Land of everlasting darkness and misery where there is neither rest union comfort or order but a perpetual toil hatred sorrow confusion and horrour they all will unanimously answer our procrastinate conversion our delai'd repentance and our groundless hopes to have a peccavi at will tho' Death should on a sudden surprize us with an Arrest this was the fatal overture through which we fell into this endless misery And it stands with a great deal of reason for the longer a man loiters in his vicious and wicked ways the more obdurate his heart will be and the less inclin'd to produce an act of Contrition nay should his Confessarius break his brain to bring him to it his answer will be that which David gave to Saul when he was to encounter the Philistian Giant Saul would have him to put on his own Armour and to fight with his Sword Usum non habeo 1. Reg. 17.39 but David made answer that he was never accustom'd to it and therefore would not accept of his offer it s the same with an inveterate Sinner let his Confessor cry out Sir one Act of contrition one sincere and hearty Peccavi for God is mercyful and will be the same to thee if thou wilt reclaim and beg him most heartily pardon Ah Sir he will reply I was never bred to that divine Art 't is a lesson I never learn'd 't is a strong weapon against the Devil and all his power I must confess yet I never made use of it and therefore 't is but a folly to pretend to it at present Thou seest by this example O Man that the longer a sinner perseveres in sin the farther he will be from any desire of a true Contrition his heart will grow the more obdurate his Conscience more blinde his Soul so oppress'd with evil custome even as with a huge and weighty Stone that makes her wholly insensible of what concerns her Salvation But if any of such like reprobates should seem to repent 't is to be fear'd that his chief and only motive is the fear of Hell-fire not the reall product of Justice nor any true Contrition Nolo mortem impii sed ut convertatur impius a via sua vivat Ezek. 33.11 however I would not have any inveterate Sinner despair neither would I have him be so careless of his Salvation as to neglect it whilst he has time and leisure to secure it and a saving God who is so easily mov'd to compassionate him and so ready to grant him so grateful a request as is the remission of his Sins and Life everlasting For a resolve of thy last objection that the way which leads to Heaven is both narrow difficult and craggy consequently that thy nature which is very fond of her own ease can hardly be brought to walk therein I answer that it is a million of times more tollerable to strike into that roade tho' never so irksome to thy corrupt nature then to suffer the pains of Hell for an eternity Quam areta est via angusta porta quae ducit ad vitam pauci inveniunt eam Mat. 7.14 Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis onerati estis ego reficiam vos jugum enim meum suave est onus meum leve Matt. 11.28 nay even the pains of Purgatory which are but temporal 'T is true I told thee and am still of the same opinion that Strait is the gate and Narrow is the way which leads unto life and few there be that finde it I told thee moreover that from the days of John the Baptist untill now the Kingdome of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force But thou didst likewise hear me say Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest Take my yoak upon you and learn of me for I am meek and humble in heart and ye shall finde rest unto your Souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light For what is of it self burdensome to nature is made easy by the assistance of my grace and is sweeten'd by custom for wherever the Love of God is lodg'd and increas'd to the height and prime of its fervour all Tribulations Persecutions Crosses Losses nay Death it self will be look'd upon as the chiefest favours and blessings of a most loving Father so that there is nothing in the world more to be hated and abhorr'd then Sin which alone can cause the displeasure of God and his fatal Seperation from man MAN O Lord my God! thou art my Life my Treasure and all my happiness but what am I that I should prefume to speak to thee what but a poor and despicable servant a most vile and abject worm far more miserable and contemptible in thy sight then I can or dare imagine Remember therefore o' Lord that I am nothing have nothing and am absolutely the most indigent and sordid of all thy Creatures Thou alone art good thou only art both just and holy Thou alone canst do all canst give all canst fill all and I poor Soul am void of all that can be call'd good for nothing but misery is to be found where Sin predominates Forget not then o' Lord thy miserations to me and vouchsafe to replenish my heart with thy grace that I may carry my Cross cheerfully and follow thy steps with all alacrity whilst I continue my Pilgrimage in this tempestuous and miserable life Thou knowest that of my self I can perform nothing that may be grateful to thee or any way meritorious Psal 142. to my own Salvation wherefore o' Lord assist me with thy grace on all occasions turn not away thy face from thy poor and wretched Creature delay not thy gracious visit withdraw not thy consolations from me lest my Soul should remain a barren and dry Tree and become fuel for that unquenchable fire of Hell O' Lord teach me how I may fulfill thy blessed will instruct me in thy ways that I may walk therein with safety and in all humility Thou hast indeed resolv'd all my objections and hast broke all the chains which might detain both me and all other Sinners in the bondage of Sin and Slavery of the Devil thou said'st as much of virtue and vice as much of Satans rage and of thine own clemency to all poor Sinners as much of the joys of Heaven and of the torments of Hell as are able to move the most obdurate hearts and hasten them out of hand to give an everlasting farewell to th' one and to make their constant and happy choice of the other But alas I know by a fatal experience how weak I am in my resolutions how far from the love of God how much a stranger to virtue and therefore have great need of comfort and strength from thee to go through with what I resolve for the future Thou art my heavenly Physitian from thee I do expect a cure for all
my Spiritual diseases nothing can be hid from thine eyes thou knowest the evil passions that do predominate within my brest deliver me therefore o' Lord from their tyrannical government cleanse my heart from all evil and inordinate affections to the end that being inwardly heal'd and purg'd of all the sinful products of my corrupt nature I may be the more apt to love thee the more ready to suffer for thee and the more stable to persevere in thy service When I read in thy holy Writ and hear what the learned Doctors of thy Church say of the love of God I conceive an ardent desire to partake in some measure thereof for to pretend to the full perfection of it is a thing beyond my reach unless thou givest thy helping hand to my poor endeavours 'T is absolutely the Summum bonum Matt. 11. that only can make the burdensome weighty things light that can bear equally all unequal things that can carry a burden without any toil that can make sweet and pleasant what of its own nature is bitter and uneasy The love of God presseth men on to perform great and heroick actions and does excite them to aime always at what is most perfect and pleasing to his divine Majesty Love is never content to fix its tabernacle on earth nor to be concern'd with any terrene object it must have a more noble Subject to entertain its flames It must be totally free and absolutely a stranger to all worldly affections lest they should diminish its Lustre force it out of its natural Centure to lodge with our blinde and unruly passions There 's nothing more sweet and attractive then the love of God nothing more active and strong nothing more eminent and generous nothing can exceed it in latitude extent and altitude there is nothing more pleasant and affable In fine there is nothing in Heaven or on Earth that can excell it in goodness in beauty or perfection and why because it doth proceed from God that it cann't repose in any created thing but in God alone A divine Lover will fly run rejoyce tho' he were condemn'd to lodge with Daniel among the hungry devouring Lyons He is free and enjoys his liberty tho' he were in chains and loaden with Irons as another Manasses He gives with St. Francis All for All and findes his whole delight and comfort in that very All which he makes choice of And in that one supreme All the fountain-head of all goodness he sweetly reposeth with the Spouse void of disturbance A divine Lover never looks upon the gifts tho' never so excellent but has his eyes always fix'd upon the giver neither is he content with what graces and favours he receives from God but will strive to purchase more tho' it were even with the loss of his sweet life For Love admits of no bounds its flames will rise above all limitation and measure It feels no weight values no labour invents new ways of mortifications and oftentimes affects to suffer for his beloved more then flesh and blood is able to bear The divine Lover will not regard impossibilities for he thinks that all the Austerities and rigours imaginable are both lawful and possible to him he is able therefore in his own ardent and elevated conceit to vanquish all difficultys and does indeed perform more then can be expected from Nature alone In fine his good will never fails him tho' his body should ly half dead upon the ground Love is watchful if Sleeping it 's always awake if harrass'd it 's never weary in dangers it's never fearful when frightned it 's never troubled but even as a fierce blaze and a lively flame it passes by all such events and mounts up towards the very throne of God where it lies safe from all disasters evil accidents This language perhaps is unknown to many but he who really loves God will easily understand it The fervent desire alone of a Seraphick Soul makes a pleasing noise in the hearing of God Deus meus omnia S. Frâ—nâ— Deus meus amormeus Idem In odororem unguenterum tuorum câ—rrimus Cant. 1.4 Hoc est praeceptum meum ut diligatis invicem Jer. 15.12 such was that of St. Francis My God says he and my all my God and my Love thou art all mine and I am all thine dilate my heart in thy love that I may taste inwardly how sweet it is to love thee and how pleasant it is to melt and consume in thy love Let thy love support me when I surpass my ability and when in the depth of my meditations in the excess of my fervour and in the serious consideration of thy great love for man I am beyond my senses Let my Soul praise thee for ever o' Lord and let me run with the Daughters of Sion after the odoriferous savour of thy sweet perfumes Let me never love any creature nay not my self but for thee let me also love in thee all them that love thee sincerely with their whole heart this is a Christian devoir which the law of true love requires and which Jesus the perfect model and first promoter thereof does absolutely require from all mankind and under the penalty of forfieting an eternity of Joy and the Vision of God for ever Love says thy belov'd Apostle is swift Qui non diligit fratrem suum non est ex Deo Jen. 3.10 sincere pious well dispos'd and pleasant It is strong patient faithful prudent lasting manly and never fond of its self nor its proper Interest for when ever a man begins to touch that string he immediately fals from the perfection of true love and is become no better then a Heathen who is totally a Stranger both to the love and laws of God Love is always circumspect humble 1 Cor. 15. and righteous not sluggish nor light nor addicted to foolish and idle things neither does it busie it self about vain and frivolous imploys but is sober chast Stable quiet watchful and extraordinary well guarded in all its senses 1 Cor. 10. Phil. 2. Love is subject and obedient to its Prelates and Elders but has no manner of esteem for it self for it is both vile and despicable in its own eyes Love is devout to God full of trust and hopes in him tho' he afford it not the least consolation he knows full well that love cann't appear in its full splendour but where it meets with a mixture of sorrow for St. Paul says that whoever is not in a readiness to suffer all manner of Crosses that God is pleas'd to afflict him with in this world is not at all worthy of the name of a true lover In fine Rom. 8.8 a true Lover of God must embrace manfully and with a cheerful heart and countenance whatever comes upon him either by the commission or permission of his divine will let it be never so harsh violent or displeasing to nature
blessed Kingdom No that must not be I have sufficiently suffer'd to come to the enjoyments of a crown of glory and thou shalt enjoy it upon no other terms Thou must labour for it and if thou dost but begin the work my grace shall help thee to bring it to its full accomplishment Let not the frailty of thy nature overballance thy courage Angelus Domini Exercitium est Mal. 2.7 let not the difficulty which thou art to encounter oblige thee to a shameful retreat for I shall be present with thee in all thy conflicts to cast dust in thine enemies face Constitui te Deum Pharaonis Exod. 7. Ego dixi Dij estis Psal 48. and to put them all to a shameful rout Remember that thou art not only an Angel but even a God upon Earth for thou hast heard me say by my Prophet of a Priest of the Levitical Law that he was the Angel of the Lord of Hosts and thou art satisfied that I did appoint Moises to be the God of Pharaoh Who can deny but that Holy Men are Gods upon Earth seeing that I have said it by one of my Prophets the perfections of man therefore may and ought to be proportionably suitable to so great a dignity and why shouldst thou think it strange that I should expect thee to lead an Angelical life on Earth and to raise thy self by contemplation and spiritual dilection above thy self Homo cum in honore effet non intellexit Comparatus est in mentis infipientibus similis factus est illis Ps 48. Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus ipsi nos seducimus Isa 1.8 wouldst thou have the words of my Prophet to be verified in thee Man being in honour abideth not he is like the beasts that perish 'T is certain that thou mayst with the assistance of my grace make so great a Progress in virtue as to be equal with the very Angels even in thy Pilgrimage and to enjoy a more excellent crown of Glory then some of them in heaven In answer to thy Second objection that it is impossible for man to live in the world without sin 't is true that thou hast Scripture for what thou sayst For my beloved Disciple avers that if mortals will say that they have no sin they deceive themselves and that the truth is not in them In multis offendimus omnes Jac. 3. Quid est homo ut immaculatus fit ut justus appareat natus demuliere Job 15. Non est homo super terrum qui faciat bonum non peccat Eccl. 7. Justus septies cadit de die Prov. 24. the same James my beloved Apostle and worthy Brother confirms In many things says he we all offend and Job that perfect model of patience and worthy object of all mens imitation sets this question what is man that he should be clean and he which is born of a Woman that he should be righteous But thou must understand that Sin is properly call'd a transgression either of the divine or of the natural or of the positive law A man by Gods grace may and ought to be free from this because it is a mortal sin which he is commanded and bound to avoid for as much as it doth give a deadly wound to his Soul 'T is not like to a venial Sin for the Wise will tell thee that there is not a just man upon Earth that does good and sinneth not no for a just man falleth seven times a day and riseth up again As for the instableness of mans heart thou mayst be very well satisfied with my Apostles answer for I must allow him to be a better Judge in that case then thou art having had a far greater triall of the world and more experience in the hearts of men then thou canst pretend to For he was first a grand Persecutor of my Church and after a Vessel of Election to bring my name and preach my Doctrine over all the World If thou wilt ask him what it was that wrought that great alteration in him he will tell thee Stabiles immobiles estote abundantes in opere Domini semper 1 Cor. 15. by the grace of God I am what I am and his Grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain wherefore my beloved Brethren be ye stedfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. The wise Solomon is much of the same opinion Justus ejus fundamentum aeternum Prov. 10. for he says that the Righteous is an everlasting foundation take notice how my Servants all agree in their Doctrine they all have it from the same spirit Therefore I tell thee that whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him unto a Wise man which built his house upon a Rock The rain descended the Flouds came the windes blew and beat upon that House and it fell not for it was founded upon a Rock hence thou mayst conclude that the mind of man which of her own nature or rather by her own evil custome is mighty instable and turns every way like a Wind-mill will with the help of my grace be easily made stedfast fortified by the constant practice of virtue Optimum est gratia stabilire Cor. Hebr. 13. and by frequent Acts of Charity become as unmovable as a Rock therefore my Apostle says it 's a good thing that the heart be establish'd with Grace Experience will give it further Evidence Thou knowest that the more fervent love is the more it settles the Lover in the Beloved moreover Custom being as it were a second nature there is nothing so difficult but may be overcome and made pleasant and easy by continual practice even so thy mind if it be once adorn'd with divine and spiritual exercises it will not only with ease but fervently also and with very great satisfaction adhere firmly to me with more assurance comfort then ever the rich Glutton did delight in his unlawfull pleasure and treasures Thou hast as many and as authentick Witnesses of this truth as have been Saints and perfect men in the world MAN O Most gracious Saviour Quid est homo quod memores ejus aut filius hominis quoniam visitas eum Ps 8. the Eternal wisdom of God! I return thee my hearty thanks for all thy favours and for this wholesome instruction which thou wert pleas'd to give me O Lord what is man that thou art so mindful of him or what service dost thou expect from the Son of man that thou dost vouchsafe to visit him so often with the sweetness of thy frequent consolations what has he deserved that thou shouldst be so free to impart thy grace unto him Nay if thou shouldst deny him that great favour and even abandon him to his unruly passions he would have no cause to complain of thee for his Sins have
eorum cognoscatis eos Math. 7.16 and the goodness of the one may be easily discern'd by th' other My Lord I have given you a true and faithful description of your most renowned Progenitor's great Atchievements Martial Exploits Loyalty Valour and Courage by which we may reasonably conclude that the whole Series of his noble and numerous Race were much of the same temper when occasion was offer'd witness your raising a Regiment of Horse upon your own Cost and Charges for the defence and supporting King Charles the First and his Royal Prerogatives against the basest of Usurpers Oliver Cromwell the most cruel of Tyrants and the very worst of Subjects The several and perilous hazards you have expos'd your self to in manifesting your Loyalty as well in Battels and Skirmishes as in Storming and taking of Towns and Castles with as much Bravery as could be performed by the most expert in the Stratagems of War will be a convincing Argument to after-Ages of the greatness of your Courage and also a perpetual Evidence of your unspotted Loyalty which was always reputed to be the chief ground of your happy Rise the main support of your Noble Family and will be in the other World a most glorious Flower to compleat the Beauty of your Eternal Crown But as Brave Men must expect to be tofs'd when they Steer their course against the Stream of Fortune and work against Wind and Weather Almighty God who disposes of all things to the best advantage of his beloved Servants has suffer'd your noble Family to be notably suppress'd for a time and to groan under the heavy weight of great Persecutions and Troubles which were in a manner equal in number to the afflictions of Holy Job Job 1. for your Children were taken violently from you and made close Prisoners your Vertuous Lady was confin'd another way your Plentiful Stock of Cows Horses and Sheep driven away by the Rabble your Mansion house taken and plunder'd by the Enemy your whole Estate expos'd to Sale before your Face and your self after all was forc'd to Travel into Foreign Countreys for a subsistance yet in all these disasters you were never heard to repine at your ill Fortune In omnibus his non peccavit Job labiis suis neque stult m quid locutus est contra Deum Job 1.21.22 Pliny of the Property of the Swallows for you accounted all your worldly Substance to be only adventitious and the temporal Blessings which you had from God A Deo data and therefore you were as willing to part with them as he was free to recal them in order to exercise your Patience How well the generous dispositions of your noble mind agree with the inbred inclinations of those innocent Creatures of your Coat of Arms appears in this that you have perform'd by the light of Grace what they do only by the instinct of nature for when any of their little ones happen to be afflicted with Blindness they fly with all speed into a certain Island of the Sea whence they bring a little Stone which they know has the vertue of restoring their fight and you my Lord in all your afflictions have made your most humble and earnest addresses to Jesus Esay 28.16 who is the tried and precious Corner Stone lodg'd in Zion for a foundation and who alone has the power to make all our afflictions tho' never so bitter sweet and comfortable The Swallows have another property no less remarkable they seem to touch the Earth with their Wings yet the least grain of its Dust can't stick to their Feathers because they are no sooner down than up in the Skies out of all Mens sight and this your Lordship has always perform'd for though your Fortune be considerable and that you have a competent share of the World's wealth yet nothing of its fleeting dross comes near your heart already possess'd with the love of God who will not admit of a Rival neither are you resolv'd to entertain any and though your Body has endur'd a close and tedious Confinement for Justice your Thoughts have been all the time sporting themselves within the enclosure of a vast Eternity or taking a fore-taste of the everlasting Joys and Pleasures of Heaven 'T is true the manifold Calamities of those sad times were so sharp and terrible that many Catholick Families fell from their Religion and went to Church rather than be depriv'd of their Estates and Livings but yours my Lord was tied fast to the Anchor of Faith and stood firm on Peters Rock unmov'd with any external violence or otherwise so little mov'd that all the Commotions and Troubles the Malice and Rage of their miscreant Foes could invent in order to remove their hearts from God were no more to them than is a shower of Hail on the Roof of a House that crackles and skips off again without doing any damage to the Inhabitants 'T is nothing my Lord for a Man to hold up his head in a Calm but to maintain his Post when others have quitted their ground and there to stand upright where others are beaten down this is Divine and praise worthy and this is what you have vigorously perform'd in your days induc'd to it as well by the good instructions as the rare examples of your Noble Parents and Ancestors for the one with th' other is very powerful to stir us up to Heroick actions nay the History alone of such large and masculine Souls is able to inspire any Man with generous Thoughts and make him long to be in Action and doing something that may be beneficial to the World as protecting the innocent upholding the weak delivering th' oppressed relieving the poor cloathing the naked cherishing the distressed Widows and Orphans Job 1.16.17.18 Tob. 1 20. this was the only thing that the holy Job and the righteous Tobias did value themselves upon It was likewise the pious and constant practise of your renown'd Ancestors and the same is now settl'd in your Lordships Breast where it shines to all mens admiration and no wonder for your Table was never seen without Strangers no more than your Door without a number of Poor whose several Necessitys were copiously supply'd in due time and good order you have besides preserv'd Thousands of His Majesties Subjects from Starving and Hundreds of the Irish Nation are oblig'd to your Lordship for their lives this is Praise-worthy indeed and the rather that they are a people which their Loyalty and their Zeal of Religion have depress'd to the deepest abyss of misfortune for besides loosing all their earthly substance upon so honourable an account they are hated revil'd and spit at even by those that should in all equity and Justice love respect and cherish them and bring others to do the same by their own Examples But as Abraham's liberality to Lot Gen. 22.16 with the greatness of his Faith gain'd him the powerful Protection of Heaven and the promise of a numerous
provoke her to their earnest and hot pursuit yet they will never make her happy for when she thinks to possess them they fly away and leave her nothing but an everlasting displeasure to have settled her affections upon 'em she is of so unsatiable a capacity that all the munificence of the Vniverse is not able to content her none but her Heavenly Spouse can afford her true Consolation perfect Tranquillity and Joy without any medley of displeasure Whatever Species she receives within her besides that of her Creator whatever object she embraces besides her God is Seditious Killing Vain and savours more of perfect Gall than of the sweet Honey of real Comfort As for the Body who is able to express the wonderful Fabrick thereof let us consider how the wise and Heavenly Architect has united those two Natures the Body and Soul so contrary one to th' other in all respects and has link'd them together with so sure a knot of true friendship that they can't be separated without a deal of Violence and Grief Let us also consider how man as if he were naturally avers'd to the Earth looks with his face Heaven-wards whence he receiv'd his Creation and Dignity and where he does expect his final repose This favour he receiv'd from God above all other Creatures as a peculiar evidence of his good Will for him 't is also a memorial to him of his incumbent duty to God that by his upright look he might conceive the weighty Obligation he lies under to think always of heavenly things to tread under foot all earthly affairs and never to harbor any vile or sordid thoughts in his mind This was the happy State and Condition of Man before his dismal Fall for then all his Senses his Inclinations and Powers were perfectly united far from the least motion of any Rebellion and entirely submitted to th' Empire of the Will Then Reason paid her humble Submission perfect Obedience and a compleat Homage to her Creator alone and that perfect submission of Man together with his faithful concurrence to the Will of God brought upon him the great Blessings of a profound Tranquility of a grateful Accord of a firm Peace of perfect Justice of candid Innocency of unspeakable Purity of heart so that he was a plentiful Source of all good Qualities of all Vertues and of all kind of Happiness But alas no sooner did he expell from his heart the Love and Fear of God to give ear and obedience to the malicious dictates of the Infernal Serpent no sooner did he forsake his Heavenly Spouse to prostrate himself to his Rival and mortal Enemy the Devil no sooner was he so impiously bold as to cancel the Divine Precept at the fatal request of his silly Wife but he was miserably degraded of all those glorious Prerogatives and suddenly dejected from that happy State into an Abyss of such Evil and Woe that you would hardly believe him to be the same Man His little Republick which was before his Rebellion in a profound Peace fell into so great a disorder that no two were of one mind the Will was contrary to the Understanding and Reason was opposite to both the Spirit repin'd at the Flesh the Flesh rebell'd against the Spirit and gave him no Respect or Obedience because he did the same to his Creator Why should I aggravate his misfortune more than really it was I will only say what is most deplorable and likewise most true all things happen'd to poor Man after his Rebellion quite contrary to his expectation which was to be happy for ever His Memory which was whilst he remain'd in the state of Innocency and whilst he tugg'd at the Oar of Obedience replenish'd with all good and even with the Summum Bonum had taken so great a draught of Oblivion not out of the River Letheos but from the Forbidden Apple that he hardly knew or retain'd any thing but Wickedness and Vanity The Vnderstanding which was a little before wonderfully Illuminated with the Knowledge of God became so desperately involv'd in the darkness of a profound Ignorance that he knew nothing in a manner of his Creators Projects and was altogether ignorant of his ways The Will which was all in a Flame of Divine Love became so perverse that like a Blind Mole she imbrac'd Falshood for Truth Temporal for Eternal Evil for Good Carnal for Spiritual and undervaluing those things which might make her happy for ever she retain'd nothing of her Innate and Primitive Goodness nay she followed such disordinate courses as were enough to carry poor man headlong to everlasting Perdition Reason which as a Monarch should keep those petty Princes of Man's disjointed Republick in subjection having abdicated his Scepter together with all his Royalties became Tributary and paid Homage even to his Vassals nay he suffer'd himself to be rul'd and seduc'd by those who were created to pay him their constant and most humble submission and obedience O sad Misfortune What Man that noble Creature who had from God as due by his Creation an absolute Supremacy over all terene Creatures to be so deluded and worm'd out of all his Prerogatives by the Devils craft that he had not the full command of himself He was heretofore upright both of body and mind and was look'd upon as a divine Creature But alas he was soon after reduc'd to that low condition as he might be very well compar'd if not to a Brute at least to a prodigal Child who had revell'd away all his Birth-right However God of his infinite mercy was pleas'd to receive him again into favour and after he had wash'd off his sinful spots with the sacred Blood of the New Testament he Espous'd him to Christ by Faith This was an extraordinary Grace and the wonderful product of a most merciful God It was able to force Man's concurrence though he were never so ungrateful to love and serve him for ever Never-the-less this miserable Wretch has been an Enemy to God even from his blooming years and publickly forsook Jesus his gracious Redeemer nay he has impudently committed so many Adulteries with his Rival and mortal Adversary the Devil as were able to divert him from having any futher compassion of his misery What then must be done with Man must he always persevere in so foul and horrid a Relapse Nunquid qui cadit non adjiciet aliquando ut resurgat Aug. Must not he that falls strive to rise again If the Devil had the power and malice to debase him to that extream misfortune has not Jesus a far greater power to cancel his Contract with that mortal Enemy of mankind and bring him again into his Flock Rom. c. 5. v. 15 16 17 c. as a straid Sheep For St. Paul says that Sin is not so powerful to destroy as the gift of Grace is to repair If the sin of one Man has been the fatal occasion of the loss of many Souls the Grace of God
necessary things and that he is firmly resolv'd to break off with Vice C. P. 52. How a Sinner by his frequent relapse into Sin may reasonably fear he never was really contrite for his Sins C. p. 56. That a Sinner must fix his hope in God of whose mercy he can't despair without a mortal offence C. p. 57. The nature and necessary conditions of a true and perfect contrition p. 60. The fatal consequences of Venial Sins and how by degrees they bring a Man to commit Mortals C p. 65. The greatness of Gods Love for Man is a most pressing motive to a sorrowful contrition M. p 67. The means which God was pleas'd to take in order to redeem Mankind is another pressing motive to a sorrowful contrition M. p. 71. What Christ has suffer'd from his Cradle to the Cross was only for the love of Man M. p. 74. His Death and Passion should breed in our hearts a mortal hatred and abhorrence of Sin M. p. 78. Several other Considerations upon the same subject able to move even a Heart of Steel to love God above all Creatures M. p. 82. The benefits of our Justification lays a weighty obligation on us to love God with all our hearts p. 88. Several other deep considerations of the same benefit Mp. 91. The manifold disasters and miseries occasion'd by Sin and how we are happily deliver'd from 'em all by the benefit of our Justification M. p. 95. The manifold and wonderful advantages of a Justifi'd Soul M. p. 99. The benefit of our Justification exceeds that of our Creation and Redemption M. p. 103. The certainty of Death and th'uncertainty of the hour of Death with the several and dreadful circumstances thereof is a most pressing motive to detest Sin M. p. 106. The particular Judgment which is given of the Soul at her departing the Body M. p. 114. How dreadful will the sight of her Judge be to her and what anguishes she shall suffer at her Trial M. p. 120. Of the most strict account which will be taken of the Soul in this particular Judgment M. p. 126. How remote is the Judgment of God from that of Man and of the severity of his Chastisements even in this Life by which we may easily conceive th'unspeakable rigour of his punishments in th' other M. p. 133. Of the Torments which the Damn'd suffer in Hell M. p. 140. Of the Glory of Heaven in what it consists of its great estimate and what we ought to suffer for the everlasting purchase thereof M. p. 148. Of th'everlasting happiness of the Saints in Heaven and of their glorious Prerogatives M. p. 162. The little value that Christians set upon Vertue and how their dissolutions surpass the debauchery even of the worst of Heathens M. p. 173. The Godly feelings and Heroick exploits of Heathen Philosophers will certainly confound the Christians in the Day of Judgment M. p. 188. Of Hell and of th'unspeakable and various Torments which the Damn'd shall suffer there for an Eternity M. p. 201 Of the severity of Gods Justice the rage and malice of the Devils and the horrid confusion of the Damn'd occasion'd by the full Knowledge of their Vanities main Folly and wilful neglect of their Salvation M. p. 217. The wonderful Austerities of Gods Servants as well in the Old as in the New Testament in order to avoid the Torments of Hell will be a main confusion to such Christians as live deliciously in this World M. p. 226. If men be so outragiously cruel one to th' other how excessive cruel must the Devil be to the Damn'd in Hell being a professed enemy to all mankind even from the Creation M. p. 234. An habitual Sinner that puts off his Conversion to the hour of Death in expectation of a good Peccavi lies under a moral impossibility to be sav'd M. p. 248. The Love of God should replenish our hearts to that degree to leave no place for any terrene or carnal affection M. p. 266. An ample description of th'ingratitude inconstancy treachery cruelty and vanity of the World with several presidents relating thereunto M. p. 278. The Lust of the Flesh with its fatal attendance and branches are most abominable in themselves most odious to God and the most destructive enemies of our Souls M. p. 293. Th' only thing that the Nobility should value themselves upon is Vertue how vain is the Wisdom of the World Of Corporal Beauty and Rich Apparel and how th' one as well as th' other has been the ruine of many Millions of Souls M. p. 310. That the State of Poverty is far more advantageous to the Soul than that of Riches though it may not be so pleasant to the mind which is never content M. p. 327. The Charming expressions of Christ and the several employments he takes upon himself in order to save our Souls are able to withdraw all our scatter'd affections from the World and settle them upon him alone M. p. 346. That the World is both a Cheat and a Lyar for his Promises ars false his Honours are vain his Pleasures are Poyson and his Treasures are Soul-Killing Thorns M. p. 368. That they who after all Gods sweet Inspirations loving Invitations and gracious Admonitions do not love him reciprocally shall be in danger of eternal Destruction M. p. 384. A Check to Man p. 391. A Check to the Christian Man p. 395. A Check to the Religious Man p. 402. A Wholesom Advice to Mankind in general p 410. Errata P. 10. L. ult R. remit P. 26. M N. R. hac P. 249. L. 4. R. double P. 254. M. N. R. transiit messis P. 255. M. N. R. quo P. 259. L. 12. R. axiom P. 265. L. 27. R. Prophet P. 271. L. 13. R. no more P. 315. M. N. R. putredini p. 329. L. 26. R. not P. 336. L. 8. R. the. P. 344. L. 27. R. be P. 352. L. 18. R. so P. 368. L. 22. R. doorkeeper P. 371. L. 6. R. martial P. 374. L. 17. R. Micheas P. 376. L. 21. R. were P. 384. L. 6. R. as A Dialogical Discourse betwixt the Saviour and Man wherein all Souls desirous of the Love of God are copiously suppli'd with means powerfull to attain it and to gain the happy accomplishment of their Salvation MAN SPeak O Lord for thy Servant hears thee 1. Reg. 3. grant me a right Understanding to know thy ways and lead my will to walk therein let the sacred Dew of thy divine Inspirations flow down from thy heavenly Throne into my obdurate Heart Psal 118. that I may more easily observe thy Commands and steer my course directly without any Remora towards the Region of everlasting Bliss Loquere tâ— nobis audiemus non loquatur nobis Dominus ne â—orte moriamur Exod. 20. for which thou didst Create my Soul Heretofore the Children of Israel would have Moises only speak to them not thou O Lord fearing thy words might strike such a terrour to their Hearts
as would occasion their death but I am wholly an Alien to their feelings and do choose rather to side with the Prophet Samuel and in all humility do intreat that thou O Lord wilt be graciously pleas'd to speak to me Not Moises no nor any of thy Prophets for the instructions and lights they may give me be but gifts and Rays borrowed of thy incomprehensible Splendor thou alone without their Ministry canst perfectly instruct me alas their endeavours in my regard will signify just nothing without thy gracious concurrence They may indeed utter some words but unless thou dost influence them they 'l never mollify my stony Heart nor lodge thy Spirit within my bowels Their words may be indeed plac'd to admiration their Rhetorick Charming their Eloquence exceeding that of the very best Orators their Periods mannag'd in extraordinary good order but if they relish not of thy divine Spirit my heart alas will remain as cold as the very Ice They may Cite Scripture fluently to confirm their discourse and quote both Councels and Fathers to the astonishment of their Hearers but they cannot work so far on their understanding as to make 'em conceive the thing they aim at nor bring their Will to the practise of it that enterprize is out of their Province 't is a Prerogative pertaining alone to thee O Lord no mortal Man no the very Angels cannot pretend to it unless they have thy Commission to that effect They may entertain us with a learn'd and pleasant discourse of thy great and adorable Mysteries but thou alone can'st render our understanding capable to conceive them they may tell us of thy Precepts and Counsels but thou alone can'st help us to fulfil them They can shew to us the ready road leading to Salvation but thou alone can'st comfort us in our failings and give us then greater courage to walk therein till we arrive at our journeys end The most they can boast of is to be thy Sollicitors and Agents which thou mak'st use of to exhort us to the practise of this or that other Virtue they may describe unto us the many evil consequences of a wicked Licentious life Ego plantavi Apollo rigavit Deus autem incrementum dedit 1 Epist Pauli ad Câ—rintâ—ios c. 3. v. 6. Tanquam a facie Colubri fuge peccatum Eccl. c. 21. v 2. they may thunder from their Pulpits thy dreadful threatnings and the horrid effects of thy divine wrath but 't is thy Sanctifying Grace that alone can soften instruct and illustrate our Hearts They can exteriously water our barren and rebellous Souls but thou alone can'st give the increase cause them happily to comply with the sweet Influences of thy holy Inspirations They may cry out and warn us to fly from sin as from the venom of a Serpent but thou alone mak'st our understanding and will prompt to conceive and practise what they say Let Moises then for bear speaking to me 't is from thee my God I do expect the word which can subdue reform clear my heart from all terrene and sordid affections If I only be outwardly admonish'd and not inwardly inflam'd with the ardent fire of thy divine Love my Souls death may ensue or at best I shall be but a barren and wither'd tree Let me then hear thee speak O Lord and let thy word be no sooner heard but put in execution by me no sooner known but lov'd no sooner pronounc'd but deeply fix'd in the Center of my heart there to produce the worthy fruits of a sincere sorrowful and constant repentance 1 Reg. 3. Verba enim viâ—ae eternae habes Jo. 6. Speak then O Lord for thy Servant hears thee thy words are the happy seed of eternal life let me then hear them to the comfort of my Soul and to the reformation and perfect amendment of my whole life this is a work that will really be for thy greater Glory and my eternal Salvation SAVIOVR HEar my words O Man they are most sweet efficacious and vivifying far exceeding the science of the Philosophers and wise of this World my words are both spirit and life they are beyond the reach of humane understanding they don't affect a vain complacency but delight to be receiv'd rather in silence with all humility and with all the tenderness of love and affection that can be express'd My Servant David was throughly convinc'd of this undeniable assertion when he sent forth these seraphical expressions to my heavenly Throne Beatus quem tu erudieris Domine deâ—ege tua eum docueris ut mitiges ei a die bus malis c. Psal 93. v. 12. Blessed is the man O Lord whom thou shalt instruct in thy Law and teach how he may in the evil days of his mortal life heap up a vast treasure of merits for an Eternity I am the Lord who have taught the Prophets from the beginning and since have never ceas'd to speak unto all Men but alas few answer my expectation Satan has so blinded their understanding so perverted their will so benumb'd their senses that the most part of them make nothing of my words take no notice of my corrections and set no value on my most amorous invitations in order to revive their poor Souls and shelter them under the wings of my paternal and powerful protection from the rage and fury of that infernal and devouring Dragon The most of them are so infatuate as to be more inclin'd to give ear to the deluding Sirens of the world then to the inspirations of their God to the fatal perswasions of the flesh then to the salutary dictates of the Holy Ghost to the ruinous suggestions of the Devil then to the amorous invitations of their Creator and Redeemer What the world does promise 'em is but temporal and of no 〈◊〉 and yet for that small satisfaction they are content to become slaves to it and to lose that glorious title of Children of God and all pretentions to Heaven What I promise 'em is of an unspeakable estimate and of an everlasting continuance yet their hearts are strangely averse to it and seem to conceive as great an abhorrence of it as the people of Israel had against that food which I showr'd down upon them in the Desart Their obedience to the world and their other mortal enemies and their care of pleasing them is more prompt and far greater then what they shew in my service Esay 23. Let Sidon blush and why because that for a small Sallery for a trifle she will run a long way but for the purchase of Heaven for the gain of an everlasting and happy life she will hardly raise up her foot from the ground A man shall labour a whole day to get sixpence at night and perhaps less he will undertake the most vile work that can be nam'd and be at it both night and day and weary himself so extreamly as to be nigh breathing out his life and all
