him who made you loose eternal glory and deserve Hell for even him who wrought you so much hurt and still persists in doing it do you not think that you have cause to detest Well now this person is your self an opposite and enemy of God an opposite and enemy of your own salvation CHAP. X. That the knowledge of ones self doth not canse dismay but rather gives conrage and strength THere is another great benefit which grows from the exercise of knowing a mans self that not onely it causes no dismay or base fear as perhaps some might doubt but rather a great heart and courage towards all those things which are good And the reason of this is that when a man knows himself he sees that here is no colour why he should rely upon himself but that distrusting himself he must put all his confidence in God in whom he finds himself strong and able for all things Hence it is that these are the men who are apt to attempt and undertake great things and these are they who go through with them For in regard they ascribe all to God and nothing to themselves God takes the busines in hand and makes it his and holds it upon his own account and then he is wont to do mighty things and even wonders by the means of weak instruments To shew the riches and treasures of his mercies God will do wonderfull things by instruments who are miserable and weak He uses to put the treasures of his mercy into the poorest vessels for thus doth his glory shine most This is that which God said to St Paul when being even tired with temptations he cryed out and begged that he might be delivered from them and God made him this answer My grace shall be sufficient for thee how great soever thy temptations and miseries may be and then doth the power of God prove it self to be more strong and perfect when the weaknes and infirmity is more apparent For as the Physitian gains more honour when the sicknes which he cures is more dangerous so when there is more weaknes in us our delivery brings more glory to Gods arm and power and so doth Saint Augustine and Saint Ambrose expound this place So that when a man knows and distrusts himself and puts all his confidence in God then doth his Majesty come and help and when on the other side a man puts considence in himself and in his own diligences and means he is forsaken by Almighty God This saith Saint Basil is the cause why when we desire to make our prayers best and to have most devotion in certain principal times and occasions it sals out many times that we have lesse because we put our considence in our own means and in our own diligences and preparations And at other times we are prevented with great benedictions and sweetnes when we look for them least to the end that we may know that this is an effect of the grace and mercy of our Lord and of no diligence or merit of ours So that a mans knowing his misery and frailty causes no cowardise or dismay but rather gives courage and strength in regard that it makes him distrust himself and place all his confidence in God And this is also that which â—e Apostle saith When I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12.10 That is when I am humbled then I am exalted For thus do hoth Saint Augustine and Saint Ambrose declare it When I humble and abase my self and know that I am good for nothing then am I exalted and raised up Whilst I know and see my infirmity and misery fastning my self upon God I find my self more strong and more ful of courage for he is all my confidence and strength Hereby you may understand that it is not Humility nor any thing which springs from thence when there com to us somtimes certain dismays and dejections concerning our little progress in grace and when we fear that we shal never obtain such or such a virtue and never overcom such an il condition or inclination or that we shal not be fit for this or that office and ministery in which we are or may be imployed This may seem to be humility but many times it is not so but rather springs from pride For such a one casts his eyes upon himself as if by his own strength and diligences he were to go through with that business wheras he ought to cast them upon God in whom we are to be ful of confidence and courage and say The Lord is my light and my salvation whom then shal I fear the Lord is the strength of my life of whom then shal I be afraid If whole armies shal rise against me my heart shal nor be afraid If they shal bid me battel yet wil I hope in God Psal 27. Though I walk in the midst of the very shadow of death and arrive even at the very gates of hel yet my heart shal not fear because thou O Lord art with me Psal 23. With what varietie of words doth the holy Prophet express the self same thing and indeed we have the Psalms ful of this to signifie the abundance of pious affections and of the confidence which he had and which we ought to have in God In my God I wil pass over a wal how high soever it may be Nothing shal be able to put it self between me and home God can conquer giants by grashoppers In my God I wil tread lions and dragons under my feet By the grace and favour of our Lord we shal be strong He teacheth my hands to fight and mine arms shal break even a bow of steel CHAP XI Of other great benefits and advantages which grow by the exercise of a mens knowledge of himself ONe of the principal means which for our parts we are able to imploy to the end that our Lord may shew us favour and communicate great graces and gifts to us is that we humble our selves and know our own frailty and misery And so said the Apostle St. Paul I wil gladly glory in my infirmities and weaknesses that so the power of Christ may dwel in me And St. Ambrose upon those words I am pleased in my infirmities saith If a Christian be to glory it is to be in his own povertie and miserie whereby he may increase and prosper in the sight of God St. Augustine brings that of the Prophet to this purpose Thou O God sentest a gracious rain upon thine inheritance and refreshedst it when it was weary When think you that God will give the voluntary and sweet rain of his gifts and graces to his inheritance which is the soul of man When the same soul shal understand her own infirmity and misery then wil he perfect it and the voluntary and sweet shower of his gifts and graces shal fal down upon it And as here amongst us the more our poor beggars discover their wretchednes and their sores to
