1°. He preferred those virtues the practice of which is comparatively
frequent, common, and ordinary, to others which we may be called upon to
exercise on rare occasions.
2°. He considered, as we have seen, that the degree of the supernatural
in any virtue could not be decided by the greatness or smallness of the
external act, since an act in itself altogether trivial, may be performed
with much grace and charity, while a very brilliant and dazzling good work
may be animated by but a very feeble spark of love of God, the intensity of
which is, after all, the only rule by which to ascertain its true value in
His sight.
3°. The more universal a virtue, the more, he said, it is to be preferred
before all others, charity only excepted. For instance, he valued prayer as
the light which illumines all other virtues; devotion, as consecrating
all our actions to God; humility, which makes us set but little value on
ourselves and on our doings; meekness, which yields to all; patience, which
includes everything besides. He valued these, I say, more than magnanimity,
or liberality, because such virtues can be more rarely practised and they
affect fewer subjects.
4°. He was always on his guard against showy virtues, which of their very
nature encourage vainglory, the bane of all good works.
5°. He blamed those who measure virtues by the standard set up by the
world, who prefer temporal to spiritual alms; haircloth, fasting, and
corporal austerities to sweetness, modesty, and the mortification of the
heart; virtues by far the more excellent.
6°. He greatly condemned those who select the virtues most agreeable to
their taste, and practise these alone, quite regardless of those which are
specially adapted to their state of life. These people, indeed, serve God,
but after a way of their own, not according to His will: a by no means
uncommon mistake, which leads many, otherwise devout-minded, far out of the
right path.