Yale University Library-
Presented in Memory of
Charles Andrew Armstrong Bennett
Professor of Philosophy in Yale University
By Several of his Friends
This Memorial Collection
was Established in 1934 with the Books
on Mysticism Gathered in London by
Edward Hubbard Russell Ph.B. 1878
Yale College
THE TREATISE
OF
ALBERTUS MAGNUS,
[1193—1280.]
DE ADHiERENDO DEO:
OF ADHERING TO GOD.
A Translation rom the Latin.
LONDON:
CHARLES GILPIN, BISHOPSGATE STREET,
AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.
Entered at Stationers Hall.]
INTRODUCTION.
The following little Treatise of Aebertus Magnus,
is one of the few productions of the middle ages which
retain actual value by the quality that renders the in¬
struction as perfect and applicable now as in the days
when knowledge was so far behind its present advance¬
ment.
The author, directing his address to the mind of the
reader, leaves far distant the outward circumstances,
habits, and forms of his own and all times, and deals
wholly with that which constitutes the immaterial, immor¬
tal reasonable creature, born in time to live on through
eternity.
The memory, that storehouse of our knowledge, he
shews must be cleared of the materialities which feed
the imagination with forms and fictions of fancied
good, on which the affections dwell: the will, that
master of the mind, must be bent in complete humility,
to rise in the new life of divine love and heavenly aspira¬
tion : the intellect awakened from the apprehension of the
things that dwell in carnal affection, and perish in the
using, to the knowledge and understanding of the things
that belong to God and eternity. He discourses of that
ii
introduction.
which all who have possessed, have pronounced inesti¬
mable;—inward religion.
Albertus Magnus of the family of the Counts of
Bollstadt, lived from 1193 (or according to some, 1205) to
1280. Attached to the Dominican order, his preference
was for seclusion and study, but his public life was
significant and vrorthy in a special degree when viewed
by the contrast of the majority in parallel circumstances.
As a lecturer aud public teacher, he labored at Cologne,
Paris, Rome, and Lyons; and became a recognised
leader of learning and piety of that time. As bishop of
Ratisbon he occupied himself almost wholly with the
spiritualities of his office, and afterwards resigned his
bishoprick in order to a more complete devotion to the
exercises of study, meditation, and piety. In almost
every department of learning, he was far in advance of
the age, and few sciences are free from some obligation
for contributions afforded by his powerful and diligent
mind. His erudition was comprehensive. His writings
were very numerous. The dulness and grossness, not
only of the popular mind, but of the reputed educated of
the time, besides the ill method of communicating
knowledge, led to many misapprehensions of his engage¬
ments and purposes; and begat, as might be expected,
various and absurd descriptions of some of his acts and
productions. To him were attributed both then, and
subsequently, many things that probably were wholly
unconnected with him, or which correctly related, and
INTRODUCTION.
Ill
viewed in a light of competent judgment, would stand
with the soap-bubble experiments of the later philosopher,
and be subject to similar interpretations. Nor will it be
forgotten, that as far as science was concerned, he can
be justly viewed only with the features of the age in
which he lived. Among his apologists and admirers,
rank some of the highest names of modern times. The
illustrious Humboldt says of him with Roger Bacon, in
respect of their scientific research, " they were the first
who boldly rent asunder the fetters of the intellect; and j
thus as it were, absolved nature, and restored her to her
ancient rights," particularising some of the results of his
study with expressions of delight and admiration. His
character and works have come under the review and
commendation of Naude and Theophilus Raynaud, of
Brucker in his history of Philosophy; Buhle in the
Jahrbuch der geschichte der philosophic, and Tiedemann
in the history of speculative Philosophy. His highest
and lasting praise however must rest on the subject of
his piety, and the fruits of his meditation and thought
during a long and diligent life. On the theme of
spiritual vital intercourse with God, he becomes wholly
free from all that obscures and disqualifies. By personal
experience, he knew the mind of the Spirit; had drank
of the water from the rock in the desert, and rejoiced in
the hope of higher and fuller enjoyments when released
from the body. The treatise in question was the highest
teaching of his well instructed soul. Flowing from the
IV IXTEODTTCTIOX.
centre of a mind, which fixed on the immoveable ground
of faith, had surveyed the glorious realities of the world
in which spirit only lives,] Tt shews that the antepast of
that rest which remains for the people of God could
and should now be enjoyed by the new-born, in the
harmonising influence upon every faculty of the mind
which the contemplation of it induces. As others, who
have tasted of the powers of the world to come, he felt
and saw that the great antagonising power was the world
present, in ali its material relations and occurrences,
distracting and dissipating the capacities of the intellect,
and absorbing the affections of the soul; and by personal
actual process was fitted to give the precious counsel
afforded in this treatise " Of adhering to God." There is
nothing that partakes of private bias, or a color of aught
that is misanthropic, or peculiar to a particular notion or
profession; nothing needing palliation or exception.
The indwelling love speaking in the outflowing charity
of act, the truth of God here as ever, shews itself the only
universal.
No earnest, thoughtful, and devout reader of the
Bible, and especially of the New Testament can fail to
have been struck with the power and beauty of many
passages, which, like jewels in the golden shrine, possess
an intensity of worth and meaning which language cannot
possibly exhaust or explore : they are alone to be appre¬
hended by that vital perception which transcends the
utmost delicacy and force of words;—they are altogether
INTRODUCTION. V
intrinsic, cannot be described, must be seen and known
each for himself. To lead the mind in this upward
progress, divesting itself of own works, own words, own
imaginations ; pointing the focus of those rays of divine
light, which, discerned by the souls' whole faculty, their
purity, simplicity, and harmony become more and more
revealed—this is the purpose of the treatise "Of adhering
to God."
OF ADHERING TO GOD.
CHAPTER I.
I HAVE purposed with myself, with the greatest
accuracy, (as far as it is possible in this our exile and
pilgrim state) to give a description of the absolute and
plenary abstraction from all things, and our ready,
secure, naked, and firm adhering to our Lord God
alone: and this the rather, because the very end of
Christian perfection, is charity (or Divine love,)
whereby we cleave to, and are made one with, the
Lord our God. To which Divine adhesion by love,
every one is bound that hopes for salvation; and is
performed by the observance of the precepts, and
conformity to the will of God; the observance whereof,
excludes whatsoever is repugnant to the essence and,
habit of charity. By such means we more readily
arrive at our ultimate end, which is God; by the
observance of which are likewise excluded all those
things, which clog and hinder the activity and fervour!
of eharity, from carrying us up into our Lord God;
such as are the denying of all things, yea, even of our
2
own soul and body; for seeing that our Lord God is a
spirit, they that would worship Him, must do it in spirit
and in truth: that is, with knowledge and love, with the
understanding and affection, devoid of all phantasms, or
images. To this purpose, is that command of our Lord,
But thou, when thou pray est, enter into thy closet;
that is, the inmost retreat of thy heart; and when thou
hast shut thy door, viz. the door of thy senses upon
thee; there do thou, with a pure heart, and good
conscience, and faith unfeigned, pray to thy Father
which is in secret, in spirit and in truth. Which is
then best done, when a man being disentangled and
divested of all other things, and wholly retired within
himself; and having forgot and shut out all, and every
thing, in the presence of Jesus Christ, the mind alone
doth in silence, with faith and assurance, lay open her
desires before her Lord God; and thus, by the entirest
affection of her heart and love, doth most sincerely and
fully pour forth and plunge herself into God, with the
inmost marrow and strength of all her powers; dilating,
inflaming, and dissolving herself wholly into Him.
3
CHAPTER II.
