Vertue By Vertue the Creation is made useful and the Universe delightful All the Works of GOD are crowned with their End by the Glory of Vertue For whatsoever is good and profitable for Men is made Sacred because it is delightful and well-pleasing to GOD Who being LOVE by Nature delighteth in his Creatures welfare There are two sorts of concurrent Actions necessary to Bliss Actions in GOD and Actions in Men nay and Actions too in all the Creatures The Sun must warm but it must not burn the Earth must bring forth but not swallow up the Air must cool without starving and the Sea moisten without drowning Meats must feed but not poyson Rain must fall but not oppress Thus in the inferiour Creatures you see Actions are of several kinds But these may be reduced to the Actions of GOD from whom they spring for he prepares all these Creatures for us And it is necessary to the felicity of his Sons that he should make all things healing and amiable not odious and destructive that he should Love and not Hate And the Actions of Men must concur aright with these of GOD and his Creatures They must not despise Blessings because they are given but esteem them not trample them under feet because they have the benefit of them but magnifie and extol them They too must Love and not Hate They must not kill and murther but serve and pleasure one another they must not scorn great and inestimable Gifts because they are common for so the Angels would lose all the happiness of Heaven If GOD should do the most great and glorious things that infinite Wisdom could devise if Men will resolve to be blind and perverse and sensless all will be in vain the most High and Sacred things will increase their Misery This may give you some little glimpse of the excellency of Vertue You may easily discern that my Design is to reconcile Men to GOD and make them fit to delight in him and that my last End is to celebrate his Praises in communion with the Angels Wherein I beg the Concurrence of the Reader for we can never praise him enough nor be fit enough to praise him No other man at least can make us so without our own willingness and endeavour to do it Above all pray to be sensible of the Excellency of the Creation for upon the due sense of its Excellency the life of Felicity wholly dependeth Pray to be sensible of the Excellency of Divine Laws and of all the Goodness which your Soul comprehendeth Covet a lively sense of all you know of the Excellency of GOD and of Eternal Love of your own Excellency and of the worth and value of all Objects whatsoever For to feel is as necessary as to see their Glory The Contents CHAP. I. OF the End for the sake of which Vertue is desired Chap. II. Of the Nature of Felicity its excellency and perfection Chap. III. Of Vertue in general The distribution of it into its several kinds It s definition Chap. IV. Of the Powers and Affections of the Soul What Vertues pertain to the estate of Innocency what to the estate of Grace what to the estate of Glory Chap. V. Of the necessity excellency and use of Knowledge Its depths and extents its Objects and its End Chap. VI. Of Love and Hatred The necessity and sweetness of Love It s general use and efficacy The several kinds of Love Of the power inclination and act of Love its extent and capacity Chap. VII What benefit GOD himself does receive by his eternal Love That when our Love is made compleat and perfect it will be like his and the benefit of it will be eternal Chap. VIII Of the excellency of Truth as it is the object and cause of Vertue The matter and form of Vertuous Actions That their form is infinitely more excellent than their matter and the Heathen Morality infinitely defective and short of the Christian. Chap. IX Wisdom is seated in the Will it attaineth best of all possible Ends by the best of all possible Means Chap. X. Of Righteousness how Wisdom Justice and right Reason are shut up in its Nature What God doth and what we acquire by the exercise of this Vertue Chap. XI Of Goodness natural moral and divine its Nature described The benefits and Works of Goodness Chap. XII Of Holiness Its nature violence and pleasure It s beauty consisteth in the infinite love of Righteousness and Perfection Chap. XIII Of Justice in general and particular The great good it doth in Empires and Kingdoms a token of the more retired good it doth in the Soul It s several kinds That Gods punitive Justice springs from his Goodness Chap. XIV Of Mercy The indelible stain and guilt of Sin Of the Kingdom which God recovered by Mercy The transcendent nature of that duty with its effects and benefits Chap. XV. Of Faith The faculty of Believing implanted in the Soul Of Nature its Objects are The necessity of Faith Its end its use and excellency It is the Mother and fountain of all the Vertues Chap. XVI Of Hope It s foundation its distinction from Faith its extents and dimensions its life and vigour its several kinds its sweetness and excellency Chap. XVII Of Repentance It s original its nature it is a purgative Vertue its necessity its excellencies The measure of that sorrow which is due to Sin is intollerable to Sence confessed by Reason and dispensed with by Mercy Chap. XVIII Of Charity towards God It sanctifieth Repentance makes it a Vertue and turns it to a part of our true Felicity Our Love to all other objects is to begin and end in God Our Love of God hath an excellency in it that makes it worthy to be desired by his eternal Majesty He is the only supream and perfect Friend by Loving we enjoy him Chap. XIX Charity to our Neighbour most natural and easie in the estate of Innocency Adams Love to Eve and his Children a great exemplar of our Love to all the World The sweetness of Loving The benefits of being Beloved To love all the World and to be beloved by all the World is perfect security and felicity Were the Law fulfilled all the World would be turned into Heaven Chap. XX. Of Prudence It s foundation is Charity its end tranquility and prosperity on Earth its office to reconcile Duty and Convenience and to make Vertue subservient to Temporal welfare Of Prudence in Religion Friendship and Empire The end of Prudence is perfect Charity Chap. XXI Encouragements to Courage It s Nature cause and end It s greatness and renown Its ornaments and Companions Its objects circumstances effects and disadvantages how Difficulties increase its vertue Its Victories and Triumphs How subservient it is to Blessedness and Glory Chap. XXII Of Temperance in matters of Art as Musick Dancing Painting Cookery Physick c. In the works of Nature Eating drinking sports and recreations In occasions of passion in our lives
exclude GOD out of their Thoughts and Considerations Who is alone the Fountain of all the Beauty in every Vertuous Deed and the proper fulness Cause and End of all its Perfection HOW Ambitious we ought to be of Knowledge which is the Light wherein we are to adorn and compleat our selves we may learn and collect from all that is said It is rightly called the Key of Knowledge it admits us into the spacious Recesses of every Vertue openeth the Gate by which we enter into the Paths of Righteousness that lead to the Temple and Palace of Bliss Where all the Treasuries of Wisdome are exposed to the Eye of the Soul tho hidden from the World How Great and Amiable every Vertue is how Great and Perfect it may be made is only discerned by the Eye of Knowledge It is by this alone that men come to discern how full of Reason Religion is and with what Joy and Security and Sweetness it may be practised CHAP. IX Wisdom is seated in the Will it attaineth best of all possible Ends by the best of all possible Means KNOWLEDGE how excellent soever it may be conceived is without Wisdome like skill without Practice which whether it be in Musick or Painting or in any other Art as Government Navigation Preaching Judicature is altogether vain and fruitless if it be not reduced into Act and Exercise For Wisdome is that Excellent Habit of Soul by which we chuse the most Excellent End of all those which may be Known and actually prosecute it by the best Means that are conducive thereunto TO Know the best of all possible Ends and not to embrace it is the greatest folly in the World To chuse and embrace it without Endeavouring after it is a folly contending with the other for Eminence To chuse