Morals on the Book of Job (Moralia)

xxix. 48. Which is there of us that does not know that it is called the ' dawn,' when the night season is now changing into the brightness of" light? so we too are closed in by the darkness of night, when we are dimmed by the practice of wickedness; but the night is turned into light, when the darkness of our erring state is illuminated by knowledge of the Truth. The night is turned into light, when the splendour of righteousness lights up our hearts, which the blindness of sin lay heavy upon. This dawn Paul saw rise in the minds

Rom. of the disciples, when he said. The night is far spent, the ' ' day is at hand. And so the Lord ' visits us at the dawn,' in that He illumines the darkness of our state of error with the light of the knowledge of Himself, uplifts us with the gift of contemplation, exalts us to the stronghold of virtue. But it is to be observed, that after God * visits him at the dawn,' He ' tries man suddenly,' in that both in drawing near He advances oiir souls to virtuous heights, and in withdrawing

Gifts partially withdrawn to humble men. 4:65

Himself He suffers them to be assaulted with temptation. Book

For if after the bestowal of the gifts of virtue, she is never — '■ — - moved by any assault of temptation, the soul boasts that she has these of herself. Therefore that she may at one and the same time enjoy the gifts of a firm state, and humbly acknowledge her own state of infirmity, by the visitation of grace she is lifted up on high, and by the withdrawal of the same, it is proved what she is in herself. Which is well intimated to us in the history of the book of sacred reading, wherein Solomon is recorded both to have received wisdom from on high, and yet directly after that very wisdom was i Kings received, to have been assailed by the disputing of the ' ' harlots. For immediately after he had received the grace of that great enlightenment, he was exposed to the strife of base women; for that oftentimes when the visiting of the interior bounty illuminates our mind with virtues vouchsafed it, even filthy imaginations forthwith disorder it, that the soul, which being lifted up exults in the immensity of the gift, being at the same time struck by temptation, may discover what she is. So Elijah both being visited at the dawn, opened the doors of heaven by a word, and yet being' tried suddenly,' fleeing helpless through the desert, was in dread of a single woman. Thus Paul is carried to the third heaven, and i Kings penetrating into the secrets of Paradise, he is held in con- 2 Cor. templation; and yet when he returns to himself, travails ^2, 2. against the assaults of the flesh, and is subject to another law in his members, by whose rebellion within him he grieves to see the law of the Spirit hard bestead. Therefore God * visits at the dawn,' but, after this visiting. He ' tries suddenly,' in that He both lifts up by the gift vouchsafed, and by the same being for a while withdrawn, shews unaided^ ' ipsum man to himself. Which doubtless we are so long subject to, until the time, when the pollution of sin being clean taken away, we be renewed to the substance of promised incorruption. Hence it is fitly added yet further,

Ver. 19. How long tvilt JJtou not depart from me, nor let me alone until I swallow down my spittle.

49. The spittle runs into the mouth from the head, but xxx. from the mouth it is carried into the belly by being swallowed. And what is our head saving the Deity, through Whom we

Job 7, derive the original of our being, so as to be * creature,' as — — ^ — Paul bears witness, who declares, The head of every man is 1 Cor. Christ, and the head of Christ is God; and what is our ^^y^' bellj, saving the mind, which, whilst it takes its food, i. e. heavenly perception, being invigorated, doth surely rule the members of the several actions. For except Holy Writ did sometimes describe the mind by the name of ' the belly,' Prov. Solomon surely would never have said. The spirit of man is ' * the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly; forasmuch as whilst the grace of heavenly visitation illumines us, it discloses even all the depths of the mind that are hidden from our sight. What then is meant by the term * spittle,' but the savour of interior contemplation, which runs down from the head to the mouth, in that issuing from the brightness of the Creator, whilst we are still set in this life, it but just touches us with a taste of revelation, John 9, And hence the Redeemer at His coming mixed the spittle with clay, and restored the eyes of him that was born blind, in that heavenly grace enlightens the carnal bent of our hearts, by a mixture of the contemplation of Itself, and from his original blindness restores man anew to perception. For whereas nature henceforth brought him forth in this place of exile, since he was banished from all the joys of Paradise, man was produced from his birth, as it were, without eyes. But, as the holy man teaches, this spittle runs into the mouth indeed, but that it should not reach into the belly, it is not swallowed down, in that the contemplation of the Divine Being grazes the sense, but does not perfectly refresh the mind, because the soul is unable perfectly to behold what as yet, the mist of corruption impeding the view, it sees by a hasty glimpse.

50. For see how the soul of the Elect already bears down all earthly desires beneath itself, already mounts above all the objects that it sees are of a nature to pass away, is already lifted up from the enjoyment of external delights, and closely searches what are the invisible good things, and in doing the same is carried away into the sweetness of heavenly contemplation; already very often it sees something of the interior world as it were through the mist, and with burning desire strives to the utmost to be admitted to the spiritual ministries of the Angels, feeds on the taste of the Light Incompre- Book hensible, and being carried out of self disdains to sink back ^^^^' again into self; for forasmuch as the body, which is in the way to corruption, still weighs down the soul, it has not power -vvisd.p to attach itself to the Light for long, which it sees in a mo- 1^- menlary glimpse. For the mere infirmity of the flesh by itself drags down the soul, as it mounts above itself, and brings it down, as it aspires, to provide for low cares and wants. And so spittle flowing from the head touches the mouth, but never reaches to the belly; in that our understanding indeed is henceforth watered with the dews of heavenly contemplation, but the soul is not at all fully satisfied. For in the mouth is the taste, but fulness in the belly; and so we cannot ' swallow down our spittle,' in that we are not suff'ered to fill ourselves with the excellency of heavenly brightness, which we taste as yet but in a sip. But whereas this very same that we are already in some slight degree made acquainted with above us, comes from the pitifulness of One that spareth, while that we cannot as yet obtain a perfect perception of it is of the punishment of the old curse still, it is rightly said now. How long dost Thou not spare me, nor let me alone, till I swallow down my spittle? As if it were in plain words; ' Then Thou dost perfectly spare man, when Thou admittest Him to the perfect measure of the contemplation of Thee; that being transported he may behold Thy brightness in the interior, and no corruption of his flesh without should hold him back. Then * thou lettest me alone till I swallow down my spittle, when Thou replenishest me with the savour of Thy brightness even to the very overflow of fulness, that I should never henceforth go a hungered, with but a taste of the mouth, through lack of food, but be stedfastly stayed in Thee, the belly of my interior being watered.' But whoso would obtain the good that he desires must acknowledge the evil that he has done. The account goes on.

