World. GOD has left us uncertain of the Hour of our Death What would not we wish we had done if this very Day CHRIST should come to Judgment or Death snatch us away and set us before GOD'S Tribunal WE lose opportunities of doing good and embrace those of doing ill because we think we are sure to live long and repent before Death surprizes us Strange blind Security I AM assur'd GOD will pardon me if I truly repent before the Day of my Death but should be stark mad to think of delaying the Duty of Repentance a Moment since 't is not impossible but that even that very Moment may be my last MAXIM XV. That we ought continually to set the Judgment of God before our Eyes HOW terrible will the Judgment of GOD be to the Wicked CHRIST whom they have outrageously abus'd is to give Sentence their own Consciences to be Witness against them and the Devil waits for the word of Command to put it in Execution No Grace now to be hoped for no room left for Repentance SECRET Thoughts idle VVords wavering Actions All shall be brought forth to Judgment GOD'S Assistance Patience and Benefits will be our reproach Sins committed good Deeds omitted Time lost and the like will be punished Excuses Prayers Tears All these will avail nothing against the Justice of this Tribunal OH How much ought the dread of this Judgment to come to possess our Minds How can we sleep in Sin quietly Our Souls may each moment be cited before the Throne of GOD there to be judg'd and sentenc'd to Eternal Pains MAXIM XVI That the Consideration of the Torments of Hell ought to affright us to Heaven IF the Divine Favours prove too weak to overcome our Obstinacy yet at least let the pains of Hell terrify us into Endeavours to prevent them LET our minds visit this Abyss of Misery where the Sinner suffers in every Sense Torments proportioned to his Crimes He has lost GOD for ever and is given up to Eternal Remorse of Conscience Prisons Dungeons Racks have their Terrours But what are these to Hell Eternal Darkness unquenchable Fire the presence of Devils and the Damned Lamentations Howlings Blasphemies Despair These are but a rude Draught of that Region of Anguish MAXIM XVII That the Glory of Heaven ought powerfully to incite our Piety HEAVEN is the Lot of the Righteous where the absence of all Evil an unspeakable fulness of Blessings both for Body and Soul and a perfect fruition of GOD shall make up our Happiness JESUS CHRIST the Bridegroom will there give Consummation to our Joys NO more Temptations no more Sins no more Sufferings no more Fears But Light in the Mind Comforts in the Heart Peace in the Conscience a perfect Union of the Faithful in giving Eternal Thanks to God in the enjoyment of Felicity that shall have no end VVhat ought not we to do what Miseries should not we be content to suffer to secure the hope of this Glory God has promis'd to us What Terrour ought to seize us when we reflect upon our Sins which if not repented of will deprive us of it for ever MAXIM XVIII That we are always to stand in a Religious Fear CHRIST having told his Disciples that one of them would betray him they all trembled at the horror of this Crime though there was but one that was to commit it Let us always be watchful against the inconstancy of our Nature Who knows whether the Eye of GOD does not discover that in our Hearts which is yet unknown to us The Example of the Saints ought to inspire us with a Religious Fear THE Fall of St. Peter was expiated by Tears of Repentance But how can he who considers on his failing trust to his own Strength The Looks of his Master infus'd the Motives to his Remorse But CHRIST does not always afford his Gracious Countenance to those who desert and deny him MAXIM XIX That Sin is more to be fear'd than Death SIN is Treason against the King of Heaven 'T is copying from the fallen Angels It is the only Object of GOD'S Aversion He punish'd it without remedy in those Cursed Spirits And who can cast up the Accounts of them Sin sends to Eternal Destruction IF Death could be separated from the Curse of GOD If it did consist in a total Annihilation Wicked Men ought to wish for it as a Cure of the Reproaches and Disquiets of their own Consciences But alas it is quite another thing LET us therefore fear Sin more than Death it self Or rather Let the Waters of the Deluge the Flames of Sodom and all other Exemplary Judgments upon harden'd Sinners display to us the horrors of Sin and the Everlasting Punishment reserv'd for it MAXIM XX. That we ought to fear GOD more than Men. WHAT blindness is it to fear Men more than GOD We bear with patience the wrongs done us by our Superiours least our Complaints should encrease our Oppression But we too often offend the Weak notwithstanding CHRIST'S Command to the contrary IT 's easier to restrain our Anger against our Inferiours as CHRIST requires than to endure injuries from Great Men. Why should we then kindle a Fire which CHRIST would have extinguished when the only fear of Men makes us careful to