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NOwe may cōueniētly folowe of ye deuision & diuersites of obidēce / that is say howe many maners ben of obediēce. For one obedience caled an obediēce of pleasure or {pro}fyt / an other is obediēce of
necessite or nede / yt .iii. an obediēce of fere & drede / yt .iiii. [unspec 1] of liberall loue. The fyrste obedience is of pleasure or profyte. And this bothe vnto man / and best is na∣tural / as by example / a dogge that is chastized / and by crafte made obedient vnto his mayster to go or byde at his wyll / whan he byddeth hym go or renue to take a beaste / as an Hare / a Cony / or a dyre / he is than sone and redely obediēt there vnto / partely of natural disposicion for his pleasure and partely for profytte / bycause cōmunely he is fed with parte of that he taketh. And certeynly of this obedience ben many religious persones that lyghtely wyll be re∣dy and obedient in all thynges that ben vnto theyr owne pleasure or {pro}fyte / wherof we shal speake here [unspec 2] after. An other obedience is for nede / as the dogge dothe daunce for meate / and the syke persone is obe¦diente [unspec 3] vnto the phisiciō for very nede / & so be many vnto labour. The thyrde obedience: is for drede of peyne or punisshement / as whan ye mayster dothe compell the dogge to daunce vpon two / fete / or to swymme in the water: to fetche his bolte or shafte / for that thynge dothe he agayne kynde by compul∣sion / and agayne his naturall disposicion / and wyl onely for drede and fere of peyne. All these .iii. ma∣ners of obedience ben often tymes in religious per∣sones wtout any great thanke and with lytel merite yet saye nat I without any thanke or any merite. For (without doute) thanke there is & merite both. For the dogge we spake of: that dothe his maysters byddynge / for his owne pleasure / or by compulsion yet bycause he is obediēt vnto ye wyl of his maister / he dothe bothe cheryshe hym and also gyue hym re∣warde. So is it of ye obediēce of religious {per}sones /
done for pleasure / profyte / nede / or drede / yet if it be done but onely for the bonde and duety of the vowe and promyse made byfore in profession: that obedi∣ence shall nat be without meryte and rewarde / by∣cause the bonde there vnto was wylfully made for the loue of god and his lawes / and so is it of any o∣bediēce done by any christiane for ye duety & bonde of his baptysme. For though a christiane wolde ful¦fyl the obedience of ye lawes of god and his churche onely for the fere and drede of dampnacion & of the peynes due there vnto: & so shulde haue no meryte therfore / yet is it nat that obedience without {pro}fyte. For (at the least) the persone shulde haue the lesse peyne / and if that fere of dampnacion: were rather for the losse of the fauoure of god / and of his {pre}sence than for the peynes of hell: the continuaūce than of that obedience shulde obteyne grace / so that ye fere and drede shulde tourne vnto loue. So (at ye least) that the persones shulde wyl and wysshe they kepte that obedience onely for the loue of god / whiche se∣methe vnto theyr myndes: they done kepe onely for drede. And I dare well say: that wyll shall nat be wt out rewarde of grace / specially if it be caled fore & insued. It is therfore a good surety for euery {per}sone to kepe duely obediēce / whether it be kepte ryghtly & wylfully for loue / or caytyuely byforce / for drede.