their Frailty can permit they need neither desire nor trouble themselves for more and if God shall please to give them any thing beyond that let them decline it with Humility or receive it with Reverence and preserve it with Fear working in all things with resignation and the Counsel of their Spiritual Guide for the Revelations whereby we are to be saved are already revealed to the Church and for the rest though they may be profitable yet they are not necessary to my Design To conclude I offer this Work such as it is full I confess of Imperfections to all that are desirous to improve and go forward in the Spiritual Life with a most affectionate desire of their good earnestly exhorting them to the principal end which the whole aims at namely to know how much earthly transitory things ought to be despised and therefore to flie from Vices to avoid Worldly Delights and to embrace those which are Heavenly and Eternal to practise the Vertues to frequent the Sacrament to Pray earnestly and often and finally to labour and take pains in the Kingdom of Grace that they may come to enjoy God eternally in the Kingdom of Glory AN INDEX OF THE Several Subjects treated of in each Month and Week of this Spiritual Year JANUARY Week I. OF the Frailty of Humane Nature Week II. Of the Weakness of Man and the Miseries of his Body Week III. Of the Miseries of the Soul and its Passions Week IV. Of the Miseries and Sins of each Man in particular FEBRUARY Week I. Of the Remembrance of Death Week II. How much it concerns the Soul to remember Death in the time of Life Week III. The dreadful Call of God to the sinner that defers Repentance till his Death Week IV. The Answer of a Repenting sinner and that we ought to prepare our selves for Death MARCH Week I. Of the particular Account that each man is to give immediately after his Death Week II. Of the Rectitude and Severity of the Judgment Week III. Of the means there are in this Life to prevent the Account and Judgment of the other Week IV. Of the Universal Judgment at the end of the World APRIL Week I. Of the Torments of Hell Week II. Of the Place of Hell Week III. Of the Company of the Damned and of their pain of Sense Week IV. Of the duration of the pain above-mentioned of the pain of Loss and of the Worm of Conscience MAY. Week I. Of the Divine Benefits Of the Benefit of Creation Week II. Of the Institution of Matrimony Of Civil Society and Government Week III. Of the Benefit of Preservation first of our Bodies Of Preservation from particucular dangers Of the Preservation of our Souls Of the Guard of Angels Week IV. Of the Benefit of Redemption JUNE Week I. Of Baptism and Confirmation Week II. Of Repentance and Absolution Of the Holy Eucharist A Prayer Week III. Of Frequenting the Sacrament Week IV. Of the Kingdom of Grace Of the Purity of Intentions Of Purity of Conscience JULY Week I. Of Temptations and the Grace of God in them That it is no easie matter to be sav'd but that it is necessary to fight Of the Grace of God Week II. Of the Glory of the Blessed Week III. Of the Imitation of the Life of our Blessed Saviour and of his Mysteries Of the Mystery of the Incarnation Of the Birth of our Lord. Week IV. Of the other Mysteries of our Lord till his Preaching and first of his Circumcision The Adoration of the Kings Of his Presentation in the Temple Of his Flight into Egypt Of the other Mysteries AUGUST Week I. Of the Baptism and Preaching of our Lord with his Doctrine Miracles and Parables Week II. The Eve of the Passion Of the last Supper and of the washing of his Disciples Feet Of the Institution of the Holy Sacrament Of the Consecration of the Apostles Week III. Of his Agony in the Garden his Death Resurrection and Ascension Week IV. Of the Exercise of the three Theological Vertues Faith Hope and Charity upon Contemplation of the Life and Death of our Saviour SEPTEMBER Week I. Of the Vertue of Religion and of the manner of governing the Cardinal and Moral Vertues by that of Religion Of the Application of Christian Works Week II. Of the three first of the Cardinal Vertues Prudence Justice Fortitude and first of Prudence Of Justice and of good and evil Judges Of Fortitude Week III. Of Temperance the Fourth of the Cardinal Vertues Of the manner of governing the Moral Vertues by the Cardinal Of Judging falsly Week IV. Of Humility and its contrary Pride OCTOBER Week I. Of Liberality and its contrary Covetousness Of Chastity and Abstinence The Mischiefs of Sensuality Of Remedies against Sensuality Of Gluttony Week II. Of Patience Of Anger Of Moderation in speaking and the mischiefs of the Tongue Of Silence Week III. Of Envy Remedies against Envy Of Charity to our Neighbours Of Courtesie Week IV. Of Diligence and Fervency and of the mischiefs of Omission and Sloth NOVEMBER Week I. Of the Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit in general Of Charity the First Fruit of the Holy Spirit Week II. Of Peace the Second Fruit of the Holy Spirit Week III. Of Longanimity and Benignity the Third and Fourth Fruits of the Holy Spirit Week IV. Of Faith the Fifth Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Continence the Sixth Fruit. DECEMBER Week I. Of Joy the Seventh Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Patience the Eighth Fruit. Week II. Of Goodness the Ninth Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Meekness the Tenth Fruit. Week III. Of Modesty the Eleventh Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Chastity the Twelfth and last Fruit. Week IV. Of Perseverance and Prayer to God THE Spiritual Year JANVARY The First WEEK Of the Weakness of Humane Nature HEAR Son the Instruction of thy Father and learn to fear God who is thy true Father Consider thy beginning if thou desirest to have a good ending Look what thou art and thou wilt see what thou shalt be Know thy self and thou shalt know God Behold thy self that thou mayest behold him thou art blind from thy birth like the man in the Gospel and mayest recover thy sight as he did by putting Clay upon thine eyes That is the matter thou art made of and it had remain'd Clay for ever if the Spirit of God had not breathed life into it Thus thou seest what Humane Nature is and that it speaks nothing but weakness and frailty 2. Would'st thou see how strong it is Look how long it stood Man being created in Innocence scarce continu'd so for a few days some say hardly a few hours His Nature was so perfect and so strong that it was able to destroy it self and without any inward weakness it yielded in Adam and Eve to an outward Enemy What is it like to be now that it is sick and mortally wounded since it ruined it self when it was sound and healthful Man fell in Paradise in the
and Sorrows of Mount Calvary The Jews murmured because the Disciples eat a few Ears of Corn a goodly cause of murmuring and the Lord answered They now have the Bridegroom with them and so it is fit there should be some little allowance and permission in his Presence but the time will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken from them and then shall they fast in those days and so it is needful sometimes to bear and to shew Long-suffering to the end that afterward by this outward Benignity and gentleness of Conversation we may pass on to fervency of Affection and to the unspeakable effects of Charity and of the Spirit Though Christ did abolish the Rites and Ceremonies of the Old Law though he buried it and sealed it up and covered it with the Law of Grace yet he would have it buried with Honour and that it should be practised upon some Occasions even after it was abolished as may be seen in the Holy Scripture and Divines say it was to make it honourable Obsequies of Graciousness and Benignity for that was Holy before which God prohibited afterwards and so do thou endeavour to converse with Benignity in all things and with all persons whether they be good or bad Do thou to all whatsoever thou wouldest have them to do to thee and believe that Benignity is a most powerful and effectual Instrument of Grace and of Charity St. Ambrose counsels his Bishops that in their first six Months they should shew all Gentleness Benignity Courtesie and Respect with Decency for the Will being once gained by Gentleness the People of their Diocess will afterwards easily lend an Ear to their Doctrine The greatest Jurisdiction is that