extinguish the Fire they kindle in us LET us therefore judge righteously be asham'd of our imperfections and blush at our doing less for the fear of the LORD that LORD we are so much bound to love than for the fear of Men who have to Title like his either to our fear or love MAXIM XXI That the whole Course of our Life ought to be a continual Study of Mortification SO horribly has Sin corrupted our Nature that unless we take great care continually to restrain our inclinations to Evil we shall unavoidably fall into all manner of Vices UNLESS the Flesh be mortify'd it will rebel against the Spirit Unless we resist our Passions they will prevail against the Light of our Reason and our Reason unless enlight'ned will oppose GOD'S Law and our Duty LET us beware of those things that flatter our Senses and feed our Passions Let us not suffer our Thoughts to wander but govern our Hearts and Minds by bringing them into a due Subjection to Reason and the Will of GOD. MAXIM XXII That we ought continually to strive against the Vnruliness of Self-Love THE Prevalence of Self-love is the Source of Sin. We all naturally aspire to Happiness this is innocent But we place Felicity either in Riches Honours or Pleasures which is our mistake GOD does not forbid us to love our selves for Self-love is necessary to our Preservation But he charges us not to love our selves with a blind and unaccountable Love that is to love our Body better than our Soul this Temporal more than Eternal Life LET'S labour to rectify our Passions by proposing to them due Objects things truly Good Solid Honours and Riches that take not to themselves Wings Let
preserve me is the same who has redeemed me It is neither Man nor Angel but the Only Son of GOD JESUS CHRIST Himself who was willing to become my Surety and appease the Wrath of his Almighty Father in dying for me WHAT Outrages what Torments did not he suffer He was crucified like a Slave and underwent a Punishment that GOD Himself had call'd a Curse Not only the World and Hell insulted over Him but He complain'd of his being forsaken even of his Father O WHAT a strange and horrible thing is Sin that JESUS CHRIST must shed his Blood to deliver me from it What Profaneness What Sacriledge is it to trample under Foot that Precious Blood with which we are redeem'd How hellishly wicked must we be not to love a SAVIOUR who so dearly lov'd us MAXIM VII That we must follow the Divine Call. 'T IS GOD draws us that we may come to Him without which we could not have the least thought or desire thitherward We must obey his Voice while He is pleas'd to direct it to us For else Life and Redemption procur'd by Him will be unprofitable to us HOW many Heathens have been without the Advantages we injoy How many Infidels and Idolaters have been depriv'd of this Grace of Vocation without which a Man can never be converted Shall we make them rise up in Judgment against us O THE wonderful Patience and Forbearance of GOD who after a thousand Contempts of his Grace receives us to Repentance After many obstinate resistings of the Heavenly Inspirations of his Spirit is yet pleas'd to continue his Gracious Call to us Follow we then his Voice which invites us to the Supremest Good. MAXIM VIII That we must Study God's Conduct towards us WE lose the Benefit of the Mercies and Chastisements GOD dispenses to us while we are unacquainted with the Conduct He observes towards his Children Through our ignorance of this we afflict our selves with that which is Matter of Comfort and make merry in the midst of Temptations HAD Joseph understood GOD'S Leading he would have wept when he found himself his Master's Favourite and rejoyced when the accusation of his lustful Mistress cast him into that Prison which advanc'd him to little less than Pharaoh's Throne THE Devil prompts us to judge of GOD'S Conduct according to outward appearance This is one of his most dangerous Delusions It is therefore our Duty to meditate upon those Maxims GOD has revealed to us and upon the Examples of his Providence towards the Saints who have been before us MAXIM IX That we ought daily to examine our Conscience NOT to reflect upon our Behaviour is to live without Reason and not to remind our selves every day of the State of our Hearts is to live without Grace We ought to take daily notice what good we have omitted and what evil we have done WE cannot be saved without the sorrows of Repentance without a through resolution to amend what 's amiss and an anxious seeking after those Remedies that can heal us VVhich is not attainable but by a constant Review of our Thoughts Words and Actions WE daily behold our selves in our Glass and yet are careless of consulting the Law of GOD. 