portrait of James II JACOBUS SECUNDUS Dei Gratia. Angl. Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex Fidei Defensor etc. HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE Printed at Oxford for Thomas Guy and sold by him at the THE Second Nativity OF JESUS, The Accomplishment of the First: (VIZ.) The Conversion of the Soul Framed by the Model of the WORD-INCARNATE. My little Children of whom I travail in Birth again until Christ be Formed in You. Gal. 4.19 Written in French by a Learned Capucine. Translated into English, Augmented & Divided into 6 Parts BY JOHN WELDON of Raffin, P. P. C. ANTWERP, Printed by T. N. for the Author, 1686. To the High and Mighty PRINCE JAMES II. By the Grace of GOD, of ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, FRANCE and IRELAND, KING. Defender of the FAITH, etc. SIR, IF I were minded to Imitate the Ancient Writers, who (to be sure of a free passage for the Works they were to present to the public View of the World,) would Consecrate them to some special Divinity; To the end, that bearing the Name and Marks of that supreme power, they might be out of the reach of all Censures: If I were willing to follow the steps of our Modern Authors, who dare not expose to light the verities of Salvation, if they be not seated near some Throne, whose dreadful Authority might frighten such as would presume to prosecute with Invectives, those that do openly Preach the Word of the Cross; I should be in a safe Harbour, and sufficiently sheltered, both from the one and the other. Having adorned the Front of this little Work, with the marks of Your Grandeur: For though You are no Divinity, You do partake in a high degree the Sacred Lineaments of one. The Antiquity as well as the Nobility of Your Illustrious Family, which has Enriched all Histories with the Renowned Feats of Your Ancestors, (the Rank wherein Your Birth, and Divine Providence has placed You to be the Best of Kings, a Model of Piety for all Princes, the Virtuous and Warlike Caesar of the most Flourishing Kingdoms of the World) are to Me a sufficient Argument of Your Participated Divinity: Who then shall be able to violate the Rights of Your Protection? Or where could I with more assurance withdraw to shelter myself from the Enemies of Innocency, than under the shadow of so Great a Monarch, at whose Feet we have seen all the Venomous Darts of Envy, Ill-wishes and Malice, that Your Private and Public Enemies could let fly at You, drop down, to their own Confusion, and the greater Lustre of Your Glory: So that the World may learn hereafter, (by the tender Care which the Heavens have, and always had of Your Sacred Person) how vain it is to strive against Him, whom the Powerful Hand of God does Protect. There is nothing of a Prodigy that appears to our Eyes, but hath its Effects soon or late, good or evil: The Prodigies which appeared in the Skies over the City of Jerusalem, were the forerunners of the general Destruction of that unfortunate place: The Blazing-Star which appeared to the three Western Kings, brought the Happy News of a Newborn Saviour to those poor Pagans who lived in the Darkness of Idolatry for so many years: And this which appeared of late days, did (as we may reasonably conclude) Prognosticate the Gracious and Happy end of Charles II. Your dearly beloved Brother, as also Your Lawful and Peaceable Possession of the Crown, a main Blessing which the Heavens were pleased to confer on You for all Your Sufferings, both at Home and Abroad with that unspeakable Patience, and full Resignation to God's Decrees. Now Your Subjects may rejoice to see themselves Governed by a King whom God has Adorned with all necessary Prerogatives to complete a Monarch: The Queen of Sheba (if now living) might set forth with all her Attendance, and Accompany the rest of the Princes and Potentates of the World, to Congratulate Your Coronation, and admire the Virtuous and Prudent Oeconomy of Your Court and Government. These should be sufficient Motives to bring this little Work before Your Throne, with all Humility to beg the Favour of Your Gracious Countenance; But that Two other Powerful Considerations lays (by Duty) that Obligation on me to crave it: The one, is, The general Resentment which I shall harbour in my Heart for ever, (with all them of my Profession,) of the Good Will which You have; and always had from Your Infancy for our Irish Nation, whose Foreign or Domestic Enemies could never bring You to an undervaluing of their Service, no more than their venomous Reflections to the least mistrust of their True and constant Affection. Wherefore as nature does Print in the very Substance of every particular a special feeling of what ever Favour is done to the whole Body, I think it a Duty incumbent on me, as being a Member of that Your Loyal and always Well-affected Nation, to resent and acknowledge Your Kindness, and all Your Good Wishes for them, by offering up my most Humble and Earnest Addresses to the Almighty for Your long Life, and Happy Reign. The other, is the special Kindness I received at Your Hands in France by the Mediation of Major Francis Pluncket, and Captain Michael Brett, both Your Majesty's Loyal Subjects, and Wellbeloved Officers; whose Love and Care of Me was so great, as being their near Relation; that they procured me a Letter of Recommendation from Your Majesty, which proved so Efficatious, as to get Me into a College upon Sight, and without any further delay: All the Thunderbolts of Heaven would be too too little to be poured down upon me for a just Revenge, if I should not make a large Acknowledgement of those Extraordinary Favours. The offer I make You of these first Fruits of my Studies, may pass (I hope) for a sincere Act of my Acknowledgement; not that I think myself acquitted of my Debt, (for I do esteem myself most Happy to live in the Impossibilities of doing it;) But only to call the Public as Witnesses of my Endeavours; to the end, that my Will (acknowledging the Power which is wanting in Me,) may be freed from all blame on this Subject, wherein I shall never suffer myself to be made Criminal. Accept then most Gracious Prince of this Work, which I thought to be the more conformable to Your Inclinations, since You have always endeavoured to maintain the Glory of God against all the sinful practices of the corrupt Age we live in. Moreover, being that the Conversion of Souls, (the Hereditary Employment of all Godly Princes) holds the first rank amongst the Honourable Spoils of our Saviour's Victories. This first Part, (which discovers the wonderful beginning and Progress thereof;) will supply (on one side) the Insufficiency of the Author in the Merit of his Subject; And on the other, will be able to invite Your Majesty to spare some Moment's from the crowd of other Important Affairs, to consider the Connection of it. 'Tis in that belief, that, (joining my particular wishes to the common Vows of all Your Wellbeloved Subjects of Ireland) I beg the Divine Majesty, to Bless, Protect and Preserve many years Your Sacred Person, Your Gracious Consort Queen Mary, the Happy Offspring of that most Virtuous and Ancient Family of Modena; together with all your Royal Progeny, to which, I Pray God grant a further Increase, that the Name of STVART may Rule over the Lions, Regulate the Leopards, receive the Fragrant Scent of the Lilies, and keep the Harp in a Pleasant Tune to the World's end: These are the Hearty Wishes of Your Majesty's Most Obedient, Most Constant and ever Faithful Subject. JONH WELDON P. P. C. The Division of the Work. THe two first Parts will make appear the Inventions, Motives, Amorous persuasions, that God makes use of to draw from us the Consent requisite to receive the Grace of the Holy-Ghost, which shall be as the Annunciation of the Angel Ambassador of the Incarnation of the Word. The two Second, will make appear the Actual Conception of Grace in a Heart; after (that overcome by the persuasions of God,) he shall give his Consent to the execution of this Mystery; Even as, that after the Ecce of the Virgin, the Word was made Flesh in her Womb. The two third, will make appear the means of conserving that Grace infused, as well by the expulsion of Vices, as by the Establishment of Virtues; which in their mutual assemblage, are to conduct us to the point of that final Grace of perseverance, for to end in the consumatum est of the Cross. Advice to the Reader. Dear Reader, I Will give you at present, but the First Part, not Ordered in the Eminency of a well polished Discourse; persuading myself that the Excellency of the Subject will make you delight enough in the Reading of it. 'Tis therefore I reserve myself to give you the five other Parts, when I shall receive your Charitable advice on the First; To the end, that by its Order, I may add, diminish, or correct what may be wanting in the rest. The most Reverend Father General's Licence. NOs Frater Antonius a Mutina totius Ordinis Capucinorum licet immeritus Minister Generalis: Venerabili P. Leoni Venetensi Concionatori Capucino Provinciae Britanniae Licentiam Impartimur Imprimendi primam partem Libri, cui Titulus est, The second Nativity of Jesus. Servatis quae de jure servari debent, in quorum fidem praesentes dedimus manu nostra firmatas, & sigillo nostri Officii munitas. Dat. Roblani die ult. Decemb. 1635. Frater Antonius a Mutina Minister Generalis. Locus Sigilli. The Reverend Father Provincial of Britany's Licence. EGo infra Scriptus, Provinciae Brittannicae F. F. Capucinorum Provincialis, licet immeritus. Visa Licentia admodum R. P. Generalis, quâ permittitur U. P. Venetensi Sacerdoti, & Praedicatori ejusdem ordinis & Provinciae typis mandare Libellum, cui Titulus est, The second Nativity of Jesus, Inhaerendo supra dictae Licentiae consentio quantum in me est, ut executioni mandetur, servatis in super omnibus aliis de jure servandis. Datum in nostro Conventu Cenomanensi die 9 Martii 1637. F. Severinus Provincialis. The Approbation of Doctors. STephen Lovytre, Priest, Doctor in Divinity, of the faculty of Paris, Dean of Nants, and Vicar General to the most Illustrious Lord Bishop of the said City, do certify, to have read a Book Entitled, The Second Nativity of JESUS. Composed by Father Lion of Vennes, Preacher, Capucin, and to have found nothing therein, but what is most conformable to the Faith and Authority of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church. To have observed, that the principal Articles of Christian Religion are therein highly and worthily expounded, drawing sweetly and strongly to a solid Piety: As also a handsome and true description of Hierarchick Prelates, couched in very good terms: That as many Chapters as are in the first part, are so many pieces of Tapestry of a high value, carried on in a most Rich Texture and Grateful Variety, having enough of a resemblance to the Happy Labour of an Ancient Father of the Church. Per mixtum nobis instar prati variata est stromatum descriptio: Nostra autem cognitio & hortus Spiritualis, est ipse noster servator, in quem implantamur, transpositi & transformati in terram bonam ex vita veteri. At Nantes this 13th. of Octob. 1636 Lovytre. JOhn English, Priest, Doctor in Divinity of the Faculty of Paris, and Rector of the Holy Cross in Nantes. After having perused the Book Entitled. The Second Nativity of Jesus. I find myself obliged to praise both the Author and his Work, which contains a Doctrine most Catholic, and of singular Piety, exciteing his Reader to conceive in the bottom of his Soul the Christian Life, and to conspire with the Grace of Jesus Christ into the Designs of his own Salvation: 'Tis therefore that I have found it most worthy to be given to the Public. John English. At Nantes the 25th. of Novemb. 1636. NOs infra scripti Praedicatores Theologi ordinis Fratrum Minorum Sancti Francisci Capucinorum de mandato admodum Reverendi Patris Antonii a Mutina totius ordinis nostri Praepositi Generalis vidimus & qua potuimus attentione legimus primam partem Libri cui Titulus est, The second Nativity of Jesus, Ab admodum venerabili Patre Leone Venetensi ejusdem ordinis Concionatore compositum, nihilque in ea Orthodoxae Fidei contrarium, nihil a veritate alienum, nihil bonis moribus dissonum, imo potius omnia legentium, utilitati accomodata invenimus: Ideoque dignam quae & praelo mandetur & omnium manibus terratur, judicavimus. Datum in Conventu nostro Turonensi die vigesima mensis Septembris, anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo trigesimo quinto. Frater Michael Angelus Burdegalensis. Frater Michael Nivernensis Sacrae Theologiae Lector. EGo Frater Theophilus Venetensis ordinis Fratrum Minorum Capucinorum Provinciae Britanniae Sacerdos non pridem in Sacra Theologiaea Lector, legi attentius hanc primam partem operis ab admodum Venerabili Patre Leone Concionatore Capucino compositam, cui Titulus est, The second Nativity of Jesus, Accomplishment of the First, etc. In qua nihil a bonis moribus, nihil a veritate Christiana devium inveni: Sed cuncta Orthodoxae Fidei, cuncta Catholicae, Apostolicae Romanaeque Ecclesiae consona quippe quae omnibus Christianam vitam profitentibus eximiae pietatis instituta, Theologiaeque secretioris Mysteria luculenter apperiat. Qua propter, Typis Praeloque dignam censeo partem hanc primam operis; interim dum reliquis partibus absolutum prodeat. Dat. Lut. Parisiorum in Conventu Assumptionis die 4 Maii Anno salutis. 1637. Frater Theophilus qui supra. Ad Lectorem. De lacero Samson rapuit sibi mella Leone: Mella sed en vivus ructat ab ore Leo. Non tua nascentem lactarunt, hybla Leonem, Ubera? sed lambit de cruce mella Leo. A. F. Anagrammatismus. Leo Venetensis ELIAe onus tenes. Thesbitem igni vomo tolli super aëa curru Vidit Elizaeus, nescit at ipse sequi. Currus addest, sequere, & mitis blandire Leoni, Ecce TENES ELIAe, dum Leo sistit, ONUS A. F. Anagrammatismus, En sine velis eo, Anapaesticon. Tu quisquis vela daturus aquis Per medias Syrteses: rapidisque Mare vorticibus sulcare cupis, Sequere impavidi plaustra Leonis? Curvare scit Imperio Syrteses Fluctusque vagos, talia fatus, EN EO SINE VELIS Impavidus. A. F. THE PREFACE, AND Overture of the Design. WHen God gave Commission to his Prophet to Announce unto King Ezechias the hour of his Death: 4 Reg. c. 20. v. 1, 2, 3. & seqq. Talis erat infirmitas Ezechiae via naturali, quâ mortem non poterat evadere: vertit se tamen ad orandum pro fanatione, quod non fecisset si Propheta sibi mortem denunciasset secundum ordinem voluntatis divinae. Lyranus in hunc locum. Doubtless it was sad news to a Young Prince, who was not as yet but beginning to taste of the Pleasures of Life: As soon as he had heard it, he turns his Face to the Wall, and lances towards Heaven most earnest Prayers, mixed with a thousand Sighs for the recovering of his Health. God hears him, and fixing presently at the feet of his Supplication, Ah be it so as you desire: He doth authorise it with a Prodigy, which did astonish the whole World. Because, that, for to assure him of the verity of that Promise; though he had placed the Stars in a firm settlement, he ruled their motions after an extraordinary way, commanding the Sun to go back on his steps, and to retrograde ten Degrees. The King of Babylon seeing the Universe startled and seized with admiration at the novelty of this Prodigy, deputes soon after, Ambassadors, with orders to Congratulate Ezechias, that Heaven and Earth did concur to the Happy recovering of his Health. As they were arrived, they were Treated Royally; The Prince Honours them with his Presence every where; gives them a sight of the Rarities of his Palace, of the Magnificence of his Court, of the Grandeur of his Riches: Opens the Cabinets where all shines with precious Stones, and pieces of Remark; conducts them into the Hall of Perfume, and through that of the Vessels of Price, and omits nothing that might cause them to have a high esteem of His Majesty. But at the same time as this Prince was making a show of his Power, God pronounces the Sentence of his Condemnation: Isaia, declares the contents of it to him: Hear the word of the Lord, (says he unto him:) the day shall come, that they will plunder your Palace: All the Treasures that your Ancestors have left you, shall be as a booty to the Babylonians: Your Children shall be the Eunuches of their King's Palace. Great God what was the crime of Ezechias to deserve such a punishment? Has he sinned by showing unto those Foreign Ambassadors what Precious things he had in his Cabinets? Was Solomon Criminal by showing the Queen of Sheba the brave Oeconomy of his House? Scripture in the second of Paralipomene, declares the Justice of that Punishment in this, In legatione principum Babilonis quimissi fuerant ad eum ut interrogarent eum de portento, quod acciderat super terram, dereliquit eum Dominus. 2 Paralip. c. 32. v 35 that the Ambassadors of Babylon did not only come to Congratulate this Prince, nor admire his Riches; but also to be particularly instructed in the subject of this Prodigy, arrived in the retrogradation of the Sun, that they might have occasion to praise the Author of it, and to admire his Power. A brave subject of Glorifying God, which this ungrateful King suffers to escape. For he ought at the first Audience he gave to those Ambassadors to have related with a great deal of Sorrow, how he was the subject of this Prodigy, that he was Sick on his Bed, already condemned to die, that the Sovereign Bounty accepting of his Prayers, was pleased to restore him to his Health, Oravit. Dominum exaudivitque eum, & dedit ei signum, sed non juxta beneficia quae acceperat retribuit, quia elevatum est cor ejus, & facta est contra eum ira 2 Paralip. c 32 v. 24, ●5. & seqq. and moreover to prolong his Life fifteen years; that for his consideration, who was but a worm of the Earth, the King of Glory was pleased to stop the course of the Stars, and that he had no other return of Thanks to be made to the King their Master, only this that by the Honour of his Visit, he had procured him the means to manifest the Glory of his Benefactor, whom he resolved evermore to publish over all the Corners of the Earth. But because he makes Ostentation of his Vanities, and that instead of Preaching the liberal Bounties of his God, he glories in his Treasure; he is condemned to the severity of a just Vengeance, at the same time that he blots out of his Spirit the remembrance of his Obligations. Ezechias Sick in his Bed, 'tis Adam plunged in his Sin: isaiah, who, in the Name of God, doth announce Death unto him, 'tis the same God who declares it unto Adam, if he doth eat of the forbidden Fruit. Ezechias turned towards the wall, and who, (all overwhelmed with Tears,) demands a Cure; represents the ardent Sighs of the Prophets and Patriarches for the Cure of Man by the Messiah coming to the World. The Promise of the cure made to this Prince; 'tis the decree of the Redemption of Man concluded in the Conclave of the three Divine persons. The Sun retrograded ten Degrees; 'tis Jesus humbled beneath the nine Quires of Angels, nay and beneath Man too; seeing that he doth number himself with the Prophet through an Abyss of Submission to the Category of the Sensitives: not of the most perfect, but of the meanest worms, vile Excrements of the Earth. Those strange Ambassadors are the poor Infidels, or, as well the ignorant Christians, who, after a confused manner, have heard something of a God born in a Manger, Son of the Virgin, and Crucified for their Love; but, who (to be more fully informed of the Motives, Causes and Consequences, of this so adorable a Prodigy,) go either into the Churches, or have their recourse to Catholic Books, to see whether they may give them further Intelligence. But if Preachers, who, as Chancellors, aught to speak in the Name of their Prince; will buisy themselves to unfold the Treasures of a Science altogether Humane, Confundantur qui operantur linum, pectentes & extentes subtilia Isa. 19 v. 9 the Riches of a politic Philosophy, and the subtle Inventions of their Spirit. If the Catholic Writers, who, as Secretaries of State, aught to write down the Wills of their Master, do fill up entire Volumes with Poetical Fictions, with the Amadis of Gaul, Revelatur ira Dei de Caelo super, etc. Rom. c. 1. v. 18. with Scandalous Invectives, shall they not fall into the same misfortune that the King of Jerusalem did? and suffer the punishments which his Sentence did bear. The Apostle Saint Paul speaks of a certain anger of God revealed by the Heavens, to chastise the Impiety of some Souls who do retain his Verities in Injustice. I know well, that in the natural sense of the Letter, Vera Dei cognitio quantum est de se inducit homines ad bonum. Sed ligatur quasi captivitate detenta per injustitiae affectum per quam ut in Psalmo dicitur, diminutae sunt veritates a filiis hominum. D. Tho. in hunc locum. he would speak of them, who, before the Incarnation, though they had known the necessary Being of a Divinity, highly established in the Principles of Nature, dare not (nevertheless, whether for fear, or otherwise,) publish the belief of it: But I am deceived, if he had not also a design to intimate unto Christians the Chastisements of Heaven, ordained against them, who, in an unjust silence, would detain captive the most adorable Mystery of the Incarnation. And in effect, what is it otherwise, to hold the Verity of God in Injustice, (as St. Augustine remarks,) but to shut up Jesus Christ and his Graces in a Prison, under the locks of a perverse will. 'Tis this consideration has moved me to choose among other Subjects which I bethought of to furnish matter to my Pen, Spiritus Domini super me, propter quod unxit me, evangelirare pauperibus misit me, sanare contritos cord. Luke 4. v. 18. to treat of the Infirmities which are incident to our corrupt Nature, having myself contracted a share of them in the Subterranean Mansion, where the late Troubles have confined me for the space of two years. And as the sick Body can have no sweeter thoughts than them of a Cure for his Distemper, I resolved to treat of a Powerful Remedy for the Salvation of our Souls, whose Health is infinitely more to be desired than that of the Body; (adoring always the receipt of our Sovereign Doctor fixed on the Cross) I will discourse of this Remedy with a methodical instruction of a singular application to each sinner in particular. Contritis per penitentiam datur gratia sanans vulnera peccatorum. Lyran in c. 4. Luck. I may well give this little work the Title of the Second Nativity of Jesus among men, being that it is the Accomplishment of his Adorable Incarnation. We shall give it a further Light in our following Discourses. For the present it will suffice, to say in short, that as it was necessary of a conditional necessity, that the Son of God should Incarnate himself in the womb of the Virgin to re-establish Humane Nature in general in the Rights of Heaven; Even so it is necessary, of a like necessity, that the same Son, by the actual application of his Graces, do descend into the Heart of each one in particular, before they can pretend to the least Happiness of Paradise: 'Tis that actual application of the Graces and infinite merits of Jesus to each sinner in particular, which may be well called the Second Nativity of Jesus. Holy Virgin pardon me, if you please: I do not doubt but that at this sole word of Second Nativity your Heart, Saintly jealous of the Title of Divine Maternity, will straight oblige me to put it out of all apprehension of any Ferreign Interest, being that to You alone, (and with exclusion to all others,) doth appertain to be the true Mother of Jesus, Multae mulieres beatificaverunt Sanctam Virginem illam, & ejus uterum, & optaverunt tales fieri matres. D. Chrysost. hom. 450. in Matth. refertur in cat. ad c. 12. Matth. and to Jesus to be your true Natural Son. Ah! Princess of Heaven, who would ever dare to contest with You the Honour of that Quality, which is the Source of all our Happiness, and the greatest of all your Titles? If St. chrysostom said heretofore, That many Women Sanctifying your Person, and Blessing the Sacred Fruit of your Womb, have desired to be the Mother of God as you are; they were but simple wishes; which had rather for their Object the admiration and ravishment of your Felicity; than the belief of ever being able to attain to it. Your Dear Beloved Son, how ever, has thought you heretofore, what we ought to understand by that way of speaking, when that with his own mouth he did establish another kind of Maternity compatible with yours. Quae est mater mea & qui sunt fratres mei & extendens manum in discipulos, dixit ecce mater mea, & fratres mei. Mat. c. ● 2. v 48. Do you remember, O Blessed Virgin, how you have heard him, when as he stood at the gates of the Temple, some one went to tell him that his Mother and Brothers were looking for him: He dissembling, (but a dissembling replenished with Mysteries;) demands, as if it were abruptly, who is my Mother, and who are my Brethren? And at the same time stretching his Hand towards his Disciples; there is, said he, my Mother, there are my Brethren: For who ever fulfils the will of my Father who is in Heaven, he is my Brother, my Sister, and my Mother. St. Jerome believes, that he, who brought this news to our Saviour, was carried on by malice and evil Faith, because that he would fain try if the Messiah, Non autem fastidiosè de matre sua s●●●sse existima●●●●s est, cui in passione positus maximae sollicitudinis tribuit affectum. D. Hilar. Canon. 12. in fine who treated of no other thing before the Scribes and Pharisees, but of the Will of God his Father, and of the Marvails of Heaven, would not suffer himself to be carried away with the unruly affections of Blood and Flesh; thereby to interpret sinistrously the Purity of his Designs. 'Tis therefore he answers to the intention of his Adversary; without any regard to the Literal signification of his Words. And so makes appear that far from disowning her that was inseparably joined to him in the fact of Predestination: But on the contrary, as Mary is no other than a Virgin and the Mother of God in the immovable project of Eternity: So Jesus in the plenitude of times, could not behold her otherwise than under this venerable Title, which by the Law of Nature doth oblige to all respects. He doth suppose then that she is his Natural Mother: And adds a kind of Consanguinity of Love, which ought to be found in all sorts of Faithful, who, by the accomplishment of the Celestial wills shall deserve to engender again Jesus Christ in their Hearts; In propria venit, etc. Joan. 1. v. 12. wherein not only the Women, as St. chrysostom says, but also the men may be the Mothers of God. What a Pleasure it is to hear St. John explain the sacred Subordination of that double Alliance of men with God, both in the Mystery of his Incarnation, and in the Mystery of his second Nativity. Our Saviour, says he, is come unto the World, as if it were unto his own, and his own did not receive him: To them nevertheless, Potestas est potentia stabilita per adventum Spiritus, unde patet quod non est in aliquo potestas, in quo non fuerit prius potentia naturalis quia est in hominis voluntate ut possit fieri potestas si non ponit obicem gratiae. Hugo Card. in c. 1. Joan. that had received him, he gave power to be made the Children of God. That power, says Hugo the Cardinal, is a stable Power determined by Grace, and fortified by the Holy-Ghost. A Power, says the same Doctor, which supposes Nature already prepared to give it no obstacle nor opposition; with a great difference however, for the Natural Power, which we have to be the Children of God may be separated from the Almighty Power. Because that is but a simple possibility far from any Act; this follows the conditions of liberty, which, in the advantages of Grace, is near to its effect. Great God, says St. Augustine, is not your Love without measure for men? You are not at all of the humour of the Children of the World, who are afraid to have many Brother's Coheirs, that they alone might succeed without any Associates to the Inheritance of their Parents. You are the only Son of the Father, and yet you do not desire to remain the sole Heir of his Substance. You call,) without any exception, to the Rights of Heaven and Eternity,) all them, who, undervaluing the Dross of the World, shall believe in your Gospel. We must not wonder at it, for the Wealth of the Earth being divided, groweth less; the Wealth of Heaven, contrariwise, by communication doth increase. St. John pursuing the History of the Incarnation, adds, Quasi securitatem faciens, ait & verbum caro factum est, quid ergo miraris quiahomines ex Deo nascuntur? attend ipsum Deum ex hominibus natum. D. Aug. to. 9 tract 2. in Joan. sub finem. And the Word is made Flesh: Remark the Coherency, Dear Reader, he comes to establish the Second Nativity of Jesus in the stable Powers of our Liberty: And to the end, says the Great St. Augustine, that this should not seem incredible to any, that a pitiful Creature should be Honoured with a Title, not imaginary, but subsistant of Divine Filiation; he says, that God is made man; as if he were to draw this consequence, if the Omnipotent Power of a God infinitely Adorable, contrary to the ordinary Laws, has abased itself to the union of a Nature so abject of itself, as Humane Nature is: Who will doubt but that a sinner, Anima namque habet aliquam propinquitatem ad Deum. Treophilactus in c. 1 Joan. touched with the Graces of Heaven, and Converted by a sublime elevation, may approach to the Throne of the Divinity, there to receive by pre-eminency the Title of a Filial Adoption. What were you willing to teach us, O Saviour of the World, when nailed on the wood of the Cross, Cum vidisset Jesus matrem & discipulum stantem, quem dilegebat, dixit matri suae, mulier ecce filius tuus. Joan. 19 v. 26. whereon you were rendering to men the last proofs of your Love, looking with an Amorous Eye at your Mother, you said unto her, that from thenceforth, St. John should be her Son? Will you refuse her after your Death, what you would not take from her during your Life? What a heart-breaking would it be to the Virgin, when, after the Death of Jesus, thinking to discourse of high affections, to comfort her poor Heart afflicted for his absence; she should be denied ever to call him again by this worthy Name of Son, more sweet than Honey? No, this Commandment would be a thing impossible, and Love that knows not what it is to Obey, where there is question of a Division, would never consent to the rigour of its practice. 'Tis that St. John, at the foot of the Cross, was the figure of the Adoptive Children of Grace; And to the end that the Virgin should acknowledge them for such, Love them, and Cherish them, as she who ought most to Interess herself in the common and particular good of men. Our Saviour says to her, Woman behold thy Son; unspeakable Happiness to see, that he who had for his Lodging the Bowels of Mary, should be pleased to assign us for a residence her proper heart. Or else, let us say, Sicut portavimus imaginem terreni, portemus & imaginem Celestis. 1 Cor. c. 15. v. 49. that by his last Will and Testament, he was to give her an excellent proof of his Affections, by leaving his Image deposited in her: For every sinner Converted by the Grace of God is the Image of Jesus Crucified, according to the Apostle's Doctrine, followed with a rare thought of St. Augustine; D. Aug. lib. de Sancta virginitate. for after he had said, that the Virgin is our Mother; Mother by Spirit, as she is our Saviour's by Nature; he goes further, and remarks that she bears her Spiritual Children in her Bosom, not for the space of nine Months only, but as long as they are in this Life, and is not delivered of them until she introduces them to Heaven. That is also the aim and scope of all the design of this Work, wherein we shall make appear, how, that by the powerful endeavours of Grace, the Holy Ghost labours incessantly to make us conceive the word of Salvation, whose term must be Jesus formed in our Hearts; and 'tis that which I shall call hereafter the Child of Heaven, and of Grace, and particular Saviour. I am deceived, if St. Mark would not fain speak of this Sacred Fruit, when he tells us, That the Messiah one day took a little Child in his Arms, Quem cum complexus esset Mark. 9 Math. 18. v. 2. and having set him in the middle of his Apostles, Embraced him tenderly. Where St. Matthew adds, That he told them, if they would not become like unto that Infant, they should never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. I omit divers Interpretations of this passage, to speak of that of St. Jerome; who by that Infant, understands the Holy-Ghost, and says, That he who by Grace is Converted unto God, D. Hieron in catena ad c. 18. Matth. receives the Holy-Ghost, who bears him Testimony that he is a Child of God: Who will doubt but that the Eternal Father will embrace this Infant for the resemblance he has with his First Born: The Son acknowledge him for his Younger Brother, and the Holy Ghost own him for his own Work. In a word, my Dear Reader, Omnis qui filio Dei credit & conservatur secundum Evangelicos actus, conversus ambulat quasi puer: Qui autem non convertitur ut fiat sicut puer, hunc impossibile est intrare in regnum celerum. Origenes Tract. 3. ad illud qui scandalizaverit unum, & t. Whoever is not a Child after this Nature, can hope for nothing in the successions of Heaven. But take Courage, for he, who even from this World doth engage the Fidelity of his Word for assurance of an Eternal Blessing to them, who without fraud or malice, hanging close at the Paps of his Graces, shall draw from thence the Spirit of Life, will never deprive you of that Inheritance; seeing, that his Goodness is altogether as plenty in the Communication of his Favours, as the Fidelity of his Word is certain in the Execution of his Promises. The CONTENTS. Chap. I. THat the Conversion of a Soul ought to be Framed according to the Word-Incarnate. pag. 1 Chap. II. That the Conversion of a Soul, is a second Nativity of Jesus. pag. 12 Chap. III. Who ought to be the Father in this second Nativity. pag. 23 Chap. iv That there is in this Nativity, a supposed Father, as well as in that of Jesus. pag. 30 Chap. V That the Delivery and Birth of this Child must be in Pain and Sorrow. pag. 38 Chap. VI That this Sorrowful Delivery is the Accomplishment of the Word-Incarnate. pag. 47 Chap. VII. That it is the Angel of Great Council who brings to the Soul the Word of her Conversion. pag. 54 Chap. VIII. That it belongs to God alone to Convert a Soul. pag. 64 Chap. IX. The Confidence that a Soul ought to have in her God. pag. 74 Chap. X. How God does cast into a Soul the Seed of her Conversion. pag. 83 Chap. XI. The Stratagems that Jesus makes use of to Convert a Soul. pag. 95 Chap. XII. That to become Servants to God, we must know the World. pag. 110 Chap. XIII. That we cannot complain of the want of sufficient means for our Conversion. pag. 125 Chap. XIV. That the Infidel and Stillborn Children cannot complain of God. pag. 134 Chap. XV. God no sooner sees a Soul desirous of her Salvation, but he gives her his helping Hand. pag. 146 Chap. XVI. How hard it is to Convert a Lukewarm Soul. pag. 163 Chap. XVII. God will not destroy those Lukewarm Souls, which he gins to vomit. pag. 172 Chap. XVIII. For to Convert a Sinner, God must afflict him. pag. 181 Chap. XIX. How the Devil hinders a Sinner to Convert himself to God in Affliction. pag. 192 Chap. XX. It is by Preaching, that Sinners are efficaciously moved. pag. 202 Chap. XXI. How Powerful good Example is for to touch a Sinner. pag. 217 Chap. XXII. If any thing be contrary to the Conversion of a Sinner, it must be bad and scandalous company. pag. 225 Chap. XXIII. That, to think of Death has a great power on the Conversion of a Sinner. pag. 233 Chap. XXIV. That the remorse of the Conscience is an Efficacious Instrument of our Conversion. pag. 249 Chap. XXV. That the Sinner can never be Converted whilst he smothers the Remorse of his Conscience. pag. 261 Chap. XXVI. That a Soul will not Convert herself to God, unless she knows that she has no true Friend in this World. pag. 268 Chap. XXVII. That we cannot meet with a better Friend than Jesus. pag. 279 Chap. XXVIII. That Jesus is the only Friend who Comforts us on occasion. pag. 293 Chap. XXIX. That the Immortality of our Soul ought to make us undervalue the World. pag. 307 Chap. XXX. That the Mortality of our Souls sets all Crimes at Liberty. pag. 319 Chap. XXXI. That the Angels are employed in the Conversion of a Sinner. pag. 327 Chap. XXXII. That the Devil hinders the Conversion of a Sinner. pag. 338 Chap. XXXIII. For to resist the Devil we must know his Power. pag. 341 Chap. XXXIV. The good Angels have more Power to Convert us, than the bad Angels have to pervert us. pag. 352 Chap. XXXV. How the Flesh usurps on the right of the Spirit. pag. 360 Chap. XXXVI. The Second unjust Usurpation of the Flesh, on the right of the Spirit. pag. 365 Chap. XXXVII. The third unjust Usurpation of the Flesh on the right of the Spirit. pag. 371 Chap. XXXVIII. That it is the Grace of Jesus which maintains the Spirit in his Rights. pag. 375 Chap. XXXIX. That the Grace of Jesus leaves that weighty obligation on all Christians to be both Soldiers and Conquerors. pag. 393 Chap. XL. That the thoughts of Hell does bring the Sinner to his Duty. pag. 406 Chap. XLI. The first consideration of Hell. pag. 409 Chap. XLII. The second consideration of Hell. pag. 416 Chap. XLIII. The third consideration of Hell. pag. 424 THE CONVERSION OF THE SOUL Formed by the Pattern of the Word-Incarnate. PART I. CHAP. I. That the Conversion of a Soul ought to be Framed according to the Word-Incarnate. WHat a High and Mighty Lord is Man, what rich and ample Possessions has he, if they had not been engaged for the payment of his Debts: All Creatures labour for his Service, and seem to aim at nothing else, but to procure his Glory. St. Paul, to set forth the Happiness of his Condition, assures, that the Angels were Created to Honour him with their Attendance. Nun omnes sunt administratorii spiritus, Hebr. 1. The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, are so many Lanterns set out by the powerful hand of God to lead and lighten him through darkness; the Heavens roll over his Head to divide the year into Seasons for the welfare of his Body, and the Recreation of his Senses; they do power down their Influences upon the most private parts of the Earth, to form therein Jewels and Pearls, Gold and Silver for his Expense and Pleasure: The Seas and the Floods, Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus, Ps. 8. whose roaring waves and cloudy storms often make all the Earth to Tremble, stand calm nevertheless at his Command, for to give him a firm and free passage from one Pole to the other: In fine, there is not any Creature but what does cast itself at the Feet of Man, in sign of Subjection and Reverence. Who, perhaps seeing himself in the Splendour of that great Empire, will become as Insolent as the Prince of Laodicea; who, beholding his great Wealth, his resplendent Court, and gallant Attendance, Dives sum & locupletatus, Apoc 3.17. said, I am rich and potent, I have all things at command, I want no bodies help or assistance; His Pride made him to forget his Extraction from Dust and Ashes; as also his dependency on God, and his former misery. Let not Man fall into the same misfortune, let him not admire overmuch the Beauty of his fine Feathers; let him not become so Insolent in the abundance of his Wealth, nor conceive any vain glory at the Homage and Reverence which he receives from all other Creatures: Let him remember, that He hath nothing but what is lent to him, and that he must be accountable for all the goods he doth enjoy: He hath God for his Creditor, who by giving, cannot in any way alienate the property of his Gifts, being that he cannot renounce the rights of Omnipotency; and therefore, who ever receives from him, remains still accountable to him for what he receives. But if we must come to give up our Accounts; and pay to God all our Debts, we must of necessity restore him all that we have, being that we have all from him: Jacobi 1. Omne donum desursum est, descendens à Patre luminum And if we must fully obey the commands of Justice: that is, to restore to one another in the same kind, or equivalent to it, what appertains unto him; what shall become of man? He can no more restore the same kind, since all the Gifts he received from God are become worse in his hands, he would be overmuch favoured to be received to an Infamous session of all Goods. But if he be constrained to restore the equivalent, where will he find whereby to acquit himself; for (as St. Augustin says, Non est Creaturae moliri officium quo justu Creatoris recompenset praesidium Medit. 7. ) it lies not in man's Power to clear scores with his Creator; he is too far engaged in his Debts; the Immensity of his Favours surpass our Thoughts, and is far beyond our acknowledgements. Moreover, let man in no wise ground the Immunity of his Debts on those vain. Immensitas donorum superat cogitationes sensum Chrys. serm. 69. in cant. & serm. 12. in Psal. 40. and frivolous assurances, that his Creditor is of so good a heart as not to call him to an Account, and that he will be satisfied with the bare acknowledgement of his Insufficiency. No, no, God values more his Goods than so, he values not ours, but he will not have us set any undervalue on what we receive from his liberal Hands; much less abuse his Favours, being that he gives them by weight, number and measure, he will have us to return him the same Account. A Doctor of the Synagogue seemed not to know this weighty obligation, Quae sunt Dei Deo, Matth 22. when thinking to surprise our Saviour, he puts the question to him, Whether it be Lawful to pay Tribute to Caesar; the answer was made home, Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what appertains to God; Had the Doctor the wit fully to conceive this Divine Answer, he might understand more of our Saviour's mind than he did, he might easily conclude that he would fain say, That though Caesar had received the Tribute and Taxes of his People, yet Caesar and his People were obliged to render daily to God the Sovereign Homage of their Persons, as also the Tribute of their Goods, to be the better prepared for that dreadful day, on which he has appointed to receive the general Accounts of all Creatures. David with all his Riches, with all his Power and Pomp, as often as he thought of that indispensable obligation which hangs over our Heads, to give up our Accounts to God, was forced to own his Insufficiency, and laying down his Royal Sceptre and Crown at the feet of his Creditor; doth ingeniously confess that he is Insolvable, saying, What have I worthy to be presented to my Lord & Master for what he has been pleased to bestow on me? Quid retribuam Domino pro-omnibus quae retribuit mihi. Psal. 115. v. 3. I will take the Chalice of Salvation, or as Didimus explains it; I will take the Chalice of Jesus, and invoke the Name of the Lord; As if he would say, now I have found whereby to satisfy my Creditor; his Divine Majesty thought perhaps, that Humane Nature was so poor, and brought so low, that she had not in the World wherewith to discharge the least of her Debts; True it is, that of her own stock and proper Substance, she is altogether insolvable: But the day will come that the Messiah will raise up her fortune, and repair all her losses with the most happy advantage she is to receive by his Incarnation: The Eternal Word will leave us a Cup filled with the purest Blood of his Sacred Veins, to which we shall remit his Eternal Father to receive what is his due: For seeing that the chief reason which makes us insolvable; is, that the Gifts of God are Infinite, and our Payments limited: this Blood is of an Infinite price, consequently in giving it for to acquit us of all our Debts, we shall be reputed to have made full satisfaction. St. Augustin thinking to have found whereby to clear his Accounts with his Divine Majesty, begs that he would be pleased to accept of his Vows in payment of all his Debts, and doubts not, but by that voluntary Oblation to clear off all his scores with God: O God of Love, if I give myself altogether to you, if I prostrate my heart at the Feet of your Altars; if I freely Sacrifice all my designs to your good will and pleasure; and if by disowning myself, I do engage to you my and Liberty, to serve you for ever, reserving only to myself the bare use of my Life, and that I do firmly resolve to pass over my days in a full submission to your Commandments; will you not be satisfied? Why then, these are my Promises, Et vere quisquis bene cogitat, quid voveat Domino, out quae vota reddat hoc exigitur, hoc debetur D. Aug. in Psal. 15. such are my Vows: Hence this Holy Doctor concludes, That to consecrate himself to God in this kind, is to give God that which is His by Right. The Seraphic Doctor St. Bonaventure, considering sinners as so many Criminals brought before the Bar of God's high Court of Justice; who, notwithstanding upon their Repenpentance, have found favour in the sight of their Prince, but with that obligation to satisfy the injured party, remits them to that Parable of the five hundred Pence, brought down by our Saviour to justify the Repentance of Magdalen, whose examples must be our Instruction: She says nothing for her own justification, her heart is overwhelmed with Grief to have ever offended so bountiful and merciful a God, streams of Tears run down from her Eyes to cool the burning flames of her ardent Love; Mountains, Woods and Solitary places, how often have you seen her strike her tender Body With Chains of Iron, and give Bloody marks of her true Repentance to her dearly Beloved Jesus? But to what purpose is all this Mortification and Penance, seeing she had already received a general discharge, and full Absolution of all her sins! It was, says this Holy Doctor, To satisfy, in as much as lay in her, the party concerned and affronted by all her abominations and crimes; as also to rid herself of the pain, which of course would have followed her offences; But he adds, Si Magdalena tot lachrymis reddidit, quingentorum denariorum debita, quantis reddi debebunt fletibus, decem millia peccatorum debita. D. Bona Ser. 3 ●om. 22. post. penned. That the same Grace which Magdalen received to wash off her sinful spots with her bitter Tears, must not be a rule in its quantity for all forts of sinners: For he that committed more Offences than Magdalen did, aught to have a greater Repentance, and shed more Tears than Magdalen; Betwixt five hundred Pence, and ten thousand Talents, there is a great deal of difference. I do respect and honour all the ravishing thoughts of those Holy and high Spirited men: But let us reduce them all to an Unity; let us find out one Gift, one Payment, one Satisfaction, which by way of Eminency may be all Gift; 〈◊〉 Payment, all Satisfaction; So that Offering it to God, he must of necessity be contented, and rest satisfied with our Oblation. What is this precious Gift? this plenary Satisfaction? this absolute Payment? Doubtless it is the Son of God, a Son whom the Father hath given us; and in giving him, he gave us all that his Heavenly Court could afford; so that if he demands of us that which appertains unto him, and re-calls what he hath given us; let us restore him back again his Son, or at least another who may be like him; and this is all that he can expect. But how shall this be performed? If it be true that the Philosopher says, Per quas causas quid componitur, per easdem dissolvitur. That by what causes a thing is composed, by the same it is dissolved: Then it must of necessity follow, that we restore this Gift to God by the same ways we received it, and by which this precious Gift descended down from Heaven to us. He came forth from the abundant and fruitful memory of the Father, the Original source of the Divine Persons, he took his way through the Love of the Holy Ghost, who clothed him with a Robe of men's wearing, and hide him in a Virgin's Womb for the space of nine Months: The World hath seen him born in a Stable, laid down in a Manger, cry for Hunger, tremble with Cold, and die on a shameful Cross in the sight of all Nations: There is the Child that God hath given us; but he is not the Child that the Father will have from us, because he has him already seated at his Right Hand in his full splendour, and in all his Dimensions. He aims at another who must be like him, and who must also proceed from his Substance, pass through the love of the Holy Ghost, be clad like Christ, be born, die, and buried with him, for to rise up Glorious, and mount Triumphing up to Heaven. This is a second Child formed by the model of the first, and Him we must offer up to the Eternal Father, for to clear off our Debts; Here you have the Mystery of it. 'Tis true, that the Son of God has found out a way for us to pay off our debts, 'tis the value and merits of his dying life; but this price must be put into our hands; He is upon his journey to Heaven; what does he do? for to leave us the handling of his Treasures, he sends us his holy Ghost to whom he leaves his precious Blood together with all his merits, as a Heavenly Seed, wherein, by the force of his Love, he concurs to the conception, not of the Son of God, but of a Son altogether like the Son of God; to the end that this Son, (so like unto the Son of God, conceived in the Sacred Seed of Jesus, after the model of the word Incarnate, by the operation of the Holy Ghost,) may pass before God for an equivalent satisfaction and payment of all our Debts. This is what St. Paul calls, 2 Cor. 11. Pledge of the Holy Ghost, which he reserves to give to men, when that endeavouring to purchase Heaven, they shall be demanded, whether they have sufficient payment for its Acquisition. St. Augustin is of a contrary Opinion, for he will not have this payment to be called a Pledge, but an Oblation to God: Because, that when the thing is restored for which the Pledge was laid out, Pignus cum redditua res ipsa aufertur, arrha autem de ipsa reddatur quae dando promittitur, ut res quando redditur impleatur quod datum est non mutetur. D. Aug. ser. 15. de verb. dom. statim initio. the Pledge of course must be taken up; and so God in giving us Heaven, which is the purchase we aim at, the Holy Ghost must take away his Pledge, which is his Grace; and that cannot be; for it's not the same with Grace, as it is with Faith; for Grace ought to subsist with Glory, but Faith not; so that this payment which St. Paul calls Pledge, rigorously taken, must be no Pledge, but rather an Oblation to God, which is a part of the thing we would fain buy, and which cannot be taken away when the Contract is completed: And in effect Grace is the source and first beginning of Salvation, which ends in Glory, and hath its full consummation in Heaven. Let us then give God this Gracious Child, the second work of the Holy Ghost: Aspicis Christum hominem & Deum, sed ostendit tibi Pater hominem & servat tibi Deum. D. Aug. Hom. 32. But we must give him to God in the same shape and Form, as he gave Us his own Son, reserving him Glorious with himself, and suffering amongst us: He did always cherish him within his Sacred bosom, as him whom he doth engender from all Eternity, Coequal, Consubstantial, and of one and the same Nature: But from himself, he deals with him as with a Criminal, and the chiefest of all Malefactors, you would say that he doth not acknowledge him for his Son. The same way we must offer and treat this second Son, glorious and passable: Glorious in the Cabinet of our Souls, but passable in the exterior of our Bodies: Within we must consider him as the object of our most tender Affections, give him a Princely attendance, and Adore him without any dissimulation. Exteriorly, he must be a Crucify'd Love, covered with Wounds, Crowned with Thorns, and the perfect Portrait of the man of sorrow, Incarnate in a Virgin's Womb, 2 Cor. 4. v. 10. and laid down amongst the Beasts in a Manger for the Love of men. But alas, (says St. Augustin) our daily practice is quite contrary to this advice of St. Paul, for Exteriorly we bear a most specious Jesus; but Interiorly we cherish a most hideous Blackamoor; Christians in appearance, and really nothing less in our hearts: we shut up our Hearts with a Ring all guilded, Annulo aureo corda obsignamus & putridas intus paleas recondimus D. Aug. Ser. 10. Dom. 10. post Pent. and underneath lies nothing but dirt and Infection, a heap of rotten straw; the Apostle calls that, To crucify Jesus the second time: You must beware never to offer that Child at the gates of Heaven, he will never be taken for a Child conceived in the Blood of Christ, for he doth not bear the form and resemblance of one: The general redemption of mankind was completed on the Cross and by Sufferances; never expect that the Spirit of God will work upon any other example. The Holy Ghost never begets Children to God, but betwixt the Arms of the Cross, consequently he can never beget any there, but Crucify'd Children. CHAP. II. That the Conversion of a Soul, is a second Nativity of Jesus. THe Gospel relates unto us, how Nicodemus, (who took all the Actions of Jesus for so many Prodigies, Rabbi scimus quia à Deo venisti Magister, nemo enim potest facere haec signa quae tu facis nisi fuerit Deus cum eo John 3. ver. 2. Nisi quis natus fuerit denuo, non potest videre regnum Dei, Ibid, ) took an occasion to visit him by night: Being come, Master (says he) we know that your Mastership comes from Heaven, for none could work such high wonders as you do, if God had not gone along with him: Whereupon our Saviour replies, Verily I tell you, that whoever is not Regenerated the second time, shall never see the Kingdom of Heaven: As if he had said in plainer terms, You have seen me revive the Dead, change Water into Wine, Cure the Sick, multiply the Bread, cast Devils out of men's Bodies. These, and many more such Actions have dazzled your eyes, and forced your mouth to confess ingeniously, that they must be the works of Divine Power. I do receive and approve of your sentiments, for they are conformable to Reason; But I will have you to know, that there is another wonder worthy of your astonishment; which is, That to be saved you must be born the second time. This poor man was altogether astonished, Qui solam carnalem Nativitatem novit quae non potest denuo fieri, ideo modum secundae quaerit. Glossa Interlin. ad haec verba. who had no other Theology than that of his Senses, and who did not as yet comprehend the secrets of Heaven, falls presently on that Proposal, this main difficulty; How can that be done? That a man must be born twice over, that an Old man of threescore years with the full extension of his Body, must be reduced to the form and state of a new born Child; must he re-enter into his Mother's womb, there to be retained a Prisoner the space of nine Months? That must be performed either by Rarefaction or Condensation of Matter, That in the Mother, This in the Child; who did ever hear speak of the like thing? Some one perhaps may ask me the same Question; Non mireris quia dixi, oportet vos nasci denuo Spiritus ubi vult spirat. Ver. 7.8. & seq. and seeing it in the front of this Chapter, The second Nativity of Jesus; may tell me that it is an impossible thing that Jesus should be born the second time; For the Virgin must have been recalled on Earth to become his Mother once more: And if for to be born twice, he must die as often; it would be necessary that Jesus who is once already dead, and never dies any more, should die the second time, for to revive again, which cannot be. Dear Reader, I have no other Answer for the clearing of your doubt, Si propter haereditatem temporalis nascitur aliquis ex visceribus matris carnalis: & propter haeriditatem Patris Dei sempiternam nascitur peccator ex visceribus Ecclesiae D. Aug. tract. 12. in John come. 9 refer. tur in Catena. but the same which our Saviour gave to Nicodemus: Verily I tell you, that whoever is not regenerated by water, and the Holy Ghost, cannot be saved: For even as being dead by Original sin, you are regenerated by the water of Baptism; so being dead by your Actual sins, you are recalled to life by the water of your bitter Tears in the Sacrament of Penance. A Regeneration which cannot be accomplished before that Jesus be new born in our hearts by a new conception of Love, which I call, The second Nativity of Jesus, which takes its Being, and all its Value from the First. The Relations of the one to the other are admirable; For, as the first Nativity of Jesus in the Sacred womb of the Virgin, was by the Hypostatical Union of the Divine Person with Humane Nature, to appropriate to himself all her Actions. So the second Nativity of Jesus in a Soul is accomplished by the intimate Union of his Presence, by which he becomes the most happy source and offspring of all her Actions, and renders them meritorious of Heaven. And as Jesus, in as much as he was man alone, could not operate that great work of our Redemption; Si tamen compatimur ut & conglorificemur Rom. 8. v. 17. Si commortui sumus & convivemus, si sustinebimus & conregnabimus. 2 Tim. cap. 2. ver. 12. Si enim complantati su●●us similitudini mortis ejus, Simul & resurrectianis erim●s Rom. 6. v. 5. if by the means of that Union, he had not acquired the Power and Dignity of it: Even so it is impossible, without that second Nativity of the Son of God in us, to do any particular Action that might deserve Heaven. To say, that it is to injure and entrench upon the Rights and Prerogatives of the first Nativity, to refer the consummation of particular Salvation to the necessity of a second Nativity, it is to destroy the Essential Subordination of those two terms, suffer and suffer with, so often Preached by the Apostle, and to have that Physic only laid on a sick man's Table should do him good without taking it. In the Passion of the Son of God, we have a most powerful remedy for all our distempers, but its effect in us depends on the compassion, as a condition, without which, nothing turns to our advantage. The Spirit is not as yet fully informed of the secrets contained in this second Nativity; And therefore I must explain more at large the manner and order observed in it: And of what nature is that Union of the Soul with Grace, which brings God to be present with Man by a stricter tye, than that of the Substantial Form, which gives him Life: For it's not an Union like that which brings the Sun to be present to the very bowels of the Earth, by the emission of his Influences, to produce therein all sorts of Metals. Neither is it an union of Authority and Pre-eminency, as that of a King or Monarch, who is not present in all the Provinces of his Dominions, but by the Officers of his Crown. No, for all those presences, to speak properly, not being personal, cannot produce such Holy and real approaches, as are found in that intimate union of the Soul with God, to make him appear in the full lustre of a second Nativity. What then? Lib. 12. de Deo trino & uno. c. 9 the Learned Suarez (the second St. Thomas of our Age,) finds no comparison more proper to express the reality of this Mystery, than to have recourse to the Holy Sacrament of the Altar, and to say, that after the Sacramental words pronounced by the Priest in the Consecration, the Body of our Saviour is there really present, not in Figure, as our Adversaries say, but really, and in Substance: Even so immediately after the last disposition of a Penitent Soul, which is a true and hearty disliking his offences, with a firm resolution of amendment; God is really and truly present to that Soul by a most intimate and entire communication of his Nature, and of all what he has, so far, that if it were possible, that God should not be present with all other things, by Presence, Power, Cornel. in c. 2. Act and Essence; he must of necessity be found in a heart that is in the state of Grace. The Royal Prophet did foresee somewhat of the greatness of these wonders: Omnis consummationis vidi finem l●tum mandatum minis, Ps. 118. I have seen (says he) the end of all Consummation; as if he had said, I often employed my understanding to consider the ways of the Infinite Wisdom of God in his government and conduct of men, Quid enim latius hoc mandato dilectionis, quo sic meus humana dilatatur, ut intra substantiae suae palatium, majestatum possit capere patris, Filii, & Spiritus Sancti, Rupert, lib. 11. in Joan. cap. 3. the greatness of the care and esteem he has for them: But I must ingeniously confess that the Masterpiece of all his Wonders, the Abridgement of his Clemency, and the consummation of his Love, is to see that a Sinner converted by the powerful Assistance and attractions of Grace, receives and contains, in the Substance of his Heart, all the Three Persons of the Trinity: And that all three do concur with all their activity, to draw from the purest Affections of the Soul, whereby to Organize a second Son of God; Ut sit ipse primogentius in multis Fratribus, Rom. 8. who, without any prejudice to the First his Eldest Brother, will bear his Image, and perfect resemblance, as being his younger Brother by Adoption. Apoc. 22. Angels of Heaven use what Compliments you please to St. John who offers to prostrate himself at your feet; tell him if you think it fit, that you are his most humble Fellow Servants, and that you will never admit of his submission. For my part, I will not fear to say, that did I know for certain, that a man were in the State of Grace, I would make him a more profound Reverence than even to the sign of the Cross: For though the Cross puts me in mind of the shameful Death on mount Calvary; however it is but a Sanctification grounded on the bare touching of our Saviour's Body, which supposes no other Title of special presence besides the general, which is Essential to all things. I would behave myself towards him, and in a manner treat him with as much respect as I would the most Happy and ever Blessed Virgin, whilst she bore in her Chaste womb her dearly Beloved Jesus (setting always aside the dignity of Mother, which extols her above all degrees and orders of Saints and Angels, to the Honour and Worship of Hyperdulium;) My reason for it is, that as the real Existence of the Child in the Womb of Mary, is the ground of my Respects: Even so the intimate presence of the three Divine Persons in the justified Soul, should oblige me to pay her my most humble Respects and Homages. The Patriarches and Prophets, did with frequent Sighs wish and long for that Happy day which was appointed from all Eternity, to let them see the Messiah. Ah! Earth, they would say, open your bosom, and spread wide open your womb to bring us forth the fruit of life, the Flower of the field, the Lily of the valleys. Heavens! give free passage to the sweet influence of that Celestial dew, which hath been so long since promised to us. Moment's shall be to us as days; Days as Years, Years as Ages, and Ages as Eternity, until we see, (the expected by all Nations,) Jesus the Redeemer of the World. Let him come, he shall possess our Hearts, and have our Affections; let him be Incarnate, we will Adore him; let him appear, and we will all follow him. If I durst authorise the design of this little work on the ardent Sighs of Patriarches and Prophets, and on their earnest desire to see Jesus in the state of his last Nitivity. I might say, that all the following discourses are but so many wishes lanced towards that happy moment, wherein we shall see Souls disclose their Breasts, and enlarge their Affections, to give a free passage to the Sacred influences of the Divine Spirit, who may give therein a second Nativity to Jesus. Wishes, which the Ancient Bishop of Sevile did express in handsome terms, and in the name of the Church, Laetare ergo in Domino, eo quod non sis fraudata a defiderio tuo: nam quos tanto tempore gemitu tristi & oratione continua concepisti, nunc post glaciem hyemis, post duritiem frigoris, post asperitatem nivis velut secundam agrorum frugem, & laetos veris flores, vel arridentes vinearum stipitibus palmites repente in gaudio peperisti. Leand. episc. Epispal. orat. de convers. Gothorum. which had seen the accomplishment thereof in the Conversion of the Goths. Rejoice you in the Lord, O Mother, for a time sad and very much perplexed; because you have not been disappointed in your expectations, for at one only Birth you have engendered an Infinite number of People to your Christ: Them that you have conceived so long ago by the sadness of your Tears, and the continuation of your Prayers; you see them now engendered to your great satisfaction and joy; even as we see with content a Rich Harvest in the fields; the Flowers of Springtime on little Hills, and Blossoms on the Vine-trees; after the Frost of Winter, and when the sharpness of Cold and Snow are gone and passed. CHAP. III. Who ought to be the Father in this second Nativity. THough humane nature has produced a Mother to the Son of God, yet it was not in her Power to give him a Father; and if it had, she would not presume to offer him one, for fear of losing the value and dignity of the price which this Divine Child was to give, for the payment of our Debts: If he be called the Son of man, It's either, as St. Epiphane remarks, that it is he who ought to be Incarnate; according to the prediction of the Prophets; Epiph. Adversus naetianos, her. 57 or, as St. Gregory of Nazianzen observes, Because he was descended from Adam the common Father of Mortals by the way of our Blessed Lady: D. Greg. orat. 4. de Theol. But the most solid reason in my judgement, is, that of St. Augustine, who will have that the Messiah be called the Son of man by a certain Antithesis, to let us understand the difference that is between his Divine and his Humane Filiation: And that the qualities he bears grounded on the rights of his Eternal Birth on his Father's side, are different from what he has founded on the Prerogatives of his Temporal Birth on his Mother's side. What a solid Answer St. Peter gives, ●●h. 16.13. who being questioned by Jesus Christ, What did the World think of the Son of man? Answered; You are Christ, Son of the living God: All the rest were of so shallow a judgement, as to believe that some mortal man was Father to Jesus, as well as to St. john the Baptist, and to the Prophet Elias; But St. Peter, who already came to understand the secrets of his Master, made a public confession, and an open acknowledgement of his Divine Filiation. Ah! Peter, replies Jesus, My Father has discovered unto you the Mystery, and has told you that I had no Father on Earth. It is true then, that our Saviour has but one Heavenly Father; Christus non de substantia Spiritus Sancti, sed de potentia, nec generatione, sed jussione & benedictione conceptus est, D. Aug. ser. 6. de temp. tom. 10. But on Earth he is conceived of the Holy Ghost in the Sacred womb of the Virgin Mary; not by way of Emanation, as in the bosom of the Father: For as St. Augustin subtly remarks, He does not proceed from the Substance, but by the Power of the Holy Ghost, not by way of Generation, but by way of command and by Celestial Benediction. If we must thus speak of the Paternity of the Messiah in the Incarnation of the Eternal word, whom must we acknowledge to be the true Father of the second Child formed according to the model of the first: I say, that neither of both has a Father on Earth, and that the Holy Ghost has supplied the Office of a Father to both: For as the Angel Ambassador to assure the Virgin, (who having banished from her heart all love of Worldly Creatures,) could not comprehend how she could be a Mother; Luc. 1. v. 35. told her presently, Paraclitus autem Spiritus quem mittet Pater in nomine meo ille vos docebit omnia Joan. 4. v. 26. Ego rogabo patrem & alium paraclitum dabit vobis, ut m●neat vobiscumin aeternum Spiritum veritatis, ibid. v. 16. That the Holy Ghost should come upon her, that the Virtue of the most high should her, and that the Holy who should be born of her, should be called the Son of God; So our Saviour, before he mounted up to Heaven, assured his Apostles, who could not conceive the height of the Mysteries committed unto them, That he would send the Holy Ghost, who by the infusion of his Graces would come within our Hearts, pouring himself into our Souls; Alium paraclitum nominavit non juxta naturae differentiam sed juxta operationis diversitatem Didimus in Cathena. would frame them all according to the word Incarnate, to form thereof another Jesus Christ; That being so, may I not lawfully say that the Holy Ghost does perform the Duty and Parts of a Father to both. Non enim accepistis Spiritum servitutis iterum in timore, sed accepistis Spiritum adoptionis filiorum in quo clamamus Abba pater Rom. 48.1.16. This is St. Paul's Doctrine in his Epistle to the Romans, where, after he had said, That such as suffer the operation of the Spirit of God, are the Children of God set at liberty, and freed from all slavish fear: He Imprints in their hearts the same pretensions of Love which he had imprinted in the heart of Jesus, towards the recognizance of the one and self same Father, who both adopt them after the coming, and their receiving the Holy Ghost; an active Adoption which is particularly attributed to the Holy Ghost; for though that Grace and all her appurtenances are common Goods flowing from the liberal distributions of the whole Trinity; yet because Love is a property of the Holy Ghost, and as the Graces which we receive from him, are beams derived from that love, he reserves to himself those communications by right of property. The same Apostle goes on to confirm the certainty of that Adoptive Filiation, when he says, That the Holy Ghost gives Testimony to our Spirit, Ipse enim Spiritus, testimonium reddit Spiritui nostro quod sumus Filii Dei. Rom. 8. v. 16. that we are the Children of God, I know that our Adversaries giving a sinister interpretation to this passage, would fain say that this testimony gives them an assurance of Faith, Qui habet testimonium salvabitur, non damnabitur, eccè ergo Spiritus obligans adoptans & testificans. of the necessity of their Salvation; and that therefore their Conscience ought to be free from all fear; But it is to give the Lie to St. Paul, who speaking of himself in another place, dares not assure himself of his Justification, though his Conscience be without any remorse of Crime; Nicol. Gozram in hunc locum. his design was only to fortify our hopes, but still notwithstanding he will have us, to work out our Salvation with fear and Trembling. 1 Cor. cap. 4. For this Testimony is not of Faith, nor of Infallibility, but of conjecture only and of moral confidence: St. Basil gives you the form of it; Basil. in reg. Brevioribus interog. 