of the Countenance much more powerful and effectual than that of the Hand for that begets Fear and sometimes Hatred and Hatred one while begets Contumacy and another while Despair But on the contrary a meek and gentle Countenance begets Love and that makes the Will of Man more plyable and to do any thing better and sooner I might say that Benignity is that which seasons all Humane Actions and is as Leaven which gives savour to our Bread or as Sugar which gives sweetness to our Food It is as a Coelestial Bath which softens and supplies and gives a nimbleness of motion and a Superiour oftentimes obtains more with a kind Look than with an angry Threat This the holy King David begged of God when he said Let the beams of thy countenance shine upon me and teach me thy statutes Make me glad with thy gracious Favour O God and then command whatsoever thou wilt for a gentle Superiour finds no resistance in his Subjects With this kind of countenance it was that Christ looked upon St. Peter when he brought him back into the right way and by one kind glance of his Eye disposed him to that sorrow which neither the so-often-crowings of the Cock nor the foretelling of them and of his Fall could effect That gracious look drew Rivers of Tears from his Eyes and he wept with the remembrance of that Gracious Love and Benignity which those Divine Eyes had cast upon him Therefore pray to God for Benignity and make use of it towards all Persons for it is the Temper that will make thy Zeal more constant and thy Charity more effectual The Fourth WEEK Of the Fifth and Sixth Fruits of the Holy Spirit Faith and Continence SAint Paul likewise reckons Faith for one of the Fruits of the Spirit and that excellent Vertue being the Root of our Good Works from which Hope and Charity do grow and from which all Christian Perfection and all Spiritual good things proceed as from the Source and Fountain It is necessary to think what kind of Faith the Apostle speaks of for this does not seem to be well fitted as a Fruit of the Spirit but rather that the Spirit should be counted as the sweetest Fruit of Faith That Faith is the Original and Beginning of our Improvement and not the Fruit but the Root of it is evident for without Faith there can neither be Hope nor Charity nor any other Moral Vertue nor without Faith can any one be saved nor do any good Action nor think any good Thought Look what the beginning is in respect of the means and of the end that beginning is Faith Look what the Foundation is in respect of the Building that Foundation is Faith Look what the thing contained is in respect of that which contains it that which contains it is Faith Look what the first Number is in respect of all those that follow it that first Number is Faith Look what the Matter is in respect of the Form that Matter is Faith Finally look what the Root and Sap is in respect of the Fruit and Branches that Root and Sap is Faith And so we see that St. Paul acknowledging that Charity as the end is a greater Vertue than Faith yet he makes Faith the greater as the beginning and therefore he says there remain these three Faith Hope and Charity but the greatest of them is Charity Note that he places Faith first because without it there can be no Charity and because that Crowns Faith for it lasts and continues even when we come to our Heavenly Country whereas Faith and Hope are the Vertues of our Banishment and Hope ceases with Possession as Faith does by Evidence and Light Charity is the greater as the Object End and Crown of the other Vertues and Faith is the greater as the Beginning and Original of them Therefore it is necessary to determine what St. Paul speaks of when he makes Faith a Fruit of the Holy Spirit it being the Root of all the Fruits of the Spiritual Life without whose beginning there can be no Fruit at all I should believe with some Expositors that he speaks of an high Gift of Faith of a Supream Magnitude of an Heroick habit of Faith which all the Creation obeys and becomes subject to which is a piece to speak on that manner though with impropriety which is a piece I say even of Omnipotency itself Think of that Faith our Saviour spake of when he said if we had so much of it as a grain of Mustard-seed we should do very marvellous things Think when he said If we had Faith and should say to a Mountain that it should be plucked up and thrown into the Sea it should be so Now it is this kind of Faith the Apostle of the Gentiles speaks of Think what Faith the Apostles had and prayed for when they said Lord increase our Faith for that they had was the Theological Vertue and that they prayed for was this high Gift which the Apostle means in this place Consider the Father of that Demoniack who begging of Christ to cast the Devil out of his Son was asked by his Divine Goodness Dost thou believe that I can do this And the poor afflicted Man answered Lord I believe help thou my unbelief as if he
to his Face Let so many Publicans and Sinners so many Harlots and other wicked Livers speak this who repenting were pardoned and the Traiterous Apostle Judas who persisting in Impenitency was Damned Of the Institution of the Holy Sacrament This Gracious Action being finished he holds a most loving Discourse to his Disciples preparing them to see their Master suffer and to bear all those sufferings they were to undergo themselves O how does he forewarn and advise them How does he encourage and instruct them How does he enlighten and comfort them There he rebukes Peter thereby giving a Lesson to the rest and shews them Beams of Mercy even in those Prophecies of Tribulations and Afflictions that were to befal them If he foretel their Frailties and their Failings he also assures them of Victories and Triumphs and that they shall subdue and trample upon the World through the Vertue and Power of his Grace That most tender Discourse being likewise ended he Celebrated the third and last Supper or more properly the admirable and unspeakable Mystery of the Sacrament in which he expressed and Epitomized the Intimacies of his unmeasurable Goodness and Charity To make himself Man and to suffer for Man seemed but a small thing to his Love unless he still remained with Man to be the food of Man O Infinite Charity which contentest not thy self with being our Redemption unless thou also becomest our Nourishment O Infinite Charity who not only offerest thy self to Death to save my Life but who also wilt enter into my Breast to give me a better Life and to defend and free me from a more lasting Death O Infinite Charity who having our Ingratitude in thy thoughts and that thou wert to be condemned by Men to die upon the Cross yet leavest us a benefit which we could not have received but by thy passing first through so great an Ingratitude of Men O Infinite Charity which knowing that my Offences would nail thee to the Cross wert yet providing that remedy for those very Offences O Infinite Charity which knowing that a thousand Injuries and Torments were contriving in the Hearts of Men against thy unspeakable Goodness and Mercy didst yet leave thy self for Food to those Infamous Mouths and having it in thy Power to inflict a severe punishment upon them for so great a Wickedness wert offering them means and expedients of Mercy Goodness and Charity What was Man doing when thou didst institute this blessed Sacrament for him What but preparing the Scourges the Crown of Thorns the Nails and the Cross for thee He was designing thy cruel Death and thou his eternal Life He was contriving Torments for thee and thou Glory for him He was platting a Crown of sharp Thorns for thy sacred Head and thou a Crown of Joys and Eternities for his Lord is it thy Custom to repay Benefits for Injuries and to give Crowns for the Reward of Ingratitude Come hither O devout Souls come and bewail with me so great a Sin Come love with me so great a Love Come with a Spiritual Hunger and offer up your hearts to receive that Divine Nourishment and let whatsoever is in you of your selves go forth of you to make room for this most deservedly beloved Lord to enter Of the Consecration of the Apostles After that our Sovereign Lord and Master had Consecrated the Elements of Bread and Wine breaking the one and giving it them to Eat and pouring out the other and commanding all to Drink calling the one his Body and the other his