long time For in the Ninth Year of his Reign the City of Jerusalem was Besieg'd by Nabuchadonosor King of Babylon and after Two Years Siege it was Taken Sackt and put to Fire and Sword the Temple Ransackt and Burnt those of the People who had escap'd the fury of the Sword or Famine were sent into Captivity And he flying with his Children was taken and brought before the proud King who after having receiv'd him with Expressions of Fury and Indignation caused his Childrens Throats to be cut before his Face and afterwards pull'd out his Eyes and made him be sent Captive into Babylon where he dy'd miserably undergoing the just Punishment of his Iniquities We must add to these Examples those which we have recounted in the Sixth Chapter being that all those of whom we spoke in that place are dead in their Sins and by Sins begun in their Youth These Examples are very common in Sacred Scripture the contrary are there very rare and as I have said we shall find but one only in the Old Testament who was truly Converted after he had liv'd wickedly in his Youth viz. Manasses and that by so strange a Means that it manifests more clear than Day the dreadful Difficulty with which one Corrects the wicked Inclinations of his younger Years This Prince having lost his Father Ezechias 4 Reg. 21. one of the most pious Kings of Juda at the Age of Twelve Years was Inheritor of his Crown but not of his Vertues For blotting out of his Mind presently the holy Examples and wise Documents he had receiv'd from him he addicts himself to all sorts of Vices and Impieties such as the Scripture recounts His Iniquities went on encreasing until the Fifteenth or according to others till the Two and twentieth Year of his Reign wherein God sent him an extreme Affliction He was taken by the Assyrians in the City of Jerusalem sent Captive into Babylon loaden with Irons and Chains cast into a frightful Prison where he was daily afflicted with a vast number of Miseries and Persecutions Being reduc'd to this extremity of Misery he began to open his Eyes and call upon him in his Afflictions whom he had forgotten in his Prosperity He acknowledg'd his Iniquities and begg'd Pardon for them with a truly contrite Heart and by the force of Tears and Prayers obtain'd from God his Deliverance After which he did Penance for his Sins and liv'd in Holiness all the remainder of his Life even to the Age of Sixty seven when he dy'd St. Jerom adds to this History a very remarkable Particularity which he took out of the Tradition of the Hebrews For Explicating what the Scripture says in general Terms * Qui posteaquam coangustatus est oravit Dominum Deum suum Hieron in ques Heb. in Paral. That Manasses being opprest with Affliction had recourse to God he saith that it was in the Extremity of a frightful Death to which he was expos'd He should have been put to Death in a great brazen Vessel pierc'd with many Holes set upon a hot Fire which heating the Vessel and penetrating it on every side should consume that miserable Prince by its Flames by so much the more cruel as it was tedious in duration He was shut up in this Vessel and the Fire kindled under him In this dreadful Representation of Death this misfortunate Prince apply'd not himself to God but first to the Idols which he had ador'd so strangely was he blinded with his former Sins But when he perceiv'd that it was to no end to invoke their Assistance he call'd to mind a Sentence of the Sacred Scripture which he had often heard from his Father in his Youth by which God promis'd his Succours * Dum quaesi eris Dominum Deum tuum invenies eum si tamen tâ—â—o corde quae ieris tota tribulatione animae tuae Deut. 4. to those who had recourse to him in their Tribulations and converted themselves to him with all their Heart and had a great Sorrow for their Sins He presently raises his Heart to God with Sighs and Lamentations and begs of him his Deliverance with such a Contrition for his Sins that God shew'd him Mercy and not only deliver'd him from that frightful Death but from his Slavery and made him return to Jerusalem where he spent the rest of his Life after the manner I have already touch'd See here Theotime a Conversion after a wicked Life of Youth but a Conversion purchas'd at a dear Rate CHAP. XIII Of the great Evils which spring from the wicked Life of Youth THE greatest of Evils is that whereof we speak Tenth Motive which obliges young People to Vertue viz. The loss of Salvation and Eternal Ruine which befalls many by the Sins of their Youth it being certain that Sins committed in that Age are the original Cause of Damnation to many But besides that there are many others issuing from the same Fountain which are necessary to be known dear Theotime to the end that knowing them you may conceive a greater horror of the Cause which produces them ARTICLE I. The first Evil viz. Death which the Sins of Youth hasten to very many I put in the first place Death hasten'd which happens to many young Persons in punishment of their Sins I do not mean that all those who die in the Flower of their Age die in punishment of the Sins they have committed nor also that all those who follow Vice in their Youth should be punish'd with an untimely Death I know very well that the Pious sometimes depart in the prime of their Youth and that this Death is a Recompence of their Vertue and an Effect of the Love God bears them according to that Testimony of the Sacred Scripture in the Book of Wisdom If the Just says the Wiseman Justus si morte praeoccupatus fuerit in refrigerio erit placens Deo factus dilectus vivens inter peccatores transsatus est Raptus est ne malitia mutaret intellectum ejus ne fictio deciperet animam illius facinatio enim nugacitatis obscurat bona inconstantia concupiscentiae transvertit sensum sine malitia consummatus in brevi explevit tempora multa placita enimerat Deo anima illius propter hoc properavit Dominus educere illum de medio iniquitatum Sap. 4. be prevented by Death he will find therein Repose and Salvation his Vertue having render'd him agreeable to God made him purchase his Love and merit to be taken out of this World where he liv'd amongst Sinners God withdrew him betimes lest Corruption should slip into his Mind and his Soul be deceiv'd with the false appearance of the Vanity and Pleasures of the World which delude Men and make them love those things which are most opposite to their Salvation I know also very well that there are many Sinners who live a long time and who grow old in the Vices they had contracted in their Youth