proper Prerogative of the Elect which gives them an assured title to life everlasting 'T is so eminent a favour that the gift of Prophecy the operation of Miracles and even the most eminent Speculation is of no worth without it nay Faith Hope and all other Virtues can never be grateful to thee O Lord unless they have Grace and Charity along with them it makes the poor of Spirit rich in virtues and the most opulent in earthly Treasures humble and low in heart She is the Mistress of Truth the Teacher of Discipline the Light of our understanding the Comfort of the afflicted a deliverer from all Sadness a remedy against fear a nurse of Devotion and a most powerful Instrument to draw sorrowful sighs and bitter tears from our hearts and eyes What am I without thy Grace O Lord what but a dry land and a fruitless Tree fit for no other use then to be cast into the fire Wherefore O Lord let thy grace prevent me always and go with me in all my ways that I may be the more able to perform thy commands and comply with thy blessed will SAVIOVR O Man Sancti esto te quoniam ego Sanetus sum Dominus Deus vester Lev. 11.44 wilt thou condemn me that thou mayst be justified wilt thou accuse me of too much rigour and want of discretion that thou mayst be excus'd of thy intollerable negligence sloath and transgressions didst thou not hear me speak by my servant Moises to the People of Israel Perfectus absque macula eris cum Domino Deo tuo Deu. 18.13 Estore perfecti sicut Pater vester coelestis perfectus est Matt. 5.48 Cum metu timore tremore operamini salutem vestram Phil. 2.12 Nostra conversatio in coelis est Phil. 3.20 Ubi amor ibi oculus St. Bern. Ubi Thesaurus tuus est ibi Cor tuum erit Matt. 6.21 Verius est anima ubi amat quam ubi animat Aug. that they should be all Saints because that I the Lord their God am a Saint that they should be all perfect and without the least Spot in my presence The same command was often repeated to thee in the law of Grace there thou shalt finde what a weighty obligation thou liest under to be perfect as thy Father in heaven is 'T is a tribute due to the Divine Justice and as thou hast thy life from him with that obligation to spend it wholly in virtue and in his faithfull Service thou canst not do otherways without incurring his great displeasure my Apostle was order'd by me to warn thee and all mankinde to work your Salvation with fear apprehension and trembling never to cease praying and to be always imploy'd in some good work or other Thou tellest me of being a frail man was not Peter was not Paul and the rest of my Apostles made of the same stuff as thou art yet they tell thee that their dayly and hourly conversation was in Heaven Thou hast been often told that he is accurs'd who will either say or believe that God has commanded impossible things to Man His very first Precept to him is that he must love God with all his heart and wilt thou tell me that this is an impossible thing thou beleivest I suppose this maxim where the love is there the eye is that other where thy creasure there thy heart is I shall add another maxim which is no less credible that the Soul is more assuredly there where she loves then where she animates now lay thy hand on thy conscience and tell me how often has that unruly and predominant love which thou hast for a filly Creature oblig'd thee to pay her a visit with all humility respect patience and with all the expressions imaginable of a most tender affection how often hast thou intreated that object of thy lust to give thee a favourable admittance into her presence didst thou ever think the time long in her company no tho' it were a whole day it seem'd but a moment to thy thoughts would'st thou not undergoe all the fatigues imaginable to be admitted into her favour nay to purchase a smile or an amourous glance of her eye thou wouldst I am sure endanger even thy sweet life And wilt thou be backward to do as much for me who came from my Fathers breast to my Servants womb from my heavenly Palace to a dirty Stable from a seat of Glory to a Land of misery from the company of Angels to that of brute beasts from a peaceable and well-settled government Eâ—â—erat snbditus illis Luke 2.51 to be subject to and under the command of a poor Carpenter and all this was to retrieve thy lost Soul wilt thou not I say do as much for me who have sustain'd labour and toil the full space of thirty three years being all that time needy and poor as the Evangelists testify of me going bear-headed and without Shooes destitute of lodging or Cloaths to defend me against the Weather All this I suffer'd to lodge thy Soul in Heaven for an eternity or for me who have been betray'd by my own Disciple deliver'd over into the hands of my Enemys Scourg'd Crown'd with thorns condemn'd and nail'd to a shameful Cross thereon dy'd to purchase for thee as well as for all mankind an Eternity of Glory And shall I have no other return from thee for all my aforesaid kindnesses then to tell me that thou art a frail man and not an Angel as if the perfection which I require of thee was rather to be expected from those heavenly Spirits then from so weak and frail a creature as thou art O ingratitude beyond all expression but alas it is the common distemper of all mankind for they do generally despise the bounties of their Maker none is content with his State or condition were he as strong as an Elephant as swift as a Buck as light as a Bird he shall complain that he wants the Sagacity of Dogs the sight of Eagles the long life of Ravens nay he will repine that he is not immortal endu'd with the knowledge of things to come his ingratitude will not be content with the enjoyment of that neither no he takes it ill that he is not a God upon Earth He never considers the advantages of his condition much less the goodness and love of God to him in the benefits he enjoys The benignity of Providence was so great in his regard as to give him power to subdue the strongest of Creatures overtake the fleetest reclaim the fiercest and outwit the craftiest He is within one degree of Heaven it self and yet he is not Satisfied he would fain have Heaven for his inheritance and the glory of Saints for his Patrimony without any further trouble O man take notice of thy great folly wilt thou pretend to have Heaven at a cheaper rate then I have had it who am the only the undoubted Heir of that
be thus wounded mangled and bruised to cure them Certainly if those Sores had not been mortal and even the fatal causes of the eternal death of thy Soul I had never suffer'd so cruel a death for her recovery Can there be a more considerable or a pressing motive to lament and abhor thy Sins then to remember that they were the only cause of all my sufferances and even of my most bitter death upon the Cross The Jews went once through Jerusalem and bewail'd the destruction of that Royall City and the loss of their King how much more reason hast thou to lament thy great misfortune to have occasion'd my death who am thy King thy Redeemer and he only that can either pardon thee thy sins or condemn thee for them to an eternity of pains O man let this consideration be the constant subject of thy serious meditations it will pierce thy heart unless it be harder and more obdurate then the very Stones This very consideration made one of my faithful servants to say that it is a shameful thing for Christians not to acknowledge the evils which sin has brought upon them when they consider what so supream a Majesty as that of the Son of God has been oblig'd to suffer for them The Son of God says he takes compassion on the miseries of man and weeps for sorrow whilst insensible man who is overwhelm'd with his own sins is not concern'd at all MAN O My dear Lord and Master thou hast said enough to conquer my heart and to bring also the whole universe to admire the greatness of thy love for man For what can be more worthy of our admiration then to behold a God of so infinite a Majesty finish his life under the notion of a notorious malefactor upon a shameful Cross and betwixt two Thieves Had I seen a man tho' he were the basest and most vile amongst the People brought to that misfortune as to be condemn'd for his crime to dy so cruel a death certainly I could not choose but compassionate his condition and condole that his misdemeanours should have brought him to so great a distress If it be then a subject worthy our compassion to see a man of that inferiour rank and condition for his own crimes in so deplorable a state what will it be I pray to see not a man but the Lord of all created things for the Sins of his servants reduc'd to that extremity Can there be any thing more wonderfull then to see even God himself plung'd into so great an abyss of anguishes and pains for the sins and wickedness of wretched Men If the calamity and misfortune suffer'd must be retaliated with a trembling and astonishment proportionable to the worth and dignity of the person that suffers O ye Angels of Heaven who have a perfect knowledge of the greatness and excellency of my benign Jesus our gracious Redeemer and your Creator tell me how great was your grief how stupendious your astonishment how excessive was your lamentation and trouble when you have seen him hang on that hard and uneasy cross The Cherubins whose figures God had order'd in the old Law to be plac'd on each side of the Arck of Alliance look'd then at each other with admiration to behold this bloudy Sacrifice of that innocent and immaculate Lamb for the redemption of mankinde Nature it self stood amaz'd and all creatures were interdicted their inbred inclinations and functions The Principalities and Powers of Heaven trembl'd at the very consideration of the unspeakable goodness of God tho' so intimately acquainted therewith What then shall become of those that do not swim in the waves of so great an ocean of admiration Dominator Domine Deus misericors clemens patiens multae miserationis Exod. 34. or what of those that are not drown'd in the Seas of so great a bounty are not they depriv'd of their senses even as Moises was on Mount Sinai where the figure of this bloudy sacrifice was so lively represented to him that he cry'd out with a loud voice the Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth So much Surpriz'd was he at the view of thine excessive goodness O Lord that he could not forbear praising thy mercy in the hearing of all the multitude of Israel The Prophet Helias cover'd his face as God pass'd by him in the splendor of his glory much more then should all mortals cover theirs to behold Gods profound humility and annihilation Now not overthrowing mountains and spliting Rocks with his infinite power but expos'd to the view of a malignant and most wicked Nation and in so terrible and dismal a posture that even the Rocks and Temple were rent asunder with an excess of compassion What man of Steel what heart of brass will not relent and open his breast to lodge therein the love of so charming so gracious and so bountiful a God O height of charity O profoundness of humility never to be paralel'd O unspeakable mercy O Abiss of incomprehensible bounty O my most gracious Lord If I be so much oblig'd to thee for redeeming me how much more am I bound to thee for the means which thou hast taken to redeem me Thou hast redeemed me with pains with sorrow with scorns with reproaches with nails and thorns and hast been made the derision of men and even the most vile of the whole world However O Lord by thy contumelies thou hast honour'd me by thy false accusations thou hast defended me with thy bloud thou hast wash'd me by thy death thou hast reviv'd me and by thy tears thou hast deliver'd me from a perpetual weeping and gnashing of teeth O heavenly Father how tenderly thou lovest thy Children thou art indeed that good and faithful Pastor thou givest thy self as food to thy flock O faithful keeper who hast laid down even thy precious life for to protect and defend thy Sheep which thou hadst in thy keeping what thanks or what service can I return thee for so great a favour with what tears can I recompence thy weeping or what life shall I bestow upon thee for that pure and holy one which thou hast given for me Alas there is no proportion betwixt the life of man and that of God betwixt the tears of a silly creature and that of an omnipotent Creator 'T is true thou hast not suffer'd for me alone but for all the world shall I therefore think my obligation the less to thee no no for tho' thou sned'st thy most precious bloud for all mankinde yet it was after such a manner that every particular man receiv'd the benefit from thy sufferings In fine thou didst suffer thy bitter and bloudy passion as well for me in particular as thou hast for all in general O my God thy charity was so immense that if but one alone of all mankinde were criminal even for that one man thou wouldst have suffer'd what thou didst for all
who had kill'd his Master this animal runs at him and holds him fast looking on the by-standers with such a mournful countenance as if he had desir'd Justice whereupon the murderer was apprehended and forc'd to confess his crime for which he was immediately sentenc'd to dy O man If a Dog for a piece of bread had so great a love for his master and was so faithful to him as to lament and vindicate his death wilt thou not be displeas'd at thine ingratitude and principally when a dumb beast reprehends it and teacheth thee to be grateful If that irrational creature was so much incens'd against the murderer of his Master why art thou not displeas'd with those that have slain thy gracious Lord and Master and what are they but thy Sins 'T is true O man thy Sins have taken me have tyed me have scourg'd me have crown'd me have nail'd me to the Cross and were the sole occasion of my bitter death for the Jews could never have the power to crucify me but that thy Sins did both arm and incourage 'em to it Wherefore then art thou not highly displeas'd with them why dost thou not bend all thy wrath and fury against them seeing thy divine Master crucify'd by them before thine eyes and especially since my Death and Passion was design'd to breed in thy heart an eternal hatred of Sin It was in order to destroy Sin that I suffer'd death It was to set a stop to thy feet and hands which are so prone to evil even from thy very cradle that mine as an oblation for their evils were nail'd to the Cross How art thou so impious as to live after such a manner that all my pains taken for thy Salvation will signify nothing Why dost thou not tremble at the very mention of Sin seeing me suffer such cruel torments to destroy and root it clean out of the world How canst thou be so rash and so great an enemy to thy poor Soul as to dare to offend me seeing Heaven open to cast forth its thunder bolts upon thy criminal head and Hell with a dilated mouth ready to swallow thee both body and Soul MAN O My God my King my Saviour my Judge and my only comfort Thou art I confess the Eternal Wisdom and thy words to me are Spirit and Life for they have made me resolve to bid adieu for ever to Sin and to plant virtue where vice was before in great request but give me leave to ask thee what would the benefit of my redemption avail me if that of my Justification had not ensu'd for by this it is that the virtue of the former is appli'd to the diseases of my Soul and even as a plaister tho' never so soveraign will signify nothing except it be laid unto the wound so that heavenly medicine would be of no use or advantage to me if it had not been appli'd by the mediation of this unspeakable benefit to the bruises which I receiv'd in that fatal field of Eden where all mankinde were shamefully foil'd and quite overthrown in the Person of Adam The Sanctification of man does chiefly appertain to the Holy Ghost 'T is his prerogative