After the authority of Scripture a man must be very rash to oppose this opinion which it seems all things conspire to make veritable yet may it be replied upon and the very self same reasons which it produceth for its defence may serve to condemn it for though Jealousie be a mixture of Love and Hatred it follows not that she must be most violent of all our Passions the very same whereof she is composed would not agree together were they not sweetned And as the Elements cannot make one and the same Body unless their qualities be moderated so cannot all these Passions form our jealousie unless they be tempered and it must necessarily ensue that Love weakens hatred that joy moderates Sorrow and that Hope sweetens Despair It hath been observed that two Passions taken together lose their force and that serving as an Antidote one against another they do no mischief or if they do any they cure it again So in Jealousie Love is the Antidote to Hatred the jealous man suffers little harm because he hath many Passions and he may boast that by a strange destiny he owes his welfare to the number of his Enemies But since after having worsted a Falshood a Truth must be established let us say that according to our principles this question is not hard to resolve for as we acknowledge but one passion which is Love and that all the rest are but effects of her producing we are bound to confess that they borrow all their efficacy from their Cause and that they have no other violence than what is hers Love is a Soveraign which imprints his qualities in his Subjects a Captain which imparts part of his Courage to his Souldiers and 't is a Primum Mobile which bears about all the other heavens by its Impetuosity insomuch as Morality ought only endeavour how to govern Love for when this Passion shall be handsomly ruled all other will imitate her And he knows well how to love or how to love well shall have no evil desires nor vain hopes to moderate The FIFTH DISCOURSE Whether there were any Passions in the state of Innocency and whether they were of the same nature as are ours T Is so long since we lost our Innocency as there remains nothing unto us but a weak Idaea thereof and did not Divine Justice punish the Fathers fault in the Children we should likewise have lost the Sorrow for it Every one describes the felicity of that state according to his Imagination methinks a man may say that as many as speak thereof guide themselves according to their inclinations and that they place there such pleasures as they are acquainted with and do most desire Some say the whole earth was one Paradise that of the Seasons whereof our years are composed there was only Autumn and the Spring that all Trees had the property of Orange trees and that they were at all times loaded with leaves flowers and fruit others perswade themselves that no wind blew there but the South-west and that the ground uncultivated prevented our need and brought forth all things I think that without maintaining these Opinions a man may say that in this happy condition bad was not mingled with good and that the qualities of the Elements were so well tempered as that man did thereby receive all contentment and felt no Displeasure He had no disorders to reform no enemies to fight withal nor mischiefs to eschew all creatures conspired towards his felicity the beasts bare respect unto his person and it may be that even those which remained in the Forrests were not wild as the Earth bare no Thorns and all the parts thereof were fruitful and pleasing so had not the Heavens any malign influences and that Constellation which dispenseth Life and Death in nature had no aspect which was not innocent and favourable If there be so little certainty touching the state of man there is no more assurance for what regards his person we argue according to our understandings and as in the first ages Idols were made of all particulars every one shapes out a felicity for Adam and gives him all the advantages that may be imagined Amongst so many Opinions or Errors I see nothing more consonant to reason then that which Saint Augustine writes concerning this for though he determine nothing in particular he resolves so well for the general as there is none that appeals from his Opinion Though we cannot describe saith he neither the beauty of the place where man made his residence nor the advantages of his mind and body we are bound â—o believe he found in his habitation whatsoever he could wish and that he felt nothing in his body which could incommodiate him His constitution was excellent his health was unalterable and if time could weaken it he prevented that mischief by making use of the tree of life which repairing his forces furnish'd him with new vigor He was immortal not by Nature but by Grace and he knew that â—in could not bereave him of Life without making him lose his Innocence His Soul was no less happily constituted than was his Body for besides that he was infused with all Sciences that he knew all the Secrets of Nature and that he was not ignorant of any thing which could contribute to his Felicity his Memory was happy his will had alwaies good Inclinations his Affections were regulated and though he were not insensible he was of so equal a temper as nothing could trouble his repose The Passions which by their violence do anticipate Reason waited his Directions and never shewed themselves till they had received Commandment from him In fine his Passions were no less natural than are ours but they were more tractable and as his Constitution made him capable of all our motions original Justice exempted him from all our Disorders I know not whether I fall foul on the opinion of Divines but forasmuch as a man may see in this darkness I think I injure not the Truth for if man as being composed of a Body was Mortal and as being honoured with original Grace Immortal methinks one may consequently infer that not being a pure Spirit he had Passions but that being sanctified in all the faculties of his Soul all his Passions were innocent To give all the force that is requisite to this Assertion we must inlarge its Principle and prove with Saint Augustine that man might die losing Original Justice and that Immortality was rather a Grace from Heaven than a property of his Nature for if he had been truly immortal he had needed no sustenance and if death had not been natural unto him he had needed no priviledge to have secured him from it since he did eat to preserve Life it follows he might lose it and since he was obliged to defend himself against old age by the means of a miraculous fruit it follows necessarily he might die and that his Life as well as ours needed remedies against
for what belongs unto the Soul He is the Father only of this noâ—le part which he hath enriched with his Merits but the other part which is engaged in the Body and which by an unfortunate necessity sees it self bound to aniâ—ate the disorders and to foment the â—assions thereof is not altogether delivered from the tyranny of sin she groaneth under the weight of her Iron and this glorious Captive is constrained to be wail the rigour of her servitude whilst her Sister enjoys the sweets of liberty For as Saint Augustine teacheth us Baptism takes not away Concupiscence but doth moderate it and notwithstanding any strength that it giveth unto our soul it leaves a kind of languishment whereof the soul cannot be cured till in glory 'T is true that this weakness or defection is not a sin and though it be the Spring-head from whence all the rest do derive it cannot make us blameable unless when by reason of our remissness we follow the motions thereof And it cannot be said with honour to our Soul that this disorder is in our Body and that the Soul is not affected therewithal save only out of pity or infected but by contagion for besides that original sin whereof this misgovernment is an effect abideth in her substance all the world knoweth that the body is capable of operating by its self and that necessarily the soul which animates it must be that which makes it revolt and that that which gives it life must give it irregular motions and desires 'T is she that raiseth the flesh against the Spirit and which as not being intirely possest by grace doth obey sin 'T is she that awakens Passions 't is she who through a strange infatuation or blindness affords them weapons wherewithal to hurt her self and who excites the sedition wherewithal to trouble her tranquility This is Saint Augustines Doctrine and if we had not so great a Doctor for our warranty all Philosophy would serve us for caution since according to the principles thereof we must believe that the body doth nothing without the soul and that even then when the body seems to undertake any thing maugre the soul it is effected by the succour which the body receiveth from the soul. Insomuch as she is the rise of the evil and without reason she complains of the bodies revolt since she is the chief therein and that of all the faults which she imputeth to the body the body is not the Author but only the Confederate Now as the Passions reside in that part of the soul which is infected