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
good Now he is a sollicitous Shepherd running after the strayed Sheep to bring him back to the Flock Then he is a Father compassionate of the misery to which debauchery had brought his Son whom he reclaims by managing the spirit of the young Man with all the tenderness in the bowels of a Father A Traveller is wounded by Thieves on the Road to Jericho and he becomes a Physician to his Wounds A Samaritan Woman is desirous to see Jesus and he charitably sets himself to instruct her thereby to gain her and that thirst he would quench by drinking the Water he demanded from her is only the figure of a greater thirst and zeal which he had for her salvation He humbles himself to appear unto Magdalen even like a Gardener and to comfort her he converses familiarly with her in so mean an outside To be short he becomes a Traveller with the Disciples going to Emaus to free them from that doubt and trouble into which their distrust had thrown them The Gospel is full of a thousand other testimonies of his bounty towards us When we flie from him he follows us He calls us when we forget him He pressingly urges us when we will not hear him When we slight him he complains kindly of us And when we return to him after having offended him he seems so sensible that he takes more pleasure to make his own joy and that of his whole coelestial Court break out at the repentance of one sinner then at the fidelity and perseverance of a great number of Just because his glory appears more in pardoning then punishing St. John thunders forth nothing but threats and terrors to his Hearers because he speaks in the spirit of Elias Jesus Christ says nothing but what is sweet and mild because he speaks according to his own Maximes and in his own Spirit which is that of the law of Grace But never did the love of God towards Man appear more then at his Passion For that very night wherein Man conspired his death this God of goodness thought of nothing but to leave him marks of his mercy and tenderness And at the same time that one of his Disciples by the blackest of Treasons betrayed him to his Enemies to be put to death he gave his most sacred Body for food for their Souls He died at last loaded with reproach and ignominy after having been dragged from Tribunal to Tribunal forsaken by his own Disciples and abandoned by all the World He died a publick and infamous Death nailed to a Cross amidst the Blasphemies of those that put him to death But he died with a silence a sweetness a tranquility a patience a peace and quiet which astonisht his very Executioners They reproacht him when he was dying that he could save others but not himself Nor was this reproach without reason because he thought no longer of himself but only of men And amidst the horrors of so cruel a Death plunged in a sea of grief and bitterness he never open'd his dying eyes nor turn'd them towards heaven but to implore the mercy of his Father even for those that put him to death saying Father forgive them for they know not what they do He shed his Bloud he died for the salvation of the Executioners that crucified him What excess of love How incomprehensible to our capacity S. Chrisostom had reason to say That the greatest testimony Christ gave of his Divinity was the extending his love even to all those who killed him for nothing less then God could love at a rate so much above the reach of Man But though the Expressions of that love which the Son of God had for Man are very observable in divers places of the Old Testament under the Figures of the Patriarchs and Prophets yet are they nowhere more strong and tender then in the New Testament where Christ himself speaks of it as of one of the most essential Points of his Doctrine So as the whole Morality of the Gospel turns on this Principle That the true Spirit of Christianity is to have charity for on 's Neighbour Every thing conspires to settle there this important Maxime which is the fundamental Point of our Religion For though the Evangelists wrote nothing by agreement and that the Gospel seems to have been publisht rather upon occasion then by design yet since 't is the Doctrine of their Master they write we find therein so great a conformity of Sentiments on this Principle of Christian Charity that it sufficiently appears by their manner of declaring it there is nothing more essential to Christianity then the love of our Neighbour The whole law says St. Matthew is comprehended in this precept 'T is the most important of all says St. Mark Jesus Christ carries it to a higher pitch of perfection in St. Luke where he obliges the faithful represented by his Apostles To love their enemies to do good for evil and to pray for their calumniators Last of all St. John who knew most of his Masters secrets and penetrated deepest into his thoughts places the essential mark of a Christian in the love of our Neighbour By this all men shall know says our Saviour by the mouth of this Apostle that you are my disciples if you love one another This is the commandment of