ourselves on our wisdom in the affairs of the world; and, alas! in the business of our eternal salvation, we think it no disgrace to be ignorant and foolish.
You will tell us, perhaps, that you are neither wiser, nor more able than all the others who live like you; that you cannot enter into discussions which are beyond your reach; that, were we to be believed, it would be necessary to cavil at and dispute every thing; and that piety does not consist in refining to such an extreme. But I ask you, — Is so much subtlety required to know that the world is a deceitful guide; that its maxims are rejected in the school of Jesus Christ; and that its customs can never subvert the law of God? Is not this the most simple and the most common rule of the gospel, and the first truth in the plan of salvation? To know our duty, it requires only to walk in simplicity of heart. Subtleties are only necessary in order to dissemble with ourselves, and to connect, if possible, the passions with the holy rules; there it is that the human mind has occasion for all its industry, for the task is difficult. Such is exactly your case; you who pretend, that to recall customs to the law is a ridiculous refinement. To know our duty, it only requires a conference with ourselves. While Saul continued faithful, he had no occasion to consult the sorceress with regard to what he should do; the law of God sufficiently instructed him. It was only after his guilt, that, in order to calm the inquietudes of a troubled conscience, and to connect his criminal weaknesses with the law of God, he bethought himself of seeking, in the answers of a deceitful oracle, some authority favourable to his passions. Love the truth, and you will soon acquire a knowledge of it. A clear conscience is the best of all instructors.
Not that I wish to blame those sincere researches which an honest and timid soul makes to enlighten and instruct itself; I wish only to say, that the majority of doubts with regard to our duties, in those hearts delivered up like you to the world, springs from a ruling principle of cupidity, which, on the one side, would wish not to interfere with its infamous passions; and, on the other, have the authority of the law to protect it from the remorses which attend a manifest transgression. For, besides, if you seek the Lord in sincerity, and your lights are insufficient, there are still prophets in Israel; consult, in proper time, those who preserve the form of the law, and of the holy doctrine, and who teach the way of God in truth. Do not propose your doubts with those colourings and softenings which always fix the decision in your favour; do not apply in order to be deceived, but to be instructed; seek not favourable, but sure and enlightened guides; do not content yourselves even with the testimony of men; consult the Lord frequently, and through different channels. The voice of Heaven is uniform, because the voice of truth, of which it is the interpreter, is the same. If the testimonies do not accord, prefer always what places you farthest from danger; always mistrust the opinion which pleases, and which already had the suffrage of your self-love
