not in it self and out of God but out of it self and in the very Will of God in the Justice of his Decree in the order of his Providence which is the true cause of it without which it had not arriv'd by whom alone it is come to pass and in the very manner that 't is hapned We should adore with an humble silence the impenetrable height of his Secrets We should adore the Holiness of his Decrees We should praise the Wisdom of his Providence and joining our Will unto Gods Will we should with him in him and for him desire the thing that he appointed in us and for us from all Eternity 2. * There is no Comfort to be found but in Truth only Doubtless Seneca and Socrates have nothing that can perswade or Comfort us on these occasions they were in the Ignorance that blinded all Men at first they thought Death was Natural to Man and all the Discourses they grounded upon this false Principle are so vain and empty that they only serve to shew in the general how weak Man is seeing the greatest Productions of the Wisest Men are so mean and childish It is not so of Jesus Christ it is not so of the Canonical Books of the Scriptures Truth is therein plainly discover'd and true Comfort is as Infallibly join'd thereunto as Error is infallibly separated from it Let us then consider Death in the Truth taught us by the Holy Ghost We have this admirable advantage to know that truly and effectively Death is a Punishment of Sin imposed upon Man to expiate his Crime necessary to Man to cleanse him from Sin it is that alone can deliver the Soul from the Lust of the Flesh which Saints are subject to while they live in this World. We know Life and the Life of Christians is a continual Sacrifice which cannot determine but in Death We know Jesus Christ coming into the World lookt on himself and offer'd himself to God as a true Sacrifice that his Birth his Life his Death Resurrection Ascension and his Session at the Right Hand of God are but one only Sacrifice we know what befel Jesus Christ must happen to all his Members Let us then consider Life as a Sacrifice and that the Evils of our Lives make no impression on the Minds of Christians but in measure as they hinder or accomplish this Sacrifice Let us call that only Evil which makes the Offering of God the Offering of the Devil but let us call that Good which makes the Offering of the Devil in Adam the Offering of God and by this Rule let us examine the Nature of Death To this purpose we must have recourse to the Person of Jesus Christ for as God regards not Man but by the Mediator Jesus Christ so also Men should neither regard themselves nor others but by Jesus Christ if we do not pass the middle we find in our selves only true Miseries or abominable Pleasures but if we consider all things in Jesus Christ we shall find all manner of Consolation Satisfaction and Edification Let us consider Death in Jesus Christ not out of Jesus Christ out of Christ it is horrible detestable and the horror of Nature In Jesus Christ it is quite another thing it is Amiable Holy and the Joy of the Faithful All is sweet in Jesus Christ even Death it self it is for this he suffered and dyed to Sanctifie Death by his Sufferings and as God and as Man he was Great in the highest Degree and mean in the lowest degree to the end to Sanctifie in himself all things Sin excepted and to be the Pattern of all Conditions To consider what Death is and to die in Christ Jesus one should see what place it has in the continual Sacrifice and to this effect observe that in the Sacrifices the chief thing was the Death of the Offering The Oblation and Sanctification that went before were the Dispositions but the Substance is the Death wherein by the loss of Life the Creature gives to God all Obedience it can in becoming nothing in the sight of his Majesty and in Adoring his Sovereign Being which subsists alone essentially It 's true there is yet something farther after the Death of the Offering without which his Death is of no value it is Gods accepting the Sacrifice it is what is mention'd in the Scriptures Et odoratus est Dominus odorem suavitatis It is this indeed that crowns the Oblation but it is rather an action of God towards the Creature than of the Creature towards God and it don't hinder but the last Action of the Creature is Death These things were accomplish'd in Jesus Christ coming into the World he Offerr'd himself Obtulit semetipsum per Spiritum Sanctum Ingrediens mundum dixit Hostiam oblationem noluisti tunc dixi Ecce venio In capite libri scriptum est de me ut faciam Deus voluntatem tuam He offer'd himself by the Holy Ghost entring into the World he said Lord Sacrifices and burnt Offering thou wouldst not a Body hast thou prepared me And I said Behold I come as it is written to do thy Will O God and thy Law is written within my Heart this is his Oblation his Sanctification followed immediately after his Oblation This Sacrifice continued all his Life and was finished by his Death It was necessary that by Sufferings he should enter into Glory and though he was the Son of God it was requisite he should learn Obedience In the Days of his Flesh having with strong cries and tears offer'd Prayers and Supplications to him that was able to deliver him from Death he was heard according to his Obedience to God his Father And God raised him from the Dead and sent him his Glory figur'd under the Law by the Fire of Heaven that came down upon the Sacrifices to burn and consume his Body and to make it live with the Life of Glory It is what Jesus Christ obtained and has accomplished by his Resurrection So that this Sacrifice being perfect by the Death of Jesus Christ and consummated by his Resurrection where the Figure of the Flesh of Sin was swallow'd up in Glory Jesus Christ fulfilled all things on his part and there only remained that the Sacrifice should be accepted of God and that as the Smoak ascended and carry'd the sweet savour to the Throne of God also Jesus Christ should in that perfect State of immolation be offer'd carry'd and received at the very Throne of God and this was accomplish'd in the Ascension wherein he rose up by his own Power and by the power of the Holy Ghost that compass'd him round about he was raised up as the Smoak of the Sacrifices which was the Figure of Jesus Christ was carry'd up by the Air that supported it which is the Figure of the Holy Ghost and in the Acts it is said expresly That he was received up into Heaven to assure us that this Holy Oblation accomplish'd
its own sake nor for the sake of any thing it has for there is nothing in it but deserves thine Anger but for the Pains it endures which alone can be worthy of thy Favour Love my Sufferings Lord and let my Sorrows invite thee to visit me But to finish the preparation of thine abode Grant O my Saviour that if my body has that in common with thine that it suffers for mine Offences my Soul may also have that in common with thine too that it might be in sadness for the same Offences and that so I may suffer with thee and as thou didst in my Body and in my Soul for the Sins which I have committed XI Grant me the Grace Lord to join thy Consolations to my Sufferings that I may suffer as a Christian I don't desire to be free from Sufferings that 's the recompence of Saints but I desire not to be abandon'd to the Sorrows of Nature without the Comforts of thy Spirit for that 's the Malediction of Jews and Infidels I don't desire to have a fulness of Consolation without any Suffering for that 's the Life of Glory neither do I desire to be in a fullness of Evils without Comfort this is the State of Judaism But I desire Lord to feel altogether the sadness of Nature for my Sins and the Comforts of thy Spirit by thy Grace for that 's the true State of Christianity Let me not feel sadness without Consolation but let me feel sadness and Comfort both together that I may at length attain to feel only thy Consolations without any Grief For Lord thou didst let the World languish without consolation before the coming of thy only Son now thou comfortest and softenest the Sufferings of thy Children by the Grace of thy beloved Son and thou wilt fill with perfect Happiness thy Saints in the Glory of thine only Son These are the admirable steps by which thou conductest thy Works Thou hast drawn me out of the First make me to pass through the Second to arrive at the Third Lord it is what I heartily beg of thee XII Suffer not that I may be in that distance from thee that I may consider this Soul sorrowful unto Death and this Body pressed by Death for my Sins and not rejoice to suffer both in my Body and in my Soul For what is there more shameful and yet more common in Christians and even in my self than whilst thou didst sweat Blood to expiate our Offences we live in Pleasures That Christians who make Profession to belong to thee that those who by Baptism have renounced the World solemnly in the Face of the Church to