any means less then the best in Order thereunto is a new piece of solly even then when we pursue what Wisdom requires For no less than the best of all possible Means is requisite to the Acquisition of the best of all possible Ends. And by all this we discern that Wisdome is not a meer Speculation of Excellent Things but a Practical Habit by Vertue of which we actually atchieve and compleat our Happiness For it is impossible for the best of Means when they are well used to fail we may grow remiss and suspend our Endeavor which is another Kind of folly and so be diverted from the best of all possible Means by some strong Temptation or cease from using them through our own Inconstancy or yield to some Light and easie Allurement or be discouraged by some terrible Danger â—nd thus may abandon the Best of all Ends but without some such folly it can ever be lost POSSIBILITIES are innumeraâ—le so that nothing less than infinite Wisdome can find out that which is â—bsolutely the Best But when the best â—f all possible Ends is by infinite Wisdome sound out it is an Easie thing for Wisdome to discover that End to the Knowledge of others to whom it is able to communicate it self by way of Gift and Participation WHAT the best of all possible Ends is only GOD fully comprehendeth But in General it is such that it includeth all Kind of Goods in the highest Perfection infinite varieties and Degrees of Possibility turned into Act all Sweetness and Beauty Empire Dominion and Power all Riches Pleasures and Honors Victories and Triumphs and Possessions will be in it and nothing possible or Desirable be wanting to it GOD alone is the Best of all possible Ends who includeth all things in himself as then Cause and End the Perfection of his Will is his Blessedness and Glory and his Essence the only Means by which he can attain unto it By himself it is that we come unto him in a manner afterward more fully to be explained His Essencâ— is the Best of all possible Means by which he attains himself and by which he is enjoyed Our Conformity to hâ—â— Essence is our Way by a Wise Application of our Souls to that Eternal Aâ—â— which is his End THAT Sweetness and Beauty are Attributes of the best of all possible Ends is evident and clear As it is also that these must be infinite in their Degree and Measure because nothing but what is infinitely convenient is absolutely Eligible Now what is infinitely convenient is infinitely Sweet and Beautiful What is infinitely Desirable is infinitely Good because it is Agreeable to that Love wherewith every Existence intends it self and pursues its own sublime Happiness IT is easie to conceive how GOD should be the End of his Creatures but how he should really be his own End is difficult to understand Because his Creatures are Defective and have something besides themselves to aspire after but GOD from all Eternity is infinitely perfect and being all that he can be needeth nothing that he can endeavor to attain But if we consider the nature of Wisdome which is a voluntary Act we may be freed from the Despair of understanding the Mystery For Wisdome must of necessity intend it self in its Operations because it becometh Wisdome by doing the Best of all Excellent Things and doth them all that it may be Wisdome or Wise in doing them It implies Deliberation and Freedome being a Vertue seated in the Will and Understanding It implies a Power of Knowing and Chusing and Doing all Things it consisteth not in the Power of Knowing only nor in Power of Chusing nor in the Power of Doing Nothing else is Wisdome but to chuse and do what we Know is absolutely most Excellent Wisdome then is founded in the Act of Doing nay it is the Act of Doing all that is Excellent And if it be a free and voluntary Act as it must needs be because nothing is Wisdome but that which guideth it self by Counsel freely to a Known End which it discerneth to be most Excellent it implies an Ability to forbear in him that is wise by chusing to do what he might forbear Had it forborn to do what is most Excellent it had turned into folly because it had by that means lost the most Excellent End but by chusing to do all that was best it became an act of Wisdome which being most Lovely it chiefly desired to be And so by Chusing and Doing the most Excellent of Things begot it self and by it self proceeded to all its Operations which must needs be infinite if Wisdome be so because any thing less would if rested in be infinitely Defective THAT Riches and Pleasures may be infinite is evident from the Nature and extent of space which is illimited and Endless from the Omnipresence and Eternity of GOD in which there is infinite Room for innumerable varieties especially from his Wisdom and Goodness which are Infinite Treasures It appears also from his Almighty Power which is able in all Parts of his Omnipresence and Eternity to work without any Bound or Period without cessation at once to work in all Places of his
Dominion and throughout all his Immensity to act and do what he will So that in one Instant he can fill both Eternity and Time with enjoyments Every Part and Particle of which shall be infinitely Delightful because of the vigor of his Eternal Power in very Operation Thus is he intirely Acting in Heaven and Earth and Hell at the same time and at all conceivable Distances beyond all Heavens ever Acting because he is Willing Decreeing seeing and ruling there and every where accomplishing his Counsel and Pleasure His Essence and his Will are both the same his Essence is his Act and his Act his Pleasure BY exerting his Almighty Power he begot that Act which is the Means and End of all his Endeavors An Act of Wisdome infinite and Eternal is his Blessedness and Glory We must take heed of conceiving GOD to be one Thing and his Act another for all his Wisdom and Goodness all his Blessedness and Life and Glory are in the Act by which he became the Fountain and the End of all Things He became so freely and yet was so by his Essence from everlasting for Eternity is an infinite Length of Duration altogether present in all its parts in a Stable manner To fill one part of space with Treasures and leave another Empty was not Wise. Common Reason will instruct us that it is better to have all spaces full of Delights than some sew or none And by his infinite Wisdome it is that he Knows how to enjoy what he never needed and to improve his Enjoyments by giving them away INFINITE and Eternal Wisdom does not onely imply the Possibility but the certain Reality and Existence of Eternal Treasures Where least you should wonder how such should be infinite you must needs be informed that God is his own best and most perfect Treasure For if Treasures are by nature those precious Things which are Means whereby we acquire our Ends or those Things which we most Esteem as the Sovereign Objects of our Joy GOD is in both those respects his own Wealth because his Essence is the Means by which he atchieveth all his ends and the Sovereign End of all those Means which he by his Wisdom useth for his Ends. For of him and by him and to him are all things As the Scripture witnesseth Matter is the Dreg of Nature and Dead without Power Power is the Abyss of Nature but void without act Act is the Top and Perfection of Nature it is the fulness of Power the fountain and the means of all that is for Power by transforming it self into Act becometh an act and by that Act produceth and perfecteth all its Works both outward and in ward so is it the Means of all its Productions being so infinitely Simple and various together that nothing but Power exerting it self is in the Nature of the Act by which it is exerted All the Essence of that Act is the compleat Exertion of Eternal Power and yet to it alone we ascribe the Original and Means of all it is the Cause and Means and End of it self as well as of other Things which for its own sake are Produced by it For idle Power can do nothing Meer Power is neither the Cause nor the Means nor the End of any thing Power not Idle but exerted and throughly employed is all Act And this is the Cause of all its Productions because of this Power exerting it self they spring and the Means of all because by this Power exerting it self they are and the End of all because it did all that it might be not Idle but Power Exerting it