hath no savour in speaking ne in hearing of it: ne in worldly tales ne in tidings. ne in none such vain jangeling. that longeth not to him/ And so it is of smelling & savering/ The more that the thought should be distract & broken fro ghostly rest by the use either of smelling or savering. or of any of the bodily wits the more he fleeth it/ The less that he feeleth of 'em the liefer is him/ And if he might live in the body without the feeling of any of hem he would never feel 'em/ For they trouble the hrete oft times/ and putteth it fro rest. and they may not fully be eschewed Nevertheless the love of Ihu is sometime so mighty in a soul that it overcometh and sleeth all that is contrary thereto for a time/   

What virtues & graces a soul receiveth through opening of the Iner eye in to the gracious beholding of Ihu. & how it may not beget only through man's travail. but through special grace & travail also/ Caplm xl.  
THus worcheth love in a soul opening the ghostly eye in to beholdyyge of Ihu by inspiration of special grace· & maketh it clean subtle & able to the work of contemplation/ what this opening of the ghostly eye is the greatest clerk in earth can not imagine by his wit ne show fully by his tongue/ For it may not be get by study ne through manes travail only: but principally by grace of the holy ghost & with travail of man/ I dread moche to speak ought of it for me thinketh I can not/ I passeth mine assay & my lips are unclean Nevertheless for I hope love asketh & love biddyth: therefore I shall say a lityl more of it as I hope love teacheth/ This opening of the ghostly eye is that lighty darkness & rich nought that I spoke of before. & it may be called purity of spirit & ghostly rest: Inward stillness & peace of conscience: highness of thought & onnlynes of soul: a lively feeling of grace & pryvyte of heart. the waker sleep of the spouse & taasting of heavenly savour. brenning in love & shynynnge in light. enter of contemplation. & reforming in feeling/ All these reasons are said in holy writing by divers men. for every of 'em spoke of it after his feeling in grace/ And though all these been 〈◊〉 in showing of words: nevertheless they are all in one 〈◊〉 of soothfastness/ For a soul that through vysiting of 〈◊〉 hath one. hath all? For why: a sighing soul to see the face 〈◊〉 Ihu when it is touched through special grace of the holy g●●ost it is suddenly changed & turned fro the plight that it was 〈◊〉 to another manner of feeling/ It is wondfully departed & 〈◊〉 first in to itself fro the love & the liking of all earthly thing so much that it hath lost the savour of the bodily life & of all thing that is saaf only Ihu/ And thenne it is clean fro all the filth of sin: so farforth that the mind of it & all unordeind affection of any creature is suddenly washen and wiped away. that there is no mean letting betwix Ihu & the soul but only the bodily life: and thenne it is in ghostly rest? For why all painful doubts and dreads and all other temptacyous of ghostly enemies are driven out of the heart that they trouble not ne sink not therein for the time/ It is in rest fro the noye of worldly business & painful taryenges of wicked stirrings. but it is full busy in the free ghostly working of love/ And the more it traveleth so. the more rest he feeleth This restful travail is full far fro fleshly idleness & fro blind sikerness/ It is full of ghostly work. but it is called rest. for grace looseth the heavy yoke of fleshly love fro the soul and maketh it mighty and free through the yeft of ghostly love for to work gladly softly & delectably in all thing that grace stirreth it for to work in/ And therefore it is called an holy idleness and a rest most busy. and so it is in Inward stillness fro the great crying of the bestly noise of fleshly desires & unclean thoughts/ This stillness maketh inspiration of the holy ghost in beholding of Ihu/? For why: His voice is so sweet & so mighty that it putteth silence in a soul to jangling of all other spekers·s for it is a voice of virtue softly swooned in a clean soul. of the which the prophet saith thus/ Vox dni in virtute/ That is: The voice of our lord Ihesu is in virtue/ This voice is a lifely word & a speedy as the apostle saith/ Viuus est sermo dei & efficax et penetrabilior omi gladio/ that is. quick is the word of Ihu & speedy. more perisshing than any sword is/ Through speaking of this word is fleshly love slain and the soul kept in silence fro all wicked stirrings/ Of this silence it is said in the apocalypse thus/ 
Apoc·  Factum est scilencium in celo quasi dimidia hora/ Silence was made in heaven as it were an half hour/ Heaven is a clean soul through grace lift up fro earthly love to heavenly conversation and so it is in silence/ But for as much as that silence may not last hole continually for corruption of the bodily kind/ Therefore it is lyckened to the time of half an hour/ A full short time the soul thinketh that it is be it never so long/ And therefore it is but an half hour/ And thenne hath it peace in conscience? For why: Grace putteth out gnawing pricking and striving and flyghting of sins/ And bringeth in peace and accord. and maketh jesus and a soul both one in full acordaunce of will/  
There is none vpbradynge of sins: ne sharp reproving of defawtes made that time in a soul For they have kissed and made friends: and all is forgiven that was miss done Thus feeleth the soul then with full meek sickerness and great ghostly gladness/ And conceiveth a full great boldness of salvation by this accord making/ For it heareth a privy witnessing in conscience of the holy ghost that he is a chosen son to heavenly heritage/ Thus saint paul saith/ Ipse spiritus testimonium perhibet spiritui nostro quoniam filii dei sumus/ That is: The holy ghost beareth witness to our spiry●te that we are God's sons/ This witnessing of conscyen●ce soothfastly felt through grace is the very joy of the soul as the apostle saith/ Gloria mea est testimonium conscienc●● me/ That is: My joy is the witness of my conscience 〈◊〉 that is when it witnesseth peace and accord true love and friendship betwix Ihesu and a soul/ And when it is in th●● peace: then is it in highness of thought/  
When the soul is bounden with love of the world thenne 〈◊〉 it beneath all creatures/ For every thing overgooth it and ●●ryth it down by mastery that it may not see Ihesu ne 〈◊〉 him/ For right as the love of the world is vain & fleshly Rygh so the beholding and thynkynge· and the using of all creatures is fleshly/ And that is a thraldom of the soul But then through opening of the ghostly eye in to Ihesu the love is turned/ And the soul is raised up after his own kind above all bodily creatures/  
