A treatise of morality in two parts / written in French by F. Malbranch, author of The search after truth ; and translated into English, by James Shipton, M.A.

A TREATISE OF Morality. (Book 2)

PART II. Of DƲTIES. (Book 2)

CHAP. I. Good Men often do wicked Actions. The Love of Order must be enlightned to make it regular. Three Condi∣tions requir'd to make an Action perfectly Vertuous. We should study the Duties of Man in general, and take some time every day to examine the Order and Circumstances of them in particular.

I. THE Actions of those that have attain'd to the true and solid Vertue, are not therefore all so∣lidly and substantially Vertuous. There is in a manner always some deficiency or imperfection in them; nay, many times they are really sinful. The reason of this is, because a Man doth not always Act by the influence of his predominant Habit, but sometimes by the operation

of the Passion, which is actually excited in him. For if the predominant Habit be asleep, as I may say, and the rest awake, the Actions of a good Man may be many ways sinful: But besides, tho' the predominant Habit of the Love of Order be actually excited in a good Man, yet at the same time his Actions may be defective and im∣perfect, and even directly opposite to Order which he actually loves, and designs to follow. For, beside the difficulty of paying an exact Obedience to the Order which we do know, indiscreet and ill govern'd Zeal of∣ten makes us Act contrary to the Order which we do not know. Wherefore that an Action may be com∣pleatly Vertuous, it is not sufficient that it proceed from a good Man, nor from a Man actually mov'd by the Love of Order, but it must also be conformable to Order in all its Circumstances; and that too not by a kind of Chance luckily determining the actual Motion of the Soul, but by the strength of Reason, guiding and governing us in such a manner as to make us ful∣fill all our Duties.

II. So then, tho' it be sufficient to make us just and acceptable to God, that the Love of Order be our pre∣dominant Habit; yet if we would be perfect and com∣pleat, we must be able to govern this Love by an ex∣act Knowledge of our Duties. Nay, I may say, that he who neglects or slights this Knowledge, what Zeal soever he may find within himself for Order, his Heart is by no means rightly dispos'd. For Order would be lov'd by Reason, and not altogether by the Heart and fervency of Instinct, which often fills with indiscreet Zeal those whose Imagination is too brisk and lively; who are not us'd to retire into themselves, but are continually apt to mistake the secret inspirations of their Passions, for the infallible Answers of the inward Truth.

III. Indeed, those whose Mind is so weak, and their Passions so strong, that they are not capable of giving Counsel to themselves, or rather of taking Counsel of him who enlightens all Men, are excusable before God; if they sincerely desire and follow the Advice of such as they believe to be the best and wisest Men. But those who have or pretend to have Wit and Sense, are guilty in the sight of God, if they undertake any De∣sign

without consulting him, that is, without consulting Reason, how fervent soever the Zeal may be which transports them. For we must distinguish the Answers of the inward Truth which illuminates the Mind by the Evidence of its Light, from the Language and secret Inspirations of the Passions, which confound and deceive it by such Sensations as are indeed lively and agreeable, but always obscure and confus'd.

IV. The Love of Order therefore requires of us three Conditions to make any of our Actions conforma∣ble to it: First, That we examine the Action in it self, and all its Circumstances, as far as we are able. Se∣condly, That we suspend our Assent till Evidence forces it from us, or the Execution, till Necessity obliges us to defer it no longer. Thirdly, That we readily, ex∣actly, and inviolably obey Order as far as it is known to us. Strength of Mind must make us couragiously undergo the labour of Attention: Liberty of Mind must moderate and wisely govern the desire of Assent: Submission of Mind must make us follow the Light step by step, without ever going before it, or forsaking it; and the Love of Order must animate and quicken these three Faculties; by which, tho' it be hid in the bottom of our Heart, it discovers it self to the Eyes of the World, and sanctifies all our Actions in the sight of God.

V. But since it is impossible for a Man that is not vers'd in the Science of Morality, to discover the Order of his Duties in sudden and unexpected Occa∣sions, tho' he have never so great strength and liberty of Mind; it is necessary for him to provide against those Occasions, which leave him no time for Examination, and by a prudent foresight to inform himself of his Duties in general, or of some certain and undeniable Principles to govern his Actions by in particular Ca∣ses. This study of a Man's Duties, ought without doubt to be prefer'd before all others: Its End and Reward is Eternity. He that applies himself to Languages, to the Mathematicks, to Business, and neglects the study of the general Rules for the Government of his Life, is like a foolish Traveller, who loiters by the way or rambles out of it, and is overtaken by the Night, an eternal Night, which will deprive him for ever of the

sight of his Country, fill him with immortal despair, and leave him expos'd to the dreadful wrath of the Lamb, and the power of the Devils, or rather the ju∣stice of an avenging God.

VI. He that should go about to examine in particular all the Duties belonging to the several conditions of Men, would undertake a Work which he could never finish, how indefatigable soever he were. For my part, I am too sensible of my own weakness to engage in so vast and difficult a Design; and all that I here pre∣tend to, is to set down in general, and that chiefly for my own private use, the Duties which all Men, as far as they are able, ought to pay to God, their Neigh∣bour and Themselves. Every Man must examine his own particular Duties himself, as they relate to the general and essential Obligations, and according to Circumstances which vary every moment: We should set apart some time for this every day, and not ex∣pect to find in Books, nor it may be in other Men, so much Certainty and Light as we may in our selves, if we consult the inward Truth sincerely, faithfully and in the motion of the Love of Order.

CHAP. II. Our Duties toward God must be refer'd to his Attributes, to his Power, Wisdom and Love. God alone is the true Cause of all Things. The Duties we owe to Pow∣er, which consist chiefly in clear Judgments, and in Motions govern'd by those Judgments.

I. THe immutable and necessary Order requires that the Creature should depend on the Creator, that every Copy should answer to its Original; and that Man being made after the Image of God, should live in Obedience to God, united to God, and like God as far as is possible; obedient to his Power, united to his Wisdom, and perfectly like him in all the motions of his Heart. * 1.1 Be ye perfect, saith our Saviour to his Dis∣ciples, even as your Father which is in Heaven is per∣fect. Indeed, we shall not be truly like God, till be∣ing

swallowed up in the contemplation of his Essence, we shall be wholly penetrated with his Light and Plea∣sure: But thither it is that we must tend; it is that which Faith gives us a Right to hope for; that to which it conducts us; that which it gives us an ear∣nest of by the inward Reformation which the Grace of Christ works in us. For Faith leads us to the under∣standing of the Truth, and merits for us the Grace of Charity. Now Understanding and Charity, are the two essential strokes which draw our Minds anew after our Original, who is call'd in the Scriptures Truth and Love. Beloved, saith St. John, * 1.2 now are we the Sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every Man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure. * 1.3 Blessed are the pure in heart, saith Christ himself, for they shall see God.

II. To discover the Duties which we owe to God, we must attentively consider all his Attributes, and con∣sult our selves in reference to them: Especially, we must examine his Power, Wisdom and Love; and on our own part, our Judgments and Motions: For it is only by the Judgments and Motions of our Minds, that we render to God that which we owe him; as it is chief∣ly on the account of his Power, Wisdom and Love, that we indispensably owe him the greatest Duties.

III. When in thinking on God, we consider him only as a Being of infinite Reality or Perfection, we are convinc'd that Order requires us to esteem him infinitely. But we do not naturally conclude from this alone, that we ought to worship, fear or love him, &c. The consideration of God barely in himself, or with∣out any relation to us, doth not excite those Motions in the Soul which carry it towards Good, or the cause of its Happiness, and produce in it fit dispositions to receive the influence of that Good. There is nothing more evident, than that a Being infinitely perfect ought to be infinitely esteem'd: No one can refuse God this speculative Duty; for it consists only in a simple Judg∣ment, which no one can suspend when the Evidence is full and convincing. And therefore wicked Men, those that have no Religion, those that deny the Providence

of God, willingly pay him this Duty. But as they imagine that God doth not concern himself with our Affairs, that he is not the true and immediate Cause of every thing that is done here below, and that we can have no Communication, no Society, no Union with him, neither by a Reason, nor a Power in some sort common both to him and us; they brutishly follow the agreeable Motions of their Passions, and pay those Du∣ties to a blind Nature, which are due only to the Wis∣dom and Power of the Creatour.

IV. These mistaken Men argue and conclude right enough, but it is from false Principles; and you can∣not easily make them understand that God requires any Duties of his Creatures, if you do not first rid them of a great many false Maxims; such as these, for in∣stance. That if God concern'd himself with our Affairs, the World would not go as it doth; that Injustice would never be advanc'd to the Throne, and that Bo∣dies would not be rang'd so irregularly as they are; that so deform'd and mishapen a World as this is, can be nothing but the work of a blind and unintelligent Nature, and that God doth not require of us vile Creatures, Honours unbecoming his Nature; that that which appears right and just to us, is not so in it self or in the sight of God, who if it were, would often Punish those that he ought to Reward; for many times we meet with the greatest Misfortunes, when we are doing the best Actions. I have elsewhere confuted these Principles; and if the Reader doth not clearly comprehend what I am going to say, he may read the first Eight of my Christian Meditations.

V. Wherefore that we may discover the Foundation and Original of our Duties, it is not sufficient to con∣sider the infinitely perfect Being, without the relation it bears to us. On the contrary, we must above all things take notice, that we depend on the Power of God; that we are united to his Wisdom, and that we have no Motion but from his Spirit, from the Love which he bears to himself. We depend on the Power of God; for we have our Existence from that alone, we act by that alone, and can do nothing but by that. We are united to the Wisdom of God; for by that alone we are enlightned, in that alone we discover

Truth, we are rational only by that, for that alone is the universal Reason of all intelligent Beings. Lastly, we have no Motion but from the Spirit of God; for as God acts only by his own Will, or by the Love which he bears to himself; so all the Love which we have for Good, is only an Effusion or Impression of that Love with which God loves himself. We love nothing invincibly and naturally but God, because we love, and can love nothing but Good; and Good, I mean the cause of Happiness, is no where but in God; for no Creature can of it self Act on spiritual Substances. I must explain these things more at large, in order to de∣duce from them the Rules of our Conduct: I begin with Power, and the Duties we owe to it.

VI. Glory and Honour belong only to God: * 1.4 All the Motions of our Souls ought to tend toward him a∣lone, for in him alone Power resides. All the Wills of the Creatures are of themselves impotent and ineffectual. He alone who gives them their Beings, can give them the Modes of their Beings; for the different Modes of Beings are nothing but the same Beings in such and such particular Fashions or Dispositions; nothing is more evident to one that can sedately and silently consult the inward Truth. For what can be plain∣er, than that if God, for instance, will keep any Body always in one place, no Creature can remove it into another; and that Man cannot so much as move his Arm, but only because God is pleass'd to do that which ungrateful and senseless Man thinks he doth him∣self? It is the same with the Modifications of spiritual Beings. If God creates or continues a Soul in the Modification of Pain, no other Spirit can deliver it from that Pain, nor make it feel Pleasure, except God gives his Assent, * 1.5 and co-operates with it in the accom∣plishment of its desires. By this extraordinary Con∣cession and Liberality it is, that God without losing any thing of his Power, without diminishing his Greatness or lessening his Glory, imparts to the Creatures his Glory, Greatness and Power.

VII. God hath subjected this present World to the Angels; it is they that act, and God that doth every thing. He hath given to Jesus Christ as Head of the Church, a Sovereign Power over all the Nations of the Earth: Christ distributes the true Goods; but it

is God alone who sends them, it is he alone that acts in our Souls, and penetrates the hardness of our Hearts. Christ as he is Man, prays, intercedes, desires and per∣forms the Office of Advocate, Mediator and High-Priest. But it is God alone that operates, he only hath power, he is the sole cause and beginning of all Things, and ought to be the sole end. All the Mo∣tions of our Souls should tend towards him, and to him alone belong Glory and Honour. This is that eternal, necessary and inviolable Law, which God hath esta∣blish'd by the necessity of his own Being, by the love which he necessarily bears to himself; a Love which is always conformable to Order, and makes Order to be the inviolable Law of all spiritual Beings. When God ceases to know himself to be what he is, and to love himself as much as he deserves, to act according to his own Light, and by the Motion of his own Love, when he ceases to observe this Law, then it will be lawful for us to desire Glory our selves, or give it to any other beside God; then we may without fear, delight in and make much of the Friendship of the Creatures; we may love and be belov'd, give and re∣ceive Worship and Adoration; we may then shew our selves to the World, to attract the Esteem and Love of the World; we may exalt and expose our selves to View, as Objects fit to employ those. Minds and Hearts which God hath made only for himself; we may then employ our selves either about our selves, or the imaginary Power of the Creatures.

VIII. There is nothing certainly more agreeable both to Christianity and Reason, than this Principle, That it is God alone who doth every thing; and that he com∣municates his Power to the Creatures no otherwise than as he makes them Occasional Causes for himself to act by, in such a manner as bears the Character of an in∣finite Wisdom, an immutable Nature, and an universal Cause; in such a manner, that all the Glory which the work of the Creature deserves, is refer'd to the Creator alone; when the Creatures by a Power which they have not in them, execute such Designs as were form'd before their Creation. What is more holy than this Principle, which clearly shews to such as are ca∣pable of rightly understanding it, that in many Cases it

is lawful for us to approach the Objects of our Senses by the Motion of our Body; but that we must reserve all the Motions of our Soul for God alone? For we may, nay and many times ought to move toward the occasional Cause of our Sensations, but we must never leave it: We may join our selves to other Men; but we must never adore them with the Motion of our Love, either as our Good, or as capable of procuring us any Good: We must love and fear only the true Cause of Good and Evil: We must love and fear none but God in the Creatures. * 1.6 Blessed is the Man that trusteth in the Lord, and cursed is the Man that trusteth in Man, and maketh flesh his Arm.

IX. This probably was the Philosophy of the noble Mordecai, which he taught his adopted Daughter Esther: For the Jews had a more divine Philosophy, than that which the Heathens have left us. In a Motion con∣formable to the Principles of that Philosophy without doubt it was, that she makes this Prayer to God, and lays before him the true Sentiments of her Heart.

Deliver us, O Lord, with thine hand, * 1.7 and help me that am desolate, and which have no other helper but thee. Thou knowest all things, O Lord; thou knowest that I hate the Glory of the Unrighteous, and abhor the Bed of the Uncircumcised, and of all the Heathen. Thou knowest my necessity; for I abhor the sign of my high Estate, which is upon mine Head, in the days whereon I shew my self, and that I wear it not when I am private by my self: And that thine Hand-maid hath not eaten at Haman's Table, and that I have not greatly esteem'd the King's Feast, nor drunk the Wine of the Drink Offerings: Neither had thine Hand-maid any joy since the day that I was brought hither to this pre∣sent, but in thee, O Lord God of Abraham.

This great Queen takes God to witness,

That she had no joy but in him alone.

Tho' she were Wife to a Prince that commanded a Hundred and seventeen Pro∣vinces, and liv'd in the midst of Pleasures, yet she de∣spises her Greatness, and abhors the Delights of a vo∣luptuous Court: She remains unmov'd in the midst of so many Allurements, and God alone is the Object of all the Motions of her Soul.

Thine Hand-maid

never had any joy but in thee, O Lord God of Abra∣ham.

What constancy of Mind! what greatness of Soul! This is it which the Law of God teaches us; and this also is demonstrated by that Principle, that God alone doth every thing, and that the Creatures are only the Occasional Causes of that Splendor which seems to environ them, and of those Pleasures which seem to flow from them. But the Duties we owe to Power, which is in none but God, require a more particular Explication.

X. All our Duties consist properly in nothing but cer∣tain Judgments and Motions of the Soul, as I said be∣fore.

For God is a Spirit, and will be worship'd in Spirit and in Truth:

All our outward Actions are but Consequences of the Action of our Mind. This clear Perception, That God alone hath Power, obliges us to form the following Judgments.

1. That God alone is the Cause of our Being.

2. That he alone is the Cause of the duration of our Being, or of our Time.

3. That he alone is the Cause of our Knowledge.

4. That he alone is the Cause of the natural Motions of our Will.

5. That he alone is the Cause of our Sensations, Pleasure, Pain, Hunger, Thirst, &c.

6. That he alone is the Cause of all the Motions of our Body.

7. That neither Men, nor Angels, nor Devils, nor any other Creature, can of themselves do us either good or harm: That they may nevertheless, as Occasional Causes, determine God in consequence of certain gene∣ral Laws, to do us good or harm, by means of the Bo∣dy to which we are united.

8. That in like manner we can do neither good nor harm to any one by our own strength, but only oblige God by our practical Desires, in consequence of the Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body, to do good or harm to other Men: For we, indeed, have the Will to move our Tongue or Arm; but it is God alone who can and doth actually move them.

XI. These Judgments require of us the following Motions.

1. To love none but God with a Love of Ʋnion or Conjunction, because he alone is the Cause of our Happiness, either small or great, transitory or durable: I say with a Love of Ʋnion; for we must love our Neighbour not as our Good, or the Cause of our Happiness, but only as capable of enjoying the same Happiness with us. The word Love is equivocal, and therefore we must take care of it.

2. To have no joy but in God alone; for he that rejoyces in any other thing, judges that that other thing can make him happy; which is a false Judgment, and can cause only an irregular Motion.

3. Never to unite our selves to the occasional Cau∣ses of our Happiness, contrary to the Prohibition of the true Cause; for that would be to oblige God in consequence of his Laws, to promote Iniquity.

4. Not to unite our selves to them without a parti∣cular necessity; for the Sinner ought to avoid Pleasure, because actual Pleasure gives actual Happiness, and Happiness is a Reward which the Sinner doth not de∣serve; besides, the Pleasures which we enjoy by the means of the Body, fortify Concupiscence, disturb the Mind, and corrupt the Heart a thousand ways. This is the Ground of the necessity of Penance.

5. To fear none but God, because he alone can Pu∣nish us. We must fear God in this life, to keep us from offending him. The happy day will come, which ex∣cluding Sin, shall also banish Fear.

6. To be sorry for nothing but our Sin, because no∣thing but Sin can oblige a just God to make us mise∣rable. He that grieves at the loss of a false Good, gives Honour to it, and considers it as a true Good. And he that grieves at a Misfortune which he cannot remedy, afflicts himself in vain. Self-love enlightned, is griev'd only for its own Disorders, and Charity for those of others.

7. Tho' God alone can make us miserable, yet we must not hate him, tho' we may fear him. Only he that is harden'd in Sin, hates God out of Self-love; for being sensible that he will not obey God, or knowing, as the damn'd do, that in the condition which he likes and is pleas'd with, he hath no means of access or re∣turn to God, the invincible love of Happiness inspires

him continually with an invincible hatred against him who alone can be the cause of Misery.

8. We must not hate nor fear the occasional causes of physical Evil or Misery. We may separate our selves from them. But we must not do that neither against the Will of the true Cause, I mean contrary to Order or the Law of God.

9. We should will nothing but what God wills; because we can do nothing but what God doth. If we have not the Power to act, it is plain that we should not have the Will to act. Order or the divine Law should also be our Law or the Rule of our Desires and Actions; because our Desires are efficacious only by the power and action of God. I cannot move my Arm by my own Strength: And therefore I ought not to move it according to my own Desires. The Law of God should govern all the effects of Power, not only in God, but also in the Creatures. Order or the Law of God is common to all spiritual Beings: The Power of God is common to all Causes. Therefore we cannot dispense with our Obedience to that Law, because we cannot act but by the efficacy of that Power.

10. We may nevertheless desire to be happy; nay we cannot desire to be miserable. But we must neither desire nor do any thing to make us happy, but what Order allows of. We shall never find Happiness, if we seek it by the Power of God contrary to his Law. It is an abuse of Power to use it against the Will of him that communicates it. The voluptuous Man who desires to be happy in this World, shall be so perhaps in part, in consequence of the Laws of Nature: But he shall be eternally miserable in the other, in consequence of the immutable Order of Justice, or by the necessity of the divine Law, which requires that every abuse of divine Things should be eternally punish'd by the di∣vine Power. For we should take good notice, that nothing is more holy, more sacred, and more divine than Power: And he that attributes it to himself, he that makes it subservient to his Pleasures, his Pride, or his own particular Desires, commits a Crime, the enor∣mity of which God alone knows and can punish.

11. It is an abominable piece of Injustice in any Man, to be proud of his Nobility, Dignity, Quality, Learn∣ing, Riches or any other thing.

He that glorieth, * 1.8 let him glory in the Lord, and refer all things to him, for there is no Greatness nor Power but in God.

A Man may set some value on himself, and prefer him∣self before his Horse: He may and ought to esteem other Men, and all the Creatures. God hath really im∣parted to them his Being. But to speak properly and exactly, he hath not imparted to them his Power and Glory. God doth every thing that we think we do our selves: He alone deserves all the Honour which is given to his Creatures: He alone deserves all the motions of our Souls. So that he who would be belov'd, honour'd and fear'd by other Men, would put himself in the place of the Almighty, and share with him the Duties which belong to Power.

12. In like manner, he that fears, loves and honours the Creatures, as real Powers, commits a kind of Ido∣latry; and his Crime becomes very hainous, when his fear or love runs to that excess, that they rule in his Heart above the fear and love of God. When he is less dispos'd to employ himself about the Creator than about the Creatures, by a disposition acquir'd by his own choice, or by free and voluntary Acts, he is an abomina∣tion in the sight of God.

13. All the time that we lose, or do not employ for God, who is the sole cause of the duration of our Be∣ing, is a Robbery, or rather a kind of Sacrilege. For since God acts for his own Glory, and not for our Pleasure, we do then, as much as in us lies, render his Action unserviceable to his Designs.

14. In general, every Gift that God bestows on us, which we render useless in relation to his Glory, is a Robbery; and God, by the necessity of his Law, will call us to an account for it.

15. Lastly, the Power by which God Creates us and all our Faculties every Moment, gives him an un∣questionable Right over all that we are, and over all that belongs to us; which certainly belongs to us no otherwise, than that we may return it to God with all possible fidelity and thankfulness, and by the Gifts of God merit the possession of God himself, through Jesus

Christ our Lord and Head, who takes us out of our prophane state to sanctify us, and make us fit to honour God, worthy to enter as his adopted Children, into the communion of good Things with the Father and the Son in the Unity of the Holy Spirit to all eternity.

CHAP. III. Of the Duties we owe to the Wisdom of God. It is that alone which enlightens the Mind in consequence of certain natural Laws, whose efficacy is determin'd by our Desires as occasional Causes. The Judgments and Duties of the Mind in relation to the universal Rea∣son.

I. HAving discover'd the principal Duties which we owe to the Power of God; we must next examine those which we owe to his Wisdom, which, tho' less known, are no less due. Every Creature depends essen∣tially on the Creator: Every spiritual Being is also essentially united to Reason. No Creature can act by its own Strength: And no spiritual Being can be illumi∣nated by its own Light. For all our clear Ideas come from the universal Reason in which they are contain'd; as all our Strength proceeds wholly from the efficacy of the general cause, which alone hath Power. He that fancies himself to be his own Light and his own Rea∣son, is no less deceiv'd, than he that thinks he really possesses Power: And he that gives thanks to his Bene∣factor for the Fruits of the Earth, which serve only to Feed the Body, is very ungrateful, very proud, or at least very stupid, if he refuse to acknowledge him∣self indebted to God for the true and solid Goods, the knowledge of Truth, which is the Food of the Soul.

II. The Soul of Man hath two essential Relations. It is united to the universal Reason, and by that it hath, or may have a correspondence with all intelligent Be∣ings, even with God himself. It is united to a Body, and by that it hath, or may have a communication with all sensible Objects. The Power of God is the sole efficacious Principle, or the bond of these two

Unions: But impotent and stupid Man imagines that it is by the efficacy of his own Will, that he is Wise and Powerful, that he unites himself to the intellectual World, whose Relations he contemplates, and to the vi∣sible World, whose Beauties he admires.

III. It is God alone, who in consequence of the Laws of the union of the Soul and Body, causes in Man all those bodily Motions which carry him to, or remove him from sensible Objects. But the occasional cause of these Motions being only the different desires of his Will, he attributes to himself the Power of doing that which God alone operates in him; nay, the very endeavour which accompanies his Desires, that painful endeavour, which is a certain mark of impotence and dependance, an endeavour often fruitless and ineffectu∣al, an endeavour which God puts into him to beat down his Pride, and make him deserve his Gifts; this sensi∣ble and confus'd endeavour, I say, persuades him, that he hath Strength and Efficacy. He feels within himself a Will to move his Arm, but doth not see, nor feel the divine Operation in him; and therefore the more ex∣act and punctual God is in answering his Desires, the more disingenuous Man is in not acknowledging the favour and goodness of God.

