tihtavy of Che 'theological Seminar;?
PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY
PRESENTED BY
The Library/ of
Professor Benjamin B. Warfield
BV 4801 .M9 1899
Mudge, James, 1844-1918.
Honey from many hives
^;2y^Z^-M^ ^<^
HONEY
FROM MANY HIVES
GATHERED BY
REV. JAMES IviUDGE, D.D.
NEW YORK : EATON & MAINS
CINCINNATI : CURTS & JENNINGS
Copyright by
EATON & MAINS,
J899.
Eaton & Mains Press,
150 Fifth Avenue, New York.
TO THE
MEMORY OF MY MOTHER,
AND THE MANY OTHER GOOD WOMEN AND MEN
WHO HAVE HELPED ME IN
HOLY LIVING.
SALUTATORY.
This book, O reader, is for your closet, your
secret place of private prayer and meditation. Such
a place I trust you have. Busy times, to be sure, are
these, and much seems to press upon us for doing;
but what shall it profit if we gain all knowledge and
all riches, and even cast out many of the devils that
torment the age, while we do not properly know our
own souls or make any real acquaintance with God ?
Take things a little more calmly. It needs time to
be holy. Give ten minutes a day to quietly ponder-
ing some of the paragraphs which you will find in
these carefully culled pages. Such a practice will
work the most beneficent of revolutions in your life.
For before you have penetrated far into this volume
you will discover that it is not like other books. It
contains the cream of many centuries, and could in
no way have been produced by any one man, how-
ever wise or saintly. If you shall learn to love it
and prize it at its true worth, you will make it your
close and constant companion, nor will you consent
to part with it for many times its price. Take it,
then, not only into your closet, but into your mind
and heart, and become by means of it a full sharer
in the sacred joys of those who walk with God.
Natick, Mass. J. M.
5
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Devotional Reading 9
" The Imitation of Christ " 22
" Christian Perfection " 5 ^
Francis of Sales 91
" Holy Living and Dying " 129
F^nelon I53
Thomas C. Upham 188
Frederick William Faber 214
Edward Meyrick Goulburn 242
A Dozen Worthies 272
A List of Titles 3^3
Index 329
HONEY FROM MANY HIVES.
DEVOTIONAL READING.
Of reading in general it may justly be said that
he who has a taste for it has greater riches than the
treasures of India. Truly happy is the man who has
thoroughly learned how to eat paper and drink ink ;
that is, how to turn to best account the stores of
learning that are wrapped up in printed volumes.
The lover of books has an unfailing resource. Rainy
days do not damp his enjoyment. Neither the heat
of summer nor the cold of winter materially inter-
feres with his delightful occupation. The loss of
friends does not leave him friendless. He can make
new acquaintances even in old age, and he can at
any time renew his intercourse with those that were
dear to him long ago. God be thanked for books —
purveyors of information, stimulators of thought,
unfailing entertainers, the tools of those who work
in the realm of mind, the true levelers, giving easy
access to the most select society. They are indeed
^'lighthouses erected in the great sea of time,"
throwing their effulgence over coasts and waves that
without them would be full of danger to the mari-
ner. They are comfortable inns established along
9
Honey from Many Hives
the thoroughfares of life for the refreshment and
solace of the weary traveler.
By devotional reading we mean the perusal of
such books as are adapted to aid the spiritual life.
Its value may be shown in various ways. For it
has close connection with almost all the means of
grace. Nearly all the processes of Christian growth
are more or less vitally allied to it. Take, for ex-
ample, prayer. Prayer is the grand difficulty with
most souls, though they do not generally know it.
The reason why they do not go forward is because
they do not really and effectively pray. They know
not what to ask for, both their own needs and the
divine provisions being very largely hidden from
them, and they do very little genuine asking. They
keep up the practice to satisfy their conscience, but
their petitions are formal, routine, unhelpful affairs
which do not bring them into inspiring communion
with God. The lamp of prayer, one may say, burns
dim, and is often almost at the point of extinction.
And where such is the case it is no wonder that the
religious life is feeble. The remedy is to pour in oil.
Very frequently do the old writers use this figure
of speech to indicate the relation between devotional
reading and fruitful supplication. The pertinency
of it is evident. As the literal flame expires with-
out food, so will the spiritual. When the mind has
been sucked dry of uplifting thoughts by the multi-
plicity of distracting temporal interests that con-
lO
Devotional Reading
tinually prey upon it, a fresh supply must be pro-
vided. When the attention has been long engrossed
by earthly objects that thrust themselves persist-
ently, and perhaps legitimately, into the mind, tak-
ing for a season full possession of the current of
reflection, outside aid is required to turn that current
successfully into another channel. Spiritual reading
is just the thing. It invigorates the intellect, re-
freshes the emotions, and through them reaches the
will. It has an invaluable power of suggestive-
ness. The affections are stirred. The cold heart is
warmed. The laggard purpose is quickened. There
is a general arousement of the whole soul. Now one
can pray. He feels ashamed that he has fallen so
far behind the examples of which he reads. He
learns what his real needs are, and how best to meet
them. Divine impulses leap into his heart from off
the printed page. God speaks to him through the
pens of his choicest children. Acts of faith, hope,
love, and desire become easy. He takes a new start.
His whole life becomes pitched on a higher key, and
the process of celestial transformation is greatly
accelerated.
This kind of reading is not only oil for the lamp
of prayer, but bread and meat which may be turned
into strength for Christian activity. That mind
which is largely ignorant of the devices of Satan is
not properly fortified against temptation so as to
readily repel it. And these devices are so multifari-
II
Honey from Many Hives
ous that something more than personal experience
is necessary to make one fully acquainted with them.
To wait for such experience would mean a sad loss
of time and waste of opportunity. One might as
well insist on learning the art of war solely by one's
own battles. The wiser way is to draw on the stores
of the past, utilizing the experience and observation
of others, and thus avoid repeating their mistakes.
He is best qualified to pull down the strongholds of
the enemy, and to rout his forces in the campaign,
or capture his country, who has been a diligent stu-
dent of all other campaigns. This, at least, greatly
helps. And idleness or weakness on the part of the
Christian warrior will be far less common when he
has become thoroughly familiar with the successes
of his comrades. He will be stimulated as well as
instructed by what they have done; less likely to
yield to indolence, better qualified to win victory.
Very few realize how important for the proper
advancement of spirituality is the cultivation of a
taste for reading. A master in these things has put
on record his estimate that he who begins a devout
life without such a taste may consider the ordinary
difficulties multiplied in his case by at least ten.
However accurate this may be, it is clear that such
a person is at a very great disadvantage. All the
best writers are agreed on this point. He is not
likely to be very thoughtful. He will fall into many
errors which otherwise might have been easily
12
Devotional Reading
avoided. He will be ignorant of those best methods
which the wisdom of the ages has brought out.
That which holy and learned men have by long con-
templations received from God, and which he might
with very little labor make his own, he will not
know, and the lack of that knowledge will plunge
him into many difficulties. He will blunder and
stumble along where he might have run or soared.
To be sure, one may learn much by word of
mouth. The pulpit is appointed in part for this
very thing, that the man of God, or the man of
godly tendencies, may be thoroughly furnished unto
good works. But good teachers are rare. And
though preaching of some sort or other is nearly
always accessible, it is by no means always of the
sort most suitable to promote sound and rapid
growth in grace. But in the right kind of a book,
procurable now for a very small sum, one has a
preacher continually at hand. He is not confined to
a special day or place. He may be returned to again
and again, may be heard and reheard when one is
most at leisure or most in need. Moreover, he
speaks boldly, and with no danger of personal of-
fense, what no individual would dare tell us to our
face. He pricks us in our tenderest points, and lays
bare the hideousness of our darling sins. This is
a great advantage. It is a benefit, also, that we can
take a little at a time, as we are able to bear it.
Spiritual reading, then, it is scarcely too much to
13
Honey from Many Hives
say, has in these modern times, and especially in so
enlightened a land as America, reached a dignity
and a consequence that puts it nearly on a level, for
Christian people, with the listening to sermons.
May it not be properly affirmed that the reading of
religious books should now be regarded in the light
of a truly divine ordinance ? Has not literature come
to be one of the most effective forms of preaching?
Surely preaching, which all recognize as ordained of
God, should not be restricted in its meaning to the
delivering of a set discourse in a house of worship.
If it be taken in the somewhat broader sense of the
communication of divine truth to men through hu-
man instrumentality, then it will certainly include
the use of the pen as well as the lips, and reading
will be as much a duty as hearing. One may hear
in the closet with the inward ear as well as in the
church with the outward ear. Ought there not to
be the same solemnity and sense of obligation in the
one case as in the other ?
Who will deny that if bad books have a mighty
influence for evil, as we continually note with loud
lamentation, good ones may and must be laid hold
of for blessings? If ''a companion of fools shall be
destroyed," "he that walketh with wise men shall
be wise;" and such walking is nowhere easier than
in a little corner with a little book. Most certainly
we need all the help we can get for making headway
against the demoralizing tendencies of the day. To
14
Devotional Reading
neglect the aid offered by some inspiring manual
of devotion in the shape of a well-written biography,
a series of confidential letters, a collection of hymns,
or a treatise on the highest possibilities of grace, to
the value of which aid such multitudes all down the
ages bear ready testimony, is to falsify our profes-
sion of strong desire for the fullness of God; is to
expect the end without the use of the means, and to
prepare for ourselves disappointment and at least
comparative failure.
But to be greatly impressed with the importance
of good books is one thing; to know how to use them
is quite another. A few counsels may be in place.
It is not best to fly too fast from flower to flower.
A leisurely process is most beneficial. There must
be time to ruminate and digest. The gentle showers
are the ones that soak into the earth and fructify the
vegetation. So one must bend over a good book
with calm attention, quiet appreciation, and much
meditation. As the birds stop when they drink a
little and lift their eyes to heaven, one may read a
few sentences and then turn them into prayer, look-
ing up for help to comprehend and practice. A sin-
gle sentence taken into the mind and thoroughly
turned over there, till its whole bearing and ap-
plication to daily life is clearly seen, is worth more
than whole pages cursorily perused. Not many have
suf^cient wisdom to see that to go slow is often the
quickest means of reaching the desired end. A solid
2 15
Honey from Many Hives
truth really made one's own is a permanent acquisi-
tion. And when in course of time many such gains
are securely harvested the character is wonderfully
enriched. To read merely from curiosity, or for
purposes of controversy, or because one feels that
it is the proper thing to do, is a very different thing
from reading with a single eye to personal improve-
ment and an eager desire for advancement in good-
ness. He who pursues the latter course, reading for
himself rather than for others, is the one who will
make most progress.
It is an admirable plan to read with pen or pencil
in hand. If the book is one's own, its margin may
well be filled with neatly written comments and re-
flections. If it has been borrowed, then there should
l)c transcription of its best expressions. Indeed, it
is very desirable that each should construct a manu-
script volume for himself. It need not be large, but
it will surely become very precious. Into this vol-
ume should go certain passages of Scripture that
have been proved and tried; texts that throb with
life and flame with light; stanzas of hymns and
parts of religious poems that have in them a mighty
power of inspiration; precepts and proverbs and
mottoes and maxims that seem to condense the wis-
dom of many centuries and yet have personal rela-
tion to one's own position ; morning meditations,
birthday resolutions, Sunday reflections, and, in
short, the choice result of one's best moments. Such
i6
Devotional Reading
a volume will be the history of one's inner life. It
will hold a record of hilltop experiences, where from
special mounts of vision God showed one the won-
ders of the Canaan land or revealed how the temple
of character should be built. It is no small recom-
mendation of this practice that it was followed by-
seraphic John Fletcher, one of the most holy men
that has ever blessed the earth, towering high above
the generality of Christians, and enjoying closest
fellowship with God. There is still in existence
(held in safe and reverent keeping for more than a
century past) a small, square book, strongly bound
in leather, and containing about two hundred closely
written pages, which was his closet companion.
With its thoughts and rules he nourished his soul
in private. With its spiritual exercises and dis-
ciplinary regulations, its tests and standards of self-
examination, he sought to perfect himself in the love
of God and in the minutest details of conduct. One
feels, as he looks into this little manual of devotion
which was so dear to the saint, that he is almost
watching the way in which that saintliness was
evolved. The lovely growth of goodness had at its
root the patient discipline here outlined and por-
trayed. Here is the workshop from which the fin-
ished product was at last brought forth. It was
mainly prepared when he was about twenty-seven
years of age, although no doul^t it grew considerably
in the days subsequent to that period. We see no
17
Honey from Many Hives
reason why a book like this should not be con-
structed by everyone who is in dead earnest to be all
the Lord's, and so is ready to lay hold of every avail-
able means that gives promise of assistance in the
mighty undertaking. Attention is thus concen-
trated, thought is clarified, mind and heart are kept
on the alert, and much of permanent value is pre-
served which would otherwise vanish with the hur-
rying years. No one who has not tried it can fully
realize what an aid pen and paper may become in
furthering religious advancement.
It is well to have a fixed time in the day for de-
votional reading. Some have formed the habit of
reading a little in connection with all their closet
seasons. And these seasons have been observed,
when nothing unusual occurred to disturb the rou-
tine, morning, noon, and night. In addition to
prayer. Scripture, and perhaps a hymn, they have
prized a paragraph from some good book, keeping a
number on hand; varying the selection to suit the
time of day — part of a sermon, perhaps, in the
morning, a Bible comment at midday, a biography
in the evening. Those who have some leisure and,
what is still more essential, great zeal, can readily
accomplish this. Others will find, probably, a single
period for this kind of reading all that they can with
regularity compass. Let the period be selected
when there will be least interruption. With some it
will be directly after dinner, with others immedi-
i8
Devotional Reading
ately before retiring, while still others find that by-
rising at an earlier hour than would otherwise be
necessary they can give their freshest powers to God
and make the very best possible preparation for the
work before them. But, whatever the time chosen,
regularity is essential to the largest results. If only
a few moments can be secured, so that not more than
a page a day can be read, even that, with the extra
opportunity of the Sundays, will mean, if it be con-
tinuously kept up, several volumes a year.
One should become acquainted with the standard
works. Undoubtedly there are excellent books
dropping from the press year by year, and among
them we may sometimes discover that particular
production which has a special message for us,
wonderfully adapted to our peculiar need, written,
as it were, for our eye and heart. We should be on
the lookout for such a prize and purchase it prompt-
ly. Nevertheless, there are certain volumes which
have been so long fed upon by the Church, which
have survived so many vicissitudes of time, as to
create a strong presumption in their favor. We may
naturally expect that what many generations of
Christ's children have drawn profit from will prove
also profitable to us, and hence we approach such
writings with large expectations that are not often
disappointed. We shall not, of course, find them all
equally suited to our own times or our own indi-
vidual tastes. But it will be very strange if some of
19
Honey from Many Hives
them do not become exceedingly dear to us, veritable
wells of salvation out of which we shall draw water
with great delight. Opinions, no doubt, will differ
considerably as to just what these standard works
may be. No two persons would make precisely the
same list, if it were of any length. A few, however,
are in all men's mouths, and quite a number of
others would obtain the general suffrage as stand-
ing in the front rank. But it is very noticeable, and
indeed inevitable, that nearly all these ancient books,
being written for a time so far separated from our
own, in a foreign country most probably, and per-
haps by an author belonging to a different branch
of the Christian Church, contain very much that is
not adapted to these days or our circumstances. To
much of it, very likely, exception must be taken.
Only a small part will be suitable for prolonged
meditation, and fit to be implicitly followed. But
that small part will be of priceless worth.
It was a consideration of this fact which led to the
preparation of the book which the reader now holds
in his hand. Some forty volumes, most of them
such as would be accounted among the classics
in this department, have been carefully searched
and made to yield their choicest, most distinctive
thoughts on the great fundamental themes most
closely associated with devout living. Thus, within
a small compass and at a moderate price, the cream
of these twoscore books, some of them rare, is
20
Devotional Reading
brought within the reach of everyone whose tastes
run in this direction. It is not to be supposed that
all would make exactly the same selections as those
here presented, and much has had to be left out
which would be of profit ; but it is believed that every
paragraph of this book will richly repay repeated
perusal, and that in every case there is given a fair
sample of the original author's best contribution to
the thought of the world. There can be no question
that he who properly masters these thoughts and
follows these precepts will achieve a splendid char-
acter and possess a happiness such as few of earth's
millions can at all conceive. It is hoped that this
little book will be found worthy to lie on many a
table beside the Bible and the Hymnal, as in full
harmony with their teachings and as containing the
best available collection of uninspired prose homi-
lies on holiness. If it shall be made as great a means
of grace to those who read it as its preparation, ex-
tending over many years, has been made to him who
has compiled it, much good will certainly be done
and many hearts give fresh glory to God through
all eternity. May he grant it, for his name's sake !
Amen.
21
Honey from Many Hives
^THE IMITATION OF CHRIST.^
The De Imitatione Christi — for such is its title
in the original Latin — is so well known to all read-
ers of good books that it hardly needs much intro-
duction. It easily stands at the head of its class.
Among uninspired volumes it ranks first for diffu-
sion and popularity. Its editions in various lands,
languages, and ages are to be counted by the thou-
sand. Many years ago no less than sixty translations
were known to have been made from it into modern
tongues, and the number must be now much in-
creased.
Its reputed writer is Thomas Hamerken, com-
monly called a Kempis from a little town near
Cologne, where he was born in 1380. It is some-
what doubtful whether he wrote it; the dispute
about the matter has filled a hundred volumes, and
many are inclined to ascribe it to John Gerson,
Chancellor of the University of Paris, who lived
from 1363 to 1424. But it is probable that Thomas
a Kempis will always retain the credit of the author-
ship. Not much is known about his life save that
he spent seventy-one of the ninety-one years to
which it was extended in the monastery of St. Agnes
in the diocese of Cologne, of which he rose to be
subprior, or, as some say, superior. Quiet industry
in book copying, preaching, composing treatises,
22
"The Imitation of Christ '"
and other such exercises, together with lonely con-
templation and secret prayer, filled up the gently
gliding days; and a volume was produced (among
others of inferior merit) which all the devout have
agreed to put in the first place among religious
manuals.
Dean Farrar has well said: "It is the legacy of
the ages, it is the gospel of monasticism, it is the
psalter of the solitary, it is the cyclic utterance of
the mystic, it is the epic poem of the inner life.
Whoever was the composer of the book did but
gather into one rich casket the religious workings
and interior consolations, the wisdom of the solitary
experiences which had been wrung from many ages
of Christian life." It was one of the important ele-
ments in the making of John Wesley, as in the case
of multitudes more. During that formative period
at Oxford, when he was laying out the lines on
which his life was to be guided. Dr. Abel Stevens
says, "he pored over the pages of that marvelous
book, De Imitatione Christi, which has lent the fra-
grance of its sanctity to every language of the civil-
ized world, and which by its peculiar appositeness
to almost every aspiration, misgiving, or consola-
tion of devout minds, has seemed more a production
of divine inspiration than any other work in Chris-
tian literature except the Scriptures. It had been a
favorite with his father, his 'great and old com-
panion.' " After reading a Kempis Wesley says:
23
Honey from Many Hives
''I saw that simplicity of intention and purity of af-
fection, one design in all we speak or do, one desire
ruling all our tempers, are indeed the wings of the
soul, without which she can never ascend to God.
I sought after this from that hour." So grateful
was he for the help afforded him by the book, and so
highly did he prize it, that just as soon as he was in
a position to use the printing press he translated it
for his people and published it in an abridged form,
calling it The Christian's Pattern, under which title
the Methodist Book Concern still issues it.
Being written nearly five hundred years ago, and
in a monastery, the book is, of course, not altogether
adapted in every section to our greatly different
modern life. But its main principles are perennial,
and some of its sentences are very searching.
The quotations which we append contain, we be-
lieve, the very best portions; but there is the less
need that we make extensive selection since the
whole book is easily accessible in cheap and con-
venient forms. We advise the reader to procure a
copy, and choose for repeated perusal those particu-
lar parts best adapted to his individual wants.
ZEAL FOR IMPROVEMENT.
The principal obstacle to the reformation and
improvement of life is dread of the difficulty and
labor of the contest. Only they make eminent ad-
24
"The Imitation of Christ '^
varices in holiness who resolutely endeavor to con-
quer in those things that are most disagreeable and
most opposite to their appetites and desires; and
then chiefly does a man most advance to higher de-
grees of the grace of God, when he most overcomes
himself, and most mortifies his own spirit.
But though all men have not the same degree of
evil to overcome, yet a diligent Christian, zealous
of good works, who has more and stronger passions
to subdue, will be able to make a greater progress
than he that is inwardly calm and outwardly regu-
lar, but less fervent in the pursuit of holiness.
Two things are highly useful to perfect amend-
ment: to withdraw from those sinful gratifications
to which nature is most inclined, and to labor after
that virtue in which we are most deficient. Be par-
ticularly careful, also, to avoid those tempers and ac-
tions that chiefly and most frequently displease thee
in others. Wherever thou art, turn everything to
an occasion of improvement : if thou behold or hear
of good examples, let them kindle in thee an ardent
desire of imitation ; if thou seest anything blamable,
beware of doing it thyself; or if thou hast done it,
endeavor to amend it the sooner. The zealous and
watchful Christian bears patiently and performs
cheerfully whatever is commanded; but he that is
cold and negligent suffers tribulation upon tribula-
tion, and of all men is most miserable ; for he is des-
titute of inward and spiritual comfort, and to that
25
Honey from Many Hives
which is outward and carnal he is forbidden to have
recourse.
When a man is so far advanced in the Christian
Hfe as not to seek consolation from any created
thing, then does he first begin perfectly to enjoy
God; then "in whatever state he is, he will therewith
be content;" then neither can prosperity exalt nor
adversity depress him ; but his heart is wholly fixed
and established in God, who is his All in All. Re-
flect that it is only the fervent and diligent soul that
is prepared for all duty and all events; that it is
greater toil to resist evil habits and violent passions
than to sweat at the hardest labor ; that he who is not
careful to resist and subdue small sins will insensibly
fall into greater, and that thou shalt always have
joy in the evening if thou hast spent the day well.
Watch over thyself, therefore; excite and admonish
thyself, and, whatever is done by others, do not neg-
lect thyself. Thou wilt make advances in imitating
the life of Christ in proportion to the violence with
which thou deniest thyself.
TRUE LEARNING.
He is truly good who hath great charity; he is
truly great who is little in his own estimation and
rates at nothing the summit of w^orldly honor; he
is truly wise who "counts all earthly things as dross
that he may win Christ;" and he is truly learned
who hath learned to do the will of God.
26
'The Imitation of Christ "
There is no other cause of perplexity and disquiet
but an unsubdued will and unmortified affections.
A holy and spiritual mind becomes the master of all
his outward acts; he does not suffer himself to be
led by them to the indulgence of inordinate affec-
tions that terminate in self, but subjects them to the
unalterable judgment of an illuminated and sancti-
fied spirit.
No conflict is so severe as his who labors to sub-
due himself; but in this we must be continually en-
gaged if we would be strengthened in the inner man
and make real progress toward perfection. Indeed,
the highest perfection we can attain to in the pres-
ent state is alloyed with much imperfection, and
our best knowledge is obscured by the shades of
ignorance. Because men are more solicitous to
learn much than to live w^ll they fall into error,
and receive little or no benefit from their studies.
Assuredly in the approaching day of universal judg-
ment it will not be inquired what we have read, but
what we have done; not how eloquently we have
spoken, but how holily we have lived.
RIGHT DESIRES.
Let this be the language of all thy requests : Lord,
if it be pleasing to thee, may this be granted or
withheld; Lord, if this tend to thy honor, let it be
done in thy name. If thou seest that this is expedi-
ent for me, and will promote my sanctification, then
27
Honey from Many Hives
grant it me, and with it grace to use it to thy glory ;
but if thou knowest it will prove hurtful, and not
conduce to the health of my soul, remove far from
me my desire. For every desire that appears to man
right and good is not born from heaven; and it is
difficult always to determine truly whether desire is
prompted by the good Spirit of God, or the evil
spirit of the enemy, or thine own selfish spirit; so
that many have found themselves involved in evil
by the suggestions of Satan or the impulse of self-
love who thought themselves under the influence
and conduct of the Spirit of God.
Whatever, therefore, presents itself to the mind as
good, let it be desired and asked in the fear of God
and with profound humility; but especially, with a
total resignation of thine own will, refer both the
desire itself and the accomplishment of it to Christ,
and say, Lord, thou knowest what is best; let this
or that be done according to thy will. Give me what
thou wilt, and in what measure and at what time
thou wilt. Do with me as thou knowest to be best,
as most pleaseth thee and will tend most to thy
honor. Place me where thou wilt, and freely dis-
pose of me in all things. Lo, I am in thy hands ; lead
and turn me whithersoever thou pleasest. I am thy
servant, prepared for all submission and obedience.
I desire not to live to myself, but to thee; O grant
it may be truly and worthily. Enable me to die to
the honors and pleasures of this fallen world.
28
*'The Imitation of Christ ^^
It is no small advantage to suppress desire even
in inconsiderable gratifications. Self-denial is the
basis of spiritual perfection, and he that truly de-
nies himself is arrived at a state of great freedom
and safety. See that what is so earnestly sought
from God is sought wholly and purely for his honor.
That cannot be pure which is mixed with self-inter-
est. Make not, therefore, thine own delight and
advantage, but the will and honor of Christ, the
ground and measure of all thy requests. For if thou
judgest according to truth thou wilt cheerfully sub-
mit to his appointment, and always prefer the ac-
complishment of his will to the gratification of thy
desires.
TEMPTATIONS.
Restless and inordinate desires are the ground of
every temptation. Many, by endeavoring to fly
from temptations, have fallen precipitately into
them; for it is not by flight, but by patience and
humility, that we must become superior to all our
enemies. He who only declines the outward occa-
sion, and strives not to eradicate the inward prin-
ciple, is so far from conquest that the temptation will
recur the sooner and with greater violence, and he
wall feel the conflict still more severe. It is by
gradual advances, rather than impetuous efforts,
that victory is obtained ; rather by patient suffering
that looks up to God for support than by impatient
solicitude and rigorous austerity.
29
Honey from Many Hives
That which renders the first assaults of tempta-
tion pecuHarly severe and dangerous is the instabil-
ity of our own minds, arising from the want of faith
in God. Evil is at first presented to the mind by a
single suggestion; the imagination, kindled by the
idea, seizes it with strength, and feeds upon it ; this
produces sensual delight, then the emotions of inor-
dinate desire, and at length the full consent of the
will.
It is, indeed, a little matter for a man to be holy
and devout when he feels not the pressure of any
evil. But if, in the midst of troubles, he maintains
his faith, his hope, his resignation, and ''in patience
possesses his soul," he gives a considerable evidence
of a regenerated nature. Some, however, who have
been blest with victory in combating temptations of
the most rigorous kind are yet suffered to fall even
by the lightest that arise in the occurrences of daily
life; that, being humbled by the want of power to
resist such slight attacks, they may never presume
upon their own strength to repel those that are more
severe.
Let not strange temptations, that possess thee
against thy will, disturb the quiet of thy soul. Main-
tain only an unchangeable resolution of obedience
and an upright intention toward God, and all will
be well. It is much safer for most men not to be
wholly free from temptation, but rather to be often
assaulted, lest they grow secure.
30
*'The Imitation of Christ "
the way to peace.
Behold the way to peace, and to true Uberty of
spirit. I. Constantly endeavor to do the will of
another rather than thine own. 2. Constantly
choose rather to want less than to have more. 3. Con-
stantly choose the lowest place and to be humble
to all. 4. Constantly desire and pray that the will
of God may be perfectly accomplished in thee and
concerning thee. He that doeth this enters into the
region of rest and peace.
Let not thy peace depend upon the commendation
or censure of ignorant and fallible creatures like
thyself, for they can make no alteration in thy real
character. True peace and true glory are to be
found only in Christ; and he that, seeking them in
him, loves not the praise of men, nor fears their
blame, shall enjoy peace in great abundance. By
love of human praise, and fear of human censure,
nothing but disorder and disquietude are produced.
The moment a man gives way to inordinate de-
sire disquietude and torment take possession of his
heart. The proud and the covetous are never at
rest, but the humble and poor in spirit possess their
souls in the plentitude of peace. He that is not per-
fectly dead to himself is soon tempted and easily
subdued, even in the most ordinary occurrences of
life. It is not by indulging but by resisting our pas-
sions that true peace of heart is to be found. It can-
3 31
Honey from Many Hives
not be the portion of him that is carnal, nor of him
that is devoted to a worldly life; it dwells only with
the humble and the spiritual.
GENUINE HUMILITY.
Set thyself in the lowest place, and the highest
shall be given thee; for the more lofty the building
is designed to be, the deeper must the foundations
be laid. The greatest saints in the sight of God are
the least in their own esteem ; and the height of their
glory is always in proportion to the depth of their
humility. Those that are filled with true and
heavenly glory have no place for the desire of that
which is earthly and vain; being rooted and estab-
lished in God, they cannot possibly be lifted up in
self-exaltation.
Do not think thou art better than others, lest, in
the sight of God, who only knoweth what is in man,
thou be found worse. Be not proud of that in which
thou art supposed to excel, however honored and
esteemed by men; for the judgment of God and the
judgment of men are infinitely different, and that
displeaseth him which is commonly pleasing to
them. Whatever good thou art truly conscious of,
think more highly of the good of others, that thou
mayest preserve the humility of thy spirit. To place
thyself lower than all mankind can do thee no hurt;
but much hurt may be done by preferring thyself to
a single individual. Perpetual peace dwelleth with
32
"The Imitation of Christ "
the humble; but envy, indignation, and wrath dis-
tract the heart of the proud.
The humble man God protects and delivers; the
humble he loves and comforts; to the humble
he condescends; on the humble he bestows more
abundant measures of his grace, and after his
humiliation exalts him to glory; to the humble he
reveals the mysteries of redemption, and sweetly in-
vites and powerfully draws him to himself. The
humble man, though surrounded with the scorn and
reproach of the world, is still in peace; for the sta-
bility of his peace resteth not upon the world, but
upon God. Do not think that thou hast made any
progress toward perfection till thou feelest that thou
art "less than the least of all" human beings.
To think of having done well without self-esteem
is an evidence of true humility, as it is one evidence
of great faith to abandon the hope of consolation
from created things. Think on the evil that is in
thee with deep compunction and self -abhorrence,
and think on the good without self-esteem and self-
exaltation. There is in thee no good which thou
canst glory in as thine own.
The more thou knowest, and the better thou un-
derstandest, the more severe will be thy condemna-
tion unless thy life be proportionably more holy. Be
not, therefore, exalted for any uncommon skill in
any art or science; but let the superior knowledge
that is given thee make thee more fearful and more
33
Honey from Many Hives
watchful over thyself. If thou supposest that thou
knowest many things, consider how many more
things there are which thou knowest not at all ; and
instead of being exalted with a high opinion of thy
great knowledge, be rather abased by a humble
sense of thy much greater ignorance. And why
dost thou prefer thyself to another, since thou may-
est find many who are more learned than thou art,
and better instructed in the will of God ? The high-
est and most profitable learning is the knowledge
and contempt of ourselves; and to have no opinion
of our own merit, and always to think well and
highly of others, is an evidence of great wisdom
and perfection.
SIMPLICITY AND PURITY.
Simplicity and purity are the two wings with
which man soars above earth and all temporary na-
ture. Simplicity is in the intention, purity is in the
affection; simplicity turns to God, purity enjoys
him. No good action will be difficult and painful if
thou art free from inordinate affection. And this
internal freedom thou wilt enjoy when it is the one
simple intention of thy mind to obey the will of God
and do good to thy fellow-creatures.
Thy desires must be wholly referred to Christ;
and, instead of loving thyself, and following thine
own partial views, thou must love only his will, and
in resignation and obedience be zealous to fulfill it.
34
"The Imitation of Christ "
When desire burns in thy heart, and urges thee on
some pursuit, suspend its influence for a while and
consider whether it is kindled by the love of Christ's
honor or thine own personal advantage. If he is the
pure principle that gives it birth, thou mayest yield
thyself to its impulse without fear; and, whatever
he ordains, thou wilt enjoy the event in tranquillity
and peace. But if it be self-seeking, hidden under
the disguise of zeal for the Lord, this will produce
obstruction, disappointment, and distress. It is al-
ways necessary to resist the sensual appetite and, by
steady opposition, subdue its power; to regard not
what the flesh likes or dislikes, but to labor to bring
it, whether with or against its will, under subjection
to the spirit. And it must be thus opposed, and thus
compelled to absolute obedience, till it is ready to
obey in all things, and has learned to be content in
every condition; to accept of the most ordinary ac-
commodations, and not to murmur at the greatest
inconvenience.
THE LOVE OF JESUS.
Blessed is he who knows w^hat it is to love Jesus,
and for his sake to despise himself. To preserve
this love we must relinquish the love of self and all
creatures ; for Jesus will be loved alone. If the heart
was emptied of self-love and of the love of creatures
whom thou lovest only for thine own sake, Jesus
would dwell with thee continually. If in all things
thou seekest Jesus, thou wilt surely find him in all ;
35
Honey from Many Hives
and if thou seekest thyself, thou wilt, indeed, find
thyself, but to thine own destruction.
When Jesus is present all is well, and no labor
seems difficult; but when he is absent the least ad-
versity is insupportable. When Jesus is silent all
comfort withers: but the moment he speaks again
the soul rises from her distress. To be without
Jesus is to be in the depths of hell ; to be with him
is to be in paradise. That man only is poor in this
world who lives without Jesus; and that man only
is rich with whom Jesus delights to dwell. Be
humble and peaceful, and Jesus will come to thee;
be devout and meek, and he will dwell with thee.
Men are to be loved only for the sake of Jesus, but
Jesus is to be loved for himself. Jesus alone is to be
loved without reserve and without measure; be-
cause, of all that we can possibly love, he alone is
infinite goodness and faithfulness.
THE PRAISE OF MEN.
He only can have great tranquillity whose happi-
ness depends not on the praise and dispraise of men.
If thy conscience was pure thou wouldst be con-
tented in every condition, and undisturbed by the
opinions and reports of men concerning thee; for
their commendations can add nothing to thy holi-
ness, nor their censures take anything from it.
What thou art thou art; nor can the praise of the
whole world make thee greater in the sight of God.
36
"The Imitation of Christ "
The more, therefore, the attention is fixed upon the
true state of thy spirit the less wilt thou regard what
is said of thee in the world.
If thou hadst but once "known the fellowship of
the sufferings of Jesus," and been sensible, though
in a small degree, of the divine order of his love,
thou wouldst be more indifferent about thine own
personal share in the good and evil of the present
life; and, far from courting the favor and applause
of men, w^ouldst rather rejoice to meet with their
reproach and scorn, for the sake of Jesus. He that
loves Jesus, who is the Truth, and is delivered from
the slavery of inordinate desire, can always freely
turn to God and, raising himself in spirit above him-
self, enjoy some portion of the blessed repose of
heaven.
That man is truly wise, and taught not of men
but of God, who perceiveth and judgeth of things
as they are in themselves, and not as they are dis-
tinguished by names and general estimation. He
that has known the power of the spiritual life, and
withdrawn his attention from the perishing interests
of the world, is not dependent on time or place for
the exercise of devotion. He can soon recollect him-
self, because he is never wholly engaged by sensible
objects. His tranquillity is not interrupted by
bodily labor or inevitable business, but with calm-
ness he accommodates himself to events as they take
place. He is not moved by the capricious humors
37
Honey from Many Hives
and perverse behavior of men. If the frame of thy
spirit were in right order, and thou wert inwardly
pure, all outward things would conduce to thy im-
provement in holiness, and work together for thy
everlasting good. And because thou art disgusted
by a thousand objects, and disturbed by a thousand
events, it is evident that thou art not yet "crucified
to the world," nor the world to thee.
If the truth make thee free, thou shalt be "free
indeed," and shalt hear without emotion the com-
mendations or censures of the world. He that liveth
not in the presence of Christ, manifested in his
heart, is disturbed by the lightest breath of human
censure; but he that referreth his cause to the Lord
shall be free from the fear of man.
THE CROSS.
In the cross is life, health, protection from every
enemy; from the cross are derived heavenly meek-
ness, true fortitude, the joys of the spirit, the con-
quest of self, the perfection of holiness. Take up
thy cross, therefore, and follow Jesus in the path
that leads to everlasting peace. The cross is always
ready, and waits for thee in every place ; run where
thou wilt, thou canst not avoid it. And if thou
wouldst enjoy peace, and obtain the unfading crown
of glory, it is necessary that in every place, and in
all events, thou shouldst bear it willingly, and in
patience possess thy soul.
38
"The Imitation of Christ "
The life of Christ was a continual cross, an un-
broken chain of sufferings ; and desirest thou a per-
petuity of repose and joy? To suffer is thy portion,
and to suffer patiently and willingly is the great
testimony of love and allegiance to thy Lord. It is
not in man to love and to bear the cross; to resist
the appetites of the body, and to bring them under
absolute subjection to the spirit; to shun honors; to
receive affronts with meekness; to despise himself,
and willingly be despised by others; to bear with
calm resignation the loss of fortune, health, and
friends; and to have no desire after the riches, the
honors, and the pleasures of the world. If thou de-
pendest upon thine own will to, do and to suffer all
this, thou wilt find thyself as unable to accomplish
it as to create another world; turn to the divine
power, and the strength of Omnipotence will be im-
parted.
Thy life must be a continual death to the appe-
tites and passions of fallen nature; and be assured
the more perfectly thou diest to thyself the more
truly wilt thou live to God. When, therefore, we
have read all books and examined all methods to find
out the path that will lead us to heaven, this conclu-
sion only will remain, that "through much tribula-
tion" we must enter into the kingdom of God.
Trials will contribute more to the perfection of
thy spirit than the gratification of thy will in the
enjoyment of perpetual sunshine. The safety and
39
Honey from Many Hives
blessedness of man's state in this life are not to be
estimated by the number of his consolations, nor by
his critical knowledge of Holy Scripture, nor his
exaltation to dignity and power; but by his being
grounded and established in humility and filled with
divine charity, and by seeking in all he doth the
glory of God.
LIBERTY OF SPIRIT.
Liberty of spirit cannot possibly be acquired until,
with the whole heart, we are resigned, in all situa-
tions, to the will of God. Go where thou wilt, rest
is not to be found but in humble submission to the
divine will. A fond imagination of being easier in
any place than that which Providence has assigned
us, and a desire of change grounded upon it, are
both deceitful and tormenting.
Keep a strict guard over all thy words and ac-
tions; let the bent of thy mind be to please Christ
only, and to desire and seek after no good but him ;
and if, with this, thou refrainest from censuring the
Avords and actions of other men, and dost not per-
plex thy spirit with business that is not committed to
thy trust, thou wilt but seldom feel trouble, and
never feel it much.
If thy love were pure, and fixed only upon Christ,
no creature would have power to enslave thee. Es-
tablish thyself in absolute resignation to his good
pleasure and thou canst sufTer no evil. It is not the
acquisition nor the increase of external good that
40
"The Imitation of Christ ^'
will give thee repose and peace, but rather the con-
tempt of it and rooting the very desire out of thy
heart; not only of the luxury of wealth, but of the
pomp of glory and the enjoyment of praise. The
fruitful root of every evil is thine own unsubdued,
selfish will.
Keep invariably to this short but perfect rule:
Abandon all and thou shalt possess all ; relinquish
desire and thou shalt find rest. Revolve this again
and again in thy mind; and when thou hast trans-
fused it into thy practice thou wilt understand all
things. What can be more at rest than the heart
that in singleness and simplicity regardeth only
Christ ? What more free than the soul that hath no
earthly desires?
Nothing should give so much joy to the heart of
him that truly loveth thee, O God, and is truly sen-
sible of thy undeserved mercies, as the perfect ac-
complishment of thy blessed will. He should feel
so much complacency and acquiescence as to be
abased as willingly as others are exalted ; to be as
peaceful and contented in the lowest place as others
are in the highest, and as gladly to accept of a state
of weakness and meanness as others do of the splen-
did honors and the most extensive power. The ac-
complishment of thy will and the glory of thy name
should transcend all other considerations, and pro-
duce more comfort and peace than all the personal
benefits which have been or can possibly be conferred.
41
Honey from Many Hives
Often the designs of others will succeed and thine
prove abortive; what others say shall be listened to
with eager attention, but what thou sayest shall
either not be heard or be rejected with disdain;
others shall ask once and receive, thou shalt ask
often and not obtain ; the tongue of fame shall speak
long and loud of the accomplishments of others, and
be utterly silent of thine; others shall be advanced
to stations of wealth and honor while thou art
passed by as unworthy of trust or incapable of serv-
ice. At such trials nature will be greatly offended
and grieved, and it will require a severe struggle to
repress resentment ; yet much benefit will be received
from a meek and silent submission ; for by such the
servant of the Lord proves his fidelity in denying
himself and subduing his corrupt appetites and pas-
sions.
PATIENCE.
He is not patient who will suffer but a certain
degree of evil, and only from particular persons.
The truly patient man considers not by whom his
trials come, whether by his superior, his equal, or
his inferior, w^hether by the good and holy or the
impious and the wicked. But whatever be the ad-
versity that befalls him, however often it is renewed,
or by whomsoever it is administered, he receives all
with thankfulness, as from the hand of God, and
esteems it great gain. There is no suffering, be it
ever so small, that is patiently endured for the sake
42
"The Imitation of Christ "
of God which will not be honored with his accept-
ance and blessing.
Humility and patience under adversity are more
acceptable to Christ than joy and fervor when all is
prosperous and peaceful. Why art thou offended
and grieved at every little injury from men, when,
if it were much greater, it ought to be borne with-
out emotion? No evil is permitted to befall thee
but what may be made productive of a much greater
good. When thou meetest with injury from the
violence or treachery of men exert all thy resolution
to drive the thoughts of it from thy heart; but if it
toucheth thee too sensibly to be soon buried in for-
getfulness let it neither depress nor vex thee ; and if
thou canst not bear it cheerfully, at least bear it
patiently.
BRIEF PETITIONS.
Grant, O Lord, that from this hour I may know
only that which is worthy to be known; I may love
only that which is truly lovely; I may praise only
that which chiefly pleaseth thee ; I may esteem what
thou esteemest, and despise that which is con-
temptible in thy sight. Suffer me no longer to
judge by the imperfect perception of my own senses,
or of the senses of men ignorant like myself; but
enable me to judge both of visible and invisible
things by the Spirit of Truth, and, above all, to
know and to obey thy will.
Enable me to die to the riches and honors, the
43
IfoNKV KKDM Many Hivks
cares ;i IK I plc'isincs of lliis f.illcn vvoihl; ;iiifl in imi-
l.'ilioii ol liic'c, and lor lliy sake, lo love ohscnrily
.'iimI \() hc.'ir conlcinj)!. r>iit, hanscciKlin^^ all I can
desire, 1^1 aiil llial I may icsl in llicc, and in lliy jx-act!
I)ossess my sonl. 'I'lion art il, line ]>ca(c, llion ait its
only rest ; lor willionl llicc it i:, all darkness, dis-
ordci, and
',•//
;in'l foK'/crl ior wli.'ilcvj tlioii v/illcst. ih done, ;i.h'l
;ill ili;it tli'/i) wiliest, is i.r/)y thy
grace, I have hegun to treaH.
Dearest Jesus, spouse of my sonl, suj^reme ;/;urcc
of lif^ht ;m'l lovf, uik] vjvcrei^^n i.onl of univrsal
nature' ^ ) th;)t 1 h;<'I tlie win^s of true liberty, that
T mij(ht take my flight to thee an^l he at rest! When
will it ]xt ^rrunUu] ma, in silcmt an'l peaceful abstrac-
tion from ;ill createrl bein^, tr> **taste au'l see hov/
^^oorl" thr.M ;)rt, O Lor'l, my ()< ,']\ V/hr-n ',h;)ll I
be v/holly .'(h'orhf'l in thy fullness! When hball I
lose, in the love of thf-^-, ;)11 p'-rrq)tion of my.flf, .'m^I
have no sense of any bf-inj; hut thhie !
SIJCCF'.STTVK SKNTRVCRS.
V.oc:^) tbine eye turne^-l inwanlly upon thyself, uw]
l>eware of ]\v]'yn\y the actions of oth^-r.. In jn^lr''
in^ others a man labors fo no purpose, commonly
errs, anrl easily sins; but in <-/;ufiininj; ;ukI jn^lronr'
himself be is always v/isely an^l usefully f-t/iploy*'}.
Honey from Many Hives
After all, the most perfect peace to which we can
attain in this miserable life consists rather in meek
and patient suffering than in an exemption from ad-
versity; and he that has learned most to suffer will
certainly possess the greatest share of peace : he is
the conqueror of himself, the lord of the world, the
friend of Christ, and the heir of heaven!
It requires long and severe conflicts entirely to
subdue the earthly and selfish nature and turn all the
desire of the soul to God. He that trusts to his own
wisdom and strength is easily seduced to seek repose
in human consolation ; but he that truly loves Christ
and depends only upon his redeeming power within
him, as the principle of holiness and truth, turns not
aside to such vain comforts, but rather exercises
self-denial, and for the sake of Christ endures the
most painful labors.
All inspection and all judgment being referred to
Christ, study thou only to preserve thyself in true
peace and leave the restless to be as they will. They
cannot deceive Omniscience ; and whatever evil they
have done or said, it will fall upon their own
heads.
Perfection consists in offering up thyself with thy
whole heart to the will of God ; never seeking thine
own will either in small or great respects ; but with
an equal mind weighing all events in the balance of
the sanctuary, and receiving both prosperity and
adversity with continual thanksgiving.
