The THIRD DISCOURSE Of the good use of Audacity or Boldness SInce the Nature of man is out of order and that she stands in need of Grace to recover the Innocence which she hath lost we must not wonder if Passions not succour'd by Virtue become criminal and if by their proper inclination they degenerate into some sins Effects are always answerable to their Causes the fruit holds of the tree and men for all their freedom draw their humors from the Sun that lightens them and from the earth that nourisheth them whatsoever can be taken to correct their defaults some marks thereof remain always and education is never powerful enough wholly to change Nature This is evidently seen in Fear for she leanâ— so much toward disorder as it is very hard to stay her and she is so giddy a humour that she oftner sides with Vice than with Virtue she is so unconstant that she produceth rather contrary than different effects and she takes upon her so many several shapes as it is hard to know her Sometimes she bereaves us of our strength and brings us to a condition of not defending our selves sometimes she infuseth a chilness throughout all our members and detaining the bloud about the heart she makes the image of Death appear in our faces anon she takes our speech away from us and leaves us only sighs to implore aid from our friends sometimes she fastens wings to our feet and makes us overcome them by our swiftness who overcame us by their courage sometimes she imitates Despair and paints out the danger so hideous to us on all parts as she makes us resolve to change a fearful flight into an honourable resistance she is sometimes so indiscreet as thinking to shun an evil she runs headlong upon it and oftentimes out of a strange fantasticalness she engageth her self in a certain death to shun a doubtful one If her effects be extravagant her inclinations are not more rational for unless she be guided by wisdom she easily degenerates into hatred despair or loathfulness we do not much love what we fear and as love is so free that it cannot endure constraint it is so noble as it cannot tolerate an outrage all that doth affright it irritates it when men will by violence overcome it it turneth to Aversion and changeth all its gentleness into choler hence it is that Tyrants have no Friends for being bound to make themselvs dreaded they cannot make themselves be beloved and their government being grounded upon rigour it cannot produce love those who are nearest them hate them the praises which men give them are false and of so many Passions which they endeavour to excite Fear Hatred are the only true ones likewise seeing that the mischief of their condition obligeth them to cruelty they renounce Love and care not though they be hated so they be feared God alone can accord the two Passions it is only he that can make himself to be feared of those that love him and loved of those that fear him yet do Divines confess that perfect Charity banisheth Fear and that those who love him best are those who fear him least But though it be usual for this Passion to turn it self into Hatred yet is she not always permitted so to do and this change is a sign of her ill nature there are some whom we ought to fear and cannot hate their greatness obligeth us to respect them and their justice forbids us to hate them that Majesty which environs them produceth fear but the protection which we draw from thence ought to make us love them so as the propensity to Hatred is a disorder in Fear and to follow her irrational inclination is to abuse this Passion She also easily changeth her self into Despair and though she march differing ways she fals into the same praecipice for she paints out dangers in so horrid a manner unto Hope as she makes her â—ose all her courage and this generous Passion suffers her self to be so far perswaded by â—er enemy that keeping aloof from the gâ—od which she did pursue they both of them turn to an infamous Faint-heartedness But of all the monsters which fear doth produce none is more dangerous than Slothfulness for though this vice be not so active as others and that her nature which is remiss suffers her not to frame any great designs against Virtue yet is it guilty of all the outrages that are done thereunto and seems to be found in all the counsels which are plotted to her prejudice it hath such an aversion to labour as it cannot endure Innocence because she is laborious and we may say that if it be not one of her most violent enemies it is the most dangerous most opinionated enemy that Innocence hath it produceth all the sins which cover themselves with darkness and to make them cease it would be only requisite to kill this their Father which gives them their birth 't is this that nourisheth uncleanness and Love would have no vigour were it not for it 't is this that entertains Voluptuousness and who to amuse her doth furnish her with shameful entertainments 't is this that authorizeth Poormindedness and which diverts it from those glorious labours that make men famous 'T is this in fine which loseth States which corrupteth Manners which banisheth Virtues and is the cause of all Vices mean while it assumes to it self a venerable name and to colour its laziness it causeth it self to be called honest Vacancy but certainly there is a great deal of difference between the rest of Philosophers and the idleness of the Voluptuous the former are always a doing when they seem to do least they are most busied and when men think they are unserviceable they oblige the whole world to their labours For they make Panegyricks on Virtue they compose Invectives against Vice they discover the secrets of Nature or they describe the perfections of her Author but the later are always languishing if their mind labour 't is for the service of the body if they keep from the noise of the world 't is that they may taste pleasure with the more freedom and if they banish themselves from the company of men 't is that they may be with lewd women these wretches know how to conceal themselves but they know nat how to live their Palaces are their Sepulchres and their useless rest is a shameful death The leisure-times of good men must be rational they must not withdraw themselves to solitariness but when they can be no longer serviceable to the State they must leave the world but not abandon it they must remember that they make a part of it that whither soever they retire themselves the Publique hath always a right in them those are not solitary but savage who forgo Society because they cannot endure it who keep far from the Court because they cannot endure to see their enemies
