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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1">
<P>THE RULE OF THE GREAT S. AUGUSTIN EXPOUNDED By the Venerable Doctor HUGH of S. VICTOR.</P>
<P>Translated into French by the R. Father Charles de la Grang&eacute; Canon Regular of S. VICTOR.</P>
<P>And now Publish'd in English for the u&s;e of the English AUGUSTIN NUNS.</P>
<P>AT BRIDGES</P>
<P>Printed by JOHN DE COCK.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="preface">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE <HI>Or Explication of the Fir&s;t Point of the Rule</HI> By the French Tran&s;lator.</HEAD>
<P><HI>_DEarly beloved Religious, we ought above all things to lo|ve Almighty God, and then our neighbour; for the&s;e are principal precepts delivered to us in holy Scripture.</HI></P>
<P>This Preface to our holy Father's rule &s;o short in words but &s;o large and full in the &s;en&s;e it contains, was not u&s;ually found at the begin|ing of Saint Augu&s;tins Rule in the twelveth age where in appeared &s;uch florishing Congregations of Ca|nons Regular. Neither does Hugh
<PB N="2" REF="3">of S. Victor mention it, who lived in tho&s;e times, and took &s;uch pains to know the excellent Rule he had embraced; and to &s;et it in the brighte&s;t light, for the good and profit of his Brethern: but he be|gins his explication by tho&s;e words which immediatly follow. <HI>We com|mand all who are &s;ettled in the Mo|na&s;tery &amp;c.</HI> It was not then nece&s;&s;ary to &s;et the Divine Commandements of Charity &s;o often before their eyes, who had them engraven in their hearts in &s;o profound and lively a manner. But &s;ince in proce&s;s of time tho&s;e cele&s;tial flames are by little &amp; little relented, Charity mu&s;t be ex|pre&s;ly &s;poken of, and &s;et in a clear view, as the ground and foundation of that holy life formed by the mo|del of the primitive Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P>This is not the publication of a new law, nor addition joined to the Rule; but an adverti&s;ment concerning the indi&s;pen&s;able duty of all Chri&s;tians,
<PB N="3" REF="3">and a declaration of all the vertues which compo&s;e the particular Cha|racter of this holy In&s;titute. I there|fore think it will not be unprofita|ble to give this Preface a little com|mentary, as Hugh of S. Victor has done to each particular of the body of the Rule. And what I shall &s;ay thereupon may &s;erve for a Preface to this great man's work.</P>
<DIV2 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Whe ought above all things to Love Almighty God.</HEAD>
<P>Should I pretend to repre&s;ent the excellency of the Love of God, and expo&s;to e the rea&s;ons, by wit is the fir&s;t of the commandments in rank, in dignity, &amp; in perfection; it would be to make a whole volume in&s;tead of a &s;imple Preface; it would be to go wide of the chief de&s;igne of this work, should I undertake to explain in what &s;en&s;e it is Truly &s;aid that God is Charity, how this pa&s;|&s;age
<PB N="4" REF="4">of S. John is to be under&s;tood, <HI>he that abideth in Charity, abideth in God, and God in him.</HI> 1. John 4.16. How the holy Gho&s;t pours this di|vine vertue into our hearts, and how it alone will eternally &s;ub&s;i&s;t. <HI>Whe|ther Prophecies shal be made void; or tongues shall cea&s;e, or knowledge shall be de&s;troy'd.</HI> 1. Cor. 13.8. When faith and hope shall be no more in u&s;e. Nay it is to be fear'd that he who should undertake &s;o con&s;idera|ble a work might &s;ink under the weight of his &s;ubject; for if, <HI>The eye hath nor &s;een, nor the ear heard, nor hath it inter'd into the heart of Man what things God had prepared for tho&s;e who Love him.</HI> 1. Cor. 2.9. How can we worthily expre&s;s the Excellence of Charity which brings us to &s;uch ineffable ble&s;&s;ing?</P>
<P>It will be much better for me to confine my &s;elf to &s;omething ea&s;ier and more within my reach; as, to repre&s;ent the motives which may ex|cite
<PB N="5" REF="4">the de&s;ire of it in our hearts; to the end we may afterwards imi|tate that wi&s;e Marchant of the Go&s;|pel who having di&s;covered a hidden trea&s;ure, &s;old all he had to get po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion of it. We ought not to take any thing more to heart than the e&s;tablishing our &s;eives in a perfect Charity, which unites us for ever to God; &s;ince it was for this end he made all the order of nature and grace. In effect if we con&s;ider na|turall things, why God has Created the World? why he has made Crea|tures &s;o beautiful? why he has rank'd and ordered them whith &s;o much wi&s;dome? what was the de&s;ign of this Excellent Operator, in creating man to his own image and likenes, in giving him the u&s;e of rea&s;on, and in frameing him a heart free in its motions? all this has been to make him&s;elf beloved; and one may &s;ay that the only recompen&s;e he expected for the&s;e effects of his omnipotence, was the heart of man.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="5">
<P>But if we pa&s;s from the Benefit of the Creation to that of the Re|demption, we shall &s;till better ack|nowledge how much we are obli|ged to banish from our heart all other Loves, that we may entirely fill it with the Love of God: for if we ought to love him for having made us, how much ju&s;ter is it to Love him for having repair'd us, and <HI>that</HI> in &s;uch a manner, as S. Bernard &s;ays: that is, for having redeemed us with &s;o many tears, and &s;uch abundance of blood? and if the creation of the world which co&s;t Almighty God but &s;ix words, or rather but one word &s;ix times repeated, is &s;o con&s;iderable that the very Pagans are inexcu&s;able for not having learned to Glorifie God for it (that is to &s;ay, to Love him: for one cannot Glorifie him but by Loving him) how can Chri&s;tians who know that his Divine Maje&s;ty has not only enriched them with the&s;e general
<PB N="7" REF="5">favours, but has al&s;o be&s;towed upon them an infinity of particular ones incomparably greater, how I &s;ay can they pretend to &s;alvation without giving all their heart to Je&s;us Chri&s;t?</P>
<P>And let no'ne imagin that they &s;a|tisfie this e&s;&s;ential duty by a lan|guishing Love: for tho' there should be Chri&s;tians &s;o in&s;en&s;ible and un|gratefull as to content them&s;elves with that: yet Per&s;ons Con&s;ecrated to God by a particular worship, Per|&s;ons who make a Publick Profe&s;&s;ion of a Religious Life, and of rewe|ning the Spirit of Charity which animated the Primitive Chri&s;tians; &s;uch ought to Love God in a per|fect manner, that is with a Love of preference, a Love in&s;urmoun|table, and always acting; &s;o that they may Truly be &s;aid to Love God above all that is Amiable; and are &s;o firm in this Love that no evil is capable to &s;eparate them from it; but they eudeavour in all their Ac|tions,
<PB N="8" REF="6">and always, to do what may be mo&s;t plea&s;ing to his Divine Ma|je&s;ty.</P>
<P>This is the Fr&s;t Di&s;po&s;ition that ought to appear in tho&s;e who would engage them&s;elves to live according to the Rule of S. Augu&s;tin, they mu&s;t Love God Prefarably to all things. For wen the Spou&s;e in the Canticles &s;ays that her beloved <HI>hath Ordered Charity in her.</HI> Cant. 2.4. She means that he has regu|lated her Love, to fix it on dif|ferent objects, according to their degree of beauty, of Excellency, and of perfection; to the end she may Love that mo&s;t which be&s;t de|&s;erves it, and haue le&s;s affection for that which is not &s;o worthy of her inclinations: and as there is nothing &s;o great, &s;o Excellent, nor &s;o per|fect as God, the &s;oul should al&s;o en|deavour to Love him above all that in the world has any appearance of good, that is, more than Riches,
<PB N="9" REF="6">Plea&s;ures, Honours; more than Pa|rents, Friends, Liberty &amp;c. I do'nt de&s;ign to treat here of that di&s;po&s;i|tion of heart only, which is nece&s;|&s;ary for all Chri&s;tians, and by which we ought to be ready rather to lo&s;e and &s;uffer all things, than to offend God; but al&s;o of an actuall renun|ciation, &s;o entire and ab&s;olute as to all that may withdraw us from that Sovereigne Good, that there may be no motion in our heart which is not referr'd as much as in us lies, to this divine object.</P>
<P>From this di&s;po&s;ition proceeds ano|ther which is of an equal obligation; and it is this, that no temptation should be able to &s;urmount us in this Love; for we do not Love God abo|ve all things, if we can &s;till be sha|ken by the fears of wants, or pains; or if we fail in fidelity to our du|ties, through the apprehen&s;ion of in|commoding our &s;elves a little, or of con&s;training our humours. By this
<PB N="10" REF="7">we may perceive that the Holy Man Job did nothing more than nece&s;&s;ary in that admirable patience which ma|de him &s;o &s;ubmi&s;&s;ively &s;upport the &s;o &s;udden and general a lo&s;s if his children and goods; but that if his Charity as well as his patience had not been invincible; he had perish'd.</P>
<P>This teaches us al&s;o that the Mar|tyrs did nothing too much in expo|&s;ing them&s;elves &s;o generously to death, and enduring &s;o many and &s;uch Cruel Torments; they only com|ply'd with the duty of their Con&s;|cience in the pre&s;ent conjuncture they were in. And if Almighty God should put us into the like occa&s;ions, we should be obliged to shew as much con&s;tancy as they did, or run the ri&s;que of our eternal ruin: the|refore the Wi&s;e-man Says, <HI>Many Waters cannot quench Charity, neither shall flouds overwhelm it.</HI> Cant. 8.7. But what are tho&s;e great Waters, what are tho&s;e Flouds? they are Cro&s;|&s;es,
<PB N="11" REF="7">afflictions, and tryals; they are di&s;gu&s;ts, privations, and temp|tations to which the Servants of Je&s;us Chri&s;t ar expos'd in the way of &s;alvation: for in all tho&s;e a&s;&s;aults they ought to make their Charity &s;o invincible, that they may remain faithfull in their duty to God even till death, &s;o that neither the weak|ne&s;s of nature, the Tediou&s;ne&s;s of Mortification, nor contrary Examples; nor even the Scandals with which they are &s;omtimes furrounded, may be able to shake their faith &amp; Love; thereby imitating the genero&s;ity of the great Apo&s;tle, who gave a de|fiance to all Creatures, and &s;aid wit|hout fear of mi&s;take. <HI>Jam fure that neither death, nor Life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor things Pre&s;ent, nor to Come, nor Force, nor Height, nor Depth, nor any other Crea|ture, can be able to &s;eparate us from the Love of God, which is in Chri&s;t Je&s;us our Lord.</HI> Rom. 8.38.39.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="8">
<P>Whrt mighty things should we not undertake to attain to perfection, if our hearts were thus di&s;po&s;ed! for as Love is of the Nature of a Flame, which is in continual motion, we should not even yield to tho&s;e Great Saints, who have done and &s;uffered &s;uch Admirable things to te&s;tifie how much they Loved our Sovereigne Lord. it was the fervour of this Love which made all S. Augu&s;tin's Child|ren, be once, what &s;ome are &s;till; that is &s;o perfect in all &s;orts of Ver|tues. It was that love which made the Canon Regulars &s;o far extend the &icirc;nterpretation they had given to the Rule; as to &s;pend great part of the night as well as of the day, in fervorours &s;inging the prai&s;es of Al|mighty God; fa&s;ting more than half the year, and always ob&s;erving an exact ab&s;tenance, working all in common, and living in a retreat which had &s;eparated their whole li|ves from the world, if the Divine
<PB N="13" REF="8">Orders, had not &s;ent them out again for &s;ome holy Mini&s;try. Tho&s;e Admirable men found nothing hard in &s;o &s;trict a life, becau&s;e their love was great; for 'tis the pro|perty of that vertue to &s;weeten pains and difficulties: they that lo|ve perfectly, do not &s;uffer, or if they do, it is a plea&s;ing pain, in which they take delight.</P>
<P>Coldne&s;s of Charity has been the cau&s;e of the weakening and decay of the mo&s;t holy Religious hou&s;es. However exce&s;&s;ive our fore Fathers au&s;terities may appear to us, they &s;eemed &s;weet and light to them becau&s;e of the love they had for Almighty God, and we should do no le&s;s than they, if we had but as much of the divine lo|ve. We may judge of this by what we dayly &s;ee in &s;o many &s;ecular people who &s;pend their lives with|out complaint, in a &s;tate which would be to them as in&s;upporta|ble
<PB N="14" REF="9">as death, if they were not fu&s;tai|ned by the love they have for tem|poral gain, which comforts them in all hard occurences. For exam|ple, how many do we &s;ee who live in hou&s;es without Garden, with but little light, and &s;carce any air; who make no vi&s;its, inform them|&s;elves of nothing that pa&s;&s;es among people of a different profe&s;&s;ion, and who neverthele&s;s count &s;uch a &s;oli|tude but a &s;mal matter, becau&s;e they are fixt to &s;ome occupation which plea&s;es or inriches them? how many do we &s;ee &s;ubjected to the Gran|dees of the world, who are tyed to perpetual con&s;traints, and compli|ances much more in&s;upportable than any Religious Mortification? they feel the pain of their condition, yet con&s;ume their days in it, be|cau&s;e they think to advance their fortune that way. How many am|bitions men force &s;leep from their eyes, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">oul a thou&s;and vain pro|jects
<PB N="15" REF="9">in their heads; yet do not ho|pe that God will account for their watchings? how many Game&s;tres debarr them&s;elves in a manner of all the conveniences of life, and expo&s;e them&s;elves to the danger of the greate&s;t Poverty, by hazarding all they have; without letting the apprehen&s;ion of a threatening ne|ce&s;&s;ity, make them manage for the future.</P>
<P>What life more expo&s;ed to death than war, yet it never enters the minds of tho&s;e who are engaged in it, that they go too far in the Services they pay to their Tem|poral Princes.</P>
<P>The world is full of &s;uch Peo|ple who often do harder things to &s;atisfie &s;en&s;uality, than Charity ma|kes the Saints do to plea&s;e God, and that without moderating their exce&s;s for tho&s;e fine rea&s;ons, that the world decrea&s;es, bodies grow weaker, and men cannot do now
<PB N="16" REF="10">what they could have done here|tofore.</P>
<P>Now Charity wich is the love of a true Good, has &s;till more force upon &s;ouls that are penetrated with it, than &s;elf Love has. Charity is more generous than &s;en&s;uality to un|dertake great enterpri&s;es, she is more con&s;tant to keep up in corporal pains, she is mote ingenious to &s;ucceed in her de&s;igns; and when we find our &s;elves &s;o far from ye holy practi|ces and au&s;tere lives of our Ance&s;|tors, we mu&s;t not lay the fault of our remi&s;sne&s;s upon things that are not the cau&s;e, nor accu&s;e neither the corruption of the times, the want of health, nor the Au&s;terity of Ru|les, but blame our own fainthear|tedne&s;s, and the little love we have for God.</P>
<P>If we had but once open'd our hearts to this Divine vertue, far from relaxing by an unhappy decay, we should in a little time get up again
<PB N="17" REF="10">to a perfect &s;tate: for as Per&s;ons po&s;&s;e&s;t by &s;ome Pa&s;&s;ion, always find a thoufand pretences, and never Mi&s;s occa&s;ions when offer'd to &s;atisfie them&s;elves when they think it allow|able; &s;o we should do the &s;ame in regard of Chri&s;tian and Religious vertues, we should find more rea|&s;ons to encrea&s;e watching, Fa&s;ting, Prayers, and Labours, than tepidity now &s;ugge&s;ts to make us excu&s;e our &s;elves from them: and we should be more ingenious to di&s;cover the means to tend to, and ri&s;e to a high perfection, than we are now to forge fal&s;e Rea&s;ons to flatter our &s;elves in our weakne&s;s. But becau&s;e the Cha|rity of many is grown cold, and they are no more &s;u&s;tained, nor ver|tues mo&s;t e&s;&s;ential to our &s;tate are almo&s;t become in&s;upportable to our nature, which by its own corrup|tion is already drawn to a very dif|ferent way of acting.</P>
<P>From this proceeds the relaxation
<PB N="18" REF="11">introduced into Many Religious hou|&s;es, whic have &s;tood in need of re|formation: they fir&s;t cut off manual works imagining none healthy enough to go through with that labour; then work being taken away which u&s;ed to employ &s;o many hours, they found by experience that few had heads &s;trong enough to be&s;tow re|gularly in reading and &s;tudying holy books, all the time that remained after the Divine Office; therefore recreations were introduced, as an indi&s;pen&s;able &s;olace; of which many make a point of Rule, contrary to ancient practice, and unknown to all religious tradition. That facility they allowed them&s;elves of breaking &s;ilence by particular and uprofitable entertainments, took place of the conferences &s;o very advantagious both for piety and learning. And would to God they had &s;top'd there, but alas! too Soon it was found that <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"> pa&s;&s;ed further yet:
<PB N="19" REF="11">the were Soon tired with recrea|tions always in the &s;ame place, and with the &s;ame company, and brought up the cu&s;tome of going a broad to recreate with &s;eculars, and by a di&s;|gu&s;t to the very exerci&s;es in which their Ancients found &s;uch &s;acred char|mes, they are again engaged in the world, which they had once re|nounced, and are fallen into the misfortune which the Prophet bewails when he &s;ays in his Lamentations. <HI>How is the gold darkened, the be&s;t co|lour changed?</HI> Jerem Lamen. 4.1.</P>
<P>It is to avoid falling into the like misfortune that we find this Pre|face in the front of S. Augu&s;tin's Rule. It is short indeed as to the words, but fruitful as to in&s;tructions, for it commands us to love God above all things; that is to &s;ay in plain terms, if you have not perpect Cha|rity, however &s;weet this Rule may be, it will &s;eem an in&s;upportable burden to you, but if you have
<PB N="20" REF="12">this Charity, and if you Love God preferably to all things, you will find all in it mo&s;t &s;weet and light: you will even have no need of a Rule, becau&s;e you will of your &s;elf do more than can be pre&s;cribed by it, and you will find in the bottom of your hearts an abundant &s;ource of all &s;ort of good works. When the Holy Scripture &s;ays. <HI>That the law is not made for the ju&s;t, but for the inju&s;t.</HI> 1. Tim. 1.9. That is not to &s;ay that the ju&s;t are not obli|ged to practice the &s;ame vertues, and to ab&s;tain from the &s;ame vices, as others are, but that they are &s;o bent of them&s;elves to do good and avoid evill, that if there was no law which ordained the other, they would not omit to live according to ju&s;tice by the &s;ole motive of Cha|rity.</P>
<P>Reflect what precautions mu&s;t be u&s;ed with a man that has lo&s;t his wits, what &s;ubjections! what Barri|cades,
<PB N="21" REF="12">what vigilance to keep him from breaking his neck, falling into the fire, or otherways hurting him|&s;elf or others: but when the &s;ame man is come to his right &s;en&s;es a|gain, all that is no more nece&s;&s;ary: tho&s;e Barriers are taken away, and he is left at Liberty to do what he plea&s;es: not that he is then allow'd to kill him&s;elf or do mi&s;chief to o|thers; but then rea&s;on alone &s;ecu|res him better from tho&s;e dangers, than all the &s;ubjections he was be|fore reduced to. O Divine Charity! which may ju&s;tly be call'd the good &s;en&s;e and rea&s;on of man! this is the ca&s;e, &s;ince tho&s;e that have you not, are treated in Scripture as &s;en&s;ele&s;s creatures, and tho&s;e who die with|out you will eternally accu&s;e them|&s;elves of folly!</P>
<P>Tho&s;e who want this vertue, are in a deplorable condition, and have need of an infinitude of laws. They mu&s;t have commands or prohibitions
<PB N="22" REF="13">for each action of their lives. One &s;uperior is not &s;ufficient for them! for however attentive he be to ob|&s;erve their behaviour, they will &s;till find means to over reach him. But as Soon as Charity is diffu&s;ed into their hearts by the holy &s;pirit that is given them; they pre&s;ently enter into the Liberty of the children of God, they are no more in &s;ervitude; and one may &s;ay with S. Paul, that the law is not made for them.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t &s;ay of the love of God what Soloman &s;ays of wi&s;dome, <HI>all Good things comes together with her.</HI> Wi&s;d. 7.11. That is to &s;ay all the vertues. As Soon as we Love God we become cha&s;te, keeping off all that may &s;oil the purity not only of body but of mind al&s;o. We become moderate in our meals to keep the &s;oul in a condition to apply her &s;elf always to God: we become wary in our words that we may &s;ay nothing to di&s;plea&s;e his Divine Maje&s;ty: We
<PB N="23" REF="13">become zealous to Labour for the advancement of his Glory: we be|come wi&s;e to take always the be&s;t advice in occurring difficulties: we become clear &s;ighted to di&s;cover all the &s;nares of the devil: in short we are &s;trong, con&s;tant, patient, &amp; do more without compari&s;on for the Love of Ju&s;tice, than we did before for fear of punishment.</P>
<P>In this appears the excellency of S. Augu&s;tin's Rule, which does not tend &s;o much to pre&s;cribe orders for each kind of vertue, as other Rules do: but to in&s;pire Charity which embraces them all, and cau|&s;es them to be practiced in perfec|tion. It &s;eems to &s;peak but &s;lightly of the chief exerci&s;es which should frame the whole body of our life. It neither determines what number of p&s;alms mu&s;t be &s;ung, nor what time ought to be &s;pent in prayer; it appoints neither the hours for, nor quality of work: it &s;eems to leave
<PB N="24" REF="14">fa&s;ting to every ones di&s;cretion, that they may practice it according to the knowledg they have of their infirmity or &s;trength: it does not declare neither, what books we ought to apply our &s;elves to.</P>
<P>But this &s;eeming indetermination ought not to &s;erve us for a pretext to live more remi&s;sly; on the con|trary we are thereby to know with what perfection our holy In&s;titutor de&s;ires we should comply with all tho&s;e different duties. For in leaving all things to the conduct of charity, which goes directly to God without &s;eeking proper &s;atisfaction, or &s;elf in|tere&s;t, expre&s;sly ordering that this vertue be always uppermo&s;t, he de|clars to us, that we are only faith|full to his Rule as much as renoun|cing our &s;elves in all things, we &s;eek nothing in it, but the Greater Glory of God, and the means to render our &s;elves more plea&s;ing in his Sight. O Charity! Charity which
<PB N="25" REF="14">in God is God him&s;elf, enlighten then our minds, burn our hearts, purifie our bodies, and po&s;&s;ee&s;s us entirely. O Divine Love! de&s;troy in us all that di&s;plea&s;es you, over|throw all the ob&s;tacles we put to your grace, &s;top the unhappy &s;ource of our evil de&s;ires, pour a whole|&s;ome bitterne&s;s upon the u&s;e of the creatures which divert us from per|fection, and make us find in your Cro&s;s that unction and that &s;weet|ne&s;s, which have made it &s;o amiable to your Saints!</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect;. 2. <HI>And then our neighbour</HI></HEAD>
<P>The utility of the Go&s;pel does not preci&s;ely con&s;i&s;t in giving us a knowledge of what we owe to our neighbour, but in having imprinted the love of him in our heart: for 't is an admirable thing to &s;ee what lights many of the Pagans have had concerning tho&s;e duties, tho'
<PB N="26" REF="15">they were entirely deprived of cha|rity. Seneca one of their wi&s;e men &s;ays <Q>It is very agreable to do Good to ones Friends, but no|thing &s;o Glorious as to do the &s;ame for tho&s;e who have no kind|ne&s;s for us. The vertuous man has much more honour and joy prac|ticeing vertue upon hard &s;ubjects, than in ea&s;y matters. It is a brave exerci&s;e to attack the heart of his enemy, not with &s;word in hand, but with care&s;&s;es and Benefits; to have innocent combats with him by Te&s;timonies of Love; to &s;ur|round him with Officious Servi|ces, Like a Rebellious town en|compa&s;s'd with an army to force it to &s;urrender. There is much more plea&s;ure, continues this Phy|lo&s;opher, in making a Friend of an ill wisher, than in keeping the Friend&s;hip of a Per&s;on who wish|es us well: in a word, to o|blige a Friend is to act like a ra|tional
<PB N="27" REF="15">man; but to do any thing for the ungratefull is to act like a God.</Q></P>
<P>Yet after all, tho&s;e who held the&s;e fine Arguments, loved their Neighbour no more than they lo|ved God, &s;ince they had not Cha|rity, without which neither God nor man can be Truly Loved: for whereas this vertue in its proper Acts &s;eeks not its own intere&s;t, but that of others, tho&s;e Pagans on the contrary, &s;ought them&s;elves in the good they did to others; their own Glory was the end either of the a&s;&s;i&s;tance they gave, or of the Pardon they granted, and what more oppo&s;ite to Charity? but what the Go&s;pel does, is to in&s;i|nuate this vertue into the hearts of men, which before was only in their imagination; to enlarge the heart which till then had been &s;treighten'd, and as it had contai|ned nothing but &s;elf Love, to intro|duce
<PB N="28" REF="16">the love of God, and of our Neighbour. We &s;ee al&s;o the Sa|viour of the world always taken up with the de&s;ign to imprint this vertue in our hearts: he lo&s;t no oc|ca&s;ion of repre&s;enting the nece&s;|&s;ity of it: he u&s;ed all means to in&s;inuate it into the hearts of his Auditors: all he did for the Glory of his Father, and to move us to love him, was mingled with words, Actions, and Circum&s;tances, which at the &s;ame time invites us to fra|ternal Charity.</P>
<P>If the Doctors and Phari&s;ees ad|dre&s;s to him, to know which is the greate&s;t commandment of the law, as Soon as he has an&s;wered that it is, to love God with all our heart, with all our &s;oul, and with all our &s;trength; he pre&s;ently pa&s;|&s;es to that we are &s;peaking of, though they did not ask him about it, and &s;ays, there is a &s;econd commandment like to the fir&s;t,
<PB N="29" REF="16">which is, <HI>to Love our Neighbour as our &s;elves.</HI> Matt. 22.37.</P>
<P>When he in&s;titutes the Adora|ble Sacrament of the new alliance; he does not take the flesh of ani|mals, nor yet their Blood; tho' &s;o proper to repre&s;ent a Sacrifice; but he makes u&s;e of bread and wine which are the &s;imboles of Charity, thereby to teach us, that, as to make the Bread which is to be changed into his body, and the wine, which is to be changed into his Blood, there mu&s;t be many grains ama&s;s'd &amp; mixt together; &s;o to enter into his alliance, to be incorporated into his mi&s;tical body, and become but one and the &s;ame Spirit with him, Chri&s;|tians mu&s;t be united together by the bond of a &s;incere Charity, ac|cording to S. Pauls moral, <HI>becau&s;e we who are many are one bread, one body, and all of us partake of one bread.</HI> 1. Cor. 10.17.</P>
<PB N="30" REF="17">
<P>When he gives to his Di&s;ciples a mark by which all the world may know them, he does not ta|ke any of the other vertues, for which he has given them either precepts, or coun&s;ells, or exam|ples; he dos' not give them for a di&s;tinctive Character neither cha|&s;tity, nor fa&s;ting, nor prayer, but fraternal Charity. <HI>By this all men shall know that you are my Di&s;ci|ples, if you have love one for ano|ther</HI> John. 13.35.</P>
<P>When he is ready to leave the world, and declares his la&s;t will to his eternal Father in that Ad|mirable Prayer which concludes the Sermon after the la&s;t &s;upper, he thinks of &s;ettling Charity among&s;t Chri&s;tians, and asks it in this man|ner. <HI>Nor do I pray for my Di&s;|ciples only, but for tho&s;e al&s;o, who by their word shall believe in me; that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee,
<PB N="31" REF="17">that they al&s;o may be one in us.</HI> Jo. 17.20.21.</P>
<P>In fine, when he is a&s;cended the heavens and &s;ends his holy &s;pi|rit upon earth, the &s;trength of that new comforter does not only con|&s;i&s;t in cau&s;ing the hearts of the faithfull to burn with the fire of Divine Love; but he al&s;o unites them all together in &s;o perfect a manner, <HI>that all tho&s;e who belie|ved were al&s;o together, and had all things in common.</HI> Acts 2.44. For they were but one heart and one &s;oul, and none con&s;ider'd what he po&s;&s;e&s;t as his own in particular.</P>
<P>Neverthele&s;s tho&s;e who have a great deal of &s;elf love cannot re|lish the commandment which o|bliges to the practice of this ver|tue, nor yet conceive the ju&s;tice of it: they con&s;ider the obligation of loving their neighbour as an in|&s;upportable yoak, when they expect no particular advantage by it; and
<PB N="32" REF="18">the world is full of people, who being &s;en&s;ible to the quick, and in a heat for the &s;male&s;t things, which regard them&s;elves, yet are hard and uncompa&s;&s;ionate in all that concerns their Neighbour. Would to God there were never any &s;uch to be found in regular communities, but alas! there is but too many, who are ex|ce&s;&s;ively vext, when any little thing is wanting or incommodious to them, yet are cold as ice when they are to a&s;&s;i&s;t their Neighbour, or La|bour for the common good. In the mean time the precept which obli|ges us to Love our Neighbour as our &s;elves is of an ab&s;olute impor|tance for &s;alvation, and was given as a certain mark to know if we Truly Love God. For on the one &s;ide, God is invi&s;ible and his inte|re&s;t entirely &s;piritual &s;o on the o|ther &s;ide we are extremely lumpish and &s;en&s;ible as to what regards our conveniences and our &s;elf Love;
<PB N="33" REF="18">we do not ea&s;ily perceive the occa|&s;ions that are offered us to di&s;charge our duties to that Sovereign Maje|&s;ty, which are to Love him, to &s;erve him, and to &s;uffer by him, and for him: and therefore unju&s;tly flattering our &s;elves that we have a Charity, which we have not, that we are in &s;entiments which we never give proofs of, we &s;pend our lives wthout performing the&s;e important duties, for which notwith&s;tanding we were placed in this world.</P>
<P>For this rea&s;on then, God has O|bliged us to have Charity for our Neighbour; on this account he holds as done to him&s;elf what we do to our Neighbour, either good or bad; that as their intere&s;t is often found in agitation when we &s;eek our own; as we daily &s;ee and meet with them|&s;elves when we think of nothing but our own bu&s;ine&s;s, we may be ad|verti&s;ed, and, as one may &s;ay, for|ced to Give Almighty God proofs
<PB N="34" REF="19">of the Love we bear him, by that we expre&s;s to our Neighbour. For Saint John &s;ays, <HI>he that loveth not his brother whom he &s;eeth, how can he Love God whom he &s;eeth not?</HI> 1. Jo. 4.20. If you cannot agree with tho&s;e who are of the &s;ame nature with you, if you are always thwar|ting tho&s;e who are like your &s;elf, how can it be thought that you will be united with him who is more different from you than heaven is from earth, and &s;till more oppo|&s;ite to you in inclination and con|duct? if you will not &s;erve your Neighbour who &s;tands in need of you, render to God who neither wants you nor your goods? if you cannot bear a hard word from your Neighbour, how will you have pa|tience when God shall Cro&s;s you in all you Love, when he shall afflict you with long &s;ickne&s;s, excite Slan|derers again&s;t you, and render you de&s;picable in the eyes of tho&s;e who&s;e
<PB N="35" REF="19">e&s;teem you &s;eek? we mu&s;t then Love our Neighbour to exert our Love for God, and who&s;oever should pre|tend to the contrary, need but take to him&s;elf what S. John &s;ays. <HI>He that &s;ays he knoweth God and keepeth not his commandements, is a liar.</HI> 1. Jo. 2.4.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides how can we hope that God will put us in the rank of his friends when we are not of tho&s;e whom he honours with that quality? does not nature it &s;elf teach us that tho&s;e who injure the per&s;ons we Love, injure us al&s;o? when we have a friend we wish that no body may disoblige him; but on the contrary that all should con&s;ider him: what is done to him, we take as done to our &s;elves: we eagerly take his part when any one &s;peaks again&s;t him: we delight to hear him well &s;poken of, and if our friendship is great we are ready to break with all the world to advance his intere&s;t.
<PB N="36" REF="20">It is, as if we &s;aid to the re&s;t of man|kind; I Love no body but as much as he con&s;iders my friends, and have an aver&s;ion to all that hate him. By this I ought to acknowledge how ju&s;tly Almighty God exacts my con|&s;erving Charity with my Neighbour. I am not allow'd to doubt of the Love he bears them, no more than to mi&s;tru&s;t that he has for me. He is our common father: I know he dyed for them as well as for me: he de&s;ignes both them and me for Eternal Glory: I ought to confide in his goodne&s;s as much for the one as for the other. I ought then to Love them, or God will look upon me as his enemy: nay tho' at pre|&s;ent they should be wicked I mu&s;t bear with them as his Divine Ma|je&s;ty does, who will have none of my heart if he &s;ees in it contempt or aver&s;ion for tho&s;e he treats as his friends and children.</P>
<P>The lea&s;t faults again&s;t fraternal
<PB N="37" REF="20">Charity ought to be extreamly drea|ded, &s;ince almighty God reckons them as done again&s;t him&s;elf, and often when we think we have only &s;eparated our &s;elves from one of our company, we are dreadfully aban|doned by God. When one branch of a tree is cut of and divided from another to which it was joyned, that branch not only lo&s;es the corre&s;|pondance it had with the other to which it was fa&s;tened, but at the &s;ame time it lo&s;es the corre&s;pon|dance it had with all the others, and has no more communication with any; it is even &s;eparated from the &s;tock, holds no more to the trunk of the tree which gives &s;ub|&s;i&s;tance to the re&s;t; it receives no|thing more from the root, gets no more moi&s;ture from the earth, which gave it life; and one may &s;ay that heaven does no more pour down the &s;ame influences upon it. Thus it is with us in relation to the Charity
<PB N="38" REF="21">we ought to have for our Neighbour&punc; when we &s;eparate our &s;elves from any one of them by &s;entiments of aver&s;ion, we mu&s;t not imagin that we lo&s;e but one only; that lo&s;s might be ea&s;ily repaired: but we lo&s;e them all at the &s;ame time: we cut our &s;elves off from the Society and communion of the whole com|munity. This want of Charity ma|kes us lo&s;e the union we had with all the Saints, as well tho&s;e in hea|ven as tho&s;e upon earth: we are &s;eparated from Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf who is the root of both; &s;ince they are all grafted upon him: the earth becomes like bra&s;s to us, becau&s;e we do not draw any advantage from the Sacraments which are received in the bo&s;ome of the church: hea|ven it &s;elf is as hard as iron to us, becau&s;e not any grace de&s;cends from thence into our &s;ouls; and as long as this aver&s;ion shall la&s;t for one only Per&s;on, tho' the lea&s;t of all,
<PB N="39" REF="21">we shall never have any share with God.</P>
<P>But proportionably as this divi&s;ion is hurtfull to us, the Love of our Neighbour is of contrary profit: for the Charity which we maintain with him, is a trea&s;ure that enriches us with all &s;orts of graces. By Charity we are united to Almighty God, that is to &s;ay his Divine Maje&s;ty re|mains in us, and we in him: by it we fulfill all the law according to S. Paul: by it we maintain the life of our &s;ouls, which is the holy Gho&s;t. Do we want graces? Charity to our Neighbour is an abundant &s;ource thereof, becau&s;e our &s;aviour has &s;aid. <HI>Give, and it shall be given to you.</HI> Luk. 6.38. Do we want to be freed from our &s;ins? it is Charity which procures us that ine&s;|timable advantage, becau&s;e he to whom it belongs to remit them, has &s;aid, <HI>forgive, and you shall be for|given,</HI> 6.37. and generally &s;peaking,
<PB N="40" REF="22">we may and we ought to expect to be mea&s;ured and treated, as we shall have mea&s;ured and treated o|thers <HI>Ibid.</HI> 6.38.</P>
<P>Moreover this Charity is &s;o ad|mirably excellent that it gives us a share of all the merits and of all the good works of our community, &s;o that we thereby even profit by our Neighbour's Goods. And this is ef|fected when we rejoyce for their welfare, or for the vertue wee &s;ee in them, or for the favours Almighty God grants them, for tho&s;e advan|tages thus becomes our own in &s;ome &s;ort. Since S. Paul &s;ays of corporal Charity, <HI>let your abundance &s;upply their want, that there may be an equality.</HI> 2. Cor. 8.14. So in Spiritual Cha|rity the abundance of the one &s;up|plys the want of the other, in &s;uch &s;ort that he who has le&s;s vertue, re|joycing at the happyne&s;s of him who has more, makes his brother's goods his own, as if he po&s;&s;e&s;t them him|&s;elf.</P>
<PB N="41" REF="22">
<P>It is al&s;o the Doctrine of S. Au|gu&s;tin, that if he who cannot fa&s;t, ap|proves and rejoyces in the vertue of fa&s;ting which he &s;ees in another, he partakes of the merit of that o|thers fa&s;t. That he who cannot &s;pend much time in prayer, but rejoyces to &s;ee others fervent and a&s;&s;iduous in that holy exerci&s;e, Glorifying God for the &s;ame as if he had him&s;elf received that grace, he has a con|&s;iderable share in ths&s;e prayers; and the like in other vertues. The rea|&s;on of this is not hard to be com|prehended: for if concupi&s;cence has &s;uch an unhappy efficacy as to extend the &s;in of him who has committed it, upon the &s;oul of another who only con&s;ented to it, as S. Paul &s;ays, <HI>not only they who commit criminal Ac|tions, but they al&s;o who con&s;ent to them, de&s;erve death.</HI> Rom. 1.32. Why should Charity have le&s;s force to make the merit of the vertues prac|ticed by &s;ome, pa&s;s into the &s;ouls
<PB N="42" REF="23">of others who rejoyce in them, and Glorifie Almighty God for the &s;ame?</P>
<P>But to enjoy &s;o great a ble&s;&s;ing, is it not ju&s;t it should co&s;t us &s;om|thing? and &s;ince we get &s;uch great advantage by this vertue, is it not rea&s;onable that we bear with pa|tience and meekne&s;s the little bit|terne&s;&s;es that attend it? there is al|ways &s;omthing to be &s;uffered from one another, when many live to|gether: and we ought for Chari|ty's &s;ake to &s;upport our Neighbour's weakne&s;&s;es, as well tho&s;e of body as tho&s;e of the mind; endeavou|ring to &s;upply for the one, and to forgive the other, bearing with one another by a reciprocal goodne&s;s.</P>
<P>S. Augu&s;tin explicating this pre|cept of the great Apo&s;tle S. Paul. <HI>Bear one another's burthens, and &s;o fulfil the law of Chri&s;t.</HI> Gal. 6.2. Brings a compari&s;on of Deers: tho&s;e bea&s;ts, &s;ays he, aiming to &s;wim to
<PB N="43" REF="23">certain Ilands where there is plen|tifull pa&s;ture, and it being hard for them to Cro&s;s &s;o wide a water; becau&s;e of their weighty horns which charge their heads, they go in a row, each re&s;ting his head upon the hinder part of him that goes before: and when the foremo&s;t which has not had that &s;olace, feels his &s;trength begins to fail, he lea|ves his place and goes the la&s;t, that he may be &s;upported in his turn. The&s;e animals, &s;ays S. Au|gu&s;tin, fulfill the Apo&s;tles command to the letter, by bearing one ano|ther's hurthen; and thus they ar|rive to the fertile places they aim'd at, and not one is lo&s;t, becau&s;e there's a kind of Charity among&s;t them which &s;erves them as well as a ferry boat.</P>
<P>It would &s;eem an affront to men to exhort them to vertue by the example of bea&s;ts, if the holy Scripture had not taught us the
<PB N="44" REF="24">way, by &s;ending the &s;luggard to the Schoole of the Ant, to learn wi&s;|dome. Yet if any mi&s;like it, they may be ea&s;ily excu&s;ed that diffi|culty, provided they profit by the &s;o pre&s;&s;ing and admirable Examples that our &s;aviour him&s;elf has given us, to teach us to love, to &s;up|port, and to Pardon our Neigh|bour. But is it not a deplora|ble thing to &s;ee, that, though the Lord of the univer&s;e has &s;o far exerted his Love for men as to re|ceive with an infinit meekne&s;s the calumnies and per&s;ecutions of his enemies; to &s;uffer &s;o long with an unconceivable patience the com|pany of the Perfidious Apo&s;tle who was to betray him, to keep a pro|found &s;ilenc before the Judge who condemn'd him th&ocirc; convinced of his innocence; and to pray for his murderes with an infinit goodne&s;s, at the time they overwhelm'd him with torments and infamy: and
<PB N="45" REF="24">yet men who make profe&s;&s;ion of being his Di&s;ciples, men who know that they cannot be &s;aved without following the &s;teps of this excel|lent Guide, have neverthele&s;s &s;o much difficulty to live in peace with their Neighbour or to &s;uffer &s;omthing to con&s;erve Charity?</P>
<P>What admirable Matter does not the Example of a God, dying a death &s;o Cruel, and &s;o infamous, by the hands of his creatures, furnish me with, to treat of the Love we ought to have even for our ene|mies, if I were to &s;peak of that &s;ubject, and was not confined to the narrow limits I have pre&s;cri|bed my &s;elf! that Love is indeed the Ma&s;ter piece of Charity to our Neighbour, yet I do not in&s;i&s;t u|pon it, not only for the rea&s;on I have alledged, but al&s;o for ano|ther &s;till more forcible, which is, that having learn'd of a father of the church that the Chri&s;tian has
<PB N="46" REF="25">no enemy, I ought much le&s;s to &s;uppo&s;e that Per&s;ons engaged in the perfection of Chri&s;tianity can look upon any as &s;uch, becau&s;e they are trouble&s;ome, or even outragious to them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. <HI>For the&s;e are principal Precepts deliver'd to us in Holy Scripture.</HI></HEAD>
<P>This expre&s;&s;ion is too clear to admit of a doubt whether &s;ome pre|cepts are more important than o|thers, or whether the Rules and laws a Per&s;on may be engaged in, equally oblige to the practice of what they pre&s;cride; and if there is more or le&s;s harm in pretending to get di&s;pen&s;ations from them ac|cording to their different degrees of force and vigour. The di&s;cer|ning this di&s;tinction, is of very great con&s;equence; we cannot be too vigilantly carefull to avoid
<PB N="47" REF="25">mi&s;takes in it; and one may al&s;o &s;ay, that it is one of the points of a Religious Life, nay of the Chri&s;tian Life, which is mo&s;t ne|ce&s;&s;ary to be in&s;tructed and en|lightened in. For to &s;et all the precepts in the &s;ame rank, and to pretend that all may be di&s;pen|&s;ed with, or never any, is an er|rour which may become the cau&s;e of great mi&s;chief, and it cannot be too Soon cleared, for tho&s;e who would embrace an exact Life, and labour for the &s;ecurity of their Con&s;cience.</P>
<P>To lay open this important mat|ter then, in favour of beginners, and to give them occa&s;&s;ion to pro|cure better in&s;tructions from the Per&s;ons Almighty God has placed over them; we mu&s;t remark that tho&s;e two precepts of the Love of God and of our Neighbour, which are at the begining of our Rule, are of the number of tho&s;e
<PB N="48" REF="26">which can never admit of a di&s;pen|&s;ation, and therefore the Rule de|clares that they are recommanded to us as principal precepts, and the greate&s;t of all the law.</P>
<P>In effect, God him&s;elf cannot excu&s;e us from Loving him, be|cau&s;e that love is an e&s;&s;ential duty of the creature to its Creator; be|cau&s;e &s;uch a di&s;pen&s;ation would be oppo&s;ite to the natural law, and to the Divine Ju&s;tice; and becau&s;e men and Angels are as much forbidden to refu&s;e Almighty God their ack|nowledgment and their Love, as it is impo&s;&s;ible for them to s<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ake off their dependency. And as for the Love of our Neighbour, there is &s;o much re&s;emblance between this &s;e|cond commandment and the fir&s;t, that there will never be neither oc|ca&s;ion nor pretext of &s;o great im|portance as to allow us to fail in the Charity due to him, as I think I have already &s;ufficiently made ap|pear.
