which by small pain delivers us from the Torments of the Damned to enjoy the Felicities of the Angels Of Pleasure IF Hope is thought to merit so many and so high Encomiums as that she is the most charming agreeable Passion that rises in Mans Soul and that which flatters our senses with the most sensible delectation what shall we say of Pleasure which is the delicious fruitwhereof the other was but a bud or blossom at most This is the effect and the other was but a fair promise This is the motion of the Soul that terminates all the rest As Love is the commencement this is the consummation and in all the different forms which Love assumes he is the most agreable in this in all the others he is mix'd with troubles dangers fatigues hardships and as many various miseries as he is metamorphos'd into different shapes yet in this of Pleasure he is absolutely all the desires he is at once victorious triumphant and happy Pleasure is the fruition of an agreeable good which renders the Soul satisfied interdicting any motion of desire sorrow or fear this definition excludes all those delights our Memory furnishes us with in the recollection of a past Felicity Those shadows of Joy may serve to entertain our thoughts with but are not solid enough to constitute a real Tranquillity It being as natural to regret a Felicity which we have lost as desire one that is absent from us As also all those infamous Pleasures which Voluptuousness creates the pain of desiring them exceeds by much the delectation of fruition They are such Mortal Enemies of our quiet that they are never enjoy'd without rendring us miserable as well as criminal at one fatal stroke wounding both Soul and Body True Pleasure is never so agreable as when 't is extream the greater it is the more it ravishes us The solid satisfaction of a rational Creature consisteth in the Mind and Man cannot be contented if the more noble part of his System is not happy The knowledge of Truth and the practice of Virtue ought to be his great divertisement He must follow the most pure of his inclinations and in the composition of his Body he must labour rather to please the Angel than gratifie the Beast He must remember that the Body is but the Slave of the Soul and in his choice of Pleasures he ought to give the Deference to the Sovereign If any man is of a contrary sentiment we cannot but conclude that Sin which depriv'd him of Grace has robb'd him likewise of his Understanding and Reason too The pleasures of the Senses are limited but those of the Soul are not so That sweet Odour which gratifies the Smel pleases no other Sense Musick which ravishing the Soul from the Body puts us in Heaven with the glorious Cherubims has no effect but upon the Ear. Virtue satisfies every faculty of the Soul and indeed she is never contented by halves what charms her in one power is diffusive and her Joy becomes universal The happiness of the Body is but a shadow and its felicity but an empty vain appearance Whilst that of the Soul is real solid and substantial not to be taken away from them who possess it even by death it self but what will accompany them into a happy Eternity Of the good use of Pleasure THose who condemn Pleasure at the same time condemn Nature accusing her of over-sights in all her Works for she has so mixt it in all the most minute affairs of our lives that we do nothing wherein she has not equally an agreableness as a necessity Hunger makes us eat and our Nourishment pleases the Palate whilst it concerns our Lives As Pleasure is useful to the Body so it is necessary to the Soul We would not combate against Vice but for the Joy and Glory which the Conquest yields us Who would go through the many difficulties that attend the acquiring of knowledge but for the sweetness they reap after their labours But as Nature has diffus'd some pleasure in all these things 't is to serve us not as an impellent motive but as an assistant only and to be rather our refreshment under our difficulties than the reward of them A spur or encouragement to arrive at the end but it must not be the end it self The pleasures or enjoyments of the Earth may divert us but must not take up too much of us Nature designing them not so much for our felicity as our comfort Our blessed Saviour has assur'd us that all the pleasures and happiness of this World are not worth our looking after and therefore he counsels us to renounce forthwith the blandishments of the World and establish our felicity in Heaven He has order'd us by the mouth of his Apostles never to open the door of our hearts but to those pure unallayed consolations which have the Holy Ghost for their source and spring and consulting our Interests only he obliges us to look after a Joy which being grounded upon himself cannot be ravish'd from us either by the Malice of Man or by the Iniquity of Fortune and which having an infinite goodness for their Cause and Object have their duration only circumscribed by Eternity Of Sorrow THis Passion seems to be natural to Man the others but accidental Few Parts of our Body are Partakers of our Pleasures or capable of receiving any one Particular But no Part of us but alas is sensible of Pain Sorrow and Grief The Spirit is dejected and the Eyes mourn Sadness displays it self through the whole Oeconomy The very deplorableness of our State