If it be true as we have shewn that the Vices of Youth are very hardly Corrected it follows that a great part of the Corruption we see amongst Men springs from that which they had contracted in their younger Years Besides it is certain that bad Children become wicked Pathers and wicked Fathers make their Children vicious As they have liv'd in Disorder during their Youth they concern themselves but little that their Children should be Educated in the Fear of God and thus Corruption is communicated and passes from Father to Son by a continual Succession Now if this Proposition be verifi'd in the greatest part of young Persons it is sound more evident in those who are call'd to Study of whom it is true to say that their wicked Life causes the greatest part of the Sins and Disorders of the World because they are the Men that attain to Dignities whether Ecclesiastical or Secular wherein they behave themselves according to the Inclinations and Habits they had learn'd in their Youth and according to the first Impressions they receiv'd Now when they comport themselves ill in these Conditions the Evil stays not at their Persons but descends to many viz. to those they ought to Govern Instruct or Edifie who instead of receiving from them the Examples of Vertue gather nothing but the Imitation of their Vices and the Corruption of their Manners In a word I say Theotime that vicious Students become First in the Church wicked Priests Ignorant Unprofitable to God and his Church and frequently Scandalous Idle Covetous Worldly and Debaucht Incumbents Pastors incapable of their Charge who acquit themselves very badly of it to the great Detriment of the Salvation of Souls In the Nobility Gentlemen Proud Quarrelsom Duellers Immodest Blasphemous Libertines In the the Courts of Justice base Judges Corrupted Acceptors of Persons and who commit many Injustices for Mony Favour or Fear thro' the Ignorance or Rashness with which they give Sentence Advocates that are Wranglers Impostors and Cheaters In the Civil State Magistrates incapable of their Charges little careful of their Duty who see Vice and hinder it not And from the Corruption of these Four sorts of Persons springs the Depravation of the People and the overflowing of Vice in the World. Consider attentively O dear Theotome all these four Evils one after another and learn by their greatness how important a thing it is for you to addict your self to Vertue in your Youth CHAP. XIV That the Devil uses all his Endeavors to move young People to Vice. IN fine Eleventh Motive to Serve God in Youth Theotime that I may make you comprehend how important a thing it is for you to addict your self to God in your Youth there remains that I should tell you That the Devil that sworn Enemy of Mens Salvation fearing nothing more than to see you Vertuous in your Youth employs all his Endeavors to gain you to him and all those of your Age that he may destroy you presently after without recovery This Truth is a very manifest Consequence from all that we have said before The Attempt of the Devil to destroy young People That cursed Fiend who studies nothing but to rob God as much as he can of the Honor due to him and Men of the Happiness prepar'd for them knows very well that to incline Youth to Vice is the means to take away from God the first and greatest Acknowledgment which Men owe him He knows in the Second place how much a wicked Life of Youth is injurious to God as we have manifested above And moreover he understands very well that there is no other more certain way to fill the Earth with Iniquities and to Damn all Mankind This is the reason why he employs all his Industry to deprave the Innocence of Youth as the first Source of Salvation and of all the Blessings of the World. He knows well that to empoison the Waters of a Fountain it is sufficient to cast Venom into the Spring which communicates it easily to all the Brooks And that to Conquer a Realm it is sufficient to gain the chief Places which give Entrance into all the rest of the Country This misfortunate Fiend understands well how to put in practice the Malice he taught to Pharao Exod. 1. to whom he suggested the destruction of all the Male Children of the Israelites in their Cradle that so he might exterminate and root out that People of God. He Exerciseth daily both the Malice and the Cruelty of Nabuchodonosor 1 Reg. 21. who having taken King Sedecias with his Children at the Sacking of Jerusalem caus'd the Childrens Throats to be cut before the Fathers Face and satisfi'd himself to pluck out afterward the Father's Eyes and to let him live Thus this cruel Enemy employs all his Malice to murther the Children by Sin and strives to blind interiorly