IV. In like manner, it is God alone, who, in conse∣quence of the natural Laws of the union of the Soul with Reason, discovers to Man all the Ideas which enlighten him, and leads him, as I may say, into the Country of Truth, the Habitation of the Soul, to shew him the Beauties and Wonders of it. But the occasional cause of the presence or absence of Ideas being only the different desires of our Will; we incon∣siderately attribute to our selves the Power of doing that which proceeds from the sole operation of God in us. And even the endeavour which accompanies our Attention, that painful endeavour, the certain Mark of impotence and dependance, an endeavour often fruit∣less, an endeavour which God excites in us to punish our Pride, and make us deserve his Gifts; this sensible and confus'd endeavour, I say, persuades us, like that which we make to move the parts of our Bodies, that we our selves are the Authors of that Knowledge which accompanies our Desires. For having no perception

at all of the operation of God, and having an inward Sense of our own Attention; we look upon this Attention to be the true cause of those effects which constantly and faithfully attend or follow it; for the same reason as we attribute to our own Wills the power of moving Bodies, and the sensible Qualities wherewith we are affected to the Objects which occasion them.

V. He that by the motion of his Body approaches toward sensible Objects, or withdraws himself from them, feeling the Bodies which he meets with in that Motion strike upon him, easily believes that he him∣self is the cause of the removal of his own Body; but certainly he never thinks that he gives Being to those Bodies that surround him. But he that by the appli∣cation of his Mind, leaves the Body as it were, and unites himself, wholly to Reason, imagines that the Truths he contemplates are of his own production: He fancies that he gives a Being to the Ideas he discovers, and that he forms, as I may say, out of his own Sub∣stance that intellectual World, in which he loses him∣self. Because the things which he then beholds do not affect his Senses, he imagines they have no real Existence but in himself. For People judge of the reality of Be∣ings, as they do of the solidity of Bodies, by the im∣pression they make on their Senses.

VI. It is certain that Man is not his own Wisdom, and his own Light. There is an universal Reason which enlightens all spiritual Beings, an intellectual Substance common to all intelligent Natures, an im∣mutable, necessary and eternal Substance. All spiritual Beings contemplate it, without disturbing one another: They all possess it, without prejudicing one another: They all feed of it, without diminishing any thing of its abundance. It communicates it self whole and en∣tire to them all, and entire to every one of them. For all of them may as it were grasp the same Idea at the same time in different places, they may all possess it equally, they may all penetrate or be penetrated by it.

VII. But two. Men cannot eat the same Fruit, nor embrace the same Body, they cannot, at a distance from one another, hear the same Voice, nor many times see the same Objects. The Creatures are all particular

Beings, and therefore cannot be one general and com∣mon Good. He that possesses these particular Goods, deprives others of them; and thereby provokes their hatred or envy against him. But Reason is a common Good, which unites those that possess it in a perfect and durable Friendship. It is a Good that is not divi∣ded by possession, it is not confin'd to space, nor be∣comes the worse for using. Truth is indivisible, * 1.9 infi∣nite, eternal, immutable and incorruptible.

Wisdom never fadeth away: The Light that cometh from her never goeth out.

VIII. Now this general and immutable Wisdom, * 1.10 this universal Reason, is the Wisdom of God himself, by which and for which we are made. For God created us by his Power that he might unite us to his Wisdom, and thereby give us the Honour of entring into an eternal Society with him, of conforming our Thoughts and desires to his, and by that means of becoming like him, as far as a created Being is capable of it. * 1.11

Wisdom remaining in her self, maketh all things new, saith the wise Man, and in all Ages entring into holy Souls she maketh them Friends of God and Pro∣phets. For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with Wisdom.

We have no way of access to God, no Society with him, but by his Son, his Word, the universal and intellectual Reason, which was incarnate in the fulness of time, and made visible to enlighten gross and carnal Minds, and to lead them by the Senses, by Faith and by a sensible Authority to Knowledge and Understanding: But still it is Reason, still Wisdom, Light and Truth. For he that rejects the universal Reason, rejects the Author of Faith, who is that very Reason made sensible and proportion'd to the weakness of Men, who now hear only by their Senses. With∣out doubt nothing is more agreeable to Reason, than that which Faith teaches us: The more we think on it, the more we are convinc'd, provided that Faith con∣duct all the steps of the Mind, and the Imagination do not cross it in its way, and by vain Chimeras or humane Thoughts dispel the Light which Faith diffuses in us.

IX. Now to find out our Duties toward God, as he is Wisdom or the universal Reason of intelligent Beings, it is not sufficient to be throughly convinc'd of the union of the Soul with God, but we must also care∣fully examine the Laws of the union of the Soul and Body: For we are so situated between God and Bodies, that as the union between the Soul and Body is aug∣mented and strengthned, so the union of the Soul with God is weakened and diminish'd; and on the contrary, the less the Body acts on the Soul, the more the Soul is at liberty to consult the inward Truth. I shall not here set down the particular Laws of the union of the Soul and Body; they may be learnt elsewhere. But we must remember in general, that our Senses cause our Soul to extend it self to our own Body, and make it attentive to the necessities thereof; and that our Ima∣gination and Passions stretch to all those that are about us: That the Body never speaks to the Soul but for the Body, and that it insolently draws us away from the Presence of our inward Master, who never speaks to us but for the good or perfection of our Being: In a Word, that our union with Reason is now so weak and tender, that the least Sensation which strikes us, breaks it intirely, tho' we endeavour never so much to retire into our selves, and to retain our Ideas which scatter and disappear.

X. The Judgments which we ought to form in honour of the universal Reason are these.

1. There are not more Wisdoms or more Reasons than one.

2. No Man is Wisdom and Light to himself or any other, nor one intelligent Being to another.

3. God by his Power is the cause of our clear Per∣ceptions or Cognitions, in consequence of our own De∣sires or Attention: But the intellectual and common Substance of Truth alone is the Form, the Idea, and the immediate Object of them. The Soul separated from Reason cannot attain to the knowledge of any Truth. It may by the action of God upon it, be sen∣sible of its own Pain, Pleasure, Perception, and all the other particular Modifications of which its substance is capable; but it cannot engross to it self the knowledge of Truths which are common to all spiritual Beings.

For Man who depends on the Power of God to be hap∣py and powerful, must also be united to the Wisdom of God to become Rational, Wise, Just and compleatly Perfect.

4. We do not derive from the Objects the Ideas which we have of them.

5. Men whom we call our Masters are only Moni∣tors.

6. When we retire into our selves, it is not we that answer our selves, but the inward Master which dwells in us, which presides immediately over all spiritual Be∣ings, and gives them all the same answers.

XI. * 1.12 All those may be reduc'd to that general propo∣sition of our Saviours, that we have but one Master, even Christ himself, who illuminates us by the evi∣dence of his Light, when we retire into our selves; and solidly instructs us by Faith, when we consult the visible and infallible authority of the Church, in whose custody the sacred Treasure of his written and unwritten Word is deposited.

XII. From this great Principle the following Duties are deriv'd.

1. Not to value our selves on our Knowledge, but to return our humble Thanks for it to him who is the Fountain and Author of it.

2. To retire into our Selves as much as we can, and to hearken more readily to Reason than to Men.

3. To yield only to the Evidence of Reason, and the infallible Authority of the Church.

4. Whenever Men speak, to be sure to compare that which they say to our Ears, with that which Reason answers to our Mind; never to believe them but in what concerns Matters of Fact, and that too with a kind of saving and reservation.

5. Never to speak to them, at least not with an air of Confidence, before Reason hath spoke to us by its Evidence.

6. To speak to them always as Monitors, not as Ma∣sters; to question them often, and in different manners; and to lead them insensibly to our common Master, the universal Reason, by obliging them to retire into them∣selves. There is no way to instruct them but this.

7. Never to dispute for disputing's sake, nor even to propose Truth to others, when the Company they are in, Passion, or any other Reason give us sufficiently to understand, that they will not retire into themselves, to hear the decision of the impartial Judge.

8. Never to consult Reason but about such Matters as are suitable to the dignity of it, and useful to our selves, either to conduct us to Good, or unite us to Truth to regulate our Heart, or procure us Strength or liberty of Mind.

9. To lay up carefully in our Memory, as far as it is possible to be done, none but certain Principles and such as abound in Consequences; none but necessary Truths, or the precious answer of the inward Truth.

10. For the most part to neglect Matters of Fact, especially those that have no certain Rules to be judg'd by, such as are the Actions of Men. They give no light to the Mind, and often corrupt the Heart.

11. Our inviolable Law is Order, not Custom, which is many times opposite to Order and Reason. To follow Example without confronting it with Order, is to act like Brutes, and by Mechanism only. Nay it is better, tho' that be bad enough, to make our own Pleasure our Law, than foolishly to obey pernicious and wicked Customs. Our Life and Actions should do honour to our Reason, and be answerable to the illustrious Chara∣cters we bear.

12. We should set no value on Subtilty, Beauty, or even Strength of Imagination, nor esteem any of those Studies which cultivate that part of us, which makes us so valuable and acceptable in the Eye of the World. An over-nice or over-stock'd Imagination doth not wil∣lingly submit to Reason. It is always the Body which speaks by the Imagination; and whenever the Body speaks, it is an unhappy necessity that Reason must be silent or not regarded.

13. To confirm us in this dis-esteem, we should fre∣quently and with a particular Application examine by the inward. Light that which appears bright and spark∣ling to the Imagination, that so we may dissipate that false and bewitching Lustre with which it hides its Fol∣lies. We should very seldom regard Mens outward Behaviour which passes for current Payment in the World.

14. We should carefully stop up the Passages by which the Soul gets away from the presence of God, and wan∣ders among the Creatures. A Mind continually distra∣cted by the action of sensible Objects, cannot pay that respect and attendance which it owes to Reason. It is a Contempt to Reason to give our Senses their full liberty.

15. We should ardently love Truth, Wisdom, or the universal Reason: We should esteem all the Gold of Peru but as a Grain of Sand in comparison of it: * 1.13

All Gold in respect of Wisdom is as a little Sand,

saith the wise Man We should continually pray to it by our Attention: * 1.14 We should place our whole Delight in con∣sulting it, in hearing its Answers, and obeying its Com∣mands; as that delights to converse with us, and to be always among us.

CHAP. IV. Of the Duties which we owe to the divine Love. Our Will is nothing but a continual impression of the Love which God bears to himself, the only true Good. We cannot love Evil: But we may take that to be Evil, which is neither Good nor Evil. So we cannot hate Good: But the true Good is really the Evil of wicked Men, or the true cause of their Miseries. That God may be Good in respect of us, our Love must be like his, or always subject to the divine Law, Motions or Duties.

I. WE depend on the power of God, and do no∣thing but by his Efficacy: We are united to his Wisdom, and know nothing but by his Light: But this is not all; we are also animated and inspir'd by his Love in such a manner, that we are not capable of loving any Good, but by the continual impression of the Love which he bears to himself. This is what I must now explain, in order to give a general view of our Duties toward God.

II. It is certain that God cannot act but for himself: He hath no other Motive but his Love of himself. He

cannot Will but by his own Will; and his Will is not like ours, an impression proceeding from, and tending toward something else. As he is his own Good, his Love can be no other but Love of himself: His end is himself, and can be nothing but himself. Therefore he doth not produce in spiritual Beings a Love which hath a different tendency from his own, for the love of Good in spiritual Beings proceeds only from the Will of God, which is nothing else but the Love he bears to himself. But further, there are not Two or more true Goods; there is but one alone; for there is but one true Cause. Therefore there is nothing amiable, I mean with a love of Union, but God. So then, since God cannot will that we should Love that which is not amiable, or not Love that which is amiable, supposing that we are capable of Loving, our Love proceeding from God, must necessarily according to the primitive institution of its Nature, tend toward him, and be refer'd to him alone.

III. God having created our Souls with a design to make them happy, continually imprints on them a Love for Good; and as he acts only for himself, and Good neither is nor can be in any but in him, this natural Love of Good, doth of it self carry them toward God alone. For this Love is like that which God bears to himself. It is also invincible and irresistible; because it is a powerful and continual Impression of the divine Love; and it is the same thing with our Will; for it is only by the particular determinations of this Love, that we are capable of loving all Objects that have the appearance of Good.

IV. From hence it is plain, that we cannot love Evil, and that we have no Motion ordain'd for that end. Notwithstanding we may mistake Evil for Good; and so we may love Evil by loving Good; we may love Evil out of choice, by loving Good naturally; we may love Evil, or rather that which is neither Good nor Evil, by a horrid abuse of that love for Good, which God continually imprints on us, to make us Love him, as being our only Good, or alone capable of making us happy. For we must take particular notice, that the Creatures, tho' they are all Perfect or Good in themselves, are neither Good nor Evil in respect of us, because they have not really the power to do us

either Good or Harm. As they are occasional causes of Good or Evil, of Pleasure or Pain, we may unite our selves to them, or separate our selves from them by the motion of our Body: But we cannot reasonably Love or Fear them; because every Motion which doth not tend toward God, the beginning and end of it, is irregular, and if it be free and voluntary, deserves to be Punish'd.

V. It is also evident that we cannot hate Good; for since we invincibly desire to be happy, we cannot se∣parate our selves from that which makes us so; but we may mistake Good for Evil, and so hate Good from the hatred we have for Evil. And even this hatred is at the bottom a motion of Love. We fly from Evil only by the motion of the Love we have for Good. For God having created us to be happy by loving him, hath given us no motion to separate us from him, but only to unite us to him. The wicked or the damn'd hate God with an invincible and irreconcilable Hatred; but this proceeds from the very Love which God hath given them for himself. For since God is not their Good, but their Evil, or the cause of their Punishment, according to the Psalmist, * 1.15

With the Pure thou wilt shew thy self Pure, and with the Froward thou wilt shew thy self Froward;

they hate him by that irre∣sistible Motion, which God, who is immutable in his proceeding, gives then for their Happiness.

VI. For the right understanding of this, it is sufficient to observe that actual Pleasure is the formal cause of actual Happiness, as Pain is of Misery. Now the Damn'd feel Pain; the harden'd Sinner fears it. The Damn'd know that God alone is the cause of Pain, the Sinner believes he is. Therefore both of them, from the very desire they have to be Happy, must of necessity make a wrong use of that Motion which God gives them to unite them to himself, and must separate themselves from him; for the more they are united to God, the more God acts on them, the more sensible they are of their Misery. The Blessed on the contrary, for a like rea∣son, cannot cease to love God. And those that have access to God, those that expect to find their Happiness in him, Sinners who by Faith in Christ have hope of returning and finding favour with God, may by the in∣vincible

desire of Happiness, love and fear God. This is our condition in this Life.

VII. Now that the natural Love which God continu∣ally imprints on us, may still continue Love, and not be turn'd into Hatred; that the love of Happiness may make us Happy, that it may carry us toward God and unite us to him, instead of separating us from him: In a word, that God may be or continue Good in respect of us, and not become Evil, our Love must always be conformable to or resembling the divine Love; we must love Perfection as well as Happiness; we must remain united to the wisdom of God, as well as to his Power. For God when he created Man, gave him in the love of Good, and by the impression of the Love which he bears to himself, as it were two sorts of Love, one of Happiness, and the other of Perfection. By the love of Happiness he united him to his Power, which alone can make him Happy; and by the love of Perfection he united him to his Wisdom, by which alone as his in∣violable Law he ought to be govern'd. God, if I may so say, is divinely inspir'd with both these Loves: They are inseparable in him; and they cannot be separated in us, without destroying us utterly. For the power of God is Wise and Just: His Wisdom is all Powerful; and he that thinks to retain the love of his Happiness, without the love of his Perfection, without the love of Wisdom, Justice, and the immutable Order; that love of Happiness will only serve to make him eternally Mi∣serable. God by his Power will not be the Good of Men, but their Evil, if by his Wisdom he is not their Law, or the principle of their inward Reformation. For Happiness is a Reward. It is not enough to desire the enjoyment of it, but we must also deserve it: And we cannot deserve it, if we do not govern the motions of our Heart by the inviolable Law of all intelligent Beings, and regulate them according to the Model by which Man was first form'd, and by which he must be form'd anew. In a word, the love of Conformity, which relates to the immutable Order, or the Wisdom of God, must always be joyn'd with the love of Union, which relates to his Power, that so our Love being like the divine Love, may carry us to all the Happiness and all the Perfection that we are capable of.

VIII. For we must observe, that in the condition we are now in, our Happiness and our Perfection often clash; and we cannot avoid engaging on one side or the other; either we must Sacrifice our Perfection to our Happiness, or our Happiness to our Perfection; the Love of Order to our Pleasure, or our Pleasure to the Love of Order. Now when we Sacrifice our Happiness to our Perfection, or our Pleasure to the Love of Order, we Merit; for then we obey the Divine Law, though we suffer by it, and thereby we give Honour to the Wisdom of God, or the universal Reason; we leave that to God, which depends wholly on him, our Happiness; and by that Sub∣mission, we give Honour to his Power. For Obedience to the Divine Law is partly in our own Power, but the enjoyment of Happiness no way depends on us. Therefore we should give up our Happiness to the disposal of God, and to apply our selves wholly to our Perfection, giving this honour also to God to believe him on his Word, to rely on his Justice and Goodness, and to live contented by Faith in the Strength of our Hope, according to those words of the Scripture, * 1.16

The just shall live by Faith.

God is certainly just and faith∣full; he will give us all the Happiness we deserve; our Patience shall not be Fruitless. But how great so∣ever our Desire be, and our Application in the Search of our Happiness, yet this will not move God to give us the Enjoyment of it, without we deserve it. This excessive Desire will perhaps one day render us un∣worthy of it, according to those admirable Words of our Saviour himself: * 1.17

If any Man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his Cross, and follow me. For whoever will save his † 1.18 life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life, for my sake shall find it. For what is a Man profited, if he shall gain the whole World, and lose his own Soul? Or what shall a Man give in exchange for his Soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the Glo∣ry of his Father, with his Angels; and then shall he reward every Man according to his Works.

IX. Now this contrariety which we find at present between our Happiness and our Perfection, proceeds from the Union of the Soul and Body, which is chang'd into a Dependance, as a Punishment of Sin. For the involuntary Motions of the Fibres of the principal

part of the Brain, are the occasional Causes of our plea∣sant or painful Sensations, and consequently of our Hap∣piness or Misery. The Body to which we are join'd, hath not the same Interests with Reason: It hath its particular Wants to be supplied; it makes its Demands with boldness and insolence, and treats the Soul rough∣ly if it refuses to grant them. Whereas Reason uses only Threatnings and Reproaches, which are not so live∣ly and pressing as actual Pleasure and Pain: We must therefore bravely resolve to be miserable in this Life, that we may retain our Perfection and Integrity; we must Sacrifice our Body, or rather our actual Happi∣ness, that we may remain inseparably united to Rea∣son, and obedient to the Divine Law; being content∣ed with a foretaste of the true Enjoyments, and having a firm hope, that that Divine Law, that Reason which was made Flesh, sacrificed and glorified in our Nature, or our Nature in that, will certainly restore to us all that we have lost for our Obedience to it.

X. This clear perception, that our Will, or the na∣tural and necessary Motion of our Love, is only a con∣tinual Impression of the Love of God, who unites us to his Power, to make us conformable to his Wisdom, or obedient to his Law, obliges us to form these Judg∣ments.

1. That every Motion of Love which doth not tend toward God, is prejudicial, and leads to Evil, or makes the Cause of our Good to be the Cause of our Evil.

2. That every Motion of Love, not conformable to the immutable Order, which is the inviolable Law both of the Creatures and of the Creatour himself, is irregu∣lar; and since God is Just, that Motion obliges him to become our Evil, or the Cause of our Misery.

3. That we cannot unite our selves to God, as our Good, if we do not conform our selves to him as our Law. The Converse of this is also true; we cannot conform our selves to the Law of God, and by that conformity become Perfect; but we must also unite our selves to his Power, and by that Union be made Happy.

XI. This Truth may be also express'd thus, accord∣ing to the Analogy of Faith: We have no way of ac∣cess to God, no society with him, no share in his Hap∣piness,

but by the universal Reason, the eternal Wis∣dom, the divine Word, who was made Flesh, because Man was become Carnal; by his Flesh was made a Sa∣crifice, because Man was become a Sinner; and by the offering up of his Sacrifice was made a Mediatour, be∣cause Man being corrupted, and no longer able to con∣sult or obey Reason purely intellectual, it could not be the Bond of the Society between God and Him. But yet we must take particular notice, That Reason by be∣coming incarnate, did not at all change its Nature, nor lose any thing of its Power: It is immutable, and ne∣cessarily exists; it is the only inviolable Law of spiri∣tual Beings, and hath the sole Right to command them. Faith is not contrary to Truth; it leads us to Truth, and by it establishes ur Society with God for ever. We must conform our selves to the Word made Flesh, be∣cause the intellectual Word, the Word without Flesh, is a Form too abstracted, too sublime and too pure to fashion or new-mould gross Spirits and corrupt Hearts; Spirits, that can take hold of nothing but what hath a Body, and are disgusted at every thing that doth not touch and sensibly affect them. * 1.19 The Word was made a Sacrifice, because without a Sacrifice, he had nothing to offer; he could not be a Priest, nor give Sinners any Communion with God, without an Atone∣ment and an Oblation. We must be conformable to him in this Circumstance also; for besides, that it is we who are the Criminals, we are also a part of the Sa∣crifice, which must be purified, consecrated and offer'd up, before it can be glorified, and consummated in God to all Eternity. But the life of Christ is our Pattern, only because it was conformable to Order, our indis∣pensable Pattern, and our inviolable Law. We must follow Christ, even to the Cross, because Order re∣quires that this Body of Sin should be destroy'd for the Honour of Reason, and the Glory of him from whom it separates us. Order requires, that by voluntary Pain, of which the Body is the occasion, we should deserve the Happiness of which God alone is the Cause, and which we have justly been depriv'd of, for those un∣just and unreasonable Pleasures which we have unwor∣thily and disingenuously requir'd of a just God. These

are very trite and very common, but very necessary Truths.

XII. Motions or Duties.

1. We should love nothing but God, with a love of Union; and whenever we find any love for the Crea∣tures, any joy in the Creatures arising in us, we should stifle those Sensations, and consider that Power belongs to God alone, and that he inspires us with his Love, to unite us only to himself.

2. We should be afraid of Pleasures, for they seduce and corrupt us. Pleasure is the distinguishing Mark of Good; God alone can give us the enjoyment of it: But because his Operation is not visible, we look upon the Objects, which are only the occasions of our Sen∣sations, as if they were the Causes of them; and when we enjoy those Objects, we love them as our Good, or at least we love nothing but our selves, and our own Hap∣ness. Now every Pleasure which inclines us to the love of Bodies, Substances inferiour to our own Being, perverts and disorders us; and since the Soul is not the Cause of its own Happiness, it is blind, ingrateful, and unjust, if it loves its Pleasure without rendring to the true Cause of it, the Love and Respect which are due to him: But besides, how is it possible to love God in the midst of Pleasure? How can we actually encrease our Charity, when we so many ways provoke and for∣tify our Concupiscence?

3. The love of Grandeur, Elevation and Indepen∣dance is abominable: He that desires to be esteem'd and lov'd, ought to be detested and abhor'd. What I shall those Minds which were made to contemplate the universal Reason, and to love the Power of the true Good; shall they, I say, employ their Thoughts and their Love on us? Weak and Impotent as we are, shall we suffer our selves to be ador'd? Corrupt and Ignorant as we are, shall we seek Admirers, Imitators and Followers? Certainly, he that doth not see the In∣justice of Pride, hath no Communication with Reason; and he that knows it, and yet is not afraid of commit∣ting it, renounces Reason entirely.

4. We should love Order; it is the Law of God, he inviolably observes it, he invincibly loves it. And can we think that we may safely dispense with our Obe∣dience

to it? If we deviate from it, the inexorable Ju∣stice of the living God will follow us: But if our Love be conformable to that Law, we shall be happy and perfect both, we shall have fellowship with God, and a share in his Happiness and Glory.

5. We cannot be Rational but by the universal Rea∣son; we cannot be Wise but by the eternal Wisdom; we cannot be Just and Holy but by a conformity to the immutable Order: Let us therefore incessantly contem∣plate Reason, let us ardently love Wisdom, let us in∣violably obey the Divine Law: Let us fashion our selves anew after our Model; he hath made himself like us, that he might make us like him: He is now le∣vel'd to our Capacity, he is proportion'd to our Weak∣ness: He is before us; let us open our Eyes to see him: He is within us; let us retire into our selves and consult him: He sollicites us continually; let us hear his Voice, and not hearden our Hearts. * 1.20 But he is also in the Holy of Holies, ordain'd a High Priest after the Order of Melchisedech, always living to make interces∣sion for us, and to give us those Succours which we extremely need. Let us therefore approach the true Mercy-Seat of Jesus Christ the Saviour of Sinners, the Head of the Church, the Builder of the eternal Tem∣ple; in a word, the occasional Cause of Grace, with∣out which such is our deprav'd and miserable Condition, that we cannot endeavour our Amendment, we cannot esteem and relish the true Goods, nor so much as desire to be deliver'd from our Miseries.

CHAP. V. The three Divine Persons imprint each their proper Cha∣racter on our Souls; and our Duties give equal Honour to them all three. Tho' our Duties consist only in in∣ward Judgments and Motions, yet we must shew them by outward Signs, in regard of our Society with other Men.

I. THe three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity im∣print each their proper Character on the Spirits which they created after their own Image. The Fa∣ther, whose peculiar Attribute is Power, imparts his Power to them, by making them occasional Causes of all the Effects which are produc'd by them. The Son communicates his Wisdom, and discovers to them all Truth by closely uniting them to that intellectual Sub∣stance which he hath, as he is the universal Reason. The Holy Ghost inspires and sanctifies them, by the invincible Impression which they have for Good, and by Charity or the love of Order, which he sheds abroad in their Hearts. As the Father begets his Word, so the Mind of Man, by his desires, is the occasional Cause of his Knowledge. And as the Father with the Son is the Fountain and Original of the Substantial and Di∣vine Law; so our Knowledge occasion'd by our desires, which are the only Things that are truly in our Power, is with us the Principal and Original of all the Re∣gular Motions of our Love.

II. It is true, the Father begets his Word of his own Substance; because God alone is essentially and sub∣stantially his own Wisdom and his own Light. The mutual Love of the Father and the Son, proceeds from themselvees; because God alone is his own Good, and his own Law. But we are not our own Reason, and therefore Light and Understanding cannot be a natural Emanation of our own Substance, We are not our own Good, nor our own Law; and therefore all the Motion we have must proceed from, and carry us to something

without us, it must unite us to our Good, and make us conformable to our Pattern.

III. God made all Things by his Wisdom, and in the Motion of his Spirit or his Love: So also we never act but with Knowledge, and by the Motion of Love. The three Divine Persons have an equal share in the Production of all Things: So also that which we do without Knowledge, and without a full and entire Will, is not properly our own Work. The Father hath, as I may say, a Right of Mission over the Son: So it is in our power to think on what we will. The Son sends the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, in the unity of the same Nature; so also our Love is grounded on Light, it proceeds from, and is produc'd by it. Lastly, The Love which proceeds from a clear Perception or Knowledge, loves it self, the Ob∣ject of that Knowledge, and the Knowledge it self; as the substantial Love infinitely loves the Divine Sub∣stance in the Father begetting, in the Son begotten, and in the Holy Ghost himself, proceeding from the Father and the Son.

IV. All these Relations of the Mind of Man to the holy Trinity, are but shadows and imperfect Draughts, which can never come up to the Original of all Beings, who by an incomprehensible property of Infinity, com∣municates himself without Division, and forms a Socie∣ty of three different Persons in the unity of the same Substance. But tho' the Image of God which we bear, be very imperfect in respect of our Original; yet there is nothing more great and noble for a mere created Being, than this faint resemblance. We labour for our Perfection, only as we maintain and keep it up; we secure our Happiness no further, than we fashion our selves according to our Model. All our true Judgments and regular Motions, all the Duties which we pay to the Wisdom, Power and Love of God, are so as many Steps by which we advance toward the Fountain of all Good; and an habitual Disposition to frame these Judg∣ments and excite these Motions, is the real Perfection of Man, who essentially depends on the supreme Good, and was made for no other End, but to find his Perfe∣ction and Happiness in doing his Duty.

V. Now as the three Persons in the Trinity are but one God, one and the same Substance; so all those Du∣ties which seem to relate particularly to any one of the Persons, give equal Honour to the other two. Every Regular Motion honours the Power of the Father, as its Good; the Wisdom of the Son, as its Law; and the mutual Love of the Father and the Son, as its Prin∣cipal and Original. On the contrary, every Sin, or every Love of the Creatures dishonours the true Power, opposes the universal Reason, and resists the holy Spi∣rit: So that we cannot absolutely separate the Duties which we owe to the Power of God, from those which we owe to his Wisdom and to the Substantial and Di∣vine Love; and therefore I have been forc'd, in the three foregoing Chapters, to repeat the same things after different manners.

VI. Tho' all the Duties which Spiritual Beings owe to God, who is a pure Spirit, and will be worship'd in Spirit and in Truth, consist only in true Judgments, and Motions of Love conformable to those Judgments; yet Men being compos'd of a Soul and a Body, living in Societies with one another, educated in the same outward Religious Worship, and thereby tied to cer∣tain Ceremonies; they are oblig'd to an infinite num∣ber of particular Duties, which have all of them a ne∣cessary Relation to those which I have already set down in general. All these external Duties are arbitra∣ry and indifferent, at least in their first Foundation and Original; but the spiritual Duties are in themselves ab∣solutely necessary. We may dispense with outward Duties, but we can never dispense with the others; they depend on an inviolable Law, the immutable and necessary Order. Outward Duties of themselves do not sanctify those that render them to God; they re∣ceive their Worth and Value only from the spiritual Duties which accompany them; but all the Motions of the Soul which are govern'd by true Judgments, do immediately and of themselves, honour the Divine Per∣fections.

VII. Thus, for instance, it is a Duty indifferent in it self, for a Man to pull off his Hat when he comes into a Church. But to enter into the presence of God with respect, and with some inward Motion of Reli∣gion,

is not an arbitrary, but an essential Duty. He that for some particular Reason cannot be uncover'd at Mass, may be cover'd at the Celebration of it; Wo∣men are excus'd from this Duty; and provided it be known that it is not done out of contempt, but upon necessity, commonly their needs no dispensation for it. None but those that have wrong Notions of things, cen∣forious and weak People will find fault with it; but no one that is present at that Sacrifice can be excus'd from offering up to God the Sacrifice of his Mind and Heart, Praises and Motions which honour God. He that prostrates himself before the Altar, is so far from meriting, and honouring God by that outward Duty, that he commits a heinous Crime, if he designs by that Action only to gain the Esteem of the World. But he, who tho' he be unmov'd outwardly, is nevertheless inwardly agitated with Motions agreeable to the Know∣ledge which Faith and Reason give him of the Divine Attributes, honours God, draws near and unites him∣self to him. He conforms himself to the immutable Law by Regular Motions, which leave behind them a Habit or Disposition of Charity, and thereby truly pu∣rifies and sanctifies himself. But there are many People whose Religion is not spiritual; they go no farther than the outside which makes an Impression on them, and often determines them to do that by imitation, which they had no design to do of themselves.

VIII. Certainly it is a disrespect to the univer∣sal Reason, to separate our selves from it by the use of Wine; or to run away from our selves, where Rea∣son inhabits, and where it gives its Oracles, and suffer our selves to be carried by our Passions into a World where the Imagination reigns. In a word, to depart voluntarily, and without any necessity, from the pre∣sence of our Good and of our Reason, is a Motion which dishonours the Divine Majesty, it is Irreligious and Impious. But the generality of People do not judge of things after this manner; they judge of a Man's inward Sentiments by his outward Actions and Behaviour; they imagine it a great Crime to do some Actions in a holy Place, tho' perhaps they are not in∣decent in themselves; and yet never consider, that no∣thing is more indecent than to neglect the essential Du∣ties

of a rational Creature in any place whatsoever. A Man that is Religious even to Superstition passes for a Saint with them, but the Christian Philosopher is counted no better than a Heathen, if he will not aban∣don Reason to agree with their Notions, and religi∣ously observe their Customs.

IX. Indeed the Philosopher doth ill, if he neglects the external Duties, * 1.21 and thereby offends the Weak and Simple.

It were better for him that a Mill-stone were hang'd about his Neck, and that he were Drown'd in the depth of the Sea.

Every Man ought to testify his Faith by visible Actions, and thereby incline other Men, who are always affected with the outward Beha∣haviour, to such Motions as give honour to God. In every thing that relates to God, we should with all Humility assume the air and posture of Adoration. Any other is at least Foolish and Ridiculous. But it is Impi∣ous, to use such outward Actions as are superstitious and lead Men's Minds to Judgments and Motions which disho∣nour the divine Attributes. They are excusable perhaps in such as have but a confus'd Idea of God: But he that is better instructed in Religion, and hath a more particular knowledge of the divine Perfections, ought not to do any thing out of any humane Consideration, that contra∣dicts his own Light.

X. The greatest part of Christians have a Jewish Spirit; * 1.22 their Religion is not Spiritual, and consequently not Rational.

This is Life eternal, to know the true God, and Jesus Christ his only Son:

To have Senti∣ments worthy of the divine Attributes, and Motions agreable to those Sentiments: To know Jesus Christ, who alone gives us access to the Father, and diffuses Charity in our Hearts: To be fully convinc'd, that he alone is the High-Priest of the true Goods, or the oc∣casional cause of Grace, that so we may draw near to him with Confidence, and by his assistance excite in our selves such Motions as are suitable to the knowledge he hath given us of the true Worship, which honours the divine Majesty. But instead of this, every one frames to himself a Theology, a Religion, or at least a Devotion apart, of which Self-love is the Motive, Pre∣judice and Possession the Foundation and Beginning, and sensual Goods the End. The Worship of God con∣sists many times only in outward Sacrifices, in verbal

Prayers, in Ceremonies which were at first ordain'd to raise the Mind to God, but now serve only by their splendor and magnificence to refresh the Imagination in most People, when they are tir'd and out of relish with the performance of their Duties to God. Custom, hu∣man Considerations, or Hypocrisy carry their Bodies into the Church: But their Minds and Hearts never come there. And while the Priest offers up Jesus Christ to God in their Presence, or rather while Christ offers up himself to his Father for their Sins on our Altars, they on their part Sacrifice to Ambition, Avarice or Pleasure, spiritual Sacrifices in all the places whither their Imagination carries them.

CHAP. VI. Of the Duties of Society in general. Two sorts of Socie∣ty. Every thing should be refer'd to the eternal So∣ciety. Different kinds of Love and Honour. The ge∣neral heads of our Duties toward Men. They must be External and Relative. The danger of paying inward Duties to Men. The Conversation of the World ve∣ry dangerous.

I. HAVING explain'd in general the Duties which we owe to God, we must now examine those which we owe to other Men, as God hath made us to live in Society with them under the same Law, the universal Reason, and in a dependance on the same Pow∣er, that of the King of Kings, and supreme Lord of all things.

II. We are capable of forming Two sorts of Society with other Men: A Society for some Years, and an eternal Society: A Society of Commerce, and a So∣ciety of Religion: A Society maintain'd by the Passions, and subsisting in a communion of particular and perish∣ing Goods, whose end is the preservation and welfare of the Body; and a Society govern'd by Reason, sup∣ported by Faith, and subsisting in the communion of the true Goods, whose end is a happy Life to all eter∣nity.

III. The great, or indeed the only design of God, is the holy City, the heavenly Jerusalem, where Truth and Justice inhabit. All other Societies shall Perish, tho' God be immutable in his Designs: But this spiri∣tual Society shall continue for ever. The Kingdom of Christ shall have no end: His Temple shall be eternal: His Priest-hood shall never the chang'd: * 1.23

The Lord hath Sworn, and will not Repent, Thou art a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedeck.

The House of God is built on an unshaken Foundation, on that belov'd Son in whom God is well-pleas'd, and by whom all things shall subsist to the Glory of him who gives them their Being.

IV. When we procure any settlement here below for our selves or our Friends, we build on the Sand, we place our Friends in a tottering House, it will sink under us, at the Hour of Death to be sure. But when we enter our selves as Workmen in the building of the Temple of the true Solomon, and cause others to come in, we then labour for Eternity. This Work shall last to all Ages. This then is the good which we ought to procure for our selves, and other Men: This is the chief end of all our Duties toward them: This is that holy Society which we must begin here below, by the love which we owe to one another. For since the design of God in these temporary and perishing So∣cieties, is only to furnish Christ, the Architect of the eternal Temple, with fit Materials for the building of his Church; we cannot fail of performing essential Duties, when we engage in the designs of him who would have all Men to be sav'd, and employ all our Faculties in hastning his great Work, and in procuring to Men those good things for which they were created.

V. So when our Saviour bids us Love one another, we must not imagine that he absolutely commands us any other thing, than to procure one another the true and spiritual Goods. What kind of Blessings were those which he showr'd on his Apostles and Disciples? Did he give them the fading and perishing Goods, such as the pretended Friends of this World give to those that gratify their Passions? Did he constantly deliver them out of the Hands of their Persecutors? No certainly-Therefore the principal Duties of our Charity do not

consist in such things as these. We must assist our Neighbour, and preserve his Life, as we are oblig'd to preserve our own, but we must prefer the Salvation of our Neighbour before his and our own Life.

VI. To Love therefore is an equivocal Term. It sig∣nifies Three very different things, which we must care∣fully distinguish: To unite our selves by our Will to an Object, as our Good, or the cause of our Happi∣ness: To conform our selves to any thing as our pat∣tern, or the rule of our Perfection: And to wish well to any Person, or to desire that he may be happy and perfect. The love of Union is due only to the power of God: The love of Conformity is due only to the law of God, the immutable Order. No Creature is capable of acting on us: No Person can be our living Law, or our perfect Model. Christ himself, tho' he was without Sin, tho' he was Reason incarnate, did some things which we must not do, because the cir∣cumstances not being the same, the intellectual Reason, the inviolable Law, the indispensable Model of all in∣telligent Beings forbids us to do them.

VII. So then we must not love our Neighbour with a love of Union, nor with a love of Conformity. But we may and ought to Love him with a love of Benevo∣lence. We must Love him in that sense of the Word which signifies to desire his Happiness and Perfection; and as our practical desires are the occasional causes of certain effects which conduce to that end, we must use all our endeavours to procure him solid Vertue, that he may merit the true Goods which are the reward of it. This is the obligation that truly and absolutely lies upon us from that Commandment which our Sa∣viour hath given us in the Gospel, to Love one another as ourselves, and as he hath loved us.

VIII. To Honour is also an equivocal Word: It de∣notes a submission of the Mind to the true Power, a respect or outward submission to an occasional Cause, and a simple esteem of any thing in respect of the ex∣cellency of its Nature, or the perfection which it doth or may possess.

IX. That kind of Honour which consists in a sub∣mission of the Mi•••• to the true Power, is due to God alone. 〈…〉〈…〉 none but God directly and

absolutely in the Powers which he hath ordain'd: And tho' we are oblig'd exactly to pay to our lawful Supe∣riors, those outward honours and submissions, which humane Laws and Customs have establish'd, yet all the submission of the Soul must be refer'd to God alone. It is mean and abject to fear the most excellent of created Beings: It is God alone whom we must fear in it. Nevertheless, we should esteem every thing proportic∣nably to the excellence of its Nature, or the perfection which it possesses or is capable of possessing. So that the love of Benevolence, respect or relative and out∣ward Submission, and simple Esteem, are as I take it, the Three general Heads to which all the Duties that we owe to Men may be reduc'd.

X. There is this difference between the Duties which Religion obliges us to pay to God, and those which So∣ciety requires us to pay to Men; that the principal Duties of Religion are inward and spiritual, because God searches the Hearts, and absolutely speaking, hath no need of his Creatures; whereas the Duties of Society are almost all external. For besides that Men have no other way to know our inward Sentiments of them, but by outward and sensible marks, they all stand in need of one another, either for the preservation, of their Life, or their particular instruction, or innumerable other things which absolutely require a mutual assistance.

XI. Therefore to expect from other Men, inward and spiritual Duties which are due to God alone, a pure and uncompounded Spirit, the searcher of Hearts, the only independent and self-sufficient Being, is a diabo∣lical Pride; this is to affect Dominion over spiritual Sub∣stances, to attribute to our selves the quality of searcher of Hearts, and in a Word, to exact that which is no way our due, and which is wholly useless to us. For what signifies our inward adoration to other Men, or what good can theirs do us? If they faithfully perform what we desire of them, what can we complain of? If they respect God himself, if they love and fear him in our Person, certainly we attribute to our selves power and independence, if we are not satisfied with this.

Servants, * 1.24 saith S. Paul, obey in all things your Ma∣sters according to the Flesh; not with Eye-service, as Men-pleasers, but in singleness of Heart, fearing

God.

It is God that they must fear. * 1.25

And what∣soever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto Men:

to God who hath the power of re∣warding, and not unto Men, whose Wills are of them∣selves altegether ineffectual. * 1.26

Knowing, as the Apo∣stle goes on, that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the Inheritance: For ye serve the Lord Christ. Ye are bought with a Price, * 1.27 be not ye the Servants of Men.

XII. There is so strict an union between the Soul and the Body, and such a mutual relation betwixt the Motions of these two Substances, that it is very diffi∣cult to draw near by the motion of our Body, to any Object which is the occasional cause of Pleasure, with∣out uniting our selves to it by the motion of our Love, as if it were the true cause of that Pleasure. So like∣wise when the Imagination being dazled with the splen∣dour which envirous the Great, falls down and pro∣strates it self before them, it is difficult for the Soul not to follow that Motion, or at least not to bow and lower it self. It should indeed prostrate it self, but then it must be before the power of the invisible God, which it must honour in the Person of the Prince, where that Power visibly resides.

XIII. When the Body feeds on a delicious Fruit, the Soul which finds it self in some measure happy by the Pleasure it enjoys, should then be affected with Love, but that Love should be address'd only to God, who alone doth and can act on it. But our Senses being grown rebellious by Sin, dislurb our Mind, they insolently withdraw us from the presence of God, and fix all our Thoughts on that impotent matter, which we hold in our Hands, and crush between our Teeth. They make us believe, that the Fruit it self contains and communicates that grateful Tast which delights us; and because the power of God doth not appear visible to our Eyes, we see nothing but the Fruit to which we can attribute the cause of our present Happi∣ness. Our Senses were given us only for the preser∣vation of our sensible Being: What matter is it then to them from whence the Fruit comes, so they have

it, or from whence the Pleasure proceeds so they en∣joy it?

XIV. So likewise when we are in the presence of our Sovereign, our Imagination soon dissipates all those abstract Ideas of an invisible Power. The divine Law, the immutable Order, Reason is a Fantom which vanishes and disappears when the Prince Commands, or when he speaks with Authority. The Majesty of the Prince, the sensible splendor of Greatness, that Air of respect and awe, which every one doth and ought to put on, so shake the Brain of an ambitious Man, and indeed of most Men, whose Passions are then ex∣cited, that there are but few People who have so much constancy and resolution as to consult the divine Law, to think on the power of the invisible God, to retire into themselves, and to hearken to the Judgments pro∣nounc'd within them by him who presides immediately over all spiritual Beings.

XV. This strict union of the Soul and Body, which Sin hath chang'd into a dependnece, is the cause that there is nothing more dangerous than the Conversati∣on and Business of Courts, and that a Man ought to have a particular call, and strong and extraordinary reasons to make him engage in it. The Societies which are generally form'd there, are such whose beginning and end is Ambition and Pleasure, and being govern'd not by Reason or Faith, but by inconsistent and irregu∣lar Passions, they break every Day, and plunge Men in the greatest Miseries. Therefore such as have not Courage and Constancy enough to perform their Duties to God, in the presence of their Prince, in the hurry and perplexity of Business, or when they have too many People looking on them; in a Word, such as suffer themselves to be dazled, stunn'd and born down by the Conversation of the World, whatever it may be, ought to avoid it, and to place themselves in a Sta∣tion, where they may without constraint honour and love the true Power, conform themselves to the divine Law, and render to God the inward and spiritual Duties. These are indispensable Duties; and certain∣ly we owe nothing to our Neighbour which may hin∣der us from paying to God that which we indispensably owe him.

XVI. But besides there is scarce any thing to be got by Men: Their Language is as corrupt as their Heart: It raises only false Ideas in the Mind, and excites only a love of sensible Objects. But their example is yet more dangerous. For besides that it is not so confor∣mable to Reason as their Discourse, it is a living and a moving Language, which irresistibly persuades those that do not stand upon their Guard, We often hear a thing said, whithout any Thoughts of doing it: But we are so prone to Imitation, that we do mechanically what we see others do. There is no obligation on a Man to do what he only hears talk'd of, and doth not see pra∣ctis'd; but it is a violation of Society, 'tis the way to become Odious or Ridiculous, to be counted Whim∣sical and Capricious; in short, 'tis look'd upon as a kind of Schism, to condemn the general practice of the World by a singular Conduct.

XVII. Nevertheless Charity and our natural Consti∣tution oblige us many times to live in Society. Every Man cannot bear a retir'd and solitary Life, and those least of all to whom the Conversation of the World is most dangerous. They must See and be Seen, they must Talk and hear others Talk. Conversation without Passions refreshes and strengthens the Mind. Therefore there is a necessity of living amongst Men. But then we should choose such as are Reasonable, or at least such as are capable of hearing Reason, and submitting to Faith, that so we may labour together for our mu∣tual Sanctification. For we must build in this Life for Eternity, we must begin the eternal Society here be∣low, we must make hast while it is call'd to Day, to enter into the rest of the Lord, and cause others to en∣ter too; that our Society may be with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Ghost by an immortal Love, proceeding continually in relation to us, from the power and wisdom of God, the per∣petual influence of which will be the efficacious cause of our Perfection and eternal Happiness.

CHAP. VII. The Duties of Esteem are due to all Mankind, to the lowest of Men, to the greatest Sinners, to our Enemies and Persecutors: To Merits, as well as to Natures. It is difficult to regulate exactly these Duties and those of Benevolence, by reason of the difference of personal and relative Merits, and their various Combinations. A general rule, and the most certain one that can be given in this matter.

I. THE Three general Heads to which all the par∣ticular Duties that we owe to other Men may be reduc'd, are, as I said in the foregoing Chapter, simple Esteem, which ought to be proportion'd to the excel∣lence or persection of every Being; Respect or a re∣lative submission of the Mind, proportionable to the subordinate Power of intelligent occasional Causes; and the love of Benevolence, which is due to all that are capable of enjoying those Goods which we may possess in common with them.

II. Simple Esteem is a Duty which we owe to all Mankind. Contempt is an Injury, and the greatest of Injuries. There is nothing contemptible but nothing; for every real Being deserves esteem. And as Man is the noblest of the Creatures, it is a false Judgment, and an irregular Motion, to despise any Man, let him be what he will. The lowest of Men may be exalted to the sovereign Power; and the two first Kings which God gave to the Israelites, were taken as I may say, from the Dregs of the People. Saul of the lowest Fa∣mily of the least of the twelve Tribes, found the King∣dom in seeking his Father's Asses. * 1.28

Am not I a Benjamite, saith he to Samuel, who promis'd him the Kingdom, of the smallest of the Tribes of Israel? And my Family the least of all the Families of the Tribe of Benjamin?

And David, the youngest of the Sons of Jesse; was taken, as he saith himself from the Flocks, to be put at the head of God's chosen Peo∣ple. * 1.29

From following the Ews great with Young,

he brought him to Feed Jacob his People, and Israel his Inheritance.

III. But the Gospel gives us yet another prospect of Things. It teaches us that the Poor are the Mem∣bers and the Brethren of Christ: * 1.30 That the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them: And that they have pow∣er to receive their Friends into everlasting Habitations. For tho' the Rich as well as the Poor are wash'd by Baptism in the Blood of the Lamb, yet they defile themselves so many ways with Pleasure which inebriates them, and with Ambition which makes them forget their Title of Children of God, that Christ is always angry with them, and continually denounces woes against them in the Gospel. * 1.31

Wo unto you that are Rich: For you have receiv'd your Consolation. Let the Brother of low Degree, saith S. James, * 1.32 rejoyce in that he is exalted: But the Rich in that he is made low; because as the Flower of the Grass he shall pass away. Go to now ye rich Men, * 1.33 Weep and Howl for your Miseries that shall come upon you. Your Riches are corrupted, and your Gar∣ments are Moth-eaten. Your Gold and Silver is canker'd, and the rust of them shall be a Witness against you, and shall Eat your Flesh as it were Fire: Ye have heaped Treasure together for the last Days.