alwaies waited that Reason might make them serve his Designs Ours for the most part do surprize us and are so ready to be moving that the wisest men cannot keep back their first motions they are so given to disorder as the â—east occasion sets them on fire their sleep is so unquiet as the least matter will awaken them they are so given to war that upon the least provocation they take up Arms and make more spoil upon their own Territories then would an enemies army do Their disorder proceeds not so much from their Objects as from their humour and it fares with their storms as it doth with those who being at the bottom of the Sea mount up again by their proper motion But they caused no tempests in Iesus Christ or if sometimes their waves went high they were led on by Reason which alwaies kept the power to appease the trouble she had caused As their birth depended upon his Will so made they no Progress or advancement but by his permission and their moving proceeded alwaies from some reasonable cause Men betake themselves to things which merit not their Love and have oft times strong Passions for weak and woful Subjects Imprudency seeks them in Choler and not weighing the difference of faults they punish a word as rigorously as they do a Murderer their ambition is blind their desires unruly their sadness ridiculous and who shall compare all their Passions with the causes which produce them will find them all to be unjust A Consul made a slave be eaten by Lampreys for having broken a Glass A Princes anger caused a Town to be drowned in the bloud of its Inhabitants and to revenge an injury done to an Image of Brass or Marble made 7000 men the lively Image of God lose their lives Sorrow hath made Idols to comfort her Fathers not able to raise agaiâ— their dead Children have deified them through an excess of love and sorrow have built Temples unto them after they had taken them out of their Graves In fine all the motions of our souls are irrational we cannot measure or bound our joy nor our displeasures our hatred exceeds our injuries our love is more ardent than the subâ—ect which sets it on fire and we ground â—irm hopes upon perishable things But the Passions of the Son of God were so reguâ—ated as in their motions a man might observâ— the worth of the subject which caused â—hem to arise he was not angry save only â—o revenge the injuries done unto his father â—r punish the impieties of those who proâ—haned his Temple he had no affection â—â—ve for those that did deserve it if he saw â—o perfection in his friends he loved such â—s he would place there and loving them he â—ade them worthy of his love he never â—â—rrowed save upon great occasion and â—hough the cross was a sufficient object of â—rief I verily believe his soul was more â—arrowly touched with the horror of our â—s than with the shame or cruelty of his â—unishment Such regulated Passions ceaâ—d when he pleased and their continuâ—ce was no less subject to his Empire than was their Progress We are not masters of our Passions as in their birth they set at nought our advice they laugh at our Counsels during their course they never stay till they be weary and we owe not our quiet so much to their Obedience as to their Weakness When they are violent our care cannot overcome them and there are some of them so stifâ—necked as they will not die but together with us therefore we ought to suppress them in their birth and to advise with Reason whether it be to any purpose to draw Souldiers into the field who when they have their Weapons in their hands despise the Authority of their chief Commander The beginning of War depends oft times upon two Parties but the end thereof depends alwaies upon the victory and he is not easily brought to a peace when he finds his Advantage lies in the continuance of War All these rules prove false in the Passions of Iesus Christ. He did even exceed therein when the Subject did deserve it though they were chafed they becamâ— calm as soon as he would have them so tâ— be Their heat as it was reasonable so waâ— it as soon extinguished as kindled so as joy did immediately succeed sadness and onâ— might at the same time see pleasingness take the same place in his countenance which Choler had possest It is peradventure for this reason that Saint Ierome could not resolve to call the agitations of the soul of our Saviour Iesus Christ Passions believing that to name them as Criminals was to injure their innocence and that there was injustice in giving the same name to things the conditions whereof were so different But every one knows that qualities change not nature and that the Passions of the Son of God were not less natural for being more obedient than are ours In my opinion it is a new obligation which we have to his goodness that he hath not despised our weakness he will eternally reproach us if we desire not his glory since he coveted our welfare if we fight not against his enemies since he hath overcome