me out of this calamitous Estate this deplorable nothing Disengage me from under this Burthen of Mortality and corruption so as I may walk lightly and chearfully or rather I may fly swifth even to thee Pardon all my Sins that they may not terrifie me and banish me from thy Throne Stop the course of my Iniquities that they may not hinder my Prayers from mounting up before thee Let me not still continue to render my self unworthy of thy Favours by the ill usage I make of thee nor to grieve thy holy Spirit by the uncleanness of my Life that only can inspire me with the Ardour I seek after That only can render my Soul devout and it 's presence only can warm my Affections But will it be pleas'd to bring it's light into a Soul so polluted and so dark as mine Prepare for thy self O my God a lodging within me worthy so great a Guest and Stranger that it may come and enliven me that I may live and love-thee that I may burn with the Fire of thy Love and with that of Devotion CHAP II. Touching the love of the World the second Source of Indevotion BEhold one of the great reasons why there are so few Devout in the World It is because all are in love with the World and this Love is one of the most efficacious Temptations wherewith the Devil serves himself to distract and call us elsewhere This love has pierced our very marrow and entrails and seeing 't is the master of our Heart can the love of God dwell there can darkness and light can Fire and Water Life and Death be comparable together In him that loveth the World the love of the Father does not dwell Where there is no love of God how can there be any of Devotion which is nothing else but love what is it that makes up the fire and the zeal of Devout People but Love What is it that makes the desires spring up of union with God in Devout Souls but Love what makes us find a Gusto in the possession the same Love What does indue good Souls with a readiness and alacrity to serve God Is it not Love that renders every thing easie to him that loves But as much as the love of God succours and helps Devotion so much does the love of the World cruelly cross it It extinguishes heat it stifles the desires it estranges from God it takes away the taste of heavenly things it purloins the heart from it self and carries it elsewhere Lot's Wife advances towards the Mountain but hath her heart in Sodom she turns her Eyes thither The superiour part of the Soul which is in love with Heaven makes some efforts to lift it self up to God but this same lower part wherein the Passions reign turns its eyes towards the World and wheedles the heart out of the Commerce whereinto it entred with its God Rachel in craving her fathers house carries along with her his antick Images In quitting the World to enter into our Closets we bring with us its Idols that is its Ideas and vain Images and from thence proceed our distractions and those unhappy thoughts that traverse us in the midst of our Devotion These are the Idols of Gold Silver the Devils of Ambition and Covetousness which an hundred times pass and repass in our mind in a quarter of an hour to distract us When we come to Prayer our head is filled with a thousand I deas of good and evil of Desires and Fears of Dangers and distrust of hopes and despair of Joys and Divertise ments and a thousand other vain Objects A Soul at this rate taken up and imploy'd can it give place to the Ideas of God's greatness of his Majesty Goodness Mercy and Love Faith Repentance Charity Zeal Hopes Acknowledgments and a thousand other Vertues which compose or at least help Devotion can they agree well with these Emotions that the commerce of the World communicates to us We scarce ever think of things but such as possess our hearts if we lov'd â—â—e Worldless t would not come so often into ourminds We are hurried away with it it is a Demon we know â—ot how to lay we cannot find a Sanctuary against its â—ersecutions the solitude and affrightful Objects of the â—esert cannot banish it An Antient tells us that â—mid his Macerations his mind sometimes transported him out of his Solitude into the company of young Women a dancing I say then we ought to imploy 〈◊〉 our strength to dry up this second source if we â—ould be Devout My little children love not the World or the things that are in the World We should Crucifie â—he Old-Man if we would present our selves to God a â—ving holy and acceptable Sacrifice which is our reasoâ—able Service So that one of the most profitable Meâ—itations by which we can prepare our selves for â—rayer is that of the Worlds vanity It is good to enâ—er into our selves to consider the brevity of humane â—â—fe the inconstancy of the Worlds Glory which flouishes in the morning and fades and withers in the eveâ—ing It is good to repeat frequently to our heart â—hat the Holy Spirit has said heretofore All flesh 〈◊〉 as Grass and all the Glory of man as the flower of â—rass the Grass withereth and the flower thereof fadeth â—way As for man his days are as Grass as a flower of be field so he flourisheth for the wind passeth over it and 〈◊〉 is gone and the place thereof shall know it no more Man that is born of a Woman is of few Days and full of couble he cometh forth like a Flower and is cut down 〈◊〉 fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not His riches â—anish away and his Sins continue his honours abanâ—on him but his torments do not quit him Thus by â—rying with a loud voice Vanity of Vanities in an heart â—nfected by the bad Air of the World it may chase away those worldly thoughts and fright away those â—irds which come to spoil our Sacrifices and devoureth good seed of Piety which the Heavenly sower had 〈◊〉 into our hearts Meditation HOw miserable am I I can stouth cry Vanity of Vanities to my Heaâ—â— depraved and corrupted with the love 〈◊〉 the World and yet still it is never thâ— better I am sufficiently persuaded of aâ—â— that is told me I know mighty well thâ—â— the World is only made up of appearances I know it hath very much Gall anâ— Wormwood for a little Honey I knoâ— that Pleasures are Twists that snarl anâ— intangle the Soul and train it to Death But I am not yet acquainted how theâ— knowledges remain in my understanding and make no manner of Impression upoâ— my Will I believe I see and I do nothing I see a thousand and a thousand People which the World plunges into corruption and brings to Hell I see it is a great enâ— my of my Saviour and that the chief thinâ— which it compasses upon them that givâ— themselves
they mingle themselves in all companies they would be ingaged in all sorts of Pleasures They are seen in Balls and Comedies trembling with weakness they cannot see to distinguish red from black nor four from two but play they will at Cards and Dice with Spectacles In sum after having been the Idols of the World they punnish it for the crimes they have made it commit they become its punishment and its curse These are the Spectres and Phantomes that follow it It flyes them and has 'em in horrour and detestation Are men more wise than Women Do not we see of the other old sinners that have their members worn and wasted by Debauchery but whose concupiscence within is as young and boyling as ever Their inclinations are always vitious but their members can no more obey as the Servants of their beastly pleasures While I look upon these men I represent to my self what Happiness after the burning of an house when the great fire is over we along time after see Sparkles and points of flames break out of an huge mass of Ashes so as by this we ghess the fire is still in and that it only wants Fuel and Matter We may say that these old men are now but a little heap of hot Embers and of the Relicks of the Conflagration but from amidst these Ashes we see the wild and sudden sparks of concupiscence jetting out one after another whereby 't is plain that the love of Voluptuousness is still alive within and the body wants only strength to act All men therefore hold clearly for Pleasure They are not contented to defend it by plurality of Voices they would maintain it by reasons God and Nature say they make nothing in vain The earth is covered with living creatures the Sea filled with Fishes the Air peopled with Birds and the Universe is full of Delights Is it possible say they that God has made so many things for our use to keep us from the use of them has the author of Nature made so many sensible Wonders to fill the Senses with illusions and to excite criminal passions has the finger of God writ upon every Creature Touch me not At this rate the condition of Man is now very forlorn and miserable when he was in Paradise he had but one Tree whose Access was not permitted him and lo all the good things of the World are become so many reserved and Mortal fruits which no one is suffered to touch without incurring his Death And does this shew God's wisdom and goodness to have placed me among so many objects of Temptation if I cannot yield without sinning Is not there a natural Bond and connexion betwixt Love and Beauty betwixt the desirable things and the Desires And why should God have made so many good and desirable things if he would keep me from the injoyment and desire of them Alas say they Are there not enow unavoidable things but we must seek such as can be avoided and since worldly goods If they be not the rewards of the Blessed yet are the comforts of the unhappy why will we not injoy those Pleasures which are the sweetning refreshments of our pains If you take joy away from the Soul do you not withall take Life away too do ye not bury it alive do you not make of mans life a sad and gloomy night in a word do not you render Man the most miserable of all Creatures they say Lastly that religion is not to serve not so horridly beset with Thorns as some would make one believe If we ascend even to the Source we find it say they more pure and more dissengaged from those rigors wherewith Superstition has invested it the Saints have had their Debauches they have thank'd God he has given them a Table cover'd with delicious meats a full bowl and overflowing Cup. They have said that Wine was intended to make glad the heart of man our Lord Jesus Christ the Author of the true Religion had his Feasts and was frequently at such he was at the marriage in Cana of Galilee and there he made excellent Wine to please the Guests Thus do they plead for voluptuousness and the unhappiness is that these maximes do not obtain only in the World they try to bring them into the Church They have put Guides and Directours that dress up a Religion of Flowers and cry Prepare the way make the Paths plain Enlarge the ways and make a great road that all the World may come into it These make our Devotions easy and they cry My Yoke is easy and my burthen light Love renders the Yoke of our Lord easy for it is altogether sweet and easy to him that loves but these ill Doctors render their yoke easy in dispensing with the love of God and permitting the Love of the World and the search after pleasing the Senses And this is the reason why both in the Church and in the World there are so few Devout because there are so many voluptuous persons Meditation ALas what a wretched Creature I am I do not the good I would but the evil I would not that do I. I understand well the strength of Reasons on Piety's side that call upon me to renounce the vain pleasures of the Earth The weakness I perceive in the reasonings of the advocates of Pleasure But those good reasons of Piety find the Gate lockt For that my Heart revolts against them and the bad reasons that maintain the use of sensuality enter easiely since they are allyed to the Corruption of my Heart My Flesh is loath to find the Reasons of Piety so strong it had rather those for voluptuousness were the better And on the other part my Mind is troubled while it sees the force of truth to perceive in it that resistance against being overcome I seriously bemoan this that in viewing the weakness of Reasons which draw me on Pleasure's side yet nevertheless I should suffer my self to be carryed away as if they were very strong for when all is done Piety and Reason may joyn their forces but it is Passion becomes victorious O my Soul thou idolatrizest sensuality thou mayest indeed change place but thy Gods thou ever carryest along with thee If thou renouncest some Pleasure thou dost not quit thy Idols thou dost nought but change for the Love of Pleasure finds the means to lose nothing when one object is taken away from it it straight casts its self upon another Judge â—hen of what nature can thy Devotions be seeing thou dividest 'em alwayes between â—his Idol and the true God Take one side O my Soul choose and take that good part which shall not be taken away from thee â—hou canst not serve two masters the World â—nd God It may be thou blessest thy self â—n that thou hast forsaken the Pleasures of Youth in that thou lovest not Play nor Balls nor Comedyes any more But thou dost not percieve that thy Corruption tyes â—hee to other Objects and thou
