Man become guilty, or, The corrruption of nature by sinne, according to St. Augustines sense written originally in French by Iohn-Francis Senault ; and put into English by ... Henry, Earle of Monmouth. — Homme criminel. English

Man become guilty, or, The corrruption of nature by sinne, according to St. Augustines sense written originally in French by Iohn-Francis Senault ; and put into English by ... Henry, Earle of Monmouth. — Homme criminel. English

Table of contents

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Title page

TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE, FRANCES, Countesse of Rutland, wife to IOHN Earle of RUTLAND.

THE AUTHOURS PREFACE.

A Table of the severall Treaties and Discourses handled in this Book.

Of the Corruption of Nature by SINNE: The First Treatise: Of Originall Sin, and the Effects thereof.

The First Discourse.

The second Discourse.

The third Discourse.

The fourth Discourse.

The fifth Discourse.

The sixth Discourse.

The seventh Discourse.

The eighth Discourse.

The ninth Discourse.

The tenth Discourse.

OE THE CORRUPTION OF the Soul by SINNE: The Second Treatise:

The First Discourse.

The second Discourse.

The third Discourse.

The fourth Discourse.

The fifth Discourse.

The sixt Discourse.

The seventh Discourse.

The eighth Discourse.

The ninth Discourse.

The tenth Discourse.

OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE VERTUES: The Third Treatise:

The First Discourse.

The second Discourse.

The third Discourse.

The fourth Discourse.

The fift Discourse.

The sixth Discourse.

The seventh Discourse.

The eigth Discourse.

The ninth Discourse.

The tenth Discourse.

OF THE CORRUPTION OF MANS BODY BY SIN: The Fourth Treatise:

The First Discourse.

The second Discourse.

The third Discourse.

The fourth Discourse.

The fifth Discourse.

The sixth Discourse.

The seventh Discourse.

The eighth Discourse.

The ninth Discourse.

The tenth Discourse.

OF THE CORRUPTION OF All exteriour Goods, called by the name of FORTVNE. The Fifth Treatise:

The First Discourse.

The second Discourse.

The third Discourse.

The fourth Discourse.

The fifth Discourse.

The sixth Discourse.

The seventh Discourse.

The eighth Discourse.

The ninth Discourse.

The tenth Discourse.

OF THE CORRUPTION OF ALL CREATVRES. The Sixth and last Treatise:

The First Discourse.

The second Discourse.

The third Discourse.

The fourth Discourse.

The fifth Discourse.

The sixth Discourse.

The seventh Discourse.

The eighth Discourse.

The ninth Discourse.

The tenth and last Discourse.

ERRATA.

Printed or sold by William Leake at the Crown in Fleetstreet, between the two Temple Gates: these Books following.

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HENRICUS Dom CARY; Baro de Leppingtō; Com de MONMOVTH

Prae nob Ord Baln EQVES.

W. Marshall fecit.

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Man become Guilty, OR THE CORRUPTION OF NATVRE BY SINNE, According to St. AUGUSTINES sense.

Written originally in French, By Iohn-Francis Senault.

And put into ENGLISH By the Right Honble HENRY Earle of Monmouth.

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LONDON, Printed for William Leake, and are to be sold at his Shop at the signe of the Crown in Fleetstreet, betwixt the two Temple Gates, 1650.

TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE, FRANCES, Countesse of Rutland, wife to IOHN Earle of RUTLAND.

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Madam,

GIve me leave, I beseech you, to present you with this Copy of a Master-piece, drawn in its Originall by as rare a hand as I have met withall; the which I am the rather encouraged to doe, for that I have experienced your Goodnesse to be such, as may make [Page] me presume upon your Pardoning such Faults as your Iudicious eye shall observe therein, especially since they are committed by so Profest and so Obliged a Servant of your Ladiships: and further, for that All that have the Honor to know you, know you to have Piety enough to practice what is therein prescribed as allowed of, and to shun the Contrary (both which you will finde Rarely drawn to the life by the Authour, though perhaps but Slubberd over by the Copyer, in almost every Chapter of this book) Loyaltie enough not to transgresse the boundaries therein praescribed to due Allegeance, and to detest the severall Revolts you shall finde mentioned therein; Iudgement enough to discern, and I hope to approve of the Eloquence, Philosophy, History, and Divinity, which you shall see therein Handsomely and Methodically interwoven: to which if you will adde Charity enough (a vertue so Eminent in your Ladiship, as it is not to be Doubted of) to pardon the faults escaped in the Presse, I shall thread it to the rest of my Obligations; [Page] since though they cannot in a Direct line be imputed to Me, yet by Reflection (as not having had a sufficient Care to peruse the Proofes) they may seem to have an Influence upon Me; to which I must plead, my not being in Town whilest the Presse went, and that I have made an Amends by printing an Errata, which I shall desire whosoever buyes this book, to see bound up with it for his better satisfaction.

Madam,

When to this Goodnes, Piety, Loyalty, Iudgement and Charity, the Honour shall be added which you derive from that Noble Stock whence you are Immediately descended, and that which you atcheive from that Antient Stock of Honour into which you are so happily Engrafted, I hope that my Choise of Dedication will by all men be approved of: and I shall think my Labour very well Bestowed and Highly Recompenced, if your Ladiship shall please to peruse this Rough-hewn Coppy at such Leasure-houres as I pend it; and if you [Page] shall find anything therein which may make you thinke your Time that meane while not Mis-spent; or which may sometimes bring the Humblest of your Servants into your Thoughts, He shall have obtained the Height of his Ambition, who is,

Madam

Whatsoever your Ladiship shall please to Create him, MONMOUTH.

THE AUTHOURS PREFACE.

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PRide hath made so powerfull an impression in the soule of man, as that all the paines he suffers are not able to efface it. He is proud amidst his Misfortunes; and though he have lost all those Advantages which caused Vaine-glory in him, yet ceaseth he not to be vaine-glorious amidst his Miseries. He is still flattered in his Exile with those promises which the Devill made him in Paradise: though he be slave to as many Masters as he hath Passions, yet he aspires to the Worlds Soveraignty; though his Doubts doe sufficiently prove his Ignorance, yet doth he pretend Vult homo imitari Deum sed perversè, non esse sub illius potestate, sed habere contra illum potestatem. Aug. in Psal. 60. to the Knowledge of Good and Evill; and though all the Sicknesses which assaile him, teach him that he is Mortall, yet doth he promise to himselfe Immortality. But, that which is more insupportable, and which renders his fault more insolent, is; that he hopes to arrive at all this happinesse by his Owne Strength: he thinks nothing impossible to a creaure that is Free and Rationall, that his Good depends upon his Will; and that without any other help then what he drawes from Nature, he may acquit himselfe of his Losses, and Recover his Innocence.

This Errour being the Outmost of all our evils, Religion labours only how to dis-abuse us therein, and all her Commandements and Advices tend only to make us Sensible of our misfortune. The Sacrifices teach us that we have deserved Death; the Law teacheth us that we are Blind, and the Difficulty we find in Keeping it doth prove our Want of Power. Grace doth yet more strongly insinuate this truth unto us; sh: u [...]dertakes not to cure us, till she hath perswaded us that we are Sick; and the First thing which she makes us acknowledge, is our Ignorance and Weaknesse. Nature, as proud as she is, agrees in this point with Grace: her Disorders are so many [Page] Instructions, which will not suffer us to doubt of our Miseries; the Neque enim sub Deo justo [...]iser esse [...] potest, [...] mer [...]tur. [...]g. L. oper. [...]. Vnfaithfulnesse of our Senses, our Passions revolt, and the Fighting of those Elements which environ us, and whereof we are Composed, are Proofes which will convince the most Opinionated.

It must also be confest, that the Wisest Philosophers have acknowledged that there was a Hidden Cause of all these Disorders; and being prest by their Consciences, they have confest, that since Nature deales more hardly with Vs than with her Other Children, some secret fault must of necessity have been, which hath incensed her against us. The Platonists imagined, that our soules were infused Poenam i [...]am esse quis dubitet? omnis autem poena si justa est peccati poena est, & supplicium nominatur. D Aug. lib. 3. de Arbitr. cap. 18. in o our Bodies, only to Expiate those sins on Earth, which they had committed in Heaven; the Academicks did not differ much from their opinion, and though in their complaints they did sometime lose that Respect which they ought to God yet did they confesse, that our Faults did precede our Miseries, and that the Heavens were too Iust to pun [...]h the Innocent.

Only the Stoicks, whose whole Philosophy is enlivened with Vain-glory, did beleeve that if man were irregular, 'twas only because he Would be so; and that as his Liberty had been the sole Cause of his Mischiefe, it m [...]ght also be the sole Remedy thereof: they imagined, that if he would take Nature and Reason for his Bonum hominis, animus & ratio in animo perfecta: quid autem ab illo exigis? rem facillimum, secundùm Naturam vivere. Senec. Epist. 41. guides, he might get againe into the path of Vertue, from whence he had Strayed, and that in so good a Schoole, he might easily reforme his Disorders and recover his Innocence. Peligianisme may be said to have had its Originall ris [...] with this proud Sect, and that diverse ages before Pelagius his birth, Zeno and [...]eneca had tane upon them the Defence of Corrupted Nature; for they allotted all her disorders to mans Constitution and Education; no [...] knowing any other sinnes save such as be meerly Voluntary, they were ignorant of that sinne which we inhe [...] from our Ancestors, and which preceding our Birth, makes us Crimin [...]ll ere we be Rationall: they taught precepts to shun Sin, h [...]y framed a method to acquire Vertue, and proposing no other helps to their Disciples then Reason and Liberty, they upheld them in their Vain glory, and did not assist them in their Weaknesse. These two Idols seemed powerfull enough to overcome all their Enemies, and not knowing that Reason was Blind, and Liberty a Captive, they impudently affirmed that there were no Inclinations so Bad, nor Habits so Obstinate, as [Page] might not be overcome by this weak assistance; they boasted that their felicity depended upon their Owne proper Power, that they might be happy in Despight of Heaven, and that though their happinesse were not of so long Durance, yet was it of the same Tranquillity as that of God. Est aliqu id quo sapiens antecedat Deum: ecce res magna habere imbecillitatem hominis securitatem Dei. Senec. Epist. 44.

Amongst so many Impieties and Blasphemies which Pride extorted from out their mouthes, they [...] not sometime to betray their owne cause, and publquely to acknowledge their owne Misery: For Nature, which cannot lye long, made them find her disorders, and forced them to confesse, that Faults were learnt without Teachers, that we are Borne out of Order, and that wee have much Stronger inclinations to Vice then to Vertue.

Their Sect was borne down when the Pelagians raised up their Oblivione [...] & [...] non [...]bjacere pec [...]ato quo [...]am [...]on secun [...]ùm [...]oluntatem sed secundum necessitatem eveniunt Dogma suit. Pelagij. heresie upon its ruines, and when undertaking to defend Corrupted Nature they declared warre against the Grace of Iesus Christ; they made all our Disorders to passe for Natural Effects, they laught at Originall Sin and maintained that Man had no Other off [...]nces then what he committed by his Own proper Will: they thought all our Bad inclinat [...]ons sufficiently recompenced by Liberty, and confiding strangely in their Owne Strength, they would not be beholden to Grace, to withstand Vice, nor to defend Vertue. Though Item victoriam nostram non esse ex Dei adjutorio sed ex libero arbitrio. St. Austin by his Learning and Humility hath triumphed over this proud and learned heresie, yet hath it out-lived that defeat, and found partakers after his Death: we run into the errours thereof at unawares, we speak the Language of the Pelagians, not having their Beliefe; and attributing more to Liberty, or Free-will, then to Grace, we will be Our Selves, the Authors of our Salvation.

To remedy this evill, which appears, much more in our Actions then in our Words, I thought it became me to represent the deplorable Condition whereinto Sinne had reduced Nature; and to make it evident in this worke, that there is no faculty of our Soules, nor part of our Bodies, which is not out of order. The profit will not be small, if we can tell how to husband it well: for to b [...]ot that our Misery will cause confusion in us by reason of our Sinne, and make us abborre it, 'twill lessen the haughty Confidence which we have in our Free-will, and make us acknowledge the Need we have to be assisted by Crace: the being sensible of our Malady, will be a Disposition to our Cure, and the weight of our Irons [Page] may serve to heighten our Saviours Merits. The high opinion we have of our Owne strength, is injurious to His Glory, and those Vicinior est [...]mmortalitati sanitas d [...]lentis quàm stupor non sentientis A [...]g. in Psal. 55. good inclinations of Nature, which we call Seeds of Vertue, doe not seem to lessen Adams sin, save so farre as to set a greater value upon the Grace of Iesus Christ: but the perfect knowledge of our Misery, cannot but produce good eff [...]cts: and when we shall be fully perswaded that we can doe nothing that is pleasing to God; without his Son's help, we will endeavour to obtain that assistance by our Prayers, and to procure it by our Teares.

Following this designe, I shall then make it appeare, that there Lacrymae non [...] sed merentur. Greg. Mag. is an Originall sinne, which is the fruitfull Spring-head of all our Misfortunes, and penetrating to within the Soule of Man, I will shew that her principall faculties retaine no longer their first Purity, nor their anc [...]ent Vigour, and that all the Vertues which are the Workmanship thereof, are accompanied with so many Def [...]cts, as that they doe not deserve the glorious Name which they beare. From thence I shall descend to mans Body, the Constitution and Miseries whereof I will examine. Then, quitting Man, I shall consider all the Obiects which doe environ him, and which may cause Love or Hatred in him. And concluding finally by the Disorders which are in the World, I will shew that the Parts wherof it is Composed, have been out of Order, only since Sinne: I'le prove that Deluges and Devastations by Fire, are punishments which Divine Iustice hath invented to punish Guilty man withall; and will make it clearly appeare, as I hope, that there were no Monsters nor Poysons in the State of Innocency.

I have in all this my worke endeavour'd to mingle Eloquence with Doctrine; and knowing that I was to be accountable t [...] All the World, I have sometimes suffer'd my thoughts to flie a Lower pitch, that they might be the more intelligible: I have been of Est enim proprium Orato [...] & [...] q [...]. [...] Lib. [...]. de Officiis. opinion that Descriptions did not injure Argumentations, and in writing like a Christian Philosopher, I might b [...] permitt [...]ed to play the Oratour. If any man shall thinke me too Copious, I am of His opinion; but to boot that this fault wants neither Example nor Excuse; I have striven to use no manner of Enlargement, but what would bring with it some New Light to the Vnderstanding, and which might serve for Ornament to the Truth, if not for her Defence.

A Table of the severall Treaties and Discourses handled in this Book.

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The first Treatise. Of Originall Sin, and the effects thereof.

Discourse.

1 THat Faith acknowledgeth Originall sin: That Nature hath a feeling thereof, and that Philosophy suspects it. Page 1

2 What the state of Man was before sin. p 8

3 Of what kind the first sin which Adam committed was. p. 12

4 How Adam sin did communicate it selfe to those that are descended from him. p. 16

5 Of the nature of Concupiscence. p. 20

6 The pursute of the same subject, and divers descriptions of Concupiscence. p. 26

7 That Selfe-love is nothing else but Concupiscence. p. 28

8 That Concupiscence, or Selfe-love, divides it selfe into the love of Pleasure, of Honour, and of Knowledge. p. 33

9 Wherefore Concupiscence remaines i [...] Man after Baptisme. p. 38

10 That Gods Iustice hath permitted that man should be divided within himselfe, for the pun [...]shment of his sin. p. 42

The second Treatise. Of the corruption of the Soule by Sin.

Discourse.

1 OF the Souls Excellenc [...], and of the miseries which she hath contracted by sin. p. 47

[Page] 2 That the sonle is become a slave unto the body by reason of sin. p. 55

3 Of the weaknesse which humane understanding hath contracted by sinne. p. 61

4 That there is no error into which human understanding hath not plunged it selfe since the state of sin. p. 68

5 That Reason in Man is become blinde, and a slave since sin p. 77

6 That Memory hath lost her vigor by the meanes of sin, and that she agrees not very well with Iudgement. p. 80

7 That Concupiscence is neither a good Iudge nor faithfull witnesse since sin. p. 86

8 Of the unrulinesse of the will and of its inclination to Evill. p. 91

9 That the will, to be able to doe good, must be set free from the servitude of sin by the grace of Iesus Christ. p. 97

10 That evill habits bereave the will of her liberty, by ingaging her in Evill. p. 103

The third Treatise. Of the corruption of the Vertues.

Discourse.

1 APaneggrick of Morall Vertue. p. 109

2 That Morall Vertue hath her faults. p. 115

3 That vain glory is the soule of the Vertue of Infidels. p 122

4 That the Vertue of Infidels cannot be true. p 128

5 That Wisdome without Grace, is blinde, weak, and malignant. p. 134

6 That there is no true Temperance nor Iustice amongst the Pagans. p. 140

7 That the Fortitude of the Pagans is but weaknes or vanity. p. 149

8 That friendship without grace is alwayes interested. p. 156

9 That the uncertainty and obscurity of Knowledge derives from si [...]ne. p. [...]65

10 That Eloquence is an enemy to Reason, Truth, and Religion. p, [...]73

The fourth Treatise. Of the corruption of Mans Body by sin.

Discourse.

1 OF the Excellencies of Mans Body. p. 182

2 Of the Miseries of the Body in generall. p. 190

3 Of the Infidelity of the Senses p. 195

4 That the Passions are fickle, or wilde. p. 201

5 That the health of Man is prejudiced by sicknesse. p. 207

6 [...] the Bodies beauty is become perishable and criminall. p. 214

7 That the life of man is short and miserable. p. 225

8 That Death is the punishment of sin. p. 231

9 What advantages we may draw from Death by meanes of Grace. p. 237

10 That Sleep is a punishment of sin, as well as the Image of Death; and that it bereaves us of Reason, as Dreames doe of Rest. p. 243

The fifth Treatise. Of the corruption of all exterior Goods, called by the name of FORTUNE

Discourse.

1 THat we must feare what we desire, and desire what we feare, p. 249

2 That Honour is no longer the rec [...]mpence of Vertue. p. 255

3 That Greatnesse i [...] attended by Slave [...]y and Vanity. p. 261

4 That the Birth and Cruelty of Wa [...]re derives from sin. p. 270

5 That Riches render m [...]n poore and sinfull. p. 278

6 That since the losse of Innocency poverty is glorious. p. 284

7 That aparrell is a mark of sin. p. 290

8 That the shame which [...] Nakednesse, is a punishment for our offence. p. 296

9 That Build [...]ngs are the work of necessity, pleasure, or vain. glory. 302

10 That the greatest part of our pas [...]mes are occasions of sin. p. 3 [...]

The sixth and last Treatise. Of the Corruption of all Creatures.

Discourse.

1 OF the beauty, greatnesse, and duration of the world. p. 319

2 That all creatures have lost some of their perfections. p. 328

3 That the Sunne hath lost much of his light and vertue through sin. p. 335

4 That there is no creature which men have not adored. p. 341

5 That all creatures do either tempt or persecute man. p. 348

6 That it is more secure to sequester a mans self from the creatures, than to make use of them. p. 355

7 That Deluges and Earth-quakes are the punishments of the world become corrupted. p. 361

8 That Thunder, Plagues and Tempests, are the effects of sin. p. 368

9 That Monsters and poysons are the workmanship of sin p. 377

10 That God will consume the world corrupted by sin, that he may make a new world. p.

Of the Corruption of Nature by SINNE: The First Treatise: Of Originall Sin, and the Effects thereof.

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The First Discourse.

That Faith acknowledgeth Originall Sin: That Nature hath a feeling thereof: and That Phylosophie suspects it.

THough mans misery witnesse his sin, and that to believe he is guilty, sufficeth to prove his misery; yet is there no one Truth in Christian Religion, more strongly withstood by prophanePhylosophers then is this; shee cannot allow of a chastisement which punisheth the father in his children, neither can shee conceive a sin which precedes our reason as well as our birth; Shee appeals from so rigorous a decree, and thinks to defend Gods cause in pleading ours: Shee attributes all our disorders to our constitution, she imputes our errours to our education, and the greatest part [Page] of our irregularities to the bad employing of our time: She Errasti, si existimas nobiscum vitianasci supervenerunt ingesta sunt. Sen. Epist. 94. opposeth experience by arguing, and what ever misery shee makes tryall of shee will not acknowledge the cause; shee thinks a man may herein defend himselfe by reason, and that there being no sin which is naturall, neither is there any which may not be amended by will alone: shee makes use of the examples of Socrates, Aristides, and Cato: shee opposeth these Sages to our Saints, and pretends that the works of Nature yield not to those of Grace: Briefly, shee corrupteth the purity of our beliefe by the subtilty of her reasoning; and whereas Christians ought to convert all Phylosophers, some Christians are perverted by Phylosophers. We confesse Originall sinne because we dare not deny it; We avow that it hath bereft us of Grace, but assure our selves that it hath left us an entire Liberty; We confesse it hath robb'd us of our innocencie, but maintain that we may recover our innocencie by the means of reason, and that if we cannot merit heaven, we may at least secure our selves from hell: We admire the famous Actions of Infidels; our eyes are dazl'd with the lustre they receive from the writings of Phylosophers; we side, at unawares, with Nature against Grace, and through an inconsiderate zeale: We will have their delusive vertues rewarded with a true happinesse.

Yet notwithstanding to believe original sin, is one of the prime Articles of our Faith; if Adam were not guilty; Jesus Christ was not necessary; and if Humane nature be yet in her first purity, it's in vain that we seek a Saviour: Hence In causa duorum hominum quorum per unuro venum detisumus sub peccato, per [...]lterum redimimur à peccatis proprie fides Christiana Consistit. Aug. lib de peccato. Origin. cap. 24 it is that the great Apostle of the Gentiles doth so often in his Epistles oppose sin to grace; servitude to freedome; and Adam to Jesus Christ; he is pleased to represent unto us the disorders of Nature, to make us admire the effects of Grace, and he glories in his Infirmities, the more to heighthen the advantages of Redemptiō, He teacheth us that we are conceived in sin, and that at our first enterance into the world we are the objects of Gods wrath. He shews us that Adams sin is shed abroad throughout mankind, That his Malady is become a contagion, and that all the Children that do descend from this unfortunate Father are Criminall, and Miserable. The Prophets agree with the Apostles, and this truth is not much less Evident in the Old Testament then in the New. The most patient & most afflicted of al men cōplaines of the misfortunes of his birth, and makes such just imprecations against the moment wherin he was conceived, as we may easily conceive, he [Page] thought it not void of fault. David Pereat dies in quâ natu [...] sum, & nox in quâ dictum est conceptus est homo. Job 3. confesseth he was conceived in sin, and that though he were born in lawfull Matrimony, his birth ceaseth not to be shamefully sinfull.

The Church confirmes this truth unto us, by as many Paradoxes, as the instructions are, which she giveth us. And knowing that her words serves for laws unto her Children, she is pleased to tell us, that Adam's sin is ours, That the miseries which we undergoe, are the punishments of his disobedience, That Divine Justice hath condemned us in Him: That our misfortune and His sinne did precede our Birth, And that contrary to all the Laws of Morality, we be guilty before we are reasonable. Faith perswades us to these Truths, and without troubling our selves to seek Proofs to strengthen them, we in all humility believe what we cannot evidently know; But because Phylosophy is a Rebel to Faith, and that she is more swayd by reason, then by the Authority of the Church, I will convince her by reason, and make her confess, that we could not be irregular, if we were not guilty.

All Phylosophers confess, Princeps & Domina carnis naturaliter anima est quae domare carnem debet & regere. August. contra Julian, lib. 2. cap. 8. That man is Composed of a body & soul, And that when Divine Providence did first forme him, she mingled Beast with Angell, and that she gathered Heaven and Earth together to finish her Noblest piece of workmanship. If Passion have not prevail'd over reason in these great men, they must confess that when God did this his Chiefest work, he did so well accord the two Parts which went to the Composition thereof, as that the body obey'd the soul, & the Angell comanded over the Beast. They must acknowledge that God observ'd the same Order in the Composing of man, as he did in the making of the world, and that as he submitted the Earth to the Influences of the Heavens, he did likewise assubject Passion to reason, and the Appetite to the will. And since they observe this decent order to be no longer kept, they ought necessarily to infer, that sin is the cause thereof, And that man hath lost these advantages only because he hath not preserved his Innocency. For what likelyhood is there, that two Parts joyned together, should not indure one another, that they should mutually love and hate each other, that the flesh should wage war with the soul, which gives it life, and that the soule should complain of the others insolency, which serves her as an Officer or Abetter, Etiam sine magistro vi [...]ia disc [...]. Seneca lib. 3. quaest. c. 30. whence is it that our inclinations are out of Order, before we have acquired any [Page] bad Habits, that our faults precede evill examples, that we know what evill is, not having learned it, and that the soul follows the inclinations of her body, before she hath tasted the delights thereof: whence is it, that sin is naturall to us, that in us it preceeds the use of reason, that notwithstanding all its deformities, it becomes pleasing, and that vertue with all her comlinesse seem austere unto us. Certainly, he who shall conceive aright, the reason thereof, will be obliged either to blame Divine Providence, or els to condemne the sinfulness of the first man, who losing originall Justice, deprived all his Children thereof, And who making us inherit his disorders, made us criminall, before rationall.

The Morall Vertues, which Phylosophers boast so much off, doe authorize the beleife of originall sin. For though they perswade themselves, that man by the assistance thereof may overcome sin; and that God did not Compose him of two rebellious Parts, save only to increase his merit, and to leave unto him the glory of finishing it; yet the use of vertue doth sufficiently prove his irregularity, and it is sufficient to acknowledge that he was born guilty, since we know he is obliged to become vertuous. For vertue is not a production of Nature, but an invention of Art, she is not infused, but acquired, and the Pains she causeth, fully equall the Pleasures which she promiseth. She presupposeth that man is out of order, since she hath a design to reforme him, and that he is sick since she endeavours to cure him. All her exercises are so many Combats, all her enemies are born in the very Place where she sets upon them, and the industry she is forced to make use off to drive them thence, doth sufficiently witness that they govern there before her; in effect man is weak, before he hath acquired fortitude, he is foolish before wise, and ere temperate, unchast, his vertues are proofs of his vices, his last victories are signes of his former defeats, and the succour which he is enforced to seek for, from without himselfe, is a witness of his disorder and weakness. This it was that made Conit [...]ntia tam concupiscentiae testis est quam host is. August. St: Augustine say, that continency is as well a witness as an enemy of concupiscence, & that althose glorious habits which fight against our sins do manifest them.

If vertue make us suspect our misery, the Creatures revolt makes us know our sinfulness; and he who shall consider that man is in the world, as in an enemies Country, will have no great difficulty to judge that he is Criminall. Reason unasisted by Faith is sufficient to [Page] make us Comprehend that man is the Image of God; [...] That he is g Itaque foeliciter homo natus jacet manibus pedibusque devinctis, flens animal caeteris imperaturum & à suppliciis vitam vispicatur unam tantum ob culpam quia natum est. Plin. lib. 6. proem. his Lieutenant upon Earth, That all Creatures owe him homage, and that he ought to Reigne in the World: either as a visible Angell, or as a Mortall God. The Place he beares in the Universe challengeth this Advantage; and reason which raiseth him above Beasts, gives him the Sovereignty over them, since all things are made for his use, all must be submitted to his will. And since he must Reign with God in Heaven, he must begin to Reign for him upon the Earth; This notwithstanding all Creatures make war upon him, they deal with him, rather as with a Tyrant, then Lawfull Sovereign: They obey him not, but by Force, And it is easie to be seen, That having lost the right that he had over them, he cōands them, now, only by violence, if he draw any service from beasts, its after having been either their Slave, or their Tyrant. If Omnis creatura pugnabit contra insensatos. the earth be fruitfull, its after having been watered with his sweat, and rent in peeces by the Plough; If the Sea bear his vessels tis not without threatning them with shipwrack. If Aire contribute to his respiration, it suffers also corruptions, whereby to forme contagions, and sicknesses; If the winde fils his sails, it also raiseth Tempests, and drownes his vessels, If fire serve him in all his Arts, it mingles it self with Thunder, and taketh revenge for all the Injuries it hath received from him.

This generall insurrection is a token and punishment of his offence, had he preserved his integrity he had never lost his Authority, and had he not falne from his innocency he had never forgon his Throne. Phylosophy as haughty as she is, cannot deny but that man is the prey of wild beasts, and the victime of their fury, that he is exposed to the rigour of the Aire, and to the unseasonableness of the weather, she must confess that he hath no subject which is not rebellious, that there is no place within his Territories which is not his enemy, and there is no part of his body which is not either disobedient or unfaithfull to him, whence proceeds this disorder, if not from his sin whence proceeds so universall a rebellion, if not from his disobedience, and why should he have lost his authority in the world, if he had not lost his innocency, which was the foundation thereof, I very well know that Phylosophers who knew not the state of sin, endeavour to excuse this insurrection, alledging it is naturall, but who sees not the excusing of man, is to blame God, and that to leave innocency, to the Creature, is to bereave God of his Providence: [Page] The Elements began not to prosecute man, till he became criminall, and God is so good and just as he would not have made him subject [...] poena, [...] [...]sta est pe [...] poena est & supplicium nominatur. Porro quia de omnipotentia Dei & justitia dubitare dementis est justa haec poena est, & pro peccato aliqup ponditur. Aug lib 2. de lib. arbit. c. 18. to these sufferings, had he not found him guilty. His Sovereignty never gives against his justice, he makes such moderate use of his power as he never injures his Providence, what ever power he may justly challenge over the Creature, he condemns it not till it hath offended, who will not then term this unruliness of the seasons a punishment, who will not esteem the earths sterility, the like, who will not believe but that the Pestilences and Earth-quakes, Deluges and Punishments by fire, are the just rewards of sin, more ancient then all these disorders; we must also avow that the wisest Phylosophers have acknowledged that there was one cause of all these disorders, and though they neither knew the wickednesse nor the name thereof, they have known it by its effects. Aristotle Exhum [...] v [...]tae erroribus & aerumnis fit, ut verum sit illud quod est apud Aristotelem, sic nostros animos cum corporibus copulatos ut vivos cum mortuis esse conjunctos. Cicer. in Hor [...]s. who may be termed the Genius of Nature, who loved her so passionately, took such pains to study her and so carefully considered her, hath guest at the cause of all the disorders which he observed in her workmanship; He wonders that man cannot tame his passions; that being victorious every where else he is conquered by himself, and that the soul hath not strength nor dexterity to triumph over her body, he cannot comprehend how the noblest workmanship of Nature should be a Monster, that the senses should be unfaithfull, and passions disobedient, and that reason, which is her light should be obfuscated with so many darknesses, he cannot conceive that man being free, should be a slave to so many masters that being furnisht wth knowledg, he should be ingaged in errours, and that being assisted by so many vertues, he should be withstood by so many vices, had he durst have condemned the Diety, he would have found fault with the workmanship thereof, wavering between Religion and impiety, he admires what he knows not, he suspects what he cannot discover, he guesses at what he cannot finde, and amidst these doubts he confesseth that there is some hidden cause which hath produced these disorders; what could a Phylosopher say more, who had only been instructed [...]n the School of Nature? what could a man imagine who never having been enlighted by the beams of Faith, was equally ignorant of Adams innocency and guilt; if he be ignorant of the name of concupiscence? doth not he acknowledge the nature thereof: and if he know not the cause of originall sin, hath he not observed the effects thereof?

[Page] Cicero, Hominem [...]on ut à matre sed ut à noverea natura editum in vitam corpore nudo, fragili infirmo▪ animo antem anxio ad molestiam humili ad timo [...]es molli ad labores▪ prono ad libidies: Rem vidit Cicero causam nescivit. lib. 4. contra Jul. c. 12 who is no less a Phylosopher in his Academick discourses, then Orator in his Orations, complains that Nature is mans Stepdame; that she hath bin negligent in the Master-piece of her workmanship, and that as envying his happiness, shee hath given him a body exposed to the injury of the Aire, to the malice of Maladies, and to the Insolencies of Fortune, that shee hath lodged an unhappy soule, over-born with pains, abashed by fear, faint in labour, and unruly in her delights, in so frail a body: which hath made Saint Augustine confess, that this great Phylosopher had the Cognizance of sin, though he knew not its name, and that he acknowledged the effects of a Cause which he could not discover. Thus reason without faith seems to have found out originall sin; And Phylosophy which makes Nature a Diety hath been enforced to accuse the disorderliness thereof, and to impute unto her the faults, whereof the first man was Author.

Seneca in whose person was united the pride of a Stoick, and vainglory of a Spaniard, and who confesseth no weakness, save such, as he can neither excuse nor conceal, after having pleaded in the behalf of Nature, is obliged to forsake her, he acknowledgeth in a thousand parts of his Writings, that sin is naturall unto us, and that Phylosophy is not sufficient to save us from a Monster, which constitutes a part of ourselves. I Nulli r [...]s vitio natura conciliat, nos illa integros, ac liberos genuit. Sen. Epist. 94. know that he varies in his opinions, that Pride makes him revoke such Confessions as truth hath extorted from out of his mouth and pen, that he complains that we live not as we were born, that we do not preserve those advantages that Nature hath given us, and that seduced by errour, or corrupted by example. Cito nequitia subrepit: virtus diffi ili [...] inventus est Lib. 3. quaest. natural. cap. 3. We commmit errours which she detests, but he quickly alters his minde, and being prest by his own conscience, hee avows that vertue is a stranger, vice naturall to us: hee confesseth that the first men were not more innocent then we, save only in that they were more ignorant; that they had not as yet opened the bowels of the earth, to enrich themselves with her spoyls, nor kill'd beasts to satisfie their appetites, but that they even then had the principles of all these crimes in their souls, and that there is great difference between a man who hath not the knowledge of evill, and him who hath not a desire thereunto. Had Quid ergo ign [...]atia re [...] innocenntes erant. Multum autem interest utrum peccare aliquis nolit an nesciat. S [...]n. Epist 90. sub finem. this Phylosopher read our Histories, and had hee learnt from Moses what past in the beginning of the World; he had plainly seen that vice comes not by degrees, [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] as doth vertue, and that corrupted Nature is a Mistris good enough to teach us, what is ill in giving us life. Murther was Cain's Aprentisage, and the Impieties which wee detest have dishonoured the first ages as well as they do ours, since man was irregular, he became capable of all vice, and since hee lost Originall Justice, hee is faln into all sort of disorders. We polish sins, we invent them not; we commit them with more pompe, not with more wickedness, we only add ornament thereunto. And in a word, wee are not more faulty then our fore-fathers, but more industrious.

In fine, if it be lawfull to make use of Fables to strengthen Truth, and to beat down lies by Poets who are the Authors thereof, I see not a better draught of a man born in sin then that which is represented to us by the Tragoedian in his Thebais. For Infanti quoque decreta mors est, fata quis tam tristia sortitus unquam, videram nondum diem & jam tenebar. Mors me antecessit, aliquis intra viscera materna lethum precocis sati [...] lit, sed numquid & peccavit? Thebaid. Senec. Oedipus recounting the Story of his Misfortunes complains that his death preceded his birth, that his sin preceded his reason, that nature feared him, before she had brought him into the world, that by a strange prodigie he had committed sins before he knew what sin was, that the Heavens whose decrees are so just had declared him criminall, before he was indued with reason, and that his father being a servant to divine justice, had punisht him as soon as his mother had brought him into the world. After this crowd of reasons and authorities, I know not what can be said against the belief of originall sin, who can deny an evill, of whose effects all men have a fellow-feeling; Since all Phylosophers before they knew what name to give it, knew the nature thereof, and all the complaints they have made of our miseries, in their Writings, are so many testimonies born by them to the truth of our Religion.

The second Discourse.

What the state of man was before Sinne.

THough there be nothing more opposite to the state of sin, then the state of innocency, there is not any thing notwithstanding, which better discovers unto us the disorders thereof, and it seems to be a true looking glasse, wherein we may see all the other deformities. To know the greatnesse of mans miserie, wee must know the height of his happinesse; and to know with what weight he fel we must know the height of his dignity. Man was created [Page] with originall righteousnesse; his Divine [...] Quality made a part q Adam sactus est homo, potuit esse aliud quam factus est. [...] ctus est enim justus & potuit esse injust us. Aug. in Se [...]m. contra dictnm Maxim. in append. of his being, and seemed to be the last of his differences. Reason and Grace were not as yet divided, and man finding his perfection in their good Intelligence, was at once both Innocent and rationall: Since sin hath bere [...]t him of this priviledge, he seems to be but half himself, though he hath not changed Nature, he hath changed condition, though he be yet free, he hath lesse power in his own person then in the world; And when he compares himself with himself, hardly can he know himself. In the state of innocency nothing was wanting to his perfection, nor felicity; and whilst he preserved originall righteousness, he might boast to have possessed the spring-head of all that was good. Twas this that united him to God; and which submitting him to his Creator submitted all Creatures unto him; twas this that accorded the soul with the body, and which pacifying the differences which Nature hath plac'd between two such contrary parties, made them find their happinesse in agrement, this it Adam Deo suo à quo erat conditus rectus, nullo prorsu [...] virio depravatus ads [...]abat, Lib. 1. imperf. contra Jul. num. 46. was in fine which displaying certain beams of light about his Countenance, kept wild beasts in obedience and respect. In this happy condition man was only for God, he found his happinesse in his duty, he obeyed with delight, and as Grace made up the perfection of his being, it was not much lesse naturall for him to love God, then to love himself, he did both these Actions by one and the same Principle. The love of himself differed not from the love of God, and the operations of Nature and of Grace, were so happily intermingled, that in satisfying his Necessities, he acquitted himself of his duty, and did as many holy Actions, as naturall and rationall ones. He Hac pralia numquam & numquam ess [...]nt si Natura nostra sicut recta creata est permaneret. Aug. lib. 22. de Civit. cap. 23. sought God and found him in all things; much more happy then wee, he was not bound to seperate himself from himself, that he might unite himself to his Creator. Godlinesse was practised without pain, Vertue was exercised without violence: and that which costs us now so much trouble, cost him nothing but desires: there needed no combates to carry away victory, nor was there any need to call in vertue, to keepe passions within their limits. Obedience was easie to them, nor is Rebellion so naturall unto them now, as was then submission. This Grace Hae igitur partes ira atque libido in paradiso ante peccatum vitiosae non eran [...], non [...] [...] [...] ad [...] [...], [...]de ne [...] esse▪ [...] [...]as ra [...] t [...]mquam [...]renis re [...] [...]. [...] quod nun [...] [...], [...] e [...]t u [...]que [...] [...]x natu [...] sed [...] [...]x [...]. A [...]g. [...]. 14 [...] cap. [...]9. which bound the soule unto the body with bonds as strong as pleasing, united the senses to the Spirit, and assubjected the passions to reason. Morality was a Naturall science; or if it were infused, twas togetther with the soul, and every one [Page] would have been eased of the Pain of acquiring it, all men were born wise, Nature would have served them for a Mistris, and they would have been so knowing even from their births, as they would not have needed either Counsell or Instruction. Originall righteousnesse govern'd their understanding, guided their wills, enriched their memories, and after having done such wonders in their souls, it wrought as many Ille vero pri [...] Adam nulla [...]li [...] a [...] [...]sus s [...] s [...]m tentatus illo be [...]udmis l [...]o su [...] secum [...]ace [...]uebatur. August. lib. de co [...] upt. & gratia cap 11. Prodigies in their bodies; for it accorded the elements whereof they were Composed, it hindred the waters from undertaking any thing against the fire: tempered their qualities, appeased their differences, and did so firmly unite them, as nothing could sever them. Man knew only the name of death; and he had this of comfort, that he knew it was the Punishment of a fault, from which if he would, he might defend himself. All nourishments were to pure that there was nothing superfluous in them, Naturall heat was so vigorous, as it converted all into the substance of the body, & was in all other respects so temperate as it was not prejudiciall to the radicall moisture. Man felt nothing incommodious; & Prudence Sicut in paradiso nullus aestus aut [...]rigus, sic in [...]jus habitatore nul la ex [...]piditate vel ti [...]e bonae voluntatis of [...]nsio. Aug. lib. 14▪ de Civit. cap. 16. was so familiar to him, as he prevented hunger and Thirst before they could cause him any trouble; in his person and in his State, he enjoyed a peacefull quiet, and he was upon good Terms with himself, and with his subjects, because he was the like with his Sovereign, he waited for his reward without anxiety, and grounding himself upon the truth of his Creators promises, he hoped for happinesse without disquiet. Death was not the way to life: there needed no descending to the earth, to mount up to the heavens; the soul fore-went not the body to enjoy her God, and these two parts never having had any variance, were joyntly to tast the same felicity. But when the Devill had cozened the woman, and that the woman had seduced the man he fell from this happy condition, and losing Grace, which caused all his good, he fell into the depth ofall evills. He received a wound which hecould never yet be cured of, he saw himself bereft of his best part, and De [...]rat me Adam & in [...]e [...] s [...], & [...] qu [...]a [...]il pot [...] sin [...] [...]. Aug. [...]. 11. d [...] v [...]ro. [...] could not conceive how being no longer righteous, he continued to be rationall, and left us in doubt whether he was yet man, being no longer Innocent. His Illuminations forsooke him together with Grace, self-love came in the place of Charity, He who before sought nothing but God, began now to seek himself; And he who grounded his happinesse upon his obedience, would build his felicity upon Rebellion, as soon as his soul rebell'd against [Page] God, his body rebell'd against his soul; these two parts changed their love to hatred, and those who lived in so tranquill a peace declared open war one against another, the senses which were guided by the understanding favoured the bodies revolt, and the passions which were subject to reason, contemned her Empire, to inslave themselves to the Tyranny of Opinion.

If man were divided in his person, he was not more fortunate in his condition, wherein he underwent a Generall Rebellion, the Beasts lost their respects, they all became Savage, and violence, or Art is required to the taming of some of them, the Elements began to mutiny H [...] autem bellum nomquam ullum esset si Natura humana [...]er liberum arbitrium in rectitudine in qua facta est persti [...]isset. Aug lib. 21. de Civit. cap. 15. & following their own inclinations they broke the peace which they had sworn unto, in behalf of man whilst Innocent, the Seasons grew unseasonable to hasten the death of man grown guilty, the very heavens alter'd their Influences, and losing their purity suffered some change, thereby to revenge the outrages done to God amidst somany disorders, nothing so much afflicted man as his domestick evills, he defended himself frō wild beasts by force▪ he gain'd the rest by wiles, he saved himself from the Injuries of the Aire, by Cloaths and houses. He by his labour overcame the sterility of the earth, he opposed dikes to the fury of the sea, and if he could not calme the waves thereof, he found means to overcome her stormes, and to triumph over her tempests, he invented Arts to allay the miseries of his life, after having fenced himself from necessity, he sought out pleasure; he would occasion his happinesse, from his losse as it were thereby to upbraid Gods Justice, he changed one part of his paines into pleasures, but he could not reform the disorders, neither of soul, nor body; for all he could doe, he could find no salve for the sicknesse of his soul, and though his haughtines made him hope for help from Phylosophy, he could never reconcile himself, either to God, or himself. After having lost the knowledge of the true God, he framed Idols to himself, weary of having adored the workmanship of his hands, he adored the workmanship of his fancy, after having offered Incense to all Creatures, he became his own Idolater; and forgetting the shame of his birth, the miseries of his life, and the rigour of death, he would have Temples and Altars. When his madnesse would allow of any intermissions, he acknowledged the the danger of his disease, and forct thereunto by pain and shame, he sought for remedies, but selflove wherwith he was blinded, rendered all his cares uselesse through [Page] a capricheousnesse which cannot be conceived, he cherished the evils which afflicted him, and preserving the desires which he had in his Innocency, he would find the accomplishment thereof, in his guiltinesse, he was perswaded that he should find in himself what he had lost in God, and that assisted by a vain Phylosophy, he should make himself fortunate in the midst of his misfortunes. Nothing did more crosse his Cure, then this insolent belief, and nothing did more offend the Grace of Jesus Christ, then his confiding in his own reason and Liberty. God permitted him to lament a long time, to the end that he might be sensible at leasure of his maladie, and Divine goodness deferr'd his deliverance, only to make him confesse his faultiness, he in vain laboured all that he could, before he would be brought to cōfess his misery, & he sought for help from Nature, before he would implore ayd from Grace, he sought out all the means he thought fitting to Cure himself of so vexatious a Malady, and had it not been for despair, he had never found out the way to health, but when he saw that Conquerors for all their power could not deliver him; that Phylosophers could not by all their reasons Comfort him, and that Orators could not lessen his evills by their words; he betooke himself to God, and the misery he indured made him know that nothing but the hand that had hurt him, could heal him.

The third Discourse.

Of what kinde the first Sinne which ADAM committed was.

THe two first sins of the World are the most unknown, and Divines which agree in so many differing subjects have not as yet been able to agree in this. They know that the Angels and man, are become Criminall, but they know not what the nature of their fault is. They know that both of them have violated the laws of God, and that over-weaning their own perfections they have not sufficiently prized the perfections of their Creator they very well know that neither of them have preserved their Innocency; and that weaknesse (which is inseparable from the Creature) hath been the cause of their Fall, but they know not what name to give [Page] to this sinne, nor under what degree to rank this crime, which hath caused so much Mischeife, Some think that the offence Committed by the Angel was so Generall, as in the extent thereof it includes all other offences, that he flew from God by all the wayes it was possible for him to estrange himself from him, that using the utmost ofhis power he grew guilty ofall the wickednesse; which so enlightned a spirit was capable of: whence it is that the holy Scriptures; to teach us the truth thereof, terms his fault somtimes Murther, sometimes Adultery, sometimes Rebellion, though man be not so Active as the Angel, and that his soul confined within his body, be slower in her operations, yet there have been some Divines, who hath given the same Judgment of both their sins, and who have perswaded themselves that Adam by one only offence, became guilty of all sins, that the law which was proposed unto him, conteining in it an Abridgment of all Laws, he could not violate it without violating all the rest; that his disobedience, under one only name Comprehended all sins, and that by one only attempt he Nam & superbia illio est quia homini in sua potius esse quam in Dei potestate dil [...]xit, & sacrilegium qu [...] Deo non credidit, homicidium quia se praecipitavit in mortem, sornicatio spiritualis quia integritas mentis human [...] serpenti [...] persuasione corrupt [...]est surtum quia cibus prohibitus usurpat [...] est, & avaritia quia plusquam sufficere sibi debuit appetiit. Aug. in Enchirid. c. 45. Committed Adultery by failing in his fidelity to God; Theft by taking a fruit which did not belong unto him: Sacrilege by abusing his wil wch was cōsecrated to God: & Paracide, by occasioning death unto his soul, and unto the souls of all his Children. Though this be a strange opinion, yet the worthinesse of the Author, makes me put a valuation upon it, for it is S. Augustine; yet in the rigour of reason, it is hard to conceive, that manssoul had so much of sight, as that in one sole action it committed so many sins. These sins which are imputed to man, are rather the effects then parts of his disobedience; and if I may be permitted to speak my sense after the Chiefe of all Divines, I should conceive that S Augustines design was, rather to satisfie his eloquence then the truth; and that making use of a figure which is so frequent amongst Orators, he would aggravate Adams sin to make us detest it.

Some others have been of opinion that Pride was the sin of the Angel, and of man that these two Noble Creatures puft up with their own perfections, aspired after Divinity, and that vain glory, which is alwayes accompanied by blindnes, had perswaded them that being already Ipsi primi homines per serp [...]tem decepti & dejecti [...] fuissent nisi plus quam acceper [...]t habere, & plusquam facti [...] rant esse voluissent: hic qui [...] promis [...]rat dicens eritis sicut Dii. Plus au [...]em volentes habere quàm acceperant & quod acc [...]unt amiserunt. Aug. in Psalm. 118. immortall, they might easily make themselves Gods. But I cannot think that such a thought could fall into the mind either of the Angell, or of man, they were induced with too much knowledge, not [Page] to know that the Creature cannot equall the Creator in Majestie, that the degrees of their separation are infinite, and that wishes are never made for things absolutely impossible, how could that desire of making himself God, ever enter into the imagination of an Angell; Since Theologie confesseth that they could never suspect the Mystery of the Incarnation, and that without being enlightned by Glory or by Faith, they never could have thought that God could make himself man, or man become God; other Divines have therefore rather chosen to believe, that the Mysterie of the Incarnation, was the occasion of the Angels sin, and that having learnt by Revelation, that God was to allye himself to humane Nature, he could not tolerate that the Angelicall Nature should be deprived of this honour; imagining that the Angels did very well deserve whatsoever dignity God would confer upon man.

Others have thought that self-love was the sin both of the Angel and of man; that seeing themselves so perfect, they grew in love wth themselves; that forgetting the greatnesse of God, they considered only their own beauty, that they made an Idoll of their own understandings; c Prim [...] hominis perditio a [...]or sui. Serm. 47. de diversis; c [...]p 2. that not envying Gods perfections, they sought for all their happinesse within themselves, and that rather by an Amorous, then Proud blindnesse, they endeavoured to find out their contentment in the Possession of their own advantages. If it be not rashnesse to go about to discover what our leaders have been ignorant of, and if a man may divide that which hath neither parts nor moments, I would say that the sin of man, and of the Angell is neither single, nor yet Composed of all sins: as S. Augustine affirmeth, weaknesse which is so naturall to the Creature, was, as it were, the disposition thereunto, negligence the beginning, self-love the ensuing, or progresse, and Pride the accomplishment thereof; weaknesse is so naturall to the Creature, as to free it thereof, it must suffer change and be raised above itself; Grace, (whose effects are so many miracles) dares not undertake to free the Creature from it: there is nothing but Glory which can fix the fancy of the Creature, and take from it that Inconstancy which is the cause of all it's offences. We acknowledge none but Jesus Christ to be void of sin; The Angell, and man, not being raised to this height of happinesse, we must not wonder if they be fallen, and if those which proceeded ex nihilo, did not defend themselves from sin, every perishable Creature may become Criminall, [Page] that which may lose its being may lose Grace, and what cannot preserve it selfe in Nature, will have much a doe to preserve it selfe in innocencie. Weaknesse then prepared that Angel and man to sin, and these two noble Creatures became faulty, only because they were not unchangeable, negligence begun the fault which weaknesse had prepared, they made not use of all the grace which they had received, they left a vacuum in their being which made place for sin, they did not employ all the advantages which they had received from God, and deserved to lose them, for having neglected them, as this fault was yet but an omission, it might have been expiated by humility, and by abasing themselves before God, it may be they might have obteined pardon, they became Idolaters at unawares, and framed vain Idols to themselves out of the workmanship of God. This fault was already well grown, and the Angel and men were guilty of having turned their eyes from Divine perfections, to settle them upon their own advantages, yet did they only love those beauties which God had placed in them, they might have adored his Image in these Looking-glasses, and have returned to the Spring-head by these Rivolets, and by these beams have raised themselves up to the Sun: but Pride finished their fault, they grew proud of Gods favours, their vain-glory proceeded from his grace; that which should have submitted them to their Creator, was cause of their Rebellion, and the more they were beholding unto him, the lesse were they acknowledging from the times they thought themselves able to reigne without him, they would reign in despight of him, and as soon as they had raised up a Throne unto themselves, they would have Subjects, the Angel got a party in heaven, he debauched some of his companions, hee made slaves of his equals, and these excellent Spirits were not ashamed to adore a creature; which though it were more elevated, was not lesse dependent upon God then were the rest: Rebellion did not, not withstanding, disperse it self throughout all their Orders, the number of the faithfull exceeded that of the revolters: Michael couragiously opposed himselfe to Lucifer, and be it that he made good use of his graces, or that he received addition thereunto, he kept the greater part of the Angels in their obedience, and drove the Rebels from the Empyerean Heaven. Man was more absolute in his unjust designe, for his sin became the sin of all his off-spring, not any one opposed [Page] himselfe to his blinde fury, those who lived in him, and descended from him, were guilty of his Rebellion, they lost themselves together with their unfortunate Father; they suffered for a sin which they could not hinder; they found themselves engaged in death, before they knew life, and wondered that not being reasonable, they were already criminall. This sin which shed it self like a contagion became the Spring-head of errour in the World. The greatest part of Hereticks have withstood it, and the pride of Phylosophy, wherewith they were puft up, would not permit them to confesse a disorder, which would have forced them to be humble; Catholicks believe it, though they conceive it not; Faith teacheth them what reason cannot perswade them unto, and they care not though they be esteemed ignorant, so long as they may be esteemed faithfull: They finde by experience that man is become guilty, but they know not how he hath contracted this crime, they dispute not the maladie, but cannot comprehend by what secret wayes the Father hath communicated it to his children, and the children have received it from their father: This is that which we will examine in the pursuit of this Treatise.

The fourth Discourse.

How ADAM'S sin did communicate it self to those that are discended from him.

IT must be acknowledged that there is nothing more hidden, nor any thing more known, then Quo nihil est ad praedicandum notius, nihil ad intelligendum secretius. Aug. de morib. [...]les. cap. 22. Originall Sinne, unruly nature is an evident proofe thereof, mens wicked inclinations doe sufficiently witnesse it, and it's easily to be conjectured, that so unfortunate a creature cannot be innocent. But, certainly, the way how this sin sheds it self through mankinde, and passeth from the father into the children, is extreamly unknown; all that is said of it doth but weakly prove it, and after having listned to reason we must betake our selves to the light of Faith: Doubtlesse, Saint Augustine is he who hath written the worthiest thereupon, his proofs are efficacious, his discourses solid, if he had as well established the beliefe of Originall Sin as that of concupisence, all men would be [Page] convinced; and we might as easily make Phylosophers believe Adam's fault, as the irregularity of Nature; for all men see that Fathers communicate their diseases, to such as do descend from them; that the Quemadmodum Aethiopes quia nigri sunt nigros gignunt, non tam [...] in filio parentes colorem suum velut [...]icam [...] anserunt, sed su [...] co [...]is qua li [...]ate corpus quod de illis propagatur of ficiunt. [...] ib. 5. contra jul. cap 24. Aethiopians Complexion appears in their childrens visages, that there are maladies which are more hereditary in Families then are possessions, and that there are men which suffer for their fathers debaucheries; we must not wonder if we partake of their diseases since we are composed of their substance, and since our bodies are a part of theirs; it is easily conceived that their maladies may become ours: but being bound by faith to believe that the soul is the workmanship of God, that she is not drawn from forth the matter of the body, though she be inclosed therein, and that she is a pure spirit, though she doth inanimate her body; It is almost impossible to make us discerne how shee becomes criminall when she is thereinto infused, she is altogether pure whilst in her Authors hands, and she becomes not guilty till she becomes the bodies forme. I very well know that she is infused as soon as created, and that the same hand which hath extracted her out of nothing, hath bound and fastened her to the body: but I know not why the father, who contributes nothing to her production, should contribute to her pollution, and wherefore since he gives not life unto her, hee should make her inherit his sin. Divines are much perplexed with this difficulty, and touching the resolution thereof, Saint Austin hath oft-times doubted, whether the soul were not produced by generation, as wel as the body, all his reasons seem to be grounded upon this belief, he wil have it that the body doth infect the soul, and generation is as it were the channell of sin, which hath corrupted us. He grounds three principles which do produce three severall effects in man; God which hath Qui nascitur & ex Deo quia creat, & ex homine quia generat, & ex peccato quiavitiat. August. lib. 2. cont. Jul. cap. 4 created him, his father who hath begot him, and sin which hath sullyed him. The soul was from God, the body proceeds from the begetting Father, and the impurity derives from sin: he admirably describes the Nature of concupiscence, and he is never more learned, nor more eloquent, then when he sets forth what havock she hath made in our souls, he Est libido ulciscendi quae i [...]a appelatur, amor habendi [...] cuniam quae avaritia, libido quomodo [...] [...] [...]ndi qu [...] pe [...]cacia, libido gloriandi quae jactar tia. Aug lib. 14. de Civit. cap. 15. teacheth us that every sin is a particuler concupiscence, and that instructed by our own Misery, we call Avarice the concupiscence of riches, Pride the concupiscence of glory, and unchastity the concupiscence of voluptuousnesse, he concludes by convincing reasons, and which receive no reply, that it was necessary [Page] that man being guilty should beget sinfull Children, and Hom [...] vitiatus homines vitiatos genuit, [...]ores gigne [...] quam ipse esset, non [...]t [...]quitatis. Aug. lib. arbit. ca. 20. that it was not just that the Children should be more innocent then their Fathers; he perswades us effectually, that Christians not being regenerate but by the spirit, cannot communicate grace to those that descend from them by the way of generation which rests yet in Impurity: but truly he doth not sufficiently prove that the soul should become guilty for being engaged in the body, nor that to make up one Composition with it, she should contract a sin, whereof she her self is not capable, for though concupiscence reign in the body, (to speak properly it is not a sin till it pass into the soul; Irregularity is the matter thereof, but her aversion from God, is her Forme, and it is impossible to Comprehend, that the soul, for being infused into a wretched body, should become Criminall, whence then proceeds this Originall sin? by what waies doth it slide into our souls? by what Channels doth it shed it self into the handy work of God? and how comes it that the Chief workmanship of his hands becomes guilty, assoon it is engaged in the body.

Theologie hath been forced to Imagine a secret Treaty between God, and Adam, by the which, God having made Adam head of all men, he had given him grace for all his Posterity, and that by the same law that all his Children should share in his sin, that this Treaty (whereby Gods Justice is not injured) discovers unto us the greatnesse of his Sovereignty, that it is not strange a Prince should put into the hands of his Subjects the fate of all them that should descend from them; that in all the best regulated States, the Children share in their Parents evils, that receiving the glory of all their best Actions, they should likewise pertake of the Pain and Infamy of their offences; that so the privation of Grace in men, is the punishment of Adams fault, that by a necessary consequence the aversion of our will, derives from the losse of Innocency. Some building upon some Quamois pos [...] nondum agerent vitas proprias, tamen quicquid erat in sutura propagine vita unius homi [...]s conti [...]bat. Aug. lib 6. con [...] Jul. cap. 12. Passages in S. Paul, would perswade us that all men were included in Adam, that there will was united to his, that his fault was their sin, and that therefore there was no inconvenience that those that lived in him should share in his guilt, some others (differing but a little from the former) have represented us with two universall men, whereof one is the [...] of sin, the other of Grace. We are united to the former by Generation, and become Primus homo Ada [...], secun▪ dus homo Christus, & ide [...] manifestum est ad illum perti [...]re omnem hominem qui ex illa successione propaginis nascitur, ficut ad ist [...]m pertinet omnis qui in illo gratiae largitate renascitur. Unde fit [...] totum genus humanum [...] homines duo primus & secundus, Beda in 1 Ep. st. Corinth. cap. 15. sinners like him; by regeneration we are fastned to the other, and become just as he is; Thus sin disperseth it selfe as well as Grace, unrighteousness [Page] is communicated as well as Innocency, and we contract sin without a wil thereunto, as we receive grace in Baptisme without deserving it.

All these opinions, which I embrace and honour, doth sufficiently explain how Adams sin is ours, but they do not cleerly enough declare how we do contract it, they teach us that we are sinners, but do not discover unto us by what means we become so; wherefore, re-assuming Saint Augustines Principles, me thinks, a man may say, that Adams sin is the sin of all men, that, that which was voluntary Habent parvuli originale peccatum non per animam, sed per carnem utique contractum animaeque refusu [...] carninam que ita unitur▪ anima ut cum carne fit un [...] persona. Aug. lib. 6. cont. Jul. cap. 4. in him is naturall in them, that it passeth from the father to those that descend from him, as Maladies do which are hereditary in Families, or as the Ethiopians, which is seen in his Childrens faces. To Comprehend this truth, it is not necessary to Imagine a Treaty between God, and Adam, whereby the fathers fault, and Punishment, becomes the sons; but it sufficeth to know that being faln from the State of Innocency, and having lost originall righteousnesse, he cannot longer transmit it into his Progeny, that by necessary consequence he makes them share in a Malady which he could not cure himself of, and that he communicates his sin unto them, in communicating his concupiscence. Tis enough for them to be guilty, that they are descended from him, and without seeking for causes further off, it sufficeth to prove their guilt, that they are a part of him: twould be a Prodigie, if a sinfull Father should beget Children void of sin, and we were to wonder, if nature not being re-establisht in her former Purity, her productions should not be Corrupt.

The difficulty is to know how the soul which issues pure and spotlesse from out the hands of God, contracts sin when she is infused into the body. To this I answer, that her streight union with the body Cum rationalis anima sic lit getur corpori u [...] ex ea & corpor unum animal componatur, merito à materia mox inficitur, adeo ut & passionibus sit obnoxia & motus immoderatos more corporis subeat in exc [...] sum atque defectum. Marcil▪ Fiscin. in Plau. is one cause of her fin, that she sullyes her self by Informing it, that she receives death by giving it life, & that wanting original righteousnesse, whereby to preserve her self from the contagion, occasioned by the first mans sin, she is no sooner made companion to the body but she becomes Criminall. Thus is she unpleasing to God, because she is not in Grace with him; she is not in Grace with him, because Adam hath lost Gods grace both for himself, and his Children, and she is sinfull because the father which unites her to the flesh, as a secondary cause, Communicates unto her his disorder not giving her a remedy, for it powers his poyson into her, and doth not present her with an Ita omnis anima [...]Word▪ in Adam censetur donec in Christ [...] recenseatur, tamdiuimmunda quamdiu re [...]tur. Peccatrix aut [...]m quia immunda recipiens ignominiam suam ex carnis societate. Tertul. de anima. Antidote, makes her Inherit Adams sin, and doth Communicate [Page] unto her, the Grace of Jesus Christ. This it is which Saint Augustine insinuates unto us in other Termes, when he says, that the Contagion of the body passeth into the soul, that the close Cōmerce that is between them, makes their miseries cōmon between them; and that without extraordinary helps, an Innocent soul cannot be lodg'd in a guilty body, the purest Liquours are tainted in musty vessels; corrupted Air poysons those who breath therein, and infected houses give the Plague to those that live in them, Thus doth concupiscence glide from the body into the soul, and this wicked Host gives death to her that gives him life. If these reasons do not content the reader, let him know that I glory to be ignorant of what Saint Augustine understood not, that I should shew my self too rash, if I should think to give an entire light to the obscurest part of Divinity, and that I should be unfaithfull, if I should pretend to make a truth evident by reason, which is only known by Faith.

The fifth Discourse.

Of the Nature of Concupiscence.

CHristian Religion may truly boast, that all her Maxims are Paradoxes, which agreeing with truth, give against humane reason▪ for she proposeth nothing which is not as strange as true; and which causeth not as much astonishment as light in the soul, he who would prove this truth must make an Induction of all our Mysteries, and represent all the wonders which she comprehends, but without straying from my subject, it will suffice to say, that Originall sin is one of her strangest Paradoxes, and that if much of reason be required to prove it, no less of faith is requisite to believe it: for what more prodigious is there then that the sin of one man should be the sin of all men? that a Fathers Rebellion should ingage all his Children in disobedience, that his malody should be Contagious? that he should be the murtherer of all men before he be Sicut onmium [...] & omnium [...], & qu [...] infoelicius [...] prius [...] quam [...]. [...]. their Father? and that unfortunately he be the cause of their death, many ages before they be born. Thus is this misfortune more generall then the deluge which drowned the world; more universall then the fire which shall consume it, and War and Pestilence which doth so easily [Page] enlarge themselves are not so Contagious Evills as is this sin.

If it be wonderfull by reason of it's Effusion, it is no less miraculous through it's other qualities; for we are taught by Divinity that it is voluntary in the Father, and naturall in the Children; that that which was only a fault in Adam, is both a sin and a punishment in those that descend from him, that we contract by birth what he willingly committed: and that that which was free in it's beginning should become necessary in the progress thereof; He might have kept from disobedience: And we can neither shun the punishment nor the fault: we are surprized by this misfortune in our Conception we are slaves before we have the use of Liberty, and we have already offended God before we knew him; we are rather, the objects of his anger, then of his mercy; but that which is more deplorable, we are so corrupted from the moment of our Birth, as that we oppose our selves to his will. If he favour us in our Baptisme, the first use we make of Reason is for the most part engaged in Errour: we follow the Inclinations of our first father, and his sin makes such powerfull Impressions upon our souls, as we sin in our first thoughts, we for the most part make use of our liberty only to estrange our selves from God; we have a secret opposition to his ordinance, we are so inclosed within our selves, as we can love nothing but for our own interests, which is the Rule of our actions, and we neither love nor desire any thing save what is either usefull or pleasing to us. Such is the corruption of our nature, as there is almost nothing in it, which is not repugnant to the laws of God. It is so misled by sin as all the Inclinations Concupiscentia seu libido nihil est aliud quam rei creatae desiderium cujus impetus mortiseros anima antegratiam libens patitur, post gratiam pati etiam invita compellitur. August. thereof are perverted. In this unfortunate Condition, man can neither know nor doe good, he is inslaved, not having so much as the desire of Liberty: though he groan under the weight of his Irons, he is affraid of being freed from them: and though his Imprisonment be painfull, yet is not he weary thereof; he delights in doing evill, and findes difficulty to do what is good; the great inclination he hath to sin doth not excuse his offence: And he ceaseth not to be guilty though he cannot shun sin, in generall to fill up the measure of so many Evils, he is blind and insensible, he sees not the Evils that environ and threaten him, he is full of wounds, and hath no feeling of them; believing himself to be whole, he seeks not for help▪ & through proud blindness, he despiseth the Physician that would restore him to health. Every man that comes Inest in membris sed reum te non facit▪ liberatus es ab illo, liber pugna sed vide ne vincaris & itorum fias servus, laboras pugnando sed laetaberis triumphando. Beda in Rom. cap. 8. into this [Page] world is in this miserable q condition, and we are guilty of all these Crimes. And charged with all these punishments before we be regenerated in Baptisme; after this Sacrament, we become Innocent, but cease not to be miserable: sin forsakes us, but punishment waits upon us; and though we be no more guilty, we are notwithstanding out of order, our Fathers sin forgoes us, but Concupiscence remains.

This monster is not much lesse savage then is the Nato quidem & inest & obest, Reaato autem inest quidem, sed obesse non potest. Aug. lib. 2 de gratia & peccato, c. 38. Cause which produced it: It follows the Inclinations thereof, and if it be not altogether so wicked, it is at least full out as irregular, it is much more opinionated then the father that begot it; our life is to short to cut it off: it's an enemy not to be overcome: wounds give it new life, it gathers strength by skars, and it must cost us our life to be the death thereof. Our first Divines (which were the Apostles) have given it the very Peccatum vocatur quod & peccato facta est, & quod peccatum si vicerit facit, Aug. lib. 1. ad Bonifac. cap. 23. name of sin, and as if twere more fatall then it's Father, they term it the strength, and law thereof; it is not content to perswade us to the Crime, but endeavours to enforce us thereunto, it mingles force with perswasion, and when it thinks the way by solicitation to be to mild, it hath Recourse to violence and Tyranny; it grows the more furious by opposition, it's stomack is set on edge by Inhibition, & it never becomes more insolent, then when Laws are prescribed unto it. To Expresse the Nature thereof to the life we must represent a Tyrant, who being born of sin will enlarge his Fathers Empire, & make al mankind his slaves; it establisheth it's throne in our souls, darkens our understanding, infuseth wickednesse into our wils, and fils our memories with the remembrance of all unjust acts: It abuseth all the parts of our bodies; and works with our hands, Looks through our Eyes, Listens by our Eares, and Imployes all our sences to Execute it's designes; it busieth it selfe so dexterously in all our desires as thinking to satisfie our Necessities, we obey the Tyranny thereof; and Believing to do a Reasonable Act, we commit a sinfull one: if we Eat, it is in too much Excesse, or with too much delight; If we sleep, tis rather out of too much nicety then of necessity; if we speak, tis rather to slander then to edifie; and what we think we do for our preservation, we do for the most part for our satisfaction.

In fine, tis a bad Cum aliquibus nati sumus, aliquas consuetudines & fecimus. Aug. Ser. 45. de temp. Habit which produceth but bad acts; tis both the Daughter and Mother of sin. It giveth life to that from which it received life, all the motions thereof are Irregular; and whosoever [Page] operates by it's orders is sure enough to sin; tis not like other customes which insinuate themselves by degrees, and which preserves themselves with some appearance of Justice: tis violent from it's very Birth, undertakes all Enterprizes as soon as formed; submits the understanding to Tyranny, and is never more dangerous, then when becomes Reasonable. Time augments it's force, Age increaseth Fury, and whatsoever ruines all other Customes, serves only to maintain this: but that which passeth all beliefe is that though this Habit be so violent, yet it is naturall; the others are easily destroyed because they contest against Nature; though they weaken her, yet they never destroy her; and let them do what they can, tis but a little Courage that is required to Conquer them: but this passeth into Nature, precedes our birth, and out-lives our death: Grace may well lessen it, but never extinguish it: Saints Quis me liberavit à corpore mortis hujus. Paul. groan under the rigour of it's Law, and Cals for Ayd from death against so Puissant an Enemy; and knowing that the soul cannot be set at Liberty, whilst inclosed within her body, they beg the parting thereof from the body as a favour. In Fine; all sins are in the seed of this pernicious Habit, and as the branches, and roots, flowers, and fruit, bark, and pith of a tree, are hid in the kernell thereof, so Murders and Parricides, Slanders, and blasphemies; adulteries and Incest are Circumscrib'd in Concupiscence. Who ever carries about this monster in his Bosome bears with him all sins; though they be not already disclosed, they are already begun; and though they render us not as yet guilty, they make us always miserable: the Devill may undertake any thing by the Assistance of this his faithfull Assistant in all his Impieties; and he very well knows that wheresoever it is, it always holds Intelligence with him. No man is assured of souls health, whilst he gives harbour to this Domestick Enemy, and our hopes ought always to be mingled with Feare, till such time as Grace hath totally Extinguished Concupiscence.

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The sixth Discourse.

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The pursuit of the same Subject, and divers descriptions of Concupiscence.

MEn esteem those punishments the most severe which are most sensible, they believe not that God punisheth sinners unlesse the Earth quake under their feet, unlesse the Thunder roares over their heads, unlesse the Devill sieze on their bodies, and hurries them visibly into Hell. But as Physick thinks hidden Maladies the most dangerous, and that there is no cure for the decays of the lungs or braines: so doth Divinity think secret punishments, the worst, and that such Chastizements as make most noyse are least to be dreaded. She fears not so much the destroyings of the Plague nor the disorders of war, as she doth apprehend bad habits, or Iregular inclinations; she much more patiently beares with the violence of diseases and the unseasonablenesse of the seasons, then with the motions of concupiscnce: for it is indeed the cruellest punishments which Divine Justice hath permitted for the Chastizement of mans offence: and it is the ancientest and cruellest of all the evils that doe assaile us: for tis a rebellion against all those things to which we owe obedience and a base submitting of our selves to whatsoever we ought to have any authority over. The soule ought naturally to submit her selfe to God, and the Deserte creatore bono vivere secundum creatum bo [...]um, non est bonum, sive q [...]sque s [...] cundum [...] nem, sive s [...]cundum [...], sive secundum totum homin [...] qui constat ex [...] & corp [...]re eligat vivere. Aug. lib. 14 de C [...]vit. [...]. [...] body to the soule: there is no more naturall nor rationall obedience: tis grounded on our being, and our perfection seemes to depend thereon. God gives the law unto our soul, and the soul the like unto her body, these duties are as ancient as we be, and though we fail in the payment thereof, yet weacknowledge the Obligation yet Concupiscence disorders all; this comely regularity, she by an Qui [...] [...]ritati necesse est [...] miquitati. Aug. in Psal. 18. high insolency opposeth the soule to God: and by an extream piece of injustice raiseth the body against the soul, she sowes division between the two parts whereof we are composed, and we finde by an admirable effect of Divine justice that as our fault is disobedience: our punishment is also rebellion; for the soule rejects the laws of God: and the body despiseth the laws of the soul; our punishment is the picture of our sin and the paine which we indure [Page] beares the Character of the fault which wee have committed, or to expresse my self better in Saint Augustine words; our very offence is become our punshment Admodum legitimé sactum est ut homo qui noluit obedire Domino suo non ei serviret caro ejus. Supra [...] Dominus tuus, infra te caro tua, servi meliori ut serviat tibi inserior. Contempsisti superiorem torqueris ab inseriore. Beda in Rom. cap. 8. and as we were Rebels to God by our own choise, we become the like now by necessity. The greatest part of our thoughts are so many undertakings against his Authority: our actions are attempts against his graciousnesse: and not withstanding any Inclination that we have to love him tis almost impossible for us without his grace, to keep from offending him, the body punisheth the soul for her offence, it revengeth God for the outrages the soul hath done him; and taking example from the souls rebellion dispenseth with its obedience thereunto: nay, it doth oft-times change its rebellion into tyranny, the Slave becomes his Sovereigns Master, and either by fair means or by foul, forceth him to serve his disorders, then doth the soul descend from her greatnesse, Labours only for the pleasures of the body, and imployes all her anvantages to procure new delight, unto her slave. All these Irregularities derive from Concupiscence, which is nothing else but a generall Rebellion of Nature against it's Author; the different effects thereof makes it beare differing names, and the evill qualities thereof makes Divines seek out new tearms to Expresse her Vestigium peccati passim appellatur Concupiscen [...]a ab Aug. ancient disorders: Saint Augusttine cals her the foot-step of sin, for as the Creature is an Image of God, as it expresseth his divine perfections. And makes them visible to the Eyes of who shall consider them, so is Concupiscence the Image of sin and by the disorders thereof, represents Hoc peccati nomine appellas unde oriuntur cuncta peccata id est ex carnali concupiscentia. Quicquid enim est peccatorum in dict is in cogitatibus, in factis non exoricur nisi exmal [...] cupidit [...] te. Beda in Rom. 8. unto us the bad inclinations of her father, but she hath this advantage, that she is a better finisht picture of her father (sinne,) then the Creature is of God. For let the Latter be never so excellent, tis always but a weak expression of it's creat [...], tis but a shadow of his Light, a mean expression of his truth, and but a false beame of his beauty: To know him perfectly, we must raise our selves above his workmanship, & to conceive his greatnesse, we must rather oppose it to the creature, then cōpare it there with all, but concupiscence is the Lively Image of sin: we see all the Linaments of the father in the Daughters face, and she doth nothing wherein a man may not discerne the motions of the father. I know that all our punishments are the pictures of our sins, and God would have our Chastizement to be the Image of our offences, but to take it aright, every punishment expresseth but one only quality of sin, the Heat which accompanieth [Page] fears represents only it's immoderate heat to us, blindness discovers only it's Ignorance, The palsie, which takes from us the use of our members, figures onely out unto us it's incapabilty of doing good, deafness declares only it's obstinacy unto us, and death it self which is sins most rigorous punishment, represents to us only the death of the soul, and the losse of Grace; But Concupiscence is a finisht picture which hath all the Colours and Linaments of sin, she hath all its wicked Inclinations, is Capable of all its Impressions, accomplisheth, all it's Designes, and this unfortutunate Father can undertake nothing which his daughter is not ready to Execute.

But one only name not being sufficient to expresse all the wickednesse thereof, the Fathers have been fain to invent divers names to decypher out unto us the different effects of a Cause, which is as fruitfull as fatall.

Saint Augustine Lex peccati dicitur Concupiscentia quiae suadet peccata, atque ut ita di [...]erim jubet. Aug. l. 1. operis imperf. according to Saint Paul terms her the Law and Counsellor of sin: Reason was mans Counsellor and, in the state of innocency, he undertooke nothing but by her advice: when sin had weakned Reason, and that the darknesse thereof had Clouded the the luster of it's Eternall light, God gave him the written Law for a Counsellor, and Ingraved those truths in Marble which he had formerly ingraven in his heart: Great men formed no designe before they had Consulted with this visible Law; and David with all his illuminations protests that the law of God was the Consilium meum justificationes tu [...]. Psal. 118. best part of his Councell; it was the morall Phylosophers wherin the learn'd vertue, it was his Politicks, and were he either to Conduct his subjects or to fight his enemies, he learnt the knowledge both of peace and war in the mysteries of the Law; but the sinner hath no other law then Concupiscence, he is advised by one that is blind and unfaithfull, he executes nothing without her Prudentia carnis inimica Deo. Rom. 8. orders, & he is brought to this extremity. That his Counsellor is Pensioner to his Enemies. Reasons self is a slave to this perfidious Officer, she sees only through her Pruentia ista vitium est non natura, vis nossequid est sapere secundum carnem, [...] est. Beda in Rom. 3. eys, and after having well debated a businesse she forsakes better advice, to follow the pernicious Counsell of one that is blind, who is absolutely the Devils Purchase, and who holds Continuall Intelligence with sin.

When he is weary of perswading us, he Chides us, when we have received his advice, he signifies his Commands unto us, and having deceived us as a perfidious Counsellor, he torments us as a merciless [Page] Tyrant. Counsellours never work upon us but by their Reasons, they never make use of violence to oblige us to receive their advice, and they oftentimes foregoe their own opinions to receive ours, if they think them better; but Concupiscence is a furious Officer who makes use of Force when Perswasion will not prevail.

This Tyrant is more insuportable then those who formerly comanded in Greece, whō the Orators of that Country have charg'd with so many just opprobries. For these Enemies to mankind exercised their cruelty only upon the body, and assubjected to their power only the leastpart of man. Whosoever valued not theirown lives, might make himself Master of theirs, and who feared not death, might deride their violence, but this Tyrant Video aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae & captivantem me in lege peccati quae est i [...] membris meis. Rom. 7. whereof I speak exerciseth his fury upon the spirits, he blots out the remembrance of all vertue from out his memory, he darkens the understandingwith his mysts, oppresseth the will by his violence, and leaveth only a languishing liberty in the souls which he possesseth. This Monster which had only the faces of men, were not alwaies in the Company of their subjects, their absence was a truce of servitude, some private Closets were to be found where one might tast the sweet of liberty, A man might meet with a freind before whom he might lay his heart open, and though freindship had been banished from off the heart, Compassion would have made it revive, for his Consolation. Twas in these private Conferences that the death of Tyrants was Conspired, the parties safety joyned to the desire of liberty, caused the Conception of the designes, and the desires of glory put it in execution. But Concupiscence never parts from sinners; this Tyrant keeps his Court in the midst of their wills, he hath raised a throne in their hearts.

He finds so much of obedience and weaknesse in his slaves, as he knows they cannot shake of the yoke of his Tyranny without forreign Ayd, these publike plagues could not make themselves be beloved in their states; though they left some shadows of Liberty, they could not win their subjects Hearts, there faults were always repaid with publike Hatred, and the Necessity they had to make themselves feared was not the least punishment of their Injustice; they grew weary of being the Horror of their people, and if they could have made themselves be beloved, they would have ceased making themselves feared; but their subjects were so Incenst against them, as to keep them in respect, twas necessary to keep them in awe, and since [Page] they could not purchase their love to resolve to merit their Hatred: but though Concupiscence be the cruellest of all Tyrants, yet hath she found the secret of making her selfbe beloved, all her subjects reserues their Loyalty, even in persecution, they are pleased with the pains Nonne hinc apparet in quod velut pondere suoproclivis & proua sit vitiosa natura. Aug. lib. 22. deCivit. cap. 22. they undergoe. Torments are not able to make them wish for liberty, let them be neuer so ill dealt with all by their unjust Sovereign, they never blame his cruelty. And though they be the most unfortunate slaves of all the world, they cease not to be the faithfullest lovers, In fine, to put an end to this discourse.

These Tyrants do not allways vex their subjects with angersome Commands, all there decrees are not unjust, their polluted mouthes have sometimes pronounced Oracles: and the Graecian Phylosophers have registred their words who had bereft them of their liberty, the Dionsii made laws which the Politicians reverenced, their Ordinances were able to instruct legitimate Princes, and they have uttered maximes which may serve us for instructions. But all the commands made by Concupiscence are unjust, all her orders are sin, one cannot obey her without blame, and to speak in Saint Augustines language, a man cannot follow the motions of Concupiscence without contesting against the motions of grace▪ nor can a man live at full liberty, unlesse he be freed from the Tyranny thereof.

The seventh Discourse.

That self-love is nothing else but Concupiscence.

Though Divines have given as many names to Concupiscence as she hath committed sins, and that every one paints her out as he finds her in another, or according to his own experience; yet they all agree that her most celebrated name, and that which best expresseth her nature is self-love; For as Charity comprehends all vertues, self-love comprehends all vices, as Hi duo amores disti [...]xerunt duas ciuitates, quorum alter sanct [...] est, alter immundus, alter socialis alter privatus, alter communi vtilitati consulens propter societatem, alter etiam rem communem in potestatem propriam redigens propter arrogantem dominationem. Aug. in lib. de Gen. ad litteram cap. 11. Charity unites us to God and loseth us from our selves, her Enemy self-love severs us from God, and fasteneth us to our selves; As Charity hath no greater a passion for any thing then to love God, and make him be beloved by all others: self-love produceth no more violent desire in man; then to love himself, and to obliege all other men to love him; To comprehend these truths you must know; that Charity according [Page] to S. Pauls words, and S. Augustines Comment composeth all vertues to be perfect; It sufficeth to be charitable & one vertue is sufficient in Christs school to acquire all others; she believeth all things (saith that great Charitas patiens est, b [...]nigna est, omnia suffert, omnia credit, omnia sperat, omnia sustinet. 1 Cor. cap. 13. Apostle) and so hath the merit of Faith: she waits for the accōplishment of Gods promises, & so possesseth the certainty of hope: she suffers all injuries as well as Patience doth, she withstands sorrow with as much courage as doth fortitude: and this Famous Doctor of the Gentiles who perfectly knew the Inclinations of charity gives her all the Advantage which belongs to all the vertues; so as according to his principles the loue of God is only Requisite to become highly vertuous, Saint Augustine who learnt nothing but in S. Pauls school mixeth all vertues with Charity, and as if he wold reduce al things to an unity, he teacheth us that the only vertue on earth is to love him who is perfectly lovely. For love hath several names according to his severall imployments, he changeth qualities though not Nature; and continuing stil the same presents himself unto us, under divers Temperantia est amor integrum se praebens ei quod amatur, fortitudo amor facile tolerans omnia propter quod amatur, justitia amor soli amato serviens & propterea rectè dominans, prudentia amor ex quibus adjuvatur ab e [...] quitus i [...] podtur sagaciter eligens. Aug. lib. de morib. Eccles. cap. 15. forms and shapes, Temperance is a faithful love, which wholly gives herself over to what she loveth, not permitting Voluptuousnesse to divide them: Fortitude is a generous love which with delight overcomes all the difficulties which can be met withal, for her well beloved sake; Justice is an uncorrupt love which instructeth how to reign in obedience, & which submitting herself to God, as to her sovereign commands over all creatures as over her slaves: In fine, wisdome is an illuminated love, which happily discerning between the wayes which may estrange her from God, and those which may fasten her to him, chooseth the former, and rejects the other, or to expresse the same truth in other tearms; Love is termed wisedome when he keeps himself from straying and hath right to what he loves, he is called fortitude when he fights against such sorrows as would astonish him; Temperance, when he despiseth such pleasures as would corrupt him; & In hac vita virtus non est nisi diligere quod diligendum est. Id eligere prudentia est, null is inde molestiis averti fortit [...]do est: nullis illecebris temperantia est: nullâ superbia justitia est. Quid autem [...] gamus quod prae cipuè diligamus nisi quo nihil melius invenimus. Hoc Deus est cui si diligendo aliquid vel praponimus vel aequamus nos ipsos diligere nescimus. Aug. Epistola 2 ad Maced. Justice, when to consecrate his liberty to God, he disdains to serue the Creature; so may we say that self-love, which is Charities mortall Enemy comprehends all vices, and that it only changeth countenance, when it appears under the form either of Pride, Colour, or Envy, it is unjust in it's Ambition, prepares for Combat when irritated; for vengeance when offended; when unjust it bereaves it's Neighbour of his goods, and good name; and when Intemperate it engageth it self in unlawfull delights. [Page] The great Apostle, when he numbers up all faults puts it in the first Erunt homines seipsos ainantes cupidi, clati, superbi, parentibus non obedientes, ingrati, proditores, voluptatum amatores magis quam Dei. 2 Tim. cap. 3. rank and teacheth us that there is no sin which is not a sort of self-love disguised. And Saint Augustine who hath drawn all his Doctrine from Saint Pauls words, instructeth the whole Church that the faults which wee detest are not so much the effects as the proprieties of self love. In effect, is not Avarice, an unjust love of riches, is not Pride an unjust love of Honours, is not opiniatrecie a furious love to be always victorious, is not colour a detestable love of revenge? And to conclude all in a few words; are not all sins as many different loves which changing rather countenance then humour: agree all in a designe of fastning themselves to objects which they like, and of keeping a loofe off, from such as they like not. There is also the second opposition of the love of God, and the love of our selves, for charity hath no nobler imployment then to free us from all things to unite us to God, she endeavours to perswade us that to love our selves well we must hate our selves; that to have a care of our selves we must forget our selves; and if we would finde out our happinesse we must seek for it from without our selves, men wonder that the law of God which commands us to love our Neighbour, doth not command us to love our selves, and that it only mentions the love we owe unto our selves when it recommends unto us the love which we owe unto, our Neighbours, but to boot that this love was imprinted in the foundation of our wills by the hands of Natures selfe, and that it was more then needed to command us a thing to which we had so great an inclination; man loved himselfe sufficiently in loving Videtur de homine ipso nibil actum, sed parum dilucidè qui hoc arbitratur intelligit. Non enim fieri potest ut seipsum, qui Deum diligit, non diligat: imo verò solus se novit diligere qui Deum diligit: siquidem ille satis se diligit qui sedulò agit ut summo & vero persruatur bono. Aug. lib. de morib. Eccle. cap. 26. of God, and God had sufficiently provided for mans happinesse in ordaining man to love him above all things; The love of God is mans true happinesse, we are rich when we possesse it; and poore when we lose it; let our designes be waited upon by whatsoever good successe let the world promise us what ever good event; what ever favour Fortune affordeth us, all riches which consists not in the possessions of the Summum bonum, is but a meer reall poverty, for as Augustine saith; God is so good as all men that leave him are miserable, and man is so noble as whatsoever is not God cannot render him happy, tis charities chiefest designe to fasten man to God so straightly. As that nothing may seperate him from God, and to in lighten his soule with so much love as that she may exstinguish selfe love, or turn it into a holy hatred of himselfe.

[Page] This Divine Sc [...]ernant civitates duas amores duo, terrenam scilicet amor sui usque ad contemptum Dei, coelestem vero amor Dei vsque ad contemptum sui. Aug. lib. 14. de Civit. cap. 28. vertue can mount no higher, so glorious a Metamorphosis is the utmost of her power, and God can demand nothing more of those that love him, when that they may love him perfectly they arrive at the height of hating themselves. Self love takes a clean opposite way, from that of charity, and by direct contrary traces, endeavours to estrange man from God, and to fasten him to himselfe, or to the Creature: it effaceth as much as it is able, the inclination which his soule hath for the Summum Bonum: if it cannot stifle it, it diverts it; and seeing that the heart of man cannot be without imployment it lays before him the beauty of the Creatures, to divert him from those of the Creatour; being accompanied with blindnesse and pride, it easily abuseth the soule which it possesseth, and figuring out the perfections thereof more glorious then they are; it makes her, her own Idolater; it raiseth her incensibly up to the height of impiety, and by different steps mounts it even to the hatred of God, for as the faithful man is perfect when he loves God, even to the pitch of hating himself, the sinner even hath the measure of his sin filled up when he loves himselfe, even to the degree of hating God. This passion reignes not much, save in the souls of the damned: one must be wholly possest by sin to conceive this designe, and I know not whether there be any so sinful soule on Earth, as can have so damnable a recentment, Hell is the abode of these wicked ones, and I firmly believe, that as their hatred of God is the sow lest of there sins, so is it the cruellest of their punishments, yet can they not hate this Summum Bonum with there whole heart, the foundation of their being is possest by the love of God, they love him naturally whom they hate willingly, they are divided between love, and hatred; there will is Deus noster is est quem id omneamat quod amare potest, Origen. parted by these two contrary motions and for all they can do to stifle this naturall Inclination, they cannot hinder their best part from languishing, and sighing, after God: they afflict themselves that nature fights against there will, and that her unalterable laws forceth them to love the author of their everlasting punishment.

But to reassume the threed of our discourse; the last opposition of selfe love and charity is, that the latter hath no more violent desire then to purchase lovers to God almighty to enlarge the bounds of his Empire and to disperce the holy flames of his Divine love into all hearts, for a heart that is inflamed with this sacred fire knowing very [Page] well that it cannot love God according to his lovelinesse, wisheth that all the parts of its body were changed into hearts and tongues to praise and love the only object of its love. But as she sees her wishes are uselesse, she endeavours to increase the number of Divine lovers, to the end that making amends for her indigency, they may love him with all their might whom she cannot sufficiently love. Self love in opposition to this, which obligeth man to make a god of himselfe, inspires him with a desire to make himselfe be beloved of all the world. Instructed by so good a master, he imployeth all his cunning to rob himself of his liberties, he discovers all his perfections to purchase lovers, he proposeth himselfe unto himselfe as an Idoll to be adored, and believeth that the truest, and most legitimate happinesse on earth, is to have slaves who are fairly forced to love him. When Kings are arrived at this height of of injustice and Impiety, men thinke them happy and the Politicks, which labours to decypher a good Sovereigne, is never better content, then when she hath raised in them this violent desire of enjoyning their Subjects good will. Tis herein that she distinguisheth Kings from Tyrants, and that she opposeth unjust Sovereignes to Legitimate Monarchies; but we are taught by Christian Religion that blame may be incurred as well by making ones self Dilectionem sui in illam dilectionem Dei resert quae nullum à se rivulum extra se duci patitur cujus derivatione minuatur. Aug. 1 de doct. Chri. cap. 22. be beloved as in making him be feared. For though she honours Kings, and condemnes Tyrants, though she approve of Moderate Government, and detests ruling by rigour, yet doth she equally blame those who intrench upon Gods rights, and who proposing themselves to their Subjects: as their final end, will possesse all their affections, love appertaines aswell to God only as glory, of all offerings he is best pleased with that of the heart, and he loves much better to rule over men, by the way of mildnesse, then of rigour, insomuch as Kings who would make themselves be beloved as Gods, are not much lesse faulty then those who would make themselves be dreaded as Tyrants, they are both of them guilty of Treason against the Diety, and pretend to honours which are only reserved for God, Lucifer never purposed to establish his greatnesse by violence, he made more use of his beauty then of his power, to Corrupt the inferiour Angels; and if his Empire be terminated in rigour it began in clemency. A legitimate Sovereigne, straies as well from his duty in seeking after the love, as after the fear of his Subjects, and though one of these [Page] two ways be more innocent then the other in the sight of men, it is not much lesse faulty in the sight of God, it is not permitted in our Religion for a man to make himselfe be beloved: tis a presumption to endeavour those liberties which pertain only to God, to deboysh his subjects is to divide his Empire, hee will have all his slaves to love him, and according to Saint Austines maximes, we owe all our love to God: the Prince is bound to fasten his subjects to their Creator to make him reign in his kingdome, and to receive no homage from his people save only for that he is the Image of God: tis therefore the most dangerous impression that self-love can make in men, when it perswades them that they deserve the love of the whole world, and that they ought to imploy all their might to augment the number of their Lovers: yet every one is possest with this passion, and I see none who do not by severall ways aspire to this tyranny. Men discover the perfection of their minds to make themselves admired, women make the most they can of their bodily beauty to make them be adored, but the one and the other of them will have their malady turn contagious, and spread abroad the poyson of self-love which hath infected them, into the souls of all those that come neer them.

The eighth Discourse.

That Concupiscence, or Self-love divides it self into the love of Pleasure, of Honour, and of Knowledge.

MAns losse doth so sute with his greatnesse, that to understand the one wel, the other must necessarily be comprized, and we must know what advantages he did possess in his Innocency, that we may not be ignorant of such miseries as he undergoes by sin. Originall righteousnesse which united him to God, made him find innocent delights, pure and certain knowledge, and elevated honours, (of which ours are but the shadows) in the Possession of the Summum Bonum when he lost Grace, he therewith all lost all these glorious Privileges, which were the dependances thereof, his Pleasures were turned into Punishments, his light into darkness, and his glory into infamy, the misery into which he saw himself faln [Page] did irritate his desire, and the remembrance of his past felicity made him seek for that in the Creature, which he had lost in his Creator. Self-love, which succeeded the love to God, spread it self abroad into three as impure rivolets, as was the spring head from whence they did derive: the first was call'd the love of Pleasure, In omnibus illecebris mundi hujus tria sant aut voluptas aut curiositas aut superbia. Aug. in append. Serm. 1. the second the love of light or novelty, and the third the love of greatnesse, or of glory, these three generall causes of all our disorders, are the fatall effects of Concupiscence, they divide man (now become guilty,) and though they agree in the bereaving him of his liberty, yet they share in the division of his person. Voluptuousnesse or the love of pleasure, resides in the senses, and reigns in all the parts of the body which are capable of delight, the soul engageth her self in the eyes and ears, to tast the contentments which these two senses can wish for, she renounceth spirituall delights, to seek out such as are sensuall, and as if she were now no longer a pure spirit, she longs after nothing but bodily delights. Necessity is no longer the rule of her desires, she betakes her self no more to objects, for that they are necessary, but for that they are pleasing. Temperance useth her utmost endeavour to withstand this irregularity; she endeavours to passe by all voluptuousnesse, without any stay, and to make use of such remedies as Nature hath ordained for the cure of our maladies, without the engagement of her aff [...]ctions; but Concupiscence overthrows all her designes, and by the absolute power whereby she governs in the soul, she solicits her to tast all the pleasures of our senses. The soul being faln from her first greatnesse, seems then to cease being spirituall, that she may become Corporall; that she partake no longer in the felicity of Angels, and that she no longer pleased with any delights, save such as are sensuall, and impure. This is the first contestation which those faithfull ones resent, who will overcome Concupiscentia ad sentiendum nos five consentientes mente sive repagnantes, appetitu carnalis voluptatis impell [...]t. Aug. lib. 4. cont. Julia. cap. 14. Concupiscence, and tis the frequentest piece of Art which the Concupiscentia ad sentiendum nos five consentientes mente sive repagnantes, appetitu carnalis voluptatis impell [...]t. Aug. lib. 4. cont. Julia. cap. 14. Devil makes use of to destroy men; the souls alliance with the body favours his design, and makes his on-sets more dangerous; mens weakness facilitates their undoing, and there are very few who are able to overcome an enemy which is pleasing to them. If they were to chuse the Combat, they would rather charge grief then pleasure, and by their sighing under the burthen of their Irons, one may easily judge, that they are only slaves to pleasures, because they want courage to despise it. This Temptation is so much more dangerous then others as [Page] it is more naturall. To vanquish it a man must have no more a body, and changing condition with Angels, hee must become a pure spirit; but to boot with our loving this part of our selves, the occasions of Combats are so frequent, as we are oft in one and the same day both Conquerours and conquered: the subjects of vain glory are not so common, if we be blinded by our imaginarie greatnesse, we are humbled by our reall miseries, and we must have forgotten the shame of our birth if we glory in any thing during our life: Though the desire of knowledge awakens our curiosity, and that the very ignorance whereinto we are plunged, obligeth us to seek out a diversion, in the knowledge of worldly things, yet the difficulties which accompanies. Science, makes us lose our longing after it. We love rather to be kept in ignorance, then to be freed therof by study, we cannot resolve upon the getting of a fleece, where the Pains exceeds the Glory, and where the Reward equals not the Labour: but Voluptuousnesse is as easie as delightfull, it presents it self unsought for, and is received without difficulty, if we must fight for it, tis when Jealousie or Ambition makes themselves of the Partie; and that they Corrupt the sweetnesse of our delights by the vain-Glory of their designes, and moreover, Nature having mingled delight with all her remedies, we must always stand upon our guard, that we build not our felicity one things which she gives us only for our Consolation. It is hard to discern whether we eat more out of Pleasure, or necessity; a man must be very moderate, to seek for nothing more in sleep, then the refreshing of the body, and the repairing of our forces; we must have already made many a Combat, to effect nothing more in Marriage then the preservation of our Families, thus do great Saints confess tis easier to bereave ones self of Pleasures, then to regulate them, and that there goes more of worth to moderate these pleasing Enemies, then to stifle them; tis easier to fast, then to feed sparingly of dainty viands, and the good use of riches is more rare then voluntary Poverty. Mans mind is busied with Curiosity, or the love of Novelty, which is so much the more dangerous by how much it appears more lawfull: knowledge, which is not the least part of our Advantages, takes the freedome to perswade us that there is nothing more Noble then Cognizance of Nature, she thinks to offer up an acceptable sacrifice to God; when she losing our senses from delight, that she may engage in the search [Page] of Truth, so fair a pretext serves for excuse to her Injustice, and because knowledge is the souls Ornament, she will have all things allowed thereunto, no bounds being prescribed to her desires, not laws unto her sury. From the secrets of Quam late patet curiosit [...] ipsa in specta [...]lis in theatr is in sacrament is Diabolicis, i [...] magic i [...] artibus, in malefici [...]ipsa e [...] curiositas. Aug. [...]ct. 2. in Epist. Joannis. Nature she easily passeth to Impiety; for she consults with the Stars that she may know what's to come, and if their Aspects or Conjunctions do not sufficiently instruct her, she raiseth up Spirits, treats with Devils, and of an uselesse Science frames a dangerous superstition. The Amphitheaters of past ages, the Circi, and the Arenae, are the inventions of this desire of Novelty, Dauncing and other Sports, are not so much the occupations of the Idle; as the diversions of the Curious. tis the desire of seeing somewhat of new which draws us forth with multitudes into the fields, and all these fashions, which we invent, are rather signes of our Curiosity, then of our vanity. Alipius conjugium desiderabat, nequaquam victus libidine tal is voluptatis, sed curiositatis. Aug. lib. 6. Confess. cap. 12. This Passion is much more violent, then that of voluptuousnesse, for the latter is easily contenten, and destroying her self by enjoying, her own delights turns often to be her punishments: but the other is never contented: remedies imbitter her violence, and the earth is not able to satisfie her with Novelties, the Passion of the flesh extends it self only to pleasures, as soon as an object ceaseth to be pleasing she scorns to pursue it, and the voluptuous have this advantage, as that they see all their desires confined with the limits of delights: but the Curious mingle Pain with Pleasure, and agree these two contraries together, to entertain their restlesnesse, they try poysons under pretence of composing Antidotes, they dissect the dead, under colour of curing those that live; they teare up the bowels of the earth to learne secrets thereout, and goe down to the depths of the Sea, to know the wonders thereof. There is nothing which may not be come at by the fury of so Irregular a Passion, which hath nothing of equitable in her disorder, save that she is the Eternall Punishment of those that love her. Innocency, and sin may have been the originall thereof; Innocency, because whilst in that condition, man knew all that with justice he could wish for; Sin, because he would know more then he ought, and that discovering his heart unto the Devill, he indiscreetly suffered the immoderate desire of knowing all things to enter there.

Pride or the Ambition of Command; is the last, and most dangerous effect of Concupisceuce. Flattery, whose cheife imployment is to praise sin, confounds this Passion with vertue, and makes all glorious [Page] faults lawful to Conquerors. She builds the glory of the Alexanders upon the sin of Maligne spirits, and she will perswade Magnum delictum quod ex Ang [...]lo fecit Diabolum. Aug. in Psal. 18 Princes of the world, that the furious desire which changed Angels into Devils, can turn men into Gods; but our Religion teacheth us that there is no more insolent Passion then this, and that all other sins are the ushers in of Pride. In effect, if other sins do busie the mind, this possesseth it, if others fly from God, to shun his justice, this draws neer unto him, to set upon his greatnesse, if others leave us when we grow old, this accompanieth us even unto death, and if the rest chance sometimes to be the sin of the Elect, this is almost always the Reprobates fault, it will supply Gods place; whatsoever name is given to the Impiety thereof, it's design in making it self be either loved or feared, is to govern over men, either by force or fair means, and to commit a rape upon that Glory, which belongs only to him, who is the beginning and end of all things: this Passion dies not with men, they preserve the sense thereof after death; and their care of having their Prayers recorded in History their Statutes erected in publique Places, and stately Monuments in Churches, are assured proofs that their Ambition ends not with their lives, this disorder can only proceed from the first man, who not being able to permit that even God should be his Sovereign, unjustly pretended to Independency, and endeavouring Sovereignty by Rebellion, reaped thereby nothing but a shamefull servitude; all these irregularities which derive from self-love, as from their spring-head; and all our fins which burst out from thence like rivers, the Devil who very wel knows, how to tēpt man, makes no use of any other means then these to seduce him, he beats us with our own weapons, and he loseth the hope of overcomming man, when man keeps himself from delight, Curiosity, Tria sunt istae & nihil inveni [...] unde tentetur cupiditas human [...], nisi aut desiderio carnis aut desiderio oculorum aut ambitione saeculi. Per tria ista tentatus est Dominus à diabolo. August. tract. 2. in Epist. Joan. and Ambition, he raised all these batteries against the first man, and judging of their Power by their good success, he made use thereof against Jesus Christ in the Desert, but seeing that his soul was sufficient proof against all his on-set, she resolved to set upon him by sorrow and gr [...] whom he could not seduce by delights

The ninth Discourse.

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Wherefore Concupiscence remains in Man after Baptisme.

WE are taught by Divinity, that nothing but the Power of God can make all things out of nothing; nothing but his Providence can draw good out of evill, and make a mans fault to amend his life. Naturall Phylosophy cannot comprehend the former of these wonders, and morall Phylosopy cannot comprehend the second. Nature worketh nothing without materials, her workmanships are rather alterations then productions; shee may well change one thing into another, but she cannot make a new thing, and there is so little proportion between nothing and subsistancy, as Aristotle chose rather to believe that the World was eternall, then that God created it of Nothing. This great Genjus found it lesse inconvenient to acknowledge numberless causes, then to confess one only, the power thereof was unlimited; and morall Phylosophy, which is not greatly more enlightned then naturall Phylophy, findes such opposition between good and evill, as shee would rather think to draw light out of darkness, and beauty out of deformity, then Vertue out of Vice: but Religion which adores in God Almighty a Power which hath no bounds, and an unclouded Providence confesseth also, that the one may have framed the World out of nothing, and that the other may have extracted Grace, out of sin, in effect the work of our Redemption, is the sequell of ou [...] loss. And if Adams sin be not the cause, it is at least the occasion of our salvation, the same sin which hath drawn reproches from forth our mouth, hath return'd prayses for it, And the Church calleth that sin, fortunate, O [...] cul [...] quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptorem. which hath merited so excellent a Redeemer, Concupiscence being the daughter of sin, we must not wonder if divine Providence hath made it serviceable to her designes, and if she employ her Enemy to execute her will, for though this guilty habit be past, as it were into nature, and that it makes sin so hard to be overcome, yet did God leave it in the souls of his faithfull Ones to exercise their vertue, to allay their Pride, and to make them have their [Page] Remembrance of their misfortune always before them. During the happy estate of their Innocencie, Vertue was so naturall to man as it met with no Resistance. Man took delight in doing what was good, and the greatness of Merit was not measured by the difficulty of the work, his passions were obedient to reason, his senses were faithfull to his soule, and his body had no other motions then those of the soule, the practise of Piety was not as yet become a Combate, Continencie and Fortitude were not enforced to give battaile, to bear away the victory; and these two Noble Habits were given man, rather for his ornament then for his defence, so we must confess that if he had more quiet then we, hee had less glory, and that if he tasted more delight, he could not hope for so great reward, for all our life is spent in Exercise and fighting, all our vertues are austeer, they are always environed with Enemies, they cannot go out of their ordinary tracks, without falling into a Precepice, and they are Reduced to the Vita justi in isto corpore adhuc bellum est, nondum triumphans. Ergo hic semper pug [...]andum est▪ quia ipsa concupiscentia cum qua nati sum [...] finiri non potest q [...]mdiu vivim [...]s. Quotidiè minui potest finiri non potest. Beda in Rom. 8. in August. Necessity of Continuall fighting unlesse they will be defeated, but of all the Enemies that sets upon them, they are most vext with Concupiscence, and yet win most glory thereby, for she is so opinionated as [...] cannot be overcome, Grace which triumphs over all our Evill, complains of being resisted by this, although it lose it's vigour, it loseth not it's courage, and though the Saints do still weaken it yet they cannot stifle it; they must dye to defeat it, and it must cost them their life, to get the full victory, yet is this the field wherein they purchase all their Bayes, tis the matter of their fights and Triumphs: and their vertues would languish in Idleness, did not this domestick Enemy keep them in breath. To say truth, they run much danger but gain much Glory; the same subject which causeth their Pain heighthens their courage and increaseth their merit.

If Concupiscence be of use to vertue, she is no lesse fatall to sin, for though she be her Daughter she is likewise oft her Murtherer; and of all the remedies which Grace hath ordained to cure us of Pride, there is none more safe then that of this disorder. We are naturally Proud and Miserable, and it is hard to say whether Pride or misery makes the greater Impression in our souls. Pride is so well engraven therein, as we in our sad Condition continue the coveting after all those greatnesses which we did possess whilest innocent; We perswade our selves that we are Princes, because our Father was [Page] so: We will have Nature to obey us because she bore respect to his will, and we think that all honours are due to us, because he enjoyed them in the Earthly Paradice. Death which is the reward of sin cannot be the cure thereof; the Creatures revolt cannot perswade us, that we have lost the Empire of the world, and the sicknesses, which do alter our Tempers, cannot teach us that the Elements are our enemies, but Concupiscence teacheth us humility, this insolent Mistris teacheth us obedience; Quae hominis alia est major miseria nisi adversus eum ipsum, inobedientia ejus ipsius. Aug. lib. 14▪ de Civit. cap. 15. and her frequent rebellions makes us know that we are no longer Masters of our selves, by two contrary Motions, she inspires us with Pride, and teacheth us modesty, she fils us with courage, and makes us know our weaknesse, she incites us against Heaven, and obligeth us to implore the assistance thereof▪ In fine, she wounds and cures us, at the same time; and like to those prepared poysons, whereof Medicines are made, she is the antidote of al our evils. For who is so proud a Prince as doth not humble himself, when hee sees he is less absolute in his person then his state, that his▪ Passions are more rebellious then his subjects, that there goes more to tame them, then to reduce Rebels to obedience, and that though reason super-intend in his soul, she hath irrationall subjects who despise her Authority. Saint Augustine confesseth that this Punishment is as shamefull as cruell, and of as many Irregularities as sin hath produced in men, hee findes none more infamous then Concupiscence.

She makes us also see the unfortunate state of our condemna [...]n, and even in the State of Grace, she presents unto us the Condition▪ of sin; for we are divided between Adam▪ and Jesus Christ, we belong to two Masters, we are the Members of two opposite Commanders, and we the Children of two Fathers, that war one against the other▪ Wee hol [...] still with Adam, according to the flesh, wee follow his Inclinations, and in Christian Religion, we forbeare, not to ob [...]y his will, his sin hath made such an Impression in our Neque viv [...] ut vult homo nisi [...] perv [...]eris ubi mori sal [...]i [...] offendi non possit. August. lib. 14. deCivit. cap. 25. soul, as we continue to bear about with us all the marks of his Rebellion, and unlesse we contend against our senses, we find by experience; that our desires▪ are the Pictures of his.

All our sins are so many undertakings against the Authority of God, we will be Independent in our Government, we will tast delights unmingled with bitternesse, and have knowledge [...]exempt from errour, we still seek after the effects of those abusive promises, [Page] which the wicked Fiend made unto us, and pretend in the depth of our Miseries, to arrive at the height of greatnesse, from whence we are faln, thus doth Adams sin triumph yet in our souls, and this Father which is dead so many ages ago, lives yet in his Children. Tis true that according to the spirit we belong to the only Son of God, his Grace is shed abroad throughout our hearts, we work by his Motions, if we be inanimated by his spirit, and we desire to kill Adam, that Jesus Christ may live in his place; but this is but a languishing life, we are but imperfect works, Grace meets always with contradictions in her designs, and the soul being engaged in the bodies rebellion, hath very much ado to submit her self to the Spirit of God. We Vt sim [...] initium aliquod c [...]caturae ejus. Jacob ideo Christus vocatur pater futuri saeculi. wait for the day of resurrection, to the end that Jesus Christ may be the Father both of our body, and soul, and that the two parts whereof we are Composed may submit themselves to his will. We wish that death may bereave us of all that Adam gave us, and to the end that Jesus Christ may reign absolutely in our Soul we▪ desire that our soul may be loosened from the sinfull body which she inanimates; from thence derive the opposite motions which divide the greatest Saints, from thence arise those contrary desires which divide their wils, from thence finally proceeds those differing inclinations which do so diversly agitate them, and which teach them that though they be Subjects to the Empire of Grace, they are not notwithstanding freed from the Tyranny of sin, tis true that they Comfort themselves amidst their misfortune; When they consider that they are not made guilty by the motions of Concupiscence, save when they are voluntary, and that Baptisme, which hath left them languishing, hath not left them Criminall, for our revolts are not always sins, if our will approve not of them, they are rather Subjects of Glory then Confusion. The disorders of our Passions become not offences, save when they draw along our consent, as long as the soul opposeth the disorders of the senses, she is innocent, and as long as she surpasseth Sorrow and Anger, Concupiscenti [...] host is mea quomodo agit malum & non perficit malum: agit malum quia movet desideriū malum: non p [...]rficit malum quia nos non trahit ad malum & in isto bello est tota vita sanctorum. Bed. in Rom. 8. if she do not triumph she is at least victorious. He who looks Pale and sigheth, is not always overborn with Feare, or Sorrow, he whose colour riseth when he is offended is not always overcome by choller. These Passions must be voluntary to be Criminall, and to be really tearmed sins, they must pass from the body to the soul, he who trembleth is not affraid if he will not Commit some base act, he who weeps is not sad, if he [Page] will wipe away his tears; he who finds Anger to arise in him is not irritated, if he endeavour to quench his flames, and amidst all these Passions a man may boast that he is void of fear; Grief; and Anger, if his will goe not along with their motions, by all this discourse a man may easily gather, that Agit caro desideria sua age tu tua: non opprimuntar, non extinguntur à te desideriaejus, non extinguat tua, ut in certamine labores & non victus trabetis. Bed. in Rom. 8. Concupiscence may be made good use of by the Faithfull, and that if, of her own Inclination, she be the root of all vice, when conducted by Grace she may become the seed of all vertues.

