for Christ He hath left him an example 1. Pet. 2.21 that he should follow his steppes It is more for his profit so to doe than he is aware Who would be an enemie to his owne good he cannot cease to sinne except he die why should he be vnwilling to escape so great an euill he shall neuer come to the true life where felicity both ioyfull and eternall is except he die why should he neglect to attaine so great a good he shall neuer haue the fruition of Gods maiestie and the blessed company of heauenly spirits except he die why should he not pray daily to be deliuered from this present euill world vppon condition he might once come to enioy the most glorious presence of the almighty The very heathens which knew not God aright but only dreamed of the immortalitie of the soule as those that look'te for a better life after this though they knew not what that life was or might be both wished death ere it came and died valiantly and ioyfully when it came and shall he being a Christian one which knoweth both God and his word and hath the promise of ioy hope and comfort after this life both abhor death ere it comes and refuse to vndergoe it when it comes oh fie for shame that it should be so If an Ethnicke said thus Cic. lib. 1. quest Tuscul Oh immortall God how is that pleasant and ioyfull iourney to be wished for which being once done and past there remaineth no sorow no care no pensiuenes ô that goodly and pleasaunt daie when it shall be my hap to leaue this filthy and troublesome world and come to their companies that inhabit the heauens Id. de senectute If God would suffer me that I being of this age might become an infant and sucking childe againe I would vtterly refuse it neither would I by any meanes call the race that I haue runne backe againe that I might againe be young For what pleasure and commoditie hath this life yea rather what displeasure incommodity paine trauell and trouble hath it not but let it be graunted that it hath pleasures certes yet hath it either saciety or measure And nature in this world hath giuen vs a place to tarrie in for a while but not to dwell and continue in for euer What should a Christian say to him should death be much better and lesse bitter than to an heathen Of him therefore should death be better accepted than of any heathen But it is a world to see the world the heathen writers in their monuments call death a chaunging for a better life a quiet sleep are-mouing frō mortalitie to immortalitie from trouble to quietnes from the shadow of a life vnto a very perfit and vncounterfet life from sorrow to ioy from euill to good and hauen of rest a solace of the minde and end of all euill and wickednesse and a beginning of all true ioy felicitie and pleasure and therefore they were vnwilling to liue The Christian professours acknowledge all this and more too and yet they are vnwilling to die What must follow heereupon but that they must therfore be their iudges It is said that one once hauing read a little booke of Platoes touching the immortalitie of the soule did therefore make a way himselfe being thereto incensed by too great a loue to eternitie a better life How much more should he that hath read the whole booke of God touching the happie estate of soule and bodie after death be willing well to welcome death when God doth impose and lay the same vpon him 1. In Gods booke of life there are better reasons found to perswade by thereto than in Platoes booke of the immoratlitie of the soules there are any to enforce the making away of a mans owne life 2. God hath more authoritie ouer the soule of man to recommaund it againe to himselfe at his pleasure than man hath ouer his life to deceiue himselfe of it when he will God is the first giuer and therefore should be the first receiuer Man is the sole recaller therefore should be the safe keeper But not longer than the first doner is content he should enioy such a gift All good men haue euer desired to depart with it when God was purposed to recall it And what should not he that is sicke doe the like either his sicknesse hath made him good or it ought to haue made him good For sickenesse is euer sent for good and Gods great mercy it is that he warnes with sickenesse ere euer he strikes with death If it hath made him good why is hee vnwilling to lay downe his life when God doth call for his life if it hath found him good why would he longer detaine it life than he may If it be to make him good why doth he hinder the working of it be he good or hath he a minde to be good it is not his part to be vnwilling to die So farre from being vnwilling to die haue sundrie of the godliest wights that euer were in the world been as earnestly they haue longed wished desired and prayed for death That Princely Prophet Dauid cryeth out and saith Woe is me and sorie am I for it Psal 120.5 that I must yet longer abide in this world like as the hart desireth the water broookes Psalm 42.1 so longeth my soule after God My soule is a thirst for God yea euen for the liuing God when shall I come to appeare before the presence of God Psalm 84 1 And againe O how amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of hostes my soule hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh reioyce in the liuing God Blessed are they that dwell in thy house they shall alway bee praysing thee One day in thy courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a doore keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of vngodlinesse In another Psalme he prayeth after this manner Psal 142 7◠Deliuer my soule out of prison that it may come and praise thy name That good olde man Tobit Tobit 3.6 made thus his prayer vnto God and said O Lord deale with me according to thy will and 〈…〉 commaunde my spirit to be receiued in peace For more expedient were it for me to die than to liue How desirous of death the holy Apostle Paul was these his wordes doe manifest Christ is to me life Philip. 1.21 23. and death is to me aduantage And therefore againe he saith I desire to be loosed and to be with Christ What should I speake of that auncient and godly father Simeon whose historie is knowne laid down in the second of Luke how did he desire to die as soone as he had seene Christ in the flesh and know him to be the Sauiour of the world Was not this thereupon his present saying Lord now lettest thou thy