296. For some one ask him the question, what certainty could we have of being the Children of God? he answers; That if (laying our hand to our breast,) we can say with David, I hate Iniquity, I have cherished, and always fulfilled the Law, I have praised my Creator seven times a day, at midnight my custom is, and always was, to get up and confess my sins, I did ever shun bad Company, and had always Justice for the Rule of my Actions; or else, if we find that we have the three conditions quoted by St. Bernard, Bern. de 4. orandi modis. viz. A Spirit elevated towards Heaven, a Body subject to reason, and an ardent desire to advance still in Virtue; If you find yourself so composed, you may lawfully conceive a moral certainty of your Salvation, but never look further for an Infallible certainty, which might bring you to a false Peace, an enemy to your Salvation, which ought to be wrought out with fear and diffidence. This was St. Gregory's advice to the noble Matron Gregoria, who instantly prayed him to give her satisfaction in this point; Daughter, says he, you tell me, Rem & difficilem & inutilem postulasti: difficilem quidem, quia indignus ego sum cui revelatio fieri debeat: Inutilem vero quia secura de peccatis tuis fieri non debes, nisi cum jam in die vitae tuae ultimo, plangere eadem peccata non vobis. D. Greg. l. 6. epist. ep. 186. that you will not let me rest, until that I do assure you, that your Sins are forgiven you, and that hereafter you may presume to be the Adoptive Daughter of the Holy Ghost; your demand is both difficult and without profit; difficult, because that I hold myself unworthy of the honour and privilege of having Revelations; without profit, for you ought not to hope nor desire the infallible assurance of the remission of your Sins, until the last breath of your life be spent, when you shall have no more the power to be sorry for them. Look at St. Paul, who, though rapt up to the third Heavens, where he had so many Revelations, yet he Chastises his Body, and Mortifies his Flesh, for fear, That Preaching to others, he should become a Reprobate himself: And you that creep like a worm on Earth, would you fain live in Security! That is not reasonable, dear and wellbeloved Daughter; too great a security is the Mother of Carelessness; he that will not watch, having his enemy hard by, does expose himself to the danger of losing his Life; we must be always upon our Guard so long as we have occasion for Fight. Though these Verities cannot be contradicted, and that the Testimony which our Spirit may give us to be the Children of God, Quod testimonium reddit per effectum amoris filialis quem in nobis faciat, D. Thom. in hunc locum. is not Infallible; however That ought not to be taken but as to Us, and in the knowledge which we may have of it; but as for the Holy Ghost, it is most certain of a certainty of Faith; that supposing the Grace of God in a man, he is truly the adopted Son of the Holy Ghost; because Grace cannot proceed but from that Eternal beginning, St. James is of the same opinion; for he says, That all gifts come from above; whence it follows, that not finding a Father on Earth for this second Child, we may justly derive his Pedigree from Heaven. CHAP. IU. That there is in this Nativity, a supposed Father, as well as in that of Jesus. SOme would fain take away from St. Joseph the Title of Lawful Spouse of our Blessed Lady, because he was not the true Father of our Lord Jesus; perhaps they grounded themselves on that Ancient Tradition quoted by St. John Damascene, Nicephorus, Damasc. lib. de fide 15. Nicephor. ex Euodio. lib. 1. cap. 7. Andreas Cret. orat. de dormitione virg. Andrew of Crete & other Authors, viz. That the Virgins which were kept in the Temple, when they came to be Marriageable, were to be returned home to their Parents houses; But because that the Parents of the Blessed Virgin were already deceased; the Priests, to whom it belonged to provide for them in that case, thought it fit to deliver her over to Joseph, only to be Guardian of her Chastity; That Tradition might be further Authorised by some certain Expression that the Fathers make use of; as St. Chrysologue, Josephus maritus solo nomine, conscientia sponsus. Chrysol. ser. 175. D. Bern. Hom. 2. in Evang. Missus. who calls Joseph a Husband by Name, and a Spouse by Conscience; as St. Bernard who gives him the Title of Man, because he was a Man of Virtue, and no Married Man, I grant that Joseph is not the true, Filius ut putabatur Joseph Luke 1. but the supposed Father only of our Lord; Yet it cannot be concluded thence, that he was not the Lawful Spouse of our Lady, such bad Philosophy might bring us to stumble and totter in our Faith; for the words of St. Luke are to be understood literally; where it is said, Suarez in 3 part Tom. 2. q, 29. disp. 7. sect. 1. That the Angel Gabriel is sent to Mary, Spouse to a man by Name Joseph. Theology teaches us to distinguish three considerable things in Marriage, viz. The Contract, the Cohabitation, and the Use; the Contract is a mutual Consent of both Parties, who do engage themselves willingly by a mutual Protestation of Marriage; the Cohabitation is when both come to live together, with a Resolution to partake each of them jointly, the Labours and Toils of a Family; and the use is the Power which both parties have to concur unanimously to the lawful Propagation of their Generation: That last part, (without speaking of the second) is not of the Essence of Marriage, as you may find in the Decree of Eugenius, in the Council of Florence, and in the four and twentieth Session of that of Trent; and reason makes it appear; for in the Marriage of Adam, which was a true Marriage, whilst they were in the Terrestrial Paradise, it is most evident, they came not to enjoy the Rights of that Society: So that the mutual consent of Wills, without the use; completing essentially Marriage, Joseph must be the true Spouse of Mary, though he be but the supposed Father of Jesus. 'Tis an Honour, and the ground of all his greatness; for if St. Gregory Nazianzen, willing to comprehend (in short) all what could be said to the advantage of his Brother-in-Law, was content to conclude with these words, Supremumscalae gradum cui Dominus innixus est Joseph obtinet, sed quomodo Deus & Dominus huic homini inixus est? utique tanquam tutori pupillus, quip qui in hoc mundo sine pater natus est. Ruper. l. 3. de divin. of. & l. 1. de glor. & hon. fill. hom. That he was the Husband of Gorgonia; so it is enough to say, that Joseph is the supposed Father of Jesus, for to comprehend in few words all that ever could be invented to set forth his praise, and extol his merit; This made the Abbot Rupert, (comparing the Genealogy of our Saviour to jacob's Ladder,) say, That Joseph was the last step thereof, and that on that step Jesus does rest himself sweetly, as the Orphan in the Arms of his Guardian; who, though he be not his Natural Father, must perform the Duty of a Father to him, as well to relieve the Mother in her necessities, as to Foster and Cherish the Child to the utmost of his Power. That being granted, who shall be the supposed Father of the Child of Grace, and of the Soul formed on the Word-Incarnate, by the operation of the Holy Ghost? Filioli mei quos iterum partutio donec formetur in vobis Christus, Gal. 4. v. 19 St. Paul would fain assume unto himself that Title of Honour, when he speaks these words, My little Children of whom I travail in Birth again until that Christ be formed in you. Quidnam aluo illo beatius fuit qui tales filios parere potuit, qui in se Christum haberent. D. Chrysost. tom. 5. hom. 10. de poenit. versus initium. My dear Reader, here is what deserves a serious consideration; to beget, is an Action of a Father, and yet the Child who is to proceed from that Generation, must be called Christ: It must be then, that St. Paul is not the true Father; for had he been the right Father, he must then have been called Paul, as he was; But having the name Christ, it must of necessity follow, that he is but the supposed Father; and as this Christ of whom St. Paul speaks, Deus unicum quem genuerat, & per quem cuncta creaverat, misit in hunc mundum ut non esset unus, sed fratres haberet adoptates. Aug. tract. 2 in cap. 1. joan. cannot be the proper Son of the Virgin Mary, to whom St. Joseph is supposed Father, as we have already said, we must conclude that he must be some other Christ like unto him, and his Brother by Adoption; This is what I call Child of Grace whom the Holy Ghost forms on the Word-Incarnate The Apostle explains, by the comparison of a Gardener, how this quality befits himself, I have planted, Apollo did water, Ego plantavi, Apollo rigavit, Deus autem incrementum dedit. 1 Cor. cap. 3. vers. 7. but God gave the Increase; and soon after he adds, That he who plants, as well as he who waters, are nothing, all the Honour ought to be referred to God, who gives the Increase; Petilian a Donatist falsifying these words of St. Paul, does construe them thus, I made a Proselyte in Christ, Apollo Baptised him, and God has confirmed what Apollo and I have done; this interpretation is bad, for betwixt Doing, and confirming what is done, there is great difference: Thus God both makes and creates the Tree, the Flowers and the Fruit; he does then something more than to confirm. But why should we trouble our Heads to find out the Apostle's meaning, being that he does explain himself: He hints at the Corinthians, who under colour of Piety gave overture to a Scandalous Schism; the one saying, that they belonged to Paul, others to Apollo, every one boasting to have had for Master in the Faith him who laboured most to work their Conversion; Are you not as yet, says he, Adhuc enim carnales estis cum enim sit inter vos zelos & contentio, nun carnales estis, & secundum hominem ambulantes, 1 Cor. v. 2. altogether flesh and blood? and your Thoughts are they not altogether humane? Do you know well what are Paul and Apollo? They are his Ministers to whom you have engaged your Faith, forsaking the Synagogues of the Jews to embrace the Gospel of Christ; they are Labourers, who Plant and Water, and nothing else; We are but simple Instruments, who can work no further than Outwardly: God is the only Agent and chief cause, who gives Life, Vigour, and a full accomplishment to the Spiritual Generation: As if he had said, he is the true Father, we are only the supposed. Coelest. Hier. cap. 3. Ea demum cuilibet Divinae distinctioni dedito, perfectio est pro modo suo ad Dei imitationem totis conatibus eniti, quodque praestantius omnibus est ac divinius, ut sacra testantur eloquia, Dei cooperatores fieri, divinamque in se operationem quantum potest palam cunctis ostendere, The Divine Areopagite extols highly the excellency of that supposed Paternity, by giving to those Evangelical persons, who labour for the Conversion of Souls, the Honour to be God's Co-adjutors in the Redemption of the World; For speaking of the Celestial Hierarchy, he says, That she makes it her employment to treat of Gods most high and Sacred Mysteries, as also to express in herself in as much as possible, his Divine operations, to communicate his Light to their subordinate Creatures; that is, (says he) the continual Study and Office of the Angels in Heaven; But that of Apostolical men on Earth is nothing inferior, being they are the men appointed by God to distribute and Communicate his Sacred Mysteries to his People. Ita que pontifex in dies ad dei similitudinem omnes homines salvos fieri cupiens & ad agnitionem venire veritatis, praedicat omnibus vera Evangelia. D. Dionis. Eccles Hierar. c 2. Statim initio. They are the true Imitators of his Divine operations: For to work the Conversion of a Sinner, what is it else, than to draw the Copy and Resemblance of our Saviour in a Soul? It is to Organize and prepare a heart to receive a Celestial Form which gives it life. The selfsame consideration moved St. Paul to speak thus to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. c. 4. v. 15 Nam si decem milia paedagogorum habeatis in Christo, sed non multos patres, cum in Christo Jesu per Evangelium ego vos genui. Though you may have ten thousand Pedagogues, yet you have but few Fathers; I am He who is your Father, for I have engendered you to Jesus by the Seed of the Gospel, wherein he makes a notable distinction between Pedagogy and Paternity: Verbum Dei est semen, quo Apostolus eos genuit verbo veritatis. D. Tho. hic. Pater est qui primo generat paedagogus autem est quijam natum nutrit & erudit. Id. Ibid. For though the one and the other have Infancy for Object: the Pedagogues design is to give them a slight Instruction, tending to I know not what of Civility and Humanity, to appear among the wise of the World: The Spiritual Father has other kind of Thoughts, for such as he begets to Jesus, they have nothing of Humane, nothing of the World, does Grace animate them, does Love conduct them, and Heaven is their only aim: And all that he pretends by the exercise of that Spiritual Discipline and Mystic Education, is to form many Children on the Word- Incarnate, and render them capable to sit one day with Honour and Glory at the Table of their Eternal Father. He that does otherwise, is condemned of Adultery by St. Gregory, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cauponantes. for commenting on the words of the Apostle, where he says, We are not as some people who Adulterate, or, according to the Greek Translation, Who cook up the word of God: Adulter quip, non prolem, sed voluptatem quaerit, sic perversus ac vanae gloriae serviens, rectè adulterari verbum Dei dicitur, quia per sacrum elo quium, non Deo filios gignere sed suam scientiam desiderat ostentare. D. Greg. l. 6. more. al. cap. 28. he remarks, That he is an Adulterer, who in the Sacrament of Marriage aims at nothing else but to cover and cloak the Insolency of the Flesh; and to enjoy at ease his Brutish Pleasures: Even so the Preacher ought to be esteemed an Adulterer, who in the Exercises of his Charge scorns the Spiritual Generation of the Children of God, but puffs up his heart with vain and foolish pretensions, and runs like a Thirsty Deer after the Applause and Praise of the People: These are the Infallible marks of a bad Faith, and of a worse Conscience. CHAP. V That the Delivery and Birth of this Child must be in Pain and Sorrow. IT is to offend the Catholic Belief, to give out, or believe that the Virgin Mary bore her Child Jesus in Pain and Sorrow: For to Groan is a Legacy left by our Forefathers to such as are Criminals only: The Virgin which never was attainted with the least spot, was never also condemned to the least Punishment; and though she has been the Mother of a Son of Sorrow, yet she was safely delivered of Him without the least feeling of either Pain or Sorrow. It is also to my thinking, Tostat. in c. 12. levit. 9 q. 24. a blemish to Christian Piety, to say, that her bearing of Jesus was accompanied with the emission of her Blood, which can hardly be done without Violence, Rupture, or Contusion; if that were so, Vide Suar. tom. 273. p. 935. disp. 13. sect. 2. how can we free her from Sorrow? Doubtless the Holy Ghost had so great a tenderness for that rare piece of work, as not to suffer that it should be born in the filth of a superfluous Blood, he had so great a care of both the Mother and Child, as not to have them to be exposed to the shame of that uncleanness, which is only incident to the Criminal and common race of Adam. No, no, her happy Delivery was without those Infections of Blood, she was far from those Infirmities of Nature, not only from those that are the punishments of Sin, but also from those which cannot subsist with the Holiness of this Mystery: Stulte unde sordes in Virgin Matre, ubi non est concubitus cum homine Patre. D. Aug. tract. 20. cont. faustum cap. 3. & lib. de 5. haeres. c. 5. It is a main folly, says St. Augustin, to look for dirt in a Virgin Mother, who never permitted the approaches of any Man-Father: And it is for that reason that she was not subject to the Laws of Purification, because, that in Breeding she was of the Nature of the Lilies, or, as St. Cpyrian will have it, Jesus proceeds from her Womb, Maria genitrix & obstetrix, nullus dolour, nulla naturae contumelia in hoc puerperio. D. Cyprian. ser. de nat. as the Fruit does from the Tree, and the Beams from the Sun; whence he concludes, That in this Sacred and secret business, she wanted not the assistance of a Midwife, because that all filth and Infection of Nature was far from her pure and spotless Childbirth. We must not think the same of the second Nativity; for if there be question to bring forth a Soul according to the model of the Word- Incarnate: If the term and time be come to expose this fruit to the view of the World, what violence, what pangs, what sorrows, what emissions of Blood must be and appear, and we must not think it strange, if the Mother that bears the Fruit be condemned to the sorrows of Childbearing; this Truth shall appear more in its lustre, if we will but understand who is that Mother of sorrow. God has appeared to be nothing less provident in the order of the Generation of Grace, than he has been in that of the Generation of Nature; for even as he provided Women of a Vessel fit for the reception of matter, whereof their fruit is formed and organised to a certain time of increase; at which they are brought by the powerful and provident hand of God, to breath and enjoy at their ease the common life; so says St. Ambrose, Ita est quaedam virtus animae, unae velut quodam vulvae genitalis secreto, cogitationum nostratum suscipere semina, conceptus fovere partes solet edere, harum gerationum quaedam foeminine sunt, quaedam masculinae, etc. D. Amb. li. 1. de Cain. & Abel cap. 10. infine. God has put in the Soul of Man a certain Virtue, as a Vessel to receive the Seed of Good Thoughts and Heavenly Inspirations, whereof is formed and organised the fruit of Life, which often miscarries by the common corruption of Nature; so that often it falls out, that among those Generations, some are Feminine, others Masculine: The Feminine are Malice, Wantonness, Lechery, Intemperance, Impudence: The Masculine are Chastity, Patience, Prudence, Temperance, Force and Justice. In the following Book he continues to give an advice, which may very much import to that sort of Generation, and this is it, never to delay or put off our delivery, for fear that the same misfortune, which our Saviour threatens us with in St. Luke, Festina igitur anima, etc. paulo inferius, & in illo genitali alvo animae nostrae Christus refulgeat. D. Amb l. 2. de Cain & Abel. c. 1. Statim initio. should fall on our heads, for our overmuch delay to bring forth our fruit into Light: He will have us with all our force to press on that Celestial formation, to be the sooner happy to see a Beautiful Sweet Jesus, who with his Charms may banish from our hearts the remembrance of what labours and toil we were in to produce him. Sicut quae concipit cum appropin quaverit ad partum, dolens clamat in doloribus suis sic facti sumus a faciae tua Domine concepimus & quasi parturivimus Spiritum (salutis.) Isa. c. 26. v. 17. That being supposed, it is easy to make out, that the Childbearing of a true Conversion, is always accompanied with grief: The Prophet I say is my Author for it: Even as the Woman, (says he,) who is near her time, and oppressed with the pangs and pains of her Labour, roars out, weeps and laments her distressed state and condition; so O Lord, before your face we are become to bring forth the Spirit of our Salvation, as if he had said in plainer terms, Lord you have been eye-witness of our Sterility, you have seen how could we were, and how slow to receive and make good use of your Admonishments, what an undervalue we have always set on your Inspirations and Graces; this has brought on our criminal and guilty heads a deal of afflictions and crosses, Paulus non semel sed bis filios parturivit, & clamavit dicens filioli mei quos iterum pariurio, id adeo mulier nunquam pateretur neque susferret eosdem iterum dolores, sed tolerabat hell Paulus quoth in natura non est videri: nam & annum totum saepe numero parturivit Paulus atque haud conceptos peperit. D. Chrysol. to. 5. hom. 10. de poenit. vers. 5. principium. which have pressed down our bodies to Misery, and replenished our Souls with Grief and Sorrow. It has brought from our Eyes bitter Tears, and in this excess of our Grief and Sorrow, we have conceived and produced the Spirit of Salvation, which undoubtedly had otherwise perished in our hearts, as well as the Fawn in her Dam's belly, had not the noise and thundering of your Treatning hastened her safe delivery. The great and mighty Cry which our Saviour gave upon the Cross at the Sealing up of his Life with that heavy Sigh, by which, as another Rachel at the expiration of her nine Months, he engendered Sinners, the Children of his main Grief and Sorrow, is a sufficient strong argument to make you believe that you shall never purchase Heaven, nor attain to any considerable stock of Virtue but by the Touchstone of Mortification and Penance; For if Heaven suffers Violence, and that the Son of God had it upon that account, how can we pretend to it at a cheaper rate. Whatever way you look upon this Spiritual Generation, it can never be accomplished without Grief: For first, if you look upon the Soul when she receives the first Seed of the word of God; what trouble, what pains she is in, to conceive the Fruit of Life, what resistance she finds in herself to a strong resolution of Amendment. A little more of my Unlawful Pleasures, says St. Augustin; to morrow; to morrow, I will withdraw from the World, and quit all my evil Inclinations; but why not this day? See the Battle, re-mark the resistance; we ought to stand always in fear of some bad issue in us of the word of God; seeing we are so backward to receive it, Nec statim finis industriae, addidisse; sed tunc alterius laboris exord●um est, ut lactentem infantiam sedulis nutrimentis & studiis usque ad plenam Christi perducat aetatem. D. Hier. in c. 3. ad Galat. so unwilling to entertain it, and so prone to blot it clear out of our hearts: Moreover, what pains is man at to bring this fruit to perfection, when once conceived; he must have it always in his arms, wrapped it up in Clouts, give it the Tunick of a right intention, and the double Vest of Charity, until that it comes to the perfect Age of Jesus. But if this Seed be cast on a malicious and stony Heart, what violence must there be to bring that fruit of Life to Perfection, and tear asunder the obdurate Skin and Sinews of that rusty body of our inveterate malice: What streams of Blood must run from the Mother's Womb, and what cruel Gripe must she suffer before she comes to be delivered, no love for the World, nor there must be no Friendship for Flesh and Blood; These are the preparations absolutely required by the Prophet-Royal to make this new born Child appear in his full lustre to the World; Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me. Psal. 118. The number of my Sins, (says he,) has made up for my poor Soul a net of Ropes, wherein all Inspirations from Heaven are entangled and Putrified, Putruerunt & corruptae sunt cicatrices meae à facie insipientiae meae. Psal. 37. v. 6. as if they had fallen into a most rotten Sink. My continual folly, and my re-iterating so often my Crimes, has thoroughly corrupted my Sores, but my Remedy is near at hand, a True Repentance to have ever offended so Patiented and Merciful a God, and therefore by the assistance of his Holy Grace, I will break lose the Cords of all my Abominations and Crimes; Laboravi clamans raucae factae sunt fauces meae. Psal. 68 v. 4. and will cry and call so long to the Heavens for relief to my weak endeavours, that my Voice shall become altogether Hoarse: Was ever poor man so entangled in the Ropes of his Old Imperfections, as St. Augustine was? But was ever poor man so perplexed? or did ever any man labour so much to get lose, as he did, in his Confessions he would move a stony heart to compassion; Here you may see him stretched on the ground, and suffer as much as one troubled with a Wind-colic, there you may perceive him get up of a sudden, as one troubled with a Convulsion-fit, here the running streams of his bitter tears make a channel from his Eyes over all his Face, there he lies in his sad dumps without any feeling; he goes, Ecce intus eras, & ego foris, & ibi te quaerebam & in ista formosa quae fecisti defermis irruebam me cum eras, & iterum non eram: vocasti & clamasti, & rupisti suditatem meam, fragrasta & duxi S●ritum & anhelo tihi, gustani & esurio, tetigisti me & exarsi in pacem tuam. D. Aug. tom. 1. lib. 10. confess c. 27. per totam. he comes, he speaks like one Distracted, he is so tormented with his evil, he calls God to his assistance, he arms himself with Impatience against himself, his Spirit sets him on, but his Flesh retains him, he will and will not, and by not willing what he wills, he puts himself to a deal of pain; he sees that he must of necessity Break lose with the Devil, if he aims to serve God, and enjoy his Glory: But the old acquaintance of Ladies, those alluring and deceitful pleasures of the World (heretofore his greatest Joy and only Recreation,) now look at him with a Smiling countenance, and renew his wounds to make him miscarry. Augustin, your doleful expressions moves me to compassion; but you must have Patience. It's a Sentence pronounced at the Bar, and by the Conclave of the Blessed Trinity, that your Delivery must be with Grief and Sorrow, and that you must undergo a great deal of hardship if you do intent to bring forth another Jesus on the Model of the Word-Incarnate. CHAP. VI That this Sorrowful Delivery is the Accomplishment of the Word-Incarnate. ACcomplishment is a term, and a way of speaking much used by Philosophers to express the last perfection of each Nature, either in the constitution of her bare Being, or in the further flourishing or ornament of her wellbeing; And as in the division of Being's there are found four sorts, Metaphysical, Physical, Moral and Artificial; so each has his accomplishment, as well Essential as Accidental: I do not here take the word Accidental in its rigorous signification, for that which can be, and not be, without the corruption of its subject; but only for all that does not enter into the precise constitution of the Essence: Let us leave those terms to Philosophers. Let us come to the point, and say that the Incarnation may be reduced to many states: First, if we do consider it in the Eternal and Infinite Conceptions of God, not as yet determined by the difference of times, than its Essential accomplishment shall be God's Eternal determination of the same (viz.) That among many other means which he might make choice of for to work the Redemption of man, he resolved the Incarnation of his dearly beloved Son, with an obligation of Suffering, which determination puts a stop to all other possible ways of Redemption to bring it to that of a Suffering and Crucified Love. And in so doing, I may reduce the Incarnation to a Metaphysical state: But the Physical state is that Hypostatical Union ever to be Adored, which has joined together in the fullness of time those Extremities so far asunder, the Divine and Humane Nature; and which has given us the Divine Child Jesus and only delights of mankind for to put in Execution that work so much importing the Welfare and Happiness of all Mortals. The Incarnation in its Moral Being, Haurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus Salvatoris, Is. 12. v. 3. is the wonderful Virtue of the Divine Sacraments, which the Prophet-Royal calls, The Fountains of our Saviour, whence we ought to receive with joy the Waters of Grace, which may conduce us to an everlasting Life: So Baptism that represents his Death, the Eucharist his Birth, the Sacrament of Penance his Resurrection, are Moral Causes, which by their formal Effects, the Essential accomplishment of their Nature confers us Grace by the Virtue of the first Agent, to whom they are only Instruments. As for the Artificial Incarnation, they are the amorous inventions of the Holy Ghost, which bring along with them as many particular differences, as they have divers Motives to bring us to good: And as the Painter's design is never to leave off until he completes the Pourtract according as he conceived it in his mind; even so the Holy Ghost whom our Saviour does promise to send to his Church, has for the Sacred Object of his employment; to labour with so much Industry to the Conversion of sinners, that he will never give over his undertaking, until he forms in our hearts the perfect image of Jesus; unless we do oppose him so far by our evil ways, as to oblige him to withdraw his hand from us, as from a piece of work altogether incapable of his impressions. Delens quid adversum not erat chirographum decreti quo erat contrarium nobis & ipsum tulit de medio affigens illud cruci, Col. c. 2. v. 14. The Incarnation in its essential accomplishment is brought so far to its last Perfection, that no more can be added to it; for the Essences are like numbers, which suffer no further Addition, without an alteration of their Species; Jesus has paid our Ransom in rigour of Justice: The Title fixed on the Cross in all Languages makes it out, says St. Paul; He found us a Sovereign Remedy to Cure us of all our Evils; Justitia Dei per fidem Jesu Christi in omnes & super omnes qui credunt in eum. Rom. c. 3. v. 22. there is nothing wanting on his side to the general good of our Redemption; but in as much as the general merit of the Incarnation, before it brings to any one the particular efficacy of its influences, does include an actual application on our side, as an absolute condition of Contract, the which not being performed, does make all void; we may say that its accidental Accomplishment is performed by the actual application of this general remedy; without which the Passion of the Son of God, though of Infinite Merit in itself, shall be to me altogether unprofitable; so that I shall remain in Darkness, and sit in the shadow of Death, if I do not by a special concurrence of my liberty work efficatiously the accomplishment of my own Salvation. St. Paul comprehends all what I have said in few words; A dimpleo ea quae desunt passionibus Christi. Colos. c. 1. v. 24 I do fulfil (says he) what things are wanting to the Passion of Christ: I know that the Heretic Besa on a Commentary, falsely Fathered upon St. Ambrose, instead of these words, I fulfil the things that are wanting, sets down, I fulfil the rest; but his explication is groundless and without any reason, being that (the rest) means something of an abundance, and a surplus of a full sum; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. It does also import a great deal of ignorance of the very Rudiments of Grammar; for the Greek word in its natural signification is only taken for a defect or want of some accidental Perfection, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. which is further explained by the word Accomplish, which in the Greek is taken as well for to Accomplish, as for to Supply what is wanting of any thing. The Angelical Doctor St. D. Tohm. hic in comment. Thomas takes this Accomplishment of what is wanting for a part of the Eternal Decree not as yet fulfilled; which are the Merits and Co-operation of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ. The Head who is Jesus, and whose Merits are Infinite, has acquired his last Perfection; but his Members who are his Faithful Sons, and who by proportion must have their particular merits, receive not their Accomplishment but by measure, and according as they do suffer with Christ. Usque adeo praesentibus non terreor persecutionibus, ut mihi parum esse videatur quod patior quoadusque in me passio impleatur D. Hier. in c. 1 ad Colos. It is therefore St. Paul says, That he does supply the part which is wanting of that Eternal Decree, by afflicting his own Body; and that, without any intermission, as St. Jerome remarks, until that the Passion of Christ be fully completed, and accomplished in him. Arboreus taking the matter in another Sense, says, that the Apostles and the Evangelical persons, who by the obligation of their Charge are called to the Conversion of Souls, Idcirco hunc bonorum omnium, autorem pro ratione nostri officij praedicamus, suscipimus & extollimus, monentes unum quemque ut studeat pro viribus in Christo perfectus evadere. Arbor●s in c. 1. Col. have for Employment to go over all the World with the Son of God's Decrees and Orders, and to supply in men's hearts the Sacrament of their particular Conversion in the Absence of Jesus, who is no more on earth by his Corporal and Visible Presence: Would you not say, to hear this Doctor speak, that he takes Jesus for a great Physician, and that he looks upon the Apostles and Preachers as so many Apothecaries. Jesus, before he died, did fix his Receipts for our Salvation upon the Cross: The Apostles peruse them, compose the Medicines, and give it to the Sick to be taken. Venancius Fortunatus to parallel the two Apostles, S. Peter and S. Paul, calls them the Gates of Heaven and the two Lanterns of the Universe, who by Orders from Heaven bring Light over all the World, and labour to accomplish what is wanting to the Passion of the Son of God: The one pours out of his Mouth Inflaming Words to bring the good to a high Perfection; the other lets fly from his Pulpit Thunders to frighten Sinners: St. Peter holds the first Place by virtue of his Charge and Supremacy; but St. Paul surpasses him by his Profound Doctrine and Preaching; as many as the one acquires by force of his Arguments and rare Eloquence, Corda per hunc hominum referantur, & astra per illum. Quos docet ille stylo, suscipit iste polo. Fort. l. 3. Carmin●m. (as chief Orator of the Church;) the other receives them into Glory, as appointed Porter of Heaven by Jesus Christ; and both strive with a Holy Emulation, who shall best fill the Vacant Seats of the Revolted Angels with Souls Converted by them to a True Repentance. These things supposed, I may lawfully say, without any offence to the Maxims of Theology, that this Delivery is the Accomplishment of the Word-Incarnate; being that without the actual application of the Infinite Merits of our Saviour, which is the main scope of all his Sufferings, the Incarnation had been altogether unprofitable to each one in particular; though most sufficient of itself to work the general Redemption of mankind: So the Beams of the Sun, though they be of their own nature capable to Heat and Enlighten yet they cannot work those effects on Bodies that will not admit of their Influences. CHAP. VII. That it is the Angel of Great Council who brings to the Soul the Word of her Conversion. D. Thom. 22. q. 174. IT is certain that our Blessed Virgin was throughly instructed in the Mystery of the Incarnation in general; however she knew not that herself in particular was appointed to be the Mother of the Emanuel, Spiritualem conceptionem Christi, quae est per fidem, praecedit annunciario, quae est per fidei praedicationem, secundum quod fides est ex audita. D. Tho. 3. p. q. 30. art. 1. ad cum. whose wonders she might have read of in Scripture: It is the same case with man, though he receives no Ambassador to reveal unto him the Spiritual Conception of Jesus in his Heart, he has notwithstanding the Faith, which obliges him to believe that Grace is sufficient to operate that wonder, though he be not assured by an Infallible certainty of its real possession. However it was becoming and convenient that an Angel-Embassador should be dispatched towards the Virgin, Citatus hic á D. Tho. art. 2. in corpore. Acceptum humanae restarationis principium ut Angelus á Deo mitteretur ad virginem partu consecrandam divino, quia prima perditionis humanae fuit causa, cum, serpens a diabolo mittebatur ad mul●erem Spiretu superbiae decipiendam. as well to reveal unto her the Decree of her Maternity, as also to get her consent, to the end it should be put in Execution. It is by that way that the reparation of Mankind should begin, says Venerable Bede, That an Angel should be sent to the Virgin, who was to be Consecrated by a delivery altogether Divine; because that another Angel under the shape of a Serpent had deceived the first Woman with the Spirit of Pride, using all ways and Inventions possible to make her the accomplice of his Perfidiousness; so the Archangel made use of all the most pregnant Reasons he could afford, to draw from the Virgin that Ecce, the most Happy Source of our Salvation. He does insinuate himself into her Favours by an extraordinary Salutation, and never as yet practised, says Origen, for pronouncing the sweet Name of Mary, he Honours her with three rare and wonderful Qualities, Fullness of Grace, Divine Communication, Singular Benediction; immediately he makes the Narrative of his Embassy, discovers the Intention of the Prince who sent him, the great advantages of the Dignity to which she is called, the Grandeur and Excellency of the Fruit of her Womb: and in fine, for conclusion, in few words after the fashion they treat with Great Folks, he exhorts her to give her consent to all this Sacred Progress; by the example of St. Elizabeth; who, by Divine Power, was made Fruitful in her Sterility; That being done, the Virgin Consents, the word is given, the Mystery is accomplished, and God is become flesh Contracting with Humane Nature. The matter is otherwise carried on in our Conversions, Notas facite in populis adventiones ejus isaiah 12. v. 4. an Angel must not suffice to bear the employment, there must be a narrow search made in the secret Cabinet of the Infinite Wisdom to find extraordinary Inventions to bring a sinner to give his Consent to his own Salvation; Concilia, cogitationes, vias, & molimina ejus in redemptione generis humani. Cornel hic. The Prophet Isaih will have the Sacred Mystery of those Divine Inventions Preached over all the World, all which inventions may be reduced to three things, which if you will but Faithfully observe, you will never do amiss: The wise sets them down thus, Eternal Verity, Opportune Council, and the Crowing of the Cock: Eternal Verity, as being without any Error: Opportune Coouncel, as conducing to a good end: The Crowing of the Cock, because it awakes us from Sleep, which is the Image of Death: And yet notwithstanding, all those Inventions are for the most part Fruitless, and without taking any effect in man, though often represented and Preached efficaciously to him. Here I find what is very strange, that one Fiat, draws all the World out of nothing: One, I will have it so, conserveses it in its Existence; one Ecce brings down the only and dearly beloved Son of God from his Father's Breast to his Servants Womb: Three words of four Letters, Fiat, Volo, Ecce, works such high Mysteries without any opposition, or difficulty; and the whole Volume of Holy Scriptures, infallibly Dictates of the Holy Ghost, together with the secret Inspirations of his Love, are not able to compass the Conversion of one obstinate Soul: The Power of the Father Creates, the Wisdom of the Son Conserves; the Goodness of the Holy Ghost animates all things: But as to the Justification of an Obdurate Sinner, though the three Divine Persons contribute with all their Activity to it; yet the Power of the Father is there without fear; the Wisdom of the Son without Belief; and the Goodness of the Holy Ghost without Love. Liber literis exaratur palam contestans gloriam dei. The Father's Inventions in the Creation of the World to have himself obeyed, are wonderful, being that as St. Basil says, All Creatures are as a great Volume written in very large Characters, wherein all those Divine Wills and Pleasures are highly published. Adam after his dismal Fall is condemned to the labouring of the Earth, a Mystical punishment, to the end that he who would not obey his Creator, by the motives of Justice, should learn of this Terrestrial Element, (which being laboured, brings forth Fruit in due Season;) how far less Rebellious is the Earth to the Stock and Plough, than is an Obdurate Heart to receive the Inspirations of Heaven. What can be more attractive than the amorous Inventions of the Son of God, as well in the Examples of his Life, whilst he conversed amongst us, as in the proofs which he left us of his Love when he withdrew his visible presence from us: His Sacred Body exposed on our Altars; is that Preacher and Master mentioned by St. Laurence Justinian, Christus praeceptor est, & apertas codex, in quo legendo & meditando, universa virtutum disciplina ediscitur. Justinian l. 2. de humilit. c. 12. who holds a Book in his Hand heretofore opened on the Cross, but now covered in the blessed Sacrament with the appearance of Bread and Wine, Book of Life, Copy of Truth, Mirror of Perfection: It is there the Proud may learn, and fully conceive the just motives of his profound Humiliation at the sight of a God so low brought down for his sake; It is there that the Sensual man, plunged in his daily Dirt and Infections, shall find a strong Target against all the assaults of the Flesh, if he will but smell to this Odoriferous Flower which sprung from a Virgin's Womb; it is there you may hear the voice of Heaven, and whence every Sinner may have a present remedy for all his Distempers; for it is the Storehouse of that Sovereign Esculape, where nothing is wanting for the necessity of men. But if Love be Inventive, Ingenious, full of Artifice, Plato in Symposio. nay a Magician in some respects, as Plato says, And that the Holy Ghost be Love by Essence; what Artifice will he not make use of to engage us in the hot pursuit of his goodness, he will distribute his Gifts largely, and with all Hands, he will Court us with Compliments of Honour and Grace, his Words will be Sweeter than Honey: Nothing but Visits by day whilst the Sun shines; Visits also at Night by Torches, to make his Love appear in his Lustre and with all its Allurements. O my God cap. 2. v. 1, 2, 3. & seqq. Filii hominis, mitto te ad filies Israel gentes Apostatrices quae recesserunt á me ipsi & parts eorum praevaricati sunt pactum meum usque in diem h●●c. what a deal of Ceremonies to purchase the Love and good will of a Sinner: You would say that the Prophet Ezekiel makes God weary, and loath to continue his Employment any longer, seeing what little Prophet he reaps by it: Son of man, says he, to this Prophet, stand up and get you gone to the Children of Israel, tell them that they are all Apostates, Rebels, Impudents, Incorrigible, a company of Scorpions; but fear them not, I will have you to Announce unto them the day of my Indignation, and how I am resolved to destroy them all in the Justice of my rigour, being they refused to follow me in the Sweetness of my often Invitations. These threatening words would trouble me much, Arcum meum ponam in nubibus & erit signum foederis inter me & iter terram. Genes. 9 v. 13. Ego sum Dominus Deus tuus fortis, zelotes. Exod. 20. v. 5. Dominus zelotes nomen ejus Deus est emulator. Exod. 33.14. but that since the placing of the Rainbow in the Clouds in sign of Alliance, that is to say, since the extension of Jesus Christ on the Cross, a Mystical Bow truly bended, but without any Arrows: Scripture assures me, that all Gods Threaten are the Counterfeit Frowns of a Loving Father, rather than the Rigorous Sentence of an angry Judge; but I will stand to the Title and Quality which Moses gives him of a Jealous God, of a God of Emulation; for that Quality becomes Him, not only because he pulls down Altars set up for Idols against his Honour, but chief by reason of his Indignation, to see Satan received and seated with a great deal of Authority in the Hearts of men, whom he had bought with the effusion of his precious Blood. This affront brings him to conceive a jealousy, and to exhaust (if it were lawful to term it so) all the most secret Inventions of his Saintly passionate heart to recover the Favours of a Sinner, gain his Affections, and become peaceable possessor of that Inheritance, which is his by so many just Titles. St. Augustin, that incomparable Wit, seduced by the vain opinion he had of his own Learning. St. Paul. that fiery Courage in the height of his Indiscreet Zeal: And poor Magdalen altogether drowned in Flesh and Blood: One made Apostle of the Gentiles, and Vessel of Election; the other a great Saint, and the Eagle of Doctors; the third changed unto a Type of a True Repentance fed by the Hands of Angels with Flames from Heaven; can give this testimony to all Nations, that there is no Heart can withstand the earnest and strong pursuits of Jesus, when that he is pleased to take in hand his Conversion. And therefore let us look for no other Ambassador but Jesus, the Angel of great Council and only delight of man: The Archangel Gabriel had but a Humane Body in appearance, when he came to make his Compliment to the Virgin Mary, this was not enough to know the Inclinations of Man: But our Saviour having conversed here amongst us as one of ourselves, he knew our Humours, he remarked our Customs, Scientia experimentali. and learned by what persuasions he might overcome the hardness of our Hearts: The following discourses will make appear how he concurs to the Conversion of Sinners, as well by Himself, as by second Causes. God of his Infinite mercy, grant that this first part, which is all employed to set down the divers Motives which God makes use of, to bring us to Cooperate with his Graces, may meet in you (dear Reader) that tenderness of Heart which may bring you to resolve with the Prophet thus; Eccé paratum cor meum Deus, eccé paratum cor meum. Psal. 107. v. 1. my God, behold my Heart is prepared, come when you please, you shall be received. CHAP. VIII. That it belongs to God alone to Convert a Soul. IT is no sufficient acknowledgement of what great Obligations we have to God, to pay him only our bare respects, and lay down at his feet the slender Tribute of our Homage, for what Graces and Favours we received at his Hands, since ever the Planets with their constant course began to measure out the year into Seasons for the advantage and satisfaction of man: We must dive into the Register-Office of Eternity; there we shall find the chief motive of our Thanksgiving, and whereby to make appear to all Creatures, how Noble and ancient is the Extraction of Man; being that the first thought of his Creation is conceived at once with the generation of the Word, and that the care which God the Father had of Humane Nature was before the Institution and order of times, the object of his Love and knowledge: For bringing together within the fecundity of his memory, all intelligible Objects, as well without as within his Divine Essence, to make them in himself the Object of his knowledge, which finds no other rest or settlement but his Eternal Word, he knows them all in the Order and Excellency of their Nature, without the least confusion of Thoughts. And because that among all intelligible Creatures, Man has by right the second degree of Excellency to Angels; Man and Angel have been the Object of the Father's Eternal Knowledge, and consequently of his Love; For as the knowledge of the possible Being of Man enters into the Generation of the Word, so his Love meets in the production of his Holy Ghost; for all that is Intelligible verity to his understanding, is at the same instant a lovely Object to his Will. This is it that moved God in the difference of times to give us four remarkable proofs of his Eternal Care: The first, he brings Man from nothing by Creation: The second, when that Man had forgot his Respects to his Creator, he resolves to repair his loss, by uniting Humane Nature to the Divine in the Incarnation of his Son: The third, he prepares for him in Heaven an Immortal Crown, in order to enjoy for ever in Glory the sight of his Divine Essence: And the fourth, when that by his Actual Sin he shall come to lose all right to that Glory, by the loss of present Justice in this Life, he offers him the means of a Repentance, by the Feelings he gives him of his Conversion. All these aforesaid Actions are the worthy Employments of his Divinity; but the Conversion of a Sinner, of all seems the chiefest; as for the Creation, it was as it were necessary, or at least most convenient that God should give actual Existence to Man, being that his possibility was in his Thoughts from all Eternity; otherwise it might be said That Power was faulty, being not reduced to Act: To assign him a state of Glory, where after his Pilgrimage he might find his Centre and final Settlement; that follows immediately the way of acting of the first Principle, who at the same instant, as he gives Being to a Creature, gives him his Settlement and final rest. As for the Hypostatical Union in the Incarnation, perhaps the design was taken in the most Sacred Conclave of the Blessed Trinity before the Fall of Adam; Besides it was reasonable that the Son should raise the Honour of the Father, very much interessed in the loss of Man, the Noblest Masterpiece that ever came from his hands, if he had remained without remedy after his Offence. But as for the Conversion of a Sinner in particular, and after the re-establishment of Humane Nature by the general remedy of Redemption, common to all men, to undertake as yet his conduct and the transporting of him from the state of his actual Sin to that of Grace; 'tis the effect of his Infinite Love; I must confess, but it is also an Employment worthy of his Divinity, reserved for Jesus alone. Reason makes it out, for we say that the resemblance makes things known, the World is the Work of God and known for such, because its Perfections bear the resemblance and Portrait of its Maker: Grace which has Converted the Sinner comes far nearer to the Likeness of God; for what goodness could render the Soul good, make her partaker of God's Grace, and the Object of his Sovereign Love? What Power could give her a Right to Heaven, or to any part of its Glory? what cause could procure her Eternal Felicity without any limitation or bounds? but an Infinite Goodness, a first Cause, Primique referret luminis effigiem sanctaque imitamina formae. Greg Naz. carm. 4. an Eternity by Essence. St. Gregory thinking on the employment that God had before the world's creation, what was his occupation and pastime; says, that, all his study was to render his perfections communicable: but his perfections are all represented to the life in the conversion of a Soul; consequently the worthiest employment that God had before the World's creation, out of himself, was, to manage the conversion of Souls, and think of means to bring to pass so noble an undertaking in the difference of time. Quos praescivit & predestinavit conformes fieri imaginis filij sui, ut sit ipse primogenitus in multis fratribus. Rom. 8. v. 19 I do ingeniously confess that the first and chief employment of the Eternal Fathers, is to produce his only Son, and to love him; But after that the most honourable employment his goodness could ever make choice of, is to produce outwardly Children, by the most Noble Generations that can be imagined, without any prejudice to the pre-eminency of his first Paternity; to wit, in unity of supposit and love: the first born of his Children is Jesus: The rest of men are younger Brothers, Sicut Deus pater suam naturalem bonitatem voluit aliis communicare perticipando eis similitudinem suae bonitaris ut non solus sit bonus, sed etiam actor bonorum ita filius Dei voluit conformitatem suae filiationis, ut non solus sit ipse filius, sed etiam primogenitus filiorum. D. Tho. in hunc locum Pauli. less shared withal, for all Laws favour the first born; but notwithstanding they have the same Father, same Inheritance, same Rights, same Coat of Arms; So that as the Generation of the Word is God's first employment within himself, the Adoptive Generation which is performed by the conversion of a Sinner, shall hold the first rank without him; For even as in the super-adorable labours of his Divine fecundity, he pours forth his knowledge without measure, until that he meets with his Holy Ghost; who setting a stop to his emanations, seems as it were by violence to retain the course of his action: This love must force itself to render its fecundity without any limitation, both of acknowledgement and love among creatures capable of its impression. So before the conversion of a Soul, he proposes himself for Object of our thoughts, and his Holy Ghost for the scope of our love; to honour us with the same Objects which his knowledge and love have in the blessed Trinity, Debuit per omnia fratribus assimilari Heb▪ c. 2. for all filiations must have a reference to the first filiation, and the nearer their reference is, the more excellent they will be. Moreover, it is a prerogative belonging only to him, who is above all Genus and Species, and has a right of Sovereignty over all Categories, to destroy all Genus and Species, as well as to redress them to their ends, if once they swerve from it: God alone has a right of absolute and Universal Sovereignty; then he can as well reduce all Genus and Species of Beasts to nothing, as he brought them out of nothing to give them a Being; Venit filius hominis quaerete, etc. Luke 19 v. 10. Mat. 18. v. 11. Cum dicit, quod perierat, sub intelligendum est genus humanum, omnia enim elementa suum ordinem servant, sed homo eravit, quia suum ordinem perdidit. Remigius in catena ad c. 18. Matth. All humane nature in her Species was misled from the end for which God had created her; It was then an employment suitable and reserved to the sole power of a God, to work the establishment of so great a disorder. True it is, that actual sin is only a personal offence; but because that it is a raising up against God, and that God is the Centre and last end of all the Species; in that respect, we may say that all sinners are gone astray from their Species; Hence I do conclude, that when a sinner converts himself to God, it is not enough to conceive a displeasure for having offended him his peculiar good, Erravi sicut ovis quae periit, etc. Psal. 118. and last end; but moreover he must be sorry to have opposed himself to the common good of all humane nature. The eloquent St. Lion, Ovis una homo intelligendus est in unius enim adae errore omne genus humanum aberravit. D. Hilar. Can. 18. had no less than reason to invite all men to a serious consideration of their Nobility, and to conceive a high esteem for their Soul, the best and chiefest part of their Individium; being that the care and management of her Salvation is the employment of a Divinity: I strayed like a Sheep that was lost, but O Lord find out your Servant, (says the King of Prophet;) St. Hillarion understands this lost Sheep to be all mankind misled by Adam's error; O how happy man is to have God for his Buckler to defend him, and for his Champion to raise and redress him, when he falls from the right way which leads to Salvation! The excellency of an action must be derived either from its end, or from its beginning, or from both together; so the actions of Jesus are noble, by reason of the Divine supposit, who does appropriate them to himself: Those of God are as yet more noble, because that their end and beginning are but the selfsame thing; And amongst creatures that must be the most honourable, that shall have for their end, the enjoyment and possession of his first beginning, which is God: Such is humane nature, for to speak properly, the work of Grace, and the Father's action in the production of the Word, have but one way, through which the current of Divine emanations does pass to the Holy Ghost, that is the Son: It is by the same Son, (says St. Basil) that Grace does pass, whether she descends to the Soul, or whether she returns to her Fountain; Ego sum via, veritas & vita Joan 14. v. 6. I am, (says our Saviour) the Way, the Truth, and the Life; if then the beginning, the way, and the end, gives the title of pre-eminency to the action, what shall we say of the conversion of a Soul, which has for beginning the Eternal Father, who is the first Offspring of all filiations, missions and motions that tend to good? For way and passage, the Son of God: and for co-operator, the Holy Ghost, who happily makes all the work of our justification return to the beginning and source from whence it flows: Here must the Angelical nature strike her Flag to pay homage to Grace, and acknowledge, that if the Divinity Judges the conversion of Souls, an employment worthy of her amorous Occupations: She is highly honoured to be called to the Guardianship of Men. The Pagan whose feeling and expression was, that he had not received Life, or Understanding, but for to contemplate Heaven; would find subject enough to give a sound and just check to Christians, if by the light of Faith he had come to understand the particular care that God takes to convert and Deify a Soul; and doubt not but that at the hour of death, the long List of our transactions shall be set before our eyes, as also so many inventions of Love drawn out of the Treasures of the Eternal Wisdom, and all employed to work our conversion, but to no purpose; our malice and our obdurate hearts being so sunk in unlawful pleasures, have rendered all those endeavours and inventions Fruitless. There is nothing more displeasing to a liberal Prince, than to see those on whom he bestowed his favours, to repay him with ungratefulness. Let us then begin to conceive an esteem for God's great favours, and liberality to us, and concurring with our liberties to the design of his love, let us follow him step by step, until that he does accomplish in us that Masterpiece which can have no other model but the Word- Incarnate. CHAP. IX. The Confidence that a Soul ought to have in her God. THat Child all the rest of his days may live without care, and Glory that the Heavens attended his Birth with a favourable constellation, when he met with a Father who loves him as the Apple of his Eye, who studies nothing more than his advancement, and spares no labour or care to make him great in the World: The Mariners who undertake a long Voyage, and oblige themselves to Sail on the main Seas, may lie down and take their rest without any disturbance, when they do meet with a Master Pilot, so well versed in his Art, that he foresees all Winds and foul Wether, the beginning, progress, and falling of a Storm, and is ignorant of nothing that belongs to the secret practice of Navigation. The Soldier may boldly march forward to a breach, and face his enemies without apprehension, when he Fights under the Command and Conduct of a Wise and Valiant Captain, who by long Experience has Learned to venture nothing rashly, to find out Stratagems when Force fails, and in all Rencounters to remain victorious & Master both of the Field and of all his Enemy's spoils, whether he does retreat Honourably, or stand steadfast to his Ground. What the Affectionate Father is to his Children, the Pilot well experienced to his Seamen, and the Valiant Captain to his Soldiers: The same is the Creator of the Universe by way of Super-eminency to all his Creatures. God is to us a good Father, Patrem dicendo, & veniam peccatorum, & paenarum interitum, & justificationem, & sanctificationem, & liberationem, & filiorum adoptionem, & haereditatem Dei, & fraternitatem cum unigenito copulatam, & sancti Spiritus dona largissima uno sermone signavit. Do. Chrys. hom. 20. in cap. 6. Matth. statim initio. for where will you find a Father so desirous of the Temporal advancement of his Children, as God has appeared Passionate for the good of Man: His Affection is soon known by his dividing and sharing to them as well the movable Goods of Time, as the and permanent Felicities of Eternity: The Heavens are for us, and all their Celestial Globes so Artificially wrought one into another, do not continue their Motions, but to entertain the course of Sublunary Generations: The Elements do not subsist in the variety of their Effects, but upon our account, and for our Welfare; if the Earth does ptoduce fine Flowers and Fruit, it is to present them to us; the most adorable Mystery of the Incarnation gives us an assurance of all the Goods of Eternity: It is a Contract of Association, by virtue of which, we are made Gods Heirs and Coheirs to his only and dearly beloved Son; And to the end that this Contract should have the more force, he left us his real Body, the most precious Gift he could afford, as the Interest of a thousand Blessings, which according to his Promise we are to receive in Heaven. Quis est hic quia venti & mare obediunt ei. Matth. 8. v. 27. God is to us a most Experienced Pilot; the Scribes and Pharisees admired him under that notion and quality, saying one to another, who is this? Of whom the Wind and Seas stand so much in Awe? and it happened, that being once in a Ship with his Disciples, the Seas began to grow rough, the Waves to swell, and the Winds to blow high; he gives the Word of Command, and presently a Calm was made: no more high Winds, nothing of a Storm, the Seas lie as plain as a Table, so that a Dice might run over all its Surface, and a Bird build thereon her Nest, without the least danger of miscarriage: Tu Dominaris potestati maris, etc. Ps. 88 v. 10. This is but the shadow and figure of what we do resent in our Souls; Mystical Vessels whereof he has undertaken the steering. For when the World, that boisterous Sea, aims to make us miscarry, and run us down to an Abiss of Misfortune, when Temptations oversway us, and that Satan with an infectious puff of his Breath strives to procure our utter destruction; it is then that God doth stretch forth his Hand to us. Movetur mare, contradicit mare, per strepit mare, sed fidelis Deus, qui non vos sinet tenture supra id quod potestus. D. Aug. in Ps. 88 Fear Faithful Soul, God will soon appease nothing all those Storms, and from among so many dangers will safely conduct you to the Harbour of his Grace; so it be, that you will let him stand at the Helm without controlling his Conduct. God is to us a Valiant and Wise Captain; the Prophet-Royal knew him to be such when he made him this acknowledgement: Benedictus Dominus Deus meus qui docet, etc. Ps. 143 v. 1▪ O God who hast trained up my Hands to Battle, and my Fingers to War; it is by order from this God of Battle that we have seen the Apostles plant the Standards of the Gospel on their Enemy's Trenches; Martyrs expose themselves Merrily to so many hazards to maintain their Master's Honours, and confound all Hell by the Testimony of their Blood; Innocent and Tender Virgins give up the Ghost amidst the Flames with a great deal of Joy, to conserve the first Flowers of their Virginity to Jesus. And you, O great St. Paul, I dare say, that you would have laid down your Arms and given over the Combat, Si adversum se dissentiunt caro & Spiritus molestus & periculosus labour, sunt enim in domo tanquam maritus & úxor; si maritus vincatur & uxor dominetur, pax perversa. D. Aug. in Psal. 143. to 8. when Satan darted at your Flesh one of his Arrows, had you not so soon overheard this voice of your Captain; Paul, That my Grace may suffice to strengthen you against all your Enemy's Assaults; it is my Pleasure and great Satisfaction to see you Fight so like a Christian Champion, and by the assistance of my Grace give all the World to understand, that there is nothing to be feared where I do command. If our Saviour, whilst we do continue Obedient and Submissive Children, has a special care to Advance, to Cherish, and to place us at our ease; if whilst we sleep in the Vessel of his Providence, he has a care to keep us in the right and assured road to Heaven; and if whilst we are good and Valiant Soldiers, he gives us a good look and a gracious Countenance, do you think that he will abandon us immediately, when (becoming refractory to his Laws) we shall follow our own evil Inclinations? That he will never look after any further lodging in our Hearts, after that by Sin we shall lose his Grace? That he will never withdraw us from under the Tyrannical Hostility of our Adversaries; when that by our own Cowardliness we shall fall into their hands? No, we must not believe it, it is an Employment worthy of the Divinity to relieve the miserable; and to show unto men in their want of all Humane Assistance, the great necessity of his Powerful and helping hand. This Truth will appear without any contradiction, if we consider the nature of the first Principle, who is not content to give a bare Existence to things, drawing them from the possibility of their Being by a reiterated production, and that in two ways; the one, furnishing the Means; Instinct and Inclinations convenient to attain to their last end: The other, driving off all contrary Causes, which might interrupt the aforesaid Inclinations. Man, on that fatal day of his Transgression in Paradise, lost at once, and by one bit of an Apple his rare and leading Inclinations towards his Supernatural end: I grant, that the Divine Justice, (to deal rigorously) might have left him in his Misery, being he brought himself thereunto by his own proper Election: But notwithstanding, this God of Mercy, who protests that his dearest delight is to live among men, bears them so much Affection, that he will rather employ his Power to Regenerate them Spiritually by his Inspirations, than leave them under the lash and rigours of Justice: For he aims not at the death of a Sinner, but at his Conversion and everlasting Happiness. Omnis qui non amat Dominum Jesum anathema sit. 1 Cor. 16. v. 22. O Vessel of Election, what would you conclude? when by a Spirit of Zeal, you thundered out Excommunication against all them that loved not Jesus: Paulus mea manu. And to assure us that you had a particular feeling of the Ingratitude of Men, Si quis non amat Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Dominum jure creationis, nostrum beneficio incarnationis Jesum officio Salvationis, Christum plenitudini unctionis propter haec enim quatuor est amandus, sit anathema, Gozramus in c. 16 Cor. v. 22. you say, that you wrote the Excommunication with your own hand. This great Apostle has no other ground for the Solemn pronunciation of that Censure, but to say, being that Jesus is come down from Heaven on Earth, to undertake the management of our Affairs, to concern himself so much in the conduct of our Souls, and to oppose himself to all our Enemies, who ever, after all those proofs he gave us of his Love, will not love Jesus, and put all his confidence in him, let him be Accursed, Excommunicated, and (as a Monster of Nature,) banished far from the company of men. But what! God rich in Power, Eternal in continuance, and Infinite in Wisdom: Man, weak in his Designs, limited in his Time, faulty in his Counsels: God Immortal by his Being, Impassable by Nature, All-sufficient of Himself: Man, the spoil of Death, Theatre of Misfortunes, and incident to all Misery; what report, or relation can there be betwixt two such Extremes, and so far asunder! To believe that God should trouble himself with the care of so vile and abject a Creature; Quid novit Deus, quasi per caliginem judicat, nubes latibulum ejus, nec nostra considerate, etc. Job c. 22. v. 12. Is it not to advance a proposition that comes near to the nature of a Riddle? No, such a thought cannot enter into the brains of those Licentious Atheists, who represented God as a Powerful and Proud Monarch, that never came without the Gallery of his highest Heavens to take notice of what passed here below; says Holy Job, I remit such as are of that feeling to the little Birds of the Air; Considerate lilia agri, etc. Mat. 6. v. 28. which, without Dunging or Tilling of the Earth; nay, without the least trouble, find their Victuals set before them in such good Order, that the best Oeconomer in the World could not parallel it: I refer them to the Flower-Deluces, which you may see in the Springtime clad so Gloriously and with so much Majesty; that Solomon with all the Pomp and Splendour of his brave Attendance, is not to be compared to them: They shall understand that it is the most Liberal Hand of God that gives to the one whereon to Feed, and to the others whereby to Adorn themselves: Man far more to be considered than all other Creatures; being that by the degree of Understanding (which he has by Nature) he bears the Image of his Divinity; shall he not have the better share in his Divine regards? Will not that Lover of Men delight to relieve them in their necessities? Yes, doubtless, to believe otherwise, would be to break down the Altar of his Clemency, whereon all poor sinners hope to find full ease to all their pains. CHAP. X. How God does cast into a Soul the Seed of her Conversion. AMong all the Qualities and Titles of Honour that the Saviour of the World gives to the Eternal Father; Pater meus agricola est. Joan 15. v. 1. That of a Labourer seems to me full of Mysteries: For I cannot think of the Action of a Labourer in the Fields, who under his his left Arm holds his Bag of Seeds, and with his Right-hand casts it on the Earth; but presently I am obliged to raise up my Thoughts towards the Eternal Providence in the same Action at the beginning of the World: For in the Lefthand of his Omnipotent Power, I take notice of a Sack full of Creatures, which with his Right he spreads over all the face of the World: He casts a Handful into the Sea, and on a sudden you see a Cluster of all sorts of Fishes Swim, and in so great a quantity, that the Prophet cannot make out the number: Another Handful on the Earth, and there you may see Lions, Tigers, Elephants and all other Sensitive Creatures of one side; and on the other, Plants, Flowers and Simples, with so much Grace and Beauty, that they do ravish our Hearts and dazzle our Eyes; Afterwards he flings another Handful into the Air, and presently you take notice of an Eagle, who with the vivacity of his Eyesight becomes a borderer to Heaven; a Merlin flies after and very near as high, where he holds himself at a stop; and the rest of the Birds that sing in their own Tone the Praises of their Creator: He lifts up his Arm and casts a fourth Handful towards the Heavens, whence on a sudden comes forth an innumerable number of Stars and inserts themselves in the Firmament as so many Carbuncles and precious Stones. Germinet terra herbam virentem, & statim omni surgente germine terra completa est. D. Ambr. tom. 2. lib. 3. Hexam. c. 17. statim. initio. God is not as yet at the end of his project, neither is the first cast of his Creature out of the hand of his Omnipotent Power, the final scope of his action: For even as the Labourer committing his Grain and Seed to the Earth, does not intent to have it lost, but contrariwise in Harvest time, expects for one Grain a hundred. So God giving to all Creatures a Being, will not have them to stand there; they must go further, Festinarunt campi non commissam sibi frugem edere, ignorata viti olerum genera, florum miracula germinaro, etc. Idom. cap. 16. initio, and produce each one actions conformable to their Nature: Natural Philosophy teaches us the same, and will have the Operation to follow immediately the Being. So God is an Act most Pure, most Simple, most Actual: So the Angel is not a substance only Intelligible, but also Intelligent, Active, Operative; for the good Angels from the very instant of their Confirmation in Grace, have always produced the formal Act of their Felicity; and all Creatures in this point of their Activity are Gods following steps: So that if it were possible that God would have or admit of a contrary, it must have been the first matter, which we call pure possibility, or in a manner nothing, because it has no manner of Activity, and so produces nothing to the Public that bears the marks of her Author; or if it does, it signifies as much as nothing. Dear Reader, you may easily see that my aim is to pass over from the designs of God in Nature, to his Sacred Projects in Grace, Dei agricultura estis, Dei aedificatio estis. 1 Cor. 3. v. 9 the Seed of our Conversion; And say that our Beloved Master Jesus is a Mystical Labourer, who casts (without intermission) that Seed of Eternity into our Hearts, not that it should remain there idle, buried and without effect, but Vigorous, Active and Operating. Sapientia filiis suis vitam inspirat, & suscipit inquirentes se, & praeibit in via justitiae, Eccl. c. 4. v. 12. If you set me the question, what is the Nature of that Seed of Grace, I will tell you that if you take it in general, it is a breathing of the Holy Ghost into our Souls, earnestly soliciting us to re-enter into ourselves, for to consider the condition we live in, to take on strong resolutions of amendment, if we be in Sin: But if we be in the state of Grace; it does inspire into us to advance still from Virtue to Virtue; Sicut mater filios in utero vivificat, eisque vitam naturalem aspirat, ita sapientia suis inspirat supernaturalem. Corn. in Eccl. supra. and always to make new acquisitions of Merit: An Inspiration altogether as necessary to continue the motions of the Spiritual Life, as is the Respiration of the Air to preserve the Life of Nature; for as it is impossible that a living Creature should subsist any long time without respiring the Air; so it is impossible for a man to continue any long time grateful to God, Lux enim gratiae quae desuper venit, spiraculum hominis praestat ad vitam, & occulta mentis penetrate Rabanus lib. 1. in Jam. Jeremy c. 1. v. ●0. nor live the Interior Life of the Spirit, without this Divine Breathing to encourage him, and push him on to new resolutions of Adoring and Serving God: But I must set this only difference, that we of necessity must respire the common Air; whereas on the other side, we are free to receive or to refuse the Divine Inspiration; this is all the inequality; for the want of Inspiration, as well as of Respiration, deprives us of Life: This, of the Life which we have common with all Sensitive Creatures; That, of the Life which makes us capable of Heaven and Glory. 'Tis this Messenger from Heaven that goes in Post towards those Licentious Livers, Annuncia populo meo scelera eorum & domui Jacob peccata eorum, Is. 58. v. 2. that take delight to live constantly in the puddle of Sin, and with the assistance of the worm of their Guilty Conscience, makes them to apprehend the fatal issue of their everlasting Perdition and Woe; if they do not follow his Calling, and make good use of his Correction. 