NOW whosoever desires, and makes it his business
to undertake and enter upon this state or kind of life;
it is needful that he, as it were, shutting his eyes and
senses, do not concern or trouble himself with, or be
careful and solicitous about anything whatsoever; but
totally reject and renounce all things as impertinent,
hurtful, and pernicious; and in the next place, that he
wholly retire within himself, and in that retirement,
entertain no other object, but Jesus Christ alone, and
him crucified, and so press on through him, into him,
i. e. through man into God; through the wounds of his
humanity, into the inmost recess of his divinity; and
there, without any further disputing, readily and securely
commit himself and all his concerns to his indefatigab le
Providence, according to that of St. Peter, casting all
your care upon him, who can do all. And again, be
solicitous for nothing. And that of the psalmist, cast
thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee; and
again, I have set the Lord always before me; and with
the spouse in the Canticles, I have found him whom my
soul loveth; because, as wisdom saith, all good things
come together with it. This is that hidden Heavenly
treasure, and that precious pearl which cannot be
4
purchased, but by the parting with all that we have,
this being preferred before all, in the strength of the
Spirit. For what advantage will it be to one that
hath dedicated himself to God, if he gain the whole
world, but at the same time suffer loss in his soul ? Or
of what profit is the highest profession of religion, or a
seeming holy conversation, without living in the spirit
of Truth and humility, wherein Christ dwells, through
faith wrought and formed by love; wherefore we are
told that the kingdom of God is within us: which is
no other than Jesus Christ himself.
5
CHAPTER III.
SURE it is that the more solicitously busy the mind
is in thinking and managing these inferior and human
affairs, at the greater distance it puts itself from superior
and heavenly objects, and true inward devotion; and
on the contrary, the more fervently she recollects herself
from the memory, affection, and understanding of
things here below, and betakes herself to those above,
the more perfect will her prayer be, and the more pure
her contemplation; because it is impossible she should
be perfectly intent on both these together, they being as
opposite as light and darkness. For he that cleaves to
God, is, and walks, in the light; but he that sticks to
the world, gropes into the dark. Whence the most
sublime perfection of man in this life is this, to be so
far united to God, that his whole soul, with all its
powers and faculties, be to that degree gathered up
into the Lord his God, that he may become one spirit
with him, so as to remember nothing but God, to feel
or understand nothing but God; and that all his affec¬
tions being united and centred in the joys of love, may
sweetly repose in the sole fruition of their Creator.
For the image of God impressed on the soul, consists
in these three faculties, viz. reason, memory, and will:
6
and as long as these do not wholly receive their stamp
and impress from God, the soul is not deiform, according;
to the intent and scope of its first creation. For God
is the form of the soul, by whom the soul must be
impressed, as the wax is by the seal. Now this can
never be fully performed, until reason be, according to
its capacity, perfectly illuminated with the knowledge
of God, who is the sovereign truth; and the will be
perfectly bent and taken up, in loving the supreme good;
and the memory he wholly employed in the beholding
and enjoying of eternal happiness, and in a sweet and
delightful repose and acquiescence in the same. And
forasmuch as in the consummate possession ot these,
consists the glory of the bliss of Heaven, it is evident
that the true beginning and anticipation of these, is the
perfection of this life.
7
CHAPTER IV.
HAPPY therefore is the man, who by a continual
effacing of all phantasms and imaginary representations,
and by introversion, and the lifting up his mind into
God, at last, in a manner, forget and leave behind him
all images, and by these means, consequently, operating
inwardly with a naked, simple, and pure intellect and,
affection, about the most pure and simple object, God.
Wherefore thou must reject and cast out of thy mind
all phantasms, representations, and images, and the
forms of all things besides God, to the eud that thy
whole exercise about God within thee may depend only
of thy naked intellect, affection, and will. For indeed,
the true end of all thy holy exercises is this, that thou
do intend and repose in the Lord God within thee, by
the purest act of intellection, and the devoutest affection,
without all representations or entanglements whatsoever.
For this exercise cannot be discharged by any corporal
organs, or the external senses, but by that part in man,
by which he is man. Now that which constitutes a
man, is understanding and love; and therefore as
long as man sports it with his imagination and senses,
and fixeth there, he is not yet got beyond the motions
B
8
and bounds of bis bestial nature, that is, of that part
within him, which he hath common with brute beasts ;
forasmuch as they do perceive, and are affected with
such sensible representations, and no other, because the
power of their soul reacheth no higher. But the case
is otherwise with man, who is created in the image of
God, according to his intellect, affection, and free-will;
which must be immediately, purely, and nakedly im¬
prest by God, and become united, and firmly cleave
unto him. Wherefore also the devil doth with all
possible diligence endeavour to hinder and disturb this
exercise, as far as in him lies, forasmuch as he knows
it to be an entrance and anticipation of eternal life;
which makes him to envy so great a happiness to man.
For which reason he always endeavours to estrange
and alienate the mind of man from his Lord God;
sometimes by one temptation, sometimes by another;
sometimes by one passion, and sometimes by another;
sometimes by superfluous solicitousness, and indiscreet
carking; sometimes by disturbance, dissolute conversa¬
tion, and unreasonable curiosity; sometimes by the
study of curious and subtle writings, impertinent dis¬
courses, reports, and news; sometimes by adversity,
9
and sometimes by prosperity. Which though some¬
times they may seem to us to be very light, and in a;
manner, no sins at all, are nevertheless, great lets and ■
_ hindrances to this holy exercise and work. And there-,
fore, however they may represent themselves to us as
profitable and necessary, yet are immediately to be
rejected and disowned, as hurtful and pernicious,
whether they be small or great, and to be wholly
expelled and cast out of our senses. Accordingly it
is highly necessary that all things heard, seen, done,
or spoken, and other such like, be received by us
without phantoms (images) or dwellings upon them;
and that neither afterwards, nor before, nor at the
pei ceiving of them, we do form or feed any representa¬
tions; and when thus a phantom does not enter the
memory and the mind, then can it neither hinder a man;
in his prayer, meditation, and singing of psalms, or in
any other spiritual operation or exercise whatsoever;
neither will it ever again obviate and disturb him.
Thus do thou readily and securely commit thy whole
self, and all and every one of thy concerns in silence
and rest to the infallible and most certain Providence
and wise disposal of the Divine Majesty, who himself
10
| will appear for thee in this combat, and fight for thee,
jand will with more honour and sweetness deliver and
'comfort thee, than if thou shouldest continually, night
and day, hammer upon the anvil of thy thoughts and
imagination about it; aud with a vain, vagabond, and
yet captived mind, foolishly run up and down from
one contrivance to another, spending thy precious time
in tiring thy mind and body, and foolishly consuming
the strength of them both. Wherefore do thou receive
all, and everything, whensoever or howsoever they
come upon thee, with an even temper, in silence and
tranquillity, as reached forth to thee by the hand of
the \ Paternal ^Divine Providence. Divest therefore
thyself of the images and phantoms of all bodily
things, according to the exigency of thy state and
prefcssion, that with a naked and simplified mind, thou
hast so frequently and entirely devoted thyself, that
there may be nothing to mediate or interpose between
thy soul and him, that so with a pure and fixed view,
thou mayest raise thyself from the wounds of his
manhood, into the glorioijs light and love of his
Godhead.
11
CHAPTER V.
