long time For in the Ninth Year of his Reign the City of Jerusalem was Besieg'd by Nabuchadonosor King of Babylon and after Two Years Siege it was Taken Sackt and put to Fire and Sword the Temple Ransackt and Burnt those of the People who had escap'd the fury of the Sword or Famine were sent into Captivity And he flying with his Children was taken and brought before the proud King who after having receiv'd him with Expressions of Fury and Indignation caused his Childrens Throats to be cut before his Face and afterwards pull'd out his Eyes and made him be sent Captive into Babylon where he dy'd miserably undergoing the just Punishment of his Iniquities We must add to these Examples those which we have recounted in the Sixth Chapter being that all those of whom we spoke in that place are dead in their Sins and by Sins begun in their Youth These Examples are very common in Sacred Scripture the contrary are there very rare and as I have said we shall find but one only in the Old Testament who was truly Converted after he had liv'd wickedly in his Youth viz. Manasses and that by so strange a Means that it manifests more clear than Day the dreadful Difficulty with which one Corrects the wicked Inclinations of his younger Years This Prince having lost his Father Ezechias 4 Reg. 21. one of the most pious Kings of Juda at the Age of Twelve Years was Inheritor of his Crown but not of his Vertues For blotting out of his Mind presently the holy Examples and wise Documents he had receiv'd from him he addicts himself to all sorts of Vices and Impieties such as the Scripture recounts His Iniquities went on encreasing until the Fifteenth or according to others till the Two and twentieth Year of his Reign wherein God sent him an extreme Affliction He was taken by the Assyrians in the City of Jerusalem sent Captive into Babylon loaden with Irons and Chains cast into a frightful Prison where he was daily afflicted with a vast number of Miseries and Persecutions Being reduc'd to this extremity of Misery he began to open his Eyes and call upon him in his Afflictions whom he had forgotten in his Prosperity He acknowledg'd his Iniquities and begg'd Pardon for them with a truly contrite Heart and by the force of Tears and Prayers obtain'd from God his Deliverance After which he did Penance for his Sins and liv'd in Holiness all the remainder of his Life even to the Age of Sixty seven when he dy'd St. Jerom adds to this History a very remarkable Particularity which he took out of the Tradition of the Hebrews For Explicating what the Scripture says in general Terms * Qui posteaquam coangustatus est oravit Dominum Deum suum Hieron in ques Heb. in Paral. That Manasses being opprest with Affliction had recourse to God he saith that it was in the Extremity of a frightful Death to which he was expos'd He should have been put to Death in a great brazen Vessel pierc'd with many Holes set upon a hot Fire which heating the Vessel and penetrating it on every side should consume that miserable Prince by its Flames by so much the more cruel as it was tedious in duration He was shut up in this Vessel and the Fire kindled under him In this dreadful Representation of Death this misfortunate Prince apply'd not himself to God but first to the Idols which he had ador'd so strangely was he blinded with his former Sins But when he perceiv'd that it was to no end to invoke their Assistance he call'd to mind a Sentence of the Sacred Scripture which he had often heard from his Father in his Youth by which God promis'd his Succours * Dum quaesi eris Dominum Deum tuum invenies eum si tamen tâ—â—o corde quae ieris tota tribulatione animae tuae Deut. 4. to those who had recourse to him in their Tribulations and converted themselves to him with all their Heart and had a great Sorrow for their Sins He presently raises his Heart to God with Sighs and Lamentations and begs of him his Deliverance with such a Contrition for his Sins that God shew'd him Mercy and not only deliver'd him from that frightful Death but from his Slavery and made him return to Jerusalem where he spent the rest of his Life after the manner I have already touch'd See here Theotime a Conversion after a wicked Life of Youth but a Conversion purchas'd at a dear Rate CHAP. XIII Of the great Evils which spring from the wicked Life of Youth THE greatest of Evils is that whereof we speak Tenth Motive which obliges young People to Vertue viz. The loss of Salvation and Eternal Ruine which befalls many by the Sins of their Youth it being certain that Sins committed in that Age are the original Cause of Damnation to many But besides that there are many others issuing from the same Fountain which are necessary to be known dear Theotime to the end that knowing them you may conceive a greater horror of the Cause which produces them ARTICLE I. The first Evil viz. Death which the Sins of Youth hasten to very many I put in the first place Death hasten'd which happens to many young Persons in punishment of their Sins I do not mean that all those who die in the Flower of their Age die in punishment of the Sins they have committed nor also that all those who follow Vice in their Youth should be punish'd with an untimely Death I know very well that the Pious sometimes depart in the prime of their Youth and that this Death is a Recompence of their Vertue and an Effect of the Love God bears them according to that Testimony of the Sacred Scripture in the Book of Wisdom If the Just says the Wiseman Justus si morte praeoccupatus fuerit in refrigerio erit placens Deo factus dilectus vivens inter peccatores transsatus est Raptus est ne malitia mutaret intellectum ejus ne fictio deciperet animam illius facinatio enim nugacitatis obscurat bona inconstantia concupiscentiae transvertit sensum sine malitia consummatus in brevi explevit tempora multa placita enimerat Deo anima illius propter hoc properavit Dominus educere illum de medio iniquitatum Sap. 4. be prevented by Death he will find therein Repose and Salvation his Vertue having render'd him agreeable to God made him purchase his Love and merit to be taken out of this World where he liv'd amongst Sinners God withdrew him betimes lest Corruption should slip into his Mind and his Soul be deceiv'd with the false appearance of the Vanity and Pleasures of the World which delude Men and make them love those things which are most opposite to their Salvation I know also very well that there are many Sinners who live a long time and who grow old in the Vices they had contracted in their Youth
