command the Vertues of the Heavens absolutely govern the Fates of Men and Angels can render thee so rich contented in thy self so beautifull and adorable to the redeemed by thy Cross as this immovable Constancy this admirable Resignation this unparallell'd Tranquillity and evennesse of Mind But beware my Soul thou beest not mistaken for his words import that his will be not fulfill'd it is not then His will that is so constant and fixt yet His it is for were it His Fathers will by which he speaks he could not call it thine since he that speaks is to himself I and not thou and the will by which he delivers his Speech mine and not thine But how then can he say not mine of that which he will have done 'T is therefore His and more his then what he calls his yet he calls it not His and the opposite His. And were it not His it would do us no good for whom he does what he does For we have also contrary wills and yet we have not two wills following two natures as he had therefore even in him these two wills with one whereof he speaks and concerning the other are both of his humane nature that by them we might cure the contrariety we find in ours Why then is one of them his the other his Fathers why if not because the one he had from infirmity the other from strength the one from flesh and blood the other from heavenly inspirations what proceeds from weaknesse from defect from the odour of nothing is our own but what comes from vertue from strength from Being all that is Gods and to be acknowledged totally from him as Beginner and Perfecter of all things But is there no remedy for this distressed Soul must he alone tread the winepresse of sour grapes alone drink of this bitter Cup Ah! dearest SAVIOUR leave no means unattempted that possibly may bring thee at least some small refreshment arise and try whether thy old friends can afford thee any comfort those who were so delighted with thy glory on Mount Thabor who sung so cheerfully but five dayes since at thy triumphant entrance into Jerusalem who just now solemnly protested their readinesse to die with thee Alas they are all asleep so fast so dead asleep that neither chiding nor shame nor compassion on their dear Masters desolate condition can awake them to say so much as one short prayer for themselves O weak foundation of humane Friendship unhappy and already deceiv'd is he that builds on so false a bottome how farre better is it to trust in God then Man in the Maker of Princes then the mouldring hand-work O ill-requited Master is this the fruit of all thy teachings is this the reward for all thy benefits is this the profit of all those stupendious wonders thou hast done before them At least Judas was tempted by the glistering shine of silver that dazzles the eyes of all the world he was exasperated by the losse of the price of the Ointment and by the publick reproach of his treason whereas these thy beloved thy cherished Disciples have no plea to excuse them but their dulnesse but their coldnesse and want of love to their Master Though Earth fail Heaven may be true Renew thy complaints and let the fervour of thy prayers melt those azure floors the Angels tread And already behold a bright and suddain dawning from the East and the visible shape of a heavenly Messenger Come down thou long expected Embassadour of peace and fill this horrid desart with the charming musick of thy celestiall voice But oh he stayes at the gates of heaven and onely looks down afarre off as if earth now were become an abomination and unworthy to be approacht by sanctified persons no glory to God no peace to Men no harmonious note not so much as a cup of cold water to refresh the fainting bowels of this afflicted Sufferer O strange mutation how undutifull a disobedience is this in respect of the obsequious service tender'd him at his baptisme Are heavenly affections subject to change do Starres encrease and wane like sublunary meteors O no gladly would this Spirit of happinesse stoop low as Earth to raise the head and support the weak members of his Lord but that severe Fathers commands and narrow limited permissions allow onely so farre to relieve the oppressed heart that it may be able to drink up the very dregs of that bitter potion he has temper'd for him O Heaven now more cruell then Earth which charitably stupifies the sense and takes away the pain by encreasing the torment whilst tyrannicall heaven sends fresh supplies of strength onely to heap on a greater load of grief O my dear Lord all thy troubled thoughts seem'd wholly restored to their usuall calmnesse and by that noble act of Resignation all thy affections ran smoothly in their own channels but now again the storm is raised and louder and fiercer then before See how it beats against that strong barrier of Thy will be done See how the broken waves return with doubled fury to invade this Rock of patience whose firmnesse the more violently it is assaulted the more steddily 't is fixt and his prayer more extended to his eternall Father Hear him hear him fountain of Pitty if not for thy own goodnesse if not for respect to him at least that we may be encourag'd to call on thee that we may hope to be heard by thee Thou invitest us to come to thee shall this be our entertainment thou chid'st us for asking nothing in thy SON'S name yet shut'st thine eares against His voice begging for his own Soul Undutifull and wicked Reuben that had abominably defil'd his Fathers bed found compassion for his little Brother seeing the anguish of his heart when he humbled himself before them and after reproacht his brethren that his life was justly demanded at their hands and will not the cry of this innocent Abel's bloud reach up to heaven and mollifie the rigidnesse of those severe decrees But whither am I straid here on earth is subject enough to require my whole application Behold how his bloud boyles in his veins his flesh grows red and swells all or'e his body his sinews and arteries stretch as on a rack the pores of his skin open like a sive and in a moment more fountains then feed the Ocean break from this source of misery What 's this I see on that once-comely visage not crystall teares not a gentle and trickling dew but whole drops of ruddy and blackish sweat Wo is me they are â—â—â—â—ed and knotty berries of bloud Unfortunate fruit of this fair Tree Physicians and Naturalists you say thick humours cannot be purg'd by transpiration study me then how this is come to passe O the most beautifull and gracious among the sons of men Was it for this thy body was fitted to thee of Virgin-bloud untoucht by men and Angels Was it for this thou wert made the Top and Crown
