time established in the contempt of that world. For the^ good soon comes to an end, which is made known to the ' world before the time. Thus with shrubs too that have been planted, if, before they are fastened with a firm root, the hand touch and shake them, it causes them to wither away, but, if the root be fixed deep, and, being sprinkled with the dews of the earth, be set fast, such as these the hand may even push, and not hurt: these even blasts of wind may buffet and wave, yet not overthrow. Thus, that the life of practice we have entered upon may not be uprooted, the root of the heart must be fixed long and vigorously in the deep of humility, that when from the mouths of men the breath of calumny or of applause blows i strong, though it bend it a little either way, it may not root up the mind from its seat, but that after such bending it may ^ return to its own upright standing, if it but hold strong in 480 Beginnings of good living should he kept secret. Job 8, the root in its own self. What among things in course of growth Moral.
1 fi is stronger than a rising wall? yet if, while it is in the act of erecting, it is pushed, it is at once destroyed without an effort; but if for a space of time it be allowed to dry from its wetness, often it is never a jot moved even by the strokes of the battering rams. In this way, in this self-same way, our goodness on the one hand being unseasonably displayed comes to nought, and on the other hand being longer kept hidden, is fairly secured; in that when the hand of human employment touches the recent life of our conversation, as it were it pushes the fresh brick wall, and easily destroys it, because it has not as yet got rid of the moisture of its own weakness. But when in its long lying at rest, the soul holds itself in, as it were like a dry wall, it grows hard against blows, and every thing that strikes it, now it is solid, bounds off it at once shattered. It is hence that Moses forbade the Hfe of aught that made the beginning Deut. to be employed in services for men, saying. Thou shall do ^' * no work with the firstling of thy hiillock, nor shear the first- ling of thy sheep. For to ' do work with the firstling of the bullock' is to display the beginning of a good conversation ; in the employment of public business. Moreover ' to shear [ the firstlings of sheep,' is to lay bare of the covering of its concealment the good we have begun before the eyes of men. And so we are forbidden to ' work with the firstling of the bullock,' and we are hindered from ' shearing the \ firstlings of our sheep,' in that even if we begin any thing strong, we ought not to be too ready to execute it in public. And when our life commences something simple and harm- less, it is meet that it quit not the coverings of its secresy, that it may not bare that thing naked to the eyes of the world, the fleece being as it were withdrawn.
79. So let the firstlings of the bullocks and the sheep avail for the Divine sacrifices alone, that whatsoever we begin strong and harmless, we may sacrifice in honour of the Judge of the interior upon the altar of our hearts. Which same we may be sure is accepted the more gladly by Him, in proportion as being kept concealed from men it is stained by no desire of applause. But it often happens that the beginnings of a new method of life have still a mixture of c I First-fruits of well doing not to he held clean, 481 the carnal life, and therefore they ought not to be too ready Book to make themselves known, lest while the good that pleases ^^^^- IS applauded, the soul being beguiled by the praises of itself have no power to discover in itself the evil that lies concealed. Hence it is rightly said by Moses again. And when ye shalll^ey. 19, have come into the land that I shall give you, and shall^^' have planted all manner of trees bearing fruit, then ye shall take oj" their foreskins. The fruits that are put forth shall be unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of them. For ' the trees bearing fruit' are works fruitful in virtue, and so we ' take off the foreskins of the trees,' when suspecting ourselves of the mere weakness of a beginning in itself, we do not give our approval to the beginnings of our good practices, but the fruits that are put forth, we count unclean, and do not make them answer for good for us, in that when the beginnings of good practice are applauded, it is meet that the mind of the doer should not be fed thereby; lest whilst the praise bestowed is plucked with delight, the fruit of good works be eaten prematurely. He, then, that receives the praise of virtue in its beginning from the mouths of men, as it were eats the fruit of the tree that he has planted before the time.
