Letters 116–124

Letter 116

ta:o 0ite in CrtaU

I HEAR that God is sending you trials, and I sympathise most heartily in them. I have ever felt keenly whatever grieved you, but now experience has taught me a fresh sympathy for others' sorrows. Blessed are they that mourn! I say it both on your behalf and my own amid the present stress; blessed, too, they that mourn with a humble, meek heart! Whatever comes of God's Good Pleasure can never be too much. If we controlled our own trials, we should never suffer enough to die truly to self. God, Who knows us better than we know ourselves, and loves us infinitely better

RULING A HOUSEHOLD 221 than we love ourselves, knows just the due proportion, and will not let us be tried beyond that which we are able to bear. Love soothes all suffering, and we only suffer so intensely either because we love not at all, or too little.

God would take sole possession of you, and it is only on the Cross that He does this thoroughly.

I maintain a general silence to all my old friends, and only break it with you now, sir, because you are in trouble, and because our companionship in the Cross draws out one's sympathy and desire to comfort a fellow-sufferer.

Letter 117

dottce 80 to rultnff a l^oudefiolli.

A RIDER who frets his horse's mouth will soon make it a worthless brute. He raises the tone and feeling of his inferiors who always treats them with courtesy and dignity, and a kindly intention. If one is unable to give what is asked, one should at least let it be seen that one is sorry for it. Again, be careful to give each, according to his department, the necessary authority over his inferiors, as nothing will go on smoothly without a due subordination, to which, sometimes, other things must be sacrificed. When you perceive a servant's faults, guard against being at once set against him. Weigh his good and evil, arid be sure that you are fortunate if you find the most essential good qualities. Think how many are worse than he is, and consider how to amend his faults, which very

2 likely are the result of bad training. As to the infirmities of natural temperament, do not expect to cure them; be satisfied with softening them, and then bear patiently with all such. If you persist, in spite of experience, in trying to correct a servant cf some failing which is as the marrow of his bones, it will be less his fault for not being cured than yours for attempting the cure. Never tell people of several faults at once. You will profit them nothing, but discourage them greatly. Rather set their faults gradually before them, as you see that they have courage to bear the sight with advantage.

Talk to your servants; not merely to give orders, but with three other objects: u/, To enter kindly into their interests; 'iftd, to warn them quietly of their failings; and 3r^/, to praise them for doing well. Never let them suppose that you are alive to what is ill done, but unmindful of what they do well. Encourage them with moderate but hearty praise. Whatever faults a servant may have, you are bound to treat him well so long as he remains in your service; and if he is in a position of trust, you should let others see that you speak to him considerately, otherwise you lower him in their eyes, make him powerless in his office, and put him to great and needless annoyance. If you have servants whose good sense, discretion, honesty, and affection you can trust, give heed to them, show them all the confidence they deserve; such treatment will always win the heart of disinterested people. A courteous, kindly manner has more influence than even gifts. The act of seasoning the gift we give is more important than the thing itself

RULIXG A HOUSEHOLD 223

Never be ia debt to your servants; it is a very bondage. Far better have wealthier creditors, who can more easily wait, and are not so Hkely to take advantage of deferred payment You should give wages according to a fair standard. If you give less than other well-conditioned people in your position, your servants will be always dissatisfied, think you mean, serve you without interest, and leave you at the first opportunity.

To carry out these rules you must begin with a firm conviction that they are necessary, and accept them as in God's Sight. Then forestall the occasions on which you are likely to fail; and whenever you do fail, humble yourself before God, quietly and without giving way to fretfulness, striving to acquire strength through recollection of His Presence to do what you cannot do in your own strength.

