it's Grounds Every one that is convinc't whether upon solid or sleightest Grounds God has said a thing is bound to beleeve it else he sins mortally in disbelieving God who is Essential Truth Much less do I absolutely require this of them but upon supposition that their own speculative and acute Genius makes themselves require it I exhort them to it as to that which is to such Souls a means to increase their Devotion and can no way shock them if they be not passionate and precipitate Least of all do I tell them that in looking into their Grounds they ought to go to work like Doubters or Seekers but quite contrary supposing them firm in Faith by their relying on the sure Rock of the Church and strengthen'd in that reliance by the Practical Evidence that the Virtues she exhorts us to are agreeable to Right Practical Reason or Conscience and that the means she proposes and enjoyns to attain them are Effectuall towards that End I bid them rest secure that if God together with an earnest desire to advance in Devotion have also given them a piercing Eye to discern Truth as he has to many many thousands in the vast Extent of the Church God's Goodness has provided such Grounds proportion'd and penetrable by every Capacity and theirs amongst the rest as will if look't into render their Faith more lively and their Devotion more fervent and Solid But who is of this pitch and so to make use of this method lest the over-weening of their own private and perhaps partial Fancies should make them strain beyond their force is left to the judgment of Spiritual Directers whom we are to suppose fitted by Education as well as design'd by Office to be the proper Discerners of Spirits and knowing when to administer St. Paul's Milk and solid Food according to the capacity of the Souls they are to nourish us in Devotion For those perfecti were already Faithful the reason then of his discoursing wisely with them was their pitch bearing it to make their Faith lively and their Vertue more solid and to enable them also to convert others to Faith and advance them in Vertue or Devotion § 15. The bottom-ground of all Devotion being thus layd in the Establishment of Faith many other Comfortable Lights will break out and cherish and strengthen the liveliness of it in such persons as we have spoken of and to a great degree in others also Such are the considerations What wise Orders for a World the Ten Commandements are What Universal Mischiefs would succeed if any of them were omitted and how the well-being of Mankind both as to this life and the next is pithily compriz'd in these few Heads which as it argues an infinitly-wise Contriver comprehending and providing for the Necessities of Human Nature so it likewise becomes an Infinit Goodness commanding his poor and indigent Creatures nothing but what is their own true Good and tends to bring them to compleat Happiness § 16. Next the Consideration how conformable the more elevaed Points of Faith are to Right Reason exceedingly comforts an Understanding captivating it self to the Obedience of Faith For as on the one side nothing is more rational than that those highest Truths which Elevate us to Heaven should be placed above the pitch and endeavours of Nature and so not to be knowable by Principles purely Natural So likewise Truths by being Truths and proceeding all from the Author of Truth must needs be ally'd one to another and bear some resemblance and proportion together those above Nature and Reason to those discoverable this way although they cannot be proved by them but depend on Gods Authority revealing and the Churches proposing them These things are found in the books of Divines of which such would be chosen as serve best to perform the duty of Divines and shew the conformity of Religion to Reason most clearly For those which with great shew of Wit and Learning only dispute matters plausibly on both sides are not proper for this purpose Who understands not Latin or though he do is perhaps to seek in those Terms in which Schoolmen usually express themselves should make use of some good Divine who may select such points as are most proper for the Person with whom he deals and deliver them in terms which may be intelligible to him § 17. Besides these Books Discourses which increase Dovotion in intelligent Souls by enlightning their Understanding there are others which work immediately on the Will of them as well as of others by the way of Affections without the help of Reason And though these are perhaps more proper for the other way of Devotion yet no assistance should be neglected and they are very compatible with this and no less if not more Efficacious For being made up of Expressions coming from a mind full of and overflowing with Devout Thoughts they are apt to transsuse as it were Affections into the Soul of the Reader And if that Reader be beforehand satisfi'd in the Principles which ground those Affections he is excellently disposed to receive them Those Principles then being habitually possest by the Readers they will experience