and Soul of each particular Christian That as Jesus Christ suffered during his Mortal Life Rose again to a new Life Ascended into Heaven and sate down on the Right Hand of God his Father so also the Body and Soul must suffer die be raised and ascend up into Heaven All these things are fulfilled in the Soul during this Life but not in the Body The Soul suffers and dies unto Sin in Repentance and Baptism the Soul rises to a new Life in these Sacraments and at last the Soul leaves the Earth and ascends to Heaven in Living a Holy Life which makes St. Paul say Conversatio nostra in Coelis est None of these things happen to the Body during this Life but they do afterwards for at Death the Body dies to this Mortal Life at the Day of Judgment it shall rise to a new Life after Judgment it shall ascend up into Heaven and there abide to all Eternity So that the same things arrive to Body and Soul but at different times and the changes of the Body do not happen till those of the Soul are accomplish'd that is to say after Death so that Death is the consummation of the Souls Happiness and the beginning of that of the Body This is the admirable conduct of the Wisdom of God in the Salvation of Souls and St. Austin teaches us on this Subject That God has so order'd it fearing least the Body of Man should be Dead and raised again for ever in Baptism or that he only became Obedient to the Gospel for love of Life whereas the greatness of Faith shines much more when one hopes for Immortality even through the shadows of Death 4. * It is not just we should be without sense and feeling of grief in the Afflictions and sad Accidents that befal us as if we were Angels that have no sense of Nature neither is it just that we should be quite dejected like Heathens that have no sense of Grace but 't is just we should be Afflicted and Comforted like Christians and that the Comforts of Grace should surmount the Sense of Nature to the end Grace may not only be in us but that it may predominate in us that so Sanctifying the Name of our Father his Will may become ours that his Grace may bear sway over Nature and that our Afflictions may be as the Matter of a Sacrifice which his Grace offers for the Glory of God and that these particular Sacrifices may honour and fore-run the Universal Sacrifice wherein whole Nature is to be consumed by the power of Jesus Christ Thus we draw benefit from our own Imperfections seeing they shall serve for matter of this Sacrifice for 't is the aim of all true Christians to make a Benefit of their very Imperfections because all things work together for Good for the Elect. And if we seriously consider it we shall find great helps to our edification in considering the thing in the Truth of it for seeing it is true that the Death of the Body is only the Figure of that of the Soul and that we build on this Principle that we have cause to hope the Salvation of those whose Death we lament it is most certain if we cannot stop the course of our Grief and Sorrow we should at least make this advantage of it that seeing the Death of the Body is so terrible that it causes so much fear in us that of the Soul should cause much greater grief and amazement God has sent the former to those whom we grieve for we hope he has put away the latter let us then consider the greatness of our Happiness by the greatness of our Miseries and let the excess of our Sorrow be the measure of our Joy. One of the most Solid and best Services we can do for the Dead is to do those things they would desire of us if they were living in the World by this means we make them as it were live in us seeing it is their Counsels that live and act in us And as Hereticks are punish'd in the other World for the Sins wherein they have ingag'd their Followers in whom their Poison as yet remains so the Dead are recompensed for those that have follow'd them by their good Counsels and Example 5. * Man is certainly too unable to judge rightly of the state of future things Let us therefore hope in God and not weary our selves by our indiscreet and rash Curiosity Let us refer our selves to God to Govern our Lives and that Grief may not predominate in us Saint Austin teaches us That there is in every Man a Serpent an Eve and an Adam The Serpent is the Senses and Nature the Eve is the Lustful Appetite and the Adam is Reason Nature tempts us continually the Sensual Appetite is ever craving but Sin is not finish'd unless Reason consents Let us then suffer this Serpent and Eve to act if we cannot hinder them but let us pray God that his Grace would so stregthen our Adam that he may continue Victorious that Jesus Christ may be Conquerer and that he might Reign for ever in us §. XXXI Sundry Meditations 1. THe more knowledge we have so much the more we find that there are perfect Men. Common People see no difference betwixt Men. 2. * One may have good Sense and yet not perceive all things aright for there are some that may judge aright in some things that are deceived in others some draw true Consequences from few Principles others draw right Consequences from things where there be many Principles for example some do well comprehend the effects of Water wherein there is but few Principles but whose Consequences are so fine that 't is only a very diligent search can attain to it yet these may not it may be be any great Geometricians because Geometry comprehends a great many Principles and some kind of Wit may be such that it can penetrate a few Principles to the bottom and yet may not penetrate those things wherein there are many Principles There are then two sorts of Wits one that penetrates vigorously and profoundly the Consequence of Principles and that is the Polite Wit the other comprehends a great many Principles without mingling them and that 's the Wit of Geometry the one is strength and clearness of Wit the other is largeness of Wit. Now the one of these may be without the other Wit may be strong and narrow and also may be large and weak There 's a great difference betwixt the Wit of Geometry and a refin'd Wit In the one the Principles are clear but remote from common usage so that one has some difficulty to look that way for want of use but turn a little that way and the Principles will appear plainly and one must have the Understanding very corrupt to reason ill upon such Principles as must needs be seen But in the refin'd Wit the Principles are in the common use and visible to the sight of all
without seeking for instruction I know not who sent me into the World nor what the World is nor what I am my self I am very ignorant of all things I know not what my Body is what my Sense nor what my Soul is and this very part of my self that thinks what I say and that reflects upon it and upon it self knows not it self any better than all the rest I behold the vast distances of the Universe that contains me and find my self confin'd to a Corner of this vast Body not knowing wherefore I am placed rather in this place than another nor why the little time alotted me to live is assign'd me at this Point rather than any other of that Eternity that has gone before or shall follow after me I see nothing but Infinities on all sides that swallow me up like an Atom and like a Shadow that remains but a Moment and passeth away All that I know is that I shall shortly die but what I know most of all is that I do not know Death it self which I cannot avoid As I know not whence I came so I know not whither I shall go and I only know that departing out of this World I shall fall Eternally either into the hands of an Angry God or into nothing not knowing which of these two Conditions I shall Eternally be reduc'd unto This is my State full oâ— Misery Weakness and Obscurity from all which shall I conclude that I ought to pass all the days of my Life without thinking of what shall befal me and that I need only follow my Inclinations without looking back or troubling my self in doing what may be to fall into Eternal Misery in case what is said be true probably I may find fome information of my doubts but I 'll not trouble my self nor take a step to seek it and despising those that give themselves this trouble I 'll go on without fear to try so great an Experiment and slide along to Death in the incertainty of the Eternity of my future Condition Undoubtedly it is an honour to Religion to have such unreasonable Men for its Enemies and their opposition is so inconsiderable that it serves on the contrary but to establish the chief Truths which it teacheth us for the Christian Faith tendeth principally to teach these two things the Corruption of Nature and Redemption by Jesus Christ now if they help not to shew the truth of Redemption by the Sanctity of their Lifes they do nevertheless admirably shew the Corruption of Nature by such unreasonable Opinions Nothing imports a Man so much