which underlies the manifestation of the Trinity. In fact, when he speaks of the imitation of Christ, he distinguishes between "the way of the manhood," which has to be followed by all, and "the way of
the Godhead," which is for the mystic
only. In this overbold aspiration to rise "from
the Three to the One," he falls into the error which

we have already noticed, and several passages in his writings
advocate the quietistic

self-simplification which belongs to this scheme of perfection. There are sentences in which he exhorts

us to strip off all that comes to us from the senses, and to throw ourselves upon the heart of God, there to rest for ever, "hidden from all creatures[251]." But there are many other

passages of an opposite tendency. He tells us that "the way of the manhood," which, of course, includes imitation
of the active life of Christ, must be trodden first by all; he insists that in the state of union the faculties of the soul will act in a new and higher way, so that the personality is restored, not destroyed; and, lastly, he teaches that contemplation is only the means to a higher activity, and that this is, in fact, its object; "what a man has taken in by contemplation,
that he pours out in love." There is no contradiction in the desire for rest combined with
the desire for active service; for rest can o