ARS ARTIUM: OR, THE ART OF Divine Converse.  
A New-Years-Gift.  
BY D. ABERCROMBY, Author of the Book entitled, Protestancy to be embraced.  
LONDON, Printed for the Author, and sold by Samuel Smith at the Princes Arms in St. Paul's Church-yard. 1683.   

To the Most Reverend Father in God, WILLIAM, By Divine Providence, Lord Archbishop OF CANTERBURY, Primate of All England, and Metropolitan, And one of the Lords of His Majestie's Most Honourable PRIVY-COUNCIL.  
May it please Your Grace,  
THo it be Proverbial, That Arts are happy, when examined by True Artists; yet, we must confess, 'tis sometimes no small disadvantage to undergo the Censure of clearsighted Judges; because nothing can escape their all-seeing Eyes, and the Artificer himself, with his Work, stands or falls by their Verdict. Nevertheless, I am not in the least apprehensive of Your Graces Censure, tho fully persuaded You are a Great Master in the Art of Divine Converse; because Your piercing Eye shall discover nothing in this small Treatise, that already You are not acquainted with, and undoubtedly practise daily, in the midst of Your most serious Affairs: So I may say, You shall meet here with nothing else but a Copy of Your Great Self, tho imperfect, and far short of the Original. This Treatise then is indeed as a New-Years-Gift, but not New to Your Grace: It points out an easy Method of Conversing upon all Occasions with God; but the same is made much easier to Imitation, by the lively Examples of Your eminent Piety and Learning. I must in this Conjuncture, discover ingenuously to Your Grace the most sincere Sentiments of my Heart, that I rejoice more than I can express, to become a Member of the Church of England, wherein I observe so great Examples of solid Doctrine and Christian Piety; which I see governed by so Loyal, so Learned, so Charitable, so Zealous Prelates and Pastors. I hate flattery, My Lord, Cane pejus& angue, above all things. I shall say then, without the least exaggeration of the Truth, That we have no reason to admire the present Glory of this Church, since we know the true Causes thereof; I mean our Gracious Soveraign's most Wise and peaceable Government, and Your Graces eminent Learning, and apostolic Zeal: By the former You are a declared Enemy against all errors; by the latter, you oppose with the vigour of a Primitive Prelate whatever appears disorderly and sinful. That you may continue this and the ensuing Years in a full Health, necessary to such glorious Enterprises, it shall be the hearty wish of him him who is,  
Your Graces most Humble and most Obedient Servant, David Abercromby.   

TO THE READER.  
Courteous Reader,  
BOoks are not to be valued by their Bulk, no more than men. This Treatise, tho of a small Bulk, is great in Substance: It contains the most Noble of all Arts, to wit, that of Divine Converse. If thou be not an Artist in this Art, thou art not a Christian, at least, not a perfect one. It shall not be enquired at the last day, What progress thou hast made in other Sciences, but how far thou hast advanced in this. Lest then thou be found guilty of wilful Ignorance, run over, or rather meditate frequently this ensuing Treatise: 'tis plain, that the meanest Capacities may understand it; 'tis short, and proportionable to the leisure of the most busied.  
Vale& fruere.   

ARS ARTIUM: OR, THE ART OF DIVINE CONVERSE.  

CHAP. I.  
That there is an Art of Conversing with God.  
AN Art being nothing else but a multitude of Infallible Precepts, directing us Infallibly to an End, we could not at all, at least not so easily, attain to with the sole aid of our Innate Capacity; 'tis clear, there is an Art of Conversing that Invisible, All-sufficient, and All-Glorious Being we call God, since through the perverseness of our Corrupted Nature, we meet with such obstacles to this Blissful Conversation as could deprive us entirely of such a great good, if we were not taught some Infallible Method, either to Shun, or Surmount 'em: There must then be certain Rules given, and an Infallible Method pointed out, whereby we may remove whatever is capable to hinder or uneasy our familiar access to God: For whatever esteem we have for him, though we aclowledge him our Creator, our sovereign, our all; yet we are so bewitched with the Objects that strike most our Senses, that we scarce ever come near him by Prayer or Meditation, but with I know not what Reluctancy, which if it were Invincible, would occasion men to think Blasphemously of Gods All-bountiful Providence, as if it had not furnished them with means necessary to their attaining that End he Created them for, which was no other but his own Glory, the sole aim of all his Undertakings.   

