voluntarily condemned themselves to fearful punishments and who have esteemed all remedies pleasing which could cure so vexatious a malady Banishment is certainly one of the cruellest punishments which Justice hath invented to chastise the guilty it separates us from all we love and seems to be a long Death which leaves us a little life only to make us the more miserable Notwithstanding we have heard of a Mother who chose rather to suffer the rigor of this torment than the violence of Desire and who would accompany her son in his banishment that she might not be necessitated to lament his absence and wish for his return Thus Nature which saw that Desire was an affliction ordained Hope to sweeten it for whilst we are upon the earth we make no wishes whereof our mind doth not promise us the accomplishment these two motions of our soul are only divided in hell where divine Justice hath condemned her enemies to frame Desires void of hope and to languish after a happiness which can never befall them They long after the Summum bonum whatever hatred they conceived against that God which punisheth them they cease not notwithstanding to love him naturally and to wish they might enjoy him though they are not permitted to hope they shall This Desire is cause of all their sufferings and this languishment is a more insufferable torment than the scorching flames than the company of the Devils and than the eternity of their Prison could they be without Desire they should be without anguish and all those other pains which astonish vulgar souls would seem supportable to them were they not adjudged to wish a happiness which they cannot hope for But it is not in Hell only that this Passion is cruel she afflicteth all men upon earth and as she serveth divine Justice as a means wherewithal to punish the guilty she is serviceable unto mercy as an holy piece of cunning wherewithal to exercise the innocent for Gods goodness causeth them to consume in desires they are in a disquiet which cannot end but with their lives they strive to get free from their bodies they call in death into their succour and say with the Apostle I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ Justice employs Desires to revenge her self upon sinners and by a no less severe than rational guidance she gives them over to this Passion to torment them their desires tend only to afflict them and their soul frames unruly wishes which failing of effects leave them in a languishment which lasts as long as doth their life In fine Divinity knowing that this Passion is the cause of all our misfortunes hath thought that she could not describe Happiness better unto us than in teaching us it was the end of all Desires Philosophy would have said that it is the end of all our evils and the beginning of all our good that it makes us forget our miseries by the sweets of her delights but Divinity which very well knows that desires are the most violent punishments which we suffer here below is content to say that happiness was the period thereof that when we should begin to be happy we should cease to wish we must also confess that Desire fastens it self to all the other Passions of our soul and that it either furnisheth them with weapons wherewithal to fight or with strength to afflict us for those Passions which make most havock in our hearts would be either dead or languishing were they not animated with Desire Love is only cruel because it coveteth the presence of what it loveth Hatred gnaws not on our Bowels save only because it desireth revenge Ambition is only angersom because it aspires after Honour Avarice tortures the Avaritious only because it thirsts after riches and all Passions are only insupportable because they are accompanied by Desire which like a contagious Malady is shed abroad throughout all the affections of our Soul to make us miserable If it be thus cruel it is not much less shameful and we are obliged to confess that it is an evidence of our weakness and indigency for we never have recourse to wishes but when our power fails us our desires never do appear but when we cannot effect them they are marks of our impotency as well as of our love it teacheth Kings upon earth that their will exceeds their power and that they would do many things which they cannot I know that desires inheartens them to proud undertakings where difficulty is always mixt with glory I know they excite their courage and that they produce that general heat without which nothing of gallantry is either undertaken or effected but they likewise teach them that there is none but God alone who is able to do what he will that maketh not fruitless wishes and that it appertains to him to change when he pleaseth desires into effects he rather wills than wishes and doth rather resolve events than desire them but amongst Princes their impotency hinders oft-times the execution of their desires they are enforced to make Vows and to implore aid from Heaven when they fail of help on earth poor Alexander seeing his dear Ephestion die could not witness his love unto him but by his desires He who distributed the Crowns of Kings that he had conquered and who made Soveraigns Slaves could not restore health unto his Favourite the vows which he offered up to heaven for his amendment were as much evidences of his impotency as of his sorrow and taught the whole world that Princes wishes witness their weakness They are also publick marks in all men of hidden poverty for every soul that desires is necessitous the soul that desires forgoes her self to seek out in another what she finds missing in her she discovers her misery by making her