And then the beholding and thinking and the using of hem is ghostly/ For the love is ghostly/ The soul hath then full great disdain for to be buxom to love of worldly things. for it is high set above hem through grace/ It setteth nought by all the world? for why: all shall pass & perissh/ Unto this hienes of heart while the soul is kept therein cometh none error ne deceit of the fiend: for Ihu is soothfastly in sight of the soul that time & all thing beneath him/ Of this the prophet speaketh thus/ Accedat hom ad cor altum et exaltabit deus Come man to high heart & god shall be highed/ 
P. lxiii.  That is: a man that through grace cometh to the highness of thought shall see that Ihu is only highed above all creatures. & he in him/ And thenne is the soul above moche straunged fro fellowship of worldly lovers/ Though her body be in mids among 'em. full far been they departed fro fleshly affections of creatures It chargeth not though it never see man ne speak with him ne have comfort of him if it might ever be so in that ghostly feeling/ It feeleth so great homlynes of the blessed presence of our lord Ihu & so much savour of him that it may lightly for his love foryete the fleshly affection & the fleshly mind of all creatures/ I say not that it shall not love ne think of other creatures. but I say that it shall think on 'em in time & see 'em & love 'em ghostly & freely. not fleshly & painfully as it died before/ 
Oseerii  Of this ordonnez speaketh the prophet thus/ Ducan eam in solitudine. et loquar ad cor eius/ I shall lead her in to only stead. & I shall speak to her heart/ That is: Grace of Ihu leadeth a soul fro noyous company of fleshly desires in to ordonnez of thought. & maketh it foryete the liking of the world and soundeth by sweetness of his inspiration words of love in eeres of the heart/ only is a soul when it loveth Ihu & tentyth fully to him. and hath lost the savour & the comfort of the world/ And that it might better keep this only nes it fleeth the company of all men if it may. and sechyth onnlynes of body: for that moche helpeth to ordonnez of the soul & to the free working of love/ The less letting that it hath without of vain jangling or within of vain thinking the more free it is in ghostly beholding: and so it is in pryvytee of heart/ All without is a soul whiles it is overlayed & blinded with worldly love/ It is as comen as the high way. for every stirring that cometh of the flesh or of the fiend sinketh in and gooth thorough it/ But then through grace it is drawn in to the privy chamber in to the sight of our lord Ihu. and heareth his privy counsel: and is wonderfully comforted in the hearing/ Of this speaketh the prophet thus Secretum meum michi· secretum meum michi/ My prevytee to me. my privity to me/ That is: The lover of Ihu through inspiration of grace taken up fro outward feeling of worldly love & ravished in to the privity of ghostly love yieldeth than king to him saying thus/ My fealty to me: That is▪ My lord Ihu thy privity is showed to me and privily hid fr● all lovers of the world/ For it is called hid manna. that may lightlier be asked than told what it is/ And that our lord jesus behoteth to his lover saying thus/ Dabo sibi manna ab● conditum quod nemo novit nisi qui accipit/ That is: I shall give manna hid that no man knoweth but he that taketh ● This manna is heavenly meet and angel's food as holy write saith/ For angels are fully fed and filled with clear sight in brenning love of our lord Ihesu. and that is manna/ For we mow ask what it is: but not wite what it is But the lover of Ihesu is not filled yet here: but he is fed 〈◊〉 by a little taasting of it whiles he is bounden in this bodily life/  
This tasting of this manna is a lively feeling of grace had through opening of the ghostly eye/ And this grace is not an other grace that a chosen soul feeleth in the beginning of his conversion: but it is the same & the self grace. but it is otherwise felt and showed to a soul/ For why grace waxeth with the soul and the soul waxeth with grace/ And the more clean the the soul is far departed fro the love of the world the more mighty is the grace: more Inward & more ghostly showing in the presence of our lord Ihu: so that the same grace that turneth 'em first fro sin: & maketh hem beginning & profiting by yefts of virtue & exercise of good works maken hem also perfit/ And that grace is called a lively feeling of grace: for he that hath it feeleth it well. & knoweth well by experience that he is in grace/ It is full lyfly to him for it quyckneth the soul wondfully & maketh it so hole that it feeleth no painful disease of the body though it be feeble & sykly? For why: thenne is the body mightiest most hole & most restful & the soul also: with out this grace the soul can not live but in pain: for it thynkyih that it might ever keep it & no thing should put it away And nevertheless yet it is not so. for it passeth away full lightly/ But nevertheless though the sovereign feeling passeth a way & withdraw. the relief leaveth still & keepeth the soul in sadness. & maketh it for to desire the coming again/ And this is also the waker sleep of the spouse: of the which holy writ saith thus/ Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat/ I sleep & my heart wakith/ That is: 
Cant. v  I sleep ghostly when through grace the love of the world is slain in me & wicked stirrings of fleshly desires are deed: so much that uneaths I feel hem/ I am not tarried with 'em: my heart is made free/ And thenne it wakith. for it is sharp & ready for to love Ihu & see him/ The more I sleep fro outward things the more waker I am in knowing of Ihu & of Inward things/ I may not wake to Ihu but if I sleep to the world/ And therefore the grace of the holy ghost spering the fleshly eye doth the soul selpe fro worldly vanity: & opening the ghostly eye wakith in to the sight of gods majesty helid under the cloud of his precious manhood As the gospel saith of the apostles when they were with our lord Ihu in his transfiguration/ first they slept/ Et evigilantes viderunt magestatem/ They waking saw his majesty By sleep of the apostles is understand dying of worldly love through Inspiration of the holy ghost. by her walking contemplation of Ihu/ Through this sleep the soul is brought in to rest fro noise of fleshly lust/ And through walking it is raised up in to the sight of Ihu & ghostly things/ The more that the eyen are spered in this manner sleep fro the appetite of earthly thing. the sharper is the Inner sight in lovely beholding of heavenly fayrhede/ This sleeping & this waking love worcheth through the light of grace in the soul of the lover of our lord Ihesu/   

¶ How special grace in beholding of our lord Ihu wythdrawyth sometime fro a soul/ And how a soul shall have her in the absence & presence of Ihu/ And how a soul shall desire that in it is alway the gracious presence of Ihesu/ Caplm xli.  
Show me thenne a soul that through inspiration of grace hath opening of the ghostly sight in to beholding of Ihu that is departed & drawn out fro the love of the world so farforth that it hath puryte & poverty of spirit: ghosty ●●ste: Inward silence. & peace in conscience: highness of thought● onnlynes & privity of heart: waker sleep of the spouse. that hat● lost liking & joys of the world. taken with delice of heu●●ly savour·s ever thirsting: & softly shyghing that blessed presen●ce of Ihu. and I dare hardly pronounce that this soul burneth all in love & shineth in ghostly light worthy for to come to the name & to the worship of the spouse. for it is reformed in feeling made able & ready to contemplation/ these are the tokens of Inspiration in opening of the ghostly eye? For why when the eye is opened the soul is in full feeling of all these virtues before said for that time/ Nevertheless it falleth often times that grace withdrawyth in party for corruption of man's freelte and suffereth thenne the soul for to fall in to itself in flesshlyhede as it was before/ And then is the soul in pain and in sorrow: for it is blind & unsavoury & can no good/ It is weak & unmighty encumbered with the body & with all the bodily wits/ It secheth & desireth after the grace of Ihu again & it may not find it/ For holy writ saith of our lord thus/ Postqm vultum suum absconderit non est qui contemplet eum/ That is: After when our lord Ihu hath hid his face there is none that may behold him. when he showeth him the soul may not unsee him. for he is light. & when he hideth him it may not see him for the soul is dark/ His hiding is but a subtle assaying of the soul/ His showing is a word merciful goodness in comfort of the soul/ Have ye no word though the feeling of grace be withdraw sometime fro a lover of Ihu/ For holy writ saith the same of the spouse that she fareth thus/ Quesivi et non inveni illum. vocavi & non respondit michi/ I seched & I found him not/ I called & he answered not/ That is: 
Cant. 3  when I fall down to my freelte thenne grace withdraweth▪ for my falling is cause thereof. & not his fleeing/ But thenne feel I pain of my wretchedness in his absence/ And therefore I sought him by great desire of heart: & he gave to me no feeble answering/ And thenne I cried with all my soul/ 
Cant: 6  Revertere dilect mi/ Torn again thou my loved And yet it semid as he heard me not/ The painful feeling of myself & the assaylinge of fleshly loves & dreads in this time & the wanting of my ghostly strength is a continual crying of my soul to Ihu/ And nevertheless our lord maketh strange & cometh not cry I never so fast/ For he is syker ynouh of his lover that he will not torn again to worldly love fully he may no savour have therein. & therefore abideth he the longer But at the last when he will he cometh again full of grace & of soothfastness. & visiteth the soul that languyssheth in desire by syghenges of love to his presence. & towchyth it & anointeth it full softly with the oil of gladnes·s and maketh it suddenly hole fro all pine: and thenne crieth the soul to Ihu in ghostly voice with a glad heart thus/ Oleum effusum nomen tuum Oil yshedde is thy name/ Thy name is Ihesu: 
Cant. i.  that is he'll/ then as long as I feel my soul sore & sick for sin pined with the heavy burden of my body sorry & dreading for perils and wretchedness of this life. so long lord Ihesu thy name is oil speryd not oil yshed to me/ But when I feel my soul suddenly touched with the light of thy grace heeled and softed fro all the filth of sin. and comforted in love and in light with ghostly strength & gladness unspeakable. then may I say with lusty loving & ghostly might to thee/ Oil yshed is thy name Ihu to me/ For by the effect of thy gracious vysiting I feel well of thy name the true expowning that thou art Ihesu he'll/ For only thy gracious presence healeth me fro sorrow & fro sin/ blessed is that soul that is ever fed in feeling of love in his presence. or is borne up by desire to him in his absence/ A wise lover is he & well taught that sadly & reverently hath him in his presence. and lovely beholdeth him without dissolute lightness. and patiently & easily beareth him in his absence without venomous despair and over pyneful bitterness/ This chaungabilyte o● absence and presence of Ihu that a soul feeleth is not perfection of the soul: ne it is not against the grace of perfection 〈◊〉 of contemplation: but in so much perfection is the 〈◊〉 For the more letting that a soul hath of itself fro conty●nuell feeling of grace the less is the grace: and yet neuerthe●les is the grace in itself grace of contemplation. This chaūg●●●●lyte of absence and presence falleth as well in the state of ●●●fecciō as in state of beginning: but in another manner. for ri●● as there is diversity of feeling in the presence of grace bytwix these two states. right so is there in the absence of grace/ And therefore he that knoweth not the absence of grace is ready to be deceived/ And he that keepeth not the presence of grace. is unkind to the vysiting: whether he be in state of begyners or perfit Nevertheless the more stableness that there is in grace unhurt & unbroken the lovelyer is the soul and more like unto him in whom is no chaungabilyte as the apostles say the/ And it is full seemly that the spouse be like to Ihu spouse in manners & in virtues full according to him in stablynes of perfit love/ But that falleth seeldom now here but in the special spouse/ For he that perceiveth no chaungabylyte in feeling of his grace but ylike hole & stable unbroken & unhurt as him thinketh. he is either full perfit or full blind/ He is perfit that is sequestyrde fro all fleshly affections & commoning of all creatures: and all means are broken away of corruption & of sin betwixt Ihu & his soul fully oned to him with softness of love/ But this is only grace above man's kind He is full blind that feigneth him in grace without ghostly feeling of God's inspiration: & setteth himself in a manner of stablynes as he were ever in feeling & in working of special grace: deming that all is grace that he doth & feeleth with out & within. thinking that what so ever he do or speak is grace: holding himself unchangeable in specyalte of grace/ If there be any such as I hope there be none: he is full blind in feeling of grace/ But thenne might thou say thus that we should live only in truth. and not covet ghostly feelings ne reward 'em if they come/ For the apostle saith/ justus ex fide vivit/ That is: The rightwysman liveth in truth/ Unto this I say that bodily feelings been they never so comfortable we shall not covet ne reward moche if they come But ghostly feelings such as I speak of if they come in the manner as I have said before we should ever desire: 
