These are my familiars O Lord wherewith I have so often displeas'd thee rebellious ungrateful and perfidious creature as I am I have been created to thy Image and likeness but alas by my Sins I have made my Soul most like unto the Devils those monsters of ingratitude By my Sins I have often renew'd the bitter Death and Passion of Jesus thy beloved Son Quis dabit Capitimeo aquam oculis meis fontem lachrimarum plorabo die ac nocte Jer. 9.1 O how can I worthily deplore so great an evil who will give water to my head a fountain of tears to my eyes to lament both night and day my misery and malice To have contributed to thy death O Lord is of all other motives the most powerful to replenish my minde with grief and sorrow and therefore do desire to hear from thy self the particulars of it SAVIOVR KNow then that after I had taken man out of the bowells of the Earth with a Faciamnus and created him to my own Image and likeness in order to make him sole Lord and absolute Monarch of the whole Universe with full power to take and tast of all things that a most pleasant paradise could afford the fruit of Life only excepted He the ungratefull and rebellious creature considering the great advantage of his condition and the greatness of his dignity which should be to him a sufficient motive to love obey respect and praise me for ever took thence occasion to mutiny rebell and desert me and enter into a league against me with Lucifer whom I had a little before expell'd Heaven for his thoughts of Pride Ambition and who from that very moment made a vow to deface and destroy my Picture being that he could not annoy my Person This so heinous an offence deserv'd he should be immediately commanded out of that Terrestrial Paradise where he was created and liv'd like a petty Prince and where he had all other creatures even the most furious among them at his beck to do with them as he thought fit Accepisti argentum vestes a Naaman sed Lepra Naaman adhaerebit tibi semini tuo usque in sempiternum 4 Reg. 5. He was therefore turn'd off as a vagabond cast into exile and made liable to suffer the punishment even of the damn'd for as he became an associate to the Devil in Sin 't was fit he should be his companion in torment Thou hast heard of my Judgement inflicted on Gehazi my Prophets servant and how for taking Naaman's mony and cloths for the cure of his Leprosy I order'd that for his covetous transgression both he and all his generation to the worlds end should share in his Leprosy as he did in his garments Even so have I decreed against man who had so much affected Lucifers Pride and Ambition that he should be likewise infected with his Leprosy and as he was obedient to his suggestions he should partake of his punishments also Behold the fatal Metamorphosis of man and how for imitating the Devil in his rebellion he forfieted my resemblance to put on that of this most horrid and hideous Monster of Hell Man being made so abominable by sin and so great an eyesore to my divine Essence I in mercy was mov'd not to reflect so much upon the injury done to my Supream Majesty as not to condole the greatness of his deplorable misery was more inclin'd to compassionate his weakness then to be reveng'd of his crime Whereupon to repair his loss I undertook to mediate his peace with my heavenly Father and in order to so great a work I contracted with humane nature so strict an alliance that I became both God and man which was so grateful to my Father that he not only forgave man all his past transgressions but also receiv'd him into favour with all the demonstrations of joy that could be express'd Who would ever expect that so large and so dangerous a breach should ever be repair'd who would ever imagine that two things so opposit one to the other as is the divine to humane nature should come to subsist and remain together not in one house not at one table nor in one bed but in one and the self-same person This is a miracle beyond the expectation of man and indeed beyond th' expression of an Angel for there cann't be any two more contrary then is God and the Sinner yet now what two can be more firmly united or have greater influence then God and man There is nothing more sublime then God Pulvis es in pulverem reverteris Gen. 1. and nothing more vile and despicable then man Notwithstanding God with all humility descends from Heaven to man and man ascends to Heaven with God so that the action of man is the same with that of God and whatever God is said to have done may be justly imputed to man because that I am both God and man Who would ever believe that man to see him naked after his dismal fall and absconding in one corner or other in Paradise for to keep himself from Gods indignation and wrath who would believe I say that such a fordid and contemptable substance should be in time united to God in one and the same Person This was a strange union indeed and a true lovers knot for when it was upon the dissolution at the time of my Passion it did not in the least fail but was rather violently separated to shew what an amorous inclination I had to be still united to humane nature Death indeed might have taken my Soul from my body and break off that union of nature which kept them together Quod semel assumpsit nunquam dimisit Aug. but had not the power to withdraw my Godhead from either of them for that was an union of the divine person which I shall never relinquish having once fix'd upon it with all the tenderness of a most ardent love MAN O Lord I am so much oblig'd to thee for this extraordinary great favour that I am not able to return thee sufficient thanks for the way and means which thou hast taken to redeem me and my very redemption is so great a benefit that no Angelical tongue is able to express it All that I can say is that I am bound by all the ties both of nature and conscience to love thee and stand submissive to thy laws for ever Thou hast deliver'd my Soul out of the infernal Dragon's jaws and without any merit of mine but meerly through the multitude of thy mercies thou hast reconcil'd me to thy self This is eternally worthy of praise But if I consider how and after what manner thou hast done me that unspeakable favour I shall finde that it does exceed even that great work of my redemption Thy works are wonderfull in all their circumstances Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis suis and tho' man when he considers one does really believe that
