speaking of Enemies Daniel in his 9. Chapter Prays for the Deliverance of his People from the Captivity of their Enemies but he meant Iniquities and to shew it he saith Gabriel came and told him he was heard and that at the end of Seventy Weeks his People should be deliver'd from Iniquity Sin should be at an end the Redeemer the Holy of Holies should bring Eternal Righteousness not Legal but Eternal One can no sooner open this Mystery but 't is impossible but it must be seen and perceiv'd Read the Old Testament in this view and try if the Sacrifices were Real if being descended from Abraham was the true cause of Gods Love if the promis'd Land was the true place of Rest No then they were Figures also consider all the the Ceremonies enjoyn'd and all the Commandements that are not of Charity it will be found they are only Figures §. XIV Jesus Christ 1. THe infinite distance there is from Bodies to Spirits does Figure the distance there is infinitely more betwixt Spirits and Charity for it is supernatural All the splendor of greatness gives but little lustre to those that seek after the Spirit The Grandeur of Persons of Wisdom is invisible to the Rich to Kings to Conquerours and to all the great ones of the World. The greatness of the Wisdom that comes from God is invisible to Worldlings and to Men of Wit these are three Orders of different kinds Great Wits have their Empire their Lustre their Greatness their Victories and have no need of Worldly Grandeur which have no relation to the things they seek Seen by Spirits not by Eyes but enough It is Saints have their Empire their Lustre their Grandeur their Victories and have no need of Carnal or Spiritual greatness which is nothing to them and that adds nor diminishes nothing to the Greatness they desire They are seen of God and Angels and not of Bodies nor of curious Wits God sufficeth them Archimedes would have had the same Veneration without greatness of birth he fought no Battels but he left admirable Inventions to all the World. O how great and beautiful he is to the Eyes of the Mind Jesus Christ without wealth and producing any exteriour knowledg is in his order of Holiness he gave no new Arts he did not Reign but he was Humble Patient Holy in the sight of God terrible to Devils without Sin. O in what great Pomp and Prodigious Magnificence did he appear to the Eyes of the Heart and to the Eyes of Wisdom It had been needless for Archimedes to have acted the Prince in his Books of Geometry although he was one There had been no need that our Lord Jesus Christ should come as a King to shine in his Kingdom of Grace but he came in the brightness of his order It is ridiculous to be offended at the meanness of Jesus Christ as if this meanness was of the same Order of the greatness that he shewed Let this Greatness be consider'd in his Life in his Death in his Obscurity in chusing his Apostles in their forsaking him in his secret Resurrection and all the rest he will be seen so great that there will be no cause to be scandaliz'd at a meanness that is not to be found in him But there are those that can only admire Carnal greatness as if there was none Spiritual and there are others that admire only Spiritual as if there were not those that were infinitely greater in God. All Bodies the Firmament the Stars the Earth and all Kingdoms are not worth the least of Spirits for it knows all these things and it self and the Body knows nothing and all Bodies and Spirits together and all their productions are not worth the least motion of Charity for it is of an Order infinitely higher From all Bodies put together one cannot draw the least Thought this is impossible and of another Order All Bodies and Spirits together cannot produce one motion of true Charity it is impossible and of another Order quite Supernatural 2. * Jesus Christ was in an obscurity according to what the World calls obscurity such as Historians which only write things of importance have scarce perceived them 3. * What Man was ever more Glorious than Jesus Christ the whole Jewish People foretold him before his coming the Gentiles Ador'd him after his coming both Jews and Gentiles look upon him as their Center And yet what Man ever enjoy'd less of all this greatness of Thirty three Years he spent Thirty without appearing in the World in the three last Years he was counted an Imposter the Priests and chief of the Nation reject him his Friends and near Relations despise him at last he dyes a shameful Death betray'd by one of his Disciples deny'd by another forsaken of all What share then has he in this greatness Never Man had so much Greatness never Man had more Ignominy All this greatness was for us that we might know it there was nothing in it for himself 4. * Jesus Christ speaks of the highest things so simply as if he had not thought of them and withal so fully as it may plainly be seen he meant them this clearness with this freedom is admirable 5. * Who taught the Evangelists the qualities of a Soul so truly Heroick to paint it so perfectly in Jesus Christ wherefore do they represent him weak in his Agony cannot they describe a constant Death yes doubtless for the same St. Luke represents that of St. Stephen stronger than that of Jesus Christ they shew him capable of fear before the danger of Death is come and afterwards strong but when they shew him troubled it is when he troubles himself when Men trouble him he is undanted 6. * The Church has been forc'd to shew Jesus Christ was Man against those that deny'd it as well as to shew he was God and the appearances were as great against one as the other 7. * Jesus Christ is a God to whom one approches without Pride and to whom one yields without dispair 8. * The Conversion of the Gentiles was reserv'd to the Grace of the Messias either the Jews did not contribute to it or they did without success all Solomon and the Prophets said was to no purpose The Wise Men as Plato and Socrates could not perswade them to Worship but the true God only 9. * The Gospel speaks of the immaculateness of the Virgin but till the Birth of Jesus Christ all referring to Jesus Christ 10. * The two Testaments have regard to Jesus Christ the Old expecting him the New as his Model both as his Center 11. * The Prophets have Prophesi'd but were not Prophesi'd Saints afterwards were foretold but not foretelling Jesus Christ is foretold and foretells 12. * Jesus Christ for all Moses for one People The Jews blessed in Abraham I will bless those that bless thee but all Nations shall be blessed in thy Seed Lumen ad revelationem gentium Non fecit
and Soul of each particular Christian That as Jesus Christ suffered during his Mortal Life Rose again to a new Life Ascended into Heaven and sate down on the Right Hand of God his Father so also the Body and Soul must suffer die be raised and ascend up into Heaven All these things are fulfilled in the Soul during this Life but not in the Body The Soul suffers and dies unto Sin in Repentance and Baptism the Soul rises to a new Life in these Sacraments and at last the Soul leaves the Earth and ascends to Heaven in Living a Holy Life which makes St. Paul say Conversatio nostra in Coelis est None of these things happen to the Body during this Life but they do afterwards for at Death the Body dies to this Mortal Life at the Day of Judgment it shall rise to a new Life after Judgment it shall ascend up into Heaven and there abide to all Eternity So that the same things arrive to Body and Soul but at different times and the changes of the Body do not happen till those of the Soul are accomplish'd that is to say after Death so that Death is the consummation of the Souls Happiness and the beginning of that of the Body This is the admirable conduct of the Wisdom of God in the Salvation of Souls and St. Austin teaches us on this Subject That God has so order'd it fearing least the Body of Man should be Dead and raised again for ever in Baptism or that he only became Obedient to the Gospel for love of Life whereas the greatness of Faith shines much more when one hopes for Immortality even through the shadows of Death 4. * It is not just we should be without sense and feeling of grief in the Afflictions and sad Accidents that befal us as if we were Angels that have no sense of Nature neither is it just that we should be quite dejected like Heathens that have no sense of Grace but 't is just we should be Afflicted and Comforted like Christians and that the Comforts of Grace should surmount the Sense of Nature to the end Grace may not only be in us but that it may predominate in us that so Sanctifying the Name of our Father his Will may become ours that his Grace may bear sway over Nature and that our Afflictions may be as the Matter of a Sacrifice which his Grace offers for the Glory of God and that these particular Sacrifices may honour and fore-run the Universal Sacrifice wherein whole Nature is to be consumed by the power of Jesus Christ Thus we draw benefit from our own Imperfections seeing they shall serve for matter of this Sacrifice for 't is the aim of all true Christians to make a Benefit of their very Imperfections because all things work together for Good for the Elect. And if we seriously consider it we shall find great helps to our edification in considering the thing in the Truth of it for seeing it is true that the Death of the Body is only the Figure of that of the Soul and that we build on this Principle that we have cause to hope the Salvation of those whose Death we lament it is most certain if we cannot stop the course of our Grief and Sorrow we should at least make this advantage of it that seeing the Death of the Body is so terrible that it causes so much fear in us that of the Soul should cause much greater grief and amazement God has sent the former to those whom we grieve for we hope he has put away the latter let us then consider the greatness of our Happiness by the greatness of our Miseries and let the excess of our Sorrow be the measure of our Joy. One of the most Solid and best Services we can do for the Dead is to do those things they would desire of us if they were living in the World by this means we make them as it were live in us seeing it is their Counsels that live and act in us And as Hereticks are punish'd in the other World for the Sins wherein they have ingag'd their Followers in whom their Poison as yet remains so the Dead are recompensed for those that have follow'd them by their good Counsels and Example 5. * Man is certainly too unable to judge rightly of the state of future things Let us therefore hope in God and not weary our selves by our indiscreet and rash Curiosity Let us refer our selves to God to Govern our Lives and that Grief may not predominate in us Saint Austin teaches us That there is in every Man a Serpent an Eve and an Adam The Serpent is the Senses and Nature the Eve is the Lustful Appetite and the Adam is Reason Nature tempts us continually the Sensual Appetite is ever craving but Sin is not finish'd unless Reason consents Let us then suffer this Serpent and Eve to act if we cannot hinder them but let us pray God that his Grace would so stregthen our Adam that he may continue Victorious that Jesus Christ may be Conquerer and that he might Reign for ever in us §. XXXI Sundry Meditations 1. THe more knowledge we have so much the more we find that there are perfect Men. Common People see no difference betwixt Men. 2. * One may have good Sense and yet not perceive all things aright for there are some that may judge aright in some things that are deceived in others some draw true Consequences from few Principles others draw right Consequences from things where there be many Principles for example some do well comprehend the effects of Water wherein there is but few Principles but whose Consequences are so fine that 't is only a very diligent search can attain to it yet these may not it may be be any great Geometricians because Geometry comprehends a great many Principles and some kind of Wit may be such that it can penetrate a few Principles to the bottom and yet may not penetrate those things wherein there are many Principles There are then two sorts of Wits one that penetrates vigorously and profoundly the Consequence of Principles and that is the Polite Wit the other comprehends a great many Principles without mingling them and that 's the Wit of Geometry the one is strength and clearness of Wit the other is largeness of Wit. Now the one of these may be without the other Wit may be strong and narrow and also may be large and weak There 's a great difference betwixt the Wit of Geometry and a refin'd Wit In the one the Principles are clear but remote from common usage so that one has some difficulty to look that way for want of use but turn a little that way and the Principles will appear plainly and one must have the Understanding very corrupt to reason ill upon such Principles as must needs be seen But in the refin'd Wit the Principles are in the common use and visible to the sight of all
