he fears not to have him for his Judge whom he would not acknowledge for his Brother It is a Heart perfectly hardned that being no longer touch'd with any apprehension of fear rebells under the Rod shuts his Ear against the checks of his Conscience and his Eyes against the light of his Reason and becomes insensible of the motions of Humanity 'T is the most rigorous pain wherewith God chastises the rich Man that dies in abundance and leaves vast Wealth to his often unknown Heirs without giving any share to the Poor He thinks not on 't because God gives him not the Grace He might obtain mercy by giving in Alms at least when he 's dying what Death will soon snatch from him But this is a Reflection a rich Man is not worthy of God abandons him to blindness and insensibility at his Death in punishment of his hard-heartedness during his Life to make him feel all the weight of his Justice that regarded not his Mercy which he slighted in slighting the Poor 'T is from this insolent contempt that there arise so many Disorders in Families hence comes the ruine of Houses the Losses the publick Defamations and all the shameful Faults of particular Persons The Providence of God permits to fall into these Misfortunes those who whilst they made profession of Christianity had not any sentiment of love or tenderness for their Neighbour and were Christians but had not the Spirit or Character of a Christian But if the greatness of the Threats of the Son of God is able to frighten us the greatness of his Recompences ought to have much more power over our Hearts to touch them This is the Third Motive In so short a Treatise as I propos'd to my self it would be difficult to comprehend all the Rewards God has promi'sd to Charity the Scripture is full of them 'T is to this Vertue God has promis'd an unconcern for temporal Goods firmness of Faith purity of Manners the comfort of a good Conscience tenderness of Devotion unshakable perseverance in Vertue and the infallible recompence of Salvation God engages himself to pardon every thing in consideration of Charity for it is the ordinary propitiation of Sin One Alms one action of Clemency the pardon of one Injury one work of Mercy is able to hide all the Faults that humane frailty can make us commit Nothing purifies so much the Conscience nothing cleanses more the Mind then Alms-deeds How many simple and humble Persons have render'd themselves worthy to penetrate the Mysteries of the holy Scriptures and enter into the Secrets of God by the light of their Charity It is a sure protection against the frailty of Man and against the occasions of offending God since it resists Sin as the Scripture says It is saith St. Ambrose the remedy against all Disorders Man is subject to This is of all other the most powerful Mediatour to Jesus Christ for it continually solicits this severe Judge who is inflexible to all but Alms. This poor Man whom you have Clothed this sick Man you have Visited this innocent Creature to whom you have given your protection and this afflicted Soul whom you have comforted is Jesus Christ For since Jesus Christ has told us that we do to him what we do to the least of his Servants There is no difference says St. Chrysostom between giving to the Poor and giving to Jesus Christ If then the Poor are Advocates to God if their Intercession is the most assur'd assistance the Rich can expect from their Riches in that dreadful Day of the universal Judgment place your hopes in this Treasure of Gods Mercies where neither Thieves nor Corruption can have access Nay be assur'd that 't is your Charity which will draw upon you the assistance of Heaven in your temporal Occasions and in the afflicting Tribulations whereto the misery of our Condition is so subject For if you are Charitable God will be faithful to the Promises he has made in his Prophet You shall no sooner open your mouth to call him to your aid then he will answer Here I am But what blindness is it in a Christian to have it in his power to merit Heaven by a Glass of Water or a Morsel of Bread given to a poor Man out of the motive of Christian Charity and to refuse it him With what face can he beg pardon of God daily if himself pardons not Would you have others take pity on you take pity on others Do you crave Favours do them your self Do not judge if you will not be judged for as you treat your Neighbour your self shall also be treated After all what Recompence can move a Christians Heart if Heaven cannot that comprehends in it self alone all Rewards and is only promis'd to the Charitable For the Gospel teaches us that the Saviour of the World in that terrible Day wherein he shall Judge the Universe will shew mercy only to those that have been merciful since in opening the Heavens to his Elect he will say to them these words You who have clothed and fed me in the person of the Poor come receive an eternal reward which I have prepar'd for your mercies Behold what the price is of Christian Charity it merits an eternal recompence by a piece of Bread given to a poor Man for the love of Jesus Christ it gains heavenly Goods by earthly ones and for perishable Riches receives those will never perish Behold what Vertue the Spirit of Christianity has in it to produce the solid fruits of Eternity by mean weak and slight Works For how many Christians are there that sanctifie a Life in other respects but ordinary nay sometimes imperfect by the sole exercise of Charity How many Souls have been rais'd to a sublime perfection by the only practice of this Vertue which includes in it self all the perfection of Christianity These are Motives capable to make impression on a Heart that is prevented by the light of Faith and is really touch'd with the hopes of what our Religion proposes to us But since we are in an Age wherein Christian Charity is much cool'd by the nicety of so many new Interests brought into the World which divide Mens minds let us endeavour to reinforce the heat of this Vertue by Considerations still more pressing being its practice is so necessary CHAP. VIII The Conclusion of this Discourse by way of Exhortation to move Christians to Charity IF the Spirit of Christianity be nothing else but the Spirit of Charity as it appears by this Discourse let us see if we are Charitable to judge whether we are Christians For the Law of Charity is the Law of the New Testament written in the bottom of our hearts by the Impression of the Holy Ghost So that it would be strange that Christians instructed in a School of Unity modell'd by the same Maxims redeemed with the same Blood fed with the same Bread that have the same Faith the same Hope and are one