good deeds because they make ill use thereof As it happens in the case of corporal food which though in it self it be healthfull and good yet if a man eat of it without rule or measure it will make him sick And so on the other side if the very poison of vipers be taken with a certain composition and proportion it will become a treacle and give him health When therefore they shall bring the good things which you have done to your memory to the end that you may esteem and value your self Saint Gregory advises you to oppose your ill deeds against them and to call your former sins to mind So did Saint Paul to the end that his great virtues might not blow him up as also his having been rapt into the third Heaven and made capable of those high revelations which were imparted to him Alas saith he I have been a blasphemer and a persecutor of the servants of God and of the name of Christ alas I am not worthy to be called an Apostle because I have persecuted the Church of God This is a very good counterpoise and a very good countermine against this temptation Upon those words which the Archangel Gabriel spake to the prophet Daniel O son of man observe what I intend to say to thee S. Jerom saith that those holy prophets Daniel Ezekiel and Zacharias through the high and continual revelations which they had seemed already as it were to converse amongst the Quires of Angels and to the end that they might not exalt themselves above themselves and grow idle headed proud upon that occasion as conceiving that they were grown to be of a kind of Superior and Angelical nature the Angel lets them know on the part of God that they must remember their humane nature and frailty and he cals them sons of men that so they might understand themselves to be frail men and miserable creatures like the rest and that so they might be humble and esteem themselves but as they were And we have many examples in histories both ecclesiastical and prophane both of Saints and other illustrious persons Kings Emperors and Prelates who used this means and ever kept som about them who might bring them to remembrance from time to time that they were but men so to conserve them in humilitie and to keep them from growing vain and proud It is recounted of Franciscui Borgia that whilst he was yet Duke of Gandia an holy man gave him this counsel that if he had a mind to profit much in the service of God no day might pass wherein he would not think seriously of somwhat which might put him to confusion and a mean opinion of himself And he took this counsel so much to heart that from the time that he used the exercise of mental prayer he imployed every day the two first hours thereof upon this knowledge and contempt of himself And besides whatsoever he heard and read and saw it all served him towards this abasing and confusion Let us therefore observe this counsel and practise it Let no one day pass wherein we spend not som time of prayer and consider not somwhat which may tend to our confusion and contempt and let us not grow weary nor give over this exercise til we find that our soul hath even drunk up a profound and cordial desire to be disesteemed and despised and til we may feel our selves to be greatly ashamed to appear with so much baseness and misery as ours is before the high presence and majesty of almighty God We have very much need of all this for our pride and inclination to be honored and esteemed is so great that if we walk not continually in this exercise we shall find our selves every hour to be listed up above our selves as cork swimming upon the water for no cork is so light and vain as we We must ever be repressing and beating down that swelling and pride which heaves us up and we must look towards the feet of our deformity and basenes that so the wheel of our vanity and pride may be broken in peeces Let us remember the parable of the Fig-tree which is mentioned in the holy Gospel and which the owner thereof hath a mind to pluck up by the roots because in three years it had born no fruit but the gardener moved that it might be suffered to grow a year longer and said that he would dig about it and that if then it gave no fruit it might afterwards be rooted up Dig you in like manner about the dry and barrain Fig-tree of your souls and let the dung and miseries of your sins be cast round about it since you have such store thereof and so you shall be also fertile and bear fruit To the end that we may be the more animated to use this exercise and that no man take occasion to give it over through any vain apprehensions We are to understand two things The first that no man must think this exercise belongs onely to beginners because it also concerns Proficients and most perfect men since we see that they and even St. Paul himself did use it In the second place it is fit for us to understand that this exercise is no afflictive or melancholy kind of thing nor causes trouble or disquiet but rather brings with it