Live and Die with thee that those that make Profession to believe the World Persecuted and Crucified thee that those that believe thou didst expose thy self to Gods anger and to the rage of Men to ransom them from their Sins that those I say that believe all these Truths that consider thy Body as the Sacrifice that was deliver'd for their Salvation that consider the Pleasures and Sins of the World as the only Subject of thy Sufferings and the World it self as thy Executioner yet should seek to Pamper their Body with these same Pleasures in this same World and that those that cannot without horror see a Man imbrace and cherish the Murderer of their Father that gave himself to Death to restore them to Life how they can live as I have done with full delight in the World which I very well know was the Murderer of him that I acknowledge to be my Father and my God and that gave himself to the Death for my Salvation and that bore in his Body the Punishment due to my Sins It is just Lord that thou shouldst put a stop to such Sinful Delights as those were wherein I rested under the Shadow of Death XIII Take therefore from me Lord the sorrow which Self-love might give me for my own Sufferings and by reason that Worldly things don't succeed according to the Inclinations of my Heart that tend not to thy Glory But be pleased to cast me into a sorrow conformable unto thine let my Sufferings in some measure pacifie thine Anger Make them be an occasion of my Conversion and Salvation Let me not henceforth desire Health nor Life but that I may employ and end them for thee and with thee and in thee I don't ask Health nor Sickness nor Life nor Death but that thou wouldest dispose of my Health and Sickness of my Life and Death for thy Glory and my Salvation and for the good of thy Church and Saints of which I hope by thy Grace to make a part Thou only knowest what is expedient for me thou art the absolute Disposer of all things do what seems good in thy sight Give unto me take away from me but conform my Will to thy Holy Will and that in an humble and perfect submission and Holy confidence I may prepare my self to receive the Decrees of thine Eternal Providence and that I may equally adore all things that proceed from thee XIV Grant O my God that in a constant Uniformity of Mind I may receive all sorts of Events because we don't know what to ask for and that I cannot desire one thing rather than another without Presumption and without making my self a Judge and liable to answer the consequences which in thy Wisdom thou hast justly hid from me Lord I know I know but one thing which is That 't is good to serve thee and that 't is ill to offend thee besides this I don't know which is worst or best in any thing I can't tell which is best for me Health or Sickness Riches or Poverty or any thing else in the World these things pass the Skill of Men and Angels to discern and are hid in the secrets of thy Providence which I humbly adore and will not presume to pry into XV. Grant therefore Lord that such as I am I may conform my self to thy Will and that being sick as I am I may glorifie thee in my Sufferings without them I cannot attain to Glory and thou thy self my Blessed Saviour wouldst not arrive thereunto by any other way It is by the marks of thy Sufferings that thou wert known to thy Disciples and it is by Sufferings that thou dost also know those that are thy Disciples acknowledge me therefore for thy Disciple in the Pains which I suffer both in my Body and Mind for the Offences which I have committed And because nothing is well pleasing to God but what is offerr'd up by thee conform my Will to thy Will and my Sufferrings to those which thou hast suffered grant that mine may become thine unite me unto thee fill me with thy self and thy Holy Spirit Enter into my Heart and Soul to bring thither my Sufferings and to continue to maintain in me what is yet behind to suffer of thy Passion which thou dost fulfil in thy Members until the full consummation of thy Body
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
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
one thing to another unless it be to give it ease and that too at a convenient time and not otherwise for those that would give ease unseasonably do but cause trouble One is displeas'd and then regards nothing so hard it is to obtain any thing of Man but by Pleasure which is the Money for which we part with any thing 44. * Man is a lover of Malignity but 't is not against the Wicked but against the Happy proud and 't is to be deceiv'd to judge otherwise Martiall 's Epigram upon the Blind is naught for it don't Comfort them and only gives a Point to the Glory of the Author What is not for the Author is worth nothing Ambitiosa recidet ornamenta those that have human and tender Thoughts should be pleased and not those who are barbarous and inhumane §. XXXII PRAYER To desire of God the right use of Sickness I. LORD thy Spirit is so good and so sweet in all things and thou art so Merciful that not only the Prosperities but even the sufferings which befal the Elect are effects of thy Love give me Grace not to act as a Heathen in the State whereinto thy Justice has reduced me but that as a true Christian I may own thee for my Father and my God in what condition soever I am for the change of my Condition makes nothing to thee for thou art always the same though I am subject to change and thou art the same God when thou afflictest and punishest as when thou dost comfort and shew compassion II. Thou gavest me Health to serve thee and I have converted it to a prophane use now thou sendest me Sickness to correct me suffer me not to abuse it to provoke thee by my impatience I have not rightly improved my health and thou hast justly punish'd me suffer me not to slight thy Correction And seeing the Corruption of my Nature is such that it makes thy favours pernicious to me Grant O my God that thy powerful Grace may make thy Chastisements profitable to me If my Heart has been full of Love for the World whilst it had any vigour abate this vigour for my good and make me uncapable of enjoying the World whether it be through weakness of Body or through Zeal of Charity that I might enjoy thee only III. O God before whom I must give an exact account of all my Actions at the end of my Life and at the end of the World O God who sufferest the World and all things in the World to subsist only to exercise thine Elect or to punish Sinners O God who leavest impenitent Sinners in the delicious but Criminal use of the World O God who killest our Bodies and at the instant of Death separatest our Soul from all that it loved in the World O God who wilt take me away at the last moment of my Life from all those things I delighted in and whereon I set my Heart O God who at the last day wilt consume Heaven and Earth and all Creatures therein contained that all Men might see that 't is thou only that subsistest and that therefore thou only deservest to be loved because nothing is permanent but thou O God who wilt destroy all vain Idols and all these wicked Objects of our Passions I Praise thee my God and will Bless thee all the days of my Life inasmuch as thou hast been pleas'd to prevent this dreadful Day in my behalf by destroying as to me all things by the weakness wherein thou hast put me I Praise thee my God and will bless thy Name as long as I live in that thou hast been pleas'd to make me unable to enjoy the Pleasures of Health and the Pleasures of the World and in that thou hast in some sort destroyed for my good the deceitful Idols which thou wilt absolutely destroy for the confusion of Sinners in the great Day of thy Wrath. Grant Lord that I may judge my self after this destruction which thou hast made in my regard to the end thou maist not judge me thy self after the general destruction which thou wilt make of my Life and of all the World For Lord as at the instant of my Death I shall find my self separated from the World stript of all things standing in thy Presence to answer thy Justice for all the Motions of my Heart grant that I may look on my self in this Sickness as in a kind of Death separate from the World depriv'd of all the Objects wherein I placed my delight standing in thy Presence to implore of thy Mercy the true Conversion of my Heart that so I may have and feel extraordinary Comfort that thou art pleased now to send me a kind of Death to exercise thy Mercy before thou sendest me Death effectively to exercise thy Judgment Grant therefore O my God that as thou hast anticipated my Death I may prevent the rigor of thy Sentence and that I may examine my self before thy Judgment that I may find Mercy in thy Presence IV. Grant O my God that I adore in silence the order of thy wonderful Providence in the conduct of my Life that thy Chastisements may comfort me and that having lived in the bitterness of my Sins during the time of Peace I may