into the fieldes with our friendes but godlie â— hell was that waye also circumuented slains of his 〈◊〉 and onelie brother Câ—ine Some 〈◊〉 men are inuited to a delicate feath and by that color Absolon 〈◊〉 and killed his brother Ammon What should I speake of the sayde Ammâ—â—â— who fained him selfe sicke and euen inforced his naturall syster Thaâ—â—â— when shee taine to visite him If a man settle himself to marie he may happelie finde such a Father in law as Iacob did of Laban or as Dauid of Saul and such a Wife as Potiphar of Egipt or as blessed Ioh had Againe if single lyfe lyke a man better he maye he assaulted as was Ioseph and 〈◊〉 or with his nyce admiration of single lyfe wallâ—â—â—â— in wandring luste and at last breake out into detesteble actes with the heretique Martyonns who presinding chastitie abused a Dyacon Imbrâ—â—se house he laye 〈…〉 pâ—â—s and â—aÌ„ue awaye with hiâ— hostesse Nowe â—â—a man bee without chyldren what comfort hath he 〈◊〉 must haue his goodes to straungeres if hee haue thyldrâ—â—â— heanayeâ—fe are the veration vnquiet lyfe of Noah Iacob Holy Dauid And to be shoote whether a man be â—itche or poore publique or priuate owe or young master or man and 〈◊〉 affaires with other men he shall finde that prouen he verie true One man 〈…〉 to another But happelie some man wyll sequester him selfe from all mennes company and lyue an Heâ—mite or Monkish lyfe what then euen such a one wanteth not infinite perylles For if he inclosse him selfe within his house one pinne loseth and the maine postes flypping out of their ioynt the whole buylding falleth vpon his head Moreouer a spyder falling out of his webbe into the pottage wherein his meate boyleth or a lyttle vimolsome water or finallie one leafe of an hearbe eyther poysonous of it selfe or some venemous woorme dod oftentimes bring destruction If againe it lyketh him to walke abroade euerie lyttle stone euerie TrÌ„ee threaten him death in dauÌ„ger euerie where of falling of Snakes of Hornets yea of lyttle â—ees which do molest him and lastlie alwayes sucking the winde and ayre which if they be corrupte doâ— by and by kyll him But let him beeÌ„ without daunger of all these what shall wee saye of that lumpe of fleshe whereof his body consisteth which hauing many partes hath so many singular disseases accoumpted of the Phisitions to be three hundred The eye is but a lyttle portion and yet the Phisitions name tweÌ„tie and fowre sorts of Malladies which vexe and encomber the same Consider then the disseases which greater partes of the bodie are subiecte vnto We may not forgette in the meane tyme the internall vexations of the minde howe often and commonly without cause we are vnquieted with feare pensiuenesse and such lyke peruerse affections which doo euen weare awaye and consume vs Howe often ddeth our owne conscience accuse and vnquiet vs as I haue largelie declared in the Treatye thereof tormenting vs daye and nyght And finallie the subtyle and sinnefull suggestions of the deuyll and wicked men who lyke raging furies molest vs not suffering vs to pauseor take any rest ⧠Of the subtyle pollicies and practises of Sathan a gainst man Chap. 3. THe holie ghost in many places of the scripture painteth out in collors the breeder author of these manifolde myseries and calamities with many Metaphores and similytudes out of which plentiful storie I wyll selecte three or fowre onlie at this tyme which if we consider dillygentlie as they deserue the reste wyll offer them selues plainlie pleasauntlie vnto vs And first I accoumpt it worthy to be obserued that this Author of all euyll who is Sathan the deuyll the accuser and murderer of mankinde from the beginning is named by our sauiour Iesus Christe A strong armed Souldiour who neuer vnarmeth himselfe neither day nor night patient of labour aduenturous cunning in feates of warre most couragious in charges assaults Yea he somtime disguiseth transformeth himselfe into the shape of a friende and gestwise ioyneth himself vnto mens feasts and banquets and especially of noble men preachers amongste whome for tryfling matters often times he casteth a bone and as the prouerbe is An apple of contencions and styreth vp mortal warres and discention in Churches CoÌ„mon wealthes and Familyes he soweth debate betwéene those that shoulde liue in peace vnitie This practise he vsed to breake the knotte of Christian charitie betweene Paule and Barnabas and his mallice tooke effecte in Tertullian and Aquila for the one through the vncurtesie of the Priestes at Rome fell into the he resie of Montane the other being earnestlie and often requyred by the Primatiue Churche to geue ouer supersticious obseruations of Astrologie and casting of figures and for his contempt excommunicated reueged the Christian fayth and became a Iewish Proselyte And suche enimitie was sowen betweene king Saule and Dauid after the ouerthrowe of the Gyaunte Golyathe when the people at their returne home gaue out songs of prayses gratulation saying Saule hath slaioâ— his thousand and Dauid his tenne thousande and he sayd They haue aseribed to Dauid tenne thousand and time but a thousand and what can he more haue saue the kingdome wherfore Saule had an eye to Dauid from that day for warâ— The lyke discention arose betweene King Richarde the fyrst and Leopolld Archduke of Austria in their expidition to warde the holie lande For wheâ—â— one of the Dukes Knights had aduanced his maisters Banner first in the scaling and taking and that strong and famous Citie Acon in Phaemicia some time named Ptolomais King Richarde caused it to be throwne downs and in the same place set vp his owne Auncient Afterwarde when the king in his returne was driuen by tempestuous weather vppon the coastes of Austria he was there taken prysoner by the Duke and was solde to the Emperour for thrée score thousande Markes And whollysse maye in the examples of our owne age sée the ruine almost of a whole state by meanes of smaller occasions For I haue hearde some of honour wisedome and great godlynesse affirme that arrogaunt and proude women contending onely for the vpperhande bredde such enuie betwéene their noble Husbandes that the same coulde not bee appeased without the price of their owne bloods and afterwarde ensewed the death of a vertuous Prince being a Phaenix of the worlde and the vtter exyle of sincere and true Religion This fearce and cruell souldiar besiegeth the strongest fortes and castels For hee dyd not shrinke to assault that fortresse in the which our first Parents were placed in the beginning and tooke the same not so much by sorte as fraud which thing being done he depryued them not onely of that blessed place but of all their goods and ledde them captiue out of that most pleasant Garden into the wide world repleate with Gods curse and malediction what should we say of that boulde
carnall securitie dystrust cuyll concupiscence tormentes of the Conscience and horrible terrors of death wherewithall Saule Caine Iudas and suche like being vexed and afflicted fell into damnable dyspayre and murdred them selues These myseries of man myght be séene by Reason and felto by dayly experience if we were not too perciall and euen wylfullye blinde in our owne causes Whereof so many complaintes are almost in euerie page of prophane wryters out of the which heape a learned man of our tyme hath made thoyse of three principall sentences The first is out of Aristotle who asketh this question vvhat is man He is an example of weaknesse a spoyle of time a plaie of fortune an Image of inconstancie a ballaunce of enuie and callamitie and whatsoeuer is besides is but fleame and Choler The seconde saying is taken out of Euripides There is no myserie nor wofull mishappe and mischiefe vvhereunto mans nature is not subiecte The thirde is of Pindarus vve are men but of one day vvhat is some body and what is no body all men are no better then a dreame of a shadowe And vnto these thrée sentences we maye reduce all other complaintes which eyther the Cthincke Poets Historians or Philosophers haue vttered of the fraylnesse of mans lyfe All which sentences Ludouicut Vines endