Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	death_n	life_n	3,302	5	4.8128	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A15117	A dayly exercyse and experyence of dethe, gathered and set forth, by a brother of Syon Rycharde Whytforde; Dayle exercice and experience of dethe.	Whitford, Richard, fl. 1495-1555?	1537 (1537)	STC 25414; ESTC S105105	67,532	233

¶ A dayly exercyse and experyence of dethe / gathered and set forth by a brother of Syon Rycharde Whytforde ❧ Vnto the deuout reders IN our lorde god moost swete sauyour Iesu salutacyon This lytle tretie or draght of deth dyd I wryte more then .xx. yeres ago / at the request of the reuerēde Mother Dame Elizabeth Gybs / whome Iesu perdon / thē Abbes of Syon And by the oft callyng vpon / and remembraunce of certeyne of hyr deuout systers And nowe of late I haue ben compelled by the charytable instance and request of dyuers deuout persones to wryte it agayne agayne And bycause that wrytynge vnto me is very tedyouse I thought better to put it in print / wherunto I was the rather moued / that I perceyued by the prynters you haue thankfully taken suche other poore labours as we before haue sende forth Rede this I pray you ones ouer after as you lyke it is but very short and therfore haue I not deuyded it into chapytours but only into .ii. partes In the fyrst parte wherof is intreated of the fere / or drede of deth to be excluded exiled and vtterly put awaye In the .ii. parte is put forth The dayly exercyse and experyence of deth ❧ Of the dayly exercyse of deth the fyrst parte whiche is of the feare or drede of deth / to be excluded exyled and to vtterly be put away REuerende Mother and good deuout sisters you haue many oftentymes with great instance requyred me to wryte vnto you some breue / or short lesson of deth and howe you shulde prepare and ordeyne your selfe dayly therunto This lesson is very short playne after saynt Augustine De tēpore serm ii c. xxxix for he sayth the lest lesson and the best meane to dye well is well to lyue For who so well lyueth saythe he may nat euyll dye Then done we lerne to dye well / whan we lerne well to lyue / and that lesson can you teche me better thā I you For you haue longer vsed the crafte and gyuen more dilygēce therunto Notwithstandynge somwhat in parte to satisfye your deuout myndes somwhat / after our poore vnderstandynge shall we say But fyrst as semeth vnto me it is necessarye spedefull that we inforce and gyue dilygence to auoyde exclude exyle and put ferre away that chyldyssh vayne and folyssh feare and drede of deth that many persones haue for doubtles it is both vayne and folye to feare drede that thynge that by no meane may be auoyded yet some persones ben so a frayde of deth / that they shrugge tremble and quake whan they here speke therof and renne or departe out of company / bycause they wyll nat here tell of dethe And to excuse theyr folye they take auctoryte of Aristotle the great Philosophour iii. Ethicorū ca. i. tra ii M. xxvi d. Mar. iiii d. L. xxii T ii Co. v. a. that sayth that of al terryble thynges deth is moste terryble / ouer that our sauyour byfore his passyon was afrayde of deth and naturally dyd abhorre it for the payne therof Saynt Paule sayth also / that we wolde nat be spoyled of our bodyes / and yet wolde we haue the clothynge of immortalyte vpon whiche / and apon lyke auctorytes they cōclude that deth is peynfull and therfore to be feared and dred For declaracyon hereof you must vnderstande that the drede of deth may be taken .ii. wayes for .ii. causes / one for the payne that is in the departynge of the soule / and the body by deth And an other waye / or cause for the vncertente of the houre of deth and of the state of the ꝑson in that houre or tyme. This feare drede of deth shulde euery person haue euery houre But as vnto the fyrst feare that is for the drede of the payne in deth that feare is vayne For in deth is no payne or ryght lytle to be feared / as after we shall shewe Arystotle sayth in dede Vbi su that deth is terryble fearefull / but that is vnto them alone sayth he that doubt of any other lyfe after this present lyfe Obiecti ∣ on yet say they that euery man doth abhorre and lothe dethe and dothe what he can to auoyde deth / and to prolonge lyfe / and that is generall in all lyuynge thynges / vnto that I say