Dish with his Knife he observ'd it made a great sound but as soon as one put their hand on the Dish the sound ceas'd He desired at that time to know the Reason of it and this experiment inclin'd him to make several others upon the nature and causes of Sounds He therein observ'd so many things that he compos'd a Treatise of Sounds at the age of 12. Years which was esteem'd very Ingenious His Inclination and Love to Geometry began to appear when he was but 12. Years old by so strange a manner that I think it deserves to be here particularly inserted My Father was a Man very skilful in the Mathematicks and by that means was familiar with several Gentlemen learned in those Sciences who frequently resorted to his House but having thoughts of instructing my Brother in the Languages and knowing the Mathematicks-to be a Study that fills and pleases the Mind he was not willing my Brother should come to have any knowledge of it fearing least that might divert him from learning Latin and other Languages wherein he intended to make him perfect for this cause he kept all Books that treated of it out of his sight and forbore speaking or discoursing of it in his presence but all this precaution hinder'd not this Childs Curiosity from being stir'd up so that he often begg'd his Father to teach him the Mathematicks but he deferr'd it promising that he would do that afterwards if he minded his Book well he promis'd him that as soon as he was perfect in Latin and Greek he would teach him the Mathematicks My Brother seeing this averseness asked my Father one day What this Science was and whereof it Treated my Father told him in general that 't was to make true Figures and to find the proportions which they contain'd and at the same time commanded him to speak no more of it and not trouble himself about it But his Genius could not be confin'd within those limits for having got this only Notion that the Mathematicks gave Rules of infallibly finding out just Figures he set himself a-ruminating thereon at his spare hours and being alone in a Hall where he was wont to play he took a Piece of Châ—r-câ—al and drew Figures upon the Ground endeavouring to find means to make Figures for instance a Circle perfectly round a Triangle whose sides and Angles should be equal and other things to the same effect all this he found out of himself afterwards he found out the proportion of Figures betwixt themselves But my Fathers care was so great in concealing these things from him that he did not so much as know their names so that he was forced to make definitions to himself he called a Circle a Round a Line a Bar and so of the rest after these definitions he made Axioms and at length he made perfect Demonstrations and as one proceeds from step to step in these things he advanc'd his Inquiries so far till he came to the 32d. Proposition in the First Book of Euclid As he was one day very busie at his work in the Hall my Father chanced to go in and there stay'd a good while before my Brother knew he was there it is hard to judge which was most surpriz'd the Son in seeing his Father by reason of the strict injunction laid upon him not to think of those things or the Father in seeing his Son exercis'd in such excellent Speculations But my Father was most of all surpriz'd when asking him what he was doing he told him He was seeking such a thing which was exactly what 's treated of in the 32d Proposition of Euclid's Elements my Father ask'd him wherefore he sought after that he answer'd 't was because he had found such and such things and thereupon asking him the same question he told him of other Demonstrations he had made and so retrograding and explaining himself by the Terms of Round and Bar he came to his Axioms and Definitions My Father was so amaz'd at the greatness and strength of his Wit that without saying a word to him he left him and went to Mousieur Le Pailleur's House who was his intimate Friend and also a very Learned Gentleman when he came in he remain'd as 't were speechless and like one in an Extasie Monsieur Le Pailleur seeing my Father in this Condition and also that he shed some Tears was very much surpriz'd and desir'd that he would no longer conceal from him the cause of his trouble My Father told him he did not weep for sorrow but for joy you know the care I have taken to keep my Son from the knowledge of Geometry fearing least it should divert him from his other Studies nevertheless see what he has done whereupon he related to him what he had seen whereby it may be said that he in a manner invented the Mathematicks Monsieur Le Pailleur was no less amaz'd than my Father had been and told him that he thought 't was pity to captivate such a Genius any longer from the knowledge of this Art and that 't was fit to let him have the Books and helps that treated of it without any farther delay My Father being also of his Friends mind let him have Euclid's Elements to read at his leisure Hours as soon as he see it he read and understood them without any help or explanation and whilst he read them he composed and proceeded so far that he was constantly present at the weekly Conferences of the most Learned Men of Paris that assembled at the Academy to shew the Works they made themselves or to examine those made by others My Brother maintain'd his Station amongst them as well for being examin'd as for producing oftner than any one else some new things of his own There was also examin'd in that Assembly Propositions sent out of Germany Italy and other foreign Parts wherein his Judgment was as often taken as any bodies else for he was of so penetrating a Wit that he often discern'd faults that others did not nevertheless he spent at this study of Geometry only his vacant Hours for he learn'd Latin by Rules my Father made a-purpose for him But finding in this Art the Truth he so earnestly sought after he was so well pleased with it that he placed his whole delight therein so that for the little time he spent at it he advanc'd so far that at 16. years of Age he wrote a Treatise of Coniques which was esteemed such a rare production that the like had not been seen since the Days of Archimedes The Learned were of Opinion it should presently be printed saying that though 't was a Work that would ever be highly valu'd in the World nevertheless if it were printed and published at the time when the Author was but 16. years Old this cicumstance would add much to the beauty and pleasure of it But my Brother not being desirous of Worldly applause this Work was never printed During all this time he
