creating Spirit and Creator of Spirits create in me a new Heart and renew a right Spirit within me that my Soul may be filled with thy Delights and I may taste all the sweetness of thy Love Thirsty I am after Pleasure open thy Fountain of eternal Pleasures and let thy Rivers fâ—â—w into my Soul Kiss me with the kisses of thy Mouth for thy Love is better than Wine Tell me O thou whom my Soul loveth where thou makest thy Flocks to rest at noon For why should I be as one that turneth aside by the â—â—â—ks of thy companions Why should my Soul â—ander amidst the vain Pleasures of the World and why should it bring to thee so many false Goods for companions Let me retire under thy shadow embrace adore love thee only and taste no Pleasure but what is in thee Draw me therefore that I may run after thee draw near to me that I may be able to draw near to thee Prevent me by thy Grace by thy Mercy and by the bowels of thy Compassion stirred up for a prodigaland rambling Son who seeks but cannot find thee Awake O North-wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out Let my beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant Fruits O Holy Spirit thou South-wind the Father of Heat Author of Generation Source of Love and Charity blow upon the Powers of my Soul which are as a Desart make them an Eden a Garden of the Almighty make odoriferous Plants to grow there produce there Habits and Works of a sweet odour so as my heavenly Saviour the beloved of my Soul may come and taste the sweetness of those Fruits that he may delight in me and I in him and that we may eternally taste all those Pleasures the products of a mutual Love CHAP. VI. That young People have no Priviledge to use sensual Pleasures nor to dispence themselves from Devotion ONE Reflection is still behind which we are obliged to make before we leave this Important Subject we having done nothing yet in regard to young People They persuade ' emselves it may be that whatever hath bin say'd does not concern them it is almost impossible to deliver them from this Errour That Pleasure is peculiarly their share and that without Tyranny we cannot deny it them To them Indevotion is natural and they reckon it a particular Honour We should make fine work of it say they to 〈◊〉 Bigots at these years they fancy that Modesty Wisdom Sobriety and Temperance are not proper for them 't is the business of old Men say they we must not make our selves ridiculous by turning Cato's and Seneca's And indeed if any one of them has more happy Inclinations he is asham'd he dissembles 'em he follows the Crowd They tell him to every thing under the Heaven there is a time In considering old and young men we can never believe say they that Persons so different are destin'd to the same Actions The wrinkled forehead of old Age the paleness of it's Complexion hollow Eyes chap-fallen Mouth and Limbs all trembling have a correspondence with the Duties of Repentance and it 's fit that they pour forth Tears and give themselves up to Mortification But the good disposition and plumpness of Youth that flourish of Blood that displays it's self upon the Complexion lively and sparkling Eyes Seâ—ses eager and capable to be toucht by their Objects very manifestly shew that this age is born for pleasures and all manner of Joy Thus it is they flatter and hug themselves in their security Not only young People talk at this rate but most part of mankind agree with them in it I cannot deny but that the extravagancies and disorders of conduct in the life of an old man impress much greater marks of infamy than the debauches of the younger sort I must confess also that the disorders of old age discover a greater depth of Corruption It cannot cast it's faults upon the first boylings of the Blood which hath much filth and scum It cannot take the default of Experience for excuse and in short it breaks the barriers of a shame much greater than that which follows the crimes of Youth But nevertheless God will not judge men according to humane Rules and the Sentiments of the World there is no Age that has receiv'd a dispensation from obeying God All the violaters of his Law shall be punisht since his Commandments are given to all and if so be the difference of Age put a diversity in sins in respect of Punishment this would only in the upshot go upon the More and the Less But what will that result to seeing in a word even the less unhappy must have their share in Eternal fires and the Worm that never dyeth Why should young people be less obliged to Devotion Has God given them less On the contrary they as well as old men have received of God their Being and Reason but farther they have vigour of Body force of Wit Health Youth and the flower of Age. Assuredly these are particular Obligations to devote themselves to God All these advantages they have not receiv'd to consecrate them to the Devil of Lust and Voluptuousness Is any thing too good for God They design for him a tatter'd body ' putrified Lungs gloomy Eyes and dry Members In truth God will be mightily oblig'd to them they would give him the bottom Lees of their years and consecrate to him that Age which is the sink of Life and the Center of all Miseries that is to say they would give him what the World has cast off they act like covetous men who are only liberal when they are dying they give what they can retain no more Believe me all the very best we have is not goo good for our God Heretofore he would not have Victimes that had any fault that were ill or in no good case or that had lost any part of the Body Do we believe he will be pleas'd to accept the Sacrifices of a spent and wasted heart and a man who is only the shadow of what he was once â—exhort you that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice But young People that take up the resolution of being devout when they can be no longer sinners promise God their dead and as it were corrupted Bodies for in old age Bodies are like Phantoms and come near to the nature of Carkasses God has thought nothing too good for us he has given himself for us he who is the sovereign good has given us his Son he devoted him to death for us in the flower of his age and it is just that we be devoted to his service in all our Ages God is not satisfied with these promises of futurity I will give thee He would have us speak in the present tense I do give thee as he does himself in speaking to us I give you my Peace He is called He who is was and is to come So that