self or a Glorious Act in its full Perfection IT was an effect of infinite Wisdom wherein GOD by one Act acquired himself and all his Dominion prepared his own and his Creatures blessedness made himself and all his Kingdome Glorious But this is scarcely intelligible because the manner of his Life is incomprehensible we cannot tell how to conceive what the Learned constantly affirm that all Eternity is at one Time All I shall observe in Order to the explaining of this Mystery is onely this that tho the World begins and Ends with Time yet Eternity does immutably include Time and the Operations of Divine Wisdome are various and exactly fitted to their several Seasons yet all the parts of Eternity are filled with Operations which tho they are one in GOD like that of shining in the Sun are manifold in Effects as the Beams of the Sun in their different Works among all the Creatures IT is a natural Effect of infinite Wisdome to make every of its Treasures suitable to its own excellence And that the Wisdome of GOD has done by making every the smallest Thing in his Kingdome infinitely serviceable in its Place and station for the manifesting of his Wisdom Goodness and Glory to the Eye of a clear Beholder And this he hath done by making all his Kingdome oneIntire Object and every Thing in it a Part of that Whole Relating to all the innumerable Parts receiving a Beauty from all communicating a Beauty to all even to all objects throughout all Eternity While every one among Millions of Spectators is endued with an Endless Understanding to see all and enjoy all in its Relations Beauties and Services I cannot stand to enlarge on this otherwise I might illustrate it by a familiar Example No single Part of a stately Monument is so Beatutiful out of its Place as it is in its Place because if it be seen alone it is not understood for the Beauty that results from all consists in Order and Symmetry which by any Division is broken to pieces He Knoweth nothing as he ought to Know who thinks he Knoweth any thing without seeing its Place and the Manner how it relateth to GOD Angels and Men and to all the Creatures in Earth Heaven and Hell Time and Eternity IT is an Act of Wisdome to prize and enjoy what is by Wisdome prepared and Because infinite Wisdome includeth all Wisdome infinite Wisdome at once Knoweth Chuseth Doth Esteemeth and Enjoyeth all that is Excellent It is an Act of Wisdome to make ones self Good and Delightful to others because Honor and Peace and Amity are founded therein It is infinite Wisdome to become infinitely Good and Delightful to others and for that cause to be infinite in Bounty For what is infinitely Good is infinitely Glorious And therefore is it that GOD needing Nothing in himself gives all Things to others Gives them in enjoying them enjoys in Giving them while his Goodness delights in the Felicity of others and in being the Felicity of others For by making them Great and Blessed he magnifieth himself and by replenishing them increaseth his Treasures HOW little soever of this you are able to conceive you may understand that to be like GOD is the way to be Happy And that if GOD hath put it in your Power to be like him it is the extremest Madness in the VVorld to abuse
Splendor of the whole World would vanish upon the Extinction of the Sun And one Instants Cessation from the Emission of its Beams would be its Extinction A Soul is a more Glorious Thing than the Sun The Sphear of its Activity is far Greater and its Light more Precious All the World may be filled with the splendor of its Beams Eternity it self was prepared for it Were there but one Soul to see and enjoy all the Creatures upon the suspension of its Light all the Creation would be rendred vain Light it self is but Darkness without the Understanding THE Existence of many Souls is so far from abating the value of one that it is by reason of their multitude more useful and Excellent For the value of the Objects imputes a Lustre and Higher value to the Light wherein they are enjoyed And if Souls themselves are more excellent than all other Creatures and arewith and above all other to be enjoyed that Power whereby this Soul is able to enjoy them is more to be esteemed upon the account of those Souls than for all the other Creatures which are made for the same GOD himself and his holy Angels are Objects of the Understanding Those Felicities and Glories which the Sun cannot extend to the Soul can comprehend All which since their Fruition depends upon that Act of the Understanding by which they are considered reflect a Lustre and add a value to that Knowledge by which the Soul does attain them Whereupon it follows that the infinite value of all these is seated in the intellect and as the Power so the Act of Knowledg on which their Fruition dependeth is of infinite use and Excellency As the loss is infinite when the Soul is bereaved of them so is the mage which it suffers by failing of its Light whether that Defect be voluntary or imposed by some outward Impediment AS for the Use of Knowledge it is apparent enough For the Relation between the Use and Excellency of things is so near and intimate that as nothing Useless can be at all excellent so is every Excellence in every Being founded in its usefulness The use of Souls is as great as their Excellency The use of Knowledge as endless in Variety as in Extent and Value KNOWLEDGE is that which does illuminate the Soul enkindle Love excite our Care inspire the mind with Joy inform the Will enlarge the Heart regulate the Passions unite all the Powers of the Soul to their Objects see their Beauty understand their Goodness discern our Interest in them form our Apprehensions of them consider and enjoy their Excellences All Contentments Raptures and Extafies are conceived in the Soul and begotten by Knowledge all Laws Obligations and Rewards are understood by Knowledg All Vertues and Graces of the Mind are framed by Knowledge all Advantages are by it improved all Temptations discerned all Dangers avoided all Affairs ordered all Endowments acquired all the Ornaments of Life all the Beauties of the inward Man all the Works of Piety are affected by Knowledge In the Light of knowledge all Pleasures arise and as Fruits and Flowers are begotten in the Earth by the Beams of the Sun so do all kinds of Joy spring from the Creatures and are made ours by the help of that Knowledge that shineth on them its last Off spring are Eternal Thanksgivings and Praises The Divine Image and the Perfection of Bliss are sounded in Knowledge GOD himself dwelleth in the Soul with all his Attributes and Perfections by Knowledge By it we are made Temples of the Holy Ghost and Partakers of the Divine Nature And for this cause it is that St. Paul prayeth That we might be filled with the Knowledge of his Will in all Wisedome and Spiritual Understanding that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every Good Work and increasing in the Knowledge of GOD strengthened with all Might according to his glorious Power unto all Patience and long-suffering with Joyfulness giving Thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light who hath delivered us from the Power of Darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of his Dear Son THE Sun is a glorious Creature and its Beams extend to the utmost Stars by shining on them it cloaths them with light and by its Rayes exciteth all their influences It enlightens the Eyes of all the Creatures It shineth on forty Kingdomes at the same time on Seas and Continents in a general manner yet so particularly regardeth all that every Mote in the Air every Grain of Dust every Sand every Spire of Grass is wholly illuminated thereby as if it did entirely shine upon that alone Nor does it onely illuminate all these Objects in an idle manner its Beams are Operative enter in sill the Pores of Things with Spirits and impregnate them with Powers cause all their Emanations Odors Vertues and Operations Springs Rivers Minerals and Vegetables are all perfected by the Sun all the Motion Life and sense of Birds Beasts and Fishes dependeth on the same Yet the Sun is but a little spark among all the Creatures that are made for the Soul the Soul being the most High and Noble of all is capable of far higher Perfections far more full of Life and Vigour in its uses