'T is to undervalue the Study of Perfection thus to neglect our own Hearts and bring our selves to that pass as not to pray any more out of a sense of our needs but out of meer Custom MAXIM X. That we ought to avoid too much Business A SOUL taken up with the Cares of Salvation does not cumber her self with the things of this present Life The retirement which she consecrates to to God by devoting it to Pious Reflections is much dearer to her than all the Employments in the World. LET us remember the Parable of Our Lord which assures us that the Word falling into the Heart of a Man distracted with worldly Cares is like Seed that falls among Thorns which growing up choak it at last MY GOD How much more advantageous is it by means of a calm and composed temper of Mind to resemble that good Ground which brings forth Thirty Sixty yea even an Hundred Fold than to have our Hearts crouded with a thousand vain Solicitudes how innocent soever they may appear to us MAXIM XI That we must often recollect our selves to think of our Salvation THE greatest part of our Life is spent in a guilty kind of Slumber Time flies away and the Glass of Life hastens to wards Death We come we go we talk and act and this almost continually without having the least regard to what concerns Salvation IF we judge aright we shall find that either we do that which is altogether evil or at least very remote from the Principal End of Life or else we Squander our time in idleness and do nothing at all Which neglect though it be least criminal yet is not quite faultless WE can make no better use of our Life than when by frequent retirement we renew the Pious Resolutions we have formerly taken We must examine very narrowly whether our Life and Actions are answerable to that Model we have set before us MAXIM XII That we ought carefully to consider the Vanity of this Life THERE is nothing more miserable than Life's inconstancy It s longest Date is but a Span. It is obnoxious to many thousand accidents that snatch it away when we least think on 't It is more brittle than Glass and at best but our way to Death AND can we thus reflect upon the Vanity of this Life and not be disgusted Can we help despising the pleasures of it and lifting our Hearts above Time fix them on the Life Eternal THE World passes away and we in it Its Delusions that have so often surprized us scatter and vanish proportionably to the growth of our Experience They only have attain'd a six'd and setled State who have resign'd themselves to GOD and the Contemplation of Eternity MAXIM XIII That we ought frequently to think of Death WE cannot avoid Death But the time place manner and circumstances of it we know not How great would be our Unhappiness should it surprize us in Sin and Impenitence and come to execute the dreadful Decree of our Everlasting Damnation THE very image of Death affrights us though we suppose it afar off What will it do when it shall stare us in the Face and set before our Eyes our great and innumerable Sins in opposition to GOD'S Favours and sill our Souls with Remorse and Terrour GOD makes use of this Prospect of the Grave to affright us to him It awakens our Consciences fortifies our Faith and animates our Hopes But Good GOD VVhat would become of us should we descend to Death without having once thought of or consider'd it and without being made wiser by the Instructions it affords MAXIM XIV That we ought to consider every Day as if it were our last JESUS CHRIST has commanded us to watch constantly for his Coming to judge the
the Glory of Angels unless we imitate their Purity To follow the pleasures of the Flesh hunt after its Allurements and cherish its filthy Delusions is to walk in the Path of Damnation CAN we be convinc'd of these Truths without being in love with Chastity without avoiding all dangerous occasions as inticing Company and guilty Sloth and without arming our selves against the Flesh by Fasting and Mortification LET us make a Covenant with our Eyes that they never open a Door to any unclean Thoughts and if at any time they break this Covenant let our Heart being animated by the Cross of JESUS stifle all those Thoughts in their Birth which might lead us to Sin. MAXIM XXXII That we ought to beware of Detraction DETRACTION is the Character of Malignity VVe cannot revile another without hurting our selves and them that take delight to hear us VVe make them Complices in our Sin and by inspiring them with the same Hatred we have for our Neighbour rob them of their Rest VVE justly hold it sinful to stain our Hands in our Brother's Blood and can we think it innocent to dip our Tongue in it by Calumny by publishing his faults by rendring his Principles doubtful or decrying his Virtues DAVID declares he could not abide Slanderers in hiâ— Court. Can we imagine CHRIST will admit them into Heaven who blast their Brothers Reputation and take delight in this kind of Cruelty MAXIM XXXIII That we ought never to believe Calumny to the prejudice of Truth PILATE perceiving the malice of the Jews and the Innocence of CHRIST would fain have cleared Him but was vanquished by a Motive of Carnal Policy He no sooner heard them cry out If thou release this Man thou art not Caesar's Friend but his purpose of saving Him vanish'd O INJUSTICE VVas