Ver. 20. / have sinned; what shall I do unto Thee, O Thou Preserver of 7nen?

51. Observe how he confesses the ill that he has done, but ^^^\ the good that he should present to God in compensation, he no where can find, in that all virtue whatever of human

Job 7 practice is without power to wash out the guilt of sin, except

^^- ^ His mercifulness in sparing foster it, and not His justice in judging press hard upon it. Whence it is well said by the

Ps.63,3. Psalmist, Because Thy mercy is better than the life; in that howsoever innocent it may seem to be, yet with the strict Judge our life doth not set us free, if the lovingkindness of His mercy loose not to it the debt of its guilt. Or indeed when it is said. What shall I do unto Thee? it is plainly shewn us that those very good things, which we are commanded to practise, are not a gain to Him that imposes the command, but to ourselves. Whence it is said again by the

Ps.16,2. Psalmist, My goodness extendeth not unto Thee. Now the abjectness of our destitution is set forth, when God is called the ' Preserver of men,' in that if His preserving hand defend us not in the face of the snares of the secret adversary, the eye of our heedfulness sleeps on watch, as the Psalmist again Ps. 127, bears record, who saith, Except the Lord keep the city, the

^' watchman tcaketh hut in vain. For it is through ourselves that w^e have been brought to the ground, but to rise again by our own strength is beyond our ability. The fault of our own will laid us low once, but the punishment of our fault sinks us worse day by day. We strive by the efforts of our earnest endeavours, to lift ourselves to the uprightness we have lost, but we are kept down by the weight of our just dues. And hence it is fitly added. Why hast Thou set me opposite to Thee, so that I am a burthen to myself?

xxxii. 52. Then did God ' set man opposite to Him,' when man forsook God by sinning. For being taken captive by the persuasions of the Serpent, he became the enemy of Him, Whose precepts he despised. But the righteous Creator ' set man opposite to Himself,' in that He accounted him an enemy by pride. And this very oppositeness of sin is itself made a weight of punishment to man, that he being wrongly free, might serve his own corruption, who while serving rightly exulted in the freedom of incorruption. For quitting the healthful stronghold of humility, he was brought by growing proud to the yoke of infirmity, and in erecting only bowed down ihe neck of the heart, in that he who refused to submit to the behests of God, prostrated himself beneath his own necessities; which we shall shew the better, if we set forth those burthens, first of the flesh and afterwards of the Book spirit, which he is made subject to after being cast down to the ground.

53. For to say nothing of this, that he is hable to pains, that he gasps with fever; the very state of our body, which is called health, is straitened by its own sickness. For it wastes with idleness, it faints with work; failing with not eating, it is refreshed by food so as to hold up; going heavily with sustenance, it is relieved by abstinence, so as to be vigorous; it is bathed in water, not to be dry; it is wiped with towels, not by that very bathing to be too wet; it is enlivened by labour, that it may not be dulled by repose; it is refreshed by repose, that it faint not under the exertion of labour; worn with watching, it is recruited by sleep; oppressed with sleep, it is roused to activity by watching, lest it be worse wearied by its own rest; it is covered with clothing, lest it be pierced by the hardship of cold; fainting under the heat it sought, it is invigorated by the blowing of the air. And whereas it meets with annoyances from the very quarter whence it sought to shelter itself from annoyances, being badly wounded, so to say, it sickens by its own cure. Therefore fevers set aside and pains not in action, our very breath itself is sickness, whereunto there is never wanting the necessity of administering a cure. Since whatever the comforts we seek out for occasion of life, we as it were meet with so many medicines of our sickness; but the very medicine itself too is turned into a sore, in that attaching ourselves a little too long to the remedy we sought, we are more brought down in that which we prudently provide for our refreshment. Thus was presumption to be amended, thus was pride to be laid low. For whereas we once took to us a high spirit, so every day we carry the mud that runneth down.

54. Our very mind too itself being banished from the secure delight of interior secresy, is now beguiled by hope, now tormented by fear; one while cast down by grief, at another time made light by a false mirth; it obstinately attaches itself to transitory objects, and is continually afflicted by the loss of them, in that it is also continually undergoing change by a course that carries it away; and being made

Job 7, subject to things changeable, it is also made to be at odds

'■ — with its own self. For seeking what it has not got, it anxiously obtains it, and so soon as it has begun to possess the same, is sick of having obtained what it sought after. Oftentimes it loves what it once despised, and despises what it used to love. It learns by dint of pains what are the things of eternity, but it forgets them in a moment, if it cease to take pains. It takes a long time to seek, that it may find but a little concerning the things above, but speedily falling back into its wonted ways, not even for a little space does it hold on in the things it has found. Desiring to be instructed, with difficulty it gets the better of its ignorance, and being so instructed it has a harder contest against the pride of knowledge; with difficulty it subjects to itself the usurping power of its fleshly part, yet it is still subject to the images of sin within, the works whereof it has already in vanquishing bound down without. It raises itself in quest of its Creator, but being thrown back, it is bewildered by the beguiling mist of corporeal attachments^. It desires to survey itself, and to see how being incorporeal it bears rule over the body, and it cannot. It asks in a wonderful way what it is unable to answer itself, and remaining ignorant is at a loss under that, which it inquires with a wise purpose. Viewing itself as large and scanty at once, it knows nothing how to form a true estimate of itself, in that if it were not large it would not be seeking matters of so deep enquiry, and again if it were not little, it would at least find that which it asks of itself.