The Sphere of its Activity is illimited its Energy is endless upon all its Objects It can exceed the Heavens in its Operations and run out into infinite spaces Such is the extent of Knowledge that it seemeth to be the Light of all Eternity All Objects are equally near to the splendor of its Beams As innumerable millions may be conceived in its Light with a ready capacity for millions more so can it penetrate all Abysles reach to the Centre of all Nature converse with all Beings visible and invisible Corporeal and Spiritual Temporal and Eternal Created and Increated Finite and Infinite Substantial and Accidental Actual and Possible Imaginary and Real All the Mysteries of Bliss and Misery all the Secrets of Heaven and Hell are Objects of the Souls Capacity here and shall be actually seen and known hereafter WERE Almighty Power Magnified by filling Eternity with created objects and were all the Omnipresence of God full of Joys it is able when assisted by his Divine Knowledge to look upon all and tho every one of them should have an infinite Depth within an Endless variety of Uses a Relation to all the rest of the World the Soul as if it were able to contract all its strengths from all the expansions of Eternity and space and fix them upon this Moment or on this Centre intirely beholding this alone in all its fulness can see its Original its End its Operations Effects and Properties as if it had nothing to consider but this alone in a most exquisite and perfect manner IT is not to be denied that every Being in all Worlds is an Object of the Understanding
Love is made compleat and Perfect it will be like his and the Benefit of it will be Eternal BEFORE we can fully discern the Benefit of Love or see the Glory of it in all its high and admirable Effects we must consider what Love is and doth in GOD. For as we have said The Life of GOD is Love nay the Apostle saith GOD is Love By Loving he begot his Love And if his Love be his Godhead his Essence is an infinite and Eternal Act of Love by extending which through all infinity and by Loving Eternally he begot his infinite and Eternal Essence which is the Love that filleth all Worlds with Beauty and Glory When you consider it well An Act of Love is begotten by Loving And if his Wisdome and Goodness and Blessedness and Glory be seated in Love his Love is his Wisdome which is the Son of GOD and his Goodness and his Glory and his Blessedness For all these tho we conceive them diversly are the same Thing and of the Son of GOD it is said that he is the Wisdom of the Father and the Brightness of his Fathers Glory He is the Life of the Father by whom also he made the Worlds and the Love of the Father for whom all Things were created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all Things were created by him and for him For GOD enjoyeth all Things by his Love which is his Eternal Son and made them as perfect and delightful as it was possible for things created to be that he might take Pleasure in them As he himself is made Glorious and Delightful in the Eyes of all Angels and Men by Love so doth his whole Kingdom arise and Spring from Love the Beauty and felicity of all his Creatures their Joys and Praises their Uses and Perfections are founded in his Love ' by his Love he begetteth all his pleasures in himself by his Love he made his Treasures infinite and by that alone doth he take infinite Pleasure and Delight in himself and his Kingdome Thus useful is the Love of GOD. Had not GOD from all Eternity Loved had he never desired nor delighted in any thing he had never exerted his Almighty Power never communicated his Goodness or begot his Wisdom never enjoyed Himself never applyed himself to the Production of his Works never appeared in his Glory to any eie whatsoever Removing his Love we remove all the Properties and Effects of his Essence and are utterly unable to conceive any Idea of his Godhead For his Power tho it be Almighty yet if it be Dead and idle is fruitless and Deformed Idle Power is not the Essence of the Deity but a meer Privation and Vacuity or at least a positive Being as ignoble as it is unactive The Reason of his Works is founded in Love so are all the Obligations that are laid upon his Creatures to adore him All their Rewards are founded in Love and by Love prepared All his Laws are the Laws of Love all his Attributes and Counsels are Love in several formes acting upon several occasions When his Love communicates it self in Joys to innocent Creatures it is Goodness when it attains the most perfect End by the most perfect means it is Wisdome when it rescues guilty Creatures from Hell it is Mercy when it punishes the Rebellious it is Justice when it inspires Obedience into any obstinate Person it is Grace when it delights in the Beauty of all its Works it is Blessedness when it appears in the perfection of its works it is glory For Glory is the perfection of Beauty that ariseth from and is seated in the lustre of excellent Actions discovering the internal Properties of an excellent Agent which is by those his Properties and Actions made Delightful to all Judicious Spectators NOR is it onely in GOD but in us also that the fruits and Benefits of Love are ineffable For by loving as it ought to do the Soul acquires its own Perfection and is united to all its Objects By loving as it ought to do it is made Holy and Wise and Good and Amiable Onely by Loving does it embraces the Delights of which it is capable Love is the root and Soul of those Actions for which a Creature is desired and praised by others IT is an infinite Advantage that we are able to live in GODS Image if we please For if GOD alone be infinitely Glorious and Blessed there is no way for us to become Glorious and Blessed but by being made either by our selves or some other like unto him BY nature he hath implanted the Similitude of his power which we are to improve by Grace turning it into Act after his Similitude To be able to Love is neither Grace nor vertue but a meer Gift of GOD a natural Endowment which may be Blasted or compleated Actually to love is the Work of vertue for by that Act we enjoy our Felicity HAD GOD limited and confined our understanding our power of Loving had been shut up in Bounds Had he made it infinite but not prepared objects for the same our Love had been deluded and had lost its force Had he made some Objects but not so many as it was capable of Loving it had been Superfluous and dissatisfied Had he prepared Objects innumerable and Endless but made them evil our Love had been irrational had he commanded us to Love them Had he made more Objects then we were able to love we had been discontented But having made all Objects infinitely Amiable and Glorious and filled his Immensity and Eternity with himselfe and with the Lustre of his Actions Love is an infinite Vertue because nothing is wanting but an Act of Love to enjoy them IF they are all Amiable in all Respects they are all according to our Hearts desire in their Natures Places Durations Ends Occasions Causes Uses Service Relations Properties Operations c. All things as they immediatly proceed from him are in all respects most perfectly pleasing And if we have an Eye to see and discern this and a Soul able to resent the Benefit if our nature be so vast and perfect as to see and take pleasure in all their Circumstances it is the most unreasonable and bruitish thing in the world to withdraw our Affection from them nay it is worse then Diabolical For we Kill our selves we blast our Felicity we offend GOD we slight the Beauty of all his Creatures we break his Laws we act against nature we darken the Light and Splendor of our Souls we deface his Image we grieve his Love we do the most vicious and abominable thing that is imaginable But if we excite and a waken our Power we take in the Glory of all objects we live unto them we are sensible of them we delight in them we transform our souls into Acts of Love and Knowledge we proceed out of our selves into all Immensities