their Wills inflam'd by the ardent Love which those Expressions breath in the same manner as Lively Expressions of any Passion beget the same passion in another especially if possest with the same Concern which was to both the Ground of those Passions Hence they find such Books full of Spirit and as it were of Sap connaturally nourishing and dilating their Souls which others not throughly satisfi'd of those Principles coucht underneath as their Foundation find sapless and disrelishing Though yet sometimes it happens otherwise and that without any fault or defect § 18. But generally such expressions are like meat already chaw'd and needing nothing to become presently nutritive but a heart disposed by Affections of the same kind to receive it as new drops of water without more ado cling together and increase the bulk Of these some are us'd for Prayer directly others for Entertainment of the Mind with devout reading but both work by the way of Affective Impressions The best without all comparison are the Psalms of David which some find relish more when they are taken asunder and then peec't of verses taken one here another there as seems most proper and those obscure parts which darken the sence left out Divers devout persons have laboured in this kind and who would labour for himself perhaps would find it no unuseful employment Besides these I would commend St. Austins Confessions some piece of St. Bernard and S. Bonaventure The Imitation of Christ The Love of God by St. Francis Sales St. Teresa's Works and ejaculatory Prayers The Sermons of of St. Thomas de villa nova c. But the best books of Devotion are those of Prayer and Prayer being an Elevation of the Mind to God and the Mind consisting of Understanding and Will those Prayers are the best which work on
are done are as much solicitous about the Disposition as the Action and labour more to perform them well than often unless their spiritual Director judg them fit for both but always with a Preparation suitable to the Reverence due to institutes so Sacred and Divine Those being altogether affected to many and those the most Customary Prayers often slubber them over sometimes with so litle application of the mind that there is not so much as a becoming Reverence in the posture of the Body They litle heed the sence as they go along and consider not how or how far it affects their souls and wanting that which is the proper Rule to direct their choice if chance dispose not otherwise generally make use of such as they see us'd by others apprehending some great matter in the very words and for that reason chusing somtimes Latin Prayers though they understand not one word of the Language And yet by the proportion this way has to their Pitch of Soul this conceit of some great thing in common concurrs so well with their right-set intentions that they pray very well better than where they understand more and conceipt less The other sort being knowingly devout or Spirituall who as St. Paul says Omnia dijudicant discern or distinguish all things and holding themselves at liberty where God or his Church has layd no command take for their Rule the Good of their Souls and believe this Good to consist in a Right Disposition They therfore chuse such Prayers and Books as they find by experience most useful to this purpose and contain such Motives as are most Efficacious to raise their Souls to Heaven They are no ways affected to what they do not understand and comprehend not how Ignorance one of the chief curses of Original Sin should ever be the Mother of Devotion They are more for the few and well than the many and often at a venture They are always careful to accompany their Prayers with a grave and reverent gesture and an attention piercing into as far as they are able and distinctly penetrating the force of the Words which they expect should contain such an Affective sence as is apt to wing their Souls for Heaven § 8. The former too are more addicted to Corporal the later to Spiritual Works of Mercy and as those fancy no great matter in the advancing of Truth supposing we have once Faith so these see no advantage to the world in relieving any necessity incident to the Body comparable to that of bettering mens Souls which they see will follow from the advancing of Truth Solid Goodness being the genuin Off-spring of Solid Knowledg § 9. Lastly the difference of these two Spirits is great in Relation to comportment and human conversation They whose study it is to guide themselvs by Right Reason the true Nature which God has given us apply it to all their Actions whence their carriage is even their Friendship steady their Judgment stay'd and just their thoughts Charitable They hearken to proposals with calmness and indifference and believe without good grounds slowly The others are more apt to be humorous stifly addicted to any opinion taken up of course inconstant in their purposes and friendships partial in their Verdicts credulous even of Toyes and of which no solid ground appears if they suit their Fancy unwilling to