[1] The physician, when he findeth that the potion which he
hath given his patient will not work, seconds it with one
more violent; but if he perceive the disease to be settled,
then he puts him in a course of physic, so that _medicè
miserè_ (he shall have at present but small comfort of his
life). And thus doth the surgeon too: if a gentle plaster
will not serve, then he applies that which is more
corroding, and, to prevent a gangrene, he makes use of the
cauterising knife, and take off the joint or member that is
so ill affected. Even so God, when men profit not by such
crosses as He hath formerly exercised them with, when they
are not bettered by lighter afflictions, then He sends
heavier, and proceeds from milder to sharper courses. If
the dross of their sin will not come off, He will throw
them into the melting-pot again and again, crush them
harder in the press, and lay on such irons as shall enter
more deeply into their souls. If He strikes and they grieve
not, if they be so foolish that they will not know the
judgment of their God, He will bring seven times more
plagues upon them--cross upon cross, loss upon loss,
trouble upon trouble, one sorrow on the neck of
another--till they are, in a manner, wasted and
consumed.--_Firmicus._
[2] This we may rest satisfied of, that whensoever God's hand
is upon us, we must either yield a voluntary, or be forced
to a violent, submission. If our stubbornness is such that
we will not bend, it is certain that our weakness is also
such that we must needs break. If God's message will not
win upon Pharaoh, His plagues shall compel him, and
therefore, when He sent Moses to him, He put a rod into his
hand, as well as a word into his mouth. When God fully
purposes to afflict a man, he is like a bird in a net, the
more he strives and flutters, the more he is entangled; for
the Supreme Judge of all things is resolved to go through
with His great work of judgment, and to make all obstinate,
sturdy sinners know, that He has power to constrain where
His goodness will not persuade.--_South,_ 1633-1716.