Heb. x.  that are sleenge of all worldly love opening of the ghostly eye: puryte of spirit: peace of conscience: & all other before said/ We should covet to feel ever the lively inspiration of grace made by the ghostly presence of Ihesu in our soul if that we might. and for to have him in our sight with reverence. & ever feel the sweetness of his love by a wondfull homlynes of his presence/ This should be our life & our feeling in grace after the measure of his yefte in whom all grace is. to some more & to some less/ For his presence is feeled in divers manner wise as he voucheth safe/ And in this we should live & work that longeth to us to work. for without this we should not ken live/ For right as the soul is the life of the body. right so is Ihu the life of the soul by his gracious presence And nevertheless this manner feeling be it never so much it is yet but troth as in reward of that that shall be of themself jesus in the bliss of heaven/ Lo this feeling should we desire. for everich a soul reasonable owe for to covet with all the mights of it neighing to Ihu & ooning to him through feeling of his gracious unseeable presence/ How that presence is feeled it may better be known by experience than by any writing. for it is the life & the love: the might & the light/ the joy & the rest of a choose soul/ And therefore he that hath oves soothfastly feeled it he may not forbear it without pain he may not undesyre it it is so good in itself and so comfortable/ what is more comfortable to a soul here than for to be draw out through grace fro the vile noye of worldly business & filth of desires and fro vain affection of all creatures in to rest & softness of ghostly love privily perceiving the gracious presence of Ihu felably fed with savour of his unseeable blessed face: soothly no thing me thinketh/ No thing may make the soul of a lover full of mirth but the gracious presence of Ihu as he can show him to a clean soul/ He is never heavy ne sorry but when he is with himself in flesshlynes/ He is never full glad ne merry but when he is out of himself as he was with Ihu in his ghostlynes/ And yet is that no full mirth. for ever there hangeth an heavy lump of bodily corruption on his soul: & beareth it down & moche letteth the ghostly gladness. and that must ever be whiles it is here in this life. but nevertheless for I speak of chaungabilyte of grace how it cometh & goeth that y● mistake it not· therefore I mean not of the common grace that is had & felt in troth & in good will to god without the which having & lasting therein no man may be saaf: for it is in the least choose soul that liveth. but I mean of special grace felt by Inspiration of the holy ghost in the manner as it is before said/ The comen grace that is charity lasteth hole what so ever a man do as long as his will & his intent is true to god without the which having & lasting that he would not sin deadly. ne the deed that he wilfully doth is not forbid as for deadly sin/ For this grace is not lost but for deadly sin/ And thenne it is deadly sin when his conscience witnesseth with a vysement that it is deadly sin. and yet nevertheless he doth it· or else his conscience is so blinded that he holdeth it no deadly sin all though he do the deed wilfully the which is forbade of god & holy church as deadly sin/ special grace felt through the unseeable presence of Ihu that maketh a soul a perfit lover lastith not ever ylike hole in the highness of feeling. but chaungably cometh & goeth as I have said before/ Thus our lord saith/ Spūs ubi vult spirat et vocem eius audis & nescis unde veniat aut quo vadat/ 
〈◊〉. 3  The holy ghost spyreth where he will & thou hearest his voice but thou wost not when he cometh ne· whether he gooth/ He cometh privily some time when thou art least waar of him: but thou shalt well know him or thou go/ For wondfully he stiryth & mightily turneth thin heart in to beholding of his goodness. & doth thine heart melt delectably as wax against the fire in to softness of his love. and this is the voice that he soundeth/ But then he gooth or thou wot it for he withdrawith him somewhat/ nought in all: but fro excess in to sobirte. The highness passeth: but the substance & theffect of grace dwelleth still/ And that is as long as the soul of a lover keepeth him clean: and falleth not wilfully to recheleshede or dissolution is flesshlynes ne to outward vanity. as some time it doth though it have no delight therein for freeltee of itself/ Of this chaungabylite in grace speak I of now/   

¶ A commendation of prayer offered to Ihu of a soul contemplative/ And how stablynes in prayer is a syker work to stand in/ And how every feeling of grace in a chosen soul may be said Ihu: but the more clenner the soul is the worthier is the grace/ Caplm xlii.  
THe soul of a man while it is not touched with special grace is blunt & boisterous to ghostly work & can nought thereon/ It may not thereof for weakness of itself/ It is both old & dry. undevout & unsavoury in itself/ But thenne cometh the light of grace· and through touching maketh it sharp & subtle ready & able to ghosty work: and giveth it a great freedom & an hole readiness in will for to be buxom to all the stirring of grace ready for to work after that grace stirreth the soul/ For by opening of the ghostly eye it is applied all fully to grace ready to pray/ And how the soul prayeth thenne shall I tell thee/ The most special prayer that the soul useth & hath most comfort in I hope is the Pater noster· or else psalms of the sawter/ The pater noster for lewd men. and psalms & ympnes and other service of holy church for lettred/ The soul prayeth thenne not in manner as it died before in common manner of men by highness of voice: or by renable speaking out. but in full great stillness of voice & softness of heart For why. his mind is not troubled ne tarried with outward things but hole gathered together in itself/ And the soul is set as it were in a ghostly presence of Ihu and therefore every word & every syllable is swooned savourly sweet & delectably with full accord of mouth & of heart? For why the soul is turned thenne all in to fire of love/ And therefore every word that it privily prayeth is like to a spercle springing out of a fire bronde that chaffith all the mights of the soul & turneth hem in to love· and lighteneth 'em so comfortably that the soul list ever for to pray & do none other thing/ The more it prayeth the better it may the mightier it is. for grace helpeth the soul well. and maketh all thing light & easy. that it list right well to psalm & sing the lovings of god with ghostly mirth in heavenly delight/ This ghostly work is food of the soul. and this prayer is of moche virtue/ For it wasteth & bringeth to nought all temptations of the fiend privy & apart. it sleeth all the mind & the liking of the world. and of fleshly sins. It beareth up the body & the soul fro painful teling of wretchedness of this life/ It keepeth the soul in feeling of grace & working of love: and nourish it ever ylyke hot & fresh as sticks nourisheth fire/ It putteth away all yrking and heaviness of heart▪ and holdeth it in might & in ghostly gladness/ Of this prayer speaketh david thus/ Dirigatur oracio mea sicut incensum in conspectu tuo/ That is: Dressed be my prayer lord as incense in thy sight/ For right as incense that is cast in the fire maketh sweet smell by the reek styghing up to the air/ right so a psalm savourly and softly song of said in a brenning heart giveth up a sweet smell to the face of our lord Ihu: and to all the court of heaven/ There dare no flesh fly rest upon the pots brink boiling on the fire/ Right so may there no fleshly delight rest upon a clean soul that is happened & warmed all in the fire of love boiling and blowing psalms & lovings to Ihesu/ This prayer is ever heard of Ihesu/ It yeldyth grace to Ihesu/ And receiveth grace again/ It maketh a soul homely and felowly with Ihesu· and with all the angels of heaven/ Use it who so may/ The work is good and gracious in itself/ And though it be not all fully contemplation. in itself ne the working of love by itself. Nevertheless it is a party of contemplation? For why: It may not be done on this manner wise but in plenty  