thereof Danti mihi sapientiam dabo gloriam And you will receive the Advantage which will continue with you for all Eternity The Approbation VVE underwritten Doctors of Divinity of the Faculty of Paris do Testifie That we have Read a Book Intitled The Instruction of Youth in Christian Piety Compos'd by M. Charles Gobinet also Doctor and Principal of the College of Plessis-Sorbon wherein the Author hath Collected all the necessary Maxims for the Education of Youth in the Science of Salvation The Devotion which it inspires is Solid the Sentiments Catholic and the Morality very Pious and Profitable Paris June 12. 1655. Charmolûe Le Blond Minindre The Division of the Book PART I. OF the Reasons and Motives which oblige Men to apply themselves to Vertue in their Youth PART II. Of the necessary Means to acquire Vertue during Youth PART III. Of the Obstacles which divert young People from Vertue PART IV. Of the Vertues necessary for young People PART V. Of the Choice of a State of Life The Table PART I. OF the Reasons and Motives which oblige Men to apply themselves to Vertue in their Youth Pag. 1. Chap. 1. Of the End for which Man is created ibid. Chap. 2. Of our Vocation to the Grace of Baptism Pag. 8. Article 1. Of the Excellence of the State of a Christian and of the Favor God hath bestow'd on him whom he hath call'd to this State. Pag. 9. Artic. 2. Of the great Obligations of a Christian Pag. 12. Chap. 3. That God requires and singularly accepts the Service of young People Pag. 16. Chap. 4. That God particularly loves young People and takes a delight to bestow upon them many Favors Pag. 19. Chap. 5. That they who Consecrate not themselves to God in their Youth offer him a most heinous Injury Pag. 25. Chap. 6. How God hath an Aversion for wicked young People Considerable Examples upon this Subject Pag. 29. Chap. 7. That Salvation ordinarily depends on the time of Youth Pag. 36. Chap. 8. That those who have follow'd Vertue in their Youth conserve it easily all the remainder of their Life Pag. 39. Chap. 9. Proofs concerning the same Subject by notable Examples taken out of Sacred Scripture of those who having been Vertuous in their Youth have continu'd so all their Life and chiefly of those who have resisted in great Occasions Pag. 44. Chap. 10. That those who have been addicted to Vice in their Youth are very difficultly corrected and it often happens that they never amend but miserably Damn themselves Pag. 52. Chap. 11. Examples upon the precedent Subject And first of those who have corrected the Vices of their Youth but yet with very great Difficulties Pag. 57. Chap. 12. Examples of those who have never amended the Vices of their Youth Pag. 66 Chap. 13. Of the great Evils which spring from the wicked Life of Youth Pag. 72. Artic. 1. The First Evil viz. Death which the Sins of Youth hasten to very many ibid. Artic. 2. The Second Evil which springs from Sins committed in Youth Blindness of Mind and Obdurateness in Vice. Pag. 76. Artic. 3. The Third Evil The loss of many fair Hopes Pag. 78. Art. 4. The Fourth Evil springing from the Sins of Youth The Excess of Vice amongst Men. Pag. 82 Chap. 14. That the Devil uses all his Endeavors to move young People to Vice. Pag. 84. Chap. 15. The Conclusion of all that hath been said above Pag. 88. PART II. OF the necessary Means to acquire Vertue during Youth Pag. 94. Chap. 1. Wherein true Vertue consists Pag. 95. Chap. 2. That to acquire Vertue we must desire it Pag. 98. Chap. 3. Of Prayer the Third Means to acquire Vertue Pag. 100. Chap. 4. That they must love and seek after Instructions Pag. 103. Chap. 5. Of the necessity of a Guide in the Way of Vertue and particularly during Youth Pag. 105. Chap. 6. Of Confession and first of a General Confession Pag. 110. Chap. 7. Of ordinary Confession Pag. 115. Important Advices concerning Confession Pag. 118. Chap. 9. Of Holy Communion Pag. 122. Chap. 10. An Advice for Communicating well Pag. 124. Chap. 11. Of Morning Prayer Pag. 127. Chap. 12. Of Evening Prayer Pag. 131. Chap. 13. Of Assisting devoutly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar Pag. 134 Chap. 14. Of Labor and Employment of Time. Pag. 136. Chap. 15. Of the Knowledge of ones self very necessary for young People Pag. 138. Chap. 16. Of the Reading of pious Books Pag. 143. Chap. 17. An Advertisement concerning bad Books Pag. 147. Chap. 18. Of pious Conversation Pag. 150. Chap. 19. Of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and S. Joseph Pag. 153. Chap. 20. Of Devotion to the Angel-Guardian and to the Saint of ones Name Pag. 159. Chap. 21. Of keeping of Feasts and particularly of Sundays Pag. 163. Chap. 22. Of being present at Divine Service Pag. 170. PART III. OF the Obstacles which divert young Persons from Vertue Pag. 181. Chap. 1. The First Obstacle of the Salvation of Youth the want of Instruction Pag. 182. Chap. 2. The Second Obstacle the too much Indulgence of Parents their ill Example and the bad Instruction they give their Children Pag. 185. Chap. 3. The Third Obstacle of the Salvation of Youth the Untractableness of young Persons Pag. 189. Chap. 4. The Fourth Obstacle Inconstancy Pag. 194. Chap. 5. The Fifth Obstacle A Shame to do Good. Pag. 197. Chap. 6. The Sixth Obstacle wicked Company Pag. 200. Artic. 1. How hurtful it is ib. Artic 2. How there are two things hurtful in wicked Company Discourse and Example Pag. 204. Artic. 3. Of four sorts of wicked Companions which must be avoided Pag. 206. Chap. 7. The Seventh Obstacle of the Salvation of Youth Idleness Pag. 209. Chap. 8. The Eighth Obstacle Impurity Pag. 215. Artic. 1. That the Sin of Impurity is the greatest Enemy of Youth and Damns more than all other Vices together Pag. 216. Artic. 2. Of the sad Effects of the Sin of Impurity Pag. 218. Artic. 3. Examples of the miserable Death of those who were addicted to the Sin of Impurity Pag. 225. Artic. 4. Remedies against Impurity And first that this Sin must be resisted at the beginning Pag. 230. Artic. 5. That we must avoid the Causes of Impurity Pag. 233. Artic. 6. Other particular Remedies against Impurity Pag. 239. Chap. 9. Of Temptations Pag. 242. Artic. 1. What Temptation is and of the Means to know whether one hath sinn'd in a Temptation Pag. 243. Artic. 2. That one cannot avoid being tempted and that we must be provided betimes to resist Temptations Pag. 245. Artic. 3. Considerations to fortifie the Mind in Temptations Pag. 247. Artic. 4. How we must behave our selves in Temptations Pag. 252. Artic. 5. Of some Artifices by which the Devil deceives Men in Temptations and principally young Men. Pag. 255. Artic. 6. Of two considerable Faults which ordinarily happen to young Persons in Temptations Pag. 259. Artic. 7. What is to be done after the Temptation