portions of his fathers goods and landes both bigger for quantitie and better for qualitie than any of all his other brethren Q. Some times I deny not what you say But that alwaies it should be so I doe not greatly well like of for at the time of the fathers death the eldest may be able to shift for himselfe as well as some of the rest but the youngest may bee very vnable And therefore I would thinke greater care should bee had of them than of others Besides that it may bee the youngest shall bee brought vp to some chargeable kinde of life as a schollers life a courtiers life a merchants life c. and therefore some reason as great care should be had of them as of some others R. Whatsoeuer you pretend for ground of your dislike yet this must you euer know and hold that mans inuention must giue place to Gods constitution And though I haue all this while laboured for the preferment of the Eldest as reason is I should yet he being prouided for I neuer stoode neither now doe I stand against the well prouiding for of the youngest If the eldest be once regarded as he ought let the others after him be considered as they may Yet for that point thus much I say whatsoeuer is done let it rather be done vpon reason than affection Many I know are foolishly affected and therefore some of their children are carelesly regarded some haue a great deale giuen them and some againe haue neuer a whit Let euery one in his place be considered and all my words thereof shall be ended Q. It is very like so for if I had not caused thus many fewer I imagine by many would haue been vsed R. Of that you may be well assured For your questions and obiections these many haue procured Q. I suspected so and therefore I say so But pardon mee if I haue runne out of rule touching this rule and I will keepe my selfe better in rule about your last rule R. The more you doe so the better it will be for you no hurt euer by keeping of rule But the last rule is so short as well you cannot runne from it Q. Neither minde I though I might But yet I would gladly know the reason thereof R. Whereof of your wanting possibilitie to runne aside Q. No that is easie But of the rule it selfe which is somewhat harder R. That I gaue you with the rule and haue it againe you may in the rule Q. What is it then R. The Testatours liberty to alter and change his will at his pleasure according to law during his life Q. But why is that the reason R. Because the Apostle himselfe in the Epistle to the Hebrewes saith Heb. 9.17 The testament is confirmed when men are dead for it is yet of no force so long as he that made it is aliue If this saying of the Apostle now be reason sufficient your question is aunswered and my dutie is discharged if not you must seeke to the Ciuilians for more Q. Where the first is sufficient the second is superfluous I am so well satisfied with the first as I minde not now to seeke any thing of the last If so it please you therefore wee will now passe to the second thing you said the sicke man was to doe that would in his sicknes seeke to establish good order in his house after his death R. Indeede order requires so much and the Apostle willeth All things to be done â—â— order With what you are therfore conteâ—â—â— I shall not be discontented But concerning that what will you that I say Q. I cannot prescribe you any thing R. But you may propounde me something Q. The duetie it selfe you haue alreadie prescribed but how or whence gather you that a man in his sicknes labouring to procure good order in his familie after his death should admonish all those of his familie wife children and seruants before his death to learne beleeue and obey the true religion of God all their dayes R. I gather it three waies first by the generall commaundement of God secondly by the practise of diuerse godly men mentioned in scripture thirdly by the speciall commendation God himselfe giues to one therefore aboue the rest For first God giues this generall precept Heb. 1.13 Heb. 3.13 Exhort one another dailie while it is called to day least any of you bee hardened through the deceitfulnes of sinne And I know little difference betweene exhortation and admonition vnles you say admonition goeth before exhortation exhortation followes after admonition Secondly I finde many good men in the booke of God to haue done thus In the booke of Deuteronomie Deu. 31.32.33 I finde Moses to haue admonished all Israell Ioshua their captaine Leui their Priest and the audience of all their congregation to cleaue vnto the Lord their God and to serue him after his death It is so much to repeate some as I refer you thither to reade all The reading of all there is better by much than the repeating of some here In the booke of Iehoshua I finde Iehoshuah to haue done the like For to all Israel their Elders Iehosh 23.1 2 3. c. their heads and their Iudges and their officers he said I am olde and stricken in age also ye haue seene all that the Lord your God hath done vnto all these nations before you how the Lord your God himselfe hath fought for you And the Lord your God shall expell them and cast them out of your sight and ye shall posses their land as the Lord your God hath sayd vnto you be therefore of a valiant courage to obserue and doe all that is written in the booke of the lawe of Moses that ye turne not there from to the right hand nor to the left neither companie with those nations that is with them that are left with you neither make mention of the name of their gods nor cause to sweare by them neither serue them nor bowe vnto them but sticke fast vnto the Lord your God as ye haue done vnto this day c. Iosh 23. and 24. by the whole In the first booke of Kings I finde 1. Kin. 2.1.2 Dauid to haue charged his sonne Salomon to the like effect saying I goe the way of all earth be strong therefore and shew thy selfe a man and take heede to the charge of the Lord thy God to walke in his waies to keepe his statutes and his commaundements and his iudgements and his testimonies as it is written in the lawe of Moses that thou maiest prosper in all that thou doest and in euery thing whereto thou turnest thee that the Lord may confirme his word which he spake vnto me saying If thy sonnes take heede to their way that they walke before me in trueth with all their hearts and with all their soules thou shalt not sayd he want one of thy posteritie vpon the throne of Israel In the booke of Tobit