taste the Heavenly sweetness of thy Grace during the healthy Afflictions wherewith thou dost visit me But I acknowledge my God that my Heart is so hardned and full of Ideas Cares Molestations and Thoughts of this World that neither Sickness nor Health neither Discourse nor Books thy Holy Scriptures nor the Gospel neither Fasting Mortifications nor Works of Charity and Mercy nor Miracles nor the use of thy Sacraments nor all my indeavours nor those of all the World put together can contribute any thing towards my Conversion unless thou art pleas'd to accompany all these things with an extraordinary assistance of thy Grace Therefore my God I come unto thee Omnipotent God to demand that of thee which all Creatures together cannot give me I should not have the confidence to lift up my Voice unto thee if any body else could help me But O my God as the Conversion of my Heart which I beg of thee is a Work that surpasseth the strength of Nature I cannot but address my self to the Almighty Author and Master of Nature and of my Heart to whom should I cry Lord to whom should I go but to thee nothing but God can fill and satisfie my expectation It is God only that I seek for and that I desire and 't is to thee only O my God that I address my self that I might enjoy thee Open my Heart Lord enter into this Rebellious place which has been defil'd with Sin it keeps it in subjection enter thereinto as into the strong Mans House but first bind the strong Man that Rules in it and then take all the Riches therein Lord take my Affections which the World had stollen wilt thou accept this Treasure rather reassume it seeing
't is to thee it appertains as a Tribute I owe unto thee for thy Image is stamped upon it Thou didst there ingrave it Lord at the instant of my Baptism which is my second Birth but 't is quite blotted out the Idea of the World is so ingraven in it that thine cannot be seen Thou alone hadst power to make my Soul and thou only art able to renew it thou only wert able to stamp thine Image upon it thou only art able to restore it and to renew thy decayed Image that is to say Jesus Christ my Saviour who is thy Image and the Character of thy Glory V. O my God how happy is the Heart that can love so charming an Object that don't dishonour it but in whom 't is so safe to trust I find I cannot love the World without displeasing thee without hurting and dishonouring my self and nevertheless the World is the Object of my delight O my God how happy is that Soul of whom thou art the delight because it can willingly love thee not only without scruple but also with pleasure How firm and durable is her Happiness seeing her expectation shall not be frustrated because thou shalt never be destroy'd and that because neither Death nor Life shall ever separate her from the Object of her delight and that the same moment that shall plunge the wicked with their Idols into common Misery shall unite the Righteous with thee in a common Glory and as the one shall be destroyed with the perishable Objects which they delighted in so the others shall abide for ever in the Object that Eternally subsists of himself whereunto they were strictly united O how happy are those that with free Liberty and full bent of their Will do freely and perfectly love that which they are necessarily obliged unto VI. Accomplish O my God the good Desires thou art pleas'd to give me be thou the End as thou art the Beginning Crown thy own Gifts for I confess they are from thee Yes my God and very far from thinking there is any Merit in my Prayers that should oblige thee of necessity to grant them I most humbly confess that having given my Heart to the Creatures which thou madest only for thy self and not for the World nor for me I can expect no Grace but meerly from thy Mercy seeing there is nothing in me might invite thee to it and that all the natural Motions of my Heart being inclin'd to the Creatures or to my self cannot but displease thee I therefore give thee Thanks my God for the good Motions thou givest me and even for that which thou givest me that I give thee Thanks VII Touch my Heart with Repentance of my Sins seeing that without this inward Grief the outward Evils thou layest on my Body will be a farther occasion of making me transgress make me fully understand that bodily Pains are nothing else but the Punishment and Figure both together of the Evils of the Soul. But Lord grant that they may also prove the Remedy in making me consider in the Punishments I feel those which I did not feel in my Soul although I was sick and over-run with Ulcers For Lord the greatest of these Evils is this insensibleness and extream weakness that had deprived the Soul of all Sense and feeling of its own Miseries Make me to feel them sharply and that the residue of my Life may be a continual Repentance for the Offences which I have committed VIII Lord though my Life past has been exempt from heinous Crimes from which thou hast put from me all occasions yet it has been very odious in thy sight by my continual negligence in thy Service by the ill use of thy Holy Sacraments by dispising thy Holy Word and Motions of thy Spirit by the Sloath and unprofitableness of my Thoughts and Words by the loss of my time which thou gavest me only to adore and serve thee and seek in all my Businesses the means to please thee and to be sorrowful for the Sins are daily committed and which the best Men are subject unto so that their Life should be a continual course of Repentance without which they are in danger of falling from their Righteousness So O my God I have always been contrary to thee IX Yea Lord even to this Day I have been deaf unto thy Holy Inspirations I have despised thy Oracles I have judged contrary to what thou judgest I have opposed the Holy Maxims which thou didst bring into the World from the bosom of thine Everlasting Father and according to which thou wilt Judge the World. Thou sayest Blessed are those that weep and Woe be to those that laugh but I have said Wretched are they that are sorrowful and Happy are those that rejoice I have said Happy are those that enjoy a large Fortune and a glorious Reputation and full State of Health and wherefore have I esteemed them Happy but only because these advantages should give them the greater opportunity with ease to enjoy the things of this World that is to say to displease thee Yea Lord I confess I have accounted Health a Blessing not because 't is a Means the better of serving thee to spend the more Days and Nights in thy Service and to do good to Neighbours but because by means thereof I could with the greater Freedom and Liberty give my self up to the enjoyment of the abundance of the things of this Life and the better enjoy the dangerous Pleasures of Sin do me the favour Lord to rectifie my depraved Reason and to conform my Thoughts unto thine Let me count my self Happy in Affliction and that in my being unable to act outwardly thou mayest in such manner purifie my Thoughts that they may no longer oppose thy Will that so I may feel thee within me because I cannot seek thee outwardly by reason of my weakness For Lord thy Kingdom is within thy Children and I shall find it within me if I there find thy Spirit and thy Will. X. But Lord what shall I do to prevail with thee to shed forth thy Spirit on this miserable Clay all that I am is odious unto thee and I can find nothing in me that may be acceptable in thy sight I see nothing in me Lord but only my Sorrows that have any resemblance with thine consider therefore O Lord the Evils that I suffer and those that hang over my Head. Look with an Eye of pity on the Wounds that thy hand has made in me O my Saviour thou didst love thy suffering in Death O God who becamest Man only to suffer more than any Man for the Salvation of Men O God who wast not Incarnate till after the Sin of Man and that tookest not a Body but therein to suffer all the Evils that our Sins deserved O God who so lovest the Bodies that suffer that thou didst choose for thy self the Body the most loaden with suffering that ever was in the World accept my Body not for
