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 vaine-glory 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 'T is the hope of gaine that sweetens their travels and when in despite of Rocks and Tempests they passe the Seas 't is 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 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 'T was 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 't is because they cannot away with the sins of the World if they preach 't is to gaine subjects to Jesus Christ and to enlarge the bounds of his Empire if they passe the Sea 't is 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 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
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 't is 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 't is 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 Spiriâ—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 'T is 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 Qâ— 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 all the care Polititians take to keep Peace in their Common-wealth 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 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 'T was a prodigy that surpriz'd men Per linguas diversas dividi meruit
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 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 't was 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 't is 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 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 't is the holy Spirit according to the saying of S. John Damascen that perfects the Christians because 't is 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
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 't was 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 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 't is 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 't is he that sanctifies them if they are free 't is he that sets them at liberty if they are generous 't is he that encourageth them and if they be wise 't is 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 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 't is 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
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 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 't was 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 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 't is in a manner to act upon a Non-entity 't is 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
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 't is 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 'T is 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 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 't is a Sacrament of Piety that the Word was pleased 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
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 â—dit quâ— 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 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 't was 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 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 vitaÌ„ de te sibi contumel as de se tibi honores ergo de te sibi tentationeÌ„ de se tibi victoriaÌ„
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 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 'T is 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 't is 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 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
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 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 't is 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 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 'T was 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 'T was not Concupiscence for this infamous daughter was not born before her Father nor had Sin as yet given her a Being 'T was not the refusal of Grace for it was due to man in this state or at least was never denied him 'T was 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 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
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 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 't is 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 'T is a business of much industry to rule States to govern people to prescribe laws which may keep them Loyall without interessing their Liberty 'T is 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 't is 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 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. 't is 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 vain-glory 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