<PB N="49" REF="26">Indeed at the end of the world when Je&s;us Chri&s;t shall have decla|red tho&s;e that he will him&s;elf hate, and shall have ca&s;t them from his pre&s;ence; then we shall be per|mited al&s;o to break with them; and to look upon them with the &s;ame contempt and hatred that his Divine Maje&s;ty shall shew for tho&s;e mi&s;e|rable wretches. But in the pre&s;ent time, when all is in &s;u&s;pen&s;e and undecided, in this world where God makes the &s;un ri&s;e equally upon the good and bad, whil&s;t he will not let his Angels pluck up the cockle from his field, tho' they know it; nothing excu&s;es us from loving our Neighbour, and we cannot omit this duty under any pretence of injury, or ill u&s;age received from them. Now as all the other articles of the law of God are nece&s;&s;ary con&s;equences and followers of the&s;e two fir&s;t, and that we cannot break them without directly offending either God or our
<PB N="50" REF="27">Neighbour; it is evident that they admit of no di&s;pen&s;ation neither, and that it would be, invain for men to pretend to give it.</P>
<P>As for the precepts which have been given us by men, &s;uch as are the Rules appointed by the holy founders of orders, we mu&s;t &s;ay of S. Augu&s;tin's Rule, what S. Bernard &s;aid of S. Benedict's, that it propo|&s;ed to all, but impo&s;ed upon none: that it is advatagious to tho&s;e who engage in it by a Spirit of Piety, and who being &s;o engaged, remain faithfull in the practice of what it ordains; but that it brings no harm to tho&s;e who do not embrace it. Now that which is purely voluntary in regard of tho&s;e who do but of|fer them&s;elves, becomes nece&s;&s;ary to tho&s;e who have once made their profe&s;&s;ion; and the&s;e la&s;t ought to practice by a &s;trict obligation the Rules they have &s;ubmitted to by a will entirely free: becau&s;e 't is what
<PB N="51" REF="27">a Per&s;on ought to expect who has once made her vows; &s;uch an one is to be ju&s;tified or condemn'd by her own words. Yet happy, a thou|&s;and times happy is that nece&s;&s;ity which engages us to that which is the be&s;t and mo&s;t perfect!</P>
<P>Therefore, except the precetps S. Augu&s;tin gives us in his Rule concerning Charity, Humility, and the other vertues, which are rather in&s;tituted by Allmighty God than by the Saint, and by co&s;equence admit of no change; the thought we ought to have as to the re&s;t of the Rule is that the things pre&s;cribed are in|deed but adverti&s;ments and coun|&s;els for tho&s;e who are not profe&s;s'd to them; but that they become pre|cepts as to tho&s;e who have engaged them&s;elves in them, and are matters of &s;in if they violate them: or to expre&s;s the matter in fewer words, the&s;e practices are free to the one and nece&s;&s;ary to the other; provi|ded
<PB N="52" REF="28">this nece&s;&s;ity be &s;o under&s;tood as not to count rea&s;onable and ne|ce&s;&s;ary di&s;pen&s;ations, violations of them.</P>
<P>Here we mu&s;t remark that when S. Bernard (of whom I have bor|row'd this) declares that the Rules that we have from men, however holy they have been, may &s;omti|mes admit of di&s;pen&s;ations; he al&s;o explains the ca&s;e, and only means when nece&s;&s;ity or rea&s;on requires it, and does not allow particulars to di&s;|pen&s;e with them&s;elves, but refers it to &s;uperiours who by a Canonical Election &s;upply the place of the holy in&s;titutors. This is what all tho&s;e who would act with &s;ome &s;ecurity of Con&s;cience ought to have always in view that they may not be mi&s;taken: &s;o that if in particular occa&s;ions any think they cannot comply with an article of the Rule, they ought not to re&s;olve to pa&s;s it over by their own motion, but &s;upport their con|duct
<PB N="53" REF="28">by the will of their &s;uperiour, as well as by the nece&s;&s;ity and rea|&s;ons they think they have: and if any one of the&s;e Conditions are wan|ting, their ca&s;e does not &s;eem &s;e|cure. As &s;uperiours are the di&s;pen|&s;ers, they ought to be judges of the di&s;pen&s;ations: but they mu&s;t not grant them upon the &s;imple reque&s;t made thereof, becau&s;e that may happen to be only the effect of a tempta|tation; nor yet may it be done through an ea&s;y incon&s;ideratne&s;s for want of due application to their Mi|ni&s;try: the cau&s;es of the grant mu&s;t be lawfull, demon&s;trating either ne|ce&s;&s;ity or profit, and the &s;pirit of the Rule mu&s;t be pre&s;erved entire, even when for a time and for Cha|rity &s;ake, they do violence to the letter. Otherways their permi&s;&s;ion is not &s;o much a di&s;pen&s;ation as a di&s;|&s;ipation; it is an infidelity which bur|thens their con&s;cience, and expo&s;es them to the danger of perishing with
<PB N="54" REF="29">tho&s;e who lean upon their indi&s;creet facility, and are not for that excu|&s;ed from &s;in in the &s;ight of Almigh|ty God.</P>
<P>A di&s;pen&s;ation, and a toleration are two different things, we mu&s;t take care of confounding them to|gether, there being a con&s;iderable di&s;tance between them which few ob&s;erve &s;ufficiently. A di&s;pen&s;ation can never light upon things which are ill in them&s;elves, but only upon tho&s;e which being indifferent are for|bidden or commanded by the Rule for a greater Good; and it is al|ways the effect of a real con&s;ent in the &s;uperiour, who judges that in &s;uch an occa&s;ion nece&s;&s;ity or pro|fit ought to take place of what is ordained. A toleration on the con|trary is &s;omtimes u&s;ed as to evil things and abu&s;es, when they can|not be hindered without cau&s;ing grea|ter harm. It is purely the &s;upe|tiour's want of power to rectifie
<PB N="55" REF="29">the evil at that pre&s;ent time, and her patience in expecting the occa|&s;ions and means to remedy it: and as it never &s;uppo&s;es the &s;uperiour's con&s;ent, &s;o it never gives &s;ecurity of con&s;cience to tho&s;e who thereby think to shelter them&s;elves.</P>
<P>This is the ordinary &s;ubject of af|fliction for tho&s;e who have the con|duct of &s;ouls, and who are obliged to maintain Rules in their rigour: they &s;ee plain enough that a great part of the leaves and di&s;pen&s;ations which are ask'd of them, are not grounded upon any of the Founda|tions we have &s;uppo&s;ed after S. Bernard, and that far from any con&s;iderable nece&s;&s;ity or profit in them, there is not the lea&s;t ap|pearance of either; and therefore that they ought not to &s;uffer what they are pre&s;s'd to grant contrary to the Rules. Neither can they be igno|rant that in &s;uch occa&s;ions the Per|&s;ons who addre&s;s to them are in temptation,
<PB N="56" REF="30">fince in effect they are temp|ted either by the &s;pirit of &s;loth, or by the inclination they have for the world, or by the Love of Li|berty, or by a &s;entiment of vain Glory, or in short by &s;ome other &s;ort of concupi&s;cence, &s;o that to grant them what they ask would be to permit them to &s;ink under the temptation.</P>
<P>There is no doubt but if &s;upe|riours had to do with tractable per|&s;ons, far from permiting them what would but encrea&s;e their weakne&s;s and make them go backward in the way of Salvation; they would La|bour to &s;u&s;tain them again&s;t the Temp|tation, &s;omtimes by repre&s;enting how much it keeps them off from the per|fection of their &s;tate, &s;omtimes by ter|rifying them with the remembrance of God's judgments, at other times en|couraging them by our &s;aviour's exam|ples and the hopes of the cele&s;tial joys, to bear all the yoak of the
<PB N="57" REF="30">Rule: finally by refu&s;ing them what they ask and praying for them. But becau&s;e &s;uperiours are &s;omtimes o|bliged to an&s;wer untractable per&s;ons who yield not to authority, never &s;ubmit to rea&s;ons, nor are di&s;cou|raged by refu&s;als; if they &s;ee that in relation to the time, the Per&s;ons, and the circum&s;tances of the thing, that the evill they should in vain endeavour to &s;top by &s;tranger means would become much greater, it is then, not being able to u&s;e a pro|fitable violence to others, they do a violence to them&s;elves which they think nece&s;&s;ary; and &s;o often out of prudence, but &s;omtimes thr&ocirc; weak|ne&s;s, they determine to tolerate for a time what they in no &s;ort approve of, and what they wish with all their heart they could hinder.</P>
<P>Now the &s;uperiours who thus u&s;e the toleration, mu&s;t not cea&s;e to blame the evil and to declare openly that they di&s;approve it, for fear to
<PB N="58" REF="31">great a &s;ilence be taken for con|&s;ent, and they become accom|plices and guilty of the evil that others comitt. They ought al&s;o to be continually upon the watch that they may not let &s;lip the favorable times and means that Al|mighty God shall offer them to work at the ree&s;tablishment of or|der: and when they &s;ee no appear|ance of &s;ucceeding therein, to practice the advice that S. Gre|gory gives to all Pa&s;tors; that is, to wash with their tears the &s;ins of their people which they cannot correct. In fine the toleration ought only to be a &s;uffering of le&s;&s;er evils thr&ocirc; a ju&s;t fear of greater which would evidently follow, and not a di&s;&s;embling of greater thr&ocirc; a vain apprehen&s;ion of &s;ome le&s;&s;er which might happen; for fear o&s; being condemn'd with the remi&s;s and timorous who will be one day ca&s;t with the greate&s;t &s;inners into the lake of fire and bri&s;tome whih
<PB N="59" REF="31">is the &s;econd death.</P>
<P>How much then do tho&s;e per|&s;ons deceive them&s;elves who &s;o ea|&s;ily tran&s;gre&s;s certain articles of their Rule, and unfaithfully leave a part of their obligations without other authority for that liberty, but certain permi&s;&s;ions extorded by force of importunities, or gain'd by addre&s;s? as tho&s;e permi&s;&s;ions are not marks of their &s;uperiour's approbation; but only that they yield to their weakne&s;s, and are overcome by the heardne&s;s of their heart, which is ea&s;ily &s;een by the manner of the grant, the difficulty to obtain, and the unea&s;yne&s;les of the &s;uperiours about it; &s;o &s;uch leaves ought not to pa&s;s for real di&s;pen&s;ations, but for &s;imple tole|rations which is no &s;ecurity of con|&s;cience for tho&s;e who &s;o boldly u&s;e them. The be&s;t way then would be to repre&s;ent our wants to our &s;uperiours with &s;o great a &s;impli|city
<PB N="60" REF="32">that they may be entirely at liberty to act according to their own &s;en&s;e and wisdome: and then their de|termination would be to the infe|riours a &s;ource of peace infinitly more comfortable than the &s;o short &s;weetne&s;s of following their own inordinate appetites.</P>
<P>But not to engage my &s;elf farther in &s;o unexhau&s;tible and profound a matter, I will conclude by de|claring that whatever Idea may be framed of di&s;pen&s;ations, tho&s;e who give them, and tho&s;e who receive them would be happy if they could always ob&s;erve three things.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t that the di&s;pen&s;ation never reaches to all the Rule at once, &s;o that tho&s;e who ought to practice it live to them&s;elves as if they had not any Rule to follow; tra&s;gre&s;|&s;ing with an equal and entire li|berty the laws of &s;ilence, of reti|rement, of ab&s;tenance, of prayer, of &s;ubmiting to be at certain nours,
<PB N="61" REF="32">and in certain places for the practices of piety, and the like. For 't is plain to be &s;een that per&s;ons who thus should excu&s;e them&s;elves from all their obligations when they have &s;ufficient health to comply with them, would not act &s;o, if they did not abandon them&s;elves to di&s;&s;ipa|tion of mind, and to indocility of heart. Such are in danger of lea|ving their &s;tate, &s;ince they for&s;a|ke the means to which Almighty God has fixt their &s;anctification, and thus they expo&s;e them&s;elves to an inevitable ruin.</P>
<P>The &s;econd is, that the di&s;pen|&s;ation when it only regards &s;ome particular article of the Rule, that it be not ab&s;olutely for always; but only la&s;t as long as the &s;olide rea|&s;ons &s;ub&s;i&s;t which cau&s;ed its ad|mittance. And by con&s;equence, tho&s;e who give, and tho&s;e who receive &s;uch di&s;pen&s;ations, becau&s;e they think it cannot be otherways,
<PB N="62" REF="33">ought neverthele&s;s always to love the Rule, con&s;erve the &s;pirit of it, to de&s;ire it may be fulfill'd, to la|ment and deplore interiourly the nece&s;&s;ity they are in as often as they do any thing again&s;t the Rule th&ocirc; with di&s;pen&s;ation: they ought al&s;o to keep off tho&s;e occa&s;ions as much as they can, think them&s;el|ves always in a &s;tate of violence, and &s;eek as much as in them lyes the means to return to the exact ob&s;ervance of the Rule.</P>
<P>Finally the third is, that when the di&s;pen&s;ation is only for cer|tain parts of the Rule, and for a limited time, that it extend not to every one, nor &s;tand as a law which comprehends and &s;ubjects even tho&s;e who have &s;trength en|nough to comply faithfully with all their duties, and are moved by Almighty to &s;eek the greate&s;t per|fection. One of the mi&s;chiefs which have mo&s;t contributed to the wea|kening
<PB N="63" REF="33">of Piety and Ju&s;tice in all States, is the &s;eting di&s;pen&s;ations above laws; giving more force to cu&s;tome than to Rule; cea&s;ing to follow the tracts of the Saints who have gone before, to keep com|pany with per&s;ons of the pre&s;ent time even in their irregularites: and under pretence of uniformity in communities, tho&s;e whom the Love of God moved to the eminent ways of perfection are forced to de&s;cend, in&s;tead of lifting up tho&s;e whom &s;elf Love has cau&s;ed to walk in the low ways of relaxation.</P>
<P>This is a &s;mal part of the re|flexions which may be made upon the obedience due to Rules in ge|neral, and which I have made up|on the Preface of Saint Augu&s;tin's Rule, for fear that unfervorous &s;ouls under&s;tanding that there are pre|cepts which have been given us as the <HI>principal</HI> and <HI>greate&s;t,</HI> should make little account of the re&s;t. it
<PB N="64" REF="34">is now time to hear what Hugh of S. Victor will &s;ay to us concer|ning the precepts contain'd in the whole body of this admirable Rule. No body was more capable than this great man, of expounding and di&s;covering to us the true &s;ence of it, &s;ince he was &s;o replenish'd with the doctrine and &s;pirit of his holy In&s;titutor that he pa&s;s'd for the Au|gu&s;tin of his age, and &s;ays nothing in his whole work which he did not practice even to his death.</P>
<P>Hugh of S. Victor was a Saxon by Nation, and Born of Noble Rich Parents: from his mo&s;t tender youth he had &s;o &s;trong an inclination, and &s;uch an admirable facility for Sciences, that at an age when rea|&s;en &s;carce begins to appear, he &s;ought in&s;truction, and &s;tudy'd the truth in things which others emplo|yed only for their diver&s;ion. At eigh|ten years old he projected the de|&s;igne of renouncing all that he might
<PB N="65" REF="34">con&s;ecrate him&s;elf to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, &s;olidly judging that whatever know|ledge he might acquire he should always walk in darkne&s;s whil&s;t he did not inviolably follow him who is the light of the world. He drew to his &s;entiments his uncle, who was Arch-deacon of the Church of Hal|ber&s;tad, and very rich: &s;o both to|gether they left their country; and as the Abby of S. Victor at Paris was then in great renown for the fervour and Sanctity of its Canon Regulars, they entered there in the year 1115. Hugh in proce&s;s of time taught Divinity, with an univer&s;al ap|plau&s;e and incredible profit. Several great men went out of his &s;choole to the fir&s;t places of the church, and that to the great benefit of it, by communicating to others the lights they had borrow'd of him.</P>
<P>This excellant Ma&s;ter teaching the truth to his Di&s;ciples forgot nothing to &s;ettle him&s;elf in the mo&s;t perfect
<PB N="66" REF="35">vertue. By his fidelity to the ob|&s;ervances of his Rule, and by his a&s;&s;iduity in prayer, he acquired &s;o great an experience in the &s;piritual life, that none &s;urpa&s;&s;ed him even among&s;t tho&s;e who had but that only occupation. Infine tho' he had loved Almighty God from his ten|der youth, his life was a continual penance, and he finish'd both at the age of forty four years, by a mo&s;t holy death, in a livly faith, and tran&s;ports of love towards the mo&s;t Bd. Sacrament of the Altar. There are other things more particular, which might be &s;aid of him, and which I would not omit if I under|took to make his Elogium; but my de&s;ign here is only to give his ex|po&s;ition of the great S. Augu&s;tin's Rule.</P>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="35">
<HEAD>THE EXPOSITION OF S. AUGUSTINS RULE</HEAD>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>The Fir&s;t Chapter <HI>Of unity and living without Propriety.</HI></HEAD>
<P>_THe precepts we undertake to expound in the &s;equel of this work, bear the name of Rule, becau&s;e they offer us the compleat model of a mo&s;t holy, and mo&s;t perfect life. And the Rule is &s;o calld becau&s;e it gives us documents conformable to the verity which is the &s;overigne righteou&s;ne&s;s: and conducts us there|unto without &s;uffring us to ramble
<PB N="2" REF="36">either to the right or left hand, by any irregularity. What is calld Rule in our tongue, is the &s;ame thing that the greeks call Canon and it is from them that the word Canon takes its original, it &s;ignifys regular, and it is the name communely given to tho&s;e who dwelling in Mona&s;trys, live there in a Canonical and Apo&s;toli|cal manner, conforming their man|ners as much as po&s;&s;ible, to the precepts which have been given us by the holy fathers. Now it is to &s;uch Per&s;ons that S. Augu&s;tin ad|dre&s;&s;es the en&s;uing words.</P>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; I.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">We command all who are &s;et|tled in the Mona&s;tery, to ob&s;erve the&s;e things following.</HEAD>
<P>He enters at fir&s;t dash into mat|ter, and shews the rea&s;on why the&s;e excellent precepts are read to us, which is, to the end that by that lecture we may have an entire know|ledge of them; and that our mind being ever occupy'd with the &s;ame,
<PB N="3" REF="36">we may practice them with an in|violable fidelity. Nay we are obli|ged to it, to avoid the effect of that dreadfull &s;entence pronounced by God him&s;elf. <HI>That &s;ervant who hath known the will of his Lord, and hath not prepared, nor done according to his will shal be beaten with many &s;tripes.</HI> Luk. 12.47. And of that other dictated by S. Paul. <HI>Not the hearers of the law are ju&s;t before God, but the doers of the law shall be ju&s;tified.</HI> Rom. 2.13. Let us then be attentive to the orders of a Ma&s;ter who&s;e good|ne&s;s is &s;o great that he exacts no|thing of us but what he knows to be mo&s;t for our advantage: and let us <HI>be mindfull of his commandments to do them.</HI> P&s;al. 102.18. Becau&s;e ac|cording to the Apo&s;tle S. James. <HI>He that looketh into the perfect law of li|berty and hath continued in it, beco|ming not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be happy in his deed.</HI> Jam. 1.25. Or as our
<PB N="4" REF="37">&s;aviour him&s;elf &s;ays in the Go&s;el, <HI>ble&s;&s;ed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it.</HI> Luk. 11.28. Let us then harken once again, but with an attention full of re&s;pect, to the things which are commanded us, and which we cannot doubt being addre&s;s'd to us, &s;ince we are the per&s;ons &s;ettled in the Mona&s;tery.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Fir&s;t you mu&s;t know that the cau&s;e why you are gather'd to|gether in the Cloi&s;ter is, that you live all together in</HI> unity <HI>with</HI> one <HI>heart, and</HI> one <HI>&s;oul in God.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The fir&s;t adverti&s;ment that S. Au|gu&s;tin gives us, is to live with u|nion and concord with one anothe which mu&s;t be under&s;tood the union and concord of which Almighty God is the band. For it would be a di&s;order to be united with intention to do ill; whereas it is &s;omthing mo&s;t excellent to be united and agree
<PB N="5" REF="37">to &s;eek the only true good, to practi&s;e vertue, and to &s;erve God. It is for that we are a&s;&s;embled in this holy place, where we are obli|ged to employ our &s;elves in the &s;er|vice of his divine Maje&s;ty, with as great a core&s;pondance of Charity, as if we had but one heart, and one &s;oul: and it is to adverti&s;e us of the &s;ame, that the Rule &s;ays in terms &s;o clear, that we ought to live in the hou&s;e of our Lord with a perfect union of minds, and having all but one heart and one &s;oul in God.</P>
<P>It is not &s;ufficient then to be cor|porally together in the &s;ame Hou&s;e; but this &s;ociety teaches us that our minds ought to be &s;till clo&s;er linked together; for it would &s;ignifie no|thing to be within the compa&s;s of the &s;ame walls in a corporal manner, if we were in a &s;piritual di&s;tance by the oppo&s;ition of wills; Almighty God having incomparably more re|gard
<PB N="6" REF="38">to the union of minds than to that of places. We are here all to|gether by his grace in the &s;ame hou&s;e, but that is not enough, and we mu&s;t not think we have done all by entering the Cloi&s;ter; for we have brought with us different manners of acting, we have each re&s;erved a heart apart, our &s;ouls are not the &s;ame. What mu&s;t we then do to comply with the Rule? we mu&s;t reunite all the&s;e things by one &s;ole intention to do good, and by one and the &s;a|me love for God: &s;o that the union of our minds, and of our wills may tend unanimously to &s;erve him with all our &s;trength, to give our &s;elves to him with all our heart and with all our &s;oul, and to love our neigh|bour as our &s;elves.</P>
<P>Now the means to acquire &s;o ne|ce&s;&s;ary a good is this, let tho&s;e who embrace the religious life begin by &s;triping them&s;elves of their own will, and conforming to him who has
<PB N="7" REF="38">&s;aid, <HI>I am come from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that &s;ent me:</HI> Jo. 6.38. and again. <HI>Father, not my will but thine be done.</HI> Luk. 22.42. Nothing contributes more to maintain a right under&s;tanding, and to make peace reigne among&s;t many Per&s;ons, than when each Studys thus not to do his own will, but that of others for the true good. Neither is there a more certain &s;igne of a great humility than this &s;elf denyal: It is this voluntary deve&s;ting our &s;el|ves which breeds obedience, it augments Charity, maintains peace, makes ju&s;tice unmoveable; and in a word, it is what gives motion to all the great vertues from which the church receives &s;o much beauty. But if I will do my will and ano|ther will do his, divi&s;ions will pre|&s;ently &s;tart up, hot conte&s;tations will be heard on both &s;ides, an|ger and quarells will break out, which S. Paul calls the works of
<PB N="8" REF="39">the flesh, and of which he &s;ays. <HI>That they who do &s;uch things shall not obtain the kingdome of God.</HI> Gal. 5.21.</P>
<P>It is a deplorable thing that even in regular communities there is to be &s;een of tho&s;e who are ob&s;tinatly fixt to their own &s;en&s;e, who are wi&s;e in their own conceits, and having got a thing in their heads, deffend it as if there was nothing to get others of their &s;ide, but will yield to no body, and are in great di&s;turbance and trouble if their will is not comply'd with. Such are ordinarily rebellious to the or|ders of their Elders, &s;ubject to im|patience, and inclined to revolt: they want all that is nece&s;&s;ary to maintain concord, becau&s;e accor|ding to the words of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>they are lo&s;t in their own imagina|tions, and their foolish heart is darken'd; for profe&s;&s;ing them&s;elves wi&s;e they are become fools.</HI> Rom. 1.21. Pride does indeed very
<PB N="9" REF="39">much darken the heart; for as to truth there is no body more mi|&s;erably &s;educed than a man who prefers him&s;elf to others, and is conceited of a fal&s;e wi&s;dome which the Apo&s;tle treated with &s;o much contempt when he wrote to the Corinthians: <HI>if any one among you &s;eem to be wi&s;e in this world, let him become a foolthat he may be wi&s;e.</HI> 1. Cor. 3.18. It is only tho&s;e who make them&s;elves &s;ens|le&s;s in this manner, who de&s;erve the name of wi&s;e; for according to God, it is a great wi&s;dome to think one has le&s;s than others, which made the wi&s;e man &s;ay. <HI>The greater thou art, humble thy &s;elf in all things.</HI> Eccl. 3.20. It was al&s;o for that rea&s;on, that our &s;a|viour knowing his Di&s;ciples had had a di&s;pute among them&s;elves concerning preeminency, made u&s;e of humility to bring them back to charity and peace, &s;aying to them: <HI>He who would be the fir&s;t among
<PB N="10" REF="40">you, shall be your &s;ervant, as the &s;on of man came not to be &s;erved, but to &s;erve, and give his life a ran&s;ome for many.</HI> Mat. 20.27.28.</P>
<P>Since it is then a thing &s;o ex|cellent and &s;o plea&s;ing to Almigh|ty God, that brethren be united together, let us u&s;e all our endea|vours to keep a perfect union of minds in this hou&s;e which is con|&s;ecrated to him; and the charity which shall thus unite us, will &s;o delight him, that our fa&s;ts, and our prayers, however au&s;tere be the fir&s;t, or long the &s;econd, nay our very offerings will have nothing comparable to it. We &s;ee it in the Go&s;pel when Je&s;us Chri&s;t turning from his Altars him who was at variance with his brother, &s;aid to him, <HI>fir&s;t go to be reconciled to thy brother, and then thou shalt come and offer thy gift.</HI> Mat. 5.24. Teaching us all by this example, that they who are not united to their neighbour by the &s;pirit of
<PB N="11" REF="40">peace and charity, are not in a con|dition to offer agreable Sacrifices to Almighty God. And can there be any thing more &s;trong to con|vince us of the excellence of this vertue, than to &s;ee that the very Sacrifices e&s;tablish'd to efface &s;ins, lo&s;e their force, and have nothing more which plea&s;es God.</P>
<P>Yet let us add for another rea|&s;on that when we embrace this &s;tate of conver&s;ion, I mean a reli|gious life, we at the &s;ame time en|gage our &s;elves to bear &s;uch rough combats with the devil, that we &s;tand in need of &s;trong arms to overcome him, and there is none that this mortal enemy apprehends &s;o much as concord and the &s;pi|rit of Charity. For if we di&s;tri|bute all that we have to the poor for the love of God, and impo|verish our &s;elves by a General re|nunciation of all our goods; the devil is not much affraid of that, becau&s;e he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;es nothing: if we
<PB N="12" REF="41">fa&s;t, that does not frighten him, becau&s;e he has the advantage over us, that he never eats: if we watch that do's not much terrifie him neither, becau&s;e he knows not what it is to &s;leep and repo&s;e. But if we keep united together by the bond of Charity, then he is &s;truck with a terrible fear, becau&s;e he &s;ees us po&s;&s;e&s;s a ble&s;&s;ing upon earth which he took no care to con&s;erve in heaven.</P>
<P>This is al&s;o what renders the holy church &s;o dreadfull to the po|wers of darkne&s;s, that she is re|pre&s;ented in their regard as an ar|my &s;et in battle array; becau&s;e as the enemy &s;eeing an army advance again&s;t him, that is well united, and clo&s;e in their ranks, is terrified, and apprehends the &s;ucce&s;s of the battle: &s;o the devil con&s;idering a company of &s;piritual per&s;ons al|ready cover'd with the arms of all the vertues, and who have al&s;o the advantage of living in a per|fect
<PB N="13" REF="41">union, he is &s;eited with dread, and feels before hand the pain of his defeat, when he cannot rush in among&s;t them and divide them by di&s;cord. Therefore it is written of our Lord, <HI>his place is made in peace, and his habitation in Sion, there he brakes the powers of bows, the shield, the sword, and the battle.</HI> P&s;al. 75. Becau&s;e union of hearts in God, breaks the devils arms, and makes all his attempts in vain.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>With</HI> one <HI>heart, and</HI> one <HI>&s;oul in God.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The&s;e are the Fir&s;t fruits of the &s;pirit, the fir&s;t offering we ought to make to Almighty God at the begin|ning of our conver&s;ion; it is what wi&s;dome &s;o pre&s;&s;ingly requires of us by the&s;e &s;o moving words. <HI>My Son give me thy heart.</HI> Prov. 23.26. And with great rea&s;on she demands that at fir&s;t we give her that chief part of our &s;elves; becau&s;e when we are
<PB N="14" REF="42">drawn to God, the fir&s;t bonds of that attract holds to our heart, and our will is gain'd the fir&s;t of all. It is not enough to be corporaly &s;e|parated from the world, we mu&s;t al&s;o labour to unite our &s;elves to Almighty God with all our heart and with all our &s;oul, that we may be able to &s;ay with truth. P&s;al. 72. <HI>It is good for me to adhere to my God, becau&s;e, he who adheres to the Lord, is one &s;pirit.</HI> 1. Cor. 6.17. Let us then adhere to his Divine Maje&s;ty that we may become &s;trong by him, and happy with him; that is to &s;ay, to the end he may give us tho&s;e all powerful arms which the enemy of our &s;alvation cannot re&s;i&s;t, and by a holy &s;ociety he may introduce into the participation of the felicity he enjoys him&s;elf, &s;o that we may &s;ay without fear of mi&s;take; <HI>my &s;oul is united to you, Lord.</HI> P&s;al. 62. and she shall never be &s;eparated from you. It is Charity which does all
<PB N="15" REF="42">in us, she unites us to God, she &s;e|parates us from the world, she a&s;|&s;embles us together in the &s;ame hou&s;e; and the only means to ha|ve there but <HI>one</HI> heart and <HI>one</HI> &s;oul in God, is to have charity, it is to love Almighty God with our heart and with all our &s;oul: becau&s;e, <HI>God is charity; and he that abideth in cha|rity, abideth in God, and God in him.</HI> 1. Jo: 4.16. Now becau&s;e this ver|tue has the property not to &s;eek her own intere&s;t, the Rule pre&s;ently adds as a nece&s;&s;ary con&s;equence.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 4.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>You shall not therefore call any thing</HI> your own, <HI>but all things shall be in Common.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We ought to have no propriety, and it is not well in us to &s;ay of any thing what&s;oever. <HI>My</HI> or <HI>mine;</HI> but we should u&s;e the word <HI>our ha|bit, our hou&s;e,</HI> and &s;o of the other things we have for our u&s;e: for as all is in common among us, our
<PB N="16" REF="43">di&s;cour&s;e mu&s;t expre&s;s that we have nothing in particular.</P>
<P>By this we may ob&s;erve the great difference there is between car|nal and &s;piritual brothers or &s;i&s;ters: tho&s;e divide among them&s;elves the the goods which before they shared in common; the&s;e on the contrary put into the common all that they po&s;&s;e&s;t before in particular: among tho&s;e each &s;eeks his own, among the&s;e no body does &s;o, but each &s;eeks that which belongs to Je&s;us Chri&s;t. The &s;piritual alliance has then more force than the natural one, &s;ince this la&s;t degenerates and falls into defect, whereas the other rai|&s;es it &s;elf to perfection; the one tends to divi&s;ion, and the other to union; the one pa&s;&s;es with time, and the other remains in eternity, which is the whole happyne&s;s we a&s;pire to, by our union in the hou&s;e of our Lord. <HI>We are the &s;ons of God;</HI> Says the beloved Apo&s;tle <HI>and
<PB N="17" REF="43">it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; becau&s;e we shall &s;ee him as he is.</HI> 1. Jo. 2.2. And S. Paul. <HI>We have not a permanent ctty, but we &s;eek that which is to come.</HI> Heb. 13.14.</P>
<P>Since then all our de&s;ire and hope is to be together in heaven, let us have a holy contempt for all the things of the earth; let us think it below us to po&s;&s;e&s;s any of them in particular, and be content to have them in common. People of the world will always there divide their goods; and not being able to gra&s;pe them all, they cling to &s;ome more than to others, and if po&s;&s;ible, would have no body share in tho&s;e they love. Some heap up gold and &s;ilver, others delight to live in &s;ta|tely hou&s;es; there are of tho&s;e who take plea&s;ure in making great alli|ances for them&s;elves, or in having children to advance their Glory:
<PB N="18" REF="44">many do what they can, to rai&s;e them&s;elves to high charges: the&s;e &s;eek e&s;teem and applau&s;e, tho&s;e de|light to command with authority: thus all &s;eek to po&s;&s;e&s;s &s;omthing in particular, &s;ome one way, and &s;ome another: but the portion of the Saints is God him&s;elf. If then we would have that excellent part, and enter into that rich inheritance, our life mu&s;t be &s;o pure that we may be worthy to po&s;&s;es him, and to be po&s;&s;e&s;t by him; which is the &s;ame thing in effect, and can only be acquired by a general di&s;engagement.</P>
<P>Who&s;oever would have God for po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion ought neither to &s;eek nor love any thing out of him He is too covetuous whom God &s;uffices not, and his avarice far from enri|ching him, will rather produce in him an unhappy indigence: for if he will al&s;o have &s;ome other thing, as gold, &s;ilver, revenues &amp;c. Al|mighty God will not deba&s;e him&s;elf
<PB N="19" REF="44">to the becoming part of an inheri|tance compo&s;ed of &s;uch different goods, and he will never have share of a heart that will not be entirely his. S. Jerome was well per&s;waded of this when he gave that excel|lent in&s;truction &s;aying of him&s;elf.
