A boke newly translated out of Latyn in to Englisshe, called The folowing of Christe with the Golden epistel of saynt Barnard.

❧Of compunccion of the herte. The .xxi. Chapitre.

IF thou wylt any thynge {pro}fyte to the helthe of thy soule / kepe the alwaye in the drede of god & neuer desyre to be fully at lybertye / but

kepe the alwaye vndersome holsome dys∣cyplyne. Neuer gyue thy selfe to no vn∣dyscrete myrthe / for no maner of thynge as nyghe as thou mayste. Haue perfyte compunccyon and sorowe for thy synnes and thou shalt fynde therby great inly de¦uocyon Cōpuncciō openeth to the syght of the soule many good thynge / whiche lyghtnes of hert and vayne myrthe / some dryueth awaye. It is meruayle that any man can be mery in thys lyfe / yf he consy¦der well howe farre he is exiled out of his countre: and howe great peryll hys soule dayly standeth in / but through lyghtnes of herte / and neglygence of our defautes we fele nat: ne we wyl nat fele the sorowe of oure owne soule / but ofte tymes we laughe whan we ought rather to wepe & morne: for there is no perfyte lyberty nor true ioye / but in the drede of god and in a good conscyence. That person is ryght happy that hathe grace to auoyde from hym all thynges that letteth hym fro be∣holdynge of hys owne synnes / and that can tourne hym selfe to gody by inwarde compunccyon / and he is happy also that auoydeth fro hym all thynges that may offende or greue his conscyence. Fyght

strongly therfore agaynste al synnes and drede nat ouermoche all though thou be encombered by an euyll custome / for that euyll custome maye be ouercome with a good custome. And excuse the nat that thou arte let by other mē / for if thou wylt leue the familyaryte with other they wil suffre the to do thy ded{is} without īpedimēt Intrike the nat with other mēnes good{is} ne busy the nat in great mennes causes / haue alwaye an eye to thy selfe and dyly∣gently enforme & admonyshe thy selfe by fore all other. ♣ If thou haue nat the fa∣uour of worldely lyuynge people sorowe nat therfore: but be this thy daily sorowe that thou behauyst nat thy selfe in thy cō¦uersaciō as it besemeth a good relygious person for to do. It is muche expedient & more {pro}fytable that a mā somtyme lacke cōsolacions in his lyfe than that he haue thē alwayes after his wyl namely flesshe¦ly cōsolaciōs. Neuertheles that we haue nat somtyme heuenly cōsolacyōs or that we so seldome fele theym as we do. It is through our owne defaute: for we seke nat to haue the true cōpunctyon of herte ne we caste nat fully awaye from vs the false outwarde consolacyons: holde thy

selfe therfore vnwordy to haue any con∣solacyon and worthy to haue moche try∣bulacion / whan a man soroweth perfytly for hys synnes / than all wordly comfor∣tes be paynfull to hym. A good man fyn∣deth alway mater inough why he oweth ryghtfully to sorowe & wepe / for yf he be¦holde hym selfe or if he thynke on his ney¦ghbour / he seeth well that none lyuethe here without great mysery and the more throughly that he may cōsyder him selfe The more sorowe he hath and alway the mater of true sorowe and of true inly con∣punccyō is the remēbraūce of our synnes wherwith we be so bylapped on euerye syde that seldome we maye beholde any ghostly thing{is}. But if we wolde more oft thynke on our deth than we do on longe lyfe no doute but we shulde more feruent¦ly apply our selfe to amendement / & I be¦leue also that yf we wolde hertely remem¦bre the paynes of Helle & of Purgatoyre that we shulde more gladly susteyne al la¦boures and sorowes & that we shulde nat dred any payn in this worlde with that we myghte auoyde the paynes that are to come. But for as moche as these thyn¦ges go nat to the herte & we yet loue the

flateringe and the false pleasures of this worlde / therfore we remayne colde and voyde of deuocyon / and ofte it is through the weykenes of the spirite that the wret¦ched body so lyghtly cōplayneth. Praye therfore mekely to oure lorde / that he of his greate goodnes gyue the / the spyryte of compuncyon / and say with the Pro∣phete. ♣ Fede me lorde with the brede of cōpunccyon / & gyue me to drynke water of teres in great habundaunce.