IV. Nor must we Esteem, and give outward marks of our Esteem to the Poor only and to the lowest of Men, but also to Sinners, and to those who commit the great∣est Crimes. Their Life is abominable, their practice is odious and contemptible, we must never approve it, tho' it be set off with all the splendor of Greatness. But still their Person merits our Esteem. For nothing deserves contempt but nothing, and Sin which is truly nothing, which corrupts Man's Nature, annihilates his Merit, but doth not destroy the excellence of his Per∣son. The greatest of Sinners may, by the assistance of Heaven, become pure and holy as the Angels: He may enjoy eternal Happiness with us, and take place of us in the Kingdom of God. We should have com∣passion of his Misery, not that which afflicts and makes him uneasy, but that which corrupts him; not of his pains, but of his disorders, which put him out of a ca∣pacity

of actually possessing with us those good Things which he may enjoy, without depriving us of them.

V. But besides, what right have we to judge of Mens secret Intentions? It is God alone who searches the Hearts. He that commits a Crime, doth it perhaps against his Will; his Mind is weak and disturb'd, his flaming and outragious Passions have, it may be, de∣priv'd him in a moment of the use of his Liberty: But supposing him to have acted freely; his contrite and penitent Heart hath perhaps obtain'd pardon of his Sin, or will obtain it to morrow; a day happy for him, and it may be fatal to you, by your irrecoverable fall, for a punishment of your Pride.

VI. Lastly, the contempt of Mens Persons is not only injurious and wrongful, but it also puts him who is so unwise as to shew it by outward signs, out of a con∣dition of having a charitable correspondence with the Person despis'd, or of ever being serviceable to him. For Men will have no communication with those that despise them; they do not naturally enter into Society with others, nor do them any good, but with hope of a return; they will not follow a Trade, when they expect always to lose, and never to get any thing by it; and they never expect any good from those that are so unjust as to despise them: For contempt is a certain sign, not only that they actually want Charity and Benevolence, but also that they are very far from ever having any.

VII. As to our Enemies and Persecutors, it is cer∣tain that Esteem is a Duty more general than Benevo∣lence. There are some Goods which we are not bound to wish our Enemies, for the Love which we owe to our selves, obliges, or permits us at least not to de∣sire that they may have the Power to hurt us: So that we may in some measure want Benevolence for our Persecutors, without failing of our Duties toward them. But the Persecution of our Enemies ought not of it self to diminish the Esteem that is due to them, but rather encrease it in this respect, that we should give them more sensible and more frequent Testimonies of it: A Man may pass by his Friend, or even his Father with∣out saluting him; this is no affront to them: But it is an injury to his Enemy, not to pay him this Duty, be∣cause

his Enemy hath not the same Thoughts of him that other Men have. He hath reason to believe it done out of contempt, whereas a Friend will look upon it as meer Inadvertency.

VIII. But besides, there is nothing that disunites Men so much as Contempt; for no Man would be counted a Cypher in the Society of which he is a Member; no Man would be the lowest part of that Body which he composes with others. So that when Mens Minds are already irritated, when they are once separated by any Enmity, they can never be join'd again, if the con∣tempt be open and visible. Whereas on the contrary, deadly Enmities may be reconcil'd, where Men reci∣procally pay the Duties of Esteem to one another, and thereby shew that they are so far from pretending to a higher Rank in the Society which they would form, that they willingly give it to others, and do Justice both to them and themselves, according to the Judg∣ment which they make of their own, and others Merit. Self love and a secret Pride, do not suffer us long to consider him as our Enemy, who willingly gives us Proofs that he is persuaded of our Worth and Excel∣lence.

IX. But if we come short in the Duties of Esteem in respect of our Enemies, or those that make no Figure in the World, we exceed in them as to our Friends, or such as are conspicuous for their Birth, Riches, or any other extraordinary Qualification. The Brain is so fram'd for the good of each particular Person, and for that of Society in general, as it relates to this Life, that the Body mechanically puts on an Air of Esteem and Respect for every thing that comes from our Friends, and from those who are in a condition to do us any Kindness. The esteem which we have for Persons, ex∣tends it self to every thing that belongs to them. * 1.34

When a rich Man speaketh, saith the Son of Sirach, every Man holdeth his Tongue, and look what he saith; they extol it to the Clouds: But if the poor Man speak, they say, What fellow is this?

Our Machine is set to this pitch. Two Lutes tun'd together, give the same sound; and when they are near one another, if one be touch'd, the other will move of it self: So our Friends are tun'd to us; he that touches one, shakes

the other. Those whose favour we have an interest to maintain, are always in the right: They mutually im∣pel, and are impell'd by us: They deceive us, and we again deceive them by a rebound, which neither they nor we are sensible of. The Wheels of the Machine will go on in their Motion: Now the Body speaks only for the Body; this is a thing we cannot too care∣fully observe, For Opinion, or the contagion of the Imagination is the most prolifick Root of those Errors and Disorders, which lay wast the Christian World. We should therefore retire into our selves every mo∣ment, and compare that which Men say, with the an∣swers of the inward Truth. We should consult Rea∣son, which puts every thing in its proper place, and doth not confound the Esteem which we owe to Mens Persons, with the Contempt which is due to their Fol∣lies. The approbation we give to the impertinences of our Friends, confirms them in their Errors; and the Respect that is shewn to every thing which comes from Persons of Quality, swells them so with Pride, that they attribute to themselves a kind of Infallibili∣ty, and think they have a right to say and do what∣ever comes in their Head; not that we should repre∣hend them openly neither: They are extremely ten∣der; and we can scarce touch them, without hurting and offending them. Our Duties in relation to them, must be guided by the Rules of Prudence and Cha∣rity; but we must not abuse them by sordid Flattery, after we have been deceiv'd our selves by that admi∣rable Relation which God hath put between our own Bodies, and those that are about us, for the good of Society: Which Relation on the Soul's part is indeed chang'd into a dependence by Sin, but ought still to be govern'd by Reason; and when there is occasion, check'd and reprimanded by it.

X. That all the Judgments and Motions of our E∣steem, as well as those outward Actions which are the Marks and Effects of it, may be conformable to the divine Law, the immutable Order; we must observe that not only Mens Persons, but also their Merits, require our Esteem. As to Persons, nothing is more easie than to acquit our selves of this Duty; for equality of Esteem is due to equality of Natures. But

it is very difficult to proportion our Esteem according to the Merits of Men. For besides, that their true and real Worth is known only to God, their natural Me∣rits have so many different Relations, which should en∣crease or diminish our Esteem, as well as our Respect and Benevolence toward them, that it is impossible for finite Minds, as ours are, to know exactly the Duties we owe them; so that we are many times at a loss which way to determine our selves in this Matter.

XI. Merits in general, may be divided into free and natural, civil and religious Merits. Free Merits are those which proceed from a good use of the Liberty of the Mind. Natural Merits consist in eminent Quali∣ties of Mind and Body. Civil and Religious Merits arise from the Offices Men bear either in Church or State, and from such Qualifications as are proper for the discharge of those Offices. All Perfection is valuable in it self; but many times it is much more comparatively or relatively. A Diamond is not so perfect as a Fly; but it is a great deal more valuable, because of the Use Men make of it. Also those Beings which have no other Perfection but that of their own Nature, are preferable to those which have acquir'd Perfections. A rough Diamond hath not so much Beauty as Glass well cut and polish'd; but it hath much more Value, as Things go. So that a Man might justly be counted a Fool, who would play the Philosopher so much, as to prefer a Fly before an Emerald; and to look upon a rough Diamond, of very great Value, as no better than a Pebble.

XII. For to judge rightly of the Esteem we ought to make of Things and Persons, it is not sufficient to con∣sider them in themselves, but we must also examine the several Relations which they may have to others of far greater Value. The favour of the Prince gives a lustre to the vilest Persons; and the Esteem Men have for Things, should regulate their Price, and consequently our outward and relative Esteem, unless we resolve to despise Men too, and make our selves ridiculous and contemptible. Only we must take care not to let our Mind to be corrupted by the Judgments that are com∣monly made of Things. Our Esteem must be only re∣lative, if the worth of the Thing be but relative; for

tho' Men esteem Gold and Silver more than Copper and Iron, or the organis'd Bodies of Flies; yet we must not pay the Duty of Esteem to Gold and Silver, but to Men who make a wrong Judgment of them. We must not judge of Persons or Things as Men do, who attri∣bute to the Objects of their Passions imaginary Perfe∣ctions: But whether they are deceiv'd in their Judg∣ments or not, we should have a relative Esteem for that which they esteem perhaps without Reason; because in human Society, the Worth of Things is generally measur'd by the Esteem Men have of them.

XIII. The relative Merit of Men is many times much greater than their personal Merit, and since our Duties are to be govern'd as well by the former as the latter; I say again, That nothing is more difficult than to judge rightly of what we ought to do in the infinite combinations of these different Merits. Things may fall out so sometimes, that we must unavoidably come short in the Payment of what we owe, either to a Re∣lation in such a degree, or to a Man that hath done us such a Service, or who bears such an Office in the So∣ciety, and is serviceable to the State in such a capa∣city. What must we do in this Case? What is the common Measure whereby we may precisely discover the Proportion of our Duties? For tho' it be certainly contain'd in the immutable Order, yet it is not exact∣ly known to us; and if it were, yet many times there are so many Relations to compare, that we should never know what to resolve on, if we staid till Evidence pre∣cisely noted to us every thing that we ought to do.

XIV. We know well enough, that all other things being equal, we should prefer some Relations before others; our Relations before our Friends, and our Prince before them both. But must we prefer one Re∣lation before six or eight Friends? A Relation who is our Enemy, before a particular Friend? Herein lies the difficulty: For we must at the same time have re∣gard to the Rights of Kindred, of Friendship and of Society. So that it often happens, that we are oblig'd to prefer an Enemy before a Friend; an Enemy who is a Friend of our Relations, esteem'd by the Prince, and serviceable to the State, before a Friend, who is a Person useless to the Publick, or hath little or no affe∣ction

for those who ought to be most dear to us. Therefore there is no general Rule for the Government of our selves in the Duties of Esteem, Respect and Benevolence, which we owe to other Men, but what is liable to a great many exceptions. And that which extremely perplexes all that can be said in this Mat∣ter, is; That the Duties of Esteem, Respect and Be∣nevolence, are of different kinds; and many times in the same kind, we ought to prefer one Man as to the Duties of Benevolence, before another, to whom we absolutely owe the Duties of Esteem and Respect.

XV. Seeing then the Order of our Duties is chang'd and govern'd by the different Circumstances of Things, which it is not possible to foresee; every Man should carefully examine them, and retire into himself, to con∣sult the immutable Law, without regarding those false Interests which the Passions continually represent; and when he finds himself at a loss, he should have recourse to such as are better skill'd than I in these matters; he should consult Persons of the greatest Charity, Pru∣dence and Capacity, rather than those who have their Memory only fill'd with general Rules, which are in∣sufficient to give a decision in particular circumstances, and many times have neither Sense nor Charity. The only general Rule that I shall venture to give at present, a Rule which is not much follow'd, but which seems to me to be the most certain one that can be given, is this; That we should prefer the Laws of Friendship in Jesus Christ, and of the eternal Society, before the com∣mon Rights of a Friendship and a Society which must end with our Life. I shall explain my self more par∣ticularly.

XVI. That which is finite, how great soever it be, hath of it self no proportion to infinity. Ten thou∣sand Ages, in respect of eternity, is nothing. The proportion of the Universe, to immense and boundless Spaces, can be express'd only by a Cypher. An Unite divided by a thousand Millions of Cyphers, by a pro∣gression from one to a thousand Millions, instead of from One to Ten, would be a Fraction infinitely too great to express this proportion, for indeed there is none; this is my Position. Now we shall enjoy God in the other life, and enjoy him for ever. Therefore

the possession of the Empire of the Universe, in re∣spect of the possession of the true Good; and the time of the enjoyment of this Empire, compar'd with the eternity of the life to come, are Cyphers; there is no proportion between them: They are totally eclips'd and annihilated by the presence of Eternity. Human Greatness, and Pleasures which pass away with our life; nay, let us join whatever we can think of for our Satisfaction; all this disappears when we reflect a lit∣tle, and consider that we are immortal: It is nothing, and ought to be counted for nothing. This, I think, every one will allow.

XVII. Now let us observe this Principle, and we shall see, that he who is an occasion of falling to one single Person, is more cruel than the inhuman Pha∣laris; that it is just that he should suffer, like that wretched Prince, the same Fire into which he hath made others fall; and that it were better for him, as our Saviour speaks, That he were thrown into the Sea with a Milstone about his Neck.

XVIII. On the contrary, we shall see that he who labours under Jesus Christ, in the building of the eternal Temple, is incomparably more valuable than the greatest Architect that ever was. There is nothing now to be seen of the Temple of the great Solomon, the Habita∣tion of the living God, and the Glory of a whole Peo∣ple; but this Man's Work shall remain for ever.

XIX. We shall see clearly, that a deform'd Body, a rude and unpolish'd Mind, a lively and irregular Ima∣gination, a Man of no reputation or fortune in the World, without Friends, and without any Qualifications to recommend him; that such a Man, I say, if he be truly pious, if he fears and loves his God, is infinitely more worthy of our Esteem, than the most beautiful Man in the World, the most caress'd and honour'd for his admirable Qualities, but with something less Re∣ligion. Certainly no one will dare to say, That God the righteous Judge, prefers this Man before the other. Therefore we also are bound to prefer the other if we are sufficiently convinc'd of the Difference of their Piety.

XX. A Man may esteem the quality of a Physician more than that of a Lawyer; this is indifferent, and depends on Customs, which vary according to times and places. But to esteem the quality of a Prince more than that of a Christian, to value the Title of a Gentleman more than that of a Priest, after the Order of the Son of God; this is not indifferent: Not but that a Man owes to his Prince other kind of Duties, than he doth to the Minister of his Parish; the Prince hath the sovereign Power, and therefore he must pay him the highest Respect, and an exact Obedience in all things.

XXI. I have two Relations, or two Friends; one of them is an honest Missionary, who labours, with suc∣cess, in the building of the Church; the other an ac∣complish'd Person in all human Sciences, a great Mathe∣matician, an excellent Philosopher, one that knows the Histories of all Nations, and speaks their Lan∣guages: But I do not find that his Learning is ser∣viceable to the eternal Society; nay, I think I disco∣ver the contrary. Now which of these two Persons is the most valuable? both of them stand in need of my Assistance; Which shall I prefer? Certainly the good Priest, the honest Preacher whom the World despises, and not the learned Gentleman whom the World adores. I may perhaps give him greater marks of esteem in many Cases, for fear of disgusting his nice and sque∣mish Constitution. For those that have great Talents in appearance, or according to the judgment of Men, think every thing their due; and that we may not of∣fend them, we may sometimes give them those honours which they do not deserve; for our outward Actions should be govern'd by the Rules of Charity, and some∣times with respect to the false Judgments of Men. But for my inward Esteem and Benevolence, I owe them to those who have the greatest Relation to the eternal So∣ciety before all others, tho' they were my profess'd Ene∣mies, and the lowest of Men in the Eyes of the corrupt World.

XXII. Sometimes Circumstances may fall out so, that a Man must either give scandal to his Neighbour, or lose his honour and his life. He cannot well defend Truth, without ridiculing him that attacks it, and ex∣posing his Party. He cannot serve his Friend, or it may

be his Prince without violating the Christian Charity which he owes to a stranger, and being the cause of his Damnation. What must a Man resolve in these, and innumerable other the like Cases? Nothing is more clear, according to the Principle which I have laid down. For since every thing that relates to infinity, becomes infinite it self by that Relation; no regard ought to be had to the Rights of a temporary Friendship or Society, when the eternal Society is concern'd.

XXIII. But yet we must take care, that in prefer∣ring the spiritual Advantage before all other Things; we do not offend our Friends without cause: For we should always do justice, before we exercise Charity. A Man must not steal to marry a Daughter, who he fears will otherwise be ruin'd. The Grace of Christ may re∣medy those disorders. He must not give his Friend oc∣casion to break with him, by neglecting those Duties which he hath a Right to expect from him, nor wound one Man's Conscience to cure anothers. We should govern the Duties of Charity by Prudence, and endea∣vour to foresee the Consequences of our Actions. But I think, I may say in general, That there is not a more certain and comprehensive Rule than this, to have always a regard to the Rights of the eternal Society, when they are mingled with other Interests, as it most commonly happens.

CHAP. VIII. Of the Duties of Benevolence and Respect. We should procure all Men the true Goods, and not relative Goods. Who it is that fulfills the Duties of Benevo∣lence. The unreasonable Complaints of worldly Men. The Duties of Respect should be proportion'd to the greatness of participated Power.

I. THe greatest part of what hath been said touching the Duties of Esteem, may be also applied to the Duties of Benevolence and Respect. However, I think it necessary to say something farther of them here, that the Nature and Obligations of them may be more distin∣ctly understood.

II. As to the Duties of Benevolence or Charity, we owe them to all Men in general; and tho' there be some particular Goods, which we ought not to wish nor procure to some Persons, nor in some Circumstances, yet the true Goods which we may give without de∣priving our selves or others of them, ought never to be refus'd to any one whatsoever. We should never conceal Truth, the nourishment of the Soul, from those that are capable of receiving it. We should give good example to all the World. No one should ever be excepted in the publick Prayers and Offices of the Church. The Sacraments should never be refus'd to such as are rightly dispos'd to receive them. These are the true Goods, which relate to the eternal Society. And since God would have all Men to be sav'd, and to come to the knowledge of the Truth; he that refuses to any one the Duties of Christian Charity, opposes the de∣signs of God, and undermines the Foundation of that Society which we have with him by Jesus Christ.

III. But for the good Things of this World, as they are not properly Goods, as their real worth depends on the relation they may have to the true Goods, in short as they are such things as cannot be communicated without dividing; it very often happens that we are oblig'd not to impart them to some Persons. For in∣stance, if a Father out of too much Indulgence to his Children who are debauch'd, or prone to debauchery, furnishes them with Mony; he is the cause of their disorders, and wrongs the Poor who stand in need of his assistance: As he that gives a Sword to a mad Man, or a Man transported with Passion, is really the cause of the Murder that ensues. The Prodigal robs the Poor, and by his indiscreet Liberalities kills the Souls of his riotous Companions: And he that gives a drunken Servant the liberty to drink as much as he pleases, doth him a kindness which is forbidden by the Laws of Cha∣rity and Benevolence. In a Word, he that gives any power to impotent Minds, which can neither consult, nor follow Reason, is the cause of their destruction, and of all the Mischiefs which spring from the abuse of Power.

IV. These are undeniable Truths, and the reason of them is plain. Mony, for instance, is not properly a Good, because we cannot truly possess or enjoy it, for spiritual Subitances cannot possess Bodies: It is such a Good as cannot be communicated without division, and therefore the love of Benevolence should distri∣bute it in such a manner, that it may be useful, and become a Good, or rather a proper means of acquiring Good, to those who receive it. For otherwise, there is a double breach of our Duty toward our Neigh∣bour: We hurt those to whom we give it, and we injure all those who by the Laws of Charity have a just title to it, to whom we do not give it.

V. But Pain and Disgrace, which in themselves are real Evils, become good in many cases; and the love of Benevolence which we owe to all Men, obliges us to inflict them on those that deserve it, over whom we have authority, to reclaim them from their disorders by the fear of Punishment. She is a cruel Mother that will not suffer a gangren'd Arm of her Child to be cut off: But she is much more cruel, that suffers his Mind and Heart to be corrupted by Ease and Pleasure. He that sees his Friend ruin'd by underhand Intrigues, and takes no notice of it, or for his own advantage enters into a correspondence in prejudice of the Friendship he hath vow'd, is a perfidious Friend, and not fit for hu∣mane Society. But he is much more perfidious, who for fear of grieving and displeasing us, suffers us to fall into Hell, or by gratifying our Passions, joyns with the only Enemies we have to blind and destroy us.

VI. Who then is he that can render to his Neighbour the Duties of Charity or Benevolence? Certainly he that knows the vanity of transitory Enjoyments, and the solidity of the future Goods, the stability of the heavenly Jerusalem, built on that immoveable Rock, the well beloved Son of the Almighty: He that com∣pares Time with Eternity, and following the great principle of Christian Morality, measures the Duties of Civil Friendship and Society by the Rules of that Society which is joyn'd here upon Earth by Grace, and cemented for ever in Heaven by the perpetual com∣munion of a Good which shall be given whole and en∣tire

to all, and entire to every one of us: He in fine, that continually meditates on that divine Society which we ought to have with the Father by the Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit, the mutual love of the Fa∣ther and the Son, and the Fountain of that happy Love which shall for ever unite us to God. He and he alone is capable of paying to his Neighbour the Duties of Benevolence. All other Men are destitute of Charity, and are so far from loving us with the love which is due to us, and is contain'd in the Second great Commandment of the Christian Law, that they do not so much as know their essential Obligations toward us. The Corespondence they have with us, their Friend∣ship, their Society will rather be the fatal cause of our Misery, than the happy foundation of our Joy and Tranquility.

VII. Let People say what they will, that we ought to separate the Laws of civil Society from those of Christian Charity, to me they seem inseparable in the practical part. The Citizen of my earthly City is already by Grace a Citizen of the holy City; the Sub∣ject of my Prince is a Domestick of the House of God.

Now ye are no more Strangers and Foreigners, * 1.35 saith S. Paul, but Fellow-citizens with the Saints, and of the Houshold of God; and are built upon the Foun∣darion of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone; in whom all the Building fitly fram'd together, groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord.

Shall I then engage in the designs of a Friend who seeks to advance his For∣tunes here upon Earth, and hazards the possession which he hath in Heaven? Shall I by my Counsels and Friends favour his Ambition, and advance one who wants that constancy and resolution that are necessary for subordinate Governments, to a station which all wise and understanding Men are afraid of? A Friend trembles for his Friend, when he beholds him in the midst of dangers. A Mother is frighted, when she sees her Child clambring up a steep Place. And shall not I be in fear for a Relation, for a dear Friend in Christ, whom I see environ'd on all sides with dreadful preci∣pices, and yet still climbing higher to a place that makes the strongest Heads giddy?

VIII. The present Life should be consider'd with relation to that which is to follow, and shall be fol∣low'd by no other. The Society which we now form, is no otherwise durable, than as it is the beginning of that which shall never have an end. It is for this se∣cond Society, that the First is ordain'd: It is to merit Heaven that we live upon Earth. I repeat this Truth often, because it is necessary that we should be through∣ly convinc'd of it. We should engrave it deeply on our Memory. We should incessantly revolve it in our Mind, for fear lest the continual action of sensible Objects should blot out the remembrance of it. If we are fully convinc'd of this Truth, if we make it the Rule of our Judgments and desires, we shall not be concern'd at the want of those things which we shall not much esteem: We shall not then take such measures as tend only to make us happy upon Earth, and be∣fore the time of recompence; but such as lead us whi∣ther we ought to direct our aim, to that perfection which makes us acceptable in the sight of God, and worthy to enter into an eternal Society with him through Christ our Lord.

IX. But because Men have but a weak and ab∣stracted Idea, of the greatness of future Goods, they seldom think on them, and when they do they are not affected with them; for only sensible Ideas, shake the Soul, only the presence of Good and Evil touches, and puts it in Motion. On the contrary, the Imagi∣nation and Senses being continually and forcibly struck by the Objects which are round about us, we are con∣stantly thinking on them, and always with some mo∣tion of Passion; and as we naturally judge of the soli∣dity of any good by the impression it makes on our Mind, we look upon them with Esteem, we desire them with Impatience, and embrace them with Pleasure. And therefore we think that those Persons have no Kind∣ness nor Friendship for us, who stop us in our career, in∣stead of joyning with us to catch the Prey which escapes out of our Hands.

X. Observe but a pack of Dogs, when they are going out a Hunting how they rejoyce, and as it were caress and congratulate one another. Eager for the sport, they mechanically excite each other, and many times

the Huntsman himself, by leaping and jumping, mo∣tions which reciprocally require the like, for all Ma∣chines, at least those of the same Species, are narnrally made to imitate one another. If there be any one hotter than the rest, that ranges too wide, and starts the Game too far off, him they shut up and leave him behind. But what a howling and crying there is! What sensible expressions of an extreme Grief! All this is but Mechanism and Clock-work. Just so it is with those that know not the true Good, when any Passion possesses them. If you do not assist and further their designs, if you thwart and oppose them, they will always be reproaching and exclaiming against you, that you neglect the Duties of Society, of Friendsh••p and Affinity, that you make them miserable, and pro∣fess your self their Enemy. If you endeavour to con∣vince them by Reason, presently you are a Stoick, a Cato. If you go about to restrain them by considera∣tions of Religion, then you are precise and bigotted. The Wheels of the Machine are set a going, and will go on a long time. Devout and pious Men will still be Whimsical and Capricious, without Breeding, Friend∣ship or Civility. They will always be shun'd, as not fit for humane Society: For indeed there can be no Society but between such as hope for the same kind of advantages. But pious Men seek after the true Goods, for which those others have no inclination, who have no tast, no sense of any thing but the objects of their Passions.