is magnified and Ages enlightned the Ministry of Angels and the Dispensations of Providence by which the Care and Tenderness of GOD is shewn the infinite measures and Violences of his Love the infinite Variety and Number of Obligations the present Advantages and Benefits the Eternal Rewards the Relation of GOD to Man as a Father and a friend a Bridegroom and a King a Light and Example the sweetuess of our Union and Communion with him and the Gift of the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven all these Things which the Angels desire to look into were by the Christian Religion with the rest before mentioned plainly revealed with our victory over Death the Resurrection of our Bodies and Life Eternal IN the Light of these Circumstances the Interior form of Vertuous Acts more evidently appears For to exercise Vertue in the Quality and Capacity of a Son of GOD is another sort of Business than to exercise Vertue as an ordinary Mechanick and to do all things being clothed with a Sence of our Coelestial Grandeur as we are Heirs of the World infinitely Beloved of GOD ordained for his Throne Delightful in the Eyes of all Angels and Men Beloved and honored by all the Creatures made Partakers of the Divine Nature intending and designing to Please all Spectators in Heaven and Earth by the excellency of our Actions This makes every little Deed as it were infinite within while the Matter of the Action seemeth nothing it renders the Form Divine and Blessed THE best Actions of the prophaner Heathen fell under the notion of Dead Works By which name the Apostle calleth all wicked Deeds to intimate the Privation of all that excellency that ought to be in Humane Actions Every Deed and Thought of ours ought to be Inspired with Life from Heaven The Light of the Understanding and the vigor of the Will is the Soul that informes it When it is void of Knowledge and springs not from that series of GODS infinite Love that ought to animate it nor regardeth those Eternal Joys that are set before us nor at all considers those Obligations that are laid upon us it is bereaved of its Vital and Essential form it is like a fair Carcase without a Soul unsensible of those Interests and Concerns that ought chiefly to be valued and promoted And by this you may see clearly that the Matter of a Good act falles infinitely short of that Perfection wherewith it ought to be inspired if this Soul or Form be wanting which tho less visible to the Eye of flesh is of as much greater Excellence and Importance as the Soul in nature is above Body THUS when a Heathen giveth to the Poor the matter of the Act is the very self same which a Christian man does So is an Act of Courage or Patience in encountring Death the subduing of the Appetite and the Denial of a Lust a piece of Justice against Interest and friendship an Act of Prudence Temperance or Fidelity In all these if we respect the Matter of them Heathens have acted in a manner as high as any Christian and consequently appear to vulgar Apprenhensions as Heroick and Stupendious But consider the inside the Heathen did it that he might satisfie his Conscience and and please the GODS that he might acquire honor and immortal fame or please the generous Inclination of his own Soul which delighted in Honor and Worth or assert his own Principles or five his friends or preserve his Country And doubtless these are Great and brave considerations but they are limited and finite and Sick of two Defects for the most part that are incurable They were Sacrifices of Obedience to false Gods plain Idolatry and attended with an ignorant Loftiness and Height of Mind that confided in them and besides this they aspired to little more then a Glorious name in following Ages WHEREAS the Christian makes all Kind of Graces to meet and concentre in every Action Wisdom Goodness Justice Courage Temperance Prudence Humility Penitence Patience Meekness Liberality Cheerfulness Gratitude Joy in the Holy Ghost Devotion Piety Faith Hope Charity all Kind of Holiness And his Action extends to all the Objects of these Graces and includes their Causes He remembers the infinite Obligations that are laid upon him by that Deity which infinitely Loves him the Benefit of the Creation and the Glory of the Divine Image the Guilt of fall and that blot and misery that lyes upon him the Wonder of his Redemption and the Love of Christ his Death and Passion the Miraculous Pains and Endeavors of GOD in all Ages to reclaim him the Giving of the Holy Ghost and his holy Baptism the New Covenant which he is in with GOD the Height and Glory of his Place and station the Beauty of the World and his Dominion over all the Living Creatures the Joy and Amity of all the Angels the Benefit and Welfare of all his Neighbours the Joy and Prosperity of future Ages the Glory of GOD the Honour of his Church and the Propagation of Religion the Salvation of others Souls and the Eternal State and condition of his own the Acquisition of a Coelestial and Eternal Kingdom and the Delight he taketh in an infinite Sphere of Eternal Joys the fervent Desire he has to be Grateful to the Almighty all these by the Light of his Divine and Coelestial Knowledge enter into the Act for want of which the other work that is wrought by an Ignorant Heathen is in a Manner rightly called a Work of Darkness I do not speak this as if I would discourage a Heathen from doing the Best that he is able or condemn those reasons upon which he proceedeth in his Vertuous Deeds No nor as if all this were necessary to the Acceptance of an Action But to shew how highly Christianity does ennoble the Soul of Man how far more sublime its Principles are and how far more perfect it makes his Actions When they are what they may be And withal to provoke Christians to a more Intelligent and lofty Practice of Christian Vertues lest they differ not in their Morals from the better sort of Heathens All these things are necessary to the perfection of an Action tho not to its Acceptance And GODS Omnipresence and Power and Wisdom and Love ought to be considered in all places among all Persons upon all occasions And the Blood of Christ and the infinite Glory of Eternal Bliss But that which above all I chiefly intend is to shew what influence the great Perfection of Felicity hath upon all our Vertues not only to stir us up to do them but by entering their Constitution to inspire them with their Beauty and form for their fuller Lustre Glory and Perfection That we may see also how Great and Transcendent that Life must be wherein every Act is capable of so much Majesty and Magnificence if I may so speak by reason of the variety of its Ends and Causes And how abominable and absurd they are all that
Despair has comfort and refreshment answerable to it in infinite Hope 'T is the present food and Support of our Lives 't is the Anchor of our Souls in the midst of all the Storms and Tempests in the World 't is the foretaste of Bliss and Coelestial Glory a Glympse and Appearence of the Beatifick Vision without which to Live is to Dye and to Dye is to perish for evermore THE Great Reason for which a right Hope is accounted so Great a Vertue is because its Objects do really surpass all Imagination The fulness of the GODHEAD in the Soul of Man the Perfection of the Divine Image a Transformation for Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord Communion with the Father Son and Holy Ghost infinite Love and Bounty the Estate of a Bride in Communion with GOD the Possession of his Throne with another Kind of sweetness then the Bridegroom himself enjoys the Resurrection of the Body and Life Eternal in a Kingdome where all Occasions of Tears and Fears shall ever be removed Where all Regions and Ages and Spaces and Times and Eterternities shall be before our Eys and all Objects in all Worlds at once Visible and infinitely Rich and Beautiful and Ours Our very Appetites also being ravished with Sensible Pleasures in all our Members not inconsistent with but springing from these high and Supeperior Delights not distracting or confounding our Spiritual Joys but purely Superadded and increasing the same while our Bodies are made like to his most Glorious Body by that Almighty Power whereby he is able to subdue All Things to himself all these infuse their Value and the Hope that is exercised about these Things is a Vertue so great that all inferior Hopes which this doth Sanctifie are made Vertues by it but without this all other Hopes are Debasements and Abuses of the Soul meer Distractions and delusions and therefore Vices I Know very well that Presumption and Despair are generally accounted the