him so sensible of all things whereby one endeavors to honour God that he omitted no one thing When Tickets were sent him Monthly as the Custom is in many places he repeated them with great respect and every day he would repeat the Sentence and the last Four years of his Life not being able to do any thing else his chief Diversion was to go visit the Churches where some Relicks were expos'd or some other Solemnity and to that end he had a spiritual Almanack which shew'd him where there were particular Devotions and all this he perform'd with so great Piety and Simplicity that the Spectators were supriz'd at it which was the occasion of an Expression of a Person of great Wisdom and Virtue That the Grace of God appears in great Wits by doing of little things and in ordinary Persons by doing great things This great simplicity appear'd when one speak to him of God or of himself so that the day before his Death a Church Man very Eminent for Piety being by his desire come to visit him having been with him a whole hour he came away so satisfy'd that he said to me go be comforted if God takes him away you have cause to be thankful for the Mercy he does him I ever admir'd the Graces that shin'd in your Brother but I never observ'd greater Humility than I now see in him it is incomparable in one of his Parts I would with all my heart be in his Condition The Curate of St. Stephen that visited him in all his sickness perceived the same and would often say he is a Child he is humble he is meek like a little Child It was by reason of this meekness that one might freely tell him his Faults and he would without opposition submit to the advise was given him The great sagacity of his Wit sometimes would make him so impatient that one could scarce please him but when one told him of it or that he perceiv'd he had displeas'd any body in his Passion he would presently repair it by his mild and gentle Behaviour and great Goodness so that he never lost any bodies good will. I endeavour what I can to draw to an end otherwise I could inlarge on these particulars I have but just mention'd them but not desiring to be tedious I 'll draw to his last sickness It begun by a strange aversness he had to his Meat two Months before he dy'd his Physician advis'd he should eat no gross Meat and that he should purge Whilst he was in this State he did a remarkable piece of Charity he took a poor Man and his Wife and Family into his House and let them have a Chamber and dwell gratis he made no other use of them but that he would not be quite alone in his House It chanc'd that the old Mans Son fell sick of the Small Pox my Brother having need of my assistance feared lest I might scruple going to his House upon account of the Small Pox by reason of my Children this made him think of removing this sick Person but fearing there might be danger in carrying him out of his House in the Condition he was in he chose rather to go away himself althougb he was very ill saying there 's less danger for me in this removing therefore it must be I that must depart the House Accordingly he left his House the 29th of June to come to my House and he never return'd any more to his own for three days after he was taken with a violent Cholick which permitted him not to take any Rest but having a great deal of Discretion and Courage he bore those Pains with an admirable Patience yet he rose up every day and took his Medicines himself not suffering any body to assist him The Physicians that tended him though they saw his Pains wax great yet finding no alteration in his Pulse nor Symptome of Feaver said there was no danger using these very words there is not so much as any shadow of danger however seeing the continuation of his Pains and that the want of sleep much weakned him the Fourth day of his Chollick and before his incubation he sent for the Curate and made Confession This made such a stir amongst his Friends that some of them all in a fright came to visit him the Physicians also were so surpriz'd that they could not but shew it saying it was a sign of some danger which they did not expect My Brother seeing the Noise occasioned by it was troubled and said to me I would willingly have receiv'd the Sacrament but seeing they are so startled at my Confessing I fear they would be more therefore I think best to defer it and the Curate was also of the same Opinion Nevertheless his Pain continu'd and as the Curate from time to time came to visit him he slipt none of those occasions of Confessing himself but he said nothing not to affright the Company the Physicians saying there was no danger and in truth he was a little better and sometimes walked in his Chamber yet his Pains never quite left him but sometimes return'd and he grew very lean at which the Physicians were not however much discourag'd but what ever they said he said himself he was in danger and fail'd not to confess every time the Curate came to visit him Also about this time he made his Will wherein the Poor were not forgot and he was troubled in not bequeathing them more for he told me if Monsieur Perrier had been in Paris and that he would have consented he would have given all his Estate to the Poor for he had nothing else in his mind and thoughts but the Poor and he asked me sometimes why he never had done any thing for the Poor though he ever loved them so much I told him it was because he never had wealth enough to help them very much he answer'd me seeing I had not wealth to bestow upon them I ought to have bestow'd my Time and Labour on them it is wherein I have failed and if the Physicians say true and that God is pleas'd to recover me of this sickness I am resolv'd to have no other Employment nor Business all the rest of my Life but to serve the Poor these are the thoughts God took him away in To this great Charity during his sickness he joyned an admirable Patience whereby he much comforted all those that attended him and he said to those as seemed to be concern'd to see him in that weak Condition that as for his part he was nothing troubled at it and that he was even afraid of recovering and being asked the Reason he said 't was because he knew the dangers of health and the benefits of sickness he said also in the height of his Pains when we were grieved at it be not griev'd for me Sickness is the Natural State of Christans because thereby one is as they ought always to be suffering of Pain and deprived