by sin we must not wonder if they rebel since their Mother is disobedient And we must not once think they should be stifled by Grace since she suffers the very power which produceth them to remain in rebellion All that a man can wish for in her guidance is that she may moderate their aptness to rage that she suppress their violence and that she prevent their first motions This is one of her chief employments for when she hath obliged the Understanding to know God and the Will to love him she enlargeth her care to the inferior part of the Soul and endeavours to calm the Passions thereof She goes not about to destroy them because she very well knows it is a work reserved for glory but she employeth all her forces to regulate them as she makes good use of sin to humble her she wisely makes use of their revolt to exercise us She propounds unto them Objects of Innocency to make them be serviceable to her virtue and makes them as Saint Paul saies Ministers of Justice for Christian Humility is an enemy to the vanity of the Stoicks and knowing very well that we are not Angels but men she doth not in vain endeavour to destroy one part of us but she obligeth us to make advantage of our defaults and to manage our Passions so dexterously aâ— that they may obey Reason or that they wage not war against her save only so far aâ— she may obtain the victory I should injurâ— this Imagination if I should render it iâ— other words than doth Saint Augustine We consider not in a pious man whether he be offended or not we weigh not the measure of his sorrow but the Subject And we labour not so much to know whether he be afraid as to know why For if we be angry with a Sinner intending so to correct him if we afflict our selves with one that is in misery out of an intention of comforting him and if through fear we divert a man from the mischief he was about to do unto himself I do not believe there is any so severe Judg as will condemn so useful Passions and he must necessarily want judgment did he not defend so harmless Affections Their excess is then only blameable and Reason assisted by Grace ought to employ all her industry to moderate them But because concupiscence is the Spring-head from whence they derive Reason must endeavor to dry it up and use her uttermost means to obviate the wicked effects thereof by stifling the cause which produceth them The Enemy which we undertake is born with us he draws his forces from ours he grows greater as we do and weakens as we grow old We have this of obligation to old age that it taketh from the vigor of concupiscence by diminishing our bodily strength and that by leading us to death it likewise leadeth this Rebel insensibly thither We must notwithstanding leave all for age to do in a business which so much imports our salvation we ought sooner to begin a war which ends not but with our life and diminish our own forces thereby to weaken those of the enemy You are born saith Saint Augustine with concupiscence take heed lest by giving him seconds through your negligence you raise not new enemies against you remember you have entred the course of this life accompanied with her and that your honour is concerned in making her die before you who was born with you This victory is rather to be wished for than hoped for you will not find a Saint who hath destroyed this Monster but at the cost of their life for though they withstand concupiscence that they oppose the desires thereof and that they mind not her motions save how to hinder her yet in this combat they are sometimes conquered their advantages are not pure and their best successes are mingled with some disgraces To kill this enemy they must die and they are necessitated to wish their own death that they may hasten the like of this their enemy Perfection as Saint Augustine observes consists in having no concupiscence not to follow her is to fight against her Nevertheless by continuance of courage one may hope for victory but certainly it cannot be obtained but when death is happily consummated by life in the Kingdom of Glory Hence I infer that since Grace cannot extinguish Concupiscence she cannot ruine Passions
but sees that the understanding is engaged in the Errour and that it confusedly receives falshoods and truths that the will applies it self more to appearing than to real good that her interests are the rules of her inclinations and that she loves not that which is good save that she is therewithal delighted that by experience she finds she hath lost much of her liberty and that if sin hath not taken from her all the love she had to good it hath left her but weak helps and useless desires to come by it As her forces are but small to atchieve what is good she hath yet smaller power to rule her Passions and though she approve not of their disorders she knows not how to remedy them Oft times by a strange misfortune she foments their sedition which she ought to hinder and that she may not afflict her Subjects she becomes guilty of their crimes The Christian Philosopher is therefore bound to employ aid from Heaven to overcome these Rebels and confessing that his Reason is weakned he must look for help from without himself and beg favour from him who hath permitted the unruliness of Nature for the punishment of Sin But that we may not be said to be enemies to the greatness of man and that we make his disaster greater than it is we confess that nature is good in her foundation and that very sin is an excellent proof thereof for as it is but a Non Ens it cannot subsist by it self for its preservation it must needs fasten it self to some subject that may uphold it and which may impart unto it part of its essence So evil is ingraffed upon good and sin is upholden by nature which is much endamaged by so evil a guest but doth not therefore lose all the advantages thereof For since she conserves her own being she must likewise conserve unto her self some goodness since she is not annihilated for being become criminal she must amidst her misery enjoy some good fortune and amidst her faultiness some tincture of innocence must remain And this is it which Saint Augustine affirms in as learned as eloquent terms The being of man is certainly praised though the sin thereof be blamed and no better reason can be given for the blaming of sin than by making it appear that by the contagion thereof it dishonoureth what was honourable by nature If we consider her then in her ground-work or foundation she hath lost nothing of her goodness but if we look upon her under the tyranny of sin she hath almost lost her use and she can make no more use of her faculties unless freed from the enemy which possesseth her methinks she may be compared to the birds that are taken in nets they have wings but cannot fly they love liberty but cannot regain it So men in the state of sin have good inclinations but they cannot pursue them they have good designes but cannot put them in execution and more unfortunate than the aforenamed Birds they love their prison and agree with the Tyrant that doth persecute them In this sad condition they have need of Grace to comfort them and to strengthen them if not totally to free them from the enemy which pursueth them at least to give them liberty of operating and to put them into a capacity of practising virtue of contesting with vice and of ruling their Passions This necessity which we impose upon man of receiving Grace ought not to appear so harsh since even before his disorder he stood in need of a forreign succour and that in his natural purity he could not avoid sin without a supernatural aid For he is so composed that in all his motions he is forced to have recourse unto God and since he is his Image he cannot operate but by his Spirit Though humane Nature saith Saint Augustine had continued in the integrity wherein God created it yet could it not have preserved it self against Sin without Grace and drawing a consequence from this first truth he with a great deal of reason adds since man without Grace could not preserve the purity which he had received how can he without the same recover the purity which he hath lost he must then resolve to submit himself to his Creator if he will assubject his Passions and he must become pious if he will be reasonable For ought there to be any relation between our welfare and our loss Passions did not revolt against the understanding till that had revolted against God there is reason to believe they will never obey the underdanding till that be obedient to God and as our mischief hath taken â—ts rise from our rebellion our good must take its beginning from our assubjection If prophane Philosophers object unto us â—hat Reason was in vain allowed us to moderate our Passions if she have no power â—ver them and that nature is a useless guide â—f she her self have need of a Conductor â—e must satisfie them by experience and â—each them without the holy Scripture that â—here are disorders in man which Reason aâ—one cannot regulate and that we are subâ—ect unto maladies which Nature without â—race cannot cure The THIRD DISCOURSE That the disorder of our Passions considered Grace is requisite to the Government