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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B10083	Tracts theological. I. Asceticks, or, the heroick piety and vertue of the ancient Christian anchorets and coenobites. II. The life of St. Antony out of the Greek of Sr. Athanasius. III. The antiquity and tradition of mystical divinity among the Gentiles. IV. Of the guidance of the spirit of God, upon a discourse of Sir Matthew Hale's concerning it. V. An invitation to the Quakers, to rectifie some errors, which through the scandals given they have fallen into.	Stephens, Edward, d. 1706.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Asceticks, or, the heroick piety and virtue of the ancient Christian anchorets and coenobites.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Life of St. Antony.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Antiquity, tradition, and succession of mystical divinity among the Gentiles.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Enthusiasmus divinus: the guidance of the spirit of God.; Stephens, Edward, d. 1706. Apology for, and an invitation to, the people call'd Quakers, to rectifie some errors, which through the scandals given they have fallen into.	1697 (1697)	Wing S5444E; Wing S5444E; ESTC R184630	221,170	486

they wholly abstain from Wine as he has said in these express Words and eat nothing that has Blood in it Water is their only Drink and their Food is Bread with Salt and Hyssop Farther he describes the Order and Degrees of their Governours to wit those who perform the Ecclesiastical Offices then the Ministrations of the Deacons and lastly the Episcopal Presidency over all He that desires to know these things more accurately may be therein informed from the fore-mentioned History of Philo. It is therefore apparently evident to every one that Philo writing thus did mean thereby those first Preachers of the Evangelical Doctrin and Discipline at the beginning delivered by the Apostles Epiphanius Bishop of Cyprus concerning the same Har. 29. § 5. HAving said that the Christians were at first called Nazarens as Act. 24.5.2.22 and for some time Jesseans whether from the Name of Jesse or from the Name of our Lord Jesus because they were his Disciples he adds But thou may'st find this in the Writings of PHILO in the Book by him intituled Of the Jesseans who describing their Politie and Commendations and recounting their Monastries near about the Lake Maria he relates it of no other than of Christians For he when he was in that Region called Mariotis and was by them themselves conducted to the Monastries of that place got much Profit by it For being there in the Days of Easter he saw both their Lives and how some lived without Eating all the Holy Week of Easter some Two Days and some until the Evening But all these things were done by this Man for the treating of the Subject concerning the Faith and Manners of the Christians St. Hierom concerning the same in his Book de Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis PHILO the Jew Born at Alexandria of the Race of the Priests is therefore by us placed among the Ecclesiastical Writers because writing a Book of the first Church of Mark the Evangelist at Alexandria he discourseth in Praise of our People the Christians there recounting that they were not only there but also in many other Provinces and calling their Habitations Monastries Whence it appears that such was the Church of the first Believers in Christ as now the Monks endeavour and desire to be that nothing may be any one 's own that is that none claim a Propriety in any thing that there be none amongst them Rich none Poor their Patrimonies be divided among those who need that they all attend to Prayer and Psalms also to Doctrin and to Continence such as Luke relates were the first Believers at Hierusalem It is reported that under Caius Caligula he was in some Danger at Rome whither he was sent Legate for his Nation that when he came a second time to Claudius he there in the same City spake with the Apostle Peter and held Friendship with him and for this Cause also wrote in Praise of the Followers of Mark the Disciple of Peter at Alexandria A little after recounting the Works of Philo among the rest he puts in One Book concerning the Lives of our People that is concerning Apostolick Men of which we have spoken before which he intituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. because they did contemplate Heavenly things and prayed continually Johannes Cassianus concerning the same lib. 2. de Institut cap. 5. IN the Beginning of the Faith there were indeed but few but those most approved Persons reckoned under the Denomination of Monks who as from Mark the Evangelist of Blessed Memory who first presided Bishop in the City of Alexandria they received their Rule of Living did not only retain those Great things which we read in the Acts of the Apostles that the Church or Crowd of Believers at first made so famous viz. The Multitude of them who believed were of one Heart and of one Soul neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed were his own but they had all things Common Neither was there any among them that lacked for as many as were Possessors of Land or Houses sold them and brought the Prices of the thing which were sold and laid them down at the Feet of the Apostles and Distribution was made unto every Man according as he had need But they even built up more sublime thing upon them For retiring into the most secret parts of the Suburbs they lead a Life of so great Rigour of Abstinence that so severe a Profession of Life was an amazement to others For they applied themselves with so much Fervour to the Reading of the Divine Scriptures and to Prayer and to the Work of their Hands Day and Night that neither the Appetite or Memory of Meat unless after two or three Days did interrupt them by Hunger of the Body And they received Meat and Drink not as what they desired but what was necessary and not that neither before Sun-set that they might conjoyn the time of Light with the Studies of Spiritual Meditations but the Care of the Body to the Night and other things did they effect more sublime than these concerning which he who is not sufficiently informed by the People of the Countrey may satisfie himself in the Ecclesiastical History Sozomen concerning the same 1 Hist Eccl. c. 12. HAving spoken of the Glory of the Christian Religion by reason of the Virtue of its Professors and of the Confessors then living and of the Famous Bishop Spiridion he adds But most of all did they illustrate the Church with their Virtues and propagated the Christian Doctrin who exercised the Monastick Discipline For this kind of PHILOSOPHY coming from God with the greatest Benefit to Men despiseth indeed many Sciences and the Artifice of Logick as a matter of Curiosity and by which the Exercise of better things is supplanted nor is any thing of Advantage for a right kind of Life conferred by it and with a more natural Prudence void of Curiosity teacheth those things which remove wholly Vitiousness and effect better things but the Middle things between Vertue and Vice it reputes not among the Good but delights in only Good things and holds him for an ill Man who although he abstains from Evil yet doth no Good For it doth not make shew but exerciseth Vertue and makes no account of the Glory which is of Men resisting the Affections of the Mind with great Fortitude nor doth it yield to the Necessities of Nature nor stoop to the Infirmities of the Body but having obtain'd the Powers of a Divine Mind it looks perpetually at the Creator of all whom it worshippeth Day and Night and appeaseth with Prayers and Supplications But having begun a pure Religion with Purity of Mind and the Exercise of Good Deeds it makes light of Washings and such like Purifications For it judgeth Sins only to be Impurities and being Conquerour of those things which happen from without and as I may so say Mistress of all is not diverted from her purpose neither by the Confusion of

