their owne vpō which they neuer looke but from farre of soe how great soeuer they be in themselues they seeme little to them From hence it proceedes that in their conuersation they are soe intractable and soe rigourous for iust after the rate of their hauing noe consideration of their one infirmities they haue noe compassion of others I neuer yet saw man who was curious in the cōsideration of himselfe who would not alsoe easily passe ouer the fault of another and whatsoeuer that man be who is seuere against another when he falls giues strong euidence whereby it is proued that he considers not his owne defects Soe that if wee desire to fly from this soe daungerous kinde of blindenes we must be sure to view reuiew what kinde of things our selues are that soe when we finde how miserable we be we may cry out for remedy to our lord Iesus Because indeede hee is Iesus that is to say a Sauiour but yet of noe other then such as know and bewaile their owne miseries and who receiue indeede if they can and in desire if they cannot the holy Sacraments of the Church that soe they may be cured and saued And although for the making vs know our selues God and his Saints haue declared many and many things to vs yet he whoe shall attentiuely behould that which he may obserue to passe within his owne hart will finde soe many things for which he must despise him selfe that with horrour he will cry out from the bottome of that Abisse and say there is noe end of my miseries Who is he that hath not erred in those things wherein he thought him selfe most sure who hath not desired searched after things as cōcerning that they were good for him which yet afterward he found to be full of preiudice Who will presume to know any thing since he hath beene deceiued innumerable tymes what thing is more blinde then a man who knowes not soe much as what he is to aske of God as S. Paule tells vs and this comes to passe Rom. 2. because we know not soe much as what is good for our selues as it happened euen to the same S. Paule Who begging of God that he would free him from a particular temptation Rom. 2. Cor. 12. conceiued that he had asked a right but it was giuen him to be vnderstood that indeede he knew not what he asked nor soe much as what was good for him And now who will put cōfidence in his ability to know euen soe much as what he should Iudge desire concerning himselfe since he whome the holy ghost inhabited did aske that which was not good for him to obtaine Certainely our ignorance must needes be very great fince we erre soe oftē in those things wherein it imports vs soe much not to erre But now though sometymes our lord should teach vs to know what is good yet who doth not see how very great our weakenes is and how we fall flat vpon our faces in those things wherein it concerned vs to stand vp right To whome hath it not occurred many tymes to propound the doeing of some good thing and yet to finde himselfe ouerthrowne and ouercome by that wherein he tooke himselfe to be most inuincible To day wee lament our sinnes with teares in our eyes and we purpose to refraine them afterward and yet euen whilst the same teares are still wett vpon our cheekes some new occasion of sinne is offered and weeping because we fell we committ that very thing for which we may haue cause to weepe againe receiuing the body of our lord Iesus-Christ with much cause of being confounded for the irreuerence which we haue committed For the tyme hauing beene but short since we harboured his pretious body in our bosomes it happens sometymes that by some sinne we driue his grace out of our soules What care is soe weake and light which chaunges soe often vpon the warning of all windes as wee Sometymes merry and sometymes sadd now deuout and then distracted now full of desire tending to heauen and then following the world and euen dropping downe to hell Now hee abhorres a thing and instantly he loues that which he abhorred He casts vp that which he had eaten because he found it charge his stomack and presently he eates it vp againe as if he had not cast it before What thing can there be with such variety of coulours in it as a man who is made after this sort what Image can they painte with soe many faces and soe many tongues as this kinde of man How truely said Iob Man neuer remaines in one and the same state Iob. 14. Iob. 7. And the reason heereof is because he is ashes or dust and his life a winde Now what a sott should hee bee who would seeke for any repose or rest betweene dust and winde I doe not thinke that there could be a more hedious thing then if we were able to discerne to how many seuerall dispositions one man is subiect in one onely day His whole life is a very masse of mutability and frailty And that which the scripture saith agrees well to him Eccl. 27. The foole is as chaungeable as the Moone But now what remedy shall wee finde heereof Certainely we can haue none better then to know our selues for Lunaticks And as in former tymes they carryed a Lunatick person to our Lord Iesus Christ that he might cure him soe lett vs goe for cure to the same lord Iesus The scripture saith that the euill spiritt tormented that man and that sometymes he cast him into the fire and sometymes into the water and the very same happens to vs. Sometymes wee fall into the fire of couetousnes of wrath of enuy at other tymes into the water of carnality of tepidity and of malice And if wee consider vpon how large accompts wee stand obliged to almighty God for the tyme past and how little amendment there is in the tyme present we will be sure to say and we may doe it with much truth The sorrowes of death haue enuironed mee the dangers of hell haue hemmed me in O danger of hell which is soe mightily to be feared And who is not hee that will not watch with a hundred thowsand eyes that he may not be put to welter in that profound Lake where hee shall eternally bewaile the temporall delight which he hath vnlawfully enioyed who will not take care of his way least otherwise he be found wādering from all happines where are the eyes of that man who sees not this where are his eares whoe heares not this where is his pallate who tastes not this It is a cleare testimony of death not to performe the actions of life Our sinnes are innumerable our frailties are great our enemies are stout crafty and many and they hate vs home That whereof wee are in question is either the gayning or loosing of God for all eternity How comes it then to
from his hand and this signe is that you haue suffered tribulation You must not be a little gladd of this since our Lord loues you Nor yet must you be slacke since you are in the middest of many dangers but carry your eye towards him who hath called you with so great loue You must alsoe haue a stronge harte For he called you not with intention to giue you ouer in the middest of your iourney but to guide you vnder the protection of his owne wings till he may haue conducted you to heauen where you shall see his face Let not the faith of Christ our Lord nor the loue you owe him sleepe in you for he neuer sleepes when there is question of doeing you any good These are tokens which he vses to send to whome he loues to try if they alsoe loue him in their afflictions and if they confide in him in their dangers That Spouse is not worthy of thaÌ„kes who loues her fellow spouse but onely when he is present with her not doth it cost him much to confide in him when she findes her selfe regaled by him But the matter is that when he absents himselfe from her yea and when he seemes to haue forgotten her she must loue him soe much the better as he is further absent from her and confide in him soe much the more as she hath fewer exteriour signes of his fauour It is enough for you my good sister to haue knowne already by experience how louing our Lord hath beene to you by his hauing drawne you to the knowledge of himself And be you not crauing new testimonies of his Loue but making your