CHAP. II.  
That God is glorified by this Art, and in what it consists.  
GOD only has right to do nothing, but for his own Glory, because of his Infinite Excellency, whose undoubted of Prerogative is to be Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all things: Though his other Creatures contribute not a little towards this Design, yet I may say, without scruple, none promotes it in so great a Measure as Man does, whom it seems he has framed particularly to his own Image and Resemblance for this End.  
That we may understand how he performs this Duty, and Gloryfieth more his Maker, than all other Mute Creatures, 'twill not be amiss to decide clearly, what that is, which Men commonly call Glory, and so few comprehend: 'tis defined vulgarly thus, Clara cum claud notitia; a distinct knowledge, with praise of the Person we intend to glorify. This Notion declares sufficiently, the Properties of that Glory one Man receives from another: For Men are glorified to the satisfaction of Ambition itself, if we, convinced of their extraordinary merits, pay to them the due Homage of a proportionable praise: Yet methinks 'tis defective by respect to God, whose Glory receives a greater increase of lustre by our Prayer than by our Praise: The former being an Infallible mark of our dependency, not the latter: this definition then shall be complete, if we conceive it in these terms, Gloria est clara cum laud& prece notitia: We glorify God by a clear knowledge of his Perfections, in that Degree it may be had here, with Praise and Prayer.  
The mere Speculative Knowledge of God contributes but little towards the increase of his Glory, for the Ancient Philosophers were convinced of his being Infinitely Perfect, Powerful, and Wise, and yet glorified him not as God, because of their slight performance, or rather entire omission both of Praise and Prayer: They were not acquainted with this Art of Conversing Familiarly, their sovereign Lord, by which only he is perfectly glorified in this life; for we never place him in that Degree of Glory he deserves, and we are capable of, unless besides a not ordinary knowledge of his perfections, we break out both in Praise and Prayer, asking him, as All-Good, and Almighty, our needs Spiritual and Temporal; and this we shall perform with greater Facility than we can yet Imagine, if we are but once proficient in the Art of Conversing with him; and such we shall undoubtedly prove, if we reflect seriously on Four things. 1. On the time he makes choice of, to speak to us. 2. On the Subject of his Speech. 3. On our indispensible Obligation to speak to him. 4. In what manner we ought to acquit ourselves of so necessary a Duty.   

CHAP. III.  
When God speaks to us.  
TWO Persons are said to Converse together, when they speak one with another; in the same Sense we ConversE with that sovereign Being, when he vouchsafeth to speak to us, and we are permitted to speak our needs to him; and as in all Regular Conversation, while the one Discourseth, the other with a respectuous silence is attentive to his Discourse, we must recollect ourselves, and harken to his Oracles, lest he address to us his Speech, and we through a Criminal disrespect, take no notice thereof, or hear it not, which would make us accountable to his Justice, as neglecting such an undeserved Favour, as is the opportunity, never perhaps to return again, of receiving from his All-liberal hand, what each one knows he most stands in need of.  
Because in a Familiar Conversation some are so distracted with other thoughts, that they must be  told when they are spoken to; the same thing may happen in our Case; Men not reflecting on that Critical Minute God makes his Applcation to them; either because he is Invisible and seldom thought on, or being too attentive to the frequent suggestions of the Flesh, they listen not to what concerns the Spirit: I shall therefore assume for thy Spiritual Interest, this Charitable Office, and Advertise thee, if perhaps thou be of this number, when particularly God speaks to thy Heart, and when thou art indispensably obliged to hear with an Attention suitable to the quality of such a Speaker.  
God speaketh to us, either immediately, or mediately; immediately by Revelation; mediately, by Inspiration; the former is extraordinary, and granted to few, of this I shall say nothing; the latter is ordinary, and denied to none; it consists chiefly in two things, in the Illumination of the Intellective Faculty, and Motion of the Affective, I mean the Will.  