Letter 118

ta^o Bicota? ne l^arlat He IBonneutt. 0n tl^e Deatti of \iii ^on«tn*!Lat0, tl^e ^9iX^}xii

He Creticcoeur,

I AM deeply touched at your loss, which is also great to the public, for I know how rare it is to meet with so many noble qualities in so important a position. ... I would I could be at hand to share your grief and endeavour to comfort you. But you know whence comes all true consolation in the loss of those who are dear to us. Religion can give no better comfort than in telling us that we have riot lost them, and that there is a home to which we are daily drawing nearer, in which we shkll all meet again. So let us not sorrow as those who have no hope. I am deprived of the pleasure of seeing you, but I call to mind how fast life flows away, and I hope that ere long we shall meet for ever in God. Those who die are, in respect of us, but as absent for a few years, it may be only months. Their seeming loss should tend to loosen our hold on the world, where we must lose everything, and draw us to that other world where we shall find all again. The sincere religion which guides you, sir, makes me trust that this heavy blow will be to your gain. God never strikes but in love, nor takes away save to give again. I pray Him to comfort you, to preserve your health, and to turn your heart wholly to Himself. Blessed is he who lives in faith, trusts to none save God, and uses this world as though he were already beyond it

Letter 119

There is one thing in your letter which does not please me, and that is your supposing that you need not tell me the trifles which interest you, lest I should despise or be bored with them. No indeed, I despise nothing, and I should be very despicable myself if I despised others. Every one is more or less engrossed by a number of trifles in spite of himself; virtue does not consist in being free from this tribe of futile imaginations^ but faithfulness lies in not

THE VALUE OF FRANKNESS 225 yielding to them voluntarily, and simple truthfulness requires that they be acknowledged just as they are. It is true that such things are small in thetnselves; but there is nothing so great in God's Sight as a soul humbling itself to acknowledge them regardless of self-conceit. Moreover, these trifles make one. understand a man's real disposition much better, than greater things, which are more deliberate, or what is less purely natural. A sick man tells his physician everything; he is not satisfied with merely reporting his chief symptoms. It is by a number of petty details that he can make the. doctor know his constitution thoroughly, and understand the causes of, and remedies suitable, to his disease. So do you tell me everything; and be sure that you will do no good until you are 6pen as to everything which God's light showsyou, and prpmpts you to confess.

I think you are right not to read Saint Teresa at present. You will never be so conformed to God's Good Pleasure as when renouncing all that is called cleverness, and when you treat your intellect as a woman who. forsakes the world treats her body, despising its adornment. The ornaments of the intellect are yet more deceitful and " dangerous. Read S. Francis de Sales diligently. He was above all cleverness, he would rather take it away than give it; he treats it as a malady. to be cufed t '• Blessed are the poor in spirit; " that poverty is?ilike their treasure and their wisdom. ## Letter 122

I AM rejoiced at the simplicity with which you have opened your heart's trouble to me. God will bless this effort; it is of His pure Grace. These violent emotions of jealousy are involuntary; your exceeding distress proves it. If your jealousy were less in contradiction to your will, it would be far less painful to you. You are, in fact, only too strenuous in your efforts to reject it. Your struggles, which you carry to excess, are overwhelming both body and mind, and your eagerness to reject the temptation by decided acts withers you up, and hinders God's Grace, which would have you recollected and at peace. How I wish that I could t)nly induce you to bear the temptation without consenting to it; your bodily health and your inward peace would then be restored! I believe that you give way rather too much to certain vexatious thoughts, though even then it is only an infirmity of the imagination; but as to the actual passion of jealousy, you only endure it with horror, so there is no sin in that.

Temptation and involuntary emotions should never keep you from Communion. I beseech yoii to communicate in the Name of Him Who will be your peace when you have received Him in pure faith and blind obedience. ' God knows the real injury you would do yourself in depriving your soul of its daily bread on account of an imaginary evil in which your will has no share, but which it rather

ON CONVERSION 229* rejects with excessive eagerness and sensitiveness^ I hope that the Bread of Life will heal all the sores of your heart. It is required that a man be free from mortal sin to receive it rightly, but not free from all imperfection. It is the Bread which makes what is small to wax large, which strengthens the weak and heals the sick. The sacrifice of your anxiety, and all the self-consuming of your own heart, will profit you more than all the restless, excited acts with which you are perpetually disturbing your recollected ness.

