charitie of many shall waxe cold that is she shall not be so actiue and couragious by reason of feare and griefe which shall oppresse mens hearts Sure it is that coÌ„cupiscence hauing coÌ„ceiued doth engeÌ„der sinne but this sinne though sinne indeede doth not still beget the death of the soule but theÌ„ onely when it is compleate in malice and when it is consummate and accomplished as S. IAMES saieth who in this doth establish so cleare a difference betwixt mortall and veniall sinne that it is strang that some in our age haue had the impudence to deney it 3. Howbeit veniall sinne is sinne and consequently displeasant to Charitie not as a thing that is contrarie to her but contrarie to her operations and progresse yea her intention which in so much as we are to direct all our actions to God is violated by veniall sinne which carrying the actions by which they are committed not indeede against God yet besides God and his will and as we saie of a tree rudely dight and shaker by a tempest that nothing is left because though the tree be entire yet is it left without fruite so when our charitie is shaken by the affections we haue to veniall sinne we saie she is diminished and weakned not for that the habits of loue are not entire in our hearts but because she is without the workes which are the fruites 4. The affection to great sinnes did in such â—ort make Vâ—RITIE prisoner to Iniustice amongst the Pagan Philosophers that as the great Apostle saieth knowing God they honored him not according to that knowledge so that though this affection did not banish naturall light yet it made it fruitlesse so the affection to veniall sinne doth not abolish Charitie but it holds her as a slaue tyed hand and foote hindring her freedome and action This affection glewing vs too hard to the enioying of creaturs depriues vs of the spirituall priuicie betwixt God and vs to which charitie as true friendshipe doth incite vs and by consequence this affection doth make vs loose the interiour helpes and assistances which are as the vitall SPIRITS of the soule in default whereof there followeth a certaine spirituall Palsie which in the end if it be not remedied leedes vs to death for to conclude charitie being an actiue qualitie cannot be long without either acting or dying She is saie our Auncients of the nature of Rachael who also did represent her giue me said she to her husband children or else I dye And charitie vrgeth the heart which she hath espoused to make her fertile of good workes otherwise she will perish 5. We are rarely in this mortall life without many temptations now vile and slouthfull hearts and such as are giuen to exteriour pleasures not being accustomed to fight nor traiened vp in spirituall warfare neuer conserue Charitie long but let themselues ordinarily be surprised by mortall sinne which happens so much more easily by how much the soule is more disposed by veniall sinne to mortall for as that Auncient by a daily continuance of carrying the same Calfe bore him also when he was growen to be an Oxe custome hauing by little and little made the encrease of so vntoward a burden insensible so he that doth accustome himselfe to plaie for pence will in the end plaie for crownes pistols and horses and after them for all his substance he that giues bridle to a smale coller will find himself in the end furious and insupportable he that giues himselfe to lye in ieast is in great perill to lye calumniously 6 In fine THEO we are wount to saie that such as haue a weaklie complection haue no life that they haue not an ovnce or not a handfull because that which must quickly haue end seemes indeede already not to be And those drowsie soules which are led with pleasurs aâ—d set vpon transitorie things may well saie that they haue lost Charitie for though as yet they haue her they are euen vpon the point of loosing her How we forsake heauenly loue for that of Creaturs CHAPTER III. 1. THe misfortune to leaue God for the creature happens thus We loue not God without intermission because in this mortall life Charitie is in vs as a simple habite which as the Philosophers noted we vse when we list and neuer against our likeing When we doe not then make vse of the Charitie which is in vs that is wheÌ„ we doe not applie our minds to the exercises of holy loue but keepe them busied in some other affaire or else being slothfull they remaine vnprofitable and idle then THEO they may be assaulted by some bad obiect and surprised by temptation And though the habite of charitie be at that instant in the bottome of our hearts and performe its office inclining vs to reiect the bad suggestion yet doth it not vrge or carrie vs to the action of resistance but according as we second it as the manner of habits is and therefore leauing vs in our freedome it happens often that the bad obiects hauing throwen their allurements deeply into our hearts we ioyne our selues vnto them by an excessiue complacence which after encreasing we can hardly be quit of it and as thornes according to the saying of our Sauiour doe in the end stilfe the seede of grace and heaueÌ„ly loue So it fell-out with our first Mother Eue whose ouerthrow began by a certaine amusement which she made in discoursing with the Serpent taking complacence to heare of her aduancement in knowledge and to see the beautie of the forbidden fruite so that the complacence waxing bigge with the amusement and the amusement feeding it selfe in the complacence she found her selfe at length so entangled that giuing way to consent she did commit the accursed sinne to which afterwards she drew her husband 2. We see doues sometimes touched with vanitie swimme hither and thither obseruing the varietie of their owne plumes and then the Tercelets and Falcons that espie them fall vpon and sease them which they could neuer be able to doe if the doue had flowen out right hauing a stronger winge then the Haulke Alas THEO if we did not stand musing at the vanitie of fraile pleasurs especially in the complacence of selfe-loue but hauing once got charitie would be carefull to flie straight whither she would carrie vs suggestion and temptation should neuer catch vs but because as doues seduced and beguiled by selfe-esteeme we looke backe vpon our selues and keepe our minds too much conuersant amongst creaturs we often find our selues in our enemies clawes who beare away and deuoure vs. 3. God will not hinder that temptation assault vs to th' end that by resistance our charitie may be more exercised that by fight we may beare away the victorie aÌ„d by victorie obtaine the triumphe But that we haue any kind of inclination to delight our selues in the temptation this riseth from the condition of our nature which doth so earnestly loue Good that therby she is subiect to
Heauen I Lord thy will be done in earth where we haue no pleasure which is not enterlaced with some paine no Roses without thornes no day so cleare that is not followed with a night no summer that was not vsshered in by a precedent winter In the earth ò Lord where consolations are thinne sowen desolations thicke let yet ò God thy will be done not onely in keeping thy Commandements Counsells and Inspirations which are to be practised by vs but also in the sufferance of afflictions and paines which are to fall vpon vs so that thy will may doe by vs for vs in vs and with vs what is thought good to thee That the vnion of our will to the will of God is priâ—câ—pally caused by tribulations CHAPTER II. 1. PAines considered in themselues cannot indeede be beloued yet beheld in their source that is in Gods will and prouidence which ordaines them they are infinitly amiable Behold Moyses his rod vpon the ground it is a hideous serpent looke vpon it in Moyses his hand it is a rod of wonders Looke tribulations in the face they are dreadfull behold them in the will of God they are loues and delights How often doth it fall out that the potion or plaster presented by the Phisition or Apoticarie is loathsome vnto vs which being offered by some friends hand Loue surmounting our loathing we receiue with delight Certes Loue doth either free labour from all difficultie or makes its difficultie delightfull It is reported that there is a riuer in Boetia wherein the fishes shine like gold but taken out of those waters the place of their origine they haue the naturalll colour of other fishes Euen so afflictions if they be looked vpon out of God's will they beare with them their naturall bitternesse but being contemplated in this eternall will they are all gold louely and precious beyond conceite 2. If Abraham had beheld a necessitie to slaughter his Sonne out of Gods will thinke THEO what panges and conuulsions his poore heart had felt but seeing it in Gods GOOD PLEASVRE it appeares all gold and he doth tenderly embrace it If the Martyrs had looked vpon their torments out of this GOOD PLEASVRE how could they haue sunge in chaines and flames The truely louing heart loues Gods GOOD PLEASVRE not in consolations onely but in afflictions also yea it loues it better vpon the crosse in paines and difficulties because it iâ— the prime effect of Loue to make the Louer suffer for the thing beloued 3. The Stoicks especially the good Epictetes placed all Philosophie in abstaining and sustaining bearing and forbearing in forbearing and abstaining froÌ„ terreane delightes pleasures aÌ„d honours in sustaining and bearing wrongs toyles and discoÌ„modities But Christian doctrine which is the onely true Philosophie hath three principles vpoÌ„ which it doth ground all its exercises Abnegation of ones selfe which is farre more then to abstaine from pleasures Bearing of the crosse which is farre more then to tolerate it following of our Sauiour not onely in the point of renunciation of a mans selfe and bearing of his crosse but euen in the practise of all sorts of good works Yet is there not so much loue testified neither in the abnegation nor in the very deede doing as in suffering Certes the holy-Ghost in the holy Scripture puts downe the death and passion which our Sauiour suffered for vs as the highest straine of our Sauiours Loue towards vs. 4. First to loue Gods will in consolations is a good loue when the loue of God is indeede loued not the consolation in which it is found howbeit it is a loue voide of contradiction repugnance and difficultie for who would not loue a will so worthy in a subiect so wellcome SecoÌ„dly to Loue the will of God in his CoÌ„mandemeÌ„ts CouÌ„sells aÌ„d inspiratioÌ„s is a secoÌ„d degree of loue and much more perfect for it leades vs to the renouncing and quitting of our owne will and makes vs abstaine and forbeare many pleasures yet not all Thirdly to loue sufferances and afflictions for the loue of God is the highest point of holy Charitie for there is nothing therein to gaine our affection saue the onely will of God Our nature feeles a great contradiction in it and we doe not thereby forsake pleasures onely but we euen eÌ„brace paines and torments 5. Our mortall enemye knew well what was Loue 's furthest tryall when he had heard from the mouth of God that IOB was iust rightuous fearing God hatting sinne and stable in innocencie he made no account of all this in comparison of bearing afflictions by which he made the last and surest essaye of the loue of this great seruant of God aÌ„d to haue theÌ„ in an extreamitie he composed them of the losse of all his goods and all his children of the entire reuolt of all his friends and of an arrogant opposition of his greatest Confederates and his owne wife and of an opposition full of despight mockerie and reproch to which he added the whole collection of almost all humane diseases namely a cruell stinking horrible vlcer ouer all his bodie 6. And yet behold the great IOB as king of all the miserable creaturs vpon the face of the earth seated vpon a dunge-hill as vpon the Throne of miserie adorned with soares vlcers and matter as with royall robes suteing them in the qualitie of his royaltie with so great an abiection and annihilation that if he had not spooken one should not haue descerned whether IOB was a man reduced into a dounghill or the dounghill a corruption in forme of a man Behold there I saie the great Iob crying out If we haue receiued good things from the hand of God why shall we not also receiue that which is bad ô God how this word is great with Loue He ponders THEO that it was from the hand of God that he had receiued the good testifying that he had not so much loued good because it was good as that it came from our Sauiours hand which being so he concluds that he is louingly to support aduersities since they proceede from our Sauiours hand equally to be loued when he distributs afflictions and when he bestowes consolations Each one doth easily receiue good things but to receiue euill is a worke of perfect Loue which loues them so much the more for that they are not amiable but in respect of his hand that giues them 7. The Trauailler that is in feare whether he hath hit vpon the right way walks in doubt looking about him in the countrie where he is and stands in a muse at the end of almost euery feild to thinke whether he goes not a straie But he that is sure of his way walks on iocundly boldly and swiftly Euen so the Loue that deâ—ires to walke to Gods will through consolations walkes still in feare to take the wrong path and in steede of louing Gods good liking to fall in loue with the pleasure which is in the consolation but
hath left in man deepe markes of his anger yea euen a middest the graces of his Mercy as for example the necessitie of death sicknesse labours the rebellion of the sensualitie yet the Diuine Assistance hauing the vpper hand of all these takes pleasure to conuert these miseries to the greatest aduantage of such as loue him making Patience rise out of their trauailes the Contempt of the world out of the necessitie of death a thousand victories ouer Concupiscence and as the Rainebowe touching the Thorne ASPALATHVS makes it more odoriferous then the Lillie so our Sauiours Redemption touching our miseries makes them more profitable and amiable then Originall Iustice could euer haue bene The Angels in heauen saieth our Sauiour doe more ioy in one penitent sinner them in nintie nine iust and so the State of Redemption is an hundred times better then that of Innocencie Verily by being watered with our Sauiours Blood caused by the Isoppe of the Crosse we are reduced to a whitnesse incomparably more excellent then the snow of innocencie returning out of the Flood of health with NAMAN more pure and vnspotted as though we had neuer bene Leprous to th' end that the diuine Maiestie as he hath also ordained we should doe might not be ouercome by euill but ouercome euill by good that his Mercy as a sacred oyle might keepe aboue Iudgment and his commiseration surpasse all his workes Of certaine speciall fauours exercised by the diuine prouidence in the Redemption of man CHAPTER VI. 1. CErtainly God doth admirably show the riches of his incomprehensible power in this great varietie of things which we see in Nature Yet doth he make the Treasurs of his infinite Bountie more magnificently appeare in the incomparable varietie of benefits which we acknowledge in Grace For THEOTIME he was not content with the holy excesse of his Mercy in sending to his people that is to Mankind a generall and vniuersall Redemption by meanes wherof euery one might be saued but moreouer he diuersified it in so many sorts that his Liberalitie did shine amiddest that varietie and that varietie againe did mutually imbellish his Lliberalitie 2. And following this he first of all prepared for his most holy Mother a fauour worthy the loue of a Sonne who being most wise omnipotent and good was to prouide himselfe of a Mother to his liking and thefore he ordained that his Redemption should be applied to her by way of a preseruatiue to th' end that sinne which ranne from generation to generation might stop before it came at her so that she was ransomed in so excellent a manner that although the Torrent of originall iniquitie came rolling her vnfortunate waters vpon the Conception of this sacred Lady euen with as great impetuositie as against the daughters of ADAM yet being arriued there it did not dare a further passage but made a sodaine staie as did of old the waters of Iordaine in the daies of IOSVE and for the same respect for the flood stopt his course in reuerence of the Ark of Alliance which passed and originall sinne made his waters retire adoring and dreading the presence of the true Tabernacle of Eternall Alliance 3. In this sort then God deturned all bondage from his glorious Mother giuing her the good of both the states of humane nature retaining the Innocencie which the first ADAM had lost and enioying in an excellent sort the Redemption which the second did acquire Whence as a garden of election which was to bring fourth the fruite of life she was made florishing in all sorts of perfections This sonne of eternall loue hauing thus decked his Mother with a Robe of gold wrought in faire varietie that she might be the Queene of his right hand that is to saie the first of the elect which should enioy the delightes of God's right hand so that this sacred Mother as being altogether reserued for her Sonne was by him infranchised not onely from damnation but euen from all danger of damnation giuing her Assurance of grace and the Perfection of grace not vnlike an Aurora who beginning to appeare encreaseth continually in brightnesse till perfect day light Admirable redemption Master-pece of the Redemour and Prime of all Redemptions by which the sonne with a truly filiall heart preuented his Mother in the benedictions of sweetnesse he preserued her not onely from sinne as he did the Angels but euen from all danger of sinne and euery thing that might diuert of hinder her in the exercise of holy Loue. Protesting that amongst all the reasonable Creaturs he had chosen this Mother was his onely Doue his entirely perfect his wholie deare well beloued without all paragon and comparison 4. God also appointed other sauours for a small number of rare Creaturs whom he would assure from the perill of damnation as certainly he did S. IOHN BAPTIST and probably IEREMIE with certaine others which the Diuine Prouiuidence seased vpon in their mothers wombe and stated vpon them a Perpetuitie of Grace by which they might remaine firme in his Loue though subiect to delaies and veniall sinnes which are contrarie to the perfection of Loue not to Loue it selfe and these soules in regard of others are as Queenes continually crowned with Charitie holding the principall place in the loue of their Sauiour next to his Mother who is Queene of Queenes A Queene not onely crowned with Loue but with the Perfectiō of loue yea which is yet more crowned with her owne Sonne the soueraigne obiect of Loue being that childrē are theire Fathers and Mothers crownes 5. There are yet other soules which God determined for a time to leaue exposed to the danger not of loosing their saluation but yet in perill to loose his Loue yea he permitted them to loose it in effect not assuring them Loue for the whole time of their life but onely for the periode therof and for certaine precedent times Such were the APOSTLES DAVID MADELAINE and diuerse others who for a time remained out of God's grace but in the end being throughly conuerted they were confirmed in grace vntill death so that though from thence they continued subiect to imperfections yet were they exempt from all mortall sinne and consequently from danger of loosing the Diuine loue and were as the heauenly spouse his sacred soules adorned indeede with a wedding garment of this holy loue yet for all that not crowned a crowne being an ornament of the head that is of the prime part of a man now the first yeares of the Soules of this ranck hauing bene subiect to terreane loue they were not to be adorned with the crowne of heauenly loue but it is sufficient for them to weare the Robe which renders them capable of the marriage-bede with the heauenly Spouse and to be eternally happie with him How admirable the diuine prouidence is in the diuersitie of graces giuen to men CHAPTER VII 1. THere was then in the eternall Prouidence an incomparable fauour for the Queene of Queenes