of grace through opening of the ghostly eye/ And therefore a soul that hath this freedom & this gracious feeling in praying with ghostly savour & heavenly delight hath the grace of contemplation in manner as it is/ This prayer is a rich offering filled all in fatness of devotion: received by angels & presented to the face of Ihu/ The prayer of other men that are busy in active works is made of two words. for they oft times formeth in her hearts one word through thinking of worldly be synes. and sownen in her mouth another word of the psalm song or said/ And not for that. if her intent be true yet is her prayer good & meedful though it lack savour & sweetness/ But this manner of a man contemplative is made but of one word. for as it is formed in the heart right so holy it soundeth in the mouth. as it were nought but one thing that fourmyth & soundeth/ And soothly no more it is/ For the soul through grace is made hole in itself so far departed fro the flesshlyhede that it is master of the body· & thenne is the body nought else but as an Instrument & a trump of the soul in the which the soul blowith sweet notes of ghostly loui●ges to Ihu/ This is the trump that david spoke of thus▪ Buccinate in neomenia tuba in insigni die solempnitatis ●●stre/ Blow ye with a trump in the new moan/ That is ye souls that are reformed in ghostly life through opening of the Inner eye. blow ye devoutly swooning psalms with the trump of your bodily tongue/ And therefore for this pray●● is pleasant to Ihu & so profitable to the soul: thenne it is good to him that is new turned to god what that he be that w●●de please him. and coveteth to have some quaint feeling of grace for to covet this felynge· that he might through grace come to this liberty of spirit. and offer his prayers & his psalms to Ihu continually: & stably & devoutly with hole mind & brenning affection in him to have it near hand in custom when grace will stir him thereto/ This is a syker feeling & a sothast/ If thou may come thereto and hold it the dare not run about here & there: and axe questions of every ghostly man what thou should do how thou shalt love god: and how thou shalt serve god and speak of ghostly matters that passen thy knowing as perchance some done/ That manner of doing is not full profitable but if more need make it/ ●repe the to thy prayers stilly first with travail that thou might come afterward to this restful feeling of ghostly prayer: and that shall teach the wisdom enough soothfastly without feigning or fantasy. and keep it fourth if thou have it & leave it not: but if grace come otherwise & will remove it fro the for a time and make the for to work on another manner. thenne may thou leave it for a time & after torn again thereto/ And he that hath this grace in prayer asketh not whereupon he shall set the point of his thought in his prayer. whether upon the words that he saith or else on god or on the name of Ihu as some ask. for the feeling of grace teacheth him well enough? For why the soul is turned in to the eye and sharply beholdeth the face of Ihu. & is made syker that it is Ihu that it feeleth & seeth/ I mean not Ihu as he is in himself in fullness of his blessed godhead. but I mean Ihu as he will show him to a clean soul holden in body after the cleanness that it hath/ For wite thou well that euryche a feeling of grace is Ihu & may be called Ihu/ And after that the grace is more or less so feeleth the soul more or less Ihu/ ye the fist feeling of special grace in a beginner that is called grace of compunction and contrition for his sins is verily Ihu? for why: he maketh that contrition in a soul by his presence/ But Ihu is thenne full boistously & rudely felt. full far fro his ghostly subtlety: for the soul can no better ne may no better for unclenesse of itself thenne Nevertheless afterward if the soul profit & increase in virtues & in cleanness the same Ihu & none other is seen & felt of the same soul when it is touched with grace. but that is more ghostly near to the godly kind of Ihu/ And soothly that is the most thing that Ihu loveth in a soul that it might be made godly & ghostly in sight & in love like to him in grace to that that he is by kind. for that shall be the end of all lovers then mayst thou be syker that what time that thou felyste thy soul stirred by grace specially in that manner as it is before said by opening of thy ghostly eye thou seest & feleste Ihu/ Hold him fast while thou may & keep the in grace: and let him nought lightly fro thee/ Look after none other Ihu but that same by feeling of that self grace more godly that it might wax in the more & more/ And dread the nought though Ihu that thou felyst be not Ihu as he is in his full godhead that thou shouldest therefore mow be deceived if thou leaned to thy feeling. but trust thou well if thou be a lover of Ihu that thy feeling is true & that Ihu is truly felt & seen of the through his grace as thou may see him here/ And therefore leanly fully to thy feeling wh● it is gracious & ghostly: and keep it tendly. & have great 〈◊〉 not of thyself but of it. that thou might see: & feel Ihu 〈◊〉 better & better/ For grace shall even teach the by itself if tho● will fall thereto till thou come to th'end/ But perchance thou beg●● nest to wonder why I say one time that grace worchyth 〈◊〉 this: and on another time that love worcheth or god worchy●● Unto this I say thus: that when I say that grace worch●●● I mean love: Ihu: and god. for all is one. & nought but 〈◊〉 Ihu is love: Ihu is grace: Ihu is god/ And for he worcheth 〈◊〉 in us by his grace for love as god· therefore may I use wh●● word of these iiii. that me list after my stirring in this writing   

¶ How a soul through the opening of the ghostly eye receiveth a gracious love able to understand holy writ/ And how Ihesu that is hid in holy writ showeth himself to his lovers/ Caplm xliii  
THenne the soul of a lover feeleth Ihu in prayer in the manner before said. & thynkith that it would never feel otherwise/ Nevertheless it falleth that sometime grace putteth silence to vocal praying: and stirreth the soul to see & to feel Ihu in another manner/ And that manner is first to see Ihu in holy writ For Ihu that is all soothfastness is hid & heeled therein wounden in a soft sendyle under fair words that he may not be known felt but of a clean heart? For why: soothfastness will not show itself to enemies but to friends that love & desire it with a meek heart. for soothfastness & meekness be full true sisters fastened together in love & charity/ and therefore is there no leyning of counsell betwyxe 'em two/ meekness presumeth of soothfastness and no thing of itself: and soothfastness trow with well on meekness: & so they accorden word well/ Thenne for asmuch as a soul of a lover is made meek through inspiration of grace by opening of the ghostly eye: and seeth that it is nought of itself: but only hangeth in the mercy & the goodness of Ihu lastingly is born up by favour & help of him only: and truly desiring the presence of him therefore seeth it jesus: For it seeth soothfastness of holy writ wonderly showed & opened above study & travail & reason of man's kindly wit/ And that may well be called the feeling & the perceiving of Ihu/ For Ihu is well of wisdom. & by a little heel ding of his wisdom in to a clean soul he maketh the soul wise enough for to understand all holy writ. not all at ones in special beholding: but through that grace the soul receiveth a new ablynes & a gracious habit for to understand it specially when it cometh to mind This opening & this clearness of wit is made by the ghostly presence of Ihu/ For right as the gospel saith of two. disciples going to the castle of Emaus brenning in desire & speaking of our lord Ihu: our lord appeared to hem presently as a pilgrim and taught 'em that prophecies of himself/ And as the gospel saith/ Apperuit illis sensum ut intelligerent scripturas/ 
