* Sex sunt quae odit Dominus septimum detestatur anima ejus Oculos sublimes c. Et eum qui seminat inter fratres discordias Prov. 6. There are six things says he which God hates and there is a seventh which he detests that is he who sows Discords amongst his Brethren And Ecclesiasticus says Susurro bilinguis maledictus multos enim turbavit pacem habentes Eccl. 28. v. 13. Vir peccator turbavit amicos in medio pacem habentium immittet inimicitiam Ibid. v. 9. that The Sower of Discord is cursed because he troubles those who are in Peace and it is only the part of a wicked Man to disturb his Friends and raise Division in Minds that are well united in Friendship Yes Theotime for as Peace and Union proceeds from God Discords and Dissentions spring from the Devil Audiant jurgiorum seminatores quod scriptum est Beati pacifici quia filii Dei vocabuntur Si filii Dei qui pacem faciunt proculdubio filii Satanae qui confundunt S. Greg. 3. part Pastor For this reason the Son of God in the Gospel says That Peace-makers that is those who apply themselve to procure or preserve Peace amongst Men are the Children of God. But if those who cause Peace are the Children of God Then adds S. Gregory excellently well those who disturb it are the Children of Satan Fly this Sin Theotime because it is most heinous and criminal detested both by God and Men. Keep a guard upon your Words to the end you may never say any thing which may cause any Discord amongst others but chiefly be not the Author of it by Malice or deliberate Purpose Conceive a horror against this Vice which can bring you nothing but inevitable Misfortune Of Lying There remains Lying which is none of the meanest amongst the Sins of the Tongue and it is by so much more important that you should be solidly Instructed therein as it is most ordinary amongst young Persons and the Custom of this Sin infinitly pernicious A Ly is always a Sin The Habit of Lying because it is always against Truth And altho' it be not a mortal Sin when it is not in a Business of Consequence nevertheless the Habit of Lying altho' lightly is not a light thing nor of small importance A Habit or Custom of Lying opens a Gate to an infinit number of other Vices The Vices it produces A Lying Spirit will become a Cheat and Deceiver in his Management Double in his Words Unfaithful in his Promises a Hypocrit in his Manners a Dissembler in his Actions a Flatterer and Faint-hearted when he should speak Truth Bold and Shameless to affirm Lies Impudent to maintain them as certain Truths a Swearer Detractor Mistrustful in respect of every one for as he is accustom'd to Ly he believes that others always speak false A Mind addicted to Lying will more easily tell them in great things and be involv'd in heinous Sins So that Theotime Very prejudicial to young People Noli velle mentiri omne mendacium assiduitas enim illius non est bona Eccl. 7. there are few Vices more pernicious and principally to Youth than this liberty of Lying For this reason the Wiseman advertises you Not to take Pleasure in any manner of Vntruth for a Custom or Habit of Lying is not good that is according to the Expression of the Scripture it is very bad In a word it is so wicked a Quality of the Mind to be a Lyar that the Scripture speaks strange things of it Abominatio est domino labia mendacia It says that God hath a horror for it That Lying Lips are an abomination to him as on the contrary those who love Sincerity in their Words gain his Friendship Perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium Psal 6. He will destroy all those who are addicted to Lying It saith Opprobrium nequam in homine mendacium Potior fur quam assiduitas viri mendacis Eccl. 20. That amongst Men a Ly is an Infamy it will always be found in disorderly and ill-instructed Minds A Thief is more execusable than a Lyar and both of them will inherit Perdition Lastly It makes men like Devils This Vice makes one like the Devil who is pleas'd in nothing more than Lies Vos ex patre diabolo essis c. Joh. 8. It was he who first invented it and who is the Father thereof as the Son of God hath nam'd him with his own Mouth And S. Augustin after him says Quomodo Deus pater genuit filium veritatem sic diabolus lapsus genuit quasi filium mendacium S. Aug. Tract 42. in Joh. Cavete fratres mendacium quia omnes qui amant mendacium filii sunt diaboli qui non solum mendax est sed etiam pater inventor ipsius mendacii S. Ambr. in Serm. de Dominica Passione That as Truth comes from God Lying takes its origin from the Devil And S. Ambrose adds That those who love Lying are the Children of that detestable Fiend for the Children of God love Truth Fly entirely Theotime this pernicious Vice in all Occurrences but chiefly in two First When you speak of a thing of Importance that is when it prejudices your Neighbor in his Goods Honor or Health wherein you must have a great care and yet more if it be in your self Secondly When you speak to a Person who hath Authority over you for then a Ly is a very culpable Imposture as well by reason of the Respect you violate as because it frequently happens that those Falshoods notably prejudice your proper Good or that of your Neighbor In fine in whatsoever matter it be and to whatsoever Person you speak accustom your self never to tell a Lye on deliberate Purpose or with Reflection Love Truth and Sincerity in all your Words O what an excellent Quality is it in a young Man when he cannot tell an Untruth without Blushing The Just says the Wiseman Verbum mendax justus detestabitur Prov. 13. will detest a Lye. Demand of God that he give you a hatred of this Sin and frequently offer to him that Prayer of Salomon Vanitatem Vers 50. verba mendacia longe fac à me Remove from my Mind Vanity and lying Words CHAP. XIII Of Sobriety EXhort young Men to be Sober Juvenes hortare ut Sobrii sint Tit. 2. says the Apostle S. Paul to Titus his Disciple Sobriety Theotime in the Judgment of this great Apostle is necessary for Youth And altho' by this Name of Sobriety he comprehends generally the moderation of the Heat and Impetuosity of that Age which is naturally carry'd to an Excess in all things nevertheless he intends also particularly the moderation of the Excess in Eating and Drinking which are very ordinary in Youth and extream prejudicial to them As Sobriety consists in the moderation of Eating and Drinking Sobriety combats two Vices
State and from all the Disorders that are committed in the Celebration of the Nuptials as well by the Marry'd as by those who are invited For how can God give his Benediction to a Marriage wherein the Parties bring a Heart full of lewd Thoughts and unchast Desires where they make Expences of Garments and Feasts which offend Christian Modesty and frequently exceed their State and Ability and where all things pass in a licencious freedom of saying and doing any thing So that these Nuptials are rather the Triumph of impure Love and a Feast of the Devil than a Marriage of Christians which ought to be consecrated to Modesty and sanctifi'd by the Presence of Jesus Christ These are the the most ordinary Causes of bad Marriages and of all the Miseries and Misfortunes which arise from thence From whence it follows that the first Means to succeed well in so great and important an Enterprise is carefully to avoid all these so dreadful Causes To perform this with success this is what you shall do You must be convinc'd of three Truths which are certain and undoubted Maxims in this matter The First is That the greatest Happiness that can befall him who embraces a Marry'd Life is to succeed well in the choice of the Person he would Espouse as on the contrary there is no greater Misfortune than to prosper ill in this Occasion The Second is That this good success can only come from God. And the Third That God doth not ordinarily shew this Favor but to those who have liv'd well or have done Penance and have not fall'n into the Faults we have pointed at These three Truths are express'd by the Holy Ghost himself he teaches the First when he says by the Mouth of the Wiseman a Qui invenit mulierem bonam invenit bonum hauriet salutem à domino Prov. 18. Mulieris bonae beatus vir Eccl. 26. That he who hath found a good Wife hath found a great Blessing for a good Wife makes her Husband happy That it is a Blessing which surpasses all Blessings That there is nothing which can be compar'd to a vertuous Wife And on the contrary he saith That b Qui tenet mulierem nequam quasi qui apprehendit scorpionem he who hath met with a wicked Wife is like him who hath taken up a Scorpion in his Hand And that c Commorari leoni draconi placebit quam habitare cum muliere nequam Eccl. 25. the Company of a Lion or Serpent is more supportable than that of a bad Wife The Second Truth is express'd by these excellent Words That d Datum Dei est mulier sensata tacita non est immutatio eruditae animae Eccl. 26. a prudent and discreet Wife is the Gift of God to which there is nothing comparable And in the Proverbs That e Domus divitiae dantur à parentibus à Domino autem proprie uxor prudens Prov. 19. Parents may well give a House and Riches to their Children but it appertains only to God to give a discreet Wife The Third Truth is a consequence of the Second for if God gives this great Blessing it follows also that a Man must merit it from him as he himself hath declar'd by the same Wiseman who says f Pars bona mulier bona in parte timentium Deum dabitur viro pro factio bonis Eccl. 26. A Man is happy when he finds a good Wife and that it is the Portion of those who fear God and that God gives it to Man in recompence of his good Actions And the Angel Raphael says to the Father of young Sara that his Daughter was reserv'd for young Toby because he fear'd God and that the others had been unworthy of her by reason of their Sins Huic timenti Deum debetur conjux filia tua propterea alius non potuit habere eam The Second thing you shall have to do when you shall be fully convinc'd of these Truths is to concern your self to avoid the four Faults we mention'd which are the most ordinary Causes of bad Marriages and by avoiding them to practise the contrary Actions which are the necessary Dispositions for Marriage First then Live well during your Youth Be Chast and let not the love of Pleasures take possession of your Heart Follow not the Torrent of the bad Example of those of your Age who gape after nothing but Pleasures Be afraid lest God punish you by the same way by which you shall have sinn'd and that for the Pleasures you shall have taken during your Youth which are soon past he send you the anguish and trouble of a misfortunate Marriage which will continue all your Life Secondly When you shall be at the time of thinking of Marriage be careful to look upon it with a chast and pure Eye and have nothing but a holy Intention which seeks not Pleasure and Delight in so pious a thing but the vertuous End which a Christian ought to propose to himself The Angel Raphael hath declar'd it in a word to young Toby a Accipies virginem cum timore Domini amore filiorum magis quam libidine ductus Tob. 6. You shall Marry in the Fear of God with an intention of having Children and not thro' a love of Pleasures Call to mind the terrible Example of the seven Husbands of young Sara who were all stifled by the Devil on the Day of their Nuptials and learn from thence the Cause which the same Angel told to Toby b Audi me ostendam tibi qui sunt quibus praevalere potest daemonium Hi namque qui conjugium ita suscipiunt ut Deum à se à sua mente excludant suae libidini ita vacent sicut equus mulus quibus non est intellectus habet potestatem Daemonium super eos Ibid. Give ear to me says he to him and I shall tell you who those are over whom the Devil hath power For those who enter into Marriage not having God with them or thinking on him and who only seek wanton Pleasures as Beasts which have no Reason are they over whom the Devil hath power Imprint these words deeply in your Mind and know that if the Devil only kill'd those immediately who abus'd the Sanctity of Marriage he wants not other Means to exercise over them the power God hath given him whereof he discovers but too many Effects by all the Miseries with which he infests Marriage They who would not fall into them ought to avoid the Cause and have nothing but a chast Love in their Heart so that they may truly say to God those excellent words of young Toby * Et nunc Domine tu scis quia non luxuriae causa accipio sororem meam conjugem sed sola posteritatis dilectione in qua benedicatur nomen tuum in saecula saeculorum Tob. 8. Lord thou knowest that it is not the love of Pleasures which makes me
