same St. Augustine sinners have no more excuse nor can they lay their sins upon their ignorance because God to ease their memory seems to abbreviate his Doctrine in abbreviating his Word Incarnate and cloathed it with so much light that the most Ignorant may understand it It is short that it may be remembred cleer that it may bee comprehended and this treasure notwithstanding its preciousnes is so easie to be discovered that it costs us no pains to have it but to ask for it Let us adde further with Saint Paul to explain the nature of a vertue that seems inexplicable that it is the source of all good things In charitate radicati not only because it imparts life but merit and goodnes For when Hope or Faith are divided from Charity they die or languish and when Justice or Temperance are animated with any other Spirit they are criminall or unfortunate I know there are some Vertues that share in this glory with Charity that Faith is called the principle of Christian life because it is the first that God sheds abroad into mens souls that Humility is the root because 't is alwaies hid in the Earth nor shines forth but by those fruits that spring from it but both of them owe their worth to Charity because without it the former is unprofitable the second hypocriticall If leaving the Apostles we consider what the Fathers of the Church have spoken of Charity we shall finde all their writings so many panegyricks of this vertue that they are never more eloquent then when they discourse of charity and looking upon her as the Queen of vertues speak of her with that respect which is due to Soveraigns Saint Augustine who hath no lesse defended the part of Charity then of Grace seeing in a thousand passages he is pleased to confound them saith that this excellent vertue is the only Science of Christians that it comprehends what ever we know already and what ever we are yet ignorant of that it is the principle upon which all other knowledges do depend and that it imbraceth in her chaste bosome what ever is scattered in the garden of the Scriptures that it shines forth in those mysteries we are acquainted with and lies hid in those we are yet ignorant of Thence it comes to passe that this great Saint ingaging himselfe in the proofe of this verity makes us see that Love is the Epitome of all Sciences and that to be learned is to be charitable What lights saith he can we finde in the writings of Philosophers which we may not discover in this Commandment which obligeth us to love God above all things and our neighbour as our selfe There you shall finde the secrets of naturall Philosophy because the true causes of the Creatures are in God as in their Principle there you shall perceive the precepts of Morality because we cannot form a good life but in loving what is amiable and withall in loving it as much as is meet there you shall read the demonstrations of Logick because the reasonable soul ought not to seek nor indeed can finde reason and truth any where but in him that is the fruitfull source thereof There you shall discover the mysteries of the Politicks because the preservation of States and the right conduct of Monarchies depends upon the fair correspondence and fidelity of the Subjects who will never love themselves sincerely if they love not the supreme Good God and if for the love of him who cannot be deceived together with him they love not all their like The Master of the Sentences Charitas est dilectio qua diligitur Deus propter se proximus propter Deum vel in Deo magis Senten who deserves that name for no other reason but because he is the Disciple of Saint Augustine walking in his steps that he may not wander and following his principles that he may not mistake teacheth us that charity is a love as just as it is discerning which weighing the condition of persons loves God for himselfe and his neighbour for Gods sake Indeed 't is a kinde of iniquity to seek for motives to love God out of God himselfe he ought to be the cause of our love if we respect his recompences rather then his perfections we are mercenaries if we stand more in fear of stripes then of his frowns we are slaves and as Saint Augustine saith if we are more taken with his gifts then his goodnesse we are adulterers Charity that it may be holy must be chaste or to speak more truly it ceaseth to be charity when it ceaseth to be chaste our love changeth it's nature as soon as it changeth it's motive when it fastens upon our interests it becomes concupiscence and when a man loves God only to purchase perishable goods or to avoid eternall pains me thinks he better deserves the name of Slave then that of Lover I am asham'd that we should deal with God as we would not be dealt with our selves could we read mens hearts we should be extreamly offended at the carriage of those friends who more respect our fortune then our person and who consulting only their own interests study not so much our glory as their own profit There is no Master will keep servants who serve him only because they cannot impunely offend him who obey him meerly for fear of the lash respect not his commands but because they fear his anger and certainly he would be well grounded in this resolution because there is no body but knowes that a slave who hath no other obligation but his fear manumits himselfe as soon as he looseth it and neglects the service of his Master when he hopes for no more recompences nor stands in fear of no more punishments If we believe Saint Augustine such a slave hath innocent hands with a guilty heart Sin lodgeth still in his soule with fear he overcomes not his inclination but out of the apprehension of pain he loves what he dares not do and by an infallible consequence he hates the Master that forbids his undertakings Therefore doth Charity which is so contrary to Concupiscence banish fear from their soules in whom it resides It seeks the honour of him she loveth sacrificeth her Interests to the glory of God and having none but commendable motives loves him not because he is beneficiall but because he is indeed amiable when she communicates her affection by endowments to her neighbour she looks only upon him whose image he is and not considering those reasons that are the inducements of interessed soules it is enough that a creature is capable of possessing God to merit a charitable affection Thence it comes to passe that she renders the same duties to her enemies cherisheth them that injure her and insensible of their wrongs pardons those that trample upon her The will of her God sets all her motions awork though inordinate nature counsell her she remains constant in her resolutions and knowing there is no
necessity of Grace in the state of Innocence and of Sin 156 Disc 3 That the Grace of a Christian ought to be more powerfull then that of Adam 160 Disc 4 Different opinions of the power of Christian Grace 166 Disc 5 Wherein precisely consists the power of Grace effectual 170 Disc 6 That the names that S. Augustine gives Christian Grace do sufficiently testifie that it is effectuall 175 Disc 7 That we may judge of the power of Grace over a Christian by the power of Concupiscence over a Sinner 180 Disc 8 That Grace effectuall doth not destroy Grace sufficient 186 Disc 9 Answers to some Objections against Grace effectual 193 A Prosecution of the same Discourse 197 Disc 10 That the Christian finds more rest in placing his salvation in Grace then in Liberty 202 The fifth TREATISE Of the Vertues of a Christian Disc 1. Wherein consisteth Christian Vertue 207 Disc 2 Of the Division of Christian Vertues 212 Disc 3 Of the Excellency and Necessity of Christian Faith 217 Disc 4 Of Christian Hope 222 Disc 5 A Description of Christian Charity 227 Disc 6 Of the Properties and Effects of Christian Charity 233 Disc 7 Of Christian Prudence Iustice Fortitude and Temperance 238 Disc 8 Of Christian Humility 243 Disc 9 Of Christian Repentance 248 Disc 10. Of Christian Self-denyall 253 The sixth TREATISE Of the Nourishment and Sacrifice of a Christian Disc 1 Of three Nourishments answering to the three Lives of a Christian 259 Disc 2 Of the Nourishment of Man in his Innocency and of that of a Christian 264 Disc 3 That the Body of Iesus Christ is the same to a Christian that Manna was to the Iewes 269 Disc 4 That this Nourishment bestows upon the Christian all that the Divel promised Man in his Innocence if hee would eat of the forbidden Fruit. 274 Disc 5 That this Nourishment unites the Christian with the Son of God 279 Disc 6 Of the Dispositions that the Christian ought to bring for the receiving of this Nourishment 283 Disc 7 That the Christian ows God the honour of the Sacrifice 288 Disc 8 That the Christian had need that the Son of God should offer up for him the Sacrifice of the Crosse and of the Altar 293 Disc 9 Of the Difference of these two Sacrifices and what the Christian receives from both of them 298 Disc 10 Of the obligation the Christian hath to sacrifice himself to God 303 The seventh TREATISE Of the Qualities of a Christian Disc 1 That the Christian is the Image of Iesus Christ 308 Disc 2 That the Christian is a Priest and a Victime 313 Disc 3 That the Christian is a Souldier and a Conqueror 317 Disc 4 That the Christian is a King and a Slave 322 Disc 5 That the Christian is a Saint 327 Disc 6 That the Christian is a Martyr 332 Disc 7 That the Christian is a Lover 338 Disc 8 That the Christian is an Excile and a Pilgrime 343 Disc 9 That the Christian is a Penitent 347 Disc 10 That the most glorious Quality of the Christian is that of a Christian 352 The eighth TREATISE Of the Blessedness of a Christian Disc 1. That every man desires to be happy and that he cannot be so but in God 357 Disc 2 That the Perfect Felicity of a Christian cannot be found in this world 361 Disc 3 That the Christian tasts some Felicity here below 365 Disc 4 That Happiness consists not in pleasure but in grief 368 Disc 5 That Happiness is rather found in Poverty then in Riches 372 Disc 6 That the Felicity of a Christian upon earth consists rather in Humility then in Glory 377 Disc 7 That Felicity is rather found in Obedience then in Command 381 Disc 8 What is the happinesse of a Christian in Heaven and wherein it consists 385 Disc 9 That the Soul and Body of the Christian shall finde their perfection in the Beatifical Vision 391 Disc 10 Of the Miracles that are found in the Christian's Beatitude 396 THE CHRISTIAN MAN OR The Reparation of NATURE BY GRACE The first TREATISE Of the Christian's Birth The first DISCOURSE That the Christian hath a double Birth IF MAN have pass'd for a Monster in the opinion of some Philosophers * Est inter Carnem Spiritum colluctatio discordantibus adversus se invicem quotidiana congressio ut non ea quae volumus ipsi faciamus dum spiritus coelestia divina quaerit caro terrena secularia concupiscit Aug. lib. 1. contra Julian