are as in the ear, which flowers well in goodness and by it is profitable to God or to the world; and the envious rebels in order to confound and to destroy those by his might. The others are perfect and in great state, and do much good to God and to the world. Their good fame to abate and their goodness to depreciate the envious prepares all his devices. For the greater that the goodness is, the more the envious sorrows. This sin is so perilous, that one can scarcely come to right repentance, because it (she) is contrary to the Holy Ghost, who is the well of all good. And God says in His Gospel, that whoever sins against the Holy Ghost (he) shall never have mercy in this world nor in the other, for he sins of his own wickedness, and one must in that wholly understand (it so). For there is no sin so great that God does not forgive in this world, if man repents and prays for mercy for the sin, that wars by its might against the grace of the Holy Ghost, in that it wars against other men’s spiritual good, as the Jews opposed Jesu Christ for the good things that He did. THE SINS AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST. And thou shalt know that there are six sins that are specially against the Holy Ghost; to wit, overweening, which makes the mercy of our Lord spread too much, and praises His righteousness little, and therefore many people sin in hope. The second is despair, which robs God of His mercy, as overweening (does) of His righteousness. The third is withstanding, that is, hardness of heart, when man is hardened in his wickedness, so that one cannot turn him, and he will not amend. The fourth is contempt of penance; that is, when man ordains in his heart that he shall not repent of his sin. The fifth is to oppose the grace of the Holy Ghost in others. The sixth is to oppose truth wittingly, and especially the truth of the Christian belief. All these sins are against the goodness of the Holy Ghost, and are so great that (they) hardly come to right repentance, and therefore hardly are they forgiven. THE THIRD HEAD OF THE EVIL BEAST.