need of a different kind of exhortation; and this medicine is not for them. For such persons should be troubled and ought to weep, and to make their examination and confession with much thought, lest through their own fault and indifference, they render the remedy which is necessary for their salvation unavailing. To return, then, to speak of the quiet and peace in which the servant of God should ever abide, I will go further and say, that this conversion must be understood to apply—in order that there might be entire trust in God—not only to slight and daily faults, but also to such as are greater and more grave than usual, if at any time the Lord should permit you to fall into such; even though they may be many together, and are not merely the effects of weakness and frailty, but of wilfulness. For the contrition which only disturbed the soul and filled it with scruples, will never lead it to perfection, unless it is combined with this loving confidence in the Goodness and Mercy of God. And this is more especially necessary in the case of persons, who not only seek to rise out of their miseries, but would also acquire a high degree of sanctity, and a great love for, and union with, God. Many spiritual persons, from not wishing to understand this aright, ever bear about with them a heart and a spirit, broken and distrustful, which