desires known and teaches the whole world that the felicity which she possesseth is but in appearance since it satisfieth not all her desires Great Tertullian hath therefore worthily exprest the nature of this Passion when he says it is the glory of the thing desired and the shame of him that doth desire for a thing must be lovely to kindle our desires it must have charms which may draw us and perfections which may stay us but for certain likewise the will that doth desire must be indigent and must stand in need of somewhat which makes it seek out a remedy Desire then is the honour of beauty and the shame of the unchaste it is the glory of Riches and the Avaritious mans infamy the praise of dignity and the Ambitious mans blame and as oft as Princes are prone to this Passion it gives us to know that their fortune hath more of glittering in it than of real truth that she gives not all the contentments she promiseth since they are constrained to descend from their Thrones to quit their Palaces and by shameful prosecution to seek out a forreign good which they have
birth it beareth the most glorious name for when an inclination is formed in the heart and that a pleasing object doth with delight stir up the Will we call it Love when it sallies forth from it self to join with what it loves we call it Desire when it grows more vigorous and that its strength promiseth good success we call it Hope when it encourageth it self against the difficulties it meets withal we call it Choler when it prepares to fight and seeks out weapons to defeat its enemies and to assist its Allies we call it Boldness But in all these conditions 't is still Love the name which Philosophers have given it in its birth agrees not less with it in his progress and if when but a Child it merit so honourable a title it deserves it better when it is grown greater by Desires and strengthened by Hopes 'T is true that Loves first condition is the rule of all the rest and that as all rivers derive their greatness from their Spring-head all the Passions borrow their strength from this first inclination which is termed Love for as soon as it is taken with the beauty of an object it kindles its desires excites its hopes and carries the fire into all the passions which hold of its Empire 't is in the Will as in a Throne where it gives orders to its subjects 't is in the bottom of the soul as in a strong Hold from whence it inspireth courage into its souldiers 't is like the heart which giveth life to all the members and the power thereof is so great as it cannot be well expressed by any example Kings oft times meet with disobedience in their subjects the most valiant Commanders are sometimes forsaken by their Souldiers and the heart cannot always disperse its spirits throughout all the members of the Body but Love is so absolute in his dominion as he never finds any resistance to his will all the Passions get on foot to execute his commandments and as the motion of the Moon causeth the ebbing and flowing of the Sea so doth the motions of Love cause peace or trouble in our soul. Now this Love the nature whereof is so hidden hath divers branches and may be divided into natural and supernatural the latter is that which God disperseth into our wills to make us capable of loving him as our Father and of pretending unto glory as to our inheritance the former is that which Nature hath imprinted in our souls to fasten us to those objects which are delightful to us and this is divided into spiritual and sensible love spiritual love resides in the will and rather deserveth to be stiled a Virtue than a Passion sensible love is in the lower part of the soul and hath so much commerce with the Senses from whence he borrows his name as he always makes impression upon the Body and this it is which is properly termed Passion In fine these two lovers are divided again into two others the one of which is called the love of Friendship the other the love of Interest The first is the more noble and he who is touched therewith respecteth nothing but what may be advantageous to whom he loveth he wisheth him well or procureth what is good for him and having no consideration but honour and his friends content he sacrificeth himself for him and thinks himself happy if he lose his life to assure his friend of his affection This noble Passion is that which hath done all the glorious actions which are observed in History 'T is she that hath filled Tyrants with admiration and who hath made these enemies to Society wish to love and to be beloved judging aright that Soveraigns are better guarded by their friends than by their souldiers and that all their forces were but weak were they not supported by the love of their Subjects The second sort of Love which we term the love of Interest is as common as unjust for the greatest part of affections is grounded upon utility or upon pleasure those who suffer themselves to be carried away thereby have not so much friendship as self-love and if they will speak their minds they will confess that they love themselves in their friends and that they love them not so much for any virtue which they observe in them as for the good they hope to reap by them thus we may see that such like affections last no longer then they are either useful or pleasing and that the same interest which gave them life makes them die they betake themselves to the fortune not to the person and these are commerces which last no longer than they are entertained by hopes of profit or of pleasure Of so many sorts of love which Philosophy hath marked out unto us we will here consider none but that which resides in the