because he is compos'd of two parts which cannot agree certainly the Christian may very well pass for a Prodigie in the judgement of the faithfull since the parts whereof he is made maintain a war as long as life For though the body of man contain within its Constitution all the Elements these four Enemies agree when they are mixt together The Fire is confounded with the Water without losing its driness and the Earth is united to the Air without losing its heaviness if they are at odds by reason of their Contrariety they embrace by reason of their sympathie and if somtimes they grow irregular there is always some external Cause that produceth the Disorder The Soul and Body are yet more opposite then the Elements it it is the strangest Marriage within the Confines of Nature Mirus amor corporis animi in tanta disparitate non potest esse sine fato Pla. and when God associated them together to make Man he had a minde to shew that he was absolute in the Universe In him we observe Sense with Understanding Passion with Reason Heaven with Earth Nevertheless God hath so well temper'd their qualities that these two so different parts cease not mutually to love one another The Soul stoops below the priviledg of her Birth to succour the Infirmities of the Body and the Body soares above the meaness of its Extraction to be serviceable to the more noble operations of the Soul If they are exercised at the provocation of some rebel-lust there is always found some common friend that takes up the difference Self-love is content to set them at one thereby to establish his Empire over sinners Haec cupiditas vana ac per hoc prava vincit in eis ac frenat alias cupiditates Aug. lib. 4. contra Julia. c. 3. and accompanies his Commands with so many charms that these two subjects wrong one another to obey him The spirit basely submits to the Body in the unclean conversations of the wanton and the body does homage to the soul in the pleasing caresses of the Ambitious these two parties joyn their forces to bid Grace battail and though Divine Justice hath divided them for their punishment they forget their quarrel and are reconcil'd to execute their vengeance But the Christian is of such a Composure that he can never taste any peace in his person Division seems to constitute one part of his Essence and till Glory shall put a
forceth the Creature to fall down before him and upon the sight of sin and nothingness to adore the Power and Mercy that drew him out of these two Abysses Temperance regulates our Pleasures and moderates our Delights lest their disorder obstruct our salvation and out of a blinde impetuosity finde Pain and Sorrow where we look for Pleasure and Content 'T is true she is not so taken up with Particular good as not to watch over the Publike For without encroaching upon the rights and priviledges of Justice she calms the Passions allays the storms and producing a tranquillity in the soul of Particulars contributes to that of Kingdoms because the quiet of States depends upon that of Families and 't is very hard that those Subjects that yeeld not obedience to the laws of Temperance should to those of Justice But as since the Fall of Adam Sufferings are as common as Actings and man spends his life in Pain as well as in Labour to these Three Vertues is added Fortitude as a Supply to combat and vanquish Griefs that set upon us Indeed the chiefest employment of Fortitude is to wrestle with whatever is most troublesom in the world It skirmisheth with those accidents that disquiet our Health or concern our Honour is armed against Fortune and defying that blinde potentate that seems the enemy of Vertue stands ready to receive all the assaults this insolent Tyranness makes upon those that slight her Empire Indeed when Valour is enlightned by Faith she laughs at an Idol who subsists onely in the mindes of those that fear it and may be called the work of their Fancie and Imagination she trembles not at the attempts of a false Deity and being assured that every thing is regulated by a Supreme Providence which cannot fail lays an obligation upon us to adore his Decrees though they condemn us and kiss his Thunders though they strike us dead Thus under the favourable shadow of these Vertues the life of a Christian passeth on calmly Faith affords him light to illuminate him Charity heats to inflame him Hope promises to encourage him Justice and Temperance their severall supplies to put him in action and Fortitude who her self is a whole Army gives undauntedness of spirit to fight and to triumph To all these Divisions this may be added namely that man being compounded of a body and a soul hath need of Vertues that may unite them together and subjecting the soul to God may subject the body to the soul For there is this order between these two parts that the body respects not the laws of the minde but as far as the mind respects the laws of God assoon as one dispenseth with his duty the other failes of his obedience and at the same time that the soul rebels against God the flesh maketh an insurrection against the soul To this day we bewail the mischiefs of this rebellion and all the Vertues are given us only to re-instate us in our Primitive Tranquillity The Theological Vertues undertake to subject the mind to God Faith captivates the Understanding and obligeth it to believe those verities it comprehends not Hope fils the Memory with the Promises of Jesus Christ and Charity sweetly divorceth the will from all perishable goods to fixe it upon the Supream Good The Vertues that are called Cardinal Prudentia se habet ad vera faâ—sa temperantia fortitudo ad prospera adversujustitiase habet ad Deum Proximum D. Thom. 2.2 have mixt employments exercising their dominion over soul and body Prudence enlightens them Justice accords them Temperance regulates their pleasures and Fortitude combats their griefs so that all these Vertues associated together restrain man in his duty and make him find his happiness in his obedience But because I destine another Discourse to treat of these last Vertues I conceive my self bound to bestow the remainder of this upon the former and to shew the reasons wherefore it was requisite that the Christian must be assisted with Faith Hope and Charity Grace hath some resemblance with Nature and we find in man some Image of a Christian Man cannot come to his End unless he know it and have some assurance of a possibility to obtain it The Christian cannot move towards God his sole end unless he know him by Faith love him by Charity and promise himselfe the enjoyment of him by Hope Man that he may work aright hath need of three succours he must know what he does he must be able to doe it and he must will it otherwise all his designs will be unprofitable nor will he form any enterprise which will not confound or grieve him The Christian whose salvation is his chiefe business hath need of the same aids but because his enterprise is extreamly difficult and sin that hath made strange devastations in his soul hath spread darkness over his Rational thrown weakness into his Irascible and scattered malice into his Concupiscible faculty Faith must enlighten the one Hope satisfie the other and Charity which is nothing but an effusion of the Divine Goodness shed it self into the last and amend it Or let us say that Faith discovers the Supream Good to the Christian by its Lights that thence there arise two affections in his soul the desire of possessing it which is love and a confidence of obtaining it which is Hope These three Vertues doe consummate the Christians perfection Faith illuminates him Hope elevates him and Charity uniting him to God makes him partake in same sort of the felicity of the Blessed The Third DISCOURSE Of the Excellency and Necessity of Faith GOd is so far above our apprehension by the Greatness of his Nature that in whatever state we consider him we have only a borrowed light to know him by In that happy condition wherein Innocence dispell'd all mans darkness suffering neither ignorance nor infirmity to engage him in these sins which are rather naturall then voluntary he had need of light to know him whose Image he had the honour to be Those infused verities he received in his Creation those faithful glasses that presented him his Creator and all the beauties of the Universe that expressed his Divine perfections had imprinted in him but a faint knowledge if Faith elevating his soul had not clarified him with its brightnesse But when man shall pass from Earth to Heaven and removing from the Order of Grace shall enter into that of Glory In lumine tuo videbimus lumeÌ„ Psal 35. he shall still have need of a borrowed light to behold the Divine Essence Though he be then a pure Spirit and his soul abstracted from matter act as the Angels yet all our Divines confess that his darkness must be enlightned his weakness supported that he may contemplate this Divine Sun who by a rare Prodigy hides himself in light and covers himself with his Majesty We are not therefore to wonder if Faith be necessary for man in the state whereto sin hath
souls light and certitude Having considered its essence 't is fit we consider its properties and effects which are so great it self must come in to gain them belief For the Scripture seems to attribute to Faith whatever is most august and reverential in Scripture It is the Principle of spiritual life and according to the language of Saint Paul the just doth live by Faith For though the lise of a Christian be composed of many parts Initium bonae vitae cui vita etiam debetur aeterna rectafides est Aug. as the body is of many members and to be in a vigorous condition which is the symptome of perfect health Faith must be animated with good works nevertheless Faith is the first principle and without it every one confesseth all vertues are dead or languishing Therefore when S. Bernard calls Charity the life of the soul he acknowledgeth at the same time that Faith conceives her Hope brings her forth the holy Spirit forms her Reading suckles her Meditation nourisheth her and Prayer fortifies her As Faith is the life of the soul so is it also the eye and he that takes it not for his Guide shall never come to Glory it enlightens all the other vertues and penetrates those clouds of darkness that surround them 'T is also an observation S. Bernard hath made that Christ was never so closely hid but Faith always discovered him If he be Incarnate in the womb of his mother Faith does him homage in the person of S. John If he be born in a manger Faith adores him with the Wise-men and acknowledgeth the Word in Infancie Majestie in Baseness and Power in Infirmity If he be presented in the Temple Faith receives him in the arms of Simeon and makes his Elogie by the mouth of that aged Saint If he enter the river of Jordan to be baptized among sinners Faith manifests him by the