The Art of 'Divine Meditation. A CHAP. VIII. ANd as this con!lancy requir<s thee to keep< day withthy fdfe,unlesthou wilt" prove bankrupt in good excrcifes; foalfo that thy mind !houiJ dwell upon rho fame thought without flitting, wirhoutw.arinetfe, until! it have arrain~d ro lomc itfue offpirituall profit : otherwife it artempreth much, dfc~eth nothmg. What anilcth it to knock at the doorc of the heart, ifwe depart ere we have an an· fwer~ What are we the warmer,ifwe palfc ha!lily along by the heatth,and !lay not at it~ Thofe that doe only travdl thorow Africkt,become not blackmoores: butthofe which are borne there,thofe that inhabire there.We account thofc damfdstoo light B oftheir love, which b<troth themf<lves upon the firll fight, upon the firft motion: and thofc wcdeeme ofmuch price,which requirclong and earnefi folliciting.He de· cciveth himfdfthat thinketh grace fo ealily wonne;rhere mull be much fuit and im· pottunitic, ere it will yeeld to our delir<s : Not that we call for a perpetuity of this labour ofMeditation; Humaoefrail<ie could never bearc fo great a royle. Nothing uod<r heaven is capableof • continual! motion without compbinr. It is enough for the glorified fpirirs above, to be everrhinkiag and neverweary. The mind of man is ofa llraoge metall ; ifit be not ufed;it ru!leth;ifufed heardly,it break<th: briefly, is fooner dulled then fatisfied with a conrinuall Meditation. Whence it came to p1ffe that thofeancieot Monkcs, who intermedled bodily labour with their contemplati· ons,proved fo excellent intbis divine bufindfe;\vheo thofc at this day,"hich having mewed and mured up·tpemfclves from the world, fpend them.fclves wholly upon C their Beads, and Crucifix , pretending no other worke but Meditation , have cold hearts to God,1nd to the world !hewnothing but a dull !hadowof devotion;for,that if the thoughts of thefe latter were as divineas they are fuper!litious: yet being without all intcrchangablcndfc bent upon the fame difcourfe, the mind mull needs grow weary, the thoughts remilfc and laogui!hing, the objeCls tedious: while the other ref(c!hed tbcmfelves with this wife variety,imploying the hands, while they caUed off the mind,as good Comredians fo mix'their pares, that the ple•fantnetfc ofthe one, may temperthc aul\creneflc oftheother;whereupon they gained both enough to the body, and to the foulc more then ifit had beene all the while bulied. Bclides, the exctllency ofrhc objeClletteth this aQiduity ofMeditation, which is 0 fo glorious, that like unto the Suuoe, it may abide to have an eye call: upon it for a while, will not be gazed upo'n; whofoever ventureth fo farrc, lofcth botb his hope and his witS. Ifwe hold with that blelfed Ulfonir•, that fuch like cogitations are the food ofthe mind,yet even themind alfo hath her fatiety,and may furfet oftoo much. It lhl llbc fullicicnttht'reforc, that we perfcvcr io our Meditation, without any fuch affeClation ofperpetuity, and leave without a light fickleoelfe; making a!way« not our Houreglatfe, bmfmne compe~tot incrcafc ofour devotion, the meafurc ofour continuance; knowing, that as for Heaven, fo for our putfuit ofgrace, it !hall availc us little.to have begun well, without perfeverancc, and withall that thc.fonle o(man is not alwayes in the like difpo~tion: but fo!'lctimes is. longer i~ fetling, through fome unqUtetnctfe,or more obll:mate dt!lraCliOn; fomet1mes heav1er,and lomctimcs E more aClivc, and nimble to difpatch. * Gerfon (.wiH>feauthority I rather ufe, becaufe our adverfaries difclaime him for theirs) profctfeth, he hath beenc fomctimesJourc hours together ':"or kin~ his heart, ere he could frame it to purpofe. A fingular patterne o_funwsaned conllancy, ofan unconquerable fpitit; whom his prefect unfit· nelfe dtd not fo much d1fcouragc, as it whetted him to !ltivc with himfclfi: till he could overc?me. A~d furcly other vi~orics arc hazzardous, this cerraine,ltwcwill pcrli!l to ll:nve :other fights are upon hope, this upon alfurance; whiles our fuccetfc dcpender~ upon the l'romifc ofGod,which cannot difappoiot us. Perli!l therefore, and prevatlc: perfi!l ull thou hall: prevailed : fo that which thou bcgan!l with dillicultie, !hall cod in comfort. · CH AP. SC'condly, thu be beconfhu.t inthecontinu- ~Saving our jufiquurclla~ g3intl himfor theCouncell of Con.'laoce.
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