<Q>I receive no inheritance among the other Tribes; but in quality of Prie&s;t and Levite I live on the tythes; and &s;erving the Altar I get my &s;ub&s;is&s;tance from the goods that are offer'd at the Altar: ha|ving food and clothing I ask no more, and I am content becau&s;e I know what the Go&s;pel &s;ays:</Q> <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the poor in &s;pirit, for theirs is the kingdome of heaven.</HI> Mat. 5.3. Becau&s;e however great our di&s;enga|gement be, we cannot whil&s;t we are upon earth shift without many things nece&s;&s;ary to maintain the body, the Rule which provides for all and thinks nothing below its cares, adds that which follows.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="20" REF="45">
<HEAD>&sect; 5.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And every one shall re|ceive by the appointment of the &s;uperiour food and cloathing.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The order that our &s;aviour has e&s;tabli&s;sd in his Church, is that &s;ome should apply them&s;elves to &s;piritual exerci&s;es, and others take care to give them temporal things: and it was for that he would have &s;upe|riours and inferiours, that &s;ome might govern whil&s;t other remained in &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion. It is the office of &s;uperiours to &s;upply the corporal wants of their &s;ubjects; and it is the duty of inferiours to apply them&s;el|ves to &s;piritual things; as to rea|ding, prayer, contemplation; &s;er|ving the Ma&s;ter they have in heaven by &s;inging P&s;alms, Hymns, &s;piri|tual canticles, and by watching over them&s;elves with a greater applica|tion &s;ince they are excu&s;ed from the care of exteriour things, which
<PB N="21" REF="45">might di&s;tract them. Our Lord has al&s;o e&s;tablished an order in favour of his Mini&s;ters, that tho&s;e who &s;erve the Altar should receive from the Altar what is nece&s;&s;ary for their maintenance: becau&s;e as he &s;ays him&s;elf: <HI>The Labourer is worthy of his hire.</HI> Luk. 10.7. Since then we live upon the revenues of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, ju&s;tice requires that we be&s;tow our labours in the &s;ervice of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and we have no right to the re|ward till we have work'd like faith|full, labourers: <HI>If any man will not work, neither let him eat,</HI> 2. The&s;&s;. 3.10. Said S. Paul. If then we eat when we do not work, our crime is as much the greater as we are le&s;s worthy of God's benefits, which we enjoy without de&s;ert.</P>
<P>Once more I &s;ay that we are in|di&s;pen&s;ably obliged to employ our life in the &s;ervice of him who&s;e bounty and providence gives us a maintenance, if we would with a &s;afe
<PB N="22" REF="46">con&s;cience partake of the goods which are di&s;tributed among us; and our fervour in the &s;ervice of Almighty God ought to be &s;o much the grea|ter, as the labour is light for which is &s;o Charitably given us from his divine Maje&s;ty, what is nece&s;&s;ary for us. What wonder is it if per&s;ons taken up by their charges with the care of temporal things, exteriourly shew a little le&s;s fervour and reli|gion, if they often fall into faults, either by the tumult of their thoughts, the incon&s;ideratne&s;s of their words, or neglect of vigilancy in their actions; &s;ince the commerce and frequenta|tion of &s;eculars is &s;o contagious that it &s;omtimes drags a man to &s;in even when he endeavours the contrary? But tho&s;e who have the advantage of not being charged with the care of worldly things, nor expo&s;ed to the occa&s;ions of &s;in, if they do not render their life conformable to the &s;pirit of the religion they have em|braced,
<PB N="23" REF="46">they incur the anger of the &s;overeigne judge: and the lea&s;t faults into which they fall by ne|gligence, expo&s;es them to the dan|ger of utter ruin. Therefore it is matter of great importance, to have alwayes in mind the obligation lin|ked to that di&s;tribution which is made us of temporal goods for food and cloathing, and to apply our &s;el|ves entirely <HI>to &s;eek fir&s;t the king|dome of God and his ju&s;tice;</HI> Since it is for that all other things are gi|ven us as an overplus. The &s;equel of the Rule teaches us how that di&s;tribution is to be made.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<PB N="24" REF="47">
<HEAD>&sect; 6.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But that is not to be di&s;tribu|ted alike and in equal mea&s;ure unto all, but rather to be given unto every one, according to her need; as we read in the acts of the Apo&s;tlees,</HI> that all things were in common among&s;t them, and that they divided the &s;ame unto every one according to their need. Acts 432.</HEAD>
<P>This pa&s;&s;age that S. Augu&s;tin cites in confirmation, and for proof of his Rule; is not to be under|&s;tood as if nece&s;&s;aries were di&s;tri|buted to tho&s;e faithfull in &s;uch abundance, that they felt no more any want: for if it is written in one place that <HI>there was not any one needy among them.</HI> Ibid. 4.34. We &s;ee al&s;o in another, that the
<PB N="25" REF="47">Apo&s;tles &s;erved God <HI>in hunger and thir&s;t, in many fa&s;tings, in cold, and nakedne&s;s.</HI> 2. Cor. 11.27. Which lets us &s;ee that one may be in ne|ce&s;&s;ity as to the body, and yet want nothing in relation to the &s;oul. &ocirc;! you then who have renoun|ced your &s;elves for the love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, learn by this example to overcome the weakne&s;s of na|ture, by the &s;trength of the &s;pirit: exerci&s;e your &s;elves in a holy di&s;en|gagement from all terrene things: open your hearts to that love of God which is &s;trong as death; and you will experience that perfect charity has not the full action it is capable of, when it only cuts off criminal de&s;ires; but that it al&s;o extends efficacy &s;o far as to extin|guish the very feelings of the body, and to make one forget the wants of nature.</P>
<P>The grace of the holy gho&s;t in the primitive church repleni&s;sd the hearts of the faithfull with &s;o great
<PB N="26" REF="48">an abundance, that they were not only content with little, but the very poverty by which they redu|ced them&s;elves to the having no|thing, excited in their &s;ouls holy effu&s;ions of an inconceivable joy. <HI>We have nothing,</HI> &s;aid S. Paul, <HI>yet we po&s;&s;e&s;s all things.</HI> 2. Cor. 6.10. And in another place. <HI>Piety with &s;ufficiency is great gain: having then food, and wherewith to be cover'd, with the&s;e we are content.</HI> Ibid. 8. And can we wonder that after the publication of the Go&s;pell, grace filling the heart should make it find abundance in the mid&s;t of poverty; when we &s;ee in the ancient law, that the Mother of young Toby found that the pre&s;ence and &s;ight of that dear &s;on was a &s;ufficient benefit to change her poor condi|tion into con&s;iderable riches. Tob. 5.25.</P>
<P>In corporal &s;olaces then, we ought not to con&s;ider what the flesh re|quires to &s;atisfie its appetites; but
<PB N="27" REF="48">what &s;trength nature has to &s;uffer want: for &s;en&s;uality always asks more than nece&s;&s;ity does, and there needs much le&s;s to &s;atisfie this than to content that. Therefore when the Rule &s;ays to every one one shall be given according to her need, it mu&s;t be &s;o under&s;tood that the flesh may have nourish|ment enough not to fail us in the performance of our duties; but that its appetites be &s;toutly re&s;i&s;ted, to hinder it from rebelling again&s;t the &s;pirit: that the nece&s;&s;ities of na|ture be &s;atisfied; but the &s;uperflui|ties of concupi&s;cence retrenched.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 7.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Such per&s;ons therefore as in the world were rich or had any goods, shall be well con|tent to have their &s;ub|&s;tance put into the Common.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Such was the di&s;po&s;ition of the primitive Chri&s;tians at the begin|ning
<PB N="28" REF="49">of the Church: they were per&s;uated that being become breth|ren, and sharing all in one gene|ral grace, there was nothing more ju&s;t than to have all their goods in common; and they thought it rea&s;onable there being but one &s;pirit for them all, that there should be al&s;o but <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">he &s;tock among them from which they received their &s;ub|&s;i&s;tance. S. Augu&s;tin who de&s;ired to renew that perfect life, is not content neither to have tho&s;e who embrace his rule barely &s;trip them|&s;elves of their goods, but he will have them do it with joy, and be well content, glad to have them put in common, becau&s;e, <HI>God lo|veth a chearful giver.</HI> 2. Cor. 9.7. And who can be &s;orry to make the happy change of earthly goods for tho&s;e of heaven, if he reflects that the kingdome of heaven pro|mi&s;ed to the poor is unvaluable; that it is always incomparably worth more than can be given for it;
<PB N="29" REF="49">and that nothing co&s;ts le&s;s when pur|cha&s;ed, nor nothing of greater va|lue when po&s;&s;e&s;s'd? there are two things we ought to for&s;ake for God, which are the power to po&s;&s;es, and the will to have. We learn this of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who &s;ays in one oc|ca&s;ion: <HI>He that doth not renounce all things that he po&s;&s;e&s;&s;eth, cannot be my Di&s;ciple.</HI> Luk. 14.33. And in ano|ther. <HI>If any one will come after me, let him deny him&s;elf.</HI> Luk. 9.23. The fir&s;t of the&s;e divine &s;entences regards exteriour goods, and the &s;econd the will: becau&s;e it is not &s;ufficient to for&s;ake exteriour things, if we do not al&s;o cut off the infe|riour concupi&s;cence and de&s;ire of them; as we are adverti&s;ed by that which follows in the rule.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 8.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And tho&s;e who were poor befo|re, mu&s;t not in any wi&s;e &s;eek to have and find in the Mona&s;try</HI> that <HI>which they were not able to enjoy in the world</HI></HEAD>
<P>Tho&s;e very per&s;ons who had no|thing
<PB N="30" REF="50">in the world may find in the&s;e holy places &s;omthing to for|&s;ake for Almighty God: and that is the will to have. The law con|tained an expre&s;s commandment to rule the will alone viz. <HI>You shall have no evil de&s;ires;</HI> Exod. 20.15. becau&s;e God examins more &s;trictly the de&s;ire than the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, and the holy Gho&s;t requires all our af|fections, and all our inclinations, by the&s;e words: <HI>Son give me thy heart.</HI> Which can only be done by retrenching all carnal de&s;ires. Thus two things are recommended to us in the holy &s;tate we have embraced; the fir&s;t to for&s;ake all we po&s;&s;e&s;s, the &s;econd, never to &s;eek earthly goods; to the end that our heart di&s;engaged from all clogg, may run with more &s;wiftne&s;s and vigour to the conque&s;t of heaven. But for fear that thus forbidding tho&s;e, who enter poor into the Mo|na&s;try to &s;eek temporal convenien|ces there, it might &s;eem as if there
<PB N="31" REF="50">was no obligation to give them all that is nece&s;&s;ary for them, the rule goes on.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="9" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 9.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Notwith&s;tanding</HI> they <HI>al&s;o shall have out of the common what their need or infirmity requi|res, although their former poverty, was &s;uch, that they wanted then even bodily nece&s;&s;aries.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The rea&s;on of this ordination is, becau&s;e it is ju&s;t that tho&s;e who en|gage in the &s;ervice of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, should live upon the revenues of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, whether they have been poor or rich, de&s;cended of noble Parents, or of mean extrac|tion: becau&s;e it is a general verity, pronounced in the Go&s;pel without exception, that <HI>the Labourer is wor|thy of his hire.</HI> The Rule. 1. Tim. 5.18.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="10" TYPE="section">
<PB N="32" REF="51">
<HEAD>&sect; 10. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Yet for all that, they mu&s;t not think them&s;elves well at ea&s;e, becau&s;e in the cloy&s;ter they have found &s;uch food and cloathing which they could not find out of it.</HI></HEAD>
<P>There are many per&s;ons, and per|haps more than we think for, who embrace, a religious life le&s;s to &s;eek the &s;alvation of their &s;ouls, which they have but little care of, than to avoid the corporal nece&s;&s;ity they ap|prehend: who care not for what re|gards Almighty God and his Glory; but with great &s;olicitude think of that which will fill their own belly. Of &s;uch the Apo&s;tle &s;ays, <HI>their God is their belly;</HI> Phil. 3.19. And it was, to others like them, that our Lord addre&s;sd the&s;e words: <HI>Amen, Amen I &s;ay to you, you &s;eek me, not becau&s;e you have &s;een miracles, but be|cau&s;e you did eat of the loaves, and were fill'd.</HI> Jo. 6.26. Tho&s;e who
<PB N="33" REF="51">are markd by &s;o ill a character, place all their happyne&s;s in an applica|tion to the being well fed, well clad, well accomodated with all temporal things, and cannot bear the want of any thing. But becau&s;e they only de&s;ire earthly goods, they deprive them&s;elves of heavenly: for our Lord will &s;ay of them at the day of judg|ment, what he has already &s;aid of &s;uch in his Go&s;pel: <HI>Amen I &s;ay to you, they have received their reward, upon earth.</HI> Matt. 6.16.</P>
<P>Therefore we ought to apply our &s;elves mo&s;t carefully to find out the bent of our heart, and be bery vi|gilant to hinder it from adhering to tran&s;itory things, however valuable they may appear: for it was gene|rally of all tho&s;e perishable goods that the Prophet &s;aid: <HI>if riches abound &s;et not your heart upon them.</HI> P&s;al. 61. It is true we cannot yet do without earthly thinghs, and we are forced to make u&s;e of &s;ome of them: but all
<PB N="34" REF="52">our de&s;ires, and the whole capacity of our heart, ought to be fill'd, and taken up with the heavenly ble&s;&s;ings. They who act thus, do not impo|verish them&s;elves, but rather become truly rich: for they find in Je&s;us Chri&s;t a &s;weetne&s;s as admirable as it is ineffable; in him they find tho&s;e &s;olide riches, that excellent good that Almighty God has laid up for tho&s;e who love him, and which is &s;o great <HI>that the eye hath not &s;een, nor the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man what things God hath prepared for tho&s;e who love him.</HI> 1. Cor. 2.9. Happy they who can always be in the di&s;po&s;ition of that holy Prophet who only opened his heart to the love of the eternal goods, and in the &s;acred tran&s;port, cau&s;ed by the violence of his de&s;ires, he cry'd out to Almighty God: <HI>I shall be fill'd when thy Glory shall appear.</HI> P&s;al. 16. In this infinit contentment we ought al&s;o to place our happy|ne&s;s,
<PB N="35" REF="52">and our de&s;ires.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="11" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 11. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Neither may they carry them|&s;elves high becau&s;e they are now be|come fellow&s;i&s;ter's with them, into who&s;e company in the world they dur&s;t not have pre&s;umed to approach: but let them rather lift up their minds to heavenly things, and not &s;eek the vain and tran&s;itory things of this life. For if this order be not ob&s;erved, the Mona&s;try will be profitable to rich per&s;ons, and not to the poor, if therein the noble and rich become humble, and the poor of mean degree, be puffed up with pride.</HI></HEAD>
<P>To hold up the head which is the latin expre&s;&s;ion S. Augu&s;tin u&s;es (for carrying them&s;elves high) is a mark of pride or vain complai|&s;ance in ones &s;elf, and when he recommends to tho&s;e who have the chief part in this place of his rule,
<PB N="36" REF="53">to hold up their heads, it is as if he &s;aid to them: forget not your fir&s;t condition, and do'nt exalt your &s;elves by vain thoughts. If heaven it &s;elf was not advantagious to the proud Angels, the Mona&s;try doubt|le&s;s will not be profitable to tho&s;e who shall imitate tho&s;e unfortunate &s;pirits in their &s;in. For th&ocirc; we live in a holy hou&s;e, th&ocirc; we wear a holy habit, th&ocirc; we do actions holy in them&s;elves, yet all that is made unprofitable by pride, which extra|vigantly exalts, but always ends in a fatal down fall. It was to avoid that precipice the royal Prophet made this prayer to Almighty God: <HI>Let not the the foot of pride come near to me; there have they fallen, that work iniquity, they were expelld, neither could they &s;tand.</HI> P&s;al. 35. Nor re|main in the happy &s;tate he had created them in. The humble on the contrary, find in the Mona&s;tery mo&s;t con&s;iderable advantages: for
<PB N="37" REF="53">God teaches them his verities, and di&s;covers his &s;ecrets to them, as it &s;tands written: <HI>he will teach the meek his wayes.</HI> P&s;al. 24. And again: <HI>you &s;end forth fountains in to the valleys.</HI> P&s;al. 103.10. That is to &s;ay, he communicates his graces to humble &s;ouls. Such per&s;ons labour with &s;uc|ce&s;s in the work of their &s;alvation, becau&s;e never for&s;aking humility which is the Guardian of the ver|tues, the good works they practice are alwayes &s;ecure; and choo&s;ing by the Prophet's example to be de&s;pi|&s;ed, and abject in the hou&s;e of our Lord, they have for reward this ad|vantage, that their prayers penetrate the heavens, and are ever favorably heard; and then obeying Je&s;us Chri&s;t who reduces his Di&s;ciples to the la&s;t place, the father of the family will one day make them a&s;cend up higher, ac|cording to what is writen, <HI>every one that exalteth him&s;elf, shall be hum|bled, and he that bumbleth him&s;elf,
<PB N="38" REF="54">shall be exalted.</HI> Luk. 18.14. And in another place, <HI>God re&s;i&s;ts the proud, and gives grace to the humble.</HI> 1. Pet. 5.5.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER II. <HI>Of Humility.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>But again, &s;uch per&s;ons as were of a di&s;tinguish'd rank in the world, mu&s;t not therefore &s;light and con|temn their fellow &s;i&s;ters who came into holy religion from a poor and mean condition in the world: for they ought rather more to Glory in the company of their poor &s;i&s;ters, than in the greatne&s;s of their own rich parentage.</HI></HEAD>
<P>ALL tho&s;e who have embraced the holy &s;tate of a regular com|munity, th&ocirc; they have more means, or greater quality, or more wi&s;dome than &s;ome others of the religious, yet they ought to avoid with great care, the conceiving a contempt
<PB N="39" REF="54">for any. And the rea&s;on why all the&s;e advantages ought not to en|cline tho&s;e who po&s;&s;e&s;s them, to exalt them&s;elves above tho&s;e who have them not, or who have them in an inferiour degree, is, <HI>becau&s;e God hath cho&s;en the fooli&s;sh things of the world, to confound the wi&s;e men: &amp;c.</HI> 1. Cor. 1.27. <HI>God hath cho&s;en the weak things and the mean &amp; contemp|tible things of the world, that no flesh may glory in his &s;ight.</HI> Ibid. 28 29. That is, neither he who is power|full becau&s;e of his power, nor he who is wi&s;e becau&s;e of his wi&s;dome, nor he who is rich becau&s;e of his riches: for God makes no excep|tion of per&s;ons, and there is but one and the &s;ame Lord who is rich to all tho&s;e who invoke him. There could not doubtle&s;s be given us an adverti&s;ment more conformable to true piety, than that of placing our Glory, not in the &s;ecular greatne&s;s of our parents, becau&s;e they are
<PB N="40" REF="55">noble and rich, but in the company of our &s;i&s;ters becau&s;e they are poor: &s;ince even he who po&s;&s;e&s;&s;es all the infinit trea&s;ures of glory in the bo|&s;ome of his father, has been plea&s;ed to de&s;cend upon earth, and there, for love of us, reduce him&s;elf to the condition of having no place to re|po&s;e his head.</P>
<P>Who ever &s;aw that God of Ma|je&s;ty, during the days of his mortal life, &s;eek the company and con|ver&s;ation of the Grandees of the world? who ever &s;aw him frequent the Palaces of Kings or Governers? on the Contrary, did he not con|ver&s;e familiarly with the lea&s;t of the people, and was he not always en|compa&s;s'd with the poor, that we might al&s;o make our &s;elves poor with him, and by the di&s;po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of earthly goods enter the king|dome of heaven which is promi&s;ed to the poor? let us then leave to worldlings that vanity &s;o ordinary
<PB N="41" REF="55">with them, and which ought to &s;eem &s;o ridiculous to us, of glo|rying in riches; and let us enter before hand into the &s;entiments of the &s;aints, who in the &s;tate of happyne&s;s they enjoy, &s;ee clearly, that, voluntary poverty is incom|parably more glorious than riches.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Neither shall they be proud, or take more upon them, becau&s;e they gave their goods to the com|munity; nor yet shall they value them&s;elves for the wealth which they have be&s;towed upon the Mo|na&s;tery, any more than if they had enjoyed it in the world at their own plea&s;ure.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We learn by this Rule that there are two &s;orts of pride, the one carnal, the other &s;piritual; that to have a di&s;gu&s;t and contempt for the poor, or to glory in ones own nobility, is an effect of that car|nal
<PB N="42" REF="56">pride, to which &s;ecular people are &s;ubject: but to exalt our &s;el|ves for the acts of charity we have done, or for the other good works we have practiced, is the motion of that &s;piritual pride which but too often corrupts the con&s;ci|ence of tho&s;e very per&s;ons who have a value for vertue. Now ho|wever dangerous carnal vanity is, the &s;piritual pride is &s;till more perilous: becau&s;e to grow proud of vertue and &s;anctity, is to fall from an eminent place to which we were mounted, and the higher the place is from whence one falls, the more dangerous is the foll. Our &s;aviour &s;aid. <HI>When thou give&s;t Alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth: that thy Alms may be in privote, and thy father who &s;eeth in private will re|pay thee.</HI> Matt. 6.3.4. By the right hand he means the acts of vertue, and by the left, he &s;igni|fys the prai&s;e of men, and vain
<PB N="43" REF="56">glory: and it is an adverti&s;ment our Lord gives us to shelter our good works from vanity, by con|cealing them from the prai&s;es of men, that we may receive &s;ome reward for them from our hea|venly father.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>For all other vices tend to ma|ke us do evil works, but pride lyes lurking even in good works to de&s;troy them, and make them of no value.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We may well &s;ay that pride is the greate&s;t and mo&s;t pernicious of the vices, &s;ince it makes as much u&s;e of the vertues as of the &s;ins to ruin us. This vice is an ob|ject of aver&s;ion that neither God nor man can &s;uffer; <HI>it is the be|ginnig of all &s;in;</HI> Eccle. 10.25. It is the &s;ource of all evils. It mar|ches before all the crimes to make us fall into them; it remains after we have overcome all, to engage
<PB N="44" REF="57">us again in fresh conflicts. For when a &s;ervant of God has gain'd the victory over all the other &s;ins, and is already mounted to the high|e&s;t pitch of the vertues, he finds pride in that eminent place ready to declare a new war again&s;t him, and if he does not gain a new victory, in vain are all the gene|rous efforts he has made again&s;t the other &s;ins. When we perform then any good action, which is remarkable as to the exteriour, let us keep our heart from the vain conceit which is pre&s;ently offered to de&s;troy and corrupt it; becau&s;e there is no work however holy an a&s;pect it has, which plea|&s;es God when &s;poyled by this vice: and therefore the wi&s;e man &s;ays. <HI>With all guard keep thy heart, becau&s;e life proceeds from it.</HI> Prov. 4.23. It follows in the Rule.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="45" REF="57">
<HEAD>&sect; 4.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>What then does it avail to give freely away all to te poor and become poor, if the wretched &s;oul becomes more proud by for&s;aking Riches than by po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ing the &s;ame?</HI></HEAD>
<P>It &s;ignifies nothing to renounce our goods if we do not al&s;o re|nonce our &s;elves; for our Lord does not &s;ay ble&s;&s;ed are the poor of goods or means; <HI>but ble&s;&s;ed are the poor in &s;pirit, for theirs is the kingdome of hea|ven.</HI> When any then have de&s;pi&s;ed temporal goods, far from being con|ceited of that, they ought to be rather the more humble, and they had much better have kept them li|ving in the world than to for&s;ake them &s;o as to make of them a &s;ubject of greater pride in the&s;e holy places which ought, to be &s;chools of hu|mility. Happy is the &s;oul which ex|cited and pre&s;&s;ed by the Love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, di&s;tributes all her goods to the poor, to live afterwards in a profound humility; but unhappy
<PB N="46" REF="58">are they who from that generous renunciation draw a &s;ubject of va|nity and pre&s;umption; for there is none more certainly mi&s;erable than a man who tends to &s;in by vertue it &s;elf, and who engages him&s;elf in endle&s;s torments by the actions he thinks worthy of eternal rewards. Yet this is what happens to the proud man; who having de&s;ired and &s;ought an eminent place, finds him&s;elf at la&s;t in a profound Aby&s;s; and the pre|cipice he falls into, is as much dee|per as he had &s;oar'd higher above his reach.</P>
<P>The &s;ource of divi&s;ions being thus cut off by the banishment of the vi|ces which produce them, the Rule begins again to &s;peak of unity.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 5.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Live therefore I &s;ay with con|cord and unity among your &s;elves, and honour Almighty God in one another who&s;e temples you are now become.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We shall comply with this pre|cept
<PB N="47" REF="58">when we are come to the pitch of having but one &s;pirit in God, and are the perfect imitators of the primitive Chri&s;tians, who had but one heart and one &s;oul. Now when the Rule requires union of minds, that regards the intention and the will, which ought to be the &s;ame in all, and when it demands union of hearts, that is &s;till &s;omthing more; becau&s;e it reaches even to all the actions and to all the conduct of life. For the the order we ought to ob&s;erve to attain to the perfection of our &s;tate, is fir&s;t to have all the &s;ame will, and the &s;ame de&s;igne, which is to work our &s;alvation: and then to act all in concert, as by the motion of the &s;ame heart, &s;o that all the dif|ferent functions &s;piritual or tempo|ral, di&s;tributed to many, may be performed, with an entire core&s;pon|dancy of charity towards one another. A religious per&s;on who would live in this &s;pirit of union, ought fir&s;t
<PB N="48" REF="59">to get rid of her ill habits, if she has any, and be no more neither malicious, nor irregular, nor ob&s;ti|nate in her fancies, nor trouble&s;ome to others by her unquietne&s;s: then she mu&s;t u&s;e &s;o much circum&s;pec|tion in her actions, and in &s;uch &s;ort &s;quare her life, that she may be in a perfect concord with her compa|nions to tend to God.</P>
<P>But it is an afflicting thing to &s;ee that there are &s;ome who after ha|ving left the world, will &s;till follow their own will which they have not for&s;aken, and that there are even others who in&s;tead of applying them|&s;elves to what would be profitable to the community, &s;eek only them|&s;elves, and are ambitious of em|ployments which may make them &s;eem bright to the eyes of &s;eculars: and it is to this double mischief that the Rule would apply a remedy when it bids us live together in a perfect union of minds and hearts. As for
<PB N="49" REF="59">the adverti&s;ment it gives us of ho|nouring Almighty God in one ano|ther; we shall do &s;o if loving one another for the love of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">is devine Majecty, we keep his precepts with due application; and we shall al&s;o have the happyne&s;s to become his Temples when we carefully endea|vour to move his divine &s;pirit to make his dwelling in us All that we can do to make our &s;elves worthy of &s;o con&s;iderable a ble&s;sing is to u&s;e our be&s;t endeavours to render the devine Maje&s;ty all the worship he expects of us, but it belongs to his goodne&s;s to compleat the re&s;t by aba&s;ing his grandeur to honour us with his pre&s;ence and enlighten us by his grace.</P>
<P>The following explication may be al&s;o given to this part of the Rule.</P>
<PB N="50" REF="60">
<P><HI>Neither shall they be proud nor take more upon them becau&s;e they gave their goods to the community &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>It is incomparably better to retain and po&s;&s;e&s;s ones goods in the world, than &s;o to di&s;tribute them in reli|gion as to make of them a motive of vain glory: for the moment we exalt our &s;elves we ore ca&s;t down; and tho&s;e who are puffed up with pride for the good works they prac|tice, ruin them&s;elves by the very way which should &s;erve them to work their &s;alvation: becau&s;e the vertuous action accompany'd with vanity, far from rai&s;ing us towards heaven, weighs us down to the earth. Happy he who can &s;ay with the Prophet. <HI>Lord my heart is not exal|ted neither are mine eyes lofty, neither have I walked in great matters, nor in marvellous things above me.</HI> P&s;al. 112. happy he who has no &s;ecret
<PB N="51" REF="60">pride at the bottom of his &s;oul, nor apparent vanity in the exteriour of his actions; who is not vain in his countenance, nor in his cloathes, nor in his di&s;cour&s;es, nor in his actions, nor in any of his other motions! happy he who does not walk in high ways that is, who does not think him&s;elf better than his fellows, or who does not carry it high for his Nobility, or for the power he had in the world, or becau&s;e he brought his goods to the common, or profi|tably &s;erves his hou&s;e in &s;ome employ|ment! in fine, happy he who does not affect to be admired by men neither for his exactne&s;s in the prac|tice of religions duties, nor for the great &s;anctity he has received from Almighty God, and who does not for that more ea&s;ily shew him&s;elf to attract admiration and prai&s;e.</P>
<P>But becau&s;e it is rare to find per|&s;ons who do not feel &s;ome motion of vain glory, and &s;ome tincture of
<PB N="52" REF="61">complai&s;ance, in the mid&s;t of the&s;e great advantages; that the &s;ervant of God may avoid all the&s;e &s;nares, he ought always to think humbly of him&s;elf, and never &s;uffer the lea&s;t pride in his heart, but keep it down, and repre&s;s it continually, as it is written, <HI>the greater thou art, humble thy &s;elf in all things.</HI> Eccle. 3.20.</P>
<P>Tho&s;e who shall attentively read the following words will find in them great cau&s;e of fear.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 6.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>For all other vices tend to make us do evil works, but pride lyes lurking even in good works to de&s;troy them, and make them of no value.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Avarice exerci&s;es its malignity up|on evil things. Luxury commits di&s;orders by for bidden actions, and the like of other &s;ins: it is pride only which even attacks good works, which abu&s;es vertuous actions, and lays &s;nares to ruin all good. The
<PB N="53" REF="61">Pharifee lo&s;t in a moment all the &s;piritual riches he had gained in many years, becau&s;e he numbered them to Almighty God with a vain complai&s;ance; and his misfortune ought to be an in&s;truction to us, which may keep us always in fear: for as we &s;ome times &s;ee per&s;ons who become more proud of their contempt of vain glory in certain occa&s;ions, &s;o it may al&s;o happen to us, that after having de&s;pi&s;ed riches, we may become vain and proud of it in a manner le&s;s &s;up|portable.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 7.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>What then does it avail to give freely away all to the poor and become poor, if the wretched &s;oul becomes more proud by for&s;a|king riches than by po&s;&s;es|&s;ing the &s;ame.</HI></HEAD>
<P>This is as if he &s;aid in a more preci&s;e manner: what &s;ignifies po|verty with pride? the rich man
<PB N="45" REF="62">who is humble is better than the poor who is proud; and the &s;in|ner who has &s;entiments of humi|lity, is preferable to the ju&s;t who yields to pre&s;umptious thoughtts. Therefore the &s;ervants of God ought to u&s;e an exact circum&s;pec|tion in all things, fir&s;t to ab&s;tain from all evil, &s;econdly to neglect no good they are capable of, and finally not to exalt them&s;elves for the good works they have done; becau&s;e all tho&s;e we can practice have no &s;olidity nor value if hu|mility does not pre&s;erve them. Nay poverty it &s;elf is not in that di&s;tinguished from the other ver|tues; it has no privilege in regard of vanity, and we are only the poor of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, when we are humble for the love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t: for it is not generally of all the poor, but only of tho&s;e who are poor in &s;pirit, that the Go&s;pel gives a&s;surance, <HI>that theirs is the kingdome of heaven.</HI> Matt. 5.3.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="section">
<PB N="55" REF="62">
<HEAD>&sect; 8.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Live therefore I &s;ay, with con|cord and unity among your &s;el|ves, and honour Almighty God in one another who&s;e temples you are now become.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is the union of poverty and humility which produces charity; which maintains concord and peace in &s;ocieties, where many per&s;ons live together, and it is that peace and concord which makes us the temples of Almighty God. So whe|ther we would honour God and move him to come into our hearts, which are the &s;anctuaries he will inhabit, or that we would make known to the world that we are the di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, we mu&s;t con&s;erve the union and cha|rity of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who &s;aid: <HI>By this all men shall know that you are my di&s;ciples, if you have love one for another.</HI> Jo. 13.35.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="56" REF="63">
<HEAD>CHAPTER III. <HI>Of Prayer.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>I. &sect;</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> Be attentive to prayer at the &s;et times and hours appointed.</HEAD>
<P>TO prevent the time of prayer, is a &s;igne of foreca&s;t, to pray in the times appointed is an act of obedience, but to let pa&s;s the time of prayer is a fault of negli|gence. There is not only one hour in the day appointed for prayer, but many hours; becau&s;e we are as much obliged to pray the often|er as we know the advantage it is to us. If our prayers ought to be a&s;&s;iduous, it is not le&s;s impor|tant that they be ardent and fer|vorous; becau&s;e the ble&s;&s;ings that Almighty God promi&s;es us are &s;o great and con&s;iderable that neither eye has &s;een, nor ear heard, nei|ther hath it a&s;cended into the heart of man, to conceive what God has
<PB N="57" REF="63">prepared for tho&s;e who love him. Now his Divine Maje&s;ty will not have us lo&s;e the high Idea we ought to conceive of tho&s;e ble&s;&s;ings, nor have them expo&s;ed to contempt by the facility of &s;eeking and fin|ding them: a Marchandi&s;e &s;o pre|cious and &s;o worthy of all our wi&s;h|es, requires a purcha&s;er eager and full of de&s;ires, and it is that ear|ne&s;tne&s;s our &s;aviour excites us to in the Go&s;pel when he &s;ays, <HI>Ask, and it shall be given you; &s;eek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.</HI> Mat. 7.7. Eter|nal life is not promi&s;ed neither to the &s;lothfull, nor to the tepide, nor to the remi&s;s and fainthearted; but to tho&s;e who are couragious and undertaking, as the Scripture tells us by the&s;e words, <HI>the kingdome of heaven &s;uffers violence, and tho&s;e that u&s;e violence bear it away.</HI> Mat. 11.12. Prayer is an agreeable vio|lence to Almighty God, and he lo|ves that importunity, &s;o we mu&s;t
<PB N="58" REF="64">not wonder if he even requires that we u&s;e it to him: for if the goods he promi&s;es us are &s;o great, ought he to &s;uffer our de&s;ires to be but indifferent? and is it not ex|pedient on the contrary, that the greedyne&s;s and eagerne&s;s of our heart have &s;ome proportion with the value and richne&s;s of the re|compen&s;e?</P>
<P>But if Almighty God does not &s;eem moved at our fir&s;t reque&s;ts, nor will not &s;o readily grant what we ask of him, we mu&s;t not for that cea&s;e to &s;eek and knock. On the contrary, 'tis then we mu&s;t arm our &s;elves with courage, and redouble our in&s;tances and prayers with &s;till more vigour: it is then we mu&s;t fill our &s;aviour's ears with more shrill groans and cries: it is then we mu&s;t importune him with a more &s;tiff ob&s;tinacy it I may dare u&s;e that expre&s;&s;ion) till he grants us the graces we &s;tand in need of. But if we find our con&s;cience &s;ul|ly'd
<PB N="59" REF="64">by the impurity of &s;ome &s;in that we have committed either by thought, word, or deed, we mu&s;t then add tears to our prayers, have recour&s;e to the mercy of our Re|deemer with a profound humility, &s;ollicite our pardon by continual weepings, and employ al&s;o the in|terce&s;&s;ion of the Saints that we may be more favorably received. There's no doubt but if by the example of the Cananean woman, we per&s;evere in prayer, and continue our in|&s;tances norwith&s;tanding the apparent checks we think we &s;uffer, Je&s;us Chri&s;t will be moved at la&s;t, and by his grace will come to correct all our errours, clean&s;e all our im|purities, and re&s;tore to us a tran|quillity and calme after the to&s;&s;ing &s;torm: <HI>For he is faithfull &amp; ju&s;t, to forgive us our &s;ins, and to clean&s;e us from all iniquity.</HI> 1. Jo. 1.9. If we cry to him with all the &s;trength of our &s;oul.</P>
<PB N="60" REF="65">
<P>But to the end we may pray in &s;ecret, and not be diverted from it, the Rule adds.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>In the place of prayer, as in the Choir or Church, none shall do any handy work, or other bu&s;ine&s;s, but only that which belongs to pray|er, to the end that tho&s;e who have a mind and lei&s;ure to pray there out of the times appointed, may not be hindered by them who should do any work there; and for this rea&s;on it is call'd an oratory.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Our Lord heretofore ca&s;t the bu|yers and &s;ellers out of the temple, &s;aying. <HI>My hou&s;e shall be call'd a hou&s;e of prayer.</HI> Matt. 21.13. To teach us that we ought to do nothing in the hou&s;e of God but addre&s;s our prayers, and di&s;cover our wants to him. It is for that, the&s;e &s;acred Edi|fices have been built; and the u&s;e they are de&s;igned for, is prayer. The church is the hou&s;e of God and the
<PB N="61" REF="65">Gate of heaven: 't is there &s;inners are reconciled by receiving the par|don of their faults: it is there the ju&s;t are &s;anctified more and more by fresh &s;upplys of graces: it is there the Divine Mi&s;teries are cele|brated: and it is there the greate&s;t Sa|craments are admini&s;ter'd. When Salomon dedicated the magnificent Temple, he had built; he with his knees on the ground, &amp; his hands lifted up to heaven, &s;aid: <HI>Lord if thy people &s;in to thee, and converted shall do penance, and be&s;eech thy name, and pray in this place, thou shalt hear from heaven, and be thou propitious to the &s;in of thy people.</HI> 2. Par. 6.24. Therefore we mu&s;t be very careful not to let any thing be done in this &s;anctuary, which may either offend the eyes of the Divine Maje&s;ty who re&s;ides there, or di&s;tract tho&s;e who would pray there.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="62" REF="66">
<HEAD>&sect; 2.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>And when you pray to Almighty God with P&s;alms and Hymns, let your heart be upon that which your mouth utters.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Tho&s;e who &s;ing in the Church mu&s;t endeavour always to join at|tention of mind to the &s;ound of the &s;acred words they pronounce, that they may fulfill what the A|po&s;tle &s;ays: <HI>I will pray in the &s;pirit, and I will pray in the mind; I will &s;ing in the &s;pirit, and I will &s;ing in the mind.</HI> 1. Cor. 14.15. For it is only when we meditate with at|tention on the words we pronounce, that per&s;everance in prayer is follow'd by &s;ome profit. But alas! we often pray, and our mind is fixt el&s;ewhere; we &s;peak, and do not &s;o much as think of what we &s;ay: and it is that which makes our prayers unfruitfull; Almighty God not vouch&s;afing to harken to tho&s;e that are addre&s;&s;ed to him, when tho&s;e that pray u&s;e no
<PB N="63" REF="66">endeavour to mind what they &s;ay.</P>
<P>This misfortune often happens by the malice of the devil: for that wicked and crafty &s;pirit, incen&s;ed with fury and envy again&s;t us, kno|wing the advantage of prayer, and not being able to bear that God should do us the favour to hear us, he excites a croud of tumultuous thoughts in our imagination whil&s;t we are in prayer; and he does it to take up our mind, di&s;turb our at|tention, and &s;o deprive us of the fruit we hoped to draw from our prayer. But we ought in the&s;e oc|ca&s;ions to &s;tand &s;toutly again&s;t the attacks of an enemy &s;o full of wicked de&s;ignes: and the more we feel our &s;elves overtaken by this multitude of crouding thoughts, the more we ought to fortifie our &s;ouls, and per|&s;i&s;t with an undaunted courage in &s;o holy an occupation.</P>
<P>Now to render our prayers pure, and to shelter them from the&s;e dan|gers,
<PB N="64" REF="67">a means as excellent as it is nece&s;&s;ary, is to ob&s;tain in all times and places, from doing any thing that is forbidden; keeping our ton|gue alwayes from unprofitable di&s;|cour&s;es, and our ears from hearing them; walking always in the law of God, and u&s;ing our &s;elves to fol|low his holy will with all our heart. For it nece&s;&s;arily follows that what we hear, what we &s;ee, what we &s;ay, and what we do often, returns often into our mind, and there takes place, even without our minding it, as in their proper and naturel dwelling.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 4.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>You shall not &s;ing any other thing but what is ordained to be &s;ung, and what is not ordained shall not be &s;ung.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is not decent nor fiting that church-&s;inging should be diver&s;ified according to the fancy of every new comer: it ought to be kept
<PB N="65" REF="67">firm and invariable to what our fore|fathers have writen and ordained: the &s;ame may be &s;aid of the other cu&s;tomes of the hou&s;e, which ought to be regulated with authority and di&s;cretion. But if it should be re|qui&s;ite to change or ordain any thing, that mu&s;t not be done lightly nor ha&s;tily, nor even as two or three shall have imagined or undertaken; but &s;uch things mu&s;t be treated of in an a&s;&s;embly of the community, and then difficulties are to be regulated and &s;ettled, as the mo&s;t judicious part of the company canonically a&s;&s;embled, shall have determined. And we mu&s;t know that in all oc|ca&s;ions where advice is to be taken, or a difficulty re&s;olved, it is bet|ter to follow Eccle&s;ia&s;tical authority than rea&s;on: becau&s;e to yield to authority is always an act of obe|dience and humility; whereas to follow ones own rea&s;on, is &s;om|times an effect of pride and pre&s;ump|tion.