80. Hence ' Truth' saith by the Psalmist, // is vain for you Ps. 127 to rise up before the light: rise up after ye have sat, For^-^^lg' ' to rise up before the light' is to take one's pleasure in the night-time of the present life, before the shining of Eternal Retribution is revealed. So we are to sit first, that we may rise afterwards m a right way. For whoever doth not now humble himself by his own act and deed, the glory to ensue does not exalt such an one. Therefore what it is there to rise before the light, it is here for the hypocrite to put forth the produce in his springing up, for in "^setting his heart on human applauses, in the self-same place, where he springs up to good works, there he desires directly to obtain the glorying of his recompense. Had not they ' put forth their produce in their springing up,' of whom ' Truth' said, They Matt, love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats ^>^^'^•^• the synagogues, and greetings in the 7narkets, and to be called of 7nen Rabbi? Therefore seeing that for this reason, viz. because they are beginning to do wt'll, they endeavour to obtain honour of men, as it were, like a rush, ' in their 48*2 Seekmg praise of men now, forfeits that of God, Job 8, springing up they rise with their produce.' These same, — - — whilst they aim to practise riffht thines, first anxiously look about for witnesses of those same works, and canvass with secret calculation, if there be persons to see the things they are about to do, or if those who see them can report them in a proper way. But if it chance to happen that no one witnesses their doings, then, surely, they reckon them to be lost to them, and they account the eyes of the interior Um- pire as off them, because they have no mind to receive at His hands the reward of their works hereafter. And whereas when the hypocrite does any thing, he aims to be seen by many eyes, it is yet further added with truth con- cerning this same ' rush/ Ver. 17. His roots will he wrapped about the heap of rocks, and he will dwell among the stones.
xlviii. 81. For what do we understand by the name of ' roots' save the hidden thoughts, w^hich issue forth out of sight, but rise up in the display of works in open day? as it is also Is. 37, said by the Prophet concerning the seed of the Word, And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and hear fruit upward. For to ' take root downward,' is to multiply good thoughts in the secret depths, but ' to bear fruit upward,' is to shew^ forth by the doing of practice what one has thought that is right. Now by the title of ' stones' in Holy Writ men are Is. 54, denoted, as it is said to Holy Church by Isaiah, And I will make thy hattlemetits jasper, and thy gates of carved stones. And he made it plain what it was that he called those stones, where he added. All thy children taught of the Lord. As it 1 Pet. 2, is also expressed by Peter in giving admonition, Ye also, as lively stones, are huilt up a spiritual house. Here therefore, whereas they are called ' stones,' but are not in any wise called ^ living stones,' by the bare appellation of stones may be set forth the lost and the Elect mixed together. There- fore this rush, ' which abideth in the place of stones, wi-appeth his roots about the heap of rocks,' in that every hypocrite multiplies the thoughts of his heart, in seeking out the ad- miration of men; for in all that hypocrites do, seeing that in their secret thoughts they look out for the applauses of their fellow-creatures, like rushes as it were they ' send out roots Vain duj)lai/ exposes us to evil spirits. 483 into the heap of the rocks.* For on the point of acting Book they imagine their praises, and when applauded, they dwell '- upon them secretly with themselves in the thoughts of their heart. They rejoice that they have distinguished themselves first and foremost in the esteem of men; and while they are puffed up and swoln in themselves by their applause, they often themselves secretly wonder at what they are. They long to appear day by day higher than themselves, and gi'ow to a height by extraordinary arts in practice. For as habits of virtue enfeeble every thing bad, so presumption strengthens the same. For it forces the mind to grow quick, and to be in high condition at the expense of strength, in that what the prime quality of health withholds, the love of applause enjoins. Whence too, as we said, they look out for witnesses of their deeds; but if it chance that witnesses of the thing are wanting, they themselves relate what they have done, and when they begin to be elated with applause, they add a little, by lying, to these works of theirs, which they describe themselves to have done. But even when they do give true accounts, by the act of telling them they are making them alien to them, in that when they are re- warded with the desired acknowledgments of esteem, they are dispossessed of their inward recompensing of them.
