10. Of the Fourth Kind of Evil Men

OF the fourth kind are perverse men, crafty and evilly cautious or wrongly clever, who strive to possess earth and merit heaven. To these men four things act as an impediment whereby they may not gain the grace of God. The first is duplicity of intention with which they desire to serve God and the world at the same time ; for they may fast, and keep festal days, visit churches, be present at holy convocations, and seem to keep God's commandments in many ways ; and in their own judgment they do enough for God. Moreover these also are unrighteous in two ways, and so in another way they are disturbed with many cares within, and keenly and subtilly think upon and examine into many things with themselves ; but outwardly they spend much work and labour, and rely upon various methods to heap up earthly riches and poweYs. And in this way they struggle to possess heaven equally with earth, and time with eternity.

Under such signs every kind of man fights, ecclesiastics equally with seculars. Monks also desire to be considered holy religious, and meanwhile none the less to have and to heap together whatever they please of their own, or of property. Canons and secular priests wish to hold at the same time two or three ecclesiastical benefices ; perhaps even they give attention to business, and gain for themselves as great returns as they can. Laymen and plebeians anft mechanics, and in the same way women, whom they term Beguts or Beguines, in whatever state they are living, if they strive and struggle for temporal goods, beyond that which necessity demands, together with God, are double-minded, and unlike God and unworthy of divine grace.

The second impediment is niggardliness or miserliness ; for in many things they serve God, but in sympathy to their neighbours, in deeds of charity and benevolence, or of pity and generosity, they do not serve Him.

They always seem to suffer that defect in themselves, nor can they be parted from their own effects, so as to disperse them amongst the poor; yet their own conscience accuses them with regard to all sins and vices, with the exception of niggardliness and miserliness. For their conscience is formed not upon justice, but their own individual will, nor are they touched or moved with divine love. The third is natural knowledge or acuteness, or subtilty, whereby they see in prospect their own gain or loss, and provide beforehand ; and with whomsoever they have business dealings, whether wealthy or poor, they always seek their own profit, and that openly as in private. Because of this excessive niggardliness and avariciousness they are hated and disliked by everyone. And because they flourish by their natural foresight, when they suspect that death is at their gate, they freely give their possessions that they may purchase eternal beatitude ; for if they knew they were going to live they would never bestow any benefit on others. The fourth is a certain stony hardness of heart : for whatever speeches they hear, whatever good is told them and however great good examples may appear, whether they are chastised with some ill health or other from God, or loss of temporal posses sions, they ever persevere" in their inveterate, evil habit. These men indeed are astutely or wickedly prudent, since they deserve little or nothing of divine gifts. But if they desire to be rendered worthy of divirte charity, in order that they may behold God with their whole heart, they must despise for the love of God all earthly things beyond those which are necessary for sustaining life, and must share and divide with the poor what pos sessions they have, and seek diligently and seriously the Kingdom of God, and finally they must order and appoint their whole life with true charity and discretion ; and thus also they will be able to obtain grace for the present, and eternal life in the future.