<PB N="66" REF="68">Now in a particular commu|nity as well as in a whole order what ought to be much e&s;teem'd is the acting alwayes with a great deal of &s;olide maturity in imitation of S. Paul who &s;aid, <HI>did I u&s;e le|vity, or the things that I purpo&s;e, do I pur|po&s;e them according to the flesh, that in me there may be YES and NO?</HI> 2. Cor. 1.17. That is to &s;ay &s;omtimes one re&s;o|lution and Somtimes another: becau&s;e nothing &s;uits better with the &s;pirit of religion and the decency that ought to be ob&s;erved in it, than con&s;tancy to what has been once &s;ettled and e&s;tablish'd.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER IV. <HI>Of fa&s;ting and Ab&s;tenance, of meals and allowances.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Subdue your flesh and keep it under with fa&s;ting and ab&s;tinence from meat and drink, as much as your health may bear.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>THe flesh lu&s;teth again&s;t the &s;pirit and the &s;pirit again&s;t the flesh.</HI>
<PB N="67" REF="68">Galat. 5.17. But for fear that in this &s;truggle (the deci&s;ion of which is &s;o important) the flesh should be the &s;tronge&s;t, and gain a fatal Victory, tho&s;e who would work their &s;alvation ought to repre&s;s its ill de|&s;ires by the force of the &s;pirit; be|cau&s;e when the flesh is thus tamed, then the &s;pirit is renew'd and recei|ves an encrea&s;e of vigour, but when the Rule adds, <HI>as much as your health may bear,</HI> it recommends the ver|tue of di&s;cretion, becau&s;e even our good works have no &s;olidity if they are not accompany'd with this ver|tue. The mea&s;ure then that we ought to ob&s;erve in our fa&s;ting, is to &s;ubdue the flesh by ab&s;tinence as much as its natural &s;trength can bear; becau&s;e on the one &s;ide he who afflicts his flesh to exce&s;s kills his own fellow citizen; and on the o|ther, he who nourishes it with too much delicacy or abundance, main|tains a dome&s;tick enemy. The exact
<PB N="68" REF="69">mean in this matter is, that we take &s;uch care of the body as to keep up its &s;trength &s;ufficiently for the di&s;charge of it's duties, but tame and afflict it enough to hinder its revolts, having ever in view this general Rule in all that we cut off by penance, to de&s;troy the vices, &amp; not kill the flesh.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>If any of you cannot fa&s;t, yet shall she take no food out of meal time, unle&s;s she is &s;ick.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Gluttony which is the fir&s;t among the &s;even deadly &s;ins is not alwayes occa&s;ion'd by delicate and exqui&s;ite fare; but it &s;omtimes tempts us by the mo&s;t common and vile things; for the fir&s;t man was not tempted to eat &s;wines flesh, but a &s;imple apple. E&s;au did not &s;o greedily di|&s;ire a wild fowl but a me&s;s of po|tage: and our Lord him&s;elf in the de&s;ert, was not tempted to eat meat,
<PB N="69" REF="69">but bread. Now this &s;in is com|mitted in three manners: the fir&s;t is when one drinks and eats with|out moderation as to the quantity: the &s;econd is &s;eeking too great de|licacy as to the quality: and the third is not &s;taying till the appoin|ted meal-times.</P>
<P>The time in which we think we ought not to eat, la&s;ts till the hour of tierce, becau&s;e it does not be|come per&s;ons of our profe&s;&s;ion to eat or drink before that hour, ex|cept we were &s;ick. As for the &s;ick they may do it at any hour, be|cau&s;e the law is not e&s;tablished for the infirm: tho&s;e who do not fa&s;t yet have health, as we under&s;tand, the time, they may take their re|pa&s;t, is from the hour of tierce till &s;ext; and for tho&s;e who fa&s;t, from None till the Evening. The Apo&s;tle having recommended to us, <HI>to do all things decently, and according to order.</HI> 1. Cor. 14.40. It is not enough
<PB N="70" REF="70">for us to ob&s;erve an exact tem|perance in eating &amp; drinking as to the quantity and quality, we mu&s;t al&s;o &s;ubject our &s;elves to the hours appointed, that we may not by our manner of life give occa&s;ion of &s;candal to any: for it would be a great di&s;order if we lived in a blameable manner, who by the engagement of our &s;tate, ought to exert the man|ner of living holily.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>When you are &s;et at table be ever attentive without noi&s;e or con|tention unto that, which ac|cording to your cu&s;tome is read, until you ri&s;e from meal: and let not your mouth alone take meat, but let your hearing at the &s;ame time receive the word of God.</HI></HEAD>
<P>To hungar after the word of God, is to de&s;ire to hear it: but all who hear or read holy books, are not &s;o
<PB N="71" REF="70">happy as to profit by them; for there are many who remain after|wards as empty and as dry as they were before, they feel not any good motion, pre&s;ently lo&s;e the Idea of what they have heard, and retain not any relish of that &s;pi|rituall food. All that &s;uch per|&s;ons hear, far from being to their advantage, it will but render their judgment more rigorous: whereas it is written of tho&s;e who are in a better di&s;po&s;ition; <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are they that hungar and thir&s;t after Ju&s;tice, for they shall be filld.</HI> Matt. 5.6. The rea&s;on why they shall be &s;a|tiated, is becau&s;e they were hun|gry before, for it is by that very hungar that man is made worthy to be afterwards fill'd. The fir&s;t thing then that we ought to do, is to endeavour to prepare our heart that it may feel that hun|gar and thir&s;t, which is the de|&s;ire of the word of God: and grace will not then fail to replenish us,
<PB N="72" REF="71">and penetrate us interiourly with a cele&s;tial &s;weetne&s;s, which will be to us an excellent nourishment; &s;o that our joy will be to &s;ing with the royal Prophet. <HI>How &s;weet are thy words to my tongue, more than honey to my mouth.</HI> P&s;al. 118.103. And again, <HI>the law of thy mouth is good unto me above thou&s;ands of gold and &s;ilver.</HI> P&s;al. 118.73.</P>
<P>In our meals, it is not &s;uffici|ent to be &s;eated at a material Ta|ble, we mu&s;t al&s;o be pre&s;ent at a &s;piritual Table; it is not enough to give food to our body, we mu&s;t give it al&s;o to our &s;oul: nay as much as the &s;oul &s;urpa&s;&s;es the body in excellence and dignity, we ought to take more delight in the &s;piritual food than in the corporall. Every time we hear the holy Scrip|ture read or expounded, we ought to think it is a &s;piritual nourish|ment, which Almighty God &s;ends us to &s;trengthen our hearts, to keep us from fainting in the may,
<PB N="73" REF="71">to make us able to re&s;i&s;t all the temptations of the devil, and to enable us to pa&s;s over all the pe|rils this corrupt age is &s;o full of. we ought to have continual hun|gar of this divine food, and shut it up carefully in our &s;oul that we may be able to &s;ay with the Pro|phet: <HI>in my heart I have hid thy words, that I may not &s;in to thee.</HI> For he who thus hides the word of God in the bottom of his heart draws this advantage from it; it becomes to him a living and en|livening food, which defends him from the death of &s;in, and al&s;o guides him to everla&s;ting life. It follows in the Rule.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 4.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>When &s;uch per&s;ons as are by a former and con&s;tant ill health weak and &s;ikly, are allow'd better deit than the re&s;t, others who from a different &s;tate of health are more &s;trong, mu&s;t not be con|cern'd thereat, nor think it inju&s;t.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It would be a great abu&s;e in a re|gular
<PB N="74" REF="72">hou&s;e if thofe who are mo&s;t &s;trong and robu&s;t, should be con|cern'd or jealous, when they &s;ee that the weaker &s;ort are treated with more conde&s;cendancy: on the contrary &s;ince they have more &s;trength and better health, they ought to take upon them the ri|gour of ab&s;tinence, and ob&s;erve it exactly, compa&s;&s;ionately bearing with the weakne&s;s of others.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 5.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Neither shall they think them more happy for having more allo|wed them, but rather be glad that they them&s;elves are able to pa&s;s with that which others cannot.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is much more advantagious to ab&s;tain from the u&s;e of many things and reduce our &s;elves to a little, than to make u&s;e of a grea|ter quantity to &s;atisfie our wants; for that voluntary &s;elf denyal is the effect of courage and vertue, where|as
<PB N="75" REF="72">the indulgence we grant our &s;elves is a mark of infirmity. A per|&s;on to whom Almighty God has given &s;ufficient &s;trength to be con|tented with the common life, who &s;eeks neither delicacies nor &s;uper|fluities in his diet, has rea&s;on to rejoyce in his happyne&s;s, for the more the life he leads is &s;trict and au&s;tere by cuting off concupi&s;cence, which always takes a wide extent, the greater and more &s;olide is his happyne&s;s, becau&s;e the &s;treight and narrow way is that which leads to life everla&s;ting. Rejoyce then all you who can reduce your &s;el|ves for the love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t to live upon a little; becau&s;e the fru|gal and au&s;tere life you lead has the&s;e advantages, it kills the vi|ces, extinguishes the ardours of concupi&s;cence, nourishes the ver|tues, gives &s;trength to the mind, and an elevation to the &s;oul which makes her capable of divine things.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<PB N="76" REF="73">
<HEAD>&sect; 6.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>And if unto tho&s;e per&s;ons, who from a tender education came to the Mona&s;try, there be given any food, cloathing, bedding, or &s;uch like nece&s;&s;aries, which unto the &s;tron|ger, and therefore more happy per|&s;ons, is not allow'd: they to whom it is not given, ought to con&s;ider how much the other per&s;ons are come down from their worldly way of living, alth&ocirc; as yet they are not able to go thorough with &s;o &s;light and &s;pare diet, as they who are &s;tron|ger of body.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Why all the&s;e reflexions? it is to the end we may be &s;en&s;ible how ju&s;t it is that tho&s;e who are of grea|ter quality receive al&s;o &s;omthing more than the re&s;t; and that kno|wing the ju&s;tice of &s;uch a procee|ding, we cea&s;e to de&s;ire a di&s;tri|bution, to all without di&s;tinction, of the things we &s;ee given only to a &s;mall number; and at the &s;ame
<PB N="77" REF="73">time learn to bear with the infirmi|ties of tho&s;e who have le&s;s health and &s;trength; for it is thus the Rule explains it &s;elf.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 7.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Neither should they take it ill and be troubled becau&s;e they &s;ee &s;uch per&s;ons more tenderly trea|ted, for they are not thereby more honoured, but rather more borne withall: for there would ari&s;e a dete&s;table di&s;order in the Mona&s;try. if the rich and weak per&s;ons were expo&s;ed to all hardships and la|bour, and the &s;trong and laborious per&s;ons of a mean condition, should be made delicate and idle.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is a very dete&s;table di&s;order to have tho&s;e who ought to be accu&s;to|med to live poorly, forget their former condition &s;o far as to &s;eek delicate fare in a &s;choole of penance, where the rich for&s;ake the &s;weets of their fir&s;t manner of life to lead a laborious one; I mean hard by
<PB N="78" REF="74">the rigours of penance. Neverthe|le&s;s it is what happens but too of|ten; for in the &s;ame communities where many labour with as much more fervour to deba&s;e them&s;elves and lead an au&s;tere life as bein noble and rich in the world they had lived in great delicacy, &s;o there are others who by a di&s;order directly oppo&s;ite to the vertue of the for|mer, &s;eek to exalt them&s;elyes, and &s;atisfie their &s;en&s;uality with as much greater heat, as they had been in the world more poor and contemp|tible.</P>
<P>This is what we call a di&s;order that every one ought to abhor, an evil which is not le&s;s pernicious than dete&s;table: that the poor for|getting their fir&s;t condition, &s;eek de|lights and repo&s;e, where the rich for the love of God labour to overco|me them&s;elves by au&s;terities and ab|&s;tinence. What difference between them both! The fir&s;t are &s;laves to
<PB N="79" REF="74">their belly, the &s;econd &s;eek what is advantagious to the &s;pirit; tho&s;e by the wide and &s;pacious ways of conveniences run to eternal torments, and the&s;e by the &s;treight and nar|ron way of the cro&s;s, advance to|wards an everla&s;ting Glory.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER V. <HI>Of looking to the &s;ick.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>As it is nece&s;&s;ary &s;ick per&s;ons should take le&s;s food not to over|charge their nature, &s;o it is very rea&s;onable that they should be &s;o treated after their infirmity as that they may &s;oon recover their &s;trength: and this is to be ob&s;er|ved even in regard to &s;uch as come to the Mona&s;tery from the mo&s;t hum|bling poverty in the world, &s;ince &s;ickne&s;s has brought them to the &s;ame weakne&s;s as a former hahit of ill health, or education, brought the rich.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IN mo&s;t di&s;ea&s;es much nourish|ment is &s;o far from &s;olaceing the
<PB N="80" REF="75">&s;ick, that they become wor&s;e by it, and then it mu&s;t be cut off, for fear of ca&s;ting the &s;ick into a &s;till more dangerous condition. But when they are free from their ma|lady, they mu&s;t be &s;o treated that they may recover their &s;trength as &s;oon as po&s;&s;ible. Now in the &s;olaces that are given to the &s;ick, and ge|nerally in all that concerns the ne|ce&s;&s;ities of life, there ought to be no exception of per&s;ons, nor ought the poverty of any to be de&s;pi&s;ed however great it were: becau&s;e the weakne&s;s that remains with the poor for a time after a fit of &s;ickne&s;s, puts them in the &s;ame condition the rich are in by education and cu&s;tome. Almighty God will be mercyful to tho&s;e who shew mercy to others, which is &s;ufficient to move us to prevent the wants of tho&s;e who could hardly have &s;atis|fied them in the world, &s;ince our Lord &s;ays, <HI>ble&s;&s;ed are the mercyfull
<PB N="81" REF="75">for they shall find mercy.</HI></P>
<P>The di&s;ciple whom Je&s;us loved, teaches us the &s;ame verity, when he writes. <HI>He that shall have the &s;ub|&s;tance of this world, and shall &s;ee his brother in need, and shall shut his bo|wels of compo&s;&s;ion again&s;t him: how doth the charity of God abide in him?</HI> 1. Jo. 3.17. That is to &s;ay, if we would have the love of God in our &s;elves we ought to practice the works of mercy towards our neigh|bours in their wants; being &s;ecure that when we do &s;o, it is not &s;o much to them that we render tho&s;e &s;ervices, as to Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf, who will &s;ay to his Elect, In his judgment, <HI>I was &s;ick and you vi&s;ited me, I was hungry and you gave me to eat, thir&s;ty, and you gave me to drinck.</HI> Matt. 25.35.36. And who having recounted the other works of charity, they shall have paid him in the per&s;on of their brethren, which he looks upon as done to
<PB N="82" REF="76">him&s;elf, he will put them in po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion of the reward. Saying, <HI>po&s;&s;e&s;s the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world.</HI> Matt. 25.34. To this ample recompen&s;e we are call'd, and when we render nece&s;|&s;ary a&s;&s;i&s;tances to our neighbour, we procure the kingdome of heaven for our &s;elves: for tho' our good works, as well as the nece&s;&s;ities of our neighbour, pa&s;s away; yet the reward of them will la&s;t for eternity.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>But as &s;oon as the &s;ick per|&s;ons have recovered their &s;trength they mu&s;t return to their more happy and wonted &s;treight manner of living.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is a happy cu&s;tome to be con|tinually cutting off the carnal de&s;ires which fight again&s;t the &s;oul: it is a happy cu&s;tome to ob&s;erve ab&s;ti|nence and voluntarily deprive our &s;elves of the u&s;e of many things: again I &s;ay it is a happy cu&s;tome
<PB N="83" REF="76">to cha&s;ti&s;e our body, and bring it into &s;ubjection. The Rule</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Which be&s;t becomes the &s;ervants of God. In as much as they need le&s;s, and not hanker after that better food, which was only nece&s;&s;ary to re&s;tore them to their health.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Some care of the body mu&s;t ne|ce&s;&s;arily be taken when it is actually infirm and &s;ufficient &s;olace mu&s;t be given it, to get out of that condition: but when it has recover'd &s;trength, that care mu&s;t be laid a&s;ide, for fear the &s;ervants of God should be &s;top'd in the way to heaven, by the plea|&s;ure of eating and drinking, and lea&s;t the intemperance of the mouth should retain them &s;till upon earth in the very time, when they ought to think of nothing but elevating them|&s;elves to God by the &s;anctification of their &s;ouls. The more the health of the body encrea&s;es, the more
<PB N="84" REF="77">important it is to be watchful that we may not be &s;urpri&s;ed by the at|tracts of &s;en&s;uality, which often ac|companys eating and drinking; be|cau&s;e gluttony de&s;troys all the ver|tues of the &s;oul by the fins it ma|kes us commit. Neither do any come off victorious in &s;piritual con|flicts if they have not fir&s;t overco|me the &s;tings of the flesh in them|&s;elves, by a whol&s;ome mortification and affliction of the irregular appe|tites of gluttony: and none can ever keep firm enough to &s;u&s;tain the a&s;&s;aults of this interiour war if they have not fir&s;t overthrown the carnal and dome&s;tick enemy which is in them&s;elves; I mean the inor|dinate appetite of this vice; becau&s;e if we do not begin by entirely de|&s;troying the ob&s;tacles which are nea|re&s;t to us, it will be in vain to undertake the conque&s;t of tho&s;e which are more remote.</P>
<P>There are many who ignorant
<PB N="85" REF="77">of the order they should ob&s;erve in the&s;e &s;ort of &s;trifes, which make the way of perfection &s;o hard to nature, and &s;paring them&s;elves in in the intemperance of the mouth, which is the fir&s;t enemy they should defeat; yet undertake other conflicts of the &s;piritual life, and even &s;om|times do actions which are marks of a great courage. But being &s;ub|ject to &s;en&s;uality, and overruled by the &s;o unworthy and mean a plea|&s;ure as eating and drinking, they lo&s;e all the fruit of their generous actions, and neglecting to re&s;i&s;t the greedyne&s;s of their belly, and the concupi&s;cence of the flesh, they choak up all the great vertues they had endeavour'd to produce. The holy &s;cripture &s;peaks of &s;uch per&s;ons when it tells us that the Ma&s;ter cook overthrew the walls of Jeru&s;alem: for that figure gives us to under|&s;tand that it is the belly which de|&s;troys from top to bottom all the
<PB N="86" REF="78">vertues which &s;erved us for defen|ce, when we once cea&s;e to re&s;i&s;t it's appetites, and make our &s;elves &s;laves to it's avidity.</P>
<P>In effect what made God's cho|&s;en people perish in the de&s;ert, af|ter he had freed them from the Egyptions &s;ervitude by &s;o many prodigies? was it nor the &s;light they made of Manna, and their glutton|ous de&s;ire to eat flesh? what cau&s;ed E&s;au to lo&s;e the glory and the ad|vantages of his birth right? was it not his greedyne&s;s of a poor me&s;s of potage? it is not, that food is evil in it &s;elf, but gluttony is al|ways vicious: for how often do we eat exqui&s;ite things without offence; whereas in other occa&s;ions we wound our con&s;cience by eating the mo&s;t ordinary fare, let us content our &s;elves then with what is nece&s;&s;ary to maintain life, and not &s;eek what &s;en&s;uality de&s;ires to flatter it's nicene&s;s.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="87" REF="78">
<HEAD>&sect; 4.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>Let every one think her &s;elf mo&s;t rich who is mo&s;t able to &s;uffer hardship.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Sobriety, and a frugal life, have a wonderfull power to de&s;troy the vices of the flesh: and tho&s;e vices being quell'd and mortified, pre|&s;ently the beautifull vertues are &s;een to &s;pring up which daily make new progre&s;s: and in this manner, tho&s;e who can moderate them&s;elves in the u&s;e of terrene things, grow rich in heavenly goods, and acquire trea&s;ures of graces which recom|pen&s;e them to the hundred fold.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 5.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"> <HI>For 'tis better to need le&s;s than to require more.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is much better to &s;uffer the want of &s;omthing for the love of God, than to be in plenty which gives us beyond the nece&s;&s;ary: be|cau&s;e the poverty which makes us want &s;omthing to be more confor|mable
<PB N="88" REF="79">to Je&s;us, produces humility in us, which is the &s;ource of all good, whereas abundance brings forth pride which is the begining of all evil. Now to the end that the &s;ervants of God may always re|pre&s;s &s;en&s;uality in them&s;elves, and continually keep the appetites of the flesh &s;ubject to the di&s;ires of the &s;pirit, the lea&s;t they can do is to tend to this holy di&s;po&s;ition, and de&s;ire even in food and clothing, to be le&s;s well provided for than nece&s;&s;ity requires. For the exteri|our man ought to be of our &s;ide in the affair of Salvation, and lend a hand to the good intentions of the interiour man, and th&ocirc; he is car|nal, he is capable of this: becau&s;e th&ocirc; he has in him motions which incline to di&s;&s;olution and &s;oftne&s;s, yet he has al&s;o &s;eeds of good, and di&s;po&s;itions for good works. There|fore our interiour man which is the chief, mu&s;t do the office of an
<PB N="89" REF="79">equitable Judge between him&s;elf and the exteriour man, and &s;o or|der matters, that the exteriour man may have always &s;trength enough to &s;erve him in the performance of his duties, and never enough to oppo&s;e his good intention freely.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER VI. <HI>Of the Habit.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; I.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>You shall not be particular in your habit, neither shall you af|fect to plea&s;e by your dre&s;s, but rather by your religious manners. Yous kerchiefs shall not be &s;o fine as that your caps may be &s;een through them; neither may you let your hair appear, either trough negligence &s;ticking out, or put up in any &s;et form on purpo&s;e.</HI></HEAD>
<P>SAint Augu&s;tin gives us nothing here for Rule but what he practiced him&s;elf; for is is written in his life that his habit and shooes
<PB N="90" REF="80">were neither too neat not too ne|gligent, but decent, and equaly remote from either exce&s;s. We read al&s;o that he &s;aid of him&s;elf: I own I am ashamed to wear too rich a garment; it does not &s;uit with the profe&s;&s;ion I have embra|ced, neither does it agree with the obligation I have to give the&s;e ru|les, nor connect with this mi&s;eaa|ble body which ought not to be &s;o well clad, and I think it below a man of my great age. Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;aid In the Go&s;pel: <HI>behold they who are clad in &s;oft apparel, are in the hou&s;es of kings:</HI> Matt. 11.8. And he calld &s;uch garments &s;oft appa|rel becau&s;e they &s;often the &s;ouls of tho&s;e who wear them: but if it be agreable to &s;ee per&s;ons &s;o dre&s;s'd in the Palaces of kings, cour&s;e attire which has an air of humility, is amiable in the church of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. Such ought to be the habits of Prie&s;ts and religious people, nothing of novelty, no
<PB N="91" REF="80">tincture of pride, nor air of vain glory: for &s;uch per&s;ons are not &s;et off by the finene&s;s of their ha|bit, but by the purity of their manners, and innocency of their &s;oul.</P>
<P>The &s;piritual ornaments are for us; with them we may imbellish our &s;elves, they are cha&s;tity, meek|ne&s;s, obedience, patience, and charity: the&s;e are the ornaments which will make our &s;oul amia|ble to the king of heaven, that that invi&s;ible &s;pou&s;e, who does not &s;eek exteriour adornments and beau|ty but grace and vertue which are &s;omthing interiour, as it is written: <HI>all the beauty of the kings daugh|ter is within.</HI> P&s;al. 44.14. Let us then think of no other embellish|ments, nor beauty, nor riches, but that which is found in inno|cence and good works. For th&ocirc; we should a&s;&s;emble in our &s;elves all the other advantages, and should po&s;&s;e&s;s all that the world thinks lovely, yet we should not come
<PB N="92" REF="81">near the happyne&s;s of that &s;oul to whom it is &s;aid in the canticles: <HI>thou art all fair o my love and there is not a &s;pot in thee.</HI> Cant. 4.7. Let us u&s;e all our might to become plea&s;ing to the eyes of our divine &s;aviour, th&ocirc; we have not the happyne&s;s to &s;ee him yet; but let us endeavour to plea&s;e him by our actions, and not by our dre&s;s, that we may fulfill this pre|cept of the Apo&s;tle. <HI>Do not con|form your &s;elves to this world, but be reform'd in the newne&s;s of your mind; for alth&ocirc; our outward man is liable to corruption; yet the inward man is renew'd from day to day</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="93" REF="81">
<HEAD>CHAPTER VII. <HI>Of mode&s;ty in behaviour and purity.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>When you go abroad you shall walk together, and when you come to the place you were going to, you shall remain toge|ther. In your walking, &s;tanding, in your dre&s;s, and in all your behaviour and motions there mu&s;t appear nothing that might tempt any one to evil, but what may &s;uit with your holy profe&s;&s;ion.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The hoy church in the perfect per&s;ons who doubtle&s;s make her holye&s;t portion upon earth, is not only beautifull in the &s;ight of Al|mighty God by the interiour &s;plen|dor of piety and religion; but she has even &s;ufficient to plea&s;e men al&s;o, by the exteriour grace which gives her the comlyne&s;s and de|cency
<PB N="94" REF="82">she ob&s;erves in all things, according to that which is written: <HI>and my flowers are fruits of honour and hone&s;ty.</HI> Eccl. 24.25. Now it is a practice conformable to the &s;pirit of religion, and to the de|cency with which all there, ought to be perform'd as in a &s;choole of perfection, that tho&s;e who live together walk out together, and &s;tay together without &s;eparating, that all may be done as the A|po&s;tle recommends, <HI>decently and according to order.</HI> 1. Cor. 41.40.</P>
<P>One might al&s;o give a &s;piritual &s;en&s;e to this corporal &s;ociety, and &s;ay that it repre&s;ents the union of the &s;aints which is compared to an Army rank'd for battle. For as an Army preparing to fight, takes care to be regular and clo&s;e in its ranks, that the enemy may not break into the battallions; &s;o our &s;piritual Army ought by orders of its head, to be always clo&s;e to|gether,
<PB N="95" REF="82">and very orderly, whether it marches or halts; and in that u|nion which joins its forces, we find an advantage which terrifies the ancient enemy who makes war again&s;t us, and apprehends nothing &s;o much in the &s;ervants of God, as the union of charity. The rule gives us here another important advice.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>In all your behaviour and mo|tions there mu&s;t appear nothing that might tempt any one to evill; but what may &s;uit with your holy profe&s;&s;ion.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Religious per&s;ons ought to live with &s;o much circum&s;pection that none may find in them ju&s;t cau&s;e to blame their comportment. For it is contrary to all rea&s;on that tho&s;e, who by the engagement of their &s;tate ought to exert the man|ner of living holily, should behave them&s;elves in &s;uch a manner as to
<PB N="96" REF="83">de&s;erve the reproaches of all that &s;ee them; &s;ince to them is addre&s;s'd this &s;entence: <HI>be holy becau&s;e I am holy &s;ays the Lord your God.</HI> Levit. 19.2. We ought in reality to be faints &s;ince we bear a name, and wear a habit of &s;anctity and religion, and are employ'd and apply'd to the divine &s;ervice, con&s;ecrated to Je&s;us Chri&s;t to &s;erve him at his Altars, and ordained to celebrate his divine Mi&s;terys. <HI>Let men &s;aid the Apo&s;tle, con&s;ider us as Mini&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and as di&s;pen&s;ers of the Mi&s;teries of God.</HI> 1. Cor. 3.5. Remark that he does not recommend to us to be the Mi|ni&s;ters of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, becau&s;e he &s;uppo&s;es we are &s;o; but that we act &s;o that men may con&s;ider us as &s;uch. And the rea&s;on why he &s;peaks thus is, becau&s;e it is not &s;ufficient that our life be holy and irreproa|chable; but our reputation mu&s;t al&s;o be unblemish'd: for as much as our good life is nece&s;&s;ary to our &s;elves,
<PB N="97" REF="83">&s;o much is our reputation and the e&s;teem of our vertue nece&s;&s;ary to our neighbour, that we may convert him to God, this made the &s;ame Apo&s;tle &s;ay: <HI>he mu&s;t have a good te&s;timony from tho&s;e who are without.</HI> 1. Tim. 3.7.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t then &s;o behave our &s;el|ves, that our profe&s;&s;ion may be re|mark'd in our works, and that our life may be conformable to the name we bear; that as the order we are of is holy, our conver&s;ation may be the &s;ame, and that when we are commended, the commendation may be grounded upon the te&s;timony of our actions. But if you would know when our life is worthy of the holy &s;tate we have embraced; it is when we keep our pa&s;&s;ions &s;ubject to rea|&s;on by an exact di&s;cipline, which hinders their motions from being di&s;orderly: It is when we endea|vour to become Ma&s;ters of our &s;en|&s;es, and keep them from all di&s;or|der
<PB N="98" REF="84">and lightne&s;s. It is when our looks being pure, humble, and mo|de&s;t, are not fixt upon any object which we are forbidden to de&s;ire. It is when our ears being cha&s;te and di&s;creet, are deaf to all vain and &s;uperfluous di&s;cour&s;es, and delight only in tho&s;e which move towards God. It is when our words &s;ea&s;on'd with the &s;alt of wi&s;dome, are never fluent in evil or unprofitable enter|tainments, but always in&s;inuate &s;om|thing profitable for the edification of tho&s;e who hear us. It is when we have purity in heart, mode&s;ty in our countenance, gravity in our gate, circum&s;pection in our po&s;ture, maturity in our ge&s;tures, the &s;pirit of religion in the air of our habit; &s;o that &s;anctity may shine in us on all &s;ides, decency regulate us in all things, and humility never for&s;ake any of our actions. It is then I &s;ay, we exactly comply with this precept of our rule
<Q>that in all our mo|tions
<PB N="99" REF="84">there mu&s;t appear nothing that might tempt any one to evil, but what may &s;uit with your holy profe&s;&s;ion.</Q></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>If you chance to ca&s;t your eyes upon men, you mu&s;t beware not to fix them upon any one in par|ticular; for you are not forbid|den to &s;ee men when you go abroad but to take particalar notice af any one; and to de&s;ire to be taken particular notice of by him; is ever &s;infull.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Our &s;aviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t tells us in his Go&s;pel, <HI>that who&s;oever shall look on a woman to lu&s;t after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.</HI> Matt. 5.28. Now be|cau&s;e there needs but one evil look to excite this evill de&s;ire, they who would be faithfull to God, and be|ware of offending that &s;overeigne Ma&s;ter and dreadfull Judge, mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity redre&s;s the liberty of
<PB N="100" REF="85">the eyes, that they may not be &s;ur|pri&s;ed by concupi&s;cence and impu|rity. David who&s;e &s;anctity was &s;o great, was overcome by an evil de|&s;ire, and fell into Adultery, becau&s;e he had fixt his eyes too much upon a woman, if then a man of &s;uch eminent vertue had &s;o fatal a fall for want of vigilance over his looks, how apprehen&s;ive ought we to be of falling into the precipice of death and &s;in, we who are &s;o far from the &s;anctity of this Prophet, whom Almighty God had found according to his heart.</P>
<P>Let us rather imitate the wi&s;e pre|caution of the holy man Job in what he &s;ays of him&s;elf: <HI>I have made a covenant with my eyes that I would not &s;o much as think of a virgin.</HI> Job. 31.1. This ju&s;t and &s;incere man per|ceiving, that, by the exteriour look, the &s;oul might be corrupted, made an agreement with his eyes, that they might not &s;o much as look by
<PB N="101" REF="85">incon&s;ideration or &s;urpri&s;e upon ob|jects, he could not de&s;ire without &s;in: becau&s;e it is impo&s;&s;ible to overcome a vice entirely, if we do not mo&s;t carefully avoid not only the cau&s;e of it, but what breeds the occa&s;ion. This al&s;o was the rea&s;on why Lot flying from &s;odome, the Angel who had freed him from it, expre&s;sly commanded him not to look be|hind him, nor to remain near that unfortunate Town, but to &s;ecure him&s;elf in the Mountain: becau&s;e he who would not perish in the fire of &s;in, mu&s;t keep him&s;elf far from the &s;ight and approaches of all which moves to the committing it, and &s;trive at the &s;ame time to mount to the top of the vertues, that his in|nocence may be as much more &s;e|cure as by the effort of his vertue, and di&s;tance from the objects, he avoids the occa&s;ions of lo&s;ing it. That which follows shews in what man|ner Looks are dangerous.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="102" REF="86">
<HEAD>&sect; 4.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Becau&s;e not only by deeds but al&s;o by affection and matual glances, criminal de&s;ires may be conceived on both &s;ides.</HI></HEAD>
<P>As if he plainly &s;aid, the &s;en&s;i|ble di&s;orders and irregularities of concupi&s;cence, are not only excited by that &s;ecret propen&s;ity to evil, which is hidden at the bottom of the heart, but al&s;o they often take their ri&s;e from looks which are &s;om|thing exteriour. We &s;ee it in the per&s;on of the royal Prophet, who ha|ving fixt his eyes upon a woman, th&ocirc; he had lived till then in &s;o holy a manner, yet he was dreadfully carry'd away by the temptation. <HI>Death is come up thr&ocirc; our windows.</HI> Jerem. 9.21. Said the Prophet Je|remie. The death of the &s;oul is concupi&s;cence, our interiour hou&s;e is our &s;oul, and the windows of that hou&s;e are the five &s;en&s;es of our body. Now death a&s;cends by the
<PB N="103" REF="86">windows, and enters into our hou|&s;es, whenever concupi&s;cence, in&s;i|nuating it &s;elf by our &s;en&s;es, cor|rupts our heart and is the death of our &s;oul. Now for fear that our &s;piritual life which is grace should die in us by irregular de&s;ires, which are cau&s;ed by exteriour objects, we mu&s;t guard the windows of our hou&s;e with &s;o much care and vigilance, that we may keep our pa&s;&s;ions in a calme; and this we may ea&s;ily do, if we leave no pa&s;&s;age open, by which the mi&s;chief may enter our hearts to wa&s;te and &s;poyl them.</P>
<P>That which follows in the rule gives great cau&s;e for fear.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 5.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>How then can any one &s;ay she has a cha&s;te heart if she al|lows her eyes &s;uch liberties? For a light eye is the Me&s;|&s;enger af a light heart.</HI></HEAD>
<P>That which is hidden at the bot|tom of the heart, is often di&s;cover'd
<PB N="104" REF="87">by exteriour &s;en&s;es, and by the com|po&s;ition of the body one may know what is the &s;tate of the &s;oul; but the &s;in is much greater and harder to be cured when its corruption reach|es to the outworks, and appears vi&s;ibly, than when it was inclo&s;s'd within, and had not yet &s;pread its contagion. Now as to impurity we mu&s;t know that this vice is not al|wayes the &s;ame; that &s;omtimes it is &s;piritual, and at others carnal: the &s;piritual impurity pa&s;&s;es only with|in by the plea&s;ure that ari&s;es from the fixt thought: carnal impurity is committed exteriourly by the &s;en&s;es: for &s;omtimes 'tis by &s;eeing, at other times by hearing, or by words, or touching, or by the action it &s;elf: for it is by all the&s;e dete&s;table means, as by &s;o many fire brands of hell, that the fire of voluptuou&s;ne&s;s enfla|mes a heart: it is by all the&s;e ways of darkne&s;s, the &s;oul is &s;eparated from God, all ca&s;tity and mode&s;ty
<PB N="105" REF="87">for&s;akes a per&s;on, and the vice of luxury tyranizes within and without.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 6.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And if it should happen that the evil inclination of the heart should be di&s;cover'd by the eye to each other, and concupi&s;cence move them to take plea&s;ure in &s;infull de&s;ires; th&ocirc; the tougue be &s;ilent, and the body remains cha&s;te, yet would the vertue of cha&s;tity depart from their &s;oul.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Cha&s;tity is &s;o nice a vertue that it draws back, and if I may &s;ay &s;o, it flys from the manners and all the exteriour compo&s;ure, as &s;oon as the Pa&s;&s;ion of concupi&s;cence is enflamed by reciprocal glances from per&s;ons who delight in one another. And then, th&ocirc; the integrity of the body be not violated by any dishone&s;t action, yet it may be &s;aid that there is a violation by the &s;ight, by the de&s;ire, by the thought, and by the plea&s;ure; all the&s;e things being like
<PB N="106" REF="88">fiery fuel which encrea&s;es the ardour of concupi&s;cence, and rai&s;es it to a compleat malice. For the evil thought produces a plea&s;ure, that plea&s;ure wins con&s;ent, con&s;ent is &s;oon fol|low'd by action, action pa&s;&s;es into cu&s;tome, and cu&s;tome becomes a nece&s;&s;ity or a law. It is the Apo&s;tle S. Paul, who has told us, that there is a law of &s;in in our membres: for that law is doubtle&s;s the cu&s;tome we engage in by &s;inning, and from which we cannot afterwards free our &s;el|ves when we will, becau&s;e it retains us in &s;lavery by the bands of nece&s;|&s;ity. The be&s;t way then is to cor|rect the faults as &s;oon as they begin to appear: becau&s;e if we &s;uffer them either upon our own con&s;cience, or upon tho&s;e of the per&s;ons we are obliged to rebuke, the lea&s;t evils thus neglected pa&s;s &s;oon to grieve|ous crimes, which draw down the wrath of God, as we learn by tho&s;e words of the Prophet, <HI>they have pro|longed
<PB N="107" REF="88">their iniquity, and our ju&s;t Lord will cut the necks of &s;inners.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER VIII. <HI>Of keeping the &s;ight.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Who&s;oever therefore does thus fix her eyes upon a man, and likes to be beheld by him in return, mu&s;t not imagin she is not &s;een to do it, she is certainly &s;een, and even by tho&s;e she lea&s;t &s;u&s;pects.</HI></HEAD>
<P>This we &s;ee often happens to tho&s;e who would hide their faults; for whil&s;t they imagin they only content their pa&s;&s;ions in &s;ecret, and think they have u&s;ed the mo&s;t vigilant precaution to conceal their di&s;orders, they unawares betray them&s;elves; and the evil they thought they had cover'd with the darke&s;t ob&s;curity, appears vi&s;ibly to the eyes of all.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="108" REF="89">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But put the ca&s;e, she is not di&s;cover'd, nor &s;een by any living creature, what can she do to hide her fault from the &s;ight of God, who beholds all things? Can she think that he &s;ees it not, becau&s;e the more pa|tiently he &s;uffer's it the more he shews his di|vine wi&s;|dome?</HI></HEAD>
<P>In all the faults we committ ei|ther by thought, word, or deed, let us fear with a religious dread, the eyes of that terrible judge be|fore whom we are to appear: for th&ocirc; we may &s;omtimes e&s;cape the eyes of men, all is open and plain to tho&s;e of God. Let us then for|bear all &s;in without di&s;tinction of great and little, there not being any that can e&s;cape vengeance at
<PB N="109" REF="89">the dreadfull day of judgment, if they are not expiated in this life. Let us alwayes oppo&s;e to the fla|mes of &s;in, the torments of hell, and continually &s;trive to extinguish in our hearts the love of vain plea|&s;ures, by the thought of the &s;mar|ting pains of the eternal fire. There is not certainly a more deplorable folly than that of a man, who to abandon him&s;elf for a moment to the plea&s;ure that &s;olicites him, and to feed his pa&s;&s;ion with fleeting de|lights, renounces the ineffable joys of heaven, and plunges him&s;elf into everla&s;ting torments.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>A Religious per&s;on then ought to fear his displea&s;ure, and not har|bour the lea&s;t evil de&s;ire of plea&s;ing man. For the holy Scripture cau|tions us in this point, by a&s;&s;uring us that</HI> God abhors &s;uch per|&s;ons as fix their eyes. <HI>Abominatio e&s;t Domino defigens oculum.</HI></HEAD>