the Wealth which each one possessed This disengagement from all things united them more firmly together They had but one spirit because they had but one interest The first flames of this love broke out at the death of St. Stephen who had the glory to lay his life first down for Jesus Christ Stones flew about him from all parts The Plains eccho'd with the cries of those that encourag'd one another to kill this holy Levite His face was batter'd with blows his ribs broken his breast beaten through his breath e'en quite gone and yet he employed the little strength he had left in begging Gods pardon for those that had treated him so cruelly Lord says he as he was dying lay not this sin to their charge Thus to forget himself and employ his last words and sighs in solliciting God in behalf of a Crime committed upon himself was to tread the very steps of his Master and to be wholly possest with his spirit and to have no thoughts but these of tenderness in the very pangs of so cruel and bitter a death was to die generously like a Christian How pure and holy is the Spirit of Christianity which inspired so much mercy and of how great instruction to Christians the sacrifice of this first bloudshed for the love of Jesus We see in the progress of the same History the Apostles animated by this Spirit to run through the whole World to preach and teach the Gospel to all Nations And that neither the most scorching Sands of Aethiopia nor the Desarts of Africa nor the Frosts of Scythia nor the remotest parts of India nor Seas nor Tempests nor Rocks nor Treasons nor Calumnies nor contradiction of People nor opposition of Laws nor Magistrates nor Governors of Provinces nor all the Power of the World nor Chains nor Prisons nor Gibbets nor even the most cruel Deaths were able to withstand their zeal nor shake the constancy of their hearts Dangers encourage them difficulties animate them and their own weaknesses strengthen them Because the charity by which they are possest renders their own lives inconsiderable when the salvation of their Neighbour is in question The truth is they did miracles which struck people with admiration They commanded the Winds and Tempests Seasons obeyed them and even Nature her self in some sort became their Slave But after all the greatest of their Miracles was their Charity 'T was also this Charity which made them with pleasure sacrifice their honor and life to carry the light of the Gospel to the most remote Nations of the Earth and draw them out of the profound blindness wherein they were This holy Doctrine flew through the World whilst those that preacht it were themselves in Chains and Prisons And nothing perswaded so powerfully the embracing of the Gospel as the Charity of those that publisht it Things in themselves incredible were believed though declared by such as were persecuted by the whole World because they that told them did first practise themselves what they taught others Nor was it necessary they should Preach at all says St. Chrysostom because their life was a continual Sermon 'T is true that the Infidels were scandalized at their Persecutions their Fetters their Imprisonments and their Sufferings But the very Union in which they lived was so powerful that they who most reviled their Sufferings submitted to the Gospel St. Paul likewise inflamed with the same zeal could not behold the reprobation of the Jews a People heretofore so cherisht by God without offering up himself in quality of a Victim and wishing himself anathematized for his Brethren He who had so highly protested that neither Heaven nor Hell nor any thing created should be able to separate him from Jesus Christ now begs to be separated from him for the salvation of his People St. John that beloved Disciple of our Lord had nothing so deeply engraven in his heart as this love for his Neighbour This was the only practice of vertue he preacht to his Disciples as an abridgment of the whole Law of Grace as St. Jerome assures us Love one another says he my dear children 't is the only thing I have to tell you because 't is the only thing needful to be done He of all others speaks most clearly of this Doctrine because he had the advantage of others to sound the Sentiments of his Master by reason of the confidence Jesus Christ was pleased to honor him with above his other Apostles Throughout the whole course of Ecclesiastical History there are found such eminent tracts of this Spirit that it seems as if the Christians endeavoured only by Charity to distinguish themselves from Pagans In their lives there appeared such visible marks of that new fire which Christ came to bring into the World that Christians were known by their Union And this fire wherewith their hearts were full flam'd with such a light that it could not be darkned with Calumny nor extinguisht by Persecution It was likewise that voice of Love and Charity which in preaching of the Gospel was understood by the fiercest and most barbarous Nations and afterwards did chiefly contribute to the establishment of Faith The Heathens said speaking of the Faithful They are obliging charitable always doing good therefore they are Christians for their Belief their Morality and their Gospel is to love their Neighbour and do good to every one They believed this new Religion true because it commanded one Man to love another which is the most reasonable and just Command of all others They became Christians perceiving in how perfect an Union the Christians lived Their meekness goodness affability moderation and inclination to oblige every one more powerfully moved the Heathens to embrace the Doctrine which professed so well-doing a Vertue then all they did And the Faith advanced the faster by the good opinion people had conceived of his holiness who was author of so pure a Law according to the Prayer himself had made to his Father speaking of the Faithful to the end says he they may be united in us and that the world toucht with this Union may believe that it is you my Father who has sent me The Union wherein Christians ought to live is the chief Reason Christ uses to authorize his Mission and excite peoples Faith In effect this Union was so great in the first Ages that St. Clement a Disciple of the Apostles relates in one of his Epistles that he had known divers Christians in his time who themselves became Slaves to free their Brethren out of Slavery and that he had seen others who in a painful and laborious life fed with the labours of their Hands those that were in necessity St. Justin in the Apology he made for Religion before the Emperors to give those Princes a great Idea of Christianity mixes throughout his Discourse the holy Ordinances which Jesus Christ gave the Christians to be charitable and well-doing like their heavenly Father who pours forth his Graces on
the good and the bad Tertullian in the Defence he made of our Religion in the Reign of the Emperor Severus sets forth most admirably well the great Love and Union among Christians whereby they gain'd the esteem of the People 'T is true that in the Reign of the Emperor Vespatian the Christians did so often and liberally assist the imprison'd Martyrs with their temporal Goods that notorious Thieves counterfeited themselves Christians and cast themselves into Prison that so they might partake of their succour A while after the Disorders were so great in Africa that a Bishop of Carthage to remedy them was necessitated to forbid the Christians to give these Alms because the Heathens themselves did privately scoff at the Abuses they committed therein But in process of time these Succours becoming more needful through the great number of Martyrs which increased with the Persecution the Alms were so regulated by St. Cyprian that he took away the abuse without diminishing the abundance The same S. Cyprian did by his Discourses so inflame the Charity of the Carthaginians that he gathered a vast sum of Money and therewith redeemed a great number of Christian Captives whom the Barbarians had carried into Slavery when they entred the Confines of Numidia The Charity of the Christians was more conspicuous under the Emperor Gallienus in the heat of that Civil War which had almost ruin'd the City of Alexandria as Eusebius Bishop of Cesarea relates in his History The reciprocal assistance that Christians gave each other was the more remarkable because the City was divided by two Factions extreamly animated against each other But this spirit of Union was yet more eminent in that dismal Plague