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 [Page 2]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 period to his Controversies, he is continually infested with a Domestick and intestine war. Though Repentance subdue the Body by its Austerities, and Prayer elevate the Soul by its Raptures, both Soul and Body continually rebel against the Spirit of God: Indicitur enim bellum non solum adversus suggestiones Diaboli, sed etiam adversus teipsum; sed ex qua parte tibi displices jungeris Deo, & idoneus eris ad vincendum te, quia tecum est qui omnia superat; quare autem per­mittitur ut diu contra te litiges donec absorbeantur omnes cupiditates? ut intelligas in te poenam tuam. In te ex teipso est flagellum tuum; est rixa tua tecum; sic vindicatur in rebellem contra Deum ut ipse sit sibi bellum qui pacem noluit habere cum Deo. Aug. in Psal. 75. The greatest Saints complain of these disorders, and wish an End of their life, to finde an End of their Conflicts. The internal peace that always accompanies a good Conscience is not able to reconcile these two Enemies, and expe­rience teacheth us that peace and war wil sooner shake hands in a Kingdom, then Concupiscence and Charity in a CHRISTIAN.

But certainly I never wonder at his Discord, since he hath two Fathers, two Births, and two Principles. He hath two Fathers because he came from Adam and from Jesus Christ; and deriving from one the Life of Sin, he derives from the other the Life of Grace. Thus by a strange wonder he is at the same time Innocent and Guilty; he hopes for heaven as his Inheritance, and is affraid of hel as the place of his torment; and pursuing the severall Interests he hath re­ceived from these two Parents, he is toss'd con­tinually between hope and fear. He is Primas homo Adam sic olim defunctus est, ut ta­men post illum secundus sit homo Christus, cum tot hominum millia inter illum & hunc orta sint; & ideo manifestum pertinere ad illum omnem qui ex illa suc­cessione propagatur & nascitur: sicut ad istum pertinet omnis qui gratiae largitate in illo renascitur, unde fit ut totum genus humanum quodammodo sint homines duo, primus & secundus. Ex sent. Prosp. 299. Adam and Jesus both together, in [Page 3]his person he unites their names aswell as their qualities, he resents their diverse inclinations, and holding something of these two Fathers, hee beares the Crime of the one, and the Innocencie of the other. They reigne successively in his person, and the chief Imployment of his life is to make the first dye and the second live. This Parricide is innocent, all Christians are obliged to commit it; neither doth Jesus Christ acknowledge them for his children, who endeavour not to strangle this Father, who made them liable to Death before he entitled them to Life. They cannot dis­pense with themselves from this murder, and whosoever spares Adam in his person, gives evidence he hath no minde that Jesus Christ should reign there. Adam himself allowes of this cruelty, in heaven where he now triumphs amongst the Angels, he desires to dye in his Children, that he may see him live there who hath repair'd his breach; and if there were any thing that could trouble his happinesse, it would be this, that he sees his sin still to reign in his posterity, that he stifles Christ in their souls, and makes him suffer death upon Earth, by whose benefit he enjoys life in Heaven. He complains that he cannot utterly perish in his off-spring, that he reigns there to this day against his will, and that for punishment of a sin whereof he made them stand convicted before they were born, they continue to make him guilty after that he is dead. But nothing afflicts him so much as to behold sin in some sort more powerfull then Grace, that the One over­spreads all mankinde, the Other onely the Contra carnis concupiscentiam ità confligunt Sancti non ei consentientes ad malum, ut ta­men ejus motibus quibus repugnantibus resistunt non careant in hac vita. Aug. l. 1. Retra. cap. 13. Faithfull, that sin oftentimes destroyes all Grace, but Grace can never wholly destroy all sin. Lastly, that Adam utterly exterminates Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ can never per­fectly slay Adam.

These two Fathers are conveyed to their posterity by two different Pro­ductions; the first is shamefull and guilty, the second is glorious and inno­cent: The first is inseparable from sin; For though it be noble according to the Lawes of the world, 'tis alwaies ignominious according to the Laws of God, and though it appeare innocent to the eies of men, 'tis alwaies Criminall in the sight of Angels: The Saints acknowledge it with grief, and though the Issue of lawfull Beds, they cease not to confesse that they were Nunquid Da­vid de adulterio natus erat? de Jesse viro justo & Conjuge ipsi­us? quid est quod se dicit in ini­quitate conce­ptum, nisi quia trahitur iniqui­tas ex Adam? Aug. in Ps. 50. born in sin. The second is ever joined with Grace, it gives us God for our Father, the Church for our Mother, and Heaven for our Inheri­tance. We cannot better expresse their differences, then in the words of St. Augustine Duae sunt nati­vitates, una de terra, alia de Coelo; una de Carne, alia de Spiritu; una de mortalitate, alia de aeternitate; una de Masculo & Foemina, alia de Deo & Ecclesia. Aug. Tract. 11. in Joan. Sicut eos vita spiritus regene­rat sideles in Christo, sic eos Corpus mortis in Adam generat Peccatores: Illa enim carnalis generatio est, haec spiritualis; illa facit filios carnis, haec spiritûs; illa filios mortis, haec Resurrectionis; illa filios saeculi, haec filios Dei; illa filios irae, haec filios misericordiae; ac per hoc illa peccato originali obligatos, illa omnis vinculo peccati liberatos. August. lib. 1. de Pecca. men., who tells us, The one comes from the Earth and returns thither again, the other comes from Heaven and ascends thither again; the one draws it's Originall from the Flesh, the other from the Spirit; the one tends to Death, the other to Eternity; the one proceeds from Man and Woman, the other from God and the Church. Or to deliver the same Truth in other terms, we may adde with the same Saint, That [Page 4]the Life of the Spirit regenerates the Faithfull in Jesus Christ, and the Death of the Body begets sinners in Adam: That of these two Births, the One is Carnal, the Other Spiritual; The One produceth Angels, the Other engenders Men; The One designes them to Death, the Other pre­pares them for the Resurrection; The One renders them the children of the Devil, the Other makes them the children of God; The One exposeth them to his Wrath, the Other to his Mercy; Finally, the One engageth them in Original sin, the Other by a more happy and powerful influence frees them from all Iniquity.

These two Births produce two Lives which are preserv'd in every Chri­stian till he dyes; their strength is more or less according to the Progress Sient ignoran­tia minuitur veritate magis magis (que) lucente, ita & concupi­scentia minuitur charitate magis magis (que) fer­vente, Aug l. 6. contra Julia. Per cupidita­tem regnat in homine Diabolus & cor ejus te­net; per charita­tem regnat in illo Christus, Aug. lib. de Agone Christ. cap. 1. Quanto magis regnum cupidi­tatis destruitur, tanto magis regnum chari­tatis augetur. August. lib. 3. de Doctrina Christ. c. 10. Grace or Sin makes in the Soul; They act by contrary principles, and di­vide the Christian in his operations as well as in his person. For as he is mystically compounded of Jesus Christ and Adam, so is he spiritually fra­med of Concupisence and Charity: whatever he undertakes is under the conduct of one of these Mistresses, who have no other design but to have an absolute Command over his will: He is a slave to both; he complains that being wholly delivered up to Grace, he is not wholly delivered from Sin; that he suffers the Evil he hath no minde to act; that he feels dis­orders he no ways approves of, and that unhappily divided between his de­sires, he cannot so fully obey Charity, but he must still serve Concu­piscence.

Indeed every Christian is obliged to combate himself, he feels somthing within him that cannot but displease him; he wonders to behold such diffe­rent motions in the same person, and not being able to comprehend how such contrary desires grow in the same heart, he is amaz'd to finde inclina­tions which transport him to sin as much as to vertue. When he reflects upon himself, he observes that he is just and guilty; that he partly obeys Jesus Christ and partly resists him; that being a subject and a rebell at the same time, he bears about him the seeds of Life and of Death. For he is righteous, as Eris in parte emendata ju­stus, quamvis sis adhuc in emendanda pecoator: ex qua parte tibi displices justus es, ex qua parte tibi displicet quod justum est in ustus es. August. in Psal. 1. Praeponite dele­ctationem men­tis delectationi carnis; carnem quippe nostram delectant dele­ctationes illi­citae: mentem nostram delectat invisibilis, casta, sancta, dulcis justitia, ut non ad eam timore cogamini; si enim ad eam ti­more cogimini nondū delectat; peccare non de­bes timore paenae sed amore justi­tiae, Aug. serm. 17. de verb. Apost. St. Augustin saith, with that part that is sanctified by Grace, but guilty with that which is corrupted by Sin; He pleaseth God because he endevours to keep his Commandments; He displeaseth him, because he cherisheth somthing in his Soul that opposeth his will.

These two Mistresses that govern the Christian have some correspon­dency in their oppositions; both of them make use of the same sub­jects, nor undertake any thing of importance but by the assistance of the Passions and faculties of the Soul: But Concupiscence findes more submission then Charity, because she asks nothing but what suits with [Page 5]their humour, and flatters their hope: Nevertheless, Charity gains Obedience, because she acts in the power of the Almighty, and is assisted by Grace to reduce all these rebels to their duty. Her Empire though strong is nevertheless pleasing, and herein she imitates Concupi­scence her opposite: For this agreeable Enemy of a Christian reigns with so much sweetness, that she is loved of those that persecute her; all her perswasions are so many charms; and knowing very wel that she commands over free Creatures, she never propounds any thing that is not acceptable and delightfull. Charity takes the same course; all her inspirations are pleasant: if she press us, 'tis with Charms; if she be victorious, 'tis with­out doing us any violence; if she gain our Consent, 'tis without com­pelling our liberty; and if she encourage us against our selves, 'tis not till she hath perswaded us that we are faulty.

Finally, these two Soveraigns wholly possess the Christian by their di­verse motions, and according as he is acted by them, he is Innocent or Guilty. When he follows the provocations of Concupiscence he can do nothing but offend; Libido non solum sibi totū corpus, nec solum extrinsecus ven­dicat, sed totum hominem com­movet, animi simul affectu cū carnis appetitu conjuncto at (que) permixto. Aug. lib. 14. de Civ. c. 15. whatever lustre his actions put on, they are always bad when they proceed from this principle. Though he give his goods to the poor, his assistance to the miserable, expose his life for the safety of his Country, shed his blood for the interest of Religion or Justice, if he act by the Counsel of Concupiscence, he is criminall amidst the throng of so many splendid Actions; and the principle he moves by being unable to propound any other end then vain-glory, can secure him neither from sin nor punishment. When on the contrary the Christian being led by Cha­rity, acted by the Spirit of God that quickens him, and following the motions of Grace, endevours to satisfie his Duty; all his actions are Inno­cent and acceptable to God: Did he always act according to this Principle, his condition would be no longer peccant, and did he obey its holy inspi­rations he should be sure not to offend. It is in this sense that the Beloved disciple of our Saviour, assures us, Omnis qui na­tus est ex Deo peccatum non facit; quoniam semen ipsius in eo manet, & quo­niam ex Deo natus est. 1 Joan. cap. 3. That whatever is born of God sinneth not; that is, the Christian that always follows the motion of the Divine Spirit, is never subdued by Concupiscence, neither can he be overcome as long as he is actually guided by Charity. This heavenly seed that preserves him, can produce nothing but what is excellent, and this Tree that is planted in his heart, can bring forth none but good fruit. But in as much as this actuall assistance is not due unto him, and that heaven leaves him to him­self, to make him sensible of his weakness, he fals many times into light transgressions, and is forc'd to confess with the same Apostle, That, he that says he hath no sin, deceives himself, and the truth is not in him.

The second DISCOURSE. To make Man a Christian, he must be Renew'd, Rege­nerate, and rais'd from the Dead.

NOthing doth so fully manifest the greatness of a Disease, Si cito caperetur incarnatio, non opus erat ut cre­deretur; creden­do ergo capitur quod nisi creda­tur nunquam intelligitur. Aug. de vera Innoc. c. 45. as the diffi­culty of the Remedy; neither does any thing make a man so sensible of the Corruption of his Nature by Sin, as the difficulty of his Restitution by Grace: The External Cause of his salvation is so strange, that it ap­pears incredible to all those that are not illuminated by Faith; Humane Prudence cannot comprehend that the Death of a God was necessary for the Recovery of a Sinner: It laughs at that Mercy that oblig'd Divinity to be cloath'd with our miseries, it beleeves such excess of love unworthy an infinite wisdom, and that to be perswaded of the mystery of the Incarna­tion, is to render the Divine Nature ridiculous, and humane Nature insolent.

Nevertheless, Faith convinceth us, that nothing hath so much exalted God as this Condescention; nothing hath so much abased Man as this Exaltation. For albeit the greatness of God be at the height; that neither Desires nor Imaginations can add any thing to it; yet if we believe Saint Deus cum non haberet quo cre­sceret per ascen­sum quia ultra Deum nihil est, per descensum quomodo cresce­ret invenit ve­niens Incarnari. Bern. serm. 2. de Asc. Bernard, he acquir'd new qualities by the Incarnation: Men never more reverenced him then since he thus humbled himself; and he hath done things in pursuance of this Mystery that might seem unprofitably attemp­ted before he vouchsafed to accomplish so transcendent a wonder. His Empire is increased now that he is become a servant to his Father; Men have erected Altars to his Majesty since the Jews lifted him up upon the Cross, and the Crown of Thorns that encircled his head hath merited the Crown of all the Kingdoms of the Universe. If his Humiliation hath exalted him, we must acknowledg that our exaltation hath humbled us: Haec medicina hominum tanta est, quanta non potest cogitari; nam quae super­bia sanari potest si humilitate filii Dei non sa­natur? Aug. de Ago. Chr. c. ii. For there is no pride that wil not stoop when it considers that our sin could not finde a perfect remedy but in the death of God-Man, that we must be wash'd in his blood to be purified, and with his honour despoil him of Life to restore us our Innocence.

This Truth findes new proofs in the Birth of a Christian; and if he con­sider the names it bears, and the effects it produceth, he will be constrain'd to acknowledg that he was strangely corrupted by sin, since to re-establish him in Grace he was fain to bestow upon him a Redditur nobis novitas per Ba­ptismū vetustate discedente; deo­neratur anima sarcinis peccato­rum ut libertate novae vitae indu­ta adversus Di­abolum cum ad­jutorio Divino valeat fortiter dimicare. Aug. l. 4. de Sym. c. 9 New-Birth. Indeed the Holy Scriptures teach us that the Baptism wherein the Christian is Rege­nerated, is somtimes called his Renovation, somtimes his second Birth, somtimes his first Resurrection, that from the very name of his Remedy he may learn the greatness of his Malady: Let us admire these two together, and shew in this Discourse the Transgression of Man, and the Reformation of the Christian.

Sin is a Secret poyson that hath spread its malice over the soul and body of Man. Malorum omniū nostrorum causa peccatum est; non enim fine causa mala ista homi­nes patiuntur; Justus est Deus omnipotens; non ista pateremur nisi mereremur. Aug. ser. 139. de Tempore. The miseries it hath produc'd in the body are so publick that there is none but knows them, because there is none but feels them. The Confusion of our Humours, the Disorder of our Temperament, the un­faithfulness of our Senses, and the revolt of our Passions, are miseries under which Philosophers groan as well as Believers: But as the soul is more guilty then the Body, so is she much more miserable: For Errour hath stoln into the Understanding, Malice hath depraved the Will, Oblivion hath dropt into the Memory, and in so general a disorder there remains no faculty that is not either weakned or corrupted. The Pride of the Stoïcks hath complain'd of this misfortune, which though they have endeavoured to sweeten by Reason, they have been forc'd to confess that so impotent a remedy could not cure so obstinate a malady.

After the Divine Justice had suffered man for many ages to languish in his Productior est poena quam cul­pa, ne parva pu­taretur culpa si cum illa finire­tur & poena. Aug. Trac. 124. in Joan. miseries, at last Mercy furnished him with Baptism to rid him of his Evils: But lest the Easiness of the remedy, consisting of the Commonest of the Elements might render it contemptible, God was willing that the very name it bears should inform us that we were so corrupt, that to be cured we must be wholly new-made. For in this Sacrament Man seems to change his Nature, to receive a new life, to assume other inclinations, Ecce libertatis serenitate per­fruuntur qui tenebantur paulo ante cap­tivi; Cives Ec­clesiae sunt qui fuerunt in peregrinationis errore, & in sorte justitiae versantur qui fuerunt in confus [...]one peccati. Non enim tantum sunt liberi sed & sancti, non tantum sancti sed & justi, non solum justi sed & filii, non solum filii sed cohaeredes, &c. vides quot sunt Baptismatis largitates. Chrysost. homil. de Baptisatis citatur ab. Aug. lib. 1. contra Julia. cap. 2. where being illuminated by faith he discovers other lights; being warm'd by Charity he conceives other heats; being united to another head he receives other influences; and being quickned by a new Spirit, he forms new designes.

Is it not indeed a prodigious change, that he that was the slave of the Devil, becomes the subject of Jesus Christ; that a Criminal is pronounced Innocent; that he that had in him the seeds of all Vices, receives the seeds of all Vertues, and that by a happy Metamorphosis which is wrought in a moment, and with a word he is despoyl'd of Adam, and cloathed with Jesus Christ?

This Renovation is so great and so consequentially admirable in the effects thereof, that the Scripture to express the wonders that accompany it, hath somtimes called it a New-birth, somtimes a Regeneration. The Son of God who is the Author of it testifies that no man can enter into the kingdom of heaven except he be born again of Water and of the Holy Ghost. The Fathers of the Church have given it the same name, and Theoyhylact teacheth us that we were so deeply swallowed up in the puddle of sin, that being not able to be drawn out by an ordi­nary endevour, nor cleansed by a simple washing, we were fain to be Rege­nerated: [Page 8]And making use of another Comparison, he tels us, That being like an old house that is ready to fall, it was requisite we should be quite destroy'd that we might be re-built again. Ita vitiis eramus immersi ut nulla ratione purgari possemus, sed opus suit Regeneratione; nam secundam nativitatem Re­generatio significat, & nos ut veterem domum quam evertere oportet Deus denuo condidit. Theophyl. ad Tit. c. 3. St. Augustin is of the same opinion, when observing what ha­vock sin hath made in our Nature, he saith, God deals with us as he doth with decay'd buildings which are good only to be thrown down, that upon their ruines may be laid the founda­tion of a new structure, wherein the wisdom of the Architect is to be admir'd, who from a heap of rubbish hath been able to erect a stately Pa­lace or a magnificent Temple.

But not to wander from the subject of our Discourse in such figurative expressions, Qui gaudes Ba­ptismi percepti­one, vive in novi hominis sancti­tate, & tenens fidem quae per dilectionem ope­ratur habe bonū quod nondum habes, & profit tibi bonum quod habes. Prosp. Sent. 325. let us hold to the simplicity of the Gospel affirming that Bap­tism is call'd the New-birth of a Christian; because thereby he receives a New-Being, and passing from the person of Adam into that of Jesus Christ, he happily loseth those bad qualities he had contracted in his first conception: He becomes a member of the Son of God, he enters by Grace upon all the rights of his head, he converseth with God as with his Father, with whom not losing his respect he gains a familiarity, till be­ing insensibly disengaged from the Earth, he aspires to Heaven, as towards his lawful inheritance.

Indeed this Generation is but begun in Baptism, it continues the whole course of a mans life, nor is it finished till the generall Resurrection. For though Sin be blotted out by Grace in a Christian, Concupiscentia tanquam lex peccati manens in membris cor­poris mortis hu­jus cum parvulis nascitur; in par­vulis baptizatis à reatu solvitur, ad agonem re­linquitur, ante agonem mortuos nulla damnati­one prosequitur. August. neither can all that he hath received from Adam any longer shut the gate of Heaven against him; yet there are a thousand disorders that hinder the compleat perfect establishment of Charity in his soul; It lives as it were in an ungratefull and barren land, where there can be no improvement without a kinde of violence: Self-love opposeth all its designes; and this Enemy who is often beaten but never vanquished, gives it so many turns that were it not for the continual assistance it receives from God, it could not preserve it self one moment.

But admit this dangerous Enemy persecute not the Christian with so cruel awar, the bondage whereto Infancy hath reduc'd him, suffers him not to make any great progress: For the Grace that we receive in Bap­tism cannot make us operate; as we have not yet the use of Reason, nei­ther have we that of Charity or of Faith; we are faithfull without be­leeving in God, Charitable without loving him; we possess a Treasure that we cannot dispose of, and our happiness having some resemblance with our disaster, we have no other merits but that of Jesus Christ, as we have no other sins but those of Adam. For this reason are we obliged to be very industrious as soon as we are out of our childhood, and not to suffer all those advantages we receive from our New-Birth to lye use­less and unprofitable; we must have recourse to our Redeemer, and [Page 9]conjure him by our prayers to finish the work he hath begun, that perfect­ing us in Grace Cum concupi­scentia natus es; ut eam vincas, noli tibi hostes addere, vince cum quo natus es; ad stadium vitae hujus cum illo venisti, con­gredere cum eo qui tecum proce­dit. Aug. Ps. 57. here, we may one day be happily consummated in Glory hereafter.

But to return to the subject we have necessarily digress'd from, Baptism bears not only the name of a New Birth, but also that of a Resurrection; Therefore the Great Apostle saith An ignoratis quia quicunque baptizati su­mus in Christs Jesu, in morte ipsius baptizati sumus cum illo per Baptismum in mortem, ut quomodo Chri­stus surrexit à mortuis per glo­riam Patris, ità & nos in novi­tate vitae am­bulemus? Ro­man. 6., That the Christians are risen with Christ, that his Death quickens their souls, and that these two contraries agreeing in their person, they are dead to Sin and alive to Grace. This name, more excellent then the rest, does (me thinks) more fully discover the misery of Man, and the happinesse of a Christian: For if Baptism be a Resurrection, if a Beleever be not only born again, but raisd from the grave, we must conclude, that before this second Birth he was dead; and if he had some symptoms of a natural and sensitive, he had not any Principle of a su­pernatural and divine Life: He was asmuch pre-engaged in Death as in Sin, and according to the rules of Scripture, he was truly dead; because truly a sinner. All the excuse he could alledg in his misery, is, that his Death was contracted by the fault of another; and that as he transgressed not but by the will of his Father, so neither was he obnoxious to death but by his hand. In a word, to comprehend this rightly, He is the cause of our misfortune; He committed the Crime that we contracted in our birth; if he be guilty by design, we are so by necessity, and before we have the use of reason we are therefore sinners, because we are his Children; by the same means that he conveighs Sicut omnium fuisii parens, ità & omnium peremptor, &, quod infelicius, omnium prius peremptor quàm parens. Ber. death to us, by the same doth he commu­nicate sin; he is our Parricide just as he is our Parent; and, which puzzles all Philosophie, he commits as many murders as his posterity begets Chil­dren.

In this deplorable condition as Baptism finds us, it not only gives us life, but restores it, nor is it meerly our Birth but our Resurrection. This is it that St. Augustine, with no lesse Eloquence then Learning, delivers, when he saith, Resurrecturum humanum genus i [...] saeculi consumma­tione post mortem nunc resurgit in Baptismo: suscitandus est tunc populus Dei post soporem, nunc suscitandus post infi­delitatem, liberandus est tunc à mortali conditione, nunc liberatur ab ignorantiae caecitate; renasciturus tunc ad ae­ternitatem, nunc renascitur ad salutem. August. Serm. 163. de Tempore. that the Church acknowledgeth two Resurre­ctions in the world; the first is in Ba­ptism, the second will be at the day of Judgment, that the Christians shall then awake from their long sleep which hath so many Ages sealed them up in their Tombs, and that now they do arise after they were buried in Infidelity; then they shall be freed from all misfortunes that attend their mortal condition; now they are delivered from all clouds of Ignorance that darken their spi­rituall existency; then they shall rise to Immortality and Glory, now they are regenerated to Grace and Salvation.

Though these effects of Baptism are sufficiently admirable by their own proper greatnesse, Nonne mirandū et lavacro dilui mortem? atquin eo magis creden­dum, si quia mi­randum est ideo non creditur: atquin eo magis credendum est; qualia enim de­cet esse opera divina nisi omnē admirationem? Tert. de Bapt. Sine pompa, sine apparatu, sine sumptu in aquae demissus inter pauca verba tinctus inde exi­liit innocentior. Idem ibid. yet must we acknowledg that the easinesse that produ­ceth them, extreamly heightens their Excellency: For, to revive a childe, there needs only a little water animated with the Word of God; all these changes are wrought in his soul, when the Priest speaks, and sprinkles his body; he is miraculously raised, when the Ceremonies of the Church are ended; and this way that prepares him to eternall life, costs the Ministers of Jesus Christ nothing but the Pronunciation of these words, I baptise thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

The Heathen who heretofore inform'd themselves of our Mysteries, were scandaliz'd at a miracle so mean and simple in its Administration, so glori­ous in its Promises, and so powerfull in its Effects: They could not com­prehend saith Tertullian, that washing the body with a little water, the soul should be cleansed from its sins; that without any Miratur incre­dulitas, non cre­dit; miratur enim simplicia quasi vana, magnifica quasi impossbilia. Ter. pomp or expense, a few words mingled with the commonest of the Elements, should assure us of the Conquest of heaven: But this Great Doctor answers their doubts with such solid Reasons, that he at once blazons the honor of our Religion, and the Majesty of our God. For he makes them see Prob misera incredulitas quae denegas Deo proprietas suas, simplicitatem et potestatē! Ter. de Baptis. he was pleased to shew his simplicity in the matter of our Sacraments, and his State in their effects: that not to know God, was no more then to deny him these two perfections which seem to constitute his Nature; and that it was to want re­spect to make simple things passe for vain, and glorious things for impossi­ble; because it is easie for him who drew the world out of nothing to draw our salvation out of an Element quickned by his Word and by his Spirit. Baptism then being so fruitfull of Miracles, and this Sacrament being the Throne of the power of the Almighty, we need not wonder that the Christian finds his birth there, that in it he is renewed by Grace, that he is raised again by the vertue of Jesus Christ, and that there he commenceth a supernatural life, whose Progresse is as strange as the Beginning is won­derfull.

The Third DISCOURSE. That the chiefest Mysteries of Jesus Christ are ap­plyed to the Christian in his Birth.

IT is not without reason that St. Paul informs Christians newly bapti­zed Quicunque in Christo bapti­zati estis Chri­stum induistis. Gal. 3., that they have put on Jesus Christ, since in their second Nativity they are united to his Person, replenished with his Grace, and quickned with his Spirit: For as a Induistis, id est, conformes ei facti estis quod est vobis honor contra aestus & protectio. Glossa. ordinar. in hunc locum. Garment is the ornament and shelter of a man, it covers his shame, and protects him from the injury of the weather: so may we say of Jesus Christ; he is the glory and guard of a Christian, [Page 11]whom having delivered from the confusion that accompanies sin, he de­fends against the assaults of temptation, and bestows upon him vigour and beauty, thereby to render him a compleat work. But as all graces in Chri­stianity are mixt with pain, the Christian, according to the doctrine of the same Apostle, if he intend to be perfect, must die with Christ; death must bring him to the resurrection and to life: Whosoever, saith he, are bapti­zed into Jesus Christ, are baptized into his death. All that we are of Chri­stians, we have by being baptized in his death: Sacri Baptis­matis in cruce Christi grande mysterium com­mendavit Apo­stolus eo modo ut intelligamus ni­hil aliud esse in Christo baptis­mum, nisi mortis Christi similitu­dinem, ut quem­admodum in illo vera mors facta est, sic in vobis vera remissio peccatorum; & quemadmodum in illo vera resurrectio, ita in vobis vera justificatio. Aug. in Beda. we are buried with him in Baptism: we drowned our sins in the waters of this Sacrament, and in this laver happily lose whatever we received from Adam in our first birth. This death is fruitful, producing in us the life of grace: this burial prepares us for the Resurrection; neither doth Jesus Christ make us partake of his Cross, but thereby to make us partake of his Glory. The Tomb is a step to our Birth: like the Phoenix, we finde life in our ashes; and, by a wonderful prodigie, the Sepulchre of the Sinner becomes the Cradle of the Believer. For the Christian receives a Being in Baptism, according as he expires there; and, contrary to all the Laws of Nature, Death is the Midwife of Life.

All the Fathers speak the same dialect with S. Paul; Baptismus Chri­sti nobis est se­pultura in quo peccatis mori­mur, criminibus sepelimur, & veteris hominis conscientia in alterā nativi­tatem rediviva infantia repa­ramur. Baptis­mus inquā Sal­vatoris vobis se­pultura, quia ibi perdidimus quod antè viximus, & ibi dennò accipimus ut vi­vamus: magna igitur sepulturae hujus est gratia, in qua nobis & utilis mors in­fertur, & vtilior vita condonatur: magna inquā sepulturae hujus gratia, quae & purificat peccatorē, & vivificat morientē. Aug. Serm. 129. de Temp. never mentioning Ba­ptism but as a Sacrament where the life and death of Jesus Christ are equal­ly applied unto us, that we may live to grace, and die to sin. The Baptism of Jesus Christ, saith S. Augustine, is a burial wherein we bequeath sin; and losing the conscience of the old man, we enter upon a second Infancy by a new Nativity. In a word, the Baptism of our Saviour is a Tomb wherein we are buried, and a Cradle wherein we are born again: 'tis a pleasant dor­mitory where receiving a death beneficial, we receive withal a life far more glorious; and where leaving off to be Sinners, we begin to be Innocents.

In this it is that I admire the Providence of the Son of God, who made use of sin to destroy sin, as saith the Apostle of the Gentiles; De peccato damnavit peccatum; and changing his death into a sacrifice, made it a satis­faction for all our iniquities. For if Baptism make us die to sin, it is upon no other ground, but because it imprints in our souls the merit and image of the death of Christ, and by an invisible, but a true and real grace, works in us a desire to part with all that is derived from Adam. This makes the Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus! Rom. 7. Saints that they cannot endure the rebellions of concupiscence; that they employ all their strength to smother these embryo's; that being true to Grace, they resist all the motions of its Enemy; groaning when they are compelled to follow or suffer his disorders. They know that Christ died to oblige them to die to sin; that he was not nail'd to the Cross, but to crucifie them to the world; nor buried in the grave, but that the earth might be their sepulchre. [Page 12]All that is in the world, Crucifixus est Christus, ut & vos crucifiga­mini mundo: mortuus est, ut & vos moria­mini peccato, & saeculo, & viva­tis Deo: sepultus est, ut & vos consepeliamini illi per baptis­mum; Apostolo dicente, Conse­pulti sumus, &c. ut sicut ille semel surgens à mortuis, jam non moritur; ita & vos vetustate mortalitatis per Baptismum mortificati, & vitale indumen­tum induti non iterum per pec­cata in anima in morte retra­hami [...]i. Aug. de Expos. Orat. Dom. & Sym­bol. Serm. 3. displeaseth them; diversions are their torments; that which is a recreation to sinners, afflicts them; and knowing very well the minde of the Lord Jesus, they endeavour to fulfil it, even with the loss of their own lives. Saint Augustine entertained the Catechumeni heretofore with these obligations; and expounding to them the doctrine of the Gospel, taught them that Baptism engaged them in death. Jesus Christ, said he, was crucified, that you might be so to the world; he suffer­ed death, that you might die to sin: he was buried, that you might be to­gether with him: and having put off the old man Adam, and being cloathed with the new man Jesus Christ, you may die no more in your souls by sin.

All the other Fathers speak the same language, teaching us that there is a death and a life hid in Baptism, producing real effects in our souls. Thence ariseth the inclination all Christians have to die and to live: thence proceed those obstinate conflicts they entertain self-love with: thence spring those violent desires to be separated from the world and the flesh, that they may be no longer subject to their tyranny.

But because this Mystery very much concerns our salvation, it deserves a more ample explication from us, that we may disclose the truths and obli­gations that lie wrapt up in it. The Son of God is willing that as his death is the Principle, so it should be the Rule and Example of our salva­tion: as he died to deliver us, he would have us die to honour him: and as he entered not into glory but by the door of the Cross, neither must we pass to the resurrection but by the gate of the Grave. He died, saith the great Apostle, that by his death he might ruine the Empire of sin. He di­ed, that losing all the imperfections he drew from Adam, he might rise again to life everlasting. He died, that satisfying his Father, we might be no longer responsible to his Justice. All these considerations oblige us to die in Baptism: Pro omnibus mortuus est, ut & qui vivunt jam non sibi vivant, sed ei qui pro ipsis mortuus est; debet ergo vita hominis in se deficere, in Christo proficere, ut dicat cum Apostolo, Vivo ego, jam non ego. Aug. Serm. de Epiphan. if we intend to be the images of Jesus Christ, we must destroy sin by death, that dying we may be born again; and making a sa­crifice of our death, we may be changed into spotless Victims.

But as the Son of God was not content onely to die, but was willing to joyn the ignominy of the grave to the bitterness of his death; Sicut Christus sepultus fuit in terra, sic bapti­zatus mergitur in aqua. Nicol. de Lyra. because there was a second punishment of sin comprised in those words of our Ar­rest, Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return, he will have our death followed with a funeral; and that the same Sacrament that makes us die, bury us together with him. Consepulti sumus cum Christo.

Burial addes to the dead corpse two or three notable conditions. The first is, Coemeteria ex­tra urbes, utnul­lum esset viven­iū cum mort uis mmercium. that he that is buried is separated from the company of the living, that he remains in the regions of death, and hath no more commerce with the present world. So the Christian is buried with the Son of God, be­cause [Page 13]he is removed from amongst wicked men; neither doth the state of death into which he is entered, suffer him to converse with them. Quid est mori peccat [...] & con­sepeliri cum Christo, nisi damnandis ope­ribus omnino non vivere, nihil concupiscere car­naliter, nihil ambire? sicut qui mortuus est car­ne, nulli detra­hit, nullum a­versatur. Prosp. de vita contemp. c. 21 He hath now no ears to hear calumnies, no eyes to gaze upon the beauties of the earth, no desires nor pretensions after the honours of the world; and his death being attended with a funeral, he protests aloud that he hath re­nounced all hopes of the things of the world.

The second condition of this state, is, the duration that goes along with it: For though death be eternal in respect of the Creature, nor can any but an Almighty power re-unite the soul with the body when once se­parated; yet there seems to remain some faint hope, as long as the body is not committed to the grave: we watch it, to see if that which appears a death, be but a swoon or trance: and there have been those that have died and rose again the same day, without a miracle. But when the bo­dy is laid in the sepulchre, drooping Nature is then past all hope. This dismal abode hath no intercourse with life: 'tis an everlasting habitation whence there is no return but by a prodigie: Sepulchra eorū domus illorū in aeternū, jam quia constructa sunt sepulchra, domus sunt sepulchra, & quia ibi sem­per crunt ideo domus in aeter­num. Aug. in Psal. 48. 'tis the place where worms serving for ministers of the Divine Justice, discharge their fury upon men, till being reduced to powder, there remains nothing of these famous cri­minals. Thus the Christians, when baptized, are as it were interred; to instruct them, that this death ought to be immortal, that the divorce which they have made with the world can admit of no accommodation, and that a departure accompanied with so solemn a funeral, should in all reason ex­tinguish the desire and hope of the life of Adam.

Finally, the last condition of a burial, is, the oblivion of the world. For notwithstanding men desire to live after death, whereof those proud Mausolaeums they erect to their ashes is a witness as vain as it is confident; Postquam per mille indignita­tes ad dignita­tes pervenerint misera subit eos cogitatio labo­rasse tantum in titulū sepulchri. Senec. and that the care they take for their Obsequies, gives testimony they would be thought to live still in the opinion of the world: nevertheless experi­ence teacheth us, that Tombs are the chambers of Forgetfulness, that they steal out of our remembrance those they cover, and that contrary to the intention of the builders, they many times, together with their Bo­dy, lay a stone upon their Name and Memory too. The holy Scripture, whose plainness of expression hath not wholly abandoned the figures of eloquence, calls graves the receptacles of Oblivion; Oblivioni datus sum tanquam mortuus à corde. Psal. 30. disciplining us by so elegant a metaphor, that the sepulchre draws a black line over the glory of mortals; and death having spoil'd them of their life, takes pleasure still to plunder their reputation. As the Christian is entomb'd, so ought he also to be forgotten: if he repent not of the grace he hath received, Nunquid cog­noscentur in te­nebris mirabilia tua, & justitia tua in terra ob­livionis. Psa. 87 he ought to be dead in the memory of men, lest their calling him to minde prove fatal to his innocence; and being remanded into the world, whence death had given him a retirement, he begin again to live in Adam, and die to Jesus Christ.

Though this Doctrine appear harsh, yet is it sweet and comfortable to those who know, that the sepulture we finde in Baptism prepares us for [Page 14]the Resurrection: Per Crucem datur credenti­bus virtus de infirmitate, glo­ria de opprobrio, vita de morte. Leo. Serm. 8. de Passio. Dom. For as Christ by his death entred into a new life, the Cross contributed to his glory; nor was heaven opened to him but tho­row the passage of shame and grief: so the Christian in death embraceth life, and in the grave findes a new conception. He is quickned with a new spirit in Baptism; he tastes the joys of heaven there: and the grace he receives in that holy Sacrament is not onely an Earnest, but an Antepast and Prelibation of glory. His life is answerable to his dignity: having God for his Father, his pretensions must needs be high; and despising whatever the world can promise, he aspires at no less then the felicity of Angels. This is the consolation of the faithful in their troubles; 'tis the reason the great Apostle makes use of, to sweeten his travels: and as often as persecution flats our spirits, he endeavours to raise them up again from the consideration of the recompenses that are prepared for us.

The truth is, this life lies secret, undiscovered; the precedent death be­ing much more visible and apparent. Ye are dead, saith the Apostle, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Our miseries are publike, our advan­tages walk in the dark. Men see what we suffer, but doubt of what we hope for: Mortui estis, & vita vestra ab­scondita cum Christo: quo­modo videutur arbores per hye­mem quasi ari­dae, quasi mor­tuae: ergo quae spes? Si mortui sumus, intus est radix, ibi radix nostra, ibi vita nostra, ibi cha­ritas nostra. Quando autem ver nostrum? quando aestas nostra, quando circumvestit di­gnitas foliorum, & ubertas fru­cluum. Quando hoc erit? Audi quod sequrtur: Cùm Christus apparuerit vi­ta vestra, tunc & vos appa­rebitis cum ipso in gloria. Aug. in Ps. 36. and in the judgement of Infidels, our Religion passeth for an Imposture, because the good things it promiseth are invisible, but the evils it threatens are sensible and present. We are, saith S. Augustine, like those great trees which during the sharpness of the winter are naked of all their leaves; their life is inclosed in their roots; their vigour is retired into their sap; and all the soul and vegetation they have, is hid from the eyes of the beholders: but their death is conspicuous; every branch pub­lisheth it; and all the bavock winter hath made them feel, are so many arguments to make us doubt of their life. Thus it is with Christians: they are dead, and they are alive: but their life is in a cloud, their death mani­fest: the persecutions they suffer, the temptations they contest with, the conflicts they undergo, perswade Infidels that their life is but a languishing and doleful death: but their vigour is over-shadowed, their beauty is like that of the Spouse, whose advantages are the fruits rather of her minde then of her body: their glory is retreated with Christ in God. And as the Spring must needs return, to convince the ignorant that a tree that hath lost his leaves is not dead; so must the general Resurrection happen, to assure unbelievers that a Christian persecuted by the world is alive with Christ in God. Let us die therefore with him, if we mean to live with him: and, to end this Discourse with the words of S. Gregory cited by S. Augustine; ¹ Let us be born with the Son of God in Baptism, die with him upon the Cross, be buried with him in the Tomb, that we may rise with him in Glory; and that from this present receiving the Pledges of his promises we may in the same Sacrament finde a Birth joyned with Death, and a Resurrection with a Funeral.

The fourth DISCOURSE. That Grace is communicated to the Christian in his Regeneration, as Sin is communicated to Man in his Generation.

THough Providence display its banner in all the occurrences of our life, and there is no moment wherein we may not take notice of its dispensations; yet me thinks it never appears with greater lustre, Ʋt qui in ligno vincebat in ligno quoque vinceretur. then when from our fall it raiseth our salvation, or makes use of a remedy that hath some resemblance with our disease: Thus we see it makes the malice of the Devil serviceable to the Glory of the Martyrs; employes a Man for the Redemption of all Men, that their fall and recovery may have the same Principle. 'Tis Adam that destroys us; Debitum quide Adae tantum erat, ut illud non deberet solvere nifi homo, sed non posset nisi Deus; ita opus erat ut idem esset homo qui esset Deus. Aug. lib. cur Deus homo, cap. 6. 'tis Jesus Christ that saves us: It was a woman that serv'd as an Interpreter to Satan, to deceive our first Father; and 'tis a Virgin that serves as a Handmaid to Jesus Christ, to begin the work of our Restitution: Finally, Generation is the Channel whereby sin passeth into the soul of Man, and Baptism is the Regenera­tion whereby Grace descendeth into the soul of the Christian: Their Re­lations are so wonderful, that 'tis easie to judg that Divine Providence hath order'd them both, and that we should admire its conduct in the work of our Redemption.

The first resemblance is, that Sin precedes our knowledg; we are De­linquents without knowing it, our Ignorance furnisheth us with no excuse; and though we know not the Parent from whom we are de­scended, we fail not to be the heires of his obliquity. Thus the Remedy imitating the Disease, prevents our Reasoning; we are absolv'd in our Baptism without knowing our Redeemer; Grace enters into our soul, and brings no light along with it; it leaves us in the dark, and knocks off our chains; Quaeis utrum ex voluntate peccatum origi­nale? respondeo prorsus esse, quia et hoc ex volun­tate primi ho­minis seminatü est, ut & in illo esset, et in omnes transiret. Aug. lib. de Nup. & Concup. c. 28. and the Divine Mercy regulating it self after the measure of Ju­stice, is unwilling our Ignorance should exclude us from Grace, since it no way excuseth us from sin.

Besides, the offence that was voluntary in Adam is naturall in his chil­dren, they draw it in with their breath, it infects not their Will but because it corrupts their Nature. This Sin was voluntary only in the first Man; his posterity cannot hinder it; and as Infants have not the use of Reason, they are transgressors by the wil of their Father. We must rise as high as Paradise to finde the Spring of our misfortune; we are unable without the help of faith, so much as to comprehend that we are guilty of a sin committed in the Nonage of the world; and that without knowing or willing it, we do in the first moment of our Conception contract it.

But if the Disease be strange we must needs acknowledg the Remedy is no less admirable. For Christians are justified in Baptism by the Grace of Jesus Christ, they enjoy his merits without asking for them, they are en­riched with his spoils, and entring into a Community of Goods with him, they have as much share in His Innocence, as they had part in Adams Transgression. 'Tis not their Consent that sanctifies them, their Salva­tion is no effect of their Will; and if they satisfie the Justice of God, 'tis by the sole Merits of Jesus Christ. They believe in him as they doubted in Adam, and their Satisfaction being parallel to their Fault, they are Inno­cent and Guilty in the person of their Fathers.

In the Third place, Adam lent us his Body in Paradise to make us Cri­minals; We saw the forbidden fruit with his Eyes; We gather'd it with his Hands; We are it with his Mouth; and as if with Him we had committed all these sins, We are to this day punish'd in all our members after his death: For whether we made up one part of him; whether he was a Universal and Generall Man, whereof all others are but the Mem­bers; whether he perpetuates and transmits himself into his descendants; or whether having stipulated for us before God, his Crimes became ours, Per unius illius voluntatem ma­lam omnes in co peccaverunt, quando omnes unus fuerunt, de quo praeterea sin. guli peccatum originale traxe­runt. Aug. l. 2. de Nup. & Concup. c. 3. what he hath done is imputed to us, and we bear the punishment of a sin we could not commit but in his Person. But that our Salvation may answer our Fall, we use a borrowed support in our Baptism; we believe by the faith of another, we act by the mediation of the faithfull, and the Church affords us her favour to make us partakers of the Grace of her Beloved. Accommodat Infantibus ma­ter Ecclesia ali­orum pedes ut veniant, aliorū Cor ut credant, aliorum linguā ut fatcantur, ut quemadmodum quod aegri suut alio peccaute gravantur, sic hi cùm sani sunt alio consitente salventur. Aug. serm. 10. de verb. Apo. Indeed this Charitable Mother lends us her mouth to answer at the Font of Baptism, the Arms of her Confessors, to carry us thither, her Heart to form acts of faith, that as we were lost by the prevarication of our Father, we might be saved by the piety of our Mother. This was the argument the great S. Augustin somtimes made use of to confound the Pe­lagians, who judg Baptism not necessary for Infants. They believe already saith he, though they cannot reason, and if you ask me how they believe, I answer, 'tis by the faith of their Parents; whence I conclude they are infected with their sin, Si baptizatis infantibus credentibus dicis aliquid Chri­stum prodesse, bene dicis; Credunt & Infantes. Unde cre­dunt? fide parentum: si fide parentum purgantur, peccato parentum pollutt sunt; corpus morcis in primis parentibus ge­neravit cos peccatores, Spiritus vitae in posterioribus paren­tibus regeneravit eos fideles Tu das fidem non respon­denti, & ego peccatum nihil agenti. Aug. Serm. de Bap. Parvul. contra Pelag. cap. 14. because they are purified by their faith: neither are you to think it strange that I admit sin in Children that act not, since you admit faith in them that answer not. Thus the one are sinners without Acting, the others are bel [...]evers without Speaking: Sin is imparted as Grace is, and Salvation imitating the Fall, the sole merit of Jesus Christ makes them live, whom the sole fault of Adam made dye.

Their destiny is like that of the holy Babes of Bethlehem; those in­nocent victimes, immolated to pay homage to the Birth of the Son of God: The Church placeth them in the Catalogue of Martyrs: it is the purest blond she ever shed upon the earth, to honour that which the Son of God spilt at his Circumcision; These are the first fruits that were offered to him in Judea, the most illustrious testimony his Greatness re­ceived whilest yet he lay in his cradle. In the mean time, these Infant Martyrs were happy and never knew it, Occiduntur pro Christo parvuli, pro justitia mo­ritur innocentia: Quam beataaetas, qua needum Christum potest loqui, & jam pro Christo meretur occidi. Aug. Ser. 2. de Innoc. they powred out their blood upon an occasion they could neither fore-see, nor wish for: their will accepted not this Sacrifice, and if we judge of their thoughts by their actions, we shall be ob­liged to doubt of their courage, and mistrust their merit; They nei­ther apprehended the greatness of the danger that was threatned, nor the cruelty of the Tyrant that condemned them to death, nor the fury of the Executioners that searched them out to massacre them; their happiness was as unknown to them as their misery; they were ignorant that they suffered for Jesus Christ, that in their person they sought for Him, and that receiving the stabs of the ponyard thrust at their heart, they had this double honour to die for their Saviour, and by yeelding up their own life to secure his. Neverthelesse, all the Fathers of the Church confess, that their Martyrdome was true, that the power of God supplyed their weakness, that his grace prevented their will, and that their sacrifice fayl'd not to be meritorious, though it was not voluntary.

Amongst all those that have been their Advocates, there is none hath pleaded their cause with more Eloquence then S ^t Bernard; his Reasons and his Words are equally powerfull; and it seems, that, preserving the glory of their Martyrdom, his designe was to preserve that of their Bap­tism. Si quaeric corum apud Deum merita ut coronaren­tur, quaere & apud Herodem crimina ut occide­rentur: An forte minor Christi Pietas, quàm Herodis impietas, ut ille quidem potuit innoxios neci dare; Christus non potuerit propter se occisos coronare? Bern. de natal. Inn. ‘If you ask (saith he) what desert they had in the sight of God to merit a Crown, ask what their crime was against Herod, that deserved such a butchery: shall the Piety of the Son of God be less powerful then the Impiety of Herod? Shall the Tyrant be able to massacre Innocents, and their Saviour not able to crown their suf­ferings?’ Their Martyrdom exalteth the mercy of Jesus Christ, and their example teacheth us, that as good desires without works are some­times recompensed in men, works without desires may be recompensed in children. If we doubt of their Martyrdom, Ille pro Christo trucidatos Infantes dubitet in­ter Martyres coronari, qui regeneratos in Chri­sto non credit inter adoptionis silios numerari. I­dem ibid. (as the same Father goes on) we must doubt of the salvation of all those that are baptized; and if we beleeve that Baptism sanctifies Infants though they cannot speak, we must beleeve that Martyrdom consecrates these, though they cannot expresse them­selves. [Page 18]After this example, we need not think it strange, that the Eternal Father acknowledgeth those for his Children, whom the Son acknowledg­eth for his Brethren; nor doubt, that imitating his Justice, he saves by borrowed merits, those he had condemned for accessory crimes.

But one of the most remarkable resemblances between our Recovery and our Fall, is, that both of them began by the Body. For though this be lesse guilty then the soul, neither did the corporal revolt sollicite our first Father to sin; yet is it the pipe through which his offence pas­seth into the essence of his posterity; Certum tenemus quia caro contracta de carne per legem concupiscentiae, quam cito vivificatur ori­ginalis culpae vinculo premitur, cjusque affectioni­bus anima quae carnem vivificat aggravatur, sub hoc peccati vinculo demerguntur parvuli qui sine remedio baptismi moriuntur. Habent enim ori­ginale peccatum non per animam, sed per carnem utique contractum animae (que) infusum: carni nam (que) ita unitur anima, ut cum carne fit una persona. Aug. lib. de Spir. & Anim. c. 41. if they were not a part of his flesh, they should inhe­rit neither his sin nor his punishment; and if concupiscence were fully extinguished by grace, Generation would not be criminal: Man is not faulty in his conception, but because he is cloa­thed with Adam's flesh; 'tis by means of it, that sin overspreads the soul; for issuing from the hands of God, 'tis stain'd with no impurity; but no sooner is it united to the body, but it be­comes guilty; their marriage begets sin; and having quickned that unhap­py moity, it enters into its imperfections and disorders; it begins to affect terrestriall things, it dwels upon perishable goods, and is at a distance from eternall ones: lest it should sad the Body, it readily complyes with all its desires; and as if it were become corporeal, it longs for those ob­jects that please and entertain the senses: Though it be not carried yet by deliberation this way, 'tis by inclination; and though it offend not willing­ly, we may say it does naturally; and that the privation of Grace joyned to its union with the body, is the source of its transgression and misery: In this point the Regeneration of the Christian holds so full a proportion with the Generation of the Man, that the one is as well the proof as the Image of the other: Quaeris in parvulis culpam? invenis ex carne tra­ductam. Quaeris in eis gratiam? invenis à Deo collatam. Aug. de Spir. & Anim. c. 41. For Grace, though spiritual, en­ters not into the soul, but by the mediation of the body; The Sacraments that dispense it, communicate not their vertue to the Spirit, till they have first imparted it to the flesh. God is pleased to imitate his ene­mie, and following his steps, he cures the noblest part of man by the more ignoble: Caro abluitur, ut anima ema­culetur; caro ungitur, ut ani­ma consecretur; caro corpore & sanguine Christi vescitur, ut ani­ma saginetur. Tert. de resur­ [...]ect. carnis. The spirit of the Christian Champions is not strengthened in Confirmation, till the holy oyl is sprinkled on their fore-head: Their soul (to use Tertullian's expressions) is not fatted with the Eucharist, till it receives the body and bloud of Christ by their mouth; nor is their spirit purified in Baptism, but when their body is dipt in wa­ter. The Remedy is symbolicall to the nature of the disease, 'tis af­fix'd to the prime delinquent; and this maxime admits of no contra­diction, that the soul is uncapable of being healed assoon as it is se­parated from the flesh. It seems, the divine Justice will have Grace [Page 19]enter by the same passage into the soul, that Sin did; Nulla omnino anima salutem potest adipisci ni dum in carne est. Id. Ib. and that the flesh should be the Christians ligament to Jesus Christ, as well as the sinners to his first Progenitor.

Neither truly is it harder to conceive one then the other; for as grace is insinuated into the soul by Baptisme, of an offendor making an Inno­cent, despoiling us of Adam, and putting us on Jesus Christ, 'Anima in cor­pore tanquam in vitiato vase corrumpitur, ubi occulta ju­stitia divinae legis includi­tur. Aug. and finally passeth from our body into the Essence of that part that inanimates us; so also may we easily comprehend that concupiscence is the conduit of sin, that the miseries of the flesh make an Impression upon the spirit, that this is infected with the contagion of that, and that sin, tracing grace, prevents the will, making it criminall before it be free.

The only thing that may seem strange to us in this Oeconomy, is, That a Baptized person does not communicate Christian grace to his children though he be possessed of it; and yet doth communicate origi­nall sin though he be freed from it. Miraris quare peccator nascatur de semine Justi; non te dele­ctat mirari quare oleaster nascatur de semine olivae. Ac­cipe aliam similitudinem: non attendis quia de grano pur­gato frumentum cum palea nascitur sine qua seminatur. Aug. Serm. de Verb. Apos. 14. But our wonder will cease, if we con­sider that a grain of corn which is sown without chaffe springs up not­withstanding with it: and on the o­ther side a learned man derives not his sciences to his children, though he doe his being: Ideo de bapti­zato non justus nascitur, quia non eum generat unde regenera­tus est, sed unde generatus est. Id. ib. And because as Saint Augustine observes, Christians beget not their children by the Spirit which is sanctified, but by the body which still remains corrupted: neither is Grace the concomitant of the Birth of Adam, but of the regeneration of Jesus Christ, who absolves not the guilty, till they are cloathed with his merits in Baptisme.

The Fifth DISCOURSE. Of the Resemblances that are found between the Birth of Christ, and that of a Christian.

AS the Christian takes his denomination of Christ, so also doth he his Glory; neither hath he any Priviledge which he is not obliged to him for. If he have any merits that render him acceptable to God, 'tis from the Ex sacramen­to unctionis & Christi Christi­anorum descen­dit voeabulum et nomen: quod nomen ille fru­stra sortitur qui Christum mini­me imitatur. Aug. de vita Christi. Actions or Sufferings of Jesus Christ that he borrows them. If he pretends any right to heaven as his inheritance, 'tis because Christ is his elder Brother; if the Angels do him any service, 'tis because he is a member of his Body, and that this quality equals, if not prefers him be­fore [Page 20]these blessed Spirits: If (lastly) his birth be holy, 'tis because it re­sembles that of the Son of God, and receives in the bosom of the Church the same advantages the Son of God received in the womb of his Mother. Indeed, could the tongue of man recount the wonders of a Nativity that astonish'd the Prophets, they might haply be reduc'd to three or four heads that render it glorious and full of lustre.

The First is, That the Son of God was conceived by the operation of the holy Ghost: He it was that managed this great Designe, who curd­led the most pure blood of the Virgin, who form'd the Body of the Word Incarnate, and becoming his principle, did in a manner give him in Time what he had received from him in Eternity. The Angel spake thus of it to the Virgin, when for the interest of her Virginity she desired to be instructed how she might be the Mother of God. Superveniet in te dando foecun­ditatem, & ser­vando Virgini­tatem. Bern. The holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Glory of the Highest shall over-shadow thee. The Holy Ghost was the dispenser of this mystery; his goodness wrought this miracle of love; and he that was barren in Eternity, to give Jesus Christ to the world, became fruitfull in time. Though this favour be admirable, exalting the Son of God above Prophets and Kings; yet is it common to him with Christians, who have the priviledge to be born of the Holy Ghost, and to enter into a new life by his grace: For he it is, and not an Angel, that sits President in this sacred Omni homini renascenti aqua baptismatis in­star est uteri virginalis; eo­dem Spiritu san­ctorcplente fon­tem qui reple­vit et Virginē, ut peccatum quod ibi vacua­vit sacra conce­ptio, hic mystica tollat ablutio. Leo. pool wherein wee are regenerated: he it is that stamps upon us the character that makes us Christians, and sheds abroad charity into our hearts, whereby we are made the children of God: 'Tis by his vertue that our sins are blotted out, and by a secret influence that penetrateth the essence of our soul, that we become the adopted sons of the Everlasting Father, and the brethren of Jesus Christ. The holy Scripture teacheth us this transcendent verity in common ordinary words, but which in their deep sense, comprehend almost an infinite number of mysteries: Except a man be born again of water, and of the Holy Ghost, he shall not enter into the King­dom of Heaven. As it is he that gives us the being of Grace, so he gives us a right to Glory; and as he made the Virgin Originem quā sumpsit in utero Virginis posuit in fonte baptis­matis, dedit a­quae quod dedit Matri; et obum­bratio Spiritus sanctiquae fecit ut Maria pare­rot, eadem facit ut aqua rogene­ret credentem. Leo Serm. de Nat. Christi. fruitfull to bring forth Christ, so he makes the water prolificall to regenerate the Christian. 'Tis the opinion of S ^t Ambrose, and of S ^t Augustine, who both conspire together to make us admire the excellent grace that we receive of the Holy Ghost in Baptism: The same Grace, saith the later, that makes Man-God, makes Man-Christian; the one is re-born by the same Spirit whereof the other is born; and as This is wholly exempt from all sin, That is fully delivered from it. Thus the Christian may boast that he hath God for his Principle, that he owes his birth to the Holy Ghost, and that this priviledge is common to him with the Word incarnate.

The Second Advantage of the Son of God in his temporall Nativity, is, That he had a Mother who miraculously united Fruitfulnesse with Purity; for the Fruit that she bare shed not her Flower; the quality of [Page 21]a Mother made her not lose that of a Virgin; and Nature stood ama­zed, that being so pure, she was notwithstanding brought to bed. The Ecce Virgo concipiet, ct pa­rict filium. I­sa. 7. Prophets have prepared us for the belief of this miracle by their pre­dictions; they beheld it in the secrets of Futurity, and knowing very well that it was one of the greatest Priviledges of the Messias, they have made it one of the fairest observations in his History. The very Heathen were not ignorant of it: The Sybils have proclaimed it for the rarest or­nament of Virginity; and there were some people who (moved by their Predictions) erected Altars to the Virgini pa­riturae. Virgin-Mother. Nothing in all our Religion hath carried so much lustre with it amongst the Heathen, as this glorious particular; neither had they much adoe to beleeve that Je­sus Christ was the Son of God, seeing he was the Son of a Virgin: This Prerogative hath repaired the scandal of the Crosse; and if some impious wretches have thought meanly of him when they knew he suffered upon a Gibbet, they could not chuse but highly admire him when they learnt that he was born of a Virgin. The Fathers of the Church are of opi­nion, That if the Son honoured Nobilitas fuit nascentis in Virginitate pa­rientis, et nobili­tas parientis in Divinitate nas­centis. Aug. Serm. 30. de Temp. his Mother by his Divinity, the Mo­ther honoured her Son by her Virginity, Finally, they thought, if God must have a Mother, she must be a Virgin; and if a Virgin must have a Son, he must needs be a God. Though this be so extraordinary a Priviledge, that Christ never communicated it to any mortall (the great­est Monarchs are born of a woman that purchaseth her condition of a Mother with the expense of that of a Virgin); yet hath he been pleased to honour every Christian with the same favour: For they are born of the Church, who like Mary, is pure and teeming together: Their Mo­ther is a Virgin; and as Age impairs not her fecundity, neither doth the number of her Progeny sully her purity: She is delivered of them without sorrow, as she conceives them without sin; and because she engenders the members of Jesus Christ, she hath the same priviledge with her that brought forth their Head. ‘The Church is a Virgin, saith Et Virgoest, et parit, Mari­am imitatur quae Dominum peperit; num­quid non virgo sancta Maria, et peperit, et virgo permansit: sic est Ecclesia, et pa­rit, et virgo est. Aug. Ser. 117. de Temp. S ^t Au­gustine) she imitates Mary that conceived Christ: Mary is a Virgin, though she were delivered of a childe; the Church also bears children, and continues still a Virgin:’ And if you well weigh her priviledges, you shall perceive, that even she also brings forth Jesus Christ, seeing those that are baptized are his members. Thus the Birth of Christians is as glorious by their Mothers side, as by their Fathers; they have, as Christ their elder Brother, a God for their Principle, a Virgin for their Mother, and a Kingdom for their Inheritance.

To all these Graces we may adde a Third, which is common to them with their Head, for the Holy Scripture silently hints that the word of the Virgin contributed something to the production of her son; she yeelded her consent, before she surrendred her wombe, she spake to express her intentions, and her word had so much vertue that it gave life to Jesus Christ.

This word Verbum quod erat in principio apud Deum, fiat caro de carne mea secundum verbum, fiat mihi verbum non prolatum quod transeat, sed conceptum ut maneat. Bern. super missus est. Hom. 4. Fiat which began the Incarnation, was in a manner as powerful in her mouth, as that which began the Creation; and if we judge of the Cause by the Effects, we are more obliged to this, then to that which produced the whole world, since one Jesus Christ is more worth then the whole Masse of Men and Angels together. This Word, as ef­ficacious as it was humble, glads heaven and earth, repairs the disorders of the Universe, and giving a product to a Divine Expectat An­gelus respon­sum, expecta­mus & nos ver­bum miseratio­nis quos premit sententia dam­nationis: Ecce offertur tibi pretium salutis nostrae, statim liberabuntur si consentis: si er­go tu Deum fa­cias audire vo­cem tuam, ille te faciet videre salutem no­stram. Bern. ibid. Redeemer, laid an obliga­tion upon all creatures. But if with our Mysteries we may raise our con­templations; let us say that the Virgin imitated the Eternal Father, and as He conceived his Son by speaking, she conceived him so too; she declares his divine Originall, and becoming the Mother of him of whom he is the Father, she begat him, if not by her Thought, at least by her Word: Her sacred Mouth began the work of our salvation, her Virgin-Womb finished it, and assoon as the Holy Maid returned her answer, and contributed her blood, the Word was found Incarnate in her bowels.

I confess this Miracle would be without a Paralel, had Jesus Christ no brethren: but since he was willing to honour them with all the Priviledges of his Nativity, he was pleased also that his Spouse should be fruitfull as his Mother was. Indeed, the Church produceth us by speaking; the wa­ter that regenerates us receives the vertue from her words; and did not the Ministers pronounce them when they baptise us, this Sacrament would have no power to give us a Being: 'Tis the lips of the Mother that quick­ens us, her voice that draws us out of the bosome of death; neither would all the water of the sea be able to wash away the least sin, were it not enlivened with her word: Shee acts as her Beloved doth, makes things by her speech, inspires a secret vertue into the Elements, ennobles them above their nature, and by a miraculous impression gives them an insluence upon the soul: Shee imitates Mary, her speech is prolificall; and as her production is spirituall, she needs only speak to enliven her children. What is water, saith Saint Augustine, without the Word of God in the mouth of the Church, but the commonest of the Ele­ments? but when quickned with her voice, it becomes fruitfull; and by the union of these two Principles together, the Sacrament is compleat­ed, sins are absolved, the dead are raised, Christians are regenerated, and sinners converted.

Let us adde Miracles upon Miracles to unfold the excellencies of Man a Christian, and pronounce this fourth wonder in the Birth of Christ, that without losing the quality of the Son of God, Idem est in forma Dei qui formam suscepit ser­vi; idem est incorporcus manens, et corpus assu­mens; idem est in sua virtute inviolabilis, & in nostra infirmitate passibilis; idem est à paterno non divisus throno, et ab impiis crucifixus in ligno. D. Leo Ser. 10. de Nat. hee assumed that of the Son of Man: For ha­ving two Natures united in one person, he re­lates to his Father from all Eternity, and to his Mother in the fulnes of time; from the one he re­ceived Divinity, from the other humanity: The manger that cradled him in his Temporal Birth, [Page 23]obscur'd not the Glory of his eternal Birth: Greatness was alwaies mixt in his Person with meannesse; and as God and Man are never separated since first they were united; Nihil ibi ab invicem vacat, tota est in majestate humilitas, tota in humilitate majestas: nec infert unitas confusionem, nec dirimit proprietas unitatem; aliud est passibile, aliud in­violabile; & tamen ejusdem est contumelia cujus & gloria. Leo Ser. 3. de passi. Dom. in this divine composure may still be discerned an admirable Medley of glory and humi­lity, which ravisheth Christians and confounds Infidels. These cannot comprehend that the Son of Man is the Son of God; that he that is equall to the Father, is his servant; that he gives Orders, and receives them; that he commands, and obeyes; that he comes down upon the earth, and yet never leaves heaven; that he dies, and still lives; that he is confin'd in a Sepulcher, and yet fills the whole world. This Miracle prepares us for the belief of another, no lesse strange then the former: For if we consult the Holy Scriptures, we shall find that the Son of God was made the Son of man for no other end then to make us the Children of God; he was humbled, that we might be exal­ted; and he hath facilitated the belief of our future greatness by the example of his debasement. His birth is a pledge of ours, he was born of a woman, but to assure us that we might be born of God; neither was he apparelled with the flesh in the womb, but to perswade us that one day we shall be clothed with glory in the heavens: And this is the Argu­ment the most illuminated of the Evangelists makes use of to establish our second Generation; for having taught us that Baptisme and Faith give us God for our Father, fearing lest so high a promise find no credit in our understanding, Venit Filius ut illo partici­pantemortalita­tem nostram per dilectionem, nos efficeret partici­pes divinitatis suae per adoptio­nem. Aug. de Cons. Evan­gel. he gives us the Generation of the Word for an assu­rance of our Regeneration: and having ravished all men with those mag­nificent words, He gave them power to become the Sons of God, hee disco­vers the cause of that miracle, and clearing us of one wonder by telling a greater, he tells us man may become God, since God by an excesse of love was willing to become man: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt a­mongst us. This is the admirable argumentation of S ^t. John and the solid establishment of our greatness: 'Tis by this unparallel'd example that hee prepares us for the belief of our mysteries; this is the proof all the Fathers make use of to perswade us that the misery of our condition can no way hinder us from being the children of God, since the glory of the Word was no obstacle to his being made man. Give me leave to expresse these wonders in the words of S. August. Ʋt homines na­scerentur ex Deo, primo ex ipsis natus est Deus. Non quaesivit quidem nisi matrem in terra, quia jam patrem habebat in coelo; natus ex Deo per quem effi­ceremur; natus ex foemina, per quem resiceremur. Noli ergo mirari quia efficeris Filius Dei pergrat am, quia nasceris ex Deo per verbum ejus, prius ipsum Verbum voluit nasci ex homine ut tu securus nascereris ex Deo; & diceres, nasci voluit Deus ex homine, ut immortalem me faceret, & pro me mortaliter nascitur. Aug. Tract. 2. in Joan. and to joyn the pomp of his eloquence to the majesty of my subject. God that makes all things with so much justice, was willing to bee born of a woman, that men might might be born [Page 24]of him: He sought out but one Mother upon the earth, because he had already one Father in heaven; being born of his Father he made us; be­ing born of his mother he re-made us, associating by an admirable conjun­ction, the quality of Creator with that of Redeemer. Wonder not then if by grace ye are the Sons of God, since ye are born of him by his word; nor thinke it strange that ye shall be one day immortall in glory, since God in his second Generation became mortall, was willing to suffer death upon the Crosse for our salvation. Thus his Charity makes us like him, his goodness surpasseth the miseries of our nature, and ren­ders us partakers of his glory: so that there is no Christian but may boast that his Baptisme confers upon him by grace all the advantages Jesus Christ possesseth by nature, and that the Mystery of the Incarnation be­ing repeated in the faithfull by their new Birth, exalts them by a happy Indulgence to the greatness of Jesus Christ.

The Sixth DISCOURSE. Of the Adoption of Christians and the advantages it hath above the Adoption of Men.

IF it be true that the end why the Son of God was made the son of Man, was, that we might be made the children of God, we need not think it strange, that the adoption of a Christian is one of the chiefest effects of Baptism, nor that man, changing his condition by his regeneration, change also his Father and Mother. But it is a thing very well worthy our admiration, to consider, that he is adopted by a Father, who having an onely Son equal to himself, should in reason cast out all adopted chil­dren, were he not obliged to accept them at the intreaty of his own pro­per Son. Adoptio nuptia­rum subsidium fortunae remedi­um, supplet ste­rilitati, vel or­bitati. Jurisc. For to take this Truth at the rise, and unfold the wonders con­tained in it, we must know that Adoption was invented among men to supply the barrenesse of Parents, or the death of children. Indeed tis a thing never heard of, that a Father to whom Nature hath given a Son, should adopt another, and seek that in a strange Family which he may find in his own: He would beleeve himself to offend against paternal charity, should he divide it; and injurious to his Son, should he assigne him co­heirs: Though this be his only one, he never resolves to provide him com­panions, neither hath he ever recourse to this remedy, but when the death of his son makes it lawfull, in making it necessary. In the mean time the Eternal Father adopts us; though he have an immortal Son, he ex­tends his affections to us, and admits us into his Family, to make us share in his Inheritance.

But that which most furprifeth us in this Oeconomy, is, That he un­dertakes this designe at the request of his Son, nor does he honour us with the condition of Children, till Jesus Christ hath honoured us with that of Brethren: 'Tis one of the chiefest motives of his incarnation, and we may say, that he had never chosen a Mother upon earth, but that he might have Brethren in heaven. He is the onely begotten in the bosom of his Father: He shares not this quality with the Holy Ghost; and as their processions are different, one is the Son, the other the Spirit of the Father; the One remains in his bosom, the Other in his heart; the One proceeds by Knowledge, the Other by Love. But this onely Son is first born of the chaste spotless womb of the Virgin, by his temporal birth he gains Brethren, and clothing them with the robes of his merits, obligeth his Father to avow them for his Children: For we enjoy not this quality but after we are instated in the person of the Word: nor can we have God for our Father, but we must have Jesus Christ for our Head: But when Grace hath made us his members, Unicum Filium Deus habet quem de sua substantia genuit; nos autem non de sua substantia genuit: Creatura enim sumus quam non genuit, sed fecit; & ideo ut fratres Christi secundùm mo­dum faceret, adoptavit. Aug. lib. 3. contra Faust. cap. 3. and being quick­ned by his Spirit, we make up one body with him: the Father loves us as his children, looks upon us as a portion of Jesus Christ, contracts an allyance with us, that ho­nours us, and imitates that which he hath from all Eter­nity with his Son: Thus we are his sons and his subjects; he is our Lord and our Father, and we bespeak him in the same language our Head doth; we call him our Father and our God.

This Allyance is not only true because founded in Grace; Vinculum igi­tur nostrae cum Deo Patre uni­onis Christum esse constat, qui nos quidem sibi conjunxit ut ho­mo, Deo verò genitori suo sic unitus est, ut naturaliter in eo sit. Cyril. A­lex. in Joan. but so pro­per, that it relates only to the person of the Son, agreeing not so much as to the holy Spirit: For as he is not the Father of Jesus Christ, so neither is he ours; and as he hath other Alliances with him, so hath he also with us: The Father alone is our Father, 'tis to him that we addresse our selves when we use that name; and knowing very well, that we are inse­parable from his Son, we know very wel that the affection he bears us is an overflowing beam of that love he bears him, of whom we have the honour to be members.

Though this mystery be wonderfull, and 'tis a hard matter to compre­hend upon what motive Jesus Christ was willing to procure us this ho­nour; yet the condition wherein he found us redoubles the wonder: For Adoption hath this advantage above Nature, that 'tis in its liberty to chuse the most accomplish'd. Nature is blinde in her affections, as well as in her productions; she knows not, for the most part, what she does, her works are many times defective; and as if she had lost her light to­gether with her innocence, she brings forth Monsters as often as Men: In the mean time she forbears not to love her imperfections; she hath the heart of a Mother for all her productions, and compels parents many times to embrace Monsters, because they are their children. In this par­ticular, Adoption is much happier then Nature; it sees what it admits of, [Page 26]chuseth upon knowledge of the cause, loves that which is lovely and ami­able, nor does impart affections or goods but to persons that merit them: Neverthelesse, contrary to all these rules, we finde, that the Eternal Father adopts children born in sin, and having nothing but the Apennage of A­dam, are rather the objects of his wrath, then of his love: He goes to seek them in the masse of perdition, he separates them from the Guilty to render them innocent, and applyes to them the merits of his Son to make them worthy of his inheritance: For of all the Favours (saith S ^t Promisit ho­minibus divi­nitatem, morta­libus immorta­litatem, peccato­ribus justifica­tionem, abject is glorificationem; quicquid promi­sit indignis pro­misit, ut non quasi operibus merces promit­teretur, sed gra­tia nomine suo gratia, gratis daretur. Aug. Psal. 102. Augustine) God the Father was pleased to honour us with, he hath continually prevented our deservings; he pardoned us in our delinquen­cy, heaped honour upon us in our misery: To wretches condemned to death he hath promised immortality; to the guilty, innocence; to base contemptible creatures, glory; to men, divinity; that we may receive all these favours as the gracious endearments of his mercy, and not the re­compences of our merits. Thus our Adoption is founded upon his goodness; he chose us but because it was his good pleasure; he hath made us his Children because Christ hath made us his Brethren; and in the apprehension of so great an advantage, all we have to do, is to humble our selves at the sight of our miseries, and to give him thanks at the consi­deration of his mercies.

But to the end that this grace may appear more precious, we must reckon up its Priviledges, and allow the rest of this Discourse to its more noble Excellencies. The Adoption of men is indeed an Allyance, but we may without offence call it an imaginary one; it hath no other foun­dation but the affection of him that adopts, and the true or apparant merit of him that is adopted: the conjunction is so impotent, that it pro­duceth nothing reall in their minds; 'tis, as we have observed, a meer de­nomination, constituting no true relation between the two persons it u­nites; and in this particular we must needs confess, 'tis much weaker then Nature: For this tyes men with flesh and bloud, her chains are so strong, that 'tis almost impossible to break them: The Father looks upon his Son as a piece of himself, the Mother beholds him as a portion of her own bowels; nor can the Son die, but both of them die in conceit with him. Adoption hath nothing of this vigour in it, it leans upon interests, and as soon as he that is adopted hath no more any hope, he hath no more love nor respect. But the Christian Adoption is like that of Nature; the links that compose it are of Diamond, Missus est Filius, non adoptione factus, sed semper genitus Filius ut participata natura fi­liorum hominum, ad participandam ettam suam naturam, adoptaret etiam filios hominum. Aug. lib. de Gra. Novi Test. and the Grace that supports it is so firm, that 'tis able to sub­sift eternally: It penetrates the very essence of the soul, and cleanseth it from the spots of sin, darts a light into the understanding, heat into the Will; plants the seeds of Glory in that in­tellectual substance, gives it a true right and title to the kingdom of hea­ven: and constitutes an Allyance between man and God so strict and [Page 27]combining, that it imitates that that is between the Humanity and the Di­vinity by the mystery of the Incarnation. From the very instant of Bap­tism the Christian is truly the Son of God; the misery of his Nature, the shame of his Birth, and the Crime of his first Father hinders not Jesus Christ from being his Brother, the Church from being his Mother, nor e­ternal glory from being his portion.

But I wonder not at all that the Adoption of Christians is more sub­stantial then that of men, since it is celebrated with greater pomp and ce­remony. For when a man intends to adopt a child, he needs only declare his will, and make use of the Princes authority to make his Adoption pub­lick and valid; as soon as this Instrument is drawn, he that was but a stranger becomes a Son: But the Adoption of Christians is as full of my­steries as of circumstances; for the Son of God must make himself the son of man, must charge himself with our sins, and enrich us with his merits, that satisfying the justice of his Father, he may oblige him to change his hatred into love, and to accept those for his Children that he accounted his Enemies: The Christian also must be washed in the waters of Baptism, must borrow the voyce of the Church to renounce the tyranny of the Di­vel and the pomp of the World; must put off Adam, and put on Jesus Christ, that being filled with grace, and cleansed from sin, he may receive the benefit of Adoption: Under the shadows of these Ceremonies there are perform'd a hundred miracles, which faith only can discover: For an E­lement animated with the Word of God acts in the soul, and defaceth the spots sin had imprinted there; Man changeth his condition, though not his nature; he that was a slave becomes free, and he that deserved damna­tion by the fault of Adam, is accounted worthy of Glory by the Grace of Jesus Christ.

But the last and rarest Circumstance of this Adoption is, that it admits Christians into an inheritance not at all divided by the number of heirs. One of the greatest misfortunes of the world is, that the goods are so small, Ista quae appeti­tis, quia exigua sunt, nec possunt ad altcrum nisi alteri erepta transferri; et­dem affectanti­bus pugnam & jurgia excitant. Senec. lib. 5. de Ira. cap. 35. one man cannot be proprietary of them, without ravishing them from another; every man impoverisheth his neighbour to enrich himself: and humane prudence, that seeks for tranquillity in estates, hath not to this day been able to choak this unhappy seed, the root of all disorders. Sove­raigns will reign alone in their Dominions, Fathers will be Masters of their Families; both of them are jealous of their Children, nor do they invite them as partners in the possession of their goods, because they know very well they cannot be divided, but they must be lessened. Death must take away the Father, that the Son may succeed him; so that the lawfullest Succession in the world is never without grief, because it can never be with­out loss. This unhappiness proceeds certainly from the scantiness of earth­ly goods: for were they large enough to be parted without suffering a di­minution, every one would possess them without jealousie: Kings would not fear their Successors, nor Fathers their Heirs: And as Light and Vertue [Page 28]breed no quarrell amongst those that have them in their possession, there would be no more War among Soveraigns, nor Law-suits among Subjects. This benefit is an inseparable consequence of the Adoption of Christi­ans; Their Inheritance is so large, that the number of children cannot diminish it: The Good they hope for hath two properties that secure it from envie; it is one, and cannot be divided; it is infinite, and sufficeth the whole world: its unity is the cause that every one possesseth it intire; its infinity, that none are affraid of a lessening; they are all rich of the same substance, they are all happy by the same felicity; the difference of their condition troubles not their rest, and this Summum bonum, though in diversity of endowments, makes men neither envious nor proud: Every one is content with anothers prosperity, and with his own; and the cha­rity that reigns among the Citizens of this heavenly Jerusalem, doth so intimately unite their hearts, that the diversity of particulars disturbs not the happiness of the whole. But that which compleats their content­ment to the full, is, that death never separates the children from their Father; he hath Heirs, but no Successours; he despoils not himself to enrich them; but living and reigning with them, he conferrs all his goods upon them without losing them: He himself is their everlasting Inheri­tance, who fills their desires, perfects all the powers of their soul, and communicates himself so abundantly, and so surely to his children, that as there is nothing they can fear, so neither is there any thing they can wish for. And to describe this happy state with S ^t Augustine, let us pro­fess, Deus sit baereditas nostra; non fortè temerè dicimus faciendo vobis Deum possessionem, cum ipse sit Deus & Creator; non est ista temeritas, [...]ffectus est desiderii, & dulcedo spei. Dic securus, ama securus, spera securus, Dominus pars haere­ditatis mcae. Aug. in Psal. 32. Ser. 2. That God is our Inheritance to Eternity, that it is no presumption to stile him so, though he be our Creator and our Soveraign; because it is the fervency of our desire, and the sweet­nesse of our hope that puts this name into our mouth. Say we therefore with assurance, that he is our heritage, since the Scripture obligeth us to beleeve it, and for­bids us to doubt of it: But let us remember, that as he is our Inheritance, we are also his, that he will possess us as we shall possess him; and that we shall never be compleatly happy, till possessing our God, we shall en­ [...]irely be possessed by him. Let us live alwayes in this desire, comfort our selves with this expectation, and by a certain hope taste the happiness we shall one day be satisfied with in an everlasting enjoyment.

The Seventh DISCOURSE. Of the Allyances the Christian contracts at his Birth, with the divine Persons.

THe Creation is the first Allyance Man contracted with God: for as soon as ever he came forth out of Nothing, he began to be his Creature; and all the advantages he possesseth are so many sacred chains to fasten him to his Creator. His Allyance is founded in his servitude, and his servitude is founded in his Essence; he must be annihilated to render him an indepen­dant from the Almighty; neither yet in this condition would he cease to hold of him, since God Vocat ea qua non sunt, tan­quam ea quae sunt. Unde exi­stimavit Clem. Alexandrinus, Decum esse Do­minum creatu­rarum, antequā esset illarum Creator. commands the creatures in their non-entity, from out whose abyss he hath extracted all the elements. Thus man obeys God before he hath an existence, he is his Vassal before he is his Creature, and he submits to his Orders before he can understand them: But if his obedi­ence precede his creation, his Allyance succeeds it; neither hath he any af­finity with God, till he is made his workmanship: 'Tis in that instant that he enters into society with him, when his spirit enlightned by Faith, knows the prime verity, and his will warm'd by love, seeks out for the soveraigne Good: Assisted with this double succour, he soars above himself; and knowing that he came forth from God as from his Principle, he endea­vours to return thither as to his ultimate end.

Though this be a very noble Allyance, yet we may say, it relates not to God in his Persons, but in his Essence: For all the perfections Man received in his Creation, are but the droppings of the perfections of God: His Power expresseth that of his Creator; his Liberty is an emanation of that Being which is as free as it is necessary; his Reason is a product of the first primi­tive Reason; and all the other qualities that raise him above the rest of Creatures, are rather images of the Unity of God, then of the Plurality of his Persons. Nay, the very Angels, which are of nobler extraction then Man, seem not allyed to the divine Persons: Every one of their Cernere est in Seraphin, quo­modo amet, qui unde amet non habet: cernere est in Cherubin Deum scientia­rum, qui solam nesciat ignoran­tiam: cernere est in Thronis judi­cantis aequita­tem, nec vacat sessio tranquilli­tatis insigne est. Bern. lib. 5. de Consid. cap. 4. Orders respect some one of the perfections of their Creator; The Seraphims express his Love, the Cherubins his Light, the Thrones his Rest. The Hierarchies lead us not to the Trinity; or if they give us some umbrages thereof, they deliver no exact knowledge: We see nothing in these blessed Spirits that discovers to us the Generation of the Word, or the Procession of the Holy Ghost; and having well considered them, there is nothing we admire in them but the Goodness or the Power, the Greatness or the Majesty of him that crea­ted them. All their Allyances, as wel as those of Men, are terminated in the divine Essence, and pass not to the Trinity of the Persons: They are rather Servants then Sons; or if they are Sons, their Adoption is not Nusquam e­nim Angelos apprchendis, sed semen Abrahae apprehendit. Heb. 2. founded upon the Mystery of the Incarnation. This glory was reserved for Christi­ans, [Page 30]who at the moment of their Nativity have the honour to be allyed to all the Persons of the Trinity: The Son loves them as his Brethren, the Fa­ther adopts them as his children, and the Holy Ghost quickens them as his Temples; therefore are they baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Their Birth consecrates them to this in­effable mystery; and from the time they receive the Being of Grace, they bear the Character of the Trinity.

The Son began this Allyance by the Mystery of the Incarnation; he was made Man, to make us his Members; he hath united us in his Person by such a neer combination, that his advantages become ours, and our transgressions become his. Every thing is common to us with him, and giving his Person to our Nature, there is no Greatness he hath not communicated to us: our Grace is an effusion flowing from his, our Birth is an image of his eternall Generation; Gratia nihil est aliud quàm par­ticipatio divinae filiationis: se­cundùm Divum Thomam. and if we beleeve the Master of the School, ‘our Adoption is a copy of his divine filiation.’ Finally, to express so high a Verity in a more noble Elogie, Every Christian seems to be a second Jesus Christ, every beleever is a son of God; and as they are happily blended with the Word Incarnate, they may boast themselves as he is, Men-Gods. 'Tis on this occa­sion Love makes his power appear, that of many persons mutually affecting one another, he makes but one; that he makes greatness bow, and sets hu­mility on high; that he transforms God into Man, to transform Man into God; and surmounting all obstacles that oppose this Union, constitutes Je­sus Christ the Head of Christians, and Christians the Members of Jesus Christ. Now 'tis in Baptism that they obtain this honour; for albeit the Son of God is united to our Nature in the Mystery of the Incarnation, and that there this eternal affinity was contracted, which death cannot dissolve, we are not engraffed upon his Person but by Baptism; till we are bathed in this Laver, we have nothing but the miseries of Adam, nor any part in the me­rits of Jesus Christ. 'Tis by the vertue of this Nemo fit membrum Chri­sti, nisi aut Bap­tismate in Chri­sto, aut morte pro Christo. Aug. lib. 1. de anima. Sacrament that we enter into society with him; 'tis there, that putting off the old man, we put on the new, and beginning to be united to the Son of God, we participate of his divine qualities. From this time the Christian is a new creature, he re­ceives the Spirit of Jesus Christ, without changing his nature he changeth his condition; though he hath yet but the seeds of glory, he hath notwith­standing the rights of a Son, and looks upon the Kingdom of heaven as his inheritance: The grace of Jesus Christ blots out all his sins; of a slave he becoms a child, of an object of wrath he becoms an object of love; and big with the merits of his Head, he hopes one day to reign with him in glory.

By a necessary consequence he enters into an Allyance with the Father Everlasting: not considering the meanness of his Extraction, nor the mi­sery of his Original, he treats with God as with his own Father; he makes use of those amorous terms the Church puts in his mouth, and without losing the respect of a servant, he enters into the liberty of a child. Grace fastens so strict a union betwixt them, that nothing but sin can divide them; [Page 31]as it is an emanation of the divine Sonship, it is not a bare Adoption; and if it bear this name, 'tis because we have no other to expresse its excellence by. But to comprehend rightly; this Allyance is as true as that which flesh and blood entitles us to with our Fathers and Mothers: if this be founded in Nature, that is founded in Grace; if this be sensible, that is spiritual; if this be close, that is more intimate; neither is the quality of children in Christians a meer denomination, as 'tis in those that humanely are adopted. We are the images of our Father, in the donation of Grace we participate of his nature; and as it is true according to the saying of S ^t Pe­ter, that by grace we are God's; so is it certain, that by the same grace we are the children of God. "All the trouble in this Alliance, is, that it depends upon our Liberty for its preservation; we have the power to dissolve it, there needs but one act of our will to break the Association; and though the chains that entertain it are stronger and more precious then those of Diamond, one mortall sin is able to dash them all in pieces; there is nothing but Glory that unites us inseparably with God; as long as we live upon the earth we are divided between hope and fear, and if the greatness of Al­lyance makes us joyful, it's frailty causeth us to be apprehensive and fear­ful: As long as it lasts, it protects us from all disasters, we have nothing to be afraid of but our own weakness; and provided we remain true to Grace, we may promise our selves victory over our greatest enemies." God watcheth over us as over the members of his Son, he hath a care of our Interests, he blesseth all our designes, he makes the hatred of our ad­versaries serviceable to our salvation; and spite of the fury of all Divels that tempt us, and the rage of all Tyrants that persecute us, he at last brings us happily to Glory.

But that which I finde most admirable in this Allyance, is, that in some sort it makes us enter upon the rights of a Father over his Son Jesus Christ: for we Nomen Pa­ternitatis ex di­vinis ad huma­nos Patres translatum est. Damas. de fide cap. 9. produce him on our Altars, and in the souls of Beleevers; we are his Fathers and his Mothers, and by a manner as true as incompre­hensible, we give him a new life here below. The Priests bring him forth by their words, and the Church acknowledgeth she should not enjoy her Be­loved upon the earth, did not the Priests make him descend from heaven. 'Tis in this administration that (more powerful then Joshua) they com­mand Jesus Christ, and entring into the authority of his Father, they pre­scribe him Lawes which never he dispenseth with: when they speak, he obeys; he works an hundred miracles to comply with their Orders. The Preachers O praeclara, O reverenda pote­stas vestra! cer­tè non est pote­stas post Deum sicut potestas ve­stra; quod enim vobis dedit pri­mo loco sancta Verbi Incarna­tio, vos de die in diem nobis mi­nistratis nobis ex collatae pote­statis officio. Ber [...]de Coena Dom. imitate the Priests, and from their Mission receive the same power the others do from their Character; their lips are fruitfull in the Church, they never preach, but they hold forth the Son of God; their word is a sacred branch that gives life to their Auditors, and by a strange miracle, they are the Fathers of Jesus Christ and of the faithfull, they tra­vell with them both together; and when God blesseth their labours, they bring forth these two Twins at the same time. This is the happinesse the [Page 32]great Filioli mei, quos iterum parturio donec formetur Chri­stus [...]n vobis. Gal. 4. Apostle of the Gentiles boasted of heretofore, when he called the Galatians his children, and forming Jesus Christ in their souls, he endea­voured to perfect both by his Evangelical labours. Thus Preachers and Priests take their fruitfulnesse from the Father Everlasting; they have no authority over his Son, but because they have the honour to be his Mini­sters; nor do they enter into his power, but because they have an interest in the divine Paternity.

This advantage is not so peculiarly theirs, that it is not common to them with the faithful; Every Christian may conceive Jesus Christ in his own soul, and bring him forth in others, he may be both Father and Mother; and the Son of God teacheth us, that so holy an Allyance is contracted by an humble obedience: He that doth the will of his Father, becomes his Mother, he that preacheth by his good example becomes his Fa­ther; and every Christian may boast he returns that to Jesus Christ he received from him in his Baptism. But certainly, we must acknow­ledge, there is no person that more honourably possesseth this advantage, then the blessed Virgin: she is the Mother of the Son of God in so Au­gust a manner, that she comes neer that of his Eternal Father; 'tis the noblest copy of that divine Original; neither is there any creature to whom God hath more largely communicated his fecundity: He takes pleasure to see himself imitated by the Virgin, and to observe in the person of Mary the properties of his divine Hypostasis: He begot his Son of his substance, and Mary of her bloud; He conceived his Word in his bosom, and Mary in her womb; He produced him by a vertue that con­stitutes his Person in the Trinity, and Mary brings him forth by the same vertue communicated to her in the moment of the Incarnation; He pro­duceth him by the knowledge of his Greatness, and Mary by the conside­ration of her Nothingness. Finally, the Father begetteth his Son equall to himself, Et erat subdi­tus illis. Luc. 2. Quid fecit Verbum, non ca­piebatur in se, descendit ita e­tiam ut esset subditus illis; sic mutavit con­filium suum ut quod tunc caepe­rat us (que) ad tri­gesimum annum dimiserit. Ber. de Resur. Do­min. Ser. 3. and Mary bringeth forth her first-born like unto Men: Shee holds the place of the Eternal Father upon earth, she is the Regent of the Son in his Minority, she prescribes laws to him that gives lawes to the Angels; and Jesus Christ reverencing the Authority of his Father in the person of his Mother, was obedient to her the space of thirty yeers. Thus the Eternal Father hath nothing so proper, that he communicates not to Christians; the Allyance he contracts with them is so strict, that toge­ther with him they are all the fathers of the same Son; and we may say, 'twas drawn out of that communication, seeing he reserves not that very quality that distinguisheth him from his own naturall Son.

As the holy Spirit is the sacred bond uniting all these divine Ally­ances, he also is pleased to associate himself with the Christians, and entertains so firm a union with them, that he is as well their Spirit, as that of the Father and the Son: for he is shed abroad in our hearts by charity; he erects his Throne in our hearts, he quickens us by his pre­sence, leads us by his motions, illuminates us by his light, and warms us [Page 33]by his heat. He is so well blended with us, that he is more the Principle of our actions, then we our selves: If we pray, he furnisheth us with words and conceptions; he expresseth himself by our mouth, weeps with our eyes, works with our hands; and as if he were incarnate in each of us, he makes use of all our members to accomplish his designes. This divine Spirit accommodates himself to all our affairs and conditions; he acts diversly in the faithfull, and as the soul, diffused over all the body, sees with the eys, works with the hands, hears with the ears; so he preach­eth by the Apostles, suffers in the Martyrs, instructeth in the Doctors, and in his adorable Unity produceth an acceptable Diversity of operations and effects: His infinite charity obligeth him to intermeddle with our affairs; he comforts the miserable without troubling his own happiness, he streng­thens the weak, and makes Maids and Children triumph in the infirmity of their Age and Sex, he teacheth the ignorant, and this Divine Master distils Truth into the Understanding without the mediation of the Senses. Finally, he is the Spirit of the Church, the bond of the faithful, the love of Christians, the mutuall gift of Men to God, and of God to Men.

But that which surpasseth all belief, He is so absolutely in our dispo­sall, that the faithfull communicate him to others: The Priests are not onely the Ministers, but the Principles thereof, they produce him by their word, as they do Jesus Christ; neither are there any Sacraments in the Church which are not so many channels by which they powre forth the Holy Ghost into the souls of Christians. Nay, many times they that have him not themselves impart him to others; being poor, they make others rich; and having not the grace, they notwithstanding communi­cate the source; for though they lose their sanctity, they lose not their power; and as it is founded in their Character, which can never be ob­literated, they have alwayes the right to give the Holy Ghost, and to re­mit sins. But because I intend to make a particular Treatise of the Spi­rit of the Christian, I shall reserve my larger Discourse of the Allyances we have with him, for that place; and conclude the present subject with those words of S ^t Leo, ‘That the Beleever is obliged to acknowledge the advantages he hath received from Jesus Christ in his Birth, by no means to degenerate from his Nobility; and to think he ought no more absolutely to dispose of himself, seeing he hath the honour to be the Son of the Eternall Father, the Brother of Jesus Christ, and the Temple of the Holy Ghost.’

The Eighth DISCOURSE. Of the principall Effects Baptism produceth in the CHRISTIAN.

FOrasmuch as Effects are the images of their Causes, we never judge better of the power of these, then by the greatness of those: A great Effect leads alwayes on to a great Cause, and this Maxime is as true in Grace as in Nature. For if God sometime make use of a weak Instru­ment to produce a miracle, Aliud est enim baptizare per ministerium, a­liud per potesta­tem; Baptisma enim tale est qualis est ille in cujus potestate datur: nō qualis est ille per cujus ministerium da­tur. Aug. Tr. 5. in Joann. he raiseth the puissance thereof, and by himself supplyes what infirmity would sink under. Thence it comes to pass, that the Fathers of the Church attribute to Jesus Christ all the effects of Baptism, teaching us, that 'tis neither the vertue of the Water, nor the merit of the Minister (though both are requisite) that justifie the Christian. God reserves to himself the glory to act in this Sacrament; He it is that baptiseth by the hand of his servants, and without having respect to their deserts, worketh grace by a Divel, as well as by an Angel. Where­fore we need not wonder that so common an element produceth such rare effects, seeing 'tis in his hands who of nothing was able to create all things. These effects are almost infinite, their number aswell as their great­ness astonish us; and to observe them well, we had need be illuminated by his light whose works they are. Nolite contri­stare Spiritum sanctum, in quo signati estis. Ephes. 4.

The most part of Divines are of opinion, that the impression of the character is the first effect: for he that is baptised wears the Livery of his Soveraigne, he is marked with his Seale, and from the time of his Baptism there is formed in the essence of his soul a Character that nei­ther Time nor Eternity can blot out: He carries it with him to heaven for his glory, into hell for his confusion; and that which was a mark of his allyance with God, becoms a mark of his rebellion against God. Men make their slaves wear upon their garments visible Badges of their vas­sallage, and there are some so cruel as to stigmatize their very faces: The Divel (who is Gods Ape) engraves his Character upon the bodies of those miserable wretches that serve him; and if we beleeve the report of the Magicians, and the experience of the Judges that have examined them, there are not any Witches who bear not the shamefull marks of their a­bominable servitude. This proud Spirit imitates his Soveraign as far as his weaknesse will give him leave, and he is ravished that the creature who hath given himself to him, witnesseth his fidelity by an external and visible impresse: since he cannot act in the souls of men, he is content to act up­on their bodies; and he is satisfied, when upon the works of the Creator may be seen some characters of his Tyranny. But God who is absolute in [Page 35]his State, acts upon the souls aswell as upon the bodies; and at the same time that the Ministers sprinkle the water of Baptisme upon the body of the Neophytes, he imprints an eternall character in their souls.

This first effect is followed with another, to wit, the Infusion of Grace: for assoon as the words that consecrate us are pronounced, the holy Spirit enters into our hearts, and there produceth that divine quality which renders us the children of God. We know not whether it be e­quall in all those that are baptised: Some are of opinion, that the dispo­sition of those that are at age augments or diminisheth it, and according as they have more or lesse actuall love, they receive more or lesse habituall Grace. Some others pass the same judgment upon Infants, and are per­swaded, that the designe of God upon their souls makes the difference of their Graces; and that those who are destin'd to the highest degrees of Glory, receive also at their baptism a higher degree of Grace. This que­stion being not yet resolved, every one may abound in his own sense, though it seem, that as every man equally sinned in Adam, every Christian is equally regenerated in Jesus Christ. But I conceive our Fall and our Re­stauration are two Abysses that cannot be sounded; and that the example alledged for confirmation of the first, is as much conceal'd, as the Truth they would thence elicite and extract. Therefore, not confining our selves to any one of these opinions, 'tis better to confess our ignorance, and acknowledge there are secrets in the order of Grace, aswell as in that of Nature, which the spirit of man can by no means discover.

The third Effect of Baptism is the restitution of the Innocence we lost in Paradise: Every one explains it according to the conceit he hath of it; and there are store of Divines who imagine that man by the vertue of Baptism, re-enters into all the advantages of Adam; that his will re­covers its Perfect freedom, his understanding its light, and every faculty of the soul is re-established in its primitive vigour and activity. But cer­tainly, experience gives this opinion sufficiently the lye, seeing every day the faithful to their cost finde that their will is a slave to concupiscence, and if the assistance of Jesus Christ give them not the mastery, there is no temptation but would engage them in a sin. Indeed, though we should affirm, that habitual grace restores us with advantage what-ever Adam despoyl'd us of; yet must we acknowledge that concupiscence re­mains in those that are baptised, making havock in their souls aswell as in their bodies; that it weakens their wills, because it divides them; ob­scures their understandings, because it sheds darkness over them; troubles their rest, because it stirs up seditions in their person, which end not but with their life: Let us say then that this innocency is nothing but a free­dom from sin, which flowing from grace, causeth that the disorders of con­cupiscence render us not guilty, and that there must be an act of the will to occasion the loss of that which grace hath endued us with. This binds us so powerfully to Jesus Christ, that we find more strength in him then [Page 36]in Adam, and are more secure in our Banishment then we had been in the earthly Paradise. But this Innocence, though never so substantial, is not quiet, its conflicts make up the best part of its glory, its enemies prepare triumphs for it; and 'tis always arm'd, because 'tis well assured Heaven cannot be gain'd now but by violence.

The fourth Effect of Baptism is the weakening of our concupiscence: For though it remain in the baptized for their exercise, it loseth much of its vigour, being left an orphan, in respect of the father that gave it life, it droops and languisheth; and separated from sin, it gives us no assaults but such as we may easily defend our selves from. The grace that assists us is more potent then the adversary that sets upon us: and 'tis upon this occasion that we may say, Stronger are they that are on our side, then those that are against us. A man must needs play the coward, to suffer himself to be overcome in a combat where the victory depends upon his own will animated with Grace. If we want help, we may pray for it; and the Christian hath this comfort, to know that his own consent is necessary to his undoing. True it is, inasmuch as he is not ignorant that his victory is affix'd to Grace, and that Grace is not so due unto him, as that it may not be justly refused him, he hath still reason to fear; and distrusting his own strength, is obliged to have recourse to the mercy of his divine Re­deemer.

Though all Christians are persecuted by concupiscence, Cecidit primus homo, & omnes qui de illo nati sunt, de illo tra­xerunt concupi­scentiam carnis. Aug. Tract. 5. in Joann. yet is it not certainly known whether it be equall in all; for it is so impotent in some, it seems utterly extinct; all their inclinations are so good, we have great reason to beleeve that Grace is rather the Principle of their actions, then corrupted Nature; and having had a greater share in Jesus Christ at their Baptism, they have lesse of Adam then others of his Posteri­ty. Nothing pleaseth them but vertue, sin appears with no shape but that of horrour; and whether it be that Grace hath weakened Con­cupiscence, or fortified Nature, they have none but holy desires, and just and upright hopes: Others, on the contrary, have so many bad inclinations, that Baptism seems not to have regenerated them; Adam appears more in their actions and in their words then Jesus Christ, the old man is more thriving and operative in their persons then the new; and did not faith instruct us, that the Sacraments infallibly produce their effects, we should with reason doubt, whether they had received that of Baptisme or no. These two differences can proceed from no­thing but from those two Principles which we are equally ignorant of, to wit, whether some men have more transgressed in Adam, or more merited in Jesus Christ then others have; unlesse we will lay all the blame and misfortune of the later upon their own constitution, or upon the dis­orders of their Parents, who many times make them undergo the punish­ment of their debauches.

To all these internall Effects may be added a great number of ex­ternall [Page 37]ones, which makes us greatly admire the power of Baptism. For by the vertue of this Sacrament the Christian is freed from the slavery of Satan, he changeth his Master, as he changeth his Condi­tion; Hell is shut against him, Heaven is opened to him; the Angels look upon him as one of their Companions; and seeing in his soul the Mark of their Soveraign, they are very tender and respective of his Grace and Priviledges. Circumcision had not this advantage; for if it distinguished a child from an Infidel, enroll'd him in the number of the Israelites, and by the belief of his Parents shed forth faith into his soul; yet all Divines are of opinion, that it gave him no entrance into Heaven, and that dying in that state, they went down into Limbo, the skirts and fringes of perdition: The heavens were not opened till the Ascension of Jesus Christ; He it was that delivered our Fathers from their Captivity; and that he might triumph over Hell, aswell as over Earth, made them partakers of his happiness. But to give us a clearer apprehension of the right we have to Glory by Baptism, Baptizato Domino, Caeli sunt ap [...]rti; ut de­claretur nobis quid ex Baptismo operari posse­mus. Div. Thom. he was pleased that the Heavens should be opened when he received this Cere­mony at the hands of his Precursor, and the Confession of his Father, declaring him his wel-beloved Son, was an Earnest and Pledge assuring us that we should one day receive the same favour.

From this advantage there ariseth another which greatly promoteth the Condition of Christians: As they are ingrafted into the person of Jesus Christ, passing into a new order, they live under other lawes; and I can hardly believe that they are subject to that common Providence that rules over all men: For the illustration of this Truth, which may seem strange because it is new; Effectus rerum omnium aut mo­vent aut notant sydera; sed sive quod evenitfaci­unt, quid immu­tabilis rei noti­tia prosiciet sive significant, quid refert puovide­re quod evitare non possis. Sen. we must suppose that the sin of Adam hath not onely changed Man, but the World also: The Elements bid him battel, the Starres persecute him, and the fires of the Firmament sparkle with perni­cious qualities to infest him: Mans life depends upon their influences, his constitution is altered by their motions, and the greatest part of his adventures are regulated by their favourable or malignant aspects. Astro­logers therefore have some reason to search for good or bad successes in the starres, and to learne from heaven what shall happen upon the earth: 'Tis a book wherein knowing men may read the alteration of Monarchies, the events of battels, the birth and death of Soveraigns, and all those other accidents w ^ch surprise the vulgar: This Opinion, whether true or false, pre­tends to be founded in scripture; In sole posuit Tabernaculum suum. Psal. 18 and that there are some passages in it assu­ing us that the stars are the Channel through w ^ch Providence conveighs its vertue upon the Creatures. The Sun is the Throne where God sits in state, and where he acts with more force; 'Tis by meanes of this glorious Starre that he produceth the rarest wonders of nature, and from the very moment that he drew all things out of nothing; he never appeares in [Page 38]the production of any visible Creatures, but he makes use of his light or heat. His Ecilpses are dreadful to the Universe; he never suspends his influen­ces but Nature suffers by it; and his course is so necessary to the constitution of the World, that a moment of rest would be able to destroy it. Though this great body of Light have so absolute a superintendency over all Crea­tures, yet doe I not believe that the Christians hold of his Empire, though he enlighten them with his beams, warm them with his heat, and entertain their life with his motion: yet am I of opinion there is a particular provi­dence that governs them: Dominus custo­dit te, Dominus protectio tua, per diem Sol non uret te, n [...] ­que Luna per noctem. Psal. 120. that their occurrences are regulated by another sun; neither is it in the power of Astrologers to discover the adventures of the faithfull. In that they are the members of Jesus Christ, their happi­ness is affix'd to his person, their predestination is included in his, and we must understand the secrets of the Apocalypse to divine their good or bad fortune. The divel himself, though never so subtil, cannot pene­trate this depth; if he have some conjectures for the future, they prove false in what concernes Christians: the Grace that includes them, blindes him; and as the heavenly Light strikes his spirit with obscurity, he is al­together unacquainted with the wayes by which providence happily con­ducts them to their end. Therfore is it that Astrologers are never so much at a loss, as when they pretend to judge of the fortune of Believers, by the rules of Astrology; they must dive into the minde of the eternal Father to understand his thoughts concerning the members of his Son, and less then to be admitted into his Cabinet where the unchangeable designes of his predestination are contrived, cannot inable them to fore­see the smallest accidents of their life.

If the sanctity of their Condition cloud them from the curiosity of Astrologers, it moreover protects them from the fury of Divels. For though these wretched spirits are called by scripture the Princes of the World, and the divine Justice suffers them to employ the Elements to content their fury: yet have they no power over the faithfull: All their rage turns to our profit, they are serviceable even while they persecute: Their notable attempts, which testifie their power as­well as their hatred, contribute greatly to our merit: The Divine Providence that regulates all their motions, makes use of them to our glory; and wee learn by experience, That nothing can hurt those that love GOD, because they are beloved of him. Thence ariseth that profound tranquillity which Christians enjoy; For as they know nothing happens in the world but according to the order and disposall of their Soveraigne; that the fury of their Enemies is subject to his Providence, that the Divels execute his Will, that the Elements serve his Justice or his Mercy, they look upon all Accidents with a Holy indifferency; they embrace Life and Death, Honour and Dishonour, Pleasure and Pain with one and the same disposition of spirit, and knowing very well that they are the members of Jesus Christ, [Page 39]they count it not strange that his Father makes them climbe up to ho­nour by affronts, and to felicity by persecution.

The Ninth DISCOURSE. Of the Obligations of Christians in pursuance of their Birth.

INdependency is so natural to God, that some Philosophers have doubt­ed whether he could be ingaged by his promises: But me thinks to preserve his Independency they would take away his Veracity, and that they might make him an absolute Soveraign goe about to render him an unfaithfull one: The perfections of God never clash one against another, and those that seem to have some contrarietie in the creatures preserve a peacefull harmonie without loosing their differences in the Creator. He is absolute in his power, and faithfull in his promises, he is subject to those Laws he himself prescribes, and he respects his own Orders without infringing his Supremacy. Seneca, who had only natu­rall reason for his light, judged that obedience did not at all injure the Soveraignty of God, Ille ipse omni­um conditor ac rector scripsit quidem fata sed sequitur: semper paret, semel jus­sit. Senec. de prov. c. 5. and that observing the ordinances he had set from all eternity, hee obeyed alwaies, and commanded but once. David ac­knowledged fidelity in God as well as Independency, and though he knew that all his graces were mercies, he forbeares not to exact from him the effects of his promises, and to conjure him upon the truth of his Word, God is faithfull in all his words.

Wherefore I conceive I shall no waies wrong the Almighty, if I say that he treates with the Christian in Baptisme; That he imposes Laws upon himself, which he never revokes; and obliges himself to con­ditions, which he inviolably keeps. He receives the sinner into favour, signes him the pardon of his sin, invests him with the merits of his Son, and promiseth all things necessary for his preservation in this new condition. I cannot imagine that this Peace is but a Truce, that there are any Christians to whom God does not sincerely and really remit originall sin: Cr [...]dentes in Christum per lavacrum regenerationis, so­luto reatu omnium peccatorum, & originalis quod gene­ratio trahit, liberantur à damnationc perpetua & vi­vunt in fide spe & charitate peregrinantes in hoc saeculo. Aug. tract. 124. in Joan. His goodness gives mee not leave to passe this judgement upon his justice, and though I know that he performes an Act of Grace to a De­linquent in Baptisme; I believe that considering him in the person of his Son, he refuses him not those graces which so holy an alliance seem to re­quire: if he condemn them, 'tis not for the sin which is blotted out, and if [Page 40]God be deficient to the Laws of this Treaty, 'tis because the Christi­an hath first broken the Covenant. The gifts of God are without repen­tance, he deserts none, but those that forsake him, and were we true to his grace he would never dispense with his promises.

The unchangeable Laws of Predestination clash not at all with this Maxime, and at that instant when he resolved to leave the Reprobate in the masse of Perdition, he saw their sins as well as those of Adam: 'Tis upon these that he rests, when he refuses them Grace, and had they made good use of that they received, I cannot beleeve he would have a­bandoned them. Si gratia dici­tur, gratis da­tur; si operibus additur, mer [...]es redditur. Aug. Psal. 103. Ser. 3 The doctrine of S. Augustine doth not destroy it self, though he teach us that Grace is not due to the Creature, he never told us that it was not due to Jesus Christ; and where he said that it was just­ly refus'd Christians, he alwaies presupposed that they had committed some Crimes, which rendred them unworthy.

There is some secret in Grace which yet we understand not, where­by it comes to passe that without destroying the vertue of its effica­cy, we may resist its operation; its charms perhaps are not so strong, that they are alwaies inevitable, its powers rob us not of our liberty, and though it be very often victorious, yet it is sometimes worsted: We have a miserable power remaining in us to resist its motions, and did it infallibly without any intermission produce its effect, the Saints would not complain of their Infidelity. Whatever good we doe, bears wit­ness of the great Empire it hath over our wills, since it changeth them without compelling them, and a thousand times more powerfull then elo­quence, it makes the sinner act what he never had a mind to before; it knowes how to conquer our rebellion, and its charmes are so sweetly pre­valent, that they master the most obstinate, and subject the most rebellious. But the evill we doe, is an argument that our liberty may resist it, that at all times it acts not with the like force; and if at its birth it work more vigorously, in its progress it growes more languishing and remisse, In this point consists all the difficulty, this is the secret God hath not been willing to discover to us, 'tis the cause of our differences, and I am of opinion, this will never be understood till Jesus Christ raise up some new light in his Church. I reverence Saint Augustine when he defends the party of grace, when he sets it above mans freewill, when he stiles it victorious, and to ex­presse its efficacy, affirmes that it infallibly produceth its effect: I am ravi­shed when I read that great Doctor, how he makes man stoop to God, the will to grace, salvation to mercy. But withall I respect the Councel of Trent, teaching us that our liberty may resist grace, that when it receives its im­pressions, it may reject them, and that in the very motion whereby 'tis car­ried it may remain obstinate and unmoveable; what ever is said to reconcile these two opinions doth not at all satisfie me, and whatsoever answer is re­turnd, I alwaies meet with difficulties great enough to perswade me that earth is not the mansion of light, I honour S. Augustine and the Holy Sea, [Page 41]I subscribe to the Anathema's the Church hath thundered out against Pe­lagians & Calvinists: and as I believe that Sin hath not destroyed the Liber­ty of Man, neither do I believe that Free-will ruines the power of Grace.

But to return where I left, I hold for certain, that God is never wanting to the Covenant he made with the Christian in Baptism; that he never forsakes him, till he be forsaken by him; and that there is always some secret infidelity on mans part, that renders him unworthy of the assistance God would afford him: his grace is many times offered to the Christian, though it be not due to him; and as he is constantly obliged to combat sin, I conceive he hath continually some helps which he scarce ever fails of. If God make us sensible of our weakness, 'tis that he may ob­lige us to have recourse to his goodness: if he suffer us to fall, 'tis to punish us: and the withdrawing of his grace supposeth always some notable infi­delity. When he pardons in Baptism, 'tis with as much Sincerity as Mercy: he doth not quicken a sin that he hath made to die: he goes not to Adam to seek for motives to destroy a man that begins to revive in Jesus Christ: and I verily believe he never refuses grace to a Christian for an offence he hath so solemnly pardoned.

But we must certainly confess that we observe not our promises with the same faithfulness, and that we are many times wanting to those oaths and protestations we have made in Baptism. For the Christian publikely vows that he doth renounce the devil, That he dies to himself, to live to Jesus Christ, That he will be crucified with him; and as he takes his party, he is resolved to fight his enemies. Let us examine these promises in particular, and see what they exact from us. Baptism in those of age begins by Instru­ction, in children by Exorcism; it presupposeth that they are possest with Devils; whom if they torment not as a Tyrant, they command as a Sove­raign. If this Maxime be not true, the Ceremonies of Baptism must pass for illusions; and the Church, to amaze us with vain fears, increaseth the misery of our thraldom, to augment the benefit of our deliverance: when she sets us free from this shameful captivity, she obligeth us to have no more commerce with the Evil spirit: and knowing that the World is his State, that it lives under his Laws, follows his Maximes, obeys his Directi­ons, she gives us in charge to hate it: and to the end we may submit to her injunctions, we promise, by the mouth of our Godfathers, to renounce the World as well as the Devil. But because the grace that defaceth Sin destroys not Concupiscence, but this monster still lives in our flesh, stirs up disorders there, makes parties, and raiseth seditions; we engage moreover to weaken his Empire, to combat his designes, to check his motions. Thus the Christians in their Baptism are obliged to a War, nay to Death; they must die, if they intend to live; they must fight, if they mean to overcome: and knowing that the New man is a souldier, they must consider Life as a Combat, the Earth as the Pitched Field, and the Devil, the World and the Flesh as irreconcileable Enemies.

In the rere of these, marcheth a terrible Troop of sins which Christians are bound to grapple with and subdue. For the grace they have received in Baptism, differs much from that which Adam received in the state of Innocence. His was quiet, and gave no alarms; it subjected the Soul to God, the Body to the Soul, and the Senses to Reason; its commands were execu­ted without the least dispute; it found no resistance in its subjects: and as it commanded with Gentleness, it was obeyed with chearfulness. This of Chri­stians is obliged to joyn Force with Sweetness: and as the most part of its subjects are rebels, they must be threatned, to reduce them to their duty. It commands always with the sword in the hand: and knowing very well that when a people are up, Justice can execute nothing if it be not assisted with force, it must be feared, that it may be obeyed. Hence it is that it calls in severe vertues to its aid, which make the Body afflict the Senses, and swallow up the Passions. But use what endeavour it will, it findes by woful 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 [Page 43]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, 'tis 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 pr [...] 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 [Page 44]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, we cease not to have just apprehensions of our fall: For though God never forsakes the sinner, till the sinner first forsake him; though he be faithfull in his promises, nor is ever wanting to the Treaty he made with us in Ba­ptisme: Neverthelesse there remains in us a wretched faintnesse, that so weakens us in temptation, that without a continued assistance of Grace, we cannot hope for victory. Concupiscence always sides with sin; it la­bours to revive what it first gave birth to; and over-spreading all the fa­culties of the soul, and members of the body, it sollicites all of them to rise-against Grace: its Fruitfulness is equal to its Malice; it contains in it the seeds of all sins: and when Temptation hatcheth them, there's not so much as one whereof man may not become guilty: As long as he carries about him this enemy, his salvation is in danger; he groans under its ty­ranny: and knowing that there wants but one meer act of the Will to be the midwife to sin, he would willingly not be free, that he might not be­come [Page 45]criminal. For all Theologic confesseth that Concupiscence is not taken away by Baptism, That it is left with the faithful to exercise them, That it continually provokes them to evil, That it contributes as often to their fall as to their glory; and if it increase their merit, it swells their danger. Though it be not a sin in Christians, it keeps them still in breath; they are equally afraid of its smiles and of its frowns: and whether it flatter or frighten, they have still reason to fear lest it render then delin­quents. In a word, Is it not a sad condition for a man always to carry his enemy in his bosome; to be obliged to fight, without any assurance of getting the better; and to know that Grace with all its supplies may en­feeble him, but never utterly defeat him? If Man account himself mise­rable in Nature, because he carries the principles of his death in himself; and that the opposition of the elements which make him live, must one day make him die: Is not the Christian very unhappie in grace it self, when he sees how he bears about the source of sin in his soul, That Ba­ptism sets him not free from slavery, That Vertue engageth him to fight; and at the same time that Hope promiseth him Victory, Fear appales him with the apprehension of a Defeat?

This vexation is redoubled by a troublesome division which his second birth hath not composed. For the Christian is unfortunately parted be­tween Concupiscence and Grace: he never sights with his full strength; and when he hath a minde to obey Charity, there is always some part of Himself that holds with his Enemy. The Flesh always faceth the Spirit: Man is the Theatre of this dreadful combat; he cannot disarm those that trouble his rest: though he sometimes prevail over them, he fears lest ral­lying their forces they triumph over their conquerour. 'Twas this inse­parable misfortune of the Christian, that made S. Paul sigh; 'twas this potent enemy that made him long for death: and supposing that 'twere better die then sin, he desired to lose his Life, to preserve his Inte­grity.

But admit the Christian were delivered from Concupiscence that tor­ments him, and from Sedition that divides him; he is still exercised by another trial which Baptism leaves him to grapple with: For he is subject to Illusion; Errour, as well as Truth, steals into his Understanding: his giddy and unfaithful Senses side more with Wickedness then with Grace: and these parties for the most part holding intelligence with the Devil, threaten him with Blindness and Ignorance.