For this is the first Entrance of Actual Discipline and that you receive the Institutions and Sentences of all the Seniors with Attention and Silence and laying them up in your Heart make hast more to practice them your selves than to teach them to others For from this will grow a pernicious Presumption of Vain-Glory but from that the Fruit of Spiritual Understanding Do not dare therefore to utter any thing in a Conference of the Seniors but what either an hurtful Ignorance or the Cause of necessary Knowledge doth compel as some who fill'd with the Affection of Vain-Glory pretend to enquire what they know very well For it is impossible that he who out of design to gain the Applause of Men applies himself to the Study of Reading should obtain the Gift of true Science For of necessity he who is fettered with this Passion must be bound also with other Vices and especially of Pride and so failing in the Actual and Moral Undertaking he cannot at all attain to Spiritual Knowledge which springs from it Neither presume to teach to any in Words what you have not first practised in Deeds For this Order hath our Lord by his Example taught us to observe of whom it is said Which Jesus began to do and to teach Beware therefore lest leaping out to Teach before Practice you be reputed in the Number of them of whom in the Gospel our Lord says to his Disciples What they say to you observe and do but according to their Works do not for they say and do not c. c. 9. If therefore you would attain to the true Knowledge of the Scriptures you must make hast first to obtain a settled Humility in your Heart which will lead you not to that which puffs up but to that which gives Light of Understanding or illustrates Knowledge by the Perfection of Charity For it is impossible that an uncleansed Mind should obtain the Gift of Spiritual Knowledge c. cap. 10. Moreover this is by all means to be endeavoured that having expell'd all Earthly Solicitude and Thought you give your self continually to Sacred Lessons until continual Meditation tincture your Mind and form it to the Likeness of it self c. cap. 10. But it is impossible as I said before that any one unexperienced should either understand or teach these things For he who is not capable so much as to conceive them How should he be fit to teach ' em Of which if notwithstanding he should presume to teach any thing his Speech without doubt would be ineffectual and unprofitable reach only to the Ears of the Auditors but not pierce the Heart cap. 14. Abbot Moses concerning the End and Scope of a Monastick Life Cassian Coll. 1. THE End of our Undertaking according to the Apostle is Life Eternal so he saith Rom. 6.22 Having your Fruit unto Holiness and the End Everlasting Life But the Scope Purity of Heart which he deservedly calls Holiness or Sanctification without which the afore-said End cannot be attained Which Scope he elsewhere expressly mentions Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before I press toward the Scope or Mark for the Prize of the high Calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3. Whatever therefore guides us to this Mark that is Purity of Heart it is to be followed with all our Might but what-ever doth withdraw us from it is to be eschewed as pernicious and noxious For for this do we undergo and act all things For this are Parents Countrey Dignities Riches Delights of this World and all Pleasure contemned to wit that perpetual Purity of Heart may be retained This Design therefore being resolved upon our Acts and Thoughts shall always be rightly directed to the obtaining of it Which if it be not continually set before our Eyes it will not only make all our Labors vain and instable without Profit but also all our Thoughts varying and contrary to themselves For of necessity the Soul which hath not whether to have recourse and where principally to rest must every moment be changed according to the variety of its Occurrences and by those things which happen without be continually transformed into that State which next presents its self cap 5. For this Cause therefore are all things to be done and sought after by us for this is the Desert to be chosen for this Fastings Watchings Labors Nakedness Readings and other Exercises of Virtue we know are by us to be undertaken to wit that by them we may prepare and keep our Heart unhurt from all noxious Passions and by treading those steps ascend to the Perfection of Charity They are not Perfection but the Instruments of Perfection for in them doth not consist the End of this Discipline but by them is the End arrived to What-ever therefore may disturb that Purity and Tranquility of our Mind although it may seem Profitable and Necessary is to be avoided as noxious cap. 7. This ought therefore to be our principal endeavour this the unmoveable Design of our Heart continually to be desired that our Mind many continually adhere to God and Divine things What-ever differs from that how-ever great is to be judged of an inferior Nature or of the meanest or certainly noxious The Figure of this Mind or Action is very finely represented in the Gospel in the Persons of Martha and Mary In which you see that our Lord placed the principal Good in the Theory that is in Divine Contemplation Whence the other Virtues though we declare them necessary yet we resolve them to be reckoned in the second degree because all are sought for the sake of this alone For our Lord saying Thou art solicitous and art troubled about many things but there is need but of a few or even One he placed the Chief Good not in an actual though commendable Work and abounding in many Fruits but in Contemplation of Himself which is indeed simple and but One c. cap. 8. To attend uncessantly to God and Divine Contemplation is impossible for Man incompassed with this Infirmity of the Flesh But it behoves us to know where we ought to have the Intention of our Mind fixed and to which design we may always apply the Prospect of our Mind which when it can obtain it rejoyceth and from which being distracted it grieves and sighs and doth so often feel her self to have departed from her chief Good as she doth find her self separated from that Prospect c. cap. 13. Therefore is frequent Reading and continual Meditation of the Scriptures that from thence we may have occasion of remembring Spiritual things Therefore is frequent Singing of Psalms that daily Compunction may thence be obtained Therefore is Diligence used in Watchings Fastings and Prayers that the Mind being refined may not savour Earthly things but contemplate Heavenly Which again ceasing through Negligence creeping in of necessity the Mind waxing gross with the Filth of Corruptions must sink and fall

by the Virtue of this Confession extinct and for ever layed so that the Enemy never after attempted to inject so much as the memory of this Concupiscence nor have I ever after felt my self assaulted by any Instigation of that thievish desire In this manner therefore may we most easily come to the Science of true Discretion if following the tract of the Seniors we presume neither to act any thing new nor to determin it by our own Judgment but walk in all things as their Tradition or Probity of Life shall inform us In which Institution being settled any one may not only come to the perfect reason of Discretion but remain safe against all the Snares of the Enemy For by no other Vice doth the Devil draw a Religious person so headlong to Destruction as when he doth perswade him neglecting the Advice of the Seniors to confide in his own Judgment and Determination or Doctrin For since all Arts and Disciplines found out by humane Ingenie and which are of no more benefit than for the Commodities of this temporal Life though they may be handled with the Hand and seen with the Eyes yet can they not rightly be comprehended by any one without the Teaching of an Instructor How improper is it to believe that this only should not need a Teacher which is invisible and occult and which is not seen-through but with a most pure Heart wherein an Error produceth not a temporal Damage nor what is easily repaired but perdition of Soul and perpetual Death For it hath a Conflict Day and Night not against visible but invisible Enemies and not against one or two but against innumerable troops a Spiritual Combat the Case of which is so much the more pernicious to all by how much both the Enemy is more mischievous and the Encounter more secret And therefore is the Trace of the Seniors always to be followed with the utmost Diligence and to them are all things which arise in our Hearts taking away the Veil of Bashfulness to be related cap. 11. v. sup p. 79. Abbot Cheremon concerning the Wonderful things which the Lord doth in a special manner operate