IF so be therefore, thou dost desire and endeavour,
by a straight, safe and short path, to arrive to the end
of true bliss, here and hereafter, of grace and glory,
then do thou with an intent mind, earnestly aspire after
continual cleanness of heart and purity of mind, with a
constant calm and tranquillity of thy senses, and
recollecting the affections of thy heart, continually fix
them above, on the Lord thy God; withdrawing thyself
in the meantime from thy familiars and acquaintance,
and, as far as lies in thee, from all men, and from all
things that might be a let or hindrance to thy holy
purpose; always watching an opportunity where and
when thou mayest find place and time, for sweet rest
and contemplation, and the enjoyment of the secret
pleasures of silence, avoiding the shipwrecks of this
present world, and the noise, hurry, and confusion of
it. Wherefore let this be thy chief study at all times,
how thou mayest attain to cleanness, purity, and rest of
heart, that so continually, having shut the doors of
thy carnal senses, thou mayest turn into thyself, and
lock up thy heart, as far as is possible, from the repre-
12
, sentations of all sensible tilings, and the imaginations of
earthly objects. It is this purity of heart that excels
all spiritual exercises whatsoever, as being the final
intention, aim, and reward for all the labours which
a religious and spiritual man takes in this life. Where¬
fore do thou with all diligence, application, and en¬
deavour, rid thy heart, senses and affections from all
these things that may impede its freedom; and from
every other concern of the world, that hath the least
power to allure, bind, and captivate thee. And so
strive to recollect and gather up all the wandering
excursions of thy heart, and all the affections of thy
mind, into that one, true, simple, and Supreme good;
and to keep them always recollected within thyself, as
in one place: and by this means, endeavour always to
cleave with thy mind to God and Divine things, and
leaving thy earthly frailty behind, strive to transform
thyself continually into the pattern of the Heavenly
things, through thy inward communion with, and
retirement into Jesus Christ. Wherefore if thou makest
it thy business to strip and purify thyself from all
images and representations, and with trust and confi¬
dence, to simplify and quiet thy heart and mind in the
13
Lord thy God, that thou, mayest feel, nad take in the
fountain of the Divine good pleasure in all thy inward
parts, and by thy good will be united to God in thy
intellect or understanding, this exercise alone will be
sufficient for thee, and serve instead of all study, and
reading of the holy Scriptures, and will advance thee
to the love of God and thy neighbour, according as the
anointing teacheth thee. Wherefore with all study,
do thou labour and endeavour to simplify thy heart,
that being immoveable, and at peace from any intruding
vain phantasms, thou mayest always turn thyself to, and
stand fast in the Lord, within thee, to that degree, as if
thy soul was got into the always present now of
eternity, that is, of the Deity ; in such a manner, that
for the love of Jesus Christ, from a pure heart, a good
conscience, and faith unfeigned, thou mayest wholly
forsake and leave thyself, and entirely and fully commit
thy whole self to God in all tribulation and every event
whatsoever, always desiring to be patiently resigned
and obedient to his will and good pleasure.
Now to the end, that thou mayest come to this state,
it is necessary for thee, frequently to return to thine
own heart, and to abide there; ridding thyself, as
14
far as is possible, of all things, preserving the eye of
thy mind continually in purity and rest, voiding thy
intellect of all images and representations of inferior
things, setting free the affection of thy will from all
earthly cares, and with a fervent love, from the very
bottom and root of thy soul, cleaving to the true
supreme Good, having thy memory also continually
lifted upwards, and firmly fixed and grounded in the
same alone true sovereign, essential, and uncreated
Good, to the end, that thy whole soul, with all its
powers and faculties, being thus gathered up into God,
may become one Spirit with him, which is the highest
perfection attainable in this life. It is this unity of
Spirit and love, whereby man is made conform in all
his desires and wishes with the Supreme and eternal
will, so as that he becomes that by grace, which God
is by nature. And here we are to observe, that in
that very moment wherein any man by the grace of
God overcomes his own will, that is, his inordinate
love and liking, so as to dare fully and totally trust
the Lord God with all his needs and concerns, he does
so highly please God, that he freely bestows upon him
such a degree of grace, by which he feels that true
15
charity and love begot in him which expels all doubts
and fears, and gives him a sure and confident hope in
God. Wherefore nothing can be more happy and
advantageous for us, than to cast our All upon him in
whom there is no want. And seeing that as long as
thou standest in thyself, thou dost not stand fast, cast
thy whole self securely upon God, and he will take thee
up, heal thee and save thee. If thou dost but continu¬
ally resolve these things in thy mind, thou wilt find
them more conducive to a truly happy life, than all the
riches, pleasures, profits and honors, yea, and all the
supposed wisdom and knowledge to boot, of this deceiv¬
ing and corruptible world; yea, though thou shouldst
excel in all these, all that ever were before thee.
16
CHAPTER VI.
WHEREFORE seeing that by how much the more
thou shalt empty thyself of all images, and external,
worldly, and sensible entanglements, by so much the
more thy soul will recover its primitive strength and
vigour, and the use of its internal senses to perceive and
relish those things that are above; do thou endeavor to
quit all phantasms and imaginary representations of
bodily things, because, nothing is more pleasing and ac¬
ceptable to God, than a mind divested of all such like
forms and images, for his delights are with the sons of
men, that is such, who with a calm mind, purified and
simplified from all these occupations, distractions, and
passions, do intend, apply, and cleave to him, making
him their whole business. For otherwise, if thy
memory, imagination and thoughts be often busied
about these things, it must needs be inveighled, either
with some new things, or the remains of some formerly
entertained, or be variously affected and distracted with
other occurring objects. For the holy spirit of disci-
17
pline, as the wise man saith, removes itself from thoughts
that are without understanding. Wherefore a true
lover of Jesus Christ, must be so united in his intellect
through good will, to the divine will and goodness,
and be so naked and stripped of all phantasms and
passions, as not so much as to take notice whether he
be derided and flouted at, or loved and honoured, or
whether anything else happen to him. For a good
will makes up all, and is above and beyond all:
wherefore if there be a good will, and that the same
in the intellect be purely conform and united to God,
it can do no hurt, though the flesh or sensuality and
the outward man should incline to sin, and be back¬
ward and dead to that which is good; yea, even
though the inward man also, should be dead and
listless to anything of devotion; for in this case it is
sufficient for a man by faith and good will, nakedly
to cleave to God in the intellect or supreme part of
the soul.
And this he will do, if he throughly perceive and be
sensible of his own imperfection and nothingness, and
know that all his good consists, and is in his Creator ;
18
and if with all his powers and faculties he abandon I
himself and all creatures, and totally plunge his |
whole self into his Creator, so as to direct all his
actions purely and entirely to his Lord God, as the
sole end and scope of them all, seeking or desiring
nothing beside him, in whom he perceives himself
to have found all good, with all happiness and per¬
fection. And by this process he becomes in a manner
transformed into God, to that degree, that he can
neither think, nor understand, nor love, nor remember
anything but God, and the things of God; neither
doth he love anything save God alone, nor remember
or make mention of them or himself, but in God.
Now this knowledge of the truth makes a soul very
bumble, judging itself, but not another; whereas on
the contrary, the worldly wisdom makes the soul
proud, vain, arrogant, and puffed up with wind. Let
us lay down this therefore for a spiritual and funda¬
mental doctrine; that he who would draw near to
the knowledge, service, and familiarity or communion
with God, and that would really possess him, must
of necessity wholly strip and divest his heart Irom all
19
sensible love, not only of every person whatsoever,
but of every creature; to the end, that with a simple
and entire heart he may reach forward and press
unto the Lord God his Creator, freely without all
duplicity, care, or solicitousness, with a full assured
trust and confidence in his Providence, as to all his
concerns.
20
CHAPTER VII.