'Tis by this gate that the devil surpriseth the Will; 'tis by our eyes or by our ears that he seduceth us: and having these rebels always at his de­votion, we need not wonder if he gain so many victories against us. When he tempted our first father in Paradise, he set upon a place where he had no intelligence; the Senses did not all assist him against the Intellectual faculty, nor Passions against Reason: Mans forces were united; and when his Will pronounced the definitive sentence, he found as many ministers to [Page 46]execute it, as he had Faculties. But now he hath scarce any members which are not instrumental to his enemy: his Grace, though never so powerful, stamps no faithfulness upon the Senses, nor obedience upon the Passions: he hath no submission but by violence; and reigning in a state where Concupiscence lives still, he meets with more rebels then subjects. All his stability consists in Grace: instructed by the defeat of Adam, he has recourse to his divine Redeemer; and knowing very well that his forces are weakned by sin, he findes no better expedient to vanquish his enemy, then to confess his impotency. Haec una prae­sentis vitae per­fectio est, ut te infirmum & imperfectum agnoscas. Hie­ron. ad Ctesi. He remembers that Vertue is preserved in Infirmity, that the Distrust of himself is the mother of Safety, and that in a Religion where we live not by our own spirit, neither do we overcome by our own strength.

But whatever artifice our Humility makes use of to defend it self, yet must we confess that 'tis an extreme affliction to know that the devil that tempts us can trouble our Imagination, and make a part of our selves ser­viceable to his malice: For in conclusion, Concupiscence is a trusty minister which executes all his commands, sets all the Passions in a commotion in behalf of him, debaucheth all the Senses to serve him; and carrying dis­order into the inmost recesses of the Soul, undertakes to make the Under­standing and the Will stoop to his lure. S. Augustine acknowledged this misery; and confesseth, that though the body were sanctified by Baptism, it had not lost its corruption; that in the language of Scripture it lay heavie upon the soul, disposing it to sin. Nay, the soul it self, though it have a greater share in grace then the body, is nevertheless engaged in self-love: Though in Baptism it received remission of all sins, yet its bad inclinations are not obliterated in a moment: nor do the first-fruits of Grace produce Vertues, if they be not husbanded with much care and diligence: the New man must increase daily, if he intend to ruine the Old; and dismantle the body of Sin, if he will establish the Spirit of Grace. For 'tis an errour, saith that great Saint, for a man to perswade himself, that from the very moment that a Christian is baptized, all the in­firmities of the old man are quite washed away: his renovation indeed begins by the remission of sins; but it cannot arrive to perfection, but as he goes on in vertue, and tastes those spiritual delights which serve as nou­rishment to the new life. They therefore are much deceived, who anchor their hope upon their Character; who think, to be a Christian, is title enough to Salvation; and never considering that they have onely the seeds of Christianity, labour not to make them fructifie by good works: who­ever neglects this care, cannot preserve his grace any long time; and he that resists not Temptation which remains after sin, is in great danger to be speedily deprived of the Innocence of Baptism.

To all these internal evils which seize us, may be added those external ones which surround us: for if Regeneration reform not the disorders of our soul nor of our body, it never asswageth the persecution of the Ele­ments: [Page 47]Though we be justified by Baptism, we are not instated in our pri­mitive advantages: The Curse issued out against the Creatures, is not taken away by Grace; and as we experience revolts in our person, we resent them also in our state. The Earth hath not recovered her former fruitful­ness; it brings forth thorns to this day to punish us; it nourisheth mon­sters that make war against us; it rends asunder in gaping chasms to swal­low us up; and levels mountains to overwhelm us. Every Element mindes us of our misery: they make no difference between an Infidel and a Chri­stian. Though the Angels respect their character, Creatures despise it, or know it not. The Sea drowns Our Vessels, as well as those of the Turks. To be reconciled with God, makes us not friends with the Windes: a man must be a Saint that commands the Waves: And if together with our Charity, we have not also the gift of Miracles, we know not how to calm the Sea, nor to appease Tempests. The Fire spares not all Innocents; it hath burnt Martyrs who had no less faith then the Three Children that walk'd untouch'd in the midst of the fiery furnace: it sometimes blends it self with Thunder, and, being blinde, strikes the Just as often as the Guil­ty. The Church canonizeth some Saints, which that element hath reduced to Powder: and because she knows that the sentence of our death speaks of dust and ashes, she wonders not if Thunder have the same operation upon some Saints, which Time is designed to have upon All men.

Finally, all the Elements teach us that we are Miserable, though we be not Criminal: Baptism, that delivers us from Sin, frees us not from Punish­ment. God will have the World persecute us, that we may hate it: he hath ordained the place of our banishment to be troublesome, lest it should make us forget our Country. This is the Advantage we draw from our Evil, the Comfort we retain in our Miseries: and 'tis enough to make us stoop with all humility to the Justice of God, inasmuch as we know that our Punishment may as well be serviceable to our own Salvation, as to his Glory.

The first DISCOURSE. That every Body hath its Spirit; and what that of the Churches is.

IN Nature, every thing hath its own Spirit: and if we believe Chymists, there is no element, though never so simple, out of which the Essent, though never so simple, out of which the Essence may not be extracted: They make daily Experiments hereof with the Fire; and dividing what Nature had uni­ted, they separate the Form from the Matter. The World, according to the relation of some Philoso­phers, hath a Soul that inanimates it, which is shed abroad thorow all its parts, and which, according to their divers dispo­sitions, produceth divers effects. 'Tis this Divine Spirit that gives it mo­tion; that waters it with fruitfulness, whereby it hatcheth all those won­ders whose causes men are ignorant of. As Artificial things are the images of Natural, neither do men make any thing whereof they take not the Copie from Nature, as from a perfect Original; there is not any Sect that hath not its particular humour and difference.

The Peripateticks take all their light from Argumentation and Expe­rience; Alii alia de anima disce­ptant, prout aut Platonis honor, aut Zenonis vigor, aut Ari­stotolis tenor, aut Empedoclis furor, aut Epicuri stupor, aut Heracliti maeror, persuascrunt. Tert. de Ani. Authority hath no credit in their School: they desert their Ma­ster, when he agrees not with Truth: and laughing at the blinde obedience of the Pythagoreans, they believe nothing but what they discover by Sense or by Discourse.

The Platonicks march upon the higher ground, but less certain, less so­lid: Animus cernit, animus audit; reliquae surda & caeca sunt: impedimentum est corpus, non socium ad cognoscendam veritatem. Tert. de Plato. for they withdraw from the Senses, as from the enemies of truth; they look upon them, as upon faithless ministers, or pleasing impostors, [Page 49]which beholding nought but the shadows of things, present us with no­thing but Errors and falshoods. Their Spirit savours more of Intelli­gence then of Science; as if individuals were unworthy of their observati­on; they consider nothing but generals, and leaving men and beasts, Iste Academicue quiae omnia esse contendit incer­ta, indignus est qui habeat ulld in his rebus au­thoritatem. Au­gust. de Cice. they contemplate only Angels and Ideas.

The Academicks are parted between these two, they allow something to Reason and Intelligence, they are more noble then the Peripateticks, but not so credulous as the Platonicks; they make the senses servants to Reason, but having a minde to see a part of what they believe, they make a Sect whose principall difference is doubt and uncertainty.

The Stoicks are as capacious as they are proud; Magna promit­titis & quae op­tari quidem ne­dum credi pos­sint; deinde sub­lato alte super­cilio, in eadem quae caeteri de­sceuditis, muta­tis rerum nomi­nibus. Seneca. ordinary proceedings please them not, nothing seems generous that is not extravagant, all com­mon Opinions stumble them; they judge so ill of the people, that they take all their votes for Errours: Their Pride, which is the very soul of their Sect, formes Ideas of vertue, which not one of them can reach unto; and they propound a Sage so exactly perfect to their Disciples, that they put them past all hope of imitating him, at the very same time they stirre up a desire in them to become their Proselytes.

The Epicures search after nothing but pleasure, because they conceive it inseparable from vertue: Their Sect which is soft onely in expressions, is austere really and in deed; Mea quidem sententia est; Epicurum san­cta & recta praecipere & si propius accesse­ris tristia: vo­luptas enim illa ad parvum & exile revocatur, & quam nos virtuti legem dicimus, eam ille dicit volup­tati: Jubet il­lam parere na­turae; parum est autem luxu­riae quod naturae satis est. Se­nec. de vita beat. cap. 13. they reduce the desires of men to things meer­ly necessary, they part with superfluities joyfully, and placing their felicity in their Conscience, they count themselves happy in the midst of Tor­ments: These Philosophers speak not of pleasure, but to make their Disciples in love with vertue; and if there have been found some who have deserted vertues side to embrace that of pleasure, it hath been not only con­trary to their expectation, but also to their beleife: For the foundation of their Opinion, is, that the will cannot be charm'd by any thing but by plea­sure, and that pleasure cannot be separated from vertue, so that the minde and intendment of this Sect is to render a man content in rendring him ver­tuous, and to make him in love with vertue by catching him with pleasure.

If from the Schooles of Philosophers we passe to the conversation of sinners, we shall finde there is not one of them who is not carryed with a particular humour, and who seeks not out in the sins he does commit some shadow of happinesse. The Ambitious have no other Spirit but vaine­glory; This is that proud passion which inanimates all their designs, inables them to surmount all difficulties, engages them in conflicts where the successe is doutfull, and obliges them to sacrifice their owne lives to purchase a little reputation. Interest is the soule of the Covetous; whatever is profitable is welcome and glorious: 'Tis the hope of gaine that sweetens their travels; and when in despite of Rocks and Tempests they passe the Seas, 'tis that Idoll of Interest which scatters their feares, and boyes up their hopes. Pleasure is the life of the Lascivious; this passion fosters their desires, surmounts their griefes, entertaines their fidelity and [Page 50]so besots them with the senses, that nothing can any way divert them, but what is agreeable or sensuall.

But not to trouble my selfe with the proofe of so known a Truth, and leaving the state of sin to consider that of Grace; we must confesse there is not any Society in the Church which finds not its difference in its Spirit; and being link't together in the same bond of Charity, is not distinguish'd by some other particular vertue. Carthusianorum spiritus solitudo. For to begin with that order which hath no commerce with men, that they may have the more with Angels; soli­tude is its spirit and advantage; they take their probation in the Desarts: They finde Thebais in Europe; and reviving the Anchorites in these last Ages, they present us in their Disciples with the happy Image of those great Saints that succeeded the Martyrs, and who began to combat plea­sure, Labia Sacerdo­tis custodiunt scientiam. Ma­la. 2. after others had triumphed over griefe. The Dominicans have the Spirit of Preaching, their Name which obliges them to this Exercise, is an embleme of their duty; and because the Gospel subsists by knowledge as well as by Piety, they are the Cherubins of the Church, the Depositaries and Guardians of Learning, the Masters of Divinity, and the fruitfull Se­minaries whence other Orders derive Knowledge and Truth: 'Twas their Order that bare those Constellations of Doctors that enlightned the whole Church; the Alberts, Thomas's, Jourdains, Renoults, Raymonds, and Vincents, are the Starres which sparkle in this Firmament, and who for these four Ages dispence Light and Science round the Europian Chri­stendom. The Order of St. Francis is inanimated with the spirit of Pe­nance and Poverty; these are the two severe ascetick vertues that preserve it, representing in every one of this Fraternity, as their blessed Founder, the Image of Jesus Christ Crucified; all their other Priviledges are reduced to these two, as to their Principle: what ever they doe or say, their designe is to fasten the whole World to the Crosse; and infusing their Spirit into the Church, Surrexit Elias Propheta quasi ignis, & ver­bum illius quasi sacula arde­bat: verbo Do­mini continnit ignem, & de­jecit de coelo ignem ter; sic amplificatus est Elias in mi­rabilibus suis. Eccles. cap. 48. to make all Christians they converse with, so many Votaries of Penance and Poverty. That Order that takes its Name and Originall from Carmel, hath no other Spirit then that of Elias; The zeale of this Prophet breathes still in his Disciples; wrongs done to God injure them; whatever offends him wounds them; and these Boanerges more sensible of his glory then their own concernments, care not for being persecuted, so God may be known and reverenced. If as their Father they retire into Desarts, 'tis because they cannot away with the sins of the World; if they preach, 'tis to gaine subjects to Jesus Christ, and to enlarge the bounds of his Em­pire; if they passe the Sea, 'tis to make war against Idols, and to teach all people that they are the children of that Prophet who must support the state of the Church to the end of the World: Its Daughters are not inferi­our to its Disciples; their zeale imitates that of their Father, after his Ex­ample they live in Wildernesses, they destroy wickednesse by their good Works, they doe Penance for those sins they never committed, and tem­pering the fervency of Elias with the sweetnesse of Jesus Christ, they pray [Page 51]for the salvation of sinners, and the ruine of sins; they assist the Preachers with their Devotion, and neither breaking their Cloyster nor their Silence, they are carryed in Spirit into New France and England, to convert by their fervour, Hereticks and Infidels.

But as all these companies make but one portion of the body of the Church, their spirits are but a part of hers, and we may say that from her fulnesse they have borrowed all their riches: For the spirit of the Church is the spirit of God; he that formed Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin, formed the Church in the world; Venit Christus; complentur in ejus ortu, vita, factis, dictis, morte, resurre­ctione, ascenfi­one omnia prae­coniae propheta­rum: mittit Spiritum san­ctum, implet fi­deles in una domo congrega­tos, & hoc ipsū ante promissum, orando, & de­siderando expe­ctantes. Aug. ad Volus. he it was that composed it when he descended upon the Apostles in the likenesse of tongues; and as the Synagogue took its denomination from mount Sinai, when the Law was written upon two stones in the middest of thunder and lightning; so the Christian Church derives its originall from mount Sion, when the law of love was engraven in the heart of the faithfull, by the finger of God, which is nothing else but the holy Spirit. T'is from this happy mo­ment, that the sacred Historians begin the Annals of our Mother, and then it was that the Apostles her Fathers, and her Children, cured of their ignorance and infirmity, prepared themselves for the conquest of the Uni­verse, and the couversion of Infidels. The same spirit that inspired them with life, inspired them with courage for so generous a designe, and hell trembled with amazement when it beheld twelve fishermen, and seventy Peasants, resolved to lose their lives, or to work the downfall of Infidelity: Their strength triumphed over the power of Kings, their simplicity con­founded the prudence of Politicians; their ignorance convinced the ob­stinacy of Philosophers; and their discourse, void of all rhetoricall orna­ments perswaded the mindes of Oratours.

These Prodigies are very apt to beget wonder; but when we consider that the Apostles served as interpreters to the holy Ghost, that he spake with their mouthes, and that he resided in their hearts, we shall not con­ceive it strange, that he that subdued Egypt with an army of flies, con­verted the world by a few fishermen. This spirit which was the force of the Church, was also the light; as it assisted her in her combats, Impleti Spiritu sancto loquumur repente linguis omnium, argu­unt fidenter errores, praedi­cant saluberrimam veritatem, exbortantur ad poenitentiam, indulgentiam de divina gratia pollicentur. Aug. epist. 3. ad Volusi. it instruct­ed her in her doubts; and as often as she would resolve a difficulty, or set­tle an Article of faith, she consulted the spirit of her welbeloved, and finding truth in his answers, she pronounced nothing but Oracles to her children.

I see nothing more venerable and august in the infancy of the Church, then the first Councell held in the City of Jerusalem, to decide a matter that might separate the Jews from the Gentiles; It was not convened with so much pomp as others have been; there appeared not the Ambassa­dours of Christian Princes, because the whole Church was included within [Page 52]the walls of one onely City; there were no Philosophers who made use of the vanity of their Sciences to impede the progresse of the truth of the Gospel; there were no strange Nations, because all the beleevers were of one Countrey; the epitome of the Universe was not seen in one Convo­cation, because the Church had not yet displayed her banner, neither in Europe, nor Africa: But there might be seen the Lieutenant of Jesus Christ, with a zeal worthy of his charge; there was the Bishop of Jerusa­lem, who was to water with his blood the Church that he had built by his example, and instructed by his sermons; there might you see the Apo­stle of the Gentiles take the interest of the people he had newly convert­ed, and prove by his reasons that the Gospel being the accomplishment of the Law, they were not to make that live again which Jesus Christ had crucified with himself upon the Crosse.

But of all the circumstances that give an excellency to this Councell above all others, I am ravished with none so much as with that great assu­rance, and unshaken confidence the Apostles begin their decisions withall; For they acquaint us that they were the Organs of the holy Ghost; that he that resided in their hearts, expressed himself by their mouthes; that he pronounced his Oracles in their words, and confirming all they had or­dained, he had no other sence but theirs. Visum est spiritui sancto & nobis. It hath seemed good to the holy Ghost and to us. Let Kings con­clude their Edicts in termes never so absolute, let them second their rea­sons with that imperious clause, Such is our pleasure, and let them pre­scribe laws to their subjects liberty, they shall never perswade us that the holy Ghost is the Authour of their Ordinances, and that he that spake by the mouth of the Apostles speaks by the mouth of Monarchs. Infallibi­lity is promised to none but to the Church, and to the head thereof; there is but that Assembly alone that makes the holy Ghost vocall. Truth is suspected in the mouthes of Philosophers and Oratours; Soveraigns are constrained to have recourse to force to make their laws valid, and of cre­dit. The Church onely can impose obedience upon her children when she will, Potest fieri ut homo mentia­tur, non potest fieriut veritas mentiatur; ex v ritatis ore cognosco Christum ipsam veritatem, ex veritatis ore cognosco Ecclefiam veritatis participem. Aug. in Isa. 57. because to her alone is promised the assistance of the holy Ghost. He is her Authour, because he formed her in her birth; he is her strength, because he defends her in persecution; he is her light, because he in­structs her in her doubts; and he is her Spirit, because he gives her life, mo­tion, and direction.

The second DISCOURSE. That the Holy Ghost is the Heart of the Church.

THough there is not any part in a mans body useless or unprofitable, yet Natural Philosophy acknowledgeth the Heart and the Head for the two principal. The Head is placed in the highest and most eminent seat, as the Soveraign, having all the Senses as so many faithful ministers; gives orders aad sheds influences thorow the whole body of the State: thence every part receives Sense and Motion: and no sooner is there any obstruction that hinders the commerce of the Head with the rest of the Members, but they remain stupied or benummed. The Heart is not infe­riour to the Head in dignity: And we may affirm the Body an Empire that obeys two Soveraigns, without the inconvenience of a Schism; and takes Law from two absolute Potentates, without dividing their Royalty. For the Heart resides in the midst of the Body, as a King in his Kingdom, conveys the Spirits thorow the Arteries, dispenseth Life to all his Subjects: so extremely sensible of the Publike good, that not the least disorder can arise, but he gives notice of it by his irregular motion. As these two parts are the Noblest, so are they most United: their fair correspondence ce­ments the peace of the Body; their division threatens its ruine: and when they no longer entertain a free communication, the State must necessarily perish, without any hope of recovery.

If we may compare Great things with Small, Ecclesiae Corporis Christus est Ca­put, Spiritus sanctus Cor. Thom. we may say that the Church is a mystical Body, whereof Jesus Christ is the Head, and the holy Ghost the Heart: They act diversly, but to one and the same end: The one Guides this great Body, the other Quickens it; the one gives it Moti­on, the other Life. As there is no misfortune that can divide them, the Body which they constitute is immortal; and whatever enemies set upon it, they shall never be able to prevail against it: all its Combats are attended with Victory: Death despoils it of no parts which Eternity restores not again: what it loseth upon Earth, it recovers in Heaven; and by a hap­pie dispensation of Providence, findes Rest in Persecution, Life in Death, Glory in Shame. But as its greatest advantage is to have the holy Ghost for its Heart, and the Son of God for its Head; let us speak of the First, till we shall have an opportunity to treat of the Second; and let us dis­cover those Graces and Blessings the Church receives from his guidance and direction.

Where, that we may not pass the terms of our Comparison, we say, that the holy Spirit being the Heart of this great Body, inanimates it by his Presence, unites it by his Charity, guides it by his Light, and comforts [Page 54]it by his Goodness. The Heart is the Noblest Seat of the Soul, the Throne where she reigns, the Centre of her Principality, where she keeps her chief residence; so that we may say, 'tis the Heart that inanimates the Body, and that part that gives life to all the rest. Thence it comes to pass, that, to express the operations of the holy Spirit in the Church, we call him the Heart thereof; and not wronging his greatness, we make use of this Example to express his Charity by. For 'tis an undoubted truth, That he inanimates the whole Church, That he is conveyed into all her Mem­bers, Quod est in cor­pore nostro ani­ma, id est Spi­ritus sanctus in corpore Christi, quod est Eccle­sia. Aug. Serm. 186. de Temp. That he never forsakes her; but in whatsoever condition she is, she is always fully in his possession. He is the Principle of her Operations, as the Author of her Life: She acts not but by His motions; and whatever She undertakes, 'tis by his Counsels, or his Inspirations: He prosides in all Her Assemblies; She determines nothing but by His advice; and in Her Ge­neral Councels She pronounceth no Oracles which She hath not received from Him. As He speaks by Her Mouth, She conceives by His Thoughts; and she delivers nothing upon trust to her children, which she hath not learn'd in the School of this Divine Master.

If he instruct her in her doubts, he keeps her at unity, maugre those rents and divisions that threaten to distract her; entertaining that admi­rable harmony amongst the different parts whereof she is compacted. One of the wonders in Mans body, is, that the same Heart which is the foun­tain of Life, is also the bond of Peace: it is the Ligature of all the Mem­bers; and the Spirits it imparts unto them, are so many invisible Chains which entertain their mutual Society: As soon as it leaves off to inani­mate them, it ceaseth to unite them; neither can it suspend its influences, but all the parts of the State fall apieces. Credentium erat Cor unum, & Anima una. Act. 4. The Holy Ghost works the same thing in the Church: He is the Soul and the Cement of this Great Body: he concentres all the Faithful by his Love: and doing that in Time, which he does during Eternity, he unites Christians, as he unites the Divine Persons: Si charitas de tot animabus fecit animam unam, & de tot cordibus fecit cor unum, quan­ta est charit is inter Patrem & Filium! chari­tas autem Pa­tris & Filii, Spiri [...]us sanctus est. Aug. Tract. 14. in Joan. For the Church raigns in the Unity of the Spirit; she findes her rest and strength in that admirable incohabitation: nor is she afraid that Heresies should dissect her, as long as the holy Spirit preserves her unity. 'Tis this good intelligence that makes her terrible to her enemies: This is it that maintains her, for so many Ages, against the violence of Tyrants, the fury of Devils, and the subtil stratagems of Hereticks. Neither do I wonder at it, since the force and power of States consists in their Union; and Polititians study no one designe so much, as to banish Division, thereby to keep their people quiet and at rest. For Ex­perience teacheth them, that growing Kingdoms have no surer Bulwarks against the Approaches of an Enemy, then the Concord of their Subjects. When they conspire together, they are invincible; and when they are di­vided, Q [...] bus erat una sides, erat una substantia; quibus crat communis spiritus communis erat & sumptus. they are at the eve of their ruine and destruction. But notwith­standing [Page 55]all the care Polititians take to keep Peace in their Common­wealth, there are a thousand subjects of Division which they cannot hin­der. Mens Interests are more different then their Conditions: the People are industrious to preserve their Liberty, the Prince to enlarge his Pre­rogative; and Private men cannot endure the ruine of their Families, for the preservation of the Publike. Though all these Disorders were not able to sowe Division in a State, the diversity of Opinions would effect it: For though every one mean well, yet all ministers aim not at the same thing: the worst Counsellors are many times most listned to; and those that more respect the Fortune of the Prince then his Person, are most dangerous. But the Church is secured from all these dangers: though she have many Ministers, she hath but one Counsellor: Gods Spirit is her Spirit: she is never divided in her determinations: her embracing of an Opinion, makes it a Truth: and having consulted him that governs her, all her Decisions are Articles of Faith. She never erres in Councels: whatever she pronounceth there, is infallible: and her children are no less observant of her words, then of those of the Evangelists: She cannot be contradicted, without much rashness: those that desert her Judgement, are involv'd in a Lye: and if those who acquiesce in her bosome may haply be in the cloud of Ignorance, they cannot be in the snare of Here­sie. The same Spirit that gives Authority to the Church, stamps Obedi­ence upon her children: so that there can be no falling out in a Body where Charity stisles Schisms, Light dispels Darkness, and Power suppres­seth Revolts and Insurrections.

But nothing so much magnifieth the Unity of the Church, as to be­hold her not divided by the disparity of Conditions; and that the same Spirit which unites all the Faithful, employs them about divers Offices, ac­cording to his designes, and their own inclinations. In this it is that the Church more resembles a Natural body, and the Spirit the Heart that in­animates it: For though the Heart be one, yet is it different in its opera­tions; it acts diversly, according to the diversity of the Members: It ex­presseth it self by the Mouth, guides it self with the Eyes, defends it self with the Hands; and making every part serviceable according to its power, it preserves the Publike good, without interessing the Private. Thus one and the same Spirit causeth a thousand different effects in the Church: it speaks by the mouth of Prophets, enlightens their understandings, informs them of secrets to come; and violating the method of Time, recals things past, and makes futurities present. He it was that wrote the History of the Son of God, before he was born of his mother: he it was that ex­pressed his Truths in Figures, his Light in Shadows, and the most impor­tant actions of his life, by those of the Patriarchs. The same Spirit that spake by the mouth of the Prophets, spake by that of the Apostles: he was their Master, after the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven: he instruct­ed them in those Mysteries they were yet ignorant of; and making them [Page 56]capable in a moment, taught them without the tedious expence of labour and delay what they were suddenly to preach to Infidels.

To facilate this design, he gave them the gift of Tongues; and working a Miracle incredible to reason, he inspired them with words which the whole World understood, that all Nations might obey them. 'Twas a prodigy that surpriz'd men, Per linguas di­versas dividi meruit genus humanum; Ee­clesiae contulit unitate, ut quod discordia dis­sipaverat col­ligeret charitas. Aug. ser. 3. de Pentecost. when God (intending to stop the progresse of that proud Tower, the aspiring Posterity of Noah rays'd to get them a Name) confounded their Language, and scattered the people by the division of their Dialects: But it was a far greater wonder, when the Holy Ghost to unite all Nations, honoured the Apostles with the gift of Tongues, and made one man speak the Language of the Universe, that the Gospel might be preached without an Interpreter through all the Provinces of the World: And we must confesse, the Church was never more glorious then when consisting but of one people, it already spake the Language of all Countreys, and proclaimed by this Miracle, that her Conquests were to have no bounds, but those of the Universe. To this day she enjoyes this Priviledge, but with lesse splendour; she speaks all Languages, because she possesseth some of all people; she hath that in her progresse, which was conferred upon her at her birth; and she owns that amongst all the Faithfull, Loquor omnibus linguis quia in co sum Christi corpore, hoc est, in Ecclesia quae loquitur jam omnibus lin­guis. Aug. in psal. 54. which heretofore was eminent in every one of the Apostles. Therefore saith S. Augustine, is the gift of Tongues now superfluous, be­cause the Church having over-spread all the Earth, she finds in the meanest of her Disciples, what was consin'd heretofore to the Colledge of her Masters; and she may boast she hath lost nothing of her antient Priviledges, because the goods of a Body being common among the Members, she hath no children that speak not all sort of Tongues by the mouth of their brethren.

But because speech, without the effect, is but a dead letter; the same Spirit that gave the Church the gift of Tongues, gave her also the power of working Miracles; she hath subjects to whom nothing is impossible; Nature submits to their orders; Faith that inanimates them, makes them absolute in the state of their Soveraign: The Sun stands still in the midst of his Course to doe homage to their words; the Sea becomes firm under their feet, and the Earth trembles under those of their Enemies; and they oblige that common Mother to make a sepulcher of her Womb to swallow them up alive. Indeed, this favour that exalts them so high, is transient to humble them; Donum mira­culorum sicut aliae gratiae gratis datae non sunt in sanctis nisi per modum transeuntis. D. Tho. their will is not the rule, but the motion of the Holy Ghost; they act not, but when hee acts with them; they work miracles, when they receive the power from him; and assoon as ever he leaves them, they return to their former inability. Miracles cost them prayers and teares; they acknowledge their dependance, even whilst they exercise their Empire; and whilst all people look upon them as Gods, they finde themselvs oblig'd to confesse that they are nothing but mear Creatures. Is it not a wonder, that St. Paul drives away Divels, heals the sick, and yet by his [Page 57]prayers cannot deliver either himself from that Divel, or that malady, which exercised his humility as much as his patience?

Finally, this Spirit that acted so powerfully by the hands of the Apostles, establishing the Gospel no lesse by their miracles then by their words, for­tified them in persecutions, and gave them courage at the same time to triumph over grief and pleasure too. For as the Tyrants employd subtilty and violence, power and policy to vanquish the Martyrs, making use of threats and promises to astonish or seduce the Apostles, it was requisite that the Holy Ghost should inspire them with continence and strength; and that Grace serving them instead of a Sword and Buckler, gain'd them as many Victories as they were bid Battels. His power never appeared more glorious then upon this occasion; Quld magnum est si fortis An­gelus? magnum est si fortis est Caro; sed unde fortis Caro? un­de forte vas fi­ctile nisi à Do­mino? Aug. in Psal. 238. Miracles have not procured so many conquests as persecutions have; the Saints never got so much credit by their power, as by their constancy; and infidell Rome hath more admired the patience of the Martyrs, then the puissance of the Apostles. In the meane time, he that shall consider these effects in their primitive cause, will confesse that one and the same spirit hath produced them; and that as he inanimates the Church by his presence, so by his assistance he commu­nicates the understanding of Tongues, the knowledge of things to come, the power of Miracles, and the victory over torments. Wherefore the Church knowing very well that she owes all to the Holy Spirit, Nihil agunt fi­deles inconsulto Spiritu Sancto; quae petunt illi commendant, quae accipiunt illi adscribunt. Bernard. undertakes nothing but by his direction; and being perswaded that she hath no strength, which she is not beholding to his ayd for; she forms no design wherein she implores not his succour; and when any happy successe com­pleats the Enterprise, she gives publick testimony by her Eucharisticall de­portment, that she is beholding to the favour of the Holy Ghost, for the benefit she rejoyceth in.

The Third DISCOURSE. That the Holy Spirit is in some sort the same to Christi­ans, that hee is to the Father and the Son from all Eternity.

THe alliance that the Eternall Word hath contracted with men, is the source and originall of that which the Father and the Holy Spirit con­tract with the same Creatures. The Father loves us as his children, be­cause we are the brethren of his only Son. Heaven is as well our inheri­tance as our recompence; and the quality of mercenaries or souldiers which we beare, is no barre to that of children and heirs: The Holy Spirit [Page 58]hath an influence also upon our souls by charity; hee rears an altar in our hearts, and of the members of our body, he vouchsafes to make living Temples. But as his infinite love hath no bounds, his communications are much aforehand; and by an excesse of goodnesse, he was pleased to bee in time to the faithfull, what he is in the Trinity to the Father and his only Sonne.

The whole Scripture teacheth us that the Holy Spirit is a sacred bond, uniting the Father and the Son from all Eternity: The Church which is very wel-sighted in these profound Mysteries, Nexus amoris quo conjungitur Pater cum filio & filius cum Patre. cals him the True-loves-Knot: The conclusion of her prayers, clearly instruct us that the Father and the Son reign together in the unity of the Spirit. Admit they were not one and the same Thing by their Essence, they would be one and the same Principle by the Holy Spirit; since all Theologie knowes very well that the Father and the Son are admirably united together to produce him: Therefore hath he received a name that perfectly expresseth his ineffable procession; Charitas quae pater diligit filium & fili­us patrē, quae est Spiritus San­ctus, ineffabilem communionem demonstrat. Aug. de Trini. for being the production of the Father and the Son, he bears a name com­mon to both; and he is cal'd the Spirit, because the Father and the Sonne call him so in Scripture. Now this Spirit is the sacred Bond which con­joyns all Christians together; he is not onely the soul, but the unity; and he it is, who by admirable and secret Tyes, entertaines a faire cor­respondence between all the parts of this great body: The diffence of their conditions, the contrariety of their humours, the diversity of their designs, hinders not the Holy Spirit from uniting them together; nor that he that is the agreement of the Father and the Son, be also the peace and agreement of the faithfull. He it is, that decided the differences between the Jewes and the Gentiles; he it is, who breaking down the partition Wall, hath made of them one building; he it is, who perfecting the design of Jesus Christ, hath happily taken out of the way all obstacles that impeded the unity of the Church; and he it is, who equalling the poor with the rich, the freeman with the slave, the learned with the ignorant, hath framed that wonderfull body, the most perfect Image of the Trinity.

Therefore must we acknowledge that all those figures that represent to us the person of the holy Ghost, abundantly bear witnesse that his prin­cipall work is unity. For sometimes he is called Fire, because that ele­ment combines metalls in melting them, and of two different substances makes a third, which is neither one nor the other, but rather both: Sometimes he is called Water, because he gives consistency to the earth, watering it by secret veins, and of a fluid sand makes a solid heap, which serves for the foundation and centre of the whole Universe; Therefore is it that the great Apostle of the Gentiles never speaks of unity, Solliciti servare unitatem spiri­tus in vinculo pacis. Epist. but he mentions the holy Ghost, as the source and fountain of it: As often as he recommends peace to the faithfull, he wisheth them him that recon­ciles men unto God, by the remission of sin that separates them asunder. Neither hath charity, which is the principall effect of this ever to be ado­red [Page 59]Spirit, any more worthy employment, then to unite Christians toge­ther, after he hath united them with the Trinity.

The second Alliance that he contracts with us, is, that he becomes the gift of God to men, as he is the gift of the Father to the Son, and of the Son to the Father back again. If we beleeve prophane Philosophy, Love is not onely the first production, but the first profusion of the will; This faculty is liberall, assoon as it is amorous, and parting with its love, it makes a donation of whatever holds of its Empire: Thence it comes to passe, that all Lovers are prodigall, that they engage their liberty, stripping themselves of their goods, and renouncing their own inclinati­ons, assoon as ever they begin to be affectionate: Now as the holy Spirit is the Love of the Father and the Son, so is He their mutuall gift; they give themselves whatever they are in producing him; and it seems the Son renders to his Father, by the production of the Spirit, all that he received by his birth. Though we want termes to expresse the greatnesse of these mysteries, Faith which supplies our impotency, steps in to perswade us, that the holy Spirit is the uncreated Liberality of the Father, and of the Son, from all eternity; and tis the same faith that teacheth us, that the holy Ghost is also the gift of God to the Christians, and that at the same time he entered into alliance with them, he bestowed his love upon them, as a mark of his largesse; wherein I observe two or three things worthy of admiration. The first is, that God makes us a Present equall to himself, Dedit dona ho­minibus, quale donum? Spiri­tum sanctum; magna est au­tem Dei mise­ricordia, donum dat aequale sibi, quia donum ejus Spiritus sanctus est. Aug. ser. 44. de verb. Dom. which the truest and most affectionate Lovers never do; for though gifts are the effects of love, they never equall it; and if the Lover makes not himself a slave to the person he loveth, he can offer no Present equivalent to his affection: Pearls and Diamonds are but weak expressions of his good will; whatever contents others, are but incentives to his desires; he would be a Monarch, that he might bestow a kingdom; and in that height of fortune, he would professe, no prodigality can satisfie a Lover. But God, to whom nothing is impossible, hath in presenting his love, pre­sented a gift commensurate to the greatnesse of that best love he would expresse; that which he bestows equalls himself, his Present is infinite; and when he tenders us the holy Ghost, he makes offer of a divine Per­son. The second excellency of this Present is, that it prevents our merit, because it findes us in the state of sin; and did God consult his justice, as much as his mercy, we should appear the objects of his wrath rather then of his love: For he bestows his Spirit upon his enemies, he sheds his love abroad in the hearts of beleevers, and we receive this favour from him, when we deserve nothing but chastisements. The third excellency of this gift is, that it is the source of all others; for being the prime ra­dicall donation, 'tis that from whence all the bounteous liberality of God issues and proceeds, who confers no benefit upon us, which bears not the image and superscription of this first and prime gratuity. Whatever comes from heaven, is a copy of the holy Spirit; riches are the expresses of his [Page 60]bounty; advantageous parts of soul or body, are the marks of his good­nesse; Graces and vertues are his immediate impressions; and in a few words to comprehend the priviledges of this Divine Offertory, we must say with S. Augustine, 'tis the Pandora thorow which all other gifts are bestowed upon us. If the Angels descend from heaven to protect us, if the Sun enlightens us, if the Stars favour us, if the Earth nourish us, if the Trees shade us, if the Eternal Word leave the bosome of his Father to take upon him our miseries, 'tis by the counsel and mediation of the holy Spirit: and this gift that ravished the Apostle who tells us of it, was no­thing but an effect and consequence of that primitive largess which is the cause of all others. Thence I infer, that when we receive any grace, we ought to look upward to the Holy Spirit; and acknowledging him the fountain of all blessings, profess our selves bound to render him the eter­nal calves of our lips.

This favour would take away all hope of gratitude, did not the fol­lowing surpass it. For the Holy Spirit is the Love of the Faithful, as he is the Love of the Father, and of the Son. But to understand this truth, we must inform you, that the Word being begotten of the Father by the Understanding, is his onely Son; and that the Holy Ghost being produ­ced by the Will, is his Love. The Father and the Son reciprocally love one another by this mutual charity; they finde their happiness in this common dilection: and should they cease to love, they would cease to be happie. Having a minde to exalt us to their happiness, they raise us also to their love; and pouring forth charity into our souls, they make us capable of loving them. For God is so great, that he can neither be known but by his own Light, nor lov'd but by his own Love: the Holy Spirit must en­lighten our Souls, warm our Wills; and by the purity of his flames, purge away the impurity of our affections: he transforms us into himself, to make us happie. This holy Love is a particular effect of the Holy Spirit: the beams that heat us, are an emanation from that Divine fire that burns the Seraphims: and the charity that raiseth us above the condition of men, is a spark of that personal charity wherewith the Father and the Son love each other from all eternity.

But that we may not challenge the Holy Spirit as sparing of his fa­vours, he hath vouchsafed to be the accomplishment of the Church, as he is the accomplishment and perfection of the Trinity. For though there be no defects in God, though this Sun is never clouded nor eclipsed, this Supreme Truth labours under no shadows nor errours this excellent Beau­ty hath no spots nor blemishes, and this amiable goodness be full of charms and graces; yet may the Holy Ghost be called the Complement thereof. The Father begins this adorable Circle, which the Son continues, and the Holy Spirit finisheth: he it is that bounds the Divine emanations, draws forth the fruitfulness of those that cause his production: and if it be law­ful to speak of an ineffable mystery, and to subject to the laws of Time [Page 61]Eternity it self, God is not compleated, but by the production of the holy Spirit: He is the rest of the Father and the Son; his person is the perfe­ction of the Trinity: and this Divine mystery would want its full propor­tion, did it not include the Holy Spirit with the two Persons from whence he proceeded. The holy Scriptures, to afford us some light of this verity, attribute all the perfection of the works of God to the blessed Spirit: They represent him to us moving upon the waters in the Creation of the world; finishing by his Fecundity, what the Father and the Son had pro­duced by their Power: They teach us that it was he that gave motion to the Heavens, influences to the Stars, heat to the Sun: They inform us that 'twas by his vertue that the earth became fruitful, and that from his goodness she received that secret Fermentation that to this day renders her the Mother and the Nurse of all things living. And the Gospel, to give this Truth its full extent, instructs us, that 'tis the holy Ghost who by his graces in the Church makes up what Jesus Christ hath begun in it by his travels. He is his Vicar and Lieutenant: he came down upon the earth, after the other ascended up to heaven: nor hath he any other de­signe in his descension, then to compleat all the works of Jesus Christ. The Apostles were yet but embryo's in Christianity when the Son of God left them: three yeers of conversation was not able to perfect them: the greatest part of the discourses of their Divine Master seemed to them no­thing but Aenigma's; his Maximes Paradoxes, his Promises pleasing Illu­sions: every thing was a mormo to these timorous spirits: ths name of the Cross scandalized them: and so many Miracles wrought in their pre­sence, were unable to calm their Fear, or heighten their Courage. To finish these demi-works, the Holy Ghost came into the world: he descen­ded upon their heads in the shape of fiery tongues, to make them eloquent and bold: he inspired them with Charity, to cure them of Fear; made them Lovers, thereby to make them Martyrs: he cleared their Understand­ing, warmed their Will; that light and heat being blended together, they might more easily overcome Philosophers and Tyrants. Finally, he set up a Throne in their hearts, that speaking by their mouthes, and acting by their hands, he might render them accomplisht pieces to the service of their Master. And indeed, we must acknowledge the Apostles changed their condition after the descent of the Holy Ghost: their Fear vanished, as soon as they were confirmed by his Strength; the Cross seem'd strew'd with Charms, as soon as they were kindled with his Flames: they found Sweetness even in Torments, Glory in Affronts, Venit Vicarius Redemptoris, ut be­neficia quae Salvator Dominus in­choavit, Spiritus sancti virtute con­sammet; & quod ille redemit; iste sanctificet; quod ille acquisivit, iste custodiat. Aug. Serm. 1. Feria 32. Pentec. and Riches in Poverty. This made S. Augustine say, that the Holy Spi­rit came to finish in Power, what the Son of God had begun in Weakness; to sanctifie what the other had redeemed, and to preserve what Christ had purchased. If you seek, saith the same S. Augustine, what was wanting to the Apo­stles, and what might be added to their perfection by the [Page 62]coming down of the Holy Ghost, I will tell you: Before that happie moment, they had Faith, but they had neither Constancie nor Fidelity: they were able to forsake their possessions to follow Jesus Christ, but they would not lose their lives to glorifie him: they were able indeed to preach the Gospel, but knew not how to signe it with their blood, nor seal it with their death: they were vertuous as long as they conversed with the Son of God up on earth; but they were not grown up to perfection, till the Holy Ghost had communicated to them his graces; and adding force to charity, had made them the Foundations of the Church, the Fathers of the Faithful, the Terrour of Devils, and the Astonishment of Tyrants. Fi­nally, 'tis the holy Spirit, according to the saying of S. John Damascen, that perfects the Christians, because 'tis he that Quickens them by Grace, and Deifies them with Glory: So that we are obliged to confess, that he en­ters into alliance with them, that he is the same to the Church that he is to the Trinity, and that after he hath been our Bond, our Gift, and our Love upon Earth, he will be our Accomplishment in Heaven.

The Fourth DISCOURSE. That the Holy Ghost seems to be to Christians, what he is to the Son of God.

IT is not without ground, that the Christian is called the Image of Jesus Christ, since he is his other Self; the one possessing by Grace, what the other doth by Nature. For if Jesus be the Natural Son of the Father, the Christian is his Adopted one; if Jesus be the Heir of the Father, the Chri­stian is the Co-heir of the Son, according to the expression of the great Apostle; if Jesus be Innocent, the Christian is Justified; if Jesus be born of the Spirit, the Christian is regenerated thereby; and receives in his Baptism, what the Son of God received in his Birth. Inasmuch as this last wonderfully exalteth the glory of the Faithful, I conceive I ought to bestow this whole Discourse upon this matter, and to make it appear that the Holy Ghost, by an excess of bounty, will be to every Christian what he is to Jesus Christ.

Faith teacheth us, that though Jesus Christ be the Son of the Ever­lasting Father, yet is he withal the Workmanship of the Holy Spirit: he that was barren in Eternity, became fruitful in Time: he that produced nothing in the Heart of the Father, produced the Word Incarnate in the Womb of the Virgin: and he that before the world began was the Spirit of the Son, in the fulness of time became his Principle. The Scripture [Page 63]insinuates this Truth, when it brings in the Angel speaking these words to the Virgin, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee: And the Church teach­eth it all her children, in the Symbole of her Creed, in these terms, He was conceived of the Holy Ghost. Et licet aliud quidem ex te, aliud ex Patre sit; jam non ta­men cujusque suus, sed unus utriusque erit Filius & San­ctus. Bern. super missus est homil. Thence it comes to pass that his conception is so pure, that sin hath no part therein, and that he is free from shame, as the mother that bare him was from sorrow. He was so born, saith Ter­tullian, that he need not blush at the name of Son. This great priviledge is granted the Christian in his Baptism; and his second birth is as holy and as noble, as his first was shameful and criminal: In the one, he is a sinner before he is reasonable; and the slave of the devil, as soon as he is the subject of Jesus Christ: but in the other, he is happily born again by the vertue of the Holy Spirit, he receives grace as an earnest of glory, he is adopted by the Father for his son, acknowledged by Jesus Christ for his brother, treated by the Angels as their equal, and exalted to so high a con­dition, that the holy Spirit disdains not to be stiled the Author and Prin­ciple thereof. This is it that holy Scripture holds out to us, by these words, Ʋnless a man be born again of water and of the holy Ghost. I would en­large my self upon this meditation, had I not explained it already in ano­ther passage of this Work: Neither would it be any hard matter to make it appear, that the Regeneration of a Christian is little inferiour, in this particular, to the Birth of Jesus Christ.

The second advantage that is common to them, is, that the same spirit which is their Principle, is also their Director; and that he that gives them life, gives them conduct and motion. These two Things are inseparable in Nature and in Grace; the same causes that make us live, make us act; these Starres whose influences contribute so much to our birth, are not lesse conducing to our fortune; and as they are the Principles of our Being, they are in some sort the Guides of our life; if they have no dominion over our spirit, they have over our humour; and if they force not our liberty, they many times sollicite our inclinations. But not to rest in second Causes; it is plaine, the creature depends as well upon God in his motion as in his Being; he governs men whom he hath created, he guides Princes whom he hath raised to the Throne; and he as absolutely hath their wills in his hands as their Scepter. By the same reason, the Holy Spirit which is the Principle of Jesus Christ, is his Director; he undertakes nothing but by his conduct; and as he received his being from his goodnesse, he submits all his actions to his power: The Scriptures furnish us with a thousand proofes of so important a Truth; all the Evangelists are the faithfull Witnesses thereof; neither doe they ever take notice of the designs of the Son of God, Ductus est Jesus à Spiritu, quia Humanitas Christi erat or­ganum Divini­tatis; & ideo ad omnia movebatur instinctu Spiritûs sancti, hoc igitur motu ivit in desertum locum aptum or ationi? Glossa. ordin. but they make it appeare at the same time, that the Holy Spirit is the first mover of them. For if he retire into the desarts to converse with beasts, if he enter the list wherein he seemes to injure his glory to assure our salvation; if he spend dayes and nights there in prayers and fasting, if he suffer his [Page 64]slave to tempt him, and if he refuse not to combate him upon Earth, that he had driven out of Heaven, 'tis because the Holy Spirit engageth him in the conflict, and layes an obligation upon him to beare the punishment of our sins, to deliver us therefrom: if he passe from one Province to another, if he leave a rebellious City to instruct another more obedient to his divine sermons, 'tis by the direction of his guide. Jesus returned into Galile in the power of the Spirit: If he work Miracles in Judea, 'tis not so much to magnifie his power, In Spiritu Dei ejicio Daemonia. as to comply with the motions of the Holy Spirit; and though these signall wonders cost him but a few words or desires, he never wrought them, but his divine Principle obliged him thereto by some secret inspiration; if he unfolds the Mysteries of our Religion, if he de­clare to his Disciples the will of his Father, and discover to them those grand designes contrived from all Eternity, In ipsa hora ex­ultavit Spiritu Sancto, & dix­it, confiteor tibi Pater Domine caeli & terrae, quod abscondisti haec à sapienti­bus & pruden­tibus, & reve­lasti ca parvu­cis. Luk. 10. and which were not to be ex­ecuted but in time; 'tis the Holy Spirit that animates him to this discourse, and obliges him to manifest that to men, which till then he would not impart to the Angels: If finally, the Son of God offer himselfe up upon the Crosse for our salvation, if he drown our sins in his blood, if he re­concile us to his Father by his death, and satisfie him with the losse of life and honour; 'tis the holy Spirit that engageth him in this Agony, and who inspires him with love enough to vanquish the ignomy and paine thereof: He offered himselse without spot to God by the Holy Ghost; so that the life of the Son of God was spent in a continued obedience to the Holy Spirit; he undertook nothing but by his orders, executed nothing but by his advice; and hee that at first was his Principle, proceeds still to be his counsellour and director.

The Christian enjoyes this advantage with Jesus Christ; whatsoever designe he conceives, whatsoever resolution he takes, whatsoever enter­prize he brings to passe, he is alwayes bound to call upon the holy Ghost: He that hath given him his Being, ought to give him motion; he that hath begotten him in Baptisme, ought to govern him in the Church, and if he will not be wanting to his obligations, nor renounce his priviledges, the same Spirit that inanimates him while he lives, must move and lead him in all his operations: This is it that S. Paul so highly magnifies, when he sayes, Those onely deserve to be called the children of God, who are acted by the Spirit of God. Qui Spiritu Dei aguntur hi sunt filii Dei: Where­upon Ergo agimur & non agimus? respondeo; imo & agis & age­ris, & tunc bene agis si à bono a­garis: Spiritus enim Dei qui te agit adjutor est tibi agenti: ip­sum nomen ad­jutoris praescribit tibi, quia & tu ipse aliquod agis: sed ne te extolleret humanus spiritus. & ad hoc opus se idoneum jactaret, ideo subjecit quotquot Spiritu Dei aguntur hi snut filii Dei. Aug. Ser. 13. de verb. Apost. S. Augustine preventing two contrary objections which might be made against this truth, saith, That Christians are not onely lead by the Spirit, but driven, to the end they may know that He is rather the Prin­ciple of their actions, then themselves, and that in the way of salvation, they are rather sufferers then doers: But because this answer might sooth men up in idlenesse, and give them an occasion to neglect good works, ex­pecting the enthusiasmes of the Spirit, he adds, They are moved, that they [Page 65]might move; they receive the impression of grace, that they may act; and that the Apostle expresly made use of this manner of speech, at once to make them shake off idlenesse and presumption.

From this Priviledge is derived a third, not so peculiar to Christ, as not to be common to Christians; For the holy Spirit is their Master; he in­structs them both in his school; and they have the glory to be his disciples as well as his workmanship. The Son of God hath two schools, as he hath two births; the first is Eternity, where his Father is his Master, and where he teacheth him his learning, in communicating to him his Essence: There by a strange Prodigie, the Master is not more knowing then the Scholar, nor the Scholar junior to his Master; the science is learnt in a moment, but that moment endures for ever; and though it have no parts, it in­cludes neverthelesse all the differences of time; this science, though but one, comprehends in it all sorts of truth; the Master hides nothing from his Scholar, he instructs him at the same instant he begets him; the birth of this Son, to speak properly, is his instruction: as he is born for ever, so he learns for ever: and he that conceived him in his bosome, is eternally his Father, and his Master: This Son hath in time another school, and a new Master; he that produceth him, teacheth him; and the same Princi­ple that forms his body, fashions his understanding from the very first mo­ment of his Conception. He imitates the Father that teacheth him from all eternity, he instils all things into him without succession or labour, and conveying light into his soul, Vir erat Jesus necdum etiam natus, sed sapi­entia, non aetate animi virtute non viribus cor­poris. Bern. he hath no need of the mediation of the senses to render him learned. This Pupill discourseth before he speaks, he conceives truth before he beholds the light, and his understanding is inform'd of all the secrets of his Father, before he could pronounce the name of his Mother: His knowledge grows not up with time, because it had its just proportion and measure at the very moment of his Genera­tion; Experience hath not made it more evident, nor age more assured; and if he pronounced no Oracles in his Infancy, 'tis because he had a minde to conceal his Wisdom, as he had concealed his Divinity. Finally, this Di­vine Master taught him a science, which Politicians seek for and cannot finde; for he discovers to him the secrets of the heart, the motions of the will, and all those thoughts and imaginations, which though they never brake forth in words nor actions, cease not to render men guilty: So that should Jesus Christ neither be united to the Person of the Word, nor illuminated with the light of Glory, he would neverthelesse have an infused knowledge, whereby he would be acquainted with whatever is most secret in Nature, and in Grace, in Time, and in Eternity. The holy Scripture also teacheth us that the holy Spirit that abides not alwayes in others, rests upon Jesus Christ; Requievit super eum Spiritus Domini. Isa. and he that distributes his Graces to others by measure, communicates them to his Masterpeece without weight or limitation: But this is no hinderance from his being the Master also of all other Christians, from teaching them the science of salvation, discover­ing [Page 66]to them the mysteries of Theologie, the secrets of Nature, and the maximes of the Politikes: In effect, 'tis the holy Spirit that made the Apo­stles learned, that spake with their mouthes, that confounded Emperours and Philosophers with their answers, and made them understand those Oracles which were nothing but Riddles to them, whilest Jesus Christ conversed with them upon the earth; 'Tis lastly, the selfe same Spirit, which to this day teacheth the faithfull what they are to beleeve in Religi­on, what they are to do or leave undone in the practice of their life, and what they ought to hope or fear after death: He cannot deceive them, because he is the Spirit of Truth; he cannot engage them in evill, because he is the Spirit of Holinesse; neither can he suffer them to wander in Er­rour, or languish in infirmities, because he is the Spirit of Counsell and of Strength; Therefore is he the Master whom the faithfull consult with in their occasions, 'tis in his Schoole that they commence in vertue, 'tis under his Conduct that they grow up to perfection, and by his advice that they defend themselves against errour and falshood. Ʋbi Deus Ma­gister quam cito discitur quod docetur. Leo Serm. 1. de Pente. Though this Science be so deep, yet is it learnt in a moment; his Disciples become Masters without paines; Truth distils into their understandings without pas­sing through their eyes or eares; sleeping and waking, they are equal­ly capable of attention; and this Doctor is so dextrously exact, that bestowing the Spirit upon his scholars, he repaires by Grace the defects of Nature.

But to conclude all these resemblances, we affirm that the holy Spi­rit is the witnesse of Jesus Christ, and of the faithfull; and having de­posed for the Divinity of him, deposeth daily for the Innocence of these. For we know by Scripture, that the same Spirit that spake heretofore by the Prophets, hath since spoken by the Apostles; and having fore­told the Ages past, the wonders that Jesus ought to doe, revealed them to the generations to come, that all men might bee fully informed of the Mysteries concerning him to whom they were beholding for their salvation. This Spirit is the testimony of Jesus and of the faithfull, be­cause he hath formed them, and knows all their thoughts, whereof hee is the first Principle and Author: This also was he that descended upon the head of the Son of God in the forme of a Dove during the cere­monies of his Baptisme; 'twas he that discovered to S. John Baptist his Innocence, and taught him without speaking that he was that Lamb of God that was to take away the sins of the world. And hee it is that daily performs the same office to Christians: For having been their Master, he vouchsafes to be their witnesse; he speaks to the eternall Fa­ther in their behalfe; having pleaded their cause, he gives them assu­rance of their salvation; The Rest that calmes the waves of their con­science, is an effect of his testimony; those sighes and groans he draws from the bottome of their heart, those desires he inspires them with for everlasting good things, those scorns he furnisheth them with for [Page 67]perishable ones, are so many Earnests which the Elect have of his love, and their salvation: if there be some remainders now and then of Fear amidst their Hope, 'tis to preserve them from Negligence, or from Pride; and to make them profess that they finde in him a Divine Principle, a wise Director, a knowing Master, and a faithful Witness.

The Fifth DISCOURSE. That the presence of the Holy Spirit gives life to the Christian, and his absence causeth his death.

ONe of the chiefest advantages we shall partake of in Glory, is, that God will be to us in stead of all things; and that finding in him the accomplishment of all our desires, we shall there meet with our perfect felicity: He will be the Temple of the Blessed, because they shall lodge in his Divine Essence: He will be for a garment to them, because they shall be cloathed with his light: He will be their nourishment, because he gives them eternal life; and, according to the language of S. Paul, he will be All in all to these blessed inhabitants. The Holy Spirit seems to have a minde to make us taste upon Earth the Happiness of Heaven, inas­much as he is all things to us in the Church; that he informs us in our doubts, comforts us in our afflictions, assists us in our conflicts, teacheth us in our prayers. For Christians owe all that they are, and all that they do, to the holy Spirit: They live by his presence, act by his power, under­stand by his light, and love by his charity: All their advantages flow from him. If they are Saints, 'tis he that sanctifies them: if they are free, 'tis he that sets them at liberty: if they are generous, 'tis he that encourageth them: and if they be wise, 'tis he that enlightens them. In the mean time, the most part of the Faithful are ungrateful to the holy Spirit: Liberalitem Dei servitutem faciunt. Tert. They attribute that to their own power, which they derive from his; and turn­ing his grace into a slavery, they would pass for the Authors of a work whereof they are at most but the Ministers. Therefore will I spend this Discourse to let them see, that the holy Spirit inanimates them; and that as by his presence he makes them live, so by his withdrawing himself he makes them die.

A Man and a Christian have some resemblance in their difference; they live both of them by the Spirit; and their life is rather spiritual then animal: For though Man have a body composed of the Elements, which hath need of the Air to breathe, of the Earth to bear it, of Food to nou­rish it, and of Light to make it see; yet is his soul the principle of his life; This Form inanimates the heart, giving it motion, whereby all the [Page 68]other parts live. The absence of the soul, is the death of the body; its presence, the life: and when grief or weakness separates them, Man ceaseth to be a living creature. Inasmuch as a Christian is more excellent then a Man, by so much is his life more sublime, and he hath a nobler principle of his Being: For the holy Spirit is his Soul; and paring off whatever defects that name may include, he is the Form that inanimates the Believer. Though he have an Understanding that reasoneth, a Memory that pre­serves his conceptions, and a Will free and absolute; yet does he live by the holy Spirit, and receive from him a supernatural life, which makes him ca­pable of God. As long as he is united to this Spirit, he is alive; assoon as he is parted from him, he is dead: And 'tis a miracle, saith S. Augustine, that the soul, dead by sin, does nevertheless enliven the body; and that notwithstanding that imperfection, Aliud est in a­nima unde cor­pus vivificatur, aliud unde ipsa anima vivifica­tur. Melius quippe anima quam corpus, sed melius quam ipsa est Deus; est ergo ipsa etiamsi sit insi­piens, injusta & impia vita cor­poris. Aug. Tract. 19. in Joan. it have wherewithal still to reason in the finding out of Sciences, and to manage it self in its affairs and negoti­ations. It is true therefore, that the absence of the holy Spirit greatly impaireth the vigour and clearness of Man: for the life of Man as a Rea­sonable creature, and as a Christian, are so intimately united together, that the one cannot be separated from the other without an extreme detri­ment, and enfeebling of the creature. The Christian merits not, till he begin to reason: Grace is idle in his soul, when Reason is not yet formed in it: and all Divines are of opinion, that children baptized have no other merits but those of Jesus Christ: Heaven is their Inheritance, but not their Recompence: they are in the condition of Heirs, but not of Soul­diers: and the Crown they receive is rather the Consequence of their good Fortune, then the Reward of their Labour. Man is yet more deplorable when he loseth Grace, then when the Christian loseth Reason: for besides that none of his actions are any longer meritorious, that he does nothing pleasing to God; and having lost the Principle of his supernatural life, he is destitute of all recompence and desert: he hath moreover contracted this misfortune, Vita infidelium peccatum est; & nihil est bonum, sine summo bo­no: ubi enim deest agnitio ae­ternae veritatis, falsa virtus est etiam in opti­mis moribus. Prosp. sen. 106 that he is become the slave of Concupiscence, which throws Darkness over his Understanding, Weakness into his Memory, and Malice into his Will: Under this conduct, he confounds Errour with Truth, Vice with Vertue; and having no other end but himself, he com­mits as many sins, as he intends to perform good works: Vain-glory is the Primum mobile that sets him a going; he seeks for reputation in all his actions: and when he assists his Country, stands for the Laws, and fights for Liberty, he obeys a Tyrant which inspires him with wicked intentions, even then when he seems to counsel him to the best and most upright un­dertakings. Thus Man becomes Wretched, when he ceaseth to be Faith­ful: the loss of Grace, causeth the enfeebling of his Liberty; and the re­moval of the holy Spirit involves him in a death so much the more danger­ous, by how much it is less sensible, and more concealed.

The Natural death makes a strange havock in the body of Man: as soon as he seizeth upon the face, he banisheth Beauty; horrour and [Page 69]fear always attend him; nor does he ever enter upon a body, but 'tis ac­companied with stench and putrifaction. These sad effects render him ghastly; nor can the most confident behold him without some sense of terrour and affrightment: But the spiritual death causeth indeed no amazement, because it leaves no visible characters of its malignity: The holy Spirit quits the sinner with small noise: his departure, which causeth so much misfortune, makes no buzzle at all: and when he withdraws his Grace from a soul, she is no whit affected with it, because the loss is in­sensible. A Monarch thinks he is deprived of nothing, because he still exerciseth absolute command over his subjects; nor sees that he is a slave to as many masters as there are sins that reign in his soul. A Philosopher never conceits himself less happie, because he is not more ignorant: the Light that remains in him, suffers him not to see his Blindness; and he imagines he is still vertuous, because he still retains his knowledge. An immodest woman is never troubled at the loss of Grace, because it no ways impairs her good complexion: she hath much ado to believe that sin hath polluted her Soul, because it hath stampt no deformity upon her Face: and beholding her self in her glass as handsome after her fault as before, she cannot perswade her self that she is less amiable in Gods eyes, because she is not in her own. In the mean time, the loss of Grace is the loss of Life; the absence of the holy Spirit, is the death of the Soul; and from the very instant he deserts us, all Vertues bid us farewel: Whiles he keeps his residence in our hearts, those glorious habits that render men vertuous, accompany them: and as the presence of the Sun produceth Lilies and Roses in our Gardens, the presence of the holy Spirit produceth Hope and Charity in our Souls. 'Tis true, this Spirit is so good, that after he hath left us, he still hovers about us: if he dwell not in our hearts, he for­bears not to move and stir them; and if he Quicken us no longer by his, Grace, he incites us by his Power.

But to understand this Truth, which is one of the most important in Religion, we must know, there is this difference between the Soul and the Spirit: That moves no more, when once it ceaseth to inanimate; Spiritus ubi vult spirat; & quod fatendum est, aliter adju­vat nondum in­habitans aliter inhabitans: nor­dum inhabitans adjuvat, ut sint fideles inhabi­tans adjuvat jam fidebes. Aug. Epist. ad Sixt. it gives no Impulse, when it gives no Life; and there must be some super­natural power, to re-unite it to the body which it hath once bidden adieu to: But the holy Spirit, which is a Form not depending upon the Matter, free in his operations, and like the winde blowes where it listeth, is not subject to these laws; he quits the sinner, when his Crime obliges him to do it; he abandons the Temple he consecrated with his presence; and to­gether with habitual grace, he takes away all vertues that served him for ornament or for defence: But his goodness reserves the means still to solli­cite this unfaithful soul by holy motions, to touch this rebel by his inspira­tions, and by his allurements to court this adultress who hath falsified the faith. she promised in the Sacrament of Baptism, or that of Repen­tance; he knocks at the door of his heart to get admittance, he sheds light [Page 70]into his understanding, to dispel the darknesse; he carries pleasure into his will to gaine its content; and without doing it any violence, triumphs over his obstinacy, when he constrains him to taste more sweetnesse in vertue then in vice.

The love men have to liberty, makes them wish that these motions of the Spirit were continuall, that at every moment he should offer grace to the sinner, that he could use it at pleasure; and that in the state of sin, enjoy­ing the priviledges of the state of innocene, his salvation might depend ab­solutely upon his own will. Those that make this objection, know not in my opinion, neither the greatnesse of our crime, nor the power of the Ho­ly Spirit; God deales with the sinner, much after another fashion then he does with the Innocent; Natura hominis primitus incul­pata, & sine ullo vitio creata est; natura ve­ro ista hominis qua unusquis (que) ex Adam nasci­tur, jam medico indiget, quia sa­na non est. Aug. de natur. & grac. c. 3. 'tis easier to preserve a just man, then to con­vert a guilty one; there needs much more endeavour to subdue a will rooted, consummated in evil, then to entertame one grounded, established in good. Innocent man had no bad inclinations, Grace found no resi­stance in his person; and his liberty being not captivated by concupiscence, there was no need that the Holy Ghost should gaine mastery thereby to purchase his deliverance: It was sufficient gently to excite a man who nee­ded but a little support to walk, to raise him by his Inspirations, who was cumbred with no disorders, and to dart a small beame of light into his eyes, who needed indeed to be cleared, not to be cured. But sinfull man must be dealt with after another manner, the motion of the Spirit must be more vigorous, because he undertakes an enemy; Grace must have more allurements, because it meets with more impediments; must raise it selfe above the will, because the will stoopes beneath self-love; and God must be the Authour of mans salvation, because man was the Authour of his fall. If the Holy Spirit did not act more vigorously then in the state of Inno­cence, sinners would remaine obstinate in their obliquity; if Grace were but a flash, their will would never be changed; and if this victorious sweetnesse did not imprint force with pleasure, they would live and die in their sins.

But at last, say they, Grace ought to be as common as it is vigorous, it must bee offered to us every moment; Pro nihilo sal­vos facies illos; nuila ergo hu­jus bona merita praecesseraut de quibus salvare­tur imo talia praecesserant de quibus damna­retur. Aug. in psal. 55. and since the goodnesse of God is so jealous of our salvation, it should of necessity furnish us with as­sistance upon all occasions. There were some colour for this objection, were Grace a debt; but since 'tis an Almes which God is no way bound to bestow upon any body, I know not what pretence they have to complaine against its want of universality, since in strictnesse of justice it might be refused to all the world. The Holy Spirit is the Lord and Master of Grace, he disposeth of it as pleaseth him; and if sometimes he deny it, there is none that can complaine. The children of Adam lost it by the sin of their Father, and the members of Jesus Christ lose it by their own: The former are excluded by their birth, the second by their infidelity: The former are unfortunate, the latter criminall; and both of them living or dying in sin, may justly expect nothing but condemnation.

But they reply, 'tis necessary that the holy Spirit acting in and by free creatures, depend in his motions upon their will, and concurre so gently with their free-will, that they be rather the Authors then the Instruments of their salvation: For we cannot conceive this dominion of the holy Spirit over mens hearts, but withall we must apprehend some violence which diminisheth their merit, and weakens their liberty. Na­ture, Reason, and Faith, furnish us with answers to satisfie these difficul­ties. For when nature unites the soul and body together, she intends that the Noblest should be the most powerfull; that all the Authority ap­pertains to him, and that he shou ld be the Master of that part which is in­feriour to him in dignity. When morality united man with the Angel, and gave Geniusse's to Philosophers and Emperours, she was not afraid to injure the Liberty of Pupils, by advancing the power of their Tutela­ry Angels; nor did she never beleeve that Nocrates was a slave, because obedient to his Familiar; This Spirit whether good or bad, indifferent­ly applied him to all things; he was his Councellor in his highest enterpri­ses; and the will of this Philosopher was so plyant to the motions of his genius, that himself confesseth in Plato, that he was rather Pas­sive then Active. Movebatur So­crates à Genio suo; & ut quae­dam ageret, à quibusdam ab­stineret, saepe compellebatur. Plut. de So­cra. daem. In the mean time he complains not that he was forced, he found pleasure in servitude; and because his submission was voluntary, he beleeved, and that not without reason, that obe­dience is no prejudice to liberty. Faith perswades the same truth upon much stronger arguments: for when it unites the holy Spirit with man, it gives all the advantage to the Creator, without supposing the least injury done to the creature; it knows that God is more inti­mate with man, then man with himself, that he flows in upon the very essence of his will, that he can change all his inclinations; and being the Master of his workmanship, can dispose of it as he pleaseth, without the least umbrage of constraint.

His Providence leads men to their end with as much force as sweetness; his force hurts not their liberty, because accompanied with sweet­nesse; and his sweetnesse wrongs not his Majesty, because attended with force: whatever he does, he always acts like a Soveraign; his will findes no opposition that it surmounts not; and when he intends to execute his designes, he knowes as well how to prepare the heart of the guilty, as of the innocent. The first motions of Grace require no predispo­sitions in the soul; the second beget a consent without constraint, and both of them bear away man with so much force and sweetnesse, that he is never more free then when he is most powerfully drawn. Sweet­nesse so well tempers force, that it is never violent; and force so fully encourageth sweetnesse, that it meets with no impediment it over­comes not. Thus God is absolutely obeyed, man sweetly born away; the one findes his glory in his power, the other his salvation in his obe­dience; and both of them after a divers manner finish one and the [Page 72]same work. This conduct is so distant from compulsion, that the stronger it is, the more gentle is it, the more subject man is to it, the freer his condition; the lesse opposition hee hath, the more happy is hee and perfect. Jesus Christ owes one part of his Sanctity to the obedience hee rendered to the Holy Spirit; the happy impotency hee was endued with not to resist him, diminished neither his merit nor his liberty; and hee blotted out our transgressions, be­cause hee was as necessarily, as freely subject to his ordinances: The nearer Christians approach to this state, the more perfect are they; the more powerfull their grace is, the stronger is their liberty; the more effectuall the inspirations of the Spirit are, the easier and more acceptable is there conversion.

The sixth DISCOURSE. That the Holy Spirit teacheth the Christian to pray.

NAture, whose providence cannot be sufficiently admired, hath beene pleased that those things that are most necessary should be most com­mon; and that as it were preventing the desires of men, they should of their own accord offer themselves to those that enquire not after them. There is nothing more necessary then light; for besides that it is the channel whereby the Sun sheds his Influences upon the Earth, it serves for a guide to them that walk, discovers all the beauties of the world, and happily ex­presseth those of its Creator: So is there nothing more common in nature; it is communicated to all people, it suffers no partition; and covetousnesse and ambition which have divided Sea and Land, have found no way how to canton the light. As the Aire is more necessary then this, so is it also more common; it enters into prisons where day never dawns; it entertains those wretches with life, who have lost their liberty; it steales into the depths of the Sea, and the bowels of the Earth; neither is there any crea­ture that is not refreshed by its acceptable humidity. Grace imitates nature; it is prodigall of its Treasures, the more Christians stand in need of them, the more frequently are they dispenced unto them; and out of the care it takes of their salvation, its good pleasure is, that the most usefull favours are also the easiest to be obtained.

Prayer is an excellent proofe of this truth; for in the condition we are, [Page 73]there is no beleever that stands not in need thereof: the daily miseries they suffer, obliges them to make use of it; and amongst so many enemies that set upon them, they have no weapon but this wherewith to defend themselves: 'Tis the portion of the Church Militant, and being still in conflict, she cannot implore succour from heaven, but by the media­tion of Prayer: Angeli & bea­ti de Salute sua sunt securi & de nostra sollici­ti. Greg. Mag. The Church Triumphant is wholly taken up with Al­lelujahs, being freed from miseries she makes no vows but for us; and she hath no other businesse, but eternally to blesse him that is the Foun­tain of her blessednesse. But the Church Militant, who lives in a strange Countrey, who hath as many enemies as neighbours, and who is well assured that the very name she bears obliges her to combate, im­portunes Heaven by her prayers, sends up sighs to her Well-beloved, and cals upon him for help by the frequency of supplications. If Prayer be thus necessary, 'tis yet more common; for the Son of God tels us that blessings cost us onely the pains to ask for them: Ask and ye shall receive; Saint Paul will have us use this remedy in all our distresses, offering up this sacrifice in all places, Volo vos orare omni loco: and Saint Augustine the faithfull Interpreter of this great Apostle, assures us that to pray well, there is nothing required but to desire well; that our intercession continues as long as our desires doe; and that in keeping silence we speak to God when we addresse our wishes to him; but though this remedy be so necessary and so common, yet is it neverthe­lesse of difficult performance; and to know well how to use it, the ho­ly Spirit must instruct us.

The Scripture whose words are Oracles, conferres this Elogie upon him particularly; it teacheth us that he it is that animates our pray­ers by his calentures, that inspires us with this confidence, which gives us boldnesse to call God our Father; which draws tears from our eyes, sighs from our hearts, and with groanes that cannot be expressed, whereof he is the Authour, blots out our sins, and comforts our mise­ries. In a word, if we beleeve the great Apostle, we know not the art to pray, if we have not learnt it in the School of the holy Spirit; the evils that oppresse us, may indeed inspire us with eloquence, but not indite our prayer; and whatever need we feel, if Grace prevent us not, we cannot obtain a remedy. Self-love so blindes us, that if we be led by it, we shall rather beg our ruine then our salvation. Man is in so profound an ignorance, that he knows not what is profitable or pre­judiciall to him; he many times conceives designes, the accomplish­ments whereof are sad and dismall to him; and Seneca had reason to say, that God was incensed, when he granted our requests. If the ambitious give the reins to his passion that possesses him, he will never aske any thing but honours, and not consulting whether Glory stain his humility, all his vows will have no other aim but the increase of his Fortune. If the Covetous take councell of his Interest, his [Page 74]prayers serve onely his covetousnesse, even to the injuring of his Crea­tour, whom he will never strive to gain, but that he may be the Mini­ster of his unjust desires: If the Lascivious pursue the motion of wan­tonnesse that tyranniseth over him, perhaps he will grow insolent e­nough to demand of God the glutting of his brutish passion; so that according to the language of the Scripture, his prayer will be turned into sin; and the more Petitions he puts up, the more offences will he commit. If a man who breathes nothing but revenge, implore the aid of Heaven in that wretched condition, his inclination stronger then his reason, will oblige him to interesse the Son of God in his inju­ries, and out of an impudence worthy to be punished, endeavour to engage him in his quarrell, who died upon the Crosse for the salvati­on of his enemies: Finally, the prayer of every sinner will be a high sa­criledge, and he will draw down upon his head the thunder of hea­ven, even then when he thinks to appease its anger. But when the Christian suffers himselfe to be guided by the Spirit, he intreats no­thing of God but what is well-pleasing to him; all his conceptions are not lesse beneficiall to himselfe, then glorious for Jesus Christ; and as the Principle that quickens him is Divine, all the Prayers that flow thence are Divine and Heavenly too. The glory of God is always dearer to him then his salvation; he never separates the publick good from his own private interest, he prays for his Family when he petitions for the State; and knowing very well that he is a living member of the mysticall body of Jesus Christ, he never makes any supplications that are prejudiciall to the Church.

The second Advantage we draw from the assistance of the holy Spi­rit in Prayer, is, that he makes known to us the secrets to come, and carrying us beyond the present time, markes out all those disasters the injustice of our desires threaten us with. Our ignorance is one of the chiefest causes of our misfortunes; if we could read in those eternall Annals, where mens adventures are imprinted, we should perceive that the greatest part of our desires are more disadvantageous to us, then the imprecations of our enemies; we are inquisitive after the causes of our disgrace in the night of futurity; we hasten our ruine by our impatience, and Heaven may easily plead excuse for our mischances, since they are very often the effects of our own prayers: God never takes greater ven­geance on us, then when he grants us what we so earnestly importune him for; nor is he ever more opposite to our salvation, then when he shews himself most favourable to our requests; our Fathers and Mothers con­tribute to our damnation, their wishes make us miserable, and we need not wonder that calamities overwhelm us, seeing we live amongst the Anathema's of our nearest relations.

The holy Spirit happily remedies this disorder; for knowing the full extent of Eternity, he sees all the events that are to happen in the se­quell [Page 75]of succeeding generations; so that he never inspires us with me­ditations that are not profitable to us; he diverts us from those wishes which are prejudiciall to our salvation; he will not suffer us to ask a Curse instead of a Blessing; and when he breathes in our heart, or speaks by our mouth, our prayers always carry their reward with them; the very deniall of them is usefull, and when he forbears to grant what we besought him for, 'tis to exercise our patience, and crown our hu­mility.

If he have so much respect to our interest, he hath no lesse to the Glory of Jesus Christ; and he so well sorts his honour and our good together, that whatsoever is helpfull to us, is honourable to him. The greatest part of sinners intreat of God those things that are opposite to his will, or unworthy of his greatnesse; For whether passion transport them, or ignorance blind them, they require honours of him that was born in a Stable, and died upon a Crosse; they expect pleasures from him who spent his whole life in sorrow, and whom the Scriptures by way of Excellency style a Man of Griefes; they hope for riches from him who lived in poverty, nor would receive any Disciples into his School, that had not sold their goods, and distributed them to the poor; they demand Earth of him that reigns in Heaven, the establishment of their welfare in this world from him who is the Father of that which is to come; and taking no notice of their Creed, they begge time of him who promiseth eternity. But the holy Spirit disabuseth Christians, when he either enlightens or instructs them: For being the Spirit of the Son, and know­ing his intentions, he never puts them upon those requests that are offen­sive to him. When their hearts are encouraged with his Grace, they pre­ferre Conscience before Honour; Vertue before Interest; Grief before Pleasure, and the will of God before their own inclinations; If some­times they petition for perishable goods, 'tis as farre as necessity ob­liges them; and knowing that all such demands are dangerous, 'tis with feare that they always commence such suits, with reservation that they continue them, and with submission that they conclude them. All their prayers are terminated with those words of our blessed Saviour to his Father in the Garden: Not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Finally, the same Spirit teacheth them innocent Stratagems, which they ought to make use of to pacifie the indignation of their Heaven­ly Father, and to obtain those Graces they become Petitioners for. Men are so little acquainted with God, Quid oremus si­cut oportet ne­scimus. Rom. 8. that they know neither his minde nor his will; his greatnesse exalts him so farre above us, that we cannot approach unto him; his designes are concealed from us, and the Eternall Decrees he hath conceived in his breast are not to be penetrated by us; 'Tis with feare that we addresse our selves before him, and being ignorant of his designes and resolutions, wee have an [Page 76]apprehension that our desires may bid him defiance. Wee have cer­tain secrets to gain men, we know by what arts we may insinuate into their fair opinion; we have dexterity enough to take them with their interests; and Rhetorick supplies us with inventions to triumph over their liberty, without doing them the least violence: But we know not how we are to treat with God; his Majesty astonisheth us, his Splen­dour dazles us; and if his Mercy assure us, his Justice confounds us, because if we are miserable, wee are besides more guilty. The Holy Spirit assists us in this disorder whereto our sin hath reduced us: Qui autem scrutatur corda scit quid desi­deret spiritus, quia secundum Deum postulat pro Sanctis. Rom. 8. For residing in the heart of the Father and of the Son, he knows their most intimate cogitations; he sounds those abysses which the Angels cannot descend into; he sees their secretest intentions, and teacheth us inno­cent artifices to appease them when provoked against us. He spake no doubt by the mouth of Moses, when that Prophet disarmed the Almigh­ty, and reduced to a loving impotency him whose power hath no other bounds but his will: It was the Holy Spirit who fettered him by the hands of Moses, and obliged him to demand leave to be avenged of his enemies: Let me alone that my fury may waxe hot. 'Tis the same Spi­rit that daily disarms our God, that pulleth the Thunder out of his hands, and which gently forcing him willingly to be overcome by the prayers hee dictates to us, triumphs over his fury by our perseve­rance.

'Tis he finally, that teacheth us to desire that life that is knowne onely by Faith, Est in nobis quaedam ut ita dicam docta ig­norantia sed docta Spiritu Dei qui adju­vat infirmita­tem nostram. Aug. and possessed onely by Charity: 'Tis hee saith Saint Augustine, that inspires us with that learned Ignorance whereby wee confesse that the happinesse that is promised us surpasseth our imagi­nation; wee know onely that his greatnesse exceedeth all those Ideas we can fashion of him, so that wee reject all that are offered to our understanding, knowing very well that faculty cannot conceive the good it is bound to hope for; 'Tis the Holy Spirit that mingles his light with our darknesse, and leaving us in the ignorance of our felicity, gives as much knowledge of it as is requisite to desire it: For as Saint Augu­stine wisely observes, if it were absolutely unknown of us, it could ne­ver stir up any desire in us; but besides were it fully revealed, it could not provoke our hopes, since according to the Maxime of the Apostle, what a man sees he hopes not for, nor wishes that which hee posses­seth.

But the last and most admirable Stratagem of this Divine Spirit, In quo clama­mus Abba pa­ter, postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabili­bus. Rom. 8. is, that he accompanies our prayers with his groanes, that without disturbing his own happiness, he partakes of our distresses, rendring himself in a sort miserable with us, to make us happy with him: for 'tis by his motion that we send forth sighs, by his grace that we groan, and he so fully works these things in us, that the Apostle attributing them to him is not afraid to say, [Page 77]that he intercedes for us with sighs and groans that cannot be expres­sed. In a word, 'tis this Spirit that teacheth us to mourn in the world, that informs us that the Earth is our Banishment, Heaven our Coun­try; that the one is to be endured, the other to be hoped for. Who­ever knows how to profit by this instruction, spends all his life in the doleful tone of the Turtle; he sighs always when he considers that he is separated from JESUS; and that living here belowe, Nec parva res est, quod docet nos Spiritus san­ctus gemere: in­sinuat enim no­bis quia peregri­namur, & docet nos in Patriam suspirare, & ip­so desiderio ge­mimus. Aug. he hath onely the Earnest of that happiness which is promised him: he weeps in these just desires, and sheds tears much different from those of sin­ners: They groan indeed, burthened with Misfortunes, the insepa­rable companions of Life; they complain when they have lost their Liberty; they sigh when they are oppressed with any Sorrow; they murmure when they are betrayed by their friends, or persecuted by their enemies: But these Lamentations savour nothing of those mournful Accents of the Dove: 'Tis not Charity, but Interest, that fans this Passion; 'tis the spirit of the World, and not that of God, that makes them thus breathe out their souls in Sadness: For, as this last is Eternal, so he sighs onely for Eternity; as he proceeds from the Father and the Son, he returns thither again, and leads us with him; and being the Spirit of Truth, he occasions us to wish none but solid Goods, nor to grieve for any but true Evils.

The Seventh DISCOURSE. That the Holy Spirit remits the Sins of the Chri­stian.

REpentance is one of the greatest advantages Christian Grace can possibly have above Original Righteousness: Poenitentia à poena nomen ac­cepit, quia ani­ma cruciatur, & caro morti­ficatur. Aug. For though it pre­suppose sin, and that Man cannot repent if he have not done amiss; yet is it a very present help against his Infirmity, and an admirable Invention of Mercy, to deliver him from his Transgression. In the mean time, the state of Innocence was deprived of it: and whe­ther these two priviledges were incompatible; neither would God grant this favour to men who had no excuse for their sin, because it was absolutely in their power not to commit it; we see not that they had this Prerogative, nor that Adam recovered from his Fall by the assistance of Original Justice. His Conversion is an effect of the Grace of JESUS CHRIST: If he bewailed his sin, he [Page 78]is beholding to the merits of the Son of God: Nullus homi­num transit ad Christum ut in­cipiat esse quod non erat, nisi cum poeniteat fuisse quod erat. Homil. 50. and if he repented, 'twas not till he became Christian. For the Divine Providence, which turns our Evils into Remedies, is pleased to make use of our weakness in the business of Repentance; and fortifying our Liberty by the vertue of Grace, settles us in a condition more humble indeed, but more sure then that of Innocence: Therefore is it not founded so much upon the Will, as upon Grace, drawing its force much less from Man then from Jesus Christ: He it is that hath instituted the remedy in his Church by a Sacrament, wherein the holy Spirit raiseth up sinners, after he hath regenerated them by Baptism. For as he is the Principle of our new life, so is he the Restorer thereof; as he gives it by his Grace, so he repairs it by his Goodness: he presides in this sacred Pool; and work­ing stranger Miracles then the Angel did at the pool of Hierusalem, he convinceth the Obstinate, enlightens the Blinde, instructeth the Ignorant.

Indeed, this Sacrament hath always been lookt upon by Christians as a chanel thorow which the holy Spirit pours forth his graces into the souls of sinners. There it is that he works those prodigies which astonish all Christians; there it is that he acts as God, and by a victorious sweet­ness triumphs over the liberty of Criminals; there it is that he changeth Persecutors into Apostles, Wolves into Lambs, Libertines into Believers, and Lascivious persons into Continent. In the Old Testament, this Spirit changed men externally, indued them with new strength, made use of Sam­sons to tame Lions, take Cities, and defeat Armies: The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, aad he slew a thousand men. He changed the minde of those that he lifted up to the Throne; and putting the Scepter into their hands, inspired the Politicks into their soul, and taught them that Science whereby Soveraigns govern States and Kingdoms: The Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt be changed into another man. But now he changeth the hearts; he causeth a Metamorphosis less glittering, but more useful, inspiring into the soul Repentance, and Sorrow for Sin.

This Change is attributed to the holy Spirit, because being the per­sonal Love, Est Spiritus sanctus in confi­tente; jam ad donum Spiritûs sancti pertinet, quia tibi displi­cet quod fecisti; immundo spiri­tui peccata pla­cent, sancto dis­plicent. Aug. all the effects which designe any goodness, are particularly applied to him: and our Religion knows none greater then that where­in God receives his enemy into favour; where, not considering his Greatness, he prevents him by his Mercy; nor minding the many sins he hath committed, treats with him not as a Rebellious Slave, but as an obedient Son. This belongs to the holy Spirit, because, being that sacred Bond that unites the Father with the Son from all Eternity, it concerns him to reconcile sinners to God, who are separated from him by their offences, according to the language of the Prophet; Your sins have separated between you and your God. Finally, this effect is so ho­nourable [Page 79]to him, that he is pleased to take it for his Name: For the Church in her Oraisons calls it the Remission of Sins: And as to flatter the ambition of Conquerours, they bestow upon them the names of those Provinces they have reduced under their obedience, the Church is of opi­nion, that worthily to praise the holy Spirit, to his Divine Qualities, this glorious Title must be added; and to specifie the victories he gains over sinners, to name him, by way of excellence, The Remission of sins. This Maxime is so true, and the pardon of our offences so particularly attributed to the holy Ghost, that the Ministers who are employed in this Sacrament, must be quickned with his vertue to blot out sins. For, as Saint Augustine judiciously observes, the Apostles received not the power to absolve the Guilty, till they had received the holy Ghost; nor did the Son of God say unto them, Remit sins, till he had before said unto them, Receive the holy Ghost; that they might know it was through his Name that they wrought this Miracle, and that they were onely his Organs, when they dispensed Grace in the State of their Sove­raigne.

This will not seem strange to those that shall consider, there is no greater power in the Church then to forgive sins: For 'tis in a man­ner to act upon a Non-entity; 'tis to imitate the power of God, and to extract Grace out of Sin, as the World out of Nothing. Besides, if we believe Saint Ambrose, the Conversion of sinners hath something more difficult in it then the Creation of men. For though in both these works God act upon nothing, David telling us, that to change a heart, is to create it: Create in me, O God, a clean heart; and Saint Paul assuring us, that our soul is created in good works, when we are con­verted: Creati in bonis operibus; It seems God meets with more resistance in Conversion, then in Creation. Nothing obeys God, when it hears his Word; if it contribute not to his designes, neither doth it oppose them; and no sooner hath God made known his de­sire, but it thrusts forth out of its barren womb, The Heaven with its Stars, the Earth with its Fields, and the Sea with its Rocks: He spake, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created. But Sin is a Non-entity, rebellious against God; it knows his minde, and contemns it; sets up parties in his State, deboists his subjects; and in­trenching it self in their heart, as in a Fort, disputes the victory with their Soveraign.

Moreover, there is no body but knows that God acts far more abso­lutely in the Creation of Men, then in the Conversion of Sinners. For when he drew man out of Nothing, he advised with none but Him­self; he had no respect to his Liberty, because he handled him as a Slave; and speaking imperiously to him, obliged him to appear before his Creator. But when he Converts him, he uses some kinde of respect towards him; he puts on rather the deportment of a [Page 80]Lover, then of a Soveraign; he gains his will without forcing it; and though he knows the secret whereby to be obeyed, 'tis always with so much sweetness, that he that suffers himself to be overcome, hath reason to believe he gets the Victory. Therefore doth the Scripture never speak of this Change, but as of a work common to God with Man: And when Saint Augustine observes the differences between Conversion and Creation, he bears witness to this truth, in these words, Qui creavit te sine te, non salvabit te sine te. But not to enter into Disputes more Curious then Profitable, Si conversio pec­catoris non est majoris potentiae quàm creatio universi, saltem est majoris mi­scricordiae. Aug. let us be content to conclude with the same Saint Augustine, that if the Conversion of a sinner require not more Power, it supposeth at least more Mercy then Creation; because if in This God obligeth the Miserable, in That he ob­ligeth the Criminal, shewing Favour to those that could expect nothing but severity of Punishments. Therefore is it that the Conversion of a sinner belongs to the Holy Spirit: and a work that bears the Character of Goodness, must needs have no other Principle but he to whom this Divine Perfection is attributed in the Scri­pture.

'Tis true, that after he hath shewed mercy to sinners, he performs a piece of most exemplary Justice; and animating them against them­selves, he obliges them to take revenge and punishment upon themselves: For, one of the most admirable effects of the Spirit of Love, is, to produce hatred in the spirit of Penitents, Quia ergo non potest esse con­fessio & punitio peccati in ho­mine à seipso, cum quisque sibi irascitur, & si­bi displicet, sine dono Spiritûs sancti non est. Aug. in Psal. 50. and to satisfie the Majestie of God by the excess of their Austerities towards themselves. They look upon themselves as guilty of Treason against the Divine Maje­stie: they stay not till his Justice punish them; they prevent his Sentence, by their own Resolutions; and invent more tortures to wrack themselves, then the Executioners have been witty in to torment Martyrs with. This is that Divine Spirit which hath driven the Anchorites into the desarts, made the Antonines go down into caves and holes of the earth, made the Stilites fix upon the top of Pillars; which found out sackcloth and discipline to make as many Wretches as he had made Penitents. All the Austerity that is in Christianity, takes its birth from the love he in­spires into the Faithful: Their Rigour is proportionable to their Cha­rity: the more the holy Spirit possesseth them, the more are they set against Themselves: and we may affirm with reason, that as much as they grow in his Love, so much do they grow in the Hatred of their Sin.

This is it, perhaps, that our Saviour would have us understand, when he told us that the holy Spirit should judge the world, and should oblige sinners to punish themselves for the offences they have committed: He shall convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement. We cannot understand this Truth, if we conceive not that the Father hath judged all men in his Son; and having charged him with their iniquities, hath charged [Page 81]him also with the punishments due for them. From this moment they have no engagements to sue out with the Father; and the Father, satisfied with the Passion of his Son, protests that he hath signed over to him all the right of judging the world: The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. The Son, by vertue of this resignation, shall judge all men at the end of the world, and being become their Judg and their Partie, will pronounce the definitive sentence of their Eternity. In expectation of this day of Doom, the holy Spirit judgeth men that are converted; and mixing meekness with severity in these determinations, he obliges them to undergo a scrutiny upon earth, to be delivered from the torments of hell. Nor are we to think it strange, that he that is so gentle, is withall so rigorous, since the Poets have bestowed these two qualities upon Love; For these pleasant Tel-tales have feigned, that he was the severest of all the Gods, that he bathed himself in tears, lived upon blood, and (more cruel then Tyrants) took pleasure in the torments of his sub­jects. But Christian Religion, that conceals Truth under the shadow of our Mysteries, teacheth us, that the love of God is severe, that he exacts chastisements from those he inanimates, that he engageth his Lovers in penance, and (more strong then death, which parts soul and body) he di­vides between the soul and the spirit, and exerciseth a Tyranny over whole entire man.

True it is, the torments he inflicts are always mix'd with pleasures; he makes Roses grow among Thorns, and amidst such a throng of Penitents that bid him battel, there is not one complains of his sufferings: 'Tis e­nough, that persecuting themselves, Haec tristitia quae poenitcuti­am ad salutem stabilem opera­tur, laeta est, ac spe profectus sui vegetata, cun­ctam affabilita­tis retinet sua­vitatem. Cas­sian. l. 9. c. 11. they are perswaded they satisfie him whom they have offended; the same consideration that afflicts them com­forts them; and when they meditate that God that loves them is infinite, they meet with no pain that is not short, nor any torment that is not joyous. They are better accompanied in the Desarts, then the Monarchs in their Palaces; their humiliations are more glorious then the Triumphs of Conquerors, their poverty is more happy then abundance of riches, and their ascetick life more full of charms then the pleasures of the world.

Though the holy Spirit be thus favourable to Penitents, yet fails he not to be very severe against sinners: if he pardon the offences committed a­gainst the Father and the Son, he never pardons those that are committed against his own Person; and the holy Scriptures teach us, Blasphemia in Spiritum san­ctum non remit­tetur in hoc se­culo, nec in fu­turo. Mat. 12. that of all the sins in the world, none are irremissible, but those which do despite to the Holy Ghost. This passage leaves all our Expositors at a losse; every one forgeth new Principles to resolve the difficulties thereof, and there are few but strive to invent something upon a subject so often handled, and so little cleared. Some divide sins into three Orders, according to the perfections which are commonly applyed to the three Divine Persons: The first comprehends sins of infirmity, which seem to clash a­gainst [Page 82]the Person of the Father, Peccata alia sunt infirmita­tis, quae Patri, cujus est poten­tia, adversan­tur; alia igno­rantiae, quae Fi­lio, cujus est sa­pientia; alia ma­litiae, quae Spiri­tui sancto, cu­jus est bonitas. D. Thom. in Paulum. to whom power belongs: The second in­cludes sins of ignorance, which seem to injure the Person of the Son, to whom Wisdom is attributed; The third comprehends sins of malice, which seem to maligne the Person of the Holy Ghost, to whom Goodness be­longs. Following this division, they suppose that the first and second sort of sins deserve some pardon, because the weakness and ignorance wherwith they are accompanied may plead somewhat in their excuse; but the last are altogether unworthy of pardon, because malice is the very soul of them, and that those that have committed them had strength and light enough not to fall into them. But if this Maxime were true, there were not any Christian that would hope for the pardon of his sins, since being enlightned by Faith, and assisted by Grace, they need neither eys to see them, nor hands to withstand them: Nay, all the world knows, there is not any sinner in whose soul Malice, Weakness, and Ignorance are not blen­ded together: Concupiscence, which blinds their Understanding, enfeebles their Will; and sin reigning in both of them, inspires them with Malice. Thus every sinner would grow desperate, and having offended the holy Spirit, could not expect the remission of his sins.

Others explain this passage of Hereticks, who knowing the Truth, do notwithstanding contradict it; who persecute the Church because she is the Spouse of Jesus Christ; and serving for Ministers to the Divel, do their utmost to ruine the workmanship of the Son of God: But we have seen Hereticks converted, who have stood for the defence of the Truth, having quitted that of a Lye; and who have gained subjects to Jesus Christ, af­ter they had procured slaves for his Enemy. Some others understand it with S ^t Augustine, of that sin that accompanies men till death, and which always resisting Grace, cannot be expiated but by the pains of hell: Pro quibus jam non est hostia, sed terribilis quaedam expectatio judicii. This Ex­plication doubtless is the most assured, for that the sin wherein any one dies is certainly irremissible; but I do not know whether this Interpreta­tion be the truest: For it seems, the Son of God would plainly and simply insinuate unto us the difference between sinners that oppose the designes of the Father and the Son, and those who resist the designes of the Holy Ghost; Ad hoc Media­tor est Christus, ut eos qui reces­serant à Patre per se reconcili­et, & suo san­guine eorum peccata solve­ret. Aug. in Psal. 93. ser. 2. for though the first be culpable, and have done very ill to neglect the Father, speaking to them by the mouth of the Prophets, yet might they hope for some impunity in their crimes, and promise themselves, that the Son coming upon the earth, would reconcile them to his Father: Though the second were more to blame then the first, and deserve a seve­rer punishment for not hearing the Son, who taught them by his examples, instructed them by his discourse, and ravished them with his miracles: They might yet perswade themselves, that the Holy Ghost descending down amongst them, would convert them, and that submitting to his Gra­ces, and yeelding obedience to his Councels, would change their bad life into a better: But the last, who resist the Holy Ghost, can have no more [Page 83]hope, their sin, considering the disposition of the Orders of God, is irre­missible of its own nature; for they no longer expect a divine Person that may reconcile them with the others: The mission of the Holy Ghost is the last, and the Scripture holds forth nothing more to be expected, but the coming of Jesus Christ to judge both the quick and the dead. Thus their sin who resist the Holy Ghost, Contra Spiritum sanctum quo peccata omnia di­mittuntur verbum valde malum & nimis impium dicit, quem patientia Dei, cum ad paenitentiam adducat, ipse secundum duritiam cordis sui, & cor impaenitens, thesaurizat sibi iram in die judicii Dei, qui reddet unicuique juxta opera ejus. Aug. de verbis Dom. Ser. 12. is not only inexcusable, but irremissible; if they submit not to his inspirations, their salvation is despe­rate; if they suffer not themselves to be swayed by his motions, 'tis in vain that they pretend to glory; and if they make not good use of his graces, 'tis rashness to promise that the Fa­ther or the Son will descend upon the earth to work their conversion: for the holy Spirit consummates the work of the Father and of the Son, he is the oeconomy of our salvation; he that always resists him cannot be con­verted, and he that will not give ear to his counsels cannot avoyd the judg­ment of the Son of God. Thus to conclude in a few words all that we have delivered in this discourse; The Holy Ghost remits the sins of the world, reconciles sinners to God, animates them against themselves to give him satisfaction; but acting after another manner with obstinate perverse transgressours, he gives them up to their impiety, and justly refu­seth them that grace which they have insolently despised.

The Eighth DISCOURSE. That the CHRISTIAN in his Infirmities is assisted by the strength of the Holy SPIRIT.

VVEakness is so natural to the Creature, that he hath need of Grace in the state of innocence, as well as in that of sin. Nothing, Natura humana etiamsi in illa integritate in qua condita est permaneret, nul­lo modo seipsam Creatore suo non adjuvante per­maneret. Aug. Epist. 109. ad Bonif. from whence he came forth, engageth him in this necessity; and all Divines confesse with S ^t Augustine, That Man in Paradise could not raise himself up to God, nor defend himself against the Divel without the assistance of Grace. But his task is much harder since he became a Delinquent: the infirmity he hath contracted from sin is far greater then that he drew out of Nothing, and he is much weaker because he is a sinner, then because he is a Creature: The one is common to him with Angels, who though of never so noble an extraction, stood nevertheless in need of Grace whereby to persevere in that good they were instated in; the other is proper and [Page 84]particular, and takes it's originall from all those devastations sin hath made in nature. For there remains nothing in man since his disobedience, which is not wholly impair'd. His Understanding hath scarce any light to discern truth from falshood; his Memory hath no more that force to retain the severall Species of things committed to it's trust, and his Will is so enfee­bled, that it scarce meets with any enemies that triumph not over his li­berty: ever since it became captive, it droop'd & languish'd; the divell that possesseth it, tyrannizeth over it; and if grace come not in to the rescue, it cannot hold out against his solicitations.

Sin is yet more absolute then Satan; he hath onely a borrowed power; he reignes not over the hearts, but because he domineers over the senses; he is not master of the mind, but because he is of the body; nor hath he any command over the will of man, but because 'tis in his power to muti­nie his passions. But sinne reigns in all the faculties of man; his darkness clouds the Understanding, his malice depraves the Will, his ingratitude weakens the Memory; he enters where ever grace can, and penetrating the very essence of the soule, builds a Palace, where the holy Spirit had erected a Temple. When he is forced to quit the hold where he had in­trench'd himselfe, and yielding to grace is constrained to leave the sin­ner at liberty, he sets on foot by his Ministers, that violence he could not act by himselfe: Concupiscence, which is his daughter, and his mother, endeavours to execute his designes; she takes pains in his directions, and like a souldier that disputes the victory after the death of his Gene­rall, she does her utmost to enthrone him after his defeat: For all the motions of this concupiscence favour sinne; all the streams that issue from this fountain, are unclean; all the counsels that proceed from this Minister are suspected; and all the assaults this Enemy makes against us are prejudiciall to our salvation: she is not innocent in the greatest Saints; Concupiscen­tia causa est peccati, vel de­fectione con­sentientis, vel contagione nas­centis. Aug. lib. 6. Con. Jul. c. 19. she preserves her malignity in the very Empire of Grace; she resists the Holy Spirit in the Temple he is adored in; and as Divines confesse, that as the Tree is inclosed in the kernell, sinne is wrapt up in concupiscence.

This was the evill the Apostle of the Gentiles complains of, writing to the Romans; 'twas that disorder he would, but could not reforme; 'twas that rebellion he felt in his members, and was not able to appease; 'twas that law of the flesh warring against that of God, which he could not abrogate; 'twas finally that Monster that drew complaints from his mouth, made him confesse his weaknesse, and obliged him to wish for death, that he might be delivered from his Tyranny. For as Saint Non quod volo ago, sed quod nolo hoc ago; quod odi concupiscere, odi concupiscere, & tamen illud ago ex carne, non ex mente; non implet legem infirmitas mea, sed legem laudat voluntas mea. Aug. in Rom. Au­gustine observes very well, 'twas not in the power of the Apostle to cure that maladie which depended not upon his Will, because it passed [Page 85]on in despite of him; and his complaints, which were marks of his piety, were proofs also of his infirmity. We must not say with the Pelagians, that Saint Paul in his person represents that of a sinner, whose bad Ha­bit having weakened his liberty, left him nothing but sighes and re­grets, for being thrown into a condition, out of which 'twas not in his power to come forth: For though this interpretation be true, and some Fathers, who were very tender of the holinesse of the A­postle of the Gentiles, have imagined that he could not be subject to these disorders: Neverthelesse, Saint Ambrose and Saint Au­gustine (who knew very well that Grace does not destroy Concupi­scence) were not troubled to acknowledge this in Saint Paul, and to confesse, That the Liberty of the greatest Saints is not so intire, but it experienceth rebellions which it cannot master, and that 'tis onely in Eternity where Grace ob­tains a full triumphant victo­ry over sin, Si autem (sicut melius sentit Ambrosius) hoc etiam de seipso di­cit Apostolus, nec justorum est in hac vita tanta libertas propriae voluntatis, quanta erit in illa vita ubi non dicitur, Non quod volo ago. Aug. lib. 6. cont. Julian. when the Saints shall no more say with Saint Paul, I do that which I would not. Indeed, this complaint is an evident proof of the weakness that remains in man after he hath received the pardon of his sin: Though he be in Grace, he is not freed from pain; though he be assisted by God, he cannot chuse but tremble; and though his Will be straight, yet is it not so stedfast and constant, as to overcome all that combates his good resolutions. The experience he hath of his infirmity, obligeth him to implore the succours of Heaven, knowing very well, that victory is ne­ver compleat upon earth; he intreats an end of his life, to obtain that of his conflict; and being not ignorant that his vigour is abated by this In­mate, which he can neither defeat nor divorce, he implores an Aid that supplyes his impotency, and renders him strong enough not to be worsted. This is the Reason S ^t Augustine made use of against the Pelagians: For whereas they affirmed, that Man had always a full freedom to correct himself, nor that there was any state wherein Concupiscence held so great a command over the Will, that he could not easily defend himself, he con­fronted them with this passage of S ^t Paul, saying with that vigour of spi­rit that accompanies all his argumentations, "Confess that all those that have a mind to mend, cannot do it, since he that speaks in these terms, 'Tis not I that work, gives a sufficient demonstration, that his desire is strong, but his power weak. Say not, that he can subdue sin by the meer abilities of his Will, since he discovers his infirmity by his complaints; and were he vigorous enough to bring all his forces into the field, he would never utter those words, Non quod volo ago. Suffer him at least in whom you see the activity of free-will weakened, to have recourse to the assistance of Grace, and to seek for that out of himself, which he cannot finde in himself.

But this misfortune is yet much greater in sinners newly converted, then in the just, who have a long time persevered in this vertue: For if these last have not destroyed sin, they have debilitated him; and if they have not obtained a full victory, they have gain'd some advantage over this Enemy; if they have not quite obstructed his motions, they have greatly check'd them; and if they have not strength to be delivered, they have courage enough to stand upon their guard and defend themselves: But the others have encreased his power by their own cowardise, they have added the tyranny of Habit to that of Concupiscence; they are redu­ced to a wretched impotency to withstand, since they have not crush'd him in his conception; and their liberty is so small to defeat him, that their slavery degenerates for the most part into down-right necessity. Thence it came to passe, that S ^t Augustine being fallen into that deplo­rable condition, complain'd that his bad Habit had fettered his Will, that he groan'd under the weight of his irons, that he could not break them though he had hammered them himself, and having voluntarily thrown himself into the net, he was necessarily held fast in it. ‘My Will (saith he admirably in his 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 [Page 87]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. 'Tis 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 'twas 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, 'tis 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, 'tis 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, 'tis always by the motion of the spirit, 'tis 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 [Page 88]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, 'tis he that combates that in us that is prejudiciall to us; and when he makes warre upon us, 'tis to procure peace within us. 'Tis 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 'tis he that mortifies our flesh, quickens our soule, and gives us victory in the Conslict.

'Tis 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 them. But Saint Augustine informs us, that he acts otherwise with sinners, then with the godly; and that he carries himselfe after ano­ther fashion with those he moves only, Aliter adjuvat nondum inhabi­tans, aliter ha­bitans: nam nondum inhabi­tans adjuvat ut sint fideles, in­habitans adju­vat jam fideles. Aug. Epist. ad Sixtum. then with those whom he inani­mates. He assists the former that they may be converted, he helps the se­cond that they may persevere; in the former he inspires faith, in the la­ter charity; to the one he opens the door of the Church, to the other the gate of Heaven. But finally, 'tis one and the same Spirit that aids all Christians in their different conversations: 'Tis he that triumphs over the Executioners in the Martyrs, that combates Hereticks in the Doctours, that subdues the flesh in the Continent, that despiseth the pleasures of the world in the Anchorites, that conquers sinne in the Penitents, and that leads all the Elect from the Camp of the Church Militant into the bosome of the Church Triumphant.

The Ninth DISCOURSE. That the HOLYSPIRIT is the CHRI­STIANS Comforter.

SIn and Misery were borne into the world both upon a day, assoon as ever man became criminall, he became miserable; Peccavit ani­ma, & ideo misera est; li­berum arbitri­um accepit quo usa est quem­admodum volu­it; lapsa est, e­jecta est, de bea­titudine, impli­cata est misert­is. Aug. con­tra Fortu. Disp. 2. punishment followed transgression so close upon the heeles, that he lost his hap­pinesse as soon as he had lost his innocence. Ever since this fatall mo­ment his life hath been but a continued Train of miseries insensibly leading him to the Chambers of death.

The Hydra of the Poets never was so fruitfully pregnant, and Fi­ction with all it's inventions, could never yet represent the story of our misfortunes. Nor Age, nor Sexe, nor Condition give any per­son a dispensation. Infants are wretched in the Cradle; that inno­cent Age that hath no other sinne then that of Adam, is sensible of pains as sharp as those that accompany old age. Women, who som­times shake off obedience to their Husbands, cannot escape the pangs of griefe; and Kings, who are so absolute in their State, have no Guards that can stop sicknesse and sadnesse from entring into their Palaces: These two enemies of man-kind creep every where, their dominion knowes no bounds; where ever there are men, they finde subjects, and create miserable.

Indeed Christians meet with a great deale of consolation in these distresses; for besides that the hope of futurity sweetens their present evils; that the example of Jesus Christ gives them encouragement; that the constancy of Martyrs bear up their spirits, they have received the Holy Spirit that comforts them in their troubles, and supplies them with as many remedies, as misfortune takes upon it shapes to assault them. Let us reduce both of them to four heads, and make it appear in their discourses, that 'tis not in vaine that man beares the name of miserable, and the Holy Spirit that of a Com­forter.

One of the fearfullest torments of man a sinner, is, that the two parts whereof he is made, cannot agree: In te ex teipso est flagellum tuum, fit rixa tua tecum, lucta est in illo corpore; quamdiu vivimus pugnamus, quamdiu pugnamus periclitamur. Aug. The body and the soule are always upon bad terms; their love is turned into hate, and if there be any agree­ment between them, 'tis always to the disadvan­tage of the nobler part: All is out of order in the master-piece of the Creation; Earth is higher then Heaven; the Beast domineers over the Angell; the Spirit stoops to the Body, and Passi­ons [Page 90]are the Mistresses of Reason. The Saints groan under this disorder; they invoke death to be freed from this Tyranny, and they intreat an end of their life that they may see an end of a Combate whose event is so doubtfull. The Holy Spirit accommodates this difference by his grace; for he takes part with the soule against the body; he subjects the soule to God, thereby to subject the body to the soule; he sets things in the state they were in during the time of Innocence, and so suppresseth the revolts of the flesh, that if the Spirit be not absolute, it is at least the strongest in the Saints. 'Tis the grace of our heaven­ly Comforter, say the Fathers of the Church, that sweetens our dis­contents, that quencheth the impure flames that concupiscence kindles in our hearts, that subdues those violent passions whose first motions are of so difficult coercion; 'Tis it that charmes those deceitfull hopes and desires that promise us felicity in the World, and which finally following the Inclinations of this Spirit, whereof it is the Image in­ables the Christian to be revenged of those rebells that disturb the quiet of his person.

The second punishment of guilty man, is to see himselfe exiled from heaven, and constrain'd to endure a banishment as long as life: Indeed he undergoes here all the miseries of an exterminated person; he is deprived of his goods, and lives not but upon borrowing or almes; he is driven out of Paradise, fallen from all those honours that equal'd his condition, to that of Angels and reduced to a deplora­rable state, Homo cum in honore esset non intellexit, ideo comparatus est jumentis in­sipientibus. Psal. 48. rendring his fortune little different from that of beasts. He never looks up to heaven, but if there be any spark of piety re­maining, he bewailes his offence, and is afflicted at his banishment: Griefe puts these complaints in his mouth: Wo is me because my habitation is prolonged. He is afraid least the snares that are scattered in the place of his residence, entangle him; if he suffer any calamity, he presently reflects upon the happinesse he hath lost; and if he taste any pleasures, he misstrusts, lest they engage him in the world. For Christians are threatned with this double evill; and if they take not good heed, they are in danger to love their exile, and forget their Countrey; they settle their fortune upon earth, they build as if they never meant to remove; they are strongly taken up with the present world, and they lose all beliefe of the future; and a man hath much adoe to perswade them, that so delightfull an Abode is the place of their Banishment, and the Theater of their Torment; They must be made feele their miseries, that they may have some desire towards another life; and we think we have gained much upon their Spirit, when they will be perswaded to look with an indifferent eye upon the place of their birth. Therefore is it that Richardus de Sancto Victore, divides men into three ranks; the first is those that are fastened to their Countrey, whom he calls [Page 91] Delicate; Delicatus est cui patria dul­cis; fortis, cui omne solum patria, perf [...] ­ctus, cui omnis terra exilium est; primus a­morem fixit, secundus spar­sit, tertius ex­tinxit. Richar. de Sanct. Vict. the second those that look upon the whole earth as their Countrey, whom he calls Courageous; the third those that look up­on the World as the place of their banishment, whom he calls Per­fect. To speak truth, the first are sordid, because they have confin'd their love to a corner of the world; the others are generous because intending it over all, they have weakened it; and the third are ac­complish'd, because having wholly stifled it, their hopes are altoge­ther taken up with heaven; they long for this eternall habitation: the moments that stop them here below seeme ages; the diversions, illusions; the pleasures, torments; the happinesse of the World, a dangerous temptation. Now the Holy Spirit comforts them in this reasonable disgust; he inspires them with the desire of heaven, points out the glory of the blessed; fills them with hope of the shortening of their exile; and makes them say with David, I was glad when they said unto me we will go into the house of the Lord. But the most sub­stantiall Comfort he makes use of to mitigate, and sweeten their trou­bles, is, to give them an Antepast of felicity, to render them happy in the midst of their miseries; and to shed his graces into their spi­rit with so much complacency, that conversing with men, they may relish the blisse of Angels. For he is the earnest of our blessednesse, the Assurance of our salvation, the Caution of the promise of Jesus Christ; and if we may say so, he is a portion of the felicity which is promised us in Glory.

The third grievance of Man a Sinner is, That the Earth is not on­ly a place of Banishment, but a Countrey of Enemies, where all crea­tures, serving as Instruments of the Divine Justice, make warre upon him, which ends not till he dyes. For though he boast himselfe the Lord of the Universe, though the sinne of his father perswade him into this errour, though Concupiscence that reigns in his soule, heightens the desire thereof, nor can all the miseries he endures, shake him out of this hope; yet is he dealt with as a Criminall. Every Element threa­tens him with a thousand dangers, and into what ever corner of his State he retires, he findes either Executioners, or Rebels. Poisons are mixt with nourishment upon the earth; rocks lye in ambush for him upon the Sea; the fire inflames thunder to destroy him, Qui in cunctis delinquimus, in cunctis feri­mur, ut imple­atur quod dici­tur; Et pug­nabit pro co contra infensa­tos orbis terra­rum. Greg. Mag. hom. 35. in Evan. and the aire scatters contagions to infect him. There is no part of the world that conspires not against him; heaven punisheth his iniquities as well as earth: the Sun which is the fountain of life, makes him dye; the As­pects of the heavenly bodies are fatall to him; nor is there any Star in the Firmament, which hath not some power to infest him.

But that which redoubles these displeasures is, That all these Crea­tures are in the hands of his Enemy to afflict him; for the devill is the Prince of the world; The Scripture that designes him this Quality, teacheth us, that he disposeth of the Elements under the good pleasure [Page 92]of God, to persecute man: sometimes he darts down Thunderbolts; and though he execute the determinations of Heaven, he fails not to content his own malice; he raiseth Tempests upon the Sea, and Storms upon the Land, forms Lightnings in the air, and successively makes use of wet and drought to produce barrenness.

Admit this Stratagem succeed not, he tries another so much more dangerous, in that it appears more taking; for he imployes the crea­tures to seduce us; he discovers beauties to make us Idolaters, spreads nets to catch us, Creaturae Dei in odium factae sunt et in tenta­tionem anima­bus hominum, et in muscipulam pedibus insipi­entium. Sapi­ent. cap. 14. and of every creature makes a Lure to engage us into sin. Greatness serves to swell us with vanity, riches to nuzzle us in covetousnesse, beauties to awaken our wantonnesse, and food (which is necessary for our life) to plunge us into sensuality. Hee makes weapons of all the parts of our body; deals with our senses to cor­rupt us; nor is he ever more terrible, then when he arms our selves against our selves.

Finally, To leave nothing unattempted, he perverts what-ever is most necessary in the world, and mixes disorders in those actions that cannot be dispensed with, to the end, that thinking to preserve our lives, we may be instrumentall to his malice, and our ruine. Mar­riage is the nursery of the world, Posuit in comestione gulam, in generatione luxuriam, in dominatione supcrbiam, in correctione iram, in conversa­tione invidiam. Aug. 'tis that Sacrament that repairs the ha­vock death makes, that entertains fa­milies, supplyes Kingdoms with Mi­nisters of State and Souldiers, peoples heaven, replenisheth the orders of Angels, and consummates the number of the Elect: In the mean time, our Enemy hath rendered it dangerous, in rendering it unchaste; he turns the remedy into a poyson; and making sinners licentious, of a married cou­ple makes many times a pair of Adulterers. Eating is the subsistence of life, 'tis that to man that Marriage is to the world, it protects us from famine, that tends to death, it repairs our strength with pleasure, and if it be the most necessary of our remedies, 'tis also the most delight­full: But the Divel hath tempred it with gluttony and excesse, there­by to corrupt it; he occasions debauchments at feasts; and we vitiously please our palate, when we think onely to supply our necessity. Go­vernment is one of the usefullest inventions of the Politick, or rather of Providence; The power of Kings preserves justice in States, their Scep­ter is a terrour to the wicked, and a support to the good; God shews himself visible in their person, and we look upon them with as much respect as Infidels did heretofore upon their false Deities: In the mean time, the pride that steals into Greatness through the malice of the Di­vel, dimms their lustre, makes their power odious, and many times makes their lawfull Authority degenerate into a most insupportable Tyran­ny. Correction and Conversation are equally necessary; the one enter­tains society, the other eliminates offences; the one polisheth our man­ners, [Page 93]the other perfects them; the one renders us civil, the other ver­tuous: mean while the subtilty of the malignant spirit scatters anger into Correction, envie into Conversation, and corrupting the fruits and effects of each, hinders us from profiting by the advice and entertainments of our friends.

Who would not lose all patience amidst such a throng of miseries, did not the holy Spirit give us strength to vanquish the fury of our E­nemies; prudence, to defend us against their plots and subtilties; Spiritus adju­vat infirmita­tem nostram. Rom. 8. and consolation, to support us against the bitternesse of our afflictions? For he it is that fortifies our weakness when we are set upon, that dis­sipates our darkness when we are blinded, and sweetens our discon­tents when we are troubled. Hee weeps with us, without inter­essing his felicity, he shares in our infirmities without prejudicing his Almightinesse, he is sadded with our miseries, without disquieting his own contentedness; he puts sighs into our hearts, words into our mouthes, reasons into our understandings, to expresse our wretched­ness; and to pacifie our Judge, Postulat pro nobis gemitibus inenarrabi­libus. The union he contracts with us is so strict, that the Scripture at­tributes to him what it would have us do, and by a strange liberty makes him partakers of our miseries, as we are made partakers of his happiness.