assault the faith by those things which engender faith For as the diuell fought against Christ with the scripture so they often fight against the trueth with the scripture If time would permit and oportunitie did serue I could shew you what I say by those places of the scripture which they pretend for what therein and out they pretend for purgatorie makes wholly and fully against purgatorie But I cannot here and now stand to manifest what I say Q. If you will not confute what others doe say for it why haue you sayd so much against it R. To proue that they which depart hence in the faith of Christ doe goe to better friends and companie than here then they forgoe or euer before they enioyed Q. And might you not haue done that though you had neuer sayd so much against Purgatorie R. No indeede for euer there would haue beene some doubt whether they should not haue gone thither Q. What and though they had been perswaded of that yet should they not therefore haue doubted euer the more of this For as the Purgatorie patrons auouch there comes no bad persons into purgatorie as Origen a fautor of this error saith Origen in Psal 36. homil 3. As I suppose all wee must needes come into that fire yea although it be Paul or Peter R. But they would haue been somewhat the lesse willing to haue dyed and so would any one that is to dye for thither they must all haue gone to paine and no man is willing to goe to paine though he goes to neuer so good companie but all talke of companie in purgatorie is but lies and vanitie for as there is no purgatorie so there is therein no companie Locus and Locatum i. the place and that which is therein placed are relatiues If therefore there be not any such place as purgatorie as in trueth there is not there cannot bee any such thing as better friends than any in this world are to be found placed in Purgatorie but you knowe it is manifest that there is no such place therfore it must be denyed that there is any such company for if the place be not the companie cannot bee the nature of relatiues is such that if the one of them be the other must also be Q. But this ere you goe shall or will any bee euer the more willing to dye because after his death he shall not goe into Purgatorie R. Whatsoeuer any one is euery one should for dying in Christs feare and christian faith euery one shall bee sure to escape all punishment which is painefull and attaine to peace and pleasure which is ioyfull Q. And shall he that doth so come to euer the better friends for that R. What else Heb. 12.22.23 24. For he shall come vnto the mount Sion and to the citie of the liuing God the celestiall Ierusalem and to the company of innumerable Angels and to the congregation of the first borne which are written in heauen and vnto God the iudge of all and to the spirits of iust and perfect men and to Iesus the mediatour of the new Testament and to the blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things than that of Abell And are not these better friends than any here are or are to be found Q. Yes verilie I thinke that for here are none that either may or can doe as these alwaies may and some times doe Neither are there here any that in times past haue done at these haue done But haue you euer read or heard that this hath taken the effect you speake of in any R. Yea in many for such effect it tooke in one whome Tully speakes of in the first booke of his Tusculane questions such effect it tooke in Socrates of whome Erasmus writeth in the third of his Apothegmes and such effect it tooke in Cercidas Ciuis Megalopolita ex Arcadia of whom Aelianus reportes in his thirteenth booke de varia historia Q. Why what say these great writers of those of whom they write R. Of his man Tully recordes that hee should say Cic. lib. 1. Tuscul q. Oh that goodly and pleasant day when it shall be my chance to leaue this filthie and trouble some world and come to their company that inhabite the heauens Of Socrates Erasmus reports Erasmus lib. 3. Apo. that when Crito vpon great affection towards him perswaded him to keepe himselfe aliue in regarde of his little children and his friends that did hang vpon him if he would not in regard of himselfe he thus answered Crito For my children God which gaue me them will take care for them for my friends departing hence from them I shall either finde others like vnto you or somewhat better than you neither shall I long want your company sith shortly you also are to goe thither whither I my selfe now goe Of Cercidas Aelianus writes that being fallen into a most daungerous sickenes Aelianus de varia hist lib. 13. One asked him whether he would die willingly yea or no vnto whome as Elianus saith he gaue this answere why not For after death I shall see the best learned men in all kinde of sciences of the Philosophers Pythagoras of the historiogragraphers Heratious of the Poets Homer of the Muses Olympus which through their monuments of learning haue gotten themselues an immortall name And thus now you haue what these great writers say of these of whom they haue written Q. By how much the sooner I haue it by so much your kindenes towards me is the greater But would you haue the consideration of those his friends to whome he is to goe take as great effect in him that is sicke and ready to departe this world as in these you haue named R. What other thing should I for these things are written for his instruction aswell as others and christians euery way should be as forward in christian conuersation as heathens such as these were euer any way Q. That is true but it is a question among christians whether they being once departed this life shall euer againe sâ—e and know after this life those whome they saw and knew and were acquainted with all in this life and therefore often they are lesse willing to die than in duty they should and in affection they would R. In so being they are the more vnwise for the matter you now speake of there needs not to be any matter of question Q. Is it a matter thinke you so manifest R. Yes verily Q. By what meanes appeares it so R. 1. By reason out of the Scriptures 2. by testimonie out of auncient writers Q. Manifest the one and the other of these and I will soone haue done R. So I will if you will Q. I aske it and therefore I will it R. I promised it and therefore I will performe it Gen. 2.23 Out of Genesis then the thing wee speake of doth thus appeare Adam before he sinned being in the state of innocency knew Euah