get rid of that we should gain all but if it continue the Master it 's in vain we strive to become devout And therefore I destin'd this third part to make such considerations therein as may if possible ruine that grand Enemy of Devotion Certain it is Man was born for Pleasure since he was created to be happy and happiness consists in the Possession of Good and the sense of that Possession makes Pleasure The sovereign good of man consists in the Sole possession and absolute fruition of God and in being united immediately and after a most intimate manner unto him And Pleasure ought to spring from this strict and close Union with the Divinity This Union is made by Knowledge and by Love and pleasure arises from thence that God applies himself to the Soul by infolding it in the Arms of his goodness and Beauty and that he fills it with the light and joy of his countenance Sin has so far infeebled this Union of our Soul with God that it hath no more sense of its pleasures Your Sins have put a seperation between you and your God and it is like a thick cloud that eclipses the Sun as to us Whose comfortable beams would raise so much joy within us The Soul has kept this sentiment that it was born for Joy and Pleasure insomuch as being disunited from its God it intirely turns its self to the Body and its Pleasures and the stricter it is united to these the farther off it is from them The ligament of this union o' th' Soul to the body is Corporal Pleasure and proportionably as this pleasure tyes the Soul to the Body so it disunites it from God so that sensual pleasures cause this Disunion and this Disunion is propperly Indevotion which we would destroy for most assuredly Devotion is that motion of the Soul whereby she returns to her Principle and to the fruition of those pleasures that spring from her union with God Let worldly people take the pains to consult their own heart and that will tell them what we are about to say They well perceive that the reason why they cannot dispose themselves to Prayer to the love and Service of God is because they are posses'd by their passions and inchanted by the delusions of Sense That is to say they are absolutely turned toward sensual pleasures and wholly taken up in them The Soul is pinch'd and contracted the mind is bounded when its full of the World and its vanities so that we need not wonder if God who will have the Soul intire find no room therein Indeed a very difficult work this is we undertake to persuade that those who would become Devout ought to renounce worldly pleasures Although the Corruption of them be extreme we do not place all pleasures in the same rank we distinguish them into two orders There are those which are call'd excesses enormities and crimes but these the World abandons and has not the face to defend There are others styled innocent Pleasures Dancing Play good Chear great Meals Feasts Play-houses Shows vain Conversations the commerce of Gallantry and Intrigues that are the guides to criminal Amours The Church distinguishes Pleasures as well as the World Both agree that there are Innocent ones But the Church puts the greatest part of those which the World upholds to be innocent into the number of criminal pleasures Voluptuosness is an Idol to which the World Sacrifices both young and old Men and Women Children and old Men great and small rich and poor all ages both Sexes all conditions have their Pleasures Insomuch much as if we go according to suffrages we should lose the Cause Especially Young men cannot indure one should takeaway the use of Pleasure they persuading themselves that youth is predestinately consecrated to it The Painters and Poets that contribute to marr and vitiate Mens minds represent Voluptuousness to us like a young Woman or Man laid upon a Bed of flowers environed with all the Objects which are bodily pleasures The Passions that are wholly carnal and have a strait Aliance and Correspondence with the Senses are in boiling youth The Flesh all brisk active and vigorous having received no manner of Mortification Hectors and Domineers with insolence Whereupon young men follow the furies of their Temper and Crasis The sentiments of Piety and the habits of Virtue are not to be found naturaly in them So that reason destitute of this Succour is easily vanquish'd by the Passions We may say also that Reason in this age conspires with the Passions and serves only to push on young people into the greatestexcess and extravagences After their own fashion they reason they are persuaded that wisdom and prudence doe not become them they say that these properly belong to old men and thus abuse the saying of the Wise-man To every thing under the Heaven there is a season If any one has more happy inclinations he is not so hardy as to follow them he is stricken with a criminal shame he would not have himself markt out for a singular Fop He cast himself into the crowd and lets himself be carrieds away with the stream And even those who are reputed Wise in the World if they dare not authorize these Irregularities at least they excuse them They are young say they they will come to it at length we must allow somwehat to Age we are not born wise we were such as they are they may be one day what we are But alas we do not stay there we do not renounce Pleasures as we leave our youthful years behind us the love of Voluptuousness is a malady we carry along with us thorough all Ages We go as slow as possibly or to speak better we go on not at all Old Age and Sickness pull men sometimes away by violence from Pleasure but we seldom view those that voluntarily divest themselves of worldly pleasures This is the most uncommon of all Sacrifices How many Women do we see that would hold out even against time and foreslow themselves from being carried off the Stage They forget nothing that may contribute to conserve the air of youthfulness They would deceive Men and I know not whether or no they hope to deceive Death it self They would evermore be the object of the Worlds care and have a part in all its Pleasures When old age is come and has lain its Characters open in their meen they draw a Skreen before it to render it invisible You see these Women Idolatresses of the World to bury their head under an heap of Powder that they may confound the whiteness of their gray hairs with this adulterated and strange whiteness They fill the dints and hollows of their countenances with cousening Ceruse they shadow the wrinkles of their forehead with false hair and paints and in which they are most prudent they imbalm their Bodies and cover them with Perfumes to corrupt the ill odours that arise from the Carkasses In this equipage