ours if we shed not tears for injuries done unto him since he hath shed his blood for our sins And he will have just occasion to complain upon our Ingratitude if our Passions serve not â—o witness our Love to him since he hath â—mployed all his to assure us of his Charity The Second Treatise Of the disorder of Passions in Man The FIRST DISCOURSE Of the corruption of Nature by Sin THough there be many wonderful things in man which deserve consideration that his qualities witness unto us the greatness power of his Creator there is nothing more remarkable in him than his constitution for he is composed of a body and soul he in his person unites Heaven and Earth and being more monstrous than are the Centaures in the Fable he is both Angel and Beast as the power of God appeareth in the uniting of these two so different parties his wisdome is no less evidently seen in the good intelligence they hold for though they had contrary inclinations that the one should bow downward towards the earth whereof it was formed and that the other should raise it self up towards heaven from whence it had its original yet God did so well temper their desires and in the diversity of their conditions so streightly united their wills by original justice as the soul shared in all contentments of the body without any injury to her self and the body served to all the designs of the soul without doing any violence to its self In this happy estate the soul commanded with mildness the body obeyed with delight and whatsoever object presented it self these two parties did always agree But this happiness continued no longer than our first father was obedient to God
for what belongs unto the Soul He is the Father only of this noâ—le part which he hath enriched with his Merits but the other part which is engaged in the Body and which by an unfortunate necessity sees it self bound to aniâ—ate the disorders and to foment the â—assions thereof is not altogether delivered from the tyranny of sin she groaneth under the weight of her Iron and this glorious Captive is constrained to be wail the rigour of her servitude whilst her Sister enjoys the sweets of liberty For as Saint Augustine teacheth us Baptism takes not away Concupiscence but doth moderate it and notwithstanding any strength that it giveth unto our soul it leaves a kind of languishment whereof the soul cannot be cured till in glory 'T is true that this weakness or defection is not a sin and though it be the Spring-head from whence all the rest do derive it cannot make us blameable unless when by reason of our remissness we follow the motions thereof And it cannot be said with honour to our Soul that this disorder is in our Body and that the Soul is not affected therewithal save only out of pity or infected but by contagion for besides that original sin whereof this misgovernment is an effect abideth in her substance all the world knoweth that the body is capable of operating by its self and that necessarily the soul which animates it must be that which makes it revolt and that that which gives it life must give it irregular motions and desires 'T is she that raiseth the flesh against the Spirit and which as not being intirely possest by grace doth obey sin 'T is she that awakens Passions 't is she who through a strange infatuation or blindness affords them weapons wherewithal to hurt her self and who excites the sedition wherewithal to trouble her tranquility This is Saint Augustines Doctrine and if we had not so great a Doctor for our warranty all Philosophy would serve us for caution since according to the principles thereof we must believe that the body doth nothing without the soul and that even then when the body seems to undertake any thing maugre the soul it is effected by the succour which the body receiveth from the soul. Insomuch as she is the rise of the evil and without reason she complains of the bodies revolt since she is the chief therein and that of all the faults which she imputeth to the body the body is not the Author but only the Confederate Now as the Passions reside in that part of the soul which is infected by sin we must not wonder if they rebel since their Mother is disobedient And we must not once think they should be stifled by Grace since she suffers the very power which produceth them to remain in rebellion All that a man can wish for in her guidance is that she may moderate their aptness to rage that she suppress their violence and that she prevent their first motions This is one of her chief employments for when she hath obliged the Understanding to know God and the Will to love him she enlargeth her care to the inferior part of the Soul and endeavours to calm the Passions thereof She goes not about to destroy them because she very well knows it is a work reserved for glory but she employeth all her forces to regulate them as she makes good use of sin to humble her she wisely makes use of their revolt to exercise us She propounds unto them Objects of Innocency to make them be serviceable to her virtue and makes them as Saint Paul saies Ministers of Justice for Christian Humility is an enemy to the vanity of the Stoicks and knowing very well that we are not Angels but men she doth not in vain endeavour to destroy one part of us but she obligeth us to make advantage of our defaults and to manage our Passions so dexterously aâ— that they may obey Reason or that they wage not war against her save only so far aâ— she may obtain the victory I should injurâ— this Imagination if I should render it iâ— other words than doth Saint Augustine We consider not in a pious man whether he be offended or not we weigh not the measure of his sorrow but the Subject And we labour not so much to know whether he be afraid as to know why For if we be angry with a Sinner intending