hear-say or any uncertain Report but from his own Experience There is another still alive who knew her was intimately acquainted with her and who gives her a Character above what either Man or Woman besides Jesus Christ ever deserved It is Monsieur Poiret who may be called the Chief Disciple or First Apostle of Antonia Bourignon he having spread her Fame and propagated her Opinions more studiously and with more Zeal and Fervour than any other As St. Paul desired to know nothing save Iesus Christ and him crucified so this Man seems to desire to know nothing but Madamoiselle Bourignon He does not believe a God more firmly than that this Woman was divinely inspired His words were to some of my Acquaintance who visited him Tam certus sum eam Virginem inspiratam esse quam Deum existere She is ever in his Mouth and on all occasions he recommends her Books as having Light and Instruction and all desirable Advantages above all the Books in the World without excepting the Scriptures Some few Years after her Death he sent a Memorial to Monsieur Bale to be inserted in the Novelles de la Republique de la Lettre that all the learned World might have the Knowledge of this wonderful Woman And because Monsieur Bale had dropt something which did not savour of that respect which is due to Madamoiselle Bourignon he again expostulated with him and corrected him by another Memorial both which may be seen in the Ninth Articles for the Months of April and May for the Year 1685. All which Monsieur Poiret writes now is upon the Principles of this Woman Her Doctrine is the Foundation of his Oeconomy Divine in which he imagines that he has explained all the Mysteries both of Nature and Religion cleared all Difficulties either in Philosophy or Divinity and revealed the secret Purposes of the Counsel of God both in respect of what is past and of what is to come All these great things he hath done by the Light which his Beloved Mistress afforded him Take his own words for it I ought to acknowledge that these Principles and many other things are not of my own Invention but that I have been led to them by the Divine Writings and by the Instruction of one of Unknown Worth I should never have come to the knowledge of these Truths of my self if the Light which God communicated to one of his Saints had not Administred the Occasion She is a Person whose Writings have led me into the Knowledge of the solid Principles of all things Madamoiselle Bourignon hath received from God such certain and particular Light as without which I neither could have seen nor been sensible in this manner of these Divine Truths how palpably soever the Text of Scripture may seem to lead the attentive Reader unto them God hath drawn me forth not by the force and subtilty of my wretched Reason nor by Study or by Reading the Books of Learned Men but by the Writings of a Woman through which God has touched and illuminated my Heart making me see a perfect Light in all these Matters and Difficulties as well as almost in all other things whether Divine or Humane Natural or Supernatural Behold a great and notable Truth and a Key of an infinite number of admirable Lights for explaining a Thousand Passages of Divine Scripture and of the charitable and adorable Conduct of God towards Men Nothing is wanting to make this rare and incomparable Truth to be received of Men but that its Discovery and the Explication of these Passages of Scripture which point it out have not been communicated by some Ancient Father or by some great Doctor but by an unlearned Woman to whom God has been pleased to manifest himself so far notwithstanding of the contrary Judgment of some bearded Animals Whosoever would see these things in the most sensible and most Divine Light that can be desired have no more to do but to consult the Works of Madamoiselle Bourignon particularly these Three or Four The renewing of the Gospel-Spirit Antichrist Discovered The Light of the World and the Touchstone For I do acknowledge That I have not perceived that God since the beginning of the World did ever discover more clearly more sensibly more strongly more plainly the greatness of Man's Corruption as he hath done in our Days by that excellent Organ of the Holy Ghost And nothing but the Discovery of this Evil has offended all wilfully wicked Persons at her their Proud Heart would not humble it self nor be covered with Confusion nor can they be induced to hate and renounce themselves The Devil also their good Friend who dwells in their corrupt Hearts not enduring to be thus exposed has resolved to employ by his Diabolical Slaves against this Divine Light and this Holy Soul which declares it his two ordinary Machines Lying and Violence which he hath inspired abundantly into the Hearts of many wicked Persons both Learned and Idiots who have not been wanting hitherto to labour in this as it becomes them in favour of their Master and King the Murtherer the Persecutor the Lyar the Calumniator from the Beginning who will one Day give them his common Pay if they do not defeat the Work which they have Diabolically made for him against the most Divine the most Splendid and the most Solid Truth which ever yet appeared Thus far Monsieur Poiret But that I may not be thought to impose upon the English Reader by Quotations