MOREOVER, as it is said in the book of the
spirit and the soul; to mount to God, is to enter into
one's self. For he who inwardly entering, and inti¬
mately penerating into himself, gets above or beyond
himself, he truly mounts up to God. Let us therefore
gather up our hearts from the various distractions of
this world, and recall them to the joys within, that we
may at last be able to fix them in the light of divine
contemplation. For this is the true life and rest of
our heart, when by desire it is fixed in the love of
God, and sweetly refreshed with his divine comfort
But the reason why in the experimental taste and
relish hereof we are manifoldly hindered, so as that we
can by no means reach to him, is plainly this, because
the mind of man being distracted with solicitousness,
doth not enter into itself by the memory; being over¬
shadowed (clouded) with phantasms, doth not retire
into herself through the intellect, being allured by
lusts and concupiscence, doth not turn into herself,
through the desire of eternal sweetness, and spiritual
21
joys; and being thus wholly taken up with these
sensible and present things, she can never enter into
herself, viz. the image of God, in herself. It be-
hoveth therefore above all things, and is necessary,
that with humble reverence, and great confidence, the
mind raise itself, above itself, and every creature, by a
total denying and renouncing of them all; and say
within herself, He whom of all things, before all things,
and above all things I seek, love, long for, and desire;
is neither sensible, nor imaginable, but above every¬
thing that is sensible and intelligible too : he is not to
be perceived by any sense, but wholly desirable by
full and perfect desire; neither is he figurable, or
representable, but to be most perfectly longed for, by
the most intimate affection. He is not to be rated or
valued, but wholly to be affected with a pure heart,
as being above all things amiable, and delectable; and
of infinite goodness, and perfection. And thus she is
carried into the darkness of the mind, and becomes
higher raised within herself, and enters deep into
herself. And this manner of ascending to the enig¬
matical, or obscure vision of the most Holy Trinity in
unity, and unity in Trinity, in Jesu Christ, is by so
22
much the more fervent, by how much the power of
elevation is more intimate to the mind, and so much the
more fruitful and profitable, by how much it is nearer,
and stronger in affection. For in spiritual things, those
are accounted higher, which are more inward, as to
spiritual experience. Wherefore, do thou never leave,
never rest, until thou get a taste of some pledges or
foretastes of the fulness that is to come ; and till thou
perceive the sweetness of the divine loveliness, by some
little first fruits; and not cease running after her in the
perfume of her good ointments, until thou come to see
the God of Gods in Sion. For, in thy spiritual pro¬
gress, and in this union with, and cleaving to God
within thyself, thou must neither^desist, nor give back,
until thou hast obtained what thou lookest for; whereof
we may take an example from those who are going
up an high hill: for if in this ascent our spirit through
lust and desire, comes to plunge itself into the transitory
things here below, it immediately, is led out of the
way, by infinite distractions, and crooked winding
paths; and being manifoldly divided, is scattered in
itself, according to the multiplicity of the objects its
concupiscence desires: when necessarily follows, motion
23
Without steadiness, running without attaining, and
labour without rest. But, if on the other side, our
heart and spirit do withdraw itself bj desire and love
from the infinite distraction of inferior things here
below, wholly quitting them, and by little and little
gathering up herself into that one unchangeable, all-
sufficient good, learn and accustom herself to stay at
home, and with her whole affection do inseparably
cleave unto it; so much the more she is gathered up
into one, and fortified, by how much she is elevated
by understanding and desire, to the things that are
above; and becomes so habitually fixed and established
in the Supreme Good within herself, till at length, she
be made altogether immutable, and arrive at that true
life, which is the Lord God himself; so as that per¬
petually, without any vicissitude of change, or time,
she now reposeth herself in that inward quiet, and
secret mansion of the Deity 5 being perfectly fixed
and settled within herself, in Christ Jesus, mho is the
may, to those that come to him, the truth, and the
life.
C
24
CHAPTER VIII.
J? I SUPPOSE, that from what hath been already
[said, thou dost perceive that the more thou shalt divest
[thyself from images, and all worldly and created things,
and by good will be united in thy intellect to God, the
hearer thou wilt approach to the state of innocence,
and perfection; than which, what can he conceived
better, more happy, or more delightful? To which
purpose, nothing can be of more avail, than that thou
keep thy mind naked of all manner of phantasms, and
amages, and from all entanglements whatsoever, so as
not to be concerned, or trouble thyself, neither about
the world, nor about friends, or adversity; neither
about anything past, present, or to come, either in
thyself, or in others; no, nor over much about thine
own sins; but with a certain pure simplicity, suppose
thyself to be naked, and alone with God, without the
world; for if thy soul were already launched into
eternity, and separated from the body, surely it would
not be busied about secular matters, nor would it be
concerned about the course of the world, neither about
peace, nor war; fair, or foul weather; or any other
25
temporal thing, but would uniformly and totally
intend, be at leisure for, and cleave to God alone:
in like manner, do thou now (according to the present
possibility) leave thy body, and all creatures present,
and to come, and steadily fix the view of thy mind
and spirit, according to thy utmost power, nakedly and
readily upon that uncreated light, that thy spirit may
be so stripped and divested of all phantasms, and
from all entanglements, and cloudy over-shadowings,
as may be supposed that of an angel tied to a body,
who is not hindered by the activity of the flesh,
neither is entangled with vain and hurrying thoughts.
Let thy spirit therefore fortify itself against all tempta¬
tions, vexations, injuries, and affronts whatsoever; so
that with the greatest unconcernedness, and evenness
of temper, it may immoveably persevere in God, in
adversity, as in prosperity. When listlessness to that
which is good, or confusion of mind, do chance to seize
thee, do not thou therefore think strange, or be dis¬
couraged: neither run thou, upon this account, to
vocal prayers, or other ways of comfort: but let this
only be thy exercise, that thou awaken and stir up
thyself through good will in the intellect, that so thou
mayest cleave to God with thy mind, whether thy
sensual part will or not. For, a devout and truly
26
religious soul ought to be so intimately united to God,
and to have, and make his will so conform to the
divine will, that it may not busy itself with, nor
cleave to any creature whatsoever, any more than
she did before she was created; and as it there were
nothing at all besides God and;the soul; and that it
may with an even temper take all and everything that
happens to it, securely, and infallibly, from the
gracious hand of the Divine Providence in all things,
uniformly suffering the Lord, in patience, tranquillity,
and silence. Wherefore it appears, that to strip the
mind of all phantasms, doth above any other exercise
whatsoever, avail and conduce to a spiritual life, in
which, by good will, thou mayest be united to, and
become like to God, in thy intellect* For by this
means, there will be nothing to mediate, or intervene
betwixt thee and God. Consider therefore, how
greatly thou dost degenerate from the nobility of thy
being, and how highly thou sinnest against the Lord
thy God, and against all his righteousness, if thou
with thy will and love do cleave to the creature,
rather than to the Creator; by this means, preferring
the creature before the Creator.
•27
CHAPTER IX.
FORASMUCH therefore as all things besides God,
are the effect and work of the Creator, having their
power and being, and whatsoever they are or can,
stinted and limited; and as at first they were produced
out of nothing, so are still surrounded with nullities,
and nothingness, and of themselves tend to nothing;
it follows, that they must necessarily, every moment
receive their existence, conservation, activity, and
whatsoever else may be in them, from the sovereign
workman God, as being in, and of themselves, insuffi¬
cient for themselves, and others; to whose Divine
working they being compared, have the same pro¬
portion, as nothing to something, or a finite thing to
that which is infinite. Wherefore, let all our con¬
templation, life, and operation, be in Him alone, and
about him, and for him, and to him; who, with one
hint of his will, is able, and knows to produce things
infinitely more perfect than those creatures we now
see. There can be therefore, neither with respect to
the intellect, nor to the will, any contemplation and
fruition of love more profitable, perfect, happy, and
delightful, than that which hath for its object the
28
Creator, the true and sovereign Good; from whom, in
whom, through whom, and to whom are all things;
f 3 ^
who alone is infinitely sufficient for himself, and ; all
things: who, most simply, fully, and super-eminently
contains, and has concentred in himself from eternity,
the perfections of all things, in whom there is nothing
that is not himself; with whom, and through whom,
the causes of all unstable things have their lasting
subsistence, and establishment: in whom are the immu¬
table ideas and principles of all mutable things, and
in whom the eternal reasons of all rational, and irra¬
tional, and temporal things do live for ever: who
fulfils all, and essentially fills all and everything,
with himself; and who is more intimately pre¬
sent by His essence to everything than the thing
is to itself; to whom all things are united and
one, and in whom they live eternally. Moreover,
if by reason of weakness, or the unaccustomedness of
the understanding, any man be obliged to meditate, or
contemplate on the creatures, then this will be the
best, truest, and most profitable way for him; that at
least in all his contemplations, and meditations, whether
about creatures, or about the Creator, a delight in the
29
Creator himself, the one and true God, may arise
within him; and that the fire of divine love and true
life may thence flame forth in himself, and in others,
for the obtaining of eternal felicity. And here we may
observe the difference there is between the contempla¬
tion of christian believers, and that of the heathen
philosophers: for the contemplation of philosophers
is intended only for the perfection of the contemplator,
and therefore stops in the understanding, and so their
end herein, is intellectual knowledge. But the con¬
templation of the saints, is taken up for the love of
him whom they contemplate, that is, of God; and
therefore does not stop in the intellect by knowledge,
as in its ultimate end ; but passeth over into the affection
by love. Wherefore the saints in their contemplation,
have the love of God for their principal end, and aim ;
because it is far more happy and blissful to know and
have the Lord Jesus Christ spiritually by grace, than
without grace, corporeally, or essentially. Now whilst
the soul thus abstracts itself from all things, and reflects
into itself, the eye of contemplation by this means
becomes dilated, and raiseth itself like a ladder, whereby
she mounts to the vision of God: from which be-
30
holding, the soul becomes inflamed with the love of
celestial and Divine good things; and looks upon all
temporal things aloof, as if they were just nothing.