instituit ut laboret S. Bern. in Declam Consider that all Men are born for Labor God hath oblig'd them thereto by a solemn Sentence which he pronounc'd at the beginning of the World. If then you would be exempt leading an Idle Life you resist the Will of God and break the Order he hath so solemnly Establish'd 2. If Men be oblig'd to Labor all their Life-time they have yet a stricter Obligation to it during their Youth because if that Age be not Exercis'd in vertuous Undertakings it heaps up many Vices and wicked Habits which continue all the rest of their Life 3. Chiefly young Men. Because Youth is the proper time to cultivate the Mind and form it for Good and wherein only they may make themselves capable of an Employment where they may busie all the succeeding time of their Life If this Time be once lost it can never be repair'd Time lost in any Age never returns but there is this difference that Time lost in other Ages may sometimes be recover'd but Time lost in Youth is irreparable 4. The Sorrow for loss of Time in Youth Consider attentively the Grief you will one day have for losing the Time of your Youth when you shall find your self unfit for pious Employments and uncapable of any Good as it happens to many You believe it not at present but one day you will be sensible of it when it is too late 5. The Account that must be given If this Grief at present move you not the exact Account you shall give to God of the ill-spent Time of your Youth will at his Judgment make you tremble In that dreadful Judgment all your Life shall be set before your Eyes in order one Part after another and the first Article of the Account which shall be Examin'd will be that of the Employment you have follow'd in your Youth What will you answer to this Demand There you will distinctly discover all the Disorders which have sprung from that first Fault the Ignorances it hath caus'd in you the Sins it hath made you commit the Vices wherein you have been involv'd all the Goods you have been render'd incapable of What have you to answer to all these things 6. Many damned for the ill spending of their Touth How many others are there now in Hell who acknowledg the origin of their Damnation to arise from the ill spending the Time of their Youth If they could but hope for one sole Moment of Time which you have now in your power O God what would they not do to obtain it and bestow it profitably Is it possible that their Misery doth not move you and that you will not grow wise at other Mens Expence learning by their Example to avoid that irreparable Misfortune into which they are faln by their Idleness O dear Child for the love you ought to have for your Salvation fly absolutely this Vice I beseech you which is one of the greatest Impediments you could put And that you may remember to avoid it remember to perform two things The First is Two Practices against Idleness To apply your self to some modest Exercise which may keep you busi'd for the Time of your Youth and that you may perform it as you ought see what we have spoken of it above in Part 2. Chap. 12. The Second is That you take care as much as you can never to be Idle any more without doing something use constantly some Action whether of Labor wherein you are engag'd or Reading or Divertisement Let your Recreations be accompany'd with Actions either of Body or Mind The Devil seeks no better opportunity than to find you Idle that he may tempt and suprise you For this reason practise diligently that excellent Precept of S. Jerom * Facito aliquid operis ut te semper diabolus inveniat occupatum Hieron Epist ad Rust Be doing always something that the Devil may always find you employ'd CHAP. VIII The Eighth Obstacle Impurity WE are now come to the greatest most powerful and most universal of all the Obstacles of the Salvation of Youth viz. the Sin of Impurity At the Entrance whereof I cannot refrain from uttering that Expression of the Prophet Jeremy * Quis dabit capiti meo aquam oculis meis fontem lachrymarum plorabo die nocte interfectos filiae populi mei Jerem. 5. O that my Head were full of Water and my Eyes had a Fountain of Tears that I might weep Day and Night for the Desolation of my People For who can attentively consider the infinit number of young People which this Sin keeps miserably enslav'd the havock it makes of their Souls the innumerable Offences it causes them to commit the Disorders it brings to them the Misfortunes into which it daily precipitates them and chiefly the height of Misery viz. the ruin of their Soul and Eternal Damnation Who can consider these things I say without having his Heart pierc'd with Sorrow and without being mov'd with Compassion to advertise them of the Danger and afford them Assistance to withdraw them from the Misfortune into which they blindly run For this reason Theotime I beseech you six here your Thoughts and read attentively some Points of which I am to Discourse with you concerning this Sin that I may raise in your Mind the horror and apprehension you ought to have of it as of the greatest Enemy of your Salvation and of the certain cause of your Destruction ARTICLE I. That the Sin of Impurity is the greatest Enemy of Youth and Damns more than all other Vices together I would to God this Proposition were rather a Dream than a Truth and that there were as much reason to question the certainty as to hold it for infallible But it is made too clear and visible by daily Experience which evidently discovers two things 1. That a great part of Youth is addicted to this miserable Sin. 2. That amongst those who are inclin'd to it there are many who are no less subject to other Sins than that First Youth much given to the Sins of Impurity Is it not a most deplorable thing to see the innocentest Age of Life so corrupted by that infamous Sin and the most flourishing Portion of Gods Church dishonor'd in such a manner by that detestable Vice They are no sooner capable of Reason but this Vice attacks and gains upon them it creeps into their Mind it possesses their Desires it seises on their Thoughts it inflames their Hearts with a love of dishonest Pleasures which daily encreasing with Age becomes so strong that it is almost impossible to extinguish it This arises partly from the Corruption of Nature Three Causes of Impurity Sensus cogitatio humani cordis in malum prona sunt ab adolescentia sua Gen. 8.3 which as the Sacred Scripture takes notice is inclin'd to Evil from its Youth partly from the Temper and Constitution of that Age which the
more capable of Labor which it could not be able to undergo if it were always employ'd So that Labor is the End and Motive of Sport and Recreation From thence three Conditions follow Three Conditions to be observ'd which must be observ'd in Play that it may be good and vertuous The First Moderation To keep therein a civil Moderation for if it be taken in excess it is no more a Recreation but rather an Employment it is not to Play to be made more fit for Labor which is the sole End Pastime ought to have but only for Pleasure which is a vicious End yea it is to make one unsit for Labor because excess of Play dissipates the Spirits enfeebles the Forces of the Body and oftentimes considerably prejudices the Health by the Distempers it causes The Second Condition is An orderly Affection Not to have a disorderly Affection to Play as it happens frequently to young Persons This Affection makes them fall into the Excess we spoke of lose much Time think continually of the Means to divert themselves It is the cause that they almost never apply themselves seriously to Labor and when their Body is at Study their Mind is at their Sport and Divertisement The Third Condition is Avoiding the Cames of Hazard To fly as much as possible the Plays of Hazard such Plays keep the Mind too much ty'd to them principally young Peoples They serve not to recreate the Spirits but to give them more disturbance It is hard to observe therein a Moderation one is so engag'd either by Loss or Gain They Play there only out of Covetousness The bad Effects of Play. and to gain which is a wicked End Add the ordinary Losses one suffers which leave after them Displeasure Vexation and Despair Joyn to these the Cheats unjust Gains