Miscellanea spiritualia: or, Devout essaies: composed by the Honourable Walter Montagu Esq.

§. V.

Advises in order to the preserving this sort of Love and fraternall dilection, represented as a gracious rule whereby to judge of our recti∣tude in filiall love.

THese two loves being thus set by one another, (where∣of I have not only drawn the several complexions, but delivered the diverse constitutions,) there is little doubt which of them will be preferred, but much, which will be rightly pursued, for our degenerated nature is apt to be∣lieve that the verball preferring of Filiall love, is the having it: and certainly, many who have been neare it, have missed of it, by concluding they had attained it; and many have lost it, by conceiving it might be kept, and left loose without much at∣tendance, whereas they should remember that it is not the Spring of our fallen nature, that of it selfe riseth to that point from whence it fell; it is the force of grace which can only

raise and re-mount it to this elevation; and our spirits must continually attend this operation of Grace, to force up this pure affection against the risings of our sensitive appetites, which make steepe oppositions to this reflux; insomuch as if this worke be not assiduously intended, our affections quickly sinke into the channell of our earthy nature, which is interested and mercenary love.

They who pretend to keepe their hearts exalted, as the Pro∣phet saith, above the altitudes of the earth, in this purer ele∣ment of filiall love, must watch it continually, when they hope they have it, and still pray for it as if they feared they had it not: and there is no so ill sign of our having any of it, as our presuming we have enough of it; as Saint Augustine saith of the knowledge of God, that he who hath speculated his nature never so long, when he commeth to think he hath found a compleat definition of God, may be then said to understand the least of him: So may I say of Filiall love, they who have been never so long filling their heatrs with it, when they pre∣sume they are full enough, are then the most devoyded of it: It is in our love, (referring to the immensity of God) as in numbers relating to infinity, wherein any summe never so great, when it is once cast up and stai'd in any total, may be said to be further from infinity then a much lesser number, which is still running on without any determined period: So any degree of love to our Creator, being once voluntarily bounded and circumscribed, is farther off from our intermi∣nate duty of loving, then an affection never so much behind, that is still advancing without a purpose of terme or limi∣tation.

This then may be an infallible note of the deficiency of our love, when in any straine of interior fervor, we conclude we may stay our loves at such a pitch, and make plaines upon it, never aiming at a higher flight, and this may be a secure rest for such hearts, as are yet never so infirme in their loves, that as long as they pursue sincerely the premotion and advance of them, loving all they can, and resolving never to love lesse

then all, they can improve their loves by any solicitude, they may believe they love enough, for nothing reacheth nearer Gods actuall infinity, then this (as I may say) optative infi∣nity in the soul of man, which though she can never reach the other infinite existence, yet hath a possibility of never staying or limitting her motions towards it: This consideration drew from Saint Bernard this elegant indearement of the capacity of love, in these words to God, O otherwise incomprehensible Majesty to a soul loving thee! thou seemest comprehensible, for though the conception of no soul or Spirit can comprehend thee, yet the love of a true lover of thee, comprehendeth all thou art, when he loveth all thy being, how great soever it be.

What greater incentive can we wish for the purifying our love, then to conceive that capacity to be granted to our love on earth, which is denyed to our understanding even in hea∣ven, to wit, the full comprehension of God? but there is no love unlesse perfect filiall, that can beare this so large ascripti∣on: For our mercenary affection may be said to look upon divinity but as an object angular, onely as it pointeth unto our selves, and doth not spread out souls upon the spherical and circular form of the divine goodnesse, as it is it selfe, im∣bracing all forms and beings, which latitude and expansion▪ is peculiar unto Filiall love, as an operation of that all-compri∣sing charity, diffused in our hearts by the holy-Ghost: For all * 1.1 our love to God is inspired by himself, as the light inlightning, maketh the light that is illuminated.