pedibus ejus over boves universns insuper peccora Campi Volucres Coeli Pisces maris Psa 8.8 and the Stars have their being from thee O Lord upon our account it was meerly for our sake thou hast created them It was for our love thou hast brought out of nothing what wonders of nature we see dayly before our eyes that so great and so beautiful a diversity of odoriferous flowers of sweet herbs of delicate fruit of fine Trees and all other varieties which the Earth produces It was by thy orders and for our entertainment and comfort Do we not see how the Corn grows for to feed us how the wool encreases for our cloathing and all Beasts are left to our disposing thou hast also order'd the very Rocks to open their bosoms and refresh us with their Springs and not only the Earth supplys us with all it's productions but also all other Elements are so many store-houses to supply our wants the Sea the Rivers Brooks have orders from thee to supply us with fish the Air with fowl and the fire with heat Nay the very Angels have their understanding from thee with that obligation to preserve and protect us from all disasters both at home and abroad Angelis suis mandavit de te ut custodiant te in omnibus vijs tuis Psa 90.13 If patience be a trial of love where shall we finde so great an example of that heavenly virtue as thou hast shown to the World in thy most bloody passion and cruel death for us poor miserable and wretched Sinners and also in thy most gracious for bearance with us as often as we transgress thy Laws and rebell against thy self If a King after his Vassals had a thousand times attempted to murther him should not only pardon them but also continue still to heap his favours treasures upon them Rursum crucifigertes Christum in Cordibus vestris Heb. 6 6. certainly We would conclude that his love for them was excessive great what ought We then to say of thy love O Lord who sufferest us incessantly to crucify thee our Creatour our Redeemer and glorious King yet thou art still silent and the excess of thy love sets a stop to the current of thy Justice O Lord says the Prophet royal what is man that thou art mindeful of him but I may add Lord Quid est homo quod memor es ejus Ps 8.5 what is man that the Holy Trinity must have so great a love for him The Eternal Father delivers up into the hands of his mortal enemies his only and dearly beloved Son to suffer the most bitter death of the Cross for our Redemption The Son leaves unto us his Real Body and Blood under the species of Bread and Wine to comfort and strengthen our Souls against all the temptations and snares of the Devil and the Father and the Son together send us the Holy Ghost by whose grace We are made partakers of thy divine nature Divinae narurae consortes efficimur 2 Pet. 1.4 can there be imagin'd a more intense more real or more tender love then this If the right payment of love must be love and that in an equal measure too how shall we be able to requite thy love it 's altogether out of our power unless thou wilt be pleas'd to accept of our offer to have no more love but for thee no will but thine and to requite thy great love with an ardent love hereafter for all good works and a virtuous life for thou art not content we should only love thee with our tongues no thou dost reprehend those who cry unto thee Lord Lord and do not what thou commandest We must therefore love thee in all fincerity we must suffer for thee and make thee partake of all what we have that is good or may be pleasing unto thee We must love thee truly who so much loved us we must resolve to trample the world under our feet and also if occasion be to lose honour wealth and pleasures rather then decline from thy love but that we may the better perform our resolution let us know from thee O Lord what the World is and how dangerous it is to bestow our affections upon it SAVIOVR O Man thou must never repute him happy that depends upon the World for his happiness for nothing can be more preposterous then to place the good of a reasonable Creature in unreasonable things and yet as it is a common mistake to account those necessary that are superfluous so it is altogether as common with men to depend upon the World for the felicity of life which arises only from virtue There is no trusting to its smiles no more then there is to a calme at Sea which will swell and rage in a moment so that the Ships are swallow'd up at night in the very place where they sported themselves in the morning The world has the same power over Princes that it has over Empires over Nations that it has over Cities and the same power over Cities that it has over private men Where 's that Estate that may not be follow'd upon the heel with Famine and Beggery That Dignity which the next moment may not be laid in the dust that Kingdom that is secure from desolation and ruine The burning of Lyons may serve as a President to shew that nothing can be safe or stable in this World it may likewise teach men to stand upon their guard and arm themselves against all surprises The terror of it must needs be great for the calamity is almost without example If it had been fir'd by an Enemy the flame would have left some farther mischief to be done by the Soldiers but to be wholly consum'd was a prodigious accident and perhaps an Earthquake so pernicious as that was never heard of so many rarities to be destroy'd in one night and in a profound peace to suffer an outrage beyond the extremity of war who would believe it but twelve hours betwixt of fair a City and none at all It was laid in ashes in less time then it would require to tell the story That the Inhabitants should stand unshaken in such a calamity is hardly to be expected and their wonder could not but be equal to their grief This dismal accident should teach all men to provide against the possibilities that fall within the Power of so cruel an Enemy as is the World for this Tyrant having all external things under his dominion will sometimes smile at poor Silly Mortals invite them to tast of his pleasures and another while he will turn them off with a frown and destroy them with mischiefs whereof they are to seek for the Author No time place or condition is excepted from his Tyranny he makes their very pleasures painful to them and makes War upon them in the depth of Peace he turns the means of their Security into an occasion of fear he turns