Choler Swearing Quarrels of which these sorts of Plays are ordinarily full The excessive loss of Time the dissipation of Mind and Goods the wicked Habits of Anger of Impatience of Swearing of Lying of Covetousness and many others which Play produces The disorderly Inclination to Play which continues all their Life and frequently ruins their Possessions and Honor and reduces them to extream Miseries as we daily see but by too many Examples and in fine makes a Man incapable of any Good. Avoid these Sports Theotime Practice as absolutely contrary to your Salvation and Happiness and addict not your self but to honest Pastimes which serve for the Divertisement of the Mind or Exercise of the Body observing therein the Conditions we have spoken of and chiefly keeping your self from Excesses which * Relaxabantur etiam mihi ad ludendum habenae ultra temperamentum severitatis in dissolutionem affectionum variarum S. Aug. lib. 2. Confes S. Augustin in his Confessions acknowledg'd to be one of the Causes of the depravation of his Youth Now this Excess is understood not only of the Time employ'd therein which ought to be well regulated but also of the Mony you Play which ought always to be very little otherwise you will Play for Gain and not for Recreation and the Sport will be a Hell and Disquiet rather than a Divertisement Besides the Mony you lose at Play would be better employ'd amongst the Poor whose Necessities will cry one day to God for your Excesses and against those of all Gamesters CHAP. XXI Of Liberality against Covetousness ALtho' it may seem that Covetousness is not an ordinary Vice amongst young Persons Youth must be arm'd against Covetousness yet it is very necessary to arm them against this Passion which easily taking root in young Souls is insensibly augmented and causes vast Disorders in their Life There are two sorts of Covetousness Two sorts of Covetousness The one which makes us love Mony to heap it up to get Treasures and Purchases The other which makes us affect it to dispose and employ it for our proper Pleasures The First is very rare amongst young People but the Second is very ordinary with them and highly prejudicial Experience makes appear that it is ordinary with them How ordinary among young Persons for as they earnestly love their Pleasures they seek after all Means to satisfie them which cannot be effected without Mony From hence it comes that they apply all their Endeavors to get it From hence the Cheats and Tricks they make use of towards their Parents to get it from them From hence their Cozening in Play their Hard-heartedness to the Poor and sometimes Robberies and unjust Ways to procure it From hence the love of Riches which we see in young Spirits the desires of great Fortunes the imaginary Designs they lay to purchase them This Passion having thus taken its beginning in Youth easily increases How prejudicial and strengthening it self by Age becomes so strangely rooted that it can never be pull'd up all the remainder of their Life And it causes that so general a Disorder which is found amongst Christians and which the Prophet deplores when he says that a A minore usque ad majorem omnes avaritiae student Jer. 16.13 From the least to the greatest all are given to Covetousness that is to the irregular love of the things of the World which b Radix omnium malorum est cupiditas 1 Tim. 6. S. Paul says is The root of all Evils This Vice takes its origin from three Causes in Youth The First is Three Causes of Avarice in young Men. what we have now spoken of The Second is the common Example of the World which they see loves and esteems Mony above all things and runs after it with insatiable greediness The Third is the Fault of Parents who inspire this Love into their Children from their tender Years Discoursing of nothing but the Care to get their Livelihood if they be Mean or Poor or of advancing and aspiring to a higher Fortune if they be Rich teaching thus their Children that which S. Cyprian reproaches them for that is Filios tuos doces patrimonium magis amare quam Christum S. Cypr. lib. de oper Eleem. To love more their Riches than Jesus Christ and to labor in such a manner for the Goods of this mortal Life that they think little or nothing on the Eternal This Evil dear Theotime must be prevented in good time It must be prevented betimes and hindred from taking possession of your Heart it being certain that there is no Vice which increases more with Age than this and which becomes more incapable of remedy For this Effect take notice of what I counsel you 1. First Means Being as we have said that the greatest Cause of this Covetousness in young People springs from the love of Pleasures use all your Endeavors to moderate that Passion which may be said to be one of the greatest Mischiefs of Youth the Cause of all the Misfortunes it commits and the chiefest Obstacle of all the Good
Remedy is to resist it betimes and in its first assaults before it hath gotten possession and render'd it self Master of your Heart This The necessity of this Remedy Theotime is the great Remedy against this Sin and principally in Youth wherein it is so necessary that for want of practising it the greatest part of young Men are misfortunately engag'd in this Vice and oftentimes so deeply that they are never able to free themselve or with very great trouble It is the chief Maxim for all Distempers whether of Body or Soul to apply their Remedies in the beginning Principiis obsta sero medicina paratur Cum mala per longas invaluere moras The Motions unto Ill at first withstand The Cure's too late when Vice has got Command Now if the practice of this Maxim be necessary in all both Corporal and Spiritual Distempers it is particularly in this Sin of Impurity which is easily increas'd and makes a wonderful progress in a small time For this reason the Fathers have recommended it with much care hearken Theotime to what they shall deliver to you St. Cyprian says Diaboli primis titillationibus obviandum nec foveri debet coluber donec in draconem formetur Cypr. de jejunio Diabolus Serpens est lubricus cujus capiti hoc est primae suggestioni si non resistitur totus in interna cordis dum non sentitur illabitur S. Hier. in c. 9. Eccles Quid est libido nisi ignis Quid virtutes nisi flores Quid item turpes cogitationes nisi paleae Quis autem nesciat si in paleis ignis negligenter extinguitur ex parva scintilla omnes paleae accenduntur Qui ergo virtutum flores in mente non vult exurere ita debet libidinis ignem extinguere ut per tenuem scintillam nunquam possit ardere S. Greg. in c. 25. 