§ 56. Now comth wanhope, that is despeir of the mercy of god, that comth
somtyme of to muche outrageous sorwe, and somtyme of to muche drede;
imagininge that he hath doon so muche sinne, that it wol nat availlen him,
though he wolde repenten him and forsake sinne: / thurgh which despeir or
drede he abaundoneth al his herte to every maner sinne, as seith seint
Augustin. / Which dampnable sinne, if that it continue un-to his ende, it
is cleped sinning in the holy gost. /695 This horrible sinne is so
perilous, that he that is despeired, ther nis no felonye ne no sinne that
he douteth for to do; as shewed wel by Iudas. / Certes, aboven alle sinnes
thanne is this sinne most displesant to Crist, and most adversarie. /
Soothly, he that despeireth him is lyk the coward champioun recreant, that
seith creant withoute nede. Allas! allas! nedeles is he recreant and
nedeles despeired. / Certes, the mercy of god is evere redy to every
penitent, and is aboven alle hise werkes. / Allas! can nat a man bithinke
him on the gospel of seint Luk, 15., where-as Crist seith that ‘as wel shal
ther be Ioye in hevene upon a sinful man that doth penitence, as up-on
nynety and nyne rightful men that neden no penitence?’ /700 Loke forther,
in the same gospel, the Ioye and the feste of the gode man that hadde lost
his sone, whan his sone with repentaunce was retourned to his fader. / Can
they nat remembren hem eek, that, as seith seint Luk _xxiii_º _capitulo_,
how that the theef that was hanged [615] bisyde Iesu Crist, seyde: ‘Lord,
remembre of me, whan thou comest in-to thy regne?’ / ‘For sothe,’ seyde
Crist, ‘I seye to thee, to-day shaltow been with me in Paradys.’ / Certes,
ther is noon so horrible sinne of man, that it ne may, in his lyf, be
destroyed by penitence, thurgh vertu of the passion and of the deeth of
Crist. / Allas! what nedeth man thanne to been despeired, sith that his
mercy so redy is and large? Axe and have. /705 Thanne cometh Sompnolence,
that is, sluggy slombringe, which maketh a man be hevy and dul, in body and
in soule; and this sinne comth of Slouthe. / And certes, the tyme that, by
wey of resoun, men sholde nat slepe, that is by the morwe; but-if ther were
cause resonable. / For soothly, the morwe-tyde is most covenable, a man to
seye his preyeres, and for to thinken on god, and for to honoure god, and
to yeven almesse to the povre, that first cometh in the name of Crist. /
Lo! what seith Salomon: ‘who-so wolde by the morwe awaken and seke me, he
shal finde.’ / Thanne cometh Necligence, or recchelesnesse, that rekketh of
no-thing. And how that ignoraunce be moder of alle harm, certes, Necligence
is the norice. /710 Necligence ne doth no fors, whan he shal doon a thing,
whether he do it weel or baddely. /
696. E. sheweth. 698. E. _om._ that seith ... recreant. Hl.
recreaunt (_for_ creant). 700. E. a man nat; Pt. a man not. Hl. as
vp-on; _rest_ than vp-on. Hl. Selden, nynety and nyne; _rest_ 90 and
19(!). 702. _All but_ Seld. Ln. _om._ capitulo. Seld. Pt. Ln. on
me. 706. E. Seld. sloggy; Ln. slogge. 707. E. _om._ the morwe.
711. E. wheither.
§ 57. Of the remedie of thise two sinnes, as seith the wyse man, that ‘he
that dredeth god, he spareth nat to doon that him oghte doon.’ / And he
that loveth god, he wol doon diligence to plese god by his werkes, and
abaundone him-self, with al his might, wel for to doon. / Thanne comth
ydelnesse, that is the yate of alle harmes. An ydel man is lyk to a place
that hath no walles; the develes may entre on every syde and sheten at him
at discovert, by temptacion on every syde. / This ydelnesse is the thurrok
of alle wikked and vileyns thoghtes, and of alle Iangles, trufles, and of
alle ordure. /715 Certes, the hevene is yeven to hem that wol labouren, and
nat to ydel folk. Eek David seith: that ‘they ne been nat in the labour of
men, ne they shul nat been whipped with men,’ that is to seyn, in
purgatorie. / Certes, thanne semeth it, they shul be tormented with the
devel in helle, but-if they doon penitence. /