from foreign Books which are little known and in few hands I will justifie this high Character of Antonia Bourignon by Passages of a parallel strain out of the Prefaces to her Treatise of The Light of the World which is now rendred into English to be read understood and considered by all who desire to be saved as the Title-page bears There her eminent Sanctity is declared and set forth in words which were never applicable to any Creature before for none but Iesus Christ was ever said to be perfect and without sin But the Purity of Antonia Bourignon's Life was exact and constant she was a perfect Pattern and living Exemplar of the Spirit and Doctrine of the Gospel In short We may all truly affirm That we never observed in her any Vice Sin or any Weakness of Spirit but a perfect and solid Vertue surpassing Natural and Humane Strength which made us say That her Life was altogether Miraculous as if Adam had never sinned in her And as to her Knowledge and Understanding it is made Infinite for there were hid in her the Treasures of Divine Wisdom which enabled her to utter things unheard of so marvellous and sublime that we often remained quite lost with Admiration for we had never heard such things She explained likewise the Holy Scriptures so perfectly that none of the holy Fathers have ever so done nor any body since the Creation of the World She knew the
secret Thoughts of Men's Hearts and Things to come and did not foretell them by way of Supposition or related them as if she had dreamt them We found also diverse times that she could tell what past in her absence and how our Souls behaved themselves towards God In short This Divine Soul told us so many Secrets of the Mystical and Inward Life that all our Theology was too short and insufficient to answer her to so high Questions not only in Matters of Theology but also in all other Matters according to the various Rencounters and Occurrences which fell out so that one would have thought that though a Man had perused all sorts of Histories and grown old in the study of all sorts of Sciences he could not know with such Understanding all the things which this Pilgrimess told us It is impossible to write in particular the admirable things which we have heard of this Pilgrimess so that We may say of her Discourses what St. Paul said of his Rapture That he had seen and heard things which eyes had not seen nor ear heard and that it has not entered into the mind of man what God has prepared for his elect Now lest any should think that this extraordinary Knowledge came to her by Natural Means or that it was the effect of some Art and Industry which others had not the happiness to know neither were capable to undergo we are told That she never read nor learn'd of any body That she was without Study even without Reading and which is more without Meditation Years and Experience make others Wise and Knowing but she had her vast Knowledge from the beginning she was not wiser in her Old Age than in her Youth for she was infallible in both neither was there any occasion for correcting or amending that which she spoke or wrote in her first years For if you peruse her Writings impartially you will meet with many remarkable Characters that are not ordinarily to be found in many Writings A clear and distinct Account of the Essential Truths of Christianity with a constant urging of them as the one thing necessary and distinguishing them from the accessory Truths which are not necessary to Salvation an inimitable simplicity of Expression which a Child may understand with as singular a sublimity of Thoughts a convincing power and force going along with them a plain unfolding in a few Lines the Difficulties about which the Learned write many Volumes a constant harmony and uniformity of Sentiments in the Writings of a course of forty years from about the Twenty third to the Sixty fifth year of her age in which she died with an evidence and clearness to the conviction of our Natural Reason And all this by one who never read any Books never conversed with the Learned to be instructed by them never premeditated what she wrote never blotted out nor mended what was once written but being attentive to the Love of God in the calm and inward recollection of her Spirit wrote as fast as her hand could guide the Pen and when some Writings were laid by unfinish'd for some years returned to them and finish'd them after the same manner without reading any more of what had been written than some few of the immediately foregoing Lines to make a due connexion Thus Memory and those Rational discussive Faculties which help others to the knowledge of Truth were of no use to her because they make her to have had an immediate intuition of all things in God with whom she had inward Conversation from her Childhood She neither did nor would learn any thing from the Scriptures though they were given by Inspiration and were designed to make every Man of God perfect and throughly instructed to every good word and work She would take nothing from the second-hand but would have all things immediately from God himself and therefore she asked Him Questions and received Answers from Him about the smallest matters In a word the design of these three Prefaces is to prove That all her Words and Thoughts are God's