in his Saints Cass Coll. 12. cap. 12. GREAT indeed and wonderful are the things nor throughly known to any Man except only to those who have experience of them which the Lord with ineffable Liberality gives to his Faithful ones even in this Vessel of Corruption Which the Prophet viewing in Purity of Mind as well in his own Person as in the Person of those who come into this State and Affection cryed out Great are thy Works and that my Soul knoweth very well Otherwise could not the Prophet be thought to have said any rare or great matter if he be thought to have pronounced this either with other affection of Heart or concerning other Works of God For there is no Man who doth not acknowledge the Works of God to be wonderful even from the very Vastness of the Creation But of those things which by his daily Operation he doth produce in his Saints and with a special Bounty doth pour out unto them no other can be sensible but the Soul of them who enjoy it which in the secret of its Conscience is so the only Judge of his Favours that it not only cannot with any Speech relate them but not so much as in Sense and Thought comprehend them when descending from that inflamed Fervour it sinks down to material and terrene Prospects For Who would not admire the Works of God in himself when he sees the insatiable Greediness of the Stomach and the costly and pernicious Luxury of the Palate so restrained in Him that he seldom and unwillingly takes scarce so much as a little and that very mean Food Who would not be amazed at the Works of God when he feels that fire of Lust which he before believed to be natural and in a manner inextinguishable to become so cool'd that he doth not feel himself incited so much as with a simple motion of his Body How could any but revere the Power of the Lord when he should see Men before fierce and desperate who were provoked even by officious or well-meant Service to the greatest Fury of Anger to have come to so great Lenity and Gentleness that now they not only are not moved with any Injuries but even when any are done them do with great magnanimity rejoyce Who would not plainly admire the Works of God and with his whole Heart cry out I have known that great is the Lord when he seeth himself or another of Greedy become Liberal of Prodigal Frugal of Proud Humble of Nice and Curious Carleless and Homely and even choosingly enjoying Want and Scarcity of temporal things These indeed are the wonderful Works of God which the Souls of the Prophets and such experienced Persons do know in a peculiar manner being amazed with the Intuition of so wonderful a Contemplation These are the Prodigies which the Lord hath plac'd upon Earth which the same Prophet considering calls all People to the admiration of them Come and see the Works of God the Prodigies which the Lord hath placed upon the Earth c. For what can be a greater Prodigy then in a very little moment for Men of greedy Publicans to become Apostles of fierce Persecutors most patient Preachers of the Gospel so as to propagate that Faith which they did persecute even with the Effusion of their Blood These are the Works of God which the Son declares that he with the Father daily doth work c. Concerning this saving Work of God the Prophet prays to the Lord saying Confirm O God this which thou hast wrought in us And to pass by abscondite Dispensations of God which the Mind of all the Saints doth every moment perceive peculiarly exercised within themselves that Coelestial Infusion of Spiritual Rejoycings in which a dejected Mind is raised with the Alacrity of an unexpected Joy and those unknown Excesses of Heart and as ineffable as unheard-of Solaces of Joys with which sometimes drooping in a listless Stupidity we are raised as out of a deep Sleep to most fervent Prayer this I say is the Joy of which the blessed Apostle speaks Which Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor hath come into the Heart of Man that is of him who is still a Man stupified with Earthly Vices and sticks in Humane Affections and perceives nothing of those Gifts of God At last the same Apostle adds as well concerning himself as those like him who have departed from Humane Conversation But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit v. Cyp. Ep. 2. THese things I thought fit to collect out of much of this kind to give a Tast of the Manners and Spirit of these Holy People and lest those who are little acquainted with these things should imagin that they were the meer Phansies of Melancholy Monks I will here add a Tast of the Sentiments of some others and

even whilst he wore his frail Body of Flesh For our Lord who wore Flesh Himself for our sake and gave the Body a Conquest over the Devil wrought and wrestled together with this Holy Youth So that every one who strives in good earnest with the Devil may with good reason say Not I but the Grace of God with me 1 Cor. 15.57 At last the Devil perceiving that he could not overthrow and discourage Antony by this Device gnashing his Teeth and being like one beside himself to see himself drove out he who is really black in his Nature within appear'd in the form of a Black Boy to Antony and as it were lying at his Feet for the crafty Spirit being turn'd out of his Heart now no longer invaded his Thoughts assum'd an Humane Voice and said I have deceived many yea verily I have worsted and deceived very many But having now exerted my Strength against thee as against many others I have been weaken'd and overcome Who is this said Antony that talks thus to me The Devil answer'd in a wretched whining Tone To this Day I have ply'd soft fleshly Allurements in Young Persons and have been call'd The Spirit of Fornication How many when willing to be Sober have I deceiv'd How many have I by Hypocrisie and sense-affecting Motions drawn aside I am he of whom the Prophet speaks Hos 4.12 Ye have been deceiv'd by the Spirit of Fornication 'T was by me that they were tripp'd up I am he who have so often disturb'd thee and as often been humbled by thee Antony therefore having paid his Thanks to God and being become more valiant in Spirit said Hence 't is plain that thou art very contemptible for thy Soul is black and swarthy and thou art weak as a Child neither will I for the future give way to any Solicitude upon thy Account for the Lord is my Helper and I shall look down upon mine Enemies with scorn which he had no sooner said but the Black Monster fled away being afraid to speak or come near the Heroe 5. This was St. Antony's first Conflict with the Devil or rather to speak properly and as I ought this was our Lord's first defeat of the Devil in Antony who Rom. 8.3 4. Condemn'd Sin in the Flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the Flesh but the Spirit But for all this St. Antony did not neglect himself as if the Devil were intirely under his Feet Nor did the Enemy as though vanquish'd desist from forming Stratagems for he rang'd about like a roaring Lyon seeking out some pretence against him Antony had learnt from the Holy Scriptures that the Wiles of the Devil are many continually and therefore continually gave himself to exercise considering that since the Devil could not deceive his Heart by Pleasure he would try the more subtlely and diligently to do it by other Methods for the Devil is Sin 's sure Friend Wherefore Antony tam'd his Body more and more lest after he had conquer'd in some Combats he should be dragg'd a Captive by him in others Hence he resolves to accustom himself to severer Discipline still At which Resolution many were startled through surprize But however he went thorow with it very patiently for the bent of his Soul having lasted a long time wrought such a good habit in him that he seiz'd on every even the least Occasion of exerting his strenuous pursuit after Vertue 6. He watch'd so very much that oft-times he lay without Sleeping all Night long and this not once or so but very often to admiration He eat once a Day after Sun-set sometimes but once in two Days nay and sometimes but once in four Days His Diet was Bread and Salt His Drink only Water Instead of a Feather-Bed he lay on a Mat and sometimes on the bare Ground He never anointed himself because he said 't was more proper for the Younger to addict themselves to Ascetick Exercises than to seek out those things which effeminate the Body They should rather accustom themselves to labour and to bear the