Conversation in the World whereunto all Religion does tend and this Love inclin'd him incessantly to remove all that should oppose these Truths He was endu'd with a Natural Eloquence which gave him a wonderful facility in saying what he pleas'd but thereunto he added Rules not before thought of and the which he imployed to so great advantage that he was Master of his Style so that he not only said what he would but he said it in the manner that he pleas'd and his Discourse wrought the Effect he desir'd And this way of writing naturally clear and strong was so proper and peculiar to him that as soon as his Letters did but appear at the Provincials they were known to be his what care soever he took to conceal them It was about this time God was pleas'd to heal my Daughter of a Running Fistula It had made so great progress in three years time and a half that the Filth Issued out not only by the Eyes but also the Nose and Mouth And this Fistula was of so malignant a Quality that the ablest Chirurgeons of Paris judg'd it incurable Nevertheless she was cured of it in a moment by touching a holy Thorn and this Miracle was so certain that it was owned by every body being attested by the ablest Physicians and Chirurgeons of France and authoriz'd by the Solemn Judgment of the Church My Brother was sensibly touched with this Favour which he lookt upon as done to himself because 't was done to a Person that besides the nearness of Relation was also his Spiritual Daughter in Baptism and his Joy was the greater to see God manifested himself so suddenly in a time when Religion seem'd to be wholly extinct in the Hearts of most Men his Joy was so great that he was transported with it so that having his Mind taken up with this Blessing God inspired him with several fine Notions touching Miracles which giving him farther Lights in matters of Religion increased the Love and Respect he always had for it It was on this occasion that he shew'd the extream desire he had to undertake to refute the chief and greatest Arguments of Atheists he had considered them with great diligence and employ'd his Wits to find out the means of refuting them He employ'd himself wholly about this Business he spent the last Year of his Life wholly in gathering sundry Thoughts on this Subject but God that had put this as well as all other Thoughts in his Mind was not pleas'd to permit him to finish them for Reasons unknown to us Nevertheless the retirement from the World which he so carefully practis'd hinder'd not but that he often saw Persons of great Quality and Parts who having Thoughts of forsaking the World desired his advice and follow'd it exactly others that were unsatisfy'd in their Minds touching Matters of Faith knowing that he was of great Judgment came to advise with him and always return'd well satisfi'd so that all these Persons that live at present very comfortable Lives do confess that 't was by his Advice and Council under God and the directions he gave them that they owe all the Good and Happiness they enjoy The Company wherein he was often ingaged although 't was all on Charitable Accounts nevertheless gave him some apprehension least there might be some danger in it but as he could not in point of Conscience refuse the help People desir'd of him he found an expedient for it At some certain times he would take an Iron girdle full of sharp Iron Pricks which he would wear next his bare Skin and when any vain Thought came in his Mind or that he took any delight where he was or the like he would strike it with his Elbow to redouble the Pain and so by this means would put himself in mind of his Duty This Custom appear'd so useful to him that he continu'd it till his Death and even in his latter Days wherein he was in continual sorrow Because he could neither Read nor Write he was constrain'd to be as 't were Idle and only to walk about He was under a great apprehension least this want of business should hinder him from his Aym we did not know these things till after his Death and then by a Person of great Merit that much confided in him to whom he was obliged to relate them for Reasons that concern'd himself This severity he used upon himself was drawn from this great Maxim of forsaking all Pleasure whereon he had regulated the whole remainder of his Life from the beginning of his retirement he failed not also to practice this other of cutting off all superfluity for he had cut off with so much exactness all excess that by little and little he reduc'd himself not to have any Hangings in his Room thinking it was not necessary and besides was not oblig'd to it out of Decency because there came none there but his Servants whom he constantly exhorted to Moderation so that they were nothing surpriz'd at it seeing their Master live after the manner he advis'd them to do This is the manner he spent Five years of his Life from Thirty to Thirty five labouring incessantly for God for his Neighbour and for himself striving to perfect himself more and more and it may be said this was all the time he lived for the last Four years of his Life was nothing but a continual languishing It could not be said to be a sickness that had newly seized him but a redoubling of sicknesses he had been subject unto from his Childhood But he was now seized with so great violence and pain that he was forc'd to stoop to it and during all this he could not spend any time at the great work he had designed touching Religion nor assist those Persons that apply'd themselves to him for advice neither by word nor by writing his pains were so violent he could not satisfie them though he was very willing to do it This renewing of his sickness began by a violent pain of his Teeth that wholly deprived him of his sleep In his continual watching one night unawars there came into his Thoughts something about the Proposition of the Roulette this Thought was followed by another that by another to conclude a multitude of Thoughts succeeded one another that at length whether he would or no he discover'd the demonstration of all those things whereat he himself was not a little surpriz'd But having a good while before given over thinking of these Sciences he did not so much as vouchsafe to note them down nevertheless having spoke of it to a Person for whom he had a great kindness and honour this Person being considerable as well for Birth as for his great Learning and Piety having thereupon formed a design which tended only to the Glory of God thought fit he might use them which he did and afterwards had them printed It was at that time he wrote it but in great haste in Eight
MONTALTIUS Heu Satis dixi urgent Lacrymae Sileo Et qui bene precaberis bene tibi eveniat vivo mortuo Vixit An. 39. M. 2. Obiit an rep Sal. 1662. 14. Kal. Sept. Posuit A. P. D. C. Moerens Aurelian Canonista Cecidit Pascalis Heu Heu qualis Luctus Monsieur Pascall is bury'd at Paris in St. Stephen 's of the Mount being the Parish wherein he liv'd behind the great Altar on the right Hand near the Corner of the Pillar of the same Chapel The Epitaph is on the Ground but obliterated Monsieur PASCALL'S Thoughts and Reflections Upon Matters of RELIGION And also upon several other Subjects §. I. Against Atheism LET those that dispute against Religion at least first learn what Religion is before they strive against it If Religion did boast to have a clear sight of God and to behold him openly without a Veil then there might be some colour of disputing against it by saying there is nothing to be seen in the World that shews it with any great evidence But seeing that it declares on the contrary that Men are in ignorance and estranged from God that God has hid himself from their knowledg and 't is the Name he gives himself in the Scriptures Deus absconditus and to conclude that it equally endeavours to teach these two things that God has in the Church given sensible marks to make himself be known to those which sincerely seek him and nevertheless has so cover'd them that they shall not be known but only to those that seek him with all their heart what advantage then can they expect whilst continuing in a State of indifferency wherein they profess to seek the Truth they complain that nothing discovers it to them seeing this obscurity they are in and which they impute to the Church â—ot fully prove one of the main Arguments she holds without prejudicing the other and far from destroying does confirm her Doctrine To say any thing to purpose against it they should declare that they have used their utmost endeavours in trying all ways and even those things the Church offers as means of instruction but yet can find no satisfaction would they speak in this manner they would indeed dispute against one of these pretensions but I hope to make appear that no reasonable Person can say so and I dare avouch that none ever did It may easily be judged how those Persons act that are of this mind They think they have done enough for their information when they have spent a few hours in reading the Scriptures or that they have asked some questions of a Clergy Man concerning the true Religion which being done they boast that they have consulted Men and Books without any success But truly I cannot forbear saying what I have often said that this negligence is insupportable It is not the slight interest of some Stranger that is here in question it is our selves and our All that is here concern'd The Immortality of the Soul is a thing that so much regards and so deeply concerns us that we might have quite lost our Feeling not to be profoundly affected about it All our Thoughts and Actions should be so variously directed according to the Eternal rewards that are to be or not to be hoped for that 't is impossible