Aunswe ∣ re that nature dothe worke / and cause in all thynges the appetyte and desyre to be contynued and to endure and last for euer / and therunto dethe infors as muche as nature may / other in them selfe or in theyr frute and kynde But therof doth nat folowe that any peyne is in deth ne any feare or drede to be takyn therfore As by example of trees and frutes as well as of sensyble bestes The trees when they wexe olde don naturally put forth newe sprynges from the rote and the frutes when they be grene and yonge wyll nat departe from the tree nor the sedes from the herbe / or grayne excepte vyolence but when they ben full rype / then wyll they naturally of them selfe / and by them selfe departe without any vyolence So is it in man after a lyke maner that when the person is in nature yong grene lusty and stronge / and in the body conformyte / and lyke state of complexcyons deth is then horrible hugsum and fearefull vnto the persone bycause it is then vyolent But when the persone is full rype that is to say / worne by age or sekenes vnto the point of deth Then is nat deth vnto that person any thynge lothsome fearefull ne peyneful / but rather swete pleasant and desyrous and so sayth Arystotle in his boke of naturall philosophye Phi. v. Mors senum dulcis est Iuuenum vero violenta The dethe of aged persones sayth he is swete and pleasaunte / but the dethe of yonge persones is vyolent and greuous / yet say I that the feare is nat for the peyne of deth in departynge of the soule For then is no peyne / but all the peyne is in the sekenes disease / and affliccyon before dethe For the persones that as I sayde ben worne or wasted vnto the poynte done dye and departe this life nat only without sorowe or peyne but also with gladnes swetnes and pleasure And so sayth the same philosophour Arystotle in an other boke Aristot de vita morte Cicero .i. Tusc And so dothe also an other greate philosophoure / and lerned Tullie And I dare well say that in dethe is lesse peyne vnto suche persones then is in the prycke of a pynne or nedyll vnto a whole persone The feare than that our saui-had before his passyon / was nat for the peyne of deth but it was of the fraylte of our nature in his carnall flesshely parte for the paynes that he knewe wel shulde precede / and go before dethe And the peyne doth our sensualyte / and

oftsayde Cicero sayth howe may that thyng be vnto any person euyll and hurt that almyghty god hath ordayned vnto all persones indifferentlye / for theyr good and profet and as the ende of all euyles Good lorde thā howe curragyously gladly shuld that iourney and voyage be interprysed taken / whiche ones made and finysshed no care ne woo / no thought ne busynes / no turmoyle ne trouble no stryfe ne debate / no payne ne disease / no vexacyon ne displeasure may remayne ne folow but vnto them that well hope / shal wel happe / what tyme so euer they go But yet ben they most happye / and gracyouse that in state of saluacyon done dye and departe this lyfe in theyr youthe / and strength For vnto them immedyately after theyr deth must nedely folowe one of these twayne that is that they must go streyght way vnto heuyn or els vnto payne If they go vnto payne / than the soner they dye / the shorter tyme they lyue the lesse there and the shorter tyme shall be theyr payne And ouer that they shall haue the greattest comforde that any creature may haue beyng out of heuyn For the whiche comforde to be had any faythfull person wold be glad to suffre any maner of most cruell horryble payne or passyon that is to say surety of saluacyon Sāctus Thoma iiii sent di xv q. .iii. ar l. For all the soules beynge in payne ben cōmunely sure certayne of theyr saluacyon that whā theyr penaunce is paste and theyr synnes purged / they knowe for certente they shal go into heuen vnto euerlastynge ioy and comfort But remembre that I sayde / they ben communely sure certayne of saluacyon For it may be the some one or fewe soules haue nat that knowledge / but that god for some specyall offence / and for a speciall payne punysshement therof doth hyde kepe that knowledge from them as we haue in the reuelacyons of our holy mother saynte Byrget And that payne is more alone thā all the paynes of the other soules For that sure knowledge of saluacyon Live vi c. xxxix ● is vnto them a synguler confort in