Extreams of Hope and the only vices that are Opposite thereunto But I Know as well that there may be many Kinds and Degrees of Hope of which so me may be vicious and some Vertuous and that some sorts of Hope themselves are Vices When ever we make an inferior Desire the Sovereign Object of our Hope our Hope is abominable Idolatrous and Atheistical We forget GOD and magnifie an inferior Object above all that is Divine To Sacrifice all our Hopes to Things unworthy of them or to be Remiss and sluggish in Hoping for Things of infinite Importance is apparently Vicious But to be just to all our Encouragements and to lift up our Eys to the Eternal GOD with an humble Expectation to wait upon him and to hope for all that from his Bounty which his Goodness has promised to desire the most high and perfect Proofs of his Love is the Property of a most Great and Noble Soul by which it is carried above all the World and fitted for the Life of the most high and perfect Vertue CHAP. XVII Of Repentance It s Original its Nature it is a Purgative Vertue It s necessity its Excellencies The measure of that sorrow which is due to Sin is intollerable to Sense confessed by Reason and dispensed with by mercy REPENTANCE is a Sowre and austere Kind of Vertue that was not created nor intended by GOD but introduced by Sin made fair by Mercy in remitting the offence and pardoning the Sin It is a Strange Kind of off-spring which flows from Parents so infinitely different and has a mixture in its Nature answerable to either an Evil which it derives from Sin and a Goodness which flows from Mercy It s Evil is that of Sorrow Indignation and Shame Its Goodness is the usefulness and necessity of the thing considering the Condition we are now in It is highly ingrateful to Sence but transcendently convenient and amiable to Reason for it is impossible for him that has once been defiled with sin ever to be cleansed or to live after in a Vertuous manner unless he be so ingenious as to lament his Crime as to loath acknowledge and detest his Error THE Union of the Soul and Body is mysterious but that Sin and Mercy should be united as Causes so infinitely different for the production of a Child so Black and so Beautiful is the Greattest Wonder which the Soul can contemplate on this side Heaven and will continue to be remembred for ever and appear more Wonderful than before when the perfect Disparity and Opposition between them is clearly seen in the Light of Glory THE Efficient Cause of Repentance is either Remote or Immediate It s immediate Efficient Cause is the Gracious Inclination or the Will of the Penitent its remote Efficient is GOD the Father of Lights from which every Good and Perfect Gift descended It s Material Cause is Sorrow It s Formal Cause which makes it a Vertue is the Reason and Manner of that Sorrow the Equity and Piety wherewith it is attended containing many ingredients in its Nature too long a particular to be described here It s Final Cause is either immediate or ultimate the first is Amendment the last Salvation BEING thus bounded by its Causes its Definition is Easie Repentance is a Grace or Christian Vertue wherein a man confesses hates and forsakes his Sin with Grief that he hath been Guilty of it and purposes of Amendment of Life in Order to His Peace and Reconciliation with GOD that he may answer the Obligations that lye upon him discharge his Duty lay hold on the Advantages of GODS Mercy escape everlasting Damnation and be made a Partaker of Eternal Glory AMONG the Vertues some are Purgative and some are Perfective The Purgative Vertues are all Preparatory to Bliss and are occasioned only by the Disorder of the Soul the perfective are Essential to our formal Happiness and Eternally necessary by the Law of Nature Repentance is not in its own Nature If Simply and absolutely considered necessary to Bliss But in Relation to Sinners it is as necessary as Physick to the Recovery of Health or as the Change it self is by which we pass from the Distemper we are Sick of to the right and Sound Estate which we had lost by the Disease As the malady is accidental so is the Cure For the Nature of Man may be well and perfect without either this or the other He that is originally pure has no need of a Purgative Vertue but he that is faln defiled musts needs rise and wash away the filth before he can be clean FOR this Cause even among the Heathens themselves the more Knowing and Learned have a Conscience of Sin their Priests and Philosophers devised several Rites and Manners of Purgation which they taught and imposed on their Disciples with much Circumstance and Ceremony in order to their Reception Nor was there any Temple or Religion in the World that pretended not something to Diviner Mysteries Which were graced beautified
and his infinite Goodness abused and undervalued all Obligations imposed and all Rewards prepared in vain is worse than to see ones Palace on fire as soon as it is builded or ones Wife smitten with Leprosie and ones only beloved Son run mad For a Child to trample on his Fathers Bowels is nothing in Comparison He therefore that feels what he made GOD to endure what Grapes of Sodom and Clusters of Gomorrah he offered to his Teeth how evil a thing and bitter it is to forsake GOD how the Scripture saith He was grieved at the Heart when he saw the Corruption and Impiety of the Earth and how the Sorrow inflicted was so sore as to make him repent that he had made Man in the World he surely will be more concerned at the Evil he hath done than at any Evil he can otherwise suffer and his Godly Sorrow as Moses's Rod did eat up all the Rods of the Egyptians will devour all other Sorrows whatsoever TO consider that GOD was the first Patient Person in the World must needs sweeten the Bitterness of Patience and make it acceptable unto us to consider that we alone brought it upon our selves and may thank our selves for the folly of its Introduction must make us out of very Indignation against our selves contented to suffer and in pure Justice quietly to digest it but to consider yet further that GOD by bearing our Offences with Patience took off the trouble of them from us and by refusing to ease himself of the greatness of his displeasure in pouring it back again on our own heads digested it so as to turn our eternal Torments into transitory Woes nay into his own Agonies and Pains on the Cross this will help our Reason to rejoyce at our light Afflictions which are but for a moment especially since they work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory The first Impression of that abominable Mischief which occasioned Patience in GOD made it a Calamity but not a Vertue Detestation and Grief in themselves are but Sufferings and meer Sufferings have no Vertue nor so much almost as Action in them If his detestation and grief had broken out in Impatience we had all been destroyed Anger and Fury had been poured down upon us That which made it a Vertue was the great and mighty Continence whereby it was kept in and governed for all our Benefit For it was full of Goodness and Compassion and Mercy and Love and that was indeed the vertue of Patience in which so much Magnanimity and Government did appear so much Wisdom and Stedfastness and Immutability and upon this vertue of that Act whereby he retained his displeasure the whole Kingdom of Grace and the glory of his Mercy and Love and the blessedness and exaltation of his Church is founded it depended upon it and from his Patience it proceeded PATIENCE then is that Vertue by which we behave our selves constantly and prudently in the midst of Misfortunes and Troubles That Vertue whereby we do not only forbear to break out in Murmurings and Repinings or support our selves from sinking under Afflictions or suppress our Discontentments and refrain from Anger and Disquiet but whereby we retain our Wisdom and the goodness of our Mind notwithstanding all the Confusions and Disorders that would disturb us and demean our selves in a serene and honourable manner surmounting the Pains and Calamities that trouble us and that would otherwise overwhelm us While we move in a quick and vigorous manner under our Burthen and by a true Courage improve our Afflictions and turn them into the Spoils of Invincible Reason IT is an easie Observation that Troublous Times