46
'The Imitation of Christ "
With what confidence and peace shall that man,
in the hour of his dissolution, look on death whom
no personal affection or worldly interest binds down
to the present life. When self is once overcome the
conquest of every other evil will be easy. This is
the true victory, this is the glorious triumph of the
new man!
How often has the growth of holiness been
checked by its being too hastily made known and too
highly commended ! And how greatly hath it flour-
ished in that humble state of silence and obscurity
so desirable in the present life, which is one scene of
temptation, one continual warfare.
The righteous should never be moved by what-
ever befalls him, knowing that it comes from the
hand of God and is to promote the important busi-
ness of our redemption. Without God nothing is
done upon the face of the earth.
*'He that folio weth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life." These are the
words of Christ; by which we are taught that it is
only by a conformity to his life and spirit that we
can be truly enlightened and delivered from all
blindness of heart. Let it, therefore, be the princi-
pal employment of our minds to meditate on the life
of Christ.
A holy life is a continual feast, and a pure con-
science the foundation of a firm and immovable con-
fidence in God.
4 47
Honey from Many Hives
It is an evidence of true wisdom not to be precipi-
tate in our actions, nor inflexible in our opinions;
and it is a part of the same wisdom not to give hasty
credit to every word that is spoken, nor immediately
to communicate to others what we have heard, or
even what we believe.
O, if thou didst but consider what peace thou wilt
bring to thyself, and what joy thou wilt produce in
heaven, by a life conformed to the life of Christ, I
think thou wouldst be more watchful and zealous for
thy continual advancement toward spiritual perfec-
tion.
It is good for a man to meet with contradiction
and reproach ; to be evil thought of, and evil spoken
of, even when his intentions are upright and his
actions blameless. For this keeps him humble, and
is a powerful antidote to the poison of vainglory.
Spiritual conferences are highly serviceable to
spiritual improvement, especially when persons of
one heart and one mind associate together in the
fear and love of God.
Without love the external work profiteth nothing ;
but whatever is done from love, however trifling
and contemptible in the opinion of men, is wholly
fruitful in the acceptance of God, who regardeth
more the degree of love with which we act than
what or how much we have performed. He doeth
much who loveth much ; he doeth much who doeth
well; and he doeth much and well who constantly
48
*'The Imitation of Christ '^
preferreth the good of the community to the grati-
fication of his own will.
Endeavor to be always patient of the faults and
imperfections of others; for thou hast many faults
and imperfections that require a reciprocation of
forbearance. If all men were perfect we should
meet with nothing in the conduct of others to suffer
for the sake of God. .
We ought every day to renew our holy resolu-
tions, and excite ourselves to more animated fervor,
as if it were the first day of our conversion; and to
say, Assist me, O Lord God, in my resolutions to
devote myself to thy holy service; and grant that
this day I may begin to walk perfectly, because all
that I have done hitherto is nothing.
No man can safely go abroad that does not love
to stay at home; no man can safely speak that does
not willingly hold his tongue; no man can safely
govern that would not cheerfully become subject;
no man can safely command that has not truly
learned to obey; and no man can safely rejoice but
he that has the testimony of a good conscience.
Grieve not that thou dost not enjoy the favor of
men, but rather grieve that thou hast not walked
with that holy vigilance and self-denial which be-
come a true Christian and a devoted servant of God.
While the mind is invigorated by health of body
thou wilt be able to do much toward thy purifica-
tion; but when it is oppressed and debilitated by
49
Honey from Many Hives
sickness I know not what thou canst do. Few
spirits are made better by the pain and languor of
sickness.
It is better to turn away from all that produces
perplexity and disturbance, and to leave everyone
in the enjoyment of his own opinion, than to be held
in subjection by contentious arguments.
All is vanity but the love of God and a life de-
voted to his will.
50
"Christian Perfection ''
^'CHRISTIAN PERFECTION/'
Alphonsus Rodriguez, author of one of the
very best works on Christian Perfection which has
ever seen the Hght, was born at ValladoHd, in Spain,
in 1526. He received the degree of Doctor in
Philosophy at the University of Salamanca, and
afterward, discharging the office of professor of
moral philosophy, became so famous for his lectures
that students flocked to hear him from all parts of
the country. After twelve years of this public teach-
ing he devoted himself for the remainder of his life
to imparting spiritual instruction to young priests
and monks, and he soon came to be looked upon as
"one of the greatest masters of the science of the
saints and the conduct of souls." In Cordova,
Seville, ValladoHd, and Montilla he spent his time
doing good until his departure to a better world, in
1 616, having been greatly honored and loved by all
who knew him. It is written of him that "he lived
so entirely detached from himself, and from every
feeling of self-love, that he regarded God alone in
all things. He showed an ardent zeal for the salva-
tion of souls, and left the world an heroic example
of holiness. Whatever leisure time he could spare
from his indispensable occupations he employed in
mental prayer and in spiritual reading. He taught
nothing which he did not himself practice, and his
book IS but the mirror of his life."
51
Honey from Many Hives
The book, The Practice of Christian Perfection,
is the mature result of his hfelong study, and a di-
gest of the directions which he was accustomed to
give to those under his care. It was first pubhshed
at Seville in 1614, and was soon translated into all
the languages of Europe. Of French translations
there are no fewer than six. The work is divided
into eighteen parts, and each part is subdivided into
many chapters. The unabridged edition is in three
large volumes, but a revised edition, more suitable
to the majority of Christians, is published in two
small volumes by Burns & Oates, of London. Most
of it is as well adapted to the profit of Protestants
as of Roman Catholics ; but the selections which we
append, since they contain the cream of the distinc-
tive teachings of the author, will doubtless be found
sufficient for ordinary readers.
SPIRITUAL ADVANCEMENT.
One of the principal causes of the little progress
we make in holiness is that we do not desire and
long for it with sufficient earnestness; we desire it,
it is true, but so feebly and coldly that the desires we
form vanish almost as soon as they are conceived.
It is said of Apelles that, in whatsoever business
he was engaged, he never let pass a day without
exercising himself in his own profession by paint-
ing something or other. For tliis purpose he always
endeavored to find out some time amidst his other
52
''Christian Perfection "
employments, and to excuse himself from going into
company was wont to say, "This day I have not as
yet drawn one stroke with my pencil ;" so that by
this means he became a most excellent painter. In
like manner you will become an excellent Christian
if you let no day pass without making some ad-
vancement in virtue. Practice daily some act of
mortification, correct some fault you were accus-
tomed to commit, and you will quickly find that your
life will become every day more perfect. When you
examine your conscience at noon and perceive that
you have done nothing that morning conducive to
your improvement, that you have mortified yourself
in nothing, that you have performed no act of hu-
mility when occasions offered themselves, believe
that you have lost so much time, and make a firm
resolution not to let the remaining part of the day
pass in the same manner. You will find it impos-
sible to observe this rule without gradually advan-
cing, and making by degrees a considerable progress
in the way of perfection.
''The path of the just is as the shining light, that
shineth more and more unto the perfect day." The
just man never believes that he has fully performed
his duty; he never says it is enough, but always
hungers and thirsts after righteousness; so that if
he were to live here forever he would perpetually
strive to become more righteous and more perfect,
and to advance always from good to better.
53
Honey from Many Hives
We must never think we are holy enough, but
always aspire to become still more so. Whoever
wishes to be a saint must forget what he has done
and constantly think on what he has still to do. He
is truly happy who advances daily, and who never
thinks on what he did yesterday but what he has to
do to-day in order to make new progress. The
former tempts us to repose, the latter incites us to
go on. It is a great shame and confusion to us that
worldly men desire those things that are pernicious
to them with more earnestness than we desire those
things that are of the greatest advantage, and that
they run faster to death than we do to life.
BROTHERLY LOVE.
The love which each of us owes God is a debt
he has transferred to our neighbor; and the char-
ity you exercise toward your brother you exer-
cise toward God, who receives it as if it were
done to himself. This ought to be a powerful mo-
tive to excite us to love our brethren, and do them
all the good we can ; because though it seems to us
that we do it to those to whom we owe nothing, yet
if we look upon God, and reflect upon the infinite
obligations we are under to him, and consider that
he has transferred all his right to them, we shall find
that we are indebted to them for all we have.
One of the things by which we ought most of all
to testify the love we have for our brethren is the
54
''Christian Perfection ""
speaking of them in such manner as to make known
to others the esteem we ourselves have for them.
Though your brother has his defects, it is hard also
if he should not have something commendable in
him. Imitate the bee, which lights upon flowers
only, not minding the thorns that surround them;
and follow not the example of the beetle, which
lights upon nothing else but dirt.
Never speak ill of your neighbor or discover his
defects, though ever so small or apparent. Never
do him any prejudice, or let the least contempt of
him appear, either in his presence or absence. Never
tell anyone what has been said of him when the
thing may give him the least offense, because this is
to sow discord amongst brethren.
Never break out into passionate words, nor say
anything mortifying to your neighbor, nor be ob-
stinate in your own opinion, nor dispute nor contest
with heat, nor reprehend anyone over whom you
have no authority. Behave sweetly and charitably
to everyone, doing everything in your power to
serve others and make them happy. And if by your
office you are in a more special manner bound to
serve your neighbor and to take care of him, you
must apply yourself to it still more particularly, and
endeavor, by sweetness of manners, of words, and
answers, to supply wdiatever is not in your power to
do for him.
Never judge your neighbor, but endeavor to ex-
55
Honey from Many Hives
ctise the faults he commits against others and
against yourself; and in general have a good opin-
ion of everyone, harboring no aversion nor show-
ing the least sign thereof, either by abstaining from
speaking to him or neglecting to succor him in his
necessities.
PRESENCE OF GOD.
To employ ourselves continually in the exercise of
the presence of God is to begin in this life to enjoy
the felicity of the blessed in the next. The saints
and patriarchs of the Old Testament took particular
care to walk always in God's presence. Without
doubt they impose upon themselves a strict obliga-
tion to live well who consider that all they do is
done in the presence of a Judge who sees all, and
from Avhom nothing can be concealed. If the pres-
ence of a grave person is sufficient to keep us to our
duty, what effect ought not the presence of the in-
finite majesty of God to produce in us? What serv-
ant is there so insolent as to despise his master's
orders in his very presence?
The presence of God is a sovereign and universal
remedy for all the temptations of the devil and all
the repugnances of nature. So that if you desire a
short and easy means to gain perfection, and such a
one as contains within itself the force and efficacy
of all others, make use of this which God himself
gave to Abraham, ''Walk before me, and be thou
perfect."
S6
"Christian Perfection ""
See how the moon depends upon the sun ; see how
necessary it is for her to keep her face always to it.
As soon as anything interposes between the sun and
moon the moon presently loses its light and force.
The same thing happens between the soul and God,
who is its sun; and it is for this reason that the
saints so earnestly exhort us to have the presence of
God constantly before our eyes.
To place ourselves in the presence of God it is
not necessary we should represent him as by our
side, or in this or that particular place, nor imagine
him as under such or such a form. What we are to
do is to believe, as a certain truth, that he is really
and effectually everywhere. But we must not only
employ our understanding to consider God as pres-
ent; we must afterward exercise our will in loving
him, and in uniting ourselves to him as present ; and
it is in this that the chief exercise of the presence
of God consists.
The act of the will by which we must elevate our
hearts to God in this exercise consists in the ardent
desires of the soul to unite itself to him in the bond
of a perfect love. These desires and aspirations are
expressed by short and frequent prayers, which are
called "ejaculatory," that is to say, "suddenly shot
forth," because they are like inflamed darts or ar-
rows which the heart shoots, one after another,
toward God.
St. Basil makes the practice of this exercise to
57
Honey from Many Hives
consist in taking occasion from all things to call God
to mind. If we eat, let us give thanks to God; if
we clothe or dress ourselves, let us always render
him thanks; if we look up to the heavens,letus praise
God who created them; and as often as we awake
in the night, let us never fail to elevate our hearts
to God. Endeavor in all things you do to elevate
your heart to him, saying, ''Lord, it is for thy sake
I do this; it is to please thee; all my joy, all my satis-
faction is the fulfilling of thy will, and so that I
do but please thee I desire nothing more." This is
a most excellent and perfect way of walking in
God's presence; because it is to entertain ourselves
in a continual exercise of the love of God. Of all
the means we can imagine there is no one better or
more profitable than this, to keep ourselves always
in that continual prayer which our Saviour requires
we should practice.
Moreover, we must take notice that when we
make these acts, and say these petitions, we must
say them, not as elevating our heart or raising our
thought to something without us, but as speaking to
God present within us ; for this is properly to walk
in the presence of God, and this is what will render
this more sweet, pleasant, easy, and profitable to us
than any other sort of prayer whatsoever.
But that which we must most of all take notice
of is that when we put ourselves in the presence of
God it is not to remain or rest there, but that this
S8
"Christian Perfection "
presence may serve as a means or help to perform
all our actions. For if we content ourselves with
barely attending to the presence of God, and so be-
come negligent in our actions, this attention would
be no profitable devotion, but a very hurtful illusion.
Whilst, therefore, we have one eye engaged in con-
templating God, we must engage the other in seeing
how to do all things well for his love; so that the
consideration of our being in his presence may be a
means to oblige us to do all our actions better.
conformity to the will of god.
Our perfection consists in conformity to the will
of God, and the greater this conformity is the
greater also will be our perfection. Perfection es-
sentially consists in the love of God, and the more
we love God the more perfect we shall be. But as
the love of God is the most elevated and most per-
fect of all virtues, so the most sublime, the most
pure, and the most excellent practice of this love is
an absolute conformity to the divine will. More-
over, it is certain that there is nothing better or
more perfect than the will of God, and consequently
we shall become better and more perfect in propor-
tion to our union with this will.
There can nothing happen in this world but by
the order and will of God. And this is always to
be understood except of sin, of which he is neither
the cause nor author. Sin excepted, all other things,
59
Honey from Many Hives
as sufferings, pains, and afflictions, happen by the
order and by the will of God. This is a truth not
to be called in question ; for, though all these things
proceed from second causes, it is certain that there is
nothing done throughout the universe but by the
command and will of one sovereign Master who
orders and governs all. There is nothing that hap-
pens by chance. There is not a leaf that stirs upon
a tree but by his will. And it is by this will that
those things are regulated in which chance seems
to have a greater share.
We ought to infer from these truths that we must
receive all things as coming from the hand of God,
and in them conform ourselves entirely to his divine
will. We must look upon nothing as happening by
chance, or by the conduct or malice of man ; for this
is what ordinarily is wont to give us most trouble
and pain; nor must we imagine that this or that
thing has happened to us because such or such a one
had a hand in it; nor that, if such or such an acci-
dent had happened, things would have fallen out
after a different manner. About this we must not
amuse or trouble ourselves; but in what way or
what manner soever anything happens to us we
must always receive as coming from the hand of
God, because it is he in reality who by these means
sends it to us. An ancient father in the desert was
wont to say that a man would never enjoy true
peace and satisfaction in this life till he could per-
60
''Christian Perfection "
suade himself that only God and he were in this
world.
It is a truth so firmly supported by the authority
of Holy Scripture that all misfortunes and suffer-
ings come from the hand of God, that it would not
be necessary to prove it at greater length if the devil,
by his vain subtleties, did not endeavor to obscure
it and render it doubtful by insisting that the evils
which happen by means of man proceed only from
malice and sinful will. When we have anything
said against us we imitate dogs which, when a stone
is thrown at them, run to bite it, and take no notice
of him that threw it; so we take no notice of God
who sends us these mortifications, but run after the
stone and make an attack upon our neighbor.
Observe that in every sin we commit there are
two things. The one is the motion or exterior act,
the other the irregularity of the will, by which we
transgress what the commandments of God pre-
scribe. God is the cause and author of the first;
man only is the cause and author of the second. It
is God who produces the motions, as he produces all
other effects that proceed from irrational creatures.
For, as they cannot move themselves, or act without
God, so neither can man without his help move his
arms or other limbs. Moreover, these kinds of nat-
ural motions or actions have nothing in them that
is bad ; because, if a man should make use of them,
and either for his own defense, or in a just war, or
6i
Honey from Many Hives
as a minister of justice, should kill another, it is cer-
tain he would not commit any sin. But in what
makes the action sinful — that is to say, the irregu-
larity of the will that moves or determines him to
commit a murder — he is not the cause of it. The
truth of this is explained by the following compari-
son : One has received a hurt in his foot which
makes him lame. What causes him to walk is the
faculty and power he has to move himself, but what
causes him to halt is the hurt in his foot. It is the
same in every vicious or sinful action. The cause
of the action is God ; but the cause of the sin, mixed
with the action, proceeds from the free will of man.
So that God neither is nor can be the cause or
author of sin. But as to other evils, whether they
proceed from natural causes and irrational crea-
tures, or whether they come from men, or from
whatever other source they spring, or in whatever
manner they may happen, we must believe for cer-
tain that they proceed from the hand of God, and
happen to us by his divine providence. It is God
that moved the hand of him that struck you, it is
God that gave motion to his tongue who gave you
injurious language. "Shall there be evil in a city,"
says the prophet Amos, ''and the Lord hath not done
it?" Which truth the Holy Scripture frequently
takes note of, often attributing to God the evil which
one man does to another, and saying that it is God
himself that has done it.
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''Christian Perfection ""
Those who have attained a perfect conformity to
the divine will, and who place their own content-
ment in that of God, never suffer themselves to be
disquieted at the changes and accidents of this life.
Their will is so fully subjected to that of God
that the very assurance they have that all things
come as sent by him, and that his holy will is ac-
complished in whatever adversity happens to them,
makes them, by preferring his will to their own,
look upon all their tribulations and sufferings as so
many joys, and all their griefs and sorrows as so
much sweetness and consolation. Hence it is that
nothing can trouble them; for as trouble can come
only from crosses, misfortunes, or affronts, and as
these, through respect for the hand which sends
them, are received by them as so many favors, it
follows that there is nothing which can change or
diminish the peace and tranquillity of their soul.
Each day of their life is a day of jubilee and exulta-
tion. Having attained a perfect conformity to the
divine will, they meet everywhere sources of content
and satisfaction.
The holy abbot Deicola is said always to have had
a smile on his countenance; and, being once asked
Avhy he was uniformly so cheerful, he answered that
it was because no one could deprive him of Jesus
Christ. He had experienced a real content since he
had placed all his felicity in that which could never
fail and which could never be taken from him.
5 63
Honey from Many Hives
It is certain if you never desire anything but what
God desires you will always attain the object of
your desires, because God's holy will can never fail
of being entirely performed. How happy we when
we covet nothing but what God pleases ! And how
happy, not only because our own will is accom-
plished, but because we see the will of God, whom we
love, accomplished in us and in all things. It is the
second consideration on which we ought chiefly to
dwell ; and it is only in the contentment of God, and
in the execution of his holy will, that we ought to
place all our joy and satisfaction.
This conformity to the will of God is a most effi-
cacious means for the attaining of all other virtues.
Exercise in the one is exercise in all. Occasions
occur every moment of practicing humility, obedi-
ence, patience, and the rest. The obtaining the one
virtue will put us in possession of all. If you desire
an easy and compendious way of attaining perfec-
tion, here you have it. Say daily, ''Lord, what
wouldst thou have me to do?" Have always these
words in your mouth and heart; and according as
you strengthen yourself in these holy sentiments, so
will you increase in the perfection you aim at.
We must endeavor, in our prayers, to reduce by
frequent acts this exercise to practice; and never
cease searching this rich vein of God's fatherly
providence over us till we have found the inesti-
mable treasure of a perfect conformity to his holy
64
"Christian Perfection "
will. I am certain, let us say, that nothing can hap-
pen to me without his orders, and that neither men,
nor devils, nor any other creature whatever can ef-
fect anything contrary to his holy pleasure. I will,
then, refuse nothing he sends, and I will desire
nothing but the accomplishment of his will.
Let us, then, make it our endeavor to become such
by God's holy grace that we may receive with joy
and satisfaction whatever misfortune happens; and
find so great a satisfaction in whatever proceeds
from the divine will as thereby to sweeten all the
bitterness of this life, and make whatever is hard
and difficult easy and delightful. We ought to shut
ourselves up in the divine will as in a most secure
retreat, and live there as a pearl in the shell, or as a
bee in the hive, without ever coming forth. At first
we may find the place very narrow, but afterward
it will be larger; and without once coming forth we
may walk there as in the habitations of the blessed.
MEDITATION.
Meditation is the beginning and ground of all
good. It is the sister of spiritual reading, the nurse
of prayer, and the director of good actions. It
causes true devotion to spring up in our hearts. It
is that which, next to the grace of God, most of all
warms the heart and the will, and produces the
prompt disposition to do virtuous deeds. So that
true devotion and fervor of spirit consist not in a
6S
Honey from Many Hives
certain sensible sweetness which some experience in
prayer, but in having our will always disposed and
ready to execute what may in any way conduce to
God's glory and service. Since we make use of
meditation and reflection to excite our will to act,
and since this is our only aim and end, we must not
entertain ourselves in meditation any longer than is
necessary to move our will.
No one becomes perfect on a sudden; it is by
mounting, and not by flying, that we come to the
top of the ladder. Let us, therefore, ascend, and
let meditation and prayer be the two feet we make
use of to do so. For meditation lets us see our
wants, and prayer obtains for us relief from God.
The one makes us discern the dangers that surround
us; the other gives us happy escape from them.
Prayer is tepid without meditation.
OBSTINACY.
Obstinacy, though it be in a matter of truth, can
come from none but the devil. The reason is, be-
cause that which usually moves a man to maintain
his own opinion with any heat is the desire he has
of being esteemed. Hence it happens that, to ap-
pear more able or learned than his adversary, he
endeavors to convince him that he is in an error;
and if he cannot be victorious in his dispute he en-
deavors at least to make it appear he had not the
worst of it ; and thus it is always the demon of pride
who is the occasion of this obstinacy.
66
"Christian Perfection ""
The spirit of contradiction is a very bad one; en-
deavor, therefore, to cast it out, though the thing in
question be of consequence. If anyone should con-
tradict you insist not much upon it, nor suffer your-
self to be carried on by a desire of getting the better
of him ; but explain yourself once or twice with all
possible mildness, and show him your idea of the
question, and after that let him believe what he
pleases; and impose silence upon yourself as if you
had nothing more to say about the matter.
It is related of St. Thomas Aquinas that in his
disputations he always proposed his opinion with
meekness and sweetness, with an unspeakable mod-
eration, without any show of presumption, and
without the least offense to anyone; but behaved as
a man who regarded not gaining the victory, but
merely endeavored to make known the truth.
We read of Socrates that, dining one day with
his friends, and happening in a large company to
rebuke a little too sharply one of the guests, Plato,
who was present, could not refrain from saying to
him, ''Would it not have been better for you to have
deferred this rebuke to another time, and secretly to
have told him of his fault?" "But would not you
also," replied Socrates, ''have done much better to
have told me of mine in private?"
JOY AND SADNESS.
Sadness is a disease more dangerous and difficult
to be cured than all other spiritual infirmities. Be-
67
Honey from Many Hives
ware of admitting it into your soul, for if it once
gets possession of you it will soon take away all
your relish for prayer and spiritual reading. Sad-
ness makes us severe and rude to our brethren. It
renders a man impatient, suspicious, and intract-
able; and sometimes it so troubles our mind that it
even deprives us of our judgment. Sadness in the
heart of a Christian is a subject of joy to the devil,
because then it is easy to make him either despair
or turn to the pleasures of the world.
God desires to be served with joy. When we
vServe him thus we promote his honor and glory, be-
cause we show that we do it with affection, and that
all we do is nothing compared to what we would
wish to do. God is not only more honored in this
way, but our neighbor also is more edified, and the
esteem of virtue more increased; for those who
serve God with joy prove to worldlings that on the
road of virtue there are not so many obstacles and
difficulties as is imagined ; and as men naturally love
joy they willingly travel the road in which they ex-
pect to find it.
The saints look upon cheerfulness as so great a
good that they say we ought not to be discouraged
or made sad even in our spiritual falls. Our sadness
should at least be moderated by our hope of pardon
and our confidence in God's mercy. Fathers behold
the falls of their children rather with compassion
than anger ; God does the same to us.
68
''Christian Perfection ""
There is a sadness which is according to God, and
one which is not. The first is obedient, affable,
humble, sweet, and patient, and since it proceeds
from the love of God it preserves in us the fruit of
the Holy Spirit. The other sorrow is rude, im-
patient, and full of disquiet and bitterness; it hin-
ders us from what is good, and produces discour-
agement and despair.
The sadness that is holy proceeds from a sight of
our sins, or from a consideration of the many sins
daily committed in the world, or from a great de-
sire of perfection and the little progress we make
toward it, or from a sacred impatience of visiting
our celestial country.
The joy of the servants of God is not a vain and
frivolous one; it is not a joy that makes us break
out into loud laughter, or to say witty things, or to
join in conversation with everyone we meet. For
this would be a dissipation of mind, immodesty, and
irregularity. The joy we seek is a prudent one, that
comes from within and is visible in our countenance
without. We read of many saints who had such a
joy and serenity in their looks that it gave testimony
of the peace and satisfaction which they enjoyed
in their hearts. And this is the joy which we should
all possess.
TEMPTATIONS.
To encourage us in our temptations it will be a
very great help if w^e consider the weakness of our
69
Honey from Many Hives
enemy, and how little he is able to do against us;
seeing that he cannot make us fall into any sin
against our own will.
Prayer is one of the principal means by which we
resist temptation. As a man who lies at the foot of
a tree and sees wild beasts coming toward him to
devour him would presently climb to the top of it
to save himself, so one who perceives himself beset
with temptations ought to climb up to heaven and
retire into the bosom of God by means of prayer,
and thus he will be delivered.
The general maxim to defend ourselves from any
temptation is presently to have recourse to what is
most contrary to it. We must cure those tempta-
tions we are most subject unto by practicing what
is contrary to them. For example, when we find
ourselves carried away with vanity and pride we
ought to exercise ourselves in servile works, and so
on all other occasions steadfastly resist our bad in-
clinations.
Another excellent remedy is strongly to resist
temptations in their beginning. Another is to be
always employed. Do not dwell upon your tempta-
tions. They are like little dogs that bark after a
man that passes by ; if he stops to drive them away
they bark more fiercely than they did before. We
must therefore do like him who walks in a street
where the wind blows the dust in his face ; he covers
his eyes and walks on his way without troul)ling
70
'Christian Perfection ^^
himself either with the wind or the dust. When
any bad thought occurs w^e must endeavor to turn
our mind from it by applying it to something else;
for example, by thinking on the death and passion
of our Saviour, or some such object. However
wicked and shameful the thoughts may be that arise
within us, if, instead of entertaining them, we are
troubled at having them, so far from believing that
God has forsaken us we should consider it an in-
fallible sign that he remains w^ithin us, because it
is he alone who is able to give us this horror of sin
and this fear of losing his grace.
perfection of our ordinary actions.
It is in performing well the most common and
familiar actions of our life that our advancement
and perfection consist. We shall become perfect if
we perform these perfectly; we shall be imperfect
if we perform them imperfectly. And this is all
that properly makes the difference between a perfect
and an imperfect Christian. For our perfection
arises not from our doing more things than another
does, but from our doing them better; and in pro-
portion to the manner in which a man does these
works will he become more or less perfect.
The goodness of our actions consists of two
things, of which the first and chief is, that we act
purely for God. The intention is the foundation of
the goodness of all our actions. The second is,
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Honey from Many Hives
always to walk in God's presence. Thus shall we be
always in prayer. They pray always who always
perform their actions to please and glorify God;
thereby they make their life a perpetual prayer.
The third means of doing our actions well is, to
do each one as if it were the only one we had to do.
Another means is, to do each action as if it were to
be the last we were to perform in this life. One of
the best means to know certainly whether we walk
upright before God is, to consider whether we are
in a state to answer him at whatever time he calls,
and in whatever employment we are engaged.
Perform witli exactness what belongs to your
office and employment, and use all possible care and
application in it, as doing all things for God and in
his presence. Do not commit deliberately any fault,
however small. Set great value on even the least
things. And since our own spiritual advancement
depends upon the due performance of our ordinary
actions w^e must, from time to time, as soon as we
perceive we begin to relax in any one, take care to
make it the subject of our particular examination;
and so renew by this means our fervor and attention.
MORTIFICATION, OR SELF-DENIAL.
Begin this exercise in profiting by those occa-
sions of mortification which are daily offered you
by your superiors, by your brethren, or in any other
way. Receive all with a good will, and make your
72
"Christian Perfection '^
profit of them ; seeing that they are the things neces-
sary for your own peace, as well as for the edifica-
tion of your neighbor. If we will profit by all the
occasions of mortification that happen to us from
our neighbors or brethren we shall meet with a suf-
ficient number, and of all kinds. Some will mortify
us intentionally, others through negligence but
without a bad intention, while others will mortify us
either from contempt or a want of due esteem for
us. But if we consider those which God sends us
directly, as sickness, temptations, disquiet of mind,
the unequal distribution of his gifts, as well natural
as supernatural, we shall find them to be numberless.
As those who design to make themselves soldiers
practice in time of peace military evolutions, which,
though but mock fights, yet qualify them for real
combats, even so the Christian must endeavor to
mortify himself and renounce his will in small
things which are lawful for him to do, that he may
be the more ready to mortify himself in those which
are forbidden. If we accustom ourselves to re-
nounce our will in these small things, and things
that are indifferent, we shall the sooner be able to
deprive ourselves in greater.
Take care to do nothing, to think nothing, to
speak nothing, purely to please your own will, or to
satisfy your sensual appetite. Before meals mortify
in yourself the desire of eating; and eat not to
satisfy your appetite, but to obey God, who will
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Honey from Many Hives
have you eat to nourish yourself. Before you go to
study mortify your desire, and then study because
God commands you to do so, and not because you
find pleasure in it. Before you go into the pulpit to
preach, or to explain any public lesson, mortify your
own desire of doing it, and then preach or teach not
because you like to do it, but because it is what you
are commanded to do, and because it is God's will.
Observe the same practice in all other things; and
thus, depriving your actions of the attachments you
have to them, perform them all purely for God's
sake.
To accustom ourselves, in all our actions, not to do
our own will, but God's, and to take delight in them
not because they are pleasant in themselves and be-
cause our inclination moves us to perform them, but
because in doing them we do the will of God — this
is a point of great importance, and having in it a
high degree of spirituality. He who performs his
actions in this manner will at the same time accus-
tom himself not only to mortify his own will, but
also to do the will of God in all things, which is an
exercise of the love of God most profitable and most
perfect. We should at all times entertain a holy joy
that the will of God is fulfilled in us.
The progress of a Christian consists not in a
happy disposition, in an agreeable exterior, in a
sweet temper, but in our endeavors to overcome
ourselves and in the victory we gain over our
74
^'Christian Perfection '*
passions. This in an infallible test of anyone's ad-
vancement in perfection; and therefore one who is
naturally choleric does far more, and merits a
greater recompense, when he overcomes his passion,
than you who naturally are of a milder disposition,
and who have nothing to resist or overcome.
Neither the sweetness of your temper nor the nat-
ural heat or impetuosity of another ought to make
you esteem yourself the more or him less. On the
contrary, you must make it an occasion of humbling
yourself, acknowledging that what appears to be
virtue in you is not so, but an effect of your natural
temper, and that it is a great virtue in others to do
the same things you perform.
There are three degrees of mortification which
are steps to raise us to the highest pitch of perfec-
tion. The first is taught us by St. Peter: ''Dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims,
abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the
soul" (i Pet. ii, 2).' The second is far more sub-
lime than the first, and is thus described by St. Paul :
"Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in
God" (Col. iii, 3). A man that is dead is equally
indifferent to praise and censure, is unconcerned at
any contempt or injury done him, no passion of
pride or anger disturbs him, nothing troubles him.
If, then, you still have eyes to pry into other people's
actions ; if you are never at a loss for an answer to
excuse yourself, and to do away the obligation of
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Honey from Many Hives
obedience; if you take it ill when you are reproved;
and, lastly, if you feel proud and angry when you
are neglected or despised, be assured that you are
so far from being dead to the world that you live
and act by a worldly spirit. But there is a third
degree of mortification. To die upon a cross is
more than barely to die; it is to die a death of the
greatest infamy. To this degree St. Paul was raised
when he said (Gal. vi, 14) : "The world is crucified
unto me, and I. unto the world." It is the same as
if he had said, Pleasures, honors, riches, the esteem
and praise of men, and all that the world courts and
adores, is a sensible cross to me ; on the other hand,
I love and embrace with the p:reatest delieht all that
the world looks upon as infamy and disgrace. To
be insensible to affronts and disgrace is a small
matter in his sight who rejoices and glories in them,
and says with St. Paul, ''God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world."
RASH JUDGMENTS.
The first root whence rash judgments commonly
grow is pride, which, though it is the root of all
other sins, yet is much more particularly so of this.
Those who think themselves somewhat advanced in
a spiritual life are more frequently tempted than
others to judge and censure their neighbors, forget-
ting their own defects.
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"Christian Perfection '^
The saints say that simpHcity is the daughter of
humiHty; for he who is truly humble has not his
eyes open to see the faults of his neighbor, but only
to discern his own ; and finds so many things to con-
sider and deplore in himself that he never casts his
eyes or thoughts on the failings of others. If, there-
fore, we wxre truly humble we should be far from
these kinds of judgments. The sight of our own
defects gives us humility and contrition, augments
the fear of God in the soul, keeps it in recollection,
and produces in it the fruits of peace and tranquil-
lity. On the contrary, the practice of observing the
faults of others is the cause of many evils and incon-
veniences; it carries along with it pride, rash judg-
ments, indignation against our neighbor, contempt
of our brethren, remorse of conscience, indiscreet
zeal, and a thousand other imperfections which
agitate and injure the heart.
Though there is no sin in judging that an action
is bad when it is evidently so, yet should that w^hich
we see be manifestly culpable it is still a virtue to
endeavor, as far as in our power, to excuse our
brother. Excuse the intention if you cannot excuse
the action; believe it proceeds from ignorance or
surprise; that it is an effect of the first motion which
he was not master of. If we loved our brethren as
ourselves we should not want reasons to excuse
them. Self-love always furnishes us with an infin-
ity of excuses ; it puts arms in our hands to defend
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Honey from Many Hives
ourselves and teaches us how to lessen our own
faults; and without doubt we should make use of
the same means in behalf of our neighbor if we
loved him as we love ourselves.
When we have a passionate affection for anyone
we approve of all his actions, and are so far from
giving them any bad interpretation or taking them
in ill part that, though we cannot but see his faults,
yet we think of nothing else than how to palliate and
diminish them as much as we are able. The same
fault, accompanied with the same circumstances and
appearances, seems not to be the same in him we
love as it does in him we have no affection for.
VAINGLORY.
Vainglory is a sweet-scented powder, but it is
entirely composed of arsenic. It corrupts and de-
stroys all the merits of our actions after they are
done, and makes us lose all the advantages we
might expect from them. It waits till we have taken
pains to perform many good works, and afterward
it robs us of them. It is like a pirate that attacks
not a vessel which is sailing out of port to purchase
goods, but waits till it returns home richly freight-
ed, and then fails not to attack it. Vainglory turns
good into bad, virtue into vice, through the vanity
of the miserable end we purpose to ourselves ; hence,
instead of the recompense due to us, it causes us to
merit nothing but punishments. It is a tempest in
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''Christian Perfection ""
the harbor. It does to the most perfect Christian
what a man does who, going on board a ship well
provisioned and richly laden w^ith merchandise,
bores a hole in the bottom of it through which the
water enters and at length sinks it.
The first remedy against vainglory is to consider
with attention that the good opinion of men is but
mere wind and smoke, because it neither gives nor
takes anything from us, whether good or bad;
neither makes us better nor worse. A second
remedy is to take very great cdre never to use any
expression in praise of ourselves. - Never say any-
thing of yourself that may redound to your praise,
though the person you speak to should be one of
your most familiar friends. If it seems necessary
for the instruction of others to say something of
edifixation tliat has happened to yourself relate it as
of a third person.
We must go yet further, and even conceal as
much as we can the good actions we perform. It is
after this manner that travelers hide their money
Avith a great deal of care, lest they should be robbed
of it. Some have compared those who perform
their good works through a spirit of pride to hens
who make a cackling after they have laid an egg,
whereby they cause it to be discovered and lose it in
consequence. The true servant of God esteems the
good he does as nothing; and what he cannot hide
from the eyes of men he believes he has already
6 79
Honey from Many Hives
received a kind of reward for, if he adds not other
good works which cannot come to their knowledge.
Do not, therefore, aspire to the esteem of men, for
fear that God should make that to be the extent of
all the recompense of those good actions you were
able to perform.
It is for the same reason the saints counsel us to
avoid all sorts of singularity in devotion, because
singular and unusual actions are most remarked and
most spoken of. And he who does what others do
not draws the eyes of all the world upon him;
whence arises the spirit of pride and vainglory
which makes us look upon others with contempt.
But because we cannot always hide our good ac-
tions, since some are obliged to contribute by their
example to the edification of their neighbor, the first
means of defense against vainglory is to rectify in
the beginning our intention, and to elevate our heart
to God, and offer him all our thoughts, words, and
actions, to the end that when vainglory comes to
claim a part in them we may say to it. You come
too late ; all is already given to God.
We read of a father in the desert who used to
pause a little before performing any action. One
day being asked why he did so, "I believe," said he,
"that all our actions have no merit of themselves,
if they be not done for a good end. Wherefore, as
he who fires at a target takes his aim for some time
in order to cover the object, even so, before I per-
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"Christian Perfection '"'
form what I purpose, I direct my intention to God,
who ought to be the only object or end of all our
actions; and it is upon this account that I always
pause a little at the commencement of every action."
PRAYER.
We must not confine ourselves to prayer as the
end in which we are to repose ; it is only the means
we make use of to advance ourselves in perfection.
Let each one consider for some time before he
begins his prayer, and let him ask himself: "What
is the greatest spiritual infirmity I have? What is
the obstacle that most opposes itself to my progress
in virtue ?" Do not go to prayer, like a hunter that
shoots at random, with a vague design of profiting
by what may be presented to your mind. Take to
heart for some time some one thing in particular;
that which you find yourself most in need of. We
must chiefly insist upon this and beg it of God with
fervor several times, several days, nay, even several
months, making this our chief business, having it
continually before our eyes, till we come at last to
obtain it. "One thing I have asked of the Lord,"
says the psalmist; "this will I seek after." It is of
great importance to dwell upon one thing till the
soul is well filled and penetrated with it.
• It was the practice of a very great saint that when
her heart was silent she neglected not to speak with
her lips, because she thus renewed and enlivened
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Honey from Many Hives
the fervor of her heart, and she also confessed that
sometimes, for want of making vocal prayer, when
she found herself sleepy, she also omitted her men-
tal prayer. This is but too often experienced;
tepidity and drowsiness to which we give way in
time of prayer are the causes why our lips are silent ;
but if we forced ourselves to speak we should over-
come these impediments, and should animate our-
selves with new fervor.
Our praying well, and consequently our acting
well, during the whole day depends much on our
seizing the first moments of the morning, as soon
as we wake, to preoccupy them with good thoughts.
We must be extremely vigilant, in order that, as
soon as our eyes are open, our imagination may be
filled with the thought of God, and our memory and
heart receive a similar impression before any
strange thought is able to make its entrance.
Another profitable advice is to write down very
briefly the fruit w^e have reaped from prayer; the
good thoughts we have had, the pious resolutions
we have made, and the lights we have received from
God in it. By this means the good desires and
resolutions we make are more perfected and take
deeper root, and make a stronger impression on our
heart; and experience also will teach us that when
at another time we come to read them over again
they will be of great profit to us.
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^'Christian Perfection ''
how to be humble.
Humility is the source, foundation, and root of
all virtues, as pride is the beginning of all sin. All
virtues which are not founded upon humility are
virtues only in appearance.
Root out of your heart pride, and plant humility
in its place. As soon as you shall be truly humble
you will be obedient, you will be patient, you will
complain of nothing, you will think nothing hard;
and though anything should happen to you very
difficult to be borne with, yet it will always seem
to you very little in comparison with what you de-
serve. As soon also as you shall be humble you will
be charitable toward your brethren, because you will
believe them all to be good, and better than your-
self; you will have a great simplicity of heart, and
you will judge ill of nobody, because you will have
so great a sorrow and confusion for your own de-
fects that you will not think at all upon those of
your neighbor. The love of God is very much in-
creased by means of humility; for one of a humble
spirit, seeing that he receives whatever he has from
the hand of God, and that he is very far from merit-
ing it, feels himself excited to love his benefactor
more and more. The humble man is not angry at
others being preferred to him; he is willing that
they should be esteemed and himself despised.
There is no envy among the humble. If you seek
a ready way to acquire all virtues, and a short lesson
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Honey from Many Hives
for attaining perfection, you have it in two words :
be humble.
Humility consists not in words, nor in outward
conduct, but in the sentiments of the heart; in hav-
ing a low and mean opinion of ourselves, founded
on the deep sense we have of our own nothingness.
It is a virtue by which a man, from a true knowledge
of himself, becomes vile in his own eyes. It is need-
ful that before all things you should know yourself
thoroughly, and after that esteem yourself accord-
ing to what you are. You will be humble enough
as soon as you know yourself; for then you will
plainly see how little you are. According to some,
one of the reasons why God loves humility is be-
cause he loves the truth above all things. Humility
is truth itself, whereas pride is a mere deceit and
a lie; for you are not in reality what you think
you are, nor what you would have others think
you to be.
But, lest we be overmuch cast down at the sight
of our imperfections, we should, for our encourage-
ment, immediately pass on to the consideration of
God's goodness. Yet there is danger in dwelling
too much upon this latter. Our exercise ought to
be like Jacob's ladder, of which one end touched the
earth and the other reached up to heaven. It is by
it you are to ascend and descend, as the angels did.
Ascend till you arrive at the knowledge of the good-
ness of God; but rest not there, for fear of falling
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''Christian Perfection "'
into presumption. Go down again forthwith to the
knowledge of thyself; and rest not there either, for
fear of being faint-hearted, but return up again to
the knowledge of God, to place all your confidence
in him. In fine, all you have to do is to go continu-
ally up and down this ladder. These are the two
lessons which God gives every day to his elect — one
to consider their own faults, and the other to con-
sider the goodness of God, who, with so much
bounty and affection, pardons them.
Gerson makes an ingenious application of the
fable of Antaeus to the subject we speak of. The
poets feign that Antaeus was a giant and son of the
earth, who, having been thrice thrown to the ground
while he wTcstled with Hercules, regained addi-
tional strength every time he touched the earth.
Hercules, perceiving this, raised him up from thence,
and squeezed him to death in his arms. This is a
figure of what the devil does when he fights with us ;
he endeavors to lift us up very high by means of the
esteem and praise of men, that so he may the more
easily overcome us. Hence whoever is truly hum-
ble continually lies low in the knowledge of himself,
and is afraid of nothing more than of being exalted.
Humility has been compared to a river which has
a great deal of water in winter and scarce any at
all in summer: for humility usually decreases in
prosperity and increases in adversity.
Moral virtues are not to be acquired, any more
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Honey from Many Hives
than arts and sciences, but by exercise and practice.
To be a good artist, a good musician, a good orator,
or a good philosopher, you must exercise yourself
in the actions proper to each of these professions;
so, to acquire humility, and other moral virtues, you
must practice the arts belonging to them. It is true
that all virtue must come from the hand of God;
but it is true also that the same God, without whom
we can do nothing, will have us also to cooperate
with him. Humiliation is the way to humility, as
patience is to peace of mind, and study to learning;
if we will acquire humility we must put ourselves
into the way of humility.
Many teachers of the spiritual life counsel us to
take great heed lest we say anything which may
turn to our own praise, which may make us pass
for men of profound knowledge or eminent virtue.
It is very hard for you to have any good quality that
others will not perceive; if you take no notice of it
yourself you will be the better loved for it and de-
serve a double praise ; as well for being master of so
good a quality as for being willing to conceal it.
But if you make a show of it you will be laughed at.
It is highly dangerous to take pleasure in hearing
people praise and speak well of us. When we are
praised we ought to cast our eyes upon our sins.
Let us also be particular to take pleasure in hearing
others praised. Whenever the good which you hear
of your neighbor excites envy in you, or what you
86
''Christian Perfection ^*
hear said of yourself causes self-satisfaction, be sure
to look upon it as a fault. Do nothing to be seen
and esteemed by men. Do not excuse yourself
when in fault, for it is pride that makes us, as soon
as we have committed one, or as soon as we are re-
proved for it, stand upon our defense. Prevent the
imagination from indulging too freely in proud
thoughts. Look on yourself as inferior to others,
and prefer them to yourself.
Ought we to wish to be contemned? and, if we
are, how shall we be able to bring forth fruit for the
good of souls ? For to make an impression by what
we say, and to gain credit with an audience, we
must be in esteem with them ; so that on this account
it seems even necessary to desire the esteem of men.
The answer given by the fathers is that, though the
great danger we incur by the honor and esteem of
men ought to oblige us to avoid it, and though when
we regard only ourselves we ought to wish to be
despised, yet we may, nevertheless, with a view to
God's greater glory, seek their approbation and es-
teem. It happens sometimes that good people re-
joice at the good opinion which others have of them,
but that is when they believe that thereby they can
do more good to their souls ; and then they do not so
much rejoice at the esteem for themselves as at the
benefit of their neighbor. For there is a great dif-
ference between seeking the applause of men and
rejoicing at the salvation of souls. It is one thing
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Honey from Many Hives
to love the esteem of the world for its own sake, and
to regard nothing but one's own satisfaction and
the pleasure of glory, which is always wrong; and
another thing to seek this esteem from a good mo-
tive, such as the advantage and salvation of your
neighbor, which is very commendable. It is there-
fore permitted to desire the esteem of men, pro-
vided it be for the greater glory of God and their
edification; for this is not to love one's own reputa-
tion. When one rejoices at the esteem of man it
must be with such a regard only to God that at the
very same moment that this esteem serves no fur-
ther for God's glory and the salvation of our neigh-
bor it ought rather to be a pain than a joy to us.