thereof THose who are instructed in the mysteries of Christian Religion confess that the grace which Iesus Christ hath merited for us doth infinitely surpass that grace which Adam by his fall deprived us of The advantages thereof are such as do exceed all our desires and the most ambitious of mankind could never have wished for the good which we hope for thereby For to boot that we are thereby raised to a pitch far above our condition and that we are thereby promised an happiness equal to that of the Angels we have Iesus Christ thereby given us for our Head and we are thereby so straightly joined unto him as that his Father is bound to admit us for his children But all these priviledgeâ— regard rather the future than the present And though we have the pledges of these gracious promises we do not as yet enjoy all the effects thereof The grace which purchaseth this right for us resides in the depth of our soul the which she sanctifieth leaving the body engaged in sin She begins the work of our salvation but doth not finish it she divides the two parts whereof man is composed and giving strength unto the Spirit she leaves the flesh in its weakness But by a stranger miracle she parts the soul from the Spirit and worketh a division in their unity for to take her aright 't is only the superior part of the soul which doth fully resent the effects of Grace and which in Baptism receives the virtue of that divine character which gives us right to Heaven as to our inheritance Hence it is that one Apostle terms us but imperfect workmanship and the beginning of a new creature We belong unto Iesus Christ only
or after death spring up again But pleasures are sought for with pain and we are oft-times enforced to pay more for them than they are worth Sorrows are sometimes entirely pure and touch us to the quick as they make us incapable of consolation but pleasures are never without some mixture of Sorrow They are always dipt in bitterness and as we see no Roâ—es which are not environed with Prickles we taste no Delights which are not accompanied with Torments but that which makes the misery of our condition evidently appear is that we are much more sensible of Pain than of Pleasure for a slight Malady troubleth all our most solid contentments a Fever is able to make Conquerors forget their Victories and to blot out of their minds all the pomp of their Triumphs Yet is it the truest of all our Passions and if we believe Aristotle it makes the greatest alterations in our Souls the rest subsist only by our imagination and were it not for the intelligence we hold with this Faculty they would make no impression upon our Senses Desires and Hopes are but deceitful good things and he very well knew their nature who termed them the Dreams of Waking men Love and Hatred are the diversions of idle souls Fear is but a shadow and it is hard for the Effect to be true when the Cause is imaginary Boldness and Choler form Monsters to themselves that they may defeat them and we must not wonder if they so easily ingage themselves in the Combat since their enemies weakness assures them of the victory but grief is a real evil which sets upon the Soul and Body both at once and makes two wounds at one blow I know there are some sorrows that wound only the mind and exercise all their might upon the noblest part of man but if they be violent they work upon the body and by a secret contagion the pains of the Mistress become the diseases of the Slave the Chains that bind them together are so streight that all their good and bad estate is shared between them a contented Soul cures her body and a sick body afflicts its soul this noble Captive patiently endures all other incommodities which befall her and provided that her prison be exempted from pain she finds reasons enough to chear up her self with She despises the loss of Riches and bounding her Desires she finds contentment in Poverty she neglects Honour and knowing that it only depends upon Opinion she will not ground her happiness upon so frail a good she passeth by Pleasures and the shame which accompanies them lesseneth the sorrow which their loss brings her as she is not tied to these adventious goods she easily forgoes them and when Fortune hath robbed her of them she thinks her self more at Liberty and thinks her self not the poorer but when the body is assaulted and that it suffers either excessive heat or the injuries of the Season or the rage of Sickness she is constrained to sigh with it and the Cords which fasten them together make their miseries common she apprehends Death though she be Immortal she fears wounds though she be Invulnerable and she resents all the evils suffer'd by the prison which she gives life to though she be Spiritual The Stoicks Philosophy which valueth not a glorious enterprize unless it be impossible would have inderdicted the commerce between the Soul and the Body and in a strange madness hath endeavour'd to separate two parts whereof one and the same whole are compounded she forbad her Disciples the use of Tears and breaking the holiest of all Friendships she would have the Soul to be insensible of the Bodies sufferings and that whilst the Body was burning in the midst of flames the Soul should mount up to Heaven there to contemplate the Beauty of Virtue or the wonders of Nature This Barbarous Philosophy had some Admirers but she never had any true Disciples her Counsels made them despair all that would follow her Maxims suffer'd themselves to be miss-led by Vanity and could not fence themselves against Grief Since the Soul hath contracted so straight a society with the Body she must suffer with it and since she is shed abroad into all the parts thereof she must complain with the mouth weep with the eyes and sigh with the heart-Mercy was never forbidden but by tyrants and this Virtue will be praised as long as there be any that are miserable yet the evils which afflict her are strangers to her and those whom she assists are for the most part to her unknown wherefore then shall we blame the Soul if she have compassion on her own body Wherefore shall we accuse her of Abjectness if she share in the sorrows that assail it and which not being able to hurt her in her own substance set upon her in her Mansion-house and revenge themselves on her in that thing which of all the world she loves best For while she is in the body she seems to renounce her Nobility and that ceasing to be a pure spirit she interesses her self in all the Delights and all the Vexations of her Hoste his health causeth contentment in her and his sickness is grievous to her the most worthy part suffers in the less worthy and by a troublesom necessity the Soul is unhappy in the miseries of her body They say that Magick is so powerful that it hath found out a secret how to torment men in their absence and to make them feel in their own persons all the cruelties which she exerciseth upon their Images these miserable men burn with fire which toucheth nothing but their Picture they feel blows which they do not receive and the distance of place cannot free them from the fury of their enemies Love which is as powerful and not much less cruel than Magick doth this Miracle every day when it joyns two souls together it finds a way to make their sufferings common men cannot offend the one but the other resents it each of them suffers as well in the body which it loves as in that which it inanimates Since Love and Magick work these wonders we must not marvel if Nature having fastned the Soul to the Body do make the miseries common and if by one only wo she makes two Parties miserable the participation of each others Good and Bad is a consequence of their Marriage and the Heavens must do a miracle to give them a Dispensation from this necessity The joy of Martyrs was no meer effect of Reason when they tasted any pleasure amidst their Torments it must needs be Grace that sweetned the rigour thereof and he that in the fiery Furnace changed Flames into pleasing gales of Wind must have turned their Torments into Delights or if he did them not this favour he did them a greater and by making the Soul not sensible of the Bodies sufferings he taught the whole world that he was the Soveraign Lord of Nature