by which we consider him as source of Grace so will he bestow vpon vs the LIGHT OF GLORIE by which we shall contemplat him as fountaine of Beatitude and eternall life but a fountaine THEOT which we shall not contemplate a farre off as we doe now by faith but we shall see it by the LIGHT OF GLORIE being couered and swallowed vp in it The Duckers saieth Plinie who fishing for precious stones diue into the water doe take oile in their mouthes that by scattering it they might haue more day to see in the waters where they swime THEO the Blessed hauing diued and plunged themselues into the Ocean of the Diuine essence God will poure into their vnderstandings the sacred LIGHT OF GLORIE which will giue them day in the Abisse of this inaccessible light that so by the LIGHT OF GLORIE they may see the LIGHT OF THE DIVINITIE In God the fountaine is Of Life and heauenly blisse His brightnesse shall appeare To vs in th'-rayon cleare Of his day which shall be Our day of IVBILIE That there shall be different degrees of the vnion of the Blessed with God CHAPTER XV. 1. NOw this light of Glorie THEO shall be the measure of the sight and contemplation of the Blessed and according as we shall haue lesse or more of this holy splendour we shall see more or lesse clearely and consequently more or lesse happily the most holy Diuinitie which as it is beholden ād diuersly looked vpō so it will make vs diuersly glorious Certes in this heauenly Paradise all the SPIRITS see all the Diuine Essence yet no one of them nor all of them together doth or can see it entirely No THEO for God being most singularly one and most simply indiuisible one cannot see him without seeing all But being infinite without limite without bounds or measure at all in his perfection there neither is nor can be any capacitie out of himselfe who can euer totally comprehend or penetrate the infinitie of his Goodnesse infinitly essentiall and essentially infinite 2. This created light of the visible Sunne which is limited and finite is in such sort all seene of all those that doe behold it that it is neuer totally seene of any one of them nor of all together It is in a manner so with all our senses Amongst many that heare excellent musike though all of them heare it all yet some heare it not so well nor with so much delight as others according as their eares are lesse or more delicate MANNA had all tasts to all that eate it yet differently following the diuersitie of their appetits who tooke it yet was it totally tasted of none for it had more different tasts then the Israelits had varietie of gusts THEO we shall see and taste in heauen all the Diuinitie but neuer any of the Blessed nor all together shall euer see or taste it totally This infinite Diuinitie shall still haue infinitly more excellences then we sufficiencie and capacitie and we shall haue an vnspeakable content to know that after we haue satiated all the desire of our heart and fully replenished the capacitie thereof in the fruition of an infinite good which is God neuerthelesse there will remaine in this infinitie infinite perfections to be seene enioyed and possessed which his diuine Maiestie knowes and sees it onely comprehending it selfe 3. So fishes enioye the incredible vastnesse of the Ocean but neuer any fish nor yet all the multitude of fishes euer sawe all the armes of the Sea or wet their sinnes in all its waters Birds doe sport in the open aire at their pleasure but neuer any birde nor yet all the flok's of birds together did euer beat with their winges all the regions of the aire or arriue at the supreame region of the same Ah THEO our soules shall freely and according to the full extēt of their wishes swime in the Ocean and soare in the aire of the Diuinitie reioycing eternally to see that this aire is so infinite this Ocean so vast that it cannot be measured by their winges and that enioying without all reserue or exception all this infinite Abisse of the Diuinitie yet shall they neuer be able to equalize their fruition to this infinitie which remaines still infinitly infinite beyond their capicitie 4. And at this the Blessed SPIRITS are rauished with two admirations first at the infinite beautie which they contemplate secondly at the Abisse of the infinitie which remaineth to be seene in this same beautie O God how admirable is that which they see but ô God how much more admirable is that which they see not And notwithstanding THEO the most sacred beautie which they see being infinite it doth entirely satisfie and satiate them and enioying it with content according to the rancke which they hold in heauen because God's amiable prouididence hath so determined it they conuerte the knowledge they haue of not possessing or not being totally to possesse their obiect into a simple complacence of admiration in which they haue a soueraigne ioye to see that the beautie they loue is so infinite that it cannot be totally knowen but by it selfe For in this doth the Diuinitie of this infinite Beautie or the Beautie of this infinite Diuinitie consist The end of the third Booke THE FOVRTH BOOKE OF THE DECAY OR RVINE OF CHARITIE That while we are in this mortall life we may loose the loue of God CHAPTER I. I. WE make not these discourses for those great soules of Election whō God by a most speciall fauour doth so maintaine and confirme in his loue that they runne no hazard of loosing it We speake for the rest of mortalls to whom the Holy Ghost doth addresse these aduertisements he that stands let him take heede that he fall not hold what thou hast be carefull and labour that by Good workes you may assure your vocation in sequele whereof he makes them make this Praier doe not cast me from before thy face doe not take from me thy SPIRIT and leade vs not into temptation to th' end they may worke their saluation with a holy trembling and sacred feare knowing that they are not more constant and strong to conserue Gods loue then was the first Angell his followers and Iudas who receiuing it loosed it and in loosing it loosed themselues for euer nor then Salomon who hauing lost it holds the whole world in doubt of his damnation nor then ADAM EVE DAVID S. PETER who being children of Saluation fell yet for a space from the loue without which there is no saluation Alas THEO who shall then haue assurance to conserue sacred loue in the nauigation of this mortall life sith as well in earth as heauen so many personages of incomparable dignities suffered so fearefull shipwrakes 2. But ô eternall God how is it possible will you saie that a soule that loues God can neuer loose it for where loue is it resisteth sinne and how comes it to passe then that sinne gets entrie there sith
that loue is strong as death sharpe in battaile as hell how can the forces of deth or hell that is sinne vanquish loue which at least doth equalize them in strength and doth passe them in friends and right Yea how can it be that a reasonable soule that hath once relished so great a sweetenesse as is that of heauenly loue can euer willingly swallow the bitter waters of sinne children though children being fed with milke with butter ād honie abhorre the bitternesse of wormewoode and Orpin being readie to fall downe with weeping when they are constrained to take them All then o true God the soule once ioyned to the goodnesse of the Creator how can she forsake him to follow the vanitie of the creature 3. My deare THEO the heauens them selues stand amazed their ports doe burst with feare and the Angels of peace are lost in astonishment at this prodigious miserie of mans heart abandoning so amiable a good to ioyne it selfe to things so deplorable But haue you neuer seene the little marueill which euery one knowes and yet few knows the reason of it when a full barrill is broched the wine will not runne vnlesse it haue aire giuen from aboue which yet happens not to barrels already drawen on for they are no sooner open but the wine runnes Certes in this mortall life though our soules abound with heauenly loue yet are they neuer so full therwith that by temptation this loue may not depart but in heauē when the sweetenesse of Gods beautie shall occupie all our vnderstanding and the delightes of his Goodnesse shall wholy satiate our wills so that there shall be nothing which the fullnesse of his loue shall not replenish no obiect though it penetrate euen to our hearts can euer draw or make rūne one sole drope of the precious liquour of our heauenly loue And to think to giue aire aboue that is to deceiue or surprise the vnderstanding it shall no more be possible for it shall be immouable in the apprehension of the soueraigne TRVTH 4. So wine well purified and separated from the lees is easily keept harmelesse when it is tossed and troubled but that which is vpon the lees is in continuall danger and as for vs so long as we are in this world our soules are vpon the lees or tartar of a thousand humours and miseries and consequently easie to be changed and turned into their loue But being in heauen where as in the great feast described by Isaie there shall be wine purified from the dregges we shall be no longer subiect to change but shall be inseparably vnited by loue to our soueraigne good Here in the twie-light of day breake we are affraide that in lieu of the Spouse we fall vpon some other obiect which may delay and deceiue vs but when we shall find him aboue where he takes his repast and repose in the cleare day of glorie there will be no occasion to be deceiued for his light will be too cleare ād his sweetenesse will tye vs so closely to his goodnesse that we shall not haue the power to will to vntye our selues 5. We are like to Corall which in the sea the place of it's origine is pale-greene weake bowing and a pliable shrub but being pulled out of the sea as from it's mothers wombe it becomes almost a stone firme and impliable changing it's pale-greene into a liuely vermillion for so we being as yet amidst the sea