The tenth Discourse.

That Gods Iustice hath permitted that Man should be divided within himself, for the punishment of his sin.

THe Phylosopher Seneca being desirous to make it known, that Destiny hath no share in the Worlds Government, and that whatsoever accidents befall us in the Course of our life, are guided by a Sovereign Providence, vaunted that he had undertaken a work Rem saciam non difficilem causam Deorum agam. Senec. Provid. which was not difficult, since hee therein pleaded Gods cause, and that he had the honour to defend it; Me thinks I may begin this Discourse in his words, and boast together with him, that the businesse I undertake is not very hard, since I plead in the behalfe of the Justice of God; and that I go about to free it from the out-rages which it receives from so many foul mouthes, which accuse Gods Justice for leaving so many wicked men unpunished. I very well know that the unfortunate Innocent have complained of these, and that without dis-regard to the respect which is due to the Justice of God, they have often desired that God would be more speedy in his Punishments. D [...]cunt in bonis dies suos & in puncto descendunt in inferos Iob. David murmured inwardly seeing the prosperity of sinners, Iob complain'd, that the good fortune of the wicked was so constant, as it accompanied them even to death, and Saint August. in Psal. 72. Augustine, who seems to have sought into all the secrets of Divine justice confesseth, that it is no lesse difficult to accord the Power of Grace, with mans Liberty, then Divine justice with the Prosperity of the wicked. This is the scandall of silly souls, the wicked mans despair, and the rock whereon all those run ship wrack, who [Page] are not soundly grounded in the Faith of Jesus Christ: yet this great Doctor avoucheth two or three maximes, which may pacifie the mind of man, and which prove cleerly enough that there is no sinner who is not miserable.

To understand his Doctrine we must know that Omnis animae poenoe & praemium semper aliquid consert justa pulchritudini dispositionique rerum omnium. Aug. lib. de quantit. animae, cap. 56. Punishment and reward go to the making up of one part of the worlds beauty; and that as Vertue deserves some Pay, sin likewise deserves some Punishment. It would be unreasonable if the just man should not be recompenced, and Irregular, if the guilty should not be punished. Divine justice is answerable to these two sorts of men, and as the great Tertullian says, she is no lesse obliged to Erect Heaven for the good, then to make Hell for the wicked; that Divine perfection, which maintains the order of the world never overthrows this: Vertue receiveth always her reward, and vice is never exempt from Punishment; they do not only follow, but accompany one another, and as the Epicurians did not believe that delight could be seperated from vertue, Saint Augustine did not believe that Punishment could be parted from sin. This effect is always found with it's cause, and man can no sooner Commit an offence but he presently becomes sensible of the Punishment. There is an Lex aeterna & summa ratio cui semper obtemperandum, illa est per quam mali miseram, boni beatam vitam merentur, nec enim injustum esse potest ut mali miseri, boni beati sint. Aug. lib. 1. de lib. arbit. cap. 6 Eternall law which will have good men happy, and the wicked miserable, it neither defers reward nor Punishment, and without putting off the Punishment to Hell, or the reward to Heaven, it confers them both on earrh,; God hath made some laws which alters with the times; though he be in himself always the same, yet he accommodates himself somtimes to his handy-worke, and oft times repeals the Decrees which he hath pronounced, but the law which regards vertue, and vice is immutable, and the ugliness of an offence never goeth without the beauty of Punishment, nor doth sin ever enter into Nunquam accidit ut sit in anima dedecus peccati sive decore vindicta. August. a soul, but it brings it's reward with it, Though this maxime may appear strange yet hath it been approved of by prophane Phylosophy; and Seneca In ipso etiam scelere sceleris supplicium est. Seneca. acknowledged that man who had sinned could not keep unpunished; that his Crime was his Torment, and that without having recourse to the revengfull furies he bore about with him, his hangman, and his sin. They therefore deceive themselves who believe that there be any guilty unpunished, because they are honoured; for though men through base flattery confound vice with vertue, though they put a value upon what they ought to dis-esteeme, though they raise Altars [Page] to those that merit the Gallows, though the Heavens seem to favour their designs, that Fortune fore-running their desires, mounts them upon Thrones, and put Crowns upon their Heads, yet are they unhappy, if wicked, and amongst this imaginarie felicity which provokes our Envy, they suffer Pains, which would move our Compassion, if they were as evident as true: for if they should suffer no other Torment then to be upon ill Tearms with God, are they not sufficiently Miserable, and say they should undergo no other losse, then that of his Grace; should they not be rigorously enough punisht; banisht People will admit of no Consolation, because they are far distant from their Country: though they enjoy their estate, though they live under a Temperate Climate, though they converse with fair conditioned men, they think themselves unhappy, in that they breath not the Air of their own Countrey. Favourites will not out-live their Masters favours, the Magnificence of their Palaces, the number of their meniall servants, the greatnesse of their offices, cannot charme their sorrow; they are pleased with nothing because their Prince is offended: all their contentments cannot countervail the losse of his Favour, and his wrath is a Punishment, which all the reasons of Phylosophy cannot sweeten: if experience teacheth us that banishment and losse of Favour are Punishments, shall we doubt whether he that is not upon good Terms with God, be upon bad terms with himselfe or no? and can we think him happy who through his own default hath lost the well spring of true Happinesse? the sinner then is miserable; and if men esteeme them happy amongst so many sufferings, It is for that they do not know wherein happinesse consists. I looked upon the prosperity of the wicked (saith Saint Vidi malos & displicuit mihi Deus. Hoc enim volebam ut non permitteret Déus malos esse foelices: Intelligat homo: numquam permittit hoc Deus sed ideo malus foelix putatur quia quid sit foelicit [...]is ignoratur. Aug. tract. 28. in Joan. Augustine) with indignation, I could not tollerate that good luck should accompany them in their ways, I could have wished that Divine Justice would have made an example of them, and that it would have abased their Pride, thereby to appease the murmuring of the Innocent, but I did unjustly accuse Divine Providence, for it never leaves sinners unpunished, and if such as are blind think wicked men happy, tis because they know not what happinesse is.

As mans wickednesse draws on Gods justice, and as we conclude he is miserable, because sinfull, we ought also to argue that he is sinfull because miserable, for God is not severe without reason, our [Page] faults do always precede his Punishments, and he took not upon him to be a revenger, before we became faulty, It is our offences that provoke his justice, and he had never let his thunder have fallen on our heads if we had not neglected his Commandements. Tis one of Saint Video [...]ie in poena & apud te non video iniquitatem: si ergo in poenâ sum & apud te iniquitas non est, nonne rest at ut pro iniquitate crudias hominem. Aug. in Psal. 38. Augustines Arguments which convinceth the most opinioned, and obligeth them to confess, that since there is no Injustice in God, man must needs be Criminall, because miserable, for God afflicteh nothing that is Innocent, nor ruines not his workmanship without a cause, he should injure his own goodnes, should his justice punish a man that were not guilty. Phylosophers agree in this truth, the light of reason hath made us know, that Punishment presupposeth sin; the Ignorance of our Miseries hath perswaded them, that man was punisht on earth, for sins that he had committed in heaven, that his body was his souls prison, and that she was deteined there to expiate the faults which she only had committed. Though these be not so pure truths but that they have an intermixture of Errour, yet they teach us that sin precedes Punishment, and that mans misery doth assuredly witness his offence. For what likely-hood is there that Divine Providence would have condemned man to so much misery without a fault, wherefore should the body rebell against the soul, whereunto it is united: Wherefore should man be composed of Parts which cannot agree? and why should the workmanship of God be out of order were it not corrupred by the sin of man. We must have offended this judge, before he have condemned us, his justice Numquid ille prius ulcorquàm iste peccator? absit ne (que) enim Deus davinat innocentes. Aug. lib. 11. de Gen. cap. 17. never punisheth the Innocent, and his goodnesse would not permit us to be miserable, if we were not guilty: but we must also confesse that his justice would have been remisse, had he not punisht sin, Adams Rebellion deserved that all men should be punisht for it, his sufferings were to be hereditarie, and there had been some sort of Inconvenience, that a guilty Father should have produced innocent Children, we inherit his punishment and his sin, and receiving our being from him, it was reason we should partake of the Miseries which do accompany it, In Point of high Treason, the Children are punisht for the Fathers fault, When a Princes Anger breaks out upon great personages that are guilty, it fals likewise upon their Families, to have any relation to them sufficeth to be guilty. Crime is contracted by Allyance, and though the misfortune may exceed the sin; there is always reason enough for the punishment [Page] throughout all the Judaicke Law the Children beare the punishment of their fore-fathers sins, God Non sibi tantum de Dei misericordia, blandiantur, ut sibi etiam injustitiam ejus polliceantur. Aug. in Psal. 80. requires it to the fourth Generation Non sibi tantum de Dei misericordia, blandiantur, ut sibi etiam injustitiam ejus polliceantur. Aug. in Psal. 80. as a Child is a part of his father, we presume he hath drawn along with him Part of his sin, and that he cannot inherit his being without inheriting his offence also, Gods greatnesse merits this rigour, and offences cōmitted against so high a Majesty cannot be sufficiently punished. Our Complaints proceed from our Ignorance we defend our own cause only because we know not his Sanctity whom we have offended, if we had a little light we would prevent Gods decrees, and we should find that Hell is to small a punishment for such as rebell against him. In whatsoever sort it be that we have contracted sin, it deserveth Punishment, we cannot be blamelesse since we proceed from a guilty father, and since the bodies maladies are hereditary, we must not wonder if those of the soul be contagious: there is no difference between Adams sin, and ours, save only that his is voluntary, and ours Naturall, that he is more guilty then unfortunate; & we more unfortunate then guilty, that he hath done the mischiefe and we have received it, that he hath committed a fault, and we bear the Punishmnnt, that his disorder is become our Nature, that his Rebellion engageth us in disobedience, and that as the tree is lost in it's root; we are infected in our beginning and corrupted in our father. After all these reasous there is no more reason of complaint; Miserable man instead of accusing Gods Justice must implore his mercy, and must find out that innocency in Iesus Christ, which he hath lost in Adam, to the end, that as naturall generation hath been the cause of his misery, Spirituall generation may be the cause of his happinesse, and that he may there partake of grace without any other merits then those of the Sonne of God; as he hath received condemnation without any other fault then that of Adam.

OE THE CORRUPTION OF the Soul by SINNE: The Second Treatise:

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The First Discourse.

Of the Souls Excellencie, and of the miseries which shee hath contracted by Sinne.

THe Church hath oft times seen the Truth of her belief gain-said by contrary Heresies, neither hath she almost at any time explained the mysteries of faith, but that she hath seen new Sects arise, which by different ways have endeavoured to bereave her of her Purity, and to engage her in Errour, when she explained her self upon the mysterie of the Trinity, and that she had taught her Children to adore the plurality of Persons, in the Unity of the Divine Essence, she was opposed by two contrary Heresies, the one of which confounded the Persons, the other divide the Nature, when to declare [Page] unto us the Oeconomy of the Incarnation, she hath taught us that Man-God did unite in the unity of his Person, the Divine Nature; with the humane, there arose Veritas & virtus medium tenent, [...]esis & vitium extrema occupant in qua de viare sine periculo ne [...]o potest. Heretiques, who desirous to destroy one another, quitted the Catholicks opinions, and perswaded themselves either that there was but one Nature or two Persons in Iesus Christ, when finally, the same Church distinguishing, between the purity and the corruption of nature, taught us that the one was the worke of GOD, the other the worke of sinne, two Heresies sprung up, which withstood this truth with different weapons, for the one confounded the corruption of Nature with her Essence, and Imagined that there was a bad Principium, of which all things visible were the work: the other by a clean contrary tract, would excuse the disorders of sin, by the goodnesse of Nature, and perswade us that mans Irregularities were nether the effects, nor the punishment of his Rebellion, it approoved of Concupiscence, and placed it in the Terrestiall Paradice before the Serpent had seduced the first woman; it made merry with Original righteousnes, and bereft her of the Power of composing the differences of the soul and body; it approved of all those revolts which we look upon as the cursed consequences of sin, and imployed it's reason to perswade Catholicks, that they were rather the effects of our Constitution then the Punishments of our disobedience, it maintained together with Phylosophy whose arms it borrowed, to fight against Religion, that death was rather a law then a punishment, and that even in the state of Innocency a man could not have fenced himself against death. The Churches belief being equally distant from these two Errours, and since she doth as constantly confesse the goodnesse of nature as her corruption. I have thought good throughout all this work to mingle Invectives with Panygericks, and to observe as well the Advantages which man receives from God, as the miseries which he contracts by sin, I therefore think my self obliged to set forth the beauties of the soul, before I describe her blemishes, and to paint forth on the same Table her perfections, and her defaults.

The souls Originall contributes to her greatnesse, and though she be brought Ex Nihilo, tis no small miracle that Divine Power hath been able to draw so excellent a thing from so barren a subject. Phylosophers Consiste in medio anim [...], seu divina & [...] res [...] sec [...]um plures Phylosophos, seu minimè divinae quoniam quidem mortalis ut soli Epicuro placet seu de coelo exciperis seu de terta conciperis, seu numeria seu atomis concinnaris, seu cum corpore incaeperis, seu post corpus induceris, unde & quoquo modo hominem facis animal rationale sensus & scier [...] capacissimum. Tertul. de testi. animae. who never knew the truth without the mixture of falshood, and who have always in Religion mingled Fables with History, [Page] Imagined that soul made a part of the Divine substance that she was a slip of his being, & that after having inlivened the body which served her for a sepulchre, or prison, she should be happily re-united to her Principium. Some others more modest believe, that she drew her birth from Heaven, and that preserving the memory of her dear Country, she could ill bear with the length of her exile. Some others lesse elevated have perswaded thēselves that she was form'd of earth, and that being more extenuated, & not more noble then the body, she had the same Element for her Originall, the Pythagorians composed her of Numbers, and would have harmony to be her Essence, as that which maketh Peace in the world, and accordeth the Elements; some dotards have drawn her from the Atoms of the Sun, and gave her a body composed only of Light and Heat.

But Christian Religion teacheth us, that she is a spirit created by God in time, infused into a body to inanimate it, the spring head of Motion and Life, and that in her noblest operations, she stands in need of her salves Organes to operate withall, Light is in some sort naturall to her, in her understanding she comprehends the Principles of all Sciences; her will hath in it the seed of all vertue, the senses are so many Messengers which informe her with whatsoever passeth in the world, and by their faithfull reports teach her those truths which she was ignorant of, tis true, that there are some truths which are rather infused into her then acquired by her, and which Nature hath so powerfully imprinted in her Essence as Errours self cannot deface them, she without an Instructer knows there is but one God, she preserves this belief in the midst of Superstition, in this point she is Christian, even when Infidell whilst she offers Nam te quo (que) palam & tota libertate qu [...] non licet nobis, ita audimus pro nuntiare quod Deus dederit & si Deus voluerit. Ea voce [...] significas & omnem illi confiteris potestatem ad cujuc spectas voluntatem simul & c [...] te os negas esse Deos dum suis vocabilis nuncupas Saturnū, Jovem, Martē, & Minervam. Tertull. de test. animae. Incense to her Idols, she trusts in him who seeth all things, and after having invoked Saturn and Iupiter, she implores ayd from him whom her Conscience tels her is the true Creator of Heaven and Earth; she is ignorant of the fall of Devils, and by the hatred which she bears unto them, makes it appear that she is not ignorant of their guile, whilst she is possessed with these Tyrants, she ceaseth not to think upon her lawfull Sovereign; and sin which hath not been able to destroy her Nature c d Sentis igitur tuum perditorem & licet soli illum noverint christiani tu tamen eum nosti dum odisti. Tertul. de test. animae. could not deface her knowledge, nor her love; she loves God though she offends him, all the tyes she hath to these perishable things, are the remainders of that Naturall Inclination, and because every Creature is an Image of it's Creator, she cannot [Page] see them without being in some sort transported, the shadow of God awakens her flame, but having neither light nor heat enough to raise her self up to him, she remains engaged on the earth and by a strange blindnesse she forgets the Summum Bonum to fasten her self to his Picture, she presageth her misfortune Sentis animam quae ut sentias efficit: recogita in praesagiis varem, in omnibus augurem, in eventibus prospicem. Tertul. de test. animae. before she hath any knowledge thereof, she prophesieth it before she disputes, and when she first enters into the world, she witnesseth by her tears, that she hath some sense of her miseries, as soon as she hath by her cryes saluted the Sun, she teacheth those that understand her, that she very well knows the earth is the seat of misery and that one cannot live long there without suffering much sorrow.

When age indues her with the use of Reason, she doth not lose the use of Prophecie, her dreams serves for presages. The Heavens whilst she is at rest, advertize her, of her disasters, and the Angels treating with her in a condition wherein she cannot treat with men, acquaints her with the good and bad successes of her enterprizes, she makes Non mirum si [...] Deo data [...]nima [...] divinare. [...]ertul. de test. animae. out salleys which cause men to believe that though she be fastened to the body, yet she is not a Prisoner, for when she pleaseth she abandons the senses, and collects her self, that she may be the lesse interrupted in her Meditations: she seeks for knowledge, in the Center of her essence, and as if she did complain of the sights Infidelity, or the ears sloath, she endeavours to learn at home within her selfe what she cannot find out in the world, in effect she would be very ignorant if she knew nothing, but what she learns from her Officers: for as they are but the Organes of the body, they can only observe the qualities of the objects, and can only inform their Sovereign of the lustre of Colours, the diversity of sounds, and of the varities of smels, but when she withdraws within her self she knows subsistances, she treats with spirits, and raising her self-above all things, created, she forms unto herself certain Ideas of a Divinity. Nay, she is an Image thereof, and it seems God took pleasure, to draw his own Picture in the soul of man, and to make us admire in this chief work of his power, the unity of his Nature, and the Plurality of his Persons; for though this spirit be engaged In Materia, and that it works differently according to the severall Organes of the body, that it digests meat by naturall heat, converts it into bloud by means of the Liver, distributes it into all parts▪ by the veins, and by a miraculons Metamorphosis gives a hundred severall shapes [Page] to the same food, yet is it not divided, and representing the unconceivable unity of God, it is Tota in Toto & Tota inqualibet parte. Thus the soul conteins that which seems to inclose her, she lends her hoast house room, she upholds her house, she inanimates▪ her Sepulchre, and this Created Divinity is so great, as she Circumscribes the Temple wherein she makes her residence. This admirable unity agrees with a Trinity of powers, which makes the soul an excellent Image of God; for she hath an active understanding, which conceives all things, a happy memory which records them, and an absolute will, which disposeth of them; she knew the highest of our miseries by reflecting on her self, before Faith had revealed unto her the procession of the Divine persons, Nature had given her some glimmering thereof, by studying what she found to be in her self; she learnt what was in God, and seeing that she conceived a word in her understanding, and a love in her will, she had no trouble to comprehend that the father begot a Sonne, and that the Sonne together with the Father produced a Holy Ghost. Plato who had read no other book then that of his own soul, guest at these Truths. Trismegistus Monas genuit Monadem & in se suum reflexit ardorem. Trismegist. who had only learn'd these lights out of the bosome of Nature, had some weak knowledge of the mysteries, and we are bound to confess, that neither the one nor the other would ever have known the Divine Originall had they not seriously considered the copy. As the soul is the shadow of the divine Essence, it shares in part of his highest perfections; her light is not obscured by her Prison: the body which is formed but of earth doth not derogate from her Nobility, nor Power, and death which threatens the House wherein she lives, injures not her Immortality, she is knowing in the midst of obscurity, Absolute, amidst the revolt of her Subjects, Immortall in the bosome of death it self; the senses which endeavour to seduce her by their unfaithfull reports, cannot abuse her, and let them use what foul play they please, she hath always light enough to discover their Imposture, she corrects their errours; and when she will make use of her own rights, she finds Counsellors in the Bas [...] of her being, who convince these faithless Officers of fals-hood: she finds oft times lesse resistance in her body then in her self, one only Act Anima autem movet corpus, ab illa enim impingi, & pedes in incessum, & manus incontactum & oculos in aspectum & linguam in essatum velut sigillario motu superficiem int [...] agitante. Ter. tul. de anima. of her will, makes the eyes open, the arms be lifted up, and the legs go, these parts are so obedient to her commands, as they never resist when in health, their Rebellion ariseth rather from Infirmity, [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] then malice, & if her subjects forget their duty, they are never the first Authors of disorder, the tongues diligence in expressing her thoughts exceedeth belief, the eyes makes prodigious hast to bring her news, and the ears as lazie as they are; are wonderfully faithfull, in informing her of what they understand: the hands invent a thousand means to content her, the five branches whereof they are Composed are the mothers of all Arts, and they are so affectionate to their Sovereign, as she hath no sooner design'd any thing but these industrious officers do forth-with faithfully execute it. Nature would be jealous of their labours, did she not know that their Power is boūded, and that for all they can do to imitate her, they can neither give life, nor motion to their workmanship, in fine, the soul which governs them so dexterously, and which seems to foregoe all the other parts of the body to inanimate them, loseth half her Power when she hath no hands, and this high and mighty Sovereign seems to execute her greatest designs by the means of these faithfull confederates.

As she is absolute in her servitude, she is immortall in her grave, and all the atteints which sicknesse gives her, cannot trouble her rest, if she apprehend Pain, tis because the body that she inanimates resents it, if she fear death, tis because it destroys her Mansion, and if she seem Porrò & animam compati corpori! cui loeso ictibus, vulneribus, ulceribus condolescit, & corpus animae cui afflictae curae angore amore cobereseit. Tertul. de animae. to be moved or affraid tis because she loves the slave that would foregoe her: the knowledge she hath of her own Immortality, makes her rest quiet, she takes delight in entertaining her self with thought of the life which must succeed this life, she sees far into ages that are to come, she ordains things which must not be accomplished till after her departure, she is very jealous of her honour, and knowing very well, that death which will destroy her body, shall not ruine her, she endeavours to do Actions, for which she shall suffer no reproach in the other world; her cares which extend themselves beyond the precincts of time, are proofs of her Nam omnibus ferè ingenita est famae post mortem cupido, longumque est eos retexere quorum innumera elogia sunt contemptae mortis propter posthu [...] sa [...]am. Terrul. de ani. Immortality, and the Paision she hath for Glory, witnesseth that she is not ignorant of the happinesse which is prepared for her in Heaven, when the moment wherein she is to make her entrance thereinto approacheth, and that she is ready to be divorced from her body she operates with a new strength; she sees things with more light, all her words are Hinc denique evenit saepe anima [...] in ips [...] divortio potius agitari, d [...] ex major [...] suggestu jam in liber [...] constituta enunciat quae videt, quae andit, quae incipit nosse. Tert. de animae Oracles, it seems that freeing her self from Materia, she becomes a pure spirit, and that having no further Commerce [Page] with men, she treats invisibly with Angels, her last endevours are usually the greatest, she gathers strength out of her bodies weaknesse, and death destroys her Prison, only to set her at liberty, she beginsto tast the sweet of Heaven, and she looks upon parting from the earth, as upon the end of her servitude. I should be too tedious if I would perticularize in all the souls advantages, the rest of this discourse must be imployed in shewing what out rages she receiveth from sin; for as soon as she took up her lodging, she became slave to the body; she lost her Power when she lost her Innocence, when she ceased to obey, she ceased to command, and as if obedience had been the foundation of all her greatnesse, rebellion was the cause of her miseries, of all the cognizances whichwere together with Grace infused into her, none remain'd in her but doubts and jealousies, which makes her as oft embrace fals-hood as truth; though she know God: she adores the workmanship of his hands, her enlightnings detein her not from engaging her self in errour, and the great Inclination which she hath for the Summum Bonum doth not estrange her from the love of perishable things, she is the Image of God; and ceaseth to resemble him, she expresseth his greatnesse, and doth no longer imitate his vertues, she conserves the Trinity of her power in the unity of her essence, yet cannot conceive one God in three Persons, she makes and Idol unto her self of every Creature, all that pleaseth her seem Gods unto her, her Interest is the soul of her Religion, her love ariseth from fear, she adores whatsoever she fears, and unlesse the God which she serveth had thunders wherewithall to punish her she would have no victimes to load his Altars withall.

Her Punishment is the Picture of her offence, she meets with rebellion in her slave; the conspiracy of all the parts of her body is generall; her senses do seduce her, Her Passions do torment her, her Imagination troubles her, and her subjects do despise her, she sees her self obliged to encourage their disorders to give life to Rebels, which justle her Authority, to nourish up monsters which rend her in peices, and to arme souldiers which plunder her estate, but nothing ads more unto her Pain; then the love which she bears her enemy, for though he prosecute her, she cannot resolve to hate him & dares not make War against him without assistance from heaven: this Traitor is so full of cunning as he makes himself be beloved by her [Page] whom he abuseth, she is sensible of all the evils that he endures, and as if her pain arose from her love; she never ceased to suffer since she began to love him, she apprehends her slaves miseries more then her own; she fears death more then sin, she is more affraid of ruine then of falshood, and as if this inclination had changed her Nature, she desires no other good, nor dreads no other evill, then what is sensible: Musick charms her discontents, Pictures serve her for a diversion, she is pleased with smels, and the greatest part of her delights consists in what contents her senses, by a sequell as shamefull as necessary, she is burnt by Feavers, pained by the Gout, weakened by sicknesse, and whatsoever hurteth her body, abaseth her courage.

After the Injuries which she hath received from this domestick enemy, Nam etsicaro peccairix secun, dum quam vivere prohibemur, cujus opera damnatur cancupisceeatia adversus spiritum, ob quam carnales notantur iusamiâ, non tamen suo nomine caro infamis. Neque enim de proprio sapit quid, aut sentit ad suadendam vel imperandam peccat [...]lam: quid, ni? quae in ministerium est. Tert. de anima. It is hard to judge which of the two hath juster cause of complaint, for each of them seem to be equally guilty; and that the one and the other of them are the mutuall cause of their displeafures. In Adam, sin arose from the soul, but in his Children it draws it's birth from the flesh, and in the most part of their errours, tis the senses which seduce them, Pleasures which corrupt them, sorrows which keep them, love, and passions which tyrannize over them. Thus our misfortunes drive equally from these two, and if the soul made our first father guilty, It is the body which makes his Children unfortunate; yet must we avow that the soul is the greater Delinquent in us as well as in him, for if she have no freedom to defend her self against Originall sin, and if necessity may excuse a misfortune which is not voluntary, she is more guilty then the body, because she commits so many faults with delight, stays not for being solicitated by the senses, and that by a blind Impetuosity, she willingly embraceth whatsoever is pleasing unto her, she ads voluntary sins, to sins of Nature, and will have that of her faults, some be the effects of her misfortune; and others, of her lewdness.

In fine, it seems that those that follow her motions endevour to exceed the sin of their birth by the sins of their life, and as if they thought it an offence to be more innocent then their Father, they strive to be more faulty then hee who committed all the sins in the world; when he made all that descended from him Criminall.

The second Discourse.

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That the soul is become slave unto the body by reason of sin.

THough the soul be the noblest part of man, yet is she not void of fault, and for any excessive praise that Prophane Phylosophy may give her, she hath naturall weaknesses which do accompany her, even in Innocency, Adams soul was engaged in his body, and in her Noblest operations, she needed the Organes thereof to expresse her thoughts, or execute her designs; though she were pleased with this dependancy, she ceased not to be servile: and whosoever should reduce an Angel to this condition, should take from him his glory and his liberty: she could not quit her body to go to Heaven, whethersoever her love did carry her, she must carry her host with her, and rather then to forego this pleasing Prison, she did prorogue the accomplishment of her desire. Ignorance was in some sort naturall unto her, Quod enim à Deo est [...]on tam extinguitur quàm obumbratur: potest autem obumbrari quia non est Deus, extingui non potest quia à Deo est, Tertul. de anima. and though knowledge was infused into the soul of Adam together with Grace, we are not sure that he could have transmitted it unto his off-spring, had not the way of learning it been painfull, it would have at least been tedious, and if labour had not been requisite, time would at least have been required to the acquiring thereof, though the Organes of the body had been well disposed, there would have been a difference in their temper, and all souls would not have had the same advantages, of Grace, which was their last perfection, would never have raised them into the rank of Angels, and whatsoever communication men might have had with those happy spirits, they could never have arrived at their Hierarchy.

Though we are hereby, taught that the soul had her weaknesses in the state of Innocency, yet being Naturall they were not painful, and though they were faults, yet were they not punishments: for in this condition man knew nothing which pained him, he was satisfied with his Advantages, and was not lesse happy though no Angell, his nature being the meer work of God had no defaults, that which seem'd humble ceased not to be glorious; and the tye which the soul had to the body, was not a servitude though a necessity, she was well pleased with her abode, and though she were of [Page] a more elevated Condition, then was her body, Certamen corporis & animae non fuisset in illo beatae pacis loco, id est in paradiso deliciarum, si nemo peccasset. Aug. lib. 1 oper. imperf. the service she had from thence made her love her Quarter; the Chains wherewith they were united were so strong, as nothing but sin, could breake them, their Inclinations in the difference of their Nature, were so conformable, as whatsoever pleased the one, did not dislike the other: the body by an admirable prodigie heighthned it's self into the souls Employments without violence, and the soul deigned to submit her self to the necessities of the body, without injury to her self, she found no difficulty in all she did, and if the body were not serviceable to her in her more noble works; yet did it not resist her therein, their contentments were Common, and as the soul was not subject to sorrow; neither did the body feel any pain. This happy Condition lasted no longer then the time of Innocency; when man once lost his righteousnesse, he lost his happinesse: and when he became Criminall, he became miserable, the soul went less in her greatnesses, and this living Image of the Divine Essence, saw her self brought to such misery, as may better be exprest by tears then words; nothing remain'd intire in man, and the outrages of sin dispersed themselves into all the parts of the body, the understanding was darkned, the memory weakned, and the will depraved. In all the faculties of the soul; the soul received some prejudice in her very Essence, and evill found her out in such a condition, wherein as being Forma corporis, she was engaged in the Materia thereof, for since her offence, she her self as it were obliged to love a cruell Tyrant, to bear with an irreconcileable Enemy, to serve a rebellious slave, and to make up all her misfortunes, reduced to that necessity, as she is not able without sorrow, to forego the Cause of all her disasters.

To conceive her corruption, we must of necessity comprehend her purity, and observe the Effects which Originall righteousnesse wrought in the soul: the first was, that notwithstanding her being engaged in a body, she ceased not to be spirituall, her Functions made her not Animale, and though united to the body by Grace; yet was she not thereby a Prisoner, she communicated her perfections to it, and shared not in it's defects, she was free though bound; her body Tunc corpus non erat carcer animae ut somniavit Pl [...], sed erat Templum Tertul. was her Temple, not her Prison, and the love she bore unto it did not injure her liberty, but as soon as sin had insinuated it self into the ground work of her Essence, she changed condition, [Page] the chain of love which tyed her to her body, was turned to a servile ord, which bound her to her slave; her charity was turned into self-love; she forgot her greatnesse; and that she might interest her self in all the desires of her body, she lost all the qualities of her spirit, sensible things became her diversions, she delighted in nothing but the voluptuousnesse of the senses, if she had changed nature by changing condition, she ccased to love the Summum Bonum, and began to idolize her body, she fore-went her noble desires, for such as were infamous, and confining all her wishes, either to the affairs or pleasures Per amorem corporis 'anima [...] aliquomodo corpora scit, & definit esse spiritus August. of her body, she loved nothing but what was earthly and sensible.

They say that in the state of glory, the bodies of the blessed will become spirituall, and that losing all the feelings of their Materia, they shall only have the inclinations of the spirit, that they shall follow their soul without trouble, and by an unconceiveable agility they shall fly faster then the winds, or lightening, that they shall pierce the most solid things, and that being more subtill then flames of fire,; they shall penetrate even the substance, of the Heavens, they shall shine with glory, and being more radiant then the Sun, they shall fill all parts with light. but in the state of sin, the soul assumed the qualities of the body, her love engaged her further in the Materia, then Nature had done; she made her Prison more streight and more obscure, she lost the lights she was infused withall, that she might see no longer but through the senses, and her Compliance with her slave did so alter her Inclinations, as reflecting upon her self; she had much ado to believe that she was yet spirituall. This violent, though irregular love was occasionally the cause of good, and served the soul to free her from the body, for Divine Justice (which oft times makes us find our Punishment in our faults) condemned Sinon peccosset Adam, non erat expoliandus corpore, sed supervestiendus immortalitate. Aug st lib. 6. de Genes. ad litter. cap. 22. the soul to forego the body, as soon as she began to love it in excesse, the same sin which did unite them did by death divide them; their Chains grew weaker, as their affection strengthened, and when the soul had most passions to retein her body, she was forced to forsake it: for when Originall righteousnesse was retreated the Elements began to mutiny, Naturall heat usurped upon the radicall moisture, and all these contraries which lived in Peace, declared open War. Nature was enforced to call in industry to her succour, and tooke advice with Physick to appease all her domestick [Page] divisions; but she knew by experience, that losing grace, she had lost all remedies, and that death was an incurable evill. Thus did mans life become a long sicknesse, in the which he was for some years preserved by food, which could not notwithstanding keepe him from dying, his soul was fain to employ her care to defend her self from death, and she who by an irregular love was become Corporall, by a just punishment became mortall, for though the soul be immortall in her substance, and that she continues this advantage even in her very sin, yet is she punisht in her bodies death, she is so well pleased with her Prison, as she loves the lothsomness thereof, and she is so accustomed to serve; as she abhors the very name of Liberty: she trembles when one speaks to her of death, she makes her fear appear upon the body, which she in-animates, she weeps through the eyes thereof, looks pale in it's visage, sighs by it's mouth: and in this mutuall suspiration, a man cannot tell whether it be the sou [...] that is afflicted; or the body that complaineth. The evill hath it's beginning in the body, but passeth into the Igitur anima corpus est, ex corporalium passionum communione. Tert. de anima. soul; it is the body that perisheth, but tis the soul that suffereth, the body which is corrupt, but the soul which despairs: in fine it is upon the body that death exerciseth his cruelty, but it is the soul that is pierced through with sorrow. This is the bodies death, the souls punishment, and two guilty parties are punished with one and the same scourge.

But this bodily death is the effect of a spirituall death, which is peculiar to the soul; and which though it be invisible ceaseth not to be veritable, this death is nothing else, but the privation of Originall righteousnesse, which commits more outrages upon the soul, then natural death doth upon the body: for man by losing grace lost all the advantages whereof Grace was the cause, he ceased to be upon good Terms with God, Non in cupiditatibus fraenandis continen tia laboraret, si nibil nos contra quod contenderet detineret; si nihil bonae voluntati ex mala concupiscentia repugnaret. August. lib. de Con [...]. cap. 3. and began to be upon bad with himself: all his Inclinations were changed, all his enlightenings darkened, and all his faculties out of order; he could not conceive how being still himself in appearance, he was no longer effectually so, and that the fault which had drawn down Gods just anger upon his head, had bereft him of all those glorious Qualities which he possessed with Innocency, he sought himself out, and could not find himself, he was ashamed of his bodies nakedness, and affraid of his souls misery, he could not indure himself, when he yet loved himself better, by a [Page] strange miracle, self▪ caused hatred, and the same sin which made him proud, loaded him with confusion.

He was sensible of all evils at once, and passed in a moment, from supreame happinesse to extreame misery: we are not sensible of sin, because it is born with us, we are not touched with the disorders thereof, because it fore-runs our reasons, Nature and sin are mutually confused in us, and nothing doth so much comfort us in our misfortunes, as that we have been always unfortunate, If we have recourse to Grace in Baptisme, tis of so nice a Nature, as it is undiscernable, and as we continue to find illusions in our senses, and revolts in our Passions, we have much ado to believe that Grace should reign there where sin doth yet live: when by a voluntary offence we lose it, we were hardly sorry for the losse of a thing, the Possession whereof we are hardly sensible of, we must become convinced by reasons before we▪ Hanc pugnam non experiuntur in semetipsis nisi bellatores virtutum debellatoresque vitiorum. Non expugnat concupiscentiae malum nisi continentiae bonum. Sunt autem qui legem Dei omnino nescientes malas concupiscentia [...] nec inhostibus deputant inque miserabili coecitate servientes, in super etiam se beat [...]s putant satiendo ea [...] potius quàm domando. August. lib. de Continent. cap. 3. be perswaded to believe that we are unfortunate preserving in our offence whatsoever we value most in our Innocence, we cannot believe that we are faulty; for a Phylosopher becomes not ignorant, though he lose Grace, a Prince though fa [...]ulty descends not from his Throne, the avaricious rich man, augments his Revenue by continuing his usury; a proud man loseth not his greatnesse, though he lose humility, nor doth a fair woman lose her beauty, though she stain her honour. Our sins bereave us not of our advantages; and finding no change neither in fortune, nor body, we cannot believe that any such hath befaln us in our soul, if the same, sin whereby we lost Grace, had taken from us our health, we should strive more to preserve our Innocence, and did Crimes cause the same disorder in our conditions, as it doth in our souls, we should oft times set Phylosophers ignorant, Kings without subjects, rich men ruined, proud men abased, and fair women become ill-fauoured; but all the losse being spirituall, it is insensible and because it leaves us whatever is most precious to us, we doubt whether it be true or no.

The Pledges of Heaven which Grace giveth unto us, the quality of the Children of [...] God which she obteins for us, the dignity of u Omnis pulchritudo [...]ilie regis ab int [...]. Psal. 44. the Temples of the Holy Ghost which she procures us, and the honours of being the Members of Jesus Christ, which she acquires in our behalf, are the advantages which we possesse without being sensible thereof, and which we lose without sorrowing. Faith is requisite [Page] to the knowledge of our souls health, and of our losse, and unlesse we carefully enquire into our conscience, hardly can we know whether we be guilty or innocent, but Adam had all miseries, poured down at once, upon him, his losse was not by degrees, as ours is, it was great at the first, and if any advantages remain'd to him after his losse of favour, he needed new Grace to make good use thereof, he was sadly sensible of the privation, because it was generall; he was so much the more unfortunate, for that his misery succeeded a height of happiness, and he had so much the less reason of Comfort, for that the fault which bereft him of righteousnes took therewithall from him, all that he was thereby indow'd withall, his soul found no longer any submission in her body, no more faithfullnesse in her senses, nor obedience in her Passions, she was forced to encourage all their disorders, and to give life to Rebels, or such as were guilty, she felt her self distracted by her own Inclinations, and not comprehend how being but one in her Essence, she was divided in her will:

But nothing did so much astonish her, as to see that Rebellion was spread abroad throughout her whole Empire, and that all her subjects were become Rebels, for her Passions which formerly followed her orders, now did nothing but by their own motions, they waited no longer for Commands from reason, and consulting with nothing but their own Interests, began to rise as oft as they were solicited either by Pleasure or Profit so to do: if her senses were not disobedient, they were unfaithfull, and being corrupted by objects, made her no Ignorantia peccati poena, peccatum est, & peccatorum plurium origo inde ait Psalm. delicta juventutis, & ignorantias meas ne memineris. Et si enim damnabiliora peccata sunt qua à scientibus commi [...]untur, tamen si ignorantiae peccata nulla essent hoc non legeremus quod commemoravi. Aug. lib. de Gratia & arbit. cap. 3. more true reports. Falshood entred into her by the eyes or by the ears, under the likenesse of Truth, vice did insinuate it self, into them with more delight then vertue; and these wicked Spies holding Intelligence with the enemy, tooke Pleasure when once they had suffered themselves to be corrupted, to abuse their Sovereign.

In fine, the revolt was so generall as it passed even into all the parts of the body, the operations whereof being necessary, it seemed they could not be irregular. Naturall Heat did no longer perform all it's Functions, and were it either that it had lost it's strength, or that it found any resistance in Food it could not perfectly digest nourishment: and crudities were occasioned thereby, which furnished matter for sicknesses. Old age, which was a consequence of [Page] this disorder, tooke from her the use of her Members, and the soul was never more troubled then when she found, that an humour falling upon the Nerues, hindred their motion, and caused Pain in them, Man abhorred himself, he saw wrinckles in his face; and he thought his death was not far off, when he saw his hair grow gray, that his eyes lost their lustre; that his ears distinguisht no more of sounds, and that his legs, grown weak, could no longer sustain him.

To all these evils that the soul of our first Father suffered after having sinned, our disorders have added some more direfull; for the soul seems only to be fastened to her body, that she may undergo a thousand Punishments. Death presents himself before her, in a thousand dreadfull shapes, every sicknesse is a Torment, every part of the body is a place where Pain may assail her, the remedies which she seeks for to cure her, are new pains, and the very vertues which she cals in to her ayd, are so austeer, as they oft times send her back to despair; sometimes she changeth her disease into a remedy, & by an extravagancy which Nature teacheth her, she makes use of the rigour of death against the miseries of life. Though this blind Fury Contra inju [...] rias vitae beneficium mortis habeo. Seneca. be always unjust, and that it be not lawfull for any how unhappy soever, to hasten the hour of his death, yet it is a good proof of the misery of sinfull man, and an excellent argument, to prove that the soul is very unhappy, since she finds no more wretched Place of abode, then her body: and that she resolveth to lose life that she may recover her liberty.

The third Discourse.

Of the weaknesses which humane understanding hath contracted by Sin.

IF the understanding be not the Noblest of all the faculties of the soul, it is at least the most illustrious, it is the Sun of our soul which conveys light into the will, which guides this blind Queen, which dictates her decrees unto her, which pronounceth them for her, and which serves her for an Interpreter when she will [Page] expresse her intentions. tis this which seeketh out truth and finds it, which vaunts it self to be to be the Father of Sciences, and which solicited by admiration discovers the causes, the effects whereof she hath observed, It is this which conceiveth the perfections of each Creature; and which without losing it self from the soul, hath the vertue of attracting objects, and of transforming them into it's self; that it may know them, it makes the Sun descend from the Skie without Magick Carmima vel c [...]lo possunt deducere lunam. Virgil. it makes mettle rise from the bottom of Abisses, without violence; and dissects whole Nature without the effusion of bloud. It is this Noble faculty likewise which appears first in man, which entertains Company, and takes the heart, and which makes it self be admired even by those that do condemne it: but though it retein so many advantages as makes it be generally esteemed of, yet hath it it's defects, and a man may easily judge by the weaknesse thereof: that as it had a great share in the sin of man, it had the like in his punishment, for to convince mans understanding, and oblige him to condemne himself, making him his own Judge, you need but set Nature and Religion before him, and let him see the shamefull spots he hath contracted by sin, in these two faithfull lookingglasses.

Since it's Rebellion, it is become slave unto the senses, and cannot discover truth, but by their Nihil est in intellectu quodprius non suerit in sensu. Arist. Inter medium, it is inwardly possest with ignorance; it's cruellest enemy is it's first hostesse, it carryes it's butcher in it's bosome, and though nothing be contrary unto it then errour: yet nothing is more natural, it hath much ado to rid it's hand thereof, and knowledge which promiseth to free it of Errour is not got without much labour, it's roses are mingled with thorns. Curiosity is a Punishment, and it is disputable, whether sciences be not more troublesome then the evils whereof they cure us. Colledges are shamefull Prisons, the Masters thereof are unsufferable Tyrants, and the Scholers unfortunates innocents to learn Sciences, we lose content, and liberty, and our understanding is so out of the way as it must be made to endure a great deal of evill, before any good be done unto it, whatsoever cunning is used to make arts Nelentibus subintravil ignorantia rerum [...]ndarum & [...]upiscentia noxia [...]um quibus comites sub infer [...]ntur error & dolor. Aug. [...] [...]hirid. c. 24. pleasing unto us, they always cost us tears, and that we may see ignorance is naturall unto us since we are become guilty, tis hardly driven away, but returns with ease.

[Page] But the rigour of our Punishment is the more augmented in that the understanding is enjoyned to employ unfaithfull Officers to be instructed by ignorant Masters and to be led by blind guides. In the state of Innocence, truth was written by the hand of Nature in the bottom of our soule, knowledge was thereinto infused, and was not seduced by the senses, the soul learnt nothing of them, which shee knew not before of her self, she was wise without trouble or errour, and if she made triall of her eyes or eares, 'twas rather for recreation, then necessity: but now Ignorance reigns in our understanding, and to overcome this Monster, we must make use of our senses which hold intelligence with it. What Victory can a Prince hope for, who employs Rebels to defend his State, or to fight against his enemies, and what good success can mans understanding hope for, which is necessitated to be instructed by Masters which are as ignorant as its self, the senses perceive but the appearances of things, their substances are unknown unto them, their operations are uncertain, and they stand in need of Air or Light to be inform'd of the Truth. Tis true that the understanding examines their reports, but what judgement can one expect from one that is ignorant; what decree can a blinde Judge pronounce, who is instructed: only by corrupted witnesses? who sees not that this manner of proceeding is too severe not to be a punishment, and who will not confess that man is faulty, since he is so unhappy.

Those who undertake to defend him, say that the Understanding knows the Truth, by instinct, that it is knowing without Art, and that as little Birds know their Dams by the voice, the understanding discerns Truth from Falshood, and by a naturall judgement, embraceth the one; and rejectes the other: but to boot that it is a kind of Naturalium scientia ne in bestiis quidem deficit. Tertulde anima. Infamy to treat man as you would do beasts, and to give him an instinct who ought to have reason, doe we not every day see that he is deceived in his discoveries, that the chiefest of Phylosophers hath been forced to confess, that there were more glorious falshoods then truths, and more dark and obscure truths then falshoods. Hath not errour more that side with her, then her Enemy? Doth not the number of those that are deceived exceed the number of the wise? and was it not requisite that God should endue us with the light of Faith, to free us from Imposturisme and Superstition.

I could excuse the Ignorance of Humane understanding, were it [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] not accompanied with disquiet, but it can never be at rest; all objects which present themselves, awaken it, and by a presumptuous vanity, it will make its weakness pass for a mark of its greatness, it boasts that the noblest parts of the world are always in motion, that if the earth be fixt, tis because it is heavy, that the heavens move over the heads only because they are light: but its restlesness is a proof of its inconstancie: were it more firm, it would be more staid, and had it not lost the highest Truth, it would not go inquest after the shadow thereof, its disquiet is both the token and punishment of its sin, it can finde no rest, because it seeks not for in Irrequ [...]tum [...]rit cor nostrum done [...] [...] in t [...] Deus. Aug. in Con [...]ss. God: it is sentenced to eternall errour, because it strayed from its principall object, and its perpetuall motion is not so much a witness of its vivacity, as misery; it alters only because tis poore, its indigence is the cause of its agitation, and seduced by vain hope, it still seeks after the the knowledge of good and evill, which its enemy did promise it in Paradise: being more inconstant then Protheus in the Fable, it disguizeth it self in a thousand shapes, by a dexterity which is injurious to it, it adapts it self to all things that it would know, and receiveth the Impression of all the objects which it considereth, when it cannot arrive at their greatness, it abaseth them, when it cannot descend to their lowliness, it raiseth them up, and thus abusing it self, it never arrives at the exact knowledge of Truth, it values things that are common, because it ennobleth them, it inspireth high affairs, because it undervalueth them, not considering that there is injustice in this way of proceeding, it obligeth the will to follow it's opinions, and enforceth this blind Queen, to love what it puts an esteem upon, and to hate what it despiseth.

All this while it so badly judgeth the things which present themselves before it's eyes, as it always prefers Novelty before Greatnesse, and Raritie before Excellence: the Non mag [...]a sed nova miramur. Seneca Quaest. Natur. Sun seems not to be so pleasing unto it in his Lustre, as in his obscurity he appears not so beautifull unto it, in his rising, as in his Magna miracula assiduitat [...] viguerunt. Aug. Eclipse, and by an inexcusable piece of Capriciousness, it doth not so much admire his beauty, as his blemishes. Though he rise in Glory, though he equally dispence his heat and light, though he go round the seasons, ripen the fruits of the earth, and enrich Nature by his labours, our understanding values him not, but if he Sol spectato [...]m non habet [...] cum de [...]cit. Lunam [...] psectamu [...] ni [...] labor [...]ntem. Senquaest Natural. grow dim at noon-day, if he step in the midst of his carreer, if the Moon hide him from the earth, and if he [Page] who gives life to all things, begin himself to faint, the understanding wonders thereat, and prefers an irregularity, before Common Miracles: it is not more equitable in it's other judgments, it's undervaluation, is not better grounded then it's esteem, and it is easie to observe that so capricious a Judge is corrupted.

But is it not a convincing proofe of this, that it can do nothing of Great without being agitated, that it draws its Force from its vexation, and that it dares under take nothing of difficulty till it bee out of it's ordinary seat, Poets droop, when not enraged, wisedome is an enemy to their work, they must Nam sive Gr [...] Poëtae credimus, aliquando & insanire jucundum est sive Platoni frustr [...] Poeticas fores compos sui pepulit: sive Aristoteli, nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementia fuit. Non potest grande aliquid & supra caeteros loqui, ni [...] mota men [...]. Cùm vulgaria & solita contempsit in [...] inctuque sacro surrexit excelsi [...]r, tunc demum aliquid cecinit grandius ore mortali. Senecde tranquil. animae. lose their wits to get heat, and to learn the language of the Gods, they must forget to speak like men. The greatest men have vegaries which deserve the name of Folly, the Gallantest actions of antiquity, are out of the common roade, and conquerors are only famous because they were irrational, had Alexander measured his forces with his designs, he had never conquered Asia, and had Caesar well considered the difficult of h [...]s enterprize, he had never assailed the Romane Republique: the understandings Noblest salleys are extravagant, it's Boutadoes are better then it's argumentations: and man is become so unfortunate since his fall, that if he will undertake any thing memorable he must forsake reason. In fine, Folly is so naturall unto him, as the greatest understandings are the most irregular, there is not any in the world without some mixture of Folly, wise men, and fools are made of the same Temper, and that malancholly which effects the rarest things, is the same with that which doth the greatest extravagancies; who sees not that mans understanding is corrupted, since his perfection consists in his disorder, and who will [...]ot judge so miserable a Creature to be faulty, since his noblest faculties cannot act unlesse they be Irregular.

But religion will furnish us with better reasons of his weaknesse▪ then Nature can. And we shall find as many reasons of Humiliation in grace, as in sin. All our remedies reproach [...] maladies, all the favours which we receive from heaven witnesse our misery, and one need but consider the manner of Gods treating with men, to know that man is Criminall. Faith doth not so much raise his Captiv [...]ntes intellectum in obsequium fidei Apos [...]olus. understanding as she doth abase it: she obligeth it to believe what it cannot comprehend, she mingles obscurity with all her lights, she seperates certainly from what is apparent, she commands man to lose his life, [Page] in mainteinance of his beliefe, and seems to have a design to make him irrationall, that he may become believing▪ He is not more advantaged by revelations, or extasies, then by Faith, all of them discover unto him his weaknesse, and teach him that to understand the things which are of God, he must raise himself above himself. Prop [...]cie is a kind of madnesse, and extasie [...] & [...] [...] sob [...]ii [...] comp [...]s [...]. Tunc [...] ape [...]issime & optimè prae [...]icunt futura, cùm toti à Deo cor ipiuntur. Ja [...]b. in myster. is an alienation of the understanding: the Prophet who fore-sees things to come; forsakes the laws of wisedome; He is transported when he pronounceth Oracles, and he ceaseth to speak like a man, when he serves God for an Interpreter, Revelation enlightens the understanding, but in discovering the truth unto it, it upbraids it with Ignorance, it is more passive then active, and the heavens which will humble it in the raising of it up, have oft times chosen the time of sleep to acquaint it with their will; for whilst the senses are lull'd a sleep, that the imagination is drowsie or irregular, that the understanding is at rest, God is pleased to discover unto it his mysteries, to the end, that it may know that this enlightening is extraordinary, and that it wax not proud of an advantage which it only receives, then when it cannot beg it.

Repentance and Sacrifice which are the two chief means whereby to obtein pardon for our offences, are strong proofs of our misery; for they are both of them injurious to us, the one upbraideth us with our Crime, the other with our Inconstancy, the one teacheth us that we are faulty, the other assures us that we are fickle; the victime suffers Sacrificium ita est institutum ad do [...]ntum pecc [...]tum ut ipsum appell [...]tur in sc [...]pt [...] peccatu [...]. August. the death which we deserve, and with it's bloud washeth the earth which our sins have sullyed: we learn by it's dying voice, that having not sufficient merit to satisfie Gods justice, we are bound to offer up unto him borrowed sacrifices, and to seeke for that from without us which we cannot find in our selves. Repentance is our shame as well as our remedy, for in this sort of sacrifice, Maxima est enim sact [...] injuri [...] poe [...]afecisse: nec qu [...] quam [...] q [...]m quid ad suppliciu [...] poe [...]n t [...]ae du [...]ur. S [...] n c. li. d [...] liâ c. c6. our souls health is only grounded upon our inconstancy; unlesse we can change, we cannot repent, if we had the constancy of Angels, we should have the opiniatrecy of Devils, and were we more stable in what is good, we should be more obstinate in what is evill. Divine mercy husb [...]ndeth our defaults to convert us, but at the same time, tha [...] it doth us a favour, it reproacheth us, and teacheth us that the wo [...]k of our Salvation is an effect of our weaknesse: and its goodness, let no ma [...] then hereafter boast himself of his advantages, after so [Page] publick a proofe of his misery; let him acknowledge that he is totally corrupted by sin, that God hath found nothing in him whereby fitter to save him, then his Inconstancy, and that he was pleased the vertue wch should expiate his sins, shold be groūded upon his levity.

Though all these reasons do sufficiently manifest the corruption of humane understanding, the greatest of our mysteries is notwithstanding the strongest prooofe thereof, Ideò De [...] factus est bomo, ut ab [...]omine p [...]sset intelligi. and the Incarnation of our Saviour CHRIST doth most evidently testifie it, for that proud understanding which pretended to be as knowing as God, hath not been able since his fall to form a true Idea thereof, it hath made Gods of all Creatures, it hath offered Incense to the workmanship of it's own hands, and built Temples to it's Ancestors, or to it's Kings, after having taken them from their Graves; It hath suffered it self to be so guided by sense, as it hath bin able to conceive nothing but sensible Gods, and whatsoever had not a bodily shape seemed to it, unworthy of adoration. This belief was so universall as the Jews could not fence themselves from it: all the miracles of Egypt, and of the Desert could not free them from superstition, and after having seen, as many prodigies as they had received favours they became Idolaters. God lived with the Jews as a Sovereign doth with his subjects, and gave oft times sensible proofs of his presence. He divided the sea to set them at liberty, he clove rocks to quench their thirst, made Manna fall in the deserts to appease their hunger, uttered his oracles by the Mouth of his Prophets to instruct them, made the Elements fight to defend them, ordered their Troops and gave the word to their Commanders to encourage them to combat, yet did this people despise his greatnesse; so many Miracles could not turn them from Idolatry: After having obteined so many victories, and triumphs from heaven, they sought for Gods on earth, and believing more in their senses then in their judgments, they adored men whom they saw die, unlesse the Devil which tempted man in Paradise had corrupted his understanding, so monstrous a errour could not have had so many partakers, and had not blindnesse been the punishment of our sin, so fearfull a disorder, could not have so long reigned in the world: but if the Malady was strange, was not the remedy very extraordinary; for to disabuse humane understanding, Deus non p [...] tuit [...]umanes congressus inire, nisi humanos & sensus, & affectus susce [...]t pe [...] quos v [...] majestatis sue intolerabilem utiquae hum [...]nae [...] te [...] peraret si [...]i quidem indigna, [...]omini aute [...] n [...]cessaria & ita jam Deo digna quia nihil tam Deo dig [...]um quàm salas [...]ominis. Te [...]tul. lib. 2. in Marcion. cap 20. the Sonne of God must accomodate himselfto the weaknesse thereof, to restore unto him the knowledge of God, which he had lost, Christ [Page] must take upon him a body, and suffer his bright Sun-shine to be shadowed, that he may become visible: God became man, to win men; he abased his greatnesse to m [...]ke it be known, he darkned his own light to lighten us, and un-rob'd himself of his power, to purchase love. In fine, by an excesse of mercy, he changed mans fault into Piety, turned superstition into Religion, and cloathing himself with Mortall Nature, he suffered him to adore a man, and to performe his most just duty, by satisfying his most unjust desire. It was by this means that God did draw us out of errour, he hath freed us, by fitting himself to our Ignorance, he hath made us spirituall by making himself sensible, and to say all in a word, by making himself man he hath made us Gods; but if this mysterie declare unto us the goodnesse of God, doth it not discover unto us the misery of man? and if it make us admire the Inventions of his Providence; doth it not make us blame the blindnesse of our understanding, which never knew God so well as when he became Mortall? and which never conceived the true Religion so well, as when Religion put on the appearance of superstition?

The fourth Discourse.

That there is no Errour into which humane understanding hath not plunged it self, since the State of sin.

PHylosophers have made an Idoll of humane understanding, they have given it prayses in their Writings which appertein only to God not considering that it is a slave to the body, and that it cannot work but by the Organes thereof; they have endeavoured to make it have no dependancy upon fortune, & to raise it above Nature: they fancied to themselves, that humane V [...]luit Deus seminare omni [...]nimae initiae i [...]tellectus initiae sapientiae quâ legitimum aliquid facit & sapit. August Scrm. 28. de verbis Domini cap. 8. understanding, had an infused knowledge; and that it did so readily conceive all things, as it might easily be discern'd it did not learne them, but recall them into memory. They feign'd that it had the seeds of all vertues, and that by being carefull in the improoving of them, twas easie to make it perfectly vertuous, they perswaded themselves that it had light enough to distinguish between Truth and Falshood, [Page] that it was naturally pious, and that Religion was engraven in the ground-work of it's essence: but certainly we must have lost the remainder of our understanding, if we observe not the fallacy of their maximes, Ignorance Na [...] [...] op [...] [...] [...]omine [...]d [...] ruit, & si [...] [...]em [...] quae om [...] virtutem [...] accip [...] [...]. [...] si ne do [...]t. in [...] [...] titias p [...] is rerum m [...]ximarum. s [...]d virtute [...] s [...] inchoavit & uihil amplius. Cicer. lib. 5. d [...] finibus. is naturall to the understanding, the wisest Phylosophers have complained that science was long, life short, and that we were surprized by death, before we could be learned. Aristotle compared the understanding to a Painters cloath, which may indeed receive all manner of colours from the Painters hand, but which not having any one ofit self, cannot become a Picture, without the Painters help. Humane understanding may acquire knowledge, but possesseth none; and the difficulty that goes to the learning of it, is a sufficient proofe that there goes somewhat more to it, then bare remembrance.

Mans sin deserved punishment, and for his desire of too much knowledge he was adjudged to remain ignorant; for as a disorderly desire of greatnesse threw him head-long into misery, and as his immoderate desire of living always made him die, his unjust thirst after knowledge, made him fall into blindnesse and ignorance: We are born with this punishment, Errour is an hereditary evill as well as sin, and as all the sons of Adam are guilty, they are all ignorant. If we want Masters to teach us, this evill grows with us, and thinking to get more light, we engage our selves in new darknesses. Tis the first piece of Art the Devill useth to undo us: he blinds our understanding, to corrupt our Will; and throws us into errour that we may fall into sin, we have two Enemies which set Dominus illuminatio mea & sal [...] mea. Sic. Dominum i [...] ocat ut illminatio detra [...]t ign [...]rantiam & s [...]lu. infirmi [...]atem. August. in Enchirid. cap. 81. upon us at unawars, the ignorance of things which we ought to do, and the desire of what we ought to shun: these two evils draw on two others; for ignorance produceth errour: and desire sorrow. We spend our whole life in this Combat, and very well knowing that we cannot utterly defeat these two powerfull Enemies, we think our selves happy enough if we can but weaken them. We expect the victory and Triumph in Heaven, and knowing that we cannot be conquerors on earth, we are there content with Combat. Sicut de calce quod [...]ervet in aqua in o [...]eo s [...]igida est: de magnete [...]apide quod stipul [...]m non moveat, & serrum rapiat, dep [...]lea sic s [...] gente ut fluescere nivem non sinat sic cale [...]te ut [...]maturescere po [...]a compellat. Aug. lib. 21. de Civit. cap. 7. Thus do the greattest Saints beg of God, that he wil be their strength, and light, that as light he may dissipate their darknesse and as strength sustein their weaknesse, a man must be as blind, as proud to dispute these Truths, and unlesse we will side with that proud Sect, which would not acknowledge any fault in man, that they might not be bound to correct [Page] it, we must confesse that Ignorance and weaknesse, are equally naturall to us: the first is seen in all actions, Nature, Morality, and Religion furnish us with as many proofs thereof as they give us Instructions.

For though Nature be not jealous of her works, though she freely expose all her beauties to our eyes, and that she discover unto us her rarest products, who is he that knoweth all her secrets? though the heavens be extended over our heads, who knows whereof they be Composed? though the Sun rise, and set every day, who knows his Influences, and Motions? though the earth bring forth her flowers under our feet, and ripens her fruit before our eyes, who knows what art it useth to give them their severall colours? who knows by what secret vertue Nature changeth earth into gold, and taking from it's impurity, gives it that glittering Lustre, which makes the finall ornament of all our workmanship? Who can comprehend how the dew congeals into pearl, how the water thickens into Chrystall, and how becomming solid, it continues still transparent? who can give a reason for these naturall Miracles, which we neglect only because they are too common? who knows why straw being so Cold as that it preserves Ice in the midst of Summer, is yet so hot as that it ripens fruit even in the midst of winter? Doth not Amber and the Loadstone make all Phylosophers wild? and these Miracles which come so neer our senses, do they not confound our understanding? we see all things, that know nothing; we have the use of the Elements, but not the knowledge of them; Whatsoever entertains our vanity, accuseth us of blindnesse, and whatsoever serves for diversion to our eyes or ears upbraids our understanding with Ignorance.

Morality confirms this truth as well as Nature doth: for though she undertake to enlighten mans understanding, and to rule his will, though she boast to make man an Angell, and to take from him all the feelings of the flesh and bloud, doth she not lay open unto him his ignorance, when she instructeth him and doth she not shew that he is blind, in offering her self to be his Guide and Mistris? tis true that he may glory, that he himself hath formed her who teacheth him, and to be his Mistresses Master, since she hath no Maximes, which are not the inventions of the understanding. But this his vain glory is very is very ill grounded; and Morality is a bad proofe of [Page] his sufficiency, [...] in [...] & no [...] [...] ti [...]u, in [...] a [...]is, i [...] [...], ia lo is [...] ac [...] sua qua [...] opinion [...] [...], ubi & si [...] vera [...], ead [...]m licentia di [...]bantur & [...], p [...]orsus [...] [...]rustra talis civitas mysticum vocabulum Bab [...]nis acceperit. Aug. l [...]b. 8 de Civit. c 4 [...]. since she herself is so full of errours, and doubts▪ For what is that Truth which Phylosophers dispute not about? into how many Sects have they divided themselves? on what principles do they agree to establish their Maximes? and what propositions have they put forth, which they themselves have not crossed or gain-said? hath not every one of them made unto themselves a differing Idea of Happinesse? And this point; which is the ground work of Morall Phylosophy, hath it not been the rise of all their disputes? Aristotle made it to consist in the knowledge of the Summum Bonum, Seneca in the possession of Vertue, and Epicurus in the enjoying of Delight.

But do not all sinners make a party in Morality, and do not their Inclinations formas many several Sects? do not the Ambitious place their felicity in Glory, the Curious in Novelty, the Avaritious in riches, and the unchast in love? If men cannot agree in their choise in the Summum Bonum, how will they agree in the definition of Vertue? this indeed is the rock of all Phylosophers, and it seems that following their Inclinations, rather then their judgments: they would make vertues of all vices, which they delighted in, sins against Nature have not only been excused, but even highly commended in their schools. Socrates the Stoicks God, and the only just man who all Phylosophers oppose to our greatest Saints, did not he love Alcebiades? the Praises which he giues him in Plato, do they not tast of wantonnesse, doth he not seem as if he made love to a Mistr [...]? and the Panygericks which he makes of his good behaviour, and beauty, do they not afford us reason of suspition; whether it were his body his mind that he was most in love withall.

Is not Pride and madnesse the soul of all the Stoicks vertue? doe not they compare their wise men with their Iupiter? do they not make a God of their Zeno? and as oft as they put their Gods & Masters together in ballance, do not they prefer those who first formed their proud Phylosophy? would not Epicurius make vertue a slave to voluptuousnesse, and according to Seneca's one opinion, is he not guilty of having endevoured to set the servant, and the Sovereign upon the same Throne? Is not Plato a pleasant Dreamer, who tasts more of the Poet, then of the Phylosopher? we reverence his Disciples, only because they endevour to heighten themselves by straying out of the way, if we put a valuation upon them, tis because they [Page] have taken a more obstruce path, then others, and that quitting reason and judgment: (which are mens guides) they would raise themselves up even unto the height of Celestiall intelligences, but into what errours have they head-long fallen? what Fables Dolcobona fide Platon [...] omnium h [...]reticorum co [...]dimentarium sactum. Tertul de anima. have they mingled with their superstititions? what reasons have they invented to excuse unch [...]st l [...]ve? what cunning have they made use of to establish it's Empire? and with what impiety have they gone about to perswade us that God lay hidden in his Creatures? and that whosoever loved beauty in women, or goodnesse in men, loved the Images and shadows of the Diety. The Academicks appeared to be a little more rationall, the best Ancient wits have sided with them, or been their Disciples; Cicero and Virgil, (the r [...]rest Ornaments of the Romane Republique) followed their Maximes they were not so proud as the Stoicks, nor so poorly minded as the Epicurians, yet they held Paradoxes which justled Truth as well as reason, they allowed of sin under Ante omnia caveai [...] Natura, ne quis vos [...] invitos, patet exitus: si pu [...]re non vult [...] l [...]cet sug [...]e, ni [...]il seci [...] quàm [...]. Atten [...]te m [...]do & videbil is quam brevis ad libertate [...] & quàm expedita, ducet via. Senec. de Provid. cap. ulti [...]o. the name of vertue, and when they wanted Patience or strength to keep back grief or sorrow, they betook themselves to despair: In fine, all these Phylosophers pertook of of the sins of the people; they were not lesse Idolaters, though they had greater Lights, and making policy of Religion, they worshipped the Gods of their Wives and Children: they in their writings made Panygericks to the Divine Essence, and in their Towns they erected Temples to evill spirits, they were Christians in their speeches, but Infidels in their Actions: they had good conceptions, but committed bad deeds, they knew God because they could not be ignorant of him, and they offended him, because they had not the courage to serve him.

My last proof wherewithall to confound the pride of humane understanding, and to make it confesse that it is guilty, since ignorant, I will borrow from Religion the, Scripture, and Divinity teacheth us, that man bears the Character of God, being formed after his Image, he cannot see himself without discerning his Author, this first glimpse of light cannot be defaced, all the darknesse of errour cannot obscure it, and when man consults with his conscience or reason, he is by them instructed that there can be but one Etiam anima circum venta ab adversario me [...] sui auto [...]s. Si mirum si à Deo data [...]alem canit quae Deus suis dedit nosse, Te [...]tul. [...]. [...]. animae. God. Without the help of Phylosophers, or Instructers, he knows this Truth; and when he suffers Nature to speak through his mouth upon this subject, she pronounceth Oracles, and utters no falshoods: [Page] thus when the Pagans were surprized with any danger, and that instinct did in them prevene reasoning, they implor'd the succour of the true God, they spake the language of O [...] apud [...] [...] nia [...] [...]ficit [...] Christianorum. Tertul. de testim animae. Christians, not thinking of it, and condemned the worshipping of Images of which the soul of their Religion was Composed. The first Fathers of the Church opposed them with this reason. Tertullian delights to let them see that they were only Idolaters then, when they use violence to Nature, and that they stifled her resentments, to follow those of superstition: but when they suffered themselves to be led on by opinion, or example, there was no Errour which they did not embrace nor no so infamous creature to wch they did not with their mouthes make vows, and offer Incense with their hands. The Foeli [...]es populi quibus [...] nascuntur in hortis. Numina. Egyptians who vaunted themselves to be the Fathers of all Sciences, worshipped Onions, good store of Gods grew in gardens; Labourers might boast that in manuring of the Earth, they gave their Princes Gods, and that their Canonizing did not so much depend upon the Peoples consent, as upon husbandry and Labour. The Cum f [...]licitate colebantur & Pavor & Palor, & Febris & cetera non numina colend [...] rum sed crimina colentium. August. lib. 4. de Civit. c. 23. Romans whom time ought to have polished, and Phylosophy civilized; made Gods of all things, War, and Peace, had Temples in their Republique: all the passions were there adored, the most infamous ones were there sacrificed unto, and these People ow'd all their glory to their valour, forbore not to offer sacrifices to Fear and shame, the ignorance of Physitians, and the weaknesse of those that were sick, procured the like honour to Agues, the fits whereof, redoubled fits, and intermissions, were the mysteries which made it be adored. In fine, their Canonizing, became so common, as the wiser sort did despise it, and seeing that Insecta had their Altars, they thought it to be more honourable to be man then God. These reasons may suffice to beat down the Pride of humane understanding, and to make it confesse that Errour is very naturall unto it: since that not being able to comprehend the unity of God, it could not know the most glorious Truth of all others.

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The fifth Discourse.

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That reason in Man, is become blinde, and a slave, since sinne.

PHylosophy being the Daughter of reason, we must not wonder, if she defend her mothers interest, and if she employ all her cunning in excusing her faults who gave her life: for presently after our losse, reason invented Phylosophy, and built this stately Edifice upon the ruines of innocency, she drew her chiefe advantages from the light which God had infused into the soul of Adam, she did imbellish it with the most precious remainders of originall righteousnesse, and taught her all those gallant Maximes, which she had learnt from Angels in the earthly Paradise; In fine Reason did deck Utinam quem admodum universi mu [...]di [...]acies in conspectum venit ita Phylosophi [...] [...]ota posset nobis occ [...]rere pro [...]erto: omnes mortales in sui admirationem rapere [...]. Sen [...]c. Epist. 89. Phylosophy in so becomming an array, as she became In-am [...]r'd of her beauty, she made thereof a false Diety, and whilst the blind people offered Incense to the workmanship of their own hands, the haughty Phylosophers adored the workmanship of their own heads, and raised Phylosophy above Religion. This daughter was not ungratefull, and to acknowledge the favours which she had received from her Mother, she gave her all the praises which her vanity could not aspire unto: she made her to be mans Summum Bonum, the guide of his life, the Mistr [...]s of all the vertues, and Queen of passions, she intrencht upon the rights of Grace and Faith, to make her more Illustrio [...]s, and endevoured to perswade her Disciples, Lauda in ho mine quod nec [...]ripi potest [...] dari quod pro pri [...] est hominis. Queris [...] sit? animu [...] & ratio in animo [...]. Senec. Epist. 41 that to be rationall, was sufficient to be happy: All Phylosophers have used this Language, their writings are Panygericks of reason, and to he [...]r them speak, you would think this Idoll were the only Diety that is to be adored. Sen [...]ca is never lesse rationall then when he defends reasons side, the justice of his cause makes him insolent, Omnes mortales multo anteced [...]s non mul to te [...] a [...]te edens. Quid int [...]r [...]e, & i [...]os sit inter fu [...]urum qu [...]? [...] S [...]. [...]. [...]. to pre [...]erve his parties advantages he ass [...]ils Religion, and to heighten mans dignity, he abuset [...] Gods Majesty: he will have his wise man to be as content as his Iupiter, that their happiness is equall, though their condition be different, and that nothing in the world can add [...] [...]nto their facility.

[Page] Tis true that these Blasphemies are intermingled with some rationall Praises: for he is not deceived when he says that reason is mans proper good, that all these are strangers to him, and that nought ought to be esteemed in man, save what one cannot give him: the riches which he possesseth, are not his; the beauty of his Palaces, great revenues, number of his slaves, or vassals, and the glory of his Apparell, are advantages which he may lose when fortune shall cease to favour him. To know his happinesse he must know his desert and to know if he be fortunate, he must inquire whether he be rationall or no, reason is the most ancient and most illustrious of all his Qualities, he cannot lose it without changing Nature, and if he do not preserve this priviledge, there is no creature in the world which is not richer then he, for if he think to ground his happiness In homin [...] optimum quid est ratio, [...]aec antecedit animalia, deos sequitur. Ratio ergo perfecta, pr [...] fectaprop, ium hominis [...]num est: cae [...]era cum animalibus illi communia. Valet? & leones, formosus est & pavones, velox est? & [...]qui. Corpus habet & arbores, habet vocem sed quan to clariorem canes, acutiorem aquila, gravior [...] tauri dulcio rem mo [...]ilioremque l [...]inae. S [...]n. Ep [...]st. 76. either one strength, or courage; there is neither Tyger, nor Lion, which will not dispute the business with him, if he will boast of his height. Trees are higher and much more streight, and if he glory in his beauty, I know not whether Peacocks in the glory of their Plumes will give way to him or no; if he take Pride in his voice, he will be enforced to confesse that Dogs have it more shrill then he, Bulls more strong, Nightingales more sweet and pleasing. If he boast of his Activity, Horses, and Harts wil shame him, and unlesse he place his greatness in his reason, he must confess that Nature hath not dealt so favourably with him as with beasts. Indeed, it is Mans Glory, and chiefest difference, tis that which gives him the Command over all Creatures, and which makes him be the Image of God, and if a body would know his greatness, we must not ask whether he be Lord of large Territories, whether he command over many People, whether he distributes justice in a Throne of Gold, whether he lye in a bed of Ivory, or whether or no he drink in a glass of Christall; but whether his reason be not a slave to his Passions; Cums [...]aratio [...] homin [...] [...] tio perfect▪ beatum facit. Sen [...]. Epist. 76. and whether or no his noblest part, hath preserved its authority: this weak reasoning hath prevailed so far with men, as that there are many in Christendome, which love much better to be reasonable, then faithfull, and who take more care to inform their judgments then their belief: they content themselves with the name of Phylosophers, not pretending to the quality of Christians, and so long as they as-subject the body to the soul, they do not greatly care whether they submit their soul to God or no.

[Page] Notwwithstanding all this, reason wants not her weaknesses being blind she needs a guide, and to the end that she wander not out of the way, she must be led by Faith: sin put out her eys, when she M [...]to [...] non [...] ris rational [...]s sed [...]. Aug. became slave thereunto; if she stumble upon the Truths tis by hap-hazard: and she ought rather to praise her Fortune for it, then her fore-sight. This Enemy took from her both her Light and Strength together; she gives way to the weakest on-sets, the least resistance astonisheth her and as soon as the Passions or senses give against her designs, shee changeth them as much out of weaknesse as Complacency: servit [...]de insues her defeat; for when she hath once given way to the violence of Passions, these Rebels grow upon her and take her weaknesses for a sign of their Power. Factio [...]s People being for the most part insolent, these force their Sovereign to defend their side, they make use of their Credit to authorize their revolt, and abuse even the name of reason thereby to destroy her Empire. This is a prevailing Mischief in most men, who in their greatest undertakings consult only with their one inclinations. They act either through ambition or love, their motive is ei [...]her Pleasure or Glory, and the Passion which possesseth them is always the Primum Mobile which hurries about all the faculties of their soul. Reason hath no other employment then to seek out pretences to excuse their designs, and this Sovereign is reduced to the necessity of favouring the disorders of these her [...]ebellious slaves: if she sometimes defend her self, against ambition or love, tis that she may be overcome by Grief, by an erronious piece of Prudence, Multa bona nostra nobis nocent, timoris enim tormentum memoria red [...] cit, provi [...]entia anticipat. Nemo t [...]ntum praesentibus miser est. Sen. Epist. 5. she foresees her mischief before it happen, and by an angersome remembrance, she afflicts her self when it is gone, One and the same evill make; her three times miserable, and she employes all the differences of times to increase her dislikes, she dreads them before their birth, rescents them during their life, and remembers them when they are dead: for experience teacheth us, that reason which ought to appease our evils, doth irritate them, and that after having well discust the matter, we are forced to have recourse to ignorant mens remedie, and to cure that with time, which we could not cure by Phylosophy.

She is not much more lucky, in the guidance of our actions, then in the curing of our Maladies; for though she boast her self to be the soul of Policy, and to furnish Morality with all those brave Maximes [Page] which makes Families fortunate, she is so little equall, as what she approves of in one countrey, she condemns in another, Laws, which Si lex ratio [...]e co [...]stat lex [...]rit omne j [...]m quod ratione [...] à qu [...]cumque productum. Tertul. de [...] Mil [...]. are the meer work of reason, differ more then Climates. What is permitted in Affrica, is forbidden in Europe, what is accounted a vertue in France, is a vice in Germany. Every Nation hath it's severall Customes, and oft times in the same State and under the same King, every Province hath it's peculiar Fashions. Reason puts her self into a hundred severall shapes to defend them, and when shee confers them together, shee doth like those wicked Judges who make both Parties hope for Profit in the cause that they may prolong their processe: she is ingenuous enough to make doubts, but not wise enough to resolve and after having examined all opinions, she is obliged to forsake the Phylosophers Part, and to embrace the opinion of the Pyrrhonians. What esteem can one put upon so fickle a Mistris? what belief can one have of so unconstant a Sovereign? which fits her self to the honour of her subjects, which changeth with the Climates, which sides with the Heavens that cover her; and with the earth which bears her? what likely-hood is there of being guided by her advice, since she hath none that is setled and since that she is so inconstant in her resolutions, as the last do always like her best.

To boot that this good is so frail, and that sin hath brought it into such a condition as we seem to enjoy but the appearance thereof rather then the thing it self, there are moreover a thousand other accidents which may bereave us of it: for of as many things as we have in our disposall, there is not any one that we oftner lose then reason. Our Infancy inhibits us the use thereof Infans dum nascitur [...]acet n [...]ens ubi sit, quid sit, à quo creatus, [...]am reusde [...]cti non d [...] capax p [...]aecepti. Aug. de paen. merit. c. 36 during our first years, We are Masters of this Treasure, but cannot make use of it, this Sun is so weak at it's first rising as it cannot disperse abroad it's beams: this fountain is so small in it's spring head, as it cannot frame rivolets; We are poor amidst our treasure, and vnlesse we trim and prune our understanding it either continues barren; or brings nothing forth but thorns: the senses, which seem to be ord [...]ined by Nature, for the service of reason, keep her in ignorance, or throw her head-long into errour. The passions which are born to obey her, rise so tumultuously against her, as she is forced to follow their Motions, and to side with Rebels. To enjoy peace she is content to be engaged in a fault, she believes that to serve willingly, is to reign, [Page] that to follow her passions is to command them, and to approve of their Revolts, is to preserve her authority. Yet is she so little at liberty in this Non libera voluntas dicenda est▪ quamdiu est vincentibus & vincientibus cupiditatibus subdita. Aug. Epist. 44. cōdition, as that one must excuse her sin by her servitude, she is only thought innocent, because she is a slave, her faults are forgiven unto her only because she cannot, and she preserves her reputation, only through the losse of her Liberty. When the first Motions of her Passions are a little alaid, and that she may avenge her selfe of the affronts done unto her by her insolent subjects, tis observed that by siding with them she is infected with their Inclinations, that by suffering their disorders she corrupts her own purity; and that by going about to excuse their revolt, she her self becomes guilty. Thus man is almost never rationall, because he is always passionate, and he d [...]th but seldome make use of his reason, because he oft times followeth his passion.

To so many Enemies which bereave man of the most glorious of all his Qualities, sicknesse is added; which making war upon our bodies, declares it openly also against our souls: for these two parts are so streightly bound together, as their good and bad are Common between, though the soul be the more Noble, yet stands she in need of the body in her chiefest operations, she must follow after that which she would avoid, borrow forces from her Enemy to fight him, and make use of the senses to reduce him to his duty. If this slaves Temper be altered by any disorder, the soul rescents it, if the bloud spring in the veins, if the vapours which arise from thence trouble the Imagination, or if a burning Feavor seize upon the brain, the soul can reason no longer, This Noble part of man fals into extravagancies, the confusion of species puts it in disorder, and all the wisedome thereof is turn'd to folly.

Sleep is not so violent, yet is it little lesse shamefull then sickness, for it benums the senses, luls the faculties of the soul asleep, blots out the remembrance of Glory from out the minds of Conquerours, stops the designs of Monarchs, interrupteth the waknings of Phylosophers, Levels the conditions of the living to that of the dead, and to preserve our life takes from us the use of reason. For my part, I cannot think that sleep did us thus much injury before the State of sin, I am of opinion, that the power thereof extended only to the senses, that it undertook nothing upon mans most Noble Part, that it le [...]t him the liberty of reasoning, and that like to Jesus Christ, his [Page] soul Ego dormi [...] & co [...]meum vigila [...]. was awake, though his body slept. For what likely-hood of belief is there that man should be every day reduced to a Condition wherein his highest operations should be interrupted, wherein his will can command nothing, his understanding conceive nothing, nor his memory represent nothing unto him; Who can suppose that in so happy a condition, man should passe half his life away in sleep, that his soul should be able to do no other functions, then what the souls of beasts do, and that all her employment lay in the digesting of meat, dissolving of vapours, and moving of Arteries.

When I consider what disorder sin hath caused in man, I am forced to say that he hath very much altered his Condition, Homo animal rat [...]onale mortale. August. 9. Apul. and that Phylosophers had reason to believe, that death was as much of his Essence, as reason was, for from the time he began to live, he began to die, he lost his life as soon as he received it, and this decree pronounced against him, is executed the very first moment of his Birth, that which we call life is but a prorogued Agunt opus su [...]m sata: nobis sensum nostrae necis auferunt quoque faci [...]ius obrepat mors sub ipso nomine vitae lat [...]t. Sen. ad Martiam. cap. 20. Death, and Divine Justice seems to take pleasure in prolonging it, that we may be sensible thereof▪ Life would be undeservable did it last but a Moment, and our Punishment would not be very great, if it ended at the same instant that it began. We dye in life, and live in death, death is engaged in life, and life subsists only by death, but reason is as it were a stranger to man; When he began to be Criminall, he began to be i [...]ationall, he lost his principall advantage, in losing his Innocency, and he left us in doubt whether he was any longer man, being become a sinner, for reason which is his principall difference, is an accident which forgoes him upon a thousand occasions. Nature admits him to life; before she admits him to reason, When age grants him this benefit, Passion forbids him the use thereof, when passion doth not molest his judgment she dozeth it, and of all things that man is Master of, he loseth none more often then his reason. Yet this losse is indifferent to him, he complains of all the rest, and laughs at this: he esteems himself unhappy if he have lost his wealth, he gives himself over unto sorrow when he falls from his greatnesse, and languisheth in Pain when he hath lost his health. But when passion bereaveth him of the use of reason, when sleep reduceth him to the condition of beasts, or when sin blots out the Image of God from out his soul, he doth but jest at his disaster, and takes pleasure in hazarding that thing which of all the world he ought to esteem most precious.

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[Page] This is also that dread full punishment wherewith divine justice chastizeth the greatest sins. God never gave a more fearfull example, of his rigour then when he bereft Nebuccadnezar of his reason, when r Dan. 4. 53. he turned a Sovereign Prince into a wild beast, and that together with the shape of man, he took from him his understanding and judgment. There is no monarchy which hath not seen some of her Princes stript thereof, Providence takes Pleasure in beating down Thrones, in [...] of Septers and in taking away of Crowns, she sets upon Sovereigns in their Palaces, and after having raised them up to the highest pitch of greatnesse, she throws them into a precepice of miseries her most ordinary revenge is chang [...]: no age passeth over wherein she witnesseth not her power by these sorts of Punishments,: but when Innormities of the fault deserves a greater punishment, she together with their Scepter takes away their reason from such Monarchs as she will Chastize: she troubles both their State, & their judgment; and brings them to a Condition wherein they are both the scorn and the hatred of their subjects. By all this discourse tis easie to conclude, that reason without grace is no great advantage; that to restore unto her her former Lustre, a man must have recourse to Faith, that to be solidly rationall, a man must be truly Pious, and that humane understanding which so much Glory in, is so weakned since the Corruption of our Nature, as that the Wise man had reason to say the Number of Fools is infinite.

The sixt Discourse.

That Memory, hath lost her vigour by the means of sin, and that she agrees not very well with judgment.

IF it be lawfull to judg of the excellency of things by their usefulnes, we must confess that memory is very excellent, since she is of such use; for humane understāding would soon be weary of taking Pains, did not memory take care to preserve its productions; and if this faith full Officer did not Memoriam Plato se [...]um & intellectuum [...], & Ci [...] thesaurum omnium studiorum praedicavit. T [...]ll. lib. de ani [...]. assist it, in its affairs; for though it be fertile, and that like him whose Image it beareth, it be never drawn [Page] dry, yet would it be very unhappy, if the thoughts thereof were lost as soon as produced, and that as oft as it would discourse it were bound to form new Conceptions: but this Favourite which knows all its secrets, easeth it of that Pain; for she keeps in store all its inventions, and by a dexterity which cannot be sufficiently admired she presents them to it, as oft as is desired. She hath nothing else to do, but to receive the species which it commits to her trust, she disposeth of them passing cunningly, the number of them causeth no confusion, and though we have but weak conjectures to guesse at the order shee observes therein, yet is it probable that shee lodgeth those which are alike, in one and the same place: it is true that their being, being spirituall, they take up no place; without justling, or confounding one another, they reside in one and the same place, and though they love motion they never make any commotion, unlesse commanded by the understanding, with what terms it useth to make it self be understood, we know not, but hardly hath it exprest its will, Ibi quand [...] sum [...] ut pro seratur quod vo lo, & qu [...]dam statim prodeunt, qu [...]dam requiruntur diu [...]us, & tanquam de abstrusioribus quibasquam r [...] ceptaculis cru [...] tur, quaedam catervatim se proruunt, & dum aliud petitur & quaeritur proficiunt in m [...]dium quasi dicentiame sorte nos sum [...]s. August. lib. 10. Confess. cap. 8. when presently it is obeyed, of as many confused species as are inclosed in the bosome of memory, none but that which the understanding cals for, appears; all the rest keep quiet and silent, and if somtimes any confusion prove to fall out among them, tis occasioned by their extream desires to follow its orders, if that which it seeketh for be somewhat slow or idle, her Neighbours endevour to quicken her, they present themselves before their Master in a Crowd, to give him satisfaction, and oft times in looking on them, he finds out that which he sought for.

All Sciences are the products of memory; in vain should the understanding conceive Truths, if she did not retein them, tis a living book wherein we write our thoughts in invisible Characters, This secret is much more ancient, & much more certain then that of Printing, he who is only wise by the means of books, is ignorant, and who cannot frame a Library in his understanding is not learned: Our knowledge is subject to the Empire of Fortune, as well as our riches; when it is engraven upon bark or writ in paper, wormes may eat it, and fire which makes us Poor may make us ignorant, if our Treasury be lockt up in books, our knowledge must make up a part of our selves, and must be so imprinted in our souls, that even Haec omnia recipit recolenda cum opus est, & retractanda grandis memoriae retractanda grandis memori [...] [...]ecessus. Idem ibid. death may not bereave us of it. This is likewise the Phylosophers and x Consilium fut riex pr [...]terito ve [...]it. Senec. Fpist. 83. Polititians riches, tis from this bottom, which cannot be [Page] drawn dry, that they draw their Maximes, that they frame Monarchies, and m [...]ke men happy, for though wisedom be employed more in considering what is to come, then what is past, and that the makes it her chief work to foresee future things, yet doth she instruct her seif by History, she informs her self of what is past, to foresee what is to come, she grounds her conjectures upon what hath already happened, she steers her course by the life of her Ancestors, and hath all their instructions from memory, if those great men who sit at the Helm in St [...]es did not call to minde what hath been done in former ages, they woul [...] commit grosse faults in government, and did not their memory assist their wisedome, they would not so often light so right upon the t [...]ick of Ibi & ipse [...] i [...] meq▪ rec [...] quid, quan [...]o vel ubi ege [...]m, quo [...]ue [...] c [...]agerem aff [...]ctas su [...]im. [...] sunt o [...]nia quae s [...]e exper [...]a à me sive cre [...]ita me m [...]ni. Au [...]. 10. Cenfess. cap. 8. State, they must finde expedients out of her Treasury, they must unravel their in [...]ricacies by her Counsell, and this mother of inventions must furnish them with means to allay that Tempest which thre [...]ens a Monarchy. In fine tis this admirable Facultie of the so [...]l, which Composeth Annals, which m [...]kes the dead live, which draw [...] Heroes from their Sepulchres, which in- [...]nimates the living by their example, and which by her labour triumpheth over forgetfulness.

She ventures upon the laws of time, and as if she were an Image of Eternity, she accords what is to come with what Quisnam est quid [...]cat mihi non esse t [...]ia tempora, si ut p [...]eri didi [...]imus pue [...]osque do cuimus praeteritum praesen [...] & futurum, sed tantum prae sen [...], q [...]iam illa duo non s [...]? An & i [...]sa s [...]nt, sed ex al [...]quopro cedit at u [...]to, cum ex futur [...] fit praesens & in aliq [...]od recedit occultum cum ex p [...]aesenti si [...] praeteritum. Aug. 11. Confess. cap. 17. is past, and obligeth the present time together with her to bear with them: those three parts of time whereof our lives are composed hold so bad correspondency, as that they are not to be united, the time past dreads the present, cannot abide it's approach, but vanisheth away as soon as it's Enemy appeare [...]h, the present times makes not long use of this advantage,, for it retires as soon as it discovers the time to come, it yields the victory unto it without fighting, in it's defeat it hath this of satisfaction, th [...]t the Conqueror forgoes his own name to ass [...]e that of the Conquered, and ceasing to be future becomes present. These three times do only live by death, they subsist only by division within themselves, and if they did cease Combating their Triumphs would cease: all things are preserved by their defeat, and all Creatures are so well accustomed to this change, as it cannot be staid without offering violence to all Creatures. Nothing but eternity can appease their Quarrells, Pr [...]s autem si s [...]er esset praesens▪ nec i [...] praeteritum transi [...]et [...]am n [...]n esset tempus sed aet [...]s. Aug. lib. 11. Con [...]. cap. 13. which in it's undividable unity, d [...]th miraculously inclose the differences of the time to come, and of the time past, and makes them subsist together under [Page] the name of the time present. Memory as a true Copy of this excellent Originall, agrees all these enemies, and not having respect to their interests, makes use of them in all her designs; sometime she cals back the timepast, to bereave it of whatsoever, it keeps lock'd up within it's Treasury, sometime she discards the present time, to entertain her self with the future; sometimes she prevents futurity, and looking far into the obscurity thereof, shee discovereth what it keeps conceal'd, and doth distinctly observe what is not yet happened: whatsoever command shee hath over all the differences of time, shee busieth her self Praesentia bena nond [...]m tota in solido sunt, potest illa casus aliquis incide [...], futur [...] pend [...]nt & incerta sunt: q [...]od praeteri is inter tuta se positum est. Sen. lib. 3. de Benef. cap. 4. most about what is past, which is her chiefest employment, and her most pleasing diversion, she loves it better then the rest, because it is the most to be trusted, and least Subject to the change of Fortune, it reports things without dissimulation, it discards all passions which impede the knowledge of Truth, represents the lives of great ones without falshood, and as it doth not excuse their vices neither doth it flatter their vertues; it is a much better judge of their actions then the present time, it is not abused by fear nor hope, it freely instructeth us, and as long as it can, fence it self against forgetfulnesse we may build upon it's fidelity.

Though these great advantages of memory, deserve rather Panygericks then reproach, yet hath she faults enough, and a man need be no great Divine to observe what ill offices originall sin hath done her; for to boot that shee is extream weak, that age doth diminish her, that the best things escape her, that she is dazled with those that glitter most, she is oft times of so little efficacy, as the more she labours, the lesse progresse she maketh. She is imbroiled when prest with too much hast, she must be alowed time & respite to find what she looks for, the desire she hath to give us satisfaction, troubles her, and she fals into a confusion, of which nothing but rest can acquit her, Time which doth instruct her, makes her ignorant, that which heapeth up all Treasures dissipates them, and raiseth up an enemy against her, against whom she hath much ado to defend her self. For forgetfulnesse reigns in it's Empire, it effaceth those species which do enrich her, puts her whole State in disorder, and as an insolent Conqueror slights all the Towns that she hath taken, and leaves no mark thereof to her Posterity; this victorious enemy, overthrows all the works of the understanding, and leaves no foot-steps thereof in memory, we are left nothing but sorrow for not having reteined [Page] what we had gotten, and the being fallen into a misery which is so much more grievous, for that it succedeth so happie a fortune, yet nothing is more naturall to memory Tanta est in [...]riae ub i [...]o, qu [...]nta est gloria [...]jus cujus est inju [...]a, memo ria sci [...]icet. Tertul. [...]b. de anima. then forgetfulness, she learneth sciences with difficulty, preserves them with care, and easily forgets them, she grows rusty when un-exercised, and weary if two much exercised; Labour, and Idlenesse do corrupt her, and one knows not what art to make use of, to entertain any thing of so nice a Nature.

Ignorance and sin were born at the same time, as soon as the one made himself Master of the will, the other seized one the understanding, and if mans first sin, were disobedience, Ignorance was his first Punishment, this Malady was not without remedy and knowledge would have made us amends for all our damages, had not forgetfulnesse assisted Ignorance. But to what purpose do we spend whole nights at our studies, to what end do we gather up the opinions of Phylosophers, and observe all the delightfull varieties of History, since this monster renders our labours uselesse, since it dissipates the Treasures which we had gathered, reduceth old men to the condition of Children, and ads the shame of ignorance to the other miseries of their age: they dare not offer at any thing for fear of being mistaken, they forget the names of their Domesticks, this faithlesse Companion puts a thousand affronts upon them, if they engage themselves in a long discourse, they lose thēselves. If they wil relate their Travels they cannot cal to mind the names of Town, or Rivers, & when they have most to discourse of they are inforced to be silent, the Step-mother Nature, takes delight in lessening their memory, when she perfecteth their judgment, and takes from them the remembrance of what is past, when she gives them a fore-sight into things to come.

Man seems to be become a Monster, since he became Criminall, the parts whereof he is Composed Nobis pudendum est quod imperio nostro caro non s [...]rvit. quia b [...]c fit per infirmitat [...]m quam peccand [...] meruimus. [...]g. lib. 2. de peccat. merit. cap. 22. cannot accord together, and the advantages which ought to make him perfect, destroy each other, the body and the soul suffer a division, which last as long as doth their life; the understanding and the senses have always some difference to determine; Reason and the Passions do never hold so good Intelligence, but that one may perceive in their profoundest Peace, some Face of War. I confesse the Domestick discentions are angersome, and that man is a miserable Creature since he cannot live in [Page] Peace: he neverthelesse, takes it patiently when he considers that these parties are of a different Nature, and he wonders not that they be not upon good terms, since the one are common to us with beasts, the other common to us with Angels, but he hath reason to complain when he considers this rent passeth even into his soul, that her her faculties are at variance, and that the solidity of judgment cannot agree with the fidelity of memory; these two advantages are incompatible, and nature must do a miracle to joyn them perfectly well together in one and the same person: she inricheth memory at the cost of judgment, she restores to judgment what she takes from memory, and leaves man the displeasure of knowing that there are perfections of the mind which he cannot equally enjoy. Who would believe that God would have left that blemish in his workmanship, had he not been thereunto obliged by our offences, who can perswade himself that he would have envied us these Qualities, if our fault had not deserved such a punishment, and who will not confesse that in the state of innocency, Memory and judgment were at peace together, thereby to make man perfect.

To so many reasons which necessarily conclude our soulss corruption must be added, that Memory is never more faithfull to will, then when she puts it in mind In ruissimus omnium qui oblitus: nusqu [...]m enim gratus ficri potest, cui totum beneficium elapsum est. Sen. de Benefic. lib 3 cap 1. of injuries, she easily forgets all the favours which she hath received, she is ashamed to remember them, & banisheth the thought thereof as a reproach of indigencie; but she ingraves injuries in indelable characters, she renews thē every day lest they be forgotten, and she is never more happy then when shee is offended, there hath been means found out to strenghthen the weak nesse of memory, there is an Art taught, how to keep her from going astray, or being mistaken; Invention supplies the Temper, and we obtein that by labour, or industry, which Nature hath refused us, but there is no secret yet found to make us forget Altius injuriae quàm merita [...]. injuries; the remembrance thereof is everlasting; and though our Religion promise Heaven to those that do forgive, so high a reward cannot efface out of their minds the resentment of an affront. In fine, memory is so corrupted by sin as it is only usefull as far as it may be hurtfull to us. She is busied about present things, and cannot think upon futurity, she represents unto us all earthly vanities under such pleasing forms as do seduce us; and paint out unto us the joys of Heaven, so wretchedly as it is easily seen she hath no design to make us wish for [Page] them, she is never more languishing then when she labours in the behalf of Etiamsi [...]dtum super [...]t aeiat [...], p [...]ce jam dispensandum erat ut suffi [...]ret necessa [...]: nun [...] quae dementia est s [...]pervacua discere [...]n tanta temporis [...]ge, [...] S [...]n. Ep. 48. vertue; nor more vigorous then when imployed about vice. If she strive to out-do her self tis in things of no use, her chiefest works serves but to amuse us, and as Tumblers delight people by their tricks of activity, and win Credit by their dangerous leaps, memory amuseth her self in reteining things which have no cōnexion, and to repeat things in order, which have no order in themselves, and astonisheth simple people by these vanities, which they term her Master-Pieces. When all this is done that ancient Writer had reason to say that memory was only usefull to three sorts of people; to those who did negotiate, who to the end they may not be surprized, are obliged to have always all their affairs present, to those who speak much, for it is memory that furnisheth them with acceptable things, which serve for recreation to the Company, and to those that use to lye, for that to shan the shame which accompanieth that sin, they must remember their falshoods, on the contrary the default of memory may be of use to us; and as wee profit by our losses wee may draw from thence three advantages; The first is not to lye, lest we be surprized in that sin. The second, not to speak much, but to keep silence, out of a happy necessity. The third, to love our enemies, and to practise the excellentest vertue of Christianity, by a noble forgetfulnesse of injuries.

The seventh Discourse.

That Conscience is neither a good Iudge nor faithfull witnesse since sin.

THose who pretend that nature is not corrupted by sin, and that she remains still in her prrimitive purity, have no better proof thereof then what conscience doth furnish them withall; for conscience takes alwayes Gods part, and never absolveth the guilty: [...] she is so just as that she condemns her self in her own g P [...]ima haec est [...] quod se [...] cenemo nocens absolv [...]ar. Juven. Sa [...]y. 3 cause: no reasons can justifie us before her Tribunall, and let us use what art we please, it is impossible to make her approve of our Misdemeanors. Phylosophers have also acknowledged, that she was both our witnesse, Judge, and executioner, and that such secret sins as are [Page] left unpunished by mans justice, receive their whole payment from conscience, she her self is worth a thousand witnesses. Nothing can be hid from her eyes, which are never shut, she is an ever-waking Dragon, and hath such qualities as will not suffer her either to be abased or surprized.

Witnesses, that they may not be accepted against ought to have three conditions; The first to be well informed, therefore those who have seen are to be prefer'd before those that have heard, for the eye is more certain then the eare. The second that they speak truth, and h Multa sacta quae nomi [...] [...]us impro [...]anda viderentur, testimoni [...] tuo approbata sunt: & multa [...] data [...] bus, [...] damna [...], cum se al [...]ter babet species facti & animus facientis. Aug. lib. 5. Confess. cap. 9. that they say nothing which they do not think. The third, that they be rationall, and do so calm their passions, that neither hatred, nor love, nor hope, nor feare, may ever make them disguise the truth. Conscience hath all these three qualities, for she is well instructed of the fact, and nothing passeth in our hearts which she hath not perfect knowledge of, she knoweth our most secret thoughts, she see [...]h the end of our intentions, and not stopping at our words, knoweth the secret motions of our souls. It is easiy to cozen men who ground their judgments only upon the change of our countenances; they are abused by dissimulation, and he that can but counterfeit, may easily cozen them, but Conscience is our best Counsell, nothing is done whereof she is not aware, she assists in all our Resolutions, and this Sun which never sets, doth by her light dissipate all the darknesse of our hearts. Hence it is that she is true in all her depositions, for she speaks things as she sees them, she cannot be deceived, nor can h Si honesta sunt quae facis, omnes sciant: si turpia, quid refert nemin [...]m scire [...]um tu scias? [...] te miserum! si hunc contemnas testem. Sen. Ep [...]st 43. she lye, disguises are so contrary to her Nature, as she ceaseth to be her self when she b [...]gins to feign. Her Essence consists of Truth, and though she may fall into errour, the cannot fall into a lye. In fine she is so rationall, as she is not to be troubled or seduced by passion, she is a derivative of that primitive reason which we adore in God, a copy of that Divine Originall, a beam of that Sun, which is never Eclipsed, and they are so streightly joyned together as Quid prodest hominem fallere & Deum testem in corde habere. August. Saint Augustine doth mix their lights, and makes but one Deposition of the Testimony of God; and of conscience. How miserable are they who set at naught so faithfull a witnesse? for what satisfaction can those men have, who want the Peace of Conscience? to what purpose doth Publique applause serve, when secret approach gives it the Male de nobis actum erat, quoad multa scelera legem & judicem essugiuat, nisi in Incum judicis timor cederet. Sen. Epist 97. lye? what advantage can they pretend too, from the peoples approbation, if they condemn themselves? And what Happiness can they [Page] enjoy, if whilst others praise their false Vertues, they be inforced to blame their reall sins.

This Faithfull witnesse is a severe Judge, which can neither be bribed by presents, nor frightned by threats; and who being allwayes Innocent never spare the guilty. All his decrees are just, and though the guilty be his Allyes, he forbears not to condemn them. Whatsoever favour they may obtein from other Judges, they can never be absolved by this. and whilst their Mouth pleads for them, their consciences condemns them. And truly we ought to thank Divine Providence, for having given us this uncorruptible Judge to keep sinners within the bounds of duty: for there are faults which escape the rigour of the Law, and which being unknown are unpunished, Frenum ante p [...]ccatum & fla [...]llum post p [...]ccatum. there are sins, which being glorious ones, are rewarded, there be some, who being Authorized despise correction, so as our condition had been very deplorable, if Conscience had not tane the place of Laws, and if she had not condemned that which men dare not blame, nor cannot Punish.

In fine, this Judge becomes an executioner, and after having denounced judgment, he himself doth execute it, he believes that if it be glorious to condemn sin, its no dishonour to punish it, whatsoever tends to the defence of vertue, and pulling down of vice, seems glorious unto him, and the names of Judge and Executioner are equally honourable to him; True it is that he useth not this rigour, till he imploy'd his harmlesse cunning to frighten the faulty. Mala etiam co [...]sc [...]entia in solitudine anxia est atque solicita. Senec. Epist. 43. For Conscience is a bridle which holds men within their duty before sin, but when once they began to despise her Counsell, she became their Punishment, and being no longer able to keep back sin, she endeavours to punishit. Nec ullum scelus licet illud fortunae exornet muneribus, licet tueatur ac vindic et impun [...]um est, quoniam sceleris in scelere supplicium est. Senec. Epist. 97. Tis a revengefull fury which never suffers the wicked to rest in quiet, she assails them in towns and in deserts, she declares war unto them in the midst of their palaces, where danger can get no entrance, thither she sends fear, & into whatsoever Sanctuary sinners retire themselves, she makes them feel the smart of their offences: when they see any punishments, they apprehend what they themselves have deserved, as oft as they feel the earth-quake under their feet, or the thunder roar above their heads, they imagine justice is armed to punish them. In fine, all their sweets are mingled with some sowres, they can take delight in nothing; remorse of conscience troubles their contentments, they tremble amidst their [Page] Armies, they are afflicted in publick rejoycings, they languish in their best health, are poor amidst their riches, infamous amidst their honours whatsoever praises men give to their misdemeanours they tast not the sweets thereof, and this domestick executioner turns all their pleasures into punishments. In fine, it seems he hath a design to oppose the injustice of Fortune, and to rob the wicked of that glory, which Fortune endevours to procure them: for Fortune honours crimes, recompenseth Murders, Crownes Parricides, and that she may weaken vertues Party, prosecutes her followers, but Conscience which hath no other interest then that of justice, punisheth sin in the Throne, Deum mala conscientia pungit amara sunt omnia. August. and teacheth the guilty, that greatnesse is but a weak defence, against her just endeavours. Thus faults never fail of punishment; and though they be defended by violence disguised by cunning, excused by reason, or raised by falshood, they always finde their Punishments in the depth of their conscience.

As she punisheth the wicked: she rewardeth the good, for if the cry of the publique do not praise them according to their desert, they finde satisfaction in having done their duty; and the approbation of this just Judge makes them more glorious, then all the Panegyrick on earth, in this it is, that the happiness of the Innocent consists; tis this that comforts them in their afflictions, that incourageth them in their combates, and which crowns them in their victories. Their soul is a living Throne, where Interiora pulchritudinis conscientiae amat Christus. ibi videt, ibi amat, ibi lequitur, ibi coronat. Aug. iu Psalm. 44. Jesus Christ keeps his residence; they famaliarly with him, and receive on earth the assurance of that Happinesse which is promised them in heaven.

Though these reasons prove sufficiently that Conscience is the punishment of the wicked; and the good mans recompence yet is it not hard to prove; that she is misled by sin, that this Counsellour is unfaithfull, that this Witnesse is corrupted; that this Judge is interessed; and that this Executioner is backward, and fearfull. For what advice can Conscience give us, since shee is blinde; and that the same darkness which overshading the light of the understanding, cloudes hers? how can she divert us from sin, since sin oft mixēth his uncomelinesse with the beauties of vertue; and since there be whole intire Nations which approve of Incest, and excuse Parricide? How can she accuse us since she undertakes to defend us, and that being [...]educed by the senses, she strives to make whatsoever is pleasing unto them lawfull? we forme Consciences to our selves, which destroy [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] those that Nature hath given us; We think that a crime is lawfull? When it is either profitable, Prosper [...] ac [...]lix [...]us vi [...]tus vocatur. Sen [...]. or Honourable. We think the laws unjust when they thwart our desires, suites at Law hurt not charity because they have some colour of justice; Duels are authorized because they preserve Honour, drunkennesse is permitted because it is ordinary: and Pollution shall be no more blamed because tis glorious. Thus the Conscience which did accuse us, doth excuse us, and this witness being bribed by sin, speaks only in its behalf.

If he be unfaithfull in his depositions, he is as unjust in his decrees; for being ill informed he cannot pronounce judgment aright, and his instructions being false, his decrees cannot be equitable; he no longer condemns secret faults, and because they are not scandalous, he wil have them pass for innocent, if he cannot authorize them, he excuseth them, and if he cannot absolve the guilty, he signes their pardon, if somtimes the heinousnes of their offence oblige him to condemn them; he is slack in punishing them, and his connivance adds to their licentiousnesse. For though great crimes be accompanied with horrour and disquiet, that those that are highly guilty are not indured, and that being subservient to Divine Justice they be the Authors of their own punishment: though the Neroes waken in a fright, and that their Mothers Ghost assail them in the midst of their guards, though the Domitians carry their executioners in their heart, though the Heavens prolong, their lives only to prolong their torments, and that their cruell death be the least part of their punishment, yet there be sinners, who have not this remorse, there are some that enjoy quiet after Parricide, who peaceably usurped Kingdoms and who neither finde revolts in their States, nor trouble in their persons.

Tis true Hor [...]or cruciatusque [...]ormidantis conscientiae ultimus ad re [...]piscendum stimulus, quid si etiam tollitur de salute d [...]speratum est. Aug. S. Austine was of opinion that this calme was more dangerous, then a storm, and that the reproch of Conscience was not so severe a punishment as her silence: for when she galls us, tis that she may heal us; when she awakens us, tis to give us advertisement of the dangers which threaten us, her hurts are favors and her stings are the last that languishing nature can do, but when she hath lost her feeling, our hope of health is lost, her Stupor non dolet, a [...]it sensu [...] doloris, ta [...]o insensibilio [...] quanto [...]ejor. August. in Psal. 55. stupidity presageth our misfortune, and as the sick man, who is become unsensible of his pains, is abandoned by his Phisician, the sinner who hath no longer sense of his sins, is forsaken by Jesus Christ. Yet most men live in this deplorable condition; their Consciences confederate with their Enemies, [Page] holds Intelligence with the Devill to deceive them, is silent, that she may surprize them, and refuseth to advise them, only that she may continue them in their sins.

Nay oft times, through a high piece of Insolence, she furnisheth them with reasons to defend themselves; for though it be easier to commit a fault, then to excuse it, she undertakes to make their Apologie, and if the Crime bear with it any Glorious appearance, she endevours to make its Panegyrick. Thus she who ought to convert them, ads pride to their other wickednesse, and after having made them infamous sinners, she endevoureth to turn them into proud Devils; They then begin to glory in their sins, the higher their offences are, the prouder are they; their successe in their first crimes, engageth them in greater, and as the Pleasure which accompanieth vertue, doth encourage gallant men to glorious enterprizes: the satisfaction which these men find in sin, encourageth them to Sacrileges, and Parricides.

The eighth Discourse.

Of the unrulinesse of the Will, and of it's inclinations to evill.

