First Part.

CAEcus quidam sedebat secus viam mendicans; A certain Blind man sat by the way side begging. The Blindness, Christians, of this poor Beggar, represents to us (according to the common gloss of Holy Fathers) the Spiritual Blindness occa­sion'd in the Soul by Mortal Sin. Ambulabunt ut caeci, quia Domino peccaverunt; saith the Pro­phet Sophonias, They shall walk like Blind men, be­cause they have sinned to the Lord: 1. 17. And the Book of Wisdom, Excaecavit illos Malitia eorum; The Ma­lice of Sinners hath made them Blind. 2. 21.This Spi­ritual Blindness then is the effect of sin, as it is [Page 6] properly its Punishment too; it being the want of a right Understanding on the part of a sinner, to consider throughly the deplorable Condition he is in. Eccl. 4. 5. Peccavi (saith the sinner) & quid mihi accidit triste? I have sinned, and what hath happen'd to me amiss? I Eat, I Drink, I Sleep as I did be­fore; my Meats are as Relishing to my Pallate; and my Slumbers on my Downy-Pillow as Un­disturb'd. I enjoy a perfect Health, and Solace my self with the satisfactions of a Voluptuous Life. Quid mihi accidit triste? What hath happen'd to me amiss? What hath happen'd to Thee amiss? Poor Wretch! Didst thou but rightly understand the Damages (perhaps irreparable,) which thou suffer'st by Mortal Sin, thou soon wouldst change thy Note; and Bath thy self in Tears, at the sight of thy Unhappiness, who now art Drown'd in Jollities, because thou seest it not!

This Blindness therefore being the effect of Sin: the chief causes of it are as many, as there are in number Capital Vices; which, like Fruitful Mo­thers, give a Birth and Beginning to all the rest. Let us then run over in our Thoughts the diffe­rent Natures and Properties of those Radical Sins; we shall easily discover, in Discoursing on their Effects, how every single Species of that number brings with it its respective Blindness to the Soul. First, Then of Pride this Truth is manifest; that [Page 7] Sin consisting properly in an Inordinate Desire of some Excellency deserving the Honour and E­steem of others: Appetitus inordinatus excellentiae, cui debetur Honor & reverentia, saith S. Thomas. Hence 'tis that the Proud and Haughty Man ei­ther arrogates to Himself what he deserves not; or bears Himself Confidently above others, as just­ly deserving that Tribute of Honour, which he Ambitiously covets to be pay'd to Himself alone. And these are equally the Effects of Blindness; for were not the Eye of his Understanding ex­treamly defective, he would both discover his own unworthiness, and at the same time the real Merits also of his Neighbour.

Covetousness also Blindeth the Possessors of Wealth; according to that of Moses in Deuteronomy, Munera excaecant Oculos Judicum; Bribes do hood­wink the Eyes of Judges.16. 19.Gluttony and Luxuty have their parts also in the Spiritual Darkness of the Soul. Drunkenness (saith St. Basil) Is the very Origen of all Impiety; the occasion of for saking God; it being an obscuring of the Intellective Facul­ty, by the means of which we arrive to the knowledge of him. Isa. c. 5. v. 22. Blindness also was the punishment of the Luxurious Sodomites; a Figure of that Interiour Blindness which struck their Souls, Percusserunt eos caecitate. Gen. 19. 11. And 'tis observable in the Parable of the Beggar and Dives: An example both of Glut­tony [Page 8] and Lust, That, Elevans Oculos suos in tormentis vidit Lazarum; Lifting up his Eyes, whilst he was in Torments, he saw poor Lazarus: And then indeed he knew him, whom whilst he liv'd in Pleasures, he saw not; such is the Darkness the Souls of Voluptuous Livers are buried in, In Tormentis vidit Lazarum. Anger obscures the Eye of the Intel­lect, falling down upon it like a Fiery Cloud, and interposing it self between the Sun of Truth and it; Super cecidit Ignis, & non viderunt solem. And how many in their Passion, have fallen foully upon their Dearest Friends; who, when their Eyes are open'd to the Rayes of Reason, are ready to Expiate so horrid an Ingratitude, with the very Sacrifice of their own Blood! Envy also Blinds our Sight, that we cannot distinguish right­ly the True Object of our Sadness, whilst we are dejected at another's Good, Invidia (saith the mention'd S. Thomas) est tristitia de alterius bono. But Sloth above all the rest of her Vitious Com­pany, declares her self the most Malitious in in­flicting this Wretched Punishment on the Souls of sinners. For whence proceeds this Coldness in the Spirit of Christianity? Whence this Drowsi­ness in the Service of God Almighty? This neg­lect in complying with the Obligations of our Religion? But from a Slothful Ignorance, and un­acquaintance with them. We understand not [Page 9] the Tyes of our Christian Duty; but the fault is fix'd at our doors, that we put not our selves in the occasions of being acquainted with them. We are destitute of those comfortable Lights that quicken Devotion, because we are easily tyr d with the practice of it; we re­ceive not the Promis'd Helps of Grace in our Temptations, because we endure not long and perseverant Prayer: That properly may be ve­rify'd the saying of S. Peter, in regard of such; Gaecisunt, & manu tentantes: They are Blind indeed, like those who search about them with their Hands; 2 Pet. 1. 9. As Conscious to themselves, suf­ficiently of their own Unhappiness, though ig­norant of the true occasion why they suffer it.