The last torment of man a sinner, is the doubt he hath of his salva­tion: Death is troublesom, because the hour thereof is uncertain, nei­ther hath he that pronounc'd sentence upon us, express'd the time of its execution. All moments are to be suspected by us, every day may be our last; and the accidents that cause our dissolution are so involved in futurity, that they daily seize us before we are provided for them: Nescit homo, u­trum amore an odio dignus sit, sed omnia in fu­turū servantur incerta, Eccl. 9. But our salvation is much more concealed then our death; Predesti­nation is much more secret, and more important then the end of our life; and the alarms so just an apprehension strikes us with, are much more lawfull and amazing. There is no man that hath read in the Book of the living, nor that knows whether his name be written there; the whole world trembles at the thought of that irrevocable judgment; the Character of Baptism, the vocation into the Church, the power of working Miracles, the love of Enemies, the forgetting of Injuries, and what-ever is most glorious and most difficult in Religion, are no cer­tain proofs of our predestination; Fear is alwayes mix'd with hope in our souls; the Grace that quickens us may forsake us; the example of the Reprobate strikes us with astonishment; and after the Treason and Despair of Judas, there is no Saint but trembles. This is the greatest pain that afflicts Christians, Vae miseris nobis, qui de electione nostra nul­lam adhuc Dei vocem cognovimus, & jam in otio torpemus; vae etiam laudabili vitae hominum si remota pictate judicemur. Greg. the cruellest pu­nishment that exerciseth their patience, the rudest torment that proves their charity. Thus would it be an insupportable vexation, did not the holy Spirit sweeten it by the inward [Page 94]testimony he witnesseth to our Conscience: But he moreover gives us assurances of our salvation, he makes us obscurely read over the Book of Life; he takes us into that privie-Chamber where the definitive sentence of our Eternity is pronounc'd, Ipse Spiritus testimonium reddit spiritui nostro, quòd su­mus filii Dei. Rom. 8. he applyes to us the merits of Jesus Christ, and interposes himself the caution of his promises; he blots out those mortall discontents which labour to cast us into despair, he heightens our hope by a prelibation of glory, and handles us with so much tenderness, that we have much adoe to beleeve that we can be miserable in the other world, having been so happy in this.

The Tenth DISCOURSE. Of the CHRISTIAN's Ingratitude towards the Holy SPIRIT.

IF that Philosopher had reason to say, Nibil in rerum natura tam sa­crum, quod sa­crilegum non inveniat. Sen. There was nothing so sacred in Nature, that meets not with some sacrilegious person to prophane it; Divines may with greater justice affirm, There is nothing so holy in Religion, that wicked and ungodly men do not dishonour, and by their malice desecrate its holyest mysteries. The divine Mercy is the source of all Graces; were not God mercifull, we should be eternally miserable; did not he remit the injuries done against him, the first of­fence would cast us into despair, and having once lost his grace, we could expect nothing but punishments: in the mean time, his Mercy makes sinners presumptuous in their crimes; that which should convert them, hardens them; and that which promiseth them impunity, carryes them for the most part to impenitency. The death of Jesus Christ is the last testimony of his love, his wounds are so many bleeding mouthes breathing forth this Truth; and when we begin to doubt of it, we need but consider the streams of blood that issued from his veins: In the mean time, Positus est in ruinam, & in resurrectionem mul [...]orum. Luc. 7. his death is often the occasion of our fall; we perswade our selves, that he that could finde in his heart to die for us, is too much concern'd in our salvation, to destroy us: upon this vain hope we abandon our selves to all wickednesse, and turn our Antidote into a poyson. The holy Sacrament is the highest invention the charity of the Son of God could finde out; none but an infinite Wisdome could designe it, nor could any but an absolute uncontrolled Power put it in execution; both of them are drained in this Mystery; and when the Son of God is incarnated upon our Altars to enter into our hearts, there is no o­ther favour to be wished for upon earth: Neverthelesse, experience [Page 95]teacheth us, that this Grace is not onely unprofitable, Sumunt boni, sumunt mali, sorte tamen in­aequali vitae vel interitus. D. Thom. but pernicious to sinners; that it conveighes death instead of life, mixeth a sacriledge with a sacrifice; and makes the devill enter into their soules, by admit­ting Jesus Christ unworthily. But not to stand upon the proofe of so known a Truth, we need but represent the Grace of the Holy Spirit, and the ingratitude of wicked men, to be fully perswaded thereof. He is the fruitfull source of all the blessings we receive from heaven; he is the dispenser of all the merits of the Sonne of God; nor can we ex­pect any thing of the one, but by the mediation of the other: In the mean time we prophane his Graces, cast off his Inspirations: his good­nesse serves onely to set an edge upon our malice: the more favourable he is to us, the more rebellious are we against him; and the more arts he useth to convert us, the more barres do we oppose to resist him: we may judge of this by the names he beares; and by the attempts he makes to gaine us, he gives testimony of his love and affection towards us.

The Holy Spirit is the Principle of our supernaturall life. Spiritus Domi­ni ferebatur su­per aquas ad Creationem pertinet; nisi quis renatus fuerit ad rege­n [...]rationem. Faith instructs us that 'tis he that frees us from the state of sin, to levell us a passage to Grace; & if we are the effects of his power in the world, we are the works of his mercy in the Church; so high a favour would challenge as high an acknowledgment; so that being his Creatures under a double Title, and he our Principle in Nature, and in Grace, there is no body but believes we have all the reason in the world to set up his Kingdome in our hearts, and carefully to preserve charity whereby he lives in our soules. Ne­verthelesse the Great Apostle of the Gentiles complaines that the faith­full of his time made him dye; that they put out the candle of their life; and by an ingratitude as great as their blindnesse, committed a double murder in one and the same crime: He begs their favour to­wards the holy Spirit; and having presented them with the Obligations they owe his infinite goodnesse, he conjures them not to choak him in their soules: Quench not the Spirit. This passage is diversly explain'd, Nolite Spiri­tum extinguere. 1 Thes. 5. but equally weak'nd by our Interpreters. For some are of opinion, that Saint Paul made use of this word to quench, because the Holy Ghost coming down upon the Apostles in the likenesse of Fire, might be put out as fire by our negligence: And if the vestall Virgins were guilty of death, Vesta nihil ali­ud quam ignis cui virgines solent servire, quod sicut ex virgine ita ni­hil ex igne nas­catur. Aug. for suffering the prophane fire committed to their charge to go out; the Christians were certainly much more criminall to suffer this holy Fire to dye, that kindled all vertues in their hearts, and purg'd out all defects and inward defilements. Others think it a kind of fi­gurative speech, the Apostle makes use of to aggravate the hainousness of the sinne they commit, who do all that they can to extinguish the Holy Spirit, and endeavour to imitate the cruelty of the Jews, will signe their malice by a detestable parricide: It seems Saint Augustine was entred into this opinion, accusing not the sinner for the death of the holy Spi­rit, but because of the will he had to do it; and endeavouring all that [Page 96]was in his power to stifle him, that lives and reigns with the Father and the Son from all Eternity. But I conceive, without doing violence to the words of Saint Paul, or at all prejudicing the holy Spirit, we may say, He suffers death by sin, and loseth life when we lose charity. For the same Apostle teacheth us, Nescitis quia templum Dei e­stis, & Spiritus Dei habitat in v [...]bis. 1 Cor. 3. that the holy Ghost dwels in us by Grace, that he erects an Altar in our heart, makes himself a Temple in our soul, and lives in us by his vertues. All his Epistles speak this language; and as often as he treats of the residence of the holy Spirit in our hearts, he speaks of it as of a Divine life, whereof he is the first Principle; so that he lives in us after the same manner as we live in him; and these two lives are so closely combined together, that one cannot be destroy'd without the other: Thus the holy Spirit ceaseth to live in the sinner, when the sinner ceaseth to live by the holy Spirit; As they have one and the same life, so they endure one and the same death; and as the sinner loseth life, because he loseth Grace that united him to Jesus Christ; so the ho­ly Spirit in some sort loseth that life that united him to the Christian by Charity, and receives death from him that inflicts it upon himself by sin. Therefore is it that the Apostle useth such high terms to make us comprehend the heinousnesse of our crime, and describes the death of our soul, under that of the holy Spirit, to the end, that if we are not afraid to commit a simple Murder, we may at least be startled from committing a Parricide.

The second Quality of the holy Spirit, is, that having been our Prin­ciple, he will also be our Director, and give us motion after he hath in­dued us with life. I will not inlarge this Truth, because I have already spoken sufficiently of it, and discovered those advantages the Christian may draw from thence. It shall suffice to add, that Christians are exalted as far above Philosophers, as Philosophers are above Beasts: For Beasts are led meerly by sense, the pleasure that tickles them transports them, and what-ever flatters their appetite, either in taste or sight, overpowers them, if they are not with-held by fear or grief: Sinners are in no better condi­tion then the Brutes, they consult only their sense when they act, Homo comparatus est jumentis; Considerate vos factos ad Dei imaginem. Imago Dei intus est, non est in corpore, non est in auribus istis & eculis, sed est factus ubi est intellectus, ubi mens, ubi ratio investigandae veritatis. Aug. in Psa. 48. their soul is alwayes the slave of their body; neither do they perceive, when they engage themselves in the love of pleasure or glory, how they do no more then Buls, that foam and fight for the enjoyment of a Heifer, or to be leaders of the Herd. Philosophers are a degree high­er then Sinners, and taking Reason for their Guide, they think they can­not err; Rationalc animal est homo; consummatur itaque ejus bonum si id ad­implevit cui nascitur: quid est autem quod ab illo ratio exigit? rem fa­cillimam, secundum naturam suam vivere. Senec. Epist. 41. they fancie proud ostentous designes, they frame noble Ideas of felicity; they call in the Vertues to their aid to compasse it; and assisted with Prudence, Justice and Fortitude, they [Page 97]count themselves as happy, and as perfect as God himself. Illi Philosophi seculi vitium vitio, peccatum­que peccato me­dicantur: nos amore virtutum vitia superemus. Hieron. Epist. ad Rust. These blind Opinators see not that their Reason is a slave to their Concupiscence, that Vain-glory is the foul of their Vertue, that thinking to avoid Sensua­ality, they fall into Arrogance; and flying the sins of Men, are taken with those of Divels. But Christians humbly soaring above Philosophers, take the holy Spirit for their Guide, they subject their reason to his In­spirations: and knowing very well, that they cannot be the children of God, unlesse they be the organs of his Spirit, they undertake nothing but by the motion of his Grace. Though this favour make up one of their greatest advantages, they fail not sometimes to neglect it, and to resist the Conduct of their divine Director: They relapse into the condition of Beasts, when they obey their senses; are restor'd to that of Philosophers, Haec est iniqui­tas cujus non miseretur Deus, cum homo defen­dit quod Deus o­dit, & pec [...]a­tum justitiam asserit, ut om­nipotenti resi­stat & omnipo­tens illi. Bern. de Conse. when they are led by their judgment, and become sinners when they resist Grace. 'Tis from this impiety that all others are derived; there is no wic­kedness a soul is uncapble of, when it rejects the impulses of the Spirit; neither were the Jews cast off, but because they stop'd their ears against his Oracles. 'Tis the crime S ^t Stephen accused them of when they stoned him; Ye always resist the Holy Ghost: and 'tis the punishment the Son of God threatens all those with, that persevere in their sins.

The Third Quality of the holy Spirit is that of a Comforter; for if our Body revolt against reason, he supplyes us with strength to sub­due this Rebell: if Passions trouble our rest, he layes the storms: if we are in doubt of our Salvation, he gives us assurances; and what­ever affliction exerciseth our Patience, he is our Consolation and our Joy: But as concerning the acknowledgment of this Grace, we daily af­flict him by our insolence, and we compell the Successours of the Apo­stles to reprove us, as Saint Paul did; Grieve not the holy Spirit. This advice which the Doctor of the Gentiles gives us, is expressed in terms not easie to be understood: For the holy Spirit being God with the Father and the Son, is not capable of sadness, he enjoyes a happinesse that cannot be disturbed; the rebellion of his Subjects can neither shake his Empire, nor diminish his felicity; what-ever designe is undertaken against him, he still remains absolute; and his Power, which equals his Wisdome, makes the malice of his enemies serviceable to the execu­tion of his Will. Therefore is it, Ira Dei non est ut hominis; id est, perturba­tio concitati a­nimi; sed tran­quilla justi sup­plicii constitu­tio. Aug. Trac. 124. in Joan. that Divines cannot comprehend the language of S ^t Paul, nor conceive how the holy Spirit, that is the source of joy, can be grieved by sinners: Some explain it, following the com­mon Rule, which placeth the effects of the Passions in God, and excludes the imperfections; for his Anger takes not away his Tranquillity; he punisheth the Rebels of his State without the least commotion; nor is he less calm when he punisheth the Divels, then when he rewards the Angels. But though he act with so much stayedness, he makes his thun­der roar over the heads of the guilty, he makes the earth open under their feet; and if these two Elements are not enough to destroy them, [Page 98]he obliges the Sea to drown them by his Inundations. Others conceive, that Saint Paul attributes Grief to the holy Spirit, after the same manner he attributes Groans; that he more respects his Figure then his Person; and considering him in that Dove, Gemitus Co­lumbae, gemitus Spiritus sancti, quia in figura columbae descen­dit Spiritus in Dominum. in the shape whereof he descended upon Jesus Christ, he applyes to him the properties of that innocent Bird: For every one knowes that the Dove mourns, that she hath no o­ther note but sighs; and when she is once separated from her mate, her lamentation lasts as long as her life. But S ^t Augustine, resolves this dif­ficulty by the strict union between the Faithfull and the holy Spirit; he attributes to him the grief he inspires into them; and because the pity they expresse for the lost estate of sinners is an effect of his Grace, he as­cends to the cause, and attributes that to the holy Spirit, that he produ­ceth in Christians. But how-ever it is, we afflict him that comforts us; and not acknowledging the good he hath done us, we grieve the holy Spirit, because we sad the Church whom he inanimates.

Finally, to conclude this Discourse; One of the most eminent Quali­ties of the holy Spirit is that of the Remission of sins; his Spouse making his Panegyrick, honours him with this Elogie: and Divinity teacheth us, that he it is that prepares the Will of the ungodly, that manageth their Consent by the endearments of his Grace, and reconciles them to the Father by the merits of the Son, which he applyes to them: Thence is it that he presides in the work of Repentance; that the Priests who absolve the guilty, are his Ministers; and the sorrow that blots out sin is an ef­fect of his Mercy. Ad ipsum per­tinet societas, qua efficimur u­num corpus uni­ci Filii Dei. Aug. in Ser. de Blasph. Spir. In the mean time, we offend him that pardons us, his indulgence makes us insolent, and the easiness wherewith he receiveth Penitents encreaseth the number of Delinquents. All the sins we com­mit check these Divine perfections, and by the least of our offences we violate all his personall Proprieties. He is the Unity of the Father and of the Son, because he is that sacred bond that joyns them eternally toge­ther; and Sin is an unhappy division that divorceth Man from God, the body from the soul, Peccatum origo mali, nec sine peccato aliquid in natura ma­lum est. Aug. the Husband from the Wife. The holy Spirit is Goodness, because he proceeds by the way of Love, and all the effects that bear the mark of that divine perfection, are particularly attributed to him. Sin is nothing but malice in the essence of it; the Creature may be weak and ignorant by nature, Sanctitas est ab omni inquina­tione libera, in­contaminatisse­ma et perfectis­sima puritas, quae fine Spiri­tu saucto intel­ligi non potest in creatura. S. Dyonis. but he cannot be bad but by sin: what-ever bears that shameful character takes its origination thence; and men and Angels would be exempt from Malice, were they exempt from Sin. The holy Spirit is stiled Holy, not onely because he sanctifies all Creatures, but be­cause being the Spirit of the Father, and of the Son, who are both holy, it concern'd him to bear a name common to both, and which may deli­neate forth the admirable secrets of his eternall Procession: Sin is so op­posite to Holiness, that we cannot better define it, then by its contrariety to this divine Perfection: For sanctity separates us from the Creatures, and unites us so mightily to the Creator, that nothing can disjoyn us: on [Page 99]the contrary, Sin is nothing else but a being wedded to the Creatures, and an unhappy separation from the Creator; so that it thwarts all the perso­nal Proprieties of the holy Spirit, and renders men unworthy of all the Favours they have received from him.

Let us therefore combate this Enemy of Grace, Quicquid fecit Christus, ut de­strueret pecca­tum fecit: ita debet facere Christianus, cui nullus hostis est praeter pecca­tum. Chrys. make warr against him, that makes it against God: let us shake off the yoak of this Ty­rant, that flatters onely to destroy us; and acknowledging the obligations we have to the holy Spirit, submit our selves to his divine qualities. Seeing he gives us Life by Grace, let not us make him die together with it; seeing he is our Director, let us yeeld obedience to his Ordinances; since he is our Consolation in our discontents, let us not grieve him in his just Ones; and seeing he is the Remission of sins, let us bewail those we have committed, to give him satisfaction; and commit no new ones further to provoke him.

The first DISCOURSE. That the CHRISTIAN hath two Heads, ADAM, and JESUS CHRIST.

IF Bodies with two Heads passe for Monsters, hu­mane Nature may very well passe for a Prodigie, in that it hath two Chiefes, upon which it depends; and that as Adam communicates his Sin to it by Generation, making it guilty and miserable; Je­sus Christ communicates his Grace to it by Bap­tisme, making it innocent and happy. 'Tis true, Nature might have expected great advantages from this first Head, had he kept his originall Righteous­nesse: for our Divines confesse, that Adam being Chiefe of all men, re­ceived Grace not onely for himselfe, but for all his Posterity; that as his sinne passeth into his children by Generation, Grace had passed into them by the same conveyance; and that then they had been borne in­nocent, as now they are borne criminall, Together with grace he had communicated to them all the Priviledges he had received from God in the Creation; Their bodies had been freed from those troublesome mala­dies that exercise our patience; and originall righteousnesse had knit the body so close to the soule, that their peace had never been disturb'd by these intestine divisions that set them so much at distance. Nourish­ment had repair'd the radicall moisture that the naturall heat had con­sum'd; and the fruit of the Tree of Life retaining something of our Sacraments, had imparted to them a new vigour, that had secur'd them against old Age and Death. Their soul had not been worse provided for [Page 101]then their body; for with Grace they had received all vertues; and ac­cording to Saint Augustine, either they had had the use of reason for their service, or they had learn'd with so much easinesse, that Ignorance had never been their Torment.

In this happy condition the Will had been more free then now it is; the passions were so subject to reason that they had never been up, but by his order: Concupiscence, that tyrannizeth over the children of Adam, Summa in car­ne sanitas, in anima tota tranquilitas. Aug. lib. 14. de Civ. c. 26. had not enslav'd the soule to the body; and though the inferiour part had felt it's naturall inclinations; Grace had so well moderated them, that they had never undertaken any thing either against justice, or honesty. Thence it comes to passe that these austere vertues, that have nothing else to do, but to combate the motions of the flesh, had serv'd rather for his ornament, then for his defence. Thence it followes that Grace had not been the Mistresse of the Will, because having no bad inclinations, she might have guided her selfe, provided she were but supported; nor had there been any danger that she that was not yet a Captive to sinne, should have the chiefe disposall of his salvation: we are not certain that if Adam had preserved his innocence, his children had been impeccable; neither know we if the sinne of other men had injur'd their posterity; and if having lost the advantages of originall righteousnesse in their own behalfe, they had lost them also as concerning their successours: This condition is so conceal'd that we have nothing but weak conjectures of it; every one extolls or debaseth it according to his humour; and ha­ving neither Scripture nor Tradition for their rule, all the world may diminish or adde something to their happinesse.

'Tis certain neverthelesse, Sicut in Para­diso nullus ae­stus aut frigus, sic in ejus habi­tatione, nulla ex cupiditate vel timore, bonae vo­luntatis offensio. Aug. lib. 14. de Civ. c. 26. that all the torments that came into the world with sinne had never discompos'd his quiet: The Seasons had not been irregular, the Elements had not bid him battel, the Earth had been fruitfull without tilling, and thorns, that are the fruits of sinne, had not dishonoured the face thereof; Deluges that drowned the world, Drought that makes the fields barren, Pestilence that depopulates Cities, and mows down the Inhabitants, having no other cause but sinne, had made no de­vastations in an innocent State; and men being upon good terms with God, had found their happinesse under the protection of his Grace: having lived some Ages upon the earth, Proinde, si non peccasset A­dam, non erat expoliandus corpore, sed su­pervestiendus immortalitate. Aug. they had been translated into heaven, where Glory consuming what they had of perishable, had made them perfectly immortall, without passing them through the pangs of immortality. The two parts that compose man had not been separated, the Master-piece of the Creation had not been ruin'd; and the soul reign­ing with Angels had not beheld her body devoured by worms, in the Sepulchre. See here a rude draught of the state of Innocence, and a slight shadow of the glorious advantages children had derived from their father, had he kept originall righteousnesse; but the evils he procur'd them, surpasse the priviledges in number and quality.

For his sinne is the source and fountain of all misfortunes: we are not guilty but because we are his Members, we sinn'd by his will, because we lived in his person; and the offence of one man is become the obliquity of whole Nature, because it was included in him as the Tree in the Kernell, or as a River in the Head. Quia vero per liberum arbitrium Deum deseruit, justum Dei judicium expertus est, ut cum tota sua stirpe quae in illo adhuc posita tota cum illo peccaverat damnaretur. Aug. This is it that Saint Augustine teacheth us, in those no lesse handsom then solid expressions. Adam felt the just judgement of God, be­cause abusing his free will, he was unjustly separated from him, and punishment was inflicted upon him with his whole race, because being in him as in the stock, they had wholly transgress'd with him. The same also he delivers with as much or more eloquence in his Enchiri­dion; for searching out the cause of so many evils that assault us, he concludes that the sinne of our first father is the originall thereof, and that we are therefore criminall and miserable, because we are a part of him. Thence it comes to passe, saith he, that being banished out of Paradise after his transgression, he was condemned to death with all his Posterity, who living in him as in their Principle, were infe­cted with his prevarication, as the branches wither in their stock, and die in their root. Thence it comes to passe that all children that descend from him, and from his wife, the Complice of his offence and of his punishment, are the heirs of his corruption. This sinne passeth into them by the channell of concupiscence, and makes them sensible of a torment which seems the image of their disobedience, since one part of themselves is revolted against the other: This revolt engaging their soule in vanity, and their body in pain; leads them insensibly with the rebellious Angels to that last Judgement which will never have an end.

Let us give a little light to this Speculation, let us amplifie in this discourse what Saint Augustine hath wrapt up in this passage; and un­folding all the evils derived from sinne, discover the malignant influ­ences of this Delinquent in chiefe upon his wretched members. Ignorance seems to be one of the prime calamities of man; 'Tis born with him ever since he was born with sinne; it sinks so deep into his soule, that it cannot be expell'd thence but with labour and pain. Children know neither their Creatour, nor their Father; they live some years in this sad condition: we must expect till Nature ripen their senses, and make them capable of the instructions of their Nurses or Masters, that know­ledge and truth may passe into their soules by the mediation of their eyes and eares. Those that are born among infidels, thinking to de­liver themselves from ignorance, are plung'd into falshood, and fall into a mischiefe more grievous then that they labour to avoid; when these two evils are associated together, they heighten the bad inclinati­ons [Page 103]of the Will; of an offender they make an Opinator, and adding ob­stinacy to malice, throw him into a necessity of sinning.

If it have not this unhappy consequence in the faithfull, who are in­structed in the School of Truth, it occasions another, whose effects are no whit lesse tragicall. For the Will feels a wretched impotency towards all those good things, the combate of vices, and the conquest of vertues, makes him apprehend; she complains that what ever is enjoyn'd is harsh and difficult; what ever is forbidden, easie and delightfull; and having no strength to secure her selfe against griefe and pleasure, Languorem istum culpa me­ruit, natura non habuit, quam sane culpam per lavacrum rege­nerationis Dei gratia fidelibus jam remisit, sed sub ejusdem me­dici manibus adhuc natura cum suo languo­re confligit. Aug. she loseth as ma­ny victories as she fights battles. In the mean time all the children of A­dam live in this misery, what ever habituall goodnesse they acquire, they never lose all that weaknesse they extracted from their Father; assoon as Grace forsakes them, they relapse into their former infirmity, and being members of Adam, they are always feeble and languishing.

But that which is most deplorable, Concupiscence that so disables for good, raiseth their appetite with so strong a propensity to evill, that no­thing seems difficult that appears under that notion. The ambitious suf­fer with pleasure those great anxieties that accompany Glory; this vain Idol makes them so couragious that they are true to it to the last gasp; their constancy imitates that of Martyrs, and they endure more hard­ships to conquer a Province, then those generous Champions have to pur­chase Heaven. The Covetous make our Penitentiaries blush; their Inter­est costs them more then our Salvation; Passion that swallows them up, exerciseth so cruell a Tyranny over their wills, that it obliges them to all the painfull severities the love of Jesus Christ disciplin'd the Anchorites to. They fast to save charges, they watch for lucre, they leave their Countrey to traffique, they venture their lives to assure their gains, and lose their conscience to enrich their house. Finally, Haec cupiditas vana, ac per hoc prava vin­cit in eis ac fraenat alias cupiditates. Aug. Concupiscence works as many disorders in sinners, as Charity does good in Martyrs; it inspires them with vigour in tickling them with love; it sheds a poison into their souls, which blending weaknesse with strength, makes them so unable for any good, that the least difficulty that accompanies it astonisheth them; and so valiant for evill, that the greatest oppositions that attend it, raise their courage to compasse it. To all these mischiefs might be added the division of the soule and body, the revolt of the passions against reason, the treachery of the senses in respect of the understanding, and all the distempers that arise from the unseasonablenesse of the weather, or the strife of the Elements, had I not largely describ'd them in dis­covering the miseries of man a Criminall: But not to fall up­on tedious repetitions, 'tis more usefull to consider the Head from whence we have derived our Benedictions; and confront him against the other, from whom we have received our Ana­themaes.

Jesus Christ is that glorious CHIEF whom the Eternall Father is pleased to engraffe upon our Nature, to deliver it from those miseries it grones under; 'tis from Him that all our advantages flow; and as we are made guilty by descending from Adam, we become innocent by being planted into JESUS CHRIST: Our Redemption holds some proportion with our Fall; the Mercy of God is regulated by his Justice, and the Grace he bestowes upon us is a copy of our chastise­ment. The first Man (saith Saint Augustine) received a Liberty void of all servitude; God presented him with Fire and Water, and gave him leave to chuse; Man took Fire, and rejected the Water; God, who is just, let him grasp what he had chosen, so that hee was there­fore unhappy because he would be so: See here an Expresse of the Justice of God; Turn the Table, and behold one of his Mercy: For seeing that Man, by the bad use of his Free-will, had corrupted all Mankinde in his Person, He came down from heaven, not tarrying for his prayers, and healed him by his Humility, who had lost himself by his Pride; he rectified the wanderers, and put them into the right way; hee call'd home the Banished, and instated them in their Country, that they might no longer glory in themselves, but in that immaculate CHIEF from whom they derived their salvation. This Verity is the Foundation of our Religion; The beliefe of two A­dams acquaints us with our Fall, and with our Recovery: Wee can­not know what we owe JESUS CHRIST, unlesse we know what we lost in Adam; nor can we ever worthily comprehend the obliga­tions we have to our Redeemer, unlesse we fully understand all the misfortunes accru'd to us by him that was our Parricide, at the same instant that he was our Parent. Therefore is it that the great Apostle never separates ADAM from JESUS CHRIST; he always op­poseth Grace against Sin; be heightens the greatness of the Remedy, by that of the Disease: and that we may have a right estimate of the children of God, he minds us, that they were the children of wrath, and vessels of dishonour. Saint Augustine (the faithfull Inter­preter of Saint Paul) admirably explains this Mystery, in commenting upon the words of this Apostle. ‘As none (saith he) enters into the kingdom of Death, that passeth not by A­dam; Si [...]t in regno Mortis nemo sine Adam; ita in regno Vitaenomo sine Christo: sicur per A­dam omnes peccatores, ita per Christum omnes justi homines: sicut per Adam omnes mortales in poena facti sunt filii seculi; ita per Chri­stu [...] omnes immortales, in gratia sunt filii Dei. August. ad Optat. so none enters into the kingdom of Life, but by Jesus Christ: As all that are born of Adam are sinners, all that are born again of Jesus Christ are justified; and as all the sons and daughters of Adam are the children of the earth and death, all the chil­dren of Jesus Christ are the children of heaven and of life.’

This Maxime is so true, that man makes no more progresse in perfection, then according as he doth in allyance with Jesus Christ: [Page 105]The more Faith he hath, the lesse hath he of Errour and Falshood; the more hope he conceives in the mercy of God, the lesse confidence hath he in the favour of men; the more he burns with the fire of Charity, the lesse is he scorched with the flames of Concupiscence; the more he is uni­ted to this innocent and glorious Head, from whom all grace is deri­ved, the lesse is he fixt to that infamous and criminall Head, from whom all sin takes it originall; so that Christians, as we have already proved, ought to have no other care but to make Adam die, and Jesus Christ live in their person; if they intend to be innocent, they must be Parricides; if they will bestow life upon the Son of God, they must inflict death upon their first Father; if they meane to be quickned with the spirit of humi­lity, which raiseth men in debasing them, they must renounce the spirit of vain-glory, which lays men low in lifting them up, and under a colour of making Gods of them, makes them nothing but Devils or Beasts. Finally, mans unhappinesse flows from the shamefull alliance he contra­cted with Adam in his Birth, Ex transgressio­ne primi homi­nis, universum genus huma­num natum cum obligatione pec­cati victor Di­abolus posside­bat; si enim sub captivitate non teneremur, redemptore non indigeremus; venit ad captivos non captus, venit ad captivos redimendos nihil in se captivitatis ha bens, sed carne mortali pretium nostrum portans. Aug. de Verb. Apo. Ser. 22. and the Christians happinesse proceeds from the glorious alliance he contracted with Jesus Christ in Baptisme. Thus the quality of a Chief in Adam is the source of all our Evils; and the quality of a Chief in Jesus Christ, is the Originall of all our Good; and as Adam did not so much destroy us in being our Father, as in being our Head: neither doth Jesus Christ save us so much for being his Bre­thren or his Children, as because we are his members; because 'tis in effect, this quality that procures us all the rest; neither is God our Father, but because Jesus Christ is our Head.

The Second DISCOURSE. Of the Excellencies of the Christians Head, and the advantages they draw from thence.

THough all the alliances Jesus Christ hath contracted with men, be as beneficiall to them as they are honourable; yet must we confesse, that the relation that unites him to them as their Head, is the strictest and most advantageous. 'Tis much that he would be their King, and giving them Laws had owned them for his Subjects; 'Tis more yet that he con­descended to be their Brother, and sharing his Eternall Inheritance with them, made them Co-heirs together with Himself; 'tis more yet that he made them his Children, and conceiving them in his wounds, suffered death to give them life; But 'tis yet a more signall favour, that he vouch­safed [Page 106]to make them his Members, and joyning them to Himself in one body, he is constituted the Head from whence they receive all those in­dearing influences which communicate to them the life of Grace, and me­rit for them that of Glory. Therefore also doth Saint Augustine, when he examines the favours we have received from the Father, preferre this before all others, Nullum majus donum prast [...]re posset hominibus quam ut ver­bum suum per quod condidit omni [...] faccret illis caput, & illos ei tanquam membra coap­taret, ut esset fi­lius Dei & sili­us hominis unus Deus cum pa­tre, unus homo cum hominibus. Aug. in Psal. 36. Ser. 3. and confesseth he never more sensibly obliged us then when he gave us his onely Son to be our Head. God saith he, could be­stow no higher honour upon men then by uniting them with his Word, by whom he created all things, as the Members with their Head; that he that was the Son of God, might be the Sonne of Man; and that by reason of his Divine Person subsisting in the Humane Nature, he might be God with his Father, and Man with his Brethren. 'Tis in effect from this glorious co-habitation that all our blessings are derived: If the Fa­ther look upon us, 'tis because we are the Members of his onely Sonne; If he hear our prayers, 'tis because Jesus Christ speaks by our mouth; if he receive us into Glory, 'tis because he sees us cloathed with the merits of our Head; if he admit us into his bosome, 'tis because the quality we bear renders us inseparable from his Word; But if this alliance be bene­ficiall to Christians, 'tis honourable to Jesus Christ; For though nothing can be added to his Grandeur, who is equall to his Father, and all the Priviledges he received from his Incarnation, may passe for so many Hu­miliations: Neverthelesse the dignity of being Head of the Church is so eminent, that after that of the Son of God, there is none so Venerable and August. It gives Jesus Christ the same advantage over the Faithfull, that the Head hath over the Members; and to conceive what he is in the Church, we must observe what this is in the Body.

The Head is the noblest seat of the Soul, 'tis that part of the Body where she acts her highest operations; 'tis there that she debates those subjects that are presented to her, that she deliberates upon the accidents that happen: 'tis there that the memory preserves the species, which may be called the treasures of wisdome, and the riches of the Intellectuall fa­culty; 'tis there that the understanding conceives truths, and the will pronounceth determinations: In a word, 'tis there that the affairs con­cerning Peace and Warre, Salvation or Damnation, Time or Eternity, are treated of; Thus also is it in Iesus Christ, that all those lights reside that govern the Church; 'tis in him that are shut up all the treasures of wis­dome: and from him that all Oracles proceed whereby the Faithfull are instructed.

The Head is the most eminent part of the Body; Nature was willing that as it is the noblest, so it should be placed nearest Heaven; and the very situation should oblige all the other parts to shew it reverence: It is the most exalted, that it may more easily dispence its orders, and that the spirits which convey sense and motion by the nerves, may descend with more facility into all the parts of the body. Iesus Christ also is in the [Page 107]highest place of his State, he reignes in Heaven with his Father, from thence he views all the necessities of his Body, he sends those influences that are needfull to every particular member, distributing light and heat accor­ding to his own designes and their necessities.

The Head is the most illustrious throne of the Soul; she hath all the senses for ornament or for defence; The Ears serve as Scouts which ex­actly report whatever the confusion of noises, or distinction of voices can inform either doubtfull or certain: The Eyes are faithfull Guides, disco­vering the Essence of things, by discovering the accidents under which they are veiled; The Palate is the taster of meats, judgeth of good and bad, and following the orders of his Soveraign, receives the one and rejects the other; The Nose is not only the unloader of the Brain, and the or­nament of the Face, but the seat of smelling, and discerns of sents; that as the Head is the Queen Regent of the Body, she may have all things necessary for the preservation of her Subjects. Thus may we say that the Son of God possesses all the Graces that are dispersed amongst the Faithful; that he hath all the gifts of the holy Ghost, which are as the senses of the Mystical Body, and includes all the vertues that serve either for the ornament or defence of his members. Omnia fere do­na nostra ha­bent adjunctam imperfectionem: unde continen­tia est hostis & testis concupi­s [...]entiae. Aug. He hath moreover some advanta­ges which others enjoy not; and as he is the Head of the Church, his Fa­ther was pleased that he should be happy in his mortall passage; that his light should have no shadow of darknesse; that he should preserve his Innocence in the midst of our sins, whereof he was the pledge; that he should have the gift of Prophecy without obscurity, and that all his Gra­ces should be free from those imperfections in men they are accompanied with.

If this wonderfull Chief have some priviledges common with the Head, he hath others that are particular, and which force us to confesse that hee is much nobler then that goodly part that commands all the rest: For the Head can neither be younger nor elder then the Body; Nature forms them both together, and at the same time that she lengthens the arm, ex­tends the Shoulders, fastens the Legs, she opens the Eyes, boars the Ears, fashions the Nose and pefects the Head: But Iesus Christ is Independent of his Members; he was born at the very instant he chose with his Father; and as he quickens his Body before his Birth, so doth he after his Death: All the Faithfull that were before him, lived by the Grace they drew from him; and all that come after him, live now by the influences they receive from his Sacred Person: He acted in the world, before he came into the world; He sanctified the Patriarchs, of whom he was to be born; He inanimated those Kings that were his Ancestors; and contrary to all the orders of Nature, he gave life to those from whom he was to receive it. We cannot deny but his Grace was more powerfull in this particular, then the sin of Adam; for this wretched Parent communicated not his poison but to those that descended from him; he made none but his children [Page 108]heirs of his misfortune; and whoever sprang not from that unfortunate stock, may boast himself innocent. But the Son of God acts indifferently upon all men; his power is not bounded by Ages; the Future depends upon him as well as the Past; and the Saints that saw the Deluge of the world, owe their grace to him, as well as those that shall see the Conflagra­tion of it: He hath this advantage common to him with those causes which act before they are; and being the last in execution, cease not to operate, because they are the first in intention. Thus the Son of God produceth wonders at the birth and at the dissolution of Ages, though he were not born till the fulness of time, because he is the first in the intention of his Father: the Faithful are but for him; and all the Elect are the Members which make up that Body whereof he is the Head. Vicerunt sancti in sanguine Agni. Apoc. Agnus est occi­sus ab origine mundi: caput nostrii Christus est; Corpus ca­pitis illius nos sumus: nunquid soli nos, & non etiam illi qui fuerunt ante nos? Omnes qui ab inicio sae­culi fuerunt justi, caput Christū habent. Aug. Serm. 3. in Psal. 36. This is the truth that S. John teacheth us, when he saith that the Saints overcame by the blood of the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the world. For though he died not till the reign of Tiberius, his blood failed not to produce ef­fects in all the differences of time: and as the Martyrs of the Old Testa­ment were not less his Members then those of the New, they owed their conflicts, their victories, their triumphs, to his vertue.

This circumstance greatly magnifies the power of Jesus Christ, and makes us see that the treasures of his merits are infinite, in that he is not onely unable to be exhausted by all the Faithful that are enriched by him, but because his liberality was laid open from the beginning of the world. The Kings of the earth act not but during their life; if they exercise some desires in the hearts of their Subjects before their death, they are blinde velleities, which are many times attended with repentance and sor­row: if they leave some regret after their death, it is quickly buried by the vices or vertues of their Successors: and when we no longer feel the benefit of their Protection, we are no longer mindful of their Persons. But Jesus, more powerful and more necessary then Monarchs, acted be­fore his Birth, and after his Resurrection: Christus ante profuit quàm fuit. Bern. he governed his Kingdom, be­fore he was conceived in the womb of the Virgin: he won battels, before he had any hands to fight: he maintained the Faithful, before he had a Soul; and gave life to his Members, before he received it from his Mo­ther: he lived not as yet in Himself, and was alive and already in Others: he acted not in his Natural body, and yet he acted in his Mystical body: not being able to express himself by his own mouth, he spake by that of the Prophets, and gave Laws to all the Jews in the person of Moses.

His Power was increased by his Death: that which ruines the domi­nion of Princes, served onely to establish his Kingdom: he was never more absolute then upon the Cross; and that head crowned with thorns, was never more active then when he stood at bay: This Sun never darted forth more rays, then when he was in an eclipse; nor did the Son of God ever so gloriously triumph over his enemies, as when they upbraided him with his weakness, and rejoyced at his sufferings. Then was it that he concei­ved [Page 109]the Church in his wounds, that he gave his children life by his own death, that he encouraged his Apostles to Martyrdom; and providing Graces for all his Members, inspired them with strength to vanquish plea­sure, and subdue grief. For though the Son of God be the Head of men in all the conditions of life, because he was so before his birth; neverthe­less he exerciseth this Office in a time when others cannot: Hodie mecum eris in Paradi­so: Excedit humanum con­ditionem ista promissio, nec tam de ligno Crucis quàm de Throno editur potestatis. Leo. He founded his Church in dying; he acted like a Soveraigne, when they deprived him of life: he pardoned offenders, when they handled him as a delinquent: he disposed of the kingdom of heaven, when they disputed his kingdom upon earth; and making his power appear in his weakness, his innocence in his execution, and his grandeur in his affronts, he takes pleasure to con­found the pride of his enemies.

But me thinks there is no quality makes him shine forth with so much pomp upon the Cross, as that of being the Head: For besides that it was in this place that he offered up himself for his Elect, and by bonds as strong as they are secret, united them to his Person, that neither sin nor death can ever separate them from him; it was there that he made that wonderful Bargain with them, where charging himself with their sins, he invested them with his merits; and taking upon him the quality of a sin­ner, communicated to them that of innocents. There it was that he espou­sed the Church; and accomplishing that Figure which preceded in the person of Adam and Eve, he was willing to die, that his Spouse might live. For the holy Scripture, not without a Mystery, observes that Eve was taken from the side of Adam whilst he was asleep, that all the world might know that the Church must proceed from the side of Christ when he hung dead upon the Cross. God could, saith S. Augustine, have form­ed the woman of her husband whilst he was awake, had there not been some Mystery couched under that Ceremony; for if we say God chose that time to rid man from all sense of pain, it was too violent not to awaken him: and if we say man felt it not, because God wrought the work, he could as easily have taken away the rib when he was awake, as when he lay asleep: But he had a minde to express that in Paradise, which was to be acted upon mount Calvary; and teach us, that as Eve issued from the side of her sleeping husband, the Church should issue from the side of dying Jesus.

If this Mystery heightens the love and power of Jesus Christ, we must confess it augments withal the obligations Christians have to death and sufferings. For Christ conceived us in the midst of his wounds; we are the children of his sorrows; and his Church cost him much more pain and trouble then Eve did the first Adam: Sicut dormienti Adae costa de­trabitur, ut con­jux efficiatur; ita & Christo morienti de latere sanguis effunditur, ut Ecclesia construatur: communicantes nam (que) corpori & sanguini efficimur Ecclesia Christi conjux. Aug. His spouse never broke his sleep; she rose from his side without any pang or violence; he found himself happily married when he awoke; and he judged her a piece of [Page 110]himself, more from his inclination then his grief. But Jesus lost his life, to bestow it upon the Church; his body must be opened, and his heart pierced, to form his Bride: this Maid was to be sought for in the bowels of her Father; and an incision made into the side of the Parent, to be the Midwife to this Posthuma. As this Quality was dear bought, and like David he was fain to mingle his own blood with that of the Philistims, to purchase his Church, his minde is, that the children of so dolorous a Marriage breathe nothing but sufferings; and remembring that they are the babes of a God dying upon the Cross, they should pass their whole life in sorrow and tribulations: For, what likelihood is there, that, being born in pain and anguish, they should seek after delights and pleasure? That they should be crowned with Roses, when their Head was encircled with Thorns? That they should be ambitious after the glory of the world, since he that gave them being, died amongst ignominy and reproaches; or that they should seek revenge for their injuries, when he from whom they descend, begged, as a favour, the pardon of his enemies? Let us imitate our Chief, because he is our Example: let us remember that all our hap­piness depends upon our union and conformity with him. Let us often meditate that the Father loves none but his onely Son, That none can have a part in his Inheritance that is not united to Jesus Christ, That he onely can ascend up into heaven that came down from thence, That as there is but one Guilty man, so there is but one Innocent; and as all the Reprobate are involved in the sin of Adam, all the Predestinate are wrapt up in the grace of Jesus Christ.

The Third DISCOURSE. Of the strict Ʋnion of the Head with the Members, and of that of Jesus Christ with Christians.

ALl Polititians acknowledge that the Soveraign, being the Head of the State, is united with his Subjects; and that their union is so neer, that their interests are in common: He that offends the Prince, wrongs the State: he that attempts any thing against his sacred Person, wounds all those that live in his Kingdom: and as Nature teacheth all members to expose themselves for the preservation of their head, the Politicks teach all Subjects to venture themselves for the defence of their Soveraign. But forasmuch as the obligations are mutual and reciprocal, the same Politicks read a Lecture to Kings, that they are bound to preserve their Subjects, to spare their blood, and to handle offenders as corrupted members, which [Page 111]are never cut off from the body but with sorrow and necessity. The Prince must be sensible of every part of his State that perisheth; every blowe that lights upon it, pierceth his heart: and his love towards it must be such, that he be ready to lay down his life for them, when he shall judge their safe­ty to depend upon his death. This is the reason Seneca sometimes made use of to sweeten the cruel humour of Nero, and to instil clemency into the heart of that bloody Parricide. Thou, said he, art the head of the Com­mon-wealth; whence thou mayst ghess how necessary Clemency is to thee, since in pardoning others, thou art pitiful to thy self; and favouring thy subjects, art kinde to him that lives in them as in his members. If we believe this Philosopher, there was a time when Nero profited by this ad­vice; and this Truth had so powerful an impression upon his spirit, that he was witty to finde out pretences to spare the blood of delinquents: For, to use Seneca's own words; When there came an offender before him who was yet in the flower of his age, he pardoned his youth, Alterius aetate prima motus sum, alterius ul­tima; alium dignitati dona­vi, alium hu­militati; queties nullam invene­ram misericor­diae causam mi­hi peperci. Sen. lib. 1. de Clem. c. 1. and that ex­travagancy which ever accompanies it: when he was stricken in yeers, he pardoned his gray hairs, and left death the charge of the execution: when he was of a good House, he respected his birth; and balancing the good services of his Ancestors with his crimes, conceived he did justice to them in shewing mercy to him: when he was of an obscure mean Family, he contemned an offender whose example could not any way prejudice the Common-wealth: But when there was a prisoner presented whose crimes seemed to obstruct his Clemency, and command his Severity, he used an in­nocent stratagem; and remembring that he was the Head of that trans­gressing Member, he pardoned him in consideration of that Alliance, and spared himself in the person of that delinquent.

Though all this Discourse make it evident, that there is no stricter re­lation then that between Kings and their Subjects; yet must we confess 'tis rather Imaginary then Veritable: For, besides that experience teach­eth us, that Kings, who live in pleasure, seldom think of the miseries of their People; Reason instructs us, that there is nothing but Nature or Grace that can unite men to one another. All those Alliances that are founded onely upon Inclinations or Duty, stamp no Character; and if Re­ligion second not the Politicks, they can neither oblige Subjects to expose their lives for the safety of their Prince, nor Princes for that of their Sub­jects. Whatever Oracles Morality pronounceth upon this occasion, what­ever Colours Eloquence adorns the actions of Souldiers with who have spilt their blood for the honour of their Soveraigns, they never lookt up­on them as their Head: and if they set upon their enemies in spight of the thunder of the Canon, 'twas not so much for the preservation of their Person, as out of a hope of Glory, or expectation of a Reward. There is no true Alliance, but that which is established upon the Flesh, or upon the Spirit: and among so many Chiefs that govern their States, there is none but Jesus Christ that is really united with his Subjects: He lives in [Page 112]them by Grace; and as Faith and Charity are able to make him present in all his members, it is sufficient to be Faithfull or Charitable, to make up one part of his Mysticall Body.

Thence it comes to passe, that he shares with his members in all the Good or Evill they receive; that his Glory hinders him not from having a fellow-feeling of their miseries; and though in Heaven, yet ceaseth not to suffer with them upon Earth. The distance of place disjoyns him not from his Mysticall Body; he is with men, though among the Angels; and this Bridegroom that reigns with the Church Triumphant, fights yet with the Militant. These two Churches make up his Spouse; he loves them both as one; he gives himself to both of them, not imitating the Saints who leaving their ashes to the Church Militant, translate their souls to the Church Triumphant; he imparts himself to both without being divi­ded to either; and to take away all shadow of jealousie, resides as truly among the Faithfull, Caput nostrum est in coelo & nos in illo ibi sursum: Ecce jam pignus habomus unde nos fide & spe & charitate cum capite no­ [...]ro sumus in coelo in aeternū, quia & ipsum bonitate, divi­nitate, unitate nobiscum est in terra atque ad consummatione saeculi. Aug. in Psal. 26. Ser. 2. as among the Beatificall. He respects onely the dif­ference of their conditions in the favours he confers upon them; For the Church Triumphant being in possession, he discovers to them his beauties, declares to them his secrets, and gives them a portion of his felicity; But the Church Militant being still in hope, he hides his face to increase her love; he speaks to her darkly in Aenigma's to exercise her faith; he takes her into his sufferings, to increase her merits; nor does he shew himselfe to her, but under the vailes and curtaines of our Sacraments, to put an edge upon her desires; But he is equally united with both of them by that charity which makes him their Bridegroom and their Head.

We see also in the Scripture, that he is sensible of all the outrages that are done to his members; and that from Heaven above where he reigns, with the Angels, he suffers with the Faithfull upon the earth. When Saul persecuted the Infant Church, endeavouring to stiffle it in the Cradle; when rage in his heart, threats in his mouth, arms in his hands, sent him to make inquisition after her tender ones from Jerusalem as far as Damas­cus; the Son of God complains of this violence, as if done against his own Person; and the neer relation he hath contracted with them, obliged him to professe that in offending them, they wounded him: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Jesus Christ had sufficiently honoured the Faithfull, saith Saint Augustine, had he been contented to call them his Friends or his Brethren, and one so glorious a condition had shrowded them from the rage and fury of so cruell a persecutor; but he had prejudiced his love and his veracity, had he used other terms: Being the Head of the Chri­stians, and happily affianced to them, he must of necessity mingle their injuries with his; and to aggravate the greatnesse of this outrage, he in­formed him that was the Authour, that no man could offend the Christi­ans, but he must wound him; nor hurt men, but he must injure the only Son of God. Let us hear Saint Augustine upon this Subject, and see how he handles this mystery of Unity. Jesus Christ was in Heaven when hee [Page 113]converted Saint Paul, and of a Persecutor made him an Apostle: Whence comes it then that in reproaching him with his Crime, he saith, Saul, why persecutest thou me? This furious Assasinate, had he climbd up to Heaven to declare Warre against Iesus Christ? Meant he to imitate the pride of those ambitious Angels, that set upon him in the midst of his Glory? Saul persecuced the Christians, and not Iesus Christ that reigned with his Fa­ther in Heaven: But because he lived in the Faithfull, he suffered with his members, and established that Maxime which this Apostle was one day to preach; If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it: he uses this language to Saul, and speaks to him with an Emphasis, Why doest thou persecute me? The glory wherewith I am surrounded, renders thy attempts fruitlesse; and whatever hatred thou hast conceived against me, thou canst not injure my Greatnesse: Know neverthesse, that I live still in my Faithfull ones; that they are my members; that I am their Head; and that in persecuting them, thou persecutest me in their person. Ought not this my Brethren to astonish you? goes on Saint Augustine: seeing the same thing happens to us every day, and an ordinary and familiar ex­ample evidenceth the same truth; For when ye are in the throng of an Assembly, and some body treads upon your foot, your tongue presently complains: and though no body toucht it, cries out, you have hurt me; what means it by that expression? Might it not be replyed, you are in safety; the place you have in the body, secures you from danger: and if any part be offended, 'tis the foot, not you. In the mean time Truth and Charity require this language; for being in the same body with the foot, their good and bad are common; he that hurts one, hurts the other; the society that unites them, and the compassion that grows from their society, constraines it to utter the [...]e complaints, as just as they are true. Let us apply this comparison, and say, though Iesus Christ suffer not in his Person, he suffers in that of the Faithfull; that making up one body with them, he is sensible of their pains; and taking part in their wrongs, is of­fended when any one offends them.

By the same consequence, a Christian can doe no good to other Christi­ans, but the Son or God is beholding to him for it: For the Felicity he enjoyeth, exempts him from all want; nothing can be added to his riches by desires, and he is so great and so happy, that there is nothing he can either hope or fear: yet is he indigent in the faithfull, and he may be as­sisted in the person of the miserable; he protests that in that terrible day when he will examine the good and bad works of his Subjects, he will re­compence the good offices done to the poor, as done to himself; nor will make any difference between the good usage he received in his naturall body, and that he shall have received in his mysticall body; he will equal­ly pronounce sentence upon these different actions, and every where con­founding the Head with the Members, will punish with as much severi­ty, those that have persecuted him in the poor, as those that nailed him [Page 114]to the Crosse: That which yee did to one of the least of mine, yee did unto me. This truth ought to comfort the good, and strike terrour into the wicked: For if Iesus Christ live still in the distressed; if the condition of a Head, which he preserves in Glory, make him languish in the poor, we must needs conclude that those that oppresse them, are as guilty as the Pharisees that oppressed Jesus Christ; Though his Innocence was clouded under the likenesse of sinfull flesh, and the lustre of his Majesty obscured by the humility of his person; his enemies did despite to a God when they thought only to injure a Man, they committed a Parricide when they ima­gined they acted only a murder; and the Father punisheth them as guilty of Treason against the Divine Majesty, because the miracles of his Sonne took away all pretence from their zeal, and all excuse from their offence: The same judgement threatens those that persecute the poor; For though nothing of worth shine forth in them that can render them considerable; though Iesus be hid under the misery of their condition, and reason can­not discover a happy man under an unfortunate one; nor a Son of God under a child of Adam; he will not fail to punish them as severely as those that knew him not in Judea, because his words which are to be respected as Oracles, suffer us not to doubt of this verity which makes up one of the chiefest Articles of our Faith.

But if it be an argument of terrour to the wicked, 'tis a ground of com­fort and consolation to the godly; For they may still succour the Son of God in wretched and distressed people; they may imitate the piety of Martha and Mary Magdalen; they may enjoy the priviledges which make up the glory of those blessed women; they may still be the entertai­ners of Iesus Christ; and receiving him in the person of the poor and strangers, Ne quis ve­strum dicat, [...] beati qui Chri­stum suscipere in propriam do­mii meruerunt, noli dolere, noli murmurare quia temporibus natus es quando jam dominum non vides in carne: non tibi abstulit istam dignationem, cum uni inquit ex minimis me­is fecistis, mibi fecistis. Aug. Serm. 27. de Verb. Dom. participate in their merits who received him himself into their houses. The Son of God will not have us make any difference between his naturall and his mysticall body; his hands and his feet are not dearer to him then the poor: and all that is done to these may expect the same reward as that which was done to them. If we beleeve S. Chrysostome, there is more advantage by serving Christ in his afflicted members, then there was to wait upon him in his own Person, because there is more trou­ble in it; and as our senses meet with nothing that can flatter them in that exercise, our love is more pure, and more disinteressed. There was as much pleasure, as honour to perform acts of service to the Son of God, whilest he lived upon earth; the Majesty of his Countenance, the graci­ousnesse of his Aspect, the Charms of his Conversation, the Power of his Words, were recompence enough to them that received him into their houses; they had a certain adhaesion to his person, from whence they were to be separated by death. That visible presence which charmed their eyes, diminished their merit; and the love they bare to that body that was the workmanship of the Holy Ghost, had imperfections which were to be purified by elongation. But the Faithfull who serve the Son of God in [Page 115]the poor, are free from this danger; they behold nothing in these sad ob­jects that can please their sense; they must consult their faith to find Ie­sus Christ there; they must doe violence to themselves, to pay their ho­mage at those shrines; and that Image having no allurements, all their devotion betakes it self purely to seek after Iesus Christ in Heaven; But not to determine this difference, 'tis sufficient to know for our comfort, that Iesus Christ is in the Christians; that the glories of the one, and the miseries of the other, separate them not; that he suffers in us without any abatement of his Felicity; that we reigne in him, without any preju­dice to our merit; that he is upon the Earth, though cloathed with the Glories of Immortality; that we are in Heaven, though shrowded in the rags of misery; that in the difference of our conditions, Quoties ergo vi­demus aliquem indigentem, ag­noscamus Chri­stū in illo, quia & ipse indigens membrum Christi est. Bern. de Pass. Domi. cap. 32. there is a per­fect communication of good and bad things between him and us; that his Grace is ours, our sins are his; with this difference onely, that his Grace cancels our sins, and our sins despoile not him of his Innocence.

The Fourth DISCOURSE. That the Vnion of Christians with their Head is an Imitation of the Hypostaticall Vnion.

CHristian Religion acknowledgeth three wonderfull Unities which ex­ercise her Faith, enflame her Love, and entertain her Piety: The first is the Unity of Essence which is found in the Trinity: For the same Faith that [...]eacheth us there are three Persons in one God, teacheth us also that he subsists in one and the same Essence; and that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are but one God. This Truth soares so high above Humane Understanding, that it cannot be conceived otherwise then by the light of Faith. Reason would deceive, should she be consulted with in this mystery; Man would not be more faithfull, Considera quod voceris fidelis, non rationalis; si dicas hoc non est exponcre sed expositione fu­gere, respondeo in die judicii non damnor quia dicam nescivi naturam Dei mei; si a [...]tem aliquid temere dixero, temeritas poenam habas, ignorantia veuiam meretur. Aug. Ser. 1. de Trinitate. should he labour to be more rationall in this subject; and hee will fall into the Heresie of the Arrians, or into that of the Sabellians, did he not subject his Reason to his Faith. The second is the Unity of Person in Iesus Christ, which honours the Unity of Essence in the Trinity, though it be in some sort opposite thereto: For as there are three Persons in God, which pre­serve their differences in the Unity of their Nature, that the Trinity is [Page 116]neither confounded by the Unity, Decuit & cum summa qu [...] in Deo est, unitate congruere, ut quomo o ibi tres personae, una es­sentia; it a hic convenientissima quadam contra­rietate tres es­sentiae fint una persona. Bern. lib. 5. de Con­sider. cap. 9. nor the Unity divided by the Trinity: There are three Natures in Jesus Christ, that subsist in one and the same Person, and which, without losing their proprieties, make one compositi­on, which is called God-Man. There, by a strange prodigie, Flesh and Spirit agree with Divinity; neither are the two Others swallowed up in This: Each Nature preserves its rights; and as the soul is not debas'd by being engaged in the Flesh, the Divinity is not disparaged by being associ­ated to both: This shines forth by Miracles, the Other Two are obscured by Injuries: In a word, the Son of God never loseth his Equality with his Father, nor the Son of Man his Equality with his Mother. The third Unity is that of the Body, which is found between Christ and his Church: for though there be so much difference between these two Persons, Love hath combined them so neer together, that not confounding their proper­ties, he hath made there of but one Body whereof Jesus Christ is the Head, and the Faithful the Members: They live of one and the same Spirit; their Interests are common: though one raign triumphantly in heaven, the other suffer miserably upon earth, they fail not to be so perfectly knit to­gether, that the Body is happie in the Head, and the Head is afflicted in the Members. Of these Three admirable Unities, the Second adores the First, and the Third the Second: For the principal designe of the Word in his Incarnation, is, to honour the Trinity of the Divine Persons by the Trinity of his Natures, and to pay homage to the Unity of the Divine Es­sence, by the Unity of his Person. This Divine Compound is an Image of the Trinity: it declares the wonders thereof by its constitution; nei­ther did he take pleasure to unite the Flesh and the Spirit with the Divini­ty, but to express to the Faithful the ineffable Unity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the difference of their personal proprie­ties. Indeed this incomprehensible Mystery was not preached among the children of men, till the Word became Incarnate; and their Understand­ing clarified with the light of Faith, began not to conceive the Trinity of the Persons in the Unity of the Divine Essence, till it conceived the Trinity of the Natures in the Unity of the Person of the Word. Finally, the Third Unity renders honour to the Second, seeing Jesus Christ entred not into society with his Church, but in pursuance of the affinity he had con­tracted with Humane Nature. It seems he was willing to extend the my­stery of the Incarnation, in that he made all men his Members, to make them the children of God; and not being able, or not vouchsafing to unite himself personally with every Christian, he became united to them in the unity of the Spirit and of the Body. The First of these Marriages is the example of the Second; and we cannot well express the Union of Je­sus Christ with his Church, but by that of the Word with our Nature. The Resemblances are so wonderful, that they justly deserve this Discourse, to see if we can clear them.

The chiefest secret of this mystery, is, that the Plurality of Nature de­stroys [Page 117]not the Unity of the Person: Verbum caro factum unus est Christus, ubi ni­hil est alterius naturae [...]quod sit utriusque. D. Leo. Serm. 10. de nat. Dom. For though the Flesh have its weak­nesses, and the Divinity its perfections in Jesus Christ; 'tis nevertheless an admirable Compound, that preserves its unity in the difference of its Na­tures: he acts sometimes as God, sometimes as Man; receives the ado­rations of Angels, and the injuries of Men; that obeys his Father, and commands with him; suffers upon the Cross, and reigns in Glory; that's buried with the dead in the Grave, and triumphs over the devil in hell. But in these different conditions he ceaseth not to be one and the same sub­ject, who accommodating himself to the proprieties of his Natures, mixes Greatness with Humility, Joy with Sorrow, Repentance with Innocence, without interessing his Person. The same wonder is met with in the Mar­riage of Christ with his Church: they are different in their qualities; and 'tis a strange effect of Love, that was able to finde out a means to unite to­gether two subjects whose conditions are so dissonant: The one is Sove­raign, because God; the other a slave, because redeemed: the one inno­cent, the other guilty; the one reigns in Eternity, the other sighs and groans in Time: nevertheless their Union is so strict, that, without con­founding their properties, they compose one and the same Body, and both together make up but one onely Jesus Christ. Whence it comes to pass, that S. Augustine, who after S. Paul hath best understood this Mystery, Totus Christus secundum Eccle­siam & caput & corpus est, non quia sinc corpore non est integer, sed quia & nobiscū inte­ger esse dignatus est, qui & sine nobis semper est integer. Verun­tamen fratres quomodo corpus ejus nos, si non & nobiscum u­num Christus? Aug. in Serm. Quod tribusmo­dis Christus in­telligitur. delivers these words: One onely Jesus Christ, is the Body and the Head of the Church; not that he is not entire without this Body; but he that is entire without us as Man and God, was pleased to be entire with us as Head: For how shall we be one Body with him, if he were not one Christ with us? and how shall he speak in our person, if he give us not the liberty to speak in his? Jesus Christ, then, and the Church, make up but one Body; and both of them together make that admirable Compound, which, by reason of the difference of its parts, bears sometimes the name of Jesus Christ, and sometimes the name of the Church.

This leads us to the second Resemblance between the Union of the Humanity with the Divinity, and that of Jesus Christ with the Faithful: For the former is so perfect, that without offending the two Natures that subsist in the Word, all that may be said of the one, which is said of the other. The Communication of Properties, produceth that of Idiomes; and, without uttering blasphemies, we attribute to Man all that may be attributed to God. Thus, without doing any violence to Truth, we say, that God is Man, and that Man is God; that Man commands over Death, that God is subject to the dominion thereof; that Man contains the whole world in his Innocency, and that God is inclosed in the chaste womb of a Virgin; that Man bears rule with his Father, and that God obeys with his Mother. All these manners of speech, which else had been blasphe­mies, are now great Verities: and as if the Word had been willing to sa­tisfie the unjust passion of Man that desired to be God, he hath exalted him to his Greatness, in uniting him to his Person; and by priviledge hath [Page 118]conferred that upon him by Grace, which by Nature he was no ways able to attain unto. Such is the Union of Jesus Christ with his Church: the communication of their Goods, hath produced the communication of Dia­lects: we speak of them so confusedly, that there are no Elogies given to Jesus Christ, which may not be given to his Spouse: he loads himself with her sins, and cloathes her with his merits; he gives her part of his inno­cence, and covers himself with her unrighteousness: so that without pre­judicing the Greatness of Jesus Christ, and the Modesty of the Church, we may say, The Church is perfect in her Head, and the Head imperfect in his Members; the Church knows all things in her Head, and Jesus Christ learns in his Members; the Church is innocent in her Head, and Jesus Christ guilty in his Members. Thus is it that S. Augustine interprets the words of the Prophet, Deus, Deus meus, ut quid me dereliqui­sti? Quare hoc dicitur, nifi quia nos ibi eramus, nisi quia corpus Christi Ecclesia? quomodo dicit delictorum meo­rum, nisi quia pro delictis no­stris ipse preca­tur, & delict a nostra sua fecit ut juftitiam no­stram suam fa­ceret? Aug. in Psal. 24. Ex­pos. 2. Longe à salute mea ve [...]ba delictorum meorum; and findes that this language that so happily expresseth the love of the Son of God, does no way prejudice his innocence. Indeed because he is the Head of the Church, and this quality unites him with his Members, it obliges him to speak of their sins as of his own, to pay those debts for them he ne­ver contracted, and in their name to satisfie the justice of his Father he had no ways offended. How, saith the same S. Augustine, could Jesus Christ make this discourse without wounding his Innocence and Truth it self? How could he attribute sins to himself, that never committed any? How can we believe him true, when he made his confession upon the Cross, were it not that we acknowledge he applied our offences to himself, that he might communicate our righteousness to him; and by the communica­tion between the Head and the Members, he is charged with our Crimes, to enrich us with his Merits?

This will not seem strange to those that shall consider another paral­lel between the Marriage of the Humanity with the Divinity, and that of Jesus Christ with the Church: For though Joy and Sorrow be as incom­patible as Sin and Innocence, since, according to the doctrine of S. Augu­stine, man became not miserable, till he became criminal; we observe nevertheless both of them in the Person of the Son of God, from the ve­ry moment of his Incarnation: he joyned pain with pleasure during the course of his whole life: he tasted the felicity of Angels, and resented the miseries of men: he is happie and afflicted; and, contrary to all the laws of Nature and Grace, a glorious soul informs a passive body; and that which beholds the Divine Essence, Tristis est ani­ma mea usque ad mortem. is obliged to make complaints and shed tears. Therefore is it that I have always reverenced that Ancient who call'd Jesus Christ a Paradox, because his composition startles Humane Reason, associating in his Person Joy and Grief, Innocence and Guilt; in a word, the Majestie of a God, with the Weakness of a Man. But inas­much as this Mystery was unconceiveable, because hid, Jesus Christ was willing to manifest it by the union he contracted with the Church: For there may be seen an Image or Representation of that which passed here­tofore [Page 119]in the person of the Son of God: pleasure may be observed with pain; and by a strange wonder, Jam in caelo est, & hic laborat, quamdiu labo­rat Ec [...]lesia; his Christus esuris, hic sitit, nudus est, hespes est; quicquid enim patitur corpus ejus se dixit pae­t [...]. Aug. the condition of the Blessed twisted with that of the Miserable one; and the same Jesus is still a Sufferer, and still Glorious; he reigns with his Father in heaven, and suffers with his People upon earth: he triumphs in the Angels, and sighs in the Martyrs: he is rich in Eternity, and poor in Time: he makes liberal largesses in his Glory, and receives presents in his Poverty: and he that possesseth all things in Himself, hath need of all things in his Members.

Finally, to conclude these Resemblances, the Word uniting it self to the Humanity, stoops to exalt it; and enters into its Imperfections, to give it admittance into his Power. For though the Manhood remain in its natural condition, yet was it adorned with so many Graces by this sacred Marriage, that it became happily acceptable, and found it self in a free necessity to love God, without being able to offend him; it appeared san­ctified as soon as conceived, glorious as soon as reasonable; and by a pri­viledge which neither Men nor Angels shall ever enjoy, it was no sooner drawn out of Nothing, but was united to the Eternal Word. These Mi­racles would remain without an Example, did we not perceive some sha­dows thereof in the conjunction of Jesus Christ with the Church: For, in chusing her for his Spouse, he hath endowed her with all the advantages so noble an Alliance could exact: he hath made her worthy of his Love, from the very first moment he began to love her; and more powerful then those Bridegrooms who can onely advantage those they love in riches or honours, he hath adorned her with all the graces her dignity could require, or her condition suffer: For if she be not yet glorious in all her Mem­bers, if she sigh in the Poor, be a captive in the Prisoner, 'tis because the Land of dying mortals where she lives, is not capable of all the priviledges of her Bridegroom; yet may she boast, that she possesseth in her Head what she wants in her Body; tastes that in the Blessed, which she cannot taste in the Faithful; and if she be Militant upon Earth, is Triumphant in Heaven. But nothing so much advanceth the Graces she hath received from Jesus Christ, as the offences she committed during her Infidelity. For she broke her word in the first of her children; she listened to the promises of the Serpent by the ear of our first mother; she erected Altars to devils by the hands of Idolaters; she uttered blasphemies by the mouth of Libertines; she had committed as many Adulteries, as she had ado­red False Deities; and her crimes emboss'd one upon another, had bran­ded her with the ignominious titles of Perfidiousness, Adultery, and Im­pudence. In the mean time, her Beloved forgave her all these faults, wip'd away all her spots in the Laver of Baptism; and making her a Bath of his own Blood, returned her at the same time Holiness, Innocence, and Beau­ty. But as his Power is equal to his Love, he undertook a thing that Na­ture never durst attempt: For finding her, saith S. Augustine, in her prosti­tution, he restored her her Purity; of an Adultress, he made her a Virgin; [Page 120]and repeating that miracle which he never wrought for any but his Mo­ther and his Spouse; Nuptiae Spiri­tuales in quibus nobis magna castitate viven­dum est sunt Christi & Ec­clesiae, quia Ec­clesiae concessit Deus in Spiritu quod mater e­jus habuit in corpore ut Ma­ter & Virgo sit. Aug. he bestowed Virginity with Pregnancy, that being pure she might not complain that she was barren; and being fruitfull, she might not bee reproached as impure. Thus the Church is treated by Christ her Beloved, as he treated Humane Nature; he hath honoured her with all the priviledges he bestowed upon his own Body; and letting us see an Image of the Hypostaticall Union in the Mysticall Union he con­tracted with his Spouse, he hath shewed us the dignity of a Christian, that being a member of Iesus Christ he may aspire to the Glory of his Head, and promise himself that having suffered with him upon Earth, he shall one day reign with him in the Heavens.

The Fifth DISCOURSE. That Jesus Christ treats his Mysticall Body with as much Charity as his Naturall Body.

THere is no Christian so little acquainted with the Mysteries of our Religion, but knows that the Son of God hath two Bodies; the one Naturall, the other Mysticall; the former he had from his Mother, who yeelding her consent to the Angel, furnished blood, whereof the Holy Chost formed the Body of her only Son: The second he hath from the Church, which springing from his wounds upon Mount Calvary, gives him as many Members as she bears Beleevers in her chaste Bosome; Nonne in figu­ra Mariae ty­pum videmus Sanctae Eccle­fiae? ad hanc u­tique [...]scen lit Sanctus Sp [...]ri­tus, huic virtus altissimi obum­bravit; binc Christus potens vi tute egr [...]di­tur: Ecclesia viro immacula­ta concubitu, foecunda partu conc pit non vi­ro sed Spiritu. Aug. ser. 10. de Temp. and makes him Head of all that acknowledge her for their Mother, and whom shee owns for her Children. These two Bodies have so much affinity, that 'tis hard to judge which of them Jesus Christ loves best; and their priviledges so like, that 'tis easily perceived they belong both to one God. For besides that they are both formed by the Holy Ghost, and the Mo­thers that conceived them, cease not to be pure; notwithstanding they are pregnant, they enjoy the same favours, and are equally precious to the Son of God: His Naturall Body by time received its full growth, though he were perfect at the moment of conception; he was so little, that no­thing but Faith could comprehend him to be the Temple of the Eternall Word; his Members were fashioned in the space of nine moneths; the naturall heat enlarged and fortified them, and the nourishment they re­ceived, gave them that just proportion Children ought to have at their Birth. It was no small proof of the Humility of Iesus Christ, saith Saint Augustine, that he was willing to condescend to the Laws of Nature, and waving his absolute power, expect with patience till his members were fa­shioned [Page 121]to be born in the fulnesse of time. Statim lucem lacrymis auspi­catus, molestus uberibus, diu infans, vix puer, tarde homo. Tert. He handles his Mysticall Bo­dy after the same manner, expects its perfection with gracious tendernesse, waits for those members his Father pleases to adde in the continuance of years; he sees his Spouse grow up with joy, and from heaven above is ra­vished when the Church by Baptism, or by Repentance, bestows upon him new Subjects to the compleatment of this Mysticall Body. Sometimes he sees the Sauls become part of that whole they have endeavoured to destroy; Sometimes he receives Augustines, and drawing them from Er­rour to Truth, makes them his Disciples and his Members; Sometimes he converts other sinners, and associating them to his Person with himself, compleats his Church. 'Tis true, as this Body is much greater then the Naturall, there is required much more time to give it its ultimate perfe­ction: The Naturall was accomplished in twenty five years; it had all its bignesse when 'rwas nailed to the Crosse, neither was any thing wanting to that Master-piece of the Holy Ghost, but Glory, which was deferred till the Resurrection, because it had hindered the work of our Salvation: But the Mysticall commenced with the world; nor shall end but with that Fabrick: Adam and Abel were the first parts; the Patriarchs and Pro­phets, the Apostles and the Faithfull continue it; and the last predesti­nated, shall accomplish it at the end of the world. Its full measure shall not be till the generall Resurrection, and there will something still bee wanting to its perfection, till the number of the Elect be compleated.

The Naturall Body could not grow, but all the members must grow with it: For there is such a Harmony in mans body, that nature travels at the same time to perfect the whole Compositum: The nourishment turned into blood, passeth through the veins to the remotest parts; one and the same matter takes a thousand different forms; and the same ali­ment changeth the qualities, that it may equally supply the needs of all the members. Jesus Christ was subject to these Laws whilest he lived among men; the meat he eat, assimilated into his substance; every part took what was needfull for it; and whilest his hands that were to work so many miracles were strengthned, his legs that were to bear him over all Palestine, were alike fixed and consolidated. 'Tis so with his Mysticall Body; the parts that compose it, grow according to their employments; they take their bulk and nourishment from his Word, and from his Grace; nothing remains uselesse in that great Body; every particular hastens to perfection, and in the difference of conditions, all the members receive their growth and dimension. This is it that the Apostle had a minde to acquaint us with by those words, which being well understood, will great­ly serve to the clearing of this mystery: Speaking the truth in love, let us grow in him thorough all things, who is the Head Christ; From whence we learn, that we grow not in our selves, but as much as we grow in Jesus Christ; and that 'tis from the union we contract with him, that our great­nesse and perfection is derived.

Both these Bodies were a Sacrifice to God; assoon as Iesus Christ was Incarnate, he immolated himself to his Father in the Womb of his Mo­ther; he made it appear by the thoughts of his heart, that he respects his body as a Holocaust, and he testifieth by the language of his Prophets, reported by his Apostles, that he was cloathed with our flesh only to make an oblation of it. Sacrifice wouldest thou not, but a body hast thou pre­pared me. His design is to supply the unprofitablenesse of the Law, to offer to his Father a Victime well-pleasing to him, and meritorious for us, that finding our salvation in his losse, we might be reconciled to God by his Death; Id Sacrificium succedit omni­bus illis sacrifi­ciis veteris Te­stamenti quae immolabantur in umbra futu­ri, propter quod dicit Oblationē noluisti, corpus autem aptasti mihi, quia pro illis omnibus sacrificiis, & oblationibus corpus ejus of­fertur, & par­ticipantibus mi­nistratur. Aug. lib. 16. de Civ. Dei. His mother who was as well acquainted with his designes, offered him in the Temple in that Spirit; and Simeon answering her thought, speaks to her onely of her sorrows; A Sword shall passe thorow thy Soul. Iesus Christ exhibited himself as a Sacrifice during his life; he entertains his Disciples with this Discourse, and testifies he was not at rest till he should be offered up for an oblation: He finished in the arms of the Crosse what he had begun in the Womb of his Mother; he was immolated to his Father by the hands of the Executioners; he made their fury serviceable to his piety; and of a Gibbet erected an Altar; of a Sa­criledge, a Sacrifice; of a Patient, a Holocaust; he fully satisfied the Iu­stice of his Father; Thus his Mysticall Body is a Victime which he daily offers for the glory of the same Father; He will have every beleever im­molated, that the members imitating their Head, may have the honour to lose their life in the holy severity of an acceptable sacrifice. Therefore doth Saint Paul so often invite us to discharge this duty; he speaks to us of nothing but Oblations and Altars; he exhorts us to offer our selves to God in a sweet smelling savour, and he would have us looking upon our selves as reasonable and living sacrifices; our whole life should be but one continued Oblation. Saint Augustine treading in the steps of his Master, teacheth us the same Truth, and far differing from their judgement, who would mingle Roses with Thorns in Christianity, tels us, that the life of the Faithfull, if it be ordered according to the Maximes of the Gospel, is but a languishing and a painfull Martyrdome.

This Circumstance discovers another; and the Sacrifice of these two Bodies, leads me insensibly to their persecution: For the Natural Body of the Son of God was not exempted from sorrow, because innocent; his Trials began with his Life; he had Enemies assoon as he had Subjects; and if he saw Kings at his Cradle paying their Homages, Positus est in signum cui con­tradicetur. Luc. 2. he saw others conspiring his Death: He was forced to commit his Safety to his Flight; to seek an Asylum in Egypt, and to passe his minority in a Countrey where his people spent the years of their Infancy; the continuance of his life was not much different from his beginning; hee lived not in security, but whilest he lived unknown, hee purchased his quiet with the losse of his Glory; nor did he see himself without Enemies, but during the time he got his living by the sweat of his brows. Assoon as ever he began to ap­pear, [Page 123]he began to be persecuted; Passionem autē Christi non illū diem solum ap­pellamus quo mortuus f it, sed totam vitam ejus. Tota enim vita Chri [...]i crux fuit & Martyrium. Bernard. The Preaching of the Gospel drew up­on him the hatred of the Pharisees; the lustre of his miracles made an end of him; they plotted his death when he had raised Luzarus from the grave; and the rage of these cruell men ended not with this life; for they made war upon him after his death; they endeavoured to destroy his Mysticall Body, having destroyed his Naturall Body; and God suffered them to have successours in their malice, that the condition of these two Bodies might be alike. Indeed the Church never wanted persecutors, she hath seen all the Princes of the Earth armed against her Children; Three full Ages have exercised her patience; she hath watered the whole Earth with her blood; neither is there any corner in the world, wherein she hath not given testimony of her courage. The conversion of Heathen Princes hath not been the end of her persecutions; Sinners have succeeded Tyrants; the good have found tormentors in the person of the wicked; Every beleever hath found by experience, that the Maxime of Saint Paul is true, and that it is impossible to live piously, and not to be persecuted: All those that will live godlily in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecution.

Indeed their persecution hath appeared glorious, and 'tis in this parti­cular, that they have another resemblance to the Naturall Body of the Son of God: For his Father glorified him upon the Crosse; hee would have his Innocence known at his Death, that his Executioners should be the first witnesses of it; that to the confusion of the Jews the Judge that condemned him should make his Apology; that the Theeves that suffered with him should publish his Royalty; and the Soldiers that nailed him to the Crosse, become his Adorers. But as if so many miracles had not sufficiently magnified his onely Son, he would have whole Nature weare mourning for him; The Sun must bewail his Death, and the Earth trem­ble with amazement; the rocks cleave asunder with pangs of sorrow, and all creatures celebrate the obsequies of a dying God. Indeed there never was a more dolefull and more august solemnity then what appeared at the Death of Jesus Christ. Men lament the death of their Soveraigns; they expresse some sadnesse, though for the most part 'tis either counterfeit, or interessed; Those that expected their liberality, are afflicted at their death; those that feared their power or their displeasure, rejoyce: But were they so generally beloved, that the regret was universall, at least we must con­fesse that Nature would not weep over their Funerals, she would be insensi­ble of their death, nor would she disorder her Course to witnesse her La­mentation. This honour was reserved for Jesus Christ; There was never any King but he, registred by quick and dead. None but this Innocent drew tears from the Stars; and the Son of God is the only Soveraign, whose obsequies all creatures solemnly attended. 'Tis true his Mysticall Body partakes of this honour with him: Nature hath many times wrought miracles to publish the Innocence of Martyrs; the fire hath lost his heat, that it might not be instrumentall to their punishment; wilde Beasts have [Page 124]waxed tame at their feet, Omnes Mar­tyres Deus Spi­ritualiter libe­ravit, neminem Spritualiter deseruit, visibili­ter tamē quosdā deseruisse visus est, & quosdam eripuisse, sed ideo quosdam eripuit, nepu­tes illum non potuisse eripere; ubi non cripuit secretiorem in­telligas volun­tatem. Aug. Tract. 8. in E­pist. 10. and acknowledging in them a Grace more pow­erfull then that of Originall Righteousnesse, they have many times forgot that fiercenesse the sin of man indued them with. The Sea hath suffered violence to preserve them; hath gently transported them upon his waves, or suspending his waters as it were into Wals and Arches, hath e­rected them Temples in his lowest Abysses. But the Scripture whose eve­ry word is an Oracle, teacheth us, that the death of the Mysticall Body of Christ shall receive the same honours at the end of the world, that his Naturall Body received in Mount Calvary: For when the number of the Elect shall be perfect, when Jesus Christ coming to judge the quick and the dead, shall cut off the corrupted members from his Mysticall Body, and remove those from his person that were united to it only by a vain Character, and an unprofitable Faith, the same prodigies that appeared at his death, shall appear at this Judgement; and according to the lan­guage of the Fathers, Nature that bewailed Jesus Christ in his Naturall Body, shall bewail him again in his Mysticall Body: and all creatures shall put on mourning for the death of their Soveraign.

Finally, these two Bodies shall have the same destiny after their Resur­rection, as they had the same during their Life; for the one shall be glo­rified as the other, and they shall both receive the recompence due to their labours: The Son of God rose gloriously out of his Tomb after he had given assurance to his Apostles; he was taken up into Heaven, to reign there eternally with his Father; The Angels made a part of his Triumph; the Captives he delivered from the Lymbo's waited upon him; those gates of Brasse and Steel that had been shut since the sin of Man, opened at his word; and his Body that was pierc'd with the nails, rent with stripes, torn with thorns, was set at the right hand of his Father upon a Throne, whose ornament was Justice, and the foundation Mercy: His Mysticall Body shall always receive the same glorious entertainment; the Faithfull are admitted into the company of the Blessed; the Saints shall reign in Hea­ven with the Angels; they shall be mingled in their Hierarchies according to their merits; and as heretofore of the Jew and Gentile, was made one Church Militant, of Men and Angels is daily made one Church Trium­phant; The bodies of the Faithfull shall accompany their souls in glory in the generall Resurrection; those members that have suffered in the quarrell of Jesus Christ, shall be freed from all miseries; the Divine Pro­vidence shall rouze them out of their dormitories by the clattering sound of a miraculous trumpet; it will find in spite of the flames, those that have been burnt to ashes; in spite of the waters those that have been swal­lowed up in the deep; and working as many miracles as there shall be di­versities of death to overcome, shall treat the Faithfull as it hath already treated Jesus Christ; so that we may say of both the Bodies of the Son of God, those glorious words of the Apostle, Great is the Mysterie of Godlinesse: Indeed 'tis a Sacrament of Piety, that the Word was pleased [Page 125]to be allied to our nature, and to the Church, to have a Naturall Body, and a Mysticall Body, Which was manifested in the flesh; both of them were manifested in the flesh, because it was requisite that the Word should be made Incarnate to Espouse his Church: Justified in the Spirit; Both of them were justified in the Spirit, because they are purely his work, and the Regeneration of Beleevers is an Image of the Birth of Je­sus Christ: Seen of Angels; Both of them appeared to Angels, in that the same Spirits that waited upon the Son of God, assisted his Spouse, and extend their care over all her children: Preached to the Gentiles, be­leeved on in the world. Both of them were preached to the Gentiles by the Apostles, and the mystery of the Incarnation joyned to that of their Vo­cation, hath made up the best part of the Gospel. Both of them were beleeved on in the world, nor hath any thing more perswaded us of our future greatenesse, then the condescention of the Eternall world; Recei­ved up into Glory: Finally, both of them were exalted into Glory, there to reign everlastingly, that the blessedness of Iesus Christ may have its ac­complishment, and he be as happy in his Members as in his Person.

The Sixt DISCOURSE. That the Church is the Spouse of Jesus Christ, be­cause she is his Body, and of the Community of their Marriage.

ONe of the ancientest qualities of Iesus Christ, is that of a Bride­groom; Tanquam spon­sus procedens de thalamo suo Psal. 18. the Prophets have honoured him with this title in the Old Testament; David in the forty fifth Psalm, hath made his Epithala­mium, and Saint Iohn, who was the end of Types and Figures, and the Silence of the Prophets, gave out that he was the Friend of the Bride­groom: But Adam is the first that descovered to us this mystery, and by his marriage represented to us that of Iesus Christ with his Church: For besides that his wife was taken out of his side whilst he lay asleep, as the Church was out of the side of the Son of God, when he was dead; we know that the Laws of that marriage more respected the second Adam then the first: He having neither Father nor Mother, was not obliged to forsake them to cleave unto his wife; But Iesus Christ at his Incarnation, left his Father when he took upon him the form of a Servant, and his Mother at his Passion, when he suffered death for Sinners; All his Acti­ons testifie that he considers his Church as his Spouse, and the Faithfull as his Children, because he was willing to enter into their humiliations, and to exalt them to his Greatnesses; For though the Church be not Ie­sus Christ, nor Iesus Christ the Church, yet their union is so strict, that [Page 126]they are two in one flesh; two in one voice, two in one passion, and two in one rest. Indeed if we examine these words well, we shall find that they contain the chiefest conditions of the marriage of Iesus Christ with his Church; and that they clearly explaine the priviledges which the quality of being members of the Son of God, bestows upon the Faith­full. They are both in one flesh, because the Church is born of Iesus Christ upon the Crosse, and that the Sacraments which produce and pre­serve her issued from the wounds of her Beloved; They are two in the same flesh, because in the Eucharist he nourisheth her with his Body and Blood; and in that mystery tries to transform her into himself, as hee was transformed into her in the Incarnation, when he was made Man to become her Beloved. Wherefore Saint Augustine hath very well ob­served, Ut noveritis quia unus dici­tur Christus, caput & corpus suum ipse dicit cum de conjugio loqueretur; sunt duo in carne u­na; ergo jam non duo sed caro una; sed forte hoc dicit de quocunque con­jugio: Auli Paulum, Ego autem dico in Christo & Ec­clesia: fit ergo ex duobus una quaedā persona, ex capite & corpore, ex spon­so & sponsa. Aug. in Psal. 30. that the Church was all things to Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ was all things to his Church; She is his Mother, because she con­ceived him in the womb of the Virgin; she is his Daughter, because she was born of his death, and proceeding from his wounds, honours as her Father him whom she loves as her Bridegroom; she is his Sister, because she fulfils the will of the Father, and obtains that quality by her obedi­ence. Thus Jesus Christ and his Church are truly allied by flesh, and may upon a better title then other conjugall parties say in the difference of their conditions they are but one Body.

They have also but one voice, because they always speak together; the Church is the Organ of her Beloved, and Iesus Christ is the interpreter of his Church; He expressed himself by her mouth before he was born upon Earth; he speaks yet by her now that he is ascended up into Hea­ven: and as their interests are inseparable, their prayers are common, and their language is equally entertained by the Father. Thence it comes to passe that Saint Augustine unfolding this profound mystery, teacheth us, that the Son of God carries himself diversly towards the Faithfull, accor­ding to the different qualities that separate, or unite him to them. He intercedes for them as their Chief Priest, whose principall Office is to offer up mens prayers, and to draw down blessings from Heaven upon their heads: He hears their supplications with his Father, to whom he is equall in Majesty; he is willingly overcome by the tears of the distres­sed, and having prayed for them as their Priest, he hears them as their God: Finally, he prays in them as their Head, he delivers the Word in the name of his Body; he defends the interests of his members; he pleads his own cause in pleading theirs, and asks a Grace for himself, in beg­ging mercy for them. Thence it comes to passe that the Father giving way to the Prayers of his Son, so easily lends an ear to the Petitions of the Church, because hee ownes the voice of Jesus Christ in that of his Spouse, and grants that to the merits of the one, which he might justly refuse to the demerits of the other. He might answer us as David some­times did that widow that made so eloquent a speech to him in behalf of [Page 127] Absalom, Is not the hand of Joab with thee in this? Loquatur Chri­stus in nobis, ut quem gerimus iu pectore babe­amus in cre. Cypr. For when he un­derstands the innocent voice of his Son mingled with ours, and sees that we make use of the merits and arguments of Jesus Christ to perswade him, he may say to every sinner, Is not the hand of Christ with thee in this? Or beholding the accomplishment of that Figurative History acted here­tofore in the family of Isaac, where the Cadet got the blessing of his fa­ther by a mysterious surprise, he might say, The hands are Esau's, but the voice is Jacob's, because 'tis true that the voice of the Son of God covers many times our bad actions, and his innocent mouth obtains Graces for us in stead of punishments our guilty hands would deservedly draw down up­on us.

Oftentimes, out of an excess of love, he loads himself with our sins; and, forgetting his Greatness, appears before his Father as a Delinquent; he puts on the habit of a servant, takes the place of rebels; and making a change advantageous for them, takes their Offences, and puts upon them his Merits. Thence it comes to past, that on the Cross, where he stands the Caution of Sinners, he complains that his Father forsakes, though he be inseparable from him; and beholding himself as the Victim of Sin, useth language unworthy of his Innocence, but worthy of his Love, Orator ergo in forma Det orat in forma servi; ibi creator, hic creatus, creatu­ram mutandam non mutatus as­sumens, & se­cum nos faciens unum hominem caput & corpus; oramus ergo ad illum, per illum, in illo, & dici­mus cum illo, & dicit nobiscum longe à salute mea verb a deli­ctorum. Aug. praef. in Ps. 85. and the con­dition he was in. This is it that S. Augustine acquaints us with in that dis­course that comprebends as many Mysteries as Words. If we consider Jesus Christ as equal to his Father, he hears our prayers with him: if we consider him in the form of a servant, as like to sinenrs, he presents his prayers with them: there he is the Creator, here he is created; but remaining unchange­able, is united to his Creature, to change him; and makes himself one man with him, whereof they are joyntly the Head and Body. Thus sometimes we pray to him, and sometimes also we pray in him, and he prays with us; he speaks by our mouth, we by his; and living in one and the same Body, we many times use the same language. 'Tis in the view of this Mystery that S. Augustine hath discovered a Secret to explain all those passages that seem to concern the Innocence of Jesus Christ: For, as by consequence of the Marriage contracted with the Church, he is included in her obligations, he speaks many times in the person of the Church: and, that we mistake not, we must have this alliance always before our eyes, and not be astonished that the Son of God, who hath vouchsafed to bear our miseries, hath been pleased to speak our language. The Church, saith that great Doctor, is made up of all the Faithful, Quia ergo totus Christus caput est & corpus Ec­clesiae, prepter a in omnibus Psal­mis sic audiamus voces capitis, ut audiamus voces corporis. Aug. in Psal. 56. because all the Faithful are the Members of Jesus Christ: Though her Head be in heaven, he fails not to guide her upon earth; and though separated by the distance of places, ceaseth not to be united to her by charity. Wherefore Christ making the Head and the Body, we ought not in the Psalms to separate the voice of the Head from that of the Body, nor think it strange that he that never deserted the Church, never held other language then his Spouse did. This it it that he treats of elsewhere, in clearer and fuller terms: If Jesus be our Head, [Page 128]and we his Body, the Head and the Body compose whole Jesus Christ; nor is Jesus Christ entire, if he comprehend not both. This Maxime must serve us as a light to explain the Scripture by; with which if we are not always enlightned, we are in danger to mistake: For sometimes we meet with words that cannot be applied to the Head, and which would involve us in an errour, or in doubt, did we apply them to the body; there are others that cannot be appropriated to the Body, and yet are uttered by Jesus Christ: To unravel these difficulties, we need but attribute to the Head what cannot agree to the Body; remembring that Jesus Christ speaks sometimes in his own person, and sometimes in the person of the Church: He spake certainly in her name, when he complained that his Father had forsaken him; because we know very well, the Son was never abandoned by the Father, were it not when he sustained the person of Adam, who was forsaken of God as soon as he became guilty.

But because this Truth is but too evident, let us pass to the Third con­dition of the Marriage of Jesus Christ with his Church, and see how they are two in one and the same passion. One of the chiefest effects of Love, is, Anima est ma­gis ubi amat quàm ubi ani­mat. to make us Live where we Love, and to make us Suffer where we Live: Experience better perswades us of this Maxime then Reason; and 'tis needless to prove a Truth which every man may evidence in himself. A fa­ther knows he is more affected with the sorrows of his children then with his own: a husband is not ignorant that he sufters less in his own person then in that of his wife: and all Lovers proclaim, that the injuries or dis­contents of their Mistresses wound them deeper then those that fall upon themselves. Siqua sides vulnus quod feci non dolet inquit; Sed quod in fa­cies hoc mihi Paetc dolet. Mart. That generous gallant wife was well acquainted with this Axiome, who protested she felt not the blowe the Poniard gave her self, but onely that which her husband was resolved to receive. As Charity, which unites Jesus Christ to the Church, is stronger then Conjugal love, so doth it more advantageously produce this effect in them; Their suffer­ings are common; the Son of God suffers no sorrows which the Church resents not, and the Church endures no torments which the Son of God complains not of: Therefore hath S. Augustine said, that the Church suffered in Jesus Christ, when jesus Christ suffered for the salvation of the Church; and that Jesus Christ suffered in the Church, when the Church was persecuted for the glory of Jesus Christ: their complaints were proofs of their sufferings: and as the Church complained in Jesus Christ, when he cried out upon the Cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Jesus complained in behalf of his Church, when from the midst of his glory he said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? But as Saint Paul had learnt this truth from the mouth of the Son of God himself, by whom he was informed that a man could not persecute the Church, but he must persecute Jesus Christ; there was not any of the Apostles who so highly exalted his labours as he did: For knowing very well that he was a Member of the Church, in which condition he could not suffer, but Jesus [Page 129]Christ must suffer with him, he speaks of his own sufferings, as of those of his Master; and out of a confidence which could arise from nothing but his love, he boasts, that in suffering he finished the Passion of Jesus Christ; Adimpleo ea quae desunt passionum Christi. He knew very well, that no­thing was wanting to the sorrows of the Son of God, that the rage of the executioners was glutted upon his person, that the Truth of Figures was accomplished in his death, and that himself, before he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost, had said aloud, Consummatum est: But he knew also that Jesus Christ had two Bodies; that he suffered in one, what he could not suffer in the other; and that honouring his Father in both, he sacrificed himself in his Members, after he had sacrificed himself in his Person. S. Augustine happily expresseth the meaning of S. Paul, in these words: Jesus Christ suffers no more in that flesh he carried into heaven; but he suffers in mine that is still persecuted upon the earth: nor are we to wonder at it, because it is no more I that live, but he that liveth in me. And if this Maxime were not true, Jesus Christ had never complained of the persecution of Saul, nor ever Saul have been so bold as to say he had filled up what was wanting in the sufferings of Christ.

But a little to clear this passage, we must say, that the Son of God being the Pledge and Surety of sinners, was willing to satisfie the justice of his Father, and bear all the pains their sins deserved: Passio Domini usque ad finem mun [...]i produci­tur; & sicut in Sanctis suis ipse honoratur, ipse diligitur, & in pauperibus ipse pascitur, ipse ve­stitur; ita & in omnibus qui pro justitia adversae tolerant ipse compatitur. Leo. de pass. Dom. Ser. 19. Death being one of the severest; and the sentence that designes us to it, expresses no one kinde, that we might fear all, the Son will have them undergo all; and by that stratagem of Love, change all our Chastisements into Oblations of piety. But because the Body his mother gave him could not suffer all these deaths, their different kinds being incompatible, and that one and the same man could not be nailed to the Cross, devoured by wilde beasts, choaked in the waters, consumed by the flames, he was pleased to associate a mystical Body, which being compounded of different Members, might undergo di­vers punishments; and, to satisfie the excess of his Charity, might honour his Father by as many sacrifices as there were kindes of death in Nature. Thus was he torn in pieces by lions in the person of S. Ignatius, devour­ed by flames in that of S. Laurence, stoned in that of S. Stephen, behead­ed in that of S. Paul: and this great Apostle, that knew the desires of Je­sus Christ, rejoyced to accomplish them by his sufferings, and to be one of those Victims, whereby he adored the Justice and the Soveraignty of his Father.

But, not to urge this conceit any further, 'tis enough that we learn from it, that Jesus and the Church are united in their sufferings upon earth, and by a necessary consequence assures us they shall be so one day in their rest in heaven. For though the Church sigh here belowe, she knows her Beloved will keep his word, that having had a part in his sor­rows, she shall have a share in his triumphs; and having been two in one Flesh, they shall be two in one and the same Felicity. She hath the promises [Page 130]of Jesus Christ for caution of her hope; and when she remembers the prayer her Beloved made to his Father in her behalf, she expects the per­formance, with constancy of assurance: Father, I will that where I am, there also my servants be. Whenever Jesus Christ speaks to his Father, 'tis with so much respect, that he seems rather a Servant then a Son; when he asks that his Church may reign with him in his glory, 'tis with so much freedom of speech, that he seems equal to his Father, and that his demand is rather a determination then a prayer; Volo Pater: so that the Church, who hath passed thorow all the degrees of unity with her Beloved, expects this last with confidence, and makes no more doubt of the Eternity of her rest, then of the Verity of the words of her Beloved. She believes that the union he hath contracted with her, puts her in possession of her hopes, that she enjoys in him, what she hopes for in her self; that she is glorious in her Body, because she is so in her Head; and that during the evils she suf­fers, Ubi portio mea regnat. ibi, me regnare puto; ubi caput meum dominatur, ibi me dominari sentio. D. Max. Serm. 3. she may boast her self happie, because nothing is wanting to the feli­city of her Beloved: She hath now in Christ, what she hopes for in her self: and according to the judgement of S. Maxime, she believes to raign there already, where the most illustrious part of her Body reigns; and con­ceives her self exalted above the Angels, in the person of him that consi­ders her as his Spouse, and looks upon them as his Subjects.

The Seventh DISCOURSE. That the quality of the Members of Jesus Christ is no more advantageous to Christians, then that of the Brethren of Jesus Christ.

IT is not without great reason, Unigenitus Dei factus est homi­nis filius, ut qui Creator mundi erat, fieret & Redemptor. Aug. that the same God that created us by his Power, hath redeemed us by his Mercy: For these two favours being extreme, we should have had much ado equally to have acknowledged them: Having but one heart to love with, we must of necessity have divi­ded our affections; and the benefit of Redemption surpassing that of Cre­ation, we had been constrained to prefer our Redeemer before our Crea­tor. But the Divine Providence, saith S. Bernard, hath delivered us from this perplexity: for he that drew us out of Nothing, hath drawn us out of Sin; and he that Created us, is the same that Redeemed us: so that without any fear of Jealousie, we may compare these two benefits, and give one the pre-eminence, without injuring him of whom we have received them. Me thinks I may say the same concerning the subject I am in hand [Page 131]with; and free from any apprehension, confront the quality of Brethren with that of Members, because we hold them both of Jesus Christ, and that the same who was pleased to be our Brother, disdained not to be our Head. Nature hath found out no alliance neerer then that of Brothers and Members; and, though she be so ingenious, she hath not been able to link men in a stronger bond of relation, then in giving them one and the same Father, or one and the same Head. Brothers are Slips of the same Stock: if they ascend one degree, they will finde, that before their conception, they made one portion of their Father; and that before their birth, they were a part of the bowels of their mother. Friendship, which is so much esteemed of in the world, is but a Copie of this Alliance: Friends are Brethren that our Will bestows upon us; and Brethren are Friends that Nature stores us with: but as that which is voluntary never equals that which is natural, 'tis very hard for Friends to love so tenderly as Brothers do. Nevertheless, if the affinity of these begin by Unity, it insensibly tends to Division: Brothers children are but Cousins; their Grandchildren are yet at a farther distance; and it falls out in time, that those that issued from one father, become, by continuance of Generations, strangers and enemies.

I know very well that Christians have priviledges that raise them above the condition of Men; and that Grace, more powerful then Nature, hath given them a Father and Mother from whom they are never divided: For the Son of God unites us to his Person in begetting us; of children he makes us members; and as if the Alliance of Father were not strict enough, he becomes our Head; that subsisting in him, our life may be in­separable from his. The Church imitates the charity of her Beloved; she is so tenderly affected towards her children, that she brings them up in the same bosome where she conceived them: There are none but He­reticks that go out from her; and they, as Vipers, must tear her bowels, and offer violence to her Love, in making a breach in her Unity. Though other Mothers bear their children Nine months, with an affection that so­laceth their travel, yet do they long to be eased of that painful load, and the Infant desires to quit that troublesome prison: Both of them do their utmost for a separation; and if the children seek their liberty, the mo­thers are as earnest after their delivery. But the Church is so good a Mo­ther, she is never rid of her burden; they always make a part of her inwards, as they always are a part of the body of their Father; they are born in the same place they are formed; and as their Regeneration divides them not from Jesus Christ, their Generation divorces them not from the Church.

But who sees not, that, to entertain this Union, the quality of Mem­bers comes in to the assistance of that of Children; and that the Faithful are much more knit together for being Members of the same Head, then for being Children of the same Father? We make up one Body with him: Time, that divides Brothers, cannot divide Christians; and as no­thing [Page 132]but death can disjoyn the members of the same Body: Non est Judaeus ne (que) Graecus, non estliber ne (que) ser­vus, non est ma­sulus ne (que) foe­mina, omnes enim vos unum estis in Christo Jesu. Gal. 3. nothing but sin can separate Believers. As long as they remain in the Church, they keep their alliance; though removed by distance of place, they are always united in the person of their Head; though they speak divers tongues, they have but one faith; though they live under divers Soveraigns, they have no law but charity; and making up the parts of the same body, they have this advantage that they are quickned with the same Spirit.

This is the second difference I observe between brethren and members: for though brothers have tumbled in the same belly, issued from the same Father, have been nursed with the same milk, and brought up in the same family; yet many times their minds are as different as their bodies; and nature that takes pleasure in the variety of her works, or sin that travels to divide them, puts so little correspondence in their wils, that those that have lived in the same womb, cannot live in the same house. The Scri­pture tels us that in the Infancy of the world, Cain and Abel were more different in their humours then in their conditions; that envy stealing into the heart of the elder, defaced all the feelings of nature, and counselled him to commit a Parricide: The same Scripture instructs us, that Jacob and Esau could not agree in their mothers belly, that their being twins hinde­red them not from being enemies, that their hatred preceded their know­ledge, their inclinations set them more at variance then their interests, that being not yet in the world, they disputed the right of Primogeniture, and already fought for the inheritance of their Father: Collidebantur in ute­ro ejus parvuli. Bonorum & malorum in Ec­clesia simul pug­nantium figura fueruut Jacob & Esau in sinu matris sese colli­dentes. Aug. I know very well their division was mysterious, that these two brothers represented two people, and that this Mother being a Type of the Church, bore in her womb an Elect with a Reprobate; but before Grace had sanctified Jacob, the hatred he bore his brother Esau, was founded in nature; nor were they disaffected so much from the difference of their destiny, as from the contrariety of their humours. Now this mischief is never found amongst the members of the same body, jealousie hath no dominion in so near an alliance, and being quickned by one and the same Spirit, they never have any contestation or quarrell: Folly or madness must needs have infatuated that man, who useth one hand to cut off the other, or divides those parts whose preservation consists in their mutuall correspondence; What therefore never fals out among mem­bers, happens many times among brethren; notwithstanding all the care nature takes to unite them, hatred divides their hearts, and experience teacheth us there is no more deadly nor bloody fewd then between per­sons of so near a relation: The most memorable revenges Antiquity men­tions, are such as men have taken upon their own blood; their rage was never more violent, then when it succeeded fraternall love; and Tyrants may goe to school to those that have executed their fury by taking venge­ance on their brethren: If the story of Eteocles and Polynices pass for a fable, that of Romulus and Remus is reckond for a truth; and if we can [Page 133]hardly believe what the Poets tel us of Thyestes and Atreus, we dare not question what the Prophets write of Iacob and Esau.

But should Nature bee so much mistresse as to preserve amity among Brethren, there is one mischief she can no ways remedy, which proves the ground of wars among Princes, and of Law-suits among private persons. For the division of goods occasions that of hearts; the parting of portions sets men at enmity; and as they know their inheritances cannot be divi­ded, but they must be diminished, they are unwilling to have brothers, lest they should be troubled with co-heirs; This was the reason Tertullian sometimes made use of, to let the Heathens see the Christians much bet­ter deserved the name of brothers, then those that came from the same Father, because the sharing of goods divided the affections of these, and covetousnesse which admits of no companions, made them contrive the death of their brothers after they had longd for that of their Fathers. In­deed the Son of God hath remedied this disorder in his Church, because the Inheritance of Christians being infinite cannot be divided; They en­joy one and the same good in common; they spoil not others of what they possesse themselves, and as light communicates it self intirely to eve­ry person, felicity is wholly imparted to every Beleever. Neverthelesse, we must acknowledge that the quality of members addes something in this point to that of brethren: for whatever good intelligence there is be­tween these, it never equals what is between those. Brothers alwayes study their own advantage: as they are separated by birth, so are they parted by interests; neither can charity well regulate their desires, that the one doe not many times enrich themselves with the losse of the other: Qui enim non est Christo con­trarius in cor­pore ipsius haret & membrum computatur; nunquam sibi sunt membra contraria; cor­poris integritas universis mem­bris constat. August. But the members are so closely combind that the good fortune of the one contributes to that of the other; the unity of the body they compose, gives them not leave to have divided interests; whatever difference nature puts in their functions, they live always in community, and whilst they are uni­ted in the same body, they enjoy a common felicity.

But to make this conception a little clearer, we must repeat what we said in the beginning of this Discourse, and take notice that the alliance we have with Jesus Christ, is much different from that we have from A­dam: That of Adam commenceth in unity, and terminates in division; we are all descended from one Father; we were but one & the same thing in his Person, but the succession of time hath so divided us, that of bre­thren we are become strangers and unknown: For the family of Adam multiplying by the birth of his children, made Towns which by their number grew into Provinces, Provinces formd Kingdomes, and King­domes at last peopled the Universe; Thus men who were brothers at their birth, were estranged by distance of place, divided by languages, parted by interests, and opposite to each other by the contrariety of their humours.

The Son of God finding us in this deplorable condition, makes us re­turn [Page 134]to unity by all the degrees that tumbled us from it; His love assisted with his power hath placed us in the same Kingdome, given us the same Soveraign, under whose Laws we breath an acceptable liberty, Fecisti nos Deo nostroregnū: But because all the Subjects of a Kingdom know not one another, the distance of places estrangeth their hearts; he hath brought us into one City, that being shut up within her Lines of Communication, we may the easier converse together, and of fellow Subjects may become fellow Citizens: Vos estis Cives Sanctorum. But forasmuch as this alli­ance is not the strictest, there are factions many times in Cities which sow discord in mens minds: all the inhabitants steer not one way, the di­versity of quarters hinders their familiarity; he hath adopted us into one family, that being the Domesticks of one Master, our amity may be the closer by how much our condition is more equall: Vos estis Domestici Dei. Had he left us in this state, he had taken pains enough for our good; but as Domesticks have different designes, jealousie steals into their souls, and the hope of profit which is the end of base and mercenary souls, suffers them not to taste the sweets of true Friendship; he hath raised them to the quality of children, and giving them their Soveraign for their Father, will have them love one another as brethren; Vos omnes fratres estis. Morality and Politicks have nothing to wish for af­ter this favour, seeing all the Subjects of a State linkd together by the bonds of so indissoluble an alliance beleeve nothing can be added to their happinesse. But God who is pleased to outgoe our hopes, hath re­duced us to the perfection of unity in making us members of the same body, and giving us our Father for our Head; So that all the Faithfull make up but one Man; all their conditions are happily confounded toge­ther, and all of them making up one part of Jesus Christ, they are quickned with his Spirit, clarified with his Light, warmd with his Love, till they be taken up into his Immensities, and consummated in his Glory.

The Eight DISCOURSE. That Jesus Christ hath taken all the infirmities of his Members, and his Members have drawn all their strength from him.

IF it be a Truth, that whatever is glorious as relating to Jesus Christ, is profitable to Christians: it is not true on the other side, that whatever is beneficiall to Christians, is honourable to Jesus Christ; For the digni­ty of Head whence all their advantages are derived, is the source of [Page 135]all those evils Jesus Christ underwent; and had he not been the Head of sinners, he had not been obliged to be their Surety. Hee hath as Saint Augustine saith, made a compact with men extreamly advantageous for them, but very prejudiciall to himself. For as the union which Nature or Grace puts between the members of the same body makes their good and bad common, we find that the Son of God imparts his priviledges to us, and assumes our miseries to himself. He enters into our lownesse, and we are admitted into his Greatnesse; he is burdend with our trans­gressions, and we are invested with his merits; he is made the Sonne of Man, and makes us the Children of God. This important Verity re­quires a full Discourse, and 'tis just that in acknowledgement of the obli­gations we have to Jesus Christ, we take notice of what he drew from us, and of what we have received from him.

Innocence is one of the Apennages of the Word Incarnate; Inde nascimur, sic nascimur, in carne peccati na­scimur, quam sola sanat simi­litudo carnis peccati, inde mi­fit Deus filium suum in fimili­tudine carnis peccati: Inde venit, sed non fic venit, non enim virgo libidine sed fide concepit. Aug. de verb. Dom. ser. 10. were he not God by his Person, he would be innocent by his Conception, and having the Holy Ghost for his Principle, and the Virgin for his Mother, 'tis impossible he should have contracted the sin of Adam: Wherefore when the Angel expounded to the Virgin the Grandeurs of her onely Son, he expresly observes that his Sanctity was derived from his Birth, and being the work of the Holy Ghost, must therefore be exempt from all impurity: Spiritus Sanctus superveniet in te, ideoque quod nascetur ex te Sanctum vocabitur filius Dei. In the mean time the quality of Head obliges him to stoop under the load of our offences: Hee that is innocent by nature, becomes guilty by love; and when he united him­self to his members, he became their Surety, and engaged himselfe to satisfie for them. Thence it is that the Prophets speak not of him on­ly as a man of sorrows, but as a man who stands Hostage for the chil­dren of Adam, and who is voluntarily boundto bear all the punish­ments their sins are obnoxious to. This made the Father say by the mouth of the Prophet Esay, Percussi eum propter scelera populi mei; Ipse vulneratus est propter ini­quitates nostras, attritus est pro­terscelera nostra; posuit Dominus in eo iniquitatē omniū nostrum. Isa. 53. This made Saint John say, That he was the Lamb of God that taketh a­way the sins of the world; and this made Jesus Christ himself upon the Crosse say, that his sins condemned him to death, Longe à salute mea verba delictorum meorum; For he died not that ignominious death, but because he stood in the place of men, and being their pledge, because he is their Head, he was bound to satisfie for them the Justice of his Father.

Therefore the sentence that obliges the Son of God to death, is the ju­stest and unjustest sentence in the world: 'Tis unjust if we consider it as proceeding from the mouth of Pilate, because all the crimes Jesus Christ was accused of, were forged by his enemies; 'Tis just, if we consider it as proceeding from the mouth of the Eternall Father, because his Son ap­peared before him as the Head of all men; and he beholds him as an inno­cent Victime, whose charity hath made him a Delinquent. Indeed our sins are not remitted, but because the Son of God is charged with them; [Page 136]the fury of God the Father is not appeased, but because Jesus Christ hath satisfied it; nor doe we live securely in the world, but because our Head hath restored us our Innocence. This is the compact he made with us; he hath taken our evils to confer upon us his merits: he hath made a change of qualities; and to procure us that of the children of God, hath volun­tarily accepted of that of Surety for sinners. This is it that Saint Augu­stine confirms to us in explaining those words of the Prophet, which he supposes spoken by Jesus Christ: Domine Deus meus clamavi ad te, & sana­sti me. The Son of God saith he prayd to his Father in the mount of Olives before his death, and his Father heald him after his death; but how could he heal him that never was wounded? did he heal his Word who was God equall with himself? No certainly, but he heald us in his Person, be­cause this Word being made our Head, was loaden with our wounds, and had changed them into remedies to cure us of our scars: He heald him then when he raised him from the dead, and the Cure was perfect when coming forth from the bosome of death, he entred into that of Immorta­lity, and passd into that happy state where death losing the victory, had now no more dominion over him.

As Jesus Christ hath communicated to us his innocence, taking upon himself our sins, so hath he made us partakers of his strength by taking part of our infirmities▪ For though the Word was as well the Power as the Wisdome of his Father, and by condition of his Eternall Generation he was as well his Arme as his Idea; In vera natura hominis verus natus est Deus, totus in suis, to­tus in nostris: nostra autem dicimus quae in nobis ab initio creator con [...]dit & qu [...] repa­randa suscepit. Leo Epist. ad Flaviam. yet all Scripture teacheth us that in cloathing himself with our nature, he took upon him our infirmities, and was pleased to ascertain us of his infirmities, to assure us of his love. In all his actions he mixt weakness with power; he never wrought a miracle wherein he gave not some proof that he was a man, and in the ma­ster-piece of his miracles, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, he shed tears to testifie this truth; He trembled in the Garden; he gave fear and sadness leave to seize upon his heart, and appear in his countenance; he gave witness that death and sin had made an impression of sorrow upon his soul; and he that was happier and stronger then the Angels, appeard as weak and wretched as men. This wonderfull proceeding was neither without design nor justice; For seeing the Son of God was our Head, he must of necessity be charged with our infirmities: seeing that quality obli­ged him to make a change with us, he must needs assume our weakness and indue us with his courage. Thence it came to pass that the Martyrs bra­ved their tortures with such magnanimity; that Virgins contemnd death, and ran to execution as to a recreation; that Christian Philosophers more constant and more humble then Stoicks, without any other succour then that of Grace laughd at Grief, and preservd the tranquillity of mind a­midst the sharpest gripes of an ingenious torment. This is it that Saint Augustine so happily expresseth in his eloquent discourses: As Jesus Christ took flesh without sin, so was he made partaker of our infirmities without [Page 137]partaking our unrighteousness; that assuming the one, and delivering us from the other, it might appear he was therefore made our Head, that he might be our Redeemer. Prosecuting the same meditation, he addes, that we are more beholding to the Weakness of Jesus Christ, then to his Power: Fortitudo Chri­sti te creavit, infirmitas Chri­sti te recreavit: fortit do Chri, ti feeit ut quod non erat esset, infir­mitas Christi fecit ut quod erat non peri­ret: con idit nos fortitudine sua, quaesivit nos in. firmitate sua. Aug. Tract. 15 in Joan. For his Power Created us, his Infirmity Redeemed us; his Omnipotency Formed us, his Weakness Reformed us; his Power made that which was Not begin to be, and his Weakness hath kept that which Was from perishing; that being obliged for life and salvation to one and the same Jesus Christ, we may publikely confess what we owe his Power, and what we owe his weakness. Forasmuch as this Grace is rare and precious, it had its Types and Figures in the infancy of the world; and Adam, who was the form or mould of him that was to come, according to the language of the Apostle, discovered this mystery to us in his person: for, besides that his wife came forth of his side whilst he lay asleep, as the Church did out of Christ's during his death, she was made of his Bone, and not of his Flesh, and that vacuity was filled up with Flesh, and not with Bone: What was in­tended, saith S. Augustine, to be hinted to us in this Ceremony, where the woman taken from the bone appeared the stronger, and the man formed of the flesh appeared the weaker, but that Jesus Christ took his infirmity from the Church, and the Church took her strength from Jesus Christ? Indeed, his Weakness is our Power, because we acknowledge our selves strong, in that we are his Members; and that separated from him, we are so impotent, that there is no enemy but may overcome us, nor any tempta­tion but may prevail against us.

This Mystery would be unconceiveable, if a greater did not give it cre­dit in our mindes: For we know the Son of God would be tempted, to deliver us from temptation; and not content to vanquish, thereby to gain us the victory, he was pleased, out of an excess of love, to subject him­self to the lowest proof an Innocent could receive. Though all Pains are the tokens of Sin, and the creature is not Miserable, but since he became Gri­minal, Religion teacheth us there are Afflictions that may consist with In­nocence; a man may be Wretched, and not Guilty; and suffer for the glory of his God, and the safety of his Brethren, without prejudicing his honour. Death was not ignominious to Jesus Christ, though 'twas the first punishment of sin; the motive made it honourable: and undergoing it to satisfie his Fathers justice, it was not so much a Punishment as a Sa­crifice: But Temptation is always infamous: though it be a step to Vi­ctory, yet is it a way that leads to Sin: and we may say, If he that is tem­pted be not Guilty, neither is he perfectly Innocent; because he that ma­nageth the Temptation, is perswaded that he can make him a Criminal: So that of all the afflictions the Son of God laboured under, there is none more shameful, in my opinion, then Temptation; because the devil that set upon him, promised himself success in perverting him; and looking upon him as a Man, hop'd to make him a Sinner. Upon the Cross he at­tempted [Page 138]onely his Life, in the Wilderness he attempted his Innocence: up­on the Cross he pretended onely to render him Miserable, but in the De­fart he tri'd to make him a Delinquent: so that we may say, he was more humbled in the Solitude of the Desart, then in the Agony of the Cross; and that Temptation carried more infamy and torment with it then Death did. Now he endured not this affront, but because he was our Head; he stoopt not to this punishment, but to deliver his Members; nor did he give the devils leave to set upon him, but to facilitate their defeat, and open the way to our victory. This is it that S. Augustine glosseth admirably well upon the Sixtieth Psalm. Prorsus Christus tentabatur à diabolo: in Chri­sto enim tu ten­tab aris, quia Christus de te fibi habebat carnem, de se tibi salutem; de te sibi mortem, de se tibi vitā; de te sibi contu­mel as, de se tibi honores: ergo de te sibi tentatio­nē, de se tibi vi­ctoriā: agnosce [...]e in ipso tenta­tum, & te in illo agnosce vin­centem. Aug. Jesus Christ, saith he, was tempted by the evil spirit in the desart, or rather, we were tempted in him: for 'tis from us that he took Flesh, from him that we derive Salvation; 'tis from us that he receives his Death, from him that we receive our Life; 'tis from us that he had these affronts cast upon him, from him that we have Honours conferred upon us: 'Tis therefore for our sakes that he suffered Tempta­tion, and for his sake that we carry away the victory. Or, to say the same thing in other words; If we were tempted in him, 'tis in him also that we overcame the devil our enemy: He certainly could have difcarded him from his person, and, using him like a rebellious slave, have punished his rash boldness, by commanding him to hell: but, had he not been willing to be tempted, he had not taught us to overcome by his example, nor had the combat he fought in the wilderness procured us the honour of a Tri­umph. Thus the quality of Head is injurious to Jesus Christ, and honour­able to Christians, because in that exchange it obliged him to make with them, he endured the shame of the Temptation, and purchased for them the advantage of the Victory.