of this world the place of our birth are obnoxius to strang changes pliable vpon euery occasion by inspiration to the right hand of heauenly loue by temptation to the left of terrene loue But if being once drawen out of this mortalitie we shall haue changed the pale-greene of our doubtfull hopes into the liuely red of assured fruition we shall neuer more be moueable but make a setled demoure for euer in eternall loue 6. It is impossible to see the Diuinitie and not loue it but here below where we doe not see it but onely haue a glimps of it through the cloudes of faith as in a myrror our knowledge is not yet so perfect as not to leaue entrie to the surprises of other obiects and apparant good which through the obscuritie mixed with the certaintie and veritie of faith doe insensibly steale in as little fox cubs and demolishe our florishing vine To conclude THEO when we haue charitie our free-will is deck't with her wedding garment which as she can still keepe on if she please in well doing so she can put it of if she please in offending How the soule waxeth coole in holy Loue. CHAPTER II. 1. THe soule is often contristated and afflicted in the bodie yea euen to the forgoing of many of the members thereof which remaine depriued of motion and sense though she neuer forsake the heart where she is still entirely till the periode of life So charitie is sometimes so quelled and made to languish in the heart that it doth scarcely appeare in any action though yet the remaine entire in the supreame region of the soule And then it is that vnder the multitude of veniall sinns as vnder finders the fire of holy Loue remaines couert its light being smothered though not deaded or extinguished for as the presence of the Diamant doth hinder the exercise and action of the Adamants propertie in drawing iron ād yet doth not depriue her of it hauing her operatiō as soone as the obstackle is remoued so the presence of veniall sinns doth in no sort depriue charitie of her force and power to worke yet doth it as it were benume and depriue her of the vse of her actiuitie So that she remaines sterill and barren without action Certes nor veniall nor yet the affection to veniall sinne is contrarie to the essentiall resolution of charitie which is to preferre God before all things because by this sinne we loue things besides reason not against reason we deferre a little too much and more thē is conuenient to creatures yet doe not we preferre them before the Creator we make more delay then is fitting in terrene things yet doe we not for all that forsake heauenly things In fine this kind of sinne doth impeach vs in the way of charitie but doth not put vs out of it and therefore veniall sinne not being contrarie to Charitie it neuer destroies her either wholy or partially 2. God signified to the Bishope of Ephesus that he had forsaken his prime charitie when he saieth not that he was without charitie but onely that he was not such as in the beginning that is that he was not now prompt feruent flourishing and frutefull as we are wount to saie of him who was braue cheerefull and frolicke and afterwards becomes harsh dull and lowtish that he is now the same man he was for our meaning is not that he is not the same in substance but onely in his actions and exercises And euen our Sauiour saieth that in the later daies the
be enticed by any thing that hath a shew of good and temptations hooke is still baited with this kind of baite for as holy writ doth teach there is either some honorable good in the worlds sight to moue vs to the pride of a wordly life or a good delightfull to sense to carrie vs to carnall concupiscence or a good able to enrich vs to incite vs to auarice and couetousnesse of the eyes But if we keepe faith which can discerne betwixt the true Good we are to pursue and the false which we are to reiect liuelily attetiue to its office without doubt it will be a faithfull Sentinell to Charitie and will giue her intelligence of the euill that might approch the heart vnder colour of Good and Charitie would sodenly repulse it But because ordinarily we keepe our faith either a sleepe or lesse attentiue theÌ„ were requisite for the conseruation of Charitie we are often surprised by temptation which seducing our senses and they inciting the inferiour part of our soule to rebellioÌ„ it comes to passe eftsones that the superiour part of reason yeeldes to the violence of this reuoult and by committing the sinne looseth Charitie 4. Such was the progresse of the sedition which the disloiall Absolon stirred vp against his good Father DAVID for he laied before the people faire propositions in apparence which being receiued by the poore Israelites whose prudence was put a sleepe and smothered he did sollicite them in such sort that he wrought them to an entire rebellion so that the monefull Dauid was coÌ„strained to depart from Hierusalem with all his faithfull friends leauing there none of qualitie saue Sadoc and Abiathar Priests of the Almightie with their children now Sadoc was SEEING that is to saie a Prophet 5. For so most deare THEO selfe-loue finding our faith without attention and drowsie it presents vnto it vaine yet apparent goods seduceth our sense our imagination and the faculties of our soules and laies so hard at our free-wills that it brings them to an entire reuoult against the holy loue of God which then as a DAVID departs from our heart with all his traine that is with the gifts of the holy Ghost and the other heauenly vertues which are the inseparable companions of Charitie if not her proprieties and abilities nor doth there remaine in the HERVSALEM of our soule any vertue of importance sauing Sadoc the SEEING that is the gift of faith which by her exercise can make vs see eternall things and with him Abiathar that is the gift of hope with her action both which remaine much afflicted and sorrowfull yet maintaining in vs the Arch of Alliance that is the qualitie and tile of a Câ—RISTIAN purchased by Baptisme 6. Alas THEO what a pitifull spectacle is it to the Angels of peace to see the holy Ghost and his loue depart in this maÌ„ner out of our sinfull soules verily I think if they could weepe they would poure out infinite teares and with a mornefull voice lamenting our mishape would sing the Threnes which Ieremie throbed out when set vpon the threshold of the desolate Temple he contemplated the ruine of Hierusalem in the time of SEDECIAS Ah! with what griefe doe I behold HIERVSALEM famous of old For good and honorable men Of horror now become a den That heauenly loue is lost in a moment CHAPTER IV. 1. THe loue of God which brings vs to a neglect of our selues makes vs Citizens of the heauenly HierusaleÌ„ selfe-loue which pusheth vs forwards to the contempt of God makes vs slaues of the infernall Babilon True it is we come by little aÌ„d little to despise God but we haue no sooner done it but presently in a moment holy charitie doth forsake vs or rather she doth wholy perish I THEO for in the contempt of God doth mortall sinne consist and one onely mortall sinne doth banish Charitie from the soule for so much as it doth violate her tye and vnion with God which is obedience and submission to his will and as mans heart cannot liue diuided so Charitie which is the heart of the soule and the soule of the heart caÌ„ neuer be wounded but she is slaine as they saie of pearles which being conceiued of heauenly dâ—we doe perish if any drope of salte water get into their shell Indeede our soule doth not goe out of our bodie by little aÌ„d little but in a moment when the bodies indispositions are so great that she can no longer exercise the actions of life therein euen so at the very instant in which the heart is so disordered by passions that Charitie there can no longer raigne she quits and abandons it for she is so generous that she cannot leaue to raigne without leauing to liue 2. Habits gotten by human actions alone doe not perish by one onely contrarie act for a man is not saied to be intemperate for one onely act of intemperance nor is a painter held an vnskilfull maister for hauing once failed in his arte but as all such habits are gotten by the impression and in sequele of diuers acts so we loose them by a long cessation from their acts or by many contrarie acts But Charitie THEO which in a moment the holy Ghost poures into our hearts as soone as the conditions requisit to this infusion meete in vs is also in an instant expelled thence as soone as diuerting our will from the obedience due vnto God we haue accomplished consent to the rebellion and disloialtie to which temptation incites vs. 3. True it is Charitie encreaseth by degrees and goeth from perfection to perfection according as by our works or by the frequenting of Sacraments we make it place yet doth it not decrease by a lessening of perfection thereof for we neuer loose any bit of it but we loose it all In which it resembles PHIDIAS his Maister-peece so famous amongst the Auncients for they saie this great Grauer made in AtheÌ„s a picture of Minerua of Iuorie twentie seauen cubits high and in her Buckler wherein he expressed the battails of the Amasons and Giants he graued his owne picture with so great Arte that one could not take away one iot of it saieth Aristotle without defacing the whole statue so that this worke though it was perfected by adding peice to peice yet in a moment might be destroied by remouing any little parcell of the workmans feature In like maner THE though the Holy Ghost hauing infused Charitie into a soule doth eÌ„crease it by adding one degree to another and one perfection of loue to another yet so as that the resolution to preferre God's will before all things being the essentiall point of holy loue and that wherein the image of eternall loue that is of the Holy Ghost is represented one cannot withdraw one onely peece of it but presently Charitie doth wholy perish 4. This preference of God before all things is the deare child of Charitie And if AGAR being an Egiptian seeing her sonne in danger of death