great peace and rest yea and great contentment and joy for any man to consider and know himself how many defects or faults soever he commit and how perfectly soever he understand that because he is so wicked he deserves that al men should despise and hate him For when this knowledge of our selves grows from true Humility that pain comes accompanied with such a kind of swavity and contentment that a man would be sorry to be without it Other pains and troubles which some feel when they consider their faults and imperfections are temptations of the divel who on the one side procures by this means to make us think that we are truly humble and on the other would be content to make us distrust the goodnes of God and to be disheartned and dismayed in his service Indeed if we were still to pause upon the knowledge of our own misery and weaknes we should have occasion enough to be afflicted and sad yea and to be discouraged and dismayed but we must not stay there but passe on to the consideration of the goodnes and mercy and liberality of God and how much he loves us and what he suffered for us and in this are we to place all our hope And so that which would be an occasion of dismay and sorrow by looking upon our selves serves to animate and incourage us and is an occasion of greater comfort and joy when we lift up our eyes towards God A man beholds himself and sees nothing but cause of grief but looking up to God he confides in his goodnes without fear of being forsaken notwithstanding the many faults and imperfections and miseries
A TREATISE OF HUMILITIE Published by E. D. Parson sequestred 1 PET. 5. ver 5. Be clothed with Humility for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble LONDON Printed for Thomas Johnson at the Golden Key in S. Pauls Church-yard 1654. To the Reader IN every age and nation the sins that provoke God to wrath are many and the Seers or Remembrancers so are Gods Ministers call'd and so they are do sigh and mourn for them yea and forewarn and cry out against them as in Ezek. 9.4 The sins of this our age and nation which have provoked the Lord our God to poure out the vialls of his wrath upon us though not easily numbred or named yet that one onely sin of Pride is so high so presumptuous and so generall that even for this sin alone all the judgements which we have already felt or do hereafter feare are most due and just Blessed be the Lord our God who hath hitherto in mercy as a father chastised us for our amendment and not in fury as a Judge utterly consumed us And as we acknowledge his justice and mercy in punishing us so we take notice of his wisdome in choosing such instruments to punish us men of mean and low rank and of common parts and abilities By these he doth admonish all the honourable valiant learned and wise men of this nation as it were write our sin in the character of our punishment and in the low condition of these instruments of his anger and displeasure the rod of his wrath he would abate and punish our great pride As Remembrancers we have a double office on which we attend The one to call and cry unto God night and day with humble prayers and teares to be mercifull to his people and to spare those which he hath redeemed with his precious bloud and not to be angry with them for ever The other to call and cry unto the whole nation the proud and bold punishers with their vizours or formes of godlinesse as well as the punished to humble themselves to repent to fast weep and mourn for our many and great wickednesses especially for our Pride It may please God that by his blessing this little book may prove as a sovereigne poultise or medicine to asswage the swelling tumor of pride in the hearts of all them that will humble themselves so farre as to read it Davids stone and sling which slew proud Goliah and by that meanes overthrew the pride and gallantry of a great army gives some encouragement to me that even the pride of the Army of the City of the whole nation may be in some measure lessened and abated by this small book wherein the reader will find all the kindes and degrees of our pride plainly described sadly lamented sharply reproved thereby the necessity and excellency of the heavenly grace and sweet vertue of Humility affectionately perswaded unto and commended The God of power wisdome and mercy vouchsafe to give his blessing to this weak meanes as prayeth Thine in Christ Jesus W. B. The Contents Chap. I. OF the excellency of the vertue of Humility and of the need we have thereof page 1 Chap. II. That Humility is the foundation of all vertue page 6 Chap. III. Wherein it is declared more particularly how Humility is the foundation of all vertues and this is done by discoursing of the chief of them page 10 Chap. IIII. Of the particular necessity which they have of this vertue who professe to procure the salvation of their neighbours souls page 17 Chap. V. Of the first degree of Humility which is for a man to think meanly of himself page 32 Chap. VI. Of the knowledge of a mans self which is the root and the necessary and only means for the obtaining of Humility page 36 Chap. VII Of a most principall means for a mans knowing himself and obteining Humility which is the consideration of his sins page 41 Chap. VIII How we are to exercise our selves in the knowledge of what we are that so we may not be dejected or dismayed page 46 Chap. IX Of the great benefit and profit which grows by this exercise of a mans knowing himself page 52 Chap. X. That the knowledge of ones self doth not cause dismay but rather gives courage and strength page 58 Chap. XI Of other great benefits and advantages which grow by the exercise of a mans knowledge of