The Christians Guid to Devotion Printed for H. Rodes near Bride lane in Fleetst â—â—â—nford sc The Christians Guide TO DEVOTION WITH RULES and DIRECTIONS for the leading an Holy Life AS ALSO MEDITATIONS and PRAYERS Suitable to all Occasions By S. Smith The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Hen. Rodes next door to the Bear-Tavern in Fleet-street near Fleet-Bridge 1685. A Table of the Contents in this Tract PART I. Of the Nature and Effects of Devotion Chap. 1. WHerein Devotion generally consists Pag. 1. Chap. 2. Of its Effects Pag. 6. Chap. 3. The high necessity of Devotion Pag. 14. Chap. 4. Of its great Decay and Neglect Pag. 20. Chap. 5. That Indevotion is a greater Sin than it is commonly accounted Pag. 26. PART II. Of the Causes of Indevotion Chap. 1. First Impurity of Life Pag. 34. Chap. 2. Secondly Love of the World Pag. 39. Chap. 3. Thirdly The too great Passion we have for Earthly Pleasures Pag. 45. Chap. 4. Fourthly Worldly Cares and Troubles Pag. 52. Chap. 5. Fifthly Excessive Business Pag. 59. Chap. 6. Sixthly The custom of letting the Mind wander upon different Objects Pag. 66. Chap. 7. Lastly The Rareness and Interruption of holy Duties Pag. 73. PART III. Of the great Source of Indevotion the Spirit of the World and the love of Pleasure Chap. 1. That Voluptuousness is a mortal Enemy to Devotion What are the Sentiments and Maxims of the World concerning the Vse of Pleasure and Sensuality Pag. 81. Chap. 2. That Sensual Pleasures do not either in their Vse or in their Abuse agree with the Spirit of Christianity and of Devotion Pag. 94. Chap. 3. The same Truth more particularly and fully discuss'd Pag. 104. Chap. 4. What may be accounted innocent Pleasures That Devotion is no uneasie thing nor an Enemy to Pleasure Pag. 116. Chap. 5. That we are not to consult our own Heart and Senses upon the choice of Pleasures That Devotion leads us to true Pleasure Pag. 131. Chap. 6. That Young People have not any priviledge to use sensual Pleasures nor to dispence themselves from Devotion Pag. 147. PART IV. Of Directions and Helps conducive to Devotion Chap. 1. First General direction To will desire and ask it Pag. 159. Chap. 2. Secondly To lead an holy Life and practise all the Vertues Pag. 165. Chap. 3. Thirdly To be watchful over the Senses and not to let the Heart loose Pag. 172. Chap. 4. Fourthly To persevere in holy Duties and not to startle at any difficulties Pag. 177. Chap. 5. Fifthly To have God alwayes before our Eyes Pag. 183. Chap. 6. First particular direction To have our Hours of Devotion well chosen and ordered Pag. 189. Chap. 7. The second Help Solitude and Religious Assemblies Pag. 196. Chap. 8. The third Reading and Meditation Pag. 203. Chap. 9. The fourth Prayer Pag. 212. Chap. 10. The Fifth Fasting and mortification Pag. 218. Chap. 11. Touching the rash Judgment which is made of devout People Pag. 226. PART I. CHAP. I. What Devotion is and wherein it consists THIS is not a Subject to be defined according to Rules It has less of the School than the Closet and good ignorant Souls can instruct us better in it than those who have more Knowledge than Integrity Yet the Schools which busie themselves every where undertake to define Devotion as well as other things Some would define it by a tenderness of heart and 〈◊〉 mollified Spirit Others by an internal Comfort which the Devout are sensible of in their Practise of Piety A third sort say 't is a Quickness and Promptiâ—ude of Mind whereby holy People are carried to the Service of God Some there are who make it â—o consist in an unspeakable and a glorious Joy which â—lls the faithful and makes them say My Soul is satisfied â—s with Marrow and Fatness Others have defin'd it â—y the Affections In the first place to all this I say That it may be a piece of Rashness to go about to deâ—ne a thing we know not how well to express since 〈◊〉 is of the number of those which cannot well be conâ—â—ived but by them who feel it nor can well be deâ—â—ribed although one conceives it Nevertheless we cannot define it by one word alone nor by one motion of the Soul for it is composed of all the Species's of Passions it admits of contrary Sentiments 〈◊〉 has Desires and it has Fears Terrours and Hopes 〈◊〉 Love and Hatred Joy and Sadness Ardour and Zeaâ— Quickness and Alacrity It has Desires every Dâ—vout Soul vehemently desiring to be well with Goâ— and to be united to him As the Hart panteth after tâ—â— Water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God 〈◊〉 Soul thirsteth for God for the living God When shall come and appear before God It admits of Fear for good Soul is ever afraid of its unworthiness to posseâ— the Graces which it so passionately desires I am 〈◊〉 worthy sayes it to our Lord Jesus that thou should'st coâ—â— under my Roof If it be in possession of its God it feâ—â— to lose him it watches even in sleep I sleep but 〈◊〉 Heart waketh fearing lest something should raviâ—â— away its Beloved Terrour also enters into the Compound of thâ— Vertue namely when the Soul is fall'n into soâ—â— great sin the presence of its God astonishes it and 〈◊〉 Majesty fills it with horrible Apprehensions Aâ—â— without this the devout Soul never presents it 〈◊〉 before God but it remembers that before him 〈◊〉 Angels tremble and it sayes Oh! how terrible is tâ— place this is the House of the living God Moreovâ—â— Love is to be found in it and we may say that Loâ—â— is as the Source and Basis of Devotion In considâ—ing both the Beauty and Goodness of God it is touch with a violent desire of Union It says with the Spoâ—â— Let him kiss me with the kisses of his Mouth for his Lâ—â— is sweeter than Wine There is also Hatred for 〈◊〉 devout Soul cannot love God unless it renounce Sâ— love and hate the World the love of which is incâ—patible with that of God There is Joy too for â—â—ty has its Feasts and the Wise man says the heaâ— a just man is a continual Banquet Thou hast put sayes David more Joy in my heart than the wicked have of their abundance My heart is glad my Glory rejoyceth my Flesh also shall rest in hope Yet we must confess that this Light is not altogether pure Devotion has its Melancholy amidst its Joyes and frequently it sighs at the sense of its Infirmities The last ingredient of Devotion is Promptitude and Ardour which is as it were the Body of Devotion and appears more than the rest in a devout Soul It has an inconceivable chearfulness in the exercises of Piety it hears the Word it Prays it Reads it Meditates it communicates as others do the most Pleasant things in the World It runs it flies to these actions and undertaking 'em with a Gaiety of heart does 'em with great ease These