so to correct him if we afflict our selves with one that is in misery out of an intention of comforting him and if through fear we divert a man from the mischief he was about to do unto himself I do not believe there is any so severe Judg as will condemn so useful Passions and he must necessarily want judgment did he not defend so harmless Affections Their excess is then only blameable and Reason assisted by Grace ought to employ all her industry to moderate them But because concupiscence is the Spring-head from whence they derive Reason must endeavor to dry it up and use her uttermost means to obviate the wicked effects thereof by stifling the cause which produceth them The Enemy which we undertake is born with us he draws his forces from ours he grows greater as we do and weakens as we grow old We have this of obligation to old age that it taketh from the vigor of concupiscence by diminishing our bodily strength and that by leading us to death it likewise leadeth this Rebel insensibly thither We must notwithstanding leave all for age to do in a business which so much imports our salvation we ought sooner to begin a war which ends not but with our life and diminish our own forces thereby to weaken those of the enemy You are born saith Saint Augustine with concupiscence take heed lest by giving him seconds through your negligence you raise not new enemies against you remember you have entred the course of this life accompanied with her and that your honour is concerned in making her die before you who was born with you This victory is rather to be wished for than hoped for you will not find a Saint who hath destroyed this Monster but at the cost of their life for though they withstand concupiscence that they oppose the desires thereof and that they mind not her motions save how to hinder her yet in this combat they are sometimes conquered their advantages are not pure and their best successes are mingled with some disgraces To kill this enemy they must die and they are necessitated to wish their own death that they may hasten the like of this their enemy Perfection as Saint Augustine observes consists in having no concupiscence not to follow her is to fight against her Nevertheless by continuance of courage one may hope for victory but certainly it cannot be obtained but when death is happily consummated by life in the Kingdom of Glory Hence I infer that since Grace cannot extinguish Concupiscence she cannot ruine Passions
weakned them Art which is not invented so much to perfect nature as to imitate her observes the same Rules and imploys nothing in her workmanship till it be tempered by her industry Painting would not be so cried up had it not found out the secret of reconciling black with white and so pacifie the natural discord of these two colours to compose all others thereof The riders of the great horse have no service from their horses till they have broke them and that they may be useful they must be taught to answer the Bridle and the Spur. Lions were never made use of to draw triumphant Chariots till they were tamed and Elephants bore not Towers upon their backs in fight till they were rid of the savage humour which they brought from the Woods All these examples are documents forthe government of our Passions and Reason ought to imitate nature if she will be advantaged thereby They mus◠〈◊〉 be employed till moderated and he who shall think to make them serviceable to virtue before he hath subjugated them by grace will ingage himself in a perillous design In the state of innocency when they had nothing of unruly in them one might make use of them as they were born they never surprized the will As original Justice was as well shed throughout the body as throughout the soul The senses made no false reports and their advices being uninteressed they were always conformable to the judgment of Reason But now that all things in man are faulty that the Body and the Soul are equally corrupted that the senses are subject to a thousand illusions and that Imagination favours their Disorders we must have great precaution in the use of Passions The first is to consider what troubles their revolt hath caused in our soul and in how many mischiefs these mutiniers have ingaged us when they have only been led on by our eyes or ears 'T is a piece of wisdom to reap advantage by our losses and to become wise at our own cost The justest choler flies out sometimes if not withheld by Reasonâ— though her motion was lawful in its birâ—â— it becomes criminal in the progress thereof It turns a good cause into a bad one for not having consulted with the superiour part of the soul and thinking to punish assight fault it commits a great one Fear hath oft-times astonished us for having only listned to the Senses she maketh us look pale upon a thousand occasions without any just cause and sometimes she hath engaged us in real dangers to make us shun those that were but imaginary As then our Passions have deceived us for our not having ask'd counsel of our Reason we must resolve never to believe them any more till we have examined whether that which they desire or that which they fear be reasonable and whether the understanding which sees further than our eyes cannot discover the vanity of our hopes or fears The second precaution is to oblige Reason to watch alwaies over such subjects as may excite our Passions and to consider their nature and motions to the end that she may never be surprized Harms foreseen hurt but a little and we are but seldom astonished at such accidents against which we are prepared A Pilot who sees a storm coming withdraws into the Haven or if he be too far from it he lanchâ—th into the deep and keeps aloof from Coasts or Rocks A Father who knows that his Children are mortal and that life hath no