the Theatre where two so violent motions were formed should enjoy Peace amidst War In fine Fear and Audacity ended their differences in thy Person thou didst suffer these two affections to possess thy Heart without dividing it whilst thou wert in thine Agony in the Garden thou gavest confidence to thine Apostles and when the thought of death made such havock in thy Soul thou didst encourage Martyrs to the Combat thou preparest Crowns for their Victories and procuring them strength by thy weaknesses thou ordainest them to be the Champions of thy Church Militant But whatever help they received from thy Grace their Victories were never like thine they found more obedience in the World than in themselves and have confessed it cost them less to overcome wild Beasts than to vanquish their own Passions Famous Martyrs have been known who having overcome Lyons could not quell their own choler and have suffered themselves to be born away with Impatience after they had endured Tortures Their Combats were not always followed with good Success they were oft-times in one and the same day both Conquered and Conquerors They gave way to Voluptuousness after they had triumphed over Grief and having had courage enough to be Martyrs they wanted resolution to be continent How often have they wisht for Death that they might be freed from these domestick enemies and to that end sighed and made vows When thy Providence gave them over to their own weakness they despaired of their Salvation finding no support save in thy Goodness they begun all their wrestlings by Prayer and professed that to overcome their Passions they must be animated by thy Spirit and assisted by thy Power Thou art the sole Conqueror that wert never worsted in this War thy Affections never betrayd thy Reason and thy power hath been as absolute in thy Person as in thy Kingdom These Passions of our Soul changed nature in thine by the use thou madest of them they became Virtues Thou conceivedst no love which did not turn it self into Charity thou didst excite no Choler that was not just indignation and thou feltest no pity but it was transformed into Mercy All that in our Nature is Humane was Divine in thine and the unconfused Mixture of two Natures whereof thou art composed made thy passions to be rather Miracles than Virtues Thy Anger served as an Officer to thy Fathers Iustice thy Compassion was the Interpreter of His Mercy and thy Love an earnest of His Good will How happy was that distressed man that drew tears from thine eyes how rich was that poor one whose wants thou didst bewail how puissant was the oppressed whose interests thou maintainedst how innocent was that Offender whose Conversion was wrought by thy Tears and how glorious was the infamous Sinner to whom thou witnessedst thy Love by thy Complaints and Sighs Heaven had a regard to all the motions of thy Soul the eternal Father never denied any thing to thy Tears and his Thunder-bolts never failed to fall upon their heads on whom thy just Anger called for punishment Thy Passions were the Organs of thy Divinity thy Sighs were no less powerful than thy Words and without using either Prayers or Vows the Desires were sufficient to make known thy Will What Admiration did these Motions of thy Soul cause in the Seraphim with what astonishment were those pure Intelligences strucken when they considered that God taking our nature upon him took part of her feelings and no part of her weaknesses That he wept with the wretched without interessing his happiness That he was Angry at those that were injured without troubling his Quiet That with the needy he formed desires without loss of his Abundance And that with Lovers he felt the flames of Love without enduring their Disturbances What a miracle was it to see that Anger should be kindled in thy Soul without trouble thereunto That Pity should wound thy Heart without weakning it That it should be enflamed with Love yet not consumed That it should be eaten up with Sorrow yet not disquieted What can I do less in honour of so many Wonders than to consecrate our Passions unto thee What less submission can I make to thy adored Power than loudly to avouch that there is none but thou who can teach us the use of these Motions And that it appertains only to thy Wisdom to change our Anger into Indignation our Pity into Mercy and our Love into Charity Indeed it is thou alone who canst rule our passions thou art he only who workest our good out of our Evil and of Poysons composest Antidotes Thou knowest men by their Inclinations thou seest without studying them the motions of their hearts and making benefit thereof dost wisely conduct them to thy end Thou employest Fear to take off a covetous man from those perishable Riches which possess him thou makest a holy use of Despair to withdraw from the World a Courtier whose youth had been mis-imployed in the service of some Prince thou makest an admirable use of Disdain to extinguish there with a lovers flames who is enslave by a proud beauty thou employest Choler to disabuse a Souldier whom a dissembling General feeds with vain hopes thou makest excellent use of Grief to cure a sick man who sought for his Souls happiness in his Bodies health and lost the remembrance of Heaven by being to strongly fastened to the Earth In fine thou makest Chains of all our Passions to unite our Wills to thine thou minglest Grace with Nature and makest Angels by the same disorders as they would have been made Devils Sin is the Theatre of thy Power as well as Nothing thou makest thy greatest Works issue out of two Subjects whereof the one is Barren the other Rebellious Out of Nothing thou drawest Existence and out of Sin thou extractest Grace thou findest every thing in its contrary and by an effectual violence which can proceed only from an infinite Power thou compellest Nothing to produce men and sin to make Saints But after these two Miracles which are thy Master-pieces we see not any thing more wonderful than the use which thou art able to make of our Passions for the changing of our Wills thou makest that serve thy designes which did serve thine enemies thou savest men by those Weaknesses which would have been their undoing and bestowing on them a little Divine Love thou turnest all their Passions into Virtues For when once Charity begins to reign in their souls they fear nothing but sin they wish for nothing but Grace Thou art the end of their Desires as thou art the object of their Love They change Condition without changing Nature though they have Passions they commit no more Offences and losing neither Hope nor Despair neither Audacity nor Fear neither Love nor Hatred they are free from all the mischiefs which accompany these Passions when they are Faulty But certainly if thy Mercy appear in well husbanding the inclinations of thy Friends to their
Nature ordained pleasure in all actions these two Virtues which go to the composure of a chaste and continent man would be likewise of no use Clemency sweetens Choler and did not this Passion animate Princes to revenge the virtue whereby it is moderated would not deserve praise But if Passions be so much befriended by so many several virtues they are not thereof unthankful for when instructed in their whole they repay them with use and serve them faithfully The best part of Circumspection is composed of Fear which though it be accused to seek out the evil before it happen it prepares us either quietly to undergo it or happily to evade it Hope is serviceable to Fortitude and 't is she that by her Promises doth encourage us to the undertaking of gallant Actions Boldness is Valour 's faithful Companion and all great Conquerors owe the glory of their Generosity to this Passion Choler maintains Justice and animates Judges to punish the Guilty Briefly there is no Passion which is not serviceable to Virtue when they are governed by Reason and those who have so cried them down make us see they never knew their use nor worth The SECOND DISCOURSE What the Nature of Passions is and in what Faculty of the Soul they reside GODS Greatness is so elevated as Man cannot attain to the Knowledge thereof without abasing it and his Unity is so simple as it is not to be conceived unless divided Philosophers gave him different Names to express the diversity of his Perfections and by calling him sometimes Destiny sometimes Nature sometimes Providence they introduced a plurality of Gods and made all men Idolaters The Soul being the Image of God the same Philosophers did likewise divide it and not being able to comprehend the simplicity of its Essence they believed it was corporeal They imagined it had parts as well â—s the Body and though they were more subtle they were not less veritable They multiplied the Cause with its Effects and â—aking her divers Faculties for different Naâ—ures they contrary to the Law of Reason gave divers forms to the same composure But Truth which together with Faith came down upon earth teacheth us that the Soul is but one in its Essence and that it hath undergone several Names only to express the variety of its operations for when it gives life unto the body and when by natural heat which proceeds from the heart as from its Center it preserveth all the â—arts thereof it is called Form when it discerns colours by the Eye and distinguisheth of sound by the Ear Sense When she raiâ—eth her self a little higher and by discoursing infers one Truth by another she is called Understanding When she preserves her thoughts to employ them about her own affairs or that she draws from forth her treasury the Riches which â—she had lock'd therein men stile her Memory when she loveth that which pleaseth her or hates that which nauseates her she is termed Will but all her several Faculties which differing in their employments do notwithstanding agree in their substance make but one Soul and are like so many Rivulets derived from the same Spring-Head Prophane Philosophy arriving at length to the knowledge of this truth makes use of divers comparisons to express her Now she represents the Soul in the Body as an