I quite believe that your suffering is extreme; but the suffering you bring upon yourself by dwelling on it is infinitely harder than that which God lays on you. All suffering borne patiently in the peace of God, let it be ever so grievous in itself, carries its own comfort; the real unlightened suffering is that in which the will resists God under one plausible pretext or another. Give up all your own notions^ arid learn by degrees to hush your self and listen only to God. This road, which seems to you so long, is the shortest, and indeed it is your only safe way.

Letter 123

0n ConUer0ton to <fi»ji**

Those who have lived far from God fancy that they have drawn very near to Him so soon as they have made the first steps in that direction. The most cultivated and enlightened men are just as deficient in perception herein as a peasant who should imagine himself a confirmed qourtiqr becausd he has seen the King. Men renounce gross, shocking vices, and drop down into a slothful, worldly life of distraction. They measure it, not by the Gospel, which is the only real standard, but by comparison with their own past life, or that which they see so many others actually leading. Nothing more is needed to enable a man to canonise himself, and to slumber in the deepest of sleep as to all that is yet needful for him to do in order to be saved. - Yet this condition is perhaps more fatal than one of scandalous disorder. There is some chance in that of conscience being disturbed, and of a rekindled faith stimulating a man to some great effort; whereas the drowsy state only serves to choke all wholesome remorse, to foster an unreal peace of mind, and to make spiritual maladies irretrievable by persuading the patient that he is quite well. Our salvation does not depend merely on ceasing to do evil; it is also necessary that we learn to do well The Kingdom of Heaven is too great a prize to be given to a mere slavish fear, which abstains from evil merely because it dare not commit it. God would have children who love His Goodness, not slaves who serve Him only through fear of His Power. They who love Him will, as a natural result, do all that love prompts. Is it possible to love God heartily, and yet passionately to love that world which is His enemy, and which He has so severely condemned in His Gospel 1 Can a man really love God, and yet fear to know Him, lest he should be obliged to do more to please Him.^ Is it possible to love God, and yet be satisfied with not openly denying Him, while taking no pains to

1 - -- ■■■■■■■Mill III -iBiii II laiii -i~ please and glorify Him, or to bear a hearty testimony to His Love? Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that the tree which bears no fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire as dead; and of a truth, whosoever does not bear the fruit of Divine Love is dead, and withered to the root.

Is there any earthly being, however vile, that would be content to be loved no better than we love God, and that without any shame? Men affect to love Him on condition of bestowing nought save words and forms upon Him (and even these arc often hasty, because they are wearisome and dis« tasteful) ; on condition never to sacrifice any eager passion, or practical interest, or indulgence affecting an easy life, to Him. They would love Him on condition that they may love all that He hates and condemns of the world's vanities as much as, or more than. Him. They pretend to love Him on condition of noways lessening that blind self-love which becomes idolatry, and which, instead of referring to God as the End for which we are made, seeks to drag Him down to its own level, using Him as a pis-allery a thing to help and comfort when the creature fails. Is this really to love God? is it not rather to offend Him?

But even this is not all. Men profess to love God on condition that they may be ashamed of His Love, and hide it as a weakness; that they may blush to own Him as a Friend worthy their love; that they may rest content with certain external decencies of religion, so as to avoid open scandal; but meanwhile live at the world's mercy, not daring to give aught to God save with its permissiou. -This is the love, fdrsooth, by which they expect to deserve an eternal reward!

A nian says, " I have made a careful confession jof niy past sins, I read a little, I hear Mass, and J pray with fair devotion, I avoid all gross sin. Beyond that I do not feel able to leave the world, or break all terms with it. Religion must be very strict if it is not satisfied with thus much. All your refinements, of devotion go too far, and tend rither •to dishearten one than to make religion attractive." This is the sort of thing which even seemingly.well-disposed people often say. But it is tasy to •undeceive them if they will honestly look into the matter.