himself page 62 Chap. XII How much it concerneth us to be exercised in the knowledge of our selves page 65 Chap. XIII Of the second degree of Humility and here it is declared wherein this degree consists page 74 Chap. XIV Of some degrees and steps whereby a man may rise to the perfection of this second degree of Humility page 82 Chap. XV. Of the fourth step which is to desire to be disesteemed and despised and to be glad thereof page 89 Chap. XVI That the perfection of Humility and of all other vertues consists in performing the acts thereof with delight and chearfulness and how much this imports towards our perseverance in vertue page 93 Chap. XVII Of some means for the obtaining of this second degree of Humility and particularly of the example of Christ our Lord. page 98 Chap. XVIII Of some humane considerations reasons whereby we are to help our selves for being humble page 104 Chap. XIX Of other humane reasons which will help us to be humble page 109 Chap. XX. That the certain way for a man to be valued and esteemed even by men is to give himself to vertue and humility page 116 Chap. XXI That Humility is the means to obtain inward peace of mind and that without it this cannot be had page 123 Chap. XXII Of another kind of means more efficacious for the obtaining the vertue of Humility which is the exercise thereof page 132 Chap. XXIII That we must take heed of speaking any such words as may redound to our own praise page 141 Chap. XXIV In what manner we are to make a particular examination of our consciences concerning the vertue of Humility page 146 Chap. XXV How it may be compatible with Humility to be willing to be accounted of and esteemed by men page 157 Chap. XXVI Of the third degree of Humility page 166 Chap. XXVII It is declared wherein the third degree of Humility consists page 174 Chap. XXVIII The foresaid truth is more declared page 179 Chap. XXIX The third degree of Humility is further declared and how it grows from thence that the true humble man esteems himself to be the least and worst of all page 184 Chap. XXX How good and holy men may with truth esteem themselves lesse then others yea and affirm themselvs to be the greatest sinners of the world page 192 Chap. XXXI That this third degree of Humility is a good means to overcome all temptations and to obtain the perfection of all the vertues page 202 Chap. XXXII That Humility is not contrary to Magnanimity but rather
that it is the foundation and cause thereof page 207 Chap. XXXIII Of the great benefits and advantages which are in this third degree of Humility page 216 Chap. XXXIV Of the great mercies and favours which God shews to the humble and why he exalts them so high page 224 Chap. XXXV How much it imports us to betake our selves to Humility to supply thereby whatsoever is wanting to us in vertue and perfection and to the end that God may not humble us by punishing us page 229 A TREATISE OF THE VERTUE OF HVMILITY CHAP I. Of the excellency of the vertue of Humility and of the need we have thereof LEarn of me saith Jesus Christ our Saviour for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls Mat. 11.29 The whole life of Christ our Lord on earth was led for our instruction and he was the Master and teacher of all the virtues but especially of this of Humility which he desired cheifly that we should learn And this consideration alone may well serve to make us understand both the great excellency of this vertue and the great need also which we have thereof since the Son of God himself came down from Heaven to earth to teach us the practise and to make himself our instructor therein and that not only by word of mouth but much more particularly by his actions For indeed his whole life was an example and lively pattern of Humility Saint Basil discoursing of the whole life of Christ our Lord even from his birth observes and shews how all his actions served to teach us this vertue in most particular manner He would needs saith he be born of a mother who was poor in a poor open stable and be layed in a manger and be wrapped in miserable clouts be would needs be circumcised like a sinner and fly into Egypt like a poor weak creature and be baptized amongst Publicans and sinners like one of them And afterward in the course of his life when they had a mind to do him honour and take him up for their King he hid himself but when they put dishonour and affronts upon him he then presented himself to them when he was honoured and admired by men yea and even by persons who were possessed with the devill he commanded them to hold their peace but when they thought fit to reproach and scorn him he held his peace And neer the end of his life that he might leave us this vertue by his last Will and Testament he confirmed it by that so admirable example of washing his Disciples feet as a so by undergoing that so ignominious death of the Crosse Saint Bernard saith The Son of God abased and diminished him elf by taking our nature upon him and he would have his whole life to be a pattern of Humility so to teach us by actions that which he would also teach us by words A strange manner of instruction But why Lord must so high a Majesty be abased so low To the end that from henceforth there may not so much as one man be found who shall once adventure to be proud and to exalt himself upon the earth It was ever a strange boldnes or rather a kind of madnes for a man to be proud but now saith he when the Majesty of God hath humbled and abased it self it is an intollerable shame and an unspeakable kind of absurdity that this little wretched worm man should have a mind to be honoured and esteemed That the Son of God who is equall to