as to know his own State nothing is of greater concernment to him than Eternity so that to see Men unconcern'd at the loss of their being and in the danger of an Eternity of Misery this is unnatural they are quite otherwise in regard of all things else they fear things of the least Moment they foresee them they are sensible of them and the same Man that passes away Days and Nights in vexation and grief for the loss of an Office or for some supposed loss of Honour is the same that knows he shall lose all by Death and yet nevertheless lives unconcern'd without fear or any trouble This strange insensibleness for things of the highest concern in a heart so sensible of the least Trifles is most Monstrous it is an Incomprehensible Riddle and Supernatural Stupidity A Man in a dark Dungeon expecting every moment when Sentence of Death shall pass upon him having but one hours time to know if it be past and also to try to have it revoked would act contrary to Natural Sense to pass that hour away not in informing himself if Sentence be past against him or not but in Sports and Pastimes This is the very State wherein those Persons are only with this difference that the dangers they are liable to are far more terrible than the bare loss of Life and transient punishment this Prisoner might apprehend nevertheless they run without fear upon the Precipice having willingly blinded their Eyes that they should not see their danger and scoff at those which warn them of it So that not only the Zeal of those that seek God doth evidently prove the truth of Religion but also the blindness of those which seek him not and that live in this horrible negligence there must needs be a strange disorder in the Nature of Man to live in this state much more to boast of it For could they be fully assur'd that there was nothing to be fear'd after Death but to be reduc'd to nothing were not this a matter of sadness and despair rather than of boasting is it not therefore a very great folly having no certainty to boast of being in this doubt Nevertheless it is evident Man is so deprav'd that there is in his heart a kind of delight in this Condition This senseless rest betwixt the fear of Hell and annihilation is so pleasing that not only those which are truly in this unhappy State boast of it but also those which are not in it think it brave to seem to be in it For we see by experience that most of those which pretend to this State are of this latter sort that they are Persons which disguise themselves and are not such as they seem to be they are such as have heard that the gentile way of Living consists in appearing stout it is what they call casting off the yoke and must do it only in imitation of others But if they have ever so little common sense it is no difficult matter to let them see how much they are mistaken in seeking to get any credit by this way I say it is not the way to acquire credit amongst Persons that have a right Opinion of things and that know that the only way to succeed therein is to appear honest faithful iudicious and capable of being serviceable to friends for Men Naturally love those things which are useful to them now what benefit can it be to hear a Man say he has thrown off the yoke that there is no God that regards his Actions that he is absolute Master of himself and does not expect to be accountable to any one else Doth he thereby think Men â—hould put the more confidence in him and expect to receive Comfort Council or Help from him in any business that may befal us Doth â—e think it can be any Comfort to us to say that he thinks the Soul is but a little Wind or â—ir and to speak thus with confidence and a â—eeming satisfaction Is this a matter of sport is it â—ot rather a thing to be mentioned with sadness â—s the sadest thing in the World Would they seriously consider it they would â—nd this is so ill a Course so contrary to Reason â—o opposite to honesty and so very far distant from that Gentility they pretend to that nothing in the World does more gain them the hared and displeasure of Men and makes them
still continue a People §. XX. God is not known to advantage but by Jesus Christ 1. MOst of those that undertake to prove the Divinity to the prophane for the most part do begin by the Works of Nature and they very seldom succeed I do not call in question the solidity of these Proofs consecrated by the Holy Scriptures they are agreeable to Reason yet sometimes they are not conformable enough and sufficiently proportion'd to the Disposition of the Spirit of those for whom they are intended For it must be observ'd this Discourse is not directed to those that have a lively Faith and that presently see that all the World is nothing else but the Workmanship of that God whom they Adore It is to such the whole Fabrick of Nature speaks the praise of its Creator and that the Heavens shew forth his Handy-works But for those in whom this light is gone out and in whom one would willingly kindle it those Persons destitute of Faith and Charity that only see darkness and obscurity in all the Works of Nature it seems not to be the best way of instructing them to give them for Proofs only of this great and important Subject the course of the Moon and Planets or of common Notions against which they have ever had an aversion the obstinacy of their understanding has made them deaf to this Voice of Nature sounding continually in their Ears and experience shews that very far from gaining them by this means there 's nothing on the contrary more like to hinder them and to deprive them of all hope of knowing the Truth then to think to convince them only by this sort of Arguments and to tell them that they should plainly see the Truth in them It is not in this manner the Scripture speaks that knows the things of God better than we do It tells us indeed that the Beauty of the Creatures teaches him who made them but it doth not say that they work this same effect in all the World. It warns us on the contrary that when they do it it is not by themselves but by the light that God sheds forth at the same time in the Minds of those to whom he discovers himself by this means Quod notum est Dei manifestum est in illis Deus enim illis manifestavit It tells us in general that God is a God hid Vere tu es Deus absconditus and that since the Corruption of Nature he has left Mankind in a State of darkness from which they cannot be freed but by Jesus Christ without whom we are deny'd all Communion with God Nemo novit patrem nisi filius aut cui voluerit filius revelare It is also what the Scripture intimates to us when it saith in so many places that those which seek God shall find him one does not speak so of a light that is clear and evident one has no need to seek it it discovers and shews it self 2. * The Metaphysical Proofs of God are so far off from human Reasoning and so intangl'd that they seldom work upon any and if that should convince any one it would be but for the moment that they beheld this demonstration but an hour after they would be afraid of being cozen'd Quod curiositate cognoverint superbia amiserunt Moreover this kind of Proofs can only carry us to a speculative knowledg of God and to know him but in this manner is not to know him at all The Christians Divinity consists not barely in knowing a God that is Author of Geometrical Truths and of the order of the Elements this belongs to the Heathens It consists not barely neither in knowing a God that exercises his Providence over the Bodies and Goods of Men to bless with a long and happy Life those which adore him this is the Portion of Jews But the God of Abraham the God of Jaoob is a God of Consolation it is a God that fills the Heart and Soul that enjoys him it is a God that makes them inwardly feel their Misery and his infinite Mercy in their very Soul filling it with Humility Joy Confidence and Love which makes them uncapable of any other End but himself The God of Christians is a God that makes the Soul feel that he is its Soveraign good that its only Rest is in him and that it can have no true Joy but in loving him and that withal at the fame time makes it abhor those lets which defer and hinder it from loving him with all its might Self-love and Concupiscence which hinder it are very burdensom to it this God makes it feel that it is opprest with this burden of Self-love and that it is he only can cure it This is what 't is to know God as a Christian But to know him after this manner one must at the same time know ones own Misery Wretchedness and the need one has of a Mediator to bring one nearer to God and to unite one to him These Notions must not be separated because being separated they are not only unuseful but they are hurtful The knowledge of God without knowing our own Misery causeth Pride The knowledge of our Misery without the knowledg of Jesus