These are the different Causes of the Blind­ness of a Soul in sin. Now if we will consider this Intellectual Defect in its own Nature, we shall find it distinguish'd into two kinds; into the Blindness of such as see not with their Eyes shut (and that's no wonder,) and the Blindness of such, as see not with their Eyes open (which certainly is the strangest Blindness of all.) Apertis Oculis nihil videbat, saith the Scripture of the Persecutor Saul, when he was struck from Heaven with a suddain privation of Sight; [Page 10] and in this he was the Figure of those poor Wretches, who have indeed their Eyes Open, but see nothing; Apertis oculis nihil vident. Act. 9. 8. Now if you ask me, who those Blind Men are with their Eyes Open; with Sorrow I must answer you, They are Christians; The Gentile, Jew, or what other Misbeliever there is, are all Blind, Having (saith the Apostle) their Intellect Ob­scur'd and Seal'd up in Darkness of Infidelity. They are Blind indeed, and Blindly follow the Passions of this World; because the Eye of their Understanding is not open'd by the Light of Faith to behold the Advantages Promis'd to us Christians in the World to come. This is the Misery of poor Infidels and Mis-believers, whom the Gospel hath not illuminated with the Rayes of Truth. And these are properly those blind Men, who see not indeed, because their Eyes are Shut. But we Christians, who have the Eye of our Understanding clear and open by the Light of Faith; we, who are assur'd that there is a God, a Heaven, a Hell, Eternity, a Punishment for Sin in the next Life, and a Reward for Virtue: We, I say, whose Eye-sight Faith hath clear'd to behold all this; and yet to live, as if we saw it not! As if these Truths were so many Raveries of a man in a [Page 11] Dream! What a dismal Blindness is this with the Eyes Open! To believe like Christianè, and yet to live like Pagans! Christianè credere, Gen­tiliter viventes! Saith Petrus Damianus upon the like occasion.