Dream which vanisheth away a Smoke which is consumed in its lifting up And as it speaks of it with contempt so it would also that we have little care of it Take no care of the Body saith St. Paul to obey the lusts thereof Take no thought for the morrow the morrow shall take thought for the things of its self be in litttle pain for what ye shall eat or wherewithal ye shall be clothed As for the Soul the holy Spirit would have us turn all our cares on that side He would have us vigilant and sober because the Devil watches about it as a roaring Lyon seeking to devour it He commands us to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling and that we be in a perpetual solicitude about it He Orders us to nourish it with the milk of the Word sincere and without deceit and that we furnish it with strong meats He wishes us to entertain it continually in an holy joy He would have us search after those sovereign pleasures that are to be found in the possession of God which are only for the Soul The Gospel requires of us to imbellish it and that we labour to adorn it that it may be found a glorious Spouse not having spot or wrinkle worthy to be presented to its head the Lord Jesus Christ Examine the conduct of Voluptuous men it is quite contrary to this they act as if they were all Flesh and as if their Soul were only Salt to keep the Body from corrupting All the Ideas they have of Pleasure derive from the Senses and the Imagination and without a metaphor they are as they call themselves Men of Sense and they conceive no more what we call spiritual pleasures than blind men do colours As therefore they never tasted other delights than bodily ones they believe themselves oblig'd to the Body for all their Happiness And in effect so it is For at the time when they taste carnal Pleasures we cannot say they are unhappy since happiness consists in Pleasure and Joy and they have them at that moment So that because we intirely love what we consider as the source of our felicity we cannot think it strange that these worldly People love their body perfectly which they look upon as the only Source of their Pleasures We see also that these men have the same Sentiments for their Body as holy men have for God who is their sovereign good and in whom they find their sovereign pleasure They adore this Body of theirs they cherish they perfume it they offer Incense and Sacrifice to it If one should give a blow or a gird to this same Body Oh! how jealous they are on 't as of a Divinity More Indignation they have against him that should hurt this Flesh than against a Blasphemer or a Sacrilegious Person In a word their Body holds so much of a Divinity that they Sacrifice unto it even their very Conscience nay and God himself But nothing is more opposite to the spirit of Christianity and Devotion than this Sentiment For the truly faithful ones are oblig'd to slight the Body to sacrifice it to God to see it torn in pieces for his name and to renounce all the pleasures of sense for his Glory The Spirit of the Gospel and of Devotion absolutely tends to the contempt of the World but the spirit of Voluptuousness and sensuality to the love of the World How must we love the World when it caresses us and is mighty kind and pleasurable to us if we love it when it persecutes us and steeps us in Gall The World is a mere Cheat and Gull and an undeniable Source of Delusions it masques it self and would be seen by us under the image of fleshly pleasure It imbraces us under the habit of Flowers but under these Flowers are a thousand Thorns We do not see these thorns we only smell the Flowers we are sensible of such pleasures and love that causes them But all the World knows nought is more contrary to Devotion than the love of the World and we have made it appear elsewhere so as by consequence nothing is more opposite to the spirit of Christianity and Devotion than sensual Pleasure The Spirit of Christian Religion would inspire a contempt of the present and a desire after the other Life Now certain it is that nothing tyes men so much to Life as the pleasures of Sense the Saints say and ought to say I desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better I know when this earthly house shall be dissolved we have an House eternal in the Heavens and therefore we desire to be clothed upon with our House which is from Heaven None of these things moving neither count I my Life dear unto my self As the hart panteth after the water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God When shall I come and appear before God It 's impossible that men who live in a perpetual use of Voluptuousness should have these thoughts Every one wishes to be happy and when once he is or at least believes he is so he cannot renounce what he fancies the cause of his felicity these carnal-minded men think themselves happy at such time as they injoy their Pleasures they have no Idea of any other Beatitude but of that they injoy in this present life They can every day speak both about another life and another happiness But they have got an habit not to let themselves be touch'd but by sense and Imagination and so because this life and this happiness do not fall under their Senses nor can be imagined by them they cannot consider them but as imaginary Beings which have no relation to them because they have not any Idea of them in their minds Moreover their hearts meeting in this life with a fat Land that is much prosperity do take very deep rooting there Their affections being thoroughly ingaged in carnal pleasures bound themselves in the possession of Sensible Objects they wish for nothing more besides for that no body wishes for things which he does not know and whereof he has no clear and certain Ideas The Earth becomes their Country they naturalize themselves here every thing else is a strange and unknown Land Let people say what they please but questionless we have an ill preparation for Death in the continual use of those pleasures whose Innocence the World maintains O Death said a Wise Man how cruel is the remembrance of thee to him that lives quietly among his Possessions One lives indeed more commodiously in a Palace than in a Prison but one finds it more trouble to dye in that than in this How insupportable is the thought of Death his presence how affrightful to him who lives in the midst of Pleasures he looks upon Death as a Judge that comes to pronounce on him a dismal Sentence or an Executioner that seizes him to be lead to punishment But the faithful one who has ever held his Flesh
an hundred other Lessons But all this is nothing to compare with the Knowledge to be had from the reading of that other book which God hath dictated to his Prophets and Apostles 'T is there thou mayest see the Abysses of the Divine Wisdom the infinity of his Love and the depths of his Mercy Without engaging thy self very deep in these Abysses what Fruit canst thou not reap from the Death of my Saviour and the Contemplation of his Cross thou wilt learn there how thou art to love for that is the School of Love thou wilt view thy Divine Saviour eaten up with the zeal of God's House burnt with the Flames of Charity He so loved the World that he gave himself up to Death for the World and that to a shameful cruel and tormenting death even that of the Cross He expos'd himself to all the arrows of God's Wrath he suckt the venom and underwent the weight of his Indignation and for whom for his Enemies 'T is thus O my Soul thou must Love This is but a very small part of the things thou mayst learn in that heavenly Book Prayer BVT O Lord I read in vain I meditate without success O my Sun infuse thy Rayes into my Heart open mine Eyes that I may see the wond'rous things of thy Law Make thy Word to be in me like a two edged Sword piercing even to the dividing of my Soul my Joynts and Marrow Thy Word is truth sanctifie me by thy Truth Let my Heart burn within me when thou speakest and declarest to me the Scriptures Let me receive thy word with a thirsty Soul and let it become unto me a Spring of living Waters bubling up to Eternal Life that I may be conducted by the Rivers of thy Grace to the Ocean of Glory CHAP. IX The fourth particular help to Devotion The use of Prayer I Do not design here to make any Commendation of Prayer nor to display all it's Uses which both the Antients and Moderns have done very Amply I shall only say that 't is one of the surest means to purifie the Soul since there is no Action whereby we approach nearer to God no time wherein he communicates himself more to us He hath been very often observ'd to give his Extraordinary inspirations in Prayer In praying St Peter fell into an Extasie Paul was ravisht to the third Heaven Cornelius in his Prayers receiv'd the Vision of an Angel Monica St Austin's Mother after her Prayers and Tears for the Salvation of her Son had in her dream that excellent Revelation of his Conversion An Angel tells her Afflict not thy self thy Son is with thee As God is the Sun of our Soul and jets his beams perpendicularly into our Hearts he must necessarily clarifie and heat them he disperses the vapours of the Inferiour part and draws his own Image there Now this Communication of the Raies of Grace is never made more than in Prayer I shall not stay to examine any further the Conditions with which Prayers should be made to be Devout it 's already shown enough that they ought to be Attentive Persevering and Ardent I shall only give here two Advices the one to avoid Weariness the other to avoid Distraction First I say that few Souls are capable of long Prayers For to render a Prayer perfectly devout there 's need of an extreme Contention of Mind an extraordinary Elevation and an entire loosening ones self from the World Now these Actions do a kind of Violence to the Soul which naturally tends to a releasing of it self and therefore they cannot be of any long Continuance If we give no relaxation to the Heart it takes it and rambles some where or other in spite of our teeth so as I would have the exercises of Devotion to be long tho divided into little spaces of time that they have many parts and each of 'em be short Devotion is composed of three principal Acts Reading Meditation and Prayer each of these need not be done presently so as to follow one another but they may be mingled for we must allow some grains to the Souls Weakness and we must keep it from disgust by variety A little reading may be the first degree of it's Elevation a little meditation on that reading will lift it a degree higher and after the reading and meditation a short Prayer will lead it to the highest degree of forgetting the World after which it will return wholly new to reading and Meditation in the same order In Prayer it will fly through the Air by the force of its own Wings and at its return to reading it will do like those Birds that weary with flying come to repose themselves not on the Earth but some very high Tree of their own choice so our devout Soul will come to rest it self not by falling on the Earth for 't will never set foot there nor permit the mind to return to the World but it will continue elevated upon the Props of the holy Prophets and Apostles Vr and Aaron will sustain it lifted up towards the Heaven and from thence taking its flight it will by little and little rise upon the Wings of Meditation untill it return by Prayers whither it was first lifted up This method undoubtedly will give it time to renew its strength it cannot hold out long if its course be push'd on to the utmost of its vigour but by taking breath and marching fairly on from time to time it will make a very great advance in a day The other Direction I would give regards those who having not been busied about the operations of the Mind are less proper for the great Elevations These People ordinarily make their Devotions in Prayers pronounced by heart from which way Distractions are almost inseparable These I would counsel to endeavour to untye themselves from Words and hold only to the Sense I do not mean that in their Family-Prayers they should dispense themselves from their Forms I know very well that all the World has not the gift of forming their thoughts and putting them into an order which may edifie the Publick but for the Devotions of the Closet they are rather to be made by Heart than by the Tongue When the Imagination does not make some endeavour for the production of its Thoughts and the choice of its Words in following the beaten Road which it fears not to lose it never fails of going somewhither else as having nothing to do in the place where we would retain it but when it gives Attention to the manner in which is necessary to express the things which the Heart has conceiv'd the Heart and the Imagination uniting their Forces make up a compleat Attention I cannot endure to hear some say That all the World is not capable of composing all are not able to compose for Men but to compose for God they are able Let us make never such Efforts to speak well we stammer in the Mouth before the Lord and