which followed the War and destroyed that City before most flourishing They saw there says Eusebius the Christians continually about the Dying and courageously exposing themselves to death in exhorting them to offer up their lives in the submission of their heart And after having received their last sighs with pleasure they saw them wash kiss and bury their Bodies Whilst among the Pagans Neighbour became jealous of Neighbour Friend distrusted Friend they that were nearest related forsook each other in extremity The Father left the Son and the tenderest Mothers caused the dead Bodies of their own Children to be cast out of the Windows In truth the Christians that died in the Duties of such fervent Charity drew so great veneration from all people that the Church of Alexandria registred them among the number of Martyrs whereof she keeps a publick Festival the last of February And Eusebius mentions this Feast in his History After all there is nothing gives so lively a character of the Charity which then flourished among Christians as what happen'd to St. Pacomius He being yet a Heathen and having Listed himself into the Troups of the Emperor Licinius after a long and troublesom Journey arrived at last at Thebes When all the Army came thither the Christians of that City brought them with great joy and forwardness all sort of Refreshments This made him enquire who those charitable People were that came thus thronging to relieve every one They answer'd him they were Christians who professed 't was their duty to do good to all the World Metaphrastus testifies that Pacomius was so toucht with this spirit of well-doing that he ardently courted to be one of those so holy men and he obtain'd his desire for shortly after this accident he obtain'd the Grace of God to become a Christian Evagrius makes an admirable description of that Union wherein the Christians lived at Thebes where the Faith was still in its primitive fervour Eusebius tells us in the Life of Constantine that the humility of Christianity had in such manner annihilated in the soul of this Prince that pride which Sovereignty inspires that when he became Master of the Empire he no longer lookt on his Subjects as his Slaves as the other Emperors had done but he regarded them as his Brothers and Fellow-servants of the same Master and same God that he adored And he made no other use of his Imperial Purple then to fortifie his Authority that he might make holy Ordinances for the ease of his People and satisfie his great inclination to do good to such as God had put under his Power The Forces of the Emperor Theodosius being arrived at Antioch to punish those that had thrown down his Statues the Hermits of the neighbouring Mountains and Desarts round about appear'd all at once issuing out of their solitary Dwellings and Caves to implore clemency of the Emperours Officers for such as had offended Our Prince cried out these holy Hermits is a Christian he will have compassion when he shall know our Complaints and we ought not to suffer you to embrue your Hands in the bloud of our Brethren These holy Men being repulsed by the Soldiers addressed themselves to the Officers and obtain'd a delay of the punishment They immediately put to Sea and being arrived at Constantinople cast themselves at the Emperours feet and offered their own Heads to save those that were guilty The whole Court admired the zeal of so fervent a Charity And St. Chrysostom assures us that the Emperour having pardon'd their Offence gain'd more honor by this act of his clemency then he ever did by the lustre of his Diadem This great Saint could not cease from praising the Law of Jesus Christ which had been so powerful to suppress the rage of so mighty a Prince and to inspire him with such a mild temper as few even private persons are capable of 'T is by the fervour of this Spirit too that so many illustrious Ladies who in the first Ages were the greatest Ornaments of Christianity the Paula's the Marcella's the Albina's the Melania's the Flaccilla's the Paulina's did more honor to Religion then by the nobleness of their Bloud and Birth or the splendour of their Fortune The stream of Ecclesiastical History is fill'd with Examples expressing this Character which then was found in Emperours and private persons in great and in little in Men and Women for in effect this was the true Spirit of Christianity which in following Ages was found more or less fervent according as Religion flourished more or less True it is that this Charity never shew'd its self in its full purity but at its birth and its brightness appear'd so much the greater at the beginning as the Grace that encourag'd it was more strong and more abundant But although it seem that Christianity is become more weak and faint as it runs on farther from its Source through the course of so many Ages yet from time to time some sparks have shew'd themselves of this divine fire of Charity which is the soul of it In these latter Times as well as in the first Ages Paulin's have been seen selling their own Liberties to deliver their Brethren from Servitude There has been found more then once a John Calabite and a John Almoner
who have divested themselves of all things to give all to the Poor 'T is read in St. Anselm that Elphegus Archbishop of Canterbury who liv'd in the beginning of the eleventh Age being taken Prisoner by the Enemy chose rather to die then consent his Flock should be overcharg'd for the ransom of his life I say nothing of St. Bernardin of Siena nor of St. Charles who so Christian-like exposed their lives to assist at their death those infected with the Plague I do not mention St. Francis Xaverius who left his Country House and Hopes to run to the utmost parts of the World after Salvages and Barbarians to instruct them in the knowledge of Jesus Christ And amidst the deplorable remisness of the Manners of this Age how many great Interests great Honors great Reputations great Hopes have we seen sacrificed in the generous exercise of Christian Charity How many Persons of Quality how many eminent Wits with sublime Talents how many tender and delicate Ladies have submitted themselves most willingly to the pains of a laborious and obscure life to succour their Neighbours We have seen in the old Age of Christianity and in the corruption of this Age Apostolical Men cross the Seas to go and instruct Infidels and bring them into the right way To conclude this Spirit of the Apostles which God has revived in some measure in these latter Times and this so fervent zeal for the salvation of Souls is so apparently the true Spirit of Christianity and the essential distinction between the Children of the Church and others which are not of it That though it be above an Age since some of our Neighbours who have unhappily left the Faith run into all parts of the World there to plant Traffick and Commerce which flourish amongst them yet there has not yet appear'd any one Pastor of their Communion that has had the virtue and courage to give his life to Baptize one Salvage and Convert one Infidel So true it is that the disinteressedness and purity of Christian Charity cannot be so much as counterfeited by Hereticks who impudently boast themselves to inherit the Faith of the Apostles when in reality they have not any mark of their Zeal or sign of their Spirit since they can behold without any concern the People with whom they Traffick continually in a profound ignorance of things necessary to their salvation For what means the indifferency of these false Pastors who without the least compassion