●uc· xiiii  He opened to hem clearness of wit that they might understand holy writing/ Right so the ghostly presence of Ihesu openeth the wit of his lover that it burneth in desire to him: and bringeth to his mind by ministration of angels the words & the sentences of holy writ unsought and vnauysed one after another. and exponeth 'em readily be they never so hard ne so privy/ The harder that they been and ferder fro man's reasonable understanding the more delectable is the true showing of 'em/ When Ihesu is master it is exponed and declared literally: morally: mystily: & heavenly. if the matter suffer it/ By letter that is lyghteste and most plain is bodily kind comforted/ By moralte of holy writ the soul is informed of vices & virtues wisely to ken depart that one fro that other By mystyhed it is illumined for to see the works of Ihesu in holy church. readily for to apply the words of holy writ to cryst our heed: and to holy church that is his misty body/ And the fourth that is heavenly longeth only to the working of love/ And that is when all soothfastness in holy writ is applied to love/ And for that is most like to heavenly feeling therefore I call it heavenly/ The lover of Ihu is his friend. not for he hath deserved it: but for Ihu of his merciful goodness maketh him his friend by true accord/ And therefore as to ● true friend that pleyseth him with love. not serveth him 〈◊〉 dread as a thrall: he showeth his privity/ Thus he saith himself to his apostles/ jam vos dixi amicos qr quecunque aud●ui a patre meo nota feci vobis/ Now I say that ye are fren●des/ For I make known to you all things that I have herd of my father/ To a clean soul that hath the palett purified from filth of fleshly love holy writ is lifely food and sustenance delectable/  
It savoureth wonder sweetly when it is well chewed by ghostly understanding? For why: the spirit of life is hid therein that quyckenyth all the mights of the soul/ and filleth them full of sweetness of heavenly savour and ghostly delight/ But soothly him needeth to have white teeth & sharp & well picked that should bite of this ghostly breed/ For fleshly lovers & heretics may not to wche the Inward flower of it/ Her teeth are bloody & full of filth. therefore they been fasting fro feeling of this breed/ By teeth are understand the Inly wits of the soul. the which in fleshly lovers & in heretics been bloody full of sin & of worldly vanities/ They would & they can not come by curiosity of her kindly wit to the soothe fastness in knowing of holy writ. for her wit is corrupt by original sin and actuell also. And is not yet healed through grace/ And therefore they do but gnaw upon the bark without speak they never so much thereof/ The Inner savour within they feel not of/ They been not meek they been not clean for to see it/ They been not friends to Ihesu. and therefore he showeth 'em not his counsel/ The privity of holy writ is closed under a key seeled with a sygnett of Ihus finger: that is the holy ghost/ And therefore withouten his love & his leave may no man come in/ He hath only the key of cunning in his keeping as holy writ saith. and he is key himself/ And he letteth in whom he will by inspiration of his grace. and breaketh not the sell. and that doth Ihu to his lovers/ Not to all ylike. but to hem that are specially Inspired for to seek soothfastness in holy writ with great devotion in praying: and with moche business in studying going before/ these may come to the finding when our lord Ihu will show it/ See now thenne how grace openeth the ghostly eye & cleareth the wit of the soul wondly above the freelte of corrupt kind/ It giveth the soul a new ableness whether it will read holy writ or here or think it for to understand it truly & savourly the soothfastness of it in the manner before said/ And for to torn readily all reasons & words that are bodily said in to ghostly undstonding. & that is no great marvel/ For the same spirit expownyth it and declareth it in a clean soul in comfort of it that first made it. and that is the holy ghost/ And this grace may be & is aswell in lewd as in lettred men as anenstes the substance & the true feeling of soothfastness and the ghostly savour of it in general though they see not so many reasons in special: for that needeth not/ And when the soul is thus abled & lightened through grace. thenne it list for to be alone some time out of letting or comoning of all creatures that he might freely assay his Instrument that I call his reason in beholding of soothfastness that is contained in holy writ/ And thenne there fall to mind words & reasons and sentences enough to occupy him in full ordinate & full sadly/ And what comfort & ghostly delight: savour & sweetness a soul may feel thenne in his ghostly work thruh divers illuminations: Inly perceyvynges: privy knowynges and sudden towchynges of the holy ghost by assay the soul may wite and else not/ And I hope that he shall not err be so that his teeth that been his Inward wits be kept white & clean fro ghostly pride & fro curiosity of kindly wit/ ● hope that david felt full great delight in this manner werke when he said thus/ Q●● dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua s●per mel ori meo/ How sweet are thy spekynges' lord Ihu 〈◊〉 my cheeks over honey to my mouth/ That is: Lord Ihu thy● holy words endited in holy writ brought to my 〈◊〉 through grace are swetter to my cheeks: that are the affections o● my soul than honey is to my mouth/ soothly this is a fair work without painful travail for to see Jesus' thus/ This is one manner of sight of Ihesu as I said before/ Not as he is: but clothed under likeness of works and of words/ Per speculum in enigmate/ By a mirror and by a ●yckenesse/ As the apostle saith/ Ihesu is endless might wisdom and goodness: rightwiseness: soothfastness: holiness. and mercy/ And what this Ihesu is in himself may no soul see ne here. But by effect of his working he may be seen through the light of grace. as thus/ His might is seen by making of all creatures of nought. his wisdom in ordinate disposing of 'em: his goodness in saving of 'em his mercy in forgiveness of sins. his holiness in yefts of grace: his rightwiseness in hard punishing of sin. his softness in true rewarding of good works/ And all this is expressed in holy writ. and this seeth a soul in holy writ with all other accidents that fallen hereto/ And wit thou well that such gracious knowynges in holy writ or in other writing that is made thorough grace are nought else but sweet letters senden & made betwixt a loving soul & Ihu loved/ Or else if I shall say sothlyer betwix Ihu the true lover & the souls loved of him/ He hath full great tendnes of love to all his chosen children that are here closed in clay of this bodily life/ And therefore though he be absent fro 'em high hid above in the bosom of the father fulfilled in delyces of the blessed godhead. yet notwithstanding he thinketh upon hem & visiteth 'em full oft through his gracious ghostly presence & comforteth 'em by his letters of holy writ. and driveth out of her hearts heaviness & weariness: dowtes & dreads. and maketh hem glad & merry in him truly. trowing to all his byhetynges and meekly abiding fulfilling of his will/ Saint paul saith thus/ Quecumque scripta sunt ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt ut per consolacionem scripturarum spem habeamus/ 
Ro. xv.  All that is written to our teaching it is written that by comfort of writing we might have hope of salvation/ And this is another work of contemplation for to see Ihu in scriptures after opening of the ghostly eye/ The clenner the sight is in beholding. the more comforted is the affection in the tasting ● A full little savour felt in a clean soul of holy writ in this manner before said should make the soul set little price by knowing of all the seven. arts. or of all the world of all woldly cunnynges/ For the end of this knowing is salvation of a man's soul in everlasting life. and the end of that other as for himself is but vanity and a passing delight: but if they be turned through grace to this end.   

¶ Of the privy voice of Ihesu swooning in a soul whereby it shall be known/ And how all the gracious illuminations made in a soul been called the speakings of Ihu/ c. xliiii.  