hear any Reason son which Crosses the conceit they have once espous'd And for want of duly weighing the nature and reason of things Rash Concluders Censorious of every thing that runs not just in the track of their thoughts and fierce Reprehenders of what they think amiss And yet these imperfections when they happen hinder not a good meaning and right-set intention All this while they may heartily wish and love what 's agreeable to Gods will and hate whatever is contrary only by the shortness of their Reason or untoward circumstances they are preoccupated with a wrong conceit of their own way and see not what is agreeable and what contrary to the Will of God And so afford those of the other sort a fair Occasion of Exercising a double Charity in bearing with their Imperfections and by sweet ways instructing their Ignorance § 10. But we must not think that these two sorts of Devout people are found in the World fixt in an indivisible point as they seem here described I fear there are not very many perfectly of the one kind and hope there are not very many just of the other I only intended to describe the standards of these two Spirits which are participated with a thousand unequal degrees now of the one now of the other sort and interwoven with a variety almost infinit according as natural Genius Instruction and other circumstances have allotted their proportions § 11. Let be it our task oemulari charismata meliora with a true Christian Ambition to aim at what 's best and highest but yet remember too that what 's best in it self is not always best for every particular and resolve upon better advise than our own to pursue the Unum necessarium that way which is most expedient for our Souls The truth is these Methods as different as they are may both be needful almost for every one Few or no understandings are so sublime as not to admit and even need the assistance of frequenting outward Acts which beget Habits And few so low as may not be improv'd to contribute and that considerably to the benefit of the material way if good Instruction be not wanting Wherefore neither should the Intelligent Devote neglect the constant use of outward Acts of Devotion nor the Material one to improve his outward exercises by joyning as much Understanding to them as he can SECT V. Of the means to attain Devotion THe means of attaining both sorts of Devotion are already toucht in Common but the subject deserves to be treated more particularly In the Material way because the effect is wrought in the Soul by impressions first made on the Body that which imports is that these Impressions be as strong as may be and as many for a weak cause often apply'd will produce the effect of a strong one Such exercises therefore are to be preferr'd as strike the inward sense and fancy most strongly but what ever they are they will become Efficacious if they be often enough repeated Those therefore for whom this way is proper should be exhorted to be assiduous in the outward exercises of Devotion whatever they be yet with this caution that the Frequency prejudice not their Efficacy For if they become so customary as to be done meerly out of custome they will loose much of their force Particular care is to be taken in this point about those Exercises which require an extraordinary Reverence and by the design of the Divine Institutor carry with them an awe and respect as the Sacraments c. For if according to the Maxim Consueta vilescunt Customary things grow vile our too
Love of this World strengthen and advance my Reason elevate my mind to God and strain with the utmost force of my Soul after this state of Bliss which is alone Desirable alone Considerable c. And this with a steady and devout pursuit keeping ever awake in my mind when it grows drowsy the Absolute Certainty of what my Faith propos'd and attested to me by the Church delivers to me Thus we see how Faith is the Argument of things not yet seen to wit by the clearness of its Principles or Grounds Likewise how 't is the Substance of things to be hoped by the Firmness of its own Foundations Lastly how it is the Ground-work of all Devotion because the consideration of its Truth render'd express to our thoughts makes Faith it self very lively and Operative that is our Judgments concerning the Truth of it very Practical and Ready for Christian Action in which that disposition of the Soul which we call Devotion formally consists To proceed thus far and settle their Judgments in these Truths with the steadiest firmness and clearest sight they can is advisable for those Souls whose pitch of Reason makes them Inquisitive into the Grounds of things and capable to comprehend them for such persons will receive much comfort and profit by such kind of satisfactions It imports not which way they take to this end whether they work it out by their own meditations or use the assistance of Books or publick or private and Familiar Discourses So the business be done it matters not how § 11. If any particular difficulty which strikes at the very Ground of their