Finally, to conclude this Discourse, The Son of God was willing to bear the reproaches of the Cross, and to merit for us the priviledges of Glory: For, being charged with our iniquities, he suffered death, the punishment of them, permitted Shame to be added to Cruelty; that spoiling him of Life, Si moriamur, saltem cum li­bertate moria­mur. Cicero in Ver [...]em, de Crucis suppli­cio agens. they might withal rob him of his Honour, and he might give up the ghost as an Offender and a Slave together. In the mean time, his Punishment purchased our Glory, his Death merited our Immortality; and in stead of taking vengeance of our crimes, he procures us his own ad­vantages. It seems, saith S. Augustine, the Father mistook himself; he treats his onely Son as a Delinquent, and handles Men as Innocents; he crowns him with Thorns, these with Glory; and, confounding the Sinner with the Just, confounds Chastisements with Rewards. But if we consi­der that the Son of God took our place, and we his; that he is our Head, and we his Members, we shall finde that his Father had reason to punish him, and to reward us, because, having made a change with us, he is be­come Guilty, we Innocent. Let us therefore be thankful to Jesus Christ, who disdained not a quality, which, investing him with our Nature, charg­eth him with our sins and our infirmities; and uniting him to us, as to [Page 139]his Members, obliges him to be tempted, to make us victorious; Ille quippe Chri­stianorum ca­put, in omnibus tentari voluit, quia tentamur; sic & morivoluit, quiae morimur; sic resurgere, quiae resurrecturi sumus. Aug. in Psal. 9. Serm. 2. and to suffer the death of the Cross, to obtain for us the glory of Immorta­lity.

The Ninth DISCOURSE. Of the duties of Christians as Members, toward Jesus Christ as their Head.

THough the duties of the Head and of the Members are reciprocal, and that, composing one Body, they are obliged to a mutual corre­spondence, arising from Necessity as well as Love: yet there is no man but will acknowledge, that as the Members receive more assistance from the Head, ten the Head from the Members; so are they tied to greater ex­pressions of dependence. Nature, which is an excellent mistress in this matter, instructs us, that the life of the Members depends upon the Head; and their very preservation obliges them to three or four duties, without which they can no ways subsist.

Their Interest requires that they be inseparably fastned to that from whence they receive their life, lest their division, with their death, deprive them of all those advantages which spring from the union they have with their Head. Thus we see that the Hand, which is one of the most ingeni­ous parts of the body, and which may be called the Mother of all Arts, and the faithfullest Minister of the Soul, loseth its dexterity and comeliness as soon as separated from the Head that enlivens it: The Feet, though not so noble as the Hands are yet as necessary, being the moveable Foundations of this living building, are destitute of all strength when they have no com­merce with the Head: This indeed ceaseth not to act and move, though provided neither of Hands nor Feet; when Nature fails, it hath recourse to Art; and being the throne of the Soul, ransacks all her treasures of In­vention, to execute that by it Self, Omnis salus, omnis vita à capite in caeterae membra deri­vatur. Galen. was wont to be put in execution by its Members. But though the hands are so industriously subtil, and the legs so vigorously strong, they are absolutely useless, because their separation deprives them of the influences of their head. This Maxime, so notori­ous in Nature, is much more evident in Grace: For the Son of God hath no need of his Members; 'tis Mercy, and not Necessity, obligeth him to make use of them: He is not at all more powerful when united to them, nor more feeble when separated from them: Faith tells us he can do all [Page 140]things without them, whereas they can doe nothing without him: There­fore is he compared to the Vine, and they to the Branch, to acquaint them that all their vertue flows from his; and being pluckt from his Body, can, as the Branch, expect nothing but the fire. Therefore the first obliga­tion of Christians, is to unite themselves to Jesus Christ; to seek their life in this union, and to believe that their death is the infallible consequence of their division.

This is it that Saint Augustine represents us in this Discourse, which though long, cannot be tedious, because there is nothing in it that is not delightfull and necessary. As the Body hath many members, which though different in number, make up but one body: so Jesus Christ hath many members, which in the diversity of their conditions, constitute also but one body; so that we are always with him as with our Head, and drawing from him our strength as well as our life, we can neither act nor live without him: We with him make up a fruitful Vine, that bears more Grapes then Leaves; but divided from him, we are like those Branches which being good for nothing, are destin'd to the slames, when stript off from the Vine. Therefore doth the Son of God so earnestly affirm it in the Gospel, that without him we can doe nothing, that our interests as well as our love, Domine si fine te nihil, totum in te possumus. Etenim quic­quid ille opera­tur per nos, vide­mur nos opera­ri: potest ille multum & to­tum sine nobis, nos nihil sine i­pso. Aug. in Psal. 30. may engage us to be united to his Person; For if it be true Lord, addes Saint Augustine, that we can doe nothing without thee, 'tis in thee onely that we effect all that we bring to pass; all our ability is from thee, 'tis thou that workest what we seem to work; and being convinced by these Truths, we are obliged to say, that thou canst do all things without us; but we can doe nothing without thee. These words happily express all the obligations of the Faithfull, and make them clear­ly discern, that liberty can doe nothing without grace; and that the mem­bers divided from their Head, with all their naturall endowments and advantages, are good for nothing but to be eternally burnt in Hel.

From this first obligation is derived a second no whit lesse considerable: For seeing the members draw life from their Head, and their division cau­seth their ruine, they are bound absolutely to depend upon him, nor to have any other designes then his: As they live by a borrowed life, they ought to act by a forain vertue, and to abandon themselves so fully to him that inanimates them, as to have no other conduct but his. Thence it comes to pass that self-deniall is the first vertue recommended to a Christi­an, that renouncing himself he may obey Jesus Christ, and conceiving himself in a strange body, may act by his motions who is the Head there­of. Philosophy hath laid down this position, that man ought to purchase his liberty with the expence of his riches; that 'tis better be poor, then be a slave; and that 'twas a gainfull bargain, where parting with the goods of fortune, we purchased the quietness of mind: she hath also judged ve­ry well, that the body is to be tam'd when it grows rebellious against rea­son; that nourishment is to be retrencht as provender from an unruly [Page 141]wanton horse; and his stomack taken down by the ascetick discipline of Fasts and Watchings: But it never enterd into her Theorems, that to be happy, a man must renounce his understanding, unlord his reason to become learned, condemn his judgement to become wise. Indeed Phi­losophy knew not that we are the members of a Body whereof the Eter­nall Word is the Head; and that this condition that raiseth us as high as the light of Faith, forbids us the pure use of Reason, commanding us to soar above our own thoughts to search into his mind who will be the Prin­ciple of our Life; For there is no body but sees that this obligation is as just as honourable; that since Christians are rather Gods then men, be­cause of the union they have contracted with the Word Incarnate, they ought to act rather by his motion then their own reason; and remember that seeing he is the Head that quickens them, he ought to be the Princi­ple that guides them. The whole drift of the Gospel labours to perswade us this Truth; all its commands and counsels insinuate this obligation into us; and when the Son of God gives order to us to renounce our own will, to combate our inclinations, to love our enemies, and to hate our friends, 'tis only to teach us that being no longer at our own disposall we ought to have no other mind but what he inspires into us by his Grace.

A Third Obligation slows from this which is to be conformable to our Head: to imitate his actions, having followed his motions, and to be made so like him, that he may not be ashamed to own us for his members. Nature exacts not this condition from the parts that compose mans body; she will not have them resemble their Head, because there would be inso­lence and impossibility in the very desire; 'Tis enough that they receive his influences, that they obey his motions, and that their whole imitation consist in their meer subjection. But Morality and the Politicks will have the members that make up a Mysticall Body, adde imitation to their other duties, that they be regulated by their Head as by their model; that they study his inclinations, and be the perfect copies of this first Originall. Thus we see that Kings are the inanimate examples of their subjects, the living Laws of their States, and the prime Masters of their people: Every one makes it his glory to imitate them, they are perswaded that whatever they doe is lawfull, and that those that are the Images of God, may very well be the Examplars of men. Though this Maxime be true, yet it is dange­rous; For as Greatness does not always inspire Goodness, Quid est aliud vitia incendere, quam authores illos Deos vel reges inscribere, & dare morbo exemplo Divi­nitatis aut Ma­jestatis excusa­tam lieentiam? Senec. nor are Sove­reigns the most perfect; and those that may doe what they will, doe not always what they should, it fals out many times that the greatest are the most vicious; and the readiest way to corrupt a whole State is to set be­fore it the Examples of the Governours. Therefore hath Philosophy in­vented Ideas of Wisdome, and despairing to finde among men models which may be securely transcribed, hath made a Romance of Princes, by the same artifice discovering their irregularity & her own impotency. But the Eternall Father giving us Jesus Christ for our Head, hath withall pro­pounded [Page 142]him for our Example; he will have our life fully conformable to his; that his actions be our documents; that we be admitted into his School when we are united to his Body; that we seek for perfection where we found life, and that we be as well his Images as his Members. This is it that Saint Bernard acquaints us with: Our Head shall not reign in glory without his Members, provided they be one with him by Faith, and conformable to him in their Manners: Both these conditions are necessa­ry; Union without Conformity is but meer hypocrisie, and Conformity without Union is pure vanity: He that is united to Christ and imitates him not, cannot escape a fearfull separation one day, by an Eternall Anathema; and he that imitates him without believing, will perceive in time that his imitation was but counterfeit, and that he was so much more opposite to Jesus Christ, the more he appeard only conformable to him. We must therefore joyn these two duties together, if we will have them usefull; and having been united to our Head by Faith, conform to him by good works, that we be not reproached to have despised him whom we cannot find in our hearts to imitate.

But the chiefest obligation the quality of being Members of the Son of God exacts from us, is to expose our life for his Glory, as he expos'd his for our salvation. Nature and Politicks teach us the justice of this duty, and we need only consider how the members carry themselves toward the Head, and subjects demean themselves towards their Soveraigns, to un­derstand what is our duty towards Jesus Christ. Though every part of the body love its own preservation, carefully avoiding whatever is con­trary thereto, and by a naturall providence abominates whatever may any way annoy it; yet from a higher principle 'tis informed that its life depends upon the Head, and that 'tis oblig'd to expose its self in his defence. Thence it comes to pass that the hands ward the blow which is aimd at the Head; that they readily oppose themselves to the danger that threatens it, and forgetting their proper interests sacrifice themselves for the preservation of this Chief. Thence it is that soldiers jeopard their lives in the quar­rel of their Soveraign, slighting the hail of Musquets, the brunt of Pikes, and the Thunder of Canons to augment his Glory or widen his State: They are never more valiant then when his Person is in danger; the greatness of the hazard heightens their courage, and opinion or nature perswades them that living more in him then in themselves, their death is less considera­ble then his. Many times it fals out that he for whom they sacrifice them­selves is some old Dotard, spent with labour and age, and hath but a few moments to live; In the mean time, because they know he is the soul of the State, and the Head of his subjects, they are perswaded they pre­serve themselves in dying in his defence; and imagine that as Fathers live again in their children, the members receive a new beeing in their Head. This Paradox finds belief amongst all complexions; there is not the meanest soldier but ventures his life upon this Maxime, and I rather [Page 143]conceive their courage quickned by this consideration, then by the hope of profit and reputation, because all men are neither ambitious nor covetous: but all being members of the State, are instructed by nature to die for the defence of their Head.

Forasmuch as Grace is much more powerfull then Nature, Vivificati sunt Martyres ne a­mando vitam, negarent vitā, & negando vi­tam amitterent vitam; ac fic qui pro vita verita­tem deserere no­luerunt, morien­do pro veritate vixe unt. Aug. Concil. 20. in Psal. 118. it hath so strongly imprinted this Maxime in the soul of the subjects of Jesus Christ, that there are no torments can wear it our; For the Grace that makes them Christians, secretly disciplines them that they are parts of the My­sticall Body of the Son of God; that their condition obliges them to ex­pose themselves for his Glory; that they ought to be his Victimes, because they are his Members, and that they are bound to imitate the Wisdome of the Serpent that hides his Head with his whole Body, knowing very wel that 'tis the Fountain of Life; and provided he may secure that, can receive no wound that's mortall. The Martyrs animated with this Faith, defen­ded Jesus Christ who lived in them; they sufferd death, saith Saint Augu­stine, to secure themselves from death; they parted with that life they had received from Adam, to guard that they had received from the Son of God: so that it happily fell out, that those who would not relinquish Truth to save their lives, recoverd that in Heaven which they lost upon Earth; and liv'd above eternally, being content for the profession of the Truth, to die here below miserably: They laughed at all the threats of Tyrants, and whilst they were covered with obloquies, loaded with irons, and burnt with flames, they drew strength from him for whose sake they suffered; and lifting up their now-expiring voice, said, If God be for us, who can be against us? When they were told, as Saint Augustine saith, how all the world was banded against them, they answerd couragiously, why should we fear the world, who die for the glory of h [...]m that made the world? What hurt can this hatred doe us, who are environed with the love of God? And why should we trouble our selves, if our enemies spoil us of our bodies, seeing he that defends our souls will restore our bodies in glory, where being united to our Head, we shall triumph over griefs and executioners? Though persecution doe not exercise the cou­rage of the Martyrs, and the peace the Church enjoys suffer not the Faithfull to expose their lives for the quarrel of Jesus Christ, they cease not to be obliged to this duty in a thousand opportunities; if occasion present not it self, they must preserve a will to it; if they cannot suffer death, they must suffer shame and confusion for his glory; and when the world shall overturn the maximes of the Gospel to set up the maximes of Libertinisme or Impiety, then is it that Christians must call to mind that they are the Members of Jesus Christ; that they must prefer his interests before their own honour, and if they be so happy as to sacrifice their lives for the defence of their Head, they must be so stout as to sacrifice their re­putation, who requires this duty of them as the surest testimony of their love.

The Tenth DISCOURSE. That all is common among Christians as among Mem­bers of the same Body.

AS Mans Body is the perfectest Image of the Church: the Members that compose it are also the liveliest representatives of Christians: Both of them live in unity, depend of the same Head, and are inform'd with the same Spirit; Both of them preserve their differences in their Unity, and exhibit in their mutuall correspondence that agreeable vari­ety that sets an estimate upon all the works of Nature. Though these My­sticall and Naturall members conspire altogether for the publick good, they cease not to have their different employments; Each particular acts ac­cording to its capacity: they never trespass one upon another, and as there are none useless they have all their severall functions which they exercise without confusion and jealousie; their faculties are answerable to their employments: Nature gives every one what is necessary for them to act ac­cording to her orders, and Grace never refuses the others what they stand in need of to operate according to its motions; But the most wonderful resemblance I find between the members of these two Bodies, is, that their good and bad occurrences are common, and that living in a per­fect society, no sad disaster happens to one but all the rest are affected with it: One sole blow makes a thousand wounds at once; and though there be but one part set upon, all the rest testifie their compassion. The foot seems to be in the body what the foundation is in the building; 'tis not the noblest part though one of the necessariest, and it seems by the di­stance 'tis a [...] from others, it should have less communication with them: In the mean time, if it be prickt with a thorn, the pain is dispersed through all the body; Every member affords it some good office, and the care they have to assist it, testifieth what share they have in the misfortune: The Tongue complains for it; this faithfull Interpreter gives advice to all the rest; to shew how much the evil concerns her, she speaks of it as her own, and to hear her talk, one would think she had been hurt too: The Eyes being more delicate and more sensible, express more regret; they are not content only to look upon the offended part, but they shed tears to comfort it, and many times cure it by that innocent remedy: The Head which is seated in the most eminent place of the body, stoops to succour this poor afflicted; he forgets his condition to satisfie his love, and giving a fair example to Soveraigns, instructs them they ought to be [Page 145]sensible of all the miseries of the meanest of their subjects: the Heart, Nemo regi tam vilis sit, ut illum perire non senti­at qualiscunque pars imperii sit. Senec. which from the centre where it is lodged, equally enlivens all the parts, discovers its sense of pain by its regrets; and mixing its sighs with the tears of the eyes, and the complaints of the mouth, gives a loud testimony it cannot be at quiet, when the members it inanimates are afflicted: The Hands, that are the faithful ministers of the body, discover their sorrow, by their quick­ness of dispatch; being more active then the rest, they presently visit the distressed part; they sound the malady, apply remedies to it, and evidence, that if they be not so tender, they are more serviceable then the Eyes or Tongue.

If all things were well regulated in the Church, if the Faithful acted according to the motions of Grace, and if Charity, that combines them together, were as lively in their Hearts, as in those of the primitive Chri­stians, we should see in the mystical Body of Jesus Christ, what we behold every day in the natural body of Man: The affliction of one of these quickned Members would equally touch all the rest; every one would do his office according to his power; and imitating the good intelligence of parts composing the same body, some would weep as the eyes, others com­plain as the mouth, and others assist as the hands. This certainly was the consideration that wrought so much upon S. Paul's affections, Docet utique Paulus saue ve­ritatem, patitur sua & aliorum simul mala, in­firmitates tole­rat & solatur, simul de com­munisalute, & de toto orbe sol­licitus. Ansel. and obliged him to pronounce those words flowing from the greatness of his love: Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? For as he came neerer Jesus Christ then other Christians did, being closer united to this Head, he sunk deeper into his minde; and remembring the complaints he himself had drawn from his mouth, when he persecuted the Church, he endeavoured to repair that offence by compassion; and in Mercy to imitate him, whom he represented in Authority. All Christians are bound to live in this disposition; if they mean to satisfie their duty, they must be afflicted with the miserable, weep with those that weep; and calling to minde that they are the Members of the same Body, they must see no Innocents persecuted, no Godly distressed, but they must do their utmost to comfort them, by condoling their misfortunes. 'Tis perhaps for this reason, that the Church is called a Dove, because sighs are as natural to her, as to that Bird, who having lost her mate, spends her life in grief and solitude: The Church is a widow, and consequently solitary: her Husband left her, when he ascended up to heaven: and though she be ho­noured with his presence, being deprived of his sight, she cannot secure her self from that anxiety her love works in her, but she mourns as the Dove, because, being made up of as many Members as she hath Believers, she is constrained to give her self over to Sorrow, when she sees them in Calamity or in Danger.

Having considered the Afflictions of the Church, let us consider the sub­ject of her Joy, and behold the community of Goods she hath set up among her children, in that which Nature hath erected among members [Page 146]of the same body. The union of these later is so great, that though they have different offices, yet cease they not to take pains one for the other. The eyes see, and hear not, saith S. Augustine; the ears hear, and see not; the hands act, and hear not; the feet walk, and act not: nevertheless their correspondence is so good, that the eyes hear by the ears, the ears see by the eyes, the hands walk by the feet, and the feet act by the hands: so that if we ask the ears, Can they judge of Colours? they would answer, Be­ing in the unity of the body, they are always with the eyes; and if they see not themselves, they are inseparable from those whose office it is to see for them: Thus, continues S. Augustine, as the eyes say we hear by the ears, and the ears, We see by the eyes, and both of them, We act by the hands; all is common among these parts; their difference destroys not their unity; and though their employments be divers, they live in so per­fect a society, that the advantages of the one part, make up the riches of all the rest.

If Christians be Members of Jesus Christ, they enjoy the same privi­ledges; all their goods are common; and, if envie divide them not from their Head, they possess in Him, whatever is wanting in Themselves: The Alliance they have with his Body, enriches them with another's good, without any injustice; and like the members of a man, which act in one anothers behalf, they foretel things to come, by the mouth of the Pro­phets; they are understood of all Nations, by those that have the gift of Tongues; they work miracles, by the hands of the Apostles; and they at­tribute to themselves, without vanity, whatever the Saints are able to do in the mystical Body of Jesus Christ: For one of the secrets of the Natu­ral body, saith S. Augustine, is, that the relation of the members is so per­fect, that each particular labours not so much for it self as for others. The eye is the onely part that can see; but it sees not for it self alone; it is the candle of the feet in their walking, of the hands in working, and of all the other members in their employments: Indeed, if it discover any dan­ger threatning the foot, it endeavours to protect it; and gives notice, that it may be avoided. The hand acts onely, but not for it self alone; it defends the face if stricken at, courageously opposeth any enemy that braves it; and knowing that their interests are common, valiantly suffers the evil, to deliver the body from it. All the members are silent; there is none but the tongue that speaks; but she is their interpreter, and furnish­eth them with words to express their like or dislike, their sorrow or joy. Thus must we confess, in the mystical body of Jesus Christ, the Faithful re­ceive no benefit which is not reckoned as pertaining to the rest: If they be prudent, 'tis to counsel the simple; if they work miracles, 'tis to con­vert Infidels, or to confirm weak Believers; if they have the spirit of Prophecie, 'tis to instruct the ignorant; if they have the gift of Tongues, 'tis 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. 'Tis 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 pertinerē possem videre lunā & solē, & non habet illud tamen, nec auris nec manus, sed faciunt fingula quod possunt, & cum concordia serviunt sibi invicē 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 [Page 148]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, 'tis 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: 'tis 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, [...]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 labour; and is master of that with complacency, which another cannot reach to but with much sweat of an­xiety. Thus the courage of the Martyrs supplies our weakness, the know­ledge of Doctors our ignorance, the purity of virgins is in stead of conti­nence [Page 149]in Marriage, and the solitude of Anchorites is a supplement to the employments of those that are conversant in the world. Hence 'tis evi­dent, that he that is in the Body of the Church, partakes of all the me­rits of the Faithful; that, without admitting himself into Religious Or­ders, he shares in their travels, if he be associated to them by charity; with­out wearing their habit, he participates of their vertues; and that in an ordinary Secular condition, he preacheth with the Dominicans, sacrificeth with the Priests, is in the desart with the solitary, and is chaste in the high­est degree of continency with the virgins.

But in this prerogative, the Christian must defend himself from two mischiefs which strongly threaten him: the first is Pride; receiving with humility what he possesseth not but by right of Charity, lest his own suf­ficiency make him lose the benefit of the Churches community. The se­cond is Idleness; not to neglect the practice of vertues, under a pretence of enjoying them in others; but going forward with the highest industry in the way of perfection, to store the Church with his pious endeavours, and to adde new merits to the treasures of this charitable mother.

The first DISCOURSE. That Predestination upon which Grace depends is a hidden Mystery.

INasmuch as men are the children of Adam, they are as curious as they are proud: and as the haughti­ness of their Father hath made them lose the re­membrance of their misery: his curiosity hath made them forget their ignorance; They aspire to reign, although they be slaves; they would be masters of knowledge, although they are born ignorant; and these two unjust desires have made so deep an im­pression in their souls, that all the punishments inflicted upon sin have not been able to suppress them.

I could pardon this imperfection of man, had it any bounds; nor would I find fault with an ignorant person desiring to be learned, could he con­tent himself with the knowledge of what might be known without danger or sin: But the difficulty sets an edge upon his appetite; there are no truths he is more eagerly inquisitive of, then those God hath pleased to leave in the dark; He mounts up to the Heavens to know their motions and influences; he seeks his destiny in the Conjunction of the Planets, and studies a Book whose Characters have abused all Astrologers, and means to finde that in Stars, which God hath lock'd up in his own Bosome: He descends into the Abysses of the Earth out of Curiosity as much as Ava­rice; he thinks knowledge is retired to the Center of the world, and that he must confer with the spirit of lies to be acquainted with truth. His Insolence hath passed as far as Religion; he would fain penetrate its my­steries; nor does God bring any thing to pass in the world, the Causes and motives w [...]ereof he endeavours not to discover.

'Tis a crime in the State to comment upon the intentions of the Mini­sters [Page 151]thereof; Sicut inquirere in vitam Prin­cipis ita in ar­cana ejus ne­fas est. Taci. Annal. Their prudence draws a curtain over the wheels they work by, and they believe that he that shall sound the secrets of the Prince, is not less guilty then he that would know the end of his life. In the mean time we commit this crime against the mysteries of Faith; we would make Religion a Science, and we daily search for evidence and certitude in the region of ignorance and obscurity. The desire we have to fathome the depths of Predestination, is a certain proof of this Insolence: For though there be nothing in the world more bid, more in the dark, there is not any thing man hath more curiously examined, and made the employment of his busie undertakings, seeking his fall in the fountain of salvation; I should account my self very happy, could I cure him of this malady; and if describing the mystery hidden in eternity, could make him see, 'tis an impiety to pretend to know more then God hath been willing to reveal.

Predestination is as certain as it is secret, it makes up one part of Provi­dence, and if God have any care of his creatures, he must needs lead them to their end. There are none but the Epicures, who fearing to trouble his rest, have denyed him the knowledge of humane affairs: The best of Philosophers have believed our fortune is in his hands, and that having given us our beeing, he must also give us our felicity.

Christian Religion hath confirmed us in this Creed, and Faith per­swading us that God hath regulated all things from Eternity, obligeth us to believe that he hath ordained necessary means to ascertain our sal­vation: Sufficiat eis sci­re quod non sit in quitas apud Deum cum cuim nulla merita invenisset Apo­stolus quibus Jacob apud De­um praecederet fratrem dicit, Numquid apud Deū est iniqui­tas? absit. Aug. lib. 4. contra duas Episto. Pelag. Shee teacheth us that he beheld all his works before they pro­ceeded out of Nothing; that he hath drawn forth what he pleased, not all that he was able: That he created Men and Angels, elected some out of Mercy, rejected others out of Justice: and that in these two con­trary judgements, he hath carried himself with so much evenness, that no person hath any cause to complain.

Reason together with Faith instructs us, that God loves all his crea­tures; that his being Absolute, makes him not unjust, and acting accor­ding to the knowledge of the Cause, he punisheth none that have not de­served it; If he be no more liberall in his recompenses, then severe in his corrections, he fails not to be very observant of Justice; if we be not sure that he hath respect to our merits, we know at least that he hath to his own favours: and that when he crowns our good works, he crowns his own benefits and endowments.

The Scripture that knows very well that men are in love with their salvation, and jealous of their liberty, represents them often that God is absolute in his State; that he is not to give account of his actions; that his judgments being equitable in themselves, have no need of our approba­tion; nor are therefore less just, because not conformable to our weak reasonings. This divine Register insinuates to us, that God is the master of his creature; that he disposeth thereof as he pleaseth, and that if Nothing whence he had his Beeing give him right enough to destroy him; [Page 152]sin which he is guilty of gives him title enough to punish him. But delive­ring all these reasons in different passages, we are not permitted to deduce thence infallible consequences; nay, we may easily perceive the whole drift is rather to humble then inform us.

In the mean time though Scripture use so many cautions when it speaks of so conceal'd a mystery, & the Elogies bestowed upon itoblige us to con­fesse, that 'tis not to be penetrated by creatures; necessity notwithstand­ing hath put us upon the search of it, Nihil aliud est Praedestinatio sauctorū quam praescientia & praeparatio be­neficiorum Dei, quibus certissi­me liberantur quicunque libe­rantur: caeteri autem, ubi, nisi in massâ perdi­tionis justo di­vino judicio re­linquuntur. Aug. lib. 2. de praed. c. 14. and the Fathers of the Church have been constrained sometimes to unveil the wonders thereof, to crush He­resies in their conception. S. Augustine who hath writ whole Treatises of this Subject, never had other design then to debase the pride of the Pelagi­ans, and make them see that the will of man being corrupted by sin, could now no longer hope for happiness by his own merits. We may say this great Doctor would not sound the depths of the mystery of Predestination, that he intrenched himself in the fal of the children of Adam, as in an im­pregnable fort; that considering men but since they were criminal & behol­ding them in that state wherein the justice of God owes them nothing but punishments, he hath spoken more severely in this point then others. He informs not at all what God ordained concerning his creature before the sin of Adam; and though he knew all things were unchangeably de­creed before that fatall accident, he would not dive into them lest hee might lose the advantages Originall sin gave him over the Pelagians.

Saint Thomas hath outgone Saint Augustine, and though he glories to be his Disciple, Cum Deus mū ­dum pro luxit propter suam gloriam, conve­nieus fuit quod in illo esset di­versitas creatu­rarum, quarum aliae justitiam ejus, aliae mise­ricordiam ejus declararent. he saw nevertheles that before the fal of Man, God must have deliberated of his salvation: & that he knew from that unceivable moment, what was to happen to Jesus Christ & to Adam. Therefore taking the thing higher, he believed that God in the Creation of the world, had a design to manifest his Divine perfections; and as he made his mercy shine forth in his Elect, so would he make his justice appear in the Reprobate; that he destined Graces to the former out of pure goodness, and refused them to the second out of a just severity, whom abandoning to their own free-will, he was neither guilty of their crime, nor responsible for their loss. Though this opinion hath seemed so severe to all the School, that it hath no Abettors but the faithfull Disciples of Saint Thomas, and the conformity it seems to have with the Errour of Calvin, Nunquid dicit figmentū ei qui se finxit, quid me fecisti sic? an non habet pote­statem sigulus luti ex eadem massa facere a­liud quidem vas in honorem, ali­ud vero in con­tumeliā? Ro. 9. hath made it suspected by the Catholiques, yet is it not without its grounds in Scri­pture; The example of the Potter, who doth what he will with his clay, and of the same matter makes vessels of Honour and Dishonour, seems to favour it; and those that believe that God owes nothing to his crea­ture, what state soever he look upon him in, are not troubled to em­brace this sense: It appears more sublime then that of Saint Augustine, in that it disposeth of man before sin, settles his salvation before his fall, and leaves not the mind in suspense what God intended to doe with man before the Devil had seduced him. It appears also more severe in that it [Page 153]lays Gods refusing Grace not upon sin, but upon Nothing; nor grounds this sentence so much upon the Justice of God, as upon his Soveraignty: For 'tis some comfort to the creature to know that God reprobated him not, but by consequence of Adams transgression; that he is not out of his favour, but because he is the issue of his enemy: nor that he is inter­dicted Heaven, but because his Father shut the door against him.

There are other Divines who taking things another way, are perswa­ded that God since the fall of Adam hath a mind to save all Men: but having created them free, hath given them sufficient graces, the use whereof depends upon their own will: This opinion hath more assertors then both the others, and if it were lawfull to reason in Religion, I should say, 'tis of all the most reasonable; But neither condemning nor appro­ving it, me thinks it hath no such ground in Scripture, giving God rather a meer naked prescience, then an intire disposall over his creature; that it exalteth Liberty above Grace; making man the Authour of his salvati­on, it takes not sufficient notice of the devastations sin hath made in our nature, and judgeth as favourable concerning a Criminall as an In­nocent: It makes me question Grace in rend [...]ing it so common; it wea­kens [...]alvation intending to establishing it, and having too much care of Insidels, seems not to have enough of Christians. Finally, to speak in few words, it entertains not man sufficiently within the decencies of hu­mility; and making him the master of his salvation, me thinks it darkens the glory, and weakens the power of Grace: Had it not these blemishes, it cannot be deny'd, but 'tis contrary to the judgements of Saint Augu­stine and Saint Thomas, and hath forsaken the two greatest Masters The­ology ever yet was honoured with.

Were I permitted to discourse of this Mystery, I should take some­thing of these three opinions, & of them make a fourth, which yet would not want Assertors, being common in the Schools; Praedestinatio est aeterna prae­paratio gratiae. in pr [...]senti, & gloriae in futuro. Aug. & Thō. abstrahendo à peccato Adae. and with Saint Au­gustine and Saint Thomas would say, that Predestination is a Decree wher­by God looking upon all men in Nothing, or in Sin, resolves to save a certain number, which can neither receive diminution nor addition: But with others I would say, that the Reprobation of Christians is not foun­ded upon Originall Sin, because being regenerated in Jesus Christ by Ba­ptism, the sentence of Condemnation must include those other sins which are superadded to this former: But forasmuch as which way soever I turn my self, I meet with difficulties which I cannot resolve, Nihil ergonunc damnationis est ils qui sunt in Christo Jesu. Rom. 8. I had ra­ther confess my ignorance, and acknowledge that 'tis not lawfull to pe­netrate a design God hath been pleased to conceal in his Eternall Coun­cel and Decree.

The Church which is the Spouse of Christ hath not yet perhaps light e­nough to make a ful discovery of this Truth. The Apostles her Masters have spoken but sparingly therof; they have been content to insinuate the power and the justice of God, that we should not be so rashly insolent as to ascribe [Page 154]our salvation to our selves, and impute our fall to him: When they fore­saw our objections and our doubts, they answered them only with ad­miration; and paying us with that solution Saint Augustine so often re­turned the Pelagians that urged him close, they have taught us this les­son, that there is more to be adored then to be known in this ineffable my­stery; That in this occasion a man may boast his ignorance, nor know which side to take without running the hazard of being accounted rash and unadvised; Finally, that the ways we take to discover the will and mind of God, are in some sort injurious to his Majesty.

For we limit the knowledge of the Almighty, and set down Instances wherein he sees some things, and not others; we make him reason ac­cording to our manner, and we prescribe him principles, whence we ob­lige him to draw consequences that please us; we constrain him to save and destroy men according to the motions of severity or pity which sway us; and not knowing that his justice is transcendently above all our Laws, we go about to reduce him to the conditions of Judges or Soveraigns.

I honour the Fathers of the Church, who to quel Heresies, have advan­ced certain Maximes upon this subject of Predestination: I reverence whatever the Church obliges me to believe of the Justice or Mercy of God; I adore with the Scripture all the judgements of my Creator; & whether he founds his refusal of Grace or Glory upon my Non-Entity, or upon my Sin, I bless his justice; if he chuse me upon sight of his own favours, or my merits, which are but the effects of his favours, I will magnifie his mercy; and not examining either his motives, or questio­ning his power in the disposall of his creatures, I will patiently submit to the Eternall determination of his Divine Providence.

Upon the consideration of these verities the Christian must live be­tween hope and fear, that seeing himself suspended between Heaven and Hel, he may sigh out after his Redeemer; and finding no firmer assu­rance then in submission to his grace, may yeild full obedience to it, ear­nestly longing that it may grow more vigorous, that so it may exercise an absolute dominion over his will; never fearing to lose his liberty by yeilding subjection thereto; but instructed by the language of the Church, beg of God that grace may become Mistress of his heart, that it may vanquish his resistance; and making strength succeed sweetness, may tri­umph over a rebel that disputes the victory with him.

I know very well this subject causeth much bandying in the Schools, that it divides the Masters of Divinity, and troubles the peace and fair intelligence with which they ought to inquire after Truth. But for me, I find them agreed in the most materiall circumstances; and that in the diversity of their opinions, they can neither be suspected of Errour nor Rashness. For seeing those who vary a little from the Doctrine of Saint Augustine, confess that grace alwayes prevents the will, that with its light it sheds forth heat and warmth into the soul of man, chusing those [Page 155]ery moments in which it infallibly produceth its effects; they are at a great distance from the errour of the Pelagians, who ascribed all to Liberty, and judged not Grace necessary to act absolutely, but easily: Semper est antë in nobis volun­tas libera, sed non est semper bona; aut enim à justitia libera est, quando ser­vit peccato; & tunc est mala; aut à peccato li­bera est, quando servit justitiae, & tunc est bo­na. Aug. de Grat. & Lib. arb. c. 15. and seeing those that boast themselves the disciples of Saint Augustine, acknowledge that Grace takes not away the Liberty, though it leave it not wholly in an in­differency, me thinks they are very far from the dreams of the Manichees, and the impiety of the Calvinists; particularly, that following their Ma­ster, they acknowledge that Man is always free in good and evil; onely with this difference, that his Liberty is the onely cause of his Perdition, and Grace the principal cause of his Salvation.

'Tis upon these two Principles, as upon two immoveable Poles, that I make this whole Treatise roll; wherein I profess to take S. Augustine for my guide; but protest withal, that in seeking after Truth, I have al­ways endeavoured to preserve Charity; and am so far from blaming those Opinions I do not hold, that I am ready to relinquish mine own, when the Church shall condemn them, or when her Governours shall oblige me to change them. Hitherto, both Opinions have seemed Orthodox: The Councel of Trent hath authorized them, leaving them in the Church; and hath suffered the Faithful to embrace that which they shall judge most conformable to Scripture, and the holy Fathers. The Canons of this As­sembly are composed with so much prudence, that, condemning the Here­sies that divided the unity of the Church, it hath determined nothing concerning the Controversies of the Divines: It hath so judiciously ex­plained it self, that each party alleadgeth it for themselves; and by the carriage of the business hath made us see, that tacitely it gave approbation to both these Opinions, which for twelve Ages have busied the best Wits of the School. For though something be added to that which seems least consonant to the doctrine of S. Augustine, there is no change in the sub­stance; and 'tis the same that so many Bishops and Doctors have taught heretofore in the Pulpit and in the Chair.

After the example of this great Councel, I honour both the Opini­ons; and expecting till the Church shall further explain her self upon these matters, which produce so many gallant Pieces on one side and the other, I will content my self in saying, that in each party there is something to be done, and something to be left undone. For, those who will not that Grace have so absolute a dominion over the Will, ought to labour hard, because believing their liberty not so maimed, but that it may with a little aid practise Christian vertues, they are obliged to produce notable effects, and to carry heaven by violence, and the assiduity of an unces­sant endeavour: But they must withal carefully avoid Pride, which ac­companies bold undertakings: They must remember, all their pains will be fruitless, if they be not quickned with Grace; they must be ever mind­ful of those words of Jesus Christ, who confounding the vanity of men, hath obliged his disciples to confess, that after all their travels, they are [Page 156]unprofitable servants: They must consider, that whatever share their li­berty may pretend in the business of their salvation, they can do nothing without his grace who said to all his disciples in the person of his Apostles, Sine me nihil potest is facere. The disciples of S. Augustine, who acknow­ledge the weakness of Nature, and the power of Grace, are engaged to pray much, to depend upon the mercy of God, and to cry aloud with the Psalmist to their Divine Redeemer, In manibus tua sortes meae; but lest the fear of their Infirmity should lull them asleep in the lap of Idle­ness, they are bound to joyn Action to their Prayers, good Works to their Sighs; remembring that Charity is active, and that she never hath re­course to Desires and Wishings, but when she is destitute of occasions to suffer or do for the glory of him whom she so passionately affects.

The Second DISCOURSE. Of the Necessity of Grace in the state of Innocence; and of Sin.

A Man must be an enemy to his Salvation, that is an enemy to the Grace of Jesus Christ; because, in whatever state the creature is considered, he hath need of some supernatural assistance to attain to glory. His weakness is so great, and his end so high, that he can neither master the first, nor compass the second, if he be not assisted with an extraor­dinary succour. Original righteousness that furnished him with so many advantages, gave no dispensation from this necessity; and though he had neither Passions to combat, nor disorders to regulate, Grace was still necessary for him to overcome Temptations, and to persevere in In­nocence: Had Humane nature continued, saith S. Augustine, in that hap­pie condition God at first created it in, it had been unable to preserve it self, had it not been upheld by the power of its Creator.

The state of Grace is more delicate then that of Nature; and if all Philosophers confess that the Creatures have need of the support of the Almighty, that they return not to their Nothing, all Divines acknowledg they have need of his help, lest they fall into Sin. Weakness, which is in­separable from the Creature, puts him in this necessity; and notwith­standing those many priviledges his production was honoured with, he cannot want that succour which supports and fortifies him. Adam re­mained but a small time in his original righteousness; his first conflict was followed with his overthrow; and we know not whether his Creation and his Fall happened not on the same day: but this we know, that his Fall had [Page 157]been speedier, had not Grace seconded his Liberty; and that he had wan­dered from his End assoon as ever he had known it, had he not been sup­plied with supernatural Means to tend thereunto. And me thinks we may apply the words of the Scripture in the state of Innocence as well as of Sin, and say with that excellent Doctor of Grace, Let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord. For as there is no Creature can begin any good with­out Grace, neither is there any that can perfect that good beginning with­out it.

The Necessity of Grace is so great, Non talis facta est Natura, ut sine Divino ad­jutorio posset manere. Aug. that 'tis common to all sorts of conditions: Angels can no more be without it then Men; the nobleness of their Creation dispenseth not with them: and if it be true that the di­gnity of their nature, being higher then that of Men, makes them more indigent of the assistance of God, I conceive their elevation in Grace renders them more necessitous of its support. The Greatness of the Crea­tures serves onely to abase them; their excellence is a glorious servitude; the more they have received from God, the more do they depend upon him; and the grace that would preserve an Angel, would not be suffici­ent to preserve a Seraphim. Thus the dignity of the Creature is as well a proof of the Necessity of Grace, as his weakness: and till he be admitted into Glory, where he findes his confirmation in Good, he stands in need of Grace to preserve those advantages he hath received from his Creator.

If Innocence could not free us from this happie Necessity, we may say 'tis increased upon us by sin; and, that to give us a release, we have need of some more vigorous and active Grace: For, 'tis not enough now, that it shew us the Good, and enable us to attain unto it, but it must withal inspire us with a Will unto it; it must lead us by the hand, support our weakness, order our doings, correct our imperfections, break our chains, and master concupiscence that takes possession of our Will: It must as­sault this Tyrant, to set us at liberty; that dealing skilfully with us, and valiantly against it, we may be delivered from servitude, without any vio­lence to our nature. For Free-will is so weakned by sin, that it cannot so much as will the Good, if Grace cure it not: it must change its inclinati­ons, to elevate its desires; and imprint upon him the love of vertue, here­by to abhor vice. Indeed, saith S. Augustine, how should a man live just­ly, if he be not justified? how should he live holily, if he be not sanctfied? and how should he live truely, if he be not quickned with Grace, which is the true life of the soul? The Cure of man, and his Disease, depend not equally upon his Will: there needs nothing but a small excess, to con­tract a Fever: hot and cold are able to debois our constitution: Fruits eaten unseasonably, or excessively, may cause a Flux: nor is there any man so well, but may be sick when he will: But the Cure depends upon Phy­sick; we must recover that by the help of another, which we have lost by our own fault; and experience teacheth us, that the end of evil is not in our power, as its birth is. We may reason thus concerning Man a Sinner, [Page 158]because sickness is as well the Image as the Punishment of his crime: he may sin when he will; he hath liberty enough to become a delinquent; there needs no temptation to make him swerve from his duty; and he is dextrous enough, by his sole power, to render himself miserable. But ha­ving lost Grace, he cannot recover it by his own proper Will: notwith­standing all the abilities still remain with him, there will never be enough to raise him from his Fall; nor can he be justified by any other then by him that is the fountain of all the Justice in the world. The Law that was given to Instruct him, is not sufficient to Cure him: though it be one step to arrive to vertue, and the knowledge of sin be necessary for the avoid­ing thereof, nevertheless the Law, without Grace, cannot convert the sinner; its light serves onely to dazzle him, its defence onely to irritate his desires; and when this feeble succour is not seconded by Grace, it makes a man but more guilty. 'Tis Charity that inspires a love towards the Law, that surmounts its difficulties, changeth its pains into pleasures; and of slaves making children, renders that easie and agreeable, that seemed burdensome and impossible.

But when, by the mediation of Grace, a man passeth from the Law to the Gospel, he ought not to think this guide useless, nor that he can without its aid preserve, what without its light he could not attain. Grace is not less necessary to finish then to begin; and the new state whereto the Christian it raised, depends so absolutely upon its influences, that he ceaseth to act, when this ceaseth to operate.

For the right understanding of this Truth, we must remember, that though the Christian and the Man be one and the same person, yet have they their oppositions and their differences: Man believes himself per­fect, when he is free and reasonable; these two faculties are his principal advantages; and the vanity of Philosophy perswades him, that as long as he acts according to Reason, he cannot fail of attaining felicity: To keep himself in this state, he is careful that the Senses pervert not his Under­standing, that the Passions trouble not his Rest, and an inordinate Love deprive him of his Liberty: But this blinde Opiniator sees not that he car­ries his enemy in his own bosom, that Concupiscence orders all the motions of his soul, that Reason is but her slave, and that he is never more wedded to himself, then when he thinks to hang loose from all things else.

As the Christian is a new man, he acts by other principles: for he re­nounceth Reason, to give himself over to Grace; he quits the light of his Understanding, to submit to the obscurity of Faith; and his endea­vour is to quench the flames of Self-love, that he may burn onely with the fire of Charity: He learns in the School of Christianity, that Reason is a bad guide, because she lets Concupiscence lead her; he knows that the Understanding is prevented with a thousand errours; and having lost the better part of his light, he many times confounds Vertue with Vice: He is not ignorant that the Will is the most depraved, as it is the most guilty [Page 159]of all his faculties; and being engaged in the love of the creatures, finds nothing that charms the affection, but what is corruptible and perishable; Therefore is his greatest care to get assistance against these domestick ene­mies, and wholly to surrender himself to grace, that it may be to him for a guide and a defence. Thus Faith becomes his Light, Hope his Supporter, Charity his Love, and if we may speak so, Grace is made his second Nature. To the vain errours of Science, he opposeth the solid lights of Faith; to the false promises of the world, the true promises of Jesus Christ; to self-love, divine love; and to the corruption of Nature, the purity of Grace. Then is it that soaring above himself, he learns by a happy experience, that he was never more free then since he be­came a slave; and that Grace is so far from robbing him of his liberty, that it hath delivered him from a bondage as cruell as it was ignomini­ous. For as Saint Augustine saith, Free-will finds its perfection in Cha­rity; he that was in darkness becomes enlightned; from weakness he passeth to strength; from disorder, to good government; and he that was sullied with the love of the creatures, recovers his purity in the love of the Creator.

But nothing more obliges the Christian to renounce his reason, that so he may become the subject of Grace, then to know that his last end is supernaturall, and that he cannot attain it by forces solely naturall. For though man have some knowledge of God, though he observe his per­fections in the creatures, though he judge of his greatness by the beauty of his works, and recoiling into himself, sees there some shadows of him whose image he is; yet he knows very well that God is so great, that he cannot be perceived but by his own light. Indeed he must shed a­broad some rays into our soul, that the soul may have some glympse of him; he must clarifie and strengthen her, that she may look up unto him, and mounting above her selfe, may render her partaker of that light, whereby he is made visible to the blessed in glory. Thus though the will have some affection for the Supream Good, though she cannot fixe upon any objects that have not some appearance of Goodness in them, and that in the midst of her greatest disorders there still remains some inclina­tion towards her Creator; yet the Christian knows that God cannot be worthily embrac'd but by that love he works in us; that charity must be poured into our hearts; and that without the assistance of this Divine gift, we can neither love him nor hate our selves as we should. The in­clination Nature stamped upon us in her purity, was too weak to effect this; and that which Nature hath left us since her corruption, is too inordi­nate to lead us to it. Thus Grace is necessary in both conditions, and the actions that proceed not from this Principle, are to be suspected, be­cause according to the Maximes of Saint Augustine, those that flow not from Charity, flow most commonly from Concupiscence. These two Soveraigns possess the will successively: as the first works nothing but [Page 160]good, the second is only active in evil; and to be disingaged from the tyranny of the one, there is no other way but to submit to the lawful dominion of the other. Thence it comes to pass that the same Doctor declaring his full judgement in that Epistle he writ to Vitalius, informs us, that Grace depends upon Gods pure Liberality; that 'tis due neither to Men nor Infants, though it be necessary to all the actions of the for­mer; that God who is the Author of it, respects neither their works nor their dispositions; that men may know when he bestows it, 'tis an emanati­on of his mercy; and when he denies it, 'tis an act of his justice: He that shall well weigh the sense of these words, as profound as the depths he treats of, will not have much adoe to acknowledge the indigence of the creature, the need he hath of Grace, and the Liberty God reserves to himself of dispensing it to whom he will.

The Third DISCOURSE. That the Grace of a Christian ought to be more powerfull then that of Adam.

IT is strange, but withall very true, that nothing so much hinders a man from valuing the remedies that cure him, as the opinion he hath that he was not very sick. This is it that to this day abuseth the greatest part of Christians, and lessens the obligation they have to the Grace of Je­sus Christ: For they are perswaded that the fault of our first Father hath scarce made any devastations in our Nature; that the greatest part of our evils spring not so much from our will, as from our imagination; and that there is little difference between the state of sin, and the state of ori­ginall righteousness. Pride insensibly confirms us in this belief; we make our weakness pass for cowardise, nor can we be brought to acknowledge that our passions are the punishment of our disobedience. From this first Errour is derived a second more troublesome then the former: For believing our disease light, we think the remedy extream easie; and judg­ing Concupiscence not so strong, we judge the Grace of Jesus Christ nothing so powerful. Indeed those that imagine that mans liberty is yet vigorous enough to resist sin, acknowledge only a sufficient grace, adding little to that of Adam, depending upon our will, as well as that did up­on his: They make us the masters of our salvation; and not considering the terrible enemies we have to combate, they think our weapons need be no better furnished then those of the first Man. Therefore I cannot establish the necessity of efficacious Grace, but I must describe the irre­gularity [Page 161]of our nature, that the greatness of our disease may make us ap­prehend the excellency of the remedy. And indeed 'tis one of the chie­fest reasons Saint Augustine made use of, to make the Semi-Pelagians understand that the succours which were sufficient for man an Innocent, could not be sufficient for man a Sinner: He handles these two subjects without dividing them; he opposeth Concupiscence to Charity, and founds the strength of Grace upon the weakness of corrupted Na­ture.

Man in the state of Innocence was well with himself, because he was so with God; his flesh was obedient to his spirit, because his spirit was obedient to him that created it; Originall righteousness was a sacred chain which link'd the body to the soul, and the soul to God: so that having no domestick enemies, he had but forainers to combate; But when sin had despoiled him of grace, he saw himself swallowed up by his own passions, and justly condemned to suffer the eternall pain of his disobedience: From that houre he began to be criminall and miserable; the parts that compos'd him were divided; and Original righteousness the bond of their amity, having abandoned them, their love was changed into hatred: 'Twas in this sad moment that Nature lost her primitive pu­rity; that she that was subject to Grace, became captive to Concupi­scence; from which incestuous mixture, those monsters received birth that bid us battle. Man attempted divers means to recover the good he had lost; Reason promised him the victory over his passions; Data est Lex [...] agrum de morbe convinceret qui sibi sanus vide­batur, ut peccata demonstrarētur, non ut auferren­tur. Aug. in Psal. 83. Liber­ty undertook the reconciliation of the soul and body; and both of them assisted by a vain Philosophy, put him in hopes of a happy tranquillity: For awhile he suffered himself to be cousened with their promises; and his vanity which could not be cured by his misery, perswaded him that reason could supply the want of grace: But the Law undeceived him, which seems to have commanded the good, and forbidden the evil, for no other end, but to make us sensible of our weakness, and to oblige us to run to Grace.

'Tis true, that as sin hath corrupted nature, whereby shee is at a great distance from this acceptable condition, wherein soul and body conspired together to make man happy; The Grace of Jesus Christ must of necessi­ty be far different from that of Adam; it must have more light, because it is to enlighten one blind; more force, because it is to cure one diseased; In the state of Innocence it was subject to the will of man; he made use of it according to his pleasure, because having as yet no bad inclinations, there was no inconvenience but his salvation might depend upon his liber­ty; and he be in some sort the master of his happiness. Heaven never re­fused him relief; he found assistance in all his designs, and being not yet criminal, Grace was offered to him at every moment: As it was always present with, so was it always at his devotion; he might accept or refuse it, and in this happy condition he was so free, that his salvation and his [Page 162]fall depended upon his will: Weakness which is so naturall to the crea­ture, had nothing to doe to disquiet him, because having no disorders in his soul nor in his body, there were no intestine seditions that could surprise him: But now that the disease is sunk down into the very Essence of his Beeing, that all the faculties of his soul are disabled, that the will seiz'd upon by concupiscence, hath no inclination but towards evil; and the understanding dazled with false lights, or obscur'd by reall darkness, can hardly discern truth from falshood; Man hath need of some more vigorous active Grace, then that of Innocence; such as may render it self Mistress of his Liberty without forcing it; apply his will to good, without constraining it: withdraw it from evil, without offering it vio­lence; and being the principle of all his actions, defend him from the subtle treachery of the senses, the open revolt of the passions, and the bold fury of concupiscence.

Though habituall grace that resides in the innermost recesses of the soul, seems to have re-instated man in his first condition, and that by vertue of Baptism or Repentance, he is reconciled with God; yet does he groan still under the tyranny of concupiscence; This monster makes war upon him after his death, Concupiscentia tanquam lex peccati cum parvulis nasci­tur, in baptiza­tis à reatu sol­vitur, ad ago­nem relinqui­tur. Aug. employs the malice of his daughter to ruine him, and endeavouring to re-enter upon a place where he holds so much intelligence, admits of no truce nor minute of rest. If among so many rebels that favour the party of sin, Grace did still depend upon mans li­berty, I know not if he could make use of it with profit; and whether self-love that lives still in his will, would not endeavour to employ Grace it self to the advantage of this selfish passion. For what can be hoped for from a creature that more follows the motions of concupiscence, then the impulses of charity, were there not some commanding Grace that became the Mistress of his heart, and carrying him to good with as much force as sweetness, gained him a sure victory over his enemies?

Therefore is it that the Great Saint Augustine, to whom all the secrets of Grace were known, represents it to us under the name of a Victori­ous Suavity, which gently masters the will by its affectionate allurements, leading her so securely amidst the throng of precipices, that she runs less hazard in the world, then our first Father did in Paradise: For though he had nothing to fear but his weakness, experience made him see 'twas e­nough to destroy him; and that 'twas easie for him to tumble into a mis­fortune, whence an Angel that was more vigorous, knew not how to de­fend himself: But though in the state of sin, rebellion share the forces of man, though Concupiscence divide his will, he knows very well that when Grace clears up his understanding, he cannot mistake; and when it inanimates him, he cannot be worsted.

We must not imagine for all this, that Grace renders man impeccable, nor that when it carries him out of himself he hath lost the power of re­sisting it; he is too potent towards his loss; he feels too often that the [Page 163]actual love that moves him Godward, takes not away that unhappie incli­nation he hath to turn his back upon him; he hears that cruel enemy in the deepest recesses of his soul, that murmures even whilst Grace triumphs over his Liberty; he hath a sense of Passions that divide his Will, and hinder Charity from taking a full possession of that superiour faculty; he is convinced, even to his damage, that as a Needle between two Loadstones, though drawn away by the strongest, turns notwithstanding towards the weakest; so he, though mastered by Grace, ceaseth not to be tempted by Concupiscence; and by woful experience learns, that as soon as Charity suspends her vertue, and moderates that sweet violence wherewith she so pleasingly ravisheth the heart, he is presently trail'd on by the weight of self-love, that bends him towards the Creatures.

I know there are a sort of new Divines that seem to place Concu­piscence in man an Innocent, not exempting him from that intestine war whereof the Saints complain; who are perswaded that original righteous­ness did not accord the two parts that compose man; and that their divi­sion contributing to his glory, ought also to contribute to his merit. But besides that I suspect this Opinion as maintained by the Pelagians; Haec quae ab im­pudentibus im­pudenter lauda­ta pudenda Con­cupiscentia, nul­la esset nisi homo ante peccasset. Aug. and S. Augustine hath laid it on the ground, as the foundation of their Heresie; those that defend it are at least obliged to confess, that if Concupiscence were in man in the state of Innocence, it was not there with those disor­ders the Apostle of the Gentiles groaned under; but that original sin giving it a new vigour, there is requisite a new grace to contest against it: Otherwise he had done very unmanly to complain of a revolt which was nothing but an effect of Nature, and which he might easily suppress by his Will, animated with as much Grace as Jesus Christ refuses not even to his enemies: And the Church, guided by the holy Spirit, would do amiss to intreat so often for her childrens deliverance from an insurrection which cannot be bad, if it were born with man in his Innocence. If they an­swer, She requests not that the Faithful be delivered from it because bad, but because dangerous; by the same reason they must desire that they had neither eyes nor hands, because both these parts are of sad consequence to sinners. If they say they pray not for the full ruine of it, but for its diminution; they must confess, that if what they would pare away be hurtful, it ought not to be in Adam, nor could now be cured by his grace. For, as S. Augustine says excellently well, the grace of Adam was the grace of a man sound and free, and the grace of Jesus Christ of a man a captive and diseased: this produceth two effects in his person; it restores his health, before it give him strength; it breaks his fetters, before it makes him walk; and suppresseth his disorders, before it makes him act.

This Truth will be better conceived, if we compare the Liberty of Adam with the Servitude of Man a sinner; that by the difference of these two states, we may judge more easily of the difference of their graces. Adam was as Free as Innocent; nothing resisted his Will in his person; [Page 164]and the Passions having not as yet shook off the yoke of Reason, troubled not his Rest: he acted with tranquillity of minde; he found his pleasure in his duty; nor was he sensible of any internal rebellion impeaching his liberty. Thence it came to pass that his grace was subject to his Will, that he used it according to his desires and his occasions, either to obey his Soveraign, to command his Subjects, or to resist his Enemies. But the sinner fallen from this glorious condition, is the slave of him that hath conquered him; he serves as many Masters as he hath Passions; and he findes to his cost, that to punish his disobedience, all his subjects rebel against him. The grace of Adam would be useless in this condition; be­ing not fully free, he could not make use of it; and being the slave of sin, in whose possession he is, he would employ it rather to his own ruine, then to his salvation: Grace must set him free, before he can work; must break his chains, before he can fight; and restore him his liberty, before he can form one good designe. This is it that S. Augustine teacheth us in that Chapter where making the Antithesis of Man a Sinner, and Man an Inno­cent, he saith, This had a grace great indeed, but much different from ours: For he lived in the advantages he had received from his Creator, and of his goodness held that happie condition that exempted him from all our evils: But the Faithful, to whom this grace appertains that delivers Ca­ptives, languish in misfortunes that make them seek after Liberty: Adam in the midst of the innocent delights he tasted, had no need of the death of Jesus Christ; but the Christians cannot be washed from their heredi­tary or acquired sins, but by the blood of the Lamb slain for their salvation: Adam stood not in need of that assistance his children require, when ex­periencing the revolt of the Flesh against the Spirit, they complain of the Law of Sin that opposeth the Law of God; and by the mediation of Je­sus Christ, beg strength to combat, and ability to overcome an enemy whose assaults Adam was never sensible of: For he was not divided in Pa­radise; but enjoying a profound peace, he saw not his body warring against his soul, nor one part of himself unjustly lifting up the heel against the other. Proinde etsi non interim laetiore, nunc verunratē potentiore gra­tia indigent isti. Aug. Let us say then with that great Doctor, that the grace of Adam was happier then ours, and ours more powerful then his; he might, if he would, have overcome amidst his delights; and we triumph among our sorrows: his grace gave him a Power to act, ours a Will: his was subject to his Will, ours is her mistress; and, by a happie occasion, we are the con­querors of Devils, because the slaves of Jesus Christ.

It seems our Redeemer would be revenged of us, in avenging us of our enemy; that he disposed all things so, that our victory should depend upon our overthrow, and our liberty should be grounded upon our servi­tude; because Grace tames our Will, to make it victorious over sin; and subjects her to it self, to give her command over the Passions; and in this humble submission, procures us those advantages we never had possessed in the Empire of Innocence. For, whatever arts we use to exalt the happie [Page 165]condition of Adam, we must confess his grace was weak, because it could not maintain the freedom of his Will; and, leaving him to himself, suffer­ed his enemy to foil him: But the grace of Jesus Christ makes us victo­rious in the midst of our infirmities, assures our salvation among the ma­ny stormings of Temptations, and seizing upon our heart, makes us triumph over the world.

When I consider the deplorable condition of a sinner, me thinks Jesus Christ had a minde to humble him by lifting him up; and that he might profit by his loss, to make him finde his greatness in his abasement: For 'tis indeed to take man down, to subject him to grace, to deprive him of the disposal of his Will, and to use him as a slave, who is no longer ma­ster of his own person: But 'tis also to lift him up, to endow him with a victorious grace, which confirms his liberty, makes him constant in good, and in despight of all his weaknesses, gives him so much vigour and strength, that he meets no enemies he does not vanquish, nor any temptations he does not overcome.

But admit all these reasons did not clearly conclude for the necessity of Grace, I conceive Predestination would always be a most evident proof: For seeing it is true that God is immutable in his Decrees, that the designs he hath laid from all Eternity, are not changed in Time, Praedéstinare Deum nihil ali­ud quicquam est quam in illa­sua quae falli mutari (que) non potest praescien­tia sua opera. futuradisponere. Aug. de Perse. nor can all the powers of earth hinder the execution of his will; we must confess that Predestination being the first of his Decrees, must of necessity be irrevo­cable: He himself says it, that he knows all his sheep, that no man can take them out of his hands, that they cannot be blotted out of the book of Life, and that all the malice of the devils cannot destroy those he hath a minde to save. If this Maxime be true, we must infallibly conclude that the salvation of the Elect is not grounded upon their Liberty, but up­on Grace; and that their perseverance in the ways of goodness, depends not absolutely upon their Free-will, but upon the assistance of Jesus Christ. For if it be true that there is nothing more changeable then the Will of Man, and that the state of Innocency set him upon a rock, Must we not confess that Predestination would be very uncertain, had it no surer foun­dation? and that the salvation of the Elect would run a great hazard, did it rely onely upon a sufficient grace depending meerly upon their Liberty? Let us confess therefore, with S. Augustine, that since the Fall of man, there is a grace whose effect is infallible; that it changeth our Will, to convert it; gives us strength to combat, inspires us with constancy to per­severe; and securing us from the malice of Satan, happily conducts us out of this miserable Banishment, to our desired Country.

The Fourth DISCOURSE. Different Opinions of the Power of the Christians Grace.

THough Man have very many proofs of his Weakness, yet hath he more of his Ignorance: he knows not that which he sees, and that which he touches: his Senses are better sighted then his Understanding; and they judge more surely of their objects, then the Intellect does of his. The Qualities of things cloud their Essences; every Accident is a veil cast over the eyes of the Soul; and he undergoes all the troubles in the world, to finde the Sun of Truth amidst the Shadows that cover it: But his Ig­norance is never more evident then when he seeks for the last differences of things; he changes upon all occasions; the more he goes on, the more he wanders; and finding no tracks that may steer him in an unknown path, he many times takes Falshood for Truth. Thence it comes to pass that we are acquainted with nothing but the Accidents or Proprieties of things, and that we fall into Errour as often as we intend to judge of their Essences. There is nothing more known to Christians then Grace; a man must be a Pelagian, to doubt of its vertue: all our prayers are testimonies of its necessity; and when we intreat of God to enable us to perform what he commands us to do, we ask Grace [...]thout naming it. In the mean time, Inctinantur ec­ram corda ut boc velint, eo scilicet incli­nante qui in no­bis mirabili modo & ineffa­bili operatur ut velit. Aug. de praed. cap. 20. there is nothing more hid then its Essence: These twelve Ages men have disputed its power; nor is it yet resolved wherein cor­sists that vertue that makes it efficacious. Every one confesseth, there are two kindes of Graces in Christianity: One Habitual, that gives the Chri­stian his supernatural being; that lifts him up to the participation of the Divine Nature; and making him an Image of Jesus Christ, makes him Man and God together: The other Actual, which elevates him in his operations, makes him act heavenwards, and renders his works holy and acceptable before God: But few know wherein consists the power of this Grace, what that is, which, without forcing our Liberty, makes it irresistible in its designes.

The disciples of S. Thomas believe Grace effectual because it is an im­pulse of God, raising and determining the Will as often as he moves and applies it. Primum agens in agendo omnia agentia alia prae­venit, perficit & conservat, co quod ipsum omnibus dat esse, unde dabit perfectiones concomitantes & sequentes ad ipsum esso. D. Thom. They ground themselves upon the power of the First cause, which ought to regu­late his state and guide his subjects according to their inclinations, and according to their desires. [Page 167]Thence it comes to passe, that he inlightens with the Sun, burns with the Fire, reasons with Man, acts necessarily with necessary Causes, and freely with free Causes; Thence it comes to passe also, that he is free in the world, that nothing is done contrary to his directions, and that applying the creatures in their operations, sees all his designs infallibly succeed. For these Divines believe not that any thing is to be permitted to Fortune in the Kingdome of Providence; nor that the knowledge of God is to be submitted to the capricious fancies of his creatures. Therefore doe they put into his hands the reins of his whole Empire: they will have him give motion to all his subjects; to apply them in their operations, and without offering them any violence, execute his will by their inclinations. If he abandons necessary Causes, they produce Monsters; if free Causes, they commit sins; and when he guides both of them in order of Nature or of Grace, they are regular in their motions, and happy in their pro­ductions: But being the Principle, the Glory belongs to him; and the effects they produce ought rather to be ascrib'd to his Influence, then to their Vertue. This Predetermination of the creature in a supernaturall order, is called Effectuall Grace among the Disciples of Saint Thomas: and they are so wedded to this opinion, that they believe a man cannot dissent from it, without renouncing the meaning of Saint Paul, overturning the order of Nature, robbing God of his Soveraignty, and taking from him the infallible knowledge of all events that happen in his State: They ne­ver think to weaken the liberty of man by establishing the Providence of God, because they know his concurrence hath no lesse sweetness then force; and that he ceaseth not to act winningly, notwithstanding he acts absolutely. They believe also God no ways injures the creature, if he leave him to his infirmity, because owing him nothing, he may let him fall when he will; and that it is mercy and not justice when he vouch­safes to uphold or lift him up. Adjuvat no [...] Deus per Do­ctrinam & re­velationem suā dum cordis no­stri oculos ape­rit, dum nobis ne praesentibus occupemur fu­tura demōstrat, dum Diaboli pandit infidias, dum nos m [...]li­formi & inof­fabili dono gra­tiae caelestis il­luminat. Pe­lag. in Aug. [...] 1. de Gra. Christi. ca. 7.

Some other Divines to whom this opinion seems too severe, place the power of Grace in the consent of the creature; and will have, that God more tender of our salvation then of his own glory, presents Grace to all men: and that it depends only upon their liberty to receive or reject it. This assistance hath no more vertue then the law; it shews the evill, but cures it not; it forbids sin, but gives no strength to avoid it; it clears the understanding, but changeth not the will; it solicits not this, but be­cause it illuminates that; and as if men had kept all their libertie since their fall, it tries to dissipate their darkness, without taking the pains to break their fetters. This Grace thus conceived, is but a weak light, be­cause it leaves all Infidels in their Errours; and a vain perswasion, because it leaves so many Christians in their sins: Nevertheless according to their Creed, 'tis sufficient to save all men, provided they will; and as if their liberty had not been infeebled at all by Originall sin, they can make use of this Universall Grace, work out their salvation with it, draw them­selves [Page 168]out of the number of the Reprobate, and pass into that of Elect. It seems this Grace is not much different from that which Saint Augustine opposed, when he said these words to the Pelagians: If we have the power to consent, why does the Apostle teach us that 'tis God that works in us to will? I know ye will answer, he works in us by his Law: in obeying which, we make it efficacious; and in resisting, render it use­lesse and unprofitable. But if all be as you say, you condemn all the Prayers of the Faithfull, you blame the custome of the Church: For see­ing 'tis in our power to consent when we list, 'tis to no purpose to pray that we may doe it; and since having the knowledge of good, 'tis in our own power to perform it, 'tis in vain that Saint Paul requested Grace for the Faithfull, who were already enlightned. In the mean time, know­ing that 'tis of God to prepare the will, he addes Prayer to the Com­mand; having exhorted them to depart from sin, he endeavours to divert them by his supplications, and to obtain that for them, which he had formerly taught them.

But as I write not so much to confute the opinion of others, as to esta­blish my own, I leave every man the freedome to follow his own sense in this particular; and content my self to make it appear, that Saint Au­gustine was never of this judgement concerning Grace. And indeed there are few Divines that embrace the opinion I am about to deliver; it was stifled in the very Birth as Monsters are; and though it flatter liberty, ma­king it the Mistress of salvation, it must be sweetned to give it some cre­dit among the Faithfull.

Behold therefore the temperament the new Divines have reduc'd it to, thereby to give more to Grace and lesse to Free-will. Neque tacendū est Dlum prace­denter velle o­mnes homines salvari; non e­nim ad punien­dum nos plas­mavit, sed ut efficiat nos boni­tatis suae par­ticipes ut bonus, peccantes autem puniri vult ut justus. Damas. de fide. They say then that God is willing to save all men: that this is a design worthy his goodness, who would not create men to damn them; that in consideration of the merits of Jesus Christ that are infinite, he offers Grace to all sinners, which being well husbanded, is able to procure them salvation: But forasmuch as the weakness of man is great, his inclination to evil powerful, and his will so free, that no Laws can be imposed upon it; they say that God, as if he distrusted his forces, or would not incroach upon the Liberty, accom­modates himself to the inclinations of the sinner whom he means to con­vert; that he studies his humours, feels the pulse of his affections, and ta­king the moments he judgeth most proper for the execution of his designs, sets upon him when he scarce knows how to defend himself: For the Graces God offers, are so fitted to his spirit, so agreeable to his Will, so conformable to his Temperament, that he accepts on this occasion what he would have refused in another. Gratia congrna est qua tali tempore & loco datur quo per scieutiam conditionatam Deus praevidet voluntatem hominis ei consensum praebituram, quam­vis potest pro naturali sua indifferentia dissentire. Suarez. lib. 3. de Concurs. Less. lib. de Grat. Efficaci. These Divines describe God as a timorous Lover, and the soul of man as a stately Mistresse: God speaks [Page 169]to her by his inspirations, and shee gives no ear; he discovers her his Beauties, and she contemns them; he presents her his Favours, and she mindes them not: Seeing her rebellious to his will, deaf to his intrea­ties, as if he could not be obeyed without offering her violence; and conveying heat into the will, as well as light into the understanding, he hath recourse to Stratagems; he endeavours to surprise her that he cannot overcome; he wins her heart by her ears, nor triumphs over her liberty, but by her humors or her inclinations. But certainly Love ne­ver made the Almighty lose his Majesty, but in the Mystery of the In­carnation; when he deals with his creature, he always keeps his State; his being a Lover, makes him not forget that he is a Soveraign; and when he intends to deliver a soul from the slavery of sin, he employs graces so sweet and so strong, that as he no ways wrongs the liberty of his crea­ture, so neither doth he prejudice his absolute Power. He knows very well that sin gives him a new right over men; that he may refuse them grace without any injustice; that he saves a Delinquent when he saves a Saint: and that the merits of his Son being not applyed to men but ac­cording to his good pleasure, take not from him the power absolutely to dispose of his subjects.

To give my judgement therefore of these three opinions; Me thinks the first more respects the Majesty of God, then the Liberty of Man; pre­scribes Laws to him which in truth are not unjust, but seems a little too severe; lifts him not high enough above the rest of creatures, and though it leave him his liberty, considers not sufficiently the dignity of his extraction: For it seems God deals with Men as with the Elements, that he makes scarce any difference between Angels and Beasts; and that this Soveraign governs so absolutely in his State, that he much more re­gards his own glory then the welfare of his subjects: He determines also free creatures as well as necessary; if he oppresse not their liberty, he takes no pains to gain it; and more solicitous to make himselfe obeyed, then loved, he masters the will rather by force then sweetnesse. The second passeth into another extream, and seems to be so carefull of the salvation of man, that it neglects the glory of God, makes his grace a bondage, opens heaven to all the world: makes Mercy sparkle abroad to the detriment of Justice; ascribes more to liberty then to grace; renders man insolent since his Fall; will have him as familiar with God since his re­bellion, as during his innocence: Imagines that nature received no ble­mishes by sin, and that the will under the thraldome of Concupiscence, is as vigorous as under the Empire of Originall righteousnesse. The third handles Grace a little more respectfully then the second; 'tis me thinks a bold opinion, but not impudent, it covers self-love under honourable pretences; it bestowes that upon the Mercy of God, that it takes from his Justice; it intitles not liberty so absolutely to salvation, but it preserves the rights of Grace; which if it make not victorious, it makes at least wel­disposed; [Page 170]if it reign not over the will, it does over the inclinations: and if it offers a sufficient grace to all men, it confesseth neverthelesse the effect is not produced, but when it agrees with the constitution or hu­mour of Man. But after all this, it seems to overturn the order of Pre­destination: gives more to merits then to grace, imposes Laws upon its Soveraign, and obliges him when he means to save a sinner, to consult ra­ther their dispositions then his own will and pleasure. Let us see what Saint Augustine hath most constantly believed concerning this Subject: and lest we mistake our way, take him for a guide that hath so generously defended its Cause against the Impiety of Hereticks.

The Fift DISCOURSE. Wherein precisely consists the power of Effectuall Grace.

THere is no man but may observe that the Loadstone draws iron to it: but there is no Philosopher can discover wherein this vertue consists. We need but open our eyes to see how this stone, which may be called one of the miracles of Nature, lifts up the iron assoon as moved towards it: that it gives a kind of feeling to this senslesse metal, and in despite of its hard­ness, softens it into a tendernesse of affection: We behold with astonish­ment, that it leaps from the Earth to follow that which draws it; that it steals from it self to embrace it, Quid ferri du­ritia pugnati­us? sed cedit & patitur amores; trahitur nam (que) à magnete la­pi [...]e domitrix illa rerum o­mnium mate­ria; ad inane nescio quid cur­rit, atque ut propius venit assistit tenetur­ (que) & complexu haeret. Pli. lib. 36. cap. 16. and clings so strongly to it, that violence must be used to part them. But certainly, 'tis very difficult to comprehend what is that secret vertue that imprints this power in the Loadstone: The whole Body of Philosophers have troubled themselves to no purpose to discover it, whatever pains they have taken; and whatever watchings they have spent in this study, they have not to this day been able to find out the occult cause of so evident an effect; they are ignorant whence this sympathy between the Loadstone and the Iron grows, nor can they render a reason why this stone attracts this metal and not others; they know not whether this attraction have more of sweetness or of force, whether it draw the Iron by affecting it, or by forcing it, and whether it complies with its inclination, or over-bears its weight and obstinacy.

What I have said of the Loadstone, may as truly be verified of Grace: Its power is so publick, and its attempts so common, that there is no bo­dy but knows and admires them; It triumphs daily over the liberty of sinners, lifts these wretches from the Earth, enlightens the blind, softens the obdurate, converts the obstinate, and subdues these rebels: But [Page 171]though all the Faithful acknowledge a vertue whose effects they resent, they know not precisely wherein it consists; they are divided in their opi­nions: and though they all take S. Augustine for their Master, they ex­press themselves in such different terms, that though taught in the same School, it seems they have not all learnt the same Lesson.

Inasmuch as this incomparable Doctor is pleased in all his Works to break forth in commendations of Grace, consacring all his Labours to the glory of that which drew him out of his sin; he sometimes admires its Force, and seems to place all its vertue in its invincible puissance: he will have it the mistress of hearts, strongly over-ruling the Will of sinners; and like a Soverain, more respecting her own Majesty, then the Inclination of her subjects: Sometimes he changeth his language; and meditating rather to preserve the Liberty of Man, then the Power of Grace, he seems to place its vertue in its compliance, he represents it to us as a sweet per­swasion; flattering man, to gain him; setting upon him where he is weak­est, to overcome him; studying his inclinations, to make him in love; en­tring into his meaning, to accommodate it to that of its own; and like Lovers, who become complacent onely to become absolute, stoops to the li­berty of the sinner, to triumph over it; nor is his slave, but to become his mistress.

Sometimes he walks between these two Extremes; and joyning force with sweetness, he speaks of Grace as of a victorious complacency: he describes her as a Queen displaying her Beauty as well as her Power, to keep her subjects in obedience: and knowing that Nature hath given her as many Allurements as she hath done Forces, unites both together, to tame the rebels of her State: She imitates the conduct of Providence, whereof shee is an emanation; and mingling Sweetness with Authority, executes her designes, leading men whither she pleaseth. These three manners whereby S. Augustine expresseth himself in his Writings, have produced three Opinions in the Church, which acknowledge him for Ma­ster, boasting to be of his minde, and to stand to his Doctrine.

The first is that which is ascribed to S. Thomas; which delivering it self in terms very significant, but somewhat barbarous, placeth the power of Grace in Predetermination. Those that hold this Opinion, will have God always preserve his Soveraignty when he deals with the Creature, Voluntas Dei est prima & summa omnium causa. Aug. lib. 3. de Trin. applying him as he will; and using rather compulsion then fair means, discovers a desire rather to be obey'd then lov'd. He acts so powerfully, that all his designes are accomplished: he toucheth the Will of Man with so much energie, that he masters it; and makes that blinde faculty so sensible of his Authority, that acknowledging him for her lawful Soveraign that sei­zeth her, she loseth all desire of resistance, and accounts it her happiness to yeeld obedience. These Divines borrow the terms of S. Augustine to explain themselves; and taking advantage of whatever he hath said in be­half of the power of Grace, say that she is invincible in her designes; [Page 172]that she findes no opposition in her subjects; that she manageth the hearts of men as she lists, bending their Wills without constraining them; that she acts so absolutely, that she changeth their resolutions, and of rebels makes them loyal and obedient subjects. They stick to all those expressi­ons S. Augustine makes use of to set an estimate upon the power of Grace; and they are so afraid lest gentle usage bring some prejudice to the Sove­raignty of God, that they seem to have neglected the liberty of Man.

Nothing more detains them in these manners of speech, then a belief they have that no operation of God, though never so strong, doth ever oppress the liberty of the Creature: In a word, though he act so power­fully, he still preserves the interest of his workmanship; he never deprives him of those perfections he once endowed him with; and as he necessari­ly moves necessary causes, so he also freely moves free causes: whatever impression he makes upon them, he never storms them; and as there is nothing more natural to the Creature then to obey his Creator, so is there nothing less violent. Cujuscunque rci natura Dei vo­luntas. Aug. de civ. Dei. This made S. Augustine utter that learned and gal­lant speech, That the will of God was the nature of every thing, That the Fire was as much disposed to cool as to burn; the Sea to contain it self, as to overflow; the Earth to move, as to stand fixed upon its centre, when they received order from their Soveraign. The same may be said some way proportionably of Man; as his inclinations are not more natural to him, then these qualities to the Elements, God may change them without doing him any violence, and ravish his heart without interesting his liber­ty. Si ergo cum voluerit reges in terra De­us constituere, magis habet in potestate volun­tates hominum quam ipsi suas; quis alius facit ut salubris sit correptio, & fiat in correpti corde correctio, ut cae­lesti constituatur in regno? Aug. Thus we see that S. Augustine saith so often, That Grace worketh in us to will, That it gains our consent, overcomes our standing out, and, by a wonderful effect of its power, makes us hate those things we loved, and love those things we hated; That, finally, its impulses are so strong, that when they are received into our heart, we must infallibly obey; and yeelding to his omnipotence that drew us out of nothing, we voluntarily pass from Death to Life, from Rebellion to Obedience. Though this Opi­nion ascribe so much to the Grace of Jesus Christ, it takes from it the prin­cipal advantage; and speaking nothing of its Sweetness, the better to esta­blish its power, greatly diminisheth the esteem due unto it: For Men being passionate of their Liberty, cannot rellish that which seems to weaken it; the shadow of bondage checks them; and this absolute Empire of the Creator over his Creature, inspires them rather with Rebellion then Obe­dience.

Therefore some other, willing to preserve Mans Liberty, have lessened the power of Grace: they place its vertue in its accommodation; and rendering it rather compliant then victorious, make it not raign so much by power as by stratagem: They will have Jesus Christ, when he under­takes the conversion of a sinner, chuse the most opportune moments, con­sult the inclinations of his enemy, search among his treasures of Graces those that are most sutable to this rebels humour; and, that he may not [Page 173]force his Will fit himself to his condition and temper: They are afraid lest giving too much authority to Grace, they ruine the Liberty of Man; and, to avoid this misfortune, they reconcile them so well together, that 'tis hard to judge which of the two is mistress.

S. Augustine furnisheth them with words and reasons for their defence; his first Writings are much in their favour; and before he was to cope with the Pelagians, said very much in their behalf. For as this great Do­ctor hath combated all the Hereticks of his time, hath buckled with the Manichees and the Donatists, he hath changed his Batteries according as he changed his Enemies, and seems to employ other Principles against the Manichees then against the Pelagians. When he deals with the first, he attributes much to the liberty of man; he makes it not onely the source of sin, but of good works; and to hear him speak against these Hereticks, Grace seems not so much the handmaid, as the mistress of the Will. Be­fore he was advanced to a Bishoprick, he had opinions which afterwards he retracted; and being as humble as he was learned, he knew that he had attributed too much to the Will, and too little to Grace: But also we must confess that he writ some things in those times that he never re­canted; and though he spake afterwards more stoutly, he seems to have left his disciples the liberty of chusing in his Writings those opinions that seem most reasonable: For this great man would never tyrannize over the spirits, never would he make himself Head of a party; and excepting those things he believ'd matter of Faith, he never forced any man to fol­low his Judgement.

Though therefore he quitted this opinion, he condemned it not; and those that embrace it may boast themselves the disciples of this great Doctor: besides that in his last Works he useth some terms that seem to favour it: For he makes as if he placed the victory of Grace in its aptness, acknow­ledging it victorious as far as 'tis agreeable, and agreeable as far as sutable to the sinner: He compares it sometimes to those Potions that are bitter to a sick person, because their mouthes are out of taste, and which must be dulcorated by some artisice, that they may be taken: He confesses, writing against Faustus, that the sweet elapses of Grace consist in this agreement, which makes it entertained by the sinner; and that, to pro­duce its effect, it must have some resemblance with the inclination of him that it would master. Procul dubio, saith he, suavitatem ipsa congruentia facit.

But as in this Opinion Liberty seems still the mistress of Grace, and that she reserves a right to use it at pleasure: There is a Third Opinion made up of the two former, taking and leaving somewhat of both. From the first it takes that Force it acknowledgeth in Grace, and rejects that imperi­ous power that converts the Will in whatever disposition it findes her: For those that fully div'd into the meaning of S. Augustine, have observed that the Grace of Jesus Christ, though always effectual, is not always victori­ous; [Page 174]and though it never fail to produce some holy desires or good motions in the soul of a sinner, yet it surmounts not always the illigiti­mate pleasure that holds her captive; so that its manner of acting dif­fers very much from Physicall predetermination, which ever tames the will, notwithstanding all the resistance she can make. Finally, this third opinion takes and leaves something of the second; it takes that sweetness that charms the will of man, and confesseth all the force of grace to consist in that suavity that accompanies it: but it rejects that lazy com­pliance that subjects grace to liberty, making man in some sort the ma­ster of his salvation; it cannot allow that our consent should more de­pend upon our selves then upon grace: and that acting in the state of sin, as if we had acted in the state of innocence, we should rather dis­pose of grace, then grace of us.

To explain therefore the power of this Divine influence according to the most common opinion and most constant with S. Augustine; it consists me thinks in a certain sweet elapse, shedding it self into the will, charming it so agreeably, that 'tis transported by it, doing nothing but by the motion of this suavity, which becomes infallibly victorious, surmounting the delectation that captivated the will. If it produce not always this last effect, it fails not to produce some others. For if it disingage not the sinners soul, it breathes into him some desire of his liberty, imprints some motions into him that make him sigh; if it breaks not his chains, it ea­seth the weight of them, and enables him to form some good designs, or conceive some good wishes. But whatever man does, 'tis grace still that makes him doe it; it is more the principle of his action then himself: and seeing it produceth in him according to the language of the great Apostle, both to will and to doe, he is obliged to say with the same Apostle, that he owes all that he is, and all that he doth to Grace, and that the glory he expects, is rather the reward of grace, then of his merits.

From all this Discourse 'tis easie to judge that this last opinion compre­hends the two other; that it unites force with sweetness in grace; that it may prevail upon man without wiolence: It respects the Majesty of God, because it gives him the absolute disposall of his creature: it spares the liberty of man, Certum est nos velle cum volu­mus, sed ille fa­cit ut velimus bonum; certum est nos facere cum facimus, sed ille facit ut faciamus prae­bendo vires effi­cacissimas vo­luntati. Aug. because it subjects it only to pleasure, which is never more welcome then when forc'd: and gives it a share in the work of sal­vation, because it confesseth with Saint Augustine, that he acts with the grace that makes him act: Ageris ut agas, & bene agis si à bono aga­ris

There remains one difficulty which I am content to propound without resolving: To wit, whether Grace always mingle force with sweetnesse to convert a sinner, or to guide a just person; for it seems there are some souls that God deals roughly with, which taste no inward sweetnesse at all: and destitute of all delectation, act only by the strength and faith­fulness of their grace. They are continually plunged in grief and sor­row; [Page 175]they may bespeak God as Job did in the midst of his afflictions, Mu­tatus es mihi in crudelem; and they may boast with the Apostle, that all their strength consists in their weakness: Tunc potens sum cum infirmor. I know very well that Saint Augustine never separates force from sweet­ness in grace, and that where ever he describes it victorious, he describes it agreeable. But may we not say also, that this great Doctor hath spoken of Grace, as he had experience of it himself; and being disingaged from sinfull pleasures by innocent ones, believed all graces sweet: and that the particular conduct God had observ'd towards his soul, was his generall proceeding with all others. In a word, Mysticall Divines and Spirituall Guides seem to acknowledge ways wherein God separates light from force, and force from sweetness, though in both these he faile not to promote souls in piety. But because Saint Augustine hath given no notice of them in his works, let us hold our selves to his conceptions, and say, that if there are graces where light and force are more sensible then sweetnesse, there are none where sweetness is not mixt with force and light, and the sweetness so much more effectuall, that being more inti­mate, 'tis lesse known to the understanding and more remote from sense.

The Sixt DISCOURSE. That the names Saint Augustine gives Christian Grace, bear witness 'tis effectuall.

MAn is so free that he cannot endure any thing that checks his liber­ty; he is more afraid of servitude, then of death; he had rather die a Free-man then live a Slave; and if liberty were not to be found in Heaven, I question whether he could find in his heart to be happy: 'Tis the love he hath to this advantage, which serves him for excuse of his greatest crimes. If he repine to live in a Monarchy, 'tis because he conceives the absolute power of Soveraigns inconsistent with the liberty of their subjects: If hee cannot submit to Laws, 'tis because hee is perswaded they in­trench upon his will; and that they will fetter a creature, over whom God will not reign by compulsion; If finally, Christians cannot suffer effectuall grace; if the name be distastfull or suspected; and if instead thereof they introduce sufficient grace, 'tis because they believe it re­duceth man to a troublesome bondage, excluding merit, and preju­dicing liberty: But because there are unjust pannick fears, and evils that more hurt the imagination then the body; I design this Discourse to discover the unreasonableness of this apprehension, and to let those [Page 174] [...] [Page 175] [...] [Page 176]that are in love with liberty see that 'tis not incompatible with effectu­all grace, because this according to Saint Augustine, is a victorious pleasure charming our soul; a triumphant love, predominant over our will, and a powerfull perswasion captivating our understanding.

Forasmuch as God hath made man free, never taking that from him w ^ch once he hath bestowed upon him; he could not have employed a more gracious, nor more effectuall way to gain him, then pleasure: All crea­tures are taken with it, and the Poet had reason to say, There is no­thing that is not sweetly master'd by pleasure. The Ambitious seek not so much the reputation in honours, as the pleasure, because they con­temn them assoon as they cease to be agreeable. The Covetous is not so much provoked with profit, as pleasure in the desire of wealth, be­cause he spends many times prodigally to procure other things that more delight him; Nay, the Lascivious wanton, is not so much in love with beauty as with pleasure, because he placeth his affection sometimes upon objects that have no appearance of beauty, and many times for­sakes a handsome woman to court a deformed one; Thus pleasure is a powerfull charm, that masters all hearts, plunders liberties, and makes slaves that never complain of their bondage, because they are volunta­ry. Lovers that seek the secret of purchasing affection, study nothing but complacency, being assured they shall produce love in that heart where they have begot pleasure. Flatterers never insinuate into the minds of great men, but by rendring themselves acceptable; nor doe their false Commendations steal in at the ears, but because pleasure takes up the place of truth. The very Devils, though our mortall enemies seduce us not, but because they please us; and had they not found out the art of mixing pleasure with sin, all their temptations would be fruit­less. But the will of man, though never so free, hath such an inclination toward pleasure, that did she never so strongly barracado her self, she could not possibly resist it: she holds out against truth, because she is blind and sees not the beauties 'tis adorned with; she secures her self against vi­olence, because she is free, and naturally opposeth whatever seems to in­croach upon her liberty; she does not acquiesce in reason, because she is deaf; nor hears any discourse but such as charms the understanding by convincing it; But pleasure hath allurements which she can no wayes withstand: she trembles when ever it sets upon her, she is afraid to lose her liberty in his presence; and knowing the power it hath over her in­clinations, she cals in sorrow to her succour to guard her against this plea­sing enemy.

If it be true, that pleasure reigns absolutely over the will, we need not think it strange that grace which is nothing else but a victorious suavity, hath such advantage over her; for besides, that this Heavenly influence surpasseth all the delights in the world that charm us, having more allure­ments then glory and beauty that makes so many Lovers and Martyrs, it [Page 177]insinuates much deeper into the will then whatever ravisheth us mortals. Tunc enim bo­num concupisci incipit cum dul­cescere incipit: ergo benedictio dulcedinis est gratia Dei qua fit in nobis ut nos delectet & cupiamus, hoc est amemus quod praecipit nobis. Aug. Being in the hands of Jesus Christ, whom nothing can resist, it glides into the very Center of our heart, making impressions there that are never more strong then when they are most agreeable; thence it cashieres all pleasures that have unjustly usurpt upon us, and knowing all the weak­nesses of the place it sets upon, we need not wonder if she make her self mistresse. Other pleasures enter not into the will, but at the gate of the senses; they have lost half their strength before they can make their ap­proach; and her inclinations being unknown to them, they many times cause aversion intending to procure love: But grace wooes the heart without the mediation of the senses, and more powerfull then pleasures that act not upon all the faculties of the soul, carries light into the un­derstanding, faithfulnesse into the memory, and pleasure into the will; so that we need not wonder if the sinner suffer himself to be overcome by a Divine quality that sheds delight into all the powers and faculties of the soul.

That which Grace effects thus agreeably by pleasure, it brings to pass more powerfully by Love: For according to the judgement of S. Au­gustine, Amor imperiü babet super om­nes animae vi­res, propter hoc quod ejus obje­ctum est bonum. Aristo. & Di. Tho. and when God means to con­vert a sinner, his sole design is to make him his Lover. Love is the Ma­ster of all hearts; There is no impossibility this passion undertakes not; Miracles are his sports, and all the prodigies Antiquity hath teem'd with, are nothing but the effects of this Soveraign. Scripture is never more eloquent then when it intends to express the force thereof: nothing sa­tisfies it in this design; all words seem too weak to express its conceptions, and finding no comparisons that answer the dignity of the subject, it de­scends to the Tombes, where having considered the Trophies of death, is forc'd to confess that his power equals not that of Love: it passeth to the very Center of the Earth, observes the unrelenting hardness of Hel, and comparing the pains of the damned with the anxiety of lovers, leaves us in doubt whether Hel or Love be more pitiless.

But not to aggravate his power by such strange comparisons, let it suffice to judg of him by his effects: Though he be the son of the Wil, yet is he the Master; he disposeth so absolutely of his Mother, that she hath no motions but what her Son inspires her with: she undertakes nothing but by his orders; 'tis the weight that sets her a going; the Loadstone that attracts her; the King that governs her; and she so absolutely depends upon his power, that nothing but another love can dis-engage her: she is so fierce or so free, that neither violence nor fear can tame her; she laughs at tortures, preserves her liberty in the midst of fetters, and many times torments make her but more wilfull: Only Love mollifies her hardness, his charmes gain upon her what sorrow cannot, and experience teach­eth us, there is no surer Command then that which is founded upon Love.

In the mean time Vanity, which is almost the inseparable companion of Greatness, perswades Kings that 'tis a debasement to seek the love of their subjects; and, seduced by this false Maxime, they endeavour to make them­selves feared, not being able to make themselves beloved. But God, who hath formed the heart of man, and knows how they may be vanquished without being forc'd, owes all his Conquests to his Love; he never appears more absolute, then when he tames a rebellious Will, when of an Enemy he makes a Lover, and, changing his inclinations, sweetly compels him to fall in love with him. Forinsecus ter­ret per Legem, intrinsecus dele­ctat per Amo­rem. Aug. His Power sparkles in his Corrections; he astonish­eth sinners, when he loosens the mountains from their foundations, when he makes the earth shake under their feet, the thunder rumble over their heads, and threatens the world with an universal Deluge, or a general Con­flagration: But all these menaces convert not the Guilty; the fear that terrifies them, reduceth them not to their duty; their heart remains cri­minal, when their mouthes and their hands be innocent; and if God in­spire not his love into them, he punisheth indeed their offence, but changeth not their Will: This prodigious Metamorphosis is reserved for his love; 'tis his charity that must triumph over rebels; nor is there any thing, but his Grace, that by its imperious sweetness can oblige a sinner to love him.

I am not afraid to injure mans Liberty in using terms so significant; be­cause, supposing Grace nothing but Love, it can do no violence to the Will: for, of all the things in the world, there is none freer then Love: A man cannot complain that he is forced, when nothing but charms of affection are employed to gain him: and if there are some Lovers that have blamed the rigour of their mistresses, there is none that have found fault with their love: If it be an Evil, 'tis a voluntary one; it hurts none but those that willingly embrace it; and of so many punishments that torment us, there is none more innocent, because none more free: Crowns may be snatched from Soveraigns, Confidence may be taken from Philosophers, Orators may be convinced, any man may lose his life; but whatever stra­tagems are made use of, whatever violence men practise, a Lover cannot be forced, nor his love extorted from him. Seeing then Grace is nothing but Charity, and Charity nothing but a holy Love; we must not apprehend violence, nor imagine that the assaults of this divine quality can at all in­jure our Liberty, because it does not disengage us from evil, but by obli­ging us to love God.

If Grace cannot force our Will because it is a victorious love, it ought less to constrain it; because, according to the language of S. Augu­stine, 'tis a pleasant perswasion: For this great man considering that he was to deal with Free-will on one side, and the Power of Grace on the other; that he was to maintain the Empire of God, and the Liberty of Man; he hath always exprest himself so happily, that he never prejudic'd either: and as indeed Grace never forceth Man, but perswades him, it holds something of Eloquence or of Reason that triumphs over Liberty without [Page 179]compelling it. Rhetorick is an Art that teacheth us to perswade Truth; Orators are agreeable Soveraigns that bear rule over the mindes of their Auditors, that calm their Passions, change their Designes, Quid enim inter Pisistratum & Periclem inter­fuit, nisi quod ille armatus, hic sine armis ty­rannidem gess [...] Cicer. and gently force their Wills: Therefore was it unhandsomely done of that Ancient to compare Pericles with Pisistratus, because this Tyrant domineered but over mens Bodies, that Orator exercised a dominion over their Souls: the one made use of Violence, the other employed nothing but Sweet­ness: the one procured the hatred of his Subjects, the other the love of his Auditors: For no man could complain of Pericles, because he used nothing but Eloquence to perswade; his Command was founded upon Reason, his chief Force consisted in Truth, he subjected no Understand­ings but by clearing them, nor changed any mens Wills but in taking them by their interests or their inclinations.

In a word, Eloquence may boast her self a Soveraign that reigns with­out arms, subdues people by her word, convinceth Philosophers by her rea­sons, and subjects Monarchs by her power: She protects the Innocent, comforts the Distressed, condemns or absolves the Guilty; and as she ani­mates the Advocates or the Judges, produceth different miracles in their souls. Whether she inchant the Ears by the harmonious cadencies of her Periods, whether she excite love and hatred by her gestures, her principal designe is to master the Liberty of Man. She sets not upon the Under­standing, but to gain the Will; she appears complacent, that she may be perswasive; nor doth she require the attention or her auditors, but that she may get their consent: 'Tis true, never any man complains of her violence, because she is sweet; and he that hath changed his minde at the hearing of an Orator, never accused him of Tyranny. 'Tis certainly up­on this ground that S. Augustine calls Grace a powerful perswasion; be­cause, imitating Eloquence, it clears our Spirits, calms our Passions, and gains our Consent: It hath this advantage over Eloquence, that it hath no need of our Ears to win our Hearts; it transmits it self, by it self, into the inmost recesses of the soul; findes out Reason in her Throne, without employing the Senses; carries Light into the Understanding, and kindles Love in the Will. Thus she perswades what she will to the obstinate, sub­dues rebels without arms, makes her Subjects will what she desires they should; and when she displays all her forces, she works the conversion of a sinner in a moment. This certainly was the power Jesus Christ made use of, when he laid Saint Paul flat at his feet, when he converted that Per­secutor into an Apostle, changed his heart and his tongue, and made him that breathed nothing but murder, say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He lost not his Liberty, for having lost his Fury; he changed not his Nature, for having changed his Judgement; nor can we say that the perswasion that gained his consent, was less free or more violent for be­ing so sudden. Grace knows how to be obeyed, without making us slaves; she can perswade without compelling, and, more powerful then Eloquence, [Page 180]is able to make us love what we hated before. That great Orator that guided the Romane Common-wealth with his Tongue, and made his opi­nion so dexterously pass into the soul of his Auditors: that gallant man, I say, hath wrought miracles by his Eloquence, which we have much ado to allow the grace of Jesus Christ to effect. He could boast that he altered the resolution of Caesar, defending the cause of Ligarius; that he shook the papers out of the hands, and the hatred out of the heart of that Con­querour; that he made him recal the sentence he had already pronounced in his soul; that he overcame him by his Reasons, that fubdued all by his Arms; and trampled upon the pride of a Tyrant that had triumphed over the Liberty of Rome. In the mean time, we have much ado to believe that Grace can work miracles; we weaken its Vertue, to preserve our own Free-will: we are not content that Jesus Christ should be as powerful as an Orator: and when we hear of these victorious Graces, and of these invincible perswasions, we imagine as if there were a designe to oppress the publike Liberty: Let us ascribe that to Grace, which we grant to Eloquence: let us confess that the Son of God knows how to imprint Truth in our spirit, and Love in our heart, to perswade us infallibly: let us ac­knowledge that he is not to seek by what stratagems to gain our inclinati­ons; that his Grace, more intimate then Concupiscence, is able to become the mistress of our Wills; and whatever command she exerciseth over us, she never destroys our Liberty, because she hath no other designe then to enfranchise it out of servitude.

The Seventh DISCOURSE. That we may judge of the power of Grace over the Chri­stian, by that of Concupiscence over the Sinner.

FOrasmuch as the things of the world never appear with greater lustre then when they are set in opposition against their contraries, I con­ceive in this Discourse I shall not do amiss to confront Concupiscence with Grace, and discover the excellency of the Remedy, by the greatness of the Disease: For 'tis very true, that a man cannot comprehend the dominion of Grace, if he conceive not rightly of the tyranny of Concupiscence over the Will. These two Soveraigns have so much resemblance in their contrariety, that they make use of the same arms, and employ the same means to execute their designes: they subject men by ways altogether alike, and deal with policy and power, fair means and foul, to make them­selves mistresses. For, if we believe S. Augustine, a man no less skilled in the state of Sin then of Grace, he will acquaint us that Concupiscence is [Page 181]the law of the sinner, acting impetuously over his Will, Concupiscentia lex peccati est; sequentes duxit nos, & postca renitentes traxi [...] nos. Aug. in Psal. 64. applying it in all his actions, so that he undertakes nothing but by the orders of this proud and domineering usurper: she hath gained such a power over his Liberty, that he acts onely by her impulses: if he speak, she moves his tongue; if he looks about, she opent his eyes; if he act, she manageth his hands; and so absolutely commands all that belongs unto him, that Concupiscence seems to inform and quicken him. Though she exercise so absolute a power over his person, she so well tempers sweetness with force, that he never complains of his bondage: he loves the Tyrant that devours him, he loseth his liberty with pleasure, he findes content in his vassalage, and, what is more unconceiveable, he makes haste to a precipice, and embraceth death with satisfaction, whenever this cruel Soveraign commands him. 'Tis in effect Concupiscence that obligeth the Covetous to pass the Seas, to de­scend into the depths, and to surmount all dangers that accompany the search of riches: 'Tis she that engageth the Ambitious in such desperate designs, where death is always mixt with glory, and where a man must resolve to kill or be kill'd, to purchase reputation: 'Tis she that imbarks the lascivious in their infamous pursuits, where shame is the inseparable attendant of pleasure, where a man must lose his own liberty to attain that of another, and become a slave, that he may be a master. In the mean time, if we ask all these Martyrs of Concupiscence, we shall see by their an­swers, there's not one of them that groans under his irons, that's troubled for the loss of his honour or liberty, nor makes the least attempt to break those chains that fetter him: Had Tyrants but found this artifice, they would raign more absolutely then Kings; and making Love succeed Ha­tred, they would be the delight of their Subjects: But nothing but Con­cupiscence hath discovered this Secret, which according Sweetness with Vi­olence, knows how to make her self belov'd and obey'd by sinners.

Nevertheless we must confess that Grace is as absolute over Christians; and taking pattern from the proceeding of Concupiscence, reigns over them with as much power as love. For, to express in a few words the So­veraign power of Grace, we must say with S. Augustine, that 'tis she that makes us act, that masters our Undestanding, possesseth our Will, Facit utvelimus bonum gratia, facit ut facia­mus, operatu [...] velle & perfi­cere, praebet vi­res efficacissimas voluntati. Aug. de Gra. & Lib. arb. c. 16. and is the principle of all our good works: She acts with the Just, as Concu­piscence doth with Sinners; she is the mistress of their Actions; and, if we believe the great Apostle, 'tis Grace that worketh in us to will and to do. For, as the Sinner loseth not his Liberty for being the slave of Con­cupiscence; ceaseth not to act by himself, though guided by another; nor doth this external principle, because the first mover that sets him awork, exempt him from sin: so the Believer is not constrained for being subject to Grace; he ceaseth not to operate, though moved by the holy Spirit; and, for having another principle of his actions then his Will, fails not to merit eternal life. But as Concupiscence is imperious, carrying the heart by her assaults, prescribing Laws which he inviolably keeps; Grace produ­ceth [Page 182]the same effects in the Faithful; her orders are religiously observed; she makes those act she enlivens, and, seizing upon their Wills, causeth them exactly to put in execution whatever she commands.

S. Augustine will explain these Truths to us better then another: Let us make up this Discourse with his Reasons, Deus est qui ope­ratur in nobis & velle & op­rari: non sicut isti sentiunt tantummodo Scientiam reve­lando, ut noveti­mus quod facia­mus; sed etiam inspirando cha­ritatem, ut ea quae discenso novimus, etiam diligendo facia­mus. Aug. and respectfully hear the learnedst Doctor of the Church. Grace is not onely a Light that clears the Understanding, as Faith or Doctrine doth; her Charity is accompani­ed with Force; she produceth two effects at the same time: For having taught us the good, she gives us power to perform it; and he that knows it, and does it not, cannot boast that he hath received it of Grace, but from the Law: Therefore is it that our Lord Jesus Christ saith in S. John, that he that is taught of his Father, fails not to come unto him. Omnis qui audivit à Patre, & didicit, venit ad me. Whence S. Augustine con­cludes, that he that is instructed in this School, always goes to Jesus Christ; and he that goes not, never had the Father for his Master. For Grace warms the Will, at the same time it enlightens the Understanding; it con­veys light and heat both together; and working two miracles at one mo­ment, fortifies our Weakness, and warms our Coldness. Her manner of acting is much more excellent then that of Precept, or of the Law: For these two Mistresses strike onely the ears or the eyes; they inform not our judgement but by the mediation of our Senses; and though they enlighten the Understanding, they change not the Will: But Grace works by an occult power in the hearts of men, producing there not onely true illumi­nations, but good and constant resolutions. And because the Pelagians always confound Doctrine with Grace, to weaken her vertue, S. Augustine answers them, that, would they christen her with that name, they must re­present a wonderful Doctrine that God sheds abroad internally in the soul with an ineffable sweetness, which taught not onely Truth, but infused Charity into its disciples.

He more strongly establisheth this Maxime, in explaining that passage where S. Paul tells us God worketh in us to will and to do: we will, saith this great Doctor; for we are not liveless trunks, or sensless rocks; but God produceth in us this will: we act; for we ought not to be unprofitable; but God produceth in us this action, according to his good pleasure: we are bound to say it, and to believe it; 'tis piety to promote it, that we may with all humility confess that all we do is rather of God then of our selves. He says the same thing again, speaking of Perseverance, and perswades all the Faithful that their salvation ought to be founded upon their humility, because God hath indued them with Graces whereby they are made ac­quainted with his power and their own weakness: For he will not have the Saints glorifie themselves for their perseverance in good out of their own abilities, but from the assistance of his Grace; neither hath he given them a succour equal to that he bestowed upon the first man, whereby he might have persevered if he would; because foreseeing that they would [Page 183]not persevere, had they not from him the power and the wil, he hath given them both out of his pure mercy.

Indeed their will is so effectually warm'd by the holy Spirit, that they are able to doe the good, because they wil, and they will it, because God hath inspir'd them with a will to it: For did God abandon them to them­selves in this infirmity, which serves as a remedy against their pride, and did he give them no other assistance but that by which Adam might have persevered if he would, they would stoop to the assaults of temptations in the frailty of their flesh; nor would they ever persevere, because the weakness of their will would not suffer them to will the good at all, or to will it so strongly as to doe it. Therefore God desiring to succour their misery, hath given them a grace that so moves this rationall faculty, that she never resists it; that in her weakness she may be vigorous enough to surmount all the adversities of life. But because these manners of speeches might perswade the ignorant, that a grace that acts so energetically would destroy liberty, Saint Augustine instructs us, that her force consists in her sweetness, that she works upon the will only by the pleasure she there produceth; nor that she is victorious, but because she is agreeable.

This is the second truth that remains to be proved, to satisfie my pro­mise, and to manifest the last resemblance between Concupiscence and Charity: Though the former be sometimes so violent that she hardly leaves the sinner any liberty to resist, she never employs force to extort his consent: she is not of the humour of those tyrants, which make use of nothing but torments to reduce their subjects to their designs, and knowing that Empires are preserv'd by the same means they are acquired, endeavour to keep that by cruelty they have gotten by violence: But she corrupts the wil by pleasure, proposing nothing but what is delightful; she dexterously mixeth smiles with frowns, profit with loss, glory with shame, and so artificially disguiseth the objects shee presents sinners with, that they complain not even in the midst of their torments: 'Tis shee that sweetens the laborious travels of Conquerors, charms the discon­tents of the Covetous, comforts the Lascivious in the tortures that ac­company their wantonness: she gilds the chaines of al lthe slaves that follow her, makes them acceptable, when she cannot make them glo­rious, sowing pleasure where shee cannot sow profit nor reputation: Thence it comes to passe that her Empire is so firmly established among finners, that to destroy it, grace must change their wils, subduing the va­nity of their criminall pleasures by the truth of her innocent delights.

For she walks in the steps of her enemy; she imitates her she intends to ruine, and benefiting by her wiles, she never sets upon the will of a sinner, but she is seconded with pleasure; her chiefe Stratagem is to render vertue agreeable, to take off that austerity that suffers her not to be accosted, and to lay all her Stoicall morosity upon the face of sin. This is it that Saint Augustine declares by those words, where he exhorts a sin­ner [Page 184]to be converted: Confess your selves saith he in the presence of? Al­mighty God, and you shall obtain from his bounty, that the vertue which seem'd so stern, will seem sweet and easie: When he hath wrought this first miracle, you shal finde that facil which now you apprehend as impossi­ble; you shall have as much satisfaction in justice as formerly you had in iniquity; Sobriety will relish better then drunkenness, you will discern more charms in Alms then in Robbery, and taste a farre richer pleasure in giving your own, then in taking that of your neighbour. Prayer will out-vie the Pastimes of the Theatre; Psalmes and Hymnes will entertain you better then amorous Sonnets, or the Aires of the Court: you will goe to Church more chearfully then ever you went to a Play, and reflect­ing upon the change of your heart, you will acknowledge Grace the cause thereof; and that the barren ground of your soul bare no fruits, but be­cause the Lord hath been pleased to water it with the perfumes of his Di­vine Influences: For 'tis an undoubted Maxime, that Good though ne­ver so excellent, begins not to be desired, till it begin to be pleasurable; Though it have more charms then beauty, more lustre then glory, more invitations then profit: if it convey not pleasure into the will, it knows not how to beget love; Pleasure is the Load-stone that draws all hearts that are capable of love; 'tis the poyson that distils into the heart of all sinners, and the only answer they return those that condemn them: They oppose nothing but pleasure against all reproaches; and when truth it self accuseth them, they have but one reason wherewith to defend themselves; they cannot forsooth leave that they take so much delight in. Indeed they would never sin, did not pleasure solicit them; nor would the Devil ever master their will, did he not make use of pleasure to gain their consent: He employs the same devices against them, he did against our first Father; he makes use of the flesh to gain the spirit, as he dealt with the woman to seduce the man; he tries by suggestion to produce pleasure in his heart, that pleasure may quicken sin: He knows that this Commander is too free to be compell'd, but he knows also that he is too amorous to hold out, if he call not in another to his aid whereby he may be defended.

This also is the way God deals with souls to gain them; he useth not his power, but his sweetness; he employs not his threats, but his pro­mises; and when he intends to vanquish a creature, he makes not use of pain, but of pleasure; he combates sensual delights with spiritual ones; he opposeth the charms of vertue against the allurements of sin; he in­spires thoughts so sweet and so powerful, that they blot out all those of the Earth: and knowing very well that the Will always complies with the more predominant delectation that solicits her; he is content to be lik't, that he may be victorious: For if Concupiscence contest with Grace about the conquest of a heart, she that promiseth the highest pleasure shall prevail; and though never so free, the Helen will be overcome by the temptation if it appear more agreeable then the Law of God. Therefore when Jesus [Page 185]Christ undertakes our Conversion, he infuses into our souls innocent pleasures, which are more prevalent then those of sin; he unmasks the beauties of vertue, he charms us with her allurements, and ravisheth our hearts by holy delights that make his Grace victorious.

Then is it that we resist the temptations of Satan, that we contemn the revolts of the flesh, and raised above our selves are amazed that such weak enemies have been able heretofore to worst us: Then is it that the Mar­tyrs runne to the Faggot, that enchaunted with this pleasure that over­comes their spirit, they triumph over Devils and Executioners, trample upon flames and wilde Beasts, and turn the cruelty of tyrants into won­der and admiration. Must not the pleasure that charms them be ex­ceeding powerfull, when they tumble upon hot burning coals as upon a bed of roses? When they swallow down melted lead, as most delicious liquours? Receive wounds a favours? Prefer Prisons before Palaces, Gibbets before Thrones, and Crowns of Thorns before those of Dia­monds? Is not this that victorious pleasure that transports maids out of the dwellings of their parents, burying them alive in cloysters, and chan­ging their inclinations, obligeth them to quit gold and silk, to put on hair and sackcloth? Is it not this innocent pleasure that makes them neg­lect the advantages of their birth, and perswading them that vertue is the beauty of the soul, obliges them to despise the charming comeliness of the face? Is it not finally this Grace as imperious as agreeable, that animates the Religious against themselves, that arms their hands to revenge the Son of God, whom they have offended, and making a just indignation the parent of a holy love, obliges them to persecute themselves? Let us con­clude then from all this Discourse, that Grace cannot force man, because it is so sweet; and that the most prevalent never destroys our liberty, be­cause its power consists in gentleness; But withall let us confess, that she is victorious in all her designs, that she finds no resistance in the most ob­stinate sinners, because she charms their wils by pleasures, which seem the first fruits of those they shall reap in glory, and which make the mi­serable taste one part of that felicity here, the blessed feed upon in Hea­ven.

The Eighth DISCOURSE. That Effectuall Grace destroyes not Sufficient Grace.

IF it be a truth that Nature hath some secrets that cannot be discovered, that she conceals her vertue when she means to produce a wonder, and steals out of the sight of her dearest lovers, when she deals in mysteries; we need not think it strange that God the Authour of Nature reveals not his designs to all the world, and that there are some so profound, that his most intimate friends are not acquainted with. The Oeconomy of mans salvation is so involv'd, that all those that goe about to explain it are in danger to mistake; all foundations their reason relies upon in this mat­ter, are so infirm, that having well discoursed, they are obliged to confess their ignorance, and adore the wisdome of God that hath reserved to him­self the disposall of his creatures. Neither indeed doe I pretend to examine his designs, nor to penetrate his intentions, but to search out the meaning of Saint Augustine, and to see in this Discourse whether he be­lieved the order established in the state of Innocence to be so ruined, that there remained no footstep of it in the world; and whether he judged Effectuall Grace so absolutely necessary, that he held Grace sufficient me­rited by Jesus Christ to be altogether useless.

Though the sin of Adam hath corrupted the Nature of man, though all men are born Delinquents, their inclinations irregular, and the faculties of their souls weakned; yet must we confess with Saint Augustine, that this disorder cannot deface the Characters God hath stampt upon his workmanship. Reason serves for a Law to Insidels, and teacheth them what the Law of Moses taught the Israelites: all her lights are not put out, and in the midst of that darkness wherein infidelity hath plunged her, Nulla est ani­ma quamvis perversa quae tamen ratioci­nari potest in cujus conscientia non loquatur Deus: quis enim legem naturalē scripsit in cor­dibus hominum nisi Deus? Aug. she retains some knowledge of her Creator; The passions that trouble her and the senses that seduce her, cannot yet perswade her that the body ought to be her Soveraign: neither is there any sinner so brutish, but knows that of two parts that compose him, the noblest ought to be the most absolute. Notwithstanding all the injustice which swarms amongst men, it cannot blot out of their souls this maxime, that Nature hath en­graven there: What thou wouldst not have done to thy self, doe not to ano­ther; and had neither Law-givers nor Philosophers forbidden Murders & Adulteries, there was a Judge within them had made an Edict against both these iniquities: So that we may say in their very infidelity they had the [Page 187]first Principles of Religion and Morality; and if they discerned not in God the Trinity of Persons, they knew at least the Unity of his Essence.

If all these advantages be the reliques of Original righteousness, and the splinters of that great shipwrack where Nature was wholly lost in one man; If the seeds of vertues be the steps of the innocence in men, and if Consci­ence that punisheth Criminals, be an expression of Divine Justice, I am easily perswaded to believe, that there remains some assistance for Infidels that sollicites them to the practice of vertue, and gives them some thoughts of their salvation in the midst of Paganisme it self. Qui est salvator omnium homi­num, maxime fideliū. 1 Tim. 4. For if the Son of God died for all men, and hath merited some favours for them which Nature since her prevarication could not hope for without him; I doubt not but the Eternall Father inspires them with some good motions to satisfie the desires of his only Son, and that those glorious actions they have performed, and which according to the judgement of Saint Augu­stine deserve some commendations, are the price of the bloud of that dying sacrifice: If they have not faith, they had perhaps some glimme­rings, which as the dawning had something of the brightness of the day, something of the obscurity of the night: if they wanted charity, they have had some supernaturall love which was not strong enough to defend them from self-love; and as fear though servile, is the gift of God, this love though interessed, may be the effect of Grace; They acted not al­ways according to the motions of Concupiscence; Their captiv'd will had some release according to the assistance they received from Heaven; Their reason illuminated with a divine light, and their will seconded with a su­pernaturall force, resisted some sins, and made them more innocent, or lesse guilty then others. Saint Augustine acknoweldgeth their actions profitable to the Common-wealth, that their vertue though imperfect, carried lustre with it, and though no way comparable to that of true believers, had notwithstanding beauty enough to condemn one day bad Christians.

But admit the vertue of Infidels be false, that hinders not but they may have some assistance from Heaven to discern good from evil, and to take from them that excuse wherewith the pride of man shelters it self having sinned through ignorance. This was the motive that indu­ced God to give the Law to the Jews, Nulli enim ho­minum ablatū est scire utiliter quaerere: Non tibi deput atur a [...] culpam quod invitus ignorat, se [...] quod negli­gis quaerere quod ignoras. Aug. and 'tis the same that prevailed with him to indulge the Heathen some light, which in my opinion can­not render them more culpable, if it did not withall render them more capable to shake hands with sin. This is it perhaps that Saint Augustine means in the nineteenth Chapter of his third Book of Free-will, where he grants that God hath deprived no body of the meanes to seek after truth: and that the power of finding it is common to all men. If their mind may be enlightned with some heavenly light, their will may be tou­ched with some regret for their offences, they may have good thoughts and good motions which they reject; their being in Infidelity puts them [Page 188]not yet in the state of Reprobation: God makes some difference between these delinquents and the damned; he deals not with them as with the devils: and if it be true that he suspends the torments of these, I can easily be perswaded that he withholds the sins of those, and that they have graces that disengage their Will for some moments from the tyranny of Concupiscence. They act not always under the conduct of this enemy; and though they are his slaves, yet they have a Soveraign, who, never losing his rights, can defend them when he please.