and that the Spirit was not given to her by measure no more than it was to Iesus Christ and that there was the same reason for both For as God had chosen a Virgin for his Mother so he had chosen another Virgin to be the Organ of his Light and Spirit by whom he designed to renew his Church and to give the last Blow and Overthrow to Satan's Kingdom for which cause she is called the Light of the World and these words of Isaiah are applied unto her The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light They that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined And upon this account Monsieur de Cort says I look upon her Acquaintance as a greater favour than all the Graces and Favours which God hath bestowed on me in this World yea even than my Creation it self for that would serve me in little stead without the working out of my Salvation which would have been in great danger if I had not attained to the knowledge of my self and of the Designs and Marvels of God which I have learned and discovered by the means of this Creature and she has certainly been sent me as the only Means of the Perfection of my Soul and of all those who will profit by the recital of this Narrative which I find my self obliged to publish for the profit of many This is the true treasure hid in the earth he who shall find it ought to sell all that he has to by this Ground to the end he may find and discover this Treasure and take it up with Joy as the most precious thing in the World I have insisted the longer upon the Character of Madamoiselle Bourignon her personal Endowments and Qualifications her Divine Mission and Authority as they are declared and set forth by her Disciples because they are Material Points in our Enquiry about her And for the same reason I have chose to give these things in their own words that it may appear to all that I do not charge them with things which they do not neither will own And now I may have liberty to add That if Madamoiselle Bourignon deserves the Character which is here given to her if it be true what these Authors I have quoted do say of her if their Commendations and Praises are not rash and groundless but built upon a solid Foundation then she is not only a very Singular and Extraordinary Person but without exception the greatest that ever was Born of a Woman She is above all the Ancient Patriarchs she is to be preferred to Moses and the Prophets to Iohn the Baptist and the Apostles and at least she ought to be honoured equally with Jesus Christ who is said to be God blessed for ever She was as much without Sin as he was and her Body was of
we close with this or that Method of Salvation otherwise we are shamefully lazy negligent and easie in things which do most concern us 'T is true the generality of the World practise the contrary they take these things upon trust and are satisfied with that which is first proposed and which lie nearest them But this is a Reproach to Mankind nor can there be a greater instance of the Corruption of Humane Nature than this that Men use their Reason least in things of greatest moment However we are not to consider what is commonly done but what should be done what is fit to be done by wise and good Men by such as would build their present Peace and Comfort and their eternal Interest not upon Sand but upon a Rock which can hold out against Storms and Tempests Now if in such cases a reasonable Conviction a satisfying Evidence be necessary then to receive Madamoiselle Bourignon as one so highly dignified by God and her Scheme of Religion and System of Opinions as Divine and absolutely necessary to be followed we ought to have something more than the Authority and Testimony of those Men formerly quoted for whatever their Morals be they are fallible as others if they will not wilfully deceive yet they are liable to be deceived and if they have been imposed upon where are we if we follow them The Testimony of Men is only valuable so far as they are competent Judges of the things which they declare It is unjust to deny the Testimony of sincere honest Men when they bear witness only to Matters of Fact to things which they have heard and seen but when it comes to Opinions Perswasions and Sentiments both good and wise Men ought to be submitted to a Tryal and Examination whether there be Reasons for their Belief Now the Case before us is of the Nature of the last that is It is not a Matter of Fact but a Matter of Faith and Opinion and therefore we must be allowed to judge the Validity of the Reasons of these Mens Sentiments of Antonia Bourignon before we can or ought to be of their Side And I am confident that if their Reasons be weighed in the Balance if they be put into just and equal Scales they will be found light and wanting Weight to make them pass for the Value which is put upon them I will not conceal any of their Reasons nor will I misrepresent them I do not remember to have met with any besides those which follow which have been suggested and which may be gathered from what has been said above 1. An Early and Extraordinary Sanctity 2. The secret Knowledge of Mens Thoughts 3. Foretelling things to come 4. A Sublime and Wonderful Knowledge of Divine Mysteries with an Uniformity and Agreement of Sentiments both with her self and Scripture 5. The