●O these are fair new feelings in a clean soul. and if a soul were fulfilled with such it might be said. & soothly that it were reformed somewhat in feeling: but not yet fully▪ for why: yet Ihesu showeth more and leadeth the soul Inner: and beginneth to speak more homely and more lovely to a soul. and ready is the soul then to follow the styling of grace/ For the prophet saith/ Quocunque ibat spiritus i● luc gradiebantur et rote sequentes eum/ whed so go the spi●yte thither go the wheels following him/ By wheels are understand the true lovers of Ihu/ For they are round in virtue without angyle of frowardness. and lightly whirling thorough readiness of will to the stirring of grace/ For after tha● grace stirreth and teacheth: so they follow and work as th● prophet saith/ But they have first a full siker assay and ● true knowing of the voice of grace or they may do so th●● they be not deceived by her own feigning of by the mydda●● fiend/ Our lord Ihesu saith thus of his lovers/ Oues 〈◊〉 vocem meam audiunt et cognosco eas & cognoscunt me me/ 
 〈◊〉 sheep hearen my voice and I know 'em and they know me The privy voice of Ihesu is full true. and it maketh a soul true/ There is no feigning in it ne fantasy ne pride ne hypocrisy/ But softness: meekness: peace. love: and charity. And it is full of life love & grace/ And therefore when it so wnyth in a soul it is of so great might some time that the soul suddenly layeth of hand all that there is. praying: speaking: reading or thinking in the manner before said. & all manner bodily work & lystnyth thereto fully hearing & perceiving in rest & in love the sweet steven of this ghostly voice. as it were ravished fro the mind of all erdely things/ And thenne some time showeth Ihu in this peace himself as an hawtful master and sometime as a reverent father: & sometime as a lovely sponse/ And it keepeth a soul in a wondfull reverence & in a lovely beholding of him that the soul liketh well then. and never so well as thenne/ For it feeleth so great sickerness and so great rest in Ihu & so much favour of his goodness that it would ever be so and never do other work/ It thinkith that it toucheth Ihu and thruh virtue of the unspeakable touching it is made hole & stable in itself reverently beholding only Ihu· as if there were no thing but Ihu oo thing and be another. borne up only by the savour and the wondful goodness of him that is that thing that he feeleth and seeth/ And this feeling is oft times without special beholding of holy writ. ne but with few words formed in the heart. nought but thus among fallen in sweet words according to the feeling: either loving or worshipping or wondering: or other wise swooning as the heart liketh/ The soul is full moche departed fro love or liking of the world thorough ve●●ue of this gracious feeling/ And also fro mind of the world moche in the mean time/ It taketh none heed thereof for it hath no time thereto/ But thenne sometime anon with this falleth ●n to a soul divers Illumynations thruh grace. that which illuminations I call the spekinges of Ihu & the sight of ghostly things/ For wite thou well that all the business that Ihu maketh a ●●ut a soul. is for to make it a true perfit spouse to him in ●●e hynes & the fullness of love. And that may not be done so suddenly therefore Ihu that is love & of all lovers the wisest assayeth by many wyses & by many wondful means or it may come about And therefore that it might come to theffect of true spousage he hath such gracious speakings this manner of a wooer to a choose soul/ He showeth his privy jewels. moche thing he giveth & more he behiteth. and courteous dalliance he showeth/ Oft he visiteth with moche grace & ghostly comfort as I before said/ but he who doth this in special all fully can I not tell the. for it needeth not/ Nevertheless somewhat shall I say after that grace stirreth/ The drawing of a soul fully to perfit love is first by the showing of ghostly things to a clean soul when the ghostly eye is opened. not that a soul should rest therein. & make an end there: but by that seek him & love him only that is highest of all without any beholding of any other thing than himself/ But what are these ghostly things sayest yu. for I speak oft of ghostly things/ To this I answer & say. that ghostly thing may be said all the soothfastness of holy writ/ And therefore a soul that through ●yghte of grace may see the soothfastness of it. it seeth ghostly things as I have before said/   

¶ How through gracious opening of the ghostly eye a soul is made wise meekly & soothfastly to see the diversity of degrees in holy church as traveyling/ And for to see angels kind and first of reproved/ Caplm xlu·  
Nevertheless other ghostly things there been also the which through light of grace are showed to the soul. & 〈◊〉 these/ The kind of all reasonable souls. & the gracious wo●chynge of our lord Ihu in 'em/ The kind of angel's bless●● & reproved & her working: and the knowing of the bless●● trinity after that grace teacheth/ Holy writ saith in the book of songs of the spouse thus/ 
 Surgan & circuibo civitatem & que ran quem diligit anima mea/ I shall rise & I shall go about the city & I shall seche him that my soul loveth/ That is: I shall rise in to highness of thought & go about the city/ By this city is understand the university of all creatures bodily & ghostly ordained and ruled under god by laws of kind of reason & of grace/ I go about this cite when I behold the kinds & the causes of bodily creatures·s the yefts of grace & the blyssis of ghostly creatures·s and in all these I seek him that my soul loveth/ It is fair looking with the Iner eye on Ihu in bodily creatures for to see his might: his wisdom & his goodness in ordinance of her kind: but it is much fairer looking on Ihu in ghostly creatures/ first in reasonable souls both chosen & reproved to see the merciful callyuge of him to chosen. how he turneth hem fro sin by light of his grace. how he helpeth 'em: teacheth 'em: chastith hem. comfortith hem. he ryighteth he cleanseth he feedeth: how he maketh 'em bren̄ing in love & in light by plenty of his grace/ And thus doth he not to one soul only but to all his choose after measure of his grace/ Also of all reproved how rightfully he forsaketh hem & leaveth 'em in her sins & doth 'em no wrong. How he rewardeth 'em in this world suffering 'em to have the fulfilling of her will & after to punyssh 'em endlessly/ Lo this is a little beholding of holy church whiles it is in traveling in this life to seen how black & how fowl it seemeth in souls that are reproved: how fair & how lovely it is in chosen souls And all this ghostly sight is nought else but the sight of Ihu. not in himself but in his merciful privy works & in his rightwies domes every day showed & remembered & renewed to reasonable soul's/ Also over this to see with the ghostly eye the pains of reproved. & the joy & the bliss of chosen souls it is full comfortable/ For soothfastness may not be seen in a clean soul without great delight & wondfull softness of blessed brenning love/ Also the sight of angel's kind: first of dampened & after that of the blessed/ It is a full fair contemplation of the fiend in a clean soul when grace bringeth the fiend to the sight of the soul as a clumsid caitiff bounden with the might of Ihu that he may not dear/ Thenne the soul beholdeth him not bodily but ghostly seeing his kind and his malice. and turneth him up so down & spoylleth him and renteth him all to nought: scorneth him & despiseth him and setteth nought by his malice/ Thus biddeth holy writ when it saith thus/ Verte impium et non erit/ Torn the wicked: that is the fiend up soodowne and he shall be as nought/ 
 Moche word hath the soul that the fiend hath so much malice and so lityll might/ There is no creature so unmighty as he is: and therefore it is a great cowardness that men dreden him so much/ He may no thing do without leave of our lord Ihu. not so much as enter in to a swine as the gospel saith Moche less may he do thenne to noye any man/ And thenne if our lord Ihu give 'em leave to tarry us it is full worthily & mercifully done that our lord Ihu doth. and therefore welcome be our lord Ihu by himself & by all his messengers/ The soul dreadeth no more then the blustering of the fiend than the stirring of a mouseth/ wuder wroth is the fiend if he durst say nay. but his mouth his stopped with his own malice. his hands are bound as a thief worthy to be demid & hanged in hell And thenne the soul accusyth him & rightfully demith him after that he hath deserved/ word not of this saying. for saint paul meaned the same when he said thus/ Frens nescitis qm anglos iudicabimus/ brethren wot ye not well that we shall dame angels. that are wicked spirits through malice that were made good angels by kind/ As who saith yes/ This dem●ge is figured before the doom in contemplative souls/ For they feel a lityl tasting in likeness of all that shall be done aftward of our lord Ihu openly in soothfastness/ shamid & shent is the fiend greatly in himself. when he is thus fared with a clean soul. He would fain flee away & he may not for the might of the highest holdeth him still: and that grieveth him more than all the fire of hell. word meekly falleth the soul to ihu thenne which heartily lovings that he so myghtly saveth a simple soul fro all malice of so fell a enemy by his great merci.   