Whensoever then God illuminates thy Understanding, or moves thy Will, he speaks to thee, and this he does at every moment, or at least, as often as thou but opens thy Eyes to contemplate his wonderful Works: He has no Tongue I know to speak withal, but all his Creatures, how mute soever they be, speak his Mind in a most Eloquent and Intelligible manner to all such as make use of their discerning faculty.  
Run out then into the Fields, thou needs no other Company there but God and thyself to Converse withall; the vast extent of this Visible World tells thee he is Immense, and without either Compass or Measure; the Beauty of every part thereof assureth us, that what we admire so much, is but a slight Representation of that Substantial, Essential, and Unparallable Beauty, never failing, but always subsisting in and by itself: the confused language of a raging Sea, declares distinctly the inconceivable fury of his wrath against Sinners. The Earth, though but a dull Mass, informeth us of his Immutability; the Air of his subtlety; the Fire of his Activity; the Heavens of his Glory; the Stars and Planets, with as many Tongues as Beams, Preach his Magnificency; in fine, a numberless number of his Creatures bear Testimony to his Wisdom by their Industry and Dexterity, and all sound aloud the infinity of his Power, by their wonderful passage from the dark Abyss of nothing, to the clear light of Existency, and his All-bountiful Providence, by the unwearied of Protection of that being he has given them; can we think it then either hard or impossible to Coverse with God, he is every where to be met withal, he is Visible in every Corner of the World to a Man that hath Eyes, Jupiter est quodcumque vides, Jovis omnia plena. lest we should be dazzled with the Glory of his Majesty, he has laid it aside and hide himself in the meanest of his Creatures, but we shall easily discover him by the Rays of his Godhead Gloriously shining in the lowest Work of his Hands.   

CHAP. IV.  
When God Speaks and Converseth with us more particularly.  
GOd Converseth with us in the foregoing manner, when he quickens our Understanding, in order to discover to us his wonderful perfections in the Works of his Power: But there are two other noted times he speaks to us more particularly; to wit, Adversity and Prosperity; in time of Adversity he punisheth as a Father, in time of Prosperity he Caresseth as a Mother.  
These great Riches thou art possessed withal speak distinctly enough in his Favour, if thou hast so much of Wit as to understand their Language; we are, say they, or rather God himself by their Mouths, Convincing Arguments of that extreme Care your Celestial Father takes to provide for your Bodily wants, that you may with less disturbance think only on what concerns your Souls; Remember always you are not Proprietarys, but mere oeconomers, you are accountable for the good or ill use you make of us to a Master extremely rigorous, though just in the highest degree, by whom we are allowed to be the Instruments of your Beneficency, not of your Riots and Debauchery: Forget never, you will certainly at the utmost leave us when Death comes, and we in all probability, as being inducements to your daily Crimes, shall leave you before that time.  
Such is the mute Eloquence of that Gold, of that Silver, of those Immense Treasures thou heaps up in thy Coffers so Carefully; but perhaps they stand like a Wall betwixt thee and God, hindering thee to harken to his Voice; well, he shall overthrow it, and take away these Riches that are the cause of thy Spiritual Deafness: Affliction perhaps will give thee understanding, and make thee understanding, and make thee the more attentive to his Inspirations. He was never more Familiarly conversant with Job, nor Job more attentive to his Oracles, than upon the dunghill, and in his greatest Miseries.  
Thou art then now forsaken by these Riches thou gloried so much in, and trusted so much to; thy Friends are no more, and the chief Props of thy former Grandeur are overthrown; every one shuns thy Company, as hoping no more the same advantage thereby now as formerly: But take Courage, God himself shall be thy Companion, and Converse with thee, as with his dearly beloved Child: He will Discourse to thee in this Conjuncture particularly of the Vanity of whatever expects an end, as Riches, Honours, employments, Pleasures; he will mind thee of thy Pleasures, how they were simul in ortu, simul in occasu, ended in the very first moment of their being, as to that brutish satisfaction thou was so much taken with in their enjoyment, but still persevering in the trouble and sting of thy Restless Conscience.  