That the Pagan gives up the Bridle to Con­cupiscence, his excuse is tollerable; because he knows no better: But intollerable in a Chri­stian, who hath Learn'd the Lesson of the Apostle: That Livers according to the Flesh shall die: Si secundum carnem vixeritis, moriemini. Rom. 8. 13. That the Jew hath Crucify'd his own Redeemer, this he hath to say, that he knew him not; But what can the sinful Christian reply, who firmly be­lieving in him as truly such, yet Crucify him again by every Mortal sin: Rursum Crucifigentes sibimet ipsis Filium Dei, & ostentui habentes, saith St. Paul of sinners: Crucifying again to them­selves the Son of God, and exposing him to shame and scorn! Heb. 6. 6. That the Misbeliever neglects the means our Saviour hath left us in his Church for our Salvation, it is, because he understands not the value of them; but how unpardon­able is it in the Christian and Catholick; who believing the Sacraments, to derive their Virtue from the Merits and Sufferings of a dying God, yet profanes them so easily by so many im­perfect [Page 12] Confessions and unworthy Communi­ons! Oh sinful Christians! Your Eyes then are open'd, but to render you more Admir'd, and less Compassionated for your Blindness. Your Eyes are open'd by Faith to behold the horrour of a gaping Hell for sinners: And yet you behold not the eminent danger you your selves are in, in following them. Your Eyes are open'd to discover the dreadful Conse­quences of Mortal Sin: And yet you discover not the desperate risk you every moment expose your selves unto, continuing in it. Your Eyes are open'd to consider Speculatively, that the Life of a Christian is a Life of Penance: And yet practically you consider not how little your easie and voluptuous way of living accords with it. Are not We then, properly, We, (Sin­ful Christians) those Unhappy ones, in whom is discover'd that extravagant sort of Blindness: That their Eyes indeed are open, but they see no­thing; Apertis oculis nihil vident?

But as those Wretches are miserable indeed, whose Eyes are either quite Sealed up, through the want of Faith: (such are Infidels and Mis­believers;) or open'd by Faith, but to see no­thing: (such are Believing Christians, yet insen­sible of their Misery;) so again thrice Happy [Page 13] and Fortunate are those sinners, whose Eyes indeed are open'd, to see: (Such are Merciful­ly Illuminated with the Rayes of Divine Grace, to look in time with an Eye of True Repen­tance into the sorrowful condition of their sin­ful Lives.) The passage in Genesis of Adam's prevarication (take it according to the Mystery) seems to acquaint us with this Truth. For pro­perly may be said of every Repenting Sinner, what Moses said of our first Parents upon their Fall: Aperti sunt Oculi amborum; The Eyes of both were open'd, and something then they saw. Gen. 3 7 (Oh how better was their condition than of those Blind Wretches who see nothing.) But let us enquire into the same Text, what it was poor Eve and Adam then discover'd, when their Eyes were open'd; They discover'd that they were Naked, Cognoverunt se esse nudos.

This Nakedness of our first Parents, repre­sents to us the Nakedness of a Soul despoil'd of Grace. And such is the Misfortune of every Sinner, who travelling, like the Pilgrim from Jerusalem to Jericho, through the troubled and dangerous ways of Sin, falls into the Hands of Thevees, the Devils, who rifle him of this Sacred Ornament of his Soul.

[Page 14] This dangerous way was that poor David walk'd in, when he fell into his sin; and the Barbarous usage of the Theeves Infesting it, (I mean the Devils,) is passionately express'd by him, who had experienc'd the sad effects of their fury and rage. Ad nihilum redactus sum (cry'd poor David, when he was rob'd of Grace) Ad nihilum redactus sum; O my God! I am brought to nothing! I am Plunder'd! I am Bankrupt, I am Rob'd of Grace, the precious covering of my Soul, and nothing now remains to me but my own Nakedness: Where is now the sweet Harmony of my Soul: The ready Obedience of my Inferior Powers to their Superior; Of my Passions to the Rule of Reason? Now nothing but Disorder and Rebellion reigns within me. Where's the Collection of all my good Works, my Meritorious Actions? All become the spoils of sin! All lost! In the state I am at pre­sent, lost! Oh my Treasure of Grace! Oh my Inheritance to Glory! Ad nihilum redactus sum: I am rifl'd, I am ruin'd, I am reduc'd to no­thing. Et nescivi; and that which prov'd the most fatal loss of all, I lost the very Sense of my Misfortunes; Ad nihilum redactus sum, & nescivi. Thus complain'd David then a sinner, when his Eyes were open'd to behold his Mi­sery.

