irrevocable leap from the Delights of this World to the Miseries of the other 3. No no there is no remedy that most bitter Potion is forc't not voluntary and it must of necessity be drunk for they will not let thee spill it To die to be judged to have Sentence executed and to conclude all and make an end for ever is but one instant See how thou goest out of this Life for so thou shalt enter into Judgment see in what condition thou art to make thy account for in the same thou shalt come from thy account see well how thy Case stands for according to the Proof so shall the Sentence be There is no mending of Answers no Wrestings nor Perjuries nor Briberies in that high Court of Justice all is dispatched in a moment the Charge the Answer the Judgment the Sentence and the Execution The Sentence is but to look upon the Criminal to come into the Presence of God is to be condemned and even but to come into the Presence of God is a casting off the Wicked from his sight for ever and a receiving of the Good into eternal Joys 4. What and is there then no remedy for a Sinner before God's Tribunal Is there no way to come off from that Judgment and from that account Yes there is a remedy But what I beseech you To judge thy self in this Life and to call thy self daily to strict account Let the Sinner pass Judgment upon himself during his Life and then his Death shall be a Comfort his Account a Blessing that great Day a Day of Mercy then the Sentence shall be Joy and the Execution Glory The Sentence is published there but the Tryal is made here and according as the Case is found the Sentence is fitted to the Tryal God pronounces the Sentence in his Tribunal according to the Tryal but thou and I are here forming and giving Matter to that Tryal by our Thoughts by our Words and by our Actions Take heed what thou doest for there thou shalt find it and take heed what thou sayest for there thou shalt hear it the Tryal I say is of our own making by it that most righteous Judge shall judge us take heed then what thou thinkest for there thou shalt see it and take heed what thou sowest for there thou shalt reap it 5. As thy Life shall be here such shall be thy Death thy Account and thy Sentence at that Tribunal and afterwards the Execution The Judgment is God's Truth the Sentence is his Righteousness and the Execution his Justice It is neither the Judgment nor the Sentence principally which condemns a Person but the wickedness of his Life The Sentence of God's eternal Judgment is rather a Declaration then a Condemnation Thou didst sentence and condemn thy self when thou didst Sin and being already condemned thou goest to be judged by dying in thy sins All that is done there is but to declare that thy Wickedness deserves Hell and thy Life eternal Death 6. And according to this at the last Judgment in the Gospel our Lord says nothing else in pronouncing it but Go ye cursed or Come ye blessed of my Father He does not say My will condemns the Wicked nor my will absolves the Good as he finds them so he judges he finds those cursed and as cursed he casts them from him he finds these blessed and as blessed he calls them he embraces them and takes them to himself The reason of this is because that as God is the eternal Truth he judges according as he finds the Tryal and if that be deadly the Sentence of necessity must be so likewise 7. He that will escape Judgment at the Day of Judgment must begin from this present time to judge himself He that will clear his account at that day of Account must begin in this Life to call himself to an account Let a Man take good heed on what hand he lives in this mortal Life on that hand he shall be placed in the immortal Life if on the Left hand then on the Left if on the Right-hand on the Right In this World which is full of Deceits and Equivocations in Suits and Causes all the danger of the Person condemned is in the Judgment past upon him for his Innocence will little avail to save him if the Sentence condemn him nor if that absolve him will the greatest Crime and the most evidently proved do him any harm but at God's Tribunal the Danger is not in the Sentence but in the Case of the Criminal Hereby amongst many other Reasons God is justified in condemning the Wicked although he be Mercy it self for it is not his Mercy Goodness and Pity but the Sins the Guilt and the Malice of the Wicked that condemns them 'T is they that choose their own Sentence for they make their own process in this Life 'T is they that make Hell their own choice because they wilfully choose those Sins that carry them thither and will not choose Repentance that would free them from it They are the makers of their own Misfortunes and themselves are the Causes of their Death their Hell and their Damnation by not applying Tears and Contrition to their Sins 8. O what a strange Doctrine is this According to it there is nothing to be fear'd at the Day of Judgment but our Lives nothing to be fear'd in the Sentence but our Sins Nay all is to be fear'd for terrible and dreadful are the Judgments of the Lord yet are they just righteous and holy therefore fear Sin which brings thee to be sentenc'd fear Guilt which brings thee for ever to be condemned fear that Sentence which throws thee into eternal Damnation and fear that Judgment which casts thee headlong to everlasting Torments The Second WEEK Of the Rectitude and Severity of the Judgment 1. BUT admit all this be so yet may not some of our faults be forgotten or some of our Sins excused at that Day Thô I go out of this Life in the Judge's disfavour may I not in the other Appeal or reply or beg and obtain his Favour before he pass the Sentence May I not by Gift or Craft or Industry or subtilty of Discourse evade or extenuate or hide or at least disguise the Sins I have committed 2. O how foolishly doest thou argue if thou canst have such a Thought Thou art more blind in thy reasoning than thou art in sinning for that is but weakness but this the highest Ignorance What excuse canst thou possibly have for offending thy God and thy Redeemer who died upon the Cross only to free thee from Death and Sin What excuse for not being willing to take the Benefit of his Sacraments What excuse for rejecting his Helps and holy Inspirations What excuse for the frequent rebelling against his holy Commandments What excuse for refusing his divine Counsels What excuse for stopping thine ears to the Masters of Christian Instruction and to those loud Cries with which his
Thy fear of his Judgment is so great because that of thy Sins is so little Thou livest in a course of wickedness and committest thy wickedness with boldness and even with greediness and then thou art afraid to be judged and that is because thou art to be justly condemned But thy chief and principal fear ought to be that of offending so severe a Judge and thy chief and principal hope ought to be that of being judged by so indulgent and so loving a Father It is the part of an unfaithful Servant not to dare appear before his Master's face and though he fears him yet he does not love him But a good Servant is glad to come to the Presence of his Master Every Call of his is a joy to him every Command a comfort and he runs chearfully to wait upon him at every knock but an evil Servant is afraid to see him because he was not afraid to offend him 10. Every sin thou committest unless thou repent of it is a rigorous Sentence against thy self every guilty action and every wilful transgression is a Criminal Article whereof thou accusest thy self at that Tribunal How is it possible for thee not to tremble and dread the Judgment and thy Account in the other Life if thou livest without Judgment and without Account in this Repent therefore pray and weep love and serve thy Judge here that thou mayest find him kind gentle and gracious hereafter He is a Judge that suffers himself to be gain'd in this life therefore use means to win his favour before he comes to Judge thee in his anger for thy having slighted and neglected to get his favour when thou mightest have done it Tremble with apprehension to see him in his wrath who may yet be appeased by the means I have shewed thee and who being reconciled first fills the Penitent's Soul with