The Christians Guid to Devotion Printed for H. Rodes near Bride lane in Fleetst â—â—â—nford sc The Christians Guide TO DEVOTION WITH RULES and DIRECTIONS for the leading an Holy Life AS ALSO MEDITATIONS and PRAYERS Suitable to all Occasions By S. Smith The Second Edition LONDON Printed for Hen. Rodes next door to the Bear-Tavern in Fleet-street near Fleet-Bridge 1685. A Table of the Contents in this Tract PART I. Of the Nature and Effects of Devotion Chap. 1. WHerein Devotion generally consists Pag. 1. Chap. 2. Of its Effects Pag. 6. Chap. 3. The high necessity of Devotion Pag. 14. Chap. 4. Of its great Decay and Neglect Pag. 20. Chap. 5. That Indevotion is a greater Sin than it is commonly accounted Pag. 26. PART II. Of the Causes of Indevotion Chap. 1. First Impurity of Life Pag. 34. Chap. 2. Secondly Love of the World Pag. 39. Chap. 3. Thirdly The too great Passion we have for Earthly Pleasures Pag. 45. Chap. 4. Fourthly Worldly Cares and Troubles Pag. 52. Chap. 5. Fifthly Excessive Business Pag. 59. Chap. 6. Sixthly The custom of letting the Mind wander upon different Objects Pag. 66. Chap. 7. Lastly The Rareness and Interruption of holy Duties Pag. 73. PART III. Of the great Source of Indevotion the Spirit of the World and the love of Pleasure Chap. 1. That Voluptuousness is a mortal Enemy to Devotion What are the Sentiments and Maxims of the World concerning the Vse of Pleasure and Sensuality Pag. 81. Chap. 2. That Sensual Pleasures do not either in their Vse or in their Abuse agree with the Spirit of Christianity and of Devotion Pag. 94. Chap. 3. The same Truth more particularly and fully discuss'd Pag. 104. Chap. 4. What may be accounted innocent Pleasures That Devotion is no uneasie thing nor an Enemy to Pleasure Pag. 116. Chap. 5. That we are not to consult our own Heart and Senses upon the choice of Pleasures That Devotion leads us to true Pleasure Pag. 131. Chap. 6. That Young People have not any priviledge to use sensual Pleasures nor to dispence themselves from Devotion Pag. 147. PART IV. Of Directions and Helps conducive to Devotion Chap. 1. First General direction To will desire and ask it Pag. 159. Chap. 2. Secondly To lead an holy Life and practise all the Vertues Pag. 165. Chap. 3. Thirdly To be watchful over the Senses and not to let the Heart loose Pag. 172. Chap. 4. Fourthly To persevere in holy Duties and not to startle at any difficulties Pag. 177. Chap. 5. Fifthly To have God alwayes before our Eyes Pag. 183. Chap. 6. First particular direction To have our Hours of Devotion well chosen and ordered Pag. 189. Chap. 7. The second Help Solitude and Religious Assemblies Pag. 196. Chap. 8. The third Reading and Meditation Pag. 203. Chap. 9. The fourth Prayer Pag. 212. Chap. 10. The Fifth Fasting and mortification Pag. 218. Chap. 11. Touching the rash Judgment which is made of devout People Pag. 226. PART I. CHAP. I. What Devotion is and wherein it consists THIS is not a Subject to be defined according to Rules It has less of the School than the Closet and good ignorant Souls can instruct us better in it than those who have more Knowledge than Integrity Yet the Schools which busie themselves every where undertake to define Devotion as well as other things Some would define it by a tenderness of heart and 〈◊〉 mollified Spirit Others by an internal Comfort which the Devout are sensible of in their Practise of Piety A third sort say 't is a Quickness and Promptiâ—ude of Mind whereby holy People are carried to the Service of God Some there are who make it â—o consist in an unspeakable and a glorious Joy which â—lls the faithful and makes them say My Soul is satisfied â—s with Marrow and Fatness Others have defin'd it â—y the Affections In the first place to all this I say That it may be a piece of Rashness to go about to deâ—ne a thing we know not how well to express since 〈◊〉 is of the number of those which cannot well be conâ—â—ived but by them who feel it nor can well be deâ—â—ribed although one conceives it Nevertheless we cannot define it by one word alone nor by one motion of the Soul for it is composed of all the Species's of Passions it admits of contrary Sentiments 〈◊〉 has Desires and it has Fears Terrours and Hopes 〈◊〉 Love and Hatred Joy and Sadness Ardour and Zeaâ— Quickness and Alacrity It has Desires every Dâ—vout Soul vehemently desiring to be well with Goâ— and to be united to him As the Hart panteth after tâ—â— Water-brooks so panteth my Soul after thee O God 〈◊〉 Soul thirsteth for God for the living God When shall come and appear before God It admits of Fear for good Soul is ever afraid of its unworthiness to posseâ— the Graces which it so passionately desires I am 〈◊〉 worthy sayes it to our Lord Jesus that thou should'st coâ—â— under my Roof If it be in possession of its God it feâ—â— to lose him it watches even in sleep I sleep but 〈◊〉 Heart waketh fearing lest something should raviâ—â— away its Beloved Terrour also enters into the Compound of thâ— Vertue namely when the Soul is fall'n into soâ—â— great sin the presence of its God astonishes it and 〈◊〉 Majesty fills it with horrible Apprehensions Aâ—â— without this the devout Soul never presents it 〈◊〉 before God but it remembers that before him 〈◊〉 Angels tremble and it sayes Oh! how terrible is tâ— place this is the House of the living God Moreovâ—â— Love is to be found in it and we may say that Loâ—â— is as the Source and Basis of Devotion In considâ—ing both the Beauty and Goodness of God it is touch with a violent desire of Union It says with the Spoâ—â— Let him kiss me with the kisses of his Mouth for his Lâ—â— is sweeter than Wine There is also Hatred for 〈◊〉 devout Soul cannot love God unless it renounce Sâ— love and hate the World the love of which is incâ—patible with that of God There is Joy too for â—â—ty has its Feasts and the Wise man says the heaâ— a just man is a continual Banquet Thou hast put sayes David more Joy in my heart than the wicked have of their abundance My heart is glad my Glory rejoyceth my Flesh also shall rest in hope Yet we must confess that this Light is not altogether pure Devotion has its Melancholy amidst its Joyes and frequently it sighs at the sense of its Infirmities The last ingredient of Devotion is Promptitude and Ardour which is as it were the Body of Devotion and appears more than the rest in a devout Soul It has an inconceivable chearfulness in the exercises of Piety it hears the Word it Prays it Reads it Meditates it communicates as others do the most Pleasant things in the World It runs it flies to these actions and undertaking 'em with a Gaiety of heart does 'em with great ease These
of his Closet we may say he shuts the door to the World saying to himself Get ye gone ye worldly Thoughts retire ye Objects of Vanity and approach not near this place let me rejoyce in the quiet of this secure Sanctuary and suffer me to give my self wholly up to my God The pious Soul after this manner dies many times a day for Death does not more efface the Images of worldly things than Devotion when it takes a Christian out of the World This Soul may say at such a time The World is crucified unto me and I unto the World I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the Life which I now live in the Flesh I live by the Faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me We need not wonder if the World quits the place in this moment since I suppose that it before took up but very little Room in the Soul whereof I speak God comes to possess it wholly of which he had before the better for the devout Heart ventures to say The whole is in God and God is in every part In this state if by peradventure it casts its Eyes upon the World it looks down from on high and with an Eye of Contempt Alas What are these same Riches says the faithful Soul these Honours and Advantages which frequently terminate in eternal Death to compare with the Riches that God here bestows upon me But near to God himself whom I possess these earthly Goods will vanish and be lost but I will never lose him who holds me and whom I hold and Death which will disrobe the Living of their Pomp will invest me with new Glory The fourth Effect of Devotion is an Alacrity in running and advancing in the Practise of Piety A General flies to the Combat when he sees an assured Victory but the devout Person has other kind of wings which make him fly whither Devotion conducts him He knows not that 't is the drooping and weight of the Body that retains them who are call'd to Travel he has not the Sentiments of the Sluggard who rouls upon his Bed as a Gate upon its Hinges who fight Battles with his Boulster and wages Wars with Sleep and Idleness with a Design to be vanquished He is one of those Eagles of which some think our Saviour spoke Where the dead Body is thither will the Eagles be gathered together He knows that he shall find his Jesus once dead but now alive either in the Church or in his Closet he flies thither with the Swiftness of an hungry Eagle nothing is capable of stopping him Friends Enemies Employs Occupations Prayers Menaces Fears and Dangers all useless for in posting he can surmount all Obstaeles in the way Another Effect of Devotion is a certain Elevation of Soul which I cannot term otherwise than a sort of Extasie whereby the Soul is as it were ravish'd from its self 'T is so knit to the Contemplation of Coelestial Objects that not only it has no more intelligence of earthly things but it has no Sense no Ears no Eyes it sees not it understands not St. Peter while he prayed saw the Heavens opened and a certain Vessel descending to the Earth as it had been a great sheet knit at the four Corners St. Paul in Prayer was ravished even to the third Heaven and the Devout even at this time of day have their Extasie They see with Stephen the Heavens opened they are lifted up to Heaven with St. Paul for they enter into a secret Commerce with God The Soul inwardly is so taken up that it sees nothing at all of what passes without and contributing its whole force to the Contemplation of God no Wonder it has no more for other Objects Blessed are they says St. Basil who are fill'd with and infolded in the Contemplation of this true Beauty since being bound to it by the Cords of Charity and of an heavenly and divine Love they forget their Parents Friends Houses they forget even the necessity of eating and drinking And now why should it not be so in the Offices of Piety when ev'ry day this happens to us in the Affairs of the World While we are strongly fixt to Reading to disintangle a crabbed and knotty matter while we answer an Adversary a thousand Objects pass before our eyes whereof we do not take notice The devout Soul is so shut into it self so well gathered up and compacted that no external thing is able to move it If it prays it is intirely in Heaven if it hears it is wholly tyed up to the Tongue of him that speaks if it reads its heart is always where the eyes terminate themselves if it meditates it is all over plunged in it's subject and if a Flock of Birds of vain and light Thoughts come to soil its Sacrifice as that of Abraham it scares them away incontinently This is that which I understand by the Extasie of Devotion otherwise if you take this term for effectual Ravishments which were the Priviledges of the Prophets and Saints of the first Order I must take an infinite deal of pains to believe that the Holinesses of the Roman Cloyster do oblige God as some would fain perswade us so ordinarily to communicate such extraordinary Graces Now a days we do not see those Devotions which lift up not only the Souls but make the Body to lose its Earth and raise it to the very Clouds Nevertheless if we would believe some who call themselves good Authors there is nothing more common The last Effect of Devotion that I shall mention is a certain Fire that warms the Heart One cannot well conceive it unless one had felt it and I cannot express it otherwise than in the words of holy men Did not our Heart burn within us while he talked with us and while he opened to us the Scriptures My Heart was hot within me while I was meditating the Fire burned then spake I with my Tongue We are told how the Faces of the Saints have been oftentimes seen to be bright and inflamed in the midst of their Devotions which could not proceed but from the glowing and fiery affection of the Heart which manifests it self accordingly in the Countenance This Fire we may call a Fermentation of the Spirits of Piety which not seldom make Impressions even in the eyes And hence it may be came the shining of St. Stephen's Face of which it is said that his Enemies saw it as if it had been the Face of an Angel his Zeal and his Devotion were evident in his Eyes and render'd 'em sparkling Now this Lightning is not without its Rain I mean that this Fire is ordinarily accompanied with Tears The Heart is heated blows up that Heat makes it grow bigger then it self grows tender and at last the Eyes melt into Tears St. Austin represents himself in one of these Illuminations or rather Inflamations of Heart After says he that a strong Meditation
my self before thee with little reverence PART II. Of the Sources of Indevotion CHAP. I. Of Impurity of Life The first Source of Indevotion SInce Indevotion is so great an evil let us try to find out its sources that we may cut up this evil by the very Roots Now one of the principal ones is Impurity of Life nothing disconcerting an heart so as an evil Estate of Conscience nothing more extinguishing the fire of Piety than the loathsom and muddy waters of Sin Fire does not easily take in things soak'd in water Devotion cannot easily be brought to fit Souls penetrated with Vice one flame puts out another and the fire of Covetuousness choaks that of Zeal as the flame of Gunpowder extinguishes that of a Candle Devotion is a certain alacrity of heart that disposes us to draw neaâ— to God with confidence but how should we have this Disposition when we are guilty of the Vice in going to present God with such offerings as we our selves know ought to be abominable to him for we know that God does not care for a sullied and unclean Sacrifice Go says he I hate I despise your solemn feasts your meat-offerings and sat beasts I receive them as the price of Whoredom as the bloud of a Swine and as a Dogs head Alas the most spotless man is not enough so to present himself before God with Assurance and the Prophet could say Wo is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts 'T is impossible therefore that he who has not the Wedding-Garment on whose Vestment is stained with the spots of the Flesh must needs be put into a vast consternation in thinking of him before whom the Stars and the Angels are unclean And how can this Fear or to speak better this Horour agree with Devotion which is all love and all assurance Let us go with confidence says the Apostle St. Paul to all devout Souls to the Throne of Grace that we may find mercy in the time of need To bring to God a criminal Conscience is to bring to him a witness against our selves to make our own process 't is to deliver us up into the hands of his severe Justice We need not therefore be startled if the wicked be Indevout and fly the presence of God And since Impurity of life wou'd do nothing else than take away the Hopes of being heard This would be enough to hinder and stifle all Devotion All the Vertues are interessed and he that would take away hope takes their very life away How then can a wicked creature that knows God will not hear him pray