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My learned and valuable friend, the reverend
Mr. Crofts, gives this verbal translation:
Behold here fairly pictur'd the life of a true
monk,
How absolutely he is crucified to the flesh and
to the world.
The cross expressively typifies mortification,
The lamps truly represent the splendor of the
virtues.
The shutting of the eyes, that he is not to
regard at all,
The vain and unstable objects of this false
world.
The silence of the mouth, that he should not
speak unreasonably.,
The contumelious and filthy language of the
present age.
The nails in the feet ,that he must not at all
walk,
In the broad path, nor indulge in intemperate
delicacies,
But, with charity, silence, and purity of life,
Shine visibly to the world beyond the sun's luster,
And wage perpetual war with the deceitful
world,
The lusts of the flesh, and the malicious
devil:
For the Lord of the universe, with his angels,
In near him for his assistance,
And holds in his hands a crown and a diadem,
That, if he prove victorious over the lusts of
the flesh and the world,
He may, according to his merits, crown his
brow,
And admit him into the kingdom of heaven.
1742, July.
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