Blood and thereby changing not their nature but their use that they might become a Sacrament which should remain in his Church not only for a Remembrance of his precious Death and Passion but also for a Conveyance of the Merits thereof for the Remission of Sins He Consecrated also the Apostles themselves and gave them the Power and Vertue to Consecrate and Ordain others and to send them forth as he did them for the Propagation of his Gospel and for the Administration and Government of Souls This was another admirable expression of the Love of our Lord Jesus to Mankind since whereas he could have taken upon him the nature of Angels and left them Heirs of that rich Possession of Receiving Consecrating and Administring those precious Symbols he was pleased to bestow that Benefit and Priviledge upon Mankind which thereby received Honour and Favour as well as Remedy But Lord I wonder not at that since from the time thou madest thy self Man all advantages were brought to Man by joyning thy Divinity to his Humanity O that as thou hast given to us Bishops and Priests this Dignity we had also the Spirit the Devotion and the Piety of the Apostles And Lord as the Power thou hast conferr'd upon us is what thou hast not granted to Angels and to Seraphins O that the Perfection of our Manners and the Purity and Charity of our Souls were in some degree suitable to that of Angels and of Seraphins But O God we have a Dignity of great weight upon very weak shoulders the Dignity is fit for Angels the Weakness is of miserable Sinners And thou only O Eternal Goodness thy Mercy and thy Strength alone can help and encourage and support our Weakness and Misery Since then O sweet Lord thou givest us this Dignity give us also those parts and qualifications which are expedient for it Since thou hast given us the Obligations help us also with the Abilities since thou givest us the Ministry give us also the Spirit As thou hast made us to represent thee make us also to imitate thee As thou hast given us the Power give us also the Vertue with the Power Suffer us not O Divine Goodness to serve in that High Dignity with Uncharitableness and Indignity If thou wilt not help the Bishops the Fathers of the Faith and the Shepherds of Souls O thou Eternal lover of Souls whom wilt thou help If our Light must enlighten the Souls of others what shall become both of us and others if we want thy Light Thou callest the Apostles and Ministers the Salt of the Earth and if the Salt lose its savour how shall their Doctrine be seasoned If the blind lead the blind shall they not both fall into the ditch Grant O Lord that thy Goodness and thy Love may dwell in us that thy Mercy and thy Charity may burn in our hearts and that the fire of thy Divine Love may break forth from thence to kindle and enflame the hearts of our Christian Brethren Our Blessed Saviour having Consecrated his Holy Apostles to be Teachers of the Faith and Pillars of his Church and having made himself their Minister and their Priest enters into the breasts of those that were to be his Ministers and Priests to become an unbloody Sacrifice in the Altar of those living Temples before he was a bloody one upon the Altar of the Cross They with profound Reverence receive the Lord whom they adore and behold
right Justice of the Creator Consider how many Mischiefs are caused by a slackness in Legal Vindictive Commutative or Distributive Justice Consider the inequality of the World in disposing of Rewards Offices and Dignities Consider the wrong done in Suits by giving that Sentence for the Rich and Powerful which is due to the Poor and Necessitous Person Consider the false Clemency and Pity whereby ill Men are Pardon'd and the secure Tyranny whereby the good are Oppressed Consider the Disturbances that arise from the ill management of Laws and of Publick Resolutions All this disorder all this excess or defect omission and commission and all this perverting of Judgment proceeds from our swerving from that Eternal Rule of Internal and Superiour Justice which God imprinted in Natural Reason and which his Grace afterwards did more illustrate by his Holy Laws Counsels and Directions Tell me what Justice there can be in the heart of him who is unjust in himself and who is possessed with filthy Appetites and inordinate Passions That Justice which begins with so terrible an Injustice as to throw God out of the Possession of his heart how can it deserve the name of Justice Or how can that be so called which does not oblige a Man to do within himself as he desires that others should do without himself The first thing that a wicked and partial Judge does is to rob God by taking away his own Heart Understanding and Discourse from him and giving it to the common Enemy Now where is this Judge like to end that begins thus with playing the Thief He that robs God of that which is his what Robberies will he not commit upon Man 'T is manifest that his Justice will be but a tolerated and applauded Tyranny since he is to Judge and pass Sentence openly who is himself already Judged and Condemned secretly Partiality and Arbitrariness will sway his Sentence to free a Delinquent if he be his Friend and to condemn an Innocent if his Enemy He will prefer one that bribes and flatters him and reject another that neither presents nor honours him He will prefer his own Commodity Pleasure Profit or Will before the Publick Peace Quiet and Security In all his Actions he will measure the Publick Conveniency with his own and leave his neglect and carelesness to the Publick All his Diligence and Watchfulness shall be for himself but not the least part of either for God or the due performance of his Publick Employment Now wouldst thou do Justice and be Excellent in that Vertue Then first be just within thy self and then thou wilt not fail of doing Justice to others Settle and govern thy inward Common-wealth with Holiness Let God and Reason and the Rules thereof order that little World which thou hast within thee and then thou mayest come forth holy and just to govern the World without thee Is it not certain that if thy little World be disturbed confused and in disorder the great World will be so likewise as far as thou hast the Government of it If the Governour himself be naught how shall it go with the thing governed If a furious Storm have broken and carried away the Rudder what shall become of the poor Ship If thou and I when we are Superiours be the Rudder and Government of the People and if we will be ungoverned and destroyed by Vice how shall they be governed and preserved in Vertue Let us govern our selves first and then we may be fit to govern others Let us do Justice in our own Houses and then having given credit to it by that means it will enter powerfully and effectually into the Houses of others With what colour of Modesty can the Judge that is inwardly unjust act outwardly against a Criminal or a guilty Person finding himself more guilty than that Criminal Will not his Heart and his Conscience in every Action be condemning and lashing him for his own Injustice Will it not call out unto him with clear and loud cries and speak truth to his Soul in the midst of his falshood and deceit Saying Why dost thou condemn another O thou wicked Judge being thy self the most worthy of Condemnation Thou Hypocrite thou seest the smallest Mote in the Eye of another and dost thou not see the Beam in thine own Wilt thou guide and restrain and govern others being blind and loose and disorderly thy self Take away thine own Beam and then thou mayest see to take away the other's Mote Govern thy self and then thou mayest govern the People Amend thy self and then thou mayest amend them Corect thy self and then correct them First do Justice within thy self and then thou wilt likewise do it abroad Wouldst thou be just towards others Then rectifie thy self Cleanse the Affections of thy Soul and thou shalt see clearly Passions are as the Eye-lids of the Soul they close themselves upon it and take away all its light Lift up those Lids set aside those Passions and look up to God and thou shalt see and shine and burn and give light to others Of Fortitude The same thing thou findest concerning Justice thou wilt also find concerning Fortitude whose exterior practise depends totally upon the interiour This excellent Vertue is the Crown of the rest