the Reasons I have produc'd But these Instructions do so perfectly and universally remedy all our Evils they are so proportion'd to the Condition which Sin has reduc'd us to that if we cannot follow them we can't yet forbear to admire them Erast. 'T is true the Instructions of CHRIST do perfectly remedy Concupiscence but 't is provided we follow them We can do only those things which we would do and we are commanded to do what we would not for 't is pleasure that makes us willing and the Gospel forbids it Who then shall be able to follow these Instructions I am much afraid that Aristarchus's Friend will say That Christian Morality resembles Plato's Politicks that 't is beautiful in its Idea but has this essential fault which renders it wholly unprofitable that Men are incapable of it Theod. It 's necessary Erastus that Christianity should be such as it is to be perfect you agree with me in this but say it 's impossible to follow it Yes Erastus 't is so without CHRIST but with him all things are possible He is our Strength as well as our Wisdom If he counsels us to act contrary to our Wills 't is because he is able to change our hearts He is not like Plato who gives Laws to establish a Republic but does not make Men capable of observing those Laws CHRIST hath establish'd the most perfect Morality that can be and at the same time gives Men a power to act agreeably he regenerates them and strips them of the Old Man he gives them a heart of flesh in which he writes those Laws which the Jews receiv'd from Moses written in Stone Faith and Experience teaches us these things The Republic of Plato is a Republic in Idea it is not made up of Men but how many Christians even in a strict Sense pursue the Counsels of their Master How many Religious Saints continually mortify their Senses and Passions and labour with all their Might to destroy the Body of Sin this Old Man whose desires disturb their peace and hopes It 's necessary Erastus that the power of God appear in the execution of the Precepts of Morality that we may not doubt of the truth of Religion It 's necessary that there be nothing humane in the Religion which God establishes to the end that it attribute nothing of its establishment to the Politics of Princes the inclination of Men and the natural disposition of their minds The Precepts of CHRIST tho' painful in themselves yet being followed justify Religion and known Religion makes men obedient to his Precepts He in whom we believe enables us to act as we act and what we thus act is so much above our power that it makes us believe what we believe Thus the Precepts of CHRIST far from being unprofitable because they appear difficult and uneasy to us ought to be esteem'd by us wholly Divine since he that is wise enough to give them to us is also powerful enough to assist us We shall speak something the next Meeting of this power by which we are enabled to fulfil the Precepts of the Gospel Pray Erastus think of it with your Friend so that our next Discourse may be the more satisfactory DIALOGUE IX The same Subject continued Arist. I Have thought on those things you said to us yesterday Theodorus and on those whereof we are to treat this day I am convinc'd of the first and I will tell you what I think of the others I look upon Man as being between Heaven and Earth between the place of his Rest and Felicity and that of his Troubles and Miseries fasten'd to God yet knowing him not fasten'd to Bodies which he sees Seeing that pleasure moves and transports him and that whilst he enjoys it he doth not see Him who is the true cause of it in the same manner as he sees and feels the Bodies that are the occasion of it he runs with Fury after Bodies and doth not so much as think on God So it is necessary that he deprive himself of sensible pleasures if he will stop the motion that draws him out of the way to Heaven and carries him towards earthly things this is plain but a privation of pleasure is not yet sufficient to raise him towards Heaven Let us suppose Theodorus a Balance one of whose Scales is empty and the other heavily laden tho by little and little you take out of the Scale what was in it till there remain almost nothing in it notwithstanding all this there will be no alteration in the Balance For this you must altogether empty it or lay something of weight in the other Scale that may poize it equally Now our Mind is like a Balance nor is it perfectly free in one sense but when the weight that transports and captivates it is equal for Heaven and Earth or rather when there is no weight of either side For then the Mind being as it were in Aequilibrio easily moves of itself towards that which by reason it finds to be its true good It is not mov'd nor determin'd by preingaging pleasure but by reason alone its senses have no share in the Act it 's love is an understanding love and altogether worthy of it Adam before his Fall having no Concupiscence his Senses and his Passions yielding to him as soon as he desir'd it in short being not drawn in spite of himself to the love of sensible things by involontary and rebellious preingaging pleasures he was perfectly free and stood in no want of that kind of Grace which consists in a preingaging delectation because the Balance was not sway'd on either side by any weight But now that one of the Cups of the Balance is extremely loaded we cannot be free in the