82. For in this, that they publish their good, they point out to the evil spirits, like enemies plotting against them, what to make spoil of. Whose life, truly, is represented by that sin of Hezekiah, which is well known to every one, who after that by a single prayer, and in the space of a single night, he had laid low an hundred fourscore and five thousand of his enemies, by an Angel smiting them, after that he had brought back the sun close to its setting into the higher regions of the heavens, after that he had spun out the web of life to longer dimensions, now already narrowed by the end approaching, shewed to the welcomed messengers of the king of Babylon all the good treasures that he possessed, but directly heai'd from the voice of the Prophet, Behold^ the days come, that all 2 Kings that is in thine hoicse shall be carried away into Babylon i'^^^ ^^' nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. In this way, in this self-same way, do hypocrites, after they are grown to a height by great attainments in virtue, because they are indiflerent 484 What we take from God, He leaves to Satan.
Job 8, to guard against the plots of evil spirits, and will not remain -T — '— hidden in those attainments, by displaying their good things, make them over to the enemy; andbybetrayingitto view, they lose in a moment whatsoever they perform by taking pains in a long course of time. Hence it is said by the Psalmist, Ps. 78, Aiid He delivered their strength into captivity, and their glory into the enemy'^s hand. For the ' strength' and ' glory' of presumptuous men is ' given over into the enemy's hand,' in that every good thing, that is exhibited in the desire of praise, is made over to our secret adversary's right of possession; for he calls his enemies to the spoil, who reveals his treasures to their knowledge; since so long as we are severed from the safety of the Eternal Land, we are walking along a way with robbers lying in wait. He then that dreads to be robbed on the road, must of necessity hide the treasures that he carries. O wretched beings, who by going after the praises of men, waste to themselves all the fruits of their labours, and whilst they aim to shew themselves to the eyes of others, blast all that they do. Which same when the evil spirits prompt to boastfulness, taking them for a prey they strip bare their works, as we have said. Whence ' Truth' in setting forth by the Prophet the rancour of our old Joel 1,7. enemies, under the form of a particular people, saith. He hath laid my vineyard waste, and harked my Jig-tree: he 1 V. so hath made it clean bare, and - despoiled it; the branches thereof are made white. For by spirits lying in wait the vineyard of God is made a desert, when the soul that is replenished with fruits is wasted with the longing after the praise of men. That people barks the fig-tree of God, in that carrying away the misguided soul in the appetite for applause, in the degree that it draws her on to ostentation, it strips her of the covering of humility, and ' making it clean bare despoils it,' in that so long as it is withdrawn from sight in its goodness, it is as it were clothed with the bark of its own covering. But when the mind longs for that it has done to be seen by others, it is as though ' the fig-tree despoiled' had lost the bark that covered it. And it is properly added there. The branches thereof are made while; in that his works being displayed to the eyes of men, turn white; a name for sanctity is gotten, when right practice Glory of the Church within. Glory of God to be our rule* 48-S is made appear, but whereas upon the bark beinor removed, Book the branches of this fig-tree wither, it is to be observed with - due discrimination that the deeds of presumptuous men, when they are paraded before human eyes, by the same act whereby they aim to win favour, are rendered dry and sapless. Therefore the mind that is shewn to view in boasting is rightly called a fig-tree barked, in that it is at once white, in so far as it is seen, and within a little of withering, in so far as it is denuded of the covering of the bark. The things we do, therefore, are to be kept within, if we expect to receive from the Umpire within the recompense of our work. It is hence that ' Truth' saith in the Gospel, But when thou doest alms^ let not thy left hand know ivhat}^^^- 6> thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may he in secret; and thy Father^ which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. It is hence that it is said of the Church of the Elect bv the Psalmist, The kinrfs daughter is all glorious within. Hence ^■"^- ^^' Paul saiih. For our glory ^ is this, the testimony of our -2 Cor. \, conscience. For the king's daughter is the Church, which J y is begotten in good practict^ by the preaching of spiritual Princes. But ' her glory is within,' in that what she does she holds not for the boasting of outward display. Paul describes his ' glory' as ' the testimony of his conscience,' in that not aiming at the applause of another's man's lips, he knows no such thing as placing the satisfactions of his life out of himself.