transports of his Love and after with those Joys and Pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore The Fourth WEEK Of the Vniversal Judgment at the end of the World 1. I AM something comforted with your Discourse says the Penitent but I have heard dreadful things of that great Day when all Mankind must rise to Judgment that horrible Trumpet which makes even the Dead to hear how much more the deaf does also make the heart to tremble and confounds the senses with amazement It is no wonder indeed that thou shouldst be dismayed at that which affrighted St. Hierome and very many other holy Men thou mayest very well tremble at that which they were afraid of 2. Who can choose but fear and tremble to see the whole Creation destroyed by the Creator of it and all the World consumed by his powerful hand Who can choose but fear the Signs which fore-run that Judgment those terrible Earth-quakes and horrible roarings of the Sea Who would not fear to see the Elements those preservers of Life to become its furious Enemies and fighting with one another to become the Ministers of Death Who can choose but fear to see the confusion of Mankind some calling on the Rocks to hide them others upon the Darkness to cover them all being full of terror and astonishment to see all sorts of miseries come together to bring our Nature to an end Who can choose but fear to see the Sun covered with a deadly Vail his light obscured that of the Moon extinguished the Stars also falling from their places and overwhelming the Generations of Men. Nothing to be heard but publick Complaints and Lamentations Cries Sighs and Groans nothing to be seen but Fears Dangers Losses Miseries and Confusions 3. Can any one choose but be affrighted to see the dead rise again by God's Command at the sound of that horrible Trumpet to take up the consumed and scattered pieces of their Body to cloath themselves therewith and each one unite it to his Soul that he may appear at the dreadful Judgment-seat of God waiting for the Sentence either of Eternal Life or of Eternal Death Who can choose but be amazed with fear to see the Almighty cloathed in Majesty to come down with the Court of Heaven armed with Justice to be exercised against sin and wickedness Who would not be dismayed to see the Creator hurle flames of fire against all he hath created to see Houses and Cities Palaces and Kingdoms burnt together and finally to see the whole World destroyed in that cruel and dreadful Conflagration Who would not even dye with fear to see so many Angels and so many Devils together divided from one another on the right hand and on the left expecting the word of Sentence to be put in execution The Angels carrying the good to Eternal Joys and the Devils dragging the wicked to Eternal Torments 4. How is it possible not to fear a Tribunal so dreadful a Judgment so terrible and a Sentence so formidable from whence there is no Appeal and the Execution whereof is either Life Eternal or Death Eternal for ever for ever for ever so that they shall know no end of that ever ever ever My Soul is astonished and amazed in the consideration of the Universal Judgment It is dismayed to think and to imagine all this which is but as a Dream thus represented to us in writing in comparison of what it will be and of what we shall see it in effect 5. Grant O Lord that I may tremble bewail lament and sigh deeply for my sins and wickednesses before I hear that killing Sentence pronounced against them by thy Divine lips Grant that my Tears and Repentance my Sorrow and Contrition may make my polluted Soul fit to be washed and purified by thy most precious Blood to the end I may never hear that confounding word Go ye cursed into eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels 6. O give me grace to imitate the Martyrs in Faith the Confessors in Hope and the Blessed Virgin thy most holy Mother and all the rest of the Saints in Charity to the end I may hear that most sweet and most welcome call of Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world 7. Oh that I had never offended thee my dearest Lord that I might not see thee offended Oh that I had ever served thee that I might see thee appeased Mercy sweet Saviour mercy in this Life that I may find it in the Judgment and in the Sentence of the Life to come Prepare me O Lord Jesus for my particular Judgment that I may be able to stand in thy Universal Judgment Have mercy upon me when thou shalt Judge me alone to the end thou mayest have mercy upon me when thou shalt Judge me and all the World together O grant I may live with such care to judge and call my self to an Account in this Life that the remembrance of that other which I must one day give to thee and my earnest endeavour to make my self ready for it may
at last they might have an end and that there did shine some glimpse of hope though so remote of their being ended it were not absolutely Hell It is no infernal Evil that hath a conclusion nor can that be called the Pain of the Damned which can be seen as it were behind going away from them That ever ever ever eternity eternity eternity is the Torment of all the Torments of Hell To shut the door against all Mercy for ever To bolt and lock the Gates of Hell and to throw the Key into the bottomless Pit so that it shall never be taken out of it again For the Damned to turn their Eyes on every side and find all passages utterly barr'd up to see the Dungeon not inhabitable and yet closed up on every side and to lie burning and suffering in it to eternity this this is the Evil of all the Evils of Hell 3. Never never never to see the Face of God! That the Damned shall never be admitted to the Light of his heavenly Countenance That they shall never have any benefit by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ which he came to offer for them as well as for the rest of Mankind if they would have made themselves capable of it That the Devils shall never stir from their sides nor cease one moment to torment them That they shall never be able to think one honest thought to speak one vertuous Word nor to do any one Action but what shall be abominably wicked That they shall always go wishing and seeking for Death and yet never find it That neither the Tormentor nor the Tormented nor the Torments themselves nor the place of those Torments shall ever come to an end What is this good Lord what is this but Horror and Astonishment 4. Ah how my Thoughts are disturbed and even distracted and Nature it self is in amazement and in a manner lost in the Meditation of these Things How well was it spoken of him that said there were but two sorts of Punishments to be ordain'd in this World for all those that are the Followers of it and that are deceived by it One for the Heretick if he does not believe and another for the Fool if he believes and does not do accordingly Is there a Hell for ever And yet we do we sin Is there a Hell for ever And yet do we not fear Is there a Hell for ever And yet do we not repent Oh! what a Terror is stricken into my Soul by contemplating the Eternity of those Torments But is it not hard that God should inflict eternal Punishments for temporal Offences Oh take heed of judging thy Judge who has forbidden thee to judge so much as thy Neighbour how much more then thy Creator If thou wilt needs be judging judge thy self for that thou lawfully mayest do but presume not to question his ways for they are unsearchable and his Judgments past finding out Thou mayest as well empty the vastness of the Ocean and pour all the Water of it into an Egg-shell as fathom the Depths of his Proceedings with thy shallow capacity Yet there want not Reasons to convince thee of God's Justice and to vindicate it from Incongruity God sets before thee Blessing and Cursing Life eternal and Death eternal he shews thee the way to obtain the one and to escape the other He calls upon thee often in his Word and by his Ministers to walk in the narrow way that leads to Life but if still thou wilt go in that great Road which thou knowest must of necessity bring thee to eternal Death thou makest it thine own choice and oughtest rather to blame thine own choice and oughtest rather to blame thine own Folly than God's Justice He hath