Intelligence in the Heavens the virtue whereof is displayed through all the Spheres thereof Anon they figure her out unto us as a Pilot who guides his Vessel sometimes as a King who governs his State But Christian Philosophy hath been more fortunate when coming even to the original of the soul it hath made us know what effects she produceth in the Body by the very same which God produceth in the world For though this infinite essence depends not upon the world which he hath created and that without interessing his might he may undo his own workmanship yet is he shed abroad in all the parts thereof there is no intermedium which he fills not up He applies himself to all Creatures in their operations and without dividing his unity or weakning his power he gives light with the Sun he burneth with the fire he he refresheth with the water and he brings forth fruit with the trees He is as great on earth as he is in Heaven though his effects do differ his power is alwaies equal and the stars which shine above our heads cost him no more than the grass which we tread under our feet So is the soul dispersed in the body and penetrates all the parts thereof It is as noble in the hand as in the heart and though applying her self to the disposition of the Organs she speaks by the Mouth seeth by the Eyes and heareth by the Ears yet is she but one Spirit in her Essence and in her differing Functions her Unity is not divided nor her Power weakned 'T is true that not finding the same dispositions in every part of the Body she produceth not the same Effects and in this point this Illustrious Captive is infinitely inferiour to God for as he is infinite and was able to make all things out of nothing he can likewise make all things out of every Creature and without any respect to their Inclinations make them serve his Will. So we see he hath used the Fire to sweeten the pains of his Servants that he hath used the Light to blind his Enemies that he hath made the Flouds turn back to give passage to his Friends and that he hath made the Earth open to swallow those that rebell against him But the Soul whose power is limited cannot operate without dependance upon the Organs and though she be spiritual in her Nature yet is she corporeal in her Operations This is that which hath made the Philosophers consider her in three several estates which are so different the one from the other that if in the first she approach near the Dignity of the Angels in the second she is in no better condition than the Beast of the Field and in the last she differs not much from the Nature of Plants for in this acceptation she hath no other employment than to nourish the Body she is in to digest Food to convert it into Bloud and by a strange Metamorphosis to make one and the same Matter thicken into Flesh stiffen into Nerves harden into Bones extend into Branches and lengthen into Grisles she augments her Parts by nourishing them she in time perfects her Workmanship and by her pains brings it to its just Greatness Solicited by Providence she takes care to maintain the World she thinks how to restore what she hath received and to preserve her species produceth the like In this acception her workmanship is not more noble than that of Plants which nourish themselves by the Influences of Heaven grow up by the heat of the Sun and get root downward by their Succors and Moisture In the second estate she becomes sensible and
as soon as he listened to the devil and that inticed by his promises he had took part with him his punishment was answerable to his fault and his disobedience was punished by a general rebellion for to boote that his creatures revolted against him and that his subjects that they might serve Gods justice became his enemies the revolt passed from his condition to his person the elements divided themselves in his body and his Body mutinied against his Soul This intestine war was the sooner kindled between these two parties for that their peace was not so much an effect of Nature as of Grace the hatred which succeeded their love was so much the more violent for that it was animated by sin which being but a meer disorder causeth divisions every where and satisfieth its own fury in executing the decrees of divine Justice so as we must not wonder if the rebellion which man suffers be so great since it takes its rise from two so puissant principles and that the parties which compose it are incouraged to the combat by the contrariety of their inclinations and by the malice of sin which doth possess them This mischief hath caused the greatest Saints to sigh The Apostle of the Gentiles finding no remedy for this malady but death wish'd for it as a favour and as such a one made suit for the most rigorous of our punishments he in his Writings hath prepared all Christians to this War and hath made them know that a man cannot hope for peace in this life since the body made enterprizes upon the soul and that the soul was obliged evilly to intreat her Body From this great disorder the like of our Passions have ensued for though they be the off-spring of the soul and body that being equally produced by these two parties they should endeavour their agreement yet these unnatural children augment their division and according as they hold more of the soul or the body take part with the one or with the other of them and perform no act of Obedience wherein there is not somewhat of Rebellion The concupiscible appetite doth almost always hold intelligence with the body and the irascible appetite sides always with the soul. The first engages us in delights and keeps us in a shameful Idleness the second arms us against sorrow and encourageth us to generous actions in this continual bickering the soul of man is never at quiet and man is constrained to nourish Vipers which do devour him Philosophers have indeed found this mischief but they thought it lay only in the Will and not in the Nature of man They were perswaded that opinion and ill breeding caused these disorders and that as one evil is cured by its contrary this might be remedied by wholsom doctrine and good education They founded Academies wherein they disputed about the Summum bonum They made Panegyricks in the behalf of virtue and Invectives against vice They declaimed against the unruliness of Passions and measuring their abilities by their desires they promised victory and tryumph to themselves But not finding the original of the malady by consequence they could never light upon the remedy amidst the weakness they underwent and their vain indevours they were enforced to accuse nature and to complain even of that soveraign Power which hath composed man of pieces which could not be made agree A glimpse of light would certainly have rectified them and a Chapter of Saint Pauls would have made them know the truth for since they agreed with us that God cannot be defective in his workmanship and that he is too just to require things at our hands which exceed our power they must have concluded that our disorder was the punishment of our sin and that the infirmity which we lament was not an effect of our nature but the correction of Gods Justice by thinking thus they would have endeavoured to appease him whom they had injured and confessing their infirmity they would have implored his assistance but pride blinded them and to make use of Seneca's words against himself they would rather accuse providence than acknowledge their own misery and rather impute their disorder to Gods rigour than to their own offences They either could not or would not comprehend what reason taught them before that faith had published by the mouth of Saint Paul and of Saint Augustine that the rebellion of the flesh against the spirit is not a condition of nature but the punishment of sin From what hath been said 't is easie to infer that since man is sinful since his Passions have revolted since the soul which ought to govern them is darkned and that the will which ought to moderate them is depraved he must of necessity have recourse to grace and beg that of mercy which justice hath bereaved him of The same power which formerly accorded our soul with our body must now end these differences If the condition of this miserable life be such as will not suffer us to enjoy a perfect peace we must seek for forces wherewithal to fight so if we cannot shun the misfortunes of war we may hope for the advantages of the victory The SECOND DISCOURSE The Nature alone is not sufficient to rule the Passions of Man THough the Stoicks be declared enemies unto Passions and that they cannot be judged in a cause wherein they are a party yet methinks their judgments have some colour of Justice and that it is with reason that they do mix our Passions with our Vices For in the condition whereinto Sin hath reduced us our apprehensions are no more pure our nature being corrupted all the inclinations thereof must needs be out of order and the rivers which run from a polluted Spring must needs be troubled I know Philosophers will not agree of this truth and they never permit us to accuse Nature of an error since they take her for their guide nor that we dishonour her all whose motions they esteem so regular They profess to follow her in all things and hold that to live happily a man must live according to Nature The Libertines plead this Maxim and will excuse their disorders by a Doctrine which they understand not for had they studied in the Stoicks Schools they would find that those Philosophers presuppose that Nature was in her first purity and that they took her not for their guide but for that they imagined she had preserved her innocency So banished they from their Sages and even from their Disciples all those Affections which they would have pass for natural and by a generous but a useless endeavour they would have us to be as well governed in the state of sin as in that of Original Justice But Christians who have learn'd by the Holy Scripture that nature is fallen from her first purity are bound to confess that the Passions have revolted and that to bring them again into subjection Reason must be assisted by Grace for there is no man