selfe sure enough thereof and be not troubled though he correct you and though it seeme as if he estraunged himselfe from you and forgott you but rather say thus Hee hath a minde to trye me and not to oppresse mee You must loue our Lord though he correct you you must coÌ„fide in him though you feele noe comfort from him Seeke him though he hide himselfe suffer him not to rest till you haue waked him and till he confesse that you are faithfull in his absence And thus you shall finde him returne to you with soe much aduantage as that when you enioye his presence againe you will esteeme your former afflictions well imployed Procure greate courage wherewith to suffer for after the rate of your sorrows shall your comforts be Bee not a louer of your selse but be a louer of God loose yourselfe and soe you shall be sure to finde your selfe And if once you would but trust God home and if once you would offer your selfe to him with true loue there could nothing happen which would fright you All bitter frosen afflictions proceede but from distrust in God And for this our Lord said Let not your harts be troubled and doe not feare You beleiue in God beleiue alsoe in mee Soe that faith and loue is the cause of peace Iohn 14 and quietnes to the hart There is noe one thinge which is soe necessary for you towards the making you able to arriue at the end of that dayes worke wherein God hath placed you as to confide in him with loue Our lord hath many proofes to make of you and many tribulations shall growe where you looke least for them but if you stand armed with faith and loue you shall ouercome them all Doe but remember how the children of Israell Num. 1 when they were issued out of the land of Egypt by the meanes of soe many miracles and were passing through soe many afflictions before they arriued at that land which our lord had promised them said thus The people which possesse this land is greater and stronger then wee they haue mightie Citties whose walis doe euen threaten the skye we cannot ouercome such a stout nation as this to what end doe wee put our selues vpon this iourney And though some amongst them whoe had faith did encourage the rest by saying that since God was of their side they should easily be able to ouercome as they had done till then yet feare preuailed soe farre as that they offended our lord thereby and through their little considence they lost the land and God destroyed them in the desert without suffering them to enioye that for which they had laboured and which himselfe had promised Let vs take warning my good sister by the danger of others and lett vs know that our lord hath gust Psal 147. in such as feare him and hope in his mercie and is offended with such as doe not soe It is he whoe drewe you out of the captiuity of Egypt when he inspired your hart with a desire of being his and hee leades you still through this desert which is soe impleasant where sometymes you want the bread of doctrine for lacke of such as might breake it to you other tymes you want company which may speake of spirituall things that soe your way might be made to seeme the shorter At other tymes you want the trees of other recreation which might giue you shade and in steede of these coÌ„modities you haue a thousand discomforts Now temptations rise against you from within and then from without now from strangers and then from domesticks But yet attend you onely to your busines for he who did that for you which was more can neuer faile to doe that for you which is lesse He who made you a freind of an enemy will better keepe you now when you are his freind He who did not abandon you when you fled from him will much lesse fly now from you when you follow him Who is he that can say with any truth that God did not helpe him if he were desired See you haue noe feare o you seruant of Christ in any thing which may happen to you but confide in him who Loued you soe well as to dye for you It is true that you haue but one who protects you but that one is of much more power then all they whoe contradict you Doe not thinke of how great the giants and how stronge the Citties are which you must encounter for it is not you who must fight Numb 14. But hold you your peace and our lord will fight for you Doe not fly from the warre nor abandon your selfe as one who were ouercome and soe you shall see the fauour of our Lord â—â—wards you For in this warre he onely looses the battaille Exod. 14. who quitts the feild It is true that you are weake but in that weakenes of yours God will shew his strength It is true that you know not much but God himselfe will be your guide By your miseries God will make his mercies appeare Whoe are you that you should be able to passe through such difficulties but yet say with Daâ—id Pâ—â— 17. In the strength of my God I will leape ouer a wall Who are you that you should be able to fight but yet say with him
I beare to my creatures I couer it for whome nothing is so good as not to know any thing which concernes themselues but to remitt themselues wholy to me In that ignorance doth their knowledge consist in that suspence their strength and in that subiection their dominion And it ought to suffise a soule that it lyes in no other hands but mine which are also hers since for her they were nayled vpon the Crosse Yea they are more hers then mine since they laboured more for the purchase of her good then of mine owne And to the ende that I may draw her out of all self conceipt and make her follow my direction it is I who conduct her into this darkenesse that so she may know nothing of herself But yet still if she putt her confidence in me and departe not from my seruice I will deliuer her and I will glorifye her and all this will I performe to her Be faithfull to death Psal 90. and I will giue thee the Crowne of life This sayth our Lord to all faithfull soules and this he sayth to yours which I pray God to keepe Amen A Letter to a Lady who was a Religious woman and in great affliction He shewes how troubles are the proofe of Faith and Loue in the seruants of God and how confident they ought to be of his Diuine Maiesly in the middest of their troubles AS soone as I receiued your letter I offered thanks to our lord for hauing giuen you a signe that your vocation came from his hand and this signe is that you haue suffered tribulation You must not be a little glad of this since our Lord loues you Nor yet must you be slack since you are in the midst of many dangers butt carry your eye towardes him whoe hath called you with soe great loue You must alsoe haue a strong hart For he called you not with intention to giue you ouer in the midst of your iourney but to guide you vnder the protection of his owne wings till he may haue conducted you to heauen where you shall see his face Let not the Faith of Christ our Lord nor the loue you owe him sleepe in you for he neuer sleepes when there is question of doeing you anie good These are tokens which he vses to sende to whome he loues to trye if they also loue him in their afflictions and if they confide in him in their dangers That spouse is not worthy of thankes who loues her fellow-spouse but onely when he is present with her nor doth it cost her much to confide in him when she findes herselfe regaled by him But the matter is that when he absentes himself from her yea and when he seemes to haue forgotten her she must loue him so much the better as he is further absent from her and confide in him so much the more as she hath fewer exteriour signes of his fauour It is enough for you my good sister to haue knowen alreadie by experience how louing our lord hath beene to you by his hauing drawen you to the knowledge of himself And be you not crauing new testimonies of his loue but make yourself sure enough thereof and be not troubled although he correct you and though it seeme as if he estranged himself from you and forgott you but rather say thus He hath a minde to trye me and not to oppresse