Christ causeth Despair but to know Jesus Christ exempts us both from Despair and Pride because we therein know God our own Misery and the only means of Recovery We may know God and not our Miseries or our Miseries and not God or both God and our Miseries without knowing the means of being freed from the Miseries that oppress us But we cannot know Jesus Christ without knowing both God and our Miseries and the Remedy to cure them because Jesus Christ is not only God but he is a God that heals all our Miseries So that all such as seek God without Jesus Christ do not find any light that satisfies or can be any way profitable to them For either they attain not to know there is a God or if they do it is to no advantage to them because they imagin a means of having Communion without a Mediator with this God whom they have known without a Mediator So that they fall either into Atheism or into Deism which are two extreams Christian Religion abhors both alike We must then strive only to know Jesus Christ seeing it is by him only that we can hope to know God to any advantage It is he is the true God of all Men that is of the Miserable and Sinners he is the Object and Center of all and whosoever knows him not knows nothing in the order of the World nor in himself for we do not know God but by Jesus Christ neither do we know our own selves but by Jesus Christ Without Jesus Christ Man had remain'd in Sin and Misery having Jesus Christ Man is freed from Sin and Misery In him is all our Happiness our Virtue our Life our Light and our Hope And out of him is nothing but Sin Misery
Repentance his Book not being made to incline to Piety he was not indeed obliged thereunto but one is always bound not to divert any from it Whatever may be said to excuse his too extravagant Opinions upon several things one cannot in any manner excuse his Heathenish Opinions touching Death for one must renounce all Piety if one won't at least dye like a Christian now he throughout his whole Book teaches to dye securely and in ease 44. * What usually deceives us in comparing what 's past heretofore in the Church with what 's seen at present is that commonly one looks upon St. Athanasius St. Theresius and other Saints as Crown'd with Glory now that time has clear'd up things it appears to be truly so But at the time this great Saint was persecuted he was a Man that was called Athanasius and St. Theresius in her time was a Religious Person like the rest Elias was a Man subject to like Passions as we are saith St. James to disabuse Christians from this false Idea that makes us reject the Examples of Saints as disproportionable to our Condition They were Saints say we 't is not like us 45. * To those that have an aversion for Religion one must begin to instruct them by shewing it is not contrary to Reason then after that it is Venerable and give it respect then render it Lovely and create a desire to wish it were true then shew by undeniable Proofs that it is true shew its Holiness and Antiquity by its Greatness and Authority And to conclude that it is Aimable because it promiseth the chiefest Good. 46. * One word of David or of Moses like this that God will Circumcise their Hearts shews what their Souls desire Let all the rest of their discourse be ambiguous and be it uncertain whether they are Philosophers or Christians a Word of this Nature determins all the rest so far the Ambiguity may hold but no farther 47. * To be cousen'd in thinking the Christian Religion true there can be no loss but what a Misery will it be to think it is false 48. * The ways of living the easiest according to the World are the most difficult to live according to God and on the contrary nothing is so difficult in the Worlds esteem as a Religious Life there is nothing easier than to live so according to God Nothing is pleasanter than to be in a great Employment and to enjoy great Riches in the esteem of the World nothing is more difficult then to live in these things according to God and not to be affected with delight and pleasure in them 49. * The Old Testament contain'd the Types of future Happiness the New contains the Means of attaining them The Figures were Happiness the Means are Repentance and yet the Pascal Lamb was eat with bitter Herbs cum amaritudinibus to signifie that Joy could not be attain'd but by sorrow 50. * The word Galilee being spoke as 't were by accident by the Multitude of the Jews in accusing Jesus Christ before Pilate gave Pilate occasion of sending Jesus Christ to Herod wherein was accomplished the Mystery that he should be Judg'd by Jews and Gentiles Hazard seems to be the cause of fulfilling the Mystery 51. * One told me on a day that he was full of Joy coming from Confession Another told me that he was in fear on this I thought that of these two might be made one good and that both of them fell short because they had not the Opinion of each other 52. * There is pleasure to be in a Vessel tossed with a Tempest when one is in no danger of Shipwrack Persecutions which afflict the Church are of this Nature 53. * As the two Springs of our Sins are Pride and Sloath God has revealed to us two Qualities in him to cure them his Mercy and Justice the Nature of Justice is to abate Pride and the Nature of Mercy is to destroy Idleness by stirring up to good Works according to this passage The mercy of God inviteth to Repentance and this other of the Ninevites Let us Repent and see if he will have mercy upon us So that the Mercy of God is so far from indulging Sloath that nothing is a greater Enemy to it and that instead of saying Were there not Mercy in God we ought to do all our endeavour to fulfil his Laws we should say on the contrary That 't is because there is Mercy in God one should do all one can to keep his Commandments 54. * The History of the Church ought properly be called the History of Truth 55. * All that is in the World is the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life libido sentiendi libido sciendi libido dominandi Unhappy is that accursed Land that is overflown and burnt up rather than watered with these three Rivers of Fire Happy they who being on these Rivers are not carried away by them nor plunged into them but remain steadfastly fixt not standing but sitting in a low and safe place from whence they will not rise till the light appear and after having rested in safety stretch forth their hands to him that will deliver them to make them stand upright in the Gates of the new Jerusalem where they shall no longer fear the assaults of Pride and who weep in the mean time not to see the decay of all these perishable things but in the remembrance of their dear Country of the Heavenly Jerusalem which they continually breathe and thirst after in continuance of their Exile 56 * Some will say A Miracle would confirm my Faith Men say so when they do not see it Reasons brought from a great distance seem to limit our sight but do not when one more nearly considers them one begins to look farther nothing stops the quickness of our Mind It is said There 's no Rule without an exception nor Truth so general but it has something that may seem defective 'T is sufficient that 't is not absolutely Universal to give us a pretence of applying the Exception to the present Subject and to say It is not always true then there are some cases where it is not There remains only to say this is one and one must be very stupid not to discern it 57. * Charity is not a Figurative Precept To say that Jesus Christ who is come to take away Figures and to establish Truth should only come to settle the Figure of Charity and to take away the Substance which was before this is horrible 58. * The Heart has its Reasons which Reason doth not comprehend one finds it in a hundred things It is the Heart that finds God and not Reason See then what true Faith is God known to the Heart 59. * How many Bodies has Telescopes discover'd to us that were not known to the Antient Philosophers The Truth of the Scriptures were boldly question'd for making mention of such great