<P>By the&s;e words it is certain that
<PB N="110" REF="90">if we fix our eyes upon a per&s;on of a different &s;ex to behold him too attentively, we become abo|minable in the &s;ight of God, whom alone it is important to plea&s;e: and we may then expect nothing but torments from him who would have crown'd us with glory. The|refore if the love of God is not &s;trong enough to di&s;engage us from our evil inclinations, let his fear at lea&s;t do it; and if the heavenly joys have not charmes enough to invite us, let the eternal torments imprint in our hearts a whol&s;ome dread: the fear to di&s;plea&s;e our creator should be the fir&s;t &s;tep we take to avoid &s;in, or to get out of it.</P>
<P>But &s;ome perhaps will &s;ay what shall I do to excite in my &s;elf the fear of God which I feel not the lea&s;t motion of? How shall I break the in&s;en&s;ibility I am in as to his judgments? If you would open your heart to the fear of God,
<PB N="111" REF="90">think often that he &s;ees all things, and that he has an infatigable at|tention upon you: when you feel &s;ome evil de&s;ire ri&s;e in your heart to corrupt it, think that Almighty God has that moment his eyes fixt upon you, and con&s;ider what you are going about: when you perceive in your con&s;cience &s;ome di&s;ordinate propen&s;ity which begins to drag you to &s;in, reflect that you are in the pre&s;ence of God, and he's a &s;evere judge who from that moment examins the di&s;po&s;ition of your &s;oul. So in all your ac|tions, in all your words, in all your affairs, think of that divine eye whieh never &s;leeps, and then you will fear to di&s;plea&s;e &s;o aw|full a Maje&s;ty before whom the Angels tremble. This is the way of Ju&s;tice, this gives entrance to wi&s;dome, as it is writen. <HI>The be|ginning of wi&s;dome is the fear of our Lord.</HI> Eccl. 1.16.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="112" REF="91">
<HEAD>&sect; 4. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>When&s;oever therefore you are together in the church, or el&s;e|where in the pre&s;ence of men, be ever careful to help one another to keep your mode&s;ty and religious cha&s;tity.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The cha&s;tity wich the holy &s;crip|ture &s;o highly prai&s;es, is a vertue of an excellence and beauty which &s;urpa&s;&s;es all that man's eloquence can &s;ay of it. It is a &s;piritual and cele&s;tial vertue, which al&s;o makes tho&s;e who poffe&s;s it &s;piritual and cele&s;tial, whereas they would be carnal and terrene without it: it is a vertue which elevates us above the earth, makes us companions to the Angels, and unites us to Al|mighty God: it is a vertue which &s;urpa&s;&s;es all the efforts of nature: and when a &s;oul encompa&s;s'd with mortal flesh is &s;o happy as to keep her &s;elf pure, it is not &s;o much
<PB N="113" REF="91">the effect of a humane &s;trenth, as of a vertue all divine. The incom|parable beauty of cha&s;tity makes our &s;ouls amiable to that invi&s;ible &s;pou&s;e, who delights in tho&s;e that are pure, and looks upon tho&s;e who are &s;la|ves to impurity, as objects of abomi|nation. This vertue is not only beloved by God and his Angels, it is al&s;o cheris'd by men: the devil is the only who does not like to &s;ee it in us th&ocirc; he knows the va|lue of it. Therefore by frequent attacks he &s;trives to rob us of a trea&s;ure which he cannot &s;ee in us without being tortured by the furies of envy. This wicked &s;pirit is the infamous coun&s;ellor of all evil de|&s;ignes and of all filthy actions: he has no re&s;pect for per&s;ons con&s;ecra|to God, he makes war with the Clerick who &s;erves in the &s;anctuary, he attacks the &s;olitary who is shut up in his cloi&s;ter; and what is &s;till more deplorable he &s;omtimes gets
<PB N="114" REF="92">the better of a per&s;on who&s;e ver|tue and religion was mo&s;t admired.</P>
<P>We mu&s;t then be infatigably vi|gilant to live &s;o with one another that we may alwayes con&s;erve a very great purity, for if we lo&s;e it we lo&s;e all with it; and in lo&s;ing our God we are lo&s;t our &s;elves. Now what we aime at in living all to|gether united in the &s;ame hou&s;e, is to pre&s;erve and guard each other by reciprocal correction, reprehen&s;ion of faults, and in&s;truction with mu|tual charity; &s;o that what each could not do by him&s;elf, if he were left to his own management, he may accomplish by the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of o|thers who lend him a hand. But becau&s;e when we are &s;o happy as to keep our &s;elves in the wayes of ju&s;tice, the &s;ucce&s;s is not to be attri|buted to our &s;trength, as if we could do any thing of our &s;elves, and that all the Glory is due to God. The rule adds this that follows.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="115" REF="92">
<HEAD>&sect; 5. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>For Almighty God who dwells within you, will thus by each others help pre&s;erve and guard you.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Whatever application we u&s;e on our &s;ides to &s;ecure our &s;elves we labour in vain, if God him&s;elf does not &s;uccour and pre&s;erve us; this made the royal Prophet &s;ay: <HI>If the Lord does not keep the citty, he watched in vain that keepeth it.</HI> P&s;al. 128.2. It is the &s;ame with cha&s;tity, no body can pre&s;erve it, neither in him&s;elf nor in others without the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Almighty God: but if he vouch&s;afes by his grace to come and dwel in us, like that <HI>&s;tronger arm'd</HI> Luk. 11.21. we can do by him what we cannot effect by our &s;elves. Therefore we mu&s;t endea|vour to be &s;o faithfull in the practice of his commandments, that we abide in him, and he in us, and &s;o per&s;e|vere till death in ju&s;tice and cha&s;tity,
<PB N="116" REF="93">by the Almighty power of him who, being God, liveth and reigneth for ever and ever Amen.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER IX. <HI>Of admonishing, and refor|ming our neighbour.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And if you perceive in any of your companions this liberty of &s;ight of which I &s;peak, immediately admonish her of it, that a &s;peedy correction may hinder her from going on in what she had begun. But if you &s;ee, that after your ad|monishment, she does the &s;ame again th&ocirc; at another time, who&s;oever finds it out, mu&s;t not fail to make it known, and declare the per&s;on as one wounded, that she may be heal'd. The fault however mu&s;t fir&s;t be made evident to two or three, that by the te&s;timony of two or three witne&s;&s;es, she may be cor|rected with due cha&s;ti&s;ment.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THis ordinance is very confor|mable to the words of the holy
<PB N="117" REF="93">&s;cripture; for the Apo&s;tle &s;ays in expre&s;s termes, <HI>brethren, if a man be preingaged in any fault, you that are &s;piritual, in&s;truct &s;uch a one in the &s;pirit of mildne&s;s.</HI> Gal. 6.1. And our &s;aviour him&s;elf &s;ays. <HI>If thy brother hath &s;in'd again&s;t thee go and reprehend him betwixt thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou shalt have gain'd thy brother; but if he will not hear thee, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witne&s;&s;es every word may &s;tand good.</HI> Mat. 18.15. If we are en|gaged in the conduct of others, we ought to u&s;e all po&s;&s;ible care to di&s;|cover faults and correct them: for if we do not apply a remedy to them in this world, we shall there be engaged in that dreadfull con|demnation, which the Apo&s;tle threa|tens us with, when he &s;ays, <HI>it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.</HI> Hebr. 10.31. It is better al&s;o for the &s;inner to be
<PB N="118" REF="94">corrected in this life, while time is, than to perish in eternity when there will be no more hopes; and there|fore the &s;cripture gives us the love of correction as a mark of wi&s;dome. <HI>Correct the wi&s;e man, and he will love you.</HI> Prov. 7.8.</P>
<P>But that is not an argument that it is never proper to reprehend tho&s;e who &s;eem not di&s;po&s;ed to receive the correction; for the Apo&s;tle gives his Di&s;ciple contrary documents by the&s;e words: <HI>urge in &s;ea&s;on and out of &s;ea&s;on.</HI> 2. Cor. 4.2. He orders it to be done in &s;ea&s;on, for tho&s;e who willingly receive what is &s;aid to them, and he will not have it omited even out of &s;ea&s;on, for tho&s;e who by their good will would never give ear to reprehen&s;ion, if they were not forced to it. Therefore we mu&s;t not wonder if tho&s;e who have the charge of reprehending faults, think it &s;om|times their duty to be importune; becau&s;e that importunity is not an
<PB N="119" REF="94">effect of anger, but a di&s;pen&s;ation of charity. We al&s;o often &s;ee that tho&s;e who have yeilded to trouble and impatience when reprehended, upon better reflexion afterwards, when the emotion is pa&s;t, con&s;i|dering with how much fraternal love the correction was made, feel a comfort in it, and labour them|&s;elves to correct their faults.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="120" REF="95">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Neither ought you to think your &s;elves malicious or ill min|ded when you make known &s;uch faults, for truly you would not be blamele&s;s your &s;elves, if by your &s;ilence you permited your &s;i&s;ter to be lo&s;t, whom you might have re|form'd by di&s;covering her fault. Suppo&s;e one of your fellow-&s;i&s;ters had a wound in her body, which she would willingly keep &s;ecret, fearing an inci&s;ion, would it not be cruelty in you to conceal it, and an act of charity to make it known? With how much more rea&s;on then ought you not to lay open her ill behaviour, lea&s;t at length the corruption enter her heart?</HI></HEAD>
<P>If a per&s;on is cruel who con|&s;ents to keep &s;ecret her neigbour's bodily wound, how much more is that per&s;on &s;o, who does not give notice of the wound of &s;in which
<PB N="121" REF="95">is in the &s;oul of her &s;i&s;ter? May we not &s;ay that she becomes guilty of her death, by that &s;ilence, and will be condemn'd for holding her peace, as the other will be for doing the evil? Let us then al&s;o &s;ay by a contrary argument, that she is truly animated by a &s;pirit of charity and mercy, who does not conceal by &s;ilence the &s;piritual wounds of her neighbour, &s;ince we cannot practice a greater mercy towards a mi&s;erable per&s;on, than to &s;ave his life when he is ready to lo&s;e it. They who act &s;o, will doubtle&s;s receive a great re|ward from the Almighty who &s;ays in the Go&s;pel; <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the mer|cyful, for they shal obtain mercy.</HI> Matt. 5.7. And who has al&s;o made one of his Apo&s;tles give us this impor|tant advice. <HI>He who shall cau&s;e a &s;in|ner to be converted from the error of his way, shall &s;ave that man's &s;oul from death, and shall cover a multi|tude of &s;ins.</HI> Jam. 5.20.</P>
<PB N="122" REF="96">
<P>See then the order that mu&s;t be ob&s;erved in di&s;covering the faults we know.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Neverthele&s;s before it be thus made known to others, who are to convict her, in ca&s;e she denys the fault, it shall fir&s;t be decla|red to the &s;uperiour, when the per&s;on admonish'd has neglected to mend, that &s;o by a &s;ecret cor|rection she may reform her &s;elf, and the fault be kept from the knowledge of others.</HI></HEAD>
<P>When a fault is committed in &s;e|cret, the guilty ought to be repre|hended &s;ecretly by tho&s;e who know what has pa&s;s'd: but if the per&s;on neglects to mind them, the &s;upe|riour ought to be acquainted with the matter, that she may al&s;o re|prehend that per&s;on in &s;ecret; and that the fault may not be di&s;cover'd if it can be privately corrected. But if the per&s;on denys the fact, then
<PB N="123" REF="96">let witne&s;&s;es be brought, that being convicted by them, she may be more &s;everely punish'd, as it is appointed in the &s;equel of the rule.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 4. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But if she denys the fact, then shall more witne&s;&s;es be brought forth, that &s;o she may not only be accu&s;ed by one, but al&s;o convicted by two or three, and con|demned to punish|ment, according to the appointment of the &s;uperiour, or Prie&s;t, or the Bishop.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Tho&s;e who will not change their lives for a gentle reprehen&s;ion, ought to be cha&s;ti&s;ed with more &s;everity: for the art of curing &s;ouls has this re&s;emblance with that of curing bo|dies, that, in each, sharp remedies mu&s;t be applyed to the &s;ick, what|ever pain they feel by them, when
<PB N="124" REF="97">their wounds cannot be cured by more gentle fomentations. So when the &s;inner will not amend his faults for the private adverti&s;ments that are given him, he mu&s;t be publickly reprehended, that however painfull it be to him, the evil may be openly remedy'd, &s;ince it could not be cu|red by more &s;ecret and gentle means.</P>
<P>As for tho&s;e who &s;in publickly, it is evident that private correction is not &s;ufficient, but that they mu&s;t be al&s;o publyckly reprehended: that being cured by confu&s;ions, which o|thers are witne&s;&s;es of, tho&s;e who have imitated them in the fault, may be adverti&s;ed to amend them&s;elves al&s;o. This is the intention of the rule when it ordains, that, she who would not profit by &s;ecret admonish|ments, be publickly convicted of her fault, that she may then &s;uffer punishment according to de&s;ert.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="125" REF="97">
<HEAD>&sect; 5. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And in ca&s;e she refu&s;es the penance, and will not depart the community of her own ac|cord, she shall be expell'd: for this is not cruelty but Charity in hindering her from ruining others, by her infecting ill Example.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is much better that this &s;e|vere condemnation should fall upon one guilty per&s;on to &s;ave a great number, than to put the &s;afety of a whole community in danger, by tolerating, thr&ocirc; a weak con|de&s;cendancy, the ill example of one only. It is to teach us to proceed in this manner, that our &s;aviour &s;ays in the Go&s;pel; <HI>If thy right eye &s;candali&s;e thee, pluck it out and ca&s;t it from thee: for it is better for thee that one member of thy body perish than that thy whole body be ca&s;t into hell. And if thy right hand
<PB N="126" REF="98">&s;candali&s;e thee, cut it off and ca&s;t it from thee.</HI> Matt. 5.29.30. By the right eye and right hand, we may under&s;tand tho&s;e of our friends who&s;e &s;ervices are mo&s;t agreable and mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary to us. For he who &s;erves us and has care of our affaires, is our eye, he who has the charge to provide us with things nece&s;&s;ary for life, is our hand And if it happens that each is u&s;eful to us in &s;piritual things, they are to us in place of the right eye and right hand. Neverthele&s;s even &s;uch per&s;ons are not excepted from this law that our holy father has here e&s;tablish'd, and they mu&s;t be &s;epa|rated from the body as well as others; that is to &s;ay, they mu&s;t be cut off from the &s;ociety, like tho&s;e who are u&s;ele&s;s in it, if they &s;chandali&s;e their fellows, and are &s;tumbling blocks to them in the &s;ervice of God: becau&s;e it is much better to be deprived of the &s;er|vices of &s;ome particular per&s;on,
<PB N="127" REF="98">than to let the whole body perish by the pernicious example of any one.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 6. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>The &s;ame method, I here pre|&s;cribe for the correcting this fault of fixing the eyes upon men, shall al&s;o be ob&s;erved in the remarking, admonishing, forbidding, decla|ring, convicting, and in the pu|nishing of all other misdemea|nours, with love ever to the per&s;on, and dete&s;tation of the of|fence.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is on this account that the &s;ame Doctor &s;ays in another place of his works, that we mu&s;t in &s;uch &s;ort love men as not to love their errours, that there is great diffe|rence to be made between what they are, and what they do; and in fine that we mu&s;t love them, becau&s;e they are the work of God, and hate their errours, becau&s;e they are &s;in. There are people enough
<PB N="128" REF="99">to be &s;een who sharply reprehend others, when they &s;ee them com|mit any fault; but it is often not &s;o much thr&ocirc; a motive of charity, as thr&ocirc; a di&s;like for their per&s;ons: it is le&s;s to correct tho&s;e faults than to &s;atisfie the aver&s;ion they keep in their hearts: but &s;uch a &s;everity being an effect of the &s;pirit of revenge, and not of a zeal for Ju&s;tice, does not mind to plea&s;e God, who prote&s;ts in the &s;cripture. <HI>That he wills not the death of a &s;inner, but rather that he be converted and live</HI> Ezech. 33.11.</P>
<P>Let no body then ever repre|hend another in anger, nor too tartly; but do it with mildne&s;s and charity: and even when the quality of the fault requires &s;om|thing hard in the words, let mild|ne&s;s be always in the heart. This is what S. Paul orders, by the&s;e words. <HI>If any man be preingaged in any fault, you, that are &s;piri|tual,
<PB N="129" REF="99">in&s;truct &s;uch a one in the &s;pirit of mildne&s;s, reflecting on thy &s;elf, le&s;t thou al&s;o be tempted.</HI> Galat. 6.1. For the&s;e la&s;t words are ad|ded as it were to &s;ay to us: you who reprehend others reflect what you are; think that you are al&s;o a &s;inner, and lyable by your frailty to fall into all &s;orts of exce&s;s: for fear that having reprehended your neighbour, you find your &s;elf enga|ged in a &s;till more dangerous temp|tation, if you do it rather by a motion of anger than by a &s;enti|ment of compa&s;&s;ion. Reprehend faults then in the manner the rule ordains; that is, keep in your heart love and charity for the guilty, at the very time that you shew a zeal, and even hatred again&s;t the crime: becau&s;e we ought thus al|ways to hate the one without cea|&s;ing to love the other.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="130" REF="100">
<HEAD>CHAPTER X. <HI>Of receiving letters or tokens in &s;ecret.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But if any one should yeild &s;o far to evil as to receive letters, or any little pre&s;ents in &s;ecret, provided she confe&s;&s;es her fault of her own acccrd, she shall be &s;pared, and prayer made for her.</HI></HEAD>
<P>OUr holy Father treats as a great exce&s;s, the fault of a religious per&s;on who receives any thing with|out her &s;uperiours knowledge, be|cau&s;e to hide thus, what one recei|ves, or has already received, is to break order; and it is a great evil to become a prevaricator of the ru|les e&s;tablish'd in the order we are engaged in. If the holy Prophet Eli&s;eus had not been per&s;waded that
<PB N="131" REF="100">his di&s;ciple Giezi was fallen into a con&s;iderable &s;in by &s;ecretly receiving pre&s;ents from Naaman Prince, and favorit to the king of Syria, he would not have &s;truck him with &s;o horrid a lepro&s;ie: but he taught us by that terrible cha&s;ti&s;ment with how much &s;everity &s;uch faults ought to be punish'd. Yet if the guilty per|&s;on confe&s;&s;es it of her felf, she mu&s;t be pardon'd and prayed for: becau&s;e the evill that is di&s;cover'd by the humility of a voluntary con|fe&s;&s;ion, becomes le&s;s, as David found by his own experience, when he &s;poke to Almighty God in the&s;e termes: <HI>I &s;aid I will confe&s;s again&s;t me my inju&s;tice to our Lord, and thou ha&s;t forgiven the impiety of my &s;in.</HI> P&s;. 31.5.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="132" REF="101">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But if she be taken in the fault, and convicted, then shall she be &s;everely punish'd, according to the &s;uperiour's, the Prie&s;t's, or Bishop's di&s;cretion.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Nothing more ju&s;t than this or|dination; for if the fault is greater, it al&s;o de&s;erves a more &s;evere cor|rection: now a per&s;on who keeps &s;ecret the evill she has comitted &s;ins in a grievious and mortal man|ner, augmenting by &s;ilence what she would have diminish'd by confe&s;|&s;ing it. The love which is pure and holy, &s;ays S. Jerome, is not acquainted with tho&s;e <HI>billets doux</HI> which are reciprocally written and &s;ent in &s;ecret; it is not maintain'd by tho&s;e little pre&s;ents which are mutually made: they that delight in &s;uch trifles, let them&s;elves be &s;ur|pri&s;ed by a great vanity; and the more &s;atisfaction they find in &s;uch
<PB N="133" REF="101">mean things, the more they are rejected as to the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e which are truly great and &s;ublime. Th&ocirc; the&s;e &s;ort of things &s;eem of &s;mal importance, yet they often pro|duce very great harm; and per&s;ons who are moved with a real de&s;ire to avoid &s;in entirely, will be very far from loving them: for &s;uch will not content them&s;elves with only avoiding things which are evil of their own nature, but will al&s;o shun tho&s;e which might &s;erve for temp|tation, or give others cau&s;e of mi&s;|tru&s;ting their vertue. We then who have this double obligation of li|ving holily for our &s;elves, and of giving others edifying example, let us con&s;ider, as below us, all the&s;e remi&s;s proceedings, th&ocirc; there should be no other inconveniency in them than the breeding &s;u&s;picions di&s;ad|vantagious to the reputation we ought to have.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="134" REF="102">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XI. <HI>Of keeping the cloathes in Common.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Your cloaths shall be kept in one certain place, under the cu&s;tody of one or two, or of as many as may be &s;ufficient to look well to them, and pre&s;erve them from the mothes. And as you all receive food out of one common cellary, &s;o shall you all receive cloaths out of one common Wardrobe.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THere is two rea&s;ons for this rule of having our habit kept in com|mon, and tru&s;ted to the care of one or many per&s;ons. The fir&s;t is, for fear that thr&ocirc; neglect and want of care, they should be &s;poyl'd by mothes or otherways: the &s;econd, lea&s;t we should think we po&s;&s;e&s;t as our own the very habit we wear, if we were allow'd to keep it apart.
<PB N="135" REF="102">This explication conects with that which follows in the rule.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Moreover you mu&s;t, as much as po&s;&s;ible, not concern your &s;elves about what is given you to put on, according to the &s;ea&s;on, whether you receive what you left off, or what ano|ther had worne before, provided what is ne|ce&s;&s;ary for each, is not refu&s;ed.</HI></HEAD>
<P>This moderation which S. Au|gu&s;tin adds here, by &s;aying, <HI>as much as po&s;&s;ible,</HI> is to the end that if any one had great difficulty to perform this article of the rule, she might be permitted to have again the &s;ame habit she had left off. But it would be a mark of a much greater per|fection, if a per&s;on were arrived to &s;o generous a contempt of her &s;elf as to &s;mother all her repugnances, to be content with what is preci&s;ely
<PB N="136" REF="103">nece&s;&s;ary for the body, and to be able to &s;ay with S. Paul: <HI>Having food, and wherewith to be cover'd, with the&s;e we are content.</HI> 1. Tim. 6.8. This great Apo&s;tle does not &s;ay we are to be content provided we have things of a certain quality, or in a certain quantity; he only mentions what may &s;uffice nature, thereby to in&s;truct the imperfect, in whom &s;en&s;uality always asks more than ne|ce&s;&s;ity requires.</P>
<P>Humane nature as S. Augu&s;tin &s;ays, is content with a little for its con&s;ervation; cu&s;tome adds much more, then &s;en&s;uality over and a|bove requires &s;o much that it is al|mo&s;t impo&s;&s;ible to &s;atisfie it. Where|as if we loved God perfectly, and renounced the de&s;ires of the flesh as we ought, we should even cut off as &s;uperflous many things which in another di&s;po&s;ition would &s;eem to us of an inevitable nece&s;&s;ity. Let us then exerci&s;e our &s;elves in the
<PB N="137" REF="103">practices of loving God with all our heart, and endeavour by the efforts of that &s;acred love, to be content with the nece&s;&s;ary, and to cut off the &s;uperflous; &s;o that if on the one &s;ide charity cau&s;es a di&s;tribution to each of the things they have need of, &s;en&s;uality on the other may not make many require tho&s;e they might shift without. It is charity which ought to guide us in all things; now we know that this vertue does not &s;eek her own intere&s;ts, that she al|wayes preferrs the common good before her own, that she makes one love to be little and low in the hou&s;e of our Lord; and experience teaches us that if any one po&s;&s;e&s;&s;es that vertue in a perfect degree, fat from granting her &s;elf &s;uperfluous conveniences, she will even find re|trenchments to be made among tho&s;e which are thought nece&s;&s;ary.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="138" REF="104">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But if hereupon, contentions or murmurings ari&s;e among you, or any one should complain that she receives wor&s;e than she had be|fore, and thinks much that she is not &s;o well cloathed as her follow &s;i&s;ters; by</HI> that <HI>you may &s;ee how much you want of the interiour holy garment of your &s;oul, who thus contend about the cloaths of your body.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Our &s;oul has need of its proper garment, as well as our body; and that garment incomparably beauty|full, is the grace of God when it environs her, it is the pre&s;ence of the holy Gho&s;t when he dwells in her, and it may be &s;aid that our heart is perfectly and richly clad when it has peace, charity, good|ne&s;s humility, patience, concord, meekne&s;s, and all the other &s;uch like vertues: for we ought to reckon nothing our real riches but good
<PB N="139" REF="104">manners and the vertues, which are goods wholy interiour and &s;piritual. But if we begin to have di&s;putes with one another, if we grumble and quarell, our &s;oul is pre&s;ently shamefully naked, and we remain unprovided of all the true goods; becau&s;e vertue and vice cannot live together in the &s;ame heart, and there needs <HI>but a little leaven to cor|rupt the whole ma&s;s.</HI> Gal. 5.9. Upon this each ought to examin her &s;elf, and be very vigilant to find out how much her &s;oul wants of all the vertues; there being no misfortune like to that in which a chri&s;tian en|gages, who for tran&s;itory things lo&s;es tho&s;e, which would make him eternally happy.</P>
<P>There is then no &s;elf intere&s;t which we mu&s;t not &s;acrifice, nor care which we are not obliged to take to avoid di&s;putes and quarrels, becau&s;e tho&s;e are the works of the flesh, of which the Apo&s;tle &s;ays, <HI>that they who do
<PB N="140" REF="105">&s;uch things shall not obtain the king|dome of heaven:</HI> Gal. 5.21. And they are al&s;o the di&s;orders he would banish from the life of the faithful by the&s;e words; <HI>do nothing out of &s;trife nor out of vain glory, but humi|lity, looking upon others above your &s;el|ves. Each of you not con&s;idering your own things, but tho&s;e that are another man's.</HI> Phil. 2.3.4. There is not a more efficatious means to keep off quarels and maintain peace, than to think ones &s;elf inferiour to every body and to &s;eek rather the inte|re&s;ts of others than our own: and for this effect we have need of hu|mility and charity; becau&s;e the&s;e two vertues have the property that they not only never excite, diffe|rences, but even reconcile and bring back to concord tho&s;e who were mo&s;t at variance.</P>
<P>The rule having admonish'd the mo&s;t perfect and mo&s;t advanced in the ways of God, &s;toops then in
<PB N="141" REF="105">favour of the weak, and gives them precepts proportion'd to their con|dition.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 4. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>However th&ocirc; in con&s;ideration of your frailty you receive the &s;ame which you had worne be|fore, yet what you leave off shall be delivered up into the common ward|robe under the cu&s;to|dy of the per&s;ons appointed the|reunto.</HI></HEAD>
<P>And this doubtle&s;s to the end that puting again into the &s;ame place, the habit and other things which we had received for our particular u&s;e, we may remember that they did not belong to us, even when we u&s;ed them, but that they were as they are &s;till, common to all the re&s;t.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<PB N="142" REF="106">
<HEAD>&sect; 5. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And this is to be ob&s;erved to the end that no body may work any thing for her &s;elf, either what belongs to cloathing, bedding, or other &s;uch like nece&s;&s;aries. But let all your work be done in com|mon, with a greater care and dili|gence, and more chearfully than if you work'd for your &s;elves only: for it is written of charity that</HI> she &s;eeks not her own <HI>wich gi|ves us to under&s;tand that</HI> Charity <HI>prefers the common profit before private conveniency, and not con|veniency before the common profit.</HI> 1. Cor. 13.5.</HEAD>
<P>Saint Augu&s;tin here adds to the rule of common work, a pa&s;&s;age of the Apo&s;tle's. Which confirms and &s;upports it: for the rea&s;on why no body is to work for her &s;elf, but all the works are to be done in common, and <HI>that</HI> with greater affection and a more &s;en&s;ible joy
<PB N="143" REF="106">than if each work'd for her own u&s;e, is becau&s;e charity does not &s;eek her own, but always prefers the common good before private conveniency. We cannot take a more excellent model of Charity in all things, than that of our &s;aviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, &s;ince he has com|manded us to do what he has done. If then th&ocirc; he was Lord and Ma&s;ter, he did not &s;eek his own, would it not be a great evil among&s;t us, if any work'd for them&s;elves? And if, th&ocirc; he had no need of men, being infinitly happy in him&s;elf he neverthele&s;s preferred the common profit of men before his own; ought we not to do the common works with more fervour and joy than if they were our own in par|ticular? Let us not have &s;o little faith as to apprehend impoverishing our &s;elves by this di&s;engagement: for the advantages we get by wor|king thus in a &s;pirit of Charity, in|comparably &s;urpa&s;&s;es all the con|veniences we could gain in wor|king
<PB N="144" REF="107">by a &s;pirit of propriety; &s;ince the eye cannot &s;ee nor the ear hear, nor the heart of man conceive the richne&s;s and magnificence of the trea&s;ures that Almighty God prepa|res for tho&s;e who love him.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 6 </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Wherefore you mu&s;t know that the more you take care of the common good, the more you advance in perfection; becau&s;e charity which is permanent, thus is prefer'd before tho&s;e tran&s;itory things which we u&s;e for need in this life.</HEAD>
<P>The nece&s;&s;ity of the pre&s;ent life which is to la&s;t but a time, and then pa&s;s away, obliges us to u&s;e many temporal things, and even apply our &s;elves to cares and &s;tu|dies which are al&s;o tran&s;itory: but in all Charity ought to have the up|per hand and animate the whole conduct of our life, becau&s;e with|out
<PB N="145" REF="107">it not any of our actions can be plea&s;ing to God. Charity is the Mother of the good works, the root of the vertues, the &s;ource of all goods, the highway to heaven, of which the Apo&s;tle &s;aid: <HI>I am going to shew you a more excellent way,</HI> and more perfect. They make great progre&s;s in charity who excited by the love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t de&s;pi&s;e all worldly things. Who are not mo|ved with any de&s;ire to re&s;erve the lea&s;t part of them, and who put all they have into the common &s;tock to be di&s;tributed to the re&s;t of the community: &s;uch I &s;ay walk and run in that mo&s;t high and excellent way, who trampling upon all that is great and beautiful upon earth, have their hearts already in heaven, and only &s;igh for the eternal goods.</P>
<P>Charity con&s;i&s;ts in loving God and our neighbour. The love of God is expre&s;s'd in the &s;cripture with three characters, or three ac|tions
<PB N="146" REF="108">which &s;o drains the whole &s;trength of man, that there remains nothing in him which is not &s;ub|jected, and as it were en&s;laved to divine love. For it commands us to love God, fir&s;t, <HI>with all our heart.</HI> Matt. 22.37. That is, to referr to Almighty God all the thoughts that are framed in it; &s;econdy, <HI>with all our mind;</HI> that is to be&s;tow in the &s;ervice of God all that we have of di&s;cernment and rea&s;on: thirdly, <HI>with all our &s;oul,</HI> that is, to make all that is in us of inclinations, affec|tions, and powers, tend to God. The love of our neighbour has two duties which are of an equal obli|gation: the fir&s;t is compri&s;ed in the&s;e words of Tobias, <HI>that which thou ha|te&s;t to be done to thee by another, &s;ee thou do it not to another at any time.</HI> Tob. 4.16. And the &s;econd in the&s;e, <HI>all things therefore what&s;oever you will that men do to you, do you al&s;o to them.</HI> Matt. 7.12. From this dou|ble
<PB N="147" REF="108">vertue contain'd in the love of our neighbour, &s;prings all the others, by which we either de&s;ire the things that ought to be de&s;ired for the pro|fit of our bretheren, or shun tho&s;e that ought to be avoided as hurtful to them. And by this we al&s;o know if we love our neighbour as he ought to be loved; when we prevent him by all the good offices we are capa|ble of, and take care never to of|fend him by any injury. Therefore when the rule teaches us, that in all the things we u&s;e to &s;atisfie nece&s;|&s;ity which is but tran&s;itory, charity which remains eternally mu&s;t always be prefer'd; that is to &s;ay, in all our actions and in all our words, the love of God and our neighbour ought to &s;erve us for rule, and ge|nerally in all the conduct of our life, charity should always engligh|ten us, always animate us, and al|ways guide us: becau&s;e the fulfilling of the&s;e two precepts contains all
<PB N="148" REF="109">that is written in the law and in the Prophets.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XII. <HI>Of puting the gifts in Common.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Wherefore if any per&s;on either man or woman, give his Daugh|ter, relations or friends &s;ettled in the Mona&s;try a garment or any thing el&s;e belonging to bodily ne|ce&s;&s;aries, it shall not be received &s;ecretly, but it shall be ever in the power of the &s;uperiour to put it into the Common, thence to give it out when it is wanted.</HI></HEAD>
<P>IN the life we have embraced it is not allowable to receive any thing &s;ecretly, nor to keep it as our own; but that which has been gi|ven to any one in particular, mu&s;t be put into the hands of the Superiour that she may give it to any that has
<PB N="149" REF="109">a greater want of it. There is no better means to extinguish avarice than to cut off the u&s;e all that might be &s;uperflous. There is no &s;ecurer way to lead our Charity to a great perfection than to keep within the bounds of holy, poverty: becau&s;e it not being any more in our po|wer to retain earthly goods, the &s;oul which cannot be without &s;ome ob|ject to employ her, is obliged to replenish her &s;elf with the heaven|ly. Yet there are per&s;ons in reli|gion who are &s;trangely troubled if they are not permited to keep for them&s;elves what others have given them; who love to receive little pre&s;ents; who delight to have things which are only theirs, and often th&ocirc; they are but trifles, they are &s;o fond of them, that to keep them to them&s;elves they are not affraid to di&s;turb the whole peace of a hou&s;e.</P>
<P>So dangerous an evil can only be attributed to the malicious per|&s;wa&s;ion
<PB N="150" REF="110">of the devil. That crafty and experienced enemy having &s;o long made war with us, knows the manners, the di&s;po&s;itions, and the inclinations of all men: he tempts all on the weake&s;t &s;ide, and cares not whether it be in a great or a &s;mal matter that he deceives them, &s;o he can but ruin charity in them. We ought to be upon our guard, and u&s;e a continual vigillance again&s;t &s;o malicious an enemy: we ought to &s;quare our lives with &s;o much wi&s;dome and precaution as to avoid the &s;nares he lays for us on every &s;ide, and links to all &s;orts of &s;ub|jects: we ought couragiou&s;ly to tread under foot by the vigour of the &s;pi|rit, all the earthly things which may &s;erve him as means to &s;urpri&s;e us. Happy we, if we can at la&s;t &s;ing with the Prophet: <HI>The &s;nare of the fowler is broken, and we are deliver'd;</HI> P&s;al. 123.7. But becau&s;e there are always &s;ome imprudent enough to
<PB N="151" REF="110">let them&s;elves be catch'd in it, let us ob&s;erve that which follows in the rule.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And if any per&s;on hides what is given her, she shall be corrected with &s;uch punishment as belongs to theft.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Thieves and robbers will not po&s;|&s;e&s;s the kingdome of God, becau&s;e theft is a mortal &s;in, and a crime expre&s;sly forbid by the law of God, which &s;ays: <HI>thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not &s;teal, thou shalt not bear fal&s;e witne&s;s.</HI> Exod. 20.14. Since theft is then put in the rank of the great crimes, and that the canons have &s;o determin'd it, we mu&s;t judge of this &s;in as each would do of Adultery, murder, and fal&s;e witne&s;s. And in effect! a re|ligious per&s;on who hides and keeps &s;ecret, what has been given her, holds the place in the holy church
<PB N="152" REF="111">that the traytor Judas had in the company of the Apo&s;tles. He was a thief and a robber who having in his hands his Ma&s;ter's money and the other things that were &s;ent him, turn'd them to his own profit, and hid them. That unhappy wretch was carry'd away by &s;uch an exce&s;s of avarice, that when the devil had put it into his head, he &s;old his Lord and Ma&s;ter. But &s;o pa&s;&s;ionately de|&s;iring a temporal gain, he fell into eternal death; and as it is &s;aid of him, eagerly &s;ought the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of riches that he might live at his ea&s;e, and got nothing by it but a halter to hang him&s;elf. The fruits of ava|rice being then &s;o fatal and &s;o mor|tal, let per&s;ons con&s;ecrated to God renounce all de&s;ire of heaping up temporal things, and let them ne|ver keep &s;ecret any thing that has been given them, for fear that yiel|ding to the &s;ugge&s;tions of the devil, they commit a dete&s;table &s;in; and
<PB N="153" REF="111">by a ju&s;t judgment of the Almighty God, fall into death, and incur eternal damnation.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XIII. <HI>Of washing the cloathes.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Your cloaths shall be wash'd at a certain time, according to the appointment of the &s;upe|riour, either by your &s;elves or other per&s;ons, &s;o as that the over de&s;ire of clean cloathes de|file not inwardly your &s;ouls.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Saint Augu&s;tin gives the rea&s;on him&s;elf, why he orders the cloaths to be wash'd according to the &s;u|periour's appointment, and not according as each should de&s;ire it: and that rea&s;on is, for fear the over de&s;ire of clean cloaths should in|wardly defile our &s;ouls: becau&s;e
<PB N="154" REF="112">the more we wash and clean&s;e the out&s;ide thr&ocirc; a motive of vain glory, the more we defile and dirty the inward man. Superiours then ought to take care that their &s;ubjects do not &s;in by too great an affectation of neat and clean cloaths: for it is not the beauty of the habit, but innocence of manners which adorns religious per&s;ons. This was the advice S. Paul de&s;igned to give to every body when he wrote to the Romans, &s;aying; <HI>do not conform your &s;elves to this world, but be reform'd in the newne&s;s of your mind.</HI> Rom. 12.2. For in reality tho&s;e who have &s;o great a mind to have that exteriour beauty, which plea&s;es the world, have no great de&s;ire of that interiour beauty which is &s;o plea&s;ing to God: and the more they affect outward gra|ces, the le&s;s they care for tho&s;e of within. But would you know what is the true and &s;piritual neatne&s;s that God requires in us?