testimony of his Precursor and teacheth us that he is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world If he die upon the Cross or lose his honour with his life Faith acknowledgeth his Innocence in the midst of his Punishment and begs a share in his Kingdom by the mouth of the good Thief If he be veiled upon our Altars and the outward species of the Sacrament conceal him from our eyes Faith adores him in the person of Believers and discovers his splendour under the clouds that encompass him This made S. Bernard utter those excellent words That Faith was very quick-sighted because it acknowledged Christ born in the Manger and dying upon the Cross But as if one sole vertue made up all our Glory I finde that our highest qualities take their being from its merit For if we be the children of God 't is because we are Believers and the great Apostle that describes the prerogatives of Mans nature discovering the humiliations of the Word Incarnate observes expresly that the quality of the children of God is an appendix of Faith and that heaven shall not be our inheritance but because this vertue was the principle of our Filiation He gave them power to become the sons of God even to them that believe in his Name This august quality is not indulged us in Baptism but because there we receive Faith and 't is so truely the effect of that Sacrament that the Believer that gives proof of his Creed in the midst of torments fails not to be the childe of God though he be not baptized If Faith advance us to dignity it also communicates power to us it gives Reputation to our Dominion that it grow not contemptible and makes us in some sort absolute in the State of our Master For the gift of Miracles is a priviledge of Faith These Prodigies that astonish the Universe convert Nations make Tyrants tremble tame Devils are donatives heaven hath promised to Faith rather then to Charity Every thing is possible to him that believeth this vertue may boast it self absolute and as if it were inseparable from Soveraignty it seems he that is a Believer becomes powerful Those men of renown whose Elogies Saint Paul makes in his Epistles owe all their priviledges to Faith 'T is by it that they subdued Tyrants changed Nature disordered the Seasons and altered the Elements It serves us for a Conduct in Peace and a Defence in War and whenever the Apostle arms the Christians he gives them nothing but Faith either to assault or repel their enemies He Christens one and the same thing with divers names and calling it sometimes a Buckler sometimes a Brestplate sometimes a Sword lets us see that 't is sufficient to procure as many victories as it stands assaults or sights battels Finally it seems God takes pleasure to fasten our Power to our Infirmity and treating us like Samson all whose strength lay in his hair he will teach all the world that the Miracles we work are not so much the effects of our Ability as of his Grace For Faith is nothing but a submission of minde and a blinde obedience which holding more of Credulity then Argument seems rather a mark of our Weakness then of our Strength In the mean time the Son of God that hath a minde to humble us in raising us up and to manifest his greatness in our abasement hath founded our ability upon belief and is pleased that the gift of Miracles should be the recompence of our Credulity But nothing more astonisheth me Creditis quia hopossum faccrevobis dicunt ci Utique Domine Tunctetigit ocu los corū diceus Secundum filem vestrā fiat vobis Matth. 9. then to consider that God hath in some sort subjected his own Power to our Faith and before he would heal the sick or raise the dead he requires our Belief as a preparative to his Miracles For he never undertook any Cure but he obliged the Patient to believe and if he were not in a condition to use his own Understanding he demanded that disposition in the Assistants or Witnesses The same Evangelist observes that his power was manacled by the Infidelity of sinners Et non poterat ibi virtutem ullam facere mirabatur propter incredulitatem corum Matth. 6. and that there were some Towns where he could work no Miracles because he found no Faith among them We need not wonder that the Son of God hath so greatly honoured this vertue because it gives him so much obedience and that of all the Sacrifices the Christian can offer him this seems the hardest and most honourable For it makes an Oblation of our Understanding takes from us the liberty of reasoning in our Mysteries it perswades us what we understand not and contesting at the same time against Reason and Sense makes a perfect Holocaust of the Christian It reduceth that insolent undertaker who would know every thing in Paradise to believe all without knowing any thing it makes him purchase Faith with the expence of his Reason and it seems
that devours it the natural heat that inanimates it consumes it This wretched mother brings forth two Maladies which though natural are notwithstanding mortal if there be not some speedy remedies applied For Hunger and Thirst are punishments that cannot be avoided these two executioners harrase all the children of Adam and when the Son of God was incarnate he suffered their assaults he was hungry in the desarts thirsty in Samaria and the blood which the stripes and nails drew from his veins made him utter that word upon the Cross which exprest his Thirst as well as his Love Sitio The evils which arise from our Constitution are accompanied with others that arise from the confusion of the Universe Heat and Cold persecute us Summer and Winter bid us battel the Seasons grow irregular to make us suffer and the Elements jar to destroy us Our State is nothing now but a Country of enemies or strangers our Subjects either know us not or contemn us and this place which was heretofore the Threatre of our Glory is now the Scaffold of our Punishment Inasmuch as the Soul is more culpable then the Body she is also more miserable Corpus hoc animae pondus est poena premente illa urgetur in vinculis est Sen. ep 65. she suffers her own evils and those of the body too she resents her own pains and those of her slave her Temple is changed into a Prison her Host is become her Enemy nor is she less busied to subdue her Senses and her Members then to guide her Passions and her Faculties whatever attempt she make to procure peace in her State there are four miseries which she can never provide against The First is the revolt of the Passions which always disturb her rest Love and Hatred appear without her leave the first gets up by desires and hopes to be joyned to the object that gives it birth If he meet with any opposition to his designes he makes use of Anger and Boldness to master it if he be victorious he triumphs with Joy if defeated he falls into despair and is wholly given over to grief Hatred imitates Love she calls in the Passions to her aid that hold of her Empire and having discovered her enemy removes for fear if too weak or sets upon him with anger if she conceive her self strong enough When her enterprise succeeds well she triumphs as well as Love and when her endeavours are frustrated she also sinks into despair and sadness But that which is most troublesom in all these disorders is that they rebel in spite of Reason and the soul is forced to suffer these insurrections which she cannot help The Second misery she is sensible of is the irregularity of her actions though she consult with Prudence and Justice though she keep a mediocrity which constitutes Vertue she steps aside many times from her duty and under specious pretences falls into vitious extremes Sometimes she is too indulgent or too severe in punishing sometimes she is too reserved or too lavish in her presents sometimes she is too cowardly or too hardy in her combats Non est expectanda sinceritas veritatis à sensibus corporis nihil est enim sensibile quod non habeat fimile falso Aug. so that many times it falls out she commits a Crime when she thinks to practise a Vertue The Third misery which she can hardly avoid is Errour and Illusion For being a prisoner in the Body seeing nothing but through the Senses and so compelled to make use of these unfaithful messengers she is oftner engaged in a lye then in truth and is so badly informed of what she ought to love or hate that for the most part she confounds Good with Evil Vice with Vertue But the Fourth misery inseparable from her condition and contrary to her felicity is the weakness she resents in all her enterprises if she think to conquer Temptations she sinks under them if she thinks to mount up to heaven by holy contemplations her body like a clog weighs her down to the earth if she strive to combat her Inclinations she findes her Senses favouring their party and that she hath as many Enemies as she believes her self to have Subjects In the midst of so many miseries she hath onely one consolation that Grace is sufficient to make her victorious Sufficit tibi gratia mea But these words that comfort her teach her that the earth is not the mansion of Happiness because it is the Pitched Field where we must win the Victory to deserve the Triumph The Third DISCOURSE That the Christian tastes some Happiness here belowe THough the earth be not the habitation of rest and all the children of Adam are condemned to labour since the sin of their father yet fail they not to taste some Pleasure among their Sorrows The Divine Justice tempers its Chastisements with some Graces Mercy steps to the relief of these wretches and the merits of Jesus Christ obtain favours for them which are not onely the Pledges but the Antepasts of Felicity Enjoyment is mixt with Hope in our souls the same advantages that make us hope for Glory give us a title to possess it and the Vertues which make us Saints render us in some sort Blessed Faith is the first vertue that unites us to Jesus Christ she that initiates us into his Mysteries that enrols us of his Family makes us the Subjects of his State and the Members of his Mystical Body It clarifies our Understanding in subjecting it imparts some Flames together with its Lights that warm our Will and gain our consent to the belief of those Verities that surpass our apprehension But it s principal and most wonderful effect is to make Jesus Christ present in our souls and to give us a taste here belowe of the felicity of Angels for these Spirits are therefore happie because they are the Thrones of God lodging their Soveraign in the innermost recesses of their Essence Ambula per fidem ut pervenias ad patriam species non laetisicat in Patria quem fides non consolatur in via Aug. and are most intimately possest by him who is infinitely distant from the Wicked Now the Faithful partake of this happiness with them Jesus Christ dwells in their hearts by Faith and S. Paul tells us that those that believe in him possess him Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris S. Augustine who so happily expresseth the words of this great Apostle assures us that this vertue hath the power to fill us with Jesus Christ that it makes Heaven stoop and Earth ascend and uniting the Faithful with the Beatified in some sort equals their different conditions It is a kinde of Miracle that Faith which believes onely things distant and obscure should make us see and possess them enlightning us by their darkness and giving us an approach to them by their remoteness For as S. Augustine saith when we believe in Jesus