the law of Grace whereunto is reduced all the perfection of the New Testament And the Saviour of the World recommended nothing so earnestly to his Disciples in the last moments of his life as Concord and Union Because this Union was to be the foundation of the Religion he establisht The Evangelists do not only speak all according to this Principle but 't is apparent the same Spirit makes them speak They treat their friends and enemies both alike in their History A God murthered by men and an innocent man oppressed by calumny might have afforded their zeal some reason for exaggeration yet they allow themselves nothing which has any shew of emotion or violence They relate the treason of Judas the cruelty of the Executioners the injustice and violence of the Magistrates without any touch of bitterness against their persons They speak in a way apt to make one believe they had no concern in what they say A spirit so uninterested is without example and whereof the common sort of men are uncapable 'T is only Christianity that is to say a Discipline wholly coelestial which can inspire so much moderation We see the first fruits of this Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles which is the History of the establishment of Christianity For as the Historian relates the Christians did then live in such a Union as if they had all one and the same heart and one and the same soul The propriety of Goods which ordinarily causes dissentions amongst men was no obstacle to this Union for all their Goods were in common They brought and laid at the feet of the Apostles their Revenues Rents Bonds Contracts Jewels and all
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
Neighbour to carry our selves duly between one and the other is of greatest importance in a spiritual Life The concurrence of these two interests is often very prejudicial to the zeal of Charity when not back'd with science for oftentimes we inconsiderately forsake our Neighbour when we ought to leave God and we leave God when we ought to forsake our Neighbour See then how St. Augustine advises us to deport our selves The obligation says he to love God in the order of the Precept ought to precede the obligation to love our Neighbour but God will have us in the execution prefer our Neighbour before him In effect It is not reasonable says this great Saint that God who is the Master and ordains all things should put himself after our Neighbour in the order of Love This is the First Command he gave Man Thou shalt love the Lord thy God and thou shalt love him withal thy heart But this same God though he be Master yet when our Neighbours good comes in question remits something of his own right as to its execution If any coldness has passed between us and our Brethren wherein our Union may be wounded and we are at the foot of his Altars to render God the Homage due unto him He then commands us to interrupt his Worship and suspend the most holy and august Ceremonies of Religion to defer till another time the Honors of the Sacrifice we were about to pay him and first go and reconcile our selves to our Neighbour Let them quit says he the Worship they are rendring to me and the Sacrifice they are offering up because the Union among Brethren is the most agreeable Sacrifice they can offer unto me He do's even consent that to help the Poor in their greatest miseries we should disfurnish his very Altars of their outward Ornaments which are only of use to move the gross Devotion of carnal People as St. Bernard says who condemns the vanity of those that enrich the Temples of God and abandon the Poor What folly says he is it to leave the Children of the Church naked and to adorn the Walls so magnificently with Tapestries and other more precious Ornaments 'T is true the Church may admit Ornaments in her abundance and prosperity But God commands her to relieve the Poor who are her Children when in necessity and publick miseries because her Treasures and Riches would only serve to shame her if the Poor were not succour'd therewith This Rule will appear of a very large extent to such as take pains to consider it and the practice of it will be found of much use when apply'd to the several occasions that may offer themselves But since God through his signal goodness will have us to love our Neighbour for the love of him 't is but just we should so govern this love that if exteriourly we give our charitable help to our Brethren at least the intention of our heart and simple design of our spirit be all for God That we love our Friend in God and our Enemy for the love of God which is the right practice of Charity as St. Gregory teaches it The Second Rule ought to be made use of to distinguish every ones personal interests from those of his Neighbour to decide what of right belongs to each The Rule I have settled may serve for that purpose For if God himself do's often yield his right where our Neighbour is concern'd I have the greater reason to yield up mine on the like occasions But because this Rule is not general but limited to certain Conjunctures