that are in a Ship think those that stand on the Shore do stir away Speech is the same every where there should be a fixt Point to judge The Port directs those that are a Ship-board But where shall we find this Point in Mens Morals 43. * To pity the unfortunate is not against Concupiscence on the contrary one is glad to be able to give ones self this Testimony of Humanity and to get the Reputation of Tenderness at so cheap a rate so far it 's no great Matter 44. * Whosoever had the Friendship of the King of England the King of Poland and the Queen of Sweden could he have thought he should have wanted a retirement in the World 45. * Things have divers Qualities and the Soul divers Inclinations for nothing is alone that offers it self to the Soul and the Soul never offers it self single to any Subject 46. * We are so Unfortunate we cannot take pleasure in any thing but on condition of being angry if it succeeds ill which a thousand things may do and do so every Hour Whoever could find the way of rejoicing at the good without being concern'd at the contrary has found the right expedient 47. * There are several orders of Strong Good Pious Brave Spirits each of which should rule in its own Sphere and not elsewhere Sometimes they interfere and the strong and good do foolishly quarrel which shall be greatest their Precedency is of a different Nature they are not of a right understanding and their failure is that they would reign in all places Nothing can do so no not Strength it self it availeth nothing in the Common-wealth of Learning it is only chief in exteriour Actions 48. * Ferox gens nullam esse vitam sine armis putat They love Death rather than Peace others love Death rather than War. Every Opinion may be prefer'd before Life the love whereof appears so strong and so Natural 49. * How hard it is to propose any thing to anothers Judgment without byassing him by the manner one proposes it if one says I find it clear I find it obscure one inclines the Judgment to this Belief or one stirs it up to the contrary It were better say nothing for then he judges according to what it is that is to say according to what 't is then and according to the other Circumstances whereof one is not the Author that has dispos'd it if it don't chance that this silence don 't also work its effect according to the interpretation that he shall think fit to give it or as he shall conjecture by the Looks and by the Voice so easie a thing it is to take off a Judgment from its bottom or rather that there are but very few that are firm 50. * The Platonists and even Epictetus himself and his Followers thought God is alone worthy to be loved and admired and nevertheless they themselves desired to be loved and admired of Men they did not know their Corruption If they found themselves inclin'd to love and adore him and that they therein found their chiefest Happiness let them a Gods name think themselves good Men but if they find any aversion if they have no other aim but to setle themselves in the esteem of Men and that in their greatest perfection they do only incline Men to think it their Happiness to love them I say this perfection is horrible What they knew God and desired not that Men should love him only they would that Men should stop at them they would be the Object of the voluntary Happiness of Men. 51. * Montaigne was in the right Custom ought to be observ'd as soon as ever it is Custom and that one finds it setled without examining if it be reasonable or not that is to be understood If it be not contrary to any Law Natural or Divine It 's true the People follow it for no other cause but for that they believe it to be Just without which they would not follow it because one would not be subject to any thing but Reason or Justice Custom without this would be accounted Tyranny whereas the Rule of Reason and Justice is no more Tyranny than that of Love. But it were good if Obedience were given to Laws and Customs because they are Laws and that People conceive that 't is that that makes them Just by this means one would never forsake them whereas when one makes their Justice depend on something else it is easie to make it doubtful and this is it that makes People subject to Rebel 52. * It was well done to distinguish Men by exteriour rather than by interiour Qualities Which of us two shall go first Who shall give the way to the other the weakest but I am as good as him there must be a quarrel hereupon He has Four Foot-men and I have but one it is visible count them I must give place and I 'm a Fool if I dispute it By this means we are at Peace which is the greatest Happiness can be 53. * Time puts an end to Troubles and to Contests because one changes and becomes as 't were another Man Neither the Offender nor the Offended are the same they were It is likely a People may be provok'd and that one should see them after two Generations they are yet French Men but not the same 54. * It is undeniable that the Soul is Mortal or Immortal This should set a great watch over Men how they live Nevertheless Philosophers have order'd their Morals so as if there were no such thing What a strange blindness 55. * The last Act is always Tragical how pleasant soever the rest of the Comedy has been At last Earth is thrown upon the Head and there 's an end of it for ever §. XXX Meditations of Death abstracted out of a Letter writ by Monsieur Pascall upon the Death of his Father 1. VVHen we are in Affliction by reason of the Death of some Person that we loved or for any other Misfortune that befals us we should not seek for Comfort in our selves nor in Men nor in any Worldly thing but in God only the Reason is because the Creatures are not the Original Cause of those Accidents we call Evil but the Providence of God being the only true Cause the chief and absolute Disposer there is no question to be made but we should have recourse directly to the Fountain and look up to the first Author to find true and solid Comfort If we follow this Precept and that we consider this Death that afflicts us not as the effect of Chance nor as a fatal Necessity of Nature nor the dissolution of Elements and Parts whereof Man is compos'd for God has not abandon'd his Elect to Fortune or Chance but as the consequence of an Indispensible Inevitable Just and Holy Decree of the Providence of God to be executed in his good time if I say by a Transport of Grace we consider this Accident