devoutly When you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea when you make your prayers I will not hear your hands are full of Blood It is for this reason that St. Paul would have us lift up pure hands without wrath and murmuring And David says If I had Iniquity in me the Lord would not have heard me 'T is for this cause he professes elsewhere that he washes his hands in Innocency before he goes to Gods Altar And why should God have any regard to the Prayers of those that have none for his Commandments upon these Principles the wicked man says to himself why should I present my self before God Have not my Iniquities barr'd up against me the Gates of Heaven and why should I go to ask of him that is resolved to refuse me Unprofitable Devotions wou'd these be and submissions that wou'd only serve to hasten my Punishment I cannot have the impudence to desire any thing without promising to my self somewhat but I am resolved to bridle nothing within me and to continue in this way of living 'T is better therefore that every one holds where he is Devotion is of a great extent it takes up the whole heart it cannot dwell in a Soul divided betwixt Avarice Ambition Violence Pleasure and the love of the World Wherefore if you sometime see those worldly Persons who refuse nothing to their heart to have their Days of Devotion well regulated and even sometimes to shed more Tears and fetch up more sighs than the Faithful you may without hesitating conclude that these are Hypocrites and pretended Zealots who would pay God with Phisiognomy and Posture and cheat the World with fine Appearances Perhaps some there are who believe they are not such badly devout People when they attone for a Months Debauch with a day of fasting But they deceive themselves for true Devotion is not unequal nor full of Sallies It does not resemble those Summer-Torrents which roul with a head-long impetuosity and do not continue but for a day So that holiness of Life is a preliminary of absolute Necessity to obtain Devotion This Vertue is one of the most excellent Graces that we receive from Heaven one of the most precious Gifts of the holy Spirit but 't is a Pearl which is not to be cast before Swine 'T is an Ennamel only to be layed upon Silver or Gold 'T is in one word a Favour communicated only to priviledged Souls that is to say to the pure and clean in heart But as we shall have occasion to touch again upon this subject in another Rencounter we will not drain it dry here Meditation WHo can express the Evils and the Disorders that Sin has caused in my Soul Who can recount all the Mischiefs wherein the Impurity of my heart ingages me Over and above all other Evils it brings me this too it renders me incapable of Devotion Sin has put a separation between my God and my self and therefore I am dead for God is my life and the Soul of my Soul I am blind for God is my Light Separated from him I am poor for he is my Treasure and makes up all my Riches I am naked for he alone gives me Rayment Sick I am for my health and strength comes from that Sun of Righteousness who carries healing in his wings Sin has rob'd me of him and has ecclipsed him as to me and I continue languishing away being far from the Principle of my Life In this faintness I know not how to produce those vigorous movements of Devotion that elevate the Soul and carry it towards Paradice Sin is a thick foggy heavy Wet that sticks to my Wings it is a Weight which oppresses me arrests all my Soarings and renders all my efforts useless I feel a Laâ— in my Members which Wars and oppoâ—ses it self to the Law of my Mind and makes me the slave of Sin Insomuch aâ— I do not the Good that I would yet I do the Ill that I would not Prayer O Divine Sun of my Soul break out and Dissipate these Clouds Thou great Deliverer break these Irons open this Prison and free me from this Bondage and Captivity Thou art most pure let me not be unclean Almighty let me not be miserable All Life let me not be dead Draw
up to it is to take away froâ— them the Love of God 'T is lewd ' tâ—â— dangerous I know it yet notwithstanding I know not how to break the Cords which hold me tied to it I fly it it follows me 〈◊〉 lays hold of me in all places and I meet 〈◊〉 every where O my Soul make one â—ast and utmost effort to break these misâ—hievous Chains to make a Divorce with his Enemy Say to it with a firm voice Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me The love of the World â—s an Enemy of the love of God And alâ—o interchangably the love of God is an Enemy to the love of the World Make therefore O my Soul the love of thy God â—o enter into thee that it may banish thence the love of the World Sethese two eneâ—mies to Daggers drawing and favour his side who wou'd save thee against him who wou'd destroy thee Love him that loves thee although he strike thee sometimes as if he did not love thee And have a hatred for him that hates thee albeit he acts as if he lov'd thee Return to this fervent Spouse a love as great as he has for thee Prayer BVT without thee O my God I cannot love thee nor cease to love the World without thy aid Pull up therefore this harsh and bitter Root which shoots up and turns me out of tâ—â— way of salvation Open mine eyes take thâ— Evil from off the World draw away the Maâ— and the Paint wherewith it is covered thâ— I may see all its Deformity and shiver at thâ— sight On the other side make me to see thâ— face and thy beauty that my Soul may be ravished and I may no more run after the vanitie of the World Enrich me with thy good things that my Soul being fulfilled may wish nothing more and that my desires may all expire in thâ— joy of thy Love Then shall I run in thy pathâ— with all my might Then my Soul being inflamed and fulfilled with heavenly fire shall not cannot any longer be hindred from lifting up its self to thee with all the ardour that one oughâ— to have for the Sovereign Good Then in its Devotions shall my Soul be no more troubled with the vain Idols of the World Being filled with thee and with thy Love it will not be able to furnish and afford room for any thing else CHAP. III. â—f the too great sensibility towards earthly Pleasures The third source of Indevotion THis Love of the World is a great Trunk which divides it self into many Branches that are also sources of Indevotion The first branch of this Love is the too great sensibility towards earthly pleasures These â—easures are of two sorts The first are highly criâ—inal and are those we call Debauches of the Men of be times and of these certain it is that not only the â—xcessive sensibility but the least taste we take of them â—s the mortal Enemy of Devotion Spiritual pleasures â—â—e of a taste so vastly different from carnal ones that â—t the same time one cannot love the one and the other 〈◊〉 palat imbrued with Gall and Wormwood and which has never tasted of other Savours cannot enâ—ure our Sugar and Honey A man sunk into the unâ—voury sweetness of Sin will find all the sweetnesses of Grace of ill taste There is another sort of worldly â—leasures whose Innocence the World maintains beâ—ause the crime is not so visible They are called â—nnocent and they may be so if they did not soon beâ—ome criminal by the abuse of them and they all may â—e great obstacles to Devotion more than we are â—ware of The Holy Ghost is called the Comforter â—nd the taste which the Pious find in the Exercises of Holiness is termed Spiritual Consolation But to whom is the Comforter and the Consolation destin'd â—ut to the afflicted For certain therefore those Souls â—hat are filled with the joy of the World are not proper to receive these Divine consolations and the whâ—som impressions of the Divine Comforter 'T is this reason the ever blessed Jesus saith Blessed they which mourn for they shall be comforted Anâ— Austin saith to God Thou art the only true and thâ— Sovereign pleasure capable of filling the Soul Do 〈◊〉 cast far from me all those false pleasures and at theâ—â— time enter thou into their place thou who art more 〈◊〉 and more agreeable than all Pleasures tho not to 〈◊〉 and Blood The Manna did not fall upon the Israelâ— but when the Victuals they had brought out of 〈◊〉 were consumed And questionless that divine Manâ— Grace those Ravishments and those joys of Devotâ— are not communicated to those that have a magâ— furnished with the things of Egypt and the pleasure the World A person that returns from a Ball or a Comed very much indisposed for Devotion Some may in favour of the Theater that it is become chaste 〈◊〉 and that we see there more Lessons of Vertue thâ— Examples of Vice But others may say that the Paâ—ons do not appear there animated but in defence Honour and that there are produced no other sentime but those of Generosity For my part I say that Vertues of the Theater are crimes according to 〈◊〉 mind of the Gospel and when there is any thing goâ— heard there it is very much sullied by the impuâ—â— of the Lips and the Imaginations thorough which passes Oh Impiety said Clemens Alexandrinus you hâ—â— made Heaven to descend upon the Theater and God is come a Comedy Oh Impiety we may say in imitatiâ—â— him you have made Vertue to mount the Theat and you have made her an Actress Our Saviour 〈◊〉 not have his Preachers wear Buskins on their feet Masks on their face Tragedy saies St. Cyprian makesâ— ancient Crimes to revive in its verses so as they may die of old age It draws them out from under the Tomb of ten or twelve Ages And in the present age we learn such Crimes as perhaps we should never have thought on we observe that what has bin done heretofore may also be done to day So we make examples of those Actions which had ceas'd to be Crimes nevertheless the innocence of Tragedy may be pleas'd with more colour The Lacedemonians were wise men who banished these evil Arts from among them by reason said they that it was not safe to violate the Laws even in appearance and that one ought to respect them even upon the Theater This makes me remember a saying of Cicero that it is not honest by way of sporting the mind to exercise one's Philosophy and Rhetorick against the Gods in arguing either their Existence or their Providence without being an Atheist This veneration we owe to them of not diverting our selves at their expence I say the same of Vertue It is not handsome to please ones self in seeing Vertue or rejoycing or wronged But besides all this these sights are absolutely disagreeing with Devotion since they fill the Soul with vain Passions
Grace as may imitate and approach the Light of Glory Make thy Rivers to run a cross this Paradise Plant therein the Tree of Life And lay up there so grand an influence of good things that my own Wealth may make me look upon that of the World with an high disdain and contempt and that from under the Throne where thou shalt have plac'd my Soul it may consider all the Palaces of the World like meer Cottages CHAP. IV. Of Worldly Troubles and Cares a fourth Source of Indevotion NOW we come to another branch of the Love of the World and a new obstacle to Devotion I mean earthly Cares and Riches Black and horrid Devils that come to cross us that draw us frequently out of the company of our Lord Christ Jesus to lead us among Sepulchres and that walk as in the sad Ruines of our Fortune and Grandeur There are more unhappy than happy Persons in the World so that this temptation is at least as ordinary as the precedent are and whereas the World possesses our Hearts when we have lost it we bewail it most bitterly A man whom against his will a contrary Wind drives from the Haven where he would be always turns his Eyes on that side and does not lose the View of it but with inconceivable Regret If he would take any rest the Images of his Country his dear Children and his Friends return incessantly into his mind to plague him and continue his Torture So the afflicted Soul that would retire into its self to be united with God doth see amidst its Exercises the Images of its misfortunes which awaken its Grief and draw it from Heaven into the bottomless pit These are the Wasps and Flies whose Stings are so piercing whilst we are fixt so on holy Work and give up to it our whole attention then these come and prick us so to the quick that we are forced to lay our hands on the part affected These are the Whips wherewith the Taskmasters of Aegypt serve ' emselves to hasten us to the work of the Flesh and the labour of Bricks These Task-masters are the Devils that say with Pharaoh this People is idle since they will serve their own God let us redouble their Imployments and hence they rowze up those smarting and stinging cares recalling into the memory of one the loss of a Cause in a Court of Judicature and of another the Ill estate of his affairs an he ruine of his Family And these thoughts like so many stings hasten a man to return to his works of Straw to his worldly occupation that make him to forget God's Service When therefore we would espouse our selves in the bosom of our God we must drive and fright away these Gnats that whizz about our Ears and we must lay these Demons And as the Spouse said I charge you O ye Daughters of Jerusalem by the Roes and by the Hinds of the Field that ye stir not up nor awake my Love till he please So we ought to say Go ye carnal thoughts thy earthly anxities and netling Cares away ye Devils return into your bottomless pits let my Soul rest and do not disturb its holy Conversations do not draw it out of the Arms of its beloved whose possession makes up all its Joy and all its Beatitude Good remedies there are against this Temptation which we ought to make use of The first is to discomfit and destroy in us the love of the World when we shall love it no more we shall no more be sensible of the mischiefs and misfortunes that befall us on that side So we do'nt love Money Riches nor Grandeur we shall not be touched with the loss of them So we love God only we shall evermore be content because we shall never lose him The World makes men pay Interest for its Pleasures the grief it causes in abandoning us is much greater than the joy we taste in possessing it and therefore we should diffeize our selves in good time that we may lose it without trouble If we have cares that seem lawful unto us and which we know not how to part withall let us follow the precept and example of David Cast thy care upon God and he will take care for thee We do not want examples to maintain this reliance We can produce an Elijah that was fed by Ravens a Prophet in the Lions Den that was respected by those Monsters Israelites in uncultivated and desolate Places upon whom the very Heavens rained down Bread Have we need of Assurance and Promises see that of our Lord Jesus Are not two Sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father Fear ye not therefore ye are of more value than many Sparrows Behold the Fowls of the Air they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feedeth them God that takes care of the young Ravens that call upon him will he desert us without doubt we must have a great stock of Incredulity to resist so great Promises After all let us remember to think how our Cares do change nothing at all in the state of our Concerns and how they turn our Souls topsie turvy and render them incapable of Devotion Upon which account our ever blessed Jesus would not have us take care for the Morrow for fear it should trouble our Devotion to day Wherefore in entring into our Closet we must say to our selves why dost thou take care for so many things and it may be thou must die to morrow Afraid thou art of wanting necessaries for Life but thou considerest not that these necessaries may be reduced into a small compass Thou hast lost some Wealth thou art afraid of losing it 't is therefore God hath retrencht thee of the superfluity Whereas how canst thou be afraid of wanting any manner of thing when in that moment thou goest to find God to whom appertain all things and addest with St. Austin Cast thy self O my Soul into the Arms of God and fear not lest he should let thee fall for his Arms sustain Heaven and Earth And having said this shut the door against all the troubles of the Flesh and cast them under thy feet as thou fallest on thy Knees Meditation ALas I have good reason to weep Oh that my Head were Waters and mine Eyes a Fountain of Tears that I might bewail my Sins This is a sadness after a godly sort and a Repentance not to be repented of In this Respect mine Eyes are without moisture and dry as Rocks Oh! that Moses his Rod struck me and the Terrour of Gods Judgments seiz'd me that I might be able to cast out Currents of Water Yet nevertheless I do not want tears to mourn my mishaps and my worldly misfortunes So that I am not covetous of Tears but I distribute 'em ill Wherefore O my Soul art thou so toucht at the loss of some goods whereof thou had'st only the use
and which Death at least would have infallibly ravisht from thee Dost thou not know that the World and its Fortunes are all of Glass They shine but they are brittle The least blow shatters them and makes 'em to flye into a thousand pieces why then shouldest thou think it strange that Glass should break between thy Fingers Why art thou so sensible of Injuries and Offences And why dost thou make the malignity of another thy own misery why dost thou so bitterly lament the loss of some Persons that Death has taken up from thee they were not thine they were Gods who lent 'em thee and has retaken them In short Why art thou so prodigal of Tears whereof thou reapest no fruit that is to imploy ones Labour in that which profiteth not When thou bewailest O my Soul thy misfortunes thy tears do not make thy misfortunes to cease but mourn for thy Sins and thy Tears will destroy them They will whirl them away like a Torrent or a Deluge and they will be found no more Thy carnal anxieties trouble thy Devotion But the Grief which thou shalt have for thy Sins and Infirmities will augment it and God will comfort thee Prayer COme therefore thou Holy Ghost the Comforter who wert promised to us by the Son in behalf of the Father Come sweeten my bitter Anguishes by thy Delights and Mercies Come and recompence my losses by thy Riches Give me such joy as passes all understanding Give me Piety that I may have contentment of Mind and that the one and the other being joyned together may be great Gain to me and compose my soverign happiness Come and place my Soul in so firm a Seat and Posture that it may never be jogged or stagger'd even by the rudest blows Come and restore back to me what I have lost Goods Possessions Houses Husband Wife Children Kindred and my dearest Frinds Come my dear Saviour and let me possess thee perfectly instead of all things The World has taken away all it hath given me But it cannot ravish from me what thou shalt bestow upon me I make a Sacrifice to thee of all the Goods which I have lost If I have not lost 'em for thy Name yet at least I at present patiently suffer the loss of them for thy Name 's sake And therefore I hope thou wilt reward me as if I had lost them for thee In this Hope I banish my Cares and Troubles far from me to the end they may come no more to disturb and interrupt my Repose O my God make the Walls of my Closet impenetrable Ramparts such as cannot be pierced by the Darts of my persecuting Enemies So that I may be there in thy Presence as in a quiet and safe Haven against the Tempests wherein my Life is lost and that so the Commerce which my Soul would have with thee may not be interrupted by the remembrance of my Misfortunes but I may forget all my Griefs and Calamities in thy Presence CHAP. V. Of Excessive Business A fifth Source of Indevotion THIS is also another branch of the Love of the World and another let and hindrance to Devotion We love the World and give up our selves intirely to its Imployments One imploys himself in Traffique and thinks of nothing else Another he is oppressed with the Affairs of other men which he makes his own through interest He pleads as he saith for the defence of Justice but it is too often for iniquity and though he gains his Cause yet he loses his Conscience A physician Visits his Patients with a design to make 'em pay dear for his Services and Attendance The man of business is ever thumbing his Arithmetick The Mechanick exercising his Trade the Husband-man Agriculture And to these several ways goes the greatest and best part of their time And so much is the World corrupted as they think they deserve praises in that among the sundry ways of spending time this is the most innocent but it becomes criminal as soon as it robs us of our God and slackens our Piety The mind of man is so made as it cannot vigorously tend but to one Mark it cannot ardently will but one thing insomuch as if thou givest up the ardour and force of thy desires to thy Family and thy Occupations God will but partake of the Reliques of thy Soul and thy languishing motions I do not pretend here as if Persons of all conditions could give up themselves wholly to contemplation This contemplative Life is the Life of Angels and not of men and since that we are in part Body we must also live after a manner partly corporal A Bird let its wings be never so strong cannot always be flying A Soul has not strength enough to be evermore lifted up to Heaven I know moreover we ought to serve the necessities of Nature In a word I do not oppose the Order that man has received from God to eat his Bread by the sweat of his Brows and by his labour six days in the Week all I aim at is that the imployments of Martha may not hinder the work of Mary and that the Body being the worse Part of us may not carry away the better part of our time If there be any thing wherein we ought to laud and praise the great condescention of God to us it is in this all our time is his but he pleased to give us six parts in seven Six days shalt thou labour and on the seventh rest Seeing he has forgone so much we ought at least to be very exact to pay him this Tythe of our time one day in seven one hour in seven Six hours therefore should not slip by in a day without returning to God to give him the seventh Do more and imagine not you can do too much since you owe him all Why will you not have the same regard and consideration for the Soul as you have for the Body On it you bestow Refreshment and Rest and for this you intercept your most important Concerns that you may repair the decayed forces of Nature Take heed there be not made too great a dissipation of the Spirits of Grace call the Soul to its exercises of Devotion as to repasts which renders it vigorous and as to sleep during which it lyes in the Arms of its God labour often in this Divine Recollection and to withdraw the Soul from those wandring courses it makes in humane affairs Meals and repasts hastily taken are followed with a difficult digestion and very little nourishment and therefore we repose our selves while we eat let not any one tâ—en imagin he can serve God whilst he is doing something else These stirrings and turbulent Devotions are of ill consequence and instead of nourishing do load and clog the Conscience We must therefore in our ordinary imployments set aside some hour wherein our Souls may retire themselves as it were in an Haven to rejoyce over a Calm after a boysterous Tempest Whilst the Water
Exercises The last Source of Indevotion THE foregoing Obstacles I confess are very strong and the love of the World its Pleasures its Troubles its Employments and the Ramblings of the Mind are such evils as are hard to be remedied But nevertheless I believe that we may come to an end in labouring about them with much care and affiduity For the most evident Cause of our Indevotion is the seldomness and Interruption of holy Exercises Certain it is that spiritual Pleasures are diametrically opposite to carnal ones The rareness only and the difficulty render these brisk and eager The tast of Pleasure we lose amidst Delights And assoon as the Pleasures of the World have lost the Grace of Novelty they have lost their Value Yesterday a Begger counted himself happy with a small sum To day he finds a greater And to morrow he will be no more sensible of his felicity If great Repasts be made at a pretty distance of time from one another the pleasure of the Debauch will be somthing to you return to 'em every day seeing that this will be called an Ordinary the pleasure of feasting will quite cease but on the other side return often to God reiterate your commerces with him and sure I am what appeared at the beginning unsavoury will become a pleasurable exercise But if you do this rarely you will immediately lose the taste The reason of this mystery is not difficult to be discovered It is because Piety and its exercises are by us esteemed Labours by reason of the criminal dispositions which Sin brings us Now labour evermore is diminishing according to the measure wherein we continue it The Traveler is weary at the end of his first days Journey on the morrow he will be much less before two days are over his Journey will be a mighty trouble to him but such an one as will have proportion to his strength and in few Weeks it will become to him a divertisement By violence at first we bring our Soul to God it follows with uneasiness It thinks the way uneven sharp and craggy but by little and little this Travel ceases to be a pain and blessedly changes it self into pleasure Is it not true that the less we do a thing we do it not so well The Vertues are habits and tho Heaven bestow 'em upon us by powring them within our Souls it notwithstanding gives us them much in the same manner as we acquire them by divers reiterateed actions Wherefore as no one is a Good Souldier for his having been in one Campaign nor a Painter for his having had two or three Lessons So the Devout do not become so by one or two actions of Piety but by long and frequent exercises This is a Warr wherein we have to fight against our thoughts against the hardness of our own thick Icy heart At the first and second rencounter we are beaten oftentimes so that at all bouts we must return to the charge Indevotion is a monster which we are oblig'd to mortifie by little and little for that we cannot kill it all at once To day we ought to get one foot of it and to morrow another but if we let it get breath never so little it will soon regain what it had lost When we shall have come to destroy it almost intirely let us not imagin that Assiduity will be the less necessary For if the rareness of devout exercises hinders their progress let Devotion be never so much advanc'd the interruption and relaxation will destroy it We may understand an art perfectly well but if we don't exercise it it is forgot Above all when we fight against our own inclinations for a little abandoning them to their Bent we shall find 'em again in the place from whence we removed them Our heart hath such a slopeness towards Sin as one can't imagin and especially towards Indevotion Let it be fortified with the best habits in the World and let it be thoroughly confirmed in them yet one inflaming thought coming across presently will set it all on fire and choak the flames of Devotion by those of concupiscence If the heart be so easy to be burnt by the fire of Sin it is on the contrary very heavy and cold as to Devotion insomuch as after having been lifted up to Heaven by Machines and great struglings the interruption of a few days will spoil all and bring it down again to its old Earth To prove this truth I desire nothing but the testimony of fincere Souls If some wordly Affairs and some hinderances to which you have given the name of unavoidable have estranged you for sometime from the place of religious worship and