to prevent the Sinner with the sweetness of his mercy then to call him being call'd to justify him and being justifi'd to direct him and leade him on to the end of his course and then to gratify him with a crown of glory wherefore I may justly say that this very benefit is the happy complement of all others for by this man is register'd in the number of Gods children discharg'd of the main weight of his iniquities deliver'd from the dominion and Tyranny of the Devil reviv'd from Death to Life brought from the state of Sin to that of Justice and of a child of malediction and woe he becomes the Son of God and Co-heir with thee in thy Glory Nemo potest venire ad me nisi Pater meus traxerit illum Joa 44. But this cannot be perform'd without the peculiar help and assistance of the holy Ghost as thou hast declar'd to thy beloved Disciple in these words No man can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him whereby I conceive that neither free will nor the power of humane nature can withdraw a man from Sin and bring him to Grace unless he be help'd on by the vertue of thy divine power The Angelical Doctor St. Thomas commenting upon these words says even as a Stone by its nature still falls downwards and can never ascend without some exteriour assistance so man overpress'd by the corruption of Sin tends always downwards and is powerfully hurri'd on by his inbred inclinations to the love and desire of terene and transitory things but if he be minded to aim higher that is at the love and supernatural desire of heavenly things he must implore the assistance of thy Divine Spirit without which he shall never be able to make any progress in virtue SAVIOVR O Man thou sayst well but I would have thee practise well what thou sayst for 't is the practise and not the discourse of good things that can make thee grateful to me the serious consdieration of this unspeakable benefit should indeed press thee to it make thee most diligent to atchieve it which is a matter of greatest moment to thee for by this thou art reconcil'd to me and cleans'd from Sin which is the worst of all evils and the only evil I most hate and abhor it alone is able to bring my indignation and wrath upon thee Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem perdes omnes qui loquntur mendacium Psal 5. as thou mayst unerstand by my Prophet who says of me Thou art not a God which taketh pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee The foorish shall not stand in thy sight Thou hatest all workers of iniquity Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man Thou seest by this that Sin is the greatest of all evils nay 't is the very root and origine of them all On the contrary to be in my favour the object of my most tender affection is a real happiness the fountain of all goodness and the solid foundation of all other favours and virtues Why dost thou then delay thy endeavours refuse to concur with my holy inspirations If thou wouldst once firmly resolve an amendment imploy all thy faculties to destroy Sin in thee thou shouldst then receive the benefit of Justification by which thou art deliver'd from that pernicious evil and of a mortal enemy thou art made my friend not in a common degree of friendship but in the most supream that can be thought of which is that of a Father to his Son Videte qualem charitatem nobis dedit pater ut filii Dei nominemur fimus 1. Jo. 3. My Evangelist extols this extraordinary favour very highly where he says behold
Lucum if I do not weep and lament for my Sins while I have time and conveniency Woe 's me if I do not rise at midnight with the Prophet royal to confess unto thee O Lord Woe is me if ever I wrong bely or bring My neighbour into any evil inconvenience or trouble woe 's me if I do not speak truth at all times or if ever I be found in a ly For the Ax of Death is now perhaps at the root of my Tree of life or at least will be ere long 't is the same case with every one therefore it behoves us all to be watchful to be constantly in the practise of Pennance and in the exercise of all good works in hopes we may be one day of the number of thy beloved in Heaven SAVIOVR O Man Omnia toleranda pro caelesti gloria Aug. had'st thou known what a Supream happiness it is to be of the number of my beloved in Heaven thou wouldst be of St. Augustins opinion and say with him were I to suffer every day the greatest torments that the Rage and Malice of the most bloudy Tyrants could invent nay were I to endure even the anguishes of Hell for a long time to see Christ in his Glory I would think my self extraordinary well rewarded nay I would freely and with all my heart undergo all the afflictions imaginable upon condition to be made Partaker of so great a blessing Let the Devils therefore ly in Ambushes for me let them prepare as many temtations against me as they can contrive let my body be even consum'd with abstinence and constant fasting let hair-cloth chains of Iron depress my flesh let labour and continual toil extenuate my body let watching and lying on the hard ground wither it and make it as dry as a rotten tree let this man exclaim against me and th' other pursue me to death let the cold seize upon me and make me stoop to the Earth let my conscience murmure let the scorching heat of the Sun parch me let my body grieve let my breast burn let my stomack swell let my countenance wax pale let me from head to foot be full of ulcers let my whole life hours days years pass over in tears in grief and in sorrow let the dust inter my bones and cover me all over so that I be shelter'd in the day of Tribulation and plac'd at thy right hand O Lord among the number of thy Elect. O how great will be the glory of the Just and how infinite will be the joy of the Saints when every ones face will shine as the Sun But thou must know O man that the principal joy of the blessed is the peaceable enjoyment and possession of me whom they Behold clearly as I am in my self and that as Honourable profitable and delectable are not divided in Heaven so the blessed Souls have three gifts essential and inseparable from that happy state which correspond to those three kinde of Blessings which your Divines call vision comprehension and fruition The first consists in the clear and perfect sight of me Ego Protector tuus Sum. merces tua magna nimis Gen. 15.1 which I give to the Just as a reward of their merits and by this they receive an unspeakable honour in as much as their works and virtues are rewarded in the presence of all my Arch-angels Angels and heavenly Spirits with no less a recompence then my self The second is the full and ample possession which the Soul has of me who am all her treasure all her delight and all inheritance And the third is the ineffable joy which evermore accompanies this blessed sight and ever-peaceable possession This joy is adorn'd with two singular qualities the first whereof makes it so vigorous and powerful that it excludes all grief all pain and in a word St. Aug. medita 22. all manner of evil This is consonant to what St. Augustin says where he crys on t O Lord the life which thou hast prepar'd for thy friends is a blessed life a secure life a quiet life a life that knows no death a life without sadness without labour without grief without trouble without corruption without fear without variety without alteration A life replenish'd with all beauty and dignity where there is neither Enemy that can offend nor delight that can annoy where love admits of no mixture of hatred or disdain where the day is everlasting where the spirit of all is one where God is seen face to face who is the only meat whereupon they feed without any nauseating hitherto St. Augustin Cicero de Fin. 5. Tuscul Many of your ancient Philosphers were of opinion that the exemption from evil pain and grief was the chief felicity of man it 's therefore that the best of prophane Orators and Philosophers did place the chief happiness of man in the freedom from grief Jero Rodius Diodorus Philoso Perip but here lies their error they Judg'd that to be the Summum-bonum which was only the consequent and product thereof For the love and joy which springs from the clear vision of my divine Essence is so powerful that it 's enough to convert even Hell into Heaven in so much as if to the most tormented Soul in hell were added all the torments of the rest of the damned both men and Devils and that I should vouensafe him but one glimpse of my knowledge that only vision tho' in the lowest degree were sufficient to free him from all those evils both of sin and pain so that his Soul being extasi'd by that unspeakable beauty which he beheld would not be sensible of any grief or pain whatever By this thou mayst easily conceive the omnipotency of that joy which I confer upon my beloved in Heaven which if I should impart to the most damn'd in hell it would convert all his great torments into far greater consolations The Second stupendious wonder which the greatness of my joy produces in the Souls of my belov'd is the manifold pleasures which spring from it as from a most fruitful root Art thou not astonish'd to hear that the happiness of the Souls should cause so many and marvellous effects in the bodies of my Blessed as St. Augustin relates dost thou not wonder when he tells thee that my beatifical vision carries so unspeakable a joy with it into their Souls that it wholly changes their bodies makes them as beautiful as so many Angels resplendent as the Sun immortal as a Spirit and as impassible as even my self What miracles and prodigies it works in their bodies by the redundancy of the unspeakable comfort which they feel in their spirits Art thou not seiz'd with admiration when St. Anselme tells thee that if the body of one of my Blessed endow'd with the four gifts of glory full of clearness splendor and beauty were plac'd in any part or corner of the world it would perfume the whole universe with a fragrancy
infinitely more sweet unto their Sences then that of Musk and Amber dost thou not see how immense is that light and joy of the Blessed Souls in Heaven which transmits this so unspeakable a luster and beauty unto their Bodies and how can it be less being it proceeds from my beatifical vision and that it is the very same joy which I have my self and which is sufficient to make me blessed with a blessedness equal to my self It 's therefore I say unto my beloved Servant Euge serve bone sidelis quia super fuisti sidelis super pauca multa te constituum intra in gandium Domini tui Mat. 25.21 well done thou good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Take notice O man that I do not simply say enter into joy but to shew the greatness thereof I call it my own joy and that very joy whereby I my self become happy Observe also that there is not a Creature in this world which has not for his final end some manner of perfection and that those Creatures which are indu'd with reason and knowledge have in that perfection a particular joy and complacency which is greater or lesser according as their end is more or less perfect Now thou must of necessity acknowledge that my perfection infinitely exceeds that of all Creatures consequently the joy which is in my self for I have no end or perfection distinct from my self is infinitely greater then the joy of all Creatures and this infinite joy out of my infinite goodness I was pleas'd to impart as well to the Blessed Souls as to the Angels tho' so great and so special a felicity was in no way due unto their humane nature wherefore thou must confess that the joy of Saints which is that of my beatifical vision and wherein my joy and happiness does consist is infinite and that all the contents and pleasures of the world in comparison to it are Aloes Gall and Wormwood The Philosophers will tell thee that by how much a dilectable object closes nearer to the faculty by so much greater is the joy and delight which it produces therein natural reason will convince thee that of all objects I am the most excellent and the most delightful consequently being in the beatifical vision united to the Souls of my Saints in heaven with the most intimate union that can be in a pure creature must of necessity cause an unspeakable joy incomparably greater then all the joys reall or imaginable which can be produc'd by all the creatures that were are at present or will be extant to the end of the world for as my Divine perfection contains within it self the perfections of all created things possible and imaginable so the joy which it causes in the Souls of the Blessed must be infinitely greater then all other joys which either have or can be caus'd by the creature O man here I must reflect upon the main weakness the great folly and the wilfull ignorance of Mortals Helena the beauty of Greece did so inflame the heart of Paris that he made a vow to have her for his wife tho' it should cost the lives of millions of men utter destruction of his whole nation Jacob was so enamour'd of the fair Rachel that he made nothing of fourteen years continual Slavery to purchase the happiness of her enjoyment The People of Israel were so much taken with Absoloms beauty so charm'd with the sweetness of his discourse that they all joyn'd heart and hand with him to dethrone David his own Father their lawful King the best of Princes a man according to my own heart a Prince adorn'd with all virtues a Prince so much extoll'd for his mildness to his Subjects and for his great care of preserving them in peace with all foreign nations A Prince that ventur'd his life to fight a Goliah for the honour and redemption of Israel from the tyrannical yoak of the Philistins Non enim te abjecerunt sed me ne regnem super eos 1 Reg. 8.7 Tulit Joab tres lanceas in manusua infixit eas in corde Absolem 2 Reg. 18.14 O that a whole nation should be so much infatuate as to abdicate so worthy and so gracious a King for the love of a mortal and fading beauty for the sake of an ambitious ungrateful and deluding Absalom but I account the injury is done to me and not to David they have not rejected him but me that I should no more rule over them this is the height of ingratitude and must have a punishment equall to its demerit for Absalom shall dy by the hands even of one of his greatest Admirers and the chief of his favourits as for the People of Israel that gave their concurrence to so unhumane and barbarous an act they shall be rul'd by Tyrants that shall keep them always in a curb and make them absolute Slaves for ever Let all those who finde themselves conscious of so horrid a crime tremble at the hearing of so dreadful a chastisement Mulieres sedebant plangentes Adonidem Ezec. 18.14 The beauty of Adonis had no better success than that of Absalom for tho' the very sight of him drew love and admiration from his beholders yet at length he was to them a subject of great lamentation and sorrow O ye Sons of men Filij hominum usque quo gravi corde ut quid diligi is vanitatem queritis mendacium Et scitote quoniam mirificavit Dominus Sanctum suum Psal 4.3.4 how long will ye turn my glory into shame how long will ye love vanity and seek after false things But know ye that the Lord has extoll'd the beauty of his Saints and made it wonderful beyond the reach of humane understanding and the expression even of the very Angels for all the beauty of the world aggregated in one creature falls infinitely short of that of my Saints in Heaven how ravishing then must my beauty be which is accompanied with several other perfections that will admit of no limits as with infinite wisdom omnipotence holiness liberality bounty and all that can be imagin'd good beautyful and perfect it 's enough indeed to force even the hearts of mine enemies to love serve honour and adore me Thou art I know a great admirer of perfection tell me then if there were in the world a man as wise as an Angel wouldst thou not be as earnest to see him as the Queen of Sheba was to behold Solomon but if to this great wisdom were added the strength of Hercules or that of Sampson the victories of the Machabees or those of the greatest Conquerours that e're appear'd in this World the courage the devotion the meekness and courtesy of David the friendship of Jonathan the liberality of all the Roman and Assyrian Potentates and the greatest beautys that ever appear'd upon