¶ How by the same light of grace the blessed angels kind may be seen/ And how Ihu is god & man above all creatures after that the soul may see him here/ Caplm xlvi.  
ANd thenne after this by the self light may the soul see ghostly the fa●rhede of angels the worthiness of hem in kind. the subtlety of hem in substance: the confirming of hem in grace. & the fullness of endless bliss▪ the soundryhede of orders the distinctions of persons how they live all in light of soothfastness endless. and how they brene all in love of the holy ghost after the worthiness of orders. how they see & love & praise Ihu in blessed rest without ceesinge/ There is no sight of body: ne no figure in imagination in this manner worchinge but all ghostly &. of ghostly creatures/ Thenne beginneth the soul to have great aqueyntaunce of the blessed spirits & a great felishyp/ They are full tend & full busy about such a soul to help it/ They are masters to teach it. & often through her ghostly presence & touching of her light driven out fantasies fro the soul: & they Illumyn the soul graciously. they comfort the soul by sweet words suddenly swooned in a clean heart/ And if any disease fall ghostly they serven the soul and minister to it all that it needeth/ Thus saint paul said of hem/ Nun oens sunt administratorii spus missi ꝓpter eos qui hereditatem capiunt salutis/ 
Heb●●.  wot ye not well that holy spirits are ministers sent of Ihu for 'em that taken the heritage of health these are chosen souls: as who saith yes/ For wite thou well that all this ghostly working of words & of reasons brought to the minde· & such fair likeness are made by the ministry of angels when the light of grace abundantly shinyth in a clean soul/ It may not be told by tongue the feelings the lightnings the graces & the comforts in special that clean souls perceive through favourable selyshyp of blessed angels/ The soul is well at eace with 'em to behold how they done that it would tend to no thing else/ But thenne with the help of the angel yet the soul seeth more for knowing riseth above all this in a clean soul/ And that is to behold the blessed kind of Ihu/ first of his glorious manhood how it is hygh●● worthily above all angel's kind. & thenne after of his bless●● godhead/ For by knowing of creatures is known the creator. & thenne beginneth the soul to perceive a little of the profits of the blessed trinyte/ It may well ynough· for light of g●ace gooth before. & therefore she shall not err aslonge as she ●●●deth her with the light/ Thenne is it opened soothfastly to the eye of the soul the onlihede in subunance & distinction of 〈◊〉 in the blessed tyrnite. as it may be seen here. & moche 〈◊〉 soothfastness of the blessed trinyte pertinent to this 〈…〉 which is openly declared & showed by writing of holy 〈◊〉 of holy church/ And wite thou well that the same & the 〈◊〉 ●●thfastnes of the blessed trinity that these holy doctors 〈…〉 through grace written in her books in strengthing of ou● 〈…〉 a clean soul may see in knowing through y● self lygh● 〈…〉/ I will not express toomuch of this matter here 〈…〉 for it needeth not/ Word great love feeleth the soul 〈…〉 delight in feeling of this soothfastness when it is 〈…〉 special grace. for love & light goth both together in 〈…〉/ There is no love that riseth of knowing & of 〈…〉 ding that may touch sooner our lord as this love 〈…〉 why: this knowing is worthiest & highest in itself 〈…〉 god & man if it be specially showed by the light of 〈…〉 therefore is the fire of love flaming of this more 〈…〉 than it is of knowing of any creature bodily or ghostly 〈◊〉 these gracious knowynges felid in a soul of the unyversitee of all creatures in manner before said. & of our lord Ihu mak●●● keeper of all this fair unyversitee. I call hem fair words & 〈◊〉 spekynges of our lord Ihu to a soul the which he will make his true spouse/ He showeth brevities & proffereth rich ●●●tes of his treasure: & arrayeth the soul with hem full honestly/ She need not be ashamed with the company of her fellows to apere afterward to the face of Ihesu her spouse/ All this lovely dalliance of privy speech bitixe thun & a soul may be called an hid word. 
job. iiii.  of the which holy writ saith thus/ Porro ad me dcm est vbum absconditum et venas susurrii percepit auris mea/ Sothli to me is said an hid word & the veins of his rowuynges mine ear hath perceived/ The inspiration of Ihu is an hid word. for it is previly hid fro all lovers of the world & showed to his lovers▪ through which a clean soul perceiveth readily the veins of his rowning that are specially shewenges of his soothfastness/ For everich gracious knowing of soothfastness felt with Inly savour & ghostly delight is a privy ●ownyng of Ihu in the ere of a clean soul/ Him behoveth to 〈◊〉 moche cleanness & meekness & all other virtues: & to be half 〈◊〉 to noys of worldly jangling that should wisely perceive 〈…〉 ghostly rownynge that is the voice of Ihu/ Of y● why 〈…〉 saith thus/ Vox dni pmparantis ceruos & revelabit 〈…〉 The voice of our lord ●hū arraying hearts & he shall show 〈◊〉 That is▪ the Inspiration of Ihu maketh souls light 〈◊〉 that sterten fro th'earth over bushes & briars of all 〈…〉. & he showeth to hem the thick. that are his previtees 〈◊〉 not be perceived but by sharp eye. These beholdinges 〈◊〉 grounded in grace & in meekness maketh a soul 〈…〉 in desire to the face of Ihu/ these be the ghostly 〈…〉 I spoke of before: & they been called new gracious feelings 〈◊〉 ●oo but touch hem a little for wyssing of the soul/ For a sou●e that is clean stirred by grace to use of this working may see more in an hour of such ghostly matter than might be written in a great book/  
¶ Thus finysshith this present book which exponeth many notable doctrines in contemplation/ which as me seemeth right exspedyent to those that setten their felicity in ocupyenge theimself specially for their soul health/