of God and you will not allow it him till after you have a long time prostituted it to the Devil for his Retiring-place and after you have defil'd it with a vast number of Crimes All your Life ought to be Consecrated to the Service of God and you will Employ the first and better Part in the Service of the Devil reserving to God only that which would be no more useful to Sin. Can there be an Indignity equal to this What would you say of a Man that would Serve up to the Table of a Prince nothing but the Remainders and Scraps of Dogs and Swines-meat This you would say were horrible and have not you a horror for the same thing which you perform far more criminally towards God keeping for his Service only the Remainders of your Passions which you have brutishly satisfy'd during your Youth Is not this a horrible Affront you offer to God Offertis super altari meo panem pollutum Mal. 1. If God complain'd so much of those of the Old Law because they Offer'd upon his Altar profane and unclean Bread what Complaints will he not make of you who shall Offer unto him only the Remnant of your Life defil'd with all sort of Impurity If he lays a Curse upon him who retains the better Part for himself and Presents the worst to him in Sacrifice Maledictus dolosus qui habet in grege suo masculum votum faciens immolat debile Domino Ibid. Cursed says he is the Deceiver who chuseth the Lame to make an Offering of it to God What Maledictions ought not you to stand in dread of you who not only Sacrifice to him the worst but make it your Design to give him nothing but the remainder of what hath serv'd to the Pleasure and Disorder of your Youth I would to God we had not seen so many Effects of this Curse of God upon many young People as we take notice of every Day by dreadful Accidents sudden Deaths rejecting of God obdurateness in Vice and many other Misfortunes which are the Effects of Thy just Choler O Almighty God! by which Thou daily Punishest those who offer Thee this Injury who forget Thee in their Youth to follow their wicked Inclinations and who would not Serve Thee but after they had Serv'd Sin their Passions and the Devil CHAP. VI. How God hath an Aversion for wicked young People Considerable Examples upon this Subject AFTER what we have said Sixth Consideration the Anger of God against vicious young Persons there is no need of Proving this Proposition which is a necessary Consequence from the Three former For how can it be but that God should have an extream Aversion for those who contemn the Honour he does them in particularly desiring their Service who are not mov'd with the Love he bears them and who on the contrary treat him with so much Indignity and Contempt as we have shewn God hath an Aversion for all Sinners as he himself hath said Odio sunt Deo impius impietas ejus Sap. 14. Aversor Impium I detest the Wicked But this Aversion is greatest against those to whom he hath testify'd most Love and Benevolence and who unworthily abuse it Love offended is chang'd into Indignation and Bounty contemn'd and ill treated becomes a merciless Fury That this is so besides these Reasons which clearly demonstrate it Experience makes it appear with undoubted Certainty by the Effects which God frequently shews of that Aversion he hath for vicious young People I shall recount here Four very notable Examples all taken out of the Sacred Scripture that no one may doubt of them and that from these one may give a Judgment of others The First Example is of the Two Children of Judas the Son of the Patriarch Jacob. This Man had Seven Children the Two elder whereof were Wicked and Vicious Behold what the Scripture saith of the First Gen. 38. whose Name was Her Fuit quoque Her nequam in conspectu Domini ab eo occisus est Her the eldest Son of Judas was wicked in the sight of God and his Life was taken away by him And immediately after it is said of the Second nam'd Onan that God struck him with Death for a Sin of Impurity which he had committed which the Scripture in that place calls Detestable Idcirco percussit eum Dominus eo quod rem detestabilem faceret God struck him with Death because he had done a detestable Action This Sin altho' detested by God himself and chastis'd with so Exemplary a Punishment by a deplorable Misfortune is but too common amongst Youth upon which it draws the Divine Indignation either visibly or invisibly The Second Example is of the Two Children of the High Priest Heli 1 Reg. 3. 4. call'd Ophni and Phinees These Two young Men were Employ'd by their Father in the Ministry of the Temple and Sacrifices wherein they behav'd themselves very ill committing great Irrevrences in the Temple and high Injustices towards the Faithful who came to Offer their Sacrifices to God requiring from them by an insatiable Avarice more than justly was their due Insomuch that the Sacred Scripture says that they were the a Porro filii Heli filii Belial nescientes Dominum Children of Belial so it calls those whom it would signifie to be very wicked and absolutely ruin'd For Belial is as much as to say Absque jugo having lost the Fear of God and the remembrance of their Duty and it adds that their b Erat ergo peccatum puerorum grande nimis coram Domino Sin was very enormous in the sight of God. Their Iniquity drew upon them so great an Indignation of God that he sent by a c Videbis aemulum tuum in Templo in universis prosperis Israel non erit senex in domo tua omnibus diebus pars magna domus tuae morietur cum ad virilem aetatem venerit Prophet to tell the Father too negligent in Correcting his Children That he would take a Revenge which should serve as an Example to all Posterity That he would exclude his Family from the High Priesthood to give to another That the greatest part of his Offspring should die in the Flower of their Youth and should not arrive at a perfect Age And that his two Sons Ophni and Phinees should die both in one Day and that all their Race should d Juravi domui Heli quod non expietur iniquitas domus ejus victimis muneribus usque in aeternum bear for ever the Marks of their Iniquity which should never be Expiated by Victims and Sacrifices All this happen'd as he had foretold A little while after Ophni and Phinees were kill'd in a Defeat of the Philistians On the same Day the Father hearing the News of their Death fell down backward broke his Head and dy'd upon the Place Many other Misfortunes happen'd that Day and amongst others the Ark