the Father should take the form of a servant upon him and vouchsafe to be dishonoured and abased and that I who am but dust and ashes should procure to be valued and admired With much reason did the Saviour of the world declare that he is the master of this vertue of Humility and that we were to learn it of him for neither Plato nor Socrates nor Arisiotle did ever teach men this vertue For when those heathen Philosophers were treating of those other vertues of fortitude of temperance of wisdom and of Justice they were so far off the while from being humble therein that they pretended even by those very works and by all their vertuous actions to be esteemed and recommended to posterity It is true that thee was a Diogenes and some others like him who professed to contemn the world and to despise themselves by using mean cloaths and certain other poverties and abstinencies but even in this they were extreamly proud and procured even by that means to be observed and esteemed whilst others were despised by them as was wisely noted by Plato in Diogenes For one day when Plato had invited certain Philosophers and amongst them Diogenes to his house he had his rooms well furnished and his carpets laid and such other preparations made as might be fit for such guests But as soon as Diogenes entred in he began to foul those fair carpets with his durty feet which Plato observing asked him what he meant Calco Platonis fastum saith Diogenes I am trampling saith he upon Platos pride But Plato made him this good answer calcas sed alio fastu thou tramplest indeed but with another kind of pride insinuating thereby that the pride wherewith he trod upon Platos carpets was greater then Platos pride in possessing them The Philosophers did never reach to that contempt of themselves wherein Christian humility consists nay they did not so much as know humility even by name for this is that vertue which was properly and only taught by Christ our Lord. Saint Augustine observes how that divine sermon made by our Saviour in the Mount began with this vertue Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven For both Saint Augustine and others affirm that by poor in spirit such as be humble are understood So that the Redeemer of the world begins his preaching with this he continues it with this and he ends it with this This was he teaching us all his life and this doth he desire that we should learn of him He said not as Saint Augustin observes Learn of me to create heaven and earth learn of me to do wonderful things and to work miracles to cure the sick to cast out divels and to revive the dead but learn of me to be meek and humble of heart For better is the humble man who serves God than he who works miracles That other way is plain and safe but this is full of stumbling blocks and dangers The necessity which we have of this vertue of humility is so great that without it a man cannot make one step into spirituall life Saint Augustine saith it is necessary that all our actions be very well accompanied and fenced by humility both in the beginning in the middle and in the end thereof for if we be negligent never so little and suffer vain complacence and self-pleasing to enter in the wind of pride carries all away And
it wil help-us little that the work it self be very good nay rather in good works we have most cause to fear the vice of vain glory and pride For other vices have relation to sins and wicked objects as envy luxuriousnes and wrath which carry a kind of ill superscription upon them to the end that we may take heed thereof Whereas pride is ever treading as it were upon the heels of good works that so it may destroy them A man goes prosperously sayling with his heart raised up towards heaven because at the beginning of the action he had addressed it to the glory of God and behold when suddenly there comes a wind of vanity and casts him upon a rock by procuring to make him desire to please men and to be honoured and esteemed by them taking some vain contentment therein and therewith the whole businesse sinks And so both Saint Gregory and Saint Bernard say very wel He who assembles any other vertues without humility is like a man who carries a little dust or ashes against the wind in which case the wind will be sure to scatter and carry it all away CHAP. II. That Humility is the foundation of all vertue SAint Ciprian saith Humility is the foundation of holinesse Saint Hierom cals humility the firsâ— and principall grace of a Christian Saint Bernard saith Humility is the foundation and preserver of all other vertues they all say that humility is the ground and foundation of all holinesse vertue and grace Saint Gregory in one place cals it the mistris and mother of all vertue and he saith also in another place that it is the root and very off-spring of vertue This metaphor and comparison of the root is very proper and doth very well declare the properties and conditions of humility For first he saith that as the root sustains and supports the flouer and when the root is pluckt up the flouer doth instantly dry and withe so every vertue whatsoever is instantly lost if it grows not up and continues not in the root of humility But as the root which lyes under ground and is trampled and trodden upon hath no beauty or odour in it and yet the tree receives life from thence just so the humble man is buried and dis-esteemed and disgraced and seems to carry no lustre nor brightnes in himself but is cast aside into a corner and forgotten and yet this very thing is that which conserves him and makes him thrive But withall as to the end that the tree may be able to grow and continue and bear much fruit it is