inferior part of the soul let it have either virtue or interest for its foundation And since we know the nature thereof we will examine the qualities the first whereof is that it always seeks what is good and never betakes it self to an object which either is not good or appears not so to be for as nature is the workmanship of God she cannot have strayed so much out of the way but that she must preserve some remainder of his first inclinations insomuch as having been destinied to enjoy the Summum bonum she longs after it by an error which may very well be excused she fastens her self to all that hath but the likeness thereof and by an instinct which remains in her though in disorder she suffers her self to be charmed by all things which have in them any thing of beauty or of goodness As if she had found what she seeks after she indiscreetly betakes her self thereunto and by a deplorable misfortune she oft-times takes a falshood for a truth she committeth Idolatry whilst she thinketh to perform actions of Piety and attributing that unto the work which is only due unto the workman she runs into the same error which a lover should do who by a strange malady should forget the Mistress which he vows service to and passionately adore her Picture This fault ought rather to be imputed to man than to his love for love being blind follows his inclination not being able to discern between appearances and truth he loves the good which offers it self unto him that he may not miss of what he looks for he betakes himself to what he finds and is only to blame in being too faithful but man cannot excuse his sin since Reason is his guide and that he may learn by her that all those goods which are touched by the senses or are the objects of the senses are but the shadows of that which he ought to love He must correct his love and keep it from betaking it self to objects which though they be indeed beautiful are not the Soveraign good or Summum bonum which he seeks after When he
yet all these troubles are the hunters pleasures and their passion to this Exercise makes them term that a pastime which Reason would term a punishment There is nothing of delight in war the very name thereof is odious were it not accompanied with injustice disorder and fear it would notwithstanding have horrors enough to astonish all men death makes her self be there seen in a thousand different shapes there is no exercise in war wherein the danger doth not exceed the glory and it never furnisheth souldiers with any actions which are not as bloudy as glorious yet those that love it make it their delight they esteem all the deformities thereof beauties and by an inclination which proceeds rather from their love than from their humour they find delight in dangers and taste the pleasantness of peace in the tumults of war This it is which made St. Augustine say That Lovers troubles are never troublesom and that they never find pain in serving what they love or if they do they cherish it But we shall never make an end if we would observe all the proprieties of Love I therefore pass on to the effects thereof which being so many pictures of Love will represent unto us its nature and will discover unto us what it is able to do The first of its miracles is that which we call Extasie for it frees the Soul from the Body which she inanimates that she may join to the Object which she loveth it parts us from our selves by a pleasing violence and what the holy Scripture attributes to the Spirit of God befals this miraculous division so as a lover is never at home with himself if you will find him you must seek him in the person that he adores He will have people know that contrary to the Laws of wisdom he is always without himself and that he hath forsaken all care of his own preservation since he became a slave to love The Saints draw their glory from this extasie and truth it self which speaks by their mouths obligeth them to confess that they live more in Jesus Christ than in themselves Now as a man must die to himself to live in another death accompanieth this life and as well sacred as prophane lovers cannot love unless they be bound to die 'T is true that this death is advantageous to them since it procures unto them a life wherewithal they are better pleased than with that which they have lost for they live again in those that they love by a miracle of love they like the Phenix take life again from their ashes and recover life in the very bosom of death He who doth not conceive this truth cannot understand those words by which S. Paul teacheth us that we are dead unto our selves and alive in Jesus Christ. This effect produceth another which is not much less admirable for as lovers have no other life than what they borrow from their love it infallibly falls out that they transform themselves thereinto and that ceasing to be what they were they begin to be that which they love they change condition as well as nature and by a wonder which would surpass all belief were it not usual they become like unto that which they cherish 'T is true that this power shines much more gloriously in divine than in prophane Love for though Kings abase themselves in loving their Subjects and that they forgo their greatness as soon as they engage themselves in friendship yet do they not raise those up into their Throne whom they love Jealousie which is inseparable from Royalty will not suffer them to give their Crown away to him who possesseth their heart But if they should arrive at this excess the Maxim would only be true in them and their Subjects could not change conditions by the force of their love for the love of