S. Thomas, the truest Interpreter, and most knowing disciple of S. Au­gustine, was of the same opinion, neither intended to dissent from his Master: He judged right with him, that whatever is done among Infi­dels, and among Christians, by the instigation of Concupiscence, is sin: but he did not believe that Mercy had utterly forsaken the Heathen, and that she imparts no Grace unto them, which, though leaving them in errour, disengageth them many times from sin. If there be supernatural assistances that prepare us for Faith, and make us conceive some good thoughts, be­fore we be made Believers, there may also be some, which, not drawing the Heathen out of their Infidelity, may preserve them from the com­mitting of some offences, and make them perform some actions which relate to the Supreme Good imperfectly known, and imperfectly loved.

When God heretofore converted the Heathen, Concilium Tri­dentinum pro­nunciat Ana­them a in eos qui dicunt opera omnia quae ante justificationem quacun (que) ratione facta sint vera esse peccata. Sess. 6. Can. 7. he gave them not the light of Faith all at once; this vertue was ushered in by some good dispo­sitions; there were some moments wherein they were Infidels and sinned not, wherein they acted by the conduct of Grace, and not by that of Charity; and when following the inspirations of heaven, they were not actually in sin, though habitually they still remained it. There is some Grace that is not absolutely inconsistent with Infidelity, because there is some love that is not altogether incompatible with sin; and as every day sinners feel supernatural motions that lift them up towards God, and ob­lige them to do good works, we may say also that Infidels receive some ex­traordinary supply that rectifies their intentions, Ex quo apparet habere quosdam in ipso ingenio divinumquoddā naturaliter mu­nus intelligentiae quo moveantur ad fidem si con­grua suis men­tibus vel audi­ant verba, vel figna conspici­ant. Aug. de bono Perse. cap. 14. and makes them act for a supernatural and divine end.

And certainly, they are not destitute of all Graces, because S. Augu­gustine observes some in them, which he acknowledgeth not in the Jews: For, explaining that famous and difficult passage where Jesus Christ assures us that those of Tyre and Sidon had certainly repented, had they seen the miracles he did in Judea; this great Doctor avows, that the Tyrians were not so blinde nor so hardned as the Jews; that they had one advantage, which holding from Nature and Grace, prepared them for Faith; A natu­rally-divine gift of understanding, whereby they are moved to Faith: that they had believed the miracles of the Son of God, had they had the ho­nour to have seen them, Quoniam credidissent si qualia viderunt isti, signa vidissent; and that this Grace had produced its effect, had the circum­stance [Page 189]whereon it depended intervened: But though it gave them a power of being converted, 'twas as useless to them, as Christs miracles were to the Jews, because neither of them were of the number of the predesti­nated, Sed nec illis profuit quod credere poterant, quia praedestinati non erant.

The same Doctor is not far from this opinion, when writing against Ju­lian, he saith to that Heretick, that they were more equitable then he, who ascribed the vertues of the Heathen to the assistance of heaven, and not to their own Free-will; and who granted them some grace in their Infidelity, which they acknowledged after their conversion. Perhaps the impulse of S. Dennis at the death of the Son of God, was of this kinde, That the Oracle he pronounced was inspired into him from heaven, and that he felt the effects of the Cross before he knew the vertue thereof. 'Tis to no purpose to object that S. Augustine slights this opinion, having judg­ed it not so bad as that of the Pelagians; and that he condemns it, Sed absit ut sit in aliquo vera virtus nisi fue­rit justus; absit autem ut sit ju­stus vere nisi vivat ex fide: justus enim ex. fide vivit. when he protests that there is no solid vertue, where there is not a lively Faith, and true Justice: For, if we take those words in the strictest acception, we must confess that sinners whose Faith is dead, can do no good works; and that all those that are not just, can practise no vertue: Sinners are as arrogant as Infidels; they contemn the humility of the Son, which they do not imitate; they are the slaves of the devil, whose motions they fol­low; and that remainder of Faith, that languisheth in their soul, seems to serve onely to render them more culpable then the Heathen. When there­fore S. Augustine saith that the vertue of these is not true, because not quickned by Faith, he speaks certainly of a perfect vertue agreeable to God, profitable to him that practifeth it, and which may merit eternal life for him. Now there is no man but sees that the vertue of Heathens and Sinners hath not these conditions; and though it proceed from a good Principle, and respect a lawful End, may yet be stiled deficient, because, ac­cording to the Maxime of Aristotle, Bonum ex inte­gra Causa, ma­lum ex quolibet defectu. Aristo. an action is bad when it labours under any defect. After all this Argumentation, I cannot but confess that the graces of Infidels are very rare; and if they remain subject to their liber­ty, they will not deliver them from their errours: But they are more common among Christians, and act more powerfully over their Wills, be­cause there they finde less resistance.

This Proposition is evident according to the principles of S. Augu­stine, because in a thousand places of his Writings he will have Faith teach us to pray, and that Supplication obtain that succour that is necessa­ry for the subduing of Concupiscence. I know very well that Prayer sup­poseth Grace, that a man must be instructed in the School of the holy Ghost, to speak to the Eternal Father; but it seems this grace is offered to all the Faithful, serving us for a defence in our infirmity; and that as in all times our enemies may assault us, we may in all times also defend our: selves. For if the Grace of Prayer were not easie and common, it never [Page 190]had been ordained of God for the obtaining of all others; and we should have some reason to complain of him that hath obliged us to have recourse to that Asylum, if it were not more in out disposal then those things we intreat by means thereof. This remedy is as common as it is easie; 'tis a favour which God refuseth not but to some notorious offenders: a man must often have rejected it, to be deprived of its assistance; and it seems that the soul that is inanimated with habitual Grace, hath some right and power to flee to Prayer, when dejected with sorrow, or assaulted by temptation.

The hardening of Sinners is another proof of the Truth I endeavour to promote: For since, according to the doctrine of S. Augustine, this punishment is nothing else but the withdrawing of Grace, Obdurat Deus non imperti­endo gratiam; quibus enim non impertitur, nec digni sunt, nec merentur. Aug. we must needs confess that those who are not yet hardned, have some grace gently bear­ing them on to piety, which sollicites their consent, and, not using an absolute power, as effectual Grace doth, separates them withal from those God hath utterly given over, and from those God conducts to heaven by more sure ways, and more powerful motions.

Thence it comes to pass that S. Augustine preaching to his people, and letting them see the great danger in despising those good inspirations that come from heaven, said, that sinners sometimes could not be converted, though they had a will to it, because they would not do it when they had the power. Impius, saith this great Doctor, dum vult non potest, quia dum potuit noluit. I know some Divines take that wicked one for Adam, who making no use of his grace whereby he had power to act, lost it for himself and for all his posterity; and say that 'tis he S. Augustine speaks of in that passage: But whoever shall take good notice of his intention, will clearly perceive that he ascends not so high as Paradise, that he com­plains not of the first man onely, but of all his children, who neglect the power they have to do good, and justly are deprived of it, for not having made use thereof. Otherwise sinners would lay all their faults upon the person of Adam, and esteeming themselves more unfortunate then sin­ful, would blame S. Augustine for accusing them to have abused a power they never had.

But nothing better confirms sufficient grace, then our refusing to obey it. Experience teacheth us, there are Divine sweetnesses which are not always victorious: Grace triumphs not continually, when it combats sin: S. Augustine often found that his ill habits were more prevalent then the invitations of Grace; and that his Will, like a Needle between two Load­stones, quitted the more feeble and innocent pleasure, to close with the stronger and more criminal: Had Grace been effectual, she had not recei­ved this shameful repulse; her first attempts had gained this sinner; and S. Augustine, after he had tasted the innocent delights of holy love, would not have longed to drink of the muddy waters of Voluptuousness. But were all their designes of Grace followed with their effects, did this Conqueress [Page 191]of Hearts fight no battels that were not accompanied with victories; the Saints, whose confessions are as true as they are humble, would never accuse themselves for resisting her motions, and being untrue to her inspira­tions. For they complain not onely of this habitual opposition which is ne­ver lost till they are received into glory, and which still subsists in us, even then when Grace hath gotten the mastery; but they complain of an actual opposition which cannot agree with effectual Grace: they acknowledge their resisting the holy Ghost, that their soul, possest with self-love, disputes with the love of God, and, resenting their weakness, conjure heaven to redouble its batteries, and to make use of some more powerful grace, to bring their rebellious Wills in subjection.

S. Augustine nor his Interpreters dissent from this opinion: for they confess that there are ineffectual Graces which produce indeed some effect in the sinner, but convert him not, and cannot be rightly stiled victorious, because they surmount not unlawful and criminal pleasure, which corrupt the Will; so that we may say, This Grace hath not done all that it pre­tended to do, since fighting against her enemy, she was not able to over­come him: For though it be usually answered, that this Grace is effe­ctual, because it always produceth its effect, and that it is felt by the sin­ner in whose soul she begets a pleasure that tickles him; but is not fully prevalent, because she cannot perfect his conversion, nor disengage him from sin. Me thinks a man may reply, from the principles of S. Augustine, that this Grace is not efficacious, because not victorious; that she rights and is beaten; that she carries not the advantage thorowout, which she pretended over her enemy; and that we cannot imagine that having set upon him, her designe was not to subdue him. 'Tis easie also to prove that this Grace is sufficient, because it makes war upon sin, endeavours his expulsion, and would certainly be accounted rash or indiscreet, had she undertaken a designe beyond her power: Moreover, every one knows, that if the sinner had not fortified Concupiscence by his bad habits, this Grace had been able to convert him, and by its innocent pleasure outvie that criminal sensuality he findes in his iniquity, because he hath a minde to take up his dwelling in it.

To all this I adde the testimony of S. Augustine, which ought to be so much the less suspected, because taken from two places where he seems more strongly to establish the necessity of effectual Grace: For all the world confesseth that this great Doctor never expressed himself more clearly then in the Eleventh Chapter of his Book of Correction and of Grace: There it is that he distinguisheth the grace of Adam from that of Jesus Christ, that he calls the first a grace of Possibility, and the other a grace of effect: 'Tis there that he teacheth that the former was suffici­ent for man an innocent; that the second is necessary for man a sinner; and that in the disorders and infirmities he daily experienceth, it would be impossible for him to continue any long time victorious, if he had not [Page 192]some more powerfull assistance then that of Adam. In the mean time, when he speaks of the Grace of Possibility, he professeth that it is not lost with Innocence, that there remains one like it merited by Jesus Christ; that if God refuse it to some, 'tis out of justice; if he bestow it upon o­thers, 'tis from his Goodness; and if it were in some sort due to Innocent man, 'tis not at all due to man a Criminall; because that Grace which was indulg'd the just in the Paradise of Eden, is not now given to sinners in the Paradise of the Church. He saith the same thing in the twenty sixt Chapter of the Book of Nature and Grace: Non solum su­pernus medicus sanat vulnera ut illa non sint, sed ut de caetero recte ambulare possimus, quod quidem etiam sani non nisi illo adjuvante pote­ri [...]us. Aug. For comparing the sinner with a man sick, a justified person with one that is whole, he determines that the former hath need of Grace that may cure him, the second of grace that may support him; and as the soundest eye cannot see unless dis­posed by light, the justest man cannot live if he be not assisted by Grace. This Comparison makes those that are acquainted with the Principles of S. Augustine judge that man perfectly justified stands not in need of a stronger Grace then man an innocent; because, his Will being fully possest by Charity, 'tis enough that he be endued with assistance that supports him, without any more powerful one to transport and master him.

For the clearing of this answer, we must remember that Grace in the state of Innocence upheld man, because he was weak; and in the state of sin cured him, because he was diseased. For as the Eye when sound, needs nothing but light to see: but when sore, wants some Collyrium to heal it, and prepare it for sight; So Innocent man needed but one Grace to en­lighten him, but sinful man needs a Grace that may cure him. Saint Au­gustine supposing this comparison saith, that Grace cures a sick man, when it converts a sinner: that being an Eye-salve and a Light, 'tis withall a suc­cour and a remedy; But he addes, when the sinner is made whole and per­fectly justified, he hath no more need, as the Eye that is sound, but of one Grace, which having more of Light then of Collyrium, preserves him in the state he is entred into by his Conversion, and treats him more like an Innocent then a Criminall.

Fairly to reconcile the two parties that contest about this subject, let us say that one and the same Grace may bear two different names: That 'tis sufficient, because the will may resist it; neither doth it always pro­duce the same effects in man a sinner, as in man an Innocent: Let us say thai 'tis Effectuall, because never unprofitable, always prevailing by some advantage over our liberty, that it not only clears the understanding, but warms the heart; and being not in vain, as that Sufficient Grace which never doth nothing, nor Omnipotent, neither as that Effecutall Grace that always does what it will: 'tis of a middle temper between both, and may justly bear the name of Sufficient and Effectuall. We must never­theless acknowledge, that this last begins and ends the work of our salva­tion, that it disengageth our soul from the slavery of Satan, breaks the fet­ters of those that lie under the tyranny of sin, raiseth up the just, when they [Page 193]fall foulely, and putting the last Seal to their Predestination, obtains for them perseverance, without which they can neither conquer upon Earth, nor triumph in Heaven.

The Ninth DISCOURSE. Answers to some Objections that are made against Effectuall Grace.

INnocence and Truth have this misfortune, that they are often assaul­ted; but they have this advantage, they still return victorious: The former triumphs over Calumny, the second over Falshood; The former owes a piece of her beauty to slanderers that would oppress her; The later owes much of her lustre to Hereticks that would obscure her. This Maxime is clearly seen in the business of Grace, which never seems more transparent then by doubts, nor better established then by difficulties that oppose it. Indeed all the Objections that have been made against her power, have served only to support her: and as all her combats have been the midwives of her victories, all the writings of her adversaries have ere­cted her so many Trophies. Therefore I should stain her glory, did I not rehearse the principal reasons humane Philosophy hath made use of to destroy her: that their weakness may heighten her force, and the vanity of their attempts occasion one part of her triumph.

The strongest Engine hath been planted against her, is the Interest of Liberty, which it seems cannot be preserved with the Necessity attributed to Grace: For if she be the mistress of the Will, if she always gain her consent, if she take away her indifferency, and suffer her not to follow her bad inclinations; How can she be free in this Necessity. This Ob­jection is of no force, Libertas arbi­trii in admit­tend peccati, & abstinen [...]i à peccato, possibi­litate consistit, ait Julia. lib. 1. operis imper. because we have not yet rightly conceived the true Idea of Liberty, and know not wherein its essence consists. Some con­found Voluntary with Free, and believe that whatever we do voluntarily we do freely, though otherwise we be in some sort necessitated to do it. These certainly are not perswaded that Indifferency is essential to Liberty; but on the contrary, they imagine that as Necessity is a mark of a Will fixed and determined, Indifferency is the argument of a Will doubtful and unresolved. Seneca, who was as jealous of his Liberty as any other Philosopher, was of opinion that Man was never more free in Good, then when he was so strongly fastned to it, that nothing could separate him. Wee shall better conceive of his meaning, if we well apprehend the difficulty he would resolve. He propounds an Objection which hath much [Page 194]resemblance with those which are started against Grace; and demands if the Stars, which he supposed inanimated, could oblige us by their Light and Influence, because, being necessitated to give us both, it seems they could do no otherwise, and therefore we were not beholding to them. See the Answer he returns to these Philosophers: 'Tis a great argument of a firm Will, not to be able to change; and we are not to imagine that a man will not a thing, when he wills it so strongly that 'tis not in his power not to will it at all: For who is so unadvised as to deny that the Wil is free, when she is no longer in danger to quit her resolution to embrace a con­trary! nay, who ought not rather to judge that she is never so free, as when her resolution is so firm, that it becomes eternal? Indeed, if we believe he wills a thing who may not will it: Must we not believe that he wills it much more, when he wills it so powerfully, that he is past all danger of not willing it?

But he could not better resolve this Doubt, then when opposing Con­straint against Necessity, he saith, The later may be found with Liberty; and if we have no obligation to a man that does us a courtesie because he was forced to it, we have notwithstanding to him that does it because he cannot do otherwise, and hath imposed this necessity upon himself, with which he cannot possibly dispense. This opinion hath its Reasons to back it; and, though it seem somewhat singular, hath notwithstanding Philo­sophers for its Protectors, whose judgement 'tis that the Will is never more free then when 'tis less indifferent: For if Liberty, say they, be no­thing but a fixation of the Will, we must acknowledge that she is never more free then when, by many indifferent acts, she is so united to her ob­ject, that she cannot possibly undo her self. Otherwise perfect Love would deprive us of Liberty; the use of that power would destroy it; and it would follow, that to have a long time acted freely, we should cease to be free. They confess that Indifferency, which they look upon as a weakness of Liberty, is lessened by the power of Love; and the more strongly a man affects a thing, the less indifferencie hath he to quit it. But they be­lieve you shall never perswade a Lover that the loss of his Indifferency is the loss of his Liberty; that the more his Passion increaseth, the more his worth diminisheth; and, for being more constant, he is less acceptable to her he loveth.

There are some Divines of the opinion of these Philosophers; who, finding no Indifferency in Jesus Christ, nor in the Blessed, cannot imagine it inseparable from Liberty. For Jesus Christ was free, because he merited the reconciliation of men with his Father; he was free, because he satisfied for their sins; and all the hope of their salvation is founded as well upon the Liberty as upon the Dignity of his actions: Etiamsi esset li­berū arbitrium Christi determinatum ad unum numero, sicut ad diligendum Deum quod non facere non potest; tamen ex hoc non a­mittit libertatem aut rationem laudis sive meriti [...]nam respectu amoris, est sempiterna & libera electio. D. Thom. In the mean time, he had no Indifference in respect of Good and Evil; the will of his Father deter­mined [Page 195]his without constraining it; he died necessarily and freely; and seeing his sentence noted in the thought of his Father, he submitted to it by an obedience, which, not being indifferent, ceased not therefore to be perfectly free. Finally, they cannot be perswaded that the Saints have lost their Liberty in the enjoyment of Glory; for having lost their Indifferen­cy: They cannot believe that the Blessed are slaves, that their love is not free because necessary, and that the firmness of their condition cancels the perfection of their Liberty. They adde further, that no man shall per­swade them that Grace, which is Glory begun, deprives us of Liberty, when it deprives us of Indifferency; not that it reduceth us to the condition of Slaves, because it brings us neer to that of the Blessed.

But as all agree not upon the same Principles; Other Divines, leaning upon Reason and Scripture, will have Indifference inseparable from Liber­ty in this world; that men may always will Good and Evil, and that they are never so strongly determined to the one, but they may quit it to embrace the other. They judge that Grace does not so fix the Will upon Good, that it takes away her Indifferency, but that there remains some inclination or some capacity towards Evil; so that even when she is deter­mined by Grace, she hath still in the centre of her Being a certain Indif­ferency, making her capable to change her minde, and to depart from the Supreme Good that possesseth her. According to this Principle, we must say, that as Grace, transporting us, leaves us a power to resist; so also de­termining us, an Indifferency; That as we may hold out, so may we change if we will; and consequently, there is no moment wherein our Will is not always Indifferent.

By this 'tis easie to judge that the Councel of Trent opposeth not this Opinion, Siquis dixerit Liberum arbi­trium à Deo motum non posse dissentire si ve­lit, se [...]velut in­anime quoddam nihil omnino agere, [...]nathema sit. Sess. 6. Can. 4. when it pronounceth an Anathema against those that say that Free-will, being moved by Grace, cannot resist it when it will; because, whatever advantage we put upon Grace, we acknowledge she never takes away the power of resisting of God; confessing she leaves us Concu­piscence, which holds our Wil under her Tyranny: For there are no Saints who at the very instant they yeeld obedience to Grace, prove not inter­nally a secret opposition to her motions; who groan not to see themselves divided by self-love, and who sigh not with Saint Paul, in that they feel in the recesses of their soul an irregular inclination that combats that of Grace. This domestick sedition makes them long for Glory which hath this advantage over Grace that, destroying all the remainders of sin, and confirming their will in Good, it lifts them to a condition which suf­fers them no longer to contradict the pleasures of the Almighty. But in expectation of this happie hour, they confess, with as much confusion of face as grief of heart, that though they will not resist him that draws them, they can nevertheless do it; because Grace hath not so strongly root­ed them in good, but they may forsake it, should the mercy of God give them over to their own infirmity.

'Tis then easie enough to comprehend, that Grace, though effectual, takes not away from the greatest Saints the power to resist Jesus Christ: But 'tis very hard to conceive how their complaints are true, and how they can with reason accuse themselves for having been unfaithful to him: For the accusations of Saints ought to be sincere; humility must not make them renounce Truth, nor, to avoid Pride, engage in a Lye: These are two extremes equally dangerous, which all those that are led by the holy Spi­rit, ought carefully to avoid. In the mean time, they accuse themselves daily before Men and Angels, that they resist Grace, that they abuse his favours, and frustrate his designes: This sin is constantly the first Article of their Confession; they look upon it as the source of all the rest; and these great men, that are better acquainted with the motions of Grace then the learnedst Divines, never speak thereof without regret for having re­jected them.

I profess this Objection seems one of the strongest can be formed against Effectual Grace, because I have taken it for a proof of Grace Suf­ficient; and withal, it seems to clash against the Principles of S. Augu­stine: for if Grace always produceth her effect, how can we resist it? if she make her self mistress of our Will, how can she meet with rebellion there? and if she manage that faculty with as much force as dexterity, how can we oppose her designs, or stop the conquests of her that S. Augu­stine so many times calls victorious? I know some Doctors dispatch this difficulty by an Answer that admits of no Reply, and say, that when the Saints complain of their infidelity towards Grace, their meaning is to speak of that which toucheth our Senses, or enlightens our Understand­ings: and being so well instructed in the School of S. Augustine, they are not ignorant that the true Grace of Jesus Christ infallibly produceth its effect. But this Answer never satisfied me; and I must acknowledge the language of the Saints seems too strong to be expressed by so weak a grace. They speak of their resistance with so much grief, that we may judge by their complaints, that 'tis of the grace of Jesus Christ, which they have abused, that they intend to speak. Some others believe 'tis not an actual resistance that they accuse themselves of, because that is incompatible with effectual grace; but of an habitual resistance that combats the designe of Grace, though it hinders not its effect. These seem better grounded then the former, because 'tis true that the greatest Saint in the world hath al­ways an opposition against Grace, as long as there is one degree of self-love; and is contrary to Jesus Christ, as long as he is conformable in any thing to the first Adam. The inordinate intentions which insensibly fasten him to the things of the world, the revolt of the Passions that trouble the repose of his minde, and Concupiscence that weakens Charity, are so many enemies heaving at Grace, and retarding the accomplishment of her designes: But for all this we must confess that this Answer resolves not fully the whole difficulty of the Objection: for besides that this resist­ance, [Page 197]to speak properly, is not a sin, because 'tis purely habitual, nor ren­ders the Saints more culpable then Concupiscence; we know very well that it impedes not the effect of Grace; and that when God intends to make himself master of the Will, he can as well tame bad Habits as bad In­clinations.

Therefore have I thought it necessary to adde, That there are secret oppositions against Grace, that are unknown to us; That the Will is not so fully possest by Charity, but Concupiscence shares with her; That there is no inconvenience that she should be inanimated at the same time with two contrary loves, though one be victorious over the other; seeing S. Au­gustine hath so often confessed, that his heart being divided between two affections, he willed at the same time two things utterly opposite. Or we must say that Grace, though efficacious in the beginning, languisheth in the progress; that when the motion that carried the Will grows weak, Concupiscence awakes, and attempts a victory when she findes least re­sistance. Thus Grace is worsted in her retreat; self-love takes courage when the love of God gives ground; and this Grace that was victorious in the onset, becomes, as all things in the world, faint and drooping to­wards the end. If this Answer crosseth the principles of S. Augustine, I disavow it; and if it resolve not the difficulty propounded, I intreat those that shall read this Work to consider, that Grace is not less wondersul then Nature; and if the vertue of the Loadstone hath left so many Philosophers at a loss, we need not wonder if the power of Grace put the Divines in a confusion.

A Prosecution of the same DISCOURSE; Wherein some other Objections against Effectual Grace are answered.

MAns Understanding, since the Fall, is of the same condition as the Earth: This is fruitful onely in thorns, and bears nothing but briars, if it be not tilled by the labour of the husbandman; and that is fertitle onely in errours, and is delivered of nothing but doubts, which rather fight against Truth then defend it: His Ingeny serves him for no other end, but to raise difficulties; his light is always mixt with darkness; and, as if he were of the nature of Spiders, that distil flowers into poison, he changeth truth into errours, and extracts nothing from the fairest Maximes of Religion, but doubts and suspitions. There is nothing more certain in Christianity, then that Grace is the Principle of our Salvation; that she supports our Will, and gives that faculty strength to stand out against Concupiscence. In the mean time, this Truth is the mother of Errours; [Page 198]our understanding hath drawn more darkness thence then light, and the doctrine of Saint Augustine that hath ruined the Pelagians, hath produced more scruples then resolutions amongst Divines: We cannot speak of the dominion of Grace, but we are troubled to secure the liberty of man; We are well content God should be the Master, because we dare not dispute his Soveraignty; Non aliud in­telligetis arbi­trium laudabi­liter liberum nisi quod fuerit Dei Gratia li­heratum. Aug. but we are loth man should be his slave, as if we doubted of his Justice, or questioned his Mercy; whatever depends not upon our wil, casts us into a sealousie; if Grace be not in subjection to Free-will, we cannot be quiet: The example of Adam, who was foil'd notwithstanding his Sufficient Grace, cannot cure us of this apprehension, and the violent desire we have to be absolute in all things, makes us seek for our safety in our Independency. The Objections that are made a­gainst the Doctrine of Saint Augustine, are proofs of this passion, and the number is so great, that one Discourse being not large enough to resolve them, we must employ this supplement to the same purpose.

One of the strongest and most remarkable, is, that Baptisme is a se­cond Birth, where the Christian being regenerated, seems to have recei­ved a new Nature. For in that happy moment wherein his sins are re­mitted, he receives Habitual Grace, which uniting him to Jesus Christ as to his Head, sets him free from the slavery of Satan, and entitles him to the felicity of Angels. Forasmuch as this Grace is a second nature, she hath her faculties whereby she works: Faith is her Light, Hope her Strength, Charity her Love, and these three vertues are supernatural ha­bits that elevate her understanding and her will. As God refuseth not his assistance to his creature to act with, pleads no dispensation for him­self from those Laws he hath prescribed; nay, is helpfull to his very ene­mies, that he may not be wanting to his Word; It seems that in the or­der of Grace, he owes the same faithfulness to Christians, that he is bound to assist them in all their actions: and out of an obligation that no way injures his Greatness, because worthy his Goodness he ought in some sort to concur with the faithful in all their operations; Gratia reddi­tur pro gratia cum Christiano propter Christi merita id quod petit conceditur. Bernard. For seeing they have the honour to be the Members of his Son, seeing they are quickned with his Spirit, and bear a glorious Character, separating them from all other creatures, why will he not at every moment indulge them a Grace ne­cessary for their condition, and as it were due to the dignity of their ex­traction? I conceive this objection hath its full weight, and I have set it forth in all the colours, that may render it reasonable; Let us see whether Truth will furnish us with Arms to batter it, and whether the doctrine of Saint Augustine will warrant the Son of God from injustice when he re­fuseth his Grace to the Faithful.

To back our Answer, we must suppose that the order of Nature, and that of Grace, are very different: in the first order God seems to be in some sort responsible to his creature; he never dispenseth with himselfe but by miracle: when he refuseth his aid to a sinner, makes the hand [Page 199]wither that is about to commit a Parricide, or ties the tongue that was go­ing to utter a blasphemy; every one looks upon these effects as Prodigies: But he owes nothing to his creature in the second order; he entred not into it but by Grace, nor doth he persevere in it, but by Mercy; In rai­sing him to this state, he is not tied to any rules: what he hath once gi­ven, obliges him not to continue; and when he receives a sinner into his Church, 'tis with conditions, which no ways prejudice his Soveraignty. In­asmuch as he shews favour to whom he will, we can plead no prescription against his Goodness; he may every moment take away that succour he hath bestowed, and he is so absolute in the order of Grace, that when he deserts the just themselves, they have no more right to complain then the guilty: If they look upon themselves in Adam, they are all sinners; the sentence of their Condemnation preceded their Birth, Ʋnde constat magnam esse gratiam quod plurimi libe­rantur, & quid sibi deberetur in iis qui non liberantur agnoscunt, ut qui gloriantur, non in suis meritis, quae paria videntur esse in damnatis, sed in Domino glorientur. Aug. and when they were drawn out of the masse of perdition to be united to Jesus Christ, 'tis but for a time only, if they be not written in the Book of Life in Eternal Characters.

This Answer is taken out of the pure Doctrine of Saint Augustine, 'tis founded upon his principles, and he that makes a difficulty to receive it, will not be a Disciple of that great Master: But because it seems too se­vere to those that are not instructed in his School, who consider not suf­ficiently the absolute power Divine Justice hath reserv'd to it self over the reprobate, let us adde here this temperament, and say, that Christians have some right to Grace whilst they are united to Jesus Christ, and that they may obtain it by Prayer, when they find too much difficulty in good, or too much engagement in evil.

But this Answer starts a new Objection, and seems to combat the power of Grace in labouring to establish the facility of Prayer; For if by the mediation of this vertue we can obtain every thing, our salvation is in our own hands, and we may purchase Grace by Supplication. I acknow­ledge this Objection grounded not only upon the Principles of Saint Au­gustine, but even upon the Principles of Religion it self. For Scripture exhorts all sinners to prayer, proposeth it to us as a help in all our needs, Petite & da­bitur vobis, quae. rite & invenie­tis pulsate & aperietur vobis. Mat. 7. and as a remedy for all our evils; it seems 'tis enough to be a believer to be able to pray, and that the Son of God having taught us the Lords Prayer, hath furnished us with arms for our defence against the justice of his Father. Saint Augustine following the steps of Jesus Christ, teach­eth us in a thousand places of his writings, that the Law discovers vertue to us, and Prayer obtains it; that 'tis the guard of Christians, surmounting all temptations, sweetning all difficulties, and triumphing over Devils. If then we are able to pray, we are able to persevere; if what is not due to our merits be granted to our prayers, we may thereby obtain the Grace [Page 200]that is the Beginning and the End of our Salvation.

I confess this Objection puzzles me, nor does the ordinary Answer made to it at all satisfie me: For though Grace be requisite to pray, though it is the Holy Spirit that puts the thoughts into our soul, the affe­ctions into our heart, and words into our mouthes; though a pray­er that is not warm'd with his heats, is not acceptable to the Eternal Fa­ther, we must neverthelesse confess, either that Grace to pray is always offered to ns, or that we have no means to make our addresses to God in our needs. Therefore is it that Holy Scripture invites us every where to prayer. The Son of God tels us that it offers a pleasing violence, that it changeth his will, sweetens his severitie, and obtains all Graces it re­quests of him. Si ergo vos cum sitis mali bona datis filiis ve­stris; quanto magis pater vester qui in coelis est dabit bona petentibus se? Mat. 7. Ne orationes putarentur praecedere merita quibus non gratuita daretur gratia, sed jam nec gratia esset quia debita redderetur, etiam ipsa oratio inter gratiae munera reperitur. Aug. Epist, ad Six­tum 105. I know indeed that Saint Paul teacheth us also, that we know not how to pray as we ought, unless the Holy Spirit teacheth us, and that this Grace precedes our prayers, as well as our good works. Saint Augustine is of the same judgement, when explaining that passage he saith in express tearms, that to secure us from vanity which may perswade us that our prayer precedes Grace, it is ranked by the Apostle among the gifts of the Spirit.

In this perplexity I can say nothing else, but that the Grace of Prayer is more common then other graces; that 'tis frequently offered to Christi­ans; that God refuseth it none but those that undervalue it; that 'tis the principal cause of our Conversion, and that if by this unhappy power which remains in us, we resist not the Holy Ghost, it would serve us for a strong means to obtain of God all other favours. I perceive very well this an­swer rather scatters the difficulty then resolves it: But who knows not that in all Sciences there are some Objections that cannot be answered, and in that of Salvation, which is the profoundest and most hidden, there are a thousand, which cannot be avoided, but by the simplicity of faith. 'Tis enough to know in this, that Prayer is a Grace more easily obtained then others, and that if it be effectuall in respect of its effect, 'tis suffici­ent by reason of its facility.

But scarce are we delivered from one gulf, but we are ready to fall in­to another; and provide new Arms to defend us from a new assault, which is so much the harder to sustain in that it takes all the force from the do­ctrine of Saint Augustine. For this famous man that so discreetly mana­geth the justice of God with his mercy, teacheth us in a hundred places of his writings, that God never forsakes the sinner till the sinner forsakes him; that he is not of the humour of those unfaithful friends, who loving our fortune better then our person, leave us when we have most need: He must be provoked to punish us, and out of an excesse of bounty, as he is always the first to prevent us, so is he the last to desert us. All the Do­ctrine [Page 201]of Saint Augustine rowls upon this Maxime; Si omnes pec­catores Deus sperneret, omnes utique sperneret, quia sine pecca­to nemo est; sed spernit disce­dentes à se quos Apostatas vo­cat Aug. de Nat. & gra. cap. 62. We must ruine his whole works to destroy it, and convince him of falshood to convince him of change: He never retracted this Principle, and whenever he speaks of the desertion of a sinner, healways lays the blame upon his own infidelity. But if Grace be effectual, if it absolutely dispose of mans wil; if Jesus Christ necessarily apply it to vertue, how can she abandon him, being in his hands, and he is rather the principle of her motions then her self? For she acts by power derived from him, obeys his orders, and as long as Grace hath her in possession, hath no other desire then to be per­fectly united to him.

The most usuall Answer, and perhaps the soundest, is, that God never forsakes the soul of sinners where he makes his residence, till they drive him away by some mortal sin: and though he deny them Actual Grace, because he is the master of it, and owes it no body; hee never deprives them of Habitual Grace, whereby he remains in their soul, till they have broken his Laws or profaned his Sacraments. The Disciples of Saint Au­gustine will be satisfied with this Answer; but I conceive it contents not others, who will reply with much reason, that God takes away Habituall grace from sinners when he refuseth them actuall Grace, because they cannot preserve one without the other; and so 'tis God always, who, contrary to the Maxime of Saint Augustine, quits the sinner first. For every one confesseth, that as Habitual grace hath no other enemy that can destroy it, but mortal sin, neither hath she any other defence but Actual grace; and assoon as men are deprived of the assistance of the one, they are not only in danger, but in a necessity of losing the other.

To stand so strong an Objection, we must freely confess that there is some secret infidelity on the sinners part unknown to us; that they make not all the use of the grace that is in their power, that some way or other they resist its motions, and expose themselves to dangers they might easily avoid: or else we must ingenuously acknowledge that God abandons them not for having refused them Effectuall Grace, because ma­ny times by some other lesse powerfull assistance, but sufficient however, he scatters the occasions that might engage them in sin, weakens the force of temptations, rebuketh the insolence of Satan, and deals with them still as Friends, though not as Elect. Finally, we may boldly say, that there is not a just man but wanders from God every day: for he swerves as of­ten as he acts by the instigation of Concupiscence; this wretched weight bends him towards the creature, and his weakness insensibly engages him in sin: so that we need not wonder if God, seeing so many things in him contrary to his Grace, he deny him the assistance thereof, and aban­dons a sinner that never loves him but when he is obliged to it by some forain external affection.

The Tenth DISCOURSE. That the Christian findes more rest in placing his Sal­vation in Grace, then in his Liberty.

THere is no man in the world who is not as sollicitous after his Salvati­on as after his Pleasure, and would not secure his Felicity as well as his Fortune: Sinners seek Good under the shadow of Evil; and these poor mad-men believe they approach their happiness, even then when they turn their backs upon it. Our first father intended not to make himself mise­rable by his disobedience; he hoped to finde Immortality in that Fruit that was his Death; and he fancied repose and quietness in committing the sin that occasioned all his sad calamities. His children are not wiser then he; the same devil that deceived him, abuseth them; and his impro­vident off-spring finde every day their torment, where they search for their contentment. The Ambitious are remarkable witnesses of this important verity; the Passion that animates them to these glorious enter prises, where honour cannot be purchased without the hazard of their life, is both the Tyrant that possesseth them, and the Executioner that torments them: They seek, blinde as they are, reputation in Arms, and meet many times nothing but death: They feel themselves Men, by those very attempts they would pass for Gods. Providence, that thwarts their de­signes, makes them acknowledge that the prowess of Conquerors holds as well of his Empire, as the prudence of Politicians.

But not to imbark into the deduction of a Truth whereof all sinners can furnish me with testimonies, 'tis enough to affirm that there are Chri­stians themselves involved in this Error, who seek for rest where they find nothing but vexation and discontent: For, to assure their salvation, they would have Predestination grounded upon their Merits; that God consi­dered their good works, when he separated the Elect from the Reprobate; and foresaw their Fidelity, when he destined them to Glory. They will have all Graces sufficient; that their effects depend upon our Wills; that we be the authors of our Fortune; and that God presenting us aids at every moment, 'tis in our power to entertain or reject them. They say Je­sus Christ died indifferently for all men; that his merits are offered to us; that we can apply the vertue of them to our selves; and that in the midst of Paganism, without Gospel or Instruction, we may feel their effects. Fi­nally, they will have Paradise stand open for all the world; that, accord­ing to the saying of our Saviour, ill interpreted, it may be carried by vio­lence; and, without passing thorow the Church, a man may scale heaven. [Page 203]The desire of their Salvation, is the source of these unjust desires; They chuse not this side, nor embrace this opinion, but because they believe it favours their hopes: Vanity is mixt with Interest: being the children of Adam, they imitate the pride of their Father; they are guilty of his crime before they are aware; nor do they consider that whilst they go about to subject Grace to their Liberty, they follow his steps who had a minde to be god for no other end, but that he might live an Independent in respect of his Soveraign.

But were they far enough from the vain oftentation of their first father, they would certainly fall into his misfortune, whilst they think to avoid it. For all Theologie assures us that Men and Angels were lost, because their Grace, being subjected to their Liberty, made them not constant in good: they made ill use of their advantage, because they were masters of it; nor did they fall into sin, but because their salvation was put into their own hands. Their Fall teacheth us, that we can have no weaker support then our selves; that the Grace which relies onely upon our own Will, is very frail; and that sinners that ground their hope upon the certainty of their resolution, are very blinde, or very proud.

The Angels were much more illuminated then we; their light was much purer then ours; their strength was not mixt with weakness: These pure spirits were not embodied in flesh and blood; and Nature being happily united with Grace in their person, banished all disorders that are in the creature by reason of sin. In the mean time, all these advantages hinder­ed them not from falling: the first temptation shook their Liberty, be­cause not submitted to Grace. The beauty of Lucifer dazled them, and struck them in love: his promises made them forget those of God; and the hope they fancied of raigning with that proud Angel, made them side with him in his rebellion. All these misfortunes have no other Cause but the weakness of Liberty; and he that should ask these wretched spirits in the midst of their torments, would receive no other answer, but that their Grace was unprofitable, because it depended upon their Will.

Neither are you to object that the faithful Angels were saved by the same succour the other neglected, because all Divines are not agreed; and 'tis disputed in the Schools, of the assistance they received to oppose the rebellion of Lucifer. The greatest part of the Fathers were of opinion that the mystery of the Incarnation was revealed to them at that instant; that they drew force from Jesus Christ; that they fought under his ban­ner; that they overcame by the blood of the Lamb; and that they owe their triumphs to the Sacrifice of his death. S. Augustine is of this be­lief; and though, according to his Principles, Si utrique boni squaliter creati sunt, istis mala voluntate cadentibus, illi amplius adjuti ad eam beatitudinis plenitudinem unde se nunquā casuros certissimi fierent, pervenerunt. Aug. l. 12. de Civ. Dei. c. 9. it seems we must conclude that the good Angels were not re­compensed but because their Will made good use of their Grace, he unsays it in other places, and confes­seth ingenuously, that they received new assistances, and [Page 204]that they were victorious, because they were better seconded then the others. I know what may be said in answer to this passage: but I finde it so clear, and uttered in such strong expressions, that those that explain it will pardon me if I remain in my opinion, and if with S. Augustine I believe that the good Angels owe not their salvation to Grace Sufficient, but to that Christian Grace the Word Incarnate merited for them by his travels.

Though Man was not advantaged equal to the Angels, neither in Na­ture nor in Grace, because they were Hierarchies, and one was the rule of the other: yet every one confesseth Mans Will was created right; his Understanding cleared, his Senses faithful, and his Passions obedient: He felt not those revolts which now trouble our rest; the Flesh warred not against the Spirit; and those two parts, notwithstanding their difference, were not as yet enemies: original righteousness composed their quarrels; and living in good intelligence under the dominion of this prerogative, they conspired together mans felicity: Sufficient Grace was always offer­ed him; whatever enterprise he took in hand, this faithful companion ne­ver left him; she came to his aid as often as he called upon her; or rather, preventing his desires and his necessities, waited his orders and directions. Nevertheless, amidst all these priviledges, miserable man lost himself; the first temptation made him forget his duty; though he knew that his Soul was taken out of Nothing, and his body formed of the slime of the earth, he suffered himself to be perswaded that in violating the Laws of God, he could make himself immortal. Whence, think you, proceeded this mis­fortune? and what was the cause of so dismal a disgrace? 'Twas not the strength of the temptation; for that was ridiculous; and we cannot yet conceive how it could make any impression upon the minde of a Rational creature: 'Twas not Concupiscence; for this infamous daughter was not born before her Father, nor had Sin as yet given her a Being: 'Twas not the refusal of Grace; for it was due to man in this state, or at least was never denied him. 'Twas then his Liberty which was the cause of his misfortune: his Will, which, without being forced by temptation, corrupted by the Senses, or sollicited by the Passions, made no use of Grace, and so fell headlong into sin.

If it be true that Free-will was so impotent in the state of Innocence, What can we expect in the state of sin? And if Sufficient Grace supported by original righteousness, hindered not Man from falling, What assistance can we promise our selves thence, now that it is as­saulted by Concupiscence? Let us rest our Salvation upon a surer Foundation; let us implore some more vigorous Grace; let us give our Liberty leave to be over-born by its motions; let us grow wise by our Fathers losses, and not pitch our hope upon a succout which ruined him onely because he was subject to his Will. Grace is changed with Nature: as this is not in her primitive purity, neither [Page 205]is the other in her primitive weakness. JESUS CHRIST is come to be the Founder of a New Order in the world; and be­cause he findes men in infirmities which they had during the state of Innocence, he furnisheth them with stronger Graces, that the Remedie surpassing the Disease, may afford them a perfect Cure. When he had to do with Adam, whose vigour was natural, be­cause his Forces were not yet divided, he left his Salvation at his own disposal; and giving him a Grace that depended upon his Li­berty, made him in some sort the Author of his good or bad for­tune: but as hee dealeth now with infirme men, whose Forces are weakned by Division, he will have their Salvation depend upon his Will, and gives them a Grace, which, seizing their heart, makes them victorious in the midst of their Infirmities. Thence it comes to pass, saith Saint Augustine, that the Liberty of Man, though never so languishing, perseveres in Good by the vertue of JESUS CHRIST, when the Will of Adam, with all its vigorous activity, stood not out against the Temptation. 'Tis the glory of the Son of God, and the assurance of a Christian, who comforts himself when he sees that his Salvation is no longer founded upon the Inconstancie of his Liberty, but upon the Stability of Grace, and certitude of Prede­stination. This Belief makes him not more insolent, because he knows this Mystery is hid, and that there is not any one upon earth that knows whether his name be written in the Book of Life: It makes him not more lazie, because he is not ignorant that Grace obligeth him to a combat, that Glory is a Triumph that succeeds a Victory, and that no body is received into heaven, that hath not suffered with JE­SUS CHRIST upon earth. But this Belief ministers them Tran­quillity in the midst of all the miseries of life; it sweetly mingles Hope with Fear in his soul: at the sight of his Infirmity, he trembles; looking upon the vigour of his Grace, he takes courage; and having had so much experience of his frailty, he comforts himself that his Salva­tion stands fixed upon the Rock of Grace: he blesseth the mercy of the Almighty, that hath found a secret whereby to vanquish us with­out forcing us; which, leaving us our Liberty, fortifies our Weakness; and gives us an assurance in our Banishment, which our first Father never had in Paradise: For, to conclude this Discourse and this Treatise with the words of Saint Augu­stine; Ille Adam, nempe Job in stercore, est cautior quam A­dam in Paradiso: nam Adam-in Paradiso consensit­mulieri ut de Paradiso emitteretur, ille in stercore respu [...]t mulierem ut ad Paradisum admitteretur. Aug. in Psal. 29. Job was more happie in his mi­sery, then Adam in his innocence: He was victorious on the Dung-hill, this Other was defeated in his Throne: He gave no ear to the evil counsel of his wife, this Other was cajol'd by his: He despised all the assaults of Satan, this Other suffered himself to be worsted at the first Tempta­tion: [Page 206]He preserved his Righteousness in the midst of his Sorrows, this Other lost his Innocence in the midst of his Pleasures. Let us comfort our selves then in the Grace of JESUS CHRIST, where­by the Infirmity of Man triumphs over the Malice of Satan: Let us rejoyce, because he enjoyns it his Disciples, in the hope we have that his hand hath written our names in the Book of Life in Cha­racters that cannot be blotted out: Let us give Thanks to him, who, knowing our Weakness, is willing to save us by his Power; and protesting that his Grace is the Fountain of our Salvation, beg it in our Prayers, expect it from his Mercy, and hope not for it onely by our Merits.

The first DISCOURSE. In what Christian Vertue consists.

IF it be true that the Christian is an inward man, we need not wonder if he be hid, Condelector legi Dei secundum interiorem ho­minem. Rom. cap. 7. nor that his vertues carry lesse splendour with them then those of Phi­losophers: Inasmuch as all their beauty resides in the soul, it can be perceived by none but by Angels; Those that have not their lights cannot observe them; and the same blindness that occasions their ignorance, occasions also the neglect they conceive of them. The Chastity of Lucrece hath received more Elogies then that of the Catharines and Cecilies, because it sparkles with more pomp; and the murder which should arraign her as guilty, hath made her more no­table and glorious. The Constancy of Cato hath far more admirers then the undaunted Courage of the Martyrs: Pride and Despair that forc'd him to sheath his sword in his own bowels, to avoid something he called Servitude, have heightned his Glory and his Crime in the soul of the chil­dren of Adam, who can admire nothing but what is arrogant and pom­pous.

Thence it comes to passe that Christian Vertue which is humble, and seeks no other witnesse, but he that reads the the heart, receives not always the approbation of men, and wanders uon the Earth without any Elogy or Commendation; Her Essence is conceal'd, we have much adoe to discover her Proprieties; and if Grace do not second Nature, we shall be at a losse to define or describe her. As every one hath form'd an Idea of her, every one makes descriptions of her according to his own humour, or his knowledge; and we may say of Vertue what the Orator said of the Supream Good, that men consulted rather their Inclination then Truth, when they were minded to speak of it.

I wonder not that Philosophers, who had no other light then that of Nature, have injured Vertue in thinking to bestow commendations upon her: But I wonder that Christians have followed them in their errours, and that leaving the Fathers of the Church, they have taken the Blinde for their Guides. For there are some at this day that confound honesty with vertue, Virtus & houe­stas nomina di­versa sunt; res autem subjecta prorsus eadem. Cicero de Offic. who would perswade us that whatever is honest is vertuous: Wherein I find them little differing from those that place Vertue in Glo­ry, and imagine a crime lawful when it ceaseth to be shameful, and begins to appear honourabble. Seneca as proud as he was, hath well taken no­tice that this error was prejudicial to vertue, and that the ambitious would no longer court her, when once she should oblige her Partisans to quit their honour to continue in their duty.

Some others not so much in love with glory, but more in love with na­ture, are perswaded that Vertue is nothing else but a naturall inclination guided by reason, and perfected by Science; so that to live according to the Laws of Nature, was to live according to the Laws of Vertue. This opinion is approved of by the Stoicks among Philosophers, and by the Pe­lagians among Heretiques; It infuseth blindness and arrogance into the spirit of those that side with it, and the esteem it puffs them up with of Nature, makes them neglect the assistance of Grace. It seems they would retrive the state of Innocence, that they have a design to perswade us that sin hath done no hurt to the will of man, that he is as free under the captivity of Concupiscence, as under the dominion of Original righteous­ness: and that Nature having lost nothing of her primitive purity, may serve for a guide to guilty man, as well as to man an innocent.

Others following the Maximes of Aristotle, place Vertue in Medio­cricy, and lest they should give the lye to an Infidel, endeavour to suit the Maximes of the Gospel with those of Philosophy. Seeing that Libe­rality must be as far distant from Prodigality as from Covetousness; and that Fortitude, if it be true, must neither partake of Cowardise nor of Rashness; they have confined all other vertues within these limits, not considering that the noblest, and most common, find their perfection in their excess; For Humility and Charity have no bounds; the one descends to sin and nothingness, the other ascends as high as God who is infinite. Therefore says Saint Bernard, Modus amandi Doum sine mo­do. Bernard. Love hath no measure; and considering the greatness of its object, endeavours to love according, or as much as it is lovely.

But the most dangerous of all these Masters, are those that confound reason with vertue, and conceive man sufficiently vertuous, when he is rationall; they give a thousand fair glosses to this lye; and making rea­son the chiefest or only good of man, they suppose they have secured him from all vices in deputing him this Idol for the conduct of his life. They will have her a Soveraign whose power is lawfull, all whose decrees are just, and her designs laudable. They ascribe to reason what we doe [Page 209]to grace; and not fearing to render her government tyrannicall, they will have her reign absolutely over the will without constraining it, illu­minate the understanding without dazling it, use passions without stifling them, and employ the body without offering it the least injury or violence: But these blind Dotards will not see that reason being a slave, cannot be a Queen; and so far is she from guiding man, that she her selfe hath need of a star to enlighten her, and a prop to support her. For since the fall of Adam this Soveraign is a Captive, all her subjects sleight her Laws, and whatever vain Authority she slatters her self with, she meets with as many rebellions as she gives commands.

Reason without Grace, hath hitherto brought up none but proud Scholars; and not to examine what she can doe, she hath yet served for no other use, but to swel Philosophers with vain glory, and to perswade them that Original sin was a fable, and the corruption of nature an illu­sion. Idolaters have not so much resisted the Gospel as Philosophers; Superstition hath with more ease struck sail then vain Philosophy, and the gods that reason fashioned and set up, have stood longer then those of wood and of marble.

Whatever is rumored of the Letters and Conferences between Seneca and Saint Paul, I have always believed the conversion of that Stoick har­der then that of the Covetous and most impudent Lascivious. The Pride that inanimated his spirit, was so strong a bulwark against grace, that he had never stoopt to the Maximes of Christianity, if that Conqueress of hearts had not employed all her charms and all her forces to bring him under. It had never troubled him to part with his goods, Annaeo Senecae non quidem ex toto virtus, ve­rum ex aliqua parte defuit; affuit enim scribenti, cesuit viventi. Aug. though avarice be reckoned one of his sins: be had suffered the torments which served for proofs to the Primitive Christians, and his vain-glory had armed him with courage enough to endure those affronts that accompanied the Prea­ching of the Gospel. But the love he bore his reason had never given him leave to believe, without some miraculous work of Grace, that man was born a criminal, that his nature was corrupted, his liberty weakned, and that to the practising of vertue, there was requisite some external assi­stance, which God might refuse him without the least shew of injustice. This Philosopher had he kept his opinions, had been the first Authour of Pelagianisme in the world; and his pride making him the capital enemy of grace, had obliged him to side with reason against her.

But not to combat a Heresie, the Church hath triumphed over so many ages since; nor to condemn Seneca whom she hath anathematized in the person of Pelagius; It contents me to say, that vertue to the end it may be solid, must be the gift of God: that she cannot be acquired without grace, of whose aid being destitute, she is rather the shadow of vertue, then true and reall vertue indeed. If that of the Heathen be not a sin, if all the circumstances of it be not bad, and if we may not blame a son that succours his Father, a Subject that desends his Prince, a Citizen that dies [Page 210]for his Countrey, we have great cause to bewail the misfortune of those, who having not the light of faith, could not direct all their actions to their first principle, nor refer them to their last end.

Let us affirm then with S. Augustine, Virtus est bona qualitas mertis quae recte vivi­tur, qua nemo male utitur, & quam Deus in nobis operatur. Aug. lib. 1. de lib. arb. the Master of Vertue as well as of Grace, that Vertue is a quality of the soul, wherewith we live well, which we cannot use ill, which God works in us, either to guide us or de­fend us. Let's give a little light to this definiition, and say, he cals vertue a quality, because though it be an expression of the Divinity, 'tis not a sub­stance but an accident, to teach man that vertue is not naturall to him but adventitious, and that he receives her as a present from the bounteous hand of God; she is good, because she communicates goodness to us, and by her motions leads us on to the supream Good; she learns us to live well because she knocks us off from our selves, lifts us up to God, and makes our interests give place to the interests of his Glory.

But inasmuch as mans life is civil, this same vertue teacheth us to live well with our neighbour, and to conspire together to find satisfaction up­on Earth, and felicity in Heaven: We cannot use it ill because all her acts are just, and she would change her nature should she change her inclina­tion. Nemo virtute abutitur quam­vis allquando virtus sit occa­sio alicujus ma­li. Isidor. Wherein I find vertue happier then the faculties of the soul which are daily abused in the practise of sin: For the memory is not lesse faith­full when it represents us an injury, then when it minds us of a good turn; The will is not lesse free when it commits a sin, then when it practiseth a vertue, nor hath the understanding lesse vivacity when it conceives an Er­rour then when it conceives a Truth: But Vertue is so pure that she cannot be corrupted, her intentions are so right they cannot be per­verted, and her beauty so resplendant, that it admits of no spots nor im­perfections. Finally, tis God that works her in us, because he is the source of all our good things, 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 & praemiū ­non 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. 'Tis 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, 'tis 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. 'Tis 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 'tis 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 [Page 213]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.

'Tis 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 [Page 214]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, 'twould 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 [Page 215]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, 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. 'Tis 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 'tis 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 [Page 216]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 & fa [...]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 [Page 217]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 lumē 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 reduced him, Intellectus hu­manus se habet ad Divina sicut visus noctuae se habet ad solem. Arist. and that he cannot know God if he be not irradiated with his Grace: For he is in respect of the things of God, according to the judgement of Philosophers themselves, as those Birds of night which cannot endure the beams of the Sun, but are con­strained to hide themselves when that glorious Star appears, lest they should be dazled with his rays: so that man is bound to renounce his reason, and to give his judgement the lie if he will comprehend the Truths and Mysteries of Religion. Thence it is that the Fathers of the Church have said, Nemo novit fi­lium nisi pater, neque Patrem quis novit nisi filius, & cui filius voluerit revelare. Mat. 11. that he could not know the designs of God if he were not in­form'd of them by Revelation; nor believe them if he were not perswa­ded by Faith, nor ought at all to rest in them, if he that contriv'd them had not commented upon them by himself or by his Ministers; Because as the great Saint Hila y saith, we must not believe Divine things, but when God pleaseth to reveal them, because he alone knows them, and is able to discover them to others.

Thus must we confess, that if Faith came not in to our succour, there would be a strange confusion in the belief of our Mysteries: For as mens opinions are as different as their minds, their reason doubtful and un­certain, approving in one Countrey, what it condemns in another, chan­ges judgements according to Climates, and in one and the same man grows weaker or stronger with age; we had for ever sloated in uncer­tainty, and our belief had been as subject to change as our opinion. Wherefore God dealing with all Christians alike, hath given them the same light: and not respecting their naturall advantages is pleased that the simple and the learned have one and the same principle to know his Mysteries by.

But had not this consideration obliged him to bestow upon us one and the same Faith to entertain us in the same mind; the extent and va­riety of the things we believe, had always required the same Oeconomy: For some ascend into Heaven, others goe down into Hel; some are buried in the obscurity of what is past, others are hid in the abysses of what's to come; some happened at the birth of the world, others shall not happen till its decay; so that there being no natural light vast enough to compre­hend all these marvels, separated by the distance of place or time, we must of necessity be illuminated with a Divine light which may collect them all; and without giving us a clear understanding, give us at least a sure be­lief.

Having so great an obligation to Faith, 'tis all the reason in the world we should be acquainted with the nature of that which makes us know all things, and be inform'd of the definition of a vertue that serves for the basis and foundation of all others. Saint Augustine cals it in one place an obscure light, which having the certitude of Science, wants evidence and perspicuity. For 'tis a Truth that Faith clears us, that 'tis an effu­sion of the Light of Glory, and an emanation of that admirable clarity that discovers all things to the blessed. A Light shining, saith the Apostle, but in an obscure and dark place, in Caliginoso loco. 'Tis a Star wrapt in a Cloud, an Aurora that knits the shadows of the night with the brightness of the day; its obscurity constitutes one part of its Essence; when it becomes evident it changeth its nature, and ceasing to be Faith, begins to be Science or Revelation. Thus the Christians are like those people, who for the space of six Moneths see no Sun, yet because that glorious Luminary wheels continually round their Horizon, they may boast their nights not to be without some brightness; and though depri­ved of the presence of the Sun, want not altogether his Light.

S. John Chrysostome saith, that Faith is the basis of Religion; that 'tis in this spiritual building what foundations are in houses, and that as these cannot subsist when removed from their groundsils, so doth a man cease being a Christian assoon as he leaves off to be a Believer. Indeed all the Vertues lean upon this, and by a particular priviledge she is preser­ved [Page 219]without others, but others are not preserved without her: Their ab­sence weakens her; and Faith, not quickned with Charity, nor support­ed with Hope, hath no vigour, because, in the judgement of an Apostle, it is then dead. Nevertheless this spark lives under the ashes; and though never so weak and languishing, may, with the benign influence of heaven, produce some effects.

But S. Bernard, whose wit is no less solid then agreeable, Fides est quaedā voluntaria & certa praelibatio nondū propala­tae veritatis. Bernar. gives us an excellent definition of Faith, when he saith, 'Tis like a voluntary and assu­red prejudice of a Truth not yet evident: For 'tis certain that Faith is not onely an Earnest of the Truths we believe, but as it were an Antepast and Prelibation of them: we see them not evidently, but we believe them certainly; we finde that its Obscurity produceth Light, and that Evi­dence is oftentimes the recompence of its Firmness. If ye believe not, ye shall not understand. So that we may say, As in Christianity Weak­ness produceth strength, Obscurity many times produceth Evidence. Thus S. Augustine defining Faith, calls it sometimes a Light guiding the minde to the Prime verity; and by obscure and cloudy passages, leads it securely into the region of Light.

For all this, we must acknowledge that the fullest definition of Faith is that which S. Paul gives us, Est autem Fides sperandarum substanmia rerū, argumentum non apparenti­um. Hebr. 11. where he calls this Vertue the substance of things hoped for, and the argument of those not seen: For as Substance is the support of Accidents, Faith is the pillar of Vertues, and the immo­vable basis of the Spiritual building, because 'tis founded upon the Prime verity. It looks upon the things we hope for, because they are more noble then those that we possess; and this generous vertue leaving the conside­ration of Mediums, soareth as high as the contemplation of the last End. It is also an argument of those things we see not, because it gives us a certitude, and, without exhibiting them to our view, settles in us so strong a perswasion of them, that all the reasons in the world cannot alter our belief: But its principal advantage, and which is happily ex­pressed in this definition, is, that as it is called the substance of things hoped for, because it is the earnest of them, giving us, in some sort, what it hath promised; so is it the demonstration of things not seen, because it makes them in a manner visible, and its obscurity begets in our souls light and certitude.

Having considered its essence, 'tis 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 [Page 220]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: 'Tis 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, 'tis 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 'tis 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, [Page 221]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: 'Tis 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 'tis 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 to render him Faithful, it will not suffer him to be Rational.

Though Faith have all these advantages, yet must we acknowledge that without Charity it is unprofitable; all a mans Miracles profit no­thing without Good works: and though this vertue raign so absolute­ly in the State of Jesus Christ, she will never cause the Faithful to raign [Page 222]in Glory, if he adde not the ardors of Love to the Light of Belief. S. Augu­stine hath observed, that though Abraham owe the beginning of his happi­ness to Faith, he owed the perfection thereof to his Good works and Obe­dience: when he believed the Word of God, 'twas a rare effect of Faith; but when he obeyed the voice of the Angel, armed his hand with a Sword, lifted up his arm to strike his onely son, 'twas doubtless a very great act of Faith, and a certain proof of his obedience. Let us joyn therefore these two vertues, that we may imitate him: let us pass from Faith to Good works; and if we would have the merit of that Patriarch, let us fully believe the promises of Jesus Christ, and faithfully execute his will, that we may not be reproacht that our Faith is like that of Devils, that fear the Justice of the Almighty, but love not his Goodness.

The Fourth DISCOURSE. Of the Hope of a Christian.

AS Sin hath robbed us of our Light, so hath it deprived us of our Strength; and he that cast us into Errour, hath precipitated us in­to Weakness: we are not onely Blinde, but Impotent; nor is it a sufficient Cure for us to have our Sight restored, if withal we recover not our Vi­gour. Faith takes pains to scatter our Darkness, and Hope endeavours to strengthen our Weakness. This vertue bears up the heart of a Chri­stian, draws him out of that unhappie Impotencie whereto sin had redu­ced him; and resting upon the veracity of God, expects with confidence the effects of his promises: it knows very well that his Word is not like that of Soveraigns; and being not subject to their Infirmities, neither is he liable to their Changes.

For Princes oftentimes break their word, either out of weakness, or lightness, or imprudence: they cannot always do what they would; their Will exceeds their Power; and they are constrained to recal their word, because they are not able to put it in execution. 'Tis enough that they are Men, to make them Lyers: The Scepter that adorns their hand, and the Royal Wreathe that circles their head, change not their Nature; up­on the Throne they are sensible of the failings of their Subjects; and though the disposers of Honour and Life, yet are they inconstant as their Mothers. But were they resolved to keep their word, that they might imitate his Constancie whose Majestie they represent, they would be of­ten forc'd to revoke it, to avoid those disorders their Prudence had not foreseen: for the Light of Kings is bounded as well as their Power; they cannot read the obscure Characters of Futurity; and whatever ministers [Page 223]their Councel is composed of, they cannot prevent accidents if they con­sult not with Prophets; so that necessity compels them to fail of their word, if they will not fail of their duty.

But the God we adore is free from these infirmities: and if he ap­pear sometimes to repent of his designs, or recall his decrees, 'tis only to suit with our understanding, and to deal with men after the manner of men: He is absolute in his state, his Power is his Will, as his Goodness is his Essence; he finds no Rebels in the world, and if there be any that seem to brave his Mercy, they obey his Justice that punisheth them: His Immutability is equall to his Power, he never changeth his designs; and though he accommodate himself sometimes to his creatures, 'tis in redu­cing them to his Will without constraining them. He magnifieth him­self in this Attribute in Holy Scripture; and as if his Constancy were a proof of his Divinity, he will have us believe him God, because he is Im­mutable, Ego Deus & non mutor. A surprisal or a mistake obligeth him not to change his resolution; nothing happens in his State contrary to his Will, or his Permission; he prevents the revolts of his Subjects, and if his Justice punish Crimes in Time, his Wisdome foresaw them in E­ternity; His Councel regulates Events, Successe answers his Enterprises, and the malice of men not being able to surprise his Providence, he is never forced to revoke his Decrees.

Thence it comes to passe that Hope which is founded upon his Pro­mises, is not liable to distrust; 'tis well assured that Truth can neither deceive nor be deceived; that an absolute power meets with no difficul­ties that check it; and that a wisdome subject to no errour, is subject to no change. Thus the Christian assisted with this Vertue, lives in the sweetness of tranquillity; nothing in the whole world makes him afraid, the greatness of danger heightens his confidence, and knowing very well that God can raise his salvation out of his very fall, he is fearless in the midst of his enemies. This made David utter those words, In Domino sperans non infi mabor; he could not have said so, had he placed his con­fidence in the creature, because as Saint Augustine saith, it fell with man who was its support; but being grounded upon him who is as Powerfull as he is True, he was able to preserve his assurance in the midst of danger, and to promise victory in the thickest of the conflict.

Thus doth Saint Augustine paraphrase upon the words of the same Prophet, where out of an excess of confidence he cals his God his Hope; Quoniam tu es Domine spes mea. Let other men, saith that incompa­rable Doctor, trust in the vanity of their riches, and think that with their gold they can seduce Women, corrupt Judges, and subdue their Ene­mies; Let others confide in their Friends, and perswade themselves they have a share in their goods as well as in their affections; that assisted by their counsell, or supported by their furtherance, they can triumph over grief and fortune: Let others raising their thoughts a degree higher, hope [Page 224]in the weak power of Kings, promise themselves admittance into their favour, to be of their Councel, to partake of their Secrets, and to go­vern their Person or their State; as for me who am no longer abused with these vanities, I will rest upon my God, and not violating the re­spect I owe him, making the Almighty my Hope, will say, Quoniam tu es Domiue spes mea.

If this Vertue heighten the infirmity of Christians, we must confess it sweetens their discontents, and is in stead of Consolation, midst all the torments that afflict them. Not to know that man is miserable since he became criminal, is to be extreamly ignorant; the sweetest life hath its labours; the shortest is long enough to be sensible of a thousand ca­lamities; the remedies whereof are a second affliction; and that which we call comfort and consolation, is often a disguised misery, and a reall tor­ment. Among so many adversities, Heaven that watcheth over the wel­fare of Christians hath furnished them with Hope, which never confounds those it assists: for it awakens their courage with recompenses, stirres them up by the examples of former Saints, quickens them by the short­ness of their life, and making them balance what they suffer with what they expect, gives them occasion to say with Saint Paul, Non sunt con­dignae Passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam quae revelatur in nobis.

But inasmuch as Jesus Christ is the principal object of this Vertue, hence ariseth the strongest comfort it can bestow upon us; for represen­ting us his Shame and his Glory, his Death and his Resurrection, it makes us patiently suffer the afflictions of this present life in consideration of the advantages of the future. The Son of God, saith Saint Augustine, be­comes the hope of the Faithful, they behold in him labour and recom­pence: labour in his Passion, recompence in his Resurrection; and in these two states rather different then contrary, they behold two kinds of lives, whereof the one being miserable and present, must be indured with courage; the other being happy and future, must be expected with patience. Jesus Christ hath manifested the former in his Crosse, the second in his Glory, to the end that having born the former in this world, they may hope to possesse the second in the other world.

Though this Example be able to encourage the most fearful, and com­fort the most afflicted, we must acknowledge neverthelesse that the assu­rance we have, that God wil not forsake those that are his is a power­ful Consolation: which is indeed the reason Hope makes use of to encou­rage Christians; nor was ever exprest more eloquently then in the words of the Psalmist, who representing them the power of their Soveraign, obligeth them to hope all things and fear nothing. Ideo nihil dicit ut omnia dicat, & tu omnia credas. Spera in Deo & ipse faciet. In a word, it mentions all in naming nothing, and giving no bounds to its promises, suffers us to hope every thing from God; it instructs us by silence, leaves us to think what it expresseth not, and lest some favours [Page 225]might be forgotten in the rehearfall, chuseth rather to be altogether si­lent, then to forget any.

If I may serve for his Interpreter, me thinks his meaning is, that from the Almighty power of God we may expect every thing; That he will stop the Sun, shake the Earth, remove the Mountains from their stations, open the abysses of the sea, and do an hundred miracles for our sakes, if we hope in his goodness: or this Vertue will have us understand, that God will heal us if we be sick, that he will comfort us if we be afflicted, enrich us if we be poor, restore us to liberty if we be in prison, and de­liver us from the grave when we are dead: Finally, we may hope all that he can do; our hope is as large as his power; and without rashnesse we may expect as many favours as he can work miracles.

Seeing this Vertue is as lowly as generous, it keeps us from complain­ing when successes answer not our desires; and teacheth us, that there are two wayes whereby God assists us when we are persecuted; the One is glittering and full of pomp, showrs astonishment into the soul of our Enemies, tameth lions that would devour us, quencheth flames that would burn us to ashes, and disarms Executioners that are ready to sacrifice us: The other is more reserv'd and less splendid; for not delivering us from torments, it gives us courage to bear them, makes us victorious by endu­ring, and working the miracle in our selves, sweetens not the cup of our punishment, but increaseth our constancy, whereby we triumph over it. The former of these wayes appeared in the three Children, who were thrown into a fiery furnace by the command of a heathen Prince: The fire spar'd their clothes, respected their bodies; and having consumed their chains that they might walk at liberty, sought out their Executioners to execute vengeance upon them. The second appeared in the person of the Maccabees, who vanquish'd in suffering, tired their Enemies, and in an age that trembles at the frowns of a Master, laughed at the fury of a Tyrant. Might I pass my judgment upon these two Miracles, I would pre­fer the later; and had I liberty to chuse, I would rather be in the con­dition of the Maccabees, then in that of the companions of Daniel.

But leaving this Digression to pursue my Discourse: Hope is not founded upon promises, but upon assurances: it hath earnests that dis­sipates all doubts; and considering what hath passed, easily beleeves what is yet to come: For though God be the supreme Verity, though his words be Oracles, and reason it self perswades us, that he promiseth no­thing to his subjects he does not perform; yet is he so good, he gives them earnest of his promises; and as if he were afraid to weary their hope in making them expect too much, he sweetens their anxious pains by pledges of affection, which make up a part of that summ he hath pro­mised them; he gives us favours, whereby we are enabled to hope for what remains behinde; the death he suffered for us, is an assurance of that life he prepares for us; neither can we doubt (saith S ^t Augustine) [Page 226]that we shall not reign with him in heaven, seeing he was willing to die for us upon the Crosse. For what Goods may we not expect, when his death is a pledge of his love, and an assurance of the happinesse we look for? Let us hope then for his Kingdom; and when the greatnesse of his promises shall raise any doubts in our soul, let us consider the greatness of our Surety, and we shall securely wait the accomplishment of our desires.

Having considered the necessity of this Vertue, 'tis just that we consider its Nature, and consulting the Divines and Fathers, be acquainted with its Definition. Philo the Jew calls it the Fore-runner of Joy, a Harbinger­pleasure preceding the Eternall one, an antepast of Blessedness; so that following the opinion of this Philosopher, he that hopes, may boast him­self happy before-hand. The Master of the Sentences comes neer this sense, when defining this Vertue, he calls it a certain assurance of a fu­ture Felicity; the certitude that accompanies it, sweetens the pain which the remoteness of the Good it waits for, occasions; and she thinks her self happy because the felicity she promiseth is certain. S ^t Au­gustine calls it by a more magnificent name, and making it passe for a view of the supreme Good, seems with Philo to confound it with Joy: for he saith, that Faith cures the eys of the soul, and that Hope makes her see what she desires.

But because things never appear so clearly as when they are opposed with contraries, I conceive, I cannot better discover the nature of Chri­stian Hope, then by confronting it with that that deceives men by the vanity of its promises: This then is uncertain, doubt makes up a part of its Essence; and by a misfortune inseparable from it, it ceaseth to be Hope as soon as it begins to be sure: Therefore Seneca said, she promised a doubtfull good, and to her very favourites leaves all things dubious and uncertain: But the Hope of a Christian is sure, his certitude commensurate, and all men that define it make it synoni­mous with Assurance. That of Men is false, what-ever fair colours its promises are dress'd with; it cannot avoyd the denomination of a Lye: Therefore the same Scripture that calls it uncertain, calls it a lying va­nity: and finding nothing vain enough whereby to expresse its essence, compares it to Dreams, that abuse men in their sleep, Vana spes & men­dacium viro insensato; somnia extollunt imprudentem: so that those that give ear unto it are like those poor Dreamers, who being rich onely whilest they sleep, lose all as soon as they awake: their sleep en­richeth them, and when they awake they are plundred of all, and reduc'd to their former poverty: But the Hope of a Christian is true, and be­ing founded upon the promises of God, who cannot lie, never deludes the Beleever that listens to them.

If that of Men be false, we need not wonder that it is misera­ble; and for those imaginary contentments it allures us with, gives no­thing [Page 227]but reall pains. For though we may flatteringly apprehend her as the most agreeable passion, and endeavour to perswade our selves that she sweetens the disquietnesse of our longings; true Philosophy confesseth her the cause of our Fear; Desines sperare, desines timere. Senec. and that the only means to be free from distrustfull apprehensions, is to be free from hope: But the Hope of a Christian is accompanied with confidence, and so close united to pleasure, that it passeth for one part of our Felicity.

Finally, the Hope of Worldlings is so often faulty, that the Scrip­ture calls it an Abomination, and makes us know, that all the pre­tences of sinners are nothing but Crimes: The Lascivious promiseth himself nothing but Adulteries, the Ambitious nought but Tyran­nies, the Furious plots vengeance, the Covetous feeds himself with unjust gains, and all of them saith S. Gregory never acknowledge their sin till the pleasure is past, and grief succeds in the place thereof: But the Hope of a Christian is Innocent, produceth just desires in their souls, and the Good they wait for, makes them commence Saints upon Earth, that they be perfected in heaven.

The Fifth DISCOURSE. The Description of Christian Charity.

DIvinity teacheth us, that God is so infinite, that to expresse all his Greatnes, he must have as many names as hee hath perfections. Therefore is it that the Scripture calls him sometimes a Sun, because his brightness dissipates the darkness of our hearts, and discovers our intentions from the very depth of our wills: Sometimes he is calld a Heaven, because his Immensity incircles all his works, and comprehends in his Nature, whatever he produceth by his Power: Sometimes hee is stiled a devouring Fire, because he consumes our sins, and because his ho­lines more active then that Element, burnes the souls of the Saints whom it purifieth: Sometimes he is called a Flower, because his beauty ravish­eth us, his odour perfumes us, and his splendour dazels us. In as much as Charity is his noblest and most excellent expression, the Scripture hand­leth it with the same respect, and perceiving that it cannot manifest all its Excellencies by one single name, gives it as many Appellations, as this Vertue hath different qualities. And because every name is a kind of a Definition, I beleive I ought to rehearse them in this Discourse, [Page 228]which will contribute very much towards the knowledge of the Excellen­cies of Charity.

Saint John the Evangelist, whom we may call the Disciple of Love, as well as of Light, Deus charitas est & qui manet in charitate in Deo manet, & Deus in eo. 1 Joh. 4. teacheth us that God is Charity, and though in this de­finition he pretends not to perswade us that the Charity which makes us love God is God himselfe, yet his design is to inform us, that there is nothing can more happily transform us into God then this vertue, be­cause he vouchsafes to bear the name thereof; and of all the things in the world there is none that expresse his Greatness in so noble an Hieroglyphick. Therefore Saint Augustine ravished with this Speech, hath uttered that which gives us the meaning thereof. God is Chari­tie, a short Elogie, but exceeding great; short in words, but great in sense: If you inquire how many Gods there are, this Definition will tell you but one, and if you ask what he is, will assure you he is Love. S ^t. Bernard, who following the steps of S ^t. Augustine, reviv'd his opi­nions in France, Deus Charitas est, quid pretio­sius? & qui ma­net in charitate in Deo manet, quid securius? & Deus in eo, quid jucundius. Bern. and made us see that in the matter of Grace we need consult no other Oracle, heightens this Definition, with as much learn­ing as Eloquence. God, saith he, is Charity, what more precious? he that abides in Charity, abides in God; what more secure? and God abides in him, what condition more agreeable? Indeed we cannot pos­sesse Charity in our hearts, but together with it we must have the Divine Essence, and their Union is so inseparable, that the one cannot bee lost without the other.

This gave the Apostle of the Gentiles occasion to call Charity the Fel­lowship of the Holy Ghost, because being the chiefest of his Gifts, he never produceth it in a soul but he alwayes enters together with it: Light is never dis-joyn'd from the Sun; and if it be true that this noble quality subsisted some daies without adhering to that glorious Star, the same power that united them, may again separate them: But the Holy Spirit and Charity are indivisible, this fire is never without heat, this Sun is never without brightnes, and all Scripture would be false, if Charity were not a certain proof of the presence of the Holy Spi­rit in our souls.

The same Apostle whom we stile the Panegyrist of Charity, assures us, that it is the fulfilling of the Law, and the accomplishment of the Deca­logue: Indeed he lives holily, that loves the Supream Good, and at the same time those that may enjoy it with him: He is perfect, saith S. Au­gustine, that can regulate his affection, and govern himself with so much justice, that he loves what is amiable, and hates what is odious; and proportioning his charity to the merit of the objects, loves that diffe­rently, which he cannot love equally. Therefore is there not so great a necessity in reading holy Books, in diving into the mysteries of Scrip­ture, to search out the meaning of the Prophets, because in exercising Charity we may boast we have fullfilled all, we have understood all. [Page 229]Therefore saith the same S ^t. 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 'tis 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, [Page 230]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 'tis 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 [Page 231]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 sinner whose conversion may not be hop'd for; she prayes for those that despitefully use her, that af­ter the example of Jesus Christ, she may make her tormentors her friends.

In as much as this Discourse draws to an end, I must be more briefe in the other definitions of Charity, and say succinctly with Saint Augustine, that she is the love of the true good, because to speak properly, she adheres onely to God, in consideration of whom she despiseth all other goods, which are nothing but lies or illusions. The desire and possession whereof she leaves to concupiscence; she envies not her false felicity, because she knows 'tis really but a true misery; and by means of those lights that came down from heaven, she never troubles her selfe to acquire those Goods which make not the posses­sours better, because they cannot use them well, if they be not good be­fore they take them in possession.

By a necessary Consequence, Charity is a love which makes us tender of those goods wee cannot lose against our wills; I wonder not that Concupiscence is poore, because the preservation of her ri­ches depends not upon her will; shee may be rob'd of all that shee loves; violence or injustice may spoil her of her treasures, calumny may black her reputation, grief may damp her pleasures, death whose only name brings so much terrour with it, may take away her life: But Cha­rity, who hath this advantage that shee hath chosen the better part, is well assured it shall never be taken from her: she loves a Good she cannot be plundred of, she knows that Fortune hath no Dominion o­ver Grace; that the severity of torments, and the sweetnesse of plea­sures cannot impair her felicity. This is it that S ^t Augustine hath so hap­pily express'd in those words, which contain the Encomium and the de­finition of Charity: Charitas est amor rerum quas non nisi volentes a­mittimus: 'Tis the love of things which we part not with but when we have a mind to it. Inasmuch as there is great affinity between the su­preme Good and dilection, S ^t Augustine hath drawn from one and the same Principle their common advantage; for he teacheth us, that as [Page 232]Love is not charitable but when it respects a Good which cannot be taken away; the Good also is not true, but when he that possesseth it cannot lose it but by his own fault. Nolite amare praesentia, quae possessa onerant, amata inqui­nant, amissa cruciant. Ber. Solid good, saith he, is of such a nature, that 'tis never lost unless a man will: The Covetous every day lose their riches with sorrow of heart; the Ambitious fall from their dignities with grief of minde; and the immodest Wantons testifie by their tears, that the de­privation of what they love is no voluntary losse: But this Good, that in­spires us with Goodness, can neither be acquired nor lost without our own consent.

Thence ariseth another Definition of Charity, and a second opposition to Concupiscence her Enemy: This makes us slaves of what we love, finde Servitude where we expect Soveraignty, punisheth our Ambition in de­ceiving it; as she imitates the Divel, who ruin'd us by his promises, she throws us into thraldom by filling us with the hope of Liberty: There is no sinner but is sensible of his torment. The Covetous are the slaves of their wealth; a great Fortune is a glorious servitude, and all those that are ingaged in love are intangled in a Captivity. Therefore hath Augustine said admirably well; Men become vassals of the Creatures, when by un­just means they endeavour to make themselves Masters. 'Tis Charity onely that exalteth us in humbling us, and more happy then Concupi­scence, makes us finde liberty in bondage, soveraignty in obedience; for submitting to God, we soar above all sublunary things; by teaching us to obey, we learn to command; and imposing but one Soveraign over us, gives us as many subjects as there are creatures.

Finally, to conclude this Discourse with a Definition which may be called the Panegyrick of Charity, we say shee is the Love of eternall Goods, as Concupisence is of perishable ones. This vertue is so gene­rous that after the example of Eagles which look only upon the Sun, shee considers only God: when shee expresseth any affection to men or Angels, she riseth as high as the Creator; she would conceive her self unjust, did she love any thing but for God; and making her glory of that Maxime she bespeaks God by the mouth of one of his Lovers, with these excellent words; Minus te amat qui tecum ali­quid amat, & non propter te. Aug. He loves thee not at all who loves any thing with thee, which he loves not for thy sake. Concupiscence on the contrary is wed­ded to the creatures, runs along unhappily with them, finds sorrow where shee looks for content, and seeing those objects perish which were the Fuell to her flames, is forced to wast away in sad lamentations, and to begin those complaints here, which will last for ever in the do­minions of Hell.

The Sixth DISCOURSE. Of the Properties and Effects of Charity.

IF the Learned Tertullian, had reason to call the Devil Gods Ape; me thinks I may stile Concupiscence the Ape of Charity, because she en­deavours to copy her, thereby to obscure her, promising her slaves the same advantages Charity makes her subjects hope for: she takes the same course, continues the same designs, and in her opposition is so perfect a Transcript of this excellent Original, that the most part of Philosophers confound them together. Their ends are rather contrary then different; but the means they make use of to come thither, are altogether alike; Their Principles are opposite, but their Conclusions run parallel; Their thoughts clash, but their language agrees; so that to compleat the Por­traicture of Charity, I must draw the Picture of Concupiscence, and make use of the same colours to paint them both.

Concupiscence or self-love is active; the greater it is in the source, the more violent is it in the effects; nothing can stop its fury, and all the disorders we see in the world, are the works of this irregular passion: she changeth her name according to the objects she fixeth upon; and adhe­ring to Glory, or Profit, or Pleasure, she is styled Ambition, Lust, or Avarice: But in all these different conditions, she is ever active, and by no means sits still. Sometimes she beats an Alarum to war, to increase her reputation in enlarging her Empire: Sometimes she passeth the Seas to get riches, and driven by want which never forsakes her, feeds her wolfe, supposing to allay his appetite: Sometimes she sets upon Chastity, and making use of a thousand subtilties to corrupt it, troubles whole Na­ture to purchase her satisfaction. Therefore is it that Saint Augustine who was so well acquainted with the humour of Concupiscence, says, that no love was idle; that 'twas active assoon as born; that the oppositions made against it, double its fury; and judging its strength by its violence, finds nothing impossible. Thence is it that the ambitious conceive so ma­ny designs that surpass humane power, and hardning themselves against all difficulties, had rather break then bow. Thence comes it to passe, that the covetous undergoe so many miseries to fill their coffers, and are ex­posed to the fury of all the elements to comply with that passion that tyrannizeth over them.

These attempts are the images of those Charity effects, which is yet more active then Concupiscence: For as her hope is founded upon God, and the greatness of her Conquests heightens her courage, whereby she [Page 234]travels for Eternity, she believes there is no pain she ought not to suffer, nor difficulties she must not overcome. Nothing seems hard when it may serve her turn, and measuring her force by her affection, imagines nothing ought to check her enterprises; Nihil difficile videtur amanti: amor enim nomē difficultatis eru­bescit. Bern. She chides her laziness when she deliberates: she is afraid her weaknesse should be objected to her, when she parlies for composition; and she is so used to overcome, that she looks upon difficulties not so much as a true excuse, as a shamefull pre­tence. Thus the Martyrs have traversed the flames to find Jesus Christ; The Virgins have provoked wild Beasts, that they might be the sooner with their Beloved; The Anchorites have contested with grief, that they might carry Heaven by violence. Finally, Charity is of the nature of fire, she cannot lie still, she sets upon her body when she finds no other ene­my; and that she may not be unprofitable, seeks for occasions of suffe­ring when she wants those of acting: And this is the second resem­blance between these two Loves.

For Concupiscence hath her Martyrs as well as Charity, she suffers for what she loves; and as doing and suffering are mutually in the world, she gives proof of her courage in these two different conditions: From the evils she undergoes, she extracts vanity; she makes them her happi­nesse when they are past; and lest they should slip out of her memory, she ruminates upon them in her solitudes, and entertains her self with them in companies: she hath some satisfaction in her Martyrdome, when she thinks it will be an argument of her Constancy, or of her Fidelity; nor is she troubled to be made the prey of Flames or of Lions, provided she may evidence her Courage and her Affection. Charity thrives bet­ter in this design then Concupiscence; she hath made many more Mar­tyrs then vain-glory hath; as she takes her birth from the Crosse, so is she never more vigorous nor content then when she swims in her own bloud; she is witty to invent occasions of suffering, and becomes her own tormentor when she can meet with no other. The absence of her Beloved is the greatest part of her punishment; and conceiving that torments may shorten her banishment, she is inquisitive after them, as the remedies of her languishing: Therefore doe these Divine Lovers suffer always upon Earth; the peace of the Church frees not them from persecution; and though the Princes that govern them are Christians, they meet with Tyrants that persecute them. Every failing is their torture; every moment makes them languish, and they die a thousand times in a day, because they will not die at last. Indeed their Love which is as witty as cruel, learns them innocent murders; they commit Parricides without a Crime; they kill Adam in their person, that Jesus Christ may live there; they take vengeance of this Father that made them guilty, and destroying whatever they received from him; of every one of their inclinations they make a reasonable sacrifice.

But the Master-piece of Love is, that it makes that present which we [Page 235]love, and in despight of absence unites us with it. Remoteness is certain­ly one of the greatest torments of Love; he shuns it as his mortallest enemy, and employs all his stratagems to be secured from it: he hath recourse to Presents, knowing very well that they are the remembrancers of the ab­sent, and that 'tis very hard to forget a person to whom we are beholding: he entertains himself by the commerce of Letters; he writes to those he cannot speak to; he beguiles his Passion with a picture; and not being able to see his friend, he is satisfied with beholding his portraicture: But when all these inventions content not, he reflects upon himself; and making use of his thoughts and desires, he goes upon the quest, and retrives him whose absence caused his punishment. For the Understanding is an im­perious faculty, which by a Natural Magick renders absent things present; excelling the Imagery of Painters, because her Idea's can speak; and the same spirit that gives them life, infuses motion into them, and speech: If Love be not satisfied with this invention, he obligeth the Will to enquire out what she affecteth; and to quit the body and the soul, to be united to the object of her sorrow. To obey her Soveraign, she commands her de­sires to bestir themselves, to prevent the diligence of the windes; and passeth Sea and Land to seek the Subject of her vexation to the worlds end: She pursues the Posts she hath dispatched; imitates the agility of Angels; and like those spirits finding themselves wherever they operate, clings in spight of absence to what she loveth. In these admirable courses, she ar­rives at her journeys end without passing any middle distance; she traver­seth Kingdoms in a moment; and disengaging her self from the body she informs, findes her self miraculously in the subject she loves.

Concupiscence works the same Miracles every day; she makes use of the Understanding and of the Will for her satisfaction; she employs these two faculties to content her Passion; and when the ears or the eyes can tell her no news of the remote objects that torment her, she hath recourse to her thoughts and desire to bring them to her presence. But we must confess that Charity acts this part much better; for though that which she loves be in heaven, she journeys thither without weariness; she goes to seek him whom the Angels enjoy; Iter tuum ad. caelum voluntas tua, gradus tui affecius tui; ambulas affe­ctibus non pedi­bus; accedis ad Deum amando, recedis neg [...]i­gendo: stans in terra in caelo es si diligas Deum. Aug. and leaving the Sun and Stars belowe her, is swallowed up in that Abyss of Glory, whose elongation caused her torment. For S. Augustine excellently informs me, our Affections are our Wings, and our Will is our Guide to conduct us to heaven. You think perhaps you must build a tower to ascend thither; that the Angels must be invited down to assist you, or that the wings of a dove must be bor­rowed to convey you thither: but your Love is your Pole-star; by your Desires you scale those heavenly regions; by your negligence you stand at distance from them; and loving God upon the earth, you may boast your selves already in heaven: For it is not with the Soul as with the Body; this cannot move without changing of place; but that needs onely change her affection, and presently she ascends: she is where she would be; her [Page 236]love makes all her objects present; and assoon as over she sixeth her affe­ction upon any thing, 'tis no longer at a distance: This is it which he delivers admirably in another passage: We can never be better then when we are with him whom nothing can equal in goodness; we go thither not walking, but loving; and he is so much the neerer and at hand, by how much our Love is more pure and vigorous. Then letting us see the advan­tage Charity hath above Concupiscence, he brings in God speaking these words which evidence an Oracle: I command you to love me; and I as­sure you that in doing so, you shall enjoy me: Sinners possess not all that they love; there are covetous worldlings that sigh for gold, and yet are poor; Ambitious persons that are passionate for glory, and yet are infa­mous: but every one that loves me, findes me; I am with him that seeks for me; his love makes me present in his soul; assoon as he longs for me, I am in his embraces; and I leave off to be absent assoon as he begins to be in love with me.

Though there is not any lover that hath spoken more nobly of this re­sidence of God in our souls by Charity then S. Augustine; the Fathers his followers have used the same language; and once instructed in the School of Divine Love, have acknowledged that 'twas impossible to love God and not to possess him. Qui mente inte­gra Deum desi­derat, profecto jam habet quem amat; neque enim quisquam posset Deum di­ligere, si hunc quem diligit non haberet. Greg. mag. in Moral. See what S. Gregory saith in his Morals, which differs little from what S. Augustine hath delivered in his Confessions. The Believer that seeks after God without dividing his affections, posses­seth him already whom his soul loveth: For he could never be amorous for him, were he not filled with his love, and inanimated with his pre­sence. S. Bernard, who serves for an Interpreter to the Spouse in the Canticles, and expresseth her minde with as much innocent nakedness as winning sweetness, brings her in holding the same discourse. She com­forts her self in the absence of her Beloved, by the belief she hath that she bears him in her heart, and that she is the living throne of him who never forsakes her but to exercise her patience.

Let us conclude this Discourse with the highest operation of Love, and say, that this last effect is to transform Lovers into the things that they love, and to stamp them with their qualities. This proper­ty is so natural to Love, that it remains with it even when it exerciseth its power over inanimate things. If the Elements jar, if they trouble the peace of the Universe by their contestations; if these four bodies that compose all others, seem to engage whole Nature in their quarrels; 'tis Love that obligeth them to the combat: and when Fire and Water dis­pute in the bosome of the clouds, or in the bowels of the earth, they have no other designe but to transform each other. Love hath a greater share in their difference then Ambition; neither do they strive so much to de­stroy one another as to be united, that they may be but one and the same thing. Concupiscence succeeds wonderfully in this enterprise; she im­prints in men all the qualities of those objects she obligeth them to be in [Page 237]love with; and by a strange Metamorphosis, deprives them of their pro­per inclinations, to indue them with strange external ones: They become abominable as the things that they doat upon; they change their Nature, in changing their Love: and we see by experience, that Lascivious per­sons become effeminate as the women they caress, that the Ambitious as­sume the vanity of that glory they court, and the Covetous become as sensless as the metal they adore. Similes eis fi­ant qui saciuns ea, & omnes qui confidunt in eis. Psal. 115. Therefore David justly wished that Ido­lators, following the laws of Love, might become like their Idols, and might lose speech and motion for their love towards dumb and sensless gods, that the Israelites might more easily defeat them in the combat.

But inasmuch as Concupiscence plays the deceiver, she makes good but half her promises to her servants: For she transforms them onely to their loss; she changeth them meerly to make them miserable; and of all the qualities the things they love are indued with, she communicates none to them for the most part but bad ones: The Lustful, who contract the lightness of women, gain not their beauty: The Covetous, who grow stupid as their metal, extract not its value: and the Ambitious, who va­pour like the glory they feed upon, become not always Soveraigns.

But Charity, which is more sincere and more powerful then Concu­piscence, happily transforms Christians into what they love: she imprints upon them the qualities of heaven, and makes them heavenly upon earth; by different degrees it exalts them as high as Divinity it self; she gives them what the devil promised their first father; she changeth them into Gods by a holy Metamorphosis, and makes them innocently obtain what Pride made them heretofore insolently covet: For Mans most ancient passion is to be like God: this was his crime and his desire in Paradise; 'twas upon this consideration that he listned to the devil; and under this hope he violated the command of God. His Pride was punished with an ignominious brand; and he that pretended to an equality with his Sove­raign, saw himself reduced to the condition of his meanest Subjects: This correction made him not forget his desire; he preserved his arrogance in the midst of his misery; and being but the relique of innocent man, he could not forbear to wish to be a God.

Piety hath taught him an honest means to content his ambition: Grace takes pains to assimilate him according to his desire: the Vertues are so many draughts compleating this Image; but Charity, their Queen, gives it perfection: She it is that satisfies his longings; and raising him above himself, happily transforms him into God: This is the end of all the de­signes of this august Vertue, the Master-piece of her power, the triumph of her glory; and when she hath brought Man to this height of felicity, she is content, because he is happie: Let us not advance so important a Vertue without caution; let us make it appear that he who was so well acquainted with the nature of Love, was not ignorant of his effects: Let us make use of the words of S. Augustine: Men, saith he, take their name [Page 238]from what they love; they owe their condition to their affection; as wives take the quality of their husbands, and Lovers those of their Mistresses: so in loving the earth, they become earthly; in loving heaven, they become heavenly; and carrying their 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 [Page 239]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; 'Tis a victorious habit that triumphs in suf­fering, and owes the best part of her advantages to the bitternesse of the afflictions that persecute her: 'Tis a stability of spirit against all the mi­series of the world; a resolution to fight and overcome all the labours that accompany life; 'Tis 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: 'Tis 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, 'tis 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 [Page 240]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, 'tis 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 'tis 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 'tis 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 whos [...] 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 [Page 243]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 [Page 244]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 [Page 245]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 his Sin.

S. Bernard, whom we may call the Panegyrist of Humility, knowing that this vertue hath two Principles, the Minde and the Will, defines it sometimes a knowledge of our miseries, sometimes a contempt of our advantages: Both these definitions are true; but the second is much more perfect then the former: For the very devils, in the midst of their dark­ness, acknowledge their miseries; they are not ignorant that he that punisheth them is able to destroy them; and that notwithstanding their rebellion, they depend upon this just Soveraign whom they have disho­noured. But there are none but the Righteous that joyn Submission to their Knowledge, and, by an act of the Will, Humilitas est contemptus pro­priae excellentiae. Bernard. pass from the sight of their infirmities to the contempt of their perfections: They would not change their nature nor their condition; they rejoyce that their Being makes them the servants of God: of a happie Necessity, they make an excellent Ver­tue; and profiting by their Misery, they grow great by diminution. For Glory is the portion of Humility; she cannot shun that honour she flies from; this enemy she apprehends leaves her not but for a time; and that which seems to threaten her ruine, becomes at last her recompence.

Inasmuch as Pride and Humillty are opposite in their nature, they are also contrary in their effects: Pride intending to exalt it self, is thrown down; the more it approacheth to God, the more it removeth from him; and by a misfortune inevitably accompanying this capital sin, it tumbles in­to hell, when it thinks to scale heaven: But Humility, which walks ano­ther path, is exalted in being abased, draws neer to God by standing at a distance from him, and reacheth heaven by descending to the gates of hell. Therefore doth her enemy dress himself sometimes in her mantle, to carry on his designes; he affects modesty, and, to gain reputation, seems to slight it: but his dissimulation is of no continuance; his vanity presently betrays him; and upon the first battery made against his honour, he is transported with invectives, which discover the stately humour he fain would have concealed.

In this opposition of Pride and Humility, they have notwithstanding some correspondence: For as Humility preserves all the Vertues, Pride [Page 246]animates all the Vices: He excites Envie, which is nothing but a sadness at the prosperity of another: He whets Vengeance, which is armed onely to destory whatever resists it: He awakens Calumny, which sets upon ver­tue but because she darkens his glory: and this Monster which produceth all sins by his activity, protects them by his malice. Humility, on the con­trary, is the Guardian of all Vertues: if she gives them not their life, she preserves it; if she be not their Mother, she is their Nurse; and if she be not pompous enough to serve them for an ornament, she is courageous enough to serve them for a defence. It is S. Ambrose that bestows this Elogie upon her, and calls her the Protectress of the Vertues, because they are exposed to Vanity assoon as ever they are left destitute of Humili­ty; and that 'tis a kinde of miracle, when, having lost this support, they can for any time defend themselves from their enemies. S. Bernard sets a higher price upon it then S. Ambrose, and will have the Vertues no longer acceptable to God then they are humble: nay, he goes further, that the Purity of the Virgin Mary had never procured her the quality of be­ing the mother of God, had she not been accompanied with Humility.

Seeing this Vertue is so necessary, the rest of this Discourse shall be spent in the search of some Reasons which may as motives beget it in our souls, and convince our Judgements, that so our Wills may incline towards it. I finde that this Vertue hath three Principles absolutely incompatible with Pride. The first is Nothing: the second is Sin: the third is Death. Nothing is the Glory of God, and the Shame of Man; 'tis the Theatre upon which the Divine Majestie acts most nobly, the Womb whereout he extracts all his works of Creation, the most obedient of all his subjects, and which acknowledgeth none but his Orders. Nature cannot create any thing; and though she be so powerful, her operations are rather changes then productions. She converts the dew into flowers and fruits, turns the vapours into clouds, dissolves them into showers, inflames them into lightnings, or makes them rattle in thunder: She is absolute when she acts upon the Elements; and having altered their qualities, converts them into their contraries: But notwithstanding all her power, she cannot act upon Nothing: and, as if she knew him for her father, she bears him re­spect, and by no means dares venture to command him. Art, which is the Ape of Nature, never makes her industry admired but in alterations: Na­ture must sustain her; and there must be some matter whereon to exercise her power. Painters can draw no Pictures without Colours, Architects raise no buildings without materials; and if you take away Marble or Por­phyry from Engravers, they can carve neither Images nor Statues: It is one­ly God that actuates Nothing, who forms a Being out of a Non-entity, and makes his Omnipotence manifest in commanding this Rebel.

As it is the Theatre of his Glory, so is it the subject of our Confusion: 'Tis enough to abase the stoutest, but to think that Nothing is his original, that an eternity of ages passed before he was in Nature, and that he could [Page 247]not come forth of that abysse of darkness and misery. In this dreadful habitation the Angel hath no priviledge above the Beast; all things are more confused then in the fabulous Chaos; and in this undigested med­ley, the noblest creature hath no mark of separation from the most vile. But that which addes much to mans humiliation, is, that he hath a natu­ral bent towards annihilation; the power that redeemed him from it, must still preserve him from relapsing; He is divided by two contrary Inclinations; he removes from Nothingness, as from the place of his loss; he approacheth insensibly towards it, as the place of his Original; and the experience he daily meets with of his infirmity, confirms him in the truth of this belief. All creatures would cease to be, saith Saint Au­gustine, did God withdraw his arm that sustains them: Si potentiam suam fabricato­riam rebus sub­trahat, ita non erunt sicut antequam fie­rent non fue­runt. Aug. and did he leave off to uphold them, they would leave off to subsist; did he not keep them by his looks, they would vanish into air; and did he not contem­plate himself in his creatures, they would have the same destiny with the shadows in a glasse; which depend so absolutely upon our presence, that they would perish, did we but turn away our face from beholding them. This is it perhaps that the Prophet intended in those words which he addresseth to God in behalf of the creature, Avertente autem te faciem turbabuntur.

The second Principle of Humility is sin, which is a Non-Entity in the order of Grace, and which abaseth the sinner to so low a condition, that he is much more miserable then if he were annihilated. For inasmuch as he recedes from God the supream Beeing, adhering to the creature, who is in a manner Nothing, himself becomes a wretched Non-Entity, and loseth all those advantages he was made partaker of by the union he had with his Creator. Tamdiu est ali­quid homo quā ­diu haeret illi à quo factus est homo. Aug. in Psal. 75. This is it that Saint Augustine expresseth in those excellent words; Man is Something as long as he is united to God from whom he had his Beeing: but he ceaseth to be assoon as he separates from him by sin; and finding his Fall in his Crimes, tumbles into a more de­plorable Nothing then that of Nature: For the former obeys the voice of God; if it contribute nothing to his design, neither doth it resist his hand; and the world that issued out of its barren depths, was an evident proof of its submission: But the Non-Entity of sin resists the will of God, forms parties in his State, deboists his most loyal subjects, and mastering their wils, disputes the dominion with their Soveraign. Therefore doth Saint Augustine in some place of his writings call sin an armed Nothing; and the Scripture to shew us the horrour goes along with it, Nihil rebelle & in Deum armatū. Amb. prefers the condition of men who never were, before that of transgressors who are fallen into sin.

The third Principle of Humility is Death, which seems the middle between Nothing and Sin: It is an image of the former, and a chastise­ment of the second; it bears the name of both in Scripture; and the Pro­phets illuminated from above, call it sometimes a Nothing, sometimes a [Page 248]Sin. Saint Augustine gives us a handsome proof hereof in these words: Death, saith he, is the punishment of sin; he bears the name of his Fa­ther, to teach us that though man sin not in dying, he never should have died if he had not sinned: and the same Doctor in another passage, ac­quaints us that Death is a Nothing, which having no Essence, might in­deed be ordained by the Justice of God, but not produced by his Power. Thence it comes to passe that 'tis a shameful punishment attempting the honor of man and his life, and makes him feel himself a Criminal, because having set upon his reputation, it proceeds to attaque his person: For he destroys this Master-piece of Nature, separates the two parts that com­pound him, breaks the ligaments that unites them, and being not able to be revenged upon the soul, dischargeth his fury upon the body, and af­flicts the Mistress in punishing her servant.

But should not all these powerful considerations oblige man to hum­ble himself, the Christian could by no means refuse this homage, when he considers that his salvation depends upon Grace; that his Liberty without this Supernatural aid, serves only to damn him; and being fallen from that happy condition wherein he was the master of his fortune, he is now the slave of Concupiscence if he be not enfranchised by the merits of Jesus Christ. Indeed the Example of God debased, greatly comforts him in his misery; he is never troubled to humble himself; when he considers the Word annihilated in the Incarnation, he submits to the Counsels of that Divine Master; he is not ashamed to learn humility in his School; and having heard that Oracle from his mouth, Discite à me quia mitis sum & humilis corde: he looks upon this Vertue as his Glory, and is forced to confess with Saint Augustine, that if it be a Prodigy to behold a man proud, 'tis a Miracle to see a God humbled; and by consequence of so great an Example, that man must have lost his judgement that should be ashamed of Humility.

The Ninth DISCOURSE. Of the Repentance of a Christian.

ALL the Vertues have their particular advantages: the least splen­did are the most useful, and those that have not so many allurements have commonly most desert; Repentance is of the number of these, and it seems 'tis not so much her beauty, as her necessity, that makes her con­siderable; Her Countenance hath no comeliness; her Mouth is always full of sighes; her Eyes moist with tears; her shoulders covered with sackcloth, and her hands armed with discipline. The Interest of God [Page 249]sets her against her self; his Goodness offended, his Glory obscured, his Mercy neglected, provokes her indignation against sinners, and obli­ges them to invent torments to punish their offences.

But did not her zeal contribute to her excellency, she is so necessa­ry, that in whatever condition man appears, she is proper and peculiar to him; It seems she is his difference in Grace, and that this Vertue di­stinguisheth him from Angels and Beasts; For these have only a blind instinct that guides them, they have no liberty in their actions; It is not reason but Nature that leads them, and as they are incapable of Sin, so are they of Repentance. The Angels are unchangeable in good and evil; Constancy hath made the Angels happy, and Obstinacy hath rendred the Devils miserable; These pure spirits cannot alter, and whether they know good and evil intuitively, or whether they act with the full ex­tent of their power: or whether they had but one moment to merit in, all Divinity assures us that they cannot repent. I intend not to examine whether Grace by its victorious sweetness, be able to work a change in them: and whether their will be so perversly obstinate in evil, that it cannot be diverted; But I say with our Masters, there is something in their Nature and in their Sin, which renders them unworthy and uncapa­ble of Repentance: so that this Vertue is a priviledge of a man, one of his properties in Nature, and one of his differences in Grace.

Being weak he never adheres so strongly to Vertue, but he may de­sert her; and by a happiness arising from his infirmity, he is never so deeply engaged in vice, but he may shake hands with it. He is neither constant in good, nor obstinate in evil: and though he can neither leave the one, nor embrace the other, unless he be assisted by Grace, he hath a natural disposition, which rendring him unconstant, makes him capa­ble of this happy change that accompanies Repentance. It seems the mercy of God which makes use of our sin to redeem us, will make use of unconstancy to convert us: and managing this weakness which is na­tural to us, takes pleasure to save us by the same means that ruined us. If those that are of opinion that the Grace that changeth men, were able also to convert the Angels, are not agreed as touching this Maxime, they ought at least to confess that the Angel having had but one moment to merit in, was not capable of this Grace in the order of God, because his Salvation or his Fall had immediately followed his Obedience or his Rebellion; and thus it is always true, that Repentance is a favour reser­ved for man, and if it leane not upon the unconstancy of his mind, it is founded at least upon the length of his life, which seems therefore prolonged that he may have time to repent.

But if Repentance be not natural to man, 'tis at least necessary for a sinner; if it be not his difference, 'tis his remedy; if it be not his pro­priety; 'tis his only refuge; and as Tertullian saith, 'tis the Table after the Shipwrack. Man in Paradise might save himself by his Innocence; [Page 250]this acceptable convoy had brought him through a Garden of Roses; he had found pleasure with vertue; he had conquered without fighting; and though he had had no enemies, he had not failed to triumph. But now there remains only Repentance which swims in bloud or in tears, which is covered with earth or with ashes; which blots out no transgressions but by lamentations; satisfies not the Justice of God, but by preventing his arrests; nor gaines any battles, but those that cost him fighs or wounds.

The sinner following the Counsels of this austere Vertue, is always animated against himself; his whole life is spent in sorrow; and since he lost Grace, he is obliged to bid adiew to all pleasure; his very re­conciliation with God dispenseth not with him from this severity; To be a Christian, Nullus hominiū transit ad Christum ut in­cipiat esse quod non erat, nisi eū poeniteat fuisse quod erat. Aug. intitles him to be a Penitent; 'tis enough that he hath sinned in Adam, to live in sadness; and being a member of Jesus Christ, he is bound over to penance. For though the union he contracts with this adorable Head in Baptism, happily deliver him from all his sins, that he recovers Innocence with Grace, and be freed from all those pains which are prepared for offenders in Hel: he becomes Penitent in be­coming Innocent, and the same Sacrament that ties him to Jesus Christ, engageth him in griefs and sufferings.

The Son of God uniting the Divinity with the Humanity in his Per­son, is pleased also to unite all things that seemed incompatible: Ha­ving surpassed the difficulties that withstood the accomplishment of this mystery; having accorded power with weakness, Non-Entity with Beeing, Life with Death, he would make Innocence friends with Re­pentance, and charge himself with the pains our sins deserved, without in­teressing the holiness that made him impeccable; he was the most just and most afflicted of all men; he was equally divided between the bles­sed and the penitent; his soul resented grief with joy, and at the same time that he reigned with the Angels, he suffered with Mortals: Accor­ding to his example, the greatest Saints have laboured to joyne Repen­tance with Innocence; His Mother the purest of Virgins, the Holiest of Women, bare the infirmities of our nature, without contracting the ob­ligations; and to imitate her Son, was content to be miserable, though she were not criminal. Saint John Baptist, who was a sinner but for some months, who received Grace in his mothers belly, who after the Virgin was the first object of the miracles of Jesus, who was born with­out sin: nor brought into the world with him the ignominious quality of a sinner; This great Saint, I say, was the example of Penitents: he spent his whole life in the Desarts; he had no other covering then that of Trees or Rocks; Earth served him for a Bed, Sackcloth for a Gar­ment, Water for Drink, and Locusts for Food: He added the labours of preaching to the austerity of penance; he reproved sin with bold­ness; his generous freedome procured him the hatred of the great ones; [Page 251]and for a recompence of so many vertues, he lost his head at the intreaty of an incestuous woman.

Thence it comes to pass that the Christian, having the honour to be a member of Jesus Christ, is obliged to Repentance: the favour he hath re­ceived in the Church, gives him no dispensation from this duty; and if he have the use of Reason when admitted to Baptism, his Contrition must precede that Sacrament, and recover his lost Innocence by the assistance of this vertue. His obligation continues with his life: For as the Grace of Christianity does not enfranchise him fully from Concupiscence, but he groans still under the weight of his irons, sees his heart divided between Self-love and Charity, that both these principles make him act successive­ly, and having obeyed Grace, obeys Sin again; he is bound to run to sor­row, to deface his light offences with Tears, and to spend his whole life in Repentance.

It is the opinion of S. Augustine, who carries this truth on farther, and imposeth a more severe law upon Christians: for be will not have In­nocence it self to exempt them from Grief; he will have them sigh, not because of their sin, but because of their banishment; he will have them bewail their exile as long as long as it lasts; and condemning their cold­ness that can finde any pleasure in this sad abode, saith, that the Believer who hath not an aversion for this mortal and perishable life, can have no love for the Eternal and Beatifical: his regret ought to be an argument of his love; and that it becomes him to bemoan his abode upon earth, if he have a real desire of being speedily translated to heaven.

This great Master of Grace seeks no other motives of Repentance then the miseries of life; he thinks it sufficient to sad our hearts, that we live under the tyranny of sin, that we feel the rebellions of the flesh, and suffer the persecution of the Elements: the justice of these continued pains teacheth us that we are guilty: the Prayer that Christ taught us, con­firms us in this belief; and seeing we cannot be his disciples except we dai­ly say Dimitte nobis debita nostra, we must confess we are not free from sin: otherwise the Church would abuse the Faithful; the Son of God himself had involved us in an errour; and, as S. Augustine saith, asking pardon for a sin we never committed, we should utter a blasphemy, because we should lye in the midst of our most august mysteries.

We cannot doubt then that Repentance is necessary for a Christian, nor can we deny, that, to the end it may be profitable, it must be severe, especi­ally if the precedent sins have been notorious. For as Repentance is a kinde of Justice, it proportions the Punishment to the Offence; it respects the quality of the delinquents, considers the Majestie offended, and casting its eyes upon the torments of the damned, strives to make some resem­blance of them in the revenge it takes upon Criminals. Let us carefully examine all these Reasons, see the just motives we have to punish our selves; and, not to slatter our lazie negligence in so important a concernment, let [Page 252]us consider the qualities of this Vertue.

Repentance is a Judgement, where, contrary to the ordinary Laws, the same Delinquent is Witness, Judge, and Executioner. In the quality of a Witness, he is bound to examine his Conscience, to Wrack his Memory; to search the inmost thoughts of his Minde, the secretest intentions of his Will, and to convent himself before himself, without Excuse or Flatte­ry. As a Judge, he ought to consider the Number and the Quality of the crimes, dextrously to examine the prisoner, carefully to observe the cause of the fault, and with Justice to pronounce sentence whereby the Criminal may suffer according to his desert, and the party offended receive fatisfaction to his dignity. And because soul and body are both concerned in the sin, they must be joyntly condemned: but the soul being the author of the iniquity, and the body but the minister or complice, he must begin the correction by an inward sadness mixed with Fear and Love, and finish it by an external pain attended with Shame and Sorrow: For there would be a kinde of Injustice, to separate those in the Punishment that were Part­ners in the Fault: and the Repentance would be imperfect, did it not reach the body as well as the soul. Having pronounced righteous judgement, the Judge must take upon him the quality of the Executioner, and execute what himself hath ordained, being zealous for the Justice of God; be­traying Self-love, so that he abandon it to Charity; and, full of anger and indignation, revenge Jesus Christ upon his enemy. All true Penitents have done thus; the Contrition of their spirit hath produced the Mace­ration of their body; and having conceived a mortal displeasure at their offences, they have obliged their eyes to bewail them, their hands to punish them, and their mouthes to confess them: They joyned Fastings to Pray­er, Watchings to Reading, Discipline to Obedience; that mortifying both soul and body, they might obtain pardon for both these offenders.

Nothing can yeeld such assistance to so good a designe, as the conside­ration of a second quality of Repentance: For it takes the name from Pain; 'tis a Punishment as well as a Judgement; 'tis mingled with Grace and Rigour; In peccatorem poenitentia pro­nuntians pro Dei indignatione fungitur, & temporali affli­ctatione aeterna supplicia non di­cam frustratur, sed expungit. Tertul. and, according to the conceit of Tertullian, 'tis an abridge­ment of eternal pains. The sinner, if a believer, is not ignorant that his crimes, which inflict death upon his soul, merit hell: he knows very well the decree is gone out, the truth whereof he cannot question; and that every transgressor that loseth Grace, is worthy of the Torments the devil and his angels suffer: When he is converted therefore, and by the fa­vour of Repentance hath his sins remitted, he is obliged in spirit to de­scend into the centre of the earth, to consider the pains the damned en­dure; and then, to equalize his sorrow, he ought to imitate what he hath seen, and to deal so severely with himself, that he may satisfie that Justice which inflicts eternal punishments upon his enemies.

But nothing ought so much to animate him against himself, as the con­sideration of his offence, which being in its own nature infinite, merits [Page 253]eternal punishments. For though the sin be committed in a moment, Momentaneum est quod dele­ctat, aeternum est quod cruciat. Greg. Mag. and the pleasure that accompanies it be but an illusion; yet doth it put the sin­ner in a condition out of which he cannot arise but by Grace, which is not at his disposal: He falls into this abyss by his own proper motion, but he cannot get out of it by his own strength: He may defend himself when he is tempted; but, being overcome, he cannot rid himself of his enemy: He enters into a slavery that insensibly engageth him into a necessity: If Grace, which he cannot challenge as his due, prevent him not, he lives and dies in a very deplorable condition, and carries the same minde into hell which he cherished upon the earth: Therefore doth the Divine Ju­stice that reads mens hearts, and looks rather upon the dispositions then actions of offenders, inflict an eternal punishment upon a sin not fully fi­nished, and condemns a transgressor to endless torments, who had always offended, had he always lived.

But though he should not retain this unhappie disposition till his death, 'tis enough to merit an everlasting punishment, that he hath committed a sin whose malice hath no bounds: For Reason tells us there is no proporti­on between the Creature and the Creator; the distance that separates them is infinite; and therefore the sinner that forsakes the Creator to adhere is infinite; Qui peccat mor­taliter, vult De­um esse impo­tentem, aut in­justum, aut in­sipientem; quia vellet Deum aut sua peccata ne­scire, aut vindi­care non posse, aut vindicare nolle. Bern. offers him an infinite injury, which cannot justly be punished but by an eternaltorment. Indeed, he endeavours to destroy God by his offence; he would rob him of his perfections; and in the minde he is in, to content himself, he would have God void of light to see him, without goodness to hate him, without power to correct him. Therefore is the Penitent, at the sight of so many disorders and injustices, obliged to make war upon himself, to take Gods part against himself, to punish a delinquent severely whose due it is to burn eternally, and to con­tinue a torment during his life, which ought to continue for all generations.

The Tenth DISCOURSE. Of the Renunciation and Self-denial of a Chri­stian.

POlicie and Religion, in the difference of their designes, exact the same dispositions in their subjects: Policie will have men prefer Publike in­terests before Private, and to sacrifice their Fortune for the preservation of the State: Religion also will have men consider nothing but the glo­ry of Jesus Christ, being always ready to immolate themselves in his quar­rel. Policie will not have men wedded to their goods, lest Avarice should [Page 254]make them cowards: Religion, going a step further, obligeth them to a voluntary poverty, and will have them really or in affection divorced from their riches. Finally, Policie will have Subjects renounce their Will, that they be more the States then their own Families, and depend more upon their Soveraign then on Themselves: Religion requires the same duty from her disciples, Qui vult venire post me, abneget semetipsum, tol­lat crucem su­am, & sequatur me. Luc. 9. and will ahve them renounce their inclinations when they are admitted into the Church, and Jesus Christ to be the Master of their acti­ons and of their persons: All the Maximes she gives us, tend to this end; all her counsels inspire us with this disposition; and it seems the whole Gospel hath no other intention then to make us die to our selves, that we may be guided by Jesus Christ.

And certainly we must confess, If there be Rigour in the designe, there is much Justice in it: For besides that the Church no more then the State can subsist without submission, and a Government loseth all com­mand when not obeyed; there are a thousand Reasons which no less re­spect our own Interest then the Glory of our Soveraign, which oblige us to this undisputed resignation. If we consider the Word Incarnate, we shall finde that his deportment towards his Father exacts this humble duty from us: He doth nothing upon the earth but by his orders; he consults his will before he undertake any thing; and if the time he hath set him to work his miracles in be not yet come, he rejects the intreaties of his mother, who can receive no other answer from his mouth but these words, Non­dum venit hora mea.

But if we look upon the holy Humanity united to the Eternal Word, we shall see that as it is despoiled of its proper subsistence, it hath no other motions then what it receives from the Divine Assistant that sustains it: Humanitas Christi non est sui juris sed verbi; actiones enim sunt sup­pofitorum. It is more a his devotion then at its own; is guided by that that preserves it; and having no dominion over its actions, is in a submission equal to its love: whatever it acts upon earth, all is referred to the Divine Person; and as there is no union more strict then theirs, neither is any dependance more obedient then that of the Humanity to the Divinity. The Word acts absolutely in this holy Humanity; Aliud est invio­labile, aliud est passibile; & ta­men ejusdem est contumelia cu­jus est & glo­ria; ipse est in infirmitate qui in virtute. Leo. he reserves the whole conduct thereof to himself, appropriates all the Inclinations; and whether the Humane nature suffer or be abased, he will have us know and believe that a God suffers and is humbled with it.