Their error springs from ignorance both of God and of themselves. They are jealous of their liberty, •and fear to lose it by giving themselves up too far to religion. But they should remember that they are not their own, they are God's; and He, having made them solely for Himself, and not for themselves, has a right to lead them as He will with absolute sway. Thisy owe themselves to Him unconditionally and unreservedly. We have, properly speaking, no right even to give ourselves to God, for we have no right over ourselves. But if we do not* leave ourselves to Him, as naturally belonging to Him, we are guilty of sacrilegious larceny, overthrowing the course of nature, and violating the essential laws of His creation. It is not our part to argue upon the law God lays upon us. We arc bound to receive, adore, and follow it blindly. He knows better than we do what is good for us. If we had to compose the Gospel, we might be disposed

ON CONVERSION 233 to make it more lax, so as to suit our frailty. But God did not consult us in framing it; He gave it fully framed, and has left us no hope of salvation save by the fulfilment of this sovereign law, which is applicable to all ranks. " Heaven and earth will pass away," but this Word of Life will " never pass away." Not one word or letter can be set aside. Woe to the priests who should presume to lessen its weight, with a view to making it easier to men! They have not made this law; they are merely its depositaries. Consequently it is unjust to tax them with the severity of the Gospel. This law is as formidable to them as to other men; indeed, more so, inasmuch as they have to answer for its observance both by themselves and others. Woe to the blind who lead the blind! both — it is the -Son of God Who said it--" shall fall into the ditch."' 'Woe to the ignorant, or cowardly, or flattering priest who strives to widen the narrow path! it is the broad way which leads to perdition. Let man's pride be hushed; he imagines himself free, but he is not so. He is bound to bear the yoke of the law, and to trust that God will give him strength proportionable to the weight of that yoke.

Of a truth. He Who has such sovereign pow**jover His creature does give him power, through inward grace, to will and to do that which He commands. He makes the yoke one to be loved. He lightens it by the inner attractions of justice and truth. He casts His own glow of pure delight upon virtue, and disgusts men with vice. He upholds man against himself, tears him from his

• Matt. XV. 14. own corruption, and makes him strong despite his weakness. O man of little faith, wherefore do you doubt? Leave all to God; give yourself up to Him. You must suffer, but it will be amid love, peace, and consolation. You must fight, but you will win the day, and God, Who fights with you, will Himself give you the victor's crown. You must weep, but your tears will not be bitter, and God will wipe them tenderly away. You will no longer be free to give way to your tyrannical passions, but you will voluntarily give up your freedom to enter upon a new liberty, of which the world recks not, in which you will be solely prompted by love. Further, just consider what your worldly bondage is. Have you not much to endure in order to win the praise of men whom you despise? What does it not cost you to repress impetuous feelings when they go too far, or to yield to men it behoves you to please, or to conceal your troubles, or to put up with intolerable social burdens? Is this your much-vaunted liberty, which you are so reluctant to sacrifice to God.^ Where is it? show it me. Turn where I will, I see nought save constraint, mean servility, a miserable necessity for disguise and deceit from morning to night. We hold back from God, Who seeks us but that He may save us; and we throw ourselves upon the world, which only wants to enthral and ruin us. People fancy that in the world they, can please themselves because they take pleasure in the passions which mislead them. But they do not reckon up the endless disappointments, the mortal weariness, the mishaps, the humiliations which are certain to befall them even in the highest places.

ON CONVERSION 235

From without all looks serene, but within vexation and anxiety is seething. Men imagine, forsooth, that they are free when subject to no law but their passions. Fatal error! Is there any condition in the world wherein w^e do not depend more upon other people's fancies than our own? All social intercourse is hampered by les biensSanceSy and the necessity of pleasing others. Furthermore, our passions are the harshest of all tyrants. Give way to them but a little, and we shall be in a state of ceaseless conflict, unable to breathe freely a moment. They betray and wring the heart; they trample reason and honour under foot; they never say, "It is enough. " Even if you could count on perpetual victory over them, what a victory it would be I But if, on the contrary, you yield to the torrent, whither will it sweep you? I shudder at the thought; you dare not contemplate it!