greatness makes not a Soveraign nor is a man the more accommodated though he love riches the desire of health did never yet cure a sick man we have not found that the bare Passion to know hath made men wise But divine Love hath so much power as it raseth us up above our selves by a strange Metamorphosis it makes us be that which it makes us love It renders the guilty innocent it makes slaves children changeth Demons into Angels and that we may not diminish the virtue thereof whilst we think to heighten it let it suffice to say that of men it makes Gods It doth not therefore become us to complain of our misery and to accuse our Creator for not having equalled our condition to that of Angels for though those pure spirits have great advantages over us and that we hope for no other good than that which they possess yet are we happy enough since we are permitted to love God and that we are made to hope that our nature being by love transformed into his nature we shall lose what we have of mortal and perishable to acquire what is incorruptible and eternal This is the Consolation of divine Lovers and this is the only means how to aspire without blame to that happiness which Lucifer could not do but with impiety I cannot end this Discourse without justly reproaching those that whilst they may love God engage their affections on the earth or on earthly things and deprive themselves of that immense felicity which divine love promiseth them for in loving of the creatures they cannot share in their perfections without doing the like in their defaults after having laboured much they oft-times change an obscure and peaceable condition into a more glorious but a more dangerous one So there is always hazard in the love of the creatures and the advantage that may be drawn from thence is never so pure but that it is mingled with somewhat of misfortune For whatsoever passion we have for the creature we are not sure the creature hath the like for us yet this miraculous change which passeth for the principal effect of love is made in this mutual affection and in this correspondency of friendship But we run not these hazzards in consecrating our love to God his perfections are not accompanied with faults and we know it cannot be disadvantageous to us to make a change with him Our love is never without this acknowledgment since it is rather the effect than the cause of his and that we love not him till he hath first loved us He is so just as he never denies our affection the recompense which it deserves he is not like those misbelieving Mistresses who amongst the numbers of their Lovers prefer him who is best behaved before him that loveth best in the commerce which we hold with him we are sure that he that hath most charity shall have most glory and that in his Kingdom the most faithful lover shall be always the most honoured The SECOND DISCOURSE Of the Badness of Love SInce there is nothing so sacred but meets with some
rewards and that in the Roman Common-wealth where they gave but an oaken Garland to such souldiers as had mounted a Breach they made them pass the Pikes for having gone out of their Rank or forsaken their Colours that God himself whose government ought to serve for an example to all Princes governed his people with more severity than lenity that he had been constrained to express himself by the voice of Thunder to work obedience to him that he had not preserved his authority by the death of Rebels and that notwithstanding whatever inclination he had to Mercy he was enforced to have recourse to Justice Briefly they say Soveraignty is somewhat hateful that Love and Majesty agree not well together that one cannot rule over men and be beloved that men are so jealous of their liberty as they hate all things that obviate it and that Princes according to the Maxime in the Gospel have no greater enemies than their Subjects Those who take part with love have no less specious reasons and much more true ones for they say that the Soveraign being the Father of his people he is bound to treat them as his Children that fear makes them only Masters of the Body and that love makes them rule over the Heart That such as fear their Masters seek an end of their servitude and that such as love them dream not of recovering their Liberty That such Princes as govern with rigour cannot live securely that of necessity those who cause fear must themselves be subject thereto and that they must fear their peoples revolt who only obey them through constraint That if nothing that is violent be of continuance an Empire which is only grounded upon violence cannot long subsist and to answer the reasons objected unto them they reply that love enters much better into the heart than doth fear that if there be angersom ways to make a man be feared there be innocent Charms to make him be beloved that in generously-minded men recompenses make greater impressions than punishments and that the promises of a Prince more animates his subjects than doth his threats that contempt cannot arise from love since love ariseth from valuation and is always accompanied by respect that the justest Monarchies and not the severest have flourished the most and that if in the Roman Common-wealth punishments exceeded recompenses it was not for that fear made deeper impressions in the souls of men than love but because Vice hath not so much of ugliness as virtue hath of beauty and that it is not necessary to propound honour unto her who finding all her glory within her self is as well satisfied with silence as amidst all acclamations and applause That if God dealt rigorously with his people 't was contrary to his