Here begynneth the boke called the Pype, or tonne, of the lyfe of perfection The reason or cause wherof dothe playnely appere in the processe.

¶Howe to continue without ieoparty of {pro}priete. The .xvii. Chapitre.

HOwe here shall folowe as we promysed: howe ye may passe forth in religion with out the daūger of propriete / and yet haue all thynges necessarie / and many pleasu∣res also without any ieoparty of conscience. Fyrste than: ye muste considre / that ī euery perfection: ben degrees / some lowe / some meane / and some hyghe and notable. The leest and moste lowe perfection of vertue: must euer be without deedly synne. And that is accoūted as sufficiēt vnto saluacion. So y^e forther {per}fection be nat despised / & set at nought or ly¦tell regarded. For {per}sones maye be {per}fecte / & ryght good: althoughe they fal into many venial offēses.

And very fewe persones ī any vertue: done attayne & come: vnto y^e moste hyghe / & moste perfecte degre therof. A familiar exāple may be ī the vertue of cha∣stite. The lowest degre & {per}fection wherof: is neuer to haue deliberate consent vnto any carnall acte of generacion / ne vnto any byhauiour of vnclēnes vn¦lawfull. Yet in this degre / ben many {per}sones: y^t haue many affections / both naturall / & carnal / and many freyle / & lyght byhauiours / y^t done moche minisshe the {per}fection of very chastite. Some {per}sones bene of a more hyghe degre / y^t done auoyde with diligente awayte all outwarde occasions / as kyssynge / clip∣pynge / touchynge / lyght lokes / wanton contenaūce the hearyng & speakyng of all vnclene wordes / sole {pre}sence / w^t al suche other. And yet whā they be assay∣led inwardly ī mynde / or moued in body: they done nat so diligently represse the mocions / ne so hastely put them away / as good vertue wold require / but somtyme gyue thē place by delectacion only / w^tout deliberate consent: & so playe w^t them / & suffre them without great violence: to hange vpon them vnto theyr great trouble / and many tymes: vnto the ieo∣party of great inconuenience. The {per}fecte degre of this vertue: is to be so mortified in body / that suche assayles done nothynge / or very lytell: trouble the persones / but rather done inflame them in the loue of our lorde / and moue thē vnto horrour / & hatered of all maner of synne / & done excite & sturre thē vnto y^e more depe mekenes / vnto theyr great merite. Of these thīg{is} / shall we more largely speke in the nexte and thyrde membre. Nowe let vs {per}ceyue a lyke ma¦ner in this vertue of wylful pouerte. The lowest de¦gre wherof is this. Neuer to cōsent by deliberaciō:

to receyue / possede / or haue / to reteyne or kepe: any maner of thinge temporall: by licence / or without li¦cenie: vnto peculier and proper vse / that is / so to be in the power of the religious persone / that he may: by any meanes: alienate / chaūge / gyue / sel / or lende that thynge / for selfe cōmodite / at selfe wyll or liber¦tie / defendynge that thyng as his owne. Defēdyng in a religious persone / is / whan knowyng the wyll of the souereyne in the contrarie: he wolde reteyne / and nat delyuer or bystowe the same thynge: after the wyl of the souereyne / but by violence / or rather for drede of temporall payne or displeasure / thā for drede of the offēce of god. For so / to haue any thyng (althoughe by licence) is (as we sayd) very poyso∣ned propriete. For the religious professed persones can haue (without propriete) nothynge els / for selfe cōmodite: but onely the vse of any thyng temporal / and yet as we sayd byfore / that vse to be euer at vn∣certeynte / that is to say / in the power / liberte / & wyll of the souereyne / as ferre as may be conuenient. An other degre of this vertue wylfull pouerte (the con∣trarie wherof is also propriete) is: nat to haue / nor yet to consent in wyll to haue / that vncerteine vse of any thynge temporall: without the knowlege / po∣wer / and licence of the souereyne / other expresse / or vnderstande. Expresse knowlege and licence: is / whan that licence is gyuen for any certeyne thyng / vnto the subiecte: by the selfe souereyne presente / or by credible message / in worde or wrytynge. And li∣cence enterpretate or vnderstande: is / whan the sub¦iecte (nat hauynge leyser / or tyme conueniente: to gyue knowlege vnto the souereyne / and so to haue licence / for the mater) doth verely suppose / thynke /