since it conserves strengthens and defends them all Fortitude in its Original is Valour in its Behaviour is Prudence in its Cause is Justice and in its Execution Temperance Since then that Fortitude is Valour Prudence Justice Temperance nay and Perseverance too how can it consist with the Vice Weakness and Inconstancy of a Man that governs not himself by Reason but is subjected and enslav'd by Passion He that is not strong in himself must needs be weak against others for he is wholly governed by his inordinate Passion which in itself is meer weakness and debility What dost thou think that Fortitude is Dost thou believe it is to conquer Provinces and to trample under foot Kingdoms and to tyrannize over the World This rather is a crowned Weakness a respected Violence and a publick Pest What matter is it for the Valiant Tyrant to present his Face to the Enemy if at the same time he turn his back to Vertue What matter is it though he defeat and conquer the Army he fights against if at the same time he be conquer'd and dragg'd in Triumph by his Passions That cannot be Vertue which is the cause of innumerable Crimes and is a Crime itself in its very root Alexander the Great subdued all the World but was the great and publick Thief of the World His Commanders punish one that steals a Thousand Ducats whilst he in one Year Robs and Usurps Thirty Kingdoms and that was a Crowned a Reverenced and an Adored Crime Julius Caesar who if he had possess'd himself of his Neighbour's Inheritance would have been banish'd from Rome Usurps and takes Possession of the whole Roman Empire destroying and cutting the Throats of innumerable Neighbours and Citizens and is ador'd
by Rome and by the Roman Empire Shall we ascribe the Vertue of Fortitude to those Royal and Imperial Crowned Serpents of the Earth who laid waste and dispeopled the Earth Shall we allow that Atila or Totila with such like Monsters of Cruelty were endowed with the Vertue of Fortitude These and their Fellows who by their weak and powerless Ambition over-turn'd the World destroyed pillaged burned and razed innumerable Cities Kingdoms Nations and Provinces at the same time while they were captivating the World were themselves captivated by their Passions No these were not truly strong and valiant but Men powerfully weak who turned the World upside down They had been valiant if their Valour had overcome their Passion and if they had known how to confine their hearts within the limits of Reason Julius Caesar had been truly Valiant if he had defended his Country and Citizens and had been able to defend himself from himself without passing from the Name of Citizen to that of Tyrant We might have ascrib'd Fortitude to Alexander if he had governed his own Kingdom in Peace defending his Crown in just War within the Bounds of Macedonia but to make an Inundation upon Asia to take away so many Crowns and make them the Trophies of his Ambition was a powerful Weakness but neither Valour nor Fortitude The Vertue of Fortitude preserves the Mind in that which is right just and holy without consenting to let Passion enter to disorder and triumph over Reason He that is first conquer'd by the Vertue of Fortitude will have force to conquer himself subduing his Appetite making it yield to Reason and setting that up to Reign and Govern in his heart Shall he that disquiets a City and makes hurly-burlies in it becoming the scandal of the People be said to have the Vertue of Fortitude though he kill and burn and make himself the Terror of a Country He has only a strong Frailty so mad and frantick that he can neither order nor contain himself within those Honest and Lawful terms which are allowed in our Commerce with others He lives and acts as being dragg'd and trampled on by his Fancy and Humour and would he then have us think him to be truly Valiant The Powerful Prince the King that defends his Crown justly and orderly the General that Governs his Army rightly keeping Military Discipline the Judge who constantly repelling Passions and Partialities gives to every one that which is his own working in subjection to the Laws of God and those of his Country the Honest Man that walks fixing his Eyes only upon God and Reason the Modest Woman that firmly and constantly defends her Chastity these may indeed be said to have the Vertue of Fortitude The good Prelate that with just Discipline governs the Souls under his Charge the Glorious Martyr who in the midst of Persecution encompassed or rather crowned with Torments and Tyrants yet breaths Valour Constancy and Perseverance Finally all those who give their Body their Fame their Fortune or their Life for the saving of their Soul and keep that strong constant and persevering in goodness only for God's sake whether they suffer or suffer not whether they are esteemed or despised in the World These are they that are truly Valiant and are eminently possess'd of that honourable glorious and couragious Vertue of Holy Fortitude The Third WEEK Of Temperance the Fourth of the Cardinal Vertues TEmperance which moderates our Passions and governs our Souls with rectitude hath its Root also in Religion and must direct itself to God if it will be a perfect Vertue It s Duty is to reduce the Appetite both irascible and concupiscible to moderate bounds in order to God and his Holy Laws Anger is the Sword of Reason which sometimes she is necessitated to draw to defend her self but yet acts in such a manner that by Temperance she cuts out only what is sufficient without passing on to what is superfluous There have been Natural Philosophers that condemn'd Anger and would have Reason to be sufficient of itself they thought to devest Humane Nature of Passions was enough to make it to act prudently without any other means pretending to bring mens minds to an insensibility and to banish from them all manner of Natural Affections but they deceived themselves for it is neither possible nor convenient that Reason should quite lay aside the use of Passions and Affections because they move our hearts to act That which is convenient and possible is by the help of Grace to govern our Affections well and to regulate our Passions Let the Prince be angry as much as Justice and Occasion requires and let him moderate his Anger by the right Rule of Reason A General that sees an unjust and cruel Enemy coming to destroy his Army may and ought to defend himself with Anger and stir up his Fury to obtain the Victory Let the Superiour use his Anger to chastise the wicked and yet at the same time have compassion upon the wicked Let Reason Command let Anger Serve and Obey and let them joyn together to go as far as is convenient Be angry says the Lord but sin not as who should say Let Reason temper Anger and let Anger be subservient to Reason The Zeal of Moses when he was angry flew those that rebelled against the Law that of Elias brought Fire from Heaven upon the Souldiers of Ahab Heaven did administer Fire to his Zeal because his Zeal was moved with a just and heavenly Anger Our Saviour also sanctified Anger when seeing the Temple of his Eternal Father profaned by the Jews he twice took up the Whip to drive out the Buyers and Sellers and when he threw down the Tables of the Money-Changers Thou must not therefore think that an easie clemency and slackness which suffers the bad to run to ruin deserves the name of Temperance for to tolerate the bad and leave the good undefended is not Temperance but a base Remisness and detestable Negligence For Superiours to be sluggish whilst Subjects are insolent is so far from Temperance that it is an egregious Intemperance Temperance is that which neither comes short in what is right nor goes so far as what is prohibited Temperance is that which does not punish when it is urged by Grief or Importunity but when Reason appoints and the Nature of the thing requires Temperance is that which does what God commands and neither swerves from it by excess in going too far nor by defect in doing too little It is not Temperance for a Man utterly to forbear eating but to eat temperately It does not forbid a Man to sustain his Body but to give it as much as the inordinate Appetite requires It gives that which is sufficient but allows not that which is excessive When the Appetite asks what is necessary it grants it but if it demand what is hurtful it denies it Thus Temperance is the Bridle of the Appetite whether it be concupiscible or irascible