serve God for himself by Love. ib. Max. 11. That we must have a Rule of our Actions and that this Rule ought to be the Law of God the Example and Doctrin of Jesus Christ and not the World nor the Example of others nor Custom Pag. 521. Max. 12. That the World is deceiv'd in all its Judgments and Maxims Pag. 522. Max. 13. That to be united only to God we must contemn Earthly things Pag. 523. Chap. 16. Of Perseverance Pag. 524. The Table of the Treatise of Meditation or Mental Prayer ARTICLE 1. WHat is it to Meditate Pag. 533. Artic. 2. That without Meditating it is hard to effect our Salvation Pag. 534. Artic. 3. That Meditation is not an Invention of Man but of God. Pag. 535. Artic. 4. That Meditation is not so difficult as many conceive it Pag. 537. Artic. 5. That Meditation may be render'd facil Pag. 538. Artic. 6. That young Persons may Meditate and that they have need of it Pag. 539. Artic. 7. A Confirmation of the two former Truths out of the Sacred Scripture Pag. 541. Artic. 8. Of the great Benefit of Meditation Pag. 544. Artic. 9. The Method of Meditation Pag. 547. Artic. 10. The Subject on which we must Meditate Pag. 553. Artic. 11. Another easie and profitable Subject of Meditation Pag. 557. Artic. 12. The Practice of Meditation Pag. 561. Artic. 13. Some Advices concerning Meditation Pag. 566. Advice 1. ibid. Advice 2. Pag. 567. Advice 3. Pag. 571. Advice 4. Pag. 573. Conclusion Pag. 574. THE INSTRUCTION OF YOUTH IN Christian Piety PART I. Of the Reasons and Motives which oblige Men to apply themselves to Vertue in their Youth CHAP. I. Of the End for which Man is Created MOTIVE I. AMongst all the things whose Knowledg is necessary for Man The End for which Man is Created is his first necessary Knowledg that which first and before all he ought to understand is the End for which he is plac'd in this World. Because being a Reasonable Creature he ought to act for a final End in the Enjoyment whereof he seeks his Happiness and Felicity Now he cannot act for this End without a Knowledg of it which raises in him a Desire makes him search and employ Means to arrive there A Man who knows not his last End is scarce distinct from a Beast because he regards only things present things material and sensible after the manner of Bruits and in this is more miserable than they inasmuch as they find in these material things the Felicity they are capable of And he instead of finding his Repose encounters with nothing but Disgusts and the Source of a vast number of Misfortunes From the ignorance of this last End spring all the Disorders and Corruption of Mens Lives because forgetting their heavenly Beginning and the noble and divine End for which their Creator had destin'd them they absolutely stop at the enjoyment of the Pleasures of this mortal Life without raising their thoughts or desires higher living upon Earth as if they were made for the Earth And as it would be a thing which would move compassion to see a Child born of Royal Blood ordain'd by his Birth one day to wear a Crown and Scepter being bred up amongst Peasants ignorant of his Extraction to apply himself wholly to Till the Earth to bound all his Pretensions within the Limits of getting a miserable Livelihood with the Sweat of his Brow without having the least thought of the high Fortune for which he was born So it is a thing much to be deplor'd to see Men who are the Children of Heaven destinated by God to reign there eternally with him live in an entire forgetfulness of that End for which they are Created and setting all their Affection upon Earthly things miserably deprive themselves of that Beatitude which the Bounty of their Creator hath prepared for them For this Reason dear Theotime resolving to exhort you to embrace Vertue in your Youth I propose unto you first and before all things what you are and the End for which you are Created to banish that so common and dreadful a forgetfulness amongst Men that knowing your last End you may ardently aspire to it and begin betimes to perform what lies in you to make you worthy and arrive there Recollect your thoughts then Reflection upon Three things dear Child and reflect upon Three things Who you are Who made you what you are And for what End. First I. What Man is You are a Man that is a Creature endow'd with Understanding and Reason compos'd of a Body whose Structure is admirable and of a Reasonable and Intellectual Soul made to the Image of God. You are the most perfect of all visible Creatures Secondly II. Who made Man. You were not made by your self for that is impossible You have receiv'd from another all that you have and from whom have you receiv'd it but from him who hath Created Heaven and Earth and who is the Author of all things It is he who hath form'd your Body in your Mothers Womb and who hath created your Soul. You are the Work of a God and besides the Father you have upon Earth you have another in Heaven to whom you owe all that you have Thirdly III. Why God made Man. For what End did God make you Be attentive Theotime For what End think you did God place you in this World Was it to enjoy the Pleasures and Contentments of this Life and of the Senses To heap up Riches To acquire Glory and Reputation amongst Men Nothing less You have a Soul too noble to be destin'd to such wretched and perishable things Pleasures are chang'd into Pain Riches perish and Glory vanisheth away Is it to continue a long time upon Earth to find there your Happiness and to look for nothing after this Life If it be so there is no difference betwixt you and Beasts Doth not this so noble a Soul which God hath bestow'd on you endow'd with Understanding Will and Memory capable to know all things clearly manifest that you were created for a higher and more honourable End Doth not this Figure of the Body you bear the Stature erect the Head on high and Eyes rais'd towards Heaven a Figure opposite to that of Beasts which looks only upon the Earth teach you that you are not made for the Earth Pronaque cum spectent Animalia caetera Ovid Metaph. terram Os Homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri Jussit erectos ad Sidera tollere Vultus And whereas others see with down-cast Eyes He with a lofty Look did Man endue And bad hiâ— Heavens transcendent Glories view Beasts are made for the Earth they there find their Happiness and for that reason they regard nothing but the Earth But you dear Theotime you are Created for Heaven that is the Place of your Habitation as it is that of your Origin your Soul came from Heaven and it ought to return thither But
not to commit Wickedness when one is not Tempted But to resist Evil and fly from Sin in the Time of Temptation and in the Age where one finds the greatest danger of being ruin'd is a real Proof of true Vertue and an assur'd Mark that one loves God above all things These Reasons Theotime make appear that God hath a special Affection for the Service of young Persons which being employ'd in the flight of Sin and Service of God are the most agreeable that can be Offerd unto him And as a Learned Author says excellently well * Qui hac aetate se domant Deo se sociant offerunt Deo Hostiam viventem Deo placentem immaculatam Hugo à Sanct. Vict. those who in this Time of Youth overcome themselves resisting couragiously the Temptation of Sin to Consecrate themselves entirely to the Service of God Offer in their Youth a continual Sacrifice wherein they Present to God a living Victim and a most agreeable Offering to God without Spot since they have a horror for the uncleanness of Sin and make a perfect Oblation in all Points O Theotime retain well this Truth in your Mind and never forget it CHAP. IV. That God particularly loves young People and takes a delight to bestow upon them many Favours I SAY moreover Theotime Fourth Consideration to Serve God in Youth that God not only earnestly desires to be Serv'd by you in your Youth but loves you in that Age with a particular Kindness and takes a delight to bestow upon you more Favours at that Time than in any other to assist you to Serve him and to attract you to it more powerfully This Verity is no less certain than the former See how I Prove it God is pleas'd with his Favours particularly to assist Thre sorts of Persons The Weak The Simple that is those who have least knowledg of Evil And the Humble The Weak because there the force of his Grace doth most appear a Deus non projiciet Simplicem nec porriget manum Malignis Job 8. The Simple because having less knowledg of Evil they ordinarily put the least Impediments to the Grace of God who as the Sacred Scripture says b Cum Simplicibus Sermocinatio ejus Prov. 3. Rejects not the Simple as he stretcheth not out his Hand to assist the Wicked The Humble because as the chief Obstacle of the Grace of God is Pride so the best Disposition to obtain it is Humility according to that Saying of Scripture c Deus superbis resistit humilibus autem dat gratiam Jacob. 4. God resists the Proud and gives Grace to the Humble Now these Three Qualities ordinarily occur in Youth There is found in Youth the most Weakness not only of Body but Mind the Judgment not being as yet well form'd by Knowledg and Experience nor the Will sufficiently fix'd against Impressions contrary to its Good. There is in Youth more Simplicity having less knowledg of Evil and less discernment than in a more advanc'd Age. There is also in Youth more Humility which is as it were natural to that Age which is fram'd to be Subject and Obey and if Pride be found as it happens but too often in young Minds it is by an extream Corruption which subverts the Order of things and destroys Nature her self Hence it manifestly follows That God who is delighted to make his Bounty appear towards those who have most need of it and render not themselves undeserving is pleas'd to communicate many Favours to young People and to cherish them with good Thoughts and Desires and all other Assistances of his Grace when they oppose not him by their wicked Life and make not themselves unworthy by corrupting the Innocence of their Age with the malice of their Mind and by the multitude of their Sins For Confirmation of this Truth there needs no other Testimony than Experience which makes it appear most manifestly Alas Theotime how many are there who advancing forward out of Youth find in themselves a great Change not being partakers any more of so many Favours as they receiv'd in their Youth Then holy Inspirations were frequent good Desires and pious Resolutions were familiar to them they had an aversion and apprehension of Evil Goodness was agreeable to them Vertue was sweet and facil to them But now they find that all these things are chang'd Inspirations more rare Sin causes in them a less horror Devotion becomes cold and sometimes totally extinct by a sad alteration which makes them with much reason regret the Time past and Favours lost which those Words of Job * Quis mihi tribuat ut sim juxta menses pristinos secundum dies quibus Deus custodiebat me sicut sui in diebus adolescentiae meae quando erat omnipotens mecum Job 29. Who will shew me the kindness that I may see again the Time past and the State wherein I was in my Youth when God was with me by the assistance of his Grace S. Augustin did very notably Experience this Change in his own Person as he himself acknowledges in his Confessions for he saith That being a Vidisti Deus meus quo motu animi quâ fide baptismum Christi tui Dei Domini mei flagitavi a pietate matris meae matris omnium Ecclesiae tuae Aug. l. 1. Confes c. 19. faln into a Sickness when he was yet a young Youth he demanded Baptism with very great Earnestness and Devotion which was deferr'd him for some particular Reasons b Neque desiderabam in illo tanto periculo baptismum tuum melior eram puer quando illum de materna pietate flagitavi sicut jam recordatus confessus sum Ibid. lib. 5. cap. 9. And that in another great Distemper which he had about Thirty Years of Age he never thought of asking for it O Theotime I beseech God that this Change and Sorrow never befall you But it happens to many and shews clearly the Love God bears to young Persons and the Favours he bestows upon them which he doth not withdraw from them but when they contemn them and make themselves unworthy But if you will yet have a convincing and demonstrative Proof of the particular Love God bears young People consider what the Son of God did upon this Occasion whilst he was in the World. Besides that he would become himself a Child and pass thro' all the Degrees of Age of Infancy of Childhood of Youth he being able to dispence with himself and become a perfect Man from his first Entrance into the World how often did he during his Life testifie his Love and Tenderness for that Age Matth. 19. Marc. 10. Luc. 18. The Gospel recounts in many places how he frequently call'd to him little Children and commanded they should be permitted to approach to him He was displeas'd when they were never so little hindred from drawing near him saying that it was to them that the
of the Testament was taken by the Enemies And all the rest of the Prediction was fulfill'd a little after The Third Example is of Amnon 2 Reg. 13. the eldest Son of David The Scripture recounts but one wicked Action of his yet one so black and detestable that it necessarily supposes many others it being certain that a Man never ascends on a suddain to the height of Impiety and that great Crimes are the Effect of a Soul abandon'd by God for her precedent Sins This young Prince having permitted his Heart to be overcome with unchast Love lets himself be carry'd away in such a manner that this brutish Passion which ordinarily moves to heinous Extremities and enormous Crimes making him lose the most inviolable Laws of Nature excited him to love unchastly his own Sister whereupon when he could not obtain her Consent to such an abominable Proposal he adds Force to Passion committing in one only Action two most enormous Crimes Violence and Incest But the Divine Justice did not wait long before it made appear what a Horror it had for the Crimes and wicked Life of this young Prince For two Years after he was kill'd by his own Brother Absolom who had conceal'd this Revenge in his Heart all that time O God how terrible are thy Judgments The Fourth which is of Absolom 2 Reg. 13 14. the Third Son of David who was no better than his Brother Amnon He had a proud dissembling revengeful and highly ambitious Mind having a mighty Esteem for himself and his own Beauty which by report of Scripture was extraordinary The first wicked Action which the Scripture relates of him but which must needs have been preceded by many others is the Murther of his Brother Amnon which was an abominable Crime For this Action he was cast out of his Father's Favour and banish'd from him for the space of five Years after which he was recall'd and admitted to his Favour again He was scarce return'd to his Father's Court when he begins to devise a famous Rebellion against him And having by his Addresses gain'd the Affection of the People he departs to a little Village where he causes himself to be Proclaim'd King. After this he takes up Arms against his Father constrains him to fly from the City of Jerusalem and pursues him with a strong Army which he had rais'd to deprive him of his Crown What will the Divine Justice do here Will it be insensible of the Wrongs of such a degenerate Child Hearken Theotime to what the Sacred Scripture relates David seeing himself brought to such Straits by his Son was oblig'd to make Head against him and oppose him He sets in order the small Forces he had with him sends them to Fight gives him Battel Absolom's Men tho' far more in number are Defeated In this Discomfiture O the Divine Judgments it happens that Absolom endeavouring to save himself by Flight was carry'd under a great Oak and as he wore his Locks very long his Hair by a strange Accident and particular Permission of God was so strongly entangl'd in the Branches of the Tree that the Mule he rode on could not carry him away but continuing his Course left him hanging by the Head without being able to disengage himself David's Soldiers seeing him in this Condition came and ran him thro' with a Lance and kill'd him immediately altho' David by an incredible Bounty sending them to the Battel had expresly forbidden them to offer any hurt to his Person O Divine Justice Thou shewest most clearly that Thou dost not wink at the Iniquities of wicked Children and altho' Thou deferrest for a time the Chastisement they deserve to give them leisure to Repent Thou afterwards punishest most severely their Obstinacy in Sin and the Affront they offer to Thy Goodness with which Thou expectest their Repentance Behold Four Examples out of the Sacred Scripture which evidently manifest how God hath an Aversion for vicious young People The same Scripture might furnish us with many others Ancient Histories are all full and daily Experience produces but too many Examples in these Times Take notice of one thing worthy of Consideration An important Remark That in the Four precedent Examples are contain'd Three forts of Sins which render young People particularly odious to God and which are the most ordinary Causes of their Ruine In the First and Third the Sin of Impurity In the Second the Contempt of Religion and Holy Things to which may be referr'd the Abuse of Ecclesiastical Benefices by young Incumbents who many times draw upon themselves and their Families the Divine Malediction In the Fourth the Contempt of Parents and Rebellion against Fatherly Authority CHAP. VII That Salvation ordinarily depends on the Time of Youth WHAT we have said in the Four last Chapters Seventh most important Motive which obliges young People to Vertue hath discover'd unto you the Obligation you have to Serve God in your Youth by the Respect you owe to the Desire he hath thereof and for the Love he bears you A Respect which you cannot resist without offering him a most heinous Injury and incurring his Aversion and Displeasure Now I would make you know the same Obligation by the Interest of your Salvation and shew you clearly that your Salvation hath an extreme and almost entire dependance on the Life you lead during your Youth I would to God Theotime you and all those of your Age would comprehend well and never forget this Truth which is unknown to the greatest part of Men the ignorance whereof causes the Ruine and Damnation of many I wish all Men understood that the immense Eternity of Happiness or Misery which expects them after this Life depends upon this first Time which all the World despises and which the most part employs wickedly To convince you of this Verity I shall produce the Sentiment of the Sacred Scripture that is of the Holy Ghost himself who brings such express Testimonies that it is impossible to doubt of it For why doth it in so many places advertise young People to think of their Salvation betimes and to apply themselves to Vertue in their Youth except it were to shew that that Time is a Time of great Importance for their Salvation Why doth it say in Ecclesiastes a Memento Creatoris tui in diebus juventutis tuae antequam veniat tempus afflictionis Eccles 12. Remember your Creator in the days of your Youth before the Time of Afflictions comâ— and the sad and discomfortable Years approach From whence comes it that it assures us in the Proverbs That the b Adolescens juxta viam suam etiam senuerit non recedet ab ea Prov. 12. young Man shall continue even until his old Age in the Way he has once enter'd that is the manner of Life which he has begun Wherefore doth it say by the Prophet Jeremy That it is c Bonum est homini cum portaverit jugum
God from his Youth and kept his Commandments he complain'd not against God for the Affliction of Blindness which he sent him but continu'd immoveable in the Fear of God giving him Thanks all the Days of his Life O how admirable is the Effect of a Vertue which hath always increas'd with Age b Sexagenarius lumen recepit reliquum vero vitae in gaudio fuit cum bono profactu timoris Dei porrexit in pace Tob. 14. He was deliver'd from that Affliction Four Years after and liv'd to the Age of 110 when he dy'd in peace after he had made as the Scripture takes notice a continual Progress in the Fear and Service of God. Thus Theotime do they Live thus do they Die who have spent their Life vertuously in their Youth I cannot finish this Chapter Third Example of Eleazar which is already too long without bringing a Third Example in the Person of that great Martyr of the Old Testament Eleazar 2 Machab. 6. He was an ancient Man very Venerable for the number of his Years but yet more for his Vertue wherein he had liv'd from his Infancy When King Antiochus Persecuted the Jews to make them Renounce their Religion and the Adoration of the true God this holy Man was Apprehended to be constrain'd thereto by force of Torments which could never make his ancient Piety to stagger And when some of the Standers by exhorted him to obey the Persecutor at least in exterior shew and appearance to free himself from the Torture The Scripture saith that he took into Consideration the Dignity of his Age At ille cogitare caepit aetatis ac senectutis suae eminentiam dignam ingenitae nobilitatis canitiem atque à puero optimae conversationis actus which was grown gray in Vertue not having committed any thing yet unworthy of his Extraction and of a true Son of Abraham and the Religious Life he had led from his Infancy and having reflected on these things he immediately Answer'd with an invincible Courage That he would rather Die than consent to such a criminal Action And presently his Torments were redoubled and he suffer'd Death with an incredible Patience Learn dear Theotime from this Example and the precedent what a Vertue acquir'd in Youth is able to do when setled by a continual Exercise of good Actions and labour to be such now as you would wish to be all the remainder of your Life CHAP. X. That those who have been addicted to Vice in their Youth are very difficultly Corrected and it often happens that they never Amend but miserably Damn themselves O Theotime Ninth Motive the great Importance of Living well during Youth that I had a Pen that were able to Engrave this important Truth more deeply in your Heart than in Brass or Marble and make you perfectly comprehend the great and dreadful Difficulty with which he Corrects himself who hath led a wicked Life in his Youth A Difficulty so great that it is almost impossible sufficiently to express it and on the other side so general that we cannot consider it attentively without being touch'd with a lively Sorrow seeing so vast a number of Christians and principally of young People who grone under the tyranny of a vicious Habit which being contracted in their Youth and increas'd with Age leads them to Perdition from whence if it chance they recover it is with incredible Pains and Combats and by a manifest Miracle of Divine Grace Learn O dear Theotime to avoid this Danger and endeavour to comprehend the greatness either entirely to prevent it or quickly to withdraw your self if you be already engag'd therein This so great a Difficulty springs from three Causes The First is the incredible Power and Force of a wicked Habit which being once rooted in the Soul cannot be pluckt up but with great trouble All Habits have commonly this Quality that they continue a long time and are very hardly destroy'd But amongst others wicked Habits are such as adhere more strongly and are not so easily chang'd Because it is far more difficult to corrupt Nature to raise it self to Good than to do Evil. Hence it comes that the Scripture says Perversi 〈◊〉 cilè corrigeâ—tur 〈◊〉 rum infinitus est numerus Eccles 1. That the Wicked are hardly Corrected which makes the number of Fools that is of Sinners to be infinite But amongst wicked Habits those which are contracted in Youth are the strongest and with most difficulty overcome For the Passions which are the Instruments of Vice not being moderated in that Time by Vertue encrease with Age and encreasing augment and fortifie Vice giving it daily new Forces which render it at length unconquerable For this Reason the same Scripture having a Mind to express the force of a vicious Habit contracted in younger Years delivers a Sentence which young People ought to have frequently before their Eyes Job 20. Ossa ejus implebuntur vitiis adolescentiae ejus cum eo in pulvere dormient The Wicked shall be fill'd with Vices from his Youth and they will follow him to his Grave That is the Vices and ill Inclinations of Youth become so deeply and strongly rooted in the Soul that all the remainder of his Life is sensible of them and opprest with them and they continue even until Death as we daily see And the Cause thereof is very evident for Vice which has once gotten possession of a Soul encreases and strengthens the Passions the Passions corrupt the Judgment and make it conceive that Good which is Evil esteem Evil that which is Good The Judgment perverted corrupts the Will which is carry'd blindly to Sin and from thence proceeds all the remainder of Wickedness because as S. Augustin says a Ex voluntate perversa facta est libido dum servitur libidini facta est consuetudo dum consuetudini non refistitur facta est necessitas Aug. lib. 8. Confes cap. 3. The Will deprav'd settles its Affection and takes Pleasure in Ill. Pleasure produceth a Custom and a Custom not resisted becomes a Necessity And when a Soul is arriv'd at this Point she is out of hopes of Amendment because as another Author adds b Actio consuetudinem parit consuetudo necessitatem necessitas mortem S. Isid Necessity is the Mother of Death The Second Cause of this great Difficulty is the Diminution of the Divine Grace For as God augments his Favours to those that humbly receive them and make use of them for their Salvation so he diminisheth them to those who abuse and contemn them Now if he treat Men in this manner it seems that he more ordinarily deals so with young Men on whom as he bestows many Favours when they worthily dispose themselves as we have said above so he withdraws his Kindnesses from them when they abuse them as we have made appear by the Experience of those who having been favour'd with particular Obligations from