me You must loue our lord though he correct you you must confide in him though you feele no comfort from him Seeke him though he hide himself suffer him not to rest till you haue waked him and till he confesse that you are faithfull in his absence and thus you shall finde him to returne to you with so much aduantage as that when you enioy his presence againe you will esteeme your former afflictions well employed Procure great courage wherewith to suffer for after the rate of your sorrowes shall your comforts be Be not a louer of yourself but be a louer of God loose yourself and soe you shall bee sure to finde yourself And if once yow would bud trust God home and if once you would offer yourselfe to him with true loue there could nothing happen which would fright you All bitter frozen afflictions proceede but from distrust in God And for this our lord sayde Let not your harts bee troubled and doe not â—eare You beleiue in God beleiue also in me So that Faith and loue is the cause of peace and quietnesse to the hart There is no one thing which is so necessarie for you towards the making you able to arriue at the ende of that dayes worke wherein God hath placed you as to confide in him with loue Our lord hath manie proofes to make of you and manie tribulations shall growe where you looke least for them but if you stand armed with Faith and loue you shall ouercome them all Num 13. Doe but remember how the children of Israel when they were issued out of the land of Egypt by meanes of so manie miracles and were passing through so manie afflictions before they arriued at that land which our lord had promised them sayd thus The people which possesse this land is greater and stronger then we they haue mightie Citties whose walles doe euen threaten the skye we cannot ouercome such a stoute nation as this to what ende doe we putt ourselues vpon this iournie And though some amongst them who had Faith did encourage the rest by saing that since God was on their side they should easily be able to euercome as they had done till then yet feare preuailed so farre as that they offended our lord thereby and through their litle confidence they lost the land and God destroyed them in the desert without suffering them to enioy that for which they had laboured and which himself had promised Let vs take warning Psal 147. my good Sister by the danger of others and let vs knowe that our Lord hath gust in such as feare him and hope in his mercie and is offended with such as doe not so It is he who drew you out of the captiuitie of Egypt when hee inspired your hart with a desire of being his and he leades you still through this desert which is so vnpleasant where sometimes you want the bread of doctrine for lacke of such as might breake it to you At other times you want companie which may speake of spirituall things that so your way might bee made to seeme the shorter At other times you doe want the trees of other recreation which might giue you shade and thus in steede of these commodities you haue a thousand discomforts Now temptations rise against you from within and then from without now from strangers and then from domestiques Butt yett attende you onely to your businesse For he who did that for you which was more can neuer fayle to do that for you which is lesse He who made you a friend of an enemie will better
your letter and I will not haue you say that I acknowledge you not for my sonne For if you say that because you are wicked you deserue it not for the same reason I deserue not to be your father and therefore I may ill despise you who am my selfe more worthy to be despised But since our lord houlds vs all for his though we be soe miserably weake it is but reasonable that we learne to be mercifull one towards another that we support one another with Charitie as he doth I haue my good brother a great desire that you should be able to giue a good accounte of that which our lord hath recommeÌ„ded to you For the good and faithfull seruant must looke to gaine fiue other talents to the fiue which were giuen him at the first That so he may heare from the mouth of our lord Reioyce thou good and faithfull seruant thou hast beene faithfull in the few things which I haue recommended to thee Math. 25. and I will place thee ouer many You must take care of that which is recommended to you concerning others in such sort as that you forget not your owne soule But yet know that the man who of all others is most recommended to you is your selfe For it will profitt you but little though you should drawe all the world out of the durt if the while your selfe remaine therein And therefore I once againe encharge you that still you seeke out some fitt of-tyme wherein you may dispatch your owne deuotions and that dayly you heare Masse and vpon euery sunday the sermon And especially take heede that you conuerse not much with woemen For you cannot be ignorant that they be that snare which the deuill setts for the fall of such as serue God You know how Dauid sinned 2. kings 11. by looking vpon one of them and Salomon his Sonne sinned with many 3. Kings 11. and he walked soe farre out of his witts as to place Idolls in the temple of our Lord. And since we are soe much more weake then they lett vs be afraid to fall and take warning by the misfortunes of others Deceiue not your selfe with saying I desire to doe them good For vnder the mantle of these good desires doe those daungers lurke when prudence accompanyes not the same And God is farre from desiring that I should procure the good of another with the Spiriâ—â—â—ll hurt of my selfe Concerning those temporall necessities to which you are subiect I haue already written to you that there is euery where such abundaÌ„ce of waÌ„ts as that when we aske any releife they say that they haue enough more neere at hand whome they are to remedy And I thought that my Lord the Duke of Sessa had sent you that which might serue the turne because they tould me you had sollicited him for some releife If he haue not done it desire it of him a second tyme for he will send it He loues you much for the care you haue of the poore and if he doe not our Lord will prouide though hee make you stay a while I haue reioyced much in the charitie which you haue found in that other house whereof you speake Returne my salutations to him who sent them by you to mee And because I am now in my iourney I write noe more at this tyme but onely that you must remaine all fixed in Iesus Christ our Lord who will protect and fauour you And that you looke well to your selfe and that the deuill may haue noe cause to reioyce by hauing induced you to sinne but that God may take delight in your penance for that which is past in your amendment for that which is to come And soe the holy ghost be with you Amen A letter to one whoe had some desires to serue God but not the courage to beginn He animates her greatly to confide in God He teaches her how to loue certaine persons who had offended her and hee giues remedies both against scruples and vaine glorie I doe much reioyce at the holy desires which you haue to please our lord but I am in paine to consider your pusillanimitie in executing the same For I hould it to be a strange ill thing that one should presume to remaine in the vanitie of this life and not presume to aduenture vpon the making of a new match with God confiding in the same God For what maÌ„ was there euer since there were such things in the world as men who hoping in God and procuring to liue according to his comaundments was forsaken by him whoe euer inuoked him with an intyre and perseuering hart and was not heard by him Nay he goes seeking vs and inciting vs to serue him What possibilitie therefore is there but that since he is good and true of his word he must come forth to meete and cast his armes a bout our neckes an doe vs fauour when we make towards him He wil infallibly he wil and that incomparably more completely Heb. 9. as S. Paule