see the Flock of Jesus Christ scattered and straying What means this so cold tranquility but what our Lord himself said That the true Pastor whereof himself was the Model is always ready to give his life for his Flock and that the mercenary Pastor concerns not himself for the Flock of Jesus Christ because he is an Hireling It s in Charity then alone consists the true Spirit of Christianity we seek after She is that precious Jewel of the Gospel which must be purchased at any rate to become the truly rich of the new Law Let us then renounce our Interests and Pleasures if they are obstacles to our possessing it But to animate our selves still more to acquire it let us look into its value by considering its nature and qualities It s that must be examined in the following Chapter CHAP. II. Of the nature and qualities of this Charity in which consists the Spirit of Christianity and the Idea of a Christian 'T IS natural for Man to love Man But 't is a great vertue to love him for his vertues sake for love that is founded on honesty wisdom good inclination fidelity or any other real merit is a vertue and 't is laudable to love these qualities which are themselves worthy of praise But after all thus to love is to love but like a Heathen for the Pagans love those that love them and such as have qualities worthy their love What is it then to love like a Christian 'T is to love without hearkening to Nature which wills that we love our like 'T is to love even without consulting our Reason which requires that we love what is worthy to be beloved Nature and Reason do not comprehend this Secret The Gospel must speak and 't is Jesus Christ himself must teach it To love like a Christian is to love that which has nothing amiable 'T is to have a kindness and tenderness for those that have all unkindness and rigour for us In fine to love like a Christian is to desire the good of those that wish us nothing but ill This Vertue was unknown to the Morals of Socrates and Moses to Philosophy and the old Law The Precept to love our Enemies is of the new Law And this so holy Maxim could not come but out of the School of God so much 't is raised above Man 'T is indeed Jesus Christ is the Author of it and himself in Person that instructs us But I say to you love your Enemies do good to them that hate you and pray for them that calumniate and persecute you These are the words of the Saviour of the World Behold our Belief our Gospel our Morality and the true Character of our Religion The other marks of a Christian as Devotion Penance Hope in God Humility and even Martyrdom it self may be equivocal marks 'T is only the love of our Enemies that is not 'T is hereby alone that a Christian can distinguish himself and to embrace the Faith is to embrace the obligation to love the Persecutor in loving the Persecution But how can a man love that which merits his hate when he has scacre power to love that which deserves to be beloved What violence must not he use to himself before he gains that Point He needs not use any for from the instant that he sincerely becomes a Christian he loves his Enemies as really as his Friends And the same Motive that makes a Christian love God the same also makes him love his Neighbour as a Child of God for he sees reflect on him a beam of the same light that makes himself know God Although his Brother be his Enemy from the time that he regards him as a Member of Jesus Christ sprinkled with his Bloud fed with his Flesh enliven'd with his Spirit destin'd to his Glory that he professes the same Law and Religion as he do's that they have both the same Hopes the same Pretensions the same Sacraments and when he considers Jesus Christ in his Neighbour as the motive of his Charity he loves him And Flesh Bloud Nature Reason Interest and Passion are too weak Considerations to disunite Hearts tied together by so holy an Union that is to say by all that is supernatural and divine in Christianity So the motive of the love of our Neighbour being the same with the motive of our love of God as St. Leo teacheth both the one and the other being grounded on the same principle and tending to the same end a Christian cannot be
of his old age To these ought be added the diseases and illnesses the pains the incommodities the fatigues the accidents and other miseries to which his Body is subject The miseries of his Spirit are still greater What ignorance what blindness what errors what doubts what contradictions in his designs what praeoccupation in his thoughts what falseness in his judgments What shall I say of his levities inconstancies irresolutions frailties dissimulations nicenesses and riots There may be added to the heap of his other weaknesses the discontents and chagrins that devour him the cares that distract him the afflictions that oppress him his own desires that torment him the great propensity he has to evil and his inability to do good his frequent falls and relapses the number and enormity of his crimes his abuse of graces the irregularity of his conduct and the general disorder of his whole life In fine S. Augustine says Man is nothing but indigency corruption and misery Behold the first ground on which the Charity of a Christian ought to apply his assistance according to the discretion of his zeal and as his Neighbours necessity requires But his first care ought to be directed to the more apparent necessities and which are obvious of themselves without his seeking after them As to give Bread to him that has none to cloath the naked to help the sick and to visit the imprisoned His superfluities may supply him for these assistances and he will always have them if he regulates his vanity and lives according to the spirit of the Gospel After all if he has little let him give little if he has much let him give much according as Tobias advises for the Riches one has ought to be the measure of his Alms. I need not mention those that voluntarily become poor professing to imitate the poverty of our Lord Every one knows what preference they ought to have before others when Alms are distributed because Jesus Christ to whom they are given is more remarkable in them then in others Besides these visible necessities which all the world sees there are divers others that are more concealed which the shame of those that feel them hides from the knowledge of the most charitable for there are many that chuse rather to be miserable then to declare their miseries But Charity when industrious quickly knows how to find out these wants let them be never so secret and when faithful to provide for them St. Paul too desires a Christian should participate with his Brother in his joy when he is pleased and in his displeasure when otherwise he would have him troubled or quiet according as his Neighbour is and that he should share in his Sentiments as well as his Interests Notwithstanding because there are wants more important then temporal ones a Christian is also oblig'd to more pressing and essential Duties of Charity which are to provide for spiritual necessities the extent whereof is immense by reason of the quality of Man's mind and Man being subject to so many miseries a Christian if he be desirous to live like one will never want occasions to exercise his Charity For sometimes he 'l be oblig'd by his mildness and patience to reduce him that is stray'd into the way of Vertue he 'l strengthen the weak he 'l stir up the slothful he 'l encourage the fearful he 'l settle the disquiets of a fleeting and irresolute mind Then again by the severity of his Discourse he 'l frighten the