1 Reg. l. 6. That we must resist the first Temptations of the Devil and to do otherwise is to cherish an Adder which will grow up into a Serpent able to devour him who harbour'd it S. Jerom says That the Devil is a creeping Serpent and as to keep a Serpent from entring into a Hole we hinder it from putting in its Head which being once enter'd it cannot be stopt from introducing its whole Body So to hinder the Devil from having admittance into our Soul by Sin we must resist the first Temptations which if not withstood he insensibly creeps into the Heart and makes himself Master of it St. Gregory says That Impurity is enkindled in the Soul like Fire in Straw and as if one doth not quickly and entirely extinguish the Fire it burns all that it encounters so if the Flame of Incontinence be not carefully put out it causes a Fire in the Soul which is often without remedy But give ear In initio cogitationis iniquae repelle fugiet à te cogitatio prava delectationem parit delectatio consensum consensus actionem actio consuetudinem consuetudo necessitatem necessitas mortem Sicut vipera à filiis suis in utero positis lacerata perimitur ita nos cogitationes nostrae intra nos nutritrae occidunt S. Bern. lib. de interi Dom. cap. 39. Theotime to the excellent Counsel of St. Bernard with the reason he there adds Reject evil Thoughts at the beginning and they will fly from you Lascivious Thoughts which are not resisted cause Delight Delight draws on Consent Consent produces the Action from the Action springs a Habit from a Habit Necessity and from Necessity Death And as the Viper is kill'd by the little ones she carries in her Womb so we receive Death by our vicious Thoughts when we nourish them in our Hearts The Reason of this Maxim so much recommended by the Saints is that it is easiest to resist the Sin of Impurity at the beginning and very hard to surmount it when it is become inveterate and strengthned by a long Habit. To comprehend better the greatness of this Difficulty see what we have said in the First Part of the trouble one is to undergo for his Salvation when he hath liv'd ill in his Youth for all that we have said above and the Examples we have brought are particularly to be understood of the Sin of Incontinence ARTICLE V. That we must avoid the Causes of Impurity The Second Means against the Sin of Immodesty is to avoid carefully the Causes and Occasions of it Second Remedy A Means absolutely necessary it being certain that to hinder the Effect we must take away the Cause and he who puts himself in the Occasion of Evil cannot avoid falling into it because according to the Maxim Qui amat periculum peribat in illo He who loveth Danger shall perish therein The first Cause we must fly is Idleness First Cause to be avoided Idleness which is the Mother of all Vices as we have said but principally of this It is that which opens the door to evil Thoughts Omnium cogitationum malarum tentationum sentina and immodest Desires which increase extreamly in an idle Mind and make it commit a vast number of Sins It is the Sink and Receptacle of impure Temptations according to St. Bernard Impurity says he Luxuria cito deripit homines otio deditos gravius urit quem otiosum invenit S. Bern. Serm. ad Frat. de Mon. Dei. hath never a greater advantage to surprise Men than in Idleness it burns more violently those it finds lull'd asleep in Vice. This Verity is so common that the Pagans themselves have taught it us Otia si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus Contemptaeque jacent sine luce faces Quaeritur Aegyptus quare sit factus adulter In promptu causa est desidiosus erat If Sloth be banisht Cupid's Bow 's unbent His Torch extinct and all his Arrows spent Why did the Egyptian Adultery commit The Reason's clear he first did Sloth admit Have a care then Theotime to fly as much as you can this great Cause of Impurity never remaining Idle but especially when you are all alone See what we have said of Idleness in the former Chapter and of employment of Time in Part 2. Chap. 14. The Second Cause of Impurity is Intemperance in Eating and Drinking Second Cause with which it is impossible to conserve Chastity in whatsoever Age it be principally in Youth The Heat of Blood which boils in that Age excites them very much to Sensual Pleasures but when it is assisted by exterior Causes as Wine and good Cheer it produces an incredible disturbance Hearken to what S. Jerom says who speaks of it by his own Experience In his Epistle to Furia he says a Non Aetnaei ignes non Vulcania tellus non Vesuvius aut Olympus tantis ardoribus aestuant ut juveniles medullae vino dapibus inflammatae S. Jer. de Virg. Serv. That Mount Aetna Mount Vesuvius and Mount Olympus which continually exhale Fire and Flames did not
burn with greater Heat than the Marrow of young People when they are inflam'd with Wine and delicious Meats And in his Epistle to Eustochium b Si quid in me potest esse consilii si experto creditur hoc primum moneo hoc obtestor ut Sponsa Christi vinum fugiat pro veneno haec adversus adolescentiam prima sunt arma daemonum vinum adolescentia duplex incendium voluptatis quid oleum flammae adjicimus quid ardenti corpusculo somenta ignium ministramus S. Jer. Epist ad Eustoch If I be capable says he to give any Counsel if you will give credit to one that is experienc'd I chiefly admonish and beseech that Soul which desires to be the Spouse of Jesus Christ by conserving her Purity to fly from Wine as a mortal Poison These are the first Arms the Devil makes use of against Youth Wine and Youth are a double inflammation to Pleasure Why do we cast Oyl upon the Fire Why do we add more Fuel to a Body that is on Fire Behold Theotime the Advice of this great Saint so experienc'd in the Conduct of Souls and chiefly of Youth Apply all your Endeavors to practise it exactly if you will conserve your Chastity And to exercise it well see in Part 4. Chap. 23. of Sobriety The Third Cause you ought carefully to avoid is wicked Company Third Cause and all sort of dissolute Discourses or any ways tending to Immodesty It is not to be imagin'd how those things corrupt and destroy Chastity in young People for how many are there who never fell into this misfortunate Sin till they had learn'd it either by Conversation with dissolute Persons or by the occasion of immodest Discourses which falling upon young Minds as a Spark amongst Straw frequently inflames them with the Fire of unchast Love. This Cause is so ordinary and so pernicious to young People that it cannot be sufficiently repeated nor ever enough decry'd Fly wicked Company have a care of immodest Discourses or to say with the Apostle permit not your self to be deceiv'd therewith for Wicked Discourses corrupt good Manners We have spoken of this Cause before in Chap. 6. See what is said there and chiefly the Example I brought above in Art. 3. of that young Man who permitting himself to be deprav'd with wicked Company dy'd in Despair The Fourth Cause is familiar Conversation with Women Fourth Cause which is also extreamly dangerous It is there Theotime where the Chastity of young Persons is utterly ruin'd and destroy'd and frequently after it had been preserv'd from other Dangers it there chances to be deplorably Shipwreckt Impure Love enters but too easily into young Minds but when it is assisted by the presence of the Object it is inslam'd beyond all imagination For this reason the Wiseman gives us that important Admonition * In medio mulierum noli commorari de vestimentis enim procedit tinea à muliere iniquitas viri Eccl. 42. Continue not amongst Women because from their Conversation springs the loss and destruction of Men as Moths which eat Cloaths are bred in the Garments Now if the Company of Women be very prejudicial to young People it becomes pernicious to them and absolutely mortal when it passes to a Familiarity to a Desire to please and be belov'd to overmuch Freedom to Caresses and Demonstrations of Friendship and such like Privacies too common amongst young Persons which S. Jerom calls very well Principia moriturae virginitatis The beginning of the approaching ruin of Chastity We must add to this Cause either immodest or too curious