Therefore are all Christians, after the imitation of so rare an example, obliged to despoil themselves of their Wills, to renounce their Desires, to submit to Jesus Christ, and to manifest in their person an image of the Incarnation: 'Twas certainly this powerful reason that made the great Apostle to utter these notable words: Vivo autem jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus, and to teach us, by his advice, to derive our guidance, as well as our glory, from the Son of God. Indeed, the whole Abnegation of a Christian is founded upon the mystery of the Incarnation; and when they consider how the holy Humanity is obscured in the desarts, humbled in the [Page 255]Villages, sacrificed upon Mount Calavary, to be obedient to the per­son of the Word, they need not think it strange if to doe Homage to Jesus Christ, they are obliged to renounce their glory, and consent to lay down their lives at his command.

But if this example be not powerful enough to perswade us, we must be convinced by reason, and confess, that Christians have no quality that that doth not exact this blind submission from them: For if we consider them as Temples of the Holy Ghost, or Members of the Son of God, we are forced to acknowledge that these two glorious qualities are as well the Fountains of their dependance as of their greatness. Temples are only for the Divinity that honours them with his presence; they breath forth nothing but his glory, and were they inanimated, they would act meerly by his motions: Therefore inasmuch as Christians are the living Temples of the Holy Ghost, they ought not to act but as guided by him; they are unable to perform any thing but by his order; and all their actions that have not his Grace for their principle, are Criminal or profane. We are no more the children of God, but as far as we are quickned by this ever to be adored Spirit; all our merit is from our acting by his Vertue, and when he ceaseth to incite and stir us up, we leave off to form good thoughts, or perform good actions.

The quality of Members ties us not lesse closely to our Head, then that of Temples to the Holy Ghost: for according to the Laws of Nature, the Members more belong to their Head, then slaves doe to their Master; they receive life and motion from his Influences; they owe all their vigour to the communication they have with him: aand whenever there happens any obstruction that hinders him from sending his Spirits into his Mem­bers, they lose all sense and strength; Besides, he hath such command over them, that he applies them according to his designs, takes no notice of their wils; employs the eyes to weep as well as see; the hand to serve as well as command; the tongue to manage meat, as well as compose words; and as if it were their greatest glory to perish for him, there is not any Member but willingly exposeth it self to death for his defence or honour.

This submission is an Image of the dependance Christians ought to have towards Jesus Christ; they are no longer their own, when once ingraffed upon his person; they receive an obligation to obey, from the same quality that gives them a power to operate; Quam in in Christo manes per amorem, & ipse in te per sanctitatis & justitiae opera­tionem, in ejus corpore & mem­bris computaris. Ber. they become Servants assoon as they become Members; their liberty depends upon their servi­tude; and by a happy occurrence, they lose their own will by submitting to that of the Son of God: As it is love that unites them to him, so that their liberty is not interessed in their obedience; they are never more their own, then when they are their Heads; they recover themselves in being lost; possess themselves by forsaking themselves, and by a strange ad­venture, find a resurrection in dying. Thence it comes to pass, that they are never troubled to sacrifice themselves to Jesus Christ; they account [Page 256]themselves sufficiently happy, if they can be serviceable to his Glory; it matters not though they lose their lives, provided they obey him; and knowing very well that in the State, and in Nature, subjects expose them­selves for their Prince, Members for their Head, they are of this mind assoon as ever they enter into the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ.

[...]t when they consider how he hath joyned the quality of Redeemer to that of Head, and that to associate them to his person, he hath delive­red them by the losse of his own life, they believe they can no ways ac­knowledge this extream obligation, but in dying for his glory, who was willing to die for their salvation. Indeed we are the servants of Jesus Christ; he hath bought us by his death; we are the price of his bloud, and we owe our happiness and our hope to his merits: This is it that the Apostle represents to us in such emphatical terms, when he saith, Empti estis pretio magno: and by a necessary consequence teacheth us, that we ought to glorifie him in our body and in our soul. Thence it is that he infers, that those that live upon his bounty, ought to live for his ser­vice; Thence he concludes, that we offer our members as oblations, and employ all that we are for the glory of our Redeemer.

Slaves in the negotiations of the world, could not dispose of their acti­ons; they acted by order of their Master; they took pains for his Inte­rest; they got wealth for his profit; and as if nature had lost her right in their persons, they got children to increase his family. Philosophers acknowledge, that servitude fals only upon the body, that it fetters on­ly the feet and the hands, leaving the slaves more free many times in their irons, then the Soveraigns upon their Throne. Bondage hath no domi­nion over their wil, and with all her rigours cannot extort the least base­ness from them, if they be generous; they dispute their liberty with for­tune; they preserve in deed what they have lost in appearance; they ma­ny times command their oppressour, and bearing the hearts of Kings in the bodies of slaves, are more free and more happy then their Master. But the Christian enters by Redemption into a Thraldome, which passeth from his body into his soul; fetters his heart with his hands; triumphs over his liberty without constraining it; confiscates all his goods to his Soveraign; and despoiling him of all but Nothingness and Sin, obligeth him to con­fess that he owes all the rest to the Liberaility of his Redeemer.

For the understanding of this Verity, which makes one of the foun­dations of Christianity, we must know, that though God be the Soveraign of all men, he treats not the innocent and the guilty alike; He seems to respect the former, to refuse them nothing that they desire, preventing their wishes: and in that happy state wherein Concupiscence had not dis­ordered them, he subjected their salvation to their liberty, and made them in some sort the disposers or masters of their good fortune: Grace is always at the door of their heart, this Divine assistance never fails them, and God would think he violated the Laws of his Justice, had he not gi­ven [Page 257]these Innocents all that is necessary for their salvation; But he deals far otherwise with Guilty men; It seems Sin gives him more right o­ver these wretches, then Nothing does: and being fallen from their pri­viledges by their own fault, he owes them nothing but punishments; He abandons them to their own conduct, leaves them in blindness and weak­ness: and as if they were meerly the objects of his anger, he sometimes withdraws from them the assistance of his Grace. Thus did the Eternal Fa­ther deal with men before the mystery of the Incarnation; his Son found them in this deplorable condition, when he undertook their deliverance: they had no right neither to Grace nor Glory; and sin that had deprived them of their innocence, had confiscated all their apennages. Thus we owe our Salvation to our Redemption; we hold that of Mercy, which hereto­fore we held of Justice; we are saved rather as men enfranchised, then free: and acknowledging our salvation an effect rather of Grace then our own freedome, we ought to renounce the one to give our selves over to the other.

This conceit carries me insensibly to another, which seems only a con­sequent of this; and the coherence they have, will not give me leave to divide them. Man in the state of Innocence, was the master of his acti­ons; the uprightness wherein he was created, was the cause that God left him to his liberty; having no inordinate motions to regulate, no wild passions to subdue, no unfaithful senses to correct, he had need only of a succour to sustain him; His will was the principle of his me­rit: and the good works he did, proceeded rather from himself, then from God; Thus his good fortune was in a manner in his own hands; he depended more upon Liberty then upon Grace: and being the Director of this, he might say without vanity, that he was the principal Authour of his own salvation; Divine Providence obliged him to take the guidance of himself, to determine his own actions, that he was the master of his fortune, and making use of the advantages she had given him, the ac­knowledgement of the victory was due only to his own courage and dex­terity; But now that he is faln from his Innocence, hath lost half his Light, and Liberty, carries a Tyrant in his very Essentials, which subjects him to his Laws, he stands in need of a Grace that may deliver him: and exerci­sing a dominion over his will, may save him by a more humble, but su­rer way then that of Adam; He is no longer the Master of his actions, nor the Authour of his salvation: he must take direction from Jesus Christ, learn to deny himself, distrust his own abilities, and place his hope in that victorious Grace which subjects whose man, captivating his understanding by Faith, and his will by Love.

This Oeconomy of God towards the Christian is mixed with Justice and Mercy: 'tis Justice to take from him the disposall of his person, be­cause he used it so ill in the state of Innocence; 'Tis Justice to submit his Liberty to Grace, because when he was the master thereof, he negle­cted [Page 258]to make use of it; 'Tis Justice to treat him as a Pupil or a Slave, not to trust him any more with the government of himself, and to employ for his cure a remedy, which reproacheth him with his blindness and in­firmity. 'Tis Mercy also to knock off the fetters of a slave: to indulge him the true liberty his sin had deprived him of; to unite him to God from whom he was estranged; to assure his salvation by a Grace which infallibly produceth its effect; to sanctifie him in Jesus Christ whereof he is a Member: and to give him an occasion to offer himself an Holocaust to God.

For it is true, that self-denial is a parting with all things; a sacrifice wherein man immolates his will by obedience; a combat wherein he tri­umphs over himself; where he is the vanquisher, and the vanquished; where he subdues his passions by reason, and subjects his reason to grace. After this advantage there is none but he may with Justice hope for, be­cause he that hath conquered himself, may easily conquer all others; 'Tis a punishment which in hardship and durance disputes with that of Mar­tyrs: It is long, because it lasts as long as life, may take up the best part of an age: nor spares the strength of the penitent, but to make him suf­fer more; It is rigorous, because there is no cruelties a man given over to grace, does not exercise upon his person: and being witty to invent torments, converts all things into corrections; For as Saint Gregory the Great saith, he suppresseth vanity by the sword of the Word of God; he cuts off his head to ingraffe Jesus Christ upon his body; he makes all die that he received from the old Adam, to make all live that he hath drawn from the new: and if he cut not off his arms and his legs, he pares away his desires and his hopes to give Jesus Christ some testimonies of his love: Therefore doth the Scripture inform us, that there is no Vertue re­ceives a greater recompence then Self-denial. The Man that is knockt off from himself is united to the Son of God: the creatures respect him, the Sun obeys his word, and 'tis in this sense that the Scripture to make his Panegyrick, is not content to say, that he pronounceth Oracles, but addes, that he gains Battles, and bears away victories by speaking: All things stoop to his commands, and more glorious then the first man, who could not use the creatures but according to their inclinations; he disor­ders them to make himself feared, and testifies the power he hath in the state of his Master, by the command he exerciseth over all the parts of the Universe. Thus Self-denial which seems to abase men, raiseth them up; the Vertue that entertains them in the distrust of their weakness, gives them admittance into the power of God: and that which obligeth them to renounce their own will, makes them find the accomplishment of all their desires.

The first DISCOURSE. Of Three Nourishments answering the Three Lives of a Christian.

SOme will wonder, perhaps, that in the same Treatise I joyn two such different things together; and that speak­ing of Nourishment, which preserves the life of a Chri­stian, I treat of a Sacrifice, that engageth him in Death: But the wonder will cease, if we consider that these two things are united together in Religion; and that the same Sacrament that feeds us, obligeth us also to die: For the Son of God, upon our Altars, is as well our Nourishment as our Victim: inviting us to a Feast, he bids us to a Sacrifice; and his Love associating two Sub­jects which have so small a relation, he makes use of one and the same bo­dy to destroy our sins and to preserve our souls: He offers himself up to his Father as an innocent Sacrifice, and gives himself to the Faithful as a delicious Viand: His Power, which equals his Love, takes from this Sa­crifice whatever might render it horrid, and removes from this Banquet whatever might make it sensual: In both of them, he satisfies his Father and his Children; and exalting us in the light of Faith, makes us believe what we cannot conceive. Following therefore his intentions, I have joyned in the same Treatise what he hath joyned in the same Mystery; and resolve to manifest the wonders of this Food, and the Prodigies of this Sacrifice.

Reason, that teacheth us that Nourishment is the staff of Life, teach­eth us also that every living thing hath need of Nourishment; and that the Divine Providence, whose care is extended over all the Creatures, hath left none without aliment: This feedeth the Fowls of the air; and the Psal­mist [Page 260]confesseth, it provided for the necessities of their young, when for­saken by the dams: It maketh Grass to grow in the desarts for the Cat­tel; and Rain, which seems unprofitably to fall into the Sea, serves for re­freshing and meat for the Fishes. Inasmuch as Men are Gods master­pieces, he takes a particular care to nourish them: whole Nature labours to furnish their Table; her fruitfulness is onely to satisfie their hunger, or content their appetite; and every Creature she teems with, seems a Vi­ctim to be immolated to preserve their life. But as they have Three Lives that answer to the Three Orders of Nature, of Grace, and of Glory, God hath given them Three sorts of Food, which, in the difference of their qualities, cease not to have wonderful Correspondencies.

The Earth is the Nurse that furnisheth us our chiefest nourishment: that Divine word, Crescite & multiplicamini, which enricht her with fruitfulness in the very birth, hath preserved this prolifical vertue in the succession of so many yeers; and if the Justice of God make her not bar­ren for our punishment, she returns with usury the laborious pains of the Husbandman. Corn, which is our principal support, is multiplied by its corruption; 'tis born by death; and making us see an image of the Resur­rection, perswades us our bodies may rise out of the Grave, after they have been resolved to dust, because the Grain springs not up till it be pu­trified in the earth: This production would pass for a Miracle, were it not so common; and to observe the wonders thereof, would be sufficient to oblige all men to reverence the power and wisdom of the Creator. For when the Corn is corrupted, it puts forth a bud, which cleaves the earth, and covers it with a tuft of Grass, which preserves its verdure in the midst of the sharpest Winters: At the Spring, it thrusts forth a stalk, which riseth insensibly, and from time to time is strengthned with joynts to resist the violence of the windes: Upon the top is formed an Ear, wherein Na­ture seems to employ all her industry; Seritur solum­modo granum sine folliculi te­ste, sine funda­mento spicae, fine munimento ari­stae, fine superbia culmi: Exurgit autem copia fae­n [...]ratum, com­pagine aedisica­tam, ordine stru­ctum, cultu mu­nitum & usque­quaque vestitū. Tertul. every grain is inclosed in a husk, that if one be corrupted, the rest may not be infected, and the evil prove not a contagion: each husk is fenced with a prizly sharp, to guard the in­closed fruit from the injury of the air, and the rapine of birds. The heat of the Summer compleats the whole work, gives it Colour in giving it Maturity; and gently opening the several cells which lock up the treasure of the Husbandman, admonisheth him to prepare for the Harvest.

If this Wonder ravish us, and if we are bound to reverence the Di­vine Providence which makes the earth fruitful to nourish us; we are not less concerned to admire the prodigious alterations it causeth in Nature to increase provision: For it makes use onely of Rain to enrich us, and from this inexhausted source draws so many different Fruits, that if their number please us, their qualities astonish us. Rain is nothing but a Vapour in the conception; the Sun sports with it in the air, thickens it into a cloud, to take it out of our sight; then destroying his own work, dissolves it into showers, to water the thirsty earth. In the mean time, this Rain is turned [Page 261]into all things it toucheth, takes the nature and quality of those things it bathes, and, by a miraculous Metamorphosis, is changed into Wine falling upon grapes, into Oil upon olives: It contracts the taste of all Fruits, and the colour of all Flowers: It grows yellow upon the Marigolds, red upon Pinks, white upon Lilies; and though, when it falls, it have neither taste nor colour, yet may it boast it gives both to all Fruits and all Flowers.

This prodigious change which is daily wrought upon the earth, is but an overture of that which is made upon the Body of Man, to maintain it: For all the Nourishment he receives, is digested by the Stomack, and is turned to Blood in the Liver; thence it is conveyed by the Veins into all the parts of the body; which assimilating it into their substance, gives it as many forms as they themselves have. There, by a strange prodigie, the same aliment is softned into Flesh, hardned into Bones, stiffned into Sinews, ex­tended into Cartilages: its superfluities are not useless; and, if we be­believe Physitians, they serve to nourish our Hair and our Nails, whereof the first is the ornament of the Head, the second the defence of the Hand. Who will not acknowledge that Man is very dear to God, since he works so many Miracles to feed him, and produceth so many several Meats to en­tertain a life common to him with beasts?

But inasmuch as that of the Soul is much more noble, the nourish­ment whereby it is preserved is exceedingly more excellent: and if in the order of Nature God hath made so many prodigies to nourish Man, he works many more in the order of Grace to entertain the Christian. For the body of his oncly Son is the food of the Faithful; they live upon that Blood which begat them on the Cross; that the same Principle which gave them their life, may preserve it. This Body is formed upon our Al­tars by the Word of Jesus Christ himself; the Priests are onely the Mini­sters or Interpreters; they repeat what he delivered in the Supper; they do that in the Church, that he did at Jerusalem: and offering up this Sacrifice to the Eternal Father, make provision to nourish the Faithful. Thus, in Nature and in Grace, 'tis the Word of God that makes us live; and we may truely say, Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in omni verbo quod procedit ex ore Dei. But this Bread that nourisheth our souls, is not of the same quality with that that nourisheth our Bodies: For the Corn whereof this is made, owes its Life to its Death, nor can increase till it be corrupted; but that which is exhibited to us upon our Altars, felt corrup­tion onely on the Cross, where dying to procure us life, he himself boast­ed that he was the Grain of Corn whose fruitfulness proceeds from its cor­ruption: Si mortuum fuerit, multum fructum affert. But now it is in­corruptible in our Tabernacles; death can no more injure it; the Glory that invests it, secures it from our fury as well as our wrongs.

We must acknowledge nevertheless, that its presence depends upon the species that cover it; it ceaseth to be with us, when the heat hath digested [Page 262]them, or time consumed them: and though he remain by his Grace, his body is absent, which is tied to accidents, as to chains his love hath forged for it. He never dispenseth with this bondage; the treachery of Judas could not make him violate the laws he had prescribed; the blinde fury of Hereticks cannot compel him out of this prison; and the impiety of Sin­ners hath not been able to force him to quit their hearts, till the species that preserved him there be consumed by the natural heat: He is as faith­ful to observe his promises, as to obey the will of his Father: and as the blasphemies of the Jews could not make him descend from the Cross to give them proofs of his Innocence and of his Divinity, the sacriledges of prophane Christians cannot make him desert the Hoast, where his love and fidelity hold him prisoner.

Though he be subject to all these humiliations to become our nourish­ment, he is not liable, for all that, to all the conditions of Nutriment: For he passeth not into our substance, he is not changed into those that receive him, and in his debasement he reserves himself the power to con­vert them into him: His being our Food, hinders him not from being our God: he acts upon those that feed upon him; he makes an impression of his Divine qualities in their souls; and if he changeth not their Nature, at least he makes them change their Condition and their Life. Neither ought this to seem strange to those that consider that Natural meats com­municate their qualities to us; and, by a mutual Metamorphosis, we are changed into them, when they are assimilated into us. 'Tis believed that Nero was therefore cruel, because he suckt the milk of a cruel Nurse; and that Achilles was therefore valiant, because his Master nourished him with the marrow of Lions: Experience it self teacheth us that peo­ple draw their humours from the earth that bears them, and the heaven that covers them: Those that are bred among Rocks, are savage; those that live in the fertile Plains, are more tractable: Therefore we need not wonder if the Christians, feeding upon a Divine meat, do so easily change their inclinations, Au [...]ite offica­ciam & com­munionem cor­poris & sangui­nu Domini; & nos Jesu Christo, & Jesus Chri­stus nobis in unitate foedera­tur inenarrabi­li, sicut ipse di­cit, Qui man­ducat carnem meum, in me manet, & ego in eo. Bern. because more powerful and successful then or­dinary food, it hath the vertue of conveying its own qualities, and of changing the guests into it self. And from this Principle do the Fathers draw the obligation the Christians have to be gods upon earth, because they receive a God in the Eucharist; who, acting according to the extent of his power, would transform them into himself, were not his Divine operations hindered by the weakness or malice of the recipient.

But that which is begun upon Earth, is happily perfected in Heaven; where Divinity being the food of the Blessed, raiseth them to a condition, where, leaving off to be Mortals, they commence Gods: Indeed, the ho­ly Scripture teacheth us that the Beatifical state is a Feast, where God communicating his Essence to Angels and Men, makes them, in one dish, taste all imaginable delights: For though there be diversity of conditions among the Blessed, though the degrees of Glory answer the degrees of [Page 263]Love, and those who have been most affectionate, are those that God most honours: yet all Theology confesseth, that the Divine Essence is the only object of their felicity; that every one enjoys all without di­vision; that though common to all, 'tis notwithstanding proper to each particular; that being wholly communicated to one, it takes nothing from the rest: and more excellent then the light which enlightens one man as perfectly as the whole world; it is as fully communicated to the lowest Angel, as to the highest Seraphim.

God is divided upon the Earth without interessing his simplicity, he communicates himself to the faithful, but in part: and handling every one according to their Merit and his Grate, is not always the same to one that he is to another. He hath manifested his Wisdome in Solomon, his Clemency in David, his Patience in Job, his Love in Saint Peter, his Zeal in Saint Paul, his Purity in Saint John, and his other perfections in the rest of the Faithful. But at the end of the world, God will be all in all things; he will poure out that in abundance, which now he deals forth in measure: and all the Saints possessing all the Vertues, shall possesse God in all his perfections.

But the chiefest advantage of this Divine Banquet, is, that the Mess which is served up, will be instead of all things: as long as we live upon the Earth, the misery of our condition, or the frailty of our goods, suf­fers us not to find our contentment in one single object; That which al­lays our hunger, quencheth not our thirst; that which enlightens us, covers us not; that which serves us for a garment, serves us not for a house; and that which satisfies our mind, does not always content our body: But when we shall be in Heaven, the Divine Essence will fill all our desires; and being infinite, will alone abundantly supply the fulness of all perishable Earthly goods. Your God, saith Saint Augustine, shall be your All; you shall feed upon him, to satisfie your hunger; drink him, to quench your thirst; rest upon him, for your support; make him your garment, to cover you; you shall wholly possess, and he as whol­ly possess you; you shall find in him all that others doe, because both you and they shall be but one and the same thing in him.

For the last effect of this viand, whereof we have but an essay in the Eucharist, is, that it will perfectly transform us into it self, because all Scripture teacheth us, that when we see God, we shall be like him: Scimus quoniam cum apparuerit similes ei eri­mus. Joan. and that Glory having consumed all that was mortal and perishable in our nature, we shall be happily swallowed up in him without ceasing for all this to be our selves. Thus God nourisheth us in nature with the fruits of the Earth, which maintain a body taken out of the Earth; in Grace by the bloud of Jesus Christ, which preserves the life he merited for us upon the Crosse; In Glory by Divinity it self, which is both together our food and our felicity.

The Second DISCOURSE. Of the Nourishment of Innocent Man; and of that of Man a Christian.

I If the state of Innocence be unknown to us by reason of its dignity, or its remotenesse: we must confesse, that Original Righteousnesse and the fruit of the Tree of Life, which were the chief priviledges thereof, are so hid from us, Immortalitas ista praestaba­tur ei de ligno vitae, non de con­stitutione natu­rae, quo ligno separatus est eū peccasset ut pos­set mori. Aug. that we have but weak conjectures to judge of their pro­perties or of their effects. Saint Augustine that hath written most ratio­nally, confounds them so often one with another, that he seems to at­tribute to the Tree of Life, that which appertains to Original Righteous­ness: For though we know that this united the soul with the body, sub­jected both to God, and preserving the one from sin, exempted the other from death; yet he forbears not to impute that to the Tree of Life, which we impute to Grace, and to allot it so many advantages, that it seems the whole happinesse of man depended absolutely upon this miraculous Tree.

But having well considered the words of this great Saint: I find his doctrine so conformable to Scripture, that there is no doubt but it was suggested to him by the same Spirit that made Moses speak in Genesis. For as nourishment is ordained to preserve our life, we need not think it strange that it holds some analogy with the principle that gives it us: and that there should be some agreement between the matter whereof we are made, and that wherewith we are nourished. Therefore may we say, that the Tree of Life preserved in Innocent man, all that Original Righteousness had indued him with: and that the fruit thereof, which cer­tainly was a figure of the holy Sacrament, repaired the wasts of the na­tural heat, maintained man in his vigour, and secured him from death. Wherein I find a great resemblance with truth, because it wrought that in man an Innocent, which the Body of the Son of God doth in man a Christian; For there is none but confesseth, that this admirable fruit united the soul with the body, that it entertained that good intelligence which made up a notable part of his happiness, and subjecting the body to the soul, by a necessary consequence subjected the soul to God.

Divinity hath not yet fully examined, whether this Vertue were na­tural to this Tree, or whether being but a visible sign of an invsible grace, the Divine power produced this effect in man when he took of that fruit with the dispositions of a firm faith and an humble obedience. If we [Page 265]take the Scripture for our Guide, and Saint Augustine for its Interpre­ter, it will be easie to judge that this effect depended not upon the dis­position of Man, but upon the Vertue of the Tree, because we see in Genesis, that one of the reasons why our forefather was driven out of Paradise, was, that he might not eat of that wonderful fruit; and so the miseries he had contracted by sin, be prolonged together with his life. Saint Augustine explicating this passage, makes us plainly see, that man having lost Original Righteousness, had not lost Immortality, if he had continued to feed upon the fruit of the Tree of Life. Thus we are forced to confess, that this Tree had a secret Vertue which depen­ded not upon the sole disposition of man: and that it was capable of producing a quality in his body, which desending him for a time from death, had encreased his misfortune with his years.

But not to engage in a question more curious then profitable, 'tis e­nough to know that as this fruit of the Tree of Life subjected the body to the soul, and the soul to God, the Eucharist produceth the same ef­fects in the Christian: and being received with the dispositions requisite to this Sacrament, calms the passions weakens Concupiscence, enthrones reason: For though Baptisme leave Concupiscence to exercise the Chri­stian, and this Sacrament which opens him the Gate of the Church, gives him not victory together with life; yet all the Fathers confess, that the Eucharist more powerful then Baptism, furnisheth them with forces to set upon this domestick enemy; that it sweetens his fury in combating him, and that the presence of Jesus Christ delivers him from this evil, more obstinate then the Devil and Sin: For whether the purity of his flesh cures ours by a holy contagion, or whether Concupiscence trem­ble at the apprehension of a body which is the work of the Holy Ghost; or whether lastly, this Sacrament that preserves our life gives us strength, and delivers us from that languishing impotency which seems the ve­ry soul of Concupiscence: we find by experience, that the body of the Son of God procures us the victory, and prepares us the triumph.

If it defend us, it nourisheth us: and if it pacifie our disorders, it re­pairs the devastations the heat of self-love makes in our souls; In which respect, 'tis certainly the truth of the Tree of Life, and the accomplish­ment of that figure: For though Innocent Man had other meats besides that; and excepting the forbidden fruit, all others that Paradise afforded, were allowed him; yet was he obliged to take of this from time to time as a medicine which the mercy of God had prepared for him, to defend him against the Natural heat which insensibly wasted him. Whence it is easie to infer, that in the state of Innocence, the body of man was com­posed of parts that could not agree; That fire which makes man live, devoured the radical moisture on which it feeds: and though he daily took in nourishment, which being much purer then ours, might preserve life much longer; yet had he need of an extraordinary diet which might [Page 266]repair the ruines the natural heat made in his body; and Divines Provi­dence which never abandons that sinner, provided the Tree of Life for Innocent Man, to defend him against the internal enemy, who had insen­sibly brought him to death by means of old age and consumption.

Thus may we say, that the body of the Son of God shields us against that forain heat, Concupiscentia carnis in Bap­tismo dimitti­tur, non ut non sit, sed ut non obsit & non imput tur. Aug. lib. de Nup. & Con­cup. cap. 25. which setting upon the warmth of Charity, threatens the Christian with death. For though Concupiscence since Baptism, be no longer sin: and if sometimes they give it this name, 'tis because it is the principal effect; yet is she not idle in our souls; she makes strange pro­gresses, when her fury is not stopt; she makes use of all occasions that are offered, and holding under her command the passions and the senses, she endeavours by their mediation to enslave the understanding and the will; Though never so weak and langnishing in Christians, she hath still vigour enough to engage them in sin, if their reason assisted with grace, continually oppose not her designs: The little remainder there is, makes them they cannot live secure, and as long as they nourish the least degree of self-love, there is no crime whereof they have not the seeds in them. What the Son of God hath said of the grain of Mustard seed, which is so small at first, and so prodigious in the progress, is not comparable to Concupiscence, whose least sparks are able to kindle mighty conflagrati­ons, which only the Grace of Jesus Christ can extinguish. Indeed his Body, the noblest Organ of his Spirit, moderates daily these heats in the Eucharist, smothers the flames Concupiscence stirs up to consume us; he gives beeing to that vertue that fight obscenity; weakens that strange burning which glows against divine heat, without which a Christian can­not live; He produceth two contrary effects which manifests his power to be infinite: For by kindling one fire, he quencheth another: and war­ming us with his own love, happily delivers us from that of self; 'Tis a a wonderful Wine, which contrary to the nature of ordinary wine, bears Virgins, and renders them pure, thereby to render them pregnant in Vertues: Finally, 'tis a Bread of Life, that nourisheth soul and body, carrying vigour into the one, and light into the other, to the end that preserving the whole man, it may be his food in health, and his remedy in sickness.

Having contrary to the Laws of Physick cured him, contrary to the Laws of Nature, it endeavours to make him young; For Religion more powerful then the Fable, hath found out a secret to renue the Christians youth in the Eucharist, and to discover in Mysteries what it made us be­lieve in Types and Figures. Indeed all the Fathers are of opinion that the Tree of Life defended man from old age, and preserved him from that languishing consumption, which disposed him insensibly to his death; if common fruits could preserve his life, they were unable to maintain his vigour; Though they had all the purity Innocent Nature could fur­nish her works with, yet in repairing mans strength, they had not restored [Page 267]that freshness which accompanies youth: To secure himself from that mischief which had not respected his Innocence, he was obliged to have recourse to the Tree of Life, and from time to time to take an agreeable Physick, which being no way distasteful, restored him his primitive vigour, and re-instated him in that flourishing age he was at first created in. It is true, that as Prudence was natural to him, he never expected length of days to impair his beauty, nor that old-age should print wrinkles upon his face: he made such seasonable use of this remedy, that the freshness of his complexion never faded: The Roses and the Lilies were always ming­led on his cheeks: age and deformity never seized a body whose soul was exempt from sin; and the fruit of the Tree of Life seconding his ordinary food, maintained him in a vigorous constitution, which was afraid nei­ther of Sickness nor Weakness. In this happie state, Man had the advan­tages of the Aged, and not their imperfections: his Reason, without the tedious trouble of Experience, was furnished with all Lights requisite to conduct him; he had no need to enfeeble his body to fortifie his minde; but both the parts that composed him being equally innocent, he had no occasion to wish that age might weaken the one to make it more obedient, nor strengthen the other to render it more absolute. Thus the fruit of the Tree of Life maintained Man in Youth and Innocence; and these two in­separable qualities combating Old-age and Sin, made him spend his life happily and holily.

Although Christians have not this advantage upon the earth, and that their body, being still the slave of Concupiscence, cannot avoid the infir­mities incident to old-age; yet in their souls they fail not to enjoy the pri­viledges of Innocence; they finde in the holy Sacrament, what Adam found in the Tree of Life; they receive a new vigour in the Eucharist; their souls grow young as often as they approach to Jesus Christ: when, like Eagles, they soar as high as this Sun lodg'd in a cloud, they are asto­nished that in the infirmity of their flesh their spirit is renewed; and that the outward man falling to decay by yeers and penance, the inward man recruits by the heavenly meat he feeds upon. This Miracle passeth some­times from the soul to the body; yet there have been some holy persons who taking no other sustenance but what is offered upon our Altars, have lived many yeers. Many times this Nutriment hath imprinted its quali­ties upon their bodies; and darting forth certain rays of Grace upon their countenances, communicated to them a part of that beauty which the bles­sed spirits shall possess. Post primā cae­nam it a similes evascrunt Chri­stodiscipuli ejus, ut vix ab illo possent discerni. Chrys. S. John Chrysostome was of opinion that the A­postles participated of this priviledge in their first Communion; and ha­ving received the Body of the Son of God, became so resplendant with light, that the Jews had taken them for Jesus Christ in the Garden of O­lives, had not the traitor Judas prevented their mistake by the perfidious kiss he gave his Master.

If this sacred Nutriment always produce not this Miracle, at least we [Page 268]must acknowledge it gives us an Earnest of the Resurrection, and a right to Immortality: In which respect, I finde it as powerful and as happie as the fruit of the Tree of Life. One of the wonders of this Tree was, in the judgement of all the Fathers, to secure Man from dissolution; and so firmly to unite the soul with the body, that the number of yeers could not separate them. Death respected not onely Original righteousness, but the fruit of the Tree of Life; and though it might grow from the mi­xture of the Elements which composed the body of Man, it durst not set upon him as long as original righteousness maintained their good corre­spondence, or this convenient remedy hindered their division. Thus Man was not Immortal so much by his own constitution, as by a borrowed as­sistance; that the obligation he had to make use of it, might instruct him that he owed all these advantages to the liberality of his Creator. Now it is certain that the Eucharist works all these Miracles daily in the Church: for it imprints an occult vertue in our bodies, which is as a Pledge of the Resurrection; it sheds abroad in our members the seeds of an eternal life; and by a holy contagion, which corruption it self cannot deprive us of, communicates a certain right to Immortality: For we have the word of the Son of God for a caution of this immutable verity; and after the so­lemn promises he hath made in the Gospel, we may, without wronging his Greatness, affirm, that his Justice obligeth him to give the Christians a Resurrection, and that he cannot deny a habitation in heaven to those bo­dies that have served him for temples upon the earth.

If he prevent not Death, but suffer this faithful minister of his Venge­ance to exercise so many cruelties upon our body, 'tis to deliver us from him with greater pomp and power: if he give him leave to reduce us to dust, 'tis to make us rise out of the Grave, as the Phoenix from her fune­ral-pile; 'tis, finally, that having had a part in his Shame, we may share in his Glory; and that it may be said of all the Elect, what S. Augustine said heretofore of Lazarus, that the Son of God forbore to cure him, that he might raise him; and was unwilling to lift him from his Bed, that he might call him out of his Grave, and seal his love by the greatness of his Miracle.

The Third DISCOURSE. That the Body of Jesus Christ is the same to the Chri­stian, that Manna was to the Jews.

THe Types and Figures of the Old Testament are, in respect of our Mysteries, what Enigma's are in respect of Truth: They conceal and discover them to our eyes; their shadows have some glimmerings of light; and these transparent clouds occasion the bright breaking forth of those Stars they rob us of. They instruct the Learned; and the least measure of understanding they have of the Gospel, makes them easily conceive what the jews were not able to comprehend. When this people saw the Manna descend in the wilderness, they never minded the secrets to come; and without diving into the designes of God, believed that his Divine Providence was pleased to give them that miraculous bread in a place where Humane Prudence could not possibly procure any. But there is not the meanest Christian, instructed in the School of Jesus Christ, but understands that it was a Figure of the Eucharist; and that God intend­ing to prepare our mindes for his Master-piece by this essay, wrought this Miracle for no other end but to perswade us of those he would one day ex­hibit upon our Altars. Indeed, there is so much resemblance between the Manna and the holy Sacrament, that if it be an Enigma, 'tis also a Glass, wherein may be observed all the wonders that render it commendable.

That miraculous meat took its original from heaven; it was formed, according to the opinion of S. Augustine, In illa superiori parte terrae, ubi grando & nix gignitur, nasce­batur manna, & in cibum in­ferioris terrae partis, homini­bus per angelos administraba­tur. Aug. where storms and rain are hatch­ed: The credulous multitude did not imagine it onely the work of Angels, but, dull gross as they were, were perswaded that those blessed spirits fed upon it, and that God, to deal with them as he did with those Intelligences, had given them the food of Angels: Angelorum esca nutri­visti populum tuum. That which the Jews conceited of Manna, we have reason to believe of the Eucharist; because the meat we eat, being the work of the Priests, may well be called the work of Angels: For all Scri­pture teacheth us, that the Ministers that wait at the Altars of the living God, are Angels; that, more happie then those pure spirits, they produce the body of their Master by their words, and give a new life to him who is the Eternal Word of his Father. This Bread came down from heaven by better right then Manna, because Jesus Christ took his beginning from his Father who dwells in heaven; and though conceived in Nazareth, and born in Bethlehem, was notwithstanding as truely denominated the dew of heaven, as the fruit of the earth.

Manna took its name from the astonishment of the Jews; Dixerunt ad in­vicem Manhu? quod significat? quid est hoc? Ignorabant [...] enim quid esset. Exod. 16. the people enquiring into the cause of this prodigie, named it in wondering at it; and taught us, that so great a Miracle could not be sufficiently expressed but by wonder and silent admiration. The holy Scripture hath left it this glorious name, that, entering in the minde of this people, we may admire the wonders God wrought to nourish them in the desarts: But certainly we may truely say, without offending the Israelites, that their wonder arose from their ignorance; that they had not been so ravished with this prodigie, had they but known that the same Vapours which compound the Clouds, might form Manna; and that it was as easie for the Provi­dence of God to nourish them with this meat, as to nourish all the people of the earth with Rain and Dew. They had certainly reserved their won­derment for the Eucharist, had they had the knowledge of our mysteries: For indeed, it is the strangest and most glorious: it seems the Son of God hath drained his power in producing it; and recollecting all the miracles of his life, would sum them up in this stupendious Sacrament: He makes use of the mouth of a man to exhibit a God; he will have a transient and perishable word produce the Eternal and Divine Word; he will, contra­ry to all the laws of Nature, that the Accidents subsist without their Sub­ject, and that the Substance of the Bread and Wine, being turned into that of his Body and Blood, keep notwithstanding its Colour, Taste, and Form: He is multiplied without being divided, to satisfie the love of his Spouse; and admitting his Humanity into the priviledges of the Divinity, filleth his State with his presence. We are in a doubt whether he does not work a Miracle for the Faithful which is not indulged the Blessed; and we are yet ignorant whether this divine multiplication be an effect of his glo­ry, or of his power. For though there are some Divines who believe that glorified bodies may be in divers places without a miracle, and that the part they have in the Immensity of God multiplies their bodies without dividing them; the Schools have always lookt upon this effect as a prodi­gie, and have taught us that the order of Glory had its Miracles as well as that of Nature and Grace.

Finally, it seems that the Son of God, to make his power and his love admired, Dicitur virgini supervenient in te Spiritus san­ctus, dic [...]tur eti­em Sacerdoti superveniet in te Spiritus sar­ctus; & efficiet quod intelligen­tiam tuam ex­cedet. Joan. Damasc. had a minde in this Mystery to repeat all the Miracles he had wrought during the course of his life: For if he were born of Mary without interessing her Virginity; if, making her a Mother, he left her a Virgin; if the Fruit she bare deflowred not her Purity; he is produced in our Sacrifices without violating their Accidents; and changing their substance into his, alters not the Species that cover them: If he turn wa­ter into wine at a Marriage in Cana, and manifest himself the Master of the Elements in changing their qualies; he appears no less absolute in a Sacrament, where he turns the Bread into his Body, the Wine into his Blood, and the Creature into his Creator: If he multiply the loaves in the wilderness, and operate this prodigie by the hands of his Apostles, [Page 271]they being ignorant of the manner; he daily multiplies his Body by the hands of the Priests, who cannot comprehend a miracle whereof they are the witnesses and the Ministers: If heretofore he cured the sick that came unto him, here he cures the diseased that receive him; and if he raised the dead by his touch or by his Word, here he promiseth life to all those that feed upon him, and engageth himself by a promise as sure as an Oracle, that he will draw all those out of the grave that have served him here for a Temple. Thus this adorable Sacrament deserves the name of Manna, better then Manna it self, and ought no less to fill our hearts with astonishment then with love.

But to continue our resemblances, and to manifest the truth in the figure; The Psalmist hath observed, that Manna was not a bare Nutri­ment, but a preservative and a remedy. For while the Israelites made use of it in the Desarts, they were never molested with any infirmities; Though they so often changed their Quarters, marched through a Wilderness where the want of water, and the multitude of serpents might make them fear an infection; nevertheless, this food which participated of the Tree of Life, and made them taste in the Desarts the delights of Paradise, so well suited with their temper, that though they daily beheld rebels in their Camp, they never saw any sick: In Tribubus eorum non erat infirmus. There by a strange prodigy, diseases were not the harbingers of death: they gave up the ghost without any pangs; some small weakness gave them notice of the houre of their departure; the soul fairly took leave of the body, and the Feaver which seems the forrager of death, durst not set upon men whom Manna served for nourishment. The Eucharist works the same miracle in our souls, that this Heavenly food did in their bodies; It is at the same time diet and an Antidote; it gives life and preserves it; it delivers us from evil, and then protects us against it; it maintains the constitution of the soul in a regulated evenness of temper, and much happier then physick, which cannot tame the disease without weakning nature; it deals so critically with the sins, that it never preju­diceth the sinner. Many times when Faith seconds Piety, this Celestial viand extends its effects as far as the body; it maintains health as well as salvation, and cures the diseased as well as the wicked: In the Primi­tive Church it wrought wonderful cures, and the great Saint Cyprian tels us, that Physitians were useless in those days, because Christians found their cure in the Eucharist, and proved there was the same Jesus present, whose Word was heretofore so fatal to infirmities, and so fa­vourable to the infirm.

If in this particular it supass Manna, in another it equals it, Manna non so­lum sanitatem sed & animum Judais consere­bat, Jos [...]ph. because in restoring health it infused strength, and inspired courage; For there are some Writers that are of opinion, that the valour of the Israelites was an effect of Manna; that they owed those formidable victories they gained from their enemies, to this meat that came down from Heaven. [Page 272]Neither ought this to seem strange to the incredulous, since experience teacheth us, that wine which is the pure work of Nature, produceth dai­ly the same effects; drowns fear in its vapours; inspires men with the con­tempt of dangers; gives a new vigour to soldiers, and constitutes the best part of their courage. Therefore I am easily perswaded to believe, that Manna wrought the same wonder in the Israelites, whilest nourishing their body, it maintained their valour: and making them sound and lu­sty, made them withall magnanimous and valiant. Indeed, inasmuch as this food was more miraculous then natural, and acted rather by the directions of Heaven, then the properties of its own nature, it lost this faculty assoon as the Israelites lost grace: and as if it had changed qua­lity when they changed disposition, it produced fear in the same hearts where it had formerly produced courage and assurance.

All these wonders were but the shadows of what we adore in the Eucharist, which is not only the food but the force of the Christian; we come from the Altar as Lions terrifying the Infernal Spirits, they can­not endure our sight; the presence of Jesus Christ wherewith we are surrounded, startles them into a disorder: and remembring that we bear about us the same slesh and bloud which triumphed over them up­on Mount Calvary, they dare not set upon us; They flie such men who lodge a god in their souls, and beholding their Judge seated in our hearts as upon his Throne, they are afraid lest he pronounce sentence against them, re-doubling their pains, and aggravating their torments. It was this Heavenly Bread that animated the Martyrs to the combat; this adora­ble Bread that gave them courage to daunt their executioners; and the sword of Gideon that won so many victories, was but the Type of this; For this mighty man entring the Camp of the Madianites, and hearing one of their soldiers tell his fellow, that in his sleep he saw a Cake fall from Heaven, which routed their army; he perswaded himself, con­trary to all appearance, Sicut verbum Dei cibus est & gladius, ita & corpus ejus. Ber. that this Cake was his Sword: and taking ad­vantage from this dream, set upon his enemies and defeated them; Non est hoc aliud nisi gladius Gideonis. But 'tis very true, that the Bread of Jesus Christ is the Sword of the Christians; the same meat that nou­risheth them, defends them; and the same remedy that cures their ma­ladies, subdues their enemies.

Its strength no way hinders its sweetness, and like Manna there are charms in it, that make it pleasing to every palate; For the holy Scri­pture assures us, that this Heavenly food was fitted to the appetite of the Israelites: that never changing the fashion, it altered the savour, and following their inclinations, complied with their tasts to satisfie their longing. I know Saint Augustine is of opinion, that this mira­cle was wrought onely in favour of the righteous, and that the guil­ty were deprived of a Grace, which in stead of heightning their devoti­on, did only whet their stomack: But the Scripture declares this mi­racle; [Page 273]and the words thereof, which are as true as Oracles, inform us, that Manna, besides its natural taste, had other rellishes according to the several appetites of those that gathered it.

If the Figure were thus advantageous for the body, the Substance is much more beneficial for the soul: For inasmuch as this Sacrament contains the source of Grace, there is none but may from thence be com­municated unto us; though its principal effect be to maintain life, it fails not to produce all Vertues, and to satisfie the inclinations of all those that receive it: It inspires Lovers with Charity, weak persons with Courage, Virgins with Purity, Penitents with Sorrow: and becoming all things to all upon Earth as well as in Heaven, perfectly fulfils all the desires of the Faithful; By its abundance it supplies all other Sacra­ments: It gives us Jesus Christ in all his different relations; and com­prehending as well his Mysteries as their Graces, makes us enjoy him living and dying, humble and glorified, acting and suffering.

For whether Eternity which in one indivisible moment includes all the differences of time, recollect here all the Mysteries of Jesus Christ; or whether this Sacrament comprehend all that it exhibits, and being the Figure and Truth both together, presents us the Death and Resurrection of the Son of God, because it is the Sacrament thereof; or finally, whether Jesus Christ upon the Altars, to comfort the Faithful, who saw him not upon the Earth, will by a miraculous way for their sakes, accord the present with the past, and let himself be enjoyed after his Death, as he was seen before his Birth; he gives himselfe wholly to them in this Mystery, and fully communicates all that he is, all that he hath done, and all that he hath suffered for their salvation: so that simple souls may consider him there as a child; Hermites as solitary; the Evangelists as a Divine Preacher; the Mar­tyrs as a Sacrifice; the Prelates as a Pastor: In hoc Sacra­mento judex & advocatus, sa­cerdos & victi­ma, Leo & A­gnus, Pastor & Pascua. Ber. and every one following his own piety, may behold him in the condition which most affects him with pleasure or pain. It was perhaps for this cause that the Moserabs in their Liturgy divided the Body of the Son of God into nine portions, upon which they imposed the names of his chiefest Mysteries, to teach us, that he repeated them upon our Altars to content our piety: and accomplishing the Figure of Manna, exhibited himself in all these dif­ferent estates, thereby to accommodate himself to all our inclinations.

The Fourth DISCOURSE. That this Nourishment gives the Christian what­ever the Devil promised Innocent Man, if he did eat of the Forbidden Fruit.

THe Divine Providence is never more wonderful, then when it em­ploys the same means to save us, the malice of the Devil had made use of to destroy us. Thus let us magnifie his Oeconomy when we see our salvation somewhat resemble our fall, and the same things that in­volved us in transgression, deliver us out of it. A Devil jealous of our happiness, began our misery; a Woman, too easily listened to his words; a man over-lightly complacent, suffered himself to be cajoled by her: and the beauty of the forbidden fruit charming his eyes, seduced his mind and corrupted his will. The Divine Wisdome imitating our fall in the work of our salvation, made use of an Angel the Interpreter of his de­signs; of a Virgin true to his Promises; of a Man-God, that satisfied his Ju­stice; and of a fruit not forbidden, but commanded, which really exhibits to the Christian all those advantages man was made to hope for in his Innocence. For the Devil considering the just inclinations Nature and Grace had imprinted in the soul of man, to seduce him, promised him that if he would disobey God, he should find his happiness in his re­bellion: and that the use of the fruit he was forbidden to meddle with, should make him Immortal, knowing Good and Evil; and Christian Religion teacheth us, that the Body of the Son of God received in the Sacrament, with piety due to so great love, produceth in us these effects: and making us Men-Gods, makes us Knowing and Immortal. Let us examine these Promises, and see what we ought to expect from the God of Truth, and the Father of Lyes.

If the fear of death, and the desire of life, be not the most ancient pas­sions of man, we may affirm them the most natural and most violent; He hath an apprehension of death, before he knows what it is; he desires Immortality, before he believes it: and whatever he does here below, is only by defending himself from a dissolution, to live for ever. Every one seeks after the same end, though by different mediums; and he that would put the question to each particular, would learn by their answers, that they labour only to become Immortal. Fathers mary not so much for the pleasure of the bed, as for the desire they have to survive in their [Page 275]posterity; and, in spight of death, gain a perpetuity to their Being as well as their Name. Philosophers are not so much in love with Knowledge and Vanity, as with Life; whilst they spend whole nights in their books, and leave the productions of their brain to posterity: For they think to co­zen death by this stratagem; they believe their reputation will pierce the Generations to come; and that, living in the memory of men, they shall in some sort enjoy Immortality. Monarchs, whose minde and body are equally barren, leaving neither Children nor Vertues behinde them, whereby they may be known to their Successors, raise Pyramids to pre­serve their memory; and being not able to busie the Pen of the Histo­rian, employ the Tool of the Engraver; and stamp their name upon Marble, being unable to write it in the Annals. Conquerors are not ex­empt from this madness; they fight onely to get themselves a Name, seek for Life in the very bosome of Death, depopulate States, to make suc­ceeding ages talk of them; destroy Towns to raise Trophies; and, Longum est re­texere Curios & Regulos, & Graecos, viros quorū iunumera elogia sunt con­temptae morti [...] propter posthu­mam famam. Tert. not able to gain Reputation by their Justice or Clemency, strive to purchase it by their Courage and Valour. From this Passion doth Tertullian draw arguments to prove the immortality of the soul; and to perswade the In­fidels that whole man dies not, because he extends his desires beyond this life: and knowing very well that his spirit must survive his body, is much troubled how he may preserve his reputation after his death.

The Devil, who is not ignorant that this desire is engraved in our hearts by the finger of Nature, and that it is easier to divert it then smo­ther it, try'd to make use of it in Paradise, to seduce the first man: he went not about to take from him the belief of the immortality of his soul; he knew, a minde so enlightned could not be clouded with such darkness; but he perswaded him that his happiness depended upon his disobedience, and that, to defend him from death, wherewith God had threatned him, his onely way was to eat of the forbidden fruit. This subtil spirit would not set upon man till he had stirred up the most violent of his Passions; and he conceived it an easie matter to ruine him, if he could but perswade him that Immortality would be the recompence of his crime: Indeed, Man, charmed with so fair a promise, violated the respect he owed his God; he reached his hand to that fatal Tree, and plucking the fruit which served for a proof his obedience, made himself guilty of sin and obnoxious to death.

But inasmuch as the Son of God takes pleasure to draw our Salvation out of our Fall, and makes us, in a blinde submission, finde that advan­tage we sought for in a foolish credulity; he hath instituted a Sacrament in his Church which contains an admirable fruit, giving those that eat of it a happie Immortality. For the chief effect of this celestial food, is, to preserve us from death, and assure us of life: He that eateth my flesh, saith Jesus Christ, shall live for ever: He opposeth this nourishment a­gainst that of the fathers in the wilderness; and protesting that those that eat his flesh shall never die, he engageth himself, by a solemn promise, to [Page 276]raise them from the dead: So that though his Justice did not oblige him to raise the Innocent and the Guilty out of the grave to give them their reward, his Truth would oblige him to restore life to the Faithful, who in obedience to his will have eaten this ever-to-be-adored Fruit. There­fore is it that the Fathers of the Church, making the Elogie of this Sacra­ment, call it sometimes the Earnest of glory, sometimes the Antidote of death, sometimes the Seed of immortality: But because the devil joyn­ed the desire of Glory with that of Life, and promised man to make him a god if he would eat of the Forbidden fruit; Jesus Christ takes the same course; and having made us hope for immortality in this Sacrament, he raiseth our expectation, and promiseth us Divinity.

I do not wonder that Innocent man desired to be God, Nec quicquam homine aut su­perbius aut mi­serius. Plin. maj. seeing Guilty man covets it to this day; and that the misery which punisheth his disobe­dience, hath not flatted this his desire: nor do I conceive it strange, that the greatness of his condition, seconded with the promises of the Serpent, had perswaded him, that, in eating the forbidden fruit, he might purchase Divinity: For in that happie state all was submitted to his will, he was equally absolute in his Person and in his Kingdom; he discoursed famili­arly with the Angels, and he knew that his soul, though included in a bo­dy, was little inferiour to those blessed spirits: His Soveraignty gave him hopes of an Independencie: being Lord of the Universe, he was easily perswaded he might be the Conservator; his lights, which should have cleared up his judgement, dazled him; his present greatness made him forget his former original: The promises of the devil charmed him; and not imagining that Humility was the way which should lead him to Glory, he suffered himself to be transported with Pride, which threw him into confusion and misery.

His loss had been irrecoverable, had not the Son of God found out a remedy, and, obliging him to taste a Divine Fruit in the Eucharist, had not repaired his fault, and satisfied his desire. For it was not enough to cure Man of his sin by a Sacrament, if the Divine Mercy had not furnish­ed him at the same time with a means innocently to content his longings. The inclination to Divinity was riveted in the very bottom of his Essence; and I dare say, the perswasion of the Serpent, very far from defacing it, had rooted it faster: Man had a minde to command: though he had lost the power, he still retained the desire; and as there is no miserable man that would not with all his heart be happie, neither is there any sinner that would not raign with God.

This wish was a Sacriledge, and an attempt against the Godhead; but by the goodness of Jesus Christ, it is become an act of Religion and Obe­dience. For this Son, who is equal to his Father, and who, being his primitive Image, and the Character of his Substance, hath the right of exalting men to this dignity, was made Man in the Incarnation, that they might be made Gods in the Eucharist; and was laden with their Miseries [Page 277]in the One, that they might be cloathed with his Glory in the Other. In­deed, 'tis in this ineffable Mystery wherein Man mingles himself with God; where, by a holy confusion, he loseth his bad qualities, and assumes divine ones; where, leaving off to be a sinner, he begins to be innocent; where, soaring above himself, he enters into the rights of God. Eucharistia vi­detur esse velut Incarnationis mira quaedam extensio. D [...]. Tho.

There it is that the Eucharist supplies the mystery of the Incarnation: For this made onely a Man-God, included its effects in one Individual of Nature; the holy Humanity enjoyed this favour all alone; and if men received any advantage, it was rather honourable then useful. This Alli­ance was like those Marriages where all the profit is the Brides, and the glory onely the Kinreds: 'Twas indeed a happiness for men, that their nature was preferred before that of the Angels, and that God, intending to be allied to his Creatures, vouchsafed to make himself a Man, and not a Seraphim: But had not this mystery been attended with other conse­quences, and had not the holy Sacrament been added to the Incarnation, the Man-God had not communicated to us his qualities; and remaining still the children of Adam, we had never been made the children of God: This great effect was reserved for the Eucharist; 'tis in this mystery that whole Nature was Deified; and we may say, that if the Communication of the Word in the Incarnation was infinite, it was not immense but in the holy Sacrament of the Altar. There it is that we become Gods with­out committing a crime; there Piety satisfies our Ambition: there the union we contract with the Word, imitates and honours That it contracted with the Father from all Eternity. Finally, there it is that the onely Son becomes the first-born; and taking us for his Brethren, makes us the Chil­dren, and withal the Images of his Father.

After this great advantage, 'tis not hard to conceive that he was willing to content our third desire; and having made us Gods, hath indued us with Knowledge, to bestow upon us in earnest what the devil promised us in jest. For this Spirit, who still retains so much light amidst the thickness of his darkness, perceiving that the desire of Knowledge is one of the strongest Passions of Man, perswaded him that God had not forbidden him the use of the fruit he advised him to eat, but to keep him in ignorance, and to deprive him of those innocent pleasures Science brings with it into the minde. This temptation proved so powerful, that it prevailed upon man for his consent; and he that had resisted the promises of Glory and Life, suffered himself to be charmed with the hope of Knowledge.

Indeed, we must confess, that of all the Passions this is the most rea­sonable: Beasts are moved with the love of Life and Glory; they fear Death and Dishonour: They fight, to be secured from both these; and those that are accounted the noblest, are as ambitious in their victories of the increase of their reputation, as of the preservation of their life: But the desire of Knowledge is peculiar to Man: there is no creature but he, that takes pains to be delivered from Ignorance: His combats for Glory [Page 278]are not more famous then his disputes for Truth; and Conquerors take less pleasure to gain Slaves, then Philosophers do to purchase Di­sciples.

The contestation of Wits is nobler then that of Bodies: and if there be any conflict among the Angels, it more resembles that of Philosophers then that of Conquerors: The Understanding and the Will are the one­ly Atms made use of, either for offence or defence: whole Nature is the Field; the differences spring not from the divers interests of Soveraigns, but from the contrary opinions of Masters: the recompence of the Victors is not so much the Conquest of Glory, as of Knowledge: they are ne­ver more satisfied with their advantage, then when of their Enemies they make their Partisans; and delivering them from Errour and False­hood, enrich them with Knowledge and Truth. Therefore did the de­vil make use of this stratagem to gain man to his side; and believed that if any thing in the world would make him forget his duty, 'twas his desire to Know Good and Evil. In the mean time, Man lost his Light by losing his Innocence; the father of Lyes plunged him in darkness; and, falling into the pit of Sin, by a just judgement he fell into the abyss of Igno­rance.

But Jesus Christ, all whose Promises are Truth, opens the eyes of the soul to the Faithful that receive his Body: he enlightens their Under­standing, and warms their Will; he manifests himself to those that re­ceive him in this Sacrament; and leading them to Knowledge by the my­stery of Faith, may be said to give them sight, by making them blinde. 'Tis in the breaking of this Bread, that his disciples know him; 'tis by the vertue of this Drink, that the scales are taken from their eyes; and 'tis by the Grace of this Food, that the Just, who are nourished therewith, receive Understanding together with Life. If Jesus Christ raign upon our Altars as a Soveraign, he instructs thence as a Master: if we are his Sub­jects in that condition, we are also his Disciples; and if he gives us Laws to regulate us, he gives us Counsels to inform us. From all this Discourse 'tis easie to infer, that Jesus Christ is the God of Truth, and the Devil the Father of Lyes; That the One, promising us Honour, Knowledge, and Life, involved us in Shame, Ignorance and Death; the Other, giving us his Body, made us Wise, Immortal, and Glorious.

The Fifth DISCOURSE. That this Nourishment unites the Christian with the Son of God.

INasmuch as Unity is the most excellent perfection of God, all the works of his hands bear the Character thereof; there is no creature that in his composition maintains not this advantage; he ceaseth to sub­sist or live, assoon as he begins to be divided; and if S. Augustine judged rightly, that grief was nothing but the division of the soul, we may say that death is nothing but the dissolution of the body. Thence it comes to pass, that God, in Nature and in Grace, that he may preserve his crea­tures, maintains them in unity, and makes his noblest operations and his highest mysteries serviceable to this design. His Providence that guides the Universe, takes no other care but to associate the creatures together, that their union may compose the worlds Harmony: As the Battles of Princes tend to peace, the jar of the Elements wrangles out a concord; if they recede from their contraries, 'tis to embrace their like; and when they seem most incensed, they intend not so much a mutual destruction, as to remove those obstacles that hinder their alliance.

That which is done in Nature, is effected in Grace; all the operations thereof, mean only to reconcile us to God; Teneamus cha­ritatem, fine qua etiam cum Sacramentis & cum fide nibil sumus: tene­mus autem cha­ritatem si am­plectimur uni­tatem. Aug. This noble expression of the Divine Essence breaths nothing but Unity; and these austere Vertues which seem to annihilate the sinner, have no other end but to destroy his sin, to re-unite him to his Principle. All our Mysteries, and all our Sacraments, seek the same end by different ways. Baptism unites us to Jesus Christ, as to our Head; Repentance, as to our Surety; the Eucharist, as to our Beloved, because compleating all the other unions, it happily converts us into him that nourisheth us with his Flesh and Bloud.

This design hath excellently appeared in the choice he made of the matter of this Sacrament. For the Bread, whose substance is changed into that of the Body of Jesus Christ, is made up of many grains of corn, which being kneaded and baked together, composeth that Sacrifice which is offered upon our Altars: The Wine, whose substance is turned into the Bloud of Christ, is compounded of many Grapes, which being trod­den in the same Press, sends forth that juice which is exhibited in this oblation: So that the Son of God prepares the heart of the Faithful by a sensible union to a spiritual one; and teacheth them, that he will unite them with him in a Sacrament, whose outward appearances breathe no­thing but unity.

The Flesh which the outward species cover, is so one, that its multi­plication cannot divide it: it is produced in a thousand places to re-unite those that receive it; and contrary to that of Adam, is one in its sub­stance, Omne bellum oritur ex carne; homo enim si carnalis non es­set, nunquam cum alio homine pugnaret. Aug. as well as in its effects. For the flesh of our first Father is a fruit­ful and unhappy spring of division; it is parted into as many bodies as there are children: and we may say, that all men are the wretched por­tions of this guilty flesh. The souls are divided with it to inanimate it; and acting by its Organs, contract its bad qualities, whence arise quar­rels and disputes that distract States and Fam lies: But the most Tragical division is, that being the channel of sin, it makes the souls guilty assoon as they touch it, and separate them from God by an offence which was free in the first man, and natural in all his posterity: For 'tis enough that they are blended with the flesh of Adam, to make them become guilty. 'Tis from this unhappy mixture that those fatal rents issue and proceed, which occasion all our disasters; and if we did not communicate in flesh with Adam, we should not partake of his sin, nor be liable to his punish­ment.

But this of Jesus Christ more happy and more innocent then his, heals our division, and leads us to unity; it is one in substance; and though a part of Adams, is exempt from all sin, because the work of the Holy Ghost, and the Word that sustains it, renders it impeccable; He that communicates life to it, communicates innocence in so high a degree, that he imparts it to those that receive it. Its multiplication dissolves not the unity; the same Word that produceth it upon our Altars, gives it the impress of its qualities; and contrary to all the rules of nature, which cannot multiply things without dividing them, finds a secret to give it a Beeing in a thousand places without impairing its unity.

There is this difference between Nature and a Word; the former is fruitful only by division; 'tis wonderful how from a grain of corn she ex­tracts a whole Harvest; pays the labour of the Husbandman with usury; recompenseth his pains with plenty; and imitating the power of her Crea­tor, which makes all things of nothing, makes a great deal of a very little. But she cannot accord multiplication with unity; she must di­vide whatever she produceth: and her liberality is founded upon the fraction of her Presents. A Word more powerful then nature, is brought forth without partition; it is communicated through the fullest Auditory without wronging its Unity; and though always one, fils the ears of all those that are within the sound of it.

It seems that the Body of the Son of God, which produced by the Word, Ʋnusquisque accepit partem suam unde & ipsa Gratia partes vocantur, per partes manducantur, & manet integer totus, per partes manducatur in Sacramento, & manet integer totus in coelo, manet integer to [...]us in corde tuo. Aug. Serm. de Verb. Evang. hath borrowed this Vertue from its cause, is multiplied in the world, and is not divided; it is received into the heart of all the Faith­ful; and this kind of Immensity that multiplies its presence, alters not its unity: It is whole and entire under every part of the Hoast; though [Page 281]they break it, they cannot divide it; but preserving its unity in the fraction of the species, remains always the Numerical body of Jesus Christ. Thence it comes to pass, that it unites all the faithful that receive it; For though they be as different in conditions as generations; as contrary in humours as interests; as great strangers in their inclinations as climates; they doe notwithstanding make up one body, because they are nourished with one bread, and all eat the same meat; which having the power to assimilate the feeder into the food, communicates unto them a wonderful unity which composeth all their differences.

But to comprehend this last miracle, we must remember that this vi­and being of another nature then common meat, is not disgested by the natural heat, nor converted into the substance of those that take it; only the accidents that cover it resent that injury, and yielding to that fire that animates and consumes us, becomes a part of our selves: Being impassi­ble and glorified, 'tis free from corruption, acting upon those that eat it, and having the same effect upon them, they have upon other nutri­ments, converts them miraculously into it self. Thus every Christian, if he bring not resistance with him, becomes another Jesus Christ; he parts with the bad qualities of Adam, to assume the glorious ones of the Son of God; if he share not in his impassibility, he does in his innocence; if he become not immortal, he becomes in some sort glorified; and if he change not nature, he alters at least his inclination.

Therefore is it that all the Fathers of the Church admiring the holy stra­tagems Jesus Christ makes use of to unite us to himself, Qui vult vivere habet unde vi­vat; accedat, credat, incorpo­retur, vivifice­ctur, inhaereat corpori, vivat Deo de Deo, nunc laboret in terra ut postea vivat in cae [...]o. Aug. call this Sacrament a Divine Transformation, wherein man losing what he had of corruptible and criminal, gains the advantages of the Blessed, and is happily changed into him that nourisheth him. Indeed experience teacheth us, that na­ture and love have found out no better invention to convert Essences then Nutrition: Every day the meat we eat, is assimilated into our substance; the wine altering its qualities by a natural Chymistry, is turned into our bloud; bread without any other additional supplement then the natural heat, becomes our flesh; and all the nourishments we take, by a won­derful metamorphosis pass into our nature: The union they contract with us is so great, nothing can break it; all the endeavours of men cannot dis­solve it; and it is easier for the cruelty of the Executioner to bray the chains that fasten the soul to the body, then to unravel those links that doe consubstantiate the food with him that hath disgested it: Being chan­ged into his substance, and blended with all the parts that compose him, the inquisition must search for it in his Arteries, and break his very bones to extract it with the marrow.

Love also, that takes pleasure to imitate nature, hath found out no more powerful means to unite lovers together, when one of them hath bid farewel to the world, then in making the dead serve for a nourish­ment to the living; and to give him a resurrection by an artifice which [Page 282]can find no excuse, but in the excesse of that passion that gave it a being. Thus we read that disconsolate Artemisia having lost her dear Mausolus, Mortui cineres vino commistos ebibit, & me­moriae ejus tam splendidum se­pulchrum erexit, ut magnifica monumenta de­inceps Mausolea ab illius nomine fuerint appella­ii. Gelli. lib. 10. cap. 18. could not satisfie her love but by swallowing his ashes, thereby to be uni­ted to him, and to make him still co-habit with her. Her grief spared nothing that might comfort an afflicted wife, in honouring the memory of so dearly a beloved husband; she employed the most famous Orators of her time to sweeten her sorrows; and to make the Panegyrick of him she had lost, she erected a staely monument which passeth for one of the seven wonders of the world; and having not seen any Tomb that can e­qual its magnificence, gives a denomination to this day to those of the the greatest Monarchs of the Universe: But inasmuch as nothing can con­tent the extremity of love, and ordinary remedies doe but aggravate a violent sorrow, this afflicted lover resolved to drink the ashes of her dead husband; Ʋt esset vivum & spirans con­jugis sepulchrū. that changing them into her substance, she might expire with him, or he survive together with her.

Me thinks the Son of God compleated in the Eucharist what love en­gaged this amorous Princess to attempt: For being united to us in this Sacrament, and converting us into himself by the mighty working of his infinite Power, we may say he re-animates ashes, because he raiseth the dead and converts sinners: So that of all the alliances he hath contracted with us, we must needs acknowledge this the closest and most intimate. 'Twas certainly a great testimony of his love, when he was incarnate in the chast Womb of his Virgin Mother; and clothing himself with our flesh, took upon him the burden of our sins, and of the punishments due unto them: it was a consequence of this love, when he vouchsafed to converse with us, and treating us as his brethren, gave us part in the inheritance of his glory: It was a proof of his compassion, when he became our Ad­vocate to his Father; pleaded our Cause before his Throne; and to pur­chase an act of oblivion for all our transgressions, mingled his tears with his bloud in the garden of Olives: It was me thinks the utmost expression of his love, when he became our Surety upon the Crosse, loa­ded himself with our sins to enrich us with his merits, and made an ex­change with us, which cost him his life, and procured us salvation. Ne­vertheless all these favours united him not with men, and when he was our Brother, Cum autem datur in cibum unio perfecta est; uniuntur enim in unitate corporis & cibus & qui cibum sumit. Di. Tho. our Advocate, our Surety, he was not one person with us: But in the Eucharist, wherein he is our nourishment, his love hath found out the secret of incorporating us with him; he yet unites man with God; he repeats the Mystery of the Incarnation; he does that in favour of all men, which he only did for Humanity; and he works a thousand times one mi­racle in the Bosome of the Church, which he acted but once in the Womb of his Mother: For if we compare the Eucharist with the Incarna­tion, we shall find that in the one, God is made Man; in the other, Men became Gods; In the one, he is united to our nature; in the other, to our person; in the one, he is invested with our miseries; in the other, he apparels us with his greatness.

But because in all these Alliances we meet not with that of Mother, he is willing that his body, conceived by the Virgin, should be also produ­ced by the Priests upon our Altars, that they might be his parents, and might boast that the Incarnation hath no preeminence above the Eucharist. For the Scripture teacheth us that Jesus Christ in his birth is the work of the holy Ghost, and of the Virgin; both these persons became mutually pregnant: Mary restores to the holy Ghost what she received from him; and when she became the Mother of the Son of God, he became the Prin­ciple: The same Jesus in his Passion is the work of sinners; they con­demn him to death by the mouth of Pilate, nail him to the Cross by the hands of the Executioners, and despoil him of his honour and his life by the outrages of the Jews: In the Resurrection he is the pure work of his Father; he it is that draws him from the grave, who gives him the re­compence of his labours, exalts him to glory, and makes him raign ever­lastingly with him. But in the Eucharist he is the work of the Priests; 'tis their word that makes him present upon our Altars; their intention, that makes him descend from heaven: in the name of all the Faithful, these are the powerful Ministers that conceive him, and bring him forth, that this holy Sacrament may perfect all the Alliances the mystery of the Incarnati­on had begun, and that we may have this consolation, to know that there is no union in Nature we contract not with Jesus Christ in the Eu­charist.

The Sixth DISCOURSE. Of the dispositions the Christian ought to bring with him to receive this Nourishment.

IF it be a truth, that great benefits require great acknowledgements, we must confess that extraordinary Mysteries require extraordinary disposi­tions; nor that they must otherwise be approacht unto, then with that re­verence which is due to sacred things: 'Tis a Sacriledge to have to do with them with a prophane spirit; and we do but expose our selves to the indi­gnation of heaven, when we think to partake of them without that pre­paration their stupendious holiness doth require. The Levites were not admitted to the service of the Altar before they were purified: The High-Priest went not into the Sanctuary of the Temple, till he had expiated his sins by the blood of a Sacrifice; neither did the Prophets deliver Oracles to the people, till the holy Spirit, who spake with their mouth, resided in their heart. The Eucharist therefore being the most august of our Myste­ries, [Page 284]obligeth us to very great and reverential dispositions: Each quality 'tis attended with, exacts a particular preparation; and all the titles it bears, demand of the receivers as many different vertues.

Inasmuch as it is the most hidden Mystery of our Religion, whose wonders deceive our eyes, whose lustre dazzles the sunshine of our neer­est observation; the manner of Christs residing there being altogether im­perceptible to our Senses, and unconceiveable to our Understandings, we are obliged to bring along with us much Faith, and little Reasoning: a blinde obedience is a Sacrifice that must accompany this oblation of the Son of God upon our Altars; and at the same time that his Body is the Holocaust of his Love, our Understanding must be the Victim of our Faith. 'Tis in this occasion that we ought to relie upon the Power and Truth of him that worketh this Miracle; and examining the difficulties that combat our Faith, we are onely to consider that he that hath drawn All things out of Nothing, is still able to extract his Body out of the sub­stance of the Bread, Haec Sacra­menta necessario fidem exigunt, & rationem non admittunt. Bern. and change one thing into another, since he was able to produce what was not. This is the Mystery must be approach­ed unto in the simplicity of Faith; where we must believe Jesus Christ whom we do not see; that Darkness being the midwife of Light, we may behold him in heaven, whom we have believed upon earth.

The second disposition of the Christian is derived from the second qua­lity of this heavenly meat: All Religion informs us that Heaven bestows this Nutriment upon us by the mighty power of its Love; every effect we observe therein, is a Miracle; never will the Prodigies of Manna equal those of the Eucharist; Tota ratio facti potentia facien­tis. Aug. nothing is done here according to the laws of Nature: God dispenseth with all those rules in other occurrences he ob­ligeth himself unto; and we may say that in this adorable Mystery he con­sults onely his Power and his Goodness: He changeth the Elements with­out altering their qualities; he sustains Accidents without their Substances; he multiplies his Body without dividing it; he nourisheth the Faithful with his Flesh without wasting it; he is present in a thousand places at the same instant: Whilst Men possess him, the Angels do not lose him: he is wholly in heaven, and wholly upon the earth: and, as if the Incarnati­on were but an Essay of the Eucharist, this gives all the world the same Body the other indulged onely to Judea. Such a cloud of Miracles exact our silence and astonishment: we must admire what we cannot compre­hend; and making Ignorance serviceable to Piety, say with the Prophet, Mirabilis Deus in sanctis suis, & magnus in operibus suis. Indeed, if we admire the wonders of Nature; if that which surpasseth our appre­hension ravish our understanding; if the disorder of the Elements, or the irregularity of the Seasons, strike a kinde of awe into us; Ought we not greatly to respect a Mystery whose every circumstance is a Miracle, and every effect a Prodigie!

But inasmuch as this Food is an Earnest of Glory, and this Feast [Page 285]whereto the Faithful are invited, is a figure of that Eternal Banquet which the Blessed sit down at; we must bring along with us Desire and Hope: God gives us nothing upon the earth which he doth promise us aforehand to occasion our desires: But because Promises are not bare words, Judaei quippe habebant quan­dam umbram, nos veritatem: Judaei fuerunt servi, nos filii: Judaei per mare transierunt ad Eremum, nos per Baptismum intravimus in Regnum: Ju­daei Manna manducave­runt, nos Chri­stum: Judaei pruinam, nos Deum caeli. Salvia. he ma­ny times gives us a part of what he hath promised: Though the Law were but a shadow of Truth, the Sacraments thereof but vain and empty Fi­gures, yet did they contain something that the Israelites were to hope for by them. Manna had qualities expressing those of the Body of Jesus Christ: The Law, though obscure, was an exposition of the Gospel, and, rightly understood, obliged us to love God above all things, and our Neighbour as our selves. The Sea, which favoured their retreat in parting asunder, and coming together again swallowed up the Egyptians, darted forth some glimmerings of light amidst these shades of darkness, and by sensible effects exhibited what was to be acted upon our souls in the Sacra­ment of Baptism. The Land of Promise had some resemblance with that of the Living; its plenty was an image of the felicity of heaven, where nothing is wanting to the blessed inhabitants.

Nevertheless we must acknowledge that the pledges we receive in the New Testament, are far more certain and substantial: They exhibit the best part of what they promise, they do what they make shew of; and joyning the Figure with the Substance, we may say, that, without depriving us of the quality of the Faithful, they procure us that of the Blessed. Baptism, which raiseth us to the dignity of the Sons of God, gives us admittance into his Inheritance; we are already new creatures; and though not yet perfected by Glory, are notwithstanding begun to be wrought upon by Grace. We are the members of Jesus Christ, though we remain the members of Adam: if the Charity the holy Ghost hath shed abroad in our hearts quench not Concupiscence, at least it abolisheth the sin; and though our righteousness be imperfect, it fails not to be true. The Incarnation raiseth our hopes; and having seen a God made Man in being born of a Virgin, we have not much ado to believe that Men may become Gods in being born of the Church.

But not to enter upon a deduction which would lead too far from the Subject of my discourse, we need onely consider the Eucharist, to be per­swaded of this Verity: It is a pledge wherein God performs what he promiseth: 'Tis part of that sum he bids us hope for, Sacramenta prima erant praenvnitiativa Christi, & ideo ablata quia completa: alia sunt instituta, virtute majora, utilitate melio­ra, actu felicio­ra, numero pau­ciora. Aug. an Antepast of the felicity we expect; neither is there any Christian who is not fully assured to possess Jesus Christ in heaven, because he so entirely enjoys him on earth. He waits with patience for the effect of so many gracious promises where­of he hath received such certain earnest; he comforts himself in his dis­contents, from the consideration of his advantages; neither can he doubt that he that is so often sacrificed for his salvation, will not wholly commu­nicate himself for his happiness.

This infallible Gage exacts from us as much Desire as Confidence: It is not enough to be assured of the promise of God, we must long to have [Page 286]it effected: our enjoyment ought to produce our yearning after it: All Christians must be like Daniel, men of desires; and renouncing the things of the world, fix all their pretensions towards heaven. This Myste­ry that unites them to Jesus Christ, must raise them as high as God; and when his presence is vanished with the species, the desires that Grace in­spires them with, must give them another rellish of what the natural heat hath made them lose by digestion.

This disposition prepares us for another more noble and more holy: For if we are to express our longings because the Body of the Son of God is a pledge of his Promises, we ought to be indued with Love and Fide­lity, because this Sacrament is a Marriage of his soul with ours: Baptism is the Beginning, and the Eucharist the Consummation hereof: we have engaged our word when we were admitted into the Church; and receiving the character of our servitude, we have given bond for our Faithfulness. But in the Mystery of the Eucharist he deals with our souls as with his Spouse; we become flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone; he enters into our bosome, and we into his: his body and ours are animated with the same Spirit; and partaking in all the qualities of our Beloved, we have right to his most glorious priviledges.

But so noble an Alliance requires a great affection, and much fidelity: This Lover is jealous; he will raign alone in the hearts that he possesseth: as he cannot endure a Competitor in his State, so neither can he a Rival in his Love: he will have nothing loved but for his sake: and because our adhesion to the Creature is not without imperfections, he never beholds it without grief, nor leaves it without punishment. Whatever is prejudi­cial to Fidelity, displeaseth: he never breaks his word, and therefore can­not endure we should fail of our duty: He will keep what he hath once gotten: and seeing his Power is equal to his Love, he is as severe in his Revenge, as he is liberal in his Favours When I consider the obligations we have to his Goodness, I never wonder that his Justice corrects us; but I am ashamed there should be any souls so negligently careless as to pro­voke him; and that, after so many favours, any should be so wretched as to betray their duty, and abandon Jesus Christ. Nevertheless this crime is so common among Christians, that those who will not break their word with an Enemy, take no care to be true to the Son of God, basely desert his party, lodge the devil in the same Throne where they had seated their Soveraign, and take an Adulterer into the bed from whence they have dri­ven their lawful Husband.

If the remembrance of his favours cannot produce love in our souls, the terrour of punishments must beget Fear: For if he be our Beloved in the Eucharist, he is also our Judge; and having fruitlesly exhibited testi­monies of his Goodness, Qui enim manducat & bibit indigne, judicium fibi manducat & hibit, non dijudi­cans corpus Domini. 1 Cor. 11. will sensibly inflict marks of his indignation. The great Apostle of the Gen­tiles tells us, that he that receiveth unworthily, eat­eth [Page 287]and drinketh damnation to himself: that the Devil being the Mini­ster of the Divine Justice, takes visible possession of the soul of that De­linquent; that he erects an Altar in his heart, and of his slave making his victime, engageth him in despair, having engaged him in Sacriledge. Et post buccellū introivit in cum Satanas. Joan. 13. Thus dealt he with Judas, when he had communicated unworthily; The Evangelist observes, that he entred into his soul, urged him to execute his abominable design; for a light interest, obliterated out of his mind the remembrance of all the favours he had received from his Master; and tumbling him from one precipice to another, from Covetousnesse tempted him to Treachery, from Treason to Sacriledge, Diabolus intra­vit in cor ut traderet eum Judas; quomodo intravit in cor nisi immitten­do iniquas per­suasiones cogi­tatienibus ini­quorum? Aug. de Consen. E­vang. from Sacriledge to Parri­cide, and from Parricide to Desperation: For when the wicked spirit that possessed him had counselled him to betray the Son of God, he coun­selled him to hang himself, and setting him against himself, made him make use of his own hands to inflict a just and cruel death upon him­self.

Finally, there is no mystery wherein the Son of God manifests more love, or more severity, where he obligeth more dearly, or punisheth more strictly, or pardons more rarely; and because the crimes committed here are the greatest, it seems the vengeance inflicted upon them is most memorable. The first of all sinners is a great Saint in Heaven; The man that was our Father, and our Parricide both together; De illo quidem primo homine patre generis humani, quod eum in inferno solverit Chri­stus, Ecclesia fere tot a con­sentit, quod eam non inaniter credidisse cre­dendum est. Aug. Epist. 99. ad Enod. The Criminal who is accessory to all the transgressions of the world; The Father that engageth all his posterity in his offences and his punishment; The Rebel who makes an Insurrection of all his Descendants against their lawful Soveraign; That unfortunate Chief who lives yet after his death, sins still in his members, and by a dreadful prodigy being happy in his person, is miserable and guil­ty in his posterity: That old man who is new born in every sinner; and in one word, That Adam, who committed a fault whole nature bewails to this day, found his pard on in his repentance; and whiles he sees Hel pepled with his off-spring, enjoys glory with the Angels in Heaven.

That great King whom God raised to the Throne against all humane probability; That Stripling who without arms gave a Gyant battle; That Shepheard whose Crook was turned into a Scepter, who reckoned his victo­ries by his combats, and boasted that the Lord of Hosts had trained him up in the Discipline of War: This Prince, who forgetting all these favours joyned Murder to Adultery, and made an Innocent dye to cloak the di­shonour of a debauched woman: This glorious Criminal, who saw all the Vials of Heaven poured down upon his Head; his Kingdome divi­ded; his subjects revolted, and his own children in the head of an Ar­my against him; This famous Delinquent reigns in glory with the Son of God; his tears have washed away his iniquities; and his grief more powerful then his offence, opened him the gate of Heaven.

That Apostle, who having received so many testimonies of affection from his Master, forsook him so shamefully in the Garden of Gethsemane; [Page 288]denyed him so openly in the house of Caiaphas; is as great in Heaven as he was upon Earth: The Church to this day reverenceth his Injunctions; the Popes boast themselves his Successours, and all the faithful glory in being his children. That young man full of zeal and and fury, who inten­ded to strangle Christianity in the very Cradle, who was the boutefew of the first persecution against the Disciples of Jesus, who stoned Saint Stephen by their hands whose cloaths he kept, De caelo vocavi, una voce percus­si, alia erexi & elegi, tertia implevi & mi­si, quarta libe­ravi & corona­vi. Aug. hath found his salva­tion in his sin: He was converted when he went about to plunge himself in the bloud of the first believers; he received Grace when he was upon the very point of encreasing the number of Parricides; in one moment he be­came a Preacher of the Gospel, an Apostle of the Son of God, and the Master of the Gentiles.

But the first that ever profaned the Body of Jesus Christ and com­mitted a Sacriledge in approaching the Altar, was given up to the fury of Satan: To his Sacriledge he added a Parricide, and expiating these two offences by a violent death, taught us there was never any crime more severely punished upon Earth, then what was committed against Jesus Christ in the Eucharist: so that a man cannot dispose himself too carefully when he is to approach this holy communion; and seeing the Son of God recollects all his Graces in this Sacrament, thereby to oblige us, we ought to come accompanied with all kind of Vertues worthily to receive him.

The Seventh DISCOURSE. That the Christian owes God the Honour of a Sa­crifice.

SAcrifice is the most ancient duty of the creature towards his Creator; It is the soul of Religion, precedes affection; and before man can be obliged to love God, he is bound to offer him a Sacrifice: For love presup­poseth some society between God and man, which is not so much an ef­fect of Nature as of Grace; but Sacrifice supposeth nothing but depen­dance, which is inseparable from the creature, and engageth him assoon as ever he proceeded out of Nothing, to acknowledge his Original by a so­lemn homage. From hence may be inferred, that Sacrifice is an honour can be rendred only to God, and that 'tis changed into Sacriledge when offered to a meer creature.

Neither is this hard to be conceived, if we consider the divers motives we have to offer Sacrifices to God, since sin hath corrupted nature. The [Page 289]first is, to reconcile us to him, and to mitigate his anger by the merit of the victime; The second is to be united to him, knowing very well that as his Indignation is the soucre of all our evils, his Grace is the fountain-Head of all our good; whence it came to pass, that in the Old Testament there were peace-offerings offered to him for the salvation of sinners, which testified by their dying mouths, that to be removed from God was to be miserable: The third is to obtain eternal glory, which makes us find our happiness in the union it procures us with God, and destroying whatever we had of mortal or perishable, happily transforms us into him; Holocaustum dicitur sacrifi­cium cum totū accenditur, quandò totum ardet & totum absumitur igne divino. Aug. There­fore were Holocausts immolated, wherein the oblation wholly consumed by the flame, figured out this Truth; and by a silent language taught us, that man should never be happy till he was despoiled of all his corrupti­on, that he might be perfectly consummated in God. Now all men con­fesse, that God only can bestow Grace, remit sins which brave his Ma­jesty, sanctifie souls in uniting them to himself, and glorifie them by com­municating to them his Essence.

Therefore by a necessary consequence, they acknowledge, that as from him only these favours are to be obtained, we have no other way to in­tercede for them, but by sacrifice. The Law punished those with death that erected Altars to strange gods, and offered those honours to vain idols, which could not be safely given to true men: Nature her self, though never so blind, sacrificeth to none but those she conceives at least to be Gods; and sin being not able to quench all her lights, she retains this belief in her errour, that Divinity only deserves the honours of sacrifice: Faith confirms this Truth, and strongly perswades us, that if the crea­ture adores not his Creator, he is miserable; and if he encroach upon the honour due to him, he becomes guilty. Creatura ratio­nalis si non colit Deum, misera est, quia priva­tur Deo; si colit Deum, non vult se coli pro Deo. Aug. Sacrifice then is a divine worship, whereby a reasonable creature honours his Creator, and pub­liquely professeth, that as he hath received being from him, 'tis from him likewise that he expects felicity. But though there is nothing in God which being God himself deserves not this homage, and all his perfections may justly require it; we must confess nevertheless there are three that ob­lige us to this duty, and which in the state of innocence as wel as sin, demand this sacrifice.

The first is the Soveraignty he hath over his creature: For he depends of him in Creation and Preservation; He had no right to exist before he issued from Nothing; in these profound abysses he could not so much as desire or ask any thing; and being not yet in nature, could have no pretensions of aspiring either to Grace or Glory. Being now reduced from Non-Entity, he depends still upon his Soveraign; he could not be able to subsist one moment, without assistance from him; he cannot act but by his impulses; and though he be free in his operations, he that gave him being must give him motion: his preservation is a consequence of his Creation: the same power that produced him, preserves him; and [Page 290]unless he be strangely impudent, he must confess he depends not less upon God in his Entity, then in his Non-Entity. There is no need that the Earth should open under his feet to swallow him up; that thunder should fall upon his head to crush him to ashes; nor that the waters should flow from their couch to drown him: God needs only withdraw his hand, and he perisheth; let him but cease to preserve, and he moulders into annihilation. Dependency therefore and servitude constitute one part of his Essence: he is a slave assoon as a creature; and though God be Almighty, we may say, without offence, he can produce neither man nor Angel able to support themselves without him; and who in the progress as well as beginning of his life, depends not absolutely upon his All-suffi­ciency.

This is it that obligeth both of them in their Creation to offer sa­crifices to him; 'twas their first reflexion towards their Principle, their first duty towards their Soveraign, and their primitive inclination towards their last end: If they do not acquit themselves, 'tis their fault; if dazled with their own light, and charmed with their own beauty, they fail of this their lawfull homage, they need seek no other cause of their crime, nor of their fall. I pretend not to expresse the nature of this sacrifice, because it is unkown to us; but I will say thus much, thatthe Angels being pure spirits, seek not oblations out of their own person; they stoop before the Almighty at the presence of his greatness; they offer him what they are bound to by Creation, and refuse not to submit to him by the motion of their proper will, as they did from all Eternity in their nature.

For men, there is great likelihood, being compounded of a body and a soul, they would joyn external sacrifice to internal; and to the end they might offer all they had received, presenting him an Holocaust of their person, they would employ their mouths to praise him, and their hands to serve him, having made use of their understandings to know him, and their wils to love him: we might believe also that acknowledging all the goods of the Earth the effects of his bounty, they would bring presents and victimes of them; that returning his Soveraignty what they had received from his mercy, they would sprinkle his Altars with wine, load them with fruits, and deck them with flowers.

But there is a question, whether to satisfie their piety they would ex­ercise their cruelty upon Animals: whether they would butcher those in­nocent victimes; shed their bloud upon the Earth, and in that happy state commit murders, that they might offer sacrifices? Some are of opi­nion, that man living only upon fruits, slaughtered no victimes; that ha­ving not as yet deserved death, he would not make them bear the punish­ment of his sin; and being content to offer their Wool or their Milk, he honoured God, and did not deprive them of life: Others conceive, they slew these innocent Beasts, not to pacifie the Justice of God, who was not as yet offended, but to adore his Soveraignty, and publickly to [Page 291]profess, that expecting no sin, he might binde Man over to death, and re­quire it of him not as a Punishment, but as a Sacrifice. The Scripture seems to favour this opinion; and the skins wherewith our first parents were cloathed after their transgression, make us suspect they had sacrificed some Animals during the state of Innocence, and that the Supremacie of the Almighty imitating his Justice, was content that Man sacrificed them in stead of himself. But not to engage in the search of a Truth which lies buried in darkness and oblivion, 'tis enough to know, that Sacrifice is a publike acknowledgement of Gods Soveraign power, and that this was the first motive that invited Man to offer him Oblations.

The second is taken from his Holiness, Sanctum & terribile nomen ejus. Psal. 110. which is one of the noblest and least known of all his perfections. The Scripture never speaks of it but with respect; and mixing admiration always with this attribute, teacheth us that we are to magnifie it rather by our silence then by our words: The An­gels in their eternal Hallelujahs are taken up onely with this adorable per­fection. They forget as it were his Power that drew them out of Nothing, his Providence that guided them while they walked in the way of Merit, his Mercy that fortified them in their conflict, his Justice that crowned them in the victory, to think onely upon his Holiness, Sanctus, san­ctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus exercituum, Isa. 6. which unites them to the Supreme Good, and separates them from all things else. Indeed, it is the Seat of the Almighty; and if it be true, according to the opinion of the Fathers, that his Essence was his Habitation, we may say that his Holiness is his Throne, and place of rest. For all the other perfections, more sollicitous after our advantage then his glory, oblige him to apply himself to our necessities: His Power marcheth forth to seek us in the Abysses of Non-entity; his Mercy delivers us from our Miseries; his Good­ness pardons our Offences; and if his Justice that punisheth us seem to espouse his interests, it presently forgets them, because, having revenged them, it studies to recompense our deservings: But Holiness, Sanctitas est ab omni inquina­tione libera, in­contaminatissi­ma & perfe­ctissima puritas. Dionys. Requievit ab operibus, non in operibus suis; in se enim Deus requiescit. it studies to recompense our deservings: But Holiness, more zea­lous for the Glory of God then the Salvation of Man, separates him from all things, shuts him up in himself, and surrounds him with such a bright­ness of Majestie, that his Creatures dare not approach unto him: He rests in this ever-to-be-worshipped Throne more holily then in those blessed spi­rits, who, borrowing their name from their properties, or from their offi­ces, are called the living Thrones of the Divine Essence.

Sacrifices then are immolated upon Altars, to adore this ineffable Per­fection: They perish by the knife, or by the flame, to testifie that God is not at all fastned to his Creatures, that the noblest are unworthy to come into his presence, and that, approaching before him, he must destroy them, because there is nothing deserves to be offered up unto him. 'Twas in this humble and true sense of the Divine Majestie, that the most innocent of all Sacrifices bowed his head, and gave up the ghost: In this apprehensi­on, that Jesus Christ, adoring the dereliction of his Father, acknowledged that as his Victim he was to be forsaken, though as his Son he remained [Page 292]inseparable; nor that it was just for God to go out of his rest to deliver him from his sorrows, or to avenge him of his enemies. Tu autem in san­cto habitas laus Israel. But because we cannot speak much of a Perfecti­on whose Greatness amazeth us, and the lustre whereof dazzles us, we pass to the Fulness of God, which is the Third Motive of our duty of Sacrifice. Sadai appella­tur Deus ab He­braeis, hoc est sibi sufficiens.

God is so Immense, that, by a glorious Impotency he can do nothing which is not useless in respect of Himself: Whatever he produceth out of his Essence, is unworthy of his employment: Inasmuch as he findes his happiness in himself, he stands not in need of our Magnificats; and see­ing his felicity supplies him with inexhaustible riches, he hath no need of our Presents: he possesseth all things in a transcendent eminency; and they are much nobler in him then in themselves. Omnis pulchri­tudo agri mecū est, ubertas om­nium in terra gignentium me­cum est; cum illo sunt omnia cog­nitione; quaedam ineffabilis sapi­entia Dei in ver­bo constituta. Aug. in Ps. 49. The Flowers are immortal in God; the Fields are always cloathed with a springing fertility; the Trees never lose their fruit; the Seasons are never irregular; the Elements jar not in him; there men live for ever; and all Creatures subsist in their per­fections, without any mixture of deficiency. Thence it comes to pass that we deliver up Victims to the knife, and consume them in the fire, to pub­lish aloud that we pretend not to enrich him that possesseth all things, and who would not be God, did he stand in need of our Oblations. Dixi Do­mino, Deus meus es tu, quoniam bonorum meorum non eges. Therefore in the very state of Innocence they poured out the Liquors that were of­fered, they burnt the Fruits that were presented; and striving to annihi­late them, proclaimed openly that they were no way profitable to him.

But since sin hath robbed us of original righteousness, we were obliged to joyn offended Justice to these three Perfections, and to offer Sacrifice to him, to pacifie his Fury. For inasmuch as he is chiefly busied to revenge his neglected slighted Mercy, that 'tis this that laid the foundations of hell, made deluges over-flow, shakes the earth till it tremble, we have en­deavoured to appease this incensed attribute by our homages. Knowing that Death is one of the highest vengeances he takes, we make use of it in Sacrifice; and laying the punishment we our selves deserve upon the Crea­ture, we do our utmost to avoid his indignation, by an invention his own mercy hath taught us. Et viles animas pro meliore da­mus. Ovi. Fast. Thence it is that those people who have lost the true Religion, have not left off to continue Sacrifice; and, instructed ei­ther by Tradition or Nature, they have laboured to appease the gods they worship by the slaughter of Victims. Apud Aegy­ptios victimae inurchantur si­gillo quodam, in quo effigies erat servi seipsū gla­dio confodientis. Plut. in Isid. & Osy. By that Ceremony they acknow­ledged themselves worthy of death; and at the same time they went about to satisfie Justice, they confessed that his Mercy suffered them to transfer the punishment due to their offences upon the Beast, and to immolate in­nocent Animals in stead of guilty Men. The Egyptians, who had more dealing with the Jews, give testimony they were of the same minde, when they stampt upon the Victim the picture of a Slave stabbing himself; to in­form all the world, that the Justice of God sparing the Man, gave them [Page 293]leave to sacrifice the Beast in his place, and in a manner to charge him with his sin and his punishment. 'Tis true, that as Oblations were not consi­derable among the Jews, but because they were the Figures and Types of Jesus Christ, Huic summo ve­ro (que) sacrificio, cuncta falsa sa­crificia cesserunt Aug. it was thought requisite that in the fulness of time he should accomplish the Truth; and that he might perfectly honour all the perfe­ctions of his Father, should himself be sacrificed upon the Altar of the Cross.

The Eighth DISCOURSE. That the Christian stood in need that the Son of God should offer for him the Sacrifice of the Cross and of the Altar.

IT is a strange Paradox, but very true, that Sin, which obligeth Man to sacrifice himself, deprives him of the power to do it, Animantia mi­nus ingrata Deo, quia minus in­fecta peccato. Philo Jud. and reduceth him to a condition, where, not being able to finde a Victim in himself, he is dri­ven to seek for one among the Creatures. This shameful necessity discove­red not to him onely the Goodness of God, who was content that Beasts should be offered up in stead of Men: but it upbraided him with his un­worthiness, and made him wofully resent, that being able to offend his Creator, he could by no means make him satisfaction. Having imprinted this truth in his minde, and for many Generations reading him this lesson, that he that pretended to equal the Almighty, was in a worse condition then the Beasts: in process of time, it was demonstrated to him that his crime was too great to be expiated by the blood of Goats or Lambs, and that his excess required a Sacrifice whose merit was Infinite.

Indeed, that a Sacrifice might be acceptable to God, it must have those qualities which are found neither in Angels, nor Men, nor Beasts. For it must be Innocent, and no way obnoxious to that evil whereof it is to be the remedy: It must be Reasonable, to treat with God, and to speak in be­half of them whose place he appears in: It must be mortal, that it may undergo the punishment sin hath deserved, and thereby satisfie the Divine Justice: But above all, its merit must of necessity be Infinite, that, be­ing equal to the malice of sin, the honour of God may have full repara­tion, and the debt of man an entire compleat acquittance. De Adaestirpe nullus propagari poterat natura­liter, qui illius delicto non tene­retur adstrictus. Aug. The Angel had two of these conditions; he was Reasonable, and Innocent; but be­ing Immortal and Finite by nature, he could neither die nor satisfie: Man was Reasonable and Mortal; the one he owed to his Sin, the other to his Constitution; but having lost his Innocence, he could neither Satisfie nor [Page 294]Merit: The Beast, more happie in some sort then Man, was Mortal and Innocent; but having not the use of Reason, his death was unprofitable, nor could his sacrifice reconcile us to God.

Therefore did the Eternal Word contrive to be Incarnate, that, uni­ting the Divine Nature with the Humane in his Person, there might come forth a Divine Compositum, which, being God and Man both together, might possess all the qualities requisite to accomplish the work of our Sal­vation. He was Mortal, because he was Man, and had assumed our Nature, with its imperfections, the appurtenances of sin: He was Innocent, be­cause he subsisted in the person of the Word, which managed his Will without constraining it, and by a happie necessity made him absolutely im­peccable: He was Reasonable, inasmuch as having taken our imperfections, he withal took our advantages; and, by a priviledge due to his Greatness, the use of Reason was indulged him with life, that from the first moment of his conception he might honour his Father, and satisfie for sinners: His Merit was, as his Person, Infinite; and the actions that were performed by this God-Man were Meritorious, because Humane; and on the other fide, Infinite, because Divine. Thus the Word Incarnate became the Sa­crifice of God and Men; and entering into our duties, paid what we stood bound for to the Justice of his Father: he suffered what our sins deserved, and delivered us from those punishments our sentence condemned us to.

But being the Substance of all the Shadows of the Old Testament, and by his acquitting us being obliged to fulfil all the Figures thereof, he of­fered up himself to the Eternal Father by a double Sacrifice, that one se­conding the other, the Christians might render as much honour to God as the Jews. For the Synagogue had four kindes of Sacrifices: The First was the Holocaust, which respected the glory of God, wherein the Victim was wholly consumed by the fire: The Second was an Atone­ment for sin, where the Oblation being parted between God and his Mi­nisters, one part was burnt in the fire, and the other remained to the Priest for his nourishment: The Third and Fourth were called Peace-offerings, with this distinction, that the one was made to obtain some fa­vour of God, or to give him thanks for what was already received; the other, to acquit the offerer of his promises, and to accomplish those vows he stood engaged to God for. In these two last Sacrifices, the Victim was divided into Three parts: The First was consecrated to God, the Second designed to the Priest, and the Third left to the Faithful.

Therefore hath the Son of God joyned the Sacrifice of the Cross with that of the Altar, to accomplish all those of the Old Law: Upon the Cross he offered up himself an Holocaust to his Father; where be­ing destroyed by death, he rose from the Grave, to be consummated in Glory, and to be received into the bosom of his Father, from whence he came forth by the Mystery of the Incarnation. But because in the Ob­lation where the Sacrifice is wholly reduced into God, men have no part, [Page 295]he was pleased to institute another in his Church, where giving himself wholly to his Father, Hujus sacrificii caro & sanguis ante ad­ventum Christi per Victimas similitudinum promittebatur, in Passione Christi per ipsam veritatem reddebatur, post ascensum Christi per Sacramentum memoriae celebratur. Aug. lib 20. cont. Faust. and to the Faithful, he compleated with advantage the sacrifices of the Old Testament: For he is there after such a wonderful manner, that without be­ing divided, he enters equally into the bosome of his Father, and into the heart of his Ministers: every one possesseth him entirely; and this communion is so perfect, that none are excluded but those that will have no part in it. But for the better understanding of a truth which is one of the principal Articles of our Faith, and to resolve the difficulties Heresie opposeth against these two sacrifices; we must know, that both of them make up but one; and that one without the other would be utterly unprofitable: For the Scri­pture teacheth us, that to the perfection of a sacrifice, Si autem habu­erit maculā vel claudum fuerit, vel coecum, aut in aliqua parte deforme, vel de­bile, non immo­labitur Deo. Deut. 15. there are requi­red five parts; The first is the sanctification of the Victime, which con­sisted in four things: The first was its perfection, which excluded all blemishes, because they are the marks and punishments of sin; whence it was that the Law in express terms enjoyned that nothing should be of­fered to God that was not perfect: The second was a supernatural san­ctification, which elevated the sacrifice above it self, and which being stampt upon it by Divine Authority, disingaged it from the dominion of man, and destin'd it for the Altar: The third was separation which con­secrated it to God, and suffered it no longer to be employed to any pro­fane use: The last was the obligation to death, Haecomnia pa­tent ex libris Exo. & Levi. Ʋbi de h [...]stia dicitur quod sanctificabitur & scparabitur Domino. as a thing dedicated to God, and which ought to perish for his glory. The second part of the sacrifice was the oblation of the Victime, where according to the form prescribed in the Law, or taught by Tradition, it was actually offered to God, and began to appertain to him by a new right, greater then that of sanctification. The third was the death or killing of the Victime, which though the most sensible part of the sacrifice, was not yet the prin­cipall; because it was performed by the Levites, and not by the Priests; in the Court of the Temple, and not in the place next the Sanctuary: The fourth was the consummation of the sacrifice which was devoured by the flame; that the smoak ascending up into Heaven, God might par­take of the oblation, as the Scripture testifieth in those words, Odoratus est Dominus sacrificium; and that which seems to have given some co­lour to the false opinion of the Heathen, who imagined that God was nourished with the fume of the offerings. The fifth was the communion of the Victime, which as we have already observed, was sometimes whol­ly devoted to God, sometimes was divided between God, the Priest and the people: But inasmuch as these sacrifices were but the types and sha­dows of that which Jesus Christ was to offer to his Father, he did not partake of it but in a figure by means of fire, which in the belief of the world was accounted the noblest representatation of the Divinity, Deus [Page 296]noster Ignis consumens est; as for the people and the Priest, they com­municated really, and received the sacrifice into their mouth to disgest it in their stomach.

If Jesus Christ be the accomplishment of the Law, his Sacrifice must necessarily comprehend all these parts; and we must find on the Altar, what we do not find on the Crosse. His sanctification is fully evident; for besides that he is the first-born, and in that consideration is holy; we know that he is the work of the Holy Ghost; that his Father is God; that his Mother is a Virgin, and that his Conception is altogether Immaculate: But his Divine Person is his principal sanctification; and if other sacrifices be san­ctified by some transient words, this is consecrated by the Eternal and Di­vine Word: The same Unction that made him Priest, made him the Victime, and dedicated him by a double title to the service of the Altar. His obla­tion began in the womb of the Blessed Virgin; continued in the Temple, and during his life, and was at last finished upon the Crosse: In the womb of his mother he offered himself in spirit, according to the meaning of Saint Paul; and explaining his mind in the words of the Prophet, he protests that he took a body only to be immolated to his Father: In the Temple he was presented by the hands of the Virgin, and received by Simeon, who penetrating the design of Jesus Christ and his mother, an­swers their intentions, and instructs her in the mystery of the Cross, where­of this oblation was the prologue. During his life he continued to offer up himself to his Father as an innocent Victime, till upon the Crosse he acquitted himself of his promises, and satisfied his obligations; Obtulit se immaculatum Deo per Spiritum Sanctum. His death appeared upon Mount Calvary, where making use of the cruelty of the Jews, of the treason of Judas, and of the rage of the Executioners, he was offered up for our salvation: But because it is not the principal part of the sacrifice which is not compleat, if the Victime be not consummated, it was requi­site that the Resurrection should finish what Death began. Indeed the Resurrection of the Son of God is his consummation; 'tis in this myste­ry that Glory swallowed up what Death had left; that he parts with whatever remained of perishable; that he enters into that Majesty which is due to his Birth; that he is reduced to God, and received into the bo­some of his Father, his lawful and natural habitation. This is the myste­ry to which Saint Paul attributes the perfection of our salvation, because it is the Crown of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ; Therefore discoursing of what we owe his Death and his Glory, he saith, Mortuus est propter pec­cata nostra, & resurrexit propter justificationem nostram: where he as­signs the principal effect of our salvation, not to the Passion, but to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. There it is in a word, that Jesus is perfe­cted, that his work is accomplished, where he is happily consummated; where the Divine Essence having the same operation in him, that the fire had in the sacrifice, he is despoiled of our infirmities, and invested with all the glories of his Father.

Inasmuch as the life of a Christian is a sacrifice which honours that of the Word Incarnate, it is not terminated so much by Death as by the Re­surrection; nor will the Faithful be truly consummated, till he shall be transformed into God by the splendours of Glory. Therefore doth Saint Augustine in his Comment upon that passage of the Psalmist, Introibo in domum tuam in Holocaustis, deliver these excellent words which serve greatly to illustrate this truth: The Holocaust is a Sacrifice, wherein the Victime is wholly devoured by the fire; and the Church, in the expecta­tion she hath one day to be admitted into Heaven, useth the same lan­guage, and perswades her self that the fire of glory will consume her, to the end that nothing of her self remaining in her, she may be wholly her Beloveds: This desire will not be accomplisht till the general Resurre­ction, when our mortal shall be cloathed with Immortality, and life shall triumph over death; the Divine fire will produce this effect, and con­suming all our perishable being will make of us an Holocaust: For no­thing mortall shall remain in our flesh; nothing culpable in our soul; both of them shall be consummated by life, that passing into a new being we may become the Holocausts of the Lord. That which ought to be­fall all Christians at the day of the generall Resurrection, did happen to Jesus Christ at the day of his glorious Resurrection; Death was swal­lowed in Life, Glory consumed infirmity, and leaving the likeness of sin, he entred into the Majesty of God his Father.

But because this sacrifice would be impetfect, if the Communion did not succeed the Consummation; The love & power of Jesus Christ invented a means, whereby without departing from God, he might communicate himself to the Faithful, and make them partakers of his body and bloud. This is done upon our Altars, where offering up himself daily, he fini­sheth the sacrifice of the Cross; and by a mystery worthy of his charity, he communicates not only the merits of his death, but the very victime that was immolated upon Mount Calvary. It bears the name of sacri­fice, not only because it finisheth that of the Cross, which precisely con­tains nothing but the killing of the sacrifice, but for that it exhibits all the marks of a true sacrifice.

For besides that it is the verity of the sacrifice of Melchisedeh, institu­ted by the High Priest, who hath commanded his Ministers to doe it in remembrance of him: We may say, without any offence to piety, that it hath more shew of a sacrifice, then that of the Cross, because it be­gins with Prayer, succeeds the eating of the Paschal Lamb as the sub­stance the shadow; contains an innocent victime; is instituted by words dedicated to sacrifices; and examining it seriously, we shall find the ob­lation of the victime, because there it is offered by the hands of the Priest; His mystical death, because immolated not by the knife, but by the Word of God; its perfect consummation, because in a glorious condition which rescues it from all humane miseries; and its communion, because taken [Page 298]into the bosome of God, Sacrificium corporis & san­guinis Christi successit omni­bus sacrificiis veteris Testa­menti quae im­molabantur in umbra hujus futuri. Aug. and the mouth of the Faithful. But though all these conditions should fail, it would be enough to say, that as the death of Jesus Christ, though but the killing of the victime, ceaseth not to be a true sacrifice; that of the Altar, though but the communion of the vi­ctim, ceaseth not to be also a true sacrifice; though to speak properly, both of them make but one perfect sacrifice, according to the true sense of those words of Saint Paul, Ʋna oblatione consummavit sanctificatos; and that one and the same Jesus is continually the victime, but in such different conditions, that they give occasion to Divines to make them pass for two distinct sacrifices.

The Ninth DISCOURSE. Of the difference between these two Sacrifices; and what the Christian receives in the one, and in the other.

THough it were very easie to demonstrate the wonderful resemblan­ces which are found between the sacrifice of the Cross and of the Altar; and without doing violence to Scripture, we might make it appear that one is the image of the other; that the same victime is immolated in Both; that the Eternall Father is equally honoured in Both, and that the Faithful receive thence like advantages: yet because things are illustrated better by their differences then their similitudes, and that which distinguisheth them from others is always more particularly theirs; I have designed this Discourse to unfold the oppositions Nature and Grace hath placed in these two sacrifices; Quod autem mortuus est peccato, mortuus est semel; quod autem vivit, vi­vit Deo. Ro. 6. which though one and the same thing in their ground and foundation, are notwithstanding different in their cir­cumstances; whereof the first is, that that of the Cross was never offe­red but once; and this of the Altar is offered every day.

For the right understanding of this difference we must know, that the sacrifice of the Cross is a sacrifice of Redemption; Qui non habet necessitatē quo­tidie quemad­modū sacerdotes prius pro suis delictis hostias offerre, deinde pro populi: hoc enim fecit semel se offerendo. Hebrae. 7. where the victime is charged with the sins of the world, satisfies for them by the infiniteness of his merits, appeaseth the Justice of the Eternal Father, and delivers men from the tyranny of the Devil. Inasmuch as all those things are no o­therwise performed then by the death of Christ, which cannot be repea­ted without a miracle; and the Glory whereinto he is entred, suffers him not to die a second time: Saint Paul tels us, that he redeemed the world by that one only sacrifice; The Priests of the Old Testament were bound to reiterate their sacrifices, because the merit of the victime was limited; [Page 299]and, to speak properly, were neither acceptable to God, nor meritorious for men, but because they were the Figures of Jesus Christ: But inasmuch as the Sacrifice he offered to his Father upon the Cross is of infinite me­rit, he need not repeat it; and having sufficiently expiated all the sins of the world, it had been useless to pacifie God who was no longer offended, and to satisfie for those faults which were already pardoned.

Thence it comes to pass that the Sacraments which exhibit the death of the Son of God, and are applicatory to us of their merit, imprint a Character upon us, and are never performed twice. Baptism is admini­stred but once, not onely because it is the Christians birth, which cannot be done over again, but also because it is the Figure of the death of Christ, which, according to the language of S. Paul, Sicut semel Christus mori­tur in Cruce, ita semel Christia­nus moritur in Baptismo. Aug. cannot be readministred without offence. Therefore is it that the same Apostle, condemning those that gave themselves over to sin, in hope to make an atonement by a second Baptism, said to the Hebrews, that they crucified again the Son of God, and that, contrary to his intention, and that of his Church, they would make him die twice in their person, who died but once in his own; Rur­sum crucifigentes sibimet ipsis Filium Dei, & ostentui habentes.

But inasmuch as the Sacrifice of the Altar is a Sacrifice of Religion, it must of necessity be repeated; and for the continual honouring of the Eternal Father, must continually be immolated in our Temples. Therefore is it that the Synagogue, which was the Figure of the Church, had some Sacrifices which were offered but once every yeer; nor had been offered but once at all, had they had the merit and value of that of the Cross: But there were others offered every day, which the Scripture for this rea­son calls Juge Sacrificium. The Church, which hath not less piety then the Synagogue, imitates and outgoes it in this point, because it offers a dai­ly Sacrifice, and never changeth the Victim. For 'tis always the same bo­dy she produceth and immolateth; that satisfying her love, she may ren­der an honour to God which ends not but with the world. Her Beloved, who hath inspired her with this desire, hath given her the means to put it in execution; she acts by the vertue received from him; she repeats his words, to repeat his miracles; she produceth upon the Altars him that produced her upon the Cross; she becomes the mother of him whose daughter she is; and, by a happie exchange, conceives in her chaste womb him that heretofore conceived her in his wounds. Thus this Sacrifice of Love is repeated every day; and the Victim being incessantly produced by the Priest, the Eternal Father is continually honoured.

The second difference is, that the Sacrifice of the Cross is General, and that of the Altar Particular. Upon the Cross the Son of God was offered up for the salvation of all men; his love is extended over all the Na­tions of the earth; he excludes no Condition from this universal benefit; he looks upon the Gentiles together with the Jews, he mingles the Guil­ty with the Innocent; and making no distinction of persons, dies as well [Page 300]for Slaves as for those that are Free, Ne existimes pro illa tantum­modo gente hanc hostiam offerri: propterea extra muros & extra civitatem occi­ditur, ut intelli­gas quoniam communis est hostia pro hu­mano genere ob­lata. Aug. and for the Poor as well as for the Rich. Therefore neither was this Sacrifice offered in the Temple, nor in the City of Jerusalem, that all people might know this favour was not particular; and the most desperately-wicked might pretend to it, since the first that felt the effect thereof were Theeves and Murtherers: But the Sacrifice of the Altar is particular; being instituted in the Church, it re­lates onely to the Faithful; its Merit, though infinite, reacheth not to strangers; excommunicated persons are banished from it, neither are the Catechumeni admitted: The wedding-garment is requisite for those that are received; and being a Feast as well as a Sacrifice, they must be the Friends of the Bridegroom that are partakers of it.

But the third and most notable difference is, that upon the Cross the Sacrifice was blended with Sacriledge; whereas upon the Altar it is alto­gether pure, attended with nothing that makes it not acceptable to God. It is one of the Miracles of Providence, to make wicked instruments ser­viceable to its designes, and to employ their very malice to the execution of its will and intendments. Joseph ows his Greatness to the Hatred of his Brethren; and their ill disposition, well husbanded by the conduct of heaven, made him sit upon the Throne of Egypt. That prodigie of Pa­tience, whose example comforts all that are miserable, is glorious by his very detriment; and had not the devil been permitted to afflict him, he would not be the wonder and astonishment of all the Righteous. The Martyrs were not admired by Christians but because they were persecuted by Tyrants; and had they not given proofs of their courage in the Con­flict, they never had triumphed with Jesus Christ in Glory. But that which most astonisheth me, is, that the very Passion of the Son of God was not effected but by the malice of men and devils; this Sacrifice is accompanied with a Sacriledge; and the holiest action of the world is shrowded under the appearance of a murder. In respect of the Son of God, there is no­thing more sacred then his death: 'tis the most illustrious testimony of his Obedience, the last office of his Piety, the greatest expression of his Love, and the most memorable action of his Life: There is no Creature that is not beholding to him for it: Men owe him their Salvation, the Angels their Crowns, the Elements their Deliverance, the Earth her Purity, and Heaven its Ornament and Glory.

If we consider this Death in respect of the Jews, we want words to express the horrour thereof with: It was the most unjust Sentence that ever was pronounced, the most shameful ignominious punishment that an Innocent ever suffered, the most execrable attempt that ever was pro­jected by Rebellious Subjects; in a word, the most abominable Parricide that ever was committed by unnatural Children. Comparing the motive of the Jews with that of Jesus Christ, we cannot say whether God was more honoured or more offended upon Mount Calvary, nor whether Na­ture conceived more horrour or compassion at the Tragedie. The Eternal [Page 301]Father was abundantly satisfied, Ibi Deus per malos quidem, sed tamen ipse bonus; per inju­stos, sed justus & juste: ita in eos vindicavit, ut perimerentur multa hominum millia, & ipsa civitas everte­retur. Aug. in Psal. 73. because in consideration thereof he for­gat his injuries and our sins, and consented that his enemies should become his heirs: But on the other side, he was mightily offended, because he discharged his wrath upon Judea, armed the Romanes against the Jews, sackt Jerusalem and his Temple; and, his just indignation not satisfied with so many miseries, persecutes to this day that vagabond and criminal Nation.

Nature imitates the minde of her Author; all her parts testified their Anger and their Pity: The Earth trembled, to swallow up the executioners in her fearful abysses; the Rocks clave asunder with grief; the Stars sunk into the Firmament, that they might not be the witnesses of this Parri­cide; the Sun was eclipsed, that it might not enlighten such prodigious wickedness; and whole Nature being not able to destroy them, endeavour­ed to die with her God that died for her. Thus Sacriledge was mixed with the Sacrifice of the Cross; the Father was Oftended even whilst he was Satisfied; and the whole world was scandalized by the crime of the Jews, at the same time when it was purified by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

But Sanctity is altogether spotless upon our Altars; there appears not that Medley which makes a confused mixture of Love and Hatred in our hearts; and the Sacrifice that is offered is no longer a Sacriledge to be de­tested: It is not Cruelty that makes Jesus Christ die, but Piety: 'Tis no longer a Crime, but an act of Religion to immolate him; neither is he of­fered by the hands of Executioners, but of Priests. The Father receives this Sacrifice with Pleasure, without Indignation; the Son presents him­self with Affection free from Sorrow; Nature beholds it with Respect and no Horrour; and Men partake of it Profitably and without Sin.

