“virgin, and an humble and modest one 8." So far that learned Jesuit. In short, there is no doubt but that the blessed Virgin was as humble and lowly in her spirit, as she was low and mean in her fortune and condition, and that God in bestowing so singular a grace and favour on her had respect to that virtue of her mind, more than to the lowness of her estate. But yet we say, that it was the meanness of her condition that she herself intended here to express, not her own transcendent humility, which if she had intended to express, she had lost but by overlooking that virtue of her mind, and fixing her thoughts on her mean and unworthy condition, she indeed exercised that humility, of which she was a true owner. And therefore the same Maldonat commends those interpreters who resolve, "that Mary in this place did not profess, but practise humilityh."

But what was the low estate of this blessed handmaiden of the Lord? I answer, it was a state of poverty. So poor she was, so mean her portion, that she could arrive to no higher a fortune, than to be the espoused wife of a poor carpenter, So poor, that in her childbirth she was not able to procure a room (even in her greatest necessity) in that inn, to which she came as a guest; but, being neglected by her richer kindred of the royal tribe and family of David, lay indeed in the straw, and was brought to bed in a stable, and that in a cave underground, in the vicinity of the poor town of Bethlehem, according to the tradition of the most ancient doctors of the church. In the very place it was, (as some

g Maldonat in loc.

h Mariam hoc loco humilitatem exercuisse, non significasse.. [ἱ Ἐν σπηλαίῳ τινὶ σύνεγγυς τῆς κώμης. Justin Martyr. Dial. cum

have probably conjectured,) where poor David, the ancestor of the Messias, and his most illustrious type, fed his sheep, and from that mean kind of life was, by the singular grace and favour of God, called to be the king and ruler of his people, Psalm Ixxviii. 70, 71, 72. So mean she was, that at her purification, her great and generous piety was confined to the offering of the poor, according to the law of Moses, a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons: a lamb (the prescribed offering to those of ability) her purse could not reach to, Luke ii. 22, 23, 24. compared with Levit. xii. 6, 7, 8. Lastly, so poor she was, and still continued, that her blessed Son, when dying, thought it necessary to recommend her to the charitable care of his most beloved disciple, John xix. 25, 26, 27.

From all which we may learn, that innocent and virtuous poverty is consistent with the truest felicity; and that those who are richest in grace, the best of God's saints, and most regarded by him, may be of a low and despicable estate in this world. If therefore thou sincerely lovest God, and art truly devoted to his service, how poor otherwise and contemptible and miserable soever thou mayest be, thou art a happy man: happy and blessed, as the blessed Virgin was yea blessed, as her blessed Son our Lord and Saviour was here on earth; who was born of poor parents, in the meanest circumstances, and afterwards chose a life of poverty; so great, that whereas the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, he had not where to lay his head, Matt. viii. 20; so great, that he lived upon the

Tryph. §. 78. Origen says, that the cave and the manger in it were to be seen in his days. Contr. Cels. §. 51.]

charity of good people that ministered to him, Mark xv. 41. and Luke viii. 3. The poor are either good or bad, that is, the poverty of men is found either in the way of righteousness, or in the way of wickedness. The good and virtuous poor man, though he deserves our greatest pity, (as by that is signified our propense inclination to do him good, and relieve his necessities,) yet he is also an object of our greatest esteem and admiration. This is the man that baffles the Devil's challenge to God concerning holy Job, that serves God for nought, that courts virtue without regard to her dowry, that is, any visible dowry, any present pay, and by a mighty faith rests satisfied with the future reward. On the other side, the poor man that is as wicked in the sight of God as he is wretched in this world, is of all men the most miserable. For how great must be the misery of that man, who being poor towards God, as well as men, shall consequently be miserable, not only in this, but in the other life also! This is a poor wretch indeed.

And yet this is the case of every man that is so discontented with his poverty as to murmur at the providence of God; that seeks by lying and stealing, and other irregular courses, to redress his poverty; that is as proud as he is poor; that is unthankful to his benefactors; that loves that world which loves not him; that being unhappy in this life, yet seeks not heartily after the happiness of the other life.

But may not he that is rich in this world be also happy in the other? Yes; but then he must be after a sort assimilated and made like to the poor, viz. by being poor in spirit. By an humble mind in a high fortune, and by condescending to men of low

estate; by not trusting in or setting his heart upon those worldly riches that he is possessor of, but earnestly coveting the heavenly treasures; by temperance at his full table, by intermixing sometimes religious fastings with his feasts, and by exercises of mortification; by delighting more in the service of God and virtuous actions, than in sensual pleasures; lastly, by paring off his superfluities, and expending them in works of piety and charity. Upon these terms only, he that is rich in this world may reasonably hope to be blessed and happy also in the other.

It is an excellent advice that St. James in his Epistle gives in a few words both to poor and rich, chap. i. 9, 10. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. Where the sense of the former part of the advice is clearly this: Let not the man that is poor among you Christians, and contemptible in the world, be cast down or dejected at his poverty, but rather let him rejoice, considering the sublime and happy estate to which by Christianity he is exalted, and let him therein glory. His advancement is, that he is a Christian, for by this one name an immense dignity is signified, viz. that he is a son of God, and a coheir with Christ in the heavenly kingdom. But what means the apostle by the opposite clause, but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away? I answer, that the best interpreters think that the speech of the apostle is here elliptical, and

[ Grotius, Price, &c.]

k

to be supplied by a verb of a contrary signification. As in that of St. Paul, 1 Tim. iv. 3. Forbidding to marry, and to abstain from meats, we must understand (according to the supplement of our English translation) and commanding to abstain from meats. So here the speech is to be thus supplied: But let the rich man hang down the head and be humble, in that he is made low, in that a little time shall level him with the poorest man; because as the flower of the grass, so he and his riches pass away. The scope of the apostle is certainly this, to set before the rich their own vileness, that is, the instability of their condition, and by the consideration thereof to cure the pride and insolence to which they are commonly incident. And the exhortation is the same with that of St. Paul, 1 Tim. vi. 17, 18. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, &c.

But let us at length proceed to the second part of the text. The blessed Virgin having ingenuously acknowledged the low estate and condition, wherein the grace of God found her, immediately proceeds in the next words to declare the transcendent dignity of that estate, to which by the same grace she was now advanced: For, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

From henceforth, that is, from this very time of my conception of the holy Jesus, and upon the account of it. All generations, that is, all those generations, that from henceforth to the end of the