55. Well therefore is it said, Thou hast set me opposite to Thee^ so that I am a burthen to myself, in that whilst man being banished is both subject to annoyances in the flesh, and to perplexities in the mind, surely he carries about his own self as a grievous burthen. On every side he is beset with sicknesses, on every side he is hard bestead with Book infiimities, that he who, having abandoned God, thought to '- suffice to himself for his repose, might find nought in himself but a turmoil of disquietude, and might tr}^ to fly from himself so found, but having set his Creator at nought, might not have where to fly. The burthens of which state of infirmity that wise man rightly regarding, exclaims. An heavy yoke is upon the sons of Adam,Jrom the day Ecdns. that they go out of their mother''s womb, till the day'^^^^' that they return to the mother of all things. But blessed Job regarding these things, and seeking with groans wherefore they were so ordered, does not reproach justice, but interrogates mercy; that in asking he may himself in self-abasement deal a blow to that, which the Divine pity might in sparing alter. As if he said in plain words; * Wherefore dost Thou despise man set as in opposition to Thee, Who, I am assured, wouldest not that even he should perish whom Thou art thought to despise?' Whence he proceeds in a right way both to express humility in confession, and to subjoin the voice of free inquiry in the words,

Ver. 21. And why dost Thou not take away my transgression, and remove mine iniquity?

56. By which same words, what else is intimated but the xxxiii. desire of the expected Mediator, concerning Whom John saith. Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin John i, of the world. Or rather sin is then completely taken away ^^* from mankind, when our corruption is changed in the glory of incorruption. For we can never be free fiom sin so long as we are held fast in a body of mortality, and therefore he longs for the grace of the Redeemer, i. e. for the ^ wholeness^ solidiof the Resurrection, who is looking to have his iniquity *^^®°^ entirely ' taken away.' Hence immediately after adding both the punishment which was his due by birth, and the Judgment which he dreads in consequence of his own doings, he proceeds.

For now shall I sleep in the dust, and if TIiou shalt seek me in the morning, I shall not abide.

57. It was said to the first man on his sinning, Dust thou xxxiv. art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Now by the ' mornings?Jf °" ^'

Job 8, is meant that manifestation of sonls, which, when the thoughts are laid bare at the coming of the Judge, is as it were brought to light after the darkness of night. Of which same morning

Ps. 5, 3.it is said by the Psalmist, In the morning I shall stand '^ ^' before Thee and shall see '\ Now God's ' seeking' is His searching man with a minute inquest, and, in searching, judging him with rigorous strictness. Therefore let blessed Job, surveying the miseries of man's fallen condition, see how that he is both already closely pressed by a present punishment, and in yet worse plight as concerns the future, and let him say. For now shall I sleep in the dust, and if Thou shalt seek me in the morning, I shall not abide. As if he openly lamented, saying, ' In the present life indeed I already undergo the death of the flesh, and yet still further from the Judgment to come I dread a worse death, even the doom of Thy severity. I suffer destruction for sin, yet further on coming to Judgment I dread my sins being brought up again even after my dissolution. Therefore looking at the external death, let him say, For now shall I sleep in the dust, and dreading the interior let him add, And if Thou shalt seek me in the morning, I shall not abide. For however strong in righteousness, even the very Elect by no means suffice to themselves for innocency, if they be strictly examined in Judgment. But they find it now for an alleviation of their withdrawal hence, that they know in their humility that they never can suffice. Therefore they shelter themselves under the covering of humility from the sword of such a grievous visitation, and in proportion as awaiting the terribleness of the Judge to come, they tremble with continual alarm, so there is an unceasing progress in their becomingbetter prepared. It goes on,

C. viii. 1, *2. Then answered Bildad, the Shuhite, and said, How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall

* V. so. the breath^ of the words of thy mouth be multiplied?

XXXV. 58. To the unrighteous the words of the righteous are ever gi'ievous, and such as they hear spoken for edification, they bear as a burthen put upon them. As Bildad, the Shuhite, plainly indicates in his own case, when he says. How long wilt thou speak these things? For he that says how long, shews that he cannot any lonoer bear words of edification. Book

But whereas unfair men are too proud to be set right, they '- find fault with the things that are spoken well; and hence he immediately adds, And how long shall the breath of the words of thy mouth be multiplied? When multiplicity is blamed in the speech, surely it is thereby denied that there is weight of meaning in the sense. For the power of speakers on the highest matters is distinguished by a fourfold quality. For there be some whom fulness in speaking and thinking combined give width and compass, and there be some whom meagreness both of thought and utterance reduces to small dimensions; and there are some who are furnished with ability in speaking, but not with penetration in thinking; and there are some, who have penetration of thought to support them, but from barrenness of expression are made silent. For we discover the same in man that we often see in things without sense. Thus it very often happens that both an abundant supply of water is obtained from the deep of the earth, and that it is conveyed by ample channels upon the surface; and very often a scanty quantity lies concealed in the heart of the earth, and hardly finding a crevice to issue by, strains itself out in scanty dimensions without. Very often too the smallest quantity springs up out of reach of the eye, and when it finds an outlet gaping wide whereby it may issue forth from an ample opening, it swells out in a thin stream, and the big channels open themselves wide, but there is not aught for them to pour forth; and very often an ample store springs up out of sight, but being confined by narrow channels, it dribbles out in the smallest quantities. Just so in one sort the ample mouth delivers what the copious fountain of the wit supplies; in another, neither does thought furnish sense, nor the tongue pour it forth. In others, the mouth indeed is wide to speak, but for the giving out that which thought has provided for it, the tongue gets nothing at all; whilst in others, a fvdl fountain of thought abounds in the heart, but a disproportionate tongue, like a scanty channel, confines it. In which same four sorts of speaking, the third only is obnoxious to blame, which appropriates to itself by words that, to the level whereof it doth not rise in wit. For the first is worthy of