and we have need of a free mind They make real Joys and Griefs to spring up for imaginary Adventures Into the Mind they put Idea's and into the Heart vain Motions which ruine the holy Dispositions that we would establish in a devout Soul The same I say of a Play a Fury which agitates men like a kind of Demoniac Spirit A Man sees his Life and his Death that I may so speak his Fortune and his Misfortune a rouling with inconceivable Transports and Inquietudes His Soul is agitated at the same time with a thousand Passions with Fears Desires Hopes and his Heart is entirely put besides the Seat Is such a Man in a Condition to lift up his Soul to God Such fine Devotions as these are they which are made after having past half the Night in this exercise The Tempest has been over great a long time will the Waves be moving the Soul will be a good while levelling it self and yet after this the Sweetnesses Devotion will not be according to the Palate for thâ— they are not carnal Pleasures of which alone it sensible Whence it comes to pass that young Peâ—ple are very rarely fit for the Elevations of Devotion They are but lately come into the World and all 〈◊〉 it appears mighty fine These Pleasures they gâ—â— down by long Draughts and nothing appears pleasâ—â— unto 'em but what flatters Flesh and Blood whiâ—â— boils in their Veins Hence also it comes that thâ— Constitution where the Blood has the Ascendaâ—â—â— which is the Temperament of the World's Joy is 〈◊〉 proper for Devotion than that which has the Ingredâ—ents of Earth and Melancholy the former is like 〈◊〉 Matter extreamly combustible which takes fire 〈◊〉 the least Sparkle but the latter being more difficuâ— to be moved is less sensible of what charms other and that which pierces through them negligentâ—â— passes it by We ought therefore to draw Men out of this erroâ— They imagine they can divide themselves betwiâ—â— heavenly and earthly Joy but it is impossible In thâ— Rank of unclean Creatures the Law plac'd those Amphibious Birds which both swim and flye and live in 〈◊〉 double Element of Air and Water This is the Eâ—â—blem of worldly Men evermore they swim in fleshly Pleasure and sometimes by weak Soarings they try to get out thence and reach Heaven but it happenâ— to 'em just as it does to those Aquatic Fowls whose flight goes no further than to touch and curle the Superficies of the Water with their Wings and then they forthwith fall down again Delicate and rare says St. Bernard is the Divine Consolation 't is a chast Woman but jealous who deserving only to be beloved cannot give her self to him that runs after strange Women Wherefore Solomon pronounceth Vanity upon all the Pleasures of the Earth whereof he had made a very large Experience It 's for this also that David declares so of ten that he will not have any other Pleasure than that of his God To draw near to God is my Good to be united to him is my All. Forsake all says St. Austin and thou shalt find all for that Man will find all in God that despises all for God's sake Behold here one of the main Counsels which can be given to pious Minds which undertake to dispose themselves to Devotion Renounce renounce thou devout Soul all the Pleasures of the Earth and make choice of Spiritual ones let reading in holy Writings charm thee as worldly-minded People are charmed by their ill Books let religious Assemblies and preaching of the Word divert thee as much as they divert themselves by their criminal Shows let the Works of Mercy toward the Poor and Afflicted be used by thee as the men of the Age use their vain Courses their Sports and their Converse and if thou takest any Recreations and Refreshments let Honesty and severe Vertue be the Governess of all thy Pleasures Meditation HOW unhappy art thou O my Soul to be born in Aegypt and not to be ensible of the blessings of the true Canaan or this reason thou turnest thy eyes so ofâ—en upon the World and at the same â—our that thy Heart should be intite in â—eaven at the time of thy Devotion and â—ravers thou thinkest on Onions Garlick â—nd Flesh-pots which thou didst eat when thou wast the Slave of the Devil and thâ— World Thou hast not yet tasted thâ— delights of Pious and Devout Souls that say I am satisfied as with Marrow and Fatnesâ— Oh! how good the Lord is I have tasted him He brought me into his Banquetting-House His Love is sweeter than Wine and thâ— Honey Let him kiss me with the Kisses 〈◊〉 his Mouth Would to God I were honoured with these secret communication whereof my Saviour makes some Priviledged Souls to partake which fill them witâ— Joy even in the midst of Torments anâ— make them find musick in Prisons and 〈◊〉 the rattling of their Irons Learn O mâ— Soul learn to seek thy Pleasures and Dâ—lights in God he is the Source All Joâ— that comes not from him terminates aâ— length in grief saddness lamentations dâ—spair and gnashing of Teeth What doâ— my heart wish for what does it hunger anâ— thirst after dost thou love Beauty In Goâ— thou wilt find it and God will give it thâ— thy self for thou wilt become glorious anâ— full of light by the commerce thou shaâ— have with him Dost thou love Life anâ— Health He is the well of Life and in 〈◊〉 Light shall we see Light and he will communicate a Life to thee ever healthful and vigorous that is Eternal Life Dost thou love pleasures Lo he will make thee drink at the Stream of his Delights He will fill thee with the Wine prepared by the Divine Wisdom that saith I have mixt my Wine I have killed my fat Beasts He will cause thee to see such Objects as will ravish thee He will make thee hear a sweet and charming Musick in the consort of Angels and Saints who eternally sing the praises of our God After so many Blessings either already received or already possest in hope can I still be at all sensible of the vain Pleasures of the Earth Prayer O My God my divine Saviour come and fill my Soul with those sweetnesses that thou communicatest to thy faithful servants give me the bread which came down from Heaven the true Manna and bread of Angels that makes me taste of pleasures which stifle and choak the sense of worldly pleasures and the taste of sublunary divertisements Let thy Sabbaths be my Feast days Let thy word be sweeter to me than Honey and than the drops of Honey And let the meditation of those joys which thou preparest for me in Heaven ravish me in such a manner that I may be no more either the World's or my own but be intirely Thine Make Heaven to descend upon Earth in my favour Enlarge my heart Make there a little Paradise Shed down upon it so great an abundance of thy Light of
certain in humane Sciences they take the same liberty to doubt of Divine Revelations We accustom our selves to judge of things according to the light of Reason for to condemn whatever does not agree with it â—nd we are rash enough to introduce that Principle into the Church which ought to have been left in the Schools I do not say this as if I would be the advocate of Ignorance seeing we are Citizens of the World it is allowed us to inquire a little of what is done â—here But the Author of Nature whereof we make a part makes us see plainly with what discretion and advisedness we ought to advance in the Discovery of â—er Secrets He has not shewn us but the Effects and has hid from us almost all the Causes which teaches â—s that we may easily be without these knowledges by reason that hidden things are not for us I know not too whether a little Ignorance would not make more for â—he Glory of our Creator If we understood Nature â—s well as we would understand it perhaps we should have the less Admiration for its great Author for as they say Admiration is the Daughter of Ignoranâ— and it is certain that we get an habit of not admiriâ— the finest and most wonderful things because we see 〈◊〉 and are over-acquainted with them The desire of Knowledge deceives us but let 〈◊〉 guard our selves from its surprises our first Parents sted the effects on 't sufficiently for their liquorish haâ— kering after an equal knowledge of Good and Evil 〈◊〉 the Gods When they were in a good state thâ— knew not even if they were naked and they acquiâ— not this knowledge with the rest but in the loss of the Innocence Only the knowledge of God ought to be 〈◊〉 subject matter and end of our labours and this is implâ— ment enough for our whole life Blessed is he that know thee says St. Austin though he knows nothing else and 〈◊〉 ed is that creature that knows every thing with knowing thee But he who knows thee and every 〈◊〉 else is happy not because he knows those other things 〈◊〉 because he knows thee Run not therefore O my Soâ— after those vain shadows of Science or if thou ruâ—â— after them let it be as after shadows without fi 〈◊〉 and without Love Fix thy self only to the comâ— plation of thy God he is an admirable object he is 〈◊〉 finitely greater than all the Creatures together 〈◊〉 vertheless this vast Object will not cause that Dissipaâ— so inseparable from the contemplation of the Creatuâ— It is infinite but contracts it self in a point It 〈◊〉 Sun that re-unites all its rayes in the bottom of 〈◊〉 Heart to fill it both with Light and Flame Let the 〈◊〉 vout Soul says St. Basil be a Mirror and a pure Gâ— that it may not receive the Image of any thing but its 〈◊〉 vine Spouse Let it continue wholly imployed and tâ— up by this Image so as foreign things approaching nigh 〈◊〉 not find a place there to paint and contemplate themselâ—â— Thou eternal Star saith another who art the Source all created Lights pierce thorough my heart with 〈◊〉 thy beams which may purifie me and make me glad which may illuminate and quicken my Soul to unite all its power to thee If we do some violence to our mind to fasten it upon this one and sole Object we shall find the good we expect and seek after it being a remedy against our indevout Distractions When we have a long time held this slippery and evaporate Soul in the Chains of Divine Meditation it will become more stayed and weighty It will not escape us with so much ease and as in flying us it does not take its flight but in its known Roads and stumbles only on the Ideas that are familiar with it whilst that divers thoughts will become estranged from it by the little Commerce it will have with them it will not easily be able to get away Meditation HOW little do men know themselves or the extent of their Mind to embrace so many Objects at once Do thou O my Soul become wise by the faults of thy Neighbours Thou hast enough wherewith to busie thy self in the Contemplation of thy God Labour to know him only and if thou aimst to know other things do it in such a sort as that all other Knowledge may conduct thee to the Knowledge of thy God Vain is thy hope to joyn the Knowledge of the World with that of Heaven Thy Heart is already too little for that God that is infinite and for that Object which hath no bounds and if once thou sufferest thy self to be employed in the Images of all the Creatures where wilt thou find room for God's Image The Eyes of Owls being accustomed to darkness cannot endure the brightness and splendour of the Sun A Mind always taken up in the contemplation of bodily things cannot sustain the brightness of that Being of Beings of that pure Spirit that shines with so great a lustre Prayer O Invisible and glorious Sun that discoverest not thy beauries but to Souls purified from the vain Images of the World cleanse my Soul by the purity of thy Beams chase away that Darkness that blinds my Eyes And from my Imagination banish the vain Fantoms which hinder me from contemplating solely the pure Lights of thy Truth I know thee O my God because it has pleased thee to reveal thy self unto me But what is it that I know of thy Greatness in comparison of what is really and what may be known of it I see the obscurity I form to my self an Idea of thy Essence and Majesty which sinks infinitely below thy very self I do thee this wrong O my God yet I am not blame-worthy for I cannot do otherwise I ask thee forgiveness I am very sensible I do not know thee as thou art 'T is rather the fault of my Mind than of my Heart Purifie mine Eyes that I may behold thee which as vigourous an Aspect as that of an Eagle which looks upon the Sun Let the Knowledge of thy Beauty charm me and fill me in such sort as that I may conceive an holy distaste for all that is called in the World rare Knowledge and great Literature Let me not scatter my self in the circumference Let all my looks be toward thee who art the Center from whence flows all the Beauty and Truth in the World Let me but see thee and in seeing thee shall I see all that can be seen Let my Soul rally and recollect it self upon this Object only that it may penetrate it if it be possible O God aid me in this design make thy self visible make me to enter into the bottom of thy Mysteries and into the secrets of thy infinite Wisdome that I may slight and despise as unworthy of mee all the curious sciences whereof the men of the Age make so great a Mystery CHAP. VII The Rareness and interruption of holy
flesh and bloud and tastes nothing but what flatters this Flesh and Bloud And therefore among sensual Pleasures there are permitted our Devout Person only those which are moderate The Senses love to receive strong impressions of Objects provided there be no wound in the case the imagination loves also to be powerfully moved But all these emotions make such mighty impressions upon the Soul as it hardly can come to it self again And therefore they ought carefully to be avoided But if we would have more sensible proofs that the heart the passions and the senses are not to be consulted about the choice of Pleasures let us hear experience and cast an eye upon the disorders of the world Such are the consequences of this blindness in men who follow their own heart and senses in the choice of Goods and Pleasures Why did the first Woman lay hold on the forbidden fruit because it was good and pleasant to the eye she hearkened to her Heart and Senses How did corruption arise to that high pitch in the World that it forced God's Justice to bring upon it a terrible Deiuge Because the Sons of God saw the Daughters of men that they were fair they stopt their Ears to the voice of God which call'd upon them they heark'ned to the sollicitations of their own sensual heart they took them Wives of all which they chose and corrupted themselves with them Did not David commit Adultery and Murder in a little time because he gave ear to his senses and heart and let his passions seduce him did not Solomon become an Idolater because his sinful love for Women having blinded his eyes separated him from God and stopt the Ears of his Soul so as his mind heard only the voice of his Passions and his Senses Lastly did not St. Peter deny his Lord and Master for that his heart his senses his imagination made him see present Death in an affrightful posture and he consulted neither God nor his own reason We seem here to blend and confound Innocence with Sin in speaking of our Heart and our Senses as common Sources of our errours Since that the Senses may seem rather to be unhappy and unfortunate than Criminal and Sinful True the Senses are subject to two unhappinesses The first is to be forced to receive Objects which are sinful and capable of transferring Images of corruption to the Heart such are evil Examples scandalous Actions and Words The other misfortune of the Senses is that they take in innocent Objects and sometimes in an innocent manner and these Images do spoyl and corrupt themselves in the Heart Nevertheless I think we ought not to separate the Senses from the Heart they make but one and the same thing This is a Match at the end of which lies a great heap of Gun-powder The Hear and the Imagination are the inward extremity of this Match they are the Magazine of Powder The Senses are the other end to which the Objects set fire This Fire slides or rather it flies along the Match It enkindles the Imagination and puts the Heart into a flame And therefore the holy Spirit puts for the same thing To walk in the ways of ones heart and in the sight of ones Eyes In short if we would be perfectly assured that our Heart and Senses are evil Counsellors in this affair hear what the holy Scripture saith it considers our Heart as the root of all our Evils Every imagination of the thoughts of Man's heart is only evil continually The Heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it Out of the Heart proceed evil Thoughts Murders Adulteries Fornications Thefts false Witness Blasphemies These are the things which defile a Man The holy Ghost represents the Heart to us as blind wrapt up in a thick Cloud and profound darkness it speaks of it as of a kind of Death it is of the Earth it is carnal How then canan Heart thus composed and fram'd judge of the true Goods and Pleasures How can there come any thing good from a poysoned Spring And thus we see that the Wife man puts this Maxime among the members of those we are to detest and abominate Walk in the ways of thine Heart and in the sight of thine Eyes I should end here were it unnecessary to take off one Scandal that may be taken at what we have said that sensual Pleasure is a Good and even a Good for the Soul For in a word if the Soul be that not only which perceives and which tastes Pleasure and if Pleasure be a Good 't is a Good of the Soul If it be a good then some will say we are to seek and love it It 's not sufficient to answer that this is a Good of the Body only that is not absolutly true 't is in some sort the good of the Soul because the Soul tastes it Further if this Good were only for the Body yet it does not follow it should therefore be of necessity unlawful since we are not always forbidden to seek the Good of the Body But we ought not only to consider a thing in its self to know whether it be good or bad we must consider it in its causes and its effects in what precedes it what may be the consequence of it I mean that the Pleasure which comes to the Soul by the Body is a sort of Good considered in it self Look upon its Source and see to what it produces The Source is Sin is Impurity is Rebellion against the law of our Creator What it produces is a disunion between God and our Soul 't is a pawning our selves to Death 't is the pain of everlasting burnings How can we under the Idea of a Good conceive a thing which is incompast about by so many moral Impurities and such real Mischiefs If therefore bodily Pleasure can be called a Good with respect to the present sentiment of the Soul it 's an Evil in all other regards it 's an Evil to speak Absolutely and therefore the wifest men of all Ages have plac'd it among the false Goods for a true Good ought to be good on every side we view it The Soul then has no true Pleasure but what arises from its union with God And this union is fortified according to the measure that we loosen our selves from sensible things and are united to God by the knowledge of his Truth Not of those Verities which Philosophy seeks after and never finds with any certainty but of those Divine truths which Faith discovers to us of those wholsome Verities which are the Candle of the Soul Thy Word is a Lamp to my Feet and a light to my Paths It enlightens the Eyes and makes wise the simple The second Bond whereby we are united to God is Virtue the Practice of which renders us like to our Creator renews his Image in us and makes us to be the Copies of that Beauty whereof he 's the original the third cord is