obstinate and by the terror of his threats reclaim the pride of the presumptuous and intractable Another time he 'l make the humble comprehend to encourage him that the kingdom of heaven is his inheritance because he is the true poor of spirit to whom the Gospel promises it and he will open the eyes of the afflicted to make him see plainly that crown promis'd to him who shall have passed through the trial of tribulation He 'l teach the covetous not to fix his heart on the perishable vain things of this world He 'l instruct the voluptuous how to resist his sensual appetite He 'l overthrow the deceitful peace of the wise worldling who puts his confidence in the prudence of the flesh He 'l awake him that 's doz'd in sin by the wholsom terrors of Gods judgments By the solidity of his Discourse he 'l destroy the false reasonings of the impious And by the sincerity and disinteressedness of his carriage silence the libertine when he shall have the impudence to call him hypocrite and dissembler according to the unhappy language of this Age where impiety to signalize it self has found the art to confound true Vertue with false thereby to diminish her credit because the very example of Vertue becomes troublesom and vexatious to such as live licentiously But when his Brother who is unjustly opprest shall have his heart overcharg'd with grief he 'l find some means to ease him of this weight either by the aid of some wholsom counsel or the mildness of some charitable comfort that so he may prevent his despair He 'l instruct even by his example all that suffer to submit to the severest dispositions of Providence and with resignation to suffer those amorous chastisements which the hand of God is pleas'd to inflict He 'l also accustom himself not easily to be shock'd as many are at the defects of others Nay he 'l find by using himself to that 't is more wit and vertue to comply with them then to please himself in the good qualities of those he converses with To be the child of peace in the Gospel fit to reconcile those whom animosity or hatred imbitter to one another let him not be rash in his judgments let him avoid even the shadow of the least suspicion let him never hearken to detraction and calumny and to secure himself against false impressions let him never assent to any thing spoken to the disadvantage of others before he has examin'd it nor condemn any upon the ill construction of his intentions When by the Functions of his Charge or the pure duty of Charity he is oblig'd to punish let him remember that the spirit of sweetness and mildness is the first Character of a Christian and that severity is a mistaken vertue otherwise then on the principle of Charity True Charity is humble and patient even in choler it self and is tender and mild in severity If he must admonish and reprehend let a Christian first know the secret how to sweeten his admonitions and clear his reprehensions of all that 's harsh and vexatious and let him mix withal those insinuating ways which are necessary to gain him whom one would not have lost Let him excuse all but sin which once known is inexcusable The force and kindness wherewith our Lord excused Magdalen against the reproaches of the Pharisee ought to instruct us that in certain occasions we ought to have kindness to bear with a sinner and force to defend him
to convert people to Jesus Christ are far preciouser then those which are given for their subsistance and the sweats pains and fatigues of the Missioners who go to preach the Word of God to Infidels in the remotest Countries are of far more value then the Treasures that are sent thither The soveraign perfection of Christian Charity is the fervent zeal of these holy Followers of the Apostles who quit all to seek in the most salvage and barbarous Climates the stray Sheep and to satisfie the thirst and hunger they have for the salvation of so many abandon'd people to make them know Jesus Christ and to bring them back to his Flock In these concurrences of wants Charity ought to dispose of her help according to the different degrees of necessities she finds But when the want is equal in two different persons It is says St. Augustine either Proximity of Bloud or Alliance or Friendship or Neighbourhood or Society or Country or the Considerations of other Ties that must regulate the preference of assistance due to one rather then to another For although Jesus Christ be come into the World to make by the Sword of Christianity division betwixt the Flesh and the Spirit yet he is not come to destroy the Duties of Bloud and to dispence with a Christian for what he ows his Relations because these Duties are grounded on Equity which is their principal foundation Thus what we owe to our Kindred is of a more strict obligation then that which is due to an unknown Person and a Stranger So a Pastor is more oblig'd to his Flock a Superior to those whom God has put under him a Prince to his own Subjects then to all others and in the order of Christian Charity a Friend ought to be more dear then one unknown a Domestick then a Stranger and a Christian then an Infidel and when they are both equally in need you are oblig'd to help the one before the other This Morality is founded on Justice and Reason which orders it thus and on the conduct of our Lord who carried himself after this manner between the Jews and Gentiles St. Paul thus instructs Christians St. Thomas and all Catholick Divines are of this opinion For the rest when the Rules I have establish'd are duly considered 't will be found that our Soul being our Neighbour a thousand times more intimate then our dearest Friends or our nearest Relations our first obligation is to exercise Charity towards her which we cannot do as we ought but by endeavouring her perfection preferably above all things For if we neglect her who will take care of her And if we give all but our selves to God is not that to keep our selves the better share because God will have us our selves and not what is ours as St. Jerome says The conclusion of this Discourse is that extream necessity in temporals and the salvation of a Soul in spirituals ought to have preference in the strictest obligations of a Christian So that the most laudable and holy of all Charities is to provide for spiritual wants as to procure assistance for People who are in a deep ignorance of all things relating to their salvation and without help But in assisting Aliens and Salvages must those be forgotten that live in the midst of us and are in the same wants can we hearken to what 's told us of the miseries of Persons of another World as one may say without beholding what we daily see amongst those we know It is this obliges me to repeat what I have already said and which is so important that it cannot be too often repeated That the greatest Zeal requires the greatest Knowledge That if Christian Prudence ought to be animated by Charity Charity ought to be govern'd by Prudence and justly to discern the order wherein Charity ought to be practised nothing more needs to be recommended to a Christian then what the Apostle recommended to those of the City of Philippi to whom he Preach'd this Vertue That their Charity may more and more abound in knowledge and in all understanding To be neither indiscreet nor rash because the greatest defect in Charity is want of light which renders this Vertue subject to an infinity of Illusions But intirely to purifie its practice 't is best to discover the Illusions that so they may be dissipated CHAP. V. Of the several Illusions to which the Practice of Charity