Thus, when we draw near to God by the way of
negation, or removing from him all that is perceptible,
or comprehensible; in the first place, we remove from
him all that is bodily, sensible, or imaginable ; in the
next place, all that is intelligible, and last of all, essence,
or being itself, as it is in the creatures. And by this
means, according to St. Dionysius the Areopagite,
we approach nearest to the divine essence, and are in
the ready may of being joined to him. And this is
that thick darkness, where God is said to dwell; and
into which Moses entered, and through it passed to his
inaccessible light. But that which is spiritual is not
first, but that which is animal; so that according to
the natural and accustomed order, we are to proceed
from the labor of action, to the rest of contemplation;
and from the moral virtues, to the theorical, and
speculative. Wherefore, O my soul, why is it that
thou busiest thyself to no purpose, about the many
vain and superfluous things where thou art always in
want; and dost not rather fix thy intention, and love
31
upon that one best and sovereign Good, which con¬
tains all good, and is only sufficient for thee, and all
things? Unhappy therefore, yea thrice unhappy he,
who knows, and has all things beside him, but is
ignorant of Him. For if a man should be supposed to
know all things, and him, yet would not he be the
happier for knowing them, but him only; whence St.
John tells us, and this is life eternal, that they know
thee, the only true God, &c. And the psalmist, I
shall he satisfied at the appearance of thy glory, or
according to the Hebrew, when thy image, or likeness
shall awake in me.
32
CHAPTER X.
; MOREOVER, do not thou greatly mind actual
jdevotion, sensible sweetness, or tears; but let it suffice
thee to be by good will in thy intellect, with thy mind
united to God, within thyself; forasmuch as nothing is
more pleasing to God than a mind strip'd naked of
phantasms, images, and representations of the creatures.
It becomes therefore a truly devout person, to estrange
himself from all creatures, that he may nakedly and
readily intend, apply himself, and adhere to God alone,
within himself. Wherefore deny thyself, that thou
mayest nakedly follow Christ thy Lord God, who being
truly poor, obedient, and chaste, humbled himself and
suffered for us, and at whose life and death many were
greatly offended, as appears from the history of the
gospel. Now as we see that a soul separate from its
body, doth not mind or take notice what becomes of it,
whether it be burnt, hanged, abused, or cursed; and is
not at all troubled or grieved for any injuries that is
done to itj but has all its thoughts fixed upon that ever
present now of Eternity, and the one thing necessary
our Saviour speaks of in the gospel; in like manner be
33
thou also affected to thy body, being so unconcerned\
with it, as if thou wast already out of the body, and
have always thy mind fixed upon the eternity of thy
soul in God, and earnestly direct and level thy thoughts
at that one thing, of which Christ saith, but one thing
it needful: and by this means thou wilt feel great
incomes and assistance of grace, for the attainment of
true nakedness of mind, and simplification of heart.
And most certain it is, that this one thing, is most
present to thee, and will appear so, as soon as thou
shalt have rid thyself from thy imaginary representa¬
tions, and all other entanglements; and thou wilt soon
find, that now thou canst with a naked, free, and
ready mind apply thyself, and cleave to God; and by
this means thou shalt be invincible in all things whatso¬
ever that can happen to thee, as the holy martyrs,
fathers, and all the elect and blessed saints were; who
despising and rejecting all things, only minded the
eternal salvation of their souls in God : and being thus
armed within, and united to God by good will, they
contemned all the things of the world, even as if their
souls already had been actually separated from their
bodies.
34
Consider well therefore, how great the power is of a
good will united to God; yea, how by this impression
of God upon the soul, as by its virtual and spiritual
division from the flesh, the soul comes to look upon the
outward man as if it were none of hers, and is so uncon¬
cerned at anything that is done to it, or its flesh, as if
it were done to another body; for he that cleaveth to
God, becomes one spirit with him. Wherefore do thou
never dare in the least to think or imagine anything in
the presence of the Lord thy God within thee, which
thou wouldst blush that men should hear or see; and
that because of the highest reverence which is due to
the divine Majesty, in his holy temple. It is also fit
and just, that all thy thoughts be erect and lifted up to
God alone; and that the view of thy mind be fixed
only upon him, as if there were nothing at all besides
him, and by close cleaving unto him, enjoy him, which
is a perfect commencement and anticipation of the life
to come, ,
35
CHAPTER XI.
THERE is no man that draws near to God with a
true and sincere heart, but he must expect to be tried,
and proved with manifold vexations and temptations.
Now in all temptations let this precept be observed;
that whenever thou feelest any tempt ation, that thou do
not assent to it, and that thou bear it patiently and
quietly, with humility and long sufferance. And if
they chance to be blasphemous and filthy injections,
take it for a certain rule, that there is no way better to
overcome and be rid of them, than by despising them,
though they be never so horrible, filthy, and abomin¬
able blasphemies; let this be thy sole armour of defence
against them, to neglect them, account them as nothing,
and despise them, without imputing them to thyself or
charging thy conscience therewith. For thou wilt find
this a sure way, to put the enemy to flight, if thou treat
him and his endeavors with the greatest scorn and con¬
tempt j for he is exceeding proud, and cannot endure
to be despised and set at nought. Wherefore be sure to
make use of this, as the best and surest remedy against
36
all such injections, never to mind them, or be troubled
at them, any more than thou art at flies, that buz about
thee against thy will. Wherefore let the servant of
Jesus Christ take care not to run so easily from the
face of the Lord, by being angry, murmuring and
vexing himself about the buzzing of a silly fly; I mean
for some slight temptation, suspicion, sorrow, detraction,
weakness, or any other kind of adversity ; seeing that
by the hand only of good will lift up to God, all these,
and a thousand such like, may be easily chased away,
and put to flight. For by good will, man has God to
be his possessor, and owner, the holy angels his guar¬
dians and protectors 5 and moreover by the same, all
temptations are as easily overcome, as a fly is chased
away with the least motion of the hand. Peace there¬
fore is the portion of the men of good will; neither can
any more worthy present be offered to God than it;
forasmuch as good-will in the soul, is the original of all
good, and the mother of all virtues ; which, whosoever
begins to be posseessd of, he hath without care whatso¬
ever is necessary to a good and happy life; wherefore
if thou wiliest that which is good, without being able
to perform it, God will make up from himself, what is
37
wanting in thee, and accept the will for the deed; for
an eternal law has unchangeably decreed and established
that all merit should consist and be in the will alone, as
reward, or punishment, are in happiness or misery.
For love is a strong will to serve God, a sweet affection
of pleasing God, and a most burning desire of enjoying
God. Besides, it is no sin to be tempted, but rather
an occasion of exercising one's virtues; for certain it is,
that we get much good by temptation, seeing that our
life here upon earth, is but one long continual tempta¬
tion.
38
CHAPTER XII.