instituit ut laboret S. Bern. in Declam Consider that all Men are born for Labor God hath oblig'd them thereto by a solemn Sentence which he pronounc'd at the beginning of the World. If then you would be exempt leading an Idle Life you resist the Will of God and break the Order he hath so solemnly Establish'd 2. If Men be oblig'd to Labor all their Life-time they have yet a stricter Obligation to it during their Youth because if that Age be not Exercis'd in vertuous Undertakings it heaps up many Vices and wicked Habits which continue all the rest of their Life 3. Chiefly young Men. Because Youth is the proper time to cultivate the Mind and form it for Good and wherein only they may make themselves capable of an Employment where they may busie all the succeeding time of their Life If this Time be once lost it can never be repair'd Time lost in any Age never returns but there is this difference that Time lost in other Ages may sometimes be recover'd but Time lost in Youth is irreparable 4. The Sorrow for loss of Time in Youth Consider attentively the Grief you will one day have for losing the Time of your Youth when you shall find your self unfit for pious Employments and uncapable of any Good as it happens to many You believe it not at present but one day you will be sensible of it when it is too late 5. The Account that must be given If this Grief at present move you not the exact Account you shall give to God of the ill-spent Time of your Youth will at his Judgment make you tremble In that dreadful Judgment all your Life shall be set before your Eyes in order one Part after another and the first Article of the Account which shall be Examin'd will be that of the Employment you have follow'd in your Youth What will you answer to this Demand There you will distinctly discover all the Disorders which have sprung from that first Fault the Ignorances it hath caus'd in you the Sins it hath made you commit the Vices wherein you have been involv'd all the Goods you have been render'd incapable of What have you to answer to all these things 6. Many damned for the ill spending of their Touth How many others are there now in Hell who acknowledg the origin of their Damnation to arise from the ill spending the Time of their Youth If they could but hope for one sole Moment of Time which you have now in your power O God what would they not do to obtain it and bestow it profitably Is it possible that their Misery doth not move you and that you will not grow wise at other Mens Expence learning by their Example to avoid that irreparable Misfortune into which they are faln by their Idleness O dear Child for the love you ought to have for your Salvation fly absolutely this Vice I beseech you which is one of the greatest Impediments you could put And that you may remember to avoid it remember to perform two things The First is Two Practices against Idleness To apply your self to some modest Exercise which may keep you busi'd for the Time of your Youth and that you may perform it as you ought see what we have spoken of it above in Part 2. Chap. 12. The Second is That you take care as much as you can never to be Idle any more without doing something use constantly some Action whether of Labor wherein you are engag'd or Reading or Divertisement Let your Recreations be accompany'd with Actions either of Body or Mind The Devil seeks no better opportunity than to find you Idle that he may tempt and suprise you For this reason practise diligently that excellent Precept of S. Jerom * Facito aliquid operis ut te semper diabolus inveniat occupatum Hieron Epist ad Rust Be doing always something that the Devil may always find you employ'd CHAP. VIII The Eighth Obstacle Impurity WE are now come to the greatest most powerful and most universal of all the Obstacles of the Salvation of Youth viz. the Sin of Impurity At the Entrance whereof I cannot refrain from uttering that Expression of the Prophet Jeremy * Quis dabit capiti meo aquam oculis meis fontem lachrymarum plorabo die nocte interfectos filiae populi mei Jerem. 5. O that my Head were full of Water and my Eyes had a Fountain of Tears that I might weep Day and Night for the Desolation of my People For who can attentively consider the infinit number of young People which this Sin keeps miserably enslav'd the havock it makes of their Souls the innumerable Offences it causes them to commit the Disorders it brings to them the Misfortunes into which it daily precipitates them and chiefly the height of Misery viz. the ruin of their Soul and Eternal Damnation Who can consider these things I say without having his Heart pierc'd with Sorrow and without being mov'd with Compassion to advertise them of the Danger and afford them Assistance to withdraw them from the Misfortune into which they blindly run For this reason Theotime I beseech you six here your Thoughts and read attentively some Points of which I am to Discourse with you concerning this Sin that I may raise in your Mind the horror and apprehension you ought to have of it as of the greatest Enemy of your Salvation and of the certain cause of your Destruction ARTICLE I. That the Sin of Impurity is the greatest Enemy of Youth and Damns more than all other Vices together I would to God this Proposition were rather a Dream than a Truth and that there were as much reason to question the certainty as to hold it for infallible But it is made too clear and visible by daily Experience which evidently discovers two things 1. That a great part of Youth is addicted to this miserable Sin. 2. That amongst those who are inclin'd to it there are many who are no less subject to other Sins than that First Youth much given to the Sins of Impurity Is it not a most deplorable thing to see the innocentest Age of Life so corrupted by that infamous Sin and the most flourishing Portion of Gods Church dishonor'd in such a manner by that detestable Vice They are no sooner capable of Reason but this Vice attacks and gains upon them it creeps into their Mind it possesses their Desires it seises on their Thoughts it inflames their Hearts with a love of dishonest Pleasures which daily encreasing with Age becomes so strong that it is almost impossible to extinguish it This arises partly from the Corruption of Nature Three Causes of Impurity Sensus cogitatio humani cordis in malum prona sunt ab adolescentia sua Gen. 8.3 which as the Sacred Scripture takes notice is inclin'd to Evil from its Youth partly from the Temper and Constitution of that Age which the
tenderness of the Body and heat of Blood makes more susceptible of the Impression of Sensual Pleasures and partly also from the malice of the Devil which assaults Man in his Youth on the weakest side making use of the frailty of the Flesh to take possession of the Spirit and as * Adversum juvenes puellas aetates ardore hostis noster ahutitur in flammat rotam nativitatis nostrae Haec sunt ignita diaboli jacula quae simul vulnerant inflammant à Rege Babilonio tribus pueris praeparantur S. Hieron Epist. ad Demetriad S. Jerom judiciously observes takes advantage of the Heat of Youth by which he raises in their Heart the Fire of unchast Love enkindling in them a more burning and cruel Furnace than that which the King of Babylon caus'd to be prepar'd for the three innocent Children of Israel because that could but consume their Bodies but this scorches their Souls and prepares them by that impure Flame for another Fire which shall never be consum'd O Theotime they who attentively consider the Corruption of Manners which is found in Youth can never be sufficiently sorry for them But that which deserves most to be lamented is that it frequently falls out that there is nothing but this Sin which is the cause of it it being certain that there are many who are not subject to any other considerable Vices or if they be they are the Effects of this and if they were freed from this they would lead a perfectly pure and innocent Life Whereas on the contrary Haec adversus adolescentiam prima sunt arma daemonum non sic avaritia quatit inflat superbia delectat ambitio S. Jer. Epist ad Eustechium permitting themselves to be overcome by this unclean Passion they live a Life full of Iniquities and heaping up daily new Sins and perverse Habits cast themselves into so deplorable a State that they are often out of hopes of Amendment and Salvation O misfortunate Sin must thou thus destroy Men when they begin to work for their Salvation must thou forcibly take away from God so many beauteous Souls which without thee would live in innocence to sacrifice them to Pleasures and by Pleasures to the Devil and everlasting Flames Cursed Incontinence who is there that can hate thee as thou deservest To apprehend it more clearly Theotime read attentively that which follows and judge of the Cause by its Effects ARTICLE II. Of the sad Effects of the Sin of Impurity The Author of the Book De bono pudicitiae attributed to St. Cyprian describes briefly a great number of the misfortunate Effects of this Sin For he says that * Impudicitia semper est detestanda obscoenum ludibrium reddens ministris suis nec corporibus parcens nec animis debellatis propriis moribus totum hominem suum sub triumphum libidinis mittit blanda prius ut plus noceat dum placet Ea hauriens rem cum pudore cupiditatum infesta tabies incendium conscientiae bonae mater impoenitentiae ruina melioris aetatis Auth. de bon Pud Immodesty is a detestable Passion which spares neither Souls nor Bodies which renders Men absolutely Slaves of dishonest Love flattering them at the beginning that it might more effectually destroy them When it hath gotten possession of their Hearts it drains their Goods together with their Shamefac'dness It excites Passions even to excess it destroys a good Conscience it is the Mother of Impenitence the loss and ruin of the best part of Age that is of Youth Omitting the Damage that Sin causes to the Body Honor and Possessions I shall insist only upon the dreadful Effects it produces in the Soul which I reduce to Five or Six The First is First Effect the destruction of the Fear of God. the destruction of the Fear of God which it works in the Soul and the ruin of all good Inclinations Experience shews this Effect so common that we need not seek any other Proof we see many young People well Educated who have very good Inclinations in their Youth an aversion from Evil a great affection to Piety the Fear of God strongly imprinted in their Souls Now all these good Qualities remain if the Sin of Impurity doth not take possession of their Heart but when that hath once enter'd into their Mind it entirely subverts them It creeps in first by immodest Thoughts the Thoughts produce the desire of wanton Pleasures the Desire moves to unchast Actions these Sins repeated and multiply'd ruin all the good Inclinations things now appear far otherwise than before the Sin now seems no more so great it becomes more familiar to them and such an one who before had a great apprehension of one sole mortal Sin when he is once overcome by this brutish Passion is not dismay'd to commit them by hundreds and thousands O God what a Change what a subversion is this of a Conscience The Second Effect of this Sin Second Effect A Disrelish of Vertue is a Disrelishing and even an Aversion to Vertue and to all pious and wholsom Things It is not to be conceiv'd how those who are infected with this Vice have an aversion to Divine Things and Salvation Prayer is tedious to them and Sacraments contemptible the Word of God moves them not reading of pious Books is insupportable This is too manifest by Experience and no wonder Theotime he who is Distemper'd with a Fever takes no delight in the most delicious Meats on the contrary they seem to him bitter because his Tast is deprav'd with some bitter Quality Thus he who is once seis'd by this burning Fever of Impurity finds a wonderful loathing and dislike of all the most pious and wholsome Things by reason he hath his Heart infected with carnal and impure Affections which permit him not to relish the sweetness of holy Things a Animalis homo non percipit ea quae Dei sunt The natural man says S. Paul that is who follows the Motions of the Animal or Sensible part tasts not the things which are of God. And b Qui secundum carnem sunt quae carnis sunt sapiunt Rom. 5. those who live according to flesh relish only the things of the flesh The Third Effect is a Blindness of Mind which this Sin produces in the Soul Third Effect Blindness of Mind which hinders her from discerning Good from Bad and judging of things as she ought It is impossible that a Mind once possess'd by that Passion should not have its Judgment perverted and should not determin of things of Salvation quite contrary to Truth The Tie and Inclination it hath to that Sin makes it not account it so great an Evil for we ordinarily judg according to our Inclinations and that it can withdraw it self when it pleases it hinders it from seeing the wicked Consequences and Misfortunes this Vice brings after it It takes away the remembrance of the Divine Judgments and