Temperance has two Reins in her hand sometimes she stops sometimes she puts forward now she turns on the one hand now on the other Whithersoever the Law Reason and the Divine Will directs thither she guides How should all be governed without Error if the Mind be not moderated enlighten'd with Reason and subdued with Mortification How is it possible that Temperance without God should be able to contain and moderate man's unbridled Appetite either irascible or concupiscible Or how can it without the power of Grace subdue our corrupt rebellious and unruly Nature How can this outward part be governed unless God illuminate and guide it from within And what can shew us the way of Vertue here below but the light that comes in to us from above The Gentiles did practise some Moral Vertues with Temperance yet even in them and in others they themselves acted with Intemperance Diogenes an humorous overweaning and wilfully-poor Philosopher tramples with his bare Feet all dirty upon the stately Train of Plato a wealthy Philosopher richly apparell'd Plato asked Diogenes What dost thou He answers I trample upon Plato's Pride Yes reply'd Plato but with a greater Pride Here the very Light of Nature judg'd among the Gentiles and enlighten'd them to see their Errors and one Pride reformed another for there was Pride in both Plato will be an Heavenly Man full of Vanity and Pride and fast giued to the Commodities of Life playing the Philosopher about Eternity only in Speculation but giving up his Will and Passion wholly to Temporal things Diogenes on the contrary despising outward things was neither contented in himself nor could live quiet among others being full of an inward Pride that contemned abused and offended all Both of them were acted by Intemperance and were Philosophers of this World and of Nature but not true Philosophers of God nor of the Spirit of Grace If one of the Saints or ancient Fathers of the Church had come into the richly-furnished Room of Plato he would have despis'd but not trampled upon his costly Furniture He would have despis'd his Riches with the same holy Humility wherewith he despised himself He would have despis'd the brave Hangings and Carpets of Plato but not the Person of Plato O the Celestial Knowledge of God and of his holy Law O incomprehensible Wisdom How pure and clear how bright thou shinest in the heart of a Christian who suffers himself to be govern'd by thy Light and directed by thy Means It is a ridiculous thing to think there is any perfect Vertue without God neither Prudence Justice Fortitude nor Temperance can be so without him for without God Prudence is Imprudence Justice is Injustice Fortitude is Weakness and Temperance Intemperance If God does not govern order temper and enlighten it if he does not guide and direct it natural Vertue will be so weak and full of imperfections that it will stumble at every step If it go right now it goes wrong within a moment and if here it punishes the Guilty there it condemns the Innocent But the Government of God and that Soveraign Light which enlightens a Righteous Man that heavenly Grace which assists and counsels him that is it which thou art to pray for and endeavour to obtain that is it that must temper thee if thou wouldst attain to the true practise of the Moral Vertues Of the Manner of Governing the Moral Vertues by the Cardinal By these four principal Vertues thou art to govern and direct the seven Moral ones I mean those which are opposite to the seven deadly Sins which in the Spiritual Life do order our Manners and make the Soul acceptable to the Lord of Vertues The former do command dispose guide encourage and direct us in the way but the latter to practise and put in execution what the others ordain Prudence gives the Manner Justice the Rectitude Fortitude the Courage and Temperance the Measure in all thy Actions Of all the Moral Vertues there is not one perfect which in its Exercise Duration and Perfection does not contain all the four Cardinal ones within it self Humility the Glory Peace and Foundation of the Spiritual Life the most fruitful Seminary of Gifts and Excellencies stands in need of Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance and so do all the rest First â—…t has need of Prudence for without a prudent management Humility might pass on so far as to become Scandal or Vanity Secondly It has need of Justice for a Man ought to keep it in such manner as likewise to keep up his Office Ministry or Dignity Thirdly It has need of Fortitude to preserve the Man between two vicious and contrary Extreams which the Moral Vertues are always in danger of unless they be corrected and assisted by the four Cardinal ones And lastly It has need of Temperance to keep a well-ordered proportion in every business Of Judging falsly But observe that there is a worldly judgment of persons and things that has nothing of the Spirit and another that is Spiritual and Internal therefore in thy Actions avoid the former and give thy self wholly to the latter Whatsoever a Soul does for God is accounted foolishness by those of the World because they take their own Rule and measure the Action with a natural Measure whereas the end for which it is done is Supernatural and so he who does that good thing does not suit nor proportion himself to the Judgment Rule and Censure of evil Men. They hold that for imprudent unjust weak and intemperate which is heavenly Temperance Justice Fortitude and great Prudence Gâ—… calls the Soul with an effectual Vocation and presently the gallant Young-man and the beautiful young Lady quit their Vanities and Follies and despise the Pleasures Honours and Riches of this World to secure an Inheritance in that to come by entring into a strict course of performing the Duties of Religion God calls the ancient Person who being undeceiv'd by Experience presently forsakes the World and retires from Business to spend his Age in a severe and penitent Life that he may give an holy end to those beginnings and middle parts of it that were wicked and scandalous This the World esteems to be imprudence injustice lightness of affection and takes it for the distemper and disorder of Reason The Spiritual person fasts and uses other Austeries he flies from those Companies that formerly were the occasion of his sins he seeks God in Solitude or else in Business and Employments and lives in his Service having an eye to him in all his Actions The World instantly gives him the Character of a strange singular extravagant and distempered Man whereas he is truly just temperate valiant wise and one that gives life unto the World For this reason it is that our Saviour says that the Prudence of this World is an Enemy to the Prudence of God for these two sorts of Prudence being very opposite and contrary do always look upon each other with an eye of
dislike and enmity Our frail miserable Nature being inclin'd to evil is subtil and discursive in any thing that is bad but is dull blind and careless in all good and if a Divine Ray from above does not help and clarifie our Natural Light it will presently be obscur'd if not extinguished by our Passion It is therefore very useful and convenient in the Spiritual Life to walk in the Divine Presence with the light of Prayer in our hands to the end that by the brightness thereof we may with God's Grace and Spirit choose the fittest means for so high an end despising vain and worldly Wisdom and making use of one that is Divine Spiritual and Celestial O let thy Prudence and Discretion consist in following the ways of thy Salvation All the means thou employest to this end are Christian good holy just powerful and prudent And all those Motives which would put thee out of those ways though they seem to come shining with Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance are really unjust weak intemperate and very imprudent The end of any thing ought to govern the means Thy end ought to be to save thy Soul to serve please and not to offend God to live an internal and spiritual life to make thy life a preparation for death to fit thy self by death for Judgment by Judgment for thy Account and by thy Account for that Sentence which may deliver thee from Eternal Condemnation and give thee the Crown of Glory in Life