XI. Good Men being truly animated by Charity, never break Friendship with those that live disorderly out of anger or resentment. They still hope to reclaim them by their Example, their Patience, and their Counsels favour'd and assisted by Grace. As they are convinc'd of the Truth of their own Sentiments, and throughly affected with the sweetness of the true Goods, of which they have already a kind of foretast; they think of nothing but to make others see what they see themselves. They would fain make them relish the inexhaustible Fountain of all Pleasures. The abhor∣rence which they have for Vice inspires and animates them, and makes them speak in such a Dialect as s••rikes a damp on those that really find themselves happy,

when they follow the agreeable motion of their Passions. This is the cause that a vitious and debauch'd Man, and by debauch'd I mean all those that do not look up∣on the immutable Order as their Law, or the inviolable Rule of their Actions, those that think Reason an in∣supportable Yoke: This, I say, is the cause that a debauch'd Man considers those of a regular Life as his Enemies, that he avoids their Conversation with a kind of aversion and abhorrence, and will have no Cor∣respondence with them, being inwardly persuaded that they will not quit the solid and substantial Goods to engage in his designs, and joyn with him in the pur∣suit of Fantoms, which vanish and disappear at the Mo∣ment that they are embrac'd.

XII. These sort of People are always complaining that the Laws of Religion are confounded with those of Nature, that devout and godly Men are good for nothing in the World, and that they are obstinate and ill-bred People. They would have Folks converse with them like kind Relations, faithful Friends, or true-hearted Country-men, and not like Men pre∣possess'd with Notions which they do not relish nor approve. But this is not possible to be done. A Man cannot act but according to his own Light. Shall he that sees clearly, suffer a blind Man to fall into a Pre∣cipice, and not call out to him and stop him? And would the blind Man think you have reason to com∣plain of the kindness that is done him, and say to his Friend, let me alone: Do you think you see better than I? We are all blind: Believe me, you are prejudic'd. Am not I more concern'd in my own preservation than you? You had better go blindly along with me, for I am sure I am in the finest way in the World.

XIII. If I serve my Friend according to his desires, I ruin him and my self too. This is the prejudice that blinds me. Perhaps he hath some reason to complain of me; but he is unreasonable, if he imagines that I renounce his Friendship, or if he renounces mine. If my Friend were not a Christian, or not capable of being one; if our whole Being were to be annihilated by Death, then I could converse with him in such a manner as he desires, and have the same Friendship for him that he hath for me; I could then be a good

Relation, a good Friend, or a good Country-man ac∣cording to the Idea he hath of those Qualities. But Eternity changes the Face of things, and it is the great∣est madness in the World not to have a regard to it.

XIV. A Christian, a Priest, a Gentleman and a Friend are not four different Persons. When the Gentleman is in Hell, what will become of the Priest and the Friend? If these Qualities are inseparable in the same Person, it is evident that the Priest is deceiv'd, if he thinks he hath a right to act the part of the Gentle∣man: And if I give him different Advice according to his different Qualities, certainly I mislead and abuse him. When Qualities are inseparable, the most ex∣cellent of them should govern all the rest; and tho' we may abstract and distinguish them when we only reason in the air, yet when we come to act, we must joyn them all together.

XV. Whether therefore we give Alms to the Poor, visit the Sick or those that are in Prison, instruct the Ignorant, assist our Friends with our Counsels, or do any other action of Charity or Duty; we should re∣fer all to the Salvation of our Neighbour, we should always consider that we live among Christians, and therefore that we ought to do such Actions as are re∣quir'd of us by the eternal Society which we all have in Christ Jesus. We should give our assistance to Sin∣ners, Hereticks, and even Heathens themselves, because they are capable of entring into this blessed Society: And we should be more concern'd for those that are excluded out of it, than for those that are in slavery in a strange Country. We should be more sollicitous to make them come into it, than to preserve to them this miserable Life: a Life which we ought not much to value, but only as it is a Time which relates to Eternity, and may deserve it by the Grace which Christ, the High-Priest of the true Goods, distributes to Men, and there∣by sollicits them to enter into a communion of the same happiness with him.

XVI. As to the Duties of Respect or external and relative Submission, they are due to Power, and there∣fore we cannot proportion them according to the merits of Persons, nor regulate them by our own Light, with

respect to the interests of our eternal Society in Christ. We must follow the Customs and Laws of the State in which God hath plac'd us. It is a Duty of Justice to pay Respect and Tribute to those to whom God hath given Authority over us. It is all one whether they be good or bad, nay whether they be Christians or not: Whether they make a good or a bad use of our Con∣tributions. And the reason of this is, because it is God whom we Honour in their Persons; for all Honour is relative, and must be ultimately refer'd to him alone who really possesses Power. So that it is an injury and a wrong to our Prince, to deny him the Respects which are due to him; and it is a formal disobedience against the King of Kings, to refuse to submit our selves, and give sensible marks of our Submission to those whom he hath appointed his Lieutenants and Vice∣gerents upon Earth. The primitive Christians paid to the Roman Emperors, even those who cruelly per∣secuted Christ himself in his Members, all the Respect, Submission and relative Honor that was due to their participated Power: Well knowing that Honour is properly due to God alone, and must be refer'd solely to him, * 1.36 according to S. Paul's Words,

Unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be Honour and Glory.

They knew that the Duties of Respect ought not to be proportion'd to the interest of the Church, or rather that they ought to be refer'd thither, because that is the great, or indeed the only design of God; but that this is never better done, than when Christians pay those Duties with all possible exactness: For indeed this is the right way to oblige sovereign Princes, who are always jealous of their Glory and Authority, to favour Christian Socie∣ties more than any other in their Dominions. But I must discourse more at large of our Duties as they re∣late to the different kinds of Society which we form with other Men.

CHAP. IX. Of the Duties due to Sovereigns. Two Sovereign Pow∣ers. The difference between them. Their natural Rights. Rights of Concession. Of the Obedience of Subjects.

I. ALL the Duties which we owe to participated Powers, may be reduc'd to Two general Heads; Duties of Respect, and Duties of Odedience. The Duties of Respect depend on the Laws and Customs observ'd in every State, and consist in certain out∣ward and sensible marks of the Submission which the Mind pays to God in the Person of it's Superiors. Those Duties vary according to the different Circum∣stances of Times and Places. Sometimes Subjects pro∣strate themselves before their Prince; sometimes they put one Knee to the Ground, or both: At other times they only make a profound reverence and stand un∣cover'd; and sometimes also they remain cover'd in his Presence, without losing the Respect which is due to him. These are arbitrary Ceremonies, and are govern'd by Use and Custom.

II. But that which is essential to Morality, is that the Soul it self should be touch'd with Respect in the Presence of the Prince, who is the Image of the true Power: and that in such a proportion as the Prince actually exercises the Authority he hath receiv'd, or cloaths himself, as I may say, with the Power and Majesty of God. For we owe more respect to the King, when he is in the Seat of Justice, than in a Thou∣sand other Circumstances; and to the Bishop in the actual administration of his Episcopal Functions, than at any other time. And indeed we are naturally en∣clin'd to measure the respect due to Grandeur and Pow∣er by the sensible operation they have on us. Certain∣ly when we are in the Presence of the Almighty, our Mind ought to prostrate it self. Now tho' we are always in the sight of God, yet we come into his Pre∣sence in a more particular manner, when we approach

Superiour, who is his Image. Therefore it is not sufficient to put on an outward air of Respect and Ve∣neration, but the Mind must also humble it self, and respect the Greatness and Power of God in the Majesty of the Prince.

III. There is no great difficulty in paying the Duties of Respect to the higher Powers; nay the Brain is fram'd in such a manner, that the Imagination willing∣ly bows before the splendour that environs them; wherefore I think it needless to say any more of these Duties. But an exact Obedience to the commands of our Superiors is a continual Sacrifice, much more difficult and burdensome than the Slaughter of Beasts; and therefore Self-love is an irreconcileable Enemy to it. There are few People that discharge this Duty like Christians, or in expectation that he whom they Honour in the Person of the Prince, should be their only Re∣ward. Every one in a manner dispenses with himself, as much as he can, from paying an Obedience that doth not suit with his own conveniences; and some preposterously obey unjust Commands, because they do not know the exact order and measure of their Du∣ties. For opposite Powers having each their separate Rights, their different interests are many times so in∣termingled, that it is very difficult to know which of them ought to be obey'd; and in these cases every Man follows his own particular humour or advantage, for want of certain Rules to govern his Actions by. I shall therefore here lay down one or two Principles, which may give us some Light toward the clearer discovery of these Duties.

IV. There are but two sovereign Powers in the World, the Civil and the Ecclesiastical: The Prince in monarchical States, and the Bishop: The Prince, who is the Image of God Almighty, and his Minister upon Earth; and the Bishop, who is the Image of Christ, and his Vicar in the Church. The Prince derives his Authority over other Men from God alone; so doth the Bishop; and neither of them ought to use it any otherwise than God doth himself, with respect to the immutable Order, the universal Reason, the inviola∣ble Law of all intelligent Beings, even of God him∣self. The Prince notwithstanding hath a more abso∣lute

Power than the Bishop. He hath Authority to make Laws, and is not subject to them himself; he may act without controul, and is not oblig'd to give an account of his Conduct to any Man; for he seems to have more Relation to God as Power, than as Rea∣son; to God cloth'd with Majesty and Glory, than to God made Man, and like us; to Christ glorified than to Christ upon Earth, and cloth'd with our Vileness and Infirmities. But the Bishop hath more relation to God as Wisdom and Reason incarnate and compass'd about with our Infirmities, than as absolute and inde∣pendent Power; to Jesus Christ upon Earth, conversing familiarly with Men, than to Jesus Christ glorified and made supreme Lord of all the Nations of the World.

Ye know, saith our Saviour to his Apostles, * 1.37 that the Princes of the Gentiles exercise Dominion over them, and they that are great, exercise Authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: The Son of Man came not to be ministred unto, but to minister, and to give his life a Ransom for many.

Not that Princes have a Right to use their Authority without Reason. God himself hath not this miserable Right; he is essentially Just, and the universal Reason is his inviolable Law. But the abuse of the Ecclesiastical Authority is more criminal in the sight of God, than the abuse of Royal Authority; not only because there is an infinite difference between spiritual and temporal Goods, but also because the Ecclesiastical Power that acts imperiously and arbitrarily, acts directly contrary to the Character which it bears of Jesus Christ, who is always Reason, and Reason humbled, and proportion'd to the capacity of Men for their Instruction and Sal∣vation.

V. The end of the institution of these two Powers is very different. The Civil Power is ordain'd for the maintenance of Civil Societies. The Ecclesia∣stical Power for the establishment and preservation of the heavenly Society, which is begun upon Earth, and shall never end. The Duty of the Prince regards only the peace of the State, the Duty of the Bishop the peace of Christ's Church. The Prince should preserve and augment those Conveniences that are necessary for the temporal Life: The Bishop by his Preaching and Ex∣ample,

should instruct and enlighten the People; and as the Minister of Christ, diffuse inward Grace by the Sa∣craments in the Members of the Church, and thereby communicate the life of the Spirit to those that are com∣mitted to his charge. In a word, the Power of the Prince is ordain'd for the temporal Good of his Sub∣jects; that of the Bishop for the spiritual Good of his Children.

VI. This being laid down as the first Principle, the second which follows from it is. That since God is the absolute Lord of all Things, his Orders give a Right to all necessary and reasonable means for the execution of them. A Servant who receives Orders from his Master to carry a message of importance with all speed to his Friend, hath no right to take his Neighbour's Horse, for the execution of his Master's commands, because his Ma∣ster himself hath not that right. But God being the ab∣solute Lord of all Things, when he saith to St. Peter, Feed my Sheep; or when he commands the King to preserve his Subjects in Peace, he gives to these two sovereign Powers, as far as Order permits, an absolute right to all Things necessary for the execution of his Will. So that the natural, essential and primitive Rights of the temporal Sovereignty, are, as far as Order permits, all necessary means for the preservation of the State; and the natural rights of the Ecclesiastical Power, are all lawful means necessary for the edification of the Church of Christ.

VII. But the Church and the State being compos'd of the same Persons, who, at the same time, are both Christians and Members of a Body Politick, Chil∣dren of the Church, and Subjects of the Prince; it is impossible for these two Powers, which ought to have a mutual regard to each other, and should be absolute and independent in the Administration of their several Functions, to exercise their Jurisdiction, and execute the Orders of their common Master, if they do not perfectly agree together, and even in some Cases, de∣part with something of their Rights to one another. For this Reason it is, that the Prince, by the concession of the Church, hath now a right of Presentation to many Benefices; and the Church, by the concession of the Prince, enjoys temporal Possessions. These are not

natural rights, because they are not necessary or natu∣ral consequences of the Commission which these dif∣ferent Powers have receiv'd from God: They are on∣ly rights of concession depending on a mutual Agreement, whose end ought to be no other than that which God propos'd to himself in the institution of these two Pow∣ers.

VIII. The building of the Church of Christ, the eternal Temple, being the great, or indeed the only design of God, (for all the Societies and Kingdoms of this World shall be dissolv'd, when the Work of him who alone is immutable in his designs, shall be com∣pleated); it is evident that the State hath a reference, and should be subservient to the good of the Church, rather than the Church to the glory, or even the pre∣servation of the State; and that one of the principal Duties of a Christian Prince, is to furnish Christ with Materials fit to be sanctified by his Grace under the care of the Bishop, and to build up the spiritual Ede∣fice of the Church. For this end chiefly it is that the Prince should prefer the State in Peace, give Orders that his Subjects be instructed in solid Learning, such as gives perfection to the Mind, and regulates the Heart, and take care that the Laws ordain'd for the punishment of Vice and Injustice be strictly observ'd. For a People well instructed, and obedient to reasona∣ble Laws, is better fitted to receive effectually the in∣fluence of Grace, than a rude, vicious and ignorant People. For this Reason, the Prince ought to employ his Authority in causing the Decrees of Councils to be observ'd, and keeping the People in the Obedience which they owe to their Mother, the Church of Christ. For in fine, there is so close an Union between the Church and the State, that he who troubles the State, troubles the Church which consists of the same Mem∣bers; and he that makes a Schism in the Church, is really a disturber of the publick Peace and Tranqui∣lity.

IX. But whether a Prince doth or doth not propose to himself this great design of gaining immortal Glory by labouring for Eternity, and carrying on a Work which alone shall last for ever; it is not for private Men to censure his Conduct. And provided that he

requires nothing but what flows from the natural Rights given him by the Commission which he hath re∣ceiv'd from God, he ought to be obey'd in all things, even by those that hold the greatest Dignities in the Church.

X. It doth not belong to me to deduce from the certain Principles which I have here laid down, such consequences as contain the particular Duties of those that have a right to command; and besides, there is more difficulty in it than may be imagin'd. There are a great many circumstances to be consider'd, which vary or determine these Duties. Princes should examine their own Obligations in the sight of God, by the light of the immutable Order and the divine Law, rather than refer themselves to the Counsels of Men, who most commonly flatter them. They should also consult the fundamental Laws of the State, and consider them as the ordinary Rules of their Conduct. So likewise the Bishops, if they would not abuse their Authority, are bound to observe the Laws of the Church, which they have promis'd to keep at their Consecration.

XI. But for Subjects, I think it certain that they ought to obey blindly and without reserve, when only their own interest is concern'd: For provided their Obedience to one of the two Powers, do not make them omit the payment of that which they owe to God, or to the opposite Power; without doubt, they are bound to obey. To censure the Actions of their Sove∣reign, is to make themselves his Judges. It is attribut∣ing to themselves a kind of independence, to yield on∣ly to their own light. It is a Contempt and a Rebel∣lion against the higher Power, to expect that he should give an account of his Actions to any one but God who hath ordain'd him. But still, this is when he com∣mands nothing against God himself, or against the Power which represents him. For since the Obedience which we pay to our Prince is due to God alone, and refer'd wholly to him, it is clear that we may and ought to disobey him when he commands us that which God forbids, either immediately by the divine and immutable Law, or by the other Power which he hath ordain'd.

XII. But when the eternal Law doth not answer our attention by its Evidence, or when the written Laws are obscure, and the two sovereign Powers give us contrary Commands, there is a necessity that we should inform our selves of their natural Rights, and draw from them such consequences as should govern our Actions. We should have recourse to Persons of understanding; and above all, we should carefully examine the Cir∣cumstances and Consequences of the Command that is impos'd on us. And when at length we find our selves bound by the Obedience which we owe to God, to disobey either of the Powers which are his Repre∣sentatives, we should do it bravely and undauauntedly, but yet with all the respect which is due to those that are in Authority. For tho' we are not always bound to obey the Powers ordain'd by God, which are no way Infallible; yet we are scarce ever allow'd to cast of the Respect that belongs to them, how much soever they abuse their Authority. They do not lose their Dignity, nor their Character by unjust Commands, and therefore we must still honour God in their Person: And they on their part should remember, that they have a Master who will deal with them as they have treated their Subjects, and that they, as well as other Men, ought to submit to the divine Law, to which God himself, if I may so say, is subject. And tho' they may be satisfied perhaps that they have a Right to force Obedience from their Subjects, yet they should not be angry, if in some difficult and intricate Cases, they make a scruple of obeying them, or do not readily perform their Commands: For Men ought not to be forc'd to act against their Conscience. They cannot all have the same sense of things, when there are great difficulties to overcome, before they can under∣stand the Order of their Duties. They should be go∣vern'd by Reason; and when they have not Light and Understanding enough to know it, and do not other∣wise neglect the Duties which they do know, certainly they deserve compassion and indulgence.

XIII. What I have said of the sovereign Powers, be∣longs also to subordinate Powers. We owe Obedience to a Magistrate, a Governour, or any one that executes the Orders of the Prince, as well as to the Prince him∣self; even as we owe to the Prince the Obedience

which is due to God, the Fountain of all Power. We ought not indeed to pay them so profound a Respect, nor so general and blind an Obedience as we do to the Sovereign; even as we ought to obey the Sovereign in so universal a manner as we do the Law and the Power of God; because they are not invested with the whole power of the Prince, no more than the Prince is with the whole power and the Infallibility of God. But we owe them an Obedience proportionable to their power, and to the knowledge we have that they exe∣cute the Orders of their Master and ours. If we are persuaded that they encroach upon us, or require of us such Duties as the Prince doth not expect or approve of; we may free our selves from their exactions by a dextrous management, or by such ways as do not vio∣late the Respect that is due to them, in regard of the Person whom they represent. We should inform our selves of the Prince's pleasure, from the Prince him∣felf; and if we can have no access to him, we should presume that he refers himself to his Ministers. And then we should humbly, and without murmuring, sacri∣fice to God the Goods which belong to him, and which he hath given us that we should offer them to him again, and thereby merit the enjoyment of more solid posses∣sions, which no power shall be able to take away from us. We should with a truly Christian bravery, shew by a ready Obedience our Contempt of transitory En∣joyments, and look upon the Cross of Christ, not as the Instrument of our Punishment, but as our triumphal Chariot, which shall certainly carry us, as it did our Forerunner and our Pattern, to eternal Thrones, where we shall Judge with him the great Ones of the Earth, in the day when the Fire shall devour their Riches, and make all their Grandeur to disappear.

CHAP. X. Of the Domestick Duties of Husband and Wife. The Ground of these Duties. Of the Duties of Parents toward their Children, with relation to the Eternal and Civil Societies. Of their instruction in the Sciencies and Morality. Parents should give their Children a good example. They should govern them by Reason. They have no right to use them ill. Children owe Obe∣diene to their Parents in all Things.

I. THose that govern the State have not a continual relation to all the particular Members of which it is compos'd, and there are a great many People who never in their life receive any Command from their So∣vereign or his Ministers: Therefore that which I have said in the last Chapter, is not of so great and general use, as the Explication of the mutual Duties of Husband and Wife, Parents and Children, Masters and Servants, a Lord and his Tenants, or those that are under his Ju∣risdiction, and such Persons as daily converse together, and have many different relations to one another. We should inform our selves more particularly of these pri∣vate and domestick Duties. I shall therefore endea∣vour to fix the Grounds and Principles of them, from which every one may easily deduce Consequences.

II. The nearest Union that can be betwixt any Per∣sons, is that of the Man and the Woman; for it ex∣presly figures the Union of Chirst with his Church. It is an indissoluble Union; for God being immutable in his Designs, the Marriage of Christ and his Church shall continue for ever; it is a natural Union, and the two Sexes, by their particular constitution, in conse∣quences of the admirable Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body, have the most violent of all the Pas∣sions for each other; because the love of Christ to his Church, and that of the Church to her Lord, her Sa∣viour and her Husband, is the greatest love that can be imagin'd, as appears from the Canticles. For in short, the Man and the Woman are made for one another.

And if we can conceive that God in creating them, had not a design to join them together, then we may al∣so conceive that the Incarnation of the Word was not necessary; and that the principal, or the only design of God, which is figur'd by the marriage of the Man and the Woman, more particularly than by any other thing, is not the establishment of his Church in Jesus Christ, who is the Basis and Foundation of it, in whom also the whole Universe subsists, who brings the whole Work of God out of its prophane State, and by his quality of Son, renders it worthy of the Majesty of the Fa∣ther.

III. This Principle sufficiently shews, that the mutual Duties of Christ and his Church, are the Model of those of Husbands and Wives; and that the Marriage of Christians, like that of the first Man and Woman, being the figure of the marriage of Christ and the Church, ought not to differ in any of its consequences or circumstances from the reality which it represents. And therefore St. Paul derives from this very Principle, the mutual Duties of the Husband and Wife. His Words are these:

IV. * 1.38

Wives, submit your selves unto your own Husbands, as unto the Lord. For the Husband is the Head of the Wife, even as Christ is the Head of the Church; and he is the Saviour of the Body. Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ, so let the Wives be to their own Husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your Wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of Water, by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish. So ought Men to love their Wives as their own Bodies; he that loveth his Wife, loveth himself: For no Man ever yet hated his own Flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church; for we are Members of his Body, of his Flesh, and of his Bones. For this cause shall a Man leave his Father and his Mother, and shall be join'd unto his Wife, and they two shall be one Flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concern∣ing

Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular, so love his Wife even as himself; and the Wife see that she reverence her Husband.

V. From these admirable Words of St. Paul, we see that the Duty of a Husband is to maintain his Wife, and to supply her abundantly with all things necessary for her subsistence; to assist and guide her by his Wis∣dom and Counsels, and to comfort her in her Afflictions and Infirmities; in a word, to love her as himself, and after the example of Christ, to expose his life for her defense. And that the Wife on her part ought to obey her Husband as her Lord, to fear and respect him, to seek to please none but him, and to govern the Family in subordination to his Authority, and with a depen∣dence on his Designs, provided they are agreeable, or at least not contrary to the designs of God.

VI. Now the design of God in the institution of Marriage, is not only to supply the State with Mem∣bers to compose the Body of it, and to defend and main∣tain its Honour and Reputation; but more especially to furnish Christ with Materials for the external Temple, with Members of the Church, and perpetual Worship∣pers of the divine Majesty. For married Persons are not only the Figures, but also the natural Ministers of Christ and the Church. God hath join'd them together not only to express his great design, but also to act in it. It is true, since Sin came into the World, they be∣get Children only for the Devil, and by an action al∣together brutish; and if it were not for Christ our Me∣diatour, it would be a hainous Crime to communicate to a Woman that miserable fertility of bringing forth an Enemy of God, to damn a Soul for ever, to labour for the Glory of Satan, and the establishment of the in∣fernal Babylon. But Christ came to remedy the disor∣ders of Sin; and it is permitted by the Sacrament of Marriage, the Figure of his eternal Alliance, to give our Children, as I may say, to the Devil, that Christ may have the glory to snatch them out of his Hands, and having wash'd them in his own Blood, to make them enter into his Building.

VII. Now the principal Duty of Parents is to edu∣cate their Children in such a manner, that they may not lose their Baptismal Innocence and Purity. Mar∣ried Persons may live in continence, as Adam and Eve did before their Sin. Christ doth not want Materials for the building of his Temple. How many Nations are there still that are ignorant of the Mystery of our Reconciliation? But that Parents by their Ambition, their Avarice, their disorderly course of Life, their ill Example, nay by barely neglecting to instruct their Children, should deprive them of the possession of the true Goods, and make them fall again into the slavery of the Devil, in which they were Born, and from which they had been once deliver'd; this is the greatest Crime that Men are capable of committing.