WHatsoever advantages Humane understanding may pretend to have over the Faculties of the soul, it must give place to the will, and confesse that if he be the Counsellor she is his Mistris, for though his advices bear great credit with his Sovereign, yet is she so free, as nothing can constrein her, the reasons which convince the understanding do Permissum [...]it vile nefas: Quod licet, i [...]gratum est; quod non licet, acrius crit. not force the will, and after her officer is won, shee can defend her self, there is no insinuating into her favour but by sweetnesse, her consent is only won by submission. Constraint confirms her in her designs, fear rather altereth her actions then her desires, and violence which oft times makes the understanding say what it thinks not, never makes the will pleased with what it is displeased, she is free amidst Irons, and whilst the other Faculties of the soul crouch under Force or sorrow, she is still obstinate in her resolutions, and is never more free then when she seems most constrained. Her Empire is as large as her liberty, [Page] all the parts of man do naturally owe her obedience, and even those which act out of necessity cease not to reverence her power. She effaceth out of the memory those species which she hath been trusted with, if you will except such Injuries, and displeasures, as are never to be forgotten, the will to forget a thing is sufficient to think no more thereon. She stops the understanding in all its operations; after tis convinced by the Truth, she suspends his judgment, and by an absolute Authority keeps this Judge from pronouncing Judgment. Though the imagination be not so indifferent, and that her fickle humour, makes her oft times start aside from her duty, yet doth she allay her storms when her Sovereign speaks, and if she have made any party in her heart, she is the first that doth dis [...]e them, when the will commands. The passions which are as rebellious as wild, respect her authority, and if their first motions be not submitted to her power, tis because they are not capable of reason, when their fury is over, they return unto duty, and wonne by love, (which is their Sovereigns only sonne) they rank themselves under his Laws. Though Imperat anim [...] corpo [...]e, & par [...]tur statim. Imperat animu [...] ut moveatur manus & tanta e [...]t facilitas ut vix à servitio discernatur imperium. Aug. lib. 8. Confess. cap. 9. the sense, do necessarily act, and that they dispose of their objects in their operat [...]ons, yet cease they not to pursue her order, and to suspend their motions when that Queen commands, the eyes close themselves to please her, the [...]ares become deafe to obey her, nay those parts of the body which pretend to hold of her authority, and to be led only by Nature, do notwithstanding experience the greatnesse of her Power. For though she cannot hinder naturall heat from digesting meat, nor the Liver from sending bloud into veins, yet she [...]roubles all their workings, and if Nature hold not Intelligence with her, all her operations do but languish. In fine, the will is so considerable, as man draws from thence his chief advantages: a good wit may make his Company well liked of, Imagination may make him a good Poet, his hand may make him an industrious Artificer, but tis only will that can make an honest man: tis she that wins him the Title of vertues, Interest qualis sit voluntas [...] [...]is, quia si perversa est per vers [...]s habe [...]is [...]os mot [...]s; si autem recta est, non solum inculpabiles veru [...] etiam▪ laud [...]s [...]. August. 14. d [...] C [...]t. c 6. and Integrity, which is the souls chief ornament, is the pure work of this Noble Faculty. Notwithstanding all this, all Sciences busie themselves in ruling all the other powers of the soul, not troubling themselves with the ruling of this. Logick forms the understanding, and teacheth us how to reason; Rhetorike teacheth us the art of perswasion, and furnisheth us with figures to set forth truth; Astrologie contents our curiosity, and [Page] raising us above the earth discovers unto us all that passeth in the Heavens; Poetry heats our Imagination, and burning it with a fire which doth not smoak, makes it do things which triumph over death and time: Mechaniek Arts make our hands cunning, and teacheth them to imitate the rarest workmanships of Nature: but the will is only formed by morality, yet is she so free, as nothing can inforce her. Vertue hath not charmes enough to endue her with love, and all the recompences which she can promise, are not powerfull enough to bereave her of her Liberty. Grace must come into the succour of Vertue; Morality must be assisted by Religion, to gain upon the will, for since she is become criminall nothing can bend her, she is the w [...]rse through her advantages, her greatnesse makes her a slave, her Power makes her insolent, and her Liberty renders her a captive; she is brought into a condition wherein whatsoever heightens her merit, contributes to her misery, and she is so ill dealt with by sin, as she cannot recover her former perfect Liberty but by servitude: but to the end you may not think I exaggerate her loss in the describing it, I will shew her unto you in her greatest advantages, and will demonstrate that since Adams sin, all her perfections are prejudiciall to her.

As Bona privata quaerunt, sive sensus corporis sive facultates, animae. Sola volentas bonum publicum procurat. will is the Soveraign in man she respects the universall good, and whilest the other faculties are only busied about their own particular Interests, she takes care for the welfare of her whole State. The understanding seeks only after truth, and when he thinks he hath found it out, he leaves further pursut. Memory labours only after the reteyning of those species which are committed to her fidelity, and when she hath acquitted her self thereof, she thinks she hath done her duty. The imaginations only care is to entertain commerce between the senses and the understanding; the senses have no imployments but to consider objects, and to give there opinion thereof to the imagination, the passions themselves, which are the motions of love, have their exercises limited; desire goes inquest after things which are absent, or a far off, Fear drives away dangers which threaten us, hope flatters us by her promises, Audacitie assails Enemies that injure us, and choller furnisheth us with weapons to fight, but the will is like a Queen in the midst of her State, who rules all these disorders, and remedies all that is faulty; she listens to what the senses say, calmes the fury of the imagination, appeaseth [Page] the passions tumults, gives ear to what the understanding counselleth, and from the Throne where she sits, gives out orders, and pronounceth decrees. When she is peremptory in what she says, she is always obeyed, her power (as in God) is Composed of her will, and so long as she is not divided between her body and her understanding, she seldom undertakes any thing which she brings not to effect.

The supream Authority, is doubtlesse one of the wills chiefest Advantages, and the generall care which she takes of the guidance of all the other Faculties of the soul; is an excellent proof of her worthinesse; but who sees not that this eminent greatnesse, is accompanied with extream misery, since she that can do all seeth nothing, and that she who is so Coeca voluntas, coecus ejus amor, coecum ejus regimen, nec mi [...]um si inter tot tenebras aberret homo. absolute; is blinde, for she discernes Truth only through borrowed eyes: she must ask counsell of the understanding upon the advice of this faithles officer, she must examine reports made by the senses, stop the violence of passions and asswage the fury of the imaginations. Objects corrupt the senses, The passions suffer themselves to be guided by the imagination, The understanding is perverted by opinion, & this blinde Queen amongst so many mutinous Subjects, and so many interressed advices, knows not what resolution to put on, neither to what object to fasten her self. imagine the miserable condition of a Prince, who being blinde should have a great State to govern, Provinces to rule, Enemies to fight with, Subjects to guide, Treaties to conclude, Rebels to punish, and who to effect all this, should have none but interessed Officers, or ignorant Counsellors. This is the deplorable condition of the will; she hath a Dominion which though it be inclosed within man, ceaseth not to be larger then the whole World; she hath passions which are wilder then Tygers, shee hath intestine seditions, and wars abroad; she hath rebellious Subjects to suppresse, secret Traitors Amor meus pondus meum, eo feror quocunque ferer. August. Conf. to discover, corrupt Judges to reform, and amongst so many disorders, she hath but a weak instinct, which supplying her ignorance, indues her with aversion to what is evill, and with Inclination, to what is good.

But some may say, I make Monsters to destroy them, that I make the evill worse then it is to have the pleasure of curing it: for in the state of Innocency, the will was blind, yet was not unhappy; she was led by nothing but instinct, and went not astray, she took her [Page] light from the senses, and her Counsels from the Understanding, and yet did not this necessity make her miserable? Tis true she is naturally blind, and that it is as much out of her power to know the truth, as for the understanding to love vertue, but she was assured of her officers fidelity, the senses were not unfaithfull, nor the Passions wild, the imagination was not troubled, nor the understanding darkned, shee lived in a peaceable condition, she neither feared her Enemies, nor distrusted her Subjects, but now she is shie of them all; the senses will deceive her, the Passions revolt, her Imagination is confounded, the understanding goes about to corrupt her, and amidst so many disorders, she hath but a weak inclination to Good, which to say truth, doth never abandon her. We must moreover confesse that this inclination is much weakened by sin, and that it is a kind of Miracle if it be not corrupted.

The Summum Bonum is so Excellent, as he cannot be known, without being beloved, as soon as he suffers himself to be understood, he makes himself be desired, nor can the will be so depraved, but that she must alwayes reserve some love for so ravishing an object. The Angels find their happinesse in possessing him, and the Devils their misfortune in losing him, they cannot chuse but wish him, and how maliciously so ever their will be bent, it always languisheth after the Summum Bonum. If they could be without love; they would be without sorrow, nor would they be sensible of their losse, could they suffer it without sorrow. Yet this inclination is rather naturall then voluntary, tis rather grounded in their being, then in their Liberty, and tis rather a mark of the goodnesse of their Nature, then of their good will, If they naturally love God, they hate him freely, though they desire him they detest him, and though their Inclination be forced, their aversion is voluntary. Thus we see that the wills instinct is not so constantly set upon Good, but that it may be taken off, and experience teacheth us that since the corruption of sin, man is more inclined to vice then vertue. Gratia oneri est, ultio in quaestu habetur. Quidam quo plus debent, magis oderunt. We are much more prone to revenge an Injury, then to acknowledge a good turn; We remember an affront better then a favour, we write good offices done in sand or water, but ingrave ill ones in Brasse or Marble; Whole ages are required to efface an offence, but an obligation is forgotten in a moment. The favours which we have received are debts, and the injuries interests, weare ashamed to be indebted, and glory to be ungratefull, [Page] we think we lose our liberty when we are obliged, and we think to recover it by being unthankfull. Mans nature is so corrupted, as his hatred is purchased by favours, and the love he bears to Liberty makes an obligation odious to him, a good turn is sufficient to lose him, and to be repaid with a bad one.

From this disorder another ariseth which is as unjust, [...] se ingra [...] & macerat: [...]dit quae accepit quia red [...] est, & extenuat; injuri [...] vero dilata [...]t (que) auget. Quid autem eo miserius cui ben [...]ia excid [...], [...]. Senec. Epist. 81. and more detestable, We are much more eager in our hatred, then in our love, we pursue our Enemies, with much more heat, then we do serve our friends, we are slack in friendship, and vigorous in revenge, we attempt impossibilities to rid our selves of one that hath offended us, the remembrance of the injury augments our strength, and we never want reasons to excite our Anger. In assisting a Friend we are weak, all things seem difficult unto us, what he demands appears unjust, and when once he is become necessitous, we esteem him too importunate. This evill inclination of the will, appears no lesse reviling, then in hatred, we are flow to praise but ready to deprave, we are naturally eloquent in Invectives, but faint in praises; All Antiquity hath been able to make but two or three Panegyricks, yet all her Satyres are pleasing. An Historian who praiseth vertue is not so much valued as he who blames vice, and experience teacheth us that Orators cease to be eloquent, when they become Panegyrical; Tacitus ows the most of his Reputation to his reviling, he is muchmore pleasing when he paints forth Tiberius his faults, then when he describes Germanicus his vertues, we adhibit more faith to his criminall then to his Innocent Maxims; he passeth for a Statesman when he condemns the Caesars intentions or those of their officers, his suspicions are as good as proofs, when he speaks ill of Emperors, and his reasons not so good as conjectures, when he excuseth them. If he praise Agripin [...]s Chastity, he blames her pride, if he heighten Germanicus his courage, he abaseth his mildnesse, if he value Augustus for his Government, he blames him for his cruelty, and if he make Tiberius his wisedom appear, he every where discovers his dissimulation, and fear. It is easie to discover by his writings, that the greatest part of the Pagans good works were sinfull, since he attributes criminall Intentions to Actions which appear innocent. He is only praised of all men, for that he never praised any man, and I am much deceived, if his Design was not to win reputation, at the cost of as many Princes as [...]e writ off.

[Page] In fine our will is so depraved as we cannot see an other mans harm without some sort of satisfaction, we are afflicted at his good successe and rejoyce at his Qui alienis malis sicut suis bonis laetantur, divites sunt alienis jacturis, locupletes calamitatibus, immortales funeribus. Valer. Maximus. mis-fortune, not being offended with him, we are pleased with his misery, displeased with his happinesse: we think his Glory lessens ours, and like Caesar who could not looke upon the Image of Alexander without weeping, we cannot looke upon our Neighbours advantages without sighing; It seems as if fortune gave us, what she takes from others, and that she takes from us what she bestows on others, and that she cannot make them happy unlesse she make us miserable; Injustice is become naturall unto us, and unlesse our inclinations be reformed by Grace, they are much more bent to Vice then Vertue. But you will say the will is alway Free, that she may do well, even in what she doth amisse, since she may desire it, and that this advantage alone is so great, as that it recompenceth all her faults. The following Discourse shall answer this objection, and will let us see whether man hath sufficient Liberty left him or no in the state of sin, to boast that he is rich in his losse, happy in his misfortune, and in his misery glorious.

The ninth Discourse.

That the Will to be able to do good must be set free from the servitude of sin, by the Grace of Iesus Christ.

THe Passion which all men have for the preservation of their Liberty, is no weak proof of the Excellency thereof: there be but few who do not prefer it before life, and do not rather love an honourable death, then a shamefull Servitus obedientia est fracti animi & abjecti, arbitrio carentis suo. servitude, all revolts have had no other pretexts, and Conquerors have only been odious because they have intrencht upon the Publique Liberty, we suspect their Vertues because they bear with them some shadow of Tyranny, and men have hardly believed, that they were very just, who would Command over free people; yet man hath no advantage which he oftner loseth then his Liberty: he becomes a slave without a Master, and finds servitude as well in a Republique as in a Monarchy, he hath not the use of this perfection, till a long time after [Page] he be be born; he lives when he is not at liberty, and he who ought to command the whole world begins his life in slavery. Nature Sit datum liberum arbitrium humanae naturae ut eam tamen necesse sit vivere sub potestate melioris. August gives him Kings in his Parents, and if death take them away, the laws appoint him Tutors which supply the place of Masters, in his minority he is a slave, and wanting wisedome to govern himself, he is not suffered to dispose of himself: the better part of his life is spent in servitude, and unlesse he have permission from the Prince, he must be 25 years old before he can dispose of his goods.

When this age puts him in possession of his principall advantage, enemies arise, who clap Sibi servire gravissima servitus est. Senec. Praefat lib. 3. Quae. Natur. Irons upon him, for the passions are Imperious Mistresses, who intrench upon our Liberty, and which making use either of fair or foul means, makes man do a thousand things unworthy of his condition, he sometimes breaks his Chains, but forgeth new ones himself, and he thinks he is free, because he is the Author of his own servitude: If he calm his passions, and amidst their quiet recover his Liberty, he cannot defend himself from a pleasing Enemy, which deprives him of the use thereof, for sleep which preserves our life bereaves us of our Liberty, his poppies which sweeten our vexations, and inchant our sorrows take from us the disposall of our will: We are not at Liberty when we sleep, and as the good actions which we do in that estate cannot expect recompence; so neither ought our bad ones to fear punishment.

Thus Liberty is a Treasure which we are oft robbed of, tis a Good which we are not always Masters of: and if rest be reasons Grave, tis also Liberties Sepulchre; tis true that it restores us what it had taken from us, and the same awaking which delivers us from death, frees us from servitude, but we make tryall of a Tyrant, who treateth us much more rigorously then doth sleep, for when sin hath possest it self of our Liberty, it never makes restitution: Our slavery ends not with our lives, we are born & dye slaves thereunto. There is nothing but the Grace of Jesus Christ which can free us from the Tyranny thereof. It enters into our soulby our body, and gives us death whē our Parents give us life, and penetrating even into our Arbitrium voluntatis tunc est vere liberum, cum vitiis peccatisque non servit▪ Tale datum est à Deo, quod amissum proprio vitio, nisi à quo dari potuit reddi non potest. Aug. lib. 14. de C [...]it. cap. 14. will sets there the Characters of its usurpation, and of our servitude Reason is too weak a succour to defend us against so powerfu [...]l an Enemy, and Prophane Phylosophy is not a sufficient remedy to cure us of so dangerousa Malady; Wee cannot drive away sin but by help from Heaven, nor can we recover perfect Liberty but by the servitude of [Page] Jesus Christ: we may well shun one fault by another, but hardly can we do anything which is solidly vertuous, without our Saviours assistance, we defend our selves from intemperance only through vain glory, if we be chast tis because we are proud, but in the one and the other of these Actions we are slaves to sin.

To understand this truth (which is Saint Austins very Doctrine) we must know that in our belief, Piety was never parted from Morality, and that to be vertuous, a man must always have been Faithfull. The will was created together with grace, they both contributed unto merit, and when they were once divided, sin seized upon the will, and man operates by this mischeivous principle, all his actions began to be criminall, proposing no other end but himself unto himself, he strayed from the latter, (from grace) and looking upon the creature forbore looking upon the Non est igitur Gratia Dei in Natura liberi arbitrii, quia & liberum arbitrium ad diligen dum [...] eum pri [...] [...]i peccati graditate perdidimus. August. Epistola 107. Creatout. Let reason infuse what light it pleaseth into his understanding she cannot redresse it, for she her self is blinde, and as the will cannot love the Summum Bonum, the understanding hath much ado to know supremam veritatem, they each of them have received a mortall wound which cannot be cured unlesse by a Physician who was never sick, Peccans ille qui sine peccati necessitate creatus est in eo quod animae sanitatem delinquendo perdidit, etiam illae cogitandi quae ad Deum per [...] nent, ami [...]t protinus facilitatem Aug. lib. de Incarnat. & g [...]ia, cap. 13. the remedy must derive from Heaven, and the same hand which had united grace and nature together in the first man, must reconcile them in his offspring and restore unto their will the Liberty which she had lost. Till this deliverance come man is still a slave to sin wheresoever he goeth he carryeth his Tyrant a long with him, and let him do what good action he pleaseth, tis hard for him not to have therein some bad Intention.

To enlighten this imagination a little more, we must remember that Gods design was not to make man meerly a rationall Creature, he would have originall righteousnes to be his principall advantage: this Et istam quis fecerat nisi ille qui eos cum bona voluntate, id est cum amore casto quo illi adhaerent, cr [...] vit, simul in eis & condens naturae & largiens gratiam. Aug. lib. 12. de Civit. cap 9. id dicit de Angelis, idemque sentit de homine. Divine quality joyned the soul to the body by cords as holy as pleasing; she did accord so well with Nature; as if she pertook not of her Essence, she pertook of her perfection, whatsoever proceeded from this principle was holy, and whatsoever man did by the motion of grace deserved an everlasting recompence. But when sin had banished Originall righteousnes, and that man became a slave to his concupiscence, he began to work by the motions thereof, he suffered himself to be led away by her blinde impetuosity, did cowardly obey her unjust Ordinances, and till he be freed from this tyrant which [Page] possesseth him, he undertakes almost nothing but by her Orders. i Liberum voluntatis arbitr [...]m in [...] homi [...]e [...] d [...]co, qu [...] primus formatus est. Ille [...]c factus est, ut nihil o [...]no volunta [...]i [...]us resister [...]t, si vellet Dei praece [...]ta servare. Po [...] quam autem livera ipse voluntate peccavit nos i [...] necess [...]atem praecipitati sumus. August. disput. 2. cont. Fo [...]t.

Natura [...]umana etiamsi in illa integ [...]tate permaneret in qua est condita, nullo modo seipsam creature suo non adjuvante [...]rvaret. C [...]ncil. Arausic. ca [...]. 19. Thus the most part of his good works are sins and his actions proceeding from a bad principle must needs be faulty, this misfortune is the spring head of all our mischief, this disorder is the originall of all our servitude, as long as we are slaves to sin we cannot recover our intire liberty, and till the son of God doth infranchize us, our inclinations are strong to evil.

But as the Nature of any thing is not better discovered then by the opposing unto it, its contrary, to know the wils servitude, we must compare it with her first liberty, and by the difference of originall righteousnesse, and Christian grace, Judge of the divers conditions of man, in innocencie, and in sin. Man whilest innocent had the use of liberty, but because the end that was proposed unto him was supernaturall, he stood in need of Grace to elevate his will, and sustein his weaknesse. He could not unite himself to Na [...]urahominis prim [...]tus inculpata, & si ne ullo vitio creata est. Natura vero i [...]a ho [...]inis, qu [...] unusquisqu [...] e [...] Adam nas [...]tur [...]am medico indig [...]t quia sa [...]a non [...]st. Augu [...]. lib. de N [...]ura & Gratia, c. 6. God without her assistance; and whatever of Noble he had received from Nature, Grace was necessary for him, to fix himself to this Summum Bonum: but not being as yet hurt by sin, this aide did sufficiently fortifie him, this grace without giving him remedies did only furnish him with strength to love and know Primam veritatem. This grace was assubjected to his liberty; as he might use it, so also might he abuse it, so as his happinesse depended on his will; but since sin wounded his soul, since maladie is joyned to weaknesse, since irregularity is glided into Nature, and that the will, Quid enim opus erat Deo si status integer naturae maneret, [...] [...]em suscipere nostram? Perge adhuc [...] ▪ [...], [...] a [...]trium si. ex A [...]am susc [...]ptum, [...] med [...]a Christi non [...]digens per se sive [...] imple [...]e quod ve [...]. Author [...]brerum. [...]. which was only weak, is become sick, a grace was requisite which might rather be a remedie then a help, and which should pertake more of Medicine then of nourishment; In innocencie 'twas sufficient to raise man, but in sin, he must be cured▪ in innocencie there needed no more but to sustein his Liberty, but in sin it must be healed, in innocencie 'twas enough to lead man the way, but in sin he must be put again into the right way; In the State of innocencie he needed only to be succoured, but in the State of sin, the chains which keeps him from operating must be untied and broken. A man to whom Nature hath given good eyes, cannot see without light, but if the Sun lighten him he discerns objects, and not demanding other help, he sees all the beauties which this constellation can discover unto him, but if a defluxion weaken his eyes, the light of the Sun offends him, if the spot be already formed, the ocu [...]t must use his industry to take it away, and to restore [Page] him to his sight, must cure his Maladie. V [...]t no [...], [...]abet ambula [...] di poss [...]vilitatem, de homine san [...]s pedibus [...] lerabiliter dici po [...]est, confractis vero si velit non habet, vitiata est natura de qua loquimur. A [...]g. li. de Natura & Gratia, cap. 49. In the State where into sin hath reduced us, Adams grace would be of no use to us, all those glorious advantages wch our Father possest in the St [...]te of innocency could not deliver us; his Grace was succour to a man in health, but ours is Medicine for a sick man: Originall righteousnes indued him with strength, Christian righteousnes gives us life, originall righteousnes heightned his will, and Christian Grace frees ours. In [...]egno na [...] sumus ubi pare [...]e libertasest S [...]nec. Adam was vigorous, and we languish, he was free, and we are slaves; for the tyrant which doth possesse us, keeps us inchained, he hath made chains of our affections, and as to make a Captive walk you must break the Irons wherewith his feet are fettered, so to make a sinner operate, the cords must be broken wherewith his will is inthralled.

After having discovered the nature of his sicknes, we must finde out the cause, and seek by what excesse he hath faln into this Misfortune, Physicians oft-times judge of the quality of sicknes, by its originall, and the disorder from whence it arose, makes them finde out a cure for it. Man lost his liberty only for loving it too much, he is become a slave only because he would be too free, and he hurld himself into a miserable servitude, only for that he desired to shun a Glorious one. In grace aswell as in policie, servitude is joyned to liberty, and to be a true freeman, Servire Deo, regnare est. a man must be a voluntary slave. In kingdoms we finde our liberty in our obedience, and our submission to our Soveraignes will, is the rice of our felicity, those who think to better their condition by revolting, are oft undone by their rebellion, and fal from their legitimate greatnesses Servire Deo, regnare est. for having sought after unjust ones, so in the kingdom of God, mans glory consists in obedience, his liberty depends on his submission, and that he may command overall Creatures, he must obey his Creatour. This glorious servitude was the originall of all his greatnesse, he reigned in the world by serving God; he found perfect Liberty in his faithfull submission, and whilst that his will was subject to the will of God, he met with no revolts, neither in his person or in his dominions, but when abused by the Devil, and egg'd on by a vain desire of reigning by himself, he would shake of his first Sovereignes yoke, he lost his Quid illi deerat ut tangeret lignum vetitum, nisi quia sua potestate uti voluit, praeceptum rumpere de [...]ctavit, ut nullo sibi dominante fie [...]et [...] cut Deus, qu [...]a D [...]ullus utiq [...]e dominatur, A [...]g. in P [...]al. 7 liberty by desiring to increase it, thinking to make himself Master, he became a slave, he forged out chaines of iron to himself, out of a desire to break silken cords, and lost the command he had in the world by forgoing the respect he owed to his Creatour. It was very [Page] fitting doubtles that he should be thus treated, the heinousnes of his crime did wel deserve this severe punishment: for what could a Rebel expect but a shamefull servitude, what ought a perfidious man to expect, but sedition in his State, and what could a guilty person look for, but to have his passions revolt, and to lose his Liberty?

Unhappy Adam; What didst thou want in that happy condition whereinto thy Sovereign had raised thee? what just wishes could thy soul make which it might not have accomplished in obedience? All Creatures adored thee, the beams of thy countenance infused both fear and love into them, God made himself visible in thy person, Angels treated familiarly with thee, they assumed bodies to satisfie thy senses, these pure spirits became sensible that they might be pleasing to thy eyes, they left Heaven to converse with thee on earth, and they begana commerce here below, which they were to continue in glory; the earth reverenced thy footsteps, the sea bore respect to thy words, all the Elements did adore thy power, and savage Beasts which persecute us, changed their Imago Deido [...]abat feram, & Deus non [...]omuit imagine [...] suam. Aug. fury into fear when they came nigh thee: mightest not thou have bounded thy desires in so happy a condition? and without listning to the Devil who envied thy happinesse, was it not sufficient for thee to have the beasts for thy slaves, the Elements for thy subjects, Angels for thy companions, and only God for thy Sovereign? Pride was thy fault, misery was thy punishment, Liberty was thy desire, and servitude thy reward. Thou wouldst reign Independant, & thou livest now under tyranny, thy punishment is the Picture of thine offence; thy childrens Conditio servitutis jure intelligitur impositapeccatori. Nomen istud culp a meruit non Natura. August. l. 19. de Civit. cap. 15. misfortune upbraids thee with the quality of thy crime; they are slaves only because thou wert a Rebel, & they grown under their Irons only because thou couldst not live under thy Sovereignes Laws. Tis true that their imprudency excuseth thy impiety; for they love thy chains, they glory in their servitude; they follow thy evil examples uncompelled, they delight to est range themselves from God, they commit wickednesse, with cherfulnesse, their servitude is voluntary, because they are pleased with it, since they will wear their chaines, it shews they are delighted in them, and to the end it may be known they offend Heaven willingly, they adde voluntary faults, to that naturall sin, which they are guilty of in their birth.

The tenth Discourse.

[Page]

That evill Habits bereave the will of her Liberty by ingaging her in Evill.

THough corrupted Nature may be termed a bad Habit, and and Lex peccata est violenti [...] cons [...]etudinis quae trabitur, & ten [...]tur etiam invitus animus eo merit [...], quo in [...]m volens illabitur, August. lib. 8. Conf. c. 6. that all men who descend from Adam, have a naturall leaning towards sin, yet are there certain acquired Habits or Customes, which augment this naturall disorder, and which adde new faults to that which we do inherit from our first Father: for as excesses do compleat the irregularitie of our will, and makes our conversion the harder; the mischief which we bring with us from our birth, may be cured in the same sort as it was acquired, being got unwittingly, it may be lost when we think not on it, the conception thereof hath made us criminall; and Baptisme acquits us of that Crime. Adams sin is become our Punishment, and the Grace of Jesus Christ is become our remedy: but the malady which we our selves contract is much harder to be driven away; for as it is our own handy-work, and hath not crept into our soul without our own consent, it cannot be expell'd but by an Act of the will, and as Baptisme doth cancell Originall sin, and leaves Concupiscence, so Contrition or repentance, doth wash away actuall sins, and leaves an ill Habit, which we have reason to term an acquired Concupiscence, which is more dangerous then that which is Naturall, because tis more Malignant, and the cure thereof is more rare, because more hard: we shall see all these truths, in the pursuit of this discourse.

Tis a great misfortune, to be born in sin, and to have received bad Inclinations, before we knew them, tis a deplorable condition to be the Object of Gods Anger, before we have provoked him, and to be born away to mischief, before we were able to make resistance; but this misfortune is much the greater, when man joys Custom to Nature, when to those bad Inclinations which he inherits from his Parents, he adds many actuall sins, which forms an Imperious Habit, which ingageth him in evill. For Duo sunt qu [...] ad peccandum [...]os sollicitant, Natura & habitus; illud ex poena originali, hoc [...]x p [...]a frequentati peccati, cum illo in [...]anc vitam nascimur hoc vivendo addimus, qu [...] duo con [...]uncta ro [...]ustissimam faciunt concupiscentiam. August. lib. 83. qq. quaest. 66. as Saint Augustine observes, there are two things which solicite us to sin, Nature and Custome: the first is an effect of Originall sin; the second of actuall: we contract [Page] the one in being born in sin, we acquire the other by living in sin, and these two joyned together, strengthen Concupiscence, establish the Tyranny thereof and bereaves us of hope of destroying it.

For if the will be not strong enough to oppose the unrulinesse of Nature, how can she suppresse the disorders of a bad habit; and if the assistance of Grace be absolutely necessary for her, to free her self from naturall miseries, what kind of assistance stands she in need of to acquit her self of her acquired miseries. Tis the difficulty which makes sinners despair, tis upon this occasion that they find that irregular Inclinations, do never more rebell against their will, then when they have borrowed new force from a bad Custome, and the best advice that can be given them is, by their diligence to prevent so opinionated an Evill, and to set upon their passions in their birth, lest being assisted by Habit, they grow to head-strong, as to be unsuppressible. When love is not as yet perfectly Qu [...]ndo nasci [...] cupidi [...] antequa [...] obu [...] [...]ctat adv [...]sum te, mala cons [...]tudo p [...]vula est, elide illa [...] ad petram qui Christus est. Aug. in Psalm. 136. shaped, that he is rather in the eyes then heart, that he deserves rather the name of complacency then of Inclination, that his Flames have more of Lustre, then of Heat; he is easily stifled, and an ordinary vertue is sufficient to rid man of so weak an Adversary, but when with time he is grown greater, when he hath powred his poyson into the heart, and hath made himself Master of all the Faculties of the soul, many a battle must be given before so strong an Enemy be overcome, and unlesse the will call in indignation, anger, and grief, to her aid; tis very hard for her to drive out a Tyrant, whose power is strengthened by Custome.

In the second Place, corrupt Nature presupposeth but one sin, though Ex peccato est omnis mal [...] consue [...]ndo, & ad peccatum i [...]linat. Aug. it were a great one, yet was it but one, and though it gave against al the perfections of God, yet was it committed in a moment; Repentance came quickly in the Place thereof, and when once Adam felt the Punishment of his sin, he was sorry for it, his Tears appeased Divine Justice, the sentence of his death was deferred, and he had time granted him to people the world, to instruct his Children, and to bewail his sins: the disorders which we find in our soul and in our body, are only the effects of this fault, and when we are first born we are only capable of of this offence; Incensed Heaven can impute nothing to us but our first Fathers disobedience, and whatsoever Punishment it inflicteth upon us, we have always this excuse, that we are more unfortunate then faulty: but an ill Habit is a bastard [Page] Daughter which hath diverse Fathers, and which owes her birth to the malice of almost an infinite number of sins, vice and vertue are learn't successively; Nemo repente fit malus. Nemo est [...]asu bonus, discenda virtus est. S [...]n. Epist. 123. a man is not wicked all at once, he must make tryalls before he can become a Master in sin, he cannot arrive at that condition, without having committed many faults, he must be accomplisht in wickednesse, to get a habit thereof: and let us flatter our selves with what reasons we please a man must have basely foregone vertues part, if he be totally possest by sin; which when it commands so absolutely in a soul, as it hath changed it's power into Tyranny, is grown stronger by time, hath changed inclination into custome, and that it hath as many protectours as parents; Heaven must do miracles to free us from so dreadfull an Enemy.

In the third place, nature is somewhat ashamed of sin, this unlucky Guest hath not so throughly corrupted all her inclinations, but that some shamefastnes remains which may serve her for a bridle in her licentousnesse, and which obligeth her to seek out solitary places wherein to conceal her debaucheries; if she be wicked enough to scoffe at the remorse of conscience, she is not sufficiently affronted to bear with her neighbours reproaches; if she despise punishment she apprehends confusion, and if she fear not the losse of life, she fears the losse of Honour. Peccata qua [...]vis magna & borrenda cum in consuetudinem venerint, aut parv [...] au [...] nulla creduntur, usque adeo ut non solum non occultanda, verum etiam praedicanda diffamandaqu [...] videantu. August. E [...]chirid. cap. 82. But bad habit is insolent, it bereaves us aswell of shame as of innocence, it glories in its crimes, and by a horrible sort of corruptions, makes the sin the greater by making it glorious, it disarms vertue, and takes from her the only means she had to defeate her Enemy. Hence it is that shameles people glory in their loves, that lost women number up their gallants, & that affronted men, cal their debaucheries good fortunes. Glorious names are invented to honour sin, Thrones, and altars are erected to it, and solicited by this evil habit which rules in the soul, such honours are given thereunto as belong only to vertue.

Tanto amplius in concupiscentia superanda voluntas laborat, quan [...]o ei ma ores vires consu [...]tudo dedit. Aug. lib. 6. c [...]nt. Jul. cap. 7 By all this discourse 'tis easie to Judge, that a vitious habit, is a fearfull monster, which adds new discorders to the irregularities of Nature, which fortifies bad Inclinations, which presupposes many sins, which presages a greater Number, which renders vertue infamous, and vice glorious, and which to crown all mischief, hurries us into such a fatall necessity of sinning, as can onely be overcome by a powerfull grace. There be different steps whereby a man may descend into the precipice of sin: Inclination leads us to desire, desire [Page] brings us to the act, if the act be multiplied, it throws us into a habit, & if the habit be not the sooner ruin'd, it ingageth us in a necessity wch may be termed the bottom of sins Abysse, Dum servitu libidini facta est consuetudo, & dum consuetudini non resi [...]titur facta est necessitas. Aug. lib. Cons. for as S. Augustine says, as long as man obeys his evil inclinations, he forms unto himself evil habits, & when he doth not resist evil habits, they throw the soul into a hard necessity, wch bereaves it of the power of conversion. Then is a sinner an unfortunate slave, he draws neer the condition of the damned, he finds his hel on Earth, he carries a Devil in his bosom wch ingageth him in sin. This malady is by nature incurable, and if it be sometime cured by grace, 'tis by a kinde of miracle. The evil habit which produceth this necessity is somewhat lesse difficult to cure, but the meanes that are to be used are extream difficult. For though the Sacraments be ordeined to destroy sin, and that Baptisme and repentance do break our Irons and set us at Liberty; yet doth not their power extend to evil habits; they take away the blame and reconcile us to God, but they leave this languishing which weakens Nature, and do not Efface those Maligne Impressions which sin hath made in our soul, they leave us our bad Tenent pravae consuetudines quem semel [...]eperant, atque quotidie duriores existunt, & non nisi cum peccatoris vit [...] fi [...]iuntur. Gregor. Moral. l. 15 inclinations to exercise us, and it hath pleased Divine Justice, that that byas which we have towards evil should not be redressed but by our pains-taking, we must fight to overcome it, and as much time is requisite to the loosing of it, as went to the contracting thereof. Years slip away in this Exercise; without much progresse, and to weaken so powerfull Enemies, many combats must be had. The Sacraments which shed so many Graces into our souls, make us not victorious at the first, that very Sacrament which unites us so straightly to the Son of God, as our souls seem thereby to be mixed together with his, doth not overthrow bad habits: as long as we carry them in our bosomes, we have desires of revenge, and ambitious thoughts, the presence thereof which chaseth away Devils, doth not chase away our irregular inclinations; these Monsters give not place to Divine Power, and our will is divided between the motions of Grace, and those of concupiscence, it is troubled that since it carries about with it its Saviour, it is not yet at liberty; It wonders that whil'st it conceives humble thoughts, it hath yet sometouches of pride, that having no more sin, it yet resents the Effects thereof; that being one of Jesus Christs Subjects, tis yet under the slavery of the Devil, and that tasting the pleasures of Paradise, it feels notwithstanding the punishment of Hell: these disorders [Page] do subsist with charity, and much time must be had to drive them away, many tears must be shed, many sighs made, and as many good deeds must be done to destroy them, as evil deeds have been done in the forming of them; but to the end that we may the better know the Nature of so dreadfull an Enemy, we must consider him in his birth, and see by what cunning means he insinuates himself into the will.

Habit and custome are of the same Nature: that which the one doth in estates, the other doth in souls, their wiles are alike, and as they are established by cunning, they are preserved by violence, their Gravissimum est Imperium consuetudinis Senec. in Proverb. beginnings are undiscernable, and they are so weak in their birth, as they are despisable, they grow without making much noise, and establish their authority without any great pompe. There is nothing more pleasing at first sight; they are so plyant as they suit themselves toall our desires; they are so shamefac't as they play least in sight: they seek pretences to make their designs be approved of, and in all their undertakings they lean either upon reason or example: they flatter their enemies that they may undo them, and hiding their malice under an appearing mildnesse, they are in a posture of defence before any one thinks to set upon them: but when they are once establisht, Dismit esse remedio Iocus, ubi quae suerant vitia, mores sunt. Senec. Epist. 39. and when abusing mans happines they have confirmed their tyranny, nothing is so insolent as their Government, they loose both shame and Recti apud nos locum tenet error, ubi pullicus factus est, Idem. mildnesse, that they may reign with affrontednes, and violence; they ground their authority upon their usurpation; and placing all their right in their might, they oppose reason, and destroy the Law: then doth the will become a slave, the Counsels of the understanding are no longer listened to, and all good inclinations are so weakened, as they dare not frame a design to obviate their Enemies.

But that which is more deplorable in this condition is, that man who is possest with an ill Habit, is no longer capable of deliberation in his Actions: he follows the Tyrant that inslaves him, he thinks he is bound to defend him, because he hath assisted to set him up; he believes he enjoys Liberty, because he loves servitude; and not considering the evils which threaten him, he with contentment suffers himself to be guided by his Enemy: when he is surprized by any Action, In repentinis agimus ex babitu. Aristoteles. he hath not leasure to argue the case; his usurper prevenes [Page] his reason, and he is as it were compel'd to obey him, hence it is that Lascivious men meeting with an unexpected death, think more on their loves than on their souls health, hence it is that Libertines in any eniment danger are apter to swear and curse, than to pray; hence it is that revengefull men, when they fall into any danger, think rather how to revenge themselves, than how to pardon. For the Tyrant which possesseth them is alwaies in action: he is in the will, as in his throne; from thence he gives out his orders to all the faculties of the soul, and parts of the body; the understanding conceiveth onely such thoughts as are pleasing to him, the memory is onely imployed about such species as he forms there, The imagination is full onely of such Phantasmes, as he doth there imprint, the senses act not but by his guidance, and the whole man is so under his power, as he undertakes nothing but by his motions. This unfortunate condision is more common then men think, for all unbeleevers are reduced into it, and wanting true vertues wherewithall to resist the evil inclinations of nature, those inclinations must needs be changed into bad habits; the greatest part of Christians are herein likewise ingaged, for not making good use of grace to suppresse the disorders of concupiscence: they finde themselves as subjected to their wicked customes, and are no longer able to defend themselves against these domestick Diffi [...]ile est peccati consuetudinem vincere: pravus usus vix aboletur: affidua consuetudo vitium i [...] naturam convertit. Antmus sceleribus adstrictus, vix ab tis divelli potest. [...]fidor. lib. 1 solil. enemies, because they have suffered them reign too long, the longer they deferre the ruin hereof, the more do they establish the Tyranny; the more they suffer their violence, they do the more confirm their power: whilest they are imployed about unprofitable things, and that not considering the evil which threatens them, they take vain diversions, these monsters making use of their imprudencie become so redoubted as they dare assail them no more: The onely way to overcome them, is to stifle them in their birth, and not to fall oft into the same sin, least an evil habit being formed in our soul, we be inforced to live under the Tyranny thereof.

OF THE CORRUPTION OF THE VERTUES: The Third Treatise:

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The First Discourse.

A Panegyrick of Morall Vertues.

IF a man may use Civility in combating, and if the Fury of War keep not men from treating their enemies with respect, I think I may be permitted to handle the vertue of the Pagans with esteem, and to make the Panegyrick thereof, before I make it's processe, for though I hold with Saint Augustine that their chiefest vertues have their defects, Omnis infidelium vita peccatum est, & nihil est bonum sine summo bono, ubi, enim d [...]est agnitio aternae, & incommutabilis aternitatis, falsa virtus est etiam in bonis operibus, Sent. 106. Prosp. I do notwithstanding find beauties in them, wch obligeth me to reverence them, and though I am their enemy, I cannot chuse but be their admirer. For when I consider that these great men had no other light than that of Nature, and that self-love [Page] which tyrannized over their wil, was the soul of all their designs, I cannot imagine how so fatall a cause could produce such gallant effects, and I wonder that the desire of Glory hath been powerfull enough to make them overcome Pain, and despise pleasure. The Ambition of Command, hath made almost as many Martyrs in the Romane Common Wealth, as Charity hath done in the Christian Church; and all those Glorious Saints whose lives we read with admiration, have suffered no more for the defence of Religion, than those first Romans did for the defence of their Liberty: her Senators and Consuls were a long time Corruption-proof. The Generals of their Armies did subdue their passions as well as their enemies, the greatest danger could never abate their courage, they were most famous when most miserable, and Romes greatnesse never shone brighter, than in adverse Fortune. Worth was not confined to the most illustrious Subjects of that Common Wealth: the people were obedient, as long as the Senate was modest; Particular Families preserved their Innocency, whilst Publique persons preserved justice; Wives were chast, whilest their Husbands were valiant; the Vestals kept their Virginity, whilest the Priests kept their Religion; all these actions which have so fair an appearance, had no other Principle then Vertue, and Vertue had no other Force then what she drew from Glory or Eloquence; she was praised by the mouth of Orators; Every Philosopher was her Panegyrick, and hardly could you read their works without being passionate for her, who was their onely Subject: She is so well set forth in Seneca's writings, as one could not see her there, but they must reverence her; And he being the man that speaks the most worthily of her, I think I am bound to borrow his words to make her Panegyrick: Listen then to what he writes of her in divers parts of his book.

Vertue hath this of advantage that she is Noble and easie; her Noblenesse gives her value amongst men, Quid enim quiete animi otiosus? quid ira laboriosius? quid clementia remissius? quid crudelitate negotiosius? vacat pudicitia, libido occupatissima est. Omnium denique virtutum tutela facili [...] est, vitia magno coluntur [...]. 2. de liâ. [...] 3. and her easinesse invites them to seek after her, the desire of her is sufficient to acquire her, and this Famous beauty doth not scorn any that love her; shee bestows her self freely on all those that court her; and be she never so chast, she ceaseth not to be common; you need not crosse the seas, nor discover new worlds to find her out. We have her Principles in our selves; and if we be but a little carefull in the husbanding thereof, we may turn every good Inclination into a Vertue; she raiseth us above [Page] our Condition; for though we be composed of Clay and dust, by her Inter-position Inter bones viros ac Deum amititia est conciliante virtute, tunc etiam necessitudo & similitudo. Sen. de Provid. c. 1. we may enter into allyance with God; who loves those that are vertuously given; who in his greatnesse disdains not any one; and vertue is the onely disposition which he requires in those who would approach him; He acknowledgeth them for his Children who vouch her for their Mother; and Heaven is their Inheritance, whom she adopts on earth: This last recompence is that alone which doth in-animate her Lovers; all other rewards are indifferent, to them: Interrogas quid petam [...]x virtute? ipsam: nihil enim est melius, ipsa pretium sui est. Senec. de vita beata c. 9. And knowing that happinesse and vertue never part asunder, they hold for certain that a vertuous man cannot be miserable; the delight which accompanieth their Mistris, doth not inhaunce her merit; they are so faithfull to her, as when the servant forsakes her, they increase their love, and they are glad to love her in a Condition, wherein she can onely promise thorns to those that take her part.

Let her put on what disguise she will, she is always pleasing, be it that she withstands vice, that she melt into sweat or tears, that dust and bloud ternish her Lustre, that fasting, and sufferance pull her cheeks down, she hath still beauty enough to keep her Lovers, the faithfullest whereof love her as well in open field, as in Towns, and the Lustre which she borroweth from Apparel, or Palaces, doth not heighten her merit. Non habet unde accipiat injuriam. Ab homine me tantum dicere putas? nec à fortuna quidem, quae quoties cum virtute congressa est, nunquam par recessit. Senec. de const, sapient. cap. 8. Let fortune assail her never so oft, she is still victorious, that hood-winkt Sovereign which bears down the best establisht Thrones, which reverses the best grounded States, which takes delight to bruise Scepters in the greatest Monarchs hands, comes off with shame when she assails her, though Fortune arme Tyrants against her, and employ all her slaves to undo her, yet she is forced to yield the Field, and to confesse that Vertue may loose her repute, but never her courage nor Innocence.

Her Enemies reverence her, and her merit Maximum hoc habem [...] à naturameritum, quod virtus in omnium animos lumen suum praemittit: etiam qui non sequ untur illam, vident. Sen. lib. 4. de Benefic. c. 17 wins so much upon them, after having offended her, they give her Honourable satisfaction, and praise her publiquely: if they hear her comliness spoken of, they declare for her, and foregoing her adversaries party, they rank themselves under her colours. When this Tyrant seeth that he is abandoned he hath no better way to reduce his slave under his Laws, than to take upon him the Semblance of Vertue; and to borrow his Enemies beauties to cover his own il-favour'dnesse. This disguise is vertues highest praise, 'tis the greatest advantage she can [Page] have, and though she be thereby sometimes prejudiced, yet is it always glorious to her, for she can easily disabuse the unwary, Let her be but a little carefull to make her beauty appear, she wins their heart, and causeth so much love in them, as it is easily discerned, if they have not taken her part, 'tis because they knew not her worth, he who could see her stark naked would never be disloyall to her, and would she discover all her perfections, all her enemies would become her friends.

Tis in fine the greatest advantage that man can possesse: All of good Proprium hominis bonum virtus & ratio. Sen [...]. that Avarice or Ambition do promise him, are but disguised evils. Riches are but a little earth, on which the Sun hath set a price by giving it a colour. Glory which the Ambitious do so much Idolatrize, is but a little smoake, and the pleasure which the Voluptuous seek after, is but the Felicity of Beasts: but vertue is a solid good, who ever possesseth her may vaunt to have in her immortall riches, true Honours, and innocent delights. Tis the way which Nature teacheth us to mount to Heaven by; the means which she furnisheth us with all, to make our selves like God, without sin, and of so many things which we seek after, there is none but Vertue which can procure us that happinesse. We ought not to hope for riches, since Pa [...]m Deo pecunia non faciet: Deus nihil habet, Praetexta non faciet: Deus nudus est. Fama non faciet, nec ostentatio tui: nemo novit Deum, multi de illo malè existimant & impunè. Sen. Ep. 31 God hath nothing but himself, and that he hath not made the world so much for his use as for his Glory: we ought not to wait for reputation, since he is unknown, since the greatest part of praises that are given him, are blasphemies, and that the Libertines do unpunisht, condemn his providence. Tis not in fine in the Number of our Followers that our Felicity consists, since God lived without Subjects before he made the world, and that of as many happy spirits that do wait upon him, there was not any one neer him before the Creation of the Universe. His Glory wholly consists in his own greatnesse, and without heightening himself by the Splendor of his workmanship, or number of his slaves, he finds his happinesse in his Essence. Thus Vertue is the proper good of man: he is rich enough if he be vertuous, he despiseth the praises of the world, and finds himself satisfied with the Testimony of his Conscience; he seeks for no other pleasure than what he finds in doing his duty, and as God would not cease to be happy though he should ruin the world, the wise man would not cease to be content, if though he lost his family, he preserved his vertue, he needs not care for his body, though [Page] it be the Organe of his soul, and without drawing any advantage either from his strength or comlinesse, he onely values that Good, which neither fortune nor death can bereave him of.

Tis an Errare mihi visus est, qui dixit: Gratio [...] est pul [...]hro veniens ècorpore virtus: nullo en [...]m honest [...]mento eget ipsa, & magnum sui decus est, & corpus suum consecrat. Sen. Epist. 66. errour to imagine that the bodies beauty contributes to that of the soul, and that Vertue appears the more pleasing for being lodged in a handsome personage: as a great man may come forth of a little village, so a great spirit may proceed from a deformed body, and Nature oft-times fastens il-favour'dnesse to Vertue, to teach us that we ought to love her onely for herself, for he is unjust who considers the ornaments which do imbellish her, and who not regarding the excellencies which she keeps inclosed within her self, amuseth himself in considering the Pomp, which doth environ her. This great Princesse is so high spirited as she cannot tolerate a rivall, she is angry when she is sought after, for the pleasure which doth accompanie her, and likes not such lovers, as only serve her that they may by her reap profit or Glory. She will be her self the recompence of their labours, and though she promiseth them innocent contentments, and true riches, she will be the onely motive of their search. Her beauty well deserves this respect, and he is yet ignorant of her worth, who loves her onely out of Interest: We must never ask what she promiseth us, since she gives us her self. We must not looke upon her hands, but upon her countenance, nor must we consider her favours, but her desert, she is lovely enough though she appear without ornaments, glorious enough though without a Train, sufficiently magnificent though without splendor, and liberall enough, though she promise us nothing when she cals us. If there go courage to fighting under her Banners, there goes glory to dye in her quarrell, and as souldiers love that Indue magni viri animum: cape quantam debes virtutis pu [...]cherrimae ac magnificentissimae speciem, quae nobis non sertis, sed sudore, & sanguine colenda est. Senec, Epist. 67. Prince for whom they will powre out their bloud and glory in the hurts they receive in his service; Wise men love that Vertue for which they lose their lives, and Glory in the outrages which they receive in her defence, their minds are not altereed by ill successe, when their souls issue forth by their wounds, they by their mouth publish her praises, and having been her servants, they rejoyce to be her Martyrs.

Her beauty doth well deserve this Fidelity, for in whatsoeve condition we shall consider her, she is so full of allurements, as he who hath a heart must love her. How Generous is she when undet the name of Fortitude, Fortitudo contemptrix timendorum est, terribilia despicit, provocat, [...]git. S [...]nec. Epist. 88. she despiseth whatsoever causeth Fear in man, [Page] when without pale looks she assails death, provokes pain, and wins the victory over all those angersome accidents which intrench upon mans Liberty, how sacred is she, when under the name of friendship she in sinuates Fides sanctissimum [...] pectoris bonum est, nulla necessiate ad sallendum cogitur, nullo corrumpitur praemio. Idem ibid. her self into their hearts, and inspires them with such courage as they can neither be astonished with threats, nor corrupted with bribes: burn us (cry they) when inanimated by this vertue invents new Torments, we will never betray our friends, the more Pain shall endevour to wrest our thougts from us, the more carefull will we be to conceal them, and to deserve the names of Faithfull, though it cost us our lives, Temperantia voluptatibus imperat, nec uuquam ad illas propter illas venit. Idē ibid. How delightfull is she, when under the name of Temperance she commands over all sensualities, chaseth away such as are Impudent, moderates those which are irregular, when she fits our desires to our need; and foregoing all superfluous things contents her self with necessaries: How sweet is she when under the name of humanity Humanitas nullum alienum malum putat, bonum autem suum id maxime quod alicui bono futurum est amat. Idem ibid. she becomes affable to all the world? when she forbids us to raise our selves above our equals, commands us not to be severe to our Inferiours? when she perswades us that another mans mischeif can never redound to our advantage, and that we receive Glory by what is advantagious to our Clementia alieno sanguini tanquàm suo parcit, & s [...]it homini non esse homineprodigè utendum Idem ibid. Neighbour? How full of charms is she, when under the name of Clemency, she Pardons the guilty, spares anothers Bloud, as her own. when she converts the Criminall by her mildnesse, and by her goodnesse comforts the miserable? wee must also confesse she is as well the ornament of our body, as of our soul; and that there are no charms like those which we borrow from Vertue. An non vides quantum oculis det vigorem fortitudo? quantam intentionem prudentia? quantam modestiam reverentia? quantam serenitatem laetitia? quantum rigorem sereni [...]. Senec. Epist. 106. See you not what life Fortitude puts into our eyes, what Majesty wisedom makes appear in our behaviour? with what sweetnesse Modesty doth season our words? what a pleasing blush shamefac'tnesse drives into our forehead, and what a Serenity a good conscience causeth in our countenances? Truly if women knew how much vertue doth inhaunce beauty; they would be vertuous, that they might be baeutifull: and without corrupting Nature by Paint they mould make use of no other red than that of shamefac'tnesse, of no other white than that of Innocency, of no other Majesty than that of Justice, of no other sweetnesse than that of Clemency, nor of no other pomp than that of modesty, but the mischief is we are more carefull in acquiring Glory than vertue, and labour more to make our name famous, than our souls innocent: we despise the testimony of our Conscience, and seek for the peoples approbation, and preferring appearances [Page] before Truth, Qui virtutem suam publicari vult, non virtuti laborat. sed gloria. Sen. Epist. 113. we do not greatly care to be vertuous, so as we may have the reputation of being so.

One cannot notwithstanding merit this glorious Title, unlesse he part with pleasure, and Glory for it, for as he knows not the worth of Vertue who seeks her only out of voluptuousnesse, so neither doth he know her merit who seeks her only for Honours sake. We must resolve to lose al things to come by her, nor can man hazard his reputation for a more just subject, than in the preservation of Vertue.

The second Discourse.

That Morall Vertue hath her faults.

AS night never looks more gastly than when it succeeds a fair day; as a Tempest is never more hideous than when it surprizeth the Marriners after a long calm, and as uglinesse is never more deformed tahn when it approaches neer Beauty: I thought the best way to make the vanity of Morall Vertue appear, was to oppose it to Christian Vertue, and to set forth in the same Picture the ones defects, and the others perfections. This harmlesse piece of cunning will suffice to disabuse such Christians as will heighten Paganisme, to the prejudice of our Religion, and who prefer the Constancy of their Socratesses and Catoes before our Ignatii and Laurentii.

That which I think may have deceived them is nothing else but the Saepe reperitur simplicitas veridica, & falsitas composita quae hominem suis erroribus illicit, per linguae ornamenta laqueos dulces aspergit. Isidor. 3. de summo bono. Lustre, which humane Eloquence hath put upon Pagan Vertue: for we must confesse that Plato hath much better illustrated Socrates his Innocence, than Saint Basill, or Saint Gregory of Nazianzen have done that of Abell and of Iob: Titus-Livius paints out Lucretia's Chastity in better colours, than doth Saint Ambrose the like of the Christian Virgins, and Seneca doth much more handsomly commend Cato's courage, than Saint Augustine doth the courage of the Martyrs. Christian Eloquence is uncompounded; she is modest in her praises, she is ashamed to make use of a falshood to heighten a Truth, and to honour a Vertue by an Hyperbole; she attributes the Saints constancy, to the grace of Jesus Christ, she lessens our admiration by discovering the causes of their patience, and we wonder not that Saint Agnesse and Saint Cecilie have overcome their torments, when we consider they were assisted by Angels, and that the wild beasts did reverence their Innocency. Christians having allways [Page] been more carefull of doing well than of saying well, the best of their Virtutes babenti magna virtus est [...] gloriam. Aug. lib 5 de Civit. c. 6. actions have been buried in oblivion; their vertue not having received so much Glory, hath not thrown abroad such a Lustre; and wanting Orators to speak in her praise, or Panegyricks, she hath oft-times mist Admirors: but the vertue of the Pagans hath had all prophane Eloquence exercised in the praises thereof, and all the most famous Orators busied in composing of Panegyricks to her; She hath made the best ancient Poets sweate; Homer and Virgil, are but skilfull ingravers, or able Painters, who have endevoured to represent unto us rather the mind, then the visage of their Heroes.

Yet for all the care they have had to disguise Vertues defects, they may be discovered, if attentively considered: for Philosophers who have defined her, have placed her in a certain Est virtus habitus animi judicio susceptus, in mediocritate positus, sic que definitus ut prudentia praescripserit. Aristot. lib. 1 Ethic. c. 6. Mediocrity, which takes from her the Liberty of operating, she is environed by two Enemies which will not suffer her to enlarge her self; if she will exalt her self, she fals into a precepice, and if she endevour to do somewhat towards the acquiring of Glory; Humane weaknesse which cannot suffer it, doth condemn it as a sin. This languishing vertue is shackled, and dares undertake nothing of generous, least starting from out the Common road, she be accused of straying: she is inforced to follow the ordinary Track, and to submit her self to the rules which are prescribed unto her, if she will preserve her reputation: Liberality can do nothing of profuse wherein she may not be accused of prodigality. Simplicitas [...]c liberalitas nisi adsit modus in exitium ver. tuntur. Ta [...]t. histor. lib. 3. A Prince dares not be magnificent for fear of being thought too bad a husband. Men with-hold their liberall humours through unjust Maximes, and keep him from following Nature in her Profusions, because some Monarchs have been known, who after having indiscreetly emptied their Coffers, have unjustly filled them again: to keep him within his duty, men shew unto him, that Ambition oft enters into the souls of Kings under the name of Liberality, that there are few who know how to dispense their favours, and many that know how to lose them. Thus Princes cannot make use of Liberality; and though the Heavens have given them so great Territory, they must temper Avarice by Prodigality to acquire the title of Liberall.

Valour is under the same constraint, this generous vertue receives dayly a hundred advises, which under pretence of her preservation, have a design to put a period to her conquests; if she expose her self [Page] to danger, she is esteemed rash; if relying upon her good fortune, she put on such resolutions as fear approves not off, she is accused of Imprudencie; yet should she beleeve her advice, she should never do any thing of generous: and had Caesars and Alexanders valour been limited within the bounds of fear, they had never fought, nor been victorious; upon some occasions wisdom must give way to fortune, and Conquerours must rather consult with their good fortune than with their duties, The most glorious vertues ought to be free, they are too couragious to live inthrald, they are but the most Common ones that Subject themselves to these Lawes, they must dispense with ordinary rules, if they will attempt any thing worthy of memory. Poets knew this very well; for they have been enforced to invent heroick vertues, and to indue their Heroes with a valour, which raised it self above wisdom, and which in the greatest perils advised only with courage, Sicut heroes natura homines superabant ita virtute, erant enim inter homines & Deos medii, corumque virtutes modum communem excedebant. Arist. weak spirits terme it a fortunate rashnes, but the wisest Philosophers call it an Heroick valour.

Now Christian vertue is happily affranchised from this shamefull mediocrity, wch weakens moral vertue: for being more Divine than humane, she is not stopt by weak maximes, nothing seems impossible to her, she suffers her self to be led on by the spirit, which in-animates her, and wholly throwing her self upon the Providence which guideth her, she neither considers her strength nor yet her weaknesse; hence it is that the Saints forgo all their wealth, that without caring for what is to come, they voluntarily become poor, and leave the care of their subsistence to him who governs them. Virgins who by their age and sex ought to be timorous, have sought out Tyrants, and provoked their Executioners: they thought it was a kinde of slacknesse to waite for wilde beasts; they irritated their fury, they desired to loose their lives for the glory of Jesus Christ, who inspired them with a sanctified rashnesse; the love which we are bound to bear unto our Enemies, doth much exceed the rules of discretion, Amicos diligere omnium est, inimicos autem solor [...]m Christianorum, ita enim disciplina jubemur diligere inimicos, u [...] haec sit perfecta & propr [...]a bonitas, non communis, Tertul. ad Scap. which forbids us to trust in a man who hath deceived us; and all Christian vertues are so Noble, that there is not any one of them whose perfection doth not consist in excesse.

Though she be gotten to this high pitch, she ceaseth not to be easie, which is the second Advantage which she hath over morall vertue, whose whole worth consists, in the difficulty which accompanieth her; she would not be beautifull were she not difficult, and seeing that humane mindes betake themselves onely to what is painfull, [Page] she endeavours to heighten her desert by Labour; she decks her self with thornes in stead of flowers, covers her self with dust, in stead of sweet powders, drops sweat and bloud, in stead of perfumes, and promiseth such as court her, nothing but disasters and ill luck; she is lodged upon a hill which is smooth, slippery, and steep on all sides, where a man cannot come at her without danger of falling into a precipice; though she promise honour to such as love her, she suffers them oft times to be confounded, and judgeth onely of their love, by misprising glory or pleasure. Shee invites them by her discourse, but endues them not with strength; she perswades their understandings, but doth not raise up their wills: and like the Law of Moses, she may well have some light, but no heat: Infidelium virtus idolum est cujus species jucunda quidem sed virtus inanis. This is the cause why her pertakers have faln into despair, and after having a long time served this rigorous Mistris, they have been forced to accuse her of ingratitude, and to blame her cruelty; but what could they hope for from an idol, which being the workmanship of their mindes, had no other perfections than what it had borrowed from their praises, which was onely vigorous in their writings, only beautiful in their Panegyricks, and which was not generous, save in their actions. Thus had Cato recourse to despaire, finding no relief in vertue; and Brutus acknowledged when he died, that she could not assist such as served her, that she dazled mens eyes by a false light, and that she was but a vain idol, which forsook her followers at a pinch, not being able to warrant them from the outrages of Fortune.

We may truly affirm there have been two sorts of idolaters in the world; the one worshipped the workmanship of their own hands, Sicut Nationes manibus ita Haeretici & Philosophi verbis, idola fabricantur. Tertul. advers. Prax. and by an Immense folly put their hope in images which they themselves were Authors off; though they cannot understand them, they serve them with respect, though they cannot defend them, they fly to them for protection; and dread their anger. The other adore the workmanship of their minds, and form unto themselves Noble Ideas which they fall in love with, the more beautifull the idols were, the greater impression did they make upon their wils, and the more eloquent they were in describing them, the more superstitious were they in honouring of them. This errour blinded all Philosophers vertue, which is but a habit which we acquire that we may do Good, was the only Divinity which these hood winckt people worshipped; and not considering that there is nothing in the soul of man, which [Page] merits a Supreme Honour, they bore respect to the good inclinations thereof, when they were governed by the rules of morality; this superstition cost the Apostles, much more pain, than the superstition of the people, they had more ado to convert Philosophers, than Tyrants; and experience taught them that reason was more opinionated than force. Two ages were sufficient to overthrow all idols of brasse and marble, and though their adorers used cruelty to defend them; martyrs through their patience triumphed over them. But all the Reign of Jesus Christ hath not sufficed to destroy the idols of the minde. The Doctors of the Church have in their writings set upon them, but have not been able to bear them Idolatria hodie extra templum, & sine idolo agi potest. Tertul. de Idololat. down; and there be yet some libertines, amongst the Children of the Church, that do adore them. They are not so much attracted by the grace of the Son of God, as by the vertue of the Pagans; good Nature appears more considerable to them than godlinesse, and they more esteem Seneca's or Aristotles morals, than those of Saint Paul, or of Saint Austine his disciple; yet the Vertue which these Philosophers taught in their Schooles had her esteem heightened onely by reason of her difficulty, and was admired by her partakers onely through a vain beauty which did dazle them. But Christian vertue is at once both beautifull & easie, you need but love her to acquire her; to possess her cost us nothing but desires; and the Holy Ghost who sheds her in our souls, endues us with strength to overcome the difficulties which accompany her; therefore is it that vertue in Christians did oft times fore-run reason; they were wise before the years of wisdom, and the Agnesses who had Jesus Christ onely for their Master, were vertuous before rationall Grace fupplyed their weaknesse, torments excited their courage they were constant, not having read the death of Socrates, the life of their spouse made up all their morality, and his maximes confirmed by his examples inspired them with more of Constancie, than was requisit to triumph over the cruelty of Tyrants, and to confound the vertue of Philosophers.

But truly I do not wonder that the vertue of Pagans was so weak; since they were divided, and that reason which did guide them could never reconcile them; for though they be said to have one & the same father, and that they are so straitely united together that a man cannot possesse one of them, without possessing all the rest, yet experience, teacheth us that they have differences which Philosophy [Page] hath not yet been able to terminate. Though they conspire together to make a man happy, they trouble his quiet by their division, and make so cruel war one upon another, as to have peace in his soul, he is obliged to drive out one of the parties from thence, Mercy, and Justice cannot lodge together in one Heart, their Interests are so different as they are not to be accorded. A man must renounce mildnes if he will be severe, and severity if he will be mercifull. Morality hath not yet found out a secret to reconcile these two vertues, nor to unite them together thereby to make an accomplish't Prince. Wisdom and simplicity hold no better intelligence, the one is always diffident that she may be secure, she oft-times hastens her misfortune, whilest she thinks to avoide it; she had rather do ill, than suffer ill; and her humour is so given to guile, as the best part of her being is made up of dissimulations; simplicity walks in a clean other track, for she findes her assurance in her goodnesse: she fears no outrage, because she beleeves no injustice, she had rather be unfortunate than blamefull, and she is of so good an inclination, as she resolves rather to receive an injury than to do one. If wisdom be not upon good termes with simplicity, she is not upon much better terms with valour: Nature must do a miracle to make them both meete in one Subject; they require different tempers, and the aversion is such, as morality cannot accord them: wise and cautious men are always fearfull, and valiant men are alwayes rash; wisdom is of a cold constitution, and doth not ingage her self in any perill till she see a wicket whereby to get out. Valour is hot and firie, considers not danger so much as glory; the one of these startles at all things, the other wonders at nothing; the one and the other of them hath their advantage, and their defaults, but there is so great an opposition between them, as one and the same man cannot Possesse them both. Thus perfection is an Idea, which a man may easily conceive, but never acquire. Morality is an Art which hath more of light than of force, and which very well knows the desert of vertues, but cannot appease their differences.

'Tis mans advantage that the vices cannot be reconciled, that these monsters, who have the same designe, cannot make the same Army, and that Nature to weaken them, hath divided them; to say truth profusion and avarice cannot lodge together in the same breast, and though the one of them proceed from the other, they wage war one [Page] upon another which ends onely in death. Audacity and Cowardise are incompatible, and though Fortitude be their Common enemy, they cannot joyn together to charge upon it. Indulgencie, and cruelty, are two faults equally pernicious to Monarchies; and 'tis hard to say whether it be the greater misfortune, to live under a Prince who punisheth all; or under Malum quidem esse, Principem habere sub quo nihil ulli liceat, pe [...]us vero eum sub quo [...]. one who punisheth none. Licentiousnes countenanceth sin, and when Law, are violated, & no punishment inflicted, no honest man can live securely. Cruelty sets al the world together by the ears, & as her injustice makes no distinction of persons, she doth astonish as well the innocent as the guilty; but Nature doth not suffer these two extreams to lodge together, & this wise Mother not being able to impede their birth, thought to oblige us by hindring their society. I acknowledge we are obliged to her fore-sight, and that our misfortune had been much greater, if these two enemies of our quiet could have kept good Intelligence; but it must also be confest that she was wanting either in Power or in wil, when she [...] permitted that the vertues should war one upon another, and that the good Habits, which she had opposed to bad ones, cannot joyn their forces in our assistance. This is also an effect of Original sin, and I am confident this division was not amongst them in the State of innocency; that justice was not an enemy to Mercy, that wisdom warred not against simplicity, and that all these Sisters lodg'd peaceably together in the heart of Man. Christian Grace which repairs the miseries of sin, with use, hath pacified the difference between the vertues; they fight altogether joyntly under the banner of charity; this vertue, which they acknowledge for their Sovereign, quieteth all their quarrels; she takes from justice what it hath of rigour to agree it with mercy, she takes from mercy what it hath of remisnesse to reconcile it with justice. She unites the wisdom of the serpent with the innocence of the Dove: she stifles particular interests, to favour the publique good, and bindes them so close together, Charitas vinculum perfectionis ab Apost. appellatur. that they forgoe their own inclinations to assume the inclinations of their Soveraign: Hence it is that Christians are wise without malice, and simple without ignorance, that they are generous without boldnesse, and advised without Cowardlinesse; that they are just without rigour, and mercifull with indulgencie; they have the perfections of Philosophers, and want their Errours, they tast their pleasures, not their miseries, and Possessing [Page] Charity; they enjoy all the other vertues which hold in Fee of her Crown.

The third Discourse.

That Vain Glory is the soul of the Vertue of Infidels.

TIs a strange yet a true thing that the pride of Man was twin in birth to his misery, and that he began to be proud assoon as he was miserable. Amidst his greatnesse he was humble, whilest he commanded over all Creatures he obeyed God, and his Empier was grounded upon his submission; Hinc enim delectavit quod dictum est eritis sicut Dii, quod melius esse possent summo veroqut principio cobaerendo per obedientiam, non suum sibi existendo principium per superbiam. Dii enim creati non suae virtute, sed Dei veri parti cipatione sunt Dii. Plus autem appetendo, homo minus est, qui dum sibi sufficere delegit, abillo qui ei vere sufficit defecit, Aug. li. 14. de Civit. cap. 13. but when his disobedience had caused his unhappinesse, ambition seized him, and forgetting that he was a slave to the Devil, he pretended to the Sovereignty of the whole world. To effect this his design, he tryed many meanes as unjust, as shamefull: for through a high piece of folly he would shake off the yoke of obedience, which he owed to God; live in a sinfull Liberty, and follow no Laws, but those of his will. Having laid the first ground work of his Rebellion, he endeavored to frame it into a Tyranny, and having shaken off his Sovereign he strove to get Subjects. He used Art to make himself be beloved, and violence to cause himself to be feared, he made his equals his slaves, under pretence of preserving or defending them; he opprest their Liberty, and turned his false protection, into a true Tyranny; hence did proceed the first usurpations, which getting authority in process of time, became at last legitimate: for pride was the originall thereof, and the desire of government took away the equality, which nature had placed amongst men. Those who liked not this way took another road, being possest by vain glory, they endeavored to practice vertue; that they might win glory, and studied to Nullam virtus aliam mercedem laborum periculorumque [...] si [...]erat pra [...]r ban [...] laudis & gloria: qua quidem detract [...] quid est, quod in hoc tam exiguo vitae curriculo tantis nos in laboribus exerceamus. Cicer. pro Archiâ Po [...]ta. do gallant Actions, onely that they might be praised. Their way of Command was not so rigorous, but it was not much lesse haughty than the other; for they pretended to rise by merit, and mildly to enforce men to submit themselves to their guidance; whatsoever they did by this motive could not be innocent, and whatsoever vertue they exercised [Page] by this principle had onely a deceitfull appearance of vertue. Vain Glory was the soul of all their designes; did they defend their Country, did they conduct their Subjects, did they fight their Enemies? 'twas rather out of the love of Glory, than of Justice. Let them be as carefull as they pleased to hide their intentions, they were always clearly discerned by their actions or their words; their thoughts might be discovered without Tortures, and whilst the name of Justice was in their mouthes, nothing but vain glory was observed to be in their hearts; they did publiquely affirm, that to make a kingdom happy, Florent civitates si Philosophi imperant aut Imperatores philosophantur. Jul. Capitol. a Philosopher must either be the King, or the King a Philosopher, they boasted that they had withdrawn men from out of Forrests, that they had inclosed them within Towns; and by giving them Laws, they had taught them Civility. They governed a while with mildnes, but when one went about to blame their government, or to reform it, they had recourse to violence; and the same vain Glory which made them assume the Scepter to command, obliged them to take up Arms to defend it. Thus did Philosophers become Tyrants, and Pride which had used cunning to establish her self, used Force to perserve her self.

This truth appeared in the greatest part of Monarchies, but shone the clearest in the Roman Common-wealth; and we may affirm, the more she affected vertue, the more was she Subject to vain Glory; Haec sunt duo illa libertas & cupiditas laudis humanae quae ad facta compulere miranda Romanos. Aug. lib. 5. de Civit. c. 12. for those who shall examine her proceedings may observe, that all her most Glorious Actions had no other motive, than a desire of preserving her liberty, of acquiring Glory, or of increasing her authority. When Romulus his valour Numa's Piety, and Tullies wisdom, had Founded the Roman Common wealth, she thought not so much upon extending her limits, as in defending them, she never declared war against her Enemies, but when she saw her self in danger of being opprest. She fought for her Altars and for her houses, and her first commanders had no other spur to egge them on to vertue, than a desire to live, or dy in liberty. When all Italy was under their Laws, when those who would not be their friends, were become their Subiects, they suffered themselves to be tickled with the desire of Glory; and those who had no other thought but to be free, began to covet Fame and Glory. This ambitious Passion being very powerfull, made them undertake a thousand gallant Actions; and we must confesse the Roman Common-wealth, was never more [Page] fruitfull in vertue than when most desirous of a glory; her Citizens imbraced all occasions which promised them Primo magis ambitio, quam avari [...]ia [...]nimos homi [...]um exercebat, quod tainen vitiu [...] propius virtute erat. Aug. l. 5. de civit. cap. 12. Honour, not being yet so corrupted, they valued their dutie., and thought the nearest way to win reputation was to render justice to all men, to keep their words to their enemies, to despise riches and value vertue; with these fair maximes, they blinded all mens eyes; their alliance was sought after, and men thought they must be subject to this Republique, if they would be free.

They notwithstanding, who took upon themselves the trouble of examining their vertues▪ found that vain glory was their onely motive thereunto, and that if they had withstood vice, 'twas onely that they might win Hoc insitum [...]buisse [...] nos etiam Deorum apud ill [...]s aedes i [...]dicant, [...] vir [...]tis & [...]noris pr [...] Di [...] ha [...]es qu [...] da [...]tur à Deo. U [...]de intelligi potest quem finem volebant esse vi [...] tutis. August. lib. 5. de Civit. cap. 12 glory: They confess it themselves by their superstitions, and by building the Temple of Vertue neer to that of Glory, they did sufficiently witnesse that Honour was the end, and recompence of all their Actions. To say truth, there is nothing famous in their history, which relisheth not of vain glory, it appeares so evidently therein, as their very Historians cannot disguise it, when they praise their vertue, they discover the motive, and are enforced to impute that to the de [...]e of glory, which ought to be atributed to the desire of justice. When Virgil makes Q [...] no [...] [...] [...]bi pos [...]et [...]. Au [...]st. l. 5. de C v▪ [...] ▪ cap. 2 [...]. Brutus his Panegyricke, f Vicit a [...]or patri [...] laudumque immensa cupido. Vi [...]l. and when he useth all his eloquence and skill to excuse his Parricide, he gives no other reaso [...] than the love of his Country, and his d [...] sire of praise, he makes us see by this onely example; that Murthers were permitted, provided they were glorious, and that there was no Father in Rome, that was not ready to sacrifice his own son to augment his rep [...]tation. If Camillus deliver his Country from whence he was banis [...]t. 'twas [...] A [...]is [...] di [...]tem. illie [...] [...]esti civis habere non [...]ote rat. Id [...]m [...]d. because he could not live else-where more gloriously; If he assist his fellow-Citizens, 'tis because his glory may be inhaunced by their ingratitude, and that by re-stablishing the Republique, he may improve his power. If Reg [...]s keep his word, which he had past to the Carthaginians, and if he enter himself prisoner again 'tis onely that he may acquire honor by the loss, and to let all the world see, that he who had been slave to Carthage, could no longer be a Citizen of Rome. If Pompie Cae [...] [...] [...] ex [...] bellum que no [...] exoptavit, [...] vi [...]tus [...] re po [...]et [...]ugust. [...]x Sallust▪ l [...]b. 5 civi [...]. cap. 12. cleered the Sea of Pirats, if Eur [...]pe seemed not to him a Theatre large enough to show his valour in; if after having Conquered Spain, he in [...]rencheth upon the liberty of Asia, if he carry war into all the parts of the world, 'tis to merit the name great; 'tis to equall the faults of Mari [...] and [Page] Scilla, and to [...]fface the glory which they had got in oppressing the Republique. If Caesar march in Catelines steps, if he happily end what the other had unjustly undertaken, Postquam lux [...] [...]tque [...] civitas corrupta est [...] [...]rsus, R [...]spublica s [...]i magnit [...]dine, Imperatorum atque Magistratuum vitia sustenta [...]t. Salust. in C [...] tilin. if seeing no more enemies worthy of his anger, he sets upon his Citizens; if being no more able to suffer an equall, he will have all to be his slaves; if by one and the same fault he viol [...]e both the Laws of Nature and of Nations, if amongst so many vices, he mingle some illustrious vertues, 'tis onely that he may win reputation, and that by giving some colour to his Tyranny, he may march in the head of Caesars, and give a beginning to the most famous Empire of the world. For as manners were corrupted in Rome, and that particular interest prevailed over the publique, the Romans, who laboured onely after glory, began to labour after government; these who thought onely to enlarge the State, b [...]hought themselves how to usurpt it, and being weary of obeying Senators, they would command over slaves.

'Tis true that when their greatnesse was once confirmed, they changed their love of glory in the like of voluptuousness, they preserved their power, only to satisfie their pleasure, they gave over doing of gallant Actions, because flattery gave the same praises to their crimes, as vain glory gave to the vertues of their Ancestors; and they troubled themselves no more with making new conquests, because the best part of the world obeyed them; thus their vertue ceased to blossom, when vain glory ceased to inanimatein them, when they knew they could win reputation by their Un [...]e intelligi p [...]est quem f [...]em vo [...]ant esse virtutis, & quo eam referebant: etiam qui boni erant ad hon [...] rem scili [...]et: Nam [...]ali [...] [...]am quamvis honorem habere cupere [...]t, quem [...]alis [...] tibus co [...] tur adipi [...]. Aug. lib. 5. de civi [...]. cap. 12. debaucheries, they neglected the glorious labours, which had made their forefathers famous. This change mak [...]s it evident that the Romans strove not after vertue for her own sake, and th [...]t they fell into the same fault as th [...]y do, who seek her for pleasures sake: for though Honorbe more Noble than pleasure▪ and ambition seem to be more generous than intemperance, yet are they both equally prejudiciall to vertue, if wantonness so [...]ten the heart and abase it, Ambition puffs it up, and makes it insolent, if voluptuousnesse be brutish, ambition is cruel, and if pleasure master the senses, ambition Tyrannizeth over the minde, but the greatest disorder which she causeth is, that those who are possest by her, abandon vertue when she no longer promiseth them either glory or pleasure, for the ambitious contemn obscure vertues which delight in solitarinesse and silence; the volupruous fear such vertues as are a [...]re, and which either swim in bloud, or bathe [Page] themselves in tears; by a consequence as vexatious as necessary, they both of them adore vice when it is mixt with glory or with pleasure, they have not strength enough to defend themselves against a pleasing or glorious sin, they have not light enough to distinguish between good and bad: and they have so great a Passion for honour and Pleasure, as every thing which doth bear the badges thereof seems to them worthy to be sought after, yet this is so great a disorder as Seneca Non vis [...] e [...]e sine gloria at sope juste esse debe [...]is c [...] in [...]amia: [...]t [...]unc si sap [...]s mal [...] opinio bene parta delectat. S [...]nec. Epist. 113. hath observed that those who do love vertue truly, ought to lose Glory to preserve Innocence, that like Merchants who throw their riches over board to save their lives; they should sacrifice their reputation to their Conscience, and not be troubled to appear Criminall, so as they be in effect vertuous.

I must confesse that a Vertue so clarified, comes very nigh true n Licet à q [...]ibusdam tunc ver [...] & [...] putentur esse virtutes cum ad seipsas referuntur nec propt [...]r al u lexpetu [...]tur: tunc infl [...] aut superb [...] sunt & ide [...] non virtutes sed vitia judicanda sunt. Aug. l. 21. de civit. cap. 25. vertue, and that a little Grace, would have made these Philosophers Great Saints, yet the Poyson which doth infect them, is so much the more dangerous, by how much it is the more concealed; and the vanity which in-animates their vertue is so much the more difficult to cure, for that it is more subtill and more nice; for though they make no accompt of Honour, and that they seem to despise Glory; and that satisfied with the merit of Vertue, they seek not after the reputation which doth accompany her, yet are they drunk with the esteem of themselves, and are their own Idolaters. The lesse praises they receive, the more they think they deserve, and who could read their hearts, would find nothing there but proud & insolent thoughts; o Nec illi ab ista se defenderunt f [...]ditate quicum ali [...]na spernant ju [...]ic [...] velut glori [...] contemptores sibi sapi [...]s vid [...]ntur, & sibi placent. Nam corum virtus; si tamen ulla est, ali [...] [...]odo quo [...] dam human [...] [...]ditur l [...]udi. Neque enim ip se qui sibi placet h [...]mo non est, Aug. lib. 5. de c [...]vit. cap. 20. they tye themselves up to reason, and despise Divinity; they think themselves wise, and better than Gods: and not knowing that the Angels were Rebels, they become guilty of their faults, for as Saint Augustine says very well, all men who stop at the Creature, and do not raise themselves up to the Creator, are criminall.

He trifles with those things which he ought to make use of, he makes that his onely end, which is but onely a means to arrive at it, and reversing all the laws of Nature, he will find in himself the happinesse which is onely to be found in God. Thus are these Philosophers proud even when they contest against vain glory, they trample upon ordinary Pride, by a more subtill Pride; they despise not riches, save onely that they adore vertue, they loosen themselves from the world onely that they may fasten themselves to their own persons, and they make war against their bodies, onely that they may [Page] make love unto their minds. They are not Epicureans but Stoicks, p Ut non superb [...]at quid debet facere levet [...]culos suos ad illum qui [...]abitat in coelo. they neither love Pleasure nor Glory; yet cease not to be slaves, to both of them: self-love is their voluptuousnesse, and the satisfaction which they receive from their vertue is their vain glory, they behold not one another without admirations and if they appear modest in their writings, their designs are full of Pride Doubtlesly, q Non se atten [...]t omnis enim superbus se a [...] tendit, & magnus sibi videtur: qui sibi placet stu [...] [...]omini placet quia ipse stultus est qui sibi placet. Sol [...] securus placet qui Deo placet. August. in Psal. 121. they are proud, since they take Pleasure in themselves, and they are not aware that this Complacency is a proof of their Folly, since (as Saint Augustine saith,) every man is a fool who delighteth in himself, and he alone is wise who pleaseth God.

To conclude this discourse by a reason of Saint Pauls, y of which Saint Augustine shall be the Interpreter, the delight which we have in our selves is aswell a sin as the pleasure we take in others. This great Apostle doth equally condemn these two disorders, he will not have us to delight in our advantages, the satisfaction which we take in our selves, is a science, or young shoot of self-love, and if we q Etiam aliud est in eodem ge [...]ere tentationis malum quo inva [...]escunt, qui sibi placent de se: qu [...] vis aliis, vel plac [...] ceant vel displiceant, nec placere affectent c [...]teris: sed sibi placentes multu [...] tibi displicent Aug. lib. 10. confess. cap. 39. be forbidden to love our selves, we are not permitted to esteem our selves. Saint Peter, all whose words are Oracles, Places complacency amongst the number of sins, and condemning those who raise themselves above their deserts, he condemnes those also who take pleasure in their Vertues, and Saint Augustine discovering the intention of these great Apostles, teacheth us that there are two sorts of Temptations; the one exterior, which being easily discovered, are not hard to overcome; the other interior, and which lying in the bosome of our souls, are as hard to cure as to know. Of this sort is their Temptation, who not requiring the praises which they deserve, or who rejecting such praises as are given them, cease not notwithstanding to be displeasing to God, because being filled with a vain glory, so much the more dangerous, as the more subtill, they delight in themselves, and do not raise themselves up to the Summum Bonum; which is the fruitfull Fountain-head of all true vertues. This is the fault whereof prophane Philosophers were guilty, the vain glory which blindes the Socratesses, & the Catoes, & this is the nice Temptations, which undid all the excellent wits of Rome and Athens. The rest which were so very fine, were contented with the peoples applause, and demanded no other recompence for their vertues, than triumphs and victories; Honoratisunt in omnibu [...] f [...]re gentibus [...]mperii sui leges imposuerunt [...] gentibus: non est quod d [...] summ & veri Dei justitia conquerantur, receperunt mercedem suam. Aug. l b. 5. de civit. c. 15 and certeinly those could not complain of Gods Justice, since he hath changed their desires into effects, and [Page] proportioning their recompences to their Actions, hath crowned their fallacious vertues with a vain Honour; since he hath paid their Labours with so many conquests, and hath submitted so many people, to men that are Ambitious of Command and glory.

The fourth Discourse.

That the vertue of Infidels cannot be True.

VErtue is so beautifull as her very shaddow is delightfull; vices have some sort of comelinesse when they borrow her accoutrements, and we cannot forbear praising such errours, as appear in her likely-hood, We approve of prodigality in Princes, because it counterfeits liberality; We admire boldnesse in Souldiers because it hath an air of valour and courage: We adore ambition in conquerours, because it borders upon Generosity. This errour would be excusable did it not advance further; but there are some men who preferring appearances before truths; value a glorious vice at a higher rate, than a neglected vertue. Socrates his conference with his friends seems of a more lofty style to them than doth S. Pauls last words, and this Philosophers discoveries prevailes more with them, than the examples of our Martyrs. Hence it is that Christians admire the vertues of Infidels that not content to make their Apologies, they make Panegyricks in their behalf, and praise men on earth whom God punisheth in hell. Saint Austine not being able to endure this injustice, S [...]e cult [...] veri Dei etiam quod videtur virtus esse, pecc [...]tum est, nec p [...]ere [...] Deo sine Deo p [...] test: qui vero Deo non pl [...]cet, [...]ui nisi [...] & Diabalo placet. Aug. lib. 1. 1. de voca [...] ▪ Gen [...]. c. 7 which had its birth with the Pelagian Heresie, opposeth it in a thousand parts of his writings, and contradicting the reasons which it proffers in 'its defence; Makes Christians confesse, that the greatest part of infidels vertues, are but glorious vices; as I am of his opinion, I will march under his colours, and I will make use of his weapons to preserve the advantages of the Graces of Jesus Christ, and to take away the vanity of corrupted Nature.

But to proceed by degrees we must presuppose with S. Austine, that no action can be holy which proceeds not from Faith, according to this holy Fathers sense a man must be faithful if he will please God, and the soul which is not enlightened by the Divine light, cannot acquire any Christian vertues; that which hath no regard to the Summum Bonum cannot be good in this sense; and where supreme [Page] tatis cognitio is wanting, no Divine vertue can be practised. Either Sine fide etiam quae videntur bona opera in peccata vertuntur, omne enim quod non est ex fide peccatum est, Aug. li. 3. ad Bonifac. c. 5. Grace or corrupted Nature, are the Originals of our actions; whatsover proceeds from the former is sacred, whatsoever derives from the second is prophane: a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, nor can a bad one bring forth good. Since humane Nature hath lost her Innocence, and her Inclinations are corrupted; unlesse she be amended by Quantum libet autem opera infidelium praed [...]centur ejusdem▪ Apostoli sententiam verm novimus, & invictam: omne quod non est ex fide peccatum est. Aug. lib. de gesti [...] Pelagii cap. 14. Grace, she remains always b [...]assed towards the earth; she must be raised up by faith, if she will look up to heaven; though she see [...]er disorder, she cannot amend it, and though she be conscious of her evill, she cannot hate it, she wants both light and strength, her wisdome is full of errour; her strength is mingled with weaknesse, if she have any cognizance of vertue, 'tis in so confused a manner, as she cannot discern it from sin; and if she do any good, 'tis so faintly, as she cannot shun evill: let her turn on what side she please, she is always out of the way; and till she be guided by Opera quae dicuntur [...]ante fidem quamvis videantur [...]ominibus laudabilia in [...]ia sunt. Nemo ergo computet [...]ona opera sua [...]nte fidem: Ubi fides non poterit, bonum [...] non erat. Aug. p [...]. in Psalm. 31. faith, she hardly steps a step without stumbling.

If man in this unhappy condition, expose himselfe to the fire for Truths sake: if he fight for his Countrey, if he suffer [...]or Justice, he dyes a Martyr to vain glory; as he had no other end than Glory, he can look for no other recompence; and having had no other motive than his own Interests, he cannot shun the punishment which his injustice deserves: when the In homine ips [...] nisi praecedat fides vita b [...] na sequi non poterit. August. l [...]b. de fide & operib. cap 7. intentions are bad, the actions cannot be good; and when man proposeth an unlawfull end unto himselfe, the means he useth to come thereby may be specious, but can never be innocent. To succour a mans Countrey, when 'tis in oppression, to assist ones Parents or friends when they are in danger, to hazard life for the defence of Liberty, and to lose liberty to preserve Innocence, are Bonum op [...]s intentio facit: intentionem fides dirigit. August. pr [...]f. in Psal▪ 31. Actions which cannot be blamed at the first looking upon, and which draw praises from all mens mouthes, when they onely consider them as they appear. But when a man shall penetrate into their intentions, and shall see that self-love is the motive therof, that Honour is their end, and vain glory their Originall, we are bound according to Saint N [...]ver is it [...] que non offic i [...] sed [...]nibs à vi [...]is esse discernendas vi [...]tutes. Officium est autem quod faciendum est, finis vero propter quod faciendum est. Cum itaque facit [...]omo aliquid ubi peccare non videtur, si non propter hoc facit▪ propter quod facere debet, peccare covincitur▪ Aug. lib. 4. cont. Julian. c. 3 Austines Doctrine to condemne them, and to say that vertue and vice differ not so much in their actions, as in their designes: the Prodigall gives almes as well as he who is liberall, despair throwes us into danger as well as valour, Pride defends [...]her selfe better from unchastity, than doth continence her selfe, and as rare exploits are wrought [Page] by vain glory, as by vertue; yet all men will confesse that these are bad actions, that their intention tarnisheth their beauty, and that their end makes them criminall. Let Catiline overcome voluptuousnesse, let him despise riches out of the love of honour, let him assist his friends couragiously, let him be as constant as Cato, let him lead on his designs happily, let him order his Troops as wisely as did Scipio, and fight more valiantly than Pompey: All these gallant actions will be sallied▪ by his bad intentions, and you shall have reason enough to condemne him, when you shall know that he plots the losse of his Countrey, and imployes all the advantages which nature hath bestowed upon him, to change the Republique into a Tyranny; by the same reasons, we must conclude, Quicquid autem boni fit ab homine, & non propter hoc fit propter quod fieri deber [...] v [...] ra sapi [...] pr [...] cipit, et si offici [...] vide [...] [...]onum, ipso [...] recto [...] peccatum est. Aug. that whatsoever the Infidels have done, deserves not the name of virtue, since the motive thereof was unjust, and the end unlawfull. Let Scipio undertake the defence of his Countrey, because in duty he is bound to do so; let him being egg'd on with glory, or touch'd by compassion, passe into Affrica, let him be [...] Ca [...] to deliver Italy, and let him defeat H [...]ll to revenge the losse of Cannas; all these glorious considerations cannot excuse him, if vain glory, the peoples applause, or selfe-complacency have been his end therein.

Man is guilty as oft as he stops at the Creature, he goes [...] when he goes not to God; and he makes an Idoll of [...] qui [...] b [...] est D [...], ut [...] sit; & in re [...] à De [...] [...] magnum [...] est Natura ratio [...], ut nullum sit bo [...]um quo [...], nisi Deus. Aug. [...] n [...]tura boni, c. 7. goodnesse, or vertue, when he works onely through their motions. Man is so noble, as he can have no finall end, but God, into whatsoever condition sin hath reduced him, he is always bound to look upon him, though it be not in his power to unite himselfe of himselfe to him, yet is he bound to aspire thereunto. His Impotency doth not dispence with his duty, and though he knows not God, yet he is bound to love him. Thus were the Pagans guilty, when they sought after nothing, but glory and pleasure▪ those amongst them were the more innocent, or the lesse guilty, upon consulting with reason, desired onely vertue; and who despising honour, sought onely how to acquit themselves of their duty.

This Truth may seem a Paradox, and there is none who will not condemne Saint Austine, of too much rigour, if he do not very well conceive mans greatnesse in the state of innocency, and the corruption of nature in the state of sin. To understand it [Page] well, we must know that our Nihil est magis naturale quàm praeceptū de amando Deo, nihil tamen ad implendum magis est supernatu [...]e, unde Sco [...]us dicit Deum esse finem naturalem hominis, licet no [...] naturaliter adipiscendum, sed supernaturaliter. Scot. in prologo. q. 1. num. 12. disobedience hath not altered Gods Designe. His Commands are of force after our rebellion, and though we have lost grace, we are not freed from our obligations: we ought to love God above all things. Though we have lost originall righteousnesse▪ we ought to shun sin, though we have not the liberty that Adam had, we ought to aspire after Heaven▪ though the Gates be shut upon us▪ and we ought to have no other end upon earth, than what we had in Paradise, though we have lost the means. Q [...]amvis homo n [...]turaliter inclinetur in finem ultimum, non ta [...]en [...] [...]turaliter illum cons [...], sed solum [...] Grati [...], & [...] est propter [...]minentiam illius finis. D. Tho. Thus are Infidels bound to despise glory and pleasure, that they may seek out the finall end; and they faile of the [...] duties, as oft as they adore ver [...]ue, and neglect the Divine Essence.

All the Stoicks would be great S [...]ints if a man could lo [...]e vertue, and not an Idolater▪ Elysea [...] Fields must be made to receive them after their death, if Integrity could [...] make Philosophers innocent; All their Actions would [...] recompence, if the Instructions of Morality were infallible, and th [...] Grace of Jesus Christ would be of no use, if reason could promise any felicity: such as Zen [...] and S [...] crates would reign in Paradise set a p [...]t, where Vertue should be the [...] Idoll▪ where [...] should be [...] ▪ [...] where without the Grace of believers, or the Glory of the [...] ▪ they should live exempt from pain▪ with a heap [...]d up [...] contentment. The Church acknowledgeth b [...] [...] Hell; neithr doth she acknowledge more than one Paradise; and as in the former, none but true faults [...] punished, so in the la [...] none but reall vertues are recompens [...]d Gratis Christ [...] mort [...] est, si homines [...] fide Christi [...] veram▪ ad virtutem veram, ad justitiam ver [...]m, ad sapientia [...] veram qu [...] cumque ration [...] perveniu [...]t, si per Naturam volunta [...]emque justitia, ergo Christus gr [...]tis [...] e [...]: si per doctri [...] [...]rum [...], ergo Christus gratis [...] est. Aug. lib. 4. contra Jul. cap. 3▪ who hath not had Grate f [...] his originall, shall not have Glory for his dese [...] ▪ and who hath not had God for his end, shall not have him for his happinesse. All these Actions which we so unjustly value, had no other rise but self-love: the Stoicks and Epic [...] raans agreed in this point, and though the one considered vertue, the other pleasur [...], they both loved man, and by severall ways endeavoured the same end. For (as Fuerunt Philosophi s [...]culi. huj [...], [...] p [...]verunt [...]on esse beatudinem nisi seesidum c [...]m vivere. I [...]i [...] dicti sunt. Alii Philosophi s [...]perbi, quasi à carnese remov [...]tes; & t [...]tam sp [...]m in [...] pos [...]t [...] b [...]num in virtute sud. Tales erant Stoici. Illi secu [...]dum car [...] [...], [...] [...] ▪ [...] isti [...] illi s [...]cundum Deum viv [...]s August. Ser. 13. de verbi [...] Apostoli cap. 7. saith S. Austine) the Epicuraans were ingaged in the body, and believing there was no other happinesse, than what consisted in the sense, the Pleasures of the soul seemed Illusions to them; they thought all that was not sensible, imaginary, [Page] & knowing no other life than the present, they expected no other happines. The Stoicks were more haughty, and estranging themselves from their body, that they might ement themselves the more strongly to their souls, they despised pleasure, that they might value vertue; their chains were not the weaker for being the more finely wrought, their Irons were not the lesse for being gilded, and their servitude was not the sweeter, for being somewhat the more Glorious. The one lived according to the flesh, the other according to the soul, but neither the one nor the other lived according to Jesus Christ. The Epicuraeans confined themselves within their body, the Stoicks within their soul, but neither did the one nor the other of them, forgoe themselves to fasten to the Summum Bonum.

Then to be vertuous, it is not sufficient to love Morall vertue; she cannot be mans finall end sin [...] is onely created for God; nor can she be a means to acquire it, [...] Nonnunquam sane apertissima vitia aliis vitiis vincuntur occultis quae putantur esse virtutes; in quibus regnat superbia, & quaedam sibi placendi altitudo [...]uinosa. August. lib. 21. de civit. c 16. [...] love is her originall. To [...]et her forth to the life, we must say, that in this sence she is a disguised sin, which fights against apparent mischiefs by Hidden ones; which hurts us to heal us, and which never closeth up slight wounds, without making deeper and more dangerous ones. This ought not to seem strange, to those who will consider that there be women who are chast, because they will be unchast, who grant nothing to their husbands, that they may give all to their Adulterers. Thus did the Infidels in their Combats; they opposed one sin to another, they surpast Incontinancy by vain glory, and freed themselves from injustice by Ambition▪ Those past for the best whose faults were most usefull to the State, men judged of vertues by their effects, as they oft-times do of counsels by their events; and not considering their original or their motives, they were thought vertuous who were honourable in the Common-wealth. They praised Fabrici [...] his poverty▪ because it was a means why Luxury did not corrupt the most illustrious Families of Rome, They valued Scipioes continencie, because there by the insolencie of the Souldiers was supprest, and they excused Catoes severity, because it preserved the Senates freedom; but all these false vertues were true faults: the very best of them was worth nothing, the beautifullest of them had their defaults, Nam licet à quibusdam [...]unc vera & honest [...] putentur esse virtut [...]cum ad seipsas referuntur, nec propter aliud expetun [...]r, etiam tunc inf [...] su [...]t & superbae, & id [...] non virtutes sed vi [...]ia judicanda sunt. Aug. lib. de c. vit. 19. cap 24. and oft-times those which we praise most, deserve most blame. It is not impossible; but that Camillus his ambition was more violent than that of Cateline; it may be Pompey was not more innocent than Caesar: who can tell [Page] but that he might have prevened his Father in Laws fault, had he k Minu [...] eni [...] Fabricius quam Catilina p [...]nietur, non quia iste bonus, sed quia iste magis malus, & min [...] imp [...]us q [...]àm Catilina Fabricius, non veras vi tutes habendo, sed à veris virtutibus non plurimum deviando. August. lib. 4. cont. Julia. c. 3. thought he might have gained as much honour, by the oppression of the Repulique, as by her defence? It may be Scipio was no lesse vain than was Marius; and if he used it more modestly, 'twas onely for that he fashioned to himself a more noble Idea of glory. In fine they were all faulty; And as S. Austine says; Catiline was more wicked than Fabricius, but both of them were to blame; both of them shall be punished in Hell, but Fabricius not so much as Catiline, not for that he was better, but for that he was lesse [...]cked, not for that he was more solidly vertuous, but for that he came somewhat neerer True vertue.

From all this discourse we must infer that S. Austine doth not acknowledge any morall vertues, which are not Christian; that wisdom and Fortitude, are but weaknesse and blindnesse if they be not founded upon faith; that he who is not upon good terms with himself, cannot be upon good terms with his neighbours; that the wife who is faithlesse to God, Cùm virtus sit p [...]dicitia [...] vitium c [...]trarium est imp [...] ▪ dicitia [...]nes (que) virtutes etiam quae per corpus oper [...]tur, in [...] [...] habit [...]t, quo modo verâ ratione pudic [...] corpus a [...]eritur, qua [...]do à vero Deo ips [...] [...]imus [...], Aug. 1. de N [...]pt. &▪ con [...]pisc. c 4. cannot be faithfull to her husband; and that the body cannot be chast, when the soul is the Devils strumpet. Let us conclude this discourse with those gallant words of S. Ierome; which will be the lesse subject to suspition, for that he seems to reverence the vertues of the Pagans, and that he is pleased to write their Panegyricke, to encourage the Faithfull by their example. Faciamus & nos aliquid simile huic quod dicitur. Iustus ex fide vivit; & dicamus Castus ex fide vivit fortis ex s [...] de vivit adversus cos qui in Chri [...]um non credentes, [...]ortes & sapientes, & justos se putant esse, ut sciant nullu [...] absq [...] Christo vivere [...] quo omnis virtus in vitio est. Hieron. l. 2. in Epist. ad Galat. The just man lives by Faith, saith the holy Scripture, and we say, that the Chaste and courageous man lives by Faith. Let us apply these words to all the vertues, let us make weapons there-out to beat the mis-beleevers & Hereticks withall, to the end that they may learn, that there is no living well out of Jesus Christ, without whom innocency is guilty, and vertue vitious. After this Testimony, we may long dispute the truth of this Doctrine; and what is establisht by the Authority of two of the wisest Fathers of the Church, may be believed without Errour, taught without scandall, and defended without any scruple.

The fift Discourse.

[Page]

That Wisdom without Grace is blinde, weak, and Malignant.

IF the Pagans did beleeve that the vertues were Dieties we must not wonder if they yeelded the same Honour to Wisdom, since according to the judgement of Philosophers she is their Sovereign. Prudentia viz [...] prin [...] est, reliquisque omnibus utitur, atque i [...] sarum ordinam & modum tanquam oculus mentis [...]tendit. [...]mblic. Tis she which doth indeed conduct them in their employments, redresse them in their errours; and assists them at their needs: she wakes for the safety of the State, and whereas other vertues have but particular uses, this hath generall occupations which concern the Common good. When she goes to the Composition of an upright man, she is called morality, when to the making of a Father to a family, O economie, and when she makes a State Minister, or a Prince; she assumes a more Lofty name, and is called Policy; but she is the soul of all those Sciences, which have no other light than what she affords them, and which differ within themselves onely by the diversity of their objects, she is as necessary in war as in Peace; and the Generalls of Armies are more to be commended for their wisedom, Si prudentia una ad [...]it, [...]am continu [...] una cum [...]a omnes virtutes aderunt. Arist. 1. 6. Ethic. c. 3. than for their valour. In fine, she is the Chain which links all vertues together, which do disband as soon as she gives over guiding them. For Fortitude without wisdome is but meer rashnesse; Justice which is not accompanied with discretion, doth easily degenerate into severity, even Temporance it self, when it gives over being guided by her, becomes either too remiss, or too rigorous. So as a man must be wise to be vertuous, and the shortest way to come by all vertues is to get wisedome,

Amongst many Employments which are given her, the Prius quam incipias consul [...]o, & [...]bi consuleris mature facto opus est. Salust. in Catil. chiefest are to consult, and to deliberate, to Judge, and resolve; to conduct and to execute. When she hath done her utmost diligence, she leaves the successe to Fortune, and confesseth by this her submission, that she holds of a Sovereign Power which disposeth absolutely of all worldly affairs. Amongst so many advantages which so Eminent a vertue doth enjoy, it is not hard to observe her defaults: and to make Politicians who do adore her, confesse, that since Originall sin she is become blind, weak and malignant.

[Page] Light seems to fall to A providendo prudentia appellata est. Cicer. 1. de legib. wisdomes share, and that leaving Stability to Justice, Rigour to Fortitude, and Mildnesse to Temperance; she reserves Perspicuity to her selfe, to dissipate those darknesses which do obscure worldly things: yet is she unfortunate in this very point, and of all Sciences which meddle with prediction, she is the most uncertain in her conjectures. Astrologie, which seems to be wholly composed of Doubts and Errours, boasts her selfe of having constant Principles, and to extract the good fortune, or bad fortune of men from the Conjunction of Planets, and from the Aspect of those Constellations which govern at their birth; Physick, which ought not to be more certain than it's objects, hath Prognosticks, which do not often deceive it, and the Symptomes which happen to sick folks, do presage their lives, or deaths. Navigation hath infallible rules, and though it depend upon the Element, which is no lesse inconstant than furious, yet doth it foresee Tempests, knows the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, and dexterously makes use of the winds Impetuosity. Si prudens fuerit animus tribu [...] temporib [...] dispensetur, praeterita cogita, praesentia ordina, futura provide. Senec. But wisdome hath but feeble conjectures, which she drawes from what is past, to governe what is present, and to foresee what is to come. She boasts that time makes her know men, but what can she observe in so false a Glasse, and what knowledge can she draw from a thing which is so unknown unto her? for though memory be faithfull to her, and that she furnish her at her need with all the Miracles of Past Ages; though History enrich her with all her Treasure, and present her with a thousand Examples, which may informe her of the truth; though the senses discover unto her things present, and that these faithfull Officers make [...] but faithfull reports unto her, yet cannot she by all their assistances penetrate into the secrets that are to come. Futurity is a time wich suffers not it selfe to be approached; two of it's moments makes us loose our knowledge; and the wisest Occultat corum faemina Deus, & plerumque bonorum [...]sae sub diversd specie [...]t. Plin. in P [...]eg. Politician, unlesse he be a Prophet, cannot foresee the mis-fortunes which Futurity threatens him: that which he hath prepared for his defence, serves most commonly for his undoing; and that which he looked upon as the ground-work of his fortune, becomes the cause of his mis-fortune: oft-times the fairest appearances produce the worst effects; somtimes he is blest by a mis-fortune, and the wave which should have swallowed his Vessell up, doth oft-times happily throw him upon the Shore. Therefore hath the wisest of all Philosophers acknowledged that [Page] Counsell Consil [...]i divinum est. Arist. whereof, the best part of wisdom is composed, depends more upon fortune than reason, and that it was rather to be ranked amongst divine things, than humane. The body and the soule are as differing in their constitution, as in their conduct: for the body hath eyes in the face to conduct it, it sees whatsoever is before it, and none behinde it's sight, extends it selfe to such objects as seek it, and not to such as shun it; but the soule contrariwise, seeth things that are behinde her, and seeth not things that are before her, her eyes are on her back, not in her face; she remembers what is past, and knows not what's to come; wisdome endeavours to fortifie her sight, but she is not so happy as is Astrology, which hath found out prospective Glasses to consider the Stars: for after having made use of her conjectures, [...]o si [...]ium futuri ex praete [...]ito venit. Senec. Epist. 83. she is forced to confesse, that she foretels things to come, onely by consideration of what is past, and that she is deceived as oft as she undertakes to judge of what's to come. Prophets are onely permitted to consider this part of time: one must be admitted into Gods Cabinet to comprehend mysteries before they happen. The Devils themselves for all their subtill understanding cannot divine, their predictions are as doubtfull, as obscure; they speak in hidden termes to excuse their ignorance; and the Oracles of these proud spirits are always conceived in confused words, to the end that their Adorers may not discover their falshood. Man (who is not much lesse proud than the Devill) perswades himselfe that assisted by wisdome, he may know secrets to come, and that experience which is the Mother of this vertue, may furnish him with conjectures, the Seris venit usus ab annis. evidence and certainty whereof, are equally infallible: but who knows not that experience depends on yeares? that a man must be conversant in affaires to come by it, and that the Proverb of Ars longa vita brevis, ought rather to be affirmed of the Politician, than Physician.

If wisdome be voide of light, she is not much better provided of power; and if she be-blinde a man without injuring her, may say she is yet more weak; for she oft-times sees mischiefes which she cannot hinder. It would make for our ease, that she were either lesse knowing, or more Multa bona nostra nobis nocent. Timo [...] is enim tormentum memoria redu [...]t [...]rovidentia anticip [...]. Sen. [...]ist. 5. powerfull; her light serves for the most part but to anticipate our miseries, and to make us miserable before our time. Thus is our condition worse than that of Beasts, for they shun an evill when they see it near at hand; and remember it no longer when it is [Page] once over; but we aflict our selves both with what is past, and with what is to come, we seem to be prejudiced by our advantages, and that we are onely unhappy in having too good a memory, and in being too wise, the one calls back the evil when it is past, and the other goes to finde it out before it approach. What need is there in hastening our dislikes, in advancing those evils which come always too soon, to what end do we loose the present time for fear of the future? what good doth it us to be now miserable because we must be so hereafter? This is notwithstanding the most usual effect of wisdom, for as she hath more light then power she foresees our disasters, and not being able to hinder them, advanceth our punishment.

To understand this, we must know that wisdom and power are but one and the same thing in God, that which deliberates, is that wth resolves, and that which undertakes, is that which puts in execution. If from Divine perfections we passe to the Divine persons we shall finde that the Son, who is the wisdom of his Father, is likewise his power, that he who is his thought, is also his strength; he doth forecast designes, and finisheth them, he forms enterprizes, & executes them, he is that Pallace proceeding from Iupiters brain, which past for the Goddess both of sciences and arms, & which was no lesse recommendable for her valour, then for her wisdom: hence it is that he is called by severall names in the holy Scripture, and that he is sometime called the Verbum Dei & brachium Dei filius passim appellatur in Scripturis. word sometimes the arm of his Father. But in man these qualities are divided, he who is wise is not always strong, and when he hath wisely resolved, he must borrow aide from some other vertue, to execute his resolution with courage. Wisdom is timerous, because cold; valour bold, because hot, and as their qualities require severall tempers, they do not oft times meet in one and the same person: but say Nature should work a miracle by agreeing them, and that a man should have as much courage as conduct, his power would never equall his Prudentia plerumque inf [...]lix, quia rerum eventus ab illa non p [...]ndent. T [...]cid. wisdom, and after having given wise Counsell, he would not be answerable for the event; there is a Sovereigne Providence which hath reserved unto it self the disposall of all things, and which takes delight in giving bad successe, to the best resolutions, to teach us that our happiness, and unhappinesse is in the hands thereof. Politicians are surprized in their cunning: that which happens well unto them in one affair, falls out clean otherwise, when heaven forsakes them.

