A treatise of the loue of God. Written in french by B. Francis de Sales Bishope and Prince of Geneua, translated into English by Miles Car priest of the English Colledge of Doway

That sadnesse is almost alwayes vnprofi∣table, yea opposite to the seruice of holy Loue. CHAPTER. XXI.

1. ONe cannot graffe an Oake vpon a Peare-tree, of so contrarie an humour are those two trees; nor can anger, choler and dispaire be

graffed in Charitie, at least it would be a hard peece of worke. We haue seene Anger alreadie in the discourse of Zeale; as for dispaire, vnlesse it be reduced to a mans iust defence, or at least to the feeling which we ought to haue of the vanitie, feablenesse, and inconstancie of wordly fauours, assistances, and promisses; I see not, what seruice Diuine Loue can draw from it.

2. And as concerning sadnesse, how can it be profitable to holy Charitie, seeing that ioye is rancked amongst the fruits of the holy Ghost, ad∣ioyning vnto Charitie. Howbeit the great Apostle saieth thus; The sorrow that is according to God, worketh penance vnto saluation that is stable, but the sorrow of the world worketh death: there is then a sorrow according to God, which is profita∣bly practised either by sinners in Penance, or by the good, by way of compassion for the tempo∣rall miseries of our neighbours; or by the perfect, in deploring, bemoaning and condoling the spiri∣tuall calamities of soules. For DAVID, S. PETER, MAGDALENE, wept for their sinns: AGAR wept when she sawe her sonne almost deade of thirst. Hieremie vpon the ruines of Hierusalem: Our Sa∣uiour ouer the Iewes; and his great Apostle groanes out these words, many walke of whom I haue often told you, and I tell you againe with teares, who are enemyes to the Crosse of IESVS-CHRIST.

3. There is a sorrow of this world, which doth also proceede frō 3. causes: For. 1. it comes some∣times from the infernall enemye, who by a thou∣sand sad, melancholie, and troublesome sugge∣stions,

doth obscure the vnderstanding; weaken the will, trouble the whole soule, and like to a thicke mist doth stuffe the head and breast with a rume, and by this meanes makes a man draw his breath with difficultie, and doth perplexe the poore trauailler; so the euill spirit filling mans mind with daunting thoughts, depriues it of the facilitie of aspiring to God, and doth possesse it with an extreame vexation and discouragement, to bring it to dispaire and perdition. They saie there is a fish named a sea-toade, or a sea-diuell by surname, who by mouing and stirring the mud, doth trouble the water round about her, to hid her selfe in it, as in an amboush, wherein as soone as she perceiues the poore little fishes, she falls vpō them, spoyles and deuoures them: whence perad∣uenture came the common prouerbe, of fishing in a troubled water. Now, the diuell of Hell, vseth the same slight with the Diuell of the Sea: For he makes his Ambushe in the midst of sorow, who after he hath troubled the soule with a multitude of loathsome thoughts, cast hither and thither in the vnderstanding, he makes a charge vpon the affections, bearing them downe with distrust, ie∣lousies, auersions, disgustes, grieues, superfluous apprehensions of sinns past; adding withall a number of vaine, bitter, and sullen subtilities, that all reasons, and consolations might be re∣iected.

4. Sorow 2. doth sometimes proceede from a mans naturall condition, when a melancholie humour doth abound in vs; and this is not vicious in it selfe, yet doth our enemie make great vse of

it to cōtriue and plot a thousād temptatiōs in our soules for as the Spyder doth hardly weaue her w••be saue in cloudie and close weather; so this wicked Spirit, finds neuer so fit a time to lay the snares of his suggestiōs in sweete, benigne, ad cheerefull spi∣rits, as he doth in sullen, sad, and pesi••e hearts: for he doth easily trouble them with way••ardnesse, suspiciō; hatred, slouth, ād with a spirituall nūnesse.