all paynes and dothe cause them to suffre the paynes with good wyll in the charyte of our lorde glad to suffre moche more at his gracyous wyll and pleasure If those that departe this lyfe go streyght vnto heuyn than ben they ferre more happye that from the miseryes of this wretched worlde they be come vnto the pleasaunt possession of so great vnspekeable ioye For you may be sure it is an excellente ioye to be there in companye with the pure virgynes the holy confessours / the gloryous martyrs / diuyne apostles sage patryarches / bryght shynynge aungels / and the virgyn mother our blessyd Lady and all these to se and beholde with our reuerende lord and souerayne sauyour Iesu Chryst / And all before the presence of the blessyd Trinyte / father son holy ghost there prayenge all for vs and lowly besechinge that hygh mageste eterne euerlasting god For al mākynd I thīke verely beleue that any faithful christiane wold be glad to expire suffre dethe euery day newely / if it were possible oftimes in the day so he were sure that he therby myght atteyne come vnto the pleasure / why thā nowe I speke with stomake why for shame shuld we as cowardes or chyldren fere drede deth specially sith deth is nothīg but like vnto a slepe For the old philosophours said that slepe was a very ymage of deth as one mā may knowe an other by his ymage althogh he had neuer se ne hī before ii Mac. xii Iohā xi Iob. so may we know what deth is by the ymage which is slepe so is it called also ī scripture ī diuers places our sauiour him selfe said the lazarꝰ slept whā he was ded / deth also is called a shadow / but you ꝑceyue wel se that folkes bē nat afrayde of a shadow nor yet of step nother For oftimes we slepe with our feare or drede and without any payne or grefe / but rather with desyre and pleasure / why shulde we than feare dethe syth we so euydētly done ●e per●eyue by the ymage howe lytle dethe is to be drede / let vs therfore put awaye this opinyonatyue feare and drede of dethe / and syth it dothe dayly approche wayte for vs let vs agayne with glad mynde and redye good wyll abyde and wayte for it and haue therof a thurst and a desyre / rather than any feare or drede howe be it of a suretye dethe is than lest feared and most desyred whan the lyfe of the persone / may at the tyme of deth be of sure and vnfayned godly frendes / conforted with the true testymonye and prayse of vertue / wherfore good deuoute chrystynes althoughe your reason lernynge be nat sufficyent to cause or to perswade you / vtterly to dispyse deth / yet let your well spente lyfe clere conscyence perfourme and so satisfie you that you be perswaded and verely beleue as a trothe euydent and opyn vnto you / that to lyue lenger were more miserye / that your lyfe hath be verey longe or rather ouerlonge If it had pleased our lorde before and erste to haue called you Thus now good Chrystianes let vs without any care of deth leaue the carnall mournynge and waylynge therof / vnto our suruyuyng frendes / that with lamentacyon / and shal inteere and burye our bodyes And let vs take an other maner of care and dilygence / to prepare apparell and to order our selfe vnto that thynge that we knowe well no persone shall auoyde nor escape / byleuynge and trustyng verely that he that made vs of nought / and whan we were lost wold so derely bye vs agayne / wyll nat suffre vs to dye But rather as I sayd before to chaunge this wretched lyfe for an other more precyous and ioyful / onely to be desyred All this hytherto haue I sayde to the intente that you shulde exyle exclude and put away ferre from you the commune feare full fantasye of the odious opinyon of deth / and somwhat to ingendre and bylde in you a contrarye opinyon A couetous desyre to be with our lorde Amen ❧ Nowe shall folowe the seconde parte of this interpryse / of the dayly exercyse and experyence of deth ❧ Of the exercyse and experyence of dethe The seconde parte of this interpryse FIrst you must knowe what is exercyse / and what is experynce / howe by them you may come vnto the knowledge of deth An exercyse than is an acte dede an vse of workynge or laborynge Than done you exercyse vertue Defini of exercice whan you put it vnto vse and workyng therof the exercyse of deth / is the acte and vse of the workyng therof Defini of experyence i. Meth. Experyence is a knowledge