CHRIST ever a Head of Rebels Did He at any time provide Arms and Ammunition or levy Souldiers Did not He submit himself to the Roman Laws pay Tribute and openly assert Caesar's Right TO accuse CHRIST of Sedition was to call depth of Poverty Pride and Ambition Obedience Rebellion and Humility Vain-Glory But Pretences are never wanting and depraved Nature lends a more willing Ear to Calumny than Truth MAXIM XXXIV That we ought to weigh the Consequences both of Vice and Virtue VIRTUE is laid aside when the difficulties of it only are consider'd and Vice embrac'd when the Pleasures it yields are set before us But a Christian ought to make very different Reflections VIRTUE bears an Impression of GOD and Vice is the Fruit of the Devil's Suggestions The former fills the Soul with Tranquillity by begetting in it the Love of GOD and Men And the latter Galls the Conscience with a thousand Checks and brings the Offender into contempt both with GOD and Men. BUT above all a good Man expects with joy the Glory of Heaven which he is to possess whereas the Wicked are continually rack'd with the fears of future Torments which GOD has appointed to be their portion for ever Who after these Reflections can remain doubtful where to choose MAXIM XXXV That we ought to make a careful Scrutiny into our Defects in order to our Amendment RELIGION invites us to the Study of Perfection It sets before us GOD and CHRIST for our Pattern It furnishes us with infinite Motives to ingage us to it and gives us to understand that our Happiness consists in this Perfection How is it then that we labour not after it WE read speak write discourse it morally and talk of our Passions and their Remedies And yet continue in the same State still have the same Vices and Inclinations And all is because we do not apply our selves to a through-search of our Hearts OUR Faults can never be amended unless they be known nor known without enquiry The Heart which is so industrious in search after the Frailties of others to upbraid them therewith would be better employ'd in examining and applying Remedies to its own This is a chief Ingredient towards the attainment of Perfection MAXIM XXXVI That we ought not to make Custom or Example a Plea for our Faults THOUGH Christianity does not oblige us to shun Human Society yet its chief aim is to inculcate to us that the World is plung'd in Sin and Licentiousness and therefore that we ought not to imitate its corrupt Manners WORLDLY Men find delight in those actions that offend GOD. They provoke one another by their Examples to violate the Divine Laws without regret or restraint But we must reject their impious Maxims that we may follow the Law of GOD. WHAT folly then is it to make these our Patterns Do we think that the prescription of their Examples and Customs can over-rule the Divine Right and Authority over us MAXIM XXXVII That we must avoid Relapses into Sin. WHAT miserable Wretches are we to condemn our Repentance and return to the Way of Perdition whence GOD by his Grace has recalled us What else is this but to precipitate our selves into remediless Woes by a presumptuous contempt of GOD'S Favours and our own Salvation LET us therefore retain in our Hearts a true sorrow for having offended the DIVINE MAJESTY be afraid of the Actions that first prompted us to sin and careful to make use of those Remedies GOD has provided for us to forward and perfect our Cure. IS the Health of the Soul of less concern to us than that of the Body Or are the Eternal pains which GOD will inflict upon them who suffer themselves to be carry'd away with the Violence of their Passions incapable to affright us to Him MAXIM XXXVIII That we must not abuse the Long-Suffering of God. STRANGE and surprizing is the Corruption of our Nature GOD'S Patience which so meekly invites us to Repentance serves but to harden us in our wicked Ways The greater his Clemency is towards us the more we multiply our Transgressions against Him. WHILE we cannot be ignorant that his Patience admits of Bounds and that the End of his Mercy is the Beginning of an inexorable Severity We heap up to our selves a Treasure of Wrath in refusing to comply with the Gracious Invitations of DIVINE LOVE WHEN therefore we reflect upon his Forbearance towards us while we were disobedient let us by no means thence infer that we may still continue to abuse it but remember that Patience provok'd turns into Fury MAXIM XXXIX That we must not be ashamed of Godliness THE most terrible Temptation we are lyable to is to see the Modish Men of the Age call the Fear of GOD Superstition and Devotion Hypocrisy They endeavour to perswade us that none but base and abject Minds are capable of being besotted with such Chymaera's HAD Worldly Men a Heaven to reward our complying with their Opinions and a Hell to avenge the Contempt of their Maxims it were worth our Attention BUT alas What Fools are we The respect we have for them proves fatal to us It is madness not to be asham'd of imitating