experience that its subjects are so mutinous that they cannot be brought in subjection They are rather tired then overcome and at the very instant they seem to submit to Grace they listen to Concupiscence and taking new courage from this rebel-lust they set upon their Soveraign afresh Thus our whole life is a continual Warfare we begin at our Baptism and we end not till our Death This is it that S. Cyprian expresseth so handsomely in his Treatise of the Deluge where speaking to the Neophytes he says You are baptized you have the honour to bear the character of Jesus Christ you have been admitted to his Table and his Flesh hath served for nourishment Take notice how this new kinde of life engages you in a combat where you must grapple with the whole family of sins If you overcome Covetousness Lust will set upon you if you foil Lust Ambition steps in its place and joyning craft to violence endeavours to perswade us that all his designes are reasonable If you master this combatant Envie Anger Drunkenness accompanied with their partisans will presently draw into a body to destroy you Therefore doth S. Augustine compare the condition of newly-converted Christians to that of the Jews when they went out of Egypt They saith he were delivered by Moses these are delivered by Jesus Christ they passed thorow the red Sea these pass thorow Baptism they saw all their enemies dead upon the shore these see all their sins drowned in the waters But remember my brethren that the Jews having passed the Red-sea were not suddenly landed in Palestine the wilderness and desarts exercised their patience hunger and thirst oppressed them a long time fiery serpents persecuted them and a thousand strange nations opposing their passage made them stand to their arms to defend themselves Thus the Christians spend their life in conflicts and finde the world a horrid desart where a hundred several monsters serve as trials of their courage and exercises of their vertue They sigh after their dear Country they long to reign with Jesus Christ but disciplined by these precedent Types and Figures they are taught that to arrive to his Triumphs they must share in his Combats Therefore ought they not to think it strange though being brethren of Jesus Christ and children of their heavenly Father they yet enjoy not their inheritance and if while they are on the earth treated like slaves or enemies they still feel the revolt of the Creatures the persecution of Satan the War of those two parts whereof they are composed Let us profit by these Examples and remember that if Heaven be our Inheritance 't is also our Recompence if we be Children we are also Souldiers and if God be Good enough to prevent our Deserts he is Just enough to require our Good Works The Tenth DISCOURSE The Regeneration of a Christian takes not away all that he drew from his first Generation AS Grace and Nature proceed from one and the same Principle Erat Deus in Angelis in prâ—â— homine naturä condens largiens gratiam Aug. they have in their differences certain wonderful resemblances which cannot be considered without ravishment They act both together and though sin have divided them yet does not Grace forbear to make use of Nature in its highest operations Their designes are alike onely they seek after God by diverse ways but Grace hath this advantage over Nature that it never wanders They have one and the same End as they have one and the same Beginning and when they seem to contest their onely designe is to make Man happie Both of them are admirable in their Variety Nature puts as many differences in mens Mindes as in their Countenances and though all faces have the same parts yet she ranks them with so much artifice that there appears a diversity in their very likeness Grace is not inferiour to Nature in this advantage all its productions are different and though the Saints are quickned with the same Spirit the Church recording their Panegyrick instructs us that they are singular in their species But one of their greatest resemblances is that Nature is flowe in her operations she brings not her works to pass without much labour and time one grain of Corn costs her a whole yeer and she needs the several Seasons to bring it to a perfect maturity Flowers that are not so useful as Fruits stand her not in less time and to give them their Colour and their Smell Winter and Spring are requisite Grace is yet more slowe then Nature for whether it finde resistance in its designes or labour in more difficult undertakings it perfects not but in Eternity what it begins in Time There remains something still to be reformed in the Creature and whatever excellency of endeavour it bestows upon the greatest Saints it continually meets with some disorders to be regulated some sin to be corrected some inclinations to be vanquished Thence it comes to pass that in Baptism where it gives life to the Christian it acts with so much weakness that wiping away the stain of sin it leaves notwithstanding Concupiscence there still For though by the vertue of this Sacrament we become new creatures that Adam dies and Jesus Christ is born in us yet are we but rude draughts unpolished works expecting their perfection from time and travel We are saith one Apostle but the embryo of a new creature and we bear the denomination of Children by reason of our Weakness as well as of our Innocence The Principles of Christian life are in our souls we have the seeds of all vertues but if we husband them not with great care they are choak'd among the thorns of our evil inclinations For the understanding a truth that so much concerns our salvation we must know that the grace of Baptism defaceth the sin of Adam invests us with the Innocence of Jesus Christ and giving us admittance into his rights bestoweth heaven upon us for our inheritance of children of wrath which we were before Salus hominis in Baptismate sacta est quia dimissum est peccatum quod ex parentibus traxit vel quicquid etiam propric ante Baptismum peccavit we become children of mercy and contracting a true alliance with the holy Trinity we renounce all affinity with flesh and bloud In this happy condition we are no longer afraid of the just wrath of God the thunders he threatens sinners with are no longer terrible to us and living securely under the shadow of Jesus Christ we know that the sole sin of Adam can no longer prejudice our salvation we meditate with delight upon those words of S. Paul There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus We have the earnest of our salvation in our selves Grace is a pledge of glory and remaining under the Conduct of the holy Spirit we are sure that under so good a guide we cannot miscarry But whatever hope our spirit flatters us with
Confessions was in the hands of mine Enemy he had cast a chain about me which manacled me so fast I could not disengage my self but was forced to follow him for of my bad inclinations he formed bad desires which basely obeying I contracted a bad habit and not timely resisted was presently changed into a troublesome necessity I call this slavery a Chain because it was composed of my own inclinations as of so many links which the Grace that prepar'd me for my Conversion was not strong enough to break asunder He made vain attempts to be disengaged his Will encourag'd with Grace stoutly opposed his Will seconded with Concupiscence himself was the Theater of this Combat he was the Victor and the vanquished but the advantage was more prejudiciall then the defeat since the worse party was the strongest and his Will yeelding obedience to the Tyranny of Concupiscence resisted the Command of Charity He pleasantly complains to God of the greatness of this Evill in the same place of his Confessions In vain did I take pleasure in Your Law concerning the inward man because there was another law in the rebelling against Yours and which against my will made me subject to the law of sin that was in my members For the law of sin is nothing else but the Tyranny of Custome which engageth the minde of man with a kinde of constraint but not without some colour of Justice because he willingly procured this Thraldom But he never more happily express'd the nature of this Evill then when he compares a bad Habit to the imperious complacency of sleep For it seems there is nothing more sweet then those drowsie vapours in the mean time there is nothing more violent and of all things that set upon a man there is none from which he can lesse defend himselfe This evill takes force from it's sweetnesse the more pleasant the fumes are it exhaleth the stronger are they the more pain they inflict the more is their pleasure the lesse liberty they indulge us the more is the love they expresse toward us 'T is by this example that this great Saint illustrates the agreeable violence of a bad habit Ita sarcina seculi veluti somno assolet dulciter premebar cogitationes quibus meditabar in te similes erant conatibus expergisci volentium qui tamen superati soporis altitudine remerguntur Aug. I was overwhelmed with the love of the world saith he as with a deep sleep and the meditations I lifted up to heaven were like the vain endeavours of men striving to awake who beaten down with the weight of drowsiness fall asleep again at the very instant they awake True it is as there is no man that would always sleep and in the judgement of all wise men watchings are better then sleep I also was of the same opinion that 't was more advantageous for me to submit to thy grace O Lord then to yield to my passion But as the most part of men suffered themselves to be more sweetly charm'd with sleep when their hour to awake approacheth so did I more enticingly imbrace my bad habit when the time of my conversion seemed nearest at hand It is but too evident by this comparison that mans weaknesse passeth even to impotency when he suffers himselfe to be swallowed up by sin and in his infirmities stands in need of a mighty arme to deliver him from the Tyrant that keeps him under Now the holy Spirit performs this good office to all sinners 't is he that breaketh their irons when they are fetter'd by concupiscence or by custome The Spirit helpeth our infirmity saith great Saint Paul he not only clarifies the Christians but fortifies