necessary that the root lye deep and how much the more deep it is and more covered with earth so much the more fruit will the tree yeeld and so much the longer will it continue according to that of the Prophet Iâ—y It shall send the root downward and make the fruit grow upward so the fructifying of a soul in all vertue the conserving it self therein consists in laying a low root of humility How much the more humble you are so much the more will you profit grow in vertue and perfection To conclude as pride is the beginning root of all sin according to the wise man so humility is the foundation and root of all vertue But some man will say perhaps how can you affirm that humility is the foundation of all vertue and of all spirituall building when commonly we are taught by spirituall men that faith is the foundation according to that of Saint Paul Other foundation can no man lay than that is layed Jesus Christ the righteous that is faith in Jesus Christ To this Aquinas answers well Two things are necessary for the well founding of a house first it is necessary to open the ground well and cast out all that which is loose till at length you arrive to that which is firm that so you may build afterward upon it and when this is done you begin to lay the first stone which with the rest then laid is the principal foundation of the building After this manner saith Aquinas do humility and faith behave themselves one towards another in the spirituall building of vertue Humility is that which opens the soyle and the Office thereof is to dig deep into the earth to cast out all that which is loose which signifies the weaknes of mans power So that you must not lay your foundation upon your own strength for all this is no better then sand all this is to be cast out distrusting your selves and still you must be digging on till you come to the firm stone and the living rock which is Christ our Lord. This indeed is the principall foundation but yet notwithstanding because for the setling of this foundation there is need also of that other humility is also called a foundation And so he who by means of humility will open the soyl well and dig deep into the knowledge of himself and cast out all the sand of his own estimation and confidence in himself will arrive to that true foundation which is Christ our Lord and this man will raise a good building which will not be driven down though the winds blow and the waters beat because it is founded upon the firm rock But on the other side if he build without humility the building will instantly sink down because it is founded upon sand They are not true vertues but apparent only and false which are not founded upon humility And so Saint Augustine saith 1 Cor 13. That in those Romans and antient Philosophers there was no true vertue not only because they wanted charity which gives life and being to all vertue and without which there is no true and perfect vertue but besides because they wanted also the foundation of humility and in their fortitude temperance wisdom and justice they desired to be esteemed and to be talked of when they were dead and so their vertues were but certain empty things and without substance and indeed they were but shadows and shews of vertue And so as they were not perfect and true but only apparent he saith that God rewardeth the Romans for them with temporall blessings of this life which are also blessings but of apparence If therfore you meant to build up true vertue in your souls procure first to say a deep foundation of humility therein If you desire saith he to be truly great and to erect a high building of vertue in your hearts you must open the ground very low As much more high as a man means to raise this building so much the lower must he lay his foundation For there is no high without low and after the proportion or rate that you will dig deep and lay the foundation of humility low so much the higher will you be able to raise the Tower of Evangelicall perfection which you have begun Aquinas amongst other grave sentences which are remembred to have been his said thus of Humility He who goes
they stand in the presence of Almighty God CHAP XXXI That this third degree of Humility is a good means to overcome all temptations and to obtain the perfection of all the vertues CAssianus saith that it was a tradition of those antient Fathers and as it were the first principle amongst them that a man could not obtain purity of heart and the perfection of vertue if first he did not conceive and know that all his industry diligence and labour would not be sufficient for that purpose without the especiall favour and help of God who is the prime Author and giver of all good things And he saith moreover that this knowledg of his must not be only speculative and because we have heard it or read it or because it is a Doctrine of Faith but we must know it practically and by experience and be so convinced so resolved and setled in this truth as if we saw it with our eyes and touch't it with our hands and this is litterally the third degree of Humility whereof now we treat And of this kind of Humility it is that the authorities of holy Scripture speak and which promise so great and even innumerable blessings to such as are humble And for this reason the Saints assign it for the last and most perfect degree of Humility and say that it is the foundation of all vertue and the preparation or disposition for receiving all kind of graces and gifts from God And Cassianus prosecuting this point more in particular saith concerning chastity that no endeavour of ours will serve for the obtaining thereof till we certainly understand that it is not to