a Window to see those that pass by can I say he set himself there to see me No for he does not think of me in particular But him that loves a Person for her Beauty Does he love her no For the Small-pox that can change the Beauty without killing the Person will make him not love any longer And if I am not lov'd but for my Judgment or Memory Is it I am loved no for I may lose those Qualities and subsist still Where then is I if it be not in the Body nor in the Soul And how shall one love Body or Soul if it be not for these Qualities which are not those that make this I seeing they are perishable For shall one love the substance of the Soul of a Person abstractively and some Qualities it may have This cannot be and it would be unjust One never loves a Person but the Qualities or if one loves the Person it must be said 't is the mixture of Qualities that make up the Person 15. * What we are most concern'd for is of no great moment for the most part as for instance to conceal our Poverty It is a nothing that our Imagination swells into a Mountain Another whimsy of the Brain makes us discover it at large 16. * There are some Vices that hang about us but by others and which in taking away the Body are renewed like Branches 17. * When Malice has Reason on its side it becomes fierce and sets forth Reason in all its splendor When Austerity or the Choice of a severe Life has not succeeded to the true Good and that it is forc'd to come to live according to Nature it becomes fierce by its return 18. * It is not to be happy to be made merry by Recreations for they come from elsewhere and from without and so they are dependant and by consequence subject to be interrupted by a thousand Accidents which unavoidably cause trouble 19. * Some Persons would not have an Author speak of things others have spoken of else he will be censur'd of not saying any thing that 's new When one plays at Tennis 't is the same Ball both play with but one directs it better I would be as well content one were accus'd of using old Words as if the same Thoughts did not form another body of Discourse by disposing them differently as well as the same Words form other Thoughts by the different Dispositions 20. * All good Maxims are in the World there wants nothing but to apply them for Instance It is not doubted but one should venture their Life for the publick good and many do it but for Religion very few do it 21. * Too much Wisdom is accounted Folly as well as too little nothing is esteemed Good but a mediocrity It is the plurality that has establish'd it so and snaps at every one that removes any part whatsoever I will not be too resolute I consent to be of the number and if I refuse being set at the lower end 't is not because it is low but because 't is the end for I should also be displeas'd to be set at the highest It is to go out of Humanity to depart out of the Medium The Greatness of the human Soul is to know how to keep that Station and so contrary 't is to his Greatness to go out of it that 't is his Grandeur still to keep in it 22. * One don't pass in the World to have any knowledg in Verse if one don 't set out the sign of Poet nor of being a good Mathematician unless one sets out that of Mathematician But the truly honest Persons will have no sign at all and don 't make any great difference betwixt the Trade of a Poet and that of an Imbroiderer They are called neither Poets nor Geometricians but they judge of them all they can scarce be known they will speak of things were discours'd of when they came into the Company there is no notice to be taken in them of one Quality more than another without a necessity of shewing it but then one may for 't is alike of this Character that it be not said of them They speak well when there is no dispute of the Language and that it be said of them They do when there is any Question It is then a false Praise when one says of a Man when he comes in that he is very skilful in Verse and 't is an ill sign when one applies to him only when there is need of judging of some Verses Man is full of Projects he only loves those that can satisfie his Humour Some will say he 's a good Mathematician but what care I for a Mathematician He is one understands the Wars well I don't intend to have difference with any Body There is need then of a good honest Man that will be useful to all our Affairs 23. * When one is in Health one don't know how one should do if they were sick and when one is one willingly takes Physick Sickness obliges one thereunto We don't think of desiring to walk and use Divertisements that we us'd in Health Sickness will not suffer nor endure them Nature does then give Desires and Passions conformable to the present Condition it is only the Fear we give our selves and not Nature that doth give us any trouble because they joyn to the State wherein we are the Passions of the State wherein we are not 24. * The discourse of Humility are matters of Pride unto the Proud and of Humility to the Humble So also those of Pyronism and Doubting are matters of Affirmation to the Affirmers very few speak of Humility humbly very few of Chastity chastly very few of Doubt doubtingly We are made up of Lying Deceit Contrariety We hide and disguise us from our selves 25. * Great Actions hid are most esteemed When I find some in History they please me much but they were not quite secret because they were known and that little that shewed them does lessen their worth for that 's their greatest value that they had been hid 26. * To be counted a Wit is a bad Character The Word Me used by the Author in the following Discourse signifies only Self-love it is a Term he was wont to use in his discourse with some certain Friends 27. * The Me is to be hated so those that do not take it away and that only content themselves to cover it are hateful Not at all you will say for in assigning civilly to every one their due there is no cause to be hated that 's true if one did not hate in the Me only the displeasure that comes of it But if I hate it because it is unjust and makes it self the Center of all things I shall always hate it In a word the Me hath two Qualities it is unjust in it self in that it makes it self the Center of all things it is troublesom to others in that it would keep them
here on Earth was accepted and received of God in Heaven This is the State of things in our Blessed Lord Jesus now let us consider them in our selves When we are first admitted into the Church which is the World of the Faithful especially of the Elect wherein Jesus Christ entred from the Moment of his Incarnation by a peculiar Privilege belonging to the only Son of God we are Offered and Sanctified This Sacrifice continues through the whole course of Life and ends at Death wherein the Soul truly quitting all the Vices and love of the World with the Contagion wherewith it is infected during the course of this Life it finishes its Offering and is received into Bliss Let us not then grieve for the Death of Believers as Pagans do that have no hope When the Faithful depart this Life they are not lost We lost them upon a matter even from the moment they entred into the Church by Baptism from that instant they were Devoted to God their Life was Consecrated to God their Actions regarded the World only for God at their Death they were wholly freed from Sin and 't is then they were received of God and that their Sacrifice received its accomplishment and reward They did what they had Vowed they accomplish'd the Work God gave them to do they did the Work they were Created for the Will of God is fulfilled in them and their Will is swallow'd up into the Will of God Let not our Will separate what God has join'd together and let us stifle or restrain by understanding the Truth the instinct of corrupt and deprav'd Nature which only has false Glosses and that by its Illusions interrupts the Holiness of those Notions which the Truth of the Gospel doth inspire in us Let us not any longer consider Death like Pagans but like Christians that is to say with hope as St. Paul teacheth seeing it is the special Privilege of Christians Let us not consider a Body as a filthy Carrion for deluded Nature does so represent it to us but as the Living Temple of the Holy Ghost as Faith doth teach us For we know the Holy Ghost dwells in the Bodies of Saints till the Resurrection and that they shall be raised by the Power of the Spirit that resides in them to this effect This is the Opinion of some of the Fathers It was upon this account that the Eucharist was heretofore put in the Mouth of the Dead for knowing they were the Temple of the Holy Ghost it was thought convenient they should be united to this Holy Sacrament but the Church has changed this Custom not but the Bodies of Saints are decently buried but because the Eucharist being a Figure of the Bread of Life and for the Living it is not fit it should be given to the Dead Let us not look upon Believers departed in the Fear of God as ceasing to Live though Nature would suggest so but as beginning to live as Truth doth assure us Let us not look upon their Souls as lost and reduc'd to nothing but as vivified and united to the Sovereign Being and by hearkening to these Truths let us restrain the great Mistakes we are so inclin'd unto and those motions of horror which are so Natural to Men. 3. * God has Created Man with two Desires one for God the other for himself but with this restriction that the love for God should be infinite that is to say without any other end but God only and that the love for himself should be finite and referring to God Man in this State would not only love himself without