affirmes then we know how to thinke Beginne you seruant of God cast your selfe vpon him and confide that he whoe gaue you the desire will giue you strength to worke courage to make an end For he calls not vpon such as sleepe to wake them but to the end that he may doe them many fauours when they are awake Beginne with diligence and feruour yea and with a kinde of strife for there is not a worse thing then a faint beginner who still takes much care to regale him selfe to content the world Shut your eyes against both humaine prayses dispraises for you shall quickly see both the prayser and the praised turned in to dust and ashes and him alsoe whoe is honoured and dishonoured An wee shall all be presented before the tribunall of our lord where the mouth of wickednes shall be stopped and vertue shall be highly exalted In the meane tyme lay you fast hould on the Crosse follow him whoe was dishonoured and lost his life vpon it for you And hide your selfe in those woundes that when our lord comes for you he may finde you there and may beautifie you with his graces and may giue him selfe to you as your reward for hauing left all things and your selfe with them for his sake But ô how little doth he leaue who euen leaues all since he leaues but that which he must quickly leaue whether he will or noe yea and euen the enioying it is a great misery since all that which is not God is but waight and sorrow to the soule God onely is sufficieÌ„t for you open therefore your hart and enioye him you shall finde him more sweete much more full of loue then you could haue thought Sometymes I wonder within my selfe to thinke how one either doth or can wish ill to another since Christ our lord is in the middest betweene them both How can he be disgusted with the body who loues or
word of God from his mouth they had chaunged their life to the better and had begun to walke in the way of God and soe gaue much ioy to S. Paule For besides that he reioyced in their good he alsoe hoped to receiue a reward at the last day for hauing beene that instrument by meanes whereof God had gayned those soules and therefore did he call them his crowne Because as a crowne doth beautify and honour the head of such as put it on so they whoe are saued by meanes of any man's preaching will be a meanes of honouring and ioying that man as some beautifull crowne of rich stones might doe Now this being soe I confesse you owe me not many thanks for my wishing well to your soule because the good thereof is mine in regard that God hath done me the fauour to bestow you vpon me for my spirituall childe and will impart you to me as one of the pretious stones of that crowne which one day he will vouchsafe mee if I continue faithfull in that vocatiō by which he hath called mee And now because you are a stone which he will sett in a crowne it is the pleasure of our Lord to worke and polish you very well For it is noe way fitt to put such stones in a crowne as are either rough or of noe worth but such as these will be throwne into hell since they receiued not their being wrought and enamelled by the spiritt of our lord But those liuing stones whereof the celestiall Ierusalem is built are wrought heere with soe many blowes that 〈◊〉 seemes as if our lord would breake them and that againe he giues them new blowes without compassion euen before the paine of the former be gone But yet he hath noe intention to breake them but to polish them nor to destroy them but to beautify them to make them such as that by how much the more they seemed to be ill handled heere soe much the more brightly they may shine at the latter day in the high presence of almighty God Then will that appeare to be mercy which heere seemed cruelty And God will see those pretious stones which he hath wrought euery one in his proper place that so full of blisse that the meanest of them is to be incōparably more esteemed then kingdomes and empires and whatsoeuer other earthly things which can be conceiued O happy stroakes which are to end in such a high repose O happy labour which shall be paid by the imbracements of God himselfe Wound vs heere O Lord as much as thou wilt soe that thou cherish vs there Heere make vs weepe that there thou maist wipe away our teares Discomfort vs heere in all things soe that we may enioy thee whoe art all things and be rigorous to vs heere soe that there thou haue mercy for vs in store In this world we are as banished men and crowded vp into a corner and we are as it were vpon an Easter eue Heauen is our countrey and our liberty our festiuity And therefore howsoeuer things happen we will make a shift to passe it heere to the end that when the glory of God shall appeare we alsoe may appeare in glory that we may celebrate that ioyfull Easter with soe many Cittizens of heauen who first celebrated the vigill vpō earth Madam you must giue thankes to our lord for hee treates you as he hath treated and as he meanes to treate his best freinds And as for that onely begotten sonne of his who is the principall stone of all stones doe but see what blowes they gaue him For they wrought bett vpon him from head to feete these very blowes did alsoe worke vpon that other second stone of heauen which is the most Blessed virgin our Bl. Lady And soe according to the place which euery one is to haue there he must be wrought and polished heere Now if this be necessary euen for iust persons what shall become of vs sinners but onely that we must bowe downe the head and say O Lord thou punishest mee little in comparison of the much punishment which I deserue All that which I can suffer is little though I alone should suffer all the afflictions of the whole world For to him who deserues hell what temporall paine can seeme great Lett vs know that God is full of pittie towards vs euen then when he seemes most rigorous without doubt he is full of pitty since whomesoeuer he punishes heere he will not punish but comfort there For it is written That God doth not punish a man for the same thing Nahum 1. twice All that which we endure we deserue but yet God is soe very full of pitty that for the stripes which he sends vs he pardons our sinnes and he accounts it soe as a peece of seruice from vs as that he giues vs a crowne for the sufferance And since the afflictions of this world preuent Purgatorie and entitle vs to heauen who will not loue them when they come yea and beg more of God then yet he had and euen be sorry when he hath them not He who knowes Christ and his kingdome hath noe compassion of himselfe in this world because he knowes himselfe to be more fitt for God the more afflictions he endures for his sake And soe did that enamoured Ignatius say Fire Crosse fury of beasts cutting quartering breaking and destroying of euery parte of my whole body and the scourges of the deuill himselfe Let all these things come vpon mee and lett me onely enioy Christ our lord There is nothing in this world which can doe me good not soe much as euen a kingdome It is more happines for me to dye for Christ our Lord then to exercise dominion ouer the earth from one end thereof to the other This saith that Saint as one who knew well and did much loue our lord Iesus Christ and who saw that all was well employed which could be disbursed for the gayning of him In this manner I desire that you would encourage your selfe to suffer the Purgatorie of your sinnes yea and though you should not haue committed sinne you should yet apply your selfe to endure affliction for the pure loue of Iesus whoe endured soe great things for you without hauing giuen the least shaddow of cause in himselfe And I would haue you say to him that howsoeuer you are bound to suffer what he will send yet out of a free hart you would gladly suffer for the pure loue of him though you were not bound to it And thus according to the intention of your hart our Lord will accept it at your hands as an Embleme which you carry for his loue In the loues of this world men vse to make other Emblemes but in the loue of God the Embleme is sufferance in affliction And he who is not of a strong hart to suffer much lett him neuer stand telling mee that he loues much For in this world there is