longer term than what it hath pleased God to give will never take on too much at their loss A Prince who considers that victory depends more upon Fortune than his Wisdom and more on Chances than on the Valour of his Souldiers will easily be comforted though he hath been beaten But we make not use of our understanding methinks if our Passions be out of order Reason ought to be accused thereof for not having foreseen the danger and for not having prepared our senses against their surprizals The third precaution is to study the nature of such Passions as we take in hand to moderate or govern For some must be rudely dealt withal and to reduce them to their duty severity and violence must be made use of others will be flattered and they must be gently dealt withal to make them obedient to Reason Though they be subjects they are not slaves and the understanding which governs them is rather their Father than their Soveraign Others would be cozened and though Virtue be so generous she is tied to accommodate herself to the weakness of Passions and to make use of wiles when force will not prevail Love is of this nature we must divert it not being able to banish it from out of our hearts we must lay before it legitimate Objects and make it virtuous by an innocent cozenage Choler would be flattered and who thinks to oppose this torrent by making a Dam hath but augmented its Fury Fear and Sorrow ought to be rudely dealt withal and of these two Passions the former is so faint-hearted as it is not to be overcome but by force and the second is opinionated as it is not to be brought within rule but by provocation These means being well observed the Affections of our soul may be sweetned These savage Beasts become domestick when they have lost their natural fierceness Reason makes good use of them and Virtue shapes no design which she executes without their mediation The FOURTH DISCOURSE That in what condition soever our passions be they may be governed by Reason THough Nature be so liberal she ceaseth not to be a good housewife and to employ with profit that which she hath abundantly produced all her parts have their use and amongst the infinite number of Creatures which do compose the world there is not any one which hath not its use Those which do us no service contribute to our pleasures the most beautiful and most delightful serve to adorn the world and the very deformed entertain her variety As shadows set off colours ugliness gives a lustre to Beauty and Monsters which are the defect of Nature make her chiefest works and miracles be esteemed There is nothing more pernicious than poison and were not sin barren one would take it for one of its production since it seems to agree with the other to make all men die Yet hath it its use Physick makes Antidotes thereof and there are certain sicknesses which cannot be cured but by prepared poisons use hath turned them into nourishment And if there have been Princes whom poison could not kill Beasts who bear it about in their bodies cannot live without it that which is pernicious to us is so necessary to them as they cannot be berest of it without loss of life This is that which makes all Philosophers grant with Saint Augustine that venom is no evil since it is natural to ScorpÃons and Vipers and that they die when they lose it as we do
not in themselves The greatest praise which the Holy Scripture gives to God is that whereby they are taught that he is all-sufficient in himself and that possessing all things in the immensity of his Essence he is not tied to wish for any thing nor to forgo his repose to seek for contentment in his creatures the world contributes nothing to his greatness if the worlds place should be supplied by a vacuity and that there were no Angels nor men to know and love him his felicity would be no whit the less intire and all the praises which we now give him add nothing to his glory when we offer sacrifices unto him when we make the earth resound with the noise of his praises when we burn Incense upon his Altars and enrich his Temples with the spoyls of our Houses we are bound to protest that all our Presents are of no use to him that he obligeth us in accepting them and that we offer up nothing to his greatness which we have not received from his liberality Desire is then a mark of indigence and whatsoever creature wisheth declares its poverty But not to dishonour this Passion totally we must confess it is also a proof of our dignity for it extends it self to all things and pretends some right to whatsoever can enter into our imagination it seeketh out effects in the bosom of their Causes perswades it self it may aspire unto whatsoever may be conceived and that it may add unto the number of its riches all the goods which as yet it doth not possess it is humored with whatsoever is possible it is of so great a reach as it embraceth all that fortune promiseth and nothing hath at any time happened to the most fortunate men in the world which it thinks not it may with some sort of Justice expect A Father of the Church hath therefore said that the Apostles forgoing nothing had yet forgone very much since they had forgone their own desires and that despoyling themselves of a Passion which in their greatest poverty gave them a right to all riches they might boast to have forsaken all things for Jesus Christ for the heart of man hath an infinite capacity which can only be filled with the Summum bonum it is always empty till it possess him that made it whatever else of good makes it the more hungry and not being able to satisfie it they irritate the desires thereof but do not appease them hence it is that we cannot bound our desires but that the accomplishment of one begets another and that we run from one object to another to find him out of whom the rest