VI. AN EPISTLE OF DISCRETION
HERE FOLLOWETH ALSO A VERY NECESSARY EPISTLE OF DISCRETION IN
STIRRINGS OF THE SOUL
GHOSTLY friend in God, that same grace and joy that I will to myself, will I to
thee at God's will. Thou askest me counsel of silence and of speaking, of
common dieting and of singular fasting, of dwelling in company and only
woning[227] by thyself. And thou sayest thou
art in great were[228] what thou shalt do;
for, as thou sayest, on the one party thou art greatly tarried with speaking,
with common eating, as other folk do, and with common woning in company. And,
on the other party, thou dreadest to be straitly still,[229] singular in fasting, and only in woning, for deeming of
more holiness in thee than thou hast,[230]
and for many other perils; for oft times now these days they are deemed for
most holy, and fall in to many perils, that most are in silence, in singular
fasting, and in only woning. And sooth it is that they are most holy,
if grace only be the cause of that silence, of that singular fasting, and of
that only woning, the kind[231] but
suffering and only consenting; and if it be otherwise, then that is but peril
on all sides, for it is full perilous to strain the kind to any such work of
devotion, as is silence or speaking, common dieting or singular fasting, woning
in company or in onliness.[232] I mean,
passing the course and the common custom of kind and degree, but if it be led
thereto by grace; and, namely, to such works the which in themself are
indifferent, that is to say, now good, and now evil, now with thee, now against
thee, now helping, and now letting. For it might befall that, if thou followed
thy singular stirring, straitly straining thee to silence, to singular fasting,
or to only woning, that thou shouldest oft times be still when time were to
speak, oft times fast when time were to eat, oft times be only when time were
to be in company. Or if thou give thee to speaking always when thee list, to
common eating, or to companious woning,[233]
then peradventure thou shouldest sometime speak when time[234] were to be still, sometime eat when time were to fast,
sometime be in company when time were to be only; and thus mightest thou
lightly fall in to error, in great confusion, not only of thine own soul but
also of others. And, therefore, in eschewing of such errors, thou
askest of me (as I have perceived by thy letters) two things: the first is my
conceit of thee, and thy stirring; and the other is my counsel in this case,
and in all such others when they come.
As to
the first, I answer and I say that I dread full much in this matter and such
others to put forth my rude conceit, such as it is, for two skills.[235] And one is this: I dare not lean to my
conceit, affirming it for fast and true. The other is thine inward disposition,
and thine ableness that thou hast unto all these things that thou speakest of
in thy letter, which be not yet so fully known unto me, as it were speedful
that they were, if I should give full counsel in this case. For it is said of
the Apostle: Nemo novit quae sunt hominis, nisi spiritus hominis qui in ipso
est; "No man knoweth which are the privy dispositions of man, but the
spirit of the same man, the which is in himself";[236] and, peradventure, thou knowest not yet thine own
inward disposition thyself, so fully as thou shalt do hereafter, when God will
let thee feel it by the proof, among many failings and risings. For I knew
never yet no sinner that might come to the perfect knowing of himself and of
his inward disposition, but if he were learned of it before in the school of
God, by experience of many temptations, and by many failings and risings; for
right as among the waves and the floods and the storms of the sea, on
the one party, and the peaceable wind and the calms and the soft weathers of
the air on the other party, the sely[237]
ship at the last attains to the land and the haven; right so, among the
diversity of temptations and tribulations that falleth to a soul in this ebbing
and flowing life (the which are ensampled by the storms and the floods of the
sea) on the one party, and among the grace and the goodness of the Holy Ghost,
the manyfold visitation, sweetness and comfort of spirit (the which are
ensampled by the peaceable wind and the soft weathers of the air) on the other
party, the sely soul, at the likeness of a ship, attaineth at the last to the
land of stableness, and to the haven of health; the which is the clear and the
soothfast knowing of himself, and of all his inward dispositions, through the
which knowing he sitteth quietly in himself, as a king crowned in his royalme,
mightily, wisely, and goodly governing himself and all his thoughts and
stirrings, both in body and in soul. Of such a man it is that the wise man
saith thus: Beatus vir qui suffert tentationem, quoniam cum probatus fuerit,
accipiet coronam vitae, quam repromisit Deus diligentibus se: "He is a
blissful man that sufferingly beareth temptation; for, from he have been
proved, he shall take the crown of life, the which God hath hight to all those
that love Him."[238] The crown of life may
be said on two manners. One for ghostly wisdom, for full discretion,
and for perfection of virtue: these three knitted together may be cleped[239] a crown of life, the which by grace may
be come to here in this life. On another manner the crown of life may be said,
that it is the endless joy that each true soul shall have, after this life, in
the bliss of heaven, and, sikerly, neither of these two crowns may a man take,
but if he before have been well proved in suffering of noye[240] and of temptation, as this text saith: Quoniam cum
probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae; that is: "From that he have been
proved, then shall he take the crown of life";[241] as who saith (according to mine understanding touched
before): But if a sinner have been proved before in divers temptations, now
rising, now falling, falling by frailty, rising by grace, he shall never else
take of God in this life ghostly wisdom in clear knowing of himself and of his
inward dispositions, nor full discretion in counselling and teaching of others,
nor yet the third, the which is the perfection of virtue in loving of his God
and of his brethren. All these three--wisdom, discretion, and perfection of
virtue-are but one, and they may be cleped the crown of life.