inclination and that his lenity had been greater than his severity because the latter could not purchase him all Iudaea and the former hath submitted unto him the whole world St. Paul represents us with the difference between these two laws often in the holy Scripture the one of which hath made slaves the other hath produced children the one of which hath fortified sin the other hath destroyed the tyranny thereof They add that Soveraignty is not odious since it was consecrated in the person of Jesus Christ who desirous to serve as an example to all Kings on earth never used his power but in order of service to his mercy and never did any miracle unless to help the afflicted In fine that subjects did not repine at the loss of their liberty since that being voluntary they like it that Princes are not the objects of fear since they are the images of God and that some Princes have been found even among Infidels who have been their peoples delight whilst alive and their sorrow when dead Though these answers be so pertinent as they are not be gainsaid yet methinks both the parties may be reconciled and their difference so taken away as that each of them should therein find their advantage for though lenity be to be preferred before rigour and that a State be better grounded upon love than upon fear there are occasions wherein a Prince ought to let his clemency give place to his severity wherein he is obliged to quit the quality of a Father that he may exercise the like of a Judge He ought to govern his humor according to the humor of his Subjects if they be giddy-headed or proud he must use rigour to teach them obedience and fidelity if troublesom and prone to Rebellion he must make examples and by the punishment of a few frighten more if unquiet and desirous of novelty he must punish them by keeping them in continual employment but amidst all these punishments he must not forget that he is the head of his State that his subjects are a part of himself and that he ought to be as sparing in punishing them as a Physitian in cutting off the Arm or Leg of a diseased person If nothing be done in his Kingdom which enforceth him to Rigour if all things be peaceable and if the people under his government have no other motions than his own will he ought to deal gently with them afford them just liberty which may perswade them that they are rather his children than his subjects and that reserving to himself the marks only of Soveraignty he permits them to gather all the fruits thereof In brief he ought not to use Rigor but when Clemency is bootless in his government as well as in the like of God mildness must precede severity and all the world must know that he punisheth not the faulty out of his own inclination but forc'd thereunto by necessity The power of a Prince is sufficiently dreadful by reason of his greatness he need not make it odious by his cruelty One word of theirs terrifies all their subjects the punishment of one guilty person astonisheth all the rest their anger maketh even the innocent to quake and as a Thunderbolt does little harm yet frightens much so great men cannot punish a particular personage without infusing terror throughout their whole Dominions I therefore am of opinion with the wisest Politicians That Soveraignty ought to be tempered with lenity and that being accompanied with all qualities that may make it be feared it ought to seek out all such means as may make it be beloved The FOURTH DISCOURSE What Passions ought to reign in the power of a Prince ONe of the greatest Misfortunes which can befall Religion is the liberty which men take to frame unto themselves such a Divinity as liketh them best In the first age every one adored the workmanship of his own hands and made an Idol unto himself which had its worth from the industry of the Workman or from the excellency of the Materials in pursuit of time as mens spirits grew more refined Poets made the gods sensible and gave them all such affections as
enjoy Earth would be Hell if Love were vanisht thence and it would be a great piece of rigour in God if he should permit us to see handsom things and forbid us to love them But that we may the better govern this Passion we must learn of Morality what Laws to prescribe unto it and what liberty we must allow it There are three objects of our Love God Man and Creatures deprived of Reason Some Philosophers have doubted whether we could love the first or no they were perswaded his greatness did rather require our adoration than our love but though this be a religious opinion and that it merits the greater esteem since it proceeds from the prophane we cannot deny but that we were endued with love to unite us to God for to boot with our thorough sense of this inclination to boot that it is imprinted by Nature in the very ground-work of our wills and that uninstructed by our Parents or our Teachers we labour after the Summumbonum Reason teacheth us that he is the Abyss of all perfections and the Center of all love so as a man need not fear committing any excess in loving him with all his might He is so good as he cannot be loved so much as he ought to be and let a man do his utmost he is obliged to confess that the goodness of God doth far exceed the greatness of mans Love Such Souls as are elevated and approach nearer unto him complain of their coolness and wish that all the parts of their Bodies were turned into Tongues to praise him or into Hearts to love him They are troubled that since his greatness is so well known his goodness is no more loved and that having so many subjects he hath no more that love him We must not then prescribe any