love courage greatness of minde and fervour of spirit hear how daring he speaks to Dacianus the President and see with what joy and Patience he suffers his torments The Tyrant orders him to be hoist up high upon a Rack and after a jeering way ask'd him where he was to which he answer'd with a smiling countenance I am aloft and thence do despise thee who art insolent and puff'd up with the power thou hast upon Earth Being after menac'd with more torments far exceeding the cruelty of the former he said me thinks Dacianus thou dost not threaten but court me with what I desire with all the powers and faculties of my Soul And when they tore his flesh with hooks and pinchers and burnt him with firebrands and flaming torches he cry'd out with joy in vain thou weariest rhy self Dacianus thou canst not imagine torments so horrid which I could not suffer Know then O man that Prisons Pinchers burning plates of Iron and death it self are unto good Christians recreations rather then torments and if thou beest of the number of them thou wilt be likewise of the same opinion MAN I am as much perplex'd O Lord at thy discourse as was the man of the Gospel to hear his Master accuse him of injustice and threaten to turn him out of his Stewardship what shall I do Fodere non valeo mendicare erubesco Luc. 16.3 says he I am asham'd to beg and I am not able to labour This is my case I am asham'd to see my self so remiss in my duty to thee so unwilling to undergo the least trouble to purchase thy glory and so heedless of my own salvation when I see Heathens perform such great and heroick exploits even for the bare applause of the world and for the blind approbation of their phantastical Sect. I am asham'd to see my self so remote from virtue so cold in devotion so prone to vice so inconstant in my good resolutions so averss'd to afflictions and crosses when I hear a Pagan-Philosopher that knows nothing of thy glory nothing of the everlasting happiness of thy Kingdom nothing of the unspeakable reward of thy Blessed and nothing of the eternal punishments which thou hast decree'd for the wicked tell me that there is not in the scale of nature a more inseparable connexion of cause and effect then in the case of happiness and virtue nor any thing that more naturally produces the one or more necessarily presupposes the other For what is it to be happy but for a man to content himself with his lot in a chearful and quiet resignation to the appointments of God All the actions of our lives ought to be govern'd with a respect to good and evil and it is only Reason that distinguishes by which reason we are in such manner influenc'd as if a Ray of the Divinity were dipt in a mortal body and that 's the perfection of mankinde 'T is true we have not the eyes of Eagles nor the Sagacity of hounds nor if we had could we pretend to esteem our selves for any thing which we have in common with Brutes What are we the better for that which is foreign to us and may be given and taken away As the Beams of the Sun irradiate the Earth and yet remain where they were so is it in some proportion with a holy minde that illustrates all our actions and yet adheres to it's Original Why do we not as well commend a Horse for his glorious Trapings as a man for his pompous additions how much a braver Creature is a Lyon which by nature ought to be fierce and terrible how much braver I say he is in his natural horrour then in his chains So that every thing in its pure nature pleases us best It is not Health Nobility Riches that can justify a wicked man nor is it the want of all these can discredit a good one That 's the Sovereign Blessing which makes the Professor of it valuable without any thing else and him that wants it contemptible tho' he had all the world besides 'T is not the painting gilding or carving that makes a good Ship but if she be a nimble Sailer tight and strong to endure the Seas that 's her excellency 'T is the Edge and temper of the blade that makes a good Sword not the richness of the Scabbard 'T is even the same with man 't is not money or vast possessions or eminent places or great dignitys that makes him considerable but his virtue alone I am a Christian Cor. 9.19 20 21 22. and by my profession am bound to be serviceable to all people as far as my ability can extend and their necessity requires it it 's therefore St. Paul says tho' I be free from all men yet have I made my self Servant unto all that I might gain the more Unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain them that are without law To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak In fine I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some This is my incumbent duty but alas I am far short of it and this brings a blâ—sâ— on my face when I see a Pagan-Philosopher preach and practice the same 'T is every man's duty says Seneca to make himself profitable to mankinde if he can to many if not to fewer if not so neither to his neighbours but however to himself There are two Republicks a great one which is humane nature and a less which is the place where we are born some serve both at a time some only the greater and some again only the less The greater may be serv'd in privacy Solitude contemplation perchance that way better then any other But it was th' intent of nature however that we should serve both A good man may serve the Publick his friend and himself too in any Station If he be not for the Sword let him take the Gown if the Bar does not agree with him let him try the Pulpit If he be silenc'd abroad let him give Counsel at home and discharge the part of a faithful friend and a Temperate companion When he is no longer a Citizen he is yet a man the whole world is his Country and humane nature never wants matter to work upon But if nothing will serve a man in the civil Government unless he be prime Minister or in the Field but to command in Chief 't is his own fault The common Soldier where he cann't use his hands fights with his very looks his example his encouragement his voice and stands his ground even when he has lost his hands and does service too with his very clamour so that in any condition whatsoever he still discharges the duty of a good Patriot Nay he that spends his time well even in a retirement gives a great example we may inlarge indeed or contract according to the circumstances of time place or
to convince them of their extream folly to serve so faithfully such bad Masters as the World and the Devil who for every pleasure they allow them give them a thousand mortal Stings even in this life besides the unspeakable misery which they shall make them suffer in the other on the contrary my pleasures are solid permanent and bring excessive comfort to the consciences of those that receive them so that as the Propher says Psa 84.10 one day spent in my service brings more advantage to their Souls then a thousand years imploy'd in that of the world and it were-better be a door-keeper in my house then to dwell in the Tents of wickedness Let them know likewise the tenderness of my affection for them and how earnestly I court them to serve me and not to take example by the prodigal Child who had spent all his substance idlely was forc'd at last to feed with the swine and was very glad too to be admitted into their company When in reallity he might sit at my Table feed with my Saints and Angels in Heaven if he had serv'd me with as much care and diligence as he did the World MAN NO man can be grateful to thee O Lord without contemning those things that put the common People out of their wits We must go into banishment they cry we must lay down our lives hate the World and all its allurements begger and expose our selves to reproaches nay 't is often seen that gratitude suffers the punishment due to Malefactors and that Ingratitude receives the rewards of fidelity As thy benefits are many and great so are the hazards of gratitude which is the case more or less of all other virtues and it were hard if this above all the rest should be both painful and fruitless So that tho' we may go currently on with it in smooth way we must yet prepare and resolve if need be to force through all to 't even if the way were cover'd with thorns and Serpents and fall back fall edge we must be gratefull still Grateful for thy sake O Lord and grateful likewise for our own peculiar Interest for it preserves thy favours and gains us a new addition of greater When I speak in the praise of gratitude I pleade the cause both of God and man for without it we can neither be Sociable nor religious There 's a strange delight in the very purpose and contemplation of it as well as in the action when I can say to my self I love my Benefactor what is there in this world that I would not do to oblige serve him Where I have not the means of a requital the very meditation of it is sufficient A man is never the less an Artist for not having his tools about him or a musitian because he wants his Fiddle nor is he the less brave because his hands are bound or the worse Pilot for being upon dry ground If I have only a will to be grateful and the heart to persever I am so and that 's all thou requirest O Lord Let me be upon the wheel or under the hand of the Executioner let me be burnt limb by limb and my whole body dropping in the flames a good Conscience supports me in all extreams nay it is comfortable even in death it self for when we come to approach that point what care do we take to summon and call to minde all our Benefactors and the good offices they have done us that we may leave the world fairly and set our minds in order this is the bare duty of good nature and what common civility requires of us how much greater then must our care be to remember all the graces and favours which We have receiv'd at thy hands O Lord and to be grateful to thee accordingly or if we can't return thee thanks equal to the benefits which thou wert pleas'd to confer upon us let us at least be grateful to thee so far as not to serve another Master for whom thou hast an abhorrence as being quite contrary to thy divine Maxims I have already produc'd sufficient motives and reasons to breed in our hearts a contempt of the World so odious to God and so destructive of our own Salvation I have endeavoured as much as I could to wean our affections from it and from all it's pelf as well for being in themselves vile transitory mutable inconsiderable and dangerous as for the frequent Instructions we have had from thee O Lord to hate despise and consider them as the mortal Enemys of our Salvation I will now add this one reason that tho' the World and all its pleasures and treasures were real indeed and of that great estimate as we make them yet we should not love them because that thy love O God should replenish our hearts to that degree as to leave no place for any terrene or carnal affection It was thy command O Lord to the People of Israel that they should love thee with all their heart with all their Soul and with all their powers tho' they were not so much oblig'd to thee as we are having receiv'd more favours and graces at thy hands then ever they did and having also more knowledge of thy goodness then they could ever attain to how then can we in gratitude admit of any other love How can we cast our eyes or set our hearts upon the creature when had each of us a million of hearts we should in justice consecrate 'em all unto thee There 's not a motive for which thou art amiable but deserves a thousand wills a thousand loves a thousand lives all what we are and all what we have or can prtend to in this World But if we look upon all the titles and motives of love which I have already spoke of and for which we are indespensably oblig'd to love thee how can we in good Conscience love any thing besides thee If we consider seriously the multitude of thy benefits and the products of thy infinite love and goodness to us we shall be oblig'd to confess that had we as many hearts as there are grains of Sand upon the Sea-shore or Atoms in the air all would not be capable to contain that great love which we owe unto thee how then can I divide this one heart which I have from thee amongst so many Creatures and yet this is a plague that follows all mankinde 't is an evil that runs in the blood of all mortals 't is the highest of Ingratitude which is the common distemper of this corrupt Age we live in for some are ungrateful to their Country and their Country no less ungrateful to others so that the complaint of Ingratitude reaches all Men Does not the Son wish for the death of his Father the Husband for that of his Wife c. But who can expect to finde gratitude in an age of so many gaping and craving Appetites where all People take and none give