the Fathers that they may not see or not be sensible of the loss of their Children nor deliver them from the Danger wherein they are The same King returning into his Country Parvuli ejus abierunt in captivitatem ante faciem tribulantis Thren 1. Idcirco ego plorans oculus meus deducens aquas quia longe factus est a me consolator convertens animam meam facti sunt filii mei perditi quoniam invaluit inimicus Audite universs populi videte dolorem meum Virgines meae juvenes mei abierunt in captivitatem Ibid. Quos educavi enutrivi inimicus consumpsit cos Cap. 2. proud and puff'd up with his Victories carry'd for the fairest part of his Triumph the young People of the City of Jerusalem which he sent Prisoners before him as it is said by the Prophet Jeremy And he left nothing in that desolate City more to be lamented or mourned for than the deplorable loss of the young People which the same Prophet bewails above all its other Calamities some being destroy'd by the Sword others cruelly snatch'd away and sent into a barbarous Captivity Thus dear Theotime this detestable Fiend who as the Scripture says is establish'd King over all the Proud hath no greater reason insolently to triumph over the Holy Church than for the multitude of young People which he keeps in Salvery by Sin. And this pious Mother accounts no Ruin more deplorable than that of her dear Children which that Enemy snatches from her in their younger Years some by one Vice others by another and almost all by the Sin of Impurity which is the strongest Chain by which he Fetters them Exercising thus continually the Rage he hath conceiv'd against her from her Nativity and the immortal War he hath sworn to wage against all her Children according to the Revelation made to St. John in the Apbcalyps Apoc. 12. Lastly This War of the Enemy of Mankind against young People is a thing so manifest that the same St. John writing to the Faithful and congratulating every Age for the Blessings which were
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
Kingdom of Heaven did appertain Sinite parvulos venire ad me talium est enim regnum coelorum Et complectens eos imponens manus super eos benedicebat eis Marc. 20. He embrac'd them with an admirable Tenderness and sent them not back till he had impos'd his Hands upon them and given them his holy Benediction The most notable Cures he wrought were of young People Amat Christus Infantiam quam animo suscepit corpore amat Christus Infantiam humilitatis magistram innocentiae regulam mansuetudinis formam Aug. Scrm. 8. de Epiph. Such was the Son of the King who was ready to expire in John Chap. 4. Another who was tormented with the Devil Mat. 17. The Servant of the Centurion and the Daughter of the Cananean Of the three Dead which he rais'd to Life two were very young viz. the Daughter of Jairus and the Son of the Widow of Naim and the third who was Lazarus was not in Years Of the twelve Apostles he lov'd particularly the youngest which was S. John. Lastly What greater Proofs can we bring of the Love Jesus Christ bears young People than the Two which I shall speak of The First is the Assurance he hath given Qui susceperit parvulum talem in nomine meo me suscipit Mat. 18. that all the Favours which shall be bestow'd upon them shall be accounted as done to himself He says he that receives a Little One in my Name receives Me. The Second is that dreadful Menace which he afterwards utter'd against those that Scandalize the Little Ones that is who make them fall into any Sin. Qui autem scandalizaverit unum de pusillis istis qui in me credunt expedit ei ut suspendatur mola asinaria in collo ejus demergatur in profundum maris Mat. 18. If any one says he Scandalize the Little Ones who believe in Me it were better a Milstone were ty'd about his Neck and he cast into the bottom of the Sea. Was not this a great Token of the singular Affection Jesus Christ bore to young Souls since he speaks with so much Zeal and Indignation against those who contribute the withdrawing them from his Service These dear Theotime are convincing Proofs of the Love God has for you in your Youth After these Assurances you have had thereof can you refuse the Love and Service he demands of you in this Age Doubtless you cannot without an extream Ingratitude and without offering him a most enormous Affront as we are about to see CHAP. V. That they who Consecrate not themselves to God in their Youth offer him a most heinous Injury THIS Truth evidently follows out of the Two former Fifth Consideration to Serve God in Youth for if it be true as we have manifested That God desires and demands particularly the Service of young People and hath an extream Love for that Age on which he bestows