he shall pay soundly for it if he giue iust cause Nay he pardoned not soe much as his owne sonne though hee owne nothing for himselfe but onely because he obliged himselfe to pay for the sinnes of others Without faile he must needes be farre from acceptation of persons whoe punished with soe great seuerity his onely begotten sonne and such a sonne and soe deerely beloued and that for the sinnes of others There is nothing which should haue power to make him who gouernes forbeare the doeing of his duty but he is to stand like the stalke of a ballāce which leanes not either to the one scale or to the other that so cuery man may haue his owne There is noe state but it would perish and be vndone if publique busines should be ledd after the pace of particular affections And at an instant doth that person leaue to be publique when he hangs neuer soe little towards the particular Now since the respect of priuate profitt must not bend him who gouernes much lesse must the respect of any other man's profitt make him bend since he owes more to himselfe then to any other Christ our Lord is the patterne which is made for all not onely forasmuch as concernes the priuate cōscience of a particular man but forasmuch alsoe as concernes any publique person For hee was a king and soe he is though not after the manner of this world But being in the chaire of his Crosse hee said to his mother Woeman behould thy sonne To giue vs to vnderstand that hee who is in the place of a publique person must renounce all particular inclinations though it should regard his very Mother And the same example he alsoe gaue vs when at some other tymes he would speak with lesse tēdernes to that Blessed Mother of his To teach vs how carefull wee must bee to keepe our selues cleere from particular affection though some be angry at it and though our selues endure paine by it rather then to cherish them with disgust to God There is nothing to which great lords ought to attend so much that so they may be well both with God and man as truly cordially and like men who liue in the presence of God to remaine euer faithfull firme to him with out hanging either to this way or to that And this will be easily performed by that great man who shall attentiuely consider that he is but the Minister of God as one who but meerely executes and must not exceede the commission which is giuen to him God places not great Lords in the world to the end that they may doe and vndoe what they list but to execute the lawes of his holy will And though they may account themselues lords yet are they still vnder the vniuersall Lord of all in comparison of whome they are more truly vassailes then their vassailes are theirs and their power is as truly limitted as their vassailes power is forasmuch as concernes the dispensing with what they ought to doe Soe that he is to be more fauoured and beloued who hath most right on his side and he is to be most punished who deserues it most And thus may any lord resemble the true lord of all if without acceptation of persons he giue to euery one according to his workes yea and if sometymes he punish most such as are most fauoured by him Both because reason would require that they should offend him least and for that alsoe they must not thinke that because they are beloued by him they may take occasion to doe what they list that which reason alloweth not Freindship should last as long as vertue doth and enmitie or opposition as vice For if it be otherwise woe be to ihem who call good euill euill good Your lordship must consider besides that God hath placed you in the eyes of many whoe take that to be a rule of their liues which they see you doe Make account that you are seated in a high place and that your speech and fashions are seene by all and followed by the most part of men If such a fashion be taken vp in Court if such a manner of speach be vsed there all men procure to follow it And if it were the custome amongst great lords that when one should giue them a buffet vpon one cheeke they would tender the other and if it were the fashion for thim to abhorre sinne and to take it for a point of greatenes to obey the lawes of Christ our Lord without doubt inferiour men would hould it an honour to doe that which they saw practised by great persons And for this reason I beleeue that the Prelats of the Church and the lords of the world are a cause of perdition to the most part of soules I beseech your lordship that as you are a particular man you will looke into your selfe with a hundred eyes and that you will looke into your selfe with a hundred thowsand as you are a person vpon whome many looke and whome many follow And take care to carry both your person and your house soe ordered as the law of Christ requires that hee who shall imitate your lordship may alsoe imitate Christ our Lord therein and may meete with nothing to stumble at The vulgar is without doubt but a kinde of ape Let great men consider what they doe for in fine that will be followed either to their saluation if they giue good Example or for their condemnation if it be euill And this consideration alone should suffice to make great lords liue like soe many Saints though it might cost them some trouble considering how our lord Iesus the sonne of God would not be a king but resolued by his labour and sweat to giue rest and peace to his subiects And he fledd from prosperities and honours least otherwise he might haue giuen occasion of sinne to his seruants who would haue thought if Christ our lord had followed them that is would also haue beene their part to pursue the same All things are to be thought little worth so that we may procure thereby that God be serued And let this be the finall conclusion That soe much the more attentiuely a man shall consider and imitate Iesus Christ so much the better man and so much the better Lord he shall bee For in him wee beganne and soe also we will end in him A Letter of the Authour to a Lady in the tyme of Aduent and vpon this occasion he perswades her to dispose her selfe to receiue the Infant Iesus and to loue him with feruent loue HOw busy will your ladyship bee in this holy tyme preparing a lodging for that guest who is coming to you Mee thinkes I see you as earnest as S. Martha yet as quiet as S. Mary Magdalen that soe by your endeauours both exteriour and interiour you may doe him seruice who is drawing neere since hee is soe worthy both of the one and of the other and is in
should remaine vnburnt How shall that man be able to loue pompes and shewes who cordially loues the Infant Iesus being layd in a poore maunger if it be true that loue must make louers like to one another It is a great blessing and light which makes vs able to see God heere beloue that soe we may know how to walke for the pleasing of his diuine Maiesty And since he walkes in a very contrary way to that of the world let vs resolue to make our choice of that guide whome we meane to follow since wee cannot walke in both and since the world runnes headlong vpon errour and since Christ our Lord is the truth which saues such as beleeue and follow it Iohn 14 And let his â—â—locaust haue marrow in it for marrow is a soft thing and doth soone melt And soe doth that hart which loues our lord and whether the matter concerne the scruice of the same lord or els the good of a man's neighhour such a one will not expresse either drynes or harshnes but sweete mildenes bee alsoe hath care to keepe his loue as safe as the marrowe is within the bone But before you can arriue to that marrow it is garded first by the skynue and then by the flesh and lastly by the bone it selfe The man who loues places all things which he possesses and desires before that which he loues that he