In a crown are three things: gold is the first;
precious stones are the second; and the turrets of the flower-de-luce, raised
up above the head, those are the third. By gold, wisdom; by the precious
stones, discretion; and by the turrets of the flower-de-luce I
understand the perfection of virtue. Gold environeth the head, and by wisdom we
govern our ghostly work on every side; precious stones giveth light in
beholding of men, and by discretion we teach and counsel our brethren; the
turrets of the flower-de-luce giveth two side branches spreading one to the
right side and another to the left, and one even up above the head, and by
perfection of virtues (the which is charity) we give two side branches of love,
the which are spreading, one to the right side to our friends, and one to the
left side to our enemies, and one even up unto God, above man's understanding,
the which is the head of the soul. This is the crown of life the which by grace
may be gotten here in this life; and, therefore, bear thee low in thy battle,
and suffer meekly thy temptations till thou have been proved. For then shalt
thou take either the one crown, or the other, or both, this here, and the other
there; for who so hath this here, he may be full siker of the other there; and
full many there are that are full graciously proved here, and yet come never to
this that may be had here in this life. The which (if they meekly continue and
patiently abide the will of our Lord) shall full worthily and abundantly
receive the other there, in the high bliss of heaven. Thee thinketh this crown
fair that may be had here; yea, bear thee as meekly as thou mayst by grace, for
in comparison of the other there, it is but as one noble to a world
full of gold. All this I say to give thee comfort and evidence of strength in
thy ghostly battle, the which thou hast taken on hand in the trust of our Lord,
and all this I say to let thee see how far thou art yet from the true knowing
of thine inward disposition, and thereafter to give thee warning, not over soon
to give stead[242] nor to follow the
singular stirrings of thy young heart, for dread of deceit.
All this I say for to show unto thee my conceit
that I have of thee and of thy stirrings, as thou hast asked of me; for I
conceive of thee that thou art full able and full greatly disposed to such
sudden stirrings of singular doings,[243]
and full fast to cleave unto them when they be received; and that is full
perilous. I say not that this ableness and this greedy disposition in thee, or
in any other that is disposed as thou art, though all it be perilous, that it
is therefore evil in itself; nay, so say I not, God forbid that thou take it
so; but I say that it is full good in itself, and a full great ableness to full
great perfection, yea, and to the greatest perfection that may be in this life;
I mean, if that a soul that is so disposed will busily, night and day, meek
it[244] to God and to good counsel, and
strongly rise and martyr itself, with casting down of the own wit and the own
will in all such sudden and singular stirrings, and say sharply that
it will not follow such stirrings, seem they never so liking,[245] so high nor so holy, but if it have thereto the
witness[246] and the consents of some
ghostly teachers--I mean such as have been of long time expert in singular
living. Such a soul, for ghostly continuance thus in this meekness, may
deserve, through grace and the experience of this ghostly battle thus with
itself, for to take the crown of life touched before. And as great an ableness
to good as is this manner of disposition in a soul that is thus meeked as I
say, as perilous it is in another soul, such one that will suddenly, without
advisement of counsel, follow the stirrings of the greedy heart, by the own wit
and the own will; and therefore, for God's love, beware with this ableness and
with this manner of disposition (that I speak of), if it be in thee as I say.
And meek thee continually to prayer and to counsel. Break down thine own wit
and thy will in all such sudden and singular stirrings, and follow them not
over lightly, till thou wete whence they come, and whether they be according
for thee or not.