Looks which may be perform'd either in or out of Conversation Love enters by the Eyes and sometimes a Look without any wicked Design draws after it a vast train of Sins Give ear to what the Holy Ghost teaches you by the Mouth of the Wiseman * Virginem ne aspicias ne forte scandalizer is in decora illius Averte faciem tuam à muliere compta ne circumspicias speciem alienam Propter speciem mulieris multi perierunt ex hoc concupiscentia quasi ignis inardescit Eccl. 9. Look not on a Virgin lest you be scandaliz'd at her Beauty Divert your Eyes from a Woman comelily Adorn'd and regard not curiously her graceful Behaviour Remember that Womens Beauty hath been fatal to many and hath enkindled unchast Flames in their Hearts What an excellent Advertisement is this Theotime yet as much unknown as it is important Engrave this deeply in your Memory and have a care to govern well your Sight so that it be not too dissolute for all manner of Looks and if it happen to glance upon dangerous Objects at least fix it not there but withdraw it immediately Observe the same Rule in respect of all Pictures or immodest Figures which are so many Rocks for Chastity to split on and wherewith the World is misfortunately replenish'd Adjoyn also to the former Causes Kisses which amongst young Persons proceed often from Sensuality and immodest Affection altho' it be sometimes conceal'd or at least they excite it and give a beginning to many Sins and Uncleannesses For this reason a good Author calls them very properly * Impudici tactus osculi quid aliud est quam morsus diaboli arrha peccati Euseb Emiss Hom. de Quadr. The Bitings of the Devil and an Earnest of Sin. In fine add also to these Causes unchast Books which you ought to fly as the Plague of the Soul and the certain corruption of Chastity See what we have said Part 2. Chap. 17. These are the most ordinary Causes of Immodesty which you ought carefully to avoid if you desire to be freed from their pernicious Effect To fly them usefully and as you ought Theotime take notice of those you have and principally bear dominion in you and having observ'd them avoid them the most you can For Example If it be Idleness apply all your Care to overcome that by Labor If it be Intemperance be sober in your Diet and perform some Abstinence by the Advice of your Ghostly Father ARTICLE VI. Other particular Remedies against Impurity In flying the Causes of Impurity you must apply the Remedies proper to cure and entirely repell it Amongst others I shall give you these Four which are joyntly most necessary against this Sin and very efficacious to preserve you from it The First is Prayer First Remedy God is the Author of Purity we must demand it of him and the Grace to resist the Motions of that misfortunate Concupiscence which causes continual Rebellions against the Spirit Demand it daily Theotime but not as * At ego adolescens miser valde miser in exordio adolescentiae etiam petieram à te castitatem dixeram da mihi castitatem continentiam sed noli modo Timebam enim ne me cito exaudires cito sanarer à morbo concupiscentiae quam malebam expleri quam extingui
it for your Neighbor You will perform this by Praying for him by endeavoring to withdraw him from Vice and from ill Occasions when there are any either by your self or by others who can prevail with him by Advertising him mildly of his Duty or causing him to be Admonish'd by giving him good Counsel and good Example and by other Means which Charity will suggest to you Accustom your self to do all these things to them you have most occasion of as to your Friends your Companions your Domesticks your Servants and to those with whom you converse This is the true Love of our Neighbor to love him for his Salvation and Eternity There remains a Third thing necessary for the Love of our Neighbor To support his Defects which is charitably to support his Defects and excuse his Faults as much as Prudence will permit a Priusquam interroges ne vituperes quemquam cum interrogaveris corripe juste Eccl. 11. Not to be inclin'd to blame and reprehend either without Knowledge or with Bitterness or without any Necessity or Profit Now there is no Necessity or Profit when the Reprehension doth not avail for the Amendment of him who is Faulty nor for the Edification of others In fine Theotime the great Rule of the Love of our Neighbor consists in judging our Neighbor by our selves according to the Maxim of the Wiseman b Intellige quae proximi sunt ex teipso Eccl. 31. Judge of that which concerns your Neighbor by your self and in practising that great Maxim of the Scripture and which Nature her self teaches us c Quod ab alio oderis tibi fieri vide ne tu aliquando alteri facias Tob. 4. Omnia quaecunque vultis ut faciant vobis homines vos facite illis Mat. 7. Do nothing to another which you would not have done to your self And also do to others the Good which rationally and according to God you would have done to you in the like Occasion CHAP. XVIII Of Fraternal Correction or of the Obligation of hindering the Ill of another when one can THAT which we have said of the Obligation Charity imposes upon Christians of procuring the Salvation of our Neighbor when we can deserves a more particular Reflection it being a thing of high Importance and nevertheless infinitely neglected and for the most part absolutely unknown This Obligation is not understood what it is it is taken for a new Language and for a thing almost incredible Yet there is nothing more common in the Sacred Scripture which teaches us That a Mandavit unicuiqâ—e de proximo suo Eccl. 17. God hath given the Charge of his Neighbor to every one That b Aedificate alterutrum sicut sacitis 1 Thessal 5. Pleni estis dilectione ita ut possitis alterutrum monere Rom. 15. Nolite communicare operibus infructuosis tenebrarum magis autem redarguite Ephes 5. we should Edifie one another mutually Admonish one another Not to be partakers of the Works of Darkness that is of the Sins of another but reprehend him freely In fine to love God above all things and our Neighbor as our selves For how do we love our Neighbor as our selves if these greatest Necessities which are those of his Salvation move us so little that we abandon them for our least Interests which are frequently only in the Imagination and Fopperies And how do we love God above all things if we neglect to hinder him from being offended when some means is offer'd to effect it This Obligation is so great that it hath made St. John Chrisostom deliver an astonishing Expression S. Jo Chrisost adversus vituper vitae Monast lib. 5. viz. That God will require no less Account of us of the Salvation of our Neighbor than of our own And that when we shall have liv'd all our Life very piously if we have neglected the Salvation of others upon occasions the Sanctity of our Life shall be unprofitable it being certain that that Negligence is so criminal that it alone may be the cause of our Damnation He gives the Reason Because he who is wanting to assist his Neighbor in his corporal Necessities is rejected by God at the Day of Judgment notwithstanding the Good he hath otherwise perform'd Much more he who neglects to succor his Brother in a thing of far greater Consequence as is the Salvation of his Soul will deserve all manner of Punishments The Discharge of this great Obligation depends upon the practise of the Commandment of Fraternal