them and the same grace he sheds abroad in their souls at once fils them with light and strength he joynes himselfe with the soule to subdue the rebellions of the flesh he inspires their liberty with a new vigour knocking off it's fetters he armes the faculty whereby it takes vengeance of it's enemies for as Saint Augustine excellently observes 't is not the Spirit of man but of God that fights against the flesh Spiritus concupiscit adversus carnem in hominibus bonis non in malis qui Spiritum Dei non habent contra quem caro concupiscat Aug. these two parts almost continually agree in unbelievers and wicked men if they practise hostility for their particular interests concupiscence unites them to serve her designes She masters wantonnesse with pride tames pleasure with avarice but in all these contestations the soule and body are subject to sin and these two are reconciled together to further the intentions of their Soveraign But when the soule fights against the flesh in the faithfull 't is always by the motion of the spirit 't is this divine Protection that gives her courage and delivering her from the bondage of her slave establisheth her in the possession of her lawfull authority Let us explain this Truth in the words of Saint Augustine the flesh did not lust against the spirit in Paradise there was no warre in so profound a peace nor did man see himselfe divided by the conflict of two parts whereof he was made But when once he had violated the Law of God and had refused obedience to his Soveraign he was given over to himselfe upon condition too that he should never be his own Master but be wholy at his devotion that had deceived him Then was it that the flesh began to revolt against the spirit but this happens not but in the person of good men for in that of wicked men the flesh hath nothing to rebell against because the soule being become carnall hath no other feelings but those of the flesh And when the Apostle saith That the spirit warreth against the flesh we are not to imagine that he speaks of the spirit of man but of that of God that fights in us against our selves or to speak more soundly 't is he that combates that in us that is prejudiciall to us and when he makes warre upon us 't is to procure peace within us 'T is in this sense that the same Apostle hath said further to the faithfull that if by the vertue of the spirit they did mortifie the deeds of the flesh they should live For least man should grow proud in hearing those words and perswade himselfe that it was by his own spirit that he ought to tame the flesh the Apostle presently explains himselfe that they are the Children of God that are led by the Spirit to the end we may know that 't is he that mortifies our flesh quickens our soule and gives us victory in the Conslict 'T is for this cause that he is called in Scripture the Spirit of strength and of counsell to teach us that the same that guides doth also assist us that having enlightned us he warmes us too inspiring us with courage to execute our designes after he hath endued us with wisdome to devise and contrive
Tongues 't is to make strangers understand them and to gather up the children of God that are dispersed thorow all the world But that which exceedeth all belief is that the particular graces that sanctifie mens souls are common among the Faithful For of these Theologie acknowledgeth two sorts one which are given us for the service of others and respect more the benefit of the Church then our own sanctification such are all those graces that are called Gratuities whose principal end is the glory of Jesus Christ and the conversion of Infidels such is the gift of Miracles which doth not so much profit him that hath received it as those who see the effects of it because we know very well that this priviledge though extraordinary and rare may consist with sin and if it be not accompanied with much humility is as dangerous as splendid The other sort of Graces are those that make us acceptable to God blot out our offences look more to our own salvation then that of our neighbour and being not so glittering as the other are incomparably more holy and useful Now though these last kinde of graces be our own yet also are they common in the Church and those that are united to us by charity may in some sort make use of them 'T is certainly upon this ground that the great Apostle calls this vertue the bond of perfection because it not onely associates all Christians but renders their graces common and enricheth every particular with the advantages of the whole fraternity Therefore was David bold to entitle himself to all the good works they did that kept the commandments of God Particeps ego sum omnium timentium te custodientium mandata tua For though he knew very well his condition would not suffer him to be always at the Altar that the cares that accompany Royalty agree not with the sweet retirements of solitude and the bloody exercises of war gave him not leave to attend the service of the Ark he hoped nevertheless that Charity which united him to the Faithful would make him partaker of their merits and being a Member of that mystical body he should enjoy their Graces that made it up with him Thus this great Prince ruling in his Palace or fighting in his Armies promised himself a share in the Sacrifices of the Priests in the Tears of the Widows in the Illuminations of the Prophets in the Crowns of the Martyrs and that Love supplying the defect of his condition enriched him with their vertues without impoverishing them This also was the counsel S. Augustine gave the Faithfull of his time for knowing that every Christian could not have all graces Noli dicere in animo tuo ego si Christianus essem utique ad Deum pertinerem possem facere quod alius facit talis enim est acsi diceret auris ego si ad corpus pertinereÌ„ possem videre lunaÌ„ soleÌ„ non habet illud tamen nec auris nec manus sed faciunt fingula quod possunt cum concordia serviunt sibi inviceÌ„ omnia membra Aug. Hom. 15. Ex. 50. that variety is one of the beauties of the Church and that diversity of conditions contributes no less to her profit then to her ornament perswaded them to have recourse to Charity and to employ the credit of this vertue to purchase all others without labour His words are too handsome to be omitted Envie not said he to the whole company of the Faithful the advantages your neighbour possesseth but holily rejoyce in them and ye shall enjoy them with him Say not in your heart Were I indeed a Christian and had I the honour to belong to Jesus Christ I could do that which others do and instead of being engaged in the bonds of Marriage I would live a holy Celibate For 't is just as if the ear should say I am not of the body because I cannot see the light of the Sun in the mean time the hand hath not that priviledge no more then the ear and yet they are parts of the body as well as the eyes because though every member cannot do that by it self which all the others do they cease not mutually to assist each other and to possess that in common which they call their own properly After their example be glad of that grace God hath conferred upon any of the Faithful and you may do that in him which you are not able to perform in your selves He keeps his Virginity love him and you are continent with him you have the gift of Patience by learning to suffer let him love you and your patience shall become his He can fast and your constitution will not give you leave love him and his fasting shall be yours If you ask me how this can be 't is because he lives in you and you in him and you are both members of the same body for though ye be different in condition and in person by charity ye are but one and the same thing The Abbot Guerric certainly grounded himself upon this Maxime when he said that all vertues were common among Believers that the treasure of the Church was open to all her children and that when our condition or our weakness did not permit us to practise one vertue we fail not to practise it in another Caeteras virtutes etsi omnes non habent â—iligant illum qui habet quod in se non inveniunt in illo habent quod in se non vident sicut Petrus in Joanne virginitatis habet meritum sic Joannes in Petro habet Martyris praemi m. Gueri in festo pu Thus saith this great man Saint Peter and Saint John lived in a community of goods one found that in the other which he could not finde in himself joyning their merits together they mutually enriched one another and as Saint Peter was a virgin in the person of Saint John that beloved disciple was a Martyr in the person of Saint Peter So that the unity of Members which they had in Jesus Christ bestowed upon them priviledges they had not in their own person and Charity that united these two Apostles in despite of their condition twisted the Crown of Martyrdom with that of Virginity Martyrdom cost Saint John onely a little love without enduring the pain he had the merit of patience he triumphed without fighting because he lived in him whom grace made victorious Virginity cost Saint Peter no more his love procured him purity he was a virgin because he loved a virgin-disciple and enjoying the goods of Saint John as his own he found the merit of continence in the engagements of Marriage Quod tuum est per laborem menm est per amorem Greg. Mag. To give this truth a fuller expression we must make use of the words of S. Gregory the Great and say that in the unity of the Church one Believer gains that by love that another does by