And as touching these stirrings of the which thou
askest my conceit and my counsel, I say to thee that I conceive of them
suspiciously, that is, that[247] they should
be conceived on the ape's manner. Men say commonly that the ape doth as he
seeth others do; forgive me if I err in my suspicion, I pray thee.
Nevertheless, the love that I have to thy soul stirreth me by
evidence that I have of a ghostly brother of thine and of mine, touched with
those same stirrings of full great[248]
silence, of full singular fasting, and of full only woning, on ape's manner, as
he granted unto me after long communing with me, and when he had proved himself
and his stirrings. For, as he said, he had seen a man in your country, the
which man, as it is well known, is evermore in great silence, in singular
fasting, and in only dwelling; and certes, as I suppose fully, they are full
true stirrings those that that man hath, caused all only of grace, that he
feeleth by experience within, and not of any sight or heard say that he hath of
any other man's silence without-the which cause if it were, it should be cleped
apely, as I say in my simple meaning. And therefore beware, and prove well thy
stirrings, and whence they come; for how so thou art stirred, whether from
within by grace, or from without on ape's manner, God wote, and I not.
Nevertheless this may I say thee in eschewing of perils like unto this: look
that thou be no ape, that is to say, look that thy stirrings to silence or to
speaking, to fasting or to eating, to onliness or to company, whether they be
come from within of abundance of love and of devotion in the spirit and not
from without by the windows of thy bodily wits, as thine ears, and thine eyes.
For, as Jeremiah saith plainly, by such windows cometh in death: Mors
intrat per fenestras.249 And this sufficeth,
as little as it is, for answer to the first, where thou askest of me, what is
my conceit of thee, and of these stirrings that thou speakest of to me in thy
letter.
And touching the second thing, where thou askest
of me my counsel in this case, and in such other when they fall, I beseech
almighty Jesu (as He is cleped the angel of great counsel) that He of His mercy
be thy counsellor and thy comforter in all thy noye and thy nede, and order me
with His wisdom to fulfil in party by my teaching, so simple as it is, the
trust of thine heart, the which thou hast unto me before many others--a simple
lewd[250] wretch as I am, unworthy to teach
thee or any other, for littleness of grace and for lacking of conning.
Nevertheless, though I be lewd, yet shall I somewhat say, answering to thy desire at my simple conning, with a trust in God that His grace
shall be learner and leader when conning of kind and of clergy defaileth.[251] Thou wotest right well thyself that
silence in itself nor speaking, also singular fasting nor common dieting,
onliness nor company, all these nor yet any of them be not the true end of our
desire; but to some men (and not to all) they are means helping to the end, if
they be done lawfully and with discretion, and else are they more letting than
furthering. And therefore plainly[252] to
speak, nor plainly to be still, plainly to eat, nor plainly to fast, plainly to
be in company, or plainly to be only, think I not to counsel thee at this time;
for why, perfection standeth not in them. But this counsel may I give thee
generally, to hold thee by in these stirrings, and in all other like unto
these; evermore where thou findest two contraries, as are these--silence and
speaking, fasting and eating, onliness and company, common clothing of
Christian religion and singular habits of divers and devised brotherhoods, with
all such other what so they be, the which in themself are but works of kind[253] and of men. For thou hast it by kind and
by statute of thine outer man now for to speak and now for to be still, now for
to eat and now for to fast, now for to be in company and now to be only, now to
be common in clothing and now to be in singular habit, ever when
thee list, and when thou seest[254] that any
of them should be speedful and helply to thee in nourishing of the heavenly
grace working within in thy soul; but if it be so (which God forbid), that thou
or any other be so lewd and so blinded in the sorrowful temptations of the
midday devil, that ye bind you by any crooked avow to any such singularities,
as it were under colour of holiness feigned under such an holy thraldom,[255] in full and final destroying of the
freedom of Christ, the which is the ghostly habit of the sovereign holiness
that may be in this life, or in the other, by the witness of saint Paul saying
thus: Ubi spiritus Domini, ibi libertas: "There where the spirit of God is,
there is freedom."[256] And thereto when
thou seest that all such works in their use may be both good and evil; I pray
thee leave them both, for that is the most ease for thee for to do, if thou
wilt be meek, and leave the curious beholding and seeking in thy wits to look
whether is better. But do thou thus: set the one on the one hand, and the other
on the other, and choose thee a thing the which is hid between them; the which
thing, when it is had, giveth thee leave in freedom of spirit to begin and to
cease in holding any of the others at thine own full list, without any
blame.