has been a long time abus'd But above all let us consider how strong the Habits of Luxury and Debauchery do become when we permit them to take Root and let 'em arrive even to old Age. The young Plant which might be pluck'd up with one hand is now a trunck of immense Greatness which resists the Hatchet and Wedge This little Monster the love of Voluptuousness which might have been easily stifled at its Birth is become so great and so terrible as there is now no attacking nor fighting with it Sins simply considered do not become more strong by Age their number is multiplied These are Snow-Balls that wax bigger and bigger in rowling these are Torrents which swell bigger the farther they remove from their Spring-head 't was an easie matter at first to pass over them on foot but now one cannot cross them by swimming Now the number of multiplied Sins augments the difficulty of Devotion and Conversion We read in the Life of the Holy Fathers That an Angel made one of those solitary Inhabitants of the Desart to see in a Vision an old Man that cut Wood in the Forest to get a Burthen for his Back with design to carry them away When the Fardle was extreamly big he essay'd to lift it up upon himself but finding it too heavy he let it fall to the ground and fell a cutting new Wood and added it to his Burthen whereupon he endeavoured again to lift it up but that was more impossible for him than before Nevertheless it tumbling down again he put more Wood to it still and this he did several times The solitary Person admir'd the Folly of this old Man till the Angel took up his Speech and said Thou see'st this old Man he is the Emblem of Worldlings they heap Sins upon Sins a design of lifting themselves up to God comes across presently they sink under the burthen of their Sins They begin again to commit new Crimes as if this burthen by encreasing would become much lighter When they have push'd on their Excesses a good way a new desire of devoting themselves to God overtakes them but the burthen of their Sins is become very great and consequently the motions of Elevation are the more difficult This Parable was composed for our Subject and against those unhappy People that dedicate their youthful years to the Pleasures of the World and remit the practise of Devotion and the lifting up of their Souls to God to another time St Austin in expounding the History of Lazarus his Resurrection asks why our Lord employs Sighs Tears Prayers and a loud voice to raise him again from the dead which he did not do for the others whom he reviv'd as for the young man of Naim whose biere he toucht only and Jairus's Daughter to whom he only said Talitha Cumi Maid arise 'T is says he because Lazarus had been dead four days Our Lord would give us an Image of the Difficulty to be met withall in a smners Conversion when he is confirm'd in his sin The first day says that Father is that of Pleasure which we taste in the sin The second is that of Consent The third is that of Love and Application to the pleasure of the sin and the fourth is mere Custom and Habit. When we are come to this we cannot be raised again we cannot be converted to God but by Cries and Tears and the Voice of the Lord fruitfal in Miracles This methinks makes us comprehend well the interest we have to think on God in due time and to consecrate our Youth to Devotion 〈◊〉 know very well that the end obtains the Crown but I know too that 't is of the highest importance to begin well that we may end happily An Arrow which wanders and slides from towards the Butt just as it parts from the Bow will be found at a monstrous distance from the Butt before it comes to its journeys end One that in his youth is plung'd into debauchery and abandons himself to sensual pleasures will find himself far remov'd from God in his old age he must take a great deal of trouble to bring himself back again from such an Aloof And therefore I conclude with the wise man Young man Remember thy Creator in the days of thy Youth Meditation WHY dost thou delay O my Soul after these Considerations Dost not thou apprehend the necessity there is of consecrating thy self without any shifting or lingring to the service of thy God Thou evermore sayest to morrow to morrow but this morrow never comes and the day of thy Separation from the body will come in an hour when thou lookest not for it When thy God calls upon thee thou tellest him the Words of a slothful and sleepy Person Presently I say presently St. August Confess l. 8. cap. 5. let me alone a little but one Moment longer but this presently never comes and this Moment is an everlasting one I see thou art displeas'd at obliging thee to give up thy self so soon to God This is too soon say'st thou to begin and will it not be time enough some years hence Wicked and ungrateful canst thou think too soon on thy God It is just thou shouldst think of him assoon as thou beginnest to be and to know thy self since he thought on thee and thy Salvation from Eternity His Essence had no beginning and his Love for thee had none too Both Eternal What didst thou do to this great God to engage him to love thee so long a while before He lov'd thee before thou wast amiable He saw thee in thy Nothing and in the Abysse of thy Corruption and from all Eternity he prepared means for thee to get out of that Abysse he prepared thee a Redeemer He did not reserve one moment in Eternity which he has not given thee and thou would'st retrench from him many years of this short and uncertain Life whereof thou hast the use here below Perhaps thou wilt say that it would not be unjust if thy time were divided betwixt thy God and thee and that it is hard to give all one hath without reserving any thing to ones self But dost not thou consider that thy God has given thee all things He has given thee the Heaven and the Earth the Fields Rivers Fountains Plants Trees and Fruits hath he reserv'd any thing to himself Has not he given himself too entirely to thee has he not given thee his only Son and still has not he given him up to Death it self for thee wouldst not thou then be very ungrateful O my soul if thou wouldst divide with God and rob him of any thing which thou hast But alas when thou thinkest and speakest thus thou dost not well understand thy own interests Thou supposest that thou losest from thy self all the time thou givest to thy God whereas on the other side thou savest only those moments from ship-wrack which thou consecratest to him All the rest of thy time is lâ—st being
