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
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
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
discover themselves to any Person they fly from those who may keep them in the good Path or set them right when they are gone astray which is the cause why they remove themselves so so far from them and often never or too late return to them Act not in this manner Theotime call to mind that St. Augustin attributes to this Cause the Disorder he fell into at the end of his Studies because he had no one to take care to root out the Vices which then grew in his Soul. Forget not also what the Scripture recounts of King Joas That he was vertuous as long as he was instructed by the High Priest Joiada Fecit Joas rectum coram Domino cunctis diebus quibus docuit cum Joiada sacerdos 4 Reg. 3. he had no sooner lost the Conduct of that holy Man but he became wicked and was misfortunately ruin'd ADVICE III. That young Men must fly carefully wicked Company and particularly that of young vicious Persons of their Profession The first Snare the Devil sets at that time for the Salvation of young People See Part 3. Chap. 9. is the meeting with wicked Company We have spoken above how hurtful it is principally at that time where it is dangerous beyond imagination The reason is because the World is full of them and it is impossible but that they should fall amongst them Besides they have not as yet sufficient Judgment to discern them nor sufficient Conduct to avoid them nor force of Mind to resist them The Wicked besiege them continually to draw them to their Disorders as it is said in the Proverbs * Fili mi si te lactaverint peccatores ne acquiescas eis Si dixerint veni nobiscum c. ne ambules cum eis Prov. 1. They tell them they must do as others do Complacence moves them and Shame hinders them from contradicting Thus they find themselves overcome and perverted in a small time O God Theotime who will deliver you from this so great and so present a Danger Stand mightily in fear of this Precipice if you desire your Salvation you can never sufficiently apprehend the Danger Beseech God daily that he would deliver you Stand upon your guard to avoid them or retire from them when you shall fall amongst them Amongst wicked Company have a care chiefly of those of your own Profession you will meet with them more frequently you will have more trouble to resist them we easilier permit our selves to be won by those that are like us a Postquam autem obiit Joiada ingressi sunt principes Juda adoraverunt Regem Qui delinitus obsequiis eorum acquievit eis Et dereliquerunt templum domini Dei patrum suorum Paral. 24. King Joas who had liv'd so holily during his Youth under the Conduct of the High Priest Joiada was preverted by his Courtiers so as by their solicitation to fall into Idolatry Stand upon your guard I say that at least you may not be corrupted by them altho ' you cannot absolutely avoid the meeting with such Company For this reason fly their Conversation as much as you can when you cannot avoid them stay not long with them find some Means to break off fairly from them O Theotime how happy would you be if after this so dangerous a time of Youth you might truly say as King David b Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me legem tuam non sum oblitus Psal 117. Protexisti me à conventu malignantium à multitudine operantium iniquitatem Psal 65. The Snares of Sinners have environ'd me thou hast preserv'd me O God from the Assembly of the Wicked and from the multitude of those who work Iniquity ADVICE IV. That they must apply themselves quickly to some Labor which may employ their Time and make them avoid Idleness which is then most dangerous and more than at any other time Idleness is the greatest cause of the Dissoluteness of young Men when they have finish'd their Studies It is the Mother of Vices and very hard to be avoided at that time Nature of her self is inclin'd to it and most of all in Youth after Labor and a Labor perform'd with some Restraint such as is that of Study or other Employments of young Men. For this reason when they begin to enjoy Liberty and to be Masters of themselves they give reins to Idleness with so much less Restraint as they have a long time sighed after it and know not the necessity of Labor at that time nor the great Damages Idleness will bring to them In this slothfulness Vice and ill Habits grow up in a short time as it happen'd to S. Augustin They think of nothing but Play and Pastimes following all their Pleasures seeking after Companions and all the Occasions of destroying themselves To avoid this Disorder Theotime I advise you to have a great care to fly at that time this so pernicious an Idleness Apply your self betimes to a regular Labor and chiefly to that which is necessary for you to make you capable and expert in the Profession you embrace you are oblig'd to it in Conscience and in the sight of God. Add thereto the Studies proper to improve your Mind as that of History as well Sacred as Profane Chronology Geography proper Language good Authors and other like Studies which are both honest profitable and pleasing If you will take pains you will find Means enough to employ your time well and besides the Profit of your Labor you will find therein most perfect Pleasures and Satisfaction of Mind Read Part 3. Chap. 7. to which all the Contentments of the World are not comparable ADVICE V. That young People ought to have a care of avoiding three ordinary Causes of their Ruin at that time Play Wine and Impurity These are the three great Rocks on which at this time young People split and to which Idleness and Company bring them and cause their Shipwreck Some are lost by the irregular love of Gaming which occasions an excessive loss of Time prodigality of their Means Vexation and Despair and casts them frequently into Extremities Others by the excess of Wine and good Cheer which they seek then as their chiefest Happiness and which besides the ruin of their Health and Fortunes is frequently the cause of sad Mischiefs Others and the greatest part by the detestable Sin of Impurity which so universally possesses young People and principally at that time and often by all these together I beseech you dear Theotime in the Name of God to observe attentively these three Evils as the three Precipices you are to avoid at that time See what we have said above of each of these in Part 3. Chap. 8. and in Part 4. Chap. 20. Use all possible Endeavors to fly them and be confident that upon this Flight depends all your Good and Salvation ADVICE VI. That they must avoid at that time Irresolution concerning the State they ought to choose