<PB N="155" REF="112">I&s;aiah teaches it by the&s;e words: <HI>wash your &s;elves, be clean, take away the evil of your cogitations from mine eyes.</HI> J&s;ai. 1.16. And the Go&s;pel does not &s;ay ble&s;&s;ed are the clean of body, <HI>but ble&s;&s;ed are the clean of heart, for they shall &s;ee God.</HI> Matt. 5.8. Neverthe|le&s;s for fear any, pushing the&s;e maxims too far, should imagin they ought al&s;o to cut off the ne|ce&s;&s;ary care of the body, it fol|lows in the next chapter of the rule.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="156" REF="113">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XIV. <HI>Of Bathing.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Baths al&s;o for the body, when need is, shall not be refu&s;ed, but permited at the u&s;ual time which is once a month. Yet if any per&s;on by rea&s;on, of infirmity, has need thereof &s;ooner, it shall not be deferr'd: but let it be done without murmuring, and by the coun&s;el of the Phy&s;ician, and al|th&ocirc; the &s;ick per&s;on should not be willing, yet when the &s;uperiour commands, she shall do what is convenient for her health. On the other &s;ide, if the &s;ick per&s;on de&s;ires what is not good for her, let not her will therein be ful|fill'd.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THis agrees with the words of the Apo&s;tle, who only for|bids taking care of the body, &s;o far as to content &s;en&s;uality, but
<PB N="157" REF="113">does not hinder the &s;atisfying its nece&s;&s;ity; and there is great diffe|rence between the&s;e two things. for that which proceeds from ne|ce&s;&s;ity ought to be con&s;ider'd as being profitable and having a good end: but that which comes from &s;en&s;uality, is always a vice and can|not be referr'd to God. There are au&s;tere per&s;ons who pretend that in religion corporal medeci|nes ought not to be u&s;ed: but if they ob&s;erve, that cannot be main|tain'd, for when we eat, when we drink, when we cloath our &s;elves, and u&s;e earthly things according to the nece&s;&s;ity we have of them; they are as many remedies, and corporal medicines which we u&s;e again&s;t the incommodities and in|fermityes from which they &s;ecure us.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But let it be done without mur|muring and by the coun&s;el of the Phy&s;ician.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Saint Augu&s;tin very wi&s;ely or|dains
<PB N="158" REF="114">that in nece&s;&s;ity even tho&s;e religious, who are not willing should be obliged to take &s;uch &s;ort of &s;o|laces, and that tho&s;e should be hinder'd from them who have no need of them but &s;eek them for &s;en&s;uality &s;ake: becau&s;e it is a ge|neral rule, that we mu&s;t yield to ne|ce&s;&s;ity, and not obey &s;en&s;uality. But another rea&s;on he brings u|pon which he grounds his a&s;&s;ertion, is, that, when a thing is plea&s;ing and flatters concupi&s;cence, we &s;om|times fancy it will do good, where|as it can only cau&s;e harm: and that man lets him&s;elf be &s;o cheated by &s;en&s;uality, that he thinks to find &s;olace in the very things which are pernicious to him. Therefore far from obeying &s;en&s;uality we mu&s;t rather mi&s;tru&s;t it, as a deceitful ene|my, which in &s;uch &s;ort di&s;gui&s;es things, that it repre&s;ents as good and profitable, tho&s;e which are hurt|full and &s;ometimes mortal. We need &s;eek no other rea&s;ons why
<PB N="159" REF="114">holy writ condemns concupi&s;cence in &s;uch weighty termes, but be|cau&s;e it often drags men to death without their even perceiving it.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>For &s;ometimes one thinks, that which is plea&s;ing good for health, whereas it is rather hurtfull.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The Apo&s;tle teaches us to ob|&s;tain from carnal de&s;ires which fight again&s;t the &s;oul: becau&s;e in tho&s;e two parts which we are compo&s;ed of, to wit the flesh and the &s;pirit, there are different and oppo&s;ite wills which make war and shock one another: but we mu&s;t repre&s;s the di&s;orderly concupi&s;cence of the flesh by the wi&s;e &s;everity of the &s;pirit. There are &s;ome who let them&s;elves be car|ry'd away by the rigour of the &s;pi|rit, and others who give them&s;el|ves over to the &s;oftne&s;s of the flesh by the exce&s;&s;ive care they take of it. But both have need of correc|tion,
<PB N="160" REF="115">for the fir&s;t de&s;iring to mor|tifie their vices, and to live in a mo&s;t &s;piritual manner, &s;ometimes kill their flesh, not knowing that even vertue is changed into vice when it is not regulated by di&s;cretion. The others on the contrary delight to live in a carnal manner conformable to the &s;en&s;es, but under pretence of pre&s;erving their bodies, they at the &s;ame time nourish their pa&s;&s;ions, and &s;trengthen their &s;en&s;uality. There mu&s;t then be bounds pre&s;cribed to the&s;e two &s;ort of per&s;ons who are &s;o very different: the rigide mu&s;t be forced to do what is nece&s;&s;ary for their health, and the remi&s;s be hinder'd from having all that their &s;en&s;uality craves; and to each may be &s;aid that health of body mu&s;t be taken care of for the &s;ervice of God, but that there's an obligation of cut|ting off evil de&s;ires which ri&s;e up again&s;t the fidelity we owe to his Divine Maje&s;ty.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="161" REF="115">
<HEAD>&sect; 4. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Notwith&s;tanding if any one has any &s;ecret pain or di&s;ea&s;e in her body, and declares it; she being the &s;ervant of God, shall be be|lieved without mi&s;tru&s;t.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is very rea&s;onable to believe without mi&s;tru&s;t, tho&s;e who&s;e good manners and holy life bear witne&s;s that they are &s;ervants of God; for it is not &s;o much from the mouth of tho&s;e who &s;peak, as from their manner of life, that we get the knowledge of the truth, as our &s;a|viour him&s;elf a&s;&s;ures us, &s;aying: <HI>by their fruits you shall know them.</HI> Matt. 7.20. Tho&s;e who &s;erve God with fidelity, do not deceive men; there is neither duplicity nor di&s;&s;i|mulation in their words; they are not of the number of tho&s;e who&s;e heart thinks one thing when their tongue a&s;&s;ures the contrary: but they
<PB N="162" REF="116">are the &s;ame at the bottom of their con&s;cience as they &s;eem to be on the brim of their lips: and whereas a wicked life in others makes one &s;u&s;pect the very truth they affirm; &s;o &s;anctity of actions in the&s;e, gi|ves an authority to what they &s;ay, which every one yields to. There|fore we ought to make no difficulty to believe tho&s;e who&s;e conduct we have no rea&s;on to mi&s;tru&s;t.</P>
<P>The following explication might al&s;o be given to this part of the rule. They who realy &s;erve God, fear to offend him not only by ac|tions, but al&s;o by words, and the good opinion we ought to have of their vertue makes us believe, that as we &s;ee them far from all actions which are not good, &s;o they al&s;o forbear all words which are not true. This may &s;erve us for an in&s;truction to &s;quare our lives in &s;uch a man|ner, that our words may be believed without mi&s;tru&s;t. For it is the good
<PB N="163" REF="116">life which gives weight to the words, and good deeds give te&s;timony to the truth: as our Lord made appear in his own per&s;on when he &s;aid to the Jews: <HI>If you will not believe me give credit to my works.</HI> Jo. 10.38. And again, <HI>the works which I do in the name of my father, they bear te&s;ti|mony concerning me.</HI> Ibid. ver&s;. 25.</P>
<P>There are many people who are not believed even when they &s;peak truth; becau&s;e they are not regular in their manners, or give one cau&s;e to fear they are not: but as &s;oon as our life begins to be &s;o good, that it cannot be accu&s;ed of guile, what we &s;ay is received by all as certainly true. The le&s;s a man has of vertue, the le&s;s he is believed; but on the contrary, the more irre|proachable he becomes, the more credit is given to his words; but becau&s;e the infirmity a &s;ick per&s;on is reduced to, moves her &s;ometi|mes to de&s;ire things which are con|trary
<PB N="164" REF="117">to her cure, the rule adds.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 5. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And if it be uncertain whe|ther that which the &s;ick per|&s;on de&s;ires be good for her health, let the Phi&s;ician be con&s;ulted.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We mu&s;t believe the &s;ick who&s;e vertue we are acquainted with; but we mu&s;t not for that pre&s;ently grant them all they de&s;ire: becau&s;e the ju&s;t them&s;elves are &s;omtimes temp|ted with evil de&s;ires. Therefore if it is not certain that what &s;eems plea&s;ing to them, will be &s;o good for them as they hope, is is fitting the Phi&s;ician be con&s;ulted; that is, &s;ome per&s;on who can decide the matter. And let none be &s;candali|&s;ep here, with hearing us &s;peak of con&s;ulting Phy&s;icians, &s;ince S. Paul him&s;elf coun&s;ell'd medicins, giving this pre&s;cription to his Di&s;ciple Ti|mothy, in the fir&s;t Epi&s;tle he ad|dre&s;s'd to him <HI>Drink not yet water:
<PB N="165" REF="117">but u&s;e a little wine for thy &s;tomak's &s;ake and thy frequent infirmities.</HI> 1. Tim. 5.23. This &s;o wi&s;e and di&s;|creet a Ma&s;ter, moderates the ri|gour of his Di&s;ciples ab&s;tinence, for fear that &s;inking under his frequent infirmities, he should want nece&s;&s;ary &s;trength to keep up the Mini&s;try of preaching, from which the faithfull had &s;uch va&s;te advantage. It was doubtle&s;s good for the di&s;ciple in particular, to &s;uffer the pains he was &s;ubject to, and &s;o enrich him|&s;elf with the fruits of patience: but the Apo&s;tle fore&s;aw that he would be more profitable to the church, if being a little fortified by the u&s;e of a proper remedy he &s;et him&s;elf to gain &s;ouls to God. By this we learn that when many good things are offer'd, we mu&s;t always choo&s;e tho&s;e which are mo&s;t profitable: and it is upon this authority we ground our &s;elves, when we &s;ay that we mu&s;t have recour&s;e to cor|poral
<PB N="166" REF="118">medicinal remedies that we may afterwards bring forth greater fruits for our Lord.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 6. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But if it be judged nece&s;&s;ary that &s;uch per&s;ons should go to the baths or el&s;ewhere, they shall not go le&s;s than three together, nor yet go with whom they them&s;elves would, but with whom the &s;upe|riour appoints.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Saint Paul &s;aid, <HI>we take care to do good things not only in the &s;ight of God, but al&s;o in the &s;ight of men.</HI> 2. Cor. 8.21. A good con&s;cience is &s;uf|ficient for our &s;elves, but for others we ought al&s;o to have a reputation exempt from reproach, which on all &s;ides diffu&s;es the &s;weet odour of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. He, who content with the &s;ecret te&s;timony of his own con|&s;cience, neglects his reputation, is cruel and unju&s;t to his neighbour,
<PB N="167" REF="118">whom he deprives of his due, e&s;pe|cially if it is a per&s;on of high dignity, as was this di&s;ciple to whom S. Paul wrote: <HI>make your &s;elf a living model of good woorks.</HI> Or as &s;aint Paul who &s;aid of him&s;elf: <HI>we are made a &s;pectacle to the world, to An|gels, and to men.</HI> 1. Cor. 4.9. Tho&s;e who love us &s;eek vertues in us to &s;atisfie their de&s;ire of prai&s;ing us, and that we may be the &s;ubject of the honour they would render us; and on the contrary tho&s;e, who do not love us, take hold of all that's ami&s;s in our behaviour to &s;peak di&s;advantagiou&s;ly of us. But we who are between the&s;e two &s;ort of poe|ple, ought with the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, &s;o to con|&s;erve our con&s;cience, and keep up our reputation, that our friends may never blush for the honour they do us; and that our very enemies may be forced to own that there's no|thing blameable in us; but that our
<PB N="168" REF="119">life is worthy of prai&s;e. We mu&s;t then go two or three together when we go abroad, not only to have the comfort of being thus accompany'd, but al&s;o to give credit to our repu|tation by the certain te&s;timonials of the innocence of our life. To this the wi&s;e man exhorts us when he &s;ays: <HI>woe be to him that is alone, be|cau&s;e when he falleth he hath none to lift him up; and if two &s;leep together, they shall warm each other: but one alone, how shall he be warm'd?</HI> Eccl. 4.10. As for that which is added in the rule: they shall not go with whom they them&s;elves would, but with whom the &s;uperiour appoints, there is two advantages in this or|der, the fir&s;t is, that the &s;uperiour by this means may have an eye to the &s;ecurity of the per&s;ons she mu&s;t an&s;wer for, and that the inferiours may thereby practice obedience.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="169" REF="119">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XV. <HI>Of the infirmarian and other Officers.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>The care of the &s;ick who either are upon recovery, or lye under any infirmity, or are attack'd with a feavour, an Ague, or the like, shall be committed to &s;ome one per&s;on, who shall ask of the cellari&s;te what she &s;ees nece&s;&s;ary for the &s;ick.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THer mu&s;t be one of the reli|gious cho&s;en, who fearing God, may take great care of the &s;ick, &s;tudying to give them all that is nece&s;&s;ary, and &s;erving them with as great affection and Zeal as if they render'd tho&s;e &s;ervices to our &s;aviour him&s;elf in per&s;on. For it will be him&s;elf who will &s;ay when he judges us; <HI>I was &s;ick and you vi&s;ited me:</HI> and again, <HI>Amen I &s;ay to you, in
<PB N="170" REF="120">as much as you did it to one of the&s;e lea&s;t of my brethren, you have done it to me.</HI> Matt. 25.36.40. The &s;tronge&s;t per&s;ons ought to bear the weakne&s;s of the infirm, and not de&s;pi&s;e the &s;ick for the di&s;gu&s;t that is found in &s;erving them: for thus is put in practice the mo&s;t divine vertue of charity, to which the A|po&s;tle exhorts us &s;aying: <HI>bear one anothers burthens, and &s;o shall you fulfill the law of Chri&s;t.</HI> Gal. 6.2. That law of Chri&s;t is love, the of|fice of love is to make us bear one anothers burthens, and the different infirmities which happen &s;ometimes to one &s;ometimes to another, offer us the occa&s;ions of thus reciprocally &s;upporting each other: which is the greate&s;t mark of fidelity and friend|ship that can be received and given. But on the other &s;ide let tho&s;e to whom all the&s;e a&s;&s;i&s;tances are ren|der'd for the love of God, reflect that it is for charity's &s;ake they are
<PB N="171" REF="120">&s;erved with &s;o much care, and avoid as much as po&s;&s;ible the af|flicting and overcharging tho&s;e who &s;erve them, by their impatiences, and the many &s;uperfluous &s;ervices they will have render'd them. Let them on the contrary humble them|&s;elves, and return thanks to Al|mighty God for the charity they receive: for fear the &s;ickne&s;s which was &s;ent to purifie their &s;ouls, &s;erve only to make them fall into more con&s;iderable faults.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And &s;uch as are officers of the Cellary, of the Wardrobe, or of the Library, mu&s;t &s;erve their &s;i&s;ters mildly without murmuring.</HI></HEAD>
<P>That is to &s;ay, let tho&s;e to whom the charge of the&s;e things are com|mitted, carry them&s;elves in &s;uch a manner, and &s;erve the religious with &s;o much charity, that they may not offend God by performing
<PB N="172" REF="121">their offices with murmuration, or by moving others to impatience by their carele&s;sne&s;s. That &s;ort of grumbling impatient complaint which is call'd murmuration, is a great &s;in. For according to S. Gregory, the&s;e two things are im|po&s;&s;ible, that murmurers should enter the kingdome of heaven, or that tho&s;e should murmure who are in that &s;eat of bli&s;s. The wi&s;e man has before hand given us an em|bleme but little advantagious for all tho&s;e, who in regular &s;ocieties not having yet mortified their car|nal de&s;ires, are continually com|plaining, and find in all things matter for complaint. <HI>The heart of a fool,</HI> &s;ays he, <HI>is like ye wheel of a cart,</HI> loaded with hay, which creaks as it goes with a kind of murmuration. To &s;uch imperfect per&s;ons the Apo&s;tle S. Paul &s;ays: <HI>neither murmur ye as &s;ome of them murmured, and perish'd by the de|&s;troyer.</HI> 1. Cor. 10.10. And 'tis
<PB N="173" REF="121">al&s;o for their in&s;truction &s;ignified in the books of Moy&s;es that God &s;ent fiery &s;erpents again&s;t the people who had murmur'd at that holy Patriarch. And why, do you think he made u&s;e of &s;erpents to pu|nish tho&s;e guilty people, if not becau&s;e the &s;erpent is a creature full of venome, and they that mur|mur have the devils venome upon their tongues? We may well &s;ay &s;o, &s;ince the Apo&s;tle S. James has &s;aid it before us: <HI>The tongue no man can tame; an unquiet evil full of deadly poi&s;on.</HI> Jam: 3.8. Let us then beware of tho&s;e &s;mart and impatient complaints which we know the danger of, for fear the devil's poy&s;on should cau&s;e our death and we perish for ever by &s;uch dangerous wounds.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="174" REF="122">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>The books shall be ask'd at a certain hour of the day, and who&s;oever demands them out of the time appointed, shall not have them.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Saint Augu&s;tin has already re|commended prayer to us at the hours and times appointed. He has al&s;o adverti&s;ed us of the com|mon work by the&s;e words; let no one work for her &s;elf, but all your work shall be done in common. Here he teaches us to di&s;tinguish the times for prayer reading and work. For the&s;e are three pious exerci&s;es which the rule appoints us as very nece&s;&s;ary for the &s;alva|tion of our &s;ouls: prayer becau&s;e it purifies us, reading becau&s;e it in&s;tructs us: and work, becau&s;e it is al&s;o a particular &s;ource of hap|pyne&s;s, as the holy Gho&s;t tells us in the P&s;alms, in the&s;e termes. <HI>You are happy becau&s;e you shall eat
<PB N="175" REF="122">the labours of your hands, and it shall be well with you,</HI> to live in this manner. P&s;al. 127.2.</P>
<P>Now this holy Doctor by or|dering us to ask the books daily, shews that he intends we should read often: and indeed the &s;ervants of God ought to apply them&s;elves to frequent lectures, becau&s;e they get three con&s;iderable advantages by it. The firct is they learn what things they ought to avoid: the &s;econd, they are in&s;tructed in tho&s;e they ought to practice: and the third, they di&s;cover the mark they are to aime at for the attaining their &s;alvation. The roial Prophet was well acquainted with the va|lue of this holy occupation when he &s;aid to Almighty God, <HI>thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my pathes.</HI> P&s;al. 118.105. For reading encrea&s;es the light of the mind, and clears the di&s;cer|ning faculty, reading prepares us for prayer, and teaches us what
<PB N="176" REF="123">we should ask in it: reading en|courages us to work, and makes us bear the fatigues of it: prayer makes us fit for the exerci&s;es of the contemplative life, and for|mes us for tho&s;e of the active life. In fine one may always apply to a per&s;on who per&s;everes in the reading of good books, what the church &s;ings in the fir&s;t of the P&s;alms: <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is the man that will meditate in the law of the Lord day and night.</HI> Plal. 1.26.</P>
<P>Prayer, reading, and work, are invincible arms which the devil cannot re&s;i&s;t; they are &s;ecure means to procure an eternal happyne&s;s; they are in&s;truments of an admi|rable proportion to perform the great work of eternal &s;alvation; they are bright weapons which &s;erve to curb all fort of vices. What shall I &s;ay more? Prayer, reading, and work, are cele&s;tial and divine aliments which nourish the vertues, and make them grow
<PB N="177" REF="123">in our &s;ouls. If you addict your &s;elf to frequent lectures you will thereby at once learn what you ought to do your &s;elf in order to live holily, and what you are to teach others, to move them to vertue. But remark neverthele&s;s that to give this exerci&s;e its due utility, we mu&s;t not go from reading to idlene&s;s, but to manual work; be|cau&s;e idlene&s;s is the enemy of the &s;oul, and the ancient enemy of mankind ea&s;ily throws a per&s;on into vice whom he finds neither pray|ing nor reading. But when in the intervalle of both we employ our &s;elves in manual works, how great is the profit of that holy practi&s;e? By mortifying the flesh we def|troy that which &s;erves for food to &s;in; we find wherewith to &s;a|tisfie our own wants, and have &s;till enough left to &s;olace our neigh|bour in his nece&s;&s;ities.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="178" REF="124">
<HEAD>&sect; 4. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But as for your habit or shoes, when any one has need thereof, they who have them in keeping shall not delay to give them to tho&s;e who ask for them.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It has been already &s;aid that tho&s;e who have offices mu&s;t &s;erve their &s;i&s;ters mildly without mur|muring: for fear that deferring to give them what is nece&s;&s;ary they make them lo&s;e patience and peace, be the occa&s;ion of their &s;in|ning by murmurations. Let them force them&s;elves to &s;erve compa|nions for the love of God: let them give them what they want in due time, let them even do it as we &s;ay, without repining, with|out shewing the lea&s;t ill humour, without puting them off from time to time; but in an obliging manner, and chearfully, becau&s;e it is written: <HI>God loveth a chearful giver.</HI> 2 C. 9 7.
<PB N="179" REF="124">Let them for that effect have a pro|vi&s;ion of all the things that are to be given according to the means of the hou&s;e, the &s;pirit of the or|der, and the plenty or &s;carcity of the place they live in; to the end that tho&s;e who &s;erve the re&s;t ha|ving regard to all things, may re|ceive a greater reward from Al|mighty God. The habit and shoes of religious people should be con|formable to a moderate decency, neither of too high a price, nor too fine and nice; neither by con|trary exce&s;s should they be too vile, nor too clum&s;ie; let them not be shap'd in forme and figure too af|fectedly; nor yet too carele&s;&s;ly ma|de; the mo&s;t exact rule that can be ob&s;erved in all that concerns the habit being, that it have an air of &s;implicity and decency, of religion and comelyne&s;s.</P>
<P>Let tho&s;e then, to whom nece&s;|&s;ary things are to be given, take
<PB N="180" REF="125">heed of asking with too much ear|ne&s;tne&s;s and importunety, tho&s;e which would not be &s;uitable to thier &s;tate; becau&s;e all they should thus have of &s;uperflous, would be|come a &s;ubject of death to them. Let them &s;eriou&s;ly reflect that the things they u&s;e and wear out, are offrings which the faithfull have pre|&s;ented to Almighty God to redeem their &s;ins: therefore they mu&s;t not u&s;e them in a di&s;po&s;ution of vain glory or pride; but rather with fear, taking to them&s;elves that which is &s;aid to the Prie&s;ts in the ancient Te&s;tament: <HI>The ho&s;t is given you, to the end you bear the &s;ins of the people.</HI> Levit. 11.17. Let them know that they are obliged to be &s;olicit|ous with great humility and zeal for the &s;alvation of the per&s;ons who&s;e offerings furnish them with the conveniences of live, and that they cannot omit this duty, without expo&s;ing them&s;elves to great danger.</P>
<PB N="181" REF="125">
<P>Now it is more &s;ecure for the &s;alvation of the poor of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, to want &s;omething always, than to have too great plenty: for how can we pretend to Evangelical poverty if we do not patiently &s;uffer &s;ome want for the love of God? On the other &s;ide how shall we expiate our &s;ins if we don't take care to cut off the u&s;e of allowable things propor|tionable to the forbidden actions we have committed? We mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity enter the narrow gate, if we would attain to that &s;pacious extent of the heavenly joies: and we ought always to have in mind that the more au&s;tere our life shall be here, the more the glory we shall po&s;&s;e&s;s in heaven, will be accom|pany'd with ineffable &s;weetne&s;s.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="182" REF="126">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XVI. <HI>Of avoiding contention.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Let there be no contention among you, or at lea&s;t let it &s;oon be ended, le&s;t a little anger might grow into hatred, and &s;o make of a mote, a beam, and render the &s;oul guilty of murder: for we read in the holy &s;cripture that he who hates his brother is murderer. <HI>Qui odit fratrem &s;uum homicida e&s;t; 1. Joan. 3.17.</HI> Which words ap|pertain not only to men, but under the name of <HI>man,</HI> who was fir&s;t created, the &s;ame precept is al&s;o intended for women.</HEAD>
<P>THus the vices make great pro|gre&s;s by little, and little for when we will not re&s;train the liberty of our tongue as to unprofitable words, we afterwards &s;peak others, which are realy evil. For &s;ometimes we
<PB N="183" REF="126">fall into murmurings, &s;ometimes we pa&s;s to detractions, &s;ometimes we excite conte&s;tations and quarrels, which beginning by anger, lead us at la&s;t to formal hatreds. This is what the wi&s;e man has remark'd, <HI>he that contemneth &s;mall things shall fall by little into greater.</HI> Eccl. 19.2. So that one &s;in &s;pringing from another by an unhappy fecundity, the ini|quity is &s;tretch'd out and lengthen'd &s;o far, as to bind us on all &s;ides; and drag us to our ruin. <HI>Woe be to you that draw iniquity in cords of vanity.</HI> I&s;ai. 5.18. &s;aid the Pro|phei I&s;ai: and the royal Prophet, <HI>They have prolong'd their iniquity, our ju&s;t Lord will cut the necks of &s;inners.</HI> P&s;al. 128.3.</P>
<P>Our fir&s;t care ought to be, not to commit any &s;in what&s;oever; becau&s;e it is more advantagious to take heed, and not to fall into it, than to cor|rect it when committed. But if thr&ocirc; frailty we happen to fall into &s;ome
<PB N="184" REF="127">fault, we ought to do our be&s;t to ri&s;e again, and to get out of it by a real amendment, and the &s;ooner we go about it, the ea&s;yer it will be to us. This is what our Lord would teach us, when he &s;aid to the &s;er|pent &s;peaking of the woman, he had deceived, <HI>She shall brui&s;e thy head in pieces.</HI> Gene&s;. 3.15. For, to correct &s;in as &s;oon as it is com|mitted, is to crush the head of the &s;erpent. And thence we learn that as &s;oon as we perceive our fault, the mo&s;t &s;ecure and be&s;t way for us, is to ri&s;e again upon the &s;pot, with|out deferring our conver&s;ion by delays, which will only &s;erve to make it more hard and difficult.</P>
<P>There is as much difference be|tween anger and hatred, as there is between a mote and a beam. Ha|tred is properly an old anger: for anger is changed into hatred when the ill will, the re&s;entment, and the contempt which at fir&s;t was but
<PB N="185" REF="127">pa&s;&s;ing, and as one may &s;ay, only took up the &s;urface of the heart; &s;tays &s;till, even ofter the emotion is pa&s;t; and remains long enough to take deep roots, and to a degree of malice, that neither rea&s;on nor time can correct. You may &s;ome|times find excu&s;es for anger, as when you are only angry to cor|rect tho&s;e who are under your charge; but you can never be with|out &s;in when you hate any one, becau&s;e hatred does not tend to better the per&s;on, but de&s;troy him. Anger has this evil that it troubles the eye of the &s;oul, this is ea&s;ily known, for that a man po&s;&s;e&s;t by this pa&s;&s;ion, does not find out till after he is freed from it, how un|ju&s;t his thoughts were, whatever rea&s;on he thought he had. But hat|ted goes &s;till further, and is much more fatal, for it entirely extin|guishes the light of our &s;oul, as the beloved di&s;ciple teaches us, who
<PB N="186" REF="128">&s;ays: <HI>He that &s;aith he is in the light, and heateth his brother, is in dark|ne&s;s even until now.</HI> 1. Jo. 1.9. To avoid all the&s;e misfortunes, let us &s;trive to re&s;i&s;t even the fir&s;t motions of anger, however ju&s;t they &s;eem to be; and as &s;oon as we feel our &s;elves moved, let us pre&s;ently en|deavour to regain our fir&s;t calmne&s;s; becau&s;e the&s;e emotions and impa|tiences, if not appea&s;ed, quickly change into aver&s;ion and hatred again&s;t the per&s;on, we would not forgive &s;oon enough.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="187" REF="128">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XVII. <HI>Of Reconcilation.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Who&s;oever should offend ano|ther by injurious language, by evil wishes, or by reproaching her of any former fault, she shall be careful to make amends by due &s;atisfac|tion as &s;oon as po&s;&s;ible; and the party injured mu&s;t pardon the of|fence without ma|king words.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THey do very ill who offend others by injurious language, &s;ince the Apo&s;tle &s;ays: <HI>Railers shall not po&s;&s;e&s;s the kingdome of heaven;</HI> 1. Cor. 6.10. And before him our &s;aviour had already pronounced this &s;entence: <HI>Who&s;oever shall &s;ay thou fool, shall be guilty of hell fire.</HI> Mat. 5.22. As then per&s;ons who
<PB N="188" REF="129">have offended in this manner, have committed a great fault, they ought to perform a great penance, ask pardon with all their hearts, much regreat, and a profound humility, of tho&s;e they have offended, and the in|jured per&s;ons ought to pardon the offence without reproaches, or di&s;|putes. A chri&s;tian who is a great while before he will be reconciled to his brother, is al&s;o a long time before he appea&s;es Almighty God in his own regard; and he in vain &s;eeks to return to the grace and favour of his creator, after having offended him, if he neglects &s;pee|dily to appea&s;e his neighbour, whom he has injured.</P>
<P>There are &s;ome who confiding in their own merits, and thinking they have no great faults upon their con&s;cience, on that account are very clo&s;e and re&s;erved towards tho&s;e who offend them, and are more hard and &s;low in pardoning injuries:
<PB N="189" REF="129">but to &s;uch per&s;ons it &s;ignifies no|thing their not having other great faults, if they are not di&s;po&s;ed to forgive the injuries that are done them, &s;ince the delay of reconci|liation is of it &s;elf a great &s;in. That &s;ervant of the Go&s;pel who owed his Ma&s;ter ten thou&s;and talents having expre&s;s'd a grief which moved his Lord to compa&s;&s;ion, pre&s;ently ob|tain'd the entire remi&s;&s;ion of all that great &s;um; but becau&s;e he would not al&s;o forgive his fellow &s;ervant the hundred pence he owed him, he was put into the hands of the executioners to be tormented till he had paid the ten thou&s;and ta|lents which had been forgiven him. A terrible example which mu&s;t teach us that if we do not heartily forgive the faults that are commit|ted again&s;t us, Almighty God will require a new account of the pa&s;t, and make us &s;uffer the pain of the &s;ins for which we had done penance
<PB N="190" REF="130">and rejoyced for having obtained the pardon of them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But in ca&s;e both have offen|ded each other, they both mu&s;t mu|tually pardon one another: the rea&s;on of this is, that you may be duely di&s;po&s;ed for prayer, which the oftener you frequent, the more holy it should be.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We daily &s;ay to Almighty God: <HI>Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.</HI> Mat. 6.12. If then we do not forgive the inju&s;tices that are done us, this conditional prayer convicts us as criminal, and turns to our own damage: it irritates the divine anger again&s;t us: it draws down his malediction upon our heads in place of his benediction: and thence it happens that the prayer which should be to us a &s;ource of &s;alvation, becomes the cau&s;e of our perdition; becau&s;e in&s;tead of dimi|nishing
<PB N="191" REF="130">the number of our &s;ins, it rather encrea&s;es their weight, and makes us unworthy of pardon.</P>
<P>As for light faults which have no ill con&s;equences, and which we daily committ; tho&s;e faults, I &s;ay, which attend our pre&s;ent life, the prayer which the faithfull daily make, is al&s;o a &s;atisfaction which expiates them. They have right to make this prayer, and to &s;ay: <HI>Our Father who art in heaven,</HI> Mat. 6.9. Since they are truly the children of this heavenly Father, by the &s;econd birth they have received from the water and from the holy Gho&s;t. Now this prayer entirely blots out tho&s;e daily &s;ins which are call'd the &s;mall|e&s;t: it al&s;o even effaces the remain|ders of great &s;ins in tho&s;e who hav|ing for &s;ome time lead a criminal life, have for&s;aken it by a real pe|nance; and therefore the u&s;e of it is excellent for all tho&s;e who will take care of their &s;alvation. But as
<PB N="192" REF="131">we &s;peak according to the truth when we &s;ay. <HI>Forgive us our debts,</HI> Mat. 6.12. becau&s;e as we have always &s;ins, the pardon of them is nece&s;&s;ary for us; &s;o we mu&s;t with truth &s;ay, <HI>we forgive our debtors,</HI> Ibid. And let our actions agree with our words. Acting in this manner will be as an Alms we give to our neighbour; for there are many &s;orts of Alms which are powerful to remitt &s;ins: but now more con&s;iderable, nor a greater efficacy, than this charity by which we pardon injuries; for in reality it is the mo&s;t excellent Almns we can give, to be&s;tow our heart upon him that asks it, after having grieveou&s;ly offended us.</P>
<P>It is not a very rare vertue to wish well, or even to do good to one who has never done us any harm: but to love our enemy, to wish him well who would willingly do us a mi&s;chief, is the mark of a much greater &s;anctity, and of a ver|tue
<PB N="193" REF="131">much more generous, becau&s;e it makes us the di&s;ciples, and per|fect imitators of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who has &s;aid: <HI>Love your enemies, do good to tho&s;e that hate you: and pray for tho&s;e who per&s;ecute you, and utter ca|lumnies again&s;t you.</HI> Matt. 5.44. So high a vertue belongs to tho&s;e child|ren of God who have attain'd to perfection; and certainly ther's none of the faithfull who are not obli|ged to aime at this happy &s;tate, and to direct their prayers, their good works, and their conflicts, to ac|quire this excellent di&s;po&s;ition of heart. But becau&s;e &s;o con&s;iderable a ble&s;&s;ing is not common to that great number of people who pray in the &s;ame termes, and who ne|verthele&s;s we believe to be favo|rably heard when they &s;ay, <HI>forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors;</HI> Mat. 6.12. We mu&s;t &s;uppo&s;e that the conditional words of this prayer, have their effect, and are fulfill'd
<PB N="194" REF="132">at lea&s;t in &s;ome degree, when a per|&s;on who is not yet perfect enough to love his enemy, yet freely par|dons the injuries he has received, when the offender asks it: for that is all' we ask of Almighty God when we &s;ay. <HI>Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.</HI> Ibid. Since the&s;e words mean no other thing, but forgive usour &s;ins when we be&s;eech you to pardon them, as we forgive tho&s;e who have offended us, when they ask pardon for the in|juries they have done us.</P>
<P>As for tho&s;e who goe to beg pardon of the per&s;ons they have offended and who humble them|&s;elves before them, this mu&s;t be &s;aid in their favour, that &s;ince they are &s;o concern'd, and repentant of the harm they have done, as to re|&s;olve upon humbly asking pardon, they ought not to be con&s;ider'd &s;o much as enemies, &s;ince they are no more &s;o; neither ought we to have
<PB N="195" REF="132">the &s;ame difficulty to love them in that condition, as, when they acted and behaved as enemies. Now who|&s;oever does not forgive with all his heart a repentant offender, who asks pardon for the offence, mu&s;t not in any &s;ort hope that Almighty God will harken to him, and forgive him his offences, for it is impo&s;&s;ible for truth to belye her &s;elf, and she has &s;aid: <HI>if you forgive others their offen|&s;es, your heavenly father will al&s;o for|give you your &s;ins. But if you will not pardon men, neither will your father pardon you your &s;ins.</HI> Matt. 6.15.13.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But a per&s;on who is often tempted to anger, and as &s;peedily asks pardon of the party she ack|nowledges she has injured, is better than one who is not &s;o &s;oon moved to anger and yet is more hardly inclined to ask pardon.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Some are more ea&s;ily moved to anger than others, but they are
<PB N="196" REF="133">al&s;o appea&s;ed with more facility: there are other on the contrary who are not &s;oon moved to an|ger, but then it remains longer with them: there are al&s;o &s;ome (which is much more dangerous) who pre&s;ently take fire, and are not appea&s;ed in a long time; and there are of tho&s;e who are not &s;o &s;oon angry, and yet are very ea&s;ily pacified. Now among all the&s;e, the judicious reader may plainly &s;ee that the la&s;t comes near|er than the fir&s;t to the happy &s;tare of peace and tranquillity, and that the third &s;urpa&s;s the &s;econd in malice. What mi&s;chiefs shower down upon us when we let this furious pa&s;&s;ion domineer! Anger defaces the image of God in us by making us lo&s;e meekne&s;s which is a &s;troke of his re&s;emblance. Anger makes us go out of the ways of Ju&s;tice, as it is written: <HI>a man's anger worketh not the Ju|&s;tice of God.</HI> Jam. 1.20. Anger
<PB N="197" REF="133">deprives us of all the benediction and advantage of living in a com|munity: which made the wi&s;e man &s;ay: <HI>be not friend to an angry man, le&s;t perhaps thon learn his pathes, and take &s;candal to thy &s;oul.</HI> Prov. 22.24. In fine anger makes us unworthy of the &s;ociety of men: for he that knows not how to moderate his pa&s;&s;ions by the rea|&s;on Almighty God has given to all men, ought to be deprived of their company, and live alone like the bea&s;ts.</P>
<P>A cholerick man does not al|ways go &s;o far as to lift up his arm to &s;trike, but he u&s;es his ton|gue to dart maledictions and inju|ries like &s;o many arrows again&s;t the per&s;on who has offended him: &s;ometimes, th&ocirc; the mind fired with fury retains the tongue and hin|ders it from breaking out, yet he departs entirely from the love of his neighbour, and renounces charity. For he nourishes bitter
<PB N="198" REF="134">thoughts which like as many enve|nomed needles thru&s;t into the wound, hinder it from healing: then there &s;tarts up fresh &s;ubjects of di&s;content which &s;till more en|crea&s;es the bad di&s;po&s;ition: and thus, that which was at fir&s;t but a mote, &s;wells to the bigne&s;s of a beam, and the anger by all the&s;e unhappy degrees becomes at la&s;t a formall hatred.</P>
<P>We are too proud to con&s;erve meekne&s;s and peace; we cannot bear to be &s;lighted by our neig|bour; an injury is an in&s;upport|able torment to us; and if we hap|pen to have any difference with our companions we blush to make the fir&s;t &s;atisfaction. Our carnal heart loves pre&s;ent glory; it shuns humiliation as much as po&s;&s;ible, as an evil it cannot bear; and this pride goes &s;o far, that often the per&s;on who is to blame in the quar|rel, would be glad to be reconci|led with the party offended, but
<PB N="199" REF="134">cannot re&s;olve to take the fir&s;t &s;teps. To get out of &s;o hurtfull a di&s;po&s;ition, let us think of what Je&s;us Chri&s;t our head and our King has done; let the con&s;idera|tion of his charity di&s;cover to us the greatne&s;s of our malice, and his example confound and edifie us. Our &s;ins have rai&s;ed a terrible war between him and us, all the wrong is on our &s;ide, all the Ju|&s;tice on his; neverthele&s;s it is he who &s;ues fir&s;t for peace; it is he who fir&s;t &s;ends his Emba&s;&s;adours to make us the mo&s;t advantagious propo&s;itions; it is he who by the mouth of his Apo&s;tles and Prea|chers, entreats us to be reconci|led to him. Let us then blush at our pride, after &s;uch an example, and think we de&s;erve the utmo&s;t confu&s;ion if we &s;till think much to &s;atisfie our neighbour when we know we have offended him.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<PB N="200" REF="135">
<HEAD>&sect; 4. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>She that will not forgive her &s;i&s;ter mu&s;t not hope to obtain what she asks of God in her prayers. If there be any one who will never ask pardon, or at lea&s;t does not ask it from her heart, th&ocirc; she should not be put out of the Mo|na&s;tery, yet her Mo|na&s;tical life would avail her nothing.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Je&s;us Chri&s;t who is our peace, takes &s;o much care to reunite and reconcile us to our neighbour, that he permits us to leave before his Altar the pre&s;ent we were ready to offer: and is willing to have the &s;acred mini&s;try of his worship in|terrupted, and the ceremony left imperfect, till he who would hon|our him by his offerings has been to di&s;per&s;e the &s;ubjects of mi&s;un|der&s;tanding, and break the en|mity
<PB N="201" REF="135">which was in the heart of his brother. In the mean time we are neither touch'd with gratitude nor re&s;pect for &s;o great a good|ne&s;s. We long maintain our ani|mo&s;ities; we &s;pin out our quarrels to a great length; we do not pa|cifie our neigbours when we have offended them; nor do we reflect, that if Almighty God punishes cholerick per&s;ons, and tho&s;e who cherish the remembrance of inju|ries, he will not leave unpunish'd tho&s;e who offend them, and who having been cau&s;e of their fall will not go a &s;tep to help them up again, that is, to pacifie them by a ju&s;t &s;atisfaction. It is not to be wonder'd at, if tho&s;e who have &s;uffer'd injuries, or imagin they have, have difficulty to make the fir&s;t advances; the pain they feel pre&s;&s;es their heart, and takes from them part of the liberty of body and mind: but tho&s;e who have done the injury having not that
<PB N="202" REF="136">to &s;uffer, and being in no pain which captivates their liberty, have ne pretence to excu&s;e them. There|fore Almighty God addre&s;&s;es to him who has done the injury, as to the per&s;on who being exempt from trouble and anger, is by con&s;equence at liberty and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;es him&s;elf. And his divine Maje&s;ty orders him to go to the injured per&s;on, who is not entirely free, becau&s;e of the grief that pre&s;&s;es him, and anger that has &s;eized him: shewing by this &s;o wi&s;e and ju&s;t a proceeding, that he who is the cau&s;e of the &s;in is the mo&s;t guilty of the two; and that he is to bear the pain of it, if that can be con&s;ider'd as a pain, which is recompen&s;ed by &s;o great a good as charity and peace.</P>
<P>But in&s;en&s;ible as we are! all the&s;e con&s;iderations are not &s;ufficient to correct us: we &s;till continue to give cau&s;es of grief and anger to our neighbour, and that for matters of
<PB N="203" REF="136">no importance to us: and as if we did no harm in it, we neglect to make them &s;atisfaction; we forget our fault as &s;oon as we have com|mitted it; leave our neighbour in bitterne&s;s; and if we do &s;ometimes think of making amends, we are &s;o long about it, without con&s;idering that the longer the di&s;cord la&s;ts, which we thus neglect to remove, the more &s;everely we shall be punish'd for it. As long as friendship la&s;ts between two or many per&s;ons, they do not ea&s;ily open their hearts to mi&s;tru&s;t, nor &s;oon believe things that might produce coldne&s;s, and break a right under&s;tanding: but when once enmity has &s;eiz'd the minds and hearts, all things are ta|ken ill: they mi&s;con&s;tre all they &s;ee and hear, give an ill turn to the mo&s;t innocent words and actions, and that in &s;o &s;mart a manner, that it only &s;erves to widen the breach and make it harder to be repair'd,
<PB N="204" REF="137">becau&s;e they only take what is ill in its improper &s;en&s;e. Now it is the will and orders of our &s;aviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that he who comes to his Altars, should leave there his pre|&s;ent, and before he offers it, go to be reconciled with his brother whom he has left in bitterne&s;s; to teach us that, if at the very time that the worship of God, and the mini&s;try of his &s;acrifice requires his pre&s;ence, he will not have us con|ceal from our &s;elves the obligation of our reconciliation, nor deferr the the performance of it; we are much more obliged to this duty at other times.</P>
<P>But if it happens that we our &s;elves are angry, another command obliges us to put an end to the mo|tion of that pa&s;&s;ion, and to renounce all thoughts of enmity the &s;ame day, &s;ince it was to every body S. Paul &s;aid, &s;peaking to the Ephe&s;ians: <HI>let not the &s;un go down upon your anger.</HI>