bounds to this Passion when it hath respect unto God but every one ought to make it his sole desire and to wish that his heart were dilated that he might infinitely love him who is infinitely lovely but we must take great heed not to rob him of what doth so justly belong unto him and we must remember that though his goodness should not force his duty from us we should be bound to render it unto him in order to our own interest For our love is never content but when it rests in God It fears infidelity in the creatures is never so assured of them but that there remains some rational doubts and though it should have such proofs of their good will as that it were constrained to banish all suspition yet would it fear lest death might take from it what good fortue hath given in one or other of these just apprehensions it could not shun being miserable But it knows very well that God is immutable that he never forsaketh us till we have forsaken him it knows that God is eternal and that death being no less distant from him than change his affection cannot end but through our infidelity 'T is true there are carnal souls who complain that he is invisible and who cannot resolve to give up their hearts to a Divinity which doth not content their eyes But all things are full of him his greatness is poured out in all the parts of the Universe every Creature is an Image of his perfections he seems to have made these pictures only to make himself be thereby known and loved and if he should not have used this piece of skill we need only consult with our own Reason to know what he is Error cannot corrupt her and in the souls of Pagans she hath verified Oracles Those very men who offered Incense unto Idols knew very well that there was but one God when Nature spake in their mouths she made them speak like Christians and they confess'd those truths for which they persecuted the Martyrs For as Tertullian observes their soul was naturally Christian when they were surprized with a danger they implored the succour of the true God and not that of their Iupiter when they took an oath they raised up their eyes towards heaven not towards the Capitol so as we must not complain that God is invisible but we must wish that he may be as much loved as he is known And moreover this complaint is no more to be admitted of since the mystery of the Incarnation where God became man that he might treat with men where he hath given sensible proofs of his presence and where clothing himself with our nature he hath suffered our eyes to behold his beauty our hands to touch his body and our ears to hear his voice Since that happy moment he is become our Allie and he who was our Soveraign is become our Brother to the end that this double quality might oblige us to love him with more ardor and might permit us to accost him with more freedom we cannot then fail in the use of that love which we owe unto him but by being either too much reserved or too unfaithful But the love we render to men may be defective in two manner of ways and we may abuse it either in loving them too much or not enough as shall be shewn in the pursuit of this Discourse Friendship is certainly one of the chief effects of Love and the harmlessest delight which men can take in Society Very Barbarians did reverence the Name thereof those who despise the Laws of Civility put an estimation upon the laws of friendship and cannot live within their Forrests without having some whom they trust who know their thoughts who rejoyce at their good fortune and who are afflicted when any ill besals them Thieves who intrench upon the publick liberty who make war in time of peace and who seem desirous to stifle that love which Nature hath placed in mankind cease not to bear respect to friendship they have a certain shadow of society amongst them they keep their word though with prejudice to their condition tortures cannot sometimes make them violate their Faith and they will rather lose their lives than betray their Companions In fine people subsist only by virtue hereof and who should banish friendship from off the earth must raze Towns and send men into Desarts She is more powerful than the Laws and who shall have well established her in Kingdoms need neither tortures nor punishments to contain the wicked within their duties But to be just she must have her bounds to be true she must be founded upon Piety those who will love one another must be united in faith and must have the same sense of Religion their friendship must be a study after Virtue and they must labour to become better by their mutual communication their souls should rather be mingled than united from this mixture a perfect community of all things must arise their goods must be no more divided and the words thine mine which cause whatever there is of division in the world must be totally