set before thee Heaven and Hell and out of his exceeding love sent his own Son to take Man's Nature upon him on purpose that he might suffer Death to redeem thee from the one and purchase the other for thee He swears As I live I will not the Death of a Sinner but rather that he would turn from his wickedness and live He invites thee earnestly saying Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways and kindly expostulates Why will ye die But if after all this method of Mercy Men will not be wrought upon but will run on to their own destruction which they are forewarn'd must be eternal it is their own will not God's severity that is to be blamed Besides if a Man sin as long as he can even to his Death and would continue to do so for ever if he lived so long which is not unknown to God who searches the secretest corners of his Heart and foresees his most hidden thoughts long before that they are only evil and that continually can it be unjust that he should be condemned to suffer continually He does what he can against God by his Sin and may not God justly correspond with him in punishment He never ceased from Sins while he had power to commit them and God ceases not from punishing while he hath power to inflict it which is for ever Add to this that an offence which may seem very small against an equal becomes an heinous Crime if committed against the Majesty of a King by one of the basest of his Subjects And if David who was a great King calls himself a Worm and no Man humbling himself in the Presence of God how vast must the disproportion be between God's infinite Majesty and such a Worm as thou art being so much inferior to David Therefore even the smallest of thy Sins committed against that infinite Majesty must needs have an infinite guilt and so may justly suffer an infinite punishment More Arguments might be brought to this purpose but to dispute those Points is not the business of this Design This is enough to shew their Error and teach them to beg pardon for it beseeching God to forgive the lightest Thought that can entrench upon his Justice and to give them Grace to make such use of this Representation of those eternal Pains as may make them careful instantly to forsake and lament their Sins and totally to apply themselves to obtain his Mercies 5. If I have struck a Terror by representing the bodily Pains of Hell and the Duration of them how will it move thee seriously to consider how far they are exceeded by the Torments of that Worm of Conscience which gnaws the Souls of the Damned which kills them without suffering them to die and which devours and consumes them without any diminution or bringing them one moment nearer to their end This is Hell in the Abstract The Pains and Torments of the Body shew only the outside of those Vessels of Wrath and of that Hell where they are tortured but the inside of it is that Worm of a Man 's own Conscience and his rage against himself for his Sins and Follies This is the bitterness of that Cup of Gall and Wormwood wherewith those Vessels are filled
a scandal to others as this wretched Person is to me Grant that I may detest the Vice but not the Man Convert him I beseech thee from the evil of his ways and so strengthen me in the Paths of thy Commandments that I may never fall away but persevere in them constantly unto my Live's end Of the Benefit of Preservation whereby we our selves have been delivered from particular Dangers Now if the Calamities of others when but look'd upon are a just Motive to us of Thankfulness how much more those we our selves have been freed from by particular Escapes God permitting us sometimes to fall into dangers that his Goodness and fatherly Care may be the more visibly manifested in our deliverance and that we may acknowledge our selves more obliged to remember them with Gratitude and to make him returns of Duty and Obedience Thou mayest be able to relate and express those he has shew'd to thee I will relate those done to my self though it be more easie to have a Sense of them than to express it I shall not need to insist upon his Benefits of doing one good since thou wilt know them by those of delivering me from evil Here the Author reckons up his particular deliverances which I omit to insert Do thou likewise Reader following his Example recount to thy self the chief of those dangers God hath preserved thee in which it concerns thee carefully to remember and gratefully to lay them to heart And when thou hast recollected as many as thou canst say with the Psalmist Praise thou the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me praise his holy Name Praise the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits Who forgiveth all thy Sins and healeth all thine Infirmities Who saveth thy Life from destruction and crowneth thee with mercy and loving kindness I will always give thanks unto the Lord his praise shall ever be in my mouth O praise the Lord with me and let us magnify his Name together Of the Preservation of our Souls But is not the Preservation of the Body from corporal Death much less considerable than that of the Soul from spiritual Death Yes certainly There is no comparison between them for the former is only in order to the latter and when he saves us from any such dangers as those I have before-mentioned they are to mind us of our Mortality and to make us think in what condition we should have been if he had then snatch'd us suddenly out of this World His sparing us longer was only to give us a longer time to repent and to urge us to make use of it to the end that when he shall come again to take us away in good earnest he may find us prepar'd for Death in being reconciled to him by Repentance and newness of Life Thus in all the occasions wherein he delivered me from a Temporal he delivered me also from eternal Death affording me a longer time to break off and to forsake my Sins by a Repentance not to be repented of quick'ning my Faith to lay faster hold on my Saviour least I should be pluck'd away from him as I had like to have been while I was in so great an Error as to presume he would be held by me whilst I was loath to let go my sins as if it had been possible to embrace Christ and the World both at the same time How often when his Divine Majesty was ready to throw me justly into Hell with one hand hath he detained me with the other And when I was already condemn'd by his Divine Justice how often hath he saved me by his Compassion and Mercy How often when I was going nay running to throw my self into the infernal Flames hath this compassionate Lord stopt me in my Career and freed me from Temptations which were hurrying me to eternal Miseries How often hath he driven back the Devil who had seized me and was dragging me away when his Divine Majesty laid hold upon me rescued sustained and receivcd me pardoning my wickedness and embracing me in the Arms of his boundless Charity How often when being blind and foolish I went astray hath he sought me and brought me home How hath he called advertised reproved and counselled me by which means I was recovered and restored How often sometimes sleeping sometimes waking while I was dead to Grace but quick to Sin hath he rouzed me up called me and led me by the hand to make me forsake Sin and return to Grace Who then bound the Hands of his Justice who entreated for me when I was lull'd asleep in that sinful security What was there in me that I should find more favour than those that are taken away from amongst us in the midst of their days and in the heat of their youthful Lusts My Sins cried out against me but the Lord stopped his Ears My offences daily encreased against him and his Mercies abounded as daily towards me I sinned and he did expect me I fled from him and he followed me and when I was even weary in offending him yet his long sufferance was not weary in expecting me for in the midst of all my Sins I received many good Inspirations and Reproofs from his Holy Spirit which check'd me in my inconsiderate course of Life How often did he call me with the Voice of Love How often did he terrifie me with threats and fears laying before me the Peril of Death and the Rigour of his Divine Justice How often hath he followed me with