is subject ALL Christian Vertues are in their Practice subject to Illusions through the false Principles every one establishes to himself in the exercise of Piety Sometimes out of conceitedness and oftnest out of weakness and ignorance But after all there is none of them more subject to this then Charity For as this Vertue has much lustre 't is pretended to upon very many occasions chiefly when we think to surprize and dazle Men as is usual enough And it is not to be wonder'd at if the spirit of dissimulation creeps into the exercise of this Vertue which is the most pure and sincere of all others since the corruption of this Age has so powerfully authorised all Artifices and Disguises In effect Self-love which always seeks its own interest by so many windings about cannot better conceal it self then under the veil of Charity It is through this Artifice it scrupulously sticks to the Duties of Good-manners to excuse it self from essential Duties It seeks conspicuous Charities to avoid obscure ones 'T is zealous where there should be no zeal and remiss where there should be Thus the falsly Charitable is uneasie to his own Domesticks whilst he is civil and officious to Strangers he grounds a tranquility and satisfaction on the state of his own pretended perfection and is only froward and disquieted at others perfections he is perpetually praising Christianity and quits nothing of his own Rights He gives Alms and pays not his Debts He maliciously praises false Vertues to take occasion to authorize real Vices He justifies his own ill Conduct only by censuring that of others and scattering Flowers over all he would poison he wounds the Reputation of every one under the deceitful veil of charitable and respectful Words But to discover methodically all the Illusions wherewith the Spirit of Charity is so often perverted I reduce them to certain Heads which are as it were their Sources Natural Affection is the First and withal the most ordinary Illusion which creeps into the Spirit of Charity One loves his Neighbour 't is true but 't is only for the good qualities which render him amiable one looks on him but on the most agreeable side and where he is most pleasing It is the wit quality humour and disposition one considers and the tenderer one is to all these Considerations of Flesh and Bloud the more insensible he is to all those of Vertue and Grace One believes 't is loving his Neighbour as he ought and living charitably with him to speak nothing vexatious to any one to be very
It is by this Illusion that after publick Detractions they make Reparations of Honor more to be fear'd then the Detractions themselves and which for the most part serve but to open again the Wound they pretend to close Through this 't is Men would succour others when they are no longer in a Condition to be assisted like the rich Glutton who puts on the Charitable after his death for the salvation of his Brethren whom he would have advertis'd of their licentiousness though he had never practis'd Charity during his life It is through this perversion of Reason some give Alms and pay not their Debts visit Prisons and mind not their domestick Affairs by their Wills leave the most Christian-like Legacies in the World at their Deaths and destroy the Peace and Union of their Family refuse one truly Poor wherewith to draw him out of misery and without discretion give a Wanderer and a Vagabond wherewith to maintain them in their idleness They run about the World to Convert People without thinking to Convert themselves and sometimes lose themselves in seeking too earnestly after those that have stray'd To this Illusion may be reduced the mistaken Conduct of those Directors who by indiscreet Rigors pervert the Ways of God in driving sometimes Sinners from their Confessionary Seats whom his Grace brings thither and disheartning the weak for want of capacity and advice to manage them in their weakness I say nothing of the Indiscretion of those Women who believe themselves Charitable because they do not steal their Neighbours Goods while they rob them of their Honor by their Calumnies They care not for folks Purses but flie at the Reputation of all the World there 's no saving on 's self from their Tongues they examine not a jot all that is said to have the more right to believe every thing and there 's none talk'd of disadvantageously but they are presently perswaded all that 's said is true In fine it is this Spirit of Indiscretion that breaks all the ordinary measures of Charity and takes from it that discernment of knowledge without which this Vertue becomes it self inconsiderable For sometimes it accuses where it ought to excuse and on other occasions praises where it ought to reprehend being thus often subject to mistake through Precipitation and the lightness of Indiscretion The Ninth is the Spirit of Severity for Severity narrows the Heart and deprives it of that extent of Soul which is the chief character of Charity 'T is from this Principle some believe they ought not to indulge any because they pardon themselves nothing and think they have a right to be severe to others because they are so to themselves S. Catherine of Siena avows she was subject to this fault in her first fervors out of a false Vertue and the most vertuous can hardly guard themselves from this weakness for 't is natural for a Man to judge of his Neighbour when he finds himself more perfect then him The care one has to live irreprochably in the World gives a pretence of title to reproch every thing in others and one easily perswades himself he owes none that lenity and indulgence which he refuses to himself If he speaks 't is roughly if he gives his advice 't is severely if he reprehends 't is with impatience and rage 'T is ever a bitter zeal and morose ayre which is seldom other then the effect of a dark and melancholy humour scarce ever the spirit of Charity In which respect this Conduct is but a false Severity for Christian Severity is rigid only to its self and indulgent to others This too was the fault of the Pharisee who blam'd all the rest of Mankind because Fasting ' twice a week he believ'd himself better then them all Thus 't is that Men are severe to their Neighbour when they are so to themselves that they spare none because they favour not themselves and that they speak ill of all the World because they have a severer Morality then others And thus Severity becomes a meer Delusion if founded on any other Principle then Charity Let us place our Glory then rather in Moderation and Charity then in the austerity of our Morals For Should we live only on Ashes says S. Chrysostom if we have not indulgence and love for our Neighbour this austerity would avail us nothing And generally Pride which is the ordinary effect of this Spirit of Severity is so great an obstacle to Charity that men ought to stand so much the more on their guard as they find themselves inclinable to Severity Vertue her self ought to redouble her Distrusts amidst the Applauses she receives for she becomes a snare as soon as she ceases to be pure There is nothing so dangerous as Disorder back'd with a false Zeal as an adhesion to Error hid under the veil of an exemplar Life and as strict Morality with a licentious Belief But if Severity be opposite to Charity when not founded on Mildness Mildness is no less contrary on several occasions when not supported by Severity For it runs into a slackning of Order either by a soft Indulgence or by a timorous Conduct In effect Clemency is pernicious where there needs Rigor and Silence becomes a fault