granted to virtue in this life, the twelve fruits, as it were, of the Tree, that S. John saw in the Apocalypse, that was planted beside a river, and bare twelve manner of fruits in the year, according to the number of its months. (Rev. xxii. 2.) For what can be signified by this Tree, after the SON of GOD, but virtue, which is the tree that bears fruits of holiness and of life? And what fruits can be more precious than those of which we have spoken? What fruits can be fairer than GOD'S fatherly care for His servants (Ch. xii.), and His Divine Grace (Ch. xiv.), and Wisdom to enlighten us (Ch. xv.), and the Comfort of the HOLY GHOST (Ch. xvi.), and the joy of a good conscience (Ch. xvii.), and hope to strengthen us (Ch. xviii.), and true freedom of spirit (Ch. xix.), and inward peace of heart (Ch. xx.), and to be heard in our prayers (Ch. xxi.), and helped in our tribulations (Ch. xxii.), and provided for in our temporal necessities (Ch. xxiii.), and gladdened at last by a happy death (Ch. xxiv.) Truly each of these is so great a privilege, that if a man could fully comprehend it, that one alone would make him choose virtue, and change his life, and he would understand how truly our SAVIOUR spoke when He said that whosoever forsook the world for His sake should receive " an hundred-fold now in this time, and in the world to come eternal life." (S. Mark x. 30.)

Behold now, then, my Brother, the treasure which we offer thee. Couldst thou complain of loss wert thou to leave everything in the world for it? It has but one defect, if it is a defect, which hinders it from being prized by the wicked, and that is, that it is unknown to them. And therefore the SAVIOUR said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like hid treasure. (S. Matt. xiii. 44.) For, indeed, it is a treasure, and a treasure hidden from others, not from its owner. The Prophet well knew the worth of this treasure when he said, "My secret to me, my secret to me." (Isa. xxiv. 16, margin.) It signified little to him whether others knew the greatness of this treasure, for it is unlike all other treasures, which are worthless as long as they are concealed, because their worth consists not in themselves, but in the value set upon them by the world, and therefore they must be known by the world before they can be truly called treasures.

But this treasure makes its owner rich in goodness and in joy, and warms his heart no less when it is known to him alone than if all the world knew it.

But the key of this secret is not my tongue, nor is it all that I have said, for all that can be told by mortal tongue is little compared to the reality. The key is light from GOD, with the experience and practice of virtue. Ask this of the LORD, and thou wilt immediately find this treasure, and thou wilt find GOD Himself, and in Him thou wilt find all things, and wilt see with how much reason the Prophet said, "Blessed are the people who have the LORD for their GOD." (Ps. cxliv. 15.) It is written in the First Book of Samuel that Elkanah, Samuel's father, when he saw his wife Hannah weeping because she had no children, said to her, "Hannah, why weepest thou? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?" (1 Sam. i. 8.) If a good husband, who to-day is, and to-morrow is not, is better to his wife than ten sons, how much better thinkest thou that GOD is to the soul that indeed possesses Him. What are you doing, O men? where are you going? what are you seeking? Why do you leave the fountain of paradise for the dirty puddles of this world? (Jer. ii. 13.) Why do you not follow the wise advice of the Prophet, "O taste and see how gracious the LORD is?" (Ps. xxxiv. 8.) Will you not test this ford? Will you not taste this meat? Trust in the LORD'S word, and begin; you will soon know the truth by experience. Moses' rod that became a serpent appeared terrible when beheld from a distance, but when he took it in his hand, it became a harmless rod again. And Solomon's words are not unmeaning, "It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth." (Prov. xx. 14.) For this is what men do every day; at first they know not the value of their purchase, because they are not spiritual, and they regret what they have to give for it, because they are carnal, and therefore they think the price that is asked of them very high. But when they begin to taste how sweet the LORD is, they boast of their purchase, and think no price too high for such a treasure. How joyfully did the man in the Gospel sell all that he had to buy the field in which he had found the treasure.