VIII. A Father may educate his Children so as to be the Honour of his Family, the delight of their Country, and the support of the State; he may leave them the peaceable enjoyment of large Possessions, and all possi∣ble Splendour: Yet still he is a cruel and unnatural Father, and the more cruel, because he charms their Maladies in such a manner, that they will not be sen∣sible of them, till they are past remedy: He is Impious and Wicked, and so much the more, because with that which he pulls down from the sacred Temple of the living God, he builds up the prophane Babylon: He is Senseless and stupid, and the more because there cannot be a greater degreee of Folly, a more gross Stupidity, a more brutish and surious Despair, than that of a Father who is regardless of the inevitable al∣ternative of Two very different Eternities, which shall succeed our latest Moments; who builds for himself and his Family on the Brow of a Precipice expos'd to Storms and Tempests, and just ready to bury for ever the miserable Object of his Glory and Plea∣sures.

IX. A Parent therefore that would preserve to his Children the inestimable right which they have ac∣quir'd by Baptism, to the inheritance of Christ, must be always watchful in removing out of their sight all Objects that may tempt them. He is their guardian Angel, and should take up out of their way every Stone that may make them fall. It is his Duty to instruct

them in the Mysteries of Faith, and by Faith to lead them by degrees to the understanding of the funda∣mental Truths of Religion, to fix in them a firm hope of the true Goods and a generous contempt of humane Greatness. He should shape their Mind to Perfection, and teach them to exercise the faculties of it. He should govern them by Reason; for there cannot be a more perfect Law, than that which God himself inviolably follows. But he must begin with Faith: For Men, especially the younger sort, are too sensual, too carnal, too much abroad to consult the Reason which dwels within them. It must shew it self without, cloth'd with a Body to strike their Senses. They must sub∣mit to a visible Authority, before they can contemplate the evidence of intellectual Truths. Again, a Father should never grant his Children any thing that they ask themselves, and never deny them any thing that Reason asks for them: for Reason should be the com∣mon Law, the general Rule of all our Wills. He should accustom them to obey, as well as consult it. He should make them give a reason either a good or a plausible one, for every thing that they ask; and then he may gratify their desires, tho' they are not so agreable to Reason, if he is satisfied that their intent was to obey Reason. He should not chide them too much, for fear of discouraging them. But this is an indispensa∣ble Precept never to act but according to Reason. The Soul should will nothing of it self: For it is not its own Rule, or its own Law. It doth not possess Power; it is not Independent. It ought not to will but with a dependence on the immutable Law, because it cannot think, act, nor enjoy Good, but by a dependence on the divine Power. This is what young People ought to know: But it is perhaps what the old ones do not know: It is certainly what all Men do not practise.

X. We should take care not to burden the Memory of Children with a great number of Actions, which are of little use, and serve only to confound and agitate a Mind which hath as yet but very little Strength and Capacity, and is but too much disturb'd and shaken al∣ready by the action of sensible Objects. But we should endeavour to make them clearly comprehend the cer∣tain Principles of solid Sciences. We should use them

to contemplate clear Ideas, and above all we should teach them to distinguish the Soul from the Body, and to know the different properties and modifications of these two Substances of which they are compos'd. We should be so far from confirming them in their Error of taking their Senses for Judges of Truth, by talking to them of sensible Objects as of the true causes of their Pleasure and Pain, that we should be always telling them that their Senses deceive them; and should use them in their Presence like false Witnesses, that clash with one another to discover their Cheats and Illu∣sions.

XI. Children dye at ten Years old, as well as Men at Fifty or Threescore. What then will become of a Child at his Death, whose Heart is already corrupted, who is swell'd with esteem of his Quality, and full of the love of sensual Enjoyments? What Good will it do him in the other World, to understand perfectly the the Geography of this; and in Eternity, to know the Epochas of Times? All our knowledge perishes in Death, and the knowledge of these things leads to no∣thing beyond. A Lad knows how to Decline and Conjugate, he understands Greek and Latin it may be perfectly well; nay perhaps he is already well vers'd in History, and acquainted with the Interests of Princes; he promises much for this World, for which he is not made; but what signify all these Vanities, with which his Mind and Heart is sill'd? Are there solid rewards in Heaven for empty Studies? Are there places of Honour destin'd for those that make a correct Theme? Will God judge Children by any other Law than the immutable Order, than the Precepts of the Gospel, which they have neither observ'd nor known. Is it the Duty of Fathers to breed up their Children for the State, and not for Heaven; for their Prince, and not for Jesus Christ; for a Society of a few Days, and not for an eternal Society? But let them take notice, that those that are best skill'd in these vain Sciences, are they that do most mischief to the State, and raise the greatest Tempests in it. I do not say but they may learn those Sciences: But it should be then when their Mind is form'd, and when they are capable of making a good use of it; and the instructing of them

in essential Truths, should not be put off to a time when they shall be no more, or at least not in a condition to Tast, Meditate and Feed upon them.

XII. The labour of Attention being the only way that leads to the understanding of Truth, a Father should use all means of accustoming his Children to be Attentive. Therefore I think it proper to teach them the most sensible part of the Mathematicks: Not that these Sciences, tho' preferable to many others, are in themselves of any great value, but because the Study of them is of such a Nature, that a Man makes no progress in them any farther than he is Attentive. For in reading a Book of Geometry, if the Mind doth not labour by its Attention, it gets nothing. Now People should be us'd to the labour of the Mind when they are young: For then the parts of the Brain are flexible, and may be bent any way. It is easy then to acquire a habit of being Attentive, in which, * 1.39 as I have shewn, the whole strength of the Mind consists. And therefore those that have accustom'd themselves from their youth to meditate on clear Principles, are not only capable of learning all the Sciences, but are also able to judge solidly of every thing, to govern them∣selves by abstracted Principles, to make ingenious dis∣coveries, and to foresee the consequences and events of Enterprises.

XIII. But the So•…•…nces of Memory confound the Mind, they disturb its clear Ideas, and furnish it with a Thousand probabilities on all sorts of Subjects, which Men take up with, because they know not how to di∣stinguish between seeing in part, and obscurely, and seeing fully and clearly. This resting on probabilities makes them wrangle and dispute endlesly. For as Truth alone is one, indivisible and immutable, so that alone can closely and for ever unite Men's Minds. Be∣sides the Sciences of Memory do naturally beget Pride. For the Soul doth as it were enlarge and extend it self through the multitude of things with which the Head is fill'd. And tho' the content of the Mind be then taken up, as I may say, with nothing but Emptiness, or with things of little or no use, as the position of Bodies, the the series of Times, the actions and opinions of Men; yet it imagines it self to have as great an extent, du∣ration

and reality, as the objects of its Knowledge. It stretches it self to all the parts of the World. It goes back to past Ages; and instead of considering the nature of its own Being, what it is at present, and what it shall be in eternity, it forgets its self and its own Country, and wanders in an imaginary World, in Histories made up of Realities which are now no more, and Chimera's which never were.

XIV. Not that we should slight History, for ex∣ample, and never study any but the solid Sciences, such as of themselves make the Mind perfect, and re∣gulate the Heart. But we should study them all in their proper order. A Man may apply himself to History, when he knows himself, his Religion, and his Duties; when his Mind is form'd, and he is thereby capable of distinguishing, at least in some measure, between the Truth of the History, and the Imaginations of the Historian. He may study Languages: But it should be when he is Philosopher enough to know what a Language is: When he throughly understands that of his own Country: And when the desire of knowing the Thoughts of the Ancients, begets in him a desire of knowing the Language: For then he will learn more in one Year, than he can in Ten, without this desire. He must be a Man, a Christian, an Englishman, be∣fore he is a Grammarian, a Poet, an Historian, or a Foreigner. He should not study even the Mathematicks, only to fill his Head with the properties of Lines, but in order to procure to his Mind, that strength, extent and perfection of which it is capable. In a word, he should begin his studies with those Sciences that are most necessary, or such as may most contribute to the perfection of his Mind and Heart. He that only knows how to distinguish the Soul from the Body, and doth not confound his Thoughts and Desires with the dif∣ferent motions of his Machine, is more solidly learned, and more capable of being so, by the knowledge of this one real Science, than he that understands the Histories, Laws and Languages of all Nations, but withal is so deeply Buried, as I may say, in the Ig∣norance of his own Being, that he takes himself for the more subtil part of his Body, and imagines that

the immortality of the Soul is a Question not to be re∣solv'd.

XV. I am satisfied that I speak nothing but Para∣doxes, and that it would need a great many Words to persuade others to be of my Opinion. But I would have them only open their Eyes. Do we find that those who understand Virgil and Horace very well are wiser Men than those that understand S. Paul but in∣differently? It is experience that must convince such as will not consult Reason. Now where is the expe∣rience which proves that the reading of Tully is more useful than that of the all-divine Words of the eternal Wisdom? O, say they, we make Boys read Tully for the Latin. But why do not they make them read the Gospel for Religion and Morality? Poor Children! they breed you up like Citizens of old Rome, and you will get its Language and its Morals. They ne∣never think to make you reasonable Men, true Chri∣stians, and Inhabitants of the holy City. You are mi∣staken, say they, we do think of it, we do make it our business: But I am sure it's not the fashion to mind it throughly. St. Augustin lamented this in vain, * 1.40 and it is to no purpose that I trouble my self about it. We shall still see young Lads when they come from School, and ought to know something, for none of them scarce mind any thing afterwards; we shall still see them, I say, ignorant in the knowledge of Man, of Religion and Morality. For can they be said to know Man, who cannot so much as distinguish the Soul from the Body? Have they learnt the first elements of Religion and Morality, who are not fully convinc'd of original Sin, and the necessity of a Mediator? They are well stockt with the precepts of Grammar. They can say Lilly by Heart, and repeat all the cramp Words in Faruaby and Butler. This is sufficient. They can declaim pro and con on any Subject. A rare Qua∣lification indeed, to be able equally to maintain Truth and Falshood, without knowing how to distinguish one from the other! But what! It is not reasonable that Boys should know more than their Fathers: Nor is it fit that they should have more Learning than some of their Masters.

XVI. But I leave it to Tutors and School-masters to examine the order of their Duties, and to take care of the performance of them. For I would not have Pa∣rents oblig'd to instruct their Children themselves, be∣cause a great many are not capable of doing it, or have other business, which you shall never persuade them to be of less Importance than the education of their Chil∣dren: But then they should endeavour at least to choose a good Master. Let them not imagine that a Young Man who only understands Greek and Latin, and doth not know, much less can govern himself, is a fit Person to in∣form the Mind and regulate the Heart of a Child. But when they have happily met with one that is, let them not by their Example and Behaviour pull down that which a Tutor by his Pains and Diligence hath been build∣ing up. Children, by reason of their weakness and de∣pendence, are extremely affected with the Language of the Imagination and Senses, with the outward Air and Behaviour, especially of their Parents. This is a natural Language which persuades insensibly, it penetrates the Soul, and in a delightful manner begets conviction and assurance in the Mind.

XVII. If a Master teaches his Scholars to judge of things by Principles of Religion and Reason, to silence their Senses, Imagination and Passions, to despise sensi∣ble Objects, humane Greatness, and transitory Plea∣sures; an indiscreet Father shall talk of these false Goods before his Children, with such an Air, Voice and Gestures, as are able to shake a setled Mind, and move even those that are least prone to Imitation. Perhaps he may speak to them of the true Goods: But then his Discourse shall be so Cold and Faint, that it shall only beget in them contempt and aversion. But you shall hear him Twenty times a Day, and that with concern, bid them hold up their Head, keep their Body steady, and carry themselves handsomly. He shall applaud and commend them for repeating a few passionate Lines with a Grace. He shall sensibly dis∣cover his Joy by the Air of his Face, if he finds in them any qualification which the World esteems, and only make a Jest and a Diversion of their greatest and most material Imperfections, such as discover to those that are skill'd in the knowledge of Man, an abominable

pravity and corruption. And if a Tutor tho' never so good a Christian and a sensible Man should go about to extinguish their Pride and Self-love; the Approba∣tion of a peremptory Father, or a fond Mother shall beget in them such a hatred and contempt of him, as shall make him incapable of ever doing them any good. * 1.41 Maxima debetur puero re••erentia, saith a judicious Author. Example and outward Behaviour irresistibly persuade young People, when they suit with the corrup∣tion of their Nature: And he that without saying a Word, doth Evil in their Sight, with an Air of Plea∣sure and Satisfaction, speaks to them more strongly and forceably, than he that discourses to them coldly of Vertue, and exhorts them to follow it. This is a matter that deserves the greatest consideration, with respect to the instruction and education of Youth.

XVIII. There are some Fathers who always use their Children Arbitrarily and Tyrannically: They never do them Justice: They are severe to them with∣out cause; and instead of enlightning them by Rea∣son, and making them submit to it, they fancy that the Will of a Father is the inviolable Law of a Child. But when the Father is Dead, what then will be the Law of the Son? Without doubt his own Will: For he hath never been told that there is an eternal Law, the immutable Order: He hath not been accustom'd to obey it. Nay he will not stay till his Father be Dead, or grown Old and unable to keep him in Sla∣very any longer, before he prescribes a Law to him∣self. He will naturally find it in his Pleasures. For this unjust and brutish Law is better perhaps than the will of an unreasonable Father; I am sure it is more agreable and easy. A young Man will quickly be satisfied of this, when once he hath tasted the sweet∣ness of it. And then whether the Father be dead or alive, the Son will easily find means to obey this Law, and yield to its Enchantments. He will look upon his Father as an Enemy and a Tyrant, if he hath yet Strength and Vigour enough left to interrupt him in his Pleasures, and disturb him in his Debauches: and Being persuaded by the example and conduct of his Father, that every thing ought to obey his own Will and Pleasure, he will employ all his Power, and all

those Persons over whom he hath any Authority, in gra∣tifying his desires. For he will find himself actually happy, in giving himself up to his Pleasures; and will not have Education and Experience enough to appre∣hend the fatal Consequences of them. Children there∣fore should be govern'd by Reason, as far as they are capable of it. They have ••ll the same Inclinations with grown Men, tho' the Objects of their desires are dif∣ferent; and they will never be solidly Vertuous, if they are not accustom'd to obey a Law which shall never perish, if their Mind which was form'd after the universal Reason, be not form'd anew after the same Reason made sensible by Faith.

XIX. A Father must not imagine that his quality of Father gives him an absolute and independent Sove∣reignty over his Son. He is a Father only by the Ef∣ficacy of the Power of God; and therefore he ought not to command his Son but according to the Law of God. He is a Father in consequence of a bru••ish A∣ction, in which he knows not what he doth; for it is only Experience which teaches him, that in gratifying his Passion, he also preserves his Species. What Right can he have over the Mind and Heart of another Man, from an Action like that of Brutes, an Action which he ought to blush at, and which I am asham'd to men∣tion? A Mother carries her Burden with a great deal of Trouble and Hardship, and brings it into the World with extreme Pains. But she doth not give it Shape and Growth, much less doth she give a Being to the Soul which animates her Child: Therefore she hath no Right to command him but in Subordination to the universal Reason, because she had no power to conceive him, but by the Efficacy of the divine Power.

XX. Nevertheless, a Son should stand in fear of his Parents when they are angry with him; for God who gives and preserves his Being, God who can throw him headlong into Hell, God who hath all manner of Au∣thority over him, commands him by his Law to obey them; and by that command gives them a Right to command him. But Parents should not make use of this Right against the Will of him from whom they receive it; They should not assume it to themselves as a Reward of a sinful, or at least an indecent and

beastly Action; They should employ it in promoting the great Design of God, the eternal Temple, the end and ma∣ster-piece of all his Works; in labouring not for Time but for Eternity, and preserving in the Members of Christ the Spirit of Holiness which they receiv'd at their Baptism. And Children on their part should pay Obedience to their Parents, as to God himself whose Person they represent; They should shew a Respect in their presence as in the presence of the Almighty; They should endeavour all they can to please them, and fur∣ther their designs, as far as Order permits. Perhaps they shall not live ever the longer upon Earth; for this was the Reward of the Jews, but they shall live eternally happy in Heaven with the well-beloved Son of God, who was obedient to his Father unto death, even the shameful and cruel death of the Cross.

CHAP. XI. The original of the difference of Conditions. Reason alone ought to govern, but Force is now necessary. The law∣ful use of Force is to make Men submit to Reason, ac∣cording to the Primitive Law. The Rights of Superi∣ours. The Duties of Superiours and Inferiours.

I. IT is certain that the difference of Conditions a∣mongst Men is a necessary consequence of original Sin, and that many times their Nobility, Riches and Grandeur are deriv'd from the Injustice and Ambition of their Ancestors. But the iniquity of their Forefathers being buried in Oblivion, and the lustre which their Riches and Honours have left in their Families, still re∣maining, we are dazled with the splendour of their Quality, which appears bright and shining to our Sen∣ses, and strikes our Imagination; but we never think of the Injustice, which perhaps is the original of that splendour, because it is not visible and apparent.

II. The generality of Men who judge of things by the impression which they make on their Senses, look upon those that go attended with a magnificent Train, as something more than Men; and instead of shutting

their Eyes in sight of a stately Palace, that they may make a sound judgment of the personal Merit of him that dwells in it, they open them insensibly, to be∣hold the beauty that courts and enchants them, and join to the Person of the owner, all the Gold and Marble with which the House is adorn'd. But a Chri∣stian Philosopher beholds without being mov'd, the Magnificence which astonishes and prostrates weak Ima∣ginations; and being persuaded that that which belongs to Man is not the Man himself, and that greatness of Mind is not consistent with Injustice and abuse of Power, he sees nothing more monstrous and deform'd, than a low and despicable Soul dwelling in a proud and lofty Building, and admir'd by all the World. And whether he thinks himself oblig'd by his quality and the custom of the World to appear splendid and mag∣nificent in the Eyes of other Men, or looks upon those vain Ornaments wherewith the rich endeavour to hide their wretched Mortality, he is still sensible of his own and others weakness, he contracts and as it were anni∣hilates himself within himself, and measures great Men only by the merit which he finds in them.

III. But besides, that there are very few of these Phi∣losophers, how much a Philosopher soever any Man is, he is often surpriz'd unawares by the sensible impression and unexpected Motions of a rebellious Imagination; and the vanity which fills Mankind, doth so much fa∣vour the natural Judgments which are form'd in us without our consent, touching human greatness, that Men always have and ever will judge of the Esteem which they owe to other Men, by the Train, the Magnificence and the Splendour that environs them. Now these Judgments which every one pronounces within himself in favour of Persons of Quality, or such as have the appearance of Persons of Quality; these Judgments, I say, which are pronounc'd more strongly and definitively by a submissive Air and a re∣spectful Behaviour, than by Words, swell Men with Pride, and beget in them an Opinion of their own greatness. This is it which makes them despise Vertue and Reason in those that are below them, and esteem, without distinction, every thing that is heightned and set off to ad∣vantage by the Quality of the Persons. This is the

Reason that a haughty Lord looks upon his Vassals as Creatures of a despicable Species; and that Servants hearken to their Masters as to Vertue it self, and Rea∣son incarnate. In short, this is the Cause that Superi∣ours do not pay to those that are under them, the Du∣ties which are owing to their Nature; and Inferiours think it meritorious to act contrary to the divine Law, in obedience to the Commands that are impos'd on them.

IV. Human Nature being alike in all Men, and cre∣ated for Reason, it is Merit alone that should distin∣guish, and Reason that should govern them. But Sin having left Concupiscence in those that first committed it, and in all their Posterity, Men, tho' all equal by nature, do not now join in a Society of equality un∣der one common Law, to wit, Reason. Force, the Law of Brutes, that which gives the Lion the com∣mand over the Beasts, hath gotten the sovereign sway among Men; and the Ambition of some and the Necessity of others, hath oblig'd all Nations, as I may say, to cast off God, their natural and lawful King, and the universal Reason, their inviolable Law, and to choose them visible Protectors, who by Force may de∣fend them against Force. It is Sin then which hath in∣troduc'd into the World the difference of Qualities or Conditions; for Sin, or Concupiscence being suppos'd, these differences must necessarily follow: Reason it self requires that it should be so; because Force is the Law that must keep those in their Duty who have cast off their Obedience to Reason. In fine, God himself approves this difference of Conditions, as is plain from the Scriptures.

V. But the necssity of the Remedies shews the great∣ness of the Distempers. We need not seek after them, when we have no occasion for them; and the esteem and use that ought to be made of Force, is grounded only on the miserable necessity to which we are re∣duc'd by our universal Contempt of Reason. There∣fore those that have Authority to command other Men, and to decide their Differences, ought not to value themselves, and to be proud of this Right; They should rather be afraid of profaning their Power, by making it subservient to their Pleasures; for nothing is more

Sacred, nothing more Divine. The Almighty, their na∣tural and lawful Sovereign, will deal with them, as they, who are but subordinate Powers, have dealt with their Subjects. They hold their places but during his Pleasure; They should continually reflect on this. God can pull them down, if they do not endeavour to set up Reason; and sooner or later, Death, that cruel Ene∣my of their Power, Riches and Pleasures, will make them like other Men. It will present them before the living Law, which penetrates the Heart, and lays open all the folds and recesses of it; and they will find the Reward or Punishment of their good or bad Actions, written in eternal and indelible Characters, in the im∣mutable and necessary Order. * 1.42

Horribly and Speedi∣ly, saith the wise Man, shall he come upon you; for a sharp Judgment shall be to them that are in high places. For Mercy will soon pardon the mean∣est; but mighty Men shall be mightily tormented; a sore trial shall come upon the mighty.

Superiours therefore should look upon themselves as Lieutenants, as I may say, and Vicegerents of Reason, the primitive and indispensable Law; and should employ their Authority only against such as refuse to obey that Law. They should never make use of Force, the Law of Brutes, but against Brutes, against those that know not Rea∣son, and these that will not submit to it; and should hearken to their Inferiours favourable, calmly and cha∣ritably. For if they confound their own desires with the immutable Order, and the secret inspirations of their Passions with the dictates of the inward Truth; that Truth which they slight and disregard, shall be the Law by which they shall be judg'd, by which they shall cer∣tainly be condemn'd, and by the Efficacy of which they shall be eternally tormented.

VI. * 1.43

If thou be made the Master of a Feast, says the Son of Sirach, lift not thy self up, but be among them as one of the rest, take diligent care for them, and so sit down. And when thou hast done all thy of∣fice, take thy place that thou mayst be merry with them.

A Family, a Community, a Society, whose Head applies himself wholly to maintain the Peace and supply the Necessities of it, is in a continual Feast. The Superiour ought not to take his place of Honour,

till he hath perform'd his devoirs, nor put himself at the head of others, but only to protect and defend them, to reconcile their differences, and to rejoice them with his presence. Superiours, and especially Princes, are call'd in Scripture and in ancient Authors, Shepherds of the People; and the Governour of a Feast, who di∣sturbs the Table, and interrupts the Musick, * 1.44 represents a Head, who breaks the agreeable Harmony and Con∣cert of all the Members of the Body which he ought to govern and maintain in a perfect Union and a mutu∣al Correspondence. The end of all Government, is Peace and Charity, and the means of attaining this end, is to advance Reason to the sovereign sway; for there is nothing but Reason that can unite Mens Minds, put them in tune to one another, and make them act in concert. Reason is a natural and universal Law, which few People observe in all Points, but no one dares open∣ly reject, and which all Men pretend to follow, even at the same time that they depart from it.

VII. Wherefore a Magistrate, a Father, who is the natural Head of his Family, a Master who hath Scho∣lars or Servants under him; in a word, every Supe∣riour ought to breath into his Inferiours a Spirit of Reason, Justice and Charity, as his and their inviola∣ble Law. He should assume to himself no other Right but the use of proper means to make them respect and submit to it. But let him not doubt, but that all those means are his true and natural Rights, in propor∣tion nevertheless to the Authority which he hath re∣ceiv'd from the Superiour Power. For the Power which gives any Commission, doth also give the same Right to the use of all lawful means for the execution of it, which that Power it self hath; if it self, or Cu∣stom, and especially Reason, directs nothing in parti∣cular touching these Means. Thus a Magistrate hath no power to punish Criminals but according to the Laws, tho' he may by his own Authority make use of a thousand ways to prevent their Villanies where the Laws give no particular directions. A Father may correct his Children with a Rod or a Cudgel, and that severely, but he must not kill or maim them, and there∣by render them unserviceable to the State, on which he himself depends, and to which they belong. A Ma∣ster

may whip his Scholar, but he can not use him cruelly and injuriously without injuring the Father, who hath not given him this Authority, any more than Cu∣stom or the Laws of the Community. But, excepting that which Custom, Reason, or a Superiour power pre∣scribes, those that are in Authority may challenge to themselves as their natural Right, the use of all other fit means to reduce such as are under their command to the Obedience, not of their own Will, but of Reason; of Reason, I say, not their own Will; for neither a Father, nor a Magistrate, nor a Prince, no nor God himself, if this could be, if the Word were not Con∣substantial with him, if it were possible for him not to beget and love it; not God himself, I say, hath any Right to make use of his Power, in obliging Men, who were created for Reason, to submit to a Will not con∣formable to Reason.