are the Seasons of Honour and that a Warlike-Field is the Seed-Plot of great and Heroical Actions Men that live in quiet and peaceful Ages pass through the World as insensibly as if they had all their daies been asleep Hazards and Calamities and Battles and Victories fill the Annals with Wonder and raise Great Men to an eminent degree of Fame and Glory It is Saint Chrysostoms opinion That a Man shews far greater Bravery that grapples with a Disease or surmounts his evil Fortune or behaves himself with Courage in distress bears the burning of his House or the loss of his Goods or the death of his Children with an equal Spirit in the midst of all Calamities retains his Integrity with Humility and Patience and Blesses GOD chearfully submitting with Resignation to his Will and shews himself Constant in all Estates then he that in the midst of a prosperous Condition buildeth Hospitals and Temples shineth in the exercise of Bounty and Magnificence and obligeth all the World without any other Expence than that of his Monies A Pelican that feeds her young ones with her Blood is a more Noble Bird than an Eagle that fills her Nest with Ravine though taken from the Altar For though that of a Sacrifice be the more Sacred food that of ones own Blood is more near and costly TIMES of Affliction are Seed-times for a future Harvest We are made perfect through Sufferings though the Way be mysterious and the Manner almost incomprehensible whereby the Sufferings we endure conduce to our Perfection Consider the Patience of Job how great a spectacle his Sufferings made him to GOD Angels and Men and how glorious he became by his Patience to all Generations THIS Vertue has an Appearance by reason of its Objects and Materials so cross to its disposition that if any thing be difficult in all Nature to be understood Patience is one it being a thing of the most deep and obscure value It s Nature and Effect seem contrary to each other It raises a Man by depressing him it elevates by overwhelming it honours by debafing it saves by killing him By making a Man little and nothing it magnifies and exalts him No Act of Love is attended with such bleeding Circumstances as that of Cruel Resolution in exposing our selves to all Calamities that can befal our Souls for our Beloved's sake It is the glory of the good Shepheard that He laies down his life for the Sheep And for this very Cause is our Saviour honoured by GOD and Men because being in the form of GOD he made himself of no Reputation but took on himself the form of a Servant and died the most cursed Death of the Cross for the sake of the World Wherefore saith the Text that is For which very Cause GOD also hath highly exalted him and given him a Name which is above every Name that at the Name of JESUS every Knee should bow of things in the Heaven things in the Earth and things under the Earth Nor is this Gift of GOD so purely Arbitrary but that it has a foundation in Nature Angels and Men do not bow their Knees only because they are commanded but because they see Reason to incline them to bow their Knees There is something in our Saviours Nature Action and Merit that deserves
and to be really laden with all the bunches of Grapes that beautifie it The Excellency of its Nature is vain if its Fruit be never brought to perfection There is a Glory in the Work which the silent Habit is uncapable of It is the Life and Vigour of the Exercise in which all the brightness consisteth Even Diamonds in the Quarry are dull and dim they receive not their full lustre and Price till they are cut and polished GOD hath placed our Trial in sharp and bitter Atchievments because the Love that is exprest in Agonies and Conflicts acquires other kind of Beauties that produce more violent and strong Effects in the Mind of the Spectator and touch the Soul of the Beloved with more quick and feeling Compassions than any Love expressed in Ease and Pleasure can pretend to And since all our Felicity consists in the violence of Gods Love his great and perfect Sence of our Beauty and Honour his full and compleat delight and Complacency all that which affecteth his Soul with more feeling and tender Resentment must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and precious to us because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 us more dear and precious to him We live in him more effectually and feel our selves rooted in his Love and crowned with his Comâ—lacency more abundantly by how much the more his Affection bleedeth and his Pity which enbalms Love is stirred up to receive us And therefore it is that St. Peter saith We are in Heaviness for a season through manifold Temptations that the Trial of our Faith being much more precious than of Gold that perisheth though it be tried with Fire might be found unto Praise and Honour and Glory at the Appearing of Jesus Christ. For as we have before observed Love is more effeminate in a condition of Repose where all is sweet and easie to our selves there can be no Fidelity no Patience no Fortitude no actual Sacrificing of all our Contentments and Joyes to our Beloved no Victory over Death and Hell and the Grave no Self denial no Endearments springing from the same no Prelation of our Object above our selves no loss of Honours Riches Liberties and Lives for our Objects sake and the more of this is Actually done the more of Necessity must be the following Joy of Glory And for this Cause doth St. Peter further exhort us Beloved think it not strange concerning the fiery Trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you But rejoyce in as much as ye are Partakers of Christs Sufferings that when his Glory is revealed you may be glad also with exceeding Joy If ye be reproached for the Name of Christ happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God resteth upon you on their part he is evil spoken of but on your part he is glorisied THIS he speaketh I confess of the Persecutions Imprisonments and Flames of the Martyrs that were Gods Friends and the Champions of his Truth in the World that in vindication of his Glory endured the Brunt and received all the Arrows of his Enemies in their Bosom but no Man has cause to be discouraged For where the greatness of the Cause is wanting and the apparent glory of the Consequence unseen as for the most part it is in all our common and ordinary Afflictions there to submit to the Will of GOD where there is so much Baseness as in Poverty in Sickness where there is so much Unprofitableness in private Losses and Calamities where there is so much Obscurity meerly because it is GODS pleasure and because in other things he hath infinitely obliged us and prepared infinite and eternal Joyes this hath a peculiar Grace in its nature that in ordinary occurrences makes our Patience more rare and extraordinary THERE are a thousand things that may be said on this Theme which for brevity I must pass All I shall observe further is this that as the Scriptures open the design of Patience and unvail the face of its mysterious Nature so doth Reason shew its invincible height and magnanimity Patience is a Vertue whose element is in Miseries it owes its being to Pains and Calamities were there no Miseries there could be no Patience Evils are its Play-sellows it feeds upon Sorrows thrives by Disadvantages grows rich by Poverties it must needs surmount all Opposition for the more it endures the greater it is It is impossible for Calamity to hurt Patience it is made perfect by Sufferings The more Patient a man is his Patience is the greater and the greater his Patience is the more strong and mighty his Soul is Nothing can quell him or discourage or overcome him that is compleat in Patience He dareth all things because he can endure them All his Martial and Heroical Vertues are knit together in Patience Fortitude it self cannot win the field without it The most valiant Souldier is but useless if he cannot endure Hunger and Cold and Heat and Rain the Incommodities of a March and lying on the Ground VVhile he that endures all things marches on and gets into the Field where Fidelity Love and Loyalty are tried and cannot be hindered from the full and perfect exercise of all these because he can bear any thing that is Evil he can do any thing that is Good He will fight the good fight with alacrity and at last