Correction which our Lord hath given us and whereof he hath prescrib'd the Order in Chap. 18. of S. Matthew in these Words * Si peccaverit in te frater tuus vade corripe eum inter te ipsum solum Si te audierit lucratus es fratrem tuum si autem te non audierit adhibe tecum unum vel duos quod si non audierit eos dic Ecclesiae Mat. 18. If your Brother sin against you go and reprehend him secretly if he hear you you have gained him if he hear you not take one or two others with you if he will not hear them tell the Church That you may understand this Commandment Five things of Consequence to be observ'd in this Command so much unknown and so ill practis'd I shall observe here four or five things which will facilitate the Understanding and Practise of it The First is the End of this Commandment It s End. which is to remedy the Misfortune of our Neighbor that is to hinder that our Neighbor who hath sinn'd may not relapse into his Fault or that others do not offend by his Example or Inducement The Second is The Persons it obliges That this Commandment obliges not only Superiors but all sorts of Persons it being a Command of Charity which as S. Thomas saith every one is oblig'd to have The Third is The Circumstances wherein it obliges That this Obligation is understood only when these two Circumstances occur 1. When we know the Ill committed and the apparent danger that our Neighbor will relapse into it or cause others to fall therein 2. When we may hinder the Evil of another and bring some Remedy for it The Fourth is That this Power of stopping the Mischief is not only understood of what we our selves may do but also of what we may effect by anothers means This is what our Lord made evidently appear in saying If he hear not you take some other Person with you and if he still continue to persist tell the Church The Fifth Remark is That what he says of telling the Church that is the Superiors may be perform'd either privately or publickly and that when the First Way that is the secret suffices to hinder the Misfortune as ordinarily it doth we are not oblig'd to the Second Thus to collect all these Observations and joyn them together The Commandment of Fraternal Correction obliges every one
discover themselves to any Person they fly from those who may keep them in the good Path or set them right when they are gone astray which is the cause why they remove themselves so so far from them and often never or too late return to them Act not in this manner Theotime call to mind that St. Augustin attributes to this Cause the Disorder he fell into at the end of his Studies because he had no one to take care to root out the Vices which then grew in his Soul. Forget not also what the Scripture recounts of King Joas That he was vertuous as long as he was instructed by the High Priest Joiada Fecit Joas rectum coram Domino cunctis diebus quibus docuit cum Joiada sacerdos 4 Reg. 3. he had no sooner lost the Conduct of that holy Man but he became wicked and was misfortunately ruin'd ADVICE III. That young Men must fly carefully wicked Company and particularly that of young vicious Persons of their Profession The first Snare the Devil sets at that time for the Salvation of young People See Part 3. Chap. 9. is the meeting with wicked Company We have spoken above how hurtful it is principally at that time where it is dangerous beyond imagination The reason is because the World is full of them and it is impossible but that they should fall amongst them Besides they have not as yet sufficient Judgment to discern them nor sufficient Conduct to avoid them nor force of Mind to resist them The Wicked besiege them continually to draw them to their Disorders as it is said in the Proverbs * Fili mi si te lactaverint peccatores ne acquiescas eis Si dixerint veni nobiscum c. ne ambules cum eis Prov. 1. They tell them they must do as others do Complacence moves them and Shame hinders them from contradicting Thus they find themselves overcome and perverted in a small time O God Theotime who will deliver you from this so great and so present a Danger Stand mightily in fear of this Precipice if you desire your Salvation you can never sufficiently apprehend the Danger Beseech God daily that he would deliver you Stand upon your guard to avoid them or retire from them when you shall fall amongst them Amongst wicked Company have a care chiefly of those of your own Profession you will meet with them more frequently you will have more trouble to resist them we easilier permit our selves to be won by those that are like us a Postquam autem obiit Joiada ingressi sunt principes Juda adoraverunt Regem Qui delinitus obsequiis eorum acquievit eis Et dereliquerunt templum domini Dei patrum suorum Paral. 24. King Joas who had liv'd so holily during his Youth under the Conduct of the High Priest Joiada was preverted by his Courtiers so as by their solicitation to fall into Idolatry Stand upon your guard I say that at least you may not be corrupted by them altho ' you cannot absolutely avoid the meeting with such Company For this reason fly their Conversation as much as you can when you cannot avoid them stay not long with them find some Means to break off fairly from them O Theotime how happy would you be if after this so dangerous a time of Youth you might truly say as King David b Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt me legem tuam non sum oblitus Psal 117. Protexisti me à conventu malignantium à multitudine operantium iniquitatem Psal 65. The Snares of Sinners have environ'd me thou hast preserv'd me O God from the Assembly of the Wicked and from the multitude of those who work Iniquity ADVICE IV. That they must apply themselves quickly to some Labor which may employ their Time and make them avoid Idleness which is then most dangerous and more than at any other time Idleness is the greatest cause of the Dissoluteness of young Men when they have finish'd their Studies It is the Mother of Vices and very hard to be avoided at that time Nature of her self is inclin'd to it and most of all in Youth after Labor and a Labor perform'd with some Restraint such as is that of Study or other Employments of young Men. For this reason when they begin to enjoy Liberty and to be Masters of themselves they give reins to Idleness with so much less Restraint as they have a long time sighed after it and know not the necessity of Labor at that time nor the great Damages Idleness will bring to them In this slothfulness Vice and ill Habits grow up in a short time as it happen'd to S. Augustin They think of nothing but Play and Pastimes following all their Pleasures seeking after Companions and all the Occasions of destroying themselves To avoid this Disorder Theotime I advise you to have a great care to fly at that time this so pernicious an Idleness Apply your self betimes to a regular Labor and chiefly to that which is necessary for you to make you capable and expert in the Profession you embrace you are oblig'd to it in Conscience and in the sight of God. Add thereto the Studies proper to improve your Mind as that of History as well Sacred as Profane Chronology Geography proper Language good Authors and other like Studies which are both honest profitable and pleasing If you will take pains you will find Means enough to employ your time well and besides the Profit of your Labor you will find therein most perfect