Of peace and contentment of minde. By Peter Du Moulin the sonne. D.D.

CHAP. XII. Of Aversion, Hatred, and Revenge.

AVersion is the first seed of Hatred, and hath a larger extent; for hatred regards onely persons or actions, but many have Aversions for unreasonable or inanimate things; wherefore those Aversions are commonly unreasonable, whether it be out of naturall antipathy, or out of fancy & wantonnesse. Persons subject to those Aversions have commonly more Passion then reason, and are such as are made tender and are soft spirited by ease. Ladies have many antipa∣thyes, but among country wives and milkmayds you shall find but few that will swound at the sight of a spider or a frog.

A wise man must impartially examine those Aversions, if he have any, whether they consist in fancy or nature, and not flatter himselse in such capricious weakenesses. He shall do much for his rest and credit if he can weane himselfe altogether from them. He that can command himselfe to have no Aversion, of which he may not give a reason, will traine his passion that way, to have no unreasonable Hatred against any person.

Hatred is an indignation for an injury recei∣ved

or imagined, or for an ill opinion conceived of a person or action. This description is common to it with anger. Herein they differ, that anger is sudden and hath a short course; but hatred is me∣ditated at leasure, and is lasting: Also that ang∣er seeks more a mans vindication then the harme of others, but hatred studieth the harme of ad∣versaries.

Hatred, as anger, is a compound of pride and sadnesse. (I meane the vicious hatred and the most common.) It proceeds likewise out of igno∣rance of ones selfe, and the price and nature of things. This Philosophy we learne of St. John 1 Joh. 2.11. He that hates his Brother is in darknesse, and knowes not whither he goes, because that dark∣nesse hath blinded his eyes; for ignorance is the darknesse of the soul. As then blind men are commonly testy, the blindnesse of ignorance will make men prone to hate their neighbours, and hatred afterwards increaseth that blindnesse. By the same ignorance whereby we love some per∣sons and things without knowledge and reason, we hate also some persons and things without reason; and many will choose rather to lose a friend then a shilling.

Hatred is naturally good, serving to make us avoyd things hurtfull, and it is morally good when we use it to oppose that which is contrary to the Soveraine good which is God. When we hate that which God hateth we cannot do amiss,

so that we be very certaine that God hates it; such are the unjust habits and actions condem∣ned by his word and by that law of nature writ∣ten in mans heart: But as for the persons, be∣cause we have no declaration of Gods love and hatred to this or that man, we must love them all, and never feare to offend God by loving that which he hateth, for we cannot offend him by obeying his commandement. Now he com∣mands us to love our neighbours as ourselves. No doubt but we must love many persons which God hateth, neither will it be time to hate them till we have heard the sentence of Gods personall hatred pronounced against them.

I say, Gods personal hatred, because there is a hatred of iniquity in God against those that op∣pose his glory; which obligeth us to hate them also with that hatred of iniquity, and to oppose them vigorously, as long as they oppose God. Of that hatred spake David when he said, Psal. 139.21. Do not I hate them O Lord that hate thee, and am not I grieved with them that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred, I count them mine enemies. But wee must take heed lest the hatred of iniquity, bring the hatred a∣gainst the persons; and the persons must not be afflicted more then needs, for the repressing of in∣iquity: The more difficult it is to keep that tem∣per, the more earnestly ought we to endeavour to render all offices of charity and personall huma∣nity

to them whose party we justly seek to de∣feate; for to love our enemies and to overcome the evill with good, is the most ingenuous imita∣tion of the Godhead. It is his command, joyned with his example, Matth. 5.44. Love your ene∣mies, blesse them that curse you, do good to them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he makes his Sun to rise on the evill and on the good, and sends raine on the just and on the unjust.

There is need of a great measure of grace and wisedome to observe these two precepts to∣gether. Psal. 97.10. Ye that love the Lord hate evill, and Matth. 22.39. Thou shalt love thy neighbour like thy selfe, hating iniquity in the wicked, and loving their persons, and both for Gods sake.

The chiefe use of hatred is, to be incited to good by the hatred of evill. For that end, it is not necessary that the greatnesse of hatred equall the greatnesse of the evill, and we are not obliged to hate evill things as much as they deserve; other∣wise the great currant of our affection would runne into the channell of hatred, and leave the channell of love, dry. Now it is in loving the Soveraine good with all our strength and with all our soul, that our duty and happinesse consi∣steth, not in hating the evill with all our strength, and with all our soul. The hatred of evill is not requisite of it selfe, but by accident, as a conse∣quence

of the love of good. If the hatred of vice perswade us to vertue, we shall be more yet per∣swaded to it by the love of goodnesse.

Many effects of hatred are the same as the ef∣fects of anger; for there is no anger without ha∣tred in some degree, if not to a person, at least to an action. But there is some hatred without an∣ger, when one forethinks in cold blood the wayes to destroy an adversary.

All the destructions of the world where the will of man is an agent are wrought immedi∣ately by hatred. They have many remote causes anbition, covetousnesse, carnall love, emulation and all the violent passions; but they destroy not, but by accident, till some opposition hath driven them into hatred, which in the inward polity of the soul hath the same office as the hangman in a Citty, for it is the executioner and avenger of wrongs. Unto hatred all the cruelty of tyranny and malice must be imputed. And yet all the blood spilt, all the ruines and inven∣tive torments outwardly wrought by hatred, are nothing so grievous as the inward disorder wrought by it in cruell and revengefull souls, and the separation which it worketh between God and man. It is the finall and most grievous effect of hatred, that, by hating our neighbours we become Gods enemies. 1 Joh. 4.20. If a man say I love God, and hates his brother, he is a lyer.