VIII. Notwithstanding, a Servant, a Scholar or a Subject, ought not to dispute the Will of his Superi∣ours; he should have so much Deference for them as to believe that they are rational Men as well as he, and much more than he; and when Evidence or the express Commandment of the Law of God prescribes nothing to the Contrary, he is bound to obey instantly and with∣out murmuring. Nay, he is not allow'd so much as to offer any Objections, in order to be satisfied of his doubts, but only when this kind of Liberty carries with it no signs of Contempt, and cannot offend the Person in whom he ought to fear and respect the Power of God himself. But Superiours, on their part, should have a great regard to the nicety and scrupulousness of other Men; they must not imagine themselves to be infallible, nor by their haughty and insolent manner of proceed∣ing, oblige those that are under them to fear them, in∣stead of fearing God in their Person. The invisible God is not so terrible to weak Imaginations, as the sensible and threatning Air of a cholerick Father or Master; and many times, a Superiour heated and di∣sturb'd by Passion, makes his Inferiours commit greater Crimes than he doth himself; for the suddenness of his Passion having blinded him, his Fault is less voluntary; but the Offence of those that obey him contrary to Reason, is the more hainous, because for fear of dis∣pleasing

and provoking him, they deliberately offend against God.

IX. Not that a Superior must never shew his Autho∣rity, and make himself fear'd by those that are under his Command. Reason requires that he should sometimes be angry, that as this Passion mechanically produces something terrible in the Face, his outward Air may strike a terrour into the Wicked, and dispose them to Obedience: If this will not do, he must also add Threat∣nings, and in the end proceed to Punishment, and to a kind of Injury and Violence. It is absolutely ne∣cessary that Power should make Men submit to Rea∣son, and force them to follow it, when Reason it self, tho' well enough known, hath not Charms enough to attract them, Men look upon Reason as impotent and unactive, as unable to reward its followers, and to punish those that side with its Adversaries. But they must be deliver'd from this Error, in which they are confirm'd by all the prejudices of their Senses, and be convinc'd by their Senses and by a visible manner of proceeding, that Reason and Power are not two dif∣ferent Deities; that the Almighty is essentially Reason, and the universal Reason Almighty. Those that are powerful and reasonable amongst Men, by the parti∣cular relation which they have to the divine Power and Reason, should by force constrain unreasonable Minds to fear that Reason which they do not love; as they should by Reason, dispose such as love it, to unite themselves to Power, and to rejoyce in it, in ex∣pectation of their Happiness, which shall be given to them according to the ruses which the same Reason pre∣scribes. Wherefore those that despise Reason must be threatned, punish'd, and made miserable. For since it is easier to obey Reason without Pleasure, than to dis∣obey it with Pain, perhaps wicked Men being made sen∣sible by the fear of Punishment of the greatness of those Miseries which they may avoid, if they will conform themselves to Reason, will be more easily dispos'd to follow the Motions of Grace, without which no Man can pay to the eternal Law, all the Obedience which is due to it.

X. The Passions are not evil in themselves: No∣thing is more wisely design'd, nor more useful for the

maintenance of Society than they, provided they are rais'd and govern'd by Reason. For sensual Men must be taught by their Senses, and carried whether they ought to go, by something which may impel and put them in motion. A Scholar will not gain much ground under the conduct of a sober, phlegmatick, slow-pac'd Master, without Spirit and without Passion. Children and Servants, whose Minds are not fashion'd according to Reason, advance slowly toward Vertue, if they be not continually quicken'd, and spur'd on. But we should never correct them, without enlightning them, and letting them know what it is that is requir'd of them, and not then neither, except they can perform their Duty with more ease than bear the Punishment which is inflicted on them. And as no one can deter∣mine his choice without some Motive, we should put them in a condition to be able to choose with Pleasure, and to do that willingly which is worth nothing if it be not voluntary. The Springs of their Mind should be set in order as well as those of their Machine; and the fear of Evil should only serve to carry them toward Good, to bring them near to the Light, and make them behold and love the beauty of Order. It is this kind of correction which Men are made to suffer, in the pre∣sence and for the honour of that Reason which they have cast off, that enlightens the Mind, and gives un∣derstanding; and not inhumane and brutish Punish∣ments, which are sit only to manage Brutes, to train up Horses and Dogs, and to teach Men to make their own Will the inviolable rule of their Actions.

XI. Inferiors are oblig'd to pay a ready and exact Obedience not only to the Commands of their Supe∣riors which are express'd and signified to them, but also to their Will, when it is clearly known, tho' it be not signified. And tho' he that stays for an express Order from his Superior, before he obeys him and performs his Will, doth not hereby shew any disrespect to his Person, or any opposition to his Authority; yet he doth not sufficiently respect in him the divine Power and Majesty. But a Minister who by the asendent he hath over his Prince, by his alliances and creatures draws all the Authority to himself, and reduces his Master to such a condition that he is afraid to command him, deserves

to be treated like a Rebel. An insolent Servant, who by the knowledge he hath of his Master's concerns, or of the weakness of his Mind, deprives him of the liberty of signifying his Pleasure to him, is many times more guilty of Disobedience than a lazy and negli∣gent Servant, who doth not perform the Orders that are given him. A Son who by the rigorous constitu∣tion of his Mind and Body, or by the Reputation and Fortune he hath gain'd in the World, is got into such a Post, that his Father who is in a low Condition, weak and impotent dares not impose any Command on him, violates the Duties of filial Obedience, if he knows, his Father's Will, and doth not perform it. A Wife who by her untoward and ungovernable Temper is grown so formidable to an easy good-natur'd Husband, that he dares not discover his Mind to her, is more Disobedient, tho' she exactly performs every thing that he bids her, * 1.45 than one that fears and reverences her Husband, according to the Apostles Precept, tho' she do not always obey his Commands. An inferior Clergy∣man, who by the Credit he hath gotten in the World, or by his Personal Qualifications, stops the Mouth of his Superiors, and doth not do that which he certainly knows they require of him, is guilty of Disobedience. In a word, he that withdraws himself in any manner whatsoever, from the Obedience which he ows to others, leaves his Post, and rebels against Authority: And tho' he may secure himself from the Censures of Men, and the Laws of those that do not penetrate and search the Hearts, yet he shall not escape the Judgment of the righteous Judge, who unfolds all the turnings and windings of Self-love. He that obeys Men as Men, and not as God himself, according to the Precepts of Religion, and Reason, cannot possibly fulfil all the Duties of Obedience; as on the contrary he that de∣sires to please God, in obeying the Commands of Men, is so happily guided and influenc'd by that desire, that he performs easily and naturally every thing that the most enlightned Mind can impose on him.

CHAP. XII. Of our Duties toward our Equals. We should give them the place they desire in our Mind and Heart. We should express our inward Dispositions in favour of them by our outward Air and Behaviour, and by real Services. We should yield them the Superiority and Pre-eminence. The hottest and most passionate Friend∣ships are not the most solid and durable. We should not make more intimate Friends than we can keep.

I. THE greatest part of the Duties which we pay to other Men, consist only in certain sensible Marks, whereby we give them to understand, that they hold an honourable place in our Mind and Heart. Those who are satisfied that we have a particular esteem for their Worth and Qualifications, cannot but feel some Emotion and Pleasure which must unite them to us: And there is no Man but must be touch'd with a sen∣sible Displeasure which will separate himself from us, if he finds that we do not give him that place in our Mind which he desires, how great respect soever we outward∣ly shew him. For the place of spiritual Beings doth not lye among Bodies; their Habitation, their Seat, their place of Rest hath no relation to that magnificence which strikes the Senses, and is only the work of Men's Hands. The Soul dwels with Honour in the very Souls of those that Honour it, and rests with Pleasure in the Heart of an affectionate Friend. What Glory, what Honour is it then to possess the esteem of the universal Reason? What rest and satisfaction will theirs be whom God shall take into his Heart, and treat them as his Friends? The vaniry of Men should raise in us these Thoughts, and the Seeds of Pride which we all have in us, should make us aspire to the Happiness of getting an honora∣ble Place, a fix'd and immoveable Seat in all intelligent Beings united to Reason, and in Reason it self, and of being our selves a sacred Temple, where God himself may reside for ever: For God, who is a pure Spirit

deth not dwell with Pleasure in material Temples, tho' never so Costly and Magnificent.

II. It is the eternal Wisdom, the immutable Order of Justice, that should regulate these spiritual Places, which are to be fill'd by substances of the same kind. But as long as we are upon Earth, subject to Error and Sin, we deserve none of them, at least we do not know which of them we deserve. Therefore we ought al∣ways to take the lowest, and expect to be remov'd high∣er according to the degree of our Vertue and Merit. But Men never trouble themselves about the place which they hold in the divine Reason, the indispensa∣ble Rule of that which they ought to possess in created Minds, and labour only to advance themselves to a place which they do not deserve. They hide their Imper∣fections; they shew only their best side; they endea∣vour by seducing others, to get an empty Name to themselves; and when they have, or fancy they have deceiv'd them, they entertain with extreme delight the doubtful and equivocal marks of an Esteem, which cannot make a Man truly and substantially happy or contented, but only when it is govern'd and supported by Reason, which alone is the supreme Judge of Merit, and alone able to give it an eternal reward.

III. Tho' Honour and Glory, absolutely speaking, be due only to God, yet created Spirits may also challenge it in regard of the relation they bear to the divine Perfections, and the resemblance they have of the Model by which they were form'd. We have reason to believe that they do, in some measure at least, cor∣respond with their original. We are certain that the Image of the invisible God, stamp'd on the very Foun∣dation of their Being, is indelible. Therefore we may, nay and ought, as long as we live with them, to give them marks of Esteem and respect; and so much the more, because we cannot acquit our selves of the obli∣gation we are under to preserve Charity for them, with∣out the performance of these Duties.

IV. For, since Men invincibly desire to be happy, they cannot, without an extraordinary degree of Vertue, unite themselves with those that despise them; because in consequence of the Laws ordain'd for the good of Society, they feel an extreme Pain, when they find

themselves not well entertain'd in the Minds of others. In Winter we get away from such places as are expos'd to Winds and Frost; because in consequence of the Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body, the Soul is unhappy in those places. How is it possible, when we are govern'd by our Passions and Pleasures, to unite our selves to those, whose Coldness chils and freezes us, to those who sensibly afflict us by the incommodi∣ous and disagreeable place they give us in their Mind and Heart? Therefore we must not think to maintain Charity amongst Men, to bring them near and unite them to us, and to be serviceable to them, if we do not pay them such Duties as may persuade them that they shall live easily and contentedly with us.

V. Since it is not in our Power to infuse inward Grace into the Hearts of Men, which alone can dis∣pose them to sacrifice their present Happiness to the Love of Order; we are many times oblig'd to make use of their Concupiscence or Self-love, to moderate their Passions, and favour the efficacy of the Grace of Christ. For if in the Old Testament, the Angels, to preserve the Worship of the true God among the Jews, govern'd them only by Motives of Self-love, as not being themselves the dispensers of the true Goods, nor of the Grace necessary to deserve them, certainly we ought also to labour for the Conversion of Men by those natural means which the general Laws supply us with. We must Plant and Water, and expect from Heaven the increase and maturity. We must endeavour to employ to a good purpose, the universal Instrument of Iniquity, the Concupiscence of Pride and Pleasure, or rather Self-love, the abundant source of all our Miseries. The Grace of Christ coming to our assistance, will change Men's Hearts, and enable the Weak to go on in the ways of Righteousness, which we shall have taught them, by a prudent and charitable management of those things that are in our Power.

VI. It is certain then, that tho' our Duties for the most part consist only in certain outward and sensible Marks, by which we signify to other Men, that they have such a place in our Mind and Heart, as may con∣tent their Self-love; yet we are oblig'd to perform them exactly, not with a design to advance our own private

Interest, nor to fortify and keep up Concupiscence in others, which we do in some measure please and gra∣tify by these Duties, but to destroy and sacrifice it by the assistance of the Grace of Christ.

VII. Now tho' our equals do not sensibly represent the Power and Majesty of God, to which the submissi∣on of the Mind is due; yet we ought to treat them as our Superiors, and to give them sensible Marks of our inward Respect, upon this consideration, that their Merit, their Vertue, and the invisible Relation which they have to God, renders them worthy of these Duties; or if they are not worthy of them, that we cannot con∣tribute to make them so, if we do not first gain their Friendship and Affection.

VIII. As for those that are below us, we should not treat them as our Superiors, tho' we may look upon them as such, according to those general Words of S. Paul, "Let each esteem other better than themselves; * 1.46 But we should in many cases treat them as our Equals and Friends. For the main end of our Duties is to pre∣serve Charity among Men, and to joyn our selves with them in an affectionate and durable Friendship, that we may be useful to them, and they to us. For this end it is necessary that our Duties should be sincere, or at least it should be probable, that we give other Men the same place within us, which we express by our out∣ward Signs. Thus a Superior may descend so far as to treat his Inferiors like equals, and they will be pleas'd and satisfied with it; for there is some likelyhood of Sincerity in this. But if he stoops below them, they will have reason to believe, if they look upon him as a Man of Wit, but not much Vertue, that he mocks and abuses them. They will be apt to imagine that this excessive Humility is only a Blind to cover some extraordinary design. Or else they will despise him, as a Man of a low and mean Soul, in which it is no advancement to possess the highest Place. They will look upon themselves to be without a Head, and will live every one according to his own Fancy, when he that should guide and govern them so imprudently debases himself. For when the Head stoops too low, the Members despise him, and he cannot raise himself up again, without angring and discontenting

them. But when he treats them only as his Equals, they are sensible that they still have a Master, and are not surpriz'd to see him resume the Command and Autho∣rity.

IX. When our Equals out of a Principle of Vertue humble themselves below us, and give us the prece∣dence, yet they do not fully acquit themselves of their Duties toward us, unless they yield us the pre-eminence too, and give us real or at least probable Testimonies of a particular Esteem and Affection. For if we do not believe that their Humiliation is a mark of the esteem they have for us, our Self-love cannot be sa∣tisfied with it. Vertue may make a Man lower himself to one whom he despises. Now it is more disagreable and displeasing to be obey'd by one that despises us, than to be commanded by one that gives us real marks of his Esteem and Friendship. It is Nature many times that gives us Masters: We may obey without debasing, without sacrificing and destroying our selves: But we cannot naturally and without Vertue love Contempt. This is a thing that can never agree with Self-love; how dextrous soever it be in accommodating every thing to its own ends. For we cannot, without the greatest re∣gret, see our selves strip'd of our Excellence and Gran∣deur, in the very Seat of our Pride and Vanity. Per∣haps our Equal may give us a great example of Vertue, in putting himself below us. We may admire his Hu∣mility, and perhaps imitate it naturally and out of Pride; for many times the proudest Men are the most Civil and Obliging. But if he would have us Love him, he must give us an honourable and delightful place in his Mind and Heart: He must flatter our unjust and proud Con∣cupiscence. Then, tho' in appearance he be not so. obsequious and obedient to our Will, he will be bet∣ter qualified for a Friend; and will perfectly fulfil the Duties he ows us, if he makes use of the entrance which we give him into our Heart, by the place which he gives us in his, to mortify our Concupiscence in us, and set up in its place the immutable Order of Ju∣stice.

X. It is not so easy a thing as may be imagin'd, to persuade others, that they are plac'd in our Mind and Heart as they desire to be, and to discover the true

Sentiments they have of us. We must therefore exa∣mine what are the least equivocal and most sensible marks of the inward Dispositions of Men's Minds, that so we may discover the bottom of their Hearts, and satisfy them of the Respect and Friendship we have for them. It is certain that bare Words are equivocal and deceitful Signs in the Mouths of most Men. Be∣sides, the institution of them being arbitrary, and de∣pending on the Will of Men, they do not strongly and forcibly persuade these Truths which they express. None but weak People, or such as have a great Opinion of themselves, will be deceiv'd by them; or it may be such as have no experience of the World. But the Air and Behaviour is a natural Language, which is un∣derstood without Studying; it persuades by a lively Im∣pression, and as I may say, diffuses conviction in the Mind. Besides, this Language is not deceitful, or if it be, it is very rarely, because it is a natural and in a manner necessary effect of the actual disposition of the Soul. For the Soul discovers its greatest Secrets by the Air which it mechanically puts into the Face; and when we are once acquainted with the different Airs, we may discover in the Heart of him that speaks, the Sentiments and Motions with which he is agitated in relation to us.

XI. Therefore if we would persuade Men that they hold the place which they desire in our Esteem and Friendship, we should really Esteem and Love them; and indeed it is our Duty so to do. We should in their presence excite within our selves such Motions as they may naturally and sensibly understand by the Air which these Motions give to our Face: And when our Ima∣gination is cold in relation to them, because their Merit doth indeed appear very mean and indifferent, we should represent to our selves some Motives that may warm and agitate us: Or at least we should endeavour to manage things so, that Men may attribute to the cold∣ness of our Constitution, that indifference which is so grating and disagreable, and the want of a winning and obliging complaisance in our Behaviour toward them. But above all things, we must take care not to put on a forc'd and affected Air, which betrays it self and cannot hold long, because it doth not agree with the

actual dispositions of our Mind. Nothing is more gross and offensive; we had better hold our Tongue, than praise any Man with such a fawning and perfidious Air, as tickles and betrays none but stupid and sense∣less People. Charity and Religion are sufficient to stop the natural Motions of our Machine; for they furnish us with reasonable Motives enough to honour and love other Men sincerely, and to despise our selves.

XII. But beside Words and the outward Air and Be∣haviour, there are also real Services which are the surest and most convincing marks of Esteem and Affection. By these it is, that we should make new Friends, and try those that we have already. But as these Duties are the most difficult and painful of all, so we must not presently imagine that he who fails in the performance of them, hath no Affection or Friendship for us. For we should consider, that there are some People who by their natural Constitution are so cold, so heavy, so re∣serv'd, in short, so difficult to be stir'd, that they do lit∣tle or nothing for their Friends. But then they do no∣thing for themselves neither. This is a thing that ought to be taken notice of; for he that thinks that these kind of Men have no Friendship for any Body, must also believe that they do not love themselves. But I think I may say, That generally speaking, there is no Friendship more solid and durable, than that of those Persons who seem to want Friendship, because they have not that spriteliness of Imagination which some have; and that short-liv'd Fire, which kindles and blazes out, as soon as a Man opens his Heart to them, and doth them the honour to lay before them the need he hath of their Assistance. The Reason of which is this:

XIII. It is the Fermentation of the Blood, and the abundance of Spirits which heat Mens Imagination, and give them a Motion which animates and impells them. Now those who have strong and lively Passions, and a warm Imagination, are inconstant beyond expression; for it is not Reason that governs them, Reason which is always the same, but Humours, which are soon kind∣led and as soon go out again; Humours, whose Fer∣mentation excites contrary Motions every hour. Be∣sides, 'tis most commonly the Body which speaks in

them; and as the Body speaks only for the Body, or for those Things which have a Relation to the Body, the least interest determines toward their own particular Profit, the Motion which at first was produc'd in them for the Profit of a Friend, only because they found some Advantage in it themselves; for it is always pleasant and agreable to get new Friends and keep the old ones. In short, there is no solid and durable Friendship, but that which is founded upon Religion, fortifyed by Rea∣son, animated and supported by the charming Pleasure that proceeds from a mutual Possession of Truth. But Religion, Reason and Truth, are meer Fantoms to an Imagination that is struck and wrought upon by other Objects. They have nothing in them that affects the Senses, therefore they have nothing solid in them. They have no Relation to the Body, nor to the Society which is form'd by the Body, and for the good of the Body; they have nothing therefore that pleases the Imagination, which speaks only for the good of the Body, for that which animates and rejoyces it, which gives and pre∣serves its Being.

XIV. When a Man hath entertain'd the unhappy de∣sign of making his Fortune in this World, of pushing forward and advancing himself; let him endeavour to make those his Friends, who have a strong and lively Imagination, and let him excite and put them in mo∣tion. Their motion will perhaps carry him to the greatest Dignities. It is the Imagination that reigns here below, and distributes Riches and Honours. There needs only a strong and prevalent Imagination, to give an honourable Place in Mens Minds to a worthless Person, and to discountenance and disgrace a Man of the greatest Wisdom, Learning and Vertue. He then that would advance his Fortunes, must settle himself well in the Opinion of such as are active and stirring, he must gain their Favour and Affection, and he must quicken and spur them on; they will carry him a great way; they will lift him to a great height. But let him look to himself; nothing is more incomprehensible, nor more ungovernable than the Imagination; it goes upon very ticklish Wheels, and very difficult to be kept in order: He must be well acquainted with all its fantastical and variable Springs, and must know how

to try and manage them with Art and Dexterity. For otherwise, those Friends that have rais'd him up, will throw him down again, and trample him under their Feet with as many expressions of Rage and Indignation, as they have before given him of Favour and Friend∣ship.

XV. But for those that are contented with their Fortune, and would have good and real Friends, let them seek them among such as are lovers of Truth and Justice; let them ground their Friendships on a mu∣tual Communication of the true Goods, the immutable Goods which make Friendships firm and constant, the inexhaustible Goods, which exclude Envy and Jealousie; and let them assure themselves, that those Persons who seem to be least exact in performing the Duties of Friendship, if this proceeds from the natural Coldness of their Constitution, are the most sincere and faithful Friends. Their Imagination is not slippery and incon∣stant; but let it be what it will, they can restrain and govern it. Their Passions are not sprightly nor vio∣lent; but they know how to esteem and love according to Reason. Their Friendship is not an inconstant Pas∣sion, but a solid Vertue; and tho' it may be for want of Spirits and Flame, they appear cold and unmoveable outwardly, yet they have all the inward Sentiments and Motions for their Friends which they ought to have.

XVI. But tho' we ought many times to be satisfied with those that do not give us sensible Marks of their Friendship, yet we ought not to be satisfied with our selves, if we do not give them lively and sensible Ex∣pressions of ours. For the greatest part of Mankind being govern'd more by Sense than Reason, they will never be satisfied, except they read in our Face, and are convinc'd by our Services, that we are concern'd for their Interests. We are bound in duty to make some steps for them, which we would not make for our selves. Perhaps they do not feel the pain that we do in motion; for it may be they love to be in Agitation. They have not the same Opinion that we have of the good Things of this Life; for they are blinded by their Pas∣sions. And therefore judging of others by themselves, they will be apt to believe that we have no Esteem or

Friendship for them, if we do not leave the most sa∣cred and the most important Business, to serve them, if we do not do for them, what we would not do for our selves; and this belief will infallibly excite in them some unjust, and it may be sinful Passions.

XVII. For this Reason it is, that Society is a grie∣vous and painful slavery to those that are not made for it, and can live without it; it is perhaps the sharpest and severest Penance. It is a Trade, in which many times the honestest and fairest Dealers lose much more than they get; they venture a great deal, and make but small Returns. We should therefore enter into no particular Alliances, which oblige us to such Duties, as either the natural Constitution of our Ma∣chine, or any other Reasons will not suffer us to per∣form; for we should not get Freinds to make Ene∣mies of them. Nothing is more grievous and irksome than an Enemy who was once a Friend, and who abuses the Favours that are bestow'd on him. Let every one therefore examine his own Strength, and not suffer him∣self to be overcome by the dangerous pleasure of know∣ing and being known; and let him engage himself no farther in any Society, than he is able and willing to perform the Duties of it, no farther than that he may be serviceable to others without injuring himself, or at least that the Injury he doth to himself may be less than the Service he doth to others.

CHAP. XIII. A Continuation of the same Subject. If we would be be∣lov'd, we must make our selves amiable. The Qualities which make a Man amiable. Rules for Conversation. Of different Airs. Of Christian Friendship.

I. THough we should not enter into any particular Alliance with all the sorts of People, especially when we do not find in our selves Strength and Art enough to maintain it; yet we should study to gain the love of all Mankind, to the end there may be no one whom we may not be capable of serving. Now the way to be belov'd, is to make our selves amiable. It is an unreasonable and ridiculous pretention to challenge Love and Friendship; and those that are not belov'd, ought to blame none but themselves. If Men do not always do Justice to Merit, because they do not know it, and most commonly judge amiss of it, yet every one is a competent Judge of amiable Qualities, and those that possess them never want Friends. The Me∣rit of other Men obscures and puts out ours; and when we do them Justice, we seem to wrong our selves. We cannot exalt them, without depressing our selves, and when we get them below us, we think our selves the greater. But we may love other Men, without any injury to our selves. Nay, on the contrary, the Soul grows greater as it were by diffusing it self in the Hearts of others, and seems to cloth and adorn it self with the Glory which environs our Friends. So that a Man never fails of being belov'd, if he makes him∣self amiable, but he is not always esteem'd, tho' his Me∣rit be never so great.