Pleasures and Satisfaction of Mind Read Part 3. Chap. 7. to which all the Contentments of the World are not comparable ADVICE V. That young People ought to have a care of avoiding three ordinary Causes of their Ruin at that time Play Wine and Impurity These are the three great Rocks on which at this time young People split and to which Idleness and Company bring them and cause their Shipwreck Some are lost by the irregular love of Gaming which occasions an excessive loss of Time prodigality of their Means Vexation and Despair and casts them frequently into Extremities Others by the excess of Wine and good Cheer which they seek then as their chiefest Happiness and which besides the ruin of their Health and Fortunes is frequently the cause of sad Mischiefs Others and the greatest part by the detestable Sin of Impurity which so universally possesses young People and principally at that time and often by all these together I beseech you dear Theotime in the Name of God to observe attentively these three Evils as the three Precipices you are to avoid at that time See what we have said above of each of these in Part 3. Chap. 8. and in Part 4. Chap. 20. Use all possible Endeavors to fly them and be confident that upon this Flight depends all your Good and Salvation ADVICE VI. That they must avoid at that time Irresolution concerning the State they ought to choose
frequently endeadeavors to take God himself out of their Minds that they may Sin more freely as it is observ'd of those infamous old Men who attempted to corrupt the Chastity of modest Susanna * Exarserunt concupiscentiam ejus everterunt sensum suum declinaverunt oculos suos ut non viderent coelum neque recordarentur judiciorum justorum Dan. 3. They being inflam'd with Concupiscence says the Sacred Scripture lost their Sense and Judgment and cast down their Eyes that they might not look towards Heaven and remember the just Judgments of God. This is the proper and peculiar Effect of Immodesty it blinds the Mind and makes it hoodwink it self flifling in it self all good Thoughts that it might sin with a greater liberty and with less remorse of Conscience See the Account St. Augustin gives of himself concerning this Subject in his Second Book of Confessions Chap. 2. which I have cited Part 1. Chap. 13. Artic. 2. From this Blindness of Mind springs Pride Fourth Effect Pride the Fourth Effect of this Sin of Impurity which hindering the Mind from knowing its own Good makes it despise all Admonitions resist all Documents and scoff at the most wholsom Counsels Cereus in vitium flecti monitoribus asper So that as this Sin renders young Spirits soft and pliable to Vice it makes them inflexible and obdurate to the Advertisements of their Salvation The Wiseman teaches you this Truth which Experience also makes sufficiently appear * Verbum sapiens quodcunque audierit scius laudabit ad se adjiciet audivit luxuriosus dispiciet illi projiciet illud post dorsum suum Eocl 2.18 A wise Man says he when he hears wise Sayings and Instructions receives them with esteem and advantages himself by them the lascivious hath no sooner heard them but he is disgusted and rejects them with contempt We need no other Example of this Truth than that of S. Augustin in the Second Book of his Confessions Chap. 3. where he deplores the insupportable Pride with which he contemn'd the discreet Admonitions of his pious Mother to whom next to God he was oblig'd for the Favor of his Salvation The Fifth Effect is an Obdurateness of the Will in Wickedness Fifth Effect Obdurateness in Evil. According to the measure that Sin multiplies the Soul habituates her self and becomes obdurate so that nothing is able to soften her It would be an incredible thing if we did not daily see it most apparently how those who are possess'd with this Sin become stupid and obdurate They are found insensible of all good Motions deaf to all Inspirations of Grace the Menaces of Divine Justice and Chastisements seem to them but Dreams witness the two Sons-in-law of Lot Surgite egrediamini de loco isto quia delebit Dominus civitatem hanc visus est eis quasi ludens loqui Gen. 19. who lookt upon that Admonition he gave them to depart from the City of Sodom as a Fiction which the Night following should be destroy'd as in effect it was and they together with it The Examples of those whom God hath so rigorously punish'd for this Sin touch them not at all the Misfortunes which they see with their own Eyes to befall others like themselves make no Impressions upon their Minds nothing is capable to move them as soon as this brutish Passion most dreadfully takes possession Obsurduerant stridore catenae mortalitatis meae poena superbiae animae meae Lib. 2. Conf. cap. 2. Alas saith St. Augustin the Chain of violent Passions wherewith this mortal Flesh kept me captive made such a noise about me that I was deaf to all that might advertise me for my good And this Deafness was a Punishment of the Pride of my Heart contracted by the Disorders of my Life O what a deplorable State is that to which a Soul is reduc'd by Impurity After all these dreadful Effects of the Sin of Immodesty there remains one Sixth Effect Final Impenitency which is the accomplishment of all the former and the Mark at which they all aim viz. Final Impenitency or Death in mortal Sin which is the greatest and utmost of all Misfortunes It is O Theotime a most common and most ordinary Effect of this detestable Sin which incessantly fills Hell with a vast number of wretched Souls which by untimely Deaths it casts into that endless Pit Some dying surpris'd with Sickness which deprives them of the Time or Means to do Penance Others seis'd by some frightful Accident Others departing in Obdurateness abandon'd by God in punishment of their Sins Give ear to what the Scripture speaks of those and in the Name of God imprint deeply in your Heart those astonishing Words of St. Peter 5. Pet. 2. Novit Deus pios de tentatione eripere iniquos verò igni reservare cruciandos God says that great Apostle knows how to deliver the Good from temptation and reserve the Wicked for the torments of Fire which his Justice hath prepar'd for them Hearken to what follows Mugis autem eos qui post carnem in concupiscentia immunditiae ambulant Now for whom amongst the Wicked doth he principally reserve these Chastisements For those chiefly who walk after the Flesh in the Concupiscence of immodest Pleasures But what will befall them Hearken Theotime Hi velut irationabilia pecora in corruptione sua peribunt percipientes mercedem injustitiae They shall die like brute Beasts in their Corruption and perish in their Impurity receiving thus the Recompence they have deserv'd for their Sins O dear Theotime is it possible that this Oracle pronounc'd by the Holy Ghost himself against Immodesty causes not an horror of that detestable Sin Read it attentively and preserve it in your Memory and that it may be more strongly setled in your Mind add to it the following Examples ARTICLE III. Examples of the miserable Death of those who were addicted to the Sin of Impurity The Sacred Scripture can furnish us with a great number of them we have already mention'd some in Part 1. Chap. 6. See what we have there recounted of the two Sons of the Patriarch Juda Her and Onan who were punish'd by God with sudden Death for the Sins they committed by detestable Actions of Impurity The unfortunate Death of the two Sons of the High Priest Heli Ophni and Phi. naees and all the other Misfortunes which God sent to that Family were not only Punishments of the Irreverences and Injustices they had committed in the Temple but also of their Immodesty as it is observ'd in the First Book of Kings Chap. 2. Vers 22. Amnon the Son of David Amnon found the Chastisement of his unchast Pleasures in the dreadful Death he receiv'd from the treacherous Hands of his own Brother Absolon The Rebellion of Absolon against his Father Absolon was not the sole cause which made God lay his revenging Hand upon him the Uncleannesses he had committed