Sin yea he could not but love himself without Sin. Since the Fall Man has lost the first of these Loves and the love of himself being only left in this great Soul capable of an infinite love this Self-love has extended it self and filled the space the Love of God had left and so he loves only himself and all things for himself that is to say Infinitely This is the Original of Self-love it was Natural to Adam and just in his Innocency but it became criminal and immoderate after his Fall This is the Spring of this Love and the cause of its defectiveness and of its excesses It is the same of the immoderate desire of Power of Sloath and of other things The Application is easie to be made upon account of the horror we have of Death This Fear was natural and just in Adam whilst Innocent because his Life being very pleasing to God it was the same to Man and Death would have been horrible because it would have put an end to a Life that was conformable to the Will of God. Since Man Sinned his Life is become depraved his Soul and Body Enemies to each other and both to God. This change having infected so Holy a Life the love of Life remains nevertheless and the fear of Death resting also what was just in Adam is unjust in us This is the Original of the horror of Death and the cause of its defectivenss Let us then clear the horror of Nature by the light of Grace The fear of Death is Natural but 't is in the State of Innocence because it could not enter into Paradise but in finishing an Innocent Life It was just to hate it when it could not happen but in separating a Holy Soul from a Holy Body but 't is just to love it when it separates a Holy Soul from an Impure Body it was just to shun it when it would have broke the Peace betwixt the Body and Soul but not when it calms the highest Dissention To conclude when it would have afflicted an Innocent Body when it would have depriv'd the Body of the liberty of honouring God when it would have separated from the Soul a Body that submitted to its desires when it had destroyed all the Good Man was capable of it was just to abhor it but when it puts an end to a wicked Life when it takes from the Body the liberty of Sinning when it delivers the Soul from a powerful Enemy that resists all the Motions to its Salvation it is very unjust to have the same Sentiments Let us not then quit this Love Nature has given us for Life seeing we have received it from God but let it be for the same Life for which God has given it to us and not for a contrary end And in consenting to the Love Adam had for his Life in Innocency and that Jesus Christ himself had for his let us strive to hate a Life contrary to that which Jesus Christ loved and fear only the Death that Jesus Christ feared which befals a Body well pleasing to God but not fear a Death that punishing a guilty Body and cleansing a Vicious Body should give us quite contrary desires if we have ever so little Faith Hope and Charity It is one of the chief Principles of Christianity that all that befel Jesus Christ should also be fulfill'd in the Body
care of boasting of this advantage as great as it is and one ought to rest satisfi'd to be counted one of the little number of those that know the value of it 13. * The Mind believes naturally and the Will loves naturally So that for want of true Objects they will fix upon false ones 14. * Many true things are contradicted many false things pass without contradiction Contradiction is no mark of Fashood nor Allowance is no mark of Truth 15. * Caesar me thinks was too old to think of Conquering the World this Dream was fitter for Alexander he was a young Man hard to be rul'd but Caesar might have been more stay'd 16. * All the World sees one labours at incertainty by Sea by Land at the Wars c. but all the World don't see the Rule of the Persons that shew one ought to do it Montaigne saw that one is displeas'd at a dull head and that Custom is all but he saw not the Reason of this Effect those that see the Effects and not the Causes are in regard to those that see the Causes like those that have only Eyes in comparison of those that have Understanding for Effects are as it were sensible and Reasons are only visible to the Understanding and though 't is by the Understanding those Effects are seen this Understanding is in comparison of the Understanding that sees the Causes as the Corporal Senses are in regard of the Soul. 17. * The sense of the deceitfulness of present Pleasures and the Ignorance of absent Pleasures cause inconstancy 18. * If we dream'd every night the same thing happily it might affect us as much as the things we see every day And if a Tradesman was sure every Night to dream twelve Hours that he was a King I think he would be as happy as a King that should dream twelve Hours every Night that he was a Tradesman If we should dream every Night we were pursu'd by Enemies and disturb'd by these frightning Fancies and that we passed the days in sundry Occupations as when one is on a Journey one should suffer almost as much as if the thing was really true and we should be as much afraid of sleep as if we were to enter into such troubles effectively and indeed it would be almost as bad as if the things were really acted But because Dreams are all different and do vary what is there seen does much less affect than what one sees awake by reason of the continuance which yet is not so equal but it changeth also but not so suddenly or but seldom unless it be in travelling and then one says Me thinks I dream for Life is a Dream a little more inconstant 19. * Kings and Princes recreate themselves sometimes they be not always on their Thrones that would weary them Greatness must be laid aside the better to be rellish'd 20. * My humor does not depend much on the Weather I have my fair and foul Weather within my self the good or ill success of my Affairs don't move me much neither I sometimes set my self against ill Fortune and the Glory of overcoming it makes me master it with Pleasure whereas at other times I am indifferent and as 't were dissatisfi'd even in Prosperity 21. * It is pleasant to consider that there are certain People in the World that having renounced all the Laws of God and Nature yet have made themselves Laws that they exactly obey as for instance Robbers c. 22. * Those great Raptures of Mind the Soul sometimes reaches to are things that it does not keep up unto It flies up but suddenly falls back again 23. * Man is neither Angel nor Beast and the mischief is he that would be thought an Angel acts the Beast 24. * Provided one knows the chief Passion of any Body one may easily please him nevertheless every body has Fancies contrary to his own good even in the very Idea he has of good and this is a variety that puts those to a loss that would gain their Affection 25. * A Horse don't strive to be admir'd by his Companion there is indeed some emulation seen betwixt Horses in running a Race but it don't continue for put them up in a Stable the ugliest and dullest will not therefore part with his Oats to the other It is not so amongst Men their Virtue is not satisfi'd with it self and they are not satisfi'd unless they get some benefit by it over others 26. * As one impairs the Mind so one also spoils the Understanding Our Mind and Knowledge is fram'd according to our Discourse and Company good or bad Company does make or marr us It above all things therefore concerns us to know how to make a good choice to mend and not spoil it and one can't make this choice if one has not already formed and not spoil'd it So that here 's a Circle and happy are they that are got out of it 27. * One thinks naturally one is more capable of attaining the Center of things than to embrace their circumference The visible extent of the World doth surpass us visibly But as it is we that do surpass little things do think our selves the more capable of enjoying them Nevertheless there 's as much capacity requisite to attain to nothing as to arrive at all that that 's infinite is required both for one and the other and I suppose they who can comprehend the last Principles of things may also attain to understand that that 's infinite the one depends on the other the one leads to the other the extremities meet and by reason of their distance do rejoin and meet in God and in God alone Man for instance has relation to all he knows he has need of Place to contain him Time to dure Motion to live Elements to compose him of Heat and Food to nourish him of Air to breath he sees the light he feels the Body To conclude all things are appointed for him To know then what Man is 't is necessary to see wherefore he requires Air to subsist and to know what Air is it should be known wherein it relates to the Life of Man a Flame can't subsist without Air then to know the one one must also know the other All things being caused and causing helped and helping mediately and immediately and all things depending on one another by a natural and insensible Band that binds the most distant and different things I hold it as impossible to know the parts without knowing the whole as it is to know the whole without knowing distinctly the several parts And what it may be most contributes to our weakness of knowing things is that they are single in themselves and that we are compos'd of two opposite Natures of divers kinds of Body and Soul for 't is impossible that the part which reasons in us should be other than Spiritual And if it should be pretended that we were simply Corporeal this would
