to
accept the gift of grace, in such as are capable of being moved thus.

Reply Obj. 1: Infants are not capable of the movement of their
free-will; hence it is by the mere infusion of their souls that God
moves them to justice. Now this cannot be brought about without a
sacrament; because as original sin, from which they are justified,
does not come to them from their own will, but by carnal generation,
so also is grace given them by Christ through spiritual regeneration.
And the same reason holds good with madmen and idiots that have never
had the use of their free-will. But in the case of one who has had
the use of his free-will and afterwards has lost it either through
sickness or sleep, he does not obtain justifying grace by the
exterior rite of Baptism, or of any other sacrament, unless he
intended to make use of this sacrament, and this can only be by the
use of his free-will. And it was in this way that he of whom
Augustine speaks was regenerated, because both previously and
afterwards he assented to the Baptism.

Reply Obj. 2: Solomon neither merited nor received wisdom whilst
asleep; but it was declared to him in his sleep that on account of
his previous desire wisdom would be infused into him by God. Hence it
is said in his person (Wis. 7:7): "I wished, and understanding was
given unto me."

Or it may be said that his sleep was not natural, but was the sleep
of prophecy, according to Num. 12:6: "If there be among you a prophet
of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him
in a dream." In such cases the use of free-will remains.

And yet it must be observed that the comparison between the gift of
wisdom and the gift of justifying grace does not hold. For the gift
of justifying grace especially ordains a man to good, which is the
object of the will; and hence a man is moved to it by a movement of
the will which is a movement of free-will. But wisdom perfects the
intellect which precedes the will; hence without any complete
movement of the free-will, the intellect can be enlightened with the
gift of wisdom, even as we see that things are revealed to men in
sleep, according to Job 33:15, 16: "When deep sleep falleth upon men
and they are sleeping in their beds, then He openeth the ears of men,
and teaching, instructeth them in what they are to learn."

Reply Obj. 3: In the infusion of justifying grace there is a certain
transmutation of the human soul, and hence a proper movement of t