'Tis that Inspiration that meets at all hours at the gate of Honest and Godly Livers, for to summons them to a further Progress in Virtue, and never to be satisfied with the degree of Perfection which they have acquired, until the final Grace do Crown all their Labours. That being supposed, Fratres videre ne in vacuum gratiam Dei recipiatis. 2 Cor. c. 6. v. 1. the Apostle St. Paul, that Faithful Heart to God's Inspirations, exhorts us above all things to conceive a great esteem for those Divine Callings: My Brethren, says he, beware you receive not the Grace of God in vain, he is a liberal Prince to them that esteem his favours, but he will shut up his hand to such as undervalue them. Gratia ejus in me vacua non fuit. 1 Cor. 15. v. 10. The Atheist, who in the impiety of his Belief, imagines that all things are Governed by, I do not know, what, Principle of Fatal Necessity, despises and sets at nought all Inspirations, Gratia in me vacua non fuit, id est otiosa, qui ea usus est ad quod data est sibi. D. Tho. in come. hujus loci. when that God (though highly offended with his Blasphemy) awakes in him that light of the Prophet, grafted in our hearts from our Mother's Womb, which gives us to understand that there is a God; whose private checks he smothers with the corruption of licentious life and conversation: the most part of our cross-grained Christians do the same when they give the deaf Ear to that Internal reprehension, that puts them in mind of their solemn Vow made to God in their Baptism, to renounce Satan and all his allurements, and never to follow the course their disordinate appetite: The very Religious and Solitary Souls are in some respects guilty of the same crime; when the Holy Ghost invites them to think on their former fervency, which brought them to resolve courageously to forsake the World, that by the serious consideration thereof, he might revive in their hearts those Seraphic flames, yet notwithstanding they are content to lead a languishing kind of life, which certainly will lead them to their utter destruction and loss. We must confess that it is crime of less Majesty Divine, Cadunt secus viam & volucres Coeli comedunt, cadunt in petroso ubi non habent Terram multam, cadunt in spinas & suffocantur. Ex Mat. c. 13. v. 5. to despise his Graces: But we must also ingeniously acknowledge, that this Heavenly Seed will hardly ever grow or take root in our hearts; more impenetrable to the sacred influences of Love, then are the Rocks of Caucasus to the Rays of the Sun. Notwithstanding we must not fail of our courage, Audi justi semen, filioli mei quos iterum parturio donec formetur in vobis Christus, qui enim in animo suo partus fidei feret, semen ei Christus est. D. Amb. in Psal. 38 all the virtues come in a body to the fight, Perseverance will have the Victory: God holds up the arm of the Labourer whilst he is at work: The comparison of the Grain of Wheat brought down by our Saviour to this purpose, makes it appear; For what a deal of pains is taken, and how difficult it is to raise up that little creature to perfection, the Labourer must cast it into the Earth, as if he were to destroy it, it must rot there under the Dung; Winter declares open Wars against it, and comes thundering upon it with all its rigour, blocks it up in Prisons of Ice; a lift of a Spade wounds it to death, and for all Funeral Ceremonies, turns it off with a kick into a Tomb of Snow: The very Birds after its death, threaten to have a fling at it: However it bounces up against all those assaults, Ast ubi se geniculata jam spica sustulerit, vaginae quaedam, futurae frugi parantur, in quibus gra●●m formatur interius, ne te● ejus pri●●●dia aut frigus laedat, aut ●●lis aestus exurat, etc. Vide D. Amb. l. 3. He●●m. c. 8. per totum. and assures itself of a Victory over all its Enemies; if it be so that the Sun will give it a favourable look; And so it happens, for the Sun no sooner appears in its Spring, but this little Grain as if it were getting out of its Tomb, gins to cleave asunder the great clods of Earth that cover it, and appear with its green Bonnet over the ground, turn up its Reeds in form of Pillars with little Mouldings at equal distance, through which springs up an Ear with as many Pikes to Guard it, as it has Grains in its little Purses. Aliud est semen diaboli aliud semen Christi quod feritur ad justiciam, quod semin●nt Christus regnum est Dei quod semin●t diabolus peccatum est. D. Amb. lib. 3. Hexam. c. 10. God, when he has visited a sinner in the sweetness of his Blessings, with a good inspiration to alter his life, and consecrate his heart unto him; there is a Grain of Wheat cast into a Conscience, but it must increase; Oh! what Pains, what Convulsions, what a deal of Labour must be taken: The Dirt and Infection of Carnal concupiscence rots it; the Ice which has Frozen our hearts in the service of God, deprives it of all liberty to appear outwardly; the winds of Pride gives it a thousand Battles; The Snow of Hypocracy does persecute it; Self-love (the most cruel of all,) leads the rest of the Domestic Enemies towards it, with a resolution either to smother it in its Cradle, or at least to whither it, and leave it without any vigour: Qui administrat semen seminanti, & panem ad manducandum proestabit, & multiplicabit semen vestrum, & augebit incrementa frugum justitiae vestra 2 Cor. 9 v. 10. But fear nothing, dear Soul, be only faithful to your God, hear his voice, follow his call, and you shall soon see that the Sun of Justice will free you from all those difficulties, bring together your affections scattered by the Storm of Temptations, change that obstinate and stony heart that made you insensible of all his corrections, he will put into your hands offensive and defensive Arms to withstand the assaults of all evil inclinations, Gignitur in planis quidem sed densissimis in vepribus, rubisque, difficilis collectu, metitur non nisi permiserit Deus Jovem hunc intelligunt aliqui. Plin. lib. 12. c. 19 and plant Virtue where sin was before in Garrison. The natural Hystorian discoursing of the nature and property of the Cinnamon, says, that it is a precious and Divine Plant, which, as if by natural instinct it were aversed to grow among other Plants, withdraws from the sight of men to hid itself among Bushes and Thorns that by their pricks her Fruit might be preserved from all hands: Assabinum illi vocant quadraginta quatuor bonum caprarumque extis impetratur venia caedenti, non tamen aute post occasum lecit ibid. The Ethiopians were of opinion, that there was a particular God, (by name Assabinus,) who took on himself to be the Patron and Defender of this Plant, to prevent any profane hand from turning it to common use, because it should be preserved to adorn his Altars. The Inpiration of God is a Cinamon-Plant truly Divine, Sicut Cinnamonum & Balsamum aromatisons ordorem dedi. 1 Eccl. c. 14. v. 20. being that it takes root in Heaven, but it will not grow in all places, a heart plunged in the delights of the World, as an Earth over-soft cannot conserve it; its natural Soil must be a heart given to Mortification and Penance, 'tis there that the Divine Assabinus, (Jesus Christ, will maintain it in its lustre,) for though God refuses none the assistance of his Grace, and that he Acts without any distinction either of Time or Place; a Christian notwithstanding would be foully deceived to believe that the Inspiration which he received when he was in the occasion of sin, should continue still; No, he must get out of the occasion, as Lott got out of Sodom, and transplant this simple mystic on the Mount Calvary; close to the Cross of Christ: There you may see it produce its effects and no where else: For as the Plants never come to perfect maturity, unless the Heavens do sweetly power down their showers into the bosom of the Earth; So God's Inspirations in a Soul, will never come to the just point of their perfection, if they be not often watered with the Tears of true Repentance, to certify the displeasure we conceive of our offences. We must then of necessity improve God's Graces, Ego quoque in interitu vestro ridebo & subsannabo, cum vobis id quod timebatis advenerit Proverb. 1. v. 26. for the infallible truth makes us an open Declaration, that whoever this misfortune shall happen to, to jeer him in his presence (which is done by undervaluing the Inspirations which render God present to us) shall suffer the same punishment at the hour of his death: God will laugh at him; but why at the hour of death? it is a custom to laugh at a man who makes at that hour extravagant wishes, and out of all reason; he who would fain Reap and never Sowed a grain; he who would make a Will of ten thousand Crowns, and has not five Pence in the World; he who is but of the scum of the People, and leaves Orders to be buried like a King: He who in his Life-time undervalved God's favours, makes altogether as extravagant wishes at the hour of his death; if he thinks to Reap the Blessings of Heaven, as well as Virtuous and Godly men: he who never Sowed in the territories and ground of his Soul, but corruption during his life; if he makes an Authentical Will of Piety, who in all his actions had not the least shadow of Virtue: if he desires to be Seated with the Saints in Heaven, who never had thoughts but upon the Earth, nor any other pany but his concupiscences: Who passed over his days in a constant Rebellion against God and his Holy Ghost; Qui habitat in Coelis irridebit eos, & Dominus subsannabit Psal. 2. v. 4. his thoughts are out of all reason; what he aims at is altogether impossible; God laughs at it, he makes but a jest of it, and seems to take no notice of what he says. Let us then prepare our hearts to God, and train them up to be submissive to his holy Laws, let our daily practice be to temper them as Wax is made soft by the fire, to receive the Divine Impression of his Sacred Characters; Let us improve the grace and Favours of Heaven, being they are the most happy Seed of a happy Eternity. CHAP. XI. The Stratagems that Jesus makes use of to Convert a Soul. I Cannot but approve of the Feelings of so many Holy men; who seeing the manifold Miseries that poor man is subject to, Mane sicut herba transeat, mane floreat & transeat, vespere decidat, induret & arescat. Ps. 89. v. 6. represented him as the most miserable of all Creatures; he is a Sink and Common-shore full of Dirt and Infection, says one; He is the Abridgement of all Misfortunes; says another, this man's opinion of him is, That he is the Spoil of Times, the Fable of the day, the Mocking-stock of Fortune; another describes him to be a Shadow that goes away, a Flower that passes, and a Water that runs. These Verities admit of no contradiction, Omnis caro foenum, & omnis gloria ejus quasi flos agri, exscicatam est foenum, & cecidit flos. Isa. c. 40. v. 6. if we consider Man in the state of his Fall: But if we look upon him as he is the Amorous Object of God's Delight; Trismegist will tell you, That he is a Miracle; As for my part, I may lawfully call him a Monarch; being that we daily see the King of Eternal Majesty knock at his door, as at the door of some great Sovereign, to be Entertained, live in his Company, and Eat at his Table: Quid est homo quia magnificas eum, aut quid apponis erga eum cortuum, visitas eum ●i●ulculo. Job. 7. v. 17. Job is surprised at this; O great God, what is man that you do so Magnify him, that you Visit him every Morning at his waking? It seems that you would fain share your Sceptre and Crown with him. It is commonly said, that our Sworn Enemy transfigures himself into an Angel of Light, Allicit ut perimat blanditur ut fallat, extoliit ut deprimat foenore quodam noeeudi, ut quo ampliot fuerit summa voluptatum, eo major exigatur usura poenarum. D. Cyprian. ad donatum. that he may the easier deceive us under the appearance of Millions of Promises; that shall never have any other end, if he can, than the Eternal loss of our Souls: But our dear Jesus, whose Affections we know to be sincere and true, seeing himself refused at the door of a Christians heart, transforms himself to all the Passions of a Celestial Lover, to invent the best means how to overcome his Disgrace, and flatter himself with hopes, that though he received a shameful refusal at his first Visit, he may be more honourably received at his return: I reduce his admirable inventions to three Heads, all taken out of Scripture: The first is grounded on the excellency of his proper Person; the second on the setting forth of our Praises; The third on the account he gives of all the Labours and Pains he takes in the pursuit of our Souls: Attolite portas principes vestras & introibit Rex gloriae, Dominus virtutum ipse est Rex gloriae, Psal. 23. v. 9 He produces for his first Invention the excellency of his proper Person, and with a great deal of reason, for the Royal Prophet giving us a description of his entering into Heaven, after he had accomplished on Earth the Will of his Eternal Father, represents him to us knocking at the gates of Paradise: Open your gates, O Prince! They inquire within, what he is; and he answers, that He is their Lord, Powerful and Strong, the Lord of all Virtues, the King of all Glory; Whereupon they presently opened their Gates, received him in, and brought him into his Throne with the acclamations of all the whole Heavenly Court. Vox dilecti mei pulsantis. Aperi mihi soror mea, amica mea, columba mea immaculata mea, Cant. 5. v. 2. The Holy Ghost represents himself in the selfsame posture before a Heart that he is desirous to Convert; open your door to me, my Sister, my dearly Beloved, my Dove; The Mystery of this invention lies in that Word, To Me; For he might absolutely command as Lord and Master, but he will have the Gospel of his proper Person under the Title and Notion of a Lover, to be the Motive of our Obedience: Open to me, who am not of the common sort of Lovers, but a Lover that loves by Essence, a Lover without any mixture of Interest, only that of your Salvation; I am He that carries about me Pardon and Mercy; and my Visits are never without the effects of my Liberality. Ecce esto ad ostium & pulso, si quis audierit vocem meam, & aperuit mihi januam, intrabo ad illum & coenabo cum illo & ipse mecum. Apoc. 3. v. 20. But if we take that same word in another sense, we shall find it to be a sweet Correction he makes to a Soul; open your Heart to me, being that you did open it to many others that are of a far Inferior condition to me. Here stands at your door, He who is greater than Solomon; you have opened it, and given admittance to the false Pleasures and deceitful Charms of the World, which have violently dragged you into the dark Dungeon of Sensuality, there to devour you at their leisure and ease: Quid necesse est ut cordis tui ostia clausa sint? sponso aperiantur Christo, claudantur diabolo, juxta illud, si Spiritus potestatem habentis ascenderit super te, ne demiseris locum tuum. D. Hier. Epist. 22. ad Eustochium post me. I am an Enchanter, it is true, and my voice has Charms, but none such as Orpheus had to draw Rocks and Mountains; No, no, my Charms aim at a higher purchase, which is the Hearts and Consciences of Men: All sorts of Sins are as so many Nightwalkers and High-way-Robbers that made their Address to you by night or by day, have been hearty welcome to you: But what entertainment had you from them? They compelled you to content to a Rebellion against your Creator, they rendered you guilty of losing Divine Majesty; And for conclusion of a Fatal Tragedy, they will expose you at the mouth of Hell, as a lost sheep and a lose Corn; to the end that dying in that Act of Treachery, you may learn by your own sad experience, that their Salleys are never without a surprise: Recover then your Wits, O wand'ring Souls, and know that the Excellency of a Sovereign Majesty, (who humbles himself to find you out,) deserves well to have the preference of your Affections. What excuse can be made to such Powerful Charms? Pauper sum ego in laboribus à juventute mea, Psal. 87. v. 16. What reply to such sweet Words? Youth answers, that Jesus knocks at their door too early in the morning, that they are as yet in Bed, and will not rise so soon; they believe that it is to press them overmuch to have them to engage themselves so soon in the Service of God: Poor Children of Adam, what a weak excuse you give ear to? He asks you nothing but what he practised himself: I am poor, says he, and was born poor, and from my Cradle I have been always in labour and toil; To put off your Conversion till the next day, is a dangerous thing, perhaps the Bed you lie on this day, may be your Grave to morrow; perhaps that He who called you once, being put off with a denial, will come no more to give you any further invitation: Moreover, if you fear to be weaned too soon from the Contentments and Pleasures that this World can afford; Melior est dies una in atriis tuis super milia Psal. 83. v. 11. know that the Pleasure of one day in God's House, surpasses all the Pleasures that the World can afford, if they were to last for an Eternity. The second Invention that God makes use of in his call and pursuit of a Soul, is, that after he had seen the first was to no purpose, he comes to our Commendations and Praises, a common practice among worldly and falsehearted Bachelors to get the Love of their pretended Mistress; you will see some of those flattering Fools, to gain the Affection of a Mistress, Paint her Face like unto a Morning Star, when it bears the first Rays of the Sun on our Hemisphere; her fine Locks as Yellow as any Indian Gold, when it comes out of the Cruisible; both her Eyes like to so many shining Stars in her Forehead, which, with one favourable glance can revive the most languishing Heart; her Body whiter and more polished than Ivory; her Voice sweeter than that of Angels: In fine, she is a Mortal Deity, at whose feet they make so many Protestations and Vows; Folly worthy to be laughed at by all reasonable men: However the invention, when well applied, is most excellent, God makes use of it; He gives the Soul four Titles of Honour, my Sister, my , my Dove, my Immaculate; De sanguine meo soror mea, de accessu meo proxima mea, de Spiritu meo columba mea, de sermone meo quem plenius ex etio didicisti, perfecta mea. Lyran. in c. 5. Cant. Remember that you are my Sister by the Sacrament of my Incarnation, if the motions of a Civil Request, grounded on my own proper Merits, could work nothing on your haughty Spirit, at least let the Right of Spiritual Consanguinity be a motive of your recognizance. You are my Beloved by my Passion, if there be no greater Friendship than to expose his Life for his Friends; You ought to love me above all Creatures, for I suffered Death upon your account: You are my Dove by the Communication of my Spirit; if the simplicity of that little Creature, which has been to me a Symbol in my Baptism, and a Faithful Messenger to the good man Noah in the Deluge, giving you to understand that I had no Gaul in my heart against you, though you deserved I should have reserved some to Chastise you for all your Abominations and Crimes; you may learn further by her Example to live so in this World, that you never wet the foot of your Affections, nor loiter, as the Crow did, to feed on dead Carcases, but to be always in a readiness to return to me, when I shall open unto you the window of my heart, a Mystical Ark, pierced with a Lance for your Love. You are my Immaculate by the use of the Holy Sacraments, that my Flesh and Blood, (which is to you Food and refreshment in the Eucharist,) be not a bit to poison you as another Judas, by the indisposition of your ill prepared and ill affected Conscience, but rather a Sweet Nectar to increase and fortify the Life of your Soul, and perfume all her Faculties with the delicate scent of Piety, that I may take pleasure to reside constantly in your heart. Dixit insipiens in cord suo, non est Deus. Psal. 13. v. 1. This second invention of Love prevails but very little, or rather, nothing at all with Christians, and why so? Nam ita superè peccat & inverecundè ne si non esset D●us. Lyran. in Psal. 13. Their excuse will be Ignorance, they did not know who it was that spoke: The fool said in his heart, it is not God that knocks; It is therefore that the Soul sends her Lackey to the door to tell that Madam is not within, that he that knocks may come another time, or if he has any Packet, to leave it, and it shall be given to Madam when she comes from her walk: That Lady is the Soul, the Lackey is the Body; Caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, spiritus autem adversus carnem. Gal. 5. v. 17. for when God calls us to infuse some good Notions into our Souls, the Body is always contrary, (as St. Paul says,) to the Spirit, is hard by to make opposition: Let us consider, I pray, the malice of that excuse. What is the reason that a Body gives orders to tell that he is not within when he is called for? It is either because he is not dressed and in a condition to appear; or that the person that looks for him is not grateful to him, or that he is Indebted to him, and having not wherewithal to pay him, he commands his Servants to tell that he is not within. O great God be not offended with the Impudence of that bold Harlot, who gives Orders to tell that she is not within, when you call for her: For in good earnest she is not within, she is far from you; her Sins have carried her away to some Foreign Region, as far off as another Prodigal Child; and though she had been within, she wants the Robe of Charity; she is in no condition to appear: Her Face is made black with the Coal of her Crimes, your sight would make her horrible; moreover, your company is nothing acceptable to her; Quae enim participatio justitiae cum iniquitate, etc. 2 Cor. 6. v. 14. for betwixt Light and Darkness there is no Communication. Belial and Jesus never lodge under the same Roof, but what troubles her mind most, is, that she is your Debtor, and accountable to you for so great a number of Graces, that she has not wherewithal to make you the least satisfaction; an excuse without ground, apology without any reason; Ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis. Psal. 104. v. 4. Let it be so as you will have it, that she is far from her God. Is it not God that gathers together the scattered Sheep, and leaves Ninety Nine in Heaven to look for one that is lost on Earth? If she be naked and without the Ornaments of Charity, is it not Jesus that clothes them without any other cost, charge or trouble, only to be willing to receive them? But she has not wherewithal to make satisfaction, let her not trouble her mind with any; and if she had, she cannot of herself merit the least degree of Grace in the rigour of Justice, whilst she is under the Law of sin: It is enough that the precious Blood of Jesus is of an Infinite value to make all those excuses frivolous, and never to be admitted of. The third invention of Love that Jesus employs in our search, is to set before our eyes the labours he undergoes upon this account; as a loving Father to his Children, though debauched out of all measure: after the respect and authority of a Father could not prevail with them, no more than his sweet alluring words, and his threaten; he comes at last with a sad countenance, the tears in his eyes, and fetches a languishing sigh from the bottom of his Heart. Ungrateful, will you always continue the subject of my Afflictions? At the age that I am in, I should by course take my rest; Yet it is Then that I see myself engaged in a thousand troubles, and all this upon your account: I deprive myself of all contentments for to advance your Fortune: I expose my life to many hazards for to preserve yours; if you have not the good nature to requite my affections, at least have compassion of my Labour and Toil. God does the same, Aperi mihi quia caput meum plenum est roar, etc. Cant. 5. v. 2. as you may see in many places of Scripture; My hair (says he) is all wet with the dew, and therefore opens the door to let me in. A Man who has traveled all night upon some earnest occasion, will come to the door of a Lodging two hours before day; in the morning he appears there all in a Fog, and dung-wet; the first that meets with him is moved with compassion; Oh! Poor Traveller, I see you are sadly wet; and how (says he) could I avoid it? Here I have stood these two long hours under all this Rain, knocking at the door, and as yet I see no body come to let me in. Servire me fecisti in peccatis tuis, etc. Isa. 43. v. 24. It's so with the Saviour of the Word, I ran, (says he) all night in Post hast to meet with a Soul at her uprising; I went through thick and thin, Frost and Snow, in a Cold, Windy, Rainy Season, I arrived early before the break of day at her door, I knocked, I called, and recalled, I knocked again and again, but no body appeared; and here I am wet and weary, and have nothing for all my Labour: But here I discover another Mystery; For if our Saviour's hair be wet with the dew, for having tarried too long a time at the door of our Souls, it must of necessity follow that he was bareheaded; Even as a Man who is desirous to hear what is said, or see what is done in a Lodging, stoops down, takes off his Hat, draws nearer for fear that he should not hear the voice of them from whom he expects his answer; En ipse stat post parietem nostrum respiciens, etc. Cant. 2. v. 9 In pariete propriae voluntatis fenestras reperit Deus, inclinationis nimirum ipsius voluntatis, per quas respiciat gratiae intuitu, & quasi per cancellorum foramina inspirationum suarum radios immitat: Gislerius in cap. 2. Cant. expo. 3. v. 9 So that in the ardent desire he has to hear and see what is doing within doors, he willingly suffers all foul weathers: The Holy Ghost makes use of the same Comparison: Lo! here he is, (says he, speaking of the Spouse,) hidden behind the wall, who looks in through the openings and chinks of the door; for he is so desirous to know what we do, and whether we hear his voice or no, that he spares not to stoop down and look in through those overtures with a great deal of attention, for fear that our answers should be so weak, that he could not overhear them. Have we spoke the good word? have we produced an act of amendment of life? God is overjoyed, as if he had found what he looked for, he gives notice to the Angel-keeper; Oh! I have heard her voice at last, that Soul hitherto always gave me the deaf Ear! Here she comes now to the Door, now she is mine; I heard her say that she would quit the World, and all its allurements to follow me: I am extraordinary well satisfied now for all my Labours. Vos de deorsum estis ego de supernis sum, etc. John 8. v. 28. The third excuse that Worldings bring down to justify their crooked ways, is, that they are not of the same Religion that Jesus Christ is of, and therefore they can have no Communication with him, without undervaluing their own Profession; Pray, dear Jesus, let us know what Religion you are of? I am, (says he) from above, and you are from below; I am from Heaven, and you from the World: Above and below, Heaven and Earth, are far asunder: We must not think it strange then, if betwixt God and us there is so little correspondence; if he goes among the great ones to purchase their Souls, they will be very free with him, they will tell him plain downright, that they are none of his Profession, they will warn him away from Court, for they will have none of his Maxims there. Jesus makes an open Declaration in his Gospel, that though he be King of all the World, yet that his Kingdom (as for the Dominion of Lucre and Profit,) was not here below; For Humility was his Prerogative; the Cross his Sceptre; the Thorn his Crown; Calvary his Palace; Labour and Toil, Afflictions and Crosses, his Revenues: The Martyrs his Regiments; the Disciples his Guards; Filij Agar exquierent sapientiam que de terra est. Baruch. 3. v. 23. and the Poor Apostles his Officers. The care of Great ones is quite contrary, for all their Study is to amplify their Estates, by the utter Destruction of their Inferiors, and Ruin of the Vulgar sort; To shun Crosses, to follow Ambition; to suppress Devotion, and all Christian Exercise; to follow the Maxims of a most unlucky Policy, that makes no further use of true Religion, than as long as they see it consist with their Designs; Matchiavel's Doctrine, the most wicked of all Mortals. If he goes to knock at the door of Ecclesiastical Persons, he shall receive no better welcome: Obliti sunt Deum qui nutrivit eos, etc. Baruch. 4. v. 8. For if Jesus be a vigilant Pastor over all his Flock, and feeds his Sheep with his own Flesh, and the Blood of his Veins, to give them Life everlasting, if well received, the most part of Churchmen will be either wicked or unprofitable, wicked for not honouring the greatness of their Character and Sacerdotal Ministry by the good example of their holy life and conversation: unprofitable for their want of courage to arm themselves manfully to resist the often incursions of Satan that Infernal Wolf, who devours the Flock of Jesus; not daring to bark for fear of blows. Totus mundus in maligno positus est. 1 John 4. v. 19 Go over all other States and Conditions, their return shall be the same, their answers alike, and their obstinacy in all points equal. So that what ever endeavours our Saviour makes to convert us, and call us to himself, Arvinae toris membrorum moles robusta pinguesci ut saginatus in poenam charius pereat, etc. Cypr. ad donat. though they be very efficacious, yet they are often without effect: Because that it seems we made a Vow to destroy ourselves. A State truly deplorable, if our dear Jesus had not a greater Love and Care of us, than we seem to have of our own Salvation. CHAP. XII. That to become Servants to God, we must know the World. IT is a true Maxim generally received among Philosophers, that to speak pertinently of a thing, we must have a full knowledge of its Nature; which cannot be acquired but either by Definition or Description: The first makes appear its Essence in the constitutive Principles of its Being; the second discovers its principal properties, by the Operations that strike at our Senses. My aim is to let the Soul know, that to convert her, God sets before her eyes what a deplorable thing it is to serve the World: I cannot perform this methodically, but by describing its properties, to the end that we conceive as much esteem for it, and no more than it has of real and well-grounded conditions, which render it worthy of Love. What is the World? Omne quod est in munda concupiscentia carnis est, etc. John 2. v. 16. If I make my Addresses to Scripture, there I shall find the three main Pillars that bear it up: Concupiscence of the Eyes, Disorder of the Flesh, and Pride of Life. If I consult the Philosopher, he will tell me, that it is a Sophistical and cheating Argument, that always deceives by Equivocation, that places the shadow for the real Existence of things, That has but Negative Principles, and would fain conclude affirmatively: If I put the Question to Astronomers, their answer will be, that it is a strayed and wandering Star, that has no fixed or settled place, and whence they can draw no assured ground to know the Horoscope or Fortune of any Creature, that it is a Body form in the Region of the Air, which, having no support but a light and inconstant Cloud, vanisheth away as soon as it gins to appear. The Mathematician is much of the same opinion, he will tell you that it is an unknown Figure, that it is at the same time both Limited and Infinite, Circular and Quadrangular. Quid est mundus nisi lutum & faex, penset qui potest quantis usque in hodierum diem sordibus haec mundi valis repleatur, etc. Petus Blesensis. Archid. Batton. The Poets will Rhyme it out, that it is an Icarus, whose Wings, being fixed on with Wax, do melt with the Sun; a Cupid that has no eyes, a Labyrinth that hides a Minotaur who devours as many as venture to come into it. The Holy Fathers are of the same Confession with Peter of Blois; that it is but Dirt and Misery, whose Infection began to plague the World, when Adam began his revolt in Paradise. 1 Reg. c. 6. If we be desirous to see its portrait drawn to the Life, we may go to the 1st. Book of Kings, where we shall find how the Children of Israel, (always lovers of alteration and change,) would no more submit themselves to the Divine Laws under the conduct of Judges; the resolution being taken, they dispatched one of their Elders to Ramatha where Samuel was, he tells of his Commission from the three States Assembled some days before, Congregati ergo universi majores natu Israel. etc. 1 Reg. 8. v. 4. in the same Order and Form as usual, to treat about the most important Affairs of the City: and what have you done in your Meeting? He answers, Dixerunt ei, e●ce tu senuisti, & filij tui non amb●lant in viis tuis constitue nobis Regnem, etc. Ibid. v. 1. considering that you are grown old, and that your Children do not follow your steps, their resolution is to be Governed no more by Judges, but to have a King to Govern them; And therefore I do in their Name demand a King, who may be pleasing to the People, and for the good of the States in general. Poor Samuel was very much surprised at this unexpected alteration; for he thought, that for his many good Services done to this ungrateful People, they would continue him and his Posterity after him in that Honourable Charge: But God, who resents the afflictions and affronts cast upon his Officers, Non enim te abjecerunt sed me, ne regnem super eos. assures him by his Angel, that he takes that affront as done to his proper Person: He comforts him by telling him, that it was no wonder they should treat him so, being they trod under their Feet the respect they ought to have for his Majesty, and as for their request that they should have it e'er long, but that they should soon repent so Foolish an undertaking. Therefore I command you to tell them in my Name, Hoc erit jus Regis qui imperaturus est vobis & Ibid. v. 11. that they shall have a King, seeing they do demand one: But fail not to tell them what shall be the Order of his Government, and Rights of his Sceptre. First he shall employ their Children in the Ministry of his House, some shall be his Grooms, others his Lackeys to follow his Coaches. As for their Daughters, Filias quoque vestras faciet sibi unguentarias & focarias & panificas. Ibid. v. 13. let them never expect to come to any great Fortune, or have any Honourable Alliance that shall be able to free them from Slavery; They shall have no better condition than to be Skullions in his Kitchen, to bring Paste to the Oven; and for conclusion, they shall become Strumpets for the Rabble. Moreover, let them know, that the King they look for, will strip them out of their proper Inheritance, therewith to reward his Servants. Greges quoque vestros addecimabit, vosque eritis ei servi. Ibid. v. 17. This is not as yet all; For what little will remain to them of their Goods, and what they will be able to acquire by the Labour of their hands, and sweat of their brows, shall be so charged with Taxes and Subsidies, that they shall be forced to confess that Death would be more grateful to them, than a life so languishing, and so intermixed with Miseries; Yet notwithstanding all those rigours, this People (obstinate in their misfortune) do laugh at all those threaten, and will have a King to their fancy, whatever it cost them. That is, I think, Satis r●rus est qui possit dicere tuus sum, non potest dicere saecularis, plures enim dominos habet, venit avaritia & dicit meus es, quia argentum & aurum quod habes fervitutis tuae pretium est, venit luxuria & dicit, meus es, quia unus diei convivium pretium tuae vitae est, etc. Ambr. in Psal. 118. serm. 12. very near the humour of those, that live in the World if they be weary of God's conduct: They would fain shake off his Yoke though light and pleasant: In a word, they call for another King to Govern them, but he must be at their own Election, and so they make choice of the World. God, who never covets a multitude of People to amplify his Dominions, being that all Creatures, as well actual as possible, have not the power to add the least Flower to his Crown, would freely scorn those frantic Salleys of our corrupt nature, but that he reserves always a Fatherly Heart for the poor Sinners, Et Paulo post de Juda ait venit & intr●iuit in eum Sathanas & coepit dicere, tuus non est, Jesus, sed meus est, etc. Paulo Inferius. Tecum bibit, & mihi sanguinem tuum vendit, tuus est Apostalus, & meus mercenarius. D. Ambr. supra. notwithstanding all their disorders; he will not, (it is true) retain any in his Service, against the Laws of and Liberty: However when a Soul bids him adieu, and is fully resolved to get out of his House, he cannot but resent it. His expression on that occasion is so full of Love, that it moves me to weep when I read it: My People, (says be) what have I done to you? What is it that I have molested you in, Popule meus quid feci tibi, aut in quo molestus fui, respond mihi. Micheae 6. v. 7. Pro quo sanctus Hieron vertit, quo labore te pressi, Vatabus quanam re fatigavi te, Chald. quam infirmitatem gravem multiplicavi superte. Quid feci, inquit tibi, tanquam reum se constituit, & te judicem. D. Ambr. in Psal. 10. ad illud, ut vincas cum judicaris. Istud ipsum summopere admirandum est quod cum experimentum coeperit & gustum divinae benignitatis persenserit peccator cognoscatque Christum esse Dominum, relicto tamen Christo crudelem Tyrannum complectatur. C. Chrysost. come 4. homil. 18. in c. 5. Ephes. that you are resolved to forsake my House and Service? Have you therein been unworthily dealt with? What did you want for? Have my Commandments surpassed your forces? You cannot complain of any want, being you have the management of all my Treasures, & that also you have the Keys in your own custody: I boarded you at my own Table, where you have been served with the Bread of Angels. Upon what account then have you taken that resolution, to serve another Master? The obstinate Worldling continues still his purpose to have the World for his King, whatever betides him: Well, says God, you shall have it for your King, being you are of that mind; go on, you will soon repent your bad choice: You know not as yet the Master you desire to serve; his Laws are most rigorous, his Government Tyrannical, his Sceptre a Rod of Iron. I may soon let you see by a most sensible deduction, what a sad thing it is to serve the World, and how often you meet there with what you never looked for. The wishes of a Man in the World, may be reduced to three heads; either to content his ordinate appetite, refusing nothing to his Senses, or to have a great deal of Wealth to put himself in Vogue among the People; or to have a good Issue of Children to succeed him in his Inheritance, and keep up his Name; My opinion is, that a Man's condition in the World is most unlucky in all those three respects. But first I must tell you, that your King (the World) has many Vice-Governours, who will pretend to a Mastership over you, so that by serving that unhappy King, you bind yourselves over to many Masters; Covetousness will tell you, that you are his Servant, and that you have from him your Gold and Silver as a Reward for your good Service: Lechery will allege that you are his Servant, because that he gave you a Feast of a moment, for an Eternity of displeasure. Hi velut irr●tionabilia pecora naturaliter in captionem & in perniciem in his quae ignotant blasphemantes, etc. 2 Petr. 2. v. 12. Treachery gets into Judas, and tells Jesus that he is none of his Servant, for the Devil his Grand-master bought him to betray his Saviour and Lord for Thirty pence, though he drinks with you, (he tells him) he sells your Blood to me; he is your Apostle, but my Hireling: Now as for the pleasure of the Body, besides that it is to resent the Beast, and the Epicurian; Quid deliciarum foeditas mali non inducit, sues ex hominibus facit imo vero etiam multo majores: sus enim in luto volvitur, & stercore nutritur, hic vero abominabilem magis mensam sibi construit, iniquas commixtiones excogitans, hic nullo cettè à daemonico discrimine separatur. D. Chysost. homil. 58. in Matth. I will tell you that it could never as yet, nor ever will afford it any true pleasure; for they should be true and solid, either by the cause that produces them, or by the Subject that receives them, or by the effects that follow them: The cause that produces them, is a vicious and corrupt nature, which is cursed by the mouth of the Omniponent in Genesis: What good could ever come from a bad Principle? the Subject that receives them, is Man, who is it that ever was made happy by taking his pleasure? I know that the foolish sort of this World, have received from Satan a new kind of Religion, wherein they have but two Articles; the one, is never to Think, or trouble their mind for things to come: The second Article, is never to deny to their Appetites what pleasures the present time can afford: But I remit such as are of that Belief, to natural Theology, which, if received in their Hearts, may dissolve all those Clouds of Ignorance, if they do not set a stop to its light: If they do, I must then remit them over to experience, which I may call a night Lantern. The effects that follow, do likewise show the Malignity of the Cause; for in exchange of one pleasure you have a thousand sorrows, for a moment of Joy, eternal Punishment: their lamenting, and the Tears that come from their Eyes, are sufficient witness of the bitterness they do resent in their Hearts. To find in the World a Child who gives any true content to his Parents, Utile est mori sine filiis quam relinquere filios impios. Eccl. 16. v. 4. is a rare thing on Earth; he must be an Arabian Phoenix, who can well be described, yet never found out but once in an Age; Their birth is waited on with Lamentation and Tears, Pueritia tua adolescentiae tua inhonestamentum fuit adolescentiae senectutis dedecoramentum, senectus Reipublicae flagitium. Isidor. lib. 2. Orig. c. 21. and with a deal of reason, to the end the Fathers and Mothers should observe, and set down in their memorial, that the first day they became Parents, they begin to spin a Thread which would lead them into a Labarinth of Afflictions: It is better to departed this World without Children, than to leave wicked ones behind, (says the Wise) for you shall see some (hardly come to the use of reason) play such mad pranks, Ossa ejus implebuntur vitiis adol●scentiae sua & cum eo in pulvere dormient. Job 20. v. 19 that they rather seem to be an Offspring of Hell, than the production of any Christian Race; the Breasts that they have Sucked, (in my opinion) were more full of Malice than of Milk, being that their Souls are better stored with bad habits, than their Bodies with any good substance, which makes me believe, that they will be rather the Bloodsuckers of those that gave them the Breast and Birth, than their Relievers, and Staff of their old Age. Job confirms the same thing, (he says) that an old Man will carry the Crimes of his Youth, along with him to his Grave. Equus iudomitus evadit durus, & filius remissus evadit praecipe. Eccl. 30. A wild Horse you may be sure will be hard mouthed, and a wild youth will run headlong to his damnation, if he be not strictly kept under and curbed; this is the feeling of the Holy Ghost, and it must be very true. A poor Father will run himself headlong into so many Inconveniencies, Filii dum pueri sunt parentibus differunt capitis dolorem, dum vero adoleverint cordis dolorem. Proverbium Belgarum he will deprive himself of the influences of Heaven and Earth, to have them fall on his Son, thinking that he will be the Staff of his Old-age, and the Pillar of his Family; But it happens to the contrary, for in lieu of a Staff of Old-age, he has but a Reed full of wind; and for a Son, a Tyrant to torment him every day and every hour: By sending him to the Academy, he thought he should return home a true Nursery of Wisdom, the Honour of Virtue, and the unchangeable Defender of Justice; but all his Hopes are changed into an Abiss of Sadness; for he is become a Monster of Malice, an abominable Scandal to all the World; by day he is a greedy Crow carried on by his Venereal Flames to all rotten Carcases and slaves to Venus; By night he is no better than a Ravenous Wolf that lives by the spoil of the very poor; every where he goes he has the repute of a Devil, his Body is the Hell of his Soul; you hear nothing come from his Mouth but dark and Sacrilegious words; These are the smoky stinking vapours, which the very Satanick Impiety, that consumes his Heart, breathes out at every moment: The thoughts of Heaven and of his Salvation are as rare with him, as if he had been already confirmed in his everlasting misfortune. There is a man of the World for you, harnised like a Mule in a Wagon full of Maledictions. Virtuous Ladies are as rare, as Children well Bred. The Philosopher, who in the open Streets of Athens with a Lantern in his hand at noonday, looked for a Virtuous man, Elevatae sunt filiae Sion ambulaverunt extento collo. Isa. 3. v. 6. might very well take one in each hand to find out a Wise and Virtuous Lady: For Vanity seems to be so incident to that Sex, that on all occasions they would have themselves adored as so many Divinities; but that the ugliness of their Feet, even as the Peacock, forces them to acknowledge the frailty and weakness of their Nature. If the foolish fancies of Love have once got into their Breasts, there is no talking to them of living any longer under their Mother's wings: Their Stubborness, their Impudence, their Boldness, turns clear from their Hearts and Faces, all Respect, all Modesty, all Shame: The World has got such an Influence over their Affections, as being their King; that after he had treated them as the Scullions of his Kitchen, he leaves them as a Reward for all their Service, an everlasting repentance for having ever loved him so much. Ut pulvis à turbine, sic opes ab aliis ad alios subinde ventilantur atque jactantur, umbrae qui instar manibus teneri nequaquem possunt, nec desperatae carentibus, nec satis certae possidentibus. Greg. Naz. in orat. ad Julianum tributorum exequatorem. In fine, perhaps the great Wealth, Estates, Possessions and Riches, that the World gives to some, will be a sufficient motive to retain them in his Service: Alas! how can they be ignorant, that these are so many Nets to entangle them further in their slavery, and render them incapable ever to enjoy the liberty of true born Children of God, which might wean them from all the Terrestrial Affections, and transport their love towards Heaven the originary land of their Nativity; they are Tokens sold and bought very dear, and for which he expects extraordinary service, with a thousand sorts of compulsions and violence: However all this might be born with, if we were but sure of its constant enjoyment and long possession: But we see in the twinkling of an eye, a Rich man made the most miserable of Mortals; now a Craessus, presently a Craetes. It is then very true by the deduction of those three heads, that he who forsakes the service of God to live under the Government of a Tyrannical Prince, forsakes his Father to meet with his Enemy, turns tail to his Happiness, to face his Misfortunes, declines from his true and well-affected Judge, to cast himself into the hands of his Tormenter. Vadam post amatores meos qui daunt panes, mihi & aquas meas. Ozee. 2. v. 5. An non est hoc durae frontis, & meretriciae impudentiae, ut in suo scelere glorietur & dicat sequar amatores meos, etc. D. Hier. hic. That our God makes use of that knowledge to Convert a Sinner, Scripture makes it out, where you may find in Hosea the Prophet, a man who resolves to forsake the Service of God, to follow his Passions, and rank himself under the Tyrannical Laws of this corrupt World; I will go, says he, after my Lovers, that give me both Linen and Woollen, and Oil to Drink; as if he would say, the ways of God are very Austere, in his House they speak of no other thing, but of carrying of Crosses, renouncing one's Self, banishing proper Love, practising Mortification, and wearing of Hair-Cloath: I grudge those ways, I will hereafter give Obedience to the World, whose Maxims are far more sweet, the company more grateful, and the Commandments more conformable to Nature: What says St. Hierome, To glory in their Iniquity, and declare openly that they will forsake God, to follow the World, and to run after its unlawful Allurements; is it not to bear the front and face of a bold Impudent Strumpet. Spinis electorum viae sepiuntur dum dolorum punctiones inveniunt in hoc quod temperaliter concupiscunt, quasi interposita materia vis eorum obviat quorum nimirum defideria perfectionis difficultas impugnat. D. Greg. 34. moral. cap. 2. No, no, says our Saviour, I stop you there, you shall not find what you look for in the World, I will set Bushes, Thorns, and great Stones in the way where you think to pass through, that at last you shall be constrained to come back: You think to live at your Ease in the World; I will contrive it so, that all Creatures shall rise up against you, to control your Designs: You think to meet with Friends, but I will order it, that your nearest Relations shall be the first that will trouble your Settlement; you think to enjoy your Liberty with more ease and less contradiction, Vadam & revertar ad virum meum priorem, nam dum diversitatibus mundi, quem diligit anima morderi coepit, tunc plenius intelligit, quanto illi, cum priore viro melius fuit eos ergos quos voluntas prava pervertit, plerumque adversitas corrigit. Idem Greg. supra. by withdrawing yourself from my conduct: I will render you a far greater Slave than any of the Criminals at the Chain in their Galleys: Those sound Corrections and Divine Reproaches had so much power over that wavering Spirit, that at last he is forced to acknowledge his fault, and openly declare that he would return to his former Master; because, says he, it is better to be with him than here, where I find but the bare shadow of good luck and contentment: Whereas in God's Service I shall have all assurance of Glory, and everlasting Felicity. CHAP. XIII. That we cannot complain of the want of sufficient means for our Conversion. WE must suppose for a ground of this our Discourse, that all God's Graces tending to our Conversion may be reduced to two equal Divisions: That is, to the Graces, that begin and dispose us to our Coversion, and all those Graces are comprehended under the term and notion of (less sufficient to Salvation,) or to the Graces which do effectually concur to our Conversion, and those we call actual and efficacious Graces: This is, the Doctrine of all true Divines against Calvin, Bellarm. tom: 3. controvers. l. 1. de great. & lib. arbitrio. c. 11. Luther and Pelagius; The one, as Graceless, denies Grace for good and all; the rest will acknowledge none but what is Efficacious: The great St. Augustin, D. Aug lib. 1. de praedest. sanct. c. 10. tom. 7. statim initio. Vocat Deus praedestinatos multos filios suos, ut eos faciat membra praedestinati vinci filii sui non ea vocatione qua vocati sunt qui noluerunt venire ad nuptias, sed ea vocatione praedestinatos vocat, quam distinxit Apostolus. Vide catera ibidem. discoursing at large of the effects of Gods good will for us, gives us the same distinction in divers Expressions; In one place, he says, That God has two means which he makes use of to Convert a Sinner and work his Salvation; the one is Powerful in its Effect, Infallible in its Operation; and this he employs for Predestinate Souls; The other is that which he gave to those that he did invite to the Nuptials, but took their Excuses and would not come: The former is called Efficacious according to God's purpose; This, sufficient, in the design that he has to destroy no body. That is so infallible in its effect, that whosoever receives it, St. John assures him, John. 16. That Hell with all its forces shall never be able to take him out of God's Hands. This, is an effect of the Divine Goodness, but suspended through the malice of our corrupt Will, which does not concur with that Offspring of all her Happiness: That, is never found separated from the practice of Good, or the exercise of Virtue; This is only a bare faculty, which gives of itself the Power to hope for Goodness, if we please; but most commonly we keep it a Slave and a Prisoner under the Irons of Blood and Flesh, as the Apostle says, Rom. 8. v. 4. The benignity of God has called you to Repentance; but the hardness of your Soul, and your obstinate Heart has increased God's Indignation and wrath which shall come thundering on your Heads at the day of Judgement. This distinction makes out, that the word, Sufficient, must not be taken as the Grammarians do; that is, as if this only means had been able to conduce a Soul to the final point of her Conversion: No, it must be understood in the stile of Theology, for a means sufficient to Salvation, if it be naanaged as it ought to be. So we say in the most Sacred Mystery of the Incarnation, that our Saviour did sufficiently operate the Salvation of all men; yet notwithstanding all that sufficiency, Mortals-will fall into the large and common road of Perdition, if they do not really and efficaciously apply the passion of Christ to themselves; by resenting his Sadness, his Grief, and his Pains, and join this application to that sufficiency, as a condition, without which, nothing can be done to our advantage. In the second place we must suppose, that among the sufficient means to Conversion; some are Interior, others Exterior; the Interior means is no other than a Godly Thought, which by God's assistance gives light to the understanding to see the misery and deplorable state of the Soul, and makes the poor sinner to give a mournful glance towards Heaven, his Native soil, and place of rest; or otherwise an affection or desire in the will to withdraw the Heart from all Terrestrial Laws, to aim only and earnestly at his Sovereign good, which is God. The Exterior sufficiency of means further off, are helps proceeding from second Causes whereof God makes use as of Instruments to conduct us by degrees to a capacity of receiving far greater Graces: Vis●rum sua sionibur agit Deus ut velimus & credamus, & extrinsicus exhortationes, sive intrinsecus, ubi nemo habet in potestate quid ei veniat in mentem, sed consentire vel dissentire. D. Aug. de spiritu & lit. cap. 3. In this rank of Exterior means, are Exhortations, Preaching of the Word of God, Reading of good Books, the good Example of Neighbours, the afflictions of the Body, troublesome Times, alteration of Things, and such like misfortunes. That being supposed, let us draw out of the Registery of Holy Scripture the justifying pieces of God's good will for Man, to whom he never denied the sufficient means of his Conversion, Miseris omnium quia omnia potes, non enim odiens aliquid constituisti. Sap. 11. and his coming to Salvation. But, before we proceed any further, let us make use of a familiar comparison, to give the Reader a clearer understanding of this Doctrine, and say, That God behaves himself in this Case as would a General of an Army, who has good wishes for two of his Soldiers; to one he gives a Captain's place; by which, if he does acquit himself well, he may raise his Fortune without any great Cost: The other he leaves with the bare Qualification of a single Soldier, but he order him to be paid punctually as the rest, assuring him nevertheless, that if he be Faithful to perform his Duty, he will advance him from Charge to Charge, until that he attains to the condition of his Comrade: The one and the other are sufficiently provided for by their Captain of means to come to a Fortune; And it's to no purpose to say, that there is a great deal of inequality in the case, being the one is brought so near the Throne of Fortune, that he may touch it in a manner with his Finger; and the other is in the highway to come to it in time, but only with more toil. So God in the desire he hath to save all men, sets some in a state so near their Conversion, that they need only to stretch out the Arm of their Will, by a free concurrence of a sincere Co-operation, and there they are presently out of Satan's Power, under the jurisdiction of Jesus, King of all Glory. He putteth others in a state further off, that tends notwithstanding to their Conversion: if they do but stand Faithfully to their Arms, and fight Courageously; so that they may well say with the Angel speaking to the Prophet who lay weary under a Tree, Illuminat omnem hominem ven●ent●● in hunc mundum. Joan. cap. 1 v 9 Id est illuminat eum qui à Deo r●cedens, & cadens en mundum cac●●us est. Glosa in●erlin●●●s tit. we have as yet a long way to go. However the one and the other are sufficiently provided for by our bountiful and gracious God: St. John the darling of Jesus Christ, (who by leaning on his Master's breast, (the Word-Incarnate) had learned the highest secrets of Theology in its proper source,) represents him to us, coming into the World under the Symbol of a most bright Sun, Enlightening all men that were to come to life from the Creation to the Consummation of all Ages. An excellent comparison, for even as the Sun there above seated in his Lightsome Throne, pours down on all parts his Rays and Lights with such a deal of Liberality, that you would say he would exhaust himself, Per solem intelligi potest non iste visibilis, sed ille de quo dicitur vobis qui timetis nomen domini orietur sel justitiae, & per pluviam irrigatio doctrinae, quia & bonis & malis aparuit, & evangelisatus est chorus. D. Aug. tom. 4. de serm. domini in monte lib. cap. 46. and deprive Himself of Himself for the good of the World, so far as to oblige the very Rocks to open their bosoms and receive his Influence. So our Saviour and Redeemer of our Souls, true Sun of Justice seated in his Throne of Glory, pours down with both Hands the Blessings and Divine Influences of his ardent Love; all Breasts though never so hard, are watered with his Graces, to let every one know that his design is to banish from our hearts the clouds of our Ignorance and the Obstinacy of our Malice. The Prophet-Royal seems to dive further into the secrets of this comparison, when he says, that not only he is Enlightened with this Divine Light, Non est qui se abscondat à calore ejoo, Psal. 18. v. 7● who presents himself without any resistance to receive his effects: But also that Jesus is a fire who brings his heat into the most frozen Souls to mollify and dissolve their Ice. Hence it comes that God sometimes dispatches an Angel from Heaven on purpose towards a Sinner obstinate in his Abominations, Ite Angeli veloces ad gentem convulsam & dilaceratam, etc. Isa. 18. v. 2. who passed over all the days of his Life in the cold Winter of his Indevotions, to open his Heart for to receive the Flames of his Love: Another time he commands a Preacher, Vocatio gentium hic describitur, & liberatis de manibus mundi & Sathanae per Christum facta, heu inquit terra quae es sita ultra Aethiopiam, quae scates fluminibus, id est, terra in extremo orbe posita, synec dochicè ultimas. Vatabl. & fererivo hist. and an Apostolical Missioner to cross the Seas, hazard his Life, and break off all obstacles to meet with a poor Sumatre, a Javan, an Indian, a Japanian, to Preach the Gospel to him, give him a full knowledge of the Mysteries of our Redemption, make him to forsake his Barbarous ways and Behaviour, as also the Worship of False Gods, to live hereafter under the Government of one God, and of one Law, that requires and commands nothing but Love and Peace. The Eternal Wisdom jointly with his Paternal Providence are so forward to maintain the Union established in the order of Creatures at their Creation, that the grand pieces of the Universe would sooner quit their stations than suffer any disorder or dis-union among them: In case of necessity you would see the Earth ascend, and the Firmament to descend, sooner than suffer any void place within the enclosure of Nature: The Divine Providence, in matter of Grace and Communication of his Favours, observes the same Rules; for sooner than suffer any vacuity in a Soul, or give occasion to any reasonable Creature to complain that he had not received sufficient means for his Conversion, The Seraphins in Heaven who live only by the ardent Flames of God's Love, and who by their charge are always the next to his Throne, as being the Angels of his Privy Council: They would notwithstanding sooner forsake Heaven, if it were necessary, to bring into a Sinners Breast the Light of Grace, and draw him out of all danger of everlasting loss by force of Cords and Ropes. In funiculis Adam traham eos. Osee. 11. v 4. Non arbitreris istam asperam molestamque violentiam, dulcis est, suavis est, ipsa te suavitas trahit. D. Aug. tom. 10. serm. 2. d●●verbis Apostoli. You would sooner see the dead Carcases revive, and get out of their Graves to Preach to the Living, than they should be deprived of sufficient means to work their Salvation. St. Peter will have all men to humble themselves under the Powerful Hand of God, and cast all their care on him, because that being our common Father, he has engaged himself to provide for us in all our necessities. Omnem solicitudinem projicientes in eum, quoni●m ipsi cura est de vobis. 1 Petr. c. 5. v. 7. The Vessel of Election, St. Paul, who more particularly than the rest of the Apostles, seems to extol the Uniformity of God's Graces, (says openly,) that in their distribution, he keeps such an equality, Idem Dominus omnium dives in omnes. Rom. cap. 10. v. 12. that the Jew has nothing to boast of more than the Grecian, because that he is absolute Lord of the one and of the other; always resolved, as for his part, to open in such sort, the Treasures of his Riches to this Man, that the other shall have no occasion to say, that he is positively excluded from any share. CHAP. XIV. That the Infidel and Stillborn Children cannot complain of God. Omnes homines vult salvos fieri & ad agnitionem veriatis venire, etc. 1 Tim. cap. 2. THe Infidel cannot complain of God's proceed in matters of Salvation, though he had been hidden among the rest of wild Beasts in the Caves and Dens of the lower Thebaide, had he been far more wild than Tigers, and fierce than Lions: For the general propositions of Scripture, which give us to understand, Sine acceptione personarum judicat, etc. 1 Petr. 2. v. 17. that God wills not the death of any person, but that every one be converted and live; that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of Truth; Quinque modis vult Deus omnes salvos fieri 1 s●b conditione, si ipsi volunt 2 cum impletione, quia nullus nisi eo volente sanus fit: 3. cum distributionis restrictione, id est, de omni genere aliquos, colligit enim electos à quatuor ventis: 4. de praesenti & quas effectiuè, id est, facit omnes velle quia omnes naturalit●r volunt salui fieri: 5. de futuro si●q●e praecipit, consulit exortatur, ut salui fiant, que omnia sunt signa divinae voluntatis. Gozram ex glossa, in c. 2. 1 Tim▪ v. 4. that all the Earth is replenished with his Mercy; that he acts without any exception or Partiality, must fall out to be so true, that Heaven and Earth shall sooner pass over, than the least point should want its accomplishment: For the Nature of general propositions, is to subsist in their truth in each one of the Individuals that are within their Praecincts: As for example, all men are subject to Death; this is a general Proposition: Then John, Peter, Paul, and so of the rest, by Deduction, must of necessity submit themselves to the rigours of Death: God will have all men to be saved, this is a general Proposition; then of necessity, the Infidel who falls under that generality, as well as the rest of men, must partake of God's good will, otherwise the proposition should not be true, which cannot be thought of without Impiety. And being that all causes that act with Order, aim not at an end, but at the same time they do dispose suitable means to attain to that end. God, who does all things by Order, and by the Rule of his Infinite Wisdom, in Weight, Number, and Measure, has appointed the enjoyment of his Divinity in Heaven, to be the last End of Man, then of necessity he must provide him some means to attain to that End; which he does faithfully perform by the voluntary, and free Gift of his Graces: Let us then confess that his design is never to fail any in that respect, consequently that all receive at his most liberal hands sufficient means for their Salvation; whether they do receive them by the sufficiency of means further off, or by the sufficiency of means nearer hand; for the one and the other are capable to put us in possession of our last end; St. Chrisostome assures you of it, D. Chrysost. hom. in John. the Grace of God, (says he) slides into the Hearts of all men, as a participation of the Divine Essence, without any exception of Slave or Freeborn, Man or Woman, Old or Young; She offers herself to all, flies from no body, D Dionysius select. Hierach. cap. 9 all the World has a share of her. The Divine Areopagite taking the matter at the height of Providence, upholds it with Expressions altogether Celestial, that God's design in man's Creation, Neque ab hoc excusabiles sunt nationes, ctc. Paulo infra. Adhibita est enim semper universis hominibus quadam supernae, mensura doctrinae, nbae ut si parcioris occultiorisque gratiae fuit, sufficit tamen sicut Dominus judicavit, quibusdam ad remedium omnibus ad salutem. Prosper. lib. 2. de vocatione gentium cap. 14. was to make him partaker of the Glory of Angels in everlasting Bliss. The Infidel cannot then complain of God: And Foreign Nations, (says Prosper of Aquitain) shall not be heard at the Bar of the High-Court of Justice in Heaven, when they shall allege, that God made himself known only in Judea, and that the Favours which flow from him now abundantly in the Evangelical Law, in some parts only of the World, never comes to their Country; for no difference shall ever be found of either Time, Place, or Person, that the Grace of God as a Fountain of Water of Everlasting Life, ever ceased to let flow her streams sufficiently. The excuse of the course-grained Christian, is less to be received than that of the Infidel, for he can take none but what will prove to be a strong deposition of his malice, and a convincing proof of God's goodness; for whether you take a bad Christian for a man who broke the Faith of his Baptism, Ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris. 1 John 2● v. 1. when that coming to the use of Reason, he revolted against God as often as he committed actual and mortal Sin: or whether you take him for one so seduced by the Spirit of Pride, Preterium sanguinis ejus est sefficiens ad salutem omnium, sed non habet efficiam nisi in electis propter impedimentum. D. Thom. comment. in c. 2. ad T'him. that he tore asunder the Robe of Jesus, by declaring himself an Heretical person; you shall find that the one, as well as the other, always received sufficient means to understand at full, the deplorable state of his Soul. The one, to fly from Sin, which has rendered him God's Enemy, and embrace his Grace to become his Heir; the other, to know the union of the true Church, and detest all Errors, which Liberty, rather than Ignorance, made him to follow. The First is condemned by all our Saviour's exhortations, so often repeated over all the body of the Bible. In the Ecclesiastic, Eccles. c. 5. Isa. cap. 31. tarry no while to convert yourself to the Lord. In Isaiah, convert yourself to the Sublimity of my Grace, Effusio pro injustis sanguinis Iustistans potens fuit ad privilegium tam dives ad pretium ut si universitas captivorum in redemptorem suum crederet, nullum Tyrannica vincula retinerent. St. L● ser. 12. passionis. even as your sins have brought you to serve the Devil in the lowest degree of all humiliations. In Ezekiel, live God, (says the Lord) I will not have the death of a Sinner; my joy and all my content, is, that he comes to me to be received. In St. Peter, God who heretofore was called the God of Revenge, who Ordered Torments and Tortures, to be always the following steps of Abominations and Crimes, now more mild, as it seems, expects with Patience the return of a Sinner to his Duty. To what purpose all those exhortations? All those good Wills, and Designs? Had it been impossible for a Sinner to comply: Moreover, God knows full well, that within the limits of humane power, there is no virtue able to produce one supernatural Act, as is that of a true Conversion; consequently it must of necessity follow, that God gives a sufficiency of Graces for the Conversion of all Sinners; being that he does exhort them to that which is far beyond their Forces. Prosper of Acquitain concludes that God did never as yet cut short the way of his Mercy to any that he has seen a Friend to correction; so that none can justly say that ever he was put to any impossibility of doing well: The second goes on in the like degree of condemnation, seeing that they cannot bring any manner of excuse for their error, that they were not instructed, or taught which was the true Religion: For they were told a Million of times; Six authentical marks of a true Religion, which agrees with our Roman profession, and with no other: The first of all, is, the Prediction of its Existence, before that the Messiah, (the Author and first beginner thereof,) gave it a vent in the Evangelical Law; So the Prophets, the Sibyls, the Poets, and Philosophers, though of a contrary opinion in other matters, yet to set forth the properties of our Religion, they are all of one mind, and of one opinion. Secondly, the Merits of its Institutor, who is no common man as others, but both God and Man, Irreprehensible in his Life, Impeccable by Nature, good to all People, and who doth authorise his Doctrine, both by the rare Examples of his Holy Life, and by the Greatness of his Miracles; as the very Mahomet does openly confess in his Alcoran. Thirdly, the Integrity of the things Preached and taught in this Religion, all which come to two points, the Honour of God, and the Profit of Man. Fourthly, The general Victories over Idolatry, the banishment of Devils, and silence of Oracles: For in Augustus' time, and at the first coming of Jesus, Oracles are consulted, but have not a word to Answer, Porphire, Juvenal, Lucian, Celsus and the rest, are altogether astonished at their Silence, not understanding that it is the true Religion, which gins to make itself known to the World. Fifthly, It's general publication over all the World without any earthly assistance, favour or support, without Pleasure, Profit, or any Temporal satisfaction, in Patience, Humility and Affliction; In fine, the Infallible Assistance of Jesus to them of that Profession, as well by the use of Holy Sacraments, wherein he confers his Graces on us, as by the care he has to give us his Angels to guard and protect us: his Holy Ghost to comfort us, and his Promise assuring us of Eternal Life: Let the Heretic then as well as the bad Christian, confess that it is not God, but the bad use they make of their own free will and liberty, that is the cause of their everlasting Misfortune and woe. But alas! what shall we say of those poor little Creatures, which in their Mother's womb, (or soon after they breathed the common air of Nature,) are deprived of Life, before they become Peaceable possessors of the same, passes from one Prison to another, and (not having along with them the safe conduct of Baptism) are prohibited to come within the gates of Heaven. Must so ancient a Sin, and so far from us, as that of Adam is, be the cause of our daily misfortunes: Original sin, what a subtle poison your Infection is? being that it is impossible for any Creature (except Jesus and Mary, He by Nature, she by a special Privilege) to avoid its fatal stain. Were it not far better to deprive those poor Babes of Life for good and all, by leaving them blocked up within that Chaos of nothing, than to bring them to a state where they shall have cause to lament for ever their misfortune, without any to comfort them or condole their bad luck. St. Augustin, Your Expressions are able to break any Heart to pieces, when you say that very many Children receive not the Grace of God, because they die without Baptism, though they have no will contrary to the will and Holy Laws of God; and though the Parents and Priests make as much haste as they can to Administer the Holy Sacrament unto them; thing worthy of compassion, they run in all haste to look for a Remedy to the Evil, and the Patient expires before its application, God permitting it so to fall out. I confess ingeniously, I would wish a more Happy condition to those poor little Creatures, if Faith had suffered me to follow my feelings: But it obliges me under pain of Damnation to submit my thoughts to Divine Revelation, which gives me to understand, that it was the Eternal Father's Decree to send his only Son on Earth for the Reconciliation of Mankind; then, the Decree must of necessity be equally put in execution, Prosper lib. 2. de vocat. gent. c. 23. Non irreligiose arbitror dici, quod isti paucorum dierum homines ad illam pertineant gratiae partem, quae semper omnibus est impensa nationibus: totaque illa principia nec dum rationalis infantiae sub arbitrio jacent voluntatis alienae, nec ullo modo eis nisi per alios consuli potest. Vide per totum. so that none comprehended within the List, and Obligation passed in the Terrestrial Paradise, can say that he has not been made partaker of sufficient means to Salvation. St. Prosper was of the same feeling; I do not believe, says he, that we do in any way transgress against either Religion or Conscience, to say, that those little Children, Creatures of few days, appertain to that part of Grace which is communicated to all Nations; and which, if their Parents turn to good use, doubtless will take its effect; for all those small Grafts and Exordiums of Creatures not yet Reasonable, lies under the good will of another. The reason is, that as the Children are not guilty before God, but by the fault of their first Parent, and never contributed on their side to any actul malice, that is in them, but only by a flowing of an Hereditary propagation, which sticks to all them that come to the World, by the way of ordinary Generation, so they have not the sufficient means to stop this Original disorder, but what depends on the Will of another: Now we must suppose that it is morally impossible but that the Parents have an actual desire to confer on their Children this necessary means to Salvation; and this is what the Divines call the sufficient means of little Infants. But if it happens by hazard, or otherwise that the Child dies in the Mother's womb, or soon after, this can be no reason to dress up a complaint against God, because that those sad Mischances, arriving through Natural Causes, make that God, who in the general disposition of the Universe acts as first Principle, suffers also all things to go according to the course of their Nature, without conceiving any formal design notwithstanding against that Child; or this in particular, that he should be deprived of Sufficient means to Salvation: Would you have that God to hinder an Eclipse of the Sun, should disturb and destroy all the order of Nature: Sicut per unius delictum in omnes homines. The Apostle says, that the Sin of one man had so infected all Humane Nature, that from the Child in the Mother's Womb, to him, who after a long scope of years waits for his Coffin and Grave, there is none but has been condemned to die when first he began to live. Even so by the Justice of another man, not by Terrestrial, but even Celestial Grace, as a brave Sun of an Infinite Greatness, powers down her Rays on all men, with so much proportion, that the Child as well as the Old Man, must ingeniously confess, that nothing is wanting to them of God's side, who will never violate the Laws of his General Providence to hinder the operation and effects of particular Causes. Let none then hereafter, (if it happens, that unfortunately he falls into the common road of Perdition,) accuse the Eternal Providence of either Injustice or Partiality, being he never refuses any Body sufficient means to work the Conversion and Salvation of his Soul. CHAP. XV. God no sooner sees a Soul desirous of her Salvation, but he gives her his helping Hand. OUr God in the Prophet Malachi speaks a most sweet word to the People of Israel, that deserves well some return more than a Compliment; I have loved you, (says he to them, Malach. c. 1. v. 2 Dilexi vos dicit d●minus, & dix●stis in quo dilexisti nos. ) and what ought they to reply? how, or in what terms should they acknowledge their great Obligations to him? Should they not say, it is true, my Lord, we have had several proofs of your good will, Heaven and Earth on occasion might appear as Irreproachable Witnesses of the Favours we received at your most Liberal Hands: Oblite sunt benefactorum ejus, etc. Psal. 77. v. 11. But ungrateful and most unmannerly People, (for all acknowledgement,) begin to contest with him, and disown that ever they were obliged to him in the least; Bona repromissoris sibi ascribit peccator, &c Is it possible that this ungrateful People have already forgotten the Favours which God did them in Babylon, when (that resenting much the Affronts done them by the Idumeans,) he brought them out of their Captivities? There they were Chained, Cuffed and Bolted; and have they so soon forgotten him, who broke and struck off their Irons? Was it not a great proof of his Love to have sent Moses armed with his Omnipotent Power to bring them from Pharaoh's Jurisdiction and Slavery? Coram patribus eorum fecit mirabilia in terra Egypti, etc. Psal. 77. v. 23. The notorious Signs and Prodigies which Egypt hath seen, shall be the Memorials of his Love; Do they remember who it was that commanded the Seas to give them a free passage through their main Gulfs, when that their Enemies came close on their backs: And after all this they are so bold as to ask God the question, How, or where has he showed them any Love? Before they should return any such Answer, they should cast all Creatures into the fire, being that they are in this point so many convincing proofs and witnesses of their Ingratitude. They are not to be excused, Qui etiam proprio filio non pepercit sed, etc. Rom. 8. v. 52. I must confess, however, they are in some respects to be Pardoned; For though they had the Laws of God in their Hands, yet they did not as yet see or know the Author of Grace, the Word-Incarnate: But if a Christian should demand of God, Sic Deus dilexit mundum ut filium suum, &c Joan. 3. v. 16. wherein have you loved me? I would willingly conjure all Creatures to appear at his Trial, as Evidence of so heinous a Crime, and as Executioners of so great a Malefactor: But my God, why should I dissemble where Truth is so plain? For even among Christians we may soon find some of so Brazen a face, Cum filio dato, omnia donavit nobis, ut ce daunt in bonum nostrum, superiora quidem scilicet divinae personae ad fruendum, rationales spiritus ad convenidum, & omnia inferiora ad utendum. D. Thom. in comment. Eph. ad Rom. cap 8. as to pronounce the words, or at least show by their Actions that they do not believe that God has a Love for them; yea without doubt. For how can you think of them otherwise, to receive daily the Divine Inspirations, to see at all hours and moments the amorous Inventions of God to convert us, to hear the Eternal Father repeat so often and in such express terms, that he Loved the World so far as to give his Dear Beloved Son to redeem it, and not to be moved in the least to requite his Love with Love again; it is not in Conscience to repeat those Blasphemous words, wherein have you Loved me? I do not find it expedient to give any further Answer to the Ingratitude of Christians, then to set before their Eyes the wise conduct of Jesus in the management of our Conversions, to let the Soul know, that if she makes good use of the first Grace she receives; Nun est ipsa beata vita quam omnes volunt audimus nomen hoc, & rem ipsam omnes nos appetere fatemur non enim sono delectamur, etc. Paulo infra. Nota est igitur omnibus hominibus, quia una voce si interrogari possent, sine ulla dubitatione velle responderent. D. Aug. tom. 1. lib. 10. confess: cap. 20. per totum. God will never deny her the continuation of his Graces, until that her Conversion be fully completed: But because that the sufficient Grace whereof we spoke heretofore, is a general term that comprehends all the particular Graces which precedes the Justification, as Dispositions requisite to the Introduction of that Noble form. I suppose with St. Augustin, that the first Thought that falls into a Reasonable man's Heart, whatever state he is in, is a great desire to be Saved; A desire which the Divines call a Velleity of Salvation, to which God concurs with his special assistance, to make this weak desire come to a perfect will. For to comprehend the merit of that Grace, Quae sursum sunt sapite non quae super terram. Coloss. 