we must seek for another more universal The Gospel commands me to treat my Neighbour as my self since he ought to be as dear to me as my self but it do's not command me to yield to him when our interests shock one another And in other respects there is a natural equity which teaches me to keep my own by instructing me to discharge my self of what belongs not to me There are likewise certain interests of Honor which I ought to defend against my Neighbour who would dishonor me because Honor is a Depositum God has intrusted to me which ought to be as dear to me as that of my life and because he would scandalize the World by dishonoring me But are there any occasions wherein I am oblig'd to abandon mine own interests and sacrifice them to my Neighbour to defend his Reputation by renouncing my own and to die to save his life 'T is evident that Goods purely temporal being of an inferior order to spiritual when the salvation of our Neighbour is concern'd which is a spiritual interest one is oblig'd to abandon his temporal because the salvation of ones Soul is preferable to all the Goods of the Earth which are perishable and corruptible Thus neither Honor nor Wealth ought to be valued when the salvation of a Soul is in question Now 't is certain that a Christian is oblig'd by the Maxims of that Religion he professes to relieve his Neighbour in an extream necessity of life which is a temporal good not only out of his own superfluities but even what is necessary for himself Christian perfection goes yet farther teaching a Christian that he ought not only to be severe to himself in tenderness and compassion to his Brother and deprive himself to accommodate him of what is commodious and necessary to himself but even to give his liberty his honor and life to preserve the life honor and liberty of his Neighbour In fine he ought to do that for him which the Saviour of the World did for us for how many have there been that have imitated Jesus Christ in the practice of so generous so pure and so disinteressed a Charity But these are the wonders of Christian Morality and greatest Miracles of our Holy Religion These Examples are rather to be admired then Rules to be indispensably followed and Duties of obligation to be practised The Third Rule is the order that ought to be observ'd in the different interests of our Neighbour that so the impulses of Charity may be followed without mistaking and that in two wants either of the same or a different nature we may know which to prefer In the order of temporal goods Charity always flies to assist the more urgent wants for amongst the afflicted she runs to him that suffers most and she leaves him again if his wants be but temporal to assist him that is in manifest danger of his salvation Such was heretofore the conduct of the Apostles who in the infancy of the Church abandon'd the care of temporal necessities to attend to spiritual in quitting the distribution of Alms to be vacant to preaching the Word of God because they esteemed the nourishment of the Soul more important then that of the Body So the care a Christian takes to teach and instruct a poor body is more meritorious before God then what is bestowed to deliver him from misery So the Alms given
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
disreguards His Devotions are as regular as can be and he would pass for a Saint if he were not so revengeful and so dextrous to satisfie his Resentments where he has any Contests None ever offends him without smarting for it for he never forgives So that by this his affected Moderation his Life is a continual Imposture There are a thousand other Disguises of Charity which may be reduced to this and which are so much the more odious in the sight of God as being done under the pretext of Piety Vice is always criminal but the most criminal of all is that which is done under the Coulor and Veil of Vertue for Men less suffer themselves to be corrupted by a bare-fac'd Vice then a masqued Vertue After all 't is in vain to disguise on 's self nothing can be hid from his sight that searches hearts and penetrates to the very bottom of them The Eleventh is a Spirit of Empire and Dominion They are willing to be in at all good Works provided they may Rule Direct and Manage They make one in all Designs and Enterprizes of Charity out of the sweetness they feel in Governing things with some Authority and the pleasure there is to exercise that petty Empire which expresses its self in the knowledge of their Neighbours wants and the distribution of assistance given them They meet punctually at Assemblies as so many favourable occasions of shewing themselves and give their wealth to new Foundations to Reign in them 'T is out of this same Spirit that they thrust themselves with such zeal into all manner of Affairs that they are so earnest to render themselves necessary in them that they love Negotiating to find out a Temperament in Accommodations and Arbitrations that they charitably concern themselves in every thing that they have a Wit fertile enough in Expedients to be