God hath provided so kindly against our mistaking of our way to this excellent love, as he hath set us a sensible mark to guide us by, which is fraternall love, which we have as a kind of visible object, whereby to direct our course; so that if our love lose sight of this mark, we may be sure it is out of the way to filiall affection, for the beloved Apostle (in pursuit of his * 1.2 Masters specifical difference given to know his disciples from others, which was the loving of one another) giveth him the lie, that is so bold as to say he loveth God, when he hateth his brother: And sure it is a speciall mercy, the. laying for us

these sensible steps of sociable dilection, whereon we may feel our hearts rising up to that imperceptible object of the Deity, that by loving what we do sie, we may direct the course of our love to what we do not see, if we wanted this land-mark, (where∣of the Pharisees took down the upper halfe, when they shor∣tened the precept of loving our neighbour, to the length onely of reciprocall friendship) our love would be much more expo∣sed to deviation, in the course to heaven; For we know it is much easier to keep our way at land, where we have diverse sensible marks for our guidance, and information of our ad∣vance, then at sea, where we keep our course by accounts of art, and little visible directions; and our love to our brothers, seemeth to be a passage of our minds by land, since in that mo∣tion, in our own element, we have many marks and signes of the rectitude of our love; whereas the elevation of our loves to the invisible being of God, seemeth to be a course at sea, wherein we are conducted onely by spirituall and abstracted notions.

We may therefore account our selves much favoured by ha∣ving fraternal love as a sign & secure token of our loves being in a straight and rectified addresse to God, and the bosome-dis∣ciple of Christ fixeth this, as the pole by which our love may safely set his course to our Celestiall Father, affirming that He * 1.3 who loveth his brother, abideth in light, and in him there is no scandale; this is grounded on his Masters assertion, that the se∣cond precept of loving our brother, was like the first of loving God; and these two loves may (me thinks) be said to be diffe∣rent: but as the Divines say, Gods attributes are distinct from his Essence, not really in their own nature, though they are se∣vered by distinct conceptions in our understandings, to wit of Gods wisdome, goodnes, justice, &c: we form conceptions di∣stinct from his essence, which are all really the same thing with it: In like manner we frame diverse notions of this charity, as it is divided into these distinct exercises, which is really the same, & is distinguished onely by our understanding, according to these several respects towards God and our brother; for it is

the same inspired love that streameth it selfe into these diverse acts or operations: Let us then blesse God for this precept of Fraternall love given us as a visible pillar of fire, which while we have in our eye, we may be confident of being in our way, to the term of Filiall love consummate in the sight of our Fa∣ther, who is as yet visible but in his images; wherefore let us attend unto this duty, as to a light shining in this our dark place, * 1.4 untill the day-star of Filiall love rise in our hearts.

Thus have I set before you Christian Charity in the forme of Jacobs ladder, on which our love must ascend to him who rests upon the top of it, and in this similitude mercenary love seem∣eth to answer well to the lower rounds neerest the earth, on which our infirme nature is allowed to set her first steps, and so to rise by degrees to the uppermost marches which touch hea∣ven, to the which none reacheth but filiall love, and our fra∣ternall charities seeme to be the side-pieces which combine and compaginate the whole frame; so that these three concur∣rencies do compleat the meanes of our soules re-ascent to her Creator: And since Christian grace is derived from the filiall relation in the Deity, Filiall love in this state of our adoption must needs be the pillar & strength of Christianity, which like the pillars of the holiest part of the Tabernacle hath the head cast of gold, and the fact of silver, that is, it containeth not onely the purity and preciousnes of speculative love, but the pliant∣nes and commerce of practicall charity, whereby the feet in action, hold a proportionate value to the head in speculation; thus by the intelligence of speculative, and the industry of act∣ing charity, our souls are safely re-conveyed into our Fathers bosome, where the portion of every child is no lesse then the becomming like the Lord of all, our elder brother Christ Jesus, whose Filial love hath purchased this co-inheritance for us, up∣on this condition onely on our part, of loving our father and his, with an affection copied after his; and the liker we draw this image, the more we shall resemble him when we shall be∣come like him by once looking on him; let every one then that * 1.5 hopeth this, sanctifie his love, as his is sanctified.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Rom. 5.
• * 1.2

  1 Ep. Iohn, 4. 10.
• * 1.3

  1 Ep. Iohn, 2. 10. Mat. 22. 39.
• * 1.4

  2 Pet. 1. 12.
• * 1.5

  1 Epi. Iohn. 3. 3.