most certainly attain the Crown of Righteousness and the Kings favour CHAP. XXV The Cause of Meekness is Love It respects the future beauty and perfection of its object It is the most supernatural of all the Vertues The Reasons and Grounds of this Vertue in the estate of Grace and Misery It s manifold Effects and Excellencies Of the Meekness of Moses and Joseph MEEKNESS is a Vertue of the Third estate as well as Patience Patience regards Calamities Meekness VVrongs The Injuries that we receive from others are its proper Objects It springs from Love and tends to its Continuance and Preservation It hath something peculiar in its nature because it gives Immutability to Goodness and makes our VVorth not to depend on other Mens Deservings but our own Resolutions It is fed by Charity and like a grateful Off spring of a Parent so amiable helps in its greatest extremity to preserve it from its extinction For all Love by Nature dies into Distaste when its Object hath offended because Approbation which is the first step to Esteem and Esteem it self which is a degree to Love have no other Object but something that is Amiable and sit to be beloved And again every thing that is divested of all its excellence is common if not odious and lost to our Affection till Meekness comes in to rescue and save both our Love and it from its dismal Period It s End is the Recovery of what has offended Hope and Possibility are the foundation of its exercise Prudence is the Guide by which it is conducted to the satisfaction of our desire in the restitution of Amity between us and our Adversary
which is taken in the communication of our Bounties And in this there is founded a certain sympathy of Delight which carries us to feel and be affected with anothers Joy and makes it an Object and a Caufe of ours nay almost the very Form aud Essence of ours when we are the Authors of it A Grateful Soul holds Intelligence with GOD as it receives his Bounties it delights in his Complacencies THE great effect of Obligation and Gratitude is Amity and Communion A Grateful Soul is deeply concerned in the Honour of his Benefactor in his Benefactors Pleasure Life and Safety in all his Successes Prosperities Advancements in all his Felicity and Glory He is afflicted in all his Afflictions he is delighted in all his Enjoyments he is crowned in all his Promotions he is wronged and injured in all his Affronts he is touched with the least Displeasure that can befal him Nay he is more tender of his Benefactors Repose than his own The apple of his Eye is the tenderest part in himself yet he had rather have it touched than the Person of his Benefactor No wounds can wound him more than those which his Benefactor receiveth and he in him His own wounds may kill his Body but these destroy his Contentment A thousand Injuries and Calumnics against himself he can forgive and is never provoked but when his Friend is offended He slights himself and prefers his Benefactor He would make his Face a Stepping stone to his Benefactors Glory He exposes his body to Swords and Spears and Arrows for his Benefactors safety He would rather be torn to pieces and suffer a thousand Deaths than permit his Benefactor to be slain or dishonoured Now all this in time of Trial and distress would seem disadvantagious But besides the Obligation there is Sence of Honour that compâ—â—â— a man thereunto and a certain beauty in the act of Gratitude distinct from the goodness of the Benefit that is so naturally sweet to the goodness of the Soul that it is better to die than renounce it And a certain Baseness on the other side an odiousoess in Ingratitude in the very act so abominable that it blasts any Safety and Repose that can be gotten by it WHERE the Benefits are small the Vertue of Gratitude is less powerful and perfect for its strength depends upon its food and nourishment A thin and spare diet is not very healthful for it Though all the benefits that are done upon the Earth by Men to Men are infinitely mean if compared to those which the Godhead does to the least of his Creatures yet the World is full of the praise of this Vertue and an Ingrateful man is the most hateful Object living Former Ages afford us many rare and glorious Examples of the power of Gratitude and its sacred Zeal for and tenderness of its Object The union between the Body and the Soul is nothing comparable to the union of Love and its Beloved though the Causes are but slight upon which it is founded The Soul will often forsake its mansion to dwell with its beloved It esteems all its beauties and Members only for its Beloloveds sake Yet Colours and Features a little red and white a sparkling Eye a brisk Conversation and a delectable Humor are all that breed it all that produce this mighty effect this prodigy of Nature There is something more where the Life and Honour of a man has been saved by the kindness of a Benefactor especially if he be rich and amiable that has delivered us If he be great and honourable that was the Author of the benefit the obligation is the greater For the Worth of the Person enters into the nature of the act and enhances its value Yet all this put together is exceeded by the Gratitude of a worthy Soul because his own Worth inclines him to be more Generous than the Cause requires and to magnifie the benefit by the mighty addition of his own goodness It is the natural property of Goodness to communicate it self any occasion of doing it is instead of a Cause But when there is a Cause it is like a spark to Powder it enkindles a flame in his Inclination All acts of Gratitude have a great deal of sweetness in their own nature and for the sake of that beauty which is seated in themselves will not be rigorous and exact in their proportions since it is a beautiful thing to exceed in Goodness It s own disposition prompts it to do more than is deserved by the Kindness it receives and if not to conceive it self more obliged than it is yet to be more honourable in its Returns than the meer goodness of its Benefactor can exact because it conceives it self by its own Vertue obliged to be Noble and Munificent in all its acknowledgments BUT however slow Gratitude may be in the Returns which it maketh for smaller benefits it is infinitely prone to exceed all measure when it is infinitely obliged Praises are not fed by mean Contentments but by sublime ones The acknowledgment is cool where the benefits are small and the Contentments imperfect where they are limited and restrained Full Satisfaction hath another kind of influence on the Soul of Man than single Kindnesses or some few particular Supplies An infinite Bliss produces more vigorous and joyful efforts than bare Acknowledgments Here upon Earth there are disquiets and destres and expectations and Complaints and defects and imperfections fears and interests to be still secured that lame and darken our Contentment and Gratitude But in Heaven all these admixtures of alloy are remov'd The glory of the light in which our Gratitude appeareth adds lustre and beauty to the increase of its Perfection In the utmost height of our Satisfaction there is such an infinite and eternal force that our Gratitude breaks out in exulting and triumphing Effusions all our Capacities Inclinations and Desires being fully satisfied we have nothing else to do but to Love and be Grateful An infinite and eternal Kingdom given to him that was taken out of Nothing by a King that is infinite in greatness and beauty all his Joyes and all his Treasures it makes the Soul a fountain of Delights whole nature is to receive no more but overflow for ever When the Soul cometh once to love GOD so infinitely above it self as the cause requireth its only delight is to magnifie him and to see him blessed The beauty and sweetness of its own Gratitude is as rich and divine as all his Gifts It is tempted here infinitely more to exceed its Causes than ever before Amazements Admirations Affections Praises Hallelujahs Raptures Extasies and Blessings are all its delights The pleasure of Loving is its only business it is turned all into flame and brightness and transportation and excess It infinitely passes Light and Fire in quickness and motion all Impediments are devoured and GOD alone is its Life and Glory The more Great the more high the more excellent he is the more