be had but from the liberality and mercy of Almighty God And Saint Augustine agrees very well herewith For the first and chief means which he delivers for the acquiring and conserving the gift of chastity is humility that so we may not think that our own diligences will suffice for this for if we rely and rest upon them we deserve to loose it But we must know that it is the gift of God and that it must come to us from above and that we must place our whose confidence in him And so one of those old Fathers said that a man would be tempted with carnal thoughts till he come to know very well that chastity is the gift of our Lord and no acquisition of our own Palladius confirms this by the example of Abbat Moyses who hauing been a man of a strange corporal strength as also of a most vicious mind was converted afterward to God with his vvhole heart At the first he was grievously tempted especially concerning imputity and by the advice of those Fathers he imployed his best means to overcome it He prayed so long as that he passed six years in prayer yea and spent the greatest part of the whole nights in prayer remaining still upon his feet He used much handy labour he eat nothing but bread and that in small quantity he went carrying water to the old Monks in their Cels and used many other greater wortifications and austerities But yet with all this he came not to be free from his temptations but was even set on fire by them and was sometimes in danger to fall and to forsake his purity Being then in this trouble the holy Abbat Isidorus came to him nd told him on the part of God that for that time forward his temptations should cease in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and so they did and never set upon him more And the Saint by way of declaring the cause adds this that till then God had not given compleat Victory to Abbat Moses lest he should have grown vain and proud as conâ—eiving that he had conquered by his own strength and therefore that God had till then permitted it for his greater good Moses had not yet obtained the gift of distrusting himself and now to the end that he might obtain it and not grow proud by confiding in himself God left him so long a time and he obtained not by so many and so great endeavours the compleat victory over this passion which others by diligence had obtained The like did Palladius relate to have hapned to the Abbat Pacon for even whilst he was seventy years old he was very much molested by unclean temptations and he saith that the other affirmed it to him with an Oath that after he was fifty years old the combat had been so usual and so very fierce as that there had not passed either one day or night in all that time wherein he had not been tempted to that sin He did very extraordinary things to free himself from these temptations but they did not serve the turn And lamenting one day and even half fearing that our Lord had sorsaken him he heard a voice which interiourly said thus to him know that the cause why God hath permitted this sharp assault to be made against thee hath been to the end that thou mightest know thy own poverty and misery and the little or nothing which thou hast of thy self and therefore see that thou humble thy self hereafter and confide not in thy self at all but in al things have recourse for help to me And he saith that he was so comforted by this instruction that he never felt that temptation again In fine the Will of our Lord is that we put all our confidence in him and that we distrust our selves with all our own diliences and means This is the Doctrine not only of Saint Augustine Cassian and those antient Fathers but of the Author and book of Wisdom himself and that in those very terms wherby we have expressed it here For the wise man in the book of Wisdom sets expresly down both the Theory and the practise of this point in these words When I knew saith he that I could not be continent Wis 8.21 so the vulgar Latine readeth but by the gift of God Now continent is here the general word which comprehends not only the containing or restraining that passion which is against chastity but all the other passions also which rebel against reason And that other place also of Eccles No weight of Gold is able to go in ballance with a continent soul No pretious thing is so much worth as the person who is continent He means that kind of man who intirely contains all his affections and appetites that they may not passe beyond the bounds of reason And now saith Solomon knowing that I could not contain these passions and powers both of my body and soul within the moderation of vertue and truth without the especial gift of God but that sometimes they would exceed the knowledg whereof is a high point of Wisdom I had recourse to our Lord and begged this gift of him with my whole heart So that in fine this is the only means whereby a man may become continent and may be able to continue continent to restrain and govern our passions and bind