For those who are thus disposed there is no fear
when they accept any honor, or even speak to their
own advantage, for they never do it but when they
judge it necessary for the glory of God; and so the
honor and praise which they receive leave no im-
pression of vanity upon their heart.
That which makes the largest degree of humility
so difficult to attain is that, on the one hand, we
must use all imaginable care and diligence to acquire
virtue, to resist temptations, and to be successful in
all our pious undertakings, as if our own strength
were sufficient to insure success; and, on the other
hand, after having done all that depended on us,
we are to confide no more in it than as if we had
done nothing; we must look upon ourselves as un-
88
"Christian Perfection "''
profitable servants, and put our confidence in God
alone.
There appears to be a conflict between humility
and magnanimity; for magnanimity is a greatness
of courage which urges us to undertake grand and
glorious things, yet nothing seems more contrary to
humility. The undertaking of great things seems
wholly repugnant to humility, because this virtue
demands that we acknowledge ourselves unworthy
of everything and good for nothing; and it is pre-
sumptuous to attempt what we are not capable of
performing. Also to attempt things which entitle
us to honor seems acting still further against hu-
mility, because he who is truly humble ought to be
far from so much as thinking how to attain honor.
But the conflict is rather in seeming than in reality.
For the attempting great things belongs properly
to none but to him who is truly humble. To attempt
great things in our own strength would indeed be
presumption. But it is only upon diffidence in our-
selves and confidence in God that Christian mag-
nanimity lays the foundation of great enterprises;
and humility does the same. There is nothing that
we cannot do with the help of God. So with regard
to honor. The magnanimous man desires only to
deserve the glory without caring to possess it. He
has raised himself so high above the opinion of the
world that he finds nothing estimable but virtue;
and, looking with the same eye upon the praise and
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Honey from Many Hives
scorn of men, he does nothing for the love of the
one or for fear of the other.
As a man who has borrowed a great sum feels
his joy for having the money alloyed by the obliga-
tion to restore it, and by the anxiety he is in as to
whether he shall be able to pay it at the time ap-
pointed, so he who is humble, the more gifts he
receives from God the more he acknowledges him-
self a debtor and under a stricter obligation to serve
him; and, thinking that his gratitude and services
do not answer, as they ought, the greatness of the
favors and benefits he has received, he believes at the
same time that anyone but himself would have made
a better use of them. It is this which makes the
servants of God more humble than others ; for they
know that God will call them to account not only
for the sins they commit, but also for the benefits
they receive. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of
him shall be much required" (Luke xii, 48).
But why is God so pleased to exalt the humble,
and to confer upon them so many favors? It is be-
cause all the good he does them returns to himself.
For they who are humble appropriate to themselves
nothing of what they receive; they restore it all to
God, and, acknowledging that there is nothing
great but the power of God alone, ascribe to him
the glory and honor of all.
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Francis of Sales
FRANQS OF SALES*
It is very difficult to write briefly concerning so
wonderful and lovable a man as Francis of Sales,
both on account of his admirable traits and also on
account of the abundant m.aterials which have come
down to us. There is an excellent life of him by
Robert Ornsby, M.A., and a large volume of mem-
orabilia entitled The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales,
by his intimate friend, Bishop Camus, which is
worthy to rank with Bos well's Johnson. Certain it
is that few men have seemed so nearly perfect. It
has been well said: ''All things that command re-
spect and attract love were found in Francis — high
rank, polish of manners, geniality of disposition,
shrewdness of head, vivacity of imagination, a ca-
pacity for profound theological studies, a rare felic-
ity in the use of language, a captivating grace of
manner, an almost vmrivaled power as a director of
souls, activity without bustle, mortification without
sadness. There appears in his mind that union of
sweetness and strength, of masculine power and
feminine delicacy, of profound knowledge and
practical dexterity, which constituted a character
formed at once to win and subdue minds of almost
every type and age."
He w^as born the oldest son of one of the principal
nobles of Savoy, in the town of Sales, 1567. At the
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Honey from Many Hives
age of thirty-five he became bishop of Geneva, but
his residence was at Annecy. After twenty years
full of holy labors in this capacity he departed to
glory, 1622.
In the year 1608 he issued the work by which he
is best known. The Introduction to a Devout Life.
It was drawn up chiefly from letters which he had
written to one who was under his instruction, and
which were so much admired in manuscript as to
make their publication a necessity. The book im-
mediately obtained a vast circulation throughout
Europe, and its popularity has not waned down to
the present day. Dr. E. M. Goulburn, himself one
of the best spiritual writers of our own time, says :
''There is no manual of devotion so winning, so at-
tractive, and of such universal applicability as this.
In profusion of imagery he is a very Jeremy Taylor.
A man must be either the victim of inveterate sec-
tarian prejudice or a stickler for the most vulgar
theological commonplaces, or — much worse than
either — dead to spiritual emotion, who can read
Francis's treatise without a drawing of the heart
toward its author, a longing after the devout life
which he recommends, and a desire to act upon his
instructions for leading it."
In 1616 he brought to completion what is in some
respects his greatest work, the most profound, elab-
orate, and exhaustive, 'A Treatise on the Love of
God. It is a mine of rich and beautiful thoughts,
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Francis of Sales
but not perhaps so generally useful to the ordinary
reader as the Introduction,
Another volume from which we have made ex-
tracts in the following pages is entitled Practical
Piety, and is composed of selections from Francis's
letters and discourses. It is an admirable manual
of devotion, treating very wisely of our duties to-
ward God, toward our neighbor, and toward our-
selves, as well as of the principal exercises of piety
and the principal feasts of the year.
While he was emphatically the apostle of sweet-
ness and gentleness, he had a dignity and gravity
before which people stood in awe, and he had a
burning hatred of sin as well as an ardent love for
God. He did all things ''passing well," but without
vehemence, combining with intensity of devotion
great calmness of spirit. He was hostile to any-
thing like haste or flurry, overeagerness or anxiety.
His favorite word was pedetentim, ''by degrees,"
"step by step," "soon enough if well enough," not
an inch in advance of God's will. He paid special
attention to doing kindnesses for individuals, even
the humblest, and if anyone treated him harshly he
took particular pains to do him a favor. His pas-
sage from earth to heaven, though attended with in-
tense pain, was most edifying. Exhortations to
those around him to love God more were frequent.
As some one gave expression to the thought of how
necessary to the people his longer tarrying seemed
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to be, he replied, "A useless servant, useless, use-
less." The name of Jesus was the last word on his
lips. His end was peace, and his works have cer-
tainly followed him. The few of his words here
given are no better, perhaps, than much more which
might be quoted, but they will afford a taste of his
distinctive teaching.
THE MORNING EXERCISE.
I. Adore God most profoundly, and return him
thanks for having preserved you from the dangers
of the night ; and if during the course of it you have
committed any sin, implore his pardon. 2. Con-
sider that the present day is given you in order that
you may gain the future day of eternity; make a
firm purpose, therefore, to employ it well with this
intention. 3. Foresee in what business or conversa-
tion you will probably be engaged ; what opportuni-
ties you will have to serve God; to what temptations
of offending him you will be exposed, either by
anger, by vanity, or any other irregularity ; and pre-
pare yourself by a firm resolution to make the best
use of those means which shall be offered you to
serve God and advance in devotion; as also, on the
other hand, dispose yourself carefully to avoid, re-
sist, and overcome whatever may present itself th^t
is prejudicial to your salvation and the glory of
God. 4. This done, humble yourself in the presence
of God, acknowledging that of yourself you are in-
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capable of executing your resolutions either to avoid
evil or to do good ; and, as if you held your heart in
your hands, offer it, together with all your good
designs, to his divine Majesty, beseeching him to
take it under his protection, and so to strengthen it
that it may proceed prosperously in his service.
THE EVENING EXERCISE.
Prostrate yourself before God, and recollect your-
self in the presence of Jesus Christ crucified. Give
thanks to God for having preserved you during the
day past. Examine how you have behaved your-
self throughout the whole course of it; and to do
this more easily consider where you have been, with
whom, and in what business you have been em-
ployed. If you find that you have done any good,
thank God for it. If, on the other hand, you have
done any evil, whether in thought, word, or deed,
ask pardon of his divine Majesty, firmly resolving
to confess it at the first opportunity, and to avoid
it for the future. Recommend to the protection of
divine Providence your soul and body, the holy
Church, together with your parents and friends;
and finally beg the Lord to watch over you. Thus,
with the blessing of God, you may go to take that
rest which his will has appointed for you.
TEMPTATION.
There are three steps to ascend to iniquity : temp-
tation, delectation, and consent. Though the temp-
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tation to any sin whatsoever should last during life,
it could never render us disagreeable to the divine
Majesty provided that we were not pleased with it,
and did not give our consent to it. The reason is,
because we do not act, but suffer in temptation ; and
as in this we take no pleasure, so we cannot incur
any guilt. It is not always in the power of the soul
not to feel the temptation, though it be always in
her power not to consent to it; it cannot hurt us so
long as it is disagreeable to us. But with respect
to the delectation which may follow the temptation
it must be observed that, as there are two parts in
the soul, the inferior and the superior, and the in-
ferior does not always follow the superior, but acts
for itself apart, it frequently happens that the infe-
rior part takes delight in the temptation without the
consent, nay, against the will, of the superior. This
is that warfare which the apostle describes (Gal. v,
17) when he says that the flesh lusts against the
Spirit, and that there is a law of the members and a
law of the Spirit.
Therefore, whenever you are tempted to any sin,
consider whether you have not voluntarily given
occasion to the temptation; for then the temptation
itself puts you in a state of sin, on account of the
danger to which you have exposed yourself. When
the delectation which follows temptation might have
been avoided, and yet was not, there is always some
kind of sin, more or less considerable, according to
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the time you have dwelt upon it or the pleasure you
have taken in it.
As soon as you perceive yourself tempted follow
the example of children when they see a wolf or a
bear in the country; for they immediately run into
the arms of their father or mother, or at least they
call out to them for help. Look not the temptation
in the face, but look only on our Lord; for if you
look at the temptation, especially while it is strong,
it may shake your courage. Divert your thoughts
to some good and pious reflections, for when good
thoughts occupy your heart they will drive away
every temptation and suggestion.
It is a very good sign that the enemy keeps knock-
ing and storming at the gate, for it shows that he
has not what he wants. If he had he would not
make any more noise, but enter in and quietly
remain there.
FASTING.
We are greatly exposed to temptations, both
when our body is too much pampered and when it
is too much weakened, for the one makes it insolent
with ease, and the other desperate with affliction.
Labor, as well as fasting, serves to mortify and
subdue the flesh. Now, provided the labor you un-
dertake contributes to the glory of God and your
own welfare, I would prefer that you should suffer
the pain of labor rather than that of fasting. Some
find It painful to fast, others to serve the sick or
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visit prisoners, others to hear confession, to preach,
to pray, and to perform similar exercises. These
last pains are of more value than the former, for
besides subduing the body they produce fruits much
more desirable, and therefore, generally speaking,
it is better to preserve our bodily strength more than
may be necessary, in order to perform these func-
tions, than to weaken it too much; for we may
always abate it when we wish, but we cannot always
repair it when we would.
In indifference respecting our food consists the
perfection of the practice of that sacred rule, "Eat
that which is set before you." I except, however,
such meats as may prejudice the health or incom-
mode the spirit, such as hot and high-seasoned
meats ; as also certain occasions in which nature re-
quires recreation and assistance in order to be able
to support some labor for the glory of God. A con-
tinual and moderate sobriety is preferable to vio-
lent abstinences practiced occasionally and mingled
with great relaxations.
I think it a point of virtue to retire to rest early
in the evening, that we may be enabled to awake and
rise early in the morning, which is certainly, of all
times, the most favorable, the most agreeable, and
the least exposed to disturbance and distractions;
when the very birds invite us to awake and praise
God; so that early rising is equally serviceable to
health and holiness.
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conversation.
Let your language be meek, open, and sincere,
without the least mixture of equivocations, artifice',
or dissimulation ; for although it may not be always
advisable to say all that is true, yet it is never allow-
able to speak against the truth.
No artifice is so good and desirable as plain deal-
ing. Worldly prudence and artifice belong to the
children of the world ; but the children of God walk
uprightly, and their heart is without guile. Lying,
double-dealing, and dissimulation are always signs
of a weak and mean spirit.
In order to avoid contention do not contradict
anyone in discourse, unless it be either sinful or very
prejudicial to agree with him. But should it be
necessary to contradict anyone, or oppose our own
opinion to his, we must do it with much mildness
and dexterity, so as not to irritate his temper; for
nothing is ever gained by harshness and violence.
To speak little, a practice so much recommended
by all wise men, does not consist in uttering few
words, but in uttering none that are unprofitable;
for in point of speaking one is not to regard the
quantity so much as the quality of the words. But,
in my opinion, we ought to avoid both extremes.
For to be too reserved, and refuse to join in con-
versation, looks like disdain or a want of confidence;
and, on the other hand, to be always talking, so as
to afford neither leisure nor opportunity to others
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to speak when they wish, is a mark of shallowness
and levity.
EVIL SPEAKING.
Rash judgment engenders uneasiness, contempt
of our neighbor, pride, self-complacency, and many
other most pernicious effects, among which detrac-
tion, the bane of conversation, holds the first place.
Detraction is a kind of murder; for we have three
lives, namely, the spiritual, which consists in the
grace of God; the corporal, which depends on the
soul ; and the civil, which consists in our good name.
Sin deprives us of the first, death takes away the
second, and detraction robs us of the third. But
the detractor by one blow of his tongue commits
three murders : he kills not only his own soul and
the soul of him that hears him, but also, by a spirit-
ual murder, takes away the civil life of the person
detracted. For, as St. Bernard says, both he that
detracts and he that hearkens to the detractor have
the devil about them, the one in his tongue and the
other in his ear. As the serpent's tongue is forked
and has two points, so is that of the detractor, who
at one stroke stings and poisons the ear of the
hearer and the reputation of him against whom he is
speaking.
One act alone is not sufficient to constitute a vice.
To acquire the name of a vice or a virtue the action
must be habitual ; one must have made some prog-
ress in it. It is then an injustice to say that such
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a man is passionate, or a thief, because we have seen
him once in a passion or guilty of steahng. Also,
since the goodness of God is so immense that one
moment suffices to obtain and receive his grace,
what assurance can we have that he who was yester-
day a sinner is not a saint to-day? We can then
never say a man is wicked without exposing our-
selves to the danger of lying. All that we can say,
if we must speak, is that he did such bad actions, or
lived ill at such a time, that he does ill at present;
but we must never draw consequences from yester-
day to this day, nor from this day to yesterday,
much less to to-morrow.
Some, to avoid the sin of detraction, commend
and speak well of vice. We must avoid this ex-
treme. We must openly blame that which is blama-
ble: for in doing this we glorify God, provided we
observe the following conditions. To speak com-
mendably against the vices of another it is necessary
that we should have in view the profit either of the
person spoken of or of those to whom we speak. It
is, moreover, requisite that it should be my duty to
speak on this occasion, as when I am one of the chief
of the company ; for if I should keep silence I would
seem to approve of the vice; but if I be one of the
least I must not take upon me to pass my censure.
But above all it is necessary that I should be so
cautious in my remarks as not to say a single word
too much. My tongue, whilst I am speaking of my
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neighbor, shall be in my mouth like a knife in the
hand of a surgeon, who would cut between the sin-
ews and the tendons. The blow I shall give shall
be neither more nor less than the truth. In fine, it
must be our principal care in blaming any vice to
spare as much as possible the person in whom it is
found.
When you hear anyone spoken ill of make the
accusation doubtful if you can do it justly; if you
cannot, excuse the intention of the party accused;
if that cannot be done, express a compassion for him
and change the topic of conversation, remembering
yourself, and putting the company in mind, that
they who do not fall owe their happiness to God
alone ; recall the detractor to himself with meekness,
and declare some good action of the party offended,
if you know any.
QUIETNESS OF SPIRIT.
We ought above all things to secure our tran-
quillity, not only because it is the mother of con-
tentment, but chiefly because it is the daughter of
the will of God and of the resignation of our own
will.
We shall soon be in eternity, and then we shall
see what a little matter are all the affairs of the
world, and of how small consequence it was whether
they were done or not done. Nevertheless we now
make ourselves anxious, as though they were great
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things. When we were little children with what
earnestness did we gather bits of tiles, wood, and
clay, to build little houses with, and when anyone
destroyed them we were greatly distressed at it, and
wept ; but now we know right well that all that was
of little consequence. We shall do the same in
heaven one day, when we shall see that our interests
in the world were all mere childishness. Let us pur-
sue our childish occupations, since we are children,
but let us not catch cold about them ; and if anyone
throws down our little houses and designs let us not
be overdistressed ; for when night comes — I mean
death — and we must return to our homes, our little
houses will all be useless. We must return to our
Father's house.
It is a truth that nothing can give us a deeper
tranquillity in this world than frequently to look
upon our Lord in all the afflictions which came upon
him from his birth until his death. For we shall
there see so much scorn, calumny, poverty, need,
abjection, pains, torments, injuries, and all sorts of
bitterness, that, in comparison with it we find out
that we were wrong in calling by the name of afflic-
tion, pain, and contradiction those little accidents
which happen to us, and in desiring patience for
such a trifling matter, since one little drop of
modesty should amply suffice to support that which
happens to us.
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humble-mindedness.
"Borrow empty vessels not a few," said Elisha to
tRe poor widow, ''and pour oil into them." To re-
ceive the grace of God into our hearts they must be
emptied of vainglory. We call that glory vain
which we assume to ourselves either for what is not
in us or for what is in us, and belongs to us, but
deserves not that we should glory in it.
Generous minds do not amuse themselves about
the petty toys of rank, honor, and salutation; they
have other things to perform; such baubles only
belong to degenerate spirits. He that may have
pearls never loads himself with shells; and such as
aspire to virtue trouble not themselves about honors.
Everyone, indeed, may take and keep his own place
without prejudice to humility, so that it be done
carelessly and without contention. For as they that
come from Peru, besides gold and silver, bring also
thence apes and parrots, because they neither cost
much nor are burdensome, so they that aspire to
virtue refuse not the rank and honor due to them,
provided it cost them not too much care and atten-
tion, nor involve them in trouble, anxiety, disputes,
or contentions. Nevertheless I do not here allude
to those whose dignity concerns the public, nor to
certain particular occasions of important conse-
quences; for in these everyone ought to keep what
belongs to him with prudence and discretion,
accompanied by charity and suavity of manners.
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I would neither pretend to be a fool nor a wise
man; for if humility forbids me to conceal my wis-
dom, candor and sincerity also forbid me to counter-
feit the fool; and as vanity is opposite to humility,
so artifice, affectation, and dissimulation are con-
trary to sincerity.
The best abjections, those most profitable to our
souls and most acceptable to God, are such as befall
us by accident or by our condition of life; because
we have not chosen them ourselves but received
them as sent by God, whose choice is always better
than our own.
Humility not enduring that we should have any
opinion of our own excellence, or think ourselves
worthy to be preferred before others, cannot permit
that we should seek after praise, honor, and glory,
which are only due to excellence; yet .she consents
to the counsel of the wise man who admonishes us
to be careful of our good name, because a good
name Is our esteem, not of an excellence, but only
of an ordinary honesty and Integrity of life, which
humility does not forbid us either to acknowledge
In ourselves or to desire the reputation of It. It is
one of the foundations of human society, without
which we are not only unprofitable but prejudicial
to the public by reason of the scandal It would re-
ceive. Charity requires and humility consents that
we should desire It and carefully preserve It.
The obligation of preserving our reputation, and
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of being- actually such as we are thought to be, urges
a generous spirit forward with a strong and agree-
able impulse. An excessive fear of losing our good
name betrays a great distrust of its foundation,
which is the truth of a good life. .He that is too
anxious to preserve his reputation loses it; and
that person deserves to lose honor who seeks to
receive it from those whose vices render them truly
infamous and dishonorable.
That humility which does not produce generosity
is undoubtedly false. For after humility has said,
I can do nothing, I am nothing, it immediately gives
place to generosity, which says, There is nothing
which I cannot do, inasmuch as I put all my con-
fidence in God, who can do everything. And with
this confidence humility, consequently, undertakes
everything which it is ordered to do, how difficult
soever. And if it applies itself to fulfill the com-
mandment in simplicity of heart, God will rather
work a miracle than fail of giving it his aid ; because
it is not from any confidence in its own strength
that humility undertakes the work, but from the
confidence which it has in God.
Behold the example which we ought to follow
when we are ordered to do anything. We ought to
undertake it generously, without reckoning on our-
selves, but reckoning much on the grace of God,
who wills that we should obey without making any
resistance. But I well understand the subtlety of
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false humility; it is that we fear we shall not come
forth with honor to ourselves. We value our repu-
tation so highly that in the exercise of our office
we do not like to be reckoned as apprentices, but as
masters who never commit any blunders at all.
It is a good practice of humility never to look
upon the actions of our neighbors except to remark
the virtues that are in them, never their imperfec-
tions; for so long as we are not in charge of them
we must never turn our eyes, and still less our
attention, on that side.
We must always put the best construction that we
can upon what we see our neighbor do. In doubtful
matters we ought to persuade ourselves that what
we noticed is not bad, but that it is our imperfec-
tions that cause such a thought to arise in our
minds; that thus we may avoid rash judgments, a
very dangerous evil, for which we ought to have
a sovereign detestation.
To acquire the spirit of humility there is no other
way but frequent repetition of its acts. Humility
makes us annihilate ourselves in all those things
which are not necessary for our advancement in
grace, such as good speaking, noble mien, great
talents for the management of affairs, a great spirit
of eloquence, and the like; for in these exterior
things we ought to desire that others should succeed
better than ourselves.
Love your abjection. That is, remain humble,
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tranquil, sweet, full of confidence in the midst of
this obscurity; do not make yourself impatient, or
trouble yourself for all this, but with a good heart
— I do not say gayly, but I do say freely and
firmly — embrace this cross, and remain under these
clouds. Love to be obscure, for the love of Him
who wishes you to be so, and you will love your own
abjection.
HOLY INDIFFERENCE.
It is difficult to give an exact definition of the holy
indifference of a will dead to itself and totally ab-
sorbed in the will of God. According to my idea
of a perfectly indifferent soul, which desires noth-
ing, and permits the Almighty to will whatever he
pleases, it should be defined as a will in a state of
simple and general expectation, disposed for all
events. Yet, though the expectation of the soul is a
simple disposition to receive whatever may occur,
not an action, it is still perfectly voluntary. After
these events have happened expectation is changed
into consent or acquiescence. Before they occur it
is simple expectation; that is, a disposition of the
soul by which she is prepared for everything, and
perfectly Indifferent as to whatever it may please
the divine will to ordain.
To exercise persons In this holy Indifference God
sometimes Inspires them with very exalted designs,
which are not meant to succeed. Their duty on
these occasions is, on the one side, to commence with
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a noble courage and simple confidence, and to per-
severe with constancy, as long as a hope of success
remains; and, on the other hand, tranquilly and
humbly to accept whatever degree of success God is
pleased to give their exertions. Happy are the souls
in whom God discovers this perfect readiness to
abandon, by his desire, the enterprises which they
have generously and courageously undertaken in
obedience to his commands. Nothing more clearly
proves perfect indifference than to abandon the
execution of a good design when God pleases that it
should succeed no further. It was God who urged
us onward and served as a guide ; we advanced with
ardor for his glory, and at the first intimation of his
will we unhesitatingly retraced our steps.
The absolute will of God is usually known only by
the event which is its effect. Before this takes place
we should unite ourselves to the divine will which
is called signified; and when this adorable will is
made manifest in after occurrences we should im-
mediately attach ourselves thereto by amorous sub-
mission. Let us suppose that I, or some one very
dear to me, have been attacked by serious illness;
does God will that the malady should or should not
be followed by death? This I do not, and cannot,
discover. But I know by his signified will that he
requires me, while waiting for the event which he
has ordained, to employ the remedies necessary for
my recovery. I shall then use them, and omit noth-
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ing calculated to remove my illness. But if it be the
will of God that the remedies prove ineffectual, and
the sickness terminate in death, as soon as I shall
have discovered this to be the will of God the
superior part of my soul will cheerfully submit, not-
withstanding the repugnances of the inferior part.
Everything which occurs in the universe, except
sin, happens by the will of God, which is called ab-
solute or of good pleasure; no one can prevent its
accomplishment, and it is known by the effects it
produces. When events occur we judge unhesita-
tingly that God has willed and regulated them.
But, you will object, when an enterprise inspired
by God fails, through the fault of the person to
whom it has been committed, how can he then ac-
quiesce in the divine will, knowing that it is not the
will of God which has prevented success, since it is
not, and cannot be, the cause of the fault which has
impeded the happy termination of the enterprise?
Your fault certainly does not proceed from the will
of God, because God cannot be the author of sin;
yet it is his will that your fault be punished by the
failure of the undertaking. As he is infinitely good
he cannot will sin which offends him; but as his jus-
tice is no less infinite than his goodness he wills the
punishment which is the consequence of your fault.
Thus should we act : our will should be as easily
molded by the will of God as soft wax is shaped by
the hand ; we should not amuse ourselves in forming
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desires and projects; we should have no views or
pretensions, but leave the disposal of everything be-
longing to us in the hands of God. Let us bless and
thank God on all occasions, saying, I do not wish
for anything, O my God; I do not even desire to
know what may befall me ; the power of willing and
choosing belongs to thee; I reserve to myself only
that of blessing thee for whatever thou hast or-
dained. How excellent a use do we make of our
liberty Avhen, suppressing all desires and natural
solicitude, we are solely occupied in praising the
divine will, which regulates all things, and blessing
its ever-equitable decrees.
The brilliancy of the stars is not obscured when
the sun enlightens our horizon, but it is concealed
from us by the light of the sun, and seems to be
engulfed in that immense ocean of splendor in
which it is lost. In like manner the human will is
not destroyed when it abandons itself totally to that
of God ; but it is so absorbed in the divine will that
it cannot be distinguished from it, having in reality
no effect, no desire, no will, but the will of God.
When a servant who follows his master is asked
where he goes he might reply that he does not go,
he only follows ; because it is his master's will, and
not his, which determines the place to which he
walks. The will when totally abandoned to that of
God desires nothing according to its own choice ; it
simply follows the selection made by the Almighty.
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To sail is not to proceed by our own motion, but by
that of the vessel in which we have embarked. The
human mind may be said to embark when it aban-
dons itself to the will of God, allowing itself to be
conducted by this adorable will, to receive its mo-
tion and not to move itself. It is like an infant at
the breast, which, being unable to dispose of itself,
has no will except to love its mother ; on whichever
side it is placed it is satisfied, provided it be in the
arms of her whom it loves and with whom it seems
to constitute but one object. As it is not aware of
having a will it does not make any exertion to unite
it to its mother's, but it abandons itself to her care
and allows her to will whatever she pleases in its
regard. vSouls thus united to God have reached the
highest degree of perfection which can be attained
in this life.
WHEN IS LOVE TO GOD MOST PERFECT?
A heart inflamed with divine love adores and
loves the will of God, not only in the consolations
it imparts, but also in the afilictions it is pleased to
send; it even loves it more ardently in crosses and
trials than in consolations, because the peculiar ef-
fect of a strong and generous love is to suffer for
the object of predilection.
To love the will of God in the consolations it
sends us is a real and sincere love, provided it be
indeed the will of God we love in his consolations,
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and not the consolations in his divine will. This is,
however, a species of love which has no efforts to
make, no contradictions or repugnances to sur-
mount. For who would not love so amiable a will
under circumstances so gratifying to nature? To
love the will of God in its commandments, in its
counsels and inspirations, is a second degree of love,
much more perfect than the first; because it leads
us to renounce our own will and to deprive ourselves
of many pleasures, though it does not forbid them.
To love the will of God in sufferings and afflictions
is the third and sovereign degree of charity. Un-
der these circumstances we can discover nothing
amiable but the divine will itself; we experience
great natural repugnance, and not only renounce
pleasure, but even embrace sufferings and pains.
Divine love is always fearful when it seeks the will
of God amid consolation; because it is easy, under
these circumstances, to love our own happiness
rather than the divine w^ill. But we practice the
higliest perfection of love when we not only receive
afflictions with patience and resignation, but even
cherish and delight in them on account of the will
of God from which they proceed.
If I only wish for clear water it is of little con-
sequence whether it be brought in a vase of gold or
of glass. I should even receive it with more pleas-
ure when presented in a glass, because I can then
see it more clearly than in a golden cup. In like
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manner, if I seek only the will of God I should be
indifferent whether it be presented to me in tribula-
tion or consolation, provided I can clearly discern
it. It should even be more agreeable in suffering,
because it is then more visible ; and the only amiabil-
ity of tribulation is that which it borrows from the
divine will.
To comprise all in a few words, the divine will
is the sovereign object and ruling attraction of a
soul influenced by holy indifference. Wherever she
can discover the divine will she eagerly unites her-
self thereto; and amidst several objects, all marked
with the seal of God's adorable will, that in which
this will is most evidently manifested always re-
ceives her preference, whatever motives may incline
her to the contrary. The divine will sweetly con-
ducts the indifferent soul as it pleases.
The love of our relatives, benefactors, and friends
is in itself very conformable to the will of God ; but
it ceases to be so when it becomes excessive. Souls
which are inordinately attached to the objects which
God wills they should love may certainly be said to
love God above all things ; yet they do not love him
in all things, since their affection for many objects
is founded on, other motives in which God has no
share, though they are not opposed to his divine
will.
That soul is the most cherished by her heavenly
spouse, and the most ardent among his sacred
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lovers, who not only loves God above all things and
in all things, but who loves God alone in all things ;
who, to speak more correctly, amidst many things
which are the objects of her affection loves but one,
which is God. A certain proof that we love God
alone in all things is when we love him equally
under all circumstances; because, God being always
the same immutable Being, the inequality of our
love for him can only proceed from a particular
motive produced by the consideration of some object
which is not God.
LITTLE THINGS.
We have not always an opportunity of doing
great things; but we can hourly perform insignifi-
cant actions with an ardent love. To conform to
the different characters of the persons with whom
we associate; to bear their disagreeable and unpol-
ished manners, which annoy and revolt, conse-
quently to gain frequent victories over our passions
and inclinations; to contradict our natural aver-
sions; to conquer our antipathies; to acknowledge
our faults, and to receive with humility the confusion
resulting from them; to correct the natural varia-
bilities of temper and be continually on our guard
against the obstacles which oppose the peace of our
souls; to love abjection, and joyfully to receive the
contempt and censure incurred by our manner of
life, conduct, and actions — all this, when embraced
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through love and animated by holy dilection, con-
tributes more than we are aware to our spiritual
advancement.
The most trivial actions are performed with great
merit when accompanied with purity of intention
and an ardent desire to please God. Some devout
persons perform many good works without advan-
cing much in charity, because they do everything
tepidly, and act more from natural inclination than
by the inspiration and emotion of grace. Others,
on the contrary, to judge by the exterior of their
actions, do very little for God; but this little is ac-
companied with so much purity of intention that
their progress in holy dilection is rapid.
SEEK PERFECTION SENSIBLY.
You perhaps think that perfection is to be found
ready-made, and that you only require to put it on,
as you would put on a garment; but it is not so; it
is necessary to make it yourself, and to clothe your-
self with it.
You seem to think that perfection is an art, and
that if one could find out the secret of it one would
have it without any trouble. Certainly we deceive
ourselves; for there is no other nor greater secret
than to do and to labor faithfully in the exercise of
divine love if we wish to unite ourselves unto the
beloved.
Take care to make yourself daily more pure in
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heart: this purity consists in weighing everything
in the balance of the sanctuary, which is nothing
else than the will of God.
Know that it is the virtue of patience that insures
us the most perfection ; and if we must have it with
others we must also have it with ourselves. Those
who aspire to the pure love of God have not so
much need of patience with others as with them-
selves.
Keep your eyes lifted up unto God. Augment
your courage in holy humility; fortify it in sweet-
ness ; confirm it in evenness. Make your spirit per-
petually the master of your inclinations and humors.
Never allow apprehensions to enter into your heart.
Each day will give you the knowledge of what you
shall best do the next.
As much as you can, do perfectly that which you
do; but when it is done do not think any more about
it; think of what is to be done next. Walk very
simply with the cross of our Lord, and do not tor-
ment your mind. We ought to hate our defects ; but
with a tranquil and peaceful hatred, not with a
troubled and distempered hatred. And, further, we
ought to have patience when we see them, and de-
rive from them the profit of a holy abasement of
ourselves. We must be charitable with our soul and
not devour it when we see that it does not err with
its full consent. Do not lose courage, have patience,
wait, exercise yourself strongly in the spirit of com-
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passion ; I do not doubt but that God will hold you
with his hand.
It appears to me that our faults universally pro-
ceed from no other cause but this, namely, that we
forget the maxim of the saints who have warned us
that we ought every day to consider that we are
commencing anew our advancement in our perfec-
tion. The work is never finished ; it must always be
recommenced, and recommenced with a good heart.
What we have done up to the present time is good,
but what we are about to begin shall be better ; and
when we shall have finished we will recommence
something else which shall be still better; and then
again something else, until we go out of this world
to commence another life, which shall have no end
because nothing better can happen to us.
Do not then examine so carefully whether you
are in perfection or not; here are two reasons why
you should not. One is that it is to no purpose our
examining ourselves in this way, since, were we the
most perfect souls in the world, we ought never to
know or be aware of it, but to esteem ourselves
always as imperfect. The other reason is that this
examen, when it is made with anxiety and perplex-
ity, is only a loss of time ; and those who make it are
like musicians who make themselves hoarse with
practicing a motet; for the mind wearies itself with
an examen so great and so continual, and when the
time of execution arrives it can do no more.
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Simplify your judgment; do not make so many
reflections and replies, but go on simply and with
confidence; for you there is nothing else in the
world but God and yourself. You have nothing to
do with aught else, except so far as God commands
it and in the way in which he commands it to you.
Avoid minutely examining what other people do,
or what will become of them ; look on them with an
eye simple, good, sweet, and affectionate. Do not
require in them more perfection than in yourself,
and do not be astonished at the diversity of imper-
fections; for imperfection is not greater imperfec-
tion merely because it is unusual. Behave like the
bees — suck the honey from all flowers and all herbs.
Go on joyously, and with open heart, as much as
you can; and if you do not always go on joyously,
at least go on always courageously and confidently.
VIRTUE TESTED.
When people say to me. Look at such a sister, in
whom one sees no imperfection, I immediately ask,
Does she hold any oflice? If they say not, then I
make no great account of her perfection. For there
is a great difference between the virtue of this sister
and that of another who shall be well tried, whether
interiorly by temptations, or exteriorly by contra-
dictions ; for the virtue of strength and the strength
of virtue are not ordinarily acquired so perfectly in
time of peace as they are whilst we are tried by
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temptation of its contrary. There is a great deal of
difference between the absence of a vice and the
presence of the opposite virtue. Many appear to be
highly endowed with virtue who, nevertheless, are
not so, because they have not acquired it by labor.
We ought always to remain humble, and not to sup-
pose that we have the virtues merely because we do
not commit, or at least do not know that we com-
mit, the faults opposed to them.
It is a maxim of marvelous efficacy, ''Let God
put me in what service he wills, 'tis all one to me,
provided that I serve him !" But take care to chew
it well over and over in your mind ; make it melt in
your mouth, and do not swallow it whole. St.
Teresa says somewhere that w^e very often say such
words from habit, and a certain slight idea of them,
and we fancy that they are spoken from the deep of
our heart, although it was nothing of the sort, as we
afterw^ard discover by our practice.
THE FEVER OF SELF-WILL.
We like to serve God according to our own w^ill,
and not according to his. God commands me to
save souls, and I wish to remain in contemplation;
the contemplative life is good, but not to the preju-
dice of obedience. It is not for us to choose accord-
ing to our will ; w^e must will what God wills ; and if
God wills that I should serve him in one capacity I
must not will to serve him in another.
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There is no vocation which has not its annoy-
ances, bitternesses, and vexations; and much more,
if we except those who are fully resigned to the will
of God, each person would willingly change his con-
dition for that of others. Whence comes this gen-
eral disquietude of minds unless from a certain
dislike which we all have to constraint? But it is
all one. Whoever is not fully resigned, he may turn
to this side or to that, he will never find repose.
Those who have a fever find no place to their mind.
They have not remained a quarter of an hour in one
place when they would be in another. It is not the
bed that causes their restlessness, but the fever
which torments them everywhere. A person who
has not the fever of self-will is contented every-
where provided that God is served. Such a one
does not trouble himself about what capacity God
employs him in; provided that he does his divine
will it is to him all one.
Often reflect that all we do derives its true value
from the conformity which we have to the will of
God; so that in eating and drinking, if I do it be-
cause it is the will of God that I do it, I am more
pleasing to God than if I suffered death without that
intention.
LOVE OF OUR OWN OPINION.
Everyone has opinions of his own. What we
must avoid is attaching ourselves to them and lov-
ing them ; because that attachment and that love are
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very contrary to perfection. The love of our own
judgment, and the vakie which we set on it, is the
cause why there are so few perfect souls. When we
are required, either by charity or obedience, to give
our advice on a subject that is under discussion, we
must do it simply, making ourselves, for the rest,
indifferent whether it is received or not. The mat-
ter being decided, we must say no more about it,
especially with those who were of our way of think-
ing ; for that would be to nourish this defect, and to
show that we have not completely submitted to the
advice of the others, and that we always prefer our
own. We must not even think about it any more,
unless the resolution taken is remarkably faulty; for
in that case if any means could still be found to pre-
vent its execution, or to apply a remedy to it, we
ought to adopt such means in the most charitable
and quiet way we can, so as not to trouble anyone,
or to bring into contempt what they thought good.
The love of our own opinion is the last thing that
we part with; and nevertheless it is one of the
most necessary to part with for the acquisition of
true perfection; for otherwise we do not acquire
holy humility, which forbids us from making any
account of ourselves or of anything that depends
upon us.
There are souls who will not, as they say, be led
except by the Spirit of God. And they fancy that
all the things they imagine are so many inspirations
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and movements of the Holy Ghost, who takes them
by the hand and conducts them hke children in all
that they would do. In this they greatly deceive
themselves. For is there any vocation more marvel-
ous than that of St. Paul, in which our Lord him-
self spoke to him in order to convert him? and
nevertheless he would not instruct him, but sent him
to Ananias to learn whatever he had to do. And
although St. Paul might have said, "Lord, where-
fore not thyself?" he did not say so, but went in all
simplicity to do what was commanded him. After
this, shall we think ourselves more favored of God
than vSt. Paul, and believe that he wills to conduct us
himself without the instrumentality of any creature ?
SWEETNESS OF TEMPER.
Let us be very sweet and humble in heart toward
all, but above all toward our own. Let us not agi-
tate ourselves ; let us go on with all sweetness,
bearing with one another. Let us take good care
that our heart does not escape us.
Generous devotion does not wish to have com-
panions in everything it does, but only in its aim,
which is the glory of God and the advancement of
our neighbor in divine love. And provided that it
goes straight to that end it does not trouble itself by
what road. Provided that he who fasts fasts for
God, and that he who fasts not also for God fasts
not, it is as content with the one as with the other.
Generous devotion does not wish to attract others
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to its own mode of life, but it follows its own path
simply, humbly, tranquilly. If this point be well
understood and well observed it will preserve in
souls a marvelous tranquillity of mind and a great
sweetness of heart. Let Martha be active, but let
her not control Mary. Let Mary be contemplative,
but let her not despise Martha. For our Lord will
take up the defense of her who is censured.
Blessed are the pliable hearts, for they will never
break. The effects of true liberty are a great sweet-
ness of spirit, a great gentleness and readiness to
yield wherever there is not sin or danger of sin. It
creates a disposition sweetly pliable in the action of
all virtue and charity. For example, a soul that has
attached itself to the exercise of meditation; inter-
rupt it, and you will see it lay aside that exercise
with some expression of annoyance, disturbed and
put out. A soul which has true liberty will lay aside
its meditation with an even countenance and a heart
graciously disposed toward the troublesome person
who may have caused it inconvenience. For to such
a soul it is all one whether it serves God by medita-
ting or serves him by bearing wnth its neighbor.
Both the one and the other are the will of God : but
to bear with its neighbor is necessary at that par-
ticular moment. The occasions of this liberty are
all things which occur contrary to our inclination;
for whoever has not his inclinations fixed is not
disquieted when they meet with opposition.
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patience.
Limit not your patience to this or that kind of
injuries and afflictions, but extend it universally to
all those that it shall please God to send you. He
that is truly patient suffers indifferently tribulations
whether accompanied by ignominy or honor. To
be despised, reprehended, or accused by wicked men
is pleasant to a man of good heart; but to suffer
blame and ill treatment from the virtuous, or from
our friends and relations, is the test of true patience.
The evils we suffer from good men are much more
insupportable than those we suffer from others ; and
yet it often happens that two good men, having each
of them the best intentions, through a diversity of
opinion foment great persecutions and contradic-
tions against each other.
We must not only bear sickness with patience,
but also be content to suffer sickness under any dis-
order and in any place, amongst those persons and
with those inconveniences which God pleases; and
the same must be said of other tribulations. When
any evil befalls you apply the remedies that may be
in your power agreeably to the will of God; for to
act otherwise would be to tempt divine Providence.
Having done this, wait with resignation for the
success it may please God to send; and should the
remedies overcome the evil, return him thanks with
humility; but if, on the contrary, the evils overcome
the remedies, bless him with patience.
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Whenever you are justly accused of a fault hum-
ble yourself, and candidly confess that you deserve
more than the accusation which is brought against
you; but if the charge be false excuse yourself
meekly, denying your guilt ; for you owe this respect
to truth and to the edification of your neighbor. But
if, after your true and lawful excuse, they should
continue to accuse you, trouble not yourself, nor
strive to have your excuse admitted; for, having
discharged your duty to truth, you must also do the
same to humility, by which means you neither of-
fend against the care you ought to have of your
reputation nor the love you owe to peace, meekness
of heart, and humility.
Complain as little as possible of the wrongs you
suffer; for, commonly speaking, he that complains
sins, because self-love magnifies the injuries we
suffer and makes us believe them greater than they
really are. The truly patient man neither complains
himself nor desires to be pitied by others. He
speaks of his sufferings with truth and sincerity,
without murmuring, complaining, or aggravating
the matter. He patiently receives condolence, un-
less he is pitied for an evil which he does not suffer;
for then he modestly declares that he does not suffer
on that account; and thus he continues peaceable
betwixt truth and patience, acknowledging but not
complaining of the evil.
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good thoughts from everything.
One may extract good thoughts and holy aspira-
tions from everything that presents itself amidst
the variety of this mortal life. A devout soul stand-
ing over a brook on a very clear night, and seeing
the heavens and stars therein represented, ex-
claimed, "O my God, these very stars which I now
behold shall be one day beneath my feet, when thou
shalt have lodged me in thy celestial tabernacles;
and as the stars of heaven are here represented, even
so are the men of this earth represented in the living
fountain of divine charity." Another, seeing a
river flowing swiftly along, cried out, ''My soul
shall never be at rest till she be swallowed up in the
sea of the divinity, her original source." Another,
contemplating a pleasant brook, upon the bank of
which she was kneeling at her prayers, being rapt
into an ecstasy, often repeated these words, "The
grace of my God flows thus gently and sweetly, like
this little stream." Another, looking on the trees in
bloom, sighed and said, ''Ah, why am I alone with-
out blossoms in the garden of the Church!"
Another, seeing little chickens gathered together
under the hen, said, "Preserve us, O Lord, continu-
ally under the shadow of thy wings." Another,
looking upon the flower called heliotropium, which
turns to the sun, said, "When shall the time come,
O my God, that my soul shall faithfully follow the
attractions of thy goodness?" And seeing the
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Honey from Many Hives
flowers called pansies, which are beautiful but
without fragrance, "Ah!" said he, "such are my
conceptions; fair in appearance, but of no effect,
producing nothing."
As the great work of devotion consists in the
exercise of spiritual recollection and ejaculatory
prayers, the want of all other prayers may be sup-
plied by them; but the loss of these can scarcely be
repaired by any other means. Without them we
cannot lead a good, active life, much less a contem-
plative one. Without them repose would be but
idleness, and labor vexation. Wherefore I conjure
you to embrace this; exercise your whole heart,
without ever desisting from its practice.
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"Holy Living and Dying
^'HOLY LIVING AND DYING*'*
The Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., Bishop
of Down, Connor, and Dromore, who wrote the
book named above, took an active part in stirring
times. Born at Cambridge, England, in 1613, he
entered college there in 1626, received holy orders
in 1633, ^^^s made bishop in 1661, and died in 1667.
Being an ardent royalist, he espoused the cause of
King Charles in his struggle with the Parliament;
hence, during the supremacy of the latter and the
protectorate of Cromwell, he suffered considerable
persecution, and was several times imprisoned. At
the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 he properly
came in for his share of the favors distributed.