[Page 15] This same road also did Adam take before him, and lighted into the Hands of the same Robbers upon the way, the Devils, as he De­scended from Jerusalem to Jericho; from the state of Innocence to the state of Sin. And after him all we sinners march on blindly in the same track, and light into the same Dis­asters upon the way. For (as S. Austin makes the Reflection) Omnes nos Adam sumus; We are all Figur'd in this Adam; We are all Adams too. Aug. in Ps. 125. We ought then to turn our Thoughts upon our selves, and consider that it is not only his Mis­fortune which deserves our Tears, but much more our own; so that our First Adam may properly speak to us in the Phrase of our Second, Jesus Christ: Nolite flere super me, sed super vosmet ipsos flete; Shed not, my Children, your Tears on me, but on your selves. Luk 23. 28. And cer­tainly, Christians, there is just reason so to do, if we consider seriously how Adam's Misery ac­cords with ours; not only in what we suffer by Original sin: But also in what we suffer by our Actual, those sins which after Baptism we our selves commit; for in these as well as that, Omnes nos Adam sumus; We are all Adams too; That is, we all like Adam, are rifl'd of our Robe of Grace and Justice; although we are [Page 16] not all, like Adam, Fortunate in Discovering our own Nakedness; Cognoverunt se esse nudos.

This Happy Discovery of our own Naked­ness being the first Disposition to a True Con­version: We ought (as we are sinners) to make it our first request to God Almighty in the words of our Beggar in the Gospel, Domine, ut videam; Lord that I may see. Our Saviour ask'd him what he desir'd of him; He humbly answer'd, it was, To see, Domine, ut videam. Let us then, Dear Sinners, with this good Beggar, demand of God the recovery of our Sight; that so we may arrive to a right under­standing of our Nakedness and Misery; Domine, ut videam! Lord, that I may see, how poor and naked a Wretch I am without thy Grace, and what a Treasure I have lost, in loosing Thee! Cure then my Heart of its Insensibility, and suffer me no longer to remain Cold and Indifferent, sinning on unconcernedly without the least remorse of Conscience, or without the least reflexive Thought of what I have done: Quid feci? Domine, ut videam! Lord, that I may see; How Bountiful thou hast been to me in the Offers of thy Grace: And how ungrateful I have been in neglecting or abusing them! How often thou hast call'd upon me, [Page 17] and I have answer'd not! How easily I follow the Maxims of the World, rather than those of thy School: The base Sentiments of Flesh and Blood, rather than the Lessons of thy Go­spel! Domine, ut videam! Lord, that I may see the manifold malice of my SIN! How much I have despis'd Thee in quality of my Law-giver, prevaricating against Thy Divine Commands! How much I have despis'd Thee in quality of my Lord, refusing Obedience to Thy Soveraign Will! How much I have de­spis'd Thee in quality of my Last End, neg­lecting the Beatitude thou hast Courteously Promis'd me! How much I have despis'd Thee in quality of my Creator, abusing the Bountiful Effects of Thy Creation to Affront the Bestower of them: My Memory, my Un­derstanding, and my Free-will! How much I have despis'd Thee in quality of my Re­deemer, setting no value upon the inestimable worth of Thy Dearest Blood, and bitter Death thou hast endur'd for me! How much I have despis'd Thee in quality of my Judge, expres­sing my self so little concern'd at the future Terrors of thy Tribunal! At the Severity of thy final Sentence, and the Dreadful Effects thereof! How much I have despis'd thee in [Page 18] quality of my Friend, setting little by thy Grace, by which I correspond with that Title! And finally how much I have despis'd thee in quality of my Father, forfeiting my Inheritance to thy Kingdom, and the unparallell'd Digni­ty of being call'd thy Son. All this I did, when I offended Thee; and yet without the least concern for what I had done: Quid feci? But now unseal the Eyes of my senseless Heart, and I will publish the wonders of thy Mercy! Revela oculos meos, & enarrabo mirabilia!

This Lesson Christians, may thoroughly ac­quaint us, of what Instruction the Passage of our Beggar in the Gospel is to us; what a Truth is cleared to us by his Blindness▪ and how his Wants may teach us how to Pray. What ought to be the subject of a Sinners Supplica­tions, he hath already shew'd us in what he asked for, Lord that I may see! Now, as he hath taught us, what we are to Pray for; So he also teacheth us how we are to Pray. This shall be clear'd to you in my Second Part; favour me accordingly with your Attention.