have made you lose your Closet-hours at first this you doe with some sort of pain but insensibly you accustom your selves to it and when you would return to the practise of Devotion and the exercise of Prayer you do not know your selves any longer and you feel an inconceivable heaviness in your selves The Conscience resembles the Stomach cease to give it meat and after much abstinence it will cease to ask it Do but stay a little longer and if you give it food it will not know what to do with it it cannot now digest it it has lost all its natural heat its forces are quite spent and doing no more of its wonted Offices it will leave the body for Food to Worms So the Conscience loses an habit of Devotion by ceasing from its works and the Soul dies in its crimes and Sins In short Devotion is a Virtue that puts all the faculties of our Souls into motion as one Spring makes all the rest in a Clock to move Wind up this Clock without discontinuance 't will all go easily but if you cease the Wheels will rust all will become heavy and mightily unfit for movement Let the exercises of Piety be constantly going on and the Soul will conserve a Disposition to devout motions if they be interrupted it will bring a nastiness into all the parts of the Soul which will deprive it of an easiness to move towards Heaven These are the Sources of our Indevotion and the Indispositions of Soul which we ought to heal to open unto us a way to this excellent Virtue Others too we may find of them but they will cast us into two general considerations As for example Who can doubt that the languishings of our Soul do not proceed from the weakness of our Faith Hope or Charity If we were strongly persuaded that there is a God in Heaven that knows our though's and considers all our ways that is called King of Men and Angels opening Hell and Paradice should we not present our selves before him with a Spirit of due dread and submission But alass we believe after such a manner as God hath need to help our unbelief To be devout we need only become Faithful and therefore the Fathers found no counsel more useful to guard us from Distractions than this
get rid of that we should gain all but if it continue the Master it 's in vain we strive to become devout And therefore I destin'd this third part to make such considerations therein as may if possible ruine that grand Enemy of Devotion Certain it is Man was born for Pleasure since he was created to be happy and happiness consists in the Possession of Good and the sense of that Possession makes Pleasure The sovereign good of man consists in the Sole possession and absolute fruition of God and in being united immediately and after a most intimate manner unto him And Pleasure ought to spring from this strict and close Union with the Divinity This Union is made by Knowledge and by Love and pleasure arises from thence that God applies himself to the Soul by infolding it in the Arms of his goodness and Beauty and that he fills it with the light and joy of his countenance Sin has so far infeebled this Union of our Soul with God that it hath no more sense of its pleasures Your Sins have put a seperation between you and your God and it is like a thick cloud that eclipses the Sun as to us Whose comfortable beams would raise so much joy within us The Soul has kept this sentiment that it was born for Joy and Pleasure insomuch as being disunited from its God it intirely turns its self to the Body and its Pleasures and the stricter it is united to these the farther off it is from them The ligament of this union o' th' Soul to the body is Corporal Pleasure and proportionably as this pleasure tyes the Soul to the Body so it disunites it from God so that sensual pleasures cause this Disunion and this Disunion is propperly Indevotion which we would destroy for most assuredly Devotion is that motion of the Soul whereby she returns to her Principle and to the fruition of those pleasures that spring from her union with God Let worldly people take the pains to consult their own heart and that will tell them what we are about to say They well perceive that the reason why they cannot dispose themselves to Prayer to the love and Service of God is because they are posses'd by their passions and inchanted by the delusions of Sense That is to say they are absolutely turned toward sensual pleasures and wholly taken up in them The Soul is pinch'd and contracted the mind is bounded when its full of the World and its vanities so that we need not wonder if God who will have the Soul intire find no room therein Indeed a very difficult work this is we undertake to persuade that those who would become Devout ought to renounce worldly pleasures Although the Corruption of them be extreme we do not place all pleasures in the same rank we distinguish them into two orders There are those which are call'd excesses enormities and crimes but these the World abandons and has not the face to defend There are others styled innocent Pleasures Dancing Play good Chear great Meals Feasts Play-houses Shows vain Conversations the commerce of Gallantry and Intrigues that are the guides to criminal Amours The Church distinguishes Pleasures as well as the World Both agree that there are Innocent ones But the Church puts the greatest part of those which the World upholds to be innocent into the number of criminal pleasures Voluptuosness is an Idol to which the World Sacrifices both young and old Men and Women Children and old Men great and small rich and poor all ages both Sexes all conditions have their Pleasures Insomuch much as if we go according to suffrages we should lose the Cause Especially Young men cannot indure one should takeaway the use of Pleasure they persuading themselves that youth is predestinately consecrated to it The Painters and Poets that contribute to marr and vitiate Mens minds represent Voluptuousness to us like a young Woman or Man laid upon a Bed of flowers environed with all the Objects which are bodily pleasures The Passions that are wholly carnal and have a strait Aliance and Correspondence with the Senses are in boiling youth The Flesh all brisk active and vigorous having received no manner of Mortification Hectors and Domineers with insolence Whereupon young men follow the furies of their Temper and Crasis The sentiments of Piety and the habits of Virtue are not to be found naturaly in them So that reason destitute of this Succour is easily vanquish'd by the Passions We may say also that Reason in this age conspires with the Passions and serves only to push on young people into the greatestexcess and extravagences After their own fashion they reason they are persuaded that wisdom and prudence doe not become them they say that these properly belong to old men and thus abuse the saying of the Wise-man To every thing under the Heaven there is a season If any one has more happy inclinations he is not so hardy as to follow them he is stricken with a criminal shame he would not have himself markt out for a singular Fop He cast himself into the crowd and lets himself be carrieds away with the stream And even those who are reputed Wise in the World if they dare not authorize these Irregularities at least they excuse them They are young say they they will come to it at length we must allow somwehat to Age we are not born wise we were such as they are they may be one day what we are But alas we do not stay there we do not renounce Pleasures as we leave our youthful years behind us the love of Voluptuousness is a malady we carry along with us thorough all Ages We go as slow as possibly or to speak better we go on not at all Old Age and Sickness pull men sometimes away by violence from Pleasure but we seldom view those that voluntarily divest themselves of worldly pleasures This is the most uncommon of all Sacrifices How many Women do we see that would hold out even against time and foreslow themselves from being carried off the Stage They forget nothing that may contribute to conserve the air of youthfulness They would deceive Men and I know not whether or no they hope to deceive Death it self They would evermore be the object of the Worlds care and have a part in all its Pleasures When old age is come and has lain its Characters open in their meen they draw a Skreen before it to render it invisible You see these Women Idolatresses of the World to bury their head under an heap of Powder that they may confound the whiteness of their gray hairs with this adulterated and strange whiteness They fill the dints and hollows of their countenances with cousening Ceruse they shadow the wrinkles of their forehead with false hair and paints and in which they are most prudent they imbalm their Bodies and cover them with Perfumes to corrupt the ill odours that arise from the Carkasses In this equipage
art alwayes â—he slave of thy Passions and the drudge to thy senses In thy youth thou tookest pleasure to throw mony away but now thoâ— makest it a pleasure to get and hoard it up And what difference is there betwixt these two pleasures Are not they both pleasures of Sence and have they not both the same Source do not they produce the same effect and estrange thee from thy God hath a young brisk man in giving himself up to sensual pleasure any reason to think he deserve very highly because he does not now play at push-pin as he did in his child-hood Every age of life has its Passions and its Pleasures But all are enemies to Piety and Devotion Be not therefore in pain to knoâ— what makes thee sleep at Sermon 't is the Dâ—vil of voluptuousness that rocks thee asleep when thou ceasest to be attentive in thâ— prayers it is he who gets thy Ear and caâ—ries it elsewhere And thy insensibility 〈◊〉 to pleasure in the presence of thy God whâ— unites himself immediately to thee proceeâ— from thence that thou art buried in mattâ—â— and that being intirely turned towards coâ—poral things thou believest nothing Reaâ— but what strikes the sense and thou owne no true pleasure but what comes from seâ—sible things Reenter then o my Soul 〈◊〉 enter into thy self suffer not any longer bodily objects to blot out the very sight of thy Spirit Search after the presence of thy God Hear his eternal wisdom which speaks to thee within thy heart Resist the efforts the body makes to destroy thee Trust not the report of thy senses What they present thee take 'em not for true pleasures Regard not the things thou seest as worthy of thy application and esteem leave thy self to be filled with God and to be intirely taken up by him And if thou applyest thy self to him he will apply himself to thee and from this mutual application between thy Soul and thy God there will arise to thee such vast pleasures as thy Imagination can never be capable to conceive Prayer MY Lord and my God what shall I render unto thee for so many Benefits and how shall I do to atone for so many Ingratitudes Behold thou hast plac'd me in a Paradise where all sorts of good things abound and thou hast given me the use of all I see Thou hast made sensible Creatures that they may have accord and corespondence with my senses and that they may be an help unto me to lift me 〈◊〉 to things Intellectual But thorow my corruâ—tion they are become Snares and Sins unto 〈◊〉 I do not serve my self of these visible Creature to ascend to the invisible I use them to gâ— downwards within my self I wrap my self 〈◊〉 in matter there I stick and I bury my self 〈◊〉 corporeal things Thus I make my Mind thâ— slave of my Body Heaven Earth Air anâ— Sea are full of objects which should aid me 〈◊〉 know admire and â—raise thee but I use theâ— to offend thee All is full of such things 〈◊〉 flatter the flesh and raise sensual pleasures But o my God! thou dist make them with inteâ—â— I should not seek after sensible pleasures in them and overwhelm my self in carnal voluptuousness through thy profound wisdom and infinite power thou hast made Fishes in the Sea Fowls in the Air living Creatures on Earth Plants and diverse kind of Fruits the most delicious Liquours and all this for the taste Perfumes foâ— the smell Beauties for the sight harmonioâ— sounds for the Ears and diverse pleasuers for Touching I am sure O my God thou hast made this to save me and not to damn me If I had continued innocent and in the state wherein thou createst me I could not have abused so many goods in possessing them I should have â—ade such use of them as would not have abaâ—ed my mind to sensible things in seperateing â—ee from thee to whom I should become perfectly â—nited But now the Devil has spread his nets â—mong all thy Creatures he has fixt temptaâ—ons to all the objects of my Senses Thou berefore seest me o my God environed with â—empters on all sides I cannot open mine Eyes â—or Ears but some Image arrives that awakâ—â—s my besotted Imagination and foments my â—oncupiscence O my Saviovr be pleased to â—ard my Heart Make me vanquish all these â—mptations Give me the grace to reclame and â—fer thy Creatures to their proper use that â—may not abuse them in voluptuousness That â—e Knowledg of them may serve me to admire by Power and Praise thy Wisdom That from â—ese bodily Images I may draw spiritual Ideas 〈◊〉 that I may find in all things wherefore to gloâ—fie thee and my Spirit may return more and â—ore to thee O eternal infinite Spirit which â—t the Father of Spirits CHAP. II. That the Pleasures of the Senses neither iâ— their Vse nor in their Abuse do agree witâ— the spirit of Christianity and Devotion I Know very well that this Maxime must appeâ—â— strange to the greatest part of Mankind espeâ—ally to them who are forestalled by those Prinâ—â—ples which we have examined in the formâ— Chapter The Maximes of the Church are as oppâ—site to those of the World as Light to Darkness Tâ—â— World authorizes all the Pleasures of Sense the Chuâ—â— condemns almost all We do not here draw up a pâ—â—cess simply against those debaucht People whose naâ—â— is odious even in the Ears of the World We condeâ—â— those that repute themselves honest Persons who 〈◊〉 effect have some degree of moral honesty and whâ— life is shelter'd from the severity of laws but whoâ—â— sume and spend their life in the use of vain worldly pleâ—sures All those Pleasures that some believe Innocâ—â— are Enemies to Devotion and wholy disagree withâ— Spirit of Christianity as well in their use as in their abâ—â— Now if we cannot render this Truth victorious by pâ—rality of Suffrages at least wee will endeavour to renâ— it evident by strength of Reasons And first of all let us hear our Lord Jesus Christ speâ—ing from on high For where can we better find 〈◊〉 Spirit of Christianity than in Christ himself Let us hâ— him painting out the way to us that leads to life Wâ— is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to Destructâ—â— and many there be which go in thereat But strait is gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life If 〈◊〉 wouldest be perfect go sell all that thou hast and follow 〈◊〉 If any one would come unto me let him take up his Cross and follow me If thy right Eye or right Hand offend thee pluck them off and cast them from thee Blessed are the poor Blessed are they which hunger and thirst Blessed are they that mourn and are persecured The Disciples follow their Master and tell us likewise Mortifie your Members which are upon the Earth If any one love the World the love of the Father abideth not in him Be ye sober and watch Conform not
