Book I, Part 2, Chapter 1. Of the eleventh Motive that obliges us to the Pursuit of Virtue, which is, the inestimable Advantages promised it in this Life

1. I know not what excuse man can plead for not following virtue, which is supported by such powerful reasons : for in its behalf may be urged all that God is in himself, all he deserves, what favors he has done us, what he still promises, and what punishments he threatens. And therefore, we have cause to ask how there come to be so few Christians that seek virtue, since they confess and believe all that has been said. For it is no wonder that the heathens, who are ignorant of its value, should not prize what they do not know, like a delving peasant, Who, if he happen to find a precious stone, makes no account of it, because he is ignorant of its value. But for Christians, who are well acquainted with these great truths, to live as if they believed nothing at all of them, to be so entirely forgetful of God, to be such slaves to their vices, to let their passions so tyrannize over them, to be so wedded to the things of this world, and so little concerned about those of the next, to give themselves over to all manner of crimes, as if there were neither death, judgment, heaven or hell ; this is what should surprise the whole world, and give us ground enough to ask, Whence does this blindness, this stupidity proceed ?

2. This mighty evil owes its rise to more causes than one. The chief one is the general prepossession of worldlings, that God

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reserves to the next life all the rewards he promises to virtue, without allowing it any recompense in this. This is the reason why men, who consult their own interests so much, and are so violently wrought on by present objects, concern themselves so little about what is to come, as looking after nothing that does not give them immediate satisfaction. Nor is this mistake a new one, for it is what was made in the days of the prophets. Thus we see that whenever Ezekiel either made any great promises, or threatened severely in the name of God, the people laughed at him, and said to one another, The vision which this man sees will not come to pass yet ; nor shall his prophecies be fulfilled this great while ; Ezek. xii. 27. They also jeered the prophet Isaias, and repeated his words, saying, Command and command again, command and command again, expect and expect again, expect and expect again, a while hence, another while hence ; Isa. xxviii. 13. This, then, you see, is one of the chief reasons of men not observing the commandments of God. They have nothing they think to hope for, from his mercy at present, but that is all to put off till hereafter. Solomon, as very sensible of this common error, took occasion from hence to say, " That the reason why men give themselves over, without any kind of consideration, to all manner of vice, is because the sentence passed against the wicked is not immediately put in execution." And afterwards he says, " That the greatest misery in this life, and what of all makes men sin most, is to see that the good and the bad, that those who offer up sacrifice, and those who contemn it, fare alike in all things, in appearance at least ;" Eccles. ix. 2, &c. And, therefore, the hearts of men are filled with malice in this life, and they are afterwards plunged into hell. What Solomon said concerning the wicked is sufficiently confirmed in themselves, in the prophet Malachy (ch. iii. 14, 15,) where they say, He loses his labor that serves God ; and what gooa have we got by keeping his commandments, and by our walking pensively before the Lord of hosts ? Wherefore we esteem those happy who are proud, since they are exalted, whilst they commit iniquity and have tempted God, and are yet secure. This is the common talk of sinners, and one of the chief motives of their continuing in their crimes. For, as St. Ambrose says, " they think that to buy hopes with dangers is too hard a bargain, that is, to purchase future goods with present evils, and to let go what they have in their hands to feed themselves up with an imaginary possession of things which they have no hold of yet ;" L. 7. in Luc. c. 7.

There is nothing better, in my opinion, to disabuse us of this dangerous mistake, than these words of our Saviour, interrupted with his tears, when considering the deplorable state of Jerusalem ; he wept over it, saying, If thou also hadst known and that in this 'hy day, the things that are for thy peace : but now they are hidden from thy eyes ; Luke xix. 42. Our Saviour considered,

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on one side, what advantages this people had received by his coming ; for all the treasures and all the graces of heaven were brought down from thence, with the Lord of heaven. On the other side, he saw that this same people, despising the poor and mean appearance which he made in his dress and in his person, would neither receive nor own him for what he was. He knew how great a loss this nation which he loved so tenderly would suffer by their ignorance. For they were to lose not only all those graces which he brought with him for them, but their temporal government and liberty. The Lord, pushed on, by the force of grief, shed these tears and spoke these few words, which he broke off abruptly, though they were as significant as they were short. The same words may be well applied to our present purpose ; because if, on the one hand, we consider the beauty of virtue, with the extraordinary graces which go along with it, and how these graces, on the other hand, are hid from the sight of carnal men, it is manifest we have reason to weep, and to say with our Saviour, If thou also hadst known ! O unhappy sinner, how great a value would you set on virtue ! how would you long after it, and what would you not do for obtaining it, should God but open your eyes to let you see what riches, what pleasures, what peace, what iiberty, what tranquillity), what light, what sweetness, and what other benefits are its continual attendants ? But these are all hid from the eyes of worldlings, who, minding nothing but its hard and bitter outside, imagine all within to be troublesome and unpleasant, and that it may pass current in the next life, but not in this. So that, reasoning according to the flesh, they say they will not be at the charge of certain dangers for the purchase of uncertain hopes, nor hazard their present happiness for a slippery dependence on what is to come. This is the common discourse of those who are daunted by the outward appearance of virtue. They do not know that Christian philosophy is like Christ himself, who, under the form of a poor and humble man, continued still to be God and sovereign Lord of all things. And for this reason it is said of the faithful that they are dead to the world : but their life is hid with Christ in God ; Coloss. iii; 3. For as our Saviour's glory was concealed under this veil, so should the glory of all . such as imitate him. We read of certain images that were called Silenes, coarse and rough on the outside, but very curious and artificial within, so that all the beauty and art lay hid, whilst that which was but mean and ordinary was turned outward. Thus the eyes of the ignorant were deceived by the appearance, but the inside ingenuity attracted the wiser sort. Such, without doubt, have been the lives of the prophets and apostles, and of all true and perfect Christians, as was the life of their Lord and Master.

4. But if you still find the practice of virtue hard, reflect on the

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means God has assisted you with to make it easy. Such are the infused graces, with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, the sacraments of the new law, and several other divine favors, that serve as oars and sails to a ship, or as wings to a bird. Consider what the very name and being of virtue imports, which is essentially a very noble and perfect habit ; and, therefore, regularly speaking, ought, like all other habits, to make us act with facility and pleasure. Consider, further, that our Saviour has promised to his elect, not only the goods of glory, but those of grace, the latter for this life, and the former for the life to come. As the royal prophet assures us, saying, The Lord will give grace and glory (Ps. lxxxiii. 12), which are like to rich vessels, filled with all kinds of good things, the one for this life, and the other for the next ; by wdiich we may see there is something more in virtue than appears at first sight. Consider, again, that since God lets us want nothing that is necessary, having so plentifully provided all creatures wTith whatever they stand in need of, it is not to be imagined, since nothing can be more necessary or of greater importance to man than virtue, that he would leave us entirely to the disposal of our own free wills, which are so weak and impotent to the blindness of our understanding, to the inconstancy of our humors, to our own desires, which are so bent on evil, to a nature, in short, so depraved by sin, without strengthening us with infused habits, which are, as it were, oars to help us over all those shelves and sands, that hinder us from-making our way through the sea of this life. For it is unreasonable to think that the Divine Providence, which has taken so much care for the fly, the spider and the ant, having sup-plied them wTith all things requisite for their subsistence, could have left man, the noblest of all creatures under heaven, without such means as are necessary for his acquiring virtue.

5. To go further yet, how can God possibly be so sparing to his faithful servants, as to leave them in their necessities, and forsake them in the midst of. their sufferings, whilst the world and the devil, by too many different false delights and pleasures, win the hearts of those who serve them ? How can you imagine the practice of virtue to be so mean, and that of vice so noble ? Can you persuade yourself that God wTould ever permit this last so much to surpass the other? What do you think God designed to signify to us by the answer his prophet Malachy made in his name, to the complaints of the wicked ? Return, said he, and you shall see. what difference there is between the righteous man and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves him not; Malac. iii. 1. This shows that God does not think it enough to propose the advantages of the next life, of which he treats afterwards, to those who return 10 him ; but he says to them, Be converted, and you shall see ; as if he had said, Ft is not my only design you should wait till the other life to know the advantages you are to reap, but return to me and you shall see, this very- moment, what difference there is between the good and the bad, the riches of the one and the poverty of the other ; the joy, peace and satisfaction the one enjoys, and the sorrow, restlessness and discontent that follow the other ; the light the one walks in, and the darkness that surrounds the other. Thus experience will show you how many advantages, more than you imagined, the followers of virtue have over those that follow vice.

6. God gives almost the very same answer again to some other persons who had no better opinion of virtue than the former. Deceived by the same appearance, they laughed at those who were virtuous, and said to them, Let your Lord be glorified, and we shall see it in your joy ; lsa. lvi. 5. After these few words, the prophet, giving a large account of the torments prepared by God's justice for the wicked, immediately tells us what joys are laid up for the just. Rejoice, says he, with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her : Rejoice for joy with her, all yet that mourn for her. That ye may suck, and be filled with the breasts of her consolations ^t hat ye may milk out, and flow with delights from the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord : Behold I will bring upon her as it were a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent the glory of the gentiles, which you shall suck : you shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb, and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants ; ch. lxvi. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. This is to signify, that as men, by the vast extent of the heavens, earth and sea, and by the brightness of the sun, moon and stars, judge of the omnipotence and the infinite beauty of God, the Author of these wondrous works, shall discover to the just the greatness of his power, riches and mercy, by those infinite favors he will bestow on them, and the joy they receive. So that, as he showed the world his severity and rigor toward the wicked, by the punishments he inflicted on Pharao," he will, in the same manner, show the greatness of his love to his elect, by the extraordinary favors he will confer on them. Happy the soul that shall receive favors from God in token of his infinite love ! and unhappy those whose torments and sufferings shall manifest the rigor of his justice ! For each of these attributes being infinite, what effects must such infinite causes produce !

7. I must further add, that if you shall think the way of virtue uneasy and melancholy, you may look into those words the divine wisdom utters of herself, as follows : " I walk in the ways of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may enrich them that love me, and may fill their treasures ;" Prov. viii

20, 21. What are these riches but the riches of this heavenl) wisdom, far more precious than are the riches of the world, and bestowed on the lovers of justice, which is the same we have hitherto called virtue ? For if her riches did not much better deserve the name, than all other riches, how could the apostle have thanked God for the Corinthians being rich in spiritual things ? 1 Cor. i. 0. He calls them rich without any kind of limitation, whilst he styles others the rich of this world only.

§ I. Gospel authority for what has been said. — 8. For further proof of what I have said, I will add this divine sentence of Jesus Christ. St. Mark tells us, that when St. Peter asked our Saviour, what reward they should have who had quitted all for love of him, he gives him this answer : Amen I say to you, there is no man who hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who shall not receive a hundred times as much, now in this time ; and in the world to come life everlasting ; Mark x. 29, 30. If you weigh those words exactly, you cannot in the first place deny, but that Jesus Christ makes a formal distinction between the rewards of virtue in this life and in the next, the one being a promise of a future, and the other of a present, happiness. You must confess, too, that it is impossible this promise should not be performed, since heaven and earth are sooner to pass away than one tittle of these words, how hard soever they appear, shall fail. And as we certainly believe, there is in God both Trinity and Unity, because he has said so, though this mystery is beyond the reach of our reason, so are we to believe this other truth, though it exceeds all human understanding, since it is grounded on the same authority of God's own word.

9. What, then, is this hundred fold, which the just receive even in this life ? For we see they are, for the most part, men of no very considerable quality nor very rich, of no great employment in the state, nor enjoy any other worldly advantages, but, on the contrary, many of them live retired, obscure, poor and necessitous. How then can this infallible word of God be proved to be true, but by acknowledging, that God makes them so spiritually rich, that they are more happy and quiet than if they were sovereign lords of the world, and yet are destitute of the conveniences of this life ? Nor is this to be wondered at, because, as God may preserve mankind by other means, and not by bread alone, so it is not necessary he should satisfy those souls he has such a love for with temporal goods, having better ways of doing it. This we have seen in a particular manner justified in all the saints, whose prayers, fastings, tears and labors have given them far greater delight and satisfaction than all the joys and pleasures of the world could ever have done ; which shows us plainly, that what they received was a hundred times better than what they left for the love of God. For instead of the false and apparent goods they forsook, they received such as were true and real ; instead of the uncertain, those which were certain, spiritual instead of temporal, ease instead of care, quiet instead of trouble, and for a vicious and unpleasant life, a virtuous and delightful one ; so that if, for the love of God, you have despised the base treasures of this world, you shall find in him such as are inestimable. If for his sake you have contemned false honors, you shall meet with true ones in him. If you have forsaken a mortal father on his account, the eternal Father will satisfy you with all kinds of delights. If, in fine, you bid adieu to hurtful pleasures for the love of him, he will entertain you with such as shall be free from the least tincture of bitterness or alloy. When you shall arrive to such a degree of perfection as this is, you will then abhor what you took the greatest pleasure in before. For when our eyes are once cleared up by this heavenly brightness, we discover a new light, which represents things quite different from what they appear to us at first. What we then thought sweet, tastes bitter to us now ; and what we looked on as bitter then, we now find to be sweet. We are pleased now with that which frighted us before, and look on that as hideous and ghastly, which once seemed beautiful and charming. Thus we find our Saviour's words to be verified, by his bestowing on us the incorruptible goods of the soul for the corruptible ones of the body, and for the goods of fortune those of grace, which are incomparably better, and more capable to satisfy man, than all earthly goods.