[Page] This made the Pagans say that fortune laughs at wisdom, and that to confound our presumption, she had so ordered affairs, as that happinesse and wisdom did not always keep Company: she makes fools happy when she cannot make them wise, and not being able to make wise men fools, she makes them unfortunate, Disputatur an tutius sit foelicem esse quam prudentem. whence it is that Politicians doubt whether good fortune or wisdom be the more requisite ingredient to the composure of a puissant Prince. Wisdom is more honourable, but good fortune is more certein, wisdom furnisheth advice, but good fortune gives the event: Wisdom comes from earth, but good fortune from Heaven: therefore Sylla, who understood this secret very well, chose rather the name of fortunate than of great, or wise, and was of an opinion that an Empire favoured by fortune, was better established, than one governed by wisdom. This confession makes all Polititians despair, after having built Altars to their Idol, Deorum beneficio omnes res praeclare & bene gestae acceptae referendae sunt. Di [...]nys. Halicar. they must erect Temples to providence; and acknowledge that it is she, which gives Scepters to shepheards, which overthrows the Thrones of the wise, which inspires the timerous with courage, and infuseth fear into the heart of the most hardy; which snatcheth Lawrell from out the hands of the victorious to crown the conquered therewithall. To atribute good successe to humane wisdom is to offend Divine providence, in all our enterprizes we must leave much to her guidance, and in executions we must give all to her Glory, she is jealous of this acknowledgement, and who fails to give her this Honour, never failes to be unfortunate. 'Tis said that a certein Grecian named Timothy, recounted to the Athenians, the victories which he had gotten over their enemies, vaunted that his victories were wrought by his wisdom, and not by fortune, that they owed their obligation to his good guidance, and not to his good luck. Though Cum divina Providentia consiliis & rationibus humanis non suffragatur, malo & infoelici exitu terminantur, nam & prudentes consilium & fortes virtus destituit. N [...]cephor. Gregor. lib. 7. those insolent speeches were onely uttered against an idol which could not resent them, Divine providence forbore not to revenge her self upon this generall, not suffering him to have any good successe, in any thing that he undertook afterwards; to let him know that his former good successes were not so much the effects of wisdom as of Fortune.

Though these two qualities which accompany wisdom, are sufficient enough to tarnish her glory, the third is much more injurious to her, for ignorance and weaknesse bear their excuses with them, and there are glorious vertues which have not much more power, nor much more light, but guile is odious, and vertue turns to sin, when [Page] it becomes deceitfull; yet this is a quality which seldom forsakes humane wisdom, all her cunning is criminall and being often interessed, she is almost always g Totius injustitiae nulla est capitalior, quam corum qui cùm maxime fal lunt, id agunt ut boni videantur. Cicer. de Officiis lib. 1. unjust couznage is so naturall to her, as that all her counsels are there withall infected she approves of cheating when we may reap profit thereby; and because by the Laws of War we are permitted to overcome our enemies, either by stratagem, or by force, she thinks she may deal so with all men.

She disperseth her guile into all worldly commerce, be it either that particular men end their difference by processe at Law, be it that Marchants traffick with strangers, be it that Princes treate by their Ambassadours, wisdom fenceth her self onely by cunning, and in all her imployments, he who knows best how to coozen, is the ablest man. Thus is cheating mixt with wisdom; and those who are not guided by charity, cannot be wise unlesse they be deceivers.

Though Pagan vertues be oft disguised vices, which under a counterfeit beauty hide reall uglines, yet there is not any which hath a neerer allyance to vice than wisdom hath. Exempt vain glory from temperance in the unbeleevers, and Temperance shall be without blemish; and separate force from ambition, and ambition shall be praise worthy; but wisdom is inter-mingled withall sins; interest is her motive, injustice her originall, deceit her interpreter, and dissimulation her Counsellour: she hazards innocency, to e [...]vade infamy, she violates Nature to preserve a peece of Earth, and to settle her own State she overturns that of strangers. All her right consists in might, under any colour of pretence, which her cunning may pretend unto, she takes up arms to defend it, and thinks, that all war is just whereby she may be aggrandised, all her Maximes are blasphemies, which give against Religion, or society; she frames Gods, and Laws after her own Mode or fashion: she esteems whatsoever withstands her interest to be weaknes of spirit, and is firm of opinion, that the Heavens Prudentia carnis est inimica Deo, legi enim Dei non est sabjecta, nec enim potest. Rom. 8. must do miracles to make her tractable. In fine, in the State of corrupted Nature, it is hard to be wise, and not a Cheater. h Est [...]te prudentes sicut serpentes & simplices sicu [...] columbae: Quia prudentia absque simplicate malitia est, simplicitas fine prudentia stultitia est. Hieronym. super Oseam. Tis therefore that the Son of God, when he instructeth his Disciples, never adviseth them to be wise as Serpents, without obliging them to be Innocent as Doves; because innocencie without wisdom would turn to folly, and wisdom without innocencie, convert to guile. Tertullian descanting upon this passage, says, that were it in his choise he would prefer the innocencie of the Dove before the wisdom [Page] of the Serpent, and that if he could not shun the two evils, which accompany these two vertues, he would rather fall into that of Folly, than that of Guile; Indeed the Scripture gives the preeminency to Innocency, as by this comparison; for the Dove is much more pleasing than is the Serpent, she is the Emblem of Innocency and love, she expresseth her selfe by sighes, she was chosen by God, in the beginning of the world for the Messenger of Peace, and to advertise man of the Deluges decrease; in the fulnesse of time, she had the honour to denote Jesus Christ, and to instruct the chiefest of all Prophets; The Holy Christum columba designare solita est, Serpens vero tentare. Illa à primordio divinae pacis praeco. Ille à primordio divinae imaginis praedo. Ita facilius simplicitas sola Deum, & agnoscere poterit & ostendere, prudentiae sola concutere potius & prodere. Tertul. advers. Valent. Ghost hath made it his mysticall Image, and when he would become visible, he took upon him the forme of a Dove, but the Serpent creeps upon the earth, hides himself in the grasse, wraps himself in his own folds, and never discovers but one part of himselfe; he served for an Interpreter to the evill spirit, to expresse himselfe by, and for an officer to seduce man; this was the first visible shape the Devill put on, and we never see this Animal, but we are touched with some secret horrour, which teacheth us that the Devill is odious, and wisdome dangerous. This is also the vertue of self-love, which endeavours to restore man to what he hath lost, which withstands Gods purposes, which gives against the lawes of his Providence and Justice, and which under a pretence of freeing us from those miseries which afflict us, endevours to make in each of us a proud Tyrant of a rebellious Slave.

The sixth Discourse.

That there is no true Temperance, nor Iustice amongst the Pagans.

IT is not without reason, that I joyn these two vertues in the same discourse, and that I make one onely Panegyrick for Temperance, and for Justice; for though all the vertues are allyed, and that proceeding from the same Father, they resemble one another, yet these two have so great a relation one to another, as they may be termed both by one name; Justice may be termed a Publique Temperance, and Temperance a particular Justice; for Temperance doth the same thing in men, which Justice doth in States; and these two vertues have no other care than to entertain Peace in War, and Equality in the difference of Conditions. Justice rules [Page] Monarches, stifles Divisions in their births, makes Princes Gracious, and Subjects obedient, she gives unto every one what belongs unto him, she weighs mens reasons, and considers not their qualities, she condemnes Kings if they be faulty, absolves Slaves if they be innocent; she is not to be frightned with threats, nor bribed by promises. If she commit any fault, 'tis surprisall, and her intentions are so upright, as if she doth any ill, 'tis under the appearance of God; when she forsakes Remota ita (que) justitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia, quia & ipsa latrocinia quid sunt nisi parva regna? August. lib 4. de civit. cap. 4. Kingdoms, they turn to Tyrannies, when Tyrants follow her advice, they become lawfull Kings, and when she once enters a Kingdom, she always brings plenty and prosperity with her: Politicians do also mingle all vertues with her, and judge that to be perfect, sufficeth to be just. The Roman Commonwealth had not increased, nor preserved her selfe, had it not been for this vertue, she confesseth she doth not so much owe her conqests to the valour of his souldiers, as to the Justice of her Commanders; and that if she had gained Victories by Combating, they had wonne Provinces by their Decrees. This is so undoubted a truth, as Cicero in those admirable Composures of his, touching a Commonwealth, acknowledgeth that a Nihil tam inimitum quàm injustitia civitati, nec omnino nisi magna justitia [...]geri aut stare potest Respubl. Cicer. in Laelio. State cannot subsist without the help of this vertue, that it changeth Name, so soon as it loseth Justice, and that it ceaseth to be profitable to it's Subjects, when it ceaseth to be just to it's Allyes. A Kingdom without Lawes is a meer Tyranny; and Aristocracy without Order, is but a Faction of the most eminent men, and Democracy without Policy, is but a confused Popularity, which cannot keep from falling into the hands of a Tyrant.

But though the Romans be so passionate for Justice, and that they have been obliged by their self-Interest to reverence her, yet were not they more just than other men, and their Republique hath been more enlarged by their injustice, then by their valour; she was borne with the Sword in her hand, and never fore-went this warlike humour, which doth not much agree with the sweetnesse of Lawes, her first attempt was the ravishing of the Quid enim melius aut justius quàm filias alie [...] fraude spectaculi inductas non à parentibus accipi, sed vinnt quisque poterat auferri. Aug. lib. 2. de civi [...]. cap. 17. Sabine, and she sufficiently witnessed her Conquests were Tyrannicall, since her Marriages were unjust; uder pretence of assisting her Allyes, she oft-times opprest her Neigbours; she took Orphan Princes into her protection, to bereave them of their Kingdoms, and being more carefull of preserving her reputation than her Conscience; she onely sought for pretexts to invade her Enemies Territories, [Page] when she had conquered all Italy, she studied how to conquer the whole World, and that she might at the same time trouble all the parts thereof, she sent Armies into Africa, Europe, and Asia; her Pride was not lessened by het greatness, her increasing served onely to augment her ambition: and had she not turned her weapon upon her selfe, to undoe her selfe, the world would as yet have groaned under her Tyranny. 'Tis true, she did some Actions which wonne her Credit, she would not vanquish by Poison, when she thought she might do it by the Sword; she advertised Pyrrhus of his Physicians perfidiousnesse, and rendred to▪ Fallisci that treacherous Pedant which had betrayed his Disciples to her; but in both these exploits, either Caeteras cupiditates unius glori [...] ingenti cupiditate presserunt. Aug. lib. 5. de civit. c. 12 Glory or Interest was the rule of her Justice; she Gloried in overcoming an Enemy by Courtesie, whom she could not overcome by Valour; and won the hearts of Parents by sending their Children back unto them.

She treated Kings, and the People a like favourably; for she either presupposed some wrong done, that she might have some subject to declare war against them; or she offered them her alliance, to engage them in servitude, or took them from their Allyes, that she might weaken them; or raised some revolts in their States, to ruine them. Alia s [...]ere quae majores nostr [...]s magnos secerunt quae nobis nulla sunt, domi industria, foris justum imperium. P [...] [...]is nos habemus lux [...] riam atque av [...]itiam publi [...]è egestatem privatim opulentiam, omnia virtutis praemia ambitio possidet. Cato in Salust. Catilina [...]iâ. There have been Generous Nations, who have preferred death before her Tyranny, and who have chosen rather to make tryall of her cruelty, than of her servitude. Numantium & Carthage could never endure her Insolence: the one burnt her houses to preserve her Inhabitants; the other broke her Treaty of Peace to regain her liberty, either by war or death. G [...]ule had never submitted to her Laws, had she not hoped to revenge herself on the Romans under Caesars conduct, and Germany had never submitted her neck to the yoke, if Rome had imployed nothing but her force & valour against it. In fine, this proud Republique, which hath wearied so many Poets, made so many Historians sweat, and stained the Glory of all those Nations, whose Estates she usurped; wonne more by Treaties, than by Combates; and hath borne away more Victories by wiles, than by valour. She thought those battells most honourable, which cost least bloud; and gave him the greatest Triumphes, who could vanquish without Fighting. 'Tis true, her Laws were just, but so ill observed; as new ones must be made to maintain the old ones, till the Number thereof grew so great, as she found by experience, that a State is never sicker than when it needs so many remedies. Wherefore St. Astine considering [Page] all the cheats which Rome had Vera autem justitia non est▪ ni [...]ia [...] Republicâ cujus conditor Rect [...]rque Christus est. August. lib. 2. de civit. cap. 21 used to raise her Greatnesse, confesseth Vera autem justitia non est▪ ni [...]ia [...] Republicâ cujus conditor Rect [...]rque Christus est. August. lib. 2. de civit. cap. 21 that a Common-wealth cannot be just, unlesse it be Christian; that her Laws cannot be holy, if Jesus Christ be not the Author of them; and that her people cannot be happy, unlesse they be enlightned by Faith, and cherished by Charity.

The Romans Temperance was no truer than their Justice, and if the State were faulty in her Policy, hi [...] Subjects were as much to blame in their Guidance. For Temperance formeth men by her mildnesse, governs such passions as promise us pleasure; withstands delightfull Enemies, stops their fury in it's birth, dis-abuseth the understanding which they endeavour to surprize; and as a wise Sovereign makes use either of punishment, or reward to reduce them to their duties; she maintains the Authority of reason by her Counsels, and he who guides himself by her Motions, doth nothing of unworthy. Ubi studium verecundi [...] est, cupiditas rationi cedit, ni [...]ilque utile quod parum [...]onestum videri potest, ducitur. Valer. Max. l. 6. cap. 6. She never thinks that profitable, which is not honest, and the Pleasure which delights the senses, never pleaseth if it be unjust. This vertuebreeds peace in our soules, calmes the stormes of hope and desire; and doth so well govern them, as these Giddy-headed Passions, never take wing, but by her Orders. For the temperate man can q look on beauty, without coveting i [...]; he possesseth riches, yet loveth them not; he tasts pleasure, not surfetting thereon; and deals so uprightly with his body, as it is neither his slave, nor yet his Tyrant. This vertue being solovely, steals away the hearts of her Enemies, and makes her self be admired even by those that persecute her: the lascivious praise her, whil'st they make war against her, they wish that such women as they have corrupted, were chast, and that such as commit Adultery with them, would be true unto them. We must not therefore wonder if the Romans were ravished with her beauty, that they have praised her; and that there hath been some Commanders, who amidst the licenciousness of war, have supprest their Passions, that they might purchase the glorious Title of Temperantia voluptatum alias odit atque abigit, alias dispensat, & ad sanum modum dirigit: Sci [...] optimum esse modum cupitorum, non qantum v [...]is, sed quantum deb [...]as [...]. S [...]c. Epist. Temperate; they thought that to overcome pain, they must overcome pleasure; that before they fight for their Country, they must fight for reason; & that it was not to be hoped for that he who could not resist a womans beauty, could defend himself against a souldiers valour. They perswaded themselves that temperance was the first step to fortitude, and that one judged of the victory which a Commander might get over his Enemy; by what he had won over his sensuality. [Page] Thus great men did study this vertue early; Deb [...]llandae sunt in primis voluptates, quae saeva quoque ad se ingenia r [...]puerunt. Senec. Epist. 51. she was their first Apprentisage, and when the bloud which boiles in the veines, kindled in them unclean desires, they quenched the fire thereof by the help of temperance. One of the Scipioes won more glory by vanquishing his love than by quelling the pride of Carthage; he purchased more credit in Spain by his Continency, then by his valour: and the quitting of a famous beauty, and free gift of her to her sweet-heart got him a whole Province, he won many Battels, by defending himself from a Maide. And his enemies were perswaded that their Souldiers could not overcome him, whom their Yeomen could not corrupt; this combat is heightened above his victories, his valour is never spoken of, without mention made of his Hac continentiá ac m [...]nificentia Indibilis ob [...]gatos Celtiberorum animos Romanis [...], meritis ejus debita [...] gratia [...] ret [...]it. Valer. Maxim. l. 4 c. 3 continencie, and as oft as men talk of the taking of Carthage, they adde thereunto the restitution of this Princesse. All the Circumstances of this action are so remarkable, as they are not to be omitted without injury to this gallant man. He commanded a victorious army, to which the laws of war made all things lawfull, which were not by them forbidden: he had tane a Town by assault, the resistance whereof had stirr'd up his anger; 'twas thought that to astonish all Spain, he would have made it a cruell example, and that the bloud of the inhabitants should have been that wherewith he would have quenched the flames which devoured their houses; that he would have made victimes of all the Prisoners, and that if the Womens lives were preserved, it should onely be to bereave them of their Honours. In this belief they present him with a glorious beauty, whose misfortune it was to be immured within that fatall Town: she was unfortunate enough to move pitty, but too fair, not to provoke love. The Souldiers were perswaded that their General would suffer himself to be vanquished in his victory, and that he would become his captives captive; they expected to have seen him once overcome, whom they had alwaies seen victorious. Though they had his continencie in great esteem, they did think it was not proof good enough against so exquisite a beauty; and they could not imagine that a man who was yet in the prime of his youth, should have power to withstand the Allurements of so fair a Maide, who had nothing but her tears to defend her self withall. The truth is, his eyes thought to have betrayed his heart, and Magnam vi [...] habet ad conciliandum [...]spicientium amorem formae venustas, Paul. [...]ov. he found how difficult a thing it is to behold a rare beauty, and not love it; his passion would have perswaded him, that without [Page] injuring his greatness he might become his captives captive; he had examples enough to excuse his fault, flattery would have authorized it, and if he would have listned to his Domesticks, he had neer triumphed over his love. Amidst this his trouble, he endeavoured to comfort her who caused his pain, and would give security to her, who intrench upon his liberty. He understood by her, that though her fortune had made her a Prisoner, she was by birth a Princesse; that her Parents had promised her to a young Prince, and that her Fate had cast her into the hands of her enemies; the knowledge of these particulars, and that his Prisoner was of so high a rank; was enough to make Scipio resolve to give her her. Liberty: he made her Father and her husband be sought for, who came upon his word into Carthage; every one looked for an event answerable to the passion which gave it life: some think he will demand her in marriage, others, that he will inquire into her birth, and see whether without offending the Glory of the Scipioes he may take his prisoner to be his wife, some fear least he will begin his Marriage by Murther, and secure his sute by his rivalls death: few believe that he will betray his love, and by one and the same act of Justice, restore a daughter to her Father, Eximae form [...] virgin [...] [...] adultae, & juvenis & caelebs, & victo [...] postquam comp [...]rit illustri loc [...] natam & Indibili de [...] ponsatam, accersitis parentibus & spons [...] in violatam tradidit. Valer. Maxim. lib. 4. cap. 3. and a Mistris to her servant: this mean while, when he knew: that this Princesse was no lesse Nobly born then beautifull, that her Father was Governour of a Province, and that her servant did Command an Army, he presently delivered her into their hands, and would no longer suffer his eyes to behold a beauty, which might invite him to do an unjust act; and to Crown this Noble Action, Aurum quo (que) quod pro red [...]mptione puellae allatum erat sum [...]ae dotis adjecit. Idem ibid. he gave her the money which was brought him for her ransom; as part of her portion, to the end that all Spain might know that Scipio knew aswell how to Triumph over Avarice as over Love.

I foresee I cannot condemn this Action without under-going the jealousie of such as favour the party of the Infidels, that I shall draw either publique envie or publique hatred upon me, if I shall question whether so glorious a victory deserve the name of vertue or no, and that men will think my love to Saint Austine hath made me forgoe the love of truth; yet according to his principles we must confesse, that this vertue is a sin, that not deriving from charity, Illi Philosophi sae [...]uli vitium vitio, peccatum (que) pecca [...] medicantur. Nos amore virtutum vitia superemus. Hiero. nym. Epist. 4. it proceeded from self love; that Scipio did [Page] but [...]ence himself from one by an other, and that his keeping himself from Incontinencie proceeded from vain glory. Infidels are slaves to the Devil, their will is in his hands, and as long as this cruell Tyrant doth possesse them, he permits them not to do any one good Action, out of a good motive, he may suffer them to resist the violence of Love, or the fury of Avarice; but he corrupts their intentions, and never with draws them from one evil, but he ingageth them in another, they shun an ill step, to fall into a precipice, and their will is so subject unto his, as after long deliberation, they alwaies put on the worst resolution. This unjust Sovereign fits himself to their inclinations that he may undo them, he adviseth them onely to such things as he knows doth please them, and when he gives any counsel, he alwaies considers their honour or desire, he is content that they may practise one vertue, so as they mix a vice with it, he cares not though they overcome love, so as they give way to vain glory, & as learned Tertullian saith, Nam invenit Diabolus quomodo homines etiam boni sectationibus perderet, & nihil apud cum resert alios luxuriâ alios continentiâ occidere. Ter [...]ul. lib. 1. ad uxorem. cap. 5. he cares not much whether he dam men by debauchery or by incontinencie; Thus I doubt not but that 'twas ambition which kept Scipio chast, that it was the sweetnesse of glory which charmed the like of Pleasure, and that in so difficult an Action 'twas reputation which he proposed unto himself for recompence. All Conquerours were of his Humour, they left the Pillage of the enemy to their Souldiers, they parted the Provinces which they won amongst their Domesticks, they made their slaves Sovereigns, and of all the advantages which they got by their victories they only reserved glory to themselves. This man feared to lose his reputation by losing his Liberty, he was ashamed to suffer himself to be taken by his Captive, and he would leave no shamefull marks of his defeats, where he had left such glorious proofs of his victories. Vain glory was the soul of his vertue, his pride increased whilest his incontinencie decreased, and Scipio was a slave to ambition, whilest he commanded over uncleannesse.

That which hath been said of the continencie of this Generall of an Army; may be affirmed of Lucretia's Chastity with this of difference, that hers, being accompanyed with Murder, can admit of no excuse, nor ought in any wise to be praised. For though her death seem to be generous, and that the Romans [Page] who look upon her as the beginning of their liberty, would have it to passe for the Noblest sacrifice which was ever offered up to chastitie; yet did it deserve punishment in a State well policed. And they might have revenged themselves of living Dux Roman [...] Pudicitiae Lucretia ferro se interemit, [...]ausamque, t [...] [...] inter [...] tu, i [...]prium consulare pro regio permutandi populo Romano praebuit. Valer. Max. lib. 6. cap. 1. Lucretia, upon the body of Lucretia being dead. They would disguise the crime, and make it seem a vertue; not considering the unjustnesse thereof, they looked onely upon the publique interest, and since this Murther had driven the Tarquins from Rome, they had ground enough to make thereon a Panegyricke; they therefore place Lucretia in the head, or first file of all Chaste Women, they blame Fortune; for having immurde so stout a soul in so weak a body, they excuse the sin by the effects thereof, and cannot blame a murder which was the rise of the Roman Common-wealth. They justifie her Chastity by her death, they excuse her death by her Chastity, and maintain that as she preserved her Chastity in a forced Adultery, she did not violate Justice in a voluntary self-Murther. But truely I finde that Saint Austine hath so justly blamed her as that she is not justly to be defended; and that he hath made a Dilemma, to which the sub [...]llest Philosophers cannot answer. Whence it is (saith he) Quid hoc est quod i [...] [...]am gravi [...]s vindicatur, quae adulterium non admisit, il'e [...] pulsus est, hac summo [...] est supplicia. August. [...]e Civit lib. 1. c. 19. that he who hath committed the sin, is not as severely punished, as she that suffered it, or on whom it was committed? the one did lose his Country, the other lost her life. If you exempt her from the unchastnesse because she was violated, how will you exempt her from injustice, since she was the death of an Innocent? Si non est illa impudicitia quâ invita comp [...]imitur, non est haec justitia qua casta p [...]itur. Idem ibid. your Roman Laws, Papp [...]al to you, which will not have the guilty to be condemned unheard, what would you say if the crime were in a mooted case put to you, and what sentence would you give, if it were made evident unto you that she that suffered death was not guilty, but Innocent? would you not severely punish such a piece of injustice? yet this is Lucretias case; cruell Lucretia, hath kill'd chast Lucretia, whom Tarquin had violated but not corrupted. Give judgement according to Evidence; and if you think you cannot punish her because she is dead; praise her not because she was a Murderess. For if to excuse her Murther, you wrong her chastity, and if you think she kill her self to expiate the pleasure she conceived in thàt sin, 'tis not Cur intersect [...]icem [...] & innocentis tanta praedicatione laudatis. Idem ibid. Tarquin that is onely guilty, Lucretia was as faulty as he: takeheed [Page] what judgement you give upon this occasion; these faults are so linkt together, as they are not to be parted; by taking from the Adultery, you adde to the Murther, and by excusing the Murther, you aggravate the Adultery: you can finde no outlet from this Labyrinth; and you know not how to answer to this Dilemma which I propose unto you. Si adultera cur laudata? si pudica cur eccisa. Idem. ibid. If she were unchast why do you praise her? And if she were chast, why did she kill her self? If you would rather acquit her of Adultery, than of Murther, confesse at least that it was not so much the love of Chastity; as the apprehension of dishonour which made her take up a dagger: This Roman Lady, and consequently haughty, was more carefull of preserving her glory, than her Innocencie, she feared least she might be thought guilty of some fault, if she should out-live the out-rage that was done her; and thought she might be judged to be confederate with Tarquin, should she not take vengeance on her self: Christian Women, who have had the like misfortune, Foeminae Christianae non in se vitae sunt crimen alienum ne aliorum sceleribus adderent sua. August. ib [...]d. have not imitated her despaire, they have not punisht the faults of others in themselves; nor committed Homicide, to revenge a Rape: The witnesse of their Conscience, was the glory of their Chastity; and it sufficed them that God who is the searcher of hearts, knew their Intentions; and shutting up all their vertue in their obedience, they went not about to violate Gods Laws, to save themselves from the calumnie of men. Thus are all the vertues of the Pagans nothing but Pride; their Justice; be it either slack, or severe, is interessed: Their Continency is vain glorious, and their courage, hath in it more of despaire then of Fortitude.

The seventh Discourse.

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That the Fortitude of Pagans, is but weaknesse, or vanity.

Though all Vertues be delightfull, and that they have sufficent charmes to make them appear amiable even to their Enemies, g Nonnefortitudo optabilis est, atqui pericula cō teminit & provocat. Pu [...]errima par [...]ejus maximè que mi rabilis illa est, non cedereignibus, obviam i [...]e vulneribus: interdum tela ne vitare quidem, se [...] pectore excipere. Senec. Epist. 67. we must confesse that Fortitude bears most of lustre with it, and that severity which doth accompany it, doth not detract any thing from it's beauty. Justice is reverenced even by her persecutours; Tyrants are affraid of her shadow, and after having bootlesly imployed violence for their defence, they have been fain to have recourse to Justice for their preservation: wisdome is adored by all Politicians, a man must have lost his wits not to value her, if she be not esteemed by fools, she is admired by wisemen; all sorts of people confesse that she is as necessary for the Government of private Houses, as of States. All parts of Morality take her for their Guide; and without the assistance of this Vertue, they can neither make an honest man, a States-man, nor a Father of a Family. Temperance is beloved by all men, her Enemies respect her, in those that love her, they confesse that pleasures can neither be innocent, nor yet delightfull, when she is absent; and that pleasure without temperance is the punishment of the unchast. But certainly all the Vertues hide their heads, when Fortitude displayes it's beauties. These Stars are eclipsed, when the other Sun appears; and people cease from looking upon Justice in Princes, prudence in Politicians, and Temperance in Philosophers, when they consider the courage of the unfortunately Innocent.

Though this Illustrious Vertue be sincere, and that the pain wherewith she is assailed make her unquiet, yet hath she allurements which win her more admirers than the other have lovers: There are but few that look after her, but all admire her, and that because persecution must precede courage, every one is content to reverence a vertue, which must cost so dear to come by; she in-nobles such as possesse her, she comforts the condition of [Page] slaves, heightens the Majesty of Soveraignes, augments the beauty of women, and of all the ornaments which adorne either the minde, or the body, there is none more Majesticall than Fortitude; if we will believe Philosophers, there is nothing on earth more worthy of Gods looking on, Non sunt ista quae possint Deorum in se vultum convertere, sed puerilia & humanae oblecta menta levitatis. [...]cce spectaculum dignum ad quod respiciat intentus operi suo Deus. Ecce par De [...] dignum vir sortis, cum male sort una compositus. Se nec. de Provid. cap. 2. than a man who withstands sorrow and misfortune; he despiseth all that Glory which dazels us; the pride of our Houses is the mark at which his Thunder-bolts are aimed; the Magnificence of our Palaces, are but the Spoiles of Quarries, or of Forrests; those Pyramides which adde to the wonders of the world, are but heaps of stones, torne from out the bowels of the earth; these Armies which make whole Provinces to groan, either by reason of their numbers, or their disorders, these great bodies which pour forth bloud from out al their veines to re-fill those rivers, which they have drained, are but swarmes of Bees, which decide their differences by fighting: and God looks upon the Glory of Kings, as wise men do upon a Stage-Play; but he delights to look upon a noble minded man, who grapples with sorrow, who sees his riches borne away without any agitation of spirit, and who in losse of honour, life, or liberty, preserves his courage.

If the earth produce nothing which may make God stay to look upon it, and if generous actions merit not that God should busie himselfe about them, yet must we confesse that they are approved of by all people; and that men do more admire a Philosopher who suffers death patiently, than a Monarch who governs his State with Justice. He through his constancy triumphs over whatsoever the world hath of most furious; since he overcomes pain, he may well vanquish pleasure; since he despiseth death, he may laugh at fortune; and since, he fears not the threats of Kings, he may well enough sence himselfe against their promises: he tramples under foot all those pleasures which we seek after, and all the pains and sorrows which we apprehend: the greatnesse of the danger incourageth him to battell, Avid [...] est p [...] culi virtus, & quo ten [...] non quid passura sit cogitat, quoniam & quod passura est gloriae pars est. Sen [...]. de P [...]ovid. cap. 4. the more difficulty he foresees, the more glory he hopes for; he values not that much, which cost him but little; he tries himselfe when fortune spares him, and to keep himselfe in breath, he makes Enemies, when he meeteth with none. Past ages have produced men, who have not changed countenance amidst Tortures; their Executioners could not wrest moans from out their monthes, nor make them confesse so much as by a sigh the pains which they [Page] indured; there have been some, who to triumph over Tyrants, have laughed amidst their punishments: such hath been their constancy, as that Joy did not abandon them even in that condition: their courage seemed to make them insensible; and that by being accustomed to torments, they were grown familiar to them. Thus did Scevola defie Tarquin the proud, his whole hand mist him, and his burning hand struck him with astonishment: hee escaped the Princes anger by preventing it, he pierc't his heart, whose body he could not hurt; and Tarquin judging of the Fortitude of all Romans, by that of Scevola, he feared to have those men for his Enemies, who feared not the fire. But not to adde to this discourse by examples, it may suffice to listen unto the reason of Philosophers, and to acknowledge with them, what advantages Fortitude hath over all other vertues.

Man began to be unhappy, when once he became criminall, his subjects became his enemies, the Elements declared war against him, and those elements which went to his composure, divided themselves, that they might alter his temper, and shorten his life: Pain and pleasure agreed together for his undoing, life and death were reconciled to make him suffer. Morall Philosophy, found out vertues to succour him, and every one of these faithfull Allies undertook to defeat an Enemy: wisdome undertook to prevent far distant mischiefes, and by her addresse to avoid them: Justice looks upon her to end al the differences which self-love; and Interest should breed amongst men. Temperance charged her selfe with ruling voluptuousnesse, and with hindring such pleasing Enemies from seducing reason: and Et quod omn [...] [...]iment, & quod omnes optan [...] calcat fortitu [...] Senec. Epist. 48 Fortitude, as most couragious of all the rest, undertook to fight against pain, and to overcome death. This cruell Enemy to Man-kind defying the power thereof, took a hundred shapes upon him, to astonish the others constancy, he called in Tortures, and sicknesse to his aid, he invented Gallowses, and Wheeles, he extended Racks, incensed Lions, and Bears, armed the Elements to satisfie his cruelty, and made torments, and punishments, of whatsoever nature had produced for our use. All these vertues were siezed on by astonishment: when they saw so many Monsters conspire mans ruine, wisdome confessed, she wanted addresse to mollifie them: Justice profest, she had not sufficient Authority to suppresse them; and Temperance protested; she wanted vigour to restrain them: Onely Fortitude promised to withstand them: [Page] and though she saw her selfe, forsaken by her Sisters, she resolved to charge upon them: wisdome offered her her light, Cum aliquis tormenta soriter patitu omnibus virtutibus utitur, cùm una in promptu sit, & maximè appareat sortitudo, cujus perpessio, & tolerantia ra mi sunt. Illic est prudentia sine qua nullum initur consilium, illic est constantia que dejici loco non potest, illic est individuus ille comitatus virtutum. Quid quid boneste sit una virtus facit, sed de consilii sententia. Senec. Epi. 67. Justice her severity, and Temperance her moderation. With these weak Forces she enters the pitcht Field; where she had for assistance hope, and boldnesse. The former inhartned her by her promises, the second promised [...]lesse, but performed more; for she discovered unto her the weakness of her Enemies, and taught her on what part she might assail them. Fortitude, thus assisted, ingaged her selfe upon all occasions; she received as many blows as she gave, she mingled her bloud with the bloud of her enemies; she past all her life in this exercise, & if she took any ease after a fight, 'twas onely to prepare her self against those that were to ensue. By all this discourse, 'tis easily seen, that the designes of Fortitude are much greater than those of all the other vertues, & that it is not without reason that they yield the Honour to her, since they dare not appear upon such occasions of Combates as she doth, and bears away the victory.

Though Fortitude be thus beautifull in Idea, yet is she but weake amongst the Pagans, and covers true blemishes under deceitfull appearances; for as in them Sine dono Dei nec virtutes possunt appeti vel haberi, nec earum similitudines quae sunt vitia virtu'es imitantia devitari. August. lib. 3. de vita conte up l. c. 1. she cannot have charity, for her originall, she derives oft-times from self-love, and inherits all her Fathers weaknesses; it is her own Glory she must seek, since she is ignorant of Gods Glory; it is anger which must give her heat, revenge which must provoke her, and vain glory, which must in-animate her, since 'tis not Faith that doth assist her. All these passions mixt together, make up the greatest part of her greatnesse; and when one shall examine her intentions, or motives, he shall finde that her noblest exploits, are but magnificall sins. All those men who in ancient times have been esteemed couragious, have contemned onely pain to purchase Fortitudinem Gentilium mundana cupiditas, sortitudinem Christianorum Dei Charitas facit Concil. Arausic. can. 17 Glory, they have given their life for a little smoak, and in so unjust a battering have sufficiently shewn, that their Fortitude, was not reall, since she wanted Justice, and wisdome. In effect, their most glorious Actions have their defaults, their valour is nothing but despair, and all that the Roman Eloquence calls courage, is but Pusillanimity. Certainly Cato was the wise man of Rome, he held there the same Rank which Socrates did amongst the Athenians; his death goes for the chiefest testimony of his courage; and Historians never speak thereof, without highly praising it; he had fruitlesly endeavoured to appease the Civill Wars, he sided, which the [Page] Common-wealth, whilest every one took part either with Caesar, or I am non ag [...] tur deliberate, olim pessum data est: quaeritur utrum Caesar an Pompeius possideat Rempublicam. Sen. Epist. 14. Pompey; he remained free, whilest every one had chosen a Master, he assisted the dying Common-wealth with his counsell and his weapons; he opposed his courage to Fortune, and if this blinde hus-wife could have seen his merit, she would have been inamored thereof. After having given all these Testmonies of his affection to his Country, what lesse could he do, then secure his own Liberty by his death, and dip that Innocent sword in his bloud, which the Cato quae excat habet, una manu latam libertati viam faciet. Ferrum istud etiam civili bello purum & innoxiū libertatem quam patriae non potuit, Catoni dabit. Sen. de Provid. c. 2. civil wars could not defile? he therefore considerately prepares himself for this blow, he dissembles his design to couzen his friends, he spent the night either in reading or taking rest, he encourageth himself to die, by the thought of Immortality; when he was well perswaded, he would go see what he had beleeved, and by a generous blow, free his soul from the prison of her body: his hand did not serve his courage faithfully, his Friends, who came into his succour, bound up his wounds, and endeavoured to alter his designe; he seemed to approve of their reasons, so to free himself from their Importunities: but when he was alone, he tore off his apparel, opened his wounds and ended that with his hands, which he had begun with his sword. Fortune would prolong his death to try his constancie, and this Tragedy seemed so pleasing to him, as he endeavoured to spin it out, that he might the longer taste the pleasure thereof. Liquet mihi cum magno spectasse gaudio deos, cum ille vir acerri [...] sui vindex gladium sacro pectori infigit, dum viscera spargit, & illam sanctiffimam animam manu educit. Senec. Ibid. Seneca complaines, that Eloquence is not happy enough to make Panegyrickes upon this death. He prefers it before all the battels of Conquerours, he calls all the Gods to witnesse it, he leaves us in doubt, whether Cato be not more Glorious then his Iupiter; he is troubled that his age knew him not, Complains that the Common wealth, which should have raised him above Caesar and Pompey, hath placed him beneath Vatimus and Clodius; and to erect a stately Trophye to this vanquisher of fear and Death, he sayes, that Cato, and Liberty died both on a day, and were buried in one and the same Tombe.

Yet a man need not to be much enlightened, to observe the defaults of a so well disguised death; for if Cato be to be praised for having killed himself, all those that did survive him deserve to be blamed. 'Twas weaknesse in Cicero to have recourse to Caesars clemencie; 'twas either Folly or Fearfulnesse in him, not to despair of the Republiques well-fare, and yet to reserve himself to raise her up [Page] after her Fall. But not to make use of so weak a reason to condemn him; who sees not that pride had a greater share in this Action than Courage? Who does not think that Cato was prouder than Caesar, and that it was not integrity, but want of Courage which put the Poneyard in his hand? Who knows not that it was rather weaknesse, than Constancie that made him die? had he had courage enough to have under-gone adversity, he would never have had recourse to despair; he wanted patience in his misfortune, and if he could have endured Caesars victories, Non fuit in Catone honestis turpia prae cavens, sed infirmitas adversa non sustinens: Nam si turpe erat sub victoria Caesaris vivere, cur author hujus turpitudinis Pater filio fuit, quem de Caesa ris benignitate omnia sperare proecepit. Aug. lib. 1. de civit. c. 23. he had not Committed self-Murther; For if he thought it shame, to beg his life of his enemies, wherefore did he Counsell his Son to do it? If he thought death so glorious, wherefore did he disswade his friends from it. If he thought the Quantum filium amavit Cato, tantum gloriae Caesaris invidit, ne sibi parceretur, aut ut aliquid nos mitius dicamus, erubuit. Idem Ibidem. Common-wealth might be restored by their Counsels, wherefore did he deny her his? and if he advised every one to seek for mercy from the Conquerour, wherefore did he by his errour prevent it? What ever mischief threatens us, we must never flie to despair, though the decree be pronounced, the Scaffold set up, and that all things assure us we must die, we must not play the Hangmans part, nor hasten our death to free us from misery. This is to make our selves Ministers of our enemies cruelty, to excuse their fault by preventing it, and to commit Parricide, to exempt them from man slaughter.

Socrates, who was not better instructed than Cato, was more generous, because more Patient; he might have freed himself from Poyson by a sword, and by fasting five or six dayes have acquitted himself from his Enemies violence: yet he spent a whole Month in Prison, he affordeth death leisure to imploy all its horrours to try his constancie, he thought he was to give way to the Laws of his Country, and not to refuse his last instructions to his friends, they intreating for them. If this Pagan Philosopher thought he ought not to attempt any thing against his own life, because he was in the hands of justice, no man can with reason make himself away: for from the first moment of his birth he is subject to the Laws of God, and unless he will do an unjust act, he must waite, till he that put him into the world take him from thence; to hasten our death, is to intrench upon his rights, to kill our selves, is Hoc dicimus hoc asserimus, hoc modis omnibus approbamus, neminem spontaneam mortem sibi inferit debere, velut fugiendo molestias temporales, ne incidat in perpetuas. August. lib. 1. de civit. c [...]p. 26 to overthrow his workmanship; and to bereave him of the least of his Subjects, is to attempt against his Sovereignty. In this case we have lesse power over our selves, [Page] than over others; for we may kill an enemy in our own defence, but it is not lawfull to shun his fury, by preventing it. We must wait till the same Judge, which hath pronounced the decree of our Death, make it be executed; and it belongs to one and the same Power, either to shew favour or Justice to the guilty. All those stately words which flatter our vain Glory, and do incourage our despair, do not excuse our fault, when we attempt upon our owne lives. Nature teacheth us sufficiently by those tacite instructions which she giveth us, that if it be treacherie to abandon a place which a Prince hath committed to our charge, 'tis perfidiousnesse to forgo the body, which God hath given us the guidance of; and which he hath joyned so straightly to our soul, as that it is a part of our selves. In fine; no reason can justifie despair: the number of our enemies, the evils of the present life, the Good of the Future, the cruelty of sicknesses, rigour of servitude, sweetnesse of liberty, strength of Temptations, nor the very fear of sin, are not considerations sufficient to make us hasten our death; 'tis alwaies poornesse of De Catonis facto quid potisstmum dicam, nisi quod amici ejus etiam docti quidam viri qui hoc fieri prudentius dissuadebant, imbecillior is quam for tioris animi esse censuerunt. Aug. li. 1. de civit. c. 23 spirit, not to be able to suffer the evil which we will shun by Homicide, Pride hath lesse part in this crime then weaknesse, and whatsoever praise the desperate man expects for his attempt, wise men will alwaies beleeve, that if he had courage enough to bear the miseries of life, he would never have had recourse to so cowardly a remedy. Al the Fortitude of Philosophers is then but meer cowardise, those wounds which despair & impatience have made them give themselves, deserve more blame then they have received praise; a man cannot approve of their fault without becoming guilty thereof, and when Seneca imploys his weak reasons to excuse Catoes murther, he lets us see, that he knew not wherein greatnesse of courage consisted, since he made it consist in an action, which is more familiar to women, then men; to slaves then to free persons; and to weak than to strong spirits.

The eigth Discourse.

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That Friendship without Grace is alwaies interessed.

IF the vertue of Pagans have her stains, we must not wonder if their Friendship have her defaults: sin hath corrupted the best things, and her malice hath left almost nothing in man, Omnibus amicaes est qui sibi, sed solum sibi qui Deo est. which doth not deserve reproach or punishment: since a sinner is upon bad termes with God, he cannot be upon good terms with himself, nor with his Neighbour. If he love himself, tis in excesse, and if he love another, tis for interest; his will being in the power of his enemie, he can hardly make good use of it; whatsoever he does, he is in danger of sinning; his love is not much more Innocent than is his hatred, and be it that he loves his friends, or hates his enemies, tis with so little justice, as he stands alwaies in need of pardon, profane Philosophie prefers Friendship before vertue; she gives her such praises, as taste of Flattery; and if we will beleeve her reasons, she will perswade us, that the joynt uniting of Hearts, is the greatest contentment which man can partake of on Earth. 'Tis the knot of Society, without which States cannot be preserved, nor Families maintained.

Nature made this project in production of woman, whom she drew from the rib of man, to the end, that the resemblance and equality which she placed between them might oblige them to Quis est amicior quam frater fratri? aut quem alienum fidum invenies fituis host is fuer is? Salust. in Juguitha. love one another; she renews this in brothers, who proceed from the same Originall, and who are shaped in the same womb, to the end, that all things may invite them to love. Vertue endeavours to make this good more universal, and seeing that nature did not give all men brethren, she would give them Friends; & repair their losse with usury. For though brothers proceed from the same stem, they are not alwayes of the same Humour; they differ often more in their Inclinations, then in their Countenances: but say there were any thing of resemblance in their humours, the dividing of Estates divides hearts; and Interest, (which hath to do every where) doth many times ruine their best intelligence. But Amicitia pares facit aut invenit. Friendship (more powerfull than Nature) makes a pa [...]ty [Page] between those whom she will unite; the unity of hearts, is that which makes all things common, and the words Thine, and Mine, which sets division between Brethren, cannot do the like between Friends. Nature leaves us no choise, in her alliances, we are engaged before we be capable of choise; and she oft-times makes us love a Monster, because he is our Brother; but friendship gives us a freedome of choise, she permits us to take the best, and we are onely to blame our own folly, if in the liberty she leaves us, we make choise of one for a friend, who deserves not our affection. Our Brethren are the workmanship of nature, she did not advise with us, when she gave them life; and not having the care of producing them, we delight not in preserving them. Amicitia vinculum nullâ ex parte sanguinis viribus inferius. Hoc etiam certius & exploratius, quia illud nascendi sors fortuitum op [...], hoc uniuscujusque solido judicio incoacta voluntas coutrabit Valer. Maxim. lib. 4 cap. 7. But our friends are the children of our will; we formed them, when we chose them; we think our selves concernedin their losse, because we have laboured in the acquiring of them. And as Mothers expose themselves for their Children, because they are their workmanship, so men expose themselves for their friends, because they are their Productions.

But not to spend more time in observing the advantages which friendship hath over and above nature; we must confesse, there is nothing in the world which ought not to give place to friendship: Law, which preserves Estates, which punisheth vice, defends vertue, is not equall to her, neither for antiquity, nor power. Punishments nor rewards were never ordained' till Si regnaret inter homines amicitia, lex aut nulla esset, autsuper flua [...] Plato friendship began to coole; whil'st she continued in full vigour, the use of lawes was uselesse, and the Politiques do confesse, that States are better governed by good Intelligence amongst Subjects, than by Ordinances of Princes: the latter reforme onely the mouth, or the hand; impede onely bad actions, or insolent speeches: but the former reformes the heart, and gliding into the will, guides desires, and regulates thoughts. The Law ends differences, but friendship reconciles enemies; the law inhibits injuries, but friendship adviseth good offices. In fine, the law is requifite to the commencement or initiation of a good man, but friendship is required to his accomplishment; and by her advice renders him perfect.

She is also of use to all sorts of Conditions, and that man liues not, that needs not a friend. A friend is needfull to old men, to assist them, to young men, to guide them; to the miserable, to comfort them, to the ignorant, to instruct them; and to [Page] Kings themselves, to increase their felicity. For though their condition seem to be raised above that of all other men, and that amidst the abundance of riches, and honours, wherewith they are environed, there remains nothing for them to wish for, yet ought they to make friends, and endeavour a delight, which agrees as well with Greatnesse, as with Innocence. Friendship is the best of all exteriour Goods, and 'twere unjust that Kings who possesse whatsoever else is of good, should not possesse this; Friendship obligeth us rather to give, than to receive; Etiam beat us devet am' cos habere I, quia bonorum externorum maximum amicitia, deinde ami [...]i potius dare quam accipere, quod beatudini non repugnat: absurdum, quoque beatum sacere solitarium, homo enim est civtle animal. Arist. Moral. lib. 9. cap. 9. and Kings are in a condition wherein liberality is their principall vertue. In fine, happy Princes ought not to be solitary, and I know not whether any one of them would accept of their felicity, at the rate of living solitarily: Therefore greatnesse doth not forbid friendship to Soveraignes, that which seems to keep them aloofe off from this vertue, draws them nearer to it; and their power is never more pleasing, than when imployed in succouring the miserable, or in making men happy. Neither do we see any Prince who hath not his Favourite. Sine amic is omnis cogitatio, esset taedium, omnis operatio labor, omnis terra peregriuatio, omnis vita tormentum, fi [...]e quo [...]um solatio vivere esset mori. Caffiodor [...] in Epist. The proudest Monarches of the world, grow weary of commanding, they finde more content in a friend, than in a slave; and how brutish soever their nature be, they are well content to have one, to whom they may un-bosome themselves. Tiberius loved Sejanus; and had not this Favourite become his Rivall, it may be he never had decreed his death. Nero could not fence himselfe from friendship; the sweetnesse of this vertue, vanquisht that Monsters cruelty; and whil'st he quencht the flames of Rome, by the bloud of Christians, he had some Confidents, whom he called friends. This Infidell Prince, whose subjects were all slaves, and in whose Empire the desire of liberty was a fault, wanted not Favourites whom he loved; he plays with those he ought to destroy, he makes those the objects of his love, who ought to be the objects of his fury; a certain Captive, had power over the Tyrant, and under the assurance of friendship gave lawes to him, who gave lawes to the greatest part of the world.

Though these reasons do mightily inhance the merit of Friendship, yet must we conclude in Saint Austines Principles. That the Friendship of Pagans is defective, and doth not deserve the praises that are given it. For if we take Aristotle for our Arbitratour, friendship ought to be established upon selfe-love, and [Page] to love his Est ille sui amantissimus qui partem id am quae in homine dominari debet amat. Itaque virum bonum sui amantissimum esse oportet. Arist. Moral. lib. 9. cap. 8 Neighbour well, a man must love himselfe well. He who prefers the pleasures of the body, before those of the mind, who hazards his honour to preserve his riches, and who injures his conscience, to encrease his reputation, cannot be a good friend to others, because he is his own Enemy; and who wants vertue, cannot have friendship. Morall Philosophy with all her precepts, cannot reforme a disorder, which since the losse of originall righteousnesse, makes up one part of our selves: the unrighteousnesse thereof hath past into our nature, and as we cannot without grace be upon good termes with our selfe, neither can we without her be upon good termes with others. We either give them too much, or not enough; we cannot keep that just measure, which makes friendship reasonable, we turne a vertue into a passion; or to speak trulier, we make an innocent action criminall; and the same selfe-love which puts us on ill termes with our selves, puts us upon the like with our Neighbours; we love his errours, whil'st we think to love his perfections; we excuse his sins, in stead of condemning them, and we oft-times become guilty of his faults, for having approved them. Blosius confesseth he would have burnt Blosius nec silentio honesto nec prudenti sermone, salutem suam, ne qua ex parte i [...]foelicis amicitia memoriam desereret, tueri voluit. Valer. Maxim. l. 4. c. 7 Iupiters Temple, if Gracchus had commanded him so to do; he thought Justice ought to give place to friendship, that his friend should be dearer to him than his God, and that whatsoever he did through affection, could not render him faulty. It may be 'twas for this cause, that Aristotle blaming friendship, whil'st he thought to praise her, said, that her perfection consisted in her excesse; and that far differing from common vertues, which do consist in mediocrity; she was never more admirable, than when most excessive: That a man might give too much, but not love too much; that one might have too much courage, but not too much love; that a man might be too wise, but not too loving; yet this excesse is vitious, and experience teacheth us, that Common-wealths have no more dangerous Enemies, than those who are ready to do or suffer any thing for their friends. Therefore 'tis that the same Amicus Plato, amicus Socrates, sed megis amica verit [...]. Aristot. Philosopher prescribing bounds to friendship, did publickly professe, that truth was dearer to him than Plato: & that when he could not accord these two, he forewent his friend to maintain his Mistresse. Hence it is, that Polititians calling in Religion to the succour of Morality, have affirmed, that [Page] affection ought to give way to Piety, and that she ceased to be just, when she prophaned altars.

Those Loquatur [...]nc Graeciae, nefondi Thefea Pyrrho in amoribus subscribentem, Di tis se patrisregnis commisisse: Vani est illudre narrare, stult [...]se credere. Valer Maxim. lib. 4. cap. 7. notwithstanding that are of this opinion, have not forborne to set a value upon faulty friendship: and Antiquity doth hardly reverence any friends, whose friendships hath not been prejudiciall either to the State, or to Religion. Pilades and Orestes were of intelligence onely to revenge themselves. Theseus and Pirithoiis kept friendship onely to satisfie their unchaste desires: Lentulus and Cethegus were faithfull to Catiline, onely that they might be perfidious to their Countrey. But what else could one expect than faults, from those who had no piety? what friendship could one hope from those who wanted the first of vertues? & how could they have bin faithfull to their friends, since they were unfaithful to their Gods? if they have loved any one even till death, Non est vera amicitia nisi cum eam tu agglutinas inter inhaerentes tibi, charitate diffusa in caedibus nostris per Spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis, Aug. lib. 4. Conses. cap. 4. it hath been out of vain glory: and if they loved them whil'st they were alive, t' has been for Interest: the sinner for the most part loves none but himselfe; and though this irregulate love be both his fault, and his punishment, yet he therein findes his delight, and his glory: nothing can divert him from his own Interest, when he thinks to free himselfe from himselfe, he fasteneth himselfe closer to himselfe; and if he love his friends, 'tis that he may love himselfe in more places than one, and in more persons; if he part with his heart, 'tis that he may receive it back again with the like of others; his love is but usury, wherein he hazards little to gain much; 'tis an Sed cum volunt homines per dominationem tenereca quae amant, saefe ab ipsis tenentur, & rerum mortalium servi fiunt, dum imperitè Domini esse deside rant. Aug. lib. de mo [...]ib. Ecclesia cap. 23. invention of self-love, which seeks to satisfie it selfe in others; 'tis a trick of humane pride, which makes man abase himselfe onely that he may grow the greater, which adviseth him to engage his liberty, onely that he may bereave others of theirs; and which makes him make friends, onely that he may have slaves, or such as love him. What glorious name soever one attributes to friendship, she hath no other designes than these, when she is led on by self-love; and whatsoever language the Infidels have held, these have been their onely motives, when they have lost either life, or liberty, for their friends; if they were silent amidst tortures, and if the cruelty thereof could not compell them to discover their associates, 'twas either for that they valued friendship more than life, or that they thought treachery worse than death: if they would not out-live their friends, 'twas to free themselves from sorrow and solitarinesse; and if for their delivery, they exposed [Page] themselves to Tyrants, 'twas for that their words bound them to it, and that they thought they should be no losers in an occasion, wherein, though with losse of life, they won honour. Qui pro amico perit, vitam amico praebet, sibi gloriam parit. Aristoteles. And to say truth, Aristotle hath well observed, that he who dyes for his friend loves himself better then his friend; and that in an Action which seems to violate Nature, he doth nothing which self-love may not advise him to, since that by suffering death, he labours after glory, and that by erecting a sacrifice unto his love, he buildes a Trophy to his Memory.

The example of Damon and Pythias may confirm this Truth; They had been brought up in Pythagoras his school, the conformity of their humours, and opinions had so straightly united their souls, that death it self could not part them. The Tyrant Dionysius, to whom vertue was an Enemy, condems one of these faithfull friends to his last sufferings; he findes that his occasions ingage him to make a voyage, the Tyrant, who would adde mirth to cruelty, permits him so to do; provided he finde out Baile who may take his place, and who will be bound to die for him, if he defer his return: Pythias accepts of this Condition, and entring into Prison, wisheth that the day of Execution drew nigh, that he might deliver his friend; the fatall hour being come, and Damon not yet appearing, Pythias is led to punishment, he rejoyceth at his happinesse, whilst the people are afflicted at his misfortune: he excites the Hangman to make hast, and fears death lesse then his friends return; and without excusing his delay, or suspition of his fidelity, he commends Fortune, which keeps his friend from making good his word: at this very moment Damon arrives quite out of breath, he presseth through the crowde, presents himself before the Tyrant and the Executioner, and calls for his baile in: Pithias pleades the hower is past, that Damon having failed in his assignment is no more lyable to death: and that it is he (Pythias) that Admiratus amborum animum Tyran [...]us supplicium fidei rem sit, insuperque eos rogavit, [...]se in societatem amicitiae reciperent. Valer. Maxim. lib. 4. cap. 7. must end what he had begun. This strife makes the Hang-man stay his hand, moves wonder in the people, and softens the Tyrant, who for their fidelity revokes his Decree, desires to be admitted into their society: & this monster, who had never studied any thing, but to make himself to be feared, ravisht to see this Miracle, wisheth to be beloved.

It cannot be denied but that this was a rare example, and that in this mutuall correspondancy the height of friendship is seen; for it [Page] was of power to inspire the contempt of death, Hae sane vires amicitiae mortis contemptum ingenerare, vitae dulcedinem extinguere, crudelitatem mansue facere, odium in amorem conver tere, poenam beneficio p [...]sare potuerunt. Idem ibid. to cancell the love of life, to mollifie cruelty, to change rage into mildness, and to turn the pain of punishment, to a glorious recompence; but who doth not also see, that this contestation might rather proceed from vain Glory, then love? who thinks not that each of these loved themselves better than their companion? since leaving life to him, he would keep Glory to himself? who will not confesse, that in this dispute there was more of Ambition then fidelity? and who will not acknowledge, that so gallant an adventure might have been wisht for by men not so wel known to one another? and between whom there was not so great a friendship, as between Damon and Pythias?

But we must not wonder if friendship be faulty amongst the Pagans, since she is not alwayes innocent amongst Christians, and since interest, which gives against the designes of Charity, keeps her from inlarging her self, and doth unjustly confine her self between two parties; for we suffer our selves to be perswaded by Philosophy, that common friendship cannot be reall, that he who loves many, loves none, and that who doth so readily ingage himself, doth disingage himself with as much as Ease. Yet the Son of God bindes us to love all Christians as our brothers, he will have his body and blood, to be the bond of all the faithfull, and that his chiefest Vnus est Pater vester vos autem omnes fratres estis. Matth. c. 23. mysteries tend onely to the uniting of them together: his pleasure was, that we should all have one and the same Father, to the end, we might have one and the same inheritance; he ordeined but one Baptisme, to the end, that our birth might be alike; and that the difference of Conditions being banisht from out his Church; reciprocall love might not by mistake be diminished; he gave us but one head, to the end, we might be inanimated by the same spirit, and that the conformity of our opinions might be the preservation of our friendship: he hath Omnes uno pane participamus. Apostolus Paul. left us his body in the Eucharist, to the end we might have one and the same food; and that being converted to himself we should be obliged to love one another, as being his members; he hath caused us to be born in one and the same Church; to the end that we might have but one Mother upon earth, as we have but one Father in Heaven; he hath promised us one and the same Paradise, to the end, we might have one and the same Country; and that being so straightly united in time, we may not be separated in Eternity; yet all these powerfull means cannot keep friendship amongst Christians; self [Page] love derides them, the division of wealth divides their wills; every one prefers his interest before Charity; the Common people end their differences by suite at Law, Gentle-men by Duels, and Princes by Battails; Cum sit inter vos zelus & contentio nonne carnales estis, & secundum hominem ambulatis. 1. Corinth. 3. Men defend their right either by cunning, or by force; not considering that Jesus Christ lives in our enemies, we kill them to revenge our selves, and commit murther, to cancell an injury.

But though we should be more charitable, we cannot shun being unfortunate; for sin hath so corrupted our nature, & Divine Justice hath so severely punisht sins, as the life of man is rather a succession of miseries, then of years: man cannot live long without much suffering, if his body be in health, his minde is sick, if his wealth be not exposed to injustice, his Innocency is exposed to Calumny: if he fence himself from one misfortune, he is assayed by another: and he learns to his own cost, that long life is but a long punishment. And Quanto plures amicos & in pluribus locis habemus, tanto longius latiusque metuimus, ne quid tis contingat mali de tantis malorum aggeribus hujus saeculi. August. li. 19. de Civit. cap. 8. then again whosoever engageth himself in friendship, obligeth himself to new displeasures: as he lives in two bodies, he suffers in two places, and addes his friends miseries to his own, if he have many friends, Fortune hath more to lay hold off in him: and as afflictions are more common than blessings, he must resolve to be often miserable.

Those deceive themselves who esteem friendship a consolation to the afflicted: to give her her due name, she ought to be termed the torment of the fortunate, Amici in rebus prosperis cupidè studio seque vocandi, in adversis timidè. Parcissimè enim mala sunt amicis impertienda, ex quo illud, satis est miserum esse me. Aristoteles lib. 9. Moral. c. 11. because she hath made evil Common between those who mutually love, and since she makes a man suffer in his friends misfortune, though otherwise he himself should be in a happy condition: she augments the number of the miserable, under pretence of diminishing it: she turns a single Malady into a contagion: she inlargeth displeasures under colour of easing them, and by an ingenious Cruelty she findes a means to hurt many, in indeavouring to heal one.

Therefore do the unfortunate fear having friends, when they are uninteressed, they love not that their maladie should be contagious, it sufficeth them that they are miserable without making others so: they are as covetuous of their Pains, as they have been prodigall of their pleasures; they think not themselves freed of their miseries by laying them upon their friends; they shun company for fear of infecting them; knowing that solitarinesse is the abode of the afflicted, they forsake the world, and hold for certain that an unfortunate man [Page] becomes faulty, when he wisheth for Companions in his misery.

Be it confest that friendship is very fantastick, and that she imprintes strange opinions in men; for if they be Just, they Sive te torqueri lacbrymis nū quam desinentibus amicus tuus cupit indignus hoc affectu non est, sive non vu [...]t, dolorem inutilem dimitte, nec impius amicus sic sublevari debet, nec pius sic velit. Senec. ad Polybium cap. 24. ought not to desire that their friends contentment should be disquieted by their misfortunes; they are unworthy of their Compassion, if they too eagerly desire it; they deserve not to be bemoned if they exact tears; they are Tyrants and Hang-men if they will have their friends to be their Martyrs; and that for having partaken in their Prosperity; they should do the like in their Adversity: notwithstanding 'tis true, that Friendship never appears but in Affliction. 'Tis misfortune In prosperitate incerta est amicitia: nescitur enim utrum persona an soelicitas diligatur. Isidor lib. 3 de summ. bono. that tries Friends, their friendship is approved of when Fortune frowns: we must be Miserable, to know that we are beloved; we cannot get this assurance without the Losse of our Felicity, and as long as Fortune favours us, we dare not build upon our friends Fidelities. Heaven therefore is the true harbour of Friendship: 'tis there that our Love divides it self without fear of Jealousie, and waxeth not weak: 'tis there that we shall have so many Friends as God makes blessed Saintes: 'tis there that without trying them by our Misfortunes, we shall be assured of their good-wills: 'tis there that reading their Hearts, and seeing their Thoughtes, we shall no longer run the hazard of being abused by Words: 'tis there that without fear of adding to our mis-fortunes by the increase of our Friends, we shall enjoy all good, and fear no evil: 'tis there that living for ever together, we shall no longer fear to be separated by Death or absence. Finally 'tis there that being perfectly united to God, we shall see our selves in his Light, and love our selves in his Goodnesse.

The ninth Discourse.

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That the Uncertainty and Obscurity of Knowledge is derived from sin.

IT must be confest that man is very unfortunate in becoming guilty, since his perfections, and his defects are almost equally fatall to him. Natura bonis suis male vtitur, & unde se defendi existimat accusatur. Prosp. contra Collator. ca. 22 His vertues are false, and his vices true; his most glorious actions do oft-times derive from so bad an originall, as they are not to be praised without injuring in some sort both grace and reason. His ignorance doth not always excuse his sin, and his knowledge doth not always enhance his vertue. The more he is knowing, the more guilty is he, as Saint Paul saith, He withholds the truth in unrighteousnesse; and his light is intermixt with so much darknesse, that it may lead him out of the way, and cannot conduct him. This is notwithstanding mans most violent passion: desire of knowledge is born with him, and if it makes not his difference, it is one of his chiefest Proprieties. For Beasts are wrought on by ambition, they fight for glory; and as if that were the onely reward of their victory, they pardon their enemies, after they have beaten them: they are tormented with love and jealousie; Lions can endure no rivalls, and if they want rewards to honour fidelity, they want not chastisements to punish Adultery. Desire of life is not much lesse violent in beasts, than in men; the same instinct which animates Tigres to seek out prey for their nourishment, makes Stags hide themselves in woods for their preservation. Nature teacheth them remedies for their evils, and this common mother furnisheth them with herbes to cure them: the apprehension of death encourageth the most timerous; when they are bereft of all hope of safety, they turn their fear to fury; and to shun danger, throw themselves head-long into it. But the desire of knowledge is peculiar to man, and there is no cruelty, which he useth not to content his curiosity. He rips open the bowels of the earth, to know the secrets thereof; he melts metals, to discover their essences; he descends to the bottome of the Sea, to learn the wonders thereof; he turns the world [Page] upside down, to know it: under pretence of succouring those that live, he dissects those that are dead: Medicus Herophilus aut lae [...]ius sexcentos. execuit, ut naturam scrutaretur, od [...]it ut nosset. Tertull de anima. and seeks out the causes of their maladies, that he may finde out remedies for them. This passion is much augmented by the esteem which it hath won in the world; for nothing is more honoured than knowledge: the Devil gave it credit in the earthly Paradise, & by the praises which he gave it, made our first Parents long after it: their children imitated them in their errour, & consecrated their watchings to the atchieving of so rich a fleece. Greatest honours have been conferr'd upon the most knowing men; and if those which have freed their Countrey from the Insolence of Tyrants, have past for Heroes, those who have found out Arts, & who have defended men either from ignorance, or from necessity, have had Temples and Altars erected to them; in so much as the Devill kept his word, which his gave our first Parents; when Eritis sicut Dii scientes bonum & malum, Gen. cap. 3. to seduce them, he would perswade them their knowledge would make them Gods: and his promise, though false, hath been in some sort accomplisht by peoples simplicity, who have adored knowing men. For it must be confest, that the monuments of our mindes are more durable than those of our hands; and that Sciences have much better fenced themselves against the injuries of time, than the stateliest Edifices of Antiquity.

Aristotles Philosophy hath had her admirers in all Ages; this gallant man had more Disciples since his death, than during his life; and there have been greater disputes had to maintain his Doctrine, than the most famous Conquerour hath given Battels to enlarge his Territories. Homers Verses are still read with respect, men admire his invention, reverence his defects, and labour almost as much to understand his Conceipts, as to understand Oracles: some men passe whole nights in perusing his works, who glory to be a dead mans Interpreter, who enrich themselves at the cost of a poor man, and Parte tamen meliore mei super alta perennis astra serar nomenque erit indelebile nostrum. Perque omnia saecula famà, si quid habens veri vatum praesagia vivam. Ovid. Metamor. l. 15. boast themselves of enlightning all mens understandings, by explicating the words of a blind man; since his time all Empires have been dissipated: Rome hath seen her self twice or thrice buried under her own ruines; her Republique hath been turn'd to a Monarchy, and her Monarchy hath divided it selfe into as many parts, as there are Kingdomes in the world. Men know not where the capitall Cities of Media, and Persia, were situated; it is disputed in what parts of the World, Thebes and Memphis were built; their [Page] high walls, large circuits, and number of Inhabitants have not been able to preserve the memory thereof: these works of great Kings have not been able to defend themselves against Time, and these miracles of Art have either been ruin'd by the Sword, or devoured by fire: but Homers works live yet; Troy was never so beautifull in Asia, as in his Verses; if he could not keep it from being burnt, he hath kept it from being forgotten. The Grecian Achilles, and Hector of Troy, never won so much renown by their valour, as by his praises. This onely example makes it evident, that Knowledge hath the upper-hand of Courage, and that the labours of the brain are more durable than the Conquests of Kings; yet hath knowledge her defaults, since the state of sin, and there is no knowledge so certain, which admits not of doubts; none so profitable, which is not discommodious, nor none so good, which is not bad.

True knowledge ought to have two qualities; Evidence, and Certainty: Philosophorum alii mibi non profuturum scientiam traedunt, alii spem omnis scientiae eripiunt, alii non praeferunt lumen per quod acies dirigatur ad verum, alii oculos mihi effodinnt. Senec. Epist. 88. the first without the second occasioneth Opinion, the second without the first, produceth Faith. Therfore 'tis that all Sciences boast to possesse these two advantages, and employ all their power to perswade us, that they are evident, and assured; but the means they make use of to prove this, contradicts their design, and makes their doubts and obscurities equally appear. For they draw their light either from Time, Authority, or Experience: Time is the father of truth, but is also oft-times the murtherer thereof, according to the Rabbines; 'tis the witnesse of all things, but it suffers corruption; and the depositions thereof are as obscure, as doubtfull: all knowing men complain, that life is short, the way to knowledge long; and that it were requisite to spend whole Ages in the School of Time, to become learned. 'Tis only permitted to Damons, who are ancient as the world, to profit under a Master, that discovers his secrets only to such, as through their own industry observe them.

Authority is grounded upon the worth of those who have gone before us: their antiquity gives them credit, we think them abler than our selves, onely because they are older; and we dare nor oppose their opinions, because they are no longer able to defend them; they onely rule, because they live no longer; and if they beare away the victory, 'tis because they are without the danger of the fight. Their Maximes serves us for Oracles, their wills serve us for laws, and they may say, as Kings, This is our Pleasure. Death [Page] which destroyes the power of Soveraigns, establisheth the Tyranny of Philosophers, and these men who live no longer, have yet credit enough to triumph over our liberty. Yet is their antiquity a proofe of their ignorance: since they have seen lesse then we, they should in reason know lesse; and since they lived in the first Ages, they could not have made sufficient observations to discern the truth. That which we call the worlds Antiquity, Antiquitas mundi suventus saeculi. Bac. was but it's Infancy; men, not being able to advantage themselves by the labour of their Ancestours, did live in profound ignorance, and left the glory of finding out truth, to the care of those that should succeed them.

Experience is grounded upon the Senses, and hath all her good from their reports: but all men know these Messengers are unfaithfull, that they are corrupted by objects, that the soule which is by them advised, is oft-times deceived; and that nature hath given her an inward light, to free her selfe from their Superchery: they mistake themselves daily in their own operations; & if we will believe these blinde guides, we shall be always engaged in errour. The Sun appears greater at his rising, than at Noon-day; the Heavens seem to meet with the earth at the Levell of the Horizon; and men think a long walk narrower in the extremities thereof, than in the middle. Si protagorae credo, nihil in rerum natura est nisi dubium nisi Nausiphani, hoc unum certum est nihil esse co ti, si Parmenidi nihil est prater unum: si Zenoni ne unum quidem. Tota rerum natura umb [...]a est aut inanis aut fa [...]ax. Senec. Epist. 88. Wherefore the wisest Philosophers, knowing the vanity of the Senses, have confest the like of Sciences; and being pressed by Truth it selfe, have been forc't to acknowledge, that that there was nothing certain in them, but their uncertainty; nor any thing evident, but their obscurity. The modestest among them have boasted to know nothing, but that they knew nothing; and to have learnt by their study, that mans greatest knowledge was but a Depth of ignorance.

The uncertainty thereof is accompanied with uselessenesse, and let her promise what she pleaseth, she teacheth us things which are rather curious, than profitable. Science is not vain onely, because she is proud, but because she is given to lying: for she makes those that court her hope for miracles; and to hear her servants, or her slaves speak, you would think that were a remedy for all evils, and a means to come by all vertues: but if we will examine all the miseries of men, we shall not finde any one that may be lessened by knowledge. Sin hath reduced them to a condition wherein both [Page] good and bad, are equally dangerous to them: some apprehend death Vis scire quid Philosophia promittat generi humano? consilium Atium mors vocat, alium paupertas urit, alium divitiae vel alienae vel suae torquent, hunc homines male habent, illum Dii. Quid mihi lusoria proponis? non est [...]ocandi locus, ad miseros advocatus es. Senec. Epist. 48. which threatens them, some complain of poverty wherewith they are afflicted, some are slaves to their riches, and wonders that plenty should bereave them of liberty: this man dreads ill fortune, that man is glutted with good: some are persecuted on earth, some punisht from heaven. All these stand in need of help in their differing conditions, and are in danger of shipwrack, unlesse they be assisted by a favourable and gracious hand. Knowledge boasted that she would succour them, and men abused by her promises, sided with her under this confidence; but after they had listned to her instructions, they found she abounded more in light, then in heat, and more in vanity, then in power. To say truth, she busieth her selfe in enlightning the understanding, not being able to heat the will; and in stead of instructing things usefull, she is content to vent curiosities. Not being able to accord the Elements within our bodies, nor yet the passions in our soules, she busieth her selfe in sorting voices, and in forming an agreeable harmony out of differing Tones; not being able to withstand vices, nor irregular inclinations, she undertakes to fight against wilde-beasts, or enemies; to get the victory where the danger exceeds the honour; and to bear away Triumph, where injustice and fortune have a greater share then courage or wisdome. Doces me quomodo voces confonent, fac potius quomodo animus meus secum consonat. Metiri me docet Geometres lati fundia, potius doceat quomodo metiar quantum homini satis est. Numerare docet me Arithmetica & avaritiae accommodare digitos, potius doceat nihil ad rem pertinere istas computationes. Sen [...]c. [...] Epist. 88.

When she saw she could not observe the wonders of nature, she appli'd her selfe to consider the Debauchments; and passing by her goodliest operations, either in silence, or oblivion, she entertained men with her disorders onely, or with her diversions. For all Sciences which are now in request, and wherein great men do glory, teach nothing but ridiculous things, and fill their disciples mindes with naught but smoak, & winde. Were it not better that Astrology should teach us the way to heaven, than uselesly to teach us the Number of the Stars, the Influence of Planets, and Motions of the Sphears? Were it not to be wisht, that Arithmetick, which teacheth to calculate immense summes should teach us to bound our own desires, and not to set by riches? were it not to be desired, that the Mathematicks, in stead of instructing us how to besiege Towns, and not to defend them, should shew us how to preserve our own liberty, and how to keep us from the Tyranny of sin?

If in fine, Sciences were rationall, would they not rather [Page] endeavour to make men Vertuous, than Knowing? and if they were not slaves to Curiosity, would they not labour more to regulate the will, than to satisfie the understanding? and yet the chiefest of Philosophers, after having in all his writings Scire aut nihil, aut parum confert ad virtutem. Aristot. Doctrinâ quidem politiora, sed non meliora fiunt ingenia. Tertull. made the Panegyrick of knowledge, after having offer'd Incense to this Idol, and after having purchased her as many Adorers, as he had Disciples, confesseth, that she is of no use to vertue; and that though she may make men more Learned, yet shee cannot make them Better. In effect the most knowing men have not alwayes been the most vertuous; and those who have Written best, are not those that have lived best. Seneca's life agrees not with his writings; the counsels which he gives to Nero in Tacitus are not like those which he gives him in his books of anger, and clemencie; he is much more generous in his epistles to Lucilius, then in his consolation to Polybius: and his naturall questions taste much more of Philosophie, then that bloody invective which he wrote after the death of Claudius: these two pieces discover his nature, which in the other he sought to disguise: when he sets forth vertue to the life, and gives her so many charmes to make her Lovely, me thinks I seek a Black-more painting a fair Woman, or a corrupt Lawyer pleading an Honest cause. Socrates and Plato, though they were the most learned of their age, were not the most vertuous; their actions require rather Apologies than Panegyricks: if they condemn rather ambition, 'tis to authorize uncleannesse; if they contemn'd the love of Women, 'twas thought 'twas to authorize the like of yong men; and that if quencht impure flames, 'twas to kindle Hellish ones. Epicurus and Zeno breathed forth nothing but either Pleasure, or vaine glory; if the one wage war with vice, 'tis onely to purchase Glory, and if the other suppresse his Passions, 'tis onely that he may enjoy the more Rest, and that he may adore Pleasure in the temple of vertue. Thus is knowledge unprofitable; and to reap any advantage by her instructions, Addite scientiae charitatem, & erit utilis scientia. Augu. a man must ask counsell of Charity. For to what end is it that we know what is good, if our bad inclinations keep us from doing it? and what advantage shall we receive from a science, which can neither withstand vice, nor defend vertue? We know, that we ought to be ayding to our Parents Scis pro patria pugnandum, dissuadebit timor: scis pro amicis desudandum esse, sed deliciae ve [...]abunt. Nihil ergo proderit dare praecepta, nisi prius amoveris obstantia praceptis. Senec. Epist. 95. in their miseries; but Avarice keeps us from being so: we know, that we ought to fight for our Countrey; [Page] but fear keeps us from doing so; we know, that we ought to incommodiate our selves, to serve our friends; but pleasures divert us from it: we know, that we should prefer Honour before pleasure, and innocence before both; but ambition and delight will not permit us so to do: so as it is to no purpose to advise us, unlesse the Obstacles which oppose themselves to that advise be removed, and unlesse the will be heated at the same time that the understanding is enlightened.

But that which is yet more grievous, and which obligeth all men to confesse, that Knowledge is corrupted by sin, is, that she is an enemy to vertue, and that under pretence of defending her, she wageth war against her. The Roman Common-wealth did never flourish more then in the Melius suisset non didicisse scientiam, postquam docti pro dierunt, boni esse desierunt. first Ages, wherein she was content to know, that she was to honour her Gods, guide her People, assist her Allyes, and to fight her enemies: she lost her integrity when she would increase her knowledge: Pleasures entred Rome, together with forreign sciences, and from the time that once the Romans began to dispute concerning vertue, they ceased to practise her: the Greeks revenged themselves on them by their Philosophers; not being able to overcome them by Arms, they found a meanes how to corrupt them by their conferences; and giving them Learning, they bereft them of Justice, whereby they had won so much over all the people of the world. Athens was more learned than Lacedaemon, but Lacedaemon was more vertuous than Athens; Vertue triumphed over Eloquence, and this Town which was wholly composed of Philosophers and Orators, was brought to serve the other which abounded in ignorance. Experience teacheth, that knowledge doth abate courage; that in polishing the understanding, she weakens it; and that in teaching how to speak well, she makes us forget how to do well. The Turks owe their valour totally to their ignorance; and if any Innocencie remain amongst the Barbarians, 'tis because they have not yet been acquainted with the mischeif of knowledge.

Wisdom her self is not reconciled to her: these two Sisters, which Philosophers boast to have united, cannot agree together in any extraordinary degree. It seems impossible for a man to be both Learned and wise; Multae literae te ad insaniam adduxerunt; loquitur ex sententià communi. Act. Apost. Learning doth puzzle the brain as well as vain glory; as excessive fortunes make us lose our Judgements, much knowledge [Page] makes us lose our reason: Study dries the Braine, great contestations of minde alter mans Temper, and it oftentimes falls out, that both the Soul and the Body are weakened through an extream desire of knowledge. The most dangerous folly is not Stupid; that which is occasioned by Ignorance, is easily remedied; but that which is occasioned through Study, makes both Physician and Patient despaire; in fine, knowledge is the learned mans punishment; she is more boundlesse then ambition, Qui addit scientiam, addit & laborem. Ecclesiast 1. cap. Dedit hanc pessimam occupationem hominibus. Ecclesiast. 1. cap. all her desires are out of Order, the more she possesseth, the more she wisheth for; the Richer she is, the Poorer she esteems her self; and framing daily new designes, she makes those that love her confesse, that she is a vexatious occupation, which God hath given them onely for their Chastisement: that he who addes New-lights to what hath formerly been known, addes more Paines to former Troubles; and that who labours after more knowledge, labours to make himself more Miserable.

It were to be wisht, that as God hath tane immortality from us, to shorten our Misery; he had likewise deprived us of profane knowledge, to lessen our sufferings: and then we should have found, that ignorance and death, are rather Favours, then punishments. A man must become ignorant, to become Faithfull. Vain Philosophy is an Obstacle to our belief: tis easier to convert an Ignorant man than a Philosopher, and humblenesse of minde, which serves for the foundation of Christian vertues, hath no more mortall enemy, than the vanity of Philosophy. Scientia inflat, videte ne quis vos decipiat per Philosophiam & inanem fallaciam. ad Coloss. 2. cap. The great Apostle of the Gentiles declares war against it in his writings, he cannot endure the pride which doth accompany it, he despiseth the false lights, which puzzle the understanding, but do not enlighten it; though he was taught at feet of Gamaliel, he boasts of his ignorance, and he teacheth all the faithfull, that he knows nothing but Jesus Christ crucified. It is enough to know, that Haec tota scientia hominis est scire, quia nihil est per se, & quoniam quidquid est, ex Deo est. & propter Deum est. August. in Psal. 70. man can do nothing of himself; and that as he holds all whatsoever he is, and whatsoever he hath, from the Goodnesse of God, he is bound to employ it to his Glory.

The tenth Discourse.

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That Eloquence is an Enemy to Reason, Truth and Religion.

AS Eloquence is the Mistresse of handsome language, as she makes the Panegyricks of Princes, vaunts her self to put a valuation upon vertue, and to reward her for all the glorious troubles she undergoes, so hath she not been wanting in giving unto her self those praises which she thinks are due unto her, and to imploy all her cunning in making her worth appear. For if we will beleeve her, she boasts that no power equals hers, and that without use of fire or sword, she hath the power of perswading the opinioned, of reducing Rebels, and of obliging wicked men to side with vertue. An ego falso scripsi cedant armatogae, &c. qui togat [...] armatos, & pace bellum oppressi. Audes eloquentiam ut vitium nihi obiier [...]? C [...]c. in Salust. She thinks her profession no lesse illustrious than that of Arms, that Demosthenes, and Cicero, may waigh in the scales with Alexander and Caesar, and that if there were one Hercules, who by his valour overcame monsters, there was another who prevailed over men by reason; she imagines she may be serviceable to Religion; that Christ himself in the plainnesse of his discourse did not neglect adornments, that after having astonished sinners by his Miracles, he convinced them by his words, and that the people, being overcome by the Power of his Nunquam sic loguutus est homo. Doctrine, confest, that no man ever spoke like him. In fine; if she expresse her self by the mouthes of her Orators, we are bound to beleeve, that whatsoever is atributed to Philosophie or to Justice, is onely the work of Eloquence. Eloquentiae multae urbes su [...]t constitutae, plurima bella exsti [...]cta fortissimae societutes sanctissimae ami [...]itiae comparatae. Cicer. lib. 1. de art. Rhetor. For they say, that 'twas she that withdrew men from deserts, who reduced them too within Towns, who prescribed laws unto them, who kept innocence from calumnie and oppression, and who changed Tyrannies into lawful Kingly Government. To hear them speak; you would think that vertue were banisht from off the earth, had not Eloquence taken her into her protection, and that there should be [Page] no longer peace in Kingdoms, did not she by her dexterity appease seditions? But without listning any longer to her unjust praises, I pretend to make her partakers confesse, that since she became a slave to sin, she injures by one and the same excesse, Truth, Reason, and Religion.

'Tis hard to say, whether Cunning be the father of Eloquence, or Eloquence be the mother of cunning, but 'tis easily to discerne, that each of them assist other, in the bearing down of truth. Both of them being ingenious in extremity; they dissemble their meanings, and hide their hatred under the appearance of love: they speak on their enemies behalfe, and the one of them seems to employ his wiles, the other her Figures and Tropes, onely to make truth appear the more pleasing: yet under pretence of serving her, they injure her; and under colour of establishing her power, they destroy her Empire. For this vertue, worth adoration, despiseth deckings; she knows her beauty is never more ravishing, Veritas sermo est simplex. Ammian. Marcel. lib. 14. than when most neglected; she rejects borrowed lustre; and paint being a kin to falshood, she approves not of the use thereof. She suspects any thing that may deceive, her language is plain, her apparell modest, and were it not for fear of those unchaste ones, who prophane even holy things with their looks, she would throw away the vaile that covers her, and shew her selfe stark naked to [...] her lovers.

As all her glory consists in her naked plainnesse, so doth also her strength; the very sight of her is sufficient to make her be beloved; she very well knows, that they that know her cannot oppose her, nor yet defend themselves from her. Magna est vis veritatis quae contra omnium ingenia calliditatem, solertiam, contra fictas hominum insidias facile se per seipsam defendit. Sen. Epist. She hath no greater passion than sweetly to insinuate, her selfe into mens mindes, and by her light to dissipate the obscurity of falshood: she very well knows that men do naturally reverence her, and that unlesse they be foolish, they be never unfaithfull to her. Therefore no humane help is of use to her, and this powerfull Princesse needs no souldiers to re-possesse her selfe of her State, nor to reduce her Rebels to obedience. Her very sight is sufficient to make her be obey'd, her presence stifles rebellion, and as soon as she appears, she awakens respect and love, in her Subjects hearts. But if the malice of the Age were such, as should make her seek for partners to defend her; [Page] certainly she would never implore aid from Orators: They are too full of Quircks to please her, and she loves plain dealing too well to approve of their cunning. All the Tropes and Figures, which they make use of in their discourses, Rhet [...]ica [...] stigii quo [...] genus, quo d [...] tur homines, ex parvis magna, & ex mag [...]is parva facere. Erasm. l. 8. Apoph [...]. are but so many disguised falshoods; they cannot speak without lying; and all the inventions which they borrow from Rhetorick, are but undertakings against truth.

But least I may be accused of falling into an errour, which I finde fault with, I will examine the figures, and make such as make use of them, confesse, that they are onely to be termed pleasing falshoods. The Metaphora, which is so frequent with them, and wherewithall they heighten their style, to raise up the meannesse of their cogitations, is it not an Imposture? and doth not Eloquence abuse her Auditors, when she will perswade them, that the fields are thirsty, that the drops of deware pearles, flowers in medowes are stars, and the murmuring of waters musick? if thus much license be to be allowed, who cannot say, that little birds are Angels of the Forrests? that Whales are living rocks, or ships with soules? that the Sea is a moving earth, and fountain water, liquid Christall? Non possunt aedificari haec mendacia, sine de [...]litione v [...] ritatis. Tertull. lib. 2. in Marcion. cap. 1. who can imagine that truth needs such cunning to defend her selfe, that men are onely wrought upon by such raving, and that a man cannot please, unlesse he be ridiculous? Ironia is no truer, and if it deserve any pardon, 'tis because 'tis lesse serious; for it disguiseth not it's falshood, but openly protests against being believed; it gives it selfe the lye by it's accent, terms not a man innocent, save onely that he may be thought guilty; 'twould think it selfe too silly, should it call all things by their names, and would not think it selfe sufficintly bitter, should it not know how to cover a reall reproach under a false praise.

Are not Allegories impertinent? when to un-weary mens minds, they abuse them, and say one thing when they think another? they will perswade us, that a Ship is a Common-wealth, Tempests, the State-affairs wherewith it is troubled, and Mariners, the lead men that govern it. May not a man with the same affrontednesse affirme, that open Countries are Kingdoms, that the Mountains, are their Kings, little hills their Magistrates, and Vallies their Subjects: must not a man have lost his wits to have made use of these figures, and had not one better hold his peace, than speak a language [Page] which the common sort of people understand not, In hoc omnis Hperbole extenditur, ut ad verum me [...]da [...]io ve [...]iat, itaque qui dixit, Qui cand [...]re niv [...]s anteirent, qui cursibus auras, quod non poterat fieri, dixitut crede [...] tur quantum plurtmum posset Nunquam tantum sperat Hyperbole qu [...] tum aud [...]t, sed incredibilia offirmat, ut ad credibilia perven [...]at. Senec. de benefic. lib. 7. cap. 23. and which wise men despise; but an Hyperbole is the more unsufferable, for it's insolency, and seeming seriousnesse: Common expressions seem poor to it; it cannot endure any thing that is ordinary, but affects extravagancy to hide it's basenesse; it heightens nothing with [...] exaggeration, tells no truth un-mingled with falshood, and by a [...]just punishment, looseth credit, through coveting too much▪ beliefe. 'Twill make snow black, to make a womans face seem fair, tarnish the verdue of the rose, to exalt the freshnesse of her complexition, Victoriosam lo quacitatem victus cupiditate vendebam diligentibus vanitatem. & quaerentibus mendacium socius eorum Aug. lib. 4. Confess. c. 2. and darken the Sun, to give lustre to her eyes. This figure is not to be excused, but by acknowledging that it is conscious of it's own rashnesse; that it dares more than it hopes for; that it is of the humour of those, who lie often, and who think themselves happy enough, if they can but perswade the Auditours to believe part of what they say. An Antithesis is not so bold as an Hyperbole, though more affected; all it's cunning is but a continuall play or Maigame, it opposeth the subjects which it treats of, [...] because it knows not how to enlarge them; it hop [...]s always, because it can neither run nor walk softly; it leanes upon all it meets withall, because it cannot sustain it selfe; and 'tis seldome ingenious, save onely for it's sterility sake. In fine, that may be said of all figures, which Seneca saies of an Hyperbole; they lead us to truth by falshood; they cousen us to please us, and to instruct us do seduce us. If this cunning be blamelesse, I know no couzenage, which may not admit of excuse; men will kill men to make them live, will put out their eyes to clear their sight, and will throw them into slavery, to set them at liberty.

There have been some who would have had painting inhibited, because it abuseth the senses, and because by the rules of the Opticks, it extends open Countries the end whereof we cannot arrive unto, sinks valleys: so as we cannot discover their bottome, and raiseth up Mountains to the height whereof we cannot attain, But eloquence being more deceitfull, deserves a greater punishment; and she should as well be forbidden comming within the barand Pulpit, as painting was forbidden the Court of Arropagus, Since she heightens mean things, enlargeth what hath no substance; and to make her power be admired; makes Faustina a Lucretia, Tiberius an Augustus, and Fredigonda a Clotilda. It must then be confest, [Page] that eloquence is the workman-ship of sin, Placuit mi [...] s [...]btrare ministerium linguae [...]ae nundinis loquacitatis, ne ulterius pueri meditantes non legem tuam non pace [...] tuam, sed infanias mendaces & bella forensia mercarentur ex ore meo arma furori suo: August. lib. 9. Confess. cap. 2. that men have sought out these figures onely to disguise falshood; and they began not to be eloquent, till they began to be sinfull. Innocencie would not peradventure have spoken this language; and if we meet with some such like Oratory somtimes in the holy Scripture, I imagine it is, that the Scripture may accommodate it selfe to our custome, and to imitate the goodnesse of God; who puts on our passions when he will treat with us.

If truth complain of Rhetorick, reason hath as much cause so to do; and who shall consider, what ill offices she hath received from her, will finde, that she should never implore her aid: for though this Sovereign be not always at peace, within her Territories, and that her Subjects do somtimes despise her authority, Eloquence is not sincere enough to re-invest her in her power, and it oft-times falls out, that whil'st she thinks to stifle disorder, she augments it. For Reason hath nothing to fear in her Empire, but the errour of her understanding, the obstinacy of the will, the revolt of passions, and the unfaithfulnesse of the senses; let her prevent these disorders, and she may be sure to raign peaceably. For what concernes the understanding, it needs no Rhetorick to perswade it, itcareth not for Veritas si [...]e ornamentis ad persuandendum potenti [...]r. ornaments, truth is as pleasing to it in the mouth of a Philosopher, as of an Oratour; the lesse truth is expatiated, the more force doth the understanding finde in her; and the lesse she hath of Art, the more doth it reverence her power. As for the will, it is so free, as nothing can force it; grace alone hath power to ravish [...] ▪ and only God can sway it without using violence. The passions must be calm'd by dexterity; he is a wise Pilot, who can saile long upon their Sea without suffering shipwrack. And as for the senses; they must be won by fair means, and they must be loosened from objects to be submitted to reason.

Eloquence boasts, that in this point, she hath great advantage over Philosophers: the Cadence of her periods smooths the senses; she imitates musick, and makes use of the voice of Oratours, to inchant the ears; Eloquentia est idoncoru [...] verborum & sententiarum ad pronuntiati [...] accomodati [...] ▪ continens vocis vultus, gestus moderationem cum venusta [...]e. Cicer. in Rheto. the gesture of their bodies, their studied actions, and all those graces which accompany Pronunciation, steal away the heart by the eyes, and work wonders upon the will: Figures raise passions, draw tears, encourageth Auditours to choler, and put weapons into their hands to revenge themselves of their Enemies. [Page] But I finde that all the means which Eloquence attempts, are extreamly dangerous, and that the remedies which she applies, are worse than the malady which she would cure. For thinking to flatter the senses, she engageth them in voluptuousnesse; whil'st she would divert them from, she accustometh them to delight; and though her designe be innocent, yet ceaseth it not to produce ill effects. For as oft as a pleasing Oratour defends an ill cause, and that he imployes all his good parts in favour of injustice; the senses, which seek onely after content, suffer themselves to be borne away by his cunning; and making interressed reports to the understanding, they engage it in their revolt. Thus is a pleasing falshood better entertained than truth; and vertue is lesse valued than vice, if she appeare more austere.

Eloquence is not more fortunate in taming passions, then in charming senses: for though she be acquainted with the secret of kindling and allaying choller, of setting love and hatred on fire, of abusing hope, and sweetning despair, yet hath she this of misfortune, that as she laies one passion asleep, she awakens another; and be it for want of dexterity, Invenit no his malus orator remedia saepe periculis peiara. Senec. Tragic. or for her diffidence of her own strength, she never sets upon vengeance, unlesse she be assisted by ambition; she meddles not with love, without exciting hatred, and quels not hope, without raising fear. Thus she hurts us, to cure us; and her remedies are worse than our diseases. She imitates those bad Physicians, who debauch the stomack, to refresh the bowels; and who undo one part, to preserve another; for not weighing the danger, she oft-times awakens cruelty in a Tyrant, to encourage him against an Enemy; she excites ambition in a Conquerour, to incline him to clemency; and hazards a whole Kingdome to save a guilty person. Men blamea Prince, who to revenge himselfe of his Subjects, puts weapons into the Rebels hands, and and who under colour of stifling a commencing sedition, strengthens a party, which justles out his Authority; yet this is the order observed by Eloquence in her Orations; and expearience teacheth us, that to overcome a passon which opposeth her designes, she will not fear to awaken another which will entrench upon the publique Liberty. Cicero flatters Cesars vain glory, to obtain Marcellus his pardon, he propounds glory to him, to divert him from rigour: yet Cum aff [...]ctus repercussit affectum: a [...]t metus aut cupidit [...]s aliquid impe [...]vit non rationis tun [...] ben [...]io quicvit, se [...] affectum infid [...] & malá pace. [...]enec. li. 1. de li [...] cap. 8. sees not that to extinguish the fire of his choller, he kindles the [Page] life of his ambition; which was to set his Countrey on fire. Who will not then confesse, that eloquence is an enemy to reason? that she dis-joynts an Empire, in stead of setling it? and that she addes to the number of passions, under pretence of apeasing them?

Her other designes are not more just, and she deals not more mildly with liberty than with reason; for though she always vaunt to take her side, and to defend her against such enemies as war against her, I finde she is the first that chargeth on her, and that there is no difference between an Orator and a Tyrant. They take severall ways, but their Armies are alike, [...]yrrani & orator is [...] est discrimen, nisi quod ille corporibus, hic animis imperat. and their manner of government is equally violent; Tyrants make use of fire and sword, to astonish their Subjects, and Oratours imploy anger and revenge, to seduce their Auditors. Tyrants forge chaines to keep them in, that resist them; and Oratours frame discourses which violate the will of those that listen to them. Tyrants make themselves be feared, because they cannot make themselves be beloved; and Orators make themselves be beloved, though they know very well how to make themselves be feared: Tyrants affright us, when they cannot win us by fair means, and Orators deceive us, when their perswasions falle them. In fine, Tyrants butcher our bodies, and Orators tyrannize over our mindes. I think not the Republique of Syracusa, much more unhappy under the Tyranny of Dionysius, then was the Common-wealth of Athens, whilest she languished under the eloquence of Do [...]sthenes. There are some Philosophers of my opinion, and Cicero himselfe doth not differ much from it, since he confesseth, that an old man hearing the great Pericles make an Oratition; after that he had formerly heard the Tyrant Pisistrates, cri'd out aloud, that he had never seen two men more like, and that he did no lesse dread the ones eloquence, than the others cruelty: in effect, he was not in the wrong; for the event shewed, Quid enim inter Pilistratum & Periclem interfuit, nisi quod ille armatus, hic sine a [...]mis, tyrannidem gessit. Cicer. 3. de orat. that there was no difference between Pisistrates, and Pericles, save that the one exercised Tyranny with his weapons, and the other with his Rhetorick.

Eloquence being so dangerous, and her Empire so violent, we must not wonder, if Jesus Christ, whose designe was to win the world by fair means, would not have his Apostles make use thereof; he chose ignorant men to confute Philosophers, and to make his power be admired, his will was, that their simplicity should triumph [Page] over rhetorick. They were inspired with the gift of tongues in a moment, and the same spirit which did wonders by their hands, made known his oracles by their mouthes: but Heaven which made them so learned, would never make them eloquent; they spake before the Kings of the earth, without any loftinesse of style; they discoursed without adornments before the Judges of Areopagus, they preached without figures before the Senate of Non con [...]ertit Deus Piscatorem per oratorem sed oratorem per piscatorem. August. Rome, and yet they submitted the pride of Rome, and the eloquence of Athens to the simplicity of the Gospell. I must spend the rest of this discourse in the recitall of this wonder, and to confute Rhetoricks vain glory, I must exalt the humility of Religion.

Never did any designe equall that of Jesus Christ, when he sent his Apostles into the world; he meditated the conquest of the world, the overthrowing of superstition, the ruine of Idols, and the devils defeat; to effect this enterprize, Philosophers must be convinced Oratours perswaded, Monarchies vanquished. To bring this so high a designe to an happy end, one would think, that he must raise Aristotle, Demosthenes, and Alexander from their graves; he notwithstanding vouchsafes to look upon a dozen fishermen, and to incourage them to combate, and to overcome so many enemies, he forbids them to bear Armes, to meditate for reasons, or to study speeches: and to the end, that the whole glory of so great a work might be attributed to his power, Eloquia Apostolorum tanta & tam nova persuadentium quae dicebant mira s [...]erunt, non ver ba. Aug. lib. de Civit. cap. 5. he will have the humility of his Disciples beat down the pride of Tyrants, he will have their ignorance confound the learning of Philosophers, and their simplicity to triumph over the eloquence of Orators. If their discourse were plain, their writings were not more aptly couched. Hardly did they write correctedly, their most usuall Figures are Barbarismes, they neglect ornament, plainnesse appeares in all their Epistles; and we have much ado to believe, that those who spake such indifferent language, should miraculously have received the gifts of tongues; yet doth the beauty of their doctrine ravish us, we are astonished with the depth of those mysteries, which they explain, and their words bear so great a sense with them, as we are not troubled to fore-goe Aristotles Politicks; to read Saint Paules Epistles.

Since the Apostles are the Masters of the Church, and that their examples are our instructions; I advise Preachers to imitate their [Page] plainnesse, to affect their lowlines, to despise eloquence, and to implore aide from that Spirit which wins hearts without the pomp of words, and ravish the will without the ornament of language. Rhetorick is a prophane art, and preaching is a sacred exercise; vanity hath need of cunning to sustaine her, but the Gospel is mainteined by truth: those who preach it with most setting off, are not those whose preaching works Nobis curiositate opus non est post Christum, nec inquisitione, adjiciamus, nec Rhetorica, post Evangelium. Tertull. de praescriptionib. cap. 3. most affect, of as many Preāchers as God hath given to his Church, I see but Chrysostome whose eloquence he hath blessed, all the rest have drawn their power from the humility of the crosse, the meanest of them have been the most beneficiall those who have wrought the greatest conversions, have oft times abounded more in Piety then in learning, and more in zeal, than in eloquence. If I give not the same counsell to the faithfull, as I do to Preachers; tis not that I do not approve of those who would imitate the Apostles simplicity, and that I condemn those who would imitate the Orators vain-glory, but nature being faulty, we must not wonder if her language be corrupted; and since the Son of God tolerates the impurity of our sins, we must not think it strange, if he bear with the vanity of our words, till being gotten into the liberty of his Children, he frees us from the tyranny of sin and from the slavery of eloquence.

OF THE CORRUPTION OF MANS BODY BY SIN: The Fourth Treatise:

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The First Discourse.

Of the Excellencies of Mans Body.

VErtue being surrounded with enemies, & besieged on all sides by vices, she cannot Est virtus habitus animi judicio susceptus in mediocritate positus. Aristoteles. l. 2. Ethic. cap. 6. stray aside without the hazard of falling into their hands, and of losing all those advantages which render her glorious. If Justice punish a fault rigorously, her zeal passeth for severity; if she countenance evil by suffering it, she is accused of indulgency: if valour throw her self upon a danger, which she cannot shun, men esteem her rash; if she shun occasions, when her duty calls upon her, she is blamed of fearfulnesse; and by a strange destiny, she that was a profest enemy to fear, grows to love her, and becomes [Page] her slave. Truth is not more fortunate then vertue; for she is environed with errours, which surprise her if she go out of the way; and if she listen to them, bereave her of her purity: she is seduced by falsehood, if wisedom and faith assist her not; the desire of combat engageth in danger, and her covering to overcome, makes her ofttimes lose the victory. Fear is often more fatall to her than is her own courage; for whilest she avoides one enemy, she falls upon another; and thinking to shun an ill step or two, she falls into a precipice. This misfortune may be observed upon a thousand occasions, but particularly in what concerns the body of man: for some seeing the unrulinesse thereof, could not beleeve that it was the workmanship of God; and falling insensibly into an Errour, perswaded themselves, that the Devil was the author thereof: some others, thinking to withstand this heresie, fall into another, and considering, the beauties of the body, thought that it still retained its first purity, that the faults thereof were perfections, and that all the motions thereof might be represt by free-will, without grace. The Catholick truth walks in the midst between these two errours; condemning the Manichees, she acknowledgeth that mans body is made by God enlivened by his breath, and fastened to the soul by invisible chaines, to make one and the same whole: condemning the Pelagians, she confesseth that mans body hath lost its innocencie; that sin reigns in the members thereof, that it infecteth the soul which inanimates it, and that the well fare thereof, which begins in Baptisme, will not be accomplisht till the last generall resurrection. Thus God is the Author thereof, and 'tis a marke of 'its Deus carnis author, Christus carnis Redemptor est. Tertull de resur. c [...]rn. Goodnesse; Jesus Christ is the redeemer thereof, and 'tis a mark of it's corruption. I therefore am obliged to part this subject into two discourses, the first of which shall contain the bodyes plea, the other its condemnation.

Though the body be the least part of man, and that it be Common to him with beasts, yet hath it advantages which make it sufficiently known, that it is destin'd to be the organ of an immortall soul. For the members thereof are so artificially formed, as we cannot judge whether they be more usefull or more pleasing; their number causeth no confusion, their difference augments their beauty, and their proportion gives the last touch to the work which they all together make up. All of them have their particular employments, [Page] they mutually assist one another, without intrenching one upon another; they hold such intelligence as their good and bad is common: the tongue serves for interpreter to the whole body, the eyes serve it for a guide, the hands for its servants, the ears for informers, and the leggs for supporters. Some of them are in perpetuall motion, and never rest, Action is their life, and rest their death: whilest the eyes are lull'd asleep, the ears closed up, and whilest the feet and hands lie fallow, the heart is always in action; it seems that nature intended to make it her chief piece of workmanship, and that she employ'd all her industry to render it admirable.

'Tis the first part of man that lives, and the last that dies; it is so Cor paruum est & magna cupit: vix ad unius milui refectionem sufficere posset & totus mundus ei non sufficit. Hugo. li. 3. de anin. â. little; as 'twill not suffice to give a Kite a meal; and yet so great, as the whole world cannot satisfie it: nothing but his immensity that made it, can fill the infinite capacity thereof. All passions derive from it, as from their spring-head; 'tis this that causeth love and hatred? 'tis this that shuns what it hates for fear, and draws neer to what it loves through desire. 'Tis lodged like a King in the midst of its subjects; it gives its orders, without departing from its Throne; its motions are the rules of our health, and assoon as it is assailed, we are sick: its least hurts are mortall: Nature, which knows the worth and the weaknesse thereof, hath endued all its subjects with a secret inclination to expose themselves for its defence, the hands put by the blows that are made at it; and knowing that their welfare consists in the preservation thereof, they hazard themselves to save it from danger. To reward this their service, this Sovereigne is so vigilant, as he never takes rest; he labours alwayes for the weal-publick, and whilest the senses are asleep, he is busied in moving the Arteries, in forming the Spirits, and in distributing them about all the parts of the Body. The Braines finish this work, and giving it its last perfection, dispose it to the noblest operations of the soul. This work ceaseth not, though men sleep; though the Soul take some refreshment, these two parts of the Body are always in action; and when they cease to move, they cease to live. All these live in so full a peace, as the difference of their temper is not able to disturbe it: Cold accords there with heat, moystnesse is there no longer an enemy to drynesse; and the elements which cannot tolerate one another in the World, conspire together in man, for his bodies preservation. If any disorder happen, it is occasioned by forreign heat, [Page] the naturall Subjects never trouble the States tranquility: they are so straightly joyn'd by their Interests, as nothing can befall the one which the other doth not resent; the pain of one part is the sicknesse of the whole body: Sipatiatur oculus omnia dolebunt, omnia [...]essabunt. Quid ventrem ocule mordes: quid pedes remora. is: quid manus vincis? quia innexa natura, sunt omnia, modequeineffabili compatiuntur. Chrysost. and if the foot be hurt, the tongue complains, the heart sighes, the eyes weep, the head bowes to consider the evill, and the armes extend themselves to apply remedy.

If their love be so rare, their obedience is no lesse remarkable; for they force their own inclinations to observe the orders of the will; and their fidelity is so ready, as the command is no sooner impos'd, then obey'd: at their Soveraigns bare motion, the hands strive to be acting, the tongue explains his intentions, the eyes expresse his thoughts, and the eares execute his designs. The will findes out so much submission in the faculties of the soule, as in the parts of the body; she is oft-times divided by her desires, and opposed by her own inclinations; sheis a rebell to her selfe, & cannot comprehend how one and the same object can cause horrour and love in her at the same time: but she never commands her body without being obey'd, and unlesse passions make a mutiny in it, or that it be disorder'd by sicknesse, it fulfils her orders with as much readinesse, as faithfulnesse.

She likewise undertakes nothing without the assistance of this faithfull companion, Nunquam anima sine carne est quamdiu in carne est, nibil non cum illa agit sine qua non est. Tertul. de resur. carn. she stands in need of his aid in her noblest operations; and though she be a meer spirit, she can neither discourse, nor reason, but by the interposition of the body: if she will forme thoughts, she must consult with the imagination; and if she will explain them, she is forced to make use either of tongue, or hand: Volutet aliquid anima vultus operatur indicium: facies intentionum omnium speculum est. Tertul. de resur. carn. she hath no strong agitations which appear not in the eyes, and when she is disquieted by any violent passion, 'tis soon seen in the face. A man must be very vigilant to hinder the commerce between the body and the soule; the rules of discretion, and all art of policy, which re-commends dissimulation to Soveraigns, cannot keep their countenances from discovering their designes, nor their eyes from betraying their wills: the soule conceales nothing from this her faithfull confident; he that could well study the changes which appear in the face, might infallibly know the alterations of the minde; and without needing to wish as that ridiculous Pagan did, one might read in the forehead, the hearts most secret thoughts. If Physiognomie be a Science, she hath no certainty but [Page] what she draws from the connexion which nature hath placed between the soule and the body; all her observations are grounded upon the noblest part of the body; if all be true that is said of her, as soon as she sees the face, she knows the humour; and without or Charmes or Magick, she knows their intentions, whose Lineaments she observes. Though I dare not acknowledge all this, and that I have much a do to believe that a Physiognomist can discover the designes of a wise Minister of State, by looking him in the face, and that without racking a malefactour, he may read his fault in his eyes; it sufficeth me to know that this Science is grounded upon the commerce between the soule and the body, and that she draws her conjectures from the straight union that is between them.

As the Soule doth not forme any designe, wherein the body is not a complice; so doth she taste no contentment, wherein the body doth not share a part: if Quem enim natura usum, quem mundi fructum, quem elementorum sa porem non per carnem anima depascitur? per quam omni instrumento sensuum fult [...] est. Tert. de resur. carn. she enjoy the beauties of nature, 'tis by the Senses; if she see the Azure of the Skie, the light of the stars; if she discover the extent of Fields, the fertility of vallies; if she hear the fall of Rivers, the musick of Birds, if she judge of the Glosse or Sent of Lillies, or Roses; 'tis by the benefit either of the sight, hearing, or smelling. It seems the world was made for the bodies diversion, and that all those pleasing parts which go to the composure thereof, have onely been made to delight the senses; the Sun is of no use to the glorified Spirits, and all the brightnesse of that goodly Constellation cannot light the Angels; those noble Intelligences have a spirituall world wherewith they are possest, and ravisht: they finde their happinesse in God, and all that we wonder at in the world, affords them no delight. Materia is requisite to tasting the pleasures of sensible nature; such contentments presuppose a low condition, and it is common with Beasts to partake of such diversions. 'Tis notwithstanding one of the bodies least advantages, that the world should be made for it's use; and that this chiefe piece of Gods workmanship is destined either for it's service, or it's delight.

Jesus Christ followed his Fathers steps; and when he came upon earth, he would have the body to be the object of his mercy, and of his power; though he laboured for the conversion of sinners, his greatest miracles were wrought for the healing of the sick; and the body being mans weakest part, he thought he was to treat it [Page] with most mildnesse, and to furnish it with as many remedies, as sin hath procured it maladies. Somtimes he clensed it of the leprosie, Nativitate reformata regeneratione coe [...]esti carnem ab omni vexatione restitu [...]t, leprosam emaculat, coe [...] perlumi [...]t paralyticam redintegrat, daemoniatam expiat, mortuam expiat, mortuam resuscitat. Tert. de carne Christi cap. 3. and restored to it's former purity; somtimes he freed it from blindnesse, and restored unto it the noblest of it's senses; somtimes cured it of the Palsey, and restored it to the use of it's Members: somtimes he withdrew it from the Grave, and re-united it to it's soule, contrary to the hope of nature; somtimes he freed it from the Tyranny of Devils, and re-establisht it in it's former freedoms.

Neither did he neglect it in the institution of the Sacraments; for though they were chiefly ordained for the soules sanctification, and that these admirable Channels poure grace into the soule, yet are they applied upon the body before they produce their effects in the will; and they respect joyntly the two parts which go to mans composure. Caro abluitur ut anima emacu [...]etur, carovngitur ut anima consecretur, raro signatur, ut anima muniatur, caro corpore & sanguine Christi vescitur ut anima de Deosaginetur. Tertu. de resur. car. ca. 6. The body is washt in water, to the end that the soule may be purified; the body is marked with the Figure of the Crosse, to the end that the soule may be fortified; the body receives the unction, to the end that the soule may be consecrated; the body receives the imposition of hands, to the end that the soule may receive Grace; and the body eates the flesh and bloud of Christ Jesus, to the end that the soule may be thereby nourished: Thus doth not religion destroy nature, and in her highest mysteries the provides for the soules safety, by means of the body. Nulla omuino anima salutem potest adipisci nisidum in carne est adeo caro s [...]lutis cardo est Tertull. ibid. This maxime is so true, as that all Divinity confesseth, that the soule can no longer merit, when she is once parted from the body; whil'st they are together in company, their grace may be augmented; and whatsoever vertues they have acquired, they may yet acquire more, but when once death hath divided them, and that the body losing 't's lustre, is reduced either to ashes, or to wormes; the soule can no longer increase her merit, and in that condition she is onely capable of punishment, or of reward.

Having so many obligations to her body, she cannot forget them, nay even in the state of Glory, where all her designes ought to be satisfied, she wisheth to be re-united to her body, as that wherein her intire felicity consisteth. For though she reign with Angels, that she behold the divine Essence, and that she enjoy a happinesse, to which even wishes cannot adde, yet hath hath she a passion for her body, and all the good she doth possesse cannot take from her the desire, nor memory thereof; though she hath [Page] made triall of it's revolts; though this friendly enemy hath ofttimes persecuted her, and that she hath desired death to be freed from the Tyranny thereof, yet doth she languish after it, and contrary to their humour who have recovered liberty, yet she longs for that which did engage her in servitude. Though the body be reduced to dust, though it cause pity in it's Enemies, and though it cause horrour in those to whom it was so lovely, she forbeares not to desire it, and to expect the resurrection with Impatience, that her body may partake of the blisse which she enjoyes.