Apostle's saying in their Mind 2 Cor. 12.10 When I am weak then I am strong for then said he the Vigour of the Spirit is renew'd and becomes Athletick when the Pleasures of the Body languish and are impair'd This also was an admirable Thought of his viz. That he did not think it proper to measure our Progress in Vertue by the length of the Time we first set out or by our Retirement so much as by our Divine Desires and Longings and the Encrease of our Holy Purpose And therefore he would not remember the Time past but every Day as though it were the first he would express a more ardent Thirst and Endeavour after a further Advance Speaking by the way of Soliloquie that of the Apostle Phil. 2.14 Forgetting that which is behind and pressing forward And remembring the Voice of the Prophet Elias who saith 2 King 18.15 As the Lord of Hosts lives before whom I stand I will surely shew my self to day for he observes from the Prophet's saying To day he did not take a measure of the Time past but every day as if it were laying the first Foundation of his Vertue he studied to approve himself such an one as he ought to be before God pure in Heart and ready to obey his Will and no ones else Every Christian Ascetick said he ought to see and learn within himself his own Life from Elias as in a Glass 7. Antony having by this time and by these means recollected and simplify'd himself Travelled to the Tombs which were at a considerable distance from that Town having first acquainted one of his Acquaintance with it who supply'd him with Bread enough to subsist upon a good while When he was got thither he went into one of the Tombs and shut the door over his Head and tarried within there by himself Now the Devil not being able to away with this and afraid lest in a little time the whole Desart should be fill'd with Asceticks came one night with a great company of Devils and beat and bruis'd him at that fearful rate that he lay a long time Dumb because of the Extremity of his Torments for he protested his Pains were so great that 't was impossible Men should be the Instruments of the like But by the Providence of God for the Lord does not forget those who hope in Him the Day after an Acquaintance came with some Loaves to him who as soon as he had open'd the door seeing him lying along like a Dead Man upon the Ground took him up and carried him to the Town-Church and laid him upon the Pavement where many of his Relations and Towns-People sat by him as they there us'd to do about the Corps of the Dead Now about Midnight Antony came to himself and awoke and saw all asleep but himself and his Acquaintance that brought him from the Tombs

but admire and call the Company Blessed and pray'd to know what that might be Then presently came a Voice and told him that 't was the Soul of Ammun a Monk of Nitria Now the distance between Nitria and that Mount is Thirteen Days Journey The Monks seeing the Old Man for he continu'd an Ascetick to his Old Age in such a Maze desired to know the reason of it St. Antony told them that Ammun was dead For this Monk was very well known among them because he often came thither and many Miracles were done by him of which this is one Having once an Occasion to go over the River Lycus which was a great Inundation of Waters he desired Theodore to go at a distance from him that they might not see one another Naked as they swam over Then Theodore withdrawing he blush'd to see himself again Naked And as he was blushing and solicitous he was of a sudden convey'd to the other side Theodore therefore who also was a very Religious Man having seen him got over and not at all wetted with the Water requested to know the manner of his Passage But finding him loth to tell him he took hold of his Feet and protested he would not let him go before he knew Ammun observing the Earnestness of Theodore for the sake of his Protestation consented to tell him after he had engag'd him to tell no Body before he was dead and so told him how he was carry'd over after an invisible manner and laid on the other side He did not walk on the Water nor was the manner of it possible to Men but only possible to those whom our Lord permits as he did St. Peter This Theodore told after Ammun's Death But to return to St. Antony The Monks to whom St. Antony told what he saw noted down the Day in a Book And some Brethren that return'd from Nitria enquir'd about Thirty Days after and brought word that Ammun dy'd the same Day and Hour in which Antony saw the Soul lifted up on high and they greatly admir'd the Purity of Antony's Soul and wondred how he should immediately know what was done at Thirty Days distance and how he saw the Soul carry'd up a-loft But we have fresh Matter of Praise and Wonder from St. Antony still 33. For Archelaus Comes having found him praying by himself in the Outer Mount entreated him on the behalf of Polycrateia who was an admirable Virgin and full of Christ for she had a Pain in her Stomach and her Side by reason of extream Exercise and was very weakly all over her Body Wherefore Antony pray'd and Archelaus mark'd down the Day whereon Antony pray'd and when he return'd to Laodicea he found the Virgin well and having ask'd them what Day she was first releas'd from her Weakness he took out the Paper in which he writ down the Time when Antony pray'd for her and immediately shew'd them the same time writ down in his Paper So that they were all convinc'd that the Lord deliver'd her from her Pains when Antony was by Prayer forwarding the Goodness of our Saviour towards her 34. He did also oftentimes give Notice many days before hand of Persons that were coming to him Nay sometimes he would tell the reason of their Journey a Month before hand as that some came only to see him others because Distempered others because Possess'd And this we all know of all That none that came to him thought the Labour of his Journey a Trouble or a Loss for every one return'd from him with a Sense of some Benefit receiv'd But notwithstanding he spoke and saw such strange things yet he would not have any one admire him for it but rather to admire the Lord who by his Power has granted us though but Men a Capacity and Liberty to know Him 35. Another time having went down to visit the Outer Monasteries and been prevail'd upon by request to go into a Vessel and pray with the Monks He and He only perceiv'd a wretched and terrible Stink the Company said there was some salt Fish in the Vessel but he perceiv'd another kind of Scent And whilst he was speaking a Young Man that had a Devil and had entred in before them and hid himself cry'd out and the Devil was rebuk'd by St. Antony in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and came out of him and the Young Man was restor'd to his Wits And then they all knew that 't was the Devil that stunk 36. There came to him also a Nobleman that had a Devil Now that Devil was so terrible that the Person that was Possess'd was not so much as sensible that he came to St. Antony and ate his own Ordure Wherefore they that brought him begg'd of St. Antony to pray for him Antony commiserating him pray'd for him and sat up with him all Night and the Noble Youth on a sudden run against St. Antony and hunch'd him Now those that came with him were very much disturb'd at it But Antony said Don't ye be angry with the Youth for 't is not he but the evil Spirit within him for being rebuk'd and commanded to post away into some waterless Places he was enrag'd and did this Therefore glorifie God for his doing thus against me for that is a Sign that he is a going out No sooner had Antony said so but the Youth was well and himself and knew where he was and saluted the Old Man giving Thanks to God 37. Many other such like things did the Monks tell of him and they all agreed in their Relation But as wonderful as these things are there are stranger things yet to be related for as he was going to pray before he eat about the Ninth Hour he was in a Rapture and which is a Paradox as he stood up he saw himself without himself and some other Beings by himself as it were in the Air and afterwards some other bitter and terrible Beings standing by him in the Air too and willing to stop him so that he did not pass But the Angels his Guides and Convoys withstanding them they pretend to exact an Account of him to see whether he was not lyable to them Now they would have took the Account from his Birth But St. Antony's Guides would by no means allow of that and told them That the Lord had blotted all Faults since his Birth But ever since he became a Monk and promis'd to God they might exact an Account Then they having accused him of what they could not prove the Passage became free and presently he saw himself as it were come to himself in a standing Posture and whole again Hereupon having forgot to eat he continu'd all the remaining Day and Night Groaning and Praying for he wonder'd to see how many we fight against and through how great Difficulties any Soul must needs pass thorow the Air. He could not but upon this Occasion call to mind that Saying of the Apostle Eph. 2.2 According to the