whereof it is spoken in the Second Book of Kings Chap. 16. with all his other Crimes did contribute thereunto What shall we say of Salomon Salomon Theotime who being the wisest of all Men singularly belov'd of God and favor'd by him with all desirable Graces permitting himself to be misfortunately carry'd away with unchast Love fell from that Sin to the basest of all Crimes that is Idolatry wherein he continu'd such a long time that it is not known whether he was ever rais'd from it and hath left all the World in doubt of his Salvation O dreadful Example O frightful Effect of the Sin of Uncleanness If this Sin were so frightful in Particulars Omnis caro corruperit viam suam Gen. 6. it hath no less spar'd Multitudes nor even the whole World. That dreadful Deluge which drown'd the whole Earth two thousand Years after its Creation was the first Effect of Impurity which had caus'd so prodigious a Corruption in all Human Nature that it provok'd the Divine Choler Tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus delebo inquit hominem quem creavi à facie terrae even to destroy by an universal Flood that same Nature the most excellent Workmanship of his Hands to extinguish in those Waters the Flames of that unchast Love which had caus'd such an universal Conslagration The Waters of the Deluge were scarce dry'd up Clamor Sodomaeorum Gomorraeorum multiplicatus est peccatum eorum aggravatum est nimis Gen. 19. Igitur pluit Dominus super Sodomam Gomorram sulphur ignem à Domino de coelo sed subvertit civitates has omnem circa regionem universos habitatores urbium cuncta terrae viventia Gen. 19. Quibus in testimonium nequitiae samigabunda constat deserta terra Sap. 19. when this detestable Sin beginning again to enkindle its first Flames oblig'd the Divine Justice to send another frightful Punishment upon those infamous Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah whose Impudence being arriv'd at the greatest height and crying to Heaven for Vengeance God showres down Fire and Brimstone visibly from Heaven which reduc'd into Ashes not only the Men and Cities but also all the neighboring Land which is yet to this day an infectious unwholsom Marsh to which Man dares not approach that it might serve as an Example to Posterity and teach the Immodest that the dishonest Fire with which they permit themselves to be inflam'd shall be punish'd with another Fire which shall burn always and never be consum'd To these Examples which are taken out of the Sacred Scripture and by consequence most certain I might add many others with which Histories abundantly furnish us I shall content my self with two which I have chosen out amongst others The First is recounted by St. Gregory in his Dialogues He saith S. Greg. lib. 4. Dial. cap. 35. there was one in his time nam'd Chrysorius a Man of Quality and very rich but as much abounding with Vices as he was wealthy in Riches but above all extreamly addicted to immodest Pleasures God resolving to put a period to those Sins he daily heap'd up one after another sends him a severe Sickness of which he died but with a Death very extraordinary Approaching to the greatest extremity of his Distemper he suddenly perceiv'd a multitude of malignant Spirits who presented themselves unto him in hideous Forms and made a shew as if they would immediately carry him into Hell. He began to tremble look agast and lamentably cry out for succour he turns himself on every side to avoid the sight of those horrid Shapes but which way soever he mov'd they were continually before his Eyes After many struglings feeling himself press'd and violent hands laid on him by those wicked Spirits he began horribly to cry out Truce till Morning Truce till Morning and shrieking thus his Soul was torn from his Body and he miserably departed without obtaining the Truce he requir'd O Incontinence the Mother of Impenitence If this Example be terrible that which follows is yet more frightful and ought to move you more powerfully It is related by John Gerson Chancellor of Paris who took it out of Thomas Cantipratensis Suffragan Bishop of Cambray who says he was an Eye-witness of it He says That being a young Scholar he had a Companion of his Studies with whom he had contracted a very strict Friendship a Person of Quality and endow'd with all the Vertues one could wish in a young Man. Happy if he had conserv'd that Treasure of Innocence But it chanc'd by a Misfortune too frequent to young Persons that he fell into wicked Company which kindled in his Heart the Fire of unchast Love This in a short time consum'd all his good Inclinations and cast him into the incredible Disorder of a Life full of Sins and Corruptions His Irregularities were visible to all the World and continues in this deprav'd Custom notwithstanding the Admonitions of his Friends And this Author says that he himself frequently exhorted him to return to the Way from which he had departed As he contemn'd all Advertisements God was resolv'd in his Person to shew an Example to young People who permit themselves to be blindly carry'd to this miserable Sin by a dreadful Accident which I shall recount to you Being once asleep at Midnight he was seis'd with a terrible Fright wherein being awak'd he began to cry out with a dreadful clamour All the House rises and every one comes to his assistance They ask him where his Sickness held him but could get no other Answer from him than hideous Outcries They cause the Priest to be sent for who exhorted him to think upon God and beg pardon of him for his Sins but in vain The Priest continuing to exhort him with many moving Expressions and Tears he turns towards him and looking upon him with ghastly Eyes spake thus to him in a lamentable Voice Wo be to him that seduced me Wo be to him that seduced me It is in vain to invoke the Grace of God I see Hell open ready to receive me After these Words which redoubled the Lamentations of all those who were present every one entreating him to recommend himself to God he turns to the other side and continuing his Clamors miserably and in Despair he died Ought not this Example Theotime to make all those tremble who are addicted to the Sin of Incontinency and principally young Persons to whom it doth particularly appertain to teach them how they ought to fly this abominable Sin and with what care they ought to preserve themselves from the Company of those misfortunate Spirits who corrupt the Vertue of others ARTICLE IV. Remedies against Impurity And first that this Sin must be resisted at the beginning After I have discover'd the Malice of this Sin I must shew the Remedies and afford you Means by which you may preserve your self from the Enemy of your Salvation The First which I shall prescribe First