and since the havock sin hath made in men we have no right to Vertue but what his mercy bestows upon us The ignorance of the last condition of Vertue hath thrown all the Philosophers into pride and blindness For not knowing the miseries of Original sin but seduced by self-love they have established their strength in their freedome and their happiness in reason they have given stately names to Vertue which helping to deceive them have fill'd their perswasion that she was rather an effect of their own labor then of Grace Therefore is it that S. Augustine observes that all the Philosophers considering the difficulties that accompany Vertue the combats that must be fought to gether have Christen'd her with a name which seems to take its beeing from force and which by a just judgement of God hath entertained them in their vanity hiding from them their weakness But Christians who have learnt humility in the School of Truth who have profited by their misfortune and are become wise by the miscarriages of Philosophers have called Vertue a Grace or a gift of God and will have her name an instance of their misery and of the liberality of their Soveraign This is it that the same Doctor saith in other terms opposing the vanity of Philosophers to the humility of Christians The Philosophers saith he loved their own glory and despised t hat of God they confided in their own strength and were not thankfull to him that lifteth up the humble and casteth down the proud But Christians instructed in a better School avoid the glory of the world and seek after that of God The experience they have of their infirmity makes them distrust their own abilities and since they know they can neither undertake nor execute any thing without the assistance of their Creator they invoke him when they begin their actions return him thanks when they have finished them and if they want courage or fidelity accuse themselves confessing ingenuously that all good things come from God and all evil from the creature Indeed God will be glorified in our weakness he will have all that we do rather an effect of his Grace then of our Liberty Omnia Dec attribuunt radicem meriti virtutum cilicet praemiūnon videntes nec in se nec in alio nisi Gratiam Dei Greg. Mag. and he takes pleasure to command us such things as exceed our power that the glory may be his 'T is perhaps for this reason that he saith in his Word that the Kingdome of Heaven cannot be gained but by violence and that he hath propounded to us so high a Conquest that the greatness thereof may oblige us to seek for his assistance It is not a Prodigy saith a Father of the Church to be born upon the Earth and scale Heaven to win that by Vertue that cannot be obtained by Nature that the whole world may know that if in this Conflict man get the victory 't is God that gives him the Courage to overcome and the Grace to triumph Therefore the great Origen considering the designs of God and the weaknesse of men Vult Dominus Jesus res mirabiles facere vult enim de Locustis Gigames de his quae in terra sunt caelestes vincere nequitias Orig. said with as much Congruity as Truth that this great Master took pleasure to work miracles in our favour that having drawn us out of nothing and then out of sin he would raise us to glory that having formed our body of the slime of the Earth he destined it for Heaven and that the Devils by their malice intending to oppose this design he gave us arms to fight them that those Pygmies vanquishing these Gyants the honour of the victory might be ascribed to him where the parties being so unequal the advantage was found on the weaker side 'T is upon the discovery of all these verities that Christians call Vertue by the name of Grace and confess that if she came not from Heaven they were never able to surpass all difficulties suffer all sorrows and despise all the delights of the Earth The Second DISCOURSE Of the Division of the Vertues of a Christian AS Physitians make an Anatomy of Mans Body thereby to discover its qualities and exercise a cruelty upon the Dead that they may benefit the Living Philosophers divide the Vertues that they may know them they separate that which is indivisible and break the sacred bonds that unite these dear Sisters that so they may peruse their beauties Or to express this Truth by a more noble comparison as the School-men divide the Divine Essence to illustrate its perfections separating Justice from Mercy Majesty from Love Wisdom from Power though they are but one and the same thing we are obliged to disjoyn the Vertues though they be all concentred in Charity and according to the opinion of S. Augustine are nothing but Charities disguised For taking leave to repeat a Principle often explained in another Work Charity is the onely Christian Vertue changing names according as her object changeth conditions When That is hid she is called Faith and with her obscure lights endeavours to discover that Sun which the splendor of his Majesty renders invisible when this object is absent she is called Hope which raiseth her soul towards him that stands at a distance onely to increase our desires when 't is armed with Thunder she is called Fear imprinting endearments of respect towards a Majestie that can annihilate all those that offend him Those Vertues that we stile Cardinal and which seem not directly to aim at the Supreme Good are but so many true Loves fastning us to him by different chains Temperance saith S. Augustine is a chaste Love which can suffer no parting of hearts obliging us to consecrate our selves wholly to his service whom we pretend to affect Valour is a generous Love making a Pleasure of Pain and gives proof of his Constancy in the hottest battery of Persecutions Justice is a regulated Love teaching us to command by obeying and subjecting us to our lawful Soveraign gains us an absolute Dominion over all the Creatures Prudence is a clear-sighted Love which is never seduced chusing by its illumination those means which are able to bring us to God and rejecting all others that may estrange us from him So that the Vertues are nothing but Charity in a several dress or to speak more correctly they are onely the different functions of Love But not to wander from this Principle which I honour because S. Augustine after Saint Paul is the author of it I will not forbear to divide the Vertues without interessing their Unity and to consider their divers employments without wronging their fair correspondence The same S. Augustine is of opinion that there are Two Principal Vertues which include all the rest The one consists in Action the other in Contemplation The one teacheth us the way we must walk in to go to God and the
other happily guides us in it The one purifies our soul by Labour the other unites us to God by Prayer The one keeps the Commandments and the other receives the Recompence The one is afflicted with grief because it bewails his sins with the Penitents the other is bathed in pleasure because it participates in the felicity of the Blessed The same Doctor all whose Maximes are Truths gives us another Division of Vertues from the difference of our conditions and being not far from that Principle we are going to explain attributes but one Vertue to the Blessed and leaves all the rest to the Faithful They indeed finde all their happiness in the Supreme Good which they are in possession of their Love makes up the total of their felicity and that ineffable Union that transforms them into him they love is the onely Vertue that for ever takes them up in the fruition of Glory Prudence is not requisite because there is no darkness to be dissipated nor misfortunes to be prevented Fortitude is useless because there are no sorrows to struggle with Temperance serves to no end because all their delights are innocent and lawful Neither is there any employment for their Justice because in the Tabernacle of Glory there are neither miserable to be protected nor criminals to be punished Thus as that incomparable Doctor goes on they practise but one Vertue and by a happie encounter this Vertue is their recompence because uniting them to God it makes them finde their felicity in him 'T is true that as the Supreme Good contains all other Goods we may say also that all the Vertues are comprehended in this and their several denominations may be imposed upon it It is Prudence because it illuminates them with the brightness of God himself Fortitude because it unites them so firmly with him that nothing can separate them Temperance because it makes them chastly embrace the Chief Good and in the delights they taste of they seek not so much their Pleasure as his Glory Justice because it subjects them to their Soveraign making them finde their Happiness in their Submission But as there is some analogie between the condition of the Blessed and that of the Faithful at the same time that S. Augustine separates them he associates them again and confounding their Vertues together saith that during this life Love is the onely vertue of Christians and that there is none other but to love that which is amiable So that to facilitate the acquisition of that object we place our affections upon by chusing sutable and convenient means is Prudence Not to be discouraged or diverted by Grief is Fortitude Not to be drawn away by Pleasures is Temperance and not to be kept off by the vain pomp and grandetza's of the world is Justice He lodgeth these Vertues in Glory which he seems to have banished thence and acknowledgeth that the Blessed enjoy them as well as the Faithful but with this difference That upon the earth they are in Act in heaven in Habit upon the earth they serve for a Defence in heaven for an Ornament upon the earth in Exercise in heaven in their Acquiescence upon the earth they are the sure Land-marks guiding the Faithful to their journeys end in heaven they happily unite the Faithful in an inseparable Bond of Communion But because this Doctrine is not fully conformable to that which is commonly received and that we have borrowed from Philosophers the Division and the Quality of Vertues let us say with them that we judge of their number by our obligations and our necessities We are upon the earth for no other end but to Know and Love to Suffer and to Do our whole life is spent in these two employments and if we be not absolutely unprofitable we must raise our selves to the Knowledge and Love of the Supreme Good and resolve if we be not altogether lazie by our Courage to overcome all the difficulties which occur in the course of our life Thence it comes to pass that we have need of different Vertues Bonam vitam ego puto Deum cognoscere amare mala pati bona facere sic perseverare usque ad mortem Bern. and that according to the designes we form we are obliged sometimes to have recourse to the Divine vertues sometimes to the Moral Inasmuch as God is surrounded with Light that darkens us our Understanding must necessarily be cleared by Faith that we may know him In that he is an Infinite Good our soul must be fortified with Hope that we may search after him and our Will warmed with Charity that we may love him For though Good be amiable and the Supreme Good transcendently amiable yet is it so far above our reach that without Grace we cannot approach unto it and as we must be clarified by his Light that we may know him so must we be warmed by his Calentures that we may affectionately close with him Thus Faith Hope and Charity are the Vertues by means whereof we treat with God But because Man is born for Society in serving God he is bound to assist his Neighbour Charity hath a double respect having united us to the Supreme Good for love of it she unites us to our Like and obligeth us to love them as we do our selves Were this Vertue in its full vigour 't would be sufficient alone Lex venit in subsidium amicitiae Atistot and as Philosophers have observed that Laws would be useless did Friendship raign in mens hearts I dare affirm did Charity set up her throne in ours the Vertues would be idle among Christians or act onely by her orders and directions But whether we have not as yet attained this Perfection or that the number of Subjects contributes to the Greatness of Soveraigns she hath under her command Four Vertues which are called Cardinal that act by her motions and execute her designes Prudence clears our Understandings to act helps us to discern Good from Evil and Truth from Falshood For as there are Evils which under a fair shew deceive us and Lyes that finde more credit then some Truths Prudence must serve us for a Guide and in so important an election secure us from mistakes Justice gives every one his due makes our Interests yeeld to Reason preserves Peace in the inequality of our conditions and taking original righteousness for an example which made a harmony between foul and body this sets Man at union with himself and by a necessary consequence accommodates him with his neighbour Therefore is it that Repentance and Humility are as rivulets flowing from this Fountain and as rays issuing from this Sun For Repentance is nothing but a severe Justice that animates the sinner against himself that obliges him to act the part of a witness in accusing of a judge in condemning of an executioner in punishing himself Humility is nothing but a modest and true Justice which considering the Majestie of the Creator