to stir a right step without directing it by this Compass which must be our last Object Therefore our chiefest interest and duty is to inform our selves on this Subject whereupon depends our chiefest safety and amongst such as are not satisfy'd I make a great difference of those that use their best endeavour to be instructed and those that live carelesly and without thinking or troubling themselves about it I cannot but much pity those that sincerely groan under this doubt that look upon it as the greatest evil and that make it their greatest study and business to use all means possible to get out of it But for such as spend their time without ever thinking of their latter end and that because they have not in themselves knowledg sufficient to convince them neglect to seek any farther and to examine if this Opinion be of those which Men receive by meer credulity or of those which though obscure yet have a good and solid Foundation these I consider quite different This negligence in a business that concerns themselves their Eternity their All affects me more with indignation than compassion it astonishes and affrights me it is monstrous to me I do not say this through the pious Zeal of a spiritual Devotion on the contrary I pretend that Self-Love human Interest the purest light of Reason should inspire us with these Thoughts to know this we need only see what Persons of the meanest Capacities understand It needs no depth of knowledg to understand that in this Life no true solid satisfaction is to be had that our Pleasures are but Vanity that our Miseries are Infinite and that Death which threatens us every moment will in a few years it may be in a few days put us into an Eternal State of Happiness or Misery or of Annihilation betwixt us Heaven Hell or Annihilation there is nothing but Life which is the britlest thing in the World Heaven not being for those which doubt the Immortality of their Soul such can only expect Hell or to be reduc'd to nought There is nothing truer than this nor nothing more terrible let us carry it never so stout this is the end that attends the bravest life in the World. It is in vain to go about to divert their thoughts from this Eternity that waits for them as if they could destroy it in banishing it from their minds â— subsists in spight of them it comes on and Death that lets it in will infallibly in a short time reduce them to a necessity of being Eternally annihilated or miserable See here a doubt of terrible Consequence and it is certainly a very great Evil to be in this Doubt and it is an indispensible Duty to try if one be in it He that doubts and seeketh no Remedy is both unjust and miserable but if in this State he is quiet and satisfy'd let him boast of it and to conclude let him glory in it and let it be of such a State that he makes his Joy and Delight I have not Words to describe so extravagant a Creature How can it be possible to entertain such thoughts What Comfort can there be in expecting nothing but endless Miseries What cause of Joy can there be to see ones self involv'd in utter Darkness What Comfort can there be never to expect any deliverance Repose in this ignorance is a thing so Monstrous that the stupidity and extravagance of it must be shew'd to those that pass their time in it in shewing what is transacted in themselves to awaken them by the sight of their own Folly. For see here how those Men reason which choose to live in this ignorance of themselves and
foretold then there would have been difficulty even for the good for the sincerity of their Heart would not have suffered them to have understood that a × for example signifies 600 years But the time was clearly foretold and the manner of it in Types By this means the wicked taking the good things promis'd for Worldly Goods they err though the time be plainly foretold but the good do not err for the understanding of good things promis'd depends of the Heart that calls that good which it loves but the understanding of the promis'd time depends not of the Heart and so the clear Prediction of time and obscure of Riches doth only deceive the wicked 15. * What was the Messias to be seeing that by him the Scepter was to continue for ever in Judah and that at his coming the Scepter was to be taken away from Judah To cause that in seeing they should not see and in hearing they should not understand nothing was more just 16. * Instead of complaining that God hid himself we are bound to give him Praise for so much discovering himself and also render him Thanks for not discovering himself to the Wise and the Great who were unworthy to know so Holy a God. 17. * The Genealogy of Jesus Christ is in the Old Testament mingled with so many other things that it can hardly be discern'd had not Moses kept the Register but of the Pedigree of Jesus Christ only it would have been too palpable after all they that consider it narrowly may see that of Jesus Christ by Thamar and Ruth c. 18. * The most apparent defects give matter to those that rightly understand things for Instance the two Genealogies of Matthew and Luke it is evident they were not made by concert 19. * Let us not be therefore charged with want of Light seeing we own it but let the Truth of Religion be confessed even in the very obscurity of Religion in the little Light we have and the indifference we have to know it 20. * Were there but one Religion God would be too manifest were there no Martyrs but in our Religion it would be the same 21. * Jesus Christ to leave the Wicked in their blindness said not that he was not of Nazareth nor that he was not the Son of Joseph 22. * As Jesus Christ continu'd unknown amongst Men so Truth continues amongst common Opinions without any outward difference so the Eucharist in common Bread. 23. * If the Mercy of God be so great that it instructs us savingly even then when it hides it self what Light may we not expect when he shall unvail himself 24. * We can understand nothing of the Works of God unless we lay down this Principle That he blinds some and enlightens others §. XIX That the True Christians and the True Jews are not of the same Religion 1. THe Jewish Religion seemed essentially to consist in being come of Abraham in Circumcision in Sacrifices in Ceremonies the Ark the Temple at Jerusalem and to conclude in the Law and in the Covenant of Moses I say it consisted not in any of these things but in the love of God and God rejected all these other things God had no regard for the Carnal People that was to descend from Abraham That the Jews shall be punish'd of God as well as Strangers if they offend If you forget God and follow after strange Gods I tell you before-hand ye shall perish like the Nations that God has destroy'd in your sight That Strangers shall be received of God as well as the Jews if they love him That the true Jews lookt only for respect as they belonged to God and not to Abraham Thou art our Father though Abraham and Israel know us not thou art our Father and our Redeemer Moses himself has said that God was no accepter of Persons God saith he accepteth not Persons nor Sacrifices I say the Circumcision of the Heart is commanded Be ye Circumcised in Heart take away all Pride of Heart and harden not your selves any more for your God is a great God mighty and terrible and that accepts not Persons That God hath said he will one day do it God will Circumcise thy Heart and thy Childrens that thou mightest love him with all thy Heart That the uncircumcised of heart shall be judged for God will judg the uncircumcised People and all the Children of Israel because they are uncircumcised of Heart 2. * I say Circumcision was a Figure established to distinguish the Jewish People from all other Nations And hence it was that being in the Wilderness they were not Circumcised because they should not mingle themselves with other Nations and that since the coming of Jesus Christ it is no longer necessary That the love of God is recommended in all things I take Heaven and Earth to witness that I have set before you Life and Death that you may chuse Life that you may love God and obey him for he is your Life It is said that the Jews for want of this love should be rejected for their Sins and the Gentiles received in their stead and he said I will hide my face from them I will see what their end shall be for they are a very froward Generation Children in whom is no knowledg They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God they have provoked me to anger with their Vanities and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a People I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation That Temporal Riches are deceitful and that the chief Riches is to be united to God. That their Holy Days and Feasts are displeasing to God. That the Jews Sacrifices were displeasing to God and not only those of the wicked Jews but also that he was not pleas'd with those of the good Jews as appears by the 49th Psalm where before he addresses his Discourse to the wicked by these words Peccatori autem dixit Deus he saith He desires not the Blood nor Sacrifices of Beasts That the Sacrifices of the Gentiles shall be accepted of God and that God will not take any delight in the Sacrifices of the Jews That God will make a New Covenant by the Messias and that the Old Covenant shall be put away That old things shall be forgotten That the Ark shall no more be remembred That the Temple shall be rejected That the Sacrifices should be rejected and other pure Sacrifices established That the Order of Aaron's Priesthood should be rejected and that of Milchisedeck brought in by the Messias That this Priesthood should be Eternal That Jerusalem should be rejected and a new name given That this last name should be better than that of the Jews and should abide for ever That the Jews should be without Prophets without Kings Princes Sacrifices or Altars That yet neverthless they should
