Letters 20–25

Letter 20

Only a word, dear son, to urge candour more and more upon you, and that you avoid self-seeking, which is the cause of most of your troubles and faults. The simpler you are, the more docile and pliable you will be; and to be this eflfectually you should be so towards all who find fault with you out of charity. It is very acceptable in God's Sight when one is always willing to be blamed, despised, corrected! You are very dear to me; "I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." ' Be kindly, without pride or imperiousness, cen-

' a Cor. xi, 2. seriousness, disdain, fastidiousness, or any other token of self-conceit. Be true and frank in spite of yourself. Be stedfast in thwarting your vanity and the sensitiveness of self-love directly that God points them out to you. " Walk while ye have light, that ye may be the children of light." ' I pray that God may make you gentle, lowly, and childlike, as our manger-born Lord Jesus. Do not seek to be clever, or dogmatic, or keen to the faults of others, or sensitive and touchy, or to be thought better in appearance than you are in reality. Alas! truth is sorely belied in most that seems best in us. Refrain from all inquisitiveness which excites you, and be careful never to talk unnecessarily or ostentatiously about things which you know better than those around you.

Letter 21

You must wean yourself from the most innocent pleasures when God denies them to you. You are very near to me in Him— faith has a vision which sees dear friends better than with earthly eyes; and the true love which God kindles teaches one to embrace them in spite of distance. Suffer like one who knows the value of suffering with Jesus Christ. Take care of your health; rest both body and mmd, and take comfort with God and your true friends?n Him Love me always, and be sure that I love you, as God teaches us to love.

TO A COURTIER

Letter 22

I. How can I offer my common daily actions to God; e.g,y promenades, service at Court, visits received and paid, dressing, toilet matters, reading, history, etc., the business which comes upon me on behalf of friends and relations, amusements, shopping, and ordering equipages and the like? I want to learn how, by some kind of prayer, to offer all these things to God.

Answer. The most unimportant acts cease to be so, and become important, directly that they are done with the intention of conformity to God's Will. Indeed, they are often better and purer than what may seem more religious acts; first, because they are less self-chosen, and more according to the order of God's Providence; secondly, because they are simpler, and less exposed to self-complacency; thirdly, because if performed in moderation, and with a right intention of heart, we may find more means of self-abnegation than in actions where excitement or self have a larger part; and lastly, because these trifling matters are continually recurring, and furnish a constant opportunity for unobtrusively serving God.

We do not need great efforts, or much thought, to offer these actions which we call unimportant. The offering may be made with a momentary uplifting of the heart to God. Whatever He wills us

40 to do, and whatever belongs to the ordinary course of duties appertaining to our state in life, may, and ought to be, offered to God; nothing is unworthy of Him save what is wrong. When you feel that any given action cannot be offered to God, you may conclude that it is not suitable to a Christian; at all events, it is suspicious, and you should investigate the matter. I should not make a formal act of prayer about each separate thing; an uplifting of the heart at the moment will suf^ce. The practice must be easy and simple if it is to become habitual. As to visits, shopping, and the like, as these are liable to be pursued with self-indulgence, I should add a petition for grace to be moderate as a caution.

II. In prayer I am very inattentive: sometimes my mindwanders for a length of time, perhaps even without my finding it out for long. I want to find Some means or system by which to command attention.

Answer. Perseverance in following your rules, and in recalling your attention directly that you perceive your distraction, will gradually win the grace of greater recollection. But meanwhile endure involuntary distractions with patience and humility; you deserve nothing better. Can one wonder if recollection is difficult to a man who has long been dissipated and estranged from God.»*

II L How, when with the army, am I to offer things which are over and above regular duty, both as to fatigue and danger, such as going into the trenches without being sent, out of curiosity, or the like }

Answer. Amid the perils of war it is natural to

TO A COURTIER 4 1 reflect upon the blind fury of men, who destroy one another as though they were not already mortal enough. War is a frenzy issuing from the devil; but God nevertheless overrules it, and he performs a pious duty who goes to war not from ambition, but to defend his country. Thus God brings good out of evil. Consider, too, the worthlessness and frailness of what the world most admires. A bit of lead overthrows the most prosperous in an instant. But God guides it all; He counts the hairs of our heads, and not one falls without His express order. And while He thus deals with life, even death is not very terrible when He sends it to those that are His; it is a mercy to them, taking them speedily away from the midst of a sinful world. He crushes the body to save the soul, and give it an eternal inheritance. While a man does his duty in his post with all the intrepidity which faith inspires, I think he thereby acquires a right not to seek out useless danger beyond his providential calling. If there is any generally accepted need for all of your rank to meet danger in the trenches or elsewhere without being sent, at least I would have you not do more than what otherwise welljudging men do. Do not imitate people who pique themselves on doing more than others. It is a great stay in peril to be able to feel that God leads you into it, either in the way of duty or obvious fitness. Woe to him who is led by vanity; he runs the risk of a futile martyrdom. Do you do neither more nor less than what other brave and modest men do.