Second Part.

ET clamavit, dicens; Jesu Fili Dei miserere mei! And he call'd out, saying, Jesus Son of David, have mercy on me! I have represented to you a Blind Man Begging for the Recovery of his Sight; now I shall acquaint you with the Efficacious Means, of which he serv'd himself in his Address, that so his humble Suit might reach our Saviour's Ear, and be Consider'd by him as he passed by. Clamavit, faith the Gospel, He cry'd out; He call'd on our Saviour with a loud Voice. Now what's the Christian mean­ing of Calling on God Almighty with a loud Voice? It is to Accompany our Prayer with our Works; that so our Actions, as well as Words, may speak the real Sentiments of our Hearts: And our Lives remain not Mute and Dumb, whilst our Tongues do cry for Mercy. Ne forte simus strepentes vocibus & muti moribus; faith S. Austin, Sermon 18. de verbis Domini. Who is then this Beggar (continues the Holy Doctor in the same place; whose Thoughts I shall follow in the sequel of this Discourse, Who is then this Beggar, that calls on Christ with a loud voice, to be Cur'd of his Interiour [Page 20] Blindness? Quis est, qui clamat ad Christum, ut pellatur interior caecitas, transeunte Christo, He answereth himself, Clamat ad Christum, qui spernit saeculi voluptates; Clamat ad Christum, qui dispergit, & dat pauperibus; Clamat ad Christum, qui dicit non lingua sed vitâ mihi mundus Crucifixus est, & ego mundo. That Sinner truly calls aloud on Christ, who retaineth no longer an Affecti­on for the World; that Sinner truly calleth aloud on Christ, who Distributeth his Cha­rities to the Poor and Necessitous; that Sinner finally calleth aloud on Christ, who Witnesseth not by his bare Discourses only, but by the manner of his Life, That the World is truly Cru­cified to Him, and He to the World.

These difficult ways of Calling on God Al­mighty, although so earnestly recommended to us by that great Teacher of his Church, yet are but rarely practic'd by Sinners, because they are as rarely understood. Let us therefore exa­mine, how such acceptable Works of Penance do speak aloud for the doers of them, and make themselves be understood as far as Heaven. Our first Call then on God Almighty for the recovery of our Sight, is (with S. Austin) a rejecting of the sinful satisfactions of this Life. Clamat ad Christum qui spernit saeculi voluptates. [Page 21] This Heroick Action, (and Heroick it is in­deed, to gain a victory over Flesh and Blood) this Heroick Action of true Christian Courage speaks strongly in the Favour of a Sinner to Je­sus Christ; it pleads his Cause at the seat of, Mercy. It is an assurance on the part of the Sinner of the sincerity of his Conversion: How sensible he is of the condition of his Soul: How unfeignedly desirous to be Heald of his Infir­mity: And how vigorously on his part he con­tributes to the Cure, by removing those Ob­stacles that may prevent or hinder it: Those Obstacles are our Passions for the World. How strong a Call then, and how forcible in the Ears of Jesus Christ is a Christian like renouncing of those Worldly Enjoyments, our Passions for which hath prov'd the occasion of our Blind­ness! Clamat ad Christum qui spernit saeculi vo­luptates.

We call (with S. Austin) in another Voice that reacheth also the Ears of Jesus Christ, as often as our Charitable Assistances do reach the Necessities of the Poor; Clamat ad Christum, qui dispergit & dat pauperibus. In the Book of Proverbs we read a Threatning Sentence, able to Chill the Hearts of Uncharitable Men; Qui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, & ipse 21. 13. [Page 22] clamabit, & non exaudietur; Who stoppeth his Ears to the cry of the Poor, he also shall cry, and shall not be heard. From whence we may draw this Rational Conclusion, that the opening of our Ears to the Cryes of the Poor, is the open­ing of the Ears of Christ to us. And such a Call undoubtedly is both loud and piercing; since we employ as many Tongues, as there are Mouths we fill, to speak for us. Clamat ad Christum, qui dispergit, & dat pauperibus▪ A third call also (with S. Austin) is of a Sinner whose Life is truly Crucified to the World, and the World to it. And can there be a Voice more Charming, more Inviting the Mercies of Jesus Christ, than to behold a Sinner suing to him in that same Posture, as He himself did sue for the Worlds Redemption to his Father upon a Gross.