much more exclude us from the knowledge of things there being nothing so inconceivable as to say That the matter is able to know it self It is this Composition of Body and Soul that has caus'd almost all the Philosophers to mix the Ideas of things and to attribute to Bodies that which appertains to the Soul and to the Soul those things which can only relate to the Body for they affirm confidently that Bodies tend downwards that they tend to their Center that they shun their destruction that they dread vacuity that they have Inclinations Sympathies and Antipathies that they are every thing that belongs only to Spirits and speaking of Spirits they consider them as in a place and treat them of moving from one place to another which are things that appertain only to Bodies c. Instead of receiving the Idea of things in us we colour with the Qualities of our mixt Being all the single things we behold Who would not believe in seeing us make all things of Body and Soul but that mixture should be easily enough understood by us Nevertheless 't is the thing we least of all understand Man is to himself the most prodigious Object of Nature for he can't conceive what thing the Body is and much less what his Soul is and least of all how the Body and Soul come to be united together this is the greatest of his Wonders and yet 't is his very Being Modus quo corporibus adhaeret Spiritus comprehendi ab hominibus non potest hoc tamen homo est 28. * When in things of Nature the knowledge whereof is not necessary to us there are some things the certainty whereof we do not know it may not be hurtful that there should be a common Error that may fix the Mind of Man as for Instance the Moon to which is attributed the change of Seasons the progress of Sicknesses c. for 't is one of the greatest weaknesses of Man to have a restless Curiosity to know things out of his reach and I don't know if it be not less hurtful to him to be in an Error in things of this Nature than to rest in this unnecessary Curiosity 29. * If Thunder should only fall in low places Poets and those that know only to discourse of things of this Nature would want Proofs 30. * This Dog is mine said those poor Children That 's my place in the Sun This is the beginning and Image of the Usurpation of all the Earth 31. * Wit has one sort of proceedings which is by Principles and Demonstrations the Heart has another One don't prove that one should be loved by relating in order the causes of Love that would be ridiculous Jesus Christ and Saint Paul chose rather to follow this way of the Heart which is that of Charity rather than that of Wit for their Principal aim was not to instruct but to cherish Saint Austin did the same this order consists chiefly in inlarging upon each Point that relates to the end to make it more visible 32. * One commonly fansies Plato and Aristotle to be always in their Robes and grave serious Persons whereas they were good Fellows that laugh'd and made merry with their Friends And when they wrote their Laws and Treatises of Policy it was in their Pastimes and Diverting themselves It was the least Serious and least Philosophical part of their Life the most Philosophical part was to live plain and quietly 33. * There be some that do wholly veil Nature there 's no King amongst them but an August Monarch No Paris but a Capital of the Kingdom sometimes Paris must be called Paris and other whiles it must be called the Metropolis of the Kingdom 34. * When in a Discourse one finds Words repeated and going to alter them one finds them so fit that it would spoil the Sense then they must be let alone this is the distinction and 't is only blind Envy that don't know this Repitition is proper in that place for there 's no general Rule 35. * Those which make Antitheses in forcing Words are like those which make false Windows for Symmetry their Rule is not to speak true but to make true Figures 36. * One Language in regard to another is a Cypher where Words are changed into Words and not Letters into Letters And so an unknown Language may be Decypher'd 37. * There is a Model of Fancy and Beauty which consists in a certain likeness betwixt our weak or strong Nature such as 't is and the thing that pleases us All that 's formed after this Model pleases us House Song Discourse Verse Prose Women Birds Rivers Trees Chambers Cloths All that is not after this Model dislikes those that have any apprehension 38. * As some say Poetical Beauty so one should also say Geometrical Beauty and Beauty Physical nevertheless 't is not said so the Reason is because one knows what the Object of Geometry is and what the Object of Physick but 't is not known wherein consists that sweetness which is the Object of Poetry One does not know what that natural Model is that must be imitated and for want of this knowledge they have invented some odd Terms Golden Age Wonder of our Age Fatal Rays Bright Star c. and this kind of stuff is called Poetical Beauty But who should fancy a Woman drest up after this Model would see a pretty kind of Lady cover'd all over with Looking-glasses and Tinâ—il Chains and instead of finding her to ones Mind one could not chuse but laugh at the sight because one knows better wherein a Womans dress consists than the garb of Poetry But it may be those that don't understand it may admire her in this Equipage and in many Villages she would be thought to be a Queen therefore some call Songs made after this Model the Country Queen 39. * When a natural Discourse sets forth a Passion or Effect one finds in themselves the Truth of what one hears which was in it before one knew it and one finds themselves inclin'd to love him that made us know it for â—e shews us not his good but our own and so this kindness makes us love him besides that this community of knowledge that we have with him necessarily inclines the Heart to love him 40. * There must be in Eloquence Sweetness and Reality and this pleasingness must be real 41. * When one finds a natural Stile one is surpris'd and ravish'd with it for one thought to see an Author and one finds a Man whereas those that are Judicious and that seeing a Book thinking to find a Man are surpris'd to find an Author plus poeticè quà m humanè locutus est Those do much honour Nature that tell her she can speak of all things and even of Theology 42. * The last thing one finds in composing a Book is to know what part to set foremost 43. * In Discourse one should not turn the Mind from
one thing to another unless it be to give it ease and that too at a convenient time and not otherwise for those that would give ease unseasonably do but cause trouble One is displeas'd and then regards nothing so hard it is to obtain any thing of Man but by Pleasure which is the Money for which we part with any thing 44. * Man is a lover of Malignity but 't is not against the Wicked but against the Happy proud and 't is to be deceiv'd to judge otherwise Martiall 's Epigram upon the Blind is naught for it don't Comfort them and only gives a Point to the Glory of the Author What is not for the Author is worth nothing Ambitiosa recidet ornamenta those that have human and tender Thoughts should be pleased and not those who are barbarous and inhumane §. XXXII PRAYER To desire of God the right use of Sickness I. LORD thy Spirit is so good and so sweet in all things and thou art so Merciful that not only the Prosperities but even the sufferings which befal the Elect are effects of thy Love give me Grace not to act as a Heathen in the State whereinto thy Justice has reduced me but that as a true Christian I may own thee for my Father and my God in what condition soever I am for the change of my Condition makes nothing to thee for thou art always the same though I am subject to change and thou art the same God when thou afflictest and punishest as when thou dost comfort and shew compassion II. Thou gavest me Health to serve thee and I have converted it to a prophane use now thou sendest me Sickness to correct me suffer me not to abuse it to provoke thee by my impatience I have not rightly improved my health and thou hast justly punish'd me suffer me not to slight thy Correction And