IV. Is it well to go on writing down my faults, for fear of forgetting them if left till I make my special examination for confession? I strive after penitence as much as I can, but nevertheless I have never yet felt any true sorrow for sin. When I make my nightly self-examination, though I know that many much better people are troubled because they find so much wrong, I seek and find nothing; yet it is impossible but that there should have been many things in my conduct during any day for.which I ought to ask God's forgiveness.

Answer. Your examination should be made every night, simply and briefly. With the good intentions God gives you, you will not voluntarily commit any considerable fault without remembering and accusing yourself of it. As to little scarcelyobserved faults, do not be distressed even if you forget a good many. Writing down your examination may lead to scruples; I would stop it for a month, in order to see.

As to a lively conscious sorrow for sin, this is not necessary. God gives it when He pleases. A true, thorough conversion of heart lies in a hearty will perfectly ready to sacrifice all to God. By a hearty will I mean that the will is firmly and irrevocably set to withhold nothing within its control from God, and to submit to whatever crosses we may have to bear, perhaps always, in ordor to fulfil His Will. Such unreserved renunciation and self-devotion are the most real conversion. As to conscious sorrow for sin, one may be thankful for it when it exists; when one feels the lack thereof, it is best to humble one's self quietly before God, without endeavouwng to force it, being rather content to be faithful in all things, and look to God in all.

TO A COURTIER 43

You find fewer faults in your self-examination than those who have made more progress towards perfection find, because your inner light is as yet feeble. It will grow, and in proportion your perception of shortcomings will grow too. It is enough to seek to use your present light to the utmost, without being anxious, and strive to learn by reading and meditation. You must not try to anticipate what will come with greater progress in grace, which will make plain that which overanxious search will not show you, or will show without being profitable for your correction. This would only tend to distress, discourage, exhaust you, and even to hinder you by continual distraction; the time due to the love of God would be spent on a forced self-inspection, which would really foster self-love.

V. In meditation and reading I scarce can find anything to say to God. Either my heart is not in it, or it is not to be touched by the efforts of my imagination.

Answer. There is no need to say much to God. One often does not talk much to a friend whom one is delighted to see; one enjoys looking at him, and one says some few words which are purely matter of feeling. The mind has little or nothing to do with it; one says the same thing over and over again. One does not so much seek interchange of thought as rest and communion of heart with one's friend. Even so it should be with God, Who vouchsafes to be our tenderest, most cordial, most familiar Friend. In meditation we use brief, telling arguments with ourselves in order to conviction, and with a view to practical results; and this is well But with respect to God, a word, a sigh, a thought, a feeling, says all. Nor is it needful to be always in a state of excitement and emotion; often a very dry, bare, insipid, lifeless goodwill may be most acceptable in God's Sight. After all, we must be content to offer Him His Own Gifts: a kindled heart if He kindles it, or a heart faithful and stedfast amid dryness when He denies it warmth and sensible sweetness.

It does not always depend upon you to feel, but it does always depend upon you to will. So aim only always to will aright, and leave it to God one while to quicken your feelings and rouse you, so as to sustain your early efforts in the pathway of grace, and another time to wean you from direct consolations, which are as milk to babes, the better to humble you, induce spiritual growth, and make you strong in the faith, teaching you to win your bread by the sweat of your brow. Would you only love God when He fills you with conscious delight through His Love? If so, it would be your own pleasure that you loved while fancying that you love God. That which is done without sweetness, out of mere faith and duty, is far purer and more acceptable, although it may appear less fervent and zealous. Even when receiving sensible delight with gratitude, make ready in faith for times when it may fail you, and when you might altogether fall if you were leaning solely on it. It is well to lay up a store against winter during the abundance of summer.

I am omitting to mention certain practices which

TO AK OFFICER 45 to a beginner may forward the remembrance of this offering to be made to God of the common actions of daily life: —

1. To make a resolution to that effect every morning, and give account thereof at night.

2. Only to perform such actions as are fitting, due to your position in life, or necessary as recreation. In this way, by cutting off what is useless, you will learn to offer to God that which it is not desirable to retrench.