God from his Youth and kept his Commandments he complain'd not against God for the Affliction of Blindness which he sent him but continu'd immoveable in the Fear of God giving him Thanks all the Days of his Life O how admirable is the Effect of a Vertue which hath always increas'd with Age b Sexagenarius lumen recepit reliquum vero vitae in gaudio fuit cum bono profactu timoris Dei porrexit in pace Tob. 14. He was deliver'd from that Affliction Four Years after and liv'd to the Age of 110 when he dy'd in peace after he had made as the Scripture takes notice a continual Progress in the Fear and Service of God. Thus Theotime do they Live thus do they Die who have spent their Life vertuously in their Youth I cannot finish this Chapter Third Example of Eleazar which is already too long without bringing a Third Example in the Person of that great Martyr of the Old Testament Eleazar 2 Machab. 6. He was an ancient Man very Venerable for the number of his Years but yet more for his Vertue wherein he had liv'd from his Infancy When King Antiochus Persecuted the Jews to make them Renounce their Religion and the Adoration of the true God this holy Man was Apprehended to be constrain'd thereto by force of Torments which could never make his ancient Piety to stagger And when some of the Standers by exhorted him to obey the Persecutor at least in exterior shew and appearance to free himself from the Torture The Scripture saith that he took into Consideration the Dignity of his Age At ille cogitare caepit aetatis ac senectutis suae eminentiam dignam ingenitae nobilitatis canitiem atque à puero optimae conversationis actus which was grown gray in Vertue not having committed any thing yet unworthy of his Extraction and of a true Son of Abraham and the Religious Life he had led from his Infancy and having reflected on these things he immediately Answer'd with an invincible Courage That he would rather Die than consent to such a criminal Action And presently his Torments were redoubled and he suffer'd Death with an incredible Patience Learn dear Theotime from this Example and the precedent what a Vertue acquir'd in Youth is able to do when setled by a continual Exercise of good Actions and labour to be such now as you would wish to be all the remainder of your Life CHAP. X. That those who have been addicted to Vice in their Youth are very difficultly Corrected and it often happens that they never Amend but miserably Damn themselves O Theotime Ninth Motive the great Importance of Living well during Youth that I had a Pen that were able to Engrave this important Truth more deeply in your Heart than in Brass or Marble and make you perfectly comprehend the great and dreadful Difficulty with which he Corrects himself who hath led a wicked Life in his Youth A Difficulty so great that it is almost impossible sufficiently to express it and on the other side so general that we cannot consider it attentively without being touch'd with a lively Sorrow seeing so vast a number of Christians and principally of young People who grone under the tyranny of a vicious Habit which being contracted in their Youth and increas'd with Age leads them to Perdition from whence if it chance they recover it is with incredible Pains and Combats and by a manifest Miracle of Divine Grace Learn O dear Theotime to avoid this Danger and endeavour to comprehend the greatness either entirely to prevent it or quickly to withdraw your self if you be already engag'd therein This so great a Difficulty springs from three Causes The First is the incredible Power and Force of a wicked Habit which being once rooted in the Soul cannot be pluckt up but with great trouble All Habits have commonly this Quality that they continue a long time and are very hardly destroy'd But amongst others wicked Habits are such as adhere more strongly and are not so easily chang'd Because it is far more difficult to corrupt Nature to raise it self to Good than to do Evil. Hence it comes that the Scripture says Perversi 〈◊〉 cilè corrigeâ—tur 〈◊〉 rum infinitus est numerus Eccles 1. That the Wicked are hardly Corrected which makes the number of Fools that is of Sinners to be infinite But amongst wicked Habits those which are contracted in Youth are the strongest and with most difficulty overcome For the Passions which are the Instruments of Vice not being moderated in that Time by Vertue encrease with Age and encreasing augment and fortifie Vice giving it daily new Forces which render it at length unconquerable For this Reason the same Scripture having a Mind to express the force of a vicious Habit contracted in younger Years delivers a Sentence which young People ought to have frequently before their Eyes Job 20. Ossa ejus implebuntur vitiis adolescentiae ejus cum eo in pulvere dormient The Wicked shall be fill'd with Vices from his Youth and they will follow him to his Grave That is the Vices and ill Inclinations of Youth become so deeply and strongly rooted in the Soul that all the remainder of his Life is sensible of them and opprest with them and they continue even until Death as we daily see And the Cause thereof is very evident for Vice which has once gotten possession of a Soul encreases and strengthens the Passions the Passions corrupt the Judgment and make it conceive that Good which is Evil esteem Evil that which is Good The Judgment perverted corrupts the Will which is carry'd blindly to Sin and from thence proceeds all the remainder of Wickedness because as S. Augustin says a Ex voluntate perversa facta est libido dum servitur libidini facta est consuetudo dum consuetudini non refistitur facta est necessitas Aug. lib. 8. Confes cap. 3. The Will deprav'd settles its Affection and takes Pleasure in Ill. Pleasure produceth a Custom and a Custom not resisted becomes a Necessity And when a Soul is arriv'd at this Point she is out of hopes of Amendment because as another Author adds b Actio consuetudinem parit consuetudo necessitatem necessitas mortem S. Isid Necessity is the Mother of Death The Second Cause of this great Difficulty is the Diminution of the Divine Grace For as God augments his Favours to those that humbly receive them and make use of them for their Salvation so he diminisheth them to those who abuse and contemn them Now if he treat Men in this manner it seems that he more ordinarily deals so with young Men on whom as he bestows many Favours when they worthily dispose themselves as we have said above so he withdraws his Kindnesses from them when they abuse them as we have made appear by the Experience of those who having been favour'd with particular Obligations from