say If he would that I should have ador'd him he would have left me Marks of his Will. So he has but you neglect them seek them at least they are well worth the labour 22. * Atheists should speak things very clear Now one must be out of their right Senses to say the Soul is Mortal I think it is not necessary to search into the bottom of Copernicus his Opinion but it concerns our whole Life to know if the Soul be Mortal or Immortal or not 23. * The Prophesies Miracles and other Proofs of our Religion are not of that kind as that one can say they are Geometrically convincing But it shall serve my turn at present that you will grant that 't is not against Reason to believe them They have light and darkness to enlighten some and to darken others but the light is such that it surpasseth or at least equals that which makes to the contrary so that 't is not Reason that can make us not to follow it and can be nothing else but the Malice and Lust of the Heart There is light enough to condemn those that do not believe and not enough to gain them to the end it should appear that in those that follow it it is Grace and not Reason that makes them follow it and that in those that shun it it is Concupiscence and not Reason that makes them shun it 24. * Who can chuse but admire and imbrace a Religion that knows to the bottom that understands the more by so much the more one is enlightned A Man that discovers Proofs of the Christian Religion is like an Heir that finds the Deeds of his Estate Will he say they are false and will he neglect to examin them 26. * There is two sorts of Persons that know God those whose Hearts are humbled and that love Self-denial and Meanness how much or how little Wisdom soever they have or those that have Judgment enough to discern Truth what opposition soever they have unto it 27. * The Wise Men amongst the Heathens that affirmed there was but one God were persecuted the Jews were hated the Christians worse hated 28. * I do not see there is any greater difficulty to believe the Resurrection of the Dead and the Birth of Christ of the Virgin than that of the Creation Is it a harder matter to reproduce a Man than to make a Man And if it had never been known what Generation was would it be thought stranger that a Child should proceed from a Maid alone then from a Man and a Maid 29. * There 's a great difference betwixt Repose and Peace of Conscience nothing should give Rest but a sincere seeking of the Truth and nothing can give Assurance but Truth 30. * There are two Truths of Faith equally constant one wherein Man in the State of Creation or in the State of Grace is raised up above Nature made like unto God and partaker of the Divine Nature the other that in the State of Corruption and of Sin he is fallen from this State and become like to the Beasts These two Propositions are both alike solid and certain The Scripture plainly manifests this when it saith Deliciae meae esse cum filiis hominum Effundam Spiritum meum super omnem carnem Dii estis c. and that it saith in other places Omnes caro foenum Homo comparatus est jumentis insipientibus similis factus est illis Dixi in corde meo de filiis hominum ut probaret eos Deus ostenderet similes esse bestiis c. 31. * The Example of the generous Death of the Lacedemonians and others signifies but very little to us for what is all that to us But the Death of Martyrs doth concern us for they are our Members we have a common Obligation with them their Resolution may frame ours there 's no such thing in the Example of the Pagans we have no relation to them the Riches of a Stranger adds nothing to us but that of a Father or a Husband doth 32. * We never part with any thing without regret One don't feel any yoak when we willingly follow them that lead us but when we begin to resist and to struggle one suffers the more the Yoak is the heavier the Pain the more sensible and this Yoak is our Body which is not broke but in Death Our Saviour said that since the coming of John Baptist that is to say since his coming in every Believer the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force Before one is touched we have only the weight of Concupiscence that bends to the Earth When God wakeneth these two contrary Motions cause such a concussion as God only can appease But we can do all things saith St. Leo with him without whom we can do nothing We must then resolve to suffer this War all our Life for there is here no Peace Jesus Christ came to bring the Sword and not Peace Nevertheless it must be granted that as the Scripture saith the Wisdom of Man is Foolishness with God so it may be said that this War that appears severe to Men is Peace in the sight of God for it is the Peace that Jesus Christ hath brought however it shall not be compleat till the Body be destroyed and 't is this that makes Death be desired yet nevertheless being content to live for his sake who both suffered to die and live for us and that can bestow better things upon us than we can desire or imagin as Saint Paul speaks 33. * We must strive not to be troubled for any thing and to take all that comes for the better I believe 't is a Duty and one Sins in not doing so for the reason why Sin is Sin is only because it is contrary to the Will of God And so the Essence of Sin consisting in having a Will opposite to that we know to be in God it appears visible that when he discovers his Will to us by the Events it were a Sin not to comply therewith 34. * When Truth is forsaken and persecuted it seems to be a time wherein the Service we yield to God in defending it is the more pleasing to God. He will have us judg of Grace by Nature and so he suffers us to consider that as a Prince banish'd from his Country by his Subjects has an extream love for those that continu'd faithful to him in the publick Revolt so it would seem God considers those with a particular kindness that defend the purity of Religion when it is openly opposed But there is this difference betwixt the Kings of the Earth and the King of Kings that Princes don't make their Subjects faithful but they find them so whereas God always finds Men unfaithful without his Grace and makes them faithful when they are so So that whereas Kings for the most part testifie their Obligation to those that continue in their Duty
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
neither depth of Knowledge nor fineness of Wit without admiring him Here let us reflect on the Description I have made and on what we see of the greatest Essay of the Wit of Man And let us see if it be able to mount so high Let Socrates and Epictetus come and at the same time though all Men in the World confess themselves inferior to them in good Living yet they themselves confess that all their Righteousness and all their Vertue is nothing in the sight of Jesus Christ They teach indeed that whatever does not depend on us does nothing concern us That Death is nothing That we should do by others as we would they should do to us It were something were there only Man and that 't were no more but to Govern a kind or Republick and to pass ones Life quietly along But how hard is it thus to dispise Death when we approach the Confines of Eternity And how little are these Thoughts able to Comfort us And if there is a God whom they thought was easie to be pleased and that this Vertue of our own that neither came from God nor relates to him which is grounded only on our Interest and Profit can give us but little hope at Death nor of any kind usage at his hands if we have any Sense of the Duty we owe unto our Creator What is it they have taught us but to be unconcern'd in the midst of Trouble And when they have gone as far as they could have they discover'd to us the ground and bottom of our Frailty and from whence it is we should expect the Remedy This Self-love which is so predominant in all things and Pride or at least the Self-commendation wherewith