CHAPTER XIV
SAINT BERNARD
loquacious, because he is on more familiar ground.
If you hear the torrent of his conceit you may say that his mouth is a fount of such buffoonery as to move even strict and sober monks to ligKt laughter.
To put it shortly, mark his swagger in his chatter.
In this you have the name and description of the fourth degree of pride.
Remember the description and avoid the reality.
With this warning, go on to the fifth degree which I call eccentricity.
CHAPTER XIV
The fifth degree Eccentricity.
(The opposite of the eighth degree of humility, observance of the general rule of the monastery.) A man who prides himself on being better than his fellow-men thinks it a disgrace if he does not do something more than they do, whereby his superiority may be apparent.
Therefore the general rule of the monastery and the example of its senior members are not enough for him.
Yet Hs anxiety is not to be, but to be seen to be better than they.
His effort is not to lead a better life but visibly to surpass others, so that he may be able to say, I am not as the rest of men.
He' takes more credit to himself for having once gone without a meal while others were having theirs, than he does in having shared in a fast of seven
1 Luke xviii. 11.
DEGREES OF PRIDE
days.
One little private prayer of his own seems to him more commendable than the recitation of all the Psalms set for an entire night.
At mealtime he has a habit of casting his eyes all round the tables, and if he sees anyone eating less than himself, he is annoyed at being outdone.
He begins severely to cut down the amount of food which he had hitherto recognized as his necessary ration, because he is more afraid of loss of credit than of the pangs of hunger.
If he catches sight of anyone more shrunken and sallow than himself, he cannot rest under what he considers to be a disgrace.
And, since he cannot see his own face and the aspect under which he presents himself to onlookers, he examines his hands and arms which he can see, beats his breast, taps his shoulders and loins, and from the more or less attenuated condition of his limbs forms an opinion as to the paleness or colour of his face.
But while active in all his private devotions, he is indolent in public worship.
He keeps vigil while in bed, and goes to sleep in his stall.
He sleeps all night while others are chanting the early Psalms.
When the vigil is over, and the other monks are resting in the cloister, he alone lingers in the oratory.
He coughs and spits, and the ears of those sitting outside are filled with the sighs and groans from his corner.
By his silly and singular action he has established a high reputation with his more simple brethren, who quite approve what they, see of his
SAINT BERNARD
doings, though they do not detect their motive, and, by the commendation which they bestow on him, they aid and abet the wretched man's mistake.
CHAPTER XV
Sixth degree Conceit.
(The opposite of the seventh degree of humility belief and acknowledgment of one's inferiority to others.) He believes what he hears, praises his own 1 and pays no attention to the motive.
He welcomes a favourable opinion and forgets its action, purpose.
And he who in everything else puts more trust in himself than in other men, attaches more weight to the opinions of others about him than to his own.
So not only does he think that he exhibits superior religion on account of his verbal profession or special display of piety, but in his inmost heart he considers himself more holy than any one else.
And if he knows that he is praised for anything, he ascribes it, not to the ignorance or the kindliness of the person who commends him, but, with much conceit, to his own deserts.
So after eccentricity, conceit "Has made good its claim to be the sixth degree.
After it, audacity shows itself and in it the seventh degree consists.
1 It seems clear that the monk here referred to is the same as the one described in the preceding chapter.
St. Bernard's object was not merely to furnish a series of character sketches, but to show the ease with which the individual may descend.
DEGREES OF PRIDE
CHAPTER XVI
Seventh degree Audacity.
(The opposite of the sixth degree of humility acknowledgment of oneself as unworthy and useless.) For i a man thinks himself superior to others, is it likely that he will not push himself in front of them?
He is the first to take his seat at meetings, the first to intervene in debate.
He comes forward without invitation, and with no introduction but his own ; he re-orjens questions that have been settled, and goes again over work that has been done.
He considers that nothing that he has not himself designed and carried out, has been properly organized or satisfactorily executed.
He criticises those who sit in judgment, and tells them what their decisions should be.
If, when the time comes for the appointment of a Prior, he is not promoted to the office, he is certain that his Abbot is either jealous or mistaken.
But if some less important duty is assigned to him, he is displeased and contemptuous, for, as he feels himself qualified for greater work, he thinks that he ought not to be employed in smaller matters.
But it is inconceivable that a man who, with more rashness than readiness, is very anxious to undertake all sorts of work, should not sometimes make mistakes.
And it is the duty of the Abbot to reprove such an one for his error.
But how will he confess his fault, if he neitHer thinks himself, nor will allow others to triink him, worthy^