Some years after our author had published the Lives of the Saints, he
published the _Life of Mary of the Cross_; a nun in the English convent
of the Poor Clares at Rouen. It is rather a vehicle to convey
instruction on various important duties of a religious life, and on
sublime prayer, than a minute account of the life and actions of the
nun. It was objected to this work, as it had been to the Saints' Lives,
that it inculcated a spirit of mystic prayer, the excesses of which had
been formally condemned, and the propriety of which, even in a very
qualified view of it, was doubtful.
It must be admitted by those who urge this objection, that, both in the
Saints Lives and in the work of which we are speaking, our author uses
very guarded expressions. He always takes care to mention that, in the
practices of devotion, as in every other practice, the common is the
safest road: that many of the greatest saints have, through the whole of
their lives, confined themselves to the usual modes of prayer and
meditation; that the gift of contemplation is given to few; that, like
every other practice of devotion, contemplation has its dangers; and
that, without a perfect spirit of humility, it is much exposed to
illusion; but he delivers, at the same time, an explicit opinion, that
contemplation is a gift of heaven; that the happiness of a soul on whom
God bestows it, is above description; and that every joy which this life
affords is contemptible in comparison of it. This certainly is catholic
doctrine.
It is natural to suppose that, at a time when every art and science was
deluged in a quantity of barbarous words, and metaphysics were carried
into every subject, the doctrine of prayer would often be involved in
similar intricacies and refinements. The fact certainly is, that many
writers of the middle age, on the subject of prayer, introduced into
their writings a wonderful degree of metaphysical subtilty. But, if
their doctrine be divested of those subtilties, and expressed in plain
language, it will be found that nothing in what our author, with other
spiritualists, calls mystical theology, contradicts common sense. With
them he divides the progress of a Christian, in his advances towards
perfection, into three stages, the purgative, the contemplative, and the
unitive. In the first stage he places sinners on their first entrance,
after their conversion into a spiritual life; who bewail their sins, are
careful to avoid relapsing into them, endeavor to destroy their had
habits, to extinguish their passions; who fast, watch, prey, chastise
the flesh, mourn, and are blessed with a contrite and humble heart. In
the second stage he places those who divest themselves of earthly
affections, study to acquire purity of heart, and a constant habit of
virtue, the true light of the soul; who {033} meditate incessantly on
the virtues and doctrines of Christ, and thereby inflame themselves to
the imitation of him. Those he supposes to be arrived at the third stage
whose souls, being thus illuminated, are united to God, and enjoy his
peace which passeth understanding. According to our author, the prayer
of a person who is arrived at the last stage, is very different from
that of a beginner in spiritual life. To present a pious subject to his
mind, to place it in the various points of view in which it should be
considered, to raise the devout sentiments which the consideration of it
should produce, and to form the resolutions which those sentiments
should inspire, must, our author observes, be a work of exertion to a
beginner. But when once he has arrived at that state of perfection as to
have detached himself from those objects which are the usual incitements
to sin, and to which, from the natural propensity of the human heart,
the imaginations of man forcibly lead, and when an ardent love of
virtue, piety, and whatever relates to them, is habitual in her; then,
our author supposes, that what before was exertion becomes the usual
state of the soul; a thousand causes of distraction cease to exist, and
all the powers of the mind and affections of the heart rest with ease
and pleasure on the subject of her meditation; God communicates to her
his perfections; he enlightens her in the mysteries of religion, and
raises in her admirable sentiments of wonder and love. This our author
calls the prayer of contemplation. In process of time, he supposes that
the habit of devotion increases: that the soul acquires a stronger
aversion from every thing that withholds her from God, and a more ardent
desire of being united to him; and that, by continually meditating on
the sublime truths and mysteries of Christianity, she is disengaged from
earthly affections, is always turned to God, and obtains a clearer view
of his perfections, of her obligations to him, and of the motives which
entitle him to her love. Then, according to our author, every thing
which is not God becomes irksome to her, and she is united to him in
every action and every thought. At first, the soul, by our author's
description, calls to her mind the presence of God; afterwards she
habitually recollects it; at length every thing else disappears, and she
lives in him. Even in the first stage, when the sinner first turns from
vice, and determinately engages in the practice of a virtuous life, our
author pronounces that the comforts which she experiences in reflecting
on the happiness of the change, exceed the joys of this world: he
supposes her to say, in the words of Bourdaloue, (_Sur la Choix mutuel
de Dieu et de l'Ame Religieuse_,) "I have chosen God, and God has chosen
me; this reflection is my support and my strength, it will enable me to
surmount every difficulty, to resist every temptation, to rise above
every chagrin and every disgust." From the moment this choice is made,
he supposes, with the same eloquent preacher, in his sermon for the
feast of St. Mary Magdalen, "that the soul, exposed till then to all the
vexations which the love of the world inevitably occasions, begins to
enjoy a sweet tranquillity; conscience begins to experience the interior
joy of pious hope and confidence in the mercies of God, and to feel the
holy unction of grace; in the midst of her penitential austerities she
comforts and strengthens herself by the thought, that she is making some
satisfaction and atonement to God for her sins, that she is purifying
her heart, and disposing it to receive the communications of heaven."