when one should Speak He prevaricates that holds his Tongue in those occasions where Counsels and Reproofs are absolutely necessary Judgment and Knowledge which ought to be the two inseparable companions of Charity will find a middle path between these two Extreams to the edification of our Neighbour the only Mark that Charity should aim at The Tenth is Hypocrisie This is the Illusion of the Pharisees in the Gospel who affect being scrupulous about Trifles and at the bottom have no principle of Sincerity or Honesty They humble their Souls before God by big-look'd Pennances and harden their Hearts to the complaints of the Afflicted and sighs of the Poor They cover their Violences and Injustice with the veil of Devotion and Piety This is the Disorder that reigns most in this Age where Disguise sits upon the very Altar Vertue is scarce any longer practis'd but to get Reputation Men only seek to impose because they mean but to dazle They renounce that Charity which is of obligation and commanded to practise that which is only councell'd They respect the mighty to insult over the weak They have shameful Condescendencies for Great-ones and nothing but Rigour and Imperiousness for the Mean They propose to themselves imaginary Designs of good Works impossible to be effected and leave those that be very easie and necessary But this Hypocrisie may be discerned better if taken a pieces This person so exteriourly moderate and who through an artificial carriage has the repute of being so reasonable is a Fury at home In publick he 's Charitable and a Backbiter in private In Company he speaks well of every one but spares none at his secret Cabals He 's affable to those he esteems but rude to those he
purely from God But as a Christian prevented by Grace may dispose his Mind to Faith as supernatural as it is by destroying therein obstinacy presumption and adhesion to Error and that natural propensity that leads to Incredulity So may he after the same manner dispose himself to attain Charity if he roots the obstacles of it out of his heart For this Vertue finds very great ones in the heart of Man whereof I will give a touch on the principal without falling on the same Particulars I mention'd in the Illusions the most part whereof are also impediments to Charity The greatest of all obstacles to Charity is that Worldly spirit so opposite to the Spirit of Jesus Christ That Prudence of the Flesh that Pride of the Age and all that vain Ostentation which reigns so much in the Courts of Great men wherein Worldly wisdom teaches these abominable Maxims viz. To destroy by subtle Artifices ones Neighbour's Reputation To discredit him in the opinion of such as esteem him To violate the most holy Rights turn all things topsie-turvy to attain what one pretends to and to aggrandize ones self 'T is by this same Spirit young Gentlemen are taught that Revenge is a Gentleman's Vertue and that it is a piece of Cowardise to pardon The Hatreds Envies Jealousies Intrigues of Licentiousness and Ambition great Interests violent Passions which are the common effects of this Spirit reigns so powerfully in the Great of this World that they leave not room for the least spark of Charity Therefore the Apostle says He that will become a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God There is another Spirit in the World still more opposite to this Vertue the Spirit of Disguise Imposture and Dissembling whose only end is to mischief our Neighbour 'T is this unhappy Policy of the Flesh which only seeks to establish it self by shameful and wicked Treacheries and by all the depraved Maxims of the World I have been speaking of and which render the Life of a Christian a monstrous Life that is full of Passions Animosities Knavery and Perfidiousness These are the Machines Men make use of to perpetuate their Enmities by everlasting Wranglings and to make all Tribunals ring with their Injustices and Violences I 'le say nothing of the Spirit of Obstinacy Contradiction diversity of Judgments and Opinions in matters of Religion nor of all those Factious Sidings which at present afflict Christianity The memory of the Disorders they have caused in the last Age is still fresh enough in this to make us comprehend the importance of it for there is nothing more capable of dividing the hearts of the People then different Judgments in Religion Being given to Pleasures to Delights to dangerous Divertisements to Gaming to Riot and Delicacy is also a great obstacle to this Spirit of Charity we are in quest of These stately Houses proud rich Furnitures sumptuous Tables new Fashions in Clothes which shew nothing but wantonness These Vanities of worldly Ladies this State that environs them these profuse Expences of voluptuous sensual Persons intoxicated with the Delights of the Age do so forcibly dry up in the hearts of Worldlings this holy Unction of Charity that there remains not any sign of it in all those who are plunged in Vanity For how can a Woman that denies nothing to her Pleasure and loves only her self be touch'd with any sentiments of Charity She shuts her Eyes against the poverty of the necessitous she will not see it nor so much as take notice of it that she may not squander the Fund she designs for her Vanity by the Assistance she should be oblig'd to give him that demands it in Gods name And hence it is Jesus Christ so often shakes with cold in the Person of the Poor at the Gate of the Rich without being taken notice of for he is only busied about himself What shall I say of those perpetual Hatreds and inveterate Aversions which Men so scandalously retain they can neither speak to nor so much as look on one that hath affronted them and believe their Resentment just because they have been injur'd What is more contrary to the Spirit of Christianity which cannot so much as suffer coldness or indifferency They flatter themselves too as they frame their Consciences in their Hatreds and Aversions They believe they wish no ill to him that has offended them when any Misfortune befalls him they triumph for joy at it And when they say I wish him no ill but cannot endure to see him nor have to do with him this they call loving like a Christian There is likewise I know not what ayre very repugnant to Charity in the natural advantages of Wit of Conduct of Sence of Ability and in the excellency of other Qualities which if one takes not great care uses to inspire a love and esteem of ones self For 't is natural for him that has received more to undervalue him that has received less But whilst he thinks to distinguish himself from others by these Advantages he corrupts his spirit and in the end becomes utterly insensible of the most tender motions of Charity For the rest as every one has shar'd in the distribution of natural or supernatural Gifts according to the measure of Grace There is no Christian but may take notice of some particular Gift his Brother has received from God wherewith himself has not been favour'd Thus S. Paul considers in S. Peter his Primacy and again S. Peter considers in S. Paul the high Wisdom he had received from Heaven S. Anthony only regards in his Brethren those Vertues himself had not to honor them the more 'T is in this manner that the Christian who has wit esteems one who has Vertue and Goodness The Learned admires the Dispatch of the Man of Business The Man of Business praises the Capacity of the Learned In fine thus 't is that Charity makes the Superior not esteem his own Dignity above others but the Vertue and Merit of those he Commands And whilst he exteriourly Commands them he humbles himself interiourly before them and they on their side respect in him his Power and Authority and kindly submit to his Conduct Lastly it may be said that the greatest obstacle to Charity is the Immoderate love of Riches for this love causes Impurity of Conscience Hardness of Heart Independence Pride Insolence Contempt of the Poor and an entire corruption of Spirit And as this restless care of preserving his Goods poisons the Soul of the Rich so Covetousness is the most abominable of all Vices and most opposite to Charity For the essential Character of Avarice is a false Prudence of the Flesh all whose Designs and Thoughts bound themselves in the Person possessed by it so that his Heart is locked up to all Sentiments of pity for the Wants of the Poor A Man darkens his spirit by the Vapors of so carnal a Passion he fixes his Heart to the Goods of the Earth as