through the Merits of one man Jesus Christ can procure the salvation of a far greater number Man fell by his own fault but can't rise again by his own strength he wants one to help him out of the dunghil of Sin he requires a God and man Redeemer to restore him with th' effusion of his most precious Blood to Righteousness and this was mercifully perform'd to him What remains to compleat the grand work of his Salvation is that the same Redeemer may be graciously pleas'd to touch his heart with a true feeling of his sincere conversion Jo. 1.5 for he says himself that without him we can do nothing and that if a man abide not in him he is cast forth as a branch that is withered and fit for no other use than to be cast into the fire and burnt But he says in the same place that if we abide in him and his words in us we may ask what we will and it shall be granted to us Where upon the Sacred Councel of Trent Con. Trid Soss 6. Can. 3. and that of Nice thunders forth an Excommunication against all those who will believe or teach that we can operate our Salvation or be truly penitent without the precedent motion of Divine Grace And St. Augustin says that there 's nothing more necessary for a man to live and die happily than to be upon good terms with God who alone is able to create in our hearts the motions of a true Conversion He alone can breed in us a hearty detestation of our sins and a firm resolution to love him above all Creatures Most gracious Saviour thou art pleas'd to call thy self in several places of thy holy Writ our Father our Brother our Shepherd our Spouse and hast graciously convers'd with Sinners on Earth in order to their conversion thou didst discourse a Samaritane and a Harlot too Matth. 23 10. upon the very same Subject thou didst overthrow a Saul to raise him up a Paul and which is more 1 Cor. 4.1 thou didst make him a Vessel of Election Thou hast forbid us to have or call any one our Master on Earth for that thou alone art our Master and therefore I presume to call thee our Divine Master and to honour this Book with that specious Title of Academy or School of Vertue because what it contains is either thy Doctrine or grounded at least upon the solid foundation of thy Eternal Vereties The most that I can glory of in this Work is to be thy unworthy Minister and Steward to make known thy sacred Will and thy divine Mysterys to thy People which I have perform'd to the utmost of my Endeavours for here the Christian Reader shall find such deep Considerations and powerful Meditations as will divert him from hankering after even the smallest Vices They will tear all his ill habits up by the roots that they may never shoot again and will extricate his poor heart out of all the straights that commonly ensue a criminal and guilty Conscience They will teize a man though never so cold in Devotion to grasp at all manner of Mortifications to satisfy for his sins and appease the just Indignation of the Divine Justice They will deliver us from all blindness and preposterous Errors enriching our darkness with light and restoring all troubled souls to a profound peace They will hinder us from descanting upon other Mens lives and manners They will make remote Forreigners near Neighbours and cement them in Christian Charity They will bring us to pry into what ill abounds in our own hearts and find there work enough to imploy our pragmatical Spleen upon without hunting after the sins and imperfections of others They will bring Strangers to God's acquaintance dissolve all discords and make the Devil to despair of his aim which is to blow the hellish fire of a perpetual dissention into our souls They will conclude a League of everlasting Peace with God and if we believe St. Augustin they are the complement of a happy life and th' only immortal thing that belong to Mortals And no wonder being that God himself is the first and principal Author of this heavenly Exercise For as soon as he had given the Law to his People Deut. 6. He declar'd it was his will and pleasure it should be the worthy Subject of their serious and constant Meditation fix my words says he in your hearts and in your minds have them in your hands and before your eyes teach them to your Children Deut. 9. that they may meditate on them Meditate upon thy last end says the Holy Ghost and thou shalt never sin Memorare novissima tua in aeteraum non peccabis Eccles 7.40 This is also the wholsom Instruction which the holy Fathers have left us this is a beavenly Lesson which they would have us learn by all means One while speak to God says St. Jerome and another while give ear to what God speaks to you In speaking to God we beseech him to come to us with his Grace in hearkening to him we open our hearts to receive him In speaking to God says St. Ambrose St. Ambr. I Offic. â—0 we demand of him his Lights and Favours in hearkening to him we receive them and shut them up in our hearts to conserve and practise them upon all occasions This is likewise my Friendly Advice to you dear Reader and I wish you with all my heart the Grace of God to make good use of this Book that your own Eternal Happiness may ensue A Table of the Chief Matters contain'd in this Diological Treatise with a C or an M before the Numbers which marks either a Subject of Consideration or Meditation THat no exteriour Agent without th' interiour word of God is able to work the Conversion of a Sinner C. Pag. 1. That God is more free to impart his Graces and Favours to Sinners than they are sollicitous to improve them C. p. 4. The manifold Obstacles which hinder the Sinners Conversion and how strong and numerous are th' allurements to Sin C. p. 9. The motives to Vertue are far more pressing and more in number C. p. 11. The humble acknowledgment of mans innate weakness and the wonderful effects of Divine Love C. p. 19. The nature and properties of Divine Love and how it may be obtain'd C. p. 26. That Man can't so easily attain to Divine Love by reason of the manifold and great oppositions which are betwixt nature and grace C. p. 32. The examples of Christ and of his beloved Apostles on Earth together with Gods formal Precept and th' assured promise of his grace lays a weighty obligation on all men to lead a Vertuous and Godly Life C. p. 42. Why Sinners do often and earnestly implore th' assistance of Gods grace without obtaining their request C. p. 50. That God never refuses any one the concurrence of his grace nor th' effects of his Prayers if they be of decent and