NOW all these things above said, and whatsoever
else are necessary to salvation, cannot be better, more
readily, or more savingly performed, than by love;
by which the want of everything that is needful to
salvation, is easily supplied, and in it is the abundance
of all Good; neither does it want the presence of the
most desirable.object. For it is love alone whereby we
are turned to God, transformed into God, cleave to
God, and are united to him, to that degree, as to
become one Spirit with Him, and so are made happy
here in grace, and hereafter in glory, from him, in
him, and by him. For love never rests but in the
beloved object, when it is possessed of the same with a
full and peaceable possession. Love or charity is the
way of God to men, and of men to God; and God
cannot take up his habitation anywhere, but where
charity is. If therefore we have charity, we have
God himself, for God is love or charity. There
is nothing more sharp than love, nothing more subtle,
nothing more penetrating than love; neither doth it
S9
ever rest, until naturally it have penetrated the whole
virtue, profundity, and totality of the amiable object;
it will make itself one with its beloved, and if possible,
would be the very same thing with it: and therefore it
will not endure any thing to mediate or come between
it and the object it loves, which is God, but doth with
vehemence press into him, and never rests till it have
passed by all things, and he be come not only to him,
but into him. For love is an uniting and transforming
power or virtue, transforming the lover into the beloved
and the beloved into the lover; so that one lover is in
the other, after the most intimate and presential manner
imaginable. Which is very apparent in the first place,
with reference to the apprehensive powers, viz. that the
beloved is in the lover, forasmuch as the beloved
object is always sweetly and delightfully recalled and
represented in the apprehension of the lover; and on
the other hand, forasmuch as the lover endeavors, not
superficially, but intrinsically to discern and penetrate
to the most inward parts of the beloved object. And as
to the appetitive and desiring powers, the beloved is
said to be in the lover, forasmuch as it is most intimately
rooted by aa affectionate complaoency, and pleasurable
D
40
delectation in him ; and on the other hand, the lover is
in the beloved by means of a total desire and conformity,
as having but one willing and nilling, one grief and
joy, as if they were indeed one and the same, and no
longer two distinct beings. For love, which is strong as
death, draws the lover out of himself, and placeth him
in the beloved object, making him to close most
intimately therewith. For the soul is more truly where
it loves, than where it moves, because it is in the be¬
loved according to its own proper nature, reason, and
will; but in that which it moves, or animates, it is
only so far forth as it is a form, which is also compe-
tible in beasts. There is therefore nothing else that can
draw us from all outward sensibles, and make us retire
within ourselves, and from thence into the heart, and
inmost divinity of Jesus Christ, but the love of Christ,
and the longing desire after the sweetness of Christ, to
feel, perceive, and to taste the intimate presence of
Christ's divinity. It is nothing else but the immense
power of love, which mounts a man from the dregs of
earth, to the high glory of Heaven. Neither is it possi¬
ble for any one ever to attain the supreme bliss and
beatitude, but with the help of love and desire. For
41
love is the true and genuine life of the soul, the wed¬
ding-garment, and its utmost perfection, in which, all
the law and the prophets, yea, and our Lord's com¬
mandment too, are included as being the centre and
.substance of them all. And therefore St. Paul tells us,
in his epistle to the Romans, that Love is the fulfilling
of the law. And in his first epistle to Timothy, that
Charity is the end of the commandment.
42
CHAPTER XIII.
AND forasmuch as we of ourselves are altogether
insufficient for these, and all other good things; and
that we cannot of ourselves render anything to our Lord
God (from whom alone proceeds all good) which was
not his own before, save one thing only; according to
what he himself, with his blessed mouth and example
hath been pleased to instruct us, viz.; that we in all
cases and events have continual recourse to prayer, (as
being guilty, miserable, poor, beggars, weak, destitute,
subjects, servants, and sons, and wholly desolate in
ourselves) and that we, with the most humble prostra¬
tion of our mind, in fear and love, recollectedly, and
composedly; with a deliberate true naked affection of
shame, with earnest desire and fervency, with inward
groans of the heart, and with simplicity and sincerity of
mind should supplicate him, and lay open before him
with full confidence, all our impending dangers; and
readily, securely, and nakedly commit, resign, and offer
up ourselves totally and faithfully to him, to our very
43
last breath, as being truly and entirely his, reserving
nothing to our selves; that so the saying of the blessed
father Isaac may be fulfilled in us, who speaking of
this kind of prayer, saith ; " then is it that we shall be
one in God, and our Lord God alone shall be all in all
in us, when that perfect love, wherewith he hath first
loved us, shall become the love and affection of our
heart. Which will then be, when all our love, all our
desire, all our study, all our endeavor, and lastly all
our thoughts; yea, and everything that we see, speak,
or hope for, shall be God; and when that unity which
now is between the Father and the Son, and between
the Son and the Father, shall be transfused into our
sense and mind, to that degree, that as he loves us
with a sincere, pure, and unchangeable love; so we also
may be joined to him, by a perpetual and inseparable
dilection; being so intimately united to him, that what¬
soever we hope, whatsoever we understand, whatsoever
we speak and pray, may be God. This therefore must
be the purpose, this the endeavor and end of a truly
spiritual man, to be found worthy to possess the image
of the future beatitude in this corruptible body, and to
obtain a foretaste of that celestial bliss, conversation
44
and glory even in this transitory life. This is the end
of all perfection, that the mind being purified from all
the dregs of carnality, may be sublimed to that pitch
of spirituality, that its whole conversation, and all the
outgoings of the heart, be nothing else but one contin¬
ual never-ceasing prayer. And when the mind thus,
having shaken off all earthly defilements and entangle¬
ments, doth breathe out itself to God, in whom alone the
intention of a spiritual man ought always to be fixed,
(from which sovereign good, the least separation ought
to be looked upon as present death, and the most per¬
nicious destruction,) and that she (the mind) being well
founded and rooted in that peace and tranquility,
and let loose from the bands of all carnal passions, and
by a most resolute and tenacious purpose cleaves to that
one sovereign good, then I say, she will be able to fulfil
that command of the Apostle, Pray ivithout ceasing,
and in all places, lifting up holy hands without wrath
and doubting. For the scene of the mind being as it
were wholly absorbed by this purity, and transformed
from its earthly state into a spiritual or angelical like¬
ness, in this condition, whatsoever she takes in, whatso¬
ever she does, will be the purest and truest prayer."
45
Wherefore if thou shalt without interruption continue
this exercise, as has been here set down from the
beginning, it will be as easy and obvious to thee, in thy
introversion and recollection, to contemplate and enjoy,
as it is for thee to live in nature.
4G
CHAPTER XIY.
MOREOVER to attain to this spiritual perfection,
purity and tranquillity of mind in God, it will be of no
small advantage to us, that, in all things which may be
spoke or judged of us, or acted towards us, we always
silently betake ourselves, to the inmost retreat of our
minds, and there being abstracted from all other things,
and totally recollected within ourselves, place ourselves
before the tribunal of truth within us, where we shall
plainly find and see, that it is not only of no advantage,
but a great hindrance to us, to be praised and honoured
from without, when according to the knowledge of
truth in ourselves we are indeed culpable and guilty.
And as in this case it is of no advantage at all to a man
to be praised outwardly by men, when his conscience
accuseth him within; so neither on the contrary is it
any the least hurt or hindrance to a man, if he be
despised, reviled, blamed and persecuted from without,
when he is inwardly innocent, unreproveable and harm¬
less : yea rather he hath great reason in patience,
silence, and peace, to rejoice in the Lord on this
47
account, forasmuch as no adversity can hurt, where
iniquity doth not prevail. And as no wickedness ever
goes unpunished, so no good can be without its reward:
neither let us be willing with hypocrites to expect or
receive our reward or recompense from men, but of
our Lord God alone; not at present, but hereafter;
not in this transitory time, but in eternity. It is evident
therefore that there is nothing of greater moment, or
better for us, than alway in every tribulation and event
to retire to the inmost secret of our minds, and there to
call upon the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is our
helper in temptations and tribulations, and there to be
humbled before him, confessing our sins, and to praise
God and our father, who as he bruises and chastens, so
he also comforts and heals us : and over and above all
this, to take and accept of all and everything readily
and securely happening to ourselves or others, whether
prosperous or adverse, with an even quiet temper of
mind, from the hand of his unerring Providence, and
orderly disposing of all things: from the faithful dis¬
charge of which exercise and duty will follow the
remission of our sins, the expulsion of all bitterness, the
collation of sweetness, peace, and security, the infusion
48
of grace and mercy, the attraction and strengthening of
familiarity and communion, with most abundant comfort
in him, and firm cleaving to, and union with Him.
But by no means let us be willing to imitate those,
who through hypocrisy, and pharisaical pride, make it
their endeavour to be seen, esteemed, and to appear
more holy outwardly before men, than the truth
within them bears witness to, which certainly is a piece
of the extremest folly and madness, to desire and long
for human praise and glory from one's self, or others,
when at the same time we are inwardly full of the
flickering enticements of this world, and most grievous
sins. And certainly whoever pursues these most vain
things, the foresaid good will fly from him, and he
fall into shame and disgrace: wherefore have thou
always before thine eyes thy manifold sins and wicked¬
ness, and thy unfitness for anything that is good; and
endeavour to know thyself, that thou may est be
humbled; and do not refuse, or be afraid to be esteemed
and judged by all, as the vilest, unworthiest, and most
abject off-scouring and filth, because of thy most grie¬
vous sins, and great iniquities. Do thou therefore re¬
pute thyself amongst others, as dross amongst gold, as
49
tares amongst wheat, as chaff amongst corn, as a wolf
amongst sheep, and as Satan amongst the sons of God.