doth argue Pain to be more essential to us than Pleasure We are born in Tears we live in Sorrow and dye in Sighs For one vain transient and imaginary Pleasure we feel a thousand real weighty Evils And what is a farther Confirmation of the Misery of our Condition we are much more sensible of Pain than Pleasure A small Distemper destroys all our most solid Contentment a Fit of the Gout or Stone is capable to make a Conqueror forget his Lawrels and the Pomp of all his Triumphs Grief is a real Evil that attacks both Soul and Body at once making a double Wound at each Blow When the Body is necessitated to undergo the sharpness of Tortures the rigours of the Seasons and the violence of Distempers the Soul is obliged to sigh with her and that Bond which unites them makes their Misery common she apprehends Wounds tho' she is invulnerable and Death tho' she is immortal and this only by reason of that strict Communication which she has with the Body We all agree that the Soul cannot be happy whilst the Body is miserable and to confirm us in this Opinion we know that the Soul of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ tho' it was happy in it self yet it was pierced with Grief when he said to his Disciples My Soul is sorrowful even unto death And the Felicity of his Divinity seem'd to be
forth no Thorns so the Heavens had no malignant Influences every thing conspired to the Felicity of our first Parents and the very Beast which inhabited the Woods for Desarts there were none could not be called Savage the Viper was without Poison and the Tyger without Treachery Yet alas this is all but Opinion too and we are as far to seek concerning his Nature as concerning his Beatitude 't is but congruous to think that Adam being created Perfect was subject to neither Malady in his Body nor to any Disturbance in his Mind He was obliged to eat indeed to support Nature but as Time would have attenuated his Strength so had the infinite Providence of God prescribed him the Tree of Life to restore him to his pristine Vigour Nothing could kill him but Sin so that he was not immortal by Nature but yet by Grace he was so His Soul was questionless as happily stated as his Body since he knew every thing by the innate Faculties thereof He had only good Inclinations his Affections were under Subjection and though he was not insensible yet nothing could disturb him his Passions were as natural to him as ours are to us but with this happy Circumstance that they were more obedient and as the Oeconomy of his Natural System made him capable of our Motions so original Justice prevented their Disorders Not but that we must grant some of the Passions to be inconsistent with the State Adam was in sadness and dispair could not have Place in a Soul compleatly happy so that he was rather unmoved with them through want of a Subject than want of Capacity In so great a Pitch of Beatitude as Adam enjoyed his Reason could not be thought to excite Passions designed only for the Wretched Doubtless Adam was afraid of the Punishment annexed to his Transgression and hoped for the Reward in Case of Obedience As he desired to preserve the mighty Felicity of his Mate 't was but naturally Consequential to apprehend an Alteration in it As his Senses were a Part of his Body so were his Passions Part of his Soul and they differed from ours not in their Nature but in the absoluteness of their Subjection to his Will If there were any Passions in Jesus Christ and wherein they differed from ours IT would argue an extraordinary and unpardonable Ignorance in a Christian not to know that our Blessed Saviour took upon him the Form of a Man subject to all the Infirmities thereof Sin only excepted He was constrained to support his Life with Meat and refreshed his wearied Body with sleep he was punished with the Winters cold and was dropping with the Heat in Summer The very Elements which reverenced him as a God had persecuted him as a Man and he felt the Pangs and Agonies of Death it self upon the Cross which he had delivered Lazarus from As Passions are the most natural Weaknesses of Humanity so he would not be exempted from them that they might be a Testimony of his Love and an irrefragable Argument of the Verity of his Incarnation He mingled his Tears with those of Mary Magdalen and though he was going to remedy them by his Power yet he would first feel them by his Compassion and by that Weakness shew he was a Man before he would work a Miracle to shew he was a God As he had a real Body so he could not have Supposititious Passions and as he was actually a Man so was his Affliction actual too But whilst we would magnifie the Love of the Son of God to us we must not substract from his Grandure Passions he had but not disorderly like ours they were always subject to his Will and waited on his Reasons to accomplish his designs But alas 't is infinitely otherwise with frail Man his Soul is in a continual and violent agitation one Passion gives way for another to create new confusions and amongst so many and so powerfully tyrannical Enemies how is it possible for him to enjoy any considerable rest our desires are inordinate and most of our sorrows ridiculous Our Anger transports us so far that we are as rigorous in punishing an ill word as a Murther And if any one would seriously compare our Passions with