a horse we take off his cloths and his trappings and examin his shape and body for fear of being cozen'd And shall we put an estimate upon a man for being set off by his fortune and quality nay if we see any thing of ornament about him we are to suspect him the more for some infirmity under it He that is content in Poverty would not be so neither in Plenty for the fault is not in the thing but in the minde It 's therefore thy Apostle writing to Timothy says command the Rich of this World not to be high-minded nor place their considence in the uncertainty of their Riches Divitibus hujus mundi praecipe non sublime sapere neque sperare in incerto divitiarum 1 Tim. 17. Non proderunt divitiae indie ultionis Pro. 11.4 Divitiarumjactantia quid nobis contulit Sap. 5. Dormierunt somnum suum nihil in venerunt omnes viri divitiarum in manibus suis Psa 75.6 and the ground of his Precept is that Riches shall not profit a man in the day of revenge nor rescue him from the rigour of thy Justice in the day of his death if his sins have put him out of thy favour this the wicked Rich themselves confess tho' too late being already condemn'd to live in torments for an Eternity what has the bravery of our Riches avail'd us nothing at all but have rather increas'd our misery because we made thereof our Gods upon Earth tho' we were often told of their vanity and how they could never afford their Masters any comfort or ease when they were in most need of their help The Royal Prophet seems to commiserate their deplorable condition where he says Alas the Rich men have slept out their sleep and have found nothing in their hands People in their sleep will dream of Mountains of Gold and Silver and think themselves rich for ever but when they awake they finde they are altogether in as bare a condition as before this is the case with the rich whilst they are in this life they do imagine themselves Rich for ever and that their vast treasures will bear them up in all necessitys that shall occur but when they open their eyes in the hour of death they see then that they must depart for another World with as little provision as the poorest beggar in nature I can't but smile to hear the Prophet Baruch laugh at such People where are they now says he those great Estated men those mercenary Judges those deluding Lawyers those flie Attornys those greedy and covetous Merchants those insatiable Usurers that heap'd up such a vast deal of gold silver and that never desisted gathering together Alas they are rooted out of the World cast down into Hell-sire And therefore says St James now ye rich men weep and wail Jacob. 5.1 2 3. c. and howl for your miseries that come upon you now your riches are rotten and your gold and silver is rusty and the rust thereof shall be in testimony against you It shall feed upon your flesh as if it were fire you have hoorded up wrath to your own selves in the last day Tho' he is an Apostle that speaks yet his words are the very dictates of the holy Ghost whereby we may easily conceive the dangerous consequence of worldly wealth and the main folly of them that labour so much to procure the same by injustice and other indirect means and when they are masters of them do not imploy them to the advantage of their Souls but lay out all to support their grandeur and satisfy their Lust I am certain that if an Assembly of the most able physitians of the World had met to determine whether such or such meats were dangerous to feed upon and that they should all conclude they were absolute poyson to the body few or none at all would hazard his health to eat thereof tho' otherwise in sight smell and tast they appear'd sweet and most pleasant And shall not the unanimous votes of all the Saints in Heaven and of all the Catholike Doctors on Earth together with thy most holy and urgent admonitions O Lord be able to remove the disordinate love which mortals bear to this most dangerous Soul-killing vanity Thou sayst by thy Prophet to all mankind Divitiae si affluant nolite cor apponere Psa 61. Qui diligit aurum non justificabitur Eccl. 31. Zacha. 1. set not your hearts upon the love of Riches and why the wise make them this answer because whoever loves Gold that is beyond the precept shall never be justifi'd and thou sayst thy self that thy indignation and wrath shall fall very heavy upon rich nations There 's nothing so often repeated in Scripture as a Woe to the Rich and thou dost confirm it thy self with that usual affirmation Amen Amen I say unto you that a Rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 19. What an extream folly it is then to seek so much after so poisonous a bait as are Earthly Riches which may perhaps afford some little comfort to their owners in this World but with an absolute exclusion from the everlasting pleasures of thy kingdom Woe be to you Rich men for that you have receiv'd your consolation in this life so that in the other you are not to expect any Sad news indeed for the Rich and able to settle in their hearts a perpetual abhorrence against so fatal an enemy to the Salvation of their Souls This expression I fear will not at all rellish with many of our Worldlings who account Riches to be their dearest and only Friend nay had I said their God it would not be contrary to truth for their hearts are more enamour'd with them then they are with thee O Lord tho' thou hast deposited thy sweet life to ransom their Souls from the power of Hell Qui volunt divites fieri incident in tettuionem in laqueum Diaboli defideria malta inutilia nociva quae mergunt homines in interitum perdidonem 1 Tim. 6.9 and Death everlasting And yet if St. Paul may be credited they are grosly mistaken and wide from the mark they aim at for where they expect their consolation and pleasure they meet with their eternal destruction and sorrow for He says that they which will be rich do fall into temptations and into the Snares of Satan as also into many unprofitable hurtful desires which do drown them in the Abiss of destruction and Woe Their main objection to this doctrine is what shall become of our Wives and Children if we be not careful to provide a maintenance for them that they may live in the World with as much splendour as the dignity of their condition requires But the Wife man gives them a satisfactory answer in my minde and a notable check to boot for he calls them fools and besides he tells them in plain terms that their great care
and without Arms among so many Enemies who will believe himself secure among so many occasions of Sin or who will be so desperate as to cohabit with so many mortal infirmities without a Doctor or his prescription to preserve him from falling into one or several of those distempers who will not use all his Endeavours to get out of this Egipt out of this land of darkness out of this Babilonish Slavery who will not ardently desire to be set at liberty out of the scorching flames of this World which do as often provoke thee O Lord to resolve upon our utter destruction as the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorha did solicit thee to so dreadful a chastisement as theirs was Since that the World is so replenish'd with dangerous Snares design'd to intangle our poor Souls therein and send them Prisoners to the dark dungeon of Hell and withall We meet every where with a Precipiece the very flames of vice have in a great measure deform'd tho beauty of our Souls already who will then think himself safe to live any longer in a place so throng'd with mortall Enemies The Wise man sets us this Question Prov. 6. can a man take fire in his bosom and his cloths not by burnt or can one go upon hot Coals and his feet not be burnt He that will handle Pitch Eccle. 13. says another can't be free from a spot no more can a Man that is always conversant with the Proud be exempt from Pride and this is the case of all us poor Mortals for We can't expect to live in the World among so many Snares Aliquando incidam vna die in manum Sauli nonne melius est ut sugiam salver 1 Reg. 27.1 and Ambushes without falling into them frequently David was cruelly persecuted by Saul and often in danger of his sweet life which made him take a firm resolution to avoid his company and never to come into his sight for says he if I do not take this course and secure my life by flying from the danger I shall certainly one time or other fall into his hands let us make use of the same means to secure our Souls from the World and from all it 's false allurements let us fly from them or at least if We be so far ingag'd therein that we can't avoid it let us be sure to give it no place in our hearts which ought to be wholly consecrated to thee O Lord who alone deservest it intirely to thy self without any Rival for thou dost love us still tho' We continue to be thy Enemies and desires only a grateful return of love from us that we may be made happy for ever In our Baptism We gave thee admittance into our hearts with a promise to be faithful to thee hereafter thou art ready to take possession thereof and to adorn it with all thy holy Graces and favours certainly we must be hard-hearted indeed if we refuse so favourable a motion from so good and so gracious a Saviour I am consident thy endearing words and most loving expressions will even force our consent to so charming a request and the rather that it is to our great advantage and the eternal Salvation of our Souls Speak then O Lord for We shall all hear thee and will by the assistance of thy Grace perform what ever thou wilt command us to do SAVIOVR O Man the greatness of my Paternal Providence for mankinde in general and the excess of my love for those among them that are my faithful Servants should win the hearts even of the most obstinate and most rebellious that ever were heard of nay it should force them to pay me that small tribute I only require at their hands which is to love me with all their hearts and to fulfill my commands with the most tender affection of a most dutiful and obedient Servant For the love I bear them does far exceed that of all worldly Fathers to their Children and the care I take to provide for them is altogether as great as my love What Father was ever known to shed his blood for his children as I have done for mine or give that attendance to his Children as I give to mine I am both day and night present with them to protect and defend them from all accidents I stand by them in all their tribulations to comfort them and so temper their afflictions that their extremity make them not despair the Prophet Royal was sensible of the great care I take of my Children in their afflictions by this I know Psal 40.11 12. says he that thou favourest me because thou dost not suffer mine Enemy to triumph over me thou upholdest me in my integrity and settest me in thy sight for ever So great is my love for my beloved Children that I never remove my eyes from off them There 's no better testimony then that of a man who knows what is said to be true by his own experience my Prophet can give thee a true account of my ardent love for those that are so happy as to be of the number of my Children and Favourites and therefore I would have thee to hear what he says of me and to fix thy self upon his undeniable deposition behold says he the eyes of the Lord is upon them that fear him and upon them that hope in his mercy to deliver their Souls from Death The eyes of the Lord are upon the Righteous and his ears are open unto their cry But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the Earth The Righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saves such as be of a contrite Spirit Many are th' afflictions of the Righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all Psa 30.18 Psa 34.15 But evil shall slay the wicked and they that hate the Righteous shall be desolate Whereas the Lord shall redeem the Souls of his own true Servants and Children and none of all them that place their trust and put their confidence in him shall ever perish The greatest treasure that a Christian Man should wish to enjoy in this World is the love and Providence of God the more he knows them and the surer he is of their enjoyment the greater should be his comfort and confidence in the same God Thou must know O man that the testimonies of Scripture relating to the promises I give unto the Faithfull of my love Eccle. 15 20.34 19. my care and protection of them are so many authentick Evidences and ratifications of the same that they are no more to be question'd then is the last Will and Testament of a dying man which none ought to mistrust of falshood Hear then and take great notice of what the wise say of my great love and care for Men. The eyes of the
Abraham sent his Servant to finde out a competent Gen. 17. and virtuous Wife for his dearly beloved Son Isaac I had a special care to direct him the safest and best way and also to bring his business to a most prosperous conclusion and all was for the great love kindeness I had for his Master Gen. 39 I would do as much to a bad Master for the sake of a good Servant and have already done it to Potiphar the Egiptian for the sake of my Patriarch Joseph for I have multiply'd all his substance as well in his house as in the Fields not upon his own account being an unbelieving Heathen but meerly for the love I had for his chast and godly Servant What mercy what care what Providence can be greater then this and is he not a mad man indeed that will refuse to serve so good so liberal and so bountiful a Lord as I am to all those that serve me and who am so careful of themselves Capillus de capite vestro non peribit Luc. 21.28 and of all that concerns them that I can't suffer so much as one hair of their head to be lost The effects of my Providence are so many and so wonderful that I am commonly call'd in Scripture the Father of the Righteous Psal 103. and I likewise call them my dearly beloved Children my Providence promoted the Prophet royal and was favourable to him upon all occasions neither was he ungrateful or unmindeful of my benefits for He gives me this Atonement of his gratefull acknowledgement Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me Bless his holy name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits Who forgives all thine iniquities who heals all thy diseases who redeems thy life from destruction who crowns thee with loving kindness and tender mercies who satisfies thy mouth with good things by him thy youth is renew'd like the Eagles The Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppress'd He made known his ways to Moises and all his actions unto the Children of Israel The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and prone to mercy He will not always chide us neither will he keep his anger for ever He has not dealt with us as our sins have deserv'd nor has he rewarded us according to our iniquitys For as the Heaven is High above the Earth so great is his mercy towards them that fear him As far as the East is from the West so far has he remov'd our transgressions from us even as a Father doth pitty his Children So the Lord pittys them that fear him for he knows our frame and he remembers that we are nothing but dust Esa 63.16 The Prophet Esaiah thinking the name of Father did not sufficiently express the tenderness of my love because it has been never yet paralel'd by any mortal Parents says Lord thou art our Father indeed Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel does not acknowledge us Thou O Lord art our Father our Redeemer and thy name is from everlasting and tho' they be our Father according to the flesh yet they don't deserve the name thereof 't is a qualification due to thee alone for their love for us is no more then a shaddow to that which thou hast express'd to us upon all occasions my love rather resembles that which a good natur'd Mother bears to her child and therefore I compare my self to the most passionate of the Sex Can a Mother forget her sucking Child that she should not have compassion on the Son of her womb yea they may forget yet will I not forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me Esa 49.15 Can any Mother speak with a more tender expression of love who will be so blinde so stupid and so far from good nature as not to rejoyce at the very sound of these superamourous words which are able to revive the deadest heart that ever was to all motions of love or devotion what man tho' never so great a drone hearing me give him this extraordinary assurance of my most ardent love and paternal Providence will not run with the spouse in the Canticles after the sweet scent of my perfumes I am a God that speaks to thee and the eternal verity too which was never guilty of the least falshood whose riches have no limits and whose power is of the same nature with the rest of my attributes which are all infinite I am therefore him only thou shouldst fear to offend and in whom thou shouldst place all thy hopes and confidence my words should comfort and rejoyce thy heart the title of honour I confer upon thee should unman thee so far as to take on the heart and spirit of a child of God and the assur'd demonstrations I give thee of my great Love and Providence should breed in thee an everlasting abhorrence of the World and all it's allurements What more shall I say Deut. 32.11 Deut. 1.31 or to what shall I compare the love which I bear unto thee the Eagle of all Mothers is the most tender of her little ones and it 's therefore the Prophet says of me as an Eagle stirs up her nest flutters over her young spreads abroad her wings takes them and bears them on her wings so the Lord has dealt with thee nay thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bears thee as a man does bear his young child in his arms in all the way that ye went until ye came into this place What could I do that I have not done to my People to wean their affections from the World and settle them totally upon so good and so Cordial a Father as I am to them I call them my beloved Children and so they are indeed for thou shalt find as many authentick testimonies as there have been Prophets in the World from the beginning that they are my Children in effect as well by their Creation as by their preservation from all dangers The Prophet Jeremy will tell thee that I have lov'd them with an everlasting love Jerem. 