over all temptations and the perfection of all Vertues And so the Prophet understood it rightly when he said Except the Lord build the house their labour is but lost that build it Except the Lord keepeth the City the watchman waketh but in vain Psa 127.1 2. It is he who must give us all good things and when he hath given them must conserve them to us or els all our labour will be lost CHAP XXXII That Humility is not contrary to Magnanimity but rather that it is the foundation and cause thereof AQuinas treating of the vertue of magnanimity makes this question On the one side the Saints say yea and the holy Scripture also saith that Humility is very necessary for us and withall that magnanimity is also necessary especially so such as exercise high Ministries and live in high place Now these two vertues seem to be contrary in themselves because magnanimity is a greatnes of mind to attempt and enterprize great and excellent things which in themselves may be worthy of honour and both the one and the other seem to be contrary to Humility For as for the first which is to enterprise great things this seems not to sure well with this vertue because one of the degrees of Humility which the Saints assign is To confesse and hold himself unworthy and unprofitable for all things and now for a man to attempt that for vvhich he is not fit seems to be presumption and pride And as for the second point vvhich is to enterprise things of honour it seems also to be contrary because the true humble man must be very farfrom desiring honour and estimation To this Aquinas ansvvers very vvell and sayes that although in appearance and by the exteriour sound of the Words these tvvo vertues may seem to be contrary betvveen themselves yet in effect and truth one vertue cannot be contrary to another and in particular he saith concerning these tvvo vertues of Humility and magnanimity that if vve vvill attentively cast our eyes upon the truth and substance of the thing vve shall not only find that they are not contrary but that they are direct Sisters and depend much upon one another And this he declares very vvell because as for the first vvhich is to enterprise and attempt great things vvhich is proper to the magnanimous persons it is not only not contrary to the humble man but rather is very proper to him and he vvho is the one may very vvel do the other If confiding in our own diligence and strength we should undertake great things it might be presumption and pride because we may not undertake things either great or small in the confidence of our own strength for as much as of our selves we are not able to have one good thought as Saint Paul saith But the firm foundation of this vertue of magnanimity to attempt and enterprise great things is to be by distrusting our selves and all humane endeavours and to put our whole confidence in God and this doth Humility also and therefore do the Saints call it the foundation of all the vertues as we said before because it opens the soyl and sounds deep into the very bottom and takes out all the sand and loose stuffe till at length it arrive to that living rock which is Christ our Lord that so we may build thereupon Saint Bernard upon that place of the Canticles Who is this which rises up from the desert aboundning in delights and leaning upon her beloved goes declaring how all our vertue our strength and all our good works are to rely and rest upon our Beloved And he brings for an example that of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 15.10 By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all The Apostle begins to recount his labours and how much he had done in the preaching of the Gospel and the service of the Church till at length he came to say that he had laboured more than the rest of the Apostles St Bernard saith Take heed what you say O holy Apostle To the end that you may be able to say this yea and to the end that you may not loose it rely upon your Beloved Now he replyes upon his Beloved Not I but the grace of God in me Phil. 4.13 And writing to the Philip. he saith I can do all things and then instantly he leans upon his Beloved through Christ which strengthneth me In God we shall be able to do all things by his grace we shall be of power to do all things This must be the foundation of our magnanimity and of our greatnes of mind And this is that which the Prophet Esay saith Isa 40.31 They who distrust themselves and put their whole confidence in God shal change their strength For they shall change their strength of men which is meer weaknes for the strength of God they shall change their arm of flesh and blood for the arm of our Lord and so they shall have strength for all things for they shall be able to do all things in God And therefore did Saint Leo say nothing is hard to the humble nothing is harsh to the meek The truly humble man is he who is magnanimous couragious and hardy to enterprise and attempt great things or rather nothing wil be hard to him because he confides not in himself but in God and looking up to him and relying upon him he contemns al dangers In God we can do all things This is that whereof we have much need a great and couragious mind and a great confidence in God and not a weak heart which takes away our appetites from doing our duties So that in our selves we must be humble as knowing that of our selves we are nothing we can do nothing and we are good for nothing but in God and in his power and grace we aie to be strong hearted towards the enterprising of great things Saint Basil declares this very well upon those words of the Prophet Esay Here am I send me Isa 6.8 God was resolved to send one to preach to his People for as much as he is pleased to work things in us with our good will and consent he said and said it so as that Esay might hear him Whom shall I send and who will go for us Isa 6.8 To this the Prophet answers O Lord here I am if you will be pleased to send me Saint Basil pondets very well that he said not Lord I will go and can dispatch this busines for he was humble and knew this own weakness well and saw that it was boldnes to promise for himself that he would perform so great a vvork vvhich overcame his strength but he said Lord here I am ready and vvilling to receive that which you shall be pleased to give do you send me for upon your warrant I will go As if he had said