same manner as the first Man for even the most Righteous Persons cannot entirely free themselves of the weight of Concupiscence All they can do is to lessen the weight by retirement by a privation of pleasures and a continual mortification of their Senses and Passions But not being able to bring that weight to nothing they stand in need of the delectation of Grace to counterpoize it and put the Scale in a perfect Aequilibrium I therefore believe Theodorus that for us to deny our selves the Pleasures of this World is not sufficient to deliver us wholly from being Slaves to them but that in order to this we stand in absolute need of Christ's * Note By Christ's Grace is here meant that which he has particularly merited us which consists for in a preingaging delectation or in a loathing which he causes us to have for false good For the Graces of Light and Joy which Christ hat halso merited for us are common to us with the First Man who knowing no Concupiscence had no need of preingaging Pleasures as we have explained it in the foregoing Dialogue Grace But as a small Weight is able to make a pair of Scales even when one of them has very little
at first in the state he ought to be in yet foresees that Man shall cease to love him and shall dishonour him do you conceive that he will make him Yet Aristarchus we are made and God is wise He hath made us to honour him and the honour we can pay unto him is not worthy of him But besides this in stead of honouring him as much as we can we dishonour and disobey him and prefer the love of the body to the love of God he hath foreseen the corruption of our heart before its formation Where lieth then his wisdom How will you justify it What think you of a Workman who working for himself makes a work that is of no use to him Remember what you said of a Workman who makes a piece of work and exposes it tho he knows that some one or other will break it God is wise Aristarchus but what hath he done This he hath done he hath predestinated Jesus Christ from all Eternity to be the head of his works that Christ and all Creatures through him may pay to him an honour worthy of him He hath placed Man in the state he ought to be placed in for the Reasons that have been told you Dialog 2. He hath foreseen his Fall and permitted it that it might advance his great End Thus his Wisdom is justified and he becomes if I may say so more rich and powerful than he was He commands his Son who is his equal and judges and punishes him for us he fully revenges and satisfies himself for our sins But he receives from him and from us through him such honours as are worthy of his greatness and majesty Now what do you think of what Theodorus said to you Arist Methinks he proves well enough his Assertion However all he hath said now supposes in God a plurality of persons for no one doth pay an honour or an atonement to his own self Theod. You mistake the Point utterly Aristarchus far from this because no one doth pay an honour or an atonement to his own self I prove and do not suppose in God a plurality of persons To convince you of it there needs only to reassume what Erastus said God acts only for his glory but all the Creation cannot pay him an honour worthy of him it cannot therefore be supposed that he will make any Creatures unless it be to declare that a pure Creature can yield him some glory It follows then that since he hath been pleased to make us he hath done it in order to his glory But we cannot contribute to it unless he join with us Now as you have well observed it a person cannot honour himself therefore there is in God a plurality of persons It is then necessary that a Divine Person and principally that by whom all things were made sanctify by his dignity all other Creatures The Son ought to offer to the Father a Kingdom over which the Father may reign with honour the Son ought to erect to him a Temple whereof he himself is the Chief Stone establish a Priesthood whereof he himself is the High Priest and assemble a Church whereof he is the Head In a word he ought to make his work worthy of him for whose honour he hath made it And if we suppose that God who never acts but for his glory resolved to produce something out of himself seeing no one can honour his own self we must admit in God plurality of persons Besides God hath from all Eternity foreseen the disorder that was to arise in his Work he could have prevented it yet hath not done it Then the reparation of his Work must needs be a greater honour to him than its first Creation since God's rule and motive in his operations is always his own glory However the disorder of Nature and the shame of Sin dishonour God much more than the punishment and satisfaction of Creatures honour him the offence of Sinners being infinite by the dignity of the person that is offended and it being impossible that God can be satisfied unless he be our own Mediator But as you have wisely said none can pay an atonement to themselves and therefore there must be a plurality of persons in God It is necessary that a Divine person and chiefly that person by whom God made all things repair the disorder that is hapned in his work and satisfy God for that same work if God will preserve it For after all God who suffered Sin for his glory must have designed a Sacrifice capable of yielding him more honour than Sin can bring him dishonour So we must conclude that