very singular Favours to assist it and invite it to his Service It follows The Injury that is done to God by not Serving him in that Age That to refuse him the Service he desires and requires with so much Justice and not to answer the Love he testifies to Youth by so many Favours and Benefits is to offer him a most heinous and enormous Affront But because this Verity is of such Consequence that it can never be sufficiently inculcated I shall make you see it more distinctly by the Three following Considerations which I beseech you to Examine well First First Reason of this Injury Not to Consecrate the Time of Youth to the Service of God is to take away a certain and assured Time which you may give him to reserve him an uncertain which you are not sure to have and which is not in your power viz. the Time to come This is the First Degree of the Injury you offer to God. You promise God to Serve him when you are older Who hath told you that you shall live a long time If you are not certain to be alive to Morrow how are you sure to live Ten Years hence There are more who die before Twenty or Twenty five Years of Age than after Now if you have no assurance to live a long time is it not a great Injury you do to God to promise him the Time to come which you have not nor is in your power and refuse him the Time present which you enjoy What think you Theotime do's not he deride God who acts in this manner and doth he not evidently manifest that he hath no true Will to Serve him deferring to Consecrate himself to him in a Time which perhaps may never come Secondly Second Reason You not only reserve an uncertain Time for God but take away the better to give him the worse For refusing to Serve God and apply your self to Vertue in your Youth which is as we said before ordinarily less deprav'd by Vice and most favour'd by Kindnesses from God you reserve to your self a Time wherein all things conspire to hinder you and render you unfit for Good and the Exercise of Vertue The Inconveniences of the Body which daily are caus'd the Inveterate Vicious Habits wherein you will be Engag'd the Perplexity of Worldly Affairs the Solicitude of Temporal Things the Spirit and Maxims of the World which you have Embraced Totus mundus in maligno positus 1 Joh. 5. The World which as S. John says is entirely plung'd in Vice and Corruption which breaths after nothing but Pleasures Covetousness Pride and has no more thought of Salvation and Eternity than if there were no such thing at all All these things will bring an incredible Impediment to your Salvation and will absolutely divert you from the Service of God if you prevent not them in good time by applying your self in your Youth to the Flight of Sin and to the Practice of Vertue Judge then of the Injury you do to God deferring to Serve him in a Time where you shall have so many Hindrances and not resolving to Serve him another where you have so many Means and Advantages Doubtless this is a grievous Injury Yet this is not all take notice of that which follows That which fully concludes the Enormity of the Injury offer'd to God is Third Reason That not intending to Serve him in your Youth you will give him nothing but the remainder of Sin delaying to Serve him till after you have pass'd your Time merrily in your Youth satisfy'd all your Passions and follow'd the wicked Inclinations of your Age So that the Time you reserve is but the remnant of what you have employ'd in Sin and Service of the Devil Do you comprehend Theotime the heinousness of this Injury and the Indignity with which you treat your God and your Creator * Nescitis quia Templum Dei estis Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis 1 Cor. 3. Your Soul is made to be the Temple and Dwelling
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
made you have abjur'd the Devil by your Words you must also abandon him by your Life and Actions if you will not be accounted a perfidious Person and a Fugitive Alas Theotime have you done so But at least Will you do it for the future Is it possible that you should return to that Enemy which you have so solemnly renounced Aug. ibid. Quid tibi cum pompis Diaboli quibus renuntiasti Quid tibi cum pompis Diaboli amator Christi The Profession of a Christian obliges you to live in Vertue Third Obligation of a Christian and Innocence flying Sin more than Death To admonish you of this Obligation the Priest after he had Baptis'd you Cloath'd you with a white Garment speaking these Words Receive this white Garment Accipe vestem candidam quam immaculatam perferas ante thronum Dei. which you shall carry without Spot or Stain before the Judgment-Seat of God To make you remember by that exterior Whiteness and by those Words to conserve diligently the Beauty and interior Purity which your Soul had then receiv'd by the Grace of Baptism O Theotime meditate well upon these Words and call to mind what will befall you at the Judgment of God if you defile that Innocence by a Life full of Sin. This white Robe with which you have been Cloath'd will condemn you in that dreadful Day The Priest who hath Baptis'd you will rise up against you and demand of God Vengeance for the Abuse you have offer'd to the Grace of your Baptism I shall recount to you for this purpose a memorable Action of a Deacon of Carthage call'd Murita towards the Judg Elpidophorus an Arian who having been receiv'd by him at the Font of Baptism had renounc'd afterwards the Catholick Faith. This holy Deacon being Cited before that wicked Judg to give an Account of his Faith carry'd with him the white Garment with which he had Cloath'd him in his Baptism and exposing it to the view of all spoke to him these Words with which he drew Tears from all that were present * Victor Vticensis lib. 3. persecut Vandalorum Haec sunt linteamenta Elpidophore Minister Erroris quae te accusabunt dum majestas venerit Judicantis custodiente diligentia mea ad testimonium tuae perditionis ad demergendum te in abyssum putei sulphurantis haec te immaculatam cinxerant de Fonte surgentem haec te acrius persequentur flammantem gehennam cum caeperis possidere Behold O Elpiphodorus Minister of Error the white Garment which will accuse you before the Divine Majesty at the Day of Judgment I have carefully preserv'd it to be the Proof of your Apostacy and to precipitate you into the abyss of Hell It serv'd you as an Ornament when you came from Baptism wash'd and cleans'd from your Sins and it shall serve to make you suffer more sensibly the Eternal Flames CHAP. III. That God requires and singularly accepts the Service of young People MOTIVE III. AFTER the precedent Considerations Three Considerations to oblige Men to Serve God in their Youth I pass to others yet more particular to convince you of the most strict Obligation you have to Consecrate your self to God in your Youth The first which I advance is That God earnestly desires to be Serv'd by you in that Age and that the Service of young People is particularly agreeable to him I shall make clear this Truth by Three Reasons First First Reason Because the Time of Youth is the Beginning of Life Now it is certain that amongst all things God demands particularly the First and Beginnings He ordain'd for this reason in the ancient Law that the First-fruits of all things that grew should be Offer'd to him He would have amongst the Fruits the First that was gather'd to be Presented to him Amongst Beasts the First to be Offer'd in Sacrifice to him And amongst Men the Eldest Sons to be Presented in his Temple to Serve there permitting them afterwards to be Redeemed shewing by this Institution that altho' all things did equally appertain unto him yet he had a special Esteem for the First as those which above all others were due unto him and which he requir'd in Title of Acknowledgment Whence it evidently follows That the Time of Youth being the beginning and first part of our Life God demands it particularly and would have it Presented unto him to be faithfully Employ'd in his Service Secondly Second Reason The Time of Youth is most pleasing to God because properly speaking according to the natural Order of things it is the most innocent part of Life and least corrupted by Sin Because in that Time one has not so full a knowledge of Evil nor so much ability and occasion to perform it Ones Judgment is not prejudicated by the false Maxims of the World nor his Manners nor Inclinations deprav'd by the Infection of the Wicked Besides the Grace receiv'd in Baptism being yet fresh renders that Age more agreeable to God at least in the Person of those who by a Life full of Sin trample not under their Feet that Grace and Robe of Innocence But take notice Theotime I have said That that Age is less corrupted commonly speaking and according to the natural Order of things yet it is but too true that many times much Corruption is found therein but this against the Order Nature hath establish'd which hath given to that Age for its Portion a Simplicity of Mind and Innocence of Manners and those are so much more culpable who by their Malice and Depravation corrupt what Nature had render'd as it were consonant to it learning Wickedness and running after it in an Age where Nature her self taught nothing but Simplicity and Innocence The Third Reason which declares that God particularly desires to be Serv'd by you in your Youth Third Reason dear Theotime is That it is the