may sooner loose all that then that the person beloued by him should once be touched And he hath a strong and firme purpose as if it were made of iron not to venture the loue of our lord though it should cost him whatsoeuer he either is or may euer be Such gould as this it is which you must offer to the Infant who is borne soe poore and you must open your treasures for that purpose as those kings did For if this hart be not opened which is the treasure-howse all the labour is lost For in that case whatsoeuer it bee Marke 2. which is offered is not gold but counterfect stuffer he takes the best to himselfe and giues the worst to Almighty god Open therefore your hart and conueigh the Infant newly borne into it since that hart alone liues in which hee is And since he is of soe little weight doe not lay him downe but weare him in your bosome like that handfull of Myrrh whereof the spouse speakes Conuerse with him with all reuerence because he is God Cant. 1 and yet take courage to communicate freely with him because he is an Infant for within he hath his hart as serene and sweete as you may well conceiue by his exteriour apparance Take heede you lett him not fall for he must be kept with great care but if your loue be not great you will either forgett him quickly or els lay him soone aside as thinking that he weighes too much And soe that you negotiate with him in such sort as that you giue not ouer till you perceiue by good coniectures that both you loue him and are beloued by him For till a soule feele this it euer liues in feare and sadnes and as vnder the burden of a law but when it comes to this passe there is nothing which can casily trouble it when it considers that God loues it and it loues God I beseech him that it may soe happen to your Ladyshipp Amen A letter of the Authour to a Lady wherein hee shewes what the coming of the holy Ghost wrought in the Apostles and what it workes in them whoe dispose themselues to receiue it and how they are to dispose themselues GOd send you a good Feast of whitsontide not by hearesay but by experience that in this solemnitie your hart may feele that which the faithfull seruaÌ„ts of Christ our Lord when they were assembled in that meeting-place did feele by the infusion of him into their soules who depriued them of their weakenes and deliuered them from their ignorances and fulfilled the bosome of their soules with soe great ioy as might well giue the world to vnderstand that the blood of Christ our lord was not shedd in vayne nor his prayers to his Father made in vayne since by meanes thereof a participation of the diuinitie was communicated O how often when they saw themselues soe deifyed and that they were made soe richly the louers and beloued of God did they sing a world of prayses to Iesus Christ their lord and Maister as knowing well that he had sent them this guift as he was God and had deserued it for them as he was man For according to what our lord himselfe had ptomised the holy ghost as soone as he should become was to make knowne Iesus Christ our Lord and to giue testimony of him Iohn 16 that soe the Disciples and the world might knowe him and by knowing him might vnderstand withall that all good was to come to them by his meanes and that they were to render him seruice and expresse all gratitude to him as to their true and aboundant benefactour and that soe they might remaine faster tyed to him by the cordes of loue in his absence then formerly they had beene in presence might know by experience what a puissant loue the holy ghost is and how ardently he makes that Blessed word of God to be beloued from whome himselfe proceeded and in whome he reposes and that they should make noe difficultie to publish and proclaime him to the world though it should cost them their liues If we had a parte of this solemnity heere within our very harts we should be sure to celebrate it exteriourly as we ought And if our soule were bedewed with some dropp of the water of this plentifull Riuer which issues out of the throne of God Apoâ— 20. of the lambe the thirst of this whole world would be soone quenched in vs and wee should be refreshed by this heauenly dew from that drynes and stiffnes wherein wee yet remaine soe negligent soe barren and soe accursed O how much would we finde our selues obliged to our Redeemer when wee should sensibly feele that wee were indeede redeemed by him and that our sinnes were drowned that our sorrowes were spent and aboundance of ioy imparted insteede thereof Wee would not then complaine of paines of banishments of absence from what we loue of wanting those things which seeme most necessary to vs and in sine of any inconuenieÌ„ce For soe powerfull is this spiritt and the fire thereof that it striues vpward and makes vs soe loue confide in God that noe water of sorrow and affliction hath power to quench it but it remaines euer quicke and conveyed with such strength into the bowells of the soule which are soe mightily inflamed that it kills that which liues ill and causes that euen death it selfe cannot conquer him who is mortyfied by the coming of this holy spiritt This is that deare guest whoe cures the wound which the absence of Christ our
into so great affliction and feare as the newes of what thou art ought to giue them comfort If thou O lord wert well knowne there is no soule which would not loue thee and confide in thee vnlesse it were strangely wicked For this it is that thou sayst It is I therefore doe not feare I am he who kill and giue life I cast men downe as low as hell and I draw them back againe that is I afflict a man till he thinkes he dyes and then againe I refresh I recreate and I giue him life I cast men into certaine discomforts which seeme hell to them but when they are there I forgett them not but I fetch them from thence and they are but therefore mortified that they may be quickened I sende them not thither to remayne there but that their entry into that shadow of hell may be a meanes to make them escape the substance of that true hell after death and that they may fly vp to heauen I am he who can deliuer you from all affliction for I am of infinite power And I am he who will deliuer you for I am of infinite goodnesse and I am he who know how to do it for I am of infinite wisedome I am your Aduocate for I embraced your cause as mine owne I am your surety for I haue made myself subiect to all your debts I am your Lord who haue purchased you with mine owne bloud and with no meaning to forgett you but to doe you honour if you will serue me because you were bought at so high a price I am he who haue so profoundly loued you that for the loue of you I haue beene contented to be transformed into you and to become passible and mortall I who in mine owne nature was very farre from being subiect to such miserie I am he who deliuered myself ouer to innumerable torments of bodie and farre greater torments of minde that you might take hart to endure some for loue of me and to confide that you shall in fine be freed from them since I am he who vndertake it I am your Father as I am God and your elder-brother as I am man I am your Christ your redemption and what feare can you then haue of your debts if by penance and Confession you demaunde a generall release of them I am your reconciliation and of whose wrath can you then be afraide I am that true-loues-knott of friendshipp and how then can you thinke that you are fallen out with God I am your defender and what opposites can you apprehende I am your freind and how then doe you feare that you can want anie thing which I haue vnlesse you will needes departe from me My bodie and my bloud is yours and why then doe you feare hunger nay my verie hart is yours and why then doe you feare to be forgotten yea and my diuinitie is yours and what doubt can you then haue of miserie For accessories vnto that Principall my Angells are yours to defende you My Saints are yours to pray for you My biessed