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It is the part of prudence to examine well before we determine to suspend our own judgment in doubts, and rather submit to others and learn knowledge from them who have had more experience; to lay up the memory of what has happened to others; to be circumspect in all circumstances; to be provident in foreseeing the event; to be cautious in considering what obstacles we are likely to meet with. To this virtue the holy scripture very frequently exhorts us: Son, do nothing without counsel, and after the fact thou shalt not repent. Eccles. xxxii. 24. To this our Saviour encourages his disciples, Be prudent as serpents, and simple as doves. St. Matt. x. 16. innocent and mild as doves, but cautious how to proceed to a right undertaking. To this St. Paul admonishes all christians, Take heed how you walk, warily, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephes. v. 15. Of this the wise man says, The law of the prudent man is a source of life, by which he may decline from the ruin of death. Prov. xiii. 14. In a word, it is prudence that directs us in all our ways and doings to good, and diverts us from all evil; it guides us in truth, and diverts us from error. By this great virtue kings and magistrates rule, and people obey; armies are commanded, families governed, and every one's private life, and all our actions, directed to our last end.

EXHOR.--Think, O christian, what need you have of this great virtue, considering the ignorance you were born with, and the corruption you bring with you into the world; then pray that God would infuse it into your soul. It is highly necessary to guide you both in manners and religion.-1. As to manners; how many are carried away with the world, how many go astray by its alluring delights, and the false maxims of the perverse? How many by this means are ruined to eternity? It is prudence must there direct our steps; and this will soon discover the mistake, in taking false for true joys; false pleasure for true delight; and will shew this is no where to be found, but in the love of God and a good conscience. Then as to religion, how necessary is prudence to direct you in a right choice, amidst the errors of the age? This,

laying prejudice aside, will soon discover truth from falsehood it is certainly the greatest prudence to find out, amidst the confused opinions of men, the only sure and secure way to salvation. There is but one way to heaven; seek then to be instructed in it, rather than to follow your own inventions,

Q. WHAT i

SECT. II.

Of Justice.

HAT is justice? A. It is a virtue which gives to every one his due: To whom tribute, tribute; to whom fear, fear: to whom honour, honour. Rom. xiiì. 7.

INSTRUC.-Justice is threefold; to God, to our neighbour, and to ourselves. God claims his due in the first place, and what we owe him, is religion, love, fear, honour, service, adoration; and this is so high a duty, that we can never render to God an equality to what we owe him. Justice to our neighbour, is a fixed principle to give every one his own, and to wrong no man: hence a just man is honest in all his dealings and bargains of any kind. This virtue in kings and princes, is an universal good; as injustice in them is an universal evil. It is a virtue also which runs through the whole course of every man's life; as we continually have dealings with others; so that of all moral virtues, this is the most beneficial to society; and for this reason it is remarked, that in all states, the just and the brave are the most honoured by the public; as from them the public receives the most service. Besides this general honesty to all men, there is a justice in honouring our parents, in the next place under God; to whom we can never return so much as we have received, Pietas in parentes. A justice in loving our country, in which we are born and educated, Pietas in patriam. A justice in respecting the good and great, Observansia majorum. A justice in being grateful to our benefactors; in speaking truth to those we live with, and not deceiving them; in living friendly with our neighbours. It is just also

in some cases to be generous; there is justice in rewarding, and justice in punishing. These are virtues of a second rank, which branch from this cardinal virtue, and belong to it, as having all something of justice in them.

3. There is a kind of justice to ourselves; for though, strictly speaking, there can be no justice but between two persons; yet, as in every one there is soul and body, superior powers of the soul, and inferior, it is just that the inferior should obey the superior part; and therefore justice to ourselves is to take care of the charge God has entrusted us with, the salvation of our souls; that we watch and guard it by grace, from the enemy, the world, and our own concupiscence; to secure by our virtues, its future happiness. The reward of this great virtue is expressed in these words, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled. St. Matt. v. 6.