had not the heart to stay by him but would haue left him saying ah I am not able to see this child dye is it strang then that Charitie the daughter of sweetenesse and heauenly delight cannot see her child dye which is a Resolution neuer to offend God so that still as free-will resolues to consent to sinne and therein killeth this holy resolution Charitie dyes with it fighing out these last words alas no neuer will I see this child dye In fine THE as the precious stone called PRASSIVS looseth its luster in the presence of any poison so in an instant the soule looseth her splendour grace and beautie which consisteth of holy loue vpon the entrie and presence of any mortall sinne whence it is written that the soule who sinneth shall dye That the sole cause of the decay and slackening of Charitie is in the creaturs will CHAPTER V. 1. AS it were a most wicked impudencie to attribute the works of holy loue done by the holy ghost in and with vs to the strength of our will so were it a shamelesse impietie to lay the defect of loue in vngratfull men on the want of heauenly assistance and grace For the holy Ghost cries in euery place to the contrarie that our ruine is from our selues that our Sauiour brought the fire of loue and desires nothing but that it should burne our hearts That saluation is prepared before the face of all nations light to lighten the gentiles and for the glorie of Israel That the diuine goodnesse would haue none to perish but that all come to the knowledge of truth that all be saued their Sauiour being come into the world that euery one might receiue the adoption of children And the wiseman doth clearely aduertise vs. Saie not it stikes of God And the sacred Concell of TreÌ„t doth inculcate diuinely to all the children of the holy Church that the Grace of God is neuer awaÌ„ting to such as doe what they can inuoking the diuine assistance That God doth neuer abandon such as he hath once iustified vnlesse they abandon him first So that if they be not a wanting to grace they shall obtaine glorie 2. In fine THEO our Sauiour is a light which doth illuminate euery one that comes into the world Diuers trauellers in a summers day about noone-tyde lay downe to repose in the shade of a tree but while their wearinesse aÌ„d the coolenesse of the shadowe keepes them a sleepe the Sunne aduancing himselfe towards them gaue iust vpon their eies his strongest light which by the glitter of his brightnesse made transparences as with smale raies about the Aple of those sleepers eyes and by the heate which pearced their eyelids forced them by a gentle violence to awake but some of them being awaked got vp and aduancing came happily to their lodging the rest did not onely not rise but turning their backes to the sunne and pulling their hats ouer their eyes there spent the day in sleeping till surprised by night being yet willing to make towards their lodging they straied hither and thither in the Forest at the mercy of mercilesse wolues and other sauage beastes Now tell me I praie THEO those that arriued ought they not to asscribe all their contentment to the sunne or to speak like a Christian to the sunns Creatour yes surely for it was high time and yet they dream't not of rising the sunne did them this good office and by a gentle warning of his light and heate came louingly to call them vp T' is true they resisted not his call but he also helped them much euen in that for he spred his light fairely vpon them giuing them a glimps of himselfe through their eyelids and by his heate as by his loue opened their eyes and vrged them to see his day 3. Contrariwise these poore strayers were they not to blame to crie in the woode Alas what haue we done to the sunne that he made vs not see his light as he did our Companions that we might haue arriued at our lodgings and not haue wandred in these hideous obscurities for who would not vndertake the sunns or rather Gods cause my deare THEO to answere these vnfortunate wretches What is it ô you wretches in a manner that the sunne could doe for you and did not his fauours were equall to all yee that slept He essaied you all with the same light touched you with the same raie scattered vpon you a like heate and accursed that you are though you saw your companions rise take their pilgrims stafe to gaine way you turned your backes to the sunne and would not make vse of his light nor be ouercome by his heate 4. See see now THEO what I would saie we are all pilgrims in this mortall life almost all of vs haue willingly slept in sinne God the sunne of Iustice darts vpon vs most sufficiently yea abundantly the beames of his inspirations warmes our hearts with his benedictions touching euery one with the allurements of his loue ah how chance it then that these allurements allure so few and yet draw fewer ah certainly such as first allured afterwards drawen doe follow the inspiration haue great occasion to ioye but not to glorie in it Let them ioye because they enioy a great good yet let them not glorie in it because it is by Gods pure goodnesse who leauing them the profit of their good worke reserues to himselfe the glorie thereof 5. But touching them that remaine in the sleepe of sinne ô what good reason they haue to lament sorrow weepe repent for they are in a most lamentable case yet haue they no reason to sorrow or complaine saue of themselues who despised yea rebelled against light were vntractable by inuitations and obstinate against inspirations so that malediction and confusion ought to follow their malice for euer they onely being authours of their ruine onely workers of their damnation So the Iaponians complaining to S. ZAVâ—RIVS their Apostle that God who had had so much care of other nations seemed to haue forgotten their predecessours not hauing giuen them the knowledge of himselfe by the want whereof they were lost The good man answered them that the diuine naturall law was engrauen in the hearts of all mortalls which if their forerunners had obserued the light of heauen had without doubt illuminated them as contrariwise hauing violated it they merited damnation An apostolicall answere of an Apostolicall man and resembling the reason giuen by the great Apostle of the losse of the auncient gentils whom he calles inexcusable for that hauing knowen good they followed euill for it is in a worde that which he doth inculcate in the first of his Epistles to the Romans miserie vpon miserie be vnto such as doe not acknowledge that their owne miserie proceeds from their malice That we ought to ackowledge the loue we beare to God to be from God CHAPTER VI. 1. THe loue of men towards God takes his beeing progresse and perfection from
this good soule she hath much desired and endeauored to infranchish her selfe of choler wherein God hath assisted her for he hath quite deliuered her from all the sinns which proceede froÌ„ choler she would die rather then vtter one onely iniurious word or to let slipe any showe of hatred And yet she is subiect to the assaults and first motions of this passion which are certaine iertings stirrings and sallies of an angrie mind termed in the Caldaicall Paraphrase SHRVGGINGS saying shrugge but sinne not whereas our sacred version saieth Be angrie but sinne not which in effect is the same thing for the Prophet would onely saie that if anger surprise vs stirring vp in our hearts the first shruggings of sinne we should be carefull not to let our selues be carried further into the passion for so we should offend and though these first stirrings and shruggings be no sinne yet the poore soule that is oft set hard at by them doth trouble afflict aÌ„d disquisquiet herselfe reputing her sorrow a sacrifice to God as though it were the Loue of God that prouoked her to this sorrow And yet THEO it is not heauenly Loue that causeth this trouble it neuer being offended but at sinne it is selfe-Loue that desires to be freed from the paines and toyles which the assaults of anger drawes vpoÌ„ vs. Nor is it the offence that offends vs in these stirrings of anger there being none at all committed it is the paine we are put to in resisting that disquiets vs. 4. These rebellions of the sensuall appetite as well irascible as concupiscible are left in vs for our exercise to th' end we might practise spirituall valour in resisting them They are they Philistians against whom the true Israelits are still to fight but shall neuer put them to flight they may weaken them but neuer quite ouerthrow them They liue with vs and neuer die but with vs. They are truly execrable and detestable as being bred by sinne and fed of sinne whence as we are termed earth because we take our descent from earth and to earth runne back againe so this rebellion is named sinne by the great Apostle as being issue of sinne and drawing still that wayward though it neuer makes vs guiltie vnlesse we second and obey it wherevpon the same Apostle doth exhort vs that we permit it not to raigne in our mortall bodie to be subiect vnto it He prohibits vs not to feele but onely not to consent to it He doth not ordaine that we should hinder sinne to enter into vs but he commands that it should not raigne in vs It is in vs when we feele the rebellion of the sensuall appetite but it doth not raigne in vs vnlesse we giue consent vnto it The Phisitian will neuer giue order that the sicke of an ague should not be drie for that were too great a follie marrie he will tell him that though he be drie he must abstaine from drinking No man will be so mad as to bid a woman with child longe for no extrauagant things for it is not in her power well may one desire her to discouer her longings to th' end that if she longes for hurtfull things one might diuert her imagination least the phantasie might get dominion ouer her heart 5. The sting of the flesh forerunner of Satan did rudely treate the good S. PAVLE to haue inâ—â—ted him into the precipice of sinne The poore Apostle endured this as a shamefull and infamous wrong and therevpon termed it a boxing or buffetting and petitioned to God to be deliuered of it but he heard from God Paule my grace is sufficient for thee for