God upon themselves for God is pleas'd to favor the Humble and those who fear him as on the contrary he rejects the Proud and those who trust in their own Power and glory in the multitude of their Riches I say this Theotime to the end I may admonish you that if God hath order'd you to be born in a good and rich Condion you take a care that your Riches serve not for your Damnation as they do daily to many like you Quam difficice qui pecunias habent in regnum Dei intrabunt Lucae 18. the multitude whereof makes but too evident that Truth deliver'd by the Mouth of Jesus Christ who says How difficult is it for the Rich to be saved Wherefore you have need to perform Three things 1. Three Remedies Be fully persuaded as it is most certain that your Riches may much prejudice your Salvation if you have not a great care to preserve your self from the Impediments they cause and employ them usefully 2. Understand what these Obstacles are that you may diligently avoid them There are many in them but those which are most particular are these viz. Pride Untractableness Idleness Love of Pleasures Vicious Company and Flatteries of Men Have a care of all these things Be Humble in your Riches Nihilest quod sic generent divitiae quomodo superbiam omne pomum omne lignum habet vermem suum vermis divitiarum superbia est Aug. Ser. 5. de ver Domini Quid prodest stulto habere divitias cum sapientiam emere non possit Pro. 17. considering on one side the danger they daily put you in of offending God and ruining your self and on the other side the exact Account you must render to God of the good use you have made of them Wherefore do you glory in the Riches you possess which God can take away in a moment and with which as the Wise man says you know not how to obtain the true Riches of the Mind that is Wisdom and Vertue Riches which if you possess them not you with all your Goods are but like a Horse richly Trapped which with all his Ornaments is but a Beast without Reason Render your self easie to be taught and Tractable be ready to learn and willing to be reprehended and be persuaded that by how much you are Nobler and Richer by so much ought you to be better instructed because you have so much more occasion of failing and your Faults are of greater consequence than others Fly Idleness so natural to the Rich. In labore hominum non sunt cum hominibus non flagellabuntur Ps 72. Peccare volunt sed non flagellari cum hominibus unde timendum est ne flagellentur cum daemonibus S. Bern. Serm. ad Pastores Remember that the Rich as the Scripture says are not in trouble as other Men and not subject to the Afflictions of others But S. Bernard adds That there is great reason to fear lest they should be afflicted with the Devils Preserve your self carefully from Dainties which are the Baits of Pleasures Remember that Chastity is in the midst of Dangers and Precipices when surrounded with Riches where daintiness of Nourishment of Garments of Lying and a thousand other Occasions expose it to a continual hazard of Ruin if not resisted with incredible Diligence Vae qui opulenti estis in Sion c. qui dormitis in lectis eburneis lascivitis in stratis vestris qui comeditis agnum de grege c. bibentes vinum in phialis c. Amos 6. Vae vobis divitibus quia habetis consolationem vestram Lue. 6. Wo be to the Rich says the Prophet who sleep in curious Beds who seek Pleasure in their delicious Couches who Feast taking all Delight whilst the Poor is in Misery without shewing any Compassion towards him And the Son of God says Wo be to the Rich because they have their Consolation in this World. Withdraw your self from wicked Company which your Riches will easily attract as a Prey invites Birds See what we have said above Chap. 6. Permit not your self to be surpris'd by Flattery Adulatorum quoque assentationes noxia blandimenta fallaciae velut quasdam pestes animae fuge nihil est quod tam facile corrumpat mentes hominum S. Hier. Epist ad Celan which always accompanies the Rich and which ordinarily perverts their Mind and principally young Persons Give not credit to any thing they shall say in your Commendation for either they commend you for Things that deserve not Praise as your Condition your Wealth your good Behaviour or other like things or for things you have not as Science Wisdom Vertue or if you have them they come not from you There remains the Third thing you are to perform that is to make good use of your Riches I shall appoint you no other than that which S. Paul order'd Timothy to prescribe to the Rich consider what he says and comprehend it well a Divitibus hujus saeculi praecipe non sublime sapere neque sperare in incerto divitiarum sed in Deo vivo qui praestat nobis omnia ad sruendum bene agere divites fieri in bonis operibus facile tribuere communicare Thesaurare sibi fundamentum bonum in futurum ut apprehendant veram vitam Tim. 6. Command the Rich of the World that they be not high-minded that they put not their confidence in the uncertainty of Riches but in the living God who giveth us abundantly all things to enjoy that they apply themselves to Vertue and be rich in good Works that they give Alms freely and communicate their Goods to those that want that they lay up store for the time to come and to obtain Eternal Life This Theotime is the use of Riches which the Holy Ghost prescribes to the Wealthy and which you ought exactly to practise if you will take care that you be not destroy'd by your Possessions After all this keep in your Mind that great Truth S. Cyprian teaches you which is b Tentatio est Patrimonium grande nisi ad usus bonos census operetur ut Patrimonio suo unusquisque locupletior magis redimere debeat quam augere delicta S. Cypr. lib. de Habit. Virgi That a great Patrimony is a Temptation if the Revenue one possesses be not employ'd in pious Vses and by how much any one abounds in Wealth by so much more ought he to make use of it to redeem his Sins and not to multiply them CHAP. XI Particular Obstacles to Noble Persons TO put Nobility amongst the Obstacles of Vertue were to offer an Injury to it but we shall do no wrong to Truth if we say that the ill use which Persons in Dignity make of it is a great Impediment to their Salvation and frequently the cause of their Ruin and Damnation To see this Truth and clearly understand that there is no State ordinarily more corrupt nor fill'd with Vice than that of
is proper to promote me in the World and advance my Fortune but he doth not say it is fit to promote me in Vertue and effect my Salvation or else it is not sutable to me because I foresee I shall offend God in many Occurrences I see therein Obligations I cannot satisfie many Occasions and Dangers of ruining me This Fault is great and against all Reason for to deliberate wisely of the State wherein we must spend our Life we must cast our Eye upon the End for which our Life is given us This End is the Service of God and the Salvation of our Souls We must then refer the Calling we choose to that to do otherwise is to stray out of the Way at the beginning and suffer Shipwreck in the Port. The Third Fault is 3. Without Counsel That in deliberating on the Condition they ought to embrace they only consult with themselves without communicating or asking Counsel of any one This Fault is very common amongst young People and besides one of the greatest they can commit in this Choice For what appearance is there of deliberating well of the most important Affair of our Life in an Age wherein we have as yet neither Judgment nor Experience of any thing without taking Counsel of wise and discreet Persons This cannot but be the effect of an insupportable Rashness or certainly of a great Ignorance which deserves so much more compassion as it is the cause of many Mischiefs If the Wiseman recommend so much to young People * Ne innitaris prudentiae tuae Prov. 3. Fili sine consilio nihil facias post factum non poenitebit Eccl. 32. Not to trust to their own Judgment to do nothing without Counsel is it not in this so important Affair more than in any other where they ought to follow the Advice of the Holy Ghost himself Observe well this Fault for the Devil oft makes use of it to deceive young Persons in the Choice of their Calling We shall tell you hereafter with what kind of Persons you should consult in this Concern There is a Fourth Fault yet more dangerous 4. They consult not God. which is That in this Deliberation they consult not him who ought to be consulted with above all others viz. God himself They have no recourse to him by Prayer humbly to demand of him his holy Inspirations and Grace to know his Will altho' it be by him alone that we can succeed well in this Choice He is the Father of Lights he is the Author of good Counsels Besides it belongs to him to give us our Calling and the Employment wherein he would have us serve him in this Life we must receive it from his Hands He hath a mind that we should have recourse to him and to advise with him in important Affairs he accounts himself offended when we are defective therein and frequently he gives us not his Blessing See a convincing Example The Israelites desirous to sly the Persecution of their Enemies took a Resolution to return into Egypt out of their own Heads without consulting God to know what they should do He reproach'd them exceedingly by his Prophet and threatned them that their Design should not succeed but have a dreadful issue as in effect it had * Vae filii deserteres ut faceretis confilium non ex me ordiremini telam non per spiritum meum ut adderetis peccatum super peccatum qui ambulatis ut descendatis in Aegyptum os meum non interrogastis erit vobis fortitudo Pharaonis in confusionem fiducia umbrae Aegyptiae in ignominiam Isai 30. Wo says he be to you fugitive Children who abandon me to enter upon a Design without consulting me and to begin an Enterprise without expecting my Will adding to your former Sins a new one of taking your Resolution without my Counsel Your Design shall turn to your Misfortune and Confusion I would to God all those who deliberate of the Choice of their State had frequently these Words in their Memory CHAP. III. Of the Means to choose well a State of Life And First That a good Life during Youth is a Means highly necessary to succeed in this Choice AFter having shew'd you the Faults which are accustom'd to be committed in the Choice of a Condition I come to the Means you must employ to succeed therein The First I assign you is a Means on which few Persons reflect altho' it be most important in this Affair viz. A good Life during the time of Youth I promote this Means The Sins of Youth the cause of an ill Choice Theotime to teach you betimes a Truth which the greatest part of Men are ignorant of or learn it too late which is That there is no greater Obstacle to the Choice of a happy Calling than the Sins of Youth and that the most ordinary Cause of the bad Election many make of their Condition is a disorder'd Life and full of Sins which they lead whilst they are young It is not hard to manifest this Truth The Proof which many experience daily too much God in punishment of their Sins not affording them the Favor to know the Calling proper for them abandons them in this Choice of so great Importance as they have deserted his Service He denies them high Light as they have refus'd him their Obedience and Love. They have given their first Years to the Devil and God permits also that the Devil should deceive them in this Election making them undertake a State contrary to their Good. And as they would not hearken to the Voice of his Commandments and holy Inspirations he also gives not ear unto them when they have need of his Assistance * In vocabunt me non exaudiam mane consurgent non invenient me eo quod exosam habuerint disciplinam timorem Domini non susceperint Prov. 3. They shall call upon me says he and I will not hear them they shall seek after me and shall not find me because they have hated Instruction and have not receiv'd the Fear of God. The Scripture is also full of the like Menaces by which God assures us he will deny his Light to those who have made themselves unworthy by their Sins Those Threats which were utter'd by the Mouth of the Prophet Ezechiel are astonishing Many Persons of Quality being come to this Prophet to consult God by his Mediation God speaks to the Prophet and tells him * Fili hominis viri isti posuerunt immunditias suas in cordibus suis nunquid interrogatus respondebo eis Homo homo de domo Israel qui posuerit immunditias suas in corde suo Et venerit ad Prophetam interrogans per eum me Ego Dominus respondebo ei in multitudine immunditiarum suarum Ezech. 14. That he would not answer them that is he would not let them know his Will because they were wicked and still kept their