This is a Secret known only to the Spiritual and Discerning sort, that God would have us to Spiritualize every thing, and Envisage in the meanest of his Creatures his highest Perfections, the best attractives of our affections: He desires all Men to reflect seriously, he expresseth his extreme love towards them, in a sensible tho different manner, no less when Fortune smiles, yea perhaps more too than when it frowns.  
Take notice yet of another Christian Truth, conducive in no small measure to thy Spiritual proficiency, and my present Design: God speaks to us by all such as have Authority over us; such are Superiors either Civil, or ecclesiastic; their Will must be looked upon as his in all things not repugnant to his written Word, insomuch, that if we resist, in Lawful things, our Lawful superiors, we oppose not only them, but God himself, whose Lieutenants they are; and as such ought to be reverenced by all their Subjects: What they say in reference to our allegiance, we must conceive to be said by him, or by his Inspiration, whom they represent: Let all Inferiors then reflect, that God Converseth with them, by these good Instructions and wholesome Advices they receive from such as he has set over their Heads: If we but once accustom ourselves to take whatever happens to us here below in this Spiritual bias, we have attained to an infallible Method how to find God every where, and Converse with him intimately upon all occasions.   

CHAP. V.  
The Subject of Gods speech to us.  
THE Subject of Gods Speech to us is ever proportionable to that Degree he has placed us in in this World, and is as different as our employments are here, and his Designs on us hereafter; yet we may say generally, his Converse with us aims always at our greatest perfection; he will not have us to content our selves with an ordinary Virtue, because he prepares us an extraordinary Reward; in Contemplation whereof he stirs us up to great Enterprises for his Glory, to fight constantly against our three most dangerous Enemies, the Devil, the Flesh, and the World; he puts us in Mind to go on stoutly, and not to weary by the way in our Spiritual Progress; for he would be highly offended, if we imagined any tropics, or non plus ultra, in the career of perfection.  
But when we take a course contrary to his Designs, and our own Spiritual Concerns, he Exhorts us to Repentance, and useth us, as an Expert Physician his Patient: He employs first Lenitives, to cure the Malidies of our Souls; such are sometimes Riches, Honour, Good Success, Great employments, bestowed often on most Undeserving Persons, in aim only to gain by such Favours their affections; but if they are not prevailed upon by such liberal profusions to aclowledge their Benefactor, and their own unworthiness of his Benefits, the Distemper now being come to a great height, he shall have recourse to the last and extreme Remedies, he shall despoil us of these Riches, the only source of all our disorders, abandon us to the wrath of those we look upon as the chief upholders of our Fortunes, make away that wife, those Children we love so dearly, deprive us of that health so instrumental to our Debaucheries, that so forsaken by all Earthly things, we may be forced to come back to him and ourselves again.  
Thou could not hear his Voice in time of Prosperity, by reason of the Tumult of thy vast Retinue, of thy Numerous and boisterous Family, and continual Disturbance of active and passive Visits; now all this past, and being now by a friendly stroke from above reduced to a mean condition, thou shalt have leisure in a silent solitude to harken to the least of his whispers and be more attentive to his Fatherly Instructions, all tending to thy Spiritual Progress in the Career of perfection.  
To come to Particulars, he speaks to each one comformably to that State of Life he has called them to; he remembers Princes, they are not for themselves, but for the People; they ought to look upon their Subjects as their Children, not as their Slaves; that they must provide for their Temporal welfare, by Just Laws; and Eternal Interest, by not suffering any Crime they may hinder: He Exhorts again all Inferiors not to be deficient in any part of their Duty towards their Respective Superiors, whom they ought to reverence as his Vicegerents.  