Job 8, praise, in that it is powerful and strong in both particulars. The second deserv^es commiseration, which in its httleness lacks both. The fourth calls for aid, in that it has not power to embody what it thinks. But the third is worthy to be despised and ought to be restrained, in that while it lifts itself high in speech it is grovelling in sense; and like limbs swoln with inflation, it goes forth to the ears of the hearers big but void. And it is this which Bildad hurls as an accusation against blessed Job, saying. And how long shall the words of the breath of thy mouth he multiplied? For he that attributes multiplicity of words to the mouth, doubtless finds fault with the barrenness of the heart. As if he said in plain words, ' Thou art raised by abundance of breath in word of mouth, but thou art stinted by scantiness of sense.' But when bad men blame right things, lest they should themselves appear not to know what is righteous, the good things that are known of all men, and which they have learnt by hearsay, they deliver as unknown. And hence Bildad adds directly,

Ver. 3. Doth God pervert judgment? Or doth the A Im igh ty pervert justice? xxxvi. 59. These things blessed Job had neither in speaking denied, nor yet was ignorant of them in holding his tongue. But all bold persons, as we have said, speak with big words even well known truths, that in telling of them they may appear to be learned. They scorn to hold their peace in a spirit of modesty, lest they should be thought to be silent from ignorance. But it is to be known that they then extol the rectitude of God's justice, when security from ill uplifts themselves in joy, while blows are dealt to other men; when they see themselves enjoying prosperity in their affairs, and others harassed with adversity. For whilst they do wickedly, and yet believe themselves righteous, the benefit of prosperity attending them, they imagine to be due to their own merits; and they infer that God does not visit unjustly, in proportion as upon themselves, as being righteous, no cloud of misfortune falls. But if the power of correction from above touch their life but in the least degree, being struck they directly break loose against the policy of the Divine inquest, which a little while before, unharmed, they made much of in express- ing admiration of it, and they deny that judgment to be just, Book which is at odds with their own ways; they canvass the equity of God's deahngs, they fly out in words of contradiction, and being chastened because they have done wrong, they do worse. Hence it is well spoken by the Psalmist against the confession of the sinner. He will confess /oPs. 49, Thee, when Thou doest well to him. For the voice of confession is disregarded, when it is shaped by the joyfulness of prosperity. But that confession alone possesses merit of much weight, which the force of pain has no power to part from the truth of the rule of right, and which adversity, the test of the heart, sharpens out even to the sentence of the lips. Therefore it is no wonder that Bildad commends the justice of God, in that he experiences no hurt therefrom.

60. Now whereas we have said that the friends of blessed Alleg. Job bear the likeness of heretics, it is well for us to point out briefly, how the words of Bildad accord with the wheedling ways of heretics. For whilst in their own idea they see Holy Church corrected with temporal visitations, they swell the bolder in the bigness of their perverted preaching, and putting forward the righteousness of the Divine probation, they maintain that they prosper by virtue of their merits; but they avouch that she is rewarded with deserved chastisements, and thereupon without delay they seek by beguiling words a way to steal upon her, in the midst of her sorrows, and they strike a blow at the lives of some, by making the deaths of others a reproach, as if those M^ere now visited with deserved death, who refused to hold worthy opinions concerning God. Hence Bildad the Shuhite, after he pleaded the justice of God, thereupon adds,

Ver. 4 — 6. Even if thy children have sinned against Him, and He have left them in the hand of their transgression; yet if thou ivilt seek to God at dawn, and make thy supplication to the Almighty; if thou wilt walk pure and upright; surely now He will awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness at peace.

61. As if the preachers of falsities were to say to aflBictedxxxvii. Catholics, * Provide for your lives, and learn what wrong things ye maintain from the condemnation of those that are dead from among you. For except your misbelief were dis-

Job 8, pleasing to the Creator of all things, He would never take from — — ^ — you such numbers ^ by destruction let loose to rage against them.' For he says, If thy children have sinned against Him, and He have left them in the hand of their transgression. As though he said in plain speech, ' They are left in the hand of their own wickedness, that refused to follow the. life of our right rule.' Yet if thou icilt arise to God at dawn, and make thy supplication to the Almighty. For inasmuch as heretics think that the light of truth rests with themselves, they bid and summon Holy Church, as being in the night of error, to come to the dawning of the truth, that in the knowledge of God it may be led to rise, as in the dawning light, and by the prayer of penitence wash off past misdeeds. If thou wilt walk pure and upright; that is to say, pure in thought, upright in practice. Surely now He will awake for thee. As if it were in plain words, ' that He, Who now forbears to put forth the power of His protecting hand to thy tribulations, is as if asleep to the succouring of one going wrong.' And make the habitation of thy rigliteousness at peace, i. e. ' does away with the crosses of the present life, and vouchsafes without delay security in repose.' For because men that are bad reckon temporal enjoyment as a special blessing of Divine recompensing, what they themselves go after with solicitous concern, they promise to others as something great. Hence it very often happens that they either pledge themselves to regain them when lost, or draw on the minds of their hearers after still greater rewards of this world. Which Bildad openly expresses, when he adds upon that,

Ver. 7. Insomuch that though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end shall greatly increase. xxxviii. 62. But if it is counsel within the soul that he calls ^ the habitation of righteousness,' the leaders of false opinions promise afflicted Catholics ' the habitation of their righteousness at peace,' in that if they draw them to their own views, then indeed they hold their peace from opposition. For those who have let themselves be drawn into that which is wrong, arc the more lulled to rest in temporal peace, in proportion as they are parted the wider from eternal peace. Book Moreover they promise that the riches of understanding shall ^"^- be increased to all that follow them. And hence it is added, Insomuch that though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end shall greatly increase. Then because they do not easily obtain credit to their words, in that their life is often shewn to be worthy of contempt, they put forward the opinions of the Fathers of old, and turn the right line they take into a proof of their own erring way. Hence it is

Ver. 8. For inquire, T jrray thee, of the former age, and diligently search into the memory of the fathers.