Neither do thou in the least desire to be reverenced or
honoured by men, or to be preferred before others ;
but rather with thy whole heart and spirit flee from the
infection of this pestilence, the poison of praise, and
the pride of boasting and ostentation; lest the wicked
be praised in the desire of his heart, and so be in the
condition of those of whom the prophet saith; 0 my
people! they which call thee blessed, cause thee to err,
and overturn the way of thy going; or fall under that
curse of our Lord : Woe unto you when all men shall
speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false
prophets.
50
CHAPTER XV.
THE more therefore that any man knows his own
vileness, the more distinct and clear is his view and
vision of the divine Majesty; and the more base and
vile any one appears in his own eyes, for God truth and
righteousness, the more precious he is in the sight of
God. Wherefore let us strive, with the total effort of
our desire, to think ourselves the vilest of all men, and
to believe ourselves unworthy of every benefit; to dis¬
please ourselves, and to please God alone, and be willing
to be judged by others the most inconsiderable and des¬
picable creatures. Moreover let us endeavor not to be
moved by any tribulations, afflictions or injuries; nor
to be troubled at those that bring them upon us, nor to
entertain any hard thoughts, or to have indignation
against them, but with an even and quiet mind to believe
that we do well deserve all injuries, fightings, chas¬
tisements and derelictions. For certainly he who truly
mourns and is penitent according to God, he abhors to
be honored or beloved by others ; and doth not avoid or
refuse to be hated, trod upon, and wholly despised; to
51
the end that he may be truly humbled, and with a pure
heart may sincerely cleave to the Lord God alone.
Now that we may arrive to this loving of the Lord God
alone, and the abhorring of ourselves above all things,
and to the desire of being despised by others, there is
not required any outward labor, or health and strength
of body, but rather solitude of the body, labor of the
heart, and quiet of the mind; that by labor of the heart
and affection of the inmost mind we may raise ourselves
above, and bodily withdraw ourselves from these in¬
ferior things, and so rise and mount up to those that are
heavenly and divine. For, doing this, we change our¬
selves into God's likeness ; and this is then chiefly done,
when we choose from our hearts, without any judging,
condemning or contemning of our neighbour, to be es¬
teemed by all men as mere off-scouring, filth, and
reproach, yea, to be abhorred and trampled upon by all,
as the dirt in the streets, rather than to abound in
pleasures and deliciousness, or to be honored and lifted
up by men; or to enjoy any corporal and transitory
health or advantages; or to desire any other comfort in
this present mortality and bodily life, but to mourn,
lament and bewail our offences, faults, and sins, without
52
ceasing ; perfectly to set at nought and annihilate our¬
selves, and to be esteemed daily still viler and viler by
others, and appear daily more unworthy in our own
eyes, that we may please God alone, love him only,
and cleave unto him : being unwilling to be affected
with anything, save only with our Lord Jesus Christ
himself; not being solicitous or careful about anything
but him, under whose rule and providence all things
subsist and have their course. Know then, that hence¬
forward it is not for thee to delight thyself, but to
mourn and lament the more, for that thou hast brought
upon thyself this cause of grief and sorrow, because of
thy most grievous offences and infinite sins. For as a
malefactor who receives his sentence of death is not
concerned about the' ranging of sheriff's men, or the
multitude of the spectators; so he who in good earnest
mourns and bewails his sins, cannot give his mind to
pleasures, or anger, or vain glory, or indignation, or
any other such like. And as the habitations of citizens
and condemned malefactors are very different; so the
state, manner, and behaviour of those that mourn, for
being guilty of sins that bind them over and make
, them obnoxious to punishment, ought to be very
53
different from those who are not guilty : for otherwise
there would be no difference made between a guilty and
innocent person by reward and punishment; and un-
punishment and unrighteousness would be more free,
than innocence. So that all things are to be denied,
all things are to be contemned, all things are to be cast
away and avoided, that with full faith, a good and sure?
$
foundation may be laid for the sorrow of repentance.;
Wherefore he that loves Jesus Christ in truth, and that
mourns after him, and that bears him in his heart, and*
in his body, that truly mourns for his sins and offences,!
and earnestly seeks for the kingdom to come, and in I
true faith possesseth the memory of the torments of'
hell and of eternal judgment, and imprinteth firmly and
perfectly in his heart the sense and fear of his own
death, such a one will no farther strive, care, or be ,
solicitous about anything whatsoever. Let him there-
fore who hastens to attain that blessed impassibility,
and to approach to God himself, account that every
day wherein he is not reproached, reviled, or con¬
temned, he suffers great loss and damage. Now this
impassibility here mentioned, is nothing else, but a
freedom from vices and passions, purity of heart, and
54
) the entire ornament of virtues and grace. Suppose
: thyself therefore already dead, whom thou doubtest not
but must die certainly. And let this be the last and
highest proof, and surest trial of all thy thoughts, words
and actions, to prove whether they be according to God
or no, if by them thou becomest more humble, and
more recollected and fixed within thyself and in God;
but if thou findest the effect otherwise, thou wilt have
good reason to suspect, that they were not according
to God, and neither well pleasing to him, nor profitable
for thee.
55
CHAPTER XVI.
NOW to the end that according to the foregoing in¬
structions, we may without let or hindrance, readily,
securely, and nakedly be carried towards the Lord our
God, with the greatest freedom and tranquillity become
joined with him and united to him, and may firmly
cleave unto him, with an evenness of temper whether
in prosperity or adversity, life or death; it is of absolute
necessity that we resign and commit all and everything,
without the least doubt, or hesitation, and with the
greatest assurance, to his unsearchable and infallible
Providence. Neither ought we to think strange of
this counsel, forasmuch as it is he alone, that gives to
all things their being, power, and activity, that is, their
substance, virtue, operation, kind, manner and order, and
that in number, weight and measure. And this, the rather
because as all artificial works, pre-suppose the works of
nature, so every work of nature pre-supposeth the work
of God,creating, preserving,ordering and administering:
since to him alone belongs infinite power, wisdom, good¬
ness ; and essential mercy, justice, truth and charity •
E
56
immutable eternity and immensity. Wherefore it is
evident, that nothing doth or can subsist by its own
virtue; nor act, save only in the virtue of God himself,
that is of the first mover and first principle, who is the
cause of all action, and operates in every agent. For
with respect to the true order of the administration of
the world, God immediately provides and takes care
for all things, even to the utmost individuals : so that
nothing from the highest to the lowest can escape or
avoid the eternal Providence of God, whether in things
natural or voluntary, or casual and fortuitous which
were never intended by the particular agent. Neither
can God make anything, but what must of necessity
resort or fall under the order of his Providence, no
more than he can make anything, which is not subject
to his operating power. It follows therefore that the
Divine Providence doth extend itself to all and every¬
thing, even to very thoughts of mens' hearts. Upon
which foundation the Scripture builds the following
instructions. " Casting all your care upon him, for he
careth for you. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and
he shall sustain thee. Look at the generations of old
and see, did ever any trust in the Lord, and was for¬
saken ? Or did ever any abide in his fear, and was con¬
founded?" And that of our Saviour; "Take no thought
57
for your life, what you shall eat, &c." Wherefore let us
assure ourselves, that whatsoever or how great soever
the things are that we hope or expect from God, we
shall without doubt receive the same, according to that
promise in Deuteronomy; " Every place whereon the
soles of your feet shall tread, shall be yours." Because
as much as every one can desire, so much shall he
receive; and as far as he can reach with the foot of his
trust and confidence, so far shall he possess. Accord¬
ingly Bernard tells us: " God the author of all things
doth abound with such bowels of love and mercy, that
to how great a degree soever of grace, we can extend
the reach of our trust and confidence, the same we shall
undoubtedly receive and be possessed of:" to which
purpose our Saviour also assures us: " What things
soever ye desire when we pray, believe that you
receive them, and ye shall have them." Now the
stronger and more instant this trust and reliance in God
is; and by how much the more forcibly it lifts itself up
to, and presseth into God, with humility and reverence,
the more assuredly, abundantly, and swiftly it will
obtain the desired good. But and if it should happen,
that by reason of the multitude or greatness of sin, the
affiance should be luke-warm and slow in lifting up
itself to God, let such a one consider, that all things
58
are possible with God; and that whatsoever he wills
must necessarily come to pass; and that what he wills
not, is for that very reason impossible; and that it is as
easy for him to forgive and blot out innumerable sins,
how enormous soever they may be, as one only sin.