my Spiritual diseases nothing can be hid from thine eyes thou knowest the evil passions that do predominate within my brest deliver me therefore o' Lord from their tyrannical government cleanse my heart from all evil and inordinate affections to the end that being inwardly heal'd and purg'd of all the sinful products of my corrupt nature I may be the more apt to love thee the more ready to suffer for thee and the more stable to persevere in thy service When I read in thy holy Writ and hear what the learned Doctors of thy Church say of the love of God I conceive an ardent desire to partake in some measure thereof for to pretend to the full perfection of it is a thing beyond my reach unless thou givest thy helping hand to my poor endeavours 'T is absolutely the Summum bonum Matt. 11. that only can make the burdensome weighty things light that can bear equally all unequal things that can carry a burden without any toil that can make sweet and pleasant what of its own nature is bitter and uneasy The love of God presseth men on to perform great and heroick actions and does excite them to aime always at what is most perfect and pleasing to his divine Majesty Love is never content to fix its tabernacle on earth nor to be concern'd with any terrene object it must have a more noble Subject to entertain its flames It must be totally free and absolutely a stranger to all worldly affections lest they should diminish its Lustre force it out of its natural Centure to lodge with our blinde and unruly passions There 's nothing more sweet and attractive then the love of God nothing more active and strong nothing more eminent and generous nothing can exceed it in latitude extent and altitude there is nothing more pleasant and affable In fine there is nothing in Heaven or on Earth that can excell it in goodness in beauty or perfection and why because it doth proceed from God that it cann't repose in any created thing but in God alone A divine Lover will fly run rejoyce tho' he were condemn'd to lodge with Daniel among the hungry devouring Lyons He is free and enjoys his liberty tho' he were in chains and loaden with Irons as another Manasses He gives with St. Francis All for All and findes his whole delight and comfort in that very All which he makes choice of And in that one supreme All the fountain-head of all goodness he sweetly reposeth with the Spouse void of disturbance A divine Lover never looks upon the gifts tho' never so excellent but has his eyes always fix'd upon the giver neither is he content with what graces and favours he receives from God but will strive to purchase more tho' it were even with the loss of his sweet life For Love admits of no bounds its flames will rise above all limitation and measure It feels no weight values no labour invents new ways of mortifications and oftentimes affects to suffer for his beloved more then flesh and blood is able to bear The divine Lover will not regard impossibilities for he thinks that all the Austerities and rigours imaginable are both lawful and possible to him he is able therefore in his own ardent and elevated conceit to vanquish all difficultys and does indeed perform more then can be expected from Nature alone In fine his good will never fails him tho' his body should ly half dead upon the ground Love is watchful if Sleeping it 's always awake if harrass'd it 's never weary in dangers it's never fearful when frightned it 's never troubled but even as a fierce blaze and a lively flame it passes by all such events and mounts up towards the very throne of God where it lies safe from all disasters evil accidents This language perhaps is unknown to many but he who really loves God will easily understand it The fervent desire alone of a Seraphick Soul makes a pleasing noise in the hearing of God Deus meus omnia S. Frâ—nâ— Deus meus amormeus Idem In odororem unguenterum tuorum câ—rrimus Cant. 1.4 Hoc est praeceptum meum ut diligatis invicem Jer. 15.12 such was that of St. Francis My God says he and my all my God and my Love thou art all mine and I am all thine dilate my heart in thy love that I may taste inwardly how sweet it is to love thee and how pleasant it is to melt and consume in thy love Let thy love support me when I surpass my ability and when in the depth of my meditations in the excess of my fervour and in the serious consideration of thy great love for man I am beyond my senses Let my Soul praise thee for ever o' Lord and let me run with the Daughters of Sion after the odoriferous savour of thy sweet perfumes Let me never love any creature nay not my self but for thee let me also love in thee all them that love thee sincerely with their whole heart this is a Christian devoir which the law of true love requires and which Jesus the perfect model and first promoter thereof does absolutely require from all mankind and under the penalty of forfieting an eternity of Joy and the Vision of God for ever Love says thy belov'd Apostle is swift Qui non diligit fratrem suum non est ex Deo Jen. 3.10 sincere pious well dispos'd and pleasant It is strong patient faithful prudent lasting manly and never fond of its self nor its proper Interest for when ever a man begins to touch that string he immediately fals from the perfection of true love and is become no better then a Heathen who is totally a Stranger both to the love and laws of God Love is always circumspect humble 1 Cor. 15. and righteous not sluggish nor light nor addicted to foolish and idle things neither does it busie it self about vain and frivolous imploys but is sober chast Stable quiet watchful and extraordinary well guarded in all its senses 1 Cor. 10. Phil. 2. Love is subject and obedient to its Prelates and Elders but has no manner of esteem for it self for it is both vile and despicable in its own eyes Love is devout to God full of trust and hopes in him tho' he afford it not the least consolation he knows full well that love cann't appear in its full splendour but where it meets with a mixture of sorrow for St. Paul says that whoever is not in a readiness to suffer all manner of Crosses that God is pleas'd to afflict him with in this world is not at all worthy of the name of a true lover In fine Rom. 8.8 a true Lover of God must embrace manfully and with a cheerful heart and countenance whatever comes upon him either by the commission or permission of his divine will let it be never so harsh violent or displeasing to nature