His more Particular Converse with us in private, aims always at the rooting out of that predominant Passion which influences Powerfully all our Actions. Our Conscience, or rather God, by and in it, tells us, that too insatiable desire of Riches overweighs our Poor Soul, and draws it down to Hell itself, whither we are ready to go, if we thought to meet there with a Treasure: If this be the Devil thou art possessed withal, thou art  told by the secret Voice of Inspiration to wrestle him out of Doors without respite, and with all speed. Another Sacrificeth all, his Soul not excepted, to Momentary and Brutish Pleasures; but he hears God whispering in his Ears, in all times, and in all places, the Idol of Pleasures he adores, is the false Deity he must Renounce too, if he will shun his Eternal ruin: Others, and those too many, are overpowered by that undertaking Passion of Honour; at this goliath of Worldly Grandeur, such ought to aim continually, for if they are so happy as to give him once a Mortal blow and overthrow him, 'twill be easy to put all the rest of the philistines to flight; I mean if once we extirpate our predominant by the very Root, our other imperfections, its defective Offsprings, shall never bide us a pull.   

CHAP. VI.  
Our Indispensible Obligation to Speak and Converse with God.  
UPon several accounts we are indispensably obliged to Speak and Converse with that sovereign Being we understand by this Word, God. 1. Because 'tis it seems the very End he Created us for; not that he had need of ours, or any other Creatures Company, but because as he is infinitely good by Nature, nothing can please him more, than to Communicate himself to whatever is capable of his Friendship. 2. Because he is our Judge, and shall decide in last Instance of our happy or unhappy Eternity. Tho he be Infinitely Just and Rigorous beyond all Imagination; yet, he may be gained in some manner as other Judges, with Gifts, not of Gold or Silver, but of Praise and Prayer.  Munera creed mihi placant Hominesque Deosque Placatur donis Jupiter ipse datis. 
What would be your opinion of a Man, who would neglect so far his most important Affairs, as never to recommend them to the Judge on whose only favour the good success depends? Such an one, you say, hath not his Wits about him, as slighting his most material concerns, ex ore tuo te judice, you have pronounced against yourself with your own Mouth: The greatest affairs of the World, of Commerce, and Confederacy, Peace and Wars, &c. are but mere Trifles, and Childish Plays; there is but one thing in the World I can conceive, as deserving the Name of Affair, which is our Eternal happiness: Are not we then in a fit of a notordinary folly, if we neglect a business of this moment, or never own him from and by whom only we may expect the good success thereof?  
God is our Father: He has given us such extraordinary marks of his love by our Creation, Redemption, and Conservation, that we are obliged least we incur the guilt of an extreme Ingratitude, to render him often thanks for such undeserved and wonderful benefits; we are his Children, we stand in need of his Fatherly protection against our Enemies, both Visible and Invisible: He will supply sufficiently all our wants, both Spiritual and Corporal, but we must pay to him first the due homage of a humble Prayer; since we may procure to ourselves so great an advantage at so easy a rate, can we prudently neglect it?  
God is our Physician, whom we are concerned to Consult in all our Distempers both of Body and Soul. That Patient desires not to be cured, who never makes an overture of his Indisposition to him that only is able to cure it. God, I confess, understands perfectly our strong and our Weak, the most secret and hidden Maladies of our Souls, but yet he will be  told of them by us, as if he knew them not, that at least by that Allmover proper Interest we may turn ourselves often to, and Converse with him, which is undoubtedly the greatest happiness we can attain to in this life, and as a foretast of our Future Conversation with that God of Majesty, in the Splendour of his Glory.   

CHAP. VII.  
In what manner we ought to Converse with God.  
I Design not in this place to writ a Spiritual Treatise: There is nothing more Common in the Age we live in, than Books of Instruction for such as profess a not-ordinary Piety: I intend only to speak home to the scope of this present Treatise, and to set down an easy and practicable Method to Converse with God at all occasions, for the advancement of our Spiritual Concerns.  
It consists chiefly in these three following Things; in Knowledge, Praise, and Prayer. We Converse with God by Knowledge, when we Meditate upon his Wonderful Perfections: By Praise, when we extol his Mercies: By Prayer, when we ask him our Needs. There is nothing here but may be easily performed by a Man of an ordinary Capacity.  