Brightness and Splendor thy Light Thou art hid as to thy Creatures and lettest only have a glimps of thee But O Lord purifie my â—es that they may be able to view thee apparently put my â—art into thy wayes that I may seek thee and find thee thou art hidden and estrangest thy self from me I am on 〈◊〉 other part a strayed sheep strayed from thee O be â—ased then to seek me shew thy self to me and hide 〈◊〉 the light of thy Countenance from me Recall me from 〈◊〉 wandrings and let me not be drawn in by the World â—d the throng of it's vain Objects Tye my Soul to thee the cords of thy Love So as I may not be one Moment â—thout thinking on thee and when I put up my prayers to thee I may ever find thee near me CHAP. VI. The first particular Direction To have our hours of Devotion well chosen and ordered AFter these general Advices it will be necessary to give some more particular ones And first I believe that to have the hours of Devotion well regulated is a very great â—p to Devotion Man is a Creature of Habit as well 〈◊〉 other living Creatures An Horse that has been us'd to go one way will not fail to return that way again and when the hours of baiting come he will gâ— no farther so the Heart doth without any guidance or endeavour return by its self to those things which it has been accustomed to do Choose then your hourâ— of Evening Morning Mid-day at nine of clock aâ— three Make a Law for some time never to let those hours pass but to consecrate them to no other thing than to Devotion and without any trouble youâ— Heart will return thither at the same hours Those very Parts which in us are destitute of Knowledge are capable of these Habits When the Stomach haâ— been us'd to eat at certain hours if this be not done it feels somewhat wanting The Conscience being the Stomach of the Soul gives it its meals and if you happen to be wanting it will advertise you on 't buâ— have a care of doing violence to it and being earnest with it to hold its peace When it minds you amidst your Occupations that the hour is come do not deâ— ferr it till another time for it is undone if you put iâ— out of order 'T will no more remind you you youâ— self must be forc'd to sollicit it and then the Soul iâ— in a wretchless condition when the Conscience iâ— asleep when the Heart slumbers and when there iâ— need of awakening it by an express Reflection If you ask me what hours it is to choose and how many I shall perhaps be very much put to it to answer you Good David orders seven for himself Seven times a day do I praise thee Daniel had chiefly three Our Lord retir'd whole Nights together into a Mountain apart to pray Alas it were to be wish'd we could give all out hours to God but the necessities of Nature and the infirmities of the Flesh votâ— it fruitless and I know not what mood and tempeâ— those Devotes might be of who we are told pass whole dayes and nights in Meditation and Contemplation I will pronounce nothing herein and I leave every one to his own Conscience If we cannot give all â—o God certain it is we are to reserve to him the better part and that amongst our hours we ought to set some aside which may be proper to him and never bestowed upon the World The number must be regulated according to the diversity of Strengths and I believe it should increase according to the measure of the progress â—e make in Devotion A Child cannot lift up a Burthen which a vigorous man can carry with ease so that very one must regulate himself according to his â—â—rength 'T is good to eat when we are hungry and 〈◊〉 draw nigh to God when the Heart is warm and as â—ften as it pleases to do so there is no reason for a â—efusal herein But you are to observe that if your oppetite be buried and does not manifest it self you â—o not fail of having your set Repasts and rather love 〈◊〉 eat without hunger than starve your self for want 〈◊〉 Food 'T is the same here If you are so unhappy as 〈◊〉 be deprived of this holy appetite of Spiritual things 〈◊〉 not wait till it comes lose not the hours of your â—evotions and your Spiritual repasts eat without hunâ—er and perhaps your Appetite will be renew'd No â—an in health scarcely but eats twice a day and â—et sick People we see take nourishment much oftener 〈◊〉 observe only that their Repasts are very short and â—â—fie I am of opinion we ought to order the â—â—me Diet to those indisposed Souls which are yet â—ovices in the practice of Devotion We must obâ—â—e them to return oft to it but in short Exercises â—ut such weak Souls may not take a disgust at it If a Clock be not wound up sometimes a day it will â—t go long the weights that are tied to the ropes â—scending to the Earth whither as soon as they are â—â—me the whole Machine stands still The Soul is â—is wonderful Machine made up of its Faculties as of Theels and Springs the weights of the Flesh drawing down Pull it up often if you would have it go Lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees They who look to these Automatous Machines observe daily to wind them up at the same hours otherwise they are put out of Order And this I say is to be observed in the conduct of a faithful Soul All hours are good for Heaven is alwayes open and God's Throne evermore accessible yet some there are more proper than others Those of the Morning are so truly God's that we cannot rob him of them without Sacriledge If God will have the first-fruits of our Herds with much stronger reason he will have the first of our hours And what time more proper to lift up our Eyes and our Hearts to the Sun of Righteousness than that wherein the sensible Sun arises upon the Earth Is it not time then that the Morning-star arise in our hearts and Prayer open the Gate to Grace At what hour with better effect can we lift up our hearts to God than at the beginning of a Race the success where of depends intirely on him In the morning we ought to seal our hearts with holy thoughts and fill our minds with chaste and good Ideas that the Corruption in the World which the rest of the day will by the Senses give a thousand assaults to our heart may find it well fortified This will be a morning-dew which in falling from Heaven upon our Souls will make them fruitful in all good works for the rest of the day This will be an Amulet against the evil air of the World without which we are not to leave our Lodgings nor expose our selves to the rencounter of contagious Objects As God