there is in God a plurality of persons since he hath not made Creatures capable of honouring him as he deserves and especially since he suffers such Crimes as no Creature can expiate Erast But pray what do you think of the damned they cannot satisfy God's Justice and yet he doth not annihilate them Theod. It is true Erastus God did not make them to be annihilated but he would not have made them or would not keep them in being without Christ for their punishment tho' eternal is still too slight to satisfy the Justice of a revenging God The damned should suffer at least according to their whole capacity yet they do not for there are degrees of pain among them tho' their Souls being equal their capacity to suffer must be equal But Christ by his quality bears what is wanting to honour perfectly the Divine Justice and in the deformity which those miserable Wretches cause in the beauty of the Universe there is this order at least that the inequality of their punishment bears a proportion with that of their offences However it would be better for them not to be than to have such a miserable being it is plain that Christ who merits the conservation of their existence and upholds them in the order of his Iustice is rather their Judge than their Saviour Thus Erastus all things subsist in Christ he preserves his work after he hath cleansed it from the filthiness of sin and reconciles through his blood all Creatures with God as to what concerns the preservation of their being But if he gives peace to Heaven and Earth he no less kindles an everlasting War in Hell Thus you see Aristarchus how all the several parts of Religion prove and maintain one another What I have told you is not a Circle without Principles for my Principles are that we are made that Nature is corrupt and that God acts only for his glory You do not deny them Arist No Theodorus I am convinced But I have some reluctancy to do it for what you tell me seems new to me Theod. Yes Aristarchus what I tell you is new to the generality of Mankind and to such Christians as do not sufficiently understand the mystery of the Religion they profess Christ is not known among worldly Men they do not think on his greatness neither do they know
well hereafter But when we judge rashly of things without consulting any other master than our imagination or the doctrine of certain false-learned 't is impossible for us to come near God Arist I can't express to you the pleasure I find in this new way of Philosophising I rejoyce to see that Children and ignorant men are the most capable of true wisdom and I am charm'd to learn from Erastus things on which I had not so much as thought before His answers instruct me more than the high reasonings of our Philosophers and methinks every word he speaks spreads in my mind a pure Light that doth not dazzle by its lustre and yet disperses all my Darkness Theod. I will go on then with my questions to Erastus since you are so well pleased with hearing him Hear me my dear Erastus you told me just now that Fire can move variously the particles of your hand because bodies can act on bodies You believe then that bodies have a power to move those they meet Erast My Eyes tell me so but my mind doth not tell me so yet for I have not yet examined that question Theod. Well then answer me Hath a body power to move it self Erast I do not believe it Theod. Is then the power that moves bodies distinguish'd from these bodies Erast I don't know Theod. Take notice Erastus that I do not speak of motion The local motion of a body is a kind of being of that body with respect to those that are about it I do not speak of that but of the power which causes it I ask you if this power is something that is corporeal and if it is in the power of bodies to communicate it Erast I do not believe it for if it were any thing corporeal it would not be able to move it self No Theodorus I do not believe that bodies can communicate to those they meet a power which they have not themselves a power they could not communicate though they had it In short a power whose diffusion and communication they could not be able to direct in a manner as regular as is that which we see since bodies do not even know either the bigness or motion of those they meet It seems to me that an intelligent being and one and the same intelligent being must produce and regulate all the motions of matter since the communication of the motion is always the same in the same accidents For all bodies or many intelligent beings would not easily agree together to act always after the same manner in the communication of motions Arist Methinks Erastus runs too fast and loses himself For it seems to me that those things which are always done the same way are not done by an intelligent being but by a blind action caeco impetu naturae Theod. You mistake your self Erastus is not out and you ought not to attribute to a blind impetuosity that which comes from the immutability of the author of nature I see you do not know that 't is the mark of an excellent workman to produce admirable effects by acting always after the same manner and by the most simple means I will not undertake to lead you to God that way it is too difficult and does not afford us a notion of God so useful to morality I would discover him to you as the Sole Author of the felicity of the Just and of the misery of the Wicked and