deceiv'd in all its Judgments and Maxims It is easie to manifest this Maxim by Induction The World places its Sovereign Happiness in Riches it desires them with earnestness and seeks after them before all things And the truth is that Riches makes not a Man happy they are frequently great Impediments to Salvation * Beatum dixerunt populum cui haec sunt Beatus populus cujus Dominus Deus ejus Psal 143. for to possess God is real Riches The World makes account that there is no Contentment but that which is found in the satisfaction of the Senses and in the Pleasures of this Life And the truth is that there is no solid Pleasure but in Vertue The World places Honor in many things which are not Honorable as in Esteem Reputation Dignities Places of Honor Respect of Men. And the truth is that real Honor consists in Vertue and is inseparable from it The World places Courage and Generosity in taking Revenge and in not pardoning an Injury And the truth is Courage consists in Pardoning or else the Son of God had no Courage when he Pray'd on the Cross for his Persecutors and was deceiv'd when he commanded us to love our Enemies * Aut ille fallitur aut mundus errat S. Ber. Ser. 3. de Nativitat Either the Son of God says St. Bernard is deceiv'd or else the world errs The same may be said of other Maxims of the World which are absolutely contrary to those of Jesus Christ MAXIM XIII That to be united only to God we must contemn Earthly things Yes Theotime for all that is in the World is Vanity there is nothing solid but God and in God. a Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas Eccl. 1. Vanity of vanities says the Wiseman and all things are vanity All that is here is nothing all passes like a Shadow and Smoke b Propter quem omnia detrimentum feci arbitror ut stercora ut Christum lucrifaciam Phil. 3. For this reason the Divine Apostle said he contemn'd all things and esteem'd them as dung that he might purchase Jesus Christ And the welbeloved Disciple cries out to all the Faithful c Nolite diligere mundum neque ea quae in mundo sunt si quis diligit mundum non est charitas patris in eo Quoniam omne quod est in mundo concupiscentia carnis est concupiscentia oculorum superbia vitae 1 Joh. 2. Love not the World nor the things that are in the World if any one loves the World he loves not God because all that is in the World is Concupiscence of the Flesh Concupiscence of the Eyes and Pride of Life d Mundus transit concupiscentia ejus Quid vis utrum amare temporalia transire cum tempore aut mundum non amare cum Deo in Aeternum vivere S. Aug. Tract 2. in Epist 1. S. Joh. The World passes and its Concupiscence Make choice adds S. Augustin either to set your affection on temporal things and pass with time or to love everlasting things and live eternally with God. CHAP. XVI Of Perseverance THIS dear Theotime is the last Advertisement I have to give you for your perfect Instruction yet it is the greatest and most necessary of all It is to no purpose to have begun in Vertue nor to have made some progress therein except we persevere to the end It is Perseverance which gives the Reward and Recompence and on it Salvation and Eternity do entirely depend It is a great Happiness to have been faithful to the Divine Favors in Youth and also to have conserv'd Vertue at our entring into a State of Life but it is a horrible Misfortune when forgetting the great Obligations we have to serve God and abusing the Favors we have receiv'd by his Mercy we misfortunately abandon it to follow Sin. O Theotime comprehend well this Misery a Vae his qui perdiderunt sustinentiam dereliquerunt vias rectas diverterunt in vias pravas quid facient cum inspicere caeperit Dominus Eccl. 2. Wo be to them says the Wiseman who have lost Perseverance and have departed from the Way of Vertue to wander in the high Road of Vice. What will they do when God shall examine their Life Yes Theotime what will they answer at that dreadful Day of the Divine Judgment when God shall make them see the greatness and multitude of his Favors and shall reproach their wicked Ingratitude their Infidelity their Inconstancy in his Service the Blindness with which they abandon'd him who is the Fountain of all Blessings and the sole Author of Salvation b Melius erat eis non cognoscere viam justitiae quam post agnitionem retrorsum converti ab eo quod illis traditum est sancto mandato 2 Pet. 2. Had it not been better for them says the Apostle St. Peter that they had never known the Path of Vertue than after having known it to retreat and turn their backs to the holy Law which had been given them There is no question but a good beginning in Youth is highly necessary for a happy end there is no doubt but it avails much but it is also most certain that it is not always pursu'd and that it happens too often to Men as to Trees which bear fair Blossoms in the Spring and no Fruit in Autumn The Sacred Scripture furnishes us with many Examples of those who have finish'd their Life in Vertue having embrac'd it in their Youth but it also produces some who have not persever'd to teach Men the great care they ought to have to continue constant in the Way of Justice We have a convincing proof of this Verity in the Example I have often cited of King Joas who having liv'd in Vertue from his tender Youth till the Age of Forty Years and more fell most deplorably into Vice and Idolatry But that of Solomon was dreadful in this matter That Prince had been favor'd in his Youth with extraordinary Blessings Vocavit nomen ejus amabilis Domino eo quod diligeret enm Dominus 2 Reg. 12. Apparuit Dominus Salomoni per somnium nocte dicens postula à me quod vis ut dem tibi Sap. 7. 3 â—eg 3. Domine Deus tu regnare fecisti servum tuum pro David patre meo Ego autem sum puer parvulus ignorans egressum introitum meum c. Dabis servo tuo cor â—ocile ut populum tuum judicare possit discernere inter bonum malum He had been bred up in Vertue by the incredible care of his Parents as he himself testifies He was in his Youth the most pure most holy and the most accomplish'd of any that ever liv'd God himself had done him the honor to speak to him and to give him permission to demand of him whatsoever he pleas'd In this liberty of Wishing granted him he was so wise and vertuous that be