The fourth and last difference is, that the Sacrifice of the Cross me­rits all, and applies nothing; and contrarily, that of the Altar merits no­thing, and applies all. For the comprehending of this Truth, we must know, that General Causes are the sources of all things: nothing is pro­duced here belowe, that flows not from their fecundity: the very operati­on of Particular Causes is an emanation of their vertue. Did the Sun cease to shine, all things of the world would not onely cease to act, but also to subsist: this goodly Star maintains them with its aspects; and though he be not their Creator, he is in some sort their Preserver: But though he equally shed heat and light over all Creatures, yet must we confess some receive his influences more favourably, and apply them more faith­fully: With the Clouds he forms those Meteors which pleasantly ravish the eyes of the beholders; with dew he enamels the Flowers which serve for an ornament to our Gardens; with the Earth he produceth Gold and Iron, which Avarice and Cruelty employed to a hundred different uses: But did not these Causes that apply his power, weaken his vertue; and were there a Sun here belowe to receive his influences without confining them, [Page 302]all the world are of opinion he would produce far nobler effects, Virtus Causae generalis re­cipitur à causa particulari se­cundum suam agendi capaci­tatem. D. Tho. and that in stead of Roses and Lilies we should see nothing but Stars in our Walks and Gardens: But because he cannot act alone, and the Causes that ap­ply him debilitate his power, we behold nothing here belowe answerable either to his excellency or beauty.

What we see in Nature, we believe in Grace: General Causes produce all, but apply nothing; Particular Causes produce nothing, but apply all. The death of Jesus Christ is the Spring-head of all Merit: the Faithful can hope for nothing which is not acquired by that Sacrifice: Heaven is not so much the recompence of their Vertue, as of its Value: and if the quality of Members, which ties them to Jesus Christ as to their Head, did not give them part in his merits, they could not pretend to the inheritance of heaven. In the mean time, so powerful a Cause produceth nothing, if not applied: this fruitful Fountain sends forth no streams, if there be no Chanels disposed to receive them: Mors Christi Fons omnium bonorum, Sa­cramenta vero Rivuli. and this Star, which darts forth so much heat and light, makes neither flowers nor fruit grow up in the Church, if there be not some secondary cause which conveys its vertue to us. There­fore hath the Son of God instituted Sacraments in his Church, which hap­pily apply whatever he hath liberally merited for us upon the Cross: They are so many Pipes issuing his blood into our hearts, so many Suns carrying their influences into our souls: but they have this unhappiness in applying his merits, they weaken them; and not being capable of receiving all his vertue, neither have they the power of communicating it to us. Every Sacrament operates in us according to its particular condition. Baptism gives us our new birth; Sacramenta no­vae legis repre­sentant passionē Christi, à qua fluxerunt, sicut effectus repre­sentant causam. Hugo à San­cto Victor. Confirmation strengthens us; Repentance raiseth us; Ordination designes us to the service of the Altar; and, being second causes, they limit the vertue of this universal cause which they apply unto us. But the Sacrifice of the Altar, more happie and more powerful then the rest, applies the merits of the Cross without any limitation: It procures us all kinde of Graces, hath the power to produce and raise us, gives us life and strength, unites us to God, and takes us off from the world, weakens concupiscence and sin; and the Son of God finding himself ap­plied by himself, there are no wonderful effects which he cannot give a product to: There he merits nothing, because he is at the end of his Course, in the place of his Rest, and in the time of his Recompence; But he applies all, because, being equal to himself, he hath gained nothing by the Sacrifice of the Cross, which he cannot communicate by the Sacrifice of the Altar: Nothing can hinder his divine operations, but our Weak­ness or our Malice: for as he acts with Free causes without constraining them, we must lend him our Will for our Sanctification; that making him Master of our hearts, we may in some sort assist him to raign absolutely in his State, and prepare our selves worthily to receive at the Altar those Graces he hath merited for us upon the Cross.

The Tenth DISCOURSE. Of the Obligation the Christian hath to sacrifice himself to God.

SInce the Son of God hath united in his person the Humane Nature with the Divine, Deus erat, homo factus est, susce­pit humanitatē, non amisit divi­nitatem; factus humilis, mansit sublimis; natus est homo, non destitit esse De­us. Aug. lib. de quinq. haeres. cap. 5. and mastering the difficulties which stood in opposi­tion to the execution of so great a design, hath effected this admirable Master-piece, which accords baseness with greatness, misery with happi­ness; it seems he hath taken pleasure to conjoin in his person all those qualities which clash in others: so that we may say, he hath pacified all the differences that were in Heaven and in Earth. Indeed he is the Fa­ther and the Son of the Church; he produced her upon the Cross, and is produced by her upon the Altar: He is the Son and the Servant of his Father; he associates two qualities which appear incompatible in men; and tempering respect with love, teacheth us, that Gods being his Fa­ther, hinders him not from being his Soveraign: He is our Advocate and our Judge; having pleaded our cause, he pronounceth our sentence; and I know not whether it be a ground of fear or of confidence, in that we are assured that he that is entred into our obligations, is admitted also into the rights of his Father; and that one day he will punish those for whom he hath satisfied upon the Cross.

But if there be any qualities whose alliance ravisheth us in the person of Jesus Christ, we must confess 'tis that of Priest and Sacrifice: These two are so different among men, that nothing but a supream power, or an extream love, could unite them together. When the Synagogue would represent us with the Sacrifice of the Son of God in that of Isaac, it was obliged to separate the Priest from the Victime, and to arm the hands of the Father to immolate his only Son: In the mean time Jesus Christ unites them in his person; and in this adorable Sacrifice which he offers to his Father, whether on the Cross or on the Altar, he is both the Priest that consecrateth, and the Victime that is immolated. Inasmuch as Jesus Christ, saith Saint Augustine, is our God and our Temple, he is also our Sacrifice and our Priest: He is the Priest that reconciles us; he is the Sa­crifice whereby we are reconciled; and the same Doctor admiring the no­velties of the sacrifice of the Cross, expresseth his wonder by these words: The Altar of the Sacrifice is new, because the Immolation is new and admirable; For he that is the Sacrifice is the Priest; the Sacrifice, ac­cording to the Flesh; the Priest, according to the Spirit; and both, ac­cording [Page 304]to his Humanity: He that offereth, and he that is offered, is one and the same person, and these qualities which have so little analogy are found united in the sacrifice of the Cross.

Inasmuch as the Christian is the Image of Jesus Christ, and this glori­ous title obligeth him to transcribe his original, he ought to sacrifice him­self as he did, and to be both the Priest and the Oblation together. In­deed if we descend into the Mysteries of our Religion, and consider with the eye of Faith what we are not able to discover with the light of rea­son, we shall find that we are immolated upon the Altar with the Son of God, and that after his example, we are both the sacrificers and the sacri­fice: For Jesus Christ is not offered all alone in our Temples; he is im­molated by the hands of the Priests; and at the same time that he offers his natural body to his Father, he offers also his mystical body; so that offering himself to his Father by his Church, and offering his Church to­gether with himself, he teacheth all the Faithful to joyn the quality of Priests with that of Victimes.

This is it that Saint Augustine informs us of in his Book De Civi­tate Dei; Per hoc & sa­cerdos est ipse offerens, ipse & oblatio; cujus rei Sacramen­tum quotidianū esse voluit Ec­clesiae sacrificiū, quae cum ipsius capitis corpus sit seipsam per ipsū discit offerre. Aug. lib. 10. de Civit. ca. 6. where searching into our mysteries, he finds that the Church offers her self with her Beloved upon our Altars, and that in the same sacrifice she is both Priestess and Oblation: His words are too elegant to be omitted, neither must it be a less Doctor then he that must appear that Protector of so important a Verity. 'Tis particularly saith he, in unity that the sacrifice of Christians consists, where being many in num­ber we make up but one body with Jesus Christ; this is it that the Church daily does in this Sacrament, which is so well known to the Faithfull, wherein is demonstrated that in the Oblation she offers, she her self is offered, that after the example of her Beloved, she may be in the same sacrifice Priestess and Victime. From this passage may easily be inferred, that the Faithful are offered with Christ upon the Altar; that the Host that contains him is large enough to contain all his members; and that his mysticall body being immolated with his natural body, he obligeth all Christians to associate as he doth, the quality of Victime with that of a Priest.

But if leaving the Altar, we consider the Faithful in the course of their life, we shall see there is none but ought to sacrifice himself, and who either in his body or in his soul may not find Victimes to offer to God. There is no more need of providing Buls or Goats with the Jews to lay upon our Altars: The time of the Mosaical Law is past; truths have succeeded figures; and if we rightly understand the secret of our mysteries, Noli extrinse­cus thura com­parare, sed dic, In me sunt Deus vota tua; noli extrinsecus pecus quod mactes inquirere; habes in te quod occidas. Aug. in Psal. 51. it becomes us to offer those things these Animals represent. We have whereof to sacrifice within our selves; there is not any passion in our soul nor part in our body, whereof we may not make an innocent [Page 305]Victime. Indeed Christian Religion converting the sinner into a sacri­fice, obligeth him to immolate to God all that he is: He is deficient in the lawfullest of his duties, if his whole life be not a sacrifice; and being compounded of soul and body, he ought to sacrifice both, that he may have the honour to be a perfect Holocaust.

The vertues are auxiliaries which facilitate these means, and it seems these glorious habits are given us for no other end then to teach us to sacrifice to God all the faculties of our soul. Inasmuch as the will is the noblest, and this Soveraign being once perfectly gained over to God, gives him an absolute dominion over all the rest; there are some vertues which have no other employment but to be made victimes. Sorrow which discovers to man the excess of his crime, labours to convert him; it brui­seth his heart by the violence of a holy contrition; and if it can­not draw bloud from this sacrifice, it draws tears, which are more acceptable to God then the bloud of beasts. This made David say, that the spirit broken and afflicted, was a true sacrifice; and that he who sometimes refuseth Goats and Lambs, never despiseth a heart that Repentance and Humility offers up unto him; Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus.

Obedience comes in to the succour of grief; this beats down the pride of the will, masters that imperious faculty; and changing her tri­umph into a sacrifice, obligeth her to die to her own inclinations, that she may live to those of the Grace of Jesus Christ: But love happily finisheth this design; he burns the victime with his flames to render it an Holocaust; and finding the means to put to death an immortall pow­er, teacheth us, that a pure spirit may offer sacrifices to God: For there is no lover but knows that love imitates death, that he commits inno­cent murders; and by stratagems which himself is only privy to, makes sin die in us that Grace may live.

If the will become a Victim by means of Charity, the understanding is offered up to God by the intervening of faith; This vertue subjects it to her Empire, perswades truths she explicates not; she obligeth a man to suspend his judgement, to renounce his reason, and to give his senses the lye; she engageth him to offer as many sacrifices as she propounds my­steries; and by a power which would seem tyrannical were it not legiti­mate, forbids him the use of reasoning in matters of religion.

The memory after the example of the understanding, is immolated to God by remembrance and forgetfulness; These two different ways make two contrary sacrifices; This faculty calls to mind the benefits received from its Creator, and forgets the injuries received from Enemies: Be­tween these two exercises it is equally divided, and whatever outrage sin hath committed in our soul, she finds that the art of oblivion is harder then that of retaining or learning. 'Tis upon the first that the love of ene­mies is founded, which seems the most troublesome sacrifice of Ghristian [Page 306]Religion; and upon the other, acknowledgment or the action of thank­fulness, which is the justest duty of the creature towards his Creator.

Though the body be the least moity of man, yet is it not destitute of Victims which it furnisheth him with to appease God; and according to the different vertues that inform it, offers sacrifices which are little inferi­our to those of the minde. Repentance afflicts it a hundred severall ways; and this vertue no less austere then witty, invents every day new means to tame its rebellion, and of a disobedient slave to make a volun­tary sacrifice: Sometimes she punishes his boldness by fasting; sometimes abates his strength by watchings; sometimes lets him bloud by disciplines; sometimes tames his pride with ashes; Finally, by these divers artifices she lets us see, that a penitent is nothing but a man armed against himself, who offers a sacrifice of Justice, when he is more offended at his own sins then those of his neighbour: Repentance cals in Continence many times to her aid; for when this rebel resists grief, she forbids him the use of the most lawful pleasures; and depriving him of whatever he loves, makes a victim of him, which suffers the more, the slower his sorrow is, and his sacrifice more sharp and irksome.

But because the eye and the mouth are the most guilty parts of man, repentance obligeth the first to bewail his sins, changeth his fountain of flames into flouds of tears, compels this complice of impurity to become the Minister of sorrow, forceth this faithful Interpreter of the heart to betray it no more with his glances, and to be closed to all objects which might trouble his rest or pervert his good designs, she deals more impe­riously with the mouth; for seeing this is guilty of two contrary evils, and his silence is sometimes as criminal as his words, this part is condemned to two different punishments, sometimes being obliged to keep silence, sometims to speak: of his silence and of his discourse is composed one and the same sacrifice; The mouth is obliged to open in chanting forth the praises of its Creator; and having discharged this part of duty when the words are no longer answerable to the greatness of the subject, it hath recourse to silence, and by wonder and astonishment makes amends for those faults committed by too much liberty. This double sacrifice hath its value and its price; and the Scripture which tels us that God is pleased with praises, acquaints us also that silence, when arising from a great respect, is not unacceptable to him. By the first, we profess that he is the Authour of all perfections, that ours are derived from him; and because speech is an advantage we hold from his goodness, it ought to be consecrated to his honour: By the second, we tacitly confess, that as his Divine Es­sence cannot be known, neither can it be expressed; and that of all the ways we have to magnifie him by, silence is most agreeable to his great­ness and our humility.

After that man hath immolated his body and his soul, he is obliged to tender his goods, and to offer him a sacrifice of all that he possesseth: Alms [Page 307]and Poverty are his assistants in so pious a design; and these two vertues by different mediums arrive at the same end; for Alms parts goods with God, and looking upon Jesus Christ in the person of the poor, restores that to his indigence which he received of his bounty: 'Tis true in this point his meaning is much different from those that address themselves by way of sacrifice; for they when they offer a victim slay him at the Altar, to testifie that their presents are useless to God, because being the source of all good, nothing can be given him which he possesseth not in himself. But he that doth Alms hath this satisfaction, Noli contemne­re Christum in coelo sedentem, in terra egentē; veniet cum re­tributione, & vita aeterna, & igne aeterno. Aug. that his sacrifice is not unpro­fitable to Jesus Christ, because though he be happy in his person, he is in­digent in his members. Poverty out-bids Alms, despoils a man of all, is of the nature of the Holocaust, where he that sacrificeth reserving nothing to himself, gives all wholly to God: This forsakes not goods only, but the very desires also, renounceth all pretensions to the Earth, and not content to offer God what is in possession, bestows upon him whatever may be hoped for; so that this sacrifice being as large as Hope, we may say, it com­prehends all that this passion, which is boundless, promiseth the Ambitious or the Covetous.

Thus the Christian acquits himself of the promise he made in Baptism, and consecrating his soul by Charity, his body by Repentance, and his Ri­ches by Alms or Poverty, satisfies both his obligations and his promises: Ipse homo Dei nomini conse­cratus, & Deo devotus in quantum mundo moritur ut Deo vivat sacrificiū est. Aug. For Saint Augustine teacheth me, that he that dies to the world, to live to Jesus Christ, is a true sacrifice; when following the motions of Grace, he useth his body to the Glory of his Creator; striving to quench the fire of self-love by that of Charity, making his members servants to justice in be­ing serviceable to repentance, he becomes a sacrifice wel-pleasing to God, and may boast that in satisfying the duties of Christianity, he acquits him­self of the obligation of the sacrifice with which Christians can no way dispense.

The first DISCOURSE. That the Christian is the Image of Jesus Christ.

ALthough men are dignified by Qualities, being the marks either of their Birth or Desert; yet must we confess that they adde nothing to their Persons, nor imprint any Cha­racter upon their Soul or Body: They are fair illusions which pleasingly deceive us, Dreams that amuse men awake, Charms that inchant those that are in love with them. They owe their Lustre to our Blindness, their Grandeur to our Ignorance: For the highest dignities which so much disquiet the Ambiti­ous, are but the Errours of their Understanding, and the Idols of their Imagination: should we pare away from Great Personages the attendance of their followers, the pomp of their habits, and the magnificence of their houses, Magna Fortuna magna Servi­tus. Senec. we should finde their Charges meer Chimera's; and that which we call Fortune, nothing but a False Greatness, or a Real Slavery.

But inasmuch as the Qualities of a Christian are not the works of Va­nity, but such as imprint Characters, or produce effects in their souls, they are as solid as glorious; they raise men up to heaven, make them heirs of the Eternal Father, and brethren of his onely Son: Their greatness de­pends not upon the opinion of people; though they are unknown, they are notwithstanding honourable: sometimes Contempt augments their reputation; and the less splendor they bear amongst men, the more re­spect they finde with God. Therefore I should betray the honour of the Christian, if, having spoken of his Vertues, I should not speak of his Qualities; and, having described his Labours and his Sacrifices, I should say nothing of his Rewards and Recompences. True it is, that, as the parts of this work are mutually interwoven, and the remotest have secret links that unite them all together; in speaking of the Christians Birth I have handled his Noblest Qualities, and have made it appear, that he was [Page 309]the Brother and the Member of Jesus Christ, that he was the adopted Son of the Eternal Father, and the living Temple of the holy Ghost. In making the Elogie of his Vertues, I shewed that Faith made him a Belie­ver, Charity a Lover, Austerity of life a Penitent; so that having already spoken of these advantages, there remains onely to supply what is be­hinde, to compleat his Portraicture, which I cannot better begin, then in demonstrating in this Discourse that the Christian is the Image of Jesus Christ.

For the happier explaining of this Verity, we must know, that the Word is the Image of his Father, the Character of his Substance, Qui videt me, videt & Patrē. Joan. 14. the Express of his Greatness: He gives himself this Title in the Gospel, and teacheth his Disciples, that, in seeing Him, they see his Father in his person. Our Divines abound with Reasons of this Assertion, to prove that this Elogie is not unworthy of the Eternal Word, and that his being the lively Image of his Father, no way hinders his being equal with him. But, not to trouble my self in the proof of a Truth Faith obligeth us to believe, it is enough, with the great S. Athanasius, to let you see, that this Divine Image hath none of those defects which are inseparably incident to those of our Carvers and Painters: for, Existimavit Philo Judaeus prohibitas esse à Deo picturas, quia sunt men­dacia. the most exact Pieces that come from their hands are false, because they are not that which they represent; nor can all the industry of Art make them other then agreeable Illusions: Though they are Lyers, yet are they mute; painting cannot make them speak; and the highest commendation can be given them, is, to say that nothing but Speech is wanting to them: Lastly, they are dead: Art, less powerful then Nature, cannot inanimate them; what ever dexterity it useth, it cannot enliven them: they are children that expire in their very birth; and, could they speak, would complain of the rigour of their Pa­rents, who, in stead of making them Men, have made them onely Idols. Now this Image that so lively represents the Eternal Father, hath none of these imperfections: It is very far from a Lye, because it is so conformable to its Original, that 'tis as well his Truth as his Copie: It is not dumb, because it is the Interpreter of the Father, his Eternal Panegyrick, his sub­sisting Word, all whose works are so many expressions chanting forth the praises of their Authour: It is not dead, because it is the Fountain of Life, wherein the Creatures, before their birth, and after their death, live; and, by a perpetual Miracle, enlivens all those works it hath produced. Imago ista non falsa est, quia Veritas; non muta, quia Ver­bum; non mor­tua, quia Vita. Lib. de Incar. Verb. This is it which S. Athanasius saith with as much pomp of Eloquence, as Learn­ing and Piety: This Image is not mute, because it is the Word; not false, because it is the Truth; not dead, because it is Life.

This same Son, who is the Image of his Father, is by a necessary con­sequence the Idea of all the Creatures; they are all formed after this Di­vine Examplar; and according as they more or less participate of his like­ness, they are more or less noble in their nature: Men and Angels have no advantage above the rest, but because they are the Transcripts of this [Page 310]Idea, and others at most but the Footsteps thereof. The Scripture teach­eth us that Man was formed after this primitive Image, that he was made after the similitude thereof, and that in the very Creation he belonged not to the Father but by the mediation of the Son: This Greatness was the occasion of his Fall: for, sollicited by the devil, he was not content to be the Image of the Word, but would also be that of the Father, and pronounce these words, which are onely true in the mouth of the Son, Ego sum similis Altissimo. This Crime was the cause of his disaster: the Father, to revenge his Son, drove this Insolent, that had encroached upon his rights, out of Paradise; and reduced Him to the condition of Beasts, who had impudently aspired to the equality of his Word. So great a mis­fortune had utterly ruined us, without any hope of recovery, had not the Son of God, who was the Innocent occasion, been also the Charitable re­medy: For seeing that men were become guilty in striving to imitate him, that to revenge Him his Father had destroyed Them, he resolved, saith S. Bernard, Per me Pater recipiat quos propter me ami­sisse videtur; ecce, venio, & talem me eis ex­hibebo, ut quis­quis gesticrit imitari, fiat ei aemulatio in bo­num. Bern. to put himself in a condition wherein he may be securely imi­tated, and where the desire of being like him being no longer a Crime, is become a means to arrive to happiness. He was made Man, to serve for an Example to Man; he submitted himself to his Father, to teach them obe­dience; he was abased to the shame of the Cross, to teach them Humility; and he forgave his Executioners their putting him to death, to oblige them to pardon their enemies.

Therefore is it that S. Paul, discovering the secrets of Predestination, saith, that his designe is to render the Elect conformable to his Image, and to bestow Graces upon them, which, satisfying their desires, may make them, without committing a fault, like his onely Son. For this reason Tertul­lian says, that the same Eternal Father forming the body of the First man at the Creation of the world, Quodcunque li­mus exprimeba­tur, Christus co­gitabatur homo futurus. Tert. de resurrect. carn. was taken up with Jesus Christ; that the Slime represented him the Incarnation of his Word, and that, foreseeing the sin of Adam, he already provided him a remedy. It is true, then, that the Christian is the Image of the Son of God, that Nature and Grace obli­geth him to imitate this Pattern, and that his perfection consists in the likeness he may have to this Model. Let us see then what it concerns him to do that he may gain it, and afterwards we will consider the obligations so great an advantage requires at our hands.

Grace hath more analogie with Art then with Nature: For when this makes a man, at the same time she is busie about all the parts whereof he is composed: and, as if she were afraid to make them jealous one of another, she hollows the eyes when she bores the ears, and fashions the tongue as soon as the heart: But Art, less happie or less powerful then Nature, contrives her works successively: one while she makes a hand, and divides it into five fingers, whereby it becomes as useful as it is handsome; pre­sently it opens an eye, then the mouth; and effecting that at divers turns which it could not do at once, finisheth the Picture with much time and [Page 311]labour. Grace, imitating Art more then Nature, spends whole moneths to form Jesus Christ in our souls: In our Birth we are but rude draughts of the New man; our vertues are not acquired all at an instant; and whe­ther Grace finde resistance in our Wills, or Concupiscence combat her de­signes, she thinks her progress very considerable, if in a whole yeer she can enrich us with one vertue; and having spent much sweat to finish us, is obliged to say, by the mouth of S. Paul, Filioli, quos iterum parturio donec formetur in vobis Christus. She calls us little, to teach us that we are still growing; she puts us in minde that she still travels with us, that we may comprehend 'tis at divers passes that she brings us forth: she says she teems with us till Christ be again formed in our hearts, to perswade us that our production is not wrought in a moment; and, to make us the Images of Jesus Christ, she must successively employ the Lights of Faith, the Fervours of Charity, the Vigours of Repentance, and the Submissi­ons of Humility. For all this, it often falls out that the Christian is not perfect when he dies, that he is but a defective Image of the Son of God, and that there is need for the flames of Purgatory to supply the negligence of our labour and the weakness of our vertue.

Nevertheless, if he will, during his life, make use of a double address, and joyn two Arts together to express Jesus Christ in himself, he may make his designes happily succeed. Painting and Carving do both of them make Images; but the ways they take are extremely different: for the Carver useth nothing but the Chizel; he hews away whatever is superflu­ous in the Marble or in the Wood; it seems to search for the Statue in its matter, takes away that which covers it, strips it to enrich it, destroys it to perfect it; and removes the form of a tree, or of a stone, onely to give it that of a Man, or of a Beast. The Painter goes a quite contrary way: for he finisheth the Picture by laying Colour upon Colour, draws the Pencil a hundred times over his work, addes one dash upon another; and em­boldening bright Colours by dark ones, extends Fields, depresseth Valleys, raiseth Mountains, and does all those wonders which couzen our eyes, and ravish our understandings.

To the compleating of a Christian, and to form the Image of Jesus Christ in his soul, these two contrary arts must be associated, and the Sta­tuaries industry and the Painters dexterity joyntly imitated; Sculptoris Ar­tem imitetur Christianus; de­trahat quotidie quod sibi nocet, & quod Deo displicet. Hugo de sanct. Vict. he must eve­ry day lop off some imperfection, deface some bad habit, pare away some vitious inclination; and, as if he sought for the beauty of Grace under the rubbish of Sin, remove whatever seems to hide it from us: But at the same time we must imitate the Painter, adde vertue to vertue, joyn pati­ence to humility, heighten constancy by sweetness, mingle many good works together, and by that pleasing medley perfect the Image of Jesus Christ. The Pencil-must be sorted: with the Chizel; chop off, as-Carvers do, useless Pleasures, superfluous Riches, excessive Honours; and at the same time, like the Painter, adde the practise of vertue the exercise of [Page 312]good works, and the patient suffering of advesities.

Finally, the most excellent disposition is, so to engrave the Image of Jesus Christ in our heart, that nothing can blot it out: We draw figures upon the sand, but a little wind blows them away; we paint the water, but the least storm spoils our fancy; we cut in brasse and marble, and these characters stand the fury of time, and endure many ages. The I­mage of Jesus Christ meets with all these different subjects in Christians; sometimes 'tis formed upon souls that have no more consistence then the sand, or waves; the wind of temptation scatters the impressions of grace, and the least occasion makes them lose advantages they had received in the Sacrament of Repentance: There are others more constant which keep the form they have taken, who amidst the storms of grief preserve the character they bear; and more lasting then brasse, lose not in the flames what they have received from the Sacraments: If we are of this number, there remains no more to make us perfect, but to render to Jesus Christ the submissions are due to him from his Images.

The first is to depend upon his will, and to acknowledge, that as we hold our being from his power, so we expect the preservation thereof from his goodness. There are some pieces that survive the Artists that have wrought them, and having been made by mortal hands, cease not in some sort to enjoy a kind of eternity: There are other images which cannot subsist but by those that have given them their being; Our pre­sence produceth them in a Glass; our absence quite defaceth them, and they cease to live assoon as we cease to inanimate them: Ʋt in nobis quasi in quodā speculo Divinae bonitatis forma resplendeat. D. Leo. Christians are like these later Images; The presence of Jesus Christ is necessary for their preservation, and the Grace that produced them is the same that preserves and upholds them.

The second duty is to express him so happily, that he may be seen in our person, and that we may be taken for second Jesus Christs; For if a picture be good, it makes us know him it represents; we see the lineaments of his face, observe his behaviour, and discover his very humours: If the Christian be the Image of the Son of God, he must have his air, expresse his vertues, imitate his actions, and follow his motions.

The last duty of an Image, is to serve for the glory of him whom it re­presents; Could it speak, it would publish nothing but his praises, and would witness that being only his, it espouseth no other Interests but what are his. The Christian is bound to be of the same mind, because he is the Image of the Son of God; he ought to breath only after his honour, to act for his service, to speak for his glory; and as a Criminal whom the Prince hath pardoned, remains a living monument of his clemency: so a Christian whom Jesus Christ hath redeemed, is an inanimated picture of his mercy; nor ought to have any other design then by the lustre of his actions to manifest the goodnesse of his Divine Redeemer.

The Second DISCOURSE. That the Christian is a Priest and a Sacrifice.

LOve hath made the Son of God so liberal, that he possesseth no quali­ties which he communicates not to the Christians: If he be God by his Essence, we are by his Grace; if he be the Son of God by Nature, we are by Adoption; if he produce the holy Spirit from all Eternity, we produce him in Time; if he confer Grace in the state of his Father, we confer it in his; if he be Priest and Victim in his Sacrifice, we partake these two qualities with him; and the Church bears no Christians in her womb, who may not boast that in some sort they are both Priests and Victims. Gens sancta, re­gale sacerdo­dotium. 1. Pet. 2. The Scri­pture gives them this honourable title by the mouth of S. Peter; the Saints glory in the Apocalypse, that the Grace of Baptism hath made them Priests and Kings, Fecisti nos regnum & sacerdotes Deo & Patri: so that we cannot question this title, as not belonging to the Christian, unlesse we question the Authority of the Scripture; nor can we doubt that the Son of God hath honoured them with this Character, but we must withall doubt of his love or of his power.

Indeed the Fathers of the Church have professed, that the Christi­ans were Priests; that their Baptism was their Priesthood; Sacerdotium Laico um Ba­ptisma. Hieron. and that in this Sacrament which separates them from the world, they were conse­crated to Jesus Christ; Therefore doth the great Saint Hierome wri­ting against the Luciferians, honour the Laity with this title, and cals their Baptism their Priesthood. Saint Augustine is of the same mind; and though he was not ignorant of the difference between the Laity and the Clergy, he forbears not to style all Christian Priests, because their Name denotes their Unction, and their Grace makes them the members of the High Priest Jesus Christ.

And certainly, he that shall consider the employments of Priests, will find that they are common to the Laity; and though they have neither their character nor their power, they are with them admitted into the dis­pensation of the Sacraments. They may administer Baptism in case of ne­cessity, communicate the Grace they have received, and bring forth chil­dren to Jesus Christ: Though they are not raised to that pitch of digni­ty which makes the Priests Judges in the Tribunal of Repentance, and have not any Authority from the Son of God to remit sins; neverthelesse it hath sometimes fallen out, that the Faithful being not able to meet with a Priest, have confessed themselves to Laicks, and the Laicks have endea­voured [Page 314]to obtain Grace for them by means of Prayer, which in some sort supplies the vertue of Absolution. Saint Thomas authoriseth this custome, and exhorts Soldiers that enter into the field, Mariners that are surprised with a storm, not to neglect this remedy, and to fly to this kind of con­fession, when they want the ordinary one: He confirms the use thereof by his reasons, and tels us, that the sorrow and the humility Christians epxresse in this occasion, is not unprofitable to draw down upon them the Divine mercie.

The Laity in some sense may be said to sacrifice daily in our Churches; If they pronounce not the Sacramental words with the Priests, they joyn themselves with their intentions, and accompanying them with their vows, have a share in the producing of Jesus Christ on our Altars: For the Priests representing the whole Church in this Sacrament, they are the Syndics, or Proctors of the Faithful, acting in their name; they require their assistance, and conjure them to joyn with them in an action which equally concerns them all. All the words of the Masse confirm this truth; The confession which is common to Priest and people testifies that the sa­crifice is common; The oblation of the Host, wherein the Priest requires the attention and consent of the people, is an evident proof of the part they bear in it; the very Canon wherein the Priest treats in secret with God, where he interposeth the credit of the Saints that reign in Heaven, authoriseth this belief: For he speaks in the name of the Faithful, and even then when he offers this sacrifice in their behalf, testifies that he offers it with them, and that he is at the same time the Minister of Jesus Christ and of his Church.

Finally, Christians are Priests as we have said, because they are ordai­ned daily to offer up sacrifices; Perum Sacrifi­cium est omne opus quod agi­tur ut sancta societate haere­amus Deo. Aug. and according to the language of Saint Au­gustine, all vertuous actions are so many holy oblations which they pre­sent to the Eternal Father. He that sings with the Priest, offers the sacri­fice of praise; he that gives Alms to the poor, makes a sacrifice of his goods; he that is sorrowful for his sins, offers a sacrifice of his heart; and he that endeavours to wash them away by his tears, offers a sacrifice of his eyes: But not to reckon up all the actions of the Faithful, it is enough to say with the same Saint Augustine, that their whole life is a sacrifice, and that they begin to be Priests assoon as they begin to be Victims.

These two qualities were inseparable in the person of Jesus Christ; he bare them from the very first moment of his Incarnation; and assoon as ever he held the language of a Priest, A Domino Deo missus Christus sacerdos noster, assumpsit à no­bis quod offerret Domino, ipsas primitias car­nis ex utero virginis. Aug. he had the dispositions of a Vi­ctim: He began his sacrifice with his life; he offered himself to his Fa­ther in the chast womb of his Mother; and having received that Divine Unction, which constituted him High Priest, he protested that he would be a publick Victim; He finished upon the Crosse what he had projected before his Birth; and joyning these two qualities in his Death, taught us, that we should not separte them during our life: Therefore are all Chri­stians [Page 315]obliged to be Victims, and after the example of Jesus Christ, they ought to find in their person the subject of their sacrifice: They have no remainders of Adam, which may not happily be subservient to this de­sign: Whatever they hold of this wretched Father, ought to be consu­med by the flames of Justice or those of Charity; Purgatory will burn that which the fire hath not; and Heaven finishing what these two had be­gun, w [...] reduce the Victim to an estate where nothing will appear in it which is displeasing to God.

But in expectation of this happy houre, they must begin their sacrifice here; and by little and little destroying what is contrary to Grace, make Holocausts of all their inordinate inclinations; For we learn from Ori­gen, that though we are no longer under the Law of Moses, we are not dispensed with for sacrificing; but as the Law of Grace is the accomplish­ment of the other, we ought to immolate all those passions that were re­presented to us by the Beasts they slaughtered at the foot of the Altar: We satisfie this duty when we set upon our criminal affections, and full of zeal and courage we endeavour to stifle them. We immolate a Bull when we tame our pride, and labour to kill this sin that gives life to all o­thers; we sacrifice a Goat when we quench the lustful flames of impurity, and by a divine fire mortifie this infernal one, which devours all vertues; we slay a Ram when we subdue our anger, disarm this seditious passion, calm this raging sea, and manacle this fury which troubles the tranquilli­ty of our mind; we offer Pigeons and Turtles, when we banish those vo­latile inordinations which divert us from piety, and engage our minds in the affairs of the world.

But if we have subjected our passions to the dominion of reason, and by a happy barrenness the Earth of our Intellectual part breeds no mon­sters which we may offer up to God; we must seek into our body, and of our members make innocent sacrifices: For the great Apostle of the Gen­tiles teacheth us, that we are obliged to offer our bodies a lively sacri­fice, and to pacifie the anger of Heaven by a holy oblation acceptable to him, Ʋt exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem; as if he would say, that we ought to die to sin, that we may live to Grace; and the members which have served heretofore to the tyranny of Concupiscence, may now become serviceable to the lawful power of Charity: or, he would advertise us, that if in the Old Testament only dead Victims were offered up to God, in the New we must offer up living ones; and that mortifica­tion working in the Christian what death did in the Beasts, we must joyn the two sacrifices together, and accord death with life to satisfie the Di­vine Justice: Thus the whole exercise of a Christian is to make war upon their bodies; and to gain victories over themselves, they vanquish their enemies in facrificing their members, and they may boast that in offering sacrifices to God, they erect trophies to themselves.

In consideration of these Truths, me thinks we may say with Origen, [Page 316]that all the faithfull are Victims, and that in the difference of their con­ditions, they agree in this common quality: If any thing distinguish them, 'tis the degree of their love, and the perfection of their Sacrifice. The Apostles, saith He, were the first Victims, because they forsook all to follow their Master; and having given him their heart by Charity, their spirit by Faith, their goods by Poverty, they moreover consecrated their bodies by the Repentance of their life, and by the cruelty of their death: The Martyrs immediately succeed them, because having a long time la­boured by Grief, at last they have perfected their sacrifice by Martyrdom. The Virgins hold the Third place, because they triumph over their bo­dies, tame a hundred severall ways this domestick Enemy, and not con­tent to consecrate him by purity, borrow the assistance of pennance, to mortifie him by contrition; The Continent and the Married follow these close; and if in their sacrifice they destroy not the Victim, they put it at least in a condition, that it no more rebels against the Sacrificers, and where it expects with patience for death, Castitas & vi­duitas de bonis carnis Deo ado­lentur. Tertul. to finish that which Continence hath begun: Tertullian was much of this opinion, when he said, That our bodies furnished us with Victims as well as vertues; and that Fasting. Silence and Chastity were fruits of this Tree, which might be gathered to make an offering for Jesus Christ.

For though the Body be the least part of man, 'tis not the most unpro­fitable; its imperfections are advantageous to us; its rebellions serve us for Tryals; and Grace, which is ingenious, turns the most part of its miseries into remedies. The infirmities which trouble its health, help our Sacrifice; and the diseased person that suffers his afflictions patiently, is a victim: who though not innocent, is notwithstanding well-pleasing to Jesus Christ. Poverty which strips us of superfluities, or of necessaries, which reduceth us to the condition our Birth found us in, and whither Death will bring us, is a sacrifice which gains us as much merit, as it pro­cures us inconvenience.

Nay, Death it self, which seems the eldest daughter of sin, who shews all the horrours of her father upon her countenance, is not so much the destruction, as the sacrifice of our Body: she imitates the severity of fire and sword: she, she alone does what the knife and the pile of wood som­times did; and reduceth the victim to ashes, having deprived it of life: she serves for the Divine Justice and Mercy together: Deficit homo ad Gloriam, mori­tur a [...] vitam, perit ad salutē, & mors per Christum com­mendatio facta est Charitatis. Chrysost. she prepares the body for Immortality; nor despoils it of corruption, but to apparell it with Glory. This is it that imprints so violent a desire of Death in the hearts of the faithful; which makes them in the midst of their prosperity call her in to their assistance, and wish, that comming to end their life, she may come to perfect their sacrifice: For it seems she hath changed Na­ture since Jesus Christ consecrated her in his person; she is like those waters that take the taste and colour of those Minerals through which they pass; she hath lost all her gastliness, and hath some secret beauties which be­get [Page 317]love in the soul of all Saints. She that led us to the gates of hell, lifts us up to heaven: she that was the mother of shame and sadness, is now the mother of joy and glory: she that filled us with despair, buoys us up with hope: she that established the Empire of sin, destroys it: in a word, she that was the Chastisement of our Crime, is now the Sacrifice of our Love.

For this end have all the greatest Saints made the Panegyrick of death: they have rendered thanks to the Divine Justice that inflicts a punishment upon us which shortens our misery, and advanceth our happiness, which separates us from the world, and unites us to Jesus Christ; and under a false appearance of rigour, delivers us from the dangers that threaten us, the griefs that torment us, and the sins that tyrannize over us. This made that famous Penitent say, He was just that expected death, but he was ho­ly that desired it. Finally, this drew that Elogie out of the mouth of S. Paul: for, considering the advantages which he promised himself by death, how that it would unite him to Jesus Christ, he called it, by a new name, his Gains and his Riches; it enters into his minde as the recompence of his travels, an indempnity for his losses, and the most assured purchase he could make in this world: Mihi vivere Christus est, & mori lucrum.

Thus every Christian may easily become a Victim, because death is a favourable occasion; and being well managed, may serve to expiate our sins, to satisfie the Divine Justice, and to imitate the charity of Jesus. But the misfortune is, that Love is wanting in this Sacrifice; and, holding a lan­guage far different from that of Isaac, we are obliged to say, We finde the Sacrifice, but there is neither knife, nor fire to consume it. Indeed, all men die, but few Christians make good use of their death; and there are none but the Elect, who, turning it into a Holocaust, know so well how to use it, that it opens them the gate of heaven.

The Third DISCOURSE. That the Christian is a Souldier and a Conqueror.

THe God whom we adore takes his Glory as well from War as from Rest; and if he be called in Scripture the God of peace, he is as often called the Lord of hosts: His Angels are the souldiers that wait upon him to the Battel, who avenge him of his enemies; Numquid est numerus mili­tum ejus! the Stars, which keep watch as Sentinels about his Palace, bear the name of the Militia in the language of the Prophets; Militia coelo­rum: and all those that serve him for Ministers in his Embassies, serve him [Page 318]for Combatants in his Conquests. Therefore did the Angels who gave no­tice to the Shepherds of the birth of Jesus Christ, take their name from their principal employment, and called themselves the heavenly Host, Multitudo Militiae coelstis: and when the Son of God was taken in the garden of Olives, and blamed Saint Peter, who would have hindered the work of our Salvation, he told his disciples that it was easie for him to ask of his Father legions of Angels to defend him from his enemies.

Men are considered under this quality upon earth; the holy Scripture calls them Souldiers; and if we believe the testimony of Job, their whole life is a continual warfare: They have as many Enemies as Subjects: Re­bellion is spread over every corner of their State; the parts whereof they are composed, are revolted; and, which way soever they turn themselves, they finde occasions of Fighting. Christians are yet more obliged to War then Men: the Sacrament, that enables them, withal engageth them into the combat: Labora sicut bo­nus miles Christi 2 Tim. 2. Nemo corona­bitur nifi vice­rit, neque vincet n si certaverit: quis autem cer­tet, nisi inimicū habeat? Ex Sent. Prosp. The Earth is the Field where they try the Mastery; and these terms of a List, a Crown, a Souldier, which S. Paul so often useth in his Epistles, are so many proofs of so known a Truth: The Church it self is an Army, the Christians whereof it is formed are the Souldiers; and the Scripture describes her in arms in these words, Terribilis ut Castrorum acies ordinata.

Wherein it seems we may behold the difference between a Camp and a City: Both of them are Bodies which have their Head and Members, their Laws and Policie, their designes and employments: But in Cities we observe a pleasing variety of conditions equally contributing to their advantage and beauty: There we see Priests, who chant forth the prai­ses of God in his Temple, who load his Altars with offerings; and mix­ing their tears with the blood of the Victims, endeavour to appease his just indignation: There are Magistrates which end Controversies, main­tain Peace among the People, and make Justice raign in Families: There are Merchants which traffick with strangers; who, by their Com­merce, occasion Plenty, and by their diligence supply all necessities. But difference of condition seems to be banished from Armies: as all fight, so all are souldiers: those that command, and those that obey, bear this qua­lity, and both of them place their glory in their valour. Therefore the Church being an Army, those it consists of must necessarily fight: the most feeble must be courageous; the women must be Amazones; and all Christians, forgetting the difference of their conditions, must take upon them the quality of Souldiers.

Enemies will not be wanting to exercise their courage, because the World, the Flesh and the Devil hold intelligence to set upon them: For the Christians war is at home; whatever he hath received from Adam, is an occasion of exercising him; and, for a punishment of his sin, he is ob­liged to fight with himself. The Flesh is never at agreement with the Spi­rit; these two parties have always some difference to compose; and though [Page 319]linkt together by natural chains, and common interests, cease not continu­ally to make war upon one another: They are two friends that usually fall out, and two enemies that caress each other; two friends that shake hands, and two enemies that make mutual visits; two friends that can­not endure one another, and two enemies that can never be asunder. This division is the first punishment of our sin: and when we began to be up­on ill terms with God, we ceased to have any good correspondence with our selves.

But that which seems most troublesom, is, that one Combat furnisheth us with many enemies: for, as S. Augustine saith, we daily fight in our heart; in such a little room we finde whole armies; and sometimes we grapple with Avarice, sometimes with Pride, sometimes with Impurity: so that 'tis very hard, being set upon by so many enemies, if we receive not some wound: This Combat is obstinately disputed: if there be some Truce, there is no real Peace: it lasts till death; and if soul and body be not separated, it is impossible to make them friends: The Senses bring us false reports, the Passions raise storms, our Inclinations set up a party; and, to defend us from so many enemies, we are obliged to borrow the assistance of Vertue. Every Age hath its exercise: Infancy is oppressed with Errour and Ignorance, Youth is baited with Ambition and Wanton­ness, Old-age is clogged with Anger and Peevishness; so that there is no condition but hath need of Grace, to defend it from those enemies that set upon it.

The Devil takes part with the Body to destroy us, employs his wiles or his force to terrifie or seduce us; he mingles himself with our Humours, disorders our Passions, troubles our Temper; and, as if he were the So­veraign of Man, as well as the Prince of the World, he deboists our Subjects, to disquiet our Rest. Sometimes he takes upon him the shape of a Lion, and sometimes that of a Serpent, that using subtilty and vi­olence, he may gain some advantage upon us: He studies our inclinati­ons, to destroy us; suits himself with our humours, to surprise us; and, regulating his promises according to our desires, propounds Honours to us if ambitious, Riches if covetous, Pleasures if wanton: He perswades us that our Revenges are just, our Inclinations reasonable, and our Recre­ations innocent; and hiding Vice under the mantle of Vertue, hinders us from reforming or defending our selves. To secure us from so redoubted an enemy, who sets upon us so many different ways, we must oppose our Prudence against his Cunning, our Patience against his Fury: we must countermine his Stratagems, penetrate his Intentions, and discover the hook which lies under the sugar'd bait: we must also bless the Justice of God, who exerciseth us by the cruelty of this Executioner; put our con­fidence in his goodness, and remember that in this Conflict we can over­come onely by suffering.

Having obtained this victory, we must arm our selves against the [Page 320]world, which is the most dangerous enemy the Christian can have: He set upon Jesus Christ in his birth, and being true to his Tyrant, knew not his lawful Soveraign even then when he came to be his deliverer; In mundo erat, & mundus eum non cognovit: He persecuted him during his life, nor lost any occasion wherein he might doe him a mischief; Mundus me odit: He conspired his death with the Devils, and expressing himself by the mouth of the Scribes and Pharises, charged him with ca­lumnies before the Tribunal of Pilate, cast fear into the soul of that cow­ardly Judge, and forced him to condemn a man whom he acknowledg­ed innocent. Therefore neither had Jesus Christ any commerce with the world, he protested he had nothing to doe with it, Ego non sum de mundo; and that contrary his to maxims, he could neither approve nor suffer it: He would not so much as pray for it, when he prayed for his ex­ecutioners, Non pro mundo rogo: He boasted in the presence of his Apo­stles, that he had subdued this rebel, and defeated this enemy, Confidite, ego vici mundum; Finally, he promised his Disciples, that he would de­stroy the world in the dreadful day of his vengeance; so that professing to imitate the Son of God, we are obliged to hate what he never loved, and to defend our selves from a Traitor, who employs lying, grief, and pleasure to gain us to his party.

He tries to deceive us, that so he may corrupt us; he sets up Maxims which under a pretence of maintaining society, introduce Libertinisme a­mongst men; he makes debauches passe for recreations, revenge for great­nesse of courage, Duplicem aciem mundus producit coutra milites Christi; blandi­tur ut decipiat, minatur ut frangat; ad u­trosque aditus occurrit C ri­stus, & non vin­citur Christia­nus. Aug. de sanc. vinc. impurity for a lawful affection: If he cannot seduce us, he goes about to terrifie us, casts pannick fears into weak souls, makes them apprehensive of grief or infamy; perswades a young man that chastity is a blemish to his reputation; a woman that modesty spoils the lustre of her beauty; a Gentleman, that the forgetting of injuries damps his courage; and being a Tyrant, makes use of fear to keep his Subjects in obedience: But when he meets with generous souls, who reject his Maxims, and contemn his Threats, he hath recourse to pleasures, and employs charms to soften the obdurate: This last battery is the most to be feared, because the sweetest; This is it that enervates the Sampsons, ma­sters the Davids, and triumphs over the Solomons: Engageth these great men in a lye by blinding them, terrifies them by making them Cowards; and breeding fear in their hearts with love, causeth them to apprehend the losse of those things he makes them passionately affect. He lays before their eyes whatever may allure them; makes pleasure enter in at their senses; and forgetting no artifice to render wickednesse agreeable, wi­dens his Empire, and encreaseth the number of his Subjects.

If we be Christians indeed, we must combat this enemy, oppose the Maxims of the Gospel against his falshoods; destroy error by truth; & pro­test that being the subjects of Jesus Christ, we acknowledge no other Laws but those of his Church: To evacuate those terrors wherewith he shakes [Page 321]our courage, we must discern true honour from false, fixe our glory in our duty; and remember, that the true Disciples of Jesus Christ, ought always to prefer vertue before honour, and conscience before reputati­on. To defend us from the pleasures the world tempts us with, we must look upon their end, and represent the shame and grief that never for­sakes them: Finally, we must beg Grace of Jesus Christ, who hath o­vercome the world; that assisted with his favour we may vanquish his enemies with all the errours wherewith he would seduce us, the fear wherewith he would astonish us, and the pleasures wherewith he would enchaunt us.

For it is not enough for the Christian to be a soldier, if he be not al­so victorious; his condition is more painful then that of soldiers: For though these are the Victims of Glory and of Death, that for a little pay they expose themselves to a thousand dangers, they are not respon­sible for the successe of the battle; and provided they lend their heart and hand to their General, there is nothing more can be expected from their valour. But the Christians are such soldiers as must be victorious, 'tis not enough that they fight, they must win the field, they must over­come here, if they mean to-reign with Christ hereafter: 'Tis true, he hath this advantage over all other Captains, he inspires courage into his soldiers, and gives them victory who engage in the combat; so that 'tis their fault if they be defeated, and the glory of their Commander if they remain Conquerours: Their birth obligeth them to this duty; for the Scripture teacheth us, Omne quod na­tum est ex Deo vincit mundū. Joan. 16.5. that those that are born of God overcome the world; that Grace which contains Glory in the seed, is able to pre­serve them from sin; and that leaving them to the spirit that inanimates them, they remain impeccable in his hands: S. Bernard is of this mind, and will have their victory over temptation a certain proof of their adop­tion.

The vertues themselves they have received at their Baptism, are helps which facilitate the defeat of their enemies; For faith is not only their strength but their victory, and renders them as well Conquerours as Soldiers; Hope heightens their Courage, and giving them the Almighty for their Second, makes them gain as many Victories as they fight Bat­tails. Charity that finds nothing impossible, which measures its power by its courage, and more prevalent then death, overturns whatever re­sists it, inspires them with so much force, that they vanquish all griefs, and master all difficulties: But if there be any vertue that renders them invincible, we must confesse 'tis their despoiling themselves of the goods of the Earth; For Satan never catcheth us but by those things that en­gage us; he seduceth only by those things that please us, and when self-denial hath perfectly separated us, they lose the boldnesse to set upon us, and the hope of overcoming us. Therefore doth S. Augustine admirably conclude, that he that only loves that good which cannot be taken from [Page 322]him is truly invincible: and Seneca founded upon the same principle had reason to say, that Alexander was vanquished by Diogenes, because he found a Philosopher to whom he could give nothing, and from whom he could take nothing away.

Indeed the ambitious are not subdued, but because they are afraid to lose their honour; the immodest are not gain'd, but because they have a mind to preserve their love; nor are the covetous engaged in injustice, but because they cannot resolve to part with riches. But the Saints who are wedded only to God, laught at Tyrants and Devils; and cruelty being not able to ravish from them what they love, they happily associate the quality of Conquerour with that of a Soldier. Let us adde, that the believer is invincible, if he be perfectly united to Jesus Christ; our strength depends upon this union, and when the Devil breaks the secured bonds, he hath an advantage against us. He defeated us in the person of Adam; he vanquished all men in one; he gain'd a hundred victories in one duel: But he hath lost all his advantages against Jesus Christ; in him we are Conquerours; and as S. Augustine saith, his victory would not be perfect if he did not still conquer the world in his members: Let us therefore unite our selves to him, that we may be invincible. When we feel the solicitations of the flesh or the Devil, and these two Tyrants con­federate together endeavour to over-power us, let us implore the assi­stance of our Head, and nothing presuming upon our own abilities, but pro­mising our selves all from his Grace, render the honour to him of whom we hold the victory.

The Fourth DISCOURSE. That the Christian is a King and a Slave.

THough the Christian be a Conquerour, he ceaseth not to be a slave; and though he be called to Liberty, he finds himself engaged in a happy servitude, which subjecting him to his Soveraign, raiseth him above all creatures: For as in the state of Jesus Christ, grief is the mother of pleasure, and humility the midwife to greatnesse, servitude begets liberty, and to be truly free, we must be Christs bond-men: All the Saints were of this belief; and whilst they lived upon the Earth, they have been proud of those chains the love of God loaded them with. Saint Paul makes it his boast that he was the slave of the Son of God; he many times pre­fers this quality before that of an Apostle; and he had rather be known by his Chain then by his Preaching. The Blessed Virgin makes her apo­logy from this advantage; and being chosen by the Eternal Word to be [Page 323]his Mother protests, she will be his Handmaid; and that the dignity wherewith she was honoured, shall never make her leave the affections of a servant, Ecce Ancilla Domini: But because there are many conditions of Servitude, it is fit to take notice of them in this Discourse, and to see what sort that of the Christians ought to be.

The first is founded in Nature, we bear the Character of it in our very essentials, we are Gods Vassals, because we are his Creatures; there is no Greatness can give us a dispensation from this Thraldome: Kings are obedient to his will, their hearts are in his hands; and as there is in every thing a secret obedience, which maugre the proper inclination sub­jects it to the power of the Creator; so there is in every man a naturall submission, which without violating his Liberty, makes him stoop to the command of the Almighty. The second Servitude somewhat different from the former, is a forced subjection, making Caitiffs obey their Sove­raign, even whilst they resist him; to follow his Ordinances whilst they contemn his laws; and to be serviceable to his Justcie, when they would not be wrought upon by his Mercy. The third is a Servitude arising from fear, which makes slaves more sollicitous after their own interest, then the glory of their Master, and are more apprehensive of the punishment then of the sin. These slaves are guilty in his eyes, who reads their souls; if their hands or mouth be Innocent, their heart is Criminall, and if they commit not the act of sin, they preserve the desire of it in the inmost recesses of their Will. The fourth and last Servitude is voluntary, be­cause amorous; these slaves love their master, Boni servi su­mus quande ip­sum qui jubet diligimus nec aliud in nostra servitute com­modum quaeri­mus, quam ut ad ipsum perve­nire valeamus. August. and seek nothing but his Glory; whatever pleaseth him, is agreeable to them; all his commands seem easie: and having no other inclinations then his, finde their happi­nesse in their bondage: Thence it comes to passe that it is profitable, glo­rious, welcom, accompanied with none of those conditions that make sla­very painfull.

Slaves labour not but for their master; they till the ground, but reap not the fruits; they plant vineyards, and drink not of the wine; they suffer much pain, and another tastes the pleasure: They are not as wives called in to a community of Goods, they are not as Children admitted to share in the inheritance; and by a misfortune which seems to violate all the Laws of Nature, they neither dispose of their estate nor of their persons: But the slaves of the son of God finde riches in their servitude; their Master adopting them for his children, makes them his Heirs, and before he gives them his Glory for their Portion, gives them the disposall of the Earth for Assurance: For these Great Saints who may be called the Royall slaves of the son of God bear rule in his State; The sun riseth only to enlighten them, the Earth is fruitfull for no other end but to nou­rish them; Kings reign to be their Conductors; Tyrants are their perse­cutors, only to exercise them; and whole Nature travels for their glory and their salvation: The seasons respect their Commands, diseases obey [Page 324]their words, these animated Nothings which being the works of sin, should not in reason acknowledg their power, are subject to their Empire; and the Miracles these work in the world, are proofs that their service puts them in possession of all the goods of their Master. Ʋnus est sapiens cujus omnia sunt, nec ex dif­fic li tuenda; quemadmodum. Dii immortales regnum inermes regunt; ita hic officia sua quamvis la [...]issi­me pateant sine tumultu obit. Senec. 7. Bene. cap. 3. They are in deed what the Stoicks Wise man never was but in speculation; All things be­long to them without injustice, they keep them without disquietness; they are not obliged to send Lieutenants into remote Provinces, nor to main­tain Garisons upon the Frontiers to stop the incursion of Enemies; They govern without arms and souldiers, and which way soever they turn their eyes, they may without vanity utter these words: Whatever we see is ours; and though we leave the propriety to particular persons, we cease not to enjoy the soveraignty with God.

But we need not wonder if these slaves are rich, because they are free; and that the same quality which instates them in plenty, puts them in­to liberty. Man is so free that he cannot be compell'd; Sin that deprives him of Grace, robs him not of his Liberty; and into whatever condition he throws himself, is still his own Master. It is true, that according to the language of Saint Paul, he becomes the slave of sin, and free from Grace when he becomes Guilty; and on the contrary, free from sin, and the fervant of Grace when justified: Although in these two states so opposite, Liberty is always mixt with Servitude; St Thomas and St Augustine, Ma­sters with whom we cannot easily mistake, teach us, That in the state of sin there is a reall Thraldome, and a false Liberty, because man departing from God, wanders from his duty; and subjecting himself to his passions, is a slave in earnest, and free only in appearance: On the contrary, there is a reall liberty in the state of Grace, and an apparent servitude, because Man does what he will, in that he does what he ought: that he is free because reasonable, and master of himself, because the slave of Jesus Christ. This is it that the Word Incarnate had a minde to teach us with his own mouth, when he said, We should be free indeed, if the Son made us free; and this is it that Saint Augustine would have us understand by those excellent words; We were the slaves of self-love, and now that we are made free, we may boast that we are the Slaves of Charity: Nei­ther is there any Divine that does not acknowledg, that our will is never more free, Omnia propter Electos. then when she is most submitted to God; and, that true Li­berty is the recompence of so happy a Bondage: I may well give it this name, because it produceth Glory, and that all the slaves of the son of God are Soveraigns.

But that we may rightly conceive of the Greatnesse of this Priviledg, we must remember that Servitude is the daughter of Sin, that men were not slaves till they became Guilty, and that Nature which laboured to equal their Conditions, is not she that created this shamefull difference, which distinguisheth them one from another. They were all Kings before their Defection, Innocence was the character of their Royalty; and as long as [Page 325]they were the Images of God, they were his Vicegerents in the world; But sin that deprived them of Grace, ravish'd from them their Liberty, gave them as many Masters as they have bad inclinations; and making this misfortune passe from their person into their estate, many times impo­sed Tyrants over them, under a colour of constituting lawfull Sove­raigns.

We had for ever remained in this shamefull Bondage, had not the son of God, who draws our salvation out of our fall, made us recover Li­berty by Servitude: For Grace bringing us in subjection unto his will, hath put all Creatures under us; his love subjecting our soul to his Empire, hath made us the Masters of our Body: this insolent slave is is become obedient; and as it revolted not against the soul, but because the soul was revolted against God; it returned to its duty, as soon as she betook her self to her respect; and acknowledged his Soveraign, as soon as she acknowledged her Creator. Thus our Rule is founded upon our submission, our Liberty established upon our vassalage, and we command our Body, because we obey our God. Vis serviat ani­mae tuae caro tua? Deo serviat anima tua; de­bes regi ut pos­sis regerc. Aug. This is it that Saint Augustine ex­presseth so handsomly: When the soul is the servant of God, she is the Mistresse of the flesh; when Reason is subject to Grace, she is the queen of Passions, and reduceth these rebels to obedience; so that the most assured means to re-enter upon our ancient Priviledges, is to submit to God, and to seek our greatnesse in our debasement.

The Son of God hath furnished us with a rare Example in his Life; he ascended not to Glory, but by the ladder of humility: He was content to be his Fathers servant, before he would be adored as his Son; and in heaven it self where he raigns with him, he still retains this humble de­portment. Saint Paul teacheth us, that he wisheth not the accomplish­ment of his mysticall body, but that he may be subject to his Father, Cum autem subjecta fuerint illi omnia, tunc ipse filius crit subjectus ei. 1 Cor, 15. ha­ving subjected all things to himself; It seems he chose the Virgin for his mother, because she was devoted to the service of the Altar, and had protested that she would eternally remain the servant of the Lord: He boasts of it by the mouth of a Prophet: he will have all the world know, that his service is founded upon his birth, and that he is the slave of the eternall Father, because the Son of his handmaid. Ego servus tuus & filius Ancillae tuae.

Humane Laws acknowledge three sorts of Slaves: The First, Servi sunt alii à Conventione, alii à fortuna, alii à natura. Arist. 2. Poli. those that sell themselves, and, to gain a small livelihood, engage their Liberty, and become Slaves, to enrich their friends or children: Others are those that Fortune throws into Fetters, whom the loss of a Battel subjects to the mercy of the Conqueror, and, according to the Laws of War, become the prisoners of their enemies: The Last are those who are born of slavish parents, and who seem to have less reason to complain, because their servi­tude preceded their Birth, and Nature conspired with Fortune to deprive them of their Liberty: The Son of God was pleased to be of this num­ber; [Page 326]he desired his Thraldom might be natural, Partus sequitur ventrem. and that the same mother that made him a Man, might make him his Fathers Servant: and we can­not deny that he is liable to this condition, because all Laws ordain that the Childe is of the same quality with the Mother: It seems she had in­spired him with this desire, in giving him a being; and that at the same time she conceived him, she imprinted in his soul the minde of a Slave.

The Naturalists assure us that Mothers have so much power over the bodies of their children in the moment of conception, Matres dum concipiunt, foeti­bus desideriorū signa quaedam inurunt. Plin. that they express upon them their Longings and Imaginations; and those extraordinary marks they bring along with them into the world, are certain proofs of so known a Truth. But the Scripture acquaints us that the Virgin, more happie and more powerful then other mothers, hath made an impression upon the soul and body of her onely Son; and having conceived him in the humble apprehensions of a handmaid, as her last words to the Angel sufficiently testifie, Ecce Ancilla Domini, she infused her holy disposi­tions into the heart of Jesus Christ, who, as a faithful Eccho, repeating the words of his mother, protested he would be his Fathers Servant. Therefore there is no Christian who ought not to esteem a Quality com­mon to him with the Son of God; which, though it were not so honour­able, in yeelding complacency would appear sufficiently agreeable.

Servitude hath always this misfortune, that it makes us regret the loss of Liberty; whatever charms it useth to sweeten our discontents, 'tis al­ways troublesome when forced: A Chain, though of Diamonds, is a punish­ment, and no ornament, if it load us; the stateliest Palace loseth its plea­santness, when it becomes our prison; and wherever there is compulsion, we finde pain and sorrow. Aliquando re­vera inventum est quando au­rum non ame­tur. Tert. There is nothing more acceptable then Gold; 'tis the richest and the fairest of Metals; 'tis the noblest production of the Sun; and this Star, which gives a being to so many Flowers in the Spring, spends whole Ages to contribute the last perfection to this Master-piece of his light and heat. In the mean time, the love of Liberty hath made some Slaves utterly abominate it; and in those Countries where it is so com­mon, where they make it the manacles of offenders, 'tis insupportable to the wretched inhabitants: They complain when they are adorned with it; that which is the pompous dress of our Kings, is their torment: because this Metal engageth them to Bondage, it is the object of their hate; and Nature hath found out an innocent artifice to render it odious to these Captives.

But though Servitude be so grievous, it loseth its bitterness when vo­luntary; Love, without breaking their Chains, sweetens them; and mix­ing his Charms with their Weight, makes them so welcome, that there is not one Slave would recover his Liberty. Ask all sinners, who live in sla­very, you shall not finde one that complains of his Irons: every one seeks to adde to their weight, or to tye them faster; and, as if their Passion had [Page 327]changed their Nature, they hug their Bondage, and are afraid of their de­liverance. Who doubts but that a Wanton is captivated with the beauty he idolizeth? Who knows not, by his complaints, that he hath lost his Liberty, that he wears the Colours of his Mistress as a Slave those of his Master, and that all the actions he does are so many proofs of his Slavery? In the mean time, he loves his Prison, boasts of his Captivity, and is proud of his Misery; he would not change condition with a Monarch.

Inasmuch as the Grace of the Son of God is nothing but Love, it knows the way of mixing Sweetness with Servitude; it makes us slaves in subject­ing us to his will; it triumphs over our Liberty, because it is victorious; it imprisons us, because we are made its Captives, by being delivered from the Tyranny of sin: Captivam duxit Captivitatem: But it is agreeable, because amorous; amorous, because voluntary; and charms our discon­tents, because it sweetly inchants our Wills. It hath no Slaves that com­plain of their Bondage, or regret their Liberty: if they express any sor­row, 'tis because they are not yet fully under the dominion of Jesus Christ: if they are big with any desires, 'tis, that they may see themselves in a hap­pie impotency to break their chains, and to be so strongly fastned to their Master, that, as S. Paul, they may bid defiance to all Creatures, and say with that great Apostle, that they cannot separate them from their divine Redeemer. Therefore did S. Augustine heretofore admonish his Auditors, Nolite timere Domini servi­tutem; non erit ibi gemitus, non murmur, non in­dignatio, sed libera servitus est apud Deum. ubi non necessi­tas sed charitas servit. August. that the name of Servitude ought not to astonish them: for Charity had dulcorated all the bitterness thereof; in that Family no Slaves complained of the severity of their Master, nor of the misery of their condition, be­cause the service is always free and pleasing, seeing 'tis not Necessity, but Charity, that makes us embrace it. Thus may we with reason glory that we are Slaves and Soveraigns; that the same power that united the Word with Flesh in Jesus Christ, Virginity with Pregnancie in Mary, hath been pleased in Christians to associate Servitude with Liberty, Plenty with Want, Glory with Humility; since, by a strange wonder, there is not any Believer that owes not his Greatness, his Pleasure, his Empire, to the hum­ble condition of a Slave which he received in his Baptism.

The fifth DISCOURSE. That the Christian is a Saint.

THough there be nothing in God which is not God himself, and his Unity which forbids us to divide him, suffers us not to know him: Nevertheless, the Scripture teacheth us to distinguish his perfections, to compare one with another, and to give them the advantage which seems [Page 328]most conducing to his glory, or to our profit. There is none but sees that our interests oblige us to prefer Mercy before Justice; that being laden with miseries and crimes, we love the one, because it assists the distressed, and fear the other, because it punisheth offendors. Following this principle, I conceive I may give Holiness the preheminence over all the perfections of God; because uniting our interests with his, it con­tributes most to his Glory and our salvation.

'Tis this to speak truly that separates God from his works; which pre­serves his respect in preserving his Majesty; and which putting him at a distance from us, confines him within himself: Therefore may we say, it repairs the wrong his immensity seems to do to him; For though this noble perfection scatters him over all the corners of his state, raiseth him into Heaven, and leads him into Hell; neverthelesse it engageth him in creatures which are unworthy to possesse him; and though this effusion of himself be as well a mark of his Greatnesse as of his Good­ness, the understanding of man can hardly comprehend that the Divine Majesty is not interessed when it is in the Intellect of a Devil, or in the heart of a sinner; we have much adoe to suffer his Omnipotence to in­animate an impious person, to move the tongue of a blasphemer, to guide the hand of a parrcide, and not to be wanting to the Laws he hath been pleased to prescribe himself to assist the guilty when they offend: But his Holiness secures him from these outrages, removes sinners farre from him, Peccator longe abest ab illo qui ubique est. Aug. in Psal. scatters those wretches from him that fills all places, pre­serves his purity in the midst of their crimes, and manageth his honour so dextrously, that he is as glorious in Hel as in the highest Heaven, and as pure in the heart of a Reprobate, as in that of an Elect.

This Attribute is not lesse delicate then zealous; all transgressions scandalize it; nor does any thing bear the stamp of sin, that does not offer it violence: she hath more enemies then the rest of her sisters, and if the other perfections of God are dishonoured by some particular crimes, this is by all inquities of what kind soever. Those that sin of infirmi­ty, and pretend to find their excuse in the cause of their offence, dash only upon the power of the Almighty: Those that sin out of igno­rance, and conceive themselves not guilty, because they are blind, of­fend only the wisdom of God: Those that transgress out of malice, and who are less excusable, because more enlightned, wound only the Good­ness of God; and though so highly criminal, perswade themselves that wronging but one of his perfections, the rest will be favourable towards them. But all sinners together injure Holiness; and as there is not one who turns not his back upon the Creator to embrace the creature, nei­ther is there any that dishonours not this Attribute, whose principal design is to unite them to their Creator.

Though Sanctity be thus injuriously dealt with, it ceaseth not to be most profitable to Christians; and so well manageth their interests with [Page 329]those of God, that it produceth all the miracles which so highly ad­vance his Greatness and their merit. All the other perfections study more our glory then our salvation: Power makes only Kings, and when it would draw admiration from mortals, Singula Dei Att [...]ibuta sin­gulos Angelorü & hominü or­dines effinxe­runt. Marsil. Fisci. de reli­gione. is content to raise Shepheards to the Throne: Wisdom makes Philosophers, and communicating to them a part of its light, gives them the understanding of the works of God: Providence makes Politicians, or Prophets; and discovering to both of them the secrets of futurity, inspires them with a science which is not learnt in the Schools: But Holiness more happy and more pow­erful, makes Saints which are Gods Master-pieces; separates them from the creatures, and unites them to the Creator; transforms them into him, or to use the words of Scripture, makes commenced Gods by Grace, and perfect Gods by Glory. 'Tis to this height of honour that all Christi­ans are destin'd; They bear this glorious title in the Gospel. Saint Paul treats them as Saints in all his Epistles; and as their sanctity is an effusi­on of Gods, it obligeth them to knock off from all things that they may be united to him, and to cling so close unto him, that nothing can se­parate them.

Therefore is it that the Religion that leads us to Holiness, invites us to a Divorce with all things else; The Son of God admits none into his School, of whom he exacts not this promise; The Church who imi­tates him as her Husband, requires this disposition of all her Children when she conceives them in her womb by the operation of the Holy Ghost, and the vertue of the waters of Baptism; she will have them re­nounce the vanities of the world, and like the Apostles, forsake their ri­ches in deed or in affection. The first is, matter of counsel; the second of obligation; Multum deseru­it qui volunta­tem babendi dereliquit, à se­quentibus Chri­stum tanta re­licta sunt quan­ta à non sequen­tibus defiderari potuerunt. Greg neither is there any creature who is not bound to say with Saint Peter, Ecce nos reliquimus omnia. I know there are those that laugh at the Confession of this Apostle, and with Saint Hierome, find it no hard matter for a man to leave all, whose whole demeans was but a skiffe and a net: But had they well considered the vast extent of our hopes and our desires, they would find this man left very much, be­cause he bid adiew to all things these two passions could possibly pro­mise him.

This first disposition is not the only abnegation the Son of God re­quires of us; it serves but for a step to ascend to a more difficult one, and having injoyn'd us the contempt of riches, obligeth us to deny our selves. 'Tis not enough to be admitted into his School, for a man to forsake his goods; he must withall renounce his inclinations, and pursuing the evil into its very root, offer up his will for an Holocaust. Had he been con­tent with the first disposition, he had exacted no more of his Disciples then vain-glory had obtain'd of its vassal. Philosophers have parted with their goods to defend themselves from covetousness or discontent, which usually accompanies great fortunes. The Ambitious are so deeply in love [Page 330]with glory, that they contentedly part with all riches. The Prodigal seem as it were angry with money; and the lavish expences they make, testi­fies they more undervalue then prize them: But both of them are wed­ded to themselves; the more they strip themselves of their goods, the more are they wrapt up in their inclinations; and the less they have of avarice, the more are they puft up with pride and vain-glory: Therefore is it that the Son of God willing wholly to to cure man, passeth from Po­verty to Self-denial; and having counselled us to part with our riches, commands us to shake hands with our selves. Saint Paul following the steps of his Master, teacheth us, that they only who have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof, deserve the name of Christians; and speak­ing elsewhere of himself, witnesseth, that to live to God, he was bound to crucifie himself with Jesus Christ: He makes them pass for enemies to the Cross, who love themselves; and not content to declaim against uncleanness, makes an invective against those stately sins, which including man within himself, left him not above the degree of beasts, but to equal him with Devils: Finally, he will have all those who are risen with the Son of God to be taken up with the contempt of the Earth, and to be quickned with the desires of Heaven.

Though this first condition of Holiness gives us occasion to see, that there are very few Saints in the world; the second, which is union with God, will more strongly perswade us of it: For sin being nothing but a separation from God, holiness which is so opposite thereto, is nothing but an alliance with God: Those that are most united to him, are the greatest Saints; nor does any thing more gloriously distinguish Christi­ans from Philosophers, then this happy connexion. Every Sect hath formed an Idea of the supream good, and done their utmost to fasten their Disci­ples to it. The Epicures who acknowledge no other good but voluptu­ousness, had no other passion but for this Goddess: The Stoicks who adored nothing but the mind, spent all their veneration upon this Idol; and the Academicks who doated only upon Morall vertue, laboured meerly to gain her: But Christians who know that pleasure makes none but effeminate, that the love of understanding renders men arrogant, and that of vertue it self when it mounts not high enough, makes only idolaters set their affections upon the supream good; and seeking their felicity in God, say with David, Mihi autem adhaerere Deo bonum est. 'Tis in this point properly that holinesse consists; he that wisheth any thing else is blind or wretched; and he that wasts himself with other de­sires, is not yet fully informed that the supream good is the end and rest of the Christian.

Therefore is it that Saint Augustine speaking to his Auditors, uttered these notable words: Let us be grieved to see men distracted with the diversity of their desires; Let us see their different conditions which a­rise from the difference of their designs: Let some take arms, and seek [Page 331]for Glory in the mouth of Danger, hazard their lives to get themselves a Name, and place their happinesse in killing and slaying: Let others more harmlesse, but not lesse ambitious, plead at the Barr, gain reputation in defending Innocence, and aspire to the Glory of Orators, being not able to purchase that of Conquerors: Let others more humble, but not lesse interessed, hold commerce and Traffique with Strangers, passe the Seas to content their Avarice, descend into the bowels of the Earth to dig out Treasures: Let others more Innocent, but not lesse miserable, till the ground, master barrenness by their laborious Improvement, and at the years end reap a rich and plentifull harvest: Let all these different Con­ditions divide the heap of perishable Goods between them; but let Be­leevers, instructed in a better School, protest that God is their portion, and that now and for ever, they will have no other Inheritance.

These last words insinuate to us the last circumstance of Holiness, which is not true, if it be not Constant and pertinent: A little to clear this Truth, we must know, there is no Christian that is not united to God: the Character he received in his Baptism, is a mark of his dependance; Faith which he retains with sin, is a sacred tye fastning him to Jesus Christ, and gives him the honour to be a member of his Body; Charity is a per­fect Bond, compleating what the others have begun, which knits him so close to his Head, that their Good and Evill are indivisible: But if the Christian intend to be Holy, Perseverance must second Charity, and this faithfull vertue link them so constantly to the son of God, that nothing can separate them: Many heard his words, admired his miracles, loved his person, who because they fell off attained not to that excellent title of Saints.

'Tis this last Condition which Crownes Holinesse, the ultimate Chara­cter distinguishing the Elect from the Reprobate: Finally, Abs (que) perseve­rantia nec qui pugnat victo­riam, nec palmā victor consequi­tur. Bernard. 'tis this glori­ous mark that finisheth our salvation, and begins our Beatitude. It de­pends absolutely upon the good pleasure of God, and as he refuseth it not without Justice, neither does he indulge it but out of exceeding mer­cy: It fixeth our will without constraining it, renders it immoveable without taking away its liberty, and gives it so much force, that it equally triumphs over Griefs that astonish us, and pleasures that corrupt us: He that hath not this Grace cannot complain, nor can he persevere; He can­not complain, because God denies it not but to his sin, nor is his Reproba­tion founded upon any thing but his Infidelity: He cannot persevere, be­cause this assistance depends not upon his Merit. It being the immutable Decree of Gods good will and pleasure, which makes men Saints and blessed: It is by vertue of this Eternal ordinance that they resist temptati­ons, ouer-rule Tyrants, and vanquish Devils.

'Tis by vertue of this internall Grace that they defie all Creatures, and say with Saint Paul, That nothing can separate them from Jesus Christ: I am sure, saith that Great Apostle, that Death with his terrors, Life with [Page 332]its charms, Angels with their beauties, Devils with their deformities, Things present with their allurements, Things future with their promises, Heaven with its glory, Hell with its torment, can never separate me from the love of God. And indeed how should they, saith St Augustine, because Death though never so hideous, leads us to Him; Life is found in his possession, Angels and Devils are the Ministers of his Justice or of his mercy, Things present are false, Things to come uncertain, Hell with God would be my Happinesse, and Paradise without him my Torment.

Or if we will take this passage another way, let us say again with Saint Augustine, That nothing can separate us from Jesus Christ; Not Death, because there is none so dismall as to be deprived of his Love; Not the An­gels, because being united to him we are stronger then all Spirits combined together; Not the vexations of life, because they are sweet when under­gone for his Honour, and serve only to give us a nearer conjunction to his person; Not things to come, because nothing can be bestowed nor promised which can countervail him; Not Heaven, because it is the re­compence of those that serve him; Not Hell, because it is made for none but those that forsake him. From all this Discourse it is easie to judge, that the perfect Christian is a Saint; that he ought to be wholly unbot­tomed from all things, and so closely united to Jesus Christ, that nothing can remove him: But 'tis easie to judge withall, that we are at a great distance from Holiness, because a small Interest, a weak Temptation, a shameful pleasure, a light Injury separates us daily from him, for whom we ought to sacrifice our Interests, renounce our pleasures, subdue our Temptations, and forget our Injuries.

The Sixth DISCOURSE. That the Christian is a Martyr.

THe condition of Christians would be very miserable, did their vertue depend upon their Enemies, and were they so streightened that they could not compass the Crown of Martyrdom, but must be beholding to the Cruelty of Tyrants: But the Peace of the Church hath her Martyrs, as well as her Persecution: Love is witty enough to exercise their Cou­rage, without employing the fury of Infidels; Every Christian may, with­out Impiety, be his own Executioner; and provided he live according to the Laws the son of God hath prescribed him, will finde his punishment in his obedience. All the vertues of Christianity will assist him in this designe; Every Maxime of the Gospel will make a part in his Agony: and [Page 333]having practised all that Jesus Christ commands or counsels, he may boast, though he be an unprofitable servant, he ceaseth not to be a faithful Mar­tyr.

For if it be true that the Cause and the Punishment makes the Martyrs, we must confess that all they that live according to the Laws of Christiani­ty, may lawfully pretend to this glorious quality: because they suffer much, and for the height of their happiness, they suffer for the Son of God: This last condition is so necessary, that, in the judgement of S. Augustine, 'tis not so much the Punishment, as the Cause, that makes the Martyr. The Gally-slaves that tug at the Oar, the Captives that pine away for the loss of Liberty in prisons, and those Miscreants that are broken upon the Wheel, endure the extremity of Torments: but because their sin is the cause of their punishment, they may be sufferers, but they cannot be Mar­tyrs. To deserve this Quality, Nemo se extol­lat & glorietur de passione: nam si attendamus sol [...]s passiones, coronantur & latrones; si de passione gloriandum est, potest & ipse diabolus glori­ari. Aug. the interest of God must be mixt with Grief, and the suffering takes its estimate from the justice of the Cause: The Macchabees are Martyrs, because they suffered for the Law of God, and, rather then violate it, courageously lost their lives: S. John Baptist augments the number of these glorious Champions, because he died for the defence of Chastity, and is the first victim this excellent vertue receiv'd: The Saints who have spilt their blood in the Churches quarrels, and have fought against Infidels or Hereticks for the interest of Faith, justly deserve the quality of Martyrs; and the Christian happily shares it with them, be­cause he suffers in obedience to Jesus Christ: For when he pardons those that persecute him, stifles those just resentments which are occasioned by injuries; when he gives Calumny leave to blast his reputation, and loseth Goods or Honour because he will not break the Commandments, or vio­late the Counsels of the Son of God, Non Martyrium sola effusio san­guinis consum­mat, necsola dat palmam exustio flammarum: pervenitur non solum occasu, sed etiam contemptu Carnis ad Coro­nam. Aug. Ser. 46 de Sanctis. he is not less worthy of the name of Martyr then those that have shed their blood for the defence of his ho­nour: 'Tis of such a one, that we may say, Occasion was wanting to his Will, and that he had been in the Catalogue of Martyrs, had he lived in the time of persecution.

But, not to betray the Cause that I defend, I am obliged to say, that, to be vertuous, is title enough to be a Martyr: For, since Nature is corrupt­ed by sin, there is no Vertue that is not accompanied with Grief: We learn Vices without a Master; we carry the seeds of them in our souls; and, preventing bad examples, we act wickedness before we have seen it: But Christian vertues are so difficult, that their conquest costs us much labour and travel: we learn them with much ado, forget them easily; pre­serve them with care; neither is it Nature nor Art, but Grace and Sorrow that forms the Habit in us: They cross our Inclinations; we must fight to gain them: and seeing wickedness is passed into our Nature, Vertues are become our Torments.

The Darkness we come into the world with, clouds the light of our Prudence: the infirmities we have inherited from our first Father, make [Page 334]the victory over Strength extremely difficult: Interest, which is insepara­ble from Self-love, is an opposition naturally set against Justice; and this heat, without which we cannot live, and by a deplorable unhappiness en­tertains the flames of Impurity, is an obstacle to Continence: It produceth thoughts which stain the lustre of this Vertue, motions which trouble its rest: so that S. Augustine had great reason to say, that of all the Trials of a Christian, the most furious was that of Chastity, where the Conflict is so long, the Victory so rare, and the Danger so great: I would adde to the words of this holy man, without varrying much from his conceit, that 'tis the sharpest Martyrdom a Believer can endure, because he confesseth in another place, that, to mortifie the Flesh, to tame Pride, makes up the best part of the Martyr: 'Tis perhaps upon this ground that the rigid Tertul­lian, who hath defended the advantages of Chastity with the prejudice of Truth it self, hath acknowledged this vertue so austere, that 'tis easier to die for her, Majus est in ca­stitate vivere, quàm pro casti­tate mori. Ter [...]. then to live with her: As if he would tacitely insinuate, that 'tis a harder matter to be chaste then to be a Martyr, and that a Christian who hath overcome impurity, may easily subdue grief.

If having considered the severity of the Vertues, we consider the ri­gour of the Gospel, we shal finde it cannot be obeyed without the badg of Martyrdom: Every People hath its Laws; and there are none so barba­rous, whom Nature or Custom have not furnished with some Policy. The Greeks lived according to the Laws of their Sages: The Romanes fol­lowed the Twelve Tables; and those that had neither Kings nor Law­givers, have had for their guide the light of Nature, which is a relique of Innocence: The Jews were governed by the Law of Moses, which, if it gave them not strength enough to combat sin, it gave them light enough to know and avoid it: But the Christian hath so severe a Law, that if Love did not sweeten the severity thereof, it would drive men to despair; and, more tragical then Judaism, would occasion not onely prevaricators, but obstinate and hardned disciples: For it hath not one Article which is not a Paradox, and which thwarts not the Reason as well as the Inclina­tions of sinners: The First is, that, to love God aright, we must hate our selves; and, bestowing all our affection upon him, reserve nothing but ha­tred for our selves: The second is, to renounce our Will; that is to say, to quit all the advantages Nature hath endued us with; not to reason in our Mysteries, not to listen to our Inclinations in the practise of Vertues: The Third, which is not less rigid, and seems to violate the sweetest Laws of Nature, obligeth us to forsake father and mother, and to trample up­on the belly of her that bare us, to follow the voice of him that calls us to his service: But the Fourth, which hath to deal with the dearest and most violent of our Passions, commands us to pardon our enemies, to for­get the injuries they have done us, and to stifle all those just resentments the love of honour or of life can possess us with. Who will not pronounce these Laws so many tortures? these Commandments so many Pursuivants making inquisition after our Inclinations into the very inmost recesses of [Page 335]our Wils; and one while lopping of love, another while Hatred subjects us to as many sufferings as Martyrs undergo, whose arms or legs were chopt off by the cruelty of Tyrants? This made S. Augustine confess, that the life of a Christian was a painful Martyrdom, Vita Christiani si secundum E­vangelium vi­vat, crux est & Martyrium. Aug. nor that any man could observe the Laws of the Gospel, but must condemn himself to a punish­ment as grievous as that of the Cross: For this reason also will I make it appear in this following Discourse, that Christians suffer more then the Martyrs.

These glorious Heroes of the Church suffered for the most part but in the body; their souls were quiet in the midst of their torments; God hindered the commerce that Nature had placed between these two parts whereof we are composell; a contented mind inanimated a wretched body, love divorced him from his prison, and by a kind of prodigious ex­tasie disingaged him from all the painful vexations of his slave. In every Christian might be seen an Image of Jesus Christ, and as he during his life accorded pleasure with pain in his person, and his glorious soul en­livened his passible and mortal body, this miracle was repeated in favour of the Martyrs, who preserved their joy in the midst of their torments: They made Invectives against Tyrants, laught at the weaknesse of their Executioners; and lifting up their soul to him that inspired them with strength, breath'd forth his Panegyrick whiles the flames devoured their bodies, or the wild Beasts tore them in pieces: But the Christians are bound to make war against both bodies and souls; to struggle against their inclinations and their senses; to exercise their just indignation against these two Delinquents, nor to divide those in the correction who were united in the crime.

These Martyrs had only grief to master; and having tamed this un­ruly enemy were certain of a triumph: But the Christians are engaged to combat pleasure; and as this pleasing enemy knows the secret of gaining love, it is very hard to stand out against his charms. Grief is violent, astonisheth those that it sets upon, quels their courage by the pomp of torments; and he that is assisted with strength, cannot resist the fury of its onsets: In the mean time experience teacheth us, that it is oftner foiled then pleasure, and that there are more Christians fit to be Martyrs then to be Continent: The soul barracadoes it self against grief, but lyes open to pleasure; The will stands out against the evil that would force her, but gently surrenders to the delectation that would corrupt her; her forces are rallied close when she combats grief, but lie scattered when opposed to sensuality: Grief holds no intelligence in the place it sets upon to facilitate a surprisal, but pleasure finds a thousand passions that favour her entrance, follow her motions, Donat Deus ut delectatio pec­cati justitiae delectatione vincatur. Aug. and sight under her en­signs.

Thence it comes to pass, that when God intends to gain a soul, or the Devil to seduce one, neither of them employ any other thing then [Page 336]pleasure; and knowing very well that they have to doe with a free crea­ture, make use only of allurements to win his consent without forcing it: God deals only with Grace in the conversion of sinners, and 'tis by this victorious suavity that he gains the Conquest, where honour is the Tro­phy of the Conquerour, and profit the reward of the vanquished: The Devil also employs no instrument but Pleasure to corrupt them; he stu­dies their inclinations, followes their humours, flatters them to their de­struction; and being not ignorant what sway pleasure bears over the wil, promiseth glory to the ambitious, riches to the covetous: or in a word, proposeth to every sinner the accomplishment of all his desires. There­fore we need not wonder if the Christian suffer more then the Martyr, because he hath a more redoubted enemy to grapple with, nor can hope for any recompence except he triumph over pleasure. The great Saint Augustine hath pronounced sentence in their behalf, and comparing be­lievers with Martyrs, hath said, that not to diminish the honour these have purchased by their constancy, he did verily believe that a Christi­an who mortified his body, resisted his inclinations, and defended him­self from pleasure, might lawfully pretend to the Crown of Martyr­dom.

But if the sweetness that accompanies pleasure, give Christians such an advantage above Martyrs, we must confess that the glory which ac­companied the Conflict of the later greatly lessened their sorrows. Na­ture, who hath no other conduct then that of Providence, hath been plea­sed that whatever was difficult should withall be glorious; Quae pulchra difficilia; quae difficilia glorio­sa. Pla. that glory which is attended with so many charms, may give us strength to ma­ster the difficulty: she hath so well linkt these two things together, that they are inseparable; and wherever she hath planted pain, she hath hedg­ed it about with honour. It is a hard matter to perswade men to change their minds, to calm their passions, and to reduce them to their duty; Thus is it glorious to be eloquent, to be acquainted with all the secrets Orators make use of to conquer without armes, and to gain obedience without violence: 'Tis a business of much industry to rule States, to go­vern people, to prescribe laws which may keep them Loyall, without in­teressing their Liberty: 'Tis also a high honour to know the mystery of the Politicks, and to pass for a great Prince, or a wise Statesman: There is nothing that labours under more difficulties then to tame Nations, sub­due Rebels, force Enemies to submit to the Conditions of Subjects or Allies: Neither indeed is there any thing more illustrious then victorious proceedings; and the glory which is but faintly and in part bestowed up­on Orators and Politians, descends unanimously and in a full gale upon the head of Conquerors.

We see nothing in the Church more Noble then Martyrdome; 'tis the highest form of Vertue, the last expression of Charity, and when a man hath shed his bloud, and parted with his life for Jesus Christ, there is [Page 337]not any instance can farther be expected from his love: Justly there­fore may we acknowledge nothing more august in Religion then Martyrs; They are the Heroes of Christianity, the Gallant men of this State, the Noblest parts of this Mystical Body; there is no greatnesse that gives not way to their dignity; whatever we admire is below their merit, and according to the opinion of one of the wisest Fathers of the Church, Plus est esse Martyrem quam esse Apostolū. Cyp. 'tis more to be a Martyr then to be an Apostle: Neither hath any thing been ever more honoured in the world; Heaven hath wrought a hundred mi­racles to discover their innocence; Wild Beasts have respected them; the flames have spared their garments; Tyrants have admired them; and many times their Executioners have become their Disciples; insomuch that these renowned Champions had great reason to be afraid of vain­glory at the same time that God delivered them from sorrow: But Chri­stians want this consolation in their Martyrdom; they suffer more then they fight; they are Martyrs, because they endure pain to master plea­sure; they give proof of their courage, because they resist temptation; but their Martyrdome is secret, it passeth in silence or in solitude; they have no witnesse but their Judge: If the Angels surround them, they are in­visible; and if they undergo the hardships of Martyrs, they have neither their comforts nor their indearments: For as Saint Augustiue saith, the soul of a Christian hath inward conflicts and domestick enemies; she strug­gles with grief, and expects her crown only from his hands who sees her thoughts and knows her courage.

But the highest advantage of the Christian above the Martyr, is, that this mans trial endures but a few days. Nature is so good a mother that she hath provided remedies for her children against the violent irruption of discontents; she hath made the chains that unite the soul to the body so brittle, that the least torments are able to break them; tortures quickly end, or we end with them; and experience teacheth us, that a punishment cannot be long when violent and extream. Criminals must be husbanded if you will have them endure; they must have respite if we intend to tor­ture them for any long time; their weaknes will rid them of their Exeeutio­ners; and death stepping in to the succour of these wretches, delivers them from their persecutors: Therefore is the punishment inflicted upon Martyrs short; many times one day saw both its beginning and its end; and when Grace wrought no miracle for their preservation, Nature used her endeavours to succour them: But the Martyrdom of Christians lasts the best part of an age; Repentance that afflicts them imitates the Divine Ju­stice, it makes an agreement between life and death, lengthens that to prolong their misery, and draws out the thred of their sorrows to prove them more durably miserable: For mortification which constitutes the chiefest exercise of penitents, is it not a long and cruell death, which Di­sciplines the body, afflicts the spirits, nor gives any intermission to the dis­consolate Penitentiary, but to heighten his austerity? This made S. Ber­nard [Page 338]say, that the mortification of the flesh was a kind of punishment, not so cruel indeed but much more irksome then that of Martyrs, and recompensing the sweetnesse by the duration, makes the penitent languish as long as he lives: But after all these differences we must confesse that the Martyrs having been Christians as well as others, have suffered a double punishment; and living in penance, were prepared for Martyrdom: For as Tertullian observes the course of their life was a severe probation, where­in they disposed themselves to grief by austerity, to the prison by solitude, to a short death by a long mortification: Therefore tortures never start­led these men who provided for them by a witty cruelty; and in so hap­py an age the Church had no children who were not the Martyrs of Penance when they could not be of Persecution.

The Seventh DISCOURSE. That the Christian is a Lover.

THere is none but knows that the Son of God is a new Man, that he is prodigious in his Constitution, assembling Heaven with Earth, Time with Eternity; That he hath a God for his Principle, and a Vir­gin for his Mother; that he is the Son and the Father of his Spouse; that he gave her life upon the Cross, and receives life from her upon the Al­tar: That he is the Priest and the Victim of his sacrifice; the Judge and the Advocate of his parties; and by a strange prodigy the Brother and the God of his Subjects. As he is New in his composition, he is New in his Councels and his Commandements: Ille qui ven't vetustatem no­stram sua novi­tate solvere, mandato novo fecit hominem novum. Aug. Serm. 39. de Temp. He will have his Disciples mutually love one another, and Love to be the Fundamental Law of his State; It seems he would alter nothing neither in Policy nor in Mora­lity; and leaving men in the Light Reason and Faith had already inspired them with, was content to bequeath them a New Love: His intendment is, that all his Disciples be Lovers, that all their Qualities be included in this, and that the Christian find his full perfection in sole Cha­rity.

'Tis in effect the only vertue recommended to us, and when Jesus Christ lays the foundations of his Empire, Charitas omnia suffert; omnia credit, omnia sperat animo sustiuet. 1 Cor. 13. he requires nothing but Love from his subjects: S. Paul confounds all the vertues with Charity, and teacheth us, that he that Loves is endued with Faith, with Hope, with Fortitude; S. Augustin his faithfull Interpreter, acknowledgeth but one vertue, and if he gives it different names, it is to express its divers effects, or different qualities; All the rest are reduced to this one; and as the [Page 339]Passions are nothing but the motions of love, we may say that the ver­tues are nothing but the Ministers of Charity. The morality of a Chri­stian is easie and succinct; he is not bound to exercise himself in Patience, to be established in Justice, to be instructed in Prudence: Charity gives him an interest in all these glorious Qualities; and being a Lover, he may boast himself Couragious, Just, Prudent: Assoon as he knows how to Love, he is able to guide himself; his Light encreaseth with his Heat; and without consulting the mysteries of the Politicks, he becomes a Statesman assoon as ever he falls in love with Jesus Christ: As plea­sures cannot corrupt him, grief cannot astonish him; His Love inspires him with Magnanimity and Temperance; and being united to God by Charity, neither the Promises, nor the Threats of the world are able to separate him: he is incapable of committing an injustice as long as he keeps his affection; and rendring his Soveraign his due, learns at the same time to carry himself fairly towards his Equals and Inferiours.

If Love constitute the Christians vertue, it constitutes his difference also: For as Reason distinguisheth Man from Beasts, makes him equall with the Angels, and in Nature is accounted his principal advantage; we may say, that Charity divides the Christian from the sinner; and being his richest ornament, is also his noblest difference: All the Faithful are clarified with the Light of Faith; they receive in Baptism a Character which time cannot deface; they flatter themselves with a hope which though unjust, is notwithstanding sometimes true: The Church which comes short of the Knowledge of her Beloved, admits them to the Participation of her Mysteries; and being unable to read their hearts, suffers sacrilegious persons, because she cannot tell how to hinder them: Nay, Jesus Christ himself honours them many times with his choicest favours, discovers the secrets of Futurity to his enemies, gives them an absolute power in his State, and suffers those that offend him to drive away Devils and to cure the sick: But Charity is the priviledge of his Friends; 'tis the glorious mark distinguishing them from Reprobates, and the only vertue that is inconsistent with sin: A man may be burnt in the flames, and give testimony of his Courage in the midst of tor­ments, though he be not at all acceptable to God; a man may dive in­to all the Mysteries of Religion, and not be affected with them; may give his goods to the poor, and have his soul full of vain-glory: But a man cannot have Charity, and be upon ill terms with Jesus Christ; those that love him are his Beloved; and if he indulge some favours to those that fear or serve him, he cannot refuse Heaven to those that die in love with him.

Thence it comes to pass that Christians, who know that all their advan­tage consists in Charity, make this vertue their principal employment: they despise not others; for they possess all in this one: But being fully per­swaded [Page 340]it must be their felicity in heaven, they make it their business whilst they are upon the earth: These Divine Lovers can do nothing but love: they imitate the Seraphims, whose Essence and Exercise is Love; they burn with the same Fire that makes them live; they swim in flames; and, as if they had forgotten all the vertues to learn one, they spend their whole life in this amorous entertainment: If they fear, 'tis to offend him whom their soul loveth: if they hope, 'tis to possess him: if they rejoyce, 'tis for being united to him: if they are afflicted, 'tis for being separated from him: When they have to do with their Neighbour, 'tis upon this wheel that they move: they look onely upon God in his Creatures, and upon Jesus Christ in his Members: if they sometimes adhere unto them out of a natu­ral inclination, Divine Love furnisheth them with wings to soar above them, and with strength to be disentangled from them. Finally, Love so well ma­nageth the whole course of their life, that leaving Respect to Domesticks, Hope to Mercenaries, Fear to Slaves, Light to the Learned, they reserve onely Charity for themselves; and are of the humour of that faithful Lo­ver, who, being confined to solitude, had no other diversion but her Love.

In consideration whereof, Dei unicum opus est se intu­eri, & se ama­re. Plato. I finde their condition very glorious, because they treat with God, as God doth with himself: for his whole happiness consists in knowing and loving Himself; and should he intermit this em­ployment, he would cease to be happie: He sees the Creatures, in seeing himself; he loves Them, in loving Himself; and, without going forth of his own Nature, he findes his felicity in his Knowledge and in his Love. The Christian, by an admirable priviledge, is advanced to this high degree of glory; Solus est Amor ex omnibus ani­mae motibus in quo pote [...] Crea­tura respondere Creatori, & de simili mutuam rependere vi [...]ē. Bernard. he enters into society with God, treats with him as with his Peer; and it seems, being no longer his Slave, becomes his Equal, in be­coming his Friend. Greatness is so opposite to Love, that Kings are fain in a manner to depose themselves, when they have a minde to love their Subjects: That Majestie wherewith they are encircled, is fitter to strike Fear and Consternation then Confidence: If they descend not from their Throne, lay not by their Crown and Scepter, they can have no Friends, be­cause no Equals: Therefore hath Aristotle observed, that Subjects could not contract Alliance with their Soveraigns; that the disparity of their Conditions permitted not those privacies which maintain Friendship a­mong men; and as long as Kings remain in their Grandeur, Subjects must continue in their Respect. In the mean time, Charity findes out an Expe­dient to unite the Christian with God; exalteth the One, without debasing the Other; equals in some sort their conditions; and, as it obliged God to make himself Man, hath given Man a power to make himself God.

Nor must we think it strange that this Vertue is the original of our Happiness, because it is the source of our Merit; and nothing makes us more commendable then Love: Though every thing have its estimate in the Church, Order banisheth Confusion, and in this vast Body every part [Page 341]hath its priviledge and employments; nevertheless the whole perfection consists in Charity: he that knows best how to love, is most accomplisht; and, without respecting his actions or his sufferings, we consider onely the measure of his Love. The Son of God would not have our merit fastned to those conditions which depend not upon our selves, nor that Greatness or Riches should difference his Subjects: He would not place Perfection in Alms, because the Rich onely can dispense them; he would not tye it to Preaching, because that Gift is reserved for his Ministers; he would not limit it to Austerity, because that requires a strong Constitution; he would not fix it in Martyrdom, because that depends upon Persecution, with which the Church is not always afflicted: But he hath established it in Charity, where nothing is easier then this Vertue: The Ignorant and the Learned are equally admitted to it: Kings are not more capable of it then their Subjects: and if Martyrs pretend some advantage above the rest of the Faithful, they have a greater obligation to their Love then to their Torments. The greatest Saint is not he that hath Suffered most, or Done most, but he that hath Loved most: All his Merit consists in Charity; if occasions be wanting, he hath recourse to his desires; and he may boast, that, being a Lover, he is Liberal in Poverty, Learned in Ignorance, a Mar­tyr in the Serenity of conversation.

Though all these advantages oblige us to Love, that which God wit­nesseth to us, is the greatest endearment of affection: for there are condi­tions in his Indulgencies, which cannot be found in our Expressions; and his love is so powerful, and so noble, that 'tis easie to judge it cannot pro­ceed but from an abyss of Goodness: It is Eternal, and before all worlds; God expects not till we subsist, to shew his kindness towards us; his love makes inquisition after us in the confused heap of Nothing; as well as his power; he cherisheth us in what he is pleased to put into us; and sepa­rating us from all those Creatures which shall never see the light, makes us the objects of his Liberality: Our Crimes stop not the current of his Love; he loves us in our Delinquency; and that which ought to provoke his Ju­stice to punish us, provokes his Mercy to deliver us: In Non-entity, he loves Ignorant Creatures; in Sin, he loves ungrateful ones: to the former he gives Being, to the later he gives Grace; and to both of them he makes it appear that his Love is Eternal and Fruitful.

Men Love nothing but what is lovely, either really or in shew; they dis­cover in their friends those qualities they plant not there, and whatever height of greatness fortune shall advance them to, they can bestow upon them only riches or honour; if their favorites have any blemish in soul or body, they cannot mend it; and unhappy in their affections, they are con­strained either to hate the man for his imperfection, or to love the imperfe­ction for the man: But God, whose love is equally powerful and pregnant, makes that amiable which he pleaseth to set his love upon; he himself forms his own object; he puts that in his friends which he means to esteem; [Page 342]and by a prodigy which surpasseth all wonder, Meretricem in­venit, virginem fecit; faedam a­mavit ne faeda remaneret. Au. he gives purity to the Immo­dest, and innocence to the Criminals.

This Love hath no bounds, neither in relation to its extent nor ex­cess; 'tis immense and infinite both together, and when God loves us, he loves us in all places, and in all his perfections: men are so miserable, that they change manners when they change Countries and Climats; the Ele­ments make some impression upon their wills; and being no longer what they were, they cease to love what they doated on before: should they be more constant, they would be alwayes lyable to this misfortune, that being unable to be but in one place, they could not stretch their love every where; they borrow tongues to express their passion: Like earthly Kings who being not in a capacity to fill their whole State, are obliged to have Leiutenants which represent them; these also are forc'd to seeke out inter­preters to declare their love, and supply their impotency. But Gods Love is immense, place confines it not, he loves whereever he is; his charity is as extensive as his essence; in Heaven he cherisheth the blessed, and preserving his love in all the corners of his State, is affectionate to Christians in the very heart of their enemies.

If it be immense, 'tis Infinite, and when God loves a person, 'tis with the full extent of his perfections: As men are made up of soul and body, the faculties of that, and the members of this, have their several uses and employments. The Understanding conceives thoughts, the Memory pre­serves the species, and onely the will formes acts of Love. The holiest Lover hath this dissatisfaction, that he knows he loves God but with one faculty of the soul; he is afflicted and not without reason, that self-love shares with charity, and notwithstanding all his endeavour, he never loves God as much as he can, or ought to love him. He is not more happy in his body then in his minde; for every member hath its different functions; his hands act according as there is occasion, his eyes discern colours, his ears judge of sounds, his tongue formes words, and his heart onely is capable of affection: he reproacheth Nature, and complaines that this Step dame having given to him two hands to act, two eyes to see, two ears to hear, she hath given him but one heart to love; in the extasies of his soul he wisheth with David, that his whole body were heart and tongue to love and magnifie him with all his power, who is so infinitely lovely; Ne­vertheless after all his vain desires he is obliged to confess, that there is no­thing but the will in the soul, and the heart in his body, which is sensible of the endeerments of affection: But inasmuch as God is a simple being, suffering neither composition nor division; he loves men where ever he is, he hath not any perfection but contributes to the love he bears them: His Justice which takes vengeance of his enemies, his Majesty which makes him respected of his subjects, his holiness which separates him from his works, are happily confounded with charity; and as he acts with all his power when he produceth some effects, he loves with his whole being when he [Page 343]expresseth his affection to his friends. Therefore the Christians who know very well, that love is paid onely with love, never limit this passion; they endeavour to love God with all their power, nor do they wish for death but because they are of opinion that delivering them from self-love, they shall be perfect lovers in glory.

The Eight DISCOURSE. That the Christian is an Exile and a Pilgrim.

THe advantages we have received from Jesus Christ deliver us not from the misfortunes we drew from Adam; our being the children of God frees us not from being his slaves; though associated to his Empire, we are still obnoxious to the persecution of the creature; and though the ob­jects of his love, feel notwithstanding the severity of his Justice. Thence it comes to pass that being Pilgrims we are Exiles, and these two qualities which clash in other men, agree exceeding well in Christians: For Pil­grims are honorable, Piety invites them out of their Country, they seek Heaven in the Temple they visit, and honouring the relicks of Saints, ob­lige the Angels to assist them in their journeys: Peregrinum fa­cit Pietas, Ex­ulem paena; pe­regrini sumus qui cives pecca­torum, Exulcs vero quia pecea­tores. Chryso. But the banished are criminals; Justice drives them from their home, she it is that cuts them off from the body of the State like corrupt members, least they should in­fect the the rest: In the mean time Christians are Pilgrims and Exiles; if they draw the former qualities from Grace, they derive the latter fom sin.

To clear this conceit we must remember that of all the punishments in the world banishment is the most shameful and most cruell: It hath ser­ved as a punishment for the greatest crimes, and the most notorious offen­dors have groand under this pressure. Our first father was driven out of Paradise after he was condemned to death: That Parricide who steep'd his hands in his Brothers blood heard this sentence pronounced against him by the mouth of the Living God, Eris vagus et profugus super terram; he desired that his punishment might be commuted, and judging death more gentle them banishment; he begged for an end of his life, that he might finde a period of his torment. Therefore is it that Philo approving the opinion of Cain, said, that death was the end of our evils, banishment the beginning; and that if a man going out of the world were worthy of envy, he that departed out of his Country deserv'd pitty. Thence certainly it comes to pass, that Christians are dealt with as exiles, that the severity of their chastisement may make them accknow­ledge the hainousness of their sin.

Indeed those wretches are civilly dead, they have no more commerce with the world, the use of the Elements is interdicted them; and if the judges give them leave to live 'tis to make them die more cruelly. Thus it is with man since his transgression, he hath no more intercourse with the Angels; he was driven out from Paradise; and the Earth being cursed, he must water it either with his sweat or with his tears, if he intend to have it fruitful. Banished persons possess nothing; they lose their substance in losing their Country: they can neither make will nor inherite, and they learn to their cost that want is the inseparable companion of banish­ment: there must be some edict of the Prince to mitigate the rigour of the sentence, and without his express permission, their very kindred dare not relive them in their misery. If Christians be not so cruelly dealt with, 'tis from their obligation to the merits of of Jesus Christ: For being ba­nished they are fallen from all their rights, losing the supreme good they have forfeited all together with him; and what they possess'd heretofore escheating to their soveraign by their felony, they can dispose of nothing but by the priviledge they receive from the Son of God.

Finally, banished persons are degraded from their nobility; the loss of their honour is joyned with that of their riches; and being driven from their Native soile, they can no longer have any share in the Government or charge of the Common-wealth: There was requisite an order of the Senate to restore Camillus to his dignities; neither would he accept of the office of Dictator till recalled from his banishment: All men are thus outed since the fall of Adam; the same rebellion that made them poor, made them base; they lost their honour with their innocence; and those that were little lower then the Angels, are reduced to the condition of Beasts. The world hath put on a new face ever since man chang'd their conduct; as long as they were in subjection with God, all the creatures were in subjection to them; but since their insurrection, all their subjects have rebelled; and the Empire where they exercised their power, is become the Theater of their punishment.

This gave Tertullian occasion to compare the world to a prison, and to make us confess that these two places so different in shew were exceeding like really and in deed. Si recogitemus ipsum magis mundum carce­rem esse, exisse nos è carcere intelligemus. Tert. ad Mar. A prison is the receptacle of darkness, the Sun darts no beames there, and this glorions Luminary which penetrates the deep, cannot enlighten the dungeon. The world lies in ignorance; all men are born blind; and if Jesus Christ more powerful then the Sun, be not pleased to enlighten them, they live and die in a profound blind­nesse: The Prison deprives Captives of their Liberty; if they be not loaded with irons, they are at least kept close; and being not able to quit those sad abodes without satisfying their obligations, they long for death to be delivered from servitude. The world in this particular is a perfect image of the Prison; all sinners lie fettered in it, their crimes compose their chains, and every offence they commit, is a new [Page 345]link making them stronger and more weighty: The Prison is the man­sion of Delinquents; if an Innocent enter there, 'tis by misfortune; Ju­stice built those dismal habitations for the punishment of Criminals; They are Hells upon Earth; the common shoars of the state; and, when the Prince hath a mind to rid himself of some Subject who threatens his Principality with a sedition or a rebellion, he sends him to expiate his of­fence in this dreadful dwelling: since the fall of Adam, the world hath lodg'd none but sinners; if you except Jesus Christ and his Mother, all men are guilty; they live and die in this shameful condition; and what­ever care Grace takes to render them innocent, there are very few who stand not in need of the flames of Purgatory to consume away what the Calentures of Charity could not. But as in the Prison the Criminals are always in fear, expecting with a thousand discontents the sentence of the Judge, trembling lest being condemned the Officer drag them to executi­on, and make them in some publick place an example to the people; In the world men attend their judgement with the same trouble of mind; They are apprehensive of the least sickness as personal summons obliging them to appear before the Throne of their Soveraign; they tremble at e­very accident that threatens them with a dissolution; and, redoubting that arrest which must decide the business of their Eternity, Qui se nondum intelligit exulē in hoc mun­do, nondum se intelligit pecca­torem. Aug. they live in continuall fear if they live not in blindness and ignorance. Thus the world is our Banishment and our Prison; we are Captives and Exiles, and both these Qualities teach us, that though we be justified, we cease not to be Delinquents.

But withall we must confesse that we are Pilgrims, and if this condi­tion ease not our pain, it does at least diminish our dishonour: For every one knows, that man was a Pilgrim in the state of Innocence; that he lookt upon Heaven as his Countrey, and though his life were not a Ba­nishment, it was a Pilgrimage. Indeed sin made it grievous, and chan­ging the face of the Universe, changed our condition with it: For, be­fore the sin of Adam, Paradise was a Temple, every creature was an image of God; Peregrinus erat Adam quia viator, sed non Exul quia non erat praevarica­tor. Rich. à San. Vic. and though man promised himself Heaven as the recompence of his merit, he fail'd not to meet with some happiness upon Earth: The place of his Pilgrimage was not yet the path of his Banishment; he loved all things without danger, nor feared any change in removing his affe­ction; and his thoughts daily raising him to his Creator, he performed as many acts of Religion, as he employed creatures for his use.

But now that his condition is changed, and that world for a punish­ment of his offence hath lost its rest and beauty, he is as well as Exile as a Pilgrim, and the place of his Pilgrimage is become that of his Banishment, so that his whole life must be spent in desires and sorrow; He is necessitated to sigh perpetually after his dear Countrey, to look upon the Earth as a strange place, to distrust all creatures which are in his enemies hands for his destruction, and to be like Passengers who return home assoon [Page 346]as possibly they can. Nothing can stop these when they are ever so little affected with those they have left behind; They rise before the Sun be up, go to their rest after he is set, and by the diligence they make, a man would judge their most violent passion were to arrive at their beloved Countrey. Thus ought Christians to make speed in the way of perfecti­on, they must continually put on, that they may shorten their journey, and remember that to be wedded to the Earth, is to prolong their Ba­nishment.

Pilgrims look upon all objects as indifferent; if they meet with pleasant seats, fruitful fields, populous towns, stately buildings, they never lose the desire nor the thought of speedily returning into their Countrey; they know very well that since they cannot possesse these goodly things, neither ought they to long for them, and that the love they spend abroad is inju­rious to their engagements at home. Christians instructed in the School of the Son of God, have nothing but contempt for the things of the Earth, they behold all its beauties without dwelling upon them, they take heed of pleasure as their mortallest enemy, and they groan sometimes under the weight of their travels; they confess nevertheless that the persecuti­ons of the world are not so tragical as its caresses.

Experience teacheth us, that the pain they endure in it encreaseth their desire of reviewing their dear Countrey, and the pleasure they tast makes them lose the remembrance thereof: For 'tis impossible saith Saint Au­gustine, that he should be in love with his Countrey, that doats upon his Banishment, or should have any passion for Heaven when he is strong­ly wedded to the Earth: If he be stricken with Divine Love, he spends his whole life in sighs; he never beholds the stars but he sheds tears; and, though there be nothing below that afflicts him, 'tis enough that he is in a strange Land to account himself miserable: His Banishment is his Tor­ment, and without inventing other racks to exercise his patience, 'tis e­nough to make him complain that he is condemned to travel. David en­joyed a profound tranquillity when he sent up his sighs towards Heaven, Heu mihi quia incolat us meus prolongatus est: His state was not divided by a Civil War; the Grandees had not conspired against his person; his children had not as yet driven him from his Palace, and the people at his de­tion were not cheated with the false promises of an unlawful Soveraign: In the mean time he forbore not to lament, and the remoteness from his Countrey was the sole cause of his tears. Si amatur pa­tria, magna poe­nae illium; si autem non a­matur patria, pejor est cordis poena. Aug. Therefore had S. Augustine reason to utter these gallant words; that to a man that loves his Countrey, Banishment is an insupportable pain; but yet he is more wretched, who cherishing his Banishment contemns or forgets his Countrey.

Finally, Pilgrims see nothing during their journey more agreeable then their Countrey; the affection they bear the place of their Nativity, ever defends its cause in heir heart; Though it be but a rock environed with precipices, they have some secret charms which makes them wish well to [Page 347]it, and in the midst of fertile fields, they have a longing for the air they first drew their breath in. Christians are in this particular better groun­ded then Pilgrims; For they see nothing here below that can equall the beauty of their Countrey; whatever is presented to their eyes, is but the shadow of that happiness they wait for there: Earth is therefore fruit­ful, because it receives the influences of Heaven, and all that ravisheth here below, owes its worth to the heat and light of the Sun: Nothing can damage their Countrey, but its greatness; their understanding is too weak to conceive its Excellency; and, if it be not sufficiently esteem'd, 'tis because it is not sufficiently known. Nevertheless 'tis enough to love it to be acquainted, as Saint Augustine saith, that it is a blessed City, whereof the Angels are the Citizens, the Eternal Father the Temple, the Son the Brightness, the Holy Ghost the Love; that 'tis a City where men are never born, nor ever die; where perfect Health banisheth all Sickness; where satiety expels hunger and thirst; where rest admits of no labour; and where we have nothing else to doe but to live, reign, and rejoyce eter­nally with God. The Hope of this Happiness sweetens our present dis­contents, and there is not any Pilgrim or Exile upon Earth, who takes not courage when he thinks that after his tedious wanderings, he shall enjoy a felicity that nothing can interrupt, nor ever shall have an end.

The Ninth DISCOURSE. That the Christian is a Penitent.

IF Baptism did wash away self-love together with sin, and the Grace we receive in this Sacrament cleared us of ignorance and weakness, as well as of malice, we might boast, that being innocent, Repentance were useless: But seeing there is no Christian who after his Baptism feels not bad inclinations which carry him to sin, there is none but have need of this vertue, and who after the imitation of the greatest Saints ought not to joyn the Quality of a Penitent to that of a Sinner: For though light offences rob him not of Grace, he is obliged to be troubled at them, be­cause they are displeasing to God; and as long as he feels rebellions in his soul or in his body, he must have recourse to austerity to stifle them: But if sin make him lose the life he received in Baptism, Repentance must give him a Resurrection; and coming to the relief of this first Sacrament, recover Grace by Sorrow and Contrition.

Thence it comes to pass, that the Fathers have called Repentance a labori­ous Baptism, because the sinner is washed thereby in his tears, and obtains that with much difficulty which was easily gain'd in Baptism: He is obli­ged [Page 348]to mingle his bloud with that of Jesus Christ, and to apply the merits thereof by painfull and dolorous works of satisfaction: His whole life ought to be spent in lamentation; Poenitentia est Gratia vel virtus qua com­missa mala plangimus, & semper odimus & iterū plan­genda commit­tere nolumus. for assoon as he ceaseth to be a Peni­tent, he becomes a Sinner: For Repentance, according to the opinion of Divines, is a Grace or a Vertue, whereby, often bewailing our sins, we always hate them, and constantly resolve never to commit them again. This definition contains four things, which happily express the nature of Repentance; and remarking what it hath common with other vertues, discovers also what it hath proper and peculiar to it self.

It is called Grace, because it is the gift of God, and finding us in a crime cannot be an effect of our merits: For in that wretched condition we are rather objects of Gods Hatred, then of his Love; and when he delivers, 'tis of his Mercy, and not of his Justice: It is also called a Ver­tue, because it fals under the Law, combats sin, and obtains our pardon: It seems to belong to Vindicative Justice, because like it it pronounceth sentences, and invents punishments to torture offendors: In a word, it hath no other employment but to prevent the indignation of Heaven, and to oblige it to clemency by its own severity: It enters into the interests of God, chastiseth that in time which he would chastise for Eternity, and endeavours to proportion the correction to the offence of the transgressor. But though in some things it agree with Vindicative Justice, in others it is far different: For Justice is in the Judge, it pronounceth sentence from his mouth, Non impunitum erit peccatum meum, sed ideo nolo ut tu me punius quia ego peccatum meum punias. Aug. in Psal. 50. and borrows the hand of the Officer to put it in execu­tion: Repentance on the contrary is in the offendor, resides in his soul, expresseth it self by his mouth, acts by his hands, and contrary to all Natural and Civil Laws, obligeth the Criminal to condemn and punish himself.

Justice cannot make sufferings welcome to those that undergo them; though just yet are they compulsive, and did not the Judges use force in their administration, all crimes would pass unpunished: But Repentance by a wonderful dexterity, makes afflictions agreeable, mixeth some sweet­ness with their severity, and causing the guilty person voluntarily to em­brace such penalties, finds an expedient to make them suffer without mur­muring: Finally, Justice looks upon the sin in it self, considers only the interests of the state, and provided that by punishing the wicked she may stop the current of Evil, accounts her self sufficiently happy: But Repen­tance illuminated by the Light of Faith, mounts as high as God, consi­ders his Majesty offended, and full of zeal and love endeavours to satisfie him by punishing the sinner; Thence it comes to pass that 'tis more severe then Justice; and, comparing the Excellency of the Creator with the meanness of the creature, condemns him to sufferings which last as long as life.