we flatter our selves instead of Glory and Riches have they healed them by their Precepts How many are there that have exactly observ'd all their Maxims and have preferr'd themselves before others who nevertheless would be asham'd to have what passes in their Heart be known All the goodness of Man to judge rightly of it is nothing but a false imitation of Charity in regard of that Divine Vertue Christ came to teach us and it never comes near to it how much soever it strives to imitate still it falls short or rather does nothing to purpose seeing it hath not God for its only Aim For whatever those say that have gone farthest this way the Righteousness they pretend to has but very narrow Bounds and they judge of things no farther than as they tend to their own private Interest and to Men's outward Conveniencies It is only the Followers of Jesus Christ that are of the Order of true Universal Righteousness and fixing their sight on that which is Infinite do judge of all things by an Infallible Rule that is to say by the Righteousness of God. What do they therefore not owe to him who dissipated the Clouds that darkned them so long a time and taught them they should think of and prepare for Eternity and use the true Means of attaining thereunto And how can they take him for a Common Man like others Him that not only so well knew this Righteousness but that also so punctually practis'd it because to judge rightly It is no less above Man to Live as he Liv'd and as he would have us Live than to raise the Dead and remove Mountains To conclude if there be not a God it is not to be conceiv'd that so great an Idea as that of Christian Religion should ever be conceiv'd in the Mind of Man and that he should conform his Life thereunto And if there be one Jesus Christ must have had so Familliar Converse with him to speak so as he has done that he deserves to be Credited of all he has said so as not to doubt being his Child it being impossible so great a Fraud should be accompany'd with so many Graces One can make but very weak Essays to express ones Thoughts of the Greatness of Jesus Christ and how weak soever the Notions be that one has yet they very far surpass our Expressions And it may be I may only lessen what Monsieur Pascall has left us in some Essays that he had just begun yet so lively that it is easily seen but very few have attained a higher measure of Knowledge than he I will only add That as the Doctrine of Jesus Christ is the fulfilling of the Law his Person also is that of our Evidence and that he has so admirably fulfill'd all the Wonders the Prophets foretold of him That it is hard to say which is most Extravagant either to doubt as Atheists do If a Messias was promis'd or to believe with the Jews that he is yet to come Let those that feel any doubt herein and who are no way touch'd with this Divine Life Examin themselves strictly and they will assuredly find the difficulty they have to Believe does not come but only from their unwillingness to Obey and that if Jesus Christ was content to live as he did without expecting to be imitated they would be content to look on him as a worthy Object of their Adoration But at least let this render their Doubts suspicious and if they know the power of the Heart and after what manner the Mind is always led let them look on themselves as Judge and Parties and to judge Equitably they indeavour for a time to forget the wretched Interest they may therein have otherwise they must never expect to receive Light the hardness of their Heart will ever resist the Proofs of their Mind and nothing will be able to dispel the Clouds of their Understanding This is strange yet very true not only the things that must be felt depend on the Heart but also those that belong to the Spirit when the Heart may have any share in them So that though they have more Light and Verity than is needful to convince yet they never do it and never incline to Act till the Heart be first gain'd and without that it would be to no purpose And this is it which causes the Merit of good Deeds and the Guilt of ill ones for whilst the Spirit only Acts either it judges well and this is only to see what that is wherein there is no Merit or if it judges ill it fansies to see what it doth not which is only an Errour of Fact which cannot be counted Criminal But when once the Heart becomes concern'd and that it makes the Will judge well or ill thereafter as it loves or hates it happens that either it fulfils the Law in loving what it ought to love which cannot be without a kind of Merit or that in loving what it should hate he violates the Law which is never excusable which is the cause also that God not willing Men should attain to know them as they do Geometry wherein the Heart is not interessed and in which Crime the Good have no advantage over others in that study he has been
pleas'd to veil his Conduct and in such a manner to mingle Light with Obscurity that it should most depend on the Dispositions of the Heart to believe or to rest in Darkness So that those to whom he hides himself ought never to hope for any good till first they do as much as they can possible set themselves in the way of those that have found the Truth But they shall scarce give over counting for nought the Miserable Riches which some would deprive them of they will scarce begin to believe Poverty cannot be an Evil that Disgraces and Oppressions may be lookt upon as Good that nothing is to be shunn'd but offending God and nothing to be sought for but how to please him that all shall be clear to them and if there remains any Obscurity it will appear at least that it is only for those who desire to rest in it For Instance God was pleas'd to send his only Son into the World to save Men and at the same time to be a Stone of stumbling and an Object of contradiction to those who made themselves unworthy of so great a Blessing Could he have done any thing better than what he did to this End He was born of mean Parents he made him spend his Life without having wherein to lay his Head he only gave him the refuse of his People to be his Followers he would not that he should speak of any Sciences nor of any thing esteem'd great amongst Men he made him be thought a Deceiver he caus'd him to fall into the hands of his Enemies to be betray'd by one of his Disciples and forsaken by all the rest he made him tremble at the approach of Death which he sufferr'd publickly and as a Malefactor how could he better disguise him to those who only savour the things of Worldly Greatness and have no Eyes to behold true Wisdom But he also made him Command the Sea the Waves and the Wind yea he had also power over Devils and Death he made him know the inward Thoughts of those that spake with him he pour'd forth his Spirit upon him and put those things in his Mouth as could proceed from no other but God he made him speak the things of Heaven in such a manner as far surpasseth the reach of Men he was desirous to inform them the State of their Heart and how they might be deliver'd from their Miseries he made him live without the least appearance of Sin insomuch as his greatest Enemies had not the least pretext of accusing him he made him foretel his own Death and Resurrection and he raised him up out of the Grave What could there have been fitter to hinder him from being rejected by those who love true Greatness and Wisdom To conclude because all Ages and the whole Universe were concern'd in the same Conditions of Obscurity for some and of Light for others he would have his History and Life writ by none but his Disciples to render it suspicious to those who desir'd to be deceived and that it should be the most undoubted of all Histories that so they might be inexcusable For in a Word not to enter into this vast Field of Dispute if it be not true either the Apostles must be deceived or they must be Cheats and neither the one nor other is to be believ'd how could it be that they were deceiv'd those who said They were Eye Witnesses of the Life of Jesus Christ and also believ'd to be Chosen and endow'd with Gifts to that very End Could they be deceiv'd to know if they themselves healed the Sick if they raised the Dead What other or greater Sign could they have desired to be assur'd of knowing the Truth But if Jesus Christ made them believe during his Life how comes it to pass they were not better advis'd after his Death seeing they believ'd he was truly God that is Master of Life and Death For as for the Disciples of Mahomet who only call'd himself a Prophet it is plain they rested in Ignorance and Error after his Death and he was careful not to promise them to Rise again But it is not so of those of Jesus Christ they are far bolder accordingly they declare If he is not Risen all they did and said is in Vain It is thence they draw their greatest Comfort and Constancy and 't is very unlikely and even impossible but they believ'd