Beleef comes cross their thoughts and hazards in the least to shock their Judgment it may be worth their pains somtimes to see through that too But to amuse themselves with every Objection and not to be quiet till they themselves can answer every thing which is or may be oppos'd I take to be a very unprofitable and very unsatisfiable curiosity The difficulty may somtimes be such as cannot be solved without a deep in-sight into many Sciences such as they neither have nor can hope to have for want of leasure or parts Again Objections are endless and should we not be satisfi'd of a Truth till all that can be said against it were answer'd we should never be satisfy'd of any Truth at all but onely of the very first Principles Should all the Objections yet ever thought of from the beginning of the World be answer'd to day as many more might be invented to morrow For Wit and Fancy have no bounds and 't is from the fertility of their Inventions that Objecting proceeds And after all 't is not the proper business of Devotes it belongs to Controvertists to answer Objections the only thing which imports Devout people of this pitch is to understand well that the Grounds on which they proceed in the conduct of their Lives are firm and solid and such as they ought securely and without fear of deceit rely on Which done they must be true to themselves and act with a vigour proportionable to that degree of cleerness with which their Speculativeness discerns them to be true joyn'd with such a Concern as Faith tells us the matter deserves Nor need they distrust Gods Providence in this which has furnisht his Church with means suitable to every capacity § 12. Again when upon certain Grounds they have given Admittance to a Truth they should stand to it and trouble themselves no more For nothing in the World is or can be more certain than that if this be True what ever is or can be said against it is not True whether I be able to make so much out or no. And upon this they may securely rest In truth this wavering Inconstancy this quivering Irresolution which keeps us from owning heartily what we do see for fear of what we do not see is a blamable weakness loses the time in which we should work out our Salvation upon Doubts and Scruples and puts us into the condition which St. Paul reprehends in the women of his time Semper discentes nunquam ad scientiam veritatis pervenientes Always Learning never coming to the knowledge of truth § 13. Since then a knowing devout soul seeks only or only should seek so much knowledg as is necessary to the perfection of Devotion let her if she be able faithfully and severely pursue her inquiry till she arrive at such a certainty of those Truths which concern her I mean such as will give solid Ground for Virtuous Christian Life and for the rest remain satisfy'd with this that there must of necessity be some deceit in whatever is said against Truth Let her a God's Name first discover that to be Truth which she embraces as Truth to which 't is sufficient to judge upon good Grounds the Church is Infallible But after this it is lost time if she spend any in the discovery of the deceit It is enough she knows it is Deceit and needs not know what kind of one it is In our particular Case she may reflect that the Testimony of the Church or Tradition being the ground on which we build the certainty of Faith as 't is Christian which onely in a manner amongst us is called in question they who deny the force of Tradition must by consequence deny the certainty of any matter of Fact done before our Days And because Nature assures us that this is Irrational it assures us likewise that who object on this manner go against nature and so all they can say is no other than witty talk handsom flourishes and plausible quibbling without real force or solid ground And indeed they plainly discover themselves irrational and led by passion who obstinately oppose Tradition because they maintain an evident Contradiction For on the one side they affirm that Faith is truly certain and on the other deny Faith has any Grounds truly Certain And this since nothing can be said certain but in vertue of the Proofs of Grounds by which the Certainty is made out is to say that Faith is and is not truly Certain To this they are forc't by the heat of Opposition For they will not grant Tradition has the vertue to make a thing truly certain because they are aware it is against them And by denying it they leave no truly certain Grounds for Faith at all For as all proof of matters of Fact past long ago must at last depend on Testimony or Tradition if Tradition it self be not secure nothing can be so which depends on it And so there is no remedy but they must speak out at last and say plainly as they do that all grounds of Faith and consequently Faith it self may possibly be false § 14. I would not be mistaken here to advise any they should not beleeve till they have this Evidence of the Grounds of Faith but I presuppose them already Faithful and intend only to comfort their Faith by looking into