Lastly, That our memories are naturally sinful will appear, If we consider, how it was with Adam in the state of integrity, he was made right, Eccl. 7. which doth extend to the spiritual perfection of all the parts of his soul; As his mind was endowed with all necessary light and knowledge, so his memory also with all strength and vigour; so that forgetfulness of any thing that was his duty, was no more incident unto him, then any other sin; It was not, because naturally he had a bad or a forgetful memory, that made him break the Law of God; for if God had created him found and perfect, in all other parts of his soul, only left him to a weak and frail memory, he could not have been happy, either in temporal or spiritual considerations: As his soul was thus perfected, so his body was in a found and well tempered constitution, having no redundancy of humours thereby to hinder the operations of the soul by memory, he was not subject to diseases or old age, or any thing else, that doth impair the memory of man, but now our sun is become a dunghill, and our gold dross: As original sin hath pestilentially infected all parts of the soul, so the memory hath not escaped this pollution; for where it is naturally able, there it is spiritually impotent; when it might remember, if improved and put upon, there is it negligent, and careless: how many say, They cannot remember any good thing delivered to them? press them about the Scripture, and the good truths of God preached to them, and they will justify themselves by pleading the badness of their memory, whereas it is for want of a good heart, and a good will; if thy affections were ardent and burning about these things, thy memory would be more retentive of good ⟨p. 257⟩things then they are. Besides, little do you know, what your memory would do, if you did put it upon frequent exercise, few know what their memories could do, if exercised about holy things, because few are industrious and active to put it on work. Austin (lib. 4to de origine animae.) relateth of his friend Simplicius, how he was desired to repeat verses out of Virgil backwards and forwards, and also the Prose of Tully, with an inversed order, and this he did to their great admiration, yet Austin saith, That Simplicius did solemnly protest, that he never did so before, neither had he ever tried, whether his memory were able for such an exercise or no.
Lastly, That our memories are naturally sinfull will appear, If we consider, how it was with Adam in the state of integrity, he was made right, Eccl. 7. which doth extend to the spiritual perfection of all the parts of his soul; As his mind was indowed with all necessary light and knowledge, so his memory also with all strength and vigor; so that forgetfullness of any thing that was his duty, was no more incident unto him, then any other sinne; It was not, because naturally he had a bad or a forgetfull memory, that made him break the Law of God; for if God had created him found and perfect, in all other parts of his soul, only left him to a weak and frail memory, he could not have been happy, either in temporal or spiritual considerations: As his soul was thus perfected, so his body was in a found and well tempered constitution, having no redundancy of humors thereby to hinder the operations of the soul by memory, he was not subject to diseases or old age, or any thing else, that doth empair the memory of man, but now our sun is become a dunghill, and our gold dross: As original sinne hath pestilentially insected all parts of the soul, so the memory hath not escaped this pollution; for where it is naturally able, there it is spiritually impotent; when it might remember, if improved and put upon, there is it negligent, and careless: how many say, They cannot remember any good thing delivered to them? press them about the Scripture, and the good truths of God preached to them, and they will justify themselves by pleading the badness of their memory, whereas it is for want of a good heart, and a good will; if thy affections were ardent and burning about these things, thy memory would be more retentive of good ⟨p. 257⟩things then they are. Besides, little do you know, what your memory would do, if you did put it upon frequent exercise, few know what their memories could do, if exercised about holy things, because few are industrious and active to put it on work. Austin (lib. 4to de origine animae.) relateth of his friend Simplicius, how he was desired to repeat verses out of Virgil backwards and forwards, and also the Prose of Tully, with an inversed order, and this he did to their great admiration, yet Austin saith, That Simplicius did solemnly protest, that he never did so before, neither had he ever tried, whether his memory were able for such an exercise or no.