63. They give us notice that ' the former generation' and xxxix. ' the memory of the fathers' are not seen but ' searched,' because they will not have that to be seen therein, which lies open before the eyes of all men. But sometimes, like good men, they give some instruction of a moral kind, and shew how the present may be gathered from the past; and from the things which are even now withdrawn from our eyes by passing away, they shew how little there is in the things that are seen before our eyes. Whence it is yet further

Ver. 9. For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are but a shadow.

64. And so the generation of old is set before us to be xl. inquired of, that the period of the present life may be shewn to pass away like a shadow; in this way, that if we recall to mind the things that have been and are now over, we clearly see how swiftly that also will be gone which we have in our hands. But it often happens that heretics go along with us in extolling the same fathers whom we venerate; but their sense being perverted, they strike at us by those very commendations of them. Hence it is yet fiirther added,

Ver. 10. Shall tiot they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?

Q^. We must mark what he had said before, And the xli. inspiration^ of the words of thy mouth is multiplied. Buti.,.i^. now when the fathers are brought to mind, he says, They^^' ^^ shall utter words out of their heart. As though heretics ^^^°'^' abhorring the life of Holy Church said, ' Thou hast abundance

Job 8, of inspiration in thy mouth, in lliy heart thou hast none of —I —.' it. But they are to be heard in opposition, who, in uttering 'words from the heart, have taught the right thing by living like it.' But oftentimes the wicked, whereas the evil of their own crookedness is unknown to them, boldly pull in pieces the uprightness of others, and while they usurp to themselves authority of pronouncing rebukes against good men, they either deliver those good senthnents, which they have imbibed not by seeing but by hearing them, or else with lyinglips lay that evil to the charge of others, which they are themselves guilty of committing. But when they give utterance to good thoughts, which they scorn to observe, it is to be remarked that very frequently Truth so speaks by the lips of her adversaries, that in putting their tongue in motion it smites their life. So that in telling of the highest perfection of righteousness while they know nothing of it, they themselves are rendered at once both judges by their words Hist, and accusers by their deeds. Hence Bildad subjoins words of wondrous truth against hypocrites, but he is running himself through with the point of his discourse. For unless he were himself in some slight degree aj^retender of righteousness, he would never venture to teach a good man with so much temerity. And indeed they are words of singular force that he speaks, but they ought to have been addressed to fools, not to a wise man; to the wicked, not to a good person; in that he proclaims himself no less than insane, who, when the gardens are parched, pours water into the river. But in the mean lime, laying aside the question to whom the thing is said, let us weigh well and minutely what it is that is said, that the sentiments delivered may edify ourselves, even though they assail the character of their Author. It goes on,

Ver. 11. Can the rush grow up without moisture? can the flag grow without water? Moral. To whom Bildad compares * the rush' and ' the flag,' he himself immediately discloses, when he adds;

Ver. 12, 13. Whilst it is yet in his greenness.^ and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb. So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope shall perish.

QQ. So that by the name of ' a rush' or ' a flag,' he denotes B. ok the life of the hypocrite, which has an appearance of greenness, but has no fruit of usefulness for the services of man, which continuing dry in barrenness of practice, is green with only the colour of sanctity alone. But neither does a rush grow without moisture, nor a flag without water, in that the life of hypocrites receiv^es indeed the infused grace of the heavenly gift for the doing of good works, but in whatsoever it does seeking praises without, it proves void of fruit of the infused grace vouchsafed it. For they often perform wonderful deeds of miraculous power, they expel demons from bodies possessed, and by the gift of prophecy, by knowing anticipate things to come, yet they are separated from the Giver of so many blessings in the bent of the thought of their heart. For through His gifts they seek not His glory, but their own applause. And whereas by the benefits vouchsafed them they raise themselves in their own praise, they are assailing their Benefactor with the very gifts of His bounty. For they behave themselves proudly against Him that gave them, from the very circumstance whereby they should have been rendered the more thoroughly humble towards Him. But a judgment the more unsparing smites them hereafter, in proportion as heavenly Goodness now pours upon them even in their ingratitude the dew of His blessing in larger measure. And the fulness of the gift turns to the increase of condemnation to them, because when they are watered they bear no fruit, but under a hue of green rear themselves on high in barrenness. These ' Truth' well describes in the Gospel, saying. Many shall say to 3Ie in Matt. 7, that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and in Thy Name have cast out devils? and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? Aiid then will I prof ess unto them, I never knew you; Depart from 3Ie, ye that work iniquity. Thus neither the rush nor the flag lives without w^ater, because hypocrites do not take the greenness of good works, save by gift from above; but because they appropriate it to the use of their own applause, they grow green indeed in the water, but barren.

67. Now it is well added, Whilst it is yet in his flower, nor plucked with the hand, it withereth before any other

470 Hypocrites hate and slander those who rebuke them. Job 8, herb. ' The rush in his flower' is the hypocrite in esteem.

MoHAL ^^ ^^ springing up with sharp edges is not plucked with the hand, in that the hypocrite, having his feelings sharpened by presumption, disdains to be rebuked for his wickedness. In his flower he gashes the hand that plucketh him, in that the hypocrite in the midst of applause, that no one may dare to rebuke him, by his cutting tongue wounds the life of the rebuker without delay. For he desires not to be holy, but to be called holy; and when he may chance to be rebuked, it is as if he were lopped off" in the full bloom of his reputation. He is enraged to be found out in his wickedness, he forbids the man that brings his guilt home to him to address him, in that he is as it were pained by being touched in a secret wound. Such as he was known to the ignorant, he would wish to be accounted of all men, and readier to lay down his life than to be reprimanded, he is made worse by censure, because he accounts the word of disinterested goodness as the dart of deadly smiting. Hence in exasperated passion he directly rises in abuse, and looks about for all the evil he can rake together against the life of his rebuker. He longs to prove him beyond all comparison guilty, that he may make himself out innocent, not by his own doings, but by the guilt of others; so that often the person repents that he has uttered a word of censure, and that just as from the hand of one plucking any thing, so from the mind of the person chiding, there runs out as it were the blood of sorrow, if I may say so. Hence it is well Prov. 9, said by Solomon, Reprove not a scorner^ lest he hate thee, ^' For it is not proper for the good man to fear, lest the scorner should utter abuse at him when he is chidden; but lest being drawn into hatred, he should be made worse.