of his pious Mother who had follow'd him by Sea and Land from her own Country to Carthage from Carthage to Rome from Rome to Milan to withdraw him from his Disorders and gain him to God to whom next to God he is indebted for his Salvation After the powerful Exhortations of his best Friends after many Conferences with the great S. Ambrose and with other Persons eminent for Vertue and Learning after all the powerful interior Motions of Divine Grace for his entire Conversion he must have the Miracle of a Voice from Heaven which cries aloud to him Tolle lege Tolle lege Take and Read Take and Read Admonishing him to open the New Testament which he had by him He takes it and having open'd it found these Words of the Apostle by which the Holy Ghost wrought in his Soul her entire Conversion and perfect Reconciliation Rom. 13. Ver. 13. Non in comessationibus ebrietatibus non in cubilibus impudicitiis non in contentione aemulatione sed induimini Dominum Jesum Christum carnis curam ne feceritis in desideriis Not in Banquetings and Drunkenness not in Beds and Wantonness not in Strife and Emulation but put on our Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the Flesh in Concupiscences O God is it possible that the change of a Soul should be so difficult and that Vices contracted in Youth should cost so much Pains and so many Remedies to cure them This is not yet all O Theotime S. Augustin being absolutely Converted was not at all freed from the precedent Difficulties For altho' he never return'd back after his Conversion in consequence whereof he perform'd an exact Penance and liv'd a very Saintly and altogether Angelical Life Nevertheless he was sensible a long time after of * Adhuc vivunt in memoria mea talium rerum imagines quan ibi consuetudo mea fixit Lib. 10. cap. 30. the Remainders of his former Life and of frequent and very violent Temptations which being caus'd by the old Habits of his Youth gave him much Trouble and Exercise to conserve himself in Holiness according to the Account he hath given in the Tenth Book of his Confessions and in the others following where he describes the different Temptations with which he was much tormented O Theotime read over and over again this Example consider attentively therein all the Particularities and see to what Extremity a vicious Habit of Youth not resisted in time is able to carry one Fly the Danger where this Saint was like to perish and where many make daily deplorable Shipwreck of their Souls There is yet the Example of Manasses in the following Chapter and that of S. Jerom. Pag. 3. Cap. 9. Art. 8. CHAP. XII Examples of those who have never Amended the Vices of their Youth AS in a Shipwreck where a Ship is broken by a Tempest there are always many who perish and very few who save themselves by Swimming or otherwise Thus in the Shipwreck of Vertue which many fall into in their Youth the number of those who are entirely destroy'd therein is very great and of those who escape very small You will understand the smalness of this Number when you shall know Theotime that in all the Holy History a thing almost incredible there is found but one only Example in the Person of Manasses King of Juda the Account whereof I shall give you hereafter and that for this one it produces a vast number of others who were miserably Shipwreckt in the Storm and are dead in the Vices of their Youth some having liv'd a long time after others being snatcht away by Death in the prime of their Age. I shall here recount you some Examples First of all the Kings of Israel who to the number of Nineteen Reign'd over the Ten Tribes of Israel after the Division that was made of that Kingdom from that of the Tribe of Juda after the Death of Solomon there was not one but was extremely wicked from his Youth nor any that was Converted before his Death And altho' the Scripture doth not make express mention at all of the Life of their Youth nevertheless it gives us sufficiently to understand that they were wicked in that Age saying of each of them absolutely that they were vicious and not reporting of them one Action of Vertue except of one viz. Jehu of whom it recounts some good Works which he perform'd at his beginning altho' afterwards he was perverted like the rest Amongst the Kings of Juda who Reign'd to the number of Nineteen after Solomon there were Six who were good that is Asa Josaphat Osias Joathan Ezechias Josias and all the others were wicked Those who were good began from their Youth and continu'd such all their Life the greatest part of those who were vicious began their Wickedness in their younger Years and were never chang'd Thus it is said of King Ochosias That he began to Reign about Twenty two Years of Age and was wicked an Imitatator of the Idolatry of impious Achab King of Israel who was taught by his Mother Athalia Sister of that wicked King And he Reign'd but a Year at the end whereof he dy'd in his Wickedness It is said of Achaz 4 Reg. 6. That he was Twenty Years of Age when he began to Reign and that he apply'd not himself to Good 2 Para. 28. and to the Service of God but to follow the Examples of the Idolatrous Kings of Israel and that he far surpass'd them in Naughtiness wherein he dy'd after he had persever'd in Wickedness the space of Sixteen Years Amon Reign'd at the Age of Twenty two 4 Reg. 21. and became an Imitator of the Vices of his Father Manasses but not of his Repentance and dy'd in his Sins at the end of Two Years 4 Reg. 23. Murther'd by his Domesticks Joachim began at the Age of Twenty five 2 Para. 36. and Reign'd Eleven Years during which Time he was wicked like his Father's and dy'd in his Iniquities without being lamented by any one Non plangent eum vae frater vae soror non concrepabunt ei vae Domine vae inclyte Sepultura asini sepelietur putrefactus projectus extra portas Jerusalem Jerem. 22. and also depriv'd of the Honour of a Sepulcher according to the Menace of the Prophet Jeremy His Son Jechonias having Succeeded at the Age of Eighteen 4 Reg. 24. Reign'd but Three Months at the end whereof he deserv'd for his Sins to be brought under the Subjection of Nabuchadonosor and sent into Babylon where he dy'd a long time after Sedecias 4 Reg. 24. 25. the last of the Kings of Juda being come to the Crown at the Age of Twenty one was also wicked like his Predecessors and having persever'd in his Iniquities the space of Eleven years he drew upon himself and his People the utmost Effect of the Revenge which God had threaten'd the Jewish Nation with for a