Israel peccare 3 Reg. 14. He who sinn'd and made Israel to sin And speaking of each of his Successors it says b Fecit malum coram Domino ambulans in via Jeroboam in peccato ejus qui peccare fecit Israel Cap. 16.19 They follow'd the ways of Jeroboam who made Israel to sin reproaching and shewing a perpetual detestation of the Sin of that wicked Prince by reason of the dreadful Consequence of his ill Example As to the Second Care you ought to have 2. To Govern well which is to Govern well remember that those who Govern bear the Image of God Governing visibly Inferiors by their Conduct as he Governs invisibly all things by his Providence If you be his Image you ought to endeavor to resemble him And as he Governs not only by exercising his Power but also his Wisdom his Goodness and his Justice you must also exercise your Authority with these Qualities performing nothing but with much Wisdom treating your Inferiors with a Fatherly Goodness and giving Justice to every one * Leo rapiens Ursus esuriens Princeps impius super populum suum Prov. 28. Authority exercis'd without Wisdom is a Brutishness without Goodness is a Tyranny and without Justice is a Robbing You must employ your Authority and Power chiefly to conserve Religion What he must do to Govern well to advance the Honor of God destroy Vice exterminate the Wicked and to maintain and augment Piety amongst those who are subject to you that is the principal End for which all Temporal Power is Establish'd by God And if you be defective in that he in his Judgment will exact a a most strict Account for it * Faelices eos dicimus si juste imperant si suam potestatem ad Dei cultum maxime dilatandum majestati ejus famulam faciunt S. Aug. lib. 5. de Civit. Dei cap. 14. S. Augustin says That the Great ones ought to make their Authority subservient to God to extend much and increase his Honor and Religion Next to Religion and Piety you must have a care of the Temporal good of your Inferiors that is of their Quiet and Security and Protection against the Wicked This is the Second End for which God hath Establiish'd you For this reason give ear willingly to the Complaints of the Oppressed and easie Access to every one It is a grievous Evil amongst the Great ones that Little ones cannot approach to them to have recourse to their Justice as the Scripture it self complains * Pupillo non judicant causa viduae non ingreditur ad illos Isai 1. They do not Justice to Orphans and the Cause of the Widow enters not unto them Expect not that one should complain but inform your self carefully of the Disorders which reign amongst your Inferiors to the end you may aply a necessary Remedy Permit not your self to be surpris'd by Flatteries Governors ought to avoid 1. Flatterers which pervert the Mind of Great ones whose Condition is most misfortunate in this Point for they are scarce ever told the truth in the things they are oblig'd to know Banish Flatterers far from you and esteem them as your greatest Enemies as in reality they are Place frequently hefore your Eyes that deplorable Example of Joas * Postquam autem obilt Josada ingressi sunt Principes Juda adora verunt Regem qui delinitus obsequiis eorum acquievit eis dereliquerunt templum Domini Dei patrum suorum servieruntque lucis sculptilibus 2 Par. 24. King of Juda who after he had spent many Years in a holy Life was misfortunately perverted by the Flattery of his Courtiers even to entirely desert by their Persuasion the Service of God and fall into Idolatry which is the most heinous of all Crimes Conceive a horror for those Persons On the contrary love those who tell you the truth manifest an Affection for those who admonish you give them the liberty to do so Make choice of one or many Persons for your confident Friends to whom give express Charge to advertise you of things wherein you are defective and of all they shall judge fitting it is a thing which is wanting to all Great ones and to all those who are in Office. Have a care of Covetousness and of that insatiable Desire of Mony which is the Plague of Great ones Quare atteritis populum meum facies eorum commolitis Isai 3. Principes ejus in medio illius quasi lupi rapientes Ezech. 32. and of those who Govern and which makes them commit a vast number of Crimes For from thence arise unjust Actions Violences Oppressions of the Innocent unreasonable Exactions and a thousand other Disorders which make the People groan under the Injustice and Tyranny of Great ones which God by his Prophets so much detests Revenge is also an Evil you ought very much to avoid 3. Revenge Great ones permit themselves many times to be carry'd away with it by so much more easily as they have Power in their Hands and frequently execute it under the pretence of Justice when it proceeds only from a pure Passion in which they grosly deceive themselves for Justice only regards the Publick good or the Amendment of him whom it punisheth but Revenge seeks its own proper Satisfaction Yet in flying Revenge and Passion 4. Negligence in punishing Criminals be careful of falling into another Extream which is too much Mildness and Remissness in punishing Crimes You are oblig'd to be exact in that principally when they are against the Publick good and yet more when they injure Religion you must answer it before God if you be wanting therein A remarkable Example Achab King of Israel having pardon'd the Life of a wicked Man God sends a Prophet to him to tell him that he should answer Soul for Soul for it Quia dimisisti virum dignum morte erit anima tua pro anima ejus 3 Reg. 29. Because thou hast dismissed a Man worthy of Death thy Life shall be put for his which Menace punctually fell out for after three years he was defeated in a Battel and kill'd by that very Man whose Life he had pardon'd In fine that you may know what it is to Govern I shall cite you here two very authentick Pieces for the Instruction of Great ones which I exhort you to consider attentively The First is out of the Sacred Scripture A considerable Advertisement in the Sixth Chapter of Wisdom wherein is contain'd this terrible Admonition which the Holy Ghost gives to Great ones * Audite ergo Reges intelligite discite judices finium terrae Praebete aures vos qui continetis multitudines placetis vobis in turbis nationum quoniam data est à Domino potestas vobis virtus ab Altissimo qui interrogabit opera vestra cogitationes scrutabitur quoniam cum essetis ministri regni illius non recte
accustom'd to fall into in the choice of these two States which draw after them an infinite number of Miseries and frequently Eternal Damnation To perform this profitably I shall follow the Method I have already observ'd for the Ecclesiastical and Religious State. I shall Treat of two things concerning these two States 1. What we must consider to know them well 2. The Dispositions we must bring to enter well into that State and acquit our Selves worthily in it ARTICLE I. What we must know of a Marry'd Life There are four things to be known of this State its Holiness its Obligations its Advantages and its Dangers I say First that this State is Holy it having been Instituted and Sanctifi'd by God himself from the beginning of the World and since rais'd to the Dignity of a Sacrament by his Son Jesus Christ to sanctifie the Persons that would enter into it and to confer on them Graces necessary to acquit themselves worthily of it Thus this State is Holy every way by its Author who is God by the Dignity of the Sacrament which is annexed to it by the sanctifying Grace which it augments in those who duly receive it by the Favors and Assistances it affords them in their Necessities and in fine by the excellent Signification of the Union of Jesus Christ with the Church his Spouse which made S. Paul give it the Name of a * Sacramentum hoc magnum est ego autem dico in Christo in Ecclesia Ephes 5. great Sacrament Secondly The Holiness of this State brings with it great Obligations whereof the First is to enter into it Holily that is with the requisite Dispositions which we shall speak of hereafter The Second is to lead to holy and truly Christian Life in the Fear of God and in the Observation of his Commandments as it is said of the * Erant autem justi ambo ante Deum incedentes in omnibus mandatis justificationibus Domini sine querela Luc. 1. Father and Mother of S. John to observe an inviolable Fidelity to his Consort to use moderately lawful Pleasures and to refrain from those that are forbidden to Educate their Children in the Fear of God provide for their Necessities to have a care of their Temporal Settlement and much more of their Eternal Salvation Thirdly The Advantages of this State for Salvation are not so great as those of the Ecclesiastical or Religious Life It is also true that it requires not so high a Perfection And if there be any Advantage above those two States it is that not obliging to such strict things it leaves a greater facility for Salvation when there occur not other Obstacles besides As for the Temporal Advantages I place them not here to be consider'd because we look upon this State here only in reference to Salvation Moreover the Pleasures and Contentments that are found therein are not comparable to the Troubles and Adversities with which it is replenish'd according to that Expression of S. Paul who says that Afflictions are inevitable to Marry'd Persons Tribulationes carnis habebunt hujusmodi Fourthly The Dangers of this State are great in number and they are by so much greater as they are not discover'd nor often perceiv'd by those who are environ'd with them The First springs from the excessive and unreasonable Love that is frequently found between Marry'd Persons which is the cause of a vast number of Sins they commit by a criminal Complacence which makes them fear more to displease their Consort than offend God and draw upon them his Displeasure and Indignation The Second Danger arises from a Cause quite contrary to the former which is an Aversion they sometimes have for one another proceeding from the contrariety of Humors Jealousies or other like Causes An Aversion which draws after it a continual train of Sins and an abyss of Miseries The Third Danger comes from the irregular Love they have for their Children which is also an unexhaustible Source of Sins to Parents when thro' that foolish Love they apply all their Care for the Temporal Advantages of their Children as Health Beauty good Behavior to promote them in the World to heap up Riches for them which will only serve to destroy them to procure great Employments for them and in the mean time neglect their Education their Correction their Amendment their good Life and their Eternal Salvation The Fourth Danger is that of Loving the World too much and engaging themselves too deeply in the Affection of the Goods and Pleasures of this Life An Affection which makes them lose the tast and sense of real Goods which are those of Grace and Eternal Salvation This made S. Paul say * Qui cum uxore est solicitus est quae sunt mundi quomodo placeat uxori divisus est 1 Cor. 7. That he who is Marry'd is perplex'd with the Affairs of the World and his Spirit is divided between God and the World. All these Dangers are greater than can be exprest and Marry'd Persons have need of much Grace to avoid them ARTICLE II. The necessary Dispositions for a Marry'd State. We may say with truth that the greatest part of the Miseries which happen in a Marry'd Life springs from the bad Dispositions they bring with them and particularly the following The First is the bad Life of young People in their Youth and chiefly after they have finish'd their Studies until the time of their Marriage For if as the Wiseman says God will give a happy Marriage to those who have liv'd piously during their Youth it follows manifestly that he frequently punisheth the Sins of Youth by an unfortunate Marriage as we daily see The Second Fault is the bad Intention of those who enter into the State of Marriage who propose to themselves no other End in that State than Pleasure and the Contents they expect to find therein and which they conceive to be quite different from what in effect they are The Third is that which is committed in the choice of the Person they have a mind to Espouse A Choice which is ordinarily made without consulting God without any knowledge of the Disposition Manners or Humor of the Person with whom they are to be Engag'd for their whole Life and without any other Consideration than that of Interest or frequently by an indiscreet and ill-grounded Love. This is the Complaint of S. Jerom who says it often happens that there is no * Plerisque nulla est uxoris electio sed qualis obvenerit habenda si fatua si ambitiosa quodcunque vitii est post nu-ptias discimus Choice made in Marriages and that the Faults of the Women are not known till after they are Espoused The Fourth Cause springs from the bad Disposition they bring to the Sacrament of Matrimony Filii sanctorum sumus non postumus ita conjungi sicut Gentes quae ignorant Deum Tob. 8. which they often receive in a wicked