and iuge in conscience / the souereyne wolde / & wyll be content to gyue that licence / and dothe also pur∣pose and determyne to shewe the mater afterwarde vnto his souereyne. And this licence is sufficient to discharge conscience / for the tyme and case. And so in lyke maner: whan the subiecte doth receyue any thynge / of any officer or officers appoynted by the souereyne vnto the ministracion. And yet here by∣ware / gyue good hede / and remembre / that I sayd / whan the subiecte dothe iuge in conscience: that the souereyne is content. For many officers (I fere) by folyshe affection: done many tymes: defoule / or put themselfe ī ieoparty of propriete / whā (aboue and beyonde theyr cōmission) they done ministre & giue by parcialite / for loue and personall fauour of y^e re∣ceyuers / after theyr owne mynde and pleasure / as thoughe the thyng were theyrs and in theyr power (the mynde of the souereyne / and the nede of the re∣ceyuer / lytell or nothynge regarded) and that doth oftymes seme to be true: whan they done gyue / and profer many thynges: vndesyred and vnasked / or somtymes heyre theyr felowes to do plesure for thē and gyue them rewarde after theyr owne appetite / without the souereynes mynde or consent. Here they wyll say: as byfore is sayd the souereine hathe gyuen them generall licence to ministre that is vn∣der theyr handes: after theyr owne discrecion / vnto that I haue answered / let them loke what is byfore wryten and so be content. But I wolde aduise y^e de¦uoute subiectes / that feyne wolde auoyde ieoparty / and be on the sure parte: that if they perceyue / or in conscience done suspecte any suche parcial fauoure or prodigalite: that they by no meanes do receyue /

or vse that thynge so ministred / for drede of the infec¦tion and poyson of propriete / excepte that instante nede do require / or constreyne them to receyue & vse it. And than to thynke with determinate mynde: to shewe the souereyne / therof. For the religious {per}son may vse nothynge: without (as I sayd) licence of y^e souereyne. We done rede in vitas patrum / that a re¦ligious persone (by the permission of god) dyd ap∣pere (after his deth) vnto one of his company / she∣wynge that he was in merueylous great paynes / for bycause he gaue a payre of olde showes vnto a pore body without licence of the souereyne / and re∣quired instantly / that the same showes myght be re¦stored agayne vnto the wyll of the souereyne. Let no persone therfore thynke that thynge lytell to be regarded: that doth deserue intollerable payne. Leyue: is lyght (sayth the cōmune prouerbe) This degre of wylfull pouerte is cōmune / and generally kepte / or shulde be kepte of all religious persones. And yet many {per}sones of this degre: haue somtyme a fonde or folyshe appetite: to take / vse / and kepe (by suche licence of the souereyne lawfully obteyned) many and diuerse thynges that be nat necessary / or very nedefull / but that they store / and kepe thē for a chaunce of nede to folowe. And althoughe in case / y^t may be done without great offence: yet for a surete / it doth minisshe very moche the {per}fection of this ver¦tue. yet natwithstandynge: bycause I wolde nat be noted extreme / or to harde / nor yet rendre you per¦plexed / or scrupulous: I wyll somwhat shewe / and declare my pore mynde mynde: as vnto the reteyne and kepynge of suche thinges in store. For we haue in a reuelacion shewed by our lorde vnto our holy

mother saynt Brigette and is conteined in the rule of saynt sauioure / that omnia rationabiliter debent fieri, et vt occasio a prauis excludatur. That is: All thinges shulde be done in religion reasonably / and with discrecion. So euer that occasion shulde be a∣uoyded / from all thynges inordinate. Wherfore I dare nat vtterly condempne suche store / I meane: receyued / and reteyned / by the knowlege / and licēce of the souereyne. For so: in some thynges: it may be bothe necessarie / conuenient / and lawfull. Bycause that euery persone in the monasterie: is nat in lyke state of bodely helth and condicion. Exāple / If one {per}sone do vse oftymes to swete / an other to blede / w^t suche lyke chaūces: no mā wyll thynke vnreasona∣ble y^t suche {per}sones haue shyfte in store / bysyde them remaynynge. And like wyse of spices / pilles / & me∣dicines / for singuler greues. And saynt Augustyne also in the rule: doth fauoure moche the custome of educacion. These thynges if they be nat kepte in ouer moche aboundaunce or superfluite / nor with a couetous mynde of selfe prouision: I thynke: bene tollerable. And so lykewyse do I iuge of tokens / ymages / paynted papers / and suche other / althogh there be no necessite or nede. yet the affection and pleasure of suche trifles: maye be mere vanite and minishe perfection: But that any persone in re∣ligion: shulde kepe plate of golde or syluer / or any maner of money / or suche thynges / that be of suche valoure / that myght be accounted as ryches / or sub¦stance: wyl I neuer graūt: excepte the officers / and they onely (as is sayd) for the cōmune ministracion And lykewyse of the habite / aray / beddyng / & other