to be known to Consider amongst those you know and are well acquainted with how many of them your self contemn think whether every tenth person be thought fit to judge in those personall matters truly if either King or Kings Favourite be known to ten who are able justly to judge of worth betwixt Man and Man I think it a great number Turn then the leaf and look into Heaven where no part of the Earth is excluded of all Nations of all Ages there are to be found not one but whose judgement is a touchstone of truth the number excessive the quality of the persons incomparable And if yet this do not content you cast a view upon the vale of Jeho saphat number if you can the two great Armies which are at once to appear the one glorious upon the Clouds with our Saviour Jesus Christ the other upon the Earth see there is not a child of Adam wanting from Abel to him that was born the evening before this great day and remember the verse of the old Sybil Cunctaque cunctorum cunctis arcana patebunt every one from the greatest to the least shall know all that 's true of you all that you can say for your self Think what honour 't will be at that day to be grac'd by him that is in power when all those multitudes shall see it and clearly see as the glory you receive proceeds from the favour of the highest so 't is proportion'd according to what of worth is really in your own person Soul As I am now affected I cannot choose but wonder how believing what you say I could so long live in neglect without ever reflecting upon these two most evident truths one that the highest honour and reputation in this world is triviall and inconsiderable for what is it to be in the good opinion of so few as I perceive come to the perfect and inward knowledge of us the other that truly Fame and Honour is to be found in the next world especially at the great day of Judgement at the meeting of Ages where whole mankind and all the quires of Angels shall see perfectly know all that concerns us But I 'm afraid that in so great multitudes I shall find little regard here I 'm esteem'd amongst that small number I converse with and 't is a comfort that though my acquaintance be few yet they are as many as I have need of and my life is amongst no more There in such an infinity my place will be so low and my share so small that no body will vouchsafe me one cast of an eye Light Consider then with your self the esteem of the world what it is wherein you are confined to reflect onely upon such as have sufficient acquaintance with you to furnish them with occasion of understanding your worth out of which number too you must exclude first all whose judgements are contemptible because they are but half-witted people Secondly those who preferre unworthy respects as Riches Nobility Comelinesse Beauty Youth c. before true wisdome and the parts of Virtue really and solidly adorning your person I speak not of those supernaturall graces which are generally contemned by men of this World but of such endowments as the wiser sort prefer before all those empty toyes that garboyle the fancies of the multitude Thirdly take out of the rest those who upon designe either of jeering for their own sport or flattering for their private interests counterfeit to value and esteem you as if some great man seem to court honour you what assurance can there be that his civilities proceed from his heart purely for your consideration and not for some friends sake or particular project so that your back once turn'd you are no sooner out of sight then out of mind Nay even amongst those who are sincere and cordiall friends how soon may therebe a change upon what slight grounds perhaps took they this opinion upon as slight an occasion can they desert Soul You leave me no breath no starting-hole no where to take a little aire to refresh my self in this world for I see by your discourse there is no glasse so brittle as the opinion of Men no Dirt so base as the Multitudes favour and nothing so contemptible as who grounds himself upon their judgements Already I understand that the judgements of Heavenly spirits are not subject to these blemishes and contingencies they are all true all hearty all constant I must change if they do for as long as I remain with the same worth their Sentence cannot alter Yet can I not see that my share shall be such there as may be taken notice of but the multitude and excesse of my betters will keep me without any respect justly I confesse yet to my grief and pain Light And why do you not reflect that Celestiall spirits are able to attend all things at once that neither the multitude of those who are to be esteem'd nor the excesse of their excellency can any thing prejudice your felicity when by every one every degree of your perfections shall be known consider'd and valu'd as much as if there were no others to be thought on but your self what can you desire more Soul I cannot tell of what disposition I shall be in the next world but I feel in this that no honour pleases me unlesse it be with some preference before others which I confesse is not to be desired above but here below whilest we live in this vally of darknesse true worth does not clearly shine nor can the degrees of merit be perfectly distinguish'd and therefore every one may desire to be above another hoping and for the most part believing the priviledge of precedence due to his deserts But this ignorance and the ambitious effects of it must surely be banisht from Heaven Light I cannot grant you to be more honour'd then those who deserve better nor that they be not more honour'd then you yet happily this you may hope for that none be preferr'd before you You may peradventure have seen great Princes when they entertain inferiour ones whom they will neither equall to themselves nor yet disoblige by treating them in quality of Subjects they contrive therefore all things so as each may be honour'd without comparison by having nothing common which going from one to the other may make an order and priority appear between them Just so perhaps may 't passe in Heaven every spirit being as it were a world by it self and having a particular perfection and excellency which is found in no other every one therefore is chief and highest in its own kind and by consequence eminently and supreamly esteem'd without order to or dependance on any other then the common Father of all every one extreamly pleas'd with his own Excellency and although the inhabiting truth must needs confess others better yet nothing more fitting for this person and so every one both joying in himself and esteem'd by others as