them how they might baffle their Wiles explaining the Weakness and Subtleties of the Devils working in them Every one therefore as animated by him departed daring the Devices of the Devil and his Party Virgins also who had Suiters having only seen St. Antony at a distance continu'd Virgins to Christ. There came also some from Foreign Parts to him who were dismiss'd from him as from a Father with great Benefit When he dy'd they were all his Orphans comforting themselves with his bare Memory and holding fast his Admonitions and Instructions 56. And now 't is but decent and fitting to acquaint you with the Nature of the End of his Life for indeed 't was such as does deserve Emulation Near his Death he did according to his old Custom visit the Monks in the outer Mountain and being informed by Providence of his End he spake to them thus I make this as my last Visit to you and shall admire if we should see one another again in this World 'T is time for me now to let go my Body for I am near an Hundred and Five Years Old At this saying they wept clung about him and saluted him But he just as it became one leaving a strange Place for his own Countrey rejoyc'd and charg'd them not to be negligent in Labours nor to faint in Exercise but to live as dying daily and as I said before to keep their Souls from filthy Thoughts and to have a Zeal for the Saints but not to go a-near the Meletian Schismaticks for said he ye know their wicked and prophane purpose nor to have any Correspondence with the Arians for their Impiety is manifest Neither when ye see their Judges in Power be ye troubled for 't will cease and their Opinion and Splendour is mortal and of a short standing wherefore keep ye your selves pure from them and hold the Tradition of your Fathers and principally a pious Faith in our Lord Christ Jesus whom ye have learnt in the Holy Scriptures and have often been put in mind of even by me 57. When he had said this the Brethren urg'd him to tarry and die there But that he would not he shew'd by his silence as for many Reasons so especially for this The Egyptians love to bury the Bodies of Zealots and especially of Martyrs and wrap them up in fine Linnen Now they don't bury them in the Earth but lay them upon Couches and keep them in Repositories by themselves thinking thereby to honour the Deceas'd But Antony often besought the Bishops to warn the People against it and also reprov'd many Lay-Men and Women for it saying That that was neither Lawful nor very Holy for the Bodies of the Patriarchs to this Day are preserv'd in Sepulchres nay even the Body of our Lord Himself was laid in one and a Stone was laid upon it and hid it till he rose again whereby he shew'd them that they transgressed the Law in not hiding the Bodies of the departed although they be Holy for What is greater or more holy than our Lord's Body Many therefore afterwards bury'd under Ground and gave Thanks to God Now St. Antony knowing the Custom of Egypt and fearing lest they should do so by his Body hasted his Departure and took his Leave of the Monks in the Outer Mount and went into the Inner Mount where he us'd to live 58. A few Months after he fell Sick and having call'd to those that were with him for he had Two within with him who had been Asceticks with him Fifteen Years and serv'd him because of his extream Old Age he said to them I now as 't is written go the way of my Fathers for I see my self call'd by my Lord but be ye sober and finish a long-liv'd Exercise Be as earnest to hold fast your Purpose as though you were just beginning Ye know the Devils are plotting against you Ye know they are fierce in Will but weak in Power don't therefore be afraid of them but breath Christ and believe in Him and live as dying every day taking heed to your selves and remembring my Exhortations Hold no Communion with the Schismaticks nor the Arians for ye know how I declin'd them because of their Heterodox and Christ-opposing Heresie Do ye study principally to cleave unto Christ and his Saints that after Death they may receive you as Friends and Acquaintance into Everlasting Habitations Think upon and relish these Counsels and if ye have any regard for me and do remember me as a Father don't suffer any one to take my Body into Egypt lest they lay me in their Houses for for that reason I came hither Ye know how I have rebuk'd those who did it and charg'd them to do so no more Do ye therefore bury my Body under Ground and mind my Words that no Body but your selves may know where I am bury'd for I shall receive my Body incorruptible from my Saviour in the Resurrection And pray do ye divide my Cloaths Give one Leathern Garment to Bishop Athanasius and the Blanket which he gave new to me but is now grown old and the other Leathern Jacket to Bishop Serapion and take ye the Hair-Cloth and save it my Children for Antony passeth away and is no longer with you 59. Having said this he saluted them and gather'd his Feet and as it were seeing Friends come unto him and rejoycing because of them for he look'd with a cheerful Countenance as he lay he left us and was added unto the Fathers So in fine the Monks wrapp'd him up and buried him under Ground according to his Command And no Body to this Day except the Two Monks knows where he was Bury'd The Vestments being distributed according as he order'd every one kept them as a great Purchase for he that sees them does as it were see Antony and he that puts them on carries his Admonitions about him with Joy 60. Such was Antony's Exercise and such the End of his Life in the Body And if these things are small in comparison to his Excellency judge ye what sort of Man of God he was who to so great an Age from his Youth up kept close to his rigorous Discipline neither conquer'd by Variety of Food upon the Account of his Old Age nor changing the Habit of his Raiment for want of Vigour or so much as washing his Feet And yet in all respects he was sound and unhurt for he had his Eyes clear seeing very well not one of his Teeth was lost only near the Gums they were worn because of his great Age He was also sound in his Hands and Feet and much clearer in every part than those who use several Diets Bathings and Variety of Garments and as to Strength too they were much more ready 61. St. Antony liv'd and dy'd admir'd and celebrated by all every where and long'd for by those who never saw him A great Sign of his Vertue and of a Soul that truly lov'd God for he did not get