into Error seeing the Idols of Gold and Silver with all their Ornaments And in telling them many such like things he exhorted them that they should never let the Law of God be remov'd from their Hearts What that holy Prophet did in that Occasion concerning the Jews I ought to perform here is respect of you dear Theotime and with as much necessity Having conducted you even to the end of Youth which ordinarily is spent in Studies or other Employments convenient for that Age and considering you in this time about to enter into some State of Life I am oblig'd to admonish you of many things at that Entrance and to arm you with good Advertisements against the Dangers you will find in the World where you will meet with no less Hazards than the Jews did in the Captivity of Babylon It is a Place where you will have many Occasions of forgetting God and of runing your self For this reason I exhort you with the Prophet to have a care of your self that the Law of God may never be taken out of your Heart For this end I have prepar'd for you the following Advices which I beseech you to read with much attention as most important for your Salvation ADVICE I. That the time of issuing out of Youth and entring into the World is the most dangerous of all the Life and many are shipwreckt therein This is the first Advertisement I give you and which I wish may be deeply engraven in the Minds of all young People to make them very much stand in fear of so slippery a Step and so dangerous a Place for their Age where many run misfortunately into Ruin. It is there where the Devil waits for them and where he hopes his Attempts will not be vain and unprofitable He finds then all the possible Advantages to withdraw them from Vertue if before they have been bred up therein or engage them more deeply in Vice The Liberty they begin to enjoy the Idleness whereinto they easily fall at that time the greater Occasions they have of committing III the easier Means they have to give themselves to Merriment and take their Pleasures the new Companies which they frequent where they soon learn the Spirit of the World Vanity Pride love of Pleasures the Maxims of the World the Imitation of the Wicked and the entire corruption of Manners the Sentiments of Vertue which they had learnt in their Youth are easily dislipated those seem now fit only for Children they think they must have a more refin'd and elevated Spirit they contemn what they esteem'd before the most pious Resolutions appear to them the Effects of Simplicity and from thence springs the ruin of Vertue and the entire corruption of their Manners which follows that of the Mind This Truth is very manifest Experience makes it daily appear to the great regret of those whom the Salvation of Youth moves never so little S. Augustin had made trial of this to his great Damage as he himself deplores it in his Confessions where he says That Domestick Affairs having made him leave off his Studies * Sed ubi sexto illo decimo anno interposito otio ex necessitate domestica feriatus ab omni schola cum parentibus esse coepi excesserunt caput meum vepres libidinum nulla erat eradicans manus S. Aug. lib. 2. Confess cap. 3. at the Age of Sixteen and return to his Fathers House Vices and wanton Pleasures began as he himself says to grow above his Head as Briers in a neglected Ground and to be multiply'd so much more as there was no discreet Hand to weed them out And I would to God he had not had so many Companions in his Misfortune but the multitude of them is innumerable particularly amongst young People who have any Advantage above others in their Condition or Fortune There are few found who imitate the holy Man Toby whom all young Persons ought to take for their Example and Model in that time concerning whom the Scripture observes so expresly and on purpose * Cumque esset junior omnibus in tribu Nephthali nihil tamen puerile gessit in opere Denique cum irent omnes ad vitulos aureos quos Jeroboam fecerat hic solus fugiebat consortia omnium pergebat in Jerusalem ad Templum Domini ibi adorabat Dominum Deum Israel Tob. 1. That in his Youth he acted nothing Childish and that all his Fellow-Citizens going to adore the Idols he withdrew himself from their Company and went alone to Jerusalem to adore the true God not permitting himself to be corrupted by the Example of others O what an excellent Pattern is this for young People who enter into the World and which they ought frequently to place before their Eyes as being propos'd by the Holy Ghost for that intent Altho' there are few who imitate this Example yet there are some God hath always his Servants he reserves some for himself who bend not their Knees before Baal who permit not themselves to be corrupted by the Contagion of the World. To the end Theotime you may be of that number do I give you this so necessary and little known Admonition and continue the following Advices ADVICE II. That the chief care of young Men who enter into the World ought to be to conserve the Sentiments and Practices of Piety which they have observ'd in their Youth The reason of this Advice is because the first source of the Disorder of young Persons in that time spring from the change of the Sentiments they have concerning Piety as we have said and abandoning the Practices they observ'd before as ordinary Prayer reading pious Books frequenting the Sacraments Conversation with vertuous Persons and chiefly Conference with a discreet Confessor Wherefore I tell you Theotime that the prime care you ought to have at that time is to conserve the Sentiments of Vertue which you have receiv'd and the practice of those you have been instructed in As for the Sentiments know that Vertue is always one and the same and in whatsoever Age or Occasion you be in you are still oblig'd to consecrate your self to God to obey and serve him faithfully As for the Practices remember that if you be oblig'd to Vertue you are also oblig'd in like manner to all the necessary Means to acquire and conserve it such are the Practices we have spoken of above Wherefore I advise you as a thing most important for your Salvation not to desist from them if you leave them off you ruin your self in Vice. Be diligent in Praying in Reading good Books in frequenting the Sacraments in Conversing with vertuous Persons and chiefly in discovering your Conscience to a discreet Ghostly Father whether to him who directed you before if you can have him for that is always best or to another It is in this that all young People are defective at that time From the time they begin to know themselves they will not
deceiv'd in all its Judgments and Maxims It is easie to manifest this Maxim by Induction The World places its Sovereign Happiness in Riches it desires them with earnestness and seeks after them before all things And the truth is that Riches makes not a Man happy they are frequently great Impediments to Salvation * Beatum dixerunt populum cui haec sunt Beatus populus cujus Dominus Deus ejus Psal 143. for to possess God is real Riches The World makes account that there is no Contentment but that which is found in the satisfaction of the Senses and in the Pleasures of this Life And the truth is that there is no solid Pleasure but in Vertue The World places Honor in many things which are not Honorable as in Esteem Reputation Dignities Places of Honor Respect of Men. And the truth is that real Honor consists in Vertue and is inseparable from it The World places Courage and Generosity in taking Revenge and in not pardoning an Injury And the truth is Courage consists in Pardoning or else the Son of God had no Courage when he Pray'd on the Cross for his Persecutors and was deceiv'd when he commanded us to love our Enemies * Aut ille fallitur aut mundus errat S. Ber. Ser. 3. de Nativitat Either the Son of God says St. Bernard is deceiv'd or else the world errs The same may be said of other Maxims of the World which are absolutely contrary to those of Jesus Christ MAXIM XIII That to be united only to God we must contemn Earthly things Yes Theotime for all that is in the World is Vanity there is nothing solid but God and in God. a Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas Eccl. 1. Vanity of vanities says the Wiseman and all things are vanity All that is here is nothing all passes like a Shadow and Smoke b Propter quem omnia detrimentum feci arbitror ut stercora ut Christum lucrifaciam Phil. 3. For this reason the Divine Apostle said he contemn'd all things and esteem'd them as dung that he might purchase Jesus Christ And the welbeloved Disciple cries out to all the Faithful c Nolite diligere mundum neque ea quae in mundo sunt si quis diligit mundum non est charitas patris in eo Quoniam omne quod est in mundo concupiscentia carnis est concupiscentia oculorum superbia vitae 1 Joh. 2. Love not the World nor the things that are in the World if any one loves the World he loves not God because all that is in the World is Concupiscence of the Flesh Concupiscence of the Eyes and Pride of Life d Mundus transit concupiscentia ejus Quid vis utrum amare temporalia transire cum tempore aut mundum non amare cum Deo in Aeternum vivere S. Aug. Tract 2. in Epist 1. S. Joh. The World passes and its Concupiscence Make choice adds S. Augustin either to set your affection on temporal things and pass with time or to love everlasting things and live eternally with God. CHAP. XVI Of Perseverance THIS dear Theotime is the last Advertisement I have to give you for your perfect Instruction yet it is the greatest and most necessary of all It is to no purpose to have begun in Vertue nor to have made some progress therein except we persevere to the end It is Perseverance which gives the Reward and Recompence and on it Salvation and Eternity do entirely depend It is a great Happiness to have been faithful to the Divine Favors in Youth and also to have conserv'd Vertue at our entring into a State of Life but it is a horrible Misfortune when forgetting the great Obligations we have to serve God and abusing the Favors we have receiv'd by his Mercy we misfortunately abandon it to follow Sin. O Theotime comprehend well this Misery a Vae his qui perdiderunt sustinentiam dereliquerunt vias rectas diverterunt in vias pravas quid facient cum inspicere caeperit Dominus Eccl. 2. Wo be to them says the Wiseman who have lost Perseverance and have departed from the Way of Vertue to wander in the high Road of Vice. What will they do when God shall examine their Life Yes Theotime what will they answer at that dreadful Day of the Divine Judgment when God shall make them see the greatness and multitude of his Favors and shall reproach their wicked Ingratitude their Infidelity their Inconstancy in his Service the Blindness with which they abandon'd him who is the Fountain of all Blessings and the sole Author of Salvation b Melius erat eis non cognoscere viam justitiae quam post agnitionem retrorsum converti ab eo quod illis traditum est sancto mandato 2 Pet. 2. Had it not been better for them says the Apostle St. Peter that they had never known the Path of Vertue than after having known it to retreat and turn their backs to the holy Law which had been given them There is no question but a good beginning in Youth is highly necessary for a happy end there is no doubt but it avails much but it is also most certain that it is not always pursu'd and that it happens too often to Men as to Trees which bear fair Blossoms in the Spring and no Fruit in Autumn The Sacred Scripture furnishes us with many Examples of those who have finish'd their Life in Vertue having embrac'd it in their Youth but it also produces some who have not persever'd to teach Men the great care they ought to have to continue constant in the Way of Justice We have a convincing proof of this Verity in the Example I have often cited of King Joas who having liv'd in Vertue from his tender Youth till the Age of Forty Years and more fell most deplorably into Vice and Idolatry But that of Solomon was dreadful in this matter That Prince had been favor'd in his Youth with extraordinary Blessings Vocavit nomen ejus amabilis Domino eo quod diligeret enm Dominus 2 Reg. 12. Apparuit Dominus Salomoni per somnium nocte dicens postula à me quod vis ut dem tibi Sap. 7. 3 â—eg 3. Domine Deus tu regnare fecisti servum tuum pro David patre meo Ego autem sum puer parvulus ignorans egressum introitum meum c. Dabis servo tuo cor â—ocile ut populum tuum judicare possit discernere inter bonum malum He had been bred up in Vertue by the incredible care of his Parents as he himself testifies He was in his Youth the most pure most holy and the most accomplish'd of any that ever liv'd God himself had done him the honor to speak to him and to give him permission to demand of him whatsoever he pleas'd In this liberty of Wishing granted him he was so wise and vertuous that be