3. v. 2. it should be necessary to remark with St. Augustin and other Saints, that all Spiritual Gifts, all Graces and Favours, which God of his Infinite Mercy communicates to our Hearts, have no other end or aim but to stir up our Wills to Actions conducing to Salvation: Which to perform after a sweet way, God endues the Soul with two attractive Powers, he fixes one to the objects of our Conversion, and the other to its beginning and ground: He order that the Object shall launce a thousand Lustres of Beauty towards the poor Sinners Soul, Quae oculus non vidit, etc. 1 Cor. 2.9. and so many brightsome Beams whereby Heaven is represented to him as a place of Rest, where all Tears, all Labours, all Crosses and Sufferings are Divinely changed into so many Splendours and Lights of Glory; where Saints are Sweetly reduced, and Happily necessitated to Love, freed of all Misery, and replenished with that Saintly Pleasure, which takes its source from the Divine Essence. These are the Charms which the Object pours down into our Hearts; and to the end that its ravishing Beauties should the sooner come to lodge therein, God shapes them either into so many Figures, which he knows will draw our Affections to them, or at least reforms the former Species we had of them, by giving them a more lively colour. His Charms are altogether as great for the Understanding and Will, the concurring Principles of our Conversion, but Principles so corrupted since the Fall of Adam, and so disordered in their Inclinations, that, besides the difficulties they meet with in the practice of Virtues; they are blindly persuaded that all good and felicity, resides where Vice even sits in its Thone with Authority: But God, to bring them from that error, takes off all contradictions, makes all difficulties plain, drives away all dark Clouds, clears the understanding, and helps on the Will in the pursuit of things which she thought impossible, whilst she was plunged in the dirt of sin, and lead by the inclinations of corrupt Nature; then she finds that there is more satisfaction and pleasure to die on the Cross, than she had of inclination to live in the flesh, and is very well pleased to gather Roses amongst Bushes and Thorns. However, let us not be persuaded, that the faculties of the Soul, (to work her Conversion,) requires only the intimate presence of God, without any further concurrence of any created Principle. I do acknowledge that God has the power of Essential dependency over all Creatures, which makes them always be in a readiness to obey his Orders beyond their Natural Principles, and the Precincts of their Activity: In that Case▪ 'tis enough that he raises up their power proportionably to the miraculous effect that he aims to produce. For such miraculous effects tend not to the profit or contentment of the things elevated, being altogether incapable of any such, but only aims to make known the power of the Supreme Agent, who makes use of them; So that for to Act, they need no other created Principle. But as for Man, it is not the same with him; Postquam convertisti me egi poenitentiam. Jerem. cap. 31. v. 16. for God setting him on in the work of his Conversion, will have him to concur really, and as an effective Principle, even as he did in his aversion from him, when that he committed Sin, which cannot be performed by him, unless it be beforehand, God bestows on him a Divine quality, which leaves him in a free power to work the accomplishment of his Salvation, which he is not able to perform by the bare and sole Principles of Nature: Moreover, had not Man received any other extraordinary quality, Liberum arbitrium est causa sui motus, quia homo per liberum arbitrium movet se ad agendum. D. Tho. 1. p q. 83. art, 1. ad 3. to raise up his will to supernatural Actions; as all those are that tend directly to Salvation; It might be said that he is a principle merely passive in the practice of Virtues, which is contrary to the common Belief: Also God never supplies by himself the defect of any second Causes, when it can be done by any other way: The Example of the Blessed in Heaven, will make this Divinity easy to be understood. It is not enough for a Soul that has for her happy residence everlasting Glory, that God discovers unto her the Mirror of his Divine Essence, and makes his Glorious Beams to shine all about her; her Understanding must also march under the conduct of a Light of Glory, to enjoy its Felicity, that must be the resplendent Garment, without which, it durst not appear. It must then follow, that the Soul receives some Grace from Heaven, Venit adoravit. eum dicens, Domine Adjuva me. Matt. 5. v. 15. which God drops down from the Cabinet of his most tender Love, and not to make her bear in her understanding the knowledge of all the Divine Beauties, for that is the Duty and Office of the exciting Grace; But to help her Will, and in so doing, to make her the necessary principle of her Conversion, as all the Fathers of the Sacred Council of Trent do teach; The Holy Church owns the necessity of that Grace, Trident. sess. 6. Cent. and that all our endeavours for Salvation, are too weak to draw us from the corruption of this World, without the assistance from Heaven; this is it that moved her to dress up that form of Prayer, Actiones nostras quaesumus Domine aspirando praeveni & adiuvando prosequere, etc. by which she desires the Divine bounty to prevent in such sort the beginning of our Actions by the sweetness of his aspirations; that nevertheless he forsakes us not in the progress; to the end that all we do or think, may tend to his Glory, as the Rays to their Sun, the Lines to their Centre. The Apostle St. Paul, who was not content to have cast the Seed of Faith into the Hearts of those that he had newly engendered unto Jesus, (if he had not prescribed them the means to preserve it;) comforts them with this good news, that the Holy Ghost doth ease and help our Infirmities: Rom. 8. v. 26. Similiter autem spiritus adiuvat infirmitatem nostram. As if he had said, I do not doubt in the least, my dear Children in our Lord, but that the Devil who is so well versed to deceive men, will invent many ways to make you decline from the Road which leads to Salvation, and which you have learned but of late, for there is nothing he aims more at then to snatch your Souls out of the Arms of Jesus; the World, (always contrary in its Maxims to the Holy Laws of Heaven,) will breed in your Hearts, if it can, a horror and a distaste of that Crucifying and Crucified life, which is observed and practised in the Evangelical Law: Nevertheless, do not say or imagine that your Enemies are strong, your Resolutions weak, the Victory doubtful: Let not all those apprehensions pull down your courage; for I do vassure you in my Master's Name, that he will assist you, by fortifying your weakness, that he will solace your Infirmities, by strentghening your Arms in your most bloody Skirmishes. That he will cast dust in your Enemy's eyes, to give them the Rout, and You the Victory, that he will make you carry Laurels on your Foreheads, as so many brave Conquerors, whilst They shall bear on their Faces, nothing but shame and confusion. The Prophet and King, a Man truly according to the Heart of God, (not, for having Governed his People with a deal of Authority; not, for having subdued strange Nations by the happy success of his Arms; not, for having gathered an abundance of wealth in the splendour of his Glory: Psal. 93. v. 16. Nisi Dominus adiuvisset me, etc. But for having so happily managed the Graces of God, in the course of his Conversion;) Confesses ingeniously, that were it not for the help and assistance he had from Heaven, his Soul had very soon taken up her quarters in Hell: Alas! How many are there now alive, Prope rueram in illam fossam quae paratur peccatoribus, hoc est Paulo minus haberaverat in inferno anima mea, quia jam nutabat, probè consentiebat, nisi Dominus adiuvisset, me. D. Aug. come. 8. in Psal. 93. v. 17. that may as well as David, confess the same? and say, My God, had you but given power to your Sergeants' in Hell, to bring in such a Man's Body to their dark Dungeon at the same time as he became refractory to your Holy Laws, and plunged himself in the dirty puddle of Concupiscence; he had been already partaker of what punishments the Damned Souls suffer, as he has been guilty of their Crimes, if your charitable goodness, (taking compassion of his blindness,) had not helped him to get out of his Dirt and Infection. How many are now Triumphing in Glory, and appointed by God to bear company with his Holy Angels for an Eternty? Who, if they had not been prevented by that Grace, would be Chained in Hell, and as complicies to Satan, would have been his unfortunate Slaves, without any expectation of redemption. Magdalen, my dear Penitent, this day you take the sweet sleep of the Spouse in the Arms of your beloved Jesus, shining like a Morning Star, without fear that any should evermore trouble your rest: However, you would have been condemned to bear company with all reprobate Souls, had not he, who went so many steps to find you out when you were lost, helped you to forsake the World and its Vanities, to draw you to himself, with the sweet smell of his most precious Ointment. St. Paul, you do boast, Ter Dominum rogavi ut, etc. 2 Cor. 12. v. 19 Quoties ego ipse in eremo constitutus, & in illa vasta solitudine, quae exusta solis ardoribus horidum monarchis praebebat habitaculum putabam me Romans interest deliciis: itaque omni auxilio destitutus ad Jesu Jacobam, pedes, rigabam lachrymis, crime tergebam, & repugnantem carnem heb domadarum in, dia subjugabam. D. Hier. to. 1. Epist ad Eustochium de custodia virginit. and with a great deal of reason, to have been Ravished up to the third Heaven, to be the Apostle of holy Jesus by excellency, to have exercised your Function and Charge in the Church with Honour, and without any Reproach: But had not our Saviour helped you to surmount the Angel of Satan, who did so often assault you, doubtless, you had given up your Arms. I grant that St. Hierome did abandon Rome, and broke clear off with the false pleasure and insolent allurements the World could afford, to retire himself to Bethlehem, and keep his constant residence in those Holy Monuments of our Redemption, that he brought down his Body by Fasting, by Watching, by Discipline, and by his continual practice of Mortification and Penance: However, he does of himself confess, that the ancient Figures of his past Vanities, would often return to his remembrance, and come in a Body before his eyes; And that if his Saviour had not helped him in his vast Wilderness, the very Hermitage had been no more advantageous to the designs of his Salvation, than the most populous City in the Universe. Concil. Arans. Cant. 22. The Holy Council of Orange will have us to believe, that whoever has in his possession the Grace of Justice and Verity, could not receive it but by the means of that inexhaustible Fountain of Liberality; and that God gives that Grace to Men, as being Pilgrims in this World, to the end, that being refreshed by the sweetness of its influence, they may not be out-breathed under the burden of the Cross. And in another place, the same Council makes out, Idem Cant. 10. that it is not only necessary to them, who, by reason of their weakness, falls often into Sin; but also to them, who seemed otherwise to be more confirmed in Virtue: The reason is very plain, for if it be a truth which suffers no contradiction; Avertente autem te faciem tuam, turbabuntur, auferes spiritum eorum & deficient, etc. Psal. 103. v. 29. that if God, in the being of Nature, had but withdrawn for a moment the assistance of his general concurrence; the Heavens, that roll over our heads, would soon stop their course; The Sun, that lightens all the World with so much Majesty, would cover its Face with darkness; All that great body of the Universe, would soon fall into a Convulsion fit, because it does not subsist or operate, but by the favour of that concurrence and continual assistance of God. It is the same in the conduct of our wills, to actions of Salvation: For if God withdraws the concurrence of his Graces of help and assistance from us, we shall soon fall to the ground: All the lustre of Natural Lights, were they more brightsome than the Sun is among the Stars: All the force of our Wills, though they had points sharp enough to Print in our hands and feet the Stigmats of Jesus, as well as on a St. Francis: All that I say would be to no purpose, if we had not a help from Heaven. This is that has put so often those words in the Prophet Royal's Mouth. I lifted up my eyes to the Mountains, Levavi oculos meot in montes undeveniet auxilium mihi. Psal. 120. v. 1. whence I do expect all help and relief: Doubtless he makes here an allusion to the formation of Man, who bears his Face erected towards the Heavens, whence he expects his assistance; whereas we see the Beasts look towards ●the ground, as being their Offspring and last end. The devout St. Bernard, who in the flower of his Age, was adorned with all the gifts of Nature, that could render a young Man considerable in the World, forsaken notwithstanding Father and Mother, Brothers and Sisters, Friends and Relations, to confine himself to a Cloister, he received the effects of that Grace without measure: and to carry its merit into the Hearts of those, who by his example would do the like, he does exhort them to fear nothing, D. Bern. serm. 15. in Psal. qui habitat. assuring them, that though they had met with Aspics and Basilisks, Lions, and Dragons, the one hurtful by their Poison, the others dreadful by their very Terror; they should be freed from all sad accidents, and for no other reason, but that God helps and relieves all them that endeavour to stand submissive to his holy Vocations and Callings. Decit Piger Leo est foris in medio plutearum occidendus sum. Prov. c. 22. v. 13. Let me hear no more talk then of those timorous and cowardly Souls, frighted by their very shadows, so that they dare not look at their Enemy but over the Walls, nor give a set Battle to Vice, without apprehension of losing the Field: Do you not hear them speak in the Proverbs? I will not get out of the Lodging, for the Lion is in the street to devour me. (I cannot wish so much hurt to my body,) always accustomed to lie in Holland Sheets, on a Bed of Down in all pleasures of the Flesh, to load it with so heavy a harshness, as that of Mortification and Penance; That would be to me as loathsome as to carry on my bare Skin an Armour of Musquet-proof. Fasting makes my Brains to run mad: Watching disturbs my Rest: Mortification endangers my Health: To hear all those Religious Men discourse, you would say, that there is no Heaven, but for such as pass over their days in Cloisters and Hermitages: Cannot People be saved in the World, as well as there? David, Jacob, Abraham, are they not Canonised in the Holy Scripture, though they lived in the height of all abundance and greatness, and wanted for nothing that could make a Man happy in this World? I grant it, I am satisfied; remain in the world in a good hour, so be that you make Penance as David did; that with the Tears of a true Repentance, you sprinkle your Bed as David did; That at Midnight you may be found in your Closet before a Crucifix, Praeterii sancta paulisper Dei gratia, ut nobis ad imitationem vita eorum fiat disciplina, & sicut innocentiae ita & poenitentiae magisterium de eum actibus sumamus: ergo dum lapsus eorum lego, consortes etiam illos infirmitatis agnosco, dum credo consortes, imitandos esse praesumo. D. Amb. apolo. David c. 2. ver finem. offering your Prayers to God, as often he was; so that you be the supplanter of your Vices and evil Inclinations, striving Body against Body, as Jacob against the Angel: So that you be obedient to the voice of your Creator, who commands you to get out of your Iniquities, as Abraham got out of his Country, and from all his Acquaintance. But does God offer you any injury, by giving you the ways and means to become honest Men? Is it to trouble your rest, and cross your contentments, when seeing you clearly carried away (by the most unlucky current of the World,) to everlasting Perdition, he pours down from the Cabinet of his Love, the light of his Grace into your poor Soul, gives you his Divine Inspirations, to encourage you to fly from Vice, and embrace Virtue? Is not that to bring you from Shipwreck, to the Harbour of all assurance and happiness? Let us then banish far from our hearts all those thoughts, as mortal Enemies to our Salvation; and let us firmly believe, that to the least desires that our hearts will let fly towards Heaven, with a firm resolution to save our Souls, Jesus does most willingly comply with his Graces of help and Relief to fortify our Courage. CHAP. XVI. How hard it is to Convert a Lukewarm Soul. AMong the wise Maxims, and brave Instructions which Pythagorus left to his Posterity; This, in my opinion, may hold the first rank, Alciat Emblem 81. where he commands all tepid and lazy Companions to get out of his School, and Orders to write over the door of his College, that none should place himself there with cross arms, because that posture became not a follower and lover of Virtue: Non votis, neque suppliciis muliebribus auxilia deorum parantur, sed vigilando, agendo, benè consulendo omnia prosperè cedunt, ubi socordiae atque▪ ignaviae te tradideris, ni quidquam Deos implorabis, Salustius in Catilinar. Hence the grave Athenians learned that good custom, to meet at every years' end, to examine how the Citizens had spent their year; who ever had lived without employment, passing his life in laziness and idleness, (besides the public correction, which they would give him to his great shame and disgrace) he was to be condemned to a Penalty. And Periandus among the Corinthians ordered, that whoever had been seen with a more Splendent Train than ordinary, should be questioned by what means he had acquired that new change of his condition; If it had been by his own Labour and Industry, that they should admit him to continue; But if otherwise, that he should be condemned to die as a Robber, and a Plague to the Commonwealth. Not only all the lazy among them were guilty of Death, but also the wild inconstant People, who upon the least occasion offered, Malè malo mihi esse quam molliter, etc. Paulo infra. Brevissimo somno ator, aliquando dormisse scio, aliquando suspicor. Senec. Epist. 33. would give over their good undertake, for want of Courage to break off all Obstacles, and strive against all Accidents: It's therefore they had reason to represent them by the little Fish called Remora, that makes the best Sailors stop, though they have Wind and Tide for them. St. John, the wise Pythagoras of the Evangelical Law, Aliciat. emb. 82 in one of his Revelations, receives Orders from Heaven to question the Bishop of Laodice, how came it that God took on a Resolution to vomit him out of his Mouth: Quia tepidibus es & nec frigidus, nec calidus incipiam te evomere ex ore meo. Apoc. 3. v. 15. I know, says he, that you are neither Hot nor Cold, I could wish you had been either of both; but because that you are Lukewarm, I will begin to vomit you out of my Mouth; as if nothing had been more displeasing to God, nor more contrary to the Perfection of the Soul, than that Tepidity and Spiritual Slumbering which makes her to sit on the seat of Laziness, without any Life or Courage to practice Virtue: Such Souls ought to be banished out of any Christian Commonwealth, as the Athenians banished them whom they knew to live without Employment. It is a great satisfaction to see the Holy Fathers, each one deliver their Feeling of those three different qualities of Hot, Cold, and Lukewarm Souls: St. Gregory understands by Heat, Charity; by Cold, Mortal Offences; by Tepidity, D. Greg. lib. 14. moral. cap. c. the Affected Ignorance of Sin, hidden under the Mask of base Hypocrisy. Cassian will have the heat to appertain to good Religious Souls; the Cold to bad Seculars; Cassian colat. 4 cap. 4. the Tepidity to Imperfect Religious: Whereupon he brings our Saviour to deliver this his Opinion: I would wish you had been either a good Religious man, or a bad Secular; But because you are neither, I will vomit you out of my Mouth. The Abbot Rupert's opinion is, That by the Lukewarm, we may understand the proud and haughty Souls, who are replenished with a good esteem of themselves; Live, as if they had cast up their Accounts, and cleared their Scores with God, and were Cocksure of their Salvation. Of that Cathegory was that proud Virgin, which the same Author brings down, and says, That it had been more to her advantage to lose that Treasure which made her so proud, than to possess it without humility. St. Anselm explains that Tepid humour under the Figure of a Bird on a Branch; Aptè negligentiam graviori damnat judicio quam imprudentiam, frigidus est enim qui fidem nescit calidus est qui Spiritus Sancti fervore succensus est qui enim calorem fidei non habet, tolerabilius illi fuerat fidem non accepisse quam neglexisse est enim tepidus pejor frigido. D. Ambr. ser. 2. in Ps. 118. ad illa verba, in cord meo inquisivi te. that will, and will not; He will fain live in the repute of a good Liver, but he will never venture to Fight against his Passions. Alcazar, by that Lukewarm man, understands a man, who on one side would not willingly fall into Mortal Sin; but on the other, cares very little to advance in Perfection, and devours Venial Sins without the least scruple of Conscience, saying, that a Million of such Offences are not enough to destroy him; A most pernicious Belief: For though it be true, that Venial Sin deprives us not of Grace, nevertheless it gives a large overture to all sorts of Crimes: Whence it happens, that though the Cold of Mortal Sin be more hurtful to the Soul; yet the Tepidity of a languishing Soul, is a state far more dangerous: For, as the wise say, He who makes nothing of small faults, Quem admodum manes in corpore quod vovendum est plus accessit, ita qui debet excludi si retineatur, nec se corrigat totum corpus exulcerat. D. Ambr. supra. will fall by degrees to greater. The state of a Mortal Cold brings us presently to seek for a Remedy; But that of Tepidity makes us to Loiter in our Laziness without any apprehension of fear, and without the least thought of any Resolution to amend our Lives. Set such an unlucky Spirit into a Religious Company; I will tell you with St. Bernard, who, D. Bernard. serm 6. de ascens. Contra sane invenire est homines pusillanimes & remissos deficientes sub onere virga & calcaribus indigentes, quorum remissa laetitia, brevis & rara compunctio, animalis cogitatio tepida conversatio, etc. after he had extolled the rare qualities of those fervent Spirits the Apostle speaks of, adds presently the properties of a lazy and languishing Soul: They are Pusilanimous men, and of little Heart, who go on like so many Snails in the way of Salvation, who have need of Rods and Spurs to set them a going. If they do rejoice, it is not with that Holy Liberty, proper to the Children of God, who offer up their Vows with a Cheerful Heart to their Creator. If they be Sad, it is but a Mercenary Sadness, it is only for fear of a reproach, or for the sake of some Temporal Reward: Their compunction is very rare, and passes as the Wind: Their Thoughts are altogether Brutish; their Conversation without Example; their Obedience without Devotion; their Recreation with Excess: Take notice of them in their Conference, and on all other occasions, they cannot Speak, but they must pick a Quarrel with this Man, Snap at another, and so Trouble all the Feast: If you do consider them in Prayer, their Bodies are in the Choir, their Minds are in the Fields, Distractions without number; Castles in Spain, Monsters over all; follow them to their Chambers, Sleep overcomes them, Reading displeases them; to be alone is odious to them: In a word, they are come to that pass, that the Torments of Hell are not able to Fright them out of their slumbering and languishing Life: It is no more reason that rules their Actions: They are neither without nor within; they are neither Dead nor Alive, it is a deplorable thing to see them. It is to this purpose, that one of the Ancient Fathers of the Desert, being asked the question, (what was his opinion in this matter, Ruffious in vivis P●. lib. 3. num. 204. ) brought down a rare Comparison; Just, says he, as the Flies never come so near as to sit on a Pan that is Boiling, because they would lose there both their Wings and Lives; Filii tui projecti sunt, dormierunt in capite omnium viarum, sicut ●rix illa queatus, cap. c. 51. v. 20. Septua. Vertunt sicut beta semicocta: Arab. sicut beta deficiens prae siccitate, hoc est imago hominis tepidi, qui prae desidia caput erigere non valet: Purpureus veluti eum fios succisus ar●tro. Languescit moriens, lassaque cadavera collo. Demisere caput pluvia cum forte gravantur. 9 Aeneidos. But when they do meet with Lukewarm water in a Vessel, there they take up their quarters, and leave their dirt: It's the same with a fervent Soul burning with the flames of true Charity; all her actions are so many boilings of Love: Never fear that Satan ever comes near her, he is an Enemy to those Divine Fires, at which he endures more Torments, and receives more Affronts, than he does in Hell amidst the Flames: contrariwise, if he meet with a Languishing Spirit, with a Fire half out, there he keeps close, there he gives a solemn Invitation to all his Comerades to dress up their Beds: Whoever had but the Eyes of an Angel to consider the divers motions of those Devils, he would see them as so many Bees swarm like those miserable Wretches, and from time to time cast thousands of foul imaginations into their Brains to Poison their Souls. If the same Spirit comes to take up his quarters among the Worldlings, the Blood of Jesus is already frozen within their Hearts; the Primitive Fervour of Christianity in a manner decayed: If they be called to the Service of God, they are half dead? if they be summoned to go to Confession, to think of their Conscience, they think themselves in the Pillory? If they abstain from some unprofitable Visit, to go hear a Sermon, at every step they go upon Thorns: I would rather meet with a Drunken man, nay, rather with a man plunged in all manner of Vices, (so that he had not altogether smothered the worm of his Conscience,) than with a sinner that goes at random and by custom to his Devotion; his Hat is down on his Eyes, his Beads in his Hand, D. Greg. pastoral. part 3. admonit 35. Quoniam frigus ante teporem sub spe est, tepor autem post frigus in desperatione, id est, qui adhuc in peccatis est, conversionis fiduciam non amittit, qui vero post conversionem tepuit, simul spem quae erat de peccatore subtraxit. and his Heart over all his Concerns: St Gregory gives you this reason for it, What ought we to expect of a thing that is Cold, when that it is put to the Fire; we must expect it to be first Lukewarm, and soon after to grow ●old: So it is with a grievous Sinner; the very first thing we can expect of him, is, that drawing near to the Fire of Divine Inspiration, he will forsake his bad Life, banish all his Cold qualities, which are contrary to the Flames of Grace; and by little and little with a just application of the Active to the Passive, he will acquire that degree of heat, whereon even his Conversion shall be formed: But a lazy Soul which was once made hot in the Furnace of God's Love, and goes far from the state of Grace by her Tepidity; the first thing to be expected of her, is, Cassian. collat▪ 4. c. 19 that she will grow Cold, that is to say, that she will fall into a Mortal Sin: We have seen, says Cassian, many Carnal, Debauched Libertines brought from the cold of Sin, to the heat of Love; But in our Lives we have never seen any lazy sluggish Companion pass from Tepidity, Rotis ô bubulce manus applica, & Stimulum bobus admove, ac deorum deinde opem poscito ne si tu cesses frustra dii in invocentur. Aesopus. to the heat of a greater perfection in Virtue. We read in a Profane History, of a man whose Cart was so far bogged in the High-rode, that he could not get it backward nor forward; yet this poor Fellow without any further trouble to get his Cart out of the Mire, sits down hard by it expecting some Passengers, and invoking the very Gods to his assistance: Hercules happened to come that way with his Club in his Hand, admires the laziness of the man, he makes him to get up, and to set his Shoulder to the Wheel, assuring him, that after he would do his endeavours, the Gods would not fail to relieve him, and release him out of his Trouble. I may say as much to all those Souls I spoke of; It is no more the time to sit idle with cross Arms, much less to linger in the dirt of their Abominations and Crimes: Manum admoventes invocate numina. Proverb. It is good to have a Tongue to call to the Passengers, and to invoke God and his Saints to their assistance: But they must join the Hands to the Tongue, the Faith to the Works, the Belief to the Operation: Never was their sleep under the Tree Lothos so fatal to the Companions of Ulysses, as is the deceitful slumbering of a languishing Soul, in the shadow of her laziness. I see already Jesus the Divine Hercules appear, with his Cross in his hand, coming towards us with all speed; let us hear what he will say. CHAP. XVII. God will not destroy those Lukewarm Souls, which he gins to vomit. Lazarus amicus noster dormit, vado ut a somno excitem eum. Joan. 11. v. 11. THe Grace of Excitation, and this morning Alarm, is no other in the Opinion and Doctrine of the Sacred Council of Trent, than an Interior Light of the Holy Ghost, received into the Soul, by which he touches the Heart of the Tepid and Sleepy man, to excite him to his Conversion. That Grace, according to the diversity of her effects, has divers appellations. If we do consider her as a forerunner of the Will, to which she is sent by the sole Mercy of God, without any co-operation or precedent invitation of Merit on our side: She is called a forerunning Grace; If we do take her for an Accident that comes to lodge in the Soul as into her proper subject and residence, to solicit her to the work of her Salvation; she is a Grace of Impulsion: But if we come to Contemplate her under those Glorious Titles of morning Star, dawning of the day, Scout-master of the Sun, which banishes away the dark Clouds from the Earth, Sleep and all Drowsiness from men's Bodies, we shall find, that she is a Grace of Excitation and a Morning Alarm. I cannot better explain the nature of her, than by discovering the properties of the same term. To excite, to speak properly, is to awake some one person that is either a sleep or slumbering: Ego dormivi & sopor●tus sum, & exurrexi quia dominus suscepit me. Psal. 3. ●. 6. Imagine with yourself (dear Reader) a poor Pilgrim weary, spent and quite tired after a long Journey, Multi cum dormiunt non faciunt locum Domino, tales excitat Apostolus, surge qui dormis, nam istae omnes foelicitates quae videntur saeculi somnia sunt dormientium. the Night draws on, and he finds no House to lodge in where he happens to be, there he falls asleep; But alas! it is close to a Precipice, just on the brink of a steep Rock, the darkness of the Night hinders him to perceive the danger; there he lies fast asleep; if he stirs but in the least, he is a lost Man; one passes by, moved with compassion, takes this poor Pilgrim by the shoulders, awakes him, bushes him, excites him: Friend, that is no place for you to sleep in, do you not see that Precipice close by you? This Traveller awakes of a sudden, stretches his arms, rubs his eyes, shakes his , looks round about him, sees the danger, and makes his escape. We are all Pilgrims in this World, Dormiebam in utramque aurem securus, nullo pavore solicitante, ecce autem timore ingruente excitatus sum, velut quem calamitas convovet, & velut ille corripit è stratis corpus, socioque fatigat, praecipites vigilate viri. Egubing. Psal. supra. wearied, spent, tired, (as the Holy Scripture says) in the way of Iniquity, Sleep even overcomes us, Laziness makes us to stumble at every step: We must lay ourselves down, Belly to the ground, and stretch at all our length: But alas! where is it that we lie? One will sleep under the Boughs of a Walnut-tree, a true symbol of obstinacy; another close by the Cave of Miermaids, the figure of Lust and unlawful pleasures: This Man sets his foot on the Precipice, whereinto he is in danger to fall; the other is near at hand to his everlasting destruction and loss. What does God do, this great Overseer of the World? He draws near, takes us by the shoulders, excites us, awakes us: Poor Christian bring up your hand to your eyes, rub those Clouds off your eyelids, see the danger you are in; it is Jesus that gives you this warning. St. Paul sets before our eyes the necessity of that Grace, Ephes. 5. v. 14. Surge qui dormis, & exurge à mortus, & Illuminabit te Christus. when that speaking of our Saviour, the Eternal Light, he exhorts the Ephesians to adore his Beams; and to give a greater weight to his exhortation, he borrows the words of the Prophet Isaiah: You that are asleep, Isaiae c. 60. v. 1 Surge Illuminare Jerusalem, etc. get up and awake out of the slumber of Death: By which the Apostle compares the state of a Sinner to Sleep, and to Death: To Sleep; for even as he that Sleeps, is incapabble of any good action, without he be capable of producing some motions of Liberty, the imagination labouring to make up the Fabric of a thousand extravagant Dreams; of all which at his awake, he finds not the least sign or token: So it is with a Sinner, (says St. Augustine) when he shuts up the eyes of his reason, D. Aug. in Psal. 131. v. si dedero. Sommum oculis meis & temporibus meis dormitationem. Vide ibi D. Aug. to give a general Licence of acting to all his Senses, without reserving himself the power of regulating their excess: For what are all his actions, but so many Dreams and raving Fits? he does imagine that all they can tell him of the Kingdom of Heaven, and of the pleasures of Paradise, are but Fables; so Hell with all its Torments and Tortures are but the amusements of Preachers to frighten the common sort of people, Quid stygia, quid cocytum, quid nomina vanatimetis materiam vatum. Claud. who are much apprehensive in their thoughts, of such idle Toys, that the frequenting of the Sacraments, as well as the most innocent practice of a Devout life, is but an entertainment for weak Spirits; That the excess of a Melancholic humour, drives them into the practice of such Exercises, rather than the prudent conduct of a well regulated motion; Dormientem & mortuum dicit Dominus qui in peccatis, est, nam & male foeter ut mortu●s, & inutilis est ut dormiens, & nihil videt quem admodum & ille sed somniat & vana imaginatur. D. Chris. tomo 4. in cap. 5. Ephes▪ His Heaven is the Earth; his everlasting happiness, his Riches; he makes for himself a God without eyes or hands; without eyes, that he should not see the disorders of his life; without hands, that he should not chastise him according to the Enormity of his Crimes. He compares him as yet, to Death; for even as the Soul, that admirable Form, which gives Grace and Beauty to all the Commonwealth of the Body: Anima quae peccat moritur, non quidem more tali, qualis est corporis sed multo gravior est animae, nam corporalis mors est que salutis & sejunctis invicem anima & corpore, hoc quidem à multis curis ac laboribus liberat, anima aurem post quam à corpore saluta fuerit, incorruptibilis eorpore devinctam in ignem detrudit inextinguibilem. D. Chrys. supra. The Vision to the Eye, the distinction of harmonious Sounds to the Ear: The Scent to the Smelling; and to each one of the Senses the use of their Functions: She no sooner leaves off to perform that Mass, but it loses its Ornaments, and nothing remains but a sad Carcase, whence flow such noisome Infections, that to be preserved from its Poison, they are constrained to convey it speedily under the Earth. In the same manner, God, that super-adorable Form, who animates our Souls not as a substantial part of our Essence, for He is all in Himself without division, but as the Sovereign principle of Grace and Nature being once separated from our hearts, by the substraction of His Graces, Man is no more than a vile Carcase, more fit to be the receipt of Devils, than the Temple of the Holy Ghost, being he lost all that made him to be commendable, by losing the Grace and Favour of his God. But he who is dead by mortal sin, as well as he who slumbers affectedly in Venial sin, have not the power of themselves to re-enter into the Rites of a Spiritual life, nor to mount up to a higher degree of perfection, without the Spiritual and special assistance of God: Therefore he offers them the Grace of Excitation, and of a Morning-alarm, whose properties are comprehended in the words of the Apostle: Christ shall illuminate you, as if he had said, get up O Sinner, hear Jesus, who knocks at the door, open your heart, he is a Glorious Sun, who lances forth his Rays: St. Ambrose, in lieu of his saying with the Apostle, Christ shall illuminate you, turns it, the Lord shall teach you: St. chrysostom says, That the words were drawn out of the Prophet Isaiah, and that they were directed to our first Father Adam, who was buried on the Mount Calvary, in the same place where our Saviour's Cross was planted. Not without a special design of Heaven, that the Blood which ran down from the Virgin-Flesh of Jesus, and battered with blows, should touch the bones of Adam: And that by virtue of that touching, he should deserve to receive the first Fruits of the Passion, and the freedom of getting into Heaven: I know that St. Jerome does not approve of this Tradition, and that he calls it a Theatral wonder, found out by certain Stage-players, who would have themselves admired by setting forth a History never as yet heard of; Nevertheless, Et vere fratres non incongrue dicitur quod ibi erectus sit medicus ubi jacebat aegrotus & dignum erat ut ubi ceciderat, humana superbia ibi se inclinaret divina misericordia, & sanguis ille pretiosus etiam corporaliter. Pulverem antiqui peccatoris dum dignatur stillando contingere, redemisse credatur D. Aug. tom. 1. serm. 71. de tempore. this great Doctor may give me leave, (if he pleases,) to say, that it is the Belief of Origen, Tertullian, St. Anastace, and St. Augustine: My Brethren, (says he) it is very reasonable to believe that there the Sovereign Doctor and Physician of our Souls, had placed his Chair where the Patient lay, and that there the Divine Mercy should humble herself, where the Pride of Man had received the mortal blow; to the end that this precious Blood which run down from our Saviour's Veins, should touch the dust of the ancient Sinner to awake him from his slumber, to become the spectator of his Redemption. I do respect and honour all those Holy Father's feelings, but I think that the Apostles chief intention is to exhort all languishing and sleepy Souls to awake, not only to receive the glorious Impression of the exciting Grace, to be the better able to go on in the way of their Salvation, but also to redouble their steps, and recover the time lost, because our remaining days in this World, are both uncertain, and bad. Would he fain make us believe as a certainty, Redimentes tempus quoniam dies mali sunt Ephes. 5. v. 7. Non dies mali sunt per se, sed per homines. D. Hier. to, 9 in c 5. Ephes. Viri sanguinum & dolosi, etc. Psal. 54. v. 24. Restituite in uno tempore quod minus fecistis in alio, ut sic sites dimidi antes dies: non sicut mali qui non dimidiant dies suos, sed totum in malo expendunt. Goz. in c. 5. Ephes. that which hitherto in all Schools was thought to be impossible, to recover the time past, to the days of old, and render the past ages present? here lies a contradiction; therefore we must judge that his meaning is, that God often, to punish our sins, shortens our lives: and that He, who in course would have attained to live under the Flag of an honourable old age, had he been but steadfast in the Field of Virtue, having plunged himself into all sorts of Vices, sees himself at the gates of Death, when he does but begin to taste of the sweetness of Life. Do you not remember in Genesis, that God had agreed with Noah to allow six score years life to them of the Law of Nature, to the end they should have sufficient time to repent? Yet he cuts them short of full twenty, seeing them persist in the criminal liberty of so many abominations. And really how many Handsome Young Grafts do we see in our age decay, by reason of their overmuch liberty, and as a Flower of one days growth, die most miserably in the dawning of their age, who by God's Decrees, were appointed to live the years of a St. Paul the Hermit, had they but followed his Examples, Vide D. Tho. comment. in c. 5. Ephes. and become true Imitators of his mortified life; These are the days that the Apostle calls bad, and that the exciting Grace invites us to redeem: That is to say, as soon as a Sinner, by God's Mercy, shall know the state of his Soul, how long it is? a Month perhaps, a Year, two Years, more or less, that he sleeps in mortal Sin; he ought to blot those days out of the Book of Everlasting Life: They are so many moments lost for Heaven, they are so many bad days: But however they may be recovered, Mercantes & ementes occasionem & opportunitarem ad benè agendum, ad lucra coelestia comparanda. if by force of a generous resolution, the Sinner comes to encourage himself to good, excite himself to Virtue, to the end, he repairs the great loss he suffered in the days of his Laziness. CHAP. XVIII. For to Convert a Sinner, God must afflict him. TO say, that any Afflictions, and Crosses, Disciplinam Domini, fili mi, ne abjicias cum ab eo corriperis, etc. Prov. 3. v. 12. are the most Rich pieces, and precious Jewels of Jesus Christ's Cabinet, and that he never imparts them, but to such as are his intimate Friends, is to advance a Paradox which has often puzzled many great Wits to find out the explication of it. You would say, that the Prophet Jeremiah himself, knows not the secret of it, when that addressing his complaints to God, (he says) Ah! Lord, you are just, and if I durst undertake to dispute in your presence, I shall always find the order of your proceed full of Equity: Justus es Domine, etc. Paulo infra. Via impiorum prosperatur, etc. Hier. v. 1. c 12. Hoc proprie contra haereticos dicitur, qui cum sint impij, via erum prosperatur, generantque filios eas quos in haeresi deceperunt, praevar●cantur & inique agunt, ita ut Ecclesiem spolient, & dumb in pravitate sent●nt●ae persev●rant, jac●ant se à Deo esse plantatoes, etc. D. Hear. to 5. hic. However give me leave, (if you please) to ask you this only Question: How comes it to pass that the wicked do prosper? The most vicious are in your favour. You do plant them on the top of Mountains, as the Cedars of Libanus, you raise their Fortune, and leave the Power in their hands to prescribe a Law to the rest of Men: as if he had said, I cannot conceive how the wicked, who for their crimes deserve the rigour of a just vengeance to fall on their criminal and guilty heads, are notwithstanding, the best stored with Blessings. And contrariwise, the Virtuous livers constantly submissive to the Laws of God, merely for his Love, and whose Innocency the Heavens do authorise, are always in misery, as so many Criminals condemned to suffer. And he whose Innocency all ages did admire; The holy Man Job, Job c. 21. v. 7. Quare ergo impii veniunt, subluvati sunt, confortatique divitiis, etc. what was he on his own Dunghill, but a poor Criminal, crushed to pieces on the Wheel of this World? It is in that equipage that he addresses the same complaints to God. What is the reason (says he) that the Wicked Man lives at his ease? Is he no more subject to the Laws of common Mortality? Blessings are but for him: The frowns of Fortune, the Rain, the Storms and Thunder are not for the wicked, they are in shelter of the Laurels; In fine, the Heaven, (as it seems) are not but for them. Habbakkuk the Prophet, Quarerespicis super iniqua agentes, & ●aces devorante impio justiorem se, etc. Non quod ipse sic sentiat, sed quod impatientiam humanam in s●a person● exprimat. D. Hier. hic. takes it more heinously, my Lord (says he) if your eyes be so pure, that they cannot abide the sight of Evil, how comes it, that you suffer Innocency to be oppressed with Impiety, and them who are more faithful to execute your Laws, to be the abjection and upbraid of the People? Why do you not concern yourself to uphold their Interest on all occasions? It is not to be believed, that you have put up all your Favours in store for them, that make nothing of your Laws. It is true that this was an unknown Mystery to past ages, Noli aemulari in malignantibus neque zelaveris facientes iniquitatem. Psal. 26. v. 1.2.3. and a Language never learned, until the spotless Lamb had opened the great Volume of the Apocalypse, shut up with seven Seals, until that the impassable had willingly submitted himself to the Decree of the Passion, until the triumph of the Cross had blotted out of men's hearts that vain Belief, that Afflictions and Crosses were only for the Miserable. Quidquid in mundo vel bonorum accidit v●l malorum non absque providentia & fortuito casu accidit sed ju●icio Dei, terra nunc sterilis est, herba siccatur, vis nosce rationem malitiae habit●torum ejus hoc faciunt. D. Hieron. to. 5. in c. 12. Hierem. O Prophets! be pleased to forbear then, do not be scandalised, if God, whose Actions are always with Weight, Number and Measure, proceeds with that inequality in our thoughts, the weakness of our understanding cannot comprehend his ways, by which he Governs wisely, and Rules the whole Monarchy of the World: No Mortal Man was ever of his Privy-Council, to know what course he takes to make Nature subsist; we may well see the effects of his Power, but to comprehend his motives, we must stand in everlasting admiration of his Councils, and acknowledge our obligation to adore with silence the Doctrine of his Justice. If the wicked be mounted high on the very Wheel of Fortune, if the people consider them as the Gods of the Earth, Vidi impium elevatum, sicut Cedros Libani, transivi & ecce non erat. Psal. 36. v. 35. Nullum est scandalum quod impij pro tempore floreant licet enim proficiant, filios generent, & faciant fructum tamen non parva est consolatio quod quasi pecora saginantur ad victimam. D. Hieron. supra if all things come to their wishes without opposition or further delay, that is but an imaginary moment, (says David) I have seen them elevated as the Cedars of Libanus; as I returned, I looked for them, but they were no more to be seen, I cannot tell what is become of them. If the Creator of the Universe be pleased to impart his passing favours to those that deserve them less, we must not be therefore discouraged: This moment of good luck, shall have for its assured follower, an Eternity of misfortune, whereinto the main heaps of their offences shall reduce them: they do feed themselves for a time, Duos filios habet homo, alterum dimittit, facit unus malè & non corripitur à patre, alter mox ut se moveti flagellatur: unde ille dimittitur & ille caeditur: nisi quia huic caeso haereditas servatur ille autem dimissus exheredatus est: videt eum non babet spem & dimittit eum ut faciat quod vult. D. Aug. to. in Ps●l. 93. in fat Land, but it is to be hereafter, the fatal Victims of God's Eternal vengeance. But if Afflictions fall to the lot of good livers, they ought not to think that they are rigorously dealt with, that the Heavens are very sparing of their Influences to them, and that God has no care to maintain their Rights: Contrariwise, the B. Saviour of the World assures them in St. John, by a solemn Oath, that even in this World their sadness shall be turned into joy, and through their Afflictions, he will let run the streams of his Heavenly Consolations: Si me persecuti sunt & vos persequenter. Joan 15. v. 29. Gaudium vestrum nemo tollet à vobis. Joan 16. v. 22. They shall taste Honey from the top of the Rod that whips them: If he strikes at them, they ought to consider him as a Shepherd, who for to gather his Flock before him, takes up with his Pastoral Staff a clod of Earth, to fling at the Sheep that goes aside: Una pendet in vitibus & oliva in arboribus, & quandiu pendent in frutetis suis, tanquam libero acre perfruuntur at nec una vinum est nec oliva selum ante pressurant: sic sunt & homines quos praedestinavit Deus ante saecula conformes fieri imaginis fillij sui, qui precipuè in passione magnus hortus expressus est, etc. Paulo inferius. Accedens quisque ad servitutem Dei, ad torcularia se venisse cognoscat, non ut in hoc saeculo pere●t, sed ut in apothec●s Dei deflunt, etc. D Aug. to. 8. in Psal 1●. qui est pro torcularib●●. If he puts them under the Press of Afflictions, it is only to squeeze out of them what is mortal and terrestrial, to be the better able to fly towards the Region of Immortal things. This is not as yet enough, God has other Designs on the Souls which he does afflict in this World, he aims to bring them by the means of Afflictions, from that large Road which leads to Hell, and to conduct them into the narrow Lane of Heaven: For being it is very true, that a Man who was never otherwise lead; than by the pernicious Maxims of Blood and Flesh, is as much incapable to think of Heaven, and knows the obligations of his Salvation, as is the Owl to look at the Sun in his full height: God could never make choice of a more efficacious means to convert a Sinner, than to expose his Body and Flesh to the rigours of the Cross, thereby to revive his Spirit. And it is very true, John 17. v. 9 for St. John the Faithful Secretary of Jesus, relating the Articles of his Masters last Will and Testament, says, That he Prayed to God his Father, not for the World, nor for the Worldlings, that always live in Prosperity; But for them, who for his Love willingly made choice to carry their Cross. But I pray to what end was this Prayer made, which doubtless will be heard for the Reverence of him who makes it? St. Luke resolves me; as for you, says he, Luke 22. v. 18. who by my Example have stood firm and constant in all your Temptations; I do dispose unto you the Kingdom that my Father prepared for me; Et ego dispono vobis sicut disposuit mihi pater meus regnum. a disposing which is never performed but by the Holy motions that he casts into a Soul, whilst she is afflicted; it is then that he does dispose her by a generous Conversion to make herself worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Prophet Joel, Quis scit si convertatur & ignoscat & relinquat benedictionem. Joel c. 2. v. 13. after he had exhorted the People to Convert themselves with all their Hearts by Fasting and weeping, seems to doubt, if after all that, God, (all good, all merciful as he is,) be pleased with our Fasting and Tears: For we can sometimes Convert ourselves to God; but it is hard to know if God has Converted himself to us: Vide D. Hieron. to. 6. ad haec verba Joelis. hic. Who is it that knows, (says he,) if, after we fulfil what God demanded of us, whether he leaves us his Blessing, or no. The Abbot Rupert clears us of this doubt, Rupert in c. 1. Joel. by remitting us to that infallible sign in Exodus, where God assures the Children of Israel, That they shall not resent the rigours of his Indignation, nor suffer the exemplary punishments of the Egyptians; so that he sees their doors sprinkled with the Blood of the H. Lamb, ● scit apud 〈◊〉 peccata 〈◊〉 ab eis ●●●●ricordia ●bitur ei, 〈◊〉 ●●●que 〈…〉 ●ald. ex He●●●●o. 'tis to this sign that he leaves his Blessing. Among Christians we have not a more sensible mark, to know that God has a good will for a Soul, than to see her covered over with the Blood of Jesus, and carry her Cross after him. When it pleases this Sovereign King to come the Circuit of the World, if he falls into the Great ones Palaces, where he perceives a superfluity of all sorts, Par Deo dignum, vir fortis cum malafortuna compositus spectaculum Deo dignum: fortuna ut gladiatur fortissimos sibi pares quaerit: alias fastidio transit, ignem expe●●tur in mutio, etc. Seneca lib. 1. de providentia. he never stops there with his Blessings, but goes through; if he meets with Cities, Towns, or Houses, where nothing is free but Crimes, he passes by, he seems not to look at them; If he comes into the company of Ranters and debauched Livers, he makes no matter of them; and as well the one as the other he leaves them in the hands of his Revenging Angel, who puts them all to the Sword, and in the very place: But if he meets with a good Soul forsaken by all the World, abandoned by his nearest Relations, under the heavy load of Oppressions, which nevertheless lifts up her Eyes towards Heaven, whence she expects all her Relief and her Comfort: It is there he goes in, there he pours down his Graces by full handfuls, to complete her Conversion. The Infidels, seeing heretofore the Christians under the rage and fury of Tyrants, some to be Strapadoed, others crushed into pieces on Wheels; here a great company cut into quarters, there as many more Fleyed Alive, could not conceive, how the God, for whose Love they protested to suffer all those Torments, could be the God of the Afflicted, that it was no proof of any true Friendship to strike where he Loved. But the Prophet Joel gives them their Answer, that they are the Caresses of a Loving Father, and that God is displeased with the Earth for pardoning his People. Ite igitur & succendite eum igni, succenderunt ergo servi Absolam segetem igni, etc. 2 Reg. v. ●0, 31, etc. Absalon was banished from his Father's Presence, and in the Disgrace of his banishment, (desirous to receive some Consolation from his Friends) he sends an express to Joab, to entreat him to Honour him with a Visit, Joab desires to be excused: Absalon the second time sends to him, requesting earnestly, being whilst Fortune favoured him, he professed to be his real Friend, that now in his Disgrace he would not deprive him of that great satisfaction, he was in hopes to receive by his Presence; Joab, (as some Friends of the times are wont to do) gives the deaf Ear to avoid the obligation of so just a Request: What does Absalon do? He calls all his Servants, commands them to cut down Joab's Wheat, rifle his Vineyards, destroy his Inheritance, pillage and plunder all his Farms: Joab hears the News, he takes Horse, comes to see Absalon. You see that he who refused to come by Mildness and Courtesy, is forced by this Stratagem to wait on his Prince. The sinner does banish God from his Heart, when that by his Infidelities he turns off his Grace: What does God do; he who cannot see himself far off, nor banished from our Hearts without resentment, who does that Honour to Men, Cum occideret eos quaerebant eum & revertebantur, etc. Psal. ●7. v. 34. as to call their Company his Delights: He sends to the Sinner for the first time, the worm and remorse of his Conscience, to let him know, that notwithstanding his Ungratefulness, he desires to see him, and discourse with him about matters of importance: But he makes nothing of his Messenger, much less of his Request; he chooses rather to live miserably with the Devils, than obey the Summons of his Creator. God holds not himself affronted by that discourteous return: He sends the Angel-keeper of the Sinner with Pacquets from himself, to invite him to take notice of the deplorable state of his Soul, to re-enter into himself, and to repent his faults: Quia ad aeterna gaudia redire non possumus; nisi per temporalia detrimenta, tota Scripturae intentio● est, u● spes manentis laetitiae nos inter haec transitoria adversa corroboret. Greg. tom. 1. l●b. 26. in c. 35. Job. But the obstinacy which has already possessed his Soul, takes from him all feelings of his Happiness. Yet God is resolved to bring him to his Duty: He commands all Creatures to afflict him; if he has Children wherein he has placed his hopes and all his expectation, he will snatch them away before their time; or if he suffers them to live many years, they will be Debauched, and so much given to their unlawful Pleasures, that they will afflict them to death; if he has Friends that he has put his confidence in, he will make them to become his Mortal Enemies; if he be stout on the account of his Riches, he will in a trice make him the poorest Beggar in nature; and will chase him so close, until acknowledging his fault, he takes on a new resolution to draw near him, from whom he got himself so far off; and as another Prodigal-Child, after he had made away all his Substance, he comes to cast himself on the neck of his Father, who waits on him with open Arms to give him the motions of a perfect Conversion. CHAP. XIX. How the Devil hinders a Sinner to Convert himself to God in Affliction. Tertul. prescript. c. 40. Qui ipsas quoque res Sacramentorum divinorum in idolorum mysteriis aemulatur. TErtullian setting himself the question, to what Doctor did the Heretics make their Addresses to, to get the Interpretation of Scripture, and a false colour to their new found Doctrine; Answers, That it was to the Devil, whose Office is to render the clearest Verities most obscure, to employ the most Holy Ceremonies of Sacraments to the Profane use of Idolatry, Ipse Sathanas transfigurat se, etc. 2 Cor. 11. v. 15. to falsify Baptism, and to counterfeit in as much as can, the very Actions of God. Falsi illi fallacesque daemones qui cum per spiritus immunditiem miseri ac maligni multis effectibus clareant, per corporalium tamen locorum intervalla, à provectu animorum nos avocare moliuntur. Vide reliqua D. Aug. lib. 9 Civit. c. 13. to. 5. Venit Diabolus & tollit verbum de corde eorum, etc. Luke 8. v. 12. Consider (says he) the superstitions of Numa Pompilius, the Offices, Rights, and Privileges of Sacrificatours, the Vessels and Ornaments of Temples, and the Order and Curiosity of their Vows and Prayers; you shall find that it is a pure disguisement of what passed in the Mosaical Law. It's therefore that the learned St. Augustine calls the Devils, false and dissembling Mediators, who make it their work to set astray such as go the right Road to Heaven, and cover the malice of their suggestions, with the Mask of the most Amorous Inspirations of Jesus. Our Saviour himself in St. Luke, gives us a hint of that pernicious cheat, when that explaining the Parable of the Seed, (he says) that the Devil plucks all good Inspirations out of man's heart, for fear, that coming to give credit to it, he should be saved. The Saviour of the World by our very corporal Afflictions, Pier Matthieu, lib. 1. de l'hist. de Henri 4. page 189. has a design to manage the salvation of our Souls; Satan uses all his endeavours to make us take it another way, and in a quite contrary sense. A Deluge comes over all Rome, in the year One Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty, Mala illa quae civitas pertulit Christo imputant, bona vero quae in eos, ut vinerent propter Christi honorem facta sunt, non Christo sed fato imput ant cum potius deberent providentiae divinae tribuere, quae solet corruptos hominum mores, bellis emendare, &c D. Aug. to 1. lib. 1. de civet. Dei c. 1. in less than four hours, it carried away our Lady Bridge, all the Stationers-Shops: all the Storehouses that were about St. Angel's Castle: the Churches, on Christmass-day, were without Priests, Mass, or People: That was a great Affliction! But what should be the cause hereof? Some will say that the Meredian Winds, together with the constant Rain, swelled up the course of Tiber so far, as to break down its Arches with its violence; But why do they attribute their misfortune more to the Natural cause, than to the motions of God's indignation and wrath? It is an invention of the Devil, (says Peter Matthews) who rocks us to sleep as Ionas in the Ship, that we might not know how we are the cause of the Storm. Ferrare shakes, and in less than forty hours, this shaking redoubles to an hundred and forty times: Their loss was esteemed four Millions of Gold, yet they do not think the cause of their loss to be the corrupt inclinations and evil practices of the City, which▪ provokes the Justice of God; No, it's the Situation of the place, full of Pores and Caves, where Water got in, or Wind. Cruciatus qui corporaliter inferuntur aut ut exerceant conversos ad Deum, aut ut convertantur admoneant aut justae damnationis ultimae praeparent obduratos, etc. D. Aug. to. 8. in Psal. 9 The Plague comes into Venice, not by God's Order, no, the Bogs are the only cause: It's come to Paris, the streets must be kept clean, their dirt was the occasion: Lion is Infected also, away with those Chandler's, the base smell of their rotten Tallow has brought the Disease amongst them: We are like so many Dogs, we run after the stone that God doth cast at us, without considering what hand it comes from, without turning our Face towards him who strikes at us, to know what was his meaning to strike us. We Lop our Trees, and why? to hinder that unprofitable Branches may not take away the substance: We prune our Vines, that they should have less Leaves, and more Fruit, less Buds and more Grapes. You rub your course Irons, and why? It is to polish them and take away the Rust. God by means of Afflictions, cleans our Souls to confirm us in his Grace, he eclipse and cuts us to pieces, that we may the sooner produce the Fruits of a true Repentance; he sets us under the main Hammer of the Cross in this World, to take away the Rust of old Sores, and polish our Souls for an Eternity: Satan will have us believe the contrary; Omnia quae patiuntur mala, iniquè se pati dicunt; dantes illi iniquitatem per cujus voluntatem patiuntur, aut quia non audent ei dare iniquitatem, auferunt ei gubernationem. D. Aug. to. 8. in Ps● 31. and as by the supposition of a false Belief, he dulled us so far, as not to be able to conceive the effects of God's Providence: He will soon oblige us to believe, that whatever misfortune hapens to us, has its offspring from some fatal necessity: And so, in lieu of considering our Afflictions to be the amorous inventions of God's Love, who calls us to his Service, we take them for sinister causes, which reduce us to bear company with the most miserable Creatures that Nature can afford. This is not only found to be true in the general Afflictions which God is pleased to lay over a whole Kingdom or Province, to chastise them for their misdemeanours, but as yet in particular and personal Afflictions, to which every one of us all is subject: Let us take for example, Diseases, (St. Basil says) That they are God's Prisons. If there be a wild young Man in a Country, a Highway Robber, a Murderer, a Whoremaster, or otherwise idly given, whom the fear of the Justice of the Law is not able to reduce to any right understanding; the Magistrate to bring this spendthrift to his Duty, issues out his Warrant to the King's Officers, to bring in his Body; He is taken, brought to his Trial, and condemned to Prison; there he gins to implore the clemency of his Judges; he, who a little before undervalued both God and Man: A Sinner, who had no regard of God's Laws, Jam saeviat quantum voluerit, pater est: sed flagilavit nos & afflixit, & contrivit nos, verum est, sed pater est: fili si ploras, sub patre plora. Paulo infra. trod under foot all remorse of Conscience, made nothing of the inward reprehensions of his Angel-keeper: God, who, notwithstanding will not have this poor wretch to perish, sends his Sergeant with a Warrant to seize on his body, a good sound sickness, casts him down on his Bed, putteth Irons on his hands and feet, to the end that at last in that condition, he be forced to beg his life of his Creator, implore his Clemency, and expect, that by his special Grace, he leads him into the Road which all good Christians take to arrive in Heaven: Si non vis repelli ab haereditate, noli attendere quam poenam habeas in fl●gello, sed quem locum in testamento. D. Aug. to. 8. in Psal. 103. We must not attribute the cause of our Afflictions, to some fatal constellation which had preceded at our Birth, or to the bad constitution of our Bodies, or to the want of good Government in our Diet; for though all those causes may contribute somewhat, we must acknowledge, that there is a Supreme and Sovereign cause, which has a far higher design than that of sickness, and which ends not in that exterior Infirmity of our Bodies, but goes on to cure us of a far more dangerous Disease, which is the Interior Malady of our Souls. A Wife has lost her Husband whom she loved as her heart; a Husband lost his Wife, whom he cherisheth as his one half; both are weeping, lamenting, sighing, Alas! the Wife will say, did the Heavens join us together with so sure a knot, as that of Marriage to separate us so soon? at least, if I had been the first to pay my Duty to Nature, I would have had the comfort, as not to outlive the object of my misfortune; Alas! (the Husband will say,) what shall become of my poor Children, after having lost a Mother who loved them so tenderly? What shall become of my House and Family, being that I have lost my Wife, my Adviser, my Helper, my Housekeeper, and prudent Oeconomer, who eased me of all my cares? Can I but release her life with the effusion of my Blood, I would soon empty all my Veins, to bring her to life again. I freely pardon those hot expressions of Nature, for being we are all made of Flesh and Blood, we must have a feeling for our Friends: But to speak like a Christian, God demands other guess thoughts of you in those Afflictions; he pardons those tears that pass in a moment; But he does expect a grief that shall have no other term than Eternity. The Virgins of Jerusalem, seeing our Saviour to towards the Mount Calvary, covered with blood, and all battered with blows, wept bitterly: He does not approve of their Grief, but tells them freely, that their tears had been better employed for themselves. I say the same to those Souls; we ought rather to weep for the loss we have often had of our true Spouse Jesus Christ, when that by our infidelities we lost his presence; Tears on this only occasion are grateful to God, and well received by his Apostles, when they do produce in us a true Grief of our past idle life, and a constant resolution of amendment for the future. Another is entangled in Law, has lost his Suit, which takes away all that he has in the World; to whom shall he make his addresses, to tell him of his misfortune? Now he lays the blame on the Judges, and says that they were misinformed, and more inclined to favour his Adversaries; that they gave Sentence for them who had no Justice on their side; Maledictus autem qui spem suam ponit in homine, confunderis quia fefellit te spes, fefellit spes posita in mendacio: si autem ponas spem in Deo, non confunderis quia ille in quo spem posuisti falli non potest. D. Aug. to. 8. in Psal. 36. another time he finds fault with himself; and accusing himself of laziness, says, that he either lost his most material Papers, or left them at home in his Closet: He complains of his Friends, that they were too backward to speak for him, and that if they had employed their credit, he had got the better; Merely deceits of the Devil: Friend, you have been too much a Slave to your Riches, your overmuch ease had brought you to perdition, your great possessions had Damned you: But God made you poor, that you should resemble himself, and that you should run with more speed and less trouble through the paths of Virtue: Vide D. Aug. to. 1. in Ps. 31 circa finem. Perhaps, if God had made the Rich Glutton Poor, and that in lieu of the great Revenues he had, he were brought to Poor Lazarus' condition, he would be at the present, glorious among the Angels; whereas he sees himself burned in Hell among the Devils. We must then conclude, that it is a most powerful Motive to convert ourselves to God, to make good use of Afflictions, which are in appearance the rigours of a Judge, but really, they are the caresses of a loving Father, nothing of Evil can happen to a man who receives all things as coming with Commissions from Heaven. The Worlding attributes all that happens to him, to the blind Lot of Fortune; and he to the Divine Providence, the more he sees here of disorder, the more he admires God's Judgements, who directs, (whether men will or no) all those inconstancies to a certain end, he knows there is no Enemy but Fights for his Victory, nothing so wicked, but strikes at his aim; to believe firmly that all comes from the hand of God, is as a Shelter from Hail, a Shadow against the Sun, a Relief against a Fall: If the Roots of the present life be bitter, the Fruit shall be sweet in Glory: Let us never give credit to the Devils false Counsels, for all his desires and will, tends to falsity God's most Holy proceed in regard of our Salvation. CHAP. XX. It is by Preaching, that Sinners are efficatiously moved. THe Abbot Rupert says, that God foreseeing from all Eternity, that a Sinner at such or such a time, Rupert l. 2. in Jonan. c. 3. would be converted to a true Repentance, Spes reposita est vobis in Coelis, quam auditis in verbo veritatis Evangelij quod pervenit ad vos, etc. Coloss. 