Time where you have the most occasion to make appear that you love God sincerely For it is the Time of the first Temptations wherein you begin to be mov'd to renounce his Love and Service You are tempted by your own Passions which are then in their prime violence Invited by those of your Age who often solicit you to Wickedness either by their Example or by their Discourse Provoked by the Enemy of your Salvation who uses all his Endeavours to withdraw you from the Service of God and secure himself quickly of your Person So that this Time may properly be call'd the Time of Combat and Trial wherein you shew you love God with a constant and real Affection if you couragiously resist those first Assaults * Gubernator in tempestate dignoscitur in acie miles probatur Delicata jactatio est cum periculum non est conflictatio in adversis probatio est veritatis S. Cypr. lib. de Mortalitate It is but a small thing to be Generous in Time of Peace to have Courage when one is not Attackt
ab adolescentia sua Thren 3. good for a Man to carry his Yoke from his Youth that is to addict himself to Vertue and to bear the pleasing Yoke of Gods Commandments Why in Ecclesiasticus doth it exhort young People so powerfully to Vertue by those excellent Words able to win the most insensible Hearts Son d Fili à juventute tua accipe doctrinam usque ad canos invenies sapientiam quasi is qui arat seminat accede ad eam sustine bonos fructus illius in opere enim illius paululum laborabis cito edes de generationibus illius Quam aspera est nimium sapientiae indoctis hominibus non permanebit in illa excors Quibus autem cognita est permanet usque ad conspectum Dei. Eccl. 6. receive Instructions from your Youth and you shall find Wisdom even to the end of your Life Approach unto it as he who would Cultivate the Earth that is with Care and Labour and expect the pleasing Fruit which it will bring you You will labour a little to obtain it but soon after you will tast of its admirable Fruits 'T is true Vertue is hard and difficult but it is only to those who are insensible and vicious But those who have once known it well find it pleasing and never part with it any more and it will continue with them even to the last accomplishment of their Salvation in Eternal Glory And all the rest of that Chapter is but a continual Exhortation to young People to become Vertuous Wherefore in the Twenty fifth Chapter doth it say Quae in juventute tua non congregasti quomodo in senectute tua invenies Eccl. 25. That it is impossible to find in old Age what was not laid up in Youth And Lastly Amongst the Books of Sacred Scripture why was there one expresly made for the Instruction of Youth which is that of Proverbs Doth not all this manifestly discover that the Holy Ghost would give Men to understand that the Time of Youth is of extream Consequence and the greatest Part esteem it not And that all Happiness and Misfortune of Men whether in this Life or in the next depends ordinarily on that Time well or ill bestow'd It being commonly most certain that those obtain their Salvation who in their Youth are bred up in the Fear of God and Observation of his Commandments And that those who have not been Educated in that Fear of God or who cast it from before their Eyes to follow Sin with more Liberty do misfortunately Perish All this Truth is rais'd from those Two Foundations whereof the First is That those who have follow'd Vertue in their Youth continue easily therein all the remainder of their Life And the Second That on the contrary those who have given themselves over to Sin at that time do very hardly correct themselves and most frequently are never withdrawn We shall discover these two Truths more amply in the following Chapters CHAP. VIII That those who have follow'd Vertue in their Youth conserve it easily all the remainder of their Life EXperience makes this Proposition so evident Eighth Motive that it is accounted a thing most certain in the Sentiment of the Sacred Scripture and understanding Men. To make you more sensible of it I shall discover unto you the Reasons thereof relying upon both those Authorities The First is That Habits gotten in Youth are conserv'd a long time and are not easily lost This is clear in the Holy Scripture Prov. 22. The young Man will not leave in his old Age the manner of Living he hath once begun that is very rarely It is incredible how powerful the first Impressions are and how deeply the first Habits are rooted in young Souls The first Impressions of young Minds saith S. Jerom are very hardly defaced S. Jero Epist ad Laet. Difficulter eraditur quod rudes animi perbiberunt lanarum conchylia quis in pristinum candorem revocet recens testa diu saporem