Dan. 13. like to him whom Daniel calls by that Name Inveterate dierum malorum O thou that ard old in a wicked Life and that the hasten'd Death of the Just who dy'd in the Flower of his Age condemns as the Wise-man says * Condemnat autem justus mortuus vivos impios juventus celerius consummata longam vitam injusti Sap. 4. Sicut vita mala quanto magis fuerit prolongata tanto magis delinquentibus multiplicat poenam sic vita bona quamvis hic brevi tempore terminata sempiternam conquirit bene viventibus gloriam Vita igitur mala immaturos acerbosque senes demergit in Tartarum vita verò bona defunctos juvenes maturos perducit ad regnum S. Fulgen. Epist 2. cap. 3. the long Life of the Wicked Because this is made worthy of Heaven in a small time he liv'd and the long life of those who serv'd only to multiply their Crimes and encrease their Damnation But I say that it is also most true that many die in Youth in punishment of their Sins and that the Sins of that Age advance the Death of many The Scripture expresly shews this in many places it alledges a vast number of Examples and daily Experience makes it appear most evident Job speaking of the Wicked says that * Antequam dies ejus impleantur peribit manus ejus arescent laedetur quasi vinea in primo flore botrus ejus quasi oliva projiciens florem suum Job 23. Ver. 3 2. He shall perish before the number of his Days be accomplish'd and shall be like a Bunch of Grapes which a blasting Wind nips in its Flower or like an Olive whose Bud breaking forth is strucken with a Tempest Solomon in his Proverbs says Timor Domini apponet dies anni impiorum breviabuntur Prov. 10. v. 25. Quasi tempestas transiens non erit impius v. 2. ibid. The Years of the Wicked shall be shortned and the Sinner shall be like a Storm which passeth in a moment * Ne impie agas multum noli esse stultus ne moriaris in tempore non tuo Eccl. 7. In his Ecclesiastes Chap. 7. he admonishes you to have a care not to abandon your self to Sin nor to be of the number of the Unwise that is of Sinners lest you should die in a time not design'd for you that is sooner than you should have done according to the natural Course of your Life And in the Eighth Chapter he desires by a just Indignation Non sit bonum impio nec prolongentur dies ejus sed quasi umbra transeant qui non timent faciem Domini Eccl. 6. that the Wicked should receive no Good nor his Days be prolong'd and that all those who have no Fear nor Respect for the Majesty of the All-seeing God and who are so bold as to offend him before his Face and in his Presence should pass like a Shadow which hath no substance and which perisheth in a moment All these Expressions are clear in Scripture and the Effects are there yet more evident See the Examples we have brought in the precedent Chapter in the Persons of Ochosias Amon Joachim and Sedecias In the Sixth Chapter in the Persons of the Children of Juda and Heli and in that of Amnon and Absolom And altho' we had no other Proofs of this Verity the Examples we daily see do but discover it too clearly How many young People do we see die some by a burning Fever or such like Malady Others in a Quarrel or some wicked Encounter Others in Duels which now reign so freely Others kill'd in War Others by certain dreadful and unexpected Accidents All these Deaths which are but too frequent are the Effects of the Divine Anger against young People who contemn his Favours and refuse to Serve him in the Time wherein they are oblig'd to it O Theotime have a dread lest these Punishments should befall you ARTICLE II. The Second Evil which springs from Sins committed in Youth Blindness of Mind and Obdurateness in Vice. Corporal Death is not the only nor the saddest Effect of the Sins of Youth that which they cause in the Soul by interiour Blindness and Obdurateness in Evil into which they cast her are no less common yet far more deplorable and dreadful a Super mortuum plora defecit enim lux ejus super fatuum plora defecit enim sensus Eccl. 22. Luctus mortui septem dies fatui autem impii omnes dies vitae illorum We must lament the Dead says the Wise-man because he loseth the light but we must lament a Sinner because he hath lost his Judgment The Sorrow for the Dead ought to continue but Seven Days that is a small time but we must lament a Sinner all the space of his Life For how can we consider without Tears and Sorrow so great and universal a Misfortune which we see in many young People whom the Sins of their Youth bring to a prodigious Obdurateness which abandons them to Vice without any restraint b Obdurateness of Youth in Vice. The multitude of those is innumerable who after having spent the prime time of their Youth in the Disorders of Sin and principally in those of Impurity become insensible of their Salvation blind in their proper Interest obdurate in Evil contemning the most wholsom Admonitions glorying in their Iniquities scoffing at all the Good they see perform'd by others and having no other thought than to take their Pleasures and follow all the Motions of their deprav'd Inclinations running thus blindly on their Perdition so that nothing is able to withhold them O Theotime is not this a deplorable Misfortune But I wish to God it were not so frequent as it is great S. Augustin had notably experienc'd it in his own Person as he himself reports in his Confessions where he deplores his Misfortune with Words which are able to move the hardest Hearts and which deserve to be here cited at length to teach young People how they ought to fear the misfortunate Effect of the Sins of Youth * Exhalabantur nebulae de limosa concupiscentiâ carnis scatebra pravitatis obnubilabant atque offascabant cor meum ut non discerneretur serenitas dilecsionis à caligine libidinis Utrumque in confuso aestuabat rapiebat imbecillam aetatem per abrupta cupiditatum atque mersabar gurgite flagitiorum Lib. 2. Conf. cap. 2. That lascivious Concupiscence of the Flesh and boiling of my Youthful Blood exhal'd such Clouds into my Mind that they overspread it with great obscurities and in such a manner cast a Mist over it that it could not discern the Serenity of chast Love from the Darkness of impure Lust Both of these raising turbulent Motions in me dragg'd my frail Youth into the Precipice of all sort of Concupiscence and plung'd it into the Gulf of Wickedness And afterwards he adds Obsurdueram stridore