1. v. 5.6. never failed to send him Preachers, to instruct and teach him the right and assured Road to Heaven. And he seems to have affixed the Salvation of men to that condition: (to wit) to save them by the means of his word, he tells you as much in the Gospel; Suscipite insitum verbum quod potest sal vare animas vestras. Jacob. v. 21. where the Rich Glutton seeing that he had left Brothers in the World, who might follow him into those eternal Flames, and increase the accidenal pain of his Torments, imagines, that if any from among the dead would appear unto them, to tell them of his misfortune, and bring them to avoid the same by a true Repentance, that without doubt at the sight of so extraordinary a thing, they would seriously think of their Salvation, he begs Abraham to do him this favour: No, no, Non erubesco Evangelium virtus enim Dei est in salutem omni credenti. Rom. 1. v. 16. (says Abraham) we must not have recourse to Signs and Prodigies, where the ordinary ways may be sufficient, they have Moses, they have the Prophets, they have their Preachers, let them hear their Voice; if they will, they are God's Messengers, sent as so many Mercuries by the Holy Ghost, over all the high Roads, to tell all Passengers the way they must of necessity take to come to Heaven. And to the end that God's design in this point, may appear in its full lustre to the eyes of the Reader, I divide the Sinners that are to be converted by Preaching, into three Classes, (viz.) Obstinate Sinners, Sinners who procrastinate their Conversion, and languishing Sinners. God, to convert the obstinate Sinner, must become a Smith-Preacher: To convert a Sinner who puts off his conversion from day to day, he makes himself a Soldier-Preacher: To convert the languishing Sinner, he must be a Physician-Preacher. The obstinate and obdurate Sinner is Painted to the life in Holy Scripture, Frons mulieris meretricis facta est tibi, noluis●i erubescere. Jerem. 3. v. 3. he has a Harlot's Face and Forehead, nothing can make him blush, he has lost all shame, he is no more a private Sinner, he tells openly all, and sometimes more than what he has done, he boasts of his Iniquity, his mouth is full of Maledictions, for he cannot speak a word but he must out with a bloody Oath; he bears Venom under his Tongue, and as a malicious Serpent, he waits for an occasion to annoy his Neighbours; his Heart is harder than Iron, colder than Marble, and more Rebellious than the Diamond: What shall God do to convert him? Nunquid non verba mea sunt quasi ignis dicit Dominus, & quasi mall●us conterens Petram. Jerm. c. 23. v. 29. He will take a great Hammer in his hand, as a Smith, and give so many strokes on the obdurate Heart, that he will force Fire to come out of it. My words, (says he in Jeremiah) are like Fire, and as a Smith's Hammer that breaks to pieces the hardest Stones: God commands this Prophet to go and Preach to the People of Israel, Meus sermo paleis peccatorum comminatur incendium, ut corda dura; & instar filiis indomabilia sermonis sui malleo conterantur, auferens cor lapideum ut ponat pro eo cor carneum, etc. D. Hier. to. 5. l. 4. in Hierem c●p. 23. but he makes his excuse, and (withal) his Apology, that he has not the Person or Quality of a Preacher, that he has no good delivery; and withal, that he has no hopes to reap any profit by Preaching to such obstinate Souls: All what you allege, is nothing, (says God) they are not your own words you shall speak, neither is it upon your own account that you shall go, it is in my Name that you are to speak, they are my words you are to deliver; go on then, pluck, destroy, root out, cry, storm, strike, make of my words a Hammer, and crush those Rebellious heads. St. Chrisostom exhorts all Preachers never to be tried in their Employment, though they may perceive their Labour to be for the most part unprofitable, because that the word of God is not only a Hammer, but also a Fountain, which never leaves off to run, though no body comes to drink of its water: That Jesus gives Judas a kissed, hough he knows him to be a Traitor, and a Soul already lost: That he who will not be converted this day, may be reconciled to morrow. St. Augustine was obstinate and slow enough, he often heard St. Ambrose Preach, sometimes he would laugh at his Sermons; and he does himself ingeniously confess, Quid est illud quod in terlucet mihi & percutit cor meum sine laesione, & inhorresco & inardesco: inhorresco in quantum dissimilis ei sum, inardesco in qunantum similis ei sum. D. Aug. to 1 lib. 11. confess. cap. 9 that the curiosity of hearing good Language, brought him to be one of his Auditors, rather than any desire he had to learn the Verities of Salvation: But in fine, at long running, he finds himself taken: The sweet mildness of St Ambrose, together with the force of his words animated with the Fire of Divine Love, made a breach on St. Augustine's heart; and out of the obdurate and hard Anvil of his Soul, brought the miraculous flames of his most happy conversion. But if any be, who, notwithstanding the redoubled strokes of this Mystical Hammer, notwithstanding all those earnest importunities of the Apostle, will continue always his accustomed crimes. Scripture will have for the last remedy, that Heaven and Earth be called as witnesses of his hardness, and how Life and Death, Vice and Virtue, Pain and Glory, were set before his eyes, and that yet he was not astonished in the least, Testes in voco hodie Coelum & Terram quod proposuerim vobis vitam & mortem, etc. Deuter. 30. nor moved to a Conversion; Let him not then think it strange, if for having undervalved the word of God in his life time, he be left without any comfort at the hour of his Death, without remorse of Conscience, without compunction of Heart, without Repentance for his Faults; being that his obstinate and fierce humour had deserved him that disgrace. The Sinners that do procrastinate their Conversion, are those, who in matter of changement of life, turns it off to another day, who defer and prolong their reconciliation as much as they can, saying, that it will be time enough to think of those sad entertainments, when the heat and lust of Youth shall be clear past and spent, that God is not so rigorous as they do Preach. The good Thief said but three words before he died, and he got into Heaven; Marry the Egyptian took all manner of pleasures whilst she was young, yet she made a most Happy and a most Glorious end. They are Souls that stand out firm against God, and will not upon any account surrender, and though they be offered most advantageous conditions, they are for a cessation of Arms; they will have Time to capitulate, and find still new excuses for not surrendering▪ What does God do to Convert those Souls? He lays Siege to them as to revolted Cities, which deny Obedience to their Sovereign. You may find in Scripture, Deut. c. 20. v. 10. Offeres primum ei pacem v. 19 Non succcides arbores de quibus vesci potest, etc. c. 21. v. 11. how he commands a general Destruction over all, that they should preserve Fruit-trees only; as for others, they should root them out of the ground; and after that they should give a general assault, they should put all to the Sword; and that such as under pretence of capitulation deferred to surrender themselves, Si videris in numero captivorum mulierem pulchram, etc. they should receive exemplary punishment. But if among those poor wretches, there should be found a handsome portly Woman, the Conqueror may take her for his Spouse, with a condition to cut off her Hair, to pair her Nails, and to let her have a full month to lament her Father and Mother. So God deals with Sinners that put off their Conversion, after that the Preachers had summoned them in his Name: He commands his Angels to sound a general Destruction, whereupon comes a Plague into a City, and leaves it waste, he order all the unprofitable Trees (which bear not the worthy Fruits of a true Repentance) to be cut down. He who has escaped the Plague, shall be taken with an Apoplexy, which shall not afford him that short time, to invoke the holy Name of Jesus to his assistance; Another shall be prevented by a sudden death, whilst he is in mortal sin, and there he is lost for an Eternity. And why all this? It is because those Souls would fain capitulate with God Almighty; they would not surrender, when the white Flag of Peace was presented to them; They always delayed their Repentance, so that God was compelled by their obstinate ways, to proceed against them with all manner of rigour. Herodot. lib. 1. The jonians, (as you may read in Herodotus) Besieged by King Cyrus who often before offered them honourable conditions, that they might carry away their Lives and Goods safe, or stay in the City, and enjoy peaceably all their Immunities and Liberties; that their Garrison might March off with Drums beating, Colours flying, Arrow in hand, Sword by their side, Launce at a stand: Yet they were so headstrong, that they would not surrender; But at last being not able to hold out any longer, they resolved to send their Deputies to Cyrus; Being come, Cyrus, for an answer, tells them of a Parable: A certain Man, who could play well on the Flute, walking along the River side, gins to play on his Instrument, as if he were to invite the Fish to Dance, to come ashore, and rejoice at the hearing of so sweet a Harmony: the Fish (instead of coming near him,) fled away in full Squadrons under the Banks and muddy places of the River, for the fear of being catched: whereupon he throws in his Net amongst them, and brings up a great quantity, which were no sooner laid down in the Meadow, but they began to Dance, leap, and strike with their Fins; No, no, (says he) 'tis no more time to Dance, Salationis verbo non histrionis motibus sinuati corporis rotatus, sed impigri cordis devotio & religiosa membrorum designatur agilitas. D. Aug. ex Hugon. Cardinal in c. 7. Lucae. you shall die. This is to say, that Cyrus would hear no more speaking of Peace, being that the jonians were so far overseen as to refuse it once, when it was offered them by his Ambassador, and in his Name. God by his Preachers, often invited Sinners with the harmonious sound of his words, to get out of the muddy waters of their Concupiscence, and come to the shore of their Salvation, to Dance and Rejoice with the Angels at the day of their Conversion: Saltant animae quae pennulis virtutum fultae per coeleste desiderium saltant ad contemplationem, quamvis in se relabantur per carnis fragilitatem. D. Greg. ex Hugone ibid. But they fled afar off, and launched themsemselves further in under the Banks of Hell: The hour of death comes on, they cannot hold out any longer, they have no more the power nor the occasions to offend God. Then they begin to cry, my God, we would willingly make our Peace with you, do not cut us off so soon; we beg a cessation of Arms, for one day more: No, no, says our Saviour, Canta vimus ei non saltastis. Luke c 7. v. 32. in St. Luke, I Sung, but you would not Dance; Now that you would fain Dance, I am no more in the humour to play on the Music. In die illa voc abit Dominus ad Fletum, etc. Isa. 2, 2. Yet if among this poor afflicted, be found any comely handsome Woman, that is to say, a Soul which acknowledges that she has undervalved her Gods most liberal offers, and comes to prostrate herself at his Feet, as another Magdalen; she shall be received with compassion, so be that she cuts off her Hair, and gets out with a Martial courage from all evil occasions, which, like so many Ropes, kept her fast as a Slave under the heavy yoke of Sin, so be that she pares her Nails by Mortifying her evil inclinations, so multiplied in her Heart, by her often transgressing the Law of God; so be that she does firmly oblige herself to lament, not for one month, but all the days of her life, to have so ill employed the time, which God of his Mercy, was pleased to bestow on her, to manage her Salvation. The Infirm and Languishing Sinners, In Canticum oris sui vertunt sermones tuos, etc. Ezeck. 33. v. ult. are they who really reap some little profit by hearing of Sermons, who confess and receive some times, who give freely Alms to the Poor, and do many more good works: But they are so crazy, that upon the least occasion, they fall into a Relapse; any company brings them off from God's Service, they are so faint and feeble in their practice of Devotion, that the least attack overcomes them; so that they need a strong and efficacious Medicine, to Purge them of those weakening humours. Apoc. c. 10. v. 9 Accipae librum & devora illum, etc. And it is therefore that God does transform himself into a Prysician-Preacher, as you may find in St. John's Revelations; Take this Book, devour it altogether, as long as you keep it in your mouth, it shall have the taste of Honey: But when it shall come into your Stomach, you shall feel a great deal of bitterness, a great deal of Gripe and Convulsions. Galen and Hypocrates would laugh at such a receipt; Nay, they would never believe that a confection of Papers could in any respect conduce to men's health: But St. Thomas (understanding this Book to be the Word of God) makes it appear that it is a Medicine sweet to reason, Beatus homo qui corripitur à Domino, etc. Job. 5. v. 17. but sour to sensuality, sweet in the speculation, but sour and troublesome in the practice: A Medicine Composed of several Ingredients, which cannot be pleasing to the Body; they are sugared Pills, but within lies Wormwood and Myrrh. The Sugar and Honey of the Word of God, is, when the Preachers describe unto us the Beauties of Paradise; the Glorious and Everlasting residence of the Blessed; The originary Country of praedestinate Souls; When he does explain unto us the sweetness of that intuitive Vision, Intus vulnera infligit, quia mentis notrae duritiam suo desiderio percutit, sed percutiendo sanat, quia terroris sui jaculotransfixos ad sensum nos rectitudinis revocat. D. Greg. lib. 6. moral in c. 5. Job c. 18. which is to be for ever the Beautifying object of our Souls, when he does assure us of the other life, that it is a permanent State without any alteration or changement, a place of Pleasure and Joy, without any mixture of sadness; a collection and gathering of all imaginable contentments, whose possession can never fly from him who dies in Grace. But the Myrrh, the Wormwood, and the Diascartamum of the Word of God, are Mortfications, Penance, Fasting, Hair-cloath, and other Austerities: They are the main displeasures to have ever offended God; they are the just punishments we must lay on ourselves to chastise burr Rebellions: Cum sanciata mens in Deum anhelare coeperit, etc. Paulo infra. Ad tentationem protinus ei vertitur, quicquid amicum prius blandumque in saeculo putabatur. D. Greg. supra They are the solemn Protestations we make, that to the hazard of our lives we will abstain from Evil, and avoid all occasions of Sin. Ha! The languishing Christian will say, I cannot swallow that Pill; it is impossible for me to take that Medicine, the very smell of it makes me to grudge at it, and provokes me to a Vomit. Friend, I have but one word to tell you, if you be desirous to be cured of your Infirmities; here, I prescribe unto you the only Remedy for your Disease, there is none other. Galen, the most Learned Physician of his time was upon a day highly displeased with certain Mountebanks that he had seen prescribe nothing but what was pleasing to their Patients: If they would call for Drink in the height of their Fever, they presently ordered that it should be given to them: If they had a mind to eat Fruit, they would command it to be served to them indifferently; Their usual Medicines were composed of the Roots of Mandrakes, the juice of Dog-Roses, and of Storax, more fit to set their Patients asleep, and turn them to their Graves, than Purge them of their bad humours, and restore them to their Health. Erit tempus cum sanam doctrinam, non sustinebunt, etc. 2 Tim. 4. v. 5. , by I do not know what corruption, we look for Preachers (like unto those Physicians) who will flatter us, and be loath to tell the truth; for fear to offend us, Preachers of a new stamp, Filij mendaces, filij nolentes audire legem Die qui dicunt videntibus loquimini nobis placentia. Isa. 30. v. 10. nothing but Court Language, Satin Discourses, Bonelace Style with fine Flowers, pretty Petticoats, Stage-Actions, jolly in their Garb and Behaviour, winning looks, who take away the Nails from the Cross, to set in their place some precious Stones; who will have no Thorns, but Roses grow in the way which leads to Heaven: In a word, who place a Bolster under our heads, rather inviting us to sleep in our Iniquities, Melior est manifesta correptio quam amor absconditus, etc. Proverb. 27. v. 5. than to awake us at the sound of a Warlike Trumpet, and of a solid Sermon. Jesus Christ is none of those Preachers, his prescriptions are far contrary to our humours: We will have the Wine of pleasures, he does ordain us to drink of the bitter waters of Penance: a Tu igitur, Domine Jesus, uti clementissimus medicus peccatores omnes cura, utens accommodatis ad salutem medicamentis, non modo secando, urendo novaculam adhibendo, sed etiam alligando exsi siccando, injiciendo medicamenta lenia, cicatricem obducentia, emolliendo sermonibus consolatoriis. Si vulnus altum fuerit, reficito sua vi unguento, ut repletum reliquis partibus aequetur. D. Clemen. lib. 2. constit. Apostol. ca ● 45. We will eat of the Fruit of the forbidden Tree, he will have us served with the Pears of Sorrow taken from the Tree of the Cross; we are for a mild Physic, he will have us to be often Blooded: he spares no Iron nor Fire; and as he is extraordinary well versed in his Art, and knowing full well the cause of our Evil, he applies thereunto the Remedies which he knows to be most efficacious for its healing: It is better to receive the Receipts of a Doctor somewhat rigorous, than to languish miserably under the hands of a flattering Mountebank. That being so, if hitherto we have been Sinners obstinate in our crimes, let us mollify our hearts, and force out of the Anvil of our Steely Breasts, some little sparkle of good will for our Conversion: If we have been as so many greedy Raven's croaking a Cowardly Cras, Cras, to morrow, to morrow, putting off with a foolish delay to another time, the grand affair of our Salvation; Let us say with the Prophet, 'tis This day, and at this present moment that I begin to make Penance. If we have been weak and feeble, falling incessantly to our old evil practice; let us swallow down with a courageous Heart that wholesome Medicine, composed of the Blood and Sweat of Jesus, striving in the Garden of Olives against the feelings of Nature; to the end that being once well Purged, we may continue Strong and Hearty in the Service of God; and never to assist at Sermons hereafter, but with that resolution, to make use of what we hear for the amendment of our Lives. CHAP. XXI. How Powerful good Example is for to touch a Sinner. IT is not a question so easy to be resolved, as People may imagine, Ad invenit omnem viam disciplinae, & tradidit illam Jacob puero suo & Israel dilecto suo post haec in terris visus est, & cum hominibus conversatus est. Baruch 3. v. 37. to wit; whether the Miracles of Christ were of more force to convert Sinners, than was his sweet Conversation among men: For in favour of his Miracles we may allege this Maxim of Philosophy; That Active Powers are more Powerfully drawn by that which moves them most: But it's another Maxim of Philosophy, That what we have daily before our Eyes, breeds no passion in our Hearts. Ab assuetis non fit passio. The proof is very plain in all the course of Nature: What is more to be admired, than to see the Heavens with all their great Train, roll (constantly and with such good Order) over our Heads: The Sun to take its course with so great Majesty from one Tropic to another, and as it enters into its twelve Stations, or Mansion Houses, to produce so many rare and different effects: The Moon, which by the secundity of its continual Influences, predominates with so much Empire over all Sublunary Generations; the Earth which every year revives so many Plants, and draws them out of the Tomb where Winter had buried them: However all those things, because we have them daily before our Eyes, moves not in the least our Powers. But if any thing happens extraordinary in the course of Nature? If the Sun be at a stop, Non ait Dominus tollite jugum meum super vos discite à me quoniam quatriduana de sepulchris cadavera exsuscito, atque omnia demonia de corporibus hominum morbosque depello & caetera hujusmodi: sed tollite inquit, jugum meum & discite à me quia mitis sum & humilis cord, illa enim sunt signa rerum spiritualium mitem autem esse & humilem charitatis conservatio est. D. Aug. to. 4. lib. ●unico in Epist ad Galat. or go back so many Degrees, as once it happened; if the Moon be Eclipsed, if any Prodigious Sign or Comet appear in the Air, we are all presently in a maze, we are astonished at the sight of those new and extraordinary things. We might then conclude, that Miracles, which are extraordinary things, which are the Wonderful Productions of a Supreme Cause, and which depend immediately of an Agent far beyond the limits of Nature, should have far more force to move Souls to think of their Salvation, than either Example or Conversation. However, we must conclude, that the Conversation of Jesus was more available to Souls for their Conversion, than were all his Miraculous Actions: For the Conversion of a Sinner consists in the perfect imitation of Jesus, by doing good Works: Miracles bring not People to Imitation, but only to Admiration; To raise the Dead, to restore their Sight to the Blind, their Hearing to the Deaf, their Speech to the Dumb, Health to one Sick of the Palsy: They are Actions which cannot be imitated by men, because they do surpass the reach of their Activity: But to suffer Affronts without the least reply, do good to his Enemies, carry his Cross with Resignation, practice Virtue on occasions; they are I must confess Heroic Actions, Rogo vos imitatores mei estote sicut & ego Christi, 1 Cor. 4. v. 16. which may be imitated by God's good Grace. To work Miracles it was needless that the Eternal Word should become Man, being that they are the effects of his Divinity: But to do Works which may be imitated, he took on himself our Resemblance, Bona non solum coram Deo, sed etiam coram hominibus. 2 Cor. c. 8. v. 20. leaving us in the course of his Humble and Mortified Life, a Gracious Model, and a most Lovely Pattern for all our Actions. The Scribes and Pharisees had not many Complaints to make against his Miracles; Quare cum publicanis & peccatoribus manducat Magister vester. Matth. 9 v. 10. but as for his Conversation, they murmured, and could not suffer, but with Jealousy to see him so familiar with Sinners and Publicans: For it was the only means to disabuse that poor blind Nation, and bring them to open their Eyes to see their own Follies: And in effect, those that a great number of his Miracles could not Mollify, the Example of Jesus Crucified on Mount Calvary, forced that Confession from their Mouths, Verily, this Man was the Son of God; and knocking their breasts, they returned back full of Sorrow and Contrition to have known so late the Merits of so Holy and so Perfect a Man: Whence came it that Pilot would fain declare him Innocent, and withdraw himself from judging of his Cause, but from the Sweetness of his Conversation, from the rare example of his Modesty, from his Patience more than Humane under that heavy load of Affronts which he received at the Hands of that Barbarous and Bloody Nation; Hence he drew that necessary consequence, that the Virtue of the most high did animate all his Actions, and that such a gathering of so many rare Virtues could never be found in the Person of any Criminal. This Truth cannot be better understood, than by the Commissions which our Saviour gave to his Apostles and Disciples: For, as he did not establish them his Lieutenants on Earth, but for to make an end of that which he began; (viz.) the Conversion of Sinners; he ought to give the means most proper, and the necessary Instructions to attain to that end. There they have it in St. Matthew, Matth. c. v. 19 Luceat lux vestra coram hominibus ut videant opera vestra bona. let your Light shine before Men, not by making the fire of Heaven to come thundering down on the Criminal and guilty Heads of Sinners, not by commanding the Earth to open its flanks to swallow into its Bowels all Obstinate and Rebellious Souls; nor the Air to form and let fly its Thunderbolts to frighten the World: Ego lucem accendi, ut vero peseveret arden's, vestri sit studii, non propter me vosque ipsos tantum, verum etiam propter eos qui eadem luce potientur, vobisque ducentibus viam veritatis invenient. D. Chrysost. to. 2. hom. 15. in c. 5. Matth. But by rendering yourselves imitable by your good and Holy Conversation, to the end that Sinners seeing your good Works, may Glorify your Father which is in Heaven. St. John the Baptist wrought no Miracles (at least that ever we heard of,) either by History or otherwise: But his Conversation was so Powerful to move Souls, that all Herod's Court were his Admirers; the austerity he always observed in his Eating and Drinking, the Courseness of his Garment, his Zeal in Preaching, and extolling the Glory of Penance, put so great a feeling into the Hearts of Sinners, that he drew them after him as the Loadstone draws the Iron. D. Basil Epist. 175. St. Basil relates, that such as went to the chase of Pigeons, in his time, thought of a very good invention to draw them into their Pidgeon-houses; they would take a tame and Domestic Pigeon, and put a grain or two of Musk under her wings, and afterwards let her fly: This little Creature, soon after would fall into the company of wild ones, and draw them wherever she went, with the sweet Perfume she had hidden under her Wings. Christi bonus odor sumus in omni loco. 2 Cor. cap. 2. v. 16. Foelix praedicator qui sic praedicat evidenter ut sit odor Christi non foetor antichristi. Gozra. in c. 2. Corint. Coelius Rhodig. lib. 6. antique lection. cap. 29. Jesus Christ is a Pigeon, who bears under the Wings of his Humanity the Musk of a Celestial conversation, the Girls of the Cantick followed him at the Scent of his Perfumes. The Apostles, (as St. Paul says) are Musked Pigeons sent by Jesus Christ over all the World to Perfume all Nations, and bring them by the sweet smell of their angelical Conversation, to the Pidgeon-house of his Church. We may read in Coelius Rhodignus, that at a certain Banquet where the seven wife Men of Greece met, there was (according to their custom,) a Question proposed: Which was the House and Family that they might lawfully call most happy? Solon answered, it was that which was well stored with Riches lawfully gotten, and well managed. Cleobulus, where the Master made himself more to be loved than feared. Pettacus, Propter nos conscientia nostra sufficit nobis: fama propter proximum, qui autem bonae conscientiae fidens famam negligit crudelis est. Gozram in c. 8. 2. ad Corinth. where all things abounded as well for decency as necessity. Chilon, where the Family was Governed after a Monarchick way; and so of the rest: But Bias, (in my thoughts) hit best, when he said, that the most happy, was, where the Master and Servants were as well ordered and ruled in their exterior conversation among Men, Sanctificatus est enim vir infidelis per mulierem fidelem. 1 Cor. 7. v. 13. as if they had been daily in the presence of the Gods. St. Paul seems to be of the very same opinion, (when he counsel a Woman, who had taken an Infidel to her Husband) not to forsake him, Inter omnia quae regunt hominem in viae salutis, praecipuum est sequi societatem sanctorum, hoc ostendit psalmus verbo cum sancto sanctus eris, & Coeciliae facto, quae virum suum ad fidem convertit. Gozram. in c. 7. 1 Cor. because she might convert him by her good Example, by her sweet and most Friendly Conversation. Magdalen ought to return many thanks to her Sister Martha, for who do you think was it that made her resolve to go hear Jesus Preach in Jerusalem, where she received the most lively feelings of her Conversion? (if we give credit to Tradition,) it was her good Sister. Jesus may most lawfully claim the best and chiefest part in that holy and most happy Penitents Conversion; But the good company of Martha, and her rare Examples of Virtue did much contribute to it. Our ancient Fathers, (who knew by their long experience, the great advantage of good and commendable company) esteemed nothing so much, as to meet with a virtuous Man, to whose prudence they might impart their most secret thoughts: I shall always harbour a good opinion of a Christian, whilst he delights to be among good People: We cannot remain any long time near Roses, but we must partake of their smell: Virtue is a Charm to allure all those that come near it. One shall hear ten Sermons without any alteration of life, who by seeing a good Christian in a Church with a dejected countenance, a modest face, and a posture altogether Religious, shall be moved to compunction. The Tongue may speak wonders, but the Hands must work them. A Prelate will make Statutes and Decrees, far surpassing those of Lycurgus or Corondas; But if his life be not conformable to his Laws, all will soon vanish away: We must then have an esteem for good company, being God does appoint them as a means much conducing to our Salvation, CHAP. XXII. If any thing be contrary to the Conversion of a Sinner, it must be bad and scandalous company. THe Prophet-Royal had very good reason to begin his Psaltery, Videte ne fortè licentia vestra offendiculum fiat infirmis, etc. 1 Cor. 8. v. 9 & 12. by declaring him a blessed man who is never found in the Assembly of the wicked, never known to go the same Road with Sinners, and never seen to sit in the Chair of Pestilence. It was a great happiness for Enoch to have quitted the World so soon; Sap. c. 4. v. 10 Raptus est ne malitia mutaret intellectum ejus, etc. for God made haste to transport him from Iniquities, to a place of assurance, far from the society of the wicked, where he might preserve the integrity of his life. Principium beatudinis sapientiae & sanctitatis est separari à commercio improborum, non haec quidem perfecta beatitudo, sed exordium & gradus primus. Engub. in Psal. 1. If it be commendable to resort to Wise and Virtuous Men, because with them we may soon profit both in Wisdom and in Virtue: It is very hard to preserve our Innocency among them, that glory in nothing more than in Vice; It's there that a man must have a great deal of force and courage, where Virtue cannot uphold Her Prerogatives, but by force of Arms. You shall find but very few Mercury's in the World, Qui cum sapientibus graditur sapiens erit, amicus stultorum similis efficietur. Eccles. 13. v. 20. to show, and set you in the way of Virtue, when you happen to fall out of the Road: For every one following the beaten ways which lead to perdition, know not the secret and by-paths by which the Wise make their escape, to arrive at the Port of their everlasting rest. The Israelites mixing themselves with God's Enemies, learned among them in a short time to make Idols, profane the Sanctuary, undervalue Divine Worship: They had been far more happy, if, (as Job, whom Origen calls the Pigeon among the Kites, the Lily among the Thorns, the Lamb among the Wolves;) they had got out of the company of Infidels without a spot, as he departed blameless out of the Society and Congregation of the Hussites. People may tell me that 'tis hard to break off so with his Friends, contrary to the rules of civility: But I answer, that it is a great piece of folly, that a man should suffer himself to be consumed by the flames of a scorching Fire, rather than remove himself a little further off: Never was a wicked Man a good Friend. It's a great honour (says St, Isidore) to have bad livers to be his Enemies, Isid. lib. 2. soliloque. for it's an evident sign, that he whose licentious life we do abhor, will have but very little authority, or none at all, to leave in us any Impression of his evil qualities. Sicut multa bona habet communis vita Sanctorum sic plura mala affert societas malorum, sicut ergo optandum est ut boni pacem habeant ad invicem, sic optandum est ut mali sint ap invicem discords. Beda in locis communibus cap. 62. For it's not enough to have the object present, for to invite us to consent to action; there must be moreover an inclination, and a natural Instinct in the Agent, and something in the object also, able to draw the Agent to action: which shows, that a good Christian, who has made it his aim and conduct of his life, to shun above all things the company of the wicked, will easily escape their contagion, if by a serious discussion he comes to understand their malice. If there were no other consideration for to invite us to fly from evil company, but that of our own proper Interest; it's more than sufficient: for being it is true, that where two or three are assembled in God's name, God is there present to pour down his Blessings on them: Also by the rules of opposition I must conclude, that where two or three are assembled (but not in God's name) there God is never present, otherwise than well-stored with Maledictions which he thunders down on their heads. If the Fire of Heaven descend on such an Assembly, it's not the Fire of the Holy Ghost; No, no, they must be the Thunderbolts of God's Indignation and Wrath. St. Ambrose (speaking of St. Peter in his dangers of Shipwreck,) makes this subtle Observation; that whilst he was alone in his Vessel, he had all things to his hearts desire, a brave Sun, clear Sky, calm Sea, favourable Wind: Judas comes no sooner in, but the Sun darkens, the Skies are cloudy, the Sea swells up, the Wind blows high, a Storm comes on, the Bark is in danger, Shipwreck is near at hand. You would say, that the hand which gives a motion to that Element, commands both Heaven, Wind, and Wether to cry vengeance, and be angry with all the company, upon Judas' account, and only for his consideration: So often the good are punished, when they do happen among bad livers. Et dixerunt ad invicem, nun cor nostrum ardens erat. Luk. 74. ●. 32. Would to God, that all our conversations were as profitable to our Neighbours, as that of Jesus was to the Pilgrims of Emaus, who returning from Jerusalem, had the happiness to meet him in the Road; They draw near him, they speak to him, they hear his discourse with attention; being come to their Lodging, one says to another, tell me in good earnest, was not your heart all in a flame, as mine was, whilst he discoursed with us in the way? Did you not feel in yourself a lightness of heart? As for my part, the way appeared to me very short; I thought I was not a quarter of an hour going all that long Journey: But what do you think was the subject of Jesus' discourse? Was it of Histories made for pleasure, of Romances, of Discourse without any ground, of unprofitable words, of common Affairs and of no Consequence: No, no, he gives them a right understanding of Scripture, of the Mystery of the Incarnation, of other Mysteries of Faith, of the Resurrection, and of the Wonders of Heaven. The Prophet Isaiah complains of a great misfortune which happened to him, Vae mihi quia tacui, quia vir pollutus labiis ego sum, & in medio populi polluta labia habentis ego habito. Isa. c. 6. v. 5. (viz.) to have conversed with overmuch familiarity among a People, who had their lips polluted: A Conversation which was so prejudicial to him, that in accusing himself of it, (he cries) woe be to me, who for suffering myself to be carried on by the current of common and unprofitable discourse, have already forgotten to speak of God, extinguished the Spirit of fervour; which did heretofore animate me to publish his Glory in all places, wherever I went. It is certain, D. Chrost. in c. 6. Isaiae, & D. Hieron. ibid. (says St. Cyril, and St. Jerome) that one of the greatest faults, which Saints might have committed, is to be overmuch familiar with Worldlings; For besides, that overmuch familiarity breeds contempt, we do easily contract the habits of them, whose company is grateful to us. One shall come out of his Cloister pure as an Angel, Ebriosus convictores in amorem vini traxit, impudicorum coetus fortem & si liceat virum emollit Seneca lib. 3. de ira. who at his return, shall surpass the deformity of an Ethiopian. The brave Meditations which were the grateful entertainments and Glorious Employments of his Spirit in Prayer, shall be confounded with so many Worldly shapes, and evaporated into Millions of extravagant discourses. His heart, which you might see to vent out so many devout Aspirations and Holy Affections for his God, lances out no more but the profane Darts of a more profane and unruly Love: That Soul, peaceable, and far from all troubles, naturally inclined to Virtue, becomes tepid, lazy, and has no more for her constant entertainment, but perpetual distractions. I know that what is related in the Gospel of Scribes, Pharisees, Valdè difficile est, ut linguae saecularium men tem non inquinet quam tangit, quia dum plerumque eis ad quaedam lonquenda condescendimus, paulisper assueti hanc ipsam locutionem quae nobis indigna est etiam delectabiliter tenamus, ut ex ea jam redire non libeat, ad quam ex condescensione venimus inviti. D. Greg. to 2. lib. 3. dialog. cap. 15. and Capharnites, happens to very many in our days, which is, That our Saviour speaking to them of Holy and Profitable things, of the Institution of the Blessed Sacrament, of the necessity of Crosses, of the obligation of sufferance; says, that they are things hard to be digested, they cannot give ear to them, they are altogether displeasing to them; and for to express their unwillingness to practise them, they do withdraw themselves one after another from under so heavy a Yoke. Is it not a strange and most deplorable thing, that it's taken for the merest folly in Nature, to speak of God in any Meetings? He is but an Alter-piece, a devourer of Images, a rouler of Beads, a Melancholic and Hypocondriacal man, who will offer to speak of Devotion in company; they will presently begin to jeer him, to smother his. feelings of Devotion and Piety: Gorrumpunt mores bonos colloquia prava. 1 Cor. 15. v. 33. Is it possible that the World has blotted out of our hearts the Memorials of the Recognizances which we own unto him, whom the very senseless and dumb Beasts cannot forget? We will make such large amplifications of a matter of nothing, and we shall not have a word to say of the King of Glory, of a God of Majesty, inexhaustible source of perfection. We will pass over whole days to entertain a company with Stories, with Fables, with Fictions, without truth or ground, and we shall be sorry for one quarter of an hour, employed to set forth the Praises and Glorious Prerogatives of our Redeemer. A Commedian, a Stage-player, shall be heard as an Oracle, and he who will declare the Word of God, must be commanded to keep silence. Do we not fear the Fatal Effects of that most Dreadful Sentence pronounced by our Saviour, against them who shall be ashamed to confess him before Men; Vitiorum exempla oppugnant animum, immutant, transformant, miraculo erit inter incendia vel non s●mi vel ce●tè non inca●es●ere. S Cyprian. de spectaculis. that he will not acknowledge them before his Father which is in Heaven. They are the People to be shunned as a Plague that infects all the World, as so many Incarnate Devils, whose conversation and company, brings us nothing but misfortune and woe. It is then most true, that good conversation and company is an efficacious means that God makes use of to convert Souls: That of the wicked is also another strong means, whereof the Devil makes use to cross his designs of their Conversion. And so we must conclude, that he who is taken with this company, goes on headlong to everlasting destruction; whereas the former has found out the right Road to Heaven, and the assured means to work his Salvation. CHAP. XXIII. That, to think of Death has a great power on the Conversion of a Sinner. THere is neither Rule nor Law so Universal, Statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori, post hoc autem judicium. Heb. v. 27. but admits of some exceptions or difficulties; there have been many, (and are at this present, to my great grief) that will hardly believe the Existence of a God. But all without either exception or difficulty concur in this Point, that we must all die, we tread under our feet the dead to day, and we shall be dealt with the same to morrow, Testamentum enim hujus mundi, morte morietur. Eccl. 14. v. 12. For my part, I do adore all thoughts which may conduce to my Salvation, as of the love of God above all things, who, (without any desert of mine) has given me so many Graces; of the Beauty of Heaven, glorious and everlasting residence of the Blessed; of the noble extraction of the Soul, appointed from all Eternity to enjoy the intuitive Vision of the first Essence: But in this point I must confess the corruption of my nature, the dullness of my understanding, such thoughts are good for purer Souls than mine is; they are motives able to ravish a St. Paul into the third Heavens, to Print on a St. Francis the Effigies of Christ, to set a St. Bernard beyond his Senses, and make all those ecstatical Spirits to fall into a weakness. I am an insensible Rock to all those truths: a Diamond which those Darts cannot penetrate: I am colder than the very Ice at the approach of those Fires; But when I come to think that poor Brother Lion Capucin must die; that I am now standing on my Legs, and, that to morrow they will put my Head into a Capuce, for to cast me into the Earth: That they will sing a doleful de profundis at my Funeral, to send me to another World, and give me the last farewell; I raise up my shoulders, I re-enter into myself, my Blood is already frozen within my Veins, I have no more mind to laugh, than I have to live. And really, as I shall make it appear by moral induction, there is no Motive more powerful among the Exteriours, to stir up all sorts of persons to the feelings of their Salvation, than the thought of dying. To Youth it is a curb to stop them when they are in their full career to Perdition. To Kings, Princes, Emperors, and Monarches, (a Subject of humility,) that they should not puff themselves up with overmuch Pride above the People. To Soldiers and Warriors a cause of humiliation, that the favour of Fortune and Arms should not make them insolent. To the most Holy Souls, an ordinary entertainment, Mors rot a incertè fixa, brevis haec est multiplex vita sursum movetur ac deorsum trahitur fugiens tenetur & manus effugit, saltat plerumque nec tamen fugere potest stationem suam motu trahit & retrahit. Greg. N●zianz. in distichis. to keep them within the limits of humility, and from presuming any thing rashly by the Justice of their actions. As for the Youth, that Ancient practice of the Romans was a rare spectacle, and a brave Lesson they gave the young men of the City; when they made up a most magnificent Sepulchre to the young Princess Servilia, the rarest beauty that ever appeared in the Roman Empire: Over the Marble cover of her Tomb, was in the very middle an Earthen Pot, and at both the ends two Nymphs in women's shape, from the Head to the Navel, and thence downwards light-footed Deers; so Artificially jointed: Greg. Nazianz. in Moncast. which looking fixedly at the Pot, with a jeering smile, would give it a kick at the same time and break it to pieces. That Earthen Pot represented the Body of Servilia, a Vessel stuffed up with Earth and Dung: Those light-footed Deers are the days of her life, which with a great deal of speed conducted her to Death: That jeering smile, shown the vanity of all her greatness and Pleasures; This breaking of the Vessel, the separation of the Soul from the Body. In fine, Omnes eodem eogimur, omnium Versatur urna serius ocius. Sors exitura & nos en aeternum. Exitium impositura Cymba. Horat. lib. 2. Carm. the whole exposed to the public view, was a brave instruction to the Youth of Rome, to curb them and stop the course of their insolency. But let us not seek for so Ancient a fact: let us go and open some Tomb, wherein of late days is cast some rare young Beauty, which Death had overcome. Imagine with yourself, dear Reader, this Carcase to be left in your Chamber: Ask it the question, What is become of those fair eyes, which were but two days since seen to open with such Majesty, Circum ferabatur apud Aegyptios inter pocula sceletus, hoc est, corporis ossea duntaxat compage exextantiseffigies, in memoriam, ut ajunt manerotis isidis alumni, quem annis innocentibus immatura morte fata praeripuerant Herodot. l. 11. & Petron. in Satyrico. and give a bold look at the admirers, to shut down their lids for shame, to be dazzled with fear; to grow black with sadness, to be inflamed with anger, to grow mild, and smile at a Lover? Where are those optic Veins, which carried by their continuation, the usual ray on the very door-case of the Eye, to receive the Species, and frame the Image of such as were represented Exteriorly? Where are those Tunicks and little thin skins, which locked up so artificially all humours, that nothing should annoy this great little Masterpiece of Nature? All That is no more but a stinking Dunghill, mixed with nasty Blood, more horrible to be seen, than ever was the Carcase of Helena, which Menippus had perceived in the dark Dungeon of Hell: But what is become of that pure, white, proper, and well set Body, so pampered, so carefully washed, so curiously decked, so interlaced with thousands of Sky-coloured Veins, which Nature had framed as a Net to entangle all men in her Love; all is nothing now but a rotten lump of Flesh, where Worms have taken up their quarters to feed at their ease. Let us go further to find out the Heart, first alive, and at last dead, whence proceeded all Passions as so many Sovereign Ladies and Queens of that little World: Alas! It's now but a small handful of ashes, the least touch will reduce it to dust, as the Apples of the Lake Asphatite, where Sodom and Gomorrah stood heretofore. There is no young man in the World, let him be the greatest Ranter that ever was heard of, if he will but consider seriously this doleful portraiture, he will conceive a distaste of all Earthly pleasures, he will stop the course of his Debauched life; knowing for certain, the day will come, that infallibly he will be brought to the same condition. Damascenus in historia Balaam & Josaphat testatur priscas Sanctorum reliquias religiosè in theca ex collo pendente gestasse, non tantum venerationis sed & memoriae mortis causa. Tradition gives us to understand of the Patriarch Noah, how after he had made an end of building an Ark, and received Orders to get into it with all his Family; The first thing he would have observed in his new House, was, that his Children should think often of Death, as a strong motive to keep them from Vice and Deadly Sin: And to bring them to this good Custom, he commands them to go look for the Bones of Adam's Body, which being all found, and brought home to the Community, (except the hinder part of his Head, which they left on the Mount Calvary for the accomplishment of the Messiah Mysteries;) To one, he he gives the Thighbone; to another that of an Arm; and to all the rest, each one his proportion: To the end, they might always think, that if God, by his special Grace, delivered them out of all danger of Shipwreck and Deluge: Yet they were not exempted from the inevitable Laws of Death. If Jonathan thought of that Sentence in time, he would not take the news of his Death so much to Heart. And we should not know by Scripture the weakness of his Courage, and the main excess of his Grief, which made him say with a weeping Tone; Alas! for having tasted a little Honey, must I die so soon? I did as yet, but begin to receive the sweet Air of Life, and here already I am summoned to march off to take up my Lodging in the thick and dark shadows of an Eternal Night. Nature to me is a most Cruel Stepmother, to show me so much of her Pleasures, and presently to cut me off before I tasted of their sweetness? We must then acknowledge that of all Exterior means the most serious thought of Death is the strongest to move Youth to their Conversion. Ponite quotidie ante oculos vestros finem vestrum, cogitate cujus erunt & quid vobis proderunt quae post vos remanebunt: haec cogitate haec inter vos die ac nocte in secreto & in publico tractate. S. Anselm. ad Burgundium macherum ejus conjugem Epist. As for Kings, Princes and Monarches, who by the eminency of their Dignities, should seem to be out of all fear, being that all Creatures show them their Obedience as to the Gods of the Earth. What made them undervalue and forsake their Sceptres and Crowns to live in a Desert, as Josaphat Son to the great Abenner. Who was it that obliged them to quit their Palaces and Royal Houses, for to lead in a Cloister the Life of a poor Religious man, as a Charles the Great? Who persuaded them to have a greater esteem for the Cross of Jesus, than for the Richest Treasures the World can afford, as a Constontine? but the Thoughts of Death! Leonitus in the Life of the Ancient Fathers, relates, That at the Coronation of the Emperors in the City of Constantinople, before they had gone further in their Ceremonies; Vide apud Xiphilium in domit, funebre convivium domitavi. there would come a number of Sculptures, every one with his Marble in his Hand, who Addressing themselves to the Emperor, ready to be Crowned, would make him this Compliment; Sacred Majesty, according to the Custom of your Predecessors, and the Order Established in the Ceremonies of your Unction; here we do Prostrate ourselves at your Feet, with these Marbles; and our Request is to be informed by your Majesty, what form we shall give your Tomb? O my God what different Ceremonies have we here! On the one side, I see Palaces, Lovures, and Imperial-Houses preparing to receive the Prince with a great deal of Honour: And on the other side, I hear of nothing, but Stones, Tombs and Sepulchers, wherein he is to Lodge after his Death? There, they cry with a loud voice and solemn Acclamations, Live the Emperor thrice Happy; And here they let him understand, that he must begin to die: There every one Congratulates his new coming to the Crown; and here there is nothing heard but the mourning Discourse of a Tradesman, Pallida mors aequo pede pulsat, etc. Horat. who summons him to think of the Duties and Tribute which he must pay to Nature: We must not be astonished at it, for Death is as welt overheard among those lofty and proud Appels at Court, as in a poor man's ; and therefore to think of it seriously, is altogether as Profitable to the Great ones of the World, as to the Little ones: To the Rich, as to the merest Beggar in Nature. St. John Damescene gives us a further Confirmationn of it, relating a brave Stratagem of a King, who after he had seriously thought of that last Hour, lived all his Life in great fear and apprehension of God's Judgements; every one read in his Face the alteration and change of his Soul: His Brother Laughs at him, and taking his fears to be but panic Terrors, he accuses him of a Sadness rising from overmuch Melancholy, nothing becoming a man of his Quality. The King hears of it, and early in the Morning he commands a Trumpet to be Sounded at his Brother's door, a signal of Death among those People. The Prince, altogether astonished, leaps out of his Bed, and runs half Dressed to his Brother in the King's Palace, imploring his Mercy, protesting his Innocency, begs his Life. Brother (said the King) then, mock no more at them that fear Death; at the sound of a simple Trumpet, there you are all in an Alarm, though your Conscience does not accuse you of any Crime committed against me; know, as for my part, that I am a Criminal and guilty of treason against the Divine Majesty, for so many sins which I have committed: It's therefore I have great reason to be sad, and to apprehend Death. Perhaps the thoughts of Death will be altogether useless and unprofitable to Warriors; who, Alexander monitorem sibi in magna fortuna statuit qui quotidie mane sibi inclamaret hominem eum esse quo scilicet tumidiores animos comprimeret, etc. Aucto. 1 vie vitae, apud Cornel. Eccl. 14. v. 12. for being accustomed to Blood and to Slaughter, and to see no other things but dead Corpse stretched at their Feet, will remain insensible to the Powers of that Meditation. No, no, let them boast as much as they please, let them vapour and strike fire with their Swords, let them defy as much, and as often as they list, both Heaven and Earth. If nevertheless they be pleased to take one quarter of an hours time, to entertain themselves with that thought that they must die; I do assure myself, that their Arms will soon drop but of their Hands, and that from roaring and bloody Lions, they will become mild Lambs; they will come to cast themselves at the foot of a Crucifix to do Penance. The great William Duke of Aquittain, did he not by the force of his Arms, put all the Church in a Combustion? Did he not become as another Attila, the Scourge of God? Did he not declare open War to Priests, and Swear never to be reconciled. St. Bernard makes use of no other Stratagem for to Convert him, but to set efficaciously before his Eyes, the rigorous account he shall be forced to give at the hour of his Death: An invention which had so happy a success, that he sent him as God's Prisoner to Rome, to beg Absolution of his Holiness in all Humility; Absolution which he received, and accompanied with a thousand Sighs, irreproachable Witnesses of his displeasure, to have so much offended God by his abominations and Crimes. He changes his Life, takes on new and Holy Resolutions; retires himself into the Wilderness to pass over the rest of his days in the height of Mortification and Penance, never as yet paralleled and never will be to the World's end. Ask me now the question, whether such as have abandoned the company of men, and have freely engaged themselves and their Liberties under the yoke of Obedience and Evangelical Counsels, shall be obliged to the thoughts of Death; have they not sufficient strong assurance of their Fidelity? No, they must as yet think of Death to keep them in Humility, the ground of all other Virtues. I cannot but find fault with certain Spirituals of the Sect of Scribes and Pharisees, Philosophers of the purest grain, refiners of Devotion, who make certain persons believe, that they have already attained to the height of Perfection; that they are come to the indivisible point of Spirituality; And therefore that they must think no more, but of the attributes of Unity, Simplicity, Immutability, and Essential will of God: That there is a state of Inaction, where the Soul is no more Acting, but Suffering under the simple motions of bare Faith; that the thoughts of Death are good for beginners in the Purgative Life: But as for them, Unde ista simulatio fratres mei? unde haec perniciosa tepiditas? unde haec securitas maledicta? quid seducimus miseri nos ipsos? forsitan jam divites facti sumus, forsitan jam regnamus, nun ostium domus nostrae horribiles illi Spiritus obsident? D. Bernard. serm. 2. in festo Sanct. Petri & Pauli. who are already in a manner Deified, and whose operations are altogether Angelical, that it is to afflict the Holy Ghost to bring them down to such a low and gross exercise. All that is mere folly, nay pure madness, they do seduce themselves; Satan, for being overmuch Spiritual, was damned. Tertullian and Origen for getting out of the common road, and desirous to show the subtlety of their Wits, broaching a Doctrine contrary to the feelings of the Church, are, I fear, in danger never to see the face of God; are we more perfect than St. Hilarion? Hilarion the Honour of the Desert, the Father of Hermits, the Leader and Light of all Religious Souls: Hilarion, who at the Age of Fourteen years, distributed all his Goods to the Poor, and built himself a Cell, so narrow, and so little, that it was scarce able to contain him. Hilarion, who never wore but a Haircloth; who was an object of Admiration both to Angels and Men, for the Austerity of has Life; Can he not confide in the Mercies of God? Had he not all reason to believe that Jesus was very well pleased with his Actions, and therefore that he should not fear Death? He who had so Faithfully served his Creator for the space of threescore and five years: Yet Hilarion this great Hermit apprehends Death, he thinks of it often, and ready to yield up his Ghost, he shakes with fear at the sight of that cruel separation; and we poor miserable wretches who serve God but to the eye, and at random, who are but novices in the Spiritual Life, who are so Lukewarm and so languishing in the exercise and pursuit of Virtues: We think that it is to put an undervalue on our other imaginary exercises, to take the Object of Death for the subject of our Meditations. You are sadly misled; perhaps the Devil has persuaded you as he did our Forefathers, that you shall be all Gods, Knowing Good and Evil; That you will acquire the esteem among your Neighbours of being great Mystics, well Illuminated, by entertaining those foolish fancies: Be not deceived, you shall find the conclusion to be most fatal to you, if you do not carry Humility along with all your Actions and Designs. Come, come, to St. chrysostom, Eorem te meminisse velim quae in Evangelio dicuntur, Angelorum circumcursantium, conclavis clausi, lampadarum extinctarum, potestatem in fornaces trahentium, etc. D. Chrysost. tom. 4. in cap. 2. Rom. and he will teach you how to make use of the Thoughts of Death, to reap the motions of a true Conversion. We must imagine, says this great Doctor, that we are no more in the World, that Athropos has cut off the thread of our Life, that we are judged before God, and condemned for having ended our days in Mortal Sin, without Repentance: Let us behold on one side the Devils armed with fury and Vengeance to come and take us by the Shoulders, put a Rope about our Necks, and draw us along with them: On the other side, let us cast a look on those Eternal Flames which are to Torment us for all Eternity? What shall we have to say then? Alas! what a miserable wretch am I, what made me not to think of Death sooner; I had been myself the revenger of my Crimes, if God were so pleased to prolong the term of my Life for one year logger, I would cast myself into the Arms of the Cross, my Eyes should never be seen without Tears; my Mouth without Confession; my Breast without Sighs; my Heart without Sorrow; my Hands without Whips and Chains of Iron, for to execute on my most sinful Body the punishments due to all my Abominations and Crimes. Dear Reader, do all that now, for now is the time and season: O si possemus in talem speculam ascendere, de qua universam terram sub pedibus nostris cerneremus. Jam tibi ostenderem totius orbis ruinas, gentes gentibus & regnis regna collisa. D. Hieronym. tom. 1. Ep. 3. ad Heliod. in Epitaphio Nepotiani. All those brave resolutions shall be to you useless, and altogether unprofitable at the hour of Death: But let him who is full of Life and Health, think often of Death: If he be a young man, 'tis that will put a stop to the lewd course of his Debauched Life, to think seriously of the other World. If he be a Prince or a Monarch, 'tis that will humble him under the Powerful Hand of God: If he be a Warrior, 'tis That will make his Arms fall out of his Hands, for to prostrate himself at the feet of the great God of Battles, and implore his Clemency: If he be Devout, 'tis that will keep him in fear to presume any thing of himself to the prejudice of God's Rights. Sepultus nihil habeas curam de seculo, tanquam defunctus omni terreno te abdica negotio contemne vivens quae post mortem habere non poteris. D. Ambr. l. 4. Epist. 29. ad Florianum. Let us then often think of that dreadful hour, being that it is to be the end of all our Sorrow, and the beginning of all our Happiness, if we be Virtuously given: But it will be the end of all our Comfort, and the beginning of all our Misfortunes and woe, if we do continue wilfully in the obstinacy of our malice. CHAP. XXIV. That the remorse of Conscience is an Efficacious Instrument of our Conversion. A Pagan Philosopher extols very much the Honour and merit of Conscience, to say, Menande. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Mortalibus omnibus conscientia est Deus. that it is a Divinity which resides in all Mortals from the very instant of their Birth; Let us draw Oil out of this Rock, and discover the secret hidden under that intricate Sentence, for those poor Infidels masked with the vail of Ignorance, advanced often by the Divine permission, true propositions, whose end and scope were altogether unknown to themselves. Conscience is no such thing as a Divinity, but I shall be approved of by all those that are versed in Scripture and the Fathers, if I say with Oecumenius on St. James, Oecumenius in epist. de Jac. c. 1 that it is a word inserted, a Reasonable Intelligence, a Divine motion, which may save our Souls. A word of Intelligence, and secret motion, which the Creator hath Printed in our very Hearts, to maintain them in the fear of God; or to term it better, an Agent and a Commissary from God, for to conserve in our Souls the Rights of his Majesty. Misericors Deus principio cum formaret hominem illi indidit accusatricem perpetuam quae decipi, & deceptionem ferre nusquam posset. D. Chrysost. Homil. 17. in cap. 3. Genes. tom. Even as the Governors and Vice-governours' of Sovereign's are established in remote Provinces, with special Orders to keep the People in Obedience, and conserve the Rights of the Prince in their entire extent: 'Tis this Sacred and Renowned Parliament that God erects within ourselves, where Reason presides in quality of a Judge, Conscience stands by as a Party, the divers motions of the Soul confronted one with another are heard there as irreproachable witnesses of the good and evil which we do commit. 'Tis this that St. Paul calls the work of the Law, written in our hearts, Rom. c. 2. v. 15. Ostendunt opus Legis scriptum in cordibus suis testimonium, reddente illis conscientia ipsorum. where Conscience appears to present her charge, dress up her complaints, and set all the pieces of her accusation in order; and Reasoon, as a reporter, fully informed, accuses or defends the Soul, to condemn her if she be criminal, to dismiss her out of Court and Process, if she be Innocent; or to be received as Defendant, if there be a doubt in the heads proposed. And really we see of two men, who were a long time in Law, after the definitive Sentence, (without Appeal, is given;) one to rejoice, the other to be sad: So we see the same happen to a Soul, whether Conscience gives her the gain of the cause, or whether she renders her Justiciable. The good Conscience, Hugo Vict. lib. 3. de Anima cap. 3. Vide Cornel. in proverbia Salomonis. c. 15. v. 15. Ad illa verba secura mens juge convivium. (says Hugh of St. Victor) is a Garden of pleasures, a Field of Benediction, a Treasure of Peace, the Temple of Solomon, a Residence for God, the Joy of Angels, the Title of Religion, the Cabinet of Graces: 'Tis the Herb Nepenthe, so much cried up by Homer, which mixed among our actions, doth banish all sadness, and gives us the fore-taste of Glory; yea, and leaves us the smell of so grateful a conversation among Men, and so great an esteem of us with God, Bias interrogatus quidnam in vita metu vacaret respondit bona conscientia. that our Neighbour covets our company to ease him of his sadness, and God the presence of our hearts, for to take his delight therein. The guilty Conscience contrariwise is a Tyrant, who tears us, a Serpent who devours us, a Devil who torments us. Caesar provoked the Gods, and for not appeasing their Justice by the humbleness of his Vows; Lucanus lib. 1. Pharsal. Lucan represents him on the Stage of this World in so deplorable a state, that he did imagine at all hours, that the points of all the Lances broken in the Battle of Pharsalia, were gathered and planted in his Breast. Conscientia est quae homines punit cum se malè operatos fuisse recogitant: eádem furiarum paenas apposuit Oresti, quando adversus matrem insaniit. Philostrat. lib. 7. de vita Apollonij cap. 7. Orestes, for the Murders committed on the persons of Pyrrhus, Aegisthus, and Clytaemnestra, ran over all parts like a man possessed with the Devil; and had no other answer to make his Friends, but that his Conscience tormented him for his crimes; so that Pylades brought him to the Temple of Diana the Taurick, for to expiate his Offences. Pausanias' thought he went a cunning way to free himself of the worm of his Conscience, but he was deceived, for Cleonica whom he had lately killed in cold blood, after he had deflowered her, appears unto him every night, accompanied with a Meager countenance, does publish his bloody act, Surge ad supplicium valde est damnosa libido. and summons him to appear before the Gods, to receive the punishment they will ordain for so horrid a Murder. Herod the most cruel of Men, Occultum quatiente animo tortore flagellum. Juvenale Satyr. 