Nature is capable of here but withall I see it is impossible men should hear and understand so many persons together and speak to them all in exchange Light I confesse this is hard to be believ'd by one that hath not yet reached to the nature of a Spirit but he that could conceive all this we call Body and diffusion of bignesse and parts must of necessity be resum'd in the indivisible thing we call a Spirit so that all the imaginable operations of materiall substances can never arrive to equall the activity of the least Spirit he would easily allow it this priviledge of being capable to do as much as a thousand tongues and a thousand eares at once But 't is not my task now to evince a possibility only to exact a belief of this opinion and upon supposal of its truth shew you how infinitely greater the content in Heaven must necessarily be then the highest pleasure this world can afford Soul But unlesse I talk of such persons and things as both my self and they with whom I converse know and are acquainted with the circumstances of every passage the conversation is dry and unpleasing Now here they are very few who have knowledge of the same particulars that I have for their number is confin'd to such as I live withall and I know not whether I can expect to meet many of them in heaven the straitnesse of the way and the paucity of the enterers being so often and so strongly inculcated to us Light It were a very hard question to determine the number of those that go to heaven and at this time would divert our discourse only this I will say that the paucity of the blessed may well stand with this truth that many of such Christians as live innocently in the world are saved Wherefore I fear not but you may have enough to converse with who are acquainted with the particulars your self are But what will you think if every one hath as cleare a sight of all your circumstances as your own heart for it were a great simplicity to imagine the Soul abstracted from the Body hath no means to know things without it since in the Body it hath and if it be furnisht with any means it is not possible but it should know whatever it pleases But as I said before the proof of these things is to be sought elsewhere here we are onely to consider how great and full the pleasure of a blessed Soul is these things being so as I have declared Soul I must confesse you have now made Heaven a tractable thing to me for by these considerations I do not onely find a common apprehension of good but I can lay hands upon intelligible pleasures whereby to content my naturall desires and with hope thereof make them pursue the endeavours and undergoe the difficulties necessary to the attaining them Light Reflect then a little and summe up or rather conclude what kind of life in Heaven this pleasure will afford you Remember some afternoon or couple of houres in which your pleasing conversation hath been at height remember the twinkling of some one conceit which especially carryed away your heart and for the time possessed it wholly think with your self had the whole two houres continu'd like that minute how unspeakable your pleasure had been Then elevate your fancy and conceive in Heaven not houres nor dayes nor yeares but ages of ages but an eternity will be of that dainty ravishing contentment Joyne if you are able all these encreases and advantages which we have expressed whereof there is not one but drawes an incomparable extremity with it and if only this were once well master of your thoughts I do not see how any temporall thing could either please or discontent you or that you would not as much long for death as now you adhorre and fear it Soul The world 's chang'd with me I find my self refresht with this thought and in a cheerfull disposition Light Yes for the present but it will not stay long with you unlesse you play your part and cultivate the opening seeds which now ferment in your heart and this must be by often thinking of and remembring these and such other considerations partly at set times and partly whenever you find your self in a fitting disposition that is at ease alone your mind free or peradventure inclin'd to good thoughts lose not these tides as I may call them for they bring great waves of spirituall profit In the happy opportunity strive to penetrate with a cleer understanding the verity of such points then turn your self upon your self and see what you do and what you should do according to these truths Encourage your self to what is wanting amend what is amisse and sigh after the great reward we all labour for The third discourse Soul HItherto it goes well but in so great a happinesse and so glorious a State is there but one content Light If there were no other then what is already declared I believe there were more not only then you can wish in this world but also then you would be weary of in the next Neverthelesse since your palate is so dainty that it must have varieties think with your self what other thing there is here wherein you take great pleasure and love to spend your time Soul The next that comes to my mind is that I am much delighted with Masks and Shews and in going to Court especially when there are grea meetings and bravery there these things extreamely take me in so much that I can endure to expect a great while as half a day or more in some disease to be present at such sights and Assemblies Light And when these things are in their perfection can you tell what it is that therein delights you Soul I think it is those passages which meeting afterwards with others that have or have not been there I use to discourse of and commend And all those being either Things or Persons in Things I commend the greatnesse beauty or good proportion some fine conveyance some rare and new invention in Persons I praise their comlinesse the gracefulnesse of their behaviour the perfection and compleatnesse of their actions These I conceive for the most part are the principal causes of the delight and relish I find in such encounters Light I hope then you will not want this contentment also in heaven For to begin with Persons you shall have in your company those who have ever been the greatest and worthiest in all considerations Adam the beginner of the World Noah its restorer you shall have Abraham the Father of that Nation which after so many ages continuance in the Prerogative of the Elect people of Almighty God is now by their dispersion into all Nations become to them a Testimony of Christianity you shall have Moses who like the Lieutenant of the highest in all sorts of miracles establisht the Law the Field wherein Christianity was blazoned you