affection higher in loving God they become Divine But there needs no other proof of this verity but the Mystery of the Incarnation where Love triumphing over God himself made him assume the form of a Man invested him with our nature and our miseries loaded him with our sins and obliged him to appear before his Father as a Penitent or rather as an Anathema This prodigious change makes us look for another For God was not made Man but that Men might be made Gods he was humbled that they might be exalted he took their nature that he might bestow his upon them nor did he suffer his love to render him like Man but to perswade them that the same love may liken them to God The Seventh DISCOURSE Of the Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance of a Christian THough sin hath committed so many outrages against Nature divided her Forces obscured her Lights and weakned her Liberty yet hath he not been able to destroy the workmanship of God There remains to man since his Fall some strength to combat his enemies some light to discover errours and some liberty to defend him against evil After his Transgression his misery opened his eyes when seeking out remedies for his disease he made himself a Morality which taught him vertues to rectifie those disorders his disobedience had occasioned in his person Some call them the Reliques of Innocence Virtus ars est nou natura Senec. but without any reason Because the Vertues that accompanied that happle condition having no enemies were not obliged to stand upon their guard Others call them the Succours of sinful Man and that very justly Because they help him in his necessities and comfort him in his misfortunes They believe that Adam receiving them from God after his repentance for his fault taught them his children and left them these arms to combat their Passions But inasmuch as they went not to him who had bestowed them upon their father and had reserved himself the power of dispensing them to their children there remained nothing but the appearance and the name Concupiscence took the place of Charity and animating her false Vertues made them true Sins This made S. Augustine so often profess that the Prudence of the Heathen is blind and interessed that their Fortitude is upheld meerely by Vanity that their Temperance overcomes one passion with another and that their Justice being arrogant seeks only fair pretences to authorise its usurpations So that these Vertues have not recovered their Primitive purity but by the grace of Christianity They owe all their worth to Charity they are acceptable to God because they proceed from Jesus Christ nor can they hope for an eternal recompence but because they have a Supernatural and Divine Principle Therefore the same Doctor mingles Charity always in the definition of these Vertues Definitio brevis est vera virtutis ardor amoris propter quod dicit sponsa ordinate in me charitatē Aug. lib. 15. de Civ cap. 12. Prudentia est in eligendis Temperantia in utendis Fortitudo in tolerandis Justitia in distribuendis Aug. and makes them passe for so many severall motions or functions of Love In this conceit he cals Prudence an illuminated Love Justice a regulated Love Fortitude a couragious Love and Temperance a faithful Love But because this definition seems to limit these Vertues and many think they are not so much the Impulses as the Ministers of Love Let us say that Prudence is a Practicall Science teaching the soul what it ought to doe inspiring her with a love of good things and a detestation of bad and carrying light into the understanding teacheth it to discern what is profitable from what is hurtful Fortitude is a couragious Vertue making us suffer with an evennesse of mind affronts and griefs 'T is a victorious habit that triumphs in suffering and owes the best part of her advantages to the bitternesse of the afflictions that persecute her 'T is a stability of spirit against all the miseries of the world a resolution to fight and overcome all the labours that accompany life 'T is a Vertue whose generous humour makes us desire great things contemn low things and endure hard things or it is a Vertue that raiseth the soul above Fear apprehending nothing but dishonour and which instructs us to carry our selves equally in favours and in disgraces If we will shut her up within the bounds of Christianity we may say it is a Vertue inform'd with Grace preparing us to undergo all things rather then fail of our duty Temperance is a just dominion of reason over the passions but especially over those that flatter us by the pleasure they promise and employ voluptuousnesse to seduce us 'T is a Vertue that teacheth us to wish nothing that may cause shame in us or regret not to doe any thing that exceeds the bounds of reason to suffer nothing that may diminish her authority and foment the rebellion of her lawful subjects Or to use Saint Augustines expressions 't is an affection that subdueth the Concupiscible appetite and gives it not leave to hunt after those pleasures which are accompanied with shame or followed wich repentance Justice is a Vertue that prefers the publick interests before private and many times punisheth a Delinquent with more severity then his fault requires to stop the course of evil and to astonish other offenders According to the opinion of Saint Ambrose it is a Vertue which hath more respect to the service of others then of it self and considers more the advantages of her neighbour then her own According to Aristotle it renders every one their due punisheth Vice rewards Vertue maintains the peace of the State by the severity of punishments and the liberality of recompences Let us adde with Seneca though very blind in the knowledge of Christian Vertues that Justice is a secret Convention Nature hath contracted with men for the succour of the innocent or distressed that it is a Divine Law that entertains humane society preserves every man his right and not respecting the quality of the persons considers only their merits Finally 't is a Christian Vertue which enlightned by Faith animated with Charity obligeth man to satisfie at once God himself and his neighbour Having examined the nature of these Vertues it remains that we take notice of their use and the profit that ariseth from them S. Augustine whom in Morality I look upon as my Guide and in Divinity my Master saith that these Vertues are given to the soul to imbellish her and to arm her against Vices Prudence teacheth her what she is to doe is in stead of a Torch to light her in the darknesse of the world Temperance learns her not to bee charmed with pleasure Fortitude not to be vanquished with griefs and Justice not to be transported with her own interests or to expresse another way no lesse solidly and more pleasingly the obligations of these Vertues it concerns Prudence
to know our power Fortitude to employ it Temperance to moderate it Justice to rule it and as this Divine Spirit can never be exhausted but knows how to give a hundred colours to the same thing thereby to discover all the different beauties thereof Let us adde with him that Prudence concerns the choice of means Temperance the use of pleasures Fortitude that of afflictions and Justice the distribution of all these Finally he concludes that it belongs to Prudence to foresee hidden things to Temperance to desie pleasures to Fortitude to attaque them and to Justice to regulate their interests But because these duties savour still of the description let us speak of those that denote the necessity of these Vertues and say that honesty which is inseparable from them is composed of four parts without which it cannot possibly subsist The first is Knowledge which serves it for a conduct and a light The second is the Interest of Society which ought always to be preferred before that of particulars The third is a certain magnanimity which seems as it were the soul of all honourable Actions and the defence of all Vertues The fourth is Moderation which keeps every one within his duty not suffering him to undertake any thing that may be disadvantageous to his neighbour Light appertains to Prudence the care of the Community to Justice Glorious enterprises to Fortitude and the regulating of Pleasures to Temperance Therefore hath that excellent Copier of Saint Augustine venerable Bede who being able to be a great Master of his own Head chose rather to be an humble Disciple of that learned Doctor observed that the Vertues coming in to the help of man a sinner seemed to have a mind to cure four great wounds which Original sin had inflicted upon him The first is Ignorance which is born with him which involves him in darknesse assoon as ever nature exposeth him to the light For he is Ignorant assoon as Criminal and as Grace is necessary to deliver him from sin Prudence is requisite to defend him from Errour and Falshood she irradiates his mind with a Heavenly Light gives him the spirit of discerning between Good and Evil and severing apparent good from reall keeps him from wandering in the course of his life The second wound is that of Concupiscence which seems particularly to have set upon the Concupisicible appetite which she hath engaged in the love of sinful sensualities and diverts from innocent contentments against this agreeable enemy Heaven hath given him Temperance whose businesse 't is to undeceive this irregular appetite to make use of charms to suppresse his unjust inclinations and to reduce him to a condition where he wisheth only reasonable things The third wound is Weakness which plungeth man in idleness suffering him not to act frights him from Vertue because of the difficulties 't is accompanied with