who had kill'd his Master this animal runs at him and holds him fast looking on the by-standers with such a mournful countenance as if he had desir'd Justice whereupon the murderer was apprehended and forc'd to confess his crime for which he was immediately sentenc'd to dy O man If a Dog for a piece of bread had so great a love for his master and was so faithful to him as to lament and vindicate his death wilt thou not be displeas'd at thine ingratitude and principally when a dumb beast reprehends it and teacheth thee to be grateful If that irrational creature was so much incens'd against the murderer of his Master why art thou not displeas'd with those that have slain thy gracious Lord and Master and what are they but thy Sins 'T is true O man thy Sins have taken me have tyed me have scourg'd me have crown'd me have nail'd me to the Cross and were the sole occasion of my bitter death for the Jews could never have the power to crucify me but that thy Sins did both arm and incourage 'em to it Wherefore then art thou not highly displeas'd with them why dost thou not bend all thy wrath and fury against them seeing thy divine Master crucify'd by them before thine eyes and especially since my Death and Passion was design'd to breed in thy heart an eternal hatred of Sin It was in order to destroy Sin that I suffer'd death It was to set a stop to thy feet and hands which are so prone to evil even from thy very cradle that mine as an oblation for their evils were nail'd to the Cross How art thou so impious as to live after such a manner that all my pains taken for thy Salvation will signify nothing Why dost thou not tremble at the very mention of Sin seeing me suffer such cruel torments to destroy and root it clean out of the world How canst thou be so rash and so great an enemy to thy poor Soul as to dare to offend me seeing Heaven open to cast forth its thunder bolts upon thy criminal head and Hell with a dilated mouth ready to swallow thee both body and Soul MAN O My God my King my Saviour my Judge and my only comfort Thou art I confess the Eternal Wisdom and thy words to me are Spirit and Life for they have made me resolve to bid adieu for ever to Sin and to plant virtue where vice was before in great request but give me leave to ask thee what would the benefit of my redemption avail me if that of my Justification had not ensu'd for by this it is that the virtue of the former is appli'd to the diseases of my Soul and even as a plaister tho' never so soveraign will signify nothing except it be laid unto the wound so that heavenly medicine would be of no use or advantage to me if it had not been appli'd by the mediation of this unspeakable benefit to the bruises which I receiv'd in that fatal field of Eden where all mankinde were shamefully foil'd and quite overthrown in the Person of Adam The Sanctification of man does chiefly appertain to the Holy Ghost 'T is his prerogative to prevent the Sinner with the sweetness of his mercy then to call him being call'd to justify him and being justifi'd to direct him and leade him on to the end of his course and then to gratify him with a crown of glory wherefore I may justly say that this very benefit is the happy complement of all others for by this man is register'd in the number of Gods children discharg'd of the main weight of his iniquities deliver'd from the dominion and Tyranny of the Devil reviv'd from Death to Life brought from the state of Sin to that of Justice and of a child of malediction and woe he becomes the Son of God and Co-heir with thee in thy Glory Nemo potest venire ad me nisi Pater meus traxerit illum Joa 44. But this cannot be perform'd without the peculiar help and assistance of the holy Ghost as thou hast declar'd to thy beloved Disciple in these words No man can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him whereby I conceive that neither free will nor the power of humane nature can withdraw a man from Sin and bring him to Grace unless he be help'd on by the vertue of thy divine power The Angelical Doctor St. Thomas commenting upon these words says even as a Stone by its nature still falls downwards and can never ascend without some exteriour assistance so man overpress'd by the corruption of Sin tends always downwards and is powerfully hurri'd on by his inbred inclinations to the love and desire of terene and transitory things but if he be minded to aim higher that is at the love and supernatural desire of heavenly things he must implore the assistance of thy Divine Spirit without which he shall never be able to make any progress in virtue SAVIOVR O Man thou sayst well but I would have thee practise well what thou sayst for 't is the practise and not the discourse of good things that can make thee grateful to me the serious consdieration of this unspeakable benefit should indeed press thee to it make thee most diligent to atchieve it which is a matter of greatest moment to thee for by this thou art reconcil'd to me and cleans'd from Sin which is the worst of all evils and the only evil I most hate and abhor it alone is able to bring my indignation and wrath upon thee Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem perdes omnes qui loquntur mendacium Psal 5. as thou mayst unerstand by my Prophet who says of me Thou art not a God which taketh pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee The foorish shall not stand in thy sight Thou hatest all workers of iniquity Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man Thou seest by this that Sin is the greatest of all evils nay 't is the very root and origine of them all On the contrary to be in my favour the object of my most tender affection is a real happiness the fountain of all goodness and the solid foundation of all other favours and virtues Why dost thou then delay thy endeavours refuse to concur with my holy inspirations If thou wouldst once firmly resolve an amendment imploy all thy faculties to destroy Sin in thee thou shouldst then receive the benefit of Justification by which thou art deliver'd from that pernicious evil and of a mortal enemy thou art made my friend not in a common degree of friendship but in the most supream that can be thought of which is that of a Father to his Son Videte qualem charitatem nobis dedit pater ut filii Dei nominemur fimus 1. Jo. 3. My Evangelist extols this extraordinary favour very highly where he says behold