his Word preached How often invited me with Blessings and chastened me with Crosses compassing me about and hedging my way with Thorns that I might not be able to break from him By all these holy Methods he made me at last to see the Vanity the Folly the Deceitfulness and even the Painfulness of Sin l found that it was dangerous and costly as well as slavish to be hurried up and down by the Tyranny of my unruly and vicious Passions I found I had no fruit of those things whereof I was afterwards ashamed and was at last convinced that the end of them was Death nay and death eternal Then did I fully resolve being assisted by thy Grace with an unchangeable purpose to alter my course of Life and to run the way of thy Commandments since thou hadst set my Heart at liberty My Soul escaped even as a Bird out of the Hand of the Fowler the Snare was broken and I was delivered O let me never again be entangled with the Birdlime of sinful Delights from which it is so hard to get disengag'd but grant I may now soar up to those Pleasures which are at thy Right-hand for evermore taking my flight freely to thee and to the Ark of thy rest for the Deluge of Wickedness that hath covered the Face of the Earth affords no safe place for the sole of my Foot O put forth thine hand to take me in to thee as Noah did the Dove
their Frailty can permit they need neither desire nor trouble themselves for more and if God shall please to give them any thing beyond that let them decline it with Humility or receive it with Reverence and preserve it with Fear working in all things with resignation and the Counsel of their Spiritual Guide for the Revelations whereby we are to be saved are already revealed to the Church and for the rest though they may be profitable yet they are not necessary to my Design To conclude I offer this Work such as it is full I confess of Imperfections to all that are desirous to improve and go forward in the Spiritual Life with a most affectionate desire of their good earnestly exhorting them to the principal end which the whole aims at namely to know how much earthly transitory things ought to be despised and therefore to flie from Vices to avoid Worldly Delights and to embrace those which are Heavenly and Eternal to practise the Vertues to frequent the Sacrament to Pray earnestly and often and finally to labour and take pains in the Kingdom of Grace that they may come to enjoy God eternally in the Kingdom of Glory AN INDEX OF THE Several Subjects treated of in each Month and Week of this Spiritual Year JANUARY Week I. OF the Frailty of Humane Nature Week II. Of the Weakness of Man and the Miseries of his Body Week III. Of the Miseries of the Soul and its Passions Week IV. Of the Miseries and Sins of each Man in particular FEBRUARY Week I. Of the Remembrance of Death Week II. How much it concerns the Soul to remember Death in the time of Life Week III. The dreadful Call of God to the sinner that defers Repentance till his Death Week IV. The Answer of a Repenting sinner and that we ought to prepare our selves for Death MARCH Week I. Of the particular Account that each man is to give immediately after his Death Week II. Of the Rectitude and Severity of the Judgment Week III. Of the means there are in this Life to prevent the Account and Judgment of the other Week IV. Of the Universal Judgment at the end of the World APRIL Week I. Of the Torments of Hell Week II. Of the Place of Hell Week III. Of the Company of the Damned and of their pain of Sense Week IV. Of the duration of the pain above-mentioned of the pain of Loss and of the Worm of Conscience MAY. Week I. Of the Divine Benefits Of the Benefit of Creation Week II. Of the Institution of Matrimony Of Civil Society and Government Week III. Of the Benefit of Preservation first of our Bodies Of Preservation from particucular dangers Of the Preservation of our Souls Of the Guard of Angels Week IV. Of the Benefit of Redemption JUNE Week I. Of Baptism and Confirmation Week II. Of Repentance and Absolution Of the Holy Eucharist A Prayer Week III. Of Frequenting the Sacrament Week IV. Of the Kingdom of Grace Of the Purity of Intentions Of Purity of Conscience JULY Week I. Of Temptations and the Grace of God in them That it is no easie matter to be sav'd but that it is necessary to fight Of the Grace of God Week II. Of the Glory of the Blessed Week III. Of the Imitation of the Life of our Blessed Saviour and of his Mysteries Of the Mystery of the Incarnation Of the Birth of our Lord. Week IV. Of the other Mysteries of our Lord till his Preaching and first of his Circumcision The Adoration of the Kings Of his Presentation in the Temple Of his Flight into Egypt Of the other Mysteries AUGUST Week I. Of the Baptism and Preaching of our Lord with his Doctrine Miracles and Parables Week II. The Eve of the Passion Of the last Supper and of the washing of his Disciples Feet Of the Institution of the Holy Sacrament Of the Consecration of the Apostles Week III. Of his Agony in the Garden his Death Resurrection and Ascension Week IV. Of the Exercise of the three Theological Vertues Faith Hope and Charity upon Contemplation of the Life and Death of our Saviour SEPTEMBER Week I. Of the Vertue of Religion and of the manner of governing the Cardinal and Moral Vertues by that of Religion Of the Application of Christian Works Week II. Of the three first of the Cardinal Vertues Prudence Justice Fortitude and first of Prudence Of Justice and of good and evil Judges Of Fortitude Week III. Of Temperance the Fourth of the Cardinal Vertues Of the manner of governing the Moral Vertues by the Cardinal Of Judging falsly Week IV. Of Humility and its contrary Pride OCTOBER Week I. Of Liberality and its contrary Covetousness Of Chastity and Abstinence The Mischiefs of Sensuality Of Remedies against Sensuality Of Gluttony Week II. Of Patience Of Anger Of Moderation in speaking and the mischiefs of the Tongue Of Silence Week III. Of Envy Remedies against Envy Of Charity to our Neighbours Of Courtesie Week IV. Of Diligence and Fervency and of the mischiefs of Omission and Sloth NOVEMBER Week I. Of the Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit in general Of Charity the First Fruit of the Holy Spirit Week II. Of Peace the Second Fruit of the Holy Spirit Week III. Of Longanimity and Benignity the Third and Fourth Fruits of the Holy Spirit Week IV. Of Faith the Fifth Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Continence the Sixth Fruit. DECEMBER Week I. Of Joy the Seventh Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Patience the Eighth Fruit. Week II. Of Goodness the Ninth Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Meekness the Tenth Fruit. Week III. Of Modesty the Eleventh Fruit of the Holy Spirit Of Chastity the Twelfth and last Fruit. Week IV. Of Perseverance and Prayer to God THE Spiritual Year JANVARY The First WEEK Of the Weakness of Humane Nature HEAR Son the Instruction of thy Father and learn to fear God who is thy true Father Consider thy beginning if thou desirest to have a good ending Look what thou art and thou wilt see what thou shalt be Know thy self and thou shalt know God Behold thy self that thou mayest behold him thou art blind from thy birth like the man in the Gospel and mayest recover thy sight as he did by putting Clay upon thine eyes That is the matter thou art made of and it had remain'd Clay for ever if the Spirit of God had not breathed life into it Thus thou seest what Humane Nature is and that it speaks nothing but weakness and frailty 2. Would'st thou see how strong it is Look how long it stood Man being created in Innocence scarce continu'd so for a few days some say hardly a few hours His Nature was so perfect and so strong that it was able to destroy it self and without any inward weakness it yielded in Adam and Eve to an outward Enemy What is it like to be now that it is sick and mortally wounded since it ruined it self when it was sound and healthful Man fell in Paradise in the