the Causes that excite them they might easily remark that 't is scarce possible we should ever have any that were not Criminal Our Hatred exceeds the Injury which created it our Hope is solid where the thing hoped for is perishable Our Saviour his Anger was to revenge the dishonour done to his Father or else to chastise them who by their worldly negotiations profan'd his Holy Temple 'T is a new obligation we have to his Bounty that he did not despise our Infirmities What everlasting and bitter reproaches may he justly make us should we not have an ardent desire for his Glory who has shew'd so much for our Salvation or should we not combate against his Enemies since he has utterly vanquish'd all ours What shall we not shed a tear for his disgraces who poured forth his Blood to satisfie for our sins Indeed he would have too great reason for to complain of our Ingratitude Should we not use all our Passions to specifie our Love to him since he has employed all his to demonstrate his Love to us Of the disorderliness of Mans Passions THough there be many stupendous things in Man worthy our consideration and which do loudly express the greatness of that Wisdom which created him yet there is nothing more extraordinary than his Constitution both Heaven and Earth are united in his Person and he is at once both an Angel and a Beast As the Power of God was manifested in the union of these two Parts so highly disagreeing in themselves so his Wisdom was not less apparent in causing so good a Correspondency between them the Soul participated of all the Contentment and Satisfaction of the Body and the Body ministred to the Purposes of the Soul without suffering a Violence towards its own Propensities This happy Intelligence between them lasted no longer than Adam's Obedience for he had no sooner fallen but the Beasts did rebel against his Authority His Subjects became his most inveterate Enemies to execute the Justice of his offended Creator The very Elements were at discord in his Body and his Body rose up against his Spirit and this intestine War was by so much the more easily kindled as the preceding Peace was rather the Result of Grace than Nature Nor is there any prospect of any Enjoyment of Peace here on Earth since as the Apostle tells us the Flesh evermore is rebelling against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh From this mighty Disorder proceed all the Malignity of our Passions and though they are equally Daughters of the Soul and Body yet these so unnatural Children only serve to encrease the Division between their Parents Thus the Spirit of Man can never be at rest but is forced to nourish in his Bosom
IS true that our Passions are oftner criminal than virtuous and the disorder of our Nature since the Sin of our first Parent has occasioned their greatest inclinations to be towards Vice yet with some assistances we may bring them from it This glorious Passion made all the Martyrs despise their Torments and whilst their Bodies distill'd drop by drop from the glowing Grid Irons their Tongues reproach'd their Persecutors and prais'd their God Grace we must grant to be more strong than Nature yet she doth not refuse the assistance of Nature Virtue stands in need of the succours of our Passions and they on the other hand require Virtue to be their Guide To make then this Passion a Virtue we must see she is accompanied with Justice He that takes Arms to ruin his Country is rather Criminal than Courageous and tho' he dye with his Sword in his Hand in the thickest of his Enemies yet the illegitimateness of his intentions will take from him the Character of Glorious We must likewise try our Forces before we begin to attack our Enemy Virtue is not so rigid as to exact impossibilities of us she requires but what is in our power and would have us in all undertakings weigh whether the Medium we use is proportionable to the end we propose But a Christian's boldness must have two other Conditions which are Humility and Hatred of our selves for he who has not conquer'd his Inclination cant hope to triumph over Pleasuress and he who has not declar'd open Wa against his Body is in no good condirtion of doing it against the sorrow of his Mind Let us then make use of our Forces against our selves that we may the better succeed when we employ them against other Enemies and let us surmount the love of our selves if we would surmount the fear of Death Of Fear THere are some Passions whose Names belie their Nature and which are nothing less within than what they appear without Hope hath an agreeable Aspect yet she procures us as many Miseries as she promises us Advantages Fear is look'd upon as the basest of all the Passions and is thought to be the pure result of an ignoble Spirit But there is a great deal of Error and Injustice in this Sentiment for she is prudent in effect only descrying Evils to shew us how to avoid them and as Man is expos'd to many Multitudes of various Dangers that may overwhelm him this passion is continually upon guard prying even into futurity it self to discover a possible danger which being cautiously warded off secures our Felicity at the same time it prevents any Disaster Fear then is a natural prudence which delivers us from an Evil by the very Apprehension alone she gives us of it and is not less useful in the Church