Earth certainly thou wouldst be totally inflam'd with love for so admirable a Creature thou wouldst never be weary of his company much less of his discourse why then dost thou not love me with all thy heart as thou art commanded Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo Matth. 22.37 Cupio dissolvi esse cum Christo Phil. 1.23 why dost thou not often and ardently desire with St. Paul to be deliver'd from that loathsome prison of thy body to enjoy my sight and company who am really adorn'd with all those perfections and graces in an infinite degree above all earthly Creatures and do confer the same upon all and every one of my Saints in Heaven why dost thou not despise the transitory and sordid pleasures of the world to seek after those of my heavenly Court which can beautify and embellish both thy body and Soul and the rather because I am so free to impart them not only to thee but also to all those that shall be faithfull to observe my commands For if I be so magnificent a Lord and so free to confer my favours in this world upon all men without any distinction so that the wicked may pertake of them as well as the Godly is there any ground then to believe that I have not far greater blessings in store for those alone that are my favourits and dearest beloved If I was so liberal as to bestow gratis such vast treasures as are the manifold benefits of nature upon a People that I was not in the least oblig'd to but on the contrary have suffer'd much at their hands Nec oculus vidit reâ— auris audivit nec in cor hominis ascendit quae praeparavit Deus diligentibus se 1 Cor. 2.9 how much more am I indebted to those that have serv'd me faithfully and with the loss of both their lives fortunes It 's impossible for thee O man to express the immensity of the glory which I shall confer upon my Elect in Heaven since that even the benefits which I have imparted to my very Enemies here on Earth are far beyond the reach of thy understanding for my Apostle says that the eye has not seen nor the ear heard neither have enter'd into the heart of man the things which God has prepar'd for them that love him If that be so as really it is why dost thou loyter then in thy banishment and dote so much upon the vaniteis of the world and earthly affairs why art thou so desirous to live any longer in the land of Egypt to gather straw and drink muddy water out of it's stinking Pits despising the headspring of all felicitys and the fountain of living waters why art thou content to beg and gather Alms at every door rather then live in thy heavenly Fathers house where all manner of solid content and pleasure is to be found why dost thou starve with the prodigal Son and feed with the Swine upon Acorns whilst thou mayst fit at his table and eat of the banquet which he has prepar'd for all his belov'd in glory If thou be'st inclin'd to pleasure raise up thy heart towards my heavenly Residence and there thou shalt behold that Supream Good which contains within its self eminently all the pleasures and allurements of all things that can be called good or delectable If this created life be pleasing to thee how much more pleasing must that increated life be which gave it a beginning and without which it cann't subsist one moment If health be a comfort to thee how much more comfort can I afford thee who am alone the giver the promoter and powerful preserver thereof If the knowledge of the creatures be sweet and acceptable to thee how much more sweet and acceptable ought the knowledge of thy Creator be unto thee Cujus pulchritudinem sol luna mirantur Job 38.7 Generationem ejus quis ennarrabit Isa 53.8 If all thy delight be plac'd in beauty I am he whose beauty the Sun and Moon does admire If thou beest taken with Nobility I am the source and offspring of all that can be call'd noble for my extraction goes far beyond the Creation of the world and limits of time If thou delightest in learning here in my heavenly School thou shalt know all my mysteries the profound sense of holy Scriptures thou shalt know the exact number of all my Saints and Angels thou shalt know the Secrets of my Divine providence how many are damn'd and for what thou shalt understand the frame and making of the world the whole artifice of nature the motions of the Stars and Planets the proprieties of Plants Stones Birds Beasts thou shalt not only know all things created but also many more things which I might have created thou shalt not only know them altogether and in the total but clearly and distinctly without any confusion The knowledge of the greatest wisemen and Philosophers of the world even in things natural is full of ignorance deceit and incertainty because they know not the substance of things but through the shell and bark of accidents whereas a poor and silly Servant kept all his life in Slavery nay were he a natural in the world yet in heaven he shall be replenish'd with more learning and knowledge as well of natural as of divine things then Solomon then Aristotle then all the Mathematicians Astrologers Astronomers Philosophers Divines and Doctors that ever were or will be to the worlds end for as St. Gregory says it is not to be believed that the Saints who behold within themselves the light of God are ignorant of any thing without them If thou beest desirous of long life health here thou wilt enjoy life everlasting without any distemper or malady without any danger of death or of any other evil in the quiet and peaceable possession of all manner of pleasure and comfort for there thou shalt rejoyce in what is above thee which is my beatifical vision in what is below thee which is the beauty of Heaven and other corporal Creatures in what is within thee which is the glorification of thy body in what is without thee which is the company of so many blessed Angels so many glorious Apostles so many renowned Patriarks so many famous Prophets such an invincible army of Martyrs a most renown'd assembly of Confessors a vast number of true and perfect religious so many holy Virgins which have overcome both the pleasures of the world and the frailty of their own nature Here I shall recreate and feast all thy spiritual Senses with an unspeakable delight for I shall be both thy gracious and grateful object I shall be a mirrour to the sight musick to the ear sweetness to the tast balsom to the smell flowers to the touch Here In fine there shall be the clear sight of Summer the pleasantness of the Spring the abundance of Autumn and the repose of winter But O man Quem dicunthomines