and that all the assistance that man can hope for from Grace is so handsomly to manage Passions as that they may defend virtue and oppugn vice The FOURTH DISCOURSE That opinions and the senses do cause the disorder of our Passions THough sin be the original of all our mischief and that all the miseries we undergo are the punishments for our faults we seem to take pleasure in increasing them by our evil guidance and that we invent every day new penalties to which divine Justice had not condemned us we are not contented to know our Passions are revolted and that without the assistance of Grace Reason cannot regulate them we nourish their disorder and to make them the more insolent we admit of Opinions which raise them up at their pleasure For of a thousand Passions which are raised in our soul there are not any two that take truth for their guide and the evil which they apprehend or the good which they desire appear rather so to be than that they are so indeed To mend this disorder we must take cognizance of opinion mark her birth and progress Opinion is not so much a judgment of the understanding as of the Imaginations whereby she doth either approve of or condemn things which the senses represent unto her This is the most usual evil of our Life and if it were as constant as it is common our condition would be very sad but it changeth at every moment that which is the cause of its birth causeth likewise the death thereof And Imagination forsakes it with as much ease as she gave it entertainment It taketh its rise from our senses and from the reports of the world so as it is no marvel if the best grounded opinion cannot subsist long since the foundations thereof are so bad for our senses are liars and like inchanted glasses they present disguised Objects unto us Their Reports are seldom uninteressed and as they fasten themselves to objects they endeavour to engage Imagination When I consider the soul as a Prisoner in the body I bewail her condition and I wonder not if she so oft takes falshood for truth because it entereth by the gate of the senses this divine Spirit is inclosed in the body not having any other cognizance save what she borroweth either from the Eyes or the Ears thereof and these two senses which by nature seem so particularly appropriated to knowledge are such deceivers as their devices are for the most part but impostures blindness is to be preferred before their false Lights and they had better leave us in our ignorance than help us to such malignant and so doubtful knowledge They consider only the appearances of things they stop at accidents their weakness cannot penetrate into substances they are like the Sun and as they take all their light from him they endeavour to imitate him in their actions Every one thinks that this goodly Planet is extreamly useful to us when it comes about our Horizon and that it affords those beauties to nature which darkness had bereft it of But the Platonicks have found that the advantage we receive thereby equals not the prejudice it bringeth along with it for when it discovers the earth unto us it hides the Heavens from us when it exposeth Lilies and Roses to our sight it hinders us from seeing the Stars and takes from us the sight of the most beautiful part of the world So the senses take from us the cognizance of divine things to furnish us with the like of what is humane They make us only see the appearances of objects and hide their truth from us We remain ignorant under these bad Masters and our Imagination being informed but by their reports we can only conceive false opinions I find therefore that Nature is more severe unto us than is Religion and that it is much more difficult to be rational than to believe aright for though the truths which Religion proposeth unto us are of so high a nature as our understanding cannot comprehend them though she demand of us a blind obedience and that to believe her mysteries we must subdue our Reason and give the Lie to all our Senses yet this commandment is not injurious If she take from us our liberty she preserves our honour she frees our understanding from the tyranny of our senses she submits it to the legitimate Empire of the supream Intelligence which she illustrates unto us by her light she takes us from earth that she may raise us up to Heaven and takes not from us the use of Reason save only to make us acquire the merit of Faith But Nature ingaging our soul in our body makes her a slave to our senses and obligeth her in her noblest operations to consult with those that are blind and to draw her light from out their darkness Hence it is that all our knowledge is full of errour and that truth is never without falshood that opinions are uncertain and that our Passions which obey them are always out of order The worlds report is no surer a Guide and those who listen thereunto are likely never to enjoy true rest for this rumour is nothing else but the opinion of the people which is not the truer for being the more common That which seemeth to authorize it doth condemn it and nothing ought to make it more suspected than the great number of its partakers The nature of man is not so well regulated as that the best things be those that please most people ill opinions as well as good ones ground themselves upon the number of their approvers and when we would side with any opinions we ought not to number but to weigh the Votes The common people who gape after liberty delight to live in servitude never make use of Judgment and in worldly affairs which of all others ought to be the most free they are rather led by Example than by Reason they follow those who go before and not examining their Opinions they embrace they defend them for after having recived them they desire to divulge them as in factions they endeavour to engage others on their Party and to make their malady prove contagious In so much as Seneca's Maxime proves true That man is not only failing to himself but unto others and that he communicates his errors to all those that come nigh him When our Imagination is filled with ill Opinions she exciteth a thousand disorders in the inferior part of our soul and raiseth up Passions according to her pleasure for being blind they cannot discern whether the good or bad which is proposed to them be only likely or true and abused by the Imagination whose Empire they reverence they either draw nearer unto or fly further from objects their blindness serves them for excuse and they lay their faults upon that hath deceived them But to prevent this disorder the understanding must keep it self in its authority it must assubject Imagination to its
yet all these troubles are the hunters pleasures and their passion to this Exercise makes them term that a pastime which Reason would term a punishment There is nothing of delight in war the very name thereof is odious were it not accompanied with injustice disorder and fear it would notwithstanding have horrors enough to astonish all men death makes her self be there seen in a thousand different shapes there is no exercise in war wherein the danger doth not exceed the glory and it never furnisheth souldiers with any actions which are not as bloudy as glorious yet those that love it make it their delight they esteem all the deformities thereof beauties and by an inclination which proceeds rather from their love than from their humour they find delight in dangers and taste the pleasantness of peace in the tumults of war This it is which made St. Augustine say That Lovers troubles are never troublesom and that they never find pain in serving what they love or if they do they cherish it But we shall never make an end if we would observe all the proprieties of Love I therefore pass on to the effects thereof which being so many pictures of Love will represent unto us its nature and will discover unto us what it is able to do The first of its miracles is that which we call Extasie for it frees the Soul from the Body which she inanimates that she may join to the Object which she loveth it parts us from our selves by a pleasing violence and what the holy Scripture attributes to the Spirit of God befals this miraculous