inheritance eternal in the Heavens which fadeth not away and not only a temporal Life as well as he but also an eternal one receiving instead of it an everlasting Death as the just Reward of thy more wilful Folly 7. Again Suppose a Husbandman instead of manuring plowing and sowing his Land in the right Season should waste the Year in carelesness and think it time enough to fall to those businesses when his Neighbours who have done them all in due order are reaping their Corn and filling their Barns with a plentiful increase What wouldst thou judge of him for having not only slighted their good Example but despised their frequent Advices to be more provident and industrious Though thou mayst have learnt by the former Simile to apply this to thy self I cannot but condemn thee as more ignorant than the very Birds and Beasts for they infallibly know and exactly observe their several Seasons But all they that delay their Repentance are beyond comparison more ignorant and more slothful then that Husbandman considering the infinite disproportion there is between those hopes that should have moved his Industry and those assurances which should encourage theirs as likewise between those fears that should have quicken'd his sloth and those terrors that should rouze up theirs That Husbandman might possibly make a shift though a hard one to rub out that fruitless Year by the help of charitable Persons and having dearly bought more wit by the sad Experience of his Poverty might buckle close to his work and by future diligence against the following Harvest be Master of as rich a Crop as any in the Field but if thou defer thy Repentance till the Harvest of Death there is no possibility for thee to have another Year No in that Harvest thou shalt be reaped thy self and bound up with the Tares to be cast into the Fire Nor do thou adventure to trust to the Charity of others But remember that although the wise Virgins had Oil in their Lamps yet were they so far from having any to spare that they had hardly enough for themselves and when the foolish ones that wanted came to them for a supply they were sent away with a flat denial and it being then too late to get any for their Money they were shut out from the Feast of the Bridegroom for ever 8. Oh what sad stories might be related to thee upon the Subject of delayed Repentance How many Examples be there of Persons that after long sleeping securely in Sin have been rouzed of a sudden by the sharp Stings of Conscience at the Approach of Death and frighted from the vain Confidence they had of their Salvation into the other Extream of Despair by the dreadful Terrors of Hell-fire which then seemed to flash in their very faces Some of them have started into such dismal Apprehensions of God's severe Justice which they never regarded before that they quite forgot the abundance of his Mercy whereof till then they had groundlesly made themselves too sure nor could they in that condition be perswaded there was any pardon to be got for them though they should repent never so much they could not believe the Goodness of God though infinite was large enough to afford them any share in that Redemption which he sent his Son into the World expresly to purchase for all Mankind at the price of his most precious Blood Though He be so gracious as to call all Sinners and to say he came to seek and to save them that were lost professing with an Oath that he delights not in their death but rather that they should turn from their wickedness and live Nay that he would have all to be saved and none to perish yet the Devil taking advantage upon their having so long delayed to repent makes them now to believe that it is too late as he did before that it was too soon They can entertain no thoughts of God but what are dismal looking upon him as their greatest Enemy and some of them even hating him out of a prodigious Belief that he created them on purpose for Damnation This Crime is so heinous and of so deep a dye that the Stains of it can hardly be fetched out even with that Blood which makes Sins though red as Scarlet to become as white as Snow yet not for want of Vertue in the Remedy but because that Sin is so hardly repented of nor is it strange if upon so high a provocation God in his Justice suffer their wretched Bark to be tossed and weather-beaten upon the unquiet Billows of a wounded Spirit and to be dashed in pieces against the Rock of Despair by the violent Gust of his Displeasure Methinks I hear their loud Complaints and lamentable Cries and though I dare not so much as imagine the horrible Blasphemies which some of them utter in that woful anguish of their Souls yet I cannot but learn how amazing their condition is and how insupportable since it makes divers of them hang drown poyson or stab themselves and blindly to fly from temporal into eternal Torments Oh take warning by such dismal Examples which the divine Providence sometimes permits as humane Justice does notorious Malefactors to be exposed in Chains for the greater Terror of all that behold or but hear the Narrative of their Execution 9. And yet there is another State which though quite contrary is no less dangerous then theirs and numberless is the Multitude of those that are in it which makes me the more earnestly beg of thee to be careful thou be not one of them These flatter themselves vainly with the false Notion of God's infinite Mercy and quite forget the strict severity of his Justice they think it enough to avoid gross and scandalous Sins and count those they commit so inconsiderable that they are safe though they neither repent of them nor regard the Performance of Religious Duties Thus do they pass their days in a Lethargy of Security till their dead sleep be changed into the Sleep of Death and they swallowed up in the Gulph of Presumption without any noise few reflecting upon their end and fewer being warned by their Example Some of them indeed seem to be more awaken'd to rise out of this Spiritual Lethargy and to walk in the Course of Religious Duties but resting in the outward Performance of them without the Sincerity of Repentance or fervency of Devotion they are but like Men that walk in their sleep and while they dream they are going in the right way to Heaven drop into Hell with more presumption in themselves and less warning to others than the former most thinking them in a safe Condition and being therefore encourag'd to follow them in the same Road. But oh take heed of that Security and of resting upon the broken Reed of formal Religion for even some of those Despairers that strike so much terror into those that see them may sooner escape provided their Despondency proceed from
Preachers daily call upon thee from their Pulpits 3. What canst thou say for having neglected the Directions of thy Spiritual Guides those internal Physicians of Souls and Consciences What canst thou say for having so often turned away from God who by them called upon thee daily intreating thee and offering thee eternal Life What for following his and thine own Enemy that offer'd thee nothing but eternal Death What canst thou say to quit thy self from so many Accusations What Evasion canst thou find to so full an Evidence Or how wilt thou get off from so weighty a Charge wherein thou wilt not be able to answer so much as one of Ten thousand If the Charge be true how will it be possible for thee to oppose the Truth thy Judge being also the Truth it self What deceit will be able to prevail before so great a Light and such a manifest Conviction Dost thou think O simple Creature to over-reach that infinite Wisdom Doth thy Ignorance think to circumvent him who sees the time present the time past and the time to come all at one instant Or does thy foolish proud Presumption hope to escape his all-seeing Eye Thou deceivest thy self and not him in so silly a conceit his Judgments are Evidences his Sentences Truths and his Execution Justice and doest thou think there can be forgetfulness of thy faults in that eternal Comprehension that beholds all things There is not the lightest Thought the suddenest Motion the inconsiderablest Word nor the smallest Action which is not punctually registred there That eternal Justice has all Sins counted weighed and measured in his presence from the first bitter Fruit of Adam's Apple to the last and slightest Sin of all Mankind till the end of the World That which was only known to thy Chamber to the secretest Corner of