and representing Death as a Spectrum Grief as a Monster strives to deter him from his duty by such fearful apprehensions against this great inconvenience which may be called the root of all other Fortitude stands up which heightens our courage fils the man with hope and activity animates him with glory the companion of difficulty and changing our diseases into remedies makes us find honour in pain and Immortality in Death The fourth and deepest wound is the malice of the will which may be called a Natural Injustice which is troubled at the prosperity and rejoyceth at the adversity of his neighbour when a man minds nothing but his own interests believes whatever is profitable is lawful placeth right in force duty in pleasure and is perswaded that glory being inseparable from profit there is nothing beneficial which at the same time is not honourable Morality to rid him of so Potent an enemy hath given him Justice which supplying the loss of Original righteousness teacheth him to prefer his duty before his interest and his conscience before his reputation This excellent Vertue which is the soule of all the rest undertakes to regulate mans actions to appease all disorders wherein his guilty birth hath engaged him For she submitteth his mind to God his body to his mind and having made this double agreement tries to accommodate man with his neighbour and to establish peace in his state after she hath brought it into his person Nothing distinguisheth this Vertue from Original righteousness but the resistence it meets with in those things it would regulate for the first took no pains to be obeyed she had to doe with tractable subjects the soul and body had not as yet clash'd their inclinations though different were not opposite and these two parts that make up man were not contrary in their designs so that Original righteousness had no hard task to manage a peace which seemed founded as well in Grace as in Nature But Christian Justice meets with insolent subjects who acknowledge not their Soveraign obey her not but by compulsion who being born in sedition think it their duty to live in disobedience nevertheless when assisted with Prudence to chuse means of accommodation seconded with Temperance to suppress pleasures and manfully supported by Fortitude to overcome grief she gains that by violence which Original righteousness did by sweet compliance and if she be not so quiet she may boast at least she is more glorious To express the same Truth in other words and to give it a new beauty in setting it out in new colours we may say that Prudence is busied in discussing those things that deceive us to discern truth from falshood and to secure us from being surprised with a lye Temperance is employed to suppress those things that charm our affections and whose allurements pleasingly heighten our appetites Fortitude is engaged to vanquish those things that terrifie us it revives our spirits and as a General of an Army that heartens his soldiers endeavours to rally that Courage Grief or Danger had in a manner routed Justice is busied in regulating those concernments wherein lies our interest and which under a colour of some gain would set us upon some violent course to compass it Wherefore Seneca said that perillous things were to be mastered by Valour pleasurable things to be moderated by Temperance Things that abuse us to be examined by Prudence and those that tempt and fain would corrupt us to be regulated by Justice If it be true that Vertue respects only our person and that according to the opinion of some Philosophers who would make her the slave of our interests her sole object is man we may say without thwarting their conceit that Prudence considers things without us which being hid and obscured by the distance of places and times cannot be foreseen but by the light of this Vertue which seems to be a natural kind of prophesie According to this principle Temperance regulates things that are below us in the inferiour Region of the soul reduceth the passions and the senses to their duty and entertains reason
in her Empire Fortitude combats those things that rise against us defends us from our enemies scatters all those evils whosâ— pomps hath no other design but to weaken our courage Justice looks after that which is beside or above us makes us render to God our Soveraign and to our neighbour our equal what of due belongs unto them and parting our obligations according to their conditions bindes us to love the former above our selves and the later as our selves If as it is very likely these Vertues respect our rest and quietness they deliver us from four inconveniences which may exceedingly trouble us For many times we prefer an imaginary apparent Good before a real one and from this errour Prudence secures us we desert a Good because difficult and from this cowardise Fortitude rouzeth us we seek after some pleasing but unprofitable or pernicious Good and this pitfal Temperance teacheth us to avoid or lastly we desire something advantageous to our selves but prejudicial to our neighbour and this iniquity Justice forbids obliging us to preserve the interest of another as our own But whatever succour the Christian can draw from these vertues he must confess they reproach him with his miseries and exprobate him with his crimes For Prudence informs him that he is in banishment where Good and Evil are mixt together and where he is in danger to mistake as often as he hath occasion to chuse Temperance teacheth him that he hath inordinate Passions that must be supprest that he nourisheth monsters in his person which must be strangled but that the disease over-tops the remedy because Prudence dissipates not the darkness of his Ignorance nor doth Temperance regulate all the disorders of his Appetite Justice tells him he must submit his spirit to God his body to his spirit but the resistance he findes makes him sadly feel that earth is not the mansion of Peace nor this life the time of Triumph Finally Fortitude which obligeth him to combat Grief is an argument that he is still criminal because he still remains miserable The Eighth DISCOURSE Of the Humility of a Christian IT is a strange thing but withal exceeding true that of all the Vertues there is none more natural nor yet a greater stranger to Man then Humility For she is born with him he carries the principles thereof in his soul and in his body in that the one is drawn out of Nothing the other is formed out of the Slime of the earth He must forget his extraction to give the least admittance to Vain-glory and he need onely study and minde himself to be sensibly affected with Humility Therefore said an Ancient that Pride was a stranger-vice and Humility a natural vertue In the mean time Man was never more arrogant then since he became so wretchedly miserable That which ought to take down his spirit hath raised it and the misery that should have taught him Humility hath made him quite forget so commendable a vertue She was unknown to the Heathen her name which we account so glorious was infamous among them nor was it ever ascribed to any actions but those that deserved blame It was necessary that Christian grace should revive her and that her light should discover the beauties of this unknown vertue Indeed she had no credit with men till the mystery of the Incarnation God must be abased that we may learn this lesson and his examples must perswade humane wilfulness that true greatness consists in lowe deportment Though this Vertue takes her merit from her Master and her glory is very remarkable in having God for her Author yet must we confess that in her own nature she is of very high esteem and that her proper intrinsecal excellency gives worth and value to her For she seems to include all the Cardinal vertues and to comprehend all their advantages in her essence She partakes of Prudence because she is illuminated and knows the greatness of God and the meanness of the Creature She hath something of Temperance because she bridles the pleasure that vanity promiseth and defends her self from that agreeable enemy who makes use of praises onely to deceive us She shares with Fortitude because she combats shame and grief which frequently accompany base and unworthy actions Finally she is an image of Justice because she treats the Creator and the Creature with so much equity and rendering Glory to the one reserves nothing but Contempt for the other But lest we should think her riches are meerly the spoils of another that she hath none but borrowed excellencies nor is at all considerable but for the alms she receives from other vertues we shall do well to consider her nature and to be acquainted with her by weighing her definition Humility according to S. Augustine is a voluntary debasement of the soul before God in the sight of her own condition which representing her Nothingness reads her this lesson that none can preserve her but he that created her This great man expresly joyns the Creature with the Creator in this definition for Man looking onely upon himself might easily grow proud at the sight of his own priviledges when he looks up to God compares the Creature with the Creator confronting two things opposite by such an infinite distance he is obliged to fall lowe upon his face if his Pride exceed not that of the devil Therefore did that afflicted Prince who would perswade his friends that his being miserable was no argument he was criminal change his language when he had compared his own defects with the perfections of God and confess there was no creature so holy that was not guilty before him Now mine eye seeth thee and therefore I abhor my self As if he would have said Whilst I compared my actions with those of men I cherished a high opinion of my vertue but when thy light had cleared my spirit and I beheld that holiness whereby thou art so gloriously separated from thy works I prevent thy arrest and forgetting my innocence pass sentence of condemnation upon my self This is the apprehension of Humility and whenever Man is tempted to Pride this lowliness of minde presents him before God in his nature in his person in his actions in his Nature that he is miserable in his Person that he is criminal in his Actions that he is unconstant and wavering Others define Humility a disesteem that Man conceives of his own excellency inasmuch as he hath not any thing which was not given him by Grace and may not be taken away by Justice For this wretch lives but upon loan In the height of his Innocence he was but many creatures in gross and it seems that God to oblige him to Humility made him up of borrowed pieces He takes his Being from the Elements his Life from Plants his Sense from Animals and his Understanding from Angels So that should he return every Creature what he hath received all that would remain to him would be his Nothingness and