Hatred is a bitter venome which being once

diffused & soaked into the soul turnes a man into a hell-fury, contrary to all good, ready and in∣dustrious to all evil. But with all the paine that such a man takes to doe harme to others he doth more harme to himselfe then to any, consuming his spirits with a continual malignant fever, & ba∣nishing from his soul serenity, charity, and meek∣ness; vertues which are the soyle of other vertues, and the givers of rest & contentment to the soul.

It is often seene that while a man is gnawing his heart with a fierce hatred, the person he ha∣teth is healthfull, merry, and quiet, as if impre∣cations made him prosper. An ill grounded ha∣tred drawes Gods blessing upon the party unjustly hated and persecuted. Psal. 109.18. It was Da∣vids hope Let them curse, but blesse thou.

Hatred is conceived for one of those two ends, Either to avenge ourselves or to avenge injustice which is Gods cause.

As for the first: Before wee think of revenging an injury, wee must examine whether wee have received or done the greater injury: for it is ordi∣nary that the offender is harder to be reconciled, that it may not be thought that he is in the wrong.

Then we must calmely consider, whether the revenge may not doe us more harme then the in∣jury, though wee had nothing to doe but to breake our launces against a dead stock incapable to re∣sent it. For besides that there is no enemy so little but it is better to let him alone then to provoke

him; the harme that hatred doth within us can∣not be recompensed by any sweetness of revenge, though there were no other harme in hatred then to find delight in robbing God of that he hath re∣served to himselfe: Now he challengeth revenge as his owne, exclusively to all others; Heb. 10.30. Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense saith the Lord. To become incapable of rest, incapable of doing good, incapable of pleasing God, are suffi∣cient evils to deterre us from harbouring that inhumane passion, enemy of men, of God, and of ourselves. Pro. 11.17. The mercifull man doth good to his owne soul, but the cruel troubleth his owne flesh.

It is a right godly and philosophicall study to strive against that tendernes, quick to pick offen∣ces, slow to take satisfaction. And wee must be in∣genious to devise causes of patience. Are you con∣demned being guilty? acknowledge Justice. Are you innocent? bow under authority. Are you newly offended; It is too soone to resent it. Is the Sunne gone downe since? It is too late. Hath any wounded you? look to your cure, not to your re∣venge. Are you well againe? let not your mind be harder to heal then your body. Are you offen∣ded by a friend? remember the friendship more then the offense. Are you offended by an enemy? Doe your endeavour that he be so no more; retur∣ning him good for evil. Is he too strong for you? It is folly to contend with him. Is he too weake? It is a shame. Is he your superiour? you must

yeeld to him: Is he your inferiour? you must spare him.

And since Pride, of which none is altogether free, represents our enemies to us under a vile and unworthy notion; let us fetch some good out of that evill; Let contempt help patience to beare with their provocations, for if a dogge did bite us, wee would not bite him againe, nor kicke at a asse that kicks against us.

Also when some body offends us, let us remem∣ber that wee have offended some body. The fault that wee find in another, is in our owne bosome. It is too great a flattery of selfe love to looke to be excused, and excuse none; Wee are evill and in∣firme, and live among persons evill and infirme. All have need to put on a resolution of mutual forbearance.

Above all things wee must remember that wee are all guilty before God, and stand in need of mercy, and unlesse wee forgive them that trespasse against us, wee pray against ourselves, and aske our condemnation every time that wee say the Lords Prayer.

The meditation of death will conduce much to lay downe hatred. To wish one dead is among the vulgar an expression of the greatest hatred. If then wee may be satisfied with the death of our ene∣mies, we may be sure that all our enemies shal die; but wee must be sure also, that they may ex∣pect of us the like satisfaction. The worst wee can

doe the one to the other, is to bring us to the end which Nature leads us unto. As while two little fishes are fighting for a flye, the Pyke comes, that devoures them both; while wee quarrell about small things, death is coming, which will swallow him that is in the right and him that is in the wrong, the victor and the vanquished. Looke upon the broyles of the age of our fathers; What is become of the long and opiniatre quarrel of the Leagve in which all Christendome was involved? death hath decided it. It hath cooled the * 1.1 Ar∣dent and the Zealous; It hath stopt the full careere of hatred assisted with valournd power. It will do the like to the quarrels of our dayes. Let us not be so hot in our dissensions; Death will quench our heat within a few dayes, and send us to pleade our causes be∣fore our great judge. It will goe ill with us if wee appeare in that judgement, before wee have made peace with our judge by a true repentance and faith, which without charity with our neighbours cannot subsist. Why should our hatred be long, since our life is short?

The same consideration will serve to temper the hatred of iniquity, which for the most part is a pretence whereby wee cozen ourselves and others, to palliate personall hatred. If we take Gods cause sincerely in hand, we must conforme ourselves to his will and wisedome, expecting

till he send his messenger, which is death, to at∣tache the wicked before his judgement. Psal. 37.8. Cease from anger and forsake wrath, Fret not thy selfe in any wise to do evill, for evill doers shall be cut off; 10. Yet a little while and the wicked shall not be.

If we hate wickednesse, we may be sure that God hates it more yet, and he will punish it; but in his owne time, to satisfie his justice not our fashion. Certainly if we hated iniquity in good earnest, we would hate it in ourselves. Though our enemies be wicked, we must love them for Gods sake: and, because we also are subject to the like infirmities, we must love them for our sakes.

Notes

• * 1.1

  * Titles that the Leagvers assumed.