creating Spirit and Creator of Spirits create in me a new Heart and renew a right Spirit within me that my Soul may be filled with thy Delights and I may taste all the sweetness of thy Love Thirsty I am after Pleasure open thy Fountain of eternal Pleasures and let thy Rivers fâ—â—w into my Soul Kiss me with the kisses of thy Mouth for thy Love is better than Wine Tell me O thou whom my Soul loveth where thou makest thy Flocks to rest at noon For why should I be as one that turneth aside by the â—â—â—ks of thy companions Why should my Soul â—ander amidst the vain Pleasures of the World and why should it bring to thee so many false Goods for companions Let me retire under thy shadow embrace adore love thee only and taste no Pleasure but what is in thee Draw me therefore that I may run after thee draw near to me that I may be able to draw near to thee Prevent me by thy Grace by thy Mercy and by the bowels of thy Compassion stirred up for a prodigaland rambling Son who seeks but cannot find thee Awake O North-wind and come thou South blow upon my Garden that the Spices thereof may flow out Let my beloved come into his Garden and eat his pleasant Fruits O Holy Spirit thou South-wind the Father of Heat Author of Generation Source of Love and Charity blow upon the Powers of my Soul which are as a Desart make them an Eden a Garden of the Almighty make odoriferous Plants to grow there produce there Habits and Works of a sweet odour so as my heavenly Saviour the beloved of my Soul may come and taste the sweetness of those Fruits that he may delight in me and I in him and that we may eternally taste all those Pleasures the products of a mutual Love CHAP. VI. That young People have no Priviledge to use sensual Pleasures nor to dispence themselves from Devotion ONE Reflection is still behind which we are obliged to make before we leave this Important Subject we having done nothing yet in regard to young People They persuade ' emselves it may be that whatever hath bin say'd does not concern them it is almost impossible to deliver them from this Errour That Pleasure is peculiarly their share and that without Tyranny we cannot deny it them To them Indevotion is natural and they reckon it a particular Honour We should make fine work of it say they to 〈◊〉 Bigots at these years they fancy that Modesty Wisdom Sobriety and Temperance are not proper for them 't is the business of old Men say they we must not make our selves ridiculous by turning Cato's and Seneca's And indeed if any one of them has more happy Inclinations he is asham'd he dissembles 'em he follows the Crowd They tell him to every thing under the Heaven there is a time In considering old and young men we can never believe say they that Persons so different are destin'd to the same Actions The wrinkled forehead of old Age the paleness of it's Complexion hollow Eyes chap-fallen Mouth and Limbs all trembling have a correspondence with the Duties of Repentance and it 's fit that they pour forth Tears and give themselves up to Mortification But the good disposition and plumpness of Youth that flourish of Blood that displays it's self upon the Complexion lively and sparkling Eyes Seâ—ses eager and capable to be toucht by their Objects very manifestly shew that this age is born for pleasures and all manner of Joy Thus it is they flatter and hug themselves in their security Not only young People talk at this rate but most part of mankind agree with them in it I cannot deny but that the extravagancies and disorders of conduct in the life of an old man impress much greater marks of infamy than the debauches of the younger sort I must confess also that the disorders of old age discover a greater depth of Corruption It cannot cast it's faults upon the first boylings of the Blood which hath much filth and scum It cannot take the default of Experience for excuse and in short it breaks the barriers of a shame much greater than that which follows the crimes of Youth But nevertheless God will not judge men according to humane Rules and the Sentiments of the World there is no Age that has receiv'd a dispensation from obeying God All the violaters of his Law shall be punisht since his Commandments are given to all and if so be the difference of Age put a diversity in sins in respect of Punishment this would only in the upshot go upon the More and the Less But what will that result to seeing in a word even the less unhappy must have their share in Eternal fires and the Worm that never dyeth Why should young people be less obliged to Devotion Has God given them less On the contrary they as well as old men have received of God their Being and Reason but farther they have vigour of Body force of Wit Health Youth and the flower of Age. Assuredly these are particular Obligations to devote themselves to God All these advantages they have not receiv'd to consecrate them to the Devil of Lust and Voluptuousness Is any thing too good for God They design for him a tatter'd body ' putrified Lungs gloomy Eyes and dry Members In truth God will be mightily oblig'd to them they would give him the bottom Lees of their years and consecrate to him that Age which is the sink of Life and the Center of all Miseries that is to say they would give him what the World has cast off they act like covetous men who are only liberal when they are dying they give what they can retain no more Believe me all the very best we have is not goo good for our God Heretofore he would not have Victimes that had any fault that were ill or in no good case or that had lost any part of the Body Do we believe he will be pleas'd to accept the Sacrifices of a spent and wasted heart and a man who is only the shadow of what he was once â—exhort you that ye present your Bodies a living Sacrifice But young People that take up the resolution of being devout when they can be no longer sinners promise God their dead and as it were corrupted Bodies for in old age Bodies are like Phantoms and come near to the nature of Carkasses God has thought nothing too good for us he has given himself for us he who is the sovereign good has given us his Son he devoted him to death for us in the flower of his age and it is just that we be devoted to his service in all our Ages God is not satisfied with these promises of futurity I will give thee He would have us speak in the present tense I do give thee as he does himself in speaking to us I give you my Peace He is called He who is was and is to come So that
speak of the Iniquities of the Righteous If those truly devout Persons have not over-much Righteousness you will strangely want it then who come so much behind them but ye say God will supply what is lacking for this did Christ Jesus dye that we might obtain his Grace and Favour in the midst of our Infirmities But how do ye know that the Blessed Jesus would this does not he do what-liketh him best with his own You ought therefore to take the surer side What assurance have ye that God gives his Grace thus to those that slight it Although you could do it the mercy of the Lord will have employ enough and your righteousness though pusht on to the extremity of your strength will still have need of Supplements to attain to Glory There are other Indevout People which are still a little farther off than the former They would have a good deal of Devotion but they are not yet come to desire it that is to say the motions of their Will towards it are very imperfect I would willingly become so says one but I cannot the World bears me away my Affairs wholly take me up the temper and frame of my Body and Soul have not the necessary Turn for the practise of this Virtue I do what I would not and what I would that do I not for the law of my members continues Mistress of the Law of my mind they are not much afflicted at the not having that which they wish and it is a certain proof that they wish it very feebly In this Estate how far from Perfection must the Conscience needs be This is not to love God with all the Soul this is to seek him with the least part of the heart and to desire him with a most imperfect Will To will Devotion at that rate is to take the way never to obtain it for the Soul does not surmount the difficulties but by heartning it self against them and by acting with all its might and vigour Judge then if an Heart in this looseness can attain one of the most difficult things in the World We have seen how many strong Passions ruine and destroy Devotion the Love of the World its Pleasures and its Vexations If to these passions so violent and head-strong you oppose I know not what imperfect desires it is but the Fight of Dwarfs against Gyants So that the first general Counsel I give to attain Deâ—otion is to desire it ardently Some will say that they who desire it have it already but that is no necessary conclusion Some motions there are whereof we are not the Masters and oftentimes we passionately desire a thing we are not able to effect although it depend upon our Will Most terrible is the tyranny of Habits and the cord of Sin are difficult to break St. Austin most divinely paints out to us the motion of such a Soul as would elevate it self to God but cannot I panted after the liberty of thinking only on thee O my God but I sighed being still tyed up not by foreign Chains but by those of my own will which were harder than Iron The Devil held it in his Power he had bound it fast I had a Will to serve thee with the purest Love and to enjoy thee O my God in whom alone is to be found a solid and true Joy but this new Will which was but still-born was not capable of conquering that other which had fortified it self by a long habit in Sin Behold the Picture of a Christian Soul that wishes to be truly devout would only think on God and love him but cannot Nevertheless how happy is such a Soul and near to Devotion When we seek God we are on the Eve of finding him This is that Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness to which the Lord promises a Refreshment These Desires are the effects of Grace but if Nature doth nothing in vain with much stronger Reason does Grace These Desires therefore cannot be fruitless they will obtain their end they will be filled one day There 's hardly any thing but wherein the vigour of the Soul and the force of the Desires hit their mark and hereby rather than by the strength of his Armies did the Great Alexander vanquish the World gain so many Battels take so many Cities and trample on the Necks of conquered Nations when things necessary to the Accomplishment of his Designs fail'd him the vigour of his Courage that is the force of his Desires served instead of them If the Desires can perform so much in things without us and independent on our Will what cannot they do in that which depends thereon and is vertually our Will it self To make these pious desires succeed we are to call God to our aid these are younglings that he has caused to be born and 't is his Interest to nourish them these be the Aurora of that Sun who doth not fail to come and fully enlighten us provided he be invok'd with fervour Here is therefore another Adviso which is but a Corollary and a Deduction from the former We must ask of God the grace of Devotion and in his presence groan after what we have not If there be any favour of our Vows and Tears if there is any Gift that comes immediately from Heaven 't is this Virtue for nothing is more pure and more elevated among â—he Christian Virtues If any of you lack Wisdom says St. James let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberalâ— and upbraideth not I know not whether there be â—y part of Christian Wisdom more desirable than this Of God we ask our daily Bread our Food and Rayâ—ent health of Body and cure of our Diseases but â—e Soul is sick poor and dying when depriv'd of Deâ—tion which is its Fire Soul Life In a word there is noâ—ing to which we may more assuredly apply the proâ—ise of St. James that God refuseth no body but gives â—o all liberally since it is the Prayer of the World â—hich is most agreeable to him because it tends wholâ— to his Glory and our own Salvation We ask of God â—hat he would please to enter into us and that we â—ay enter into him to be perfectly united to him by a â—tual tye And how cannot this be well-pleasing to God seeing our Lord Christ himself the model of our â—oughts and actions hath asked the same thing for us That I may be in them and they in me that they may be â—ade perfect in one Here therefore we ought to begin â—r Instructions and the Faithful are to begin their Work for if nothing can be done without God of what â—â—th not regard him how can we do that without him which depends immediately upon him and is terminated in him Meditation 〈◊〉 consult my own Heart to know whether I can truly 〈◊〉 say My Soul fainteth for the Courts of the Lord. As the â—art-panteth after the Water Brooks so my Soul thirsteth 〈◊〉 the living God My Soul is