And 'tis not without much justice that she beares so much love to her body, since she owes the greatest part of her advantages unto it, and that she hath hardly any vertue, or light, which she hath not acquired by the assistance of the senses. The soule is ignorant when first infused into the body; the knowledge which the Platonists attribute unto her, is but a meer capacity of apprehending. If she will be intrusted, she must be advised either by her eyes, or by her eares, she must consult with these Masters, if she will free her selfe from ignorance. How noble soever she be by birth, Artes per carnem, studia ingenii per carnem, atque adeo totum vivere animae carnis est, ut non vivere animae nil aliud sit, quàm à carne divertere. Tertull. de resurr. carn. cap. 6. she hath but weak conjectures of truth, if these faithfull officers should faile her; and should she be ingaged in a body which should have no use of senses, she would be plunged in eternall darknesse. Sight and hearing are the Organs destined to knowledge, and he who is borne deafe and blinde, is destined to live and die ignorant.

As the soule receives these advantages by the body, so doth she distribute them by the bodies assistance, and doth not expresse her thoughts but by the mouth of her Interpreter: she gives with the tongue, what she hath received by the eare; and as she is rich onely by means of the senses, so is she by them onely liberall. She observes the different qualities of objects by the eyes, she judgeth of the diversity of sounds by the eares; she comprehends mens intentions by their discourse, Sermo de organo carnis est. Tertul. de resur. carnis ibid. she makes hers known by the tongue, and this miraculous part of the body frames words which draw her thoughts unto the life: If those who are absent cannot understand her, she hath recourse to the hand, which draws her dictates upon paper: and which makes that appear to the eyes, which the tongue could not make the eares comprehend. Thus the soule acts onely by the body, and all Sciences by which we are either instructed or perswaded, are as well the work of the senses, as of the soule.

[Page] Vertue it selfe owes her birth to the meanest part of man, and were he not made of flesh and bloud, he could offer no sacrifice to God, neither could he satisfie divine Justice by his repentance. The Virginitas qu [...] (que) & viduitas, & modest [...] in occulto matrimonii dissimulatio de bonis carnis Deo adolentur. Tertull. de resur. car. ibid. purity which equals him with Angls, is not wholly spirituall; if be borne in heaven, 'tis bred upon earth; and if it begin in the soul, it ends in the body. Fasting and silence keep the flesh under to purifie the soule, and if man had not a tongue and mouth, he could neither praise God in silence, nor honour him by self-affliction. Martyrdom, which is the utmost of charity, and the highest degree of perfection, is consummated onely in the flesh; meer spirits cannot be a prey to wilde beasts, and a soule which hath put off her body cannot overcome Tyrants, nor triumph over Executioners. Mortallity is requisite to Martyrdom, and if the Angels be somwhat more than we men, because they cannot die, they are in some sort lesse, because they cannot suffer: death is the triall of our love, and as oft as we lose our lives in Christs quarrell, we strike terrour into devils, and fill Angels with admiration.

In fine, the honour which God receives on earth, proceeds from the body. 'Tis the body which is his Priest and Victime; 'tis the body which bears his imprinted characters in it's face; 'tis the body which commands on earth, and which playing the part of Gods Lieutenant, findes obedience amongst the Elements, and mildnesse amongst savage beasts. 'Tis the body which fights for the Glory of the Son of God, and which defends his Interest to the face of Tyrants, and which sings his praises amidst the Flames. 'Tis the body which being made by his hands, and in-livened by his breath, hath the honour to be his workmanship, and his Temple. Absit ut Deus manuum suarum operam, ingenii sui curam adflatus sui vaginam, molitionis suae reginam, liberalitatis suae haeredem, religionis suae sacerdotem testimonii sui militem, Christi sui sororem in ate [...]num destinet interitum. Tertul. de resur. car. cap. 7. 'Tis the body which is the object of his love, and of his care; which seeth the Sun surround the world to lighten it, fruits bud to nourish it, flowers spring up to recreate it, and whole nature labours for it's pleasure, or service. In fine, 'tis the body which is offered up upon Altars, which fights in persecutions, which praiseth God in prosperity, which blesseth him in afflictions, which honours him in death, which in the Grave expects his promises, which will rise again at the end of the World, and which will reign for ever in Heaven.

The second Discourse.

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Of the miseries of the Body in Generall.

THe evils which we receive from the body are so great, as that al Philosophy is nothing but an invective Corpus hoc animi pondus, acpoena est p [...]ae mente illo urgetur, in vincu [...]s est nisi accessit Philosophia. Senec. Epi. 65. against this enemy of our repose. If we beleeve the Platonists, tis a prison wherein the Soul is inclosed to expiate the sins which she hath committed in Heaven. If we will listen to the Academicks, tis a grave wherein the Soul is buried, and where being more dead than alive, she cannot make use of all those perfections which she hath received from Nature. Non aliter aspicio corpus quam ut vinculum aliquod libertati meae circundatum. Idem ibid. If we trust the Stoicks, tis a disobedient slave, which opposeth it self to all the souls desires, and which being born to obey, hath no so great passion as to command, tis a subject which aspires to Tyranny, and which forceth its legitimate sovereign to forgo both honour, and vertue, and to embrace voluptuousnesse. If we will give ear to the Peripateticks, who come neerest the truth, tis the least part of Man, which being given him to serve the soul, crosseth all her designs, and hinders the execution of her noblest enterprises. Hence it is, that all Philosophers do what in them lieth, to have no commerce with the body, and wish for death or old age, to the end that the one may weaken this Domestick enemy, and that the other may free them from it.

Christian Religion, which marcheth in the midst of errours with assurance, confesseth, that the body is as well the workmanship of God as the soul is, and though it be not altogether so noble, it ceaseth not to be destined to the same happinesse. But as slaves are punisht for their masters, and as children sometimes bear the punishment of their fathers sins, the body hath been punisht for the soul, and from the time it became confederate in her crime, it partook in her punishment. Though the soul be the more guilty, the body is the more unfortunate; and of the two parts which go to the composure of man, the most innocent seems to be the most miserable. For to boote that it is subject to pain by reason of the elements bad intelligence, Nos gestamus la queum nostrumnobiscum, circumferimus inimic um carnem nostram loquor de peccato natam, de peccato nutritam, corrupiam nimis de ipsa origine, sed multo amplius de prava consuetudine vitia [...]am. Gre. in. Moral. that it undergoes sicknesses whereby the health thereof [Page] is prejudiced, that it cannot be cured but by troublesome remedies, that the fear of death be a punishment which lasts as long as its life, it is notwithstanding occasion of the most sins whereof the soul is guilty; and this Sovereign thinketh she should be innocent, if she were not fastened to so guilty a Party.

To disintangle all these things, we must know, that when the soul lost her priviledges, the body lost likewise its advantages; Nihil inerat quod carnem anim ù mue hominis foeliciter in paradiso vivent is offenderet. August. 14. de civi. Dei. c. 10. for the same grace w [...] made the soul pleasing to God, made the body subject to the soul, & the same innocencie which preserved the sovereign from sin, warranted the slave from death: But when once man became guilty, he became unfortunate; and when once he lost originall righteousnesse, he therewith lost all the dependencies thereupon; Errour and blindness slid into the understanding, malice glided into the will; and by a consequence, which Divine Justice made necessary, illusion crept into the senses, sicknesse altered mans temper, pain disquieted his rest, and death sho tened his life. These punishments are so irksome as each of them deserves a discourse; and not to enter upon a subject which I should handle more at large, it shall suffice me for the present to make it manifest, that though the body be the Souls slave, since sin it is become her Tyrant, and that it neither tastes of contentment, nor suffers sorrow wherein it shares not with her.

Pain is a sensible evill, and were not the Soul ingaged in the body, she without the least commotion would behold the most grievous punishments; but nature having composed man of these two different parts, the bodies pain, is the Souls punishment, their good and their bad are common between them, the more noble suffers with the more ignoble, and by a strange misfortune, the soul which needs no nourishment, fears famine; she who is spirituall, fears pain, Non [...]nim cum animus ad corp [...] declinat, corpus efficitur, sed tamen defective, appetitu quodammodo corpora scit. August. l. secund. cap. 10. and she who is immortall apprehends death; she is afflicted with whatsoever hurts the body, and as if her love had changed her Essence, she seems to be become Corporeall. By a sequell as shamefull as necessary, she takes her part of all the bodies pleasures; she shapes desires, unnecessitated, she follows the inclmations of its senses, and forgoing truth and vertue, wherein all her innocent delights ought to consist, she rellisheth the flowers with the smelling, she tastes meat with the Pallate, she hears Musick with the ears, and seeth the diversity of colours with the eyes. Being thus become sensuall, she [Page] is not to be loosened from the body, she forgets her naturall advantages, by neglecting them, she forgoes commerce with spirits to treat with beasts; the fear she hath of death, makes her doubt her immortallity; the love she hath to pleasure, makes her despise vertue, and to engage her selfe too far in her slaves interest, she learns new crimes, whereof she was before innocent.

For although the soule be not impeaceable, and that her will be not so constant in what is good, but that she may be unfortunately parted from it, yet is she not capable of all sorts of crimes; she may be seduced by falshood, blown up by vaine glory, abased by sadnesse, and gnawn by envy, but she should be exempt from such sins, as she is perswaded unto by the senses, if she were dis-ingaged from the body. Meer spirits are not scorcht with unchaste flames; divels are not unchaste, Ideo immundi spiritus Daemones appellantur quia se authores vita sceleste immundeque testantur. August. lib. 2. de Civit. cap. 26. save onely for that they counsell us to impurity: They are pleased with this vice, onely because Jesus Christ is thereby injured, and our soules would finde no trouble in being chaste, did they not love unchaste bodies: drunkennesse, the vapours whereof cloud reason, is not so much a sin of the soule, as of the body; did not the soule swim in the bloud, the body would never be drown'd in wine; Ebrietas subversio sensus, tempestas linguae, procella corporis, naufragium castitatis. August. and the greatest drunkard of the world would forgoe his love to this sin, if death had un-robd him of his body; a man must partake much more of a beast, than of an Angel, if he fall into this disorder; and men who make more use of their soules, then of their bodies, are not much subject to this infamous Irregularity. Gluttony (which may be termed the sister or the mother of drunkennesse) lodgeth neither in the will, nor in the understanding, it makes it's abode in the body; the pallate which tastes viands, the stomack which disgests them, are it's faithfull officers; if it make any use of the understanding, Cor habet in ventre gulosus, lasciuus in libidine, cupidus in lucro. Hieron. in Matth. 'tis for the service of the belly; and if it reason at any time, 'tis but to finde out new sauces, which may awaken appetite. Covetousnesse, though it contest with ambition, and be insatiable, is rather a sin of the senses, than of the soule; for this illustrious Captive, makes not so many wishes for her selfe, as for the body which she inanimates: Glory and vertue are the onely objects of her desires; when she labours to get riches, or to seek out pleasure, she fits her selfe to the humour of her slave, and acts more through complacency, than inclination, or necessity; 'tis the body which needs the light of the constellations [Page] to light it, the fruites of the earth to nourish it, the skins of beasts to cloth it, and all the beauties of nature for it's diversion.

All Artslabour onely for the service thereof; Omnes istae artes, quibus aut excitatur civitas aut strepit, corporis negotium gerunt: cui omnia olim t [...]nquam serco praes [...]abantur, nunc tanquam Domino parantur. Senec. Epist. 90. though they be the work of the understanding, they be the bodies servants; and set those aside which have affinity with sciences, all the rest labour onely to entertain the senses; some cut out clothes to cover us, others raise houses for us to lodge in; some till the earth to nourish us, others seek for pearl in the bottome of the sea, and diamonds in the bowels of the earth for our adornment; if the soule become ingenious in inventing things which are superfluous, and of no use, she is there unto sollicited by reason of the bodies need, and she forgoes all these cares as soon as she is got out of prison. The Rebell Angels never fought to divide the riches of the earth, the division of Provinces, or Kingdoms, did never move ambition in them, the beauty of women never caused in them loose desires, nor did ever any of those sins which arise from flesh & bloud, tempt those haughty spirits. The greatest part of our excesse derives from the body; if we were parted from it, we should either become innocent; or if in that condition we should have either ambition, or avarice, their motive and object would be altered. The greatest Conquerours have no motions which are not common to them with Lions; Lovers jealousie is not more noble then is that of Buls; and the husbandry of the Avaritious is not more just then is that of Owles, and Ants: if men be more to blame then beasts, 'tis because their soule complies with their bodies, and that she makes use of her advantages, to supply her slaves necessities. But the mischiefe takes it's originall from the body; and as the woman tempted man after she had been seduced by the devill, the flesh tempts the spirit after having been sollicited by objects which flatter the senses.

I very well know that in the State of Innocency, the soule was first guilty, and that the body being subject to reason could not excite the first seditions; it was obedient to it's Sovereign, and as long as the soule was subject to God, the body was subject to the soule; but when once the soule rebell'd against her God, her body scorn'd to be commanded by her. And as mans fault had been a revolt, his punishment was a rebellion also. All our mischief ariseth from the bad intelligence which is held between the two parts, whereof we are composed; he who could appease their differences, [Page] might remedy our sins; and if the body did no longer rebell against the soule, we should have reason to hope, that the soule would no longer rebell against God.

To understand this truth, Sub hoc peccali [...] demer gu [...]tur parvuli, qui sine remedio baptismi moriuntur: habent enim originale peccatum non per animam sed per carnem utique contra ctum, animae (que) resusum. Carni nam (que) ita anima unitar, ut cum carne sit una persona. Aug. lib. de spiritu & anima cap. 41. which seems at first to gain-say the rules of humane reasons, you must know, that Generation is the way by which Adams sin is transmitted into our soules, should not inherit the bodies sin, nor misery. From this impure, and fruitfull spring-head do all our mis-fortunes derive; the blindnesse which cloudes our understanding, draws it's obscurity from the body; falshood, and vanity enter our soules by the gate of our senses; and if sins end in the will, they begin in the imagination. Love glides into the heart by the eyes; he who could be blinde, might easily be chaste; if calumny be formed in the heart, it is dealt abroad by the tongue; and what in the thought was but the malady of one particular man, becomes by discourse the contagion of a whole Town. Desiderii sui veneno mensebria, corpus contumeli is applicat & junctis complexibus ambo in mortiferas suavitatis [...]si obdormiunt. Cyprian. in prolo. de ope [...]i. cardinalib. Christi. Conceptions are spread abroad by words, and faults are multiplied by communication; if those who are dumb, conceive envie, they cannot shew it by detraction; and if they expresse it by signes, 'tis either the hands, or eyes, which makes them guilty: our soule is not infected with falshood, or heresie, save by our most refined sense; these two poisons are taken in by the care, not by the mouth: And as faith and truth enter the soule by hearing, their mortall enemies make their passage by the same way: a man must stop his eares, and shut his eyes if he will keep his heart pure. It were to be wisht, that men were blinde, that so they might not see the beauty which inchants them; & that women were deafe, that they might not hear the praises which seduce them. Caro officina est sp [...]tus, us, qui in e [...] & per cam quaecumque affectaver it, perag [...]t & [...]onsummat. Idem ibid. In fine, the world abuseth us onely by our senses; it's pernicious Maximes get into our soules by our eares, the vanities thereof corrupt our wills by our eyes; and all those objects, whose different beauties do be witch us, make no impression in our soule, but by our body. We should be invulnerable, were we spirituall; and of a thousand temptations which we have, we should hardly be troubled with one, were we not engaged in Materia.

To compleat our mis-fortune, we love our enemy, the bad offices he doth us cannot diminish our love. All the Maximes of Religion cannot perswade us to revenge; and though this motion of [Page] the minde be so pleasing to the injured, it seems severe unto us, when we are invited to punish our body. Our passion for this unfaithfull one, Nemo umquam carnem suam odio habuit sed nutrit & sovet eam. Ephes. c. 5. is not extinguished by death. The damned preserves it amidst the flames; though they know their pains shall be increased by the resurrection of their body; they cannot chuse but desire it. In hell hope triumphs over fear and pain; and this cruell enemy hath so many charmes, as though he be reduced to dust, yet doth he cause love in the soule which did inanimate him. The remembrance of the injuries which the soule hath received from the body, and the fear of pain which she expects from thence, is not able to stifle this desire. She hopes for the day of Judgement, where she must be condemned; though she know her punishment will be increased by her re-union with her body; she cannot but desire it with impatience, and places the delay thereof in the number of her sufferings. So as we are bound to conclude, that if the body be the cause of sin during life, it will be the punishment thereof after death; and that if it hath made the soule guilty upon earth, 'twill make her unhappy in hell.

The third Discourse.

Of the Infidelity of the Senses.

NAture being so intermingled with sin, as that the one is the production of God; the other the work of man; the praises which we give to the former, are always mingled with Invectives made against the latter; and we cannot value the beauty of nature, unlesse we blame the out-rages which Os homini sublime dedit caelumque tueri jussit, & erectos ad sydera tollere vultus. Ovid. 1. Metamorph. she hath received from sin; the figure of mans body is an evident signe of his Makers wisdome. The Lineaments of his face bindes us to admire the power of the hand which hath formed them, and the disposall of the parts thereof, draw no lesse praises from our mouthes, than the like of the universe. But the disorder which we see in mans Temperature, the opposition of those Elements which go to his composure, and that generall revolt which hath shed it self throughout all his members, obligeth us to detest sin, which is the cause [Page] thereof. We must argue in the same sort concerning our senses, and confesse, that as their use deserves estimation, their irregularity deserves blame.

They are admirable in their structure, and were they not common to us with beasts, we might be permitted to glory in them. The operation of the noblest of them is so subtill, as that the soule, as divine as she is, can hardly comprehend it; she admireth these Master-pieces of nature, though she have so great a share in their miracles, yet knows she not how they are done; and thinks strange that she should contribute to wonders which she cannot conceive. For the soule inanimates the senses, and this spirituall forme, is a created Divinity which sees by the eyes, heares by the eares, and expresseth it selfe by the mouth. But if the senses have their perfections, they have also their defects; and if the soule receive any service by them, she is by them likewise much injured. They are the gates of falshood and errour, vanity slides into our soules, by their means; they are exposed to illusions; the objects wherewith they are pleased corrupt them; and being once corrupted by delight, they make no true reports unto the soule. Nature hath endowed us with them, that we might know God by things visible, and to raise us up to consider the beauty of the Creatour by the like of his works; these deceitfull Guides do notwithstanding abuse us, and sollicited either by delight, or interest, make Idols unto themselves of all the creatures, and lead us to adore sensible and perishable Gods. Misi nuntios meos sensus omnes exteriores ut quarerent te, & non inveni, quia matè quaerebam. August. soliloq cap. 31. Saint Augustine confesseth, that he never went astray in his beliefe, save when he would follow them; and that he never engaged himselfe in errour, save when he gave beliefe to their advise; he sought out God with his eyes, he would have touched him with his hands, and thought to have found him in the world, whom he carried about with him in his heart. He gave commission to all his senses to finde him out, but these ignorant messengers could learn him nothing; and he found not his God, because he knew not how rightly to seek for him.

Their ignorance would be excusable, were it not accompanied with injustice; but these evill Counsellours grow insolent in chiding us, after they have abused us, and make violence succeed superchery; they tyrannize over our souls, after having seduced them, and make the Sovereign take laws from his slaves. According to [Page] the Government of the Universe, Inferiour things are alwas subject to their superiour: as the earth is lesse noble than the Heavens, it is also lower; it receives their influences, thereof with respect, and all the fruit it beareth, raise themselves up towards the stars, to witnesse that it's fruitfulnesse derives from their Influences. In Civill Government, women are subject unto their husbands, and slaves obey their Masters; in Politique, the people hold of their Sovereign, and the Kings will, is the Subjects laws; but in man this order is reverst by an irregularity, which can be nothing but the punishment of sin: his soule depends upon his body; and in her noblest operations, she is obliged to be advised by the senses. Her condition is so unhappy, as she seems almost enforced to believe the ignorant, to follow the blinde, and to obey Rebels. A man would blame a State, where fools should command over wise men, where children should prescribe laws to the Ancient, and where women should have dominion over their husbands; yet corrupted nature is engaged in this disorder; and since our first Fathers sin, the senses are the souls Counsellours, and this faint-hearted Sovereign, renouncing her lawfull authority, receives orders from her slaves.

Their tyranny hath occasioned another, more cruell, and more dangerous; for as they are subject to the devills illusions, they fight under his colours, and become accessary to all his wicked designes: he Diabolus posuit in comestione gulam, in generatione luxuriam, in conversatione invidiam, in gub [...]rnatione auaritiam, posuit malus cogitationes in corde, malas loqu [...]tionesin ore, pravas dispositiones in membris. Aug. in serm. hath wonall our senses over to him since sin; the noblest are most trusty to him, and he hath so corrupted them, as one must either be very wise, or very fortunate to defend himselfe from them. He hath put slandering in the tongue, uncleannesse in the eyes, errour in the eares, revenge in the heart, and pride in the head: He hath disperst disobedience amongst the passions, revolt amongst the members, and infidelity amongst all the senses. If we speak, he sollicits us to speak wrongfully; if we hear, he engageth us in errour; if we look, he strikes us in love; if we think upon our injuries, he incites us to revenge; and if we consider our advantages, he makes us vain glorious. Thus are our senses the Executours of his fury, the parts of our body are confederate in his faultinesse, and the members which nature hath given us to defend our selves, are the weapons which he makes use of to fight against us. But lest I may be accused of adding to our mis fortune to excuse our sin; I will consider the senses in particular, and after having observed their advantages, I will consider their defects.

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[Page] If the eye be not the Noblest, tis at least the most beautifull of all our senses; and if it be not most usefull, tis at least the most delightfull. Nature imployes nine Moneths in forming it, it is one of the parts of the Body she begins the soonest, and ends the last: tis a Master peece of workmanship, wherein her power, and Tenuibus multisque membran [...]eos Natura comyosu [...]t callosis contra frigoratunicis quas subinde purificant lach [...]ymationum falivis. Plin. lib. 11. ca. 37. her dexterity are equally to be admired: She mingles conrraries so warily there; as waters are there observed to agree with flames; they are the rises of fire and of tears, which cause deluges, & inflammations: All passions are there seen in their glory; sorrow and joy make it their chiefest Theatre, and when the heart burns with love or with hatred; it darteth out Thunder and lightning by the eyes: their greatnesse is rather a prodigie than a wonder; for they inclose the Adeo oculis absoluta vis specult, ut tam parva [...]lla pupilla totam imaginem reddat hominis. Idem ib [...]d. Heavens with all the stars therein, the sea with all her rocks, and earth with all its mountains, the severall species of all these objects lodge there without confusion, and Nature is amazed to see her whole Image, in so small a looking glasse. All their parts are of so nice a composition, as they are undiscernable; the nerves which convey the sight are smaller than the hairs of the head, the thin filmes which covereth them, are more transparent then Christall, and the waters which are inclosed in their receptacles, are so calm, as no storm can trouble them: Nature, which governs her love according to the merit of her works, hath given them so many guards, as their excellencie is easily judged by her care in preserving them. Omnibus oculis membrana vitri modo tran slacida obtenditur. Palpebras Natura dedit ce [...] vallum quoddam visus, & prominens munim [...]ntum contra occursantia animalia aut [...] fortu [...] i [...]cidentia. Idem ib [...]d. For to boote that the hairs on the eye-lids, are as many bristled points which defend them; that the eye-brows, are arches which cover them, that the eye-lids, are vails which hide them; the hands are imployed to save them, and their Chief exercise, when in the dark, is to guard these sons, which guide us in the day time. They are so sudden in their operation as it holds of the Nature of lightning; they raise themselves up to the heavens, and descend to the depths in a moment, they finde out things furthest of without wearinesse, and by an ordinary miracle they joyn themselves to them, without disjoyning themselves from the body: They serve for an Interpreter to those that cannot speak, they expresse thoughts which the understanding dares not trust the tongue withall, they are so happy in their expressions as savadge men understand them, and they are so powerfull in their perswasions, as they oft-times obtain more by their looks, then the mouth can do by words.

[Page] But assuredly it must be confest, that their bad exceeds their good, and their defaults their advantages. For the greatest sins commence by the sight, love hath no force with those that are blinde; though he be blinde-folded, his looks make his greatest Conquest; and the arrows which he shoots proceed rather from his eyes then from his quiver: Visus longius prospicit & momento facit quod aures tempore: prius enim coruscatio cernitur quam audiatur. Marsil. Ficin. in convivi. Platon. The subtilty of this sense serves onely to make it the more guilty; it commits faults where it is not, and being more subtil then thunder, it scorcheth People without touching them, it meditates adulteries before the heart conceiveth them, and in all unchaste sins, it is alwaies first faulty; most men would be innocent, if they were blinde; and without seeking so many remedies against love, want of sight would serve the turn: Impudicus oculus impudici cordis est nuntius. Hierony. The Soul having a more Noble residence in the eyes, then in the other senses, she shapes no wishes which she expresses not by them; nor conceives she any designe, wherein they are not Complices.

Every part of the body is capable of some crime, and since our losse of innocency, we have no part in us which is not able to irritate Gods justice: But yet we have this of comfort in our misfortune that their mischiefe is bounded; and that by a fortunate disability, they can commit but one sort of sin. The hand is onely guilty of Murders and Theft, the tongue of blasphemy and calumnie, the ear of hearing, errour, and falshood, and the mouth of excesse in eating and drinking: but the eye is guilty of all crimes, it sees no object wherewith it is not tempted, and all sins which can kill our Souls, can seduce our light; Odit Dominus oculos sublimes. Proverb. 6. pride seems to have establisht its Throne there, & lying is not more naturall to the tongue, then vainglory to the eyes As they have the art of speaking, they have also the cunning of mis-speaking, their very looks without the help of wor [...]s sufficiently witnesse their despisal: Slothfulnesse reignes there no lesse then obloquie; though they be so active, they cease not to be slothfull, drowsinesse assails them to make us sleep, they are sooner shut then the ears, and experience teacheth us, that we hear words when we see no objects: Anger is seen to break forth there in fury, Lightnings and Thunders burst forth from thence as messengers of revenge, and this violent passion makes not much more havock in the heart, than in the eyes: Like avarice, they are insatiable, that which hath been pleasing to them, causeth their pain, and their punishments arise from whence their desires did first derive. Envie sins more by the eyes than by the hands, though she be made to passe [Page] for blinde, she looks upon her neighbours happinesse with repining, and should she have lost use of sight, she would have found a remedy for the greatest part of her torments. Uncleannesse Irritamenta sunt vitiorum oculi, duces scelerum, huic adulterium oculi ministrant, huic domum quam concupiscat. lights her Torches at the eyes to consume the heart; she would be weak, were she not assisted by these faithfull officers; she undertakes nothing but by their looks, and before she imployes the hand to write, or the mouth to speak, she hath already made use of the eyes to expresse her designes. In fine, the eye is so guilty, as the wise Man findes nothing more pernitious, Nequius oculo quid est creatum? Ecclesiast. cap. 31. he wisheth to be blinde that he might purchase innocencie; and he leaves in dispute, whether Pestilence and War, or the sight, be cause of greater Mischief.

As hearing contends with it for worth, so may it do for wickednesse; and it must be granted that the good and bad which we receive thereby, are equally considerab [...]e; tis the sense which is most peculiar to the understanding, and which Nature and Religion seems to have addicted to the knowledge of the Highest Truthes: Nature makes Auditus cui hominum primo negatus est, huic & sermonis usu [...] ablatus, nec sunt naturaliter surdi ut non iidem sint & muti Plin. lib. 10. cap. 69. use thereof to learn sciences; she knows generall things onely by the ears; and those who are deaf remain Ignorant much longer than those that are blinde. Religion makes use of it to insinuate faith into the soul, of all our senses tis the only one which is faithfull to her; all the rest withstand faith, and meet with difficulties which offend them: Hearing is more credulous, and more rationall, its affinity with the understanding, makes it capable of the wonders of Christianity; and the great Apostle Fides ex auditu. Rom. 10. confesseth, that Faith enters the Soul by the ears: Passions themselves are obedient to it, and these unruly Subjects which countenance the Empire of reason, obey the Empire of the care, tis by it that Commanders incourage their Souldiers to Battle, tis by it that Orators oppease incensed people, tis by it that Philosophers perswade their Disciples; tis by it that Polititians instruct Princes, and make Conquerours undertake gallant actions; eloquence, which works such wonders in the world, owes all her might to hearing; she languisheth upon paper; when by the eyes she glides into the Soul, she looseth half her force, but she bereaves us of our liberty where she insinuates her self by the ears: and a man must be either stupid or opinionated, if he resist reasons which are pleasingly conveyed into the understanding by handsome discourse.

Est in aure imo memorie locus quem tangeares atte Iamur. Plin. l. 11. cap. 45. For all the praises are given to a sense so requisite to science and [Page] Religion, it ceaseth not to have it's faults; and to bear the characters of sin. It is a slave to superstition, and errour; it makes hereticks, as well as true believers, and 'tis the part by which the Serpents perswasions entred our first mothers soule. The poison which is poured in by the eare, is much more dangerous than that which is taken in by the mouth; and the soule is more easily corrupted by hearing, than by seeing. All vertues are endangered when set upon in this place, and there is not one of them, which is not extreamly threatned, when the vice which is it's enemy, will make it come forth by the part by which it entred; 'tis by it, that idle discourse undertakes chastity; 'tis by it, that errour triumphs over truth; 'tis by it, that calumny oppresseth innocency; 'tis by it, that blasphemy doth spread abroad it's contagion; 'tis in fine, by it, that the devill drives out Jesus Christ, and possesseth himselfe of the Throne which he had raised up in our hearts. So as 'tis not without good reason, that the Sepi aures tuas spinis, & linguam nequam noli audire & ori tuo facito ostia, & seras auribus tuis. Eccles. 28. wise man counselleth us to hedge in our eares with thornes, and carefully to lock up a gate, by which falshood, heresie, and impiety do confusedly get into our soules: And 'tis not without cause that we declare, that if the whole body be infected by sin, the eare is the part most dangerously corrupted.

The fourth Discourse.

That the Passions are fickle, or wilde.

IF man were a meer spirit, he should have no passions, nor should his rest be ever troubled by these motions of the sensible soule. Angels Sanoti Angeli & siue irâ puniunt, & sine miseriae compassione subveniunt, & tamenistarum nomina passionum consuetudine loquu tion's humana etiam in eos usurpantur, propter quandam operum similitudinem non pro [...]ter effect onum [...] mitatem. Aug. lib 9. de Civit, De [...] cap. 5. which have no commerce with flesh and bloud, have one of these changes; if they desire any thing that is good, they languish not for it; if they punish a fault, they are not transported with choler; and if they assist us in our misery, they are not touched with compassion: whence I conclude, that passions proceed from the soules marriage with the body; and that it is as naturall for a man to hope, and feare, to love and hate, to rejoyce, and to be sorry, as to eate and drink, or to wake and sleep.

Since nature doth nothing without a reason, man reapes some [Page] advantage by his passions, and meets with a thousand occasions, wherein Amor est delectatio cordis per desiderium currens & requiescens per gaudium. August. lib. de substantia dilectionis. cap. 1. & 2. he may make good use of them. Desire is the soules course, and she seems to command this nimble heeled passion, to put her in possession of what she loves. Hope comes in to the succour of desire, and promiseth her such good successe, as she resolves to make her way through all difficulties, which oppose her designes. If hope meet with more opposition then she imagined, she calls in courage to her aid, which by her valour purchaseth her the enjoyment of what she had long wished for. Such passions as are opposite to these, serves the soule to keep aloofe from what she apprehends. Fear is her flight; she doth her utmost to keep her enemy off; though she be timerous, she mingleth her selfe with hope to effect her designes; and imployes boldnesse to overcome such dangers as threaten her; if her strength be too weak, she falls insensibly into despair; and giving way to griefe, doth of necessity become unhappy. Somtimes she assumes courage in her disasters; sollicited by hatred, animated by desire, and incouraged by despair, she gets the better of the enemy which possesseth her; and findes by experience, that somtimes to be happy, a man must have been miserable.

These passions have so much affinity with vertue, Irasci peccantiut corrigatur, contristari pro afflicto ut liberetur, timere periclitantine pereat, nescio utrum quisquam sanâ consideratione reprebendat. August. li 9. de Civit. cap. 9. as let but never so little care be taken in husbanding them, they may become vertuous. Fear is serviceable to wisdome; wise men are always timerous; good successe always their apprehension, and prosperity which makes others insolent, makes Polititians modest; The Tragedian makes Agamemnon, from the ruine of Troy apprehend the like of Sparta; his victory causeth his diffidency, and the Poet, who will make this Prince a perfect Polititian, seems to have grafted his wisdome onely upon fear. Audacity is a naturall fortitude, a man must be couragious to be valiant; this vertue is no lesse a work of nature, than of morality; and unlesse a mans constitution contribute towards his generosity, Philosophy with all her counsell, will hardly make him seek out an honourable death. That which is said of Poets, ought to be affirmed of all vertuous men; as these cannot be famous in their profession, unlesse they be borne of that heat which is the soule of Poesy, these cannot be valiant, unlesse they be born with that generous heat, which desplseth dangers, and which boasteth in the losse of life, when glory is won [Page] thereby. Anger doth somwhat resemble justice, the one and the other of them will punish faults; and if the former be not better regulated in the revenge which she takes for injuries, 'tis because she is blinde, and that self-love whereby she is guided, makes her commit excesse. Contristati est is secundum Deum, quo enim secundum Deum tristitia est poenitentiam ad salutem stabilem operatur. 2. ad Corinth. cap. 7. Vtilis nobis unâ re tantum tristitia judicanda est cum hanc vel poenitentia delictorum, vel desiderio perfection is accenst, vel futurae beatitudinis contemplatione concipimus. Cassiodor. li. 9. c. 20. Sorrow and griefe are happy servants to repentance; they mixt their tears together to bewaile one and the same sin, and the contrition of a guilty person is the joynt work of nature and grace: As to be faithfull, a man must be rationall, so to be penitent, a man must be afflicted; and God will have passion to conspire with reason in repentance, to the end that the two parts whereof man is composed may satisfie justice. In fine, all the motions of the sensitive soule seem so addicted to good, as some of them cannot forgoe it's party; pitty is always praise-worthy, and the compassion of anothers evill, which she imprints in the heart, is so just, that the very Barbarians cannot condemne it; the indignation which we conceive for the misery of the good, and for the prosperity of the wicked, is a naturall justice which hath not yet met with a censure rigid enough to blame it. The shame which makes us blush at our advantages, or our defaults, doth look so like modesty, as their Interests are inseparable; she serves for an ornament to vertue, and for an expiation to sin; be it that her Father be infamous, or her mother glorious, the daughter is always equally honourable; and if a man be too blame in having committed sin, he is to be praised in witnessing his shame, for having committed it.

But let Philosophers be as carefull as she pleaseth in praising of our passions, they have lost their innocency, since nature hath lost her purity. The justest of them are irregular, and those which seem to side with vertue, are slaves to sin; their first motions are out of our power; let us take what care we can to reduce them to their duty; they get on wing without our leave; they are subjects to whom rebellion is naturall, Quemadmodum ratione nul lum animal obtemper at siferum sit. Natura enim eorum est surdasuadenti, i [...]a non sequuntur affectus, non audiunt quantalicun (que) sint. Sence. Ep. 86. wilde beasts which are never tamed, and faithlesse souldiers which fight oftner in the behalf of vice, than of vertue. The Saints think themselves happy, when after much ado, they can overcome one of these domestick Enemies; their life is not long enough to assubject them totally; and when they think to have overcome them, they finde, that like Anteus in [Page] the Fable, they draw strength from their weaknesse, and courage from their defeats: there is no passion in man which doth not set upon some vertues; oft-times they conspire together to fight against them. They reconcile their own differences, that they may ruine them; and as the Elements use violence upon their qualities, to preserve nature; these force their inclinations to destroy her. Their peace is more fatall to us than war; & we know not, that whether they be more to be dreaded when they adopt themselves to our humours, or when they oppose our desires. The best of them (the state considered wherein they are put by sin) are almost always irregular, the most innocent of them seem to be somwhat criminall; and those which men mix with the vertues, have always some affinity with vice: the greatest part of their motions are violent, unlesse they be reformed to grace; and whatsoever advantage morality may promise unto her selfe by them, she findes by her experience, that it is never good sporting with a wilde beast, though it appear never so tame. Naturall pity is almost always unjust; she considereth the pain, but not the offence; Misericordia non causam sed fortunam spectat, lacbrymis nocentissimorum movetur quae si liceret carcerem effringeret. Senec. 2. de Clement. cap. 5. she would break open prison, to let murtherers loose; and guilty men cease to be odious to her, if once they become miserable. Indignation is not much more just than pity; she complaines of the prosperity of the wicked, and of the good mans adversity, onely because she knows not that riches and honours are not the true rewards of vertue; and that shame and poverty are not the true punishments of sin. She is onely severe because she is blinde; she would not condemne the secrets of Gods providence, if she were conversant with the laws of justice, and o Plures pudore peccandi quam bona voluntate prohibit is abstinent. Senec. Epist. 83. mercy. Shame is alwayes mixt with sin; if sin be not the cause thereof, it is the occasion: And of as many guilty people as seem shamefull, there are but few which do not more fear the dishonour than the offence. It is very hard in the condition whereunto sin hath reduced us, for the passions to be serviceable to us without grace; since nature is become our punishment, they are become our executioners; they serve for Ministers to Gods Justice, to revenge his goodnesse upon our offences; they must be subject to charity, if we will reap any profit by them; and if the greatest part of mens vertues be sins without faith, the greatest part of their passions are disorders without grace; they are not to be [Page] safely guided by morality without Religion, their unrulinesse surpasseth her addresse; and as there are certain storms which passe the Pilots skill, there are revolts in man which exceed reason.

They say that Bees have some shadow of Policie in their Government; they chuse a King whose wil they reverence, they fight for his Glory, and shew as much courage in War, as industry in Peace. They suck the juyce of flowers without tarnishing their Colours, they rob Gardens without disaraying them, and with the same sting wherewith they fight against their enemies, they make their hives and gather their hony. Rege incolumi mens omnibus una, amisso rupere fidem. V [...]g. Georgie. This handsome order endures no longer then doth their Kings life; for as soon as he is dead they give over working, betake themselves to parties, conspire one against another, & having no King to keep them within their bounds, they divide their state. Whilest innocencie made reason rul'd in Man, the passions were peaceable, all their motions were regular: anger committed no injustice, all its Decrees were equitable, and the measure of the offence was alwaies the rule of punishment; hatred set onely upon sin; and love betook himself wholly to vertue; every passion plotted the publike good: but since originall righteousnesse hath forsaken Reason, and that man, being but half himself, hath ceased to be the perfect Image of God, his passions have despised his Empire, his Subjects have revolted, and losing the respect which he ought to God, he hath lost the authority which he had in his own person.

Profane Philosophy, which saw the effects of a cause, whereof she was ignorant, sought for a remedie, though without successe: She laughed at those, who would destroy the passions, as knowing that they were naturall to men; she invented some vertues to guide them; & forming unto her self a Continencie to moderate pleasures a fortitude to withstand sorrow, a wisdom to regulate accidents, and a Justice to decide the differentes between the Body and the Soul, she thought to have quieted all their disorder, and to have revived innocency in the world; but when she saw how weak these vertues were, despaire made her arm mutineeres, to suppresse one Passion by another, and to oppose hope to fear, choller to remissnesse, and sorrow to joy. This remedy proved worse than the disease; it increased the number of the Rebels Affectus tam m [...] minist [...]i sa [...]t quàm duces, quas numquam [...]atio com prime repossi [...], n [...] parc [...] illis si [...]e que [...], ut [...]e metum, [...] S [...]uce. 1. de l [...]â cap. 9. whom it would have lessened; & weakened reasons authority, whichit would have established. All [Page] these different means unprofitably employed are sufficient proofs of our passions Malignity; and after all the means used by Philosophy, it must be confest, that the motions of our Soul are disordered by sin; that to make vertues of them, their nature must be almost totally altered, and that unassisted by Grace they are more dangerous mischiefs than either Pestilence or Famine.

One of them is sufficient to destroy a whole Province, a Monarchs anger is the ruin of a State, and that which causeth suites at Law between particular men, kindles War between Princes. Ambition hath changed the face of the world a hundred times, the Deluge hath not made such waste therein, as hath the pride and vain glory of Conquerors; the marks of their Hoc vero quid aliud quis dixerit quam insaniam, circumferre pericula, & ruere in igno [...]os, i [...]atum sine injuria, occurrentia devastantem & ferarum more occidere qu [...]m non oderis Senec. quaest. natural. lib. 5. cap. 18. g [...]eatnes are for the most part fatall; they build Towns upon the ruines of such as they have beaten down: their conquests do oft times begin with violence and injustice; vertue hath seldom been the reward of their victory, he who hath been most fool-hardy hath oft-times been most fortunate; the whole world dreaded Alexanders ambition, & one only man, hath or caused fear in all men. The desire of glory made him swim in his Enemies blood; this passion was augmented by good successe, victory ingaged him in new Battails; the more fortunate he was, the more was he insolent; had not death stopt the course of his conquests, he would have made all Nature groan: Asia Europe and Affrica would have had but one and the same Tyrant; and his Subjects ruine would have been the onely proof of his authority. Adams fault never appeared more than in Alexander; we should not beleeve that our father aspired to make himself God, if this his Son had not imitated him; and we should hardly beleeve that man in the state of innocency had any proud desires, had not this Prince had insolent thoughts in the state of sin. The world seemed too little to his ambition, his Vanity thought Usurpation lawfull, and he was so blinded with passion as that he thought it no the every to plunder a kingdom, or Murther to Defeate an Army.

By all this discourse tis easie to inferre, that the passions are rebels which are partiall in their siding with sin, and which are never so much assubjected to the Soul, but that they are alwaies ready to obviate her Power, and ruine her authority: They are like the Praetorian Souldiers, who made merry with their Princes heads, who made and unmade their Sovereignes, onely in reference to their [Page] own interest; who gave the Empire to those, who offered most for it, and who made no election which began not with murther: for these heady giddy Subjects have no other motion than either their own pleasure or proffit; they obey not reason, save onely when they like her commands, and to reap any profit by them, they must be won either by threates or promises; they help us, onely in hurting us; they do rather occasion the exercising our vertue, then assist the practice thereof; and as if they were of the devils humour, they advance our wellfare only, in labouring our losse; their assistance is almost alwayes pernitious; they must be used as the Poets say Aeolus used the windes; threates must be used with the orders which we give them; They are like those horses in the chariot of the sun in Ovid; they must be be roughly dealt withall before they reduced; and their Nature must be changed, ere their violence be overcome. Anger turnes to fury when not moderated; desire and hope go astray when not regulated; Audacity grows rash, when not held in; and sorrow turns to despaire, when not sweetened; so as all passions instruct us, that Nature is corrupted by sin; and that to assubject them to reason, a Man must guide himself by the motions of Grace.

The fifth Discourse.

That the health of Man is prejudiced by sicknesse.

AMongst a thousand differences which distinguish Christian Grace from originall righteousnesse, one of the chiefest is, that the former sanctifies the Souls onely, and the other did sanctifie the whole man, and wrought admirable effects in his body. For in the profession of Christianity, the senses are yet Subject to the Illusions of the Devil, objects do yet move the passions; and reason is oft surprised by their motions. The Sacraments do not warrant us from death, and the remedies which Jesus Christ hath left unto his Church do not cure our sicknesses. But in the state of innocency, originall righteousnes was a plentifull spring-head which [Page] dispersed abroad its rivulets into both the parts which go to the composure of man. For it brought fidelity to the senses, obedience to the passions, and peace to the Elements; hence it was, that man preserving his advantages, [...] in hoc corpore mo [...]tali incipit [...]otare. August. was exempt from sicknesse and death: The seasons not being yet irregular, nothing could alter his temper, and his humours being uncorrupted, nothing could have prejudiced his health: But with the losse of his innocency, he lost all his priviledges and he was no sooner sinfull, but he began to be sick.

This is so constant a truth, as that mans life is nothing but a long sicknesse which never ends but in death: he is born in sorrow aswell as in sin; his entrance into the world is no lesse painfull, then shamefull; if this monster like the viper, rip up the bowells of his Mother, he himself feels a part of the pain, which he makes her suffer, and he runs as much danger, as she who brings him into the world. Therefore tis that Saint Austin sayes handsomly, that to be born, is to begin to suffer, and that to live in the body is to begin to be sick: The disorder of seasons is sufficient to corrupt the best constitutions, and the Alterations which happen in the world make such impressions in the Body as trouble the temper thereof. Though Nature be a wise Mother, that she prepare us for the Summers heat by the moderate warmth of the spring, and that she fits us for the winters cold by the moistnesse of Autumn, yet is the body of man so weak as notwithstanding all these precautions, she cannot free it from incommodity; Physicians themselves observe, that every season brings with it its maladie: and that ruling over such humours as accord with them, they never suffer us to enjoy perfect health.

The Elements agree not better than do the seasons, there is alwayes some one of them which predominates to the prejudice of the rest, they commit outrages each upon other; and as bloud and choller, discharge themselves when over heated; flegme and Melancholly do the like when they are corrupted; their good intelligence is fatall to man; this calm threatens him with a terrible storm, and he is never nearer sicknesse, than when in perfectest health; besides these incommodities which spring from his temper, there are others which proceed from indigencie, and which oblige him every day to seek for cure, he is dayly tormented with hunger and thirst, [...]ames natu [...] est [...]dam [...]rbus, quia Natura sacta est [...] [...]na. August in [...]. [...]. [...]7. and these are so pressing maladies, as he cannot defer their remedies [Page] without hazarding his life. Naturall heat commits spoil in the body which ought to be repaired. The fire which inanimates us, consumes us, and if it be not furnisht with nourishment to entertain it, it dischargeth it's fury upon the radicall moisture which preserves us. 'Tis a lamp that goes out when left without oyle; and a man is so corrupted since sin, as that which we call life, is but a long death; and that which is termed health, is but a continuall sicknesse. Nature is become our punishment, every part of our body is bound by the Justice of God to punish us; so as not needing executioners for the satisfaction thereof, it findes enough in our selves to revenge itselfe of us.

The sicknesses wherewith we are afflicted; Sanitas corporis est corum quibus componitur concordia, & ejus agrotatio, corum discordia, August. arise from the mixture of the Elements; though the seasons were not unseasonable, and though the heavens should have no bad influences, we should not cease to suffer; our bodily temper suffers for the irregularity of our soules; and there are some evils turned into nature; insomuch as we cannot live without them; Thirst is as usuall as hunger, this malady, though it be violent, ceaseth not to be naturall; those who are never troubled therewithall, passe either for Angels, or for Monsters; History ranks it in the number of Prodigies; and men are more astonished to see a man that did never drink, than to see a man that did never laugh: yet this so common punishment is so cruell, as in five or six days it destroys the strongest men, and makes the most couragious accept of dishonourable conditions. Places which can defend themselves against force, cannot defend themselves against thirst; and the fire which consumes the entrails, is of more efficacy, than that which blows up walls and bulwarks. Watching is not much lesse unsupportable than thirst. Tyrants have put malefactors to death by keeping them from sleep. Man must have recourse to sleep to refresh himselfe, and must seek to preserve his life in the image of death. If he neglect this remedy, he languisheth away, and his very soule which delights in motion, hath need of this rest, to re-assume it's vigour. But all these evills are but pastimes or sports, in comparison of these which are occasioned by our debaucheries. The stone and gout are punishments which may almost vye with those of the damned, they sieze on the most sensible parts of the body; had they not their intermissions they would cast men into despair; and to free themselves from it, the lawes [Page] of the Ancients ought to be revived; which permitted the miserable to die.

All the parts of the body hath maladies which assail them; there is not any one which hath not some peculiar torments. The eye which is one of the least, though not of least importancy, is subject to above an hundred severall diseases; the nerves which give them motion, and through which they receive light, are as capable of obstruction, as those by which the armes and legs are moved; the smaller they be, the more susceptible they are of pain, and by how much the parts of the body are the most noble; they seem to be the more painfull. The least hurt in the heart is mortall; and the throne wherein the soule resides is so fraile, as a very vapour is capable to crack it. In fine, the best Physician, who knew not that a man was sinfull, wondred he should be so miserable; and considering his miseries, confest he was wholly a disease. Totus homo totus morbus est. The soule, which is the bodies guest, is also it's executioner; the ones agitations trouble the others humours; great men have little health, the great designes which purchases them so much glory, leaves them but little quiet. Violent agitations alter the constitutions more than the countenance, more men dye of anger and griefe, than by the hands of the hangman; lovers, and ambitious men are always in a Fever: the fire which inflames them, consumes them; and the Physician who deals with their body cannot cure their sicknesse, till Philosophy which guides their mindes hath allayed their passions. The soules delights are the bodies punishments, and the same meditation which enlightens the understanding, and heats the will, disorders the temper, and alters the constitution; thus the whole life of man, is nothing but a vexatious sicknesse, his noblest operations serve him for punishments, and he cannot purchase knowledge but by the losse of his health.

If the maladies be vexatious, the remedies are not more pleasing. Physick teacheth, that the remedies which she furnisheth us withall, are but prepared venomes; she cannot drive out sicknesses, but by poisons; and to cure those that are sick, she must seek for Antidotes in the bowels of vipers. She is so unfortunate in her cures, as she cannot assaile the disease, without hurting the party diseased; nor can she strengthen the diseased party without augmenting the disease. These two maximes which divide the school of physick, are are equally dangerous: for be it that you will drive away the disease [Page] by it's contrary, or that you will cure nature by it's like, you must either weaken the sick party Omnis medicina aut Natura amica, aut mali inimica esse debet. Arist. whil'st you think to destroy his disease, or else increase the disease, whil'st you strengthen the party that is sick: so as the remedies are as dangerous as displeasing; and we hazard our life as oft as we endeavour to recover health. Hence proceeds the aversions which sick people have to physick; hence proceeds the Philosophers invectives, against the fear of death, and the desire of life; which oblige us to endeavour remedies, which are more cruell than the evills which they promise to cure.

For there is the difference between nature and physick; the former remedies are pleasing, the others nauseous. Viands which satisfie our hunger are so conformable to our temperature, as they expell the evill with delight, and repaires the ruine thereof without pain. Wine appeaseth thirst with so much contentment, as that drunkards are delighted in the remedy, and wish to be thirsty, that they may have the contentment of being cured; this sort of drink is so pleasing to them, as not staying till they have need thereof, they seek it out meerly for pleasures sake; and violate the laws of nature, which hath made it pleasing onely because 'tis necessary. Sleep charms our wearinesse with so much of content, as though it be the picture of death, no man doth abhor it: the slothfull ground their felicity thereon and those who do most desire to live, take delight in dying oft and long. A man must be sick to have an aversion of these remedies, and either our health is interessed, or our taste depraved, when meat displeaseth us: Remedia null [...] sunt tam salutaria quam quae faciunt dolorem. but physick is so severe in her operations, as she never undertakes to cure us, without offending some of oursenses; all her remedies are torments; if she restore us to health, we must undergoe pain ere we come by it; she hurts us to cure us, nor hath she yet found the receipt how to make her potions pleasing: the sweetest things in her hands, become either dead or bitter, sugar and honey do distaste us, when prepared by her; and she is so unfortunate in all her designes, as she weakens her reme [...]s when she thinks to make them appear pleasing.

Chyrurgerie, which follows her as her handmaid; out-bids her Mistresse for cruelty; Tyrants are not so cruell as, her officers; she hath more instruments to afflict the sick withall, than hang-men have to torment the guilty: Invenit nobis Deus remedia periculis pejora, Senec. in Mcdeâ. all her cures are effected by fire and iron; she widens wounds to close them, she cuts off some members, to [Page] save the rest of the body; she draws the stone out of the bladder, with such torture, as seems to equall that of the damned; and she is either so cruell, or so unfortunate, as she cannot make men whole, without making them Martyrs; a life accompanied with so much pain, cannot be very pleasing; health so dearly bought, cannot be much delightfull; and a man must be stupid, if he do not equally apprehend the malady, and the cure. Abominandum est genus remedii sanitatem debere morbo, Senec▪ l b. 1. de Itâ c. 12. We see nothing in the world which ought not to cause horrour in us. The simples in our gardens call to minde our sicknesses, the fairest of our flowers teach us that we either are sick, or may be; those drugs which we fetch from the furthest Indics, are proofes of our infirmities; our Ancestors world will not suffice to cure us, we must seek for a new world to find new remedies in; and if the desire of glory make the ambitious passe over unknown seas; the desires of health make the sick discover forreign Countries. Who will not confesse that man is sufficiently sinfull, since there is no part of his body which is not threatned with sundry. maladies; and who will not confesse that he is very unfortunate, since all his remedies are punishments, and that he cannot buy his health, but by the losse of pleasure.

'Tis true, that if we more value Gods glory, then our own interest, we shall finde contentment in our pain; for his justice is satisfied by our sicknesse, his power appears in our infirmities, and his mercies are seen in our recoveries. He invents evills to punish the guilty, Omne [...] genus remedii l [...]co Deus admo [...]et, Senec. 1. de itâ▪ cap. 16. he imployes our sicknesse to expiate our sins, he makes as good use of a fever as of death to convert us, & he beats down the pride of Monarchs with punishments, which taking their name from their weaknesse, are called infirmities. His power was admired in Egypt, when he made use of little flies to overcome Pharaohs obstinacy; men were astonished to see these small animalls set upon the souldiers of this great Prince, that they wounded them deeply with weak weapons, and that by their little Trunks (more powerfull in the hand of God, than those of Elephants) they brought all that Monarches subjects to despair; they were surprized when grashoppers made up a body of an Army in his State; when they spread themselves overall his Provinces, when they laid all his grounds waste, eat up the eares of corn, and left a fearfull so litarinesse, which threatned the whole Kingdom with an universall Famine. Men wondred when the frogs forsaking their marish grounds, entred Towns, and houses; broke [Page] through the Corps du-Guards, threw themselves into Pharaohs Palace, and passing even to his private Closet, whereunto he had withdrawn himself, did in their croking voice upbraid unto him his pride and infidelity. But this so mighty miracle comes short of that which Divine Justice shews in the sicknesses of the earthly Monarches, grashoppers are not so dreadfull in his hands, as are fevers and contagious diseases; and if he appeared adorable when he revenged himself upon his enemies by flyes and frogs, he is no lesse the same when he stings the nerves by the Gout; When by a grain of sand he stops the uritaries; or, when by a vapour which assailes the brains he puts a period to the designes of the greatest Princes of the world. Grashoppers are the works of his hands, he imploys the beautifullest of all constellations to form them, and he gives them meadows to walk in, and disport themselves, but sicknesses are the daughters of sin, and mothers of death. Being the spring of Rebellion, they ought not render obedience to God; and not being the workmanship of his Power, they ought not to serve his justice; yet he imployes them to punish the Rebels of his Kingdom; he useth them as State Policies, and not making use of fire or water, he commands the Fever or the Goute, to set upon Princes in their Pallaces, to mow down their Subjects, and to turn the most populous Towns, into dreadfull desarts; if these faithfull Officers doe sometime serve his Justice; they are also sometimes Quosd [...] [...] D [...] multa peccare posse [...] i [...]firmitate corporis ne pec [...], ut eis utili [...] sit frangi [...] gu [...] ribus ad salutem, quam re [...] nere incolumes ad da [...]ationem, Hugo lib. 1 de anima. serviceable to his mercy; for sicknesses do losen us from the earth, they bereave us of the use of pleasure, and taking from us the power of doing ill, they make us forgo the desire thereof; they change the love we bear unto our body into a holy aversion, they ruin sin whereof they are the effects, and rendring obedience to Gods designs, they cure the man, by hurting the Malefactour.

The sixth Discourse.

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That the bodies beauty is become perishable and criminall.

A Man must be blinde if he value not beauty; her advantages are so visible, as she is, sure to have the better if her judges have eyes; Beauty is the first perfection which is seen in any one, and which steals away the heart of the beholders. She doth so powerfull forestall the understanding, as we cannot harbour an ill opinion of a handsome personage; and since we are perswaded that the works of Nature are perfect, we are apt to beleeve, that she hath inclosed a fair Soul in a handsome body. [...]ulgor bonitatis pulcbritudo, Plato in convi. Tis therefore that the Platonicks terme beauty the luster of Goodnesse, and will have her to be the visible Image of an invisible perfection; she hath such power over humane Judgement, as good fortune cannot be expected where there is no handsomenesse. Angels finde their contentment in beholding the beauty of God. Devils think themselves onely unfortunate for having lost the hope of enjoying it, and though it be the cause of their torments, yet is the object of their desires. This perfection ravisheth the will so readily, as the sight of her is sufficient to make her be beloved, she oft-times changeth hatred into love, and to make her power appear, she delights to make her Enemies her Lovers. We have heard of a daughter that fell in love with him that murthered her Father: the handsome comportment of this Prince blotted all hatred out of her heart, and the beauty which appeared in his countenance forced her to love him, whom by nature and reason she was bound to hate. [...] eti [...]m [...]rbaricae [...]ver [...]tur, & ad [...]bilem [...]spectum [...] oc [...] m [...] suescit. P [...]l Jovius hist. lib. 5. Barbarians bear respect unto her, fair personage [...] pass amongst them as deities, and the lovers of beauty were the first Idolaters.

The command which she exerciseth over men is so powerfull, and so pleasing, as they are pleased with the losse of their liberty, and contrary to the humour of slaves, they love their Irons, and cherish their prisons: could Kings use this art to make themselues be obeyed, they should never know what revolts were, and all their [Page] subjects being their well-wishers, they would be absolute without violence, rich without imposts, and sa [...]e without Citadels. Thus when the Sonne of God would reign amongst men, he wonne their hearts rather by his comlinesse then by his power, and he used clemency oftner Specie tu [...] & pulthritud [...] tuâ intende, prospere proced [...] & regna, Psal 44. then justice to reduce his Enemies to their duty, consecrated beauty in his person, when he took our Nature upon him; though he assumed the pain of sin, he would not assume the uglinesse thereof, and as there was no ignorance in his soul, so was there no deformity in his body. There was but one Heretique who mis-interpreting the words Passiones quidem humanam Christi caruem, contumeliae in [...]onestam probavere. Tertul. de carne Christi. of a Prophet imagined that Jesus Christ was deformed, but tradition upheld by reason, teacheth us that he was beautifull without art, that the Holy Ghost who formed his body in the Virgins womb would have it adorned with comlinesse, Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum, Psal. 44. and that nothing might be wanting to his workmanship, he exceeded men in this advantage, as well as in all others. His very Types in the old testament were all comely. Solomon and David, the one of which represented his victories, the other his Triumphs, were both of them famous for their beauty; Nature seemed as if she would picture forth in them the Messias, to satisfie the just desires of those who could not see him. The Angels took upon them his visage when they treated with the Prophets; whilest they spoke in his name they would appeare in his form, Abraham saw him in that Glory, wherein he appeared on Mount Tabor, and numbred this vision amongst the chiefest favours he had received from Heaven. Iacob had the honour to see him in the person of that Angell which wrestled with him, before the break of day; David erat rufus & vald [...] pulcher, 1 Reg. the three Children which were thrown into the fiery furnace, saw him amidst the flames; his presence freed them from fear, they found paradise in the picture of Hell; and that Angell which bore the visage of Jesus Christ, broke their Irons in pieces, preserved their vestures, and punished their Enemies. In fine, Jesus Christ lost not his lovelinesse till he lost his life, the Luster of his countenance was not effaced, till by buffetting, his face grew not pale, till by stripes, and he lost not that Majesty which infused respect into his Enemies, till the bloud which distild from his wounds had made him an object of compassion and horrour.

In fine, beauty is so amiable, as her enemy is odious; all the Monsters whereby the world receives dishonour, are composed of uglinesse: [Page] 'Tis an effect of sin, which corrupts the workmanship of God, had there been no l Quarti species [...] similis filio Dei, Daniel. sinner, there had been no deformed Creature. Grace and beauty were inseparable in the estate of originall righteousnesse. Nothing was seen in the Terrestiall paradise which offended the eies; all things were pleasing there, because all things there were innocent. There was no deformity known in the world till after sin; Il-favourednesse is the daughter and the picture of sin, and 'tis a piece of injustice to hate the copy, and to love the originall.

Albeit these reasons oblige us to reverence beauty where accompanied with Innocency, yet have we as much and as just cause to fear her, since she is mingled with impurity, For sin hath left nothing in nature uncorrupted; this Monster is pleased in setting upon the most Glorious works of nature, and knowing that their chiefest ornament lay in their beauty, hath pickt out her more perticularly to discharge it's fury upon. There are none of nature works now, which have not some notable defaults. Did not love make men blind he could never make them in love; did he not hide from them their imperfections whom they love, he should not see so many souldiers fight under his colours; and had he not taught women the secret how to imbellish themselves, Impurity would have long since been banisht from off the earth. The famousest beauties have their blemishes, those who are not blind observe their defects; had Helen of Greece lived in these our dayes, the Poet who put such an esteem upon her, would be found to be a lyer and a blind man, but say that Nature should make a Master-piece indeed, and that Paridoras fable, should prove a true story, her beauty would notwithstanding be contemptible, since she could not grow old and keep it, this advantage is so frail, as it cannot long continue, it is so soon gone, as it rather seems a dream then a truth; let women take what care they please to preserve it, it will vanish from of their faces, and when they shall see themselves in a glasse, they will have much ado to perswade themselves that ever they were Te Pulchrum videri non t [...]a natura, sed oculorum [...]ectantium facit i [...] firmitas. Boet. lib. 3. de consol▪ handsome. All accidents have some power over beauty; Time is as well her murtherer, as her producer, it effaceth all her glory, tarnisheth her roses and Lillies, and doth so alter the Godliest workmanship of nature, as it maketh horrour and compassion arise in the same hearts, which it had struck with love and envy. Momento rapitur, null áque non dies formosum corporis spolium abstulit, res est forma fugax, Senec. in Hypolit. 'Tis not death but old age which triumphs over this perfection in women: if they grow old [Page] they are sure to grow ugly, I ni [...] manus form [...] damnosa senectus. Cumque aliquis dicet fuit haec form [...]sa do [...]ebis, & speculum mendax esse qu [...]ere tuum. Ovid. the prolongation of their life diminisheth their beauty, and they cannot live long, but they must see that die which they loved dearer than their lives: In the state of innocency, old age would not have injured beauty, the food which repaired nature, maintained the good liking thereof, men lived long, and grew not old: as death did not put a period to life, neither did oldage weaken it; the body was as strong at a hundred year old, as at forty. Beauty was then somwhat durable, time bore respect to this quality, and divine Justice which found no faults to punish, did not punish women with the fear of old age, or hard-favourednesse; But now this fear is part of their punishment, they are compelled to wish to die young, if they will not dye ugly; and thus divided in their apprehensions, they desire to live, yet fear to grow old.

Flet quoque ut in speculo rugas conspexit aniles, Tyndarys & secum cur sit bis rapt [...] requirit. Ovid. Metam. lib. 15. Time is not beauties onely enemy, the injuries which accompany it wage war against her, and all the evils which we suffer through sin, assaile this fraile perfection. The mil-dew causeth defluxions which are prejudiciall to her, the unseasonablenesse of seasons are averse unto her; cold chils her, and keeping back the bloud defaceth the vivacity of her complexion; heat doth sunburn her, and that constellation which makes lillies white, darkens the countenances of women. Sicknesses do not so soon alter the temper, as they do the tincture; and the out-rages which they commit upon the welfare, or good liking of the body, are harder to be repaired, than those which they commit upon the constitution; whole mouthes are required to their reparation, after p q Form [...] dignitas aut morbo deflorescit, aut vetustate extinguitur. Cic. lib. 4. Rhetor. the fever hath left them; the colour in the cheek is not so soon re-gained as health. And women as if they did prefer pleasure before profit, are sorry to see themselves sooner well, than fair; nothing can consolate them for the losse of a thing held so precious, but the knowledge that it was natures pleasure it should not be permanent. For her rarest workmanships are of least durance; there is no beauty constant save that of the stars, and yet they may complain, that the cloudes darken them by night, and the sun by day.

The rain-bow is the most beautifull of all Meteors, it shames the Art of painting, be it either for lustre, or for the mixture of colours; it's figure is so perfect, as the compasse cannot imitate it, the greatnesse thereof is so vast, as it incompasseth halfe the world; [Page] the waters whereof it is composed nourish hope in the husbandman, it causeth fruitfulnesse in fields, and warns men to shun the storms which it threatens. 'Tis a pledge of the peace which heaven hath made with earth; and though it presage rain to men in generall, yet doth it assure the faithfull, that the world shall never be drowned again; yet so rare a marvaile lasts but a few moments. One and the same hour sees the beginning and the end thereof; & the Sun seems to have made it, only to please itselfe in the un-making thereof. Lang [...]scunt folio [...]lia pallido, & gratae capiti deficiunt rosae, ut [...]ulgor teneris qui radiat [...]osis. Senec in Hypolit. The rose amongst flowers is like the rain-bow amongst Meteors, her vermillion out-vies all the beauty of the world. Her odour, naturally as it is, disputes for precedency with the most pleasing perfumes that Art can compose; the placing of her leaves, puts painters, who would imitate her, to their wits ends; yet too boot that she is environed with prickles, and that she seems to share more in the curse of the earth, than other flowers, her life lasts but for a few days; the Sun which gave her life, gives her death, and that fire which enlivens her purple, is extinguished, as soon as lighted. Neither is the beauty of women of long durance, that lustre which bewitcheth men is lost in a few years, and they are unjust in wishing that men should be constant in their love, since the object which gives it birth is so subject to alteration.

But this fault in beauty were excusable, since it cures the malady which it caused, were it not accompanied with another which can admit of no excuse, neither deserves any pardon. Rara est concordia for [...]e atque pudicitiae. luvenal. For beauty is become an enemy to chastity; and since the soule and body are at ods, these two qualities have much adoe to agree. Fair women are seldome chaste; nature, since corrupted, is turned hypocrite; beauty is no longer a mark of goodnesse; she forgoes the soule as soon as she appears upon the body; and as if perfection were no longer to be found upon earth; a woman ceaseth oft-times to be chaste, when she begins to be lovely. Nam te deco [...] iste quod optas esse vetat, votoque tuo tuo form [...] [...]. Ovid. M tam. lib. 1. That Father in Ovid did witnesse this very well, who being desired by his daughter, that he would give her leave to consecrate her virginity to Diana, reply'd, that her beauty gain-said her designe; that she was too fair to be chaste, and that though she should have resolution enough to keep her vow, she had too many lovers to preserve her chastity: 'tis very hard for a woman who delights in causing love in others, not to share therein her selfe; and that a woman of an excellent beauty should be ice, since [Page] she gives fire to so many flames; she cannot resolve to hate all those that love her, she cannot be perswaded, that those who honour her should undoe her; what advise soever her directour gives her, she cannot believe that those who are her slaves, should be her enemies; nor that those that praise her beauty, would wound her honour. She thinks that beauty of no power, which hath no Martyrs, she believes she cannot judge of her own charmes, but by her servants sighes; that she is ignorant of her own conquests, if she learn them not from their mouthes; and that there is yet somwhat wanting to her Triumph, if those who have experience of her cruelty, do not implore her mercy: Flattered by these false perswasions, she exposeth her selfe to danger, and out of hope of obtaining new victories, she engageth her selfe in fresh combates; if she be not seduced by vanity, she is misled by pitty; and believes that those who behave themselves so handsomly in their complaints, suffer reall pains; compassion makes her throw open the doores to love, and under pretence of easing anothers malady, she forgets her duty, and betrayes her honour.

If she preserves her chastity amidst so many rocks, which threaten her shipwrack, Fastus inest pulchris sequiturque superbi [...] sor [...]am. Ovid. she runs great hazard of loosing her humility; her lovers Panegyricks make her think better of her selfe, and those praises which men rob God of to give her, perswade her that she is somwhat of divine. Those who cannot corrupt her by their idle discourse, seduce her by their adorations; not being able to make her unchaste, they make her proud; not being able to bereave her of her chastity, they take from her her modesty; and bring her into a sad condition, wherein pride is as it were necessary to her for defence of her honesty. She likes not of common homage, she thinks her selfe injured if men use not blasphemy to heighten her beauty; and unlesse upon cold bloud men say what enamour'd Poets use to do in raptures, she thinks her selfe slighted; her lovers extravagancies, are her Panegyricks; she thinks not that they love, unlesse they lose their reason; nor doth she judge their passion to be extream, unlesse they commit a thousand follies. She judges of her power by her injustice, if she doth not engage those who serve her in hard and ridiculous enterprises, she doubts of their fidelity; and because love is a kind of madnesse, she will have all her lovers to be either mad, or out of their wits. 'Tis not enough for a man [Page] to lose his liberty in her service Amor [...] rationis oblivio. Hieronym. in Ep [...]stola. unlesse he lose his judgment also, more cruell then Tyrants, and more absolute then Kings, she will have her slaves to be her Martyrs, that they kisse their fetters, love their sufferings, and listen with respect to their doom of death. Thus Pride springs from beauty, fair women grow proud, and their insolence grows to that height, as to ravish men from God; to commit that execrable attempt on earth, which Lucifer did in Heaven, and to make all creatures adore rhem.

The first Christian women, who very well knew the misfortune which accompanied this advantage, did gallantly despise it, they were ashamed to be handsome, they neglected what our women so much value, they thought it a fault, to heighten a perfection, which produceth lewd desires; the purest amongst them wisht that old age might free them of this domestick enemy, the most zealous did set upon it in the flower of their youth, and revenged themselves upon their own countenances, for the unchast thoughts which they without design had caused: they never appeared in publick unvailed, they Tam sancti viri est suffundi si virginem viderit, quam sanctae virginis si à viro visa sit. E [...]usdem est lidibinis velle videri & videre. Tertul. de Virginibus veland. sentenced themselves not to see, that they might not be seen, very well knowing that these two faults proceed from the same principle. They would not cause love for fear of receiving it; they were so scrupnlous, as they thought their chastity blemisht by mens eyes; that as fruits lose their verdure if once toucht, a woman lost her chastity if once seen; and that since adultery begins by the eyes, sight was as much to be shun'd as touching they remembred, that their beauty was cause of scandall in Heaven, and interpreting the Scripture according to the letter, they feared to cause love in men, since they imagined their mothers had done the like in Angels. In Vestite vos serico probitatis, byssino sanctitatis, purpura pudi [...]itiae. Taliter pigmentat [...] Deum habebitis ama [...]orem. Tertul. de cultu [...]oem c [...]ultimo. fine, these chast women did sufficiently witnes by their negligence, how much they undervalued their beauty, for sackcloth was their habit, ashes the powder with which they perfumed their heads; the white of innocency, and red of shamefac'tnesse, was the paint they used, modesty did give life to all their actions; and thus adorned they had Jesus Christ for their lover.

If the example of these famous women cannot reform the disorder of those of our age, yet ought they at least to think, that beauty is no lesse dangerous to those that possesse it, than to those that covet it, that it is exposed to temptations, and environed with scandals, that if it be not the cause of sin, it is the occasion thereof, and that if [Page] it do not form bad desires, it is at least unfortunate in causing them. This effect is so ordinary to beauty, as the Fathers of the Church make Stdium placendi per decorem quem naturaliter [...] invitatorem libidinis non ven [...]t ex integrâ conscientia. Tertul. de cultu [...]aem. c. 2. the contrary pass for a miracle, for if the comlinesse of the Virgine Mary infused good thoughts, if her countenance inspired chast desires, and if her eyes the tears whereof did propagate our souls health, did raise mens souls to God; t'was rather an effect of Grace then of Nature, and as her Innocency was a priviledge wherewith the heavens would honour her purity, the sense of piety which she inspired into mens hearts, was a favour wherewith they would advantage her beauty. Other saints did not deserve to obtein so much, though nothing was so precious to them as their chastity, they perceived nevertheless, that their countenances caused sometimes unchast thoughts, that flames i [...]hued from their eyes, which against their wils set mens hearts on fire, and that though their bodies were consecrated to Jesus Christ, yet did they not cease to be pleasing in the eyes of his enemies. Therefore did they revenge the faults of others upon themselves, they sentenced their mouth to moanes, their eyes to tears, and their heart to sighs; Pereat corpus quod amari potest oculis quibus nolo, Ambros. they did penance for a sin which they never committed; and to the end that Gods justice might be satisfied they punished the innocent for the guilty, some of them were so generous, as they pul'd out their own eyes not being able to resolve to keep one part of their body, which without their consent had been cause of unchastity.

If the beauty of unpolluted souls be so dangerous, we must not wonder, if the like in lost women be so pernitious, and that the Devil makes use thereof to corrupt the mightiest men. For women is a fatall Instrument in the Devils hands, he is never more to be feared then when assisted by this fatall second. If he undid Adam by Eves cunning, if he made so many wounds with one blow, and if by one single combat he got so many victories, 'twas because our first mother held Intelligence with him, if he cannot tire out Iob's Adhuc tu permanes in simplicitate tuâ, benedic Deo & m [...] rere. Job cap. 2. patience by the losse of his goods, and his children, he hath recourse to his wife, speaking through her mouth, he endevours to make him despair, and to perswade him under pretence of compassion, to end his unhappy life by an honourable death, but of all women the handsomest are properest for his designs: and when a singular beauty serves him for Organ, or Interpreter, he is almost sure to overcome those he assails. By Dalila's charms he triumphed over Sampsons [Page] c [...] Samson validus & fortis leonem suffoca vit, sed a morem [...]um s [...]ocare non pot [...]t, vincula solvit hostium, sed suarum no [...] solvit nexu [...] cupiditatum, m [...]sses in c [...]dit alienas sed unius ipse mulieris accensus igniculo m [...]ssem suoe virtutis amisit. Ambros. lib. 1. de David. strength by the allurements of Bathsheba he engaged David in adultery, and in murther: by the idle discourse of a handsome stranger, he perswaded the wisest of all Kings, to offer up incense to the workmanship of his hands; he rob'd him of his wisdome by depriving him of his continency, and to execute so great a designe, he onely used the countenance of a Pagan Princesse.

But he never appeared more powerfull then when he set upon the whole Army of the Israelites, and when in a moment he made it unchaste, and idolatrous. This wicked spirit, had to no purpose armed the Midianites against the Iews; all their endeavours proved vain, though their numbers were greater, and their souldiers better warriours, they were ever either repulst or beaten; the very names of Israelites wan battells, the glittering of their Arms routed their enemies, and the Elements anticipating the valour of these Conquerours, did most commonly begin the battell. So many bad successes made the Devill have recourse to his old tricks. He commanded his partners by the mouth of a faithless Prophet, to set upon those with women, whom he could not overcome by men; and to make use of beauty where strength was bootlesse. Obeying this his counsell, they placed before their Battalions a troop of loose women, who carrying looking glasses, and Idols in their hands, invited the Israelites at one and the same time, to lose their continence, and to forgoe their religion. This wile was of so great power, that the Army in whose favour the heavens had done so many miracles, doth adore these women, and their idols; they forget their duty, to obey their love; and renounce their faith to satisfie their lust.

He still useth the same cunning, he corrupts Christians, as he did the Israelites, and the beauty of women is the smallest temptation, wherewith he astonisht the courage of men. A handsome woman is the Courts plague; after she hath once resolved to bereave hearts, and to have servants, she purchaseth as many subjects to the devill, as she deprives Christ Jesus off. After once she hath resolved to hazard the reputation of an honest woman, to purchase the name of a stately dame; she turnes to be a false Diety to which all unchaste people offer incense, an Idoll, which makes more Idolatours, than impiety makes Libertines; a contagion which being taken in by all the senses, sweeps away more men than the plague [Page] doth, consuming fire which heats whatsoever it comes nigh, and burns all that it toucheth, a Monster, Quid est spe [...]iosa mul [...]er? Sepulchrum dealbatum: Nisi fuerit casta pudica Pul [...]ritudo sine his virtutibus est praecipitium patens, venenum inspicienti [...] compositum. Chry sost. in Psalm. 50. which being the more dangerous by how much the more pleasing, scatters abroad impurity wheresoever it passeth, and which commit murthers, and adulteries by all the parts of it's body. Her looks undo men, the flames which proceed from her eyes reduce soules to ashes, her words bewitch those that hear them, she inthrals the heart by the ears, and whosoever doth not use Ulysses his harmles cunning indangers the losse of liberty. Her hair is a net wherein Lyons and Tygers are taken, her strength like that of Sampson, lies in her weaknesse, she imployes onely these weak arms to overcome the couragious, and makes use onely of these small threads to stop the course of the most unconstant. The lillies when on her face, lose their purity, and the innocent rose becomes guilty upon her cheeks: and as the spider makes her poyson of the best things, she composeth the venome wherewith she infects souls, of the fairest flowers. Modesty and Majesty, which else where defend vertue, do corrupt it in the person of a handsome woman; and these two advantages which makes her beauty the more powerfull make it also the more dangerous; her very gate is not without affectation and fault, her studied steps have a certain becomingness which is fatall to those that behold them; each pace steals a heart from some of her servants, and doing nothing without design, she either wounds or kils those indiscreet ones which approach her.

In fine, beauty is so pernicious, as God himself who extracts Grace from sin, makes use thereof onely to punish his Enemies, it is more dreadfull in his hands then thunder, and he hath tane more vengeance by womens allurements, then by the arms of souldiers. He ruin'd Hamans fortunes by Hesters countenance, the gracefull demeanor which he indued her withall, made Ahasuerus condemn his Favorite, and the death of this insolent enemy of the Iews is not so much an effect of Mordecais wisedom, as of his Nieces beauty. God chose out a widow to slay Holofernes, he obteined two victories over this Conqueror by the means of one onely woman; he took his heart from him by her eyes, and his head by her hands; he made first use of her beauty, then of her courage, and would have the Assyrians defeat to begin by love and end by murther. Thus are handsome women the Ministers of Gods fury, he imploys Hesters [Page] and Iudeths as souldiers to revenge his quarrels, and beauty which causeth impurity doth oft-times punish it.

We see no faults in the creature from whence God draws not some advantage; our weaknesse is the cause of our penitency, if we cannot alter, we cannot repent; and if we had the constancy of Angels, we might have the opiniatricy of Devils. Our offences serve to humble us, and the proudest spirits cannot think upon their sins without confusion. Concupiscence, which is one of the originals of our disorders is one of the foundations of Grace: Adams sin fastens us to Jesus Christ, and the miseries which we suffer under, make us have recourse to divine Mercy. Vela caput & mul [...]er Si ma [...]er propter fili [...]s, si soror propter r [...]tres, si filia propter pa [...]res: omnes in te [...]tates periclitantur, i [...]ue armaturam pudoris; murum sexui tuo strue, qui nec tuo [...] emittat oculos uec admittan lienos. Tertul. de Virginib. veland. cap. 13. But beauty seems onely proper to seduce sinners; if she be not serviceable to Gods justice, she is serviceable to the Devils malice; and causeth Murthers, when she cannot produce Adulteries. Of all the perfections of man, this is the onely one which Jesus Christ would not imploy to save souls. He imployed the eloquence of Orators to perswade Infidels, he made use of the doctrine of Philosophers to convince the ignorant, he useth the power of Kings to reduce rebels, and he imployes the wisedome of Politicians to govern states, but he rejects beauty, and judging her to hold Intelligence with his enemy, he never makes use thereof, but to undo sinners. The beauty of those Virgins which were consecrated to him converted no Infidels, the innocent allurements of the Lucia's and Agneses were of no use to the establishment of our Religion; there modest countenances forbore not to kindle impure flames, and if their executioners were toucht to see their constancy, their beauty set Tyrants hearts on fire.

Gods beauty is then that which can onely securely beloved, tis that, that we ought to sigh, all other desires are unjust. Whosoever betakes himself to the beauty of Creatures, revives idolatry, erecting an Altar in his heart, he offers Sacrifice to the chief Diety which he adores, where he himself is both the Priest, and Sacrifice. The beauty of the creature ought not to be looked upon otherwise then as that of a picture which we value, either for the persons sake whom it represents, or for the painters hand that drew it. He who exceeds these bounds Commits ungodlinesse, and who doth not elevate his love to the first and chiefest beauty, of which all others are but weak copies, is either ignorant or impious. If the beauty of the first Angel have made Apostates, and if the love which it occasioned in the [Page] hearts of those pure spirits, made them idolators what may we expect from a beauty which being engaged in the flesh, and in sin produceth onely wicked desires. Those who have fallen Sero t [...]amas vi [...] tam antiqua & tam nova. Con [...]ss. into this disorder must repent themselves with Saint Austin. To repair their outrages done to th beauty of God, by their infidelity, they must afflict themselves for having so late known him? And to make amends for their losse of time, and losse of love, they must labour to love him with more fervencie, and to serve him with more constancie.

The seventh Discourse.

That the life of man is short and miserable.

TIs strange, yet true, Homo qui medius constit [...] batur inter Deum & creaturas dum Deum cessavit amare, incepit ad creaturas omnes per amorem descendere: quodque in uno Deo inveniebat in creatu [...] is quae [...]ivit nec invenit. August. that man having changed his condition hath not changed his desires, and that he wisheth the same thing in his state of sin, as he did in his innocency. For that strong passion which he had for glory, is but the remainder of that just desire which he had to command over all creatures; his indeavouring to enlarge the bounds of his Empire tends onely to recover what he possessed before his revolt; the pleasure which he seeks after in all his pastimes, is grounded upon the remembrance of his former felicity. Those riches which he accumulates with so much labour, and preserves with so much care, witnesse his sorrow for being fallen from his aboundance, and the extream desire which he hath to prolong his life, is a testimony that he as yet aspires after immortallity. Yet hath not life those Charms which made it so amiable, the longest is but short the sweetest but full of troubles, and the most assured uncertain and doubtfull. For since the soul ceased to be upon good tearms with God, the body ceased to correspond fairly with the Soul. Though they go to the composure of the same Integrall, they cannot indure one another, their love is mixt with hatred, and these two lovers have alwayes somewhat of [...] which makes them not agree. The cords wherewith they are joyned together are so weakened, as the least accident is sufficient to break them; that whereof man is composed may destroy him; the very things without the which he [Page] cannot live, make him die, rest and labour are equally prejudiciall to him: his temper is altered by watching and by sleep, when either are immoderate, the nourishment which susteines him, suffocates him, and he fears abundance as much as want; his soul seems as if she were borrowed, Homo [...] & ma [...] [...]rentis, frigoris aesius laboris impatiens, alimenta metu [...]s sua quorum modo inopia modo copia rumpitur. Odor illi sapor & cibus, & sine quibus vivere non potest, mortisera sunt. Senec. a [...] Marc. c. 11. and that she is onely deteined in his body by art: The least accidents do sever her from it; a vapour doth suffocate her; she is choaked with a little flegme, and blood, which is the seat of life, is oft-time the cause of death; whithersoever so miserable a creature doth convey himself, she receives there new proofs of his weaknesse; the change of climates troubles his health, a new air incommodiates him, cold water hurts his stomake, the Sun which lights him, scorcheth him▪ and whatsoever is cause of good unto him, is cause of Evil.

In the State of innocencie grace linkt the Soul to the body; death unseconded by sin could not break the chains; the elements durst not assail him, originall righteousnesse made them observe respect, they appeased their differences, lest they might trouble mans temper; fire agreed with water to preserve his health, & there was as profound a peace in his person as in his state, but since he forewent his duty, grace abandoned his body to sin, the elements had liberty given them to war one upon another, man became the scene of their combates, and after once he revolted from God, he saw all creatures take up arms against him, Omnis vi [...]a [...] est, Sence. sorrow & death set upon him, he was sentenced to live in pain, & die in sorrow. For the sweetest life bears it's punishment with it. There is no rose which is not grafted upon a thousand thornes, and how handsome soever the chains be which link the soule and body together, they are both of them equally exposed to suffering.

The soule is more capable of sadnesse, than of joy; though she display her selfe to receive in pleasure, yet doth she never taste it purely; she weeps amidst her contentments, she expresseth her joy by sighs, and as if she were not accustomed to great happinesses, she seems to suffer when she receives them. Though she shut the doore upon sorrow, yet suffers she her selfe to be easily siezed on by it; though she resist it, she cannot withstand it; Segnius bomines bona [...] mala sen [...]ant. and as if nature had made her more sensible of misery, than of happinesse; a small displeasure is able to make her forget all her former contentments. The body is not more fortunate than the soule, for it hath not many parts which can tast delight, but it hath not any one which is not capable [Page] of pain. Pleasures do enter-shock, and always leave some of our senses in languishment or need; pains agree in their assailing us, and though they should not come in a crowd, one alone is sufficient to make it selfe be felt by all the parts of the body; their straight union makes their mischiefes common, and if the head suffer, the tongue complains; the eyes weep, and the heart groanes. Thus the happiest life is miserable, and that moment passeth not wherein we are not inforced to bewail our innocency, & to condemn our sin.

Death comes in to the aid of pain, and by an ingenious peece of cruelty, agrees with life to augment our miserie. For though they appear to be enemies, they joyn in our punishment, and joyn with Gods Justice to revenge God; Quotidie morimur, aliqua pars vitae demitur, & tunc quoque cum crescimus vita decrescit. Hunc ipsum quem agi [...]us diem cum morte divi [...] mus. Senec. Epist. 24. we live and die daily; the change which makes us subsist, is deaths taster; this cruell one siezeth on us by degrees; all the time we have lived is already gotten by him, and the years which we hope to make use of, are so many titles which he produceth against us. As soon as we begin to live, we begin to die. Death shares with us in all the moments of our life, it takes unto it selfe what is past, because that is certain, and leaves to us only what is to come, because that is uncertain. So as by a strange mis-fortune, the increase of our life is the diminution thereof. The farther we grow from our birth, the nearer we grow to death: our purchases are meer losses, m and things are so disposed of since sin, as we cannot count our years without either flattering our selves, or lying.

Tis perhaps for this reason that the Hebrew, (that holy language which the blessed shall make use of in heaven) imployes but one and the same word to expresse both life and death, with the difference of one only point, to teach us, that death and life, are divided onely by that moment which unites them. In effect life is nothing but a brittle chaine consisting of three links, the past, the present, and the future; the past, is no more, we retain but a weak remembrance of it; all the vows we can make will not fetch it backe; it is not void of doubt, whether Gods absolute power, which finds no resistance amongst his creatures, can gather together the present with that which is past, and unite these differences of times without destroying their essence. The future time is not as yet, hope which expects it cannot advance it, and wisdom which hath an eye unto it, cannot dissipate the obscurity thereof; it is lesse at our disposall then the time that is past, and for all the vain conjectures which we may flatter our selves withall, we know [Page] not whether it shall come to us, or we shall go to it; the present time, to say truth is in our power, we are masters of it; and it is the onely thing which we can say we possesse, tis the onely part of our life which we are assured of, and who promiseth himself more is either ignorant or impious. But this present time is but a moment, and this difference of time hath no parts; time past, & time to come, comprehend whole ages, but the present consists but in an instant; so as death and life differ only in a point, & these two which we judge so contrary are intertained by that moment, which doth separate them.

Though I honour this imagination by reason of the gallantry therof, and that respect wch I bear to the Hebrew Tongue, obliege me to reverence it, yet me thinks it doth not sufficiently expresse the miseries of life whose alliance with death is neerer then is thereby represented; death subsists only by life, and life is only preserved by death: they commence & end together, as soon as a man begins to live, he begins to die, nature which very well knows that two moments never subsist together, Commands death to hurry away the one to leave to life the other that ensues. As she doth with moments and houres, so doth she with those years whereof the degrees of our life are composed. Incrementa ipss si bene computes damna sunt. Senec. ad Marc. She makes our infancie die to give life to our Boyish age; she takes away a childe to substitute a man, and robs us of our youth, to make old age succeede. Thus if we advance in life tis by the favour of death, and we enjoy our last years by the losse of the former: who will not praise death, since it makes us live, and who will not blame life since it makes us die? who will not confesse, that sin is very cruell since it accords these two enemies to our undoing? and that for our punishment it hath turned a happy and immortall life, into an unfortunate and perishable one.

If this discourse be thought to be too finely spun, yet can it not Infantiam amisimus, deinde pueritiam▪ deinde adolescentiam: quicquid transiit temporis [...] Senec. Epist. 24. be denied, that mans life is shortened since his offence, and if a strong man hath made a shift to tumble in the world a hundred years, he is a wonder to those that see him, History records his name with respect, posterity admires him; and if he passe not for a miracle he doth at least for a prodigie. Hoc quod viv [...]s proxim [...]m nihilo est et tamen ob [...] nostram [...]. Senec. Every gift of life is so short, as we may easily judge we have divided it onely to deceive our selves. Our infancy endures but seven years; when our tongue gets its liberty, and our understanding is formed, we enter into our Bovish age which is of no longer continuance; it findes its death in our adolescence, and as soon as down appears upon a mans face, he changeth qualitie. This [Page] age which is esteemed the pleasantest of mans life, and which I think the most dangerous, lasts no longer than doth his Boyish-age, it ends when youth begins, which lasts somewhat longer than the other parts of life which did precede it, it begins at Thirty years of age, and ends not till sixty, old age serves it for a Sepulcher, and when the head is covered with snow, tis time to prepare for death. For this age is shortest of all the rest, if it have any hope, tis ill grounded, and the sicknesses wherewith it is assailed, are so many summons to the grave. If man arrive at that extremity of the age we tearm decrepit, he languisheth in pain, he calls in death to his aide, and the sorrows he suffers makes him think life tedious. Punctum est quod vivimus, & adhuc puncto minus, sed hoc minimum specie quadam longioris spatii natura divisit, aliud ex hoc infantiam fecit, aliud adolescentiam, aliud senectutem. In quàm angusto quot gradus posuit. Senec. Epist. 49. But for all this the longest life is but composd of moments, which multiplied by dayes and monthes produce some years; we divide it to make it seem the longer, and perswade our selves that by giving it severall names we adde somewhat to the durance thereof. We imitate the vanity of Princes who divide the earth to aggrandise it; and part it into provinces to satisfie their ambition. Mathematitians teach us, that the earth compared to the heavens is but a point, they ground their operation upon this maxime, and that art which teacheth us to measure hours by the Sun-diall, draws her certainty from this truth. Yet Princes divide this point into kingdoms; they thinke to extend the whole by multiplying the parts thereof, and that they do inlarge the world by dividing it into Provinces, but let their ambition do its utmost, let it make fights by Sea and land, let it cover the one with Houses the other with Ships, they dispute but for a point a p [...]nctum; and this place which they have chosen for the Theatre of their vain glory, and the Subject of their differences is but an indivisible atome. The bounders which we prescribe to kingdoms, are as well the proofs of our weaknesse as of our pride. O quam ridiculi sunt mortalium termini ultra Istrum Dacu [...] non ex [...]at, Parthis o [...]stet Euphrates, Rhenus German [...]ae modum faciat, Pirenae is, Galli [...]s & Hispani [...] dividat. Senec. q [...]st. Natural. lib. 1. praefat. The Alpes and Pyrenean mountains which part France from Italy, and Spain, are lines which nature hath drawn upon the earth to divide it, not to aggrandise or inlarge it; the Seas which seem to us vast, and the Rivers which we think so deep are lesse considerable in the world, then the veines are in the bodie; and whatsoever it be that feeds the vain glory of Conquerours, it is not so great as the least of those Stars which appear to us to be so little. Si quis [...]ormicis de [...] intellectum hominis nonne & ill [...] un [...]m a [...]m in m [...]ltas Provincias divident. Idem i [...]id. If pismires had as much understanding as men, they would give as specious n [...]mes to their little caverns, since they have a shadow of policie, they would divide their States into provinces; and by an Ambition [Page] equall to ours, they would frame a little world, of a foot of earth; what Monarchs make of the world, men make the like of life; they distinguish the ages thereof to flatter themselves, they thinke to keep off death, by extending life, and that they have a great way to go, when they have yet to passe through their adolescence, and their old age. They consider not, that the longest life is equall to the shortest, if it be compared to eternity; and that the condition of children is no better then that of old men, if it be compared with the worlds lasting. The time we live is almost nothing, and Nature hath left us but a moment to merit eternity; we can adde nothing thereunto by all our cunning, but as if we were more ingenious to work our selves evil then good, we have a thousand ways to shorten it, and the longest life becomes short through the bad use, we make thereof. We are prodigall of time, and greedy of good: We think we give nothing to our friends when we give them whole daies, and we consider not that we advance death by consuming our time. We heap up riches and scatter abroad Nemo invenitur qui p [...] uni [...]m suam dividere v [...]lit: vitam unusquis (que) quam multis distribuit. Sence. de brevit. vitae. years, we are streight handed in things, the profession whereof is praise worthy, and prodigall of those whereof the avarice is laudable. The time which we have lived for our selves makes the least part of our life, and when we shall have atteined to sixty years of age, tis found that we have lost more then the half of it. If we will cut off what time we have allowed to company keeping, what we have employed in visits, what consumed in pastimes, and what employed in other mens affairs, we shall finde the number of our years to be much fewer then we account them to be.

Nature, All whose examples are instructions, teacheth us to husband our time well▪ she is rather prodigall then liberall of her favours; she hath sewed the stars confusedly in the firmament, and though they be the most beautifull parts of the Universe, she would not have them to own their worth for their raritie. Rivers flow profusively, their spring heads are not dried up, and though they water never so much ground they grow not dry. The earth is alwayes fertile, there is no part of it which produceth not somewhat, and if you will except rocks which seems to be the bones of this great body, her muscles and her veines abound in milk which nourisheth her children. But this mother which is so liberall in her productions, is covetous of time; she gives it us by measure to make us value it the more, she spins it out drop by drop; the parts thereof succeede one [Page] another, and continue not together, she never gives us one moment but she takes another from us; she takes from us what is past when she gives what is present; and she threatens to take the present time from us, when she promiseth us the future. Of all the liberalities which she hath used since the beginning of the world she was never profuse of time, and Simul ad temporis [...]acturam ventum est, profusissimi sumus in eo cujus unius honesta avaritia est. Senec. de brevit. vitae c. 3 this her avarice teacheth us that time is the most pretious of all her gifts. Let us learn of so wise a Mistresse to Husband our years, let us by our wisdom prolong our life, and let us not part with so much time for our sports, and our affairs, but that we reserve the greatest part thereof for our well-fare. Thus shall we have no occasion to complain of the shortnesse of our life, and though it be composed but of moments, we shall finde, that if well employd 'twill suffice to purchase eternity.

The eighth Discourse.

That death is the punishment of sin.

OF all the pains which sin hath procured us, death is the most cruell and the most common; all others have their remedies, and self-love teacheth us how to shun them; we by our industry and labour overcome the earths sterility. We fence our selves from the shame of our nakednesse by the means of our clothes; we save our selves from the injury of the aire, and unseasonablenesse of weather by the commodiousnesse of buildings; physick furnisheth us with remedies against sicknesse, and reformeth our temper by the government which it prescribes us; Arts are invented onely to free us from the miseries of life; and the greatest part of Artificers labour onely to fence men from the punishment of sin. But death is a punishment as rigorous, as inevitable; humane wit hath not yet been able to free man from it. All her care cannot make a man live a hundred years; our first fathers lived longer, and the heavens which would people the earth by their means, prolonged their life to allow them leisure for it: but they died after some hundred years, and the oldest amongst them could not attain to a thousand years.

The rigour of this punishment doth equall it's necessity, for death is deafe to pitty, tears cannot appease it, and whatsoever [Page] causeth either respect or pitty in us, cannot stay the fury thereof. It enters Princes Palaces, Non mise [...]etur mors [...] non re [...] eretur divitias, non sapienti [...] [...] non aetati denique parcit, nisi quod seni [...]s est in [...], [...]uvenibus vero in ins [...]is. Bern. [...] Serm. as well as shepheards cottages; it knaps in two the Scepters of Kings with as much insolency as the shepherds crook; it keeps no other law than what is prescribed unto it by divine Justice; it siezeth on the son before the father, the daughter before the mother; sets upon Infants in the cradle, or Monarchs in their Thrones, and on Judges on their Tribunalls. There is no sanctuary against it's fury, and those who can pardon the condemned cannot obtain the like favour from death. There are many prodigies in the world whereat we wonder, and there is nothing so strange, whereof there hath not been some example which facilitates our beliefe▪ there be some whole intire Provinces where the Inhabitants li [...]e so happily, as that they are never troubled with sicknesse; there are some so auspicious Climates, as that in them the plague doth never mow down men, where the ground is not made sterill through [...]amine; and whereas thunder never falls upon the guilty head: France cannot nourish Monsters, nor are her houses at any time shaken with earthquakes. Some men are seen to grow old, yet not grow gray; and women who preserve their comelinesse in their age, and lose it not but with losse of life. Italy hath mountains whose entrailes are full of fire, and their heads covered with snow, as if nature took delight in according these two contraries; and by ending their differences to make her power appear. But how fantasticall soever this mother hath pleased to shew her selfe, what ever diversity she hath put in her workmanships to delight us, and what ever miracles she hath wrought to astonish us, she could never free man from death. The devill who promised us immortallity to engage us in disobedience, could not make good his word, Didicitque Achilles, & D [...]s [...]ates mori S [...]n. [...] [...]ade and the law which bindes us to die, is too generall to admit of any dispensation, or exception. When God himselfe became man, he became mortall, and taking our nature upon him, he would not exempt himselfe from death. All Gods friends have born this punishment; the justest have oft-times lived the shortest life, and death to astonish others hath made examples of them, if some have been rapt up to Paradise, that favour did not bereave death of his rights, for after having lived a long time with Angels, they shall descend on earth again to die there with men.

This rigour would be pleasing were it not accompanied with [Page] circumstances which make it unsupportable, but death assumes fearfull shapes to affrighten us, he is not content to part our soules from our bodies, to break in two the chains which did unite them, and to destroy Gods chiefest workmanship, but to satisfie his cruelty, & tire our patience, he assumes a thousand frightfull shapes, Tres sunt [...] mortis, ca [...]us infirmitas, senectus Casus dubia; infirmitas gravia; senectu [...] certa denuntiat. Casus nuntiat mo t [...]m latentem; infirmitas apparentem; senectus praesentem. H [...] quot mortium form [...]. Hugo de cl [...]ustro an [...] mae, lib 2. and leaves marks of his fury in the persons of the dead which terrifie the living. He appears hideous even in the beautifullest visage that ever was; he shrinks up the nerves, hollows the eyes, defaceth the complexion, alters the lineaments, and turns a miraculous beauty into a dreadfull Monster. Somtimes he burnes the bowels by the scorching heat of a fever, somtimes swels up the body by a long continued dropsie, somtimes he makes an anatomy, or skeleton thereof, by an irksome consumption, somtimes forms strange characters in the lungs or brain, somtimes he covers the face over with an ulcer, and changes the Throne of beauty into the Seat of deformity.

Violent deaths are yet more uncoucht than such as are naturall; they are not to be beheld without terrour, and those who have courage enough to tolerate the gout or stone, have not constancy enough to endure the torture of fire▪ or rack; 'tis therefore that it is said, that our father Adam knew not the heinousnesse of his sin, till he saw the picture of death in Abels face; the losse of grace, Gods anger, the Angels indignation, his banishment from Paradise, the creatures revolt, the alteration of seasons, warring of Elements, nor yet the insurrection of the body against the soule, were not sufficient to make known unto him the exorbitancy of his sin, nor the injustice of his disobedience: but when he saw his son want motion, his eyes want light, when he heard no words proceed from his mouth, saw no colour in his face, nor felt no motion of his heart, he thought his sin was very great since it deserved so sore a punishment.

To say truth, Stipendium peccati mors. Primegen [...]ta peccati. Paul. death is the image of sin, this father makes himselfe seen in his daughter, his uglinesse is seen in his production, and there needs no more to acknowledge the misery of a sinner, than to consider the aspect of a dead man. Those pale lips, those sunk eyes, those hollowed cheeks, and that corruption which always accompanies stench, is the shadow of a soule which mortall sin hath bereaved of innocency and grace. All teacheth us that we are criminall, and that the evills which we endure, are as [Page] well the portraitures of our punishments, as of our offences. The rebellion which we meet withall in the Elements, and creatures is the punishment of our disobedience; the irregularity of the seasons is a signe of the disorder of our passions; the blinding of our eyes proves the like in our understanding, and the sicknesses which our bodies suffer under, are the effects of our souls infirmity: but of all the punishments wherewith we are afflicted, death is the onely true copy of sin, and in this copy it is that we must observe the horrour of the originall.

To discover all his rigours, we must examine the terme of our sentence, we must consider what punishments he condemned us unto, and observe with how many evills he threatens us. In quacun (que) die comederis ex eo, morte morie [...]s. Genes. 2. The first is to die the same day that we have sinned, and to bear the punishment as soon as we have committed the offence. Few are aware of this punishment, and though it be severe enough, we suffer it, without being sensible of it, or complaining; we perswade our selves, that life and death cannot agree in our punishment, and that God himself is not powerfull enough to make two so contrary things serve his justice: but notwithstanding 'tis true, that we die as soon as we are born, that death assailes us as soon as we are surprized by sin, and that we bear Adams punishment as soon as we contract his offence. For death holds so good intelligence with life, as these do equally part our years; we perish for our preservation; as soon as we enter into our boyes estate, we forgoe infancy, we divide every houre of the day between death and life, Quare à sene, ubi pueritia, ubi infantia, ubi ann [...], ubi menses▪ beu periere. Ad Mart. Sen. and we neither conceive the heinousnesse of our fault, nor the greatnesse of our punishment, if we think that that death, which puts an end unto our life, is our onely one, because it is our last. We die every moment, we lose the years which we number; and part of our being glides away with them, we are but halfe our selves; all of us that is past is deaths purchase; and the youth which hath left us is a losse which we cannot repaire. That complexion, the freshnesse whereof was more lively than that of the rose, that whitenesse which sham'd the lilly, that lustre which sparckled in the eyes, that Majesty which appear'd upon the forehead, those pearles which shewed themselves within the currall of the lips, and all those ornaments which nature had united in a handsome face to make thereof her chiefest workmanship; do they not serve for a prey to death, and who hath no longer these advantages [Page] are they not obliged to confesse that they have lost the best part of themselves? the destinies end their work in silence, Ut facilius obrepat mors sub i [...] so nomine vitae latet, agunt opus suum fata nobis sensum nostrae necis auferunt. Senec. ad Martiam. death gives blows which hurt not, he mingles himselfe so pleasingly with life, as that he is received insensibly, and under hope of living, men take a kinde of pleasure in dying.

The second punishment which our decree bringeth, is that in not expressing what kind of death we shall die, we are obliged to fear all sorts of death. There is nothing more certain than this punishment; neither is there any thing more secret. Every one knows he must die, every day affords us proofs and examples of it; our friends and enemies confirme this truth, no man is so ignorant, or vain-glorious as to doubt it; the sepulchres of Kings are faithfull witnesses thereof, and those heads for which the lives of a whole Nation are exposed, make us see that death spares no body; but the manner thereof is as unknown, as the hour is uncertain. The stars do not shew the particulars thereof, and unlesse the heavens reveale it, the devill cannot foretell it to those that serve him; our decree pitcheth not upon any one, that we may stand in fear of all; and after the example of Princes which have ended their lives by deaths, from which their qualities ought to have warranted them, we may justly apprehend all. It may be 'twill be naturall, it may be violent; it may be 'twill sieze on us in war, it may be in peace, it may be 'twill be short and cruell, it may be lesse cruell, but languishing; the Judge which hath condemned us, hath not been pleased to expresse himselfe therein, to the end, that the fear of death might be a severer punishment unto us, then death it selfe; it may suffice us to know that he is incensed, and that we may justly expect from his just anger whatsoever death our sin deserves. The truth is we can suffer but one; the weaknesse of our constitution doth not permit both the waters to drown us, the fire to burn us, and the wilde beasts to devoure us, but the darknesse of our decree obligeth us to fear all these punishments, Erge tu i [...] tantis erroribu [...] es ut existimes Deos mortium signi [...] praemittere, & quidquam in terris ta [...] magnum esse ut qu [...] perire mundus sciat. Senec. lib. 1. Quaest. Natural. cap. 1. and there is no Monarch whose greatnesse can exempt him from so just a fear; the plague hath not so spared our most pious Kings, and the valiantest among them, hath been murthered amidst the triumph which he prepared for his dearest wife. A clap of thunder bruiseth the pride of crowned heads; poison is mingled in their drink, and violent death doth but too oft befall Sovereigns. Who ought then to stand in fear, [Page] when he shall read a decree which threatens every guilty person with a hundred thousand deaths? and who ought not to dread a Judge, who conceals the condition of our punishment, only to make us reverence his power, and have recourse unto his clemency?

The Omnibus est eadem lethi via: non tamen unus. Est vitae [...] exitii (que) [...]odus. Cor. Gall. third punishment is not lesse severe then are the rest; for though we know not what sort of death we shall die, yet we know we shall be reduced to ashes, and that divine Justice following us even into the grave, will war upon us after death; it treateth us like those notorious Malefactours, who finde not the end of their punishment in the end of their lives; they are degraded, to make them lose their honour, their children are prosecuted, to make them lose their posterity; their bodies are burned, that their ashes may be scattered in the winde; their houses are beaten down, to ruinate their workmanship; and nothing is left in any part that did belong unto them, but characters of their faults, and of their Princes anger. Thus doth our supream Judge deal with guilty man; he drives him out of the terrestiall paradise, and banisheth him into the world; he threatens the place of his exile to be totally consumed with fire, for having received this guilty person; he confiscates all his goods, takes from him all the honourable marks of his greatnesse, and reduceth him to the condition of beasts, who did pretend to the glory of Angels; he makes all his subjects despise his authority, he makes his slaves either Rebels, or Tyrants, and after so many punishments, he shortens his shamefull life, by some tragicall end. But all these punishments leaving yet some remainder of the guilty person, they pursue him into his sepulchre; he commands the worms to devoure him, and what escapes their fury, he reduceth into dust: you shall see dreadfull marks of the execution [...] Pulvis es & in pulverem re [...]rteris. Gen. 2 of this decree in the stateliest monuments of our Kings, descend into the most magnificent Ma [...]soleums, you will finde nothing there but ashes: the earth covers the pride of Conquerours, and of all these Monarches greatnesse, wherewith their subjects in their life were astonished, there remaines nothing after death, but a little dust.

A man must be a Saint to be exempt from this punishment, God affords not this favour save to those that serve him unworthily; he preserves their bodies in the sepulchre, he guards their precious relicks in the bosome of the earth, the waters cannot corrupt them, [Page] nor the flames devour them; being innocent, he will not deal with them as guilty, death spares their body after having separated it from their soul, they seem to rest in their graves, to repose themselves after their labour, and to expect with joy that dreadfull day which all the guilty do apprehend. Death then is the punishment of our sin, it is the workmanship thereof, we have procured it unto our selves by our disobedience, God hath ordeined it by his justice, and Jesus Christ, who draws good out of our evil, hath made a sacrifice of it for our salvation.

The ninth Discourse.

What advantages we may draw from death, by the means of Grace.

THough death be the first production of sin, and that the malice and deformed lothsomnesse of the Father appear in Sons visage, some Philosophers have gone about to make apologies for death, and after having made use of their reason in the defence thereof, they have imployed their cunning in praising it. Being ignorant of the Lex est non poena perire. Senec. first mans fault, they would have death to be a law, and not a punishment; they have excused his rigour by his necessity, and have gone about to perswade us, that he was pleasing, because necessary. All things in nature perish, this mother hath brought forth nothing which she hath not sentenced to die, nothing is immortall, and few things durable: fountains grow dry, and their spring-heads are either lost, orstrayed out of the channel; the mountaines give way to the violence of floods, the sea advances and wins upon the earth, whole isles have sunke into the earth, we see lakes now where our Ancestours have seen Towns, and husbandmen plough up fields, where Pilots have steerd their ships; The Change which preserves Nature is a kinde of death; nature subsists onely by alteration, were it not, Ita est nihil perpetuum, pauca di [...]turn▪ sunt, aliud al o modo fragile est: rerum exitus variantur: caeterum quidquid coepit, & [...]. Senec. ad Polyb. in initio. for change she would utterly perish; kingdomes (which apprehend nothing like vicissitude) cannot shun it; as oft as they lose their Princes, they hazard the losse of their liberty, they grow jealous of all their neighbours, and ambition [Page] is so perfidious as their allyes may become their enemies; all those great Colossuses which past for miracles in their age, their subsistance depends now only upon paper; Time hath made them know, that all the workmanship of man is perishable, and that frail hands can build nothing which is eternall. In fine, the world it self is not exempt from death; the deluge wherewith it was drown'd, and the fire wherewith it shall be consumed, teach us that it may perish; the Stars which never are at a stay, are threatned one day to lose their influences and their light, the same hand which hath seated them in the firmament, will one day pull them from thence; and though Aristotle imagines the heavens to be incorruptible, Jesus Christ assures us, that they shall perish together with the world. Wherefore then do we complain of death, since he spares not the Stars, and wherefore do we wish, that our houses may never have an end, since the world cannot escape the fall which threatens it.