here on Earth was accepted and received of God in Heaven This is the State of things in our Blessed Lord Jesus now let us consider them in our selves When we are first admitted into the Church which is the World of the Faithful especially of the Elect wherein Jesus Christ entred from the Moment of his Incarnation by a peculiar Privilege belonging to the only Son of God we are Offered and Sanctified This Sacrifice continues through the whole course of Life and ends at Death wherein the Soul truly quitting all the Vices and love of the World with the Contagion wherewith it is infected during the course of this Life it finishes its Offering and is received into Bliss Let us not then grieve for the Death of Believers as Pagans do that have no hope When the Faithful depart this Life they are not lost We lost them upon a matter even from the moment they entred into the Church by Baptism from that instant they were Devoted to God their Life was Consecrated to God their Actions regarded the World only for God at their Death they were wholly freed from Sin and 't is then they were received of God and that their Sacrifice received its accomplishment and reward They did what they had Vowed they accomplish'd the Work God gave them to do they did the Work they were Created for the Will of God is fulfilled in them and their Will is swallow'd up into the Will of God Let not our Will separate what God has join'd together and let us stifle or restrain by understanding the Truth the instinct of corrupt and deprav'd Nature which only has false Glosses and that by its Illusions interrupts the Holiness of those Notions which the Truth of the Gospel doth inspire in us Let us not any longer consider Death like Pagans but like Christians that is to say with hope as St. Paul teacheth seeing it is the special Privilege of Christians Let us not consider a Body as a filthy Carrion for deluded Nature does so represent it to us but as the Living Temple of the Holy Ghost as Faith doth teach us For we know the Holy Ghost dwells in the Bodies of Saints till the Resurrection and that they shall be raised by the Power of the Spirit that resides in them to this effect This is the Opinion of some of the Fathers It was upon this account that the Eucharist was heretofore put in the Mouth of the Dead for knowing they were the Temple of the Holy Ghost it was thought convenient they should be united to this Holy Sacrament but the Church has changed this Custom not but the Bodies of Saints are decently buried but because the Eucharist being a Figure of the Bread of Life and for the Living it is not fit it should be given to the Dead Let us not look upon Believers departed in the Fear of God as ceasing to Live though Nature would suggest so but as beginning to live as Truth doth assure us Let us not look upon their Souls as lost and reduc'd to nothing but as vivified and united to the Sovereign Being and by hearkening to these Truths let us restrain the great Mistakes we are so inclin'd unto and those motions of horror which are so Natural to Men. 3. * God has Created Man with two Desires one for God the other for himself but with this restriction that the love for God should be infinite that is to say without any other end but God only and that the love for himself should be finite and referring to God Man in this State would not only love himself without Sin yea he could not but love himself without Sin. Since the Fall Man has lost the first of these Loves and the love of himself being only left in this great Soul capable of an infinite love this Self-love has extended it self and filled the space the Love of God had left and so he loves only himself and all things for himself that is to say Infinitely This is the Original of Self-love it was Natural to Adam and just in his Innocency but it became criminal and immoderate after his Fall This is the Spring of this Love and the cause of its defectiveness and of its excesses It is the same of the immoderate desire of Power of Sloath and of other things The Application is easie to be made upon account of the horror we have of Death This Fear was natural and just in Adam whilst Innocent because his Life being very pleasing to God it was the same to Man and Death would have been horrible because it would have put an end to a Life that was conformable to the Will of God. Since Man Sinned his Life is become depraved his Soul and Body Enemies to each other and both to God. This change having infected so Holy a Life the love of Life remains nevertheless and the fear of Death resting also what was just in Adam is unjust in us This is the Original of the horror of Death and the cause of its defectivenss Let us then clear the horror of Nature by the light of Grace The fear of Death is Natural but 't is in the State of Innocence because it could not enter into Paradise but in finishing an Innocent Life It was just to hate it when it could not happen but in separating a Holy Soul from a Holy Body but 't is just to love it when it separates a Holy Soul from an Impure Body it was just to shun it when it would have broke the Peace betwixt the Body and Soul but not when it calms the highest Dissention To conclude when it would have afflicted an Innocent Body when it would have depriv'd the Body of the liberty of honouring God when it would have separated from the Soul a Body that submitted to its desires when it had destroyed all the Good Man was capable of it was just to abhor it but when it puts an end to a wicked Life when it takes from the Body the liberty of Sinning when it delivers the Soul from a powerful Enemy that resists all the Motions to its Salvation it is very unjust to have the same Sentiments Let us not then quit this Love Nature has given us for Life seeing we have received it from God but let it be for the same Life for which God has given it to us and not for a contrary end And in consenting to the Love Adam had for his Life in Innocency and that Jesus Christ himself had for his let us strive to hate a Life contrary to that which Jesus Christ loved and fear only the Death that Jesus Christ feared which befals a Body well pleasing to God but not fear a Death that punishing a guilty Body and cleansing a Vicious Body should give us quite contrary desires if we have ever so little Faith Hope and Charity It is one of the chief Principles of Christianity that all that befel Jesus Christ should also be fulfill'd in the Body
