"HÆREWITH the Dane hath learned the greater wisdom. Many gods there be, but though many names, the principles are but two—Good and Evil, Love and Hate. Therefore, when he slew the Saxons, he knew not that he followed Evil, but repenting long since, he hath embraced Love, which is Good, and his task is easy. Therefore is he of the brotherhood, working with a glad heart to expiate for ever the evil he once did, and therefore in constant labour there in the joy of Heaven.
"'Purgatorio' would some of the brethren say, but the Purgatorio is Paradise, if the intent be perfect and the suffering has no half-heartedness. For awhile there is joy in sins, but only till the day cometh. Run the race with a whole heart, not as the lukewarm ones. Happiness is in the extremes, but the only joy which lasts for ever and grows for ever is the joy of striving for the Good.
"Thus was it of the beneficial influence of Glastonbury."
"Hærewith the Dane hath spoken—once warrior, now striving ever for the good. Be not faint-hearted; strive your utmost—therein lies happiness. Labour, and even suffering, make Paradise, not Purgatorio. Thus have I spoken."
(Influence changes.)
"Up cometh Johannes, weake by reason of long syne. What wold ye? Ye have founden our Church, and ye holy places where my unworthy feet have trod, and the Hall where some did talk of Glaston and some did eat that they might be strong for God's ordinances. And ye have found ye lytell chapple where our most holy ones did lie. Enow, what think ye?
"Ye walle with the postern, and ye courtyard over against the graveyard and the antechamber cometh, and beyond hym the Grete Chambre wherein the folk did gather upon the feasts. Then cometh the grete Kitchen and over agaynst (hym) the well-chamber in the courtyard is ygone, but ye well is there, but yfilled. Certain rude men did go down hym to find ye Treasure, but found yt not, tho' they drew off the water nigh twenty cubits. Then cast they in the walls and filled him up because Johannes Parsons the cowherd fell in and was slayn, whereat they said, 'The spirit of our Abbot is abroad and hath ytaken vengeance.'
"Then ycometh the grete Kyng's Gate into ye inner courtyarde wherein were no trees but only a grete passage-way of paving.
"And he was high of roofe, nigh forty feet, yvaulted, and over hym a chamber, and ye door in ye side dydde leade to apartments for the laity. And soe to the Kitchen court, but ye almoner John Bryan dydde live over the grete gate and a porter did dwell at his call on ye south side. There too was a turret and a grete bell the which was ringed for the meals in the King's Chambre. But he is all gone long syne—heu mihi!"
"I dydde it not, God wot, not I! Why cling I to that which is not? It is I, and it is not I, butt parte of me which dwelleth in the past and is bound to that whych my carnal soul loved and called 'home' these many years. Yet I, Johannes, amm of many partes, and ye better parte doeth other things—Laus, Laus Deo!—only that part which remembreth clingeth like memory to what it seeth yet."
SITTING LIV. 17th August, 1912.
"Johannes now very far away: far, in that the force is weake: even soe may be within you and yet farre away, for the strength is as the distance; the one changeth as the other. Wee wold saye much, but the weakness here is strength gathered for other duties. All, he cannot do. What wold ye?... The stones written in his memory as he knew them? What are real, and what are in his dreme, he knows not[36].... It cease(th) ... and yet it remayneth in him ever the same. What wold he tell you?—cannot read your wishes."
"Digged ye—what dig ye for by the towre of the stairway to the lodgings of the laymen where of late they put those who were sick? From ye passage and stayre that leadeth from ye Cloyster to the old Kirkeyarde open to hym, and there was a doore in ye passage way and a staire four-square. Yt opened to the lay-housen. On the floor the lay-chamber for foregathering and above hym the dormitory and lytell chambere above, with doores from ye stayre to each and on ye south side a doore down to the Refectorium misericorde, and one into the gallery under ye window that looketh west, and the courtyarde of flagged stone and the Guesten Hall. So yt was. And the passage way of our Lord Abbot opened from ye wall to ye yarde from ye Abbot's covered walk yvaulted in stone."
SITTING LXI. 9th December, 1912.
In answer to a question:
"This have I told ye. I slept beneath the roof where lay those (who) were fleshy and weighty. So it was ordained that we should doe.
"Soe I remember those stayres for my fatness. But it availed me not, tho' my father Prior recommended it oft. Alas! I waxed more fat.
"Not that my belly was my god. I wot not! But I was cheery and troubled not, save for services in ecclesia, for better loved I the lanes and the woods where walked I much—with weariness because of my weight.
"So said I, 'It is the Lord's will. Somme be made fat, and somme be lean'; and this I said to they that jibed, that the gates of Heaven are made full wide for all sorts, so that none created should stick within the portall. This I said, for they vexed me with their quips.
"I would remind me of many things. Half do I remember—yet the lytell things only. The greate ones (stick) even as I myself stuck in the portal by reason of their trick, and Johannes, as once before, cannot rayse themme and lies beneath their weight. I wold explain but must gaine strength....
"I was ever soe: of a merry heart, when like to melte in tears. So was I made. It was not my fault. Light of thought, save the thoughts I could not speak; and the light jests comme again to me. Glad soule! Had I but turned my soul to the things that were greate, I should not be now a child among the toys. But I was never meant to be a monk. They placed me here in choro, when I would have drawn the sword...."
EXTRACT FROM SCRIPT OBTAINED 15TH SEPTEMBER, 1912.