13. an insatiable bloodsucker, who fearing to have any Competitor in his Kingdom, pursued his proper Children to death, and put his dear Mariam also to the Sword. Quisquis malus est malè secum est, torqueatur necesse est, ipse enim est poena sua, fugit ab inimico quo potuerit, à se autem quo fugiet. D. Aug. tom. 8. in Psal. 36. Judas the most perfidious of Mortals, who withdraws himself, both from the Union and Communion of the Apostles, to contrive that damnable Treachery against Jesus his proper Master: What do you think is the state of their Conscience after such execrable crimes? That man, weary of his life, gnawed with Worms, eaten with Lice, banished from all Friends, troublesome to all people, insupportable to himself, as he thinks to smother the remorse which gnaws his Conscience, he cries vengeance more and more, Sic tantum in sontes Nemesis divina redundans. Majori in poenam foenore tarda venit. and calls to his aid all the Furies of Hell, to exterminate out of the number of the living that unfortunate Cannibal. The other had no sooner made overture of his bad design to the Jews, but he presently falls, into Despair, by the appointment of his own Conscience, which condemns him out of hand, and as a Sergeant, or a Sheriff's Bailiff, forces out of his Pocket the Pence of his Sale, ties him, Pinions him, and brings him to the Gallows, there to end his days, and Preach from the top of that Gibbet to all mankind, that we may sometimes escape the censure and Judgement of Men; but that we cannot delude our Conscience, when she does condemn us as Guilty of having offended the Divine Majesty. Saphonias cap. 1. v. 12. Sophonias (speaking of the diligent search, which the Chaldeans were to make for the Jewish Nation, that none of them should escape from being their Slaves) represents God taking of Lanterns to make that earnest discussion: and our Doctors transporting the meaning of those words to a Tropologick sense, takes that Examen for the narrow search which is to be made at the day of Judgement, where God, by the means of the five Created Lanterns, which are, the Law and Word of God, the Angels and Devils, the Sun, the Moon and Stars, the life of Jesus Christ, and of his Saints; But above all, the remorse of Conscience, shall make a solemn Inquisition of all men's lives, and what must be done that day in view of all the World, is practised at the hour of death in the particular Judgement. We have read hereof in the life of the Fathers, an authentic Example of one Stephen a Hermit, who for the space of forty years had renowned his Penance with a Million of Heroic actions; lying on his Bed sick, as if he had been before his Judge, to answer what was laid to his charge, nothing was heard of the questions, but only the answers of the Accused: At one time, he would say, yea, 'tis true; but for satisfaction of that sin, I Fasted three whole years: Another time he would cry with a loud voice; No, I am not guilty of that, I had the temptation of it, but God gave me the Grace not to consent to it: A quarter of an hour after, you would see him lift himself on a sudden up in his Bed, as a man in a hot dispute with another; you do urge me overmuch, let me breathe a little, give me but a short respite of time, to think of what you do accuse me: And being ready to yield up his Ghost; on the one side he looks with an eye of compassion at his Brothers, humbly beseeching them to pray for his Soul: And on the other side, he makes his Addresses to the Crucifix his last refuge, conjuring his Redeemer, through the Merits of his Blood, not to Judge him according to the rigorous depositions of his Conscience. It's true then, that God has placed in our hearts a secret Intelligence, an inward Motion, a private Commissary; we must follow that Intelligence wherever it leads us; we must esteem that Commissary, and all his advices, when he tells us of the Princes will. Gloria nostra haec est testimonium conscientiae nostrae. 1 Cor. cap. 1. v. 12. Senti de Augustino quicquid volueris sola me in oculis Dei conscientia non accuset. D. Aug. contra Secundinum Manich. c. 10. You shall find many in this World who will complain of their Ignorance, and make their Appology, that they do not know the things necessary to Salvation, that the Casuists are so contrary one to another, that in lieu of clearing their doubts, they do wrap them up into as many difficulties, as they have contrary feelings; some make the way to Heaven so large and spacious, that the great and destructive Engine of Troy might easily go through: Others make the door so narrow, that hardly any can get in; unless he becomes as little as a Pismire: The former find out by their Anagogick subtlety such delicate distinctions, that Usury, Simony, and a number of other crimes, condemned without any further form of Process by all Laws Divine and Humane, are no offences, otherwise than in the weak understanding of Fools, and Ignorant Fellows; They were too long in their Journey, the Church expected a long time their coming, to reform the Roman Calendar: Attendat Sanctitas vestra quomodo nolunt intrate domos suas qui habent malas uxores quomodo exeunt ad forum & gaudent, coepit esse horae qua intraturi sunt in dom●m suam contristantur, intraturi sunt enim ad taedia. Paulo infra. But these (led by an unknown and particular Spirit,) take a by-fashion and way of speaking, that they may be admired for their obscure terms, far from the simplicity of the Evangelical Style; where we see, that our Saviour Jesus, makes always use of plain downright Parables, which is all the Grace of his Language: They do Teach a sort of Spirituality, which has no other ground than their weak imaginations, and do Believe they have found the Philosopher-Stone in matter of Devotion, when they have expressed by a Superlative, what others will speak in the Positive; So that there is nothing of a certainty among them, but all is in a confusion. As for my part, the best Casuist in my thoughts, that we can make choice of is our own proper Conscience; no Doctor can give such sound resolutions; so that we be faithful to practise them without any interpretation; 'tis the Master that God has given us from our Infancy, to teach us the first Elements of our Salvation. Epictete, that poor Philosopher had the same feeling, Si ergo miseri sunt, qui cum redeunt ad parictes suos timent ne suorum perturbationibus evertantur, quanto sunt miseriores qui ad conscientiam suam redire● lunt, ne ibi litibus peccatorum evertantur. D. Aug. tom. 8. in Psal. 33. even as our Carnal Parents, careful of our Education, gives us Tutors to breed us according to the World; So God gives us our proper Conscience, to conduct us to Virtue, and teach us by infallible principles, how to discern Good from Evil. That being so, (beloved Reader) will you know the state of your own Soul, and if there be no Infernal Serpent hidden in any of her corners, who hinders Jesus to work your Conversion. Will you, for Example, learn to know, if casting your eyes on a Creature which pleases you, if conversing in a company where Neighbours are ill spoken of, and their actions misconstrued, if giving a free overture to all sots of Thoughts, which at their first approach were perhaps Innocent, there may not be found a second recollection which makes the sin? Will you know (I say) wherein consists the Right, which Nature may take in the simple use of her Faculties, and discern the Tyrannical suggestions of the Devil, who is always desirous to Fish in troubled Waters, taking a share where he ought to have none: Hear therefore what your Conscience shall tell you, for Conscience is nothing else than an aversion of all what Nature condemns and disapproves; and this is what the Prophet-Royal calls the Seal and Signet of God, Printed in our Faces, to behold the Beauty of a Creature, and cast your eyes on an Object, whose charms do invite the Faculty to contemplate her perfections; This can be no sin in him who goes no farther, for so far is but a Natural Action, justified by the Author of Nature, who gave to each one of our Senses the free exercise of their Function. But if that eye, (as our Saviour says) come to scandalise you, (that is to say) if you suffer the unlawful pleasure of that object you looked upon, to get into your heart unawares; Or, if for want of occasion to consummate your sin outwardly, you suffer the scandal of it in your Heart, give ear, attend with silence, and you shall hear Conscience speak, for she never fails to give you advice of the disorders you do commit: Your Duty then is to stop where she commands, and go no farther: There is the resolution of your inward Casuist; To haunt company, to be Civil and Complacent, is a Virtue which St. Thomas calls Eutrapelia, most grateful to God, and most profitable to Man; But at the same instant, when you hear your Neighbour is brought down, to backbite at his Actions, and degrade his Honour, take notice of yourself, and you shall presently feel a certain (I do not know what) thing, Nihil est jucundius, nihil tutius, nihil ditius bona conscientia, premat corpus, trahat mundus, terreat diabolus, secura semper erit, cum corpus morietur, cum coram Deo praesentabitur, etc. D Bern. lib. de conscientia. that comes to you to smother the words in your mouth, and advise you to cut short all such discourses; Fail not to obey that secret Intelligence, for 'tis the director which God has given you, it's charge is to have a care of you, and to give you a check when you do amiss: Your forgetting of your God, has brought you to neglect your Salvation; For to lead the life of a Beast, and follow in all things the conduct of your evil inclinations, do not give the deaf ear to those tacit reprehensions, which you hear so often in secret; for 'tis your Domestic Commissary, your familiar Angel who labours for your Salvation: If you are come to that misfortune as to despise those Sacred Fountains of Love, the Amorous inventions of God, to convert you: Do not think it strange if this Tutor does whip you, if this Intelligence does punish you, if this Commissary does grumble at you. And if your proper Conscience becomes your Tyrant to torment you for all your crimes: For 'tis a just Law that he should be beaten with his own Arms, who for want of courage, had not the heart to make good use of them upon occasion. CHAP. XXV. That the Sinner can never be Converted whilst he smothers the Remorse of his Conscience, IT's none of the meanest Stratagems in matter of War, Vade & pone speculatorem, & quodcunque viderit annunciet. Isa. 21. v. c. (to gain a place, and become absolute Master thereof) to surprise the Sentry, and cut his Throat; For as the Sentry is set by the Captain's Order, there where he does apprehend the Enemy may come, that at the first noise of either Horse or Foot, or at the sight of their lighted Matches, he may be sure to let fly his Shot, to give warning to the Mainguard: So he, who knows how to take his time to come unawares on the Sentry, and give him his mortal wound, will find a most safe and ready way to take the place, for then Horse and Foot may come on without fear, fill the Sconces with Faggots, set Ladders to the Walls, secure the chief places, and of most importance; enter into the Citadel, and at the break of day with the first sound of Trumpet and Drum, put all to the Sword, before the Inhabitants can have time to look about them. Statue tibi speculam pone tibi amaritudines dirige cor tuum in viam rectam Jerem. 31. v. 21 God has placed in our Souls, (which are Cities of great importance, and bordering on the Enemy's Quarters,) Garrisons composed of as many Soldiers as we have Interior faculties to conserve that place, as well from the Hostility of the invisible Enemy who assaults it at all hours, as to hinder, that by Taxation, or any civil Sedition they come not to cut their Throats, and render the memory of their misfortune as Fatal, as were the Sicilian Vespers to the French Nation. He has ordered our Conscience to stand as a Sentry at the passage coming in, with a command, upon pain of death, at the first noise of either Enemy, or civil Sedition, to Alarm the Garrison, that every one may stand to his Arms, and put himself in a posture to Fight manfully for his Freedom and Liberty. Satan thereupon, Quis alius nomene bestiae nisi antiquus hostis accipitur qui deceptionem primi hominis saevus impetiit & integritatem vitae illius malè suadendo laniavit latibulum suum ingrediur, ut in eo demoretur; vas quippe illud diaboli antrum ac latibulum bestiae est ut insidians hominibus viam hujus vitae carpentibus, in illo & per signa lareat, & per malitiam occidat, etc. D. Greg. 27. Moral c. 19 statium initio. who appears no more among Men to fight in a set Battle, since the remarkable day of Calvary, where he saw himself overcome and clearly routed in sight of all the World, has his recourse to Crafts and to Cheats; he covers himself with a Fox case, having learned by experience, how fatal the wearing of a Lion's Skin was to him; he employs all his industry to surprise the Conscience of a poor Sinner, to smother her remorse, cut her Worm's Throat, and utterly destroy the Soul from all good intents and purposes; or at least, if he can do no more, he will endeavour to corrupt the Sentry by vain and false persuasions; he will cast him a Bone, as to a Dog, for to hinder him to bark, and discover his treacherous designs to the Inhabitants within. Has he gained the Conscience? Why then, wonder no more at the Hostility which he is to exercise therein; he enters into the Citadel of the Soul, forces all the faculties, puts all the Garrison to the Sword, batters down the Fortifications, violates the Love of God, prostitutes the rarest Virtues we had possessed, exposes all to the Plunder and Pillage of his Infernal Legions, and leaves nothing that bears not the marks of his cruelty; if there remains as yet any Inhabitant, for he cannot destroy the principles of Nature, Vadit & assumit septem alios spiritus secum nequiores se, & intrantes habitant ibi. Mat. 12. v. 43. yet he loads them with so many Taxes and Subsidies, that it were better for one to die, than live miserably under such Tyrannical Laws. You may then soon perceive, that as much facility as Jesus finds in an incorruptible and faithful Conscience, for to bring her to the designs of her Salvation; so much, or rather more does he find of difficulty, in a Soul which has no Conscience, or at least behaves herself as if she had none; So we commonly say of a Man who neglects his Salvation, that he is a man without any Conscience. The Apostle St. Paul, Ephes. c. 4. v. 17. Tinebris obscuratum habentes intellectum alienari à vita Dei, per ignorantiam quae est in illis propter coecitatem cordis ipsorum, qui desperantes, semetipsos trudiderunt impudicitiae was a perfect discoverer of Satan's Cheats and Plots, in surprising of Conscience; (and no wonder, for he is one of the wisest and stoutest Champions that ever Fought under the Standard of the Militant Church) speaking of the Gentiles, conjuring the Ephesians not to imitate them in three notable failings, whereinto the Enemy of Nature had cast them headlong, (to wit,) is to be vain and foolish in their feelings, obscure in their understanding, blind in their hearts, Vain in their feelings, by reason of the too great esteem they had of their own sufficiency, to submit to no body, to aim and look for the first ranks and Chairs, to swallow down by mouthfuls, as the famous Courtier of Antiquity, the vain smoke of a popular Applause; obscure in their understandings, to know no Divinity, but what was in Idols, to despise the humble Crucified, and never to Judge of things, but by the false report of such as did intent to seduce them; Blind in their hearts, holding out obstinately against the motion of Reason, which is the Sun of the Soul, that they are more Rebels to what is good, than is the Anvil to the Smith's Hammer. And because it was not enough to let them see the grievousness of those failings, if he had not thought them in the mean time, the source from whence they proceeded, as the pernicious effects of a bad cause, says, that all this has happened to them for having smothered the Remorse of Conscience, which has brought them to Despair; Desperantes semet ipsos. or (as St. Jerome explains it) to a State of sloathfulness or lack of pains; for he who has no Conscience, accustoms himself to Sin; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Custom engenders a second Nature; Nature so corruped, brings on Despair; Despair a moral impossibility to convert himself too God. We must then, (if we do not intent to render the Holy and Amorous designs of Jesus altogether useless and unprofitable for our Conversion) eat above all things that deplorable State, wherein our Conscience being made a Prisoner and a Slave, can no more exercise her charge with Liberty, for fear it should happen to us what the Fable says, that the Thiefs having stolen away from us our Watch-Dogs, which were wont to bark in the night time at the first noise of Robbers, they may without any hindrance, Plunder and destroy what is best and most precious in the Cabinet of our Souls. Non tacebo quoniam vocem huccinae audivit animae mea, clamorem praelij, etc. Jerom. 4. v. 19 The Prophet Jeremiah seems by another comparison to give us the same advice: I have heard (says he) the sound of a Trumpet, I will not hold my Peace; In War they make use of Trumpets for two ends; One is, to call the Soldiers to their Arms, Cum fortis armatus custodit atrium suum in pace sunt ea, etc. Lucae 11. v. 19 to animate them to Battle, to stir up their blood; this they call to sound a Charge: The other to make every one retire to his Quarters, follow his Colours, come into their Ranks, and think of what Order they are to keep as well in their Retreat, as in their Victory, this they call to sound a Retreat. And these are the two chief Offices of our Conscience, to sound a Charge, when the Devil, (that roaring Lion, who wheels round about to devour us,) is near at hand, when the occasion of Sin is imminent, when our Sensuality thinks of a Seditious revolt, it's Then that we are not to stand with cross arms, but to animate ourselves to a Combat, shake our Bodies, and stretch our Veins, and show how we have learned from Jesus Christ, in his Mystical Academy to do well on the like occasions. It's a Spectacle worthy of his Divine regard, to see a brave Christian Dispute courageously for his Salvation, and Celestial Inheritance to the danger of his very life. To sound a Retreat, is, when our Conscience does advise us to re-enter into ourselves, when by overmuch liberty we fall out of our Ranks, for to follow the Streamer of the Flesh; to make us return to God, when we are gone far from him by our Offences, as the Prodigal-Child to his Father's House: In fine, to render ourselves more capable of the Amorous and Wise conduct of Jesus; by the care we shall have hereafter of our own Salvation, that we have been unworthy to partake of his Graces, under the unhappy Rebellion of our Senses. CHAP. XXIV. That a Soul will not Convert herself to God, unless she knows that she has no true Friend in this World. Amicus fidelis protectio fortis, etc. Eccl. 6 v. 5. ONe of the greatest disorders that has followed in Humane Nature the dismal Fall of our Forefathers, is that our faculties have remained so blinded in the choice of their Objects, that the Spirit, in lieu of carrying itself directly to the knowledge of one Truth, source and first beginning of all others, has busied itself, about I do not know what apparent Verities, which have brought the understanding to as many Errors, as it has produced Actions soon after this choice. The Will, which by the Natural weight of her inclinations, should not engage herself but in the Love of a real and subsisting goodness, which should be the originary cause of all goodness: For having embraced like a blind tope as she is, that which appeared good and handsome, she has found herself unfortunately under the heavy yoke and Empire of as many unprofitable affections as the deceitful senses had brought her Species, a disorder opposed by the general Maxim, which will have in all sorts of things always one to be the first, who may be the rule and leader of others, who may be the antecedent cause of all effects, even as the Lines come from the Centeral point to dilate themselves after into the Circular amplitude of the Circumference. Plurimùm didistat ratio considerantis à necessitate indigentis, seu voluptate cupientis, cum ista quid per se ipsum in rerum gradibus pendat, necessitas autem quid propter quid expectat, cogitet; & ista quid verum luci mentis appareat, voluptas vero quid jucundum corporis sensibus blandiatur, exquirat. D. Aug. to. 5. l. 11. Civit. c. 16. in ●●ne. We have an Election and a choice to be made, whereof depends all our Happiness, it is of a true Friend. Hercules in that field wherein he met with Virtue and Pleasure coming to offer him their service, is very much perplexed; Pleasure would have him for her Friend, and by her charming words, by her countenance full of allurements, conjured him to renounce that sad and toilsome exercise of straining and labouring so much his young Bones under the rigorous Law of War, that her company was far more pleasant, that the Fields of Mars and Bellona were covered over with Blood and with Dust, whereas hers were spread over with Flowers and Roses. Virtue with a Grave presence full of Majesty, which carried Modesty in her Face, exhorts him not to suffer himself to be seduced by that Dissembler, that her Friendship was most inconstant, that she had often deceived others, that it is her custom to come at great and courageous Hearts, after that Nature had put the Spindle and Distaff into their Hands, in lieu of a Bow and a Club, she triumphs to render them Idolaters of her Beauty, to Glory in their own Spoils. As for my part, I do confess, those that follow me are obliged to all sorts of Heroic Actions, they must give the proofs of their Courage by the difficulty of high Enterprises: But they may assure themselves that I will serve them both in Time and in Eternity, as well for to render their Renown Glorious among Men, as their Memory Venerable to Posterity. The World would fain Convert Man to itself, God will have him also; the one and the other, with the most puissant motives they can think of, presents themselves to invite him to the choice of their Friendship: To which shall the Soul give the preference? It is necessary, says Plato, Plato in lib. qui lysis, seu de amicit. this Genius of Nature, that in the matter of choosing a good Friend, we begin to proceed to the Election by way of Discussion and Investigation; that is to say, we must make a gathering and an Assembly of all things, which seems to us to be worthy of our Friendship, and after having seriously considered them, setting aside all considerations of particular Interest; To question our Spirit, and to demand where is the Originary source of all Friendship. For, if the multitude proceeds from Unity, it must be that all Friendship is found eminently enclosed in some excellent Subject, which must be the very Primum Mobile of all Amity's, until that you meet with this, stop not, advance still, for all that is underneath it, has but the appearance of Friendship, subject to deceit. I was willing to give you this advice; O Friend Lysis, that you may not be deceived in the choice which you pretend to make of a perfect Friend, taking the shadow for the Body, the Effect for the Cause, the Ray for the Sun; and the Stream for the Source. The Soul will go far in the way of her Salvation, if she comes to understand that all the World together is not able to furnish her with a perfect Friend; and then will conclude that this perfect Friend must be looked for out of the World; That there is no true Friend in the World, I cannot produce either Proof or Testimony of it more sensible than that of Job in Holy Scripture, for the just complaints he makes upon the account of his faithless Friends, are able to cleave asunder any heart, if it be not harder than a Diamond; he must have no feelings of Nature, who will have no compassion of poor Job, when he gives an account of all his disgraces in this point. Job. 19 v. 13. & seqq. Fratre. meos longè fecit à me & noti mei quasi alieni, &c Such as made choice of me heretofore to be their Council, and took advice of me as of their Trustee, whilst all Prosperities attended my Fortune, whilst Heaven and Earth were at strife to heap up my contentments, and whilst I was in esteem amongst Foreign Nations, have basely now forsaken me upon occasion, thinking they should be grieved for my Afflictions, I let them know the State of my Affairs, but they made nothing of my Letters, and looked upon me as a Stranger; nay, for fear that by perusing my Lines, where I put them in mind of the Rites of Ancient Friendship, they should be moved to afford me some consolation, Divitiae addunt amicos plurimos, à paupere autem, & high quos habuit, separantur, etc. Proverb. 19 v. 4, 6, 7. they were so ungrateful as to cast them into the fire, and to have no more the memory of them. I had Neighbours, to whom I was never otherwise than civil, I shown them all manner of courtesy, I do not believe that ever I eat a meal, but I would have them called one after another to sit at my Table, they had the liberty to make use of all that I had in my House, as their own proper Goods: God did no sooner touch me with the Rod of his Justice, but losing all remembrance of me, and my former kindness, Inquilini domus mea & ancillae meae, sicut alienum habuerunt me, & quasi peregrinus fui in oculis eorum. Job 19 v. 15. ) as if I had been some abominable Man given over to the Devil,) they had a horror to see me: I had a great number of people that held Farms from me, whom I never pressed to pay me, though their Terms were expired, from whom I never demanded any reparation, or other satisfaction, for any destruction or damage they might have done to my Tenements and Lands; I had patience with them, and suffered them to live in peace, forbearing with their Poverty, and expecting their own conveniency to pay my Rents; But alas! since I lay down on this Bed, not one did appear to me, nor give me the least word of consolation in the very excess of my Sorrows. Servum meum vocavi, & non respondit, ore proprio deprecabur illum. Ibid. v. 16. I had Servants who esteemed themselves happy to live in my Service, far from having any ground to complain of me, that I kept their Wages from them; for after I had paid them well, I always gave them some gratification, to which I was not obliged. If they had a desire to withdraw themselves from my House and Service, I gave them their liberty, and in discharging them, the means to advance and further themselves each one according to his condition: Seeing that my poor body all full of Sores and Scabs, took away the use of my Limbs, that by great ado could I lift up my arm to bring my hand to my mouth, that my Legs as stiff as a stake by reason of the gross humours which dulled my Sinews, (principle of motion,) would not permit me to stir out of one place; I would call them myself, and by their proper names, as flattering them that they should be the more willing to come at me to ease me of any of my pains. To one I would say, I pray thee Friend, bring me a bit of Linen, that I may rub off the Matter and Dregs which run down from this putrified wound, whose sharp and biting humours put me to a thousand pains: To another, Oh be graciously pleased to help me to change this posture, my Back is all bruised with lying so long upon it, the Bones pierce my Skin, I am half dead! To this Servant, alas! is there no means to get me a drop of fresh water? I am so dry, that I think my Stomach is nothing but a hot Furnace, I can hardly speak, my Mouth is so dry, my Tongue sticks to my palate. My God What heart would not burst to hear the moaning and pitiful tone of a poor Creature so much afflicted? Nevertheless, Job must have patience; his Servants will no more acknowledge him, nor hear his voice; Let him cry, let him complain, let him lament, there is none now that cares for him, he is but a dying Dog in their thoughts, they expect no more but the last breath, to cast his rotten Carcase into some Ditch. This is not as yet all, I had a Wife, Halitum, meum exhorruit uxor mea. Job 19 v. 17. (says he) whom I loved as myself, or rather more, I would be very sorry to displease her in any thing, whatever opposition she might have given to my designs, I would captivate myself for to follow her inclinations, and let her know that all my feelings were the same with hers. But Alas! She was to me more cruel and Inhuman than all the rest; I am so much an eyesore, and a heart-breaking to her, that she scorns to look once at me, she would with all her heart see me a hundred foot under ground: If by chance she sees any Cup which I made use of to drink in, the Servants must presently put it aside out of her sight; For she says that it smells of the Leprosy, and that the only sight of it provokes her to a Vomit; Nolite diligere mundum neque ea quae sunt in mundo, non dixit nolite habere sed nolite deligere ecce concupivisti, haesisti, quis dabit tibi paenas ut columbae, quando v●labis ubi requiescas, quando hic ubi malè haesisti perverse requiescere voluisti; nolite diligere mundum, tuba divina est. D. Aug. tom. 1. ser. 34. de veeb. Do● secundum Lucam. if she be forced to pass sometimes hard by me, she puts with all speed her handkerchief to her mouth and nose, and tells me that my breath is insufferable to her: I lie down stretched on a Dunghill, and she will not take the pains to have me carried to a Stable, where I might be sheltered from Rain and bad Wether; she sees me, and suffers me to languish in that bad Equipage. What man of Judgement would ever after rely on the Friendship of this World, whose consequences are so Tragical, who will not seek to lodge his affections elsewhere, being that among Men there is so much disloyalty and falsehood? You will tell me perhaps, that they are exaggerations to frighten Souls; And moreover, that Histories are full of a number of good Friends, who have been both Faithful and Friendly to their dying day. Hercules and Theseus, Pylades and Orestes, Socrates and Choerephon, Damon and Pythias, Nicocles and Photion, Scipion and Pompeius, lucilius and Brutus, Caesar Augustus, and Maecenas. It's true, but besides this, that those Friendships had only for ground, that weak foundation of Blood and Flesh, they lasted no longer time than the moment of this present life. A Christian ought to look for a Friend, who is a Priend without Interest, a Friend without any difference of times, a Friend for to make his beloved to resent the effects of his Friendship; we must not seek for him in the World: Jacob c. 4. v 4. Quicunque ergo voluerit amicus esse hujus saeculi, inimicus Dei constituitus For St. James assures us in his Master's behalf, that whoever takes the World for his Friend, has God at the same time for his mortal Enemy. Parmenion did no sooner imagine that he had a better Friend in the World than Alexander, but Alexander out of hand forgot him, and dismissed him out of his Court. Dyrce the Thebeian, seeing that Lycus her Husband had an affection for Antiopa, she could not bear that affront, she has Antiopa tied to the Horns of a furious Bull, and turns off her Husband Lycus, as a Man unworthy of her company. Mundi amor, & Dei pariter in uno corde cohabitare non possunt, quemadmodum jidem oculi Coelum pariter & terram nequaquam aspiciunt. Auctor lib. de 12. abusionibus, inter opera Augustini. God will have us to believe that he is in love with Men, and that the least glance we give at Creatures, to the prejudice of what we own unto him, he takes it to be criminal, and cannot conceal his feelings of it: Though it be true, that he lets us sometimes run at random, that we may know to our own cost, how rigorous are the Laws of all other Friendships but his; but it is to the end that having learned by experience, how all things underneath him are subject to change, we come to confess, that of necessity we must get out of the World, for to find a perfect Friend, and so insensibly withdraw ourselves from all Earthly troubles, to settle better the compass of reason, and find a Friend, who shows that he loves us, by saving our Souls. CHAP. XXVII. That we cannot meet with a better Friend than JESUS. IF the Catastrophes, and Bloody Tragedies of the amities of the World constrain us by reason to detest their alliances, Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum, etc. Psal. 4. v. 3. the rare qualities which render Jesus amiable above all things, Rebus intelligibilibus tanta est pulchritudo, ut illa sit Archetybos; nostra simulata, umbrarilis, pendens, & nascens à corporeis lineamentis illa in lumine claritatis suae haerens, in hac est Deus form●sitimus, etc. Egubinus in Psal. 44. shall have no less power to engage our affections in the pursuit of his Love. I do not think it strange what St. Augustine says in his Confessions, where he accuses himself to have wept in his younger days, reading in Virgil the love which Dido and Aeneas had one for another: For though the continuance happened to be disgraceful to Dido, this Poet nevertheless represents the beginning with such a deal of chaste motions, that St. Augustine could not read without Tears the fatal end of so innocent a Love: He makes that Princess appear so ravished, musing upon the happiness she had to have lodged her affections in so worthy a subject, that she could never be out of her dumps, unless it were to relate the perfections of her Friend, and by that sweet evaporation ease the heat of those Fires which consumed her Heart: If she looks on his bright Armour and Martial Forehead, Virgil 4. Aeneid she believes that there is nothing in the World can withstand the greatness of his courage: If he opens his Mouth for to broach a Discourse, she finds therein so much Grace and Charms, that she thinks it a wonder to see Mercurius and Mars agree so well together in one Subject; Now she takes in her Arms the little Ascanius, Son to Aeneas, (for Aeneas was the Widower of Lavinia, as Dido was the Relict of Sichaeus) and looking into the polished Crystal of his Eyes, where the Image of his Father (in her fancy) did shine, she flatters herself with hopes to have the like consolation by the Rights of a Lawful Marriage; Another time she takes her Sister Anne aside, and discharging her Heart to her, Credo equidem, nec vana fides g●nu esse deorum. ●bidem. says, I must not tell you a lie, my dear Sister, there is a Man above all Men; For my part, I do believe, and am not deceived, he must be of the Race of the Gods. It seems to me that this is the discourse of Magdalen and Martha of their dearly beloved Jesus. Magdalen overlight in her Friendship, whilst she remained a Slave to the World, and Subject to its Laws, had no sooner seen the Face of the Messiah, and washed his Feet in the Pharisee's House, but coming back to her Lodging all in a sweat; Ah! my dear Sister, let me hear no more talk of the World: Jesus has gained my Heart, I shall never Love any other; what a wretch am I to begin so late to understand his Merits, he is both handsome, sweet and gracious, he is affable withal; they made me believe that nothing came from his Mouth but Thunders, Remissa sunt ei peccata multa quia dilexit multum. Lucae 7. v. 47. from his Eyes but Lightnings, and from his Hand but Thunderbolts. It's true, but they are Thunderbolts without any hurt, Lightnings without any terror, a Thunder without noise: Ardour charitatis in ea rubi ginem peccatorum combussit, peccata cremab●lia sunt, & ad faciem ignis stare non possunt. D. Greg. ex Hugone Card. in c. 7. Lucae. I never expected from him so favourable a reception as I had: The company gins to grumble at me, but he most graciously took my defence in hand; they would fain blame my actions, but he was pleased to justify me before all, and, which is more, he was so merciful to me, as to give me the full absolution of all my Sins: Let Dido burn, if she please, in her flames for Aeneas: For my part I will never have any Friend but Jesus, at this present I do renounce with all my Heart all other amities, for to live and die in Jesus my sweet Love. Deligebat Jesus Martham & Sororem ejus Mariam & Lazarum, ille languens, illae tristes, omnes dilecti, sed diligebat eos & languentium Salvator. imo etiam mortuorum suscitator, & tristium consolator. D. Aug. tom. 9 Tract. 49. in cap. 11. Joan. Magdalen had reason, for besides that Jesus by his proper Nature, inexhaustible source of the primitive Love, is worthy to be loved above all things, by a Love of benevolence, the effects which we do receive daily of his Friendship, aught to render him amiable to us, and worthy of Love, which may be both sensible, and of proper Interest: For if we come to consider the favours he gives us, they are without number, if we take notice after what fashion he bestows them, they are without example; If of the times wherein he does them, there is not a moment of our lives, but is under the influences of his Liberalities. The favours which God is pleased to do us, are without number, for whoever could exactly set down the Riches of the Earth, the Profits of the Seas, the Commodities of the Air, the Necessity of the Fire, the Fecundity of the Moon, the Wonders of the Sun, the Influences of the Heavens, the Multitude of Beasts, and the Number of Fishes, the Beauty of Flowers, Quid dicam quemadmodum clementia Dei humanae prospexit utilitati? Foeneratum terra restituit quod acceperit, & usurarum cumulo multiplicatum homines saepe decepiunt, & ipsa foeneratorem suum forte defraudant, terra fidelis manet, etc. D. Ambr. lib. 3. Hexam. cap. 8. the Ornament of the Universe, and the Diversity of so much Treasures; all that appertain to Man by a free and authentical gift, Signed, Sealed, and set up in the Register-Office of the Divinity. Let all the Monarches of the World be Assembled in one, for to furnish Man with the least and meanest part of all those Goods, their abilities shall become short: And to the end that we should have our obligations all entire to him, who with so liberal a hand gave us so much Riches, he has deprived all other Creatures both of Understanding and Reason; That not knowing what they were, nor what they had, they might not appropriate to themselves that, whose Possession was reserved for Man only. They commonly say of a Father after his death, that he loved his Children dearly, when he left them an ample and rich Patrimony, or a Succession in a very good Estate, an Inheritance without strife; yet after his Decease, it falls out that the Children are at a deal of pains and trouble to preserve their Goods: The Gifts of God in the beginning were not accompanied with these encumbrances: For if a Man had conserved himself in the Innocency of his Creation, the Earth, which is now become a Rebel to the Stock and Plough, had opened her Bosom without the least violence to give him his Livelihood; and which is more, if, in the same disorder we are in at present, and where we suffer the punishment of Sin by the general revolt of all Creatures; there were Men, who would entirely submit themselves to the wise conduct of the Eternal Providence, without being so over-earnest in the cares and concerns of the Earth; Scripture assures us, that they should be abundantly provided for in all their necessities: For if God doth cherish all that came from his bountiful hands, Considerate lilia agri, quantus sic candor in foliis, quemadmodum stip●ta ipsa folia ab imo ad summum videantur assurgere, ut scyphi ex primant formam ut auri quaedam species intus effulgeat, quae tamen vallo in circuitu floris obsepta nulli pateat injuirae. D. Amb. lib. 3. Hexam. cap. ●. if he covers the Flowers with Purple and Scarlet, if he nourishes, maintains and preserves the little Birds of the Air, if he keeps an exact account of each Leaf of a Tree, what will he do for Man, had he been the wickedest of all Mortals? This Sun of Justice will never deny him the benignity of his Influences, being that he will have the distribution thereof to be made as well to the good as to the bad, with that differenc, e that the good do participate not only with the bad of the common Goods of Nature, which is equally shared, but as yet receives, (by way of pre-eminency,) extraordinary favours. Si foenum agri quod hodie est, etc. Matth. 6. v. 30. So we see Fathers and Mothers, (authorised by all good manners and customs,) make over a special and free Gift to one of their Children, who will among all the rest be most obedient to their Commandments, who will have more inclination to serve them, and who by the effects of their good nature, shall, as a Stork render the Duties of Piety to them, who gave them their Being; a Gift Judged irrevocable by all Laws, as well written, as introduced by Custom, chief, when the cause of merit is expressed in the said donation: And though it should be subject to a decision, God, who is the absolute Master of all Goods, and owes nothing to no body, advances whom he pleases, and none can bring him to question for it, much less find fault with him: And as the Goods which concern the Salvation of Man, imports him more than those who aim at nothing else but the present life; So God (besides the general Graces which he imparts to all without exception,) he reserves some particular Graces for them that he takes to be the most worthy objects of his Love. The fashion whereby God loves us, Quod homo homini det, multae possunt esse causae, Paulo inferius Deus non indiget aliquo cum ipse det omnibus vitam, inspirationem & comnia: si peccaveris quid ei nocebis, & si multiplicatae fuerint iniquitates tuae quid facies contra eum, patet ergo quod ex pura liberalitate deligat nos Deu.. Hugo Card. in c. 3. Joan. is no less considerable; For the manner of acting of all sorts of Powers, is what extols and gives a lustre to the action, God loves us not for our good Offices done to him, being that we are declared Criminals by his Divine Majesty even from our Mother's Womb. It's not for having continued Faithful in his Service, since we were re-called by our Baptism to the Rights of an Adoptive Filiation, being we no sooner came to the use of reason, but we began to be refractory to the Holy Laws of Heaven; It's not by our loving him, he receives any Surplus of Glory; For as our Creation has added nothing to the merit of his Power, by drawing us out of that Chaos; So his reducing us to nothing, would lessen in no respect the Dominion of his Grandeurs. Seneca de Clementia. Cinna was cherished by Octavius Caesar, who chose him for one of his Favourites, to whom he was more inclined to impart his most secret Affairs. Cinna could not conserve himself any long time in that Honourable Employment; He detracts from his Prince, murmurs against his designs, censures all his best actions. Caesar hears of it, Caesar dissembles, and seeing that Cinna had subject to complain, that making him his Favourite, he did not as yet Treat him according to his merit: He takes on a resolution to advance him, giveth him Riches, suffers him to have the handling of his Treasures, sets him at his ease, and invested him with the most Honourable Employments that were in the Senate: hoping that this wild Spirit (overcome with so many Civilities,) would be constrained to bear him an affection. Cinna more ungrateful than ever, at the very first uprising of the Commonwealth, where all the Factious did Monopolise against the State, nay, against the very Person of Caesar, casts himself amongst them, he will be of the Party, and makes himself the most concerned in that horrid Enterprise. Caesar is told of it, the Conspirators disclosed, the hour and moment of the Treachery discovered, and Cinna known to be the furtherer and Author of that Enterprise. What thereupon should a Prince do, or a Monarch, dealt so with? There is no Judge at the first hearing, but would Condemn this unfortunate Fellow to all the Torments and Tortures of Phalaris. Caesar does otherwise, he calls him by, locks him up in his Closet, takes a Chair with his own hands, makes him to sit down by him, and with a sweet tone full of mildness, goes to tell him. What Cinna? must I be obliged to believe all that is related to me of you? Shall the effect of my Courtesy be always the object of your Ingratitude? Shall the Friendship which I have for you, find no other acknowledgement than a design that you have to destroy me? Whereas I ought to have banished you out of my presence for the bad Offices you have rendered me, I have managed your Advancement against the advice of my Council; yet if the disowning of my Favours had only produced in you the forgetfulness of your Duty, I would not take it so ill: But here I understand how you do aim to take away my Life, there is your Seal, three is your Handwriting, you cannot deny it, the Heavens could not conceal so Criminal an action! What, are you weary to see the Sun which gives you light? Why will you take away with my life the power to love you? Those that put you into that bad humour, are jealous of the Friendship I bear you: But let us forget all that is past, I do freely forgive you your life, I receive you again for my Favourite and Confident; Let us both strive hereafter who shall surpass the other, you by acknowledging my Liberalities, or I by finding out new ways to gratify you. Really I must confess there is a Friend who has not his match among the Pagans, (but Jesus Christ) is a thousand degrees beyond him: Si enim cum inimici essemus, etc. Roman 5. v. 10. for we have not only treated him most unworthily by words, calling him a Drunkard, a seducer of the People, a Man possessed with the Devil; but we have taken up Stones to cast them at his head, and when he was in the heat of his Affections for our Salvation, Omnia gratificant beneficium reconciliationis si consideremus, quis reconciliavit? quomodo, cui, quos a quid. Gozram. in cap. 5. Rom we have put a Cord about his Neck, and we have dragged him through the streets, without any regard either to his Merit, or to his Person; we have torn his Sacred Body with full strokes of Chains, and Whips, we have crowned him with Thorns, and exposed him to the laughter of the People, in an equipage a thousand times more inhuman than that of Zophirus, Cinna had a design to kill Caesar, but the Execution did not follow. We, to satisfy our own rage, have served as Executioners for to nail Jesus to the Cross, Mortuus est pro te, o homo mortalis; ut vivas cum illo, susepit mortem nostram, ut donaret nobis suam, accepit ex te unde moreretur induit se carne, mortali in virginitate matris induet te vita perenni in aeqalitate Patris. Glossa. ordin in c. 5. Rom. and make him suffer shamefully in sight of all the World: Caesar Pardons Cinna, Jesus prays for his Murderers; Caesar forgives the faults of Cinna; Jesus dissembles with ours, and seems not to see them. Caesar is content to continue Cinna in his Employments, but Jesus gives us his Sceptre and his Crown, which Caesar did not to Cinna, and will have it, that in quality of Brothers, we enter into a communication of all his Goods, and that without a word ever to be spoken of our Infidelities, we may have a right to his Father's Succession. Caesar loved Cinna for some sympathy of humours, but Jesus loves us with a pure Will exempt of all Interest, but that of our own good; The sole desire he has to save our Souls, is the scope and end which puts a period to all his pursuits; and this is the manner that he does cherish us. Cum dilexisset suos qui erant in mundo in finem dilexit eos. Joan 13 v. 1. As for the time wherein he loves us, his Friendship receives a thence main motive to oblige us to the undervalue and refuse of all strange Alliances: For not to speak of that intimate dependency, whose concourse is inseparably tied to the conservation of all things: In such sort that the substraction of one sole moment, would cause the total ruin of the Universe: Quid est in finem dilexit, id est, amans continuè & semper quod est argumentum veri amoris, juxta illud Proverbiorum, omni tempore delexit qui verus amicus est. D. Chrys. Hic. We have another special obligation to God, in this, that he makes the effects of his amity more abundantly appear, when that forsaken and abandoned by all the World, we have not any to make our Addresses to in our adversities but to him. The Worldlings have but the present time for their Friendship; and withal, it must be fair and calm, and we must have Wind and Tide along with the course of our Prosperities; Nec noscitur ulli, agminibus comitum qui modo cinctus erat. For as soon as the Storm gins to appear, every one flies away, and leaves us in the middle of the dangers. It's in vain for us to call unto them for help, for none shall appear to stretch out his hand to draw us ashore. Etiam post mortem quinque fratres suos dilexit ille superbus atque impius, & usque ad mortem nos dilexisse putandus est Christus? Absit charissimi ut dilectionem morte finierit, qui non est morte finitus. D. Aug. tom. 9 tract. 55. in cap. 13. Joan. God loved us before the times, he loves us now, and will love us to the end of the World. He loved us from the beginning; for before that the Heavens, Clock of the World, had measured out by their courses the diversity of moments, God had a design for the good of Men; from the beginning of his ways, he possessed humane Nature: He loves us now, being that notwithstanding the Rebellions and Insurrections of our Souls, he contrives a thousand ways to bring us to a Repentance, assuring us of a Pardon, if we be but sorry for our crimes: he will love us after all Ages, being, that asigning Heaven over to us for the performance of his Promises; he prepares for us there as many Immortal Crowns, as we shall have done good works by improving his Graces. That being so, where is the Christian, who, considering that Jesus is his best Friend, that he bestows upon him so many favours, and with so liberal a hand, that he admits of no difference of times in the distribution of them, but he without ever giving over, and at all moments he labours for to convert him, will not say with the Prophet, for my part, I will adhere to God; he is my only Good, he is my Hope, he is all my Expectations: Mihi adhaerete Deo bonum est. I will bind myself fast to Jesus, even as the Companions of Ulysses to the main Mast of their Ship, being that from Him, and out of his favour, all is subject to Inconstancy. The Miermaids of the World will labour in vain to tell me of their Charms and Pleasures, they shall never be able to make any impression on my Heart, because I shall live in assurance, whilst I shall keep close to Jesus. CHAP. XXVIII. That Jesus is the only Friend who Comforts on occasion. SAdness and Joy, Tristitiam long repelle à te, etc. Eccl. 30. v. 24. Animus gaudens aetatem floridam facit, Spiritus tristis exsiccat ossa. Proverb. 17. v. 22. Letitiae magnus rarus, & tardus est pulsus, laetis enim diffunditur per universum corpus calor, ac plus foras motus ejus effertur, ut tristibus intro; tristitiae parvus languidus, & tardus & rarus est; nam cum tristitia ipsa refrigeret, caloremque intro cencitet, merito contrarios superioribus efficit, qui laetitiam sequuntur Galen. l. 3. de causis pulsuum Consolation and Heaviness, Motion and Rest, Trouble and Peace, follow one another, step by step, and there where one takes place, the other must of necessity withdraw: They are the Poles of Humane Nature, on which of necessity all our Actions must roll; if Joy takes on herself to clear our Horizon, Sadness must withdraw to seek for a residence in the Antipodes: They are contrary signs which never lodge in one House: They are different in Nature, as they are unequal in their very Effects. Joy dilates the Heart, Heaviness makes it narrow; Joy sets the Soul at rest, Heaviness drives her into trouble; Joy clears the Senses, and brings a calm over all our little World, Heaviness brings nothing but Confusion, and where ever it happens to be, all is subject to Storms: It's a wonder to see those two contraries give one another a thousand Battles, and Man to remain always the Object either of their loss or of their victories. Doubtless it must be an Order established by God, for such constant motions cannot remain invariable, but under the Laws of a never-changing Principle. If Consolation be a good, and Sadness an evil, one must be under the Genius of good, and the other under the Genius of evil: And so, as a Fountain, which from its Source spouts out pure, clean, and Chrystaline Waters, discharges itself into its leading-pipes with the selfsame purity to the very last drop: And contrariwise, if they be dirty, black, and muddy waters, they will conserve still the same qualities; the same will happen to be true in the principles of Consolation and Heaviness. Deus totius consolationis qui consolatur nos, etc. 2 Cor. c. 1. v. 2. God is the first Source and Sovereign principle of all Consolations; Joy considered in that Source, is Pure, Neat, and without any mixture of contradiction; whoever will fain draw the Waters of a true Contentment, it's to that Fountain that he must approach: But they may tell me, if God be the Principle of Consolation, and that by the attribute of his Immensity, he is present in all Places? why does not that Source so dilated over all the corners of the Earth, Idem hoc Propheta dixit, in afflictione dilatasti cor meum, non dixit, non passus es me incidere in afflictionem, aut effecisti, ut coleriter transiret afflictio, sed ea manente dilatasti me, hoc est▪ multam cordis latitudinem ac relaxationem dolorum indulsisti. D. Chrysost. tom. 4. Hom. 1 in c. 1, 2. ad Cor. replenish also all Creatures with the Sweetness of its Consolations? Why is man subject to so much Heaviness? Why does he find so much difficulty in the exercise of Penance? God has not Created man to do all his Actions by a necessary determination, as things without reason, which, without any choice, are carried towards their Centre, for no other end, but to find therein their rest; For the Centre of each thing, is the natural place of its contentment, the which being allotted to them by the supreme intelligence, they look for it with Passion, and cannot but with violence be brought from it: Therefore they strive to defend their just title and rights in all, and against all. sets man in another Category, and though it does not change the Nature of his Centre, it puts him nevertheless in a condition to shun it, or to seek for it, but with that clause, that at the same instant we get over the Ecliptic Line, which leads to this Centre, as it is from thence, that all true consolation takes its offspring, so, out of it we shall find ourselves under the Tyranny of Heaviness and Sadness. For as the Love which God bears to himself, is the cause of his Eternal Consolation, so he is to men the Principle whereon depends their rest. Let us not then seek elsewhere for the offsprings of our Troubles and Sadness; for here it is, we have lost the road which leads to our Centre. Deus, Deus meus ut quid dereliquisti me. Psal. 21. v. 1. Dear Reader, do not allege, (for to weaken these Reasons,) the Complaints which Jesus made agonizing on the Cross, no more than his Combats in the Garden of Olives: For though on the one he makes his Address to God his Father, who seems to have forgotten him, and that in the other all overwhelmed with Tears, his Soul perplexed beyond measure, Seperavit se divinitas, quia subtraxit protectionem, sed non soluit unionem. Incognitus in Ps. 21. he redoubles his Prayers to divert the Sentence of his Sufferings; and so strives to banish Sadness to receive Consolation: For answer, I have to say, that those very Actions of his confirm the Truth of my Thesis; for they were the-Senses of passable Nature, which presented their request to the Principle, from whence flows all Consolation, to receive what was sustracted from them for a time, though reason, (the Superior part of the Soul) has been always united to God, exempted from all those Alarms, and To teach the Christian on the one part, Duplix fuit Christi oratio, una ex voluntate deliberata procedens, & talis semper fuit exaudita, altera per modum affectionis & ista non sempter fuit exaudita, quia sensualitatem natura liter mortem abhorrentem rationi sub debat. Idem. v. 2. that though he be grateful to God, and couched down in the Book of Life among the Predestinate, nay assured by Divine Revelation of the eertainty of his Salvation, he ought not for all that expect to live without some heaviness, distaste, and sadness. And on the other part, to let us know, when we shall be brought to that State, whom to make our addresses to, to find true consolation. In all Arts, (as well Mechanic as Liberal) say the Masters, Hoc dixit, quia multi clamant in tribulatione qui non exaudiuntur ad voluntatem, sed ad salutem. Ibid. there is a certain secret which they will hardly communicate; There is in humane life also a secret to live contentedly, which I would wish all the World had known; Dear Reader, here it is for you in three words: Love only where you ought to Love, and you shall never be heavy at the Heart; you shall be always content; you shall see sometimes one in the turning of a hand) to be altogether changed in his humours,) of a jolly hearty companion, become on a sudden, mournful, sad, drowsy; whatever he sees pains him; where others find their recreation, he gets wherewith to entertain his Melancholy; he shuns all company to give more leisure and liberty to his dark thoughts, to grieve him and trouble his Rest the more. Has he a desire to get out of that dimness, where Sadness sits in her Throne? Will he know whence he had that grim Companion, that litigious Domestic, that trouble-feast, who sets a disorder over all the Commonwealth of the Soul? Let him not find fault with the bad constitution of his Body; Let him not attribute any thing to the change of Seasons, nor to the Influence of the Stars, for none of them are the cause of his heaviness: But let him examine his own affections, let him never give over to search until he discovers the Object that retains them: For doubtless, they are in some place, where true consolation cannot be lodged, Omnis nostra tribulatio est ex nobis, sed consolatio ex solo Deo, ex nobis sunt conturbationes, sed ex Deo finis earum. Incognit. in Psal. 41. D. Aug. 4. Cons. c. 12. as in some Creature, or in some vain hope, finding out this too, to be true, let him love where he ought to love; Let him withdraw his affections thence, and place them where Justice, Reason, and his own Interest will have them to be, and I do assure him in God's Name with St. Augustine, that he has found the secret to live content and happy in this World, There is nothing so much to be admired in the process of times, as to see how God, (to teach this secret to Men) Summons them to the experience of a thousand Fatal accidents, and permits them to place their desires according to the choice of their liberty, how he permits afflictions & heaviness to rise, at the very instant Men thought to rest happy, and repose themselves sweetly in the Lap of consolation and Peace. Was there any thing more Glorious in appearance, than Belissarius under Justinian the Emperor? Belissarius the most Valiant Captain that ever bore Arms in the three Neighbouring Ages; who reduced the Persians under the obedience of his Prince, who suppressed the insolency of the Goths over all Italy, who went along to afric, to Subdue those Barbarous Nations, whence he brought Prisoner the King Gilismer, as the Crown of his Victories: He returns to Court full of Glory, gives an account of his Actions, brings Sceptres and Crowns to the Feet of Justinian, hoping to find Peace, Tranquillity, and a favourable Reception, as a Reward of his Fidelity. But God, who will not have Man to lean upon the brittle Staff of Creatures to find his Consolation, suffers, that, He who was obliged for his life to Belissarius, enters into a Jealousy of the Honour of his Conquests, forgets all the hazards, wherein he exposed himself for his Service, has both his eyes plucked out of his Head, strips him out of all his Means, reduces him to a State of such extreme misery, that poor Belissarius is constrained to build himself a little Cabin of Dung and Straw on the High-road, to ask the Alms of Passengers for the love of God. Euseb. lib. 2. Hist. cap. 5. Belissarius had lodged his hopes very ill, but Philo the Jew (more wise than he) found out the secret, Deus non tibi declarat ipsam misericordiam, quam tibi per diem mandavit, nisi per noctem, cum venorat ipsa tribulatio, tunc adjutorio te non deserit, ostendit tibi verum fuisse quod tibi per diem mandavit, etenim scriptum est, speciosa misericordia Domini in tempore tribulationis sicut nubes pluviae in tempore siccitatis. D. Aug. tom. 1. in Psal. 41. for being accused by Appion before Cajus Caligula, and being very hard put to for to justify himself of what was laid to his charge, failed not nevertheless to find in short his true Consolation: He turns himself with a smiling countenance towards his Countrymen, courage, my Companions, here is the hour come, wherein it is necessary that God should comfort us, seeing all Humane assistance has failed us; As if he would say, that God, by a solemn Decree of his Divine Providence, has, as it were, obliged himself to Man, that at the same time, when he shall know by experience, that a Creature cannot be the Object of his Consolations, and that he will convert himself to him, he will receive him in his Arms to comfort him, in all his Afflictions and Heaviness of Heart. It is then very true, that he who has found out the secret of living contentedly, has concluded, out of the weakness of Creatures, and by their inability to furnish any true contentment, that God alone is He who can really comfort him; a consequence which is very easy to be deduced, if we will but suppose a Principle known of itself to be true, by natural reason; which is, that all Men in general, without exception of any whatever, desires to be content, and live happy: This good luck is never found but in the pursuit, or in the enjoyment of our last end, after which there is no more to be desired. But it is most evident, by the ordinary unquietness of our mind, which is never here at rest through the unruliness of our Souls, always at the chase of new affections, by reason of the disordered Appetite of all our faculties, which are never satisfied with the Metaphorical food of their Objects; That the Creature cannot be our last end, seeing it cannot afford us so much good at once, as that we may never desire any more. God alone then remains for our last end; for he only can give such contentment, and so perfect, that after it we cannot desire any more; And therefore no Consolation can be true, if it has not the full enjoyment of its last end. But because there is a great difference betwixt the Desire, and the Enjoyment of the thing desired, and that this true Consolation which all Men look for, is as the Golden-Fleece of Antiquity, that could not be carried away without danger of life, and that we must not expect that this Inheritance, which is ours by right, (contested nevertheless by so many Cheats,) must not cost us thousands of strifes, heaviness and sadness: There is the time that God waits for, to comfort us: 'tis the hour appointed by Jesus to come and maintain our cause, fortify our Hopes, and give a sure ground to all our steps. For my part, I hold for Moral Heresy the Doctrine of some newfound Spirituals, who Preach for a point of high perfection, to live in Crosses without any consolation, that it is proper Love to seek for any Pleasures in Torments: This is good to be told to them who know not, Si in hac vita tantum in Christo sperantes sumus miserabbiliores sumus omnibus hominibus. 1 Cor. 15. v. 19 that it is to the damned Souls they refused a drop of Water in the burning heat of their flames, to refresh their Tongues. St. Paul is not of the opinion of those ignorant Zealots; for he says, that Man would be the most miserable of all Creatures, if all his hopes were only in Jesus dying on the Cross. Ah! St. Paul, what do you say? Expectantes ab eo hic remunerari, miserabiliores sumus omnibus hominibus, qui ad minus perfruuntur bonis hujus vitae, nos autem patimur mala. Lyran in c. 15. 1 Cor. part 6. Have you already forgotten to have said, to the confusion of all the Enemies of Jesus, that you did not intent to place the precious point of your Glory elsewhere, than in the Cross of your good Master, that none should find fault with you for bearing his marks, that others should seek their consolation where they pleased; that for your part his Infirmities were all your delights. Haec dixit partim quidem ad resurrectionem corporum credendam eos confirmans, patrim vero immortalitatem persuadens, ne prorsus hîc dissolvi nostra omnia putatentur. D. Chrys. tom 4. hom. 39 in c. 15. 1 Cor. How can all those brave resolutions agree with the Maxim which you now advance? And with that which you defended publicly in the famous City of Athens, that vain was our Faith, if Jesus had not been resuscitated. 'Tis that the Apostle would conclude two verities; in one he supposes that it is a necessary precept to Salvation, to drink with Jesus of the Vinegar of bitterness; being, that among a number of efficatious means, which he might choose to work our Redemption, he has made choice of a passable State, which affords nothing but Afflictions and Sadness: In the other he will have us to understand, that among those Crosses, Heaviness, Afflictions and Sadness, Cervus enim cum montium juga conscendit, quaeque aspicit aspera, etc. Paulo infra. Ita electorum mentes quaeque sibi in hoc mundo obsistere atque obviare conspiciunt contemplationes saltu transcendnut. & more cervorum despectis terrenorum sentibus in superna se evehunt. D. Grg. l. 29. Moral. in c. 35. Job cap. 10, we must have some consolation: And to this purpose he fears not to say, That if our hopes were only grounded on the death of Jesus naked on the Cross, on his Blows and Blood, shed at the Pillar, on his Affronts and Reproaches received on Mount Calvary, on his Head Crowned with Thorns, without a firm Belief, that after Death, must come Life; after those Wounds, Impassibility; after those Injuries, Everlasting Glory; after those Thorns; an Immortal Crown; Doubtless we had been the most miserable Creatures in the World. And so vain would be the Faith of a Christian, who freely suffering with patience, because he hopes for Peace and Rest after his Troubles and Sadness, would be frustrated of his expectation, if he had not in that expectation, (and whilst he is in that actual Passion,) a certain and an assured Belief, that this moment of Tribulation shall be rewarded with an Eternity of Pleasures. And it is in that State of expctation and delay, that Consolation is necessary, the which comes altogether out of season, when we do enjoy what we desired. Dear Soul, Et ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus, etc. Matth. 18. v. 20. have you a desire to secure your Salvation? Why then never go backward, though you see the Road which leads to Heaven, beset with Crosses, made up with Thorns, laid over with Stones; Rememorat eis consummationem, ne praesentia solum inspiciant, quae simul cum praesenti vita dissolventur. D. Chris. apud Hugo. Card. hic. Life is in the Cross, Roses in the Thorns, and Oil under the Rock. Jesus, whose promises are altogether as infallible as his words are true, for to encourage his Disciples, and all them, who in the difference of times, would profess his religion, to live content in the height of their sufferings, gives them no other motive of it, than to tell them, that he will be with them to the end of the World. Cato, Lucanus lib 9 to encourage his Army to follow him in the Wars of Africa, (where, not only the Renown of those People bred up to Arms, but even the extreme rigour of those horrid Deserts, through which they were to pass, rendered the enterprise both dangerous and difficult, and also made an Alarm among the Soldiers) could think of no better way to raise up their daunted courage, than to tell them, that he would be the first himself, to make way for the rest through the Sands; that without fearing the excess of Heat, or the danger of Serpents, he would make them know that a good courage can do all: And moreover, that if they had seen Him go back but one step, whether it were to look for a cold Spring to quench his thirst, Recogitate eum qui talem sustinuit a peccatoribus adversus semet ipsum contradictionem, etc. Hebraeorum 12. v. 1. or the shelter of a Bush to avoid the scorching heat of the Sun, he gave them a full permission to go back; At the very sound of these words, their blood began to boil in their Veins, they could wish they never made appear their weakness: Every one animates himself to do well, Exagitate tantum estis, & persecutionem passi, Christus autem pro vobis sanguinem fundit ille usque ad mortem pro veritate certavit, vos autem nec dum ad pericula pervenistis quae minantur interitum. D. Chrys. tom. 4. in c. 12. Hebrae. and strives who shall be the nearest to his Captain. Jesus is to Us a Divine Cato, before we come near the Borders of Heaven, we have many vast Fields and Deserts to pass through, they are wild loansom Plains, where you shall hardly meet with any Person to teach you the Road, for few go that way; The Devils Infernal Serpents trade there by thousands; This is able to strike a terror into any heart. But what comfort is it, to see the Son of God March first at the head of a Christian Army, passing over with a generous heart all the difficulties and bad steps, that he meets with in the Road; if there be Hunger, Thirst, Cold, or Heat, he must be the first to feel it in his own proper Person. Can there be a Christian, if he be not a greater Coward than a Thersite, who will not take a strong resolution to convert himself to Jesus, Addit deinde Apostolus ibid. Et obliti estis consolationis quae vobis tanquam filiis loquitur, etc. follow his Colours, fight under his Conduct, being (that besides Heaven, which he does promise us as the reward of our Victories,) he does oblige himself to comfort us as often as we fight, and as long as our Combat shall last. CHAP. XXIX. That the Immortality of our Soul ought to make us undervalue the World. ARchimedes the Geometrician, did boast in his days, that he would make the Earth get out of its Centre, if any would assign him a point out of the Earth whereon he might fix one of the Rods of his Compass: whether that be possible or no, Cum interrogas unde sit anima utrum quasi regionem ejus & patriam, unde huc venerit nosse desideras? propriam quandam habitationem animae ac patriam Deum ipsum credo esse à quo creata est: substantiam vero ejus nominare non possum, non enim eam puto esse ex his usitatis notisque naturis, quas istis corporis sensibus tangimus. D. Ang. tom. 1. de quantitate anima, cap. 1. circa initium. I refer it: At least I can tell for certain, that the effect of his Art had never any Existence but in his own imagination: And yet bragging that he would do it, has acquired himself the admiration of all Antiquity. If God had reserved those poor Pagans, to live in the Age of the Evangelical Law, they would have far greater reason to admire the inventions of him who placed Heaven and Earth out of their Centre. There was a Man who gave such strong shakes to Heaven and Earth, that he forced them to change their Centre; He is the Son of God, who taking humane flesh, has brought himself to nothing, and in the point of that humiliation has made himself the Centre of the World. Heaven did incline itself to come towards the Earth, and the Earth leaped with joy for having by a new transmigration found so perfect a settlement hard by its Centre. Quid de anima firmissime teneam non tacebo, anima hominis immortalis est, secundum quendam mo●um suum, non enim o●● m●do de si●●t Deus, de quo dictum est quia s●l●s habet immortalitatem. Pa●lo ●nferius. This wise Philosopher teaches us another Secret, no less to be admired than the former, which is not only to make the Earth change its Centre, getting it a place in the very middle of the Firmament, but also to draw down the Firmament, to give it place in the middle of the Earth. The Christian, Sed quod ita moritur, alienata à vita Dei, ut tamen in natura sua vivere non omnino desistat, etc. D. Aug. to 2. de natura & origine animarum Epist. 