should imagine such a thing can be but because they desire that it was and that 't is not in the power of Man to change the Heart it were to no purpose to trouble them with Arguments which yet might easily be done We shall rest satisfi'd in warning them of their Duty and what care they must take of giving any likelihood of colour to such Conjectures Let them in the first place tell us by what good fortune it was Moses lighted on so happy and ancient Foundations for his Enterprise because in all likelihood he would never have said to this People That he was sent to them by the God of their Fathers if he had not some Tradition that they came from Abraham and Jacob and that God had appear'd to them And where was it he found this Tradition How came this Opinion so Universal That there should one day be born a great King of the Tribe of Judah that he should Reign and also the care of so strictly obliging them in keeping their Genealogies for to know him How could this Moses or any one else imprint so strongly in the Mind of all the Jews such a firm expectation of the Messias that for these Sixteen hunder'd Years that they have been dispers'd and that they see no Effect of these Promises yet nevertheless they wait for it and expect the accomplishing it with an unparallell'd Patience and Fidelity How was it that so long a Succession of Kings and Great Men How did David and Solomon those People so Wise and Learned come to be so fully of this Judgment and from thence left us those Writings which appear so lofty and Divine and which yet otherwise would be but Dreams and Delusions How comes it to pass that all that is esteem'd abstracted Wisdom and Knowledge in the whole World should be grounded on so Eminent an Imposture And how comes it to pass that this suppos'd Fabrick of Lyes and Chimeras never yet contradicted it self Let any body shew us by what chance this Law invented by a private Man should at the same time be the only Law pleasing to God the only Law contrary to Mans Nature and the only Law that has ever subsisted How came it about that it was made with so much Skill that it subsists and was abolished and that as if there had been an Understanding betwixt Moses and Jesus Christ the latter were to annul the Religion of the former and that yet they grounded all they said on what it contains and thence draw their chiefest Proofs so that the Law seems to be only a Figure of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and that there need only be drawn a Curtain to find it How comes it to pass that since it is said The Clouds are scatter'd and the Husk which was nothing has left the inside and substance to be seen It happens that the Blessings promis'd to them which truly kept this Law seems to be wholly bestow'd on Christians which have imbrac'd this interiour part and who still continue as earnest as ever in their Profession By what Fate by what influence of the Stars does the Religion of this Man so unworthily Treated of the Jews which is prov'd so effectually to be nothing but their own How comes it to be so obstinately rejected by them to be received almost by all other Nations and spread over the face of the whole Universe And what should this invisible force mean that for these Sixteen hundered years keeping this People without a Leader without Arms Residence or Support that yet nevertheless they with so much exactness keep the Books that declare them Rebels and Enemies to God and that are undeniable Proofs for Christians whom they look on as their greatest Enemies Verily the Thoughts of going about to adjust so many Difficulties were enough to crack any Mans Brain that should attempt it and to spare the Pains of any one that should go about to try it they are freely warn'd that when they had accomplish'd the design of reconciling such an Abiss of Difficulties it were to do nothing at all and the Proofs of our Religion would not in the least be shaken For they must besides all this shew us that all these things was easie to be fore-shewn and that 't was very easie to Moses and the Prophets that follow'd these steps to foretel so long before-hand so many things both General and Particular the Coming of Jesus Christ the Conversion of the Gentiles the Destruction of the Jewish Nation and the State it is in and that also os marking the very Time and Circumstances of it It is here indeed all Suppositions fall short and that 't is to no purpose to torment ones self to make any Conjectures Men are not Prophets by Natural ways and as Nature is not subject to them to Work Miracles so neither is the Time to come known to them to make a History of it before-hand as may be seen in Daniel from Nebuchadnezzar's time that of the change of Monarchies that of Alexander's Successors and the time that was to the Birth of the Messias Neither is it by chance nor human Art that several Prophets and Esay in particular have spoke of Jesus Christ so clearly and describ'd so plainly so many Circumstances of his Birth Life and Death that they are no less his Historians than the very Evangelists themselves and that he should have this advantage above all Mankind that though his History was not writ till after his Death but by his Disciples only yet it was found done and spread abroad in the World several Ages before he appear'd that so there should not remain the least scruple of the Truth of it Who was it dictated to Moses what he said to the Jews when he was leaving them of what should befal them and of their Infidelities of the Captivity of Babylon and their return thence of the last Siege of Jerusalem wherein they should see themselves reduced to eat their Children and of their being scatter'd into all Nations when the time should be come and that they should Fall but that nevertheless God would still make them subsist least their Enemies should despise them and say They had ruin'd them To conclude that number of Men who succeeded one another for near Two thousand years to warn the Jewish Nation that the coming of him they expected was at hand that directly shews them the State the World shall then be in that foretels they shall not obey him and put him to Death and that for this Cause they shall fall into Miseries never to be repair'd Which tells them that the Gentiles to whom he was promis'd as well as to them should upon their refusal receive him Who is it said so precisely That from all parts of the World the People should come and submit themselves to his Law and in all this said nothing that was not punctually fulfill'd Where did they learn all this And how could they foresee it If what has