catenae mortalitatis meae poena superbiae animae meae ibam longius à te c. That the brutish Passion of immodest Love was a Chain which kept him bound and that the Noise of this Chain continually mov'd and agitated had made him interiorly Deaf and hinder'd him from hearkning to any thing that admonish'd him for his good like a Beast strongly Chain'd up the motion of whose Chain did hinder it from hearing the Noise which was made about it And that which is yet very remarkable is that this Deafness was a Punishment of the Pride of his Soul contracted by the Disorders of his Life wherein he continually banish'd himself from God plunging himself more and more in the Abyss of Vice. Behold dear Theotime whether the Sins of Youth lead one and whither yours will infallibly bring you if you withdraw not your self intirely and that in good time This Subject of Blindness and Obdurateness in Vice caus'd by the Sins of Youth and particularly by the Sin of Impurity deserves a longer Discourse but it shall be more amply Treated in Part 3. Chap. 8. Art. 2. whither I send you ARTICLE III. The Third Evil the loss of many fair Hopes This Evil is too visible and there needs no other Proof than daily Experience How many young Souls do we see who give fair Hopes by the excellent Qualities wherewith they are endow'd who might make themselves capable of some great Action and one day succeed in some considerable Employment where God might be Honour'd and the Publick considerably Serv'd who go and destroy themselves at the Entrance and coming to be misled in Youth make themselves unfit for Noble Enterprises for which they seem'd to be born and frequently become idle Companions and absolutely unuseful like to some Trees all cover'd with Blossoms in the Spring which a nipping Frost blasts and makes unfruitful all the rest of the Year This happens not only to those to whom the Sins of Youth either hasten Death or bring an Obdurateness in Vice as we have said but also very frequently to those who are withdrawn from Sin after the first Disorders of their Youth who having lost by Idleness which ordinarily accompanies Sin in that Age the most precious Time of all their Life are made uncapable of any thing and unuseful for what is good Or if they have not absolutely lost that Time they are become by their reiterated and multiply'd Sins unworthy of the Employments they were capable of and to which God had design'd them Comprehend this well Theotime and that you may comprehend it better take notice of what follows viz. That God by his Providence designs young People to different Conditions wherein he would Employ them for his Service and their Salvation but upon this Condition that they render themselves fit by their Labour during their Youth and also make not themselves undeserving by their Sins From whence it falls out that when they addict themselves to Vice and forget God in their Youth God in punishment of their Sins excludes them from those Employments to which they were call'd and he had appointed for them in his first Intention This Truth is grounded upon Sacred Scripture when God promis'd to David the Kingdom of Israel for himself and his Posterity it was upon this Condition * Si custodierint filii tui testamentum meum Psal 131. Ita tamen si custodierint filii tui vias meas 2 Par. 6. Ita duntaxat si custodierint quae praecepi eis 2 Par. 3.3 That he and his Offspring should live in the Observance of his Commandments A little while before he had taken away the Honour of Priesthood from the Family of the High Priest Heli because he and his Children were become unworthy by their Sins Altho' in his first Intention he had appointed * Loquens locutus sum ut domus tua ministraret in conspectu meo in sempiternum nunc autem absit hoc à me sed quicunque honorificaverit me glorificabo eum qui autem contemnunt me erunt ignobiles 1 Reg. 2. that the Priesthood should always remain in that Family but with this Condition that they should not render themselves unworthy The words are very clear in the First Book of Kings Chap. 2. This Procedure appears most evident in the Case of Saul first King of Israel God had given that Kingdom to him and to his Family but upon Condition that they should particularly observe his Commandments It happen'd that this Prince transgress'd the Orders of God in two Occasions amongst others in consequence whereof he was rejected from the Kingdom which God had prepar'd for him The First was when being one Day in his Camp press'd by his Enemies to Engage in a Battel he Offer'd Sacrifice not expecting the arrival of the Prophet Samuel who had forbidden him Enterprising any thing before his Return The Sacrifice was scarce ended when the Prophet came and * Dixitque Samuel ad Saul Quid fecisti stultè egisti nec custodisti mandata Domini Dei tui quae praecepit tibi quod si non fecisses jam tunc praeparasset Dominus regnum tuum super Israel in sempiternum sed nequaquam regnum tuum ultra consurget 1 Reg. 13. said to him What have you done you have done foolishly you have not kept the Commandment of the Lord your God which he had commanded you for the Lord had lately Establish'd your Kingdom upon Israel for ever But now your Kingdom shall not continue The Second Occasion was when having overcome the Amalecites he spar'd the Life of their King and preserv'd their Flocks and all their Riches against the Command God had given him not to spare any thing but to consume all with Fire and Sword. Samuel comes and reproches him for his Disobedience and declares unto him on the Part of God that he should be no more King of Israel * Pro eo quod abjecisti sermonem Domini abjecit te Dominus ne sis Rex 1 R. 15. Because says he you have rejected the Word of God he hath also rejected you so that you shall be no more King. Learn from these Examples Theorime that God sometimes designs Men to Employments which their Sins hinder them from obtaining An important Advice or continuing a long time in them after they have gotten them And be assur'd that if you live wickedly in your Youth you have great reason to fear that God will reject you from that Condition to which he had design'd you and that you shall never atchieve any thing considerable God refusing you the Honour to be Serv'd by you when you shall be at a fit Age as you have neglected to Serve him in your Youth ARTICLE IV. The Fourth Evil springing from the Sins of Youth The Excess of Vice amongst Men. This Evil will seem to you at present incredible but you will understand it clearly when you have made the least reflection upon it For First