83. Therefore the things that we do must be kept con- cealed, lest by carrying them negligently on the journey of the present life, we lose them, through the invasion of the spirits that hunt for spoil. And yet ' Truth' saith. Lei them Matt. 5, see your good works, that they may glorify your Fattier which is in heaven. But assuredly it is one thing when in the display of our works the glory of the Giver is our aim, and quite another when our own praise is the thing sought for in the gift of His bounty. And hence again in the Gospel the same * Truth' saith. Take heed that ye do not your works Matt. 6, before men, to be seen of them. Therefore when our works are displayed to men, we must first weigh well, in entering into the heart, what is aimed at by the prosecution of such display. For if we make the glory of the Giver our end, even our works that are made public we keep hidden in His 486 Human praise may j^ervert our first good intent.
Job 8, sight. Bat if we desire to win our own applause by them, they are thenceforth cast out of His sight without, even though they be known nothing of by numbers.
84. Now it belongs to those that are exceeding perfect, so to seek the glory of their Maker by the works shewn, as not to know what it is to exult in self-congratulation upon the praise bestowed upon them. For then only is a praiseworthy work displayed to men without harm, when the praise awarded is genuinely trodden under in the mind's contempt. Which same as the \^'eak sort do not perfectly get above in contemning it, it remains of necessity that they keep out of sight the good that they do. For often from the very first beginning of the display, they seek their own praise. And often in the displaying of their works, they desire to publish the gloriousness of the Creator, but being received with applause, they are carried off into desire of their own praise. And whilst they neglect to call themselves to account within, being dissipated without, they do not know what they do, and their work ministers to their pride, and they fancy that they are rendering it in the service of the Giver. Thus ' a rush abideth among the stones,' in that the hypocrite stands there, where he sets fast the purpose of his mind. For whilst he goes about to get the testimony of numbers, he takes his stand, as it were, in the heap of stones. But the same hypocrite that is represented by the designation of ' a rush,' whilst he brings his body under by abstinence, whilst by bestowing in alms all that he possesses, he spends himself in efforts of pity, whilst he gets instruction in the knowledge of the sacred La^w, whilst he employs the word of preaching; who that beheld him so filled with bounty, would account him a stranger to the grace of the Giver? And yet the Hand of heavenly Dis- pensation vouchsafes to him the gifts of works, and withholds the lot of the inheritance. It lavishes endowments for w^ork- ing, yet disowns the life of the worker. For when, the gift vouchsafed is applied toward his own praise, in the eye of the interior Light, he is darkened by the shadow of pride. Hence it is well added, Ver. 18. If He destroy him from his place, then He shalt deny him, saying, I have not known thee. xlix. 85. The hypocrite is * destroyed from liis place,' when he Hypocrites punished for making others like themselves. 487 is parted from the applause of the present life, by death Book intervening. But the interior Witness ' denieth' him, thus - destroyed, and asserts that He knows him not, in that in justly condemning the life of the pretender, ' Truth' knows him not, nor recognises the good works he has done, in that he never put them forth in a right purpose of mind. And hence when He cometh to Judgment, He will say to the foolish virgins, Verily I say unto you, 1 know you not. In Matt. which same whilst He sees corruptness of mind. He condemns ^' * even incorruptness in the flesh. But would that their own ruin alone were enough for hypocrites, and that their wicked pains did not vehemently urge others to a life^ of duplicity. For it • al. ' a is the way with every one, to wish that, such as he is himself, ^^^ others of a like sort shoidd be joined with him, and to avoid difterence in life, and to inculcate as a pattern for imitation the thing that he loves. Whence also according to the view of hypocrites every degree of simplicity of character is criminal. For they sit in judgment on open characters, and purity of heart they term stupidity; and all whom they desire to be attached to themselves, they turn out of the path of simplicity, and then, as though their folly were cast out, they reckon that they have enlightened those persons, in whom they force to a sun'ender that fortress of wisdom, purity of heart. But forasmuch as the hypocrite is con- demned not for his own frowardness alone, but for the added ruin of his followers also, after that he is said not to be known by the Judge, the words are rightly brought in upon that; Ver. 19. Behold, this is the joy of his way^, that out o/'^al. <of the earth others also should grow. '^ 86. As though it were in plain words, ' When the Judge 1. cometh, he is not acknowledged, but receives punishment a thousand fold, because he rejoiced in his wickedness