O my God, save me from that fatal bondage which human presumption is not ashamed to call liberty! In Thee alone can man be free; " Thy truth shall make me free " !

It is simple blindness to fear going too far in the love of God — the farther the better; and the more we love Him, the more we shall love all He would have us do. This love comforts under loss, lightens all crosses, loosens our hold on what is dangerous, saves us from poisonous snares, and stretches forth a tender mercy which, amid whatever trials may beset us, even death itself, points us to glory and eternal happiness. This love turns every ill to good. How, then, can we fear being filled too full of it? We may reasonably fear too much worldly happi- ness, too much freedom of self-will, the caprice of pride, the violence of passion, and the tyranny of a treacherous world; but why should we hesitate to throw ourselves with perfect confidence into the Arms of the Father of Mercies arid God of Consolation? His Love will supply all that is lacking. He only will fill the heart, which the world has intoxicated, excited, disturbed, but can never satisfy. He will only teach us to despise that which we despise in our heart already. He will only take away that which afflicts us. He will but make us do ordinary deeds — simple, reasonable acts, which we now do amiss because they are not done for His Sake. He will teach us to do the same things well out of obedience to Him. Thus everything, even the commonest actions.of a simple, ordinary life, will turn to our comfort, our merit, and reward. We shall see death draw near calmly; it will be transformed for us into the entrance into eternal life. So far from ** unclothing " us, we shall " be clothed upony*' as S. Paul says, through it. Verily, religion is the greatest of blessings 1

Letter 124

I^umtlttp.

The Saints have all agreed that true humility is the groundwork of every virtue, and that because it is the offspring of pure love, and because humility is truth itself. There are but two real truths — the Almightiness of God and the nothingness of us His creatures; and if humility is real, it will make us

HUMILITY 237 pay contiiuial homage to God through our lowliness, abiding in our proper place, content to be nought. Jesus Christ bids us be meek and lowly of heart; meekness is the child of humility, as anger of pride. Jesus Christ alone can give us this His Own true humility of heart. It comes from His Grace; it does not consist, as some imagine, in external deeds of humility, however excellent these may be in their proper season, but in simply abiding where God has placed us. He who imagines himself to be something is not truly humble; neither is he who seeks anything for himself. But he who so entirely forgets himself that his thoughts do not recur to self or self-seeking; who is. lowly within, never offended at anything, though not affecting outward tokens of patience; who speaks of himself as he would of another; who does not pretend to ignore himself while really bursting with self-consciousness; who gives himself up for love's sake, without considering whether to do so looks like pride oi* humility; who is content to be thought deficient in humility — in short, be who is full of love, such an one is truly humble. He who does not seek his own interest, but solely God's interest in time and eternity, he is humble. The purer his love, the more perfect his humility. Do not test humility by external appearances, by this or the other action, but solely by love. Pure love strips self from off a rrian,and clothes him with Jesus Christ, so that "it is no more I that live, but Christ that liveth in me." \ Men are always seeking to be some gre?it thing; to be conspicuous in religion as of old jn things of the. world, which n<5w they have forsaken. Why.? Because they crave distinction under all circumstances. But the humble man seeks no distinction; praise or blame are alike to him. Wherever his lot is cast, therein he abides; it does not occur to him to seek for anything difTerent. Many people study exterior humility who are a long way off this sort of heartfelt humbleness; yet exterior humility which does not flow from love is spurious. The more it stoops, the loftier it inwardly feels itself; but he who is conscious of stooping does not really feel himself to be so low that he can go no further. People who think much of their humility are very proud, and all such unreal stooping is a subtle search how to go up higher. There will be none of this sort of humility in Heaven. It must give place to simple love, which alone is worthy of God, and into which alone He deigns to pour Himself. They who are full of Him cannot consciously humble or lower themselves, for they feel beneath all possible abasement They are not hurt or humbled by any contempt or blame of men, neither are they exalted by any praise they may receive. They believe that no one ever humbled himself below what he really is save the Word in His Incarnation; therefore Holy Scripture says of Him that He "emptied" Himself, which it says of no earthly creature.