the Crums which fall from their Master's Table I also demand nothing more than the remainder of the Favors you shew to your Children Our Lord took so much content in seeing the Faith Humility and Patience of this afflicted Person that praising her highly he said to her O Woman great is thy Faith be it to thee as thou desirest Imitate in your Prayer this admirable Example and still when you beg of God any Grace for your Salvation altho' God answer you not by some good Thoughts continue intreating Domine adjuva me Lord assist me Have recourse to the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Saints as the Cananean to that of the Apostles If these Coldnesses chancing to continue your Conscience tell you that they are your Sins which are the cause and that they render you unworthy of the Favors you request Acknowledge humbly the truth and declaring that it is so say from your Heart as the Cananean It is true O God it is not reasonable that thou shouldst give the Bread of thy Children to Dogs that is to Sinners such as I am but at least as the Crums of Bread which fall from the Table are allow'd to the Dogs deny me not those which fall from thine grant me some small remainder of those abundant Graces which thou pourest upon those who faithfully serve thee If you persevere thus God will grant your Petition and recompence your Faith your Humility and your Patience And altho' he should give you no good Thoughts at all upon the Subject you would Meditate that Patience that Humility that stedfast Faith which you exercise will be more pleasing to him than any thing else and more profitable to you and this will be the best Fruit of your Prayer Thus Theotime you shall lose nothing for in seeking God on one side you will find him on the other and you will experience the truth of that excellent Observation made by the great St. Bernard * Dico tibi solus est Deus qui frustra nunquam quaeri potest nec etiam cum inveniri non potest S. Bern. l. 5. de Consider c. 11. That amongst all the things we seek for only God is never sought for in vain even when we imagin we cannot find him ADVICE III. The Third Advice is That in every Meditation you still be mindful of the End for which you Meditate which is the Sanctification of your Soul and to make you really vertuous in the sight of God so that the Meditation which doth not improve you is not a Meditation nor Prayer but a Speculative Study which is sometimes more prejudicial than profitable The Meditation which is perform'd without a prospect of this End is full of an infinite number of most dangerous Defects It makes us stop at the Thoughts and not at the Affections at the subtil Imaginations and not at the solid at those which delight the Mind and not at those which move the Heart If we pass to Affections it is to those which are found most agreeable and not to those which are most necessary such as the hatred of Sin the desire of mortifying our Passions and correcting our Vices We content our selves with the Affection and omit the Resolutions and if we proceed to Resolutions we content our selves with general ones without descending to Particulars For Example we say I would be Humble Chast Temperate but we do not say I will be Humble in that Occasion I will Obey when I shall be Commanded I will acknowledg my Fault when I shall be Reprehended and other like I will be Chast by resisting Temptations thro' such and such Means I will avoid such Occasions which are dangerous for me I will shun Idleness c. And in fine if we come to some particular Resolutions we make them but weakly and not with force and vigor from whence it comes to pass that we accomplish them not and so they are as unprofitable as if they were not made at all All these Faults in Meditation spring from the first that we propose not effectually in Meditating the Sanctification of our Soul by the solid Practice of Vertue From hence it comes that this manner of Meditation prejudices more than it profits because it is apt to give to those who act thus a very good Opinion of themselves a Contempt of others and a Confidence in their Merits It makes them much addicted to their own Judgment and Will and believe they are Saints by Meditating on holy things altho' they practise them not which is a very great Mischief not only to them but to others who take from thence an occasion to blame Meditation and Devotion whereas they are not the cause of these Disorders but the ill use these Persons make of them For this reason Theotime when you apply your self to this holy Exercise propose to your self strongly that End to make your self Vertuous and believe that that Meditation is unprofitable from which you depart without a particular Resolution of correcting your self and of loving God more than you have done as yet ADVICE IV. But it is not sufficient to refer Meditation to the practice of Vertue we must also be careful to relate it to the practice of the most solid Vertues as Faith Humility the Love of God and our Neighbor Chastity Temperance and others and chiefly those we have most need of in the present State wherein we find our selves and whose Occasions occur most frequently This Advice is one of the most important which can be given in this Matter for to what purpose is it to propose to our selves in Meditating fair and apparent Vertues and in the mean time omit the more solid which are the Groundwork and Foundation of all others and which making less shew are notwithstanding more necessary To what end for Example do we propose to our selves to be very liberal to the Poor if we had Means to suffer great Persecutions for Gods sake if they should befall us with other like things and neglect the Vertues we stand in present want of as Chastity Humility Meekness toward our Neighbor or those which we have every Day occasion to practise as the mortifying our Passions refraining our Anger suffering our Neighbor obeying our Superiors In a word Meditation is a Means to sanctifie our Souls This Sanctification consists in moderating our Passions correcting our Vices and by consequence in acquiring the contrary Vertues It ought therefore to be necessarily referr'd to that End and to produce that Effect otherwise it is not a Meditation but a pure Illusion And those who make use of it so abuse the most holy and wholsom thing which they render unprofitable to themselves and contemptible to others Act not in this manner Theotime Meditate really to sanctifie your Soul to mortifie your Passions to correct the Vices which bear dominion in you to practise true and solid Vertues and those you stand in most need of in your present State. CONCLVSION This is what I had to propose to you upon this Subject of Meditation To conclude I have but two Words to say to you Read and Practise Read to instruct your self in a thing which as yet you know not to convince your self that Meditation is not so difficult as you might conceive it but that you may practise it and that it may be very beneficial to you Read to learn the Method of it and practise the same But content not your self with the Reading proceed to the Practice and Exercise of so pious a thing Try what you can do therein or rather what God will give you the Grace to perform Be assur'd he will give you much if you approach to it with a sincere Intention to please him and to learn in that Divine School the Truths of your Salvation and to practise them faithfully Be not dismay'd for the Difficulties be faithful and perseverant and God will bestow upon you the Means to surmount them Call to mind that Sentence of the Prophet That a Bonus est Dominus sperantibus in se animae quaerenti illum Thren 3. God is good to those who hope in him and to Souls which in reality search after him Seek after him in your Prayers and Meditations and you will find him if you search faithfully b Petite accipietis quaerite c. Ask and it shall be granted to you seek and you shall find knock at the Door and it shall be open'd to you c Gustate videte quam suavis est Dominus Psa 51. Tast Theotime and experience how sweet and pleasant God is in this pious Exercise and you will find by experience and in effect the truth of that Sentence of the Divine Wisdom d Beatus homo qui audit me qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie observat ad postes ostii mei Qui me invenerit inveniet vitam hauriet salutem à Domino Prov. 8. Blessed is he who hears me and who watches often at my Door and waits at my Gates He who shall find me shall find Life and receive Salvation from the Hand of our Lord. FINIS
the Nobility we need only make a little Reflection upon the Life of Great Men. We see a prodigious Pride reign in them which makes them contemn all the World and esteem all others infinitly below them Ambition and a desire of growing Great perpetually possesses them They are extravagantly addicted to all their Pleasures Lovers of Delights Bold and Shameless to publish their Sins and glory in them Envious in the highest degree Ty'd to their Interest Affecting none but themselves Unjust Violent Harsh and often Cruel towards others especially their Inferiors Impatient and Cholerick Given to Swearing and Blasphemies Revengeful even to excess not being able to suffer or dissemble the least Injury which frequently is grounded only in their Imagination and even make open profession never to endure or dissemble any O God! what a Life is this for Men who make profession of Christian Religion And that which accomplishes the Misfortune of this Condition is The detestable Passion for Duels that detestable Passion for Duels with which they are so continually possest that there is scarce a moment in their Life wherein they have not a Resolution to expose themselves to Fight upon the first Injury or at least at the first Challenge A Resolution which keeps them in a continual mortal Sin and hinders them from ever being in the Grace of God. Not to mention the Contempt of Religion Sensuality and Impiety which usually reign in that State and especially now adays where there are found so many who say unto God Qui dixerunt Deo recede a nobis scientam viarum tuarum nolumus Quis est omnipotens ut serviamus ei Et quid nobis prodest si oraverimus illum Job 21. as the Impious said in the Scripture Depart from us we will not have the knowledge of thy ways Who is the all-powerful who says that we must serve him What doth it profit us to Pray unto him Is not this a thing much to be deplor'd to see in the midst of Christianity the fairest part of Christian States to be most corrupted And that Nobility which is given as a Recompence of Vertue and to excite others thereto should become the Source of Vice and the Fountain of the Corruption of Noble Persons So that it is a Mark of Reprobation to many and it were more desirable for the greatest part of Noble-men that they had never been born For what advantage is it to be Great before Men and to be wretched and contemptible in the sight of God a Quid prodest quod liber est in natura qui servus est in conscientia Euseb Emiss Hom. 3. de Pascate To be honor'd by Men and hated by God To Command others and to be a Slave to Vice and his own Passions And in a word To be happy in this World and damn'd for ever being of the number of those who eternally cry out b Quid nobis profuit superbia aut divitiarum jactantia quid contulit nobis Tansierunt ista omnia tanquam umbra Ergo erravimus à via veritatis Sap. 5. What did our Pride profit us What advantage hath the pomp of Riches brought to us All those things are passed away like a Shadow Wherefore we have err'd from the Way of Truth O my dear Theotime if you be Noble I beseech you to make here a serious Reflection upon your self and upon the Danger your Nobility exposes your Salvation to Distrust your State and be afraid lest it should ruin you By how much more you are rais'd in Condition by so much more have you an Obligation to Vertue and are in greater hazard of Destruction Remedies against the Obstacle of Nobility Labor earnestly for your Salvation and use all possible diligence that your Nobility be not a cause of you Damnation as it is to many For this Effect practise the following Advices 1. First Advice Understand perfectly what true Nobility is Nobility is inseparable from Vertue it takes its origin from thence and is only conserv'd by it It hath been bestow'd upon your Ancestors in recompence of their worthy Actions if you imitate them in their Vertue you will merit the Title of Noble if you imitate them not you have but a false and imaginary Nobility 2. Know Second Advice that besides this Nobility Instituted by Men there is a Divine Nobility infinitely rais'd above this which is that which is acquir'd by Grace Videte qualem charitatem dedit nobis Pater ut filii Dei nominemur simus 1 Joh. 3. Intellige tibi esse genus de coelo age vivendo sancto respondeas patri Dei silium ut se probat qui vitiis non obscuratur humanis qui divinis virtutibus elucescit Chrysolog Serm. 6 7. For if Nobility consists in being born of Illustrious Parents and of those that are considerable in the World what Nobility will it be to be made the Child of God Coheir of Jesus Christ predestinated to possess the the Kingdom of Heaven This Theotime is the great the prime and the true Nobility if you possess this you are really Noble and if you have it not how Noble soever you may be before Men you are most Infamous and Abominable in the sight of God. 3. This being so Third Advice permit not your self to be puft up with Pride and Arrogancy for your Nobility Mala nobilitas quae se per superbiam apud Deum reddit ignobilem Aug. Serm. 27. That is a wicked Nobility says St. Augustin which makes you contemptible in the sight of God by its Pride On the contrary by so much more Humble as you are more Noble according to the Precept of the Wiseman a Quanto magnus es humilia te in omnibus apud Deum invenies gratiam Eccl. 3. By how much greater you are says he by so much humble your self more in all things and by this means you will render your self agreeable to God. It is an excellent Advice like that which S. Jerom gives to Noblemen b Nulli te unquam de generis nobilitate praeponas nec inseriores quasque aut humili loco natas te inferiores putes Nescit religio nostra personas accipere nec conditiones hominum sed animos inspicit singulorum servum nobilem de moribus pronunciat c. S. Jerom. Epist ad Celant Prefer not your self before others by reason of your Nobility and contemn not those who are not Noble Our Religion hath no respect to Persons it regards not the Condition of Men but their Minds it judgeth of Nobility by their Manners There is no Nobility in the sight of God but not to serve Sin. The height of Nobility is to be Illustrious in Vertues O what an excellent and necessary Advice is this for Noblemen 4. Fourth Advice Endeavor to observe well the ordinary Vices of the Nobility that you may carefully avoid them we have hinted at some of them you will