division so as a lover is never at home with himself if you will find him you must seek him in the person that he adores He will have people know that contrary to the Laws of wisdom he is always without himself and that he hath forsaken all care of his own preservation since he became a slave to love The Saints draw their glory from this extasie and truth it self which speaks by their mouths obligeth them to confess that they live more in Jesus Christ than in themselves Now as a man must die to himself to live in another death accompanieth this life and as well sacred as prophane lovers cannot love unless they be bound to die 'T is true that this death is advantageous to them since it procures unto them a life wherewithal they are better pleased than with that which they have lost for they live again in those that they love by a miracle of love they like the Phenix take life again from their ashes and recover life in the very bosom of death He who doth not conceive this truth cannot understand those words by which S. Paul teacheth us that we are dead unto our selves and alive in Jesus Christ. This effect produceth another which is not much less admirable for as lovers have no other life than what they borrow from their love it infallibly falls out that they transform themselves thereinto and that ceasing to be what they were they begin to be that which they love they change condition as well as nature and by a wonder which would surpass all belief were it not usual they become like unto that which they cherish 'T is true that this power shines much more gloriously in divine than in prophane Love for though Kings abase themselves in loving their Subjects and that they forgo their greatness as soon as they engage themselves in friendship yet do they not raise those up into their Throne whom they love Jealousie which is inseparable from Royalty will not suffer them to give their Crown away to him who possesseth their heart But if they should arrive at this excess the Maxim would only be true in them and their Subjects could not change conditions by the force of their love for the love of greatness makes not a Soveraign nor is a man the more accommodated though he love riches the desire of health did never yet cure a sick man we have not found that the bare Passion to know hath made men wise But divine Love hath so much power as it raseth us up above our selves by a strange Metamorphosis it makes us be that which it makes us love It renders the guilty innocent it makes slaves children changeth Demons into Angels and that we may not diminish the virtue thereof whilst we think to heighten it let it suffice to say that of men it makes Gods It doth not therefore become us to complain of our misery and to accuse our Creator for not having equalled our condition to that of Angels for though those pure spirits have great advantages over us and that we hope for no other good than that which they possess yet are we happy enough since we are permitted to love God and that we are made to hope that our nature being by love transformed into his nature we shall lose what we have of mortal and perishable to acquire what is incorruptible and eternal This is the Consolation of divine Lovers and this is the only means how to aspire without blame to that happiness which Lucifer could not do but with impiety I cannot end this Discourse without justly reproaching those that whilst they may love God engage their affections on the earth or on earthly things and deprive themselves of that immense felicity which divine love promiseth them for in loving of the creatures they cannot share in their perfections without doing the like in their defaults after having laboured much they oft-times change an obscure and peaceable condition into a more glorious but a more dangerous one So there is always hazard in the love of the creatures and the advantage that may be drawn from thence is never so pure but that it is mingled with somewhat of misfortune For whatsoever passion we have for the creature we are not sure the creature hath the like for us yet this miraculous change which passeth for the principal effect of love is made in this mutual affection and in this correspondency of friendship But we run not these hazzards in consecrating our love to God his perfections are not accompanied with faults and we know it cannot be disadvantageous to us to make a change with him Our love is never without this acknowledgment since it is rather the effect than the cause of his and that we love not him till he hath first loved us He is so just as he never denies our affection the recompense which it deserves he is not like those misbelieving Mistresses who amongst the numbers of their Lovers prefer him who is best behaved before him that loveth best in the commerce which we hold with him we are sure that he that hath most charity shall have most glory and that in his Kingdom the most faithful lover shall be always the most honoured The SECOND DISCOURSE Of the Badness of Love SInce there is nothing so sacred but meets with some
tolerate it and by an unfortunate necessity we must give lodging to a guest we should not be able to love but Nature hath well provided for this and her providence which always watches over her children hath given us a Passion which eschews evil with as much impetuosity as desire seeks after good This keeps at distance from all that can hurt us and following the inclinations of hatred whereof she is either the Daughter or Slave she flies from all objects that displease her and fights to defend it self against her enemies 't is the first succour we have received against evils 't is the first violence the first salley which the concupiscible appetite makes to free us from them Though this Passion be almost alwayes blameless and that she cannot be made criminal but by surprizal yet ceaseth she not to have her ill use and to be every day employ'd against the design of Nature Those therefore that would make use of her are bound to consider whether that which they endevor to eschew be truly so or be but so in appearance and whether opinion which easily seizeth upon the understanding hath not perswaded them unto falshoods instead of truths For it is apparent that of two things that bear the name of evil in the world there is but one of them which may properly be said to deserve it Sin and Punishment are the two most ordinary objects of eschewing and most men do so confound them as we know not which of them is most odious Punishment being more sensible than Sin it is more carefully shunned and there are not many people who do not love rather to be faulty than unfortunate We shun the Plague and seek out sin we keep far from all infected places the bad air whereof may work an alteration in our health and we draw near to evil company which may rob us of our innocency Religion obligeth us not withstanding to believe that Punishments are the effects of Divine Justice that they have Beauties which though austere ought not to be the less pleasing that God honours himself by punishing of his enemies and that he finds as much satisfaction in chastening the guilty as in recompencing the just The greatest Saints have known that our punishments were favours which did no less contribute to the welfare of man than to the glory of his Creator they have confessed that we must adore the arm which hurts us love the wounds because of the arm that made them and teach all the world that Heavens Thunders are just since those who are therewith struck adore them but sin is a true evil which hath nothing in it which is not odious its object is a soveraign good which it offendeth and if in the behalf of the committer the malice thereof be bounded on his behalf against whom it is committed it is infinite Sin violates all the Laws of Nature dishonoureth men and Angels and all the evils which we suffer are the just punishments of its disorders 'T was then for this dreadful evil that we were endued with aversion and this aversion cannot be more justly employed than in keeping us far from a Monster the abode whereof will be hell and death the eternal punishment Next to sin nothing ought to be more carefully eschewed than those that do defend it and who to enlarge the Empire thereof endeavor to make it appear lovely and glorious As Nature is the pure workmanship of God she cannot tolerate sin and that she may banish it from the earth she hath laden it with confusion and fear it dares not appear in full day it hides it self in darkness and seeks out solitary places where it hath none but such as are complices with it for witnesses But its partakers raise it up upon a throne and play all their cunning to win it glory they cover it with the cloak of Virtue and if it hath any thing of affinity with its enemy they strive to make it pass for Virtue They change their names and by one and the same action committing two faults they bereave Virtue of her honour that they may give it to Sin they term Revenge greatness of Courage Ambition a generous Passion Uncleanness an innocent pleasure and consequently they term Humility lowness of Spirit the forgiving of injuries faint-heartedness