thy House or of thy Heart that which is unknown to thy most favoured Servant or most intimate Friend is all publick and manifest before the Face of thy Creator The Leaves of all the Trees in the World the Sand of all the Seas all the Stars of the Sky and the Atoms of the Sun with whatsoever is created are all numbered and present to him and canst thou believe he will forget thy Sins 4. Wouldst thou know what the Judgment is that thou mayest live with Judgment before thou comest to Judgment 5. It is an exact and particular Register of thy loose and wretched Life all that thou hast said seen done and thought in seventy Years of thine age is perfectly seen to God in that instant as if thou wert but then in doing of it 6. O Jesus my Lord and my God is it then all one thing with thee to behold and to judge And is thy Judgment the perfect and particular Sight of all the Sins and Transgressions of our whole Life Alas Alas What then shall become of me at that Day Is it possible O my great God that thou shouldst then see all my Crimes and soul Misdeeds That thou shouldest then see all my Subtilties Deceits and Falshoods Must all my beastly Vices and filthy Sensualities be seen by thee at that Judgment with the Pride and Presumption wherewith I have despised and trampled upon others with my unjust censurings and rash judgings of my Neighbours and my Vanity and Folly in thinking better of my self then of them Shalt thou then see the Sins not only of my Person but likewise of my Office and Dignity My Sins of Omission as well as those of Commission The Evils I have done the good Actions I have left undone and my suffering others to act those Crimes which I might have hindered Must thy pure Eyes which cannot behold Inquity see and behold and judge all mine Iniquities in that one instant How can I but tremble to think that thy holy and heavenly Eye should see such filthy Impurities and such horrible Abominations What can I hope for in that Sentence What can my Wickedness expect from thy eternal Justice but everlasting Torments All my Bones quake for fear O God and I am ready to wish the Rocks might hide me and the Hills might cover me from thy Presence but I know how vain that is and that even in the Center of the Earth thy Right-hand will find me out I am therefore plainly convinced that there is no refuge for me but from the Bar of thy Justice to the Bowels of thy Mercy Yet how shall I dare take Sanctuary there having so much abused it Now I discover the necessity I stand in of a Mediator to plead there for me yet dare not beg his Intercession having so long neglected it Thou of thy infinite Mercy and Goodness hast given thine own dear Son even the Man Christ Jesus to be that Mediator for all Mankind and in him some beams of Hope begin to comfort me remembring his excessive Love that willingly died upon the Cross to make Satisfaction to thy Justice for the Sins of all But with what confidence can I hope in him whom I have so often crucified afresh by my redoubled Offences This is my sad Condition and when I look only upon my Guilt I am almost ready to despair But Lord I know that that is a greater Sin than any I have yet committed therefore I will hope even against hope and carnestly beg of thee O my dearest Saviour that since thou hast hitherto given me time and now so loudly callest me to Repentance by this terrible Meditation of God's vigorous Judgment I may not delay a Moment longer to lament and bewail the Multitude of my Transgressions Grant I may go to that great Day with Tears of Contrition and that I may depart from it with Songs of Praise Grant I may go to it weeping for having offended thee and that I may come from it with joy for thy having pardoned me And since thou seest my sins which provoked thy Wrath grant thou mayest also see my Repentance to obtain thy Mercy Grant O dear Jesus that since thou seest my Ingratitude thou mayest also see my Heart deeply grieved and afflicted for having been so ungrateful And lastly grant I most earnestly beseech thee that I may see thy infinite Pity interposing the Merit of thy Death thy Blood thy Cross and Passion between thy Father's Justice and my sinful Soul now and ever and most especially in that great and terrible Day and that in the mean while I by thy Grace may so spend the rest of my days in Sorrow and Amendment of Life that at my Death I may be received into thy Glory Amen The Third WEEK Of the Means there are in this Life to prevent the Account and Judgment of the other 1. I Am stricken with amazement stand trembling at the thought of the Judgments of the Lord. I know not what to do nor can find any way how to escape them I am ashamed and confounded to appear in his presence full of so many Miseries and Sins Is it not possible to delay
dislike and enmity Our frail miserable Nature being inclin'd to evil is subtil and discursive in any thing that is bad but is dull blind and careless in all good and if a Divine Ray from above does not help and clarifie our Natural Light it will presently be obscur'd if not extinguished by our Passion It is therefore very useful and convenient in the Spiritual Life to walk in the Divine Presence with the light of Prayer in our hands to the end that by the brightness thereof we may with God's Grace and Spirit choose the fittest means for so high an end despising vain and worldly Wisdom and making use of one that is Divine Spiritual and Celestial O let thy Prudence and Discretion consist in following the ways of thy Salvation All the means thou employest to this end are Christian good holy just powerful and prudent And all those Motives which would put thee out of those ways though they seem to come shining with Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance are really unjust weak intemperate and very imprudent The end of any thing ought to govern the means Thy end ought to be to save thy Soul to serve please and not to offend God to live an internal and spiritual life to make thy life a preparation for death to fit thy self by death for Judgment by Judgment for thy Account and by thy Account for that Sentence which may deliver thee from Eternal Condemnation and give thee the Crown of Glory in Life Eternal Oh! What an heavenly Prudence is this Oh what Justice What Fortitude What Temperance How well are they all temper'd with one another and and how imprudent and unjust how foolish how mad how distemper'd and how ruinous is the contrary Thus these four which were wont to be Natural Politick and Heathen Vertues thou mayest by a right intention and direction transform into Christian and Spiritual ones taking from Prudence not what the Flesh but what the Spirit requires from Justice not what the Inferiour but the Superiour directs from Fortitude not what Passion but what Reason commands and from Temperance what is allowed by God not by the World and the Devil The Fourth WEEK Of Humility and its contrary Pride WIth these Rules which are not worldly and natural but holy and spiritual concerning the four Cardinal Vertues the first thing that thou art to practise continually in the life of the Soul is Humility This is an unspeakable Vertue indeed and the Mother of all the rest for they are all bred and produced in her Bowels Humility is that which the Eternal Word chose among all the rest when being God he became Flesh to dwell amongst us clothed in our Humane Nature for the Immense and Omnipotent Lord of Heaven shew'd himself in this World so naked so poor as to be born in a Stable so little and so limited as to be contained in a Manger He consecrated Humility and dedicated himself to it through the whole Course of his most holy Life from the Virginal inclosure of his Mother's Womb and taught it upon the Cross by his most holy Death This is that which he has left for an Inheritance to his faithful Followers when he said Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and when afterwards having humbled himself at his Disciples feet he bad them do as he had done We have seen already how great a number of Vertues our blessed Saviour the Example of Christian Perfection did practise whilst he liv'd in this World leaving us to imitate that Divine Original and yet for all that he calls upon us sollicits