his Learning by Books nor external Wisdom nor any Art But Antony was renown'd purely for his Devotion to God No one can deny that this was the Gift of God How came he who was hid and sat in a Mountain to be heard of in Spain France Rome and Africa unless God had made his Name known every where who promis'd this to Antony at first for although such Heroes act secretly and are willing to lye conceal'd yet the Lord shews them as Lamps to all that they may know that his Commands which he has given to reform us are practicable and thence may derive a Zeal for the ways of Vertue 62. Read ye this to others that they may know what sort of Life the Life of Monks should be and may be perswaded that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will glorifie those who glorifie Him and serve Him unto the End not only bringing them to the Kingdom of Heaven but making them notwithstanding they hide and retire celebrated here for their Vertue to the Benefit of others And if there be a Necessity read it to the Heathens that they may know not only that our Lord Jesus Christ is God and the Son of God but that those Christians who serve Him truly and believe in Him piously reprove those Spirits whom they account Gods and tread upon them and chase them as those who are the Deceivers and Corrupters of Men and this they do by the Grace and Strength of Christ Jesus our Lord to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS Theologia Mystica TWO DISCOURSES CONCERNING DIVINE COMMUNICATIONS To Souls duly disposed I. The Antiquity Tradition and Succession of Mystical Divinity among the Gentiles with Notes and Observations to distinguish Illusions and Directions of Spiritual Writers concerning Prayer II. Of the Guidance of the Spirit of GOD The Doctrine of the H. Scriptures of the Catholick Church and of the Church of England in particular upon a Discourse of Sr. Matthew Hale concerning it LONDON Printed for the Author for the Use and Benefit of a Religious Society 1697. ADVERTISEMENT ASCETICKS or The Heroick Piety and Virtue of the Ancient Christian Anchorets and Coenobites wherein the Beginning and Progress of Contemplative Living and Religious Societies is briefly discoursed and a true Account of the Esseans Therapeuts and ancient Egyptian and other Monks collected out of the most Authentick Records Also the LIFE of the Famous Saint ANTONY written in Greek by St. Athanasius faithfully Translated into English All Printed for the Author for the Use and Benefit of the Society afore-said THE PREFACE THE latter of these Discourses was Printed as part of a Preface to that Book of Sr. Matthew Hale's from whence the beginning of the Discourse is now taken but why it was not Published with it I know no reason unless that which is the Vniversal primary Obstacle to all Good that Satan hindered it And that I make no question was the principal moving Cause which set the others on work That wicked envious Spirit who had raised up all the Evil he could both against him and against me in our several Families in his Life-time hath not ceased to do so still since his Death By what he got such Advantage against my self I know very well and intend to declare it But by what he got such Advantage against that good Man is a Secret I know nothing of But this I know that he hath been Vnhappy in his Family both in his Life-time and since his Death and particularly in what I am now saying I long looked upon him as a Man raised up by the Special Providence of God to be an Illustrious Example of Vertue and Piety in this degenerate Age And therefore that People might not be deprived of the Benefit of such an Example by their Ignorance of his Principles as I found by Experience many were I did in his Life-time publish a Volume of his Contemplations even after I had earnestly pressed him to consent to it and he refused Indeed I knew him and he knew me so well that I did not fear any misconstruction from him and after his Death I desired to have done Honour to his Memory for the same purpose by the Publication of such of his Writings as were most necessary and seasonable that the Benefit of his Labours as well as of his Example while yet fresh in Memory might be communicated as much as might be to all and they might mutually recommend each other for the greater Benefit of all But alas that wicked Spirit which had so prevailed in his Family in his Life-time as made him tell some of them That Satan or the Devil did ride them as an Ape would do a Mastiff-Dog hath likewise prevailed hitherto upon such as vainly gloried in their Relation to him to obstruct that good Design for Twenty years together without due regard either to that Service of God those Benefits to Men the true Honour of his Memory in which they vainly gloried or the Performance of his Will according to his Mind For though he had not expressly ordered the Publication of one or other in particular yet had he made this Provision in a Codicil concerning the Publication of any of them that he had nominated the Bookseller who should have the Printing of them paying as much as another would in reason for them and of the Profits appointed one part to one for his Care and Pains in overseeing and ordering the Publication another part to another for Writing and Correcting and the rest among his Servants and told them what he had done for them so that besides the Injury done to their Country they have done a double Injury to his Memory not only by hindering the Honour due to it but by Dishonouring it and giving occasion to a Blemish and Reproach to it provoking some not only to think but to speak hardly of him as if he had abused them in some of the last Acts of his Life and all this out of a sordid Humour to get or keep what he had otherwise disposed of And though thus they exercised their Malice and Spight against the Memory of the Good Man yet was not this the chief part of their Work and Triumph that they had raised this Injury against his Memory and besides had deprived his Country of the Benefit of much of his Labours in his own Profession But there is a greater matter in the bottom and of greater concern to them which these Wicked Subtile Agents had a principal regard to The Good Man had taken great Pains in examining and considering the Grounds and Evidences of Religion both Natural and Revealed And he was excellently well qualified for it both by Natural Sagacity by Exercise of his Parts in his own Profession which affords as much and good Exercise for such a purpose as any and by Freedom from Prejudice either of Education or of Temporal Interest For though he had a Religious Education yet it is certain

sad Truth but Truth it is and a Great one too and very manifest to all whose Eyes are open That our Vniversities and Church Preferments which were designed by our Pious Ancestors for the promotion of true Piety as well as Learning are by the Subtilty of Satan and Neglect of true Piety and Devotion to God become very subservient to the Kingdom of Darkness less to the Kingdom of Light From which corrupt Fountain hath proceeded one way or other not only all our Divisions but most of all the Evils which do now afflict either the Ecclesiastical or Civil State and if some very good Care be not speedily taken more and greater yet are more like to ensue than these be removed Of all the Sects which have sprung up amongst us there is none more considerable in this respect whereof I am speaking or less considered as it ought to be than that of the QUAKERS as they are abusively called begun by GEORGE FOX a young Man born of mean but honest and religious Parents at Drayton in Leicester-shire in the Year of our Lord 1624. and educated from his tender years in the Fear of the Lord but to no more Humane Learning than only to read English and write indifferently He was in his Youth disposed to Virtue and Piety and when upward of Nineteen retired from his Relations and Acquaintance and lived in divers places where he was not known working at his Trade of a Shoe-maker with his hands for his Livelyhood but exercising his Mind in serious Meditations both while at his Work and at other times of Leisure especially In the Year 1646. he understood That Vniversity Learning was not enough to qualifie Men to be Ministers of Christ and thereupon instead of hearing them used to retire with his Bible into Solitary places joyning neither with the Ministers of the Church nor with the Dissenters but relying wholly upon the Lord Jesus Christ for his Inward Teaching At another time he understood That God who made the World did not dwell in Temples made with Hands but in his Peoples Hearts And in the Year 1647. having been for some time exercised with Temptations and Troubles in his Mind he came farther to understand That all was done and to be done in and by Christ and How he conquers and destroys the Tempter And some time after he went among the Professors at Duckenfield Manchester and declared Truth as he calls it amongst them and also at Broughton in Leicester-shire and Mansfield in Northampton-shire and then People came far and near to see him And here his Preaching seems to have commenced And in 1648. were divers Meetings of Friends in several Places And this was the Beginning of that Sect which is now become so considerable in outward Appearance and I wish more considerable in a true inward Power than it is For as all Man-kind are apt to relapse and sink down again from the Elevation to which God at any time raised them so I doubt are this People now relapsed very much into a Form only of a different sort and appearance The Beginning of George Fox seems to have been by and under a true Divine Conduct such as Abraham was