be to the damn'd to be depriv'd of this unspeakable comfort for an Eternity 't is so deplorable that Scripture does place it in the first rank of all other losses damages torments miseries that can befall a damn'd Soul let the wicked man be taken away Tollatur Impius ne videat gloriam Dei Esai 16. to the end he may not see the glory of God says the Prophet From this loss proceeds that great and general torment so often repeated in Scripture by the name of the worm of Conscience so call'd because as a worm lies eating gnawing the wood wherein she abides so shall the remorse of their Consciences ly within the damn'd griping and tormenting them for ever it shall be to them a remembrancer to put them in minde of the means and causes of their everlasting damnation which will make them to fret and rage and admire their own folly to have hanker'd so much after the vanities of the World and neglected the grand work of their Salvation Hear how they exclaim in Hell what has our Pride Sap. 5. or what has the glory of our Riches profited us they are all now vanish'd like a shaddow We have wearied our selves in the way of iniquity and perdition and the way of our Lord we have not known This shall be their everlasting ditty thus shall their tormented Conscience rave in Hell O most gracious Saviour when I see to my great sorrow in this sad Age we live in poor Mortals so far blinded with their worldly interest so deeply engag'd in the mire of iniquity so much taken with their sinful recreations and pastimes so deaf to thy Inspirations and callings so avers'd to the practise of piety and devotion such great enemies to mortification and pennance I despair in a manner of their Salvation and the rather that these so powerful motives can't prevail with them or make them desist lusting after those poysonous baits which the Devll presents unto them dayly and at every moment and which they with as much ease swallow as he takes pleasure to destroy their Souls Their common discourse is 't is time enough to think of Pennance when we come to old Age for then we shall be fit for no other thing O most Sacred Saviour thou sayst thou wilt not the death of a Sinner wherefore be pleas'd to let them know the danger of delaying their conversion and of deferring their repentance untill their latter days SAVIOVR THere is a kinde of People in the World Rom. 16. Tit. 1. says my Apostle that do exteriourly and by words confess God and profess themselves to be as good Christians as the rest yet interiourly and by the products of their doble dissembling hearts they don't believe there is a God at least with those Attributes that are as essential to him as his divine Nature and which I call infinite knowledge Providence Care and disposition of humane affairs Justice Judgment Punishment and the like These they do not indeed believe because their life and actions are quite contrary to a well-grounded belief Scripture avers it with a wo unto the dissolute and careless in heart who do not believe God Vae dissolutis corde qui non credunt Deo Eccl. 2. Deut. 22. These are the men whom I do hate and detest with all my heart because they plow with an Ox and an Ass together because they sow their ground with mingl'd Seed and their Apparel is made of flax and wool together These are them I spoke of in the Revelations Apoc. 3. I would thou wert either cold or hot but for that thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot therefore will I begin to vomit thee out of my mouth These are they who can accord all Religions together and take up all Controversys by only saying that either they are differences of small importance or else that they are out of their Province and belong only to learned men to dispute of but not unto them moreover they are of opinion that both parts do erre in somewhat or may be agreed and go both to Heaven These are the men who can apply themselves to any company to any time to any Government to any Princes pleasure to any Religion but will not admit of any discourse of Devotion in their presence only they will have men eat drink and be merry with them tell news of the Court and affairs abroad Sing Dance Laugh and play at Cards and dice and so they spend their lives in their Sinful recreations without any thoughts of God without any care of Salvation without any apprehension of Death depending only upon a good Peccavi in their extremity and when God shall Summon them to another World but alas they shall finde themselves sadly mistaken Vae Impio in malum Esai 3. Ipsi videntes sic admirati sunt conturbati sunt commoti sunt tremor apprehendet eos Psal 47.6 for I shall turn them off with a wo to the wicked and then shall set before their eyes all their abominations and crimes their Usury their Drunkenness their whoredome their treacheries their false Oaths their Extortions and Oppressions of the poor their blasphemies and the rest of their wicked actions shall come in a crowd to confound their Souls their Gold and Silver their Estates and Fortunes which they had so unjustly acquir'd their pleasures treasures now the only object of their adoration shall then become the fatal Subject of their confusion and my Justice shall take delight to batter and break their understanding Conteret Dominus scelestos simul Peccatores Esa 1.28 and memory with the full knowledge of all their Sins and how often they had slieghted my Inspirations my Callings my amorous invitations other innumerable effects of my mercy O silly Souls says St. Paul be not deceiv'd be not so far overseen as to leade a licentious life in hopes to dye a good Death Nolite orrare quae enim seminaverit homo haec metet Qui seminat in carne de carne metet corruptionem Gala. 6.7 Mat. 7.16 for in that dreadful hour you shall reap no better grain then what you have sown if you have been such bad Husbands of your Salvation as to sow and plant nothing else in the Soil ground of your Souls but carnal works you can't pretend to no better Harvest then corruption and everlasting Damnation Do Men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles even so every good Tree brings forth good fruit but a corrupt Tree brings forth evil fruit A good Tree can't bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt Tree bring forth good fruit Every Tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down cast into the fire These are my words 't is I the Eternal verity that speaks them Dicite justo quoniam bene fructum adinventionum suarum commedent Esai 3.10 and therefore they can't be contradicted or falsify'd let all men