and perswades us in particular to Copy none but his Humility Why did he not call upon us to practise his Patience Why did he not bid us learn his Charity Why not his Zeal and Diligence Why not his Fortitude Justice and Temperance but only his Humility By reason that the greatest fall and wound of both the Natures Angelical and Humane was Pride and so that Nature of the two that remains in a possibility of being cured which is the Humane and which our Lord came to remedy finds its principal Medicine in Humility Wilt thou see how contrary Pride is to Humility that thou mayest the better know how contrary Humility is to Pride Why Pride is the Natural Mother of all the Devils she engendred them in her Bowels and an Infernal Pride made them Devils of so many Angels they would needs be like God and equal themselves to him in Power and that Pride threw them in an instant from Heaven into the bottomless Pit Would'st thou now see what Humility is It is that which made Angels to be more Angels than they were before for when taking warning by the Fall of their Companions they humbled themselves before God he confirmed them in his Grace and fixed them for Angels eternally in his Glory above the danger of ever becoming Devils And would'st thou see what Pride is Look upon our first Parents Adam and Eve in their highest Felicity of Paradise and thou shalt see that because they would be as Gods and pass from Humane Limits to Divine they were instantly cast out banish'd naked and undone sowing Tribulations and Sorrows and reaping Thorns Afflictions and Misfortunes Would'st thou see what is Humility Behold those same first Parents weeping grieving and bewailing their Fault with an humble Penitence and thou wilt also behold them pardoned by the Divine Goodness and both themselves and their Posterity restored to Grace and Glory with a remedy more noble and much superiour to the Felicity they had lost Wilt thou see what Pride is Look upon Cain who despises God by denying the best of his Fruits which were due to him as the Author and Lord of the Inheritance and being proud and covetous forgets the Banishment the Example and the Tears of his Parents and would exempt himself from that just and holy Tribute This Sin carries him to another which is worse I mean that of Envy and Envy thrusts him on to a higher that of Murder even the murder of a Brother and this drives him to the greatest of all which is final Obstinacy and Impenitence He lives in Despair flying from himself and dying wounded with a deadly Arrow becomes the Head of the Reprobates and the Damned And wilt thou see on the other side what Humility is Look upon holy and blessed Abel who humbly acknowledges his Eternal Creator by offering him his Fruits He gives him the best of them and the best of his Soul which is Humility whereupon God blesses favours and crowns him as being the first Martyr of Heaven and the First-fruits of those that were called appointed and predestinated by the Will of Christ to an immortal Glory Finally these first successes and contrary effects of these two Contraries have been followed by innumerable others and there is nothing seen nor has been seen nor ever shall be seen but the ruins of Pride and the triumphs of Humility
from the Omission of good Dost thou see the World to be full of wickedness It ever springs and grows up in idleness How well did he that beat the Master when he saw the Scholars loitering in his presence he justly punished that defect even by falling into some excess If Omission of Superiours did not foment the neglect and carelesness of those under their Government there is no doubt but they would be reformed I sleep and while I am sleeping those under my charge are ruined waking My sleep becomes their death and my sloth and remisness their utter destruction God deliver me and thee from those Vices which consist in not doing for they have a face and outside of Innocence but within their Bowels they are full of innumerable Crimes since they cherish all those which they do not correct God in judging us though he will judge us for every sin yet I observe that the Articles of Accusation at that high Tribunal are all of Omission I was hungry and thou gavest me no meat I was thirsty and thou gavest me nothing to drink naked and thou didst not cloathe me sick and in prison and thou visitedst me not But Lord Are there not other sins of Commission Dost thou only Charge us with those of Omission Are there not a thousand wickednesses and beastly filthinesses as well as heinous Cruelties committed And dost thou only take notice of Perfections and Vertues not performed But what if this be meant of that part of the Universal Judgment which concerns the Heads and Governours of this World as well Secular as Ecclesiastical and that God intimates that the sins of Commission of their Subjects are included in those of Omission of their Superiours and that in judging these he also condemns those What if the Eternal Judge finding the World ruined by their neglecting to do their duty condemns the wilful sins of the one sort in the careless sins of the other What if he judges Idleness as being the Mother of Wickednesses and sentences the debauched and dissolute Sons in the lazy and careless Fathers they being thereby the Root of their Vices I know not how that will be but this I can tell thee that thou oughtest to shun Sloth and Omission as the fruitful Seed-plot of Vices and Wickedness of all sorts Take notice of and hearken to those Reproofs that our Lord gives to the Masters of the Law and thou shalt see that all of them tend and are directed to reform those Heads because in them consisted the destruction of the Members but he almost always favoured and protected the Multitude he bore with them he fed them he had compassion on them he wrought Miracles to give them food both Spiritual and Corporal And what Were there not many wicked among those common People Yes no doubt there were but they were common People But against the Masters of the Law who slept in their Vices against the High Priests Scribes and Pharisees who had placed the Tables of the Law among the Tables and Coffers of their Covetousness and who left off Preaching and Teaching to the end that in the mean while they themselves might be left and assisted to rob and steal against these his Reprehensions were most vehement and severe He called them Serpents Generation of Vipers Sepulchres full of Corruption Sons even of the Devil himself and finally in this the meekness of the Lord was turned into Zeal Justice and Rigour If the Preacher pass over sins in silence how shall the sinful hearer ever come to amendment If the Confessor dissemble how shall the Penitent ever be reformed If the Shepheard sleep and the Wolf be very vigilant what shall become of the poor defensless Flock If the Father of a Family be remiss What shall become of the Son that is let loose among the heats of Youth If the Mother sleep carelesly and be silent what will the Daughter do having the liberty of Courtship If the Magistrates sleep in Security what will not be attempted by the seditious and tumultuous People Dost thou see how this sleep which we call Omission is Sloth is Death is Misery and Confusion It may well be defended that all the ruin of Mankind sprung from the negligence and sloth of our first Father Adam because he was not diligent and careful to make his Wife keep at a distance from the forbidden Fruit and from having conversed with the Serpent Is it not certain that if Adam had pulled Eve by the Arm when she drew near to the Tree of Knowledge and had carried her to walk in some other part of the Garden far from danger and death that the ruin of us all might have been prevented Adam says nothing Eve holds Discourse with the Serpent It was probable that from thence would arise the Temptation of that deadly Apple from whence we inherit an immortal Mortality Dost thou see the Fault of Pilate He condemned our Saviour to the Death of the Cross and which is more at the same time declared him Just and Innocent All which in my judgment proceeded from Sloth and Omission It was manifestly so for when the Jews brought him as guilty to be examined whereas he might have done Justice with