<PB N="205" REF="137">Ephe&s;. 4.26. Neverthele&s;s, not con|tent to violate this precept by keep|ing our re&s;entments many days, we al&s;o &s;et &s;nares for one another, we make u&s;e of words and deeds to &s;upplant our neighbour, we, as one may &s;ay, tear and eat one another by a reciprocal fury: what more can mad men, and people po&s;&s;e&s;t by the devil do, than thus with their teeth to rent and tear in pieces their own members? They that are thus di&s;po&s;ed in regard of their neighbour will get no advantage by a Mona&s;tical life, and it is in vain for their &s;alvation, that they are min|gled in &s;ociety with many others, &s;ince in that &s;tate they can neither appea&s;e the wrath of God by Sacri|fices, nor advance in perfection by good works.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 5. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Beware therefore of hard words.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>A mild an&s;wer breaks anger, and a
<PB N="206" REF="138">hard word excites fury.</HI> Prov. 15.1. <HI>A gentle word multiplys friends, and appea&s;es enemies.</HI> Eccle. 6.5. The&s;e are maxims of wi&s;dome; and S. Paul had no others when he wrote to the Galatians; <HI>You that are &s;pirituel, in|&s;truct the per&s;ons in a &s;pirit of mild|ne&s;s.</HI> Gal. 6.1. This is what ought to be a rule to per&s;ons who would acquire the perfection of &s;anctity, to move them to avoid all hard and offen&s;ive words in their di&s;cour&s;es.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 6. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>However if they should chance to e&s;cape your mouth, let the tongue that has cau&s;ed the wound, pro|cure the cure.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We ought very carefully to avoid giving trouble or di&s;plea&s;ure to any, by offen&s;ive words: but if we happen to &s;in that way, by &s;urpri&s;e or by frailty, we mu&s;t pre&s;ently make &s;atisfaction to tho&s;e we have offen|ded; and by gentle and obliging
<PB N="207" REF="138">words, make amends for the harsh ones we have utter'd, to the end that the di&s;turbance and wound we have cau&s;ed, may be cured by the remedy of an humble acknowledg|ment. But as we have already &s;aid, it is better to avoid the fault than to correct it when committed. There|fore the &s;ervants of God ought to &s;et a vigilant guard upon their mouths, that they may not fall into the &s;ins of the tongue: and if they are obliged to this at all times, they mu&s;t be &s;till more exact in it when &s;inners ri&s;e up again&s;t them; that is when they are attack'd by injuries, or defamed by calumnies. For there will be always people either proud or envious, who will exerci&s;e and torment God's &s;ervants by their per|&s;ecutions, and it is then they ought to practice the coun&s;el of the wi&s;e man: <HI>If thou have under&s;tanding, an|&s;wer thy neighbour, but if not, let thy hand be upon thy mouth, le&s;t thou be
<PB N="208" REF="139">taken in an unskilfull word, and be confounded.</HI> Eccle. 5.14.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 7. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But if you &s;uperiours, who are obliged to keep up religious di&s;|ciplin, should in your corrections u&s;e hard words; th&ocirc; you should perceive that you had exceeded due bounds therein, it is not re|quired that you ask pardon of your &s;ubjectts; le&s;t by having too great a regard to humility, you should weaken your authority in governing them who ought to he &s;ubjected to you.</HI></HEAD>
<P>This is what often happens to the greate&s;t Doctors, and to tho&s;e who have care of &s;ouls, for in the cor|rections they are obliged to make by the duty of their charge, the zeal, which excites them, carrys them beyond that moderation they ought to ob&s;erve, and they let &s;lip &s;ome word too harsh; becau&s;e the fire of charity does not yet fill the whole
<PB N="209" REF="139">capacity of their heart. Upon which we mu&s;t here make the application of the commandment which Al|mighty God order'd Moy&s;es to pu|blish. <HI>If &s;ome one goes without any evil de&s;ign into the wood to cut wood with one of his friends: and in cutting of wood the Ax &s;lip'd out of his hand; and the iron falling from the handle &s;truck his friend and kill'd him: he shall flye into one of the cities afore&s;aid, and live.</HI> Deut. 19.4. <HI>Le&s;t perhaps the next kindsman of him who&s;e blood was shed, prick'd with &s;orrow, pur&s;ue, and apprehend him, if the way be too long, and &s;trike his life that is not guilty of death.</HI> We go with our fried to the wood &s;ays S. Gregory, when con|verting our &s;elves to God, we with our brethren attend to the con&s;ide|ration of our &s;ins: we cut wood without having any ill de&s;ign, when with holy intentions we labour to cut off the faults of the faulty. But the Axe &s;lips out of our hands when
<PB N="210" REF="140">too much heat carrys us on to an exce&s;&s;ive &s;everity; the iron falls from its handle when words too hard i&s;&s;ue from our mouths, and it &s;trikes our friend dead, becau&s;e the outraging word makes charity die in him to whom it is addre&s;s'd; and ones neighbour conceives &s;entiments of hatred when he finds him&s;elf overcharged by a rigorous reprehen|&s;ion which exceeds either his fault or his patience. But he who has thus kill'd his brother by an incon|&s;iderate blow, mu&s;t flye to one of the three towns of refuge to &s;ave him&s;elf from death, that is to &s;ay; if having recour&s;e to the &s;ighs and tears of penance, he hides him&s;elf in the unity of this Sacrament un|der the divine vertues faith, hope and charity, he will not be repu|ted guilty of the crime of murder; and the next kindsman of the de|cea&s;ed shall not kill him, becau&s;e the &s;overeign Judge who is become
<PB N="211" REF="140">our brother by uniting him&s;elf to our nature, will not &s;eek the pu|nishment of that guilty per&s;on whom his mercy shall have conceal'd un|der the refuge of faith, hope, and charity.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 8. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Notwith&s;tanding you mu&s;t ask pardon of Almighty God, who knows how well you love tho&s;e very per&s;ons whom you have corrected more &s;everely perchance than was rea&s;onable.</HI></HEAD>
<P>When we pa&s;s the bounds of mo|deration, it is &s;ometimes thr&ocirc; a bit|ter zeal of malice and envy; but &s;ometimes al&s;o it happens thr&ocirc; a true zeal of Ju&s;tice. In &s;ome it is the effect of a determin'd will which with deliberation and reflexion ut|ters harsh words; in others they are only incon&s;iderate words, which &s;lip out without any ill will. Now our Lord does not &s;o much mind the
<PB N="212" REF="141">words, as the intention, and the fault, of tho&s;e words is much &s;oo|ner pardon'd when it was not a for|mal malice that produced them.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XVIII. <HI>Of avoiding fond affections and immode&s;t carriage.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>There mu&s;t not be &s;en&s;ual love among you, all mu&s;t be &s;piritual. As to what pa&s;&s;es even betwixt wo|men, who forget their mode&s;ty, ei|ther by jea&s;ting or playing indecently; it is &s;o far from being allow'd of, in the cha&s;te handmaids of Chri&s;t, or widows &s;ettled in the Mona&s;try, that it is not permitted even to married or &s;ingle per&s;ons in the world.</HI></P>
<P>THere are people enough to be &s;een who love their neighbour when tyed to them with the bonds of flesh and blood: holy writ does not condemn this affection, but
<PB N="213" REF="141">moves us to another much more perfect: for there is great difference between the love which is formed in the bo&s;ome of nature, and the charity which proceeds from the obe|dience we owe to the command|ments of God. Tho&s;e who only love their neighbour for natural rea|&s;ons, will not for that obtain the cele&s;tial rewards promi&s;ed to tho&s;e who love thr&ocirc; a principle of charity: becau&s;e their carnal love is not ca|pable of a merit proportionable to &s;uch great ble&s;&s;ings. It is charity only, which makes us di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who has &s;aid: <HI>by this all men shall know that you are my di&s;ciples, if you have love one for one a|nother.</HI> Jo. 13.35. And this ver|tue has two characters which di&s;tin|guishes it from carnal love: the fir&s;t is to love our friends in God: and the &s;econd is to love our enemies for God. Neverthele&s;s we mu&s;t own that the &s;pirit often cheats it &s;elf in regard of enemies, by an appearance
<PB N="214" REF="142">of charity, and fal&s;ely believes it has charity when in reality it has not. For this it &s;tands in need of &s;ome rules to undeceive it. But we may conclude without mi&s;take that we truly love our enemies when we feel no unea&s;yne&s;s for their pro&s;|perity, nor any joy for their ad|ver&s;ity.</P>
<P>Charity at fir&s;t gives us but two precepts: but from the&s;e two pre|cepts which are general, she after|wards enlarges into a world of o|thers more particular. The&s;e fir&s;t precepts are to love God and our neighbour: but the love of God is pre&s;ently divided into three e&s;&s;ential obligations, which are to love him with all our <HI>heart,</HI> with all our <HI>&s;oul,</HI> and with all our <HI>&s;trength.</HI> Upon which we mu&s;t remark that the law, in the fir&s;t of it's commandments, does not only &s;imply expo&s;e to us the nece&s;&s;ity of this love, but al&s;o &s;ignify's what ought to be the mea|&s;ure
<PB N="215" REF="142">of it, by ordering us to &s;pend all our faculties in it: and certainly there is nothing more ju&s;t than to give this extent to charity; be|cau&s;e every one who would per|fectly plea&s;e Almighty God, ought to leave nothing of them&s;elves which is not con&s;ecrated to him without re&s;erve.</P>
<P>The love of our neighbour con|tains al&s;o two precepts. The fir&s;t is expres'd by the &s;acred text in the&s;e words: <HI>that which thou ha|te&s;t to be done to thee by another, &s;ee thou do it not to another at any time.</HI> Tob. 4.16. And the &s;econd by the&s;e: <HI>all things there|fore what&s;oever you will that men do to you, do you al&s;o to them.</HI> Mat. 7.12. By the fir&s;t of the&s;e pre|cepts we put a &s;top to malice, and by the &s;econd we practice meekne&s;s. By the fir&s;t I &s;ay, each ab&s;taining from doing the harm to others which he would not wil|lingly &s;uffer him&s;elf, he &s;tops the
<PB N="216" REF="143">cour&s;e of evil actions: and by the &s;econd, rendering to his neigh|bour the &s;ervices he would wish to receive him&s;elf, he learns to practice vertue. But whil&s;t out mind is applyed to the con&s;ide|ration of the&s;e two duties, our heart is prepared to put in practice many excellent vertues, either by hindering our &s;oul from making others &s;uffer the unea&s;yne&s;s it ought not to give them, or by exciting it to be fervorous in the &s;uccours she is obliged to give them.</P>
<P>For when a man would avoid doing the evil to others which he would not willingly &s;uffer him&s;elf, he pre&s;ently u&s;es great vigilance, with an exact circum&s;pection over him&s;elf, le&s;t pride should &s;well his heart and make him contemn his neighbour: ambition rent it and mo|ve him to de&s;ire either the glory or goods of another: Luxury cor|rupt it, and &s;ubjecting it to im|purity make his life &s;candalous:
<PB N="217" REF="143">Anger vex it, and overheat his ill humour to make him utter in|jurious words: envy devour and wither it up at the &s;ight of his brothers pro&s;perity: or that his tongue should exceed due bounds and make him &s;in: and above all, le&s;t hatred should excite fury in him, and move him to mi&s;u&s;e him for whom he ought to have true charity.</P>
<P>But on the other &s;ide whil&s;t this charitable man &s;eeks occa&s;ions to do his neigbour all the good offi|ces he would have render'd to him|&s;elf, what vertues does he not practice! he requites injuries with good turns, and recompen&s;es the benefits he has received, with o|thers much greater: he always keeps an equal mild temper to|wards tho&s;e who are mo&s;t te&s;ty and &s;ubject to anger, and he treats with kindne&s;s even tho&s;e who&s;e faults are accompany'd with ma|lice: he procures reconciliation
<PB N="218" REF="144">and peace for tho&s;e who are at variance, and profits by the union he &s;ees among others to move them to the de&s;ire of true peace: he gives nece&s;&s;ary things to tho&s;e who are in want: he brings back to the right way tho&s;e who wander from ju&s;tice: he comforts the af|flicted by demon&s;trations of a ten|der compa&s;&s;ion: he checks by po|werful reprehen&s;ions tho&s;e he &s;eet ready to follow their evil de&s;ires: he puts a &s;top to the threats of the powerfull, by prudent rea&s;ons, and &s;olaces as much as he can tho&s;e who are oppre&s;s'd: he op|po&s;es his patience to the fury of tho&s;e who re&s;i&s;t him abroad: he by di&s;creet proceedings reduces tho&s;e who are trouble&s;ome at home by their pride: he in &s;uch &s;ort moderates his zeal by &s;weetne&s;s in regard of his inferiours, that he notwith&s;tanding never forgets the duty of ju&s;tice: he knows how to arm him&s;elf &s;o with zeal to re|venge
<PB N="219" REF="144">crimes, that he never lo&s;es &s;ight of the limits that charity pre|&s;cribes: he in &s;uch a manner bears in &s;ilence with the faults he can|not correct, that he takes care his &s;ilence may not be taken for con&s;ent: he &s;o laments the evils he is obliged to &s;uffer in &s;lence, that the grief he feels for the &s;ame does not degenerate into aver&s;ion again&s;t the &s;inner. In short, he gains the heart of the ungrateful by all &s;orts of good turns without deviating in the lea&s;t from truth and ju&s;tice: he renders to his neighbour all the a&s;&s;i&s;tances which are in his power without injuring him&s;elf by vain thoughts: he avoids &s;uch thoughts in his good works without diminish|ing the fervour they ought to be done with: he gives terrene goods without di&s;quieting his mind by the apprehen&s;ion of becoming too poor: he gives all he has to his brethren without lo&s;ing due gratitude to Almighty God for the goods he
<PB N="220" REF="145">enriches him with: and thus grief never ob&s;cures the beauty and &s;plen|dor of the pre&s;ents he makes to Je|&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>It is then with rea&s;on &s;aid of the law of God, that it contains many laws, &s;ince we &s;ee by this that has been &s;aid, that without admiting any change in its &s;elf, it perfectly agrees with all the&s;e dif|ferent duties of charity, and remai|ning &s;till the &s;ame, it &s;eems to take an infinity of different formes, di|ver&s;ifying it &s;elf according to the &s;tates and conditions we are in. This is what the great Apo&s;tle meant writing to the corinthians: <HI>Charity is patient, is kind; Cha|rity envyeth not dealeth not perver&s;ly, is not puff'd up, it is not ambitious, it &s;eeketh not its own intere&s;t, it is not provoked to anger, it thinks no evil, it rejoyceth not upon ini|quity, but rejoyceth with Truth &amp;c.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="221" REF="145">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XIX. <HI>Of the Obedience.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">&V;nto your &s;uperiour as unto a Mo|ther, you mu&s;t be truly obedient, shewing her re&s;pect and honour; lea&s;t by offending her you of|fend God: but much more unto the Bishop who hath the care of you all.</HEAD>
<P>OBedience is a vertue which alone is &s;ufficient to produce all the others in our &s;oul, and af|ter having produced them there, is al&s;o the faithful Guardian of them: <HI>Obedience is better than &s;acrifice,</HI> 1. King. 5.22. Becau&s;e in &s;acrifice the flesh of animals is immolated, whereas by obedience our own will is mortified, and in a manner des|troy'd for the honour of God. <HI>The obedient man shall &s;peak victories,</HI>
<PB N="222" REF="146">&s;aid Soloman; becau&s;e by humbly &s;ubmiting our &s;elves to the word of another, we gain a victory over our &s;elves, and our heart is the field of battle. Obedience is a vertue which we ought to practice couragi|ou&s;ly even till death. Obedience mu&s;t never move us to do ill; but &s;ometimes we mu&s;t for obedience &s;ake, interrupt the good we are about. Now becau&s;e it may hap|pen that what is ordain'd us, has nothing di&s;plea&s;ing to us, but on the contrary is very conformable to our inclination, that we may not lo&s;e the merit of &s;o great a vertue it is important to know that accor|ding to S. Gregory
<Q>when obe|dience has &s;omething of us in it, it is &s;ometimes reckon'd for nothing; and that in other occa&s;ions if there is not &s;omething of us in it, it is of very &s;mall merit. S. Greg. moral. L. 35.10.</Q></P>
<P>This propo&s;ition which is a little
<PB N="223" REF="146">ob&s;cure, may be clear'd by exam|ples. When we are commanded a thing which is advantagious accor|ding to our natural ta&s;te, as when we are elevated to a po&s;t in which is glory and command; if we are already moved by our own inclina|tion to &s;eek that place with eager|ne&s;s and heat, it is then we obey without any merit. On the con|trary, when &s;ome contemptible em|ployment is impo&s;ed upon us, which is di&s;gu&s;tful to flesh and blood, as when we are expo&s;ed to reproaches and pain if the heart does not embrace and love that &s;tate, it much dimi|nishes the merit of the obedience, and ruins it quite if it is only by con&s;traint it de&s;cends into the hu|militation. Obedience then ought to have &s;omething of us as to what is di&s;gu&s;tful to &s;en&s;uality: and on the contrary it ought to have no|thing at all of us, as to what is agreable to &s;en&s;e: to the end that
<PB N="224" REF="147">the obedient per&s;ons acquire as much more glory in adver&s;ity, as they freely &s;ubmit to it for the love they bear to the divine orders; and in pro&s;perity remain &s;o much the more humble, and by con&s;equence shelter'd from all &s;orts of dangers, &s;ince they have only yielded by a perfect &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to the will of God, who has rai&s;ed them to honorable places which they did not &s;eek the glory of. Obedience is an orna|ment which always accompanys and &s;ets off the beauty of innocent &s;ouls: obedience is the character that our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t has given to his sheep when he &s;ays: <HI>my sheep hear my voice: and I know them, and they follow me.</HI> Jo. 10.27. The obe|dience that this divine redeemer requires, always contains innocence of manners, and a per&s;on will never pa&s;s for innocent in the &s;ight of God, who refu&s;es to obey tho&s;e he has given him for &s;uperiours.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="225" REF="147">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XX. <HI>Of correcting faults.</HI></HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Wherefore to the end all the&s;e things may be duly ob&s;erved, if any point thereof is not well kept, it shall not be negligently pa&s;s'd over; but the &s;uperiour, who&s;e bu&s;ine&s;s chiefly it is, shall take care to &s;ee it mended, and cor|rected. But if there should hap|pen any thing which should ex|ceed her power and judgment; it shall be referr'd to the Prie&s;t, or Bishop who has a &s;uperiour charge over you.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e ob&s;ervances of regularity have been ordain'd to the end they be all put in practice. If then there is any one not ob&s;erved, the fault mu&s;t be remedy'd as &s;oon as po&s;&s;ible: becau&s;e, &s;ince we have vow'd to keep them exactly, and
<PB N="226" REF="148">&s;worne to conform our lives to them, we cannot neglect any but at the peril of our &s;oul. <HI>Thou ha&s;t very much commanded thy commandments to be kept &s;aid David.</HI> P&s;al. 118. And the Apo&s;tle S. James; <HI>who&s;oe|ver shall keep all the whole law, but offendeth in one point, he is become guilty of all.</HI> Jam. 2.10. There|fore it is the duty of the &s;uperiour who ought to maintain order, to referr to the <HI>Prie&s;t</HI> or Bishop who have greater authority, all the ri&s;ing difficulties, the determination of which exceeds her power and judg|ment, according to the rules e&s;ta|blish'd in the order; for if in a re|ligious community it is not an Ab|bot, but the Bishop, who govern's; then it is the Bishop him&s;elf who is de&s;igned by the word Prie&s;t: for Prelates are e&s;tablish'd in the church to con&s;erve whole and entire the things which have been well or|dain'd, to correct what is ami&s;s,
<PB N="227" REF="148">and by their words and examples to forme the lives and manners of their &s;ubjects, following the in&s;truc|tion S. Paul gives them: <HI>urge in &s;ea&s;on and out of &s;ea&s;on: reprove, be|&s;eech, rebuke</HI> 2. Tim. 4.4.</P>
<P>In reality Pa&s;tors are obliged as times and occa&s;ions require, to u&s;e &s;ometimes &s;evere reprehen&s;ions, and &s;ometimes kind carre&s;&s;es: they mu&s;t correct in a more sharp manner tho&s;e who are turbulent and hardly reduced to their duty; u&s;e entrea|ties to tho&s;e who are obedient, meek, and patient, to encline them to become &s;till better, and to make greater progre&s;s in vertue; employ threaths, and even punishments in regard of tho&s;e who behave with negligence, or in whom is remark'd di&s;dainfulne&s;s or pride.</P>
<P>Pa&s;tors and &s;uperiours ought not to di&s;&s;emble the faults of the faulty, but u&s;e all their might to root up the evil as &s;oon as it begins to ap|pear;
<PB N="228" REF="149">having always in view the punishment that the high Prie&s;t Heli pull'd down upon his own head, on the account of his children. Neverthele&s;s a &s;imple adverti&s;ment is &s;ufficient for the fir&s;t and &s;econd time, in regard of tho&s;e who are of a good make and have more civi|lity than others: but tho&s;e who are malicious, proud or rebellious, mu&s;t be kept under by the &s;courge of cha&s;tisments, according to the coun|&s;ell of the wi&s;e man: <HI>A fool re|ceiveth not the words of prudence: thou shalt &s;trike the child with the rod, and deliver his &s;oul from hell.</HI> Prov. 18.2.23.14.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="229" REF="149">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XXI. <HI>Of the &s;uperiour's Office.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 1. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>She who is our &s;uperiour, mu&s;t not think her &s;elf happy for her authority in gover|ning; but rather for her charity in &s;erving others.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THo&s;e who being placed over others rejoyce at their power, and delight in the practice of their authority, are not true Pa&s;tors but hirelings: they are &s;elfish people who like better to command than to pro|fit, to be great than to be u&s;efull, who &s;eek not the &s;alvation of &s;ouls, but temporal gain, who have not heavenly glory, but earthly honour for the object of their de&s;ires. Woe be to them, becau&s;e our &s;aviour has already condemn'd them by his words: <HI>Amen I &s;ay to you, they have
<PB N="230" REF="150">received their reward.</HI> Mat. 6.16. But the true Pa&s;tors are tho&s;e who in eminent po&s;ts place their whole joy in rendering all the &s;ervices and &s;uccours to others, they are capa|ble of, who are not delighted in the charge; who do not affect the po|wer, but love the charity; who &s;eek not to be &s;erved but to &s;erve others. Tho&s;e I &s;ay, are perfect imitators of that good and true Pa&s;tor <HI>who came not to be &s;erved, but to &s;erve, and give his life a ran&s;ome for many.</HI> Mat. 20.28. They may al&s;o &s;ay with the Apo&s;tle: <HI>When I was free as to all; I made my &s;elf a &s;er|vant to all, that I might gain more per&s;ons.</HI> 1. Cor. 9.19. But th&ocirc; on their &s;ide the charity they have in heart, thus deba&s;es them, yet the authority of their charge makes them be re&s;pected by their &s;ubjects. Therefore the rule adds.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="231" REF="150">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>She shall be re&s;pected &amp; ho|nour'd in the exteriour as your &s;uperiour.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The rea&s;on why we ought to bear &s;o great re&s;pect to our &s;upe|riour, is becau&s;e in the Mona&s;tery she holds the place of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, as that Sovereigne Lord makes it known him&s;elf by &s;aying to Pa&s;tors: <HI>he that heareth you, heareth me; and he that de&s;pi&s;eth you, de&s;pi&s;eth me.</HI> Luk. 10.16. The &s;ervants of God then ought to bear great re&s;pect and honour to him who holds the place of their Ma&s;ter, &s;ince it is for the love of God they are &s;ubject to his government. But as for the &s;uperiour, the more she is exalted exteriourly by te&s;timo|nies of re&s;pect, the more she ought to fear at the bottom of her con&s;cience, and conceive a contempt of her &s;elf, by con&s;ide|ring as her betters tho&s;e who pay her &s;o much honour.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<PB N="232" REF="151">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But in the &s;ight of God, she shall lye pro&s;trate at your feet.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>The greater thou art,</HI> &s;aith the wi&s;e man, <HI>humble thy &s;elf in all things.</HI> Eccl. 3.20. And again, <HI>have they made thee ruler, be not extoll'd, among&s;t them, as one of them.</HI> Ibid. 32.1. And our Lord &s;ays al&s;o in the Go&s;pel: <HI>Every one that exalteth him&s;elf, shall be humbled, and he that humbleth him&s;elf, shall be exalted.</HI> Luk. 18.14. becau&s;e we are great before God, proportionably as we are little in our own eyes. But let us hear now what the &s;uperiour ought to be in her per&s;on and manners.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 4. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>She shall make her &s;elf a pattern of all good works to you all.</HI></HEAD>
<P>As she is above all, in honour, in dignity, and in rank, &s;o she
<PB N="233" REF="151">ought to &s;urpa&s;s all in Sanctity; that tho&s;e who are &s;ubject to her may learn by her comportement as in an excellent book, in what manner they ought to &s;quare their lives.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 5. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>&V;nquiet and bu&s;y per&s;ons she mu&s;t correct, the dejected she mu&s;t comfort, she mu&s;t bear with the weak, and be patient with all.</HI></HEAD>
<P>Tho&s;e who are placed above others to govern them, ought to know the art of bearing evil, and never doing it to any body; that by their meekne&s;s they may paci|fie the cholerick; becau&s;e the &s;ouls Phi&s;ician ought to &s;trive to cure &s;piritual di&s;ea&s;es which are &s;ins, by the remedies he extracts from his own vertues. Therefore &s;upe|riours are obliged carefully to con|&s;ider at fir&s;t what are the man|ners
<PB N="234" REF="152">and di&s;po&s;itions of each, that they may know what remedies they ought chiefly to u&s;e, and how to deal with them.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 6. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Let her willingly accept a cor|rection, and warily give it: and although both love and fear be nece&s;&s;ary, yet she mu&s;t &s;eek rather to be beloved than fear'd, ever remem|bring that she mu&s;t ac|count to God for you all.</HI></HEAD>
<P>He that has quality of Doctor in the church, mu&s;t be wi&s;e and regular in his manners: for it is then only that he is worthy to impo&s;e upon others the nece&s;&s;ity of living according to the rule, when he lives him&s;elf conformably to what he ordains, and takes from his own &s;tock the conduct he ob&s;erves towards others to rai&s;e them to perfection. S. Paul &s;aid
<PB N="235" REF="152">to the Hebrews, <HI>per&s;evere under di&s;ciplin. God offereth him&s;elf to you, as to &s;ons; for what &s;on is there whom his father doth not correct?</HI> Hebr. 12.7. The&s;e words &s;ignifie two duties belonging to him who holds the place of father by the government he is charged with, and two obligations he has in regard of tho&s;e who are under his tuition in quality of &s;piritual children; for he ought at once to in&s;pire them with a re&s;pectful fear, and to have for them a compa&s;&s;io|nate love: make him&s;elf be feared by tho&s;e who are proud, rebelli|ous, and &s;tubborn; but exert a ten|der love to tho&s;e who &s;erve God with a good heart, and live in piety, and humility.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="7" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 7. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And although both love and fear be nece&s;&s;ary, yet she mu&s;t &s;eek rather to be be|loved than feared.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The rea&s;on of this advice is be|cau&s;e
<PB N="236" REF="153">a &s;uperiour is much more willingly heard when she is belo|ved; and Almighty God is better plea&s;ed with the obedience that is paid him for love, than with that which is forced by fear. There|fore our &s;aviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, that Ma&s;ter of an incomparable meek|ne&s;s, &s;aid to his Di&s;ciples: <HI>I will not call you &s;ervants but friends,</HI> Jo. 15.14. Becau&s;e he would not have us act by con&s;traint, but love him as children love their father: and fulfill his precepts, not for fear of cha&s;ti&s;ments, but for the love of Ju&s;tice. On the other &s;ide, he who is appointed to Judge &s;ouls in this world, ought to re|member that he has God above him who will Judge him in the next; and tend the more carefully to the conduct of tho&s;e confided to him, &s;ince the account he mu&s;t give of them to that &s;evere and clear &s;ighted Judge, will be &s;trict and terrible. This reflexion is &s;o
<PB N="237" REF="153">nece&s;&s;ary, that even our good works ought to be done with a conti|nual eye upon our la&s;t end, ac|cording to that important advice of the wi&s;e man: <HI>In all thy works remember thy later end, and thou wilt not &s;in for ever.</HI> Eccl. 7.40.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="8" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 8. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Therefore you should be more tractable, having compa&s;&s;ion not only of your &s;elves, but al&s;o of her, who is the more in danger, the higher she is placed in authority over you.</HI></HEAD>
<P>The&s;e who are rai&s;ed to an emi|nency which gives them the go|verment of &s;ouls, are expo&s;ed to great danger, and the higher their rank is, the more dangerous their fall will be, if they chance to &s;tum|ble: becau&s;e, <HI>more shall be deman|ded of him, to whom much was re|commended.</HI> Luk. 12.48. It is to be in great danger, to live at once
<PB N="238" REF="154">both for ones &s;elf and for others; to be obliged to extend ones fore|ca&s;t and cares both upon tempo|ral and &s;piritual things, he that is in &s;o perilous a &s;tate, ought to take care of his own con&s;cience in &s;uch a manner, as not to omit due vigilance over tho&s;e of others, and &s;o tend to the conduct of o|thers, as not to forget his own &s;anctification: he mu&s;t take care that the temporals be con&s;erved, and di&s;tributed in due manner. Without failing as to the entire application nece&s;&s;ary to advance the &s;pirituals: and finally he mu&s;t burn with &s;uch an ardour to en|crea&s;e the &s;piritual riches in &s;ouls, as not to neglect the economy of the temporal goods which are for the nourishment of the body. This ought to move the inferiours to pay a perfect obedience to their &s;uperiour, when they &s;ee the la|bours he is oppre&s;s'd with for love of them; and when they perform
<PB N="239" REF="154">this duty, they have not only com|pa&s;&s;ion of them&s;elves, but al&s;o of him. They have compa&s;&s;ion of them&s;elves, becau&s;e they practice what is written, <HI>have mercy on thine own &s;oul, plea&s;ing God.</HI> Ec|cle. 30.24. And they have al&s;o compa&s;&s;ion of their &s;uperior, be|cau&s;e by obeying all his orders they lighten the burden he is char|ged with, according to the&s;e words of the &s;cripture: a wi&s;e &s;on ma|keth the father glad; for &s;piritual fathers bear more ea&s;ily the la|bours of their charge when they &s;ee their &s;piritual children obedi|ently &s;ubmit to their conduct.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="240" REF="155">
<HEAD>CHAPTER XXII. <HI>Of ob&s;erving the Rule, and reading thereof.</HI></HEAD>
<DIV3 N="1" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; I. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>Our Lord grant that you, as affecting &s;piritual beauty, may ob&s;erve all the&s;e things by a mo|tive of love, and become odorife|rous with the &s;weet odour of chri&s;t, by a holy conver&s;ation; not as &s;laves under the &s;ervitu|de of the law, but as free chil|dren under the liberty of grace.</HI></HEAD>
<P>THere could be nothing more proper after the lecture of all the&s;e rules, than the addition of this prayer: for a man who reads or preaches the word of God, is like another who &s;ows a field, and he who prays like one who covers with earth the good grain that has been &s;ow'd. When a labourer has &s;ow'd his field, if
<PB N="241" REF="155">he lets the &s;eed lye long unco|ver'd, the birds come flocking down, and carry away what he thought he had &s;afe in the earth. So tho&s;e who have &s;ow'd in the field of their heart the excellent &s;eed of the word of God, either by reading good books, by &s;ermons, or by &s;inging P&s;alms, if they do not cover it pre&s;ently, and as it we|re bury it in them&s;elves, by prayer, the birds come in flocks, that is to &s;ay, the ideas of the world, the fleeting and vain thoughts of the age, which cover the &s;urface of the heart, and carry away all that had been &s;own in it. Therefore as often as we leave reading, or go from a &s;ermon, we mu&s;t have recour&s;e to prayer, that the ver|tue and efficacy of the word of God may abide in our heart, and &s;piritual fruits may be &s;een to grow in our actions.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="2" TYPE="section">
<PB N="242" REF="156">
<HEAD>&sect; 2. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>As affecting Spiritual beauty &amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<P>It is with rea&s;on that the rule is thus expre&s;s'd; for we can ne|ver fulfill all the precepts of a Spi|ritual life, if we do not feel our &s;elves moved and drawn by the &s;acred charmes of the &s;piritual beau|ty of Ju&s;tice; for no man ever does good again&s;t his will, th&ocirc; the ac|tion should be good of it &s;elf.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 3. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And become odoriferous with the &s;weet odour of Chri&s;t, by a holy con|ver&s;ation. &amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<P>This which is here added, re|gards a holy life, and a good re|putation, to teach us that the&s;e two things ought always to be to|gether, that we may be able to &s;ay with the Apo&s;tle: <HI>We are a &s;weet odour of Chri&s;t to God in every place.</HI> 2. Cor. 2.15. Tho&s;e
<PB N="243" REF="156">who only &s;erve God by a &s;pirit of fear, are &s;laves under the law, but tho&s;e who perform his com|mands by a motive of love, are free children under the liberty of grace. Now this grace is a gift of God, which is pour'd into our hearts by the holy Gho&s;t who has been given us, and it is by this grace we fulfill the law. Not that the law has been impo&s;ed upon the ju&s;t, &s;ince where the &s;pirit of the Lord is, there al&s;o is charity. But when that charity has given full extent to our heart, we run without impediment, entirely at liberty, in the royal way of God's commandments.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="4" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 4. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>But to the end that you may &s;ee your &s;elves in this little book, as in a looking-gla&s;s, and that nothing may be neglected out of forgetfulne&s;s; let it evermore once a week be read unto you.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We are commanded to read the
<PB N="244" REF="157">rule often, to the end that by the frequent lecture, having it well en|graven in our memory, it may come often into our mind, and appear in our actions, becau&s;e ac|cording to S. James: <HI>He that hath look'd into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued in it, becoming not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be happy in his deed.</HI> Jam. 1.15. This little book is with rea&s;on calld a looking gla&s;s, becau&s;e we may u&s;e it as a mo&s;t faithful mirrour to con&s;ider the coun|tenance of our &s;oul, and &s;ee if we are han&s;ome or ugly, ju&s;t or unju&s;t, if we live regularly, if we advance or go backward in the way of per|fection; finally if we are plea&s;ing to Almighty God, or &s;o unhappy as to di&s;plea&s;e him.</P>
<P>Holy writ repre&s;ents to us the ima|ge of our interiour man; it plainly shews us what there is of beautiful or difform'd in our &s;oul: we by
<PB N="245" REF="157">con&s;idering our &s;elves therein, learn to con&s;erve and maintain the beauty of ju&s;tice; we thereby find out in what order the vertues are to be &s;et, to have their full lu&s;ter, and how we may blot out the blemish|es of &s;in, to repair in us the re|&s;emblance of God. The wicked do not like to con&s;ider them&s;elves in this pure mirrour, they u&s;ualy co|ver up their faults, and hide their &s;ins from them&s;elves as well as from others; they never reflect upon their ways to examin them, and over|look the mo&s;t evil actions by a dread|ful blindne&s;s, without concerning them&s;elves for the judgment Al|mighty God bears again&s;t them. But the &s;aints on the contrary, conti|nually confider there lives in rela|tion to the holy &s;cripture; they daily examin their conduct by the word of God; they confront all their par|ticular actions with the model of perfection they &s;ee therein, and if
<PB N="246" REF="158">it happen that they perceive in them any thing diform'd, mi&s;placed, or contrary to order, they pre&s;ently &s;trive to redre&s;s it by the idea of perfection they &s;tudy, that they may be interiourly and exteriourly &s;ound and &s;potle&s;s in the &s;ight of God. This prudent way of proceeding was u&s;ed by the Royal Prophet who &s;aid to Almighty God in his &s;acred can|ticles: <HI>then shall I not be confounded, when I shall look thoroughly in all thy commandments.</HI> P&s;al. 118. It was al&s;o the great Apo&s;tle's method, who wrote to the faithfull of Ephe&s;us: <HI>Be renew'd in the &s;pirit of your mind.</HI> Ephe&s;. 4.23. And to the corin|thians: <HI>The inward man is renew'd from day to day,</HI></P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="5" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 5. </HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub"><HI>And when you find that you have ob&s;erved all that is written therein, give thanks to Al|mighty God the giver of all good.</HI></HEAD>
<P>We ought to render continual
<PB N="247" REF="158">thanks to the father of lights, be|cau&s;e from him de&s;cends all excel|lent grace, and all perfect gifts: for no man will ever become happy by the very gifts he receives from God, however great they are, if he is ungrateful to his divine benefac|tor. Therefore the Apo&s;tle &s;aid: <HI>what ha&s;t thou, that thou ha&s;t not received?</HI> 1. Cor. 4.7. For the &s;en&s;e of the&s;e words is this: never cea&s;e to ren|der thanks to our Lord and our God, from who&s;e goodne&s;s and liberality you have all things. We ought al&s;o to profit by this whol&s;ome advice, acknowledging that every one who lives well is indebted to the grace of Almighty God for that advantage; and that it is al&s;o by the &s;ame &s;uc|cour they can grow and profit in the love of ju&s;tice. Such thoughts breed piety, and even wi&s;dome, which is &s;o much recommended to us, is nothing el&s;e but that piety by which we pay to the father of
<PB N="248" REF="159">lights, the worship which is due to him, and which is only render'd him by the &s;acrifice of prai&s;es and thanksgiving, but &s;o, that he who adores the Divine Maje&s;ty, never Glory's in him&s;elf, but in our Lord only.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="6" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>&sect; 6.</HEAD>
<P><HI>But when any of you percei|ceives that she has fail'd in any point, she mu&s;t be &s;orry for what is pa&s;t, take better care for the future, be&s;eech|ing our Lord that her fault may be pardon'd, and that she may never be led into temptation Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="summary">
<PB N="1" REF="159">
<HEAD>AN <HI>ABRIDGMENT</HI> Of the Expo&s;ition of the Rule of S. AUGUSTIN.</HEAD>
<Q>We ought above all things to Love. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>_OUr holy father S. Augu&s;tin by leaving us charity for guide in all things, which goes directly to Almighty God, without &s;eeking proper &s;ati&s;|faction or intere&s;t, by expre&s;sly or|daining us to give this vertue the preheminence; he declares to us that we are only faithful to his rule, as far as denying our &s;elves in all
<PB N="2" REF="160">things, we &s;eek nothing but the greater glory of God, and the means to make our &s;elves more plea&s;ing in his &s;ight.</P>
<P><HI>And then our Neighbour &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>We ought to be extreamly af|fraid of the very lea&s;t faults again&s;t fraternal charity, &s;ince Almighty God holds them as done again&s;t him&s;elf; and often when we think we only &s;eparate our &s;elves from one of our brethren, we fall into a dreadfull abandonment of God him&s;elf. But as much as this divi|&s;ion is hurtful to us, &s;o much is the love of our neighbour mo&s;t pro|fitable to us; for it enriches us with all &s;orts of graces, it unites us to God; that is, he abides in us, and we in him, by it we fulfill all the law, and maintain the life of the &s;oul, which is the holy Gho&s;t.</P>
<Q>We command all who are &s;ettled. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Our holy father by this demon|&s;trates
<PB N="3" REF="160">the rea&s;on why the&s;e excel|lent precepts are read to us, which is, that by this lecture we may have an entire knowledge of them; and that our minds being taken up with the &s;ame, we may practice them with an inviolable fidelity.</P>
<Q>Fir&s;t you mu&s;t know that, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>We are obliged to employ our &s;elves here in the &s;ervice of God with as great a core&s;pondancy of cha|rity, as if we had but one <HI>heart,</HI> and one <HI>&s;oul.</HI> We mu&s;t be united in all by one only intention towards good, and one and the &s;ame love for God. It is not &s;ufficient to be &s;eparated from the world, we mu&s;t al&s;o labour to unite our &s;elves to Almighty God with all our heart, and all our &s;oul. The only means to have but one heart, and one &s;oul in God, is to have charity; it is to love God with all our hearts and &s;ouls: becau&s;e God is charity.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="161">
<Q>You shall not therefore call any &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Charity having the property not to &s;eek her own intere&s;t, we mu&s;t not &s;o much as call any thing our own, but let our words expre&s;s that we have nothing in particular. God him&s;elf is the portion of the &s;aints, and they that would have Almighty God for their po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, ought not to &s;eek nor love any thing out of him. <HI>He is too coveteous whom God &s;uffices not.</HI></P>
<Q>And every one shall receive &amp;c.</Q>
<P>But as however great our di&s;in|gagement is, we cannot live upon earth without many nece&s;&s;aries for the body, &s;o we mu&s;t remember that we mu&s;t receive tho&s;e nece&s;&s;a|ries <HI>by the appointement of the &s;upe|riour;</HI> and that we are indi&s;pen&s;ably obliged to employ our lives in the
<PB N="5" REF="161">&s;ervice of the Almighty who&s;e bounty and providence gives us wherewith to maintain tho&s;e lives, if we would with &s;ecurity of con&s;cience share of the goods which are di&s;tributed a|mong&s;t us.</P>
<Q>But that is not to be di|&s;tributed, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>When the rule appoints that <HI>to each be given according to her need.</HI> That mu&s;t be under&s;tood in &s;uch a manner, that the flesh may have &s;ufficient nourishment not to fail us in the di&s;charge of our duties, but that the appetites be re&s;i&s;ted &s;toutly enough to hinder them from ri&s;ing up again&s;t the &s;pirit.</P>
<Q>Such per&s;ons therefore as in the world, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Our holy father is not content that tho&s;e who embrace his rule, only barely deve&s;t them&s;elves of their goods; but he will have them do
<PB N="6" REF="162">it with joy, <HI>and even be well content to have their &s;ub&s;tance put in common.</HI> Becau&s;e our Lord loves a chearful giver. And we mu&s;t for&s;ake the power to po&s;&s;e&s;s, and the will to have.</P>
<Q>And tho&s;e who were poor before &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Even tho&s;e who had nothing in the world, may in religion leave &s;omething, to wit, the will to have.</P>
<Q>Notwith&s;tanding they al&s;o shall have, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is ju&s;t that all who engage in the &s;ervice of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, should live of the revenues of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, whether they have been poor or rich; for the workman is worthy of his hire.</P>