Supernatural Means and Method of her coming to the Knowledge of all these things viz. without Reading without consulting Men or Books and without Meditation 6. The apparition of Comets at her Birth when she began to Write and at her Death From these Reasons they conclude that she was Divinely Inspired and sent to the World upon some great Design and for these Reasons they make her the Woman in the Revelation who was cloathed with the Sun and had the Moon under her Feet they call her the Spouse of Christ and give her that large Character which we have seen above I intend to consider these Reasons calmly and impartially First whether supposing them true the Consequence drawn from them be just and necessary and then what truth is in them I begin with the First viz. her Early and Extraordinary Sanctity And I do acknowledge that true Sanctity is only from God It is not the work of Nature but of Grace No Man can be perfectly Holy of himself nor can the Devil either intend or effectuate such a thing if therefore any have the Gift of Sanctity they have it from above God certainly is the Author of it whose Spirit only can subdue our Natural Corruption and raise us to a Conformity to the Divine Nature And as this Gift is of God so it is more valuable than the Gift of Miracles Prophecies speaking with divers Tongues and such like for it is a greater sign of the love of God and does better secure an Interest in him When our Lord bestowed the Power of Miracles and of casting out Devils upon the Seventy Disciples that they might not overvalue this Special Privilege or boast too highly of it be said unto them Notwithstanding in this rejoyce not that the Spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoyce because your names are written in Heaven Now all who are truly holy have their Names written there Many who have Prophesied and cast out Devils and done many wonderful Works shall be disowned in the great Day of the Lord they shall be commanded to Depart from Christ our Saviour but they who are truly sanctified will never be separated from him theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven for ever But though Sanctity be a great and most desirable token of God's Love and Favour yet it is not always attended with extraordinary Illuminations and Inspirations It may be without these and these may be separated from it Good and Holy Persons in the other World shall have a full and clear Vision of all things then they shall understand the Intricacies of Providence and the Secrets of the Divine Counsel then they shall see God as he is and know even as they are known But at present the best and most Holy see as through a Glass darkly and are ignorant of many things as well as others nay persons very good and holy and very dear to God may not know so much as some that are wicked and unsanctified What St. Paul supposeth may be proved by several Instances that one may have the Gift of Prophecy and understand all Mysteries and all Knowledge and yet be without Holiness for if they may want Charity they want a special part of Holiness Wherefore suppose we should grant Sanctity to Antonia Bourignon suppose her to be truly and extraordinarily Holy yet she is not therefore to be reckoned Infallible nor endued with all Knowledge nor are her Doctrines to be received Implicitly Let her Sanctity be never so great yet that alone doth not raise her to the Station and Dignity of a Prophet at whose Mouth the Church and all particular Persons should receive the Law and Will of God for though Holiness doth certainly not only dispose Persons to receive special Influences of the Spirit of God but also give a deeper Sence of Divine Truths than Reading even as Practice in any Art doth make one Wiser and more Skilful than Speculation yet every Holy Person must not pretend a Revelation of all particulars or to know the Mind of God in every thing Wherefore we find St. Paul distinguishing warily what was his own Judgment from what he had
for she did not pursue it when Father and Mother were Dead when she was at her own disposal she neither engag'd her self into that Order or any other but hated and abhorred all She indeed went and stayed some time at Mons with the Nuns of Notre Dame there but they soon wearied of her and she of them But to go on I will give you a Fourth Instance which all unbyass'd Persons must acknowledge very unsuitable to one of Extraordinary Sanctity nay which does not well agree with common measures of Grace and good Nature because it proceeded from an inordinate love of the World and could not be managed without great disrespect to her Father And this is her suing her Father at the Law to divide his Goods with her when he Married a Second time Monsieur Bourignon upon his first Wife's death employed some Priests and others who were most likely to prevail that they might perswade his Daughter Antonia to abide with him and to take the charge of his House and Family which she did with some difficulty for her Mind was wholly upon Solitude and Retirement from worldly Business though her Father's Necessity and Command shewed that it was the Will of God that she should at that time lead an Active Life and the Revelation ought to have been very Evident which could excuse the not assisting her Father when he wanted it