more amply in proportion as he spread evil among others also.' For he that is not satisfied with being wicked himself here, must be tormented There with the due of the guilt of others also. Now then let the hypocrites rejoice, and triumph to have gotten the suffrages of their fellow-creatures. Let the simplicity of good men be looked down upon, and be called foolishness by the craft of the double-dealing. Speedily doth Job 8, the contempt of the single-minded pass, speedily the glorying ^^' ^^' of the double-dealing run to an end. And hence it is fitly added, Ver. 20. Behold, God trill not cast out a perfect man, 7ieither will He stretch out His hand to the evil. li, 87. In that assuredly when the Strict One appeareth in the Judgment, He will at once lift up the despisedness of the simple by glorifying them, and break in pieces the greatness ima g-of the evil-minded^ by condemning them. For hypocrites are called evil-minded, who do good acts but not well, and practise every thing right only in eagerness after praise. Now any one, to whom we stretch out our hand, we plainly lift up from below. Thus God does not stretch out His hand to the evil-minded, in that all that seek earthly glory He leaves below, and how right soever the things that they do may seem to be. He doth not advance them to the joys above. Or, as may well be, hypocrites are for this reason called evil-minded, because they make a shew of being well- minded toward their neighbours, and cover over the arts of their wicked designs. For in all that they either do or say, they shew simplicity externally, but they are inwardly con- ceiving in the subtleties of double-mindedness; they counter- feit purity on the outside, but they conceal an evil heart at all times under the semblance of purity. In respect of whom it Deut. is well spoken by Moses, Thou shalt not wear a garment ^^' ^^" woven of woollen and linen together. For by * woollen' is denoted simplicity, by * linen' subtlety. And it is the fact that a garment made of * wool and linen' hides the linen within and shews the wool on the outside. And so he ' puts on a garment of woollen and linen together,' who in the mode of speech or behaviour that he adopts conceals within the artfulness of an evil purpose, and exhibits without the simplicity of an innocent mind. For whereas it is impossi- ble to detect craftiness under the semblance of purity, it is as if linen were hidden under the thickness of wool. But after the condemnation of the double-minded, the recom- pensing of the righteous is duly exhibited, when it is added thereupon, Ver. 21. Till He Jill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with shouting.
Laughter and shouting of the Righteous at the last. 489 88. For the ' mouth' of the righteous will then be ^ filled Book with laughing' when the tears of their pilgrimage being done, — - — ^"- their hearts shall be filled to the full with exulting in eternal joy. Concerning this laughing ' Truth' saith to His disciples, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep John and lament, hut the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be '" ' sorrowful, hut your sorrow shall be turned into joy. And again, But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, ^er. 23. and your joy no man taketh from you. Concerning this laughing of Holy Church, Solomon saith, And she shall^^^^'^ laugh in the last day. Of this it is said again. Whoso Y.cchxs.
feareth the Lord, it shall go well with him at the last. ^' ^^* Not that there shall be laughter of the body, but laughter of the heart. For now from rioting in dissipation there springs a laughter of the body, but then from joy in security there will arise a laughter of the heart. Therefore when all the Elect are replenished with the delight of open vision, they spring forth into the joyousness of laughter in the mouth of the interior. But we call it shouting'*, when we conceive ^jubilum such joy in the heart, as we cannot give vent to by the force of words, and yet the triumph of the heart vents with the voice what it cannot give forth by speech. Now the mouth is rightly said to be filled with laughter, the lips with shout- ing, since in that eteraal land, when the mind of the righteous is borne away in transport, the tongue is lifted up in the song of praise. And they, because they see so much as they are unable to express, shout in laughter, because without compassing it they resound all the love that they feel.
89. Now it is said * till,' not that Almighty God so long forbears to raise up the evil until he take to Him His Elect to the joys of their jubilee, as if afterwards He saved from the punishment those whom first leaving in sin He sentences to damnation, but that He never does it even before the Judgment, when it may seem doubtful to men, whetlier it is to be done. For that after the jubilee of His Elect people He does not stretch out His hand to the evil-minded, is already plain from tl.e mere severity of the final reckoning by itself. As the Psalmist also spake in this manner, TheVs.no, Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, until ' I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Not that the Lord 490 God helps not wicked men now, much less hereafter.