He was an eloquent preacher and a very saintly
man, presenting, it has been said, ''as fine a pattern
of a Christian bishop ds the annals of the Church of
England afford." Nature did much for him, and
grace still more. His manners were gentle, his hu-
mility was deep, his charity boundless, while he had
an acute and vigorous mind, as well as extensive
learning and much practical wisdom. He has been
called "the Elomer of divines," "the Shakespeare of
the Church," and "the Spenser of English theolog-
ical literature." It is through his writings that he
chiefly lives. Many of his printed sermons show
great powers of thought, as well as an exuberant
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Honey from Many Hives
imagination. He composed numerous books, promi-
nent among which are The Liberty of Prophesying,
in which he nobly advocates the widest principles of
toleration ; The Great Exemplar of Sanctity, a popu-
lar life of Christ; and Ductor Diihitantiuni (or The
Rule of Conscience), a large work in two volumes,
on which he founded his brightest hopes of renown
and usefulness. These hopes, however, were dis-
appointed. He is mainly known to-day by his Holy
Living and Dying, published originally (in 1650
and 1 651) as two separate productions. The Rule
and Exercise of Holy Living, and The Rule and
Exercise of Holy Dying. It passed through nine-
teen editions within a little more than fifty years
after publication, and is by far the most noted
manual of devotion produced in the Church of
England.
The learned and pious author, in his dedication
or preface, says that he has been led "to draw into
one body those advices which the several necessities
of many men must use at some time or other, and
many of them daily; that by a collection of holy
precepts they might less feel the want of personal
and attending guides, and that the rules for conduct
of souls might be committed to a book which they
might always have ; since they could not always have
a prophet at their needs, nor be suffered to go up to
the house of the Lord to inquire of the appointed
oracles.'* Such a design was most worthy, and it
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"Holy Living and Dying "
was most admirably carried out, with excellent re-
sults. John Wesley was greatly indebted to this
book, as well as to a Kempis, perusing both at about
the same time. After reading Taylor on purity of
intention he says, ''Instantly I resolved to dedicate
all my life to God, all my thoughts, words, and af-
fections, being thoroughly convinced there was no
medium, but that every part of my life, not some
only, must either be a sacrifice to God or myself, that
is, in effect, to the devil."
A considerable part of the thick volume (515
i2mo pages) is occupied with prayers. A long sec-
tion in the "Holy Dying" comprises counsels to the
"clergy-guides" for ministering to the sick, another
section analyzes the decalogue "for the assistance of
sick men in making their confessions to God and his
ministers." In short, as in all such ancient books,
it is only a small portion that can be set down as of
perpetual value, adapted to all ages and lands. We
do not, of course, in this chapter give the whole even
of this small portion, but we do furnish, we think,
the choicest of the thoughts. If they shall be seized
upon by the reader with as vigorous an apprehension
and as practical a purpose as John Wesley exercised,
they will be sufficient to transform his life. There
are very few guides to holy living better than good
Jeremy Taylor.
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purity of intention.
This grace is so excellent that it sanctifies the
most common actions of our life; and yet so neces-
sary that, without it, the very best actions of our
devotion are imperfect and vicious. For, as to know
the end distinguishes a man from a beast, so to
choose a good end distinguishes him from an evil
man. The praise is not in the thing done, but in
the manner of its doing. If a man visits his sick
friend, and watches at his pillow for charity's sake
and because of his old affection, we approve it ; but
if he does it in hope of a legacy he is a vulture, and
only watches for the carcass. The same things are
honest and dishonest; the manner of doing them,
the end of the design, makes the separation.
Holy intention is to the actions of a man that
which the soul is to the body, or form to its matter,
or the root to the tree, or the sun to the world, or
the fountain to a river, or the base to a pillar; for
without these the body is a dead trunk, the matter
is sluggish, the tree is a block, the world is darkness,
the river is quickly dry, the pillar rushes into flatness
and a ruin ; and the action is sinful, or unprofitable
and vain.
In every action reflect upon the end ; and in your
undertaking it consider why you do it, and what you
propound to yourself for a reward.
Let every action of concernment be begun with
prayer, that God would not only bless the action but
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''Holy Living and Dying "
sanctify your purpose; and make an oblation of the
action to God.
It is likely our hearts are pure and our intentions
spotless when we are not solicitous of the opinion
and censures of men, but only that what we do be
our duty and accepted of God. For our eyes will
certainly be fixed there from whence we expect our
reward; and if we desire that God should approve
us it is a sign we do his work, and expect him our
paymaster.
He that does as well in private, between God and
his own soul, as in public, in pulpits, in theaters, and
market places, hath given himself a good testimony
that his purposes are full of honesty, nobleness, and
integrity. But he that w^ould have his virtue pub-
lished studies not virtue but glory. He is not just
that will not be just without praise; but he is a
righteous man that does justice when to do so is
made infamous; and he is a wise man who is de-
lighted with an ill name that is well gotten. And
indeed that man hath a strange covetousness, or
folly, that is not contented with this reward, that
he hath pleased God.
It is well, also, when we are not solicitous or
troubled concerning the effect and event of all our
actions ; but that being first by prayer recommended
to Him is left at his dispose. For then, in case the
event be not answerable to our desires, or to the
efficacy of the instrument, we have nothing left to
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rest in but the honesty of our purposes; which it is
the more Hkely we have secured by how much more
we are indifferent concerning the success. If thou
beest much troubled that thy labors prove unpros-
perous, it is certain thou didst not think thyself
secure of a reward for thine intention; which thou
mightest have done if it had been pure and just.
He loves virtue for God's sake and its own that
loves and honors it wherever it is to be seen. But he
that is envious or angry at a virtue that is not his
own, at the perfection or excellency of his neighbor,
is not covetous of the virtue, but of its reward and
reputation; and then his intentions are polluted. It
was a great ingenuity in Moses that washed all the
people might be prophets; but if he had designed
his own honor he would have prophesied alone. But
he that desires only that the work of God and re-
ligion shall go on is pleased with it, whosoever is the
instrument.
He that despises the world, and all its appendant
vanities, is the best judge, and the most secured of
his intentions, because he is the furthest removed
from a temptation. Every degree of mortification
is a testimony of the purity of our purposes ; and in
what degree we despise sensual pleasure, or secular
honors, or worldly reputation, in the same degree
we shall conclude our heart right to religion and
spiritual designs.
When we are not solicitous concerning the instru-
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"Holy Living and Dying "
ments and means of our actions, but use those means
which God hath laid before us with resignation, in-
differency, and thankfulness, it is a good sign that
we are rather intent upon the end of God's glory
than our own conveniency or temporal satisfaction.
CARE OF OUR TIME.
He that is choice of his time will also be choice
of his company and choice of his actions, lest the
first engage him in vanity and loss, and the latter, by
being criminal, be a throwing of his time and him-
self away, and a going back in the accounts of
eternity.
God hath given every man work enough to do,
that there shall be no room for idleness; and yet
hath so ordered the world that there shall be space
for devotion. He that hath the fewest businesses
of the world is called upon to spend more time in the
dressing of his soul, and he that hath the most af-
fairs may so order them that they shall be a service
of God ; whilst at certain periods they are blest with
prayers and actions of religion, and all day long are
hallowed by a holy intention. So that no man can
complain that his calling takes him off from re-
ligion; his calling itself, and his very worldly em-
ployment in honest trade and offices, is a serving of
God ; and if it be moderately pursued, and according
to the rules of Christian prudence, will leave void
spaces enough for prayers and retirements of a more
spiritual religion.
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In the morning, when 3^ou awake, accustom your-
self to think first upon God, or something in order
to his service; and at night also let him close thine
eyes. And let your sleep be necessary and health-
ful, not idle and expensive of time beyond the needs
and conveniences of nature; and sometimes be cu-
rious to see the preparation which the sun makes
when he is coming forth from his chambers of the
east.
Never talk with any man, or undertake any tri-
fling employment, merely to pass the time away ; for
every day well spent may become a "day of salva-
tion," and time rightly employed is an ''acceptable
time."
In the midst of the works of thy calling often
retire to God in short prayers and ejaculations; and
those may make up the want of those larger portions
of time which, it may be, thou desirest for devotion,
and in which thou thinkest other persons have ad-
vantage of thee.
Let not your recreations be lavish spenders of
your time; but choose such which are healthful,
short, transient, recreative, and apt to refresh you.
But at no hand dwell upon them, or make them your
great employment; for he that spends his time in
sports and calls it recreation is like him whose gar-
ment is all made of fringes, and his meat nothing
but sauces; they are healthless, chargeable, and
useless.
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"Holy Living and Dying '*
Set apart some portions of every day for more
solemn devotion and religious employment, which
be severe in observing. And if variety of employ-
ment, or prudent affairs, or civil society, press upon
you, yet so order thy rule that the necessary parts
of it be not omitted.
When the clock strikes, or however else you shall
measure the day, it is good to say a short ejaculation
every hour, that the parts and returns of devotion
may be the measure of your time. And do so also
in all the breaches of thy sleep; that those spaces
which have in them no direct business of the world
may be filled with religion.
We shall be much assisted if, before we sleep,
every night we examine the actions of the past day
with a particular scrutiny, if there have been any
accident extraordinary; as long discourse, a feast,
much business, variety of company. If nothing but
common hath happened, the less examination will
suffice.
Let all these things be done prudently and moder-
ately, not with scruple and vexation. For these are
good advantages, but the particulars are not divine
commandments, and therefore are to be used as
shall be found expedient to everyone's condition.
For provided that our duty be secured, for the de-
grees and for the instruments every man is per-
mitted to himself and the conduct of such who shall
be appointed to him.
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the practice of the presence of god.
If men would always actually consider and really
esteem this truth, that God is the great eye of the
world, always watching over our actions, and an
ever-open ear to all our words, and an unwearied
arm ever lifted up to crush a sinner into ruin, it
would be the readiest way in the world to make sin
to cease from amongst the children of men, and for
men to approach to the blessed estate of the saints
in heaven, who cannot sin, for they always walk in
the presence and behold the face of God. If you will
sin, go where God cannot see, for nowhere else can
you be safe.
Let everything you see represent to your spirit
the presence, the excellency, and the power of God.
And let your conversation with the creatures lead
you unto the Creator. For so shall your actions be
done more frequently with an actual eye to God's
presence by your often seeing him in the glass of the
creation. In the face of the sun you may see God's
beauty; in the fire you may feel his heat warming;
in the water, his gentleness to refresh you; he it is
that comforts your spirits when you have taken
cordials.
In your retirement make frequent colloquies, or
short discoursings, between God and thine own soul.
Every act of complaint or thanksgiving, every pe-
tition and every return of the heart in these inter-
courses, is a going to God and appearing in his pres-
138
''Holy Living and Dying '"'
ence, and a representing him present to thy spirit
and to thy necessity. And this was long since, by
a spiritual person, called "a building to God a chapel
in our heart." It reconciles Martha's employment
with Mary's devotion, charity, and religion. For
thus in the midst of the works of your trade you
may retire into your chapel, your heart, and con-
verse with God by frequent addresses and returns.
Let us remember that God is in us, and that we
are in him; we are his workmanship, let us not de-
face it; we are in his presence, let us not pollute it
by unholy actions.
God is in every place ; suppose it, therefore, to be
a church. And that decency of deportment and
piety of carriage which you are taught by religion
or by custom, or by civility and public manners, to
use in churches, the same use in all places.
God is in every creature. Be cruel toward none,
neither abuse any by intemperance. Remember that
the creatures, and every member of thy body, is one
of the lesser cabinets and receptacles of God.
He walks as in the presence of God that converses
with him in frequent prayer and frequent commun-
ion ; that runs to him in all his necessities ; that asks
counsel of him in all his doubtings; that opens all
his wants to him ; that weeps before him for his sins ;
that asks remedy and support for his weakness ; that
fears him as a judge, reverences him as a lord, obeys
him as a father, and loves him as a patron.
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humility.
Humility is the great ornament and jewel of
Christian religion, that whereby it is distinguished
from all the wisdom of the world; it not having been
taught by the wise men of the Gentiles, but first put
into a disciple and made part of a religion by our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Think not thyself better for anything that hap-
pens to thee from without. Whatsoever other dif-
ference there is between thee and thy neighbor, if
it be bad it is thine own, but thou hast no reason to
boast of thy misery and shame; if it be good, thou
hast received it from God, and then thou art more
obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal,
to him ; and it were a strange folly for a man to be
proud of being more in debt than another.
Never speak anything directly tending to thy
praise or glory; that is, with a purpose to be com-
mended, and for no other end. If other ends be
mingled with thy honor, as if the glory of God, or
charity, or necessity, or anything of prudence be thy
end, you are not tied to omit your discourse or your
design that you may avoid praise, but pursue your
end, though praise come along in the company.
Only let not praise be the design.
When thou hast said or done a thing for which
thou receivest praise or estimation, take it indiffer-
ently, and return it to God, reflecting upon him as
the giver of the gift, or the blesser of the action, or
140
'^HoLY Living and Dying "
the aid of the design; and give God thanks for
making thee an instrument of his glory, for the
benefit of others.
Secure a good name to thyself by living virtu-
ously and humbly ; but let this good name be nursed
abroad, and never be brought home to look upon it.
Let others use it for their own advantage ; let them
speak of it, if they please; but do not thou at
all use it but as an instrument to do God glory
and thy neighbor more advantage. Let thy face,
like Moses', shine to others, but make no looking-
glasses for thyself.
Take no content in praise when it is offered thee,
but let thy rejoicing in God's gift be alloyed with
fear lest this good bring thee to evil. Use the praise
as you use your pleasure in eating and drinking.
If it comes make it do drudgery, let it serve other
ends, and minister to necessities, and to caution, lest
by pride you lose your just praise which you have
deserved; or else, by being praised unjustly, you
receive shame unto yourself with God and wise
men.
Use no stratagems and devices to get praise.
Some use to inquire into the faults of their own
actions or discourses on purpose to hear that it was
well done or spoken and without fault. Others
bring the matter into talk, or thrust themselves Into
company, and intimate and give occasion to be
thought or spoken of. These men make a bait to
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persuade themselves to swallow the hook, till by-
drinking the waters of vanity they swell and burst.
Suffer others to be praised in thy presence, and
entertain their good and glory with delight; but at
no hand disparage them, or lessen the report, or
make an objection; and think not the advancement
of thy brother is a lessening of thy worth. Be con-
tent that he should be employed, and thou laid by as
unprofitable; his sentence approved, thine rejected;
he be preferred, and thou fixed in a low employment.
Never compare thyself with others, unless it be
to advance them and to depress thyself. To which
purpose we must be sure in some sense or other to
think ourselves the worst in every company where
we come. One is more learned than I am, another is
more prudent, a third more honorable, a fourth
more chaste, or he is more charitable, or less proud.
For the hurhble man observes their good, and re-
flects only upon his own vileness; or considers the
many evils of himself certainly known to himself,
and the ill of others but by uncertain report. Or he
considers that the evils done by another are out of
much infirmity or ignorance, but his own sins are
against a clearer light; and if the other had so great
helps, he would have done more good and less evil.
Or he remembers that his old sins before his con-
version were greater in the nature of the thing, or in
certain circumstances, than the sins of other men.
Make no reflex acts upon thine own humility, nor
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*'HoLY Living and Dying "
upon any other grace with which God hath en-
riched thy soul. Spiritual pride is very dangerous,
not only by reason it spoils so many graces by which
we drew nigh unto the kingdom of God, but also
because it so frequently creeps in upon the spirit of
holy persons.
Remember that the blessed Saviour of the world
hath done more to prescribe and transmit and secure
this grace than any other; his whole life being a
great, continued example of humility.
Drive away all flatterers from thy company, and
at no hand endure them; for he that endures him-
self so to be abused by another is not only a fool for
entertaining the mockery, but loves to have his own
opinion of himself to be heightened and cherished.
Never change thy employment for the sudden
coming of another to thee; but if modesty permits,
or discretion, appear to him that visits thee the same
that thou wert to God and thyself in thy privacy.
But if thou wert walking or sleeping, or in any other
innocent employment or retirement, snatch not up
a book to seem studious, nor fall on thy knees to
seem devout, nor alter anything to make him believe
thee better employed than thou wert.
The humble man does not pertinaciously pursue
the choice of his own will, but in all things lets God
choose for him, and his superiors in those things
which concern them. He does not murmur against
commands. He is meek and indifferent in all acci-
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Honey from Many Hives
dents and chances. He patiently bears injuries. He
is always unsatisfied in his own conduct, resolutions,
and counsels. He is a great lover of good men, and
a praiser of wise men, and a censurer of no man.
He fears when he hears himself commended, lest
God make another judgment concerning his actions
than men do. He loves to sit down in private and,
if he may, refuses the temptation of offices and new
honors. He mends his fault, and gives thanks, when
he is admonished.
CONTENTEDNESS.
Here is the wisdom of the contented man, to let
God choose for him. For when we have given up
our wills to him, and stand in that station of the
battle w^here our great general hath placed us, our
spirits must needs rest, while our conditions have,
for their securit}^, the power, the wisdom, and the
charity of God. For no man is poor that does not
think himself so; but if, in a full fortune, with im-
patience he desires more, he proclaims his wants and
his beggarly condition.
Contentedness in all accidents brings great peace
of spirit, and is the great and only instrument of
temporal felicity. It removes the sting from the
accident, and makes a man not to depend upon
chance and the uncertain dispositions of men for his
w^ell-being, but only on God and his own spirit. We
ourselves make our fortunes good or bad ; and when
God lets loose a tyrant upon us, or a sickness, or
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"Holy Living and Dying *'
scorn, or a lessened fortune, if we fear to die, or
know not to be patient, or are proud, or covetous,
then the calamity sits heavy on us. But if we know
how to manage a noble principle, and fear not death
so much as a dishonest action, and think impatience
a worse evil than a fever, and pride to be the biggest
disgrace, and poverty to be infinitely desirable before
the torments of covetousness — then we, who now
think vice to be so easy, and make it so familiar, and
think the cure so impossible, shall quickly be of
another mind, and reckon these accidents amongst
things eligible.
But no man can be happy that hath great hopes
and great fears of things without, and events de-
pending upon other men, or upon the chances of
fortune. He that suffers a transporting passion
concerning things within the power of others is free
from sorrow and amazement no longer than his
enemy shall give him leave ; and it is ten to one but
he shall be smitten then and there where it shall
most trouble him.
When anything happens to our displeasure let us
endeavor to take off its trouble by turning it into
spiritual or artificial advantage, and handle it on
that side in which it may be useful to the designs of
reason. For there is nothing but hath a double
handle, or at least we have two hands to apprehend
it. If thou fallest from thy employment in public
take sanctuary in an honest retirement, being indif-
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ferent to thy gain abroad or thy safety at home. If
a calamity does any good to our souls it hath made
more than sufficient recompense for all the temporal
affliction.
Never compare thy condition with those above
thee; but, to secure thy content, look upon those
thousands v^ith whom thou wouldst not, for any
interest, change thy fortune and condition. There
is no wise or good man that would change persons
or conditions entirely with any man in the world.
It may be he would have one man's wealth added to
himself, or the power of a second, or the learning
of a third; but still he would receive these into his
own person, because he loves that best, and there-
fore esteems it best, and therefore overvalues all that
which he is before all that which any other man in
the world can be. Either change all or none. Cease
to love yourself best, or be content with that portion
of being and blessing for which you love yourself
so well.
It conduces much to our content if we pass by
these things which happen to our trouble, and con-
sider that which is pleasing and prosperous, that,
by the representation of the better, the worse may
be blotted out. Or else reckon the blessings which
already you have received, and therefore be pleased,
in the change and variety of affairs, to receive evil
from the hand of God as well as good. Or else
please thyself with hopes of the future. Harvest
146
"Holy Living and Dying ^^
will come, and then every farmer is rich, at least for
a month or two. It may be thou art entered into
the cloud which will bring a gentle shower to refresh
thy sorrows. When a sadness lies heavy upon thee
remember that thou art a Christian designed to the
inheritance of Jesus; and what dost thou think con-
cerning thy great fortune, thy lot, and portion of
eternity ?
These arts of looking backward and forward are
more than enough to support the spirit of a Chris-
tian; there is no man but hath blessings enough in
present possession to outweigh the evils of great
affliction. If you miss an office for which you stood
candidate, then, besides that you are quit of the
cares and the envy of it, you still have all those
excellencies which rendered you capable to receive
it, and they are better than the best office in the
commonwealth. Or I am fallen into the hands of
publicans and sequestrators, and they have taken all
from me. What now? Let me look about me.
They have left me the sun and moon, fire and water,
a loving wife, and many friends to pity me, and
some to relieve me, and I can still discourse; and,
unless I list, they have not taken away my merry
countenance, and my cheerful spirit, and a good
conscience; they still have left me the providence
of God, and all the promises of the Gospel, and my
religion, and my hopes of heaven, and my charity to
them too; and still I sleep and digest, I eat and
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Honey from Many Hives
drink, I read and meditate, I can walk in my neigh-
bor's pleasant fields, and see the varieties of natural
beauties, and delight in all that in which God de-
lights, that is, in virtue and wisdom, in the whole
creation, and in God himself. And he that hath so
many causes of joy, and so great, is very much in
love with sorrow and peevishness who loses all these
pleasures and chooses to sit down upon his little
handful of thorns.
Enjoy the present, whatsoever it be, and be not
solicitous for the future. ''Sufficient to the day,"
said Christ, "is the evil thereof;" sufficient, but not
intolerable. But if we look abroad and bring into
one day's thoughts the evil of many, certain and un-
certain, what will be and what will never be, our
load will be as intolerable as it is unreasonable.
Let us prepare our minds against changes, always
expecting them, that we be not surprised when they
come; for nothing is so great an enemy to tran-
quillity and a contented spirit as the amazement and
confusions of unreadiness and inconsideration.
Let us often frame to ourselves, and represent to
our considerations, the images of those blessings
we have, just as we usually understand them when
we want them. Consider how desirable health is to
a sick man, or liberty to a prisoner; and if but a lit
of the toothache seizes us with violence all those
troubles which in our health afflicted us disband
instantly and seem inconsiderable.
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''Holy Living and Dying '^
If you will secure a contented spirit, you must
measure your desires by your fortune and condition,
not your fortunes by your desires. That is, be
governed by your needs, not by your fancy; by
nature, not by evil customs and ambitious prin-
ciples.
Consider that the universal providence of God
hath so ordered it that the good things of nature
and fortune are divided, that we may know how to
bear our own and relieve each other's wants and
imperfections. It is not for a man, but for a God,
to have all excellencies and all felicities.
Consider how many excellent personages in all
ages have suffered as great or greater calamities
than this which now tempts thee to impatience. It
were a strange pride to expect to be more gently
treated by the divine Providence than the best and
wisest men, than apostles and saints, nay, the Son
of the eternal God, the heir of both the worlds.
There are many accidents which are esteemed
great calamities, and yet we have reason enough to
bear them well and unconcernedly; for they neither
touch our bodies nor our souls : our health and our
virtue remain entire, our life and our reputation.
Inquire what you are the worse, either in your soul
or in your body, for what hath happened ; for upon
this very stock many evils will disappear, since the
body and the soul make up the whole man.
Consider that sad accidents and a state of afflic-
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Honey from Many Hives
tion is a school of virtue; it reduces our spirits to
soberness, and our counsels to moderation; it cor-
rects levity, and interrupts the confidence of sinning.
Consider that afflictions are oftentimes the occa-
sions of great temporal advantages; and we must
not look upon them as they sit down heavily upon
us, but as they serve some of God's ends, and the
purposes of universal Providence. For God esteems
it one of his glories that he brings good out of evil ;
and therefore it were but reason we should trust
God to govern his own world as he pleases, and that
we should patiently wait till the change cometh or
the reason be discovered. To which also may be
added that the great evils which happen to the best
and wisest men are one of the great arguments upon
the strength of which we can expect felicity to our
souls and the joys of another world. And certainly
they are then very tolerable and eligible when, with
so great advantages, they minister to the faith and
hope of a Christian.
LOVE TO GOD.
Love does all things which may please the beloved
person; it performs all his commandments. Love is
obedient. It does all the intimations and secret sig-
nifications of his pleasure whom we love. Great
love is pliant and inquisitive in the instances of its
expression.
I>ove gives away all things, that so he may ad-
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''Holy Living and Dying
f>
vance the interest of the beloved person. He never
\, loved God that will quit anything of his religion to
save his money. Love is always liberal and com-
municative.
It suffers all things that are imposed by its be-
loved, or that can happen for his sake, or that inter-
vene in his service, cheerfully, sweetly, willingly;
expecting that God should turn them into good,
and instruments of felicity.
Love is also impatient of anything that may dis-
please the beloved person; hating all sin as the
enemy of its friend ; for love contracts all the same
relations, and marries the same friendships and the
same hatreds. And all affection to a sin is perfectly
' inconsistent with the love of God.
Love endeavors forever to be present, to converse
with, to enjoy, to be united with its object; loves
to be talking of him, reciting his praises, telling his
stories, repeating his words, imitating his gestures,
transcribing his copy in everything; and every de-
gree of union and every degree of likeness is a
degree of love ; and it can endure anything but the
displeasure and the absence of its beloved.
He that loves God is not displeased at those acci-
dents which God chooses; nor murmurs at those
changes which he makes in his family ; nor envies at
those gifts he bestows : but chooses as he likes, and
is ruled by his judgment, and is perfectly of his
persuasion ; loving to learn where God is the teacher,
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Honey from Many Hives
and being content to be ignorant or silent where he
is not pleased to open himself.
Love is curious of little things, or circumstances
and measures, and little accidents; not allowing to
itself any infirmity which it strives not to master,
aiming at what it cannot yet reach, desiring to be
of an angelical purity, and of a perfect innocence,
and of a seraphical fervor, and fears every image
of offense; is as much afflicted at an idle word as
some at an act of adultery, and will not allow to
itself so much anger as will disturb a child, nor en-
dure the impurity of a dream. And this is the
curiosity and niceness of Divine love ; this is the fear
of God, and is the daughter and production of love.
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Fenelon
FENELON.
For two hundred years Fenelon has stood among
the choicest few of those universally esteemed to be
best qualified as religious guides. He belongs to no
age and to no Church, but to all. He exemplified
so sweetly in his life what he preached, and preached
so eloquently what he lived, that few indeed have
ever been found to equal him as an authority in
spiritual things. He not only had a heart filled with
the love of God and glowing with pure devotion,
but also a mind capable of the closest analysis and
the keenest discrimination. He was not only a saint,
but also a scholar and a genius. Such combinations
are very rare. His thirst for perfection has prob-
ably never been surpassed. He follows self-love
into its minutest workings, exposes all its subtleties,
gives it no quarter, insists that it shall be destroyed
root and branch.
Fenelon sprang from one of the most illustrious
families of France, his full name being Frangois de
Salignac de la Mothe Fenelon; his birthday was
August 6, 1 65 1. His constitution was delicate, his
natural disposition extremely amiable, his educa-
tion conducted mainly at the College of Cahors and
in Paris at the College du Plessis. He began to
preach, attracting much attention, at the age of
fifteen. Twice he seriously contemplated giving
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Honey from Many Hives
himself to the work of foreign missions, but was
prevented from carrying out his design. He was
for some years preceptor to the Duke of Burgundy,
the son of the dauphin, and at the age of forty-three
he became Archbishop of Cambray. He was every-
where known as ''the good archbishop." No act
of kindness was so great as to overtask him or so
small as to escape his notice. His purity and gentle-
ness of spirit subdued his enemies. The fullness of
his love to all made it easy for him to extend for-
giveness, and the freedom of his mind from vanity,
as well as the exquisite courtesy of his manner, put
everyone at ease in his presence. His sermons were
always the outpourings of his heart. So extensive
had been his charities, and yet so well balanced his
worldly affairs, that he died without money and
without a debt. He departed this life January 7,
1 71 5, exhibiting in his last illness the same sweet-
ness of temper, composure of mind, love for his fel-
low-men, and confidence in God which distinguished
all his days. He had the spirit of the Saviour in an
extremely high degree, and came as near, perhaps,
as any human being has done to losing his own will
in the will divine.
He was a voluminous writer. The most complete
edition of his works, published at Versailles about
seventy years ago, is comprised in thirty-four octavo
volumes. Many of his writings have been translated
into English, and various selections from them have
154
Fenelon
been published from time to time. The extracts that
follow are mostly taken from his Spiritual Letters
and his Christian Counsel on Divers Matters Per-
taining to the Inner Life.
DAILY FAULTS.
~ Little faults become great in our eyes m propor-
tion as the pure light of God increases in us; just
as the sun in rising reveals the true dimensions of
objects which were dimly and confusedly discovered
during the night. Be sure that with the increase of
the inward light the imperfections which you have
hitherto seen will be beheld as far greater and more
deadly in their foundations than you now conceive
them, and that you will witness, in addition, the
development of a crowd of others of the existence
of which you have not now the slightest suspicion.
You will find the weaknesses necessary to deprive
you of all confidence in your own strength ; but this
discovery, far from discouraging, will but serve to
destroy your self-reliance, and to raze to the ground
the edifice of pride.
Our faults, even those most difficult to bear, will
all be of service to us if we make use of them for our
humiliation without relaxing our efforts to correct
them. We must bear with ourselves without either
flattery or discouragement, a mean seldom attained.
Utter despair of ourselves, in consequence of a
conviction of our helplessness, and unbounded
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Honey from Many Hives
confidence in God, are the true foundations of the
spiritual edifice.
Faults of haste and frailty are nothing in com-
parison with those where we shut our eyes to the
voice of the Holy Spirit beginning to speak in the
depths of the heart.
Discouragement is not a fruit of humility, but of
pride; nothing can be worse. Suppose we have
stumbled, or even fallen, let us rise and run again;
all our falls are useful if they strip us of a disastrous
confidence in ourselves, while they do not take away
a humble and salutary trust in God.
Carefully purify your conscience from daily
faults ; suffer no sin to dwell in your heart ; small as
it may seem, it obscures the light of grace, weighs
down the soul, and hinders that constant communion
with Jesus Christ which it should be your pleasure
to cultivate ; you will become lukewarm, forget God,
and find yourself growing in attachment to the
creature. The great point is never to act in oppo-
sition to the inward light, and to be willing to go
as far as God would have us.
St. Francis of Sales says that great virtues and
fidelity in small things are like sugar and salt ; sugar
is more delicious but of less frequent use, while salt
enters into every article of our food. Small occa-
sions are unforeseen ; they recur every moment, and
place us incessantly in conflict with our pride, our
sloth, our self-esteem, and our passions; they are
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Fenelon
calculated thoroughly to subdue our wills and leave
us no retreat. If we are faithful in them nature will
have no time to breathe, and must die to all her
inclinations. It would please us much better to make
some great sacrifices, however painful and violent,
on condition of obtaining liberty to follow our own
pleasure, and retain our old habits in little things.
But it is only by this fidelity in small matters that
the grace of true love is sustained and distinguished
from the transitory excitements of nature.
God does not so much regard our actions as the
motive of love from which they spring, and the
pliability of our wills to his. Men judge our deeds
by their outward appearance; with God that which
is most dazzling in the eyes of man is of no account.
What he desires is a pure intention, a will ready for
anything and ever pliable in his hands, and an honest
abandonment of self; and all this can be much more
frequently manifested on small than on extraor-
dinary occasions ; there will also be much less danger
from pride, and the trial will be far more searching.
Indeed, it sometimes happens that we find it harder
to part with a trifle than with an important interest ;
it may be more of a cross to abandon a vain amuse-
ment than to bestow a large sum in charity.
The greatest danger of all consists in this, that by
neglecting small matters the soul becomes accus-
tomed to unfaithfulness. We grieve the Holy Spirit,
we return to ourselves, we think it a little thing to
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Honey from Many Hives
be wanting toward God. On the other hand, true
love can see nothing small; everything that can
either please or displease God seems to be great ; not
that true love disturbs the soul with scruples, but it
puts no limits to its faithfulness. It acts simply with
God; and as it does not concern itself about those
things which God does not require from it, so it
never hesitates an instant about those which he does,
be they great or small.
Thus it is not by incessant care that we become
faithful and exact in the smallest things, but simply
by a love which is free from the reflections and fears
of restless and scrupulous souls. We are, as it were.
drawn along by the love of God ; we have no desire
to do anything but what we do, and no will in re-
spect to anything which we do not do. The soul
enjoys perfect peace in God.
NOT PERFECT IN A MOMENT.
Neither in his gracious nor providential dealings
does God work a miracle lightly. It would be as
great a wonder to see a person full of self bec^ .ne
in a mom.ent dead to all self-interest, and all sensi-
tiveness, as it would be to see a slumbering infant
wake in the morning a fully developed man. God
works in a mysterious way in grace as well as in
nature, concealing his operations under an imper-
ceptible succession of events, and thus keeps us
always in the darkness of faith.
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He makes use of the inconstancy and ingratitude
of the creature, and of the disappointments and sur-
feits which accompany prosperity, to detach us from
them both; he frees us from self by rendering to us
our weaknesses, and our corruptions, in a muhitude
of backshdings. All this dealiiig appears perfectly
natural, and it is by this succession of natural means
that we are burnt as by a slow fire« We should like
to be consumed at once by the flames of pure love,
but such an end would scarce cost us anything; it
is only an excessive self-love that desires thus to
become perfect in a moment and at so cheap a rate.
We cling to an infinity of things which we should
never suspect; we only feel that they are a part of
us when they are snatched away, as I am only con-
scious that I have hairs when they are pulled from
my head. God develops to us, little by little, what is
within us, of which we are, until then, entirely
ignorant, and we are astonished at discovering in
our very virtues defects of which we should never
have believed ourselves capable.
God spares us by discovering our weakness to us
just in proportion as our strength to support the
view^ of it increases. We discover our imperfections
one by one, as we are able to cure them. Without
this merciful preparation, that adapts our strength
to the light within, we should be in despair.
To the sincere desire to do the will of God we
must add a cheerful spirit that is not overcome when
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Honey from Many Hives
it has failed, but tries again and again to do better;
hoping always to the very end to be able to do it;
bearing with its own involuntary weakness as God
bears with it ; waiting with patience for the moment
when it shall be delivered from it ; going straight on
in singleness of heart according to the strength that
it can command ; losing no time by looking back, nor
making useless reflections upon its falls, which can
only embarrass and retard its progress. The first
sight of our little failings should humble us, but then
we must press on; not judging ourselves with a
Judaical rigor, not regarding God as a spy watching
for our least offense, or as an enemy who places
snares in our path, but as a Father who loves and
wishes to save us; trusting in his goodness, invok-
ing his blessing, and doubting all other support.
This is true liberty.
One of the principles in the doctrines of holy liv-
ing is that we should not be premature in drawing
the conclusion that the process of inward crucifixion
is complete, and that our abandonment to God is
without any reservation whatever. The act of con-
secration, which is a sort of incipient step, may be
sincere ; but the reality of the consecration in the full
extent to which we suppose it to exist, and which
may properly be described as entire self-renuncia-
tion, can be known only when God has applied the
appropriate tests. The trial will show whether we
are wholly the Lord's. Those who prematurely
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draw the conclusion that they are so expose them-
selves to great illusion and injury.
EASY WAYS OF DIVINE LOVE.
Christian perfection is not that rigorous, tedious,
cramping thing that many imagine. It demands
only an entire surrender of everything to God from
the depths of the soul, and the moment this takes
place whatever is done for him becomes easy. They
who are God's without reserve are in every state
content ; for they will only what he wills, and desire
to do for him whatever he desires them to do ; they
strip themselves of everything, and in this naked-
ness find all things restored a hundredfold. Peace
of conscience, liberty of spirit, the sweet abandon-
ment of themselves and theirs into the hand of God,
the joy of perceiving the light always increasing in
their hearts, and finally the freedom of their souls
from the bondage of the fears and desires of this
world — these things constitute that return of happi-
ness which the true children of God receive a hun-
dredfold in the midst of their crosses, while they
remain faithful.
What God requires of us is a will which is no
longer divided between him and any creature; a
simple, pliable state of will which desires what he
desires, rejects nothing but what he rejects, and
wills without reserve what he wills, and under no
pretext wills what he does not. In this state of mind
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Honey from Many Hives
all things are proper for us; our amusements, even,
are acceptable in his sight.
Blessed is he who thus gives himself to God ! He
is delivered from his passions, from the opinions
of men, from their malice, from the tyranny of their
maxims, from their cold and miserable raillery, from
the misfortunes which the world attributes to
chance, from the infidelity and fickleness of friends,
from the artifices and snares of enemies, from the
wretchedness and shortness of life, from the horrors
of an ungodly death, from the cruel remorse that
follows sinful pleasures, and, finally, from the ever-
lasting condemnation of God.
Happy those who throw themselves, as it were,
headlong, and with their eyes shut, into the arms
of "the Father of mercies and the God of all com-
fort." Their whole desire then is to know what is
the will of God respecting them ; and they fear noth-
ing so much as not perceiving the whole of his
requirements. So soon as they behold a new light in
his law they are transported with joy, like a miser
at the finding of a treasure.
No matter what cross may overwhelm the true
child of God, he wills everything that happens, and
would not have anything removed which his Father
appoints; the more he loves God, the more is he
filled with content; and the most stringent perfec-
tion, far from being a burden, only renders his yoke
the lighter.
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the divine presence.
The true source of all our perfection is contained
in the command of God to Abraham, ''Walk before
me, and be thou perfect" (Gen. xvii, i).
The presence of God calms the soul, and gives it
quiet and repose even during the day and in the
midst of occupation; but we must be given up to
God without reserve.
Whenever we perceive within us anxious desires
for anything, whatever it may be, and find that
nature is hurrying us with too much haste to do what
is to be done, whether it be to see something, say
something, or to do something, let us stop short and
repress the precipitancy of our thoughts and the
agitations of our actions ; for God has said that his
vSpirit does not dwell in disquiet.
An excellent means of preserving our interior
solitude and liberty of soul is to make it a rule to put
an end, at the close of every action, to all reflections
upon it, all reflex acts of self-love, whether of a vain
joy or sorrow.
Let us be accustomed to recollect ourselves during
the day and in the midst of our occupations by a
simple view of God. Let us silence by that means
all the movements of our hearts, when they appear
In the least agitated. Let us separate ourselves from
all that does not come from God. Let us suppress
our superfluous thoughts and reveries. Let us utter
no useless word. Let us seek God within us, and
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Honey from Many Hives
we shall find him without fail, and with him joy and
peace.
While outwardly busy let us be more occupied
with God than with everything else. To be rightly
engaged we must be in his presence and employed
for him. At the sight of the majesty of God our
interior ought to become calm and remain tranquil.
Once a single word of the Saviour suddenly calmed
a furiously agitated sea; one look of his at us, and
of ours toward him, ought always to perform the
same miracle within us.
We must not wait for a leisure hour when we can
bar our doors; the moment that is employed in
regretting that we have no opportunity to be recol-
lected might be profitably spent in recollection. Let
us turn our hearts toward God in a simple, familiar
spirit, full of confidence in him. The most inter-
rupted moments, even while eating, or listening to
others, are valuable. Tiresome and idle, talk in our
presence, instead of annoying, will afford us the
delight of employing the interval in seeking God.
Thus all things work together for good to them that
love God.
Let us be careful not to suffer ourselves to be
overwhelmed by the multiplicity of our exterior
occupations, be they what they may. Let us en-
deavor to commence every enterprise with a pure
view to the glory of God, continue it without dis-
traction, and finish it without impatience. The in-
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tervals of relaxation and amusement are the most
dangerous for us and perhaps the most useful for
others ; we must then be on our guard that we be as
faithful as possible to the presence of God. We can
never employ our leisure hours better than in
refreshing our spiritual strength by a secret and inti-
mate communion with God. Prayer is so necessary,
and the source of so many blessings, that he who
has discovered the treasure cannot be prevented
from having recourse to it whenever he has an
opportunity.
TRUE PRAYER.
True prayer is only another name for the love of
God. To pray is to desire — but to desire what God
would have us desire. He who asks what he does
not from the bottom of his heart desire is mistaken
in thinking that he prays. O how few there are who
pray ! for how few are they who desire what is truly
good. Crosses, external and internal humiliation,
renouncement of our own wills, the death of self and
the establishment of God's throne upon the ruins of
self-love — these are indeed good ; not to desire these
is not to pray ; to desire them seriously, soberly, con-
stantly, and with reference to all the details of life —
this is true prayer. Alas! how many souls full of
self, and of an imaginary desire for perfection in the
midst of hosts of voluntary imperfections, have
never yet uttered this true prayer of the heart! It
is in reference to this that St. Augustine says : "He
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Honey from Many Hives
that loveth little prayeth little ; he that loveth much
prayeth much."
Our intercourse with God resembles that with a
friend: at first there are a thousand things to be
told, and as many to be asked; but after a time these
diminish, while the pleasure of being together does
not. Everything has been said, but the satisfaction
of seeing each other, of feeling that one is near the
other, of reposing in the enjoyment of a pure and
sweet friendship, can be felt without conversation;
the silence is eloquent and mutually understood.
Each feels that the other is in perfect sympathy with
him, and that their two hearts are incessantly poured
out into the other, and constitute but one.
Those who have stations of importance to fill have
generally so many indispensable duties to perform
that, without the greatest care in the management
of their time, none will be left to be alone with God.
If they have ever so little inclination for dissipation
the hours that belong to God and their neighbor dis-
appear altogether. We must be firm in observing
our rules. This strictness seems excessive, but with-
out it everything falls into confusion; we become
dissipated, relaxed, and lose strength ; we insensibly
separate from God, surrender ourselves to all our
pleasures, and only then begin to perceive that we
have wandered where it is almost hopeless to think
of endeavoring to return.
The Christian life is a long and continual tend-
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ency of our hearts toward that eternal goodness
which we desire upon earth. All our happiness con-
sists in thirsting for it. Now this thirst is prayer.
Ever desire to approach your Creator and you will
never cease to pray.
The best of all prayers is to act with a pure inten-
tion and with a continual reference to the will of
God. Unhappy are they whose prayers do not ren-
der them more humble, more submissive, more vigi-
lant over their faults, and more willing to live in
obscurity. The coldness of our love is the silence of
our hearts toward God. Without this we may pro-
nounce prayers, but we do not pray; for what shall
lead us to meditate upon the laws of God if it be not
the love of him who has made these laws?
THE HUMAN WILL.
True virtue and pure love reside in the will alone.
The question is not, What is the state of our feel-
ings? but, What is the condition of our will? Let
us will to have whatever we have, and not to have
whatever we have not. We would not even be
delivered from our sufferings, for it is God's place to
apportion to us our crosses and our joys. In the
midst of affliction we rejoice, as did the apostle ; but
it is not joy of the feelings, but of the will. The
wicked are wretched in the midst of their pleasures,
because they are never content with their state; they
are always desiring to remove some thorn, or to add
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Honey from Many Hives
some flower to their present condition. The faith-
ful soul, on the other hand, has a will which is per-
fectly free ; it accepts, without questioning, whatever
bitter blessings God develops, wills them, loves
them, and embraces them; it would not be freed
from them if it could be accomplished by a simple
wish; for such a wish would be an act originating
in self and contrary to its abandonment to Provi-
dence, and it is desirous that this abandonment
should be absolutely perfect.
If there be anything capable of setting a soul in a
large place it is this absolute abandonment to God.
If there be anything that can render the soul calm,
dissipate its scruples and dispel its fears, sweeten
its sufferings by the anointing of love, impart
strength to it in all its actions, and spread abroad
the joy of the Holy Spirit in its countenance and
words, it is this simple, free, and childlike repose in
the arms of God.
The important question is, not how much you
enjoy religion, but whether you will whatever God
wills.
The essence of virtue consists in the attitude of
the will. That kingdom of God which is within us
consists in our willing whatever God wills, always,
in everything, and without reservation ; and thus his
kingdom comes ; for his wall is then done as it is in
heaven, since we will nothing but what is dictated
by his sovereign pleasure. Thus nothing can ever
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come to pass against our wishes; for nothing can
happen contrary to the will of God, and we find in
his good pleasure an inexhaustible source of peace
and consolation.
The interior life is the beginning of the blessed
peace of the saints, who eternally cry, Amen, Amen.
We adore, we praise, we bless God in everything;
we see him incessantly, and in all things his paternal
hand is the sole object of our contemplation. There
are no longer any evils; for even the most terrible
that can come upon us work together for our good.
Can the suffering that God designs to purify us and
make us worthy of himself be called an evil ?
Let us cast all our cares then into the bosom of so
good a Father, and suffer him to do as he pleases.
Let us be content to adopt his will in all points, and
to abandon our own absolutely and forever. How
can we retain anything of our own when we do not
even belong to ourselves? The only thing that
really belongs to us is our will, and it is of this,
therefore, that God is especially jealous, for he gave
it to us not that we should retain it, but that we
should return it to him, whole as we received it, and
without the slightest reservation. If the least de-
sire remains, or the smallest hesitation, it is robbing
God, contrary to the order of creation ; for all things
come from him, and to him they are all due. Alas !
how many soiils there are full of self, and desirous
of doing good and serving God, but in such a way
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Honey from Many Hives
as to suit themselves; who desire to impose rules
upon God as to his manner of drawing them to him-
self. They want to serve and possess him, but they
are not willing to abandon themselves to him and be
possessed by him.
To desire to serve God in one place rather than in
another, in this way rather than in that — is not this
desiring to serve him in our own way rather than in
his? But to be equally ready for all things, to will
everything and nothing, to leave ourselves in his
hands like a toy in the hands of a child, to set no
bounds to our abandonment inasmuch as the per-
fect reign of God cannot abide them — this is really
denying ourselves; this is treating him like a
God and ourselves like creatures made solely for
his use.
The peace of the soul consists in an absolute resig-
nation to the will of God. The pain we suffer from
so many occurrences arises from the fact that we
are not entirely abandoned to God in everything that
happens. Let us put all things, then, into his hands,
and offer them to him in our hearts, as a sacrifice
beforehand. From the moment that you cease to
desire anything according to your own judgment,
and begin to will everything just as God wills it, you
will be free from your former tormenting reflec-
tions and anxieties about your own concerns; you
will no longer have anything to conceal or take
care of.
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continual crosses.
In regard to austerities everyone must regard his
attraction, his state, his need, and his temperament.