in a word as being alone able to act in us For I ought not only to demonstrate to you that he is which certainly is but seldom doubted of but I ought also to demonstrate to you that he is our good in all respects for that 's a thing which is not sufficiently known I return to Erastus You are perswaded my dear Erastus that neither Fire nor the Sun nor any one of those bodies that surround you are the true causes of what you feel at their presence and in this you are wiser than all those who have worshipped Fire or the Sun You do not even believe that bodies have any natural power to move those they meet and in that too you see more clearly than those who worship the Heavens the Elements and all those bodies which Aristotle call'd divine because he believed they had in them a power to move themselves and to produce by this motion all the good or evils whereof men are capable But it is not sufficient to know that bodies do not act on you you must also discover the true cause of all that is produced in you You feel warmth and pain at the presence of Fire Now Fire doth not produce this warmth and this pain in you What must it be then Erastus Erast I must confess to you that I know nothing of it Theod. Is it not your soul who acts on her self who afflicts her self when Fire separates the particles of the body she loves or who rejoyces when the same fire produces in her body a motion proper to keep you alive and help the circulation of the blood Erast I do not believe it Theod. Why Pray Erast Because the soul doth not know that the fire moves or separates the fibres of the body I felt heat and pain before I had learnt by the reflections I made what fire is able to produce on my body And do not believe that Clowns who know nothing of what fire doth operate in them are free from pain when they are burnt Besides I do not know what is the motion that is proper to keep me alive and help the circulation of the blood And if I were to feel no heat till I knew it perhaps I should never feel any In short when I happen to burn my self by inadvertency I feel pain before all things I might perhaps conclude by the pain I feel that there is in my body some motion at work which offends it but ' its evident that the knowledge of those motions neither precede nor cause any pain Theod. Your Reasons Erastus are altogether sound But what think you of them Aristarchus Arist They seem to me probable enough However Erastus how can you tell but that your soul hath a certain knowledge of instinct which discovers to her in a moment all that happens in her body Answer me Erastus Answer me quickly then 'T is a strange thing you never answer me readily Erast I do not understand your meaning but all that I can say to you is that when I know actually something I am sure that I do know it for I am not distinguish'd from my self If my soul had actually some knowledge of instinct or whatsoever other you please for I don't understand that word very well I should know it Yet now that I come near the fire I do not know that I have the knowledge of the motions that are actually produced in my hand tho I feel in it sometimes a pain and sometimes a kind of pleasure or titillation There is not then actually
three years he doubtless took great pleasure to teach three or four of us young Men who came to hear him since he wou'd fatigue himself every Morning to repeat the miserable Reasons which he plunder'd out of Aristotle's Problems Now he reads no more for we hearing him no longer with admiration he speaks no more with pleasure He even has much aversion for all Discourses of Learning and as he is a little troublesom we have found out the secret to get rid of his Company by proposing some Question to him to have it resolv'd Theod. This Example Erastus was not needful to convince us that Persons who are wedded to some sensible thing do not search after Truth for its sake You see that we are well enough convinc'd of it You may observe the weakness of other Men and how their Vanity renders 'em miserable provided that you suppose your self in their person for we are all very near one as the other But Erastus we never ought to inspire into any one a Contempt of or Estrangement from a Person unless we are certain I say certain that he is dangerous and contagious Otherwise we must speak in general terms You would perhaps by your judicious Reflection give us to understand that you are witty we already know it but we knew not that you would have it known 'T is a hard thing to accuse others of Vanity without condemning one's self of the same thing or something else equivalent Thus Erastus you may constantly observe continually criticize but think and correct your self and if you would not condemn your self hold your peace You freely grant Aristarchus that the Councels of JESVS CHRIST are necessary to acquire that perfection of the Mind which consists in the knowledg of Truth Nevertheless JESVS CHRIST came not to make us Philosophers his Councels as I told you yesterday tend only indirectly and by reason of their universality to make us wise But if he gave not to his Disciples many Precepts of Logic to reason justly yet he taught them all necessary Rules to live well and gave them also all necessary power to follow them 'T is for this end that JESVS CHRIST is come his design is to remedy the disorder of Sin to reunite us to God by separating us from