Eternal Oh! What an heavenly Prudence is this Oh what Justice What Fortitude What Temperance How well are they all temper'd with one another and and how imprudent and unjust how foolish how mad how distemper'd and how ruinous is the contrary Thus these four which were wont to be Natural Politick and Heathen Vertues thou mayest by a right intention and direction transform into Christian and Spiritual ones taking from Prudence not what the Flesh but what the Spirit requires from Justice not what the Inferiour but the Superiour directs from Fortitude not what Passion but what Reason commands and from Temperance what is allowed by God not by the World and the Devil The Fourth WEEK Of Humility and its contrary Pride WIth these Rules which are not worldly and natural but holy and spiritual concerning the four Cardinal Vertues the first thing that thou art to practise continually in the life of the Soul is Humility This is an unspeakable Vertue indeed and the Mother of all the rest for they are all bred and produced in her Bowels Humility is that which the Eternal Word chose among all the rest when being God he became Flesh to dwell amongst us clothed in our Humane Nature for the Immense and Omnipotent Lord of Heaven shew'd himself in this World so naked so poor as to be born in a Stable so little and so limited as to be contained in a Manger He consecrated Humility and dedicated himself to it through the whole Course of his most holy Life from the Virginal inclosure of his Mother's Womb and taught it upon the Cross by his most holy Death This is that which he has left for an Inheritance to his faithful Followers when he said Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and when afterwards having humbled himself at his Disciples feet he bad them do as he had done We have seen already how great a number of Vertues our blessed Saviour the Example of Christian Perfection did practise whilst he liv'd in this World leaving us to imitate that Divine Original and yet for all that he calls upon us sollicits and perswades us in particular to Copy none but his Humility Why did he not call upon us to practise his Patience Why did he not bid us learn his Charity Why not his Zeal and Diligence Why not his Fortitude Justice and Temperance but only his Humility By reason that the greatest fall and wound of both the Natures Angelical and Humane was Pride and so that Nature of the two that remains in a possibility of being cured which is the Humane and which our Lord came to remedy finds its principal Medicine in Humility Wilt thou see how contrary Pride is to Humility that thou mayest the better know how contrary Humility is to Pride Why Pride is the Natural Mother of all the Devils she engendred them in her Bowels and an Infernal Pride made them Devils of so many Angels they would needs be like God and equal themselves to him in Power and that Pride threw them in an instant from Heaven into the bottomless Pit Would'st thou now see what Humility is It is that which made Angels to be more Angels than they were before for when taking warning by the Fall of their Companions they humbled themselves before God he confirmed them in his Grace and fixed them for Angels eternally in his Glory above the danger of ever becoming Devils And would'st thou see what Pride is Look upon our first Parents Adam and Eve in their highest Felicity of Paradise and thou shalt see that because they would be as Gods and pass from Humane Limits to Divine they were instantly cast out banish'd naked and undone sowing Tribulations and Sorrows and reaping Thorns Afflictions and Misfortunes Would'st thou see what is Humility Behold those same first Parents weeping grieving and bewailing their Fault with an humble Penitence and thou wilt also behold them pardoned by the Divine Goodness and both themselves and their Posterity restored to Grace and Glory with a remedy more noble and much superiour to the Felicity they had lost Wilt thou see what Pride is Look upon Cain who despises God by denying the best of his Fruits which were due to him as the Author and Lord of the Inheritance and being proud and covetous forgets the Banishment the Example and the Tears of his Parents and would exempt himself from that just and holy Tribute This Sin carries him to another which is worse I mean that of Envy and Envy thrusts him on to a higher that of Murder even the murder of a Brother and this drives him to the greatest of all which is final Obstinacy and Impenitence He lives in Despair flying from himself and dying wounded with a deadly Arrow becomes the Head of the Reprobates and the Damned And wilt thou see on the other side what Humility is Look upon holy and blessed Abel who humbly acknowledges his Eternal Creator by offering him his Fruits He gives him the best of them and the best of his Soul which is Humility whereupon God blesses favours and crowns him as being the first Martyr of Heaven and the First-fruits of those that were called appointed and predestinated by the Will of Christ to an immortal Glory Finally these first successes and contrary effects of these two Contraries have been followed by innumerable others and there is nothing seen nor has been seen nor ever shall be seen but the ruins of Pride and the triumphs of Humility
is a full resignation to all that God doth disposeth or permitteth and there he quiets comforts and chears up himself where the Will of God is for in that the true Peace consists The Third WEEK Of the Third and Fourth Fruits of the Holy Spirit Longanimity and Benignity THE Apostle of the Gentiles proposes Longanimity as a Fruit of the Holy Spirit because it is not only profitable but necessary for the preservation of Peace and Charity and is a most excellent Vertue of Souls Longanimity signifies a dilating and enlargement of the heart which gives it a capacity of bearing both inward and outward Troubles and having this nothing affrights or amazes nothing terrifies nor afflicts it And if God did not give this admirable Fruit and Gift to the Soul it would be lost and fall away at every step and neither act with valour constancy nor perseverance The heart of Man is so little that it is not sufficient to give a small break-fast to a Kite and so of it self it is not capable of any great thing being so wretched a Morsel Can the Sea be contained in a Thimble Can the thing contained be greater than what contains it If the Vessel of this Human Nature that is Man's heart be so narrow what great thing can find room within it Now see the Miracle that God works with the Spiritual Man and how high a Fruit this Longanimity and the Enlarging of the Heart is which God gives to a Soul according to the measure it hath served loved and pleased him or according as he thinks fit to give it of his own good will making it so capacious as to be able to contain the Soveraign Gifts and Vertues of God and which is more even God himself who contains all things It would be a rare thing if a Man that lives in a poor little Cottage should of a sudden find himself in a Royal Stately and Majestick Palace or in a huge populous City What a wonderful Enlargement would that be of his poor Hermitage O Divine Beauty O heavenly Architect O immense good of Souls How vastly thou dilatest how strangely thou enlargest Man's heart with thy Grace and with thy Spirit Who does not sometimes see a Man great in Wit in Fortune and in Quality Who in a few years nay perhaps in a few Months before was busily running after childish Pleasures and drag'd along by his mean vile and sensual Appetite in such trouble anguish and affliction that his Soul hardly so big as a Child's Rattle was capable of nothing but empty Vanities his Heart being scarcely so big in comparison as a Pepper Corn mistaking every action stumbling at every step every thing afflicting him every thing tormenting him and God of a sudden entring into him and with Soveraign Light enlarging his Heart and spreading out his Mind by Longanimity he begins to despise and to mock at those things which he so fondly hunted after before and pretended to as things highly considerable but now being made capable of greater Matters turning his back to such mean vile Trifles he seeks after that which is really great and high that which is heavenly and unspeakable without ever resting or contenting himself till he have attained it