mother is yours to be the carefull and indulgent mother of you all The earth is yours that you may serue me vpon it The heauen is yours for you shall enioy it and me in it The deuills and hell is also yours for you shall treade it and them vnder foote like slaues who are chayned vp in that prison This life is yours because with it you gett another which shall neuer ende Your honest entertainements and delights are yours For you direct them to my glorie Your paynes are yours for you endure them for my loue and for your owne true good Your temptations are yours because they are occasion of your meritt and of an euerlasting Crowne in heauen Your death is yours because it is to be the immediate steppe to your eternall life And all these things you possesse in me and by my meanes For neither did I gaine them for myself alone neither will I enioy them alone for when I putt myself into your companie by taking your flesh vpon me I did it to make you partakers of all the meritt which I should acquire by my labours my fasting eating sweating weeping and by the enduring of all my torments and death if the fault be not your owne Now you cannot account yourself poore who possesse so great riches if you doe not wittingly throw them away by your wicked life Be not dismayed for I will not forsake you It is true that you are no better then some thinne glasses but I will holde you fast in my hand Your weakenesse setts of my strength the more From your sinnes and miseries I draw the manifestation of my goodnesse and mercie There is nothing which shall be able to hurt you if you will loue me and confide in me Thinke not of me according to your owne opinion and the iudgments which are made by flesh and bloud but thinke of me by a strong faith with loue nor by the apparance of exteriour signes but by that hart of mine which was opened for you vpon the Crosse that you might dismisse all doubt whether you are beloued by me or no forasmuch as concernes my parte since you see such workes of loue without and a hart which was so wounded by that launce within Iohn 18. and yet more wounded by my loue How shall I denye myself to them who seeke me to do me honour since I went out to that way where those others sought me to offende me I offered myself to ropes and chaines which afflicted me and shall I refuse myself to the hart and armes of Christians where I desire to repose I yeilded myself to those scourges and to that hard pillar and shall I denye myself to that soule which will be subiect to me I turned not away my face from him who strooke me and shall I turne it away from him who will holde himself happy that he may beholde and adore me What litle confidence is this that seing me to be voluntarily torne in pieces by the hād of dogs for the loue of my children yet those children should be doubtfull whether I loue them or no though they be confessed to loue me Consider o yee sonnes of men and tell me whome I euer despised if he desired to be well with me whome haue I abandoned if he called on me from whome haue I fled if he sought me Matt. 9. I conuersed and I fedde with sinners yea I called and I iustified them who were forlorne Matt. 11. and euen fowle in sinne Nay I am importunate to winne their harts who loue me not I make myself a beggar to all the world and what cause is there then to suspect me of forgettfullnesse towards my children when there is so great diligence vsed both to loue me and to make expression of that loue And though I may cōceale it sometimes yet do I not leaue to loue but euen for the very loue
some by these meanes and to others who deserue no punishment he sendes them as tryalls and he presentes them with an occasion of meritt And though the thing which you endure may proceede from either of these two causes vet I am not sorrie that you perswade yourself that it is not so likelie to be a proofe of your vertues as the punishment of some light fault if that fault may well be accounted light which deserues so heauie a punishment For if the saints themselues aknowledge that there is no goodnesse in themselues but manie faultes and much wickednesse how much more must you doe it who know yourself to be farre from sanctitie and so full of sinne And now if you holde it for more probable that these fruits growe from this roote the remedie must be that you examine well if you haue done anie thing for which you may deserue punishment And know that for the most parte it vses to be some litle dust of vaine-glorie and if you see not the true reason of it esteeme your case to be so much the worse when not withstanding you are so full of faultes you can discerne none But now since the blow is come humble-yourself vnder the mightie hand of God as knowing that you are worthie of greater torment Beseech him to haue mercie on you and that he cast you not of from himself Say O lord I haue sinned and anie punishment how sharp soeuer is in itself too light for me considering the greatnesse of my sinnes If thou be pleased to punish me here I am extende the hand o lord discharge the blow Cutt burne and kill onely permitt not that I be diuided and driuen away from thee If I haue sinned let not thy punishment be to let me sinne anie more for the naturall punishment of a fault is payne and not a second fault But now neuerthelesse I would not that by your thinking your faultes to haue beene the cause of your crosses you should discomfort yourself and be so farre dismayed as to make you fall and that as by some precipices into despaire I desire on the one side that you humble yourself beleiuing that your sinnes haue deserued them and on the other side that you be comforted by remembring that you are the childe of God and none of them who are forgotten since your father hath beene carefull to correct you as a childe for feare least else you would haue beene worse And beleiue me in one thing though I be no Prophet that if our lord in his mercie had not humbled you as he hath done you would perhaps haue fallen into some parte of Lucifer's pride which had beene infinitely worse and therefore hath he kept you so humble that you neither dare nor euer so much as can holde vp your head Giue thankes therefore to our lord for this fauour and be happie in that you haue his grace But alreadie I know you will say thus to me If I could be sure that I were his childe and not his enemie and that this were the correction of a father and not the punishment of a Iudge If I could perswade myself out right that I were in his fauour what could I wish for more then that But I verily beleiue that vnlesse it might be hell there is not so wicked a creature as I am to be found and how then can I possesse such a thing as grace This life of mine is not a life of the sonnes of God but it is a life or to speake more truly it is a verie death of the damned O my good sister if you know the guift of God and what kinde of people they are who for the most parte are putt to suffer such things as these you would perhaps reioyce If I saw that the enemyes onely of God did endure them infallibly I should be much afflicted but I finde that his best friends are tempted in this kinde and why then should I not be comforted thereby Iob the holie man Iob. 7. saw himself one day in so sad a case that he sayd I haue despaired Such things had passed in his hart that he seemed to be fallen into despayre But to the ende that we may see that indeede he did not despaire he instantly goes to aske mercie and he who askes mercie despaires not Dauid sayd as we all know Psal 30. that God had cast him cleane out of his sight and that he saw himself couered with obscuritie and darkenesse and enuironed euen by the sorrowes of death and the danger of hell And he sayth that such things happened to him as no man will vnderstand but he through whose hart they had passed I will omitt the tribulations of S. Paul which were caused by Satan and which made him hang downe the head for of these you haue heard many other