upernatural. It has been already
intimated that the goodness of nature is often indistinguishable from
the holiness of the supernatural life; and, indeed, as a rule,
impulses of the Holy Spirit first pour their floods into the channels
of natural virtue, thus rendering them supernatural. These are mainly
the cardinal virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance.
Practised in a state of nature, these place us in our true relations
with our nature and with God's providence in all created nature
around us; these are the virtues which choice souls among the heathen
practised. They are not enough. When they have done their utmost they
leave a void in the heart that still yearns for more. It is the
purpose of the Spirit of God to raise our virtue to a grade far above
nature. The practice of the virtues of faith hope, and love, which
bring the soul into direct communication with God, and which, when
practised under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, are supernatural,
following upon the practice of the cardinal virtues under the same
guidance, place the soul in its true and perfect relation with God--a
state which is more than natural.

"Let us, if we would see things clearly, keep in sight the difference
between the natural and supernatural. In the natural order a certain
union with God was possessed by man in all ages in common with every
creature. The union of the creature with the divine creative power is
something which man can neither escape from nor be robbed of. But in
the case of rational creatures this union is, even in a state of
nature, made far closer and its enjoyment increased by a virtuous
life--one in which reason is superior to appetite; a life only to be
led by one assisted, if not by the indwelling Holy Spirit peculiar to
the grace of Christ, yet by the helps necessary to natural virtue and
called medicinal graces. The practice of the four cardinal
virtues--Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance--in the
ordinary natural state gave to guileless men and women in every age a
natural union with their Creator. Although we maintain that such
natural union with God is not enough for man, yet we insist that the
part the natural virtues play in man's sanctification be recognized.
In considering a holy life natural virtues are too often passed over,
either because the men who practised them in heathen times were
perhaps few in number, or because of the Calvinistic error that
nature and man are totally co