What is this who enlarged that Heart Who stretched out that narrow Vessel which before was fill'd with a few small drops and now nothing can fill it but the unmeasurable Sea of the Passion of our Lord Who made a Giant of this Dwarf that before could hardly wield a Straw and now like Sampson is able to throw down and carry away Pillars and bear all the strong weaknesses of this Life Who hath made him that before cried as a Child because he could not get an Hobby-horse for such are the highest things the World can give now undervalue and despise whole Nature to ingulf himself in the vast Ocean of Grace Who hath made him that a while before followed hunted after and embraced Dung and Corruption to think the whole Heavens too little for him aiming to seek and possess the Creator of them and of himself Yesterday he was as busie in making little Houses of Sticks upon the Sand and covering them with Straw as Children are about making Dirt-Pies in some Corner and now he tramples upon the Stars and pretending to Eternity can content himself with no House but the Empyreal Heavens Who could work these Miracles but the Holy Ghost giving that Heart his Fruit and Blessing in that high Gift of Longanimity which enlarges it and dilates the Soul making it capable of those infinite good things that Supream Gift being the Tree which bears these admirable Fruits This St. Paul knew when he said When I was a Child I spoke as a Child I thought as a Child and did as a Child and in all that he acknowledged his own littleness but now that I am a Man I act as a Man and put away all childlish things Behold the difference between a Child and a Man In a Child all things are childish in a Man they are serious In a Child there is neither strength nor capacity he is a publick Necessity that lives upon Alms which Charity bestows upon him whether it be of his Parents or of his Nurse or of any other that takes pity on him A Man has strength and ability he is a publick Succour that is capable of any thing Now the same difference that there is between a Man and a Child nay a far greater there is between a good Spiritual Man and a wicked debauch'd Fellow that lives in a loose and sinful Course I say a much greater for the growth of a Child that becomes a Man is a natural Growth which is short limited and slow increasing by very insensible degrees and that hardly rises six Feet from the Ground in fourscore Years but the growth of a Man that was wicked and to whom God hath shewed the kindness to make him good and holy and to give him that Gift of Longanimity that is a growth of Grace in which there is no Geometrical material Distance or Degrees but is all Supernatural Behold the distance there is between Heaven and Earth that between an evil and good Man is yet greater Nay how far it is from Hell which is much lower than the Superficies of the Earth unto the Empyreal Heaven where God himself doth inhabit and so great is the distance between a vicious and a vertuous Person Now consider what difference there is between a heart when God hath enlarged it with this Gift of Longanimity and what it was before for that which was so fill'd with some trifling Passion that the Breast was not able to contain it but it broke forth and ran over through the Lips is made capable to receive even God himself so vast is the difference between an evil and a good Man And take notice that this place of St. Paul may also be understood not only of the infinite distance between the
Heart of a Man when it is limited and straitned in the Miseries of this World and when it is possess'd of God and made capable of his Gifts and Mercies but also between the Heart that went on in a course remisly vertuous and that had but begun to take some steps in the Spiritual Life and an Heart that by holy Exercises and Perseverance in Prayer hath obtained of God to be enlarged by this Gift of Longanimity for though it was hard for St. Paul and even impossible after the instant of his Conversion to have his Heart taken up with slight or trifling things because God from the very beginning of his Conversion made that Vessel of Election so capable as to receive his rarest Gifts and Graces for he had rare Light rare Knowledge and rare Zeal for the Honour and Glory of God even from the very first yet other Spiritual Men go on following the steps of the Spirit in that proportion which the Lord has been pleased to communicate to them according to the measure of their Service but in the beginning they were Children as St. Paul says and God afterwards by degrees makes them to grow up Men to become great and strong and bold to own and to persist in a vertuous Course and God gives them such largeness of heart at length that those who in the beginning were scarce able to such a little Milk can now digest the strongest Meat and those who at first were disquieted with every thing and whose weak Stomachs turned at the swallowing of a Pea are now able like Estriches to digest Iron They can bear and teach others so to do they can suffer cheerfully and guide others in the same way without any trouble And it is certain that this high Gift and Fruit of Longanimity though it be very important for all yet it is most so for Superiours for in them it is necessary that they may know how to bear with patience the Faults and Impertinencies of those under their Charge and to govern them with patience and without passion And so when God endued Solomon with what he needed for the Government of such an innumerable multitude of Subjects he amongst those other Vertues and Gifts wherewith he adorned him bestowed on him also as the Text saith this Longanimity and Largeness of Heart so that it contain'd even the Sands upon the Sea-shore as who should say that Royal Breast was capable of all things nothing could overwhelm or trouble him for he dispatched all Affairs with calmness and serenity A Spiritual Man sometimes disquiets himself because there are sins in the World What Would he that there should be none If there were sins in Jerusalem where Christ himself lived who was able to remedy them Shall there be none where he dwells Let him remedy those he can and let him beg of God with Tears and Prayers that he would remedy the rest but let him lay aside all sollicitude and disquiet and possess his own Soul with Patience A Spiritual Man is troubled that he cannot mend a thousand little Faults in himself What Would he shine here in Perfection Let him humble himself and acknowledge his Misery and pray to God for the remedy Let him bewail his Defects with humility for God sees his sorrow and pain and knows what he has need of and if he delay his Amendment to day probably he will grant it to morrow In this respect largeness of heart is needful for all things and thou must understand that God is not a God of Affliction and Disquiet but of Peace and Tranquillity Next to the Holy Spirit of Longanimity St. Paul reckons that of Benignity which is an outward pleasingness proceeding from an inward one whereby a Man behaves himself with Charity towards all and it was discreetly done of the Apostle to place this after Longanimity because it is a sweet Effect of that most generous Vertue and as it were a Fruit or benefit of that Fruit. For Benignity which is that outward gentleness of Behaviour is exercis'd not only with the good but oftentimes also with the evil and the wicked to mend and reclaim them and to bring them into a better way and which could not be done by Benignity without Longanimity for if I should converse so much with those that do ill as to disturb my self and abhor and disdain them if I should be weary of them or despise them how could I behave my self towards them with Benignity How could I by Charity draw them to Grace and to Charity and how could I win them with sweetness and bring them gently to that which is right Gracious and righteous is the Lord says David First he calls him gracious then righteous because by his graciousness and benignity he brings sinners into the right way as it follows in the same Verse of that Psalm And in another O taste and see how gracious the Lord is Taste of that which is gracious and sweet to the end that Nature afterwards may be able to suffer those bitter Remedies which Grace applies for the curing and rectifying of it Benignity then is an heavenly and gracious Affection and