But perhaps (Devout Christians) you are desirous of a clearer Notion of so Celebrated an Expression, and yet peradventure so little understood: (I mean, A Crucifixion of a Chri­stian to the World, and of the World to him:) Ise therefore give it to you in an easie and familiar Thought. To be Crucified to the World, and the World to us; is to have our Judgements and Practices directly contrary, the ones to [Page 23] the others. In the Judgment and Practice of the World it is a Cross, to live in the World without Enjoying it; but in the Judgment and practice of a Christian, those very Enjoyments are a Cross, because they hinder us in the way of Virtue. The World sets a value upon his Gifts, his VVealth, his Honours, his Delights; S. Paul on the contrary esteems them as dirt, as they are put in Ballance with Jesus Christ: Haec omnia arbitror ut stercora, ut Christum lucri faciam. Phil. 3. 8. Oh how truly was the Apostle Crucified to the VVorld, and the VVorld to him! VVhen two are fasten'd upon the same Cross, they necessa­rily must turn their backs, the one to th' other▪ This ought to be the practice of a Christian, in his Reciprocal Crucifixion with the VVorld. The VVorld turns his back on you, turn yours also upon the VVorld. The VVorld Laughs at you, because you live up to a practice different from his▪ Laugh at him also, or ra­ther Pitty him, because (through Blindness) he understands no better. The VVorld loves you not, because you are no longer in the number of his Followers: Then love not you the VVorld, and so will little love be lost be­tween you. VVhose Life corresponds with this Lesson of indifferency, may confidently [Page 24] call on Jesus Christ, with a Mundus mihi cruci­fixus est, & ego mundo.

Such Christian-like performances are, ac­cording to the reflection of the Great S. Austin, so many loud and sounding Voices, with which our Lives do call on God, and not barely our Mouths only. But as the Vertuous Actions of the Devout Christian sound harsh and gratingly in the Ears of Worldings: So he is frequently checked by them, and desired to hold his Peace. The same also happen'd to our Beggar in the Gospel, who was rebuked for his clamour by those who in the company of our Saviour went before him, and by them commanded to be silent. Et qui praeibant, increpabant eum ut taceret: And those who went before, rebuked him, that he should hold his Peace. This very parti­cular of our Gospel, is also a figure of what too frequently passeth in the Church. Those Re­bukers of the Clamorous Beggar, are Lazy and Scandalous Christians, who make it their en­deavour to impede the Vertuous purposes of the good: Bonos Christianos mali & tepidi pro­hibent.

No sooner doth the Sinner begin to enter Seriously upon a change of Life, to deny him­self those Hurtful Liberties which before he [Page 25] took, to withdraw himself carefully from the occasions of sin: In a word, to live up to the Obligations of his Baptism and Religion; No sooner can a sinner resolve on this, but present­ly he is oppos'd in his Virtuous Designs: Qui diligunt saeculum, contradicunt; The Lovers of the World rebuke him for it. They interpret his Conversion an excess of Folly, his new course of Life some Fit of Melancholly or Indi­gested Zeal, and a singularity tacitly condem­ning the Lives of so many others, who bear in the World the Name of Christians as well as he. Et nunquid alii non sunt Christiani? And are not others Christians too? Such and such persons are not so scrupulous; they think it time enough to take up yet. This Gallant for example continues still his customary Dis­orders, his Riots, his Debauches, his Excesses in Drinking, Swearing, Gaming, and the like; Yet ask him, what he is, he answers you a Christian, and (though we hardly gather it from his Life) perhaps a Catholick too. That Lady still exposes her self to dangerous Li­berties, to Scandalous Privacies, which are en­couragements to sin; still she sleeps away un­concernedly the better part of her precious hours (every moment of which might gain her [Page 26] an Eternity;) or she Dreams them away wak­ing upon new Garbs and Fashions: As if for that concern alone she thought her self plac'd in this World; she is still most lavishly Expen­sive in her Dress, which makes her as narrow Hearted to the Poor; and yet she is a Chri­stian, and a Catholick too. In fine, they still conform to the Maxims of the World: They little concern themselves in the Great Affair of their Salvation, and yet they all pretend to a place in Paradise as well as we. But tell us not, (continues the Holy Doctor,) tell us not, how such and such do Live, but how the Gospel teaches them to Live, Let them not invite us by their ill example, but rather by the Rule of their Religion, the Doctrine and Life of Je­sus Christ. Non dicant quomodò isti vivunt tam multi, sic vivamus. Quare non potius, quomodo dicit Evangelium?