This comfort and sensation of happiness, he observes, must necessarily
increase as the charms of virtue are unveiled to the soul, and she
acquires a continual habit of thinking on God. "Who can express," he
makes the soul exclaim with the same author, "the secret delights which
God bestows on a heart thus purified and prepared? how he enlightens
her! how he inflames her with divine love! with what visitations he
favors her! what holy sentiments and transports he excites in her!" but,
when she lives for God alone, then, in our author's language, God
communicates himself with her, and her happiness, as far as happiness is
attainable in this life, is complete. Here, according to Thomas of
Kempis, (and what Catholic recuses his authority?) begins the
_familiaritas stupenda nimis_. "What is the hundred-fold of reward,"
cries Bourdaloue, (_Sermon sur le Renoncement Religieuse_,) "that thou,
O God, hast promised to the soul which has left every thing for thee? It
is something more than I have said upon it: it is something that I
cannot express; but it is something with which, sinful and weak as I am,
God has more than once favored me."--"Thou promisedst me a
hundred-fold," says St. Bernard: "I feel it; thou hast more than
performed thy promise." _Necessitas good cogit, defendit_. In defence of
our author, this short exposition of his doctrine seemed necessary: and
it may be confidently asked {034} in what it differs from the doctrine
of Rodriguez, of St. Francis de Sales, of Bourdaloue, or of many other
authors, in whom the universal opinion of the Catholic world recognises,
not only true devotion and piety, but extreme good sense and moderation.
Nor should it be forgotten that, if the prelates assembled at Issy, in
1695, declared, (Art. 22,) "that, without any extraordinary degrees of
prayer, a person may become a very great saint," they had previously
declared, (Art. 21,) "that even those which are passive, and approved of
by St. Francis of Sales and other spiritualists, cannot be rejected."
The authors on these subjects, whom our author particularly recommended,
were Balthazar, Alvarez de Paz, and St. Jure. The latter was one of the
Jesuits who came into England during the reign of Charles the First. His
most celebrated work is, a Treatise on the Knowledge and Love of God, in
five volumes,--a noble effusion of the sublimest piety. The only work by
which he is known in this country is, his Life of the Baron de Renty:
our author esteemed it much, but thought it censurable for mentioning,
in terms of commendation, the mode in which the baron, to save his
honor, indirectly put himself in the way of fighting a duel.
Another spiritualist, whom our author greatly admired, was the
celebrated Henry Marie de Boudon. He frequently mentioned, in terms of
the highest admiration, the humility and resignation with which Boudon
bore the calumnies of his prelate and fellow-clergy. He often related
that part of his life, when, being abandoned by the whole world, a poor
convent of religious received him into their house, and he knelt down to
thank God that one human being still existed who was kindly disposed to
him. His writings are numerous: the style of them is not elegant, and
they abound with low expressions; but they contain many passages of
original and sublime eloquence. Our author was also a great admirer of
the works of Father Surin, particularly his _Fondemens de la Vie
Spirituelle_, edited by Father Bignon. In this species of writing, few
works, perhaps, will give the reader so much pleasure as the _Morale de
l'Evangile_, in 4 vols. 8vo., by Father Neuvile, brother to the
celebrated preacher of that name. It is to be hoped that it will be
translated into English.[1] Our author greatly lamented the consequences
of the altercation between Fenelon and Bossuet. He thought the
condemnation which had been passed {035} on it on the abuses of
devotion, had brought devotion itself into discredit, and thrown a
ridicule on the holiness of an interior life. Of Fenelon he always spoke
with the highest respect. One of the editors of the last edition of his
works is now in England: he has declared that it appeared from Fenelon's
papers, that his exertions, to the very last, to ward off the sentence
of the condemnation of his works, were most active. This enhanced the
value of his sacrifice. Our author thought that Valart had abundantly
proved that Thomas of Kempis was not the author of the Imitation of
Christ; but that he had not proved it to be written by Gersen, the abbot
of Vercelli: he also differed from Valart in his opinion of the general
merit of the works of Thomas of Kempis; his treatises _De Tribus
Tabernaculis_ and _De Vera Compunctione_ (the latter particularly) he
thought excellent.[2]
Footnotes:
1. For this and many other valuable works we naturally look to
Stonyhurst. If the Musae Exulantes,[The title assumed by them, in the
preface to the Latin translation of Cato.] in the swamps of Bruges,
could produce an elegant and nervous translation of Cato, will their
notes be less strong or less sweet in their native land? May we not
expect from Stonyhurst other Petaviuses, other Sirmonds, other
Porees, future Strachans, future Stanleys, future Heskeys, future
Stricklands. If any of them would favor us with a translation of
Father Montreuil's _Vie de Jesus Christ_, he would supply the
English Catholic with the present desideratum of his library, an
interesting and accurate life of Christ. A literary history of the
gospels, showing the state of the text, and the grammatical
peculiarities of their idiom, and containing a short account of the
early versions, would be an invaluable work. The excellent
translation by Mr. Combes, the professor of divinity in St. Edmund's
College, of selected parts of St. Basil and St. John Chrysostom,
shows his ability to execute such a work, and leads us to hope it
for him. The mention of these gentlemen naturally makes us reflect
on the singular kindness shown by this country to the foreign
exiles. The editor begs leave to copy what has been said by him on
this subject in a small work entitled _Hors Biblicae_. After
mentioning some of the most splendid of the biblical exertions of
the English, the compiler of that work says, "Yet, useful and
magnificent as these exertions have been, an edition of the New
Testament has lately appeared in this country, which, in one point
of view, eclipses them all. It has been our lot to be witnesses of
the most tremendous revolution that Christian Europe has known: a
new race of enemies to the Christian religion has arisen, and, from
Rome to Hungary, has struck at every altar and shaken every throne.