68. And here it is necessary to be known, that the excellencies of good men, as they begin from the heart, go on increasing to the very end of the present life; but the practices of hypocrites, seeing that they are not rooted in secret, often come to nought before the present life is ended. For very frequently they devote themselves to the study of sacred scholarship, and because they prosecute it not for providing a store of merits, but for procuring commendations, the moment that they get hold of the sentence of human applause, aud thereby secure the boon of transitory success, Book they give themselves witli all their heart to worldly concerns, '-

^nd are completely emptied of sacred scholarship, and by their way of acting afterwards, they shew how much they love the things of time, who before only had those of eternity alone on their lips. But it is very often the case that they exhibit an appearance of maturity put on, they shew fair by the composure of silence, by the forbearance of long suffering, by the virtue of continence; but when by means of these they have reached the height of the honour that they aimed at, and when respect is henceforth bestowed on them by all men, they immediately begin to let themselves out in wantonness of self-gratification, and they are their own witnesses against themselves that they held none of their good derived from the heart, in that they parted with it so soon.

But sometimes there are persons found who give all they possess, and lavish all their goods upon the needy, yet before the end of their life, inflamed with the itch of avarice, they covet the goods of others, who seemed to be giving their own with a lavish hand; and afterwards with determined cruelty they go after that, which they had given up before with pretended piety. And hence it is rightly said in this place, Whilst it is yet in his Jloicer, and not yet plucked uiih the hand, it icithereth before any other herh. For as to their fleshly part even the righteous are herbs, as the Prophet bears witness, who saith, Alljiesh is grass. But ' the rush' is Is.40, 6. said to ' wither before all other herbs;' in that while the righteous continue in their goodness, the life of hypocrites is dried up from the greenness of assumed uprightness. Even the rest of the herbs wither, because the deeds of the righteous come to an end together with the life of the flesh. But the ' rush' precedes the withering of the herbs, for before the hypocrite passes out of the flesh, he giv^es over the deeds of" virtuous habits which he had manifested in himself. Concerning which same it is also well said by the Psalm.ist, Let iJiem be as the grass upon the housetop, which withereth Ps. 12D afore it be iilucked itp. For ' the grass upon the housetop' ^* springeth up aloft, but it is never set firm with a rich soil, forasmuch as the hypocrite is seen practising the highest acts, but he is not slablished therein in purity of intention.

Job 8, Which same grass even when not plucked up soon withereth, for this reason, that the hypocrite at one and the same time still exists m the present life, and yet already parts with the practices of holiness as with the appearance of gi'eenness. For because he went about to do good works without the purpose of a right heart, by losing these he shews that he flourished without a root.

69. But as we have before said, who he is to whom Bildad likens * a rush' or ' a flag,' he makes plain at the moment, ver 13. where he adds, So are the paths of all that forget God, and the hypocrite'' s hope shall 2ycrish. For what does the hypocrite hojoe for from all his deeds, saving the observance of honour, the reputation of applause, to be feared by his betters, to be called a Saint by all men.^ But the hope of the hypocrite can never endure, for, from not making eternity his aim, he hastes away from all that he holds in his hand. For the bent of his mind is not fixed in that glory which is possessed without end; but while he gapes after transient applause, he loses in the getting the thing that he toils for. Matt, 6, as ' Truth' testifieth, Who saith. Verily I say unto you, ^' they have had their reward. Now this hope of being vouchsafed a reward cannot be maintained for long, seeing that honour is bestowed for the works exhibited, but life is pressing on to its close; praises are reechoed, but then along with them the periods of time are speeding to an end. And because the soul is in no wise rooted in the love of the eternal world, it slips away together with the very objects that it is centered in. For no one can attach himself to the moveable, and remain himself unmoved. For he that embraces transitory things is drawn into transition by the mere circumstance, that he is entangled with things running out their course. Therefore let him say, A^id the hypocrite's hope shall perish. For the applause of man, which he seeks with mighty pains, being driven on by the items of time, does run to nought. And it is well added, Ver. 14. His own folly shall not satisfy him. xliii. 70. For it is infinite folly to labour painfully, and pant after the breath of applause, to apply one's self to the heavenly precepts with hard toil, but to aim at the reward of an earthly kind of recompense. For that I may so express myself, he that in return for the good that he practises looks for the applause of his fellowcreatures, is carrying an article Book of great worth to be sold at a mean price. From that - whereby he might have earned the kingdom of heaven, he seeks the coin of passing talk. His practice goes for little, in that he spends a great deal, and gets back but very little. Whereunto then are hypocrites like but to luxuriant and untended vines, which put forth fruit from their fertility, but are never lifted from the earth by tending? All that the rich branches bud forth, stray beasts tread under foot, and the more fruitful they see it is, the more greedily they devour it, thus cast away and laid low, in that the works of hypocrites while they shew fair, come forth as if rich, but whilst they aim at human praises, it is as if they were left forsaken upon the ground. And the beasts of this world, i. e. the evil spirits, devour them, because they turn them to account to the end of perdition, and they seize upon them with greater avidity, in proportion as great things are more clearly known. Hence it is well said by the Prophet, The standing stalk, there is no hud in them, aiid YLos. 8, they shall yield no meal; if so he it yield, the strangers " ^' shall swallow it up. For the stalk is without a bud, when the life lacks the merit of virtuous habits. The stalk yieldeth no meal, when he that thrives in this world understands nothing refined, and yields no fruit of good practice.