In an Age of license to all sorts of vanity and wickedness as Lust Gluttony Avarice Envy Ambition Sloth Insolence Levity Contumacy Fear Rashness private Discords and publick Evils extravagant and groundless wishes vain Confidence sickly affections shameless Impiety Rapine authoriz'd and the violation of all things Sacred and prophane Obligations are pursu'd with Sword and Poison Benefits are turn'd into Crimes and that blood most seditiously spilt for which every honest man should expose his own Those that should be the preservers of their Country are the destroyers of it and 't is matter of dignity to trample upon the Government the Sword gives the Law and Mercenaries take up arms against their Masters Among these turbulent and unruly motions what hope is there of finding honesty or good Faith which is the life of all virtues there is not a more lively Image of humane life then that of a conquer'd City There is neither Mercy Modesty nor Religion and if we forget our lives we may well forget the obligations we have to thee and all thy benefits too But let us consider seriously the multitude and greatness of thy divine blessings deal with thee even as one man does with another The wise man says that gifts break Rocks Victoriam honorem acquirit qui dat munera animam autem aufert accipientium Prov. 22.9 and shall not thy divine benefits move a heart of flesh and if they can steal the hearts of the receivers according to Solomon how come we not to be rob'd of our Souls by thee O Lord For thou dost not only give us thy gifts but also dost bestow thy self upon us as a most precious treasure If we consider the benefits which we have receiv'd from thee in our Creation they are as many as we have members of our bodys and faculties of our Souls If those of our Conservation they are equal in number to the distinct natures in Heaven and on Earth The Elements the Sun the Moon the Stars and the whole World were created for our preservation for without them we could not subsist If we look upon the benefits of our Redemption We shall be easily convinc'd that they are as many as there are evils in Hell from which we are happily deliver'd by thy Passion and total effusion of thy most precious bloud Those of our Justification are no less in number then are the Sacraments which thou hast instituted to increase our Merits and work the Sanctification of our Souls then the Graces and Inspirations which thou dost shower down into our hearts and the divine Examples which thou hast left us Nonne haec opportuit Christum pati ita intrare in gloriam suam Luc. 24.26 which should invite us all to tread with a masculine courage in the same paths which brought thee O Lord into thine own glory All these with thousands of other benefits and obligations which we have receiv'd from thee and by thy Creatures cry out unto us to love thee with all our heart with all our Soul with all our Powers and to trample under our feet this false World with all it's vanitys trifles transitory pleasures But alas We make nothing of all thy benefits We give no ear to all their crys but rather will love the World and tast of its pleasures in as ample a measure as our fortunes will afford us wherein we seem to be worse then even the very Heathens for Aristides tho' he was reputed to be one of the greatest Men of Athens yet he was so avers'd to the Pomp and toys of the World and so affected to poverty that he always wore a course broken garment suffer'd Hunger Cold and Thirst not for any want of means or friends to relieve him but meerly for his own fancy Zeno was nothing concern'd when news was brought to him that he had lost all what he had in the World When An xagoras receiv'd the like news he said no more then if my Goods had not perish'd I had been undone Crates flung his whole substance into the Sea with this expression It is better I drown you then you me Diogenes bid adieu to all he had in the World and took nothing with him but a wooden dish and seeing by chance one drink out of the hollow of his hand broke that also And shall we refuse to do in obedience to thy Commands O Lord for the purchase of an eternal weight of glory what they freely and gladly perform'd to pleasure their own fancies and gain the repute of being Philosophers O madness O ingratitude never to be paralel'd Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi Ps 115.12 Tho' We are thine by so many just titles and thou hast given thy self and all what thou hast unto us yet we never think of what We ought to do for thee nor how We shall express our thankfulness for such and so great benefits This was the greatest care that David took and the sole subject of his most serious consideration what shall I return unto the Lord for all the favours which he has confirm'd upon me But O blessed King and Prophet give me leave to ask thee what are those favours 'T is true he has rais'd thee from the Station of a Shepherd to the dignity of a King He has enabl'd thee to encounter a Giant and to get the better of him too He has often protected thee against the evil Spirit of Saul and has preserv'd thy life from all the wicked and treacherous attempts he made to destroy thee these are great obligations indeed and deserve thy grateful return but are nothing to the benefits which we have receiv'd at his hands his love for us was so great that he suffer'd death to bring us to life everlasting and left unto us for food to our Souls his most precious body and blood certainly these obligations are unspeakable and deserve at least that small attonement of returning back unto him our Souls hearts and bodys for as we had them from him 't is our weighty obligation to let him have them again entirely and free from any love-to the World or affection to the Creatures so that We are to account our selves now and evermore as only his and not our own consequently We are not to debase our love by placing it upon any worldly object but to settle it wholly upon him alone And really if we consider seriously the infinite love which thou hast for us O Lord We shall finde that we have no love left to bestow either upon the World or any terrene object no nor upon our selves for We must know that love consists in action and the more it acts or suffers the greater is the perfection thereof how great then must thy love be O Lord being thou hast wrought such Stupendious works for our Salvation still dost continue to work the like for our preservation the Sun the Moon Omnia subjecisti sub