A simple mortification, consisting in nothing more
than an unshaken fideUty in providential crosses, is
often far more valuable than severe austerities
which render the life more marked, and tempt to a
vain self-complacency. Whoever will refuse noth-
ing which comes in the order of God, and seek
nothing out of that order, need never fear to finish
his day's work without partaking of the cross of
Jesus Christ. There is an indispensable Providence
for crosses as well as for the necessaries of life; they
are a part of our daily bread ; God never will suffer it
to fail. It is sometimes a very useful mortification
to certain fervent souls to give up their own plans
of mortification and adopt with cheerfulness those
which are momentarily revealed in the order of God.
When a soul is not faithful in providential mortifi-
cations there is reason to fear some illusion in those
which are sought through the fervor of devotion;
such warmth is often deceitful, and it seems to me
that a soiil in this case would do well to examine its
faithfulness under the daily crosses allotted by
Providence.
The crosses which originate with ourselves are
not as efficient in eradicating self-love as those
which come in the daily allotments of God. These
latter contribute no aliment for the nourishment of
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Honey from Many Hives
our own wills, and as they proceed immediately
from a merciful Providence they are accompanied
by grace sufficient for all our needs. We have noth-
ing to do, then, but to surrender ourselves to God
each day, without looking further; he will carry us
in his arms as a tender mother bears her child.
The best rule we can ever adopt is to receive
equally, and with the same submission, everything
that God sends us during the day, both within and
without. Without, there are things disagreeable
that must be met with courage, and things pleasant
that must not be suffered to arrest our affections.
They must be received because God sends them, and
not because they are agreeable to our own feelings ;
they are to be used, like any other medicine, without
self-complacency, without attachment to them, and
without appropriation. We must accept them, but
not hold on to them; so that when God sees fit to
withdraw them we may neither be dejected nor dis-
couraged. We must count less upon sensible de-
lights, and the measures of wisdom which we devise
for our own perfection, than upon simplicity, lowli-
ness, renunciation of our own efforts, and perfect
pliability to all the designs of grace.
WPIAT IS MEANT BY RENOUNCING ALL?
We must not only renounce evil, but also good
things ; for Jesus has said, "Whosoever he be of you
that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be
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my disciple" (Luke xiv, 33). The abandonment of
evil things consists in refusing them with horror;
of good things, in using them with moderation for
our necessities, continually studying to retrench all
those imaginary wants with which greedy nature
would flatter herself. We are moderately, and with-
out inordinate emotion, to do what is in our power
to retain goods and honors in order to make a sober
use of them, without desiring to enjoy them, or
placing our hearts upon them.
The Christian must abandon everything that he
has, however innocent; for if he do not renounce it
it ceases to be innocent. He must abandon those
things which it is his duty to guard with the greatest
possible care, such as the good of his family, or his
own reputation, for he must have his heart on none
of these things; he must be ready to give them all
up whenever it is the will of Providence to deprive
him of them.
He must give up those whom he loves best, and
whom it is his duty to love; and his renouncement
of them consists in this, that he is to love them for
God only; to make use of the consolation of their
friendship soberly, and for the supply of his wants ;
to be ready to part with them whenever God wills it,
and never to seek in them the true repose of his
heart. It is thus that we use the world and the
creature as not abusing them. We do not desire to
take pleasure in them ; we only use what God gives
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us, what he wills that we should love, and what we
accept with the reserve of a heart receiving it only
for necessity's sake and keeping itself for a more
worthy object. It is in this sense that Christ would
have us leave father and mother, brothers and sis-
ters and friends, and that he is come to bring a
sword upon earth.
Having abandoned everything exterior, it re-
mains to complete the sacrifice by renouncing every-
thing interior, including self. You must renounce
all satisfaction, and all natural complacency in your
own wisdom and virtue. Remember, the purer and
more excellent the gifts of God the more jealous he
is of them. He would have us attached to nothing
but himself, and to regard his gifts, however excel-
lent, as only the means of uniting us more easily and
intimately to him. Whoever contemplates the grace
of God with a satisfaction and sort of pleasure of
ownership turns it into poison.
Live, as it were, on trust; all that is in you, and
all that you are, is only loaned you ; make use of it
according to the will of Him who lends it, but never
regard it for a moment as your own. Herein con-
sists true self-abandonment; it is this spirit of self-
divesting, this use of ourselves and of ours with a
single eye to the movements of God, who alone is
the true proprietor of his creatures. You may be
exercised in self-renunciation in every event of
every day.
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Happy is he who never hesitates ; who fears only
that he follows with too little readiness ; who would
rather do too much against self than too little!
Blessed is he who, when asked for a sample, boldly
presents his entire stock and suffers God to cut from
the whole cloth ! Happy he who, esteeming himself
as nothing, puts God to no necessity of sparing him !
Thrice happy he whom all this does not affright!
It is thought that this state is a painful one ; it is a
mistake: here is peace and liberty; here the heart,
detached from everything, is immeasurably enlarged,
so as to become illimitable; nothing cramps it; and
in accordance with the promise it becomes, in a
certain sense, one with God himself.
True progress does not consist in a multitude of
views, nor in austerities, trouble, and strife; it is
simpl}^ willing nothing and everything, without res-
ervation and without choice, cheerfully performing
each day's journey as Providence appoints it for us ;
seeking nothing, refusing nothing; finding every-
thing in the present moment, and suffering God,
who does everything, to do his pleasure in and by us
without the slightest resistance. O, how happy is he
who has attained to this state! and how full of
good things is his soul when it appears emptied of
everything !
HOW TO WATCH.
The soul which God truly leads by the hand ought
to watch its path, but with a simple, tranquil vigi-
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Honey from Many Hives
lance confined to the present moment, and without
restlessness from love of self. Its attention should
be continually directed to the will of God, in order
to fulfill it every instant, and not be engaged in
reflex acts upon itself in order to be assured of its
state when God prefers it should be uncertain.
We never watch so diligently over ourselves as
when we walk in the presence of God, as he com-
manded Abraham. And, in fact, what should be the
end of all our vigilance ? To follow step by step the
will of God. He who conforms to that in all things
watches over himself and sanctifies himself in every-
thing. If then we never lose sight of the presence of
God we should never cease to watch, and always
with a simple, lovely, quiet, and disinterested vigi-
lance; while, on the other hand, the watchfulness
which is tlie result of a desire to be assured of our
state is harsh, restless, and full of self.
In addition to the presence of God and a state of
recollection we may add the examination of con-
science according to our need, but conducted in a
way that grows more and more simple, easy, and
destitute of restless self -contemplations. We ex-
amine ourselves not for our own satisfaction, but
to conform to the advice we receive, and to accom-
plish the will of God.
We must silence every creature, including self,
that in the deep stillness of the soul we may perceive
the ineffable voice of the Bridegroom. We must
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lend an attentive ear, for his voice is soft and still
and is only heard of those who listen for nothing
else. How rare is it to find a soul still enough to
hear God speak! The least reserve, the slightest
self-reflective act, the most imperceptible fear of
hearing too clearly what God demands, interferes
with the interior voice.
INDEPENDENCE.
Do not suffer yourself to get excited by what is
said about you. Let the world talk. Do you strive
to do the will of God ; as for that of men, you could
never succeed in doing it to their satisfaction, and
it is not worth the pains.
Let the water flow beneath the bridge. Let men
be men, that is to say, weak, vain, inconsistent, un-
just, false, and presumptuous; let the world be the
world still ; you cannot prevent it. Let everyone
follow his own inclination and habits; you cannot
recast them, and the best course is to let them be as
they are and bear with them. Do not think it
strange when you witness unreasonableness and in-
justice; rest in peace in the bosom of God; he sees it
all more clearly than you do, and yet permits it. Be
content to do quietly and gently what it becomes you
to do, and let everything else be to you as though it
were not.
As long as the world is anything to us, so long
our freedom is but a word, and we are as easily cap-
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tured as a bird whose leg is fastened by a thread.
He seems to be free ; the string is not visible, but he
can only fly its length, and he is a prisoner.
Do not be vexed at what people say. Let them
speak, while you endeavor to do the will of God. A
little silence, peace, and communion with God will
compensate you for all the injustice of men. We
must love our fellow-beings without depending upon
their friendship. They leave us, they return, and
they go from us again. Let them go or come; it is
the feather blown about by the wind. Fix your
attention upon God alone in your connection with
them. It is he alone who, through them, consoles
or afflicts you.
Possess your soul in patience. Renew often with-
in you the feeling of the presence of God, that you
may learn moderation. There is nothing truly great
but lowliness, charity, fear of ourselves, and detach-
ment from the dominion of sense. Accustom your-
self gradually to carry prayer into your daily occu-
pations. Speak, move, act in peace, as if you were
in prayer. Do everything without eagerness, as if
by the Spirit of God. As soon as you perceive your
natural impetuosity impelling you retire into the
sanctuary where dwells the Father of Spirits ; listen
to what you there hear ; and then neither say nor do
anything but what he dictates in your heart. You
will find that you will become more tranquil; that
your words will be fewer and more to the purpose,
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and that with less effort you will accomplish more
good. When the heart is fixed on God it can easily
accustom itself to suspend the natural movements
of ardent feeling, and to wait for the favorable
moment when the voice within may speak. This is
the continual sacrifice of self, and the life of faith.
This death of self is a blessed life; for the grace that
brings peace succeeds to the passions that produce
trouble. Endeavor to acquire a habit of looking to
this light within you ; then all your life will gradu-
ally become a prayer. You may suffer, but you will
find peace in suffering.
THE FAULTS OF OTHERS.
Perfection is easily tolerant of the imperfections
of others; it becomes all things to all men. We must
not be surprised at the greatest defects in good souls,
and must quietly let them alone until God gives the
signal of gradual removal; otherwise we shall pull
up the wheat with the tares.
They who correct others ought to watch the mo-
ment when God touches their hearts ; we must bear
a fault with patience till we perceive his Spirit re-
proaching them within. We must imitate him who
gently reproves, so that they feel that it is less God
that condemns them than their own hearts. When
we blame with impatience because we are displeased
with the fault it is a human censure, and not the dis-
approbation of God. It is a sensitive self-love that
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Honey from Many Hives
cannot forgive the self-love of others. The more
self-love we have the more severe our censures.
There is nothing so vexatious as the collisions be-
tween one excessive self-love and another still more
violent and sensitive. The passions of others are
infinitely ridiculous to those who are under the
dominion of their own. The ways of God are very
different. He is ever full of kindness for us, he
gives us strength, he regards us with pity and con-
descension, he remembers our weakness, he wait?
for us. The less we have ourselves the more con-
siderate we are of others.
I am very sorry for the imperfections you find in
human beings, but we must learn to expect but little
from them; this is the only security against disap-
pointment. We must receive from them what they
are able to give us, as from trees the fruits that they
yield. God bears with imperfect beings even when
they resist his goodness. We ought to iitiitate this
merciful patience and endurance. It is only imper-
fection that complains of what is imperfect. The
more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet we
become toward the defects of others.
The defects of our neighbor interfere with our
own ; our vanity is wounded by that of another ; our
own haughtiness finds our neighbor's ridiculous and
insupportable; our restlessness is rebuked by the
sluggishness and indolence of this person; our
gloom is disturbed by the gayety and frivolity of
1 80
Fenelon.
that person, and our heedlessness by the shrewdness
and address of another. If we were faultless we
should not be so much annoyed by the defects of
those with whom we associate. If we were to
acknowledge honestly that we have not virtue
enough to bear patiently with our neighbor's weak-
nesses we should show our own imperfection, and
this alarms our vanity. We therefore make our
weakness pass for strength, elevate it to a virtue,
and call it zeal. For is it not surprising to see how
tranquil we are about the errors of others when they
do not trouble us, and how soon this wonderful zeal
kindles against those who excite our jealousy or
weary our patience?
HUMILITY.
The foundation of peace with all men Is humility.
Pride is incompatible with pride; hence arise divi-
sions in the world. We must stifle all rising jeal-
ousies, all little contrivances to promote our own
glory, vain desires to please, or to succeed, or to be
praised, the fear of seeing others preferred to our-
selves, the anxiety to have our plans carried into
effect, the natural love of dominion, and desire to
Influence others. These rules are soon given, but it
is not so easy to observe them. With some people
not only pride and hauteur render these duties very
difficult, but great natural sensitiveness makes the
practice of them nearly impossible, and, instead of
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Honey from Many Hives
respecting their neighbor with a true feehng of
humiHty, all their charity amounts only to a sort
of compassionate toleration that nearly resembles
contempt.
Humility is the source of all true greatness ; pride
is ever impatient, ready to be offended. He who
thinks nothing is due to him never thinks himself
ill-treated; true meekness is not mere temperament,
for this is only softness or weakness.
There is no true and constant gentleness without
humility; while we are so fond of ourselves we are
easily offended with others. Let us be persuaded
that nothing is due to us, and then nothing will dis-
turb us. Let us often think of our own infirmities
and we shall become indulgent toward those of
others.
MODERATION.
The best and highest use of your mind is to learn
to distrust yourself; to renounce your own will and
to submit to the will of God; to become as a little
child. It is not of doing different things that I
speak, but of performing the most common actions
with your heart fixed on God, and as one who is
accomplishing the end of his being. You will act as
others do, except that you will never sin. You will
be a faithful friend, polite, attentive, complaisant,
and cheerful, at those times when it is becoming in
a true Christian to be so. You will be moderate at
table, moderate in speaking, moderate in expense,
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F^NELON
moderate in judging, moderate in your diversions;
temperate even in your wisdom and foresight. It
is this universal sobriety in the use of the best things
that is taught us by the true love of God. We are
neither austere, nor fretful, nor scrupulous, but have
within ourselves a principle of love that enlarges the
heart and sheds a gentle influence upon everything;
that, without constraint or effort, inspires a delicate
apprehension lest we should displease God, and that
arrests us if we are tempted to do wrong.
VARIOUS ADVICES.
Peace in this life springs from acquiescence even
in disagreeable things, not in an exemption from
suffering.
Let us do good according to the means which God
has given us, with discretion, with courage, and
with perseverance. We shall find occasions to do
good everywhere; they surround us; it is the will
that is needed. The deepest solitudes, when we
seem to have the least communication with others,
will furnish us with means of doing good to our
fellow-beings, and of glorifying him who is their
Master and ours.
A life of faith produces two things : First, it ena-
bles us to see God in everything; secondly, it holds
the mind in a state of readiness for whatever may
be his will. This continual, unceasing dependence
on God, this state of entire peace and acquiescence
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Honey from Many Hives
of the soul in whatever may happen, is the true,
silent martyrdom of self..
We cannot always be doing a great work, but we
can always be doing something that belongs to our
condition. To be silent, to suffer, to pray when we
cannot act, is acceptable to God. A disappointment,
a contradiction, a harsh word received and endured
as in his presence, is worth more than a long prayer ;
and we do not lose time if we bear its loss with
gentleness and patience, provided the loss was in-
evitable and was not caused by our own fault.
The best proof that we are influenced by the
Spirit of God is, first, when the action itself is pure
and conformable to the perfection of his laws;
secondly, when we perform it simply, tranquilly,
without eagerness to do it, contented if it is neces-
sary to relinquish it; thirdly, when, after the work
is done, we do not seek by unquiet reflections to
justify the action even to ourselves, but are willing
it should be condemned, or to condemn it ourselves,
if any superior light discovers it to be wrong; and
when, in fine, we do not appropriate the action to
ourselves, but refer it to the will of God; fourthly,
when this work leaves the soul in its simplicity, in
its peace, in its own uprightness, in humility, and in
sel f-f orgetf ulness.
The soul in the state of pure love acts in sim-
plicity. Its inward rule of action is found in the
decisions of a sanctified judgment. These decisions,
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Fenelon
guided as they are by a higher power, based upon
judgments that are free from self-interest, are the
voice of God in the soul. They may not always be
absolutely right, because our vie\t^s and judgments,
being limited, can extend only to things in part ; but
they may be said to be relatively right; they con-
form to things so far as we are permitted to see them
and understand them, and convey to the soul a moral
assurance that, when we act in accordance with
them, we are doing as God would have us do. But
we must be sure that the soul is free from any selfish
bias whatever.
As things are in the present life, those who are
wholly devoted to God may suffer in the inferior
part (the natural appetites, propensities, and affec-
tions), and may be at rest in the superior (the judg-
ment, the moral sense, and the will). Their wills
may be in harmony with the divine will ; they may
be approved in their judgments and conscience, and
at the same time may suffer greatly in their physical
relations and in their natural sensibilities. In this
manner Christ, upon the cross, while his will re-
mained firm in its union with the will of his heavenly
Father, suffered much through his physical system ;
he felt the painful longings of thirst, the pressure of
the thorns, and the agony of the spear. He was
deeply afflicted, also, for the friends he left behind
him and for a dying world. But in his inner and
higher nature, where he felt himself sustained by the
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Honey from Many Hives
secret voice uttered in his sanctified conscience and
in his unchangeable faith, he was peaceful and
happy.
Evil is changed into good when it is received in
patience through the love of God; while good is
changed into evil when we become attached to it
through the love of self.
With the exception of sin, nothing happens in this
world out of the w^ill of God. It is he who is the
author, ruler, and bestower of all ; he has numbered
the hairs of our head, the leaves of every tree, the
sand upon the seashore, and the drops of the ocean.
This is the whole of religion : to get out of self
in order to get into God.
One of the cardinal rules of the spiritual life is
that we are to live exclusively in the present mo-
ment, without casting a look beyond.
We must imitate Jesus — live as he lived, think as
he thought, and be conformed to his image, which
is the seal of our sanctification. To be a Christian
is to be an imitator of Jesus Christ. In what can
we imitate him if not in his humiliation ? Nothing
else can bring us near to him. We may adore him
as omnipotent, fear him as just, love him with all
our heart as good and merciful, but we can only
imitate him as humble, submissive, poor, and de-
spised.
What men stand most in need of is the knowledge
of God. It IS not astonishing that men do so little
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Fenelon
for God, and that the Httle which they do costs them
so much. They do not know him; scarcely do they
believe that he exists. If he were known he would
be loved.
Thou causest me clearly to understand that Thou
makest use of the evils and imperfections of the
creature to do the good which thou hast determined
beforehand. Thou concealest thyself under the im-
portunate visitor who intrudes upon the occupation
of thine impatient child, that he may learn not to
be impatient, and that he may die to the gratification
of being free to study or work as he pleases. Thou
availest thyself of slanderous tongues to destroy the
reputation of thine innocent children, that, beside
their innocence, they may offer thee the sacrifice of
their too highly cherished reputation. By the cun-
ning artifices of the envious, thou layest low the
fortunes of those whose hearts were too much set
upon their prosperity. Thus thou merci fully stre west
bitterness over everything that is not thyself, to the
end that our hearts, formed to love thee and to exist
upon thy love, may be, as it were, constrained to
return to thee by a want of satisfaction in every-
thing else.
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Honey from Many Hives
THOMAS C UPHAM.
The Rev. Thomas Cogswell Upham^ D.D.,
was born in Deerfield, N. H., January 30, 1799, and
died in New York, April 2, 1872. Graduating at
Dartmouth College in 1818, and Andover Theo-
logical Seminary in 1821, he was for a time an
assistant instructor in the latter school, and for two
years was pastor of the Congregational church in
Rochester, N. H. But his life was mainly spent at
Bowdoin College, Maine, where he was professor of
mental and moral philosophy from 1825 to 1867.
He was a prolific writer. His Elements of Men-
tal Philosophy, in two volumes, 1839, was for a long
time a standard work. It is with his religious pro-
ductions, however, that we have chiefly to do, and it
is by these, we think, that he will be longest known.
The full title of the first (issued in 1843, "to aid
in promoting holy living") was. Principles of the
Interior or Hidden Life, designed particidarly for
the Consideration of Those who are Seeking Assur-
ance of Faith and Perfect Love. In 1845 appeared
the second, entitled The Life of Faith, in three parts,
embracing some of the Script^iral Principles or Doc-
trines of Faith, the Power or Effects of Faith in the
Regulation of Man's Inzvard Nature, and the Re-
lation of Faith to the Divine Guidance. In this
same year, 1845, was issued the Life of Madame
t88
Thomas C. Upham
Catharine Adorna, including some Leading Facts
and Traits in her Religious Experience, together
with Explanations and Remarks tending to Illus-
trate the Doctrine of Holiness. Next, in two vol-
umes, 1846, came the Life and Religions Opinions
and Experience of Madame de la Mothe Guyon; to-
gether zvith some Account of the Personal History
and Religious Opinions of Fennel on, Archbishop of
Cambray. Along the same general line, in 1851,
came A Treatise on Divine Union, designed to point
out some of the Intimate Relations betzueen God and
Man in the Higher Forms of Religious Experience.
This passed through five editions in a few years.
Of less importance are Religions Maxims (1854),
Method of Prayer (1859), Christ in the Soul
(1872), and The Absolute Religion (1872).
The characteristics of all these books are much
the same. The author displays in them all the
power of close analysis and clear statement that
might be expected from a professor of mental phi-
losophy. He shows also an intimate acquaintance
with the great devotional writers of the past, quota-
tions from whom have been given in these pages.
Very great numbers of people have been exceed-
ingly benefited by reading these works. They be-
long to a past generation, and are now for the most
part out of print, but occasionally a copy can be
found. The extracts w^e furnish will suffice to Indi-
cate the style. And though the ideas are not specific-
189
Honey from Many Hives
ally different from those already presented, a some-
what different putting will lend them freshness, and
repetition will emphasize the truth.
EVERY EVENT A PROVIDENCE.
Whatever takes place, sin only excepted, is to be
regarded as expressive, in some important and posi-
tive sense, of the will of the Lord. The controlling
presence of the Almighty is there. God is in it.
Whatever takes place, with the exception of sin, is
not only a portion in the great series of events, but
takes place in accordance with the well-considered
and divinely ordered arrangement or plan of things.
Accordingly, everything w^hich takes place indicates,
all things considered, the mind of God in that par-
ticular thing. And hence we may be said to reach,
through the divine providences, a portion of the
divine mind, and to become acquainted with it.
Until the divine intimations within are cleared
up and illustrated by the subsequent openings of
providence, it seems to me to be the duty of Chris-
tians to remain in the attitude of patient expecta-
tion and of humble and quiet faith. This doctrine
strikes at the root of too great eagerness of spirit,
and of all inordinate self-activity. He who would
walk with God must walk in God's order. God not
only requires us to obey and serve him, but to obey
and serve him in his own time and way. A soul
190
Thomas C. Upham
wholly devoted to God will always endeavor to move
calmly, yet firmly and exactly, in the blessed order
of the divine providences; neither prematurely and
excitedly hastening in advance, nor yet sluggishly
and carelessly lagging behind.
The existence of an undue eagerness and excite-
ment of spirit is an evidence that we are, in some
degree, afraid to trust God, and that we are still too
much under the influence of the life of nature. So
that to cease from the activity of nature, when
properly understood, seems to be nothing more nor
less than to cease from the spirit of self-wisdom,
self-seeking, and self-guidance, and thus to remain
in submissive and peaceful simplicity and disengage-
ment of spirit, in order that God may enter in, and
may guide us by the wisdom of his own divine
inspiration.
It is the rejection of the doctrine of providence
considered as entering into particulars which con-
stitutes one of the great evils, the practical atheism,
perhaps we may call it, of the age in which we live.
It is true, undoubtedly, that men, with but few ex-
ceptions, admit the existence of a God; but they do
not admit, except in a very mitigated and imperfect
sense, his presence and supervision.
As the law of providence is only another expres-
sion for God's will as that will is exhibited in con-
nection with his providences, the man who lives in
conformity with providence necessarily lives in con-
13 191
Honey from Many Hives
formity with God. It is only when we are in this
position that we may be said to walk with God ; and
walking with God is union with God. To be in
harmony with God's providence we must be in har-
mony with everything, not excepting the material
world. It is true that things inanimate have no life
in themselves, but they are the residence of a living
mind. We might almost say, in a mitigated sense
of the terms, that everything, not excluding objects
the most remote from moral intelligence, becomes
God to us. There is no grass, no flower, no tree, no
insect, no creeping thing, no singing bird, nothing
which does not bring God with it, and in such a
manner that the thing which we behold becomes a
clear and bright revelation of that which is invisible.
The event, painful as it is and criminal as it is
under some circumstances, is nevertheless a mani-
festation of God ; and not of a God absent, but of a
God present. And happy is the man that can receive
this. To be out of harmony with these things, acts,
and events which God in his providence has seen fit
to array around us — that is to say, not to meet them
in a humble, believing, and thankful spirit — is to
turn from God.
Everything which occurs, with the exception of
sin, takes place — and yet without infringing on
moral liberty — in the divinely appointed order and
arrangement of things, and is an expression, within
its own appropriate limits, of the divine will. And
192
Thomas C Upham
consequently, in its relations to ourselves personally
and individually, it is precisely that condition of
things which is best suited to try and to benefit our
own state. On a moment's reflection it will be seen
that this important principle raises us at once above
all subordinate creatures, and places us in the most
intimate connection with God himself. It makes
the occurrences of every moment, to an important
extent, a manifestation of God's will, and conse-
quently, in every such occurrence, it makes God
himself essentially present to us. Every event com-
ing within the range of our cognizance necessarily
brings God and our souls together. And it natu-
rally follows from this view that everything which
takes place, whatever it may be, inasmuch as it is
a revelation, within its appropriate limits, of God's
presence and God's will, should be met in the spirit
of acquiescence, meekness, and entire resignation.
Faith aids the soul by calling to its remembrance,
and by establishing its belief, that all events, includ-
ing what are called evils, make a part in God's
providences. We sometimes err by limiting the
sphere of providential arrangements. These ar-
rangements extend to everything which does not
interfere with the claims of moral agency. They
include mind as well as matter. It is an important
truth, though not always recognized, that mental
trials, as well as those which are purely physical,
may have their origin from God.
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Honey from Many Hives
The form of faith which is especially necessary
in order to live the life of faith is that which makes
God present, moment by moment, either permis-
sively or causatively, in any and all events which
take place. O that we might learn the great lesson
(the lesson absolutely indispensable to him who
would experience the highest results of the inward
life) of beholding God, either in his direct efficiency
or his permissive and controlling guardianship, as
present in all things, whether high or low, of what-
ever name or nature ! Without taking this view of
his presence we deprive ourselves of that great
Center where the soul finds rest. We are tossed and
agitated by passing events. Everything is per-
plexed, mysterious, and hopeless.
BEST PROOF OF PERFECT LOVE.
When there is an entire and cordial acquiescence
in the will of God, both to do and to suffer, we have
the most important and satisfactory mark that our
love IS perfect. The nature of the human mind is
such that we never can have an entire and cordial
acquiescence in the will of God in all things without
an antecedent approval of and complacency in his
character and administration.
It v^^as one of the sayings of the devout Francis
Xavier that "the perfection of the creature consists
in willing nothing but the will of the Creator."
What other idea of perfection of love can we have?
194
Thomas C. Upham
This is the true mark of perfection in Christian love,
namely, an entire coincidence of our own wills with
the will of God ; a full and hearty substitution of the
divine mind in the place of our own minds ; the re-
jection of the natural principle of life, which is love
terminating in self, and the adoption of the heavenly
principle of life, which is love terminating and ful-
filled in God; in other words, the expulsion of self
from the heart, and the enthronement of God there
as its everlasting sovereign. This view, so impor-
tant practically as well as theologically, seems to be
confirmed by what the Saviour says of himself in a
number of passages (John vi, 38; John iv, 34; Heb.
X, 9; Mark iii, 34, 35; Matt, vii, 21).
THE IMAGE OF CHRIST.
Some of the traits of character which are con-
spicuous in the life of our Saviour : He was a man
of sympathy. He was susceptible of, and actually
formed, to some extent, personal friendships and
intimacies. He exhibited and valued intellectual
culture. I have sometimes thought that persons of
flighty conceptions and vigorous enthusiasm would
regard the Saviour, if he were now on the earth, as
too calm and gentle, too thoughtful and intellectual,
too free from impulsive and excited agitations, to be
reckoned with those who are often considered the
most advanced in religion.
The life of the Saviour was characterized by the
195
Honey from Many Hives
spirit of entire consecration. He lived by simple
faith. He never doubted. Faith sustained him in
trial as v^ell as in duty; in the depths of affliction
as well as in the active labors of his ministry. He
v^as a man of prayer. He was conscientiously and
strictly faithful in whatever the Father committed
into his hands to do. *'He pleased not himself."
In the various companies in which he mingled he
never forgot the great mission on which he came.
He was not, however, prematurely zealous and ob-
trusive. He realized that everything, when done in
accordance with the will of his heavenly Father (a
will which can never be at variance with the highest
rationality), must necessarily have its right time
and place.
He exhibited in his daily deportment a very meek,
humble, and quiet disposition of mind. In the pos-
session of the inestimable trait of meekness and
quietness of spirit let all who seek the highest degree
of purification and sanctification of heart be imi-
tators of the example of Jesus Christ. The life of
the Saviour was characterized by a proportionate
fitness or symmetry in all its parts.
In all cases of true holiness, without exception,
there must be, and there is, the image of Christ at
the bottom. The soul becomes an ''infant Jesus,"
and like its all-perfect prototype it will grow in
"wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and
man."
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Thomas C. Upham
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM.
The person is not in the enjoyment of true Hberty
of spirit who is wanting in the disposition of accom-
modation to others in things which are not of special
importance. And this is the case when we need-
lessly insist upon having everything done in our
own time and manner; when we are troubled about
little things which are in themselves indifferent, and
think, perhaps, more of the position of a chair than
of the salvation of a soul ; when we find a difficulty
in making allowance for the constitutional differ-
ences in others which it may not be either easy or
important for them to correct; when we find our-
selves disgusted because another does not express
himself in entire accordance with our principles of
taste; or when we are displeased and dissatisfied
w^ith his religious or other performances, although
we know he does the best he can. All these things,
and many others like them, give evidence of a mind
that has not entered into the broad and untrammeled
domain of spiritual freedom.
The person who is disturbed and impatient when
events fall out differently from what he expected
and anticipated is not in the enjoyment of true
spiritual freedom. In accordance with the great
idea of God's perfect sovereignty the man of a re-
ligiously free spirit regards all events which take
place, sin only excepted, as an expression, under the
existing circumstances, of the will of God. And
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Honey from Many Hi\ i:s
such is his unity with the divine will that there is
an immediate acquiescence in the event, whatevc-
may be its nature, and however afflicting in its pe- -
sonal bearings. His mind has acquired, as it wer-.
a divine flexibility, in virtue of which it accommo-
dates itself with surprising ease and readiness to all
the developments of Providence, whether prosper-
ous or adverse.
The person who enjoys true liberty of spirit is the
most deliberate and cautious in doing what he is
most desirous to do. This arises from the fact that
he is very much afraid of being out of the lin^ of
God's will and order. He distrusts and examines
closely all strong desires and strong feelings gener-
ally, especially if they agitate his mind and render
it somewhat uncontrollable. Not merely because
the feelings are strong, but because there is reason
to fear that some of nature's fire has mingled with
the holy and peaceable flame of divine love.
Freedom consists not in having things in our own
way, but in the right way, which is God's way. And
this includes not only the thing done, but the manner
of doing it, and also the time. True liberty of spirit
is found only in those who, in the language of De
Sales, "keep the heart totally disengaged from every
created thing, in order that they may follow the
known will of God."
Spiritual liberty consists in passively, yet intel-
ligently and approvingly, following the leadings of
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Thomas C. Upham
the Holy Ghost. It is hke a little child that reposes
in simplicity and in perfect confidence on the bosom
of its beloved mother. It implies, with the fact of
entire submission to God, the great and precious
reality of interior emancipation. He who is spiritu-
ally free is free in God. And he may, perhaps, be
said to be free in the same sense in which God is,
who is free to do everything right and nothing
wrong.
ABSOLUTE SURRENDER.
The prostration of our own w411, in such a sense
that it shall not in any respect oppose itself to the
will of God, seems to be the completion or consum-
mation of those various interior processes by which
the heart is purified. The moment our faith in God
wavers, that moment we begin to form our own
plans and set up our own wills. So that we can have
no hesitancy in saying that a will perfectly coinci-
dent with the will of God is at the same time the
natural result and the highest evidence of a sancti-
fied heart. When the will in its personal or self-
interested operation is entirely prostrated, so that
we can say with the Saviour, "Lo, I come to do thy
will," then the wall of spiritual separation is taken
away, and the soul may be said, through the open
entrance, to find a passage, as it were, into God him-
self, and to become one with him in a mysterious
but holy and glorious union.
The person whose will is entirely subdued, so as
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Honey from Many Hives
to be one with the divine will, will discover an un-
ruffled meekness and quietness of spirit when called
in the divine providence to endure the smaller and
more frequent inconveniences and vexations of life.
Nor is the evidence which is thus presented of an
entire subjection of the will to be regarded as incon-
siderable and unimportant. It is truly sad and
humiliating to see many who, in the comparative
sense of the term, are good Christians, that are,
nevertheless, uneasy, and are inwardly and out-
wardly vexed, on many trivial occasions.
The man whose will has passed from his own
unsafe keeping into the high custody of a divine
direction has no disposition to complain when God,
in his holy providence, in depriving him of health, of
property, and friends, has laid waste his fairest
earthly prospects. He endures also in quietness and
silence of spirit misrepresentations and persecutions.
Stroncr in a faith which has become habitual to him,
he sees everything in its relation to the divine mind.
He regards the persecutions he endures as the lot
which God has appointed to him, and as such he
rejoices in it.
The man who has experienced the practical an-
nihilation of his own will does everything and suf-
fers everything precisely in the order of God's
providence. It Is the present moment, considered as
indicating the divine arrangement of things, which
furnishes the truest and safest test of character. It
200
Thomas C. Upham
is necessary to keep our eye fixed upon God's order.
We must do this in relation to our place and situa-
tion in life, whatever it may be; not murmuring at
our supposed ill lot, not giving way to any eager
desires of change, but remaining quietly and humbly
just where God has seen fit to place us.
DEGREES OF DIVINE UNION.
The first degree may be described as union with
the divine will in submission. It is the union of
simple acquiescence rather than of positive. desire;
the union of submission to suffering rather than
of love to suft'ering. The fact of obedience, how-
ever sincere and true the obedience itself may be,
does not prevent their saying, with equal truth, that
it is hard for nature to yield to it. There is sub-
mission in fact, but a submission which costs a
struggle in the beginning, and watchfulness and
struggles in the maintenance of it.
The second degree may be described as union
with the divine will zvith choice. We not only sub-
mit, but submission is our pleasure, our delight.
The endurance of loss and suffering is not, and can-
not ordinarily be, so great as to prevent a true and
substantial joy of the heart. It is said of the early
Christians not merely that they submitted to suffer-
ing with patience, but that they rejoiced that they
were accounted worthy to suffer for the name of
Jesus (Acts V, 41).
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This last state of mind may assume a new char-
acter, and may present the union of the will in a
new aspect, by becoming invigorated and perfected
by habit. It may ultimately become so well estab-
lished and strong that the effect of antecedent evil
habits, which generally remains for a long time and
greatly perplexes the full sway of holiness in the
heart, shall be done away entirely. And this is not
all. In the course of time our perceptions of the
transcendent beauty and excellence of the will of
God may become so increased in clearness and
strength that the pleasure of doing and suffering his
will, increased in the same proportion, may entirely
absorb and take away our sense of suffering. The
suffering will be lost in the joy. ''Death," a name
which includes all temporal evil, "will be swallowed
up in victory."
RECEIVING BY FAITH.
On the true doctrine of holy living, namely, by
faith, we go to God in the exercise of faith, believ-
ing that he will hear ; and we return from him in the
exercise of the same faith, believing that he has
heard, and that the answer exists and is regis-
tered in the divine mind, although we do not know
what it is, and perhaps shall never be permitted to
know.
If we truly and humbly ask for wisdom to guide
us, and at the same time, of course, employ all those
rational powers which God has given us, it becomes
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Thomas C. Upham
our privilege and our duty, in accordance with the
doctrines of the Hfe of faith, to beheve fully and
firmly that God does in fact answer, and that in the
sanctified exercise of the powers which are given us
we truly have that degree of wisdom which is best
for us in the present case. This, whether we are
conscious of any new light on the subject or not.
Even if we are left in almost total ignorance on the
topic of our inquiry, we have the high satisfaction
of knowing that we are placed in this position be-
cause God sees that a less degree of light is better
in our case than a greater.
The system which requires a present and visible
or ascertained answer, in distinction from the sys-
tem of faith, which believes that it has an answer
but does not require God to make it known till he
sees best to make it known, is full of danger. It
tends to self-confidence, because it implies that we
can command God, and make him unlock the secrets
of his hidden counsels whenever we please. It tends
to self-delusion, because we are always liable to mis-
take the workings of our own imaginations, or our
own feelings, or the intimations of Satan, for the
true voice of God. It tends to cause jealousies and
divisions in the Church of Christ, because he who
supposes that he has a specific or known answer,
which is the same, so far as it goes, as a specific
revelation, is naturally bound and led by such sup-
position, and thus is oftentimes led to strike out a
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course for himself which is at \^ariance with the
feehngs and judgments of his brethren. Incalcula-
ble are the evils which, in every age of the Christian
history, have resulted from this source.
On the contrary, the disposition to know only
what God would have us know, and to leave the
dearest objects of our hearts in the sublime keeping
of the general and unspecific belief that God is now
answering our prayers in his own time and way,
and in the best manner, involves a present process
of inward crucifixion which is obviously unfavor-
able to the growth, and even existence, of the life
of self.
Faith in its relation to the subject of it is truly a
light in the soul, but it is a light that shines only
upon duties, and not upon results or events. It tells
us what is now to be done, but it does not tell us
what is to follow. And accordingly it guides us but
a step at a time. And when we take that step under
the guidance of faith we advance directly into a land
of surrounding shadows and darkness. Like the
patriarch Abraham, we go, not knowing whither we
go, but only that God is with us. In man's dark-
ness we nevertheless walk and live in God's liglit,
a way of living which may well be styled blessed
and glorious, however mysterious it may be to
human vision. Indeed, it is the only life worth pos-
sessing, the only true life. ''Relieve in the Lord
your God, so shall ye be established."
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Thomas C. Upham
living by the moment.
We are not at liberty to attach ourselves strongly
to plans of action. We ought to sit loosely to every-
thing except the present moment. We ought not to
permit our affections to become enlisted, as they are
very apt to be. We should enter upon the plan in
accordance with God's will ; we should advance step
by step in accordance with his will ; and without the
least emotion of disappointment or displeasure we
should stop in accordance with his will; which we
cannot well do if we let our affections go in advance
of the divine moment, which is the present moment,
and cleave to objects which have not as yet received
the divine sanction.
No man lives well who lives out of the will of
God. No man lives in the will of God who antici-
pates the divine moment, or moment of actual duty,
by making up a positive decision before it arrives
or by delaying a decision until after its departure.
If, therefore, we would live in the will of God we
must conform to that beautiful and sacred order In
which his will Is made known ; we must live by the
moment.
This doctrine keeps the mind fixed to God alone.
Every moment presents our blessed Maker before
us, with the facts of his providence all arranged and
convergent to one point, and requiring of us as
moral agents a prompt decision. God Is In that
moment as It arrives; his unseen presence Is em-
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Honey from Many Hives
bodied in that small point of time; he speaks to us
in the still small voice; if we hear, and reply with
correspondent heart and action, it is well; if we do
not hsten and obey he is gone from us; and an
eternity to come cannot remedy the loss of that one
moment.
It is a result of these principles that they preserve
us from the very considerable evil of reflex acts of
mind; that is to say, of frequent and unnecessary
returns of the mind upon itself in the form of self-
inquiry, of self-condemnation, or of self-gratulation,
and in other ways which might be mentioned. This
result seems to follow from the fact that, on the
system of living by the moment, the mind always
has before itself a present object, and that the object
fully occupies and absorbs the mind, because God
himself is present in it.
GOD^S GUIDANCE.
In many cases, where the motives which are pre-
sented are various and the paths of action are
divergent, it is not easy for us to know, with absolute
certainty, what course of action will most fully
accord with the divine will. Constituted as we are at
present, we may well pronounce it impossible to
have such knowledge except by means of a specific
revelation given in each case. And we may even
go further and say, it is not the design of our heav-
enly Father that in matters of this kind we should
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Thomas C. Upham
always have a knowledge which is positive, and
should always walk in a vision which is open. This
is not God's plan of action. We must, in a consider-
able degree at least, live by faith.
The prayer for divine direction, offered up in the
spirit of consecration, which implies a heart wholly
given to God, and offered up also in entire faith,
which receives the promises of God without waver-
ing, necessarily involves the result that the course
taken, whether it be conformed to natural wisdom
or not, and is attended with the best natural results
or not, is morally the right course, and is entirely
acceptable to God. A man in that state of mind may
commit a physical or prudential error; he may per-
haps take a course which will be followed by the
loss of his property, or an injury to his person, but
he cannot commit a moral error. That is to say, he
cannot commit an error which, under the adjust-
ments and pledges of the Gospel, will bring him into
a state of moral condemnation and separate him
from God's favor.
In acting In accordance with the results which we
thus obtain we always and necessarily accomplish
the will of God. We know his will, while in a cer-
tain sense we may be said to be ignorant of it;
because it is his will that we should live and act by
faith without knowledge. "I adore all thy pur-
poses," says Fenelon, "without knowing them."
This is the great work of holiness, to do the will of
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Honey from Many Hives
God, while we know it, and can know it, only in
part. Living by faith without knowledge is living
in the truest divine light. When we are led in the
way of faith we are led by God himself ; and it is
impossible for God, by means of spiritual operations,
to lead his people in a way which is contrary to his
will.
To the question, How shall we know the will
of God specifically, or in particular cases? our
answer is that God always meets us with a specific
revelation of his will in the events or providences of
the present moment. In other words, the events of
God's providence, just so far as they give us infor-
mation at all, are to be regarded as an expression
of his will. And so far as they do not give us
information of themselves they furnish a basis of
information which may be deduced from them.
Consequently we are not at liberty to pronounce
what the will of God is, in relation to a course of
action, until the present moment, as we may con-
veniently designate the precise period of action, has
come. In order to know what is right and duty we
must have all the facts ; but no moment, antecedent
to the present moment, or the precise moment of
action, can give them. This is a state of things
which has the obvious advantage of being opposed
to self-confidence and rash judgments, and of being
favorable to forbearance, charity, and humility.
Hence It is that very holy men, in a multitude of
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Thomas C. Upham
cases, defer their judgments, while others, less holy,
are prompt in deciding.
RELIGIOUS MAXIMS.
In whatever you are called upon to do endeavor
to maintain a calm, collected, and prayerful state of
mind.
Let the heart be fully united with the will of God,
and we shall be entirely contented with those cir-
cumstances in which Providence has seen fit to place
us, however unpropitious they may be in a worldly
point of view. He who gains the victory over him-
self gains the victory over all his enemies.
It may sometimes be practically important to
make a distinction between a renunciation of the
world and a renunciation of ourselves. A mere
crucifixion of the outward world may still leave a
vitality and luxuriance of the selfish principle; but
a crucifixion of self necessarily involves the cruci-
fixion of everything else.
It is one among the pious and valuable maxims
which are ascribed to Francis de Sales, "A judicious
silence is always better than truth spoken without
charity." The very undertaking to instruct or cen-
sure others implies an assumption of moral or
intellectual superiority. It cannot be expected, there-
fore, that the attempt will be well received unless it
is tempered with a heavenly spirit.
Perhaps we may say it is the highest attainment
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Honey from Many Hives
of the soul (certainly it is the foundation of the
highest or perfect state), that of entire and un-
wavering confidence in God.
Always make it a rule to do everything in the l)est
manner, and to the best of your ability. An imper-
fect execution of a thing which we might have done
better is not only unprofitable, but it is a vicious
execution; it is morally wrong.
A fixed, inflexible will is a great assistance in a
holy life. He who is easily shaken will find the way
of holiness difficult, perhaps impracticable. Ye who
walk in the narrow way, let your resolution be
unalterable.
When on a certain occasion the pious Fenelon,
after having experienced much trouble and persecu-
tion from his opposers, was advised by some one to
take greater precautions against the artifices and
evil designs of men, he made answer, in the true
spirit of a Christian, ''Let us die in our simplicity."
He that is wholly in Christ has a oneness and purity
of purpose altogether inconsistent with those tricks
and subterfuges which are so common among men.
He walks in broad day. He goes forth in the light
of conscious honesty. He is willing that men and
angels should read the very bottom of his heart. He
has but one rule : "My Father, what wilt thou have
me to do ?"
It is important to make a distinction between sor-
row and impatience. We may feel sorrow without
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Thomas C. Upham
sin, but we can never feel impatience without sin.
Impatience always involves a want of submission;
and he who is wanting in submission, even in the
smallest degree, is not perfect before God.
Many profess religion; many, we may charitably
hope, possess religion ; but few, very few, if we may
judge from appearances, are aiming with all their
powers at perfection in religion. Nevertheless it is
only upon this last class that the Saviour looks with
unmingled approbation.
If we would walk perfectly before God we must
endeavor to do common things, such as are of every
day's occurrence and of but small account in the eyes
of the world, in a perfect manner.
It will help us to ascertain whether we are truly
humble if we inquire wdiether we are free from the
opposites of humility. The opposites of a humble
state of mind are impatience, uneasiness, a feeling
that something — perhaps much — depends on our-
selves, undue sensitiveness to the praise and reproof
of men, and censoriousness.
A state of suffering furnishes the test of love.
When God is pleased to bestow his favors upon us,
How can we tell whether we love him for what he is,
or for what he gives f But when in seasons of deep
and varied afflictions our heart still clings to him as
our only hope and joy, we may well say, ''Thou
knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.''