impression on their senses than Virtue they must imitate the Prophet which had sentenced his eyes not to look upon those innocent countenances which seemed not to infuse other than chaste thoughts In fine they should resolve never to approach near those malign Constellations which burn more than they do enlighten and which raise more tempests than they shed light abroad To remedy these evils we must implore aid from Charity for it is she that purifies Love that reforms the excesses and amends the errors thereof she will not have it to be excessive neither will she that it be confined to our own persons or to our families she knows that Love is disperst throughout all the world that when it goes from us it passeth into our enemies It takes its birth saith St. Augustine in marriage and enlargeth it self upon the children that proceed from thence But in this condition 't is carnal That Passion is not to be commended amongst men which is observed to be in Tigers and a man cannot praise such natural affections in reasonable creatures as are seen in the most savage beasts In its progress it extends it self to our Kindred and begins to be rational for though he that loves his Parents loves his Bloud and that though his love forgo his own Person it doth not forgo his Family yet is his love more expiated than is the love of Fathers and communicates it self to personages which are not so near unto him as are his Children in the vigour thereof it passeth even unto strangers it receives them into its house it makes them share of what it hath and not considering either their humors or their languages their very having the aspects of men is sufficient to make them the objects of its liberality in this acceptation Love is well waxen but to be perfect it must descend even to our enemies and induing us with strength to overcome our inclinations it obligeth us to do good to them who endeavour to do us harm When it is arrived at this pitch it may hope for reward but if it stop in the middle of its Carier it must expect nothing but punishment These words comprehend all the use of this Passion and I can add nothing thereunto which will not prove weak or useless passing therefore forward I come to the last Object of our Love which is Creatures void of Reason I wonder that in this point all men joyn not with the Stoicks and that their opinion passeth not for a law among all the people of the world for they hold that Creatures which want reason do not deserve our love and that our will is given us only to tie us to God or to man Truly if this Maxim be a Paradox I hold it extreamly rational for what appearance is there that we should bestow our affection on Creatures which not knowing it cannot be obliged to us for it and having no obligation cannot be conscious of our affection In my opinion no man can be more prodigal than is the avaritious man since he engageth his affection to an insensible Metal and that he loves without hope of being re-beloved I think no man more irrational than he who ties his love to the beauty of a flower which for all its odour and splendor is not sensible of the adoration that is given it I cannot endure those extravagant men who place all their Passions upon a Dog or a Horse which do them no other service than what they are carried unto either by instinct or by necessity I therefore think the profit which we reap by them should be the rule of the affection we bear them or to speak more correctly we must rather love ourselves in them than them for our selves for they are too much beneath us to deserve our love and though some shadow of fidelity be observed to be amongst Dogs and some sparks of love amongst horses yet both of them being void of reason they are uncapable of friendship To set our hearts on things insensible is to prophane them It is not just that the same soul which may love the Angels love dumb beasts that the soul which may unite himself to God join itself to Metals and that it lodge in the same heart the noblest of all spirits with the most imperfect of all bodies I would then make use of Gold yet not love it I would be Master thereof yet not Slave thereunto I would keep it for my occasions not adore it I would teach the whole world that it hath no valuation but what the good employment thereof bestows upon it and that it is no less useless in the bowels of the earth than in the Coffers of the Avaritious But not to be mistaken in so important an affair we must use some distinction and say that the Creatures may be considered in a threefold acceptation either as ways that lead us to our last end and thus they ought to be loved or as nets which stay us on the earth and thus they ought to be shunned or as Instruments which Divine Justice makes use of to punish us withal and thus they ought to be reverenced for when the Creatures lead us unto God that they express unto us his beauty and that their perfections raise us up to the consideration of him that is their fountain there is no harm in loving them and it were a piece of injustice not to acknowledge in them him whose Images they are God himself hath invited us so to do when he made them he praised them and having given them his approbation he obligeth us to give them our love yet this our love must be moderate and must unite us no further to them than they may unite us to the Creator we must look upon them as Pictures which we love not but only for his sake whom they represent we must consider their beauties as the shadows of the like in God and never permit that their perfections engage us so strongly that we reserve not freedom enough to forgo them when our Souls health or the glory of Jesus Christ requires it If the Devil make use of them to seduce us and if by the permission which he hath received from God he employ them to tempt us If he will make the Stars serve to make us Idolaters if he will corrupt our innocence with gold if he make our pride swell or sooth our vanity with riches and if by beauty he will rob us of our continency we must shun them as nets spred abroad in the world to surprize us and as things which since the fall of man seem to have changed their inclination since they labour now to undo him as they formerly laboured for his welfare If in fine they be serviceable to the justice of God if through a zeal to his honour they pursue his enemies if the earth quake underneath our feet if the thunder roar above our heads and if the fire and water