times In the liues of those holie Fathers I haue read manie things which I should neuer haue beleiued if the Authour were not a man of much authoritie And euen at this day we heare and see strange things which arriue to certaine deuout persons and seruants of our Lord and he hath drawen them out of these temptations with great spirituall gayne Whereby we gather that a man in such cases Rom. 4. must like Abraham beleiue that which he sees not and hope euen against hope itself Tell me my good Sister haue you seene these potters heate their fornace Haue you seene that smoake which is so thicke black That kindling of fyre and euen the resemblance of hell it self which passes there who would beleiue but that the potts which stand there within would be mouldred euen to dust by the rage of that fyre Or that at least they would not grow to be as fowle as pitch by the grossenesse of the smoake And yet when that furie is past and the fire quenched and the time come when they vnfurnace the potts you see that though they were soft and made of durt they come forth as hard as stone and they who formerly were so very browne shew themselues as white as snow and so neate and daintie otherwise that they become the table of kings We are called by S. Paul Rom. 9. by the name of potts of clay and certainely with great reason since we are so soft and weake in suffering the knockes of affliction Make account that you also are some poore litle pott that they haue putt you out to bake For you were so weake as that you could not well retaine and conserue the liquour of grace which was infused into you by Almightie God They will bake you my good Sister and you must haue patience They haue trust you into the furnace of tribulation Endure now those fyres those foggye flames and those obscurities and by confiding in the wisedome and goodnesse of our good potter you shall not be turned into ashes which may be carried away by the winde nor disfigured by anie ill marke which may be
putt vpon you but rather you shall become hard in being able to suffer that so though you should fall you may not breake yourself And you shall be also purged from that disgracefull colour which before you had and finally you shall be made fitt and capable to be a vessell of honour and to be serued vp to the table of Almightie God Procure not to come broken out of the furnace least they cast you heere and there as a thing of nothing Those potts are onely broken which loose their patience in the furnace of tribulation but I confide in our Lord that you will be able to come forth without any hurt Suffer now a litle for quickly the whole businesse will be at an ende Be not you dismayde how busie soeuer the deuill be Let him persecute you as much as he will but confide you in God It is a signe that the deuill hath no parte in you since he followes you so hard For if he had you in his hand he would not follow you It is a signe that you are departed out of his kingdome since he hath dispatched so many squadrons of armed men after you You are passing out of the darkenesse of Egypt Exod. 12 14. that you may goe to the land which our Lord hath promised you and now beholde how Pharao followes you with his whole armie You finde all wayes shutt vp against you The redd sea is before you and your enemies are behinde you and you finde not anie meanes whereby to escape But feare not haue good hope and you shall see the wonders which our Lord will worke Exod. 14. Our Lord will fight for you and you shall but holde your peace Our Lord will open a way for you through the midst of the sea The waues thereof shall serue you for a wall both on the right hand and on the left and you shall passe without so much as wetting your foote through the midst of your tribulations and temptations whereas your enemies shall be drowned therein Doe but conceiue what ioy that will be when all the people of God being passed through the dangerous sea of this world the most Blessed Virgin Marie who was figured in the person of that other Marie the sister of Moyses shall beginne to sing that Canticle of so great triumph Exod. 5. and when you in companie of other Virgins shall answear her And to the ende that you may be yet more comforted know from me that you haue no cause of any scruple for your case is rather that you suffer torment then that you coÌ„mitt sinne For so that you consent not freely to those temptations nor delight yourself in those thoughts which the deuill offers and desire not for your parte so much as to thinke thereof what cause of scruple can you haue And you shall beleiue me as a man who knowes your conscience well that how soeuer you may thinke that you haue giuen consent it is but feare which makes you thinke so as it happens to them who are sicke of feauers or be subiect to any strong passion Let this serue to excuse you for that which is past but not to discharge you from being diligent in the future And though some litle thing should haue stucke to you and though you had suffered some light hurt yet so long as you render not nor yeilde yourself to be ouercome the very wounds which haue beene receiued by anie man at armes in the seruice of a king haue beautie and glorie in his sight The benefitt and meritt which you draw out of the victory is greater then the preiudice which you suffer in the conflict and therefore let nothing trouble you Be not deceiued in beleiuing that those imaginations or temptations are any things of yours or wrought by you Workes they are of Lucifer and â—ordes they are of his speaking and images of his representing Beholde you all that businesse as a thing belonging to others and wherewith you haue nothing to doe And carrie yourself iust so as you would doe when you should heare a man blaspheme or speake anie other fowle deformed wordes for which though you would be much in paine in regarde of the offence which thereby is done to Almightie God yet in fine it would be a kinde of comfort in some respect to you when you saw that it was not you who offended him Lett it grieue you that the deuill doth both say and doe so like himself and let it comfort you to consider that it is not you but he and that he will smart for it S. Paul saith that he gloried in his afflictions tribulations because the vertue and strength of Christ our Lord shined more therein My good Sister if indeede you loue Christ our Lord you will reioyce for that glorie which he gathers from your infirmity Doth it not seeme to you that God shewes his strength in you since by the weakenesse of a poore miserable woman who is indeede but a very childe and a sick creature and a kinde of nothing he ouercomes the strength and courage of those infernall powers Will not you be then content to be assaulted vpon condition that Christ our Lord may be glorified Yes certainly I know you will and that most willingly Nor can I beleiue lesse of that charitie which you pretende to haue nor of that desire which you carrie that our Lord may be pleased to serue himself of you whether it be in prosperitie or aduersity in sweete or bitter by way either of loue or greife either in peace or warre Our Lord is pleased now that you serue him in warre and vnder the incommodities of heate and colde with your weapons by your side both day and night being content with broken sleepes and being subiect to surprises as if you stand vpon the toppe of a pike yea and though it will afflict you most you must contente yourself to be farre absent from your king But after this season there will come another and our Lord will commaunde that you shall serue him in his banketting-house where you shall enioy as much as you can desire In the meane time you shall ioye in this that you are doeing him seruice And I beseech him to strengthen your soule that so it may be able to fight the battailles of our Lord and to make you a conquerour therein that so you may deserue that Crowne of glorie which he hath promised to such as ouercome Amen FINIS