A consecration deliberately made, including all
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Honey from Many Hives
our acts, powers, and possessions, of body, mind,
and estate; made without any reserve either in ob-
jects, time, or place; embracing trial and suffering
as well as action ; never to be modified and never to
be withdrawn, and which contemplates its fulfill-
ment in divine and not in human strength, neces-
sarily brings one into a new relationship with God, of
the most intimate, interesting, and effective nature.
We are not to desire anything whatever out of
the will of God. In other words, if we find a prefer-
ence or choice in ourselves, in such a manner as to
lead us to desire one thing rather than another irre-
spective of the will of God, we may justly conclude
that the state of mind of which we are then the sub-
jects is a selfish and natural state, and not a truly
religious and divine state. It is to be rejected; and
the mind is to remain without desire until the will
of God can be revealed and take effect in us.
Quietness of spirit, originating in the operations
of divine grace, is the sign of truth or rectitude of
spirit, and also of a right cause of action. And, on
the other hand, a spirit disturbed, a spirit in a state
of agitation, is the sign of a wrong done or pro-
posed to be done. Accordingly, in any proposed
course of action, if it cannot be entered upon with
entire quietness of spirit, with a soul so entirely calm
that, in its measure, it may be said to reflect un-
brokenly the image of God, then the probability is
that the course proposed to be taken is wrong, or,
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Thomas C. Upham
at least, of a doubtful character; and our true and
safe course is to delay until we can obtain further
light in regard to it.
He whose life is hid with Christ in God may suf-
fer injustice from the conduct or words of another,
but he can never suffer loss. He sees the hand of
God in everything.
It is a sign that our wills are not w^iolly lost in the
will of God when we are much in the habit of using
words which imply election or choice, such as, I
want this, or, I want that; I hope it will be so, or,
I hope it will be otherwise.
A holy person often does the same things wdiich
are done by an unholy person, and yet the things
done in the two cases are infinitely different in their
character. The one performs them in the will of
God, the other in the will of the creature.
Two things in particular are to be guarded against
in all the variety of their forms, namely, creature
love and self-will ; in other words, dependence upon
self and dependence upon our fellow-men.
No person can be considered as praying in sin-
cerity for a specified object who does not employ all
the appropriate natural means which he can to
secure the object.
The holy mind chooses to be, and loves to be,
where it is, and has no disposition or desire to be
anywhere else, till the providence of God clearly
indicates that the time has come for a removal.
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Honey from Many Hives
FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER*
It is not easy to write briefly either about Faber
or his books. He had a most fascinating character
and a most interesting history. His birth was in
the vicarage of Calverley, Yorkshire, England, June
28, I (Si 4. Educated at Oxford, where he obtained a
scholarship and a fellowship, he was ordained dea-
con in 1837 and priest of the Church of England in
1839. He became rector of Elton in 1843, ^^^^ ^^^
his work there with the utmost diligence, producing
a great reformation. But for ten or twelve years,
partly through the natural bent of his mind, partly
through the influences around him, he had been
drawn steadily, irresistibly toward Romanism, and
at length, after great mental struggles and the most
intense desire to do only what was right, he was
received, November 17, 1845, into the Roman
Catholic Church. He had to make very great sacri-
fices to carry out his convictions, but the result was
peace, and he never doubted that he had been led
of the Lord.
His life as a Roman Catholic priest was an ex-
tremely busy and useful one. At Birmingham he
organized a community called ''Brothers of the Will
of God." In 1848 he joined the order of St. Philip
under Dr. Newman, and from 1849 tih his death, in
1862, he was at the head of the London branch, or
214
Frederick William Faber
oratory, of this order. His labors in every possible
direction were incessant and marveloiisly successful,
though often broken in upon by serious illness. It
is doubtful if any man ever had more of the true
spirit of Jesus or brought his life closer to the
divine model. He served his Master from love, with
all his heart and might. He continually preached
Jesus, and him crucified, in the simplest and most
earnest way. He threw every ounce of his strength
into his efforts to make men good and to extend the
spirit of genuine holiness. His humility was most
profound, his tenderness and forbearance extraor-
dinary, his love overflowed all bounds of creed or
condition. He was one of the most lovable men
that ever lived. The charm of his manner, the
kindliness of his heart, the genuineness of his sym-
pathy, the brilliancy of his social powers, the ripe-
ness of his worldly wisdom, and the unearthliness
of his aims formed one of the rarest of combina-
tions. His life from earliest childhood seems to
have been deeply religious. He ever chose the
higher path, putting self aside, and seeking only to
glorify God.
His writings are divisible into four classes,
namely, the works that he translated and edited, the
books that he composed in prose, his hymns and
poems, and the religious letters in which he replied
to the multitude of applications made to him for
spiritual counsel. It is perhaps by the hymns that
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Honey from Many Hives
he will longest live ; certainly by them more than by
anything else he is known to the Protestant world.
He was a genuine poet, and the poet of the higher
spiritual life more than any other person of modern
times. The surpassing beauty and spiritual depth
of many of his hymns are recognized by all who
have any power to appreciate these things. The
religious experience which is voiced in them shows
that none but a Christian of maturest piety could
have penned them, and the elegance of the style
proves that a master hand has been at work. It may
well be said that such great gifts, of piety and poetry
alike, were rarely before so harmoniously and com-
pletely joined.
His great prose works, from which the following
extracts are taken, consist of eight solid, close-
printed volumes, which were issued in the short
space of eight years — 1853 to i860, inclusive. And
all this time he was diligently occupied with an
amount of other work quite sufficient for an ordi-
nary man, to say nothing of the frequent illnesses
and the constant pain under which he had to bear
up as best he could. A severe attack of illness infal-
libly followed the completion of each of his books.
We can only give here the bare titles of the eight.
All for Jesus, or the Easy Ways of Divine Love;
Growth in Holiness, or the Progress of the Spirit-
ual Life: The Blessed Sacrament, or the Works and
Ways of God; The Creator and the Creature, or the
216
Frederick William Faber
Wonders of Divine Love; The Foot of the Cross;
Spiritual Conferences; The Precious Blood; Beth-
lehem. They are all notable for the beauty of their
style, their accuracy of theological statement, their
intimate knowledge of the human heart, and the
intensity of the devotion to God which they every-
where inculcate. They sprang at once into great
popularity, and hundreds of thousands of copies
have been sold in England, Europe, and America.
A small volume on Faber, containing a full sketch
of his life, together with all of his best hymns and
extended selections from his prose works, was
issued a few years ago by the author of this book,
and may be procured of him (for fifty cents) by
anyone wishing to pursue this fascinating theme.
THE GLORY OF GOD.
Blessed be God ! There are many souls to whom
his glory is the passion of their lives. The worth
of everything to them is simply its capability of
glorifying God, and nothing more. Their choice
of means and ends Is guided by this same propen-
sion. Their happiness Is their success in this single
matter. To them life Is a matter of one fact ; and all
truths resolve themselves into one, and that is the
immense worthiness of God to be loved; and it
seems as If a necessity were laid upon them to see
that he should be infinitely loved even by finite
creatures.
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Honey from Many Hives
When we study our blessed Lord as he is repre-
sented to us in the Gospels, nothing, if we may ven-
ture to use such an expression, seems so like a ruling
passion in him as his longing for his Father's glory.
While the saints differ in almost everything else,
there are three things in which they all agree ; and
these are: (i) Eagerness for the glory of God;
(2) Touchiness about the interests of Jesus; (3)
Anxiety for the salvation of souls.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
Fenelon observed long ago that the general laws
of nature are, after all, not so much manifestations
of God's presence and perfection as the screen to
hide both one and the other. "Why," he asks, "has
God established these general laws?" It is to hide
under the veil of the regularity and uniform cause
of nature his perpetual operation from the eyes of
proud and corrupt men, while, on the other hand,
he gives to pure and docile souls something which
they may admire in all his works.
Men little know how great and good a work it is
which they are doing when they increase by ever so
little another's knowledge of the Most High. They
have not stopped one sin, but hundreds. They have
not been the channels of one grace, but of thousands.
The knowledge of God is the establishment of
Christ's kingdom in the soul. How many would
advance in the spiritual life who now stand still
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Frederick William Faber
because the divine perfections are not preached to
them or do not make part of their spiritual reading !
God must be watched in order to be known; and
we must watch him on our knees, and in the lowest
place within ourselves to which we can sink. Thus
we shall learn much if we do not learn all.
The magnificence of God is the abounding joy of
life. It is an immense joy to belong to God. It is
an immense joy to have such a God belonging to us.
Like the joys of heaven, it is a joy new every morn-
ing when we wake, as new as if we had never tasted
of it before. Like the joys of earth, it is a joy every
evening, resting and pacifying to the soul.
All men remember their past lives by certain dates
or epochs. vSome men date by sorrows, some by
joys, and some by moral changes or intellectual
revolutions. But the real dates in a man's life are
the days and hours in which it came to him to have
some new ideas of God. To the thoughtful and the
good all life is a continual growing revelation of
God. Time itself discloses him. Old truths grow;
obscure truths brighten.
To know God and to understand his ways is the
great end of life, and to walk in his presence is all
sanctity.
TRUST IN GOD.
It is easier to love God than to trust in him. In
human things it is not easy to doubt and yet to love,
but in divine things it is not uncommon. The great-
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Honey from Many Hives
est defect in our worship of God is want of confi-
dence in him. What can give us more confidence in
God than the study of the precious blood! Who
can doubt Jesus when he bleeds ?
Confidence in God is the only real worship of God.
Our confidence is our religion. It is the sweetness
of life. It is worth our while to have lived if it
were only to have known the delight of trusting in
God. Many aim at perfection, and few attain it.
In almost every case the reason of the failure is the
want of confidence in God.
Meditation on the attributes of God is one of the
chief means of acquiring the grace of confidence. In
order to have confidence we must know God, know
him in Jesus Christ.
Outward temptations help us. They frighten us
away from self -trust. They make us better ac-
quainted with our possibilities of sin. A much-tried
man is always a man of unbounded faith, and of a
confidence in God which looks, to us of lower faith,
superstitious in little things and presumptuous in
great ones.
We also acquire confidence in God by exercising
confidence. It produces itself, and multiplies itself,
while it strengthens itself. Direct prayer for the
grace is also an obvious means of its increase.
A special devotion to the providence of God,
which seems to have possessed the souls of some of
the modern saints as a scarcely conscious protest
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FREDii-RiCK William Faber
against a false philosophy, is another means of ac-
quiring confidence in God.
But, above all, the habit of working for God only,
of doing our good for him, and caring little about
its success, and of doing it secretly — which we in-
stinctively do when we do it only for him — is the
royal road to confidence in him.
Happy is he who makes one other man trust God
more than he did before. He has done a great and
influential work in creation. Happy we, if we know
how to trust God as he should be trusted.
EDIFICATION.
We must never do anything in order to edify
others, for the express purpose of edifying, which
we should not have done except to edify them, and
in the doing of which the motive of edification is
supreme, if not solitary. Edification must never be
our first thought. Look out to God, love his glory,
hate yourself, and be simple, and you will shine —
fortunately without knowing or thinking of it —
with a Christlike splendor wherever you go and
whatever you do.
We must not make unseasonable allusions to re-
ligion, or irritate by misplaced solemnity. An in-
ward aspiration or momentary elevation of the soul
to God will often do more, even for others, than the
bearing of an open testimony which principle does
not require, and at which offense will almost inevi-
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Honey from Many Hives
tably be taken. A man is annoyed at sacred things
when they are unseasonably forced upon him; and
thus even a well-meaning importunity may be a
source of sin.
We must bear in mind that there are very few
who, by standing or advancement, are in any way
called upon to correct their brethren, fewer still who
are competent to do it sweetly and wisely, and none
whose holiness is not tried to the utmost by its per-
fect discharge.
We may edify our neighbor in two ways : by the
mortification of Jesus and by the sweetness of Jesus.
Silence under unjust rebukes, abstinence from rash
and peremptory judgments, not standing out in an
ill-natured and pedantic way for our rights, obliging
others unselfishly and with pains and trouble to our-
selves, and not exaggerating in an obstinate and
foolish manner points where all men have a right to
their liberty — these are the ways in which we should
practice the mortification of Jesus in our intercourse
with others; and, independent of the edification we
shall give thereby, the amount of interior perfection
which we shall attain by these practices is beyond
all calculation. For there is hardly a corrupt incli-
nation, a secret pride, or a fold of self-love which
they will not search and purify.
The more earnestly we are striving to form Jesus
in our hearts the more will his sweetness transpire
through our features without our knowing it. Kind
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Frederick William Faber
and gentle words, such as those of our dear Lord,
are an apostolate in themselves. Our manner, too,
must be full of unction, and be of itself a means to
attract men to us, and make them love the spirit
which animates us. Coldness, absence of interest,
an assumption of superiority for some unexpressed
reasons, or even an obviousness of condescension,
are not unfrequently to be found in pious persons.
Sweetness is practiced when we praise all the good
we can detect in others, even when it is mingled with
what is not so. A man who praises freely but not
extravagantly is always influential in conversation,
and can use his influence for the cause of God. A
critical spirit, on the contrary, amuses by its smart-
ness or frightens by its malignity; but it neither
softens, attracts, persuades, nor rules. The practice
of putting favorable interpretations upon dubious
actions is another exercise of this Christlike sweet-
ness. You will never practice it without having
done some missionary work for the glory of God,
although you know it not.
lukewarm NESS.
Lukewarmness is often nothing more than a
clogging up of the avenues of the soul with sins of
omission, so that the cool and salutary inundations
of grace are hindered. The symptoms of lukewarm-
ness are seven in number: first, a great facility in
omitting our exercises of piety; second, negligence
15 223
Honey from Many Hives
in those we do perform ; third, a feehng that we are
not altogether right with God, joined with an un-
wilHngness to vigorously face the inquiry as to just
what is wrong, and to buckle to the triple task of dis-
covery, punishment, and reformation ; fourth, habit-
ually acting without any intention at all, good, bad,
or indifferent; fifth, carelessness about forming
habits of virtue ; sixth, contempt of little things, and
of daily opportunities; seventh, thinking rather of
the good we have done than of the good we have left
undone, resting on the past rather than striving for
the future, loving to look at people below us rather
than at people above us.
Why does God hate lukewarmness so? (Rev. iii,
15, 16.) Because it is a quiet, intentional apprecia-
tion of other things over God. It cheapens God, and
parts with him secondhand. It pretends friendship ;
hence it involves the twofold guilt of treachery and
hypocrisy. It thus has a peculiar ability to wound
God's glory by the scandal it gives. It has God's
honor in its power, and treats it shamefully and
cruelly. It profanes grace by the indifference with
which it misuses it.
Remedies for lukewarmness : The only sure one
is never to be lukewarm. Some others that may be
mentioned: To quicken faith by meditation on
eternal truths; to have fewer things to do; to per-
severe in our spiritual exercises in spite of dryness
and distractions; to talk less, and to mortify the flesh,
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Frederick William Faber
PURITY OF intention.
The only important thing in good works is the
amount of love which we put into them. The soul
of an action is its motive. The power of an action
is neither in its size nor in its duration, but in its
intention. An intention is pure in proportion as it
is loving. What we want is not many actions, but
a great momentum in a few actions.
In good deeds we cannot unite number and mo-
mentum. We make our election of momentum.
Momentum is purity of intention. Purity of inten-
tion is love. The saints were men who did less than
other people, but who did what they had to do a
thousand times better. They threw immense effort
into their least actions. Immense efforts cannot help
being limited in number.
Have we ever done any one action which we are
quite confident was done solely and purely for the
love of God? If we have, it has not been often re-
peated. We are conscious to ourselves that there is
a great admixture of earthly motives in our service
of God.
There is not a single thing we do all the day long
which may not, and that quite easily, be made to
advance the glory of God, the interests of Jesus, and
the salvation of souls. If the heavenly motive enters
into it, that moment It is all filled with God, and
becomes a jewel of almost Infinite price, with which
the Divine Majesty condescends to be well pleased.
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Honey from Many Hives
We must do all our actions for God, referring
them to him by an act of intention. We must mo-
mentarily collect ourselves before acting, and try
to touch lightly the beginning, middle, and end of
each considerable action, and not throw away, as
fish too small for the table, the little actions of the
day.
One sign that we are really working for God is,
if we could say "Yes," did any one suddenly ask us
if what we are doing is for God. Another is, if we
are not uneasily anxious about the judgments men
will pass upon our actions. A third is, if we are not
wholly indifferent, but quite tranquil about success.
A fourth is, if we take as much pains in private with
what we are doing as in public before witnesses. A
fifth is, if we are not jealous either of associating
others with our works or of their equal or greater
success.
SIGNS OF PROGRESS.
Five signs of progress in the spiritual life: (i)
If we are discontented with our present state, what-
ever it may be, and want to be something better and
higher, we have great reason to be thankful to God.
For such discontent is one of his best gifts, and a
great sign that we are really making progress. But
we must remember that our dissatisfaction with our-
selves must be of such a nature as to increase our
humility, and not such as to cause disquietude of
mind or uneasiness in our devotional exercises. (2)
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Frederick William Faber
It is a sign of growth if we are always making new
beginnings and fresh starts. These consist chiefly
in two things : first, a renewal of our intention for
the glory of God; and, secondly, a revival of our
fervor. (3) It is a sign of progress when we have
some definite thing in view ; for instance, if we are
trying to acquire the habit of some particular virtue,
or to conquer some besetting infirmity. (4) It is
a still greater sign that we are making progress if
we have a strong feeling in our minds that God
wants something particular from us. (5) I will
venture to add that an increased general desire of
being more perfect is not altogether without its
value as a sign of progress — and that in spite of
what I have said of the importance of having a
definite object in view.
Means of progress : Let us at once do something
more for God than we are doing at present. Let us
examine what we actually do and see what it
amounts to, and how far it exacts any effort from
us. x\nd do not let us be hasty in deciding that we
cannot afford to do more at present. Be cautious;
but be generous as well.
There is something which we can infallibly do,
and that is, put a more intense spirit into wiiat we
actually do; aim each of our actions to the greater
glory of God, and inwardly unite our will to his in
all we plan, or do, or suffer. Pray for a greater de-
sire of perfection. It is in reality praying against
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Honey from Many Hives
worldliness, accustoming ourselves to unworldly
standards and ideas.
RECOLLECTION.
Recollection is a double attention which we pay
first to God and secondly to ourselves; and without
vehemence or straining, yet not without some pain-
ful effort, it must be as unintermitting as possible.
The necessity of it is so great that nothing in the
whole of the spiritual life, love excepted, is more
necessary. We cannot otherwise acquire the habit
of walking constantly in the presence of God. The
habit of recollection is only to be acquired by de-
grees. There is no royal road to it.
Until we feel the presence of God habitually, and
can revert to him easily, it is astonishing with what
readiness other subjects can preoccupy and engross
us; and it Is just this which we cannot afford to let
them do. Newspapers keep not a few back from
perfection.
The practice of retaining some spiritual flower,
maxim, or resolution from our morning's medita-
tion. In order to supply us with matter for ejacu-
latory prayer during the day, is a great help In
acquiring recollection.
But the greatest help of all Is to act slowly.
Eagerness, anxiety, Indellberatlon, precipitancy —
these are all fatal to recollection. Let us do every-
thing leisurely, measuredly, slowly, and we shall
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Frederick William Faber
soon become recollected. Nature likes to have much
to do, and to run from one thing to another; and
grace is just the opposite of this.
temptations.
Temptations are the raw material of glory; and
the management of them is as great a work as the
government of an empire, and requires a vigilance
as incessant and as universal. In one sense, all
temptations consist in an alliance between what is
within us and what is without us.
Wherever temptation is, there God is also. There
is not one which his will has not permitted, and there
is not a permission which is not an act of love as
well. The devil cannot lay a finger on the child until
its loving Father has prescribed the exact conditions,
and has forewarned the soul by his inspirations, and
has forearmed it with proportionable succors of
grace. The devil is simply our fellow-creature, and
a conquered and blighted creature. He is continu-
ally overreaching himself.
Delectation is not consent. We are not the mas-
ters of the first indeliberate movements of our own
hearts and minds. The enemy may run his hand
flourishingly over the keys before we are aware.
But there must be a deliberate acceptation and re-
tention of the delectation before it can amount to
consent or become a sin.
It is impossible for us to be altogether free from
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Honey from Many Hives
distractions, useless to attempt it, and foolish to be
dejected because we have not accomplished that im-
possibility. Conscious and deliberate acquiescence
in and retention of distractions are, of course, our
own affair ; for it is in our power to withhold them ;
but the indeliberate occupation of our minds by them
it is not in our power to prevent. Nothing can
hinder bitter thoughts from disturbing us, wrong
thoughts from staining us, and vain thoughts from
disquieting and fatiguing us. The first sort of dis-
tractions are sand, the second pitch, and the third
straw.
THE WORK OF PATIENCE.
Patience sanctifies for four reasons principally.
The circumstances which exact its exercise come
upon us from without; we have no control over
them ; they may come upon us at all moments ; and
they always involve the sacrifice or the mortification
of our own will and way.
We may say that, partly from our own badness
and partly from theirs, all mankind, far and near,
kindred and strangers, are a trial to our patience in
some way or other.
Almost every circumstance in life has a manner,
time, place, and degree by which it tries our
patience; and it is not too much to say, especially in
the earlier stages of the devout life, that this exer-
cise does more for us than fast or discipline, and that
when we can go through with it for love of the
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Frederick William Faber
sweetness of Jesus we are not far from interior
holiness.
The Enghsh spirit of always standing up for our
rights is fatal to perfection. It is the opposite of
that charity of w^iich the apostle says that it seeks
not its own. Now this spirit is admirably mortified
by the exercise of patience. It involves also a con-
tinual practice of the presence of God; for we may
be come upon at any moment for an almost heroic
display of good temper. And it is a short road to
unselfishness; for nothing is left to self. All that
seems to belong most intimately to self, to be self's
private property, such as time, home, and rest, are
invaded by these continual trials of patience. The
family is full of such opportunities. It may be
added, for it is no slight thing, that there is not a
spiritual exercise less open to delusion than is this.
If it is true of any one grace, besides charity, it is
true of patience, that it is the beauty of holiness.
There is a vast difference between hatred of self
and impatience with self. The more of the first we
have the better, and the less of the last. Once let us
surmount the difficulty of being patient with our-
selves, and the road to perfection lies clear and un-
obstructed before us. But what do we mean by im-
patience with self? Fretting under temptations, and
mistaking their real nature, and ttieir real value also.
In actual sin being more vexed at the lowering of
our own self-esteem than being grieved at God's dis-
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Honey from Many Hives
honor. In being surprised and irritated at our own
want of self-control because of our subjection to un-
worthy habits. Being annoyed at our own want of
sensible devotion, as if it were at all in our own
power. To these symptoms we may add a sort of
querulousness about the want of spiritual progress,
as if we were to be saints in a month. These dan-
gerous symptoms of impatience with self coine from
one or other of four causes: self-love, want of
humility, the absence of a true estimate of the huge
difficulties of the spiritual life, and an obstinate dis-
inclination to walk by faith.
SIMPLICITY.
Simplicity aims at one end, seeks one object, is
occupied with one work, and lives with singleness
of heart. Tn its relations with God it puts away all
multitude, all capriciousness, all distraction, all de-
tachment, and its strength lies in its unity of purpose
and its concentration of effort. In its relations with
others it is gentle, open, without disguise, without
insincerity, without flattery, and without deceit.
There are hundreds of things which do. not amount
to lies, but which are contrary to the beautiful per-
fection of simplicity. There is a speech and a si-
lence, there are looks, manners, permissions, con-
cealments, dubious smiles, pretended inadvertencies,
unworthy connivances, and intentional distractions,
which grieve the Holy Spirit, and make sad ravages
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Frederick William Faber
of the interior soul, though' they are far short of
absolute falsehood. If you would be perfect you
must be true to a scruple. A hair's breadth of deceit
must be to you as if it were a mile of positive un-
truth. Diplomacy of manner, way, and speech, cir-
cuitous routes for courtesy's sake, giving things the
wrong names, and being silent when silence is really
speech — these things are injuring men's sanctity,
and causing saints to break in the mold, and frus-
trating beautiful purposes of grace every day.
Christian simplicity, or holy truthfulness, requires,
first, that we be truthful with ourselves; secondly,
that we be truthful with others; and, thirdly, that
we be truthful with God.
SELF-DECEIT.
It is the hardest thing in the world to acquire a
knowledge of self. Are we really taking pains to do
it? It is a sad annoyance when others find us out,
for it mostly lowers their opinion of us ; but the sad-
dest annoyance of all to our poor nature is to find
ourselves out; for if we lose self's good opinion we
are forlorn indeed.
People are dishonest with themselves, either from
the dislike of exertion, or from a suspicion that in-
vestigation will compel them to commit themselves
to God or definitely deny him something, both of
which they are equally anxious to avoid. There is
hardly a man or woman in the world who has not
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Honey from Many Hives
got some corner of self into which he or she fears
to venture with a Hght.
How very Httle do even good persons know them-
selves! Much of what they think is the work of
grace about them is simply the providential accident
of their circumstances. Self-love knows how to
blend most skillfully its ideal with its realization of
its ideal, so that not only shall nobody else know
what is theory and what is practice, but even self
shall not be able, at least with anything like assur-
ance, to discern between the two.
There is no entanglement in creation like the en-
tanglement of self-deceit ; and there is this peculiar-
ity about all its varieties, that they are all of them
sw^ift diseases, tending to become so very soon, and
at such early stages, very difficult to cure. Its char-
acteristic is deep-seated inveteracy. Self-deceit is
very sore and sensitive when touched, though it is
for the most part very hard to touch.
The higher operations of grace are more subject
to delusion than the lower, except the very highest,
which have to do with the soul's uttermost union
with God. Very few even of those aiming at per-
fection rise above the middle graces. Hence it is
practically the common rule that the higher men
rise in the spiritual life the more subject they become
to the insidious operations of self-deceit.
General simplicity of life is an antagonistic power
to it. A man who habitually thinks of God, or one
234
Frederick William Faber
who thinks of God first and himself second, or one
who does not sensibly live and act under the eyes
and tongues of others, or one who does his duty
lovingly, making few returns upon self, is as nearly
an impossible subject for the greater triumphs of
self-deceit as can be found among us poor, self-
loving, self-seeking creatures.
The cure of self-deceit is not a thing which can be
done once for all and then be over. It is a lifelong
work. The first remedy is a great distrust of self,
not merely in a general way, but in a very particular
way. We must distrust ourselves precisely at the
most privileged times and places, making it of faith
to ourselves that when we are most sure we are in
the right we are most surely in the wrong. Medita-
tion on the attributes of God is another defense
against self-deceit. The likeness of God is the aim
of holiness, and we unconsciously imitate that which
is a frequent subject of our meditation. The face of
God will make us real. Communion with God eats
away our unreality.
the evil of taking offense.
To give offense is a great fault, but to take offense
is a greater fault. It implies a greater amount of
wrongness in ourselves, and it does a greater
amount of mischief to others. I do not remember
to have read of any saint who ever took offense.
The habit of taking offense implies a quiet pride
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Honey from Many Hives
which is altogether unconscious how proud it is.
The habit of taking offense impHes also a fund of
uncharitableness deep down in us, which grace and
interior mortification have not reached. Contem-
poraneously with the offense we have taken there
has been some wounded feeling or other in an ex-
cited state within us. When we are in good humor
w^e do not take offense.
Is it often allowable to judge our neighbor?
Surely we know it to be the rarest thing possible.
Yet we cannot take offense without, first, forming a
judgment; secondly, forming an unfavorable judg-
ment ; thirdly, deliberately entertaining it as a motive
power; and, fourthly, doing all this, for the most
part, in the subject-matter of piety, which in nine
cases out of ten our obvious ignorance withdraws
from our jurisdiction.
A thoughtless or a shallow man is more likely to
take offense than any other. He can conceive of
nothing but what he sees upon the surface. He has
but little self-knowledge, and hardly suspects the
variety or complication of his own motives. Much
less, then, is he likely to divine in a discerning way
the hidden causes, the hidden excuses, the hidden
temptations, which may lie, and always do lie, be-
hind the actions of others.
Readiness to take offense is a great hindrance to
the attainment of perfection. It hinders us in the
acquisition of self-knowledge. No one is so blind to
236
Frederick William Faber
his own faults as a man who has the habit of detect-
ing the fauks of others. A man who is apt to take
offense is never a bhthe or a genial man. He is not
made for happiness ; and was ever a melancholy man
made into a saint ? A downcast man is raw material
which can only be manufactured into a very ordi-
nary Christian.
If it is not quite the same thing with censorious-
ness, who shall draw the line between them? Fur-
thermore, it destroys our influence with others. We
irritate where we ought to enliven. To be siispected
of want of sympathy is to be disabled as an apostle.
He who is critical will necessarily be unpersuasive.
In what does perfection consist? In a childlike,
shortsighted charity which believes all things; in a
grand, supernatural conviction that everyone is bet-
ter than ourselves; in estimating far too low the
amount of evil in the world; in looking far too ex-
clusively on what is good ; in the ingenuity of kind
constructions; in our inattention, hardly intelligible,
to the faults of others; in a graceful perversity of
incredulousness about scandal or offenses. This is
the temper and genius of saints and saintlike men.
It is a radiant, energetic faith that man's slowness
and coldness will not interfere with the success of
God's glory. No shadow of moroseness ever falls
over the bright mind of a saint. Now, is not all this
the very opposite of the temper and spirit of a man
who is apt to take offense? The difference Is so
237
Honey from Many Hives
plain that it is needless to comment on it. He is
happy who on his dying bed can say, ''No one has
ever given me offense in my life." He has either
not seen his neighbor's faults, or, when he saw them,
the sight had to reach him through so much sun-
shine of his own that they did not strike him so
much as faults to blame, but rather as reasons for a
deeper and a tenderer love.
KINDNESS.
Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal,
eloquence, or learning; and these three last have
never converted anyone unless they were kind also.
Few men can do without praise, and there are few
circumstances under which a man can be praised
without injuring him. But kindness has all the vir-
tues of praise without its vices. Praise always im-
plies some degree of condescension, and condescen-
sion is a thing intrinsically ungraceful; whereas
kindness is the most graceful attitude one man can
assume toward another. So here is a most impor-
tant work that kindness does. It supplies the place
of praise.
Moreover, kindness is infectious. It makes others
kind. The kindest men are generally those who have
received the greatest number of kindnesses. A
proud man is seldom a kind man. Humility makes
us kind, and kindness makes us humble. It is the
easiest road to humility, and infallible as well as
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Frederick William Faber
easy. A kind man is a man who is never self-
occupied. He is genial; he is sympathetic; he is
brave.
Kind thoughts are rarer than either kind words
or kind deeds. They imply a great deal of thinking
about others. This in itself is rare. But they imply
also a great deal of thinking about others without
the thoughts being criticisms. This is rarer still.
It seems to me that our thoughts are a more true
measure of ourselves than our actions are. They
are not under the control of human respect. It is
not easy for them to be ashamed of themselves.
They have no witnesses but God.
Kind thoughts, for the most part, imply a low
opinion of self. They are an inward praise of
others, and because inward, therefore genuine. The
kind-thoughted man has no rights to defend, no
self-importance to push. He finds others pleasanter
to deal with than self ; and others find him so pleas-
ant to deal with that love follows him wherever he
goes. Kind interpretations are imitations of the
merciful ingenuity of the Creator finding excuses
for his creatures. Have we not always found in our
past experience that on the whole our kind interpre-
tations were truer than our harsh ones ?
A man is very much himself what he thinks of
others. Even a well-founded suspicion more or less
degrades a man. He is unavoidably the worse man
in consequence of having entertained it. Virtue
16 239
Honey from Many Hives
grows in us under the influence of kindly judg-
ments, as if they were its nutriment. But in the
case of harsh judgments we find we often fall into
the siri of which we have judged another guilty.
Above all things the practice of kind thoughts is
our main help to that complete government of the
tongue which we all so much covet. The interior
beauty of a soul through habitual kindliness of
thought is greater than our words can tell. To such
a man life is a perpetual bright evening, with all
things calm, and fragrant, and restful.
Kind words are the music of the world. There is
hardly a power on earth equal to them. It is by
voice and words that men mesmerize each other.
Happiness and kindness go together. The double
reward of kind words is the happiness they cause
in others and the happiness they cause in ourselves.
Is there any happiness in the world like the happi-
ness of a disposition made happy by the happiness
of others? There is no joy to be compared with it.
We become kinder by saying kind words. A
kind-worded man is a genial man; and geniality is
power. Geniality is the best controversy. Satire
will not convert men. Hell threatened very kindly
is more persuasive than a biting truth about a man's
false position.
We may put down clever speeches as the first and
greatest difficulty in the way of kind words. A man
who lays himself out to amuse is never a safe man
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Frederick Wilijam Faber
to have for a friend or even for an acquaintance. He
is not a man whom anyone really loves or respects.
He is never innocent. He is forever jostling charity
by the pungency of his criticisms, and wounding
justice by his revelation of secrets.
The grass of the field is better than the cedars of
Lebanon. It feeds more, and it rests the eye better
— that thymy, daisy-eyed carpet, making earth
sweet, and fair, and homelike. Kindness is the turf
of the spiritual world, whereon the sheep of Christ
feed quietly beneath the Shepherd's eye. Kindness
is the occupation of the whole man by the atmos-
phere and spirit of heaven.
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Honey from Many Hives
EDWARD MEYRICK GOULBURN-
In barest outline the salient facts of Dr. Goul-
burn's life are as follows: Born 1818; educated at
Eton and Oxford, where he graduated in 1839; or-
dained deacon in 1842, and priest in 1843; elected
Fellow of Merton College, 1843 ; curate of Holywell,
Oxford, 1841-50; head-master of Rugby School,
1850-58; prebendary of St. Paul's, 1858; one of her
majesty's chaplains, and vicar of St. John's, Pad-
dington, London, 1859-66; Dean of Norwich, 1866-
89. He received the degree of D.C.L. in 1850, and
of D.D. in 1856. He died May 3, 1897.
His writings have been very numerous, and very
highly valued. The four from which the following
extracts are taken are these : Thoughts on Personal
Religion, being a treatise on the Christian Life in
its tzvo chief elements, Devotion and Practice; The
Pursuit of Holiness, a sequel to Thoughts on Per-
sonal Religion, being designed to carry the reader
somewhat further onzvard in the Spiritual Life; An
Introduction to the Devotional Study of the Holy
Scriptures, and The Idle Word, short religious es-
says upon the Gift of Speech and its Employment
in Conversation. They have all passed through
many editions (the first one about twenty), and be-
cause of their exceeding clearness and simplicity of
style, as well as sound, sensible counsel, have been
widely useful. Dean Goulburn is one of the very
242
Edward Meyrick Goulburn
few in the present generation who by their solid
services to the cause of rehgion deserve to be ranked
with the great spiritual masters of the past, whom
it is clear that he has closely studied.
DO ALL FOR GOD.
First, before you go forth to your daily task, es-
tablish your mind thoroughly in the truth, that all
the lawful and necessary pursuits of the world are so
many departments of God's great harvest field, in
which he has called Christians to go forth and labor
for him. Let us regard them all as, at least, if noth-
ing more, wheels of the great world-system whose
revolutions are bringing on the second advent and
kingdom of Christ. Then, imagining yourself for
a moment under no obligation to pursue your par-
ticular calling, undertake it with the deliberate and
conscious intention of furthering his work and will.
Choose it with your whole will as the path in which
he would have you to follow him, and the task to
which he has called you. Consecrate it to him by a
few moments of secret prayer, imploring him to take
it up w^ith the great scheme of his service, and to
make it all, humble, weak, and sinful as it is, instru-
mental in furthering his designs. Then put your
hand to it bravely, endeavoring to keep before the
mind the aim of pleasing him by diligence and zeal.
Imagine Jesus examining your work as he will do
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Honey from Many Hives
at the last day, and strive that there may be no flaw
in it; that it may be thoroughly well executed, both
in its outer manner and inner spirit. At the begin-
ning and end of every considerable action renew the
holy intention of the morning.
DO ALL IN GOD.
Endeavor to make your heart a little sanctuary
in which you may continually realize the presence of
God, and from which unhallowed thoughts, and
even vain thoughts, must carefully be excluded.
What we recommend, and what is, surely attain-
able, is the mere consciousness that God's eye is
upon us. Just as no speaker for a moment forgets,
or can forget, that the eyes of his audience are upon
him, and this does not interfere with the most active
operations of mind, so with the presence of God.
It is to be secured in the same way by which all other
results in the spiritual life are obtained — by trustful,
expectant, sanguine prayer and effort. We should
call the attention definitely to God's presence, as
occasion offers, at the necessary breaks or periods in
our work, and occasionally mingle with the act of
recollection two or three words of secret prayer
which may suggest themselves. And it will be found
in course of time that the constant recurrence of the
thoughts to God will pass into an instinctive con-
sciousness of his presence, and that the mind will
acquire a tendency to gravitate toward him at all
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times, which will operate easily and naturally as
soon as it is relieved of the strain which worldly
affairs put upon it.
interruptions.
Are you a firm believer in the providence of God ?
Do you believe that the whole of your affairs —
trivial as well as great, irregular as well as in the
ordinary course — are under his absolute, daily,
hourly supervision and control? that nothing can
possibly arise to you or any other which is not fore-
seen by him, brought by him within the circle of his
great plan? that the little incidents of each day, as
well as the solemn crises of life, are his ordering?
Then you admit that the occurrences of each day,
however unlooked-for, however contrary to expecta-
tion, are God-sent, and those which affect you sent
specially and with discrimination to yourself.
There is many a man who says, 'T will conform
myself to the general indications of God's will made
to me by his word;" comparatively few who say, "I
will conform myself to the special indications of
God's will made to me by his providence." Why
so few?
Here then lies the real remedy for the uneasiness
of mind which is caused by interruptions. View
them as part of God's loving and wise plan for your
day, and try to make out his meaning in sending
them. When in your hour of morning devotion you
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distribute your time beforehand (as it is in every
way wise and proper to do) let it always be with the
proviso that the said arrangement shall be subject
to modifications by God's plan for you as that plan
shall unfold itself hour by hour to your apprehen-
sions. The radical fault of our nature, be it re-
membered, is self-will; and we little suspect how
largely self-will and self-pleasing may be at the bot-
tom of plans and pursuits which still have God's
glory and the furtherance of his service for their
professed end.
Suppose the mind to be well grounded in the truth
that God's foresight and forearrangement embrace
all which seems to us an interruption — that in this
interruption lies awaiting us a good work in which
it is part of his eternal counsel that we should walk,
or a good frame of mind which he wishes us to
cultivate; then we are forearmed against surprises
and contradictions; we have found an alchemy
which converts each unforeseen and untoward oc-
currence into gold; and the balm of peace distills
upon our heart, though we be disappointed of the
end which we had proposed to ourselves. Let us
seek to grasp the true notion of providence ; for in it
there is peace and deep repose of soul.
PURITY OF INTENTION.
Perfect purity of intention is the highest spiritual
state, a state which probably the holiest man has
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never reached, but to which all real children of God
are in different measures approximating. Our de-
fectiveness of intention should be, and may be, by
self-examination, and careful attention and prayer,
remedied. Let the motives as well as the actions be
scrutinized in self-examination. Ask: "Should I
have done this, or done it with equal zeal, had no eye
of man been upon me? Should I have resisted this
temptation if there had been no check upon me from
human law or public opinion ? Should I have acted
thus faithfully and conscientiously without the
stimulus of human praise?" Let us cultivate par-
ticularly, and strive to acquit ourselves well in, those
actions of the Christian life which are in their nature
private, and cannot come abroad. For example,
private prayer and private study of the Scriptures.
Exercises such as these are more or less a satisfac-
tory test of religious character, because they are in-
capable of being prompted by human respect. And
we may apply the same remark to all the ordinary
actions and commonplace business of life, which
must be transacted by all in the same way, and may
be transacted by the Christian with a spiritual in-
tention. What does growing in grace mean but that
this spiritual intention should lengthen its reach —
should extend itself more and more to every corner
of our life?
The meeting all calls upon us, however humble,
with the thought that they come to us in the way
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of God's providence, and are indications of the
quarter in which he would have us direct our ener-
gies, is a great means of purifying our intention,
and so of advancing in spirituahty. For nobody is
aware what is going on in our hearts when we meet
these calls in a devout spirit; our friends only see us
doing commonplace things, which others do, and
give us no credit. But in meeting such calls we
have praise of God, w4io, like a good Father, marks
with a smile of approbation the humblest efforts of
his children to please him.
To live holily is nothing else than, in everything
we do, to act from a single desire to please God out
of love to him, and from no other aim whatever.
HATREiD OF EVIL.
By way of testing the affections of our hearts to-
ward God let us ascertain how we are disposed
toward his opposite — evil. To hate evil is some-
thing far more than merely to shun or avoid it. If
we do 'not hate impurity, sicken at the sight and
thought of it, and turn away with disgust, it is out
of the question that we can love God, who is purity.
It is quite possible not to be implicated personally in
sin and yet to treat it, when witnessed or heard of
in others, with levity and indifference. There can
be no question that, if a man were in a perfect moral
state, moral evil would affect his mind as sensibly,
and in as lively a manner — would, in short, be as
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much of an affliction to him as pain is to his phys-
ical frame. Our Lord Jesus Christ not only loathed
the grosser forms of evil, but he flung from him
with abhorrence every unspiritual suggestion, such
as that once made to him by the apostle Peter, to
decline the cross and consult his own ease.
Love, as a Christian grace, is an altogether dif-
ferent thing from many qualities which usurp its
name. A different thing from that easy pliability of
will which is called good nature, but which in fact
resolves itself into indolence and languor of charac-
ter. On the contrary, in all real love there is
strength, strength of will and strength of character.
In all real love there is wrapped up hatred against
that evil which counteracts goodness. Generally
speaking, the truest Christians have in them the
greatest force of character. There must be resolute-
ness to obtain the prize. The salt of decision and
energy must be mixed with the oil of love. Again,
Christian love is a A^ery different thing from that
indifference to theological error which, in these lati-
tudinarian days, too often apes its manners and
mimics its phraseology. In lesser (or doubtful)
points, not affecting the vitality of God's truth, our
maxim must be tolerance to the very utmost; nay
(more than tolerance), a catholic acknowledgment
of whatever is good and wise in other Christian
Churches. But where the error mutilates the vital
parts of the truth, there love can only appear in its
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Honey from Many Hives
form of hatred of evil. It is a very serious breach
of love to pay compliments to false doctrine. Our
blessed Lord and his apostles never did so.
LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOR.
What we are required to love in our neighbor is
the image of God in him. Every soul has a frag-
ment of this image in its lowest depth, though it
may be overlaid by all manner of rubbish — infirm-
ity, imperfection, frivolity, sin. The true Christian
studies the happy art of making the most of every-
one with whom he is thrown in contact — of recog-
nizing in each soul and of eliciting from it that
feature of heart and mind in which stands the
relationship of that particular soul to God. It is this
true self of our neighbor that we are required to love.
We are not required to love infirmities or imperfec-
tions; nay, we could not do so if required; for in-
firmities and imperfections are naturally repelling.
God must hate sin in its every form; between him
and insincerity, untruthfulness, peevishness, petu-
lance, ill-temper — above all, perhaps, between him
and selfishness — there must be an eternal antipathy.
And yet nothing is more certain than that, while
God hates my selfishness and untruthfulness, he
deeply and tenderly loves iiic with an individualiz-
ing love. And he would have me love my neighbor
exactly as he loves me; fastening my regard upon
his true self, upon the feature of God's image which
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is reflected in his soul, and bearing with his infirmi-
ties out of this esteem for the true self.
Our love of our neighbor must be brought to
practical tests. Are we doing anything to help him ?
making sacrifices for him, of money, or time, or
pleasures? It is an excellent spiritual precept, when-
ever a good desire springs up in our heart, to stereo-
type and make it permanent; in other words, to
bring the good desire to good effect by an effort in
that direction. Secondly, our prayers for others
furnish a good practical test as to the genuineness
of the love we bear them. What approach are we
making to the great model of the Lord's Prayer,
which does not contain any petition exclusively di-
rected to our own wants ? Do we pray for others at
all ? And, if we do, is this exercise considered by us
merely as an ornamental appendage to our other
prayers, but as in no wise essential to their accepta-
bility with God? Seek to make your prayers for
others specific, so far as your knowledge of their
character and circumstances allows. Pray for them
sympathetically. And pray for this sympathy, while
you endeavor, by careful consideration of their
case, to excite it within yourself. Our efforts for
others, whether of prayer or benevolence, are not
lost. If they are not benefited by them zve are: in
increase of light, and power, and comfort, in whis-
pers of mercy and peace, they return again into our
bosom.
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how to work.
Do your work under the eye of the heavenly Mas-
ter, and look up in his face from time to time for
his help and blessing ; an internal colloquy with him
ever and anon, so far from being a distraction, will
be a furtherance. For no work can in any high
sense prosper which is not done in a bright, elastic
spirit; and there is no means of keeping the spirit
bright and elastic but by keeping it near to God.
Another point is, never to allow ourselves to think
of our work as a distraction or a hindrance to piety.
Regard it in its true light morally and spiritually.
But the most important point of advice in an age
like ours, when men in all conditions of life are
overweighted with work, and in a country like ours,
whose inhabitants are so little meditative and so
constitutionally busy, is to aim rather at doing well
what we do than at getting through much. Francis
of Sales thought that the great bane of the spiritual
life in most men is that eagerness and undue activity
of the natural mind which leads to precipitancy and
hurry. The remedy is to recommend the work to
God and humbly ask his blessing and his aid, as we
may do with the utmost confidence if the work be
really that which his providence has assigned to us ;
then, resolutely to refuse to attend to more than one
thing at a time, and to let everything else drop till
that one thing is done. Other things must wait.
