SECT. II.--SECOND DEGREE OF THE SPOLIATION OF THE SOUL 164 SECT. III.--THIRD DEGREE OF SPOLIATION 169 SECT. IV.--ENTRANCE INTO MYSTICAL DEATH 179 VIII. THIRD DEGREE OF THE PASSIVE WAY OF FAITH, IN ITS CONSUMMATION 185 IX. FOURTH DEGREE OF THE PASSIVE WAY OF FAITH, WHICH IS THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE DIVINE LIFE 193 _PART II._ I. MORE PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESURRECTION LIFE 211 II. STABILITY, EXPERIENCE, ELEVATION, AND EXTREME PURITY OF THE ABANDONED SOUL 221 III. PERFECT UNION OR DEIFORMITY 231 IV. ACTIONS AND SUFFERINGS OF THOSE IN A STATE OF UNION WITH GOD 240 _A SHORT METHOD OF PRAYER._ "Walk before me, and be thou perfect."--Gen. xvii. 1. _AUTHOR'S PREFACE._ I did not write this little work with the thought of its being given to the public. It was prepared for the help of a few Christians who were desirous of loving God with the whole heart. But so many have requested copies of it, because of the benefit they have derived from its perusal, that I have been asked to publish it. I have left it in its natural simplicity. I do not condemn the opinions of any: on the contrary, I esteem those which are held by others, and submit all that I have written to the censure of persons of experience and learning. I only ask of all that they will not be content with examining the outside, but that they will penetrate the design of the writer, which is only to lead others to LOVE GOD, and to serve Him with greater happiness and success, by enabling them to do it in a simple and easy way, fit for the little ones who are not capable of extraordinary things, but who truly desire to _give themselves to God_. I ask all who may read it, to read without prejudice; and they will discover, under common expressions, a hidden unction, which will lead them to seek for a happiness which all ought to expect to possess. I use the word _facility_, saying that perfection is easy, because it is easy to find God, _when we seek Him within ourselves_. The passage may be quoted which says, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me" (John vii. 34). Yet this need not occasion any difficulty; because the same God, who cannot contradict Himself, has said, "He that seeketh findeth" (Matt. vii. 8). _He who seeks God, and who yet is unwilling to forsake sin, will not find Him, because he is seeking Him where He cannot be found_; therefore it is added, "Ye shall die in your sins." _But he who sincerely desires to forsake sin, that he may draw near to God, will find Him infallibly_.