71. But very often even vvhen it has yielded meal, strangers eat it up, in that even when hypocrites do shew forth good works, the wishes of evil spirits are satisfied therewith. For those who do not aim to please God by them, do not feed the Owner of the land, but strangers. Thus the hypocrite, like a fruitful and neglected vine, cannot keep his fruit, because the cluster of good works lies prone upon the ground. Yet he is fed by his veiy own insanity itself, in that on the score of good practice he is esteemed of all men, he is set before others, he holds the minds of men in subjection, he is raised to the higher posts; he is fed high with applause. Now this folly of his satisfies him in the mean season, but it shall not satisfy him, in that when the season of retribution comes, it displeases him under punishment that he was foolish. Then he will perceive that he did foolishly, when, for the gratification of applause, he

Job 8, receives the sentence of God's rebuke. Then he sees that r^ — '— he has been senseless, when for the transitory glory that he obtained, everlasting torments are his bitter portion. Then punishments disclose the true knowledge to light, in that by them it must at once be concluded that all was nought that could pass away; and hence it is rightly added, A?id whose trust shall be a spider'' s web. xliv. 72. The assurance of the hypocrite is rightly called like the webs of spiders, in that all the pains and labour they spend to acquire glory, the wind of the life of mortality blows to shreds. For as they never seek the things of eternity, they lose together with time all temporal good things. Moreover it is to be considered that spiders draw their threads in a regular order, for that hypocrites as it were regulate their works by the rule of discernment. The spider's web is woven with pains, but it is scattered by a sudden blast, in that whatsoever the hypocrite does with laborious effort, the breath of man's regard carries off; and whilst in the ambition of applause his work comes to nought, it is as if his labour went to the wind. For it often happens that the works of hypocrites last even to the veiy end of the present life, but, forasmuch as they do not thereby seek the praise of their Creator, they were never good works in the sight of God. Thus it is very often the case, as we have said above, that they are upheld by scholarship in the sacred Law, that they deliver lessons of instruction, that they fortify by testimonies every notion that they entertain; but they do not hereby seek the life of their hearers, but applause for themselves. For neither do they know how to put forth any thing else but what may stir the hearts of their hearers to the quick, to pay the recompense of praise, not what may kindle them to shed tears. For the heart being preoccupied with external desires, is not hot with the iirc of divine love, and so words that issue from a cold heart, can never warm their hearers to heavenly affection. For neither can any one thing that is not itself alight in itself kindle any other thing. Hence it is very often brought to pass, that at one and the same time the sayings of hypocrites fail to instruct the hearers, and make the very persons themselves that utter them worse by being exalted with praises. For as Paul bears witness.

Knowledge piiffeth iip^ hut charity edifieth. Thus, whereas Book charity setteth not up in ' edifying,' knowledge in puffing up-rr^ — '-koverthrows. Very often hypocrites chasten themselves with i. extraordinary mortification, wear down all the strength of their body, and as it were while living in the flesh utterly kill the life of the flesh, and so by abstinence verge upon death, that they live well nigh dying every day; but they seek the eyes of men for all this, they look for the renown of admiration, as * Truth' testifieth. Which saith, jpor they disfigure tJieir faces, that^la.it.6j they may appear unto men to fast. For their faces become pallid, the body is made to shake with weakness, the breast labours with hard and broken breathings. But amidst all thivS, talk of admiration is looked for from the lips of neighbours, and nothing else is aimed at by such great pains, saving human esteem. Which same are well represented by that Simon, who in the season of our Lord's Passion bore the Cross in compulsion, of whom it is written. And as theyMa.tt.

came out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him ' they compelled to hear His cross. For what we do by compulsion, we do not practise from a heartfelt devotedness of love. And so for him to bear the Cross of Jesus in compulsion, is to submit to the mortification of abstinence for some other aim than needs to be. Does he not bear the Cross of Jesus under compulsion, who as after the commandment of the Lord subdues the flesh, yet does not love the spiritual Country? And hence the same Simon bears the Cross, but doth not die; in that every hypocrite chastens his body in abstinence, but yet, in the love of glory, lives on to the world.

73. Contrariwise it is well said by Paul of the Elect • For Gal. 5, they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh uith the vices^^' and lusts. For we * crucify the flesh with the vices and lusts,' if we so restrain our appetite, that henceforth we look for nothing of the glory of the world. Since he that macerates the flesh, but pants after honours, has inflicted the Cross on his flesh, but from concupiscence lives the worse to the world, in that it often happens that in the semblance of holiness, he unu^orthily obtains the post of rule, which except he displayed something of merit in himself, he would never attain to receive by any pains whatever. But that

Job 8, which he gains for enjoyment is passing, and what ensues in punishment is enduring. Now his assurance of sanctity is placed in the hps of man, but when the inward Judge tries the secrets of the interior, no witnesses of the life are sought from without. Therefore it is well said, IVhose trust shall be a spider^s web; since on the witness of the heart appearing, all passes by wherein his confidence consists, founded without in human applause. And hence it is yet further 's^ added with justice,

Ver. 15. He leaneth upon his house, but it shall not stand; he shall prop it, but it shall not rise up.

xlv. 74. As the house of our exterior life is the building which the body lives in, so the house of our thought is any thing whatever that the mind is centered in by affection. For every thing that we love, we as it were make our dwelling-place by reposing in it. Whence Paul, because he had fixed his heart in things above, being still upon earth indeed, yet a Phil. 3, stranger to earth, said. Our conversation is in heaven. So

^^* the mind of the hypocrite in whatever it does minds nothing else but the fame of its own reputation, nor cares where it

1 ' duci-is carried ^ after by its deserts, but what it is called* in the

J^"!' J. /" mean season. Therefore his house is delight of popularity, which he as it were dwells in at rest, in that in all his works he throws himself back thereupon within his mind. But this house can never stand, because praise fleeth away with life, and the applause of man does not hold in the

Judgment. Hence the foolish virgins too, who took no oil in their vessels, because their glory was in the voices of others and not in their own consciences, confounded by the presence

Matt, of the Bridegroom, say. Give us of your oil, for our lamps

' ' are going out. For to seek oil from our neighbours is to beseech the fame of good works from the testimony of another man's mouth. For the empty soul, when it finds that it has retained nothing within by all its labours, looks about for testimony from without. As if the foolish Virgins said plainly, ' When ye behold us cast away without reward, say ye what ye have seen in our practice.'