shall have David and Solomon if his Penance was true in his old dayes you shall have Kings Captains and Prophets all in their degrees before Christ. What shall I say of Christ and his Apostles of Bishops Martyrs and Hermites what of the so fruitfull devouter Sexe All these have expressed the most generous evidence of Universall Gallantry and shewn the noblest effects of all such vertues as breed admiration in humane hearts What Court what Maske what Shew can feign or counterfit so much as Heaven will afford you reall objects to be ravished with Soul 'T is true but I am not taken with these high and sublime vertues which I do not well apprehend But if I see a Gentleman Noble Liberall Courteous Valiant and Honourable of his word such qualities make a deep impression in my affections Light Why then if you find all these perfections not onely to be in your Company above but in a far higher degree too and greater measure of excellency then can be in any persons here you must certainly be charmed with a strange excesse of Pleasure And to enter a little into the businesse I cannot doubt so much as to ask whether you are pleased with the outward shew of these vertues which are in the Heart Soul You need not for were they counterfeit or no greater in the heart then in the outward shew I should lose my esteem of the persons But out of one generous Act expressed we imagine the heart ready to perform a hundred to be as it were naturally and unchangeably fitted to do the like again when occasion is offered this makes me highly value and be delighted with the person Light Then if heaven afford you thousands and millions of hearts which you may see into as clearly as into the purest stream or fountain of water you can imagine and there behold all these admirable qualities in a high perfection and so immutably settled that sooner heaven and earth may fall in pieces then they decline the least tittle from that degree of worth they are exalted to how can you then doubt that your pleasure there even in this very kind will not be infinitely preferrable to the greatest the world can furnish you And for those high vertues of which you say you feel little apprehension your state there will be so improved that you will be able exactly to penetrate the true value of every one which will make you see with how much passion ignorance and over-sight the greatest actions of this life are manag'd You 'l discern evidently that the valour of Captains the wisdome of Statesmen the skill of great Clerks are not comparable to make no bulk or shew in comparison of that Knowledge Prudence and Courage which those contemned persons and here reputed-fools ever carried enclosed in their breasts Think what infinite pleasure and content you will infallibly receive in contemplating them and being informed of their worths Soul All this I must of necessity confesse but yet I do not see that in heaven there will be either the comelinesse of the persons the gracefulnesse of their behaviour or the variety of their attires and such otherthings wherewith I speak but in mine own weaknesse I often find my self here much taken and carried away Light Alas do you not consider that all these are but mute and imperfect expressions of the interiour mind and that it is the thing signified which takes you in them all or else their artifice and conveyance In speaking whereof you passe into the other part of Things which you distinguished against the consideration of Persons For take away the mind and all the rest may be in a Puppet-play or motion as they call it Consider again with your self that a cunning Architect is delighted as much with the Modell of a House as you with the building it self a good Musician with the notes in his head as you with the singing Out of which I draw this great and curious truth that when you shall be perfect in knowledge as is expected in Heaven you will not look after these outward expressions but the Modells which are in the hearts you will see will satisfie and fill the desires beyond all you can wish or imagine Soul Peradventure what you say is not only true but extreamly efficacious according to the state we shall be in there but yet I feel not that impression which wonted and well known objects use to work in me If there are not even these corporeall motions and fashions which delight me so extreamly here with their novelty variety extravagance and excellency me thinks I apprehend a droughth not of what shall be there but of the apprehending what I see shall be there yet cannot make carry my fancy Light Since nothing will content you but the flesh and bloud you are nuzzled in and that you must carry to heaven with you the very imperfection if not of your own mind yet of the world you live in let us at one blow seek to give a resolution not onely to this your desire but also to the other part that is concerning those qualities which delight you in Things as well as in Persons Do you therefore remember the answer our Saviour gave to the Sadduces concerning Marriage in the next world Soul You mean That we should neither marry nor be married but be like the Angels of God This I remember well but I desire to know why you put me in minde of it Light Wherein do you conceive the likenesse to Angels consists For if it be onely in this Negative why should that be promised for a happiness whereas we see the benedictions of marriage promised for a benefit content Soul When I reflect that Angels have no bodies and therefore all their nature is to be purely knowing Creatures me thinks our Saviour in these words signifies to us that the pleasures of the next world should not consist in these corporeall motions which here are gratefull to us by reason of our bodies but that they should be of knowledge such as are proportioned to Angels and although we should have bodies yet they should not hinder our knowledge and pleasure even by them from being such as the Angels contentment is at least in likenesse if not in equality Light You are very right and do you not see every man conceits that though Angels are no bodies yet they have means and those naturall means too to see and know any thing that passes amongst bodies do you not hear them set for Governours of corporeall things even men deliver'd to their charge Wherefore you cannot but believe they have a naturall power and force to know all things here below at their will and pleasure Conceive then that Souls freed from the body have the same capacity though in a lesse degree and that at will they can see what passes in this world and not onely in this Globe of earth the world of Man but in all the other infinite