than in State The fear of eternal Punishments first made Man seek to appease the irritated Gods to build Temples erect Altars burn incense and Immolate Sacrifices And tho' Religion bids us love God for his own worthiness sake yet 't is highly to be presum'd that Fear has made the most of his Votaries nay sav'd more guilty Souls than Hope it self The fear of God says the Divine Text is the beginning of Wisdom that is in other words the supporter of Virtue and the foundation of Piety Vice would grow insolent and the Law of no use had not Nature plac'd this Passion in Man's Soul and made the most hardy Criminal apprehend Punishment And the Judge can give Sentence but upon what he knows yet this faithful Minister of God's Vengeance makes the Guilty tremble in the midst of their Friends and enjoy neither rest nor security either in Cities or Deserts This may serve for one Instance that our Nature is not entirely corrupted since she retains still in the midst of all those Imperfections which environ her an abhorrence and hatred of Sin as well as a fear and dread of Punishment Wheresoe'er we hide our selves the secret remorses of our Consciences go with us assuring us that there is a Divinity which sees the most secret transactions of our Lives and punishes them after our Death Of those many thousands of Christians who confess and acknowledge Christ there are but few that stand not more indebted to their Fear than their Love and endeavour to purchase Heaven only to secure them from Hell loving God's Mercy because they fear his Justice And 't is no small matter that this Passion by its motions should open a Door of Salvation to the ungodly and shew Sinners the way to Virtue If she is thus beneficial in Affairs of Religion she is no less in Affairs of State We live alas no longer in that happy Age when Friendship united Mankind and superseded Laws when Love banish'd Injustice from the face of the Earth No now our Love to our selves is establish'd in hating our Neighbour and we must restrain them by Fear whom we cannot win by Affection We erect Gibbets to terrify the Criminal and invent Tortures to render Death more horrid that so what was an indispensable Tribute of Nature should by this means become a Chastizement of Iniquity Nature has not given us this Passion to be a Torment to us but a Security for she considers only those Dangers that are avoidable If once she finds them inevitable she leaves off the intentions of strugling with them vain efforts are to be condemn'd in every thing so we must support what we cannot shun Who would not judge Fear to be the Guardian of our Repose who studies nothing but our security and only gives us an Alarm that we may prepare to oppose an Enemy who cometh to invade it But as there are some Accidents which our Prudence can't fore-see nor our Courage vanquish we must not be astonished if some others surprize Fear and get the better of a Passion after having triumph'd over two glorious Virtues Of the good use of Fear FEar hath this property of Prudence that it is most especially busied about things to come and when she has discover'd a Danger at a distance calls in all her Forces to combat it Courage and Conduct is not every Man's Lot and hardly any Man 's in perfection for one is the property of fiery vigorous Youth and the other the tedious Lessons of a long Experience acquir'd only in an Age wherein we are no longer fit for Action our selves and therefore only proper to give Advice As Fear is more considerate than generous so is she more proper to deliberate than engage She may be as successfully applied in Vertue as against Vice What is Shame but the fear of Infamy and this innocent Passion protects all the Virtues How many Men would be look'd upon under a less glorious Character were it not for the Instigations of this Passion owing their Innocence to their apprehension of Scandal acting not to satisfie their Duty but to save their Reputations If we would encourage this Passion in our Souls we should keep
suspended during his Agony for it was not without Cause that he cry'd My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The Soul is much more happy than the Body by this Union for by the very Reflection on a past Misery she creates to her self new Pains whereof the Body feels no part and so of but one only Evil she makes a double Martyrdom The effect of this melancholy Passion are very strange for when Sorrow is not extreme she is ingenious and renders Man Eloquent without the benefit of Rhetorick to hear their pathetick Expressions that multitude of Sighs that so easily second the energy of their lugubrous Discourses one would think that the greatest horrours and anguish of Nature were infinitely less than what they groan under But when she is extreme she stupifies hardly leaving Man the use of any Sense and who was so florid in describing a small Evil confesses by his silence that this is without comparison greater since it is unutterable Curae leves loquuntur magnae stupent This mighty alteration gave occasion to the Poets to feign that it Converted some into Rocks others into Stones The good use of Sorrow VVE must not wonder if the Stoicks condemn a Passion when they do not approve even of the very Virtues she produces placing their Wisemen in such a State of Felicity that no humane cause could