seeing the Corruption of my Nature is such that it makes thy favours pernicious to me Grant O my God that thy powerful Grace may make thy Chastisements profitable to me If my Heart has been full of Love for the World whilst it had any vigour abate this vigour for my good and make me uncapable of enjoying the World whether it be through weakness of Body or through Zeal of Charity that I might enjoy thee only III. O God before whom I must give an exact account of all my Actions at the end of my Life and at the end of the World O God who sufferest the World and all things in the World to subsist only to exercise thine Elect or to punish Sinners O God who leavest impenitent Sinners in the delicious but Criminal use of the World O God who killest our Bodies and at the instant of Death separatest our Soul from all that it loved in the World O God who wilt take me away at the last moment of my Life from all those things I delighted in and whereon I set my Heart O God who at the last day wilt consume Heaven and Earth and all Creatures therein contained that all Men might see that 't is thou only that subsistest and that therefore thou only deservest to be loved because nothing is permanent but thou O God who wilt destroy all vain Idols and all these wicked Objects of our Passions I Praise thee my God and will Bless thee all the days of my Life inasmuch as thou hast been pleas'd to prevent this dreadful Day in my behalf by destroying as to me all things by the weakness wherein thou hast put me I Praise thee my God and will bless thy Name as long as I live in that thou hast been pleas'd to make me unable to enjoy the Pleasures of Health and the Pleasures of the World and in that thou hast in some sort destroyed for my good the deceitful Idols which thou wilt absolutely destroy for the confusion of Sinners in the great Day of thy Wrath. Grant Lord that I may judge my self after this destruction which thou hast made in my regard to the end thou maist not judge me thy self after the general destruction which thou wilt make of my Life and of all the World For Lord as at the instant of my Death I shall find my self separated from the World stript of all things standing in thy Presence to answer thy Justice for all the Motions of my Heart grant that I may look on my self in this Sickness as in a kind of Death separate from the World depriv'd of all the Objects wherein I placed my delight standing in thy Presence to implore of thy Mercy the true Conversion of my Heart that so I may have and feel extraordinary Comfort that thou art pleased now to send me a kind of Death to exercise thy Mercy before thou sendest me Death effectively to exercise thy Judgment Grant therefore O my God that as thou hast anticipated my Death I may prevent the rigor of thy Sentence and that I may examine my self before thy Judgment that I may find Mercy in thy Presence IV. Grant O my God that I adore in silence the order of thy wonderful Providence in the conduct of my Life that thy Chastisements may comfort me and that having lived in the bitterness of my Sins during the time of Peace I may taste the Heavenly sweetness of thy Grace during the healthy Afflictions wherewith thou dost visit me But I acknowledge my God that my Heart is so hardned and full of Ideas Cares Molestations and Thoughts of this World that neither Sickness nor Health neither Discourse nor Books thy Holy Scriptures nor the Gospel neither Fasting Mortifications nor Works of Charity and Mercy nor Miracles nor the use of thy Sacraments nor all my indeavours nor those of all the World put together can contribute any thing towards my Conversion unless thou art pleas'd to accompany all these things with an extraordinary assistance of thy Grace Therefore my God I come unto thee Omnipotent God to demand that of thee which all Creatures together cannot give me I should not have the confidence to lift up my Voice unto thee if any body else could help me But O my God as the Conversion of my Heart which I beg of thee is a Work that surpasseth the strength of Nature I cannot but address my self to the Almighty Author and Master of Nature and of my Heart to whom should I cry Lord to whom should I go but to thee nothing but God can fill and satisfie my expectation It is God only that I seek for and that I desire and 't is to thee only O my God that I address my self that I might enjoy thee Open my Heart Lord enter into this Rebellious place which has been defil'd with Sin it keeps it in subjection enter thereinto as into the strong Mans House but first bind the strong Man that Rules in it and then take all the Riches therein Lord take my Affections which the World had stollen wilt thou accept this Treasure rather reassume it seeing
its own sake nor for the sake of any thing it has for there is nothing in it but deserves thine Anger but for the Pains it endures which alone can be worthy of thy Favour Love my Sufferings Lord and let my Sorrows invite thee to visit me But to finish the preparation of thine abode Grant O my Saviour that if my body has that in common with thine that it suffers for mine Offences my Soul may also have that in common with thine too that it might be in sadness for the same Offences and that so I may suffer with thee and as thou didst in my Body and in my Soul for the Sins which I have committed XI Grant me the Grace Lord to join thy Consolations to my Sufferings that I may suffer as a Christian I don't desire to be free from Sufferings that 's the recompence of Saints but I desire not to be abandon'd to the Sorrows of Nature without the Comforts of thy Spirit for that 's the Malediction of Jews and Infidels I don't desire to have a fulness of Consolation without any Suffering for that 's the Life of Glory neither do I desire to be in a fullness of Evils without Comfort this is the State of Judaism But I desire Lord to feel altogether the sadness of Nature for my Sins and the Comforts of thy Spirit by thy Grace for that 's the true State of Christianity Let me not feel sadness without Consolation but let me feel sadness and Comfort both together that I may at length attain to feel only thy Consolations without any Grief For Lord thou didst let the World languish without consolation before the coming of thy only Son now thou comfortest and softenest the Sufferings of thy Children by the Grace of thy beloved Son and thou wilt fill with perfect Happiness thy Saints in the Glory of thine only Son These are the admirable steps by which thou conductest thy Works Thou hast drawn me out of the First make me to pass through the Second to arrive at the Third Lord it is what I heartily beg of thee XII Suffer not that I may be in that distance from thee that I may consider this Soul sorrowful unto Death and this Body pressed by Death for my Sins and not rejoice to suffer both in my Body and in my Soul For what is there more shameful and yet more common in Christians and even in my self than whilst thou didst sweat Blood to expiate our Offences we live in Pleasures That Christians who make Profession to belong to thee that those who by Baptism have renounced the World solemnly in the Face of the Church to Live and Die with thee that those that make Profession to believe the World Persecuted and Crucified thee that those that believe thou didst expose thy self to Gods anger and to the rage of Men to ransom them from their Sins that those I say that believe all these Truths that consider thy Body as the Sacrifice that was deliver'd for their Salvation that consider the Pleasures and Sins of the World as the only Subject of thy Sufferings and the World it self as thy Executioner yet should seek to Pamper their Body with these same Pleasures in this same World and that those that cannot without horror see a Man imbrace and cherish the Murderer of their Father that gave himself to Death to restore them to Life how they can live as I have done with full delight in the World which I very well know was the Murderer of him that I acknowledge to be my Father and my God and that gave himself to the Death for my Salvation and that bore in his Body the Punishment due to my Sins It is just Lord that thou shouldst put a stop to such Sinful Delights as those were wherein I rested under the Shadow of Death XIII Take therefore from me Lord the sorrow which Self-love might give me for my own Sufferings and by reason that Worldly things don't succeed according to the Inclinations of my Heart that tend not to thy Glory But be pleased to cast me into a sorrow conformable unto thine let my Sufferings in some measure pacifie thine Anger Make them be an occasion of my Conversion and Salvation Let me not henceforth desire Health nor Life but that I may employ and end them for thee and with thee and in thee I don't ask Health nor Sickness nor Life nor Death but that thou wouldest dispose