diligence truth courage and rectitude he through Sloth and Omission not doing so and through desire of putting off that business from his own Tribunal because it was very troublesome to him referred it to Herod to avoid being tired with long Discourses and wearied with a Process in which he saw there were such strong Accusers engaged Why was it not as easie O Pilate and more just to dispatch Justice and free Innocence when thou sawest it in the cruel hands of Malice and Slander then to remit a Prisoner to Herod who did not desire it nor had formed any competition about it It was more just I confess says Pilate but not so easie and I embraced that which was easiest and left Justice on the other hand Herod sent our Saviour back again to Pilate and he begins again to be vexed at so entangled a Cause for on the one side he knew the Innocence of Christ and on the other he saw the Power of his Slanderers To free our Saviour and chastise the Jews Fortitude and Diligence were necessary but to condemn him there needed nothing but Injustice and Cruelty Pilate had no desire to make use of these but being too remiss a Judge he wanted Courage to use the other Well then what remedy What is to be done in this Case says the perverse Magistrate Let us Scourge Jesus let us Crown him with Thorns and then shew these ungrateful People their King whip'd spit upon and abus'd for how powerful soever their Fury be it is not possible but that Compassion will soften and overcome it But Pilate was it not easier and more just to condemn and scourge and crown the guilty Scribes and Pharisees with Thorns than to use an holy and innocent Person in that pittiless
me but either in thy self or others thou givest that to the Creatures which thou owest to me He that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad If thou dost not work for me because thou wilt not thou deniest me thy Will and if it be because thou dost not remember it thou deniest me the Memory which thou owest me He cannot be freed from the blame of Ingratitude to his Benefactor that forgets the Benefit but the greater Forgetfulness seems the greater Ingratitude Upon this it is they ground themselves who say that every indifferent Action which is not applyed to God is evil and imperfect that there is nothing indifferent that in the sight of God's Justice whatsoever is not good is bad that every action of Man must be in the Service either of God or of Belial and that there are no more than two hands the Right and the Left whether the sin be great or small Let Doctors discourse of this in Universities and let them decide it in the Schools but let us go the safe way Every Morning Offer to God all thy Works and Thoughts Endeavour to preserve the Actions of thy Life innocent Offer them to God every Year every Month every Week every Day and if it be possible every Moment All thou dost all thou thinkest all thou willest and desirest let it be applied to his Service and in the mean while give the Doctors leave to Dispute in the Schools This inward Offering alone makes that which is Indifferent to become good and that which is good to be perfect If with the Opinion of some there be Indifferent Actions by this application of them to God they become good and if there be none it will give an Efficacy to that which else would be unprofitable and Sanctifie that which else would be evil and imperfect Observe what Advantages the Vertue of Religion brings along with it and the benefit of a Christian's taking care to apply all his Thoughts Words and Actions to God looking upon God in all he does and working for God in all he undertakes Thou oughtest to exercise all thy Vertues both Cardinal and Moral with this consideration and with this aim and if thou canst not with an actual yet do it at least with an habitual Intention for by this means thou wilt make those Vertues to be true and solid which without this holy Attention and Intention will be no more than seeming ones The Second WEEK Of the three first of the Cardinal Vertues Prudence Justice Fortitude and first of Prudence PRudence is that Verture which directs the manner of Humane Society if it be through God and for God it is truly Prudence for by him it finds fit and convenient Means and holily Guides by a good Way unto a good End The Prudence that is of God and through God is Divine Prudence which designs all for God and never fails of its aim because it is guided by the Rules and Directions of God This holy Prudence leads the Intention and the Heart and adorns every Action with excellent Circumstances Avoid and cast off from thee the false and crafty Prudence of the World which is full of its deceits and subtilties Banish from thy sincere Heart that falsly-call'd Prudence made up of Lyes and Jugglings which gounding its designs upon falshood most commonly perishes when it comes to contest with that which is true and certain I have always found that Truth gets Victory over Lies I have always seen Sincerity fool the Tricks and Cheats of Craftiness I have always seen the Prudence of God triumph over that of the World and if it happen otherwise sometimes that lasts but for a while for in the end Truth and Honesty are Victorious Wouldst thou be prudent Work sincerely speak always the Truth take care in whatsoever thou doest for God not to offend his holy Laws keep the Rules to which thy State and Profession oblige thee Let thy Intentions be single and thy Actions ordered according to Reason and believe me thou shalt be God's prudent Man without so many turnings and windings as ill Men entangle themselves in without so much Pains and Anxiety as it costeth them and without so many Tricks Dissimulations Plots and Policies as the Imprudent prudent Men of this World beat their Brains in contriving Wouldst thou be Wise and Prudent so that no body may deceive thee but that rather if they attempt it they shall be deceived themselves and ruined thee without thy Fault Then be careful to keep Gods Commandments live with an holy Plainness and Sincerity and ever speak the Truth Art thou a Christian Obey the Laws of Christ Art thou a Clergy-man Keep the Canonical Rules Art thou a Bishop Be careful of thy Diocess Art thou a Lay-man Keep the honest Laws of the Laity Art thou a Subject Be Loyal to thy Prince Art thou a Magistrate Put the Laws in Execution for who does thus is Prudent Wise and Discreet and can neither be deceived nor deceive others Deceit lasts not long Truth and Sincerity defend themselves but Doubleness and Fashood have need of Friends to defend them A right Intention makes an Action to be Right and Prudent And if at any time it be requisite for the good Prudence to dissemble and be silent it knows how to dissemble and be silent yet without feigning lying or deceiving The good Prudence has so heedful a Discretion in all Actions that what the false one does with great Labour it performs with Facility It examines and disposes the means sweetly and orderly unto their End and having chosen an holy End makes use of good and discreet means for the attaining of it On the contrary as the Ends of the World 's Wise Men are foul so likewise their means are foul and vain The Prudent Men of the World use to be more subtle in their ways says our Saviour but not more constant nor more effectual These ill Politicians may perhaps stand for a while and maintain themselves in their crooked Designs but at the last they must fall at the feet of Prudence and of Christian Policy Of Justice and of Good and Evil Judges Justice also has need of the Vertue of Religion that is to have an Eye to God in all things and without that it can hardly be able to take one right step nor can it well be said that there is such a thing as Justice For that being the Director of all Humane Actions to what is fit and honest and the Reducer of all that is created unto those Rules how can there be any Justice where there is no regard had to the true holy and just Law of the Eternal Creator What Justice can there be where Humane Understanding does not square its Discourse and Judgment according to that true and eternal Justice All the Wrath all the Injuries all the Wickedness and all the Injustice of the Creatures proceeds from their departing from that