retinet odorem quo primum imbuta est Wooll which hath once taken its first Tincture doth not easily lose it to return to its former Candor And an Earthen Vessel keeps long the Smell and Tast of that Liquor wherewith it was first Season'd For this Reason the Scripture says a Thren 3. That it is good that is to say very important for a Man to addict himself to Vertue in his Youth Because having acquir'd it in that Time it is easily conserv'd the remainder of ones Life As it says in that other place b Eccl. 6. Receive Instruction in your Youth and you shall find Wisdom even unto the end of your Life S. Bernard says S. Bern. lib. De ordi vitae Multi senes diu viventes nihil proficientes quia nullas sibi in opportuno tempore divitias congregarunt That we need not seek any other Causes why we see so many old Men full of Vices and destitute of all sorts of Vertues but because they acquir'd them not in their Youth which is the proper Time for it * Senectus eorum qui adolescentiam suam honestis artibus instrukerunt in lege Domini meditati sunt aetate fit doctior usu certior processu temporis sapientior veterum studiorum dulâ—issimos fructus metit Jerom. Epist ad Nepot And S. Jerom describing the excellent Qualities of the old Age of those who apply'd themselves to Vertue in their Youth saith That they become more Knowing by their Age more Assur'd by Experience more Discreet by the Process of Time and gather the agreeable Fruits of the ancient Labours of their Youth The Second Reason is because Youth is the Time of most violent Temptations which being overcome we easily surmount all others The Temptations of Pleasure are without question the most violent Inter omnia Christianorum certamina duriora sunt praelia castitatis ubi quotidiana pugna rara victoria S. Aug. Serm. 250. de temp Quem tormenta non vicerant superabat voluptas Jer. in vit Paulin. they sometimes conquer those whom Torments could not overcome Now altho' these Temptations are common to all Ages yet nevertheless it is most certain that they are ordinarily more strong and frequent in Youth which as * Adolescentia multa corporis bella sustinet inter incentiva vitiorum carnis titillationes quasi ignis in lignis viridibus suffocatur S. Jerom. Epist ad Nepot S. Jerom says is a continual Combat of Chastity and being environ'd with the Occasions of Sin and urg'd by the Provocations of the Flesh it suffers very much to conserve its Purity like Fire that is almost choak'd with green Wood heap'd upon it But when by the Succours of Divine Grace which as we have shewn above are greater and more abundant in Youth as the Temptations are more frequent and impetuous one has gain'd the Victory in these first Encounters it happens
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
God in their Youth are presently after sensible of a great diminution of those Favours occasion'd by the ill use they have made of them God himself threatens this by a Prophet when he speaks thus a In illa die deficient adolescentes in siti qui jurant in delicto Samariae Young People shall perish with Thirst who Swear in the Sin of Samaria That is who make Profession of Adoring the Idols which the City of Samaria Adores This Thirst is not only a Corporeal but a Spiritual Thirst and the want of Divine Grace of which it is spoken immediately before b Mittam famem in terram non famem panis neque sitim aquae sed audiendi verbum Dei. I will send a Famine upon the Earth not a Famine of Bread nor a Drought of Water but of the Word of God. The Third Cause is the Power and Dominion of the Devil which is enlarg'd according to the measure that vicious Habits are encreas'd Sins multiply'd and Divine Favours diminisht It is the proper Effect of Sin which making a Soul lose the Grace and Protection of her Creator to subject her to the Dominion of the Devil and engage her more and more in that misfortunate Slavery according to the proportion that she continues in Vice. O Theotime who can sufficiently express the deplorable State of a Soul reduc'd to that Servitude under the Tyranny of her mortal Enemy who employs all his Engines and Devices to destroy her without recovery suggesting all the Temptations to her which might move her unto Sin furnishing her daily with new Occasions of Destruction diverting her from those that might withdraw her from Disorder casting her headlong from Sin to Sin from one Vice to another until such time that her Iniquities being come to a Head she by the utmost Effect of the Divine Choler is abandon'd to her Eternal Perdition Thus doth this cruel Enemy treat those whom he hath under his Power and that by a just Permission of God who rejects in this manner those who withdraw themselves from his Service and Friendship and who refusing to submit themselves to his Commands and to the plenty of his Favours and Benedictions most justly merited to be abandon'd to that cruel Master who breaths nothing but their Destruction and will never * Servietis diis alienis die ac nocte qui non dabunt vobis requiem Jerem. 