to his soveraign Good If others possess them he unjustly seizes them he covets them criminally if he cannot get them and violates what 's most sacred in Society to enrich himself maugre his Conscience against which he shuts his Ears But it ought to be observed that 't is not so much the Riches inspire this Spirit of Hardness and Injustice as the fixing too great a love on them For Job was Charitable in his abundance his Wealth was so far from being an obstacle to his Charity that it was a means for his better practising it He was as himself says The father of the poor and protector of the afflicted His door was always open to those in necessity and with the wooll of his sheep he clad the naked He was the support of the widow and fatherless the traveller was welcom to his house And he refused nothing to any in want that crav'd his help Besides this good use that ought to be made of Riches according to the example of Job whose life may serve as a pattern to a Christian to dispose his heart to Charity He must likewise to attain this Vertue have frequent communication with God by Prayer and Meditation 'T is chiefly from Prayer these lights take birth in our hearts which are the most pure springs of Christian Charity and love of our Neighbours For the same sighs that form in our Souls the Spirit of Prayer form there also the Spirit of Charity The inward voice of the heart That Voice says St. Augustine which expresses it self by the sighings of Prayer is that which enkindles in us the fervour of this Vertue For Charity becomes cold when the Heart becomes silent says this great Saint Thus one cannot be Charitable without being Devout because Devotion is the most common nourishment of the love of God and our Neighbour This love grows cold by the distraction of Business and is even extinguished by the disquiets of a too busie Life In effect the true source of Charity as Tertullian assures us is renouncing the love of the World and indifference for temporal Goods for transitory Goods weaken the Heart by the confidence they give it in so frail a support as is that of Riches Likewise there is nothing more capable to inflame Charity in the Soul of a Christian then a fervent and lively Faith animated with a perfect Confidence in God For the Fire of Charity kindles it self at the Ardors of Faith which makes a Christian act like a Child of God and love the Poor as his Brother In fine the sure and infallible way to acquire this Vertue is by little and little to accustom our selves to practise Works of it For by visiting the Prisoner comforting the Afflicted helping the Necessitous instructing the Ignorant which are Actions may be done daily and even ought to be performed if one pretends to Christianity he becomes insensibly Charitable and attains that heavenly Wisdom which is the portion of the Humble and which without Study or Reasoning pours into the Heart that interiour Unction of the Spirit of God which teaches to love our Neighbour But it is not sufficient to teach a Christian the Means to become Charitable he must also to encourage him to become so be shew'd his obligation to it by the most pressing Motives CHAP. VII Three very powerful Motives to excite a Christian to acquire the Vertue of Charity THe first Motive is That without being Charitable one cannot be a Christian for it is in Charity alone consists the true Spirit of Christianity Nature teaches Man to live with Man but Grace obliges to love him This is says S. Paul the plenitude of the Law of the New Testament All the Morality of Jesus Christ and all the depth of the Wisdom of the Gospel points only at the practice of this Vertue which alone is the sum and substance of Christian Perfection Without Charity says the Apostle neither Faith nor Hope nor the gifts of Prophecy nor the gifts of Tongues nor Martyrdom nor any other Vertue can be considerable in the sight of God It is Charity perfects Man rectifies his Reason and sanctifies all his Actions This makes humble and unmakes proud because it nourishes Humility and choaks Pride All Vertues become unprofitable and all good Works fruitless to him that is not Charitable 'T is Charity that warms the Faithful that animates his Hopes and that justifies a Sinner One may enter into the Marriage-Chamber of the Lamb without Virginity but not without Charity The ordinary life of a Christian in the exercise of a faithful and perseverant Charity may sometimes be as meritorious in the sight of God as the most heroick Conflicts of the Martyrs because every Action of Charity by the nature of its Motive is a secret Sacrifice of his Interest or of his Pleasure and even of his Honor for one cannot in effect love his Neighbour like a Christian without depriving himself of something either incommodiously or against his Inclination And all the best we do is ordinarily good for nothing but by the influence of this Vertue It is only through Charity that the Works of Piety are Christian This enobles the meanest Actions and the weakest Reasonings become strong when a little sustain'd by it and 't is not the greatness of the things done for God that renders them considerable but the greatness of the Charity wherewith they are done In brief this heavenly Vertue which is the purest food of the Soul sanctifies even natural Defects and the grossest Imperfections and covers that multitude of Sins whereunto Man is subject through the weakness of his Condition as the Apostle says Let us then seek after no other Practice of Devotion since this alone contains all other Practices as St. John instructs us let us not strain our Wits according to the Spirit of this Age with vain Reasonings in quest of new ways to arrive at Perfection Let us content our selves with this the Saviour of the World has marked out to us let us set our heart on this Vertue he most recommends to us let us not stifle in our selves this divine fire whereof Faith kindles the first flames in our hearts Let us love our Brethren sincerely since we live on the same Bread and have all the same Hopes If we cannot contribute our Goods towards succouring the Poor at least let us sigh to God for him and thereby in some manner comfort him what we can for the shame he undergoes to sigh so often to Men imploring their assistance In fine let us not by our hard-heartedness dishonor the holy Name of Christian a Name of sweetness and bounty and since without being Charitable one cannot be a Christian let us be Charitable in effect not to be only Christians in idea The reciprocal need Men have of one another is the foundation of their Society and the natural principle of their Union And shall not Charity be a bond strong enough to unite Christians by the