Many men deceive themselves herein; seekinr];^ to be humble by an effort of will, and failing in perfect resignation and self-renunciation, they sin against Divine Love, without which there is no humility. Fuller light would enable them to see that they are exalting themselves by that which they mean for humility; their supposed settin^j

HUMILITY 239 aside of self is self-seeking; they are puffed up with the pride of humility, and glory in the humble acts they perform. But the really humble man does not do anything of the sort: he lets himself be carried hither and thither; he is satisfied that God should do as He will with him, as the wind with a straw; and there is more real humility in accepting even greatness in such a spirit, than in thwarting God's plans beneath a pretext of lowliness. He who chooses abasement rather than elevation is not necessarily humble, though he may wish to be; but he who lets himself go, — up or down, — heedless whether he be praised or blamed, unmindful of what is said of him, is really humble, whatever men may think, if it be because he waits solely on God's Pleasure.

Such a man asks nothing, refuses nothing; not out of a deliberate principle, but from such entire self-forgetfulness that he does not consider the matter. A really humble man is one of those children of whom our Lord said, " Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." A little child does not know what it wants; it can do nothing, foresee nothing,, but lets itself be carried about. So let us give ourselves up boldly; if God does not use us, it is but just, for we are good for nothing. If He uses us for great purposes, it is for His Own Glory, and we will say, like Mary, " He hath done great thing) for us, for He hath regarded our lowliness." cxxv. , •

To whom does S. Paul speak, do you think, when he says, '* We are fools for Christ's Sake, but ye are wise in Christ"?' To you and to me; not to people who know not God, or are unabashed in evil ways. Yes, he speaks to us who are by way of working out our salvation, but who nevertheless shun the folly of the Cross, and seek to seem wise in the world's eyes; to us who are not alarmed at the sight of our own weakness. Where S. Paul felt himself weak we imagine ourselves strong, and in spite of good intentions, we must confess to being in contradiction to the great Apostle. But we cannot suppose that herein we are right. Let us consider the matter, and examine ourselves to see wherein we differ from God's true servants.

Let us " be followers of Paul, even as he was of Christ. " ' He offers himself as the follower of the highest Example. So no more concession to the World or to self, no more indulgence to passion, to the senses, or to spiritual sloth. The practice of virtue does not consist in words; we shall never reach the Kingdom of God by means of them: No, it consists in strength and courage, and in violence done to self; violence whenever we need to resist the world's stream which hinders us from doing right, after having so long led us to do wrong; violence when we must needs give up something

' I Cor. iv. lo. ' I Cor. xi. i.

CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE 24 1 which proves that we are deluding ourselves with a false idea that we have given up all that is superfluous; violence when we have to mortify the mind as well as the body, and not imagine that God is our debtor thereby; violence in lengthening out hours of prayer, reading, and retirement; violence in being always perfectly content with our actual state, not desiring more ease, honour, or health, or more society even of good men, — in short, that violence to self which results in the holy indifference of a Christian who has no will save that of his Creator; who refers the success of all undertakings to Him while prosecuting them heartily himself; who works hard, but without anxiety; who delights to gaze upon God, and is not afraid of His Eye; who trusts that Eye will rest on him to correct his faults, and who does not fear to trust to His Mercy for the punishment of those faults. This is what I would have you and myself to be, and I pray you so to abide, that amid all the trials and worries of a worldly life you may be at peace, and thus may we hope that somewhat of the life of Christ may be seen in us.