whereof it is spoken in the Second Book of Kings Chap. 16. with all his other Crimes did contribute thereunto What shall we say of Salomon Salomon Theotime who being the wisest of all Men singularly belov'd of God and favor'd by him with all desirable Graces permitting himself to be misfortunately carry'd away with unchast Love fell from that Sin to the basest of all Crimes that is Idolatry wherein he continu'd such a long time that it is not known whether he was ever rais'd from it and hath left all the World in doubt of his Salvation O dreadful Example O frightful Effect of the Sin of Uncleanness If this Sin were so frightful in Particulars Omnis caro corruperit viam suam Gen. 6. it hath no less spar'd Multitudes nor even the whole World. That dreadful Deluge which drown'd the whole Earth two thousand Years after its Creation was the first Effect of Impurity which had caus'd so prodigious a Corruption in all Human Nature that it provok'd the Divine Choler Tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus delebo inquit hominem quem creavi à facie terrae even to destroy by an universal Flood that same Nature the most excellent Workmanship of his Hands to extinguish in those Waters the Flames of that unchast Love which had caus'd such an universal Conslagration The Waters of the Deluge were scarce dry'd up Clamor Sodomaeorum Gomorraeorum multiplicatus est peccatum eorum aggravatum est nimis Gen. 19. Igitur pluit Dominus super Sodomam Gomorram sulphur ignem à Domino de coelo sed subvertit civitates has omnem circa regionem universos habitatores urbium cuncta terrae viventia Gen. 19. Quibus in testimonium nequitiae samigabunda constat deserta terra Sap. 19. when this detestable Sin beginning again to enkindle its first Flames oblig'd the Divine Justice to send another frightful Punishment upon those infamous Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah whose Impudence being arriv'd at the greatest height and crying to Heaven for Vengeance God showres down Fire and Brimstone visibly from Heaven which reduc'd into Ashes not only the Men and Cities but also all the neighboring Land which is yet to this day an infectious unwholsom Marsh to which Man dares not approach that it might serve as an Example to Posterity and teach the Immodest that the dishonest Fire with which they permit themselves to be inflam'd shall be punish'd with another Fire which shall burn always and never be consum'd To these Examples which are taken out of the Sacred Scripture and by consequence most certain I might add many others with which Histories abundantly furnish us I shall content my self with two which I have chosen out amongst others The First is recounted by St. Gregory in his Dialogues He saith S. Greg. lib. 4. Dial. cap. 35. there was one in his time nam'd Chrysorius a Man of Quality and very rich but as much abounding with Vices as he was wealthy in Riches but above all extreamly addicted to immodest Pleasures God resolving to put a period to those Sins he daily heap'd up one after another sends him a severe Sickness of which he died but with a Death very extraordinary Approaching to the greatest extremity of his Distemper he suddenly perceiv'd a multitude of malignant Spirits who presented themselves unto him in hideous Forms and made a shew as if they would immediately carry him into Hell. He began to tremble look agast and lamentably cry out for succour he turns himself on every side to avoid the sight of those horrid Shapes but which way soever he mov'd they were continually before his Eyes After many struglings feeling himself press'd and violent hands laid on him by those wicked Spirits he began horribly to cry out Truce till Morning Truce till Morning and shrieking thus his Soul was torn from his Body and he miserably departed without obtaining the Truce he requir'd O Incontinence the Mother of Impenitence If this Example be terrible that which follows is yet more frightful and ought to move you more powerfully It is related by John Gerson Chancellor of Paris who took it out of Thomas Cantipratensis Suffragan Bishop of Cambray who says he was an Eye-witness of it He says That being a young Scholar he had a Companion of his Studies with whom he had contracted a very strict Friendship a Person of Quality and endow'd with all the Vertues one could wish in a young Man. Happy if he had conserv'd that Treasure of Innocence But it chanc'd by a Misfortune too frequent to young Persons that he fell into wicked Company which kindled in his Heart the Fire of unchast Love This in a short time consum'd all his good Inclinations and cast him into the incredible Disorder of a Life full of Sins and Corruptions His Irregularities were visible to all the World and continues in this deprav'd Custom notwithstanding the Admonitions of his Friends And this Author says that he himself frequently exhorted him to return to the Way from which he had departed As he contemn'd all Advertisements God was resolv'd in his Person to shew an Example to young People who permit themselves to be blindly carry'd to this miserable Sin by a dreadful Accident which I shall recount to you Being once asleep at Midnight he was seis'd with a terrible Fright wherein being awak'd he began to cry out with a dreadful clamour All the House rises and every one comes to his assistance They ask him where his Sickness held him but could get no other Answer from him than hideous Outcries They cause the Priest to be sent for who exhorted him to think upon God and beg pardon of him for his Sins but in vain The Priest continuing to exhort him with many moving Expressions and Tears he turns towards him and looking upon him with ghastly Eyes spake thus to him in a lamentable Voice Wo be to him that seduced me Wo be to him that seduced me It is in vain to invoke the Grace of God I see Hell open ready to receive me After these Words which redoubled the Lamentations of all those who were present every one entreating him to recommend himself to God he turns to the other side and continuing his Clamors miserably and in Despair he died Ought not this Example Theotime to make all those tremble who are addicted to the Sin of Incontinency and principally young Persons to whom it doth particularly appertain to teach them how they ought to fly this abominable Sin and with what care they ought to preserve themselves from the Company of those misfortunate Spirits who corrupt the Vertue of others ARTICLE IV. Remedies against Impurity And first that this Sin must be resisted at the beginning After I have discover'd the Malice of this Sin I must shew the Remedies and afford you Means by which you may preserve your self from the Enemy of your Salvation The First which I shall prescribe First