whereas in Religion all is divine and intellectual the Object of their Worship is mostly an Agnus Dei a Relick or an Image and God who ought to be the sole Object of our Devotions has scarce any share in their Veneration I do'nt require our Christian to be learned and that he have prey'd either into the Secrets of Nature or also into the highest mysteries of Grace by an over-exact and curious Research I hold that that is more disadvantageous than prositable to Devotion but the devout Soul must be spiritual enough to lift it self up above the Senses by Meditation Meditation is an excellent Operation of the Soul whereby it penetrates the out-sides of Objects and sounds them to the very heart 't is a reflected Action that rouls its subject upon the Heart till it makes deep Impressions 't is an happy Prospect by which the Soul every moment discovers more and more Wonders in that which it is about but these Discoveries are not nice Speculations to be communicated to others they are particular Sentiments and Applications which the Soul makes and which are only for it We cannot doubt but this is of absolute necessity to Devotion for this does not embrace it's Subject but proportionably as Meditation makes it to enter therein Devotion is an agitation of a vigorous and lively Soul whereby we are lifted up to God and to our sovereign Good and therefore the more Devotion applies us to this great Object and lets us see the depths of his Goodness the more ardent doth Devotion become so that this is to be the principal Subject of our Contemplations God is good either in himself or in respect had to us in himself because he is great majestic bounteous merciful if we did not partake of the Fruits of these Divine Vertues nevertheless God would not cease to possess them and consequently he wou'd be infinitely amiable We cannot think too often on these Attributes of God this is one of the most efficacious means which David uses to awaken his drowsie Devotion Awake O my Tongue saith he and thereupon he sings God Almighty's Power in his Works his Majesty shining forth in the Heavens his Justice in his Judgments his Wisdom in the Government of the World his Mercy towards Man But because Interest has so great a sway with us we are to joyn to this Confideration that-of-God's Benefits to descend into the Abysses of his Love and to consider him in Jesus Christ reconciling the World unto himself we must essay to dive if possible it be into the depths of his Mercy which are found every where and in all parts of the Dispensation of our eternal Salvation above all we cannot fix our selves too much upon the Passion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ we shall see there a thousand Objects able to mollifie our Soul fince God's Love to Mankind appears there in all it 's Extension From general Considerations it is good to come to particular Applications We ought to conceive how much we stand indebted to God for freeing us from so many Miseries to raise us up to such glorious hopes in short and to speak all in a Word the Object of our Meditation is as vast as God Nature and Grace altogether for there are no Flowers in the World but we may gather Honey from 'em we need not fear therefore that we can drain a Subject of so great a Bigness But how comes it to pass then our Meditations are frequently so dry and our Recollections so barren It is not from the Seed but from the bad Ground Whence comes it saith an Ancient Father that our Mind is found destitute of good Thoughts as if there were nothing well-pleasing to God wherewith we cou'd entertain our selves This comes not says he but from a carelessness of Spirit for the subject is inexhaustible and if the Eye cannot reach the end of Wonders to be seen much less can the Mind attain it in those that are to be conceived If the Eyes cease to see the Light when it is day 't is not for that the Light is exstinguish'd but it proceeds from the dissipation of the Sight If you pierce and open a Field in all â—arts with a Plow-share it will render you an abundant Harvest otherwise 't will continue barren and even if you penetrate very deep you may find springs of living Water In like manner if you open this great Subject to wit God and his Works by profound and frequent Meditations there will proceed from thence Sources of Consolations and Instructions Lastly make no difficulty to repass oft upon the same subject for to make it familiar to you Our Soul is depending upon the Body during the time we are upon Earth and the most spiritual Idea's are form'd in us by bodily motions so that it is highly useful to let the Thoughts of things divine pass and repass frequently in our selves to the intent we may give an Inclination to the Animal Spirits which may carry 'em that aways and at length we shall find they will go naturally in that Road in such sort as without design and before we are aware we shall think on good things I shall say one Word more for the comfort of those Minds which are not capable either of a piercing Infight or a strong Application and that is That they are to be griev'd if they do not find themselves forcible enough to drive on their Reasonings so far and if Conceptions fail them provided this comes not from any Coldness Some short but frequent Meditations whereby a faithful Person of the meaner sort does often apply his Mind to the Author of his Salvation and Gods Benefits may serve instead of long Reflections when one is not capable of them To help Devotion we are without doubt to call in the reading of good Books for we must not imagine we can draw all from our own Well and among those Books the Holy Scripture is as much above all others as God is above Men and the Sun above the Stars of the sixth Magnitude This is that Word which is as powerful and piercing as a two-edged Sword this is that Fire which can warm our Entrails and make us say Does not our Heart burn within us One only Passage in St. Paul Let us walk honestly as in the day not in Riotting and Drunkenness not in Chambering and Wantonness not in Strife and Envying but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ wrought the Conversion of St. Austin In every Page of this Book we shall find Gods Benefits and his excellent Promises so proper to awaken Devotion we shall find there many Examples of heavenly Meditations fit to lift up the Soul and guide us in our own Especially the Book of Psalms is an inestimable Treasure for devout Souls and if we could prize it and say of it beyond what the Ancients did we could never say enough 'T were to be wish'd that this Treasure were laid up entirely in our Memory
your selves to this present wicked World As Strangers and Pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts Have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of Darkeness Make â—â—t the Temples of the Holy Ghost the members of an Harlot The Mind of the Prophets was not different from that of the Apostles for they speak after this manner Go to now I said â—f Mirth it is vanity and of Laughter it is madness It â—s better for a young man to go to the House of mourning â—han to go to the House of feasting for that is the end of all â—hen and the living will lay it to Heart It is good for a man 〈◊〉 bear the yoke in his youth I said in my Heart I will â—reve thee with Mirth therefore enjoy pleasure And behold his also is vanity Rejoyce O young man in the days of thy south but know that for all these things God will bring hee unto Judgment And now in good earnest are all these â—â—aughts of the Character of us Christians now a dayes â—â—ese Crosses these Thorns these rough Wayes these â—rait Gates this Yoke this renouncing the World and â—s Vanities do they signifie that we can follow our Lord â—esus Christ in the equipage of Sensuality sometimes â—mong Feasts sometimes Dancings sometimes at Coâ—edies and sometimes at Play Those soft and effemiâ—ate Lives that are spent at Carde and Dice in vain â—â—d lewd Conversations in the intrigues of fleshly love â—ave they any resemblance with the combates the â—rastlings the races from which the H. Spirit takes his â—mblems to paint out to us the Life of the Faithful â—ight the good fight of Faith and so run that ye may obtain the prize Keep under your Body and bring it into subjectionâ— So fight not as one that breaketh the Air. Heaven and Earth Life and Death are not more opposite to one another than the Effiminate life of us Christians to this pourtraict of the Life of the Faithful which the holy Ghost hath given us But above all let us remember that the Spirit 〈◊〉 Christianity and of Devotion loves nothing so much aâ— Mortification to which sensible Pleasures are mortal enemies Mortifie your members which are upon the Earth St. Paul bids us do they mortifie their Members that entertain and imploy them in Volptuousness in lying upon Beds of Down in pillaging Sea and Land to furnish them with delicate Meats in joyning Aâ—â— to Nature to compose delicious Liquors for them and in running after all that may enchant their Senses Some will say that by these Member whereof the Gospel commnads the Mortification 〈◊〉 ought to understand Vices Very well But doe 〈◊〉 we know that the Members of the Body are the origâ—ne of the members of that Old Man which makes Viceâ— we cannot kill Vice but by mortifying our members The flesh is that unhappy Field accursed by Gâ—â— which produces Thorns and Thistles the more yeâ— fatten this Earth the more will it produce of theâ— venemous Plants So that we are obliged to keep it 〈◊〉 a great Privation of those Pleasures that fomention cupisence to the end it may continue mighty barrâ— in respect of those unhappy Products The Spirit of Christianity and of Devotion is a Spirit of strength but pleasure is soft It softens the Soâ— and effeminates the courage and the Church requiâ—â— a vigorous Soul and an heart of a Temper which caâ—â— not be wounded by the most weighty blows nor tâ—â— most edged and hacking gleaves of the Churches Eâ—emies We are to march thorough an hundred and â—â—â—dred sharp Swords He that would follow the Truth of Jesus Christ ought to resolve to suffer Persecution since we have alwayes in our head the Devil and the World But can a soft and voluptuous Life be proper to dispose us to Martyrdom In going out of a perfumed Bed in rising from a Table almost weigh'd down with delicious meats with an head fill'd with the furnes of a debauch are we in a good state to mount Scaffolds to enter into Flames and without quaking look upon Racks and Tortures whether is it more reasonable to look for the Heroes of Jesus Christ capable of facing Death it self among our Christians that overwhelm and as it were fuddle themselves in pleasures or among those whose austere and retired Life has declared War to all the pleasures of the World But says one we are not called to Martyrdom and according to all appearances we shall never be It may be so but still it is of great importance we should alwayes have the necessary Disposition to suffer Martyrdom For God will judge us not only according to what we do but also according to what we would do Furthermore does any one believe that the Sword and Fire of the Persecutors of the Church are the most dangerous of all Temptations we imagine we have need of strength and courage only to vanquish or undergo such torments But alas Some who have come off victorious from their bloody Bartels have yet fallen into the snares of the Devil and some that have born the marks and brands of the Lord Jesus have become children of Hell by letting ' emselves be surpriz'd by the Devil of Pride Covetousness Uncleanness or Heresie Such an one who had torn a young Lion to pieces in his strength broken the bands of the Philistines and pil'd heaps of dead bodies with the jaw-bone of an Ass falls into the â—racelets of a Dalilah and is lead in herchains to an Idol Temple This truth the World is not ignorant of It was well said that the Delights of Capua did more than the sword of the Romans and that they found out the way to soften and break those hard Africans that march'd after Hannibal and made victory to march after them So the Tranquillity God bestows on us ought not to make us sleep in the Arms of Voluptuousness Prosperity is a strong Temptation and pleasure it self is a Monster which we cannot overcome without a vigorous Resistance Meditation I Am reading a maxime that makes me tremble God will judg us both according to what we do and according to what we would have done if we had bin exposed to those Temptations which may fall out in the Providence of God True it is there is scarce room for doubt in this maxime And it 's certain that my God would have the highest purity of Heart that no one is innocent in his sight because he has committed no evil but because he has not the inclination to commit it He sounds the depths of the Heart and searcheth the Reins and he will judg according to what he knows and not to what men see In my heart he sees crimes in their very buds And if these sins have not shot forth by reason of want of Earth if they have not come forth for want of Occasion and Opportunity I am therefore the more innocent But on the other side also who can undergoe the Terrour and Amazment that such a thought inspires