3. To make some such offering up of the heart when you hear the clock strike.

4. To renew such a mental attitude whenever you are alone, so as to be more likely to recall it when in society.

5. Whenever you catch yourself in excessive unrecollection, want of due reserve, or too free speech concerning others, recollect yourself, and offer to God whatever you mean to do in amends.

6. Look confidently to God, and ask that you may act according to His Will when you go into society, or engage. in any pursuit which exposes you to commit faults. The prospect of danger should warn you of the need to lift up your heart to Him Who alone can preserve you.

Letter 23

Beware of taking passages of Holy Scripture for meditation at random, it is tempting God to do so; for although all Holy Scripture is "given for in* struction," all facts are not equally calculated to supply direct and definite teaching, nor are all equally adapted to the requirements and needs of individuals. Therefore select such portions as are most suitable to your circumstances, and to the correction of your faults. Choose what will rouse watchfulness, trust in God, vigour in self-mastery, faithful performance of your appointed duties. You should add to this meditation some spiritual reading at another hour. S. Francis de Sales would instruct you, help you in detail, supply exercisies, and teach you that free, hearty love which enables us to serve God cheerfully.

The Greatness and Goodness of God should be a frequent subject of your meditation; but you should not try to meditate without taking some special words, in order to Rx your mind, which has been little accustomed to abide calmly in God's Presence; you will otherwise only lose your time without strengthening your heart. You should always have a definite, plain, simple subject, on which you should reflect simply. Ask chiefly to be drawn to God through the aflections, for it is not by intellectual processes or arguments that He wins souls; it is by the quickening of the heart and the humbling of. the spirit. Do not hope to attain to a point in which your meditations will be free from distraction, — it is not possible; but try rather to make use of your distractions by bearing them with humble patience, never being discouraged. Every time you find them out, turn yourself quietly to God again. Anxiety concerning our distractions is the worst distraction of all. A short half-hour

TO AN OFFICER 47 spent in meditative reading of the Gospels in the morning, and an evening reading of S. Francis de Sales' EntreitenSy will be enough, as you have little time at command. Use the remainder of your spare time in studying history, fortification, and whatever else is useful to a man in your position. Never have an idle moment. The time in which you are doing nothing useful and good is the time in which you do most harm. Check yourself unreleritingly in all that tends to a lazy, idle, selfpleasing life. As to your actions, if they are good in themselves, reject all questioning as to the motives whence they spring, otherwise you will never have done, you will get worried, be disheartened, and while cavilling uselessly over motives you will forget to act.

You ought to resolve to lead a more active life, to see more of people in. your own position; but you must be cheerful, easy, and affable — no shyness and awkwardness. Ask God to change your shrinking, reserved manner; offer yourself to Him when you go amongst others, but do not be dreamy and absent in society because you are secretly trying to realise God's Presence. Rather do 'what He requires of you at the actual moment; that is, be kindly and courteous. Gradually the recollection of His Presence will become easier to you.

Do not show forth your piety by a gloomy, severe, constrained manner. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." ' If once you love Him with all your soul, you will almost always be cheerful and light-hearted; but if you seek Him

4 only in a Judaical spirit of fear, you will not find Him,but you will find constraint and trouble instead. Dp not omit going where others go; not merely into danger, but wherever you can show attention to your Prince.

Be a kind, obliging, frank, helpful friend; it will win others and lessen, opposition. Let it be seen that you shun the debauchery of other young men out of real religion, and boldly, not out of moodiness or affectation. Plenty of cheerfulness, discretion, courtesy; straightforward, unaffected manners; few friends, plenty of passing acquaintance; care to please the really good, and those who excel in the profession you seek to learn.

Letter 24

Your letter is all I could wish; it tells all as to the past, and promises all for the future. As to the past, there is nothing to be done save to leave it to God in humble confidence, and seek to atone for it by unremitting fidelity. People ask for penance for the past; but what penance can be greater or more wholesome than to bear present crosses patiently? It is a true reparation for past vanity when a man becomes humble, and is willing to be laid low by God; and the strictest of penances is to do God's Will instead of one's own, every day and every hour, in spite of dislikes, weariness, and repugnance. Let us then only give heed to the present, and not even let our mind wander curiously

TO ONE RECENTLY TVRNED TO GOD 4^ iiito the future. The future is not ours; perhaps it never will be. It is exposing one's self to temptation to anticipate God's dealings, and prepare for what He may not intend to send us. If such things should come to pass, He will give us light and strength according to the need. Why should we meet difficulties prematurely, without either light or power adapted to them? Rather let us give good heed to the present; a faithful performance of present duties is the best preparation for the future.