31. and that with loving kindness I have drawn them out of nothing to what they are at present and have preserv'd them as well from their temporal as from their Spiritual Enemies whilst they remain'd submissive to my Laws and gave me the reverence which is expected from dutiful Children to their Parents O ye Nations says the same Prophet hear the word of the Lord declare it in the Isles afar off say the Lord that has Scatter'd the People of Israel for their Sins will gather them again if they will cry to him for mercy and if they continue obedient to his commands he will keep them as a Shepherd does his flock For the Lord has redeem'd Jacob and has ransom'd him from the hand of him that was stronger then He. The same
Prophet will tell thee also how ready and willing I am to be reconcil'd to my Children when they repent He represents me as if I were overjoy'd at the very hearing of their mournful voice I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus thou hast chastised me and I was chastis'd as a Bullock unaccustom'd to the yoak turn thou me and I shall be turn'd for thou art the Lord my God Surely after that I was turn'd I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my Thigh I was asham'd yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth thou has heard the repentance of a sorrowful Sinner his firm resolution to lead a better life for the future Now observe well my joyful expressions to him Yea Ephraim my dear Son He is a pleasant Child indeed for since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still Therefore my bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercy upon him says the Lord. All these propertys exercis'd by me upon my beloved deserve to be seriously consider'd for they are certainly able to inflame the most obstinate hearts with my love and why not being I am so much enamour'd of them tho' they be so refractory to my laws and such great enemies to their own welfare that they do not regard my earnest and charming invitations But to oblige them the more to their duty to me Joan. 14.15 I tell them that I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine But how dost thou know them O Lord with what eyes dost thou behold them As my Father knows me even so know I my Father and with the same eyes that I behold my Father and my Father beholds me I behold my sheep O most blessed Eyes O most happy aspect O wonderful Providence What greater glory what richer treasure or what greater Riches can any Man desire then to be the worthy object of my divine Aspect and to be look'd upon with the same eyes that my Father beholds me Ezech. 34 11 12 13.14 c. What! an adopted Son only to enjoy the priviledge chief prerogative of the only and dearly beloved Son of God O the main advantage O the unspeakable favour Hear how the holy Ghost extolls the superexcellent benefit of this peculiar Providence by the mouth of my Prophet Behold I even I will both search my sheep and seek them out as a Shepherd seeks at night for the sheep which are stray'd or scatter'd from his Flock in the day so will I seek out my Sheep and will deliver them out of the places where they have been scatter'd in the cloudy and dark day And I will bring them out from the People and gather them from the countrys and will bring them to their own Land and feed them upon the Mountains of Israel by the Rivers Ezech. 34. ult and in all the inhabited places of the Country I will feed them in a good pasture and upon the high Mountains of Israel shall their food be there shall they lye in a good Fold and in a Fat Pasture shall they feed upon the Mountains of Israel I will feed my Flock and I will cause them to ly down says the Lord God I will seek that which was lost bring back again that which was driven away and will binde up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick But I will keep the fat and the strong and will feed them with judgment I will make with them a Covenant of peace and will cause the evil Beasts to cease out of the Land and they shall dwell safely in the Wilderness and sleep in the woods And I will make the places round about my hill a blessing and I will cause the shower to come down in his Season and there shall be showers of blessing Tell me O man what greater care could be expected from a watchful Shepherd or what sweeter words could I make choice of to express my unspeakable kindeness for all mankinde for they are the Sheep that I have taken so much labour and care to preserve they are that dear Flock for which I have spilt my blood and lost my life and therefore thou must not understand the words of the Holy Ghost of any material or brutish Flock No no He means thee and the rest of mortals and therefore He concludes Esai 40.11 ye are my Flock the Flock of my Pasture are Men. They are my Sheep and I am their Shepherd neither is it a common Pasture I promise unto them nor the abundance of Earthly wealth but my own Flesh and Blood which contains a vast treasure of spiritual graces and of a peculiar Providence whereby as a gracious and bountiful Lord I do rule and protect my Spiritual Flock All this is consonant to what another Prophet says of my great care and tender love for ungrateful mortals He shall says he feed his Flock like a true Shepherd indeed Esa 40.11 for he shall gather the young and the weary Lambs and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead the sheep that are heavy with young ones and carry them in his arms too if they be not able to go what can be said more charming The words of the Prophet Royal are indeed no less for they seem to proceed from a heart throughly inflam'd with my love The Lord says he is my Shepherd therefore 't is impossible that I should want having so good and so bountiful a Keeper He makes me to ly down in green Pastures He leads me besides the still-waters and which is a far greater benefit then all the rest he has converted my Soul and has restor'd unto her her former beauty which was wholly lost by Sin and now He leads me in the Paths of Righteousness for his holy names sake I might tell thee of several other propertys which are given to me in Scripture as that of King because I govern and defend my People that of Master because I teach and instruct them how they are to decline iniquity and keep always within the ways of Righteousness a Physitian because I cure them of all their distempers as well Spiritual as temporal but the sweetest name of all and that which pleases me most is that of Spouse because it represents my love and Providence to mankinde more amply and of greater importance to them for being their Spouse Gen. 2. I must forsake Father and all to adhere unto them and put on their nature too so that they and I shall be henceforth as two in one flesh O says St. Paul Ephes 5.32 this is a great Mistery But I speak concerning Christ and the Church Jere. 3.4 'T is so great a mistery that thou and all mankinde have reason to love me above all creatures in the World and to cry unto me Thou art our Father indeed our powerful protectour the Guide of our youth and
amara est memoria tua homini habenti pacem indivitijs suis Eccl. 41. that had conquer'd most part of the World in less then twelve years to see himself seiz'd on by Death and Summon'd to appear before thy most dreadful Tribunal when he desir'd most to live and tast of the joy and delight of all his victories What a heart-breaking will it be to those that employ all their time in building of houses purchasing estates increasing riches procuring dignities making up matches laying out vast sums to use when they shall see themselves even as so many Princes Mules discharg'd of their treasure and turn'd off with backs gaul'd into some nasty stable nay it will be far worse with them for after their long travelling in this World loaden with gold and Silver which had extreamly gall'd their wretched Souls they shall be disburthened at the day of death and sent away with their wounded consciences to the dark and loathsome Stable of Hell there to continue for an Eternity O my Saviour these considerations well meditated are able to mollify a heart of Steel to move any man to a true repentance of his past follys to breed in him an abhorrence of the world and of all its vanitys and make him resolve to employ the remainder of his days in thy Service that art absolutely the best of Masters and whose rewards to thy faithful Servants are far surpassing the pleasures treasures of this deluding world as thou dost exceed the creatures Eternity the Time the eternal joys of thy heavenly Court the short and transitory joys and delights of this Land SAVIOVR HE must be a most perverse and hard hearted man indeed that will not love me after all the several benefits and manifold favours which I have confer'd even in this life upon the generality of mankinde which are in a manner nothing to what I have prepar'd for my Elect in the other for these are so incomprehensibly glorious that eye has never seen nor ear has ever heard neither is man's understanding capable of conceiving their excessive greatness for I am by nature infinitely good amiable and liberal consequently what I have promis'd prepar'd and decreed from all Eternity to bestow upon my Elect must be no less then my self objective as your Divines call it and formaliter the most clear the most delicious the most pleasant the most blessed union and fruition of my divine Essence for all Eternity O the Immense the inestimable the glorious the Interminable felicity of a blessed Soul that shall live and reign with God who is infinite in beauty in glory in power in wisdom and in finite in all his Attributes that shall enjoy clearly and without any interruption his blessed Vision so unspeakably comfortable satisfactory to all her senses and this too for an Eternity A God likewise that is the abundant headspring of all delights the inexhaustible fountain of all goodness the most opulent treasury of all riches pleasures Joy Perfection and of all things desirable or necessary to compleat her everlasting happiness This is the essential and principal reward of the Blessed But besides these there are other innumerable joys which I call Secundary rewards and these are also so great and so many that they do absolutely transcend all measure and number and wilt thou not O man love a God who has lov'd thee gratis and to that excess as to give thee himself all that 's in his power A God that most mercifully lov'd thee when thou wert in actual rebellion against him wilt thou not love the Eternal Father who in the excess of his love for thee did not spare his only and dearly beloved Son but deliver'd him into the power of most cruel Enemies that crucify'd him this was for thy sins alone as well as for those of all mankinde wilt thou not love him that has by the effusion of his most precious bloud free'd thee from the power and unspeakable anguishes of Hell and it 's eternal torments to place thee in the most happy company of his beloved in glory wilt thou not love him who has chosen thee even before the worlds Creation who has call'd thee by his Grace and has predestinated thee in Christ from all Eternity wilt thou not love me who am the only Son of God in whose Faith and Grace thou liv'st who has lov'd thee who has suffer'd for thee who has call'd thee to his Service who has redeem'd thee from the intollerable burthen of the Old Law from the damnable yoke of Sin and from the everlasting thraldom of Hell O man Wilt thou not love me who am so fervent a lover as to purchase thy lost Soul not with the Worlds contemptible Coin Gold or Silver but with the most precious and Sacred bloud of my whole body Wilt thou not love me who am thy Creator thy Saviour and Judge and who was in mercy pleas'd to become thy Brother and Advocate too nay I am so much in love with thee that the day before I departed the world I bequeath'd unto thee my most precious body and bloud to seed thy Soul as a perpetual monument of my tender affection to all mankind In fine wilt thou not love me who besides the aforesaid Mercys Benefits and Blessings have given thee so compassionate and so potent a Mediatrix in Heaven as is my most dear and Superexcellent Mother Saluted before my conception in these very words by my Angel Ave gratia plena Luc. 1.28 Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among Women Blessed is the fruit of thy Womb. Since I the Essential truth do affirm this they must be impertinent and reprobately Wicked who deny her that Special Prerogative Thou shouldst love as much the Holy Ghost for by his Wisdom thou wert Created and by his Providence thou wert govern'd in so much that thou can'st not produce one meritorious act without his divine Inspiration or actual motion Therefore 't is his gracious goodness which gives thee the Will and the Power to perform any good thing 't is He that is pleas'd to inhabit illnstrate and inflame thy heart with an ardent desire of thy eternal Salvation In a word thy Obligation to love and honour the most glorious Trinity is the very same as thou hast to each Sacred Person therein contain'd It being the sole Source and cause of thy eternal Happiness For what the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost have done the very same thing has the Blessed Trinity done being but one the same God in those three distinct persons O Man shall not all these powerful motives replenish thy Soul with divine love even as the Dew of Heaven doth fill the Vegetives with vivifying juice or shall not this make my grace shine in thy Soul as Davids burning Lamps of affection Psa 63.5 which no terene waters could ever extinguish I say in thy Soul that it may disperse those filthy