thynges reguler / all to be had: without notable su∣perfluite. Alas good religious {per}sones / what shuld that profytte you: if (by example) you had auoyded and fled from a Lion / or any other wilde rauenous beste / and so escaped daūger? And wolde afterward wylfully retourne agayne to playe / or company w^t the same beste / and so be deuoured? What (in like maner) doth it auayle / or vauntage you, to forsake / flee / and escape the worlde / and al the daūgers ther¦of: And thus by folysshe affectiō / fonde appetite / vn¦der the coloure of licence: to be noted / snared / lymed and more fast imprisoned in the worlde: than euer ye ware: or thā cōmunely ben any worldly {per}sones? For surely so bene religious persones: whan they done retourne vnto any sīne / more depely bene they drouned therin / and ferre more careles / & w^tout con∣science: than any other / and therfore doth folowe of iustice: they shall be moste depely dāpned in the pit of perdicion. For the loue of our lorde than / good re¦ligious persones: nat onely fle / & forsake this raum¦pynge Lion / this poysoned serpente propriete: but rather sle / and destroye it vtterly / that is / that ye la∣boure / inforce / and gyue laborious study / and dili∣gence: to clymbe vnto the moste hyghe poynt / & per¦fection of this promysed vertue / and vowe / wylfull pouerte. The perfecte poynt of pouerte is: To no∣ther receyue / or take / nor reteyne / kepe / or haue: any maner of thynge temporall / with licēce / or without licence: but that very & vnfeyned nede doth require accordyng vnto the state / degre / and condicion of y^e persones / and to gyue a study with diligence / to {per}∣ceyue what thynge they myght spare / forgo / & haue nat / and that thyng neuer to receyue / kepe / or haue /

ne yet wyshe / wyll / couet / or desyre / by any meanes to haue. But rather / with good wyll / and glad spi∣rite: to be content with lesse than is nedefull / and so to suffre some peyne for defaulte of that were neces∣sarie / althoughe it were redy at wyll and power to be had. For saint Augustine sayth in y^e rule:* 1.1 y^e better is somewhat to want or lacke: than any thynge to haue ouermoche. This degre of wylfull pouerte: is very perfecte / and yet in the same degre: ben ma∣ny degrees / as ben in mekenes / if ye wyll se the per∣fections of this degre of pouerte set forth in experi∣ence: loke in vitas patrum / in the seconde parte / in the boke or tytle that a religious {per}sone shulde haue nothynge in possession / whiche dothe immediately folowe: the boke / or tytle of fornicacion.* 1.2 And there shall ye fynde: that the moste harde or streyte point that I haue wryten: is very large and lyght / in cō∣parison vnto that thyng that they wroght fulfylled and {per}fourmed in dede. And yet were they nothyng bounde thervnto / by any vowe or promyse of {pro}fes∣sion as we bene / but all that they dyd: was of theyr owne liberte / and fre wyll / to perfourme theyr entre¦pryse. I do sende you vnto vitas Patrum both by∣cause of the auctorite / & also bycause it shulde haue ben accounted superfluous / & labour loste: to wryte here agayne / that is wryten there / specially sythe ye haue it in englysshe. Be nat I praye you therfore / lothe to tourne the boke. I haue shewed you the place / it is but very short / and yet (as they say) very swete and profytable. Rede it ones ouer / and if ye haue a loue and desyre vnto this holy vertue wyl∣full pouerte: and ful determinate mynde: to auoyd / fle / abhorre / and vtterly to sle the cōtrarie vice poy∣soned

propriete: ye shall (I dare say) rede it ouer a∣gayne with good wyll vndesired. Our lorde moue and styrre your mynde to folowe it / or at the leest to inforce and to attēpte: to attayne vnto the toppe of the hyll the moste hyghe poynt of this perfection. For thoughe you neuer come thervnto: your dili∣gence / and good wyll: shalbe well and liberally re∣warded. For our lorde is the moste bounteous / and liberall rewarder / and gyueth aboundaūtly: vnto all persones that done loue hym. Whiche loue and rewarde: he graūt vs / that bought vs / our lorde god / and moste swete sauiour Iesu / who preserue you. The olde wreche of Syon Richarde Whytforde.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Ca. 3, ī fine
• * 1.2

  Vitas pa.