II. What then are the Qualifications that make us amiable? They are very easie to be discover'd. It is not Wit, nor Learning, a handsome Face, or a fine

Shape, 'tis not Quality, Riches, no nor Vertue it self; all this will not do the business. For a Man may have an Aversion for one that possesses all these valuable Endow∣ments. What is it then? 'Tis to appear such to others, that they may be persuaded they shall be easie and con∣tented in our Company. If great Riches make a Man covetous; if Wit makes him proud; if Nobility makes him haughty and insolent; if Vertue and Merit it self makes him think every thing his due; all these Quali∣fications, how valuable soever they be, will never make the possessors of them amiable. Men would invincibly be happy; therefore he alone can gain the Love, I do not say the Esteem of Men, who is good either in reality or in appearance. Now no Man, how perfect soever he may be in himself, is good with relation to others, if he doth not impart to them the Favours which God hath bestow'd on him.

III. Thus the Man of Wit who ridicules and plays upon every Body he comes near, makes himself odious to all the World; and the Scholar, that is always shewing his Learning, puts himself in the Habit of a Pedant, and appears in a ridiculous Dress. Those that have a great deal of Wit, if they would be belov'd, must impart it to others. They must put such a stamp on the fine Things they speak, and make them pass so well, that every one may be satisfied with himself in their Com∣pany. He that hath Learning and Knowledge, must not magisterially dictate to others those Truths of which he is convinc'd himself; he must have the Art to diffuse Light insensibly in the Minds of his Auditors, so that every one may find himself enlightned, with∣out the shame of having been his Scholar. A liberal Man will never be belov'd, if he takes a pride in shew∣ing his Liberality, or brags of it. This is in effect to upbraid those on whom he bestows his Favours, and makes them as much asham'd. But he who imparts his Wit and Learning, as well as his Mony and Gran∣deur to others, without letting it be known, or with∣out drawing any Advantage from it, must necessarily win their Hearts by this vertuous Liberality; the only vertuous, I say, and charitable, the only generous and

sincere Liberality; for all other kind of Liberality is nothing but a mere effect of Self-love; it is all in∣terested, or at least very ill manag'd.

IV. But he that is continually exposing our Naked∣ness, to advance or divert himself to our prejudice; nay, he that for want of due respect toward us, takes too much liberty, and uses too much familiarity with us; in a word, all rude and ill-bred People, beget in us an irreconcilable hatred and aversion. There is no Man perhaps equally strong and hardy in all parts of him; and when we know a Man to be weak in any place, we should not fall upon him there; we can hardly touch him without hurting him. We should use all Men with Respect and Charity, and be extremely tender of striking them in a sensible part. But on the other side, we should have a care of reproaching them with their extreme nicety and tenderness by an over∣cautious and affected Behaviour: We should converse with them according to Nature, as far as their Quali∣ty, Humour, and actual Dispositions permit us so to do; and not be too fearful of setting upon them on that side where they fear nothing. They lov'd to be attack'd where they are strong and well fortify'd; and are pleas'd with Raillery and Satyr, when they are sure it cannot hurt them. A Man that hath Wit naturally, loves the exercise of the Wit, as well as that of the Body, when he hath a strong and vigorous one. The Resistance he makes, the Victories he obtains, give him Testimonies of his Strength and Excellence, and disco∣ver them to others, which begets in him a secret Plea∣sure and Satisfaction. For Motion delights and en∣livens us; and he that contradicts us impertinently doth not so much offend us, as he that gives us no occa∣sion of shewing those Qualities which we foolishly admire in our selves, and would have others admire too.

V. Men are much more sensible and tender, in rela∣tion to those Qualities which are esteem'd in the World, than to those which are really valuable in themselves; to those Qualities which concern their Profession or

Employment, than to those Perfections which are essential to their being; to those, in fine, which they have not, or rather those which the World doth not much believe they have, whether they have them or not, than to any others. Thus there cannot be a greater Affront put up∣on a Souldier who hath not yet given much proof of his Valour, than to call him Coward. For Courage is a thing esteem'd in the World; besides, it is thought absolutely necessary for a Souldier; in fine, one that wants it, or fears the World should think he wants it, doth all he can to conceal that kind of Infirmity; for we are very careful to cover every thing that being discover'd brings us Shame and Disgrace. It is the same thing with all other Conditions. If an ignorant Lawyer or Physician knows that you think him so, you shall never be his Frirnd, especially if you are so in∣discreet as to speak your Thoughts freely of him, and this comes to his Ears. If you give a Woman cause to believe that you think her ugly, you certainly make her angry. For Women value themselves upon Beauty; as Men do upon Wit; not that they do not pretend to Wit, nay and Learning too; for some of them set up for Wits and Scholars at a strange rate, and are so more than many grave Doctors. We should know the World, if we would please it; at least we should con∣verse with People with so much Modesty, Civility and Respect, that they may attribute the Injuries we do them to simplicity or inadvertency: There is no other way to make our selves belov'd: for it is impossible to gain the love of others, when we offend and make them uneasie.

VI. The Air and Behoviour is, as I said before, a Language much more expressive and intelligible than Words, and represents to the life our inward Dispositions in relation to others. We should therefore take a parti∣cular care to carry our selves with an Air of Modesty and Respect, and that in proportion to the Quality and known Merit of the Persons with whom we converse: I mean such an Air as sensibly shews that we do them Right within our selves, and willingly give them that place in our Mind and Heart which they desire, and

think they deserve. A careless and negligent Air is ac∣ceptable only to Inferiours, and is no where tolerable but amongst Equals. For tho' it be pleasing in regard it shews that we are not much taken up with our selves, yet on the other side it is disagreeable, because it is a sign that we do not much trouble our selves about other People. The grave and stately Air is very of∣fensive and uncasie. For besides, that it denotes a great Opinion of our selves, it makes others think that we have but little esteem for them. This Air is allowable only in Superiours; and is never becoming in them neither, but when it actually represents the Power with which they are invested. It becomes a Prince, a Judge on the Bench, a Priest at the Altar, or any one who by his Character, or otherwise, introduces others into the presence of God. But it makes a Man ridicu∣lous and contemptible who puts it on unseasonably and preposterously, and begets in us a secret Indigna∣tion and Aversion for the Vain-glorious Fop that as∣sumes it. But for the haughty and disdainful Air, it is provoking beyond all expression; for it shews in a very significant and sensible manner, that a Man hath no esteem nor kindness for others. This Air in a Prince makes him look terrible and dreadful; but in a private Man it makes him appear a frightful and ri∣diculous Monster, and must naturally beget in others an extreme contempt, and an irreconcilable hatred.

VII. All other different Airs are compos'd of these four: They are all natural and involuntary Effects of the esteem we have of our selves with relation to others; and according as our Imagination is struck, with the appearance of the Quality and Merit of those that are about us, so we do insensibly and in consequence of the Laws ordain'd for the good of Society, put on such an Air as is most proper to preserve the place which we think we deserve in the Mind of others, that place I mean which we actually and at that instant imagine we deserve; for it is not Reason, but Imagination which acts in these Encounters. It is not an abstract∣ed Knowledge of our own Qualifications with relation to those of others, but a sensible View of their Gran∣deur

or Meanness, and the inward Sense we have of our selves, which sets the Wheels of the Machine a going, in order to put the Body in such a posture, and give such an Air to the Face, as discovers to Men the actual dispositions of our Mind toward them. It is evident therefore, that to put on that natural and unaffected Air of Modesty and Respect which makes us amiable, to those especially who have a great deal of Pride, it is not sufficient to believe that other Men are of greater Quality and Worth than our selves, but our Imagination must be actually mov'd by that belief, and must put the animal Spirits in motion, which are the immediate Cause of all the alterations which happen in and upon the Body.

VIII. But the Imagination is so unaccountable a thing, and consequently the Mind of those that suffer themselves to be govern'd by the actual Disposition and Motion of their Machine, that many times the same Air causes quite contrary effects in two different Persons, or in the same Person at different times. This depends on the Fabrick and Position of the Imagination, and the quality of the animal Spirits. A pitiful and dejected Air moves Compassion in some, and Hatred in others, or it may be Contempt or Laughter. Therefore we should open our Eyes, and read in Peoples Faces the effect which our Behaviour causes in them, and shape or correct our Air by theirs; this is the surest way. And indeed it is what every one doth naturally and without thinking, espe∣cially when he stands in need of the Assistance of others, and passionately desires to gain their Favour and Affection. I shall say no more of the means where∣by we may accustom our selves to such an Air and Behaviour as will make us amiable. The World is so corrupted and so much given to flattery, that I much fear People would make an ill use of it. They are already but too knowing in this matter, and the World is never the better for it, For till Men learn to con∣sult Reason, and to make no account of the outward Behaviour, they will still be govern'd and misled by the Imagination of such as have a sprightly Temper

and a dextrous Wit; for it is the Imagination which gives the Face and the rest of the Body these different Airs, which please and tickle the wisest Men, and ne∣ver fail to deceive the simple.

IX. When a Man grows rich and powerful, he is never the more belov'd, if he doth not grow better too in respect of others, by his Liberality, and the Protection he affords them; for nothing is good, nor belov'd as such, but that which doth good, that which makes Men happy. Nay, I know not whether they really love rich Men tho' they be Liberal, or powerful Men tho' they protect them. For generally speaking, they do not make their court to rich Men, but to their Riches; they do not esteem great Men, but their Greatness; or rather every Man seeks his own Glory, his own Support, his own Ease and Pleasure. Drunkards do not love Wine, but the pleasure of drinking; for if the Wine be naught, or do not please their Palat, they will not drink it. A lewd Man, as soon as his Passion is satisfied, abhors the Ob∣ject that excited it; and if he still loves it; 'tis be∣cause his Passion is still alive. Now all this is because sading and perishing Enjoyments can never be a Bond strong enough to join Mens Hearts in a strict Union. A durable Friendship can never be built on transitory Goods, nor form'd by Passions which depend on a thing so inconstant as the circulation of the Blood and Humours: This can only be done by a mutual Pos∣session of Reason, the common Good. The Enjoy∣ment of this universal and inexhaustible Good, is the only thing that can make constant, secure and easie Friendships. This is the only Good that we can possess without Envy, and communicate without injur∣ing our selves. We should therefore excite one another to labour for the acquisition of this Good, and join all together for the mutual procurement of it. We should liberally impart to others that which we have already gotten, and not scruple to demand of them that which they have conquer'd by their Pains and Application, in the Country of Truth. Thus we should enrich our selves with the Treasures of Wisdom and Reason; for we gain a better Possession of Truth, the more we

communicate it. The Friends we get this way will be true, constant, generous, sincere and immortal Friends; for Reason never dies, Reason never changes; it gives to all those who possess it, immortality in their Life, and immutability in their Conduct.

X. But who is it that shall lead us to Reason, who shall subject us to its Laws, and make us its true Disciples? It is Reason it self; but Reason incarnate, humbled, made visible and sensible, and proportion'd to our Weakness. It is Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of the Father, the natural and universal Light of intelli∣gent Beings, who because he could be no longer the Light of our Minds, immers'd in Flesh and Blood by Sin, was made Sin himself, and by the foolishness of the Cross, makes a lively impression on our Senses, and fixes our Eyes and Thoughts on him. It is Christ, and Christ alone that can lead us to Reason, and reunite us in his Divine Person by the mediation of his glorified Humanity. Our Nature subsists in Rea∣son thro' him, and by him Reason will reign in our Minds and Hearts. For in fine, we are created for Reason, by that we are intelligent Beings; we were first form'd by it, and by it we must be form'd anew. Christ crucified is our holy Sacrifice, and the perfect Model of the Sacrifice which we must offer up of our Self-love to the Love of Order; but be∣ing rais'd from the dead, consummated in God, and made an High-Priest after the eternal Order of which Melchisedech was the Figure he is the inexhaustible source of those Celestial influences, which alone can teach us how to Sacrifice, as he did, our corrupt Na∣ture, and thereby to merit a divine Being, a glori∣ous and incorruptible Transformation; to be perfectly reunited to our Original, and to live wholly on the intellectual Substance of Reason, by divine Chatity, in perpetual Peace, and in an everlasting Society.

XI. If we are true Christians here on Earth, we shall be faithful Friends; and we shall find faithful Friends no where but amongst those that have solid Piety. For there can be no true and constant Friend∣ship

but in the immutability of Reason; and we cannot in our present condition constantly follow Reason, but by the strength which Reason incarnate gives us. We cannot sacrifice our own interests to the Laws of Friend∣ship but by a Charity unknown to Nature, and which derives its original and efficacy from the true Taber∣nacle, where Christ exercises the Office of High-Priest. Your worldly and licentious Friend hath been always faithful to you. It may be so. For he always found his advantage in it, or hopes one time or other to re∣pay his Self-love. But would he serve you do you think to his own prejudice, or without the hope of a return, when even the Righteous themselves are most commonly excited to serve God, or other Men, only by the hope of a reward, which is so much the more grateful to their enlightned Self-love, as it infinitely exceeds the greatness of their Services?

XII. There are really no such things as disinterested Friends. They alone may be reckon'd as such, who do not expect their reward from us. They alone can truly be our Friends, who desire nothing in this tot∣tering and unstable World. They alone are our good Friends, our sincere, faithful and serviceable Friends, who do us Service, because Reason and Charity com∣mand them to do it; and expect from God alone those good Things which are capable of contenting their Self-love, the only enlightned, generous and law∣ful Self-love. Let us therefore make choice of such Friends; and for those Friendships which we have al∣ready contracted, let us endeavour to fix and settle them on the immutability of Reason, and to purify them by the Sanctity of Religion. Let us make our selves amiable, only to make the Law of God belov'd; and let us look upon the Salvation of our Brethren, as the reward of the Services we do them. This reward will soon be follow'd by another: And the Glory which we shall receive, for having wrought under Christ in the finishing of his Building, shall endure for ever. The Society of the World should tend only to establish an eternal Society in Christ. We should converse with Men only that we may labour for their Sanctification,

and they for ours. Certainly God hath sent us into the World with no other design. Happy, then infinite∣ly more happy than we can imagine shall we be, if by engaging in this just Design of our common Master, we make our selves worthy through Christ our forerunner, to enter into his rest, and to enjoy his Glory and Plea∣sure to all Eternity!

CHAP. XIV. Of the Duties which every Man owes to himself; which consist in general in labouring for his own Perfection and Happiness.

I. THE Duties which we owe to our selves, as well as those which we owe to our Neighbour, may be reduc'd to this general Head, of labouring for our Happiness and Perfection: Our Perfection which con∣sists chiefly in a perfect conformity of our Will with the immutable Order: And our Happiness, which consists wholly in the enjoyment of Pleasure, I mean solid and substantial Pleasure, capable of contenting a spiritual Substance made for the possession of the su∣preme Good.

II. The perfection of the Mind consists chiefly in the conformity of the Will to Order. For he that loves Order above all things, hath Vertue: He that obeys Order in all things, fulfils his Duty. And he that sacrifices his present Pleasure to Order, that suffers Pain, and despises himself out of respect to the divine Law, merits a solid Happiness, the genuine and suita∣ble Reward of a tried and approv'd Vertue. That almighty and all righteous Law shall judge his Cause, and shall reward him to all Eternity.

III. To seek after Happiness is not Vertue, but Ne∣cessity: For Vertue is free and voluntary, but the desire of Happiness is not in our own Choice. Self-love, properly speaking, is not a quality which may be en∣creas'd or diminish'd. We cannot cease to Love our selves; tho' we may cease to Love ourselves amiss. We cannot stop the motion of Self-love; but we may re∣gulate it according to the divine Law. We may by the motion of Self-love enlightned, supported by Faith and Hope, and govern'd by Charity, we may, I say, sacrifice present to future Pleasure, and make our selves Miserable for a time, to escape the eternal Vengeance

of the righteous Judge. For Grace doth not destroy Nature. The motion which God continually im∣prints on us toward Good in general never stops. The Wicked and the Righteous equally desire to be happy: They equally tend toward the source of their Felicity. Only the Righteous doth not suffer himself to be de∣ceiv'd and corrupted by pleasing appearances: The foretast of the true Goods supports him in his course. But the Sinner, being blinded by his Passions, for∣gets God, his Rewards and Punishments, and employs all the motion which God gives him for the true Good, in the pursuit of Fantoms and Il∣lusions.

IV. Self-love therefore, or the desire of being hap∣py is neither Vertue nor Vice: But it is the natural motive to Vertue, and in wicked Men becomes the motive to Vice. God alone is our end: He alone is our Good: Reason alone is our Law: And Self-love, or the invincible desire of being happy, is the motive which should make us love God, unite our selves to him, and submit to his Law. For we are not our own Good, nor our own Law. God alone possesses Power; therefore he alone is to be lov'd and fear'd. We invincibly desire to be happy: Therefore we should inviolably obey his Law. For we cannot imprint this too deeply on our Minds, that the Almighty is also Just; that every Disobedience shall be punish'd, and every act of Obedience rewarded. In the present state of things, wickedness and disorder is attended with Hap∣piness: The exercise of Vertue is hard and painful. And it is necessary it should be so, to try our Faith, and to give us means of acquiring true and genuine Merit. But it must not nor cannot continue so always. If the Soul be not immortal, if the Face of things shall not one Day be chang'd, then there is no God: For an unjust God is a mere Chimera. The Mind clearly sees all this. And what then must our Self-love en∣lightned, our invincible and insatiable desire of Hap∣piness conclude from hence, but that if we would be solidly happy, we must submit our selves entirely to the divine Law? This is evident in the highest de∣gree.

V. Our Self-love then is the motive which being assisted by Grace, unites us to God, as our Good, or the cause of our Happiness; and subjects us to Rea∣son, as our Law, or the model of our Perfection. But we must not make the motive our End, or our Law. We must truly and sincerely love Order, and unite our selves to God by Reason. We must prefer the divine Law before all things: Because we cannot slight it, and cease to conform our selves to it, with∣out losing the liberty of access to God which we en∣joy by it. We must not desire that Order should accommodate it self to our Will: It is impossible to be done; for Order is immutable and necessary. We must not wish that God would not punish our Ini∣quities; God is a Judge that cannot be corrupted. These desires corrupt us: These foolish and insignificant Wishes are injurious to the Purity, the Justice and Im∣mutability of God; they strike at the essential At∣tributes of the divine Nature. We should abhor our own Corruptions, and fashion all the motions of our Heart by Order: We should revenge on our selves the injuries done to the honour of Order; or at least we should humbly submit to the divine Vengeance. For he who wishes that God would not punish Theft or Drunkenness, doth not love God; and tho' the strength of his Self-love enlightned may keep him from Stealing or Drinking, yet he is not Righteous. He makes that the end, which should be only the motive of his desires. He must call upon the Saviour of Sinners, who alone can change his Heart. But he that had rather there should be no God, than such an one as delights to make eternally miserable even those that truly love Order and Reason, is a just Man: For that chimerical Deity, that unjust and cruel God is not ami∣able. Grace it self doth not destroy Self-love, but only regulates it, and makes it subject to the divine Law. It makes us love the true God, and despise that Irregularity and Injustice which a disturb'd Ima∣gination may attribute to the divine Nature.

VI. From what hath been said it is evident, First, that we must enlighten our Self-love, to the end it may excite us to Vertue. Secondly, that we must

never follow the motion of Self-love only. Thirdly, that in obeying Order inviolably, we labour effectu∣ally for the contentment of our Self-love. In a word, since God alone is the cause of our Pleasure, we ought to submit our selves to his Law, and labour for our Perfection; leaving it to his Justice and Good∣ness, to proportion our Happiness to our Merits, and to those of Christ, in whom ours deserve an infinite Re∣ward.

VII. I have explain'd in the first Part of this Trea∣tise the most material things that are necessary to make us labour for our Perfection, or to acquire and pre∣serve an habitual and ruling Love of the immutable Order; in which our Duties toward our selves consist. They are these in general.

VIII. We should accustom our selves to the labour of Attention, and thereby procure some strength of Mind. We should never assent but to evidence, and so preserve the liberty of our Mind. We should continually study Mankind in general, and our selves in particular, that we may gain a perfect know∣ledge of our selves. We should meditate Night and Day on the divine Law, that we may obey it exactly. We should compare our selves with Order, to humble and despise our selves. We should reflect on the divine Justice, to fear it, and awaken our selves. We should think upon our Mediator, to call upon him, and comfort our selves. We should look upon Christ as our Model, love him as our Saviour, and follow him as our Strength, our Wisdom, and the Fountain of our eternal Happiness. The World seduces us by our Senses: It troubles our Mind by our Imagination; it carries us away and plunges us in the depth of Mi∣sery by our Passions. We should break off the dan∣gerous correspondence which we hold with it by our Body, if we would strengthen the union which we have with God by Reason. For these two unions of the Soul, with God, and with the Body, are incom∣patible. We cannot unite our selves perfectly to God, without abandoning the interests of the Bo∣dy, without despising, sacrificing and destroying it.

IX. Notwithstanding we are not allow'd to pro∣cure our own Death, nor to ruin our Health. For our Body is not our own: It belongs to God, to our Country, our Family, and our Friends. We must keep up its strength and vigour, according to the use we are oblig'd to make of it. But we must not pre∣serve it contrary to the command of God, and to the prejudice of other Men. We must expose it for the publick good, and not fear to weaken, ruin and de∣stroy it in executing the commands of God. And so likewise for our Honour and our Fortunes. Every thing we have belongs to God and our Neighbour, and must be preserv'd, employ'd and sacrific'd to the honour of the divine Law, the immutable and necessa∣ry Order, and with a dependence on it. I shall not enter into the particulars of this matter; for my design was only to lay down those general Principles by which every Man is oblig'd to govern his Life and Actions, if he would arive happily at the true and certain place of Rest and Pleasure.

FINIS.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Mat. 5.48.
• * 1.2

  1 John 3.2, 3.
• * 1.3

  Mat. 5.8.
• * 1.4

  1 Tim. 1.17.
• * 1.5

  I am the Lord, that is my Name, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Glo∣ry will not give to ano∣ther, Isa. 42.8.
• * 1.6

  Jer. 17.7, 5.
• * 1.7

  Esther 14.14, &c.
• * 1.8

  2 Cor. 10.17.
• * 1.9

  wisd. 6.12.7.10.
• * 1.10

  Prov. 8.
• * 1.11

  Wisd. 7.27, 28.
• * 1.12

  Mat. 23.8. See S Augu∣stincts Trea∣the De M••gistro.
• * 1.13

  Wis. 7.9.
• * 1.14

  My delights were with th•• Sons of Men, Prov. 8.31.
• * 1.15

  Psal. 18.26.
• * 1.16

  Heb. 10.38. Justus 〈…〉〈…〉 Virg Lat.
• * 1.17

  Mat. 16 24.
• † 1.18

  Soul. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.19

  Every High Priest is or∣dain'd to of∣fer Gifts and Sacrifi∣ces; where∣fore it is of necessity that the Man have somewhat also to offer, Heb. 8.3.
• * 1.20

  Heb. 5.
• * 1.21

  Mat. 18.6.
• * 1.22

  Joh. 17.3.
• * 1.23

  Psal. 110.3.
• * 1.24

  Col. 3.22.
• * 1.25

  v. 23.
• * 1.26

  v. 24.
• * 1.27

  〈…〉〈…〉 7.23.
• * 1.28

  1 Sam. 9.21.
• * 1.29

  Psal 78.71.
• * 1.30

  Mat. 25.40. Luk. 6 20. Luk. 16.9.
• * 1.31

  Luk. 6.24.
• * 1.32

  Jam. 1.9, 1••.
• * 1.33

  c. 5.1, 2, 3.
• * 1.34

  Eccles. 13.23.
• * 1.35

  Eph. 2.19.
• * 1.36

  1 Tim. 1.17.
• * 1.37

  Mat. 20.25.
• * 1.38

  Eph. 5.22
• * 1.39

  Part I. Chap. V.
• * 1.40

  Confess. l. 1.
• * 1.41

  The great∣est Reve∣rence and Respect should be shew'd to Children.
• * 1.42

  Wisd. 6.5, 6, 8.
• * 1.43

  Eccles. 32.1, 2.
• * 1.44

  Hinder not Musick, verse 3.
• * 1.45

  Eph. 5.33.
• * 1.46

  Phil. 2.3.