ever interrupt In the plundering of a City or the destruction of their Country they were still as unmov'd as Jupiter would be at the dissolution of the Universe and if they granted a Sigh to a deceased Parent or shed a Tear with the reflection of their Countries Ruin yet this was without ever Affecting the Soul whose Felicity consisting in its self it could not be mov'd by any external Cause But sure the pomp of these haughty Expressions could be only to preserve the Soul in her Sovereignty and perswade us not to be so far overwhelm'd with the pain of the Body as to dethrone the Mind and of the Malady of the Slave make the Misery of the Sovereign which the better to effect she us'd the policy of the Orators who by their Hyperboles perswade us of Verities and prove all things possible to animate us to some that are difficult Therefore that the Soul might not sink under the weakness of the Body but be establish'd in her Empire they have made use of Terms somewhat more Eloquent than true Sorrow is so reasonable a Passion that there are some Junctures wherein it were Impiety not to be afflicted and we must not only bewail our own Sins but our Neighbours Miseries We stand indebted to this Passion for our Innocence because our conversion to Grace is perfected in our sorrow for Sin and the Justice of God satisfied with the sincerity of our Tears In other Circumstances she works not so miraculously If our Afflictions comfort the Living they do not raise the Dead and if they assure the Wretched of our Affection they deliver them not from the anguish of their Torments But the sadness of Repentance is of another nature those grievous Sighs which oppress Sin save the Sinner these Tears wash away the Crime and sanctifie the Criminal Sorrow alone for having offended becomes here a compleat satisfaction And as God knoweth that it lies not in our power to alter any thing which has already hapned so he graciously accepts of our Repentance for having transgressed And as he sees the bottom of our Hearts so when our Tears are unfeigned he never refuses them his Pardon Were it not for this Passion there could be no Salvation since there can be no Repentance without Sorrow we will therefore be vehement in the defence of a Passion from which we receive such considerable Advantages And tho' Princes thinking this too austere a Passion to have admittance into their Courts by Musick Balls Dancings Plays and many other Divertisements seek to keep it from an Entrance yet before the Tribunal of God this Passion has more Credit than all the others united in one She can boast that she works the strange Metamorphosis in Grace of making Saints of Sinners and of the Children of Disobedience Darkness and Perdition she makes Children of Light Brothers with the Son of God and Heirs of everlasting Felicities and of a Crown and Kingdom which can know no end The Conclusion FRom all these Discourses 't is easie to judge that there is no Passion in our Souls which may not be advantageously managed by Reason as well as Grace For to summ up all what has been said in the whole Work Love may be chang'd into a holy Amity and Hatred may be brought to a just Indignation Desires moderated are so many good Assistants to acquire Virtue Eschewing is the proper security of Chastity Hope animates us to brave and generous Undertakings and our Despair turns us from rash ones Fear is serviceable to Prudence and Boldness to Valour As brutish as Anger seems she sides with Justice Joy is an innocent Antepast of Felicity Grief a short pain that frees us from Eternal Torments So that our Salvation depends only upon the good use of our Passions and Virtue it self only subsisteth by the good employment of the Motions of our Soul FINIS INDEX PART I. OF the Number of our Passions 14 Whether there were any Passions in the State of Innocence 17 If there were any Passions in Jesus Christ and wherein they differ'd from ours 19 Of the disorderliness of Man's Pass 22 Nature alone cannot regulate our Passions 24 Of the necessity of Grace to govern the Passions 26 Our Senses are chiefly the Causes of the disorders of our Passions 28 There is more irregularity in the Passions of Man than in those of Beasts 29 As there is nothing more difficult so there is nothing more glorious than the Government of the Passions 32 No Slavery is so miserable as that of being over-power'd by our Passions 37 To govern our Passions we must first moderate them 41 Reason alone is able to restrain the Passions 46 By what means we may moderate our Passions 50 Our Passions are really in themselves so many Seeds of Virtue 53 There is no Passion which may not be chang'd into a Virtue 58 The Government of our Passions is the business of Virtue 62 PART II. OF Love 66 Of the good use of Love 68 Of the nature and properties of Hatred 73 The good use of Hatred 76 Of the nature and properties of Desire 80 Of the good use of Desire 83 Of the nature propert of Eschewing 86 Of Hope 88 Of the good use of Hope 91 Of Despair 93 Of Boldness 96 Of the good use of Boldness 100 Of Fear 102 Of the good use of Fear 105 Of Anger 106 The good use of Anger 109 Of Pleasure 112 Of the good use of Pleasure 115 Of Sorrow 117 The good use of Sorrow 119 The Conclusion 122 BOOKS Printed for J. Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul 's Church-Yard CApt.