But now thou askest me, what is that thing. I
shall tell thee what I mean that it is: It is God; for whom
thou shouldest be still, if thou shouldest be still; and for whom thou
shouldest speak if thou shouldest speak; and for whom thou shouldest fast, if
thou shouldest fast; and for whom thou shouldest eat, if thou shouldest eat;
and for whom thou shouldest be only, if thou shouldest be only; and for whom
thou shouldest be in company, if thou shouldest be in company. And so forth of
all the remenant, what so they be. For silence is not God, nor speaking is not
God; fasting is not God, nor eating is not God; onliness is not God, nor
company is not God; nor yet any of all the other such two contraries. He is hid
between them, and may not be found by any work of thy soul, but all only by
love of thine heart. He may not be known by reason, He may not be gotten by
thought, nor concluded by understanding; but He may be loved and chosen with
the true lovely will of thine heart.[257]
Choose thee Him, and thou art silently speaking, and speakingly
silent, fastingly eating, and eatingly fasting, and so forth of all the
remenant. Such a lovely choosing of God, thus wisely lesinge[258] and seeking Him out with the true will of a clean
heart, between all such two leaving them both, when they come and proffer them
to be the point and the prick of our ghostly beholding, is the worthiest
tracing and seeking of God that may be gotten or learned in this life. I mean
for a soul that will be contemplative; yea, though all that a soul that thus
seeketh see nothing that may be conceived with the ghostly eye of reason; for
if God be thy love and thy meaning, the choice and the point of thine heart, it
sufficeth to thee in this life (though all thou see never more of Him with the
eyes of thy reason all thy life time). Such a blind shot with the sharp dart of
longing love may never fail of the prick, the which is God, as Himself saith in
the book of love, where He speaketh to a languishing soul and a loving, saying
thus: Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, amica mea, et sponsa mea, vulnerasti
cor meum, in uno oculorum tuorum: "Thou hast wounded mine heart, my sister,
my leman, and my spouse, thou hast wounded mine heart in one of thine eyes."[259] Eyes of the soul they are two: Reason and
Love. By reason we may trace how mighty, how wise, and how good He is in His
creatures, but not in Himself; but ever when reason defaileth, then list, love,
live and learn, to play,[260] for
by love we may feel Him, find Him, and hit Him, even in Himself. It is a
wonderful eye, this love, for of a loving soul it is only said of our Lord:
"Thou hast wounded mine heart in one of thine eyes"; that is to say, in love
that is blind to many things, and seeth but that one thing that it seeketh, and
therefore it findeth and feeleth, hitteth and woundeth the point and the prick
that it shooteth at, well sooner than it should if the sight were sundry in
beholding of many things, as it is when the reason ransacketh and seeketh among
all such sere[261] things as are these:
silence and speaking, singular fasting and common eating, onliness or company,
and all such other; to look whether is better.
Let be this manner of doing, I pray thee, and let
as thou wist not that there were any such means (I mean ordained for to get God
by); for truly no more there is, if thou wilt be very contemplative and soon
sped of thy purpose. And, therefore, I pray thee and other like unto thee, with
the Apostle saying thus: Videte vocationem vestram, et in ea vocatione qua
vocati estis state:262 "See your calling, and, in that calling
that ye be called, stand stiffly and abide in the name of Jesu." Thy calling is
to be very contemplative, ensampled by Mary Magdalene. Do then as Mary did, set
the point of thine heart upon one thing: Porro unum est necessarium:
"For one thing is necessary,"[263] the which is God. Him wouldest thou have, Him seekest
thou, Him list thee to love, Him list thee to feel,[264] Him list thee hold thee by, and neither by silence nor
by speaking, by singular fasting nor by common eating, by onliness nor by
companious woning, by hard wearing nor by easy; for sometime silence is good,
but that same time speaking were better; and againward sometime speaking is
good, but that same time silence were better; and so forth of all the remenant,
as is fasting, eating, onliness, and company; for sometime the one is good, but
the other is better, but neither of them is at any time the best. And,
therefore, let be good all that is good, and better all that is better,[265] for both they will defail and have an
end; and choose thee the best with Mary, thy mirror, that never will defail:
Maria (inquit optimam) optimam partem elegit, quae non auferetur ab
ea.266 The best is almighty Jesu, and He said that Mary, in
ensample of all contemplatives, had chosen the best, the which should never be
taken from her; and therefore, I pray thee, with Mary leave the good and the
better, and choose thee the best.