led by such as Moses was driven by from the Court of Pharaoh into the Wilderness and such as the Holy Prophets of Old and greater numbers of Holy Christians afterwards were partly led and partly driven by into the Wilderness Solitary places and Retirement from Relations Friends and Acquaintance as our Saviour saith to forsake Father and Mother Brother and Sister and House and Land for his sake and in those Retirements he did receive Openings as he calls it of Truth indeed and when he came from his Retirement and went into the Meetings of Professors he did declare Truth indeed as he expresseth it For it is a certain Truth that University Learning that Preaching and Praying at Churches or elsewhere that the Studying of the Holy Scriptures that the Profession of Faith in Christ the Use of the Sacraments and most frequent and constant use of the great and chief Solemnity of the Christian Worship nay even Zeal for Christ and doing Miracles in his Name and Reliance upon his Merits are all though good in their kind and very necessary and some absolutely necessary yet are all short and deceitful to those who rest in them and seek not in all and above all that inward Principle of Light and Life which is Christ in them who receive him in Sincerity and Purity and retain it by faithful and ready Obedience to his Conduct This George saw very well and rightly And if he did in the heat of Disputes either through Transport or any humane Infirmity or through the Subtilty of Satan getting any Advantage of him over-shoot himself it is no more than what Luther and Calvin and the rest of the Reformers have done who whether they have reformed or deformed most may very well bear a Dispute and he and his Party deserve to be pitied and helped out by gentle and kind means And great reason there is for it upon two accounts at the least 1. Because the Scandals given were the occasions of their Errors 2. Because Christianity having before been pull'd to pieces and no where compleat intire and clear from Corruptions and Abuses to be found in any Church or Party of People in the World they of all the parts chose the better the Soul leaving the Body as a dead Carcass to the rest It is true this is in a great Measure to be imputed to those who by their Empty Formality gave the Occasion yet it was a Fault in Them who took such Offence at it What God hath joyned together Man must not presume to put asunder If the Leaper be commanded to wash in Jordan 2 King 5.10 he must not think that to wash in the Rivers of Damascus will do as well If the Blind Man be commanded to wash in Siloam Jo. 9.7 or even Moses to cast up Ashes into the Air Exod. 9.8 the Command must be obeyed and observed or the Effect shall not follow If People be commanded to be Baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus that their Sins may be forgiven and that they may receive the Holy Ghost Act. 2.38 41. if they presume to neglect and cavil at the Command their Sins are more like to be increased and faster bound than forgiven and they more like to receive Satan transformed in a Spirit of Delusion than the Holy Spirit of God and to die in their Sins though with many false Comforts than to come to true Rest in the Lord in any other way than he hath prescribed God's Command if it be but the forbearing of an A●ple Gen. 2.17 3.3 6 11. or the doing that which our Reason cannot understand must be observed punctually Disobedience to the Wisdom of God is no less a Sin than Disobedience to his Will And therefore I dare not excuse this People in this for their

Whether it be one of the Ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation or One of those Seducing Spirits to whom in the latter times that some would give heed was in the times of the Apostles expressly said by the Spirit of God And great Reason there is to take this into very deep Consideration 1. Because of the many and weighty Cautions given by our Saviour and his Apostles and left upon record in the Sacred Scriptures for our warning in these latter times to beware of them and not to go out after them with Admonitions concerning their Subtilty their Energy or Power and their strong Delusions to deceive if it were possible the very Elect and that even Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of Light that is puts on the Appearance of an Angel of Light 2 Cor. 11.14 and lastly that we should try the Spirits 1 Jo. 4.1 2. Because if the Tryal be by Agreement or Disagreement with the Doctrine Institutions and Ordinances of Christ and his Apostles authorized by him they may seem to have apostatized and gone off or at least fallen short of them in matters of great Moment and special concern those before mentioned and therefore to be Seduced by some Spirit of Error For I doubt not but the Devil himself hath that Malice and Envy against the Man Christ Jesus by whom he hath been Conquered and Vanquished and against the Solemn Memorial of that Victory that could he but keep people from engaging in that Holy Covenant with Him by Baptism and from the Solemnity of that Memorial he would be willing himself to lead them into all other Truth upon that condition rather than fail Yet notwithstanding since they are a Sober People have received retained and do act upon one of the chief Principles of Christianity and have divers commendable things in them and what Errors they have fallen into have been occasioned by the Scandals and Offences given by those of the Church who will have a sad account to answer for it I do hope in the Mercy and Goodness of God that if it be a good Spirit which hath the Conduct of them he shall lead and dispose those who are Sincere amongst them to the acknowledgment of the Truth in those things whereto they have not yet attained and if it be otherwise he shall be forced to resign the Conduct of them to a more powerful and better Guide and that we shall see such a Society of Compleat Christians come out of this despised People as are at this time hardly to be found in any part of the World that I know of These are my Thoughts and Hopes concerning this People in general at present And Hopes I say grounded upon the Mercy of God and Power of God which no Good Being would oppose nor no Evil Power can stand before And in His Name I come unto you knowing assuredly that neither I nor any Humane Ability is able to prevail against the Power that is amongst you notwithstanding the Certainty of the Truths that I have mentioned already and shall endeavour by the Grace and Assistance of God Almighty through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ more fully to explain unto you in due time But as I said if it be a good Power it will favour me and assist me in it and rejoyce in it too and if it be an Evil Power Commissioned it must cease and submit to that Victorious and All-Conquering Name Its Enchantments must be dissolved and its Sophistry and Falacies detected I therefore as an Ambassador of Christ in the Spirit and Meekness of Christ beseech you Be ye reconciled to the Truths of God and receive them with that Reverence and Gratitude that is meet without Cavelling or regard to any Temporal concern I do not invite you to return to the Abuses and Corruptions which you have forsaken but to those Truths and to the due use of those Holy things against which you have been Scandalized by those Abuses and Corruptions Nor do I invite you to dissolve your Society or to leave off your Meetings and drown your selves in a promiscuous Multitude No you have in part born a good Testimony and I would have you do so still But I invite you only to make your Testimony more Compleat Illustrious and Irrefragable by bearing your Testimony to the whole Truth and not any longer a Testimony like the Feet of Daniel's Image partly strong and partly weak by a mixture of Truth with Falshood for that cannot stand long together but to strengthen the things that remain and set in order the things that are wanting that ye may stand for otherwise ye will certainly be Broken to Pieces I invite you but to what I am doing my self with a small Company of Poor people that is bearing a Testimony for God and manifestly under his Conduct But it is neglected by them to whom it hath been offered for a sufficient Time and in a sufficient Manner considering their Learning and pretence to Knowledge And now it is offered to you a despised People that God may humble the Proud and High-minded