To attain to a sufficient Knowledge of Gods Infinite Perfections, we need not have recourse to the Abstract and Metaphysical Meditations of Divines.  
Let us but open our Eyes and look about us, wherever we are, and we shall see them written with sensible Characters in the Foreheads of all his Creatures: His Infinite Wisdom a seeing man cannot but discover in the Beauty, Order, Harmony and Structure of this Universe, and of himself as a wonderful Abridgement of all his Works: We see clearly his Power, Goodness, and his other Attributes in the Creation, and constant Conservation of the vilest Objects our sight meets with: Let us then break out in Praise of his Glory, Power and Goodness, of his Innumerable Mercies bestowed upon us from the very moment of our Birth, yea and before we opened our Eyes to see the light of Heaven.  
Every Creature may be to us an ample, subject to run out in Praise of, and Prayer to God: This is a great secret of the Spiritual Life, to Discern and Spiritualize for the good of our Souls, these sensible Objects, which so many misuse to their own Damnation: That Beauty thou admires, betrays perhaps thy Soul to a dangerous and restless Passion, because thou looks upon the enjoyment thereof as thy sovereign happiness; but another clearer sighted than thou art, considers it only as an imperfect Copy of that Original and never fading Beauty: And so, what is a cause of sin to some, is to others an occasion of Spiritual Proficiency: This Instance Instructs thee sufficiently how to pass through the sensible Objects, to that Invisible Being, who Created them designedly for this end.  
I shall discover as yet, three most important Practices, whereby we may attain in this life in the midst of our greatest Affairs, to a not ordinary Intimacy and Union with God. First, If we are so busy that we can spare no set time for our Prayers, let us Offer unto God, as a Morning Sacrifice, all the Actions we shall do that day: This Intention, called commonly by the Mysticks a virtual one, remains still, tho not reflected on, so long 'tis not interrupted by a sinful Action, for such an one cannot be of the number of those we present God withal at our uprising; this Act sanctifieth our most indifferent Actions, and makes those much more valuable that are good by their own Nature: This Method of uniting ourselves to God, is so easy, that none can be excused from practising it. The Ladies, that spend a part of the day in admiring that Beauty which Nature gave them not, but the Art of Painting, may allow it easily one moment, which perhaps would be an occasion to withdraw some of them from spending so much of their time so idly: The Statesmen, Lawyers, and all such as have few spare hours, from their own, and public Affairs, may in the aforesaid manner be as much United to God, as ever the Anachorets of Egypt were in their silent solitudes.  
The second Method to Converse with God in this life, and very proportionable to the weakness of our Nature, soon weary of deep and long Meditations, is that of frequent Ejaculations whereby in the very midst of our Mirth we may be seriously Conversant with our Maker, by sudden and short Acts of Love, Hope, Faith, Praise and Prayer; and this we may perform without altering in the least our Exterior Behaviour, which is the securest way I know of to honour God in Spirit and Truth, and the remotest from all danger of hypocrisy. Tho I am well persuaded we are obliged to do good, not only in the sight of God, but also before Men, that they may be encouraged and edified by our good example.  
There remains a third practise, which if Men did reflect upon, would render their Converse with God easy and sweet in the midst of their greatest disturbances, it consists in taking whatever befalls us from the hand of God, without accusing either our Enemies or a Frowning Fortune: For certain 'tis, Fortune is but a Heathenish Deity, and a mere Fiction, unless we thereby understand Gods Eternal Decree. Whensoever then, for Instance, an Enemy wrongs you in your Repute, remember he is the Instrument of a Just God, who Chastiseth thus thy Ambition; some sudden and unexpected accident makes away thy Children, they Husband, thy Wife, thy nearest and dearest Relations, thou must adore in all this his Divine Will, and impenetrable Designs: thou art disposest perhaps of a Great Estate, Great Riches and Honours, by the oppression and calumny of thy Enemies; behave thyself in this Conjuncture as a Christian, aclowledge the heavy hand of God upon thee, without Railing against, or Revenging thyself upon those who are the Executioners of his Justice.   
FINIS.