66. cease to persecute them till he hath precipitated them into Eternal Damnation O Theotime how misfortunate are all those who are faln into this deplorable Slavery but yet more miserable those who being engag'd therein think not of sighing after their Deliverance CHAP. XI Examples upon the precedent Subject And First of those who have Corrected the Vices of their Youth but yet with very great Difficulties IF this Truth be made manifest by Reason it is yet more certain by Experience which might furnish us with as many Examples thereof as there were ever Persons who follow'd Vice in their Youth and by the Divine Mercy were recall'd from it I shall content my self to produce one of the most considerable which is that of St. Augustin The Example of S. Augustin We have in the Person of this Saint the most memorable that Antiquity could supply us with to shew clearly how difficult a thing it is to Correct Vices contracted in Youth I shall recount what he himself says of it in the Narration he gives in his Confession by a particular Inspiration of God to teach all young People to be wise by his Example and to advertise them to avoid the Dangers and Rocks whereon he was misfortunately shipwrackt and prevent that Misery wherein the wicked Life of his Youth had totally engag'd him if God had not withdrawn him by an Effect or rather a Miracle of his Divine Mercy which he hath not shewn to many others He saith First Lib. 1. Confes cap. 10. That he spent his Childhood in all the wicked Inclinations that Age was capable of disobeying his Parents and Masters Cap. 12. 13. having an Affection for nothing but Play flying Labour refusing to Learn not attending to those things which were profitable Et tamen ego Deus meus libenter haec didici delectabar miser ob hoc bonae spei puer appellabar Cap. 16. but only to those which were delightful and dishonest wherein he took a singular Pleasure extraordinary subject to Lying addicted to little Thefts and to all the Malice a Mind was capable of in that Age. He passes thus his Youth until the Age of Sixteen These first Inclinations as it usually happens were follow'd by other far greater Disorders Being come to Sixteen Years of Age Cap. 19. that Mind which had not been restrain'd in the first disordinate Excesses of its Nature Lib. 2. cap. 1. carry'd him to all the Vices his Age was apt to receive * Ubi eram quam longe exulabam à deliciis domus tuae anno illo sexto decimo aetatis carnis meae cum accepit in me sceptrum totas manus dedi ei vesania libidinis licentiosae per dedecus humanum illicitae autem per leges tuas Cap. 2. He says it himself and he says it with Sighs and Lamentations That Sensuality and Lascivious Passions did so powerfully seise on his Heart in that Age that they plung'd him into all the Sins of Impurity even to such a heighth as is not fit to be exprest so that neither the Fear of God nor the discreet Corrections of his Mother nor the Infamy of Sin nor any other Consideration could any way bridle him in that first Disorder but on the contrary he became so ungracious that he not only lost all shame for Vice * Praeceps ibam in tanta caecitate ut inter coaetaneos meos puderet me minoris dedecoris quando audiebam eos jactantes flagitia sua tanto gloriantes magis quanto magis turpes essent Cap. 3. but took a pride in it and was asham'd not to be accounted as vicious as the most deprav'd He began this Life when he was return'd from his Studies in his Father's House where he dwelt a whole Year After that he was sent to Carthage to finish his Studies where he continu'd the same manner of Life till the Age of Nineteen Here Theotime A considerable Remark for young Men. you shall take notice by the way of four or five Causes of this Corruption of S. Augustin in that Age. The First Idleness wherein he spent his Sixteenth Year in his Father's House Ubi sexto illo decimo anno interposito otio ex necessitate domestica feriatus ab omni Schola cum parentibus esse caepi excesserunt caput meum vepra libidinum nulla erat eradicans manus Lib. 2. cap. 2. at his return from his Studies which is a Time very dangerous for young People as we shall shew hereafter Secondly Cum interea
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
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
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
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