Now, as to the present time, it seems to me that you have not many things to consider. The chief matters, as it appears to me, are; —

I. I think you should give up not only all society which is likely to lead you into actual open sin, but such as may rekindle your taste for worldly vanity; or dissipate, enervate you, make you lukewarm towards God, cold in devotion, and indifferent to the counsels you so greatly need. Fortunately you are in a quiet place, where you can easily break from harmful ties and enjoy the liberty of the children of God.

II. It is not desirable, either as regards the duties of your position, or your own inner life, that you should plunge into entire solitude. Associate with people who do not excite you at the times when recreation is necessary; only avoid those who lead you to relax your rules, to dissipation, or who revive old wounds. Shun all such false friends, avoid them quietly, and raise what barriers you can between them and you.

III. You must strengthen your soul with the

Frn. S/. L.—r.\ D Word of Life; let your daily reading be both brief and prolonged — brief as to the number of words, lengthy as to the deliberation you give to it Argue little and love niuch; your heart, not your head, is wanted. Apply all that you read first to your bounden duties, and the faults you must needs correct in order to please God. Do not be afraid to put down your book when He fills your heart with devotion. You can read nothing better than S. Francis de Sales. Ever>'thing he writes is full of comfort and love, although his whole tone.is that of self-mortificatioh; it is all deep experience, simple practices, high feeling, and the lightof grace. You will have made a great step when you are familiar with such mental food.'

IV. As to meditation, you cannot go wrong with the good intentions God has given you, unless by aimipg at too much. Make it your, habit to speak.with God, not of the set thoughts you work out,but of the warm feelings with which your heart is filled. If you feel His Presence, and are kindled by His Love, tell 'Him so; thank Him for drawing a soul so unworthy of His Love. At such times of sensible sweetness you will find no difficulty in pouring out your heart But what, you will ask, are you to say in seasons of dryness, coldness, and vveariness? StiU say what rises in your heart Tell God that you cannot feel His Love, that you are empty and cold, that He wearies you,^ that His

. * Eugenie de Gu^rin adopted this precept. She.writes:—' . . . J'ai voulu lire, ^crire, prier; ... la pricre meme tne lasse. C'est triste, mon Dieu! Par bonheur je me suis souvenue de ce mot de F^nelon: * Si Dieu vous ennuie, dites-lui qu'il vows ennuie. Oh, jc Jul ai bicn dit cette soctise! " — youmal, p. 75.

TO ONE RECENTLY TURNED TO GOD 5 1

Presence does not move you, that you would fain leave Him for the idlest pleasures, that you will never be easy till you are far from Him and full of self! Only tell Him all that you know is wrong in you. Do you ask what to say to Him? Is this not subject-matter for plenty to say? While you are telling Him your troubles you are praying Him to cure them. Say, too, " O God, look upon my ingratitude, my lack of perseverance, of faith! Take my heart, for I know not how to give it Thee; keep it, for I cannot guard it for Thee. Lay upon me whatever external troubles and crosses are needful to keep me under Thy yoke. Have pity on me in spite of myself! '' Thus you see you have always enough to say to God, either of His Mercy or your need; the supply can never cease. In either case tell Him unreservedly whatever is in your mind, with the simple familiarity of a child towards its mother.

V. Occupy yourself with your daily duties: controlling expenses, watching over the welfare of your household, over your children, fulfilling the just claims of society, so as to edify all around you, without ever talking to them about religion. All this is very simple, plain, and ordinary; it may all form part of a most commonplace life, but it all tends to draw you continually closer to God, and great will be your consolation if you follow it. ^* For one day in Thy Courts is better than a thousand."'

I AM not surprised, sir, at the revulsion you feel for so many things displeasing to God. It is a natural effect of the change in your heart. You would like a quiet condition in which you could be free to attend to what you like most, and escape from all that tends to reopen your wounds; but this is not God's Will. He chooses that the things which absorbed you too much formerly should now become wearisome, and serve as a penance. So bear this cross quietly as an expiation, and wait till God shall remove it. He will do so in His Own time, not yours. All the same, keep certain seasons for yourself, when you can draw closer to God. Read, pray, mistrust your own inclinations and habits, remember that we have God's Gift in earthen vessels, and, above all, strengthen your inner life with His Love.