Some of them we shall be able probably to do by and
Edward Meyrick Goulburn
by. Not a few of them will do themselves. And
some of them, may be, we shall have to leave un-
done. Let us not be disquieted. If the spirit of the
doer have been right all will be well. If we could do
our work in a brighter and less anxious spirit it
would wear us less. It is worry, not work, that
wears.
FAITH IN GOD.
What is faith? It may be defined as the faculty
by which we realize unseen things, the faculty of
spiritual touch. Faith is the only faculty which
grasps the unseen, which brings it home to us
and gives it a living power, so that we have such
a conviction of its reality as to live under its influ-
ence.
When directed toward God or Christ faith takes
the form of trust. But how can we trust a person
without a high conception of his character? Seek,
then, to feed and nourish in your mind great con-
ceptions of him with whom you have to do. Ex-
pand and exalt your notions of him by every means
in your power. Large and exalted conceptions of
God are the spring of all virtue.
We may know him in part from his creation.
Consider the lilies of the field, and the fowls of the
air. Why, because superior edification and clearer
light are to be had from our own Bible, are we to
look down upon the edification and light which are
to be derived from the Bible of the Gentiles? Might
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we not on the same principle neglect the Old Testa-
ment because the New is of superior importance ?
The life of true religion, then, is an experi-
mental knowledge, a heart-knowledge, of God —
such a thorough appreciation of the excellence and
beauty of his character as really contents and satis-
fies the soul, even when earthly sources of happiness
fail. The knowledge of God is gained, as the knowl-
edge of man is gained, by living much with him.
If we only come across a man occasionally, and in
public, and see nothing of him in his private and
domestic life, we cannot be said to know him. All
the knowledge of God which many professing
Christians have is derived from a formal salute
which they make to him in their prayers, when they
rise up in the morning and lie down at night. While
this state of things lasts no great progress in the
Christian life can possibly be made. No progress
would be made even if they were to offer stated
prayers seven times a day instead of twice. But try
to draw down God into your daily work; consult
him about it ; offer it to him as a contribution to his
service; ask him to help you in it; ask him to bless
it ; do it as to the Lord, and not unto men ; refer to
him in your temptations; go back at once to his
bosom when you are conscious of a departure from
him ; in short, walk hand in hand with God through
life, dreading above all things to quit his side, and
assured that as soon as you do so you will fall into
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mischief and trouble ; seek not so much to pray as to
hve in an atmosphere of prayer, hfting up your
heart momentarily to him in varied expressions of
devotion as the various occasions of life may
prompt, adoring him, thanking him, resigning your
will to him many times a day, and more or less all
day ; and you shall thus, as you advance in this prac-
tice, as it becomes more and more habitual to you,
increase in that knowledge of God which fully con-
tents and satisfies the soul.
Again, it is obvious that the knowledge of God
of which we speak may be obtained from studying
his mind as it is given us in the Holy Scriptures.
We may be said to know an author when we have
so carefully and constantly read his works as to im-
bibe his spirit. There is a study of Scripture which
is analogous to ejaculatory prayer — not a stated
study (though of course the stated study of it may
not be neglected), but a study which inweaves the
Word into the daily life of the Christian, a rumina-
tion which can be carried on without book, and
which is more or less continual.
Again, the discipline of life will very much con-
tribute toward the knowledge of God. Those who
desire to have a practical and experimental, as dis-
tinct from a speculative, knowledge of him will
study him in these his dealings; they will try to dis-
cern the lesson of every part of their own experi-
ence, if haply it may teach them something of him
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with whom they have to do, and will thus have his
wisdom, power, and love impressed upon them in a
way in which nothing short of experience can
impress.
THE MORTIFICATION OF OUR MEMBERS.
First, it should be deeply considered what it is
that has to be mortified in us — that it is the affection
to created good, not in one particular shape, but in
all its forms. The first step, therefore, to be taken
by him who would exercise a wise mortification is
to consider deeply in what form or forms of earthly
good he is naturally disposed to place his happiness ;
what forms yield him, constituted as he is, most
comfort, most gratification. Whatever it be — hu-
man esteem, luxurious ease, sympathy, the gratifi-
cation of ambition, amusement — there let him
exercise a jealous watchfulness over himself; there
let him mortify his will. To mortify the will is often
a far greater cross than to inflict the severest pen-
ance on the body. There let him lay by force re-
strictions upon himself, sometimes sharply refusing
all indulgence to the propensity, however in itself
innocent, never at any time giving it too free a rein.
The more intensely a man realizes unseen and eter-
nal things the more he can afford to dispense with
the things that are seen and are temporal. Morti-
fication is not an end in itself, it is but a means to
an end — that end being the springing up in our
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hearts of a fountain of eternal joy. And therefore
to cultivate a taste for spiritual enjoyment, and to
place one's contentment and satisfaction more and
more exclusively in the contemplation of God and
in communion with him, is the way to grow in the
spirit of mortification, without which spirit the bare
acts of it have little or no value.
EMOTION AND AFFECTION.
- The true life of the soul is in its affections, not in
its emotions. Emotions are impossible (according
to the law of our minds) except at a crisis and
moment of convulsion. And he who seeks for them
under ordinary circumstances will run the risk of
making his religion morbid. There are two safe
signs, in our normal spiritual life, that we love
Christ. One is confidence. The habit of exposing
the contents of the heart to Christ, of referring all
our actions to his will, of commending all our
troubles to his care, and all our difficulties to his
direction; the realizing him as being by our side,
always sympathizing, always inviting our confi-
dence, always ready and willing to help us; the
being sincere in all our dealings with him, and per-
fectly single-minded in seeking to know his will —
this is one great test of love for him, which, if really
found in us in a small degree, is worth a large
amount of high-flown feeling.
And the second test is that we seek to please him.
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To attempt to please Christ is not only to act in com-
pliance with the general indications of his will which
are made to us in his Word, but to be on the watch
for opportunities of doing him service, and to em-
brace those opportunities whenever they arise; it
is to be guided by his eye, as well as by the express
directions of his voice, and to find in the sense of his
favor and approving smile the strongest stimulus to
duty. Whoever feels and acts thus toward him
must love him, however little of sensible emotion
he may experience. Emotion may be defined as
affection quickened by a crisis. But then it is not
at all essential to the existence or genuineness of an
affection that it should be thus quickened.
The will is the sphere in which all genuine love
for Christ displays itself. "If ye love me, keep my
commandments," Christ says. Your love for me
must be an affection of the will ; it must be a moral
choice of me In preference to sin and the world, and
must show itself In embracing my will both by ac-
tive obedience and passive submission. It must be
grounded upon a perception of my excellence and of
the benefits received from me, and must enable you
to find In the single-minded effort to please me a
satisfaction purer, higher than is to be found in any
earthly gratifications, and of a different order.
Reader, how far does your love for Christ reside
in the will, in the judgment and moral sense? Do
you live much with him, and love to live with him,
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in thought and in prayer? Do you honor him by
drawing him into use in all his offices of grace?
Can you yield up your will into his hands, to choose
for yourself nothing else than he chooses for you?
Does the satisfaction of trying to please him excel
every other in a certain high and pure flavor ? These
are the questions which must determine the genuine-
ness of our love for him. And genuine love is the
only safe evidence of genuine faith in him. And on
faith in him is suspended our salvation.
WHAT SHUTS CHRIST FROM US?
What is it which occupies the room in our hearts
which he seeks? Two things principally, under
which all others will fall: first, self-will, and then
confidence in the creature for happiness.
The least trace of self-will excludes pro tanto God
and his working from the soul. Absolute surrender
to his will and word in everything is the only con-
dition on which the Lord will take up his abode in
the depth of the soul, and give to the heart that
calm and repose which only his presence can give.
There is, alas ! many a will which does not sit loose
upon its pivot, but is fixed in the quarter to which
its natural inclinations point, and which moves not,
therefore, when the breath of God's Spirit seeks to
turn it. There are many Christians who have not
that delicate sensibility to God's inspirations which
he loves to find in a soul, and which, when he does
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find it, enables him to do many mighty works
therein.
As a man increases in earnest love to Christ, a
delicate tact grows up within him, a spiritual in-
stinct, which teaches him (without any book) what
he ought to say and do, and what he had better
avoid on each particular occasion. God's children
know the meaning of his eye. They know, by the
glance he gives them, what path he would have them
pursue, and what avoid. He never leaves them
without an interior indication of his will, if they
have but one desire, that of pleasing him. And why
these indications are so rarely made is that God sees
people are not quite disposed to accept them, not
prepared in all things to move in the direction indi-
cated. The soul must be empty of self-will before
God can work in it.
Confidence in the creature for happiness. Who
shall say (without very special grace and an extraor-
dinary measure of divine illumination) how far
his affection is set upon the earthly blessings with
which his cup is crowned? It is but too easy to de-
ceive ourselves in this matter while the earthly bless-
ings remain with us. If God sees the affections of
trust and love twining too closely around the crea-
ture, in very faithfulness to us he must tear them
away, and cause a painful bleeding of the heart.
The only way to keep our earthly treasures, on the
assumption that we are God's true people, is, while
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Edward Meyrick Goulburn
we thankfully hold them of God, to mortify all un-
due attachment to them, and sternly to refuse to
idolize them.
There can be no blessing without a risk. How
long it is before a soul can perfectly unlearn trust in
the creatures ! Does it ever completely unlearn this
trust, while life lasts, and while the body of sin and
death clogs it? I suppose not. We must learn the
art of tasting the various blessings with which God
crowns our cup without being engrossed or taken
up with them, without suffering them to quench the
high aspirations of our soul after communion with
God. This is a lesson which it takes long practice,
much self-control, and great discipline of God's
providence and Spirit to teach.
PEACE OF MIND AND HEART.
Peace is a very sensitive guest, apt to take flight
at the slightest affront. We shall never know what
it is to live in peace until we know what it is
to live thoroughly in the present, rather than in
the past or the future. We must restore to their
right places and functions the acquiescence and the
forward impulse which there are in our nature; be
easily satisfied as regards our condition, so as not
to indulge a wish for the change of it; be deeply
dissatisfied with the little we know of God and of
ourselves, and the miserably little we do for him.
Let our whole care be to serve God in the present
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moment of our lives, being anxious for nothing.
Deal with a fruitless anxiety just as you would deal
with an impure or a resentful motion of the heart.
Shut the door on it at once, and with one or two
short ejaculatory prayers rouse the will and turn
the thoughts in a different direction. Having made
known your wishes to God in prayer, and begged
him to deal in the matter, not according to your
shortsighted views, but as seems best to his wisdom
and love, leave it with him. If prudence and caution
dictate that anything should be done to avert the
evil you anticipate, or bring the blessing you desire,
do it, and then think no more of the subject. Fruit-
less thinking is just so much waste of that mental
and spiritual energy every atom of which you need
for your spiritual progress. It is also a "positive
breach of God's precept, "Be anxious for nothing."
Try to realize God's presence ; the realizing it ever
so little has a wonderfully soothing and calming
influence on the heart. Say secretly : ''The Lord is
in his holy temple (his temple of the inner man) ;
keep silence, O my heart, before him." The mind
wants steadying and setting right many times a day.
It resembles a compass placed on a rickety table ; the
least stir of the table makes the needle swing round
and point untrue. Let it settle, then, till it points
aright. Be perfectly silent for a few moments,
thinking of Jesus ; there is an almost divine force in
silence. Drop the thing that worries, that excites,
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that interests, that thwarts you; let it fall, like a
sediment, to the bottom, until the soul is no longer
turbid, that you may serve God with a quiet mind.
We cannot serve him with a turbid one ; it is a mere
impossibility. The Spirit cannot make communica-
tions to a soul in a turbulent state, stormy with
passion, rocked by anxiety, or fevered with indigna-
tion. Not until the wind, the earthquake, and the
fire have subsided can God's still small voice be
heard communing with man in the depths of his
soul. Thus composing ourselves from time to time,
setting the mind's needle true, we shall little by little
approximate toward that devout frame which binds
the soul to its true center, even while it travels
through worldly business, worldly excitements,
worldly cares.
DEVOTIONAL USE OF SCRIPTURE.
The established ordinance through which God ad-
dresses man is the Holy Scripture. Its general
character evinces the necessity of meditation for
those who desire to use it aright. The Scripture is
rather a book of principles than of rules, of examples
than of precepts; it is essentially an unsystematic
book. Hence the right use of it must involve effort
and exertion. From the examples a moral must be
drawn. Never read the Scripture narrative without
asking yourself what practical lessons are to be de-
rived from it. From the rule, where a rule is given,
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the reader must apply himself to gather the principle.
And, again, rules must be framed from principles.
As men are in general constituted, rules, specific,
strict, and stringent, are absolutely necessary to
progress in the spiritual life.
Meditation on Scripture need not be limited to set
times, but may be carried on profitably in any hour
of solitude, and whenever the mind is not otherwise
engaged. Possibly at some interval during the day
you may be alone. Have recourse then to the pas-
sage of Scripture which you have previously lodged
in your mind, and ask yourself seriously, as in the
sight of God, what practical lessons it is designed
to teach, what bearing it has upon your spiritual
welfare. At first you will find it difficult to prevent
the thoughts from flying off to other topics. The
power of fixing the mind is only to be gained by
habit. Perhaps a little effort of the fancy may here
lend us some assistance. During a solitary walk,
or at any other period of leisure, imagine that, when
you return, you will be called upon to address an
audience on the subject which you propose for medi-
tation. It wonderfully disentangles all difficulties
to consider how we could make plain to other minds
the truth which is thus beset to our own.
The plan of a meditation on Holy Scripture:
First, endeavor to realize the presence of God ac-
cording to that conception of this great truth which
best suits your own mind. Feel that he is here.
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Secondly, call upon God as an essential condition
of success, to inspire you with holy thoughts, and to
bless them to your spiritual profit and growth in
grace for Christ's sake. Do it very briefly, but with
great earnestness. Thirdly, open the passage of
Scripture which is to form the subject of medita-
tion; or repeat it mentally. Fourthly, the Bible (in
the original, if you know the language sufficiently
well to make it available) being opened at the pas-
sage, picture to yourself the circumstances by an
effort of the imagination. Fifthly, the circumstances
having been pictured, next comes the exercise of the
understanding upon the words. We reflect upon
them, turn them over in our mind, endeavor to make
out what they teach, what doctrine is wrapped up in
them, and what duty. Sixthly, next follows the
exercise of the affections and the will, incomparably
the most important part of the whole meditation.
In this consists the practical application of the little
sermon to your own heart, in the absence of which
it is useless, or in some respects worse than useless.
It will be a good plan to allow any feeling which
stirs within you, as you regard the truths of the
passage, to express itself in prayer. Conclude all
by an exercise of the will, that is, by one or more
resolutions. It has been recommended also, before
quitting the subject altogether, to pick out some one
sentiment which has pleased us most, and to charge
the memory with it during the remainder of the day,
.265
Honey from Many Hives
so that it may continually be recalled to mind at in-
tervals, and be like a fragrant flower plucked from
the garden and worn in the girdle, whose odor re-
freshes us amid the dust and turmoil of life. This
last is the precept of the devout Francis de Sales,
whose method of meditation we have followed.
PROPER FUNCTION OF WORDS.
What is the proper function of words, the end for
which they were given, by fulfilling which they be-
come good and escape the censure of being idle
words? The first, and perhaps the lowest, end of
words is to carry on the business of life. The second
end is to refresh and entertain the mind. The,
world's wisest men have mingled mirth with ear-
nestness; they have not gone about with starched
visage, prim manner, or puritanical grimace. By
way of preserving pure this offspring of the heart's
merriment three cautions should be rigidly ob-
served : First, from all our pleasantry must be ban-
ished any, even the remotest, allusion to impurity,
which forms the staple of much of this world's wit.
Secondly, all such sarcasms as hurt another person,
wound his feelings, and give him unnecessary pain,
are absolutely forbidden by the law of Christian
love. Thirdly, all such pleasantries as bring any-
thing sacred into ridicule — or, without bringing it
actually into ridicule, connect with it, in the minds
of others, ludicrous associations, so that they can
266
Edward Meyrick Goulburn
never see the object or hear the words without the
ludicrous observation being presented to them — are
carefully to be eschewed.
A desire of gaining instruction is one of the first
dispositions with which we must engage in conver-
sation, if we desire to make it profitable, nay, even
entertaining, to both parties. Let it be considered a
fixed and ascertained truth that your neighbor, how-
ever he may be inferior to you in some points of
station and attainment, is able to impart to you some
information which you do not possess. This is not
a fancy; it is a real truth. Let us, therefore, when
either casually or by design we enter into company,
set ourselves to the finding out what that something
is. Make an effort to extract, from those with
whom the occasions of life bring you into contact,
that portion of useful knowledge which out of the
common stock they have appropriated to themselves.
Idle words are forbidden by the Saviour. But by
this he means useless words, conducive neither to
instruction nor to innocent entertainment — words
having no salt of wit or wisdom in them; flat, stale,
dull, and unprofitable; thrown out to while away the
time, to fill up a spare five minutes ; words that are
not consecrated by any seriousness of purpose what-
ever, that contribute nothing either to the carrying
en of the necessary business of life, or harmless
amusement, or to the lower or higher forms of in-
struction, or to the glory of Almighty God.
267
Honey from Many Hives
It is every man's duty, as it ought to be esteemed
every man's privilege, to say a word for God in
society wherever such a word may be discreetly and
properly introduced; to be faithful with his more
intimate friends in representing their defects of
character and conduct; to be thankful himself for
receiving such representations; and ever to be on
the watch to arrest an opportunity for profitable
conversation.
MISCELLANEOUS COUNSELS.
The greatest saints who ever lived, whether under
the old or new dispensation, are on a level which is
quite within our reach. The same forces of the
spiritual world which were at their command, and
the exertion of which made them such spiritual
heroes, are open to us also. Why should we not fol-
low them, even as they followed God and Christ?
The reason is not to be sought in any disadvantages
under which we labor in comparison with them. It
is not that holiness was originally more congenial to
their nature than to ours. It can be nothing but that
laggardness of wall, that indifference to high moral
aims, that want of spiritual energy, that cheerful ac-
quiescence in the popular standard of religion which
has caused many a soul when 'Sveighed in the bal-
ances" to be ''found wanting," to be counted un-
worthy of the calling and the kingdom of God.
If we would bestow our efforts in the spiritual
268
Edward Meyrick Goulburn
life well and wisely we need not so much seek to
do something religious as to do ordinary things
in a religious manner, cultivating high and loving
thoughts of God while we do our work, and seeking
to do it well, where no eyes are upon us, from the
view of pleasing him; and in all services to our fel-
low-men thinking of the image of God which lies
hidden and overlaid with rubbish in their souls, as
in ours, and of the enormous price of Christ's blood,
which was paid down for all, showing how high
must have been God's estimation of each of them.
We shall never regret any amount of pains taken in
doing common things as unto the Lord, and in striv-
ing to evince love to him by means of them.
The great question is whether, after every fall, the
will recovers its spring and elasticity, and makes a
fresh start with new and more fervent prayer and
resolve. In order to any great attainment in the
spiritual life there must be an indomitable resolve to
try and try again, and still to begin anew amidst
much failure and discouragement. It is by a con-
stant series of new starts that the spiritual life is
carried on.
To be right in the practical department of the
Christian life is summed up in these three things : to
work devoutly, to fight manfully, and to suffer
patiently.
Resolve to know much of the inward life of re-
ligion. Cultivate in every possible way a spirit of
269
Honey from Many Hives
private devotion. Determine to know the power of
prayer as distinct from its form. Practice more and
more in all companies and under all circumstances
the thought of the presence of God. Seek more and
more to throw a spiritual meaning and significance
into your pursuit; to do it more simply and exclu-
sively from the motive of pleasing God, and less
from all other motives. Try, by a holy intention, to
give even to the more trifling actions of the day a re-
ligious value. Let self occupy as little as possible of
your thoughts. Care much for God's approval, and
comparatively little for the impression you are mak-
ing on others. Thus you will feed the inward light
with oil, and it will shine.
Specific resolutions are of the greatest service in
the spiritual life. They must be framed upon the
knowledge of our weak pointsand besetting sins; and
it is well every morning to draw up one or more of
them after a foresight of the temptations to which
we are liable to be exposed. Nothing is so likely to
destroy that recollectedness of mind which is the
very atmosphere of the spiritual life as unexpected
incidents for which we are in no wise prepared, and
which often stir in us sudden impulses of almost un-
controllable feeling. Let us arm ourselves for them,
so far as possible, by a holy resolution, which will
take Its shape from the peculiar nature of the temp-
tation offered — a resolution, perhaps, to busy our-
selves in some useful work, and so divert the mind,
270
Edward Meyrick Goulburn
or to give a soft answer which turns away wrath, or
to repeat secretly a verse of some favorite hymn, or
only to cast a mental glance on Christ crucified,
which indeed is the most sovereign remedy against
temptation known in the spiritual world.
If the Christian in every part of his active work
for God sets God before him; if he is very jealous of
the purity of his motives; if he is diligent in ejacula-
tory prayer ; if, even in the little crosses and annoy-
ances of the day, he regards the will of God who
sends them, and takes them accordingly with sweet-
ness and buoyancy of spirit; if he cultivates the habit
of allowing the objects of nature and passing events
to remind him of spiritual truth, and lead his mind
upward; if, in short, he turns each incident of life
into a spiritual exercise, and extracts from each a
spiritual good — then he is cultivating the internal
life, while he engages in the external; and while, on
the one hand, he is expending the oil of grace, he is,
on the other, laying in a fresh stock of it in his oil-
vessels.
18 ^71
Honey from Many Hives
A DOZEN WORTHIES*
Besides the eight writers to each of whom, for
reasons that seemed to us sufficient, we have given
considerable space there are, of course, very many
others whose stores of instructive counsel or expe-
rience might readily be drawn upon to any extent.
But we have thought best to limit our further ex-
tracts to twelve authors, all of them loved and prized
by multitudes and deserving to be introduced to
those not yet familiar with their fame. Space per-
mits us, much to our regret, to afford in each case
only a taste of the quality of the volume in question,
but these tastes will be in themselves helpful, and
will serve the additional purpose of making many
acquainted with good books to which their attention
might not otherwise be drawn. We shall present
them in the order of their age. Hence will come
first
"the confessions of ST. AUGUSTINE.^^
This is not the place for a delineation either of the
life or the writings of this great man, so prominent
among the fathers of the Church. Born at Tagaste,
in Numidia, November 13, 354, he died at Hippo, in
northern Africa, of which place he had been for
thirty-five years bishop, August 28, 430. He wrote
the Confessions in the year 398, eleven years after
his baptism and three years after his consecration as
272
A Dozen Worthies
bishop. There is a charm and simplicity in the style
rarely, if ever, surpassed, which has endeared the
little book to great numbers. It affords also a pleas-
ing insight into the kind of life common in that far-
distant period. But since the treatise relates almost
wholly to the experiences of the author previous to
conversion, his struggles with Manichsean error and
licentious vice before his deliverance from these toils
of Satan, it is not, as a whole, very profitable for
ordinary perusal. His object apparently was to illus-
trate the goodness and forbearance of God in bring-
ing him, despite manifold mistakes, infirmities, and
sins, to a blessed haven of rest, that others might be
strengthened against despair. Many translations
of it from the original Latin have been made into
various modern tongues, and many editions have
been issued both in separate form and in connection
with the other works.
The two sentences most frequently met in quota-
tion from the Confessions are these : "Thou madest
us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it rest in
thee." "Give what thou enjoinest, and enjoin what
thou wilt; for too little doth he love thee who loves
anything with thee which he loveth not for thee."
The account which he gives of his conversion is
exceedingly beautiful, and with this extract we must
now be contented :
"Thou, Lord, didst turn me round toward myself,
taking me from behind my back where I had placed
273
Honey from Many Hives
me, unwilling to observe myself, and setting me be-
fore my face tliat I might see how foul I was, how
crooked and defiled, bespotted and ulcerous. And
I beheld and stood aghast; and whither to flee from
myself I found not. . . . But when a deep consid-
eration had from the secret bottom of my soul drawn
together and heaped up all my misery in the sight of
my heart, there arose a mighty storm, bringing a
shower of tears. ... I cast myself down, I know
not how, under a certain fig tree, giving full vent to
my tears; and the floods of mine eyes gushed out an
acceptable sacrifice to thee. I sent up these sorrowful
words: How long? how long, 'to-morrow and to-
morrow?' Why not now? why not this hour an
end to my uncleanness? So was I speaking and
weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart,
when, lo ! I heard from a neighboring house a voice,
as of boy or girl, I know not, chanting and oft re-
peating, *Take up and read; take up and read'
(Tolle^ lege). Instantly my countenance altered, I
began to think most intently whether children were
wont in any kind of play to sing such words; nor
could I remember ever to have heard the like. So
checking the torrent of my tears I arose, interpreting
it to be no other than a command from God to open
the book and read the first chapter I should find. I
seized the volume, opened, and in silence read that
section on which my eyes first fell : 'Not in rioting
and drunkenness, not in chambering and wanton-
274
A Dozen Worthies
ness, not in strife and envying: but put ye on the
Lord Jesus Ciirist, and make not provision for the
flesh' (Rom. xiii, 13, 14) in concupiscence. No
further would I read; nor needed I. For instantly
at the end of this sentence, by a light as it were of
serenity infused into my heart, all the darkness of
doubt vanished away. . . . Thence I go in to my
mother; I tell her; she rejoiceth. I relate in order
how it took place; she leaps for joy, and triumpheth,
and blesseth thee."
WORKS OF JOHN TAULER.
Tauler was born at Strasburg about 1290, and
died there June 16, 1361. He was the greatest
preacher of his age, but it is not in that his main
distinction lies. It is in his exceptional religious
experience, and his connection with that remarkable
band of Christian men known as "Friends of God."
This was an extensive but slightly organized
brotherhood, scattered over the upper provinces of
the Rhine country, composed of those who sought
for intimate communion with heaven, and in the
midst of the abounding iniquities of the times held
themselves to a high standard of personal piety.
They laid great stress upon disinterested love, self-
renunciation, and a constant loving fellowship both
with one another and with the Holy Spirit.
Tauler was of honorable family and early devoted
275
Honey from Many Hives
to the priestly office. At the age of eighteen he be-
came a Dominican monk and went to Paris to study
theology. Returning to Strasburg, he began to
preach with considerable success, but his sermons
were not pervaded with the power which comes from
a personal union with Christ. He was not brought
into full freedom until more than fifty years of age.
The instrument of his deliverance from the bond-
age of the law, from a too formal piety somewhat
tainted with self-righteousness, was an uneducated
layman named Nicholas, very many years his junior,
but well taught in the things of the Spirit. Coming
from Basel to Strasburg to hear the distinguished
preacher, he speedily detected the lack in his expe-
rience, and was enabled to lead him on to much
greater heights. When Tauler had once been
brought, after two years' struggles, to see himself
and his Saviour in the true light, the change in his
sermons was immediate and great. The first time
that he opened his mouth in public fourteen persons
fell as if dead under the power of the word, and
nearly thirty others were so deeply moved that they
remained sitting in the churchyard long after the
congregation was dismissed, unwilling to move
away. A great revival began, both among those
previously religious and among the worldly, a reviv-
al whose influence in Germany was widespread and
far-reaching, reaching indeed in some of its effects
down to the present day. The discourses which his
276
A Dozen Worthies
disciples preserved had a decided influence upon
Luther, who was accustomed to recommend them as
the best sermons to be found in the German lan-
guage.
For eighteen years after what may be called, per-
haps, his second conversion, Tauler made progress
in the divine life, rising to the place of highest es-
teem among his brethren and being accounted the
holiest of God's children on earth. Men came from
all quarters to consult him, and his usefulness con-
tinually extended. Nor did he lack for persecution,
that supreme testimonial to goodness. He is every
way worthy of largest honor and closest study. As
one has well said : ''No idle contemplation or passive
asceticism finds the approval of Tauler, but a life of
active love and pity, of patience and meekness — a
life in the imitation of Christ. Tauler did not con-
tradict the doctrines of his Church, but he was ani-
mated by an exalted reformatory spirit; his mysti-
cism displayed a free, practical, evangelical tendency
which has given it historical importance; and we
may appropriately retain for him the title, early
bestowed, of Doctor Illiiininafits/'
The first collected edition of his sermons was
printed at Leipsic in 1498, and very many others
have followed. An English translation by Miss
Winkworth was published at London in 1857, and
an American reprint, edited by Dr. Hitchcock, was
issued at New York in 1858. We shall have to con-
277
Honey from Many Hives
fine our selection from his writings to the well-
known Discourse of Dr. Tattler with a Beggar,
which has been often quoted during these five cen-
turies, and can never be read without profit :
"There was once a learned man who longed and
prayed full eight years that God would show him
some one to teach him the way of truth. And, on a
time, as he was in a great longing, it was said unto
him, 'Go to such a church porch, and there wilt thou
find a man that shall show thee the way to blessed-
ness.' So thither he went, and found there a poor
man, whose feet were torn and covered with dust
and dirt, and all his apparel scarce three hellers'
[farthings] worth. He courteously saluted him,
saying, 'God give you a good morning.'
"To which the beggar replied, T never remember
to have had a bad morning.'
" 'God prosper you,' said the Doctor.
" 'What say you?' answered the beggar. *I never
was otherwise than prosperous.'
" 'I wish you all happiness,' replied the Doctor;
'but what do you mean by speaking in this manner?'
" *Why,' said the poor man, 'I never was unhappy.'
" 'God bless you,' said the Doctor; 'explain your-
self, for I cannot well understand your meaning.'
" 'Willingly,' quoth the poor man. 'You wished
me a good morning, and I answered that I never had
a bad morning; for if I am hungry I praise God; if
I suffer cold I praise God; if it hail, snow, or rain, if
278
A Dozen Worthies
the weather be fair or foul, I give praise to God; if
I am despised by all the world I still give praise to
God; and therefore I never met with a bad morning.
You prayed that God would prosper me; to which I
answered that I never was otherwise than prosper-
ous; for, having learned to live with God, I know for
certain that all he does must necessarily be for the
best; and therefore whatever happens to me, by his
will or his permission, whether it be pleasant or disa-
greeable, sweet or bitter, I always receive with joy
as coming from his merciful hand, for the best, and
therefore I never was otherwise than prosperous.
You wished me also all happiness, and I, in like man-
ner, replied that I had never been unhappy; for I
have resolved to adhere to the divine will alone, and
have so absolutely relinquished self-will as to wuU
always whatever God wills, and therefore I was
never unhappy ; for I never desire to have any other
will than his, and therefore I resign my will entirely
to him/
'Then said the Doctor, 'But what would you say
if it should be the will of this Lord of majesty to cast
you down into the bottomless pit? What would
you do then?'
" 'How ?' replied he hastily. 'Cast me down into
the bottomless pit! His goodness holds him back
therefrom. Yet if he should really do so I have two
arms to embrace him withal. One arm is true hu-
mility, by which I am united to his most sacred hu-
279
Honey from Many Hives
manity. The other is my right arm of love, by
which I am united to his divinity. And with both I
would embrace him so closely and hold him so firmly
that he would be obliged to go down with me, and I
would much rather choose to be in hell with God
than in heaven without him.'
'Then understood the Doctor that true resigna-
tion to the divine will, accompanied with profound
humility, is the shortest way to God. Having after-
ward asked the beggar whence he came, the latter
replied, 'From God.'
" *But where,' said the master, *did you find God ?'
" ^I found him,' said the other, 'where I forsook
all creatures.'
" 'And where or with whom did you leave God ?'
" 'I left him with the clean of heart, and amongst
men of good will.'
" 'But I pray thee tell me who or what art
thou!'
"And the beggar replied, 'I am a king. My king-
dom is in my soul; for I can govern both my ex-
terior and interior senses so absolutely that all the
affections and forces of my soul are in perfect
subjection to me; which kingdom is doubtless more
excellent than all the kingdoms of this world.'
" 'What has brought you to this perfection?' in-
quired the Doctor.
"And the other answered, 'My silence, my heaven-
ward thoughts, my union with God. For I could
280
A Dozen Worthies
rest in nothing less than God. Now I have found
m}^ God I have everlasting peace and joy in him.' "*
'theologia germanica."
This is one of the few great devotional treatises of
the world, setting forth, as its title-page says, "Many
fair lineaments of divine truth, and very lofty and
lovely things touching a perfect life." It was dis-
covered by Luther and published by him, for the first
time, in 1516. He says in his preface : "Next to the
Bible and St. Augustine, no book hath ever come into
my hands whence I have learned, or would wish to
learn, more of what Cjod and Christ and man and all
things are." Luther esteemed Tauler to be its au-
thor. It is in his style and contains his sentiments,
but it is now considered more probable that it orig-
inated at a little later date than Tauler's time, and
was written by some other member of the class to
which he belonged. It was the practice of these
"Friends of God" to conceal their names as much
as possible when they wrote, lest the desire for fame
should mingle in their endeavors to be useful.
No fewer than seventeen editions appeared during
* We have followed mainly the version given in Francis of Sales's Intro-
duction to a Devout Life^ where it is taken from The Works of J. Thau-
lert'us, D.D., printed at Paris, 1623, and is called "A Conference on the
Means of Attaining Christian Perfection." Whittier's poem " Tauler " is
a description of the same incident.
281
Honey from Many Hives
the lifetime of Luther, and up to the present day it
has continued to be the favorite handbook of devo-
tion in Germany, as well as being widely circulated
in other lands. Baron Bunsen says : ''With Luther
I rank this short treatise next to the Bible, but unlike
him should place it before rather than after St.
Augustine. This small but golden treatise has been
now for almost forty years an unspeakable comfort
to many of my Christian friends." Its main theme
is self-renunciation, the laying aside of our own will
in order to the accomplishment of the divine. It
dwells upon the intimate union possible between God
and man through love, enlightenment, the practice
of virtue, and the cheerful endurance of trials.
Charles Kingsley says : ''To those who really hunger
and thirst after righteousness, and therefore long to
know what righteousness is that they may keep it;
to those who long to be free from sin, and therefore
wish to know what sin is that they may avoid it; to
those who cannot help seeing that the doctrine of
Christ in every man, as the indwelling Word of God,
is a tenet which runs through the whole Bible, this
noble little book will recommend itself."
The style of this treatise on German theology is
quite mystical, and not many Americans of the pres-
ent day, especially among the young, would be likely
to read it through with much satisfaction. We ap-
pend a few extracts, such as appear to us the most
important from a practical point of view, and from
282
A Dozen Worthies
these a fair idea of the character of the whole volume
may be obtained :
"To learn an art which thou knowest not four
things are needful. The first and most needful of
all is a great desire and diligence, and constant en-
deavor, to learn the art. And where this is wanting
the art will never be learned. The second is a copy
or example by which thou mayest learn. The third
is to give earnest heed to the master and watch how
he worketh, and to be obedient to him in all things,
and to trust him and follow him. The fourth is to
put thine own hand to the work, and to practice it
with all industry. But where one of these four is
wanting the art will never be learned and mastered.
So likewise is it with this preparation to be possessed
with the Spirit of God."
''No one can be made perfect in a day. A man
must begin by denying himself and willingly forsak-
ing all things for God's sake, and must give up his
own will, and all his natural inclinations, and
separate and cleanse himself thoroughly from all
sins and evil ways. After this let him humbly take
up the cross and follow Christ."
"A true lover of God loveth him alike in having
and in not having, in sweetness and bitterness, in
good or evil report and the like, for he seeketh only
the honor of God, and not his own, either in spiritual
or natural things. Therefore he standeth alike
unshaken in all things."
283 ,
Honey from Many Hives
''All disobedience is contrary to God, and nothing
else. In truth, no thing is contrary to God ; no crea-
ture nor creature's work, nor anything that we can
name or think of, is contrary to God, or displeasing
to him, but only disobedience and the disobedient
man. In short, all that is is well-pleasing and good
in God's eyes, saving only the disobedient man."
"The man who is truly godlike complaineth of
nothing, but of sin only. And sin is simply to de-
sire or will anything otherwise than the one perfect
good and the one eternal will, or to wish to have a
will of one's own."
"Sin is to will, desire, or love otherwise than as
God doth. Things do not thus will, desire, or love;
therefore things are not evil, all things are good."
"Union with God is brought to pass in three ways,
to wit, by pureness and singleness of heart, by love,
and by the contemplation of God."
"Be assured he who helpeth a man to his own will
helpeth him to the worst that he can."
"Time is a paradise and outer court of heaven,
and therein there is only one tree forbidden, that is,
self-will."
"There is nothing more precious to God or more
profitable to man than humble obedience. In his
eyes one good work wrought from true obedience is
of more value than a hundred thousand wrought
from self-will, contrary to obedience."
"He who is truly a virtuous man would not cease
284
A Dozen Worthies
to be so to gain the whole world; yea, he would
rather die a miserable death. To him virtue is its
own reward, and he is content therewith, and would
take no treasure or riches in exchange for it."
^^THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT.''
The Spiritual Combat, which has for its motto the
words of St. Paul, "A man is not crowned except he
strive lawfully," was the production of Lorenzo
Scupoli, an Italian monk of the order of the Thea-
tines. He was born in the city of Otranto,
about 1530, and died at Naples in 1610. After an
active social life in populous cities he was driven into
retirement by some shocking calumny, the exact
nature of which is not known, and there, in quiet,
patient meditation, this little book was born. It at-
tained immediately an enduring popularity, and has
been blessed to great multitudes of the choicest
spirits of the earth. While the author yet lived it
had been spread abroad in fifty editions and had been
translated into many languages. In one hundred
and ninety years there were tw^o hundred and sixty
editions, and all the tongues of Europe, as well as
some in Asia, had received it. It was the favorite
companion of Francis of Sales, of all human books
his guide to holiness, doing more than anything else
to mold and fashion that marvelous saint. He calls
Scupoli ''my master in all the exercises of the inward
285
Honey from Many Hives
life." He carried the book in his pocket for eighteen
years, reading daily some portion of it, and never re-
reading it, he says, without profit. Its style is very
simple and concise. It contains — including the sup-
plements, wherein are '"Maxims for the guidance
of a soul that wishes to love Jesus Christ perfectly,"
and a treatise on "Inward Peace" — sixty-one short
cl:apters. It is a capital manual for those who wish
to make themselves masters in the art of godly liv-
ing. The following selections are all we can make
room for:
"I will give thee two rules, by observing which
thou wilt live in this wicked world in as much quiet
as possible. One is that thou strive with all dili-
gence to close the door of thy heart more and more
against desires. For desire is the upright beam of
the cross, and of disquiet, which will be heavy in
proportion to the greatness of the desire. And if
the desires be many, many will be the beams pre-
pared for many crosses. Then when difficulties and
hindrances come, so that the desire is not fulfilled,
behold the transverse beam, the cross of the cross, to
which the desiring soul is nailed. Whoso, then,
wishes not for the cross, let him give up the desire;
for so soon as he gives it up he will have come down
from the cross. There is no other remedy.
"The other rule is this : When thou art annoyed
and offended by others, do not let thy mind dwell
upon them, or on such thoughts as these : 'that they
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A Dozen Worthies
ought not so to have treated thee, who they are, or
who they think themselves to be,' and the Hke. For
all this is fuel, and a kindling of anger and wrath
and hatred. But in such cases turn instantly to the
strength and commands of God, that thou mayest
know what thou oughtest to do, and that thy error
be not greater than theirs."
"Everything which befalls us comes from God
for our good, and we may profit by it. And though
some of these (such as our own failings, or those of
others) cannot be said to be of God, who willeth not
sin, yet are they from him, in that he permits them,
and though able to hinder them hinders them not."
"In all things make it a general rule to keep thy
wishes so far removed from every other object that
they may aim simply and solely at its true and only
end, that is, the will of God. For in this way will
they be well ordered and righteous ; and thou, in any
contrary event whatsoever, wilt be not only calm
but contented; for, as nothing can happen without
the Supreme Will, thou, by willing the same, wilt
come at all times both to will and to have all that
happens and all that thou desirest."
"As we should do our utmost to recover our peace
of mind when we have lost it, so we must learn that
there is nothing which ought to take it away or ever
disturb it. Be assured that all disquiet is displeas-
ing in his sight; for be it what it may it is never free
from imperfection, and always springs from some
19 287
Honey from Many Hives
evil root of self-love. For the disquiet thou feelest
on account of thy sin comes not from having of-
fended God, but from having injured thyself. If
when thou fallest thou art so saddened and dis-
quieted as to be tempted to despair of advancing and
doing well, this is a sure sign that thou trustest in
thyself and not in God. Consider that all these dis-
quieting things and such like evils are not real evils,
though outwardly they seem so, nor can they rob us
of any real good, but are all ordered or permitted by
God for righteous ends."
"Consider that not only do all the works which
thou hast done fall short of the light which has been
given thee to know them, and the grace to execute
them, but also that they are very imperfect, and but
too far removed from that pure intention, and due
diligence and fervor, with which they should be
done, and which should ever accompany them."
*^The exercise of doing all things with the single
aim of pleasing God alone seems hard at first, but
will become plain and easy by practice, if with the
warmest affections of the heart we desire God alone
and long for him as our onlyand most perfect good."
"We are wont to pray most perfectly by placing
ourselves silently in the presence of God, darting
from time to time sighs unto him, turning our eyes
to him with a heart longing to please him, and with
a quick and burning desire that he would help us to
love him purely, to honor and serve him."
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A Dozen Worthies
"The aim of the whole hfe of the Christian who
wills to become perfect must be a striving to form
the habit of daily forgetting self more and more, and
accustoming himself not to do his own will, that so
he may do all things as moved thereto by the sole
will of God, in order to please and honor him."
"Study to do some one act with as great fullness
of will and purity of heart as if in it alone consisted
all perfection, and the whole pleasure and honor of
God."
"Happen what may, remain thou ever steadfast
and joyful in humble submission to his divine
providence."
"The key which unlocks the secrets of the spiritual
treasury is the knowing how to deny thyself at all
times and in all things."
"Purpose in all things to do wdiat thou canst and
oughtest to do; be indifferent and resigned to all
that may follow out of thyself."
"Speak as little as may be of thy neighbor, or of
anything that concerns him, unless an opportunity
offers to say something good of him."
"Let everything be a means of leading thee to
God, and let nothing hinder thee on the way."
''^RELIGIO MEDICI."''
Sir Thomas Browne, the author of Religio
Medici, or The Faith of a Physician, was born in
289
Honey from Many Hives
London in 1605, and died at Norwich in 1682. He
was knighted by King Charles II in 1671, on the
occasion of his visit to Norwich. The Httle book
which has chiefly perpetuated his name and fame,
though he composed several others, was written
about the year 1636, simply for his own satisfaction.
The manuscript, however, was passed from hand to
hand among his friends, and one of the many copies
made was surreptitiously published in 1642. This
compelled Dr. Browne to bring out an authorized
and corrected edition in the following year, and a
Latin version, issued in 1644, carried the name of
the author throughout Europe with almost unparal-
leled rapidity, translations being at once made into
French, German, Dutch, and Italian.
The book contains an account of the author's
opinions and feelings on moral and religious sub-
jects, and has been greatly admired and enjoyed by
very many from that day to this. The style is strik-
ingly original, and has a peculiar quaint eloquence
which has commended it to multitudes. It breathes
a noble charity and tender forbearance toward op-
ponents, and can scarcely be read without profit,
although it is rather speculative than spiritual, and
is not very likely to be of much practical benefit to
the ordinary mind. He was an earnest seeker for
knowledge, with a vigorous, independent intellect,
which caused him to 1)e charged by some with skep-
ticism. But these charges had small foundation.
290
A Dozen Worthies
He was a truly pious person and a sincere Christian,
firmly attached to the Church of England. We ap-
pend sufficient quotations to give the reader a little
idea of the scope and quality of the book :
"I could never divide myself from any man upon
the difference of an opinion, or be angry with his
judgment for not agreeing with me in that from
which within a few days I should dissent myself."
"At the sight of a cross or a crucifix I can dis-
pense with my hat, but scarce with the thought or
memory of my Saviour. I cannot laugh at, but
rather pity, the fruitless journeys of pilgrims, or
contemn the miserable condition of friars; for
though misplaced in circumstances, there is some-
thing in it of devotion. I could never hear the Ave
Maria bell without an elevation, or think it sufficient
warrant, because they erred in one circumstance, for
me to err in all, that is, in silence and dumb con-
tempt; whilst therefore they direct their devotions
to her, I ofifer mine to God, and rectify the errors of
their prayers by rightly ordering mine own."
"When we desire to be informed, it is good to
contest with men above ourselves; but to confirm
and establish our opinions it is best to argue with
judgments below our own, that the frequent spoils
and victories over their reasons may settle in our-
selves an esteem and confirmed opinion of our own."
"In expectation of a better I can with patience
embrace this life, yet in my best meditations do often
291
Honey from Many Hives
desire deatli. I honor any man that contemns it, nor
can I highly love any that is afraid of it. For a
pagan there may be some motives to be in love with
life; but for a Christian to be amazed at death, I
see not how he can escape this dilemma, that he is
too sensible of this life or hopeless of the life to
come."
''No man can justly censure or condemn another,
because indeed no man truly knows another. . . .
Further, no man can judge another, because no man
knows himself; for we censure others but as they
disagree from that humor which we fancy laudable
in ourselves, and commend others but for that
wherein they seem to quadrate and consent with
us."
''It is a most unjust ambition to desire to engross
the mercies of the Almighty, not to be content with
the goods of mind without a possession of those of
body or fortune ; and it is an error worse than heresy
to adore these complemental and circumstantial
pieces of felicity, and undervalue those perfections
and essential points of happiness wherein we resem-
ble our Maker. To wiser desires it is satisfaction
enough to deserve, though not to enjoy, the favors
of fortune; let Providence provide for fools. It is
not partiality but equity in God, who deals with us
but as our natural parents: those that are able of
body and mind he leaves to their deserts ; to those of
weaker merits he imparts a larger portion, and
292
A Dozen Worthies
pieces out the defect of one by the access of the
other."