10. In further proof of this important truth, I will give you an example, taken out of the lives of the famous men of the order of the Cistercians. It is there written, " that as St. Bernard was preaching in Flanders, full of zeal for the conversion of souls to God, amongst those who were touched with a particular grace, was a certain person called Arnulphus, one of the chief men of that country, and closely tied to the things of this world. But he at last, breaking through all, became a Cistercian monk, in the monastery of Clairvaux. St. Bernard was so pleased with this great change, that he used often to say, that God had manifested his power as wonderfully in converting Arnulphus, as in raising Lazarus from the dead, having drawn him from so many pleasures, which, like a grave, he lay buried in, to raise him to a new life, which was no less to be admired in its process than it had been in his conversion." But because it would be too tedious to give you a particular account of this holy man's virtues, I shall only make use of what serves our present purpose : " This good monk was very subject to terrible fits of the colic, which often put him in a very dying condition. One day it seized on him so violently, that he lost both speech and senses ; whereon the religious, seeing but little hopes of life left, gave him the Extreme Unction. Soon after, coming to himself, he began to praise God, and cried out aloud, 'All thou hast ever said, O most merciful Jesus ! is very true.' The religious, surprised at his frequent repeating the same words, asked him what he meant, but he made them no answer, continuing to cry out louder and louder, c All thou hast ever said,

0 most merciful Jesus ! is very true.5 Some who were present fancied his pains had put him beside himself; but he, perceiving their mistake, said to them, ' It is not so, my brothers, it is not so, for I never was better in my senses than now, whilst I tell you, that all that Jesus Christ has said is very true.' Hereon the rest of the monks said, It is what we all of us believe, but why do you repeat it so often ? ' Because,' said he, ( our Saviour has told us in his gospel, that whosoever shall forsake his friends and relations for the love of him, shall receive a hundred fold now in this world, and in the world to come life everlasting ; Mark. x. 30. This is what I find true by my own present experience ; for I assure you,

1 at this very moment receive that hundred fold ; the excessive pains I endure being so pleasing to me, through the lively hope I have now given me of my salvation, that I would not exchange it for a hundred times as much as I left when I forsook the world. And if so great a sinner as I am finds so much satisfaction in what I suffer, what consolations must they who are perfect be sensible of? For the anticipated fruition of those eternal pleasures which I now enjoy by hope, is not a hundred times only, but a hundred thousand times better than all the delights the world could ever afford me.' They were all astonished to hear a man of no learning at all talk so piously and sublimely ; but it plainly appeared that what he said was dictated by the Holy Ghost."

11. This is a demonstration, that God can give those who serve him more pleasure and delight, than they forsook for his sake, and yet not enrich them with temporal goods. And thus we see how much in the wrong those men have been, who could never persuade themselves that virtue had a reward in this life. The twelve following chapters shall serve for the better undeceiving such persons, wherein we shall treat of twelve wonderful fruits and privileges that attend virtue even in this life ; by which they who have hitherto loved nothing but the world, may understand that it is more delightful than they imagine. And though it is in some manner requisite for the perfect comprehending of this truth, that a man should have had some experience from the practice of virtue, because there is no one knows her own worth so well as she herself does ;. this defect may, nevertheless, be supplied by faith, since by means of it we believe the Holy Scriptures to be true, out of which I intend to prove all I shall say on this subject, that so no one may call the truth of it in question.

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