of bread without a thankfull lifting up to the Feeder let me not put on a ragg without bending my heart and tuning its strings to the love of him by whom I am rendered the But and Scope of the whole World's government What shall I say to Thee my heart-o'rewhelming Love when I consider how many millions are swallowed in eternall perdition whilest I am one of that small number Thou hast brought to the light and height of knowing Thee and finding the narrow path to salvation That Thou art not unjust I easily see for all is thine and in thy hand to give and dispose according to thy liberality to which he where Thou extendst it not can pretend no claim having more already to thank Thee for then he is able to esteem But why then didst Thou set set thine Eye upon me preferring this wretch before so many thousands Was I nobler or more excellent then they O no Angels and Hosts of heaven whose Being or Nature I am not able to apprehend lye chain'd in Sulphure and darknesse Was my Wit or Parts beyond others O no the Sages of India and the subtile Riddlers of the East were ignorant of thy Law and perisht in their Ignorance Was I mightier or richer then they O no the Conquerours of Kingdomes and the Gyants powerfull in warre were not chosen by Thee much lesse the Sons of Agar the Merchants that traverse the world to purchase treasure and heap up the wealth of Nations were called to thy light Let me sound as deep as I can nothing but thy self-Goodnesse Wisdome and Power without the least preceeding disposition in me can I find to be the source and spring of all this advantage O My Soul What dost expect if this be not enough to set thee on fire yet look but about thee and behold a farther endearment See thine own Countrey thy Neighbours Acquaintance thy Kindred and Friends how many maist thou observe in all degrees more worthy of acceptation then thou yet they neglected and Mercy indulged thee think but on those whose good nature and innocent life makes thy self many times compassionatly grieve at their unhappinesse and desiring to be the means of bringing them to that great good wherein thou art a sharer and reflect that former Ages and the vast spatiousnesse of the Earth afford many millions of such yet all permitted to undo themselves and run upon their everlasting ruine Consider this strange partiallity of mercy And yet thou canst doubt yet thou canst say Were I sure of Gods love But why did I ask whether I was better then others so deserving preferrence since I have or can have no good but from Thee Could I pre-ordain my self to be born of Christian and Catholick Parents who should take care to incorporate me into the Family of the Heirs of Blisse by the Sacraments instituted and afforded by Thee Might I be the cause why my Mother Nurses fed me as soon with wholesome Doctrine as with their Milk why they prepar'd Priests Masters to guide frame my tender Age was 't I that led me to a liking of the true Religion that only Path of Heaven or brought I my self to believe and hope in Thee to love Thee and those Rewards thou hast prepar'd for them that follow thee No no dear and dread Providence Thou art our Alpha and Omega If I do any Good Thou provid'st and fittest the means for it if I abstain from Evil Thou divert'st the Occasions Thou presentest awing Fears and shak'st perpetually the Bridle over my head that I may not be lawlesse and undisciplin'd If I consult of any acceptable work Thou preparest me Motives by Books by Teachers by Friends by Opportunities Thou directest my Thoughts and apprehensions ordering my Spirits in my Brain that what will be efficacious should occurre Thou enlightenest my Judgement to discern the consequence of Truths necessary to my Resolution Thou quellest my Appetite that it hinder not those Truths from setling in me If I resolve Thou so rangest all things that I chuse what is best not only for the present but what shall be so too in future occasions whereof I know nothing And as I am utterly ignorant of the things that are to fall out many moneths and years after which neverthelesse depend on this Resolution and in their season so take their force from it that they would certainly fail if it had not been made right no more or rather much lesse know I any thing or did I co-operate in the least to that long Chain of Causes which bred in me all those parts and little circumstances every one so necessary to this Resolution that if any had miss'd the Resolution had miscarried more or lesse not proving the same nor producing the same effects So that let me reflect on any action great or little long or short or however qualified I find that 't is I indeed do it but the force and vertue by consequence the honour and praise is thine I do it but as the Child to whom the Nurse gives Nuts or Beads and holding his hand throwes them into a hole whilst he alas thinks 't is he playes so well and pleases himself as with his own act not having the wit to consider 't is his Nurses aime Just so my God and my tender Sustainer just so dost thou with me whilst I often forget thee my weak brains reaching no farther then to see that I do the deed without being able through dulnesse or pride to passe my self and discern thee the only true cause and root of all my good But seeing my self consult resolve and do I often take this wretch for as primary as Thou for thy coefficient and helper not purely thine instrument and wholly depending on thee Which since I barely am and that vertuous action my chiefest good proceeds so entirely from Thee what is left for me but to love ever love and nothing else but love Thus far reach the Entry and Porch of Love's Palace Then we discover Its great Hall when we begin to contemplate the Essentiall Deity macerated and steep'd for our sakes in all the Miseries of Mankind That God of Gods lap'd up in a Virgin 's Wombe delivered naked into freezing winds and the smart stroaks of night-aire swath'd in bands and clouts hanging at a Maidens breasts short in Age weak in limbs and not forgetting to fulfill all infirmities of his Brethren Soon after led by his Mothers hand setling his tender steps feeding on the fruits of our earth following his Parents to Jerusalem lost and sought and not found with teares subject to his Mother and her Husband growing in Wisdome and Vertue as well as in Body After this working with his reputed Father and in no visible fashion differing from the life of his Parents till he was baptiz'd by Saint John his holy Precursor Then fasting forty dayes in the Wildernesse gathering Disciples instructing them working miracles before them living on the