of my Health and Sickness of my Life and Death for thy Glory and my Salvation and for the good of thy Church and Saints of which I hope by thy Grace to make a part Thou only knowest what is expedient for me thou art the absolute Disposer of all things do what seems good in thy sight Give unto me take away from me but conform my Will to thy Holy Will and that in an humble and perfect submission and Holy confidence I may prepare my self to receive the Decrees of thine Eternal Providence and that I may equally adore all things that proceed from thee XIV Grant O my God that in a constant Uniformity of Mind I may receive all sorts of Events because we don't know what to ask for and that I cannot desire one thing rather than another without Presumption and without making my self a Judge and liable to answer the consequences which in thy Wisdom thou hast justly hid from me Lord I know I know but one thing which is That 't is good to serve thee and that 't is ill to offend thee besides this I don't know which is worst or best in any thing I can't tell which is best for me Health or Sickness Riches or Poverty or any thing else in the World these things pass the Skill of Men and Angels to discern and are hid in the secrets of thy Providence which I humbly adore and will not presume to pry into XV. Grant therefore Lord that such as I am I may conform my self to thy Will and that being sick as I am I may glorifie thee in my Sufferings without them I cannot attain to Glory and thou thy self my Blessed Saviour wouldst not arrive thereunto by any other way It is by the marks of thy Sufferings that thou wert known to thy Disciples and it is by Sufferings that thou dost also know those that are thy Disciples acknowledge me therefore for thy Disciple in the Pains which I suffer both in my Body and Mind for the Offences which I have committed And because nothing is well pleasing to God but what is offerr'd up by thee conform my Will to thy Will and my Sufferrings to those which thou hast suffered grant that mine may become thine unite me unto thee fill me with thy self and thy Holy Spirit Enter into my Heart and Soul to bring thither my Sufferings and to continue to maintain in me what is yet behind to suffer of thy Passion which thou dost fulfil in thy Members until the full consummation of thy Body
and intelligible Life where of his Essence is compos'd To say truth here are many Doubts remov'd and that very easily The Eternity of the World which is so difficult to conceive and the accidental meeting of a few Atoms are things doubtless not very easie to be imagin'd when there is need to explain the admirable Order of the Universe the production of Beasts and Plants the curious Fabrick of Mans Body and more especially what is meant by Thought and Soul 't is hard to be believed this Eternity and these Atoms do appear to hang so well together and that the Understanding is not very forward to submit to the Belief of it How happy would this Man think himself if he could find the Truth of these things he would be willing to part with any thing on Condition this beginning of discovering Truth might succeed But as he would not fix on a rest wherein there may be any doubt and that he fears as much to be deceived as to rest in the incertainty he is in he resolves to search fully into the thing and to examin it with the greatest exactness may be In the first place he observes as a Circumstance that can't sufficiently be admir'd that the Pen-Man of the Holy Bible did comprize many and great things in one Chapter and that but a very short one and whereas 't is the Nature of most Men to make the smallest things look Big and that any one else would have thought it unbecoming to Treat of so weighty a Subject so unconcernedly he is amaz'd to see this Man speak so plainly of it and being to be lookt upon as a Person chosen to reveal it to Men that he so little indeavour'd to put a value on himself by flattering his Readers or in setting a Gloss on what he said or taking any heed of proving it So strange or rather so singular a way of proceeding doubtless deserves extraordinary Respect and 't is very likely that whoever could Treat of things of this Nature in this manner knew very well that their value consisted in their own Truth without having need of other Ornaments and that he was also verily perswaded that they were either well known or very easie to be believed Nevertheless of a sudden there appears a difficulty that can scarce be surmounted and at the same time one sees That if it be a God that Created the World and that he himself gave a Testimony of the goodness of his Works Man must needs be made in the State before recited yet one finds himself so quite another thing that one knows not scarce what to think Very far from taking ones self for the Image of God we don't find the least resemblance of God in us and the more we know our selves the less shall we find our selves inclin'd to obey God whom we ought in all things to resemble It is certain we should be but little enlightn'd should we stop our Inquiry here it would argue great negligence and guilt not to make farther Progress in so weighty an Inquiry For this very first view that 't is God made us is attended with so many Circumstances that nothing but fear of finding more than we seek for can hinder Men from inquiring more distinctly into it This very Man that Monsieur Pascall thought uncapable of this great fear of knowing his Duty and that too well knew his inability of himself to determine a thing of so great Importance stopt not there and stay'd not long before he was better inform'd For he perceiv'd soon after that the same Man we describ'd to be so inlightned and so much Master of himself had no sooner known his Maker but he offended him The first use he made of so precious a Gift as Liberty was to Transgress the very first Commandment he had received and all of a sudden forgetting what might justly be thought a Creature owed to Almighty God who was but newly taken from the Dust of the Earth to enjoy the whole World and to know and serve his Creator he aspir'd to quit his dependance and by his own Skill to acquire the knowledge God was pleas'd to hide from him and in a Word aspir'd to become his equal It 's not needful to use many Words to shew nor much Wisdom to comprehend that this was the most horrible Crime that could be in all its Circumstances and it was Punish'd as it deserv'd For besides the Death wherewith Adam was threatned he also fell into a deplorable State which could not be better shewn than by that bitter Irony that he had the Grief to hear from the Mouth of God For instead of continuing an Image of the Holiness and Justice of his Creator as he might have done and of becomming like him as he thought to have done in that same Moment he lost all those Advantages that he had not rightly improv'd His Understanding became obnubilated God hid himself from him in impenetrable Darkness he became a Child of Wrath and a Slave of Sin of all the Light and Knowledge he had he only retain'd a faint desire of Knowledge which was of no other use to him but to increase his Torment he had no other benefit and use of his Liberty but to commit Sin and found himself wholly uncapable of doing good At last he became that incomprehensible Monster call'd Man and moreover imparting more and more his Corruption to all that proceeded from him he replenish'd the whole World with poor blind guilty Creatures like himself It is what is to be found at large in the following part of this Book for Monsieur Pascall supposing that one could not chuse but be allur'd by so great a view and representing it with much earnestness and also all that 's contain'd in the Old Testament it may be observ'd that what 's therein Treated is the Corruption of Man of Mens giving themselves up to their Vile Affections and their Inclination to Evil from their very Infancy and inlarging upon the things which render this Book remarkable and worthy of Respect he shew'd that 't was the only Book in the World wherein the Nature of Man was truly describ'd in its Greatness and in its Misery and discover'd to him the State of his Heart in a great many places Whatever he had discover'd in studying himself he therein found it very clearly The Reading hereof having created as 't were a new Light in the Darkness of his Soul he not only discern'd more plainly what he already had seen but he also found a great many things that he had not thought of and that were never before taken notice of by those that had made the greatest inquiry after them Then he not only admires this Book should make Man know himself better than he doth himself but also that 't is that alone in all the World that has to purpose Treated of the Soveraign Being and that it makes him conceive it to be as far above what he thought him to