Tolle istam pompam sub quâ lates & stultos territas: mors est quam nuper seruus meus quam ancilla contempsit. Sen. Epist. 24. Death is not so cruell as men imagine, the fear which we have thereof, is rather an effect of opinion then of Nature; if we were lesse wise, we should be more couragious; we augment our evil by thinking too oft of it; the weapons wherewith we indeavour to withstand this enemy serve only to make him the more redoubted; a Philosopher apprehends him more then doth an ignorant person; and all the constancie of the stoicks cannot equall the stupidity of a country clown. These silly people are easily comforted; they look after no priviledges, which their Ancestours have not enjoyed, they prepare for death when they see their friends die; and having no plots which may fasten them to the world, they are not troubled to be interrupted therein by their death. All men seem to conspire to be cause of astonishment to themselves, and that it fares with them, as in the route of an Army, where those that ran away, cause fear in those that fight. Every particular man frames unto himself an Idea of death, and he who can make it appear the most hideous, passeth for the ablest man. Sciences which ought to incourage us, do intimidate us; and there is not any one who doth not adde somwhat to the image of this Monster, to increase his uglinesse and our apprehension. Painters represent him as a ghastly skeleton bearing a coffin upon his shoulders, and a sithe in his hands to mow down the whole earth. Poets (whose fictions are more pleasing then those of painters) do give him arrowes, each of which being shot doth wound a [Page] heart; physicians decipher him as the enemy of nature, and to no end seek for remedies against his wounds. Philosophers who boast k Mors contemni d [...]bet mag [...]s quàm solet: multa enim de ill [...] credimus: [...]ultorum ingeniis certatum est ad r [...]gendam ejus infamiam. Sen. Epist. 82. that they know him, that they may withstand him, do astonish their disciples by the number of their reasons, and perswade them that the Monster which they assail is very terrible, since so many preparations are required to overcome him. Yet experience teacheth us that he takes upon himselfe pleasing formes to reclaim us; that he glides so pleasingly into the heart, as those whom he wounds, feele him not; he set upon Plato sleeping, and it was hard to discern sleep from death in this Philosopher; one of the Crassuses died laughing, and the Romans ceased to fear death, seeing it so amiable upon his face: Chilon was choked with joy; his sons victory was as fatall to him, as to the enemies of the State; and whil'st men sought for Laurell to crown the Conquerour; others sought for Capres to put upon his fathers head. Clydemus died not lesse pleasingly, since the praises which Greece gave him, were the cause of his death, and that he lost his life amidst his Triumph.

He also since the corruption of our nature makes up a part of our selves. Non morieris quia agrotas sed quia vivis. Sen. Epist. 58. He is as well an effect of our temper, as of a fever; and as the agreement of the Elements makes us live, their disagreement makes us die. We carry the principles of death about us, and from once that originall righteousnesse ceased to appease the differences between those parts whereof we are composed we began to die. It is not necessary that the world disorder it selfe, to bereave us of our lives; though the seasons should not be put out of their pace, we should not cease to perish. And if death be to be feared, we must resolve to fear life. There are some people who apprehend any thing that happens of disorder in the world, and who grow pale as often as they see rivers over-flow their banks, as often as they hear thunder, or see earth-quakes: They think that every clap of thunder comes in pursuit of them, and that the sea exceeds not her bounds but to drown them on the earth; but the causes of our death are much lesse violent, and more naturall. For the earth should still stand stable under our feet, O [...]e de [...]ntem & oblitum fragilitatis tuae tuae si tunc mortem times cum tonat. Sen. lib. 2. Quaest. Natural. cap. ultim [...]. though the thunder should never roar over our heads, and though the sea should never exceed her bounds, the elements which we bear about us would notwithstanding condemne us to death. Death is so a punishment, as it is also a consequence of our constitution. Whatsoever is composed of contrarieties [Page] can not subsist without miracle; and when the contrary parties do no longer agree, their division must be the ruine of what they compose. Mans immortality in the state of innocency, was not an effect of nature; he lost this priviledge as soon as he lost his righteousnesse, and experience taught him, that nature without grace could not keep him from death. Haec omnia elementa quibus mundus administratur tam causa vivendi sunt quam viae mortis. Senec. Epist. 117. He should then be unjust if he should complain of a mis-fortune which is in some sort naturall unto him, and he might justly be accused of too much nicety, if he should not patiently endure a punishment, which he could not escape without a kind of Miracle.

But I dare adde, that death is rather a favour, than a punishment; and that in the estate whereinto sin hath reduced man, it is not so much a mark of justice, as of mercy: the evils which we undergo considered, to live eternally, would be eternall misery; earth would become hell, and the continuance of our torments would make us wish death; which is not dreadfull save to those abused soules which think themselves happy. The miserable desire it; and as death to one who lives contentedly is a punishment, so is life to him who lives discontentedly. Cupidum mortis ut lu [...] ret delictum vetuit mori, Tertul. Cain desired to die, had not the heavens prolonged his life to punish his parricide; he had prevented Lamechs cruelty, and after having been his brothers murtherer, he would have been his own hangman. Poets who cloke truths under fables, have not without reason fained nature to have invented death, to oblige her children; for seeing that their offence had incensed heaven, that their life became a misery, that fortune intrencht upon their goods, calumny upon their innocency, and sicknesse upon their health; that the fever burnt up their entrails by unsupportable heat, that the gout stung their nerves, and that they lived not but in fear and sorrow, she broke the cords wherewith the soul was fastned to the body, and ended their lives to shorten their miseries.

To leave fables to Infidels; is it not a constant truth amongst Christians, that life would be an eternall punishment, did not death come in to the succour of old age, Quid aliud ess [...]t homini vitiato aeterna vit quàm aetern [...] mise [...]iae. to deliver us from it? and that we should pray to go out of the world, if we were condemned to live there, after we had lost the use of our members by the palsey, and were grown blinde, and deaf. Hell is onely more cruell than earth, for that death is banisht thence; if the pains of the damned could have an end; they should los [...] the greatest part of their [Page] rigour, and those miserable ones would finde some ease in their sufferings, if after many ages they were assured to die: nothing makes them despair, but that eternity of their punishment; and nothing doth so much comfort men as the shortnesse of their tortures. Tyrants who unjustly endeavour to imitate God in justice, complain that death freed their enemies from their indignation; and that by assisting the miserable, it hindred their designes: for they very well knew, that he knows not how to revenge himselfe of his enemy, who puts him suddainly to death; and that those who will taste the pleasure of revenge, never condemne a guilty man to die till he be re-possessed of their favour. In fine, there are few who owe not thanks to death. Perimat tyrann [...] lenis, in regno meo mors impetratur. Senec. in Thyeste. Those who fear him in prosperity, invoke him in adversity; those who shun him in opulency, seek him out in poverty; and those who list not to know his name in health, call upon him in sicknesse. He is the onely cure of the incurable, the assured succour of the afflicted, the desire and hope of the miserable; and of as many as implore his succour, there are none more obliged unto him, than those whose miseries and desires he preveneth.

Though these thoughts may seem uncouth to those who love life, they cease not to be approved of by Christianity; and to passe for truth amongst the faithfull. If death be rigorous because he is the punishment of sin, he is pleasing because he is the childe of the Crosse; he hath changed nature, since he was consecrated in the Person of Jesus Christ; he hath forgone those dreadfull names which caused terrour, to assume those pleasing ones which bring consolation. He is onely asleep which charms our disquiets, a passage which leads us unto life, a happy shipwrack which throws us into the haven, an enemy which takes us out of prison, a Tyrant which breaks our chains, and a son of sin which furnisheth us with weapons wherewithall, to fight with, and to overcome his Father. In the state of innocency death was a punishment, wherewith divine Justice did threaten man; in the state of sin, it was a chastisement, Mors quae in lege Naturae erat poe [...]a peccati, sacta est in lege gratiae hostia pro peccato. August. wherewith she did punish the faulty; and in the state of grace, 'tis a sacrifice, which she requires at our hands, and whereby she is appeased. Formerly, to astonish man, he was told, if thou sinnest, thou shalt die; and now to fortifie him in persecution, it is said unto him, if thou dost not die, thou shalt sin; death which [Page] was a punishment is become a victime, and the sinners chastisement is become the merit of the just.

The Son of God hath thus instructed us by his example, when he would fight with sin, he took up no other arms than death; he thought the victory would be more honourable, wherein he should employ the son against the father, and where he should make use of the effect, to destroy the cause: De peccato damnavit peccatum. Paul. this is that which the great Apostle teacheth us in these words, where he saith, that the Son of God hath overcome sin, by sin, and that in the punishment of our offence he hath found a remedy to cure us. Fictitious Hercules vaunts himselfe amongst the Poets, to have overcome Armat us venit leone, & [...]ydrâ, in Hercul. furent. Monsters by other Monsters; to have made himselfe weapons by their spoils; and to have ended his last labours by the help of what he had purchased in the former. This fable of Hercules is become a truth in Jesus Christ; and the Gospell obligeth us to acknowledge that in the death of God, which falshood had found out in the life of man. For he by dying hath satisfied his Father, he hath destroyed sin by it's Son; he hath saved the sinner by his punishment. Religion bindes us to confesse that death is the rise of our happinesse, that it is the Christians vow; that without being miserable, they rejoyce in being mottall; and that they should want somewhat of their glory; if since Jesus Christ did lose his life upon the Crosse, they were to ascend to Heaven, without dying they live with pain, they die with pleasure; and to describe a true Christian according to Tertullians language, we must say, that they are a sort of men who are always ready to die; Genus hominum morti expeditum. Tert. in Apologet. and who placing their happinesse in the resemblance or imitation of Jesus Christ, desire to lose their lives a thousand times amidst tortures, to repair his charity by their love; and to suffer for his glory, what he hath undergone for their salvation.

The tenth Discourse.

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That sleep is a punishment of sin as the image of death, and that it bereaves us of reason as dreames do of rest.

THose who think sleep the most harmlesse part of life wil never be perswaded that it hath drawn some evill qualities from Adams sin, for it seems to reduce men to the conditions of Children, and that bereaving them of the use of reason, it takes from them that unfortunate power which they by their offences abuse. The guiltiest actions become innocent, during sleep, those vapours which do stupifie the senses excuse the sins of those that sleep, and as their Et bona facta gratuita sunt in somnis, & delicta secura. Tertul. de anima. Vertues are not rewarded, neither are their offences punished. Murthers are committed without effusion of blood, revenge is taken upon enemies without injustice, and another mans goods are without violence tane away whilst sleep doth lull the senses. The soul is not guilty of the faults which her body commits, and though she gives it life and motion, she hath not liberty enough to give it the guidance thereof. Imagination is the sole faculty which doth in-animate it, and this confused faculty not being guided by reason, commits evil unpunished, and pleads blindnesse for the excuse of it's errour.

Yet is it certain that in the condition wherein we are, sleep is a punishment of sin, and had man never sinned, he had never proved those disquiets wherewith he is agitated during his rest; Nature would have born a respect to her Sovereigns sleep, the elements which formed his body would not have troubled his rest, and vapours would have been so mild, as stupefying all the senses, they would have left the soul at liberty. In this happy condition, man might well have refreshed himself by sleep, Ego dormio & cor meum vigilat. Adae s [...]mnus extasis appellatur à Patribus. his eyes would have been closed against the light, and his other senses would have dispensed with their ordinary functions. But the soul would have retired to within her self, and acting according to the manner of Angels, she would have known Truth without the interposition of the [Page] Organs, her rest would rather have bn an extasie then sleep, and man might have said that his heart waked whilst his body took it's resti

I have much ado to believe that man was reduced to the condition of beasts, before he had sinned, and that he should have undergone the punishment of an offence, which he had not as yet committed. If there have been some Saints whom sleep did not deprive of the use of reason, and who loved God even whilst they slept, I think it not strange that the heavens should have granted this favour to our first father in his innocency, & that he entertein'd himself with Angels, whilest he could not entertain himself with men. St. Iohn the Elizabet, Mariae, Joannes, Domini sensit adventum. Istae grati [...]m loquuntur illis intus operantur dupliciqus miraculo prophetant Matres spiritu parvulorum. Ambros. in Luc. c. 1 Baptist adored the Son of God in the chast womb of the Virgin, the obscurity of his Prison, could not hinder the light of heaven; from enlightning his understanding, that stupefaction which continues nine moneths with other children, hindred not him from instructing Elizabeth by his motions, and from letting her know that the mother which she saw was a Virgin, and that the child which she saw not, was God. The better part of Divines do not question but that the Virgin did enjoy this priviledge all her life, and that her soul, whilest her body rested, was wholly busied in considering the wonders of her son, she loved him as well sleeping, as waking; Sleep did not interrupt her love: Sleep which makes us beasts, made her an Angel, and her soul had this advantage in the night season that it did act without any dependency upon her bodie; rest did not bereave her of half her life, as it doth us, were she asleep, or were she awake, she did equally apply her self to God, her sleep was more operative then all our watchings, when her mouth was shut, Somnus licentia animae sine more fugitivae. Tertul. her spirit supplied her silence, and she praised God with her heart, not being able to do it with her tongue.

Sanctorum somnus operatorius est. A nbros. Ep [...]st. Imagine that Adams sleep did somewhat resemble that of the Virgins, that he ceased not to reason, when he could not speak, that his noblest part slept not, whilest his other did, that his souls eyes were open, when his bodily eyes were shut, and that his soul exercising those species which she by the senses had received, considered the works of God, for why should we beleive that Adam should suffer that out-rage in the state of innocency, which the Saints had much ado to tolerate in the state of sin? Sleep which is the rest of their body is the punishment of their soul, they are afflicted that their will should be rendered so long useless, they conjure their tutel [...]ry [...]els to wake whilest they sleep, and to love in their behalf [...] [Page] goodnesse, which cannot be loved according to its worth, they look upon their bed, as upon their grave; Stultum est▪ somno delectatis mortem horrore▪ cum somnus assiduus sit mortis imitatio. Senec. they think to die as oft as they fall a sleep; and they murmure that their soule which is immortall, should be constrained to suffer such a kinde of death; I pardon them these their complaints; for 'tis true that sleep is the shame of our nature, and that the qualities wherewithall it is accompanied, teach us that it is become criminall: it reduceth men to the condition of beasts, it takes from them their noblest priviledges, and inhibits them the use of all the senses which may be serviceable to the soul.

This punishment seems to be more injurious than death, whose image it is: for death loosens the soule from the body, raiseth her to the condition of Angels, and withdraws her from a prison, which though she delighted in, ceased not to be fatall to her: but sleep stupifies the senses, sets upon such parts of the body as the soule makes most claim to; disperseth it's vapours into the eyes and ears, and reduceth man into a condition wherein he can neither speak, nor think. The heart during sleep, is in a perpetuall motion; naturall heat disgests meat, the liver converts it into bloud, and distributes it abroad amongst the veines; every part turnes it into it's own substance, and by a continuall miracle one and the same nourishment doth extend it selfe into nerves, thickens into flesh, and hardens into bone. Nature repaires these ruines which watchings had made in the body, she leaves nothing uselesse in this condition, and her diligence extends even to our haire, which grows whil'st we Sleep. But the noblest of our senses are a sleep; our eyes serve no more for guides, nor the ears for intelligencers, the tongue to which motion is so naturall, is no more the soules interpreter; imaginations selfe doth only furnish her with confused species, Somnus est ligamentum omnium sensuum Aristot. lib. de somno & Vigil. and the soul in this disorder is inforced to remain idle, and unusefull.

Passions be they never so violent are more respectfull than is Sleep; their first motions are only dangerous; who can shun being surprized by them, may fence himselfe against their fury; they are as easily calmed as raised; and knowing that reason is their sovereign, they reserve some respect unto her even in their revolt. But Sleep contemneth her authority, it obligeth this Queen to withdraw her selfe into the center of her State; and forceth her to abandon the extreamities. It mingles force with sweetnesse to corrupt men; steals so pleasingly upon a man, as it hath got entrance before one [Page] be aware, and reignes so absolutely that unlesse it withdraw itselfe it cannot be repulsed, it's violence is pleasing because sweet; it's Tyranny supportable, because necessary; Lucis requies noctisque comes qui par Regi famul [...]qus venis, placidus s [...]ssum lenisque soves, pavidum l [...]hi genus hu [...]um co [...]is [...]ngam discere mortem, in Hercul furente. and it's authority is so absolute, as it calmes those passions which reason cannot allay: it takes from Conquerours the desire of glory, quencheth the flames of unchaste love, charmes the violence of choller, draws displeasure in it's vapours, and if it take not from desperate men the designe of making themselves away, it doth happily bereave them of the means of doing it.

But he sels his good turnes at a deer rate; since to cure our passions, he bereaves us of our reason; and puts us in a condition wherein we cannot exercise our vertues; for though he cannot deface the habits thereof, yet he interdicts us the use, and brings us into the condition of wars under age, who being born rich have not the liberty to dispose of their goods; we have reason, yet are not rationall; Philosophers have high conceptions, yet cannot discourse; Princes conceive great designes, yet cannot execute them; Saints have good desires, but cannot accomplish them; and the faithfull have vertues, and cannot practise them.

Dreams, Somnia somni negotia. Tertul. de animâ. which may be termed the productions of sleep, are not lesse injurious to man, than is their father; for they appear to men be the extravagancies of a drowsie imagination, and the follies of a wise man; there is no Philosopher which hath not some ravings in his sleep, nor so well a govern'd mind which is not debaucht in dreaming: the soule hath liberty onely left her to forme Chimaeraes; and be it either that the vapours which arise from the bowels trouble her presented forms, be it that the senses being drowsie make but confused reports unto her; or be it lastly that the organs of our bodies being bound up hinder her operations; she acts in such confusion and disorder, Saepe somnia vana, & frustratoria & turbida, & ludibrios [...] & immunda à [...] incutiuntur. Tertul. de anima. as all her thoughts are but ravings; and her discourses but extravagancies: if she light rightly, 'tis by hazard; and if in this bad condition she take a good resolution, she is more obliged to fortune, than to wisdome. A man must either be superstitious, or out of his wits to be guided by dreams; and who takes their ravings for revelations, is in great danger running mad, if he be not so already. We do not live in those days, wherein God made his will known by dreams, he treats no more with men a sleep, but doth rather dispence his favours to those who are [Page] awake. Since Truths have succeeded figures, God doth not often declare his oracles by dreams; and we learn his designs rather by prayer than by Sleep.

It is true that as his mercy makes us reap advantage by our misfortunes, and turns our losse to our souls health, so doth it make use of Sleep and dreams for our good, Somnus recreator corporum, redintegrator virium, probator valetudinum, op [...] rum, medicus laborum, cuilegitime fruendo dies cedit, nox legem facit, auferens rerum etiam colorem. Tertul. de anima. the first sweetens our Pains, drowns our displeasures, and levels our conditions; takes the crowns from off the heads of Kings, Lawrels from Conquerors and Miters, from Bishops, breaks the bolts of Slaves, opens the prison doors, and if he do not restore liberty to captives, he at least makes them forget their servitude. The Prince hath no advantage over his subjects, when they are both asleep, though his bed be more stately, his rest is no sweeter, and if any remembrance of his greatnesse remain in him when asleep, it causeth most commonly but disquiet and suspition. All men are alike, when asleep, and sleep as well as death levels all conditions: a Philosopher is not more able then an ignorant person, when he sleeps, the poor man is as happy as the rich, when both of them have forgot their condition, and pleasure and pain cause no difference in men when their senses are stupefied with sleep.

He who doth so many acts of justice, do's some also of mercy, for he prepares us for death, reclaims us thereunto, and being more prevalent than all the discourses of Philosophers, perswades us that a man may die without pain, since he sleeps every day with delight. In effect, sleep is a short death, and death is nothing else but a long sleep, the bed is a grave for one night, and the grave a bed for many ages, we expect to waken from our beds, and we hope to rise again from Etiam per somnium imaginem mortis, fidem initiaris, spe [...] medit [...]ris, discis mori & [...]ivere, discus vigilare dum dormis. Tertul. de anima. our sepulchres: thus one and the same thing teacheth us two differing Truths, and sleep which fits us for death, animates us to beleive the resurrection, the dreams which he shapes whilest we rest, and those pleasing illusions wherewith he diverts our soul, when the senses refuse to serve her, are either proofs or presumptions of our Immortality, and we easily imagine that our soul may very well escape death, since she is not wholly engaged in sleep which is deaths picture. Stoici Deum volunt inter caetera praesidia divinatricum artium somnia nobis quoque indidisse, peculiare solatium naturalis oraculi. Tertull. de anima. In fine, dreams becomes often oracles, our spirit being losened from the senses, presages either good or bad fortune when it is retired to within it self, it doth act more easily, then when it is dissipated by objects; Great Personages receive advertisement from [Page] Heaven, sleeping, and Angels treat with them, whilest they cannot treat with men. God chose the time of sleep to declare his designs unto his servants, and in the old Testament the dreams of Saints were oracles Siquidem & [...] divinitus somniat, & ma [...] penè vis ho [...]inum ex visionibus Deum di [...]unt. Tertul. ibid. and prophesies. Ioseph wonne his credit in Egypt by interpreting Pharohs dreams; and superstition, which glories to imitate religion, did always believe that her Gods declared their wils whil'st men slept. But this advantage, is as reproach full one to us, and when the heavens deal thus with us, it is doubtlesly to teach us, that if we will be informed what their designs are we must forego our callings, and that to purchase Faith we must renounce reason, so as it is apparent enough, that sleep and dreams upbraid us with our weaknesse, and are punishments of our sin.

OF THE CORRUPTION OF All exteriour Goods, called by the name of FORTVNE. The Fifth Treatise:

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The First Discourse.

That we must fear what we desire, and desire what we feare.

T'Is with much reason that originall sin is by Saint Austine tearmed the universall corruption of nature, since there is nothing left in man, uncorrupted; his understanding is so clouded with darknesse as he cannot discern truth from falshood, his memory is so weakened, as it is painfull for him to learn, and naturall to forget; his will is depraved as it loves nothing but what is pleasing to the senses. His very aids are pernitious, and the succour which nature hath afforded him for his help in his necessity, serves onely to make him the more miserable.

[Page] Being stript of all the good which he possest in the State of innocency, it seems he needs desires, and that this passion is requisite to him, to finde out helps for his indigency; being condemned to undergo those punishments which his rebellion deserved, feare seems to be necessary to him, and that to shun the evils which threaten him; Divine mercy had ought to have made him fearfull; yet this assistance is prejudiciall to him, these remedies do augment his evill, and he would be lesse unhappy, if he could keep himselfe from wishing for good, or fearing evill. Non est in carendo difficultas nisi cum fuerit in habendo cupiditas Aug. Confess. For to boot that desire is but a languishing of the soule which is occasioned oftner by her weaknesse, than by her want; and which reaches rather to things superfluous, than necessary; 'tis very well known, that it harms a man, whil'st it would heal him; that it widens his wounds, in stead of closing them; and that it increaseth his necessities, in lieu of comforting them: Quidquid ill [...]s co [...]gerat non finis erit cupiditatis, sed gradus. Senec. one desire causeth another, and man imagining that the greatest good will cost him but wishes; forgoes all other exercise to consume himselfe in unprofitable desires: he doth not relish the good which he enjoyeth, he despiseth that which he sought after, and as if things were the more precious for being either absent, or lost, he esteems none but what he hath either lost, or hath not yet gotten: all things seem pleasing to him which he hath not, evils do to him change their nature; when they are far off, and be it either that his capacity cannot reach them, or that his desire paints them forth unto him in glorious colours, he oft-times wisheth his harm; Attonitus novitate mali, div [...]sque miserque e [...]gere aptat opes: & quas modo vove [...]at odit. Ovid. Metam. lib. 11. and is enforced to accuse Heaven of being rigorous unto him, in having too easily heard him: he expects his having obtained what he desired; & his desire is so bad a Counsellor, as all the advices which it gives him, are either unfaithfull, or rash.

It's promises are as pernicious as are it's advices, for it seldome makes good any thing that it promiseth, it glories in abusing those that believe in it; and hope which serves it for a surety, abuseth our easinesse, in engaging us to seek after a good which is difficult, and dangerous: she perswades those who listen unto her, that she is a fore-runner of felicity, that a thing desired, is halfe possessed; and to have an extream passion for riches or honour, is to quit infamy, and poverty. But it falls out clean contrary, for desire adds to indig [...]y, it irritates the evill which it would allay, and makes the ambitious, infamous, and avaritious needy. They are sensible [Page] of their wants, Cupiditati nihil satis est, naturae satis est etiam parum. Senec. ad Helviam c. 11. since they desire the remedies; and the passion which presseth them is no lesse a proofe of their pain, than of their necessity. Those who suffer dishonour without desire of glory, are troubled but with one malady; but those who adde to the pain of being despised, the passion of glory, endure a double Martyrdome. Thus the desire of good, is the increase of evill, and he who makes many wishes, exposeth himselfe to most sufferings. Heaven punisheth the guilty, by giving them over to their own desires; this passion is more severe than the rack; and who could handsomly handle it to punish the ambitious or amorous, he might stay all other punishments. Nothing doth so much torment the damned as their desires; if they could live without wishes as well as without hope, their sufferings would be lesse severe, and hell would have lost her sorest torment.

The holy Scripture teacheth us, that God makes use of our desires, as Ministers of his vengeance; and that the losse of our goods and death of friends are but the punishments of our lightest offences. When the City of Ierusalem was taken by force in the reign of Antiochus, in so much as the Temple was prophaned, the Altars beaten down, that the fire consumed what the sword had spared; that rivers of bloud ran in the publique places, and that women were robbed of their honour, and their husbands of their liberty; the writer of this story tells us, that so tragicall a disaster was but the preamble to Gods Justice; Propter peccata habitantium civitatem modicum Deu [...] [...]uerat iratus. 2 Machab. 5. and (if a man may be allowed to say so) but the pastime of his anger: if he had been more incensed, he would have found out severer punishments, but because his indignation was but small, he was satisfied with the ruine of the Temple, and Ierusalems pillage: but when his just fury is at the height, and that the number of our insolent sins doth provoke his choller, he gives us over to our own desires, and command these executioners of his Justice, to make us try all the rigour which love can make the unchaste suffer, or pride the ambitious; he somtimes permits these unjust desires to take effect, he grants what we desire, to make us the more unfortunate, and the more guilty; Plera (que) gaudi [...] [...] Iustiti [...] evà Deo non su [...]t gaudia & sepe initiasunt futu [...]a [...]. Sen. Epist. 53. the good successe of our vows is a mark of his indignation, and the better pleased we be with our punishments, the more firce and fatall are they. Thus riches undoe the avaritious, honours punish the ambitious, and pleasures are the torments [Page] of the unchaste. For we are in a condition wherein we ought to suspect all the goods of fortune.

Since the losse of innocency, greatnesse is fatall to man, and he cannot be raised up, without hazard of being undone: he is so prodigiously out of order, as the punishments of his sin are more advantageous to him, than the remainders of originall righteousnesse. And it is easier for him to save himselfe in want, and infamy, than in glory or abundance. Watsoever is glorious is fatall to him; Diuturnis honorib [...] deteriores fiunt homines, & ferre secundam fortunam non omnes possunt. Aristot. lib. 5. de Republ. cap. 8. dignities increase his haughtinesse, and makes him forget his misery; they raise him up onely to throw him headlong down; and 'tis a kind of miracle if hee continue humble in greatnesse. Lucifer, who had not our weaknesses, could not resist this dangerous enemy; the place he held amongst the Angels, made him vain glorious, his glory dashed his understanding, and seeing all creatures were submitted unto him, he could not endure to submit himselfe to his Creatour; his crime proceeded from his excellency, he was onely proud, because he was raised to too high a degree; and if the pain he suffers could truth from out his mouth, he would confesse he is onely miserable for having been too happy. Man lost himselfe by the same disorder; the terrestiall Paradise made him forget that the earth was the place of his birth, and the matter whereof his body was composed; the association of Angels, and obedience of beasts, made him believe he was independent; and held of no body. And seeing whole nature busied either for his pleasure, or for his service, he thought that if he were not a God, he might at least become one. But not to speak more of those past disasters, he is overwhelmed with the weight of greatnesse; there are but few hands which can bear a Scepter without vanity, and but few heads which do not bow under the weight of a Crown. 'Tis▪ hard Plerique eo magis contra Deum super biunt quo ab ejus largitate & contra meritum ditantur & qui provo [...]ari bonis ad m [...]iora debuerunt donis pe [...]ores fiunt. Gregor. in Moral. for a Prince to preserve his modesty amidst his honours, and for him to remember that he is a man, whil'st all his Subjects endeavour to perswade him that he is a God. Great humility is requisite to him, to defend himselfe from such pleasing slatteries, and the inclination which by reason of originall sin, he hath to vain glory being considered; he hath much adoe to reject such hopes as Adam was abused withall, even in the midst of his innocency.

[Page] Tis much more hard to make use of pleasure than to make use of pain, and more Philosophers are found to have been patient in afflictions, then moderate in pleasures, riches cause more disorder than poverty; and were not men over-rul'd by opinion, want would be more sufferable than aboundance. Though we be not stoicks, and though the fond imaginations of the haughty Philosophers did aswel give against reason as truth, we forbear not to confesse with them, that sorrow is to be preferred before joy, and that it is better for a man to suffer pain, then to tast pleasure. Imitatrix boni voluptas est, malorum mat [...]r omnium cujus blanditiis [...]orrumpuntur quae naturá bona sunt. Cic. de legibus. All his advantages are pernitious to him, the remainders of innocency ingage him in sin, and he cannot follow Adams tract, without falling into his precipice: thus ought he to suspect all his desires, and all his hopes, the good whlch flatters him, deceives him; what pleaseth him, is fatall to him; and to expresse in a word, the irregularity which sin hath placed in his nature, we must affirm, that he is bound to fear what he hopes, and to hope what he fears.

For fear abuseth us aswell as hope, and she is unjust, and unfaithfull when she paints forth evill to us like a Monster, it may suffice us to suffer it when it hath happened, without anticipating it by our apprehension. That wisedome which foresees an evil, and cannot divert it, serves but to hasten it; and a man had better be surprized by a disaster, then fear it long: this is not withstanding the usuall effect of fear; she fore-runs our misfortunes, under pretence of freeing us from them; she indiscreetly engageth us in them; and through a vain desire of making us more happy, she oft-times makes us more miserable; 'tis thought that she makes up a part of our wisedome, that she fore-sees not an evil save onely to prevent it; that unlesse it were for fear of poverty, we should not heap up riches, that 'tis fear of war, which makes us raise strong holds, and that if it were not for fear of famine, we should not cultirate the ground.

But certainly she is vain in her fore-light, Nos à ventur [...] torquemur & [...] bonanostra nobis nocent, timoris tormentum memoria reducit, providentia anticip [...]. nemo tantum praesentibus miser est. Senec. Epist. 13. and whosoever gives himself over to be guided by sotimerous a passion cannot live happily; we forestall sorrow before it's birth, we go to find it out before it seeks us, we are ingenious in multiplying our misfortunes, we fear disasters which will never happen; we become the Ministers of our own punishments, and we invent torments with the cruelty of executioners never dream'd off: we are more befriended by fortune than by wisedome, nay even when she hath vowed our undoing, she deals [Page] more gently with us, then fear doth. An evil finds us already sunk, when it sets upon us, our fear takes from it the half of it's victory, it wonders that she who fights against it, should fight under it's colours, and that whil'st she would destroy it's power, she establisheth its Empire: for 'tis true, she paints forth evill more terrible than it is: she adds somewhat to it's il-favourednesse, she never represents it to the life, she is of the humour of those who give out no news without either disguising or augmenting them: she being by nature Plus in metu [...]ds est mali, quam in co ipso quod timetur. Cicer. melancholly, fancies ever dreadfull visions to her self, the evill which is neerest seems alwaies most dangerous to her: she attributes much to our body, and not consulting with reason, she apprehends all things that can give against the senses, she is not astonished at that sin which onely hurts the soul, but the Punishment thereof which takes down the body doth frighten her.

Yet this kind of punishment is usefull to Christians. They are sooner saved by sufferings than by pleasures, they must change their feeling as well as their condition, and remembring that they are fallen from the happy state of innocency, they must no longer pretend to their past felicity, neither yet complain of their present misery. Evils are no longer to be complained of, since they are become necessary; though the name of punishment which they bear with them, make them anxious to our senses, yet the name of cure should make them pleasing to the understanding: there is not any one of them whereof a man may not make a glorious vertue: if death do not make all men Martyrs, he may make holy victimes of them. Tis a favour to O mors usurparis ad laetitiam mater moeroris, usurparis ad gloriam glori [...] inimica, usurparis ad ottr [...]um regni porta [...]ni. B. in Cant c. Serm. 26. die, since God hath been pleased to become mortall; the punishments of our sins are turned into remedies, that which was infamous to us by Nature, is in Grace honourable; and we would not change condition with Angels, since not being able to die like us, they cannot sacrifice their lives to Jesus Christ; the maladies which prepare us for death, do exercise our patience. The great Apo stle grounded his glory in his weaknesses, and not considering the advantages which he had being Master of the Gentiles, he onely valued his infirmities, which made the power of his deliverer appear. Poverty is no mo [...]e the opprobrie of men, but the glory of Christians; the Sonne of God did consecrate it both in his birth and death; it is turned into an eccellent vertue, since he hath been pleased to practice it, though A [...]dams poverty proceeded from his guilt, most [Page] Christians become poor thereby to become innocent, profiting by their losse, they satisfie their Judge his Justice, and revenge themselves of their Enemies hatred. Iejunium mors culpae remedium salutis, radix gratiae fundamentum est castitatis. Ambros. de Jejunio. Fasting is a vertue which we have learn't at our own cost, the barrennesse of the earth hath taught us abstinency, we make a sacrifice of the Monster hunger, and in the punishment of our disobedience, we find a fence for our chastity. As evils are profitable to those that suffer them, 'tis in vain that we fear them; As Goods are fatall to those that possesse them, 'tis without reason that we wish for them. The world hath changed it's face, since man hath changed his condition; if he will not undo himself, he must fear what he hoped for, and hope for what he feared. Hee ought to be dismayed at riches, since they may corrupt him; and comforted with poverty, since it may convert him, death ought to be more precious to him than life; since it is a sacrifice; and he is bound to prefer pain before pleasure, since the crosse of Jesus Christ was the rise of his salvation.

The second Discourse.

That Honour is no longer the recompence of Vertue.

THose who will praise honour, and perswade us that she, is the reward of vertue, say with Aristotle, that generous minded men prefer her before life, and those that bereave us of her are more injurious to us, and more unjust, than those who bereave us of our riches. Princes hazard their persons and their Estates, and leaving the spoile of their enemy to their souldiers, they reserve unto themselves onely the glory of having overcome. Gloria propria mortuorum possessio. Tis the onely thing which men carry with them to their graves, 'tis that which makes men live, after death, that which preserves their memory in the world, and which triumphing over years makes their worth be known to all posterity. Vertue would not have charms sufficient to make her self be beloved, were she not accompanied by glory, and this austeer Mistris would have no servants did she not promise them eternall reputation; all the famous actions of antiquity had no other [Page] originall, and it may be said that as honour was the end of their Labours, so vain glory was the soul of their vertue. Ambition, which since sin is become naturall unto men, did undoubtedly perswade him Nulla voluptas humana videtur ad divinam proprius a [...]edre quam e [...] delectatio quae percipitur ex [...]oribus. [...]. that glory was the shadow of Divinity, and that it was she, who altering his condition, would make Temples and Altars be raised unto him after his death; He thought he might by the means of honour, obtein what he could not do by the serpents counsell, and that this fathfull companion of vertue would restore unto him, what his sin hath bereft him off.

But this argumentation is as seeble as false, for honour hath lost her purity, since man hath lost his innocency: she is dealt about more unjustly then riches, ti's a good which depends onely upon opinion, which is as soon gotten by vice as by vertue; and which subsists more by good fortune, than by justice. We have seen great Princes whose lives have been buried in oblivion, for having been The Aristides and the Phocions who are the famousest ornaments of of Greece could not vanquish oblivion; Socrates owes his reputation onely to his disciples eloquence, and had not Plato recorded his last words, we should not know how couragiously he dyed.

The Aliquando eligit fama sed saepius errat. Tacit. in vita Agricol. world values much more glorious actions than vertuous ones; Poets and Historians who are the Trumpets of Monarchs, tie themselves more to Combats than to counsels, and do much more exalt the defeat of enemies, then the Government over subjects. Alexander wonne much more reputation amongst the Grecians then did Pericles: and Caesar is much more honoured amongst the Romanes, then Cato. The Luster of great actions dazles the eyes; those which make the greatest noise, receive the greatest praises; men never consider good advice so much as good successe, nor the resolution as the event. The very Theater whereupon things are acted, serves to put a valuation upon them, that which was done in Rome made a greater noise then what at Lacedemon; and the world which suffers it self to be surprized by greatnesse, never values vertue or worth unlesse it be crowned: private souldiers do more gallant actions than their Captains, but the lownesse of their condition stifles them. Italy hath produced slaves more nobly minded than Cato, and they have uttered Maximes which Polititians would have reverenced like Oracles, had they been spoken by a Prince 'Tis thought that one of the [Page] Scipio's ows all his advantages over the Nulli praeclusa virtus est, omnibus patet, omnes admittit, omnes invitat ingenuos [...]bertinos, servos Reges & exules: non eligit domum nec censum nudo homine contenta est. Lib. 3. de B [...]nefic. cap. 18 Carthaginians, to the wise advice of Laelius, and the Criticks know very well that Cicero studied the purity of language in Terence, and the grace of expressing it upon Roscius his Theater, but because the one was but a franchised slave, and the other a common Player, he onely reaped the glory of their labours.

This unjust vanity is crept even into religion: we oft-times judge of Saints greatnesse, by the eminency of their births, we read the life of a Prince with more admiration then that of a Peasant, and be it either that vertue be rarer in Courts than in cottages, or that we be rather born away with appearances than truths, a common action in the person of a Prince seems noble to us. All things appear great underneath a Crown: and we are so accustomed to flatter Princes, as they passe for good if they be not bad. Eloquence labours to disguise their faults, she gives honourable names to shamefull actions: and she thinks that Traffick is not base there, where she barters smoak and wind for Gold. But that which makes natures disorder evidently appear, is that fortunate faults passe for rare vertues, and that men appear onely to be famous, for that they have indeed been wicked.

If Caesar Prosparum ac foelix scelus virtus vocatur. Senec. be more esteemed than Catiline 'tis because his design had better successe, they were both guilty of the same fault; both had vowed the ruine of their Country; the one offered at it, but in vain, the other succesfully accomplisht it: the lesse guilty went for a Traitor, and the more faulty for a legitimate King; the ones name is odious in all history, the others honourable, and most Monarchs by assuming his name shew that they approve of his Tyranny. Populus stultus honores saepe dat indignis & fama servit ineptus, dum stupet in titul [...] & in imagini. bus. Horat. He is the first Emperour of Rome, the gloriousest Scepter of the world was the reward of his trechery, his life serves for example to all Conquerors, and his usurpation for excuse to all their unjust undertakings. Yet he is guilty of Catilines fault, he is not more honoured, save for that he is more unjust or more fortunate; and he is numbred amongst the Emperours onely, because he did execute what the other did project. If Cicero's eloquence could have stayed the progresse of his ambition, or had he died before he had made himself Master of Rome, his memory would be more odious than that of Dionysius of Syracusa, and as all Kings would have been styled Pompeys, all Tyrants would have been termed Caesars: but because his faults was fortunate, he was honoured, and the man of the [Page] world that stood most in need of Apologies, may glory in having all history made his Panygericks. 'Tis true that Caesar would have had reason to complain had he been otherwise dealt withall; since all Nations treat their usurpers so, and reserve all their praises for those that rob them of their liberty.

Great faults are the noblest vertues; Princes who shed most bloud, receive most honour; robbery and murther are the steps whereby Tyrants get into Kings Thrones; people put not so great a valuation upon those who have defended them, as on those who have conquered them; and all things in the world are so out of order, as usurpation in Monarches is more glorious than succession. The one is the work of Nature, the other of Fortune; they owe their election to their subjects love, and are bound for their conquests to their souldiers valour. Triumph, which was vertues highest recompence amongst the Romans, was granted onely to such as had committed most murthers, and sackt most Towns; renown was not to be purchased in that Commonwealth, but by violence and injustice. That which their Historians calls victories, their enemies terme butchery; what served for a sport to the Romane Dames, made the widowes of Carthage weep; and the same successe which made them be reverenced, made them be hated by their enemies. Thus triumph, is onely founded upon faults, combates are not made without weapons, nor are victories wonne without murther.

This notwithstanding is the glory of Princes, and the mightinesse Non est quod credas quemquam fieri aliena foelicitate infoelicem. Senec. Epist, 94. of Conquerours; he who hath fought amongst Battails, is most valiant; he who hath plundered most Townes, is most happy; and he who hath ruin'd most Provinces, is the most August: this madnesse. hath been common among Christian Princes; the lawes forbid murther to particular men, and ambition doth oft without reason permit Sovereigns to wage war; 'tis a piece of injustice, to end a difference by a duell; and 'tis an heroick. action to engage fifty thousand men in a Battail, upon a triviall occasion; faults are secure because they are accompanied with an absolute power; and they are publickly praised because they are out of the reach of ordinary Justice. There remains nothing to adde idolatry to cruelty, but to render divine honour to these illustrious guilty ones, and to raise up Altars to those who have ruin'd Kingdoms.

[Page] The example of Pagans may well authorize this impiety, for they never granted Apotheosis, or Canonization, but to such as were famous for their faults. The first man whom Italy placed in heaven, did sprinkle the wals of Receptus in coelum Romulus creditur, n [...] paricidium sine praemio relinqueretur. August. Rome in it's rise with his brothers bloud: And the first Prince to whom this Republique, changed into a Kingdome, did erect Altars, had oppressed the liberty thereof: since Augustus his death, Apotheosis or Canonization, was the recompence of mutther and incest, to become God he must cease to be man, and must forego all humane relations, to acquire divine honour: The Consul placed men in heaven, whom they would have driven out of the Senate had they not lived under their Tyranny, they appointed Priests to such as deserved Hangmen, and Rome was so accustomed to flatter, as she numbred those amongst her Gods, which she had numbred amongst her Tyrants.

But grant that honour were justly distributed, 'tis notwithstanding so frail a good, as men would never so passionately seek after it, had not sin corrupted his nature, and troubled his judgment. For to boot that it is not within us, Honor est in corum potius potestate qui colunt quom qui coluntur. Aristot. Ethic. lib. 1. cap. 5. and that it is impossible to be happy in a thing which we possesse not, it depends upon the opinion of the vulgar, who meddle as well in weighing the merit of men as the States-men doe. This bad Judge is guided more by humour then by reason; his Intetest is the rule of his Judgment, and these base persons esteem nothing honourable but what is advantagious to them: they change with every wind, and as their minds are agitated with hatred, love, anger, or pitty, they praise and blame the same thing. Thus Conquerors are bound to acknowledge, that their reputation depends more upon fortune, than victory; and that to be glorious it is not sufficient for them to have overcome their enemies, unlesse by a continuance of good fortune, they win their subjects love.

I know Intervallo opus est, ut quis credatur Deus, semperque h [...]nc gratiam magnis viris posteri reddunt. Curt. lib. 8. 'tis said that glory is never pure till after death, that Kings must lose their lives to purchase esteem, and that the Palmes and Lawrels of renowu serve onely to crown their sepulchres; but I think there are few Conquerors that would purchase glory at so deer a rate, and who would wish to die, that they might receive a recompence which is not tasted but in life: what are they the better for praises given them in Historie? what redounds to them from a vain reputation, which cannot get admittance into the other world? and how are they advantaged either in heaven or in Hell by their sepulchres adornments.

[Page] Nothing is more famous in antiquity then Caesar, he is almost as well known throughout the world as Jesus Christ. All Historians speak of him with Encomiums, all Conquerors endevour to imitate him; an action is not Glorious save when it doth conform with his: Children are rather instructed in his life, then in those of the Apostles or Martyrs, and they know better what he hath done in Italy, then what the Sonne of God did in Palestine; his voyages are more admired than Saint Pauls, and his Commentaries are read with more contentment, then the Epistles of the great Apostle: but what advantage reaps he by our praises in hell? do's his renown lessen his torments? is he lesse unfortunate, for being more honoured? or is he lesse tormented, for being better known? hath he any preferment in hell, where all things are in confusion and disorder: that ambitious humour, which could neither suffer a superiour, nor yet an equall, is it satisfied with our Panegyricks? and a soul which suffers so much punishment, can it find any contentment in those praises? ought we not rather to conclude, that his shadow is praised, and his person tormented? that he is sensible of his Laeudantur ubi non sunt cruciantur ubi sunt. Hieronym pains but not of our praises? and that he is well esteemed on on earth, and tortered in hell?

Is not Alexander ill rewarded for all his labours? and this lover of glory, doth not he repent that he so long served this faithlesse Mistris? he over-run the whole world, he was troubled that his Conquests should find a stop, where the Sun stayes his course; he would have gone further then that glorious constellation, and have carried his arms where the Sun did not carry his light: he hath plaid the part both of a private souldier and of a Commander upon a thousand incounters, and hath hazarded his Estate, his Army, and his Person, a hundred times to win a little reputation; yet what of all this remains to him in the grave? doth his glory allay his sufferings? do's the title of great, take from him the name of unhappy? do the Ghosts of his souldiers, or of his enemies tremble at his presence, Silui [...] omnis t [...]ra in conspectu [...] us. 1 Math. 1. and he who held all the earth in awe, and silence, is he any wayes delighted with his reputation, or our astonishment? his pomp was effaced by his death he ceased to be Alexander when he ceased to be man; his body is reduced to dust, his soul burns in hell, and his name which is but a Fantasme receives the vain praises, which are given it.

[Page] Let us conclude then that a man must be a fool to imagine that honour is the recompence of vertue, and that man never sought after these imaginary contentments, till after he had lost those which were solid and reall. Mans honour consists in his duty; of all the testimonies which he receives there are none but those of his conscience, which can satisfie him: knowing that vertue depends upon Grace, he gives the glory to him who hath indued him with the strength, & he confesseth that God Cùm Deus cō rouat merita nostra, coronat dona sua. Aug. crowns his own gifts, when he crowns our merits. Vainglory was permitted to the Pagans who defied honour, but she is forbidden Christians, who hold ambition a crime: she was permitted unto Pagans, whose immortality consisted in renown, but she is forbidden Christians whose felicity consists in beholding God. In fine, earth is the place of desert, and heaven the abode of recompence. God hath reserved unto himself the care of dispensing glory to those that serve him, 'tis Tunc erit laus unicuique à Deo. he who will make the Saints Panygericks and who will crown their vertues: let us not intrench upon his rights, let us give all glory to him, since he is the fountain thereof, and let us confesse that man would never have been ambitious, if he had always continued innocent.

The third Discourse.

That greatnesse is attended by flavery and vanity.

THough sin hath corrupted mans nature, though it have bereft him of those glorious advantages which made him walk hand in hand with Angels, and hath reduced him to a condition wherein he is equally grieved with shame, and misery, yet hath it not been able to blot out of his soul the memory of his greatnesse. For though the world be a place of banishment, though all Creatures war against him, and that the seasons are become irregular onely to make him suffer, he notwithstanding seeks for Paradice upon the earth, and amidst all his mischiefs, he continues a desire of happinesse. Though ignorance be the punishment of his sin, though his blindnesse continue all his life time, and that the darknesse which clouds his understanding, suffers him not to discern between vice, [Page] & vertues; yet he thirsts after truth, he seeks her amidst falshood, and oft-times fights to find her out; though since the losse of his innocency he be become slave to his passions, and that to obey such insolent Masters, he be enforced to forego his liberty, he ceaseth not to love command, and to pretend to the Empire of the whole world; he endevours to recover by injustice, Quaerit adipisc [...] umbram veri re [...]ni cum ab illo deciderit in quo soli Deo inferior omnibus dominabatur. Aug. lib. d: verâ Relig. what he hath lost by Vanity; and not able to come by royalty, he with open face aspires to Tyranny. The Devil who cannot efface his desires which are as the remainder of innocency, is content to corrupt them, and to propose unto him false objects to divert him from true ones. To say truth, man takes no longer pleasure in any thing save in criminall delights, the inclination which he hath for the Summum Bonum, serves onely to keep the further from it; and for not taking his aim aright, he strays from his end whilest he thinks to draw neer it: the love which he bears to knowledge is but a meer curiosity, he loves truth like a whore, not like a legitimate wife, he seeks her out onely to passe away his time, as oft as she blames his disorders, he turns his love into hatred, and becomes her persecutor whose servant he was.

His passion for Sovereignty, is not more lawfull, though he desire a Good which he hath possessed, 'tis upon such conditions, as make his desire unjust. He wisheth for an independant Crown, whith may hold of no body, he will be absolute in his estate, and since he is become the Devils slave, he will be no longer Gods subject: his ambition will not suffer him to acknowledge his legitimate Sovereign, and his basenesse forceth him to tolerate a Tyrant; he would think he should injure his liberty, should he assubject it to the will Quid facies daemones colendo nisi ut offendas illum quo offenso in illorum potestatem daberis? & qui nihil tihi possent facere illo placato, facient quidquid vol [...]t illo irato. Aug. in Psal. 25. of his Creator, and thinks not that he wrongs his nobility, when he submits himself to an usurper: he feeds himself with vain authority, and false greatnesse; he thinks himself not forced, because he follows his own inclinations, and because his Master keeps him tied up with Chains of Gold, he cannot think he is a slave. This errour slides the easilyer into the souls of Kings, for that seeing so many subjects obey them, they cannot perswade themselves that servitude can meet with so many marks of liberty. These crowned heads can hardly believe that their will, which is the living law of their Empire is made a Captive; that they who are their subjects destiny, should hold of an invisible Tyrant: and that they who passe for the Gods of the world, should be the Iniquum erat ut Diabolus homini quem coeperat xon dominaretur. Aug. l. 3. de lib arbit. cap. 10. Devils slaves: the submission [Page] which they finde in their Dominions, makes them believe they are absolute: the blinde respect which is rendred to their degree, makes them forget the miseries of their birth: flattery insinuates her selfe easily into them, unlesse they be armed with reason, to withstand her, and these pleasing falshoods banish away truth. In so high a pitch of fortune, where nothing is wanting to compleat the felicity of their senses; their soule is weakned, and being charmed by false praises, they believe what they desire. They imagine that death dares not assaile a Monarch which the world stands in awe of, and whom fortune reverenceth: They make a God-head of their greatnesse; they despise such honours as are not divine; and though sicknesses which advertise them of their weaknesse, assure them of their deaths; they hope for an un-exampled miracle, and perswade themselves that immortality is a favour wherewith heaven will honour their merit: The guards which watch about their Palaces, might easily cure them of this errour; did not flattery which makes them as stupid, as insolent, bereave them both of their judgement, and modesty: the conspiracies which are made against their persons, the parties which are packt in their Territories, the cunning which is used to corrupt their subjects loyalty, are reasons good enough to abate their pride; and to destroy that foolish confidence which feeds their vanity. Magna fortuna magna servitus. Senec. But without going so far for remedies for their evils, their onely greatnesse is able to cure them; when if they would consider the condition whereinto sin hath reduced Monarchs, they would confesse that the power which waites upon them is but weak, and dangerous, full of anxiety, and mixt with servitude.

Though God will suffer us to share with him in his perfections, though he permit that our vertues be a shadow of his divine attributes, that our condition be such as we may imitate them; and though a man be not rationall unlesse he endeavour to expresse in his soule an image of divinity, yet amongst that number of perfections which we adore in God, some seem to be advantagious to us, other some prejudiciall. It is lawfull for all men to aspire to holinesse, and let us give what ever reins we please to this passion, it can never be criminall. Every one may safely imitate mercy, when, according to Gods example our benefits extend unto the good, and to the evill; to Turks, and Christians; and when without making [Page] any distinction of persons, we do equally oblige the innocent, and the faulty; a vertue is not to be blamed which hath God for it's example; in the religion which we professe a man cannot have too much charity, Amor sive divinus, sive humanus [...]uxta sententiam Arist [...]elis est quid ni [...]io simile. the perfection whereof consists in excesse, and he who is most charitable, is undoubtedly the most perfect Christian.

But there are some other attributes in God which one nor can, nor ought to imitate, save with an humble reservednesse; it is dangerous to wish for knowledge; and as our first father lost himselfe onely out of a desire of being too knowing, the desire thereof is oft-times sinfull, and the seeking after it always dangerous. Beauty is one of the excellentest perfections which religion acknowledgeth in God, 'tis the chiefe object of our beatitude; and were not God as beautifull as he is good, he would not be the desire, and the happinesse of all rationall creatures: Dignitas formae gravior possidentibus, & appetentibus exitiosa, exposita tentationibus, & circumdata scandalis. Tert. yet we cannot seek after the possession of this advantage without danger; in women pride accompanies beauty; chastity and she, are not upon good tearms, and 'tis a kinde of prodigy, when a woman is as chaste, as fair. Greatnesse and power are two of Gods Attributes, which merit equall honour, each of them inspires fear into the soule of the creature; if they be ravisht with his goodnesse, his Majesty astonisheth them; and if his beauty oblige them to love him, his power enforceth them to reverence him. Thus dividing themselves between respect and love, they love him as their Father, and adore him as their Sovereign: Iustitia exhibet Deum Patrem & Dominum: Patrem potestate blanda, Dominum severa, Patrem diligendum piè, Dominum timendum necessario. Tertul. contra Marc. lib. 2. cap. 12. yet this perfection which preserves the honour of God amongst men, cannot without danger be wished for; who prescribes not bounds to the desire thereof falls easily into errour; and he who pretends to his greatnesse who hath no equall, cannot avoid his just anger. Lucifers undoing was for that he would reign in heaven; if pride was his sin, greatnesse was the object thereof; and if that glorious Angell be now a devill, 'tis because his ambition made him wish himselfe a God. The cause of his disaster, is oft-times the cause of ours, that which drove him from heaven, banisht Adam out of Paradise; this children of the unfortunate father, mistaking his fault, bear his punishment; and finde by experience, that of all worldly conditions, the most glorious is most dangerous, and the most absolute, is most faulty. It is more safe to obey, than to command; and let Kings be never so godly in their Thrones, they run more hazard in their welfare then their subjects [Page] do; the higher they be raised up by greatnesse, the more are they threatened by vanity; that which draws them neerer God, keeps them the farther from him; and the same Majesty which makes them his images, makes them oft-times his enemies.

This condition placeth Kings upon the brink of a precipice, Imperium cupientibus, nihil medium inter summa & praecipitia. Tacit. histor. lib. 5 the higher it is, the more dangerous is it, and like the highest mountains is always exposed to storms: so great is the danger which doth accompany it, as it may be doubted, whether a Scepter be not aswell the punishment of Gods justice, as the favour of his mercy. The first King of Israel was a reprobate, his election which was somewhat miraculous freed him not from sin, neither could the prayers of a Prophet appease Gods anger: his fault at first was but impatience, and in the progresse thereof, but a slight enterprize upon the priestly office. The presence of his enemies whereby he was obliged to fight, might serve him for an excuse, and the laws of war, which will have a man make use of advantages, was a reason of state, which might have sheltred him in the opinion of Polititians. Yet this fault which had so fair an appearance, was punished by the routing of his army, he found death, when he sought for glory; and the same mountain which was the pitcht field wherein he set upon his enemies, was the scaffold whereon he was punished by Divine Justice.

Poets who never read our scripture, judged aright, that Crowns were not always set upon the most innocent heads, and that kingdoms were oftner the punishment of sin than the reward of vertue. Iocasta made use of this reason to divert Polinices from the war which he undertook against Eteocles, she assured him, that without troubling himself with fighting, he should be sufficiently revenged of a reigning brother, Ne metus, poenas & quidem solvet grazes, reguabit. Senec in Thebaid. for that a kingdome was a severe punishment, and that of all his ancestors there was not any Sovereign who had not been unfortunate,

Though this Maxime be not always true in Christianity, and that there have been Kings, whose Thrones have served them for steps to mount up to heaven by, 'tis alwaies very dangerous to be raised to a condition which permits them to doe what they please, and with not bereaving them of their passions unrulinesse, affords them means of satisfying them: For in this supream authority, which hath no arbitrator, nor censurer, they can do what they will, their [Page] power meets with no resistance, all their councellors are their slaves, and either flatttery or fear makes all men praise their injustice, Nihilest periculosius homini iniusto quam omnia posse. or bear with their violence: if they be unchast, 'tis not safe to be chast in their dominions. All women are not couragious enough to expose their lives to save their honour: those who have worth enough to resist the vain discourses of men, have not strength sufficient to withstand a Princes promises, and there are but very few who will not hazard their chastity to triumph over the liberty of a Monarch. If they be greedy they will find a thousand pretences to enrich themselves at their subjects costs, and to fill their cofers with the spoyles of Orphans and Widows. If they be cruell they will find fitting Ministers for their fury: glorious names are given unto their faults, all their revenges passe for acts of justice; they are termed the Fathers of the people, when they wash their hands in their subjects bloud; their anger is animated by servile praise, and their cruelty incouraged by approbation: so as Kings have no greater enemies to their welfare then this uncurbed licentiousnesse which accompanieth their greatnesse, and that absolute power which furnisheth them with means to execute all their designs.

But say they were lesse irregular and grant that reason assisted by Grace should keep them from abusing their Sovereign Authority, they would not be exempt from fears, and dangers. Nihil est quod ab Imperatorbus emendari non queat, nec ullum peccatum est quod vires eorum superet, & quidquid [...]mittunt, fa cere videntur. Nicetas. For as they are the heads of their People, they are answerable for their faults, they commit all the evil wch they do not hinder, & those publike disorders wherewith all the world is scandalized, are the particular sins of Sovereigns. When they examine their conscience, they are bound to renew their state, to consider whether justice be exercised in all their hightribunals, whether the governors of Provinces do not abuse their power, whether the nobility in the Countrey do not trample upon the poor sort of countrey people, and whether the Judges suffer themselves not to be terrified by threats, or corrupted by promises; they ought to accuse themselves of all such faults as grow insolent thorow impunity, and make their kingdomes disorders the chief article of their confession. How great is this obligation, how dangerous is this condition, and what hazard is there in making good a dignity, wherein Innocency becomes guilty, where though exempt from sin, one is not exempt from fear, and where to acquit himself of his duty, a man must to the quality of an honest upright man adde the [Page] quality of a good Sovereign. In the state of innocency, the world had had no kings, or kings would have had no trouble, for passion not having yet rebel'd against reason, every one might have governed himself without any danger, and all men might have obeyed without repugnancy: the will of the subject would always have been conformable to that of their King, and Kings would have exacted nothing from their subjects, which should not have been both profitable and pleasing to them: in this happy season crowns would not have been environed with thorns, and the curse thundred out against the earth, would not have fallen upon the heads of Kings, Ar [...] artium regereanimos hominum. Greg. there would have been no difficulty in the art of reigning, and the state being an image of man; the one and the other would have found rest in his innocency. But now that men are become unruly, the art of governing them is become equally difficult, and dangerous; the subjects faults becomes the Kings, and the Kings fault becomes the subjects punishment: thus the one and the other of them are mutually miserable, and the most powerfull is allways the most faulty.

If royalty meet with danger, labour is inseparable from it, and glory is therein so mingled with pain, as government ceaseth to be glorious, when it is easie. Kings command over free men who do not engage themselves in submission, save onely that they hope there to find happinesse: this is a thing which heightens the greatnesse of Monarchs, but it adds unto their cares, and unlesse they will lose the title of kings, and purchase the name of Tyrants, they must govern themselves so wisely, as preserving their authority, they do not injure their subjects liberty. Solus Nerva duas res olim insotiabiles miscuit libertatem, & Imperium. Tacit. This is a temper so hard to be met withall, as most Princes are either too indulgent or too severe, some treat their subjects like savage beasts, and seem rather to govern Lyons, than men; others deal with them as with Children, and rather discharge the duty of a Pedagogue then of a king, others treat them like slaves, changing their kingdome into a gally, and foregoing the quality of a king to assume that of a Captain of a Gally. Others treat them like rebels, and confounding Monarchy with Tyranny, have no other law than their will, nor other means to make them be obeyed then torments, and punishments, but Legitimate kings deal with them as with free people, interessing themselves in their Good, and studying to win their hearts without intrenching upon their liberties.

[Page] This is for certain the most innocent and most honourable way of treating, Omnium domos illius vigi [...]a defendit, omnium vacationem illius occupatio omnium delicias illius industria ex quose regno dedicavit fibi eripuit. Senec. ad Polyb. cap. 26. but it is also the hardest for to arrive at this, Kings must watch whil'st we sleep; they must foresee the evils which threaten us, repulse those wherewith we are assailed, and consulting with history, must learn by what is past how to prevent mischiefs to come; if any thing of disaster befall, their government is blamed; if the successe of war be bad, their courage is accused; and as if nature depended on their will, famine and pestilence are imputed to their ill government. The Indians admit of no King, who doth not oblige himselfe by oath, to overcome all the enemies of the State, to govern all seasons, and to warrant the subject against the injuries of the weather. Though there be as much injustice in exacting this promise, as insolency in making it, yet doth it proceed from a generall beliefe which all men have, that Princes ought to labour for the welfare of the Common-weale, to secure the quiet of their dominions, and to endeavour their subjects happinesse; what is there more painfull, or more troublesome, then to appease the anger of heaven, to conjure down tempests, to fight, and be victorious, and to order things so right, as that a man do not ruine his subjects, by overcoming his enemies?

But I marvaile not that greatnesse be laborious, since 'tis servile; Non bene imperat nisi qui paruerit imperio. Senec. 2. de Irâ. and that Kings enjoy lesse liberty than their subjects. For since sin hath enslaved man, there is no free condition to be found on earth; servitude succeeded innocency; and to be sure to command, a man must necessarily obey: great fortunes are famous captivities, though their splendour dazle us, their miseries are easily observed, and though their chains seem more glorious, as being made of diamonds, yet are they as hard, and as heavy as others. Princes dare not travell, they are confin'd within their Kingdoms as in a prison, their visits would cause jealousies in their Allies, should they be accompanied with great preparations, and they would injure their own greatnesse, should they be done without ceremony. They must keep within their own Towns, must not visit their Frontires, except in Arms; nor see forreign Countries, unlesse in Maps; Multa Regi non licent quae humilli [...]s, & in angusto jacenti [...] licent, magna servitus est magna for tuna Senec. ad Polyb. and if they go out of their Countrey, they must be resolved to fight: All their Marches give Alarmes to their neighbours, when they think upon a journey, every one prepares for war, and 'tis imagined they would enlarge their prison, when they enter into anothers [Page] Territories: These famous Captives are so jealous of their Gives, as a man cannot break them without becoming their enemy, and they are so in love with them, as they esteem an endeavouring to set them at liberty, is to entrench upon their power: their greatnesse, wherein the best part of their servitude consists, obligeth them to have always Guards about their persons; they can do nothing but they must have a thousand witnesses, all their secrets are publique, they are besieged in their Closets; croud, and noise, trouble the content of their solitarinesse; those who keep off the croud, presse upon them; and those who defend them, do besiege them; Those Sentinels who watch at the avenues to their Pallaces, are as well a marke of their captivity, as of their greatnesse; and he who were not acquainted with the Court, would doubt whether he that is with so much care guarded, were a prisoner, or a King.

Amongst so many slaves, they have never a bosome friend: their greatnesse which cannot suffer an equall, Neque cum Diis, neque cum Regibus ob eorum excellentiam amicitia contrabi potest. Arist. 1. Polit. cannot admit of a friend: they taste not those honest contentments which accompany friendship; all that come near them are either slaves or flatterers, who tell them nothing but pleasing falshoods: Truth is banished from out their Palaces; if they raise up any one, they are always jealous of him; they envy their own workmanship, they un-make what they had made, either to witnesse their power, or to content their jealousies; Net regna socium ferre nec taedae sciunt. Senec. and knowing that all things are common amongst friends, they will not relish a happinesse, which obligeth them to divide their power of State. Marriage which is the straightest tie of all friendship, doth not abate the irksomnesse of their solitarinesse, for they take their wives, but choose them not; they marry for interest, not for inclination; they have least of freedom, wherein they ought to have most, and have more respect to the welfare of their Territories, then to their own contentment; the welfare of their subjects is the end of all their labours, and nature hath hidden reall servitude, under an appearing greatnesse; They command over men, for mens advantage; they are rather Arbitratours, than Sovereign Lords; rather Fathers, than Masters; and rather Tutours, than Sovereigns; they are Pilots which ought to avoid storms, Chieftains which ought to fight, Suns which ought to dissipate darknesse, and dispence abroad heat and light: they are Fathers which ought to govern their Kingdoms as their Families, [Page] and their subjects as their children: whatsoever exceeds this power, leans towards injustice, and all Princes who mind more their own renown then their peoples good, deserve rather Iusti reges quibus impera [...]t serviunt, neque enim dominandi c [...]piditate imperant sed officio consulend [...], nec [...]ipandi superbia sed providendi misericordi. i. Aug. lib. 19. de civit. c. 14. the name of Conquerors then Sovereigns: good Kings serve those over whom they command, they do not mount their thrones so much to cause fear, as to purchase love; and if they will perform their duties they must not reign over their subjects out of an ambitious desire of commanding over them, but out of a charitable desire of being advantagious to them.

If they have any other motive for what they do, they fall into another sort of servitude, and becomming Tyrants to their people, they become slaves to their passions, for as just men are free amidst fetters, wicked men are slaves though on throns, and these who are so famously faulty have as many Masters which command them, as they possesse passions. Thus greatnesse be it lawfull, or unlawfull, is always waited on by servitude, and the greatest Monarchies of the world cannot shun the losse of their liberty, whether the end of their labours be the good of their Territories, or their own renown. It is true that their conditions are as different, as their designs, for some find their own welfare to consist in that of their subjects, and others find their losse in that of their state, the one acquires honour by dispising it, others lose it, by seeking after it, the one establisheth his authority by foregoing it, and the other destroy it whilst they would establish it, but they all learn by experience, that since the sin of Adam there is no liberty without servitude, nor Greatnesse without dependency.

The fourth Discourse.

That the birth and cruelty of War derives from sin.

WAr is of as long a standing in the world as sin, this daughter was born together with her Father, and contrary to the laws of Nature she punisheth him that begot Belli prima orizo adeo pecatum est ut nihil al [...]ud innocent [...]a nisi pax summa intelligatur. her; for as soon as man was fallen from innocency, and that originall righteousnesse, [Page] which composed the differences of the soul and body, had forsaken him; these two parties declare war against one another, the slave rebel'd against his Sovereign, and became a rebell himself, to punish his Sovereigns rebellion, hee undertook to reduce reason under his laws, and to submit the inclinations of the understanding to the motions of Concupiscence. This intestine war caused forreign discords; when man became once divided in his person, divisions arose in his state, and at the same time that his soul and body gave over their good intelligence, all his Omnis creatura pugnavit contra insensatos. subjects revolted, every element set upon him to revenge it self, and the conspiracy was so generall, as this unfortunate Sovereign saw not any one part of his state wherein he had not enemies to fight withall, and rebels to subdue.

Before that Heaven afforded him some means to reduce them to their duties, he suffered unexpressible misery, and to draw an Idea of his disaster, we must set forth a man exposed to the rigour of the air, without cloaths; one persecuted by the elements, who had no house, one starved with hunger, who could not cultivate the earth; one fought withall by his passions, who had no vertues to discover them, one composed of disagreeing parts, who had no power to rereconcile them: such a one was Adam, when he was driven out of the earthly Paradise; all his subjects became his enemies, every element to offend him, grew unruly, the seasons mingled themselves disorderly to punish him; and beasts which were not as then wild, changed their Nature to persecute him.

This unfortunate Sovereign was fain to arm himself in his own defence; Antiquum bellum venatio licitum, quia necessarium. necessity taught him to cut out cloaths to save himself from the cold, to build Cabins wherein he might keep dry notwithstanding the injuriousnesse of the weather, to plough the earth, to overcome her sterility, to make arrows, or spread nets to take birds, and tame savage beasts: he taught the horse to manage, and forced the noblest of creatures to endure the bit and spur; he brought oxen under the yoake, forced buls to change their fury into friendship, and to forego the forrest to live in pastures; he wisely mixed art with force, and that he might lessen the number of his enemies, he endevoured to divide them; he made use of those that he had reclaimed, against those which did resist him; and by an admirable address he chased stags with horses, pursued wolves with dogs, and [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] flew at partridges with Faulcons, and Goss haulks. Thus did this Sovereign beat back force by violence, and reduced his subjects to their duty, by the aid of necessity.

This war was just, because necessary; selfe preservation was his excuse, Iustum bellum quibus necessarium, pia arma quibus nulla nisi in armis spes relin quitur. Livius. and if the beasts were not too blame in setting upon a man, who had revolted against God, man was not unjust in defending himself against those subjects which would have oppressed him: Nature taught him that he might commit murther, without committing sin: and that in the state of sin he might slay the innocent to feed himself. This permission did notwithstanding inspire cruelty insensibly into him; by killing beasts, he learnt to kill men; these his first Trials made him Master of his art, so as passing through all the degrees of injustice, after having committed murther, he committed parricide. For when he saw that the death of one man had drawn upon him the hatred of all those that belonged unto him, he sought for some to side with him, he engaged all his friends in his quarrell: then did men forge weapons to undo themselves; they who had only pursued their subjects, pursued those that were like themselves; And arrows which were only dipt in the bloud of beasts, were stained with mans bloud; the Chieftaines of parties, chose out pitcht fields to end their differences, they encouraged their souldiers to the combate, Tunc solum utile est concurrere ad arma, cum locum apud hostem invenire non potest justitia. Cassiodo [...]. lib. 3 Epist. 1 they made them hope for the spoil of the enemy, and perswaded them that revenge and murther were glorious actions.

This cruell opinion spread it selfe over the whole world, the trade of war grew honourable, and the name of murtherer was changed into that of souldier; ambition increasing with time, every one thought that greatnesse consisted in injustice, that he who had committed most murthers, was most couragious; and that he who had overcome most Nations, plundered most Towns, and over-run most Provinces, was the most famous Conquerour. When once this errour grew to be a maxime, Arma non servant modum nec temperari facile nec reprimi potest stricti ensis ira: bella delectit cruror. in Hercul furent. all disorderly unquiet spirits entrencht upon their neighbours; every Prince would enlarge his bounds; men began to place right in might, to confound usurpation with possession, and to think that every thing belonged to him that could make himselfe Master thereof. War was made upon forreign Nations; no other pretext but ambition was sought for, and all such as would not be subjects to a Prince, became his enemies.

[Page] Though we have as many proofes of the corruption of our nature, as we have inclinations in our soule, yet we must confesse there is none more strong then that which an extream desire to wage war, doth furnish us withall: for fury hath perswaded us, that it was the most glorious employment that might be, we hear Conquerors spoken of with respect, we read their fights wth admiration, we tearm their Injustice Heroick actions, Eloquence cannot find out expressions noble enough to honour their Ambition. Historians think themselves happy when they write a Prince his life who hath drowned the fields with humane bloud, and who like thunder hath born down what ever withstood his violence. We give the title of grand to those who have unpeopled the world, we propound unto our Kings the example of such who have ruined their subjects to overcome their neighbours; we foment their ambition, by the praise we give usurpers: we insensibly perswade them, that Justice is but the vertue of private men: and that Sovereigns who have no law but their will, ought to seek for no other right, or title than Violence.

There is nothing more horrible then war, sin is the cause thereof, and this wicked Father produceth nothing which more resembles him than this Monster. Injustice and ambition are the officers which do guide it, Fury and Cruelty the Serjeants which do accompany it, and it's exployts are plunder, murther, violence, and burning; it carries terrour and dread into all parts where it comes, changeth fields into desarts, towns into solitary places, and Kingdomes into Tyrannies, it mingles childrens tears with their Fathers bloud, bereaves women of their honour, and their husbands of their Liberties, raiseth it's Trophies upon the ruine of Cities, or upon mounteins of dead men, it grounds it's Triumphs upon the undoing of kingdoms, and draws it's praises from the cries and complaints of Captives. Yet Gens cum gente colliditur, regnum cum regno, Christianus cum Christiano, & sunt qui applaudant, qui vehant laudibus, qui que principes ultro furentes insiigent. Erasm. sin obligeth us to value it, and though we do experiment the rigour thereof, we cannot chuse but approve of it's disorders. We number the victories which we have wonne over our enemies, we look upon the number of the dead, and prisoners with delight, the pillaging of towns and taking of places satisfies our vanity, and as if passion had made us lose all humane resentments, we never think that our victory is our brethrens undoing, that our rejoycing draws tears from the eyes of Orphans and widows, whose Fathers and husbands [Page] we have slain: that hell is filled with souldiers, whilest the world is unpeopled of Christians, and that these advantages which make us insolent, cost innocents their lives, make free men prisoners, and wealthie men miserable.

Those who see the disasters caused by war, imagine the cause thereof ought to be very considerable, and that Princes break not with their neighbours or allies uninforced by powerfull reasons; yet are the motives thereof, oft times ridiculous; what causeth a suite at law between two private men, begets a quarrell between two Princes, what puts a division between two families, puts a difference between two states, and that which is the undoing of two parties who go to law together, doth oft-times ruine two Nations, which wage war together, an apple was the chief cause of the burning of Troy; the ravishing of Helen was but the occasion; Poets who hide Truths underfables, would have the famousest siege in all the world should be undertaken to revenge the Jealousie of two women; and that the greatest Empire of Asia, Manet alta mente repostum judicium Paridio: spretaeque injuris formae. Virgil. should be ruined to punish a shepheards judgment.

Ambition which delights in greatnesse, hath no juster nor no more worthy motions; Greece complained no longer of Persia when Alexander set upon her; nothing can make this Conqueror carry fire and and sword into his neighbours country, save a vain desire to reign; and who should have asked him the motive of so unjust and rash a design, must have found it to have been his vain glory. The Commonwealth of Rome was at the height of her prosperity, when Cas [...] resolved to change her into a Monarchy, Pompeys greatnesse served him onely for a pretence to execute his enterprize, for though his sonne in laws exploits had caused no Jealousies in him, and that he had not been incouraged to that design, by the examples of Marius and Scilla, his ambition was of it self sufficient to cause this desire in him: his insolent mind could endure no equals, his citizens if they will be his friends must be his slaves, all whatsoever greatnesse must bow to him, lest they cause his indignation; and the people must receive a shamefull peace, if they will not suffer a direfull war. I am further of opinion, In landibus Caesaris posuit Sallustius quod sibi magnum imperium exercitum, bellum novum exoptabat ubi virtus enitescere potest ut miseras ge [...]es in bellum excitaret. Aug. lib. de Civit. c. 12. that this Monster nurst up in butchery and bloud, would have made enemies, if he had found none; that after having vext the Romanes, he would have persecuted the Parthians, and that passing from one Country to another, he would have dispeopled [Page] all Kingdoms, & ruined all Kings. The wars of our Ancestours have had no juster pretences; those which our Histories ring most of, have had but weak motives; the jealousie of two Families have oft-times endangered the Kingdom; two Favourites have oft-times used their Masters Militia, to end their own differences; hundred thousand men have interessed themselves in the fight, not knowing the occasion thereof.

But certainly it must be confest if wars have small causes, they produce strange effects; Summum Bruto [...] civilia bella fatemur. Lucan. and that those which we tearm civill, exceed all others in cruelty: for men make profession to violate all the laws of nature, and as if every souldier were of his Generals humour, he believes that his nearest kindred are his greatest enemies; he dips his hands in his own bloud to assure his Captain of his fidelity; his ambition makes him lose all sense of humanity; he would think he should betray his duty, if he spared his friends; and esteem himselfe not worthy the name of a souldier, if he could forget the names of father, and mother. He who sacrificed himselfe upon his brothers body whom he had heedlesly killed in the heat of the battell, was yet but an Apprentice in war; and more experienced than he, would have presented his brothers head unto the Generall, to have had some recompence for it. Civill Wars stifle all the relations of nature; those who fight in the same Kingdom under differing Ensignes, have nothing of man but the face; they cease to love or know one another, after once they begin to fall a siding; and when the heart of their Countrey is the Theater of their Battels, their cruelty cannot be mitigated by any Alliance.

History, or else Fiction, tells us of two brothers whom their mothers tears was never able to reconcile: they fought hand to hand in the head of their Armies, to spare their souldiers bloud; they through their own wounds, poured forth their Fathers bloud: death, which they both received at the same moment, could not appease their quarrell; hatred appeared in their countenances, when it had forsaken their heart; Non suriis post fata modum, flammas (que) rebelles, seditione rogi. Stat. Thebaid. lib. 1. their souls descended into hell, to end their combate there; and fury passing from their bodies to their funerall Pile, divided the flames which consumed them. This fiction of the Poets, is a truth amongst Christians; amongst whom there are brothers found whose hatred is immortall, who preserve their animosity after the losse of their lives; who leave it for an inheritance [Page] to their successours; who charge their children to revenge their injuries; and who shewing a face of war in time of peace, do meditate murther when they cannot commit it. I wonder not that the same thoughts which did possesse them in their life, possesse them likewise in their death; and that those who delighted in nothing but bloud, did dream on nought but cruelties; since an ill habit is an invisible chain which keeps the will captive, and will not suffer it to abhor a crime, which hath alway been pleasing to it. But I cannot well comprehend how sin should so far corrupt man, as to perswade him that murther was honourable, that there was glory in committing it, pleasure in beholding it, and that the cruellest action that may be, could purchase glory, or cause content.

All Paganisme took pleasure to see the Gladiators fight; the effusion of mans bloud was one of their most pleasing spectacles; and Homo occiditur in hominis voluptatem, & ut quis possit perimere usus est. Quid potest inhumanius dici' disciplina est ut quis perimere possit, & gloria est quod peremit. Cyprian. ad Donat. Rome had much a do to forgo this cruell pastime, after she had embraced the Christian Religion: people ran to publick places, to see men fight; they were taught to kill one another handsomly, and with a good grace; publick schools were erected to teach this bloudy exercise; there were Masters who taught how to observe method in murthering, who led their disciples into their Arenae, or Theators for fencing; and who trying their dexterity themselves incouraged them to fight by example; he was most praised, who shed most bloud, and a man sorely wounded who had killed many men was led about in triumph. Sin must needs reign in their hearts, since it had driven thence all sense of humanity; and that making man-slaughter a vertue, it had perswaded them that glory consisted in injustice, and pleasure in cruelty: this madnesse, grew in time to so great a height, as to make killing more easie, and the sport more pleasing; men were to fight stark naked with offensive weapons, but none defensive. Obscenity was joyned to cruelty, to the end that one might content two passions with one and the same spectacle, and that the sight of a dying wretch might make them love his murtherer; yet these combates are but the shadows of war; the Gladiators fury is but the souldiers entrance; Companies were fill'd up which these people nurst up in bloud; and when recruits were to be had, those were sought for in the Arenae, who had made themselves famous by the death of their Companions. And certainly duels which serve for pastime to our nobility, are neither [Page] more just, nor yet lesse cruell; so brutish a passion cannot be but in mindes where sin doth Tyrannize: a man must renounce both reason and Grace, to obey so blind a fury; and one must cease to be either rationall or faithfull, if he believe that a Gentlemans Glory consists in Murther; yet this errour is become a custome, Gentlemen love rather to lose their heads upon a scaffold, and dye by the hands of a hangman, then to be failing in an occasion where they know their conscience is in an ill condition, and that they are in danger of losing both soul and body; fear of shame hath more power over them then fear of Hell; they chuse rather to incurre Gods anger, and their Princes, then the peoples reproach, and by a foolish extravagancy, they hazard their soul to preserve their honour.

As this blind Passion differs not much from that which animates Conquerors to war, so doth she likewise proceed from the same principle; the one and the other proceed from sin, which having put us at ods with our selves, puts us likewise at ods with our neighbours; and perswades us that all means are lawfull whereby we may acquire honour. Upon this false belief, we engage our selves in combats, we violate the holy laws of nature, we fly upon our neighbours and allyes, and not considering; Mundus est magna & vere respublica qua Dii atque homines continentur; in qua non ad hunc angulum respicimus aut ad illum, sed terminos civitatis nostrae cum sole metimur. Senec. de otio sapient. that the world is a Common-wealth; that all kingdomes are the provinces, all people the subjects thereof, that charity is the law thereof, the Holy Ghost the heart, and Jesus Christ the head, we use such cruelties one towards another, as do well witnesse that sin hath corrupted our nature, and that the Devil doth possesse our will. He who doth not acknowledge the truth, and doth not confesse that this irregularity is the punishment of our sin, is yet more miserable then they who indure it, and complain thereof: for the other grounds his glory upon his injustice onely because he hath lost the use of reason, and thinks himself onely happy because he is become stupid. War is then one of the most fatall effects of sin, and one of the severest chastizements of divine Justice; it is onely excusable Billum pium quibus necessarium. Tacit. when necessary, and yet it were better sometimes to follow the counsell of the Gospell, and to lose somewhat of that, which by right apperteins unto us, then to defend it by so cruell a way: for if he whose every word is an oracle, recommends peace to us dying, how can we resolve to wage war? if he command us to forget injuries, how can we commit outrages and homicide? Let Madet orbis mutuo sanguine, & homicidium cum admittunt sing [...] crimen est, vir [...]s vocatur cum [...]blice geritur: impunitatem sceleribus acquirit non innocentiae ratio sed saevitiae magnitudo. Cyprian. ad Donat. us then conclude that man is sufficiently sinfull, [Page] since war is his exercise, since his glory consists in cruelty, since combats are his noblest imployments, since he delights in Murther, since he esteems a pitcht battle more innocent then a single Duell, onely because it is more bloudy; since he thinks man-slaughter a sin, when it is particular, and a vertue when generall; and when by an injustice which cannot be sufficiently blamed, the sinner finds his impunity onely in the excesse of his sin.

The fifth Discourse.

That Riches render men poor and sinfull.

THough it be hard to say, which is the severest punishment man hath suffered since his losse of innocency, and that servitude, and death are pains equally insupportable to those who love their liberty as their life, yet me thinks there is a third more rigorous, which all men do resent, yet not any one complains off. And this is nothing else but the calling to mind the possession of all those good things which we have lost together with our innocency: a desire of them remains in us, which vertues self cannot efface, we sigh when we want them, and we never are so sensible of our misery, as when we are assailed by pain, infamy or poverty. Multis parasse divitias non finis miseriarum suit sed mutati [...]. Non hoc miror non est enim in rebus vitium sed in ipso animo. Illud quod paupertatem gravem secerot & divitias graves fecit. Senec. Epist. 17. Yet are their remedies new diseases, and we never do so well know our own weaknesse, as when we abound in pleasures, honours, and riches.

This is so true a Maxime as that all Christian Religion makes profession, of either really foregoing all those advantages which men enjoyed during the state of innocency, or else of desiring to do so. She rejects honour, and seeks out shame, she shuns delight, and nourisheth her self in sorrow, she forsakes riches, and embraceth poverty. Being instructed in the school of Mount Calvary, she turns the punishments of her sin into remedies, she makes vertues of her chastizements and shuns those advantages which man possessed in paradise, least following Adams example, she might fall upon his disaster. To say truth, all our pleasures are irregular, we cannot labour after honour, without hazarding our humility, and we cannot [Page] possesse riches without becomming insolent, the malady rests not onely in our desires; it is past into these objects, which give it birth, and there is a certain malignity found in the use of Riches which makes us lose our innocency: Speciosa supplicia. Cyprian. they are specious torments, and pleasing punishments, which promise us to allay an evill, which they do irritate. Poverty stands in need of something, but avarice, Desunt inopiae multa, avaritiae omnia. Senec. which is almost inseparable from Riches, needs all things, she wonders that the enemy which she shuns, never fore-goes her, that Poverty should pursue her amidst abundance, and that gold which she adores should fill her cofers, yet not her heart. This metall not being to be divided without diminution, it kindles war amongst men, makes them severally minded, divides their wils, and causeth all those differences which justice endevours to decide. In the state of innocency, men possest all things in common, avarice had not as yet found out bounders to sever fields: Kings had not yet drawn lines to divide the sea: as Light is an universall good, so was the earth a common heritage, and this charitable mother was fruitfull enough to nourish all her children. The poorest man that was, was a King of the whole world. Ambition had not yet form'd states, nor built strong holds upon their Frontiers, all things were possest in common, without any jealousie; self-love had not as yet perswaded any one, that to be master of a thing, all other men must be deprived of it. There was no such thing known as propriety, every one was content with the riches of nature, and the earth forestalling mens desire by her happy faecundity, men did with pleasure gather in her fruits without taking pains to husband her, a man would have thought he should have been become poor, if he had heaped up riches; and he who would have thought that by appropriating any grounds [...]o himself, he should have renounced the worlds Sovereignty: as men do not divide the air, nor the light, so neither did they then divide the sea, nor land; and the seasons not being irregular, the whole world was but a stately palace whereof the heavens were the sieling, and the earth the floor. Meadows served for gardens, rivers for channels, forrests were unwalled parks, and the open fields furnisht endlesse walks, large lakes served for fish-pools, and all mens delights were innocent, because purely naturall.

Art had not as yet corrupted Nature, under colour of imbellishing her, every thing held that place in the world, which it deserved; [Page] gold s [...]. [...] nocens [...] [...]erro (que) [...]entius au [...] prodicrat. OVid. Meta. 1. was not yet got out of the bowels of the earth, pearls lay quiet in the depth of the sea, and diamonds in rocks, not causing any confusion in the world: Marble was trampled under foot, vain glory had not yet found any use for it; and in a condition wherein neither heat nor cold did incommodate him, man had not yet thought of building houses, nor making himself apparell. Stuffs were unknown, because uselesse; colours appeared not in Lustre, save in pinks and roses; and necessity (which is not the mother of invention, but as it is the daughter of sin) had not obliged man to seek for remedies for miseries, which he did not as yet suffer: but as soon as he would be rich, he became poor; as soon as he heaped together imaginary goods, he lost such as were reall; and when he tilled the ground to make it more fruitfull, the earth punished his avarice by a universall sterility: she who together with fruites, bore flowers, bears now no roses without prickles: the spring which mingled her beauties with Autumns fertility was divided from thence by summers scorching heat, and winters benumming cold. These two vexatious seasons did disaray the trees, and had not the Angels taught sinfull man, how to sow the ground with seed, famine had prevented the deluge.

When he saw the world changed into a hideous sollitude, he was forced to build houses to fence himselfe against the fury of the Element; he was on all sides so prest upon by poverty, as he was necessitated to seek out riches; barrennesse which threatned him with famine, made him till the ground; and the fear lest his neighbours might reap the fruit of his labours, constrained him to make inclosures: he invented money to entertain commerce with strangers; and seeking out a metall, the rarity whereof put a valuation upon it; he found out gold, which nature had hid within her bowels; he thought she had lodged it next her heart, witnesse the love she bare unto it; the pain he had to draw it thence added to his esteem thereof; and being dazled by it's colour, and charmed by the advantage he made thereby, he made thereof his first Idoll. The Aurum sic Iudaicum populum suo captivavit aspectu ut hoc esse Deum crederent: Aurum cum mores hominum perdit, perdit & naturam. Chrysolog. Serm. 29. Israelites could not defend themselves against this mischievous contagion, their getting out of Egypt, their passing through the red sea, & the raining of Manna in the Desart, were not miracles powerfull enough to divert them from so senselesse an Idolatry. They perswaded themselves, that gold was the God which had [Page] delivered them; they were blinded by it's beauty; and though Aaron the High Priest had made it into the shape of a Calf, to make it appear the more ridiculous, it's being made of that mettall, was sufficient to make them worship it. Iron by divine providence had it's birth together with gold; for God knowing that murther could not be severed from avarice, he coupled these two mettals together, to the end that the one might be the price of our fraud, and the other the instrument of our fury.

Adultery followed murther; and chastity which had defended her selfe against what man could say to undermine her, could not defend her selfe against riches. Presents prevailed more than humble submissions, and this fraile sex, which affords so many advantages against it selfe, shew'd it selfe to be more avaritious, than proud. In fine, Poets were not much out of the way when they feigned that all evils had their birth together with riches, and that man became sinfull, as soon as he grew rich; Vivitur ex rapto non hospes ab hospite tutus: Imminet exitio vir conjugis, illa mariti, filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos, victa jacet pietas. Ovid. Metamorph. 1. children attempted their fathers lives, wives poisoned their husbands, brother conspired against brother, and every one made use of iron to come by gold. Justice was busied about nothing else but in composing quarrels occasioned by this mettall, Gallouses were erected to punish murtherers, and men knew that gold which he had found out to supply his necessities, was the cause of all his disasters.

But say that gold should not set men together by the ears, and that peace should not be troubled with the insatiable desire of riches, yet would it be always prejudiciall to a sinner, and he must wish to be poor, if he would recover his innocency. For all his desires are out of order, all his wishes unjust, and sin which doth possesse him, engageth him continually in pernitious designes, he owes all his innocency to his weaknesse, and if he do not perpetrate all the evill which he projects 'tis because Nature hath disabled him. But riches deprive him of this advantage by affording him means to do what he desires, and make a guilty man absolute, by bereaving him of the happy disability whereinto poverty had brought him. Inflant animos divitiae, superbiam pariunt, invidiam contrabunt, & eo us (que) mentem alienant ut fama pecuniae etiam nocitur [...] nos delectet. Sen. Epist. 87. For if he be ambitious, he opens the gate which leads to honour with a golden key; if unchast, he corrupts womens chastity by presents; if angry, he finds enough basely conditioned men, who have courage enough to work his revenge; and if he love good cheer, he ransacks both sea and land to please his palat, and satisfie his belly. [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] Thus is gold the instrument of all evill, it attempts chastity, corrupts justice, sets upon innocency, and oppresseth poverty. When heaven is offended with a sinner, it needs but onely make him rich, to undo him; and make him wealthie to make him wretched; 'tis equivalent to putting a good sword into a mad mans hands, to the preserving of poyson in a christall glasse to one that is frantick, and to the setting of a blind man upon the top of a precipice tapistred with Jessemine and Lillies.

On the contrary, poverty is the sanctuary of innocency, there are fewer faults where lesse of abundance. Those who live by hunting and by fishing know not how to mingle poyson with their drink, if they kill their enemies, 'tis with arrows; and all their combats have lesse of art, and more of generosity in them, then ours have: luxury governs not amongst men who go naked; those families are not ruined with making stately structures, who can shelter themselves under trees, excesse in eating causeth no disasters in those who eat nothing but the fruits of the earth; and the steem of wine bereaves not them of reason, who drink nothing but spring water. These innocent people value T [...]eo totius vitae necessitates sorro & aeri inni [...] as, cum & divitia de metull is effodi [...]ndae sine [...]ri operario rigore non possunt. Tertul. de habitu mulieb. iron more then gold, and prizing things according to their utility, they prefer what is most commodious, before what is most pleasing, they make use of iron to arive their arrows with, and to build their cabins; the same metall serves them both for peace and war; that which serves them for defence, serves them for ornament, and they place their riches where they find most commodiousnesse; they barter gold with us for Iron, they think they gain by an exchange, wherein to obtein what they desire, they hazard not their liberty, nor do forego their countries, they wonder that we crosse so many seas, and run so many hazards for a metall which is but earth, before it be refined, Terra scilicet plane gloriofior nomen terr [...] in igne reliquit, atque exinde de tormentis in [...], de suppliciis in delicias, de ignomini is in honores, metalli refuga mutatur. Tertul. de habitu mul. which loseth his name in the fire, which finds it beauty in it's torments, which draws it's Lustre from the crusible, and which becomes not gold before it hath wearied the patience of the workmen. Pearls seem not more pretious to them; if they fish for them in the sea; 'tis that they may sell them to us; before our avarice had won them credit, children who made them their play-games, gave them to our merchants for cockle-shels; they look upon these stones which we esteem pretious, as the meer excrements of the fishes that produce them, they blame the esteem we put upon them, and being more rationall then we, [Page] they conclude, that we do worship the things onely by reason of their rarity.

Aboundance is always accompanied with contempt, if gold were more common, 'twould be despised, that which grows in our climate, must passe into another to purchase reputation; and as there are some fruits which are not good till transplanted, so are there a thousand things in the world, which are not prized till after they have changed their countrey. Apud barbaros quosdam quia ver [...]aculum est aurum & copi [...]sum, auro vinctos in ergastulis habent, & divit [...] malos [...]trant, tanto locupletiores) quanto nocentiores. Aliquando re ver â inventum est, quomodo aurum non ametur. Tert. de habit. mulie. Barbarians did prophane gold before they knew the price thereof; because it was common amongst them, they made use thereof in infamous things: the chains of prisoners were made of this metall, those who were most guilty, were the most richly adorned, that which is here the ornament of Princes, was there the offenders punishment, thus this people had found out a harmles way how to make this metall odious. By all this discourse 'tis easily gathered, that riches are evils which though they be pleasing, cease not to be dangerous, that man is too much out of order to make good use thereof, that they are serviceable but to one vertue, yet of use to all sins. Christians dispose of them by the way of alms, and Philosophers by way of liberality. But in the one and the other of them, avarice doth unjustly accumulate them, prodigality doth profusely dissipate them, pride makes use of them, to heighten her self, vain glory to adorn her self, and choller for revenge, they are onely usefull when they are given away with delight, and lost without sorrow. Negotiatio est a liquid amittere, ut majora lucreris. Tertul. ad martyr. Their losse is a kind of traffick, he is wise who can acquit himself of them, and he is happy who can live without them. Jesus Christ despised them in his birth, rejected them whilest he lived, and condemned them in his death; he who will be his Disciple, must follow his example; and who believes that they facilitate our salvation, knows not that our Nature is corrupted by sin.

The sixth Discourse.

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That since the losse of innocency Poverty is glorious.

The two loves that establish those two Duas civitates fecerunt duo amores: Hierusalem facit amor Dei, Babyloniam amor saeculi. Interroget igitur se unusquisque quid amet & inveniet ubi fit civis. Aug. in Psal. 64. cities, the one of which had Jesus Christ for it's King, the other, the Devil for it's Tyrant, could never be reconciled together, their designs are as opposite, as their inclinations; and though they ofttimes march by the same track, they always tend to rather contrary, then differing ends. This truth appears by the use which they make of the miseries of corrupted nature, for self-love extracts sins from thence, divine love vertues; the one augments our evils whilest she would diminish them, the other diminisheth them, whilst she would augment them. From the scorn whereinto we are fallen since our rebelllion, self-love hath formed a design of raising her self up; and (giving against Gods Justice) of finding her greatnesse in her abasement, Divine love hath extracted humility from thence, and with an innocent piece of cunning, she leads us to glory by contempt. Self-loue raiseth despair from death, which is sins chiefest punishment; and divine love raiseth from thence a sacrifice, which expiats our offences, and gives honour to Gods justice from the creatures revolt, which doth revenge our outrages done to heaven: self-love argues riot in apparel, magnificence in buildings, and all those other means which we have invented to defend our selves from the injuries of seasons, and divine love, which always prefers the glory of heaven before her own interest, argues repentance from thence, which teacheth us to undergo this persecution with humility. In fine, from the losse of our welfare self-loue hath made avarice arise, which justling Gods designs, undertakes to make man richer in his state of sin, then ever he was in that of innocency, and divine love, which takes pleasure in saving of a sinner by losing him, raiseth poverty from thence, depriving her self even of those things which her judge would not take from his enemies, that she may appease him. For Paupertatemque serenda effecere levem nec iniqu [...] mente serendam. Ovid it is true, that this vertue takes it's originall from onr punishment, [Page] 'tis a remedy which we have got by our evil; and 'tis a correction which we endure to allay Gods anger.

Whilest man was innocent, he was rich; the sun by his heat made the earth fruitfull, he cherished it, without scorching; and his influences were so well tempered, as trees were always covered with fruit, leaves, and flowers; the fields were fertile without labour, every country bore every thing; and without crossing the seas, that was found in any one part of the world, which all the rest produced. Beasts which afforded nourishment for men yeilded milk in aboundance, running waters were never dried up; and provision was uselesse where there was perpetuall plenty. Bees wrought without wearing themselves, they made their hives at all times, and the earth being continually covered with flowers, there was no season wherein they did not make honey and wax. Man being clothed with innocency, he stript not beasts of their skins to cloth himself, the art of spinning was not as then found out, or if it were known to worms: man did not molest their labours; he admired the industry of their workmanship, the magnificency of their Tombs, and leaving them to reassume life where they had left it, he delighted to see them after having been dead arise again.

The elements not having as yet vowed his undoing, he was not bound to guard himself from their injuries, the seasons were so regular, as he neither feared heat nor cold; trees were his shelter from them both, and those which afforded him shade in the daytime, served him for covering in the night. If gold were already ript out of the bowels of the earth, it was rankt amongst such things as are esteemed of more for their beauty, then profit. Man thought himself rich enough without that metall; having all things at his command he needed not to buy them: and art not being as yet come into the succour of Nature, he contented himself with looking upon what he could not make use of. In this happy condition, most desires were Summa-opes, inopia desidertorum. Senec. Nihil interest an multum babe as an nihil concupiscas. Ident. uselesse, and all those wishes which are occasioned by indigency not having as yet a mother, could not disquiet man. He was rich for he wanted nothing, Nature supplied all his needs, whil'st he slept void of care; the starrs which glittered above his head, did by their influences make the earth fruitfull, and the Rivers running amidst the fields, did by their waters bring plenty every where.

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[Page] But when man became faulty, he became poor; hee lost all his wealth, in losing the Summum Bonum, and that selfe same moment which robb'd him of his innocency, threw him headlong into poverty. The earth grew barren under his feet, her fruitfulnesse brought forth nothing but thornes; her bowels must be ript open ere she yeilded fruit, and she must be threatned with iron in her bosome to make her nourish us. Trees shook off their leaves, when winter had disrobed them, men thought that nature was drawing toward her end, and that the earth ceasing to be his Palace, grew to be his Sepulchre: shame shewing him that he was naked, made him make himselfe clothes of leaves, and cold which made him sensible of his sinfulnesse, forced him to apparell himselfe with skins. From that time forwards, necessity made him ingenious; Tantam paraturam materiarum primum regendo homini qua necess [...]as praecessit, dehinc & ornando, qua ambitio successit varias indumentorum formas promulgavere. Tertul. de pallio. he built Cabins to fence himselfe from the heat; he sowed corn, to avoid famine; finding that the earth was not fruitfull save by his labour, he lockt up what he had gathered thence, and to shun poverty, fell upon avarice. But he found by experience, that the remedy was worse than the disease, and that if poor men wanted many things, the covetous wanted all things.

Grace, which doth not abandon even the sinfull, taught him how to use this his punishment, and to turn hie poverty into an illustrious vertue. He began to condemne perishable things, and to wish for things eternall; he endeavoured to forgo earth, that he might raise himselfe up to heaven; he had such happy successe in his designes, as he found plenty in poverty; and confest that that vertue had been more advantagious to him then innocency. To say truth; this pain was glorious when it became voluntary; and from once that man began to suffer indigency with humility, he found that God was his Father, Heaven his inheritance, Jesus Christ his Redeemer, and that the holiest blessings were his recompences. For Pater pauperum Deus passim in Scripturis appellatur. God takes the poor into his protection, he who draws his rarest qualities from his noblest works, and who makes himselfe be called the God of heaven and earth, would be called the Father of the poor; a man cannot set upon them, without hurting him, their interests are joyned to his glory, and whosoever makes war upon them, doth infallibly provoke his anger. He hath done a hundred miracles in their behalfe; and when Kings would obtain any favour from his goodnesse, they have assumed the quality of poor men, to [Page] render themselves more considerable with him. David fore-went the quality of a King, to assume the name of needy, and his poverty is the best reason which he alledges to obtain what he demands of God.

The Son of God values not this vertue lesse then doth his Father; Nascitur in praesepio, famet in deserto, pauperibus [...]r, afinà [...] n [...] in cr [...] mori [...]r. Chrysost. 5. he hallowed it in his own person when he would become man; he preferr'd the condition of the poor before that of the rich; and he who was born in a manger, would live without a house, and die upon the Crosse; his disciples were all poor men, and of as many people as he chose to preach his Gospell throughout the world, there was not any one eminent for riches, nor dignity. Shepherds had notice of his birth before Kings, and the instruction of the poor was as well a proofe of his mission, as the healing of the sick, or raising of the dead.

Though his mysticall body be alike composed of rich and poor, though mens qualities are not considered, though his Church be as well open to the Gentiles, as to the Iews, and that slaves be admitted into his house, as well as are their Master; yet the poor hold there the first place, and of as many members as go to the composure of that admirable body, they are the most precious. Kings are the hands thereof, Prelates the eyes, the people the feet; but the poor are the bowels of it, they are quartered next his heart; i Esurivi & non dedistis mihi manducare; sitivi, & non dedistis mih ibibere. Luc. & when he shall descend from heaven, to revenge injuries done unto himselfe, and to punish our offences, he will begin with them who shall have neglected him in the poor: the highest favours on earth are reserved for them. Those dispensations which raise men to an absolute power, & which give them authority over the beasts, or Elements, are the reward of voluntary poverty. If the chief of the Apostles did miracles, 'tis because he fore-went his goods; if by his words he cured maladies, 'tis because he had forsaken all his riches; if his shadow cure the sick, 'tis because his heart was never wounded with avarice: P [...] h [...]m exp [...] vit [...]. Pauperis imperium Natura non pertulit. Iuste namque sequebatur ut signa largiretur qui opes contenps [...]rat. Aug. de verbis Aposto [...]i Serm. 26. and if nature bear a respect to his commandments, 'tis because he had vowed poverty. When he healed the legs of the man that was born lame, he began by a confession of his poverty; he thought the first dressing which he was to apply to this evill, was the contempt of riches; Gold nor silver have I none, (saith he to this infir ne man) but that which I have, give I thee, in the Name of Iesus Christ, arise, and walk. Weaknesse bare respect [Page] to poverty, nature violated her laws, to obey the words of the poor; and the heavens will was, that he who could give no alms, should do miracles.

In fine, Paradise is the poors inheritance, and after having commanded upon earth, they shall reign with Jesus Christ, in glory. That which is promised to other vertues, is performed to poverty; in the acknowledgement of merit, and the distribution of Crowns, the poor are dealt withall as advantagiously as are Martyrs; Quid sibi vult quod [...]adem promissio facta est pauperibus & Martyribus nisi quia vere [...]artyrii genus est paupertas voluntaria. Bern. Se [...]m. 1. de omnibus sanctis. and these two conditions are equally rewarded in the Gospell to teach us, that poverty is a kind of Martyrdom. To say truth, if men do miracles, when they overcome pain, when they tire their Torturers, when they triumph over Tyrants, and vanquish the Elements, and wild beasts, do not they do wonders when they preserve poverty, amidst riches? sobriety amongst Festivals? when they go naked, amidst the pomp of apparell? when they are humble amidst honours? and when they persevere to refuse the Goods which the devill promiseth them, which the world offers them, and which the flesh propounds unto them? ought not they to be crowned, who overcome the world with all it's promises, who contemne the devill with all his illusions, and who tame the flesh with the concupiscence thereof?

But in the advantages of poverty, we ought to observe the unrulinesse of our nature, which is reduced into such a condition, as she cannot without danger make use of what she hath of good: she cannot without injustice pretend to her ancient riches, neither can she acquire new wealth without avarice; we must look upon the things of this world without desiring them, we must live upon the earth, as in a place of exile, and to be happy and innocent, Si vis vacare animo aut pauper fit [...], aut pauperi [...]lis. Senec. Epist. 17. we must be poor, or imitate those that are so. The possession of riches is always accompanied with somwhat of Agglutination, which is never without impurity; we are slaves unto our wealth, they possesse us when we think to possesse them; we take pains in heaping them up, are carefull in keeping them, and sorrowfull in their losse; 'tis as troublesome to keep them, as to lose them, and the pain of purchasing them doth always exceed the pleasure of squandring them away. To free a mans selfe from these misfortunes, he must grow familiar with poverty, he must sweeten his pain by suffering it patiently, and look upon all the things of the world, as upon [Page] goods which we had lost before were born. We are ruined in the person of our first father; our defeat as well as our default preceded our use of reason, and the same fault which took from us our innocency, bereft us of our riches. If we make use of the blessings of the earth, 'tis out of mercy: if the Sun light us, the earth support us, and the fruits thereof do nourish us, 'tis an obligation which we owe unto our God: when once he pronounced the decree of our death, our goods were confiscated to him; the power of making use of them, is a priviledge which we hold of his goodnesse, and he deals with us, as we do with those malefactors which we suffer to live in prison, after their sentence of death is past: if they dispose of their goods, 'tis by their Prince his favour; and if they leave them to their children, 'tis by his permission. Thus we ought to think that nothing belongs to us in this world, that God gives us all which he takes not from us, and that he makes use of his own rights, when he re-demands that which he had but lent us.

When Famine doth dispeople the earth, when all our labour cannot overcome her sterility, and when the seed we sow answers not our expectation, we ought to adore Gods justice, which having sentenced us to death, hath reserved unto himself the kind of our punishment. Dominus dedit Dominus abstulit fit nome [...] Domini benedictum. Job 1. 4. If souldiers plunder our houses, if they do what they please abroad, if they burn what they cannot carry away, and if they in a moment destroy what we have been gathering many years; we must think that poverty is the punishment of our disobedience, that we have no more right to our goods than to our lives, and that he may well ruine us who can when it pleaseth him make us die. If our families be undone by law, if Judges be corrupted by the credit of a powerfull man, if those who ought to defend us do oppresse us, and if an unjust decree bring us to beggery; let us remember that the decree pronounced against us in Paradise, Illa est p [...] peccati justissima, ut unusquisque illud quo bene uti [...]oluit, amittat. Aug lib. 3. de lib. arbit. was more rigorous and more just, that succession or industry is no prescription against Gods Justice, that how soever our goods be gotten, they are always forfeited to him; and that processe at law is as lawfull a way to bereave us of them as fire or shipwrack. In fine, whatsoever losse befals us, let us find our consolation, in our offence; let us make our punishment, our remedie; and whilst we consider that we are guilty let us not complain of being poor.

The seventh Discourse.

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That Apparell is a mark of sin

IF whole man be but meer vanity, if Nature be out of order by his disobedience, if his soul, which hath the honour to be the image of God, and which boasts of her innocency, ceaseth not to find death in his sin; if the will which joyned with Grace is the beginning of merit, be more inclined to vice then vertue; if his understanding which enlightens all the faculties of the soul, be more capable of errour then of truth; if all his knowledge be but meer ignorance; if his most perspicuous vertues want not their faults; and if his body be his souls prison, we must not wonder that the necessity of apparel be a punishment of his fault, as well as riot therein is a mark of his vain glory. But as it often fals out, that we are most taken with things of least consideration, we find by experience, that there are women in the world, who would rather have their souls sullied, then their cloths; Nullarum foeminarum ferè pretiofior cultus quam quarum pudor vilis est. Cyprian. de habit. virgin. who would rather have the state be out of order, then their head attire; and who would be lesse troubled to see their honour steined, then their gown. To disabuse these weak women, they must be made know, that luxury in apparell deserves to be despised by men, and to be punished by God.

Cloaths have two uses, which are equally lawfull, the first is to cover our nakednesse, and to hide our body, which began to be shamefull when it ceased to be innocent, Adam could not endure himself when he had lost originall righteousnesse, and the shame which infused upon his sin, made him seek out leaves to hide that from his eyes which did displease his soul, he was afraid of himself, when he saw his body did no longer obey reason: he was afraid to offend nature by his nakednesse, not having as yet seen any other monster then himself, he withdrew himself into a wood, and not being able to shun himself, he endevoured to cover himself. Fecit quoque Dominus Deus Adae & uxori [...] ejus tunicas pelliceas, & induit eos. Genes. 3. God himself, who was indulgent to him in his sin, cut out his first sute, and to free him from shame, which was not his least severe punishment, he clothed him with the skin of beasts.

[Page] The second use of Apparell is to shelter us from the injury of seasons, Tegendo homini necessitas praecessit, dehinc ornando ambitio successit. Tertul. de pallio. cap. 4. and to free our bodies from the rigour of the Elements; for man had no sooner violated Gods Commandements, but all the creatures rebelled against him: beasts began to grow savage, and retired themselves into the woods, that they might no longer treat with a rebell; those which are now reclaimed owe their mildnesse to our cunning, and stay not with us but because we have drawn them from the Forrests; if they obey us, 'tis out of hope of some advantage; and our rebellion having freed them from their oath of Allegiance, which they had taken in Paradise, we must feed them, if we will have any service from them. Those which do reserve their naturall fiercenesse, submit not un-inforced to our will, they must be made to suffer before they be tamed, and our power being Tyrannicall, their obedience is constrained. They are slaves which serve but by force, and who to free themselves from their servitude attempt somtimes upon our lives.

At the same time when the beasts fore-went their mildnesse, the Elements changed their qualities; Nullum est elementum quod homini aliquod genus mortis non minetur. those four bodies whereof all other bodies are composed, declared war one against another to afflict us, and breaking the bonds which nature had prescribed them, intrencht one upon another, to the end, their division might be our punishment. They did that to punish us, which greatest enemies use to revenge themselves; they endangered their own losse out of a desire to destroy us. The earth which had served us for a nurse, became barren to make us perish by famine; she grew hard under our feet to weary us: forgoing her flowers where with she adorned her selfe to appear more pleasing to us, she loaded her selfe with thorns to prick us; she opened her bowels to bury us; and she who grounded upon her own proper weight, was always immoveable, quaked under our feet to work our astonishment. The Sea wch judged aright, that our ambition & avarice would not be contented with the Empire of the earth, Nihil tam capax sortuitorum quam mare. Tacit. hid rocks underneath her waves, troubled her calmnesse with storms, call in winds to her aid to undo us, and advancing her waters into the fields, came to set upon us amidst our own Territories: the aire which seemed not able to hurt us, save by denying us respiration, corrupted her naturall purenesse, to make us sickly, lent her bosome to the Tempests, became the receptacle of haile and snow, and being serviceable to Gods Justice, became [Page] the Magazine of his Thunder and Lightnings, sent Pestilences into the world, turned a simple sicknesse into a contagion, and carrying corruption through all parts, did oft-times change the earth into a fatall sepulcher. Ignis an homini in hac vita perniciosior an utilior jure dubitari potest. Fire being the most active of all the Elements, did us more harm then all the rest; for this body which seems to be but a pure spirit, and by which the Angels themselves did not disdain to be called, crept into the Thunder, and agreeing with it's enemy, formed storms wherein the waters mingled with flames of fire seem to conspire mans death, and the worlds over-throw; contrary to it's nature, which seeks out high places, it descends, and gliding into the entrails of the earth, excites earthquakes, consumes mountains, and devours whole Towns: to revenge it it selfe for the wrongs which we make it suffer by making it a slave to all Arts, it burns those who come nigh it, it consumes what is given it, and not interessing it selfe with mens designes, it oft-times mars their workmanship.