When strength fails, it hath recourse to tears, and gives it self over to sighs to expiate the offences committed. Morality hath observed, that [Page 349]tears serve us in all our passions: Joy hath its tears as well as Grief, and when excessive, hath a spice of groaning: Love cannot avoid them; when the heart is wounded, it bleeds at the eyes; and that Lover had reason to blame the Stoicks, who allowed their Scholars to love, but by no means to weep. Mercy is never without Tears, it daily lets fall some drops as witnesses of her compassion: When she cannot relieve the distressed, Lacrymis alta­ria sudant, par­ca superstitio. Stat. she bewails them; and this remedy is so common, that when the Pagans made a Goddess of this vertue, the Victims they offered were Tears and Sighs: But if there be any passion which profitably makes use of them, we must confess it to be Sorrow; this affection is better expressed by weeping then speaking; her Tears are more eloquent then her Words, and she gains more victories by her groans then by her reasons. Thence it comes to pass that Repentance being nothing else but a Sorrow for sin, it swims continu­ally in tears, interrupts its prayers with sobbings, Purgatorium a­nimae, Baptis­mus Poenitentiū, diluvium pecca. torum. Hiero. Chrys. Greg. and mingles bloud with tears in all its sacrifices: Therefore do the Fathers of the Church call it sometimes the Purgatory of the souls, sometimes the Deluge of sins, sometimes the Baptism of sinners, and sometimes the Bath of Pe­nitents.

For this reason all those that have gone about to appease the Justice of God, have had recourse to their Tears: David mingled them with his drink, and that famous Penitent watered his Couch with them in the night season: Mary Magdaleu obtain'd pardon for her sins by that innocent Stratagem, she bedewed the feet of her Master with her tears, wip'd them with the hair of her head, and making that instrumental to her Repentance which had been to her Vanity, deserved the glorious name of the Beloved of Christ: But he himself whom we may style a publick Penitent, be­wail'd our sins to expiate them, he mingled his sighs with his words up­on the Cross, and for the consummating of his sacrifice, he was pleased that the Victim should be bathed in his bloud and in his tears. In the mean time all sinners despise this condition of Repentance, they bewail their mi­series, but never weep for their transgressions; and knowing not well how to apply this remedy, vainly sigh for the loss of their honour or their goods, but are never seriously sad for the loss of Grace. Saint Augustin blames himself in his Confessions, that he lamented the death of Dido, but wept not over the death of his soul; that he bestowed some tears upon a woman that loved a man too much, and denyed them to a sinner that was deficient in his affection to his God.

Though Tears make up one part of Repentance, they may be some­times wiped away; these fountains dry up with time, and there are few sinners who like Saint Peter can bedew their cheeks as often as they call to mind their offences: But they ought always to abominate them, and if there be some truce with their tears, their hatred must have no intermis­sion. The vertues are not always active; inasmuch as they have none but particular enemies, they take their rest when they have either defeated [Page 350]or worsted them: Continence lays aside her arms when she hath mortifi­ed the Body; Humility takes some respite when the spirit is tam'd; and Patience is satisfied when she hath calm'd the motions of anger: But Re­pentance is a publick vertue; whether she make war upon all kinds of sins, revenge the outrages done against God, set upon his enemies, she is never at rest: Her employment is continuall; and as long as she sees any re­mainders of pride or impurity in the soul or body, she spends all her pow­er to stifle them.

The havock that sin bath made in our nature, maintains her in this humour; she cannot away with our irregularities, at sight of them she presently meditates vengeance; and as often as she considers our under­standing darkned, and our will depraved, she resents a just indignation which awakens her against the sin. Nothing so much incenseth a Prince against an enemy that hath wasted his state, as when pursuing him with his Troops he sees the Fields desolate, the Towns beaten to the ground, the Villages burnt to ashes, and which way soever he turns himself meets with the marks of the fury of a stranger: Neither does any thing so much set an edge upon Repentance, as when bidding sin battle, she beholds the disorders it hath wrought in sinners, and perceives neither parts in their body nor faculties in their soul which are not out of order: Her just anger reacheth sometimes over the very men, and finding they have taken this Tyrants part, she animates them against themselves, and making them serviceable to her indignation, changeth their love into hatred, and their pleasures into punishments.

Indeed every Penitent is his own Judge; he enters into the interests of God; and as if he were elevated above himself, he conceives he hath some right to revenge the former and punish the later. Anger according to the opinion of Saint Augustin is nothing else but a desire of vengeance; and vengeance according to the sense of Tertullian, is only the fruit or effect of anger: But inasmuch as this passion is extreamly violent, and that it is a hard matter to keep a just measure when we are Arbitrators in our own cause: God was willing to reserve the disposal thereof to himself: He it is that revengeth the Innocents, and punisheth the Guilty; and a­mong so many things that belong to him, there is none that he is so jea­lous of as this; Mihi vindictam & ego retribuam: If he give some per­sons leave to make use of this right, 'tis after he hath made them his Ima­ges; and of so many men that people the world, there are none but Kings and Parents that have a power to correct their subjects or their children: But as the Penitent holds the place of God here below, and takes part in his Interests, he shares also in his Justice and Power; he pronounceth sentence against himself, condemns himself as a Judge, punisheth him­self as an Executioner, and being not able to endure himself, dischargeth his fury upon all the parts of his body. He imitates those that are trans­ported with anger; and as they find no vengeance that can satisfie them, [Page 351]nor any punishments that equal their injuries, no more can he any suf­ferings that content him, nor any chastisements that equall his offences.

From anger he passeth to hatred, and fully to satisfie the Justice of God, handles himself as a Criminal or as an Enemy; he exerciseth acts of Hostility against his body; and finding nothing more ignominious, nor more cruell then the Cross, condemns himself unto it, and willingly em­braceth it: For Saint Augustin teacheth us, that the true Penitent ought to be crucified while he lives; that the Counsels and Precepts of Christ are the nails that must pierce his heart; that every inclination is a foot or a hand that he is bound to fasten to the Cross of Jesus Christ; and that it is a crime to take out the nails as long as we live upon the Earth. The Great Saint Leo is of this mind, and though he were of so mild a spi­rit, he is so severe in this point, that he cannot judge us worthy to be the Members of the Son of God, if our flesh be not crucified with his: He will not have us the same after Repentance that we were before; but out of a severity which he believes founded upon the Sacrament of our Reconciliation, he will have us put off the old man and put on the new, and renouncing all pleasure, make our body become the Image of Christ crucified.

When he is arrived to this degree of severity, he hath no more to do but persevere that he may become worthy of the glorious name of Peni­tent: For the sorrow is not true, unless it be constant; the Repentance is not sincere, unless it be faithful; and he is rather a Deceiver then a Pe­nitent, who having testified some desire of amendment of life, commits with pleasure the offence he had bewailed with grief. Many, saith Saint Augustin, protest that they are sinners, and continue still to sin; This acknowledgment is indeed a Consession, but no Correction; Irrisor est non Poenitens qut aduc agit quod poeniteat, & non minuit peccata sua, sed multi­plicat. Aug. Ser. 1. de Poen. they accuse themselves, but they labour not after a cure; and as another Father of the Church adds, they appease not the Divine Justice by their prayers, but provoke him by their insolence: For a man therefore to be truly Pe­nitent, he must lament his sin; in lamenting it, he must punish it; in pu­nishing it, he must hate it; and that this severity may not be reproached as counterfeit, it must last as long as our life; and our forsaking sin with a perseverance in good, must be the certain proof of the Truth of our Re­pentance.

The Tenth DISCOURSE. That the most glorious Quality of a Christian, is that of a Christian.

IT is hard to determine, Non minus se debere Aristo­teli quam Phi­lippo dicebat Alexander. Plut. Whether we have more obligations to our Tu­tors, or to our Fathers: for if the one fashions our Body, the other fa­shions our Minde; if the one give us Life, the other gives us Reason; and if we receive from the one our Riches, from the other we receive our Ver­tues. Therefore in all Antiquity Disciples bore the name of their Masters as well as of their Fathers; nor were they less jealous of the Learning of those that had instructed them, then of the glory of these that had begot­ten them. This difference hath no place among Christians; Because, he that gives them Life, gives them Grace; and the same Jesus Christ that hath conceived them in his Wounds, hath taught them in his School: He is the Father and the Master of the Faithful; and as these two Qualities oblige us to bear his Name, they oblige us also to relinquish our own.

He is jealous of this honour; and whatever part his Ministers take in his advantages, he hath never been willing to let them share in this. The Apostles never transferred their name to their disciples; these faithful ser­vants wrought all their gain for their Master; knowing very well that all their power was derived from him, they laboured onely for his glory; and when they had brought forth children, they named them by the name of Jesus Christ, and not their own. They imitated, saith S. Augustine, the Israelites, who, marrying the widow of their brother, made their chil­dren bear the name of the dead. Jesus Christ died upon the Cross; his Ministers are his Brethren; and, to accomplish his designe, they beget children for him by preaching: but they owe him so much respect, that they baptize them in his Name, and call them Christians.

Inasmuch as this advantage is great, it carries great obligations along with it; and all the Faithful are bound to imitate the Son of God: This honourable Title exacts this duty from them. 'Tis in vain, saith S. Au­gustine, Ex Sacramento Christi descen­dit hoc nomen, quod ille frustra sortitur qui Christum mini­me imitatur. Aug. to denominate themselves from Jesus Christ, if they strive not to conform their life to his. It is lawful for Infidels, that know not the true God, to seek for Patterns among men, because they can finde none among the gods; and they may regulate their actions according to the example of the Socrates's or Cato's: But 'tis a crime for a Christian to transcribe any other copie then that of Jesus Christ: He that hath formed them, ought to guide them; and as his Death is their Glory, his Life must be their Morality.

I can not endure that the greatest part of Believers should seek for ver­tue among Heathens, and, dazled with a false sparkling that decejves them, quit the Humanity of the Son of God, to imitate the Vanity of Pagans: For besides that their vertue hath its imperfections, that Self-love is the Principle, Pride the Soul, and Glory the End thereof, she is accompa­nied with so many Vices, that, labouring to render them Vertuous, she makes them Criminals. Alexander was valiant, but his Anger made him dye his hands in the blood of his Favourites: Pompey was wise, but am­bitious: Caesar was merciful, but lascivious: Cato was generous, but he drank many times somewhat too liberally; and, not being able to finde consolation in Philosophy, sought it in good company. But neither are the Saints themselves to be our Models any further then they are conform­able to Jesus Christ. When S. Paul invites us to follow him, 'tis after he hath assured us that he imitated our Exemplar, and endeavoured to exhi­bite himself a Copie of that divine Original: Imitatores mei estote, sicut & ego Christi. So that it is the Son of God always whom we look upon; they are his actions that regulate ours, and his Person that serves us for a Pattern.

For this reason, he chose a life which may minister instruction to all men; and carried himself so, that Rich and Poor, Learned and Ignorant, Bond and Free, may securely imitate him: Had he lived deliciously, Talem se in om­nibus rebus prae­buit, ut oivina clementia quò porrigi, & hu­mana insirmitas quò possit evehi sentiremus. Aug. de util. Cred. he had disheartned the Miserable: had he conquered Kingdoms, and commanded Armies; had he heaped up Riches, or sought after Dignities, the Poor and Fearful had never followed him: and had he preferred Pleasure be­fore Grief, or Glory before Humility, he had had none but the Ambitious or Voluptuous for his Disciples: But having placed the felicity of the earth in the contempt of Pleasure and Honour, there is none but may be of his School: The Distressed comfort themselves in his sufferings; they endure Persecution with complacency, when they consider his Cross; and finding their strength in his weakness, they are not troubled when afflicted, because they worship a God who was willing to live and die in sorrow: The Great and the Rich also may imitate him: for besides that they may forsake their goods, and instate themselves in a voluntary poverty, they ought not to esteem what Jesus Christ hath undervalued: and if they are fully perswaded that he is the Eternal Wisdom, it becomes them to be­lieve that the condition he hath chosen is the surest and most holy. Thence it came to pass that the Primitive Christians, that had no other Morality then the Life of the Son of God, distributed their goods to the Poor when they entered into the Church; and were of opinion that it was to doubt of the Maximes of their Master, not to follow his Examples.

Though Piety be now grown cold, we have still light enough to know that the Christian is obliged to contemn Present things, and to hope for Future: He hath not embraced Religion, to finde his acquiescence in this world: He is no sooner admitted into the School of Christ, but he learns that the earth [Page 354]is his Banishment, and heaven his Country; nor that he is to make any ac­count of perishable goods, further then they may conduce to the gain­ing of eternal; he useth his Riches to purchase the glory of heaven, en­dures persecutions as Trials, embraceth poverty as an Advantage, grief as an Exercise, fasting as a Remedy; and setting no estimate upon things but as they relate to his end, accounts those most beneficial which take him off from the world, and fix him upon Jesus Christ. The true Christian, saith S. Augustine, never need trouble himself to grow rich; if his ance­stors have left him any possessions, he ought to account them false, that he may long after true ones, and that the contempt he hath of Those, may raise the opinion he hath of These: For 'tis a certain Maxime, as the same Saint goes on, that the man that loves Earthly goods, hath but lit­tle minde towards those of Heaven; and that he that is besotted with the delights of the present world, never dreams of the pleasures of the world to come.

Finally, the Christian is not Regenerated in the Church, to seek for his happiness upon Earth; he makes no reckoning of what the Wicked possess; and he perceives that Riches and Honours are not the rewards of the Just, Non ad hoc su­mus Christiani, ut terrenam no­bis felicitatem quaetamus, quā plerumque ha­bent latrones & scelerati. Aug. because God bestows them upon his enemies: He suffers Infidels to raign, to instruct his Disciples; he abandons the fairest part of the world to them that persecute him, to teach us that Heaven is our Patrimony: and as he punisheth not all Crimes here belowe, neither doth he recompense all Vertues, to perswade us that there is another life where Misery and Happiness are real. Therefore is it that all the Faithful finde not here matter of Joy and Rejoycing; they use transitory things with so much discretion, that they no way prejudice those Eternal ones they look for; and believing themselves Pilgrims upon earth, are afraid to meet with some Charm, which, making this Exile too agree­able, may occasion them to lose the remembrance of their dear Coun­trey.

As the Christian ought to contemn Pleasures, so is it his part to prize Sorrow, and to remember that his two Births, though never so different, oblige him equally to suffer. The First exposeth him to the persecution of the Creatures, to the unfaithfulness of the Senses, to the revolt of the Passions; and because Criminal, engageth him in Misery and Suffering, Man is born of a woman, Homo natus de muliere, ideo cum reatu: bre­vi vivens, ideo cum metu: mul­tis repleretur miseriis, ideo cum fleiu. Bern. saith S. Bernard with Job, therefore is his nati­vity mixed with shame and sin; and whoever is the son of a woman, is mi­serable and guilty: he lives but a short time, thefore spends his yeers in fear, and trembles lest every day should be his last: He is overwhelmed with miseries, therefore he weeps continually; and following the course of the Distressed, endeavours to appease his Judge, or mitigate his Pain, with his tears.

His Second birth obligeth him to Sorrow: Jesus Christ gave him life upon the Cross, the Church conceived him in Persecution; and his father [Page 355]and mother joyntly engage him in the Combat: he is no Christian, if he do not suffer; he is unworthy of so fair a name, if he be not afflicted; nor does he yet believe, if in the midst of his rest he resent no displeasures: For, as S. Augustine saith excellently well, if he be truely faithful, he must be zealous for the glory of Jesus Christ: he cannot see his Person disho­noured, or his Commandments violated, but he is grieved at it. Bad ex­amples trouble him, the Kingdom of Satan torments him, the impiety of his Ministers vexeth him; and when he hath none of these rude trials, his being yet at a distance from heaven, is enough to make him account himself miserable. In the mean time, he hath no other felicity but pain; though he groan, he knows that Delights are more tragical then Discontents: he is glad of persecution, and storming his spirit, changeth his complaint into grateful acknowledgements, because he is perswaded that Vertue is not preserved but by infirmities. For his comfort, he many times enter­tains himself with this Maxime, he labours to establish himself in the be­lief of this Paradox, and blesseth afflictions, because, if just, they increase his Merit; if guilty, serve for his Correction.

And certainly we must c [...]fess that in all these dispositions he imitates his Divine Pattern: For, as S. Augustine judiciously observes, the Son of God despised riches, to teach us that they are not solid goods; and chose sorrow, to let us see that they were not true evils: He hath given us no counsel which he hath not practised beforehand; all his admonitions were confirmed by his examples; and knowing very well that actions perswade better then words, he would have his life the pattern of ours. If his Disciples imitate him not, if they fear Afflictions, seek after Pleasures, value Riches, despise Poverty, we must conclude with Saint Augustine, either that they are not Christians, or but bad ones. For, as that incomparable Doctor saith, there are many that bear the name of Believers, and have neither their Faith nor their Vertue: they wrong the Sacraments of the Church, dishonour the Doctrine of Jesus Christ, do despight to his Cross, condemn his Example; and being unwilling to regulate their lives according to his, make it appear he is not their Ma­ster, nor they his Disciples: These wretches seek nothing but their Interests; living in themselves, they die to Jesus Christ; and for the highest pitch of misfortune, destroy others in losing themselves. Their Evils become contagious; they corrupt those that come neer them; and fighting against the designes of the Son of God, engage them in sin that he would deliver from thence: They encroach upon the most eminent of his qualities; and propounding themselves for examples to the Faithful, strive to spread their impiety over the whole Church.

Let us defend our selves from their Infection; and seeing we have no other Pattern then Jesus Christ, let us try to regulate our life accor­ding to his: Let us imitate his Actions, because they are holy; reverence his Maximes, because true: and that we may be the Copies of this glori­ous [Page 356]Original, let us esteem those things he esteemed, and despise those things he despised: Let us be poor, because he was born in a Stable, and died upon a Cross: let us not fear Hunger, because he suffered it in the desarts; not tremble at Nakedness, because he had but one gar­ment, and that the Executioners robbed him of when they nailed him to the Cross: Let us not be afraid of Persecutions, because he underwent so many during his life; nor let Death terrifie us, because that which he chose was as cruel as ignominious: if we himitate him upon Earth, we shall be like him in heaven; if we suffer with him, we shall raign with him; and if we share in his disgraces in Time, we shall partake of his glory in Eternity.

The first DISCOURSE. That every man desires to be Happy; and that he cannot be so but in God.

IF we may judge of the reasonableness of our de­sires by their constancy, we must confess there is none more lawful then the passion we ex­press for happiness, because there is none more firm and durable: All others change with time or humour; we cure our selves of the vain de­sire of glory, and are perswaded that vertue would be miserable, had she no other recom­pence but reputation: Age obstructs the desire of pleasure, and when the body is spent with diseases, or weakned with years, we find little relish in those pleasures which solicit none but those who have too much ease or too much health: Avarice it self is not al­ways unsatiable; and when he whom this vice masters, finds his riches no longer serviceable to his designs, he contemns them: Curiosity, and the passionate industry of knowledge grows flat with time; the labour that accompanies it makes men repent of it; Beati omnes vi­vere volumus, nec quisquam est in hominum genere qui non huic sententiae antequam fit plane emissa consentiat. Aug and there is scarce any man of parts but observes, that the Earth is the mansion neither of Light nor Truth.

But the desire of Blessedness is immutable; whatever change our con­dition is liable to, this passion remains fixed in our souls, nor can all the miseries that exercise our patience ever deface it. Ask all people, whose designs are more different then their faces, we shall find they all conspire together in the search of felicity. They may peradventure propound seve­rall Ideas thereof, but their desire is one and the same; neither are there [Page 458]any wretches so miserable, who have not a mind to be happy: All con­ditions of the world agree in this point, and their differences are so many paths, whereby men resolve to arrive at the same end. The Covetous seek felicity in treasures; and as if nature had taught them that plenty at­tends this state, they never pretend to enrich themselves, but that there­by they may become happy.

Conquerours seek their felicity in victory; and, because nothing re­sists man in Beatitude, their aim is in subduing their enemies to subject all things to their power. The Learned are in love with science for no other end, but because they are perswaded that felicity consists in the knowledge of the supream Verity, and of all others by that light. The Ambitious are passionate for honour, because they have learnt that hap­piness is an Eternal Glory; neither are they to be blamed, because they are desirous of honour, but for that they seek it where they neither can nor ought to find it. The Lascivious doe not idolize beauty, but because they have heard that this quality which charms them is inseparable in God from goodness; and had not sin corrupted nature, whatever is comely would infallibly be good.

Finally, whatever men doe, whatever designs they contrive, whate­ver enterprises they execute, they would fain meet with happiness: If they engage in war, Quaerunt in varietate Cre­aturarum quod amiserunt in unitate Crea­toris. Aug. they seek their happiness in victory; if they agree with their enemies, they fancy it in peace; if they heap up riches, they suppose it in abundance of wealth; if they love women, they are pleased with beauty; and if they pretend to dignities, they place their contentment in glory: The truth is, they are faulty aud miserable, because they look for happiness where it is not; and by a blindness which is the punishment of their sin, would find that in the variety of the creatures, which is no where to be found but in the unity of the Creator. Thence it comes to pass, that they spend themselves in desires, form new projects; and never content with what they possess, heap Conquests upon Conquests if ambi­tious; Treasures upon Treasures if covetous; Novelty upon Novelty if Curious: Their desires are not unjust, because without bounds, but be­cause without prudence; I condemn them not because they are insatiable, but because they are blind, and fix upon objects which entertain their In­digence and Consumption.

Every one blames Alexander the Great, because he could not bound his Conquests; that he passed from kingdome to kingdome; that the Earth seem'd too scant for his ambition; and what contented so many Kings could not satisfie him: But for my own part, I think Divine Providence had a mind to let us see in this Conquerour that there is nothing in the world that can satiate the desires of man, that all the Scepters of the Uni­verse have not charms enough to make him happy, and that his heart lar­ger then all Empires, can be filled only with God: Indeed inasmuch as God is his Creator, he ought to be his felicity; as he is the Principle of [Page 359]his Being, he must be the object of his Content; and, having given him life by his power, must give him Beatitude by his Goodness.

It is a question in Divinity, whether man being a reasonable creature can have any other end then his Creator; and whether the Angels who are his superiours in Nature and in Grace, can be the objects of his felicity: But not to engage in the decision of a thing which depends absolutely up­on the will of God, I may safely answer with Saint Augustine: In rebus à Deo factis tam ma­gnum bonum est natura ra­tionalis, ut nul­lum fit bonum quo beata sit nisi Deus. Aug. de Nat. bon. cap. 7. That man in the state he is now in, can have no other end but God. He is too no­ble, saith that great Doctor, to find his felicity in a creature; he is desti­ned for the supream good, hath inclinations towards it which cannot be blotted out; He would be wretched, had he not some hope of possessing it; his desires would become his torment, were he not assured there was a possibility of satisfying them; and whatever should be offered him in exchange of the good they would deprive him of, would minister nothing but want and vexation of spirit.

But if this were an injustice to man, it would be an injury to God: For he hath two qualities whereof he is equally jealous; The first is that of Creator, which he communicates to none; He cals neither Men nor Angels to his aid, when he creates any thing; the distance of Entity from Non-Entity is so great, that it cannot be surmounted but by an infinite power, and the creature is too weak to be raised to so high a degree. S. Augustine believes 'tis to violate the respect due to God to imagine that the Angels can become Creators; and God himself who makes use of the Sun to preserve his works, would not make use of it to create them, lest men should ascribe an honour to it, which he reserves for himself. Gen. 1. Indeed we observe in Scripture, that the fruits and flowers, the trees and plants, which owe their preservation to the beauties of the Sun, were created two days before this glorious Luminary; that all nature might learn that if it were their Preserver, it never was their Creator.

The second Quality which God by no means communicates, is, that of the last end: He is so jealous, that he will not have us stay at the creature; 'tis a fault in our Religion to be in love with them: Our love that it may be innocent, must aim directly at God; and whatever action a Christian does, he sins if he propounds himself any other end then his Principle. All the sins of the world are derived from this disorder; men become not Cri­minals, but because they close with the creature, and of means designed them by God to arrive unto him, make their last end, and their supream felicity.

The cause or occasion of this Errour comes from this, that the perfe­ctions of God are shed abroad in his creatures: For he delineates himself in them when they are produced, and hath been pleased to make them his Pourtraitures or his Images. The Sun is an effusion of his Light; The Heaven which encloseth the Universe is an image of Immensity; The Earth which is centred upon its own weight, represents us his Constancy; [Page 360]the fields laden with fruits and adorned with flowers, are the marks of his beauty; and all the perfections that are dispersed in the several works of his hands, are the rivulets of this Ocean, or the rayes of this Sun. Thence it comes to pass, that sinners preserving in the root of their inclinations an appetite for the supream good, fasten upon every thing that represents it; and preferring the Copies before the Original, court the creature, and keep at distance from the Creator.

But if their blindness make them wander, their misery reclaims them, and they learn by woful experience that God only can cure them of their maladies. Mans desires arise either from his weakness or from his want; he covets what he stands in need of, nor hath he ever recourse to wishes, but when the things that he hath a mind to are out of his power. Both these appetites cannot be satisfied with the possession of the Creature: If the beauty that sparkles upon a face please our eyes, it cannot charm our ears; if riches protect us from poverty, they cannot secure us from grief; if glory have a powet to draw an ambitious man out of infamy or contempt, it cannot deliver him from obloquy or envy; and if Crowns and Scepters exempt Kings from servitude, they cannot guard them from death: Thus in whatever condition men find themselves, they are obliged to ascend a­bove the creatures, to seek for him, who being the Fountain of all good, is also the remedy against all evil; and with David to beg of him their cure and deliverance, De necessitatibus meis erue me.

Being the supream Power, he can free them from all their infirmities; being a Light without the least shadow, he can dispel all darkness; being the the Prime Verity, Jam non novi­mus bonum nisi promereri Deum & ad illa pro­duci quae promi­sit: nec f [...]icitas hujus saeculi fa­cit nos Beatos, nec adverfitas miseros. Aug. in Psal. 128. he can disingage them from Errour and Falshood; being Fountain of Life, he can draw them out of the bosome of death; and to conclude all in one word, being the supream Felicity, he is able to de­liver them from all their miseries: When they hope for him, they are cou­ragious; when they desire him, they are reasonable; when they possesse him, they are happy. The sight of his Divine Essence satisfies all their wants, remedies all their evils, and contents all their desires; the belief they have by faith, the expectation they conceive by hope, begins their felicity here below: It is true that as the supream Good cannot be fully known upon Earth, neither can happiness be perfect here; and being never entirely possest in the region of mortality, there are always miseries to be undergone and languishings to be endured.

The Second DISCOURSE. That the perfect Felicity of a Christian cannot be found in this world.

HE was not much mistaken, who considering that the Earth stood be­tween Heaven and Hel, said, it held something of both these extreams: Indeed Pleasure is here mixt with Grief, Light confounded with Dark­ness, Plenty attended with Want, and men are happy and miserable both together. But certainly we must confess, that since the Earth was cursed for the sin of man, it partakes more of the qualities of Hel then of Heaven: For besides that all things here are in a confusion; that the seasons are irregular; that the Elements bid us battail; that the wild Beasts either persecute us or despise us; it is certain that Felicity is not to be met with here below, and that man is exceedingly more miserable then happy.

All the world confesseth that Beatitude consists in the knowledge of the Supream Good, and that no man can be truly content who is not acquain­ted with this prime Verity from whence all the rest flow as from their Fountain. Profane Philosophy says the same concerning this Maxim, nei­ther hath she any Masters or Scholars, who make not this confession, that as the mind is more noble then the body, 'tis in the operations of that, not in the senses of this that Beatitude is to be sought for. In the mean time Earth is the habitation of obscurity; we know God but in an Enigma; we have only doubts and conjectures of his Greatness; and though we are fully perswaded of his Existence, we are altogether ignorant of his Essence.

If we consult our senses, they cannot inform us of his Divine perfecti­ons; and having neither shape nor colour, our eyes nor our ears cannot tell us notice of him. If our spirit reflect upon it self, and elicite some act to know its Author in knowing it self, it findes that the images it produceth are but Idols or phantasms, and that the apprehensions it conceives of him are only mistakes and falshoods. If Faith step in to the relief of the Understanding, and obliging it to renounce its proper light, clarifie it with what she brings, 'tis with so much obscurity that it hath more merit then satisfaction in its obedience. I know very well that this vertue raiseth man, abstracts him from sense, gives him admittance in­to the light of God himself, neither can he complain that reasoning is de­nyed him being prepared for an Intelligence: But certainly she pays him these advantages with usury: For he believes without knowing, gives his senses the lye, condemns his reason, and obligeth himself to die for those [Page 362]truths he cannot yet understand. Thus man is never happy in this world, and whatever certainty he have of the mysteries of our Religion, he will never attain to an evidence of them.

From this misfortune there arrives a second, which is no whit less considerable; For inasmuch as the Understanding is the Gandle of the soul which enlightens the will, Nolunt homiues facere quod ju­stum est, sive quia latet, sive quia non dele­ctat. Aug. and this blind faculty loves things according to the rate she knows them; she never fully embraceth the Supream Good, because she never perfectly knows it. There is something always wanting to her love, and to her happiness; her possession is continually imperfect, nor are her desires ever without discontent: whatever tast she hath of felicity, it rather sets an edge upon her love then any way appeaseth it; and whatever pleasure she finds in transitory and perishable goods, she feels by experience they may possibly divert her, but no ways content her: Their scantness causeth her indigence; she continually changeth objects, striving to find that in one which she cannot meet with in another; she is like the Bees who sip upon all flowers to tast the dew that drops from heaven; and being wearied with the various turnings and windings of the world, is obliged to confess that Beatitude is found no where but in God, but he is neither met with, nor enjoyed upon Earth.

I proceed, and say, that should he suffer himself to be seen by his creature in the condition whereto sin hath reduced him, it would prove rather a ground of fear and astonishment, then of love and satisfaction. There is so little proportion between God and Man, that the one must needs be abased, or the other greatly exalted, that there may be some commerce between them: The Majesty of God must be clouded by some allay of condescension, and mans weakness strongly heightned by some gracious endowment; or certainly, the presence of God which is the feli­city of the Angels in Heaven, would occasion the misery of man upon Earth. The Scripture tells us, we cannot see him and live, his aspect is formidable, his splendour dazles our eyes, his greatness chides our curio­sity, neither can we behold this Sun but we are in danger of losing our life together with our sight. The righteous in the Old Testament repent their seeing him, and though he temper his Majesty to accommodate it to our weakness, they conceive this favour must be followed with their death: Deum vidimus, moriemur.

But should his Almightiness be proportionable to our misery, and this Divine Sun like that of the Poets, Ʋbi metus est, ibi nulla vera felicitas. Sen. lay by his rays that we may approach it, the state of Earth would not suffer his presence to make us happy: For our felicity that it may be true, must be constant; if we are not sure to keep the good we possess, the apprehension of losing it traverseth our content­ment, and mingles restlesness with our pleasure. Fear more afflicts us then the enjoyment can delight us; we resent misery in the midst of felici­ty, and we finde our happiness of the nature of those colours of the Came­leon, that perish with the object that produceth them. So then, there is no­thing [Page 363]durable in the world; the noblest creatures are all subject to change; whatever is possest, may be lost: The Soul, though Immortal, is not Im­mutable; she that cannot die, can sin: and though Grace be an emanati­on of Glory, it hath neither its constancy nor duration: it is a kinde of Miracle that God works in favour of his Elect, Qui se putat stare, videat ne cadat. Phil. 2. when he confirms them in Grace: and though he give them assurance of their salvation, he exempts them not from our miseries and infirmities. And this is the last Reason I intend to make use of, to let you see that the Earth is not the habitation of the Blessed.

All those that form any Idea of Happiness, acknowledge that as it comprehends all Good, it ought to exclude all Evil: did it not include all of one sort, it would not be perfect; and did it not expel all of the other, it would be miserable. In the mean time, the Earth is the region of Po­verty: Goods are very scarce, but Evils come in crowds: He that posses­seth Riches, languisheth after Honour; he that raigns in a Kingdom, does not always bear rule in his Person; and if he triumph over his Enemies, he seldom triumphs over his Passions: He that bathes himself in Pleasures, is drowned many times in Sin; and he that is upon good terms with For­tune, is for the most part at oddes with Himself. Thus all men are mise­rable, because they are indigent; nor does the condition of their present life suffer them to associate all good things together, to compose a perfect felicity.

It happens also, by a necessary consequence, that there are a thousand Evils from which they cannot defend themselves: Their souls and their bodies are equally disposed to grief: these two Delinquents, which for­sake not one another in the Sin, share in the Punishment; and Earth, pre­venting Hell, torments them both for company. The Body bears an ene­my in the bowels of it 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 [Page 364]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 its 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 Christ, we have Jesus Christ in us: This vertue makes him present in our souls; and the belief we con­ceive of him, is his other self in our hearts. Thus the Believer is happie because he possesseth the Son of God; and is possessed by him as long as he preserves a vertue which so closely unites them together.

Hope, which is bred with Faith, increaseth this happiness, and makes [Page 366]our condition more resemble that of the Blessed: For, that which seems most to separate them from us, is, that they enjoy that happiness we ex­pect, that they languish not as we do, and that they have received seisen of the Supreme Good we still hope for: They feel the truth of that speech the Scripture hath recorded for our consolation, Intra in gaudium Do­mini tui. Their Desires disturb them not; and Fear, which always accom­panies Hope, troubles not their content: They are above all their wishes; and being in full possession of the Supreme Good, have neither Miseries to fear, nor Blessings to desire.

It is true, the Believers enjoy not all these priviledges; neither does their condition suffer them to live without apprehensions and longings: They work out their salvation with trembling; Ille bene novit in miseriis exte­rioribus sub­sistere qui scit de spe interna sem­per gaudere. Greg. Mora. and as they possess not all that they love, they give themselves leave gently to consume away in the flames and desires of their Love. But withal, we must confess they have a part of this felicity: for all Philosophers know that Hope is the flower of Pleasure, that it gives a taste of the pleasure it promiseth, that, to stir up the appetite of our Soul, it indulgeth a kinde of sense of the felicity prepared for us, and that the strength she inspires us with, proceeds from the sweetness she charms our expectation with. I know prophane Au­thors affirm that the overtures of Hope are but pleasing Lyes, Spes vigilantiū somnium. Plut. that she engageth us in dangers with vain promises; and finding us over-easie, abu­seth our credulity: But the sounder sort of Philosophers acknowledge that Hopes animates us, sowes pleasures amidst our pains, nor ever car­ries men on to generous and difficult actions, but in making them taste a part of the recompence she promiseth.

But admit this Passion had not all the power attributed to her, we must by no means question it as belonging to that Hope which is grounded up­on the words of God: This confers things in promising them, makes us feel the happiness we expect: and as the Air and the Windes carry the Odours of Arabia into the neighbouring Provinces, we may say that this vertue carries the felicity of the Beatified into the very heart of the Faithful. Thence it comes to pass that Saint Paul many times in his Epistles mingles Joy with Hope; as if he would teach us, that we cannot hope but we must possess in part what we hope for; Spe gaudentes: and in another place, Gloriamur in spe gloriae filiorum Dei. Finally, if it exclude not all Evils, as Beatitude does, at least it sweetens them, and turns them in­to remedies: S. Gregory goes further: for he will have it happie, because certain; and wiping away the tears of Christians, crowns them with a joy which comes neer that of the Angels.

Inasmuch as Charity is nobler then Hope, she contributes more libe­rally to the Happiness of the Faithful: For, besides that it makes the holy Trinity present in their souls, renders their Exile a Paradise, she unites them to God, and by a happy Metamorphosis findes out an expedient to transform them into him. All the world knows that love is the tye of [Page 367]hearts, and that his principal effect is to unite together all the Subjects that live under his Empire: To accomplish this design, he equals their conditions, debaseth great persons, and exalteth mean ones, enricheth the poor, and impoverisheth the rich, sets slaves at liberty, and makes Masters slaves: But Charity effects all these things more happily then profane love; she humbles the Almighty without interessing his Greatness; obligeth him to comply with our weakness; Quis me amavit & non ad me pervenit, quis­quis me quaerit cum ipso sum: ipse amor tibi praesentem me facit. Aug. and reduceth him to a condition wher­in he enters into commerce with us, not dazling us with his light, nor a­stonishing us with his Majesty: He infuseth himself into our souls by grace, is linkt to us by his love, and in this union communicates to us all his Di­vine Qualities: For he lifts us above our selves to transform us into him; draws us out of our misery to make us capable of his happiness, and takes from us our own affections, to give us admittance into his inclinations: when we are arrived to this height of perfection, we behold all earthly things under our feet; we breath nothing but Heaven; we discourse onely of the subject of our love; and we are so perfectly filled with him, that we may say without offence, our desires are alike, our conditions equal, and our interests common.

Though all Christians cannot pretend to this high degree of Happi­ness, it seems yet that having the Grace of Jesus Christ, they have one part of that felicity which the Saints possess by Charity: For in the judge­ment of all Divines, Grace is Glory begun, Glory Grace consummated: the former gives that a being here below, which the second finisheth above, and maugre all the miseries that afflict the children of Adam, makes us finde Happiness in the midst of our sorrows: 'Tis perhaps upon this ground that Saint Paul calls Grace Eternal Life, Gratia Dei vita aeterna; and in­sinuates to all Christians, that being Saints here below, they are already Blessed. Beatitudo in quodam illapsu Divinae Essen. tiae intra ani­mam consistit. Henri. à Gau. Indeed Essential Felicity consists in a certain emanation of Di­vinity into the substance of the soul; when she as the iron by the fire, is penetrated therewith, she happily loseth her own qualities to assume those of God; she is swallowed up in this Ocean of Glory; and having no longer any thing of mortal nor humane, is entirely Immutable and Di­vine: What Glory operates in the Blessed, Grace works proportionably in the Faithful; she sheds abroad the Divine Essence in their souls, com­municates to them a new being, and changing their nature and condition, makes Gods of them which may die indeed, because they may sin, and be­ing not inseparable from the Supream Good, are not yet fully impecca­ble.

Nevertheless Divines confess, that as Grace is a participation of the Divine Nature, it communicates Immortality as well as Sanctity, and the life it produceth in our souls, carries along with it no principle of death. The life of the body is not a true life, because the same elements that pre­serve it, destroy it; and the corruption that accompanies it, leads it insen­sibly to a dissolution. But the life of Grace is exempt from this misfor­tune; [Page 368]it carries Eternity along with it, and were it not engaged in a sub­ject changeable and obnoxious to mutability, it would be as Immortal as it is Holy.

Let us adde to this advantage that Grace cannot be taken from us a­gainst our will; 'tis a treasure we never lose but by our own default: Pe­rishable goods cannot be preserved with all our care; cunning or violence may rob us of them; and whatever prudence we use to keep them, we are many times constrain'd to fear or feel the loss of them: Calumny takes away our good name; Injustice or misfortune spoils us of our riches; a disease deprives us of health, and death of life: All these goods though preci­ous, cannot avoid the disasters that threaten them: The Innocent lose their honour as well as the Guilty; The rich are as much afraid of sickness as the poor; nor are Kings more secure from death then their Subjects. But Grace is a good which cannot be taken from us without our consent; Potes aurum perdere, & no­lens, potes & domum: bonū autem quo bonus es, nec invitus accipis, nec invi­tus amittis. Au. There is no violence can plunder us of it; and men though in league with the Devils, cannot make us lose it, if we favour not their design by our weakness.

This is the difference Saint Augustine hath put between earthly goods and heavenly: Those are many times lost in spite of the owners, these are never lost but by the fault of those that neglect them: so that the condi­tion of the Faithful is very little inferiour to that of the Blessed; because that if the one be certain their glory shal never have an end, the others are sure their Grace shal never be lost, unless they wil not preserve it out of ma­lice, or not consent to secure it out of cowardise: Indeed inasmuch as they know that their wils are impotent, and their inclinations bad, they place all their confidence in the mercy of God; they hope that he that converted them, will make them persevere; and having assisted them in the combate, will crown them in the trumph.

The Fourth DISCOURSE. That Happinesse consists not in Pleasure, but in Grief.

OF all the Sects which have opposed Truth, the most dangerous is that of the Epicures; For though base and unjust in that it gave the Body preheminence over the Minde, and Pleasure the right hand of Ver­tue; Nevertheless it surprised men at first sight, and seduced them by a name which bears some analogy with that of felicity: For whatever I­dea men fashion of this, it is impossible to separate it from Pleasure, and [Page 369]very casie to confound them together. We cannot imagine such a thing as the supream Good, but we must conceive it agreeable; nor can we per­swade our selves that there is felicity where there is not content.

This hath procured more Disciples to this shameful Sect, then to all the rest, and made it triumph over the reason of the Academicks, and the supercilious vanity of the Stoicks: Allsinners took part with this Philo­sophy; Christian Religion which destroyed Idolatry, hath not been able to ruine this, and the Church bears those in her bosome who boast them­selves Christians, but are indeed Epicures. The whole world courts plea­sure by different addresses; 'Tis the Idol that hath most Altars, and re­ceives most Sacrifices. The Ambitious are her slaves, they adore Volup­tuousness under the name of Glory, and suffer themselves to be charm'd by the allurements that attend a great reputation: The Covetous are her Votaries, they offer Incense to this false Deity; they seek for pleasure in the arms of profit; nor do they so much doat upon riches, because profita­ble, as because agreeable.

Indeed the Supream Good is inseparable from pleasure; and as you cannot see the Sun but must be enlightned, no more can men behold the Supream Good without being charm'd. Delectatio ex fruitione summi boni necessario sequitur. Aug. If delectation be but a conse­quence of Happiness, as some Philosophers affirm, it is at least necessary; and I account it no more impossible to see God, and not love him, then to love and see him without receiving contentment in him. Therefore the errour of the Epicures consists not in placing Beatitude in Pleasure, but in placing pleasure in the body, because man being compounded of a bo­dy and a minde, ought to be happy in both these parts. Let us combate this Monster, which against nature destroys not men, but because he flat­ters them; nor is dangerous, but because he is over complacent.

There is no body but confesseth that Beatitude consists in a union with God, by means of the understanding and the will: we must renounce reason to oppose this truth, and cease to be men to doubt of a Maxim au­thorised by all profane Philosophy. God is the Ultimate End of his crea­tures, and consequently their perfect Happiness; The Understanding and the Will are the two noblest faculties of the soul, the wings that make her soar aloft, and the chains that fasten her to the object she loves; so that she is never more happy then when united to the Supream Good by Know­ledge and Love; whatever hinders this union, is contrary to it; and whate­ver separates or removes her from God, is the enemy of her felicity.

It is easie thence to infer that sensual pleasures cannot cause our felici­ty, because they suffer not our souls to be united to God, and imbark her so strongly in the flesh, that she seems to have lost all the qualities of a spirit. Impurity produceth store of miseries in the world, nor can we in­vent too many invectives against a sin that defiles a man, and of an Angel makes a Beast: But the greatest of its enormities is, that it inebriates our soul with its poison, and makes us lose the remembrance of all Divine [Page 370]things: Nothing pleaseth the slaves it tyrannizeth over, but sensuality; whatever affects not the senses, seems not true; they take the pleasures of the minde for meer illusions; and as if the glory of Heaven were but a fa­ble, or an imposture, they are less affected with the consideration of them, then reasonable men with the reading of Romance.

This misfortune produceth another; For as pleasure separates men from God, it fastens them to the creatures their inferiours, and debasing them below themselves, Quisquis quod seitso est deteri­us sequitur, fit & ipse de. erior. Aug. communicates the bad qualities of the things they doat upon. Love is a kind of medley, it confounds those subjects it u­nites, and by a wonderful Chymistry makes them pass one into another. Thence it comes to pass that Kings become Slaves when they love their Subjects, and renounce their power when abandon'd to dalliance: They fall from their Greatness when they engage in an affection; and as the noblest metals lose their purity when mixt with those of a baser allay, So­veraigns quit their Majesty when allied with their Subjects. Thus the man who gluts himself with the pleasures of the body, renounceth the priviledges of the minde, betrays his duty and his dignity, despoils him­self of the inclinations of Angels, and puts on those of Beasts; and with­out changing his shape, changeth condition and nature.

But inasmuch as most men are led more by interest then reason, and those that are the slaves of pleasure are more sensible of grief then shame and dishonour; it will not be amisse in this Discourse to let them see that the pleasures after which they so eagerly run, are very tragical, and con­trary to their intention, are turn'd into punishments. The Divine Justice which leaves no crime unpunished, hath been pleased that diseases should be natural penances, and that the Stone and the Gout should be the re­compence of our debauches: Seeing sensuall pleasures are commonly cri­minal, they are for the most part irregular; having shaken off the yoak of reason, they cast men into excesse, and perswade them that 'tis a kind of injustice and base servility to prescribe Laws to their desires: abused by these false sophisms, they pursue their inclinations without keeping any measure in their diversions; they are drown'd in delights, are lost in vo­luptuousnesse, and draining their strength and their substance, fall many times into diseases and poverty: Thus by a just judgement of Heaven their disorders become their torments, Ipsos voluptas habet, non ipsi voluptatem; cu­jus aut inopiâ torquentur, aut copiâ strangu­lantur; miseri si deseruntur ab illa, miseriores si obruantur. Sence. and they finde sorrow where they expected felicity.

If to defend themselves from this misfortune, they observe some rules in their pleasures, they feel another punishment: For these pleasures be­ing short, their soul is always languishing; they have scarce done with one, but they long for another; and living always in expectation or in­quiry, can neither be secure from restlesnesse nor discontent: Those who to remedy this evil, endeavour to associate pleasures, undertake an impos­sibility: For whether nature intend to punish us, because we are culpa­ble, or whether Grace be not willing to expose us to danger, because we [Page 371]are weak, Pleasures hold not so good intelligence as Paines: These set upon us in a full body, and joyn companies to render us wretched: the Stone, the Gout, the Colick, and the Palsie, conspire together to exercise our patience: whatever opposition these diseases may have, they agree to ruine us; and we many times behold distressed spectacles who have no part of their body free from torment: But Pleasures are divided; Self-love, with all its subtilties, cannot reconcile them; the Birth of one is the Death of another; and experience teacheth us, that we have more strength to endure Griefs, then to support pleasures: when these slow in up­on us with full tide, they stifle us; when they succeed, they make us droop and languish; and when they recompense their shortness by their excess, they reduce us to complaints and groanings.

From all this Discourse we may conclude, that bodily pleasure is an ene­my to our happiness, that it removes us from God, engageth us in the Creature, obligeth us to partake of their imperfections, and is followed with misery and indigence. Therefore, following the rule of Contraries, we shall not have much ado to perswade our selves, that Felicity may be found in Grief, and that the Christian is never more happie then when he is afflicted for Christs sake.

For the understanding of this Paradox, we must remember that all earthly goods are onely mediums whereby to gain those of heaven: that which leads us the safest way thither, is the best; neither is the Christian ever neerer his happiness, then when he is in the way that soonest leads him thi­ther. Now there is no man so little skilled in our mysteries, but knows that Grief is the surest and the speediest way to arrive at heaven; Cohaeredes autē Christi; si ta­men compati­mur, ut simul & conglorificemur. Rom. 8. Si sustinemus & conregnabi­mus. 2 Tim. 2. 'tis the path Christ hath marked out with his Blood, that whereby he entered into his Greatness, that which all the Martyrs have gone: and the Scri­pture teacheth us in a hundred places, that Glory is dispensed according to the measure of Sorrow; that they that have suffered most upon earth, shall be the happiest in heaven.

One of the most remarkable differences between Christian Grace and Original Righteousness, is, that this guided man to his happiness thorow a way strewed with roses and lilies; the means were proportioned to the end, and seemed as an Antepast or Earnest thereof; He arrived to Glory by Honour, to Pleasure by Delights, to Plenty by Riches: He had reign­ed over Beasts, before he raigned with Angels: he had passed from one Paradise to another; and had been happie upon Earth, before he had been so in Heaven. But now Providence hath changed its conduct over men; and, whether it have a minde to chastis their Rebellion, or to wean them from the World, or to make them conformable to their Head, it leads them by difficult ways, thorow paths rugged with thorns, and environed with precipices: The means it indulgeth to bring them to their end, are contrary to it; and, to make its proceeding admired, they are guided to Life thorow the valley of Death, to Liberty thorow Servitude, to Light tho­row [Page 372]Darkness, to Pleasure thorow Pain. All the Morality of a Christian propoundeth nothing but Crosses; its Vertues are austere, its Counsels difficult, its Commands harsh; and had it not found the means to sweeten all these anxities by Charity, it would reduce the Faithful to despair: For it obligeth them to hate Themselves, and to love their Enemies; orders them to forsake their Riches and their Parents; Fides non habet meritum, ubi humana ratio praebet experi­mentum. Greg. to believe without know­ledge, obey without discerning, love without interest, pardon without re­sentment, live without pleasure, and die without regret.

All the Maximes of their Master confirm this Truth: for he prefers the Poor before the Rich, declares the Afflicted happie, canonizeth them that suffer, and promiseth his Kingdom to them that weep: he practised what he taught; his whole life was spent in labours, or affronts; he was born in a Stable, died upon a Cross, lost his Honour with his Life: nor did his Father glorifie him, till his Enemies had loaded him with reproaches and sorrows. All his Apostles followed his steps; they preached his do­ctrine with the hazard of their lives, signed it with their blood, sealed it with their death, rendered up their souls among torments; nor is there any torture the cruelty of men hath not invented, to weary their Patience, and trample upon their Courage.

All his faithful disciples seek for Grief in the Rest of the Church; they finde Persecution in Penance, are their own executioners, and their whole life is an imitation of Martyrdom: they provide for the Prison by Soli­tude, dispose themselves for Banishment by removing from their Coun­try, prevent the loss of their goods by Alms, grow hardened against Stripes by Discipline, grow acquainted with Hunger by Fasting, and learn to die in Torments, mortifying themselves by Austerities. Nothing more heartens them then the example of their Head; his Agonies sweeten their Sorrows; they count themselves happie to suffer for his glory who suffered for their salvation; and observing his whole life, finde their strength in his death, and their recompence in his resurrection.

The Fifth DISCOURSE. That Happiness is rather found in Poverty then in Riches.

THe inclination we have for the Supreme Good is so strong, that sin hath not as yet been able to deface it: The Privation there of increa­seth the desire; and as Health is never more lovely then in the region of Sickness, neither is Happiness ever more acceptable then in the confines of [Page 373]Misery: Nevertheless we must not always take counsel of this, nor fol­low the advice it always gives us: for when we lie under an affliction, we are easily perswaded 'tis ever more dolorous, and the good it deprives us of exceedingly more considerable. Thus we see those that are fallen into disgrace, look upon Glory as the supreme felicity; those that live in Po­verty, imagine Riches the true happiness.

Thence it comes to pass that Poverty being a very common misfortune, the opinion that placeth happiness in Plenty is an ordinary errour. All men would be rich; this passion stealeth into all different conditions; and those that speak most pompously of the contempt of earthly goods, Est intolerabilis res poscere num­mos & contem­nere, & pecuni­am sub gloria paupertatis quarere. Sen. are those that most greedily cover them. It seems the evils that Want hath clogged them with, provokes their desires; and the fear of realpsing makes them of all men most penurious: Rich men sooth themselves with this belief, out of another consideration: and because they see that Riches are the means to satisfie their desires, that they open the gate of Honour with a golden-key, corrupt the integrity of Judges and the chastity of women with silver, they erect altars to a Goddess that prospers all their unjust de­signes. Morality furnisheth us with Reasons to ruine this errour; and Religion will afford us Maximes to perswade Christians, that if there be any shadow of felicity upon earth, it is rather found in Poverty then in Plenty.

One of the most splendid conditions of the Supreme Good, is, that it is the centre of our Love, and the end of our Desires: That which leaves us any thing to wish, is not true; and because it fully takes not up our heart, it possesseth not all perfections: This obligeth us to despise riches, and to condemn those worldings that would establish their felicity in them. For if they bear the name of Goods, 'tis an unjust title they usurp, because for the most part they are means Nature hath furnished us with to procure what we stand in need of. The use of Riches is for Commerce; we give them in exchange for the commodities we would have; and if sometimes we keep them, 'tis to make use of them in our necessities. Thus Riches are extremely different from the Supreme Good, which, being once possessed, is never forsaken; and is so the last end of Man, that it can never be a medium to arrive at any other more excellent.

All Philosophers confess that Felicity is a thing so intimately annexed to the Creature, that it penetrates him thorewout; and so closely united to him, that it cannot be separated: If it have not these two conditions, Man will never be perfectly happie; there will be some faculty of his soul which unsatisfied will remain languishing; and when they shall all enjoy a con­tentment, he will still be liable to fear, lest haply he may be despoiled of the Good he possesseth: Now Riches want one of these two conditions; they surround us but no ways inform us; they are in our coffers, but en­ter not into out hearts we commit the keeping of them to our servants; and we are constrained to aband on our felicity as often as we take a journey.

This misfortune causeth another: For, being not under safe custody, they are exposed to pillage: Injustice and violence may plunder us of them: and though Gold be the sinews of War, 'tis in his power that hath the best Sword to take it from us. Thus Riches create Fear, expose their masters or their slaves to danger; and whatever succour they promise, procure us more ill then they bring good.

But should they be as good as their word, and were it easie for us to keep them, yet could they not give us a protection from the evil whereof they boast themselves the remedy: Cum dicitur ni­hil illi deest, attende; si nihil cupit nihil deest; si autem adhuc cupit, accesserunt divitiae ut ege­stas cresceret. Aug. For if there be any misery in the world which Riches can cure us of, it must be Poverty: It seems, as soon as they enter into a house, they banish Want; and that 'tis impossible to be rich and poor both together: In the mean time, experience teacheth us that Riches introduce Poverty, that they inflame our desires, sharpen our disease under a pretence of mitigating it; and, for our punishment, beget indigence in our hearts, at the same time that they occasion plenty in our house. All prophane Philosophy hath acknowledged this Truth; and the Stoicks have confessed it, that the most biting poverty was that which we suffer in the midst of our Riches.

This just judgement hath two causes: The first is the capacity of mans heart, which none but an infinite Good can fill: the second is, the scant­ness of riches, which increase our appetite in stead of allaying it, and, like a handful of water thrown upon a great fire, serves onely to make it scorch more violently. Thence may we conclude with the Philosopher, that the richer a man is, the more miserable is he; that his riches impoverish him, if Grace do not instruct him how to moderate his desires: so that what he lookt upon as a remedy, is a second evil more dangerous then that he would cure.

This conceit discovers another, which makes it evident, that in the con­dition whereto sin hath reduced man, Riches are more pernicious then prositable: Every one knows that the inordinateness of our Passions is one of the severest punishments of our transgression: there is scarce one that is not rebellious against Reason, and which attempts not the violation of his authority: All our Desires are unjust, all our Hopes interessed, all our Affections criminal: every Passion produceth a sin, if not withheld by Grace; and whoever gives himself up to his inclinations, is sure to wander from his duty. In the mean time, Riches side with these rebels against their Soveraign; they flatter all our desires, serve as ministers to all our unjust designes, and furnish us with means to make us more culpable, under a colour of rendering us more happie. They promise pleasures to the Wanton, Inflant animos divitiae, super­biam pariunt, invidiam con­trahunt, luxui serviunt. Sen. and conspire with him to corrupt Chastity: they furnish Arms and Seconds to the Furious, to take vengeance on their enemies: they raise the Ambitious to offices and employments; and complying with all Pas­sions, engage men in all kinde of impiety. Therefore he judged aright, who said, that, to give a sinful man Riches, was to put a Sword into a mad mans [Page 375]hand or present poyson to a Desperado; because not being under the command of Grace, he will make use of them only to satisfie his ambition, or to content his brutality.

So that the Philosophers preventing the Divines, rightly discovered that Poverty was more Innocent then Plenty; and that it was easier for men to preserve their liberty in the leanness of want then in the affluence of riches. For besides that they wed us to the earth, Multis parasse divitias non finis miseriarū fuit sed muta­tio. Senec. Epist. 17. they expose us to a thousand accidents which can neither be foreseen nor avoided, and give fortune game at our person. Therefore is it that Seneca said, Those that will be happy, must either be poor, or like those that are so; they must pos­sesse their goods without being possessed by them; and use them as Stewards rather then Proprietaries; and they ought to be alwayes ready to part with them, because they have them but in trust: Religion out-bids Philosophy, and requires farre other dispositions from her Children, then this does from her Disciples: For she will have them acknowledg that in Adam all is lost; that they are fallen from their rights by his sin, and being guilty are become miserable: Perswaded of this Truth, they live in the world as in a strange Country; they possesse riches upon Loan; and since their Goods were confifcated to their soveraign, they enjoy them meerly from his mercy: Though Jesus Christ re-instate them in their goods; and being made Co-heirs with him, may dispose of heaven and earth as their Inheritance; yet are they obliged to regulate themselves by his Example, and not to make use of their rights till after the generall Re­surrection.

He carried himself thus during his life; though Heire to his Father, he disposed not of his estate, a Cratch received him at his birth, and a Cross served him for a Death-bed; he lodged in a borrowed house, and was buried in a strangers Sepulchre: If he wrought some miracles for the Glory of his Father, he did none for his own Interest; when he created a piece of money in the mouth of a Fish, it was to pay Tribute; and when he commanded his Disciples to take the Asse which served to carry him in his triumph, it was with the consent of the Owner. Paupertate Christi non ad­ditur pecunia sed justitia: Divitiae verae immortalitas: ubi enim vera copia, ibi nulla indigenti [...] Aug. He put not his absolute power in execution, till after his Resurrection; nor did he enjoy the pri­viledges due to his Birth, till he was entred into Heaven. The Christians tredding in his steps, pretend nothing in this world, but reserve the frui­tion of their right for the next: They are content with the promises of Jesus Christ, and living here upon hope, expect the effects thereof in glory.

During this time, they look upon Poverty as an innocent Usury, which gives a value to what they give or part with here for the Son of God; for they know, saith S. Bernard, That Jesus Christ who is a New Man, is come down here below to teach us new things; and that those that obey him, finde rest in labour, liberty in servitude, and abundance in Poverty. Their Goods are multiplyed in being distributed; and as the husbandman [Page 376]casting his seed into the earth, promiseth himself a hapgy harvest; the Christian in communicating his goods to the Poor, expects a great recom­pence at the generall Resurrection. Till then he comforts himself with the advantages Poverty bestows upon him: for he perceives that if riches have their good use, they have also their bad: They acknowledge the Custody of them troublesome, the love of them contagious, the losse of them sen­sible, and if there be pain to get them, there is more to keep them.

This made some Philosophers rid themselves of such attendants, and gave comfort to others whom injustice or fortune had made bankrupt: for as Seneca sayes excellently well, We gain much in losing our riches, if with them we lose our covetousness; and we fail not continually to gain some­thing even when we lose it not; because the subject that entertained it being taken away, there is some ground to hope either that it will dye for want of nourishment, or at least do no hurt for want of power. The Po­verty of Christians is happier in this point then that of Philosophers: for being inanimated with Grace, they lose the desire of evil with the meanes of doing it; nor are they innocent only out of impotency but out of de­liberation. They make their Poverty meritorious in making it voluntary; if they choose it not, they endevour to accept it, and a misfortune or a chastisement they husband into a vertue: The losse of their Goods caus­eth the assurance of their salvation, and the rest of their souls; they cease to fear assoon as they cease to love, and they draw this advantage from their poverty, that being no longer engaged to the Earth by their affecti­on, they are no more troubled with fear nor abused with hope.

But their greatest happiness is, that they learn from Scripture, that their condition is a holy Asylum, and that heaven hath promised a particular protection to the Poor: Evangelizare pauperibus misit me. Luc. 4. They know that Christ came down from heaven to instruct them; that his care of teaching them is a proof of his Missions; that he hath pronounced them happy in his Sermons, chose them for his Disci­ples, hath designed them his favours, made them the objects of his love, and hath so particular an affection towards them, that a man must be poor in deed or in desire, to be taken notice of in his State. Let us love Po­verty then and despise riches; seek Felicity in want: and if Nature hath not brought us poor into the world, let us become like those that are poor, either by unbottoming our selves of our Goods, or distributing them; that raking part in the reproaches of Christ upon Earth, We may be partakers of glory in heaven.

The sixth DISCOURSE. That the Happinesse of a Christian upon Earth, con­sists in Humility rather then in Glory.

THe Ambitious will hardly agree as concerning this Maxime, and it will pass into their minde as an Errour, rather then a Paradox: Merces virtutis gloria, honos alit artes, om­nes (que) incendun­tur ad studia, gloriâ. For they believe that Honour is the nourishment of Vertue; that she droops and languisheth when deprived of this Cordiall: And as servile souls are gained by Profit, generous souls are wonne by Honour: They would perswade us, that of all externall goods it is the noblest, and the most faithfull; the Noblest, because it relates to the minde, and never descends so low as to the senses, as Interest or Pleasure doe; the most Faithfull, be­cause it never abandons vertue, and accompanies men even to their Grave; Delights quit us with life; these pleasing Syrenes bear us company till death, and at their departure leave us nothing but shame and repentance. Riches are not more faithfull then Pleasures, and as they descend not with our Bodies into the Grave, neither doe they pass with our souls into the other world: But Glory is inseparable from Vertue, as the shadow from Light; it is the onely Inheritance the dead may dispose of, that which makes them survive in the world, and preserves them from oblivion after their dissolution. Finally, Honour and Vertue are so closely combined to­gether, that they cannot be divided without occasioning their destruction; They are Twins whose destiny is so like, that the Death of the one leaves the other livelesse, and the onely way to banish vertue out of the world, is to exterminate Glory thence, which serves her for a nourishment and a recompence.

But whatever the Ambitious would say, there needs but a little reason to confesse that there is nothing in the world more jejunely brittle then Glory; nor that men ever treated vertue more injuriously then when they assigned Honour for her Recompence. For if Glory be a Good, 'tis a strange one, and is oftner the fortunate mans portion, then the deservings Honorary: It reacheth not always to us; and when dispenced with Ju­stice, it rests in the minde of those that know or publish our worth; so that we should be happy without knowing it, and receive honour without any contentment.

But certainly, did we know it, our satisfaction would not be the more: For the Good that produceth Beatitude must be constant and immutable; if it be subject to change, 'tis to loss; and whatever good may fail is not [Page 378]productive of true felicity: Now there is nothing in the world that de­pends more upon fortune then honour; 'tis the work of opinion, 'tis a rumour founded upon the Capriciousness of the people, who look upon nothing but appearances, and in their Judgements, for the most part, con­sult nothing but their interest or pleasure. If Conquerors are unhappy because victories which are their master-peices depend upon fortune, I ac­count them not less miserable, because Glory, which is the reward of their courage depends upon the opinion of the vulgar; and that in this point their Subjects and their Souldiers become their Judges and their Soveraigns.

If their Felicity be such that they can force men to render them that honour they deserve, they ought to take heed least those that commend them deceive; Qui laudant mendaces sunt, & qui laudan­tur vani. Aug. and being Masters of their tongues, they be not also of their hearts. May they not be afraid also, that the judgment of wise men is not the same with the vulgar; that whilst they are adored by servile and mercenary souls, they are blamed by free and generous ones, who more considering the actions then the persons, prize vertue in a slave, and con­demn vice in a Monarch?

But what satisfaction can they have in the midst of their Triumphs, if the reproaches of their consciences give their commendations the lye? Plures magnum saepe nomen sal­sis vulgi rumo­ribus attule­runt; quo quid turpius excogi­tari potest? nam qui falso praedi­cantur, suis ipsi necesse est lau­dibus erubes­cant. Boet. l. 4. de Conso. will they not be extreamly wretched amidst the acclamations of the people, if they blame what others appland? and if they are conscious that in the ma­naging of a state, or in the Conquest of a Province, they have laboured more for their own Glory, then for the good of their Subjects? Are they not more worthy of punishment then Honour, if they have preferred re­putation before their Duty, and have ruin'd their neighbours onely to gain the name of Conquerors? But admit for their satisfaction that their desires are lawfull, their Conquests just, the praises they receive true, who can tell whether the opinions of men agree with those of Angels? who is sure that Heaven approves what the Earth so highly values, and whether God prepare not punishments for those victories, men solemnize with Triumphs?

True glory depends upon him that reads the heart, who sees the in­tentions in the ground of the will: Therefore saith the Apostle, That he indeed was praise-worthy that received commendations from the mouth of God, Illuminabit ab­scondita tene­brarum, & manifestabit consilia cor­dium, & tunc laus erit uni­cui (que) à Deo. 1 Cor. 4. and not from that of men: Men are mistaken in their words as well as in their thoughts; as they judge not but by the appearances, they blame an obscure vertue, and cry up a glittering vice: David therefore would not have his glory depend upon the judgement of his subjects: He committed his Reputation as well as his Crown into the hands of God; and protested in his Psalms, that as he owed his Victories to the protecti­on of the Almighty, from him also did he expect glory as the recompence, Apud te laus mea. The Philosophers were of the same minde, because that defining glory, they would not have it grounded upon the opinion of [Page 379]the Vulgar, but upon the judgement of the wise, Gloria vera bonorum consen­sus est. Senec. and that he onely was honourable, who by his worth had gained the approbation of honest men.

But who knows not that vertue is too generous to seek her felicity where she will not so much as look for her reward? she looks upon honour as her slave rather then her master; and when she acts, she consults not so much her reputation as her conscience: she is so noble that she looks after no other end but God; and so just, that she requires no other wit­nesse but he that must be her Judge. This Maxim is not so severe, but it hath been embraced by Philosophers: For though the Romans com­mitted this outrage against vertue as to subject it to Glory; and these grand Politicians, to animate their Citizens to generous and difficult acti­ons, had perswaded them that none entred into the Temple of Honour, but through that of Vertue: yet Seneca rightly acknowledged that there was injustice in this proceeding; that it was to subject the Soveraign to his slave; and that sometimes there were occasions offered where a man must betray his Honour to preserve his Vertue. Piety had taught the chast Susanna this Maxim, when seeing that she could not preserve her chasti­ty without the losse of her reputation, she sacrificed her honour to her duty, and preferred the approbation of Angels to the opinion and esteem of men.

Glory then is not the true happiness of Christians, because they are obliged to renounce it; and there is great reason to believe, that Humility hath more Analogy with Beatitude, because it accompanies the Blessed in the midst of their Grandeurs. Indeed this vertue is the foundation of Christian Religion; it is that which the Son of God came to teach us by his words and actions; The way he held to come to us, and that we must walk in to come to him: Let us explain these Verities, and make it appear that the true Glory of a Christian consists in Humility. This vertue is so necessary, and withall so difficult, that God was fain to become Man to teach it us: Philosophers who were informed with vain glory, knew not the name of it; and if it came amongst them, it past rather for a fault then a perfection. Aristotle confessed, that Modesty was a species of Vertue, but consisting in a mediocrity, Magister noster per quem facta sunt omnia, vo­cat genus huma­num & dicit, discite à me quia mitis sum & humilis cor­de. Forte putae­bas dicturum, discite quomodo caelos feci & astra. Aug. it suffered not man to debase him­self below his inferiours or his equals: The Son of God was united to flesh to read us this lesson; and confirming by his words what he had taught us by his examples, hath made it the principal subject of his enter­tainments: He that knew all things, hath propounded his humility only as imitable, and he chose rather to make his Disciples humble then learned. The Incarnate Wisdom opening his School upon Earth, taught us not the secret to create worlds, to dart thunderbolts, to govern states, but to mitigate our anger, to abase our pride.

Inasmuch as he became like us in humbling himself, we become like him laying our selves low; and by a strange prodigy humility gives us [Page 380]accesse to him; as Pride puts us at a distance from him, Man was ruined in striving to grow great; his vanity gave birth to his misery; nor did he fall from his Greatnesse, but because he would climbe above his defarts: To draw him out of this abysse, the Son of God threw himself into it, and to place him higher then the Angels, he descended lower then Man: He was laden with their sins and languishings, that by different degrees he might descend to the very Center of debasement. His humility was the passage to his glory; his Father exalted him, because he vouchsafed to be humbled; and his Crosse, which was the last proof of his Patience, be­came the Fountain of his Greatnesse. According to his example, we can­not aspire to honour, but by humility; we enter into grace by lowliness; arrive at glory by humility; and we finde that this vertue producing its contrary, restores us those high immunities Vanitie had ravished from us.

If after death it lead us to glory, whilst we live it gives us some ear­nests thereof, nor are we ever more content then when most humble. The Earth is not the mansion of pleasure, because in it man is always exposed to danger; he findes enemies in all places; and which way soever he turns, he is apprehensive of detriment: Prosperity makes him insolent; the sweetness that flatters, corrupts him; and this pleasing enemy hath no charms which may not engage him in sin. Frangitur ad­versis qui pro­speris corrumpi­tur. Aug. Adversity renders him a coward; its batteries slat his courage; and this fierce enemy hath no afflictions which are not sufficient to cast him into despair. The vertues offer him their as­sistance in his need: Repentance, who boasts her self the punisher of all offences, and the protectresse of all vertues, sets upon pleasures, and by its severities masters their allurements: Patience suffers the pains of life, struggles with discontents, and mingling tears with bloud, triumphs over grief and death. Humilitas est maxima disci­plina Christia­na; ipsâ námque conservatur o­mnis virtus; nam nihil citius eam violat quuā superbia. Aug. But we must needs acknowledge that these vertues without humility, would grow insolent of their good success; and man would finde his defeat in his victory, if this faithfull Confident did not minde him that his strength depends upon grace; and that the Christian who is not humbled, cannot subdue Satan who is a proud spirit.

To establish us in a vertue which causeth our felicity upon Earth, we must remember, that it is not true if it reside not in the will as well as in the understanding; not perfect if it have not as much heat as light; and little exceeds that of Devils, if it pass not from knowledge to affection; Therefore he that means to be humble, must despise himself. Having made some good progresse in the practise of this duty, he must wish that others may despise him; and being perfectly established in this disposition, he must finde his joy in contempt, ann his torment in honour.

The Seventh DISCOURSE. That Felicity is found rather in obedience then in command.

IF there be any thing in the world, the possession whereof can promise us felicity, we must confess it is the power of commanding: For Kings are Gods Vicegerents, the Interpreters of his Intentions, Ego ex omnibus mortalibus ele­ctus sum qui in terris Deorum vice fungerer: Ego vitae necis­que gentibus arbiter: quid cuique mortali­um fortuna da­tum velit, meo ore pronuntiar. Sen. de Clem. and the Dispo­sers of Life and Death: Fortune, saith a Heathen, expresseth her self by their mouth, acts by their hands, and sheds abroad happinesse or misery through a state by their conduct: Their wils are laws, their aspects more powerful then those of the stars, and as they please to dispense sweetness or indignation, they make Cities happy or miserable. All their soldiers devote themselves to death for their service; all Swords are drawn in their quartel; Peace and War is in their hands; nor are there any Subjects whose losse or safety depends not upon their orders: They dispense at their pleasure liberty and servitude, content and sorrow; and all that hold of their Crown, confesse they are the Authors of their good or bad for­tune. When they appear in publick, it seems they are Suns which fill the Firmament; when they speak, all the world is attentive; when they are angry, they make their Kingdomes tremble; and when they punish an offendor, they astonish all Innocents.

The holy Scripture, which cannot flatter Soveraigns, and ranks them among slaves, when compared with the Almighty; makes them pass for Gods when compared with men; it prescribes no bounds to their power; allots them no Judge but their Creator; and whatever exorbitance they have committed, teacheth us, they are to render an account to none but him from whom they hold their Crown: If Priests have a power to re­prove them, God onely hath a right to punish them; and when they abuse their Authority, their subjects have only prayers and tears to reduce them to their duty. Therefore it is no wonder if an absolute power dazles the eyes of mortals; and if those who look onely upon the bravery, ima­gine it at least an image of felicity.

But certainly the more advised make not this judgement, and Politici­ans who are acquainted with all the miseries of this pompous Majesty, Tibi soli pecca­vi & malum coram te feci. Psal. 51. e­steem it more worthy of pity, then envy: For besides that a great for­tune is a great servitude; that Princes who command, are bound to obey; that those who incroach upon the liberty of others, lose their own; that those that strike terrour in others, are not free from it themselves; and [Page 382]that Soveraigns who bear rule with violence, have as many enemies as they have subjects. Divinity teacheth us that the Earth is inconsistent with Feli­city. For this, according to the Idea we are able to form of it, is an abso­lute Good, which cannot be transferred to another; 'tis Mans ultimate End, and which comprehending all kinde of pleasures, fills his wishes, and bounds his motions. Now Regal power hath not one of these qualities; it stirs up the desires of Monarchs, whose Heart is larger then their State; it findes nothing that can satisfie it; and as long as it hath neighbours or equals, it cannot think it self absolute.

Alexander is a fair witness of this Truth: Never did Prince more en­large his Conquests, never did Soveraign behold more Crowns at his feet, nor ever did Monarch see more different Nations subject to his will. Jam in unum Regnum multa Regna conjecit; jam Graeci Per­sae (que) eundem ti­ment: hic tamen ultra Oceanum solem (que) fertur, & ipsi Naturae vim parat. Senec. Ep. 94. In the mean time, he accounted himself miserable in his Greatness, poor in his Abundance, and confined in his Empire: He is troubled that there are some people who have not yet felt the violence of his Arms; it grieves him that there are any men who are not his subjects; nor can he belive him­self a Soveraign, as long as there are any free-men in the world. Finally, his ambition perswaded him, that, to be Absolute, he must command the whole World; and as the Heaven can bear but one Sun, no more can the Earth endure but one Monarch.

Though all ambitious ones are not of the humour of Alexander, and can be content with a part of the Universe, yet are they always forced to confess that Felicity cannot be found in it; because, that it may be true, it must be Eternal, Solid, and Unshaken: if any of these qualities be want­ing, it will ever be exposed to Danger, and threatned with Fear: Now there is no power in the world that is not Short, Feeble, and subject to Change. Scripture tells us that the life of Kings hath its bounds as well as those of their Subjects: Omnis Potentatus vita brevis: If they raign as Gods, they shall die like Men: If their State be durable, their Persons are mortal. That sentence pronounced against all the children of Adam, gives no exemption to Soveraigns: nay, it seems that as their power is greater, their life is shorter then that of ordinary men. Kings, saith the Wise-man, live to day, and are dead to morrow; they have no certain day; Death makes no truce with them; and when the moment Divine Justice hath assigned them, comes, it proceeds to execution, without considering whether those it sets upon be Slaves or Soveraigns.

Their power is not less weak then it is short; and if Kings be misera­ble because mortal, they are to be pitied because exposed to so many dan­gers: Weakness is natural to them, and Puissance accidental: they cannot defend themselves but with borrowed hands, and mercenary Arms: though their Souldiers be their Subjects, yet may they be debauched; and what­ever Oath they engage them with to assure their Fidelity, they have reason to tremble as often as they think that their State and Person depends up­on the Courage and Constancy of another. That Prophet, who is not [Page 383]less famous for his Eloquence then for the Miseries he endured, hath ob­served that Kings are never more put to it then at the eve of a Battel; Terrebit eum tribulatio, & angustia valla­bit eum sicut Regem qui prae­paretur ad praelium. Job. 5 because they see their Fortune in the hands of their Souldiers, and that the same day which must decide their Differences, may give a period to their Life and Kingdom. But me thinks this Fear never ought to abandon Soveraigns, and that in Peace as well as War their Power depends upon the fidelity of their Subjects: A Pestilence may mowe down their States, and change the most populous Cities into desolate Wildernesses: Famine may rage thorow a whole Kingdom; and, notwithstanding all the care Husbandmen take to till the ground, two months of Drought or Rain may render all their labours unprofitable, and the most flourishing Kingdom of the world wretchedly miserable.

But admit these Evils, which are too common, prove not so formida­ble; and Kings may finde that among their neighbours which is not to be met with at home; Who will deliver them from the just apprehension the instability of Humane things ought to strike into the hearts of all the Mo­narchs of the earth? What Prince is there that can promise that the vi­olence of Strangers or the rebellion of his Subjects will not snatch his Crown from his head? Who is there, that, after so many Examples past and present, is not obliged to believe that States perish as well as Sove­raigns, that the Forms of Government change with the seasons and hu­mours of men, that Monarchies may be turned into Common-wealths, and Common-wealths into Monarchies?

The Empire of the Syrians, was it not seized by the Medes? The Medes, were not they obedient to the Persians? And the Persians, have not they stoopt to the Romanes? This vast Republick, which had swallowed all the Monarchies of the world, did it not produce all our Kingdoms? France, Spain, and England, are they not pieces of this great Wrack? and whatever is famous in Europe or Asia, is it not from its dissolution? is it not enriched with its damage, and raised by its downfal? What State ought not to fear, having seen the ruine of this Colossus? and what Republike or Monarchy is there which can promise it self Eternity, having seen the deplorable End of this City, which commanded all Kings, and disposed of all Kingdoms?

But I will grant this Fear unjust, nor that men are to be afraid of a Calamity which threatens the Universe; at least, Kings must confess that their Power is a glorious Servitude, and that they bear not the Sword and Scepter so much to be feared, as to cause obedience to Jesus Christ, Quem regnare delectat, uni omnium regna­tori Deo subditus haereat. Aug. and to put his will in execution: For being but his Vice-gerents, their power reacheth onely to punish the Wicked, and reward the Good: They ought not to accept the Authority, if they intend not to use it according to the designes of their Soveraign; and they are unworthy to rule, if they have not courage enough to stifle the Evil in the birth, or stop it in the progress: They are deceived, saith S. Augustine, if they perswade themselves they [Page 384]are raised to the Throne onely to trample upon the heads of their Sub­jects: they know not their obligations, if, labouring to subdue men, they take no care to subdue vices; nor are they victorious but in name, if having gained some advange over their Enemies, they suffer themselves to be routed by their passions, or devoured by their sins. I forbear to speak of the dangers that threaten their salvation as well as their power: nor doe I intend to make a Catalogue of the faults they may possibly commit in Government, though it be an infallible proof that Blessedness is not to be found in Royalty: I am content with the holy Scripture, to say, That Kings cannot sin secretly; Their Devotion is a scandall to the whole State, They authorize the Evil they commit; infect their subjects by their exam­ples; and as they are guilty of the sins they hinder not; so, doe they con­demn themselves when they commit those they punish; and by their acti­ons give their Edicts the lye.

Thence it comes to passe that Christians finding more security in obedi­ence then in command, place their felicity in it, and never think themselves happier then when they follow the motions of their Soveraign: so that they have this advantage, in humbling themselves they are exalted, and submitting to God bring all the Creatures under their subjection. For Man by submission enters into the Soveraignty of his Creator, Magna utilitas est hominis ju­benti Deo ser­vire, jubendo enim Deus utile facit quicquid jubere voluerit. Aug. neither is any thing impossible to him, when he obeys him that is Almighty. Thus we see S. Peter walking upon the water at the command of the Son of God; how this Element became solid under his feet, respects his obe­dience, or reverenceth Jesus Christ in his person: Mans Body could never pretend to the glorious qualities of the soul, were it not subject to her will; but soaring above it self in obedience to her commands, furni­shing words to express her minde, reports the meaning of others; and offers some kinde of violence to it self, to be subservient to her designes; shee acknowledgeth the fidelity of its services in Glory, and associating it to her own happiness, communicates to it agility, light, and subtlety. Thus may we say, that the man who obeys God becomes Divine, passeth into the condition of him that commands, and despoyling himself of his miseries, puts on the majesty of his Soveraign.

Transformation, which is accounted a principall effect of Love, is a priviledge also of obedience; we are changed into God by submission as well as by Charity; and God takes as much pleasure to exalt his servants as his Friends: He gives Empires to his people when they obey his word, and obligeth himself to raise them higher then all the nations of the world when they keep his commandments: Si audieris voces Domini tui, faciet te excelsiorem omnibus Gentibus. If man become God by submission, he degenerates into a beast by disobedience. As long as Originall righteous­ness subjected the spirit to God, it subjected the Body to the spirit; Man felt no revolts in his person; and though composed of flesh and blood, had none but reasonable inclinations: But assoon as he lost the respect was [Page 385]due to God, his Body rebelled against his Soul; he beheld irregular mo­tions which made him extreamly ashamed; and wondred, that being still a man, he felt the disorders of a Beast. Finally, Obedience is more acce­ptable to God then Sacrifice, and more honourable to man then the high­est Triumph: Melior est Obedientia quàm Sacrificium. Though God have reserved this Homage for himself, and there is none but he alone to whom Victims are to be offered, yet he prefers the merit of Obedience before the honour of Sacrifice; and accounts himself more hallowed by him that stoops to his Word, then that offers him Holocausts. Nor are we to wonder at it, saith S. Gregory, because in our sacrifices we offer nothing but Bulls or other beasts; but by our Obedience we immolate our wils and affections.

For this very reason is it more honourable then Triumphs, In armis mili­tum virtus, lo­corum opportu­nitas auxilia so­ciorum multum juvant: maxi­mam verò par­tem quasi jure fortuna sibi vendicat, & qu ic quid est prospere gestum, id poene omne ducit suum. Cic. pro M. Mar. because it procures us more signall victories then those we gain over our Enemies. The world sees nothing more illustrious then a victorious Prince: The Sun once stood still as a witness of the conquest of Joshua; and this glo­rious Luminary which beholds all things but with a transient aspect, suspen­ded his motion to have the pleasure of considering the advantages the Jews had over the Infidels. In the mean time there is no action wherein humane Prudence hath less part: Fortune presides over Battles, accidents occasion good successes, and many times the Dust and the Sun rob the most Courageous of their victory: But admit all these misfortunes which cannot be avoided, have no wayes assisted the Conquerour; he must ne­cessarily confess that his Prudence is beholding to the valour of his Soul­diers; and in vain hath he gallantly commanded, if he be not honestly obey'd. But he that masters his Passions, shares his glory with none but the Grace of Jelus Christ; Having subdued himself in the conflict, Hoc est ex victoriâ suâ triumphare, testarique nihil se quod dignum esset victore apud victos in­venisse. Senec. all the honour is his own; and earth being unable to recompence him, he pro­miseth himself a Triumph in Heaven.

The Eighth DISCOURSE. What is the Happinesse of a Christian in Heaven, and wherein it consists.

BLessedness hath so much relation to God, that whatever is said of the One, may be affirmed of the other. God is infinite, his Greatness hath no bounds, he includes his whole State within himself; nor does his power produce any thing which is not contained in his Essence. Blessedness is infinite, and the pleasure it promiseth is bounded neither with extent [Page 386]nor duration: God comprehends all imaginable perfections; nothing is dispersed in the creature which is not recollected in the Creator; and he possesseth aswel the brightness of the Stars, as the beauty of the mea­dowes and the fruitfulness of the fields. Beatitude is an Epitome of all pleasures; nothing is wanting to him that enjoys all things; and according to the opinion of Philosophers it is a coacervation of all solid and true goods.

But inasmuch as God is so great that he cannot be conceived, that his divine perfections raise him above our thoughts, nor can we praise him but by wonder and silence; Blessedness is so excellent that we cannot so much as form an Idea of it, we want words wherewith to expresse its excellencies; and the Scripture tels us, That eye hath not seen, Eare hath not heard, neither hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive the happiness God hath laid up for them that love him. This last condition would impose silence upon us, if the liberty we take to speak of God, though incompre­hensible, did not permit me to write of Blessedness, though unconceiva­ble: But as we cannot fail, when treating of the perfections of God, we follow the light of Faith; I believe neither shall I wander in this vast Ocean of Glory, Qui ducem se­quitur, fidem à veritate nun­quam potest aberrare. Aug. if I sayl by that Star; and however, shipwrack is not to be feared upon a sea where all those that are Drowned may boast them­selves Happy.

Scripture, which is our guide in the mysteries of Religion, teacheth us, that Beatitude consists in the love and knowledg of God. For that which hath deliver'd these words, Haec est vita aeterna, ut cognascant te solū verum Deum, hath told us also, Qui manet in Charitate, in Deo manet, & Deus in eo. Knowledg would cool without Love, and Love would be blinde without Knowledg: All the faculties of our soul must finde their satis­faction in felicity; The Understanding must see the Truth it believes; the Will possesse the good it loves; the Memory be filled with these two Things it hath so carefully recorded: Ita sunt poten­tiae in essentia anima inter se conjunctae, ut quicquid unam laedit, alias lae­dat necesse est. Mars. Fisc. If these Three Faculties be not con­tent, something will be wanting to the Christians felicity; and as they are united in one and the same soul, the pain of the one would be the Tor­ment of the other. When the Scripture seems sometimes to give the advan­tage to Knowledg over Love, or to Love over Knowledg, it is only more strongly to express the excellency of both; and to make us comprehend, that as he that clearly sees God is happy, he that perfectly loves him can­not be miserable.

Thence it comes to pass that the Fathers of the Church are divided up­on this subject, whereof some have taken the part of Knowledg, others that of Love. Del visio sum­num bonum. Aug. S. Augustin though the Panegyrist of Love, hath notwith­standing so fully expressed himself in many passages of his Writings in be­half of Knowledg, that he seems to have forgotten what he delivered elswhere concerning Love: For he will have the End of all our Actions, and the repose of all our Desires to be found in beholding the supreme [Page 387]Good: That as he is miserable, who knowing all things, knows not the Creator that made them; he likewise is happy that knows the Creator; nor is there any addition to his happiness, in that he knows the creatures together with him. Finally, he saith in another place, that the clear vi­sion of God is the whole recompence of a Christian, and that nothing can be wanting to his happiness when he fully contemplates the Divine Essence.

But there are a thousand places beside where this Great Doctor pla­ceth Felicity in Love, and represents the Blessed to us as so many Lovers who finde their contentment in the possession of the Supream Good. Thus, saith he, true Happiness consists in that joy which ariseth from Truth known, and Goodness beloved: Beata quippe vita est gaudi­um de veritate, hoc enim est gaudium de te qui veritas es. Aug. He assures us that the Blessed have no other employment then to love God; and that all the vertues are useless in Heaven except Charity: He teacheth us, that enjoyment, which is the Rest of Love, is also its Recompence; that as desires disquiet Lovers, when they possess not what they long for, the Divine Essence would be a torment to the Blessed, if from their understanding it past not to their will; and if having illuminated them with its light, it warmed them nor with its flames. Knowledge then and Love make up the felicity of the Saints in glory; but both of them are very different from that which is found among the Faithful.

Our knowledge is always mixt with darkness; faith though certain, is notwithstanding obscure; and though an effusion of the light of glory, hath not its extent nor evidence. We see God but in Enigma's upon Earth; the species that discover him, conceal him; These glasses are too narrow to give us a full representation of his Greatness, and our spirits are too weak to bear the lustre of his Majesty: But in Heaven he fortifies the Blessed by the Light of Glory, gives them a capacity to look upon him; and piercing their understanding, is himself both the species and the i­mage.

There are three things in the world which oppose our Happiness, and suffer us not to know God perfectly: The first is his Greatness, which da­zies or astonisheth us; whence it comes to pass, that the Scriptures assign him for his abode either light that hides him from us, or darkness that robs us of him: The second is his absence; for though he be every where, yet is he at a distance when he will; and as his presence is not fixed to the Earth which he fils; so is it true, to affirm of him that he is no where, as to say he is in all places; Nullibi est qui ubique est. The third is the weakness of mans soul, which cannot suffer the presence of his God, & finds the condign punishment of his pride, where he sought for the satisfaction of his curiosity: But all these impediments are taken away from the Bles­sed; The Majesty of God is no longer formidable; his Greatness which occasions our astonishment, gives being to their felicity; and love having banished from their hearts all fear, they treat with their Soveraign as with [Page 388]their Beloved. The absence of the Supream Good causeth not their do­leance; They are possessed by him whom they possess; his Divine Essence penetrates their very souls, and they are so full of him, that those who see them are obliged to reverence them as Gods. Finally, the weakness of their faculties hinders not their contentment; the same fire that burns them, inanimates them; the same light that clarifies, strengthens them; and the same God that searcheth all their inward parts, preserves them.

If their Knowledge have this advantage, their Love hath yet more, and their Charity is much perfecter then ours: Whatever pains we take to love God upon Earth, our Love is never without some notable defects which enfeeble it: It is blind, because Faith that enlightens it, is a can­dle whose lamp is always surrounded with a cloud or smoak: It is faint and drooping, because we possess not the Supream Good which we pas­sionately affect; and being separated from him, we are as well his Martyrs as his Lovers: It is divided, because self-love is not yet extinguished; and the greatest Saints, if they manage not their intentions well, rob God of all the Love they indulge themselves. Finally, it is almost ever inter­essed; Quicquid crea­tura sui amori concedit, hoc amori Dei eri­pit. Bern. we love not God so purely as not to seek our own pleasure with when his glory; and we are more earnest with him for riches or honours then for graces, we make it appear that Concupiscence bears a greater part in our prayers then Charity.

But the Blessed have not one of these imperfections in their Love: It is not blind, because they love him whom they see; and the brightness of glory that enlightens them, is a ray dispelling all darkness of their under­standing: It languisheth not as ours doth, nor spends it self in its own long­ings, because they possesse what they love; and being intimately united to God, are eternally inseparable from him: It is not divided, because self-love enters not into Heaven, but is quenched by the flames of Charity, or purified when the souls of the Blessed quit the Prison of their body. Fi­nally, it is not interessed, because the honour of God is the end of their desires; and in felicity it self, they seek not so much their own happiness as his glory.

From this Knowledge and this Love, is derived the resemblance the Blessed have with God, which is the accomplishment of their desires, and the perfection of their Beatitude: For though the Faithful be humble, a­spire not to the vain pomps of the world, and being conscious of his mise­ry, knows very well that Nothingness is his Original, and sin his work; yet ceaseth he not to wish by the motions of Grace what he sometimes cove­ted by the impulses of pride. He would have the same thing that Adam would; like the Angel he pretends to be like God; but he desires that with Justice which the two others did with Insolence: The holy Scripture au­thoriseth his appetite, and the promises of Jesus Christ make his hopes lawful: He knows very well that the Happiness of a reasonable creature consists particularly in this point; and that being the Image of God in Na­ture [Page 389]and in Grace, he ought to resemble him in Glory: The beloved disciple comforts us in the expectation of this happiness, and speaks so con­fidently of it to all the Faithful, that he seems rather to have received the Earnest then the Promise of his Master. Scimus quoniam cùm apparuerit, similes ei erimus.

Though this similitude constitute our principal happiness, yet is it easier to hope for it then to describe it; and being an expression of the felicity of God himself, is as much unknown to us as his: Nevertheless we may say it is an effusion of his Essence into the soul of the Blessed, an emanati­on of his Divinity communicating all his perfections, lifting them above themselves; and transforming them into him without destroying them, makes as many Gods as there are Saints in Glory. The Fire which im­prints all its qualities in the Iron it makes red-hot; the Sun that commu­nicates all his light to the Crystal he penetrates; and the Persume which sheds its fragrant odour thorow all the rooms it embalms, are but faint comparisons to express the intimate communication of the Divine Essence to the Blessed. It is enough to believe in the simplicity of Faith that all our desires shall be fully compleated; that our happiness shall surpass our hopes; and, raised to a higher condition then that the devil promised our father in Paradise, we shall be Men and Gods both together.

Though we are not idle in so happie a condition, S. Augustine teach­eth us that the knowledge and love of God shall be our sole employment: Tantum gande­bunt Beati quantum ama­bunt; tantum amabunt quan­tum cognoscent Deum. Aug. lib. Medit. we shall finde all our contentment in this one exercise; and as we shall pos­sess All Goods in the Supreme Good, so shall we taste all Felicity in this one diversion: The good works we have been conversant in upon earth, shall be banished from Glory; and Mercy shall be useless in a state whi­ther Misery cannot approach: we shall have no need to visit the Sick, where Immortality provides for the Health of the Blessed: There will be no burying of the Dead in the land of the Living: Hospitality will not be practised where there are no Pilgrims: We shall not clothe the Naked, because the light of Glory will be the garment of the Saints: We shall not be troubled to reconcile Enemies, because Peace shall raign there eternally: We shall be no longer obliged to instruct the Simple, because the Beatifical Vision will eliminate all Ignorance.

If the works of Mercy be useless, all actions wherein Necessity enga­geth us will then be superfluous. The miseries of life compel men to till the earth for their nourishment, to build houses to defend them from the injury of the weather, to make clothes to protect them from shame and cold: But all these employments shall have an end in a Kingdom where he that governs is both the Nourishment, the Cloathing, and the Habita­tion of his Subjects: His Goodness, which penetrates them, is their Ali­ment; his Glory, that invirons them, is their Apparel; and his Essence, which includes them, is their Lodging: They need fear nothing in a con­dition where the possession of All Good necessarily produceth the exclusi­on [Page 390]of All Evil. We shall have no apprehension then, saith S. Augustine, that Hunger or Thirst shall persecute us, because we shall lodge in the house of a Lord where there is plenty of all things, where we may bathe our elves in the River of his Innocent Pleasures. Nor Heat nor Cold shall once dare to annoy us, because, by a strange wonder, the same Sun that shall shelter us with his shadow, shall warm us with his heat: Wea­riness shall not weaken us, because God shall be our strength: we shall not be forced to sleep, because Labour shall never need repose; nor shall the night ever draw a curtain over the day: There shall be no Commerce, because we shall possess All in God: there shall be no Servitude, because all the Subjects of this Kingdom shall be Soveraigns.

If you ask me, saith S. Augustine, what we shall do then in a place whence pain and travel are banished: I will answer with the Prophet, that the whole enployment of the Blessed is to think of God, and to rejoyce in his glory. Vacate & videte, quoniam ego sum Deus. This meditation shall altogether take them up; it shall produce all pleasures, and constitute all their vertues: Every Beatified person shall imitate Mary Magdalene; and as with her they shall have but one Object, they shall make use but of one Vertue; Porro unum est necessarium. The calamities of the Earth oblige us to employ successively all the Vertues: sometimes we borrow aid from Prudence to dissipate the darkness wherewith we are blinded, or to scatter the dangers that threaten us: sometimes we call in Continence to our relief, to defend us from pleasures that tickle us: sometimes we de­mand help of Fortitude, to combat griefs that assault us: sometimes we throw our selves into the arms of Justice, to deliver us from enemies that oppress us: But in Heaven all these Vertues are idle, onely Charity is active, and yet rests in acting; her action is to love what she sees; her rest to possess what she loves; and her felicity to know that she shall never lose what she enjoys. If you cannot suffer, saith S. Augustine, that the Vertues to which we owe Heaven be banished thence, imagine them there more for your ornament then defence: never conceive that they fight, but per­swade your selves that they triumph; and, having vanquished all their ene­mies, enjoy a Peace which shall endure for all Eternity.

The Ninth DISCOURSE. That the Christians Soul and Body shall finde their Perfection in Beatitude.

MAn is such a hidden Creature that he cannot well be known without Faith: He is mistaken as often as he intends to pass judgement up­on himself; and the errours that have appeared in his own definition, have given us occasion to conclude that he was ignorant of his own essence: when he consulted his Sense, he believed he was nothing but a Body; and if there were a spirit that informed him, it was perishable and mortal: when he consulted his Pride, he conceited himself a pure Spirit, which, either for his penalty, or for his trial, was included in a Body as in a pri­son, from which he should be delivered by death. These two errours produced two grand disorders in the world: The first engaged Man in the love of his Body, and the oblivion of his Soul: he made no account but of sensual Pleasures; and knowing no life but the present, never trou­bled himself about the future: He was of opinion that Death was the end of his Being; and that nothing remaining of him after his dissoluti­on, he need fear neither any Punishment, nor expect any Recompence. The second errour made him so mightily undervalue his Body, that he re­pined at it as a Slave, and handled it as a Rebel: he had recourse many times to Death, that being delivered from this enemy, he might mix with pure Intelligences, and raign with Gods or Devils.

Faith, which corrects our errours, obligeth us to believe that Man is nei­ther an Angel nor a Beast; that he is compounded of a Body and a Soul; and if he have the First common with Beasts, he hath the Second common with Angels: The same Faith perswades him that Death deprives him of his body but for a time onely, that at the General Resurrection it shall be re-united to the soul, to partake of its good or bad fortune. Therefore, treating here of the felicity of Christians, I am necessarily to speak of the two parts that compose them, and of the different happiness the Divine Justice prepares for them respectively.

Inasmuch as the soul is the noblest, she is also most happily provided for, and her Beatitude infinitely surpasseth that of the body. Tunc nec falli nec peccare ho­mines possunt, veritate illumi­nati, & in bono confirmati. Aug. When she quits her prison, and is purified of all her imperfections by the grace of Jesus Christ, she enters into Glory, and receives all the advantages which are due to her dignity and condition. Ignorance, which is a brand of sin, is quite defaced by the brightness that enlightens her: her weakness is for­tified [Page 392]by a supply, which, being much more powerful then that of Grace, raiseth her to a condition wherein she cannot desert the good, nor embrace the evil; and where, as Saint Augustine saith, she is in a happy impoten­cy to wander from her duty, and estrange her self from the Supream good: Assurance succeeds in the place of fear, rest in stead of conflicts, triumphs after victories: she is no longer constrained to resist the motions of the flesh, because this rebell is become obedient; and losing in the Resur­rection whatever he drew from Adam at his Birth, hath now none but just and holy inclinations. The Spirit is no longer busied to maintain a war against sin, because this Monster cannot enter Heaven: he groans not now under the revolt of the passions; and as all the vertues are peaceable, they finde neither enemies to subdue, nor rebels to tame: Her know­ledge is no longer accompanied with doubts and darkness; she learnes without labour; is not afraid to forget; and drawing light and wisdom from the very Fountain, knows all things in their Principles. In this hap­py condition there remains nothing for the Christian to wish for; his soul is penetrated by the Divine Essence; his understanding clarified with the light of glory; his will inflamed with the love of God; and all his powers and faculties finding their particular perfection in one object, he confesseth that the promises of God exceed his hopes.

Though his body have been polluted by his birth, and corrupted by death, it findes life in the Resurrection, and Purity in Glory: For assoon as the Trumpet of the Angel shall have declared the will of God, every soul shal reassume her own body; & reuniting her self with it, shall give it a part in her happiness: The greatness of this wonder hath found no be­lief in the mindes of Philosophers; though they were perswaded of the Immortality of the soul, they would not consent to the Resurrection of the body; and having seen it made a prey to wilde Beasts, or fuel for the flames, they judged there was no power in the world could restore it again: The spirit of man hath favoured this errour, and believing his eyes rather then his light, could not finde in his heart to place that part of man in heaven which he saw committed to the grave; he was afraid to weary the power of the Almighty, if he should oblige him to so many mi­racles; and not comprehending how a body reduc'd to powder or smoak, could take its primitive form, chose rather to leave it in the Earth, then draw it thence with so much violence.

But had he thought of the Creation, he had never doubted of the Re­surrection; and Reason her self had perswaded him, that seeing God was able to finde the body in Non-Entity, where it was not, he might very well finde it in the waters or in the slames where there was yet some re­mainder thereof. If Nothing were not rebellious to him, Nature cer­rainly will not be disobedient; and if he could make that which was not, he may as easily repair what now is not. Nothing perisheth in respect of the Creator; the dead are not less his subjects then those that never were [Page 393]born; and if he could make Non-Entity hear him, he may well make death obey him. The miracle of Resurrection is perhaps attended with more pomp then that of the Creation, but there is less difficulty in it; and he that could vanquish the distance between Entity and Non-Entity, will have no great matter to do to master the opposition between Life and Death.

Finally, our Creator never loses his right over his creatures; they are at his disposal in what place soever they are: Their changing of form makes them not change condition; and because they pass thorow three or four Elements, they depend not lesse upon his Omnipotence: The body of man is always the work of God; and he may after its corruption restore its beauty, and re-unite it to the soul, like a wise Artist having reduced a statue to powder, may by his skil restore it to the primitive form. All the difficulties our spirit can suggest in this miracle, are easily master'd by him that can do all things; and having well weighed the wonders of the Creation, it will be no hard matter to comprehend those of the Resurre­ction.

Inasmch as the body receives life in this, and is re-united with the soul, it is happily delivered from all the miseries it had contracted in its birth or during its life: If Nature were mistaken in forming it, the Authour of Nature corrects the faults in raising it: He gives it its just dimension, its lawful proportion; and retrenching whatever was superfluous, makes it a compleat piece. But because it is not enough to take away the defects to render it happy, God gives it advantages in glory which it had not in innocence: For although the body before it was infected with sin, was not rebellious against the minde, nor subject to grief and death; it was ne­vertheless capable of corruption; The Natural heat consumed the sub­stance; and the waste it made, was to be repaired by nourishment: Though he were obedient, yet was he an Animal; and though he felt no disorders, yet was he liable to infirmities: his weight would have hinde­red him from following his soul to Heaven; he could not walk upon the water, nor penetrate the Chrystal; and had he not prevented hunger and thirst by eating and drinking, he had never held out against griefe and death: Finally, though he enjoyed the priviledges of Original Righteous­ness, he wanted those of Glory; and though innocent, was neither incor­ruptible nor illuminated.

But in the Resurrection he shall receive all these qualities; and as the soul is now corporeal, because wholly engaged in the body; by a happy retaliation the body will be spiritual, because perfectly submitted to the soul; and as the soul, saith Saint Augustine, though corporeal, ceaseth not to be a spirit; the body, though spiritual, ceaseth not to be a body: It will change condition, though it change not nature, and will have advan­tages which shall set it free from all the miseries it now endures. Its sub­tilty will surpass that of the light; will penetrate all solid bodies; nothing [Page 394]shall be able to withstand its desires, and being no longer the Prison but the Temple of his soul, will find no obstacles that stop it, nor chains that intangle it. Its agility will be so great that it will outstrip the winds and lightning; will fly without wings thorow the spacious regions of the air; will walk upon the water and not sink; and in a moment passing from one end of the world to another, will be no longer the clog and torment of the soul. Its impassibility will free it from all the injuries of the Sea­sons and Elements: the naturall heat which now consumes him, shall no more corrode the naturall Moisture; The Contraries that compose him will agree; and being no longer tormented with hunger and thirst, will stand in need neither of meat nor drink.

He will be in a state of consistency, wherein he will have his just pro­portion; nor will he expect from time, his youth or old age; he will en­joy an eternall spring of years which will never wither; he will see the dayes passe on, and never feel any declension in himself; his budding ver­dure will fear no winter; the Lillies and the Roses of his countenance will keep their freshness: and as original righteousness served for a Garment for innocent man, glory will be insteed of a robe to the blessed: His bright­ness will surpass that of the Sun; the raies which dart from his eyes will dim those of this Glorious Luminary; and he will cast such lights and flames, that the least glorified Body will be able to illuminate the U­niverse.

His immortality will be the Crown of his Happiness. That pittilesse monster which exerciseth his rigour upon all men, pursues them into the Grave, reduceth them to powder after the worms have devoured them: This Cruell one, I say, will have no more power over the Blessed; he will discharge his fury upon the damned in Hell; he will make a league with life to torment them Eternally; and that which endures here but for a moment, will last for ever in that dismall habitation, to lengthen their pains according to the obstinacy of their crimes: But he will respect his Conquerors; and beholding the Blessed as the Members of him that hath defeated him upon the Crosse, will not dare to set upon them afresh, nor so much as appear in their presence. Then shall the happinesse of men be perfect, when a glorified soul shall inanimate an immortall Body; and mutually communicating all their advantages, the soul shall be happy in the felicity of the Body, and the Body happy in that of the Soul. All their differences shall be composed in this General peace; the Soul shall forget all the Revolts of the Body, nor shall the Body any more complain of the severities of the Soul, but both of them remembring onely the Good offices they have done each other; they shall reign in Heaven in a Community of Glory, as they lived upon Earth in a Community of Merits.

But to arrive to this Happy condition, the Spirit must war against the Flesh, and Repentance give the faithfull those Priviledges Glory instates [Page 395]the Blessed in. For though there be nothing more opposite to Rest then a Conflict, yet is it the Conflict that gains us the victory, Ex bello pax; pugna enim nos praeparat victo­riae; victoria no­bis obtinet tri­umphum. Chry. and the victory that procures us the peace: Though there be nothing more contrary to Happiness theu Pain; it is notwithstanding austerity that subjects the Body to the Soul, and makes us see in our Banishment a perfect Image of Glory.

For if it be true that the Blessed feel no Rebellion in their person, and if their Body be perfectly subjected to their minde, we must acknowledg that the Christian cannot pretend to any part of this advantage, but by the help of repentance: It is this vertue that tames the Pride of the flesh; this faithfull minister of the Divine Justice which makes Charity reign in spite of Concupiscence; and all the peace we have in the earth, we owe it to the zeal and austerity of crucifixion. If the Blessed be disen­gaged from the world; if their condition be separated from ours; and, if finding all things in the Divine Essence, meat, cloaths, and lodging be useless to them, it seems Repentance puts us in the same Liberty; and reducing us to things absolutely necessary, rids us of superfluities: This is it that con­fines the Anchorites to their pulse, that gives them sackcloath for a gar­ment, a Den for a Lodging, a Mat for their Bed: This is it that enricheth them, by making them poor; makes them finde Liberty in servitude; and equalling their condition with that of Angels, frees them from the need we have of the Creatures.

If the Blessed have no communication but with God; if they have quitted Earth to live in Paradise; if the Love and Magnificats they bestow upon God be their whole employment; and if in this one object they finde all their Happiness and their Diversion; Pennance and Solitude pro­cure the same priviledges to the faithfull: Their heart is no longer in the Earth; they mount up to heaven by their desires; converse more with Angels then with Men; and already enjoying the priviledges of the Re­surrection, lead a new life in their Banishment, and a happy life in their wilderness. Let us imitate their holy Examples; fit our selves for Glory by Austerity; and subjecting the Body to the soul, and the soul to God; set us to shake hands with the world, that our Conversation may be with Jesus Christ.

The Tenth DISCOURSE. Of the Miracles which are found in the Beatitude of a Christian.

AS Nature and Grace have their extraordinary proceedings, so have they their Miracles; Haec uti (que) Deus potestatis suae proponit signa, suis in solatium, extra­neis in testimo­nium. Tertul. and in Both of them we behold changes which require the endevours of an absolute omnipotence. When the Sun stands still in the midst of his course; when the Earth cleaves from her founda­tions, and opens her bowels to devour her Children; when the sea pas­seth his bounds, and makes inquisition after Delinquents beyond his Banks; There is no body but looks upon these irregularities as Prodigies, and who conceives not that the author of Nature disorders her to punish us. Though Grace be so powerfull, and its victorious sweetness so often tri­umphs over the libertie of sinners, it many times produceth occurrences which pass for Miracles: When it converted the Doctor of the world, disarmed his heart and his hands, and changing his will in a moment, of a Persecutor made him an Apostle, it seems so strange a proceeding may well be ranked in the number of prodigies: when it touched that Come­dian who laughed at the Ceremonies of our Religion, enlightened his spirit upon the Theatre, made use of the water he prophaned, to make a Sacrament, and by a wonderfull conduct made him finde his salvation in his very sin; we shall not offend its power, if we call this effect a Mi­racle.

If Nature and Grace have their Prodigies, Glory, which is their per­fection, may boast of those it hath: and as its order is the highest, so is it most miraculous. Therefore did the Great S. Bernard confess, That there were Three Unions that ravished him: The first, That of Virginity with Pregnancy in the person of Mary: The second, That of the Huma­nity with the Divinity in the person of the Word; and the Third, That of Glory with the spirit of Man in the person of the Blessed. For he could not comprehend how it came to pass that the Creature was not dazled with the brightness of the Creator; that a drop of water should not be lost in an Ocean; and that an Atome should be preserved in the Abysses of a Divine Essence: But certainly he that shall well consider the state of Glory, will finde it a perpetuall Miracle; and that the Circum­stances that accompany it are so many Prodigies, whereof the first is, that God communicates himself entirely to every one of the Blessed.

The Goods of the earth are such scantlings, that they cannot be divi­ded [Page 397]without being diminished: we ravish that from our neighbour, which we possess our selves; we cannot grow rich, but must inaccommodate him; and whatever care we take not to deal unjustly, we finde by experi­ence that our Plenty is an occasion of Misery and Indigence to others. Monarchs cannot enlarge the borders of their State, but must encroach upon those of their Neighbours; they cannot widen their own Kingdom, but must make a breach in that of their Allies; and all worldly things are so small, that, being shared, occasions the division and poverty of Families. But inasmuch as the Good which the Blessed are in possession of is infi­nite, it is communicated to all without being divided: The Felicity of one is no hinderance to that of another; and as Vertue, though common, is nevertheless chaste; the Divine Essence, though wholly shed abroad into a man, ceaseth not to be entirely infused into an Angel: It takes not from the Cherubims what it indulgeth the Seraphims; and communicating it self indivisibly to all its Subjects, occasions neither Jealousie nor Envie.

Great Goods have this advantage, that they never suffer by division: Magna & vera bona non sic di­viduntur ut ex­iguum in singu­los cadat, ad unumquemque totū perveniat. Sen. Ep. 73. They make some rich, without making others poor; and as they are con­ferred in full weight and measure, every one is content, and none misera­ble. Covetousness, which hath divided Sea and Land, hath not yet divi­ded Time: That which measures the life of Kings, measures that of their Subjects: every one possesseth it in common; and though we make divers uses of it, it runs along equally to all people. Ambition, which hath cantonized Honour, hath not yet found out the Secret of parting the Light; this daughter of the Sun never thinks she sullies her purity by ren­dering it common; she equally shines upon all Nations; and did not the Earth interpose between the effusion of her brightness, she would banish Darkness from the face of the Universe. The Divine Essence, whereof the Light is but a shadow, is shed abroad into the soul of the Blessed without being divided; is not parted by being communicated: All An­gels and all Men fully possess it; and if it make some difference in their hap­piness, 'tis without want or jealousie.

The Second miracle of Glory, is, that one and the same Good produ­ceth all kinde of content, and satisfies all sorts of desires. Seeing the Creatures are but weak rays issuing from God, as from their Sun, there is none of them that possesseth all perfections: Nullum est bo­num praeter summum, quo vere possimus esse boni aut beati. Aug. They are bounded in their Qualities, as well as in their Essences: They cannot relieve us in all our necessities; and had not sin made them rebel against us, there was not one of them could remedy our evils: Light enlightens us, but cannot warm us without its heat: Meat nourisheth, but clothes us not: Garments co­ver us, but cannot feed us: Gold enricheth, but cannot defend us: Iron defends, but does not enrich us. One Good produceth but one single commodity: that which serves for one use, does not for another; and the remedy which cures a Disease, cannot give consolation to a Discontent. But the Blessed have this advantage, that they finde in God whatever is [Page 398]necessary for them: having all Perfections, he fully contents their desires; and one sole Good infused into their souls, satisfies all their wants: He that enlightens them, warms them; he that feeds them, clothes them; he that lodges them, protects them; he that imparts his perfections in several por­tions to the Saints here belowe, communicates them all together to the Blessed; and, to express my self in the words of Saint Paul, and S. Au­gustine his disciple, God is All to All in Glory; nor can we form any wishes whereof we finde not the accomplishment in his possession.

The Third Miracle is, that the desire is not restless in heaven. Those that are well acquainted with our Passions, confess there is none more cru­el then Desire: For though it seem to supply us in our need, we may say that the Remedy is more troublesome then the Disease, and that it were better to retrench the most part of worldly things, then to be troubled with longing for them. This Passion puts us not upon the search of Good but by means of Grief; 'tis a spur which wounds us to make us go, a needle that goads us to make us run, a transportation of the soul which renders us miserable to render us happie. Thence it comes to pass that Divines, agreeing with Philosophers, profess that Desires are the chiefest tor­ment of the Damned; that these delinquents are therefore wretched, be­cause their desires are hopeless, Est in eis desi­derium, nec poe­nam generat, quia desiderium omne transit in gaudium, dum praesto est quic­quid optatur, & qui quid deside ratur abun [...]at. Aug. aut Greg. Mag. and this viper which they conceive in their bowels, gnaws and devours them eternally. But, by an unconceiveable wonder, the Blessed desire, and are not at all disquieted; they enjoy what they long for, see what they hope; and as the Goodness of God occasions their wishes, his Presence begets their felicity: The Good they desire, is not absent; the Good they possess, is not wearisome; and mixing Desire with Fruition, they are everlastingly happie. They long, saith S. Augu­stine, and their longing causeth no doleance, because, as soon as formed, 'tis turned into joy; and the presence of the God they covet, banisheth pain, and causeth content.

This Miracle produceth a Fourth, which makes the Blessed finde a pos­session which never disgusts them. Duo sunt torto­res cruci atum alternantes, do­lor, & timor; si bene es times, si male es doles. Aug. Men cannot avoid being upon Earth; and as Grief and Fear are two Passions which succeed to give them no re­spite, Fruition and Desire are two states which alternately torment them. Desire is always attended with Restlesness: every man that makes Vows, and puts up Requests, declares publikely his want and misery; and though raised to never so high a pitch of Fortune, tells all the world that he suffers because he desires. Fruition, which seems the period and acquiescence of Desires, and which, by a necessary consequence, ought to banish Grief out of the soul, begets a sapless cloying of the appetite, and condemns him to a punishment whereof he hath no right to complain, because himself seems to have courted it. In the mean time, this misfortune is so common, that there is no body but experienceth it: and the goods of the Earth are so mean and beggerly, that we cannot have them, but we must despise them. Their absence troubles us, and their presence cloys us; [Page 399]we make some account of them at a distance, but when we approach them, and taste the fruition of them, we discover their imperfections, are asha­med, or disrelish them: so that in whatever condition Fortune place us, we cannot chuse but be miserable. But the happiness which the Blessed enjoy is so great, that as their Desires occasion not their Impatience, nei­ther doth their felicity nauseate into a distaste; They daily discover new beauties in this infinite object; they finde more sweetnesses then were promised them; and confess that their happiness exceeds their hopes. The Faithful have less love, because less light; present things distract them; their senses which are at agreement with what they see, seduce them; and, because they can form no noble Ideas of the Supream Good, the desires they have towards it are faint and languishing: But inasmuch as the Blessed know all the advantages it is attended with, their love en­creaseth with their light; their pleasure is augmented by fruition; and far distant from conceiving any disrelish, their desire continues in the height of possession, and they wish without pain, what they possesse with assurance.

But the last miracle of glory, and which is no whit inferiour to the rest, is, that the difference of conditions causeth no jealousie. The variety of the world is one of its rarest ornaments: Tota Naturae pulchritudo aut certe praecipuae in sua varietate sita, est nec abest à varietate utilitas. Mars. Fisc. The slowers which checker a walk imbellish it; The Stars which make a hundred severall Figures in the Firmament, set a lustre upon its beauty; neither doth any thing make a Countrey more pleasant, then the diversity of the parts that compose it: Our eyes are ravished to behold rivulets creeping along the Meadows; Fields stretching themselves out of sight; Valleys which sink as low as the Center of the Earth, and Mountains which strike Heaven with their tops. The Riches and Beauty of a State depends upon its diversity; if all Sub­jects were of the same condition, there would be neither diversion for strangers, nor accommodation for the Naturals: The Ornament and Ad­vantage of the Body Politick, appears in this agreeable mixture of Poor and Rich, Artists and Husbandmen, Soldiers and Merchants, Magistrates and Priests. But it falls out by an inevitable misfortune, that this diffe­rence of conditions which begets its beauty, breeeds jealousie among the subjects: For as their goods are not common, because their conditions are different, one is jealous of what the other possesseth: The Grandees are proud, and despise their inferiours; the mean men are envious, and murmure at the Optimacy; Cum erit Deus omnia in omni­bus, qui minus habebunt non abhorrebunt; ubi enim nulla est invidentia, concors est diffe­rentia. Aug. Every condition carries its own torment along with it; Greatness is tortured with Pride, and Misery afflicted with En­vy: But in Heaven the difference of conditions produceth their beauty, and gives no occasion of jealousie. All the Saints hold different stations, their merit is the measure of their glory, their crowns are proportionable to their labours, and there is more variety in the Blessed then among the Stars. In the mean time Peace bears rule in the diversity of their conditions; Charity, which unites them, renders their contentment com­mon, [Page 400]though the Justice that rewards them makes their condition diffe­rent: Every one is glad of anothers good fortune; and without interes­sing any one, they finde that the felicity of particulars contributes to that of the Publick.

But it were to injure their dignity, Non Nobis suf­ficit quia Chri­stianum nomen accepimus, si opera Christi non fecerimus. Illi prodest quod Christianus di­citur qui casti­tatem diligit, ebrietatem fu­git, superbiam odit, & invi­diam respuit. Aug. should we strive to express it; si­lence and astonishment are the onely commendations we can give them, because the Holy Scripture teacheth us, that the Happiness God pre­pareth for those that love him, is unconceivable: Let us content our selves to wish what we cannot comprehend; and finishing this Work with the Beatitude of Christians, let us strive to merit it by the precedent advanta­ges: Let us profit by the Birth we received in Baptism; follow the moti­ons of the Holy Spirit that inanimates us; imitate the examples of that ever to be adored Chief that governs us; obey his Grace that masters us; make use of those Vertues that assist us; Entertain our life by the nou­rishment, and our piety by the Sacrifice of the Body and Bloud of Jesus Christ: Doe nothing that may dishonour our Qualities; and endeavour to make our selves worthy of that Glory which is promised to all true Chri­stians in the other world.