But as the malitiously subtle World, re­solv'd to nipp our Religious Commence­ments in the very Bud; proposes on the one side the Scandalous Examples of Vicious Livers to invite us: So on the other side, it objects the apparent Difficulties which occur to us in the Exercise of Virtue, to deter and fright us, It makes a change of Life appear a thing im­practicable [Page 27] by Flesh and Blood: The Con­quering of our Passions, a Combat to be under­taken by more than Man: Mortification the Burying of ones self Alive; In fine, it represents to us Penance with such a ghastly and fright­ful Visage, that many Sinners have scarcely Courage to look upon it: But this is a Cheat the World puts upon us. The face indeed of Pe­nance is a little rough, but her Conversation is Sweet and Delightful. We may properly apply to this Subject the Words of the Learned Moralist Seneca, which he himself made use of writing to his Friend, To Arm him with Courage against the Fears of Death Tolle (said he, Ad­dressing himself to Death without the shew of Fear) Tolle istam pompam, sub qua lates & stul­tos Epist. 24 territas, mors es; quam nuper servus meus, quam ancilla contempsit! Take, take away that frightful shew, with which thou appearest to scar Fools; Remove those Sables, cover that Earthly Paleness, dry up those Tears of Relations and Friends! Take, take away the appearances of Horrour that disguise thee! Mors es, Thou art no more than Death, that Bugbear nothing, which lately my very Bond-slave Encountered with Scorn; Mors es; quam nuper servus meus, quam ancilla contempsit. The same proportion­ably [Page 28] may we also say of a Life of Penance; Tolle istam pompam sub quâ lates: Take, take away that mask of Terrour which disguises thee, to frighten Cowards in Religion! Silence those hard and terrifying Names, of Mortifica­tion, Self-denyal, Struggling and Combating with Flesh and Blood! Shew thy self to us in thy proper Colours! Penitentia es; Thou art but Penance: A Life, this ignorant Plough-man, that tender Girl have passed through with Courage, Aug. lib. Conf.and are Crowned for it, Et tu non poteris quod isti & istae? And cannot you do like these and these? Know you no better things than that vile Peasant? Own you your self to have a lesser Heart than that poor Girl? And shall these snatch▪ from you the Kingdom of Heaven? Take, (Convert!) take this Thought to heart! You'l find a Life of Penance no such Monster, when such and such have Courage enough to tame it! And their Examples as sharp a Spur to Egg you on in the way of Virtue, as those can be of Vicious Livers to draw you back!

Then let us not be daunted at the Frighful Arguments of the World; but rather set be­fore us the example of the Beggar in the Go­spel, and take▪ his method for our Rule. The multitude indeed rebuk'd him for his Clamour; [Page 29] but he increas'd it, instead of being Silent at their check: Increpabant eum ut taceret; ipse verò multò magis clamabat. This remarkable circumstance recommends to us most particu­larly the virtue of Constancy and Perseverance in the practice of good Works, as the surest means of surmounting those Difficulties, which are often objected to us by Flesh and Blood, to deter us from the Accomplishment and Per­fection of them: Perfectio boni operis perseve­rantia est. Had the Beggar been daunted at the rebuke of the Multitude, his Prayer had not arriv'd to the Ears of Christ. And if every opposition can make us turn our backs, we may often enter the Lists to Fight, but our Cowardise will not suffer us to be Crown'd.