But man was not so sensible of all these persecutions, as of that of the Sun; for this glorious constellation drew up malignant vapours, spred abroad mortall influences, disordered the course of the seasons, parted the Spring from the Autumne, which were all one in the state of innocency; stript the Trees of their leaves in winter, withered the flowers in Summer, and bereft the earth of her ornaments, and riches. Amidst so many disorders, man was bound to make him clothes, and to rob his subjects that he might defend himselfe against his enemies. He hunted wilde beasts, clothed himselfe with their skins; he who had aspired to make himselfe a God, was brought to a condition of decking himsefe with the hides of Animals, and learnt to his cost, that no apparell is proofe for all seasons, but that of Innocency.

Thus his being necessitated to cloth himselfe is a mark of his offence, let him do what he can to turn this punishment into bravery, O [...] ista ornamenta damnati & mortui hominis impedimenta sunt quasi ad pomp [...]m funeris constituta. Tertul. de habit. mulieb. he is bound to confesse, that he covers his body only to fence himselfe from pain, and shame, had he preserved the respect which he ought to God, his body would not have rebelled against his soul, and had not this particular revolt been followed by a generall rebellion, he needed not have been obliged to seek for Arms to defend himselfe against his subjects. He sees then his fault in his apparell, they are sensible tokens of his disobedience, and would he [Page] govern himself by reason, he should chastize his body as oft as he puts on his cloths: and yet we seem to have a design to out-brave divine justice, and to laugh at it's decrees; to glory in it's punishments and to make that serve for our glory which ought to serve for our confusion; for there is hardly any one who doth not some ways advantage himself by his apparell, who doth not heighten himself by the Lustre of gold or pearl, and who turns not the shamefull marks of his undoing into stately Trophies of his victory. Adam was never so ashamed as when he was forced to cloth himself, the skins he wore were the apparell of a penitent; before that vanity had found out a means to imbellish them, they drew tears from his eyes, and sighs from his mouth. He never clothed himself but he bewailed his innocency, and when cold weather made him put on more cloths he considered how the irregulariry of the seasons, was the punishment of his sin. In sordib [...] agebat Eva, ipsam se circumferens lugentem, & poenitentem, ignominiam primi delicti, & invidiam perditionis humana omni satisfactionis habitu expiabat. Tertul. de habit. mul. His wife knew not as yet the art of trimming her self, all her daughters eloquence could not perswade her that that which was a punishment of her disobedience should adde unto her beauty; and comparing her innocency with all her other ornaments, she could never think to gain by an exchange, where for originall righteousnesse which she lost she got nothing but the slaver of worms, or scum of fishes.

Let us use what art we can to lenifie our losse or to excuse our vanity, we cannot deny but that our most gaudy apparell are the spoils of beasts; and that we are very miserable since betraying our greatnesse, we seek for ornaments in the bottome of the sea, or in the bowels of the earth, for what else is wooll but sheep fleeces? what is silk whereof so many different silks are made but the drivell of worms, and the sepulchre which those little animals make unto themselves when they die? what is purple which had wont to be the badge of Sovereignty, but the bloud of certain fishes? Sed lapillos qui cum auro superbiam jungunt quid aliud interpreter quam terra minuta [...]ia: nec tamen aut fundamentis demandandis aut pa [...]ietibus moliendis aut sastigiis sustinendis necessaria. Tertul. de habit. mulieb. what are Pearls but the warts of certain shel-fish, and the thickest part of the fome of the sea, which could not be turned into it's substance? what are diamonds and rubies but water congealed within rocks? what is gold which is made use of in so many prophane things, which men disguise in so many shapes, which is sought for with so much pain, which is got with so much injustice, and kept with so much care, but the excrement of a barren soil, to which the fire gives Lustre, and our errour valuation? what in fine, is the linnen cloth [Page] with which we are covered all over, and wherein the greatest part of our vanity consists but a kind of herb or grasse which we see grow up and die, flourish in the fields, and in a short time weather away? which passeth through womens hands, which is wetted with their spittle, turned with the spindle, strecht upon the loom, wrought with the shittle, whitened in the dew, and at last cut into bands and handcherchiefs? must not one have lost his judgment to glory in such trifles? and if his ornament deserve any praise, is it not rather due, to those that made them, then to those that wear them? whosoever glories in a sute of apparell intrencheth upon his tailors right, and who values himself the more for the stuffe he wears, injures the worms that spun it, or the workmen In homine la [...]dandum quod ipsius est vestem formosam habet & domum pu [...] cbram nihil horum in ip [...]o est sed circa ipsum lauda in ipso, quod n [...]c eripi nec dari potest. Sen Epist. 41. that wrought it. Our glory ought to be in our selves, and we ought never to ground our greatnesse upon a thing which we forego as oft as we put off our cloths. A man must not adorn himself with that which he borrows from other creatures, and to believe that all the spoils of nature can heighten his descent is to have too ill an opinion of himself.

But if the materials whereof our cloths be made be contemptible, the cause why we wear them is criminall; for those who may be said rather to set out, then to cloth themselves, and who joyn pleasures to necessity, have for the most part but two designs, which are equally unjust. The first is to satisfie themselves, and to entertein their self-love by the care they have of their body; they will make an Idol of a slave, adorn a guilty person who deserves death, bring him with pomp to his punishment, and disguise his misery to flatter his ambition: they are like those captives who think the better of their Irons because they are guilded: yet all their ornaments are but marks of their sin and mis-fortunes; and as a foot-man who wears a gaudy livery makes but his misery more visible, those who trim themselves the finest make but their shame more publick. The art of trimming or adorning acknowledgeth no author but the Devil. Daemones instrumentum istud muliebris gloriae contulerunt, laminas lapillorum quibus monilia variantur, & [...]rculos ex auro quibus brachia arctantu [...], & medicamenta ex fuco quibus lanae co [...]orantur. Tertul. de [...]abit. mulieb. He who taught the curious the vertue of herbs to make their inchantments, and the influences of the stars to order their Horiscopes by; he who taught the avaritious the way to purifie the earth, to make thereof the preciousest of metalls, he who taught the ambitious the secret of intrenching upon the peoples liberty, taught women to mingle colours, to polish diamonds,, to calcive pearls, to compose materials, and to falsifie whole nature to inhaunce their beauty, and to acquire [Page] reputation by the losse of their modesty: ought not this masters condition infuse distrust into his disciples? and if women had not as well lost their judgment as their modesty, would they not believe that a sinfull Angell would tarnish their innocence, that impure spirits would attempt their chastity, and that rebellious slaves would endevour to make them lose their humility?

The second designe of those who delight in sumptuous apparell is to please those that look upon them, to entangle souls in their nets, to purchase lovers, or slaves, to govern by the pomp of their apparell, as Monarchs do by the terrour of their Arms. This is the more usuall, and the more dangerous motive: the more usuall, because vain glory seeks out a Theater, because self-love, as well as ambition, will have spectatours. Quod pro sold inani gloria vestimentum pretiosius quoeritur, res ipsa t statur, quia nemo vult ibi pretiosis vestibus indui, ubi ab aliis non poterit videri. Greg. Mag. in Homil. To say truth, women do not greatly care for dressing themselves when they are alone; solitarinesse is an enemy to pomp; a body is soon weary of linifying himselfe when he means not to appear, the pain he findes in doing it makes him lose the pleasure of it; and as Peacocks close up their plumes when no body beholds them, women neglect their dressing when no body admires them. They reserve their pearls and diamonds for great meetings; Courts, and Masks, are the occasions whereupon they heighten their beauty; and when they have neither witnesses to observe them, nor servants to adore them, selfe love is not of power enough to make them adorn themselves.

As this motive is the more usuall, so is it the more sinfull; for to boot that a woman that will cause love in another, runs danger of being caught therewithall her selfe; that it is hard to carry fire to ones neighbour, without self-burning; 'tis assuredly to imitate the devill, to serve for instruments to wicked spirits, to lose the souls that Jesus Christ would save, and to present poison, or a poniard, to mad men, who would kill themselves. Let women disguise their designes how artificially they please, let them excuse their intentions by their pretences; the endeavouring to seem pleasing to men, is never blamelesse, the desire of entangling them is always sinfull, and the care they take in attiring themselves, either to captivate them, or to continue them captives, is equally prejudiciall to their chastity. Pomp and luxury in apparell savours of prostitution or vain glory, Vestium cultus aut [...] aut prosti [...]u ionem sapit. Tertul. de habit. mulieb. both these faults are contrary to our religion; The difference of condition is but a piece of cunning [Page] which self-love hath found out to authorize our disorders. Our first condition is the condition of sinners; we are sinners, before we be Sovereigns, our souls were sullied with Adams sin, before our bodies were clad in purple; and all the titles which flattery confers upon us cannot efface that of guilty. It precedeth our birth, accompanieth our life, and doth almost always follow our death, so as from the cradle to the grave, our chiefest ornament ought to be modesty, and our apparel ought to partake more of penitency then of vanity. If we will Cur non mores meos habitus pronunciat, ne spiritus puriores ab impudentis vulnerentur Tertul. de cultu foemin. not have the Angels to be therewithall scandalized, they must not savour of novelty, they must not be riotous, and nothing must be therein observable which denotes insolency or uncleannes: cloths were invented by shame and pain, whatsoever ambition or self-love hath added thereunto is superfluous, and who governs himself by custome, or excuseth himself by his condition, forgets that he is a Christian, or remembers not that he is a sinner.

The eighth Discourse.

That the shame which accompanieth Nakedness, is a punishment for our offence.

PHilosophers who knew not the secret of originall sin, thought nature rather to be the step-dame, then the mother of man, and that she had not given such testimony of her care of his preservation, as of that of other creatures: beasts are born with their weapons and their apparell; they are provided either of hair or wool to fence them from the cold, and armed either with horns, or claws to defend themselves against violence, those of the weaker sort have their wiles to free themselves from their pursuers, and if they want both strength and cunning, nature hath furnished them with agility to shun their enemies who hunt after them; thus we see that Lyons are armed with teeth and claws, and that these generous animals confiding in force, never refuse to fight when combate is offered, bulls have their horns, stags their coverts, wild bores their tusks, and all these differing defences, are so well munited, as a man cannot set upon them without danger of being hurt. Hunting is an exercise [Page] wherein danger is mixt with delight, if the hunters give blows, they oft-times receive some, and if deer or wild goats suffer themselves to be tame, 'tis not without revenge. Foxes have so many wiles, as it is experienced as well in hunting as in war; that it is easier to overcome a couragious enemy, then a crafty one. Does, Hindes, and Hares, are so swift of foot, as dogs nor horses cannot overtake them; these timerous beasts find their safety in their feet, and as the Parthians fight retreating, these overcome their enemies by running away.

Man on the contrary, who glories himself to be the Lord of the Universe, Quid est homo▪ imbecillum corpus & fragile, nudum, suapte natura inerme, alienae op is indigens, ad omnem fortunae contumeliam projectum, cujus [...]ibet ferae pabulum & victima. Senec. ad Marciam c. 11. enters into his dominions without either weapons, or apparell. He finds his subjects revolted, and hath neither strength nor agility to reduce them to their duty, he is sensible of the unseasonablenesse of seasons, yet cannot fence himself from their irregularities, nor defend himself from their disorders. He makes triall of the rigour of the elements, yet cannot keep himself uninjured by them: he is exposed to the fury of his enemies, and wants weapons to fight them: and nature dealing with him, as with a monster or an illegitimate child; affords him onely tears to bewail himself; he must be brought by time to the use of reason, before he can either make himself cloths or weapons, for fourteen years space he is a prey for wild beasts, and did not necessity make him ingenious, he would be the most miserable of all creatures. Cortex ambit arborem, pe [...] tegit volucrem, la [...]a ovem induit pilus jumenta & fera [...] vestit: Sol [...] homo inermis & nudus nascitur. Hugo. The rest are clothed as soon as born; natures self takes care of clothing them, their apparell constitutes a part of their body, and the hair or wool which covers them is the meer work of nature: but man is stark naked, when he parts from his mothers womb, his skin is so tender as the very air offends it, he must be put in prison, to be freed from the fury of his enemies, he is treated like a slave to save his life, and he is not suffered to make use of any of his members, lest he use them to his own prejudice. When he is grown great, he is bound to make war upon nature, to preserve himself; to unrobe beasts to cloth himself, he must use a kind of Tyranny upon creatures, if he will free himself from the fury of the elements, and he hath so little credit in his dominions, that as he must tear up the earth for food, so must he strip beasts to cloth himself.

Though these Philosophers complaints may appear just, yet are they irrationall; had they known mans fault they would never [Page] have blamed nature? for she was not his step-dame, till he became a sinner; neither was she cruell to him, till he was disobedient to God; during his innocency, she had largely provided for all his affairs; Homo nudus in Paradis [...] indumentum gratiae habebat quando membra ejus voluntati non repugnabant. Aug. lib. 14. de Civit. cap. 17. originall righteousnesse served him for clothes, and though this apparell was so very purely fine, yet was it proofe against all seasons: as Summer was not excessively hot, so neither was Winter extreamly cold; Spring and Autumne were so pleasantly inter-mingled, as man though naked, suffered no incommodity: Trees which lent him their shade to refresh him, did not as yet furnish him with leaves to cover him: the earth brought forth no thorns to offend him, it was so smooth, and so all of a piece, as he might touch it, and not hurt himselfe, the grasse and flowers wherewith it was beautified, served in stead of a pleasing Carpet, which satisfied his eyes, and was easie to his feet: In fine, sin not having as yet wounded his soule, he was not inforced through shame to cover his body; he beheld himselfe with delight, not with shame; Gods workmanship not being yet through disobedience gone astray, he observed nothing therein which was not pleasing to him; and to say all in a word, as he had no faulty parts, so had he no shamefull ones; he saw not in his body, the pictures of his soules rebellion, and whil'st the soul obeyed God, all parts of the body obeyed the soul: Proinde con [...] in obedientia carnis tanquam quam poena teste inobedientiae sua consuerunt fo [...] fici. Aug. lib. 14. de Civit. c. 17. but as soon as he grew guilty, he was forced to betake himselfe to apparell, to free him from pain and shame; for in a moment the seasons grew out of order, the Elements waged war as well in his Dominions as in his body: the earth mingled thorns with roses, the face thereof which formerly was smooth, became furrowed; and stones succeeding in the place of flowers, turned a delightfull garden into a horrid desart. Man hearing storms thunder over his head, and feeling thistles spring under his feet, was inforced to cover both head and feet to preserve life.

He was no lesse opprest with shame then pain, and the amazement he was in, to see the shadow of sin upon his body, made him resolve to cloth himselfe, as well as did the irregularity of the seasons: the Lord of the whole world who bare the Image of God, imprinted in his face, was a ghast to see himself; he could not endure his nakednesse, after once he had lost his innocency; he sought for leaves to hide his rebellion, and not having yet felt any pain for his sin, he was ashamed of his punishment; he observed an impudent [Page] novelty, which made him judge his nakednesse unseemly; Extitit in motu corporis quaedam impudens novitas unde esset indecens nuditas, & fecit att [...]itos reddiditq [...] confusos. Aug. 14. de Civit. c. 17. he knew by the disorders which he found in himselfe, that obedience of the soul caused obedience in the body; and that the revolt of the one arose from the like of the other. Since this fatall hour, man had shame mingled with his delights; those which are most requisite are most shamefull; those delights, by which the world is preserved, are infamous; those which withstand death, and make amends for the havock he makes in families, require solitude, and darknesse. Man hides himselfe to re-produce himselfe; Hoc re [...]te factum sic appetit sciri, ut tamen erubescat videri. Aug. 14 de Civit. cap. 18. marriage which is holy in it's Institution, and sacred in it's type, is shamefull in it's use; nor hath the necessity which doth authorize it, been able to take away the shame which doth accompany it.

Mans death is more honourable than his birth; they glory in murder though it be unjust, and are ashamed of marriage, though it be lawfull. Open Champions are the Theaters whereon battels are fought; these fatall and bloudy actions are done at noon day: they are made famous, and publique by the beating of drums, and sound of Trumpets; all men are called in to assist in the routing of an Army; the Conquerours ground their renown upon the number of the enemy that are left dead in the place; and that which is termed a Triumph, is the reward of an hundred thousand murders; but mans birth is shamefull, Sic igitur quod decet ex natura, ut etiam quod pudeat, comitetur ex poena, August. 4. de Civit. c. 18. this guilty party steals into the world. Solitarinesse and obscurity are destined for his production, and nature, makes him suspect that his conception is criminall, since 'tis infamous. I very well know that a modern Authour hath imputed this shame to mans fantasticknesse, that he hath endeavoured effrontedly to maintain, that that ought not to be esteemed shamefull, that was naturall; that amongst Philosophers the production of man was esteemed honourable, and that the Art which instructeth how to murder was as infamous, as unjust; but this Authour who never had other guide, than nature; no religion, but libertinisme; no faith, but experience; nor other felicity, then the delight of the sense; had not fallen into this errour, if he would have consulted the holy Scripture: he might there have learnt, that shame was born together with sin, that nakednesse accompanied innocency, and that man did not abhor himselfe, till he became sinfull. If he commit murder with impunity, if he boast of fighting; if he be not pleased in the glory thereof, save when it is [Page] bloudy; 'tis because sin hath corrupted his reason, and that engaging him in cruelty, it hath made him turn beast. But not to engage my self in seeking out the cause of so strange a disorder, which seem to countenance murther, and to place mans glory in the destruction of his like, 'twill suffice to know that shame is the punishment of Libido in confusionis causa. Aug. 22. de Civit. cap. 17. sin, and that nakednesse Cognoverunt quia nudi erant nudati scilicet ea gratia, qua fiebat ut nuditas corporis, nulla eos lege peccati menti eorum repugnante confunderet. Aug. 14. de Civit. cap. 17. was banished from off the earth, together with innocence. Man could not consider his bodies revolt without confusion, he was troubled to see that he who was so absolute in the world, was now no longer so in his own person; and that he who commanded over savage beasts, could not commmand the moyetie of himself.

'Tis argued against this truth, that the Barbarians continue their going naked, though they have lost their innocency, that shame hath not been able to make them cloth themselves, and that nature which is equall in all nations, hath not imprinted in them that resentment of shame which makes even the most affronted to cover themselves, and to carry this their argumentation higher, and to give it all the strength they can, they say that these people discovered of late, are not polluted with originall sin, since shame which is the punishment thereof, hath not as yet appeared in their faces. They laugh at our apparell, and their climats being much more hot then ours, they are contented with such clothing as nature hath given them; and they leave us in doubt whether shame be a punishment of sin or no, since they being as well faulty as we, they are either lesse ashamed or more affronted. Illam perisse ego judico [...]ui quidem perit [...] pudor. Cur [...]us lib. 6. To answer this objection we must suppose that shame Proque metu populum sine vi pudor ipse regebat. Ovid 1. Fast. which is a punishment of our sin, is also a remainder of our innocency; that Adam who lost grace, lost not reason; that that light of nature which remained to him, in his obscurity, was sufficient to make him distinguish between good & bad, and to make him abhorre that which contradicted seemlinesse. Though he endevoured to excuse his fault, he observed the disorder thereof; and though he loved the greatnesse which he had unjustly endevoured, he forbare not to blame his rashnesse. Though this remorse was not sufficient to obtein pardon for hisoffence, 'twas sharp enough to cause shame in him; and that of reason which remained in him, was sufficient to make him blush. His passions revolt caused as much shame as pain in him, and the rebellion of his flesh made him cover himself as well as the rigour of the elements: this punishment [Page] was mixt with grace, and God who would not for ever undo him, sent him this shame to reduce him to his duty: 'twas an evidence that though his nature was Nullum quippe vitium ita contra naturam est, ut naturae deleat etiam extrema vestigia. Aug. 19 de civit. cap. 12. corrupted, yet it was totally destroyed; and that sin which had tyrannized over him; had not been able to efface all the principles which he had received from his Sovereign: but he neglecting the use thereof, and those who came of him not improving this remainder of innocency, it grew weaker with time, and the more faulty they grew, the more shamelesse they grew.

They lost as well the shame of sin as the knowledge of God, they lost the onely advantage which remained to them in their misfortune, and nature growing obdurate, they did no longer lament their past happinesse, nor were they ashamed for their present misery. This is that which makes the Barbarians not blush at their nakednes, which makes them glory in their shame, which makes them esteem that naturall, Evulgatus pudor non societatem libidinis [...] sed incitamentum adfert. Tacit. Annal. which is irregular; and which makes them authorize their disorder by their evill custome. We must not wonder if those who have lost all the sense of humanity, have not preserved the like of shamefac'tnesse; if those who make greatnesse of courage to consist in revenge makes simplicity to consist in impudence: if those who eat mans flesh, do prostitute it, and if those wild people who know no religion, be likewise ignorant of modesty: but I wonder why Christians take upon them the fashions of Infidels, why shamelessnesse should passe from America into Europe, why believing women who have no more familiar vertue then shamefac'tnesse, should imitate Barbarians, and that by discovering their bosoms, they should defie modesty. They put on their apparell not to cover themselvs, but to make a shew; that which served for their shame serves now for their vain glory; apparell which was the mark of their modesty, is now a proof of their impudence; did not the Periere mores, sus, decus, pietas fides, & qui redire nescit ut periit pudor. Senec. in Agamemnon. weather constrein them to put on cloths, they would go naked; their vanity is such as seeks onely occasion to shew it self, they cast off their handcherchiefs in great assemblies, 'tis uncivill to be vailed at a mask or a play; and they are ashamed to appear modest, where men use all their art to make them unchast. Thus great meetings are nothing but publick prostitutions, innocency is there destroyed by bringing nakednesse in fashion; and men lend weapons to the Devil, to undo the subjects of Jesus Christ.

The ninth Discourse.

[Page]

That Buildings are the work of Necessity, Pleasure, or Vainglory.

THough we do not know all mans advantages in the state of innocency, and that that happy condition be not much lamented because 'tis not much known; yet we very well know it was exempt from pain as well as from sin; and that man saw nothing neither in his person, nor in his state, which caused either pain or shame in him. The body was subject to the soul, and the senses, which so often break Nudi erant & non confandebantur non quod eis sua nuditas esset incognita, sed turpis nuditas non erat quia nondum libido membra praeter arbitrium commovebat. Aug. 14. de civit. c. 17. loose that they may fix themselves to objects without reasons permission, did nothing but by her order; and this Sovereign was so absolute, as her subjects had no other inclinations, but what were hers.

The world was as much at quiet as man was, and the elements wth by their contesting molest him, held so good intelligence as the one never intrencht upon the rights of the other; men neither feared the overflowings of rivers, earthquakes, nor fires; the earth was a temple and a palace, Religion did so well agree with nature, as the same place served man to do his homage to God in, and to disport himself in, he saw his Creator in every Creature, they were images which painted forth unto him the perfection of him that made them, when he beheld them for his pastime, his pleasure was not to be parted from his piety, and contenting his curiosity, he satisfied his duty. In Paradiso etiamsi non om [...]a poterat a [...]e peccatum, quid. quid tamen non poterat non volebat, & ideo poterat omnia quae volebat. August. 14 de [...]. c. 15. This Temple was also his palace, he could wish for nothing, neither for pastime, nor yet for profit, which was not in this stately habitation. The heavens served him for a canopie, and the irregularity of the seasons had not yet obliged him to deprive himself by buildings, of the sight of the most beautifull part of the world; the Sun was his torch, and when this glorious constellation withdrew himself to give light to the other half of the earth, the stars stepping into his place, afforded light enough, not to leave men in darknesse, grasse mingled with flowers served him for his bed: Trees lent him their shade, and holes which nature had hollowed in rocks [Page] served him for Chambers and Closets. Gates were needlesse when there was no fear of theeves, A [...]s est [...] minibus portus infortunii. Comic. and windows would have been uselesse when people apprehended neither winde, nor rain. Nature had so well provided for all things as arts were superfluous; and her workmanship was so exact as mans industry could adde nothing thereunto; all the fields were gardens; all Forrests, Parks; all dens, Palaces; and though the floud hath changed the face of the world, it's out-rages could not efface the beauty thereof. There be Forrests yet thick enough to shelter us, Champions of extent enough to weary our eyes, Vallies delightfull enough for diversion to them, and Cavernes rich enough to satisfie them: the pillars which sustain these forrests, are the models of our Columnes, the brooks which water these Champions, have furnisht us with the invention of water-pipes; the concavity of Trees hung in the aire, hath taught our Architechts to vault buildings; their proportions have caused Symmetry, and the Caverns in mountains, are the originall of our houses.

'Tis true that where sin had corrupted man, and disordered nature, we were forced to raise buildings to save our selves from the injury of weather; and not being secure in a condition where we saw so many subjects revolted, we were necessitated to build Citadels to keep us from being surprized by them. Necessitas brevibus clauditur terminis, opinio nullis. Marsil. Ficin. But necessiy not being so ingenious as self-love, she was contented with providing remedies for the most pressing evils, and did not seek so much for accommodation, as for preservation. The first houses were but one story high, the earth afforded the materials, and Thatch was the covering; man finding nothing delightfull, in so sad an abode wisht for an earthly Paradise, and never thought of his former condition, without being sorry for his disobedience, which had banished him from thence: he never betook himselfe to this prison, but either when the nights obscurity, or the weather, made him seek for Covert; he looked upon it as upon his grave, and living in so unpleasing an abode, he did by degrees prepare himselfe for death; but when self-love grew weary of suffering the punishment of it's sin, and when justling divine Justice it would finde out a Paradise in this world; it inuented Architecture, and taught man how to change his prison into a Palace: under the conduct of so good a Master he raised stately Palaces, he sought for stone in the bowels [Page] of the earth, he polisht them with tools, he ranked them with Symmetry, and placing one of them on the top of another, he made his exile glorious, and his prison pleasing.

Those who will excuse this disorder, say that 'tis a work worthy the wisdom of man; that he is not forbidden to defend himselfe from natures out-rages; that it is to imitate God, and that every building is an image of the world, and an Epitome of the Universe; that time is requisite to bring things to perfection, that the first men were not lesse vain, but lesse industrious; that if Adam had been a good Architectour, he would not have left his children so long in Dens, and Cabins: that houses were the beginning of Towns; that [...] Philosophia dux [...] pepe [...], [...] di [...] ho [...]inet in societatem vit [...] convecasti, [...] primo inter se do [...] deinde [...] [...]xisti. Cicer. in Tuscul. men were never civilized till they lived within the circuit of wals; and that whil'st they lay in Forrests, their lives were rather bestiall, then rationall.

But let vanity make what excuses she pleaseth, it is not to be denied but that buildings as well as apparell, do prove our guilt, and that the excesse and pomp which are used therein, are marks of our ambition; for houses are built either out of Necessity, Pleasure, or Vain-glory; and men seek for nothing therein but the preservation of their life, the satisfaction of their senses, or the honour of their name. Our first fathers built only to shun the persecution of the Elements; they were contented with a house which saved them from storms, and provided that it would afford them shade against the Sun, and covering against the cold, they were well apayed: Architecture was not yet become an art, every man was his own Architect: after having cut out his clothes, he made himselfe a house; and seeking only how to fence himselfe against the incommodities of life, he sought for neither delight, nor vainglory in buildings: two Trees joyned together did oft-times make a house, the entrance into a rock would with small cost, lodge a whole family; Tum primum subtere domos, domus antra fuerunt, & densi frutices & juncta co [...]tico virga. Ovid. 1. Metamorph. and the thickets which now serve for a retreat for wilde beasts served to lodge men in: Nature was indulgent to these innocent malefactours; seeing they bare respect to Gods Justice, which did punish them; she allai'd the rigour of the Elements, and regulated the Seasons disorders. Though these first men were lesse guilty than we, and that their buildings were the meer workmanships of necessitie, yet they did acknowledge Adams rebellion: as oft as they withstood themselves into those Sanctuaries of dirt [Page] and mire, they were bound to believe that during the state of innocency, the world was not an Enemies Countrey, & that the creatures did not make war against them, till their Father had rebelled against God.

When they had lost the remembrance of the earthly Paradise, and their sorrow for the losse thereof, they endeavoured to content themselves in their exile, & to please themselves in their structures, they inclosed whole Champians within their Parks, they changed rivers into Water-works; and Forrests which served for coverts to wilde beasts, into Groves, for the better ornament of their houses: Ager uni Domino, qui populum coepit, angust [...] est: & est fundus quod aliquando emporium vocabatur. Sen. Epist. 89. that which did suffice to lodge a whole Generation, was too little to lodge a single Family; one man possessed more land then a Nation; and that which formerly made up a little Kingdom, was now the Farm for one particular man: they made Nature serve their pleasures; they corrupted her who gloried to follow Gods orders, did fit her inclinations to their designs; they saw no rivers, on the banks whereof they raised not up houses of delight; wheresoever the earth threw out warm water, they there made bathes; where the Sea advanced it to the Land, they there made fish-ponds, and prescribing bounds to this Element, which receives Laws only from God: they forced the fiercenesse thereof to be serviceable to their pastimes: they built Citadels on the tops of mountains, to discover the subjacent Countreys, and changing Champians into large pastures, they made their neighbours inheritances serve their delights.

But mans luxury growing weary of things when they became common, and despising what it possesseth, after having gotten from nature all that they could hope for, they disordered her course, to finde contentment in her disorder: they turned the course of rivers to inclose their Palaces withall, they raised up vallies, and levelled mountains; that they might exercise their tyranny every where, they found the invention of Arches to build in the aire, and of Aqueducts to bring water into Towns; they planted forrests on the top of their houses, Non vivunt contra naturam qui pomaria in summis turribus serunt, quorum silva in tect [...] do [...]um ac fastigiis [...]tant unde ortis radici [...], quo improbè cacumina egi [...]ent. Senec. Epist. 122. and bringing themselves to mans first condition, they lodged under trees and woods; they built in barren places, that they might please themselves in overcoming nature; they peopled Desarts to drive Lions thence; and to take pleasure in pain, which seems to be her Enemy, they built houses in the midst of solitary places. But certainly they were forced to confesse that [Page] they were inconsiderate in building so great Palaces for a man, who during his life, and after death takes up but seven foot of earth, they grew weary of so great buildings, they lost themselves in these Labyrinthes, and knowing that they could fill but one chamber, they acknowledged it was unjustly done to build so prodigious a number of rooms, Quid prosunt multa cubicula? in uno jacetis non est vestrum ubicumque non estis. Senec. Epist. 89. they learn't by experience, that what they could not possesse belonged not to them: and that to build in so many places, was to make lodgings for Owles, and to prepare habitations for Horn-Coots.

Vain glory reaped no advantage by the faults pleasure committed, but looking upon the works thereof onely as upon beginnings, she undertook whatsoever seemed to be impossible, and her raising of Colossuses and Pyramides was onely to purchase fame: she thought that of all mans works there was none more withstood the injuries of time, then those huge heaps of stone and rocks; she esteemed victories, odious, battles, bloudy; and thought that Triumphs required Historians and Poets, to make them be known: she knew that Children were not immortall, that kingdomes had their periods as well as families; and that the vertues of Princes were aswell buried in oblivion, as their vices: she was perswaded nothing was of so long continuance as buildings, that the vast greatnesse thereof, rendered their authors memorable to posterity, and that the works of so many hands and so many years, could not perish but together with the world. Upon this foolish belief, Kings caused Colossuses to be built of so prodigious a height, that ships passed between their legs with their Masts up and Sails displayed: they built Pyramides, the foundations whereof descended even unto hell, and their tops were lost in the clouds: they tired their subjects to content their ambition; they threw all the revenues of their kingdomes into the bowels of the earth, to purchase reputation; they engraved their names in brasse, they hung their arms round about the wals of towns, and because marble is more solid then paper, they thought that that these monuments of vain glory would last longer then the writings of Orators or Philosophers.

This passion is as ancient as the deluge, [...] nobis tur ri [...] cujus caput erit usque ad [...] & feci [...] nobis nomen. Gen. 11. those that descended from Noah were the first that attempted it: they would leave marks of their might to posterity, before they would divide themselves to [Page] people the world; they undertooke a piece of work worthy their vain glory, and not knowing the distance between heaven and earth, they resolved to erect a tower which should unite them both together: they thought certeinly heaven might have been taken by Scalado, and that without taking the pains to win it by their vertue, they might take it in by storming. No lesse then a miracle could disswade them from so rash a design, they laid the foundation of this building so deep in the earth, as they hoped to reach to heaven, after having come so neer hell: their work advanced insensibly, they had already outgone the highest mountains, they saw storms formed under their feet; they wondered that drawing neerer to the Sun, the cold grew the greater, they could not comprehend how getting so far from the earth, their approach towards heaven should be so very small, they lost the sight of men, the greatest trees seemed but as Pismires to them, and all objects appearing to them but as Atomes, they wonder that the stars seemed no greater. The desire of glory made them overcome all difficulties, their courage was inflamed by their passion for purchasing esteem, and the death of their companions that fell into precipices, could not asswage their ambition. Heaven Descendit Dominus ut videret civita [...] & turrim quam aedificabant filii Adam & dixit, coeperunt hoc facere nec defistent à cogitationibus suis donec eas opere compleant: descendamus & confundamus linguas eorum. Gen. 11. did compassionate their pain; to stop the course of so unprofitable a labour it put confusion into their mouths; and to divide their underwanding, divided their language, every wondered that he had forgot his native tongue, and learnt another in an instant; the brother could not believe that his brother could not understand him, the father thought it strange that his son could not conceive what he meant and wives were much astonished to see their husbands change their language not having changed their countrey. So strange an accident put an end to so great a work, and parted those by force who out of vain glory had undertaken it, the people that understood one another retired into the same countreys; that which had divided them from others, united them together, and they imagined that 'twas the will of heaven, they should live under the same climate, since it had given them the same language.

Men were not made the wiser by this memorable example; there were some, who joyning industry to vain glory endevoured to imitate the works of God, and to make in this lower world an Epitome of the Universe. This was a more refined pride, and seemed more [Page] praise-worthy then the other since 'twas more ingenious: for Princes who built Tombs or Palaces had no hand in the work more then the bare desire; the Architectours conceived the design, the earth furnished the materials, the people were at the expense, and the handycrafts men contributed their labour: thus was the glory divided, and those bare away the most, who certeinly deserved the least.

But when industry joyned with vain glory, honour was no more divided; he who laid the project employed no other hands, then his own to effect the work. Thus did ingenious Archimedes enclose whole Nature Aemula Naturae parva reperta manus. in a vessel of Chrystall; he observed all the motions of the heavens in a brittle Globe, and if he could not infuse influences into the stars which he there engraved, he gave them at least light and beauty: whosoever was in the midst of this in-animated Sphere saw the Sun arise above his head, and the stars set underneath his feet; this transparent globe did at one and the same time shew all the secrets of Nature, and looking upwards or downwards one might there observe all the rarities of both the Hemispheres. A certein Poet, admiring the excellency of this work, Luditur & fragili noster in orbe labor. thought he could cause Jealousie in his Iupiter, and in this belief made it be told him in his language, that the hand of a man had equal'd Gods hand: and that if it had as much strength as it had compendious adresse, it might have formed a second Uuiverse,

But notwithstanding what the Poets say, this Master-piece of workmanship did not survive it's author, the same age saw the beginning and end thereof, the ransacking of a Town put a period to this little world, when Siracusa was taken by the Romanes, Archimedes was there slain, and his work destroyed. Those proud Mausolaea which promised immortality to their builders, are reduced to ashes as well as the bodies which they did inclose, we do not know the places where their foundations were laid, and of all the marble and porphiry which went to their composure, nothing but smoak and dust remains, of all the stately buildings which vanity hath produced, none but the Pyramides of Egypt have triumphed over time. Those mighty masses of stone remain yet intire, the Theaters, the Amphitheaters of Rome, which were built so many ages after these miracles of Memphis, are now nothing but ruines, regarded for their [Page] Antiquity, those proud portals and stately Theaters, for which Romes greatnesse, after she hath been so oft demolisht, is still admited, are onely receptacles for owles, and nests for serpents. And those Temples, wherein heretofore so many Gods were lodged, serve now onely to raise Romes wals. But the Pyramides of Egypt stand yet firm upon their foundations; Thunder bears respect unto them, the injuries of time spares them, and as if Nature knew that they were built by the labour of Gods people, that they are the workmanship of their hands, and that the Coement Tempus edax rerum tuque invidiosa vetustas, Omnia destruitis, vitia- [...] taque dentibus aevi, Paulatim lentâ consumitis omnia morte. Ovid. 15. Metamorph. which fastens the stones together was steeped in their tears, she preserves this work as a mark of their servitude, and as an eternall monument of their glorious deliverance. None of the other buildings, could defend themselves against the elements; if the sword have-spared them, fire hath consumed them, if water have not overthrown their foundations, it hath undermined their tops; and if rust have not spoyled them, Time which consumes all things hath devoured them. It is not fitting that the workmanship of men should be more lasting then that of God, Quid enim immortale manus mortales fecerint? septem illa miracula & si quae his multo mirabiliora sequentium annorum extruxit ambitio aliquando solo aequatavisentur. Sen. ad Polyb. since Nature perisheth in any one of her parts, that she preserves not her productions but by their losse, there is no reason why edifices should be eternall, since the world for being infected with sin was drowned by an universall deluge, and shall be consumed by a generall fire, 'tis not fit that our Palaces which are but the inventions of pleasure or vanity, should be of a bettercondition, and man must learn by the ruine of his workmanships, that guilty hands can make nothing which deserves not to be destroyed either by sword or fire.

The tenth Discourse.

That the greatest part of our pestimes are occasions of sin.

THough man had remained in the state of innocency, he would have stood in need of some diversion or pastime, his constitution which placeth him beneath that of Angels, requires that his labours should be intermitted by some honest recreation, [Page] and his mixture of soul and body doth not permit him to be always busied. Nature, which serves him for a rule endev [...]s some relaxation in her labours: [...] the earth rests in the winter season, she sometimes sports her self for recreation, and amongst her serious works doth some ridiculous ones, which are her [...]ions or extravagancies. The sea is calm after a storm, the winds w [...] with she was agitated leave her in quiet, and those spirits which appear enemies to rest, are lulled asleep in the bowels of the earth.

Though labour be naturall to man it needs relaxation, his spirit is too weak to be always busied; it is not of the nature of rivers, or of the heavens which find their rest in motion, as sleep repairs the bodies strength, so doth recreation repair the like of the soul, and change of exercise is to her a kind of recreation. But in the state of innocency, man found his delight in his duty, he unwearied himself in considering Gods wonderfull works, and natures beauties, which had charms enough to recreate him, Qu [...] libet [...] specu [...] est in qu [...] [...] nobis Deum [...]. had not power enough to seduce or corrupt him; whilst he saw the stars he adored him who had given them their light and influences: whilest he beheld the flowers he admired him who had made them so beautifull and delicate, whilst he considered the earths fertility and the diversity of her productions, hee bethought himselfe how so many miracles cost God onely the speaking of a word, and how the nothing out of which they were produced did contribute nothing unto them but a blind obedience. When he heard the comfort of birds or the noyse of the waters he rowsed up his soul to his Creator, and [...] he had understood the language of those creatures, he sung his prayses who had made them speak. In fine, man was religious in all his recreations, whilst he did divert himself, he did actions of piety; and Nature being mingled with Grace, whilst he did unbend his cogitations he did some homage to his God. But when sin had once corrupted his inclinations, he served his recreation from his duty, and took delight in nothing but offence.

All the remedies which we bring to this disorder have not yet been able to reform it: our most harmlesse recreations may become faulty, and we find by experience that whilst we think to divert our mind we ingage it in the creature, Indulge goul [...]. [...] [...]l [...], nostrum est quod [...], & man [...] & [...]. [...]. which doth estrange it from the Creator. Our disports have no longer either measure or bounds, they are either uselesse or dangerous, if there be no excesse in them, [Page] there is vanity; if they do not ravish our hearts, they steal away our time; and if they do not altogether thwart Gods will, they hinder us from following it.

There are some men whose eyes are only busied in beholding the beauty of Tulips; they make an Art of this pleasure, and a serious occupation of this uselesse recreation; they traffique in onions, as Merchants do in stuffs: The price of these flowers is inhanced by their fantasticalnesse; an extravagancy in nature passeth with them for a miracle; they therein admire the mixture of colours, Adulterium colorum amat. Tertul. they are not therein pleased with purity, and to use Tertullians words, if they meet with no adultery, or incest there, they are not pleased. their passion hath found out a new language to expresse the difference of Tulips: 'tis a piece of incongruity to use an ordinary term; a man must speak according to the rules of Art if he will be admitted into their Academy. All the secrets of husbandry are requisite to cultivate these flowers, which do satisfie but one of our senses; they must be taken out of the earth, and put in again in their due seasons; and a man must labour all the whole year to reap some delight in the Spring.

The love of painting is yet of lesse [...]e then is that of flowers; for let painters do what they can they cannot equall nature: their pieces will never be so well finished as are her productions, Pictura mendacium est veritatem imitans Plato. nor can their pensils how excellent Masters soever they be represent the roses and lillies, which grow in the fields; yet we see men of good condition who fill their Closets with pictures, who extract vanity from whence the painters have extracted profit; who spend their lives in observing the Pieces made by Bassa [...], or Caravaggio, who study to know a copy from an originall, and who spend a good part of their estate in buying of pictures, Honestius inquis impensas i [...] corinthia pictasque tabulas quam in vestes pretiosas eff [...] derim. Vitiesum est ubique quod [...]ium est. Se [...]. de tra [...]quil. [...]. 9. which do not content their eyes, till they have wounded their imaginations. This exercise is termed an honest recreation; men never blame themselves for having spent all their time, their esta [...], and their affection in this uselesse occupation, nor do they think themselves too blame though they make an Idoll of the handy work of a Carver, or Painter.

Though clocks are usefull, and that the houres which they sh [...]w forth, put us in mind of the shortnesse of our life, yet cannot I approve of too inordinate affection thereunto. For what likelihood is there that our watches should measure our time, of which we are [Page] so prodigall? Tam difficile inter Philosophos quam inter horologia con [...]nit. Senec. That we should take so much pain to make them go aright, and that we should not labour to accord our passions? that we should be carefull to govern them by the Sun, and should never think of governing our selves by Jesus Christ? yet this is one of the pastimes of the age; where we may see men who carry the rule of their life in their pockets, who accommodate themselves unto their watches, who think not that they go astray, because they measure their moments, and enjoyning themselves to as much pain as did Charls the Fift, think there goes no lesse art to make many watches go just together, then to make divers people joyn in the same designe.

Learned men despise these recreations, and yet take others which bear not more reason with them: the knowledge of Medals which was formerly only an help to History, is now the occupation of Criticks. They neglect the lives of Princes, to study their pictures, they ground their science upon the Caprichio of an Ingraver; such monies as were currant in the reign of the Emperours, are placed in the best parts of their Cabinets. Vetustas quae prodidit colenda sunt, satis (que) habent meriti si plurimum habeant temporis. They treasure up brasse and latten, out of a foolish curiosity, they change weighty gold for rusty medals, and [...] if antiquity set a valuation upon all things, they more esteem the picture of Antonius, or Marcus Aurelius, upon copper, then that of Henry the Great, or Lewis the Just upon gold; they vex themselves about worn out characters, they ask advice of all Authours, to explain these Enigmaes, and as if they were ingenious to their prejudice, they seek in sepulchres the cause of their punishments. These Sanctuaries of the dead to which avarice bears respect, have not been able to defend themselves against these men, who do violate religion, to content curiosity. Nature complains of their searches, and all the World wonders that the pictures of the dead which have nothing of pleasing in them can serve for a diversion to the living.

But if all these pastimes be the effects of sin, it must be confest that gaming is one of the most unjust and sinfull ones; it is authorized by custome, and because 'tis common, 'tis thought to be harmelesse; halfe the world have no other imployment but this exercise. Definit esse remedio locus, ubi quae fuerant vitia mores sunt. Senec. Epist. 18. 'Tis is the trade of all such as have no trade, and the occupation of all uselesse men: 'tis the ruine of the greatest families, and it alone sends more poor to the Hospitall, then hunting, [Page] love, and war do, joyned altogether; yet hath it so powerfull Charms as it makes it selfe be beloved of all those that it disobligeth; it's Martyrs are so faithfull to it as when they have no more to lose, they notwithstanding languish after it; it's inconstancy makes them love it, they hope that after having dealt ill with them, it will make them amends; and being far from imitating those discreet lovers, who cease to pursue an ungratefull Mistresse, who paies their service with dis-respect, they endeavour to overcome it's inconstancy by their fidelity, when this Tyrant hath made himselfe master of their affection, 'tis almost impossible to get them out of his clutches; the losse of their estate sets them not at liberty, after having lost wherewithall to play, they continue to love it; and the will growing obdurate against what resists it, they never have so great a passion for this pastime, Quod non licet acrius urit. as when they are not in a condition of taking it. Though I hope not to cure an evill which all the world holds incurable; I will not forbear to make the nature of it known, to the end those who are not yet infected therewithall, may defend themselves against it, and that growing weary by other mens harms, they may fortunately eschew the danger.

It's first disorder Ibi enim vitiorum omnium sed in primis irae atque avaritiae regnum est. Petrarch. Dialog. is that it awakens all the passions which discompose the heart of man, it excites all those motions which molest his reason, it raiseth those overflowings which morall philosophy endevours to calme, it irritates such Tempests as the other striveth to allay, & causeth more storms in a moment, then all philosophy can quiet in age. Avarice waites close upon it; & let such handsome gamesters say, what they please, who do but bite upon the bridle, when they loose; and who bear their bad fortune with a good grace, all men play to win. This exercise is a kind of Traffique: 'tis a generall usury wherein every one glories; 'tis their clearest incomb, who can joyn sleight of hand to good fortune, and who can lead fortune as they list. They are lesse egg'd on by pleasure, then by profit; and if they will acknowledge their owne weaknesse, they must confesse, that those who are most liberall, are avaritious at play.

Anger governs there yet more absolutely then doth avarice; a man cannot have ill luck without some commotion, Si qui ale [...] ludunt omnes perdunt, nemo unquam luderet. Nunc lucrantur aliqui, sed lucrum illud arrha est damni. Petrarch. Dialog. 27. his pulse beats high, when the dice do not favour him; an unlooked for chance puts him in disorder; if his ill luck prove constant, his fury turns to impiety, and after having imprecated the gain, he vomits [Page] forth blasphemies against heaven. Ambition takes her place between avarice and anger; for though play makes all men equall, though the freedom of play forbids ceremony, though it be lawfull in play for every man to defend his own liberty, and that therein the servant may argue with his Master, yet vain-glory hath a share therein; men think winning an advantage, and that he that wins is either more dexterous, or more fortunate; and as if fortune ought to be more just in play, than in battels, men complain that she favours the weakest, or the worst side.

In fine, sorrow succeeds all other passions in this exercise, for if the losse be great, 'tis always accompanied with sorrow. Shame and repentance set on those that loose, Taxillorum nullus eventus prosper, mali omnes & miseri. Nam & qui perdit affligitur, & qui vincit illicitur inque insidias protrabitur. Petrarch. Dialog. 27. the one siezeth on the heart, the other on their countenance; they are displeased with all things: not knowing to whom to break themselves, they betake themselves to every body; and are bound to confesse, that contrary to their intention they finde pain and repentance, where they sought for pleasure and recreation. The second disorder of play, is, that it alienates men from their duty, and hinders them from doing what they ought, or from attending their affairs. All worldly things are so linkt together as an evill seldome comes alone; one mis-fortune always produceth another, and it is almost impossible, that a malady doth not oft-times become a contagion. Great winds cause great droughts, and whil'st the aire is agitated with these exhalations, the earth is no [...] watered with rain. Droughts cause dearths, and all the husbandmans labour cannot defend us from famine. Dearths cause the plague; for when necessity makes all things food, and that without considering what is good, or what is bad, men fall to whatsoever they meet withall; mens temper must be corrupted, and the body which is nourished with unwholesome food, must needs gather ill humours. Thus in a Kingdom, one disorder is always cause of another. Pejus vivere sub principe qui omnia scele [...]a per [...] quam sub eo qui omnia ulciscitur. Indulgency of Princes leaves faults unpunished, impunity causeth licentiousnesse; licentiousnesse ushers in murder, and murder causeth war in the midst of peace. Particular families being little States, and Oeconomy being the picture of policy, one disorder never happens there alone; the Masters fault is always followed by the confusion of all the Domestiques. Excesse in gaming is an infallible proofe of this truth, for those who passionately love this pastime, give over the thought of businesse, neglect the government of their house, lose all their [Page] relations of Father, Master, or husband, and by one and the same fault, injure their children, wives, and servants. They lose all they have, in a short time, they morgage their lands, contract debts, and are constrained to keep out of company because they cannot appear abroad in their former gallantry. If the wives will not shut themselves up with their husbands, they must make friends, and must ingage their conscience, and betray their honour to continue their ordinary expence and porte.

But if this misfortune which is but too ordinary, should not happen, Gamesters must confesse, that this exercise bereaves them of all their time, which is a disorder no lesse considerable then all the rest. For Time Rect [...] lud [...] iste latruncu [...] rum dict [...] est cum rem omnium pretiosissimam tempus scilicet furetur. Petrarch. is the most pretious thing that is, our salvation depends upon the moments thereof; eternitie must be his reward or punishment, and we shall be happy or miserable according to the good or bad use we make of time, which is the measure of merit, the rule of good or bad actions, and these daies which we are so prodigall of, are the bounds which divine Justice hath prescribed to our labours. When the soul forgoes the body, and passeth from time to eternity, 'tis no more in her power to acquire vertue, or [...]hstand vice, she carries nothing into the other world but what she hath gathered here: good desires are of no advantage to her, if they have not bin fore-gone by good effects; nor can all the ages to come profit her, if she have not imploy'd past moments wel. Yet Nil pretio [...] tempore & nihil bodie eo vilius invenitur: transivit dies salutis & nemo recogitat: Nemo sibi perire di [...] nunquam redituram causatur, sed sicut capill [...] de capi [...] sic nec mom [...]tum peribit de compor [...]. Bernard. experience teacheth us, that gamesters never count their years; a man must be very eloquēt to perswade them that hours are more precious then pistols, and that it is easier to pay their debts then to recover the weeks which they have lost. Time advanceth always and never returns, it is as hard to recall time past as to stop the present. When the Sun (which is the rule of times motions) stood still in the midst of his career, to obey a mans word, the present time ceased not to roul on, though it had lost it's guide, when the same constellation returned towards the east. to assure a great Prince that his death was deferred, the time past did not retreat back with it, and divine Providence which changed the course of the Sun, would not alter the nature of time. Yet Nemo se judicat quidquam debere qui temp [...] accepit: quùm interim hoc unum est quod ne grat [...] quidem potest reddere. Senec. Epist. [...]. all such as play are prodigall thereof, they are shamefully profuse of a thing, the sparing whereof is honourable; they think they give their friends nothing when they bestow but whole days upon them, and because the losse thereof is common they think it not considerable: their [Page] life is iesse deer unto them then their pleasure, and they prove that passion blinds them since under pretence of pastime these shorten their life, and hasten their death.

But though they be guilty of so many faults, they still alledge vain excuses, and use false reason to defend their bad cause, they say that a man cannot be allways busied, that the weaknesse of his spirit and the misery of his condition considered, Lyram & a [...] cum remittimus quo melius possint tendi, ita reereandus otio animus ut ad labores reddatur vegetior. Plu. tarc. in Moral. recreation is requisite for him. I confesse that this excuse hath some colour of truth, and that men who are most serious need some relaxations in their businesses; but they must not make a trade of their recreation, nor must they contrary to the laws of Nature, imploy those hours in pleasure, which are destined for labour: as those men are to be blamed who turn their Physick into food, and who to purge away some ill humours, forego their usuall meat, and take nothing but medicines. So are they likewise, who leave serious exercises to use such onely as are of no use, and who think they live in a world, onely to please themselves, and not to take pains.

Some others say, that it is better to play, then to deprave, that lesse evill is committed in Academies then in company keeping; and that those who are busied about play, trouble themselves not with their neighbours faults. That in this corrupted age, wherein the severest vertue becomes the subject of Calumny, it were to be wished, that all the world would be silent, that men were dumb, and women deaf, to the end that detraction and idle talk were banisht from off the earth. That gaming is fortunate in producingthese two effects, and that it doth so powerfully possesse those who practise it, that they have no use of their tongue to talk idlely or deprave, nor yet of their ears, to listen to such things. That of two necessary evils a man must shun the most dangerous, and that recreation be it of never so little use, will always be innocent enough, if it can hinder revile and unchastity. Non ideo vitia in usum recipienda sunt quia aliquando aliquid boni effecerunt. Nam & sebres quaedam genera valetudinis levant, nec ideo non ex toto illis caruisse melius est. Abbominand [...] est genusremedii sanitatem debere morbo. Sence. 1. de l. [...]. cap. 12. They must be but weak men that are satisfied with this bad excuse. For 'tis not permitted in our religion to cure one evil by another. Morall Philosophy and Physick do differ in their cures, the latter hurts to heal, and imploys instruments and fire to dry up an Ulcer, but the other doth not allow that a man commit one fault to forego another, and knowing them all to be averse to vertue, whose party she mainteins, she equally condemns them. Saint Paul never advised us to use play so to keep men from slandering, [Page] and this great Apostle who loved chastity so well, never thought that an excesse in recreation might serve him for an excuse.

Though Idlenesse do cause love, all exercises do not extinguish it; this passion hath her imployments as well as others; after having cōsumed it self away in sighs, it is wel pleased to take some recreation, & of as many pastimes as it chuseth, there are not many wherein it delighteth more then in play, it makes use as of an occasion thereof to see & entertain what it loveth. It useth such freedom as that pastime affordeth it. It teacheth slaves to act two parts at once, and to hazard their money and their liberty upon the same chance or card, that Poet who was so justly banisht to Pontus Euximus for Turpe est nescire puellam ludere, ludendo saepe paratur amor. Ovid. having taught the Romane Ladies how to make love, recommends play unto them, as a pastime which serves to their design: he will have all maidens know how to play, and that by a double traffick, they win their Lovers hearts and money. The Privatives which accompany this pastime, are fitter to kindle flames of love then to extinguish them. This passion is entertained by the presence of such objects as do arise, she expresseth her self by looks and sighs, she furnisheth Lovers with a thousand ways to seduce those who will listen to them, growing learned in so good a school, they quit their losses, and oft-time of servants become Masters. But if all these sufficient reasons cannot disabuse those women who love play, and if they think it be a buckler for their chastity, we wil give them leave to play, provided they will give us leave to believe that this exercise is a cure for their incontinency, that the use thereof is permitted them onely to free them from love, and that knowing their frailty, they are allowed this pastime to secure their reputation, which would be in hazard of shipwrack, if they should be idle or solitary.

Yet if they will listen to our religion, this wise tutouresse wil Hae voluptates haec spectacula Christianorum sancta, perpetua gratuita, cursus saeculi intuere tempora labentia dinumera, ad signum Dei suscitare, ad tubam Angeli erigere, ad Martyrii palma [...] gloriare. Tertul. de spectaculis. furnish them with better means how to assist chastity, when it is assailed. Her enemy dares not pursue her in prison, those places of dread infuse horrour into him, and being guilty, she fears all places where guilty people are punished; she apprehends hospitals, and her delicate disposition cannot endure those houses where the eyes see nothing but objects of pitty, where the eares hear nothing but complaints, where the nose smels nothing but evill odours, and where all the senses find nothing but subjects of mortification. Penance is a better cure for love then play, and if women who seek to succour their [Page] weaknesse by this diversion, had kept their bodies under by fasting and penance, they would confesse that suffering is a friend to chastity; and that the fire which doth consume them, is the just punishment of their infamous delights.

The earth is an abode of penance; wee should not seek for pastimes since we were driven out of paradise: guilty men dream of nothing but death after once they are condemned. The sorrow for their fault, and the apprehension of their punishment will Dehinc cum de originis loco homo exterminatur, quippe qui deliquerat, pellitus orbi ut metallo datur. Ter tul. de pallio. cap. 3. not permit them to take any pastime: he would redouble their pain, who should propose pastimes unto them, the most ingenious Tyrants never inhibited complaints to such as were to be punished. Yet it seems the Devil deals so rigorously with us, as he bindes us to recreate our selves after condemnation, and engageth us in debaucheries, to take from us the occasion of bewailing our sins. If we take any recreation, let us not forget our misfortune, let us mingle tears with our delights, let us take our pastimes as sick men take potions, let necessity which ought to be the rule thereof, be our excuse; and let us not allow our selves longer relaxation, then is necessary to support the miseries of our life. Let us wish for that glorious condition where Saints find their recreation in their duties, where the same object which doth ravish them, doth recreate them, and where by an admirable encounter, all the faculties of the soul are always imployed, yet are never weary nor weakened.

OF THE CORRUPTION OF ALL CREATVRES. The Sixth and last Treatise:

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The First Discourse.

Of the Beauty, Greatnesse, and Duration of the WORLD:

THough the world lost it's first purity, when man lost his innocence, there remains yet therein enough of beauty, to oblige such as do consider it to make it's Panegyricks; Visibilium [...] xim [...] est [...], invisibilium [...] maxi [...] est Deus sed [...] dum esse conspi [...] Deum esse credi [...]. Aug. de Civit. lib. 11 cap. 4. sin could not so much efface all it's perfections, but that those which it yet hath, caused admiration in Philosophers; and force Infidels to adore his hand who made it. It resembles their famous beauties to which age or sicknesse have yet left features enough to make their beholders judg that 'twas not without reason that they were adored in their youth. Thoug it be disordered in some of it's parts, though the elements [Page] whereof it is composed do divide it, though the seasons which maintain the variety thereof cause it's confusion, though Monsters which heighten the works thereof dishonour it, and though beasts which have antidotes in them, have also poysons; yet is it easie, to observe the worlds advantages amidst it's defaults, and to acknowledge that if Divine Justice have put it out of order to punish us, Providence had ordeined it for our habitation, and had placed nothing in so vast a palace which was not sufficient to ravish our senses, and to content our minds.

The curious discover therein every day new beauties to satisfie themselves; 'tis a book which never wearies those that read it. Every creature Mundus ipse liber est tot litteris exaratus quot creaturis, in quo possunt omnes legere & intelligere. Chrysost. is a character wch represents some one of it's Authors perfections, and Infidels instructed in this school have framed unto themselves noble Ideas of the divine Essence. In effect, the spaciousnesse of the Heavens which serves for bounds to nature, and which inclose all the works thereof in their extent, do point out unto us Gods immensity, who comprehends whatsoever he produceth, and incloseth within his essence whatsoever he by his power doth draw from thence. The earths solidity which serves for center to all the world, and which grounded upon it's own weight cannot Immotúsque mane [...]s dat cuncta moveri. Boetius. be shaken by storms nor winds, is an Embleme of Gods stability, who causeth all the alterations in the world without any change in himself, and who by an unalterable act of his will, rules all the adventures of our life. The Suns light is a shadow of his, and the prodigious activity of this glorious constellation which produceth metals in the bowels of the earth, flowers and fruits in the fields, clouds and meteors in the air, and which by it's influences doth rule over all the productions of nature, is the picture of that infinite power, which shed abroad in all his creatures doth act with them, and accommodate it self to their inclinations. The incensed sea big with storms, the waves whereof rise up unto the heavens and descend unto the depths, her fury which threatens ships with wracking; and the neighbouring fields with deluge, is a fearfull draught of Gods anger who prepares torments for sinners, and makes himself be dreaded by rebels who would not love his goodnesse. In fine, every creature is a lookingglasse Ex perpetuitate creaturarum intelligitur Creator aet [...]rnus, ex magnitudine omnipotens, ex ordine & dispositione sapiens, ex gubernatione [...]onus. August. in Joan. wherein a man see the Lineaments of his Creator, and where, with but a grain of grace all rationall men may become faithfull.

[Page] So prodigious is the mightinesse of this work, as 6000 years have not been sufficient to discover it; avarice nor ambition have not been able to finde out the ends thereof; there are yet whole Countries whether by reason of the extreamity of cold; and the Seas vast extent no man ever yet came. There are unknown Hinc camporumi [...] infinitum p [...]tentium fusa planities, varii u [...]bium situs, & seclusae nationes locorum difficultate, littor [...] in portum recedentia, sparsae tot per vastum insulae qua intervent [...] suo maria distinguunt. Senec. ad Marc. c. 18. desarts which mans curiosity hath not been able to penetrate, and the Sun enlightens some part of the earth whereon no Conquerour ever yet set his foot. Those who have gone round the world, have not discovered it's profundity, and though they be vainly perswaded that there is nothing so great which their understanding cannot comprehend, yet are they bound to confesse, that there be havens whereinto they never put, and savage people, whose language nor manners they understand not. There is none but God alone who knows the greatnesse of his work; every age discovers unto us our ignorance. And though the earth be but a point, yet doth it consist of so many parts as we may with reason doubt, if what we know not thereof, do not exceed for bulk and beauty, it's known parts. That new world which our fore-fathers knew not, is richer, and of larger extent then ours. It is so ravishing, as it makes whole Nations quit their own Countries to conquer it; the wealth thereof gives the law to all Europe; the latter Kings of Spain have made more conquests with the gold thereof, then all their Pred [...]ssours have fought battels with the iron of their Mines. Their overcoming of this part of the world hath made them overcome the rest; their victories depend only upon it. And did not the Indians dig up the entrails of Perve, the Spaniards would not trouble the Peace of Europe. 'Tis true, that these Provinces are so far distant from the Center of their State, and the Sea which brings them the wealth thereof is so treacherous, as they run hazard of being undone, as oft as the Indian Fleet is in danger of shipwrack. And Polititians are of opinion, that so great a body the parts whereof are divided by so many seas, can be of no long durance: Deus omnia videt quid totus oculus, omnia potest quia totus manus, omnia replet quia totus p [...] est. August. it only appertains to God to govern in a State, the Provinces whereof though never so far distant, are yet always united to their Sovereign; and which though scituated in different Climates, are still enlightened by the same Sun.

The beautifulnesse of this Kingdom is answerable to it's greatnesse, nothing is therein to be seen which hurts the senses, all the [Page] pieces whereof it is composed are pleasing, their difference makes a part of it's beauty, and the wit of man which is naturally criticall, can finde nothing in this work to be found fault with. Every part is so well placed as they are not to be altered without some disorder. Deus t [...]tam molem istam cum omni instrumento elementorum corporum spiritaum verbo quo [...]us fit, ratione qua disposuit, virtute quà potuit de nihilo expressit in ornamentum majestatis sua. Tert. in Apologetic. The Elements are lodged according to their deserts; the earth as the heaviest makes the lowest story; the fire as the lightest is nearest heaven, the aire and water whose qualities have some resemblance, are seated above the earth; and beneath the fire. The noblest of these Elements is the most barren, it is so active as it will not permit any creatures to live in it. The Salamander doth for a while resist it's heat, and till his moisture which doth preserve him, be dried up, he delights in the fire; but if he tarry long there, his pleasure turns to pain, and he there findes his death.

The aire whose purity comes nearest that of the fire, is the abode of birds, they cut this liquid Element with their wings, they make new paths in those spacious Champians, they therein breath with freedom, and till man found out the art to kill them with his arrows, they laughed at his Empire. Their wings are oares which guide through this sea, their taile is their rudder, and when the storm is so great, as they fear being born away by the fury thereof, they take up stones in their feet, and defend themselves against the Tempest. Though they live at liberty, Aquilae solem ita sustinent ut natorumsu [...] rum ge [...]erositatem de [...]illarum aud [...] judicent alioqui non educabunt ut degenerem quem solis radius averte it. Tert. deanima. they acknowledge a King, which title the eagle hath won, be it whether for that she flies highest, or for that he can look fixedly on the Sun, or for that he defends his subjects from birds of prey, which appear to be the Tyrants of this part of the world.

The Sea abounds more in fishes, then the aire doth in birds. Their number is as prodigious, as their shapes, the species is there by miracle preserved, and Naturalists who boast to know all things, know not in what part of the fish, her fecundity doth lie. The Elements which give them their life being almost always in agitation, war is there more frequent then peace, and the abode of these Monsters is the picture of a State divided by Civill war. Right consists there either in force, or fraud, the greater eat up the lesse, and if the weak ones want nimblenesse to defend themselves, they become a prey to the more puissant. A [...]citiae exempla ba [...] & musculus quando p [...]gravi superciliorum pondere obrutis ejus oculis, infestantia magnitudinem vada p [...]aenatans demonstrat oculorumque vice fungitur. Plin. lib. 9. cap 62. The Whale which doth for greatnesse equall mountains, doth not govern in this Empire; this great Colossus wants spirit to inanimate his body, Nature which hath [Page] made him so vast hath made him so dull, that he needs another fish to guide him, he would fall foul upon the sands, did not his faithfull Officer keep him aloofe from the shore; and this inanimated Rock would bruise himself against the earth, did not this guide advertise him of his danger; to recompence his guide for so good an office, he lends him his throat for a place of retreat, and this living gulf serves for a Sanctuary to this faithfull guide. Delp [...]is non homini tantum amicum animal, verum & musicae arti, mulcetur symphoniae cantu. Hominem non expavescitut alienum, obviam navigiis venit, alludit exaltans. Plin. lib. 9. cap. 8. The Dolphin is the Sovereign of the Sea, he carries the Ensignes of his power in the noblest part of his body, and Nature which hath given him dexterity to command, hath placed a Crown upon his head, to put a difference between him and his subjects; he naturally loves man, and as if he knew that he likewise were a Sovereign, he helps him at the sea who commands upon earth; he is delighted with musick, though he be dumb, he is not deafe, and the love he bears to musick, hath made him oft-times assist Musicians in shipwrack.

The earth is no lesse peopled then is the sea: this fruitfull mother is never weary of bringing forth children, nor of nourishing them; all the parts thereof are fertill: Desarts which produce Monsters, produce food likewise to nourish them; Forrests serve for retreats to wilde beasts, the fields receive such as are necessary for mans entertainment: and Towns afford shelter to such as we have reclaimed, & made tame either for our service or pastime; every species is preserved by multiplying it selfe; Nature repaires the havock made by death. And notwithstanding the cruelty which men use towards those harmlesse beasts, Horum insatiabilis gula hinc maria soris tatur hi [...]c terras, alia ham is, alia laqueis cum magno labore persequitur, nullisque animalibus, nisi ex f [...]tidio p [...] est. Sen. Epist. 89. their number is not diminished. Excesse in feasting cannot drain either the earth, or sea, these two Elements abound more in fruitfulnesse, then we do in gluttonies; and notwithstanding any debauches made, yet at any time in any Countrey; the fields were never depopulated. Though man be the Sovereign of all the world, he is much more absolute in the earth, than either in the water, or aire. He rules over fishes, and birds only by art; and since they dwell in Elements which are not conformable to his nature, he must use violence upon himself, before he can fight against them. He gets o [...] shipboard, & trusts himself to the perfidiousnesse of the sea to surprize fish. He cannot come up to birds because of their swiftnesse, his minde could never yet raise his earthly body to pursue them in the aire. He sends bullets where he himself cannot go, and putting division between these innocent [Page] creatures either by industry or deceit, he makes the Gerfaulcon flie at the Heron. But he can do what he will with beasts, he sets upon the fiercest of them in their Forts; their dens nor thickets cannot defend them from his violence. Animalium tyrannus homo primus animal occidit Hyperbius Martis filius, Prometheus bovem. Plin. lib. 7. cap. 56. He reclaimes some to make use of them, he strips others to clothe himselfe; and cuts the throats of others to feed on. This absolute power impedes not the beasts from having Sovereigns amongst themselves. The Lion hath won this honour by his strength and courage; all other beasts bear him respect; at his roaring all his subjects tremble; nor are Kings more re-doubted in their Kingdomes, then is this noble Animall in Forrests.

Thus all things in the world are wisely ordered; every Element acknowledgeth it's Sovereign, every species hath it's laws, and had not man disordered this great Republique, all the parts thereof would yet enjoy peace and tranquility. Yet they agree in what is requisite for the worlds preservation; Per propria singula à singulis elementa separantur, per communia singula singulis nectuntur: oportebat enim esse separata, ut singula suam conservarent naturam, oportebat & aliquo nexu copulata esse ut ex his omnium corporum nasceretur compositio. Procopi, Genes. cap. 1. though their inclinations be contrary, they keep fair quarter in their quarrels, & do not forgoe all sense of love, when they exercise their hatred. Fire agrees with water to compose all bodies, and aire mingles it self with earth to give life and breath to all creatures. Every Element useth force upon it's inclinations to agree with it's Enemy. In birds the earth becomes light, in beasts the aire waxeth heavy, in fishes fire grows cold, and water hardens in rocks: if at any time they fall foul, 'tis always out of some good designe; and divine providence by which they are governed gives them not freedom to wage war save for her glory, and our advantage. The obedience which they owe to God, exceeds their own aversions, and the Commandements which he gave them when he made them of nothing, keeps them yet within their duties; they do not make use of their advantages which one of them hath over the other, and knowing very well that the worlds welfare depends on their agreements; they appease their hatred to cause it's quiet. The fire invirons all the other Elements without consuming them, it is content to burn such exhalations as come near it, and to set such Comets on fire as do presage alteration in States, or the death of Kings. The aire doth inclose all sensible creatures, the humidity thereof doth temper the fires heat, and the earths drinesse. Waters make no advantage of the [Page] scituation which Nature hath given it, though it be liquid, and raised above the earth, it doth not passe his bounds, the word of God gives it it's limits, he who raised it up retains it, and he teacheth us by this miracle, that there needs no more to drown the world, then Hi circumfuso pendebat in aëre tellus ponderibus lib [...]ata suis, & pressa est gravitate sui. Ovid. 1. Metamorph. to leave the sea at liberty. The earth hath it's foundations laid upon the ayr, this Element wherewith it is environed, supports it. The worlds Basis hath no other stay then the weight thereof; that which ought to beat it down, susteins it, and it keeps equally distant from all the parts of heauen, onely because it is the heaviest of all bodies.

But that which astonisheth all Philosophers, and fils the wisest pates in the world with admiration, is to see that the world which is but a point, should be the center of the Universe, and that all Creatures labour onely to adorn or to inrich it. The heavens roul incessantly about this hillock of sand to beautifie the fields thereof. Terra omnium media posita est circa quam coelum volvitur, quam astra omnia illuminant, & ipsa quoddam astrum est quia immobilis. Alcinous cap. 15. The Sun inlightens it and cherisheth it with his beams, this glorious constellation hath no other care then to make it fertill, and if he be in perpetuall motion, 'tis that he may adorn it with flowers, load it with fruits, and enrich it with metals, the Air forms no clouds nor rain, save onely to water it: And whole nature is busied in nothing but how she may oblige the least part of the Universe. 'Tis truth; the earth doth thankfully acknowledge all these favours, for as she owes all her productions to the Suns favourable aspect, she in token of thankfullnesse thrusts all her fruits up towards him, opens all her flowers when he riseth, shuts them up when he sets, and as if she were onely adorned to please him, she hides all her beauties when he keeps far from her.

Though all these considerations make the worlds beauty sufficiently appear, that it's creation is the most considerable part of it's excellency. And he who knows not what means God used to produce it, Quomodo fecisti coelum & terram non sit ut homo artifex formans corpus de corpore non utique fecisti mundum in mundo quia non erat ubi fieret antiquam fieret ut ess [...]. August. lib. 11. Confess. cap. 5. Ignores the rarest of all his wonders. This great piece of workmanship had nothing, but nothing for it's Materia, all the different parts whereof it is composed had the same originall, and this vacuum in-animated by the word of God, brought forth the Heavens with their constellation, the earth with all it's fields, and the sea with all her rocks, Nature which is so powerfull can do nothing of her self, her works are rather alterations then productions, she turns dew into flowers, and rain into wine, she multiplyeth all things [Page] without a miracle, a few grains of corn in her hands prove a whole harvest, and a few acorns sown in the earth, do by her care become a Forrest, but let her do what she can she cannot make any thing out of nothing, and he who shall bereave her of the elements, takes from her the means of exercising her power. Art which boasts to imitate nature, can produce nothing of gallant, unlesse it have some subject to work upon, a painter cannot finish a picture without colours, nor can an Ingraver make the visage of an Heroe without brasse or porphiry. The most skilfull Architects fall short, if they be not assisted by Nature, and their stateliest designs would be but uselesse Chimeraes, did not the Forrest furnish them with Timber, and the Quarries with marble, to put them in execution. But God makes all things out of nothing, and when he operates as a Creator, he draws all his works ex nihilo. This is so admirable an effect of his power, as prophane Philosophy cannot comprehend it. Mundum ab aeterno so [...]niavit Aristoreles, quia ex nihilo fieri potuisse nunquam intelligere potuit. And the learnedest of all her disciples chose rather to believe that the world was eternall, then that it was made of nothing. It is not hard to conceive how flames may arise from water, and by what secret veins rivolets are drawn from out the barren bosomes of rocks; Philosophy hath light enough to comprehend that all is in all things, and that the variety of the parts of the world, hinders not their communication. But she cannot conceive without the help of faith, that the whole world could proceed from nothing, and that this nothing obeying the word of God hath produced flowers, Constellations mountains and rocks.

Qui vivit in aeternum cr [...]avitomnia simul. Ecclesias. cap. 18. There went but one moment to this great work, and if we will believe the wisest of men, heaven and earth were created in an instant, there went six daies to their disposall; and this comly order which we observe in the world was the work of a week, but the matter was formed as soon as God had spoken the word, and that which we call the creation of the world, did last no longer then was requisite for the ordering of it. Nature do's wonders which do surprize mens understandings, her works deserve to be admired by Philosophers, and she sometimes doth miracles which surpasse our belief; but this wise work woman is slow in her productions, she doth nothing without the aid of Time which is her Counsellor and Officer. As she takes time to put on her resolutions, so she never executes them without him, she requires whole years to ripen fruits, and [Page] stands in need of all the four seasons to bring them to maturity. She requires a whole age to bring a forrest to it's perfection, Nihil difficile est Naturae, utique ubi in finem sui properat: ad originem rerum parce utitur viribus, subito ad ruinam toto impetu venit. Senec. Natural. Quaest. l. 3. c. 27 and Philosophers accuse her it being more speedy in her decay than in her increase; she is precipitate when she leans towards her ruine, there needs but a moment to overthrow her goodliest works, but she is slow in forming even most common things; and if she undertake to change mould into metall, and to give it the Lustre of gold, or the hardnesse of Iron, she doth not finish this usefull Metamorphosis under many ages after she hath begun it. But when God works of himself, he doth not assubject himself to the laws of time; the same moment which seeth the beginning of his work, seeth the end thereof.

If this way of working were wonderfull, it was no lesse easie, for all this mighty work cost him but a word, he made himself be understood by nihil, and this nihil did obey him. He Si quaerimus quis fecerit Deus est, siper quod, dixit & facta sunt, si quare fecerit quia banus est: nec enim author est excellentior Deo, nec arse [...] ficacior Dei Verbo, nec causa melior quam Dei bonitas. Aug. lib. 11. de Civit. c. 21. spoke (saith the Scripture) and the ending his word was the beginning of the world, this Commandement was followed by the effect thereof, and far differing from that of earthly Princes, who leave the execution of their commands to their subjects, he accomplished all he had ordained. We must yet further believe with divinity, that this word was but mentall, and that onely act of Gods will, without other expression, perfected all the beauty of the Universe, and establisht the world where nothing was.

Contrary to the laws of Nature, which suffers that soon to perish which she is not long in forming, this admirable work indures numberlesse ages, thousands of years are past since it's creation all kingdomes have changed their countenances, and their governments a hundred times; Ubi sunt superbae Carthaginis alta moenia? ubi cunctis littoribus terribilis classis? [...]bi tot exercitus? omnia ista duobus, Scipionibus fortuna partita est. V [...]. Maxim. lib. 3. whatsoever of most glorious the hand of man hath erected is buried in ruines; Cities which gave law to so many people are reduced to dust, nothing remains of their greatnesse but a vain remembrance, and their glory is so totally effaced as men dispute about the place wherein they were built. But the world doth still subsist, and seems not to draw neerer it's end for all it's growing further off from it's beginning. All it's principall parts are yet intire, and though they be preserved by change, yet are they always like themselves. The Sun gives as much heat as at his birth; Those so many Territories which he hath cherished have not diminished his heat, and those who see him rise every day complain not that Time [Page] hath weakened his influences, the sea nor earth have lost nothing of their former fruitfullnesse; and what of Vertue the curse of God did leave in them is not weakened by the succession of so many years▪ 'tis true that if we compare the guilty world, with the world when it was innocent, we shall find a strange difference between them; after having admired Gods power, we shall be obliged to adore his Justice; and confesse that rebellious man, did not deserve a world which was onely made for man when obedient.

The second Discourse.

That all creatures have lost some of their perfections.

THere is not any one who doth not complain of the rigour which the creatures use towards man, every one is sensible thereof, and not any one seeks out the cause; those who argue upon the works of nature, wonder to find therein so much disorder, and knowing that the Government thereof is subordinate to that of Divine Providence, they cannot conceive why she should be so irregular: some imagin that the world being cōposed of so differing parts, can have no peace wch is not interrupted by war: that the quarrelling of the elements is necessary, Eleme [...] to [...]um pugna servat mundi pac [...]m, sed mundo minatur interitis. & that their qualities cannot be so well tempered but that they must be always in opposition. That the power of God cannot end their differences without destroying their inclinations, and that a body which is composed of fire and water must of necessity be troubled with an intestine war which threatens it with an inevitable corruption, that the seasons cannot be better regulated since the Sun going over our heads in an oblique line, doth according to the Summer or the Winter approach neerer to us, and draw further from us. That beasts according to their naturall Temper should either be wild or docile, that those which have most fire in them are the nimblest, and that those which have most earth are the heaviest, and the most stupid; that thus the faults of the creatures do not proceed so much from the workman, as from the matter whereof they are composed. This opinion is too injurious [Page] to the power of God to be approved of by Christians; and since it proceeded from Philosophers schools who did believe, that Materia Prima was eternall, we must not wonder if laying a false ground, they draw from thence bad conclusions; some others who are somwhat more respectfull, yet not much more rationall, imagine, that God made the world in the same condition that now it is, that he might fit himselfe according to the condition of man, who was to become sinfull; that he had no regard to his innocency, because it was not to last so long, and that he left some disorders in his work, to the end they might serve for punishment to the faulty.

These Philosophers seem to me to have lost their reason out of too much fore-sight; they do not consider that originall righteousnesse ought to have been as exempt from punishment, as from sin: & that man in his innocency had had reason to complain, if having nothing amisse in his person, he should have found disorders in his Estate. God Deus non ante vitor est quam homo peccator. August. always waits for our offences before he punisheth them; and though his mercies may through his favour forerun our services, his justice doth never through punishments prevene our sins. What likelihood was there to lodge an innocent person in an infected house? to make the seasons irregular which did measure a life not yet troubled by passions, and to give mortall influences to constellations, which were to enlighten immortall man? what reason have we to believe that man not being guilty the creature should rebell against him, and that the Elements should not be at peace in a body which was perfectly assubjected to the soul. I know very well that they reply, that originall righteousnesse, did free man from these disorders, and that serving him in stead of a buckler of defence, his body was thereby miraculously preserved from being burnt in the midst of of Summer, or frozen in the midst of Winter. But say he should have no feeling of these irregularities, he would yet have seen them, and his eyes would have suffered punishment in beholding an unpleasing object. What pleasure could he have taken in seeing a sun, the heat whereof did scorch the grasse, and cause the flowers to fade, to which it had given birth. What delight should he have tasted in feeling the earth-quake under his feet, or to hear the thunder roar over his head? what contentment would he have found amidst boisterous windes, and storms at sea? should he not have had some reason of complaint, if he should have [Page] seen so many punishments prepared for a sin not yet committed.

The best Divines do therefore confesse, that the face of the world was changed when man altered his condition, Spinas & tribul [...]s non germinavi [...] terra nisi à Deo maledicta. Genes. Rosa [...] sine spinas nasci ante peccatum credidit. Basil. in hexam that the earth lost his beauty when man lost his innocency, and that thorns were mingled with roses when concupiscence was mingled with nature. From that time forward divine Justice did fit our abode to our desert, and thought it not reasonable that guilty man should be lodged in a Palace prepared for the innocent. She punisht man in his state, after having punished him in his person, and altering the inclinations of all creatures, made them the Ministers of her vengeance.

The earth lost the fertility which was naturall to it; this nurse which by her profusions did prevent our need, brought forth nothing but bulrushes; as soon as she was cursed, she grew avaritious; her bosome must be opened with the plough share, and watered with our sweat and tears, if we will get any thing from thence: this mercifull mother became a severe step-dame; she dis-avowed us for her children when once we ceased to be obedient to our Father; and as if her fertility had been affixed to our innocency, when we grew sinfull, she grew barren; every part of the world is a proofe and punishment of our sin; it's irregularity upbraids us with our disobedience; and to know upon what ill terms we stand with Creatour, a man needs onely to consider the worlds confusion.

The Sun which doth precede at our birth, is oft-times the arbitratour of our death; his heat is as fatall to us as necessary, and the same influences which keep us in health, infuse maladies into us; the same stars which denote our good fortunes, presage our ill adventures; as they have propitious, so have they malignant aspects, and if some constellations do promise good successe unto us, others threaten us with bad; Nature is changed into a punishment, whatsoever makes us live, makes us die; and the Elements are as well the causes of our death, as of our life. Terra venenorum [...]erax à [...] paren [...]. Basil. The earth is not only barren of fruit, but abounds in poisons; by detaining what is usefull for us, she brings forth what is pernicious; her sterility, and her fruitfulnesse are equally prejudiciall to us: we ought to suspect whatsoever she brings forth without our labour, and as there is danger in the presents of an Enemy, the free-gifts of this step-dame [Page] are fatall: she nourisheth Monsters to devour us; and all her children are our Enemies; our sin hath made them lose the respect which they owed us; when they are oppressed with hunger, they come forth of their dens, over-run our grounds, and make us take up Arms to defend us from these revolted subjects. In fine, the earth hath no one part which doth not threaten us with danger; her entrails vomit out flames of fire to consume us, her depths open underneath our feet to swallow us up; her mountains loosen themselves from their foundations to overwhelme us, and she delights in destroying her self that she may un-do us.

The sea is not more respectfull than is the earth; this Element obeys us not but against it's will; it punisheth our avarice and our ambition by ship wrack; it drowns the vessels which it is forced to bear, it raiseth it selfe up in mountains, and sinks again into vallies to free it selfe from our servitude, and troubles it's own tranquillity to revenge it selfe of our Tyranny. When Divine providence which keeps it within it's channell, Non est satis [...]stimare, parens melior sit homini natura an t [...]istior [...]. Plin. lib. 7. prooem. gives it it's liberty, it overflows the fields, and makes us know by the rage thereof, that it seeks out all occasions to annoy us. The waters thereof would cover the tops of mountains, did not the Heavens stay their impetuosity, and the whole earth would be nothing but a vast sea without either bounds or banks, did not the hand of God prescibe limits to it's fury. All the art of man hath not as yet been able to calme the fiercenesse thereof; the most expert Pilots tremble as oft as it is incensed, and knowing that no force can withstand it's rage, they betake themselves to vowes to appease it.

The aire seems to hold intelligence with it; to make war upon d Non vides ut fluctus in li [...]ora tanquam exitu [...] incurrat? Non vides [...]t [...]stuans fines suos trans [...]at, & in possessionem terrarum mare inducat? Non vides ut illi perpetua cum claustris suis pugna sit. Sen. Natural Quaest. lib. 3 cap. 30. us; it gives free scope to the North windes, which march furiously through her Champians, and bring tempests, and shipwracks with them. After having revenged themselves on men at sea, they set upon them on land, and sowing cotagions in Countries, they change the best peopled Cities into dreadfull Desarts; thus the purest of all Elements assumes impurity; mens bodies are infected by the corruption thereof, it poysoneth whatsoever it doth penetrate, and the lungs which draw it in, corrupt the heart, and brain.

The fire being much more active then the air, commits more havock; if it's consuming flames be not universall, as are contagions, [Page] their fury is more suddain, and the evils caused thereby find lesse remedie. It mixeth with Thunder to punish us, it descends contrary to it's nature, to pursue us, it flashes out in lightening to affrighten us, and changeth it self into a thousand severall shapes to undo us. It shuts it self up in the bowels of the earth, that it may break forth with the greater violence; it strives not so much within this prison to recover it's liberty, as to punish our offences; it makes it's way through the tops of mountains, and shoures down Sulphur and Flames upon the plains from off those high places. It seems it knows very Hoc est testimonium ignis aeterni, hoc exemplum jugis judicii poenam nutrientis. Montes uruntur & durant, quid nocentes & D [...]i hostes? Tertul. in Apolog. well that divine Justice hath chose it to be the Minister of her vengeance, and that the spoyles it commits on earth, serve onely to shew us what Rigour it will inflict upon the Guilty in Hell.

Thus all things are changed in the world, the Elements have neither the same use nor the same inclinations, that which was serviceable to man in innocency, persecutes him being become guilty. Whole Nature is a scaffold where the Creatures act the part of executioners, and revenge themselves on man for the injuries he hath done them. For to boot that they are forced to share in his faults, they know very well that they are fallen from their first nobility, that they have not all those advantages, which they had in the state of innocency, and that they have lost some of their naturall qualities. The Sun gives not so much light as he did before the sin of Adam, his influences are neither so pure nor yet so puissant, he who did dispense nothing but heat and light, wonders to see himself send forth sicknesses and death. The Stars have no longer those favourable aspects, which made fruits and flowers to grow in all seasons of the year; their efficacy is weakened, and the vigour which appeared in all their effects, now languisheth.

But Maledicta te [...]ra in oper [...] [...]: in laboribus comede [...] ex [...] cu [...] [...] vitae tuae. [...]. cap. 3. the earth being a neerer neighbour to man then the Heavens, it is more changed; all the parts thereof are barren, if they be not manured; the curse which it received by reason of our sin, hath made it lose it's fruitfulnesse, it is all brisled with thorns, or covered with Thistles, it refuseth to feed it's children, since they are become sinfull, and by an innocent parricide, it attempts their lives who have lost originall righteousnesse. The fruits which it bears, proceed rather from our industry, then it's fertility, if it assist us at our need 'tis with an ill will, and it's being bound to serve the sinful [Page] is a part of it's misery; if this be not true, I know what that great Apostle mean't when by an admirable Prosopopeia he makes whole Nature to speak and groan; Expectatio creaturae revelationem filiorum Dei expectas: vanitati enim creaturae subjecta est non volens: quia & ipsa creatura liberabitur à servitute corruptionis in libertatem gloriae filiorum Dei. Scimus enim quod omnis creatura ingemiscit, & parturi [...] usque adhuc. Rom. 8. when affording words unto her sorrow, he makes her wish our change and her deliverance; for when he says the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God, doth he not witnesse that they hope for some advantage by our felicity? and when he says, that the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, doth he not insinuate that they are corrupted by sin? when he adds that the creature it self shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption, doth he not make it evident, that Jesus Christ will satisfie their desires, and that he will restore unto them, what we have unjustly bereft them off?

I am not ignorant that some Interpreters not sufficiently weighing the intention nor words of Saint Paul, do wrest this text, and understand it to be meant of man; but the Apostles ensuing discourse makes it appear, that he speaks of all creatures, and that the corruption which they complain of, is not that which they have received from nature, but that which they have attracted from our sin. Nisi granum [...] cadens in terram mortuum fuerit ipsum solum manet. Joan. c. 12. The corn cannot complain of it's putrifaction, because it is the cause of it's increase, but it hath some reason to complain that it's vigour is diminished, and that abusing the Labourers hope, it doth not repay his pains with usury. The earth doth not complain of it's being placed in the nethermost story of the earth, & that it serves for basis to all the other elements, but it complains with reason that it hath lost it's fertility, and that it is adjudg'd to bring up thorns in stead of roses. The Air complains not of being subject to these changes, wch make up a part of it's nature, but it complains, and that justly, that for the punishment of our offence, it hath lost it's purity, that it is the seat of storms, the abode of thunder, and that fatall place wherein Famine, and Contagions are formed; and to passe from the elements into the heavens. The Sun doth not complain of his being in a perpetuall motion, that he carries light to all the parts of the world, and that he doth differently disperse his heat throughout all the climates of the earth; but he hath cause to complain, that he hath lost his former Lustre, that his influences are mortall, that his aspects are maligne, and that his presence wherein mans happinesse did consist, doth now cause fears and sicknesses in him. To this misfortune [Page] from whence the creatures just complaints proceed, we may adde the Devils Ad [...]anc vanita [...] creatur [...]arum, hoc quoque [...], [...]uod creatu [...] q [...] in [...]sum hominis venit, [...] parte p [...]missa est po [...]ati [...] mundi. [...] [...]n cap. 1 Rom. Tyranny which doth torment them, for after once this proud Fiend had overcome our first father, he enter'd upon his rights; he got a power over the elements, and he had permission to make use of them to solicit men to sin: from hence proceeds that Praise worthy custome of the faithfull, of blessing the fruits of the earth, to free them from the fury of wicked spirits, and hence doth the use of exorcisme proceed, which makes it appear that all creatures are slaves to those who have been our undoing.

But it is harder to explain this corruption, then to prove it, and the manner how it is made is as hard to conceive, as anger some to tolerate. Yet me thinks a man may say, that divine Justice hath changed the Elements, as she hath changed man, that she hath disordered the seasons, to punish the disorders of our passions; that she hath permitted the sea to break down her banks to wage war with the [...]infull, that she sends down Thunder to destroy them, and that she hath pronounced curses against the creatures, whereby their vertues are weakened, their inclinations changed and their Tempers altered. Who Rupti sunt [...]ontes abyssi magnae & cataractae coeli ape [...] tae sunt, & sacta est pluvia super terram 40 [...], & 40 noctibus. Gen [...]s. cap. 7. knows not that 'twas Gods curse which made the earth barren; that 'twas the decree which he pronounced against man that made him mortall, and who knows not that it was his anger which drew the rivers out of their channels, which made clouds melt into rain, and dissolved the vapours into waters, when he would drown the world by the deluge? is not he absolute in his state? hath not he as much right to Justice as to mercy? if he could favour man in innocency, by making all creatures subject to him, ought he not to punish sinfull man in making them revolt against him? and if he could change his person, ought he not also to change his condition. It is then evident, as it appears to me, that Adams sin caused the corruption of the Universe, that the world lost it's advantages, when man lost his innocency, and that the creatures forbore to obey man, when he began to rebell against God.

The third Discourse.

[Page]

That the Sun hath lost much of his Light and and Vertue through sin.

GOd is so jealous of his own honour, and so carefull of our salvation, as foreseeing that the beauty of the creature might make us Idolaters, he hath left some faults in them, which teach us, that they deserve not to have altars erected to them, and the most illustrious being the most dangerous, since their beauty which makes us admire them, might make us likewise reverence them, he hath been pleased to abase them amidst their greatnesse, and to reduce them to a condition, wherein their weaknesse as well as their power doth appear.

To say truth, that beautifull constellation, to whose heat Nature owes her fertility, hath defaults which make it appear, that his glory is but borrowed, and that his Lustre which procures him so many Idolaters, is but an obscurity before God. His light which is the greatest part of his beauty, is but a forreign ornament, it was produced two dayes before he had a being; God who would from the very beginning of this world confound the heresie of this age, Lumen ant [...] solem productum est: nam [...] ▪ primà die fact [...] est lux quart [...] vero facta sunt luminaria magna, ut prae essent diei & nocti. Genes. 1. and teach us that accidents might be unloosened from their substance, did permit that the light might subsist without any subject, that it might enlighten nature before it was united to the Sun, and that all men might know, it was given to that glorious constellation, onely out of meer liberality: before this favour done him, he was but a part of the heavens, which was not considerable either for his beauty or worth, if he had any motion he had no influence, and this great body was not admired till after it was in-animated by light: all his riches derive from that alms which God gave him; he was not powerfull till he was lightsome, and he who had seen him before could not have discerned him from the other Planets. That faithfull Historian, who hath so well described the creation of the world, teacheth us that the earth was fruitfull before the Sun had any heat, that it was adorned with flowers and loaded with fruit before [Page] the Sun had warmed it, and that Nature had all her principall ornaments before the Sun had received light; the third day was destined for the bearth of Trees; one word made the earth fruitfull; this mother which requires time to bring her works to perfection, did in a moment thrust out Oaks and Fir-trees; Et ait germ [...]net terra herbam virentem & factum est ita, & factum est vespere, & mane dies tertius. Genes. 1. and wondred that she had produced so many things before she had conceived them. The fourth day was reserved for the Suns birth; the Father of Trees, and Flowers, was born after his children; he who doth preserve them, did not produce them, and he who gives them life, did not give them birth; he had the care to bring them up, but not the glory to place them in the world; he had order to end a work, which God himselfe had begun.

But Dixit Deus fiant luminaria magna, & dividant diem ac noctem, & factum est vespere, & mane dies unus, Genes. 1. nothing moves more wonder in me then to see that day should precede the Sun, that before he had done his Career, light had already divided the Evening and the Morn; that the rising and setting thereof had already made days and nights, and that time, whereof the course of the Sun is now the measure, had already marked forth moments and hours. The world was three days old when this incomparable constellation had his birth; that which holds of his Empire had received it's perfection, and this visible God made it appear in his birth, that he did nothing which Nature could not have done without him: as if all these pre-cautions were not sufficient to stifle idolatry, God would have the Sun to draw his Name from servitude, and that that language which doth so abound in mysteries, Idem vocabulum apud Haebraeos significat servum & solem. Schemes. should employ one and the same word to signifie a slave, and the son. We learnt from thence, that though he were the originall of light, he was not the Authour of Nature: that though he had heat enough to warm her, he had not power enough to preserve her; that though he were the King of Constellations, he was a slave to man; that his perpetuall motion was a mark of his servitude, that the difference of seasons was a token of his weaknesse, and that his Eclipses did prove that he somtimes lost his light. With what astonishment was the world struck, when it saw the Sun grow pale amidst his careers? what did men think when they saw a constellation which was in all things inferiour to the Sun, should obfuscate his beauties, should over-shadow him, that violating all the laws of Nature, it should put the Sun in shade, and make the night to reign in day time.

[Page] Yet did not this accident detract from his esteem; he had never more admirers then when he was eclipsed; Sol spectatorem non [...]abet, nisi cùm deficit. Nemo observat lunam nisi laborantem. Senec. Quaest. Naturall b [...]. cap. 1. those who neglected him in his triumph, looked upon him in his combate; men pray for his victory, and ignorance causing superstition, they imagined that what was but an effect of nature, was the punishment of some enormious sin. Those who feared that the Suns swounding did foretoken the worlds end, were concern'd in this change, and were as much rejoyced at his recovery of light, as they were afflicted at his losse thereof. Good wits did notwithstanding judge aright, that his eclipse was a proofe of his impotency, that he was subject to such laws as a Sovereign Authority should put upon him, that he could not be the God of the world, since he was subject to weaknesses, and that the Tract which he held in the Heavens was but an honourable servitude, since he could not shun the encounter of a Planet, which bereft us of his beauty. Though these defaults be visible enough, yet are they naturall to the Sun. The state of innocency, beheld him with all his weaknesse; and man in the Earthly Paradise judged aright by his perpetuall motion, that he was rather a slave to Nature, then her Master.

But since man sinned he hath received other blemishes, and hath lost much of his power and beauty. For be it that man being become a sinner, may the easier be brought to idolatry; be it that God would punish him in all his subjects, and lessen his credit, in weakening his condition; be it that to put the seasons out of order, that constellation must be altered which caused all their revolutions; be it that to trouble the order of the Universe, his course was to be troubled, who was it's Conductour: it is certain, that the Sun was subject to laws which he had not made triall of in the state of innocency; and that he partook of the fatall effects of that generall curse which was thundered out against Nature. Soli detractum est aliquid lumin is sui, quod ei restituendum [...] in die resurrection is hominum Basil. in hexam. If we will believe Saint Basil, he lost part of his light when man lost his innocency; he does harden, enlighten the whole world; there are certain places where night is always mingled with day, and where darknesse makes a perpetuall residence; he doth no longer distribute his heat equally; he is greedy thereof underneath the pol [...]s, and and prodigall underneath the line. He burns up Affrica, and doth not so much as heat one part of Europe. There are Countries where ice is never melted, where the Sea is as solid as the earth, [Page] where fountains frozen Dies nunquam patens sol nunquam libens, unus a [...]r [...]bula, tol [...] annus [...]ibernum, omne quod [...]aver it aquilo, liquores ignibus redeunt, amnes glacie negantur, omnia torpent omnia rigent. Tertul. contra Marc. lib. 1. in their head, suspend their running halfe the year; wofull Countries are discovered where Trees are always void of leaves, where fruit doth never ripen, where no Flowers are seen but in pictures, and where the Sun shews himself only to dissipate darknesse. He wonders that his beams cannot melt snow there, he admires to finde ice there as firm as chrystall, he cannot comprehend how he should give light to people, whom he cannot warm, and that his heat being weaker then his light, he makes days there, and no Summers.

People who live under these unfortunate climates, consider cold as their greatest Enemy, they withstand it's rigour by their hardnesse, they seek for that reliefe from fire which they cannot finde in the Sun, and burn their Forrests to warm their fields. In fine, to describe this wofull Countrey in Tertullians terms, their skie wants pity, the days are never clear, the Sun is there always weak and languishing, winter reigns there all the year long, no windes blow there but the North, rivers held back by cold have not the freedom of running, the mountains are there always covered with snow, Nature is slothfull there, and frost which extinguisheth her naturall heat makes her eternally barren.

If the bad condition of these Nations, be a proofe of the Suns impotency, if the barrennesse of their ground, are a mark of his weaknesse, Affrica is no lesse an argument of his corruption; and who sees those dreadfull Desarts which bring forth nothing but sand and Monsters, is bound to confesse, that the curse of God reacheth as well to the constellations as to men. For the Sun makes all the Inhabitants there black, and prints that colour upon them, in which we here paint Devils, he there scorcheth all their Trees, and strips them of their leaves before they be loaded with fruit. He there dries up brooks as soon as they are crope out from their Spring-head; he leaves them nothing in the fields, which may lessen his heat; Forrests give there no shade, nor do the fountains afford refreshment. Corri [...]itur [...] ut qu [...] que al [...]issima tellus, fissaque agit rimas, & s [...]is aret ademptis. P [...]bula canesc [...]t cum [...]rondibus uritur arbor, [...] [...]ue suo [...] seges arida damno. O [...]d 2. Metam. Rocks bear nothing but flames in their veines, the earth burns under their feet that walke upon it, her scorching bowels conceive nothing but sulphur and pitch. The Summer hath banisht all other seasons out of this Countrey, and reigns there as a Tyrant even from the beginning of the world, suffers no windes to blow but such as feed his heat, layes waste the fields, and leaving [Page] nothing there but marks of his fury, makes it look like the picture of hell.

For my part I cannot believe that the Sun h [...]d so unequally dispensed his heat in the state of innocency; that having one part of the world frozen, he would have consumed the other with heat, nor thot dividing his heat so unequally to so many people, he would have made dayes and nights six monthes long. Either those Countries would have had no Inhabitants, or the Sun would have been more favourable to them, or else that Providence by which the world is governed, would have made him take another Tract; or equally dividing his heat and his light, it would have moderated the Summers of Affrica, and sweetned the Winters of Swethland. Since 'tis the will of God, Cujuscumque rei natura Dei voluntas est. August. that makes the nature of all things, since the Elements have no inclinations but what are his, and that both heaven and earth receive law from his word, it is not hard to conceive, that the Sun may more justly distribute his heat, and yet not go out of the Zodiack, and that equally warming all the parts of the earth, he may either leave uselesse sands in the edge of Ethiopia, nor yet mountains charged with snow in the further-most parts of Swethland. That Sovereign Omni [...] s [...]t Dei facilia potestati, qui mirabili vincente virtute utitur omnibus [...]am mirabiliter quam creavit. Aug. lib. 21. de Civit. cap. 6. Providence to which nothing is impossible, might well enough have remedied these inconveniences, which Astrologie findes in the equality of seasons. This absolute Mistresse of Nature, might well enough have distributed heat and light, without changing the course of the Sun. And she who hath put the world out of order, to punish us for our sins, might also have governed it after another fashion, to favour us in our innocency.

But not to engage my selfe in making Apologies for her who can defend her selfe against the wicked with thunder: it shall suffice me to make it appear, that that Sun which lights us doth dazle us; and that he who doth heat us, burns us, and that his beams which gives us life, causeth also our death. Before the sin of Adam he had no v [...]rtue, which was fatall to man; all his aspects were benigne, Astrology had not as yet found out any maligne influences, and whil'st this glorious constellation made good his career, he neither burnt men, nor dried up Trees; but since we are become sinfull, through our Fathers pride, the Sun hath changed his qualities, and that Planet whose only care it was to dispense abroad his heat and light, hath received directions to [Page] burn those to whom he gives light, and to make all things die, to which he hath given life. Non [...]st qui se [...]bscondat à ca [...]us. P [...]al. He exhales up the vapours whereof storms are composed, he makes them distill down in rain, glis [...]en forth in lightening, and break out in Thunder. He hardens hail, to ruine the fields, and reaps the corn with this congealed water, gathers the grapes, and overthrows the hopes of the Labourer. His heat mingled with the vapours of the earth, causeth contagions, his light which hath lost it's former purity, disperseth the plague throughout the world.

He who gave life, wonders to see he now causeth death, he wonders that his beams should be fatall to those to whom he gives light, he is sorry to undo his own workmanship, to tarnish the rose and lilly, to be the parricide of those flowers whose Father he had been. He cannot comprehend how divine Justice should imploy his heat to produce contrary effects, nor how after having ripened the corn, fitted things for harvest, and guilded grapes, he should destroy that to which he gave a being, and make a wofull havock there where the labourer had hoped to make a happy harvest. Such as are become ingenious since made miserable by sin, have observed seasons wherein all the influences of this constellation are mortall, wherein he hurts as many as he toucheth, wherein he infecteth all that he gives light unto, and wherein he commits as many murders as he darts forth beams. Pestilentiam ita solis calor adducit, ut illa nunquam in [...]rigidissimis [...] grass [...]tur. The holy Scripture which is so eloquent, mingleth reproaches with the praisss that it giveth him; and makes invectives against the Sun whilst it composeth his Panegyricks. It blameth and praiseth his light. it admires his efficacy, and complains of his heat, it adores his power, and stands in awe of his justice, who can imploy the Sun to give light unto the Saints and to punish Sol in meridiano exurit te [...]ram & in [...] ardor [...] ejus q [...]s [...] ▪ [...], [...] m [...]ntes, ro [...]os [...] exsu [...]n & re [...]gens r [...]diis o [...]caecat oculos. Eccl [...]. c. 43 sinners. The Spouse in the Canticles complains, that this fair constellation should have spoiled her complexion, that he should have changed her roses into marigolds, and that effacing her beauty he should have taken from her that Lustre, which is a womans principall ornament. Iudith in her history complaineth that the Sun had made her a Widdow, and that his extream heat giving upon the head of her dear husband had caused the catar fall which carried him to his grave. For as he was overlooking his harvest men at full mid-day, judging their labour by their sheaves, and according to the custome of the time mingling trouble with policy through the pleasing diversions [Page] of husbandry, the Sun which spares not Sovereigns more then shepheards, and who knows that all men being faulty, he may of right punish them, let fly a beam upon poor Manasses wherein death was mingled with light, [...] and broke the happiest marriage a Mortuus est Manasses in diebus messis hordeaceae: instabat enim super alligantes manipulos in campo, & venit aestus super caput ejus & mortuus est. Judith cap. 8. that was then in Palestine.

We are taught by these examples that the Sun hath influences now which he had not before the state of sin, that he serves Gods justice to rid himself of men, that he rules over the life of Monarchs, and that whilst he ends his course, he measures out the moments and hours of their Empire. If we have any reason to complain of the Sun, he hath a juster cause to wage war upon us, for we force him to give light unto our faults, we make him a flave to our vanities, and though he be always on his journey, we force him to be a confederate in our offences, but he is not so much afflicted with these injuries as with our homages, he is lesse troubled at our outrages, then at our adorations, and is more sensible of his being our Idoll then of being our slave. This disorder is large enough to furnish matter for a whole discourse, and to serve for a new proof to Christians, that sin hath corrupted all Creatures.

The fourth Discourse.

That there is no Creature which men have not adored.

T'Is a strange prodigie that there is not a better establisht belief then that of a God, and yet not any one hath ever been more disputed. It is written in our hearts by the hand of nature, Innumeros credere Deus od majorem s [...]cordiam accedit, fragilis & laboriosa mortalitas in partes istae digessit suae infirmitatis memor. Plin. lib. 2. c 7. time hath not been ableto efface it, Ignorance and oblivion which are it's two greatest enemies cannot weaken it, and falshood it self which reigns so absolutely in the world, hath not had power enough to banish it. Reason doth herein agree with faith: every man upon this occasion is naturally a Christian. Let him but consult with nature, and he cannot be deceived; and even when he offers incense to Idols, and when he builds Temples to the workmanship of his own hands, he may make amends for his fault, if he will but [Page] be advised by his conscience. For Veritas etiam ex i [...]itis pectoribus [...]. T [...]ul. she teacheth him this truth as oft as she speaks with freedome, and with what ever falshood she be forestalled, she always continues this belief. She apprehends God [...] Justice in the faults which she committeth, and hopeth in his mercies through the vertues she inures her self unto. When she will affirm a Truth, she takes him for her witnes who seeth all things. When she is threatened with any mischief, she invokes him onely who is omnipotent; and when she fals into any misfortune, she seeks for deliverance from none else, but from him who glories in assisting the innocent, and miserable. If she at any time speak wickedly, she takes her self up as soon as she is awakened by affliction, she amends her errour when she followes her own light, and as oft as she is rationall, she is Christian.

Yet is there nothing more common in the world then Idolatry. This sin was born in the Terrestiall paradise, and if we will believe Tertullian, the Devill would [...] insinuate the beliefe, of Plurality of d In ipsis denique temp [...]s D [...] monum Deum judicem imploras, & neminem de praesentibus Di [...] contestaris, in tuo foro aliunde judicem appella [...], in tuis templis [...]icuique Deum [...]. Tert. d [...] [...]. [...]. Gods into our first father, when he perswaded him, that he might become one. All men being abused by this foolish promise have ingaged themselves in Idolatry, not being able to warrant themselves from death, they have pretended to immortality, not being able to dispose of Scepters and Crowns, they have endevoured to dispose of Temples, and Altars. And failing in Credit to make Kings, they have insolently attributed unto themselves, the power of making Gods.

But seeing that errour hath no boundaries, but doth increase with time, all things have contributed fuell to this errour, and every sect of Philosophers have insensibly forged out Idols unto themselves to adore them. Those of them that were the cleerest sighted were most faulty, and found the subject of their superstition in God himself. For not being able to comprehend that adorable unity which bindes all these persections together, and who doth wonderfully accord his Justice with his mercy, his love with his Majesty, his immensity (which fils all things,) with his holinesse (which parts him from them;) his providence, which guides us, with his power, which preserves us, they imagined that every one of his perfections was a different divinity, and dividing the divine essence, they did wickedly take in Parts who doth re-unite all things in himself. Seneca found out Vis Deum vocare [...]? Non [...], [...]st [...] Causa [...]. Vis illum providentiam dicere? rectè dices, hic enim mundo providet. Vis illum Naturam vocare? non errabis; est enim ex quo nata sunt omni [...]. Vis illum vocare mu [...]dum? non falleris, ipse enim est totum quod vides, totus suis partibus inditus & se sustinens vi sud. Senee. Natural. lib. 2. cap. 45. this injustice, but did not correct it, and being more carefull [Page] to build up his reputation, then to establish religion, he was contented to let posterity see that he had light enough to discover this Imposturisme. Some others being passionate for the vertues, erected Altars to them; being ravisht with their lovelinesse, they strove to make them be adored; they made thereof spirituall Idols, and false divinities of all the habits which could adorn the mind of man. They erected Altars to mercy, and believed that a vertue which did assist the miserable, ought to be worshipped by all those who could become miserable. They offered incense to clemency, and as if they would side with guilty, they obliged the innocent to reverence her. They immolated Victimes to wisedome, and to acknowledge the favours which they had received from her guidance, they injured her through their superstition, and adored her under the name of destiny, and image of Fortune. Philosophers excused their Idolatry by these bad reasons, and would perswade Christians, that that religion could not be vitious which did onely adore vertue: blindnesse increasing with deceit, they confounded vices with vertues, H [...] virtutes Deos, non veritas, sed v [...]nitas fecit. Aug. lib. 4▪ de Civit. c. 20. and added to the number of their Gods, to honour their Ancestors debaucheries. They consecrated incontinency, under the name of Venus, they defied drunkennesse under the name of Bacchus, they did authorize injustice, and the licentiousnesse of war under the name of Mars, and not dreaming that Gods could not be one anothers enemies, they erected Altars to peace, after having built others to Bellona.

when Impudency was arrived at it's height, they adored vices without disguising them, Numina innumerabili [...] reperimus, pestes etiam inter ea descrip [...]imus [...] dum esse placat [...] [...] cupimu [...]. Ideoq▪ etiam public è febris sanum in palatio dicatum est. Plin. lib. 2. cap. 7. and calling them by their proper names, they built Templ [...]s to fear, to fury, and to envy. The body being scandalized that the passions of the soule should be reverenced; would have it's motions and disorders to receive the same honours, Pallor, or Palenes, was deified to give it contentment. Ignorance & admiration made an Idol of the Ague, & til Physitians had learnt the course & fits thereof, ignorant and superstitious peopleimagined it deserved an Altar; they adored this Divinity, because they dreaded it. They thought themselves miserable, when they had got it; and contrary to the humour of Adorers, they sought for nothing more then that a God should keep far from them who had won himself credit only by the evils that he did. Whē impiety had made these tryals, she undertook to consecrate men, and to build them Temples, [Page] after having tane them out of their sepulchres. Death which denounced their weaknesse, and their sin, could not alter the course of these unjust proceedings, and all the miseries which they had in their life time endured, could not extinguish them. Interest and sorrow were the beginning of this superstition; for subjects to consolate themselves for the losse of a Sovereign, who by his labours had defended them, and who had taught [...]idquid in [...] tui mortale [...]at ignis [...]ctus tulit, paterna coelo pars data est. [...]ammis tua. Senec. [...]n Her [...]l. O [...]teo. them the art of building houses, or of husbanding land, would eternize his memory by solemne sacrifices, and lodged the same men in heaven whom they had buried in the earth. They invented Apotheosis to ease their sorrow, they thought that fire which reduced men into ashes, could change them into spirits; that that element which doth purifie all things, had the vertue to in-noble Princes, and take from them all the impurity which they had contracted in the world. They thought that Religion knew how to convert men into Gods, that the Senates decree was as powerfull as that of destiny, and that Iupiter was bound to confirme in heaven what ever a Pope had concluded on earth.