for thy Body is in Heaven as in another and different thing but in the Sacrament substantially in It as mans Soul and Body are in Man as the adored Person of God is in my Lord Jesus Christ as every thing is in its self or in its whole Thou art therefore my Jesus both in Heaven and in the Sacrament truly but in one more properly in the other more excellently Reallity is in both but the Manner different Wherefore I cannot complain thou hast left us by thine Ascension and bereaved us of that comfortable Presence whose force was so magneticall in thy life-time No no I see Thee as truly as they did then I feel thee as corporally as did That Master of Touching who sought thy Side and Wounds to embalme his Sense in I Tast Thee as really as the Chanaan-Feaster did the Wine Thou sentst him Thou deludest not my Senses by making me onely seem to See Feel and Taste when indeed I do not Thou entertain'st me not with other things or Qualities which are with Thee but not thy self No no the White I see is Thou the Body I hold in my hand or mouth is Thine and Thou that which yeelds Savour to my tongue and palate is thy-self and no other thing This thou hast told me this thy Church has ever apprehended and taught this I believe and confesse to Thee But oh can I conceive without trembling or speak without horrour Does Man's Hand break the Body of my Saviour do Mans teeth rend and mangle the Sacred vesture of Deity Yes yes my Soul fear not to confesse the Wonders and Mercies of thy Lord and God they may be hard to understand but they are the Words of Life So farre has He subjected his glorious Body to our use that what other bread can suffer may be wrought upon Him Not that we can tear a Finger from his Hand or his Hand from his Arm or any one member from another but as when we break bread every piece is still bread so when we divide his Body both parts remain his whole Body for it was not one part that became one part of the Bread and another the rest but all succeeded to each part of bread Let great Clerks in their Schools with their subtilties search how this can be effected for seeing it is done in bread it is not against Nature nor unintelligible even by That to me let it suffice the Church has taught me 't is so and that 't is the greatest benignity and most gracious condescence that God himself could expresse to have it be so And is this more perhaps then that thy immortall flesh should nourish my mortall Carcase that it is mingled with Mine as Wine with Water as two melted Waxes incorporate themselves Let none tell me 't is Quantity that is digested into my body for then it is not Thou that nourishest me and I will not forgo those precious expressions that Thou feed'st me with Thy Flesh and giv'st me Thy Bloud to drink So thy Words sound so thy Church has taught so I believe How this can be done without thy being turn'd into me or how thy Substance can unchangedly be chang'd into mine that thou mayest endue my Flesh with a quality of Immortality let the Sages question but I 'm sure 't is so this I know is the way of Love and the most charming Mystery and inchanting Riddle that ever love-spent bowels were able to sing or sigh out ANd now my Soul having thus perfunctorily Alas viewed the excessive benefits of Almighty God 't is time to reflect a little upon thy Duty and consider what motions and affections they should stirre and work in thee First Thou hast seen how all thou hast are gifts and not onely all but wholly If any friend has done thee kindnesse He prepar'd that Friend he gave him the power the occasion the will to serve thee he blest his endeavours with efficacy successe If thou thy self hast done any thing to thine own improvement or advantage He gave thee not onely Body and Soul with all their powers and faculties not only matter opportunity strength will liberty choice but every least imaginable perfection of the very stroak of choise and liberty insomuch that there is nothing no considerability of it so from thy self that even its being from thee comes not from the Almighty in comparison to whom no Friend no creature ever did or can do any thing for thee Shall then the friendship or love of any Creature have power to draw my affection from God permit it not my great Creatour but thorowly perfect thy work Why am I good by half 's since I am entirely thy Designe I professe before Thee who seest my very heart and before Angels and Men that I ought not to be so that 't is folly and madnesse to be so Give me then thy grace utterly to abhorre and detest so injurious so unworthy an ingratitude And since Thou vouchsaf'st thus clearly to convince me that 't is a great indignity and against all reason and truly-naturall inclination to join any with Thee grant me ever with all exactnesse to observe this duty That as no Creature has the least part in doing me good but merely so farre as it has it from Thee no not I my self so none none may share with Thee in my Love but just so farre as thy love thine order thy direction applies it to them Next my Soul thou hast seen how the Benefits of God are not onely all thou hast but that they are in an excessive Measure wide as the World uncountable as the sands of the Sea great as the Creatures can be since neither the eminentest Men nor highest Angels are exempt from being ministring spirits employed for thy salvation nay God himself in the two Persons of the Son and Holy Ghost has condescended to wait on Thee So various and superabundant they are that they comply not onely with thy necessity but serve even thy delights and recreations So that thou art neither able to conceive the multitude and greatnesse nor comprehend the worth and pleasingnesse of his favours What then canst thou say but onely lie gasping with admiration of so vast so unknown a Goodnesse and sigh out in the centre of thy Heart My sole-Good my All I thought before I was bound to acknowledge thy Benefits and love Thee for them but now I renounce both for he that acknowledges makes a shew as if he were able to esteem and he that loves seems as if he would render somewhat Not so I my great Master not so But I protest my self infinitly below all thy mercies unable to value the least of thy Blessings much lesse to repay Thee any thing for them since had I any thing worthy thy acceptance it were all thine and I could offer Thee nothing but thine own What then shall I do but throw my heart at the feet of thy bounty all-open all-melted without any self-will or power