at least that they saw him after his Death and they believ'd it with the greatest certainty could be in exposing themselves to all they sufferr'd and by reposing thereon the great Work wherein they had so happy success This being granted how can it be imagin'd they all believ'd so strongly a thing so difficult to be receiv'd and whereof the Eyes only can be the Judges Did they all dream it in one Night for they all declare they see him and we think they were all honest Men. Is it a Ghost that deceiv'd them for the space of Fourty Days or was it some Impostor that made them believe that he was the Man that Dy'd before their Eyes and whom they had laid in the Sepulcher and who afterwards found means to ascend up into Heaven in their sight This would be ridiculous to say and so much the more because 't is plainly seen by what we have left us of theirs that they were not so simple to believe That if Jesus Christ had been but a Common Man he could not have Raised himself from the Dead It would be altogether as Vain to say the Apostles were Deceivers and that after the Death of their Master they agreed amongst themselves to say he was Risen and should think all the World must take their Word for it For though it be said Men are Naturally Lyars it is not so in the Sense it is commonly taken It 's true they are born such inasmuch as they are born Enemies to God who is the Sovereign Truth and that their Heart is bent and prone to Vanity and Falshood which too often they look upon to be Real But else it is certain they Naturally love to speak Truth and it cannot well be otherwise the Natural Inclination tending to speak what one knows or at least what one believes that is what 's True in it self or in regard of him that speaks it Whereas for Lying there must be deliberation and design one must be at the trouble of inventing and it is seen such Men never Lye but for Interest or for Honour and then too because they cannot otherwise attain to it And they take great heed that what they say should seem probable and that the Falshood should not be discover'd especially if the Consequences are dangerous and if any should be found that Lye for Pleasure they never think but of enjoying it in the Moment not grounding any thing that 's Real upon their Lye. So that the Apostles could not possibly have any design of imposing upon Men in what they taught of
other ground but his own Humour and presume to determine from the dark Dungeon where Nature has exil'd them Miserable Light of his weak Reason that there is no other Being in the whole Universe can Effect such great Wonders and that they are nothing else but a Parcel of Tales and empty Visions But the Reason some Persons are not convinc'd with Proofs that are so plain to others is because their Intrest and Passions so take them up that they see all things else only at halves This is the true cause of all those Doubts that are form'd against Religion because indeed there is nothing so contrary to our Passions as the Life it commands us to lead And so it is no hard matter to understand that it opposes a thing that directly attacks them and that cannot be setled but by their Ruin. This may very well happen in this regard seeing it is observ'd even in Natural things and if sometimes the meer Imagination of an Event one does not like though it be impossible it should come to pass makes one fansy as if one really doubted when indeed one has no Cause to fear how much rather when we are absolutely forc'd to quit what is most dear to us in the World will it be more capable to dazle and make one doubt of a thing to the belief whereof the Heart should be as much concern'd as the Mind One knows for Example a Person of great Sense and Wisdom but so struck with the horror of Death that one asking him if he would not lay his Life there is a City call'd Rome if there was any thing to be got by it the party freely answer'd No. This Doubt certainly had never befallen him and he could never have scrupl'd in the least at any thing else could have been said to him on this Matter But at the Instant the Idea of Death offer'd it self to his Mind it wholly took up his fansy All the Evidence that Rome subsisted vanish'd away and if there came not some real Doubt that all one said was false there past at least something in his Head or rather in his Heart that made him act as if he had effectively doubted I know no body will own that the Love of Pleasures and of this present Life will blind Men to this degree and that every one pretends their Doubts are very Sincere and that the unwillingness Men have in not believing Matters of Religion proceeds only from their Understanding But it is not necessary to press Persons upon this Point because one cannot well make them see that in their Heart which they cannot see there themselves for the Motions of the Heart are not like those of the Understanding these latter are done either by Progress or by a quick and clear Light which makes us take up Resolutions and that set us on Action and it is impossible we should feel them and not know them But as for what we do by the Inclination of the Heart it is quite different these are certain hidden Springs born with us which incline us to things without any Progress of Reason and almost without Knowledge and thence it is that without due consideration and timely care it is almost impossible not to be deceiv'd the Heart if it may be so said so mingling it self with Reason or rather becoming so much Master of it that it is the Principle of all Actions yet so that one scarce perceives that it is any way concern'd But let those that doubt at least own That they do not do their utmost to be enlightn'd which can proceed from nothing but the Will. They will easily own this if they are in the least Ingenious because they cannot deny but the whole Life ought to be imploy'd in seeking out so important a Truth whereas they have scarce ever minded it and that of all things it is probably what they have least thought of When one shall have obtain'd of them this sincere desire of seriously applying themselves to inquire after the Proofs of Religion it will be no hard matter to carry on the Evidence of it farther in taking the Course we have laid down For beside the Matter of Fact whereof we have given a Specimen in this Discourse there are an infinite Number which depend on the Judgment and which present themselves in heaps when one diligently Reads the Scriptures It is to those one ought chiefly to give heed because they have this advantage that in perswading the Truth they also make it to be belov'd without which all signifies nothing It 's true there are but very few so qualifi'd as they should be that is to have a kind of relish of Truth and a sincerity of Heart which very seldom meet together But we must at least endeavour to have it our selves and impart it to others and awaken in them the Thoughts they must have soon or late if they intend to believe so as may be to their advantage The End. Approbation of Doctors WE whose Names are here under-written Doctors in Divinity of the Faculty of Paris Confess we have Read a Small Treatise call'd A Discourse upon the Proofs of the Books of Moses All those who Read it will find much advantage and satisfaction thereby for although Faith be sufficient to Enlighten a Christians Mind and to perswade him of the Truths God has been pleas'd to shew him Nevertheless when Reasons to believe are join'd to this Faith and that one is inclin'd by clear Testimonies allowable by their own Authority to admit of these revealed Truths this Creates in the Soul a Light which fills it with Joy and Peace Deus autem solatii repleat vos omni gaudio pace in credendo This doubtless will arrive unto those that will Read this small Treatise with a desire of being instructed seeing therein is shewn the History of Moses his Government his Miracles his Books c all grounded with so much Evidence and bearing a Relation to Jesus Christ our Divine Mediator that these Proofs alone were sufficient to convince them if Divine Faith did not determine the Matter It is what is our Judgment of this little Treatise which contains nothing â—ontrary to the Catholick Faith nor to good Life Dated at Paris the 1st of May 1672. Le Vaillant Curate of St. Christophers Grenet Curate of St. Bennet Marlin Curate of St. Eustach Labbe Petit Pied T. Roullard ADVERTISEMENT THis little Discourse which follows though very imperfect was not Esteem'd unworthy to be added to Monsieur Pascall 's Thoughts as well because 't is agreeable to his Notions as also for the greatness of those it insinuates for whatever Truth it contains it is nought else to be plain but an Idea and wish the Execution whereof is difficult and a great distance off But it is not impossible and that in a matter of this Nature sufficeth to incline and it may be oblige some or other that think themselves capable to ingage farther in the