vertue is perfected in infirmitie whereat this holy man submitting himselfe willingly then quoth he will I glorie in myne infirmities that the vertue of Christ may dwell in me But take notice I beseech you that there is sensuall rebellion euen in this admirable vessell of Election who in ruÌ„ning to the remedie of Praier doth teach vs that we are to vse the same armes against the temptatioÌ„s we feele Note further that God doth not alwayes permit those cruell reuoults in man for the punishment of sinne but to manifest the force and vertue of the Diuine assistance and grace Finally marke how we are not onely not to be disquieted in our temptations and infirmities but are euen to glorie to be infirme that therby Gods vertue may appeare in vs sustaining our weeknesse against the force of the suggestion and temptation for the glorious Apostle cals the stingings and shooting of the impurities which he endured his infirmities and yet he saieth he glories in them for be 't that he felt them by his miserie yet through Gods mercy he consented not to them 6. Certes as I haue alreadie saied the church condemned the errour of certaine Solitarists who held that we might be perfectly deliuered euen in this world of the passion of Anger Concupiscence Feare and the like It is Gods will we should haue enemies and it is also his will that we â—hould repulse them Let vs theÌ„ behaue our selues couragiously betwixt the one and th' other will of God enduring with patience to be assaulted and endeauoring with courage by resistance to make head against the assaults How we are to vnite our will with Gods in the permission of sinne CHAPTER VIII 1. GOd doth soueraignely hate sinne and yet he doth most wisely permit it to leaue reasonable creaturs free in their actions according to the condition of their nature and to make the good more commendable while hauing power to transgresse the law they doe not for all that transgresse it Let vs therefore adore and blesse this holy permission But since the Prouidence which doth permit the sinne doth infinitly hate it let vs also detest and hate it desiring with all our heart that sinne permitted may not be committed And in sequele of this desire let vs make vse of all the meanes possible to hinder the birth groth and raigne of sinne imitating our Sauiour therein who neuer ceaseath to exhort to promise to menace to prohibite to command and inspire vs to turne our will from sinne so farreforth as is possible without depriuing vs of libertie But when the sinne is once committed let vs endeauore what we are able to haue it blotted out as our Sauiour who assured Carpus aboue mentioned that if it were requisit he was readie to suffer death againe to deliuer one onely soule from sinne But if the Sinner waxe obstinate let vs weepe THEO moane praie for him together with our Sauiour who hauing all his life time shed an aboundance of teares vpon sinners and such as did represent theÌ„ died in the end his eyes full of teares his bodie goarie with blood lamenting the losse of sinners This affection touched Dauid so to the quicke that he fell into a traunce vpon it I haue sownded saieth he for sinners abandoning thy law And the great Apostle protest's that a continuall sorrow possesseth his
she is forced to vnwearie her selfe she will onely cleeue by the smale twigs of trees vpon which she hangs in the aire out of which or without which she can neither flie nor repose And euen so these great soules doe not in very deede Loue the Creaturs in themselues but in their Creatour and their Creatour in them But if they cleeue to any creature by the law of Charitie it is onely to repose in God the onely and finall aime of their Loue. So that finding God in the Creaturs and the Creaturs in God they Loue God indeede not the Creaturs as they that fishing for Pearles find them in their shelles doe esteeme their fishing made for pearles onely 4. For the rest I doe not thinke that there was euer any mortall Creature that loued the heauenly Spouse with this matchlesse Loue so perfectly pure except the Virgin who was his Spouse ād Mother both together but cōtrariwise as touching the practise of these foure differences of Loue on can hardly be any long time without passing from one of them to another The Soules which as young wenches are as yet intangled in diuers vaine and dangerous affections are not sometimes without hauing the most pure and excellent touches of Loue but being but glimpse and passing lightnings one cannot therevpon rightly saie that such soules are got out of the state of young girles which are Nouices and Printises It happens also sometimes that the soules that are in the degree of onely and perfect Louers doe much relent and waxe cold yea euen to the committing and falling into troublesome veniall sinns as may be gathered by many bitter contentions stirred vp amongst Gods great seruants yea euen amongst some of the Diuine Apostles who as we cannot denie fell into some imperfections by which notwithstanding Charitie was not violated yet the feruour thereof was troubled Howbeit whereas ordinarily those great soules loued God with a Loue perfectly pure we are not to denie that they were in the state of perfect Loue. For how oft doe we see that good trees though they neuer bring forth any venemous fruit yet doe they produce raw and vnripe ones corrupted with misseltoe or mosse So the great Saints neuer fell into mortall sinne yet fell they easily into fruitlesse actions and such as are greene bitter harsh and ill tasted And as euen in these circumstances we must confesse that those trees are fruitfull otherwise they could not be called good so are we in no sort to denie that some of their fruit was fruitlesse For who cā denie that the misseltoe and mosse of trees is an vnprofitable fruit and who can also denie that smale angers and minute excesses of ioye of laughter of vanitie and of other the like passions are vnprofitable and vnlawfull motions and yet the Iust man brings them forth seauen times a day that is very often That the Loue of God aboue all things is common to all Louers CHAPTER VI. 1. Though there be so sundrie degrees of Loue amongst true Louers yet is there but one Commandement of Loue onely which doth generally and equally oblige euery one with a wholy like and entirely equall obligation though it be differētly obserued and with an infinite varietie of perfections there being peraduenture was few soules found in earth as Angels in Heauen perfectly equall in Loue seeing that as one starre differs from another in brightnesse so shall the Blessed in their Resurrection where euery one sings a Canticle of Glorie and receiues a name knowen to none but to him that receiues it But what degree of Loue is it to which the Diuine Commandement doth equally vniuersally and continually oblige all 2. It was a peece of the holy Ghosts prouidence that in our ordinarie version which his Diuine Maiestie hath canonized and sanctified by the Councell of Trent the heauenly Commandement of Loue is expressed in the word DILECTION rather then by the word LOVE for albeit that DILECTION be a kind of Loue yet is it not a simple Loue but a Loue of choice and election which sense the word it selfe carries as the glorious S. THOMAS doth note for this cōmandemēt doth inioyne vs a Loue chosen out of thousands like to him to whom it is due who as the beloued Sunamite markes him out in the Canticles is one elected out of thousands It is Loue that is to haue power ouer all our affections and is to raigne ouer all our passions and that which God exacteth of vs is that of all our Loues his may be the most cordiall bearing rule ouer our heart the most affectionate possessing our whole soule the most generall applying all our powers the highest replenishing our whole heart and the most solide exercising all our strength and prowise And whereas by this we doe choose and elect God for the Soueraigne obiect of our soule it is a Loue of Soueraigne Election or an election of Soueraigne Loue. 3. You are not ignorant THEO that there are diuers species of Loue as for example there is a fatherly Loue a brotherly Loue a filiall Loue and a nuptiall Loue a Loue of societie of obligation of dependance and an hundred more which are all different in excellencie and so proportioned to their obiects that scarcely can they be applied or appropriated to any other He that should affect his Father with the Loue of a brother onely should come short of his dutie He that should Loue his wife in qualitie of a Father onely he should not loue her sufficiently He that should loue his Lackey as his owne child would be esteemed impertinent Loue is as honour for as honour is diuersified according to the diuersitie of excellencies to which it is attributed so Loues are diuers according to the diuersitie of the GOOD which is loued Soueraigne honour is due to Soueraigne Excellencie and Soueraigne loue to the Soueraigne Good The loue of God is a loue without comparison because the goodnesse of God is incomparable Harke Israel Thy God is the sole Lord and therefore thou shalt loue him with thy whole soule thy whole vnderstanding thy whole strength For God is the onely Lord and his goodnesse is infinitly aboue all goodnesse and he is to be loued with a loue which is eminent excellent and puissant beyond all comparison It is this supreame loue that placeth God in such esteeme amidst our soules and makes vs repute it so great a happinesse to be gracious in his sight that we preferre him before and loue him aboue all things Now THEOT doe you not plainly see that he that loues God in this sort hath dedicated his whole soule and strength to God sith for euer and in all occurrences he will preferre Gods honour before all things keeping himselfe in a readinesse to forsake the whole world to preserue the loue which is due to the Diuine Goodnesse And in somme it is the loue of Excellencie or the Excellencie of loue which is cōmanded to all mortalls in generall and