5. Thirdly and lastly, there is a sorrow which the varietie of humane chāces doth bring vpō vs. What ioye ca I haue saied Tobie, not being able to see the light of heauē. So was IACOB sorrowfull vpō the ne∣wes of the death of his Sōne IOS••P••, ād DAVID for the death of his Absalō: and this is cōmō as well to the good as the bad, but in the good it is moderated by submissiō and resignatiō to the will of God, as is seene in Tobie, who redred thākes to the Diuine Mai••stie, for all the aduersities wherewith he was afflicted: and in ••OB, who blessed the name of God in thē: and in Daniel who turned his sorrowes into songes: Now contrariwise in worldlings, the same sorrow is an ordinarie dish with thē, ād is changed into loathsomenesse, dispaire, madnesse: for they resēble Apes ād Mōkies, which are still peeuish, sad and sottish in the wayning of the Moone, as againe in the new of the Moone they hop, dance, and doe their apish trickes. The worldling, is froward, harsh bitter, and melancholie in the ebbe of his terreane prosperities, but while they flowe, he is almost continually in his brauado's iocund, and insolent.

6. Certes the sorrow of true Repentance is not so much to be termed sorrow, as a dislike, sense or detestation of sinne: a sorrow which is neuer either

harsh or peeuish: a sorrow which doth not be∣nume the mind, but makes it become actiue, prompt and diligent: a sorrow which doth not abate the heart, but doth reliue it by praier, and hope, and makes it make the stirrings of the fer∣uour of deuotion: a sorrow which in the hight of its bitternesse, doth produce the sweetenesse of an incomparable consolation, following the Precept of the great S. Augustine. Let the penitent sor∣row continually, but let him also continually re∣ioyce therein. Sorrow, saieth Cassiā, which doth worke solide Penance, and the wishfull repentāce, whereof a man doth neuer repēt him, is obedient, affable, humble, milde, sweete, patient, as issuing and descending from Charitie; so that extending it selfe to all the paine of the bodie, and contri∣tion of the heart, it is in a certaine sort, ioyfull, quickned and strēgthned with the hope of profit, it retaines all the sweetenesse of affabilitie and longnanimitie, as enioying the fruits of the holy Ghost recited by the holy Apostle: now the fruits of the holy Ghost are, Charitie, Ioye, Peace, Longanimitie, Goodnesse, Benignitie, Faith, Mildnesse, Continencie. Such is true Repentance, and such the good sorrow, which is not properly, sad or melancholie, but onely attentiue and addi∣cted to detest, reiect, and hinder the malice of sinne for the time past, and time to come. And in∣deede we meete often with Penetents sollicitous, troubled, impatiēt, mournefull, soure, groaning, disquiet, harsh, and melancholie, which are in the end found to be fruitlesse, and are not follow••d with any true amendement, because they procee∣ded

not from the true motiues of the vertu•• of Penance, but from naturall and selfe-loue.

7. The sorrow of the world worketh death, saieth the Apostle; THEO: we must be therefore carefull to auoyd and reiect it a••cording to our power: if it be naturall, we are to keepe it backe, by withstanding its motions, and by diuerting them by exercises proper for that end, and by vsing the remedies and manner of liuing which the Phisitions shall aduise. If it proceede from temptation, we must fully disclose our heart to our Ghostly Father, who will prescribe vs the meanes to ouercome it, according to that which we haue deliuered touching this point, in the fourt•• Part of the Introduction to a deuote life. If it be accidentall, we must haue recourse to that which is saied in the eight booke, to th'end we may see how delightfull temptations are to the sonns of God, and that the greatenesse of our hopes in the eternall life to come, all almost doe make all the passing euents of this mortall life, of no consideration.

8. For the rest, amongst all the melancholies which can happen vnto vs, we are to make vse of the authoritie of the superiour will, to doe all th••t it is able in the behalfe of diuine Loue. Certes there are actions which haue so great a depen∣dance of the corporall disposition and complexion that it is not in our power to doe them at our pleasure: for the melancholie man cannot for his heart, keepe neither his eyes, speach nor coun∣tenance in the same grace and sweetenesse, which they would haue, if he were quit of this bad hu∣mour:

yet may he well, though not with a grace, speake gracious, good and courtious words, and may doe on despite of his inclina∣tion, by force of reason, what is conuenient in words, and in the works of Charitie, sweet∣nesse, condescendance. It is pardonable in a man not to be continually iocund, for a man is not Maister of mirth, to haue it when he list; but he that is not continually gentle, tractable and condescendant is not excusable; for it is alwayes in the abilitie of our will, nor is there any other thing required there∣vnto, but a resolution to sur∣mount the contrarie hu∣mour and incli∣nation.