"Let me not injure the feUcity of others if I say
I am as happy as any. Ritat caelum, fiat voluntas
ilia ('Though the heaven fah, let thy will be done'),
salveth all; so that whatsoever happens it is but
what our daily prayers desire. In brief, I am con-
tent, and what should Providence add more ? Surely
this is it we call happiness, and this do I enjoy."
"I can hold there is no such thing as injury; that,
if there be, there is no such injury as revenge, and
no such revenge as the contempt of an injury; that
to hate another is to malign himself ; that the truest
way to love another is to despise ourselves."
"Bless me in this life with but peace of my con-
science, command of my affections, the love of thy-
self and my dearest friends, and I shall be happy
enough to pity Caesar. These are, O Lord, the
humble desires of my most reasonable ambition, and
all I dare call happiness on earth; wherein I set no
rule or limit to thy hand of providence; dispose of
me according to the wisdom of thy pleasure. Thy
will be done, though in my own undoing."
RUTHERFORD S LETTERS.
The Letters of the Rev. Samuel Rutherford have
long been a classic with the devout. Says Cecil:
"Were truth the beam, I have no doubt that if
293
Honey from Many Hives
Homer and Virgil and Horace, and all that the
world has agreed to idolize, were weighed against
that book, they would be lighter than vanity." Ruth-
erford was born in Roxburghshire, Scotland, about
the year 1600. He took his degree of A.M. at Edin-
burgh in 1 62 1, and for some years acted as professor
of humanity there. In 1627 he was settled as pastor
at An worth in Kirkcudbrightshire. Here he labored
faithfully for nine years, but saw very little result.
In 1636 he published a theological work against the
Arminians, which gained him great credit in some
quarters; but it led to his being called before the
High Commission Court, which deprived him of
his ministerial office and banished him to Aberdeen.
In this stronghold of episcopacy and Arminianism
he stayed two years, and from this place two hun-
dred and twenty of the three hundred and fifty-two
letters which make up the unabridged collection
were written. In 1638, the Covenant having again
triumphed in the land, he hastened back to Anworth.
But in the following year he was constrained by the
opinion of his brethren to accept the chair of divinity
in the University of St. Andrew's, where he spent
the remainder of his life. He was one of the Scotch
Commissioners to the Westminister Assembly, and
had a leading hand in drawing up the Shorter
Catechism, For a work in the defense of liberty,
called Lex Rex, he was summoned in 1660 to
answer before Parliament on the charge of high
294
A Dozen Worthies
treason. But he was on his deathbed, beyond the
reach of human oppression. His last words were:
*'Glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuers land." He
entered it March 20, 1661.
The letters, collected by one who wxnt to the As-
sembly with him as his secretary, range in their
dates from 1628 to 1661. They have been trans-
lated into several languages, and are greatly prized
by those who seek to grow in holiness. Richard
Baxter said of them: ''Hold off the Bible, such a
book the world never saw." Some of the expres-
sions are very striking and live long in the reader's
mind. But the book is very large (554 octavo
pages), much of the matter is necessarily of only
local interest or somewhat commonplace, and not
many are likely to be attracted by it in these modern
days. The selections we supply will give a fair idea
of the fervent spirit of the writer and the peculiari-
ties of his style :
''Welcome, welcome, sweet, sweet cross of Christ !
I verily think that the chains of my Lord Jesus are
all overlaid with pure gold, and that his cross is per-
fumed, and that it smelleth of Christ."
"I desire not to go on the lee side or sunny side
of religion, to put truth betwixt me and a storm ; my
Saviour did not so for me, who in his suffering took
the windy side of the hill."
"If ye were not strangers here, the dogs of the
world would not bark at you."
295
Honey from Many Hives
"Verily I was a child before; all bygones are but
bairns' play. I would I could begin to be a Chris-
tian in sad earnest."
"O to be dead to all things that are below Christ,
were it even a created heaven and created grace!
Holiness is not Christ, nor are the blossoms and
flowers of the tree of life the tree itself."
"I never knew, by my nine years' preaching, so
much of Christ's love as he has taught me in Aber-
deen by six months' imprisonment. I charge you in
Christ's name to help me to praise."
"Welcome, welcome, Jesus, what way soever thou
comest, if we can get a sight of thee. And sure I am
that it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to
the bedside and draw by the curtains, and say:
'Courage ! I am thy salvation !' than to enjoy health,
being lusty and strong, and never to be visited of
God."
"How sweet is the wind that bloweth out of the
quarter where Christ is! Every day we may see
some new thing in Christ ; his love hath neither brim
nor bottom. O that I had help to praise him ! He
knoweth that if my sufferings glorify his name, and
encourage others to stand fast for the honor of our
supreme lawgiver, Christ, my wages then are paid
to the full."
"I have been much self-accused for not referring
all to God as the last end ; that I do not eat, drink,
sleep, journey, think, and speak for God ; that prac-
296
A Dozen Worthies
tice was so short and narrow, and light so long and
broad."
"It is possible that the success answer not your
desire in this worthy cause. What then? Duties
are ours, but events are the Lord's."
"I have benefited by riding alone a long journey,
in giving that time to prayer, by praying for others ;
for by making an errand to God for them I have
gotten something for myself."
"I see that mortification, and to be crucified to the
world, is not so highly accounted of by us as it
should be. O, how heavenly a thing it is to be dead,
and dumb, and deaf to this world's sweet music!"
"My faith hath no bed to sleep upon but Omnipo-
tency."
"Let him make of me what he pleaseth ; provided
he make glory to himself out of me I care not. If
my Lord would be pleased I should desire that some
were dealt with for my return to Anworth; but if
that never be I thank God. Anworth is not heaven,
preaching is not Christ."
"O that the heaven, and the heaven of heavens,
were paper, and the sea ink, and the multitude of
mountains pens of brass, and I able to write that
paper, within and without, full of the praises of my
fairest, my dearest, my loveliest, my sweetest, my
matchless, and my most peerless and marvelous
well-beloved !"
"In your temptations run to the promises; they be
297
Honey from Many Hives
our Lord's branches hanging over the water, that
our Lord's poor, half-drowned children may take a
grip of them ; if you let that grip go you will go to
the bottom."
"Build your nest upon no tree here; for ye see
God hath sold the forest to death; and every tree
whereon we would rest is ready to be cut down, to
the end that we might flee and mount up, and build
upon the Rock, and dwell in the holes of the Rock."
"It is certain that this is not only good which the
Lord hath done, but that it is best."
"I think that my love to Christ hath feet in abun-
dance, and runneth swiftly to be at him, but it want-
eth hands and fingers to apprehend him. I miss
faith more than love or hunger."
"I am sure that the saints, at their best, are but
strangers to the weight and worth of the incom-
parable sweetness of Christ. O, we love an un-
known love when we love Christ. O black sun and
moon, but O fair Lord Jesus. O black lilies and
roses, but O fair, ever fair, Lord Jesus. O all fair
things, black and deformed, without beauty, when
ye are beside the fairest Lord Jesus."
'^THE saint's everlasting REST."
This book is thought to have been read more
widely, perhaps, than any other of the sort — except
a Kempis and Bunyan. It has certainly done an im-
298
A Dozen Worthies
mense amount of good, and of all the one hundred
and sixty-eight different works credited to the
author has most effectively perpetuated his fame.
Richard Baxter (born at Rowton, 1615, dying at
London, 1691) was one of the most celebrated non-
conformist divines of England. His early ministry
of sixteen years (1640-56) at Kidderminster ac-
complished great things for the renovation of the
place. After leaving there he was in no one position
for any great period, owing to the unsettled state of
the country and the turbulence of the times. But he
preached mostly in London, suffering a good deal
of persecution on account of his political sentiments.
He is said to have written The Saint's Everlast-
ing Rest, or a Treatise of the Blessed State of the
Saints in their Enjoyment of God in Heaven, when
far from home and without any book to consult but
the Bible, and in such a low state of health as to be
in constant expectation of death for many months.
On the title-page of the original edition we find these
words : "Written by the author for his own use in
the time of his languishing, when God took him off
from all public employment." At that time he is
supposed to have been a little over thirty years of
age. It was first published in 1650. Very many,
some of them exceedingly distinguished and useful
men, have ascribed their conversion to reading it.
It must be said, however, that a considerable part
of the treatise is not especially adapted to the fur-
299
Honey from Many Hives
therance of devotion, but is theological rather than
practical. We make a few extracts from the fourth
part, which is a work in itself, and the best portion.
Baxter calls it "The Directory for the getting and
keeping of the heart in heaven, by the diligent prac-
tice of that excellent, unknown duty of heavenly
meditation; being the main thing intended by the
author in writing this book, and to which all the
rest is subservient."
*'Let thy eternal rest be the subject of thy frequent
serious discourse; especially with those that can
speak from their hearts, and are seasoned themselves
with a heavenly nature. It is great pity that Chris-
tians should ever meet together without some talk
of their meeting in heaven, or of the way to it,
before they part. It is pity so much time is spent
in vain conversation and useless disputes, and not a
serious word of heaven among them."
"Improve every object and every event to mind
thy soul of its approaching rest. As all providences
and creatures are means to our rest, so they point us
to that as their end. O that Christians were skillful
in this art! You can open your Bibles; learn to
open the volumes of creation and providence to read
there also of God and glory. Thus we might have a
fuller taste of Christ and heaven in every common
meal" than most men have in a sacrament. If thou
art weary with labor, let It make the thoughts of thy
eternal rest more sweet. Is thy body refreshed with
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A Dozen Worthies
food or sleep? Remember the inconceivable re-
freshment with Christ. Thus every condition and
creature affords us advantages for a heavenly life,
if we have but hearts to improve them."
''A heavenly mind is the freest from sin, because
it hath truer and livelier apprehensions of spiritual
things. Is converse with wise and learned men the
way to make one wise? Much more is converse
with God. If travelers return home with wisdom
and experience, how much more he that travels to
heaven! If our bodies are suited to the air and
climate we most live in, his understanding must be
fuller of light who lives with the Father of light.
A heavenly mind is also fortified against temptation,
because the affections are thoroughly prepossessed
with the high and holy delights of another world.
He that loves most will most easily resist the mo-
tions of sin."
''The liveliest emblem of heaven that I know upon
earth is w^ien the people of God, in the deep sense
of his excellency and bounty, from hearts abound-
ing with love and joy, join together, both in heart
and voice, in the cheerful and melodious singing of
his praises."
"The things contained in heavenly rest are such
as these: a ceasing from means of grace; a perfect
freedom from all evils; the highest degree of the
saint's personal perfection , both of body and soul;
the nearest enjoyment of God the chief good ; and a
301
Honey from Many Hives
sweet and constant action of all the powers of body
and soul in this enjoyment of God."
"The most difficult part of heavenly contempla-
tion is to maintain a lively sense of heavenly things
upon our hearts. It is easier merely to think of
heaven a whole day than to be lively and affectionate
in those thoughts a quarter of an hour."
"Hindrances to leading a heavenly life upon
earth: living in any known sin; an earthly mind;
the company of the ungodly; frequent disputes
about lesser truths, and a religion that lies only in
opinions; a proud and lofty spirit; a slothful spirit."
'the nonsuch professor."'
The full title of this remarkable book is, The Non-
such Professor in his Meridian Splendor; or, The
Singtdar Actions of Sanctified Christians, laid open
in Seven Sermons, at All-Hallozv's Church, London
Wall, by William Seeker. Of the author very little
is known except that he was a dissenting minister of
the seventeenth century who preached at Tewkes-
bury and at London. The book first appeared in
1660. It has been well styled "a breviary of re-
ligion," also "a beautiful little work, worth its
weight in gold." It is marked by eminent spiritu-
ality and great concentration of thought. Some of
the expressions are very quaint and pungent. The
text of the entire discourse — for though called seven
302
A Dozen Worthies
sermons it is printed as one — is, "What do ye more
than others?" And its perusal is well calculated to
stimulate Christian activity. We reproduce a few
of the pearls found in this old casket, assuring the
reader that there are plenty more there just as
good:
'If the mercies of God be not loadstones to draw
us to heaven they will be millstones to sink us to
perdition."
'*If the life of Christ be not your pattern the death
of Christ will never be your pardon."
"Where self is the end of our actions Satan is the
rewarder of them."
"As the shadow of the sun is largest when his
beams are lowest, so we are always least when we
make ourselves the greatest."
"How many professors are there who have light
enough to know what should be done, but have not
love enough to do what they know !"
"If the sun be eclipsed but one day it attracts more
spectators than if it shone a whole year."
"The water zvithoiif the ship may toss it, but it is
the water zvithin the ship which sinks it."
"To do evil for good is human corruption; to do
good for good is civil retribution; but to do good for
evil is Christian perfection."
"A covetous man is fretful because he has not so
much as he desires; but a gracious man is thankful
because he has more than he deserves."
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Honey from Many Hives
*'We do not sail to glory in the salt sea of our own
tears, but in the red sea of a Redeemer's blood."
"We are so far from paying the utmost farthing
that at the utmost we have not a farthing to pay."
*'Our worldly comforts would be a sea to drown
us if our crosses were not a plank to save us."
"If youth be sick of the will-no ts, old age is in
danger of dying of the shall-nots/'
"God hath a crown for the runner but a curse for
the runaway."
"This is the day of God's long-suffering; but the
judgment day will be the day of the sinner's long-
suffering."
"All they who refuse and reject Christ as a re-
fining fire must be obliged to meet and feel him as a
consuming fire."
"If the night of death find thee graceless the day
of judgment will find thee speechless."
"God has three sorts of servants in the world:
some are slaves, and serve him from a principle of
fear; others are hirelings, and serve him for the sake
of wages; others are sons, and serve him under the
influence of love."
"To bless God for mercies is the way to increase
them. To bless God for miseries is the way to
remove them."
"No Christian has so little from Christ but there
is ground for praise; and no Christian has so much
but he has need of prayer."
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A Dozen Worthies
'*By fasting the body learns to obey the soul; by
praying the soul learns to command the body."
"Faith is the great receiver and love is the great
disburser."
"The only way to keep our crowns on our heads is
to cast them down at his feet."
"When once a man becomes a god to himself he
then becomes a devil to others."
"It is better to lose the smiles of men than the
souls of men."
"Reader, I would neither have you be idle in the
means nor make an idol of the means."
"A man can never enjoy himself till he be brought
to deny himself."
"The covenant of grace without us turns precepts
into promises, but the spirit of grace within us turns
promises into prayers."
"Good works may be our Jacob's staff to walk
with on earth, yet they cannot be our Jacob's ladder
to climb to heaven with. To lay the salve of our
services upon the wound of our sins is as if a man
who is stung by a wasp should wipe his face with a
nettle, or as if a person should busy himself in sup-
porting a tottering fabric with a burning firebrand.
In proof of sanctification good works cannot be
sufficiently magnified; but in point of justification
good works cannot be sufficiently nullified. The
lamp of duty can only shine clearly as it is trimmed
with the oil of mercy."
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Honey from Many Hives
"the art of always rejoicing/'
Alphonsus de Sarasa, author of the book with the
above title, was born of Spanish parentage in Flan-
ders, 1618. He was a ripe scholar, a profound
philosopher, and a great preacher. His many labors
early consumed a feeble frame, so that he died at the
age of forty-eight. But before departing he gave to
the world, in 1664, a work which has well perpetu-
ated his fame. Weigel, who translated it from the
Latin into German, styles it ''an incomparable and
golden book." The distinguished Leibnitz gave it
the highest praise. The large work, in fifteen trea-
tises, is now very rare; but a compendium of it
drawn up by the author himself, translated into
English from the Italian version, was published in
Boston twenty-five years ago. It is from this edition
we make our extracts :
"As Epictetus well says, men are troubled not by
things, but by the opinions they have about things.
And the mischief of such ideas consists in this, that
I wish to see everything done according to my
fancy; and because this does not happen I am an-
noyed at everything. This is the one thing in the
world which afflicts us, the sole wellspring of all our
troubles, the opinion that nothing is done as it ought
to be; by which we mean that nothing is done as we
would have it. In order to reach peace we must
correct this folly. What happens as we wish will
make us most happy."
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A Dozen Worthies
"The thought that God regulates all human events
with infinite wisdom, that everything happens by the
supreme design of God, is of the greatest use in com-
posing the mind to peace. It is sufficient to know
that all is governed by God, that 'nothing is done in
the world of sense and sight,' as St. Augustine af-
firms, Svhich is not by command or permission from
that invisible court.' Nothing which takes place in
nature happens by chance. And do not actions
which proceed from the free will of man happen
by God's disposing providence? We read in
Scripture that, having often foreseen them, he de-
scribed them to the prophets many years before, and
they came to pass afterward exactly as he had pre-
dicted. How could he know of them so long before,
and with such certainty, if chance and not his divine
mind had directed them?"
''The providence of God, in order not to interfere
in the least with man's free will, having foreseen in
the immense volume of events, and well weighed,
how each person would have acted under such or
such circumstances, selected those circumstances and
that position in which man could use his free choice
in such a way that his free action should lead infalli-
bly to that which God, in his wisdom, had fore-
ordained. For if you look at the proximate cause
leading to the result it may often appear to you to
be chance; but if you wish to enter into the mind of
God, who remotely disposes the said causes, you will
307
Honey from Many Hives
understand clearly the deep counsel which produces
that effect. 1 see it in the history of Joseph, as in
that of many others."
''We ought to consider all well done which is
done by God. Why should I feel disturbed about
human events when 1 see infinite wisdom presiding
over and ruling them? Am I so foolish as to be-
lieve that God does not know what is best to be
done; or that, though knowing it, he does not wish
to do it; or that, wishing it, he is not able to do it?
W^hatever may come I will certainly approve of it.
Nor can I do better than spare myself the least doubt
as to God's will being the best/'
''God selects that state of life which is most suita-
ble for each person. In no other state of life would
my salvation be so secure, nor in any other state
could I so well promote his glory. Whatever I am,
I am from God; and only because I am from
God I am what I am. And it is good for me to
be thus ; nor, if I could, would I wish to be other-
wise than I am, for fear of opposing so much wis-
dom."
"He who is contented with his state of life ought
also to be content with those things which led to it.
Do not lose your peace if, after having made use of
the means necessary for succeeding in your intention,
it was not the will of God that you succeed; for, if he
does not wish, though you were to move heaven
and earth you could not even raise yourself a hand's
308
A Dozen Worthies
breadth from your position. Nor, if you wish to live
happily, must you compare the condition of others
with your own. For if you wish to compare your-
self with others you must weigh all the troubles of
their state, nor wish to put them aside and only con-
sider the happy side; then compare the blessings and
the evils of your state with the blessings and the evils
of those whom you envy, and you will see clearly
that nothing is wanting to you, and that all has been
dealt out to you justly."
"If we are pleased with our own state of life we
ought to be pleased with everything belonging to it.
I ought to be content with my poverty, and not wish
to change it, because it is the state in which God
wishes me to be; if I am satisfied with what I am,
what can deprive me of peace?"
''We ought to be content with the annoyances in-
cident to our state of life. Do you suppose that any
state of life is without its peculiar trials and vexa-
tions? If so, you are mistaken. And it would be
necessary for us not to be men, if we would not
suffer calamity. He who wishes that the winds
should not blow, or the waves be in motion, does not
wish to sail, but to remain in the midst of the ocean
without reaching the port. And what are evil
tongues, evil-speaking, murmurings, calamities, and
injurious words but winds which guide us to our de-
sired haven? Evils would not disturb us were it
not for the opinion that we have of evils, for we
309
Honey from Many Hives
often think those things a hindrance which wonder-
fuUy assist us in our journey toward eternal hap-
piness. How often by the very circumstances which
I considered evils I have been led to that prosperity
to which I should not have attained under more
ordinary and peaceful circumstances!"
"Shall I wish to be otherwise than I am when by
means of those very daily things which happen to me
I am being conducted to eternal happiness? If you
can say with the poet, 'Wish to be what you are, and
wish nothing more than this,' you have found the
short road to happiness, and also the only true joy of
life. You can attain to this in any station, whatever
it may be; and if you are content with your own be-
cause it pleases God to place you in it you are already
happy."
''There is no other true happiness in the world
except that of a soul content with its condition.
This is the way to carry heaven about with you, and
to be filled with the delights of paradise in this valley
of tears. If you seek elsewhere for happiness you
will seek in vain."
"Perfection consists in this, not only in bearing
the changes of human fortune with patience, but in
welcoming them and approving of them. This is
true happiness, to wish things to be as they are, and
not otherwise; this is the root of that grand 'Thy
will be done,' by saying which we not only give God
our will, but also our intellect."
310
A Dozen Worthies
"We must, in order to have always a right frame
of mind, have a high conception of divine wisdom,
for this is the foundation of all human tranquillity.
Nor is it necessary for us to search into the reasons
of everything in order to keep our mind calm and
quiet ; it is only necessary to believe firmly that noth-
ing can take place in nature but what is ordered by
the divine providence of God."
''Whatever happens to me, I will be on thy side,
O my God, and will take thy part amongst men,
and I will bravely affirm that all happens to me
justly; for I shall ever be able to fight better when,
lamenting my evil passions, I defend thy holy de-
crees."
"li, O reader, this divine sentiment is firmly
rooted in your mind you are already happy and
blessed; you rejoice in tribulation, because your
faith sees clearly that those grievous things which
you suffer are ordered by the wise providence of
God, and you rejoice that they happen in order that
God's divine will may be accomplished. This is the
source of all joy. From this fountain springs that
peace which overflows our heart and which keeps it
at rest amidst the storms and turmoil of human
events. He who attains to this breathes a pure air
disquieted by no tempest; he has found the peace
which the world cannot give, and which gives him
happiness to the full."
311
Honey from Many Hives
''the practice of the presence of god/'
The seventeenth century gave us, as we have
already seen, Sir Thomas Browne, Rutherford,
Baxter, Seeker, and Sarasa. It gave us also a much
less distinguished man than these, one who was
altogether unlearned; who after having been a sol-
dier and a footman was admitted as a lay brother
among the barefooted Carmelites at Paris in 1666,
and was afterward known by the appellation of
Brother Lawrence, although Nicholas Herman was
his original name. Converted at the age of eighteen,
he walked before God on the earth until he was
eighty, when he was received up. He only left be-
hind him fifteen short letters, but their piety rescued
them from oblivion ; and prefixed to them are certain
conversations with him written by one of his con-
temporaries and published at the instance of the
Cardinal de Noailles. The substance of the ideas
presented will be discovered in the following para-
graphs :
"He told me that the foundation of the spiritual
life in him had been a high notion and esteem of God
in faith ; which when he had once well conceived he
had no other care at first but faithfully to reject
every other thought, that he might perform all his
actions for the love of God. That there needed
neither art nor science for going to God, but only a
heart resolutely determined to apply itself to nothing
but him, or for his sake, and to love him only."
312
A Dozen Worthies
*'He told me that all consists in one hearty renun-
ciation of everything which we are sensible does
not lead to God; that we might accustom ourselves
to a continual conversation with him, with freedom
and in simplicity. That we need only to recognize
God intimately present with us, to address ourselves
to him every moment. That the most excellent
method he had found of going to God was that of
doing our common business without any view of
pleasing men, and (as far as we are capable) purely
for the love of God. That his prayer was nothing
else but a sense of the presence of God, his soul
being at that time insensible to everything but divine
love; he continued with God, praising and blessing
him with all his might, so that he passed his life in
continual joy. That we ought not to be weary of
doing little things for the love of God, who regards
not the greatness of the work, but the love with
which it is performed."
"I have no will but that of God, which 1 endeavor
to accomplish in all things, and to which I am so
resigned that I would not take up a straw from the
ground against his order, or from any other motive
but purely that of love to him."
*T make it my business only to persevere in his
holy presence, wherein I keep myself by a simple
attention and a general fond regard for God, which
I may call an actual presence of God; or, to speak
better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation
313
Honey from Many Hives
of the soul with God. My continual care has been,
for above forty years, to be always with God; and
to do nothing, say nothing, and think nothing which
may displease him ; and this without any other view
than purely for the love of him, and because he
deserves infinitely more."
''Think of God the most you can. Let one accus-
tom himself, by degrees, to this small but holy exer-
cise ; nobody perceives it, and nothing is easier than
to repeat often in the day these little internal adora-
tions. A little lifting up of the heart suffices; a little
remembrance of God, one act of inward worship,
are prayers which, however short, are very accept-
able to God."
''There is not in all the world a kind of life more
sweet and delightful than that of a continual con-
versation with God. For the right practice of it the
heart must be empty of all other things. The pres-
ence of God is a subjecv which, in my opinion,
contains the whole spiritual life, and whoever duly
practices it will soon become spiritual."
"Let all our employment be to know God; the
more one knows him the more one desires to know
him. And as knowledge is commonly the measure
of love, the deeper and more extensive our knowl-
edge shall be, the greater will be our love ; and if our
love of God were great we should love him equally
in pains and pleasures."
314
A Dozen Worthies
'self-renunciation/^
The Abbe Guillore, a contemporary of Fenelon
and belonging to the same school of piety, lived just
about two centuries ago. His monument is the
treatise which he wrote on Self -Renunciation; or,
The Art of Dying to Self and Living for the Love
of Jesns. The book w^as composed, in French, in
the form of ''Conferences" addressed to a young
friend under the author's instruction. Most of it is
as w^ell adapted to the Protestants of to-day as to
the Roman Catholics of the past, for whom it was
primarily prepared. Some of the topics taken up
are: "Self-surrender the Only Path to Perfection;"
"The Importance of Little Things;" "The Sensitive-
ness of the Holy Spirit;" "Half-hearted Service;"
"The Interior Life of Jesus;" "Government of the
Tongue;" "The Greatness of God's Mercy." The
following extracts will give a taste of the quality of
the work:
"God's glory and forgetfulness of self — such
must be the aim of all true spiritual life. We offer
up our life to God's glory when every action, how-
ever trifling, is performed for his sake. There is
also a passive surrender to God, which lies chiefly
in a loving acceptance of whatever he may lay upon
us. He deigns to accept all, even our most trifling
actions; nothing is too worthless to be offered to
him, nothing is really unimportant, since we can
serve him thereby. Be assured there is no happiness
315
Honey from Many Hives
to be found on earth save in God, and in a complete
loving surrender of self to him."
''There are three things which are the ground-
work of all perfection, and which are attainable by
all who will seek them steadfastly. These are, first,
a calm exterior; second, a quiet heart; and, third,
simplicity in our dealings with God. External com-
posure is a great help to interior recollection. Of
course it is true that a recollected mind tends to
produce external tranquillity, but it is no less true
that habitual external calmness and self-control do
gradually promote interior recollection, and those
who would lead a hidden life must cultivate a calm,
unruffled demeanor in outward things. Watch the
lives of those who are closely united to Jesus, and
you will find that even externally they bear the signs
of an indescribable calmness and peace which none
else can know."
"An eager longing for success, or anxiety to
prove our own wisdom and judgment, tends also to
produce restlessness and perplexity of heart. Herein
lies real peace of mind and true detachment. The
soul that has learned to stay itself upon God does
not care to risk the loss of such heavenly rest for the
turmoil of this world's interests, and with the aid
of his grace it fulfills all needful exterior avocations
without being soiled or disturbed by their contact.
Before you can acquire a thoroughly tranquil heart
you must learn to care but little for the consequences
316
A Dozen Worthies
of what you do, leaving all such matters to God;
laboring to the best of your ability for him, and
being perfectly satisfied that he should grant success
or failure as he sees fit."
"But one thing in this life is needful to you, that
is, a heart stayed wholly on God."
''He never allows his creatures to exceed him in
generosity. He appreciates your sacrifice, and will
restore it fourfold, filling your soul with the gift of
his own peace."
''It is a great mistake to fancy that attention to
trifles in the spiritual life is unnecessary, or that
God's glory is only promoted in great things; it is
often harder to serve him well in seeming trifles than
in those we call great. Real self-mortification is
perpetual and knows no limit; its sincerity lies just
in that very fact, and in the necessity for bringing
every movement of the heart and of the body into
captivity. If you would advance in true holiness
you must aim steadily at perfection in little things,
and beware of supposing that you seek God's glory
in anything savoring of display and outward dem-
onstration. Great works seen and known of men
are too likely to carry the insidious poison of self-
satisfaction in their rear, filling us with a pleasant
impression of our own merits and importance as
compared with others. But when a man is steadfast
in conquering himself in little things, simply to
please God, such a single aim, and the detachment
317
Honey from Many Hives
which comes therewith, is a true offering to him,
and surely promotes his glory."
"Depend upon it, a ready spirit of censoriousness
is the rock on which many good men make ship-
wreck. Whenever it is possible, defend the absent,
or, if that is impossible, turn the conversation."
*'In the spiritual life one's sole aim should be to do
all that depends upon ourselves, and then to bear
patiently whatever depends upon God only. Those
who have learned to wait patiently have made a
vast stride in the spiritual life."
"It is a good rule in all we do to think less of the
duty to be fulfilled than of how we may keep close
to God while fulfilling it, so that our hearts may
be more engrossed by him than our hands with
work."
"Heedlessness and levity are flood gates through
which spiritual blessings soon flow away, and the
soul is left poor and barren."
"Habitual slackness is more destructive than
casual acts of mortal sin ; these last carry their own
terror and warning, while the many trifling sins
which accumulate where there is no effort to attain
perfection do not startle the conscience, and often
pass unnoticed."
"If our sufferings are caused by our fellow-men,
how often we fail to look beyond the immediate
cause to God, who is their real author, and in so
doing turn such crosses to our own hurt, giving way
318
A Dozen Worthies
to complaints, self-defense, or revenge, and calling
our troubles hard and unjust."
''Suffering is inevitable; the question is, will you
use it to your sanctification ? It is a hard thing to
suffer unprofitably when you have the power of
turning all your crosses into blessings through that
union with our dearest Lord which alone teaches us
to lose ourselves in finding him. You cannot set
aside the discipline; you may throw away all its
healing grace."
"True obedience waits gently and without weari-
ness, accepting what is in accordance with its own
wishes, or the contrary, in the same trustful, patient
spirit, having but the one aim — to please God.
Lovingly accept whatever he may lay upon you."
'^THE LOVE OF RELIGIOUS PERFECTION."
It was less than half a century ago, in 1851, that
there appeared in Rome a treatise with the above
title, which has passed through many editions in
different places and has been translated into several
languages. Some have compared it with The Imi-
tation of Christ and The Spiritual Combat, to both
of which it bears resemblance. The author was
Joseph Bayma, of whom we know nothing except
that, like Rodriguez, Guillore, and Sarasa, he was
a highly esteemed member of the Society of Jesus.
He wrote the volume primarily for his own improve-
ment, as an aid in carrying out the full idea of a
21 319
Honey from Many Hives
religious life, dividing it into three books, which
treat respectively of the motives, means, and exer-
cise of virtue. Among many other excellent things
he says: .
''Whoever takes no care to advance has already
begun to retreat, and become worse than he think-
eth. If thou wilt preserve what thou hast, aim at
what is mxore perfect."
"Let our study be to study what is more perfect.
If we fail, let us be sorry for it ; if we have an oppor-
tunity of practicing virtue, let us not pass it un-
heeded; let us take care to carry off each day some
little victory over our vices."
"If thou be still solicitous about earthly goods,
about the opinions of men, and worldly glory, be-
hold thou hast not yet given thy whole heart to God,
but kept it for thyself and the world."
"Meditation is the workshop of the spirit, the
auxiliary of virtues, and the nursery of good works.
It is the noblest exercise of self-denial, the torch of
the mind, the life of the will, the bearer of divine
grace, the anticipated likeness and imitation of the
joys of heaven."
"Blessed is he that studies daily to know Christ
more perfectly and advance in his love. The knowl-
edge of Christ pours joy and sweetness into the soul,
and renders the exercise of all virtues most easy."
"Thou shouldst care for nothing else in this world
but to become daily more dear to Christ."
320
A Dozen Worthies
"He that knows but little cannot know how much
remains for him to learn. But he that hath learned
much knows so much the better how much remains
yet to be learned by him. So they that are still full
of passions and unmortified in their will often think
that they have made sufficient progress; but holy
and perfect men mourn, and think themselves very
imperfect, for they see how much perfection they
have still to acquire."
''Think not thyself holy, all at once, because thou
dost foster holy desires ; for it is one thing to desire
and another thing to execute what is holy."
'Tf anything good befall thy brother, think it has
fallen to thyself ; be glad, and congratulate him from
thy heart. If any evil, think it has happened to thy-
self; be sorry, and sympathize with him from thy
very soul. If he seeks anything refuse him not; if
anything annoys him, do it not ; if he has formed a
judgment or opinion about anything, resist it not.
Be gentle, meek, polite, humble of heart; do not
contend or murmur; ridicule not, satirize hot, and,
unless it be thy duty, reprehend not."
''Virtues are barely acquired after much labor,
and are quickly lost by Idleness."
"We know not whether God may not have de-
creed that on our progress should depend the salva-
tion of many men, whose blood he will hereafter
demand at our hands."
"O that thou wouldst frequently turn over in
321
Honey from Many Hives
mind the thought of a blessed eternity! Assuredly
such a thought would excite thee to undergo labors,
stimulate thee to abandon thine own ease, and urge
thee to value nothing but virtue."
"Certainly pagans and infidels, and all that have
no hope, may well be sad; but by what right is a
servant of God overpowered with sadness in labors
and crosses to which the kingdom of heaven is
promised?"
'*I call heaven and earth to witness that I had
rather be a poor worm by the will of God than a
seraph on high without it. I had rather, with the
will of God, do nothing and be a martyr of idleness,
than without it convert the whole world and be a
martyr for the faith. I had rather, with the will of
God, lie hidden in some wretched corner under a
bushel than without it shine resplendent in the
heavens. I had rather be a stock, with the will of
God, than without it work miracles. Provided
always I execute what is well pleasing in thy divine
sight, wherever I am, whatever I do, I am quite
great enough, quite rich enough, quite happy
enough, quite wise enough."
322
A List of Titles
A LIST OF TITLES.
For the convenience of the reader, and his as-
sistance if disposed to procure for himself a set of
these books that he may make his own selections,
we append a list of titles, with publishers. Some of
the volumes are no doubt out of print, and only to
be picked up at secondhand stores. In the case of
some, notably The Imitation of Christ, there is a
vast variety of editions. No attempt has been made
to catalogue these. It could not be done without
an expenditure of time entirely out of proportion to
any probable benefit that would be conferred. The
authors are named here, as nearly as possible, in
chronological order; only such authors and books
being mentioned as are quoted from in the previous
pages. The number of authors, it will be seen, is
twenty, and the volumes about forty.
Augustine's Confessions. James Parker & Co.,
Oxford and London, 1868. Pp. 248.
Rivington, London. i6mo.
Andover, i860.
Tauler. Selections from the Life and Sermons of
the Rev. Doctor John Tauler. Roberts
Brothers, Boston, 1888. Pp. 155.
Theologia Germanica. Translated from the Ger-
man by Susanna Winkworth. With a Pref-
ace by the Rev. Charles Kingsley, and an
323
Honey from Many Hives
Introduction by Prof. Calvin E. Stowe, D.D.
W. F. Draper, Andover, Mass., and John P.
Jewett, Boston, i860. Pp. 275.
A Kempis. Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a Kem-
pis. With an Introductory Essay by Thomas
Chalmers, D.D., and a Life of the Author,
by C. Ullmann, D.D. Gould & Lincoln, Bos-
ton, 1863. Pp. 283.
D. Lothrop & Co., Boston. Pp. 207.
An Extract of the Christian's Pattern; or, A
Treatise on the Imitation of Christ, written
in Latin by Thomas a Kempis. By Rev.
John Wesley, A.M. Eaton & Mains, New
York. 24 mo, pp. 196.
ScupoLi. The Spiritual Combat. James Parker,
Oxford and London. Pp. 242.
Francis of Sales. Introduction to a Devout Life.
The Catholic Publication Society, New
York, 1870. Pp. 396.
A Treatise on the Love of God. P. O'Shea,
New York, 1868. Pp. 591.
Practical Piety. Webb & Levering, Louis-
ville. Pp. 360.
Rodriguez. Christian Perfection. Burns & Oates,
London. 2 vols. Pp. 408, 373.
Browne. Religlo Medici, by Sir Thomas Browne,
M.D., with the Observations of Sir Kenelm
Digby. Cassell & Co., New York. Pp. 192.
Baxter. The Saint's Everlasting Rest; or, A
324
A List of Titles
Treatise on the Blessed State of the Saints
in Their Enjoyment of God in Heaven. By-
Richard Baxter. Abridged by Benjamin
Fawcett. Worthington Company, New
York, 1888. Pp. 297.
Taylor. Holy Living and Dying; with Prayers:
containing the Complete Duty of a Christian.
By the Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. With a
Memoir of the Author. D. Appleton & Co.,
New York, 1865. Pp- 535-
Rutherford. Letters of the Rev. Samuel Ruther-
ford, with a Sketch of his Life, by the Rev.
A. A. Bonar. Robert Carter and Brothers,
New York, 1866. Pp. 554.
A Garden of Spices. Extracts from the Re-
ligious Letters of Rev. Samuel Rutherford.
By Rev. L. R. Dunn. Eaton & Mains, New
York.
Secker. The Nonsuch Professor in his Meridian
Splendor ; or, The Singular Actions of Sanc-
tified Christians, laid open in Seven Sermolis
at All-Hallow's Church, London Wall. By
William Secker. To which is added The
Wedding Ring, a Sermon by the same au-
thor. With an introduction by C. P. Krauth,
D.D. Sheldon & Co., New York, i860. Pp.
320.
A String of Pearls from an Old Casket. P. E.
Book Society, Philadelphia, i860. Pp. 160.
325
Honey from MAkv Hives
Sarasa. Compendium of the Art of Always Re-
joicing. By F. Alphonsus de Sarasa. H. A.
Young & Co., Boston, 1872. Pp. 140.
Lawrence. The Practice of the Presence of God
the Best Rule of a Holy Life ; being Conver-
sations and Letters of Brother Lawrence.
Willard Tract Repository, Boston. Pp. 67.
GuiLLORE. Self-Renunciation. From the French
of Guillore. With an Introduction by the
Rev. T. T. Carter. Rivingtons, London,
Oxford, and Cambridge, 1871. Pp. 345.
Fenelon. Christian Counsel on Divers Matters
Pertaining to the Inner Life. G. W. Mc-
Calla, Philadelphia. Pp. 160.
Spiritual Letters. Same publisher. Pp. 56.
Selections from the Writings of Fenelon, with
a Memoir of His Life. By Mrs. FoUen.
James Monroe & Co., Boston, 1858. Pp.
374-
Bayma. The Love of Religious Perfection; or.
How to Awaken, Increase, and Preserve It
in the Religious Soul. By Father Joseph
Bayma. John Murphy & Co., Baltimore,
1865. Pp. 254.
Upham. Principles of the Interior or Hidden Life,
designed particularly for the consideration
of those who are seeking Assurance of Faith
and Perfect Love. By Thomas C. Upham.
D. S. King, Boston, 1843. Pp- 4^^*
326
A List of Titles
Upham. a Treatise on Divine Union; designed to
point out some of the Intimate Relations be-
tween God and Man in the higher forms of
ReHgious Experience. H. V. Degen, Boston,
1851. Pp.435-
Life of Faith. Harper & Brothers, New York,
1864. Pp. 480.
Life of Madame Catharine Adorna; including
some leading facts and traits in her religious
experience, together with explanations and
remarks tending to illustrate the doctrine of
Holiness. Harper & Brothers, 1864. Pp.
249.
Life and Religious Opinions and Experience
of Madame de la Mothe Guyon; together
with some account of the personal history
and religious opinions of Fenelon, Arch-
bishop of Cambray. Harper & Brothers,
New York, 1874. Two vols., pp. 431, 377.
Faber. a Sketch of his Life, together with Selec-
tions from his Devotional Works in Poetry
and Prose, by Rev. James Mudge. Christian
Witness Company, Boston, 1885. Pp. 264.
Spiritual Conferences. By F. W. Faber, D.D.
John Murphy & Co., Baltimore, 1867. Pp.
472.
Growth in Holiness. By F. W. Faber, D.D.
Murphy & Co., Baltimore, 1866. Pp. 494.
(There are also six other prose works of Fa-
327
Honey from Many Hives
ber's, published by Murphy, whose titles are
given on a previous page. And there are
many editions of or selections from his
poems. There is an unabridged edition of
the Hymns, pp. 427, published by H. H.
Richardson & Co., New York, and Thomas
Richardson & Son, London.)
GouLBURN. Thoughts on Personal Religion ; being
a Treatise on the Christian Life in its two
chief elements, Devotion and Practice. D.
Appleton & Co., New York, 1866. Pp. 428.
Pursuit of Holiness ; a sequel to Thoughts on
Personal Religion. Intended to carry the
reader somewhat further onward in the
Spiritual Life. D. Appleton & Co., New
York, 1870. Pp. 261.
The Idle Word ; Short Religious Essays upon
the Gift of Speech, and Its Employment in
Conversation. D. Appleton & Co., New
York, 1866. Pp. 208.
An Introduction to the Devotional Study of
the Holy Scriptures. D. Appleton & Co.,
New York, 1866. Pp. 193.
328
INDEX
A PAGE
Absolute Surrender. 199
Advancement, Spiritual 52
" Art of Always Rejoicing " 306
Augustine, Confessions of 272
B
Baxter, Richard 298
Bayma, Joseph 319
Brief Petitions 43
Brotherly Love 54
Browne, Sir Thomas 289
c
Care of Our Time 135
" Christian Perfection " 51
" Confessions of St. Augustine " . . 272
Conformity to the Will of God 59
Contentedness 144
Conversation 99
Counsels, Miscellaneous 268
Cross, The 38
Crosses, Continual 171
D
Daily Faults 155
Degrees of Divine Union 201
Devotional Reading 9
Devotional Use of Scripture 263
Divine Love, Easy Ways of 161
Divine Presence 163
Do All for God 243
Do All in God 244
E
Edification 221
Emotion and Affection 257
Evening Exercise 95
PAGE
Every Event a Providence 190
Evil of Taking Offense 235
Evil-speaking 100
F
Faber, Frederick William 214
Faith in God 253
Faith, Receiving by 202
Fasting 97
Faults of Others 179
Fenelon i53
Francis of Sales 91
Freedom, Spiritual 197
G
God, Faith in 253
God, Glory of 217
God, Guidance of 206
God, Knowledge of 218
God , Presence of. 5^
God, Trust in 219
Good Thoughts from Everything.. 127
Goulburn, Edward Meyrick 242
Guillore 3^5
H
Hatred of Evil 248
Holy Indifference 108
*' Holy Living and Dying " 129
How to be Humble 83
How to Watch 175
How to Work 253
Human Will 167
Humble-mindedness 104
Humility 32, 140, 181
Index
I PAGE
Image of Christ 19S
" Imitation of Christ " 22
Independence 177
Indifiference, Holy 108
Interruptions 245
J
Joy and Sadness 67
K
Kempis, Thomas a 22
Kindness 238
Knowledge of God 218
L
Lawrence, Brother 512
Liberty of Spirit , 40
Little Things 115
Living by the Moment 205
Love, Brotherly 54
Love of Jesus 35
Love of Our Neighbor 250
Love of Our Own Opinion 121
" Love of Religious Perfection ". . 319
Love to God 150
Love to God, when Most Perfect. . 112
Lukewarmness 223
M
Meditation 65
Moderation 182
Morning Exercise 94
Mortification 72
Mortification of Our Members 256
o
Obstinacy 66
Offense, Evil of Taking 235
P
Patience 42, 125
Patience, The Work of 230
Peace of Mind and Heart 261
Perfect Love, Best Proof of 194
" Perfection, Love of Religious ". . 319
Perfection not Reached in a Mo-
ment 158
Perfection of Our Ordinary Actions 71
Perfection to be Sought Sensibly.. 116
Praise of Men 36
PAGE
Prayer 81
Presence of God 56
Presence of God,Practice of the.. 138, 312
Presence, The Divine 163
" Professor, The Nonsuch " 302
Providence, Every Event a 190
Purity of Intention 132, 225, 246
Q
Quietness of Spirit 102
R
Rash Judgments 76
Receiving by Faith 202
Recollection 228
"Rejoicing, Art of Always" 306
" Religio Medici" 280
Religious Maxims 209
Renouncing All, What It Means. . 172
Right Desires 27
Rodriguez, Alphonse de 51
Rutherford's Letters 293
s
" Saint's Everlasting Rest " 298
Sarasa, Alphonsus de 306
Scripture, Devotional Use of. 263
Scupoli 285
Seeker, William 302
Self-deceit 233
Self-denial 72
" Self-denunciation " 3^5
Self-will, Fever of 120
Signs of Progress 226
Simplicity 232
Simplicity and Purity 34
Sir Thomas Browne 289
Spiritual Advancement 52
" Spiritual Combat " 285
Spiritual Freedom 197
Suggestive Sentences 45
Surrender, Absolute 199
Sweetness of Temper 123
T
Tauler, John 275
Taylor, Jeremy 129
Temptations 29, 69, 95, 229
'■'■ Tkeologia Germanica" 2^^
Index
PAGE
Time, Care of Our 135
True Learning 26
True Prayer 165
Trust in God 219
u
Upham, Thomas C 188
V
Vainglory 78
Various Advices 183
Virtue Tested 119
W PAGE
Way to Peace 31
What Shuts Christ from Us 259
When Love to God is Most Perfect n2
Will, Human 167
Will of God, Conformity to the... 59
Words, Proper Function of 266
Work, How to 252
z
Zeal for Improvement 24
331
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