28. non longè à principio. who has a firm belief of the immortality of the soul, is an admirable Mathematician, who can, when he pleases, set the Earth where Heaven is, and Heaven where the Earth is. He sets the Earth where Heaven is, when that walking without the gallery of his senses, he lances the thoughts of his spirit into Eternity, for to contemplate the wonderful productions of Paradise, and that glorious Inheritance whereof a Terrestrial creature pretends to take possession. He sets Heaven where Earth is, when with St. Paul, he converses among men, as if he had lived in the company of Angels, entertaining nothing in his spirit but Angelical thoughts. Seneca the moral Philosopher in an answer he makes to one of his Friends, who earnestly desired that he would be pleased to prove the immortality of Souls, makes it well appear, Habet anima mortem suam cum vita beata caret quae vera animae vita dicenda est; sed immortalis ideo nuncupatur, quoni●●●q● alicumque vita etiamsi miserrima est, nunquam 〈◊〉 vivere ● etc. fuse. that it lies in the power of man to do that wonder; telling of himself, that he did exercise himself a long time in that employment, altogether Divine, You have very much troubled me in my rest (says he to his Friend;) for when I received your Letter, I was giving my soul the fore-taste of glory, and charming the drousiness of my Body, by the sweet thoughts of the Immortality of my spirit; D. Aug. to 3. l. 14. de Trin. c 4. statim mitio. I was of belief, that there was nothing in the world able to divert me from so happy an entertainment. You have crossed me in the object of my delights, importuning me about a question, of which all well-tempered souls ought not to have the least scruple. You had obliged me more, had you either abstained from writing, or written to exhort me to live conformable to my belief. Would to God that the effect of that repartee of Seneca had happened to be true among Christians, and that such as are employed to instruct the people, Imago Dei invenienda est in animo hominis, id est, rationali sive intellectuali, imago creatoris quae immortalitati ejus est insita. Aug supra c. 3. were not obliged to trouble themselves to prove that verity, so conformable to nature, that the very Heavens, (according unto the saying of the learned Suares,) imprints in our bodies a certain feeling of immortality. I must acknowledge with Aristotle in his charms, that some unfortunate genius, (jealous of so great an advantage) has pierced our hearts through with a fatal nail, and makes us like so many Ostriches, who can well strike at our flanks with our wings: But the corruption of our nature (which is no other, than the Philosopher's nail) makes us always to incline downwards, without giving us the liberty to look at Heaven, until that a favourable Zephyrus comes pleasantly on to solace our weakness by the powerful contribution of its forces, and makes us to enjoy that innocent pleasure St. Augustin speaks of, which is to live Immortal in the corruption of the Flesh by the serious meditation of Eternity. And really if a Christian will but give himself the least leisure to think on this Subject, he will soon find out, Cleombrotus in hac animi magnitudine teperitur quem ferunt lecto Platonis libro, ubi de immortalitate animae disputavit, se praecipitem dedisse de muro, atque ita ex vita migrasse ad eam quam credidit esse meliorem. D. Aug. to. 5. l. 1 civet. c. 22. that his Spirit is immortal. He knows well that Nature suffers no Powers to stand idle or useless: She has given them sufficient employment about their own proper Objects, otherwise the Author of Nature had failed in his work. For example, in vain had God so Artificially wrought out the Eyes which he has placed in man's Forehead as the Organs of his Visual Faculty; if withal we could not behold the Beauty of Colours; which cannot be said without Blaspheming against the Sacred Proceed of the Divinity. It's therefore, that the same Author of Nature, who had grafted in each Faculty a seeking Inclination for its Object, has likewise set in the Object other Inclinations for the inquisition of its faculty. Man has a faculty of Understanding and Reasoning, De animi immortalitate multi etiam philosophi gentium multa disputarunt, & immortalemesse animum humanum multis & multiplicibus libris conscriptum memoriae reliquerunt. D. Aug. tom. 8. in Psal. 88 which is as essential to him as his proper Nature, being that it is his chief difference, by Virtue of that faculty, he passes when he pleases beyond all what is material among the Creatures, shapes within himself their Species, and having reduced them all to a small Volume, he lodges them within the roof of his Understanding. Nay, which is more, he takes his walk into the very imaginary spaces, where he finds other Heavens, other World's possible, wonderful handsome, if God had been pleased to reduce them to Act: This is not as yet enough, his activity admits of no bounds, until it comes to the knowledge of an Eternal, Immortal, Impassable Being, which must be the originary principle of all things. If that be so, and that our Spirits go beyond all Creatures, to contemplate on that which is Eternal, Immortal, Impassable; and that moreover, the faculty ought to enjoy its Object; we must conclude two necessary Verities; the one, that our Spirits are Immortal; the other, that they are Created to participate of that Immortality, which God gives us as a reward for our good Service. If the matter had gone otherwise, Man, who is Created to the Image and Resemblance of God, to be the Happiest Creature in the World, would remain the most miserable of all Creatures: For, if we do consider the strength of his Body, Qui animae suae curam gerunt, etc. Paulo infra. Lions and Bulls surpass him: If the length of his years, Trees are far beyond him: If the Subtlety of his Eyesight, the Eagle surmounts him: If the Health of his Body, Ipse non oportere contraria facere existimantes Philosophiae ejusque solutioni ac purificationi ad hanc viam se convertunt, sequentes illam qua praeit ac ducit. Plato in Phaed. the Fish has the advantage; If Riches, the Bowels of the Earth may argue with him of Poverty; If Contentment, the Birds of the Air make but a mockery of his Pleasures; If good and Rich Garments, the Roses and Lilies are covered with Satin, with Purple and Scarlet: Whereas he sees nothing on his back but the Spoils of dead Beasts; It's then necessary that there be another state, wherein it must be found true, Ubi mors ad hominem accesserit, mortale quidem ipsius ut apparet moritur immortale vero saluum & incorruptum abit, &c, Plato ibidem. that Man is the most Happy of all Creatures: This cannot be here on Earth, where Corruption joined with Inconstancy, Nurse of Alterations and Changes, suffers not any thing to subsist long without decaying, and finding its doom where it had its birth. The Saviour of the World ordained the days of his Incarnation to teach all Faithful Souls the place so much to be desired of their Eternal rest, he makes them a public Lesson of it, in the famous Sermon on the Mount, where the common sort made up the main part of his Audience; He proves by formal Induction of all the Beatitudes and Consolations which may happen to Man, that there is none true or solid here to be found on Earth, consequently that Heaven must be their place. Quod si immortalis est anima cura sane opus habet, etc. Paulo infra. Cercidas the Arcadian, was at death's door, when being demanded, if he did not fear so cruel a Separation? Contrariwise, my Friends, hitherto 'twas my Body that lived under the rigorous Laws of an urgent Destiny, it must be restored to the Earth that demands it, Nunc vero cum haec immortalis esse videatur, nullum aliud fuerit ipsi refugium, neque salus à malis praeter quam, ut optima & sapientissima fiat, nihil enim aliud secum transiens anima ad inferos habit praeter eruditionem ac educationem. Plato infra. being that we must restore to every one what appertains to him; As for my Spirit which is Immortal, it goes to the Elysian Fields, where it shall meet with Pythagoras the Philosopher, Olympus the Musician, Hecate the Annalist, Homer the Prince of Poets. That brave repartee would sound better in a Christians mouth, when his Friends exhort him to resign himself to Death, if with a Spirit truly Faithful, he would say, Alas! what is your reason to exhort me to take Death in good part; I have no such great cause to desire a longer Life, being that the Tears which drop from my Eyes at the hour of my Birth, and the continual troubles which have accompanied the rest of my days, have preached no other thing to me than the necessity of this passage: For my part, I hope in the Mercy of my God, that he will admit me into the company of the Blessed Virgin, Hamana anima ita immortalis est, ut mori possit, ita mortalis ut mori non possit, etc. Paulo inferius. Ut ergo breviter dixerim & immortaliter mortalis est, & mortaliter immortalis. D. Greg. l. 4. Moral. in c. 3. job. c. 7. Si cor hominis in manu Dei, multo magis anima, si anima in manu Domini est, non utique anima nostra sepulchro simul cum corpore includitur, nec busto tenetur, sed quiete pia fungitur. of all the Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins, and the rest of the Blessed; For if the day that the Prisoner sees himself discharged of his Irons; freed out of his slavery, drawn out of a dark dungeon, to enjoy his beloved Liberty; live in the company of his Friends, and enjoy the sweet Air of his native country, is pleasant and grateful to him. Know that the moment of my departing, brings me no less consolation, my nature has loaden me with Irons, my Body made me a mere slave, my Actions have cast me into a dungeon: if the Commissary knocks at the door, I do rejoice, for it is to make me enjoy the true liberty, live in the company of God's servants, and enjoy the sweet Air of Heaven, the native country of all blessed souls: why should I not then take death in good part, being that I always believed the Centre of my soul could be no other than the place of Immortality. D. Ambr. to 1. l. de bone mortis c. 10. per totum. CHAP. XXX. That the Mortality of our Soul sets all crimes at liberty. IF the only thought of the Immortality of our Souls, be a motive sufficiently powerful to blot out of our hearts the horror of Death, and breed therein an undervaluing of the World; Doubtless, it will beget in us also the hatred of sin, and a strong inclination to purchase Virtue. His igitur freti intrepide pergamus ad redemptorem nostrum jesum intrepride ad Patriarcharum concilium, intrepide ad Abraham Patrem nostrum cum dies advenerit proficiscamur: Ibimus enim ad patres nostros, ibimus ad illos fidei nostrae praeceptores, ùt etiams● opera desint, fides opituletur, defendat & haereditas, etc. C. Ambr. to 1. de bono mortis, statim initio, c. 12. A young Religious man of the Famous Congregation of the Carthusians, poor of Extraction, but had a Noble heart, and a spirit well grounded in the belief of the Immortality of Souls; falls sick, a violent Fever sets him in a flame; The Doctors have a bad opinion of him: St. Bernard goes to his Cell to visit him, and with the sweetness of his mellifluous words, disposes him to Death; exhorting him to be of good courage, to have confidence in God, and believe, that the hour was come, that his corporal labours should be rewarded with an Eternity of contentments: The sick man presently makes answer; why, Father, should I not have confidence? I, I, certainly I do believe firmly, that I shall have very soon the happiness to possess the land of the living. St. Bernard as a good Pastor, fearing, his poor sheep should be lost by the presumption of his feeling, changed his mild discourse into a paternal and sharp reprehension, to find out from what spirit came that reply; What you little wretch, says he to him, what have you said, make, make, the sign of the Cross, to banish away that proud Devil, who has possessed you; How come you to speak with so much boldness, have you already forgotten, that you were but a poor Boy, whom we have received here for the love of God, rather for compassion of your indigent condition, then for any good quality which might render you grateful or worthy to be admitted into any Religious Assembly? you had not Bread to put in your mouth, but what you got by the labour of your hands, and sweat of your brows; We have suffered you to sit at the common Table of our Religious men, who in the world were Rich, Noble and Powerful, and there where you ought to find a Subject of Humility, you have acquired a proud Soul, you believe that God is as yet your Debtor, and that Heaven is yours without dispute: The sick man heard all these words with attention, which after they were ended, with a modest tone, and smiling countenance, he tells St. Bernard, Noctem pressuram nominat David, & tamen liberatorem suum inter angustias exultationem vocat, foris quidem nox erat in circumdatione pressurae, sed intus carmina resonabant de consolatione laetitiae, etc. D. Greg. l. 26. in c. 35. job. e. 11. infinne. be pleased to pardon me, Father; for if I committed a fault, you are the cause of it; I have not as yet blotted out of my mind, how you have often admitted me with other Religious men to your Spiritual conferences, where exhorting us to the exercise of the Virtues of Humility, Obedience and Resignation, you made the practice of them appear sweet and pleasant to us, by the hopes you gave us of an Eternity: I did endeavour in this point to acquit myself of my duty with the grace of my Saviour; and this is it which makes me now speak with so much the more confidence, that I believe your words to be true, and Gods promises infallible. This is one of the Lessons which St. Paul had learned in the third Heavens, and which he repeats to us, saying, for my part, when I understand that we are to have a weight of caelectial glory for what tribulations we suffer in this life; I can find therein no other proportion, but that which might be put betwixt a Moment and Eternity: So when they do plant a sweet Briar, what is it but a thorny stump, without either Grace or Beauty? but the Belief they have to see fine flowers grow some day among those thorns, makes them to cherish the stem with all its deformity and sharp points. The Cross is a thorny Briar without either Grace or Beauty, none can touch it without running the hazard of being pricked: But we are of that belief, Sic itaque electorum desideria dum premuntur adversitate proficiunt, sicut ignis flatu premitur, ut crescat, & unde quasi extingui cernitur, inde roboratur. D. Greg. lib. 26. moral. cap. 10. in cap. 35. Job. that out of that stock must come the conversion of a sinner, and the eternity of glory: that it is from this stem we must take the flowers, to make ourselves a Crown of Immortality; that makes us to cherish both the stump and the thorns, we take delight to besprinkle it with the blood of Jesus Christ, that in due season we may see thereon both flowers and Fruit. The hopes of a good Harvest, sets the labourer to work in the foulest weather of the year. The hopes of a good booty encourages the Soldier to go through the toils of War; And shall not the hope of glory make us detest our crimes, and redouble our paces in the practice of good? shall not the belief of Immortality strengthen us under the labours of the Cross, until the day of Victory? If not, we are mere cowards, and most unworthy to bear that title of followers of Christ. St. Jerome spoke heretofore with a great deal of Honour, saying, that Heresy had infected all other Kingdoms but that of the French, which remained alone exempt and clear of those Monsters: If this great Saint had seen the state of that Kingdom now-adays, and considered, how after the revolt of Heretics, the most part of Christians fell into Atheism, which carries along the mortality of Souls as a faithful companion from Hell: he would say without doubt, that it is a property only belonging to France, to produce, not Monsters, but Devils; For what makes that in the reign of a King, in whose heart piety appears as in her Throne, who knows how to join in one breast Virtue and nobility to the admiration of all the World, if this makes him to be the first Monarch of Europe in height of extraction, that makes him to pass without contradiction for the most Religious Prince in the Universe, who seems in his Birth to have brought from his Mother's womb, Herculeses club, to destroy both Vice and viciously given; We see nevertheless the corruption to be so Universal, the Sanctuary polluted, the Temples profaned, Devotion without any lustre, Virtue without shineing, Jesus Christ trod under foot, God altogether forgotten; and what is most deserving of our respects, set at naught, and utterly disdained? For my part, I remit the offspring of those disorders to the want of believing the Immortality of Souls; For wherever that pernicious error has crept (that all dies with the Body) they may attempt on the Sacred Persons of Kings, and without any respect to the Divinity (whereof they are the lively Images on Earth,) treat them unworthily, so be that their deal be underboard; For if all dies with the Body, and that there is no account to be taken of their crimes after death; If they do betray the State, if they do sell their Country, if they do commit the most horrid crimes that ever were heard of; they may fear no punishment, if that unhappy belief takes place in their Spirits; Let the great ones oppress the little ones, let the rich cut the poor people's throats, let the enemy execute his vengeance, all is permitted to him who gives no more advantage to his Soul, than to that of a bruit beast; Let them speak no more of the commandments of God, of the Sacraments of the Church, of the reward reserved for the good in Heaven, of the punishments prepared for the wicked in Hell; if there be no more in man then Living and Dying, we may say as much of the Patriarches of Religious Orders, Benedict, Bernard, Dominick, Francis, that they have not obliged their Children to bring them from the World to pass over the best of their days in crucifying of their Bodies; For if the Souls be not Immortal, all those sufferings are but a mere oppression of Innocency. I have heretofore joined my small & weak Prayers to the common Vows of all France, for a Blessing from Heaven for our Sovereign's Arms, whilst he had them in his hands, to fight against Heresy, but I will have a thousand times more sensible feelings of his Piety and Courage, when he shall make appear his Power and Authority to suppress those unfortunate execrements of Nature, who are so bold as to lift up their Horns to strike at Piety. In the mean time I call you again brave Chrysanthus and Musonius, most worthy Prelates of the Church, get out of your Tombs, pierce the Rock of your Sepulchers, and announce unto us your Belief in this point of the Immortality of Souls. Chrysanthus and Musonius were two Famous Bishops among them, who assisted at the general Council of Nice, in the year 1328, where the two Articles of the Resurrection of the Flesh, and of the Life Everlasting were particularly treated of, it happened that these two great Prelates died before the conclusion of the Council; After the Fathers had Signed all and each of the Acts, they brought the Papers on the Tombs of the Deceased, with this humble supplication; Holy Fathers, the well beloved of God, who have assisted at the Acts of this present Council, as we have found you always Faithful to maintain the Rights of the Church, the Faithful Spouse of your Master and Ours; and as you have Fought with us to defend her against her Enemies; So We do beseech you if you have as yet the same feelings with us of the Articles proposed, that you may set your honds to these present Papers: A thing truly to be admired, next Morning they found, that all was Signed with their proper hands. If that Article of itself cannot be contradicted, but by him who will deny the Principles of Nature, the Authority of the Holy Ghoct, and all common feelings; can there be Christians found hereafter, who will live in the World, as if all would die with the Body; But if they do believe the Immortality of Souls, how can it be, that they have no thoughts but for the Earth. It's a folly like that of a Merchant, who Freights a Vessel to go to the Indies, to Peron, to China, to enrich himself: And being arrived where the Mines of Gold and Silver are, he spends his time in looking at the Hills that are about the place, the Streams that are underneath, the Woods that are hard by, and does not think of loading his Ship, nor of returning back to his Country. God has placed our Souls in our Bodies, as in a Mystical Vessel, it's to load us with the Goods of Eternity, and the Merchandise of Heaven: One spends his time with pampering of his Flesh, another to build a Fortune in the Air; This Man Fights with the Winds, that Man Paints on the Waters, and none thinks that his Soul is Immortal, nor that she is to return to her Country some day; was there ever the like folly? That was a strong Receipt and more than ordinary, Plato in eo q● Carmi. which Zamolxis a Physician of Thrace, gave to a young Man, whom Plato calls Carmis, Son to Glaucon, who complained of a great pain in his head, and of a Megrim which made him giddy-brained; He order no cooling Plasters to be applied to him, no opening of a Vein, no Scarrifications; he will have his Soul to be Purged, assuring, that the Infirmities of the Body proceed from the alterations of this Principle; This Purging is no other than a discharging of all feelings of the Earth, to bring her to the thoughts of Immortality. This is the Receipt which Jesus prescribes to all those who are willing to convert themselves. I will make bold to borrow the words of Seneca the Moral Philosopher, Seneca, Ep. 102 to make the Induction thereby. If the Infirmities of the Body trouble your Health, and that by redoubling their rigours, they bring you to Death's door, rejoice as the Prisoner at the first news of his Liberty; For Death is no other thing than an enlargement of the Soul out of the Prison of the Body; where she sighs under the Irons and Chains of corrupt Nature: If any ask you the question, which is your Country, and your Native place? do not say that it is Alexandria or Smyrna; No, tell boldly that it is Heaven, being there is nothing here on Earth can content your heart, nor set a stop to your expectations, for all rolls under the unavoidable Laws of Mortality; Consider, that even as the Mother which carried you in her Womb, was not resolved to lodge you there still, but, that after nine months' space you should come weeping into the World; So the World that has harboured you for a time had no design to give you a perpetual residence, but only to suffer you to refresh yourself, as a passenger without any tie to the place where you have lodged by way of civility only, and as a Passenger, not as a Proprietor. This vale of Misery is but an Inn, the Riches are but Honours and Vanity, the Pleasures are the Householdstuff; Man is the Pilgrim and Traveller, he is not permitted to carry any thing along with him, he must first account with his Host, and after march off from whence he came; and as he has nothing here but the bare use of things, as all other Creatures, nothing remains to him but the Immortal thoughts of Heaven to maintain himself in the advantage of his pretensions. Let us then aim at Heaven, our Native Soil, if we be not willing to be placed among the number of Bruit Beasts, and to the great undervaluing of the wise conduct of Jesus, who by the thoughts of Immortality desires to wean our affections from the Earth, and bring them to purchase an Immortal Glory. CHAP. XXXI. That the Angels are employed to the Conversion of a Sinner. I Do no more admire, that Antiquity represented Love to be blind, now that the super-adorable Sacrament of the Incarnation of Jesus has given us the full knowledge of that Riddle, and taught us that we must not understand it of Humane Love, but of Divine; whereupon Theology gives us a notable distinction of those two Loves: For Humane and Profane Love, which never labours but for its own Interest, never does engage itself in the pursuit of any Object but what it supposes to be both good and worthy of Love, and in so choosing, it seems not to be blind. But Divine Love, by Loving, renders what it Loves amiable, can find therein no charms able to captivate tho' it Love, but what proceeds from his own proper goodness; It's therein that it seems to be blind, being that it loves a thing which is known beforehand to be nothing amiable. Hypo●ipos●. A great Monarch moved to compassion at the disgrace of his Subject, whom he sees reduced to that extremity, as to Beg from door to door, without the least overture of any ease to his misery: Willing to release him out of that Thraldom, becomes bound for him to his Creditors, clears him of his Debts, assigns him over a House of a thousand Crowns Rend, commands his Officers to put him in possession of it, and that none should dare to molest him in his Rights. There is a great Love indeed. This Subject forgets the good will and favour of his Prince, he commits a crime of Leze Majesty in the first degree, there he is condemned to die, his Sentence is solemnly pronounced, his Posterity must be blotted out of men's memory, a Pyramid raised, whereon in great Characters all Ages to come may see and read the horror and grieviousness of his Offence: Before the execution of that Sentence, the Monarch, comes, and grants him his Pardon, gives Orders that all the pieces of his Process be brought out of the Registers-Office of Parliament stands by, and sees all burnt; This is not all, he commands upon pain of Death, that a word should never be spoke of to his disgrace; Of a mere Clown as he was, he makes him a Gentleman, gives him his Patents of Nobility, and to confirm them, he makes him a Knight of his own Order: without doubt that is a particular Love. This is not enough, this Subject dies, and leaves Children behind him, who are like to be crossed by those that envied their Father's great Fortune; This Monarch apprehending such a disorder, has an Inventory made of all his Goods, puts the Money out to Use, appoints a Prince of the Blood to be a Tutor to the Orphans, and will have beyond all common Laws that he become accountable to him for the true Administration of his Charge: Blind Love never to be paralleled. Jesus is our Monarch, we are his Subjects. Before the Creation what were we? A no Being, a meet negation, a pure nothing. Adam is no sooner come out of the Matrice of that Chaos, but God puts him in Possession of Heaven and Earth, expressly commanding all Nature to obey his Orders, he commands his Angels to cast a Line, and mark out the Platform of a Royal House, of a magnificent Palace, of a Terrestrial Paradise: All being set in good Order, they bring him into that Inheritance, he was not there full three hours, when that by an Act of Felony he becomes refractory to his Divine Majesty, and by a manifest Rebellion he undervalues the Ordinances of his Sovereign, through the unruly Appetite of a most vile concupiscence: All Creatures would have been revenged of so great a disorder, and the very insensible themselves drawing up his Process, would have punished him in the very place; but that the Dauphin of Heaven, the Son and Heir of the Eternal Father, undertakes to accommodate that matter, makes himself to be put into his place, takes from Humane Nature by Incarnation whereby to repair that disorder, and make full satisfaction to the Parties offended in rigour of Justice through the Infinite Merit of his Proctorship: The Criminal is restored to his Rights which he lost through his disobedience; all the pieces of his Process are brought out of the Eternal Father's Register-Office, and nailed on the Cross never to be produced any more against the Transgressor's; does not this show the greatness of God's Love for Men. Love goes on always, increasing as the Morningstar, and even as the fire never stops the course of its activity, until that all combustible matters which entertains its action be taken away: So the Divine love never gives over to spread its flames, whilst it finds objects capable of its Impression; And in case he finds none, he creates some; For man the second time becoming insolent, and being surprised in Rebellion, his Arms in his hands, that is, committing of actual sin, was resolved to nail once more Jesus his Redeemer on the Cross, as St. Paul tells me: Action, which ought to set a stop to the course of his love, but that he puts a mask on his eyes, and seems not to take notice of our insolences, he appoints his Priests to be Commissaries to examine and judge the Delinquents, but with orders not to deal rigorously with them, nor according to all the points of Law; and that he will never fail to confirm the graces of Absolution which his Judges shall give, so be that they do attest the repentance of the penitent; Nay, and which is more, he is resolved to give them Letters of Nobility, and make them Knights of the Order of the Holy Ghost, if they do but leave off their base trading with Creatures, and exercise themselves in the noble actions of Heaven and Salvation. And because that those extraordinary favours will be an object of contradiction, and of revolt to Devils, by reason of their ancient jealousy of our happiness; God even to hinder their bad design, has put us in the Safeguard, and under the protection of good Angels, making them our Overseers, to manage his Graces in us, and improve his Inspirations in our hearts whilst we shall remain in our minority. The Articles of that Overseeing are distinctly set down in the Holy Scripture, in the Book of Exodus, Exod. 23. where among other advices which God gives to Moses, and to all the popularity of Israelites, for to pass happily through the Deserts, never to be weary in their journey, to get the victory of their Enemies, he will have them always to follow the Angel that he would give them for their Leader, to hear his voice, and never to lose his sight. Judith returning from that remarkable expedition, where, with a courage more than manly, she cut off the head of Holofernes, knew well that her good Angel did strengthen her Arms, and had conserved her entire among so many unchaste Souls, which were in a readiness to destroy her honour, and therefore she renders him her actions of Grace. Love God, because that his Angel has blessed the enterprise of my journey, Judith. c. 13. v. 20. Angeli tenent curam animarum, eisque ab Infantia tanquam tutoribus hominum custodia committitur. Orig. in c. 8. Genes. as also my safe return. St. Basil admires this care that God has of men, and Origen with the same expression remarks the practice of it, from the very first day of our birth to the last moment of our life; when they must give an account of the administration of their charge; St. Ambrose explaining this verse of the Prophet, where he says, that they who were near me have forsaken me on occasion, desires the Christian not to understand these Words to the disadvantage of the Angels; for though they do seem to forsake us sometimes on occasion, when our Enemy has us fast by the neck, Ne dixeris Angelis quomodo longè staut qui in adjutornium sunt missi, non illi se separant, sed expectant juvandi tempus ad nutum Imperatoris, qui athletas suos quo gloriosus vincant diutius certare permittit. D. Ambr. in Ps. 37. as St. Anthony was, it's not to abandon us altogether, but that God who takes pleasure in our combats, commands them to stand till he perceives our Lances to be broken, our Hands to grow stiff, our courage to be weakened, and then he sends them to give us a refreshment, and assist us in our necessity. That verity was not unknown to the Pagans, for Aristotle, the genius of nature, willing to give the intelligence of some Secrets to his Disciple Alexander; do not you know, (says he,) according to the testimony of Hermodorus, Lib de secretis s●r torum ad Alexand. refertur a Bernardino de Bustis 2. part. quadrag. serm. 10. circa finem. that you have two invisible Spirits collateral to your Person, the one at the right hand, the other at the left, who are employed to spy your Actions, observe your designs, remark your words; to give a faithful report thereof to the Creator of the Universe. The ground of that Guardianship of men instructed to Angelical nature, is the incomprehensible Decrees of the Eternal wisdom, to wit, tho' that God might of himself, and by himself, immediately govern all the Universe; even as of himself, and by himself, he brought it out of nothing, without the assistance of any; Nevertheless, it is a thing more becoming the Grandeur of his Majesty, to commit their conduct to the Angels, not absolutely, but with a dependency on his supreme power; So Kings have Governors of Provinces in their Kingdom to keep each one in his duty, and hinder the people to revolt from the obedience which they owe to their Prince. The great St. Augustin believes that assistance of Angels so necessary to the provident Oeconome of the World, Una quaeque res visibilis habet potestatem Angelicam sibi deputatam. D. Aug. 3. Trin. c. 4. & l 83. 44. q. 79. that the very senseless Creatures have an intellectual substance to guide their motions; work of nature, work of Intelligence, says the Philosopher; consequently, being that of all Creatures man is the most excellent, God must have a more special care of his conservation, and will have his Angels restore us into his hands at the day of Judgement, dead or alive, damned or saved: And really that conservation is so powerfully authorised in the Evangelical Law since the Incarnation of the word, that the Apostle St. Paul (speaking of the Angels, In ministerium missi, propter eos qui haereditatem capiunt salutis. Anton. Perez in Laur. Salm. certam. 3. c. 9 n. 69. ) gives them no employment on Earth more Honourable, than to be the Ministers of men's Salvation. If any will tell me, that the Angels do abandon us when we are in mortal sin, being that God himself forsakes us in that deplorable state: I answer, that our Divines are generally of a contrary opinion; For if it be in necessity that a Friend is known, and that man could never fall into a more extreme necessity, then into that of a a mortal sin, which deprives him of God's grace, Non contemnendum putes, quia non dimittet te cum peccaveris. Deut. 22. v. 21. and brings him out of his presence, the Angels would not be our friends, if in so present and pressing an occasion, they would refuse us their help and assisting hand. The Civil Law breaks off, and annuls all Contracts that a minor should make in his None-age, as prejudicial to the Rights of his Overseer; and God giving us over to the Tutorship of his Angels, approves not of our Actions but in as much as they are stirred and directed by their wise conduct. It's then true, that God sends out his Angels as scouts, to see whether the sinner will suffer himself to be charmed by his Divine calls; And it's a wonder to consider how much they are concerned to manage an inspiration fallen into the heart of one who is willing to be converted. (St. Augustine,) you know it, is it not true that your good Angel never suffered you to be at rest since the time that St. Ambrose gave you the first feelings of piety, until he made you resolve the generous design of a full conversion, you were going back from your good purpose, but he pressed you on; you were flying away, but he ran after you; you would say, it shall be to morrow, but he would answer, no, it must be this day; his opportune importunity did overcome your courage; we must then give ear to our good Angels, being the end of their exercise and charge, is the Salvation of our Souls. CHAP. XXXII. That the Devil hinders the Conversion of a Sinner. IT's a Process that hangs on the nail these many thousand years, that of the good and bad Angels, about the government of men committed to the good by way of preeminency, and the bad for ever excluded from bearing any such charge. The first occasion of this debate, was a jealousy conceived in Heaven against men, because that (the Eternal word taking a resolution to unite himself to a Creature, to make Her enter in to an Association of his perfections;) the Humane was chosen and not the Angelical. The good willingly does acquiesce to the ordinance of this Decree, and cannot but adore the proceed of their Sovereign in that election: The bad begin to snuff at it, Lucifer is highly displeased, he discovers his grievances, brings all the discontented to his Faction, makes the most litigious to raise a mutiny, and all of one accord, do protest never to render any obedience to that nature so united; being this union was made to the prejudice of their state. But contrariwise to prosecute her all manner of ways, and never to let slip any occasion to make her resent the passion of their envy and hatred. And, without delaying any longer time, the effect of their rage, Aut. Perez. Lansal. cert. 3. c. 7. no. 59 as at the second instant of their creation, they knew that one of the first among the good Angels was to be honoured with the Embassage of that divine Alliance of the word with Humane Nature; the bad also deputed Lucifer, the first among the Rebellious Spirits, to deceive and seduce Adam in the terrestrial Paradise. A charge whereof he has faithfully acquitted himself hitherto, Diaboli partes sunt invertendi veritatem, res Sacramentorum divinorum in idolorum mysteriis emulari, expiationem delictorum de lavacro repromittit imaginem resurrectionis inducit, etc. Tertull. de prescript. c. 40. as well by himself, as by the accomplices of his Rebellion, as Tertullian remarks, if God on the one side in the vast extent of his Mercy has given us convenient means to Salvation; the Devil, on the other side, by his crafts and deluding ways, has falsifyed their Practice: If God has instituted Sacraments, the Devil has made Sacrileges; to the Sovereign Worship, he substitutes Idolatry; to the union of the Church, the Assembly of Heretics; to the bloody Sacrifice of the Cross, the butchery of children. St. Augustin speaking of the good and the bad Angels, says, that the one and the other are Mediators, but upon a far difference design; Falsi autem fallacesque mediatores daemons, per corporalium locorum intervalla & per acreorum corporum levitatem, à profectu animorum nos avocant, viam non praebent ad Deum, sed ne teneatur impediunt. D. Aug. civet. l. 9 c. 18. the former holds us by the hand as children to aid and assist us; the latter bushes us on violently to make us fall into the ditch; the one conducts us through the secret ways of the Cross to make us avoid the bad rencounters of the high Roads, which lead to perdition; the others guide us straight thither, where they know we shall have all our throats cut, and they are the first themselves that will contribute to the murder: The good bring unto us faithfully the sacred messages of Heaven to let us understand the will of God; Venit diabolus, & tollit Verbum, etc. Luc, 8. v. 12. The bad come to us with the fraudulent and cheating Pacquets of Hell, wherein their malicious suggestions written in gross Characters, do teach us how to divert our thoughts from the clear prospect of our everlasting happiness. It's a question in Theology, what is at present the chief occupation of the Apostate Angels after their dismal fall. All are of opinion, that their prime employment is to draw man to sin. I fear very much, says St. Paul to the Corinthians, Timeo ne sicut serpens Evam seduxit astatia sua, etc. 2 Cor. 11. that Satan puffed up with the pride of his Victories, and knowing by a long experience the greatness of our weakness, and the power of his own arms, does 〈◊〉 easily corrupt our senses by his craft, making us to fall from the Spirit of simplicity, which is in Jesus Christ to follow the vain appearances of an immaginary truth. St. Peter (under the Symbol of a roaring Lion, who wheels round about to devour us,) forewarns us to stand upon our guards, and to shelter ourselves with the buckler of a strong Faith from the assaults of so cunning an adversary. CHAP. XXXIII. For to resist the Devil we must know his power. FOr to conceive well this point of Doctrine, we must observe when we say that the Devils have power to tempt men; that this power is either Natural or Moral, the Natural as inseparable from their nature, is given to them by God in the very instance of their creation, being that this power is no other thing than the same free will, which ought to bring them to good; but being perverted by sin, is become obstinate in evil; the Moral power, is, either positive or permissively positive, as if God had given to the Devils a certain faculty to make use of the natural power they have to tempt men, according to all the extent of their bad will; a faculty, which never was, nor ever will be granted to them; for otherwise they would destroy in a trice the most part of men; Permissive, when God permits the Devils, for reasons best known to himself, to make use sometimes of the natural power they have to tempt men, whether it be for to train them up to God's greater glory, or to antedate the pains of Purgatory by the merit of their patience; whence we may derive a manifest difference betwixt the inspirations of our tutelary Angels, and the suggestions of our Enemies; for the Eternal bounty of God is the positive cause, whereon depends all the good will of Angels in our regard; whereas the Devils have but a limited permission to do us evil, and as yet the consequences are more fatal to themselves than profitable. All the permission that God gives to the Devils over men, may be reduced to two heads; either to temptations, which induce us to the evil of pain, or to those which conduce us to the evil of fault; the former has for his bounds the afflictions of body, and time; the latter, the trouble of Soul and Conscience. In the rank of temporal afflictions comes in the first place the enchanting operations of Witchcraft, by a or express pact with the Devils, by which means we daily see thousands of disorders committed over all the World; Non subjecit Deus Angelis orbem. Hebrae. 2. for though the Devils cannot confound the general order of nature, by the reason which St. Thomas gives, (to wit,) that it appertains to him alone, to change, alter, or corrupt a thing, who is the supreme Author and Cause of the same, as God is of nature: Yet notwithstanding he can continue Earthquakes, by blocking up the Winds into its Bowels, and by shutting up all the passages for a time, to the end that those exhalations, so repressed, should pierce the Earth with their impetuosity, break down Houses, pull up Trees by the Roots, blow down Castles and high Towers; they do form Meteors in the Air, Lightnings and Thunder: It's so that Satan did raise a violent Wind, for to pull down the House where Jobs Children were Banqueting, and buried them all under its ruins. He can very much annoy the Goods of the Earth, when that men do bear them overmuch affection; and this, either by a disordering the Seasons, Carmina laesa Ceres sterilem vanescit in auram; Deficiunt laesi carmine fontis aquoe, Illicibus glans, cantataque vitibus una Decidit, & nullo poma movente fluunt. to render the land fruitless by reason of the want of sufficient heat or humidity; or by destroying the Harvest in time of Reaping, with heavy showers of Hail: This was known to be true by the very Pagan's themselves. Ceres, says the profane Poet, being wounded by an enchanting Verse, in lieu of Corn, gives now but dirt and weeds; the Fountains are dried up in their source; the Acorns fall off the Trees before their time, Omnes humanae injuriae quae religiosis viris inferuntur, non eosdem habet authores quos ministros, executio hominis est, sed diaboli instinctus est. D. Hil●r. in Ps. 128. and the Vintage is made before the Grapes are ripe. St. Hillarion gives a further addition, he says that the Devils have power to set people by the ears, and that all the affronts, wrongs, and injuries which good and virtuous Livers receive in this World, come from the Devil, though men be the Executioners of his rage. It's very true, says the great Synesius, for the greatest solemnity in Hell, and the rarest Banquets that the Devils can have, is the abundance of human Calamities. Humane Bodies, by Divine permission, are subject to their torments; either by Possession or Obsession; by Possession, when that they do make use of their Limbs, according to their will and pleasure, making them to operate things above their nature, as would be to make an ignorant body to speak Greek and Latin, hold a man hanging in the Air, without any visible support, transport him to foreign Countries in a short time, and other such Works. By Obsession, when that they are not permitted to do what they would with humane Bodies, but only to cause them a thousand vexations Exteriorly, as to frighten them with such a deal of fantastical representations, and hideous forms, to drive men into panic fears, trouble, and confound the Species before that our faculties receive them, whence come so many extravagant imaginations, for one will believe that all that he sees is red, another, that all that he eats has the taste of Wormwood; and so of the rest: They also do procure a number of Diseases. Hence comes it that St. Luke relates of a certain Woman, whom the Devils did afflict with a great pain in her back bone, that made her stoop down to the ground, and could hardly go, he calls the Devil who gave her this Distemper, a Spirit of Infirmity, (that is to say) a Devil, whose Office was to cause Sickness. As for Temptations which bring us directly or indirectly to sin by the impulsion of the Devils; I find two different feelings among the Fathers, the One is of St. Anselm, Ansel. in c. 15. Mat. who Judges them worthy of reprehension, who, to palliate their Offences, will cast all the blame upon Satan: And that we must stand to the terms of Scripture, which says, that from the Heart come all evil thoughts: The Other of St. Cyprian, who will give this privilege to the merit of the Evangelical Law, that a Christian having received Baptism, is no more subject to the Temptations of the Devil; he brings down to Authorise his own opinion, the Example of Pharaoh, who can well cause a displeasure to Moses, whilst he remains in Egypt, but as soon as he sets his foot into the water, the Symbol of Baptism, he loses all his strength; Moses makes his escape, Pharaoh falls down to the bottom with all his Baggage: However, these thoughts and different opinions may be accorded, for the first must be understood of the consent of the will, and not of the instigations and motions of the Devil; The second is true, for the design of its Author, is, to say, that since the Sacrament of the Incarnation, the Devil's Forces were so much weakened, and the Church so well provided with so many efficacious means, to blow up all his Mines and crush all his Forces to pieces, that he does not exercise his Power any more with so much Empire, as he was accustomed to do in the ancient Law, because the Blood of the Messiah had not as yet besprinkled their Sacraments, as it has ours, Nocent illi quidem, sed iis à quibus timentur, quos manus excelsa Dei non protegit, qui prophani sunt à Sacramento veritatis. Lact. l. 2. Just, the Pious use thereof puts into our hands as many Offensive and Defensive Arms, as they have particular Effects, each one in its Nature. And so as Lactantius does well remark them, are only among Christians the Object of their rage, who like so many cowardly Clowns, do suffer themselves to be beaten with their own Arms, & whilst they have them in their hands. You see then that from the cowardliness of our Hearts, they do take what advantages they please to tempt us: They do proceed after two ways, of persuasion and disposition; by way of persuasion, when they do deceive our Interior faculties, by representing unto them the Purity of their Objects; the understanding, when in lieu of Eternal verities, they do Print therein deceitful verities, which being drawn out of a bad Principle, cannot engender but most pernicious consequences; even as by transforming themselves into Angels of light, they deceived our first Parents under the false Title of Divinity; which brought them no other thing but the loss of their Innocency, and of their original Justice; The will, when that confounding the Love which we own to God, with the Love of Creatures, they make her look upon God, as upon an Object far out of her reach; and because that the great distance of the Object is less able to move the Faculty, than that which is present, by a diabolical malice they do substitute the presence of Creatures to God, whom they removed afar off; and by that block, which makes an obstacle, they do hinder us to have that real and true affection for our Sovereign good: 'Tis by that way that he has settled those two unfortunate Maxims in the Heart of our Worldly Politicians; who will have themselves to be the strong and undaunted Spirits only upon that account, that they will not batter their Brains with musing upon future and invisible things; There is the first Maxim, and the second is that they will enjoy at full the things present, for fear to deceive or afflict Nature in the overmuch care of things absent. The Devils do seduce us by way of disposition, in our sensitive faculties, Cum in reproborum cordibus pravum quid oritur, mox per studium delectationis diaboli malitia enutritur, & cum sibi minime resistitur, protinus ex consensu roboratur, etc. D. Greg. l. 27. Moral. in c. 37. Job c. 19 sub Enem. as well Interior as Exterior: To bring us to Hatred, to Envy, to Anger; they may trouble our Senses so by deluding the Eyes, confounding the Fantasy, tossing the Imagination, that Man (altogether beyond himself) will do actions as far out of Reason, as his feelings shall be out of their Duty, not that the Devils are the Physical cause of those extravagant sallies, by the Impression of any Interior quality which is received in the faculties, but by the application of the Active to the Passive, they do so dispose the Oeconomy of all the Species, Hostis itaque callidus contra celestem militem modo ex pharetra per insidias eum sagitâ vulnerat, modo ante ejus faciem hastam vibrat, quia videlicet vitia & alia sub virtutum specie contegit, & alia ut sunt aperta ejus oculis opponit. D. Greg. l. 13. Moral. in c. 39 Job cap. 30. statim initio. that if the Will, (as Mistress of the Lodging) comes not by force, of Arms to banish those Trouble-Feasts, and set each piece in its own Order, they will soon put all the House in disorder. We must not believe that the Devils, when they have undertaken to deceive or tempt any body after that nature, will have it cried out with the sound of a Trumpet over all the corners of the City, or that they will set up Proclamations on the Gates, and in all public places; No, they go another way to work; here is their craft: They do search and consider the predominant humour, Si autem fortasse validum contra avaritiam cernit, importunè ejus cogitationibus suorum domesticorum inopiam suggerit, ut dum mens ad provisionem curam quasi piè flectitur, seducta futurim in rerum ambitu inique rapitur. Idem Greg. Ibid. and the inclination that takes most authority in each person: For it's certain that we bring from our Mother's Womb two inclinations, Passions and Humours, the one good, the other bad: the good serves as an Instrument to the good Angels to convert us; the bad is an occasion to Satan to pervert us: At the sight of that bad inclination, as by the favour of a strong Bulwark, our Enemies do make their Batteries in all assurance, do and represent Objects Exteriorly, which may be conformable to that inclination, and then they do let fly their Arrows, with that assurance that we shall not use much violence to curb our unruly Appetites, they do expect to gain the Victory very soon; if they know a Man whose inclination leads him to sensuality, they will charge his fantasy with so many lubric and carnal Species; they will furnish so many present occasions to the evil; Cum malum aliquod cogitamus sive parum sive multum, nulli dubium esse debet, quin Angelum malignum hortatorem habeamus D. Aug. ad Ef. in erem●. they will kindle so many fires on the hearth of our concupiscences, that we shall sooner burn alive in our scorching heat, than we shall take notice of their flames; so true is the saying of St. Augustine, that we never think of any bad thing, be it great or little, but we have a malignant Angel who sets us on to commit it. There are your Enemies for you, you have seen their endeavours, and wherein consists all the power they have to Tempt us: But all that is not able to make us go back, when we have a magnanimous Heart to go through with the design of our Conversion: They have their Arms in hand, but they dare not strike at us with them, if we do not give them liberty: They have their Arrows to let fly at us, but we have the Buckler of Faith to mortify their points. If they do wound us, the Blood of Jesus will cure us of all our wounds; and their Temptations being made useless by our courage, will give us an increase of Merit, and to them an augmentation of pain. CHAP. XXXIV. The good Angels have more Power to Convert us, than the bad Angels have to pervert us. Dominator Caelorum mittae Angelum tuam bonum ante nos, etc. 2 Mat. 15. v. 23. Angelicos spiritus recte Dei milite; dicimus quia decertare eos contra potestetes aereas non ignoramus, quae tamen certamina non lalabore, sed imperio peragunt, quia quicquid agendo contra immundos spiritus appetunt, ex adiutorio cunc●● regentis possi●t. IN the Conduct and Order of Created things, we find that the Superiors, by way of Eminency, contain all that is Good, Handsome and Noble in the Inferiors: The Plant which doth possess the first degree of vegitative life, contains also in itself the simple being of a Stone, which is Inferior to it; the sensible Creature more perfect than the Plant, besides her essential form, has the simple being of the Stone and the vegetative of the Plant; Man, who has an ascendance over the Beast, besides his special difference which makes him reasonable, possesses in a degree of excellency, the simple being of the Stone, the vegetative of the Plant, D. Greg. l. 7. Moral. in caput. 26. Job c. 8. statum init●o. and the feeling of the Beast: The Angel superior to Man, as he doth surpass him in the Nobility of his Nature, so he contains by way of eminency all what he has of Good, Handsome, and Noble in his Intelligence. What great pleasure I take to consider with the Philosopher, the natural Pencil of this invisible Painter, who devices in Man all the Images of corporal things, with so much perfection & ne vity. For stripping them out of all what they have that is course and terrestrial, he renders them so delicate and small, that they do pass without the least difficulty through the Organs of the Imagination and fantasy, for to lodge themselves in the memory, wherein they are set up in Order, as so many Pourtraicts of Zeuxis and Apelles in that most renowned Gallery of the great King of Persia; to see a big Tree, Block, Bark, Fruit, Flowers, Leaves, Branches, and Roots; the Heavens so many degrees bigger than all the Earth; fixed Stars, Planets, Sun, Moon, Elements; a City all entire, Streets, Houses, Palaces, Towers, Churches, Steeples; and all this to pass through the Apple of an eye, which is no bigger than a little Pea, to conserve themselves in the memory without any confusion; and though there be a Thousand Millions of such like shapes, to know how to pick them out upon occasion, and to make use of them, is there any thing more ravishing? Sancti Angeli, proculdubio universam creaturam in qua ipsi sunt principialiter conditi, in ipso verbo Dei prius noverunt, in quo sunt omnium etiam quae temporaliter facta sunt aeternae rationes, tanquam in eo per quod facta sunt omnia, ac deinde in ipsa creatura quam sic noverunt, tanquam infra respicientes, eamque referentes ad illius laudem in cujus incommutabili veritate rationes secundum quas facta est principaliter vident. D. Aug. tom. 3. l. 4. de Genes. ad litt. c 14. per totum. Why then all that is done by the means of the Species and Images, which the Spirit of Man, (invisible Painter,) draws from all the material Objects: I say Images, which bear no other name in our Schools than that of diminutive entities, so much they are to be admired in their smallness. The Angels who are superiors to Man as well by the Nobility of their Nature, as by the constitution of their Essence, have also the shapes and Images of all Sublunary things, which give them a full knowledge of their singularities after such wonderful ways, that there is nothing here on Earth but is perfectly represented to them in Heaven, by their Pourtraits, which they do so artificially devise within themselves, but with this difference, that Man by the long experience of things which he knows and perceives by his Senses, takes even the Copies thereof, and forms their Images on the model of the objects; whereas the Angel, who has neither Organs nor Senses to shape those Images, and intelligible Species, receives them from God immediately, and by way of infusion, from the very moment of his existence. A acknowledge, which is the foundation and ground of all the Angel's power, in regard of Men, moreover to show that the Saints, now Canonised in Heaven, have a particular care of those that are as yet on Earth, besides the Article of Faith which obliges us to believe, that according as their Knowledge does increase to a greater perfection, so their Charity also will become greater, and of a more vast extent: The same it is with Angels, whose powers may be reduced to two Heads, pursuant to the two sorts of knowledge they have in relation to men. The first is relating to Man in the state of his corporal and individual nature; Banc. in 1 part D. Tho. q. 57 art. 1 p, 740. not only touching the generality of his Essence, but as yet in the singular circumstances of the Accidents, and special Rencounters which are to befall him; So the Angel of St. Peter; for Example, from the very instant of his Creation, received from God by infusion an intelligible Species, whereby he might know him when he would come to the World, and with such particular marks, that he could in no wise be deceived, in such sort that the same abstractive Image which he receives of St. Peter before he comes to the World, is the selfsame which brings him to his knowledge when he is in the World; wherein he partakes of the Excellency of that Eternal Idea, which being but One (and most simple,) represents unto him without any change, things possible and actual. God gave not this knowledge to Angels of our Persons, Angelis suis Deus mandavit de te, etc. Psal. 90. Petrus de Natal. l. 4 c. 141. De excelso coelorum habitaculo, ad consulendos, visitandos & adjuvandum, nos, attrahit supereminens charitas Angelos, propter Deum, propter nos, propter seipsos Author libri de diligendo Deo, apud A●g. to 9 c, 3. in ●ine. nor of the accidents which happen to us, but with that weighty obligation to have a special care of us. God commanded his Angels, says the Prophet-Royal to direct and secure your steps in the slippery Ways and paths of the Earth, that your foot may not meet with a stumbling Stone which might give you a fall. It's so that the devout Pilgrim of Orleans continuing his Journey to St. James in Calais received no hurt by the Robbers who waited for him at the passage of a River to plunder him; for his Angel- Guardian, transported him to the other side of the water, sooner than his Enemies could put their hands to their Arms to take away with his purse his life, which was dearer to him then all that the World could afford him. The second knowledge of Angels on the fact of men is to know the Supernatural means necessary to their Salvation, among which the most adorable Mystery of the Incarnation holds the first rank, as the chiefest, and whereof depends all the rest, with this difference, that at the first instant of their Creation, Faith made them only believe the chief motive thereof; whereas at the second moment, they had seen in the word, both the motive and the particular circumstances; as are his Nativity in the Stable, his Death on Mount Calvary, his Resurrection from the Tomb, the Sacrament of Baptism, the Institution of the Eucharist, and the rest which were to follow that general motive: And this for two Reasons, the one touches themselves, the other regards Us: That which touches Them, is, being that Jesus Christ according to St. Paul's Doctrine was appointed supreme Head both of Angels and Men, Hebr. 1. and the first among the second objects of their Beatitude, they could not affix themselves to him, but they must have had him in perspective by Faith, and in enjoyment by the Word, and in the Word: That which relates unto Us, is, that the Angels by the Duty of their charge being obliged to procure the Salvation of Men, and to be the Ministers thereof, according to the same Apostle, it was convenient, that they should know all the appurtenances of the Incarnation; Otherwise, God would have ordained them to an end without giving them the means to attain to it; it would be to make them Guiders and Leaders to Men, without knowing where to conduct them, and have no ground to exhort them to the veneration of those Mysteries, if they had not a former knowledge of their merits. Now if the Devils at the first instant of their Creation knew the substance of this Mystery, yet they stopped there without passing any further, Christus Dominus tantum innotuit daemonibus quantum voluit, voluit autem quantum oportuit. D. Aug. 9 civ. c. 22. not only because they would not know the circumstances of it in the Word, for That was a Privilege reserved to the blessed, and which was denied to the Devils, as being Apostates, and Rebellious Spirits, but only as for the Incarnation brought to pass in the difference of times, they remained always doubtful whether the Son of God, should, or could die for Men, until that by three Actions, which could not come but from an Agent, who resented a fullness of Divinity: (To wit, to resuscitate glorious from the Tomb, to bring the Fathers out of Limbo, and mount up to the Heavens by his proper Virtue;) they were compelled against their Inclinations to confess with respect and fear what they did obstinately contest before. We must then fear no more the Devils in the enterprise of our conversions; For besides, that all their power is under conditions, and so little advantageous to their ill-will for us, that they cannot hurt us but with our own consent; we are assured in the behalf of our good Angels, that they have both the power to comfort, strengthen, and also assist us without limitation, and a good will to discharge themselves faithfully of their duty without weariness, and upon all occasions. CHAP. XXXV. How the Flesh usurps on the right of the Spirit. In vicino versatur invidia. Senec. de brev. vitae. NEighbourhood is never without envy, says the moral Philosopher; and I think him nothing seated to his advantage, In hoc flexu aetatis fama Coelii haesit admetus, notitia Clodiae mulieris impudicae, & iufoelici vicinitate. Cicero pro. who has made it his choice to reside close by a bad Neighbour; For there he shall always find something to be debated; The Body and the Spirit, the Superior and Inferior part of the Soul are two Neighbours that lodge Door against Door, always in War, always in strife, M. Coelio. Video aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae. Rom. 7. v. 23. never out of trouble: The one brings down his Laws, his Customs and daily Practices; the other alleges his own: But the Body better versed, and more learned in the subtleties of Pleading, gives the Spirit much to do. He acts the part of a malicious Usurper, who will invest himself with another man's Goods, and makes it his ordinary business to conceive and produce three Acts of bad Faith; by one he pulls down and destroys the Meers and Bounds which set a distinction betwixt both the Inheritances; by the other he burns, confounds, or retains with himself all the pretensions and titles of his Neighbour, that he might have nothing to show whereby to make appear the right and justice of his possession; By the third, he passes all the Farms in his own name, receives the Rents and duties; and so of a slave oftentimes he makes himself absolute Lord and Proprietor of that which he held from another by credit and Homage, Aggenus l. de Limitibus agrorum. and also with an obligation of Bondage. As for the first, which is the taking away of Meers and Bounds, it's an Act against the common Law of Nations, which prescribes unto each thing its Mark, that the Lord and Master thereof, may be known, and that no body might encroach or trespass on his Land. The collation of those Meers was so Holy and venerable among the Ancients, that they would accompany it with as many Ceremonies, as they would their most solemn Sacrifice to their Gods; the stones being gathered into a great heap on a firm ground, they would Crown them with a Cap of Flowers, and cast thereon some Aromatic Ointments, to Embalm the place; the Trench being made deep where the Bounds being to be settled, they were to kill some clean & spotless Beasts, which they would bury therein by quarters; and be-sprinkle them with Blood freshly drawn out of their veins, the Sacred Fire being put to those materials so disposed, and at the greatest force of the activity of these flames, when the Flesh began to boil in the Blood, they would cast the stones into that deep trench so carefully made hot, Frontinus lib. de limitions. and this they would call Meers of Inheritance; Ille homo Primitus Dei lege transgressa, aliam legem repugnantem suae menti habere coepit in membris, & inobedientiae suae malum sensit, quoniam sibi retributam dignissime inobedientiam carnis suae invenit. D. Aug. to 7. l. 1. de nuptiis & concupisc. ad Valerium cap. 6. statim intio. which no body durst take away by reason of the punishment decreed against such transgressors, which was to be immediately condemned to the Mines. The Body, as a bad Neighbour, after he had at that dismal day of the Garden of Eden, raised up in Arms, all the unruly motions of his concupiscence, to provoke the Soul to the disorder of the Crime which she there committed, believed he had acquired advantages great enough, to entrench upon her Rights, knowing very well by the experience he had of her little courage to maintain them, that he would soon get the better of her, if he would undertake to entangle her in a Process; he gins with the first Act of a bad Faith, which is to take away and pass over the Bounds, which God and Nature had put betwixt him and the Soul. But what are the Meers of the Body assigned by the Decree of the great Surveyor of the Universe, it's a little bit of Earth, of five or six foot in length, two or three in breadth for the most corpulent: An inheritance, which is never better measured then by the same Body, when that they do cast him into his Tomb, and stretch him over all what he is worth in the World; and as yet the Worms will strive for the same, and pretending the prosperty to be their own, they gnaw the carcase so far as to take away all form and shape belonging to a Body. Morever, whilst the Body is alive, he is subject to all manner of slavery, which can be exacted of a Vassal; If the Soul, as his Sovereign, can absolutely command him: And if she could make use of the Justice of her Power and Prerogative, the Body in respcct of her would have no further credit or esteem, than what we usually have for a mere Slave; because that the Soul being of a Celestial offspring, she can have no bounds upon Earth, her limits touch the very point of Eternity, whence she derives the Antiquity of her Race, and the Grandeurs of her Nobility. What has happened upon that account? what but that great misfortune which St. Paul will have the Corinthians to avoid; Non sit schisma in corpore. 1. Cor. c, 11. (to wit,) to hinder that the Body should become Schysmatique; that is to say, to hinder that no division should be betwixt the Members and the Head, the Vassal and the Lord, the Servant and the Master. The Soul is the Head, the Lady, and the Mistress of the Body: Yet by reason that the Soul cannot exercise the Acts of her power, unless that she does pass over the Earth of the Body; and that the Spirit cannot receive any intelligible Species, unless she draws them from abroad by the favour of the senses which are the Organs of the Body; Hence, the Body in the continuation of the Soul passes and repasses, seeintg she had need of his assistance, took the occasion of a revolt, and in a short time, being weary of serving, and getting without the Meers of his duty, he reduced her to that pass to serve and wait on his unruly appetite, Servitutes praediorum confundantur, si idem utriusque praedii dominus esse coeperit. Digest. l. 8. tit. 6. and to labour the Earth, though she be a Princess of Heavenly Extraction; And this, because she knew not how to hold her own rank, maintain her Rights, and make the Body know how far she could extend her bounds. CHAP. XXXVI. The Second unjust Usurpation of the Flesh, on the right of the Spirit. THe Lord and Proprietor being no more able to obtain what is his by right, through the unjustice which was done unto him, by destroying and taking away his Bounds: the bad Neighbour proceeds further; he finds out means, either to burn or take away his Titles, Contracts, and Public Instruments, which might make out the Righteousness of his Possession; and at the same time he forges others, to debar him from his pretensions: These are the proceed of the Flesh against the Spirit; the Soul had three fair Contracts to show, and drawn in a very good form in the first state of her Creation: The one was of Original Justice; the other of the Gift of Immortality; and the third of the Infusion of Science. The Contract of Original Justice has put her in Possession of the Sanctifying Grace, according to the feelings of all the Fathers, who by these words of Genesis, (Let us make man to our Image and Resemblance,) takes the Image for her constitution in her intelligible being, and the resemblance for her interior ornament through the infusion of Grace, after which comes Charity. The Queen of all Virues, waited on by all moral perfections, which as Ladies of Honour are always inseparable from her; the Justice than comes first Leader, and Chief among the Cardinals, with the rest that follow immediately the Theological, all which in the first instant did acknowledge God for their object, and were so punctual to serve him on occasions, that nothing could be imagined better ordered in that little Commonwealth. Man was admitted to the Privy Council of the King of Glory, so far as to know the most secret affairs of the Divinity, as was the decree of the redemption of mankind in the fullness of time, by sending one of the Divine Persons, who uniting himself to humane Nature, would discharge her of her Debts in rigour of Justice: Moreover, by Virtue of his Contract he had not only reasonable inclinations towards his Creator, but as yet his Will did taste with so much sweetness of all manner of things which concerned the Divine Worship, that the sensitive appetite has not so much of sensible pleasure in the enjoyment of her delights. The Contract of Immortality exempted Adam, and all them who by Original propagation were to come from his Race, from that rigorous tribute of Death; whereby the Soul could have received a great advantage; for by this means she would have shunned the experience of what grief and sorrow she met with in the separation, when that those two essential pieces of Man, the Soul and Body so perfectly united, comes to break off. I must confess this Contract was not grounded on any right of nature; because that man suffers within himself a continual War of four contrary qualities, which at last must end his life to begin his Death, and therefore he could not expect to be Immortal by Nature, Mortalis erat Adam conditione corporis animalis, immortalis autem beneficio conditoris. D. Aug. in c. 7. Genes. but even as the King who is above the common Laws of his Kingdom, dispenses with whom he pleases: So God, says St. Augustin, did order, that Man, Mortal by the condition and property of his animal Body, should be Immortal by the benefice of his Prince: Ne mors undequaque subreperet, vel senectute confecti decursis temporum spatiis interirent. Idem ibid. A Benefice nailed to the Tree of Life by an adherent quality, which acted this great wonder, that eating the Fruit which hung from the Branches, it did not only give nourishment to the Body, to preserve Life, but also was an expulsive Medicine of all gatherings of ill Humours to keep him always in the just proportion of a perfect health. Infusione non per se, sed per accidens. The Contract of the Infusion of science, did raise the Spirit of man from the very instant of his Creation to the perfect knowledge of all natural things, God having granted him that Grace, that whereas now we spend years and ages to attain to some little knowledge of Learning, in one instant he would become an able Philosopher. For, whatever thing he would apply himself to, either Material, Spiritual, or Divine, he would easily draw from thence all possible consequences by way of nature: In material things he had a clear knowledge of their constitutive Principles, of their genius, difference, properties and accidents; he gave to each thing Names, which were evident signs and marks of their substance, that from one they would easily come to the knowledge of the other: The motion of the Heavens, Ordinary, Extraordinary, Influences, Aspects, Regards, Positions, Colours, Zodiac, Eccliptick, Signs, Constellations, and the wonderful enclosure of all the Globes one into another, without confusion; all that was the entertainment of his Spirit. In Spiritual things the very Angels met under the sphere of his Activity, and made up a part of the object of his science; for though he had no material Species of the Angel, being that the matter cannot be the Image of the Spirit, nevertheless by illations and Universal consequences by proportion of the Soul, whose Functions are Intellectual, he could conclude the existence of a being purely Spiritual, without any mixture of matter. In Divine things there was no Creature in the World, wherein he did not consider either the trace or Image of God, and carrying his understanding from visible to invisible things, would conclude that of necessity, there was one originary cause, a primum mobile, a Sovereign Agent. Foams peccati. The Body, after he had corrupted nature, did falsify, burn, and corrupt all those Titles, Contracts, and Privileges, Substituting in their place the Leven of concupiscence. In the practice of Courts, they would call that, a demising which the Soul makes of all her rights to the Body, not having courage enough to maintain them: This is what St. Paul calls the Law of sin, which causes the Soul that she dares not appear, to hold her own rank in the quality of a Princess by the excellency of her extraction, nor to have herself obeyed as Mistress and Regent of the Body: Her cowardliness makes her to take with the vile and abject condition of a Servant, and receive the Laws of the Flesh, whereas she ought to command absolutely. CHAP. XXXVII. The third unjust Usurpation of the Flesh on the right of the Spirit. THe Meers and Bounds being taken away, the Contracts confounded, the bad Neighbour seizes on the Inheritance, sells and alienates all that he can: What a grief is it to a poor man, to see before his eyes, all his Chief and best Goods proscribed, the hang of his Halls, the Beds and rich Furniture of his Rooms, Quisque peccando animam suam diabolo vendit, accepta, tanquam pretio, dulcedine temporalis voluptatis. D. Aug. in expos. propositionum ad Rom. Num 4. the brave Linen conserved so long a time in the Coffers, all seized on, all exposed to sale: If for to conserve the memory of his race, he would fain buy one of the Pieces, they make him pay a double rate for it: The Body deals the same with the Soul, he sets all her movable Goods to be sold, he gives no further respite for the buying of them but as long as a farthing Candle shall give light on the bottom of a Tub or Hogshead, who ever gives most, shall have all from him. St. Paul to the Romans, complains of that disgrace; I am altogether carnally given, Ego Carnalis sum venundatus sub peccato, infoelix ego homo quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus. Rom. c. 7. v. 14 and brought under the heavy yoke of sin: Alas! what a wretch am I, who shall deliver me from the Tyranny of this Body. That Candle lighted, is our Life, whose light is so short, that it often does Eclipse from our Eyes, before we can enjoy a glance of its brightness; and yet notwithstanding Eternity depends on this moment; 'tis in this moment that we must either be Saved or Damned; That we must do good, the seed of Glory: Or sow incorruption, the seed of everlasting misfortune. The Body will have this moment to himself alone, and though he knows this moment to be of a short continuance, and that this life passes away as the Wind; he will not give over to build designs in his brains, which seem to strive with Eternity. Solomon, (the most wise among men,) gives an ample description of that folly, where a man in so short a time will undertake so many things; the discourse he makes of it is altogether as pleasant, as it is necessary, to oblige all Spirits to make good use of this moment. I was, (says he) King in Jerusalem, Great, Powerful, Rich, at my ease; and seeing that the pleasures did much weaken the vivacity of my Spirit, Eccl. c. 4. v. 4. and that in the continuation of their bad use, I was declining from the conduct of wisdom, I abstained from the delicacy of Wines by a rule of sobriety, which bridled my appetites. I set my hand to work, building of Palaces, planting of Vines, dressing of Gardens, ordering of Vineyards and Orchards. I reform the state of my House, and made it my Study to render it the most renowned of all the World: I did seek to procure for my senses all the objects they could desire: And, as the power to possess them was as easy to me, as the desire to have them, I did satisfy them at full in the moment of their appetites; But all the goods and pleasures of the World well considered, are but Vanity, and affliction of Spirit. I would afterwards fain know what difference was there betwixt the folly of the World, and the wisdom of Heaven, betwixt a prudent man, and a fool. I have seen that the Wise had his eyes in his head, and that the fools walked in darkness: The one and the other were equal in this point, that death without any respect or consideration, does cast them both into the Grave: If it be so, says I to myself, that Death pardons no more the Wise than the Fool; that the Learned and Ignorant come to the same end; to what purpose is so much time spent in such unprofitable labours? 