of Councel for all the World and that they give so liberal advice upon the Conduct of all Mankind For this is the Character of the Devotion of these Times it will be Mistress and Govern all 'T is through this same Spirit that Men have no value but for the good Works they do themselves That they will not abet any good unless themselves do it and that there are some who cannot endure either Religion should be defended or Vertue protected but after their way their lights and their methods They condemn all else be it never so good They have not the least concern for it because they have no share in it They set up for Directors without any Vocation or Character for Direction now adays as it is ordered is very comfortable to those that Direct because they speak with Authority and find Submission every where In short this Spirit of Command is become so much the Spirit of this Age that it is crept in among Persons consecrated to the Altars who take on them in all the Functions of their Ministry a certain ayre of Independence whilst they hold the rest of the World in Subjection St. Paul who had in his hands all the Authority of Jesus Christ is an excellent Pattern for Christian Pastors for he never made use of all his great Power to destroy but only to edifie In effect this absolute Authority is a Conduct too dismal and fierce for Christianity serving only to make the Yoke of Obedience more burthensom unless tempered with Love and Charity True Pastors do themselves more honor in being the Fathers of Souls then their Lords and Masters and in loving to Rule their Flocks with sweetness and tenderness rather then with haughtiness and Commands You must says S. Bernard Command with humility to Command like a Christian And there 's nothing prepares the Hearts of Subjects to Submission like the Charity of those they obey The Twelfth Illusion is Scandal and Ill-Example 'T is through this Illusion Men live disorderly whilst they flatter themselves with fair appearances of a kind of natural Equity which they would have a horror to transgress They have at bottom a zeal for Justice and have none for modesty They are tender of a Stranger 's Interest and sacrifice the Innocence of a Domestick of whom they serve themselves in the secret practices of their Passion They are touch'd with the Misfortunes of one unknown whom they see oppressed and ruine the Conscience of a Friend whom they cause to engage in their Revenge You are not Violent you are not Unjust you hate Oppression Cruelty displeases you in brief you wrong no body And you employ your Wives in shameful Concerns and vicious Intrigues You are nice even to scruple in point of Detraction and have all the affectations of a Prostitute to seduce Youth that puts it self into your Hands How many Disorders have you caused by your Scandals you that have so much aversion for Injustice for your Example is a Poison that kills him who sees it But what is become of the Modesty of Christian Ladies in an Age where nothing is talk'd of but Reformation and Devotion Was there ever seen so great a licentiousness in Manners as now adays Women besides the indecency and immodesty of their Dress are even come to think it a greater ayre of Quality to dress themselves publickly and before all the World that is to say to expose themselves by a scandalous Mode to those adulterous Eyes whereof the Apostle speaks and to Present in the Golden Vessel like the Whore of Babylon the mortal Draught to those that see them Scandal is so dreadful a spring of Corruption and so pernicious a poison to Innocence that one cannot have Faith and read without Trembling the terrible Menaces of the Son of God to those scandalous Persons who poison the Souls of those with whom they converse Our Lord seems to have forbidden in the Gospel nothing so strictly as this Cut says he cut off pluck out even your very eyes if your eyes scandalize you I say nothing of those fond foolish Mothers who by their Indulgency and Vanity ruine the Innocency of their young Daughters in exposing them to Assemblies and dangerous Companies under pretence of shewing and teaching them the World I speak not of those envenom'd Tongues that tear in pieces the Honor of their Neighbour in most obliging and respectful Language and sow Dissention wherever they come I only say that a Christian cannot without trembling make reflection on those dreadful words of the Son of God Wo to him by whom scandal cometh The Thirteenth is the Spirit of Emulation and Partiality principally in matters of Religion and this is the most dangerous of all Illusions 'T is out of this Spirit that Men make use of the holy Name of Christian Charity to heighten their Aversions and render their Enmities irreconcileable By this they censure the Conduct of others to authorize their own They destroy settled Reputation to give themselves more Credit They frame to themselves a Chimera of Religion to seek a more specious pretext for their Headstrongness and
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
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