are all but shadows Hence proceed all the unruly desires which gnaw upon the hearts of the greatest Monarchs hence did Alexander's ambition proceed who thought the earth too little and who was offended that his Conquests should be bounded by the limits of the world hence did Croesus his avarice derive who thought himself poor though he were the richest of all the Romans that he passed over hideous Desarts to war against a people whose riches were their sole fault These disorders have no other rise than the capacity of our heart the infinity of our desires which pursuing the good which solicits them and finding none that can satisfie them go always in search for new ones and never prescribes any bounds unto them for though our understandings be not sufficiently enlightned to know the supreme truth in all his extent and that our wills have not force enough to love the Summum bonum as much as he is lovely yet the one and the other of them cease not to have an infinite capacity which all the things of the earth cannot fill a natural truth how elevated soever it be serves but as a step to our understandings whereby to raise us up yet to an higher truth a created good how rare soever it be doth only enlarge our heart and dilate our will to make it capable of what is yet more excelent so do our desires perpetualy change objects they despise such as they formerly valued and advancing still forwards they become at last sensible that nothing can stop them but he that can satisfie them From these three proprieties which we have explained it is easie to observe the effects which our desires produce in us or forth of us for since they separate the soul from the body they cause all these extasies and ravishments which are attributed to the excess of Love since they arise from indigence they oblige us to demand and consequently render us importunate to our friends and since they suppose that our hearts are fathomless we must not wonder if they be not satisfied with all that can be granted them and if after having pursued after so many different objects they grow weary of pursuing and seek for their rest in the Summum bonum who is the end of all lawful desires The SECOND DISCOURSE Of the bad use of Desires THose who would take the people for Judges in this Affair would doubtlesly imagine that there is no more solid nor more harmless pleasure in the world than to see our desires changed into effects since it is the ordinary wish which our friends make for us and certainly if all their wishes were well regulated nothing would be more pleasing nor more useful to us than their accomplishment and we should have reason to think our selves happy if after a long pursuance we should at last accomplish them but as they are almost always unjust their success is oft-times prejudicial to us and for my part I am of Seneca's opinion and hold with him that the greatest part of our friends do innocently wish us ill and make vows in our behalf which are most pernicious to us than the imprecations of our enemies If we will be content we must pray to God that nothing may befall us that is wished unto us our very Parents contribute to our misfortune through an excess of affection and during our infancy they draw down the anger of heaven upon us by the unjustness of their desires so as we must not wonder if when we are further advanced in years so many misfortunes befall us since those that love us best have been the causers of it There are three causes for the irregularity of our desires the first is self-love which not being able to eface out of our Souls the inclination which we have to the Summum bonum doth turn it aside after such good things as are perishable and maketh them to be wish'd for with as much fervencie as if they were eternal for our heart longs always after God though the good desires thereof be weakned they are not quite stifled they betake themselves to what is good sin hath not been able to bereave them of an inclination which is natural unto them but Reason which ought to rule them being clouded with darkness they mistake and
tolerate it and by an unfortunate necessity we must give lodging to a guest we should not be able to love but Nature hath well provided for this and her providence which always watches over her children hath given us a Passion which eschews evil with as much impetuosity as desire seeks after good This keeps at distance from all that can hurt us and following the inclinations of hatred whereof she is either the Daughter or Slave she flies from all objects that displease her and fights to defend it self against her enemies 't is the first succour we have received against evils 't is the first violence the first salley which the concupiscible appetite makes to free us from them Though this Passion be almost alwayes blameless and that she cannot be made criminal but by surprizal yet ceaseth she not to have her ill use and to be every day employ'd against the design of Nature Those therefore that would make use of her are bound to consider whether that which they endevor to eschew be truly so or be but so in appearance and whether opinion which easily seizeth upon the understanding hath not perswaded them unto falshoods instead of truths For it is apparent that of two things that bear the name of evil in the world there is but one of them which may properly be said to deserve it Sin and Punishment are the two most ordinary objects of eschewing and most men do so confound them as we know not which of them is most odious Punishment being more sensible than Sin it is more carefully shunned and there are not many people who do not love rather to be faulty than unfortunate We shun the Plague and seek out sin we keep far from all infected places the bad air whereof may work an alteration in our health