and confound the Wisdom of the Wise by mean and despicable things in the sight of Men. Be Wise and neglect not the Opportunity and you who were last in the Worlds account shall be first What ever you do you will find there is solid Truth in the Proposal and I wish you may receive it to the Honour and Glory of God and your own Comfort and Salvation and you will then find me to have been Your Sincere and Cordial Friend E. S. 31 Aug. 1696. After this there were other Letters and Papers sent which may be taken notice of hereafter as there may be occasion but the last contained certain Questions which I think fit now to propose to the Consideration of all who are sincere and do desire not to deceive themselves nor be deceived in a matter of so great Importance as the Will and Service of God and the Salvation of their own Souls If any notwithstanding will presume to go on in any false or Erroneous Ways they must answer for it and their Blood if they miscarry must be upon their own Heads For the Design and Vse of these Questions is to examin the case What Spirit they are of the Spirit of Christ or the Spirit of Antichrist the Spirit of Truth or some subtile Spirit of Delusion Whether they be Christians indeed or counterfeit Christians that is Antichristians Whether Hypocritical Professors in Words but Renagadoes in Deeds refusing the Solemnities of his Covenant and Worship and the Orders of his Church or such sincere Christians as are ready to follow the Guidance of his Spirit out of their own Wills and out of their own Wisdom and Imaginations and Errors and Mistakes into all Truth and Whether they be in the Way of Salvation or of Delusion and Perdition The Times of this Ignorance God winked at but now commandeth

encumbred with it any longer His Moveables he also Sold and gave the Money to the Poor 3. And having reserv'd some small matter for his Sister the next time he went to Church he heard our Lord say in the Gospel Matt. 6.34 Take no thought for the Morrow And therefore without any more delay he e'en went out immediately and distributed that too among the Poor And having given her in Charge to some experienc'd and trusty Virgins to be Educated in their Cloysters he betook himself to an Ascetick Life without doors keeping a very close eye upon himself and leading a very rigid and absteinous Life for at that time there scarcely were any settled Monasteries in Egypt neither did any Monk live in a remote Wilderness But whoever had a mind to order himself very severely exercis'd himself in some solitary Place not far from his own Town At this time there was an Old Man in a neighbouring Village that had obliged himself to a solitary Life from his Youth St. Antony having observ'd him was inflam'd with Emulation and at first continu'd alone in some place or other that was hard by the Village And where-ever he heard of any studious and zealous Courter of Vertue like a provident Bee he would be sure to go and find him out never returning to his own Abode till he had seen him and could bring something back with him which might serve for part of a Viaticum to bear up his Spirit in his Progress to Heaven After he had continu'd thus some time he squar'd his Mind with such exactness as to resolve never to return again to the Place where his Ancestors Seat was nor so much as to bear the secular Concerns of his Relations in his Memory any longer that he might intirely apply his Mind and Affections to a vigorous Assiduity in Asceticks And therefore he wrought with his own Hands because 't is written 2 Thess 3.10 Let not the Idle eat Part of what he got by his Labour he subsisted on himself and part of it he gave to the Poor He Prayed continually because he had learnt that we ought to pray incessantly in private He attended so diligently to the Scriptures when read that nothing fell to the ground from him but he held it so fast that his Mind was as good as a Library to him For the sake of his Demeanour he was belov'd by all He submitted with great readiness to all virtuous Persons whom he visited He would with great diligence by himself mark every virtuous Person 's Vertue for which he was peculiarly Eminent and stamp them upon himself In one he would observe an Obligingness of Carriage in another an unwearied Fervour in Prayer in a third Calmness of Spirit in a fourth great Condescention and Charity He would very affectionately eye this Person 's great Sprightliness Vigilance and moderate use of Sleep and another Man's Affability Delight in the Scriptures and Readiness in Conferences on Spiritual Subjects Here he admir'd one for his Fortitude Magnanimity Patience and Courage there another for his Fastings hard Lyings upon the Ground and other such like Arts of subduing the Body But principally and above all he would seal on his Heart and Soul that Piety and vehement Affection for Christ and stream of mutual Love which was very obvious and legible in them all Thus he us'd constantly to go back to his own Cell always fraught with such useful Observations as these making himself the Repository of all those Excellencies he could spy in others whence he was wont to elicit and display them in a bright and exemplary Conversation All the Contest he had with those of the same Age with himself was to be second to none of them in Christian Discipline In which sort of Victories he behaved himself so modestly that no body fretted at him for Envy but rather on the contrary took delight in taking Notice of him insomuch that the whole Neighbourhood that had any regard for Vertue and all with whom he convers'd observing his Goodness us'd to call him Theophiles or God's Friend The Elder calling him Son and the Younger Brother 4. But the Devil who is envious and hates every thing that is commendable could not endure to see such a noble Purpose in so young a Person but made it his Endeavour to thwart all his Designs to his Disadvantage At first he strove to bring him off of his Ascetick Course of Life by throwing into his Mind a Remembrance of his Estate of the Nearness of his Relations and a Solicitude for them a Love of Money and Desire of Glory great Varieties of Pleasure and other such Recommendations of the Methods of the World as also Thoughts of the Ruggedness of Vertue and how much Labour it costs a Man to obtain it and to mention no more of the Weakness of his Body and the long Remainder of his Life In short the Devil rais'd a great deal of dust in his Thoughts that by bemudding and disordering his Mind he might make St. Antony let go his Design But as soon as the Enemy saw himself too weak to foyl St. Antony's Resolution and quite contrariwise that he himself was emasculated by the Holy Man's Steddiness supplanted by a mighty Faith and fall'n by reason of his continual and earnest Prayers he assum'd a new Boldness and Confidence in those Weapons which he knows every Man carries about him in his own Flesh against himself for here he mostly lies in Ambush against the Souls of the Young Accordingly he renews his Assault against the Youth Night and Day attacking him with great Turbulence insomuch that standers by could easily discern a Combat between them for the Devil threw filthy Thoughts into his Mind and the Young Man routed them out as fast by Prayers the Adversary us'd his Policies to make his Body dissolute and rebellious on the other hand St. Antony fortify'd his Soul and us'd his Body hardly and kept it under by Faith and Fastings and Tears and earnest Addresses to God But still the Devil though worsted was very hardy and appeared to him in the Shape of a Woman represented Beautiful in all respects only to impose upon St. Antony But Antony by placing the noble Extract of his Spirit and intellectual Power in a clear view before himself quench'd this Firebrand of Deceit Nevertheless the Devil would yet be hinting the Softness and Affectingness of this Pleasure on the other hand Antony like an enraged and exasperated Person by revolving in his Mind God's Menaces of Fire and the Toyl of those Furrows which the never-dying Worm ploughs in the Consciences of the Damn'd escap'd free without being hurt or so much as sing'd by his Temptations All which dash'd the Enemy mightily out of countenance for he that once thought of being equal with God himself was now slighted and baulk'd by a Young Man and he that generally vaunts and vapours so insolently over Flesh and Blood was now over-thrown by a Man