of resistance at every pulse of my breath repeating this onely Burden Do thy pleasure upon me Again Thou hast seen my Soul that far beyond all created Essences God has been so liberall as to bestow Himself on thee He bowed the Heavens and came down rendring his sacred Person subject to all the miseries of Humanity He laid aside all the prerogatives of his most noble and most perfect soul exposing it to labours to teares to griefs to those stupendious throwes in the Garden even to such a height that it admired it self in those expressive words My God my God! to what a point hast Thou let me be brought And in fine to be commanded even to Hell He abandoned his Body to heat to cold to weaknesse to hunger and thirst to wearinesse to torments to death and not content with this after the Resurrection in Its state and season of Glory he sent it again into the World to be subject to a thousand more indignities scorns and abusings Here now my soul compare seriously thy sufferings with His and consider First Since nor health nor wealth nor any other good thou possessest is thine or from thy self but onely vouchsaf'd thee during his pleasure and discretion all thy sufferings can be but a not-enjoying any longer what is no way due to thee but He was incapable of any wants in himself if his own Will had not taken upon him both a Nature that could want and its necessities Again what commodities He at any time seem'd to have he held them from himself and His purely they were wherefore He truly suffered when they were ravish'd from him whereas we through ignorance attribute to our selves what we possesse being really but Trustees not Masters of the least pile of grasse Farther yet our mis-call'd sufferings if rightly used are indeed blessings for if we lose our Fortunes alas they made us not know our selves if our Health 't is to disaffect us to this world if we prove unhappy in our Children what greater distraction had we from the love of our hoped glory then our care and tendernesse to them But Christ's sufferings could have no such advantagious effects no they were chiefly to shew us the straitest Path to that life He promis'd us and to assure by his own Example who could not but know and embrace what was best that the way of Tribulation is the high-Road to Heaven And canst thou my Soul after this think any Crosse heavy and affliction hard to endure canst thou chuse but be vexed and enraged at thy Flesh and Blood which against all evidence will force thee to esteem unfortunatenesse an Evil O my great and sole Good suppresse these unreasonable follies which boyl in my breast Make me know whatever happens good or bad to me is securely my best because it comes from Thee whilst my onely care ought to aim at this how to improve it to my best advantage Make me understand that whatever I beare with patience I suffer for thy sake because I take it as from Thee because I do as Thou commandest because 't is in imitation of Thee and lastly because it is to obtain Thee my chief my onely my most entire Treasure O rich Treasure O masse of Glory in proportion to whose attainment all the labours and tribulations that Men and Devils can heap on me are nothing nothing considerable not deserving even the slightest esteem Lastly My Soul thou hast seen with what ambition and exaggeration of Courtship with what unparallel'd addresse and exquisite inventions thy Lord has sought and woo'd thy love First He gave thee heaven and Earth with all their Creatures for thy Motives to know and love Him Next He made Himself thy Fellow and Brother in flesh and bloud that thou mightst not strain thy self but familiarly conversing be caught with his love Beyond that He has pass'd all those fabulous imaginations of dangers and misfortunes in which idle witts have fram'd Errant Ladies to have engaged their Servants for proof of their fond obstinate loyalty He has heap'd on thee all the names and titles of endearment which either nature or use have introduc'd among Mankind He is thy Maker thy Father thy Spouse thy Brother thy Ransomer out of thraldome thy Deliverer from danger thy Saviour from misery and death thy Friend even thy very Play-fellow He has gone beyond all this He is thy Food thy Drink thy Self for since when thou eatest Him His Flesh becomes thine as truly as the bread whereof we encrease and nourish our substance which by the power of matter and conformity of quality remains in us how can we chuse but be his Members so that if we dishonour our body we dishonour His how can we chuse but have a share of Him perpetually in us and in plain truth be Reliques of Him of His glorious Flesh and immortall Bloud O Eternall Wisdome how truly didst Thou say It was thy delight to be with the Sons of Men Can Angels boast of such priviledges of such tendernesses of such Extasies of Thy love No none but so weak a Nature as ours was able to necessitate Goodnesse it self to so deep a condescendence as this and none but all Goodnesse could so appropriate it self to all Infirmities O melting Goodnesse that fillest every corner and chink Thou findest capable of thy perfections wave not this poor soul of mine but make it understand the unmeasurablenesse of thy bounties and Mercy Shall I for ever apprehend my past sinnes still in fear whether they are forgiven Shall I not rather in the very moment of terrour turn me to Him of whose readinesse to receive me I cannot doubt Mark how easy thou art to pardon thy self and consider thou art one of his Members whence be assured as soon as thou sayest I have sinned thou shalt hear thy sin is taken away Shall I fear that I am not in state to receive his Body when the very preparing my self and having a true will to go meet Him puts me in state Shall I seek outward Medicines for my wounds whose ulcerousnesse onely consists in bereaving me of Love O my dearest Lord make me love and joy in thee make me take pleasure to come even corporally to Thee but much more to delight and solace my self in thinking of thee in remembring how Thou lov'st me how Thou art my Friend my Spouse my Father and whatever dear name by which Thou hast been pleased to expresse so blest a relation Make me place my chief felicity in contemplating how happy I shall be when once I see Thee face to face and familiarly converse with Thee as a Friend does with his Friend Mean while establish firmly in my soul this absolute judgement that the greatest pleasure and advantage this world can afford me is often and long and heartily to practice here on earth that sweet and holy conversation which is to be consummated in Heaven What Maid whose Parents have promis'd her a person compleatly qualified for