and we draw near to evil company which may rob us of our innocency Religion obligeth us not withstanding to believe that Punishments are the effects of Divine Justice that they have Beauties which though austere ought not to be the less pleasing that God honours himself by punishing of his enemies and that he finds as much satisfaction in chastening the guilty as in recompencing the just The greatest Saints have known that our punishments were favours which did no less contribute to the welfare of man than to the glory of his Creator they have confessed that we must adore the arm which hurts us love the wounds because of the arm that made them and teach all the world that Heavens Thunders are just since those who are therewith struck adore them but sin is a true evil which hath nothing in it which is not odious its object is a soveraign good which it offendeth and if in the behalf of the committer the malice thereof be bounded on his behalf against whom it is committed it is infinite Sin violates all the Laws of Nature dishonoureth men and Angels and all the evils which we suffer are the just punishments of its disorders 'T was then for this dreadful evil that we were endued with aversion and this aversion cannot be more justly employed than in keeping us far from a Monster the abode whereof will be hell and death the eternal punishment Next to sin nothing ought to be more carefully eschewed than those that do defend it and who to enlarge the Empire thereof endeavor to make it appear lovely and glorious As Nature is the pure workmanship of God she cannot tolerate sin and that she may banish it from the earth she hath laden it with confusion and fear it dares not appear in full day it hides it self in darkness and seeks out solitary places where it hath none but such as are complices with it for witnesses But its partakers raise it up upon a throne and play all their cunning to win it glory they cover it with the cloak of Virtue and if it hath any thing of affinity with its enemy they strive to make it pass for Virtue They change their names and by one and the same action committing two faults they bereave Virtue of her honour that they may give it to Sin they term Revenge greatness of Courage Ambition a generous Passion Uncleanness an innocent pleasure and consequently they term Humility lowness of Spirit the forgiving of injuries faint-heartedness and continency a savage humor They spread abroad these false maxims they turn evils into contagious diseases and their errors into heresies they seduce simple souls and presenting poyson in Chrystal vessels they make it be swallow'd down by innocent people Those who are most couragious have much ado to defend themselves from them the best wits suffer themselves to be perswaded by their lewd Reasons we are therefore bound to have recourse to the succour that Nature hath given us to excite this Passion which keeps us aloof from what is evil and furnisheth us with forces to fight against it But her chief employment ought to be against Incontinence and the Heavens seem to have given a being to Aversion only to rid our hands of an enemy which cannot be overcome but by Eschewing All Passions come in to the aid of Virtue when she undertakes a war against Vice Choler grows hot in her quarrel Audacity furnisheth her with weapons Hope promiseth her Victory and Joy which always follows generous actions serves instead of Recompense but when she is to set upon Incontinency she dares not employ all these faithful souldiers and knowing very well that the enemy she is to fight withal is as crafty as puissant she fears lest he may seduce them and by his cunning draw them over to his side In truth Choler agrees easily with Love and Lovers quarrels serve only to re-kindle their extinct flames Hope entertains their Affections and Joy oft-times takes its rise from their displeasures so as Virtue can only make use of Eschewing to defend her self and of so many Passions which assist her in her other designs she is only seconded by Eschewing in her combate against Impurity But she thinks her self strong enough if succour'd therewithal and there is no such charming Beauty no so strong inclination nor so dangerous occasion which she doth not promise her self to overcome provided she be accompanied by this faithful Passion She is the cause why Chastity reigns in the world 't is by reason of her wisdom that men do imitate Angels and triumph over evil spirits in the frailty of the flesh But the greatest miracle which she produceth is when being subservient to Charity she separateth us from our selves and when preventing the violence of death she divideth the soul from the body for man hath no greater enemy than himself he is the cause of all his own evils and Christian Religion agrees with the Sect of the Stoicks that man can receive no true displeasure save what he himself procures he is therefore bound to keep at distance from himself and to hold no commerce with his Body