the Body to save us and raise us up to himself in Heaven We shall eternally remain such as we shall be in the moment that our Soul shall leave our Body If we love God in this moment we shall love him always for the motion of Spirits is only unconstant and meritorious for this life But all human Sciences are in themselves unprofitable to regulate this moment upon which depends our Eternity they merit us not the Assistances of Heaven for this moment they incline not our hearts towards God Thus JESVS CHRIST was not to guide us directly to this perfection of the Mind which is barren for Eternity and which ceases at the moment of Death he was to recommend to us a privation from sensible Good to the end that our hearts may be fill'd with his love being empty of every thing else and to the end that adhering to nothing in the moment that commences Eternity our love may carry us towards God who is the source of all happiness Let us not then any more consider the Councels of JESVS CHRIST with respect to the knowledg of Truth but with respect to this perfection of Mind which consists in the love of real Good in Charity which remains for ever which alone merits Eternity and without which all Virtues are but imaginary Let us examin the Morality of the Gospel with relation to the Rule of Manners but let us examin it with all possible strictness that there may be no Subject for a second Enquiry let us not be convinc'd less of our Duties by Reason than we are by Faith Certainly if the things which I have prov'd concerning JESVS CHRIST in the preceding Conferences are true there remains no doubt about the truths of Morality we must renounce our own Wills we must bear his Cross we must weep fast and suffer JESVS CHRIST hath said it If he is God if he is Wise 't is evident that his Councels are very advantageous to us But because we can't be too much convinc'd of the truth of these Propositions which are so incommodious and which offend us so sensibly we must endeavor to discover by our own Reason that there is no other remedy for our Evils Perhaps we shall do like those that are dangerously hurt who to preserve a miserable life present their own Bodies to the Surgeons to be cut and burnt they believe these Men upon their word and confide in their Operations and expose themselves to a great pain in an uncertain prospect of a Good which in itself is very inconsiderable What then should hinder us from imitating them when the evidence of Reason concurs with the certainty of Faith If we refuse to believe in JESVS CHRIST if we fear not Eternity if we hearken to out Senses and Passions yet it may be that Reason join'd to Faith will effect our Conviction And it may be that by continually condemning our laziness it will excite in us a profitable Inquietude Let us therefore examin those things in their Principle We ought only to love what is lovely No Thing is lovely but what is good but no Thing is good with respect to us if it be uncapable of doing us good if it be uncapable of rendring us more perfect and happy for I speak not here of a kind of Good which consists in the perfection of every thing Now no Thing is capable of rendring us more perfect and happy if it be not above us and capable of acting in us But all Bodies are below us they can't act in us they can't produce in us either pleasure or light then they are not to be belov'd What think you Erastus Erast When I ask my Reason I freely rest upon this but when I make use of my Senses I doubt it Yet as my Reason answers me more distinctly than my Senses as it is preferable to my Senses and as it never deceives me tho' my Senses always do when I make use of them to judge of Truth I believe that sensible Objects are uncapable of rendring me more perfect and happy Theod. Then you ought not to love Bodies Erast 'T is true this is evident Theod. But don't you love them Erast Much Theodorus I follow not my Reason I follow my Senses my Pleasure Theod. Thus Erastus To love sensible things it 's sufficient to taste Pleasure in the use of 'em Pleasure captivates the Heart it acts more powerfully upon you than your reason since you love because of pleasure such things as you know by reason are unworthy of your Love Erast I have for a long time known what you now tell me Theod. I don't doubt it 't is not to teach you what I now tell you but
may be worthy the Friendship I have for him I am going to endeavour his Conversion I have a world of things to say to him Theod. As he is capable of knowing and loving God he cannot but be worthy your Friendship for now nothing but that can recommend us to the love of one another since we don't perfectly know each other We begin even in this Life to love God and our Neighbour but because we are not to have a clear sight of God nor of our Neighbour till we are in Heaven our Charity cannot be perfect till we are there Go Sir see your Friend But you Erastus pray what do you think on Erast Aristarchus thinks on his Friend and I think on my self I don't know Theodorus whether I shall be here to morrow or no. Methinks I ought to make a good use of the Truths you have taught me I leave you for I am now too much disorder'd you doubtless perceive it well enough I recommend all things to your Prayers The Tenth and Last DIALOGUE Arist I Have a great deal of News to tell you Theodorus my Friend at last is converted but we have lost Erastus Theod. Pray