Why this is but nature whereas to go to Heaven 't is necessary we walke in a supernaturall Path much contrary to nature wherefore sure this cannot be right Light There are two things in Man which are call'd Nature one Reason which truly is his Nature ruling all his actions as he is Man and distinguishing him from Beasts The other is this frame of our Materiall Instruments which we call our Body consisting of Motion of Blood and Spirits which have a course in us so depending from other causes that neverthelesse a great part is in our power Of these two Natures Reason often contradicts the Inferiour and therefore Grace and our supernaturall way must do the same Whereas for Reason Grace never contradicts it but guides it and shewes it that many things which otherwise it would never have attain'd to are very reasonable and by force of reason it self ought to be enacted and put in execution For our supernaturall life is like a Graft which though it bear a better fruit then the Stock yet can it bring forth nothing but by means of that and in the season wherein the Stock of it self flourishes Soul Then I must employ my time in gaining knowledge and governing my self according to it but what should I seek to know Light Your enquiry may be fully satisfied if you confine your search to these two Heads To learn the things that concerne you in the next life which are chiefly Heaven and Hell in Heaven I comprehend all that belongs to Almighty God as well to his Godhead as his Humanity And secondly to study what in this life imports you which is the real valuation of those motives that govern mankind here and the true and straight way that leads to blisse hereafter Soul Surely this cannot chuse but be a pleasant and delightsome Method For what more pleasant then to know especially such truths as most are ignorant of what more delightsome then to enjoy a clear serenity of mind free from those errours we see our Neighbours tossed and turmoyl'd in But above all what can be so ravishing as to understand we are in the direct path towards those great felicities promised us in the next life Light If you take the right course and ply it diligently you shall instead of that anxious and troublesome way you walk possesse all this pleasure and much more whereof as yet you have no feeling nay which you little think your whole pursuit shall be after pleasures and those the highest this life can afford For since Reason is our Nature which hath the greatest stroak in all our actions and whatever is conformable to Nature the more powerfull Nature is the more pleasant that must be it follows the pleasures of Reason are greater far then those of Sense Now Grace being but an heightening of Reason what is conformable to Grace must be still more pleasing to Nature Soul I can easily apprehend the Contemplation of Heaven must be full of pleasure especially if the Contemplatour findes in himself hopes of attaining thither but I know not how the dreadfull consideration of Hell and Death and Judgement should be pleasing being of themselves such frightfull things Light As for those fearfull objects you need not trouble your self yet if you find the considerations of Heaven take hold of your Soul which when they are once settled and well possess'd of your heart will alone so entertain and fill you that you will be free and secure from the irksomenesse of other apprehensions but you must first strive to be in love with heaven and heavenly things if possibly you can Soul I confesse hitherto my considerations have been very dry I not being able to make any apprehension of what pleasure can possibly be found where all that gives us content here will be wanting The second discourse Light NOw if you were sure to find there the same pleasures you enjoy here in this only changed that what ever makes them short noysome tedious or allayes them here with any other discommodity is not there to be found so that the pleasure is there more clear more sweet perpetuall and never cloying you must of necessity make a good apprehension of a desirable place and lovely end to aim at Soul If you can make me see this I hope I shall be better affected to Heaven that with a naturall tye Whereas now I force my self to love a thing which I cannot understand what it is Light Well then do you take pleasure in company of friends with whom you can be free Soul Very much especially if their discourse be such as goes down with some smartnesse and delight Light At least then there 's one pleasure in heaven which you can relish for friends and acquaintance you cannot want there all that are in Heaven knowing all being familiar with all and their hearts lying open to all so that what delight you can imagine in conversation you shall have there a thousand fold multiplied above what it is here Soul But that which pleases me here is to be with a friend in a corner where no body may hear our discourse for it would be a great annoyance to have any one partaker of our secrets Light And why if you have reflected upon it is it troublesome to have overhearers of your discourse Soul Because some would laugh at my follyes or imperfections and jeere at my conceits different from theirs others would carry tales abroad and make a businesse of nothing others are indiscreet and altogether unable to give me either advice or comfort but talk nonsense and rather trouble me then do me good Light Then if the company were such that from every one you could promise your self all respect love prudence and such parts as should be fit to improve heighten the content you aimed at the plurality of those with whom you converse would rather strengthen your pleasure then any way diminish it Soul 'T is true but I cannot conceive if the company be greater then a certain proportion which by interchange may still keep life in the discourse but that the conversation must either be hindred by many speaking at once or dull by one party's speaking so seldome Light But on the contrary if you did apprehend the whole multitude without intermission speaking together and that he that speaks perfectly understood all the rest and himself also were perfectly understood by every one so that each continually declared his own mind without the least impediment to understand perfectly at the same time what all others said and this not onely to himself but any one to any other do you not see what the proportion of content by such discourse would be to the satisfaction you find here when you are in the fullest careere of joy that ever you experimented or can wish or even imagine according to the course of our conversation Soul If this were true I see an extreme increase of pleasure in Heaven over the greatest our