call them firie of fire burning coles or Carbunkles because in light and splendour they resemble fire but they are called without flame or if we may so saie vnflamie because their light is not onely no wayes hote but they are not euen capable of heate there being â—o fire that can heate them So did our old Fâ—rthers terme the Pagan vertues VERTVES and â—OT-VERTVES both together Vertues because they carried the luster and apparence of vertues NOT-VERTVES because they wanted not onely the vitall â—eate of the Loue of God which alone could perfect them but they were not euen capable of it because they were in subiects wanting faith there being in those times saieth S. AVGVSTINE two Romans famous for their vertue CAESAR and CATO Cato's vertue came much neerer to the true vertue then Caesars did and hauing saied in some passage that the Philosophers who were destitute of true pietie had yet shined in the light of vertue he doth vnsaie it in the first booke of his Retractations esteeming that too great a praise to be giuen to imperfect vertues as those of the Pagans were which in truth are like vnto shining night wormes that shine onely by night and the day being come loose their light For euen so those Pagan vertues are onely vertues in comparison of vice but in respect of true Christian vertues doe not at all deserue the name of vertue 6. Yet whereas they containe some good they may be compared to greene Aples for both their colour and that substance which is left them is as good as that of entire vertues but the worme of of vanitie which is in the midst of them spoyles all and therefore he that would make profit of them must culle out the good from the bad I will easily grant THEO that CATO had a resolute courage and that this resolutnesse was laudable in it selfe but he that would make profit of his example it must be in a iust and laudable subiect not by slaughtering himselfe but by suffering death when true vertue shall exact it not by the vanitie of glorie but by the glorie of veritie as it happened to our Martyrs who with inuincible courages did so many miracles of constancie and resolution that those CATO'S HORACES SENECA'S and LVCRECE'S are in comparison worthy of no consideration witnesse those LAVRENCES VINCENTS VITALISES ERASMVSSES EVGENIASE'S SEBASTIANS AGATHAS AGNESES CATHARINS PERPETVAS FELICITES SYMPHOROSAS NATALESES and a thousand thousand others who make me dayly admire the Admirours of Pagan vertues not so much in that they doe inordinatly admire the imperfect vertues of the Pagans as for that they doe not admire the most perfect vertues of the Christians vertues a thousand times worthy of admiration and they alone are worthy of imitation How humaine actions are without worth being without Gods Loue. CHAPTER XI 1. THe great friend of God ABRAHAM had onely by SARA his principall wife his most onely deare Isaac who also was his onely vniuersall Heire and though he had Ismael by AGAR and diuers other children by CETVRA his seruants and lesse principall wiues yet bestowed he vpon them certaine presents onely and Legacies whereby to put them off and disinherite them because not being allowed off by his cheife wife they could not be his successours Now they were not allowed because as for the children of CETVRA they were all borne after SARA'S decease and concerning Ismael though his mother Agar conceiued him by the permission of SARA her Mistresse howbeit perceiuing her selfe with child she despised her and brought not forth this child vpon her knees as Bala brought forth hers vpon Rachel's THEO the onely children that is the onely acts of holy Charitie are God's Heires Coheires with IESVS CHRIST and the children or the acts of which the other vertues conceiue and bring forth vpon her knees by her command or at least vnder the winges and fauour of her presence But when morall vertues yea euen supernaturall vertues doe produce their actions in the absence of Charitie as they doe amongst Schismatikes according to S. AVGVSTINS relation and sometimes amongst euill Catholikes they are of no value towards the purchace of Paradice no not euen Almes deedes though we should distribute therein all out Substance to the poore Nor yet Martyrdome though we should deliuer our bodie to the fire to be burnt No THE without Charitie saith the Apostle all this were worth nothiÌ„g as we will more amply shew hereafter Now againe the will doth sometimes prooue disobedieÌ„t to her mistresse which is Charitie in the production of morall vertues to wit when as by pride vanitie temporall respects or by some other bad motiue the vertues are turn'd out of their owne nature and then those actions are reiected and banished out of ABRAHAMS house and from Sara's companie that is they are depriued of the fruit and priuiledges of Charitie and consequently are left without worth or merite For those actions strayned in that sort with bad intentions are indeede more vicious then vertuous hauing onely vertue on their outside their interiour belonging to vice which serues them for a motiue witnesse the fastings offerings and other actions of the Pharisie 2. But furthermore as the Israelits liued peaceably in Egipt during Iosephs life time and the life time of LEVI and presently after the death of LEVI were tyrannically reduced into seruitude whence the Iewes tooke their Prouerbe ONE OF THE BROTHERS BEING DECEASED THE OTHERS ARE OPPRES'T as it is registred in the Hebrewes great Chronologie which was published by the learned Archbishop of Aix Gilbert Genebrard whom to his honour I name with consolation whose scholler I was though an vnprofitable one while he was the king's reader at Paris and explicated the Canticle of Canticles so the merits and and fruits as well of morall as Christian vertues doe in a most sweete tranquillitie subsist in the soule while sacred Charitie liues aÌ„d raignes therein but as soone as heauenly loue dies all the merits and fruits of other vertues doe also die vpon it and these are they which the Diuines call DEAD WORKES for that hauing beene borne aliue vnder charities protection and as another Ismael in Abrahams house they doe afterwards loose life and the right of inheritance by the disobedience and rebellion which proceeded from their mother the will 3. O God THEO what a misfortune it is if the iust man forsake his Iustice and turne to iniquitie his workes of iustice shall be no longer held in memorie he shall die in this sinne saieth our Lord in Ezechiel so that mortall sinne doth ouerthowe all the merite of vertues for touching those which are practised while sinne raignes in the soule they are borne so dead that they are vnprofitable for euer to the pretentioÌ„ of life euerlasting and as for those that were practised before the sinne was committed that is while sacred loue liued in the soule their value and merite doth perish and die iust vpoÌ„ its arriuall not being able to
conserue life after Charities death who gaue them life The Lake which profane authours doe commonly call Asphalitus and sacred authours MARE-MORTVVM hath so heauie a curse put vpon it that nothing that is put into it can liue when the fish of Iordaine doe come neere it they die vnlesse they speedily returne backe against the streame The trees vpon the brims of it produce nothing aliue and though their fruit be in apparance and autward shew like to the fruits of other countries howbeit when on puls them they are found to be skinne and core being full of asshes which flie away in the wind These be the markes of infamous sinns for the punishment whereof this Coūtrie which was peopled with three populous Cities was of old conuerted into a pit of filth and corruption and nothing was deamed better to represent the mischeife of sinne then this abominable Lacke which had its origine from the most execrable disorder that could be cōmitted by mans bodie Sinne therefore as a dead and mortall sea kills all that comes neere it nothing is found liuing in the soule which it possesseth nor all about it O God THEO nothing for sinne is not onely a dead worke but is withall so infections and venimous that the most excellent vertues of the sinfull soule doe produce no liuing action And though the actions of sinners haue oftentimes a great resemblance with those of the iust man yet are they indeede barkes onely stuffed with wind and dust whē they are truely looked into and are rewarded of God onely by some present benefits which are bestowed vpō thē as vpon the chambermaids children yet are they such barkes as neither are nor can be so tasted and relished by the Diuine Iustice as to be rewarded with an eternall crowne they die vpon the trees and cannot be conserued in the hand of God being voyd of true worth as it is saied in the Apocalypse to the Bishop of Sardis who was reputed a liuing tree by reason of diuers vertues which he practised and yet dead he was for that being in sinne his vertues were not true liuing fruits but dead barkes glorious to the eyes but no wayes sauorie to the palate so that we may all cast out this true voice following the holy Apostle without Charitie I am nothing nothing doth profit me and with S. AVGVSTINE saie Giue Charitie to a heart and all doth profit depriue it of Charitie and nothing doth profit it I meane towards life euerlasting for as we haue saied the vertuous works of sinners are profitable to our temporall life But my deare THEO what doth it profit a man to gaine all the world temporally if he loose his soule eternally How holy Loue returning into the soule doth reuiue all the works which sinne had slayne CHAPTER XII 1. THe works then of a sinner while he is depriued of Charitie are not profitable to eternall life and therevpon they are called dead works whereas contrariwise the good works of the iust man are saied to be liuing for that the Diuine Loue doth animate and quicken them with its dignitie And if afterwards they loose their life and worth by sinne they are held to be workes that are deaded extinguished or mortified onely but not quite deade especially in the Elect for as our Sauiour speaking of the little Tabitha Iarus his daughter said she was not dead but slept onely because she continued dead so small a time