By this means Apotheosis was oft-times the reward of hainous crimes. Princes who were most faulty were most honoured, men granted that to the power of Successours, which ought to have been refused to the power of their Ancestours; people were constrained to adore Tyrants whom they had detested, to re-commend the welfare of the State to those who had been the undoing of it, and to change their just imprecations into vowes as faint as unreasonable. If great mens violence caused impiety in the meaner sort, love ingaged Fathers in the Idolatry of their Children. For to Acerbo enim [...] dolens pater cito sibi ra▪ p [...]i [...] fecit imaginem, & illum qui [...] quasi homo mortuus [...]rat, nu [...] t [...]nquam Deum colere [...]pit, & con [...]ituit interser [...]s s [...] s [...]ra & [...] Sapi [...]. cap. 14. allay their sorrow for their death, they made their pictures be drawn by skilful painters, then adding their power to the workmans cunning, they bound their eyes to behold these images with respect, & to offer up incense to young Princes whom death had swept away in the flower of their Age. Following the example of this unjust sorrow, every Sonne would make a God of his father. All those who bare any credit with the people, made their Ancestours be adored, and taking advantage of this false piety, they perswaded weak mindes, that they were descended from the Race of the Gods.

In fine, the naturall inclination which men have to Religion caused Idolatry in the world; for not being able to be without Gods, [Page] they forged sensible deities unto themselves, and wanting souls sufficiently elevated to conceive a true Quid magis [...]idiculum quàm quum homo est op [...]ex Dei. Basil. in 3. Eia. Idea of the divine essence, they cut out Idols with their hands: they through a fearfull blindnesse, put their trust in Gods made of clay and wood, and consulted with statutes, which being deaf and dumb, could neither hear nor answer them; oft-times one and the same tree served to make Gods and ships, both their destinies depended on the artificer, their fortune consisted on his fancy, and his hand destin'd the one to suffer shipwrack at sea, the other to be worshipped on earth. But that they might avoid the pain of making Gods, they bethought themselves of chusing them; and foregoing the care of forging or moulding them, they reserved a power unto themselves to declare them; they deified whole Nature, of every of it's parts they made Gods. Flowers Floralia instituerunt Romani ex oraculis Sybillae, ut omnia bene de [...] rescerent. Plin. lib. 18. cap. 29. were placed in the same rank with Stars, these earthy Stars received divine honours, they charmed men and purchased themselves adorers by their odour and beauty; a man might croud a thousand divinities into one nosegay; they joyned Superstition to Vanity, women satisfied their devotions in dressing themselves; the most vain amongst them was the godliest, and those who wore garlands of Lillies and Roses might boast themselves to be in-animated Temples.

Fruits Non cessit floribus Pomo [...]a, certavit ipsa secum, plusque utilitatis causa genuit etiam qu [...] voluptatis. Plin. lib. 23. pro [...]mio. whereof flowers are but ornaments, disputed this honor with them; there were some men who preferring profit before beauty, judged that Pomona did better deserve temples then Flora, and that if every creature was a portion of divinity, trees were more to be considered then plants, since not being lesse lovely they were more usefull. Men being phantasticall in their humours, and nothing being so deformed in Nature which meets not with some admirours, Onnions contended with flowers, and whole Nations drew them out of their Gardens to place them upon Altars, the Egyptians instituted ceremonies, and Priests unto them; these wise men who having confer'd with the I [...]s, mought have some cognizance of the truth, ingaged themselves in this errour, and becomming the talk of all people, placed that in heaven which grew on earth, & profaned incense to perfume onnions. Foelices populi quibus h [...]c [...]ascuntur in hortis Numina. By the same licence they worshipped what they feared. Fear infused piety into these servile souls, they offered sac [...]ifices to Serpents to be delivered from them; and [Page] toallay their fury, did immolate victimes to them; the Devil delighted to see himself adored in a Monster, which had served him for interpreter in the earthly paradise, he would recompence it's fidelity with this honour and repair the losse which it had suffered upon his occasion by divine homage.

After this high extravagancy all Idolatry is excusable, and we must not wonder if metals and stars have had their adorers, since Serpents have had Priests and Altars: for if Interest be the Rule of Superstition, there is nothing in Nature more usefull for us then the Stars, they are placed in the highest and most beautifull part of the world, they seem to rule over us, and that their favourable or maligne influences goes to the making of us fortunate or unfortunate. We Ex syderum levissimis motibus fortunae populorum dependent & maxima ac minima proinde formantur prout aequum iniquumve sydus incessit. Sen. ad Marc. cap. 18. hardly partake of making any sensible favour but by their interposition; and prophane men call them the arbitratours of chance, and the dispensors of good and evil; Though we be free, they pretend to a certain power over our wils by the means of our inclinations; a man must withstand stifly to resist their impressions, and as most men act more by instinct, then by reason, we must not wonder if forming our temper and our humours, they govern our designes, and guide our motions.

Hence it is that all men have reverenced them, that this hath been the commonest Superstition, that the best wits who would not bow to men, have prostrated themselves before the Stars, and that the Sun hath passed amongst very Solem mundi esse totius animum ac planius mentem, h [...]nc principale naturae regimen ac numen credere decet, opera e [...] aestimantes. P [...] [...]. 2. c. 6. Philosophers for the visible God of the world. To say truth, we owe all things to his heat and light, his course governs our seasons, his influences distribute forth fruitfulnesse through all the parts of the Universe; Nature would be barren were it not for his beams; and should this glorious constellation cease looking on her, she would neither conceive nor produce his Eclipses though but of a small durance put her in disorder, and the earth cannot want his heat without witnessing her sorrow by sterility, if he be a long time hidden from us by clouds, the yeares are unfruitfull; and the Labourers pains are uselesse if he do not favour them by his aspect.

It must be granted that he who should consult with nothing but his own sense would acknowledge no other divinity but the Sun, his very beauty parted from his advantage, seems to exact some respect [Page] from all men, his worth is not sufficiently known, if he be valued onely for his effects. Though he were barren he would not cease to be wonderfull; and if the ripening of fruits and government of the seasons Ut tamen detra [...]as ista quae Sol producit, nonne erat ipse idoneum oculis spectaculum dignus (que) adorari, si tantum praeteriret. Sen. lib. 4. de Benef. c. 23. did not depend upon his heat and course, his very light would suffice Seneca to adore him, but God being jealous of his glory, and not desirous that the supremest honours should be rendered to his works; he hath revenged himself upon them for our sins, he hath disordered them to punish us, he hath tane from them their advantages to disabuse us; and he hath order'd that the noblest creatures should have their blemishes, to the end that their beauty might not make us Idolaters; he took from them a part of their perfections, when sin bereft us of our innocency, and foreseeing that we should through blindnesse fall into errour, he would not that their Lustre should serve us either for occasion or excuse: he mingled death with life in the Suns beams, he parted his light from his heat, and did not permit them to joyn always together in acting equally, the lightsomest places are not the hottest, and those Countries wherein the Sun makes the longest days enjoy not the most pleasing Summers. He for our punishment doth corrupt what for our service he had produced, and as his influences do cause our health, so do they our sicknesse likewise; if he dissolve vapours into rain, he makes them break forth in thunder, if he ripen fruit he dries up flowers, if he form meteors he sets Comets on fire, if he make the dew fall, so doth he also the Sercine or Mildew; and if he deserve praise for the good he bringeth us, he merits also blame for the evil which he sendeth us.

The fifth Discourse.

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That all Creatures do either tempt or persecute us.

SInce Tyranny in Princes causeth rebellion in their subjects, we must not wonder if the Omnis creatura ingemiscit usque adhuc subjecta vanitati non volens. Rom. 8. creatures do disobey man, who treateth them with so much rigour, and violating the laws of Justice, imployes them in his offences against their common Sovereign. For there is nothing in the world which hath escaped his fury; the most innocent creatures in his hands are become criminall, he makes them serve his unjust designes, and not considering that he hath received them from Gods liberality, he abuseth them contrary to his Glory. Whatsoever presents it self before his eyes, doth either flatter his ambition or his avarice; that which in the state of innocency would have excited devotion in his soul, causeth impiety therein now, he turns all things to his advantage or to his honour, and seeks for nothing in the use of nature, but his pleasure or his profit. He corrupts his Judges with gold, he tames his enemies with the sword, he kindles his concupiscence with wine, and this furious Tyrant abuseth all things to undo himself: his malice reacheth even to the most innocent Creatures, making them confederates in his crime by an ingenious cruelty; for he finds out the means how to make the chastest serve his unchastity, he assubjects the noblest to his Ambition, and imploys the holiest in his Impiety.

There Contraria huic causa cristallum facit, gelu [...] concreto. Non al cubi [...] reperitur [...] quam ubi maxime [...]ibernae nives ri [...]ent, gla [...]que esse certum est. Plin. lib. 37. cap. 2. is nothing that appears to be more cleeer then Chrystall, if we will believe Philosophers, 'tis a water congeal'd by cold, light is so inamor'd thereof, as it cannot see it without penetration, their imbraces are so chast as that their purity is not therein concerned, their union is so streight as it is hard to say, whether the Chrystall be changed into light, or the light into Chrystall. Chrystall becomes lightfull without softning it's hardnesse. Light becomes solid without losse of Lustre or brightnesse, their qualities are confounded, [Page] without alteration of their nature; and their marriage is so exact, that they possesse in common all the advantages which nature hath given them in particular; yet impurity makes chrystall serve it's infamous designes in looking glasses: a woman growes in love with herselfe, by seeing of her face; she turns the fable of Narcissus into a truth; Se cupit imprudens, & qui probat ipse probatur; dumque petit petitur, pariterque accendit & ardet, Ovid. 3. Meta. she consumes in desires before her Idoll, and after being sufficiently in love with her selfe, she perswades her selfe she is able to make all men in love with her: upon this assurance she undertakes the conquests of all hearts, she joynes art to beauty to purchase her selfe lovers, and she hazards her honour to encrease her Empire. Who would have believed that impurity could have corrupted so pure a thing? that the flames of love should be kindled in ice, & that chrystall intermixt with light should carry both smoak and flame into the heart of one and the same woman.

Looking Glasses were at first invented to the end that men seeing their defaults, might amend them; many advantages were made of this innocent art; this faithfull Councellour gave good advice, Invent a sunt specula ut homo ipse se nosoeret. Multa ex hoc consecuta, primò notitia sui, deinde & ad quaedam consilium. Senec. Natur. Quaest. lib. 1. cap. 17. his dumb answers were speaking oracles, and whosoever would listen unto them could not chuse but put on good resolutions. A handsome woman learnt by her looking glasse, that she was to shun dishonour; that to become accomplisht she was to joyn vertue to beauty, and not to be an hypocrite, she was to be as good, as fair. Shee to whom nature had not been so liberall of her favours, learnt by this true friend, that she was to amend the faults of her face by the perfections of her soul, and that she ought to strive for the advantages of men, since she wanted those of women. Discebat in speculo famosus ut vitaret insam [...]am, deformis ut redimeret virt [...]ibus quid quid corpori deesset, juvenis ut fortia auderet, senex ut de morte aliquid cogitaret. Senec ibid. A young Prince who observed in this true glasse, that he was in the Flower of his age, found himself obliged to undertake such glorious actions as render men famous; an old man who saw his wrinkles and gray haires in this chrystall, resolved to do nothing unworthy of his condition, and seeing by his colour that he had not long to live, prepared to die with courage. Thus was the use of looking glasses a serious study; men learnt vertue by beholding themselves, and every one seeing his conscience in his face, put on a generous resolution to acquit himselfe of his duty; but incontinency hath prophaned this innocent art; in this corrupted age if men see their faces in a glasse, 'tis that they may endeavour [Page] to surprize chastity, and women look therein only to entertain their vanities.

Ambition gives not place to impurity, and if the latter be ingenious in corrupting the purest things, the other knows how to assubject the most noble. In effect, she teacheth Lions obedience, she fastens them to the Chariots of Triumphers, and having tamed men, she tames wilde beasts. Homo Tyrannus est, omnibus creaturis ad libitum pro suâ ambitione abu [...]ens. Apul. She engages Elephants in a fight, she encourageth these huge Lumps against her Enemies, she loads them with Towers upon their backs, she makes use of their Trunck, and teacheth them to war, that she may win battels at their cost: she makes the ground to groan under the weight of her Engines, the mountains to quake at the noise of her Cannons, she sends death by their bullets into Towns, and imprisoning the noblest of Elements in Mines, she forceth it to blow up bastions to recover it's liberty: she tames the Seas haughtinesse, she forceth this Monster to bear her ships, to assist her in her Conquests, to open the way unto her, to lead her into the farthest distant Countries, and to serve her for a Theater to fight upon, and bear away victory. Thus man instructed by this bad Mistresse, assubjects all the Elements to his Tyranny, he forceth the inclinations of the noblest subjects, he makes them guilty of his offences, and strangely abusing his liberty, he makes them mutiny against their Common Sovereign.

Taking the same freedom, he prophanes sacred things, & makes the worlds most holiest parts serve his impiety. Coelum sedes e [...]us; in Sole posuit tabernaculum suum. Psalm. 18. For though heaven be the Temple wherein God resides, though the Sun be the Throne wherein he makes himselfe visible, though the Stars be open eyes through which he observes our faults, yet the Libertine abuses all these excellent creatures in his unjust designes; he disposeth of heaven as of the earth, he promiseth it unto himselfe after his death, and imagines he ought to reign amongst Angels▪ after having commanded amongst men; he perswades himselfe that the Sun riseth onely to afford him light, [...] tibi etiam imme [...]ito euntque sidera [...]â causâ, etiamsi major illis a [...]a ac prior. co [...] est. Sence. lib. 6. de Benet. cap. 22. that the Stars finish their courses onely to serve him, that the Planets meet not but to observe his adventures, and to presage his victories; and being strangely hoodwinkt▪ hee believes that Nature is onely busied to finde him pastim [...], or for his honour. He raiseth up devills by the help of Magick, he extends his Empire even unto hell; not [Page] knowing that he purchaseth his power by the losse of his liberty; that he becomes their slave, who obey him; and that he procures unto himselfe as many Tyrants after death, as he imployes officers in his life time.

The creatures to revenge themselves for so many out-rages, conspire his undoing, and declare war against him; he sees no one part in all his Dominions, wherein he findes not either Rebels, or Enemies; whatsoever he undertakes he meets with resistance, and his subjects through despair resolve to free themselves from their unjust Sovereign, though by their own undoing. Of the so many ways which they finde to revenge themselves, or punish him; the two most remarkable are violence, or cunning. The first is more sensible, the second more dangerous. Pugnat cum Deo orbis terrarum contra insensatos; ibunt directè emissiones fulgurum & tanquam à benè curvat [...] arcu nubi [...] extermin [...]buntur. Sap. cap. 5. For no man is so resolute, but that he trembles when he sees all creatures armed against him; and that wheresoever he turns his eye, he either findes factions, or revolts in his state. Every Element threatens him with a thousand torments; he findes no sanctuary amidst so many dangers, and let him be how carefull he can to defend himself, he knows he cannot shun a violent death: for to understand it aright, no death is naturall, and if we give it somtimes that Title 'tis either to sweeten the rigour thereof, or to confound nature with sin.

This war which appears so cruell, is not the most dangerous; for to boot, that we know how to defend our selves from it, and that self-love hath found out remedies for all our evils, it loosens us from off the earth, it makes us abhor our exile, and love our dear Countrey; it raiseth us up gently into heaven, and we may say, that if this persecution makes not Martyrs, it doth at least make Penitents. But the other is so much more dangerous, as it is more pleasing; it deceives us so much the more easily, by how much it flatters us more cunningly; for the creatures are in the devils hands, to seduce us, they are full of sna [...]es and nets to surprize us, we can hardly make use of them without hazarding our welfare. Creaturae Dei in odium factae sunt & in tentationem animabus hominum & in muscipulam pedibus insipientium. Sap. 14. This Tyrant who got the Sovereignty of them, when he lost it in Paradise, makes such cunning use of them, as it is almost impossible to avoid his snares. To preserve our innocence, we ought to interdict our selves the use of the world; and not to fall under the slavery of devils, it seems we ought to have no commerce with his creat [...]res.

[Page] They were formerly faithfull Guides, which led us to God, and now they draw us far from him: formerly they taught us our mysteries, and to know the beauty of God, a man was only to consider his works; now they engage us in errour; the Prince of darknesse imployes them either to abuse Philosophers, or to deceive the mis-believers: formerly they served us for pastime, wherein pleasure was mingled with innocency; they charmed our eyes without distracting our mindes; religion and study were not as yet separated, the one and the other of them had their sweets without bitternesse, and made men learned and godly without labour: I audet te ex c [...]eaturis anima mea Deus creator omnium, sed non eis infigatur glu [...]ine amoris [...] corporis: conscind [...]t [...]am desideriis pestilentiosis quoniam requiescere amat in [...]is quae amat. Aug. lib. 4 Confess. c. 10. but now the creatures serve us for pastime only to undo us; the sports which they furnish us withall, are almost always accompanied with sin; if we exceed necessity, we fall into intemperance, and if we use them profusely, we cannot shun injustice.

Every creature bears about it's dangers with it, a man must stand upon his guard when he intends to make use of them, and who sailes upon this sea, without very much caution, is in danger of shipwrack. We ought most to suspect such things as are most necessary for us; Necessity, which seems to serve for an excuse, serves our Enemy for a means whereby to undo us; he hath spread abroad his nets in all creatures, to surprize us; he covers the hook over with some bait that may allure us, and whil'st we think to satisfie our desires, we inconsiderately engage our selves in his designes.

The use of food, without the which we cannot preserve life, is not void of danger: if we will not become guilty, we must use them but as remedies; we are not only forbidden the abuse, but even the love of them: men sin against the Laws of God, as well in taking too much delight in eating, as in eating too much. Sobriety is a quaint or nice vertue, which is scandalized as well with the quality, as with the quantity of Viands: and if it be true, that our sins bind us to repentance, we ought not only to cut off what is superfluous, but even what we think necessary. Sleep is not so very innocent, but that it is somtimes mingled with sloth; all they who sleep to keep themselves in good plight, and who make their bed a place of pleasure, have found out the secret of making sleep sinfull; and of committing offences in a condition wherein the most guilty become innocent, a man must not love reason very much, [Page] who can be content to want the use of it so Hoc me docuisti Demine ut qu [...]madmodum medicamenta sic a [...] menta sumpturu [...] accedam. August. lib. 10. Confess. cap. 31 long; he must hold correspondency with death, who throwes himself so oft into his brothers arms, and he must be very carelesse of his welfare who loseth the remembrance thereof so oft.

Apprarell is no lesse dangerous then sleep, and though divine providence have afforded us the hides and skins of the creature to cover us withall, yet we do we oft-times thwart the designes thereof, by the wast we make. Apparell Exterior vestium super flu [...] tas interioris vanitatis indidicium est. Mollia indumenta animi mollitiem indicant, non tantum curarent corporis cultum nisi neglecta prius fuisset mens inculta virtutibus. Bernard. is now no more the invention of necessity, men cloth themselves no longer now to escape the injuries of the elements, a man must either be unhappy or uncivill, if in his clothings he endevour onely the freeing of himself from incommodity. We draw our glory from our confusion, that which caused our shame, publisheth our vanity, and not finding wherein within our selves sufficiently to glory, we seek for occasion thereof in the creatures; we deck our selves with birds feathers, the tops of herons, and peacocks tails serve to adorn our heads, the labour of worms feeds our luxury, we make their graves our apparell, and that which cost those innocent labourers their life, increaseth our vanity; we turn grasse into cloth to satisfie our tendernesse, we corrupt Nature with art; and by a piece of extream ingratitude, we accuse her of want either of dexterity or power. Thus we hardly make use of any creature, without offending their Creator, we remedy our needs onely by profusions, and we are in danger of committing some fault, as oft as we satisfie any one of our desires.

The Creatures seem to hold intelligence with the Devils to undo us; that they submit to our wils, onely to seduce us, and that as if they were incenst with anger and hatred against us, they Nemo securus debet esse in ista vita quae tota tentatio nominatur: Utrum qui fieri potuit e [...] deteriore melior: non fiat etiam ex mesiore deterior. Una spes, una fiducia, una firma promissio misericordia tua. August. lib. 10. Confess. c. 32. seek out all occasions to ruine us. They are subjects of Temptation to those who make use of them, they are nets whereby the un-advised are caught, and inchanted glasses which deceive those who see themselves in them.

But grant they had not all these evill qualities, they would still be fatall to us whilst they continue in the power of our enemy; for he hath power to make use of them to abuse us, and since Adams revolt, divine Justice hath permitted him to make weapons of them to beat us down withall. In the Terrestriall paradise where he assailed all men in their father, he had but a Serpent to expresse his [Page] mind, but a woman to second his designes, and but an apple to allure us, all other creatures were exempt from his Tyranny: and how great a mind so er'e he had to undo us, he durst not imploy the beauty of the Stars, nor the Lustre of pearls to corrupt us. Yet an apple satisfied his malice, he made such use of his power, as he berest us of our innocence, and drove us out of paradise: we do yet bewail this defeat, we dayly feel fatall effects of this misfortune, and as many ages as have bin since, have not been able to dry our tears nor lessen our laments. This redoubted enemy upbraids us; that he hath cheated us with an Adam damnatur in mortem ob unius arbusculae del [...]bationem & exinde prosiliunt delicta cumpoenis, & per [...]unt jam omnes qui paradisi nullum cespi [...]em norunt. Tertul. apple, and that with so weak a weapon, he hath won a victory which hath made him lord of the whole world. 'Twas easy to defend ones selfagainst an enemy whom divine Justice held in chains, who had but one way to beat us, and who having no correspondency in the place which he assailed, could not expect the victory save from his own dexterity and our dulnesse, but he is now no longer laden with Irons, the victory which he got over Adam gives him someright to all his children, he hath in each of them a part of themselves which favours all his designes, his power is no longer limited, and hee hath a large permission to make use of all the Creatures either to seduce or corrupt man. Hee beares away almost as many victories as he gives battles; being assisted with such forces, he meets with few who resists his Tyranny: we are born and do die his slaves, he makes weapons of whatsoever he meets withall, and fitting himself to our humours Diabolus quando decipere quemquam tentat, prius naturam unius cujusque intendit, blandis & leni [...]us moribus s [...]pe lu [...]uriam au [...] va [...]m gloriam prop prop [...]t, as [...]eris vero [...] & [...] cum [...] [...]e. Hugo l [...]b. 1. and designes, he imployes both heaven and earth to tempt us: by those Stars which shine over our heads, he makes us either Idolaters or Magicians; by gold, the richest of all metals, he makes men avaritious; by Iron, he eggs on the ambitious to war, or the furious to revenge; by wine, he robs drunkards of their judgments, and gives them as many Masters, as he excites passions in them; by beauty, which shines forth in womens countenances, he kindles unchast fires in mens hearts; and by Mans eloquence, he corrupts womens chastity: Pearls and Diamonds serve him for Irons to inchain the one and the other of them, rich stuffs and pleasing colours, are so many charms with which he inchrnts our senses. In fine, we are forced to confesse that the creatures are his confederates in his designes, that he is onely dreadfull by means of their aid, that he wins no victories [Page] but by the fights he makes against us with them; and that some men would be stout enough to withstand his on-sets, were he not seconded by these faithful officers.

He disposeth so Illecebras suggerit, i [...]sidias parat, cogitationes malas immittit, & ut ad deteriorem lapsum provocet lucra proponit, damna minatur. Aug. lib. 14. de Civit. cap. 3. absolutely of them, as after having imployed them to seduce us, he makes use of them to afflict us; and not being able to make us sin through their allurements, he endevours to make us miserable by their persecutions, he hath to do with Fulminibus miscentur daemones, terrae motus excitant, maria conturbant, & saepe navigia cum hominibus demergunt. Pet. C [...]init. Thunder; and causeth fear, where he cannot cause sin; he raiseth storms in the sea, and buries both men and ships in the waves, if he cannot kindle war, he excites pestilence and famine, and corrupting the purity of the air, he turns towns to desarts, and makes the fields barren; he shakes the foundations of the earth, he over-whelms men under the ruines of their houses, and immolates victimes to his fury, when he cannot win slaves to his ambition, so as be it in prosperity, or in adversity, we are bound to confesse that by the good will of God, the elements hold of the Devil, and that the Creatures are corrupted by sin, since they serve as Instruments to our enemy to sooth us into our concupiscence and to abase our courage.

The sixth Discourse.

That it is more secure to sequester a mans self from the Creatures, then to make use of them.

A Man must be ignorant of all the Maximes of christianity if he know not that he is forbidden the love of the creature, and that we cannot love them without betraying our dignities or forgetting our duty: for nothing but God Iubet aeterna lex avertere amorem à tenporalibus, & eum mundatum convertere ad aeterna. August. lib. 1. de lib. a [...] bit. cap. 15. can lay lawfull claim to our affections; he is the center of all love, he is bereft of that love which is not given him, and he is injured in the chiefest of all his qualities, if one propose any other end unto himself, then God himself; we are born onely to serve and love him: no other object is able to satisfie us, and our heart is too great to be filled with a good which is not infinite. We molest the order which God hath established [Page] in the world, when by an unjust going lesse we raise the creatures above our selves.

He who abaseth himself through the meannesse of his spirit, is not lesse guilty then he who through his ambition, raiseth himself up; and he gives against Gods Providence as well who obeys those creatures which are inferiour to him, as he who would command over those which are his equals, or Superiours. Man hath received an unrepealable law which obligeth him to submit himself to God, because he is his Sovereign, and to raise himself above the other creatures because they are his Servants: he treats upon equall terms with other men because they are his equals; he bears respect unto the Angels without adoring them, because they are his companions, & do in the difference of their natures aspire with man to one and the same end, and seek out the same happinesse. Whatsoever is not rationall is subject to the Empire of Lex [...]terna non est aliud quàm divina ratio, vel voluntas Dei ordinem naturalem conservari jub [...]ns, perturbari vetans. Aug. lib. 22. contra Faust. cap. 27. man, and he is not vain glorious, when he thinks the earth is fruitfull onely to afford him nourishment, that the Sun rises onely to light him, and that the flowers do display themselves onely for his recreation: when he loves them out of an inclination, or out of necessity, he disturbs the order of God, he submits himself to that which is below him, he degenerates from his nobility, and becomes a slave to his subjects, for if he love a creature he must obey it, he cānot give his love to it & preserve his liberty. Love is an imperious Amor res est imperiosa. Plato. passion, it assubjects all those souls which it possesseth, it makes as many slaves as lovers, and reduceth them to a condition wherein having no longer any will, they are not Masters of their desires, they look pale, when in the presence of those that they adore, they tremble when they come neer them, and the Stars have not so much power over their bodies as those whom they love have absolute command over their souls: the object of their love Talis est quisque qualis est dilectio ejus. A [...]de diligenter anima mea quid dilig [...] si terram di [...]gis terraes: [...] [...]oelum amas c [...]lum es. Aug. tr [...]ct 2. in Epist [...] [...]n. is the cause of all their motions, if it be absent, they consume away in desire, and languish in vain hopes, if it be threatened with any danger they quake for fear, if it be set upon they pluck up their courage, if it go far off without hopes of being soon seen again they fall into despair; and if it be lost without hope of recovery, they give themselves over to grief and sorrow. Thus these slaves take upon them their Masters livery, these Camelions change colour as oft as that which they love changes condition, and betraying their [Page] own greatnesse they assubject themselves to creatures which ought to obey them.

I know very well that lovers indevour to throw of this yoke, that they strive to free themselves from this Tyranny, and that being weary of obeying, they fain would command their turn about, but all they can do is to no purpose, and the unalterable laws of love, force them fairly to submit to those subjects which are Masters of their liberty. The ambitious man would fain be the Sovereign of honour, but let him do what he can, he still remains the slave thereof, and whilst he leads on Troops and commands Armies, he is shamefully enforced to obey ambition which tyrannizeth over him. The Avaritious man would fain be Master of his riches, what ever pleasure he takes in keeping them, he would take more in spending them; but he is as it were bound to adore them and to dedicate all his care and watching to the Devil which doth possesse him. The lustfull man Homines rerum mortalium servi fiunt, dum imperite Domini esse desiderant. Aug. lib. de morib. Eccl. cap. 23. wisheth that he were his Mistresses Master, and that he might prescribe laws to that proud beauty which domineers over him; but his excesse of passion keeps him a servant still, and the nature of love forceth him with content, to renounce his liberty; his slavery is a just punishment of his ambition, and Heaven permits that he remain a slave to the Creature, because he would have made himself Master thereof by unlawfull means.

This is the cause why he will not acknowledge any thing to be amisse in what he loves, why he doth admire the perfections thereof, and why he doth mingle his vices and vertues together: for to give right judgment of any thing a superiority is required in the judgment giver. Some advantage must be had over that whose weaknesses would be known, and lovers being slaves to those they love, their blindnesse lasts as long as doth their slavery; by a no lesse necessary then unfortunate consequence, they assume the qualities of that object which causeth their love, they transform themselves into what they love, and change nature as well as condition: but that which is most unjust in this change is, that these wretched creatures take unto themselves the worst of the qualities of what they love, and cannot take the best; and having a capability of becomming easily imperfect, they can never become accomplisht: a deformed man loseth not his deformity, though he love an exquisite [Page] beauty an ignorant body grows not learned, though he love a Philosopher; an ambitious man mounts not the throne, though he love a Sovereign; and covetous men grow not rich though they court wealth, but by a deplorable misfortune, lovers share in the faults of that subject, whence they derive their love: they put on all the evill qualities thereof, and having no design to imitate it, they resemble it in loving it. Ambitious men become as vain as the honour which they idolatrize; greedy men are no lesse obdurate, then is the metall which they adore, and the lascivious are as base as is the pleasure which they so much cherish. Love Noli amare [...], [...] non vis invenir [...]tormentum. Aug. S [...]rm. 105 de diversis. is the mixture of Lovers, he mingleth their wils in joyning them together, he confounds their qualities, in uniting their minds; but when he grows irrationall, he brings his punishment along with him, and that he may punish those whom he hath ingaged in an unlawfull affection, he permits them to communicate their defaults, and forbids them to communicate their advantages. Thus man cannot love the creatures unlesse losing the priviledges which nature hath given him, he renounce his Greatnesse, in loving his Slaves, and as the Scripture sayes, he become abominable in worshipping of Idols.

From this just punishment another doth derive, which is not much lesse rigorous; for Divine Justice which cannot let a fault passe unpunisht, permits that men find their punishment in their love, and that the object which ought to cause their good fortune, cause their torment, for though love boast of allaying pains, and of making the wildest things that are, loving; yet doth he attribute unto himself a power which onely belongs to charity, his deeds are not answerable to his words, and when lovers abused by his promises have ingaged themselves on his side, they find by experience, that that which ought to cause their happpinesse, is the originall of their punishment. And that they cannot love the creature without becoming miserable. There goes more care Miser [...]ram & m [...]ser est om [...]s antimus vmctus amore rerum mortalium, & dila [...]atur cum eas [...], & tunc s [...]t miseriam qua miser est, antequam amittat cas. August 4. Cor fell. cap. 6. 1 Majore torme [...]o pec [...]ia possi [...]etur quàm quaeritur. Sen. to the preserving of riches then to the getting of them; tis more painfull to be rich, then to become rich; and that metall which seems to be the reward of the avaritious mans labour, is onely the increase and the redoubling thereof: he hath past the seas to find them out, he hath dug into the bowels of the earth to seek for them, he hath ingaged his freedome to become Master thereof, yet is the keeping of them more vexatious, then the acquiring: he is more troubled in hiding them, then in [Page] heaping of them together, and he confesseth that riches threaten more mischief to him then poverty doth, he runs more hazard in his own house then on the sea, he fears Partners more then Pirats, and is not so terrified with Tempests, as with Suits at law.

The ambitious man findes his punishment in glory and honour, this vain Idoll which occasioned his desires, occasioneth his complaints, he repents his having courted so ungratefull a Mistresse, and knowing that she hath nothing wherewithall to reward those that serve her, but wind and smoak, he never esteems himself more unfortunate then when most honoured. Thus it fares with whatsoever else we love; Plerum (que) cum adsunt nobis putamus quod ea non diligamus, sed cum abesse coeperunt invenimus qui simus. Hoc enim siaeamore aderat quod sine dolore discessit. Aug. lib d [...] vera Relig. cap. 47. Divine Justice doth minglegall with honey in them, to wean us from them, & makes use of our delights, to increase our annoyes, the house which we have built for our diversion, wil prove our anxiety, yea even, though it suit in all things with our desire, 'twil cease to give content, when it ceaseth to be new, we will wonder that not having changed aspect it shall have lost what was pleasing in it, and that contrary to our expectation, it should become our punishment; when it ought to be our delight. Those pictures which we send for out of the warehouses of Italy, which we have bought at so dear a rate, which we have with such impatiency looked for, and been so well pleased when they came, cease to ravish our senses when they are once seated in the places appropriated for them; they lose their value together with their novelty; it must be the admi ration of those that never saw them that must make us esteem them, and we must look upon them through other mens eyes if we will value them: they serve us onely to incense us against a servant who hath not been carefull enough of them, or to make us curse time which hath effaced their colours.

The pain which all these things cause in us, and the undervaluation we have of them, is not able to make us forbear loving them, we are fastned to them without our knowledge, we love them, whilst we think not on it, and because we forego the further desire of them when we are once possest thereof, we think we cease to be kin thereunto. An avaritious man who sees his cofers full, who receives his rents duly every quarter, and who never knew what belonged to being bankrout, or unfortunate, cannot believe that he loveth his riches so excessively; the sorrow he feels by their losses must make [Page] him know the contentment he had in their possession, he must judge of his ingagement by his grief, love is better known by privation then by enjoyment, and the irregularity of affection is not better discerned, then by the absence of the object which did entertain it. We are not troubled with the u [...] Quantum amando peccaverunt, perdendo sens [...]runt. Lib. 1. de Cant. c 9. losse of what we were not pleased [...] Quantum amando peccaverunt, perdendo sens [...]runt. Lib. 1. de Cant. c 9. with the possession; we judge of the excesse of our love, by the like of our sorrow; and we are never so sensible of the love we bear to perishable things, as by the sorrow we conceive for their losse; we are sensible of our captivity, after being set at liberty; we consider the weight of our Irons, when we are freed from them; and we know we were miserable when we think our selves to be most happie.

To find a remedy for these evils, Saint Si autem ista d [...]ligis ut subjecta dilige, ut famulantia dilige, ut arrham sponsi, ut munera amici, ut beneficia Dei. Non ista propter se, sed propter illum, nec ista cum illo, sed ista propter illum, & super ista illum diligas. August. in Med [...]tat. Augustine teacheth us that we must make use of the creatures without loving them, and we must be very carefull lest whilst we touch them with our hands, they corrupt our hearts. He will have us to look upon them as slaves which ought to obey us, not command us; he will have us to love them, as they are the pictures of God, and as Lovers love their Mistresses pictures, he will have us to esteem of them, as the favours of our God, and that considering his beauty in his images, and his goodnesse in what representeth him, we should neither love the one nor the other but meerly for his sake.

Did I not doubt lest men might think me too severe, I would add that all these precautions were not sufficient; and that the Son of God not content to have taught us that perishable things cannot beloved without danger, he would tell us that they may be despised without vain glory, for although his Commandements do onely forbid us any excesse in the use thereof, his counsels do permit us to wean our selves from them; and all christian vertues are so many holy pieces of cunning which teach us how to set by the creatures. Fasting Abstinentia est quando quis pro [...]more Dei & salute propria, non ab illicitis tantum, sed interdum à licitis atque concessis cohi [...]et. Greg. 5. Moral. in [...]erdicts us the use of meats, it raiseth man to the condition of Angels, by cutting of such things as are necessary for the preservation of life, it contents it self with bread and water; nay there have been some Penitentiaries and Anchorets, who have passed over whole weeks without eating any thing, lest whilst they would feed their naturall heat, they might increase the heat of their concupiscence. Poverty is a generall foregoing of all worldly things, [Page] those who make greatest profession thereof, live in the world as in a desart; whatsoever self-love judgeth necessary, seems useles or superfluous to them; the arts are not troubled with dressing nor with nourishing them; they find that in desarts, which we want in cities; and the bounds which they have prescribed to their desires renders them content, in the midst of want, the same tree may cloth and feed them, the leaves thereof serve them for coverings, and the fruit for nourishment. Fortune Amate & nolite amare, ad aliquid amate, & ad aliquid amare nolite: est enim quod ad profectum ametur, & est quod adimpedimentum non ametur. Aug. Serm. 105. de diversis. can lay no hold upon their persons, wheresoever they goe they carry all they have with them, and Famine which doth depopulate whole towns, cannot make the earth barren enough to infuse fear into them, they are grown acquainted with hunger, and cannot fear an enemy with whom they have so often fought. Penitency hath lesse need of the creature then poverty hath, she takes some pleasure in contemning them, she rather loves to be persecuted then to be served by them, and knowing that this world is but a banishment, she despiseth whatsoever can retard her return into her deer country; she incourageth penitents to fight against sin, and sorrow, to destroy the Father by his Daughters means, and to procure Heaven by the losse of Earth.

Thus all the vertues teach us that all the creatures are corrupted; that it is better to passe by them, Non est in carend [...] difficultas, nisi cùm est in amando cupiditas August. lib. 3. de Doct. Christ. cap. 6. then to make use of them, that it is safer to contemn them, then to imploy them, and that if Philosophy teach us the use of them, Religion counselleth us their privation.

The seventh Discourse.

That Deluges and Earthquakes are the punishments of the World become corrupted.

WE must not wonder if Philosophers have argued so weakly upon the disorders of nature, their not knowing the the true cause thereof, being by reason of their ignorance of Adams sin: they were of opinion that the evill was occasioned by the corruption of humours, and raising themselves to no higher a consideration, they took the punishment of our sin for a condition of [Page] Nature; they thought that death was rather a law then a punishment; [...]ex est, non paena perire. Senec. and that the two parts whereof man is composed were severed when their chains were worn to peices through the long use of time, or broken by the violence of sorrow: they thought that the bodies rebellion was a necessary consequence of it's constitution, and that the slave being of another nature then his Master, it was not to be wondered at if he had other inclinations; they were perswaded that the revolt of wild beasts was a meer effect of their fury, and that man had no reason to complain thereof, since he neither wanted Force to tame them, nor Addresse to reclaime them.

Learning upon the same principle, they thought that Earth-quakes and Deluges were onely accidents which found their causes in nature, and which were as ordinary to the earth, as heats and colds to those that are sick, Suas ista causas habent, net ex imperio saeviunt, sed ex quibusdam vitiis, ut corpora nostra turbantar. Senec. Quaest. Natural. lib. 6. cap. 3. they thought that the wind or fire inclosed in the bowels of the Mother Earth caused the agitations thereof, and that these two Elements endevouring their liberty, did their utmost to break prison, that those constellations which rule in chief over waters, made the rivers swell, and drawing the sea out of her bed, covered the earth with her waves. They prepared themselves for these accidents, as for disorders, which were inevitable; and not troubling themselves with appeasing divine Justice, which chastiseth men by these dreadfull punishments they remained opinionated in their Errours; Ignorance would not suffer them to profit by these disorders, and not knowing that they were Punishments, they thought that Patience and Fortitude were the onely Remedies.

The common-people whose opinions were not so corrupted because they were lesse proud, Nihil borum sine timore mirantur populi. [...]n. lib. 6. Q [...]aest. Natural. lib. 6. cap. 3. reverenced the heavens anger in her severe punishments, and finding no means how to obviate so strange disasters, they sought for safety in superstition, and endevoured to appease the evill spirits with sacrifice: but this new sin augmented the rage of heaven, thinking to avoid it's Justice they provoked it's indignation, and through a blind ignorance they incensed their Sovereign by fawning on their executioners. Christians who are instructed in a better school, confesse that these great disorders are the punishments of sin, and that divine Justice made no use of them, till we through our offences had despised his mercy; indeed there [Page] was nothing but the hand of God alone, which could overthrow his workmanship, and loosen the earth from it's foundations, to affrighten the guilty. Were not the winds in-animated by his Justice, they could not shake the center of the world, the weight of this great frame would stop their fury, and nature which loves to preserve her parts, would not permit meer exhalations to commit such havock in her state, she would open new passages to them to allay their violence, and preventing these extraordinary convulsions, she would either rend open her own bowels, or else dissolve those vapours into rivers. Potes autem à terrá omnem spem atque omne desiderium removere, hoc fac ut securus vivas, eaque vel tremente, vel ruente consistas. Stultum est firmam in re tremulá spem habere. Petrarc. Dialog. But God takes delight to agitate the world, that he may intimidate men, and that he may teach them by these Earth-quakes, that the earth is not so much their abiding place, as the place of their punishment.

Of all the animadversions which his Justice giveth them, there is none more horrid or lesse evitable then this: for what assurance can we hope for here below, if the earth quake under our feet? where can we think to escape danger, if the most solid thing of all the world do shake? and if that which susteins all things threaten us with sinking under our feet? what Sanctuary shall we find to defend us from an evill which doth incompasse us round, and whither can we withdraw if the gulfs which open themselves shut up our passages on all sides? with what horrour are men struck when they hear the earth groan, when her trembling succeeds her complaints, when houses are loosened from their foundations, when the roof falls upon their heads, and the pavement sinks under their feet? what hope is there to be had in so generall a disorder, and what comfort can be given or received in so universall a disorder, when fear cannot be fenced by flight? Quid tebi esse non dico auxilii, sed solatii, ubi timor fugam perdidit. Senec. quaest. Natural. lib. 6. cap. 1. Fortune is never so cruell, but that she opens unto us some out let whereby to escape the evils which she sendeth us; an enemy is beaten from the bulwark which he had possessed himself of, earth-works are opposed to the thundering cannon, winds which raise Tempests deliver us from them, and after having a long time tost us too and fro, they cast us upon the shore, houses serve us for sanctuaries against the injuries of the air, and shepheards cottages which are onely made of leaves and mosse save them from storms; Firings which are so hideous, follow not them that fly from them, though fire be never so light it becomes slothfull when it betakes it self to a combustible matter, and if man will resign his goods [Page] unto it, he may secure his person. Nullum malum sine effugio est, nunquam fulmina populos percusserunt: pestilens coelum exhausit urbes, [...] abstulit. [...]. Thunder hurts not those who hide themselves in caverns, it's boult doth onely grate upon the earth but doth not penetrate it, it is stopt with the least resistance, and some trees have the vertue to appease it's fury; when the plague infects whole citties, it may be shun'd by going into the countrey, change of air is a remedy for incurable evils, and when Physicians cannot cure a stubborn sicknesse, either by diet or letting blood, they cure it by waters or by travelling.

There is no disaster so generall as doth assail the whole world at once, Thunder frightens more then it hurts; the plague, whose mischiefs are so great, may well dispeople towns, but doth not throw down the houses; though tempests do shatter ships, yet some do escape their fury; but the earth quake doth inclose whatsoever it overthroweth, it openeth the earth wide as it swalloweth down whole towns, it wageth not war with some few houses onely, but with whole provinces, it leaveth nothing behind it which can inform posterity of it's outrages; more insolent then fire which spares rocks, more cruell then the Conquerour who spares wals, Hoc malum latissime patet; non enim domus solum aut familias aut urbes singulas haurit, sed gentes totas regionesque subvertit. Idem ibid. more greedy then the sea which vomiteth up shipwracks, it swalloweth and devoureth whatsoever it overturneth. Whatever stedfastnesse the places have wherein we live, we cannot say they are exempt from this so dreadfull accident, what hath befaln some parts of the earth, may befall all the rest, those which never were yet agitated are not unmoveable, their condition is not better though they have been preserved from this disorder; they ought to apprehend it, because they have escaped it, and those parts which have undergone it ought to fear it the lesse, because nature hath consumed the forces thereof in shaking them. Self-love doth abuse us, if we perswade our selves that there are some parts of the world which are exempt from this mischief, they are subject to the same laws, nature cannot defend her workmanship against the justice of her Sovereign, Omnes sub eadem lege jacent. Nihil ita ut immobile esset natura concepit, alia temp [...]lus aliis cadunt▪ Idem. [...]i. what happens not at one time, may happen at another; as in great towns one house fals after another, so in the world doth earth-quakes succeed, and France will one day suffer what Italie hath suffered; the bravest parts of the world have not been able to secure themselves from it, those which have been most populous and most abounding in fruit have been most subject thereunto; and Asia whose beauty may make Europe jealous, hath often been the Theater of famous [Page] Earth-quakes; she lost twelve towns in one day, Achaia and Macedonia have been sensible of this disorder, and the most delightfull parts of Italie have seen their wals thrown down and their houses swallowed up amidst their greatest felicity. Circui [...] [...]atum▪ & si qu [...] diu praeteriit repetit, quaedam [...]rius sol [...]itat, quaed [...]m saepius, nihil immune esse & innoxium si [...]t. Idem ibid. Destiny seems to make the circuit of the world, it sets upon those parts which it hath a long time spared, and teacheth all sorts of people that no force can resist it's fury. The Sea is subject to it's Empire, and Marriners confesse that those storms are most dangerous, which are occasioned by earth-quakes; the Ocean is astonished when the element which serves it for it's basis will forego it, it grows incensed and breaks it's bounds when the earth sinks under it's waters; and goes to seck out another bed, when that which nature hath given it appears willing to be it's Sepulchre.

In fine, this misfortune is common to all kingdomes, N [...]o quidquam esse quietis aeternae, quod & p [...]rire non potest & perdere. Idem ibid. since man became criminall, all parts of the earth are become moveable, the parts thereof do dis-unite themselves, since the division of the body from the soul, and stedfastnesse must no longer be looked for in the world, since innocency is banished thence by injustice. This disorder is the punishment of our sin; and reason together with faith doth sufficiently perswade us that the universe would never have been agitated with these furious accidents during the estate of originall righteousnesse. Wherefore should Gods anger, have armed the elements against his faithfull subjects? wherefore should it have overthrown all his works to destroy innocent men, why should it have overwhelm'd the inhabitants of the earth with the ruines thereof, if they had not been sinfull? why should it have buried those in the bowels of the earth, who were not to die? Nullo modo peccati ded [...]us est sine deco [...]e [...]. Aug. Let us then conclude that Earth-quakes are the effects of sinne, and let us also make it appear that Deluges are also the just Rewards thereof.

We are bound by the holy Scripture to believe that that dreadfull disorder was not so much the effect of Nature as of Divine Justice, that it was to punish mans insolency that the flo [...]ds forsook their channels, and that the world would never have been drowned had it not been infected with mans sin. [...]inis universa car [...] ven [...]t coram me, repleta est t [...]a iniquitate à facie eorum, & ego disperdam eos cum terra. Genes. cap. 6. Nature could not have furnished waters enough to cover the mountains had not Gods anger imprinted in her a new fertility, she could not have wrought so powerfully towards her own ruine, unlesse he whose motions make her [Page] inclinations encourage her against her self; all the Seas put together could not have covered the face of the whole world, though their banks should have been broken down, and that they should have been set at Liberty by the hand which holds them in, they would not have had waves enough to have overflowed all the earth: if those rains which made the waters swell came not from out the bosome of the clouds, a Sovereign power formed the vapours which did produce them. The same Voluntas Dei causa miraculorum omnium, quae vel ob [...]jus gloriam, vel o [...] peccatorum ultionem fiunt. Justice which shall burn the world, did drown it, and let Philosophers say what they list, that prodigious accident was not a meer effect of nature. Nature is not powerfull enough to destroy what she hath not made; that hand onely by which she is guided can disorder her, those great disorders which draw along with them her generall ruine could have no other cause but the will of God.

Philosophy hath not been able to find out a cause for it, she speaks of the deluge as of a fable, and hath rather chosen to give all antiquity the lye then to betray her own ratiocination. To say truth, he that knows not sin cannot comprehend this disorder of nature, to the belief thereof, a presupposition is requisite that man is guilty, that God is angry with him, and that he will make use of his absolute power to punish him. All other reason is too weak to prove so strange an accident: though the world subsist by change, and that the elements whereof it is composed are onely preserved by their opposing one another, yet do not their combats tend to the ruine of nature: the peace of the Universe is entertained by their divisions; they sacrifice themselves for the publique good, and violate their particular inclinations to prevent a generall disorder. Fire descends to assist nature, when she is set upon; water mounts aloft to supply the place of vacuum which is the common enemy to all elements, the earth opens her bowels and loosens her self from her foundations to suppresse the disorders which sin hath caused in the world; but it is not to be comprehended how all the parts of the world should conspire natures ruine, nor by what secret veins the sea could issue forth so much water as could drown her: the sea even when incensed useth violence upon her self not to overflow the earth; Usque huc venies & non procedes amplius & [...]c c [...]stringes tume [...] [...]uctus tuos. J [...] 38. it remembers what order it received from God in the beginning, it useth violence upon it self, in it's greatest storms, not to out-passe it's bounds; it takes nothing in one place which it repayes not in another, [Page] it restores to Swethland, what it hath taken from Holland; and foregoes our coasts when it intrencheth upon our neighbours: if the ebbing & flowing thereof be sometimes irregular, they never move to such a height as to threaten the whole world, it's inroads are rather for pastime then mischief, and should it have tane that liberty in the state of innocency, man, who very well knew the nature thereof, would neither have been surprised nor astonished thereat.

But if it now spread it self over the fields, if it cover the highest steeples with it's waves, if it turn populous towns into lakes or ponds, if it bear it's Empire beyond it's bounds, and if breaking the banks which are made to oppose it's fury, it threaten us again with an universall Deluge, it follows rather the motions of Divine Justice then it's own, and this prodigie is rather an effect of Gods anger, then of Nature.

Thus ought we to argue of that generall inundation which destroyed the whole world, two thousand years after it was first made, the cause came from heaven, the decree was pronounced by Gods own mouth, the execution thereof was given to the evil spirits, & the Elements received a new commission to obey their new order. The earth furnisht part of the vapours which were Non est tanto ma [...]o u [...] causa, sed omnis rati [...] consentit, & simul imbres cadunt, [...]mina increscunt, maria sedibus suis excit [...] per [...] runt, & [...]mnia uno agm [...]ne [...] exi [...]ium hum [...]i generis incumbunt. Senec. Quaest. Natural. cap. 27. to drown her, the vapours distil'd down in rain, rivers being swoln with such fall of rain, broke their banks, the sea not able to contain so many flouds, forewent its bounds; Towns were changed into ponds, their streets were turned into rivolets, their inhabitants quitted their houses; the wals whereof were undermined by waters; and equally fearing two contrary evils, they know not whether they were to perish by the fall, or by the drowning of their houses; Torrents were seen every where, which charged with booty did at the same time carry down the seilings of palaces, and trees out of gardens; all rivers lost their names and channels, the Rhine was confounded with Rome, Euphrates and Ganges were mingled together, all those great rivers which had won fame by reason of the towns which they watered, found their losse in their greatnesse, and ruined themselves that they might ruine the whole world; I am omnia quae prospici possunt aquis obside [...]tur, omni [...] tumul [...] i [...] profundo late [...] & immensa ubique [...]titudo est: tantum in s [...]mmis montium jugis vad [...] sunt. Idem ibid▪ the tops of mountains made Islands in this wast Ocean, which being by little and little quite effaced, left the world at last drowned in waters: there was then but one onely [Page] Element seen. Whole Nature became a Sea, in the which the winds guided a vessell which carried in it the worlds onely hope, and which preserved eight people amidst this deluge which were to re-people the world.

It is very likely that so great a spoil was not made without Thunder, and that to make this punishment the more dreadfull, the Sun [...] [...]tissimis [...] ▪ adhaerebant reliquiae [...]neris [...]umani, q [...]us in extre [...] perd [...]s, hoc [...]num sol [...] tio suit, quod trans [...]rat in [...] metus. Senec. ibid. hid his face, that the day gave place to night, that the world was covered with darknesse, and the Lightening was the torches which did attend the funerall pomp, whilst any mountains were yet uncovered with water, the remainders of man-kind were fixed there; in this extremity no comfort but astonishment remained, fear was changed into stupidity, and the wonder which they conceived at this so hideous an accident did so possesse their spirits, as they saw the sea without fear, had not feeling of the mischief, and perished without complaining. Who will not confesse that so strange an accident, could be no naturall effect? who will not judge, by the greatnesse thereof, that it was a miracle of divine Justice? who will not confesse that these disorders which tend to the ruine of man-kind, are the punishments of sin? and that nature would never have conceived so much indignation, against her own children, had she not believed to revenge their father by their death, and to repair his honour by their punishment.

The eighth Discourse.

That Thunder, Plagues and Tempest are the effects of Sinne.

WHen I consider the worlds condition since sin, me thinks I see a combat between self-love and divine Justice, and that these two parties do with equall courage endevour to win the victory. Divine Justice disorders the seasons to punish sinfull man, altereth the nature of the elements, robs the earth of flowers, and covers it over with thorns; makes the winters longer, and Summers shorter, and mingling the saddest of our seasons with all the other, makes snow be seen in the spring, and thick fogs in [Page] Autumn, arms savage beasts with new fury, & draws them out of their forrests to set on sinners in towns, destroyes her own workmanship, ruines the beauties of the world to take revenge of the Lord thereof, and raiseth up as many enemies against him since his sin, as he had Subjects during his innocency. Self-love Amor sui deliciarum omnium, & proinde peccatorm author est. imploys all it's industry to to repair these disorders, and by tricks which seem to augment it's sin, withstands all the designs of Divine Justice; it cultivates the earth, and by it's labour makes her fruitfull, it ingrafts roses upon thorns, and indevours to make the place of it's exile a stately palace, it hath had such good successe in it's enterprizes, as the sinfull world comes not far short of the world when innocent, did our first father live again, and partake of our contentments, he would not so much lament the losse of the earthly paradise, but blaming the tears which his banishment drew from him, he would passe his time merrily away with his children, in so pleasing an abod [...] ▪ In effect, all things are refined by time, solitary places are inhabited, forrests which infused horrour into those who saw them, furnish hunters with pastime, the barren sands are sowed upon, vines are planted upon rocks, Marish grounds are dried, that they may Sylvas [...] domuer [...]t, fera [...] peccora fug [...]verunt, arenae ser [...]ntur, saxa panguntur, paludes [...]liquantur, tant [...] urbes quantae non cas [...] quo [...] dam. I am ne [...] i [...]sulae [...]rrent nec scop [...]li [...]orrent. Ubique domus, ubique populus, ubique respublica. Tertul. de [...]ma. be plough'd up, and provinces are now fuller of palaces, then formerly they were of cottages; Islands are no longer un-inhabited, and those famous rocks which made the Pylots tremble, now bear high Towers for Landmarks unto them, and Towns to receive them: all the parts of the world are peopled, nor are there any desarts which have not some Inhabitants and houses.

But let self-love use all the cunning that it can, there are some mischiefs which wee cannot sh [...] ▪ and there are some disorders in the world which will oblige us to confesse, that the wisedome of man cannot defend it self against Gods anger. Thunder is of this sort, and one must have lost his reason, not to fear a cause which produceth such strange effects. All Poets have armed the hands of God therewithall, and nature which is the Mistresse Sum [...]am petit arduus arcem, unde movet tonitrum, vibrat [...]que fulmina jactat. Ovid. Metamor. of Infidels, hath taught them, that he makes use thereof to punish offenders: the lightenings which fore-run it, the noyse which doth accompany it, and the prodigies which follow after are undeniable proofs of this truth. Let Philosophy defend her self against it by her vain reasons, let her oppose her pride to our fea [...], let her destroy religion by her libertinisme, she cannot keep reasonable men from redoubting thun-Thunder, [Page] and from confessing by the fear which siezeth them, that without the reading of Genesis they know the whole story of our mis-fortune. To say truth, who would not fear a punishment against which Nature affords no temedy? who will not dread a disaster which sets upon Princes in their Palaces, and upon Conquerours amidst their Armies? the statelinesse thereof is able to frighten even Philosophers; Non maximum ex perculis, sed speciosissimum fulmen est. Sen. lib. 2. quaest. Natural. cap. 59. and though they say this be not the greatest danger, though the most specious, yet they look pale when the Thunder roars over their heads, and that the Ecchoes which answer to the voice thereof makes the ground quake under their feet. Then their constancy forsakes them, and nature which forceth them to speak truth, makes them make vows, and repent them of their insolence. The haughtiest of all the Stoicks hath been inforc't to confesse, that there was somwhat of divine in Thunder, that it was not the meer workmanship of nature, and that the flames and water whereof it is composed made but the least part of it's power. Caeterum mira fulminis si intueri velis opera sunt, nec quicquam dubii relinquentia quin divina insit illis & subtilis potentia. Senec. quaest. Natural. cap. 31. It is truth, that pride hath made him speak another language, and that after having with reason admired Thunder, he hath the impudency to laugh at it; he believed that since the claps thereof were not certain, they were not darted out from a divine hand, and that since it spared the guilty, and struck the innocent, it was guided by fortune, not by providence: Then destroying religion under a pretence of establishing it, Utile erat in tantâ aud [...]cia scelerum aliquid esse adversum quod nemo sibi satis potens videretur. Ad conterendos itaque eos, quibus innocentis nisi metu no [...] placet, posuere super caput vindicem & quidem armatum. Senec. lib. 2. q. Natural. c. 42. he adds that Polititians had wisely handled this accident, to keep people within their duties, that it was requisite, that where the faulty take so great a freedom, there should be an inevitable punishment, and against which the power of Kings should be of no use; that to intimidate men who could not beperswaded to innocency, but by fear, it behooved to place a revengefull hand over their heads which should always be armed with Thunder.

But let this proud Philosopher say what he please, all men will not alter their beliefe upon so weak reasons. Non potest in nos tuum errare falmen quis [...]uis è nobis cadet, nocens pe [...]bit. In Medea. Thunder cannot be mistaken when it falls upon the ground, it is not necessary that he who darteth it forth should measure his strokes; since whosoever he hits, is sinfull.

The Decree of our death is pronounced before we are born, it little imports whether the execution thereof be left to thunder or deluge, and whether the sea or the earth serve as a Minister to Gods Justice: if he spares sinners in this world, 'tis that he may punish [Page] them the more severely in the other world; if he snew favour unto sinners, 'tis either to recompence their good deeds, or the good deeds of their Ancestors; and if he punish the innocent, 'tis either to exercise their patience, or to increase their merit. Loculis integris ac illesis conflatur arg [...]ntum, manenta vaginâ gladius liquescit, & inviolato signo circa pila se [...] rum omne distillat. Statfracto dolio vinum Senec. quaest. Natural. lib. 2. cap. 31. But certainly of all the punishments which he makes use of to make himselfe be feared, there is none more strange then Thunder; the effects thereof are miraculous, it plays so many severall ways, as it is easily seen that he who guides it is Natures Master; it melts the money of the avaritious without breaking the cofer wherein it is lockt; it breaks the sword without hurting the Scabbard wherein it is; it melts the iron ends of Pikes without burning the wood whereinto they are ingraffed; it consumes the Cask without shedding the wine; but what is yet most miraculous, it kils a child in the mothers belly without hurting the mother, and of a living cradle, makes her an animated Sepulchre. Is it not easie to judge by all these effects, that so prodigious a cause would have been uselesse, in the state of Innocency? for what need was there to govern them by fear, who suffered themselves to be charmed by love? why should the Thunder have roared over the heads of the innocent? wherefore should God have armed himself, not having as yet any enemies? and to what end should he have vented his fury upon the tops of mountains, since if he punish insensible creatures, 'tis to astonish those who are rationall? In this sort of punishment there is also observed a certain malignity, Inest fulmini vis pestifera. Senec. ibid. which witnesseth that it is the work of God; for it corrupts what ever it toucheth, it imprints evill qualities in the body that it burneth, and wine which is the best Antidote, turns to poison, if it be struck with Thunder; it leaves an ill odour, where ere it goes, and it cannot be a meer effect of nature, since it destroys all the works thereof.

We are bound to be of the same beliefe touching the plague, and to confesse that this sad sicknesse which hath so often unpeopled the world, hath no other father then sin. O [...]erosi sumus mundo, vix nobis elementd sussiciunt, re vera lues & fames pro remedio deputanda, tanquam consura insol [...]scentis generis humani. Tertul [...] deanimâ. Tertullian who isas full of mad wh [...]sics, as of errours, thought, that the plague was a providence of nature, which to case the earth which was not able to support her children, bereft her of some of them; and that like those Gardiners who use to prune such Trees as bear more fruit then they can nourish, she lessens the number of men, and reduceth them to a condition of not being burthensome to their common [Page] Mother. Though I confesse that divine mercy doth oft-times turn our punishments into favours, and that it may aswell turn the plague to a remedy, as death to a sacrifice, yet I look upon it as one of the strangest Punishments ordained by divine justice to punish men withall.

I must in reason confesse that it is a generall corruption of nature, that it assails all the parts thereof, and that it disperseth venom into all the elements to cause death to the sinfull; it infecteth the air which we draw in with our breath, it gets into our bowels with the meat which we eat, it makes the earth barren by it's bad influences and passing from men to beasts, commits as much havock in the fields as in towns: this malady surpasseth the Physicians skill, it laughs at all antidotes, it is not to be shun'd but by flight, and it is sometimes so universall as men meet with it in the very places which they have chosen for their Sanctuary. Wee bear the seed thereof along with us, which it in time hatches forth, and shews it self as fire doth when we think it is extinguisht.

It is the most perverse and least respectful punishment of all those that befall sinfull man, for 'tis a rebell to all remedies, it turns antidotes into venome, and when it doth reign absolutely any where, it is fed with whatsoever is given to allay it, it assails Monarchs amidst their armies, the Lawrels which fence their heads from Thunder, cannot keep them from the contagion thereof, and that Sanctity which receives respect from other diseases cannot stop it's progresse. The most August and holiest of all our Kings died of this disease in Africa, his valour and his piety which had freed him out of prison, could not deliver him from his sicknesse, but after having triumphed over vice and infidelity, a period was put to all his conquests by a contagious death.

The holiest of all the Kings of Iudah, knowing that heaven was offended at him, & that the anger thereof was not to be appeased but by a general satisfaction, chose the plague before either war, or famin, out of a beliefe that this scourge might aswell light on him as on the meanest of his subjects. In effect, it spares no man, neither youth nor age can allay the rigour, nor stop the progresse thereof, it mows down more souldiers then war doth, it cuts off more Commanders then the sword, it boasts of ending the differences between Kings, and of making them make peace by taking from them the means of [Page] making war. There have been some so contagious plagues, as have dispeopled the greatest part of the world, the seas did not stop their Conquests, and this vast element which serves for a stop to the ambition of Conquerours, could not dissipate the fury thereof; the winds served them for post-horses, and they crost the seas to carry infection into the utmost parts of the world without either oares or fails: the number of the dead was so great as the Dcest terra tumulis, jam rogos sylvae negant, non vota, non arsulla cor reptos levant, cadunt medentes. Senec. in Oedip. earth was not able to cover them, nor yet the forrests to bury them, Physicians died together with the sick; Children dropt down after their fathers, and lost their lives in doing them their last duties. A man need onely to consider the horrour of this malady to acknowledge that it is one of the punishments of sin: during the time of innocence, the air was not corrupted, the earth brought forth no fruits which could breed bad humours, death did not reign where there was no guilty persons: Heaven, which breeds contagion by it's mortall influences, did not punish those which it had not as yet Scilicet coeli reus sperare poterat sceleribustantis dari regnum salubre, fecimus coelum nocens Senec. in Oedipose. condemned; our sins must have provoked it to have made it our enemy, we must have lost our innocency to incurre the dis-favour thereof, and sin must have wounded our soul, before the plague had seized on our bodies.

One may say that the same thing which causeth contagion on the land, causeth tempests at sea, that it conspires together with sin to undo man, that it unpeoples the earth to people hell, and that it holds Intelligence with the winds to sink ships. Some Philosophers have been of opinion that the sea did not belong to the Empire of man, that this element was reserved for fishes, as the air for birds, that it was an usurpation to sail thereon, to cut through the waves thereof to discover it's champians, and to penetrate the depths thereof, that Nature which punisheth all injustice had raised up storms, and formed rocks to revenge his Tyranny; but certainly reason binds us to believe that there was nothing in the world which was not put under [...]he power of man, that his authority had no other bounds then those of Nature, and that God who had placed him in the world to admire his works, had left to him aswell the disposall of Dominamini piscibus ma [...]is, volatilibus coeli & animantibus terrae. the sea, as of the land: but when through rebellion he became gnilty of high treason, his Empire was divided, his subjects contemned his power, and every part of his estate brought forth Monsters to destroy him. The sea is so fruitfull herein as the most of her productions [Page] are monstruous, every fish is an enemy to man, they are not to be tamed by art, and violence bereaves them rather of their life then of their fury. It seems that being by divine Justice imployed against men in the deluge, they retain yet some remembrance of that first imployment, and that they think to revenge God as oft as they punish us: they by their strength overturn great ships, they leap into lesser vessels to assail us, they make storms in the midst of calms, & being living rocks do oft-times cause the skilfullest Marriners run shipwrack.

This great danger is accompanied by the like of Tempests, which seem to enrage the Sea onely that she may drown the Land, or bury mankind in her waves. This disorder is good for nothing but to undo us; prophane Philosophy findes no other cause for it; the more it considers the strange effects thereof, the more is it obliged to adore Gods Justice, and to condemne mans sin. Hinc procellae & turbines hinc plurima mortalium mala & rerum naturae pugna secum. Plin. lib. 2. c. 38 The winde purifies the aire, and disperseth the clouds; the rain waters the earth, and vapours which are the originall of Aire make the fields fruitfull; fire doth not much consume the wealth of nature, it betakes it selfe to buildings, and punisheth our vanity in destroying our workmanship. The plague it selfe which violating all the Laws of Nature, sweeps away the Son together with the Father, and buries in the same grave the Physician and the Patient, doth oft-times by the havock which it makes, prevent the cruelty of war, and kils men to hinder them from committing parricide; for when it sees the earth groan underneath the burthen of her children, that she can no longer nourish those which she hath brought forth, that the scarcity of victuals makes people take up armes, and prepare for war to free themselves from famine; it dispeoples Towns, dis-burthens the fields, and bereaves men of their lives, only to preserve their innocence; but Tempests are only fit to punish either our avarice, or our ambition; the Seas rage is only usefull to make us know our offences, the deeps which open themselves beneath ships, the mountains of water which raise themselves above the Sailes, the lightnings which mingle themselves amongst the waves, and threaten us at the same time both which being drown'd and burnt, are formed by the hand of Nature only to make us die with more of pomp, and more of horrour.

And certainly it was very just, that the Theater of our Ambition [Page] should be the like of our punishment; Piratae prinùm coegere mort is periculo, in mortem ruere & hyberna experiri maria; nunc idem avaritia cogit. Plin. lib. 2. cap. 47. that the windes which we make slaves to our avarice, should become the Ministers of Gods anger, that those Spirits which put life into our ships, should inanimate storms, and that they which fill our Sailes should make our designes give against the rocks; for it must be confest, we are more insolent in our abusing this Element, then the rest; & that we do more unjustly imploy the windes then all other things in the world. Nature hath produced them for our service: they are of use to us even in rebellion whereinto sin hath thrown us, and we cannot sufficiently praise providence which hath drawn them out of her Treasures to fit them to our needs; they purge the aire by fanning Venti utiles [...], ut aera non sinerent pigrescere, ut imbres terris subministrarent, iidemque nimios compescerent. Nam modo adducunt nubes, modo diducunt [...], ut per totum orbem pluviae dividi possint. Senec. Natural. quaest. lib. 5. cap. 18. i [...], and trouble the repose thereof, onely to preserve it's purity, they gather vapours together and then scatter them abroad, they separate rain by dividing the clouds, and if they hide the heavens from the earth, 'tis to adorn her with flowers, and enrich her with fruit; they entertain commerce amongst nations, they make that common to the whole world, which nature had appropriated to some one province, they help us to go round the world, and husbanded by our dexterity they Ventus omnibus inter se populis commercium dedit & gentes dissipatas locis miscuit. Ingens naturae beneficium s [...]illud in injuriam suam non vertat hominum furor. Idem Ibid. discover unto us all the beauties thereof, without their assistance we could not know the customes of Forraigners, we should be ignorant of what is done underneath our feet, and the Antipodes would passe for a fable, had not these faithfull guides brought our Pylots thither.

This good turn would be rare did not mans fury abuse it; but we make them serve our avarice or our ambition, by their means we seek out new dangers and new enemies, we load our ships with souldiers to pillage strange countries, we commit our life to the infidelity of the sea, and the lightnesse of the wind, we indevour to overcome tempests which astonish nature, we run upon death without hope of a grave, and we seek out a doubtfull Non erit tanti si ad pacem per ista veberentur hune autem cum exaserimus tot sc [...]pulos latentes & insidias vadosi maris, quis nos fessos tot malis partus excipiet. Senec. ibid. war upon such conditions as would seem unjust to those who would undertake an assured victory: what blind madnesse doth possesse us? wherefore do we raise troops to carry them through rocks and tempests? wherefore do we trouble the Seas quiet, for our unjust designes? are there not hazards enough on the earth, but that we must seek for new ones in another Element? whether do we complain of Fortunes favours, or of natures goodnesse? is the former too faithfull, or the latter too indulgent? are our bodies so strong, or our health so certain, that [Page] we must go seek for sicknesses, and dangers amongst the waves? do we desire to assaile the destinies in the midst of their Empire? to declare war against them, then where their power doth most evidently appear? is not death terrible enough on Land, but that we must provoke it on the Sea? shall we not finde it soon enough in a house, without seeking for it in a ship? Quid maria inqu [...]etamus? p [...]um videlicet ad mortes nost [...]s terra late patet, nimis dura dedit nobis corp [...]ra. Itaque camus in pelagus & v [...]mus in nos [...] cessan [...]ia. Senec. and is not our life short enough but that we must make it yet shorter by the accidents which are subject to those who saile upon the Ocean? must not a man have lost his reason to expose himselfe voluntarily to dangers unnecessitated? to fight with men without any cause, and conquer Countries without justice? wilde beasts war not one upon another untill enforced by hunger, or provoked by injuries; and we who take our name from humanity, are profuse in shedding of humane bloud; we come aboard frail vessels, we trust our safety to the fury of Tempests, and wish for fair windes to carry us into forreign Countries, where we must either because of death, or die our selves.

We think not any one part of the world a Theater large enough for our ambition. Every one will have his madnesse manifest, and that it have as many witnesses as it hath made men miserable. Thus the King of Persia entered Greece which he could not overcome, though he covered it all over with Souldiers. Quosque nos [...] mala n [...] stra rapuere, parum est intra orbe [...] suum [...]urere. Idem ibid. Thus would Alexander passe over unknown seas, carry his forces to the utmost parts of the earth, and after he had overcome so many Kings, vanquish Nature her selfe: Non horrebit Crassus revocantis diras Tribuni non tempestates longissimi maris, non circa Euphratem pr [...] saga sulmina & De [...] resistentes. Idemibid. Thus did Crassus strive to enrich himselfe at the cost of the Parthians, and would enter the large desarts which border upon their State; he despised the Tribunes who opposed his voyage, he laughed at the Tempests which shattered some of his ships: the Thunders which fore-told his bad successe could not stay him, and not withstanding that both God and man were offended with him, he would go whether his avarice called him, and seek out the death which destiny had prepared for him. Had not Nature been more favourable unto us, if she had caused the windes to cease, and if to hinder the execution of so many unjust designs, she had forced all Conquerours to keep peacefully within their own dominions? should not we be much beholden to her, if interdicting us to enter on the sea, we should have nothing but our own misfortunes to fear and undergo? and if the winds made us not dread those unknown waves, which bring war, servitude, and death to the [Page] Countries whereon they coast? we are not the more secure for the distance of places, there is no enemy how far off so ever he be, who may not surprize us, as oft as the winds blow we have cause to fear lest they bring either enemies or Tyrants upon us. The Tempests which they raise are the least evils which they threaten us withall; Shipwracks which fear makes appear so terrible unto us, are but the first tryals, they expose us to those dangers when they carry us to war, and the evill which wait for us on the shores whither they [...] Cui ita (que) non vita tormentum est? Nihil invenies tam manifestae utilitatis qu [...]d non in contrarium transferat culpa. Senec. quae [...]. N [...] tural lib 5. c. 1 [...] conduct us, are more vexatious then those which assail us at full sea. Thus are all things in the world armed against us. Every Element is become an executioner, since we are become male factours; Nature is plentifull in punishments, and all the pieces whereof she is composed, are so many faithfull Ministers, which serve God, in taking revenge upon his rebels.

The ninth Discourse.

That Monsters and Poysons are the workmanship of Sinne.

DIvine Providence knows so well how to husband the defects of creatures, as most men take them for perfections, and we gather such advantage from our misfortunes by it's guidance, as we should be unfortunate, if we had not been so. Death, which is sins severest punishment, is so precious in it's hands, as it seemeth rather a favour then displeasure, and a reward then a chastizement. Sicknesses are cause of so much good unto us by bereaving us of our health, as it were to be wished that most men should fall sick, and that pain might make them out of love with their bodies, to make them be the like with the earth▪ the injuries of the Elements are of such use to the faithfull, as they ought rather to be praised, then complained of by them; when they with patience suffer all the pains which sin hath occasioned, they may make a happy use thereof to destroy Supplicium [...] [...] sin, and a sweet smelling Sacrifice to Gods Justice.

Hence it is that Philosophers who know what advantage we draw [Page] from our mis-fortunes, perswade themselves that Nature is not corrupted, and account her disorders advantages; they term death a law more necessary then rigorous; they call sicknesse the souls salve, the tryall of vertue, and the exercise of patience; they call poverty a dis-ingagement from uselesse things, a nearer cut to vertue, a help to argue with more freedom, they term the persecution of the Elements an innocent war which causeth the worlds peace, a hatred which conduceth to a perfect friendship, or an excellent picture of musick, whose harmony is composed of the differences of voices, and contrariety of tones.

By the same reason they justifie the disorders of nature, and call Monsters irregularities which heighten her other works; they plead in the behalf of poysons, and make them passe for remedies, whose use we are yet ignorant of. In effect, Monsters seem to serve for ornament to the world, Monstra sunt ornamenta universi. Arles. that they contribute to the beauty thereof, that they constitute that admirable variety wherein consists honest mens most innocent delight, that they are in the world what shadows are in Pictures, and that not to excuse them they are handsome faults, and pleasing debaucheries. This wise Mother hath her serious businesses, and her serious diversions; she sports her self after having laboured, and to recreate her self after the pains which those wonders have occasioned her which she hath continued since the beginning of the world, she goes astray for sports sake, and for her pastime commits faults, yea her disorders are oft-times usefull to us; she produceth Monsters to fore-shew things to come, and goes out of her ordinary course to advertize us of Gods anger. Thus we may observe that in all ages, the birth of Monsters have been followed with some disasters, and the worlds irregularity hath Monstra sunt prodigia divinitus missa, per quae non praesentia modo, sed etiam futura declar [...]ntur atque praedicuntur. [...]amblichus de mysteriis. presaged the like in kingdomes, All the predictions of Pagans were grounded upon these prodigies; they studied the guidance of Empires in that of nature, and judged of the ones disorder by the others debaucheries. When Caesar and Pompey fought in the Pharsalian fields, and that the Romane Common wealth, was upon the point of being changed into a Monarchie, beasts were the interpretors of nature, the Elements violated their qualities, it rained bloud, and a generall confusion did foretell the alteration of that state. As famous Princes have had new constellations which have discovered them, Tyrants have had Monsters to proclaim them, and the Births of the one and [Page] of the other have had these Fortunate or Unfortunate Predictions.

Poysons are not so mischievous but that some good use may be made of them when they are prepared by physick, Omne medicamentum medium est inter alimentum & vene [...]um. good medicines are made of them; there are some sicknesses which cannot be cured but by corrected poyson: the greatest part of those drugs which we make use of to assist nature when she is weakened by sicknesse, partake more of poison then of nourishment, and onely help the naturall heat by provoking it and by contesting with it. If they be contrary to our constitutions, they are good for and do preserve some creatures; and if they be averse to man, they are favourable to the asp and viper: their venom is not to be taken from them without taking away their lives; the Antidotes which preserve us, kill them; and as if they imprinted their qualities in us when they sting us, their stingings are not to be cured but by their poison. Who knows not the vertue of venomous plants, is ignorant of the half of Nature: she subsists by contrariety, and as she indues her works with differing qualities, she must preserve them by contrary remedies; that which is hurtfull for some is good for other some, and amongst the infinite number of creatures Quin & ven [...] nostri misertam natur [...]n instituisse cred [...] potest, [...]e in t [...] dio vitae dirae famis mors le [...] tâ nos consumeret tabe. Plin. lib. 2. cap. 61. whose Constitutions are so different, there is nothing which is absolutely bad or unusefull,

These are the usuall reasons which Philosophy makes use of to defend her errour in maintaining Natures part, but being prest by truth, she must confesse that these Monsters are the products of sin, and that the earth never bore them till since it was covered with Thorns, the motions thereof were too regula [...] in the state of innocency, to commit any faults; the heavens were too favourable to it in their aspects, to corrupt it's workmanship: this charitable Mother would rather have been barren, then fruitfull in Monsters, and all her children were so beautifull, as she was not bound to make any ilfavoured, to set the others off: she hath placed variety enough in her productions, without being forced to transgress, that she might vary them; though she be not always serious, she had never been debauched, and before she was corrupted, she would not have found her diversion in her disorder. Who knows not that Monsters are the errours of Nature? Monstr [...] sunt peccata natuae nec ea [...]acere intendit: ideo ej [...] finis non est monstra procre [...]re. A [...]les 2. Physic. that she had no design in making them? that she is sorry she hath produced them, that she treats them as illegitimate children? that she shortens their life to efface her own shame? that [Page] repenting her of her fault, she speedily corrects it, and re-assumes her ordinary Tract which she went not out of, but only for want of heed, or being surprized. 'Tis chance and sin that produceth Monsters, they are not born but by unlawfull coupling, they are always barren, to the end they may have no posterity; their Species is never preserved: Monstris vit [...] [...] [...]vem ded [...] natura ho [...]inum a [...]. Philo [...]ph. and let men who delight in Natures debaucheries, use their utmost skill, they could never perpetuate Monsters, nor make them generate. We behold them with horrour, the delight which they cause in us, is mingled with aversion; if their novelty do delight us, their strange shape doth displease us, and after having for a while admired them, we are scandalized and nauseated with them. These just resentments are infallible proofs that sin is the father of all Monsters, and that as we detest the father, so do we his children.

But that which confirms our belief therein the more is, the rarity of them amongst beasts, and their frequency amongst men; for these innocent creatures being only so far guilty of our sins, as they are subject to our power, they do not stray so often as we in their productions: there is but one part in the world, where they commit these faults; and set aside Affrica, where Monsters are common, Europe and Asia do scarce produce two in one age; but men are irregular in all places, Africa sola [...] est [...], vix in Asia & Europa reperi [...] Aristotele [...] & Plin. the greatest part of their productions are monstruous, all their children bear the marks of their debauchery, and the punishment of their sin; we see the mothers wishes stampt on their childrens faces, some tokens of their parents incontinency are seen in the bodies of these Innocents; and generation is so corrupted amongst men, as they cause either horrour, or pity in Natures self; some of them cannot stand upright by reason of the weaknesse of their legs, and are enforced to seek for help for their infirmities, unlesse they will make their house their perpetuall prison; some carry mountains on their backs, and makes some that see them doubt; whether not having the shape of men, they be endued with the judgement and reason, or no; some are so deformed in their faces, as one would rather take them for Munkeys, than for the Images of God; others speak with such confusion, and with so much difficulty, as Parrots may teach them our language; some are born blinde, and are condemned to darknesse all their life time; M [...], [...]urdi, [...], [...], d [...] versa sunt [...]onst. or [...] genera, [...] in [...]er [...] q [...]àm [...] fre quentia. others cannot explain themselves, and their tongues not being able to speak cannot [Page] be the Interpreters of their thoughts; others cannot understand those pleasing discourses which fill the souls of those that listen thereunto, with the light of truth; they rather guesse at our intentions, then understand them; to make them capable of them, we must speak unto them with our hands, and make them understand that by the eyes which cannot be infused into them by the eares. In fine, the greatest part of men are Monsters; Nature mistakes her selfe oftner in them then in beasts, and be it that their intemperance causeth these disorders, be it that these irregularities are produced by the imagination which is more quick in them, be it that their Temper which is more refined, is more easily altered; we see that most children inherit their Parents defects as well as their sins, and that they are not born monstrous, till they be born sinfull.

If Monsters be the productions of sin, poisons are likewise the workmanship thereof; Maledictus [...]s inter omnia anim [...]ntia & bestias terrae, super pectus tuum gradieris, & terram comedes cunctus di [...]bus vitae tuae. Genes. cap. 3. though they seem naturall to some creatures, I conceive they did not make any part of their Essence, till after they had served the Devill for an Organ to deceive our first mother; all insects which bear in them any poison, are kinds of Serpents; God curseth them to revenge us, they creep upon their bellies in memory of the fault which our Enemies committed by their interposition, they feed upon the earth for the punishment of a sin, whereof they were but innocent Complices; as their sight causeth horrour in us, so doth ours cause fear in them; the heavens have put a secret enmity between them and us; if their venom be fatall to us, our spittle is mortall to them; Hominis [...] [...]aliva serpentibus omnibus mortifera. Plin. and if they with their teeth give us incurable wounds, we with our feet give them mortall Catches. The same justice which would condemne them to all these punishments, confin'd their venom to some parts of their bodies, to make them more odious; she would have their very looks to be contagious, to make us shun them; Basi [...]sci quos etiam serpentes ipsi fugiunt, hominem vel si tantum aspiciant, di [...]untur [...]terimere. Plin. lib. 29. c 4 and instructing us by sensible things, she secretly imprinted in our hearts a hatred against the Devill, whose image they are: she teacheth us by this example that we cannot hold innocent commerce with one that is sinfull, that that proud fiend which could inspire us with nothing but pride, & that there was more danger in communing with him, than in treating with aspes and vipers,

And certainly venom must needs be a punishment of sin, since all sorcerers make use thereof in their charmes, and in all the mischiefe [Page] that they do imploy those poisons which hature hath produced to undo us; these things seem to be abandoned to their fury, that they have some jurisdiction over them, and that they are permitted to assaile their Enemies with these weapons. In effect, all the harme they do to men is by this mingling of poisons; the words which they use are of no efficacy, Addit venenis verba non [...]stas minus metuenda. Senec. in M [...]daea. they cannot hurt us by their curses; 'tis a trick of the Devill, whom his weaknesse will imitate the power of God, and perswade us that words uttered by those whom he imploys, change nature, and work miracles. We are taught by reason, and by faith, that only God can act by speaking, and produce things by his will; The Angels which are the noblest Subjects of his Empire, can alter nothing in the world, but by the mediation of the Elements; they are forced to employ their qualities, to bring to passe their own designes, and to make use of their heat, or of their cold, to hasten Winter or retard Summer; they assume bodies in the clouds to make themselves visible, they speak by the means of the aire to make themselves be understood, and make use of vapours to form storms, and Thunder: but the devils, who are rebels to Gods Kingdom, having no designes but what are pernitious, they employ venom to execute them, they gather up the foam of Dragons, and Serpents slaver, and compose drinks of all these differing poisons; they mingle a thousand deaths together to revenge themselves of their Enemies; but say they, did not make use of these things to satisfie their fury, is it not sufficient to know that these things are averse unto us, as to judge that they have been altered by divine Justice for our punishment? or does not the knowledge of their being altered by divine Justice for our punishment, suffice to ascertain us of their aversion to us?

In Gods first designe, all Creaturae omnes cedunt aut utilitati aut delectationi hominum, quae porro utilitas venen [...]s▪ creatures were tied to serve man, they were to contribute either to his pastime, or to his profit; they had no other end but his pleasure, or his advantage; and had they been able to expresse their meanings, they would have witnessed that their being in the world was only to follow his inclinations. What place should poisons have held then in this world? how could they have been serviceable to man in the state of innocency? could he have taken any satisfaction in the sight of creatures whose qualities were fatall to him? could he have treated with the Basilisk, whose looks cause death? could he have approached Serpents [Page] which poison the aire with their breath? could he have communed with him who was the cause of his undoing, had he suspected either his breath or his looks? and ought we to imagine that there was any creatures which could offend man in a time, when not having committed any fault, he was not to fear any punishment? what delight could he have taken in the company of those beasts which are fatall to all other beasts? what sport could he have taken in Monsters which carry death in their eyes or mouth, and from whence a man must fence himself as well as against the plague or war? But it may be objected, Originall righteousnesse served him for a safe-gard, he saw the danger with delight, because the sight thereof caused no apprehension in him; he was well pleased to to handle poyson; the efficacy whereof was tane away by his innocency, and to touch venome which had not power to hurt him. Divine Providence which prescribed bounds to the raging of the sea, gave laws to the Terra dum parit venena non est noxia, nostris eam criminibus urgemus, culpam (que) nostram illi imputamus: genuit venena sed quis invenit illa praeter hominem Plin. l [...]. 18. c. 1. malice of Serpents; and the same power which hindered the Sun from burning men, when he gave them light, would not suffer the Basilisk to poyson them by his lookes, but who perceives not how weak this answer is, and how it compares Creatures which do no ways resemble one another? the Elements hurt not us but onely through their disorders, the seasons annoy us not but by their irregularities. All things in their purity are usefull to us, we dread not nature for them, but her corruption, and even in the very state of sin, we make use of them without either fear or danger. Owles onely complain of light, Harmony is onely hated by Savage beasts, a man must either be sick or mad to detest food which preserves life: but every body apprehends poyson, it must be corrected by art before the malignity thereof be tane away; to make any use of it, it must be destroy'd, & it is so dangerous, as it oft-times kils those Etiam venenorum odores pestiferi; tanta est eorum subtilitas ut etiam ferrum penetret. Plin. Physicians who prepare it. The smell of poyson is as pernitious, as the substance, it poures forth it's malignity throughout all the Senses, penetrates all the pores of the body, and there are some so subtil poisons, as even Iron is not solid enough to fence us from them.

Let us then conclude, that the earth bore not those unlucky plants, which seem to conspire mans ruine, till that made barren by Gods Curse, it was bound to turn it's roses into Thorns, and it's fruits into poysons. Sin was the occasion of this disorder, Divine Justice the cause, and the same power which caused the earth to open underneath [Page] the feet of Dathan and Abiram, caused wolfes-bane and Hemlock to come out of her bowels, to hasten his death who had lost his innocency.

The tenth and last Discourse.

That God will consume the World corrupted by Sinne, that he may make a new World.

THough Sinne hath wrought such havock in man as it hath brought darknesse into his understanding and malice into his will; that it hath effaced out of his soul those inclinations which she had to vertue, and that corrupting his nature, it seems to have destroyed Gods goodliest workmanship, yet do some glimmerings of light remain in the bottome of his soul, which sin could never darken. Idolatry, which hath so long raigned in the world hath not been able to blot Unitatis Dei cognitio imo & fides omnium hominum pect [...] ribus à natura ins [...]rta est. Lactant. out the belief of the unity of God; the Pagans have preserved this opinion amidst the worship of their Idols, words have escaped from them which have given their actions the lie, and when they followed the meer motions of Nature, they spake the same language as christians do. Though Poets made Hell to passe for a fable; and that their pleasing fictions made a prison be despised, whence Orpheus had escaped by musick, and Pyrithous by force, the people ceased not to apprehend eternall pains after death: s Deum praedicab [...]s, [...] anima & non requ [...]ebas, daemo [...]ia abominal a [...]s & illa [...]: judi [...]iam Dei appellabas nec esse credebas, inferna supplicia p [...]aesumebas & non praecavebas. Te [...]. de [...]estim an [...]ae i [...]ne. they had already cognizance of Devils under the name of revengfull furies; they knew that the fire wherewith the sinfull were burnt could not be quenched, that it was preserved without nourishment, and as serviceable to the power of God, it had operation upon the soul. Though the Devil to introduce licentiousnesse amongst men, made them hope for impunity for their faults, and that r Minos and Rhadamantus had not credit enough to terrifie Monarchs, Nature more powerfull then fiction, had imprinted in all men an apprehension of an universall Judgment; there was no guilty person who did not fear it, nor none miserable who did not hope it; every one in the belief of this truth found either punishment for his fault, or [Page] consolation in his misery, when the oppressed innocents could not defend themselves against their Enemies, they implored aid from that rigorous Judge which punisheth all sins and rewardeth all vertues. In fine, though the earths solidity might have made men confident, though the water which doth inviron it might have freed them from the fear of a generall consuming by fire, though so great a disaster had no certain proofs nor assured predictions, yet they believed that the world Esse quoque in satis rominiscitur affore tempus, quo mare, quo tell us correptaque regia coeli ardeat, [...] mundi moles operosa laboret. Ovid. 1. Met. should be consumed by fire, that the seas should not be able to extinguish the flames thereof, and that nature which had been cleansed by water, should be purified by fire; but they knew not the cause of this prodigie, and the vanity wherewith they were blinded, would not permit them to believe that this disorder should be the punishment of their sin: yet the holy Scripture gives no other reason for it, nor did it threaten us with the worlds ruine, till it had acquainted us with the story of our misfortune.

As Adam had never lost his life had he never lost his innocency, the world had never lost its adornment had it not lost it's purity. As death is the punishment of sinfull man, water and fire are the punishments of the corrupted world: for though insensible creatures commit no sins, Diabolus Dei aemulus universam conditionem (creaturam intellige) homini [...]mancipatam cum ipso homine corrupit. Tertul. de cerona militis. and that guiltinesse presupposeth rationality, yet do they contract some impurity by our offences: the Sun is sullied by giving light unto the sinfull, the light which shines as bright upon a dirty puddle, as upon the cleerest river, and which is not more undefiled in Chrystall then in mire, is endamaged by our sins, and ceaseth to be innocent, when it gives light unto the guilty: the air is infected by our blasphemies, the earth cannot be the Theater of our vanity without sharing in our offences: whatsoever is serviceable to our misdemeanors is polluted; though the creatures are scandalized to see themselves inthral'd to our insolency, yet do they incurre heavens displeasure, and deserve punishment for having been imployed in our offences; hence doth the sterility of the earth proceed, hence was occasioned that deluge which did bury it in it's waters; and from hence shall arise that universall fire which shall consume it in it's flames.

For Divine Justice seems to deal with sinners as humane Justice deals with the greatest offenders: the latter is not contented to punish the guilty party in his own person, but vents it's anger upon his [Page] Children, and servants, it believeth that whatsoever toucheth him is defiled, that those who converse with him are either his Copartners, or confederates, and that to be allied to him, is sufficient to share in his sin, Deorum laesae ma [...]estatis poena usque ad filios & nepotes eorum descendit apud Persa Ca [...]t. it mingleth the bloud of the children with that of the father, it wraps up the innocent and the guilty in the same punishment, and to make the fault appear more odious, it punisheth whatsoever doth appertain unto the offender: it spareth not even unsensible things, it sets upon the dead after having punisht the living, for it puls down the houses, and demolisheth the castles of the enemy; it makes rocks and Marble feel it's anger, burns what it cannot throw down, and as if the party offending did live in every thing that was his, it thinks to kill him as oft as it beats down his buildings, or cuts down his forrests, it endevours to rob him of his reputation, after it hath bereft him of his life, and not to leave any token that may renew the memory of his person, or of his crime. Thus doth Divine Justice deal with sinfull man, and Adam must confesse that heaven hath used this rigour in punishing his sin. For after having past the sentence of death upon him, it will have his grave to serve him for a funerall pile, that time consume what the flames could not devour, and that nothing remain of that body which was the prime piece of it's workmanship, then either worms or dust, it condemns all that come of him to the same punishment, their whole guilt consists in their birth, it is enough to make them guilty, that Omnes nascimur filii irae. Adam was their father, God waits not till they have broken his Commandements to punish them; he forestals the use of their reason, and makes them miserable before their time, to the end that they may be known to be guilty before they be born; by an ingenious yet just rigour, after having punisht this father in his children, he punisheth him in his estate, he makes his subjects revolt, and because they are somtimes serviceable to him in their rebellion, he bereaves them of their excellentest qualities, and makes them, together with their miserable Sovereign unfortunate; he takes from the Sunne, part of his light; he takes the Government of Nature from the Stars, he makes the earth barren and moveable, he hides rocks in the sea, and troubles the calm thereof by storms; he formes maligne rain in the middle region of the air, and corrupts the purity thereof to infect the whole earth, he makes use of fire in Thunder, and ordains it to punish offenders; he inforceth this noble Element [Page] to descend contrary to it's inclination, and fastning it to the matter which serves for nourishment to his anger, he makes it the terrour of all that are faulty.

But after having had this service from it, Humor mundi primordi [...]m & ignis mundi exitus. Senec. Q [...]aest. Natural. lib. 3. c. 13. he reserves it for the generall ruine of the world, and to consume that proud building which was the Palace of sinfull man. For when the number of the elect shall be accomplisht, when the thrice happy ones who shall fill up the places left void by the Angels rebellion, shall have finished their course and their labours, and that Christs mysticall body shall have all the number which ought to compose it; Divine Justice, which cannot be satisfied but by the ruine of whatsoever hath been serviceable to sin, wil command the fire to consume the world, & will drown all his works in a deluge of fire. Then this Element mixing it selfe with the clouds, wil kindle lightnings in all parts, the air being set on fire by so many flames, shall burn the whole earth, which shall open her entrails, to let loose those intestine flames, which have devoured it for so many ages: from the mixture and confusion of so many fires, the generall burning of the world shall arise; the mountains shall melt with heat, and those great r [...]ks where coldnesse seems to make it's residence, shall be turned into Vesuviuses, and Aetnaes: the flames inanimated by Gods anger, shall lay all Champians waste; Ignis ante ipsum praecedet & inflammabit in circuitu inimicosej [...], Illuxerunt fulgura ejus orbi terra, vidit & commotaest terra, Motes sicut cera fluxerunt à facit Domini. Psal. 96. walls which resist the Thunder of the Cannon shall not be able to defend their Inhabitants from it's fury: all the dead shall be made equall, the guilty shall burn in one and the same fire; and shall be reduced to the same ashes: the Sun shall be darkned with smoak, and did not the flames serve for torches, the world should burn amidst darknesse; all the rivers which bathe the earth, shall be dried up in their Spring-heads; The fire shall triumph over the waters in their channels, and this victorious Element shall make it's Enemy, which hath had so many advantages over it, feele it's power. The Ocean it selfe whose extents are so vaste, shall see her waters converted into fire; and the Whales burn in the midst of it's abysmes: Forrests shall help to consume the little hils, which bear them, those proud mountains whose tops are always covered with snow, to which the Sun in his greatest heats bears a respect, shall vomit up flames together with their bowels, and all those eminent places which command over the vallies, shall see their pride buried in ashes; all the guilty shall perish amidst this fire, they shall finde [Page] hell upon earth, and shall wish that the mountains Superest ultimus & perpetuus judiciidies, ille nationibus insperatus ille de risuscum tanta [...]aeculi vetustas, & tot ejus nativitates unoigni haurientur. Tertul. de spectaculis in fine. might overwhelm them in their ruins to quench the fire which shall devour them; The just shall be astonished to see the fire spare them, to see the heavens work the same miracle for them, as they did in days of yore for the three unjustly condemned Children, and imitating the piety of those Innocents, they shall sing Canticles of praises, whil'st the wicked shall vomit forth blasphemies. Quod fuit caminus regis tribus pueris, hoc erit ardens mun dus Iustis in Trinitate signatis. August. in Genes. 1. How horrible will the spectacle be to see the earth burn, the sea consumed, and whole Nature buried in a Sepulchre of fire; this is the revenge which God will take of sin, this is the satisfaction which his Justice will exact for our insolency, and this is the last punishment which the creatures shall suffer for having been confederate with man.

The very Stars shall not be able to escape the rigour thereof; Expectantes & properantes in adventum diei Domini, per quem coeli ardentes [...] entur, & elementa ignis ardore tabescunt. 2 Petri cap. 3. that solid matter whereof they are composed, shall be dissolved by heat, and those beautifull parts of the world, having the same destiny, as gold, and brasse have, shall trickle down drop by drop upon the earth, their having been serviceable to us in their light, sufficeth to make them guilty; their having received homage from us, and accepted of our sacrifices, is sufficient to make them receive this punishment: God will not permit that that which hath been corrupted should rest unpunished, and his holinesse joyned to his justice, cannot tolerate that in Eternity, which hath been prophaned in Time. Jesus Christ himself was of this opinion; he taught that this world did not belong unto him, he imprinted in the Souls of his Disciples the horrour and contempt of this present Age, and obliged them to wish for the Age to come, of which he made himself be called the Father. All the perfection of Christianity consists in these two points; [...]ota nostra [...]spirant in sa-cu [...]i hujus occa [...], i [...]transitum [...]aundi, ad d [...]em Domini magnum, di [...] [...] & retribution [...]s. Tertul. de Resurr [...]ct. [...] cap. 16. all vertues are composed of these two points, and he is perfect amongst the faithfull, who contemning Adams world doth incessantly thirst after Christ Jesus his world.

Though God be the Authour of them both, he detests the former since it was prophaned by sin, and since the devill hath submitted it to his Tyranny: he hath given over the Sovereignty thereof unto his Enemies, he suffers the Turk to possesse the best part thereof, he permits his most faithfull servants to be persecuted, he will not have us to receive more glory there than he doth, and if we will follow his counsels, and his instructions, Nihil interest ubi [...] se-culo, qui ex [...] [...]. Tertull. ad [...]. cap. 2. we must look upon it as a place of exile, or as an Enemies Countrey. I very well know [Page] he giveth Crowns to Sovereigns, Lawrell to the victorious, that he makes the Angels fight for Christians, and that he arms the Elements for the defence of his Church: but in fine, his Kingdom is not of this world, he will not govern in a world which he will destroy, he pretends not to command in a State, where his Enemy is worshipped; and we must not love a world which he will punish, because we have made it sinfull. Let us expect that which he will give us, let us long after that world which will arise out of the others ashes; and let us not fix our fortunes in a Kingdom which shall perish, Haeredes Christianus queret saeculi totius exhaeres, habet fratres, habet Ecclesiam Matrem. Tert. when Jesus Christ shall revenge himselfe upon his Enemies.

'Tis true, that it's ruine will be usefull to it, and that it will reap advantage by it's losse; for all Gods punishments are favours, he puts obligations upon those that he punisheth, his goodnesse turns their sufferings into salves; and to be strucken by the hand of God, brings both honour and advantage with it. Death, which destroys the body, prepares it for the resurrection; it changeth it's grave into a cradle, and as the corruption of corn is the cause of it's re-assuming life; we may say that the putrefaction of the body is in some sort the seed of it's mortality. Purgatory which burns the soules of men, doth purifie them; the flames whereby they suffer prepares them for glory; that which we esteem a punishment, is a lovely penance; and that which seems to retard their contentment, serves only to advance their happinesse. So shall the Diluvium & incendium duo Naturae baptismi. Primum sequutum est peccatum, secundum vero sequetur. innocentia. fire which shall burn the world contribute to it's perfection, it shall perish only to become more perfect, it's beauty shall arise from it's being consumed by fire, and this last deluge shall be of more honour and advantage to it, then was the former; the waters purified the world by drowning it, this great havock was Natures baptisme; and the same Element which did bereave her of her children, did restore unto her her purity; but the fire shall alter [...] qualities, she shall be no longer subject to the Empire of [...] Consistency shall succeed the change which hath preserved her▪ she shall no longer groan under the Devils Tyranny, nor under the injustice of sinners; she shall lose all the qualities which she hath co [...]acted by sin, and shall recover all those which for our punishment she had lost: not unlike the blessed, she shall enjoy the glory which she is capable of; every Element shall be purified by flames, all parts of the world shall be [Page] reformed by the fire which shall consume them; the Sun shall suffer no more Eclipses, the lustre of his light shall dissipate all the obscurity of darknesse, his influences shall exhale no more maligne vapours, Heaven shall be no longer an enemy to earth, this overworn mother shall be freed from her care of nourishing man, and her substance being purified by fire, shall be changed into chrystall, or into diamonds; all her parts shall be delightfull, and those great rocks which do sustain her shall be turned into Columnes of Marble, or of Porphiry.

In fine, Nature shall receive her last perfection by fire, and the blessed, meeting with no rebellions nor weaknesses in their bodies, shall find no more irregularity nor disorder in the Universe. Jesus Christ shall reign together with his elect, Novissima autem inimica destru [...]tur mors. Cum autem subjecta fuerint illi omnia, tunc & ipse filius subjectus erit ei qui subjecit sibi omnia, ut sit Deus omnia in omnibus. 1 Corinth. cap. 15. in his world; the track of sin, nor foot-steps of death shall be no more seen there; Death shall destroy these two Enemies, and their Raign being finished, Punishment shall withdraw it self to hell, there to afflict the Damned to all Eternity.

THE END.

ERRATA.

[Page]

Page 18 line 36 for force r source. p 19 l 11 [...] Aethyopians r blackness. ibid. l. ult. f doth r doth not. p 25 l 28 f creature r Creator. p 3 [...] l 22 f afflictions r affections. ibid. l 25 f she r she be. p 35 l ult. f losing r looseneth. ibid. after engage r them. p 37 l 17 f praiers r praises. ibid. f Statutes r Statues. p 40 l 28 f we r we are. p 45 l 3 f this r his. p 48 l 15 f its r it. p 51 l 33 f basest r Basis. p 55 l 23 f of grace r Grace. p 57 l 2 f Lord r cord. ibid. l 6 f of r as if. p 59 l 1 f felt r felt-love. ibid. l 18 f faculty r faulty. p 60 l 15 f and not r and could not. p 62 l 24 f contrary r more contrary. p 65 l ult. f certainly r certainty. p 78 l 5 f keepe it r escape them p 80 l 8 f praising r bruising. ib. l 11 f chang'd r change. ib. 21 f which so r which we so. p 89 l 24 f they familiarly r they treat familiarly. ib. l 37 f reduced r seduced. p 90 l 26 for peaceably usurped r peaceably enjoy usurped. p 92 l 16 f the r their. p 96 l 15 f reviling r in reviling. p 121 l 16 leave out the second was. p 124 l 32 f against them r again. ib. after losse, insert of his life. p 125 l 17 for in r into. p 126 l 6 dele not. p 129 l 17 f his r this. p 130 l 22 f steps r stops. ib. 32 f upon r who upon. p 131 l 13 f not an r not be an. ib. l 14 dele not. p 132 l 3 f ement r cement. ib. l 6 f less r less weighty. p 133 l 29 f longer r no longer. p 135 l 12 f often r not often ib. l 26 f known r none. p 139 l 22 f envade r evade. p 141 l 6 f surprisal r by surprisal. p 142 l 10 f to Falisci r to the Falisci. p 143 l 7 f his r her. p 146 l 1 f one r one crime. p 151 l 22 f lookes r tooke. p 156 l ult. f party r parity. p 167 l 36 dele not. p 170 l 23 dele rather. ib. l 26 f if quencht r if they quencht. p 174 l 23 dele love. p 175 l 33 f lead r leading. p 176 l 6 f with one r without ib. l 18 dele an. ib. f hopes r hops. p 185 l 13 f out r not. p 186 l 30 f notwithstanding r not notwithstanding. p 187 l 32 f designes r desires. p 192 l 7 f impeaceable r impeccable. p 200 l 26 f countenance r contemne. p 201 l 26 f one r none. p 202 l 24 f alwayes r feeds ib. l36 f of r with. p 204 l 7 dele that. ib. l [...] for adopt r adapt. ib. l 24 f to r by. p 205 l 14 for rul'd r rule. p 206 l 18 after hath r or injur'd. p 207 l 13 f reduced r be reduced. p 213 l 16 f Spring r Off spring. p 215 l 5 f consecrated r he consecrated. p 222 l 29 f smallest r usuallest. p 224 l 27 f securely r be securely. ib. l 28 f sigh r sigh for. p 225 l 15 f had r hath. p 230 l 18 f profession r profusion. p 233 l 17 f untoucht r uncouth. p 235 l ult. f ought r ought not. p 236 l 36 f unworthily r worthily. p 239 l 15 f Capres r Cypresse. ib. l 83 f the r though the p 244 l 28 f imagine r l imagine. ib. l 34 f had r have. p 246 l 6 f draws r drowns. ib. l 14 f wars r wards. ib. l 21 f men be r me to be. p 248 l 7 f as r a. p 252 l 18 f truth r extort truth. p 253 l 31 f fore-light r foresight. ib. l 36 f with r which. p 256 l 15 f been r been too regular. p 258 l 26 f amongst r most. p 264 l 33 f This r Thus. p 265 l 36 f with r which. p 266 l 26. f renew r review. p 275 l 16 f could r could not. ib. 119 f and r one. p 277 l 25 f the r this. p. 279 l 22 dele who. p 289 l 1 f were r we were. p 290 l 25 f infused r insued. p 291 l 7 f call r called. p 295 l 15 f linifying r finifying. p 301 l 3 f was r was not. p 304 l ult. f withstood r withdrew. p 307 l 22 f every r every one. p 310 l 24 f comfort r consort. ibid. l 31 f for served r severed. p 313 l ult. f gain r game. p 314 l 14 f break r betake. p 317 l 2 f excuse r Defence, ibid. l 15 f Privatives r Privacie. p 327 l 3 f it r of. p 330 l 23 f with r with our. p 333 l 24 f earth r World. p 336 l 14 f don r begun. p 337 l 32 f harden r hardly. p 342 l 37 f take r take him. p 343 l 10 f with r with them. ib. l 20 f defyed r deified. p 346 l 14 dele making. p 351 l 34 f he r we. p 357 l 24 f perfections r imperfections. ib. l 25 his r it's. p 359 l 34 f kin r knit. p 362 l 12 for learning r leaning, p 363 l ult. for combustible r solid. p 366 l 6 leave out if. p 372 l 28 for his r. this, 374 l 35 for which r with, p 376 for then r there, p 382 l 7 for whom [...]. who in.

Printed or sold by William Leake at the Crown in Fleetstreet, between the two Temple Gates: these Books following.

[Page]

YOrks Heraldry. Folio.

Orlando Furioso.

The Spanish Mandevile. 4o.

Pareus Chyrurgery. Fol.

Callis learned readings on the Statute 23 of Hen. the 8th Cap. 5 of Sewers. 4o.

Perkins on the laws of England in Eng. 8o.

The Parsons Law. 8o.

Topicks in the laws of England. 8o.

Wilkinsons Office of Sheriffs, with Court Leet and Baron. 8o.

Vade mecum, of a Justice of Peace. 12.

Sken de significatione verborum. 4o.

The Book of Fees. 8o.

The Mirrour of Justice. 8o.

Mathematicall Recreations. 8o.

Delamans use of the Horizontall Quadrant. 4o.

Malthus artificiall fire-works. 8o.

Nyes Gunnery and fire-works. 8o.

The History of Lazarillo de Tormes. 8o.

Wilbyes second Set of Musick 3 4 5 and 6 parts. 4o.

Garden of Naturall contemplations by Dr. Fulk. 8o.

Cato Major, with Annotations, by William Austine of Lincolns Inne, Esquire. 12.

Mell Helliconium, by Alexander Rosse. 8o.

Cordelius gramatically translated by John Brinsley. 8o.

The Fort Royall of the Scriptures, or a vade mecum concordance, presenting unto the world a 100 heads of Scripture, most of them common placed for publique use. 8o. by I H.

Noscere Ipsum, by St John Davies. 8o.

Animadversions on Lilly. 8o.

Excercitatio Scholastica. 8o.

By Beamont and Fletcher.

Philaster, or love lies a bleeding.

Maids Tragedy. 4o.

King and no King.

The strange discovery by Jo. Gough. 4o.

The gratefull Servant. 4o.

The Hollander a play. 4o.

Hero and Leander, by Christopher Marlow and George Chapman. 4o.

Alcillia or Philotas loving folly, 4o.

Epigrams divine and morall by St Tho. Urchard.

[Page]

Information about this book

Title statement

Man become guilty, or, The corrruption of nature by sinne, according to St. Augustines sense written originally in French by Iohn-Francis Senault ; and put into English by ... Henry, Earle of Monmouth.Homme criminel. English

Senault, Jean-François, 1601-1672.

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1650

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2003-11 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

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A59160

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Wing S2500

ID [STC]

ESTC R16604

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12433556

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ID [VID]

61993

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(EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A59160)

Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 61993)

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Source

— Man become guilty, or, The corrruption of nature by sinne, according to St. Augustines sense written originally in French by Iohn-Francis Senault ; and put into English by ... Henry, Earle of Monmouth., Homme criminel. English, Senault, Jean-François, 1601-1672., Monmouth, Henry Carey, Earl of, 1596-1661..

Extent

[15], 390, [2] p. : port.

Printed for William Leake ...,. London :: 1650.. (Translation of: L'homme criminel.) (Errata: p. [1] at end.) (Advertisement: p. [2] at end.) (Reproduction of original in British Library.) (Marginal notes in Latin.)

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