Let them be, all such things as are these:
silence and speaking, fasting and eating, onliness and company, and
all such other, and take no keep to them; thou wotest not what they mean, and,
I pray thee, covet not to wit; and if thou shall at any time think or speak of
them, think then and say that they are so high and so worthy things of
perfection, for to conne[267] speak, or for
to conne be still, for to conne fast, and for to conne eat, for to conne be
only, and to conne be in company, that it were but a folly and a foul
presumption to such a frail wretch as thou art, for to meddle thee of so great
perfection. For why, for to speak, and for to be still, for to eat, and for to
fast, for to be only, and for to be in company, ever when we will, may we have
by kind; but for to conne do all these, we may not but by grace. And, without
doubt, such grace is never gotten by any mean of such strait silence, of such
singular fasting, or of such only dwelling that thou speakest of, the which is
caused from without by occasion of hearing and of seeing of any other man's
such singular doings. But if ever this grace shall be gotten, it behoveth to be
learned of God from within, unto whom thou hast listily leaned many a day
before with all the love of thine heart, utterly voiding from thy ghostly
beholding[268] all manner of sight of any
thing beneath Him; though all that some of those things that I bid thee thus
void, should seem in the sight of some men a full worthy mean to get God by.
Yea, say what men say will, but do thou as I say thee, and let the
proof witness. For to him that will be soon sped of his purpose ghostly, it
sufficeth to him for a mean, and him needeth no more, but the actual mind of
good God only, with a reverent stirring of lasting love; so that mean unto God
gettest thou none but God. If thou keep whole thy stirring of love that thou
mayst feel by grace in thine heart, and scatter not thy ghostly beholding
therefrom then that same that thou feelest shall well conne[269] tell thee when thou shalt speak and when thou shalt be
still, and it shall govern thee discreetly in all thy living without any error,
and teach thee mistily[270] how thou shalt
begin and cease in all such doing of kind with a great and sovereign
discretion. For if thou mayst by grace keep it in custom and in continual
working, then, if it be needful or speedful to thee for to speak, for to
commonly eat, or for to bide in company, or for to do any such other thing that
longeth to the common true custom of Christian men, and of kind, it shall first
stir thee full softly to speak or to do that other common thing of kind, what
so it be. And then, if thou do it not, it shall strike as sore as a prick on
thine heart and pain thee full sore, and let thee have no peace[271] but if thou do it. And, on the same manner,
if thou be in speaking, or in any such other work that is common to the course
of kind, if it be needful and speedful to thee to be still, and for to set thee
to the contrary, as is onliness to company, fasting to eating, and all such
other the which are works of singular holiness, it will stir thee to them; so
that thus, by experience of such a blind stirring of love unto God, a
contemplative soul cometh sooner to that grace of discretion for to conne
speak, and for to conne be still, for to conne eat, and for to conne fast, for
to conne be in company, and for to conne be only,[272] and all such other, than by any such singularities as
thou speakest of, taken by the stirrings of man's own wit and his will within
in himself, or yet by the ensample of any other man's doing without, what so it
be. For why, such strained doings under the stirrings of kind, without
touching[273] of grace, is a passing pain
without any profit; but if it be to them that are religious, or that have them
by enjoining of penance, where profit riseth only because of obedience, and not
by any such straitness of doing without; the which is painful to all that it
proveth. But lovely and listily to will to love[274] God is great and passing ease, true ghostly peace, and
earnest of the endless rest. And, therefore, speak when thee list,
and leave when thee list, eat when thee list, and fast when thee list, be in
company when thee list, and be by thyself when thee list, so that[275] God and grace be thy leader. Let fast who
fast will, and be only who will, and let hold silence who so will, but hold
thee by God that doth beguile no man; for silence and speaking, onliness and
company, fasting and eating, all may beguile thee. And if thou hear of any man
that speaketh, or of any that is still, of any that eateth or of any that
fasteth, or of any that is in company or else by himself, think thou, and say,
if thee list, that they conne do as they should do, but if the contrary shew in
apert.[276] But look that thou do not as
they do (I mean for that they do so) on ape's manner; for neither thou canst,
nor peradventure thou art not disposed as they are. And, therefore, leave to
work after other men's dispositions and work after thine own, if thou mayst
know what it is. And unto the time that thou mayst know what it is, work after
those men's counsel that know their own disposition, but not after their
disposition;[277] for such men should give counsel in such cases, and else none. And this sufficeth for an
answer to all thy letter, as me thinketh; the grace of God be ever more with
thee, in the name of Jesu. AMEN.