75. But the hypocrite leans in vain then upon this house of applause, since no human testimony stands him in stead in the Judgment; for the same praise, which he afterwards claims in testimony, he before received in reward. Or surely Book the hypocrite leans upon his house, when beguiled by vain '- caresses, he is as it were lifted up in assurance of his holiness; for hypocrites do many things evil in secret, but a few things good in public. And when they receive praises from the good that appears, they turn away the eyes of observation from the concealed ill, and they esteem themselves such as they hear without, not such as they know themselves within. Whence it very often happens that they also come to the Judgment of the Most High with confidence, becajise they imagine themselves such in the sight of the Interior Judge, as they were held to be by men without. Yet ' the house of the hypocrite cannot stand,' for in the terror of a sifting search, all the foregoing assurance of holiness falls to the ground. And when he knows that the testimony of another man's lips is wanting to him, he betakes himself to reckoning up his own works. Hence it is still further added. He shall prop it, but it shall not I'ise up. For that which cannot stand by itself, is propped to make it stand; for when the hypocrite sees his life tottering in the Judgment, he sets himself to make it stand in propping it, by the enumeration of his deeds. Do not they prop the dwelling-place of their own praise on every hand, who in reckoning up their own deeds in the Judgment, as we said before, say. Lord, Lord, Matt. 7, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? and in Thy Name ' have cast out devils? and in Thy Name done many marvellous works? But the house of praise, stayed up by all these statements, cannot rise, because the Judge saith directly, / never knew you; deptart from Me, ye that work iniquity. And it is to be had in mind that any thing, that rises, lifts itself from below to a higher elevation, and so * the house of the hypocrite cannot rise,' in that in all that he may have done after the heavenly precepts, he never lifted his soul from off* the earth, so that with justice he is not then lifted up to the meed of recompense, who in that which he sets forth now, lies prostrate in the desire of temporal glory. But whereas we have heard how the life of the hypocrite, represented by the name of* a rush,' is rejected in the Judgment, let us hear what sort of person he is held by men before the strict Judge appeareth. It proceeds,

478 Hypocrites Jiourinh while the Light of Judgment is hid* Job 8, Ver. 16. It is seen moist before the sun cometh.

- — '- — 76. Oftentimes in Holy Writ the Lord is represented by -^yi^ the title of the Sun, as it is said by the Prophet, But unto Mai. 4, you that fear My Name shall the Sun of righteousness arise. And as the ungodly that are cast away in the Judgment, are

"^isd. described in the book of Wisdom, as saying. We have erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the Sun rose not upon us; therefore, ^ before the sun the rush is seen moist,' in that before God's severity burns hot in the Judgment, every hypocrite shews himself bedewed with the grace of holiness. He is seen as it were flourishing, because he is accounted righteous, he wins the post of honour, he is strong in his high repute for sanctity, reverence is awarded to him by all men, his credit for praise is magnified. Thus this rush is full of moisture in the night, but on the coming of the sun it is dried up, in that the hypocrite is accounted holy by all men in the darkness of the present life, but when the searching Judge cometh, he will appear as wicked as he is. So then let him say, He appears moist before the sun, because now he shews himself flourishing to the eyes of men, but then he shall wither up in the scorching heat of the Divine Judgment. The account goes on;

'germen And his produce^ issueth fo)'th in his springing up.

xlvii. 77. For every herb in general is first raised out of the ground by springing up, it is subject to the influences of the air and heat, it is fed by the sun and showers, and then at length it is made to open itself to put forth the produce of its seed. But the rush is produced along with its flower, and so soon as it springs out of the earth, it puts forth its produce of seed with itself. Therefore by the rest of the herbs the Saints in general are well denoted, but the hyjiocrite by ' the rush,' because the righteous, before they spring up ' in the practice of holy conversation, undergo the winter season of this life, and the heats of bitter persecutions press them hard; and then, when they do what is right, they never look here for the reward of their righteousness, but when thev depart forth from the labours of the present world, Book on coming to their eternal Country, they enter upon the enjoyment of their looked-for reward. But contrariwise the hypocrite, in that he springs up in good practice at once, goes about to win the glor}^ of the present world. As it were like a rush he springs up with his produce, who in return for this, that he is beginning to live well, aims at the outset to be held in honour by all men. So that the * produce in the springing up,' is a reward at the outset. For often there are those that abandon the paths of overt wickedness, and put on the garb of holiness, and the moment they have touched the bare threshold of good living, forgetting what they were, they will not be henceforth chastened by penance for the iniquities they have committed, but they long to be commended for goodness begun; they are eager to get above the rest, even though better men than themselves. And for the most part whilst present prosperity follows them to their wish, they become infinitely worse than they were by the wearing of sanctity; but being busied with countless concerns, and distracted by that same busying, th'ey not only never bewail the things that they have done, but still fill up more that should be bewailed.) 78. For they that quit the world, ought not to be promoted to externaP offices, unless in humility they be for some long^ i. e. 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 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 firstling 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 harmless, 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 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 Umpire 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 concerning 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. Therefore 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 admiration 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 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 rewarded 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

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 concealed, 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

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 Dispensation vouchsafes to him the gifts of works, and withholds the lot of the inheritance. It lavishes endowments for w^orking, 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 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 condemned 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

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 wellminded 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 conceiving in the subtleties of double-mindedness; they counterfeit 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 impossible 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 recompensing of the righteous is duly exhibited, when it is added thereupon,