<Q>Yet for all that, they mu&s;t not, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>We mu&s;t mo&s;t carefully endea|vour
<PB N="7" REF="162">to find out on which &s;ide the bent of our heart gives, and con|tinually watch to hinder it from fixing upon tran&s;itory things; for th&ocirc; we are forced, to u&s;e &s;ome of them, yet all our de&s;ires, and all the ca|pacity of our heart ought to be wholy taken up, and fill'd with tho&s;e of heaven.</P>
<Q>Neither may they carry them&s;elves high &amp;c.</Q>
<P>If heaven it &s;elf avail'd not the proud Angels, doubtle&s;s the Mo|na&s;try will not be profitable to tho&s;e who shall imitate them in their &s;in.</P>
<Q>But again &s;uch per&s;ons as were of a &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Almighty God makes no excep|of per&s;ons, and there is but one and the &s;ame Lord, who is rich to all that invoke him; therefore, let us not place our glory in the
<PB N="8" REF="163">&s;ecular greatne&s;s of our parents; but in the company of our poor &s;i&s;tes.</P>
<Q>Neither shall they be proud, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>To exalt ones &s;elf for acts of charity, or good works, is the mo|tion of &s;piritual pride; which is the wor&s;t and mo&s;t dangerous.</P>
<Q>For all other vices tend to make us do evil works, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>When we have done any good work which may be remarkable, let us pre&s;erve our hearts from the vain complaj&s;ance, which pre&s;ently &s;tarts up to de&s;troy and corrupt it; for there is no work however holy it may appear which can plea&s;e the di|vine Maje&s;ty, when &s;poyl'd by that vice.</P>
<Q>What then does it avail to give frely. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It will avail us nothing to renounce
<PB N="9" REF="163">our goods, if we do not al&s;o re|nounce our &s;elves; for our Lord does not &s;ay ble&s;&s;ed are the poor in goods; but <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are the poor in &s;pirit.</HI> Happy is the &s;oul which moved by the love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, gives all to the poor, for to live afterwards in a profound humility; but woe be to tho&s;e who make of that generous renunciation a &s;ubject of vanity and pre&s;umption.</P>
<Q>Live therefore I &s;ay with concord &amp;c.</Q>
<P>When the rule requires union of minds that regards the intention and the will, which ought to be the &s;ame in all; but when it demands union of hearts, that is &s;till &s;ome thing more, for it reaches even to all the actions and conduct of our life. A religious per&s;on who de&s;i|res to live up to this &s;pirit of u|nion, mu&s;t break her &s;elf of all her ill habits, and be neither ma|licious,
<PB N="10" REF="164">nor irregular, nor ob&s;tinate in her fancies, nor trouble&s;ome to others by her unquietne&s;s; and then she mu&s;t u&s;e &s;o much circum&s;pec|tion in her actions, and &s;o &s;quare her life that she may be in perfect concord with the re&s;t to tend wholy to God. For the order we ought to ob&s;erve to attain to the perfec|tion of our &s;tate; is fir&s;t to have but one and the &s;ame will and de|&s;igne to &s;ave our &s;ouls, and then act &s;till in concert by the motion of the &s;ame heart; &s;o that all the different functions both &s;piritual and temporal, may be done with an en|tire core&s;pondancy of charity to one another. <HI>We honour God in one a|nother,</HI> when loving each other for the love of him, we with all po&s;&s;ible care ob&s;erve his precepts; and we shall have the happyne&s;s to <HI>become his temples,</HI> when we shall carefully endeavour to draw his &s;pi|rit into us, by doing our be&s;t to
<PB N="11" REF="164">render Almighty God all the wor|ship his Divine Maje&s;ty expects from us: but it belongs to that &s;overeign Lord to compleat the work by de|ba&s;ing his grandor to honour us with his pre&s;ence, and enlighten us with his grace.</P>
<Q>Be attentive to prayer at the &amp;c.</Q>
<P>To prevent the time of prayer is a &s;igne of foreca&s;t, to pray in the times appointed for it, is an act of obedience, but to mi&s;s the time of prayer is a fault of negligence. If our prayers ought to be a&s;&s;iduous, it is not le&s;s important that they be ardent and fervorous; for the ble&s;|&s;ings that Almighty God promi&s;es us, are &s;o great and con&s;iderable that they require a purcha&s;er earne&s;t and full of de&s;ires. And when the divine Maje&s;ty &s;eems not to be mo|ved with our fir&s;t vows, we mu&s;t arm our &s;elves with courage and re|double
<PB N="12" REF="165">our in&s;tances and prayers in a more forcible manner, which is an agreable violence to God.</P>
<Q>In the place of prayer, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The church is the hou&s;e of God, and the gate of heaven; it is there &s;inners are reconciled, receiving par|don of their &s;ins; it is there the ju&s;t are more and more &s;anctified, re|ceiving fresh increa&s;es of grace: it is there the divine mi&s;terys are cele|brated: and in fine there the great|e&s;t Sacraments are admini&s;ter'd: We mu&s;t be carefull not to do any thing in that &s;anctuary, which may offend the eyes of the Divine Maje&s;ty who re&s;ides there, or hinder tho&s;e who would pray therein.</P>
<Q>And when you &s;erve Al|mighty God. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>To render our prayers pure, and shelter them from di&s;tractions, a means as excellent as nece&s;&s;ary is,
<PB N="13" REF="165">to walk continually in the law of God, and accu&s;tome our &s;elves to follow his holy will with all our heart; for what we hear, what we &s;ee, what we &s;ay and do often, mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity come often into our minds, and there, without our reflecting of it, take place as in their proper and natural dwelling.</P>
<Q>You shall not &s;ing any other thing. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is neither fiting nor decent that the choir &s;ong should be diver&s;ified according to every ones fancy, but it mu&s;t be kept firm and invariable to what has been written and or|dain'd by predece&s;&s;ors. The &s;ame may be &s;aid of other cu&s;tomes of the hou&s;e, which ought to be re|gulated with authority and di&s;cre|tion.</P>
<Q>Subdue your flesh and keep it under. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>We ought to have &s;o much care
<PB N="14" REF="166">of our bodies that they may not want &s;trength to di&s;charge their du|ties; but we mu&s;t tame, and afflict them &s;ufficiently by ab&s;tinences and other au&s;terities, to hinder revolts, and to keep them from ma&s;tering the &s;pirit.</P>
<Q>And if any one cannot fa&s;t. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>We mu&s;t not only ob&s;erve an exact temperance in eating, and drinking as to the quantity and qua|lity, but al&s;o &s;ubject our &s;elves to the hours appointed; th&ocirc; we can|not fa&s;t; except we are &s;ick.</P>
<Q>When you are &s;et at table. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>In our meals, it is not &s;ufficient to be &s;eated at a material table, we mu&s;t al&s;o be pre&s;ent at a &s;piritual one. We mu&s;t not only feed our bodies, but our &s;ouls al&s;o; and we
<PB N="15" REF="166">ought to be as much more deligh|ted with the &s;piritual food, than with the corporal, as the &s;oul &s;ur|pa&s;&s;es the body in excellence, and dignity. This food proper to the &s;oul, is what we should hungar af|ter, labouring to prepare our hearts for it, that what we hear may not render our judgment more rigo|rous</P>
<Q>When &s;uch per&s;ons as are by a former and con&s;tant ill health. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Tho&s;e who have mo&s;t &s;trength and health, ought to take upon them the rigour of ab&s;tinence, and ob&s;erve it exactly; compa&s;&s;ionately bearing with the weakne&s;s of o|thers.</P>
<Q>But rather be glad that they. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>They to whom Almighty God has given &s;trength enough to be
<PB N="16" REF="167">contented with the common life, who &s;eek neither delicacies nor &s;uperfluities, ought to rejoyce in their happyne&s;s; for the more the life they lead is &s;trict and au&s;tere, the greater and &s;olider is their happyne&s;s: for &s;treight and narrow is the way which leads to eternal life. Rejoyce then you, who for the love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, can re|duce your &s;elves to live upon a little: for it kills vices, extinguish|es the ardours of concupi&s;cence, it nourishes vertues, gives &s;trength to the mind, and an elevation to the &s;oul which makes it capable of divine things.</P>
<Q>And if unto tho&s;e per&s;ons who from a &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is ju&s;t and rea&s;onable that tho&s;e who are of a higher degree should receive &s;omthing more than the re&s;t; and we at the &s;ame ti|me mu&s;t learn to &s;upport the in|firmities
<PB N="17" REF="167">of tho&s;e who have le&s;s health and &s;trength.</P>
<Q>Neither should they take it ill. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is an evil not le&s;s pernicious than dete&s;table, that the poor for|geting their fir&s;t condition should &s;eek delicacies and repo&s;e, where the rich for the love of God &s;trive to overcome them&s;elves by au&s;te|rities and ab&s;tinence.</P>
<Q>As 'tis nece&s;&s;ary &s;ick per|&s;ons should. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>When without exception of per|&s;ons, we render nece&s;&s;ary a&s;&s;i&s;tan|ces to our neighbour, we pro|cure the kingdome of heaven for our &s;elves; for th&ocirc; our good works are pa&s;&s;ing as well as their nece&s;|&s;ities, yet the reward of them will la&s;t for eternity: and if we would have the love of God in our &s;elves, we mu&s;t be charitable
<PB N="18" REF="168">to our neighbours: for we may be &s;ure that when we are &s;o, we render our &s;ervices not to them, but to Je&s;us Chri&s;t him&s;elf.</P>
<Q>But as Soon as they have recover'd. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is a happy cu&s;tome, continu|ally to cut off the carnall de&s;ires which fight again&s;t the &s;oul: 't is a happy cu&s;tome to ab&s;tain from, and willingly deprive our &s;elves of the u&s;e of many things: again I &s;ay, 't is a happy cu&s;tome to cha&s;ti&s;e ones body, and bring it into &s;ub|jection.</P>
<Q>Which be&s;t becomes the &s;ervants. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>There are none who can keep them&s;elves firm enough to bear the a&s;&s;aults of the interiour war, if they have not fir&s;t overthrown the carnal and dome&s;tick enemy which is in them&s;elves. I mean the
<PB N="19" REF="168">inordinate appetite of eating and drinking; becau&s;e if we don't be|gin by the utter de&s;truction of the ob&s;tacles which are neare&s;t to us, it will be ever in vain to under|take tho&s;e which are furthe&s;t off. Nay th&ocirc; we should &s;omtimes do brave actions, yet being &s;ubject to the &s;en&s;uality of &s;o ba&s;e and unworthy a plea&s;ure, we should lo&s;e the fruit of our generous deeds, and choak up the great vertues we have endeavour'd to produce. Let us then content our &s;elves with food nece&s;&s;ary to maintain life, and not &s;eek what &s;en&s;uality de&s;ires to flatter its delicacy.</P>
<Q>Let every one think her &s;elf mo&s;t. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Tho&s;e who know how to mo|derate them&s;elves in the u&s;e of terrene things, are enrich'd with heavenly ble&s;&s;ings; and get trea|&s;ures of graces which recompen&s;e them a hundred fold.</P>
<PB N="20" REF="169">
<Q>For tis better to need le&s;s. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is better to &s;uffer the want of &s;omething for the love of God, than to have an abundance which gives us beyond what is nece&s;&s;ary; for the poverty which makes us want &s;omething thereby to be con|formable to Je&s;us Chri&s;t, produces humility in us, which is the &s;ource of all good: whereas abundance brings forth pride, which is the begining of all evil. Now the lea&s;t that a &s;ervant of God can do, to tend to this holy di&s;po&s;ition, is, to wish to be wor&s;e accomodated even in food and cloathing, than nece&s;&s;ity requires.</P>
<Q>You shall not be particular in your habit &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Let us endeavour to plea&s;e our Lord by our actions, and not by our dre&s;s, adorning our &s;ouls with the &s;piritual ornaments of cha&s;tity,
<PB N="21" REF="169">humility, meekne&s;s, obedience, patience, and charity, for tho&s;e are the gems which make our &s;ouls amiable to the king of heaven.</P>
<Q>In all your behaviour there mu&s;t appear nothing &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Let us &s;o behave our &s;elves that our profe&s;&s;ion may be &s;een by our works, which will be when we have purity in our hearts, mode&s;ty in our countenances, gravity in our gate, circum&s;pection in our po&s;tures, maturity in our ge&s;tu|res, the &s;pirit of religion in the air of our dre&s;s; &s;o that our &s;ancti|ty may shine on all fides, decen|cy regulate us in all things, and humility never for&s;ake any of our actions.</P>
<Q>If you chance to ca&s;t your eyes, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>An evil look is &s;ufficient to ex|cite an ill de&s;ire &s;o they that de|&s;ire
<PB N="22" REF="170">to be faithfull to Almighty God, and to be carefull not to offend that &s;overigne Ma&s;ter and dreadfull judge, mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily repre&s;s the liberty of their eyes: for it is impo&s;&s;ible to overcome a vice entirely, if we do not avoid, not only what is the cau&s;e of it, but al&s;o that which breeds the oc|ca&s;ion of it.</P>
<Q>Becau&s;e not only by deeds but al&s;o, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The di&s;orders and &s;en&s;ible irre|gularities of concupi&s;cence, are not only excited by that &s;ecret bent to evil which is conceal'd in the heart, but they al&s;o often take their ri&s;e from looks which is &s;omething ex|teriour.</P>
<Q>And if it should happen that the evil inclination of the heart. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>We mu&s;t correct the lea&s;t faults
<PB N="23" REF="170">again&s;t cha&s;titity as &s;oon as they fir&s;t peep out; for if we make a cu&s;tome to &s;uffer them either upon our own con&s;cience, or on tho&s;e of the per&s;ons under our charge, the lea&s;t evils &s;o neglected will &s;oon grow to great crimes, which will provoke the wrath of God.</P>
<Q>But put the ca&s;e she is not di&s;cover'd. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>In all the faults we commit ei|ther by thought, word, or deed, let us fear with a religious fear, the eyes of that dreadful judge before whom we are to appear; for th&ocirc; we may &s;ometimes hide our faults from the eyes of men, yet all is naked and open to the &s;ight of God. Let us avoid all &s;in wihout di&s;tinction of great and little, there being none which can e&s;cape ju&s;t vengeance, if not ex|piated in this life.</P>
<PB N="24" REF="171">
<Q>A religions per&s;on then ought to fear. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>If the love of God is not &s;trong enough to di&s;engage us from our evil inclinations, let his fear at lea&s;t keep us in. And if the joys of heaven have not charmes enough to invite us, let the torments of hell imprint a whol&s;ome fear in our hearts. If you would open your heart to the fear of God, reflect often that he &s;ees all things, and has an indefatigable attention upon you; &s;o in all your actions, in all your words, in all your af|faires, think of that divine eye which never &s;leeps, and you will fear to do any thing which may di&s;plea&s;e &s;o dreadful a Maje&s;ty, be|fore whom the Angels tremble. <HI>The begining of wi&s;dome is the fear of our Lord.</HI></P>
<PB N="25" REF="171">
<Q>When&s;oever therefore, you are together, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Cha&s;tity is a vertue, the excel|lency and beauty of which &s;urpa&s;&s;es all that man's eloquence can ex|pre&s;s; we mu&s;t then u&s;e an inde|fatigable vigilance to render our li|ves &s;uch with one another, that we may always pre&s;erve it mo&s;t pure; for if we lo&s;e it, all is lo&s;t with it; and in lo&s;ing our God we al&s;o lo&s;e our &s;elves. Yet no body can con&s;erve it, either in him&s;elf or in others without the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Almighty God. Therefore we ought to be &s;o faithful to the prac|tice of his commandments, that we may abide in him, and he in us; and &s;o per&s;evere till death in ju&s;tice and cha&s;tity, by the Almigh|ty &s;uccours of him who being God liveth, and reigneth, world with|out end, Amen.</P>
<PB N="26" REF="172">
<Q>And if you perceive in any of your companions. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>If we are engaged in the con|duct of others, we ought to u&s;e all po&s;&s;ible care to di&s;cover faults, and to correct them; for if we do not in this world apply a remedy to them, we shall &s;uffer for it in the next. Wonder not therefore if tho&s;e who are obliged to reprehend faults, think it their duty &s;ometimes to be importune: for that importunity is not an effect of anger, but a di&s;|pen&s;ation of charity.</P>
<Q>Neither ought you to think your &s;elves malicious. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>They are truly excited with the &s;pirit of charity and mercy who con|ceal not the &s;piritual wounds of their neighbour by their &s;ilence, &s;ince one cannot do a greater act of mercy to a mi&s;erable creature, than to &s;ave his life when he is upon the
<PB N="27" REF="172">point of lo&s;ing it: and doubtle&s;s they that do &s;o will receive an am|ple reward of the Almighty who has &s;aid, <HI>ble&s;&s;ed are the mercyfull. &amp;c.</HI></P>
<Q>But if she denys the fact. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>They that will not amend for a mild reprehen&s;ion, ought to be cha|&s;ti&s;ed with more &s;everity; for the art of curing &s;ouls re&s;embles that of cu|ring bodies; &s;ince in each the shar|pe&s;t remedies mu&s;t be apply'd how|ever painful they are, when the wounds cannot be healed by more gentle fomentations.</P>
<Q>And in ca&s;e she refu&s;es the penance. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is better that &s;evere condem|nation should fall upon one crimi|nal to &s;ave many per&s;ons, than to put the &s;alvation of a whole com|munity in danger by tolerating the ill example of one only.</P>
<PB N="28" REF="173">
<Q>The &s;ame method I here pre&s;cribe.</Q>
<P>We mu&s;t in &s;uch &s;ort love our neighbour, as not to love their vi|ces; for there is a great deal of dif|ference to be made between what they are, and what they do: in short we mu&s;t love them becau&s;e they are the work of God, and hate their errours becau&s;e they are &s;ins. Let us remember that we are all &s;inners, and by our frailty capable of falling into all &s;orts of exce&s;s, and therefore we mu&s;t reprehend as the rule ordains, with gentlene&s;s and charity towards the guilty, when we exert an exteriour zeal, and e|ven hatred again&s;t the crime; for in reality we ought always to hate the one, and never cea&s;e to love the other.</P>
<Q>But if any one should yield &s;o far to evil.</Q>
<P>Our holy father calls a <HI>great evil.</HI>
<PB N="29" REF="173">The fault of the religious who re|ceive any thing without their &s;upe|riour's knowledge; becau&s;e &s;o to hide what one receives, or has re|ceived, is to break order. And it is to commit a <HI>great evil</HI> to become prevaricator of the rules e&s;tablish'd in the order one is engaged in. Neverthele&s;s the evil which is di&s;|cover'd by the humility of a volun|tary confe&s;&s;ion, becomes le&s;s, and more pardonable.</P>
<Q>But if she be taken in the fault, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>They who conceal the evil they have done, &s;in in a grieveous and mortal manner, encrea&s;ing by their &s;ilence what they should have di|minish'd by confe&s;&s;ing it. Pure and holy love &s;ays S. Jerome, knows nothing of tho&s;e <HI>billet doux</HI> which are reciprocally written and &s;ent in &s;ecret; it is not maintain'd by little pre&s;ents, and tho&s;e that are plea&s;ed
<PB N="30" REF="174">with &s;uch trifles, the more &s;atisfac|tion they find in them, the more they reject the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of that which is truly great and high. We therefore who have the double o|bligation, of living holily for our &s;elves, and of giving others edify|ing example, let us look upon fooleries as unworthy of us.</P>
<Q>Your cloathes shall be kept, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>One rea&s;on why our holy father will have our habit put in common, is for fear any should think they po&s;|&s;e&s;s'd as their own the very habit they wear, if they were permitted to keep them in a particular place.</P>
<Q>Moreover you mu&s;t as much as po&s;&s;ible, not concern. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>They that perfectly love God, and duely renounce the de&s;ires of the flesh, cut off many things from their own u&s;e, as &s;uperfluous, which
<PB N="31" REF="174">in another di&s;po&s;ition would &s;eem to them, of an inevitable nece&s;&s;ity. Let us then exerci&s;e our &s;elves in loving Almighty God with all our heart, and endeavour by the &s;trength of that love to be content with the nece&s;&s;ary, and to retrench the &s;u|perfluous: &s;o that if on the one &s;ide charity allows us what we want, &s;en&s;uality on the other, may not make us ask what we do not &s;tand in need of. Charity ought to be our guide in all things, and she &s;eeks not her own intere&s;t, she preferrs the common good before private conveniency; she makes one love to be little and and abject in the hou&s;e of our Lord: and experience teackes us that tho&s;e who po&s;&s;e&s;s that vertue in a perfect degree, are &s;o far from granting them&s;elves &s;u|perfluities, that they even find re|trenchments to be made, in what is thought nece&s;&s;ary.</P>
<PB N="32" REF="175">
<Q>But if here upon, contentions or murmurings ari&s;e. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The habit of our &s;oul is the grace of God when it environs her: it is the pre&s;ence of the holy Gho&s;t when he abides in her: and one may &s;ay that our heart is perfectly and richly clad, when it has peace, charity, goodne&s;s, humility, patience, con|cord, meekne&s;s. &amp;c. But if we be|gin to have di&s;putes, to grumble, and quarell, our &s;oul is pre&s;ently left in a shamefull nakedne&s;s: for vertue and vice cannot dwell together in the &s;ame heart; wherefore there's not &s;elf intere&s;t which we ought not to &s;acrifice, nor no care which we are not obliged to take, in order to avoid di&s;putes and quarrels; and the mo&s;t efficacious means to do &s;o, is to think our &s;elves inferiour to all, and to &s;eek rather the intere&s;t of others than our own. Humility and charity have the property not only
<PB N="33" REF="175">never to excite any difference, but even to reunite and reconcile tho&s;e who are at odds.</P>
<Q>And this is to be ob&s;erved to the end that no body may work any, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>We cannot take a more excel|lent model of charity in all things, than our Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t, &s;ince he him&s;elf has commanded us to do what he has done: if then his Divine Maje&s;ty, th&ocirc; he was Ma&s;ter and Lord, &s;ought not his own, would it not be a great evil among us, if any work'd for her &s;elf? And if Je&s;us prefer'd the common good of men before his own, ought we not to apply our &s;elves to the com|mon work with more fervour and joy than if it was our own in par|ticular?</P>
<Q>Wherefore you mu&s;t know that the more you take care, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Charity is the Mother of good
<PB N="34" REF="176">works, the root of vertue, the &s;ource of all good. And they make great progre&s;s in charity who excited by the love of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, contemn all wordly things, are not moved with the lea&s;t de&s;ire to re&s;erve the &s;malle&s;t part of them; and who put all they have into the common ma&s;s to be di&s;tributed among their com|panions. Such walk I &s;ay, and run in that mo&s;t high and excellent way, who treading under foot all terrene greatne&s;s and beauty, have their hearts already in heaven, and only &s;igh for the eternal ble&s;&s;ings. When the rule &s;ays, <HI>becau&s;e charity which is permanent, thus is prefer'd before tho&s;e tran&s;itory things &amp;c.</HI> it means, that in all our works and actions, the love of God and our neighbour ought to be our rule; and that in all the cour&s;e of our life charity should ever enlighten us, always animitate us, and always guide us: becau&s;e the fulfilling of the&s;e two
<PB N="35" REF="176">precepts contains all that is written in the law, and in the Prophets.</P>
<Q>Wherefore if any per&s;on either man &amp;c.</Q>
<P>In the life we have embraced it is not allowable to receive any thing in &s;ecret, nor to po&s;&s;e&s;s it in pro|priety; and there is no better way to extinguish avarice, than to cut of all &s;uperfluity: nor no more cer|tain way to bring our charity to a high perfection, than to keep our &s;elves within the bounds of holy po|verty: becau&s;e not having the po|wer to retain earthly goods, the foul which cannot be without &s;ome object to occupy it, is forced to re|plenish it &s;elf, with the heavenly ble&s;&s;ings.</P>
<Q>And if any per&s;on hides what is &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Theft is placed in the rank of great crimes, even the canons have &s;o determin'd it; and in reality the religious per&s;on who hides and
<PB N="36" REF="177">keeps &s;ecret what has been given him, holds the place in the church that the traytor Judas had in the company of the Apo&s;tles. The fruits of avarice being then &s;o fatal and &s;o mortal, let per&s;ons con&s;ecrated to God, renounce all de&s;ires of hoard|ing up temporal things; and let them never keep any thing in &s;ecret that has been given them, for fear of committing a dete&s;table &s;in by yeil|ding to the &s;ugge&s;tions of the devil.</P>
<Q>Your cloathes shall be wash'd at a. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The more one washes and clean|&s;es the exteriour by a motive of vain glory, the more one &s;ully's and dirty's the interiour. It is not the beauty of the habit, but innocence of manners, that adorns the religi|ous per&s;on; and tho&s;e who have &s;o great a de&s;ire of that exteriour beau|ty which plea&s;es the world, are not moved with the de&s;ire of that inte|riour beauty which is &s;o plea&s;ing to
<PB N="37" REF="177">God. But for fear that any one, should advance the&s;e maximes be|yond their due &s;en&s;e there follows in the Rule.</P>
<Q>Baths al&s;o for the body, when need is. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>For that which is nece&s;&s;ary ought to be con&s;ider'd, as being profita|ble, and having a good end; but that which proceeds from &s;en&s;uality is always a vice and cannot be re|ferr'd to God.</P>
<Q>But let all be done without murmuring, &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Our holy father by a &s;pirit of wi&s;|dome ordains that in nece&s;&s;ity, e|ven tho&s;e who are not willing, be con&s;train'd to take &s;olaces, and that tho&s;e who &s;eek them meerly to plea&s;e &s;en&s;uality, be hinder'd from them. For 't is a general rule that one mu&s;t yeld to nece&s;&s;ity, and not obey &s;en|&s;uality, which we ought to mi&s;tru&s;t
<PB N="38" REF="178">always as a deceitful enemy which &s;o di&s;gui&s;es things that it repre&s;ents as good and profitable, things that are in them&s;elves hurtful, and &s;o|metimes mortal.</P>
<Q>For &s;ometimes one thinks that which is plea&s;ing, good for health. &amp;c.</Q>
<P>We mu&s;t curb the irregularities of the flesh, by the prudent &s;eve|rity of the &s;pirit. There are &s;ome people who let them&s;elves be car|ry'd away by the rigour of the &s;pi|rit, and others who abandon them|&s;elves to the delicacy of the flesh, by the exce&s;&s;ive care they take of it, and each of the&s;e ought to be corrected.</P>
<Q>Notwith&s;tanding, if any one has &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is very rea&s;onable, that tho&s;e should be believed who&s;e good manners, and holy life bear witne&s;s
<PB N="39" REF="178">that they are &s;ervants of God; for it is not &s;o much from the mouth of tho&s;e who &s;peak to us, as from their manner of life that the know|ledge of the truth is found out. They who truly &s;erve God, fear to offend him not only by their deeds, but al&s;o by their words, which ought to make us lead our life in &s;uch a manner that our words may be believed without dif|ficulty.</P>
<Q>And if it be uncertain whe|ther that &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Th&ocirc; we ought to believe tho&s;e &s;ick per&s;ons who&s;e vertue we are acquainted with, yet we mu&s;t not therefore pre&s;ently grant them all they de&s;ire; for infirmity &s;ome|times makes one de&s;ire what is con|trary to ones recovery: and the ju&s;t them&s;elves are &s;ometimes tempt|ed with evil de&s;ires. Wherefore in uncertain ca&s;es it is nece&s;&s;ary
<PB N="40" REF="179">to con&s;ult the Phy&s;ician, that is to &s;ay, a per&s;on who can decide the matter.</P>
<Q>But if it be judged nece&s;&s;ary that &s;uch per&s;ons should go to the bath &amp;c.</Q>
<P>A good con&s;cience is &s;ufficient for our &s;elves, but for others we mu&s;t al&s;o have an irreproachable reputa|tion, which diffu&s;es the &s;weet ardour of Je&s;us Chri&s;t on all &s;ides. They who neglect their reputation, are cruel and inju&s;t to their neighbours whom they deprive of their due, e&s;pecially if it be a per&s;on of note. Therefore we mu&s;t go two and two together, to give authority to our reputation by the &s;ub&s;tantial witne&s;|&s;es of the innocency of our lives. <HI>And with whom the &s;uperiour appoints,</HI> that she may be vigilant for the &s;e|curity of the per&s;ons she mu&s;t an|&s;wer for, and that we may practi|ce the vertue of obedience.</P>
<PB N="41" REF="179">
<Q>The care of the &s;ick who either are &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The &s;tronge&s;t ought to bear the weakne&s;&s;es of the infirm, and not contemn the &s;ick for the di&s;gui&s;t there is in &s;erving them. For thus is practiced that all divine vertue <HI>charity,</HI> and the law of Je&s;us Chri&s;t fulfill'd, which is a law of love. The office of love is to bear one another's burdens; and the different infirmities which happen &s;ometimes to one, &s;ometimes to another, of|fer us the occa&s;ions of performing the &s;ame. But on the other &s;ide, let the &s;ick reflect, that it is thr&ocirc; charity they are &s;o carefully tended; and let them avoid as much as may be, to afflict and overcharge tho&s;e who &s;erve them. Let them on the contrary take care to humble them|&s;elves, and give thanks to God for the charity they receive; for fear the &s;ickne&s;s which was &s;ent them
<PB N="42" REF="180">to purifie their &s;ouls should &s;erve only to make them fall into more con&s;iderable faults.</P>
<Q>And &s;uch as are officers of the Cellary &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Let tho&s;e to whom offices are comitted, behave them&s;elves in &s;uch a manner, and &s;erve their &s;i&s;ters with &s;o much charity, that they may not offend Almighty God in the performance of them; either by murmuring or by moving others to impatience at their carele&s;&s;ne&s;s.</P>
<Q>The books shall be ask'd at a certain &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Here we learn to di&s;tinguish the times for prayer, reading, and work; for the&s;e are three exerci&s;es which the Rule appoints us as nece&s;&s;ary to our &s;alvation. Prayer becau&s;e it purify's us; reading, becau&s;e it in|&s;tructs us; and work, becau&s;e it is al&s;o a particular &s;ource of happy|ne&s;s.
<PB N="43" REF="180">Our holy father by ordering us to ask the books daily, shews that he intends we should read of|ten, from which we gain mo&s;t con|&s;iderable advantages: but we mu&s;t remark that to give this exerci&s;e its due profit, we mu&s;t not when we leave it, pa&s;s to idlene&s;s, but to work; for idlene&s;s is the &s;oul's foe, and the ancient enemy of man|kind ea&s;ily enclines tho&s;e per&s;ons to vice whom he finds idle.</P>
<Q>But as for your habit or shoes &amp;c.</Q>
<P>This has been already &s;ayd, that tho&s;e who have offices, mu&s;t force them&s;elves to &s;erve their &s;i&s;ters mild|ly for the love of God; and give them in proper times the things they want; without complaint, ill humour, or delay; but in an obli|ging, chearful manner. And let tho&s;e take care to whom nece&s;&s;aries are given, not to ask with too great
<PB N="44" REF="181">importunity any thing that is not &s;uitable to their &s;tate; for all the &s;uperfluities they shall thus have, will become &s;ubjects of death to them. Be&s;ides how can we pretend to be the poor of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, or expiate our &s;ins, if we do not pa|tiently &s;uffer &s;ome want, and re|trench the u&s;e of things permitted proportionably to our pa&s;t irregu|larities?</P>
<Q>Let there be no contention among you &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The vices encrea&s;e by little and little, for when we will not hinder our tongue from many unprofitable words, we come at la&s;t to utter &s;uch as are entirely evil; for &s;ome|times we pa&s;s to murmurings, &s;o|metimes to declarations, &s;ometimes to conte&s;tations and quarrels, which begining by a little anger, leads us in fine to formal hatreds. Where|fore to avoid &s;o great an evil, we
<PB N="45" REF="181">mu&s;t &s;trive to re&s;i&s;t the fir&s;t motions of anger however ju&s;t and rea&s;ona|ble they &s;eem to us, and recover our fir&s;t &s;erenity as &s;oon as po&s;&s;ible.</P>
<Q>Who&s;oever should offend a|nother by injurious language &amp;c.</Q>
<P>As a per&s;on who has thus offen|ded another, has committed a great fault, &s;o she ought to do a great penance for it, and ask pardon with all her heart, a &s;incere regret, and profound humility, of the party of|fended; who ought to forgive it without reproaches or di&s;putes. A Chri&s;tian who is long before he will be reconciled to his brother, is al&s;o long before he can appea&s;e Almighty God in his own regard; and it is in vain for him to &s;eek the favour of his creator, after having offended him, if he neglects to appea&s;e his neighbour &s;peedily, whom he has offended.</P>
<PB N="46" REF="182">
<Q>But in ca&s;e both have offen|ded each other &amp;c.</Q>
<P>If we do not pardon the inju&s;ti|ces that have been done us: when we &s;ay to Almighty God, <HI>forgive us our debts, &amp;c.</HI> that conditional pray|er convicts us as criminal, and turns to our own damage; it pro|vokes the wrath of God again&s;t us, and in&s;tead of being to us a &s;ource of &s;alvation, it becomes the cau&s;e of our perdition.</P>
<Q>But a per&s;on that is often tempted to anger &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Anger effaces the image of God in us, it makes us go out of the ways of Ju&s;tice; it cau&s;es us to lo&s;e all the benedictions and advantages of living in a community, and in fine, renders us unworthy the com|merce of men. We are &s;o proud that if we have any difference with any one, we blush to make the
<PB N="47" REF="182">fir&s;t &s;atisfaction, we cannot re&s;olve to make the fir&s;t &s;teps, th&ocirc; we would willingly be reconciled. That we may get out of &s;o hurtful a di&s;po|&s;ition, let us think of what Je&s;us, our head and our king, has done for us: let the con&s;ideration of his charity, di&s;cover to us the great|ne&s;s of our malice; and let his exam|ple both confound and edifie us.</P>
<Q>She that will not forgive her &s;i&s;ter &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Je&s;us Chri&s;t wills, and ordains, that he who comes to offer at his altar, if he is at odds with his brother, leave there his offring, and go to be reconciled with him, whom he has left in bitterne&s;s; to teach us that if at the very time when the worship of God, and the mini&s;try of his &s;acrifice requires our pre&s;ence, he will not have us de|ferr to perform the duty of recon|ciliation, we are certainly more o|bliged
<PB N="48" REF="183">to it at all other times.</P>
<P>If Almighty God punishes cho|lerick per&s;ons, and tho&s;e who re|tain the remembrance of injuries, he will doubtle&s;s cha&s;ti&s;e tho&s;e, who having been the cau&s;e of their fall, will not take one &s;tep to help them up again, that is, to appea&s;e them by a ju&s;t &s;atisfaction. They will get no advantage by being in the Mo|na&s;tery who will not ask forgivene&s;s at all; and 'tis in vain for their &s;al|vation that they are mingled in the &s;ociety of many others, &s;ince they are not in a condition, neither to appea&s;e the wrath of God by their &s;acrifices, nor to advance in per|fection by good works.</P>
<Q>Beware therefore of hard words. &amp;c.</Q>
<P><HI>A Soft an&s;wer breaks anger, and a hard word rai&s;es up fury. A mild word multiply's friends and appea&s;es enemies.</HI> The&s;e are the maxims of wi&s;dome,
<PB N="49" REF="183">and ought to be the rule of tho&s;e who would get the perfection of &s;anctity.</P>
<Q>However if they should chance to e&s;cape your mouth &amp;c.</Q>
<P>In &s;uch ca&s;es we mu&s;t pre&s;ently make &s;atisfaction by mild and obli|ging words oppo&s;ite to the hard ones, which perhaps we utter'd by &s;urpri&s;e, or by frailty; to the end that the di&s;turbance and wound we had cau&s;ed, may be cured by the remedy of an humble acknowledge|ment. And if the &s;ervants of God are obliged to &s;et a vigilant guard over their mouths at all times, that is &s;till more nece&s;&s;ary when they are attack'd by injuries, or defamed by calumnies.</P>
<Q>There mu&s;t not be any &s;en|&s;ual love &amp;c.</Q>
<P>There's great difference between
<PB N="50" REF="184">the love which is framed as it were in the bo&s;ome of nature, and cha|rity which &s;prings from the obe|dience we owe to God's command|ments. Tho&s;e who love their neigh|bour for natural rea&s;ons, will not on that account obtain the heaven|ly rewards promi&s;ed to tho&s;e who love thr&ocirc; a principle of charity. It is charity only, which makes us di&s;ciples of Je&s;us Chri&s;t; and that vertue has two characters which di&s;tinguishes it from carnal love. The <HI>fir&s;t</HI> is to love our friends in God, and the <HI>&s;econd</HI> to love our enemies for God; and we may truly &s;ay we love our enemies when we have no grief for their pro&s;perity, nor joy in their adver&s;ity.</P>
<Q>&V;nto your &s;uperiour, as unto a Mother &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Obedience is a vertue which pro|duces all other vertues in the &s;oul, and having produced them, she is
<PB N="51" REF="184">the faithfull Guardian of them. O|bedience is better than &s;acrifice. The obedient man gains victories over him&s;elf, which is the greate&s;t of conque&s;ts. We ought to per&s;e|vere in the vertue of obedience even till death. Obedience mu&s;t never move us to do ill, but &s;ometimes for the &s;ake of it, we ought to inter|rupt the good we are about. But becau&s;e it may happen that what is ordain'd us by obedience, has no|thing di&s;plea&s;ing in it; that we may not lo&s;e the merit of &s;o great a vertue in the like occa&s;ions, it is expedient to know that obedience ought to have &s;omething of us, in what is di&s;gu&s;tful to &s;en&s;uality, and on the contrary it mu&s;t have no|thing at all of us, in what is agrea|ble to &s;en&s;e: to the end that the obedient man may get &s;o much the more glory in adver&s;ity as he wil|lingly &s;ubmits to it for the love of God; and that in pro&s;perity he may remain as much more humble, and
<PB N="52" REF="185">by con&s;equence shelter'd from all danger, as he only yields by a per|fect &s;ubmi&s;&s;ion to the will of God, which has rai&s;ed him to &s;ome ho|norable po&s;t, the glory of which he never &s;ought for.</P>
<P>Obedience is an ornament which accompany's and &s;ets off the beau|ty of innocent &s;ouls; it is the cha|racter that Je&s;us gave of his sheep: but the obedience which that di|vine redeemer requires, always includes innocence of life, and they will never pa&s;s for innocent in the &s;ight of God, who refu&s;e to obey tho&s;e he has given them for &s;u|periours.</P>
<Q>Wherefore to the end all the&s;e things. &amp;c</Q>
<P>The&s;e ob&s;ervances of regularity have been &s;et down, to the end they may be all put in practice; if then any of them be not well ob&s;erved, the fault mu&s;t be reme|dy'd
<PB N="53" REF="185">as &s;oon as po&s;&s;ible: for &s;ince we have vow'd to keep them exact|ly, and &s;worne to conform our lives to them, we cannot neglect them, but at the peil of our &s;ouls.</P>
<Q>She who is your &s;uperiour mu&s;t not &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The true Pa&s;tors are tho&s;e who in high dignities have no joy but in rendering to others all the &s;er|vices and &s;uccours they are capa|ble of: who delight not in the ho|nour, but in the charge: who af|fect not power, but love charity: who &s;eek not to be &s;erved, but to &s;erve.</P>
<Q>She shall be re&s;pected and honour'd in the exteriour.</Q>
<P>But th&ocirc; on their &s;ide the cha|rity they have in heart &s;o deba|&s;es them, yet the authority of their charge should move the re&s;|pect of tho&s;e who are under their
<PB N="54" REF="186">obedience; for &s;uperiours hold the place of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<Q>But in the &s;ight of God she shall lye &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The more &s;uperiours are exal|ted exteriourly, the more they ought to fear at the bottom of their &s;ouls; and conceive a real contempt of them&s;elves, con&s;ide|ring as their betters tho&s;e who pay them &s;uch great honours.</P>
<Q>She shall make her &s;elf a pattern &amp;c.</Q>
<P>As &s;uperiours are above all in honour and dignity, &s;o they ought to &s;urpa&s;s all in &s;anctity; to the end that their &s;ubjects may learn by their manner of life, as in an excellent book, how they ought to regulate theirs.</P>
<PB N="55" REF="186">
<Q>&V;nquiet and bu&s;y per&s;ons she mu&s;t correct &amp;c.</Q>
<P>They are obliged to con&s;ider carefully, what are the manners and di&s;po&s;itons of each, that they may know how to deal according|ly with them.</P>
<Q>Let her willingly accept a correction &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Superiours ought at once to in|&s;pire a re&s;pectful fear, and have a compa&s;&s;ionate love; they mu&s;t make them&s;elves be fear'd by the proud and rebellious', but exert a tender love to tho&s;e who &s;erve God willingly, and live in piety and humility: and when &s;uperiours live conformably to what they or|dain, then they are fit to impo&s;e upon others the nece&s;&s;ity of living according to the rule.</P>
<PB N="56" REF="187">
<Q>Therefore you should be more tractable &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Inferiours ought in all occa&s;ions to pay a perfect obedience to their &s;uperiours, whom they &s;ee op|pre&s;t with labours for love of them: in which they have compa&s;&s;ion of them&s;elves becau&s;e they practice that which is written: <HI>have mercy on thine own &s;oul, plea&s;ing God.</HI> And they have compa&s;&s;ion of their &s;uperious, becau&s;e by obeying their orders they ea&s;e them of the bur|ben they are charged with.</P>
<Q>Our Lord grant that you, as affecting &amp;c.</Q>
<P>Nothing could be more proper after the reading of the&s;e rules, than the addition of this prayer. And as often as we leave reading, or the divine office &amp;c. we should have recour&s;e to prayer, to the end that the vertue and efficacy
<PB N="57" REF="187">of the word of God may remain in our hearts, and bring forth &s;pi|ritual fruits in our actions.</P>
<Q>As affecting &s;piritual beauty &amp;c.</Q>
<P>It is with rea&s;on that the rule is thus expre&s;s'd here; for we can never perform all the precepts of a regular life if we do not feel our &s;elves moved, and drawn to it by the charmes of the &s;piritual beauty: for no man can do good again&s;t his will, th&ocirc; the action he does be good in its &s;elf.</P>
<Q>And become odoriferous with the &amp;c.</Q>
<P>This that here is added, regards a holy life, and a good reputation; to teach us that the&s;e two things should always go together. Tho&s;e who only &s;erve God thr&ocirc; a &s;pi|rit of fear, are <HI>&s;laves under the law:</HI> But they who fulfill the com|mandments
<PB N="58" REF="188">by a motive of love, <HI>are free children under the liberty of grace.</HI></P>
<Q>But to the end that you &s;ee your &s;elves in this little book &amp;c.</Q>
<P>The reading this rule often, is recommended to us, that thereby having it well imprinted in our memory; it may come often into our mind, and appear in our ac|tions. It is with rea&s;on call'd a looking gla&s;s, becau&s;e we may u&s;e it as a faithful mirrour to con&s;ider the a&s;pect of our &s;oul; and &s;ee if we are han&s;ome or ugly, ju&s;t or unju&s;t: if we advance, or go back in the way of perfection: in fine, if we are plea&s;ing to God, or &s;o unfortunate as to di&s;plea&s;e him.</P>
<Q>And when you find that you have ob&s;erved all that is written &amp;c.</Q>
<P>We ought to render continual
<PB N="59" REF="188">thanks to the father of lights; for all excellent grace and perfect gifts de&s;cends from him: and no body will ever become happy even by Almighty God's gifts, however great they are, if they are ungrateful to their divine benefactor. For the &s;en&s;e of the&s;e words is this. Never cea&s;e to pay thanks to our Lord and our God, from who&s;e bounty and liberality, you receive all things.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