P

(S. Matt. xiii. 44.) And will not a Christian, when he hears that word, desire to know what the treasure is! It is a most strange thing that if some deceiver assured thee that there was a great treasure hidden in some part of thy land, thou wouldst not fail to dig and search if it was true; but when GOD'S Word assures thee that there is an unequalled treasure within thee, (S. Luke xvii. 21,) thy heart is not lifted up to seek it. Oh, that thou knewest how far more certain this intelligence is, how far greater this treasure! Oh, that thou knewest in how few spade-strokes thou wouldst find it! Oh, that thou didst understand how nigh the LORD is unto all such as call upon Him faithfully! (Ps. cxlv. 18.) How many men have there been in the world who have repented of their sins, and perseveringly asked forgiveness, and in less than a week's navigation have discovered land, or rather have found a new heaven and a new earth, and have begun to discern the Kingdom of GOD within them! And is it surprising that He should do this who has said that when a sinner repents, none of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him? (Ezek. xxxiii. 16.) Is it surprising that He should do this who did not let the prodigal son finish the short prayer that he intended, but fell on his neck, and received him with rejoicing? (S. Luke xv.) Turn then, my Brother, to this compassionate Father; rise up early a little while, and persevere for some days in knocking at the door of His mercy; and be assured that if thou perseverest humbly, He will answer thee at last, and make known to thee the hid treasures of His love; and when thou hast tasted it, thou wilt say with the bride in the Song of Songs, "If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned." (Cant. viii. 7.)

CHAPTER XXIV.

Against the First Excuse: that of those who defer a Change of Life and the Practice of Virtue to a Future Day.

WHAT

HAT we have already said is enough, and more than enough, no doubt, for the object we chiefly desire: that of inclining the hearts of men under the influence of Divine grace, to the love and pursuit of virtue. But though this is most certain truth, yet the wickedness of man lacks not excuses and a show of reason to defend and comfort him in his misdeeds, as the son of Sirach affirms, saying, "A sinful man will not be reproved, but findeth an excuse according to his will." (Ecclus. xxxii. 17.) Solomon says, moreover, "He that separateth himself from his friend, seeketh according to his desire, and intermeddleth in every business." (Prov. xviii. 1, margin.) Even so do the wicked seek pretences for separating themselves from GOD, each man bringing forward his own especial excuse. Some defer this business to a future day, others reserve it for the hour of their death; some say that they dread the undertaking, because it appears too hard; others, that they comfort themselves with the hope of GOD'S mercy, thinking to be saved by faith and hope alone, without charity; whilst others are entangled in the love of the world, and will not leave the happiness that they possess in it for that which is promised by GOD'S Word. These are the commonest delusions and deceits with which the enemy of the human race bewilders men's minds, and keeps them almost all their life in bondage to their sin, so that death may surprise them in this miserable state, taking them in the fact. We will expose all these delusions in this last part of the Book,

beginning with those who put off the matter to another time, which is the commonest of all mistakes.

There are some, then, who acknowledge that all we have said is truth, and that the side of virtue is the safest, they say that they will not fail to attach themselves to it; but a time will come when they can do it better and more easily. In this manner, S. Augustine writes that he replied to GOD before his conversion, saying, “Wait a little, LORD, wait a little longer, soon I will leave the world, soon I will depart from sin." Thus do the wicked continually procrastinate with GOD, daily fixing times, and daily breaking their appointments, and the time of their conversion never comes.

That this is a manifest deception of that old serpent, to whom it is no new thing to lie and deceive men, would not be hard to prove, and the whole controversy would come to an end, if there were nothing else to decide. For we know assuredly that the thing every Christian man most ought to desire is his salvation, and that conversion and amendment of life are necessary to obtain it, for there is no salvation without these. It remains, then, that we see when this conversion and amendment are to be, for we have only to inquire about the time, there is no dispute about anything else. Thou sayest hereafter; I say immediately. Thou sayest that it will be easier at a future day; I say that it will be easier now. Let us see which is right.

But before we speak of the easiness of conversion, tell me, I pray, who assures thee that thou wilt live to that future day? How many thinkest thou have been deceived by this hope? S. Gregory says, "GOD, Who has promised forgiveness to the sinner who repents, has never promised him a to-morrow." And to the same purpose Cesarius says, "Will any one say, When old age comes, I will have recourse to the medicine of penitence? How can human weakness have the audacity to presume on this, seeing that it is not sure of a single day?" I verily believe that the souls that have been lost in this way are innumerable. It was so, undoubtedly, that the rich man in the Gospel was lost. S. Luke writes of him, that his ground brought forth plentifully, “and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?