meats of Egypt have been consumed; for so is it forbidden at once to take delight in the highest and lowest of things.
Meantime I know (for why should I dissemble before thee, who knowest my heart?) how great is the power of pleasure, by which I see even cedars of lib anus overthrown, and stars as it were fallen from heaven: what, then, can one so weak as I am presume to expect of himself?
§ 6. Mistrust of self, and constant attention to prayer.
Christ. To know how weak you are, and that you are not sufficient to think, much less do, any thing of yourselves, as of yourselves, but that all your sufficiency is from me, is the beginning of wisdom and salvation. Without me you can do nothing. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me. Unless the hammer is moved by the hand of the workman, and the pen by the fingers of the writer, what can either of them effect?
Man. True it is, O Lord, that unless thou build the house, all they labour in vain that build it. In vain we strive to build a tower, who have no means of our own to complete it, But it is thou who workest in all men all the things that belong to their salvation. Without thee I can do nothing, but I can do all things in thee who strengthenest me.
Christ. It is just, therefore, that I should forsake the children of pride, who trust in their own strength, and boast in the multitude of their riches, that when left to themselves they may see that without me they are, and can do, nothing; and that it is I only who give the will, the power, and the deed.
Man. In thee, O Lord, we live, move, and are. Thou, O good Jesus, art my strength and my praise; thou only art become my salvation. Therefore will I not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. Not our own high hand, but the right hand of the Lord shall work strength.
Christ. Be therefore nothing solicitous, but in every thing by prayer let your petitions be made known to God. Lean not upon a staff of reed, but upon thy beloved; cast all thy care upon him, and thou shalt see the change of the right hand of the Most High, who alone does wonderful things. Hast thou occasionally seen some make but little progress, or even utterly fail? Know that this happened through their own self-confidence and inattention to prayer. Hence I myself, and also my apostles, have fre-