One of their first enormities was, the murder of a large proportion
of their clergy, and the banishment of almost the whole of the
remaining part. Some thousands of those respectable exiles found
refuge in England. A private subscription of 33,775_l_, 15_s_.
9-1/2_d_. was immediately made for them. When it was exhausted, a
second was collected, under the auspices of his majesty, and
produced 41,304_l_. 12_s_. 6-1/4_d_. Nor is it too much to say, that
the beneficence of individuals, whose charities on this occasion are
known to God alone, raised for the sufferers a sum much exceeding
the amount of the larger of the two subscriptions. When at length
the wants of the sufferers exceeded the measure of private charity,
government took them under its protection, and, though engaged to a
war exceeding all former wars in expense, appropriated, with the
approbation of the whole kingdom, a monthly allowance of about
8000_l_. for their support; an instance of splendid munificence and
systematic liberality, of which the annals of the world do not
furnish another example. The management of the contributions was
intrusted to a committee, of whom Mr. Wilmot, then one of the
members of parliament for the city of Coventry, was president: on
him the burden of the trust almost wholly fell, and his humanity,
judgment, and perseverance, in discharge of it, did honor to himself
and his country.
"It should be observed, that the contributions we have mentioned are
exclusive of those which were granted for the relief of the lay
emigrants.
"So suddenly had the unhappy sufferers been driven from their
country, that few of them had brought with them any of those books
of religion or devotion which their clerical character and habits of
prayer had made the companions of their past life, and which were to
become almost the chief comfort of their future years. To relieve
them from this misfortune, the University of Oxford, at her sole
expense, printed for them, at the Clarendon Press, two thousand
copies of the Latin Vulgate of the New Testament, from an edition of
Barbou, but this number not being deemed sufficient to satisfy the
demand, two thousand more copies were added, at the expense of the
marquess of Buckingham. Few will forget the piety, the blameless
demeanor, the long, patient suffering of these respectable men.
Thrown on a sudden into a foreign country, differing from theirs in
religion, language, manners, and habits, the uniform tenor of their
pious and unoffending lives procured them universal respect and
good-will. The country that received them has been favored. In the
midst of the public and private calamity which almost every nation
has experienced, Providence has crowned her with glory and honor;
peace has dwelt in her palaces, plenty within her wells; every
climate has been tributary to her commerce, every sea has been
witness of her victories."
2. Our author was a great admirer of the writings of Abraham Woodhead:
he purchased his manuscripts, and, by his will, bequeathed them to
the English College at Douay. Mr. Woodhead is one of the writers to
whom the celebrated _Whole Duty of Man_ has been attributed. On that
subject the editor is in possession of the following note in our
author's handwriting: "Mr. Simon Berrington, who died in 1758,
endeavored to give Mr. Woodhead the honor of being the author of the
Whole Duty of Man, and other works of the same kind; but there is a
difference of style between them,--there occurring in the Whole Duty
of Man, and the other works of that author, scarce any parentheses,
with which all Mr. Woodhead's works abound. Nevertheless, certain it
is that Dr. John Pell, dean of Christ Church, (afterwards bishop of
Oxford,) who published the other works of the author of the Whole
Duty of Man, namely, the Ladies' Calling, the Art of Contentment,
the Government of the Tongue, the Lively Oracles given unto us, &c.,
in folio, at Oxford, in 1675-78, and wrote the preface which he
prefixed to this edition, and who was the only person then living
who knew the author of the Whole Duty of Man, gave this book of the
Whole Duty of Man to his bookbinder, and Hawkins, his bookseller in
London, with other pieces of Mr. Woodhead's, and ordered Mr.
Woodhead's name to be added to the title of this, as well as of the
other works which he gave to be bound. If Mr. Woodhead wrote that
celebrated work, it was before he travelled abroad, or had any
thoughts of embracing the Catholic faith." The same anecdote has
been mentioned to the editor by the late Mr. Challoner.