And that as a sinner cannot by all the power that is in
him, raise himself up again from his innumerable sins,
shake them off, and free himself from them, so neither
from one only. "For we are not sufficient of ourselves
to think anything that is good, (much less to do it) but
our sufficiency is from God." Though indeed it be
much more dangerous to be entangled with many sins
(all other circumstances being alike) than with one
alone, because there is no evil without its punishment,
and an infinite punishment is due to every mortal sin,
and this according to the rigor of justice, because every
such sin is committed against God who is of infinite
reverence, dignity, and honor. Moreover we are to
consider that, according the apostle, the Lord knows
those that are his: and that it is impossible for any of
those to perish, in whatsoever windings and floods of
errors, scandals, schisms, persecutions, dissentions, here¬
sies, tribulations, adversities and temptations they may
be involved, seeing that the number of his elect, and the
bound of their merits hath been eternally and unchange-
59
ably foreseen by him ; so that all things whether good
or evil; proper, or strange and foreign; prosperous or
adverse, do all work together for their good, save only
that they appear yet more glorious and acceptable to
God in adversity than prosperity. Let us therefore
securely and readily commit all and every of our and
others concerns with a plenary trust and confidence to
the divine Providence, who therefore permits all manner
of evils, in what way soever, to be done; and it is good
and well done of him, that he suffers them to be done;
neither can they be more or otherwise done, than as he
permits them to be, because he knows, can, and will
change and dispose them to something that is better.
For as all good things are done by his operation, so by
his permission all evil things are made good. And by
this means are manifested his power, wisdom, and cle¬
mency through our Saviour Christ; his mercy and
justice, the virtue and strength of his grace, and the
weakness and failure of nature ; the beauty of the uni¬
verse, which springs from the contraposition of opposites,
the praise of the good, and the wickedness and punish¬
ment of reprobates.
CONCLUDING NOTE,
In the teaching of the Bible, and wholly so of the New!
Testament, we must observe its universal fitness and
application to man of all times and in all circumstances is
to be attributed to the fact of its dealing with man as to
his essential constitution. The subject-matter of the
Divine teaching is that which expresses its supreme im¬
portance without further description—life ; the end of
the Divine teaching, how to live, now and for ever.
Our Lord therefore spake, as never man spake, the
'hard sayings, which who could bear?' He opened
the gates of light and revealed to the view of man,
what the world, and what the world to come;—what
man, as the moving automaton of flesh and blood,
and what as the being of body soul and spirit;—what the
worship of our own, and what the worship of the true
God;—how we are to leave the sensuous and ascend to
the spiritual. Thus in His words are found an unfathom¬
able depth and inexhaustible fulness which may be pene¬
trated and realised ever more;—but experimentally alone.
It is not difficult to trace the degree and quality of
62
\ mens' religion by so much as they live, move, and have
^ their being in the outward material world, or forsake it,
in its relationships and enjoyments.
The first and startling announcement to the mortal
inhabitant of earth from his Lord is, "Ye must be born
againbut not again of carnality, not again to be
introduced to the elements of earth, and its associations,
to grow up in receiving its counsel, deriving its know¬
ledge, pursuing its contents and properties as the objects
of good, fitted to satisfy thy desires and give thee that for
which thou hast being—happiness; but of the Spirit;—
which to thy carnal apprehension is more jjiysterious
than the coming of the wind ;—that must work and cause
thy new birth, opening the powers of thy real being, thy
spirit, and from infantile knowledge of the goodness of
God which gave thee being, if thou wilt, lead thee up to
the apprehension of his purposes concerning thee, to
become the child of God, the heir of happiness illimitable.
And this thou shalt see is thy great redemption which thy
Immanuel on the earth as man spoke to the outward ear,
and so reaching thy inward understanding and moving
thy life's love from the lower to the upper world.
Now the carnal mind which dwells in and rests upon the
outward world, being as various as the complexions of
countenance, the names, forms, and characters of mens'
chief good are as various; and that those who assume
63
•what apparently may seem far higher and nobler than
others, are in truth on but the same ground, if earthly,
our Lord fully shewed, not excepting what was accounted
the straitest sect of religion; and in his teaching He
ever leads men back from the present, outward, seen; to
the omnipresent, inward, unseen ; unfolding the true com¬
position of the human mind apart from its temporary
accompaniment of a fleshly body. Thus following Him in
the regeneration, his disciples And that the kingdom of
God is within them.
It will be few who know anything of heart religion, who
will not agree as to the necessity of its dwelling within,
but the common associations of mortals, not only in
temporals but in matters of religion, lead so easily to a
respect of outward things, engagements and habits, that
the communion with the Father and with his Son Jesus
Christ, is regarded too much as a desirable but distant
object almost past attainment, rather than as the first and
only positive religion of the heart, and from which must
and will flow in just proportion to its integrity and inten¬
sity, the righteousness of outward conduct in all relations
with fellow mortals, the peace which rests secure in all
the transitory events of time, and that transcendant joy
which will remain even while the animal sensibilities may
be wrought, or pained or distressed in temporal things,'
and survive as the final fruition of the redeeming
work.
64
Notwithstanding the teaching of our Lord, the unhappy-
experience that lies open in the history of the church up
to the present moment, attests the fact that from our eyes
the vail is not removed, and enlightened as we are on
the whole, like the early converts we are ever learning
yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth;—again
and again laying the foundation, we do not advance,
leaving the first principles and going on to perfection.
If it be asked why it is, the answer is ready,—we forsake
the fountain of living water given in the teaching of the
Lord. The structure of a society, the formulas of doctrine,
the orthodoxy of creed, the form of worship, nay even of
the house of such supposed worship, are matters of so high
account, that they come to stand in the place of His
teaching, with whom these things were all as though they
were not, and while the true house of God is neglected, in
which the altar should be crowned with the perpetual in¬
cense of the spirit of love and devotion.
It would be possible and consistent to shew the philoso¬
phical propriety and necessity of a method which deals
with the essential constitution of the human spirit on
subjects of divine import, apart from the adventitious
circumstances of social, intellectual, and religious habi¬
tudes by which each finds himself surrounded. But it is
not needful to do so, seeing the common consent of
reason must pronounce, that while these vary as greatly
as the individual forms of the forest trees, there must be
65
a final appeal to which the spirit of man may come,
whence he may get the knowledge of true unity. Here
then the Light of the world comes to illuminate that soul
open to His entrance, and ever the promise remains he
who seeketh findeth. Shall the last query of a humanity-
seeking and exterior-loving tutored intellect, enquire for
apostolical authority and direction, the apostles' testimony
was harmonious with their master's teaching, and they
tell ever of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now faith is
the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things
hoped for; and in the unity of this faith, which is too
pure, too vital, to dwell in a fabric of words engraved on
stone, existing only engraven in the heart, we find the
true catholicity which at once realises the communion of
the saints; and of time and place, they who near and
those afar, alike mingle in the banquet where are gathered
to the kindred soul in that moment, the number which no ^
man can number. Then best shall we use, and rejoice in
all that will prove means of grace, and in the apostles
declaration—all thin g s are yours .... and ye are Christ's,
and Christ is God's.
THE EXD.
^ v ' ■ -l-VA. ") ... k' •■/ ' v'l I-
YALE UNIVERSITY
'Jh
a 3 9 0 0 2 0029 1 0835b
~ M '' " , --, r
'kL ;
iJ'Xv /.
- /
>VT- Jut <->v \ v - v 2,
/! f ,/
2 ^
2-f
£ 0
2/ <? «--
^ /
^ 'Li,
/ l>
I e \ % *■>
'wJ t-vt