both Wisdom and Power the Arm and the Idaea of his Father but amongst the creatures these qualities are separated and who hath much strength hath but little knowledg to make these two incompatible advantages meet Heaven must do a miracle and it is not more difficult to agree Fire Water than to unite Wisdom Fortitude It must also be confess'd that as Fear is fuller of Advisedness than of Generosity she hath likewise more Light than Heat and is far fitter for Counsel than for Combat In fine she is accused in taking things always in the worst sense and of making evils greater than they are She resembles say they those faint-hearted Spies which Moses sent to discover the Land of Palestine who thought by their false reports to have turned the Iews from so noble a conquest she makes a Mountain of a Mole-hill all beasts appear Monsters to her and she thinks all dangers which she sees inevitable 'T is true she doth almost always judge the worst and that she may be abused doth paint out evil in its proper deformity but surely in so doing she remembreth Wisdom the more which never adviseth of what is to come without fore-casting all the difficulties that may arrive without preparing forces to fight with such enemies as may assail her she doth not consider only what is done but what may be done when she sees an evil she will know the progress thereof and takes some little trouble to procure assured quiet The Stoicks have no better expedient to defend themselves against an evil that threatens them than to imagine it will happen and to withstand it in their minds that they may have the better of it in effect so as by the judgment of our enemies wisdom hath no other Maxim than Fear and this faithful servant moves not but as her Soveraign doth 'T is true that as she neighbours upon the Senses and resides in that part of the Soul wherein combustions are framed she always apprehends trouble and her judgments are almost always accompanied with commotion but the understanding may easily disabuse her and by the brightness of its fire may dissipate the Fogs which rise from the Imagination it must bind her to consider such objects as she is afraid of and make her the bolder by making her view the cause of her astonishment at a nearer distance she must take away that Solemnity from Punishments which makes them so dreadful and those complaints from Grief which make her so eloquent it must teach her that under those deceitful appearances there is but a common death which Children have endured which Souldiers have overcome and which Slaves have contemned the most appearing torments are not always the most violent a stopping of the Urine is more painful than being broken on the wheel one troubled with the Gout suffers many times more pain in his bed than an offender doth on the Rack a man whose head is cut off endures not so much as he that dies of a Fever it belongs then to the understanding to perswade fear that all those things which affright us are not those which harm us that the greatest appearing evils are not the most sensible and that those which appear least are oft-times cause of greatest pain Thus will she be fixt against evils and suffering her self to be guided by Reason she will have no more apprehensions than what shall be necessary to keep her from being surprized But if Fear may be serviceable to us in withstanding Vice she may be made use of to defend Virtue and this seems to be the chief end for which Nature hath ordained her for Shame is nothing but a Fear of Infamy and this innocent Passion is the protectress of all Virtues 't is to her that Judges owe their Integrities Souldiers their Courage and Women their Chastity 't is by her care that Piety is preserved and all the world must confess that not any Affection of our soul is more delectable or useful than is Shame Since we owe so much unto her 't is reason that we acknowledge it and that we give her the honour she deserves she carries the colour of Virtue and that blush which spreads it self over her face is a mark of her Innocence but she is so very nice that the least thing in the world may corrupt her she is like those Fruits new gather'd whose verdure is lost assoon as they are handled she her self destroys her self she is offended at the praises that are given her and women are made to lose her by being reproached for her If she be easie to be lost she is as hard to be regain'd for though she be of a mild nature yet she is Stately and being once banish'd she is very hardly recalled Hope doth oft-times succeed Despair Joy resumes the place which Sorrow had possest and sometimes Hatred turns to Love but Shame never appears upon a Face when once it is driven thence by Insolence and Impudence as this Passion is a companion to Purity so is she of her Disposition the loss of either is irreparable she so loaths Sin as she cannot endure the sight thereof she blushes at the very name of it and she summons in all the bloud of her heart to succour her in defence of her self against her enemy But she is never of more might than when she fights in the defence of Virtue for she doth such mighty things in her behalf as she always procures her glorious victories she obligeth all the Passions to second her she sets out guiltiness in so ghastly a manner to them as she augments their hatred thereof and so presents Innocence to them so beautiful as she augments their love thereof she awakens Hope encourageth Audacity irritates Desire and enflames Choler so as it is a Passion that disperseth it self into all other Passions and which endueth them with new strength to maintain Virtues quarrel though she be timorous she encourageth Souldiers they are only valiant in being Ashamed and if they despise Danger 't is only because they fear Infamy one fear drives out another and those who give not way to Valour suffer themselves to be overcome by Shame Though she be indulgent she makes Judges severe and when men go about to corrupt them with bribes or to frighten them with threats she keeps them within their bounds by fear of Dishonour though she be Weak she makes women couragious and whilst she displays her blush upon their visages she seatters a secret virtue into their hearts which makes them triumph over those dangerous enemies that pursue them This Sex hath no other strength than what it borrows from this innocent Passion it preserves it self only by the fear of Infamy and who should take this defence from it would easily bereave it of all its other advantages Nature it self which very well knows it loves Beauty as well as Virtue hath perswaded it that Shame makes it more approved of