an Effect of Longanimity and Charity or I may call it Charity practised both towards the good and towards the bad Benignity is like the Sun which does good to all without difference it covers warms quickens cherishes guides and directs all whether they be good or bad This heavenly Gift is as we have said one of the most important Vertues of the Spiritual Life but chiefly for Superiours and therefore they will do well always to pray for it because it tempers and moderates that Zeal which else commonly burns with too much violence in their Charity To make Iron cut well they use to temper it with Steel which is softer and makes it cut more smoothly than it would do with its own hardness and brittleness The Winter does not leap of a sudden into the Summer nor the Summer into the Winter but the cold of the Winter is sweetned by the benignity of the Spring and the heat of Summer is qualified by the temperate Weather of the Autumn For a good Man to think that he can make an evil one good and holy in an instant or to conquer that force by force is neither very easie nor convenient Even God himself works naturally and makes use of these natural means to bring Souls to his interiour and spiritual Secrets That Divine Lord ordinarily catches and gain Souls by their Bodies and so in Judea and Palestine he cured and rejoyced them with Corporal Health and then bestowed Spiritual Health upon them also To his holy Disciples first he promised Kingdoms and Glories and Crowns and Thrones of Eternity to the end that afterwards they might be the better enabled to bear Crosses and Persecutions Deaths and Torments First they saw him Glorious and Triumphant in Mount Tabor to the end that afterward they might be able to endure the Pains
inward thoughts are loose and ungoverned what is it but a well-composed Falshood and a well studied Hypocrisie And all this is highly abominable to God nor do I wonder he should abhor it for his Divine Majesty is Truth and Sincerity itself and therefore he must of necessity detest a substantial Lye mask'd under the appearance of a Truth Christ reproved the Pharisees for making clean the outside of the Cup and Platter while within they were full of the deadly Poison of Extortion and Excess Make clean said he the inside and thereby the outside will become clean also He also calls them whited Sepulchres which had the appearance of Vertue and Religion but within were full of Bones Worms and Rottenness as if he should have said Ye have lively Passions within while your Passions seem utterly mortified without Thus this outward Modesty while it corresponds with the inward is both Vertue and Example but if it be not proportioned to that it is but a Mantle of Snow that covers an heap of Dung the Sun of Truth comes and melts it and then it is so much the worse by how much before it appeared the better Outward Modesty is always convenient in as much as it covers Imperfections to the end that a fault may not pass on to a scandal which is the worst and the most hurtful thing in the World yet when an ill Man makes use of outward Modesty to give Credit to his Authority and to those Erroneous Practises which he inwardly favours that concealed Wickedness is a great deal worse than a manifest Crime A Wolf in Sheep's cloathing is much more dangerous to the Flock than when he appears in his own shape for so he is known both to the Dog and to the Shepherd The one does but whistle and the other presently flies at him but when he comes in a fair Disguise he is unknown to both and the poor Flock is in danger to become his Prey Every body that has Eyes may escape a Precipice but hardly any body can escape a Snare for that has a seeming shew of Security but the other visibly shews the Hazard and the Danger The Common Enemy is never more dangerous to Souls than when he tempts with pretences of Good for he that takes him for an Angel of Light and of Holiness will more easily suffer himself to be perswaded than if he saw him in the Deformity of the Devil Though the Devil was a Serpent yet some Expositors say he spoke not to our first Parents in the figure of a Serpent but cloathed himself with a beautiful Appearance for fear lest Eve seeing him so ugly should have been afraid of his approach and so not have suffered her self to be perswaded by him He took the Colours of the Forbidden Fruit which was Beautiful in shew and Poison in reality Thus the Substantial Fruit of the Holy Spirit which thou must endeavour to obtain is not only an outward Modesty for under that great Treacheries and much Hypocrisie may lye hid though of itself it be good when it is not abused but an outward and an inward Modelty coupled together as well in the actions as in the manner of doing them and in ordering all we do in such a way that the Circumstances and Substance may receive mutual Advantage from one another and may together be like a fair gilt Case and Dial-plate exactly fitted to the proportion of a well-wrought Clock whereby being preserved from Rust and Foulness and defended from those Accidents that might spoil and disorder it the motions of its Wheels are kept regular and it is not only an Ornament to the place where the Maker sets it but a needful Help and Direction to all that look upon it for the disposing of their Time and of their Affairs and thereby the worth of the Case is also improv'd as a necessary and proper means of attaining the end for which the Clock is designed but if that be taken away the Case remains an empty useless thing and though the sight of it may please Fools and Ignorant Persons who regard not though the Hand point to a wrong Hour yet those of discerning Judgments will soon perceive the want of life and motion and disregard it as a thing of a flight and inconsiderable value Of the Fruit of Chastity The Fruit of Chastity is also a more excellent and higher Vertue than that we formerly spake of for this Fruit grows out of that being the Flower of that Tree and the production of that Holy Root This is a Chastity of an Heroical degree a Chastity of Supream Magnitude 't is that which those Saints were blessed with who gave their Lives to defend it or not to lose it This is that which the Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of Virgins and the prime Example of Chastity had This is that which Joseph had not only the Patriarch who was first of that Name when by his Chastity he triumphed over the wanton Lightness of his infamous Mistress choosing rather to suffer a cruel Imprisonment than to blemish it or do a Treachery to his Master but also the other Patriarch Joseph the Husband of the Blessed Virgin more Holy and more Chast than the former This is that which the great John Baptist had in losing his Life for having endeavoured to cleanse the heart of that Tyrant Herod from the Vice contrary to Chastity which cost him his Head that was sacrificed to the Revengeful Adulteress And this is that which many of the Primitive Christians valued to so high a degree that nothing could stain the whiteness of their Chastity but the Blood of their own Veins which was shed for the preservation of it This excellent Vertue may live and reign also even in Wedlock and shine brightly in holy Matrimony for Continence Temperance and Modesty in the use of Marriage is perfect Chastity sanctifying honouring and authorizing that holy Bond as St. Paul says This Fruit of the Spirit is acquir'd or to say better given by God through the Holy Spirit both to the married and unmarried to Virgins and to all those that have exercis'd themselves in keeping a clean and holy Purity both in Body and Mind And although all these Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit are owing to his Infinite Bounty yet this of Chastity is so more than all the rest for if as we have said none can have that former degree of Chastity out by the Gift of God Nemo enim continens esse potest nisi Deus dederit how can any one by other means obtain this Flower of Chastity which is the Crown and Fruit of that excellent Vertue which honours and improves even Chastity itself being exercis'd in such occasions and with such Heroical Vertues as do much increase the Glory of it Nor does the dependance of this Admirable Vertue upon the Bounty of God more than others increase the difficulty of it for in my Opinion and according to my way of Understanding it