so much and therefore it was told her that even Vows were dispensable in this Case She says that she manag'd the Affairs of her Father's Family very well and also did take time for Interiour Retreats but her Father was not so pleased with her Management as not to think of taking home a Wife which he at last did commanding his Daughter to deliver up to her the whole Charge of his House Antonia continued with her Father four Months longer but without great Satisfaction either to her self or to her Father and his new Wife As these Relations seldom agree well together but are often picking Quarrels and finding Fault one with another so it was here Madamoiselle esteemed her Mother-in-Law a Fool and had her in the utmost Contempt which the other did not bear patiently nor could the Father well suffer it He was obliged to take his Wife's part and not to countenance his Daughter which made her very uneasie and at last to resolve upon leaving the House which Monsieur Bourignon would neither encourage nor yet hinder but he flatly refused her Money which did very much Pique her And while she was in this discontented humour he who was Husband to her deceas'd Sister perswaded her to commence a Law Suit against her Father He himself was a Counsellor at Law and no doubt for his own Profit encourag'd this Process hoping to wheedle the simple Maid out of all or a great part of what the Law might give her but both he and she was disappointed at this time for Monsieur Bourignon did cast them And indeed whatever Singularities were in the present case which might give litigious Persons a foundation for a Process it seems very unreasonable to oblige a Father to bestow a Portion on a Daughter before she be Married or has any particular occasion for it especially when he is willing to keep and maintain her at home if she will prove Dutiful But suppose Monsieur Bourignon had been obliged in Justice to have granted to his Daughter a Portion at this time yet it was not becoming true Piety and Sanctity to go to Law with him The using private Methods and the Intreaties of Friends to bring him to rights was allowable but the going to Law was hardly justifiable because it both increas'd his Displeasure and Wrath at her and also exposed him as an Unreasonable Unjust and Undutiful Father who regarded neither the good of his Child nor the memory of his former Wife Law Suits are sometimes unavoidable and it may be lawful for the most Devout Christian sometimes to go to Law but generally Law Suits are Scandalous and are very unsuitable to that Piety and Perfection which Christians profess and should aim at They shew that there is little Justice little Charity little good Nature and too much of Inordinate Affection for the things of this Life either in the Plaintiff or Defendant and too commonly in both As a Wise Man will part freely with some of his Interest to redeem himself from the Vexation and Slavish Dependance which are Inseparable from Law Suits So a Good and Pious Man will without the compulsion of Law do more than that which he is obliged to in strict Justice It does not favour of great Piety when one is either very tenacious to keep all they have in Possession or very rigid to exact of others every thing they may claim Now therefore saith the Apostle there is utterly a fault among you because ye go to Law one with another why do ye not rather take wrong why do ye not rather suffer your selves to be defrauded If it is unbecoming Christians to go to Law except in extraordinary and unavoidable Cases if they ought to take Injuries and suffer Wrong rather than do it how doth the Extraordinary Sanctity of Antonia Bourignon appear who went to Law with her own Father when she had neither Law nor Reason on her side She that would have had others live up to the Letter of the Christian Law why did she not so her self here Though she gives an account of this Law Suit with her Father yet he who enlarged and continued her Life takes no notice of this Passage so that it seems he knew not how to justifie it But he gives an account of another Law Suit after her Father's Death for recovering a Share of his Fortune from her Mother-in-Law which was justifiable enough if she had not pretended to so much Self-denial to an entire abstractedness from the World and to be sent to reclaim others from their Worldly-mindedness and to Establish a most Spiritual Kingdom upon Earth The aforesaid Author was sensible of this Objection and therefore he obviates it and according to his Impious and Blasphemous Custom he ascribes it to God And says That he engaged her in this Suit and told her that it was for his Divine Glory and that she would have occasion for the Goods she obtained He also runs out in the Enumeration of the good Deeds done by Madamoiselle to shew how happy 't was for others that she was Rich and he might have instanc'd one more if the Story be true which goes of Monsieur Poiret who is said to be the Author of this Life viz. That she left him a very good Legacy But may not any thing be justified after this manner Did not Iudas varnish his Covetousness with a shew of Charity Compassion to the Poor was pretended but the real cause why he complain'd of the wast of Ointment was the keeping of the Bag. How many do excuse their Covetousness and sordid