FINIT EPISTOLA
[227]Pepwell modernises this throughout to
"dwelling alone."
[228]Pepwell substitutes "doubt." Cf.
Chaucer, Legend of Good Women, 2686: "Thryes doun she fil in swiche a
were."
[229]Pepwell adds: "in keeping of
silence."
[230]Harl. MS. 674 reads: "more holiness
than thou art worthy."
[231]Nature.
[232]Solitude.
[233]Pepwell has: "company."
[234]Pepwell reads: "better."
[235]Causes.
[236]1 Cor. ii. 11.
[237]Simple.
[238]Jas. i. 12.
[239]The MSS. usually read "cleped" for
"called."
[240]Pepwell modernizes to "trouble."
[241]Jas. i. 12.
[242]To give place to.
[243]Such impulses to exceptional
practices.
[244]Humble itself.
[245]Pleasant.
[246]Pepwell reads: "wits."
[247]Lest.
[248]Pepwell reads: "strait."
249Jer. ix. 21: "Quia ascendit mors per fenestras nostras"
(Vulgate). Pepwell reads: "as saint Jerome saith"! Cf. Walter Hilton, The
Ladder of Perfection, I. pt. iii. cap 9: "Lift up thy lanthorn, and thou
shalt see in this image five windows, by which sin cometh into thy soul, as the
Prophet saith: Death cometh in by our windows. These are the five senses
by which thy soul goeth out of herself, and fetcheth her delight and seeketh
her feeding in earthly things, contrary to the nobility of her own nature. As
by the eye to see curious and fair things and so of the other senses. By the
unskilful using of these senses willingly to vanities, thy soul is much letted
from the sweetness of the spiritual senses within; and therefore it behoveth
thee to stop these windows, and shut them, but only when need requireth to open
them" (ed. Dalgairns, p. 115).
[250]Ignorant.
[251]Where natural and acquired knowledge
alike fall shorts.
[252]Fully.
[253]Nature.
[254]Pepwell has: "when thou dost feel."
[255]Pepwell inserts: "I mean except the
solemn vows of holy religion."
[256]2 Cor. iii. 17.
[257]Cf. St. Catherine of Siena, Letter 308
(ed. Gigli): "Love harmonises the three powers of our soul, and binds them
together. The will moves the understanding to see, when it wishes to love; when
the understanding perceives that the will would fain love, if it is a rational
will, it places before it as object the ineffable love of the eternal Father,
who has given us the Word, His own son, and the obedience and humility of the
son, who endured torments, inuries, mockeries, and insults with meekness and
with such great love. And thus the will, with ineffable love, follows what the
eye of the understanding has beheld; and with its strong hand, it stores up in
the memory the treasure that it draws from this love."
[258]Losing.
[259]Cant. iv. 9.
[260]To exercise love.
[261]Divers.
2621 Cor. i. 26, vii. 20; Eph. iv. 1.
[263]Luke x. 42.
[264]Pepwell inserts "Him list thee to see,
and."
[265]Pepwell reads: "Let be good and all
that is good, and better with all that is better."
266Luke x. 42.
[267]To know how to speak, etc.
[268]Banishing from thy soul's vision.
[269]Be able to.
[270]Pepwell reads: "privily." Cf. Wyclif
(Select English Works, ed. cit., i. p. 149): "And after seith Crist to his
apostles, that thes thingis he seide bifore to hem in proverbis and
mystily."
[271]Pepwell reads: "rest."
[272]Pepwell modernises "conne" to "learn
to" throughout this passage.
[273]Harl. MS. 674 reads: "stirring"; the
other MS, as Pepwell.
[274]Harl. MS. 674 reads: "have."
[275]Pepwell reads: "else."
[276]Manifestly, i.e. unless they
clearly show that they do not know how to act as they should. Pepwell has: "in
a part."
[277]i.e. take their advice, but do
not simply imitate them. I follow the MSS. in preference to Pepwell, who reads:
"Work after no men's counsel, but sith that know well their own disposition;
for such men should," etc.