We must do in our Conversions to God Al­mighty, as Abraham did in his Sacrifice, when the Birds descended to disturb him in it, Abra­ham (as we read in the Book of Genesis,) 15. 11. had prepar'd the Flesh of certain Victims clean and neat, to offer them in Holocaust to God Al­mighty: But whilst he was occupy'd in this Religious Care, Descenderunt Volucres super ca­davera: Certain unclean and hungry Birds of Prey, (drawn thither peradventure by the scent of the Bodies,) came fluttering about [Page 30] him, attempting with their durty Beaks and Tallons upon those Sacred Limbs designed by him for the Holocaust. What did that Holy Patriarch in this Distraction? In this distur­bance of his Devotions? Abigebat eas; He drove them unconcernedly away. And as they re­turn'd, he drove them away again; pursuing still with greater Fervour that Holy Work, the greater was the Molestation he suffer'd in it: 'Till at last they left him, and undisturbedly he finished his Sacrifice. So it is with those Sinners who prepare themselves by a change of Life, to offer up to God Almighty a Grateful Sacrifice of a Contrite Heart. They meet indeed with Unclean Birds, that flutter about them to disturb them too; These are the Temptations of their past Life, which often return in their Devotions, attempting to Pollute the Purity of this new Victim with unclean Thoughts; Luxury slings durt upon our good Resolutions of living Chaste; Gluttony upon our purposes of quitting our Riotous and Debauched Lives; Sloth upon our Vigilancy in the Service of God, and the great concern for the Salvation of our Souls; and so for the rest: But drive those Birds away. (Parley not with your Temptations) and as they turn upon you, drive them away again. Doubt [Page 31] not, at last they'l leave you, that you may un­disturbedly compleat your Sacrifice; that is, may perfect the Work of your Conversion, and the Church with Joy may see the Fruits thereof.

These, Christians, are the weighty Reflecti­ons that offer themselves to our most Serious Thoughts upon the Moral Examination of this Text. The Corporal Blindness of that Poor Beggar represents to us the Spiritual Blindness of a Soul in Sin. Which Blindness, (if we form a right Conceit of it) is so deplorable in regard of sinful Christians, who have their understan­ding open'd by the Light of Faith, and yet re­main insensible of their Misery; that properly with their Eyes open, they see nothing; Apertis oculis nihil vident. Those indeed amongst us who are desirous to have their Eye-sight clear'd, to discover their own Nakedness, (such a Dis­covery being a principal Disposition to a true Conversion;) have also a method given them by our Blind Beggar, how to Address them­selves to Jesus Christ for the recovery of their Sight: Domine, ut videam! Lord, that I may see! He call'd on Christ with a loud voice, Cla­mavit; and so must we; but (in a ready com­plyance with S. Austin's Sage Advice,) let not barely our Tongues call on him, but our Lives [Page 32] also. The Beggar heard himself Rebuked by the Multitude, and commanded to hold his Peace, Increpabant eum ut taceret. The same rough usage must we expect from the Tempta­tions of the World and VVorldly Livers, whose malitious endeavours are to retard our Progress in the way of Virtue. Let us then no more re­gard them than the Blind man did the Peoples check, that so Our Voice may reach the Ears of Christ. Vouchsafe us then, dear Son of David, as thou didst the Blind man in the Gospel, a Gracious Respice, Look up, and see! Clear our Understandings of those Clouds, which Pas­sion and Ignorance have drawn before them! Grant us the Exercise of a lively Faith, to dis­cover those Sacred Truths, which are conceal'd from the Eye of the VVorld! Purify our Souls from Sin, and render them capable of beholding that Invisible Being, which is only the Object of a clean Heart. That arriving to the right knowledge of Thee in quality of our last End, and chiefest Good, we may Love Thee, Praise Thee, and Enjoy Thee for Ever. Amen.