till she was resuscitated that it seemed rather to be a sleepe then a true death So the works of the iust man but especially of the elect who by the commission of sinne dyeth are not called dead works but onely deaded mortified stounded or put into a trance because vpon the next returne of holy Loue they either ought or at least may reuiue and returne to life againe Sinn 's returne depriues the soule and all her workes of life the returne of Grace doth restore life to the soule and all her actions A sharpe winter doth dead all the plants of the fields so that if it continued still they would still continew in the state of death Sinne the sad and daunting winter of the soule doth quayle all the holy workes that it finds there in and if it did alwayes continew neuer would any thing recouer either life or vigour But as in the returne of the pleasant spring not onely the seedes which are sowē by the helpe of this delightfull and fruitfull season doe gratefully bud and blossome euery one in his kind but euen the old plants which the rigour of the winter past had bitten withered and deaded waxe greene and doe resume new force vertue and life So sinne being blotted out and the grace of Diuine Loue returning into the soule the new affections which this spring of grace doth bring doe blossome and bring forth ample merites and blessings but the works that are dried vp and withered by the rigour of the winter of sinns ouer passed as being deliuered from their mortall enemye resume their force waxe strong and as risen from the dead they florish a new and store vp merits for the eternall life Such is the omnipotencie of Diuine Loue or the Loue of the Diuine omnipotencie If the impious turne away himselfe from his impietie and shall doe iudgement and iustice he shall viuificate his soule conuert and doe penance for all your iniquities and iniquitie shall not be a ruine vnto you saieth our Lord. And what is that iniquitie shall not be a ruine vnto you but that the ruine which it made shall be repaired So besides a thousand courtisies that the prodigall sonne receiued at his Fathers hands he was reestablished euen with aduantage in all his ornaments graces fauours and dignities which he had lost And IOB that innocent picture of a penitent sinner did in the end receiue the double of that which he had Verily it is the Councell of Trēts desire that we should encourage the penitents that are returned into fauour with God allmightie in these words of the Apostle Abound in euery good worke knowing that your labour is not vnprofitable in our Lord for God is not vniust to forget your worke and the Loue which you haue showen in his name God then doth not forget the works of those who by sinne hauing lost loue recouers it againe by penance Now God is saied to forget our workes whē they loose their merite and sanctitie by sinne committed and he remembers them when they returne to life and vigour by the presence of holy Loue. So that amongst the faithfull it is not necessarie to the reward of their good works as well by the encrease of grace and future glorie as by the enioying of life euerlasting in effect that one fall not into sinne but it is sufficient according to the Councell of Trent that one depart this life in God's grace and charitie 2. God hath promised an eternall reward to the works of a iust man but if the
The Bee doth pickle vpon the Lilie the Flower-deluce the Rose yet they get as ample a prey vpon the little minute Rosmarie flowres and Thyme yea they draw not onely more honie from thence but euen better honie for in these little vessells the honie is locked vp more closely yea and is better kept therein Certes in the low and little workes of deuotion Charitie is not onely practised more frequently but ordinarily more humbly too and consequently more fruitfully and holily 4. These condescendances to others humours these supportations of the clownish and troublesome actions and behauiours of our neighbour these victories ouer our owne humours and passions these renounciations of our lesser inclinations these endeauours against our owne auersions and repugnances this heartie and sweete acknowledgment of our owne imperfections the continuall paines we take to keepe our soule in an equalitie this loue of our owne abiection the gentle and gracious acceptance which we make of the contempt and censurs of our condition our life couersation and actions THEO all these things are more profitable to our soules then we can conceiue so that holy Loue haue the husbanding of them but we haue told Philothie this alreadie That we must haue a care to doe our actions very perfectly CHAPTER VII 1. OVr Sauiour as the auncients report was wount to saie to his be skilâ—ull exchangers If the pistoll be nor good gold if it want weight if it be not bet to lawfull coyne it is cast backe as not currant if a worke be not of a good SPECIES if it be not adorned with Charitie if the intention be not pious it shall not be admitted amongst the good workes If I Fast but yet out of sparingnesse my fast is not of a good SPECIES if it be out of temperance and yet I haue some mortall sinne in my soule the worke wants weight for it is Charitie that giues poise to all that we doe if it were onely through conuersation and to accommodate my selfe to my companions the worke is not stamped with an approoued intentioÌ„ but if I fast out of Temperance and be in God's grace and that I haue an intention to please his Diuine Maiestie by this Temperance tha shall be currant money fit to augment in me the treasure of Charitie 2. To doe little actions with a great puritie of intention and with a will addicted to please God is to doe them excellently and then also they doe greatly sanctifie vs. There are some that eate much and yet are still leane thinne and languishing because their power of disgestion is not good others there are who eate little and yet are alwayes in good plight and vigorous because their stomake is good Euen so there are some soules that doe many workâ—s and yet encrease but little in Charitie because they doe them either coldly and negligently or by an naturall instinct and inclination more then by Diuine inspiration or heauenly heate and contrariwise others there are who doe but few good workes marry they doe them with so holy a will and intention that they make a wonderfull aduancement in charitie they haue but a few Talents yet they husband them so faithfully that their Maister doth largely rereward them for it A generall meanes whereby to applie our workes to Gods serâ—ice CHAPTER VIII 1. All that we doe and whatsoeuer we doe in word or deede let it all be done in the name of IESVS CHRIST whether you eate or you drinke or you doe some other thing doe all to the glorie of God these are the words of the Diuine Apostle which as thâ— great S. THOMAS saieth in explicating them are sufficiently practised when we haue the habit of holy Charitie whereby though we haue not an expresse and set purpose to doe euery worke for the loue of God yet is that intention couertly contained in the vnion and communion which we haue with God by which all the good we can doe is dedicated together with our selues to his Diuine Goodnesse It is not necessarie that a child which liues in his Fathers house and vnder his directions should declare that all that he gets is gotten to his Father for sith his person belongs to his Father all that depends of it will also belong vnto him It is sufficient also that we be Gods children by Loue to make all that we doe be entirely directed to his glorie 2. It is true then THEO as I haue saied elsewhere that euen as the Oliue-tree set neere vnto the vine doth impart vnto it its sauour so Charitie being neere the other vertuâ—s it doth coÌ„municate vnto them her perfection Yet true it is also that if one engraffe a vine vpon an Oliue-tree it doth not onely more perfectly leaue in it its taste but makes it also participat of its sape Nor be you content to haue Charitie and together with it the practise of vertues but endeuour that it may be by it and for it that you practise them that they may be rightely ascribed vnto it 3. When a Painter doth hold and leade an apprentise his hand the strokes that he makes are principally attributed to the Painter because though the Prentise indeede contributed the motion of his hand and the application of his Pensell yet the Maister also for his part did so mingle his motion with that of the Apprentises that giuing the impression therein the honour of whatsoeuer is good in the stroke is especially ascribed to him though yet the Prentise is also praised by reason of the pliablenesse with which he accommodated his motion to his Maisters direction ô how excellent vertuous actions are when Diuine Loue doth imprint his sacred motion vpon them that is when they are done by Loues motiue but this happens differently 4. The motiue of Diuine Loue doth poure fourth a particular influence of perâ—ection vpon the vertuous actions of those that haue in a speciall manner dedicated themselues vnto God to serue him for euer Such are Bishops and Priests who by a Sacramentall consecration and by a spirituall Character which cannot be blotted our vowe themselues as stigmatized and marked seruants to the perpetuall seruice of God Such are Religious who by their vowes either solemne or simple are sacrificed vnto God in qualitie of liuing and reasonable Hosts Such all those that doe betake themselues to pious Congregations dedicated for euer to Gods glorie Further such are all those that of let purpose doe procure in themselues deepe and strong resolutions to follow the will of God making for this end a recollection for some dayes that they may stirre vp their soule by diuers spirituall exercises to the entire reformation of their life a holy methode and ordinarie amongst the auncient Christians but since almost quite left of till the great seruant of God Ignatius de Loyola brought it into vse againe in the time of our Fathers 5. I know well that some are of opinion that this generall oblation of our selues doth not extend