Even when one has lived far from Him, one need not fear to approach Him with familiar love. Talk to Him in prayer of all your weakness, your wants, your troubles, even of the weariness you feel in serving Him. You cannot speak too freely or too trustfully to him. He loves the meek and lowly, and is ever ready to talk with them. If you are of these, let alone all your cleverness and your great things; open your heart and tell Him all, then wait and listen to Him. Place yourself before Him, so that He may put His Own stamp upon you; let your whole being listen in silence for His

TO A GENTLEMAN 53

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Voice. Such silence to the outer world, to common passions, and human thoughts within, is essential if you would hear that Voice Which calls the soul to die to self and live to God in spirit and in truth.

You, sir, have great advantages in your acquirements. You have read a great deal, you know the real foundations of religion, and the weakness of all that can be set against it; but all this, which leads you to God at first, would hinder you after a time if you trust too much to your own light. The ' best and truest use of our own intellect is to mistrust and renounce it, and submit to God in simple faith. One must become as little children; there is a lowliness which is far above all greatness — happy they who find it! To argue, reason, discuss, and decide, is worth little; the thing is to love the One sole Truth and Goodness, and to abide firmly therein. Our minds will wander, but the will should be kept firm.

It is not a question of doing what is difficult; do the smallest and most ordinary actions with a heart set on God, as one who is seeking the sole aim of his being, and you may do whatever others do, sin only excepted. You will then be a kindly, cheerful, courteous, obliging friend; cheerful at such seasons and in such company as are fitting for a real Christian. You will be sober at table and everywhere else; sober in speech, in expenditure, in judgment, in your intercourse with others, in amusement, even in holy things, according to S. Paul.' The love of God teaches this universal

• *' To think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." — Rom. xii. 3. sobriety in the use even of all that is best with a most beautiful simplicity. Those who leam it are not constrained, harsh, or scrupulous, but they have a principle of love within which expands the heart and softens it, and without restraint or anxiety fills it with a sensitive care never to offend God and checks it when there is danger of going too far.

People thus minded suffer like the rest of the world from weariness, difficulties, contradictions, ill tempers, bodily inconveniences, troubles arising from within as well as from without, temptations, sometimes from discouragement and faint- heartedness; but if their crosses are common to all men their motives for endurance are very different. They know the value and virtue of the cross in Jesus Christ our Saviour; how it purifies, detaches, renews. We may see God perpetually in all things, but we never see Him so clearly or so profitably as in suffering and humiliation. The cross is God's Own Strength; the more it bruises us, the more the new man in Christ Jesus comes forth from the ruins of the old Adam.

Go on, sir, without making any external alteration, save what may be necessary either to avoid evil, or as precaution against your weakness, or to prove that you are not ashamed of the Gospel. As in all else, " let not your right hand know what your left hand doeth." Try to be calm and cheerful. If you can find some sensible. God-fearing friend, relieve your mind by talking to him of such things as he can appreciate; but be sure that God is the best Friend, and that no one comforts as He does.

TO A GENTLEMAN 55

No one understands a demi-mot like Him; no one so enters into all our troubles, and heeds all wants without being wearied by them. Let Him be to you as your second self, and soon that will supplant the first self, and lay him altogether aside.

Regulate your affairs and your expenses. Be honourable, modest, simple/ and disinterested. It is good service when a man serves from duty, not from ambition or eager hopes; such service is rendered to country, King, and to the King of kings, before Whom all visible majesty is but a shadow4 This disinterested service will atone for the pomp and passionate ambition of past campaigns. Main* tain a consistent, simple line, without affectation good or bad, but firm in what is right, and so decided that there may be no hope of dragging you back. You will get off better, and be less worried when people are convinced that you are thoroughly devoted to religion, and that you will not yield. Those who are suspected of weakness, incon* sistency, or insincerity, are sure to be beset with importunity. Put your trust, not in your own strength or resolution, nor in the best possible precautions (though these should be taken with all care and vigilance), nor even in any promises you may make, but solely in God's Goodness, Who loved you before you loved Him, even when you AveDB basely ungrateful to Him.

You must make a rule concerning some good wholesome reading suitable to your wants and likings. Read briefly, pause, and meditate, — the latter without much argument, more with the heart than the intellect, — and leave God to impress your heart with the truth you have pondered. A little food is very nourishing, when properly digested, but it should b^ slowly masticated and thoi-oughly assimilated to be really useful.