and continency a savage humor They spread abroad these false maxims they turn evils into contagious diseases and their errors into heresies they seduce simple souls and presenting poyson in Chrystal vessels they make it be swallow'd down by innocent people Those who are most couragious have much ado to defend themselves from them the best wits suffer themselves to be perswaded by their lewd Reasons we are therefore bound to have recourse to the succour that Nature hath given us to excite this Passion which keeps us aloof from what is evil and furnisheth us with forces to fight against it But her chief employment ought to be against Incontinence and the Heavens seem to have given a being to Aversion only to rid our hands of an enemy which cannot be overcome but by Eschewing All Passions come in to the aid of Virtue when she undertakes a war against Vice Choler grows hot in her quarrel Audacity furnisheth her with weapons Hope promiseth her Victory and Joy which always follows generous actions serves instead of Recompense but when she is to set upon Incontinency she dares not employ all these faithful souldiers and knowing very well that the enemy she is to fight withal is as crafty as puissant she fears lest he may seduce them and by his cunning draw them over to his side In truth Choler agrees easily with Love and Lovers quarrels serve only to re-kindle their extinct flames Hope entertains their Affections and Joy oft-times takes its rise from their displeasures so as Virtue can only make use of Eschewing to defend her self and of so many Passions which assist her in her other designs she is only seconded by Eschewing in her combate against Impurity But she thinks her self strong enough if succour'd therewithal and there is no such charming Beauty no so strong inclination nor so dangerous occasion which she doth not promise her self to overcome provided she be accompanied by this faithful Passion She is the cause why Chastity reigns in the world 't is by reason of her wisdom that men do imitate Angels and triumph over evil spirits in the frailty of the flesh But the greatest miracle which she produceth is when being subservient to Charity she separateth us from our selves and when preventing the violence of death she divideth the soul from the body for man hath no greater enemy than himself he is the cause of all his own evils and Christian Religion agrees with the Sect of the Stoicks that man can receive no true displeasure save what he himself procures he is therefore bound to keep at distance from himself and to hold no commerce with his Body
reason with it or to speak more like a Christian there is nothing August but what is enlivened by the Grace of Jesus Christ. But to the end you may not believe I seek out hateful examples to take from Choler that greatness of courage which she boasteth of I will examine the reasons that are alledged in her defence consider her in a condition wherein she may challenge either praises or excuses Ought we not to be angry when all Laws Divine as Humane are violated may not one give himself over to Choler when she perswades us to revenge our Parents and is it not an action of Piety to be incensed against an impious â—retch who prophanes Altars and dishoâ—ors Churches I confess this Passion cannot have fairer pretexts that she is in her glory when she is irritated for so rational subjects but you will find that those who have been moved for the defence of their Countrey will have the same resentments for the preservation of their pleasures that they will be as angry for the loss of a horse as for the loss of a friend and that they will make it as great as business to correct a servant as to beat back an enemy it is not Piety but Weakness that excites this Choler and since she is highly mov'd as well for a word as for a murder we must conclude â—he is neither Courageous nor Rational the greatest part likewise of our Revenges are Injuries and we run hazard of committing a fault as oft as we will be Judges in our own cause our Interests blind us and our Self-love perswades us that the slightest injuries cannot be repaired but by the death of the guilty we are of the humour of Kings though we be not of their condition and imagine that all the wrongs that are done to us are as many High-treasons we would have neither Fire nor Gallows used save to punish our enemies are unjust enough to desire to engage the Justice of God in our Interests we could wish shâ— would let no Thunder fall but upon thâ— heads of such as have offended us and ouâ— of a height of impiety we would that thâ— Heavens were always in Arms in our quarrel But though we made no such wishes yeâ— would our Revenge be still irrational heâ— very name sheweth us that she is faulty and though she seem so pleasing to those that cherish her there is nothing more cruel nor more pusillanimous for she differs from Injury only in Time and if he that provoketh be Faulty he that Revengeth is not Innocent the one begins the fault the other ends it the one makes the Chalenge the other Accepts of it the second is not more just than the first save that the injury he hath receiv'd serves for a pretence to do another Therefore is it that our Religion forbids Revenge as well as Injury and very well knowing we cannot keep the Rules of Justice in punishing our wrongs she commands us to remit them into the hands of God and to leave the punishment thereof to him whose judgments are never unjust she teacheth us that to revenge Affronts done unto us is to intrench upon his Rights and that as all glory is due to him â—ecause he is our Soveraign Lord so all Reâ—enge belongs to him because he is our edge but that which is yet more admiraâ—e in her Doctrine and which surpasseth as â—ell the weakness of our Vertue as of our â—ind is that she will have us lose the deâ—re of Revenge and that stifling this reâ—entment which Nature thinks so just we â—ange our Hatred into Love and our Fury Mercy he will have us imitate His Goodness and that raised to a more than â—ortal condition we wish well to those â—hat do us mischief he will have us pray to 〈◊〉 for their Conversion and that accorâ—ing to the example of his only Son who â—btained Salvation for those that butcher'd â—im we ask pâ—rdon of him for our enemies he reserves his highest rewards for Charity and teacheth us that we cannot â—ope for forgiveness unless we shew mercy 〈◊〉 raiseth this Virtue above all others and â—eversing the worlds Maxims he will have 〈◊〉 to believe that greatness of Courage consisteth only in the forgetting of injuries all his endevours are to blot out of our â—ouls the memory of offences and hatred of our enemies to hear him speak you would â—hink his State were grounded on this Law only and that we cannot claim share in his Glory if we do not imitate his Clemenâ—cy Humane Philosophy hath not been ablâ— to attain to this degree of perfection yet shâ— hath observed that Hatred was unjust anâ— that Revenge was poorly condition'd shâ— hath made use of weak reasons to perswadâ— us to rare Virtues and when she hath noâ— been able to quite to abolish Choler she hatâ— endeavour'd to asswage it she hath shew'â— us that the world is a Republique whereâ—â— all men are Citizens that if the body werâ— holy the members thereof were sacred and that if it were forbidden to conspire aâ—gainst the State it was not lawful to atâ—tempt any thing against a man who madâ— a part thereof that it would be a strangâ— disorder if the Eyes should fight against thâ— Hands or that the Hands should declarâ— war against the Eyes that Nature whicâ— had united them in one and the same body had inanimated them with one and thâ— same spirit and that contributing to thâ— publick good they should mutually assiâ—â— one another lest the ruine of one part mighâ— draw on that of the whole that thus 〈◊〉 were bound reciprocally to preserve themselves for the welfare of the State knowing that Society subsists only by Love and thaâ— body cannot live when the members â—hereof are at discord All these maximes codemn Revenge Nature as corrupt as she 〈◊〉 teacheth us by the mouths of Philosoâ—hers that Jesus Christ hath commanded us â—othing which is not reasonable and if we â—eed his Grace to keep his Commandments it is not so much an argument of their difficulty as a mark of our unruliness as we â—aught to adore his Justice that punisheth 〈◊〉 we ought to adore his Mercy which forâ—ifieth our weakness and acknowledge that â—he imposeth no Laws upon us but that at the same time he gives us strength to observe them The THIRD DISCOURSE Of the good use of CHOLER THe Poet had reason to say That the way to Hell lay open to all the world and that all men were indifferently permitted to descend thither but that to get from thence when one was once entred there and to see the light again after one had been in darkness was a favouâ— which the Heavens granted only to thoâ—â— Grandees that had merited it by their glorious labours there is nothing more easâ— than to abuse Choler and engage onâ— self in the unjust resentments of Reâ—venge corrupt Nature hath taught uâ— these disorders and without other instruâ—cters than our