'tis but vanity and affliction of Spirit. The passionate desire I had to see him prosper, who was to succeed me in my Dominions, has engaged me in a thousand cares, which gnawed my heart; But reflecting seriously on their anxiety, I detested their pursuit, not knowing whether he who is to be my Heir, will be of the number of the Fools, or of that of the Wise; or if he will not be prodigal of the Goods, whose acquisition cost me so dear; This is that which made me resolve to give myself a little ease, and without troubling any further the quietness of my life, to pass over sweetly the rest of my days in peace. Continuing by induction to make appear the sad occupation of Men, who have no God but their Body, and who in a moment undertake so many affairs, to the prejudice of their Souls, they do show evidently the advantages of the Flesh over the Spirit: And as the Spirit, if he does not get himself off speedily and with courage from under the Tyranny of his Hostilities, will be utterly subdued without expectation of any agreement. CHAP. XXXVIII. That it is the Grace of Jesus which maintains the Spirit in his Rights. 'TIs but in vain for the Flesh to plot or devise unjust Usurpations on the Rights of the Spirit: Nihil damnationis est iis, etc. Rom. c. 8. v. 1. She may Rebel against his Empire, but to no purpose, Corruptio corporis quae aggravat animam non peccati primi est causa sed poena, nec caro corruptibilis animam peccatricem, sed anima peccatrix carnem fecit esse corruptibilem. D. Aug. tom. 5. l. 14. civet. c. 3. per totum. for the Spirit will always find whereby to dissolve all her slights, her revolts and subtle inventions. The Word-Incarnate will furnish us with sufficient means to annul all her pursuits: Whereupon the Apostle fears not to say, That there is no damnation for them that are in Jesus Christ, so be that undervaluing the Sedition of the Tempter, they do avoid as much as they can the deceits of his practice: because that the Law of the Spirit taken from the life of Jesus, Res violenter p●ssassa non pote●●su capi vel praescribi, nisi vitium violentiae sit pro●●tum p. 14. tit. 3. §. 14. delivers us from the bondage of Sin and Death; Not that the Apostle absolutely speaking, would give the Christian Letters of assurance of the Infallibility of his Salvation, for that would be contrary to Holy Scriptures: His design is to show the power of the Word-Incarnate, in the use of Baptism, where we do receive so authentical a Pardon for our Crimes, that our Souls being perfectly Purged of all original spots, Concupiscentia vocatur peccatum quia peccato facta est cum j●●r in regeneratis non sit ipsa peccatum, sicut vocatur lingua locutio quam facit lingua, frigus pigrum non q● pigris fi●t; said quod pigro faciat. D. Aug. tom. 7. de nupt. & concup. c. 23. there remains nothing that deserves the name of Sin: If Concupiscence remains after Baptism, it holds not the rank of a Crime in our Hearts, but is left only for the exercise of Virtue, as the originary Seed of all the Combats betwixt the Spirit and the Flesh, where every good Christian ought to make his courage appear, and remain always Victorious, whether he flies from his Enemy when he discovers his Treachery; or that he withstands Manfully against the violence of his assaults. Non regnet peccatum in vestro mentali corpore. Rom. 6. If the Saints sometimes make use of the word, Sin, speaking of Concupiscence, even as St. Paul to the Romans, exhorting us that we should not permit Sin to reign in our Mortal Bodies; it's to take the word, Sin, in a very general extent, and not in the precise Intelligence of its malice: Concupiscence then, to speak properly, is no other thing in St. Augustine's opinion, than a languishing tepidity to produce the actions of the Spirit; That puts all the Members of the Flesh into a Lethargy, when there is question to obey the commandments of the Soul; this idleness becomes a Tyrant, if permitted to command absolutely; and our proper feelings will become Arms of iniquity, Languor iste tyranus est, si vis te ti●anni esse victorem Christum invoca imperatorem. D. Aug. verb. Apost. serm. 12. if we have not recourse to the Storehouse of the Cross, and take thence the Shield of Mortification, on which Jesus our true Captain, having received their most violent attacks, has disabled them, thereby to teach us how to prevent their effects. You would say, that St. Cyprian intends to make of Man a Smith's Shop; Caro autem sic utitur anima sicut faber maleo vel incude, in qua format omnium turpitudinem idola. D. Cypr. in Prologue. tract. de operibus carn Christi. The Flesh is the Smith, his Hammer is Concupiscence; he makes of his Soul an Anvil: The Flesh, armed with her Concupiscence, strikes with both Arms full strokes on our Soul, to forge therein the Idols of pleasure, and expose them to a public adoration: And a little after (falling from the Analogy of that comparison,) he casts himself on another, where he compares the Flesh to Circe the Witch, that mingles in her Pottage a mortal Poison: Mens ebria, corpus contumeliis applicat, & junctis amplexibus ambo, in mortiferas suavitates elapsi, obdormiunt. Idem. ibid. For as soon as the Spirit does taste of that Potion of the Flesh, there he lies drunk of a sottish Love, which makes him give over to Concupiscence a full right in all his pretensions, and giving one another an unfortunate kiss, they both fall into the fatal Bed of common perdition: But all those actions proceeding from a bad Faith, and grounded on a deceitful Cheat, can give no gain of cause to the Body, if the Soul be pleased to make use of the pieces which will easily justify her Rights and Titles: Nay, without going any further, let her use the Right she has of a substantial Information, and she shall soon see the Body brought to his Duty. By the right of a substantial Information, Non est caro dictatrix peccati, nec inventrix malitiae, nec cogitatus format, nec agenda disponit, sed officina est spiritus, qui in ea & per eam, quaecunque affectaverit peragit & consummate. D, Cypr. supra. the Soul has such an assendance over the Body, that, as the Body in the Being of Nature, cannot boast to possess life, but for so long a time as the Soul will stick to him. So in the Moral Being of the practice of Good and Evil, to make an action good or bad, the Body will contibute nothing, if the Soul does not co-oporate, the Flesh does not dictate the SIN, she does not invent the malice, she does not dispose the thoughts, she is only the Workhouse of the Spirit, where the Good and Evil gins, and is consummated. If the Soul cannot redeem herself from the Tyanny of the Body by the right of her Information, Quis me liberabit, etc. Rom. 8. v. 25. let her have recourse to the means which St. Paul does prescribe in like occurrences, who sighing under so cruel a Thraldom, seems to cry for strength and assistance to God through Jesus Christ. When St. Augustine was on the point to break with all Worldly pleasures: D. Aug. lib. 8. Concess c. 11. Ibi tot pueri & puellae ibi juventus multa & omnis aetas & graves viduae, & virgins & in omnibus ipsa continentia nequaquam sterilis sed faecunda mater filiorum gaudiorum de marito te Domine, & irridebat me irrisione exhortatoria, quasi diceret tu non poteris quod isti est istae, an vero isti etistae. They all presented themselves unto him under the colours of a malicious compassion, to mollify with their Charms the force of his Courage: To what purpose, would they say, do you engage yourself in a life, whereof the ordinary practice is to be among Chains, Crosses, Wheels, and Gibbets? But this great Saint, considering on the other side, the powerful Grace of Jesus, as a Victorious Princess, which carried, in her right hand, the List and Names of so many young Children, of chaste Virgins, of Noble Matrons, snatched from the World and the Flesh, to serve God; suffers himself to be easily persuaded, that God, who makes no exception of persons, will not refuse him the efficacious assistance of the same Grace. He fights then under that hope, he invokes Jesus to his aid, and notwithstanding the contradictions of the Flesh, he appears Stout, and Courageous against all occasions of Vice. This Example will let those that are in Love with Liberty, see that it is not incompatible with effectual Grace; because this, (according to St. Augustine,) is a Victorious pleasure charming our Soul; a Triumphant Love, predominant over our Will, and a powerful persuasion captivating our understanding. Forasmuch as God hath made Man free, never taking that from him which once he hath bestowed upon him; he could not have employed a more gracious, nor more effectual way to gain Him, than pleasure. All Creatures are taken with it, and the Poet had reason to say, there is nothing that is not sweetly Mastered by Pleasure. The Ambitious seek not so much the reputation in Honours, as the pleasure, because they contemn them as soon as they cease to be agreeable. The Covetous is not so much provoked with profit, as pleasure in the desire of Wealth, because he spends many times prodigally, to procure other things that more delight him; Nay, the Lascivious Wanton, is not so much in Love with Beauty as with pleasure, because he placeth his affections sometimes upon Objects that have no appearance of Beauty, and many times forsakes a handsome Woman to Court a deformed one: Thus pleasure is a powerful Charm, that masters all Hearts, Plunders Liberties, and makes Slaves that never complain of Bondage, because they are voluntary. Lovers that seek the secret of purchasing affection, study nothing but Complacency, being assured they shall produce Love in that Heart where they have begot pleasure. Flatterers never insinuate into the minds of great Men, but by rendering themselves acceptable; nor do their false commendations steal in at the Ears, but because pleasure takes up the place of Truth. The very Devils, though our Mortal Enemies seduce us not, but because they please us; and had they not found out the Art of mixing Pleasure with Sin, all their Temptations would be fruitless. But the Will of Man, though never so free, hath such an inclination toward pleasure, that did she never so strongly barracado herself, she could not possibly resist it: She holds out against Truth, because she is blind, and sees not the Beauties 'tis adorned with; she secures herself against violence, because she is free, and naturally opposeth whatever seems to encroach upon her liberty; She does not acquiesce in reason, because she is deaf, nor hears any discourse but such as charms the Understanding by convincing it; But Pleasure hath allurements which she can no ways withstand: She trembles whenever it sets upon her, she is afraid to lose her liberty in his presence; and knowing the power it hath over her inclinations, she calls in Sorrow to her succour, to Guard her against this pleasing Enemy. If it be true, that Pleasure reigns absolutely over the Will, we need not think it strange that Grace which is nothing but a Victorious suavity, hath such advantage over her; For besides, that this Heavenly Influence surpasseth all the delights in the World that charm us, having more allurements than Glory and Beauty, that makes so many Lovers and Martyrs, Tunc enim bonum concupisci incipit cum dulcescere incipit: ergo benedictio dulcedinis est gratia Dei qua fit in nobis ut nos delectes & cupiamus, hoc est amemus quod praecipit nobis. Aug. it insinuates much deeper into the Will, than whatever ravisheth us Mortals. Being in the hands of Jesus Christ, whom nothing can resist, it glides into the very Centre of our Hearts, making Impressions there, that are never more strong than when they are most agreeable; thence it cashiers all Pleasures that have unjustly Usurped upon us, and knowing all the weakness of the place it sets upon, we need not wonder if she makes herself Mistress. Other Pleasures enter not into the Will, but at the Gate of the Senses; they have lost half their strength before they can make their approach; and her inclination being unknown to them, they many times cause aversion intending to procure Love: But Grace woos the Heart without the mediation of the Senses, and more powerful than Pleasures that act not upon all the faculties of the Soul, carries light into the Understanding, Faithfulness into the Memory, and Pleasures into the Will; so that we need not wonder if the Sinner suffer himself to be overcome by a Divine quality that sheds delight into all the powers and faculties of the Soul. That which Grace effects thus agreeable by Pleasure, Amor imperium habet super omnes animae vires propter hoc quod ejus objectum est bonum Arivis & D. Tho. it brings to pass more powerfully by Love: For according to the Judgement of St. Augustine, Grace is nothing else but Charity, and when God means to convert a Sinner, his sole design is to make him his Lover. Love is the Master of all Hearts; there is no impossibility this Passion undertakes not; Miracles are his sports, and all the Prodigies Antiquity hath produced, are nothing but the effects of this Sovereign. Scripture is never more Eloquent, than when it intends to express the force thereof: Nothing satisfies it in this design; all words seem too weak to express its conceptions, and finding no comparisons that answer the dignity of the Subject, it descends to the Tombs, where having considered the Trophies of Death, is forced to confess, that his power equals not that of Love: It passeth to the very Centre of the Earth, observes the unrelenting sadness of Hell, and comparing the pains of the Damned with the anxeity of Lovers, leaves us in doubt whether Hell or Love be more pitiless. But not to aggravate his power by such strange comparisons, let it suffice to Judge of him by his Effects: Though he be the Son of the Will, yet is he the Master; he disposeth so absolutely of his Mother, that she hath no Motions but what her Son inspires her with: She undertakes nothing but by his Orders; 'tis the Weight that sets her a going; the Loadstone that attracts her; the King that Governs her; and she so absolutely depends upon his Power, that nothing but an other Love can disengage her: She is so fierce or so free, that neither Violence nor Fear can tame her; She laughs at Tortures, preserves her Liberty in the midst of Fetters, and many times Torments make her but more wilful: Only Love mollifies her hardness, his Charms gain upon her, what sorrow cannot, and Experience teacheth Us, there is no surer command than that which is founded upon Love. In the mean time, Vanity, which is almost the inseparable Companion of Greatness, persuades Kings that 'tis a debasement to seek the Love of their Subjects; and seduced by this false Maxim, They endeavour to make themselves feared, not being able to make themselves Beloved. But God, who hath form the Heart of Man, and knows how they may be Vanquished without being forced, owes all his Conquests to his Love; He never appears more absolute, then when he tames a Rebellious Will, when of an Enemy he makes him a Lover, and changing his Inclinations, sweetly compels him to fall in Love with him. Forin secus terret per legem, intrinsecus delectat per amorem. Aug. His Power sparkles in his Corrections; He astonisheth Sinners when he loosens the Mountains from their Foundations, when he makes the Earth shake under their Feet, the Thunder rumble over their Heads, and threatens the World with an Universal Deluge, or a general Conflagration: But all these Menaces convert not the Guilty; The fear that terrifies them, does not reduce them to their Duty; their Heart remains Criminal, when their Mouths and their Hands be Innocent; and if God inspire not his Love into them, he punishes indeed their Offence, but changes not their Wills; This Prodigious Metamorphosis is reserved for his Love; 'tis his Charity that must Triumph over Rebels: Nor is there any thing, but his Grace, that by its Imperious Sweetness can oblige a Sinner to Love him. I am not afraid to injure Man's Liberty in using Terms so Significant; Because, supposing Grace to be nothing but Love, it can do no Violence to the Will: For of all the things in the World, there is none freer than Love: A Man cannot complain that he is forced, when nothing but Charms of affection are employed to gain him: And if there are some Lovers that have blamed the Rigour of their Mistresses, there is none that have found fault with their Love: If it be an Evil, 'tis a Voluntary one; it hurts none but those that willingly Embrace it; and of so many Punishments that torment Us, there is none more Innocent, because none more Free: Crowns may be snatched from Sovereigns, Confidence may be taken from Philosophers, Orators may be convinced, any man may lose his Life; but what ever Stratagems are made use of, what ever Violence men Practise, a Lover cannot be forced, nor his Love extorted from him. Seeing then Grace is nothing but Charity, and Charity nothing but a Holy Love; We must not apprehend Violence, nor imagine that the Assaults of this Divine Quality can at all injure our Liberty; because it does not disengage us from Evil, but by obliging us to Love God. If Grace cannot force our Will because it is a Victorious Love, it ought less to constrain it; Because, according to the Language of St. Augustine, 'tis a pleasant persuasion: For this great Man considering that he was to deal with on one side, and the Power of Grace on the other, that he was to maintain the Empire of God, and the Liberty of Man; He hath always expressed himself so happily, that he never prejudiced either: And, as indeed, Grace never forces Man, but persuades him, it holds some thing of Eloquence or of Reason, that Triumphs over Liberty without compelling it. Rhetorik is an Art that teaches us to persuade Truth; Orators are agreeable Sovereigns that bear Rule over the minds of their Auditors, that calm their Passions, change their Designs, and gently force their Wills: Therefore was it unhandsomely done of that Ancient to compare Pericles with Pisistratus, Quid enim inter Pisistratum & Periclem inter fuit, nisi quod ille armatus hic sine armis Tyrannidem gessit. Cicero. because this Tyrant domineered but over men's Bodies, that Orator exercised a Dominion over their Souls; The one made use of Violence, the other employed nothing but Sweetness: The one procured the hatred of his Subjects, the other the Love of his Auditors: For no man could complain of Pericles, because he used nothing but Eloquence to persuade; his command was founded upon Reason, his Chief force consisted in Truth, he subjected no understandings but by clearing them, nor changed any men's Wills but in taking them by their Interests or their Inclinations. In a word, Eloquence may boast herself a Sovereign that Reigns without Arms, Subdues People by her Word, convinceth Philosophers by her Reasons, and Subjects Monarches by her Power: She protects the Innocent, comforts the Distressed, condemns or absolves the Guilty; and she Animates the Advocates or the Judges, produceth different Miracles in their Souls. Whether she inchant the Ears by the Harmonious Cadencies of her Periods; whether she excite Love and hatred by her Gestures, her principal design is to master the Liberty of Man. She appears complacent, that she may be persuasive; nor doth she require the attention of her Auditors, but that she may get their consent: 'Tis true never any man complains of her Violence, because she is Sweet; and he that has changed his mind at the hearing of an Orator, never accused him of Tyranny. 'Tis certainly upon this ground, that St. Augustine calls Grace, a very Powerful persuasion; because imitating Eloquence, it clears our Spirits, calms our Passions, and gains our Consent; it hath this advantage over Eloquence, that it hath no need of our Ears to win our Hearts; it transmits' itself, by its self, into the inmost recesses of the Soul; finds out Reason in her Throne, without employing the Senses; carries Light into the Understanding, and kindles Love in the Will. Thus she persuades what she will to the obstinate, Subdues Rebels without Arms, makes her Subjects will what she desires they should; and when she displays all her Forces, she works the Conversion of a Sinner in a moment. This certainly was the power Jesus Christ made use of, when he laid St. Paul flat at his feet, when he Converted that Persecutor into an Apostle, changed his Heart and his Tongue, and made him that breathed nothing but murder, say, Lord what wilt thou have me to do? He lost not his Liberty, for having lost his Fury; He changed not his Nature, for having changed his Judgement; nor can we say that the persuasion that gained his consent, was less free, or more Violent for being too sudden. Grace knows how to be obeyed, without making us Slaves; She can persuade without compelling, and, more Powerful than Eloquence, is able to make us Love what we hated before. That great Orator that guided the Roman Commonwealth with his Tongue, and made his Opinion so Dexterously pass into the Soul of his Auditors: That Gallant Man, I say, hath wrought Miracles by his Eloquence, which we have much ado to allow the Grace of Jesus Christ to effect. He could boast that he altered the Resolution of Caesar, defending the Cause of Ligarius; that he shook the Papers out of the Hands, and the hatred out of the Heart of that Conqueror; that he made him the Sentence he had already pronounced in his Soul; that he overcame him by his Reasons, that he Subdued all by his Arms; and trampled upon the pride of a Tyrant that had Triumphed over the Liberty of Rome. In the mean time, we have much ado to believe that Grace can work Miracles; We weaken its Virtue, to preserve our own : We are not content that Jesus Christ should be as Powerful as an Orator: and when we hear of these Victorious Graces, and of these invinsible persuasions, we imagine as if there were a design to oppress the Public Liberty: Let us ascribe that to Grace, which we grant to Eloquence: Let us confess that the Son of God knows how to imprint Truth in our Spirit, and Love in our Heart, to persuade us Infallibly: Let us acknowledge that he is not to seek by what Stratagems to gain our Inclinations; that his Grace, more intimate than Concupiscence, is able to become the Mistress of our Wills; and whatever command she Exercises over us, she never destroys our Liberty; because she hath no other design then to redeem it out of Servitude. Let us then conclude with the Example and Doctrine of St. Augustine, that the Profession of a Christian, and the Excellency of the Children of Grace, is not to Prophesy future things, nor to hurl the point of their Intelligence into the hidden Mysteries of Holy Scripture; but to be Magnanimous, and Courageous in the frequent Combats which Concupiscence give us, for that is the only employment which will make appear how strong the Love is which we bear to Jesus. CHAP. XXXIX. That the Grace of JESUS leaves that weighty obligation on all Christians to be both Soldiers and Conquerors. THe God whom we adore takes his Glory as well from War as from Rest; and if he be called in Scripture, the God of Peace, he is as often called, the Lord of Hosts; Multitudo militiae Caelestis. His Angels are the Soldiers that wait upon him to the Battle, who avenge him of his Enemies; The Stars, which keep watch as Sentinels about his Palace, bear the name of the Militia in the Language of the Prophets: And all those that serve him for Ministers in his Embassies, serve him for Combatants in his Conquest. Labora sicut bonus miles Christ. 2. Tim. 2. Therefore did the Angels who gave notice to the Shepherds of the Birth of Jesus Christ, take their name from their principal employment, and called themselves the Heavenly Host; And when the Son of God was taken in the Garden of Olives, and blamed Saint Peter, Nemo coronabitur nisi vicerit neque vicet nisi certaverit: Quis autem certet nisi inimicum habeat? Ex Sent. Prosp. who would have hindered the work of our Salvation; he told his Disciples that it was easy for him to ask of his Father Legions of Angels to defend him from his Enemies. Men are considered under this quality upon Earth; the Holy Scripture calls them Soldiers; and if we believe the Testimony of Job, their whole Life is a continual War-fare: They have as many Enemies as Subjects: Rebellion is spread over every Corner of their State; the parts whereof they are composed, are revolted; and, which way soever they turn themselves, they find occasions of Fight. Christians are yet more obliged to War then Men: The Sacrament that enables them, withal engageth them in the Combat: The Earth is the Field where they try the Mastery; and these Terms of a List, a Crown, Terribilis ut Castrorum acies oedinata. a Soldier, which St. Paul so often useth in his Epistles, are so many Proofs of so known a Truth: The Church itself is an Army, the Christians whereof it is form are the Soldiers; It's therefore that the Scripture represents Her as a terrible Army drawn up in battalions, with their Arms in their hands, ready for a Fight. Wherein it seems we may behold the difference between a Camp and a City: both of them are Bodies which have their Head and Members, their Laws and Policy, their Designs and Employments: But in Cities we observe a pleasing Variety of Conditions equally contributing to their Advantage and Beauty: There we see Priests, who chant forth the Praises of God in his Temple, who load his Altars with Offerings; and mixing their Tears with the Blood of Victims, endeavour to appease his just Indignation. There are Magistrates which end Controversies, maintain Peace among the People, and make Justice reign in Families: There are Merchants, which Traffic with Strangers; who, by their Commerce, occasion plenty, and by their Diligence supply all necessities. But difference of condition seems to be banished from Armies: As all Fight, so all are Soldiers: Those that command, and those that obey, bear this quality, and both of them place their Glory in their Valour. Therefore the Church being an Army, those it consists of must necessarily Fight: The most feeble must be Courageous; the Women must be Amazon's; and all Christians, forgetting the difference of their Conditions, must take upon them the quality of Soldiers. Enemy's will not be wanting to Exercise their Courage, because the World, the Flesh, and the Devil hold Intelligence to set upon them; For the Christians War is at Home; whatever he hath received from Adam, is an occasion of exercising him; and, for a punishment of his sin, he is obliged to fight with himself. The Flesh is never at agreement with the Spirit; These two Parties have always some difference to compose, and though linked together by Natural Chains, and common Interests, cease not continually to make War on one another: They are two Friends that usually fall out, and two Enemies that caress each other; two Friends that shake hands, and two Enemies that make mutual visits; two Friends that cannot endure one another, and two Enemies that can never be asunder. This division is the first punishment of our Sin: And when we began to be upon ill terms with God, we ceased to have any good correspondence with ourselves. But that which seems most troublesome, is, that one Combat furnishes us with many Enemies: For, as St. Augustine saith, we daily fight in one Heart; in such a little room we find whole Armies; and sometimes we grapple with Avarice, sometimes with Pride, sometimes with Impiety: So that 'tis very hard, being set upon by so many Enemies, if we receive not some wound: This Combat is obstinately disputed; if there be some Truce, there is no real Peace: It lasts till Death; and if Soul and Body be not separated, it is impossible to make them Friends: The Senses bring us false reports, the Passions raise Storms, our inclinations set up a Party; And, to defend us from so many Enemies, we are obliged to borrow the assistance of Virtue. Every Age hath its exercise: Infancy is oppressed with Error and Ignorance, Youth is baited with Ambition and Wantonness, Old Age is clogged with Anger and Peevishness; So that there is no condition but has need of Grace, to defend it from those Enemies that set upon it. The Devil takes part with the Body to destroy us, employs his Wiles or his Force to terrify or seduce us; he mingles himself with our humours, disorders our Passions, troubles our Temper; and as if he were the Sovereign of Man, as well as the Prince of the World, he debauches our subjects, to disquiet our rest. Sometimes he takes upon him the shape of a Lion, and sometimes that of a Serpent, that using subtlety and violence, he may gain some advantage upon us: He studies our inclinations, to destroy us; suits himself with our humours, to surprise us; and, regulating his promises according to our desires, propounds Honours to us, if Ambitious; Riches, if Covetous; Pleasure, if Wanton: He persuades us that our Revenges are just, our Inclinations reasonable, and our Recreations innocent; and hiding Vice under the Mantle of Virtue, hinders us from reforming or defending ourselves. To secure us from so redoubted an Enemy, who sets upon us so many different ways, we must oppose our Prudence against his Cunning, our Patience against his Fury: We must countermine his Stratagems, penetrate his Intentions, and discover the Hook which lies under the sugared Bait: We must also bless the Justice of God, who exerciseth us by the Cruelty of this Executioner; put our confidence in his goodness, and remember that in this conflict we can overcome only by suffering. Having obtained this Victory, In mundo erat, & mundus eum non cognuovit. Joan. we must Arm ourselves against the World, which is the most dangerous Enemy a Christian can have: He set upon Jesus Christ in his Birth, Mundus me odit and being true to his Tyrant, knew not his Lawful Sovereign even then when he came to be his deliverer: He persecuted him during his life, and lost no occasion wherein he might do him a mischief; Ego non sum de hoc mundo. He conspired his death with the Devils, and expressing himself by the mouth of the Scribes and Pharisees,) charged him with calumnies before the Tribunal of Pilate, cast fear into the Soul of that cowardly Judge, and forced him to Condemn a Man whom he acknowledged Innocent. Non pro mundo rogo. Therefore neither had Jesus Christ any commerce with the World, he protested he had nothing to do with it; and that contrary to his Maxims, he could neither approve, nor suffer it: He would not so much as Pray for it, when he Prayed for his Executioners: Confidite, ego vici mundum. He boasted in the presence of his Apostles, that he had subdued this Rebel, and defeated this Enemy. Finally, he promised his Disciples, that he would destroy the World in the dreadful day of his Vengeance; so that professing to imitate the Son of God, we are obliged to hate what he never loved, and to defend ourselves from a Traitor, who employs Lying, Grief, and Pleasure, to gain us to his Party. He tries to deceive us, that so he may corrupt us; Duplicem aciem mundus producit contra milites Christi; blanditur ut decipiat minatur ut frangat; adutrosque aditus occurit Christus & non vincitur Christianus. Aug. de sanct. vinc. He sets up Maxims which (under a pretence of maintaining Society,) introduce Libertinism amongst Men; he makes Debauches pass for Recreations, Revenge for greatness of Courage, Impurity for a Lawful Affection: If he cannot seduce us, he goes about to terrify us, casts panic fears into weak Souls, makes them apprehensive of Grief or Infamy; Persuades a Young Man that Chastity is a blemish to his Reputation; A Woman, that Modesty spoils the lustre of her Beauty; A Gentleman, that the forgetting of Injuries damps his Courage, and being a Tyrant, makes use of fear to keep his Subjects in obedience: But when he meets with generous Souls, who reject his Maxims, and contemn his Threats, he hath recourse to Pleasures, and employs Charms to soften the obdurate: This last Battery is the most to be feared, because the sweetest; This is that which enervates the sampson's, Masters the Davids, and Tryumpths over the solomon's: Engages these great men in a Lie by blinding them, terrifies them by making them Cowards, and breeding fear in their Hearts with Love, causes them to apprehend the loss of those things he makes them passionately affect. He lays before their eyes whatever may allure them; makes pleasure enter in at their Senses, and forgetting no kind of Artifice to render wickedness agreeable, widens his Empire, and increases the number of his Subjects. If we be Christians indeed, we must give battle to this Enemy, oppose the Maxims of the Gospel against his falsehoods, destroy Error by Truth, and protest, that being the Subjects of Jesus Christ, we acknowledge no other Laws but those of his Church; To evacuate those Terrors wherewith he shakes our Courage, we must discern true Honour from false, fix our Glory in our Duty; and remember, that the true Disciples of Jesus Christ, ought always to prefer Virtue before Honour, and Conscience before Reputation. To defend us from the Pleasures the World tempts us with, we must look upon their end, and represent the shame and grief that never forsakes them: Finally, we must beg Grace of Jesus Christ, who hath overcome the World; that assisted with his favour we may vanquish his Enemies, with all the Errors wherewith he would seduce us, the fear wherewith he would astonish us, and the Pleasures wherewith he would enchant us. For it is not enough for the Christian to be a Soldier, if he be not also Victorious; his Condition is more painful than that of Soldiers: For though these are the Victims of Glory and of Death, that for a little pay they expose themselves to a thousand dangers, they are not responsible for the Success of the Battle; and provided they lend their Heart and Hand to their General, there is nothing more can be expected from their Valour. But the Christians are such Soldiers as must be Victorious; 'Tis not enough that they Fight, they must win the Field, they must overcome here, if they mean to Reign with Christ hereafter: 'Tis true, Omne quod natum est & Deo vincit mundum. Joan. 16. v. 5. he hath this advantage over all other Captains, he inspires courage into his Soldiers, and gives them Victory who engage in the Combat; so that 'tis their fault if they be defeated, and the Glory of their Commander if they remain Conquerors: Their Birth obliges them to this Duty; For the Scripture teacheth us, that those that are born of God, overcome the World; that Grace which contains Glory in the seed, is able to preserve them from Sin; and that leaving them to the Spirit that Inanimates them, they remain impeccable in his Hands: St. Bernard is of this mind, and will have their Victory over Temptation, a certain Proof of their Adoption. The Virtues themselves they have received at their Baptism, are helps which facilitate the Defeat of their Enemies; For Faith is not only their strength, but their Victory, and renders them as well Conquerors as Soldiers; Hope doth heighten their Courage, and giving them the Almighty for their Second, makes them gain as many Victories as they Fight Battles. Charity, that finds nothing impossible, which measures its Power by its Courage, and more prevalent than Death, overturns whatever resists it; inspres them with so much force, that they vanquish all griefs, and Master all Difficulties: But if there be any Virtue that renders them invinsible, we must confess, 'tis their despoiling themselves of the Goods of the Earth; For Satan never catches us but by those things, that engage us; He seduces only by those things, that please us; and when Self-denial hath perfectly separated us, they lose the boldness to set upon us, and the hope of overcoming us. Therefore doth St. Augustine admirably conclude, that he that only loves that good which cannot be taken from him, is truly invinsible: And Seneca (founded upon the same Principle) had reason to say, that Alexander was vanquished by Diogenes, because he found a Philosopher to whom he could give nothing, and from whom he could take nothing away. Indeed the Ambitious are not Subdued, but because they are afraid to lose their Honour; the Immodest are not gained, but because they have a mind to preserve their Love; nor are the Covetous engaged in Iniquity, but because they cannot resolve to part with Riches. But the Saints, who are wedded only to God, laugh at Tyrants and Devils; and cruelty being not able to ravish from them what they love, they happily assume the quality of Conqueror with that of a Soldier. Let us add, that the Believer is invinsible, if he be perfectly united to Jesus Christ; our strength depends upon this Union; and when the Devil breaks the secured Bonds, he hath an advantage against us. He defeated us in the Person of Adam; He vanquished all men in one; He gained a hundred Victories in one Duel: But he hath lost all his advantages again by Jesus Christ, in Him we are Conquerors; and as St. Augustine says, his Victory would not be persect if he did not still Conquer the World in his Members: Let us therefore unite ourselves to him, that we may be invinsible. When we feel the Solicitations, of the Flesh, or the Devil; and these two Tyrants (confederate together) endeavour to overpower us; Let us implore the assistance of our Head, and nothing presuming upon our own abilities, but promising ourselves all from his Grace, render the Honour to Him of whom we hold the Victory. CHAP. XL. That the Thoughts of Hell does bring the Sinner to his Duty. Quicksilver among all Metals, is of so great an Activity, that there is nothing, it seems, can set a stop to its course, Brimstone only can give it a subsistence, and serve as an Hypostasis to it: The Spirit of man (more airy and light then any Quicksilver,) is always in action; he comes, he goes, he mounts, he descends, nothing can stop him: The thoughts of Heaven, of Paradise, of Virtue, are not able to keep him steadfast in the presence of God: Jesus is of advice to cast before him a handful of the Brimstone-ashes of Hell; to the end that this heart (which would not be touched with the amorous attacks of a peaceable conversion,) should at least be moved by the apprehension of those Chastisements, which he cannot avoid, if he does resist any longer the sweet violence of the Holy Ghost. The Prophet-Royal will have us now and then to take a time to make a Voyage into Hell, Descendant in infernum viventes. Ps. 54. and to descend thereinto whilst we are alive: Alas! It is not to give our eyes the satisfaction of seeing there handsome Greene's, Beautified with thousands of fine Flowers, or Artificial Fountains which let their Waters run so ingeniously round about their Neighbourhood: Those are not the appurtenances of the place whereinto we are to descend, but to contemplate therein the sad Occupations of those unfortunate Souls, to smell therein the ill-savoured filth of the Earth, which flows thereinto as into the common-shore of all the Universe, to hear those horrible Cries, those dreadful Groan, those voices of Fury, Madness, Rage, and Despair; to the end, by the misfortune of others we become wise, and shun the Crimes which have reduced them to so Tragical an end. When they are willing to pardon a Criminal, and give him his Life, they are satisfied to lead him to the Gallows that he may see the Execution of his Confederates. It's an act of a well-ordered Policy to Execute Criminals in a Public Place, and in the sight of all the World; and moreover to erect patibulary Justices in the Highways, for to hang thereon those miserable Wretches; It is not to add to their Punishment, being that Death makes them insensible of all those after-Torments; 'tis but to advise the Passengers to have a care of themselves, not to become the Partners of their Crimes, if they will not be the Companions of their Penalties. The patibulary Justices of God, is Hell; 'tis there that a poor Father sees his Child, the Wife her Husband, the Brother his Sister, if they be Dead in Mortal sin, without exception of Rich or Poor, Ignorant or Learned, Subject or Lord: For, betwixt the Justice of God, and that of Men, there is this difference, that Men may do against humane Laws in favour of some, whose Rank and Birthright seems to Authorize them in their Vice: But God, (who shuts up his eyes to all humane considerations, and takes nothing for the Law of his Judgements but the Essential Righteousness of his Wisdom,) Justifies the poorest man, if he be found innocent, and places him in a Throne of Glory without any regard to his Extraction: Whereas he condemns the Prince, and the King, if he be a wicked Liver, and gives him no other rank in Hell, than to be the most tormented by the Devils, if he has been the most vicious amongst Men. David invites us all to this Spectacle, and tells us, that three considerations among all others which might be produced, render the thoughts of Hell most dreadful: The first is the greatness of the Torments, together with an extreme Rigour: The second is that vast and long Eternity: The last, but the Principal, is that Exile, and irrevocable Banishment, that chases the damned Souls from the presence and vision of God for ever. CHAP. XLI. The first consideration of Hell. BEatitude is a happy aggregation and meeting of all manner of Good; Beatitudine est status omnium bonorum aggregatione perfectus. Boet. so that if one of all had been wanting and substracted from a Saint, he would not be in the possession of a complete and absolute Felicity: If that be true, it must follow by the rule of contraries, that the infelicity of Damned Souls, is a gathering of all sorts of Pains, Rigours, and Punishments; being, that in this most unhappy State, they are deprived of all manner of Good, and overwhelmed with all imaginable Evil. Aristot. Ethic. cap. 32. That Man is out of his Wits, says Aristotle, who fears not the chastisements appointed by the Gods; And because that your ancient Gaolers did not apprehend Thunders and Lightnings, they were esteemed a stupid People, and of no Religion. What would they say of Christians, who believe by Articles of Faith, under pain of Excommunication, the Rigours of so many Torments prepared for a Sinner, and who nevertheless runs to them headlong, and without any fear, doubtless they would accuse them of madness. Galenus l. 2. de locis effectus in cap. 3. Galenus against Archigene, maintains, that it is impossible for a Man to be sick at one time in all the parts of his Body, by reason of the incompassibility of the Subject with such a form; The Devils laugh at that Philosophy, having found it to be false, by the experience they have made of it in the Person of Job: St. Anthony's Sore, otherwise called the Sacred Fire, and the Vermin, are contrary Diseases; 1 Plaga in sanabili. 2 Manus Domini tetigit me. 3 Ulcere pessimo. 4 Nic dimittis ut glutiam salvam meam. In amaritudinibus moratur oculus meus, etc. yet Job had them both, and calls them incurable Evils; the Scab and the Leprosy, the Falling- Evil and the Canker, the Pox, and the Gout, the Dissentery and the Pluerisy, the Esquinancy and the Hungry Evil, the Opthalmia in the Apple of the Eye, the Allopecia on the Lids, seem to be Diseases that never meet in one Subject, yet Satan makes them to find a place in one Body: All the Afflictions of Job are but a very course Painting of the Torments of Hell: For if God, (who did not afflict this Holy Man but to prove his Constancy,) did set a limit to the Devil's power in the Execution of his Pains; what shall it be, when he will give a full Authority, and an absolute jurisdiction to Satan, to exercise all his rage against a Damned Soul? Add to this all the sufferings of the Martyrs, the Pinchers of a St. Agatha, the Grid-Iron of a St. Laurence, the skin flayed of a St. Bartholomew, the Wheels of a St. Catherine, the Discipline of a St. Francis, the Haircloth of St. Hillarion, and all the voluntary Torments of the Inhabitants of the Desert. Quare in inferno mors quaeritur, & non invenitur, quibus in hoc saeculo vita affertur, & nolunt accipere in inferno quaerunt mortem & non poterunt invenire, etc. D. Aug. to Serm. 252. de tempore. All that separated from the Love which rendered them tolerable, shall make up but a small part of the pains of the Damned: Alas, if a little Headache sets us out of all order and patience, a little swelling or matter under the nail, will make us cry to Heaven and Earth, the least prick of a Pin will give us a feeling; what shall it be among so many and such searching evils of their own Nature, and without remedy by the Divine Ordinance? Let us pass over all this, and come to consider the anguish and perplexity of the Spirit; Let us, (if it be possible,) cast up an account of all the Rages, Despairs and Melancholies of Men; of that of a Judas, who hangs himself, of Otho the Emperor, who, not being able to get the Victory of Vitellius, runs himself through with his Sword; Of a Cassius, who, with the same Dagger he murdered Caesar in the Senate, deprives himself of his Life; Of a Silvius, an Italian Poet, who at the age of seventy five years, plunged in a profound sadness, finding no other thing whereby to Exercise his rage, pierces his heart with the point of a Nail; Of a Galerius, who smothered himself in his Sheets; And a number of others, who went tormented in their Souls, some have cast themselves into Privies, others from the top of high Towers: Yet all That is nothing to be compared to the rage and despair of a damned Soul. The Devil will take occasion to Exercise new punishments on the reprobate from the pleasures he was most given to in the World: Ambition made him to raise up his horns, and in the smoke of a passing honourto build for himself an Idol of presumption, to which all his wishes and desires should offer continual Sacrifices; Undervaluing, Taunts, Contempts, and Rebukes, shall be his ordinary Serenades; Now a Devil boxing him, will say, get you gone, unfortunate Soul, you have lost your share of Heaven for a point of Honour: Another will publish his most hidden sins, Ibi dolor permanet, ut affligat, & natura perdurat, ut sentiat, quia utrumque ideo non deficit ne paena deficiat. D Aug. to 5. l. 19 Civit. c. 28. per totum. there is the Hypocrite who passed for a Saint among men; to complain of these affronts, he would not dare, (if he be not willing to have them redoubled,) to seek for one to comfort him, or to be revenged of those Murderers, 'tis in vain, all compassion is banished out of that Land, 'tis there that Cruelty sits in her Throne? Ah dear Soul! to escape those torments, will you not have pity of yourself? This is not as yet enough, those fires remain without mercy, those burning flames which devour, and those parching heats, which consume, without giving death, and give Death without consuming; Qualitatem doloriferam igni Deus imprimit. Suarez. Flames which act no more within the order of their natural Activity, though the same be most rigorous, but which receive new dolorous Qualities, which God draws from their obediential power, as well for to torment the Body the more, as for to act against the Soul, Quod a diabolus, ejusque Angeli, cum sint incorporei, corporeo, tamon cruciantur igne, quid mirum si animae, antequam recipiant corpora corporea sentiant tormenta. D. Greg. 4. Dialo. though she be Spiritual: For as God (uniting our Souls to our Bodies,) makes it, that our Souls are sensible of the sores of the Body; he may as easily command the fire to act against those very Souls, and make them to resent the violence of its Action: And even as he does elevate the Water, which is an Elementary Body, to the Spiritual effects of Baptismal Grace; so he does elevate those Fires, though they be Material, to the punishment of Spirits, without any contradiction or disagreement of the Soul with the Fire, no more than there is of Grace with the Water. The Prophet, I say, cannot look on those Furnaces, but he must fall into a weakness of heart: Hugo of St. Victor gives us the reason of it; and says, that those Fires are to be admired in one point, which is, that they do operate without losing any thing of their force, because they meet with no contrary Agent, that might moderate their Action; they are mixed with a Sulphureous, Fat, thick, bituminous matter, to give them a more scorching heat; And which is more, this Doctor is of opinion, Ibi omnia genera, tormentorum sunt congregata sicut aquae maris in alveo suo. Hugo. Card. in c. 16. Luc. that if all the Waters of the Sea, nay if the Heavens had opened their Cataracts even to power down therein an Universal Deluge, it would signify no more than a little drop of Oil cast into Vulcan's Furnace. We must not imagine that those Fires have no further power to act on the Damned Souls, than to intimate their commission at length, and to startle them with a threatening pain, or to serve as high Walls only in form of a Dungeon, where the Spirits are detained Prisoners. No, no, those Fires are not to be supposed to act only by an intentional Species, which supplies the want of a proportionable Object: For then the Devils having a general Species of all matterial things by infusion from the instant of their Creation, it would be no great trouble to them: And therefore it is necessary that the real presence of the substance of the Fire be there, Habebit tunc carnis substantia qualitatem, ab illo juditam, qui tam miras & varias rebus indidit, quas videmus & eas, quia multae sunt non miremur. D. Aug. l. 21. Civit. c. 4. per totum. joined with the dolorous qualities, which God gives it in the instant of its Elevation, to the end that it should adhere to the Souls with so strait a tye says St. Augustine, that the Union of the Soul with the Body, in the rights of Information, cannot be more intimate than that of the Damned Souls is to the Fire of Hell. CHAP. XLII. The second Consideration of Hell. Virgil. 6. Aeneid. WHo will not tremble and cry out at the sole remembrance of that dreadful thought? The Latin Poet describing the horidness of those Subterranian Mansions, conceives a Den in form of an Abyss, fortified with a triple Wall, which a Torrent of Flames does environ on all sides, and an Iron Tower with Brass-Gates, which all the Gods are not able to break open; on one side a Gnosius and a Radamantus may be seen there, to put those unfortunate Criminals to the torture; and on the nother, the Alcides, Titans, and Salmones, punished for their crimes committed against Jupiter: Nevertheless he seems to give them some hopes, that after the expiration of their offences, they may fly unto the Elysian Fields, though it must be with some difficulty: However, Faith will have us to believe the contrary; Theseus got out of the Labarinth, by the favour of a Thread he had received from Ariadne: But he, who once shall fall into Hell, can never get out of it. I know that Origen could never submit his Spirit to believe that a sin committed in an instant deserved an Eternity of pains; imagining that the Mercy of God (after a long Series of years,) would have compassion on those unfortunate wretches; But by overmuch raising his Mercy, he brought his Justice very low, and by stretching overmuch the Arms of his Clemency, he would fain cut short that of his just rigour. He ought to consider, Vide D. Aug. l. 21. Civit. ● 23. 24. & se● that Justice and Mercy in God, (flowing from the same principle, I mean his Divine nature, have also for rule of all their actions the same Nature, always equal and uniform. Cum Christus in eodem ipso loco in una eademque sententia dixerit, ibunt justi autemin vitam aeternam, etc. Paulo infra. God does no injury to Man when he will have, that in a moment of conversion, he merits Heaven; no more does he do him any wrong, when he ordains that in a moment, and for a moment of aversion, he be Damned, Par pari relata sunt hinc supplicium aeternum, inde vita aeterna: dicere autem in hoc uno eodemque sensu, vita aeterna sine fine erit, supplicium aetornum finem habebit multum absurdum est. D. Aug. tom. 5. l. 21. Civit. c. 23. in fine. if he does die in that state: For if any thing could be said to this, that God does punish a Sinner with an Eternity of pains, for having sinned in a moment, there might be likewise somewhat said to this, that for a moment of Penance, for an act of Contrition, produced in an instant, he gives him an Eternity of glory; none as yet was ever scandalised by the second, no more ought any complain of the first, being that all things are equal in the one, and in the other. The Love of God above all things, is that fundamental reason, which causes the moment of Conversion to be rewarded with an Eternity of Glory; and the hatred of God above all things enclosed in that moment of sin, is the only cause of that Eternity of punishment. If that moment had taken the evil consequences of its continuation, only from the principle whence it departs, it should be limited and have some end: But because it has for its Object an offended God, whose Majesty is infinite, it must be likewise Eternal, and without end. A Criminal Condemned to a hundred and one years of Bondage, that is to say, for all his life, comforts himself nevertheless in two things; the one, that at last his Torments will end with his death; the other, that he shall not be always obliged to live in Slavery: In Hell, 'tis an Eternity, where they do not know what is a hundred years, no more than a hundred thousand millions of years: The length of time never produces the habit of enduring, which renders Hell more insupportable: For the same feelings which the Damned Souls will have the first day of their condemnation, will continue in the same degree of rigour for an Eternity. My God, if I cannot suffer, for the space of one Pater Noster, the top of my Finger on a red Cole; what shall I do, if my Iniquities oblige me to live for an Eternity in those Flames. CHAP. XLIII. The third Consideration of Hell. TO be for ever banished from Paradise, and deprived of the Vision of God, 'tis a thought that goes beyond all that can be said of misfortune. Never to see that Divine Face, which does rejoice the Angels, that source of all Goodness, from whence all the blessed derive the vivifying Spirit of their Beatitude: That voluntary Looking-glass, wherein all Creatures are to be seen, eminently comprehended, as in their originary principle; can any thing be thought of, more deplorable? Super flumina Babilonis, illic sedimus & flevimus, cum recordaremur tui Zion. The Children of Israel sitting along the Banks of Babylon, looking on one side at the Waters, which by the swiftness of their course, flowed by, and ran away without ever stopping, a lively Image of the passing Pleasures of this World: On the other side, beholding that Beautiful Zion, whence they were carried by force, to be led to Captivity, would let fly a Million of languishing sighs from the bottom of their Hearts; they are commanded to sound their Trumpets, play on their Harps, pinch their Lutes; they answer, that it is to treat them most inhumanely, to require them to Sing at so extreme a misfortune, and that they could not exalt the Praises of the Lord in a strange Land. They are (I must confess,) miserable in this point of their Captivity: But the day will come that they will return Triumphing to Jerusalem, when that by the sencerity of their humiliations, they will appease the indignation of the Omniponent● The Damned Soul will have Eternal wishes to see her God, and the Beauties of the Celestial Jerusalem: Wishes really which would not be so troublesome to her, if God had deprived her of the lights of Faith: For had she not so distinct a knowledge of the Good she loses, Durandus in 3. distinct. 25. 9 9 Art. 2. Alensis 3. part q. 64. memb. 7. Catharinis & Salmeron in c. 2. Jacob. Gregory de Vatentia● 2. q 5. art. 2. punct. 2. she would have less feeling of her misery, she is deprived of Hope and Charity: And yet some Doctors, (worthy of Belief,) are of opinion, that Faith remains to her entire, which sets incessantly before her eyes, the loss of her God, and makes her clearly understand, that by her own proper malice, she has brought her to that irrevocable Exile, and that she has Banished herself for ever from the intuitive Vision of God's Essence. God lets her to see the degree of Glory which was pepared for her in his Eternal Ideas, if making her profit of the Graces of Heaven, she had amended her Life, Servatur diviti & cognitio pauperis quem despexit, & memoria fratrum quos reliquit, ut divisa gloria despecti & de poena inutiliter amajovum amplius torqueatur. Hugo. Card. in c. 16. Luc. and at the same time she knows that another Possesses the self same degree of Glory, for having profitably managed the Grace which she did undervalue; She knows the Honour which God renders to Holy Souls, and how faithful he is in the Execution of his promises, so far that he will not suffer the least glass of Water given for his Love to be unrewarded, nor the least good thought without a special Title of Splendour and Glory: And all those knowledges are newfound Punishments for a damned Soul, which entertains a continual memory of the Goods which appertained to her through the sufficient Justice of the Incarnation; but which she shall never enjoy through the infidelity of her Actions. Alas! among all those afflictions, here is a new subject of grief and sorrow, which renders man in Hell more un-fortunate than all the Devils: For besides the loss of the intuitive Vision of the Divine Essence he is condemned never to see the Sacred Humanity of Jesus, which is to he the Beatifying object of our Bodies, as the Divine Essence is that of our Souls; She would willingly be of the condition of stillborn Children, and without Baptism, which in truth are damned, because they do not see God, but their Damnation is so much made less, that having no explicit Faith, by which they might learn the great advantages of the Supernatural Life, they do not so much resent the misfortune of its everlasting loss. Moses and St. Paul in the Excess of their ardent Charity for their Neighbour, made great and most earnest Prayers to God; the one to be blotted out of the Book of Life; the other to be Anatheme for his Brothers, but always their Prayers were with that Essential Clause, that they should not be for ever excluded from the sight and presence of God: For without that Circumstance, their Vows would have been Criminal, with that condition they were just: For they knew well both the one and the other; that if God could be seen in Hell as a blessed Object, Hell would be a Paradise; and if in Heaven they could be deprived of that Vision, Heaven would be no better than a Hell to them. The Poor Cain among other Articles of his Judgement, for the Fratricide committed on the Person of Abel, was not so much perplexed, until that he had seen himself condemned to withdraw from the presence of God: Ah? what shall become of me now, says he, must I go like an Errand and a Vagabond among the Bruits? the first that shall come to take me by the neck, will cut my throat, if he be so dispoed: To whom shall I have recourse, if God does banish me from himself? Whom shall I make my moan to, if he will not hear me? Christians, the Banishment of Cain is but a Metaphorical Privation of the presence of God; But that of the Damned, is real and true, and withal, it puts me in mind of that Great and General Torment, which is so often repeated in Scripture by the name of the Worm of our Conscience; Vermis Conscientiae. Mat. 9 so called, because, that as a Worm lies Eating and Gnawing the Wood wherein she is Lodged, So shall the remorse of our Conscience lie within us, gripping and tormenting us for ever. And this Worm or Remorse shall Chief consist in this, to represent to our mind, the means and causes of our present extreme Calamities; that by our main Folly, and through pur woeful negligence we have lost the happiness which others have acquired by the constant care they had of their Salvation. And at every one of these Considerations, this Worm shall give us a deadly pinch, which shall reach even to the very bottom of our hearts. As when it shall appear to us, how easily we might have conquered Heaven, and that we shall see the occasions which had been offered to us to avoid the misery, wherein we are at this present, and shall be for ever entangled. How often we were to resolve ourselves to lead a good Life, and yet how unfortunately we put off our good Resolutions. How many times we were foretold of this danger, and yet how little care we took to avoid the same. How vain these Worldly Trifles were, wherein we spent the best of our days, if not all our life, and for which we lost Heaven to purchase Hell with all its intolerable Miseries. How they are now exalted, whom we thought Fools in the World: And how we are made Fools, and laughted at, who thought ourselves to be the Cato's and Solomon's of the World. These considerations and a thousand more laid before us, and by our own Conscience, shall bring our Souls to an Abbyss of Desolation and Grief, without hope of ever receiving any comfort; this is what I call the Worm of our Conscience, which will be of more force to make Men weep and howl at that dreadful day, than any other torment that Hell can afford, considering how Negligently, Foolishly, and Vainly they are come into that dark Dungeon, where they shall have no more time, place, or leave to redress their Error. For now is the time of Weeping, Wailing, and of everlasting Lamentation for these Men; and yet all shall be in vain. Now they shall begin to fret and rage, and wonder at themselves, now they shall say, but too late, where was our Judgement, when we followed the Vanities of the World, and post-pounded, nay, contemned the main Work of our Salvation: Now they may say in those devouring Flames, what the Sinners do say by the mouth of the Wise in Scripture; Sap. 5. What hath our Pride, or what hath the Glory of our Riches availed Us? they are all now vanished like a shadow: We have wearied out ourselves in the way of Iniquity and Perdition, but the way of the Lord we have not known. This shall be the everlasting Song of the Damned and Tormented Conscience in Hell: Eternal repentance, and to no purpose, which will bring him to such despair, says Scripture, that he shall turn into fury against himself, tear his own Flesh, rend his own Soul (if it were possible) and provoke all the Devils and Damned Souls in Hell to add more to his Torments, because that he hath so beastly behaved himself in his life-time as not to provide a better Residence, and a more pleasant Entertainment for his poor Soul. Oh, will he cry, if I could have but another short life to lead in the World, what would I not do? what Mortification and Penance would I not undergo, with what diligence, and severity would I Practise all sorts of Virtues! But all this will not do, for there is no such grant to be expected, neither is there any Price or Value able to purchase it for him. We only (dear Christians) that are as yet alive, do enjoy this inestimable Grace and Treasure of Time for our amendment; I wish we may be so happy as to improve it to our everlasting advantage; One of these days we shall be passed it also, and shall never recover the same again, no not one moment, if we would buy it with a thousand Worlds. Let us then now make good use of this benefit, for this is the only time wherein we may shelter ourselves from all the Rigours of the World to come; Now, I say, and out of hand, for we know not what shall become of us to morrow. It may be to morrow, our Hearts will be as hard, and as careless of these important Affairs, as they have been heretofore, and as Pharaoh's heart was, Luc. 16. after Moses departed from him. O how fortunate a Creature had he been, if he had resolved himself throughly whilst Moses was with him? If the Rich Glutton had taken the time whilst Lazarus, lay at his Door, how blessed a Man had he made himself? He was foretold his Misery (as we are now) by Moses and other Prophets; but he would not hear them. Being snatched into Hell, He fell into such admiration of his own folly, that He would needs have Lazarus sent from Abraham's Bosom unto his Brethren in the World, to warn them of his Error and great Misfourtune; but he was told, that if they would not be advised by their Preachers, and Teachers, that the Dead restored to Life would never prevail with them. It is the same with the wicked of this World, if one should arise from among the Dead, and tell them that their Parents or Friends are Damned in Hell, for such and such offences, as themselves are entangled withal. What then can God devise to do to save these Men? what way, what means, what order may he take, when neither Warning, nor Example of others, nor Threats, nor Exhortation will do any good? We know, or at least may know, that leading the life we do, we cannot be saved. We know, and aught to know, that many before us have been Damned for less matters. We know, and cannot choose but know, that we must shortly die, and receive ourselves, as they received, living as they did, or rather worse. We believe that the pains which do attend the wicked are both Intolerable and Eternal. We confess them most Unfortunate and Miserable, that for any Pleasure Conveniency in this World, are now fallen into them. What then should hinder us to relinquish out of hand all Impediments, to break with a great deal of Courage and Violence to our corrupt Nature all the Bands and Chains of this wicked World that sets a stop to our time and zealous Resolution? Why should we sleep one Night in Sin; not knowing but that Night may chance to be our last, and so the Everlasting cutting off of all hope to come? Some perhaps moved with the Holy Spirit of God, Initium sapientiae timor Domini, Prov. 1. Eccl. 16. may chance say, what remedy is there to avoid these Miseries which undoubtedly will fall heavily on those that take the liberty to live in Sin; I answer, that true Faith and the Fear of God's Judgements, are two great Steps unto a most Efficatious and solemn Remedy: For Faith is the first Foundation and Ground of all good Motions; and Fear the first part of the Building that is to be laid thereon: It's therefore that Fear is called the beginning of Wisdom, and consequently, the beginning of our Conversion. Credunt & contremiscunt. Jaco. But yet these two only are not sufficient, for that St. James says even of the Devils themselves, they Believe and Fear, and yet shall not be Saved. Wherefore we must pass further unto those other Virtues, also which our Divines do require (together with Faith and Fear) as Hope and Charity, and that other which doth flow from all these, as the effect from the Cause, I mean Pennance, and a true Repentance for our former Faults; with a firm Resolution of true amendment for the time to come. This is the true Remedy indeed: This is the Sovereign Salve and Medicine for all our Sores and Maladies in this kind. This is the only Prevention of all the foresaid Miseries and Calamities; the Anticipation of all Perils; the Diversion of God's Threats and menaces; the Pacification of his Wrath, and the very Victory (in a certain sort) of a Sinner over God's Justice and Judgements; and finally, the Antidote of Hell-fire itself. The End of the First Part. The Reader is desired to excuse what Erratas have crept into this First Part, it being Printed by a Foreigner, who is partly a Stranger to the Language. ERRATA. 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