Thomas à Kempis : his age and book . t homo omnibus relictis se relinquat eta se totaliter exeat, nihilque de privato further we tread the thorny way the harderit becomes. To rise grows harder and harder, forthe standard of abnegation rises too : et quantoaltius quis in spiritu profecerit, tanto graviorescruces sem^per inveniet; quia exilii sui poena magisex amore crescit (ii. 12). From these transcendentalregions of Christian mysticism described in the famouschapter De Regia Via Sanctae Crucis—a chapterthat brings into focus the whole mysticism of theearly Middle Ages—the
Thomas à Kempis : his age and book . t homo omnibus relictis se relinquat eta se totaliter exeat, nihilque de privato further we tread the thorny way the harderit becomes. To rise grows harder and harder, forthe standard of abnegation rises too : et quantoaltius quis in spiritu profecerit, tanto graviorescruces sem^per inveniet; quia exilii sui poena magisex amore crescit (ii. 12). From these transcendentalregions of Christian mysticism described in the famouschapter De Regia Via Sanctae Crucis—a chapterthat brings into focus the whole mysticism of theearly Middle Ages—the great critic turns, with aninstinctive grasp of the frailties of human nature, toexpose the dangers that so often threaten those whoattempt to tread the path of mystic religiousrevivalism, and thereby become, in the sinistereighteenth-century meaning of the phrase, sets forth the warning that a Kempis takes fromEcclesiasticus, Beware of reaction and the desiresof the flesh : post concupiscentias tuas ne eas et a f. WOODCUT FRO-M THE PARIS PLDITIOX OF THE TREATISE DE ISSUED I\ 1498. THE CONTENT OF THE IMITATION 289 vohintate tua avertere (iii. cap 12). Return to thealiquid certi, to the definite purpose with which youset out: Forte servap^^opositum et intentione^n rectamad Deum (iii. 6). The inward consciousness ofdoing right, Arnold seems to feel with Martineau,is the ultimate test of earthly and spiritual effort:suaviter requiesces si cor hiU7n te non reprehenderet(ii. 6). He adds : Possess a good conscience andever joyful shalt thou be (ii. 6). Truth dwellswithin us, and from Truth we can draw perfect con-solation : Beatum et verum solatium, quod intus averitate percipitur (iii. 16). The internal Will mustcome into accord with the external Will : Thy willmay it be mine and may mine follow Thine alwaysas in perfect harmony (iii. 15). This doctrine ofthe Inner Will and the Inner Fountain of Truth isalmost exactly that developed along o
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