EXHOR. To render your life comfortable, and your end happy, practise, O christian, this divine virtue: be just to heaven and earth, and perfect peace will possess your soul: Justice and peace have embraced each other. Follow then the general rule of justice; Give unto every one his due; whether it be due by the law of God, or by the law of man. Alas! what is it but a want of this that creates so much mischief and confusion upon earth? So much rebellion against God by sin; so much fraud, injustice, and even murders, with other innumerable evils done to others ? What is it but want of justice has carried multitudes of all countries to hell? Justice does no wrong; injustice knows no good; a just man gives glory to God, obedience to his superiors; love to his equals, and assistance to his inferiors; he does no injury to others, in word or deed; no, not even in thought. Thus a just man is dear both to God and men; to God, who, as he is just, loves justice; and to men, because without justice we cannot live one by another. Whatever then be your state of life, O christian, let justice attend it; for God is just, and with him the just shall live for ever; that is, such as are just both to God and man.

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WH

SECT. III.

Of Fortitude.

WHAT is Fortitude? A. It is a virtue that gives us power to face all the evils of life, and to withstand even death itself, rather than abandon our duty.

INSTRUC.-Fortitude is the armour and fence of a christian life; without it virtue is never secure: there is a bad fear, sufficient of itself, without any other crime, to ruin our souls, and to make us abandon our faith and duty in time of danger; especially when we are threatened with death, which is the most terrible of all things in this world; of this it is said: Woe to those that fear, Apoc. xxi. x. that is, who through fear abandon their duty; Their portion shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death it is fortitude that sustains us against these terrors, which will otherwise force us from a good life and vanquishes all the dangers that oppose our eternal felicity. It learns us patience, to endure the evils of life willingly, rather than forsake good: constancy to persist in virtue, against all difficulties, from whatever hand they come and perseverance, to remain firm to the end in good, against that tediousness which arises from the length of suffering, which has wrought on many to abandon virtue.

It is fortitude to face death in a just war in defence of one's country; this the heathens had. But to die voluntarily for God, in defence of the true faith, or in defence of virtue, or to avoid sin, is christian fortitude and martyrdom. So many, in the persecutions, died for their faith; and many holy women were martyred for chastity; and St. John Baptist for reprehending the sin of adultery. Blessed fortitude, which has crowned so many with glory! Whoever dies in such a cause, has all sin and punishment forgiven him, and is immediately received into the joys of heaven. Now, if fortitude keeps the soul steady and firm in the greatest

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dangers; when we are threatened with death, it cannot fail to fortify us against lesser ones, that we may never abandon any essential duty, through fear: to this virtue Christ our Saviour encourages his disciples in the gospel: : Fear not man who can only kill the body; but rather fear God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. St. Matt. x. 28.

EXHOR.-Great, O christian, is the necessity of this virtue of fortitude, if we only consider our miserable weakness and inconstancy on the one hand, and those powerful enemies we have to combat, on the other: so weak that of ourselves we can do nothing, St. John xv. 5. at the same time, that our combat is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against evil spirits which haunt the air. Ephes. v. 12. Alas! we have enemies both from within and without, enemies watching day and night to devour us; our own corrupt nature, perverse will, sensual appetites, malice of man, and and envy of devil, all conspiring our ruin. And where can we find relief, but from a divine Power, to support us? As the terror of suffering, and the fear of persecution and death, have a stronger power to force us from virtue and the way of life, than even sensual pleasures have to allure us from it, hence we stand more in need of fortitude to withstand these terrors. It was this that supported the martyrs, and is necessary to support every christian in good, for every one that will live piously, shall suffer persecution. 2 Tim iii. 12. We have great want of fortitude, not only to vanquish our enemies, and fight against temptation, but to practise virtue, and to surmount the difficulty that lies in the way of it depend not then upon your own strength but say: My help is only from our Lord, who made heaven and earth; and pray daily: O Lord, be thou my strength, my aid, my power to conduct me, as thou didst the Israelites through the desert of this world, through the dangers of life and death, to the true Land of Promise, the land of the living.

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