as that they subsist no longer unless it be amongst some ignorant People who only taking things on the first Credit of them never trouble themselves in throughly searching into the Truth of Matters But there is nothing clear in the World if it be not that no such thing can happen for the Book we now speak of and describe I could as well say that it would be no hard matter now to Insert in the New Testament as long and considerable a History as that and how idle soever this Supposition seems I cannot tell but that 't was harder to do it in the Books of Moses seeing the Jews respected it as much every jot as we do our New Testament and that there was not one amongst them that had not a very particular Intrest to know what was contain'd in it were it only to preserve themselves from the Sentence of Death which without Remission they were to suffer if they omitted certain Rites they were to perform But what does absolutely prove the Vanity of this Supposition is that there is as it were two Histories of Moses one that was written in the Book that bears his Name the other which is as it were engrav'd in the Ceremonies and Laws observ'd by the Jews the Practice whereof is a pregnant Proof of the Book that enjoin'd them and also of what it contain'd of greatest importance For the greatest part of the most Wonderful Miracles were shewn by the Ceremonies and other things that served in the Worship of the Jewish Religion The Pot of Manna kept in the Ark was a Monument of Gods Miraculous feeding that People in the Wilderness Aaron's Rod that blossom'd was a Sign of the manner how God confirm'd the Priesthood to him and the Two Tables shew'd what 's related in Exodus touching the Establishing the Law. The Sacrifice of the Pascal Lamb the Ceremony of the Azymes and the appointing the Tribe of Levi for the Service of the Temple shew'd the Passage of the Angel the Death of the First born of the Aegyptians and the deliverance of the Children of Israel The Plates of Gold nail'd to the Altar was a Memorial of the Death of those unadvis'd Levites that disputed the Priest-hood with Aaron To conclude The Ark the Tabernacle the sundry Orders of Priests and Levites all the Ceremonies of Sacrifices and Washings all the Laws the appointing the Countries beyond Jordan to the Tribes of Reuben Gad and the half Tribe of Manasses The Cities of Refuge for Man slaiers I say all these things which it were no less absurd to deny than it were to say there were never any Jews have a necessary reference and dependance on the Books of Moses and do invincibly prove that they could not be writ since his Time. For to this purpose it must be either that all we have said has not also been settled but since Moses's time and after publishing the Books attributed to him or that being Established by Moses his Word and without any Book some should add these Books to the Ceremonies and Laws that were in use and added these Miracles the more to enjoin this People to the observation of this Law. But all this is so unlikely that there was never any Person known that durst seriously maintain any such thing How can it be said for Example that the Pentateuch was made and published a long time after Moses his Death and that it was the Cause of Establishing the Law and Worship of the Jewish Religion contain'd in it It may as well be said the Ark and the Tabernacle which are the Foundations of this Religion were not made neither but a long while after Moses and after the publishing of this Book Now this cannot possible be for all the Jews were perswaded their Ark and Tabernacle were made by Moses as this Book does mention and it cannot be conceiv'd by what Fancy they could be of this Opinion if they themselves had made them after they had seen and receiv'd this Book which had not been known till a long time after Moses his Death doubtless this would have been one of the Pleasantest things in the World and the most unparallel'd either that this Book being made of a sudden and in a readiness with this great number of Laws and Ceremonies as being already in use they afterwards came to be Establish'd or that being made by little and little and just as all those things were settled it had always as is said at the Palace Retroactive Effect to make each of these Establishments be attributed to Moses How also could this People who beginning to receive this Law had they at least known it had been untrue that it had been practis'd since Moses and that it had a constant Succession of Priests since Aaron could they have Universally perswaded themselves that what this Book Commanded had been always practis'd and that the Priests it Established had received their Ministry from Aaron by an uninterrupted Succession And how also upon this same Foundation could all the other Tribes and Families have sufferr'd the Tribe of Levi and the Sons of Aaron to usurp to themselves the Prerogatives belonging to the Priest-hood and to the Office of the High-Priest There is no less absurdity in the other Supposition which is That the Law being given by Moses his bare Word was preserv'd by the Jews for some time only by meer Tradition and that afterwards those that wrote it added thereunto all these Miracles for besides that it were already a kind of Miracle and hard to believe that this People should receive so severe and troublesom a Law as that was from a Man that had done nothing extraordinary How could it be that Moses who doubtless had the use of writing should have omitted so Essential a thing and should not leave in Writing a Law that contain'd so many Rights and Ceremonies and so many Directions that it was necessary to have it always in readiness not to fail in some part or other of it Also we are inform'd by this Book it self that Moses fail'd not herein Moses it is said wrote this Law and gave it to the Priests the Sons of Levy and command it should be Read every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles And it is there said in several places That God commanded Moses to Write what he commanded him on the Mountain If the Jews then had receiv'd this Law from him only by Word how then could they receive a Book that contain'd so gross and manifest a Lye and that had in it an Express Command from God wherein their Legislator had fail'd This same Command of Reading the Law every Seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles as being given by Moses does shew also that it could not be chang'd nor alter'd for it was impossible but those alterations would have been discover'd and being so that they should be sufferr'd by a People so wedded to this Law and whose Love for it was grounded on the