what 's become of him Arist I just now discover'd it His Mother and I wondring that he was not at home at Dinner-time I went up into his Chamber to look for him and found this Letter seal'd up on his Table For Aristarchus I Am convinc'd Aristarchus by Reason and by Faith by a clear Light and an infallible Authority by the intelligible words of inward Truth and by the sensible words of incarnate Truth in short by all that can convince a Rational and Christian Soul that the most safe and usual way to come to God is to seclude our selves from the World and deprive our selves of all sensual things But I ought to take the greater care for the more the business is of consequence the more 't is necessary difficult and dangerous I ought therefore Aristarchus to retire to some place where I may be shelter'd against the persecution of those who would have me apply my self to some studies that are necessary to qualifie a Gentleman for some Employments to which I do not find my self to have a particular Call 'T is true indeed I do not find my self to have a particular and extraordinary call for the design I have But there needs no particular Call when Reason alone and the general vocation of Christians is sufficient Without doubt those who engage in the affairs of this World ought to have a particular Call to that way of living for Reason and our general vocation teach us to do otherwise But as the World goes now methinks a Man needs but to have common Sense and to believe the Gospel to do what I have done However as I would not engage in a particular Course of Life without a particular Call I 'll be still ready to return to you when 't is necessary But I declare I would think my self guilty of a less fault should I without a particular Call presume to conform my self to the way of living of the Religious Persons with whom I intend to live than if without a Call I enter'd into the Bonds of Matrimony or took an Employment that would tye me to too many things All my Relations persecute me every one according to his humour and ambition They have ends which I neither have nor would have Besides I would gladly break off the Society which I have with some infectious Wits who perhaps will abhor me at my coming back In short I believe I ought seriously to mind what is most essential Anthimus and Philemon are very fit to finish what Theodorus hath begun So I am now going to them you know they have wish'd for my coming a long while I beg that you will not impute my withdrawing my self without any previous leave or notice to a want of Friendship for you or of Dutifulness to my Mother Far from this I did it because the Natural Affection which I ought to have for her and you is too violent I dreaded the Consequences of it in the performance of a Design which I was resolved to fulfil for fear of being wanting in that which I owe to God but at last I perswaded my self that as my Mother and you have a very great esteem for the Persons to whom I am now going you will both of you forgive the omission of a peice of Formality which I could not keep merely out of too deep a sense of Love for you I did not dare write to my Mother at first but I beseech you dearest Cozen perswade her to admit of the Assurances of my Duty and Submission I know that next to God I owe all things to her As for Theodorus I pray you to tell him that I 'll continually meditate on the Principles which he discover'd to me and that I love Truth extremely By this he 'll easily know that I 'll seldom be without thinking of him Arist What think you of all this Theodorus Theod. If you would know Sir what I think of Erastus I must needs tell you that I never knew a more just and penetrating Mind a purer and clearer Imagination a sweeter and more honourable Temper a more upright and generous Heart and in short that I never saw a more accomplisht young Man than Erastus As for his Conduct if you blame any thing in it do but Answer what his Letter says in his Justification Finding himself here holden by Tyes that inslave him he breaks them publickly not being able to get free otherwise He is afraid of not being able to preserve the Purity of his Imagination the Freedom of his Mind and the Love of True Good among Persons who use to take all Things upon Trust without examining the Truth and who by their imposing Ways and infectious Behaviour are continually like to make some 〈◊〉 Impressions on his Mind You see that even some of his Relations persecute and seduce him They endeavour to bring him in to the World for their own Credit and they would have him to become considerable there that his Advancement may promote theirs and his Glory reflect some upon them But Erastus is convinc'd by the Strength of Reason that Wealth Pomp and Greatness disorder the Minds of those that enjoy them he is also convinced of it by the Authority of Christ Would you not have him be guided by his Light and Faith Would you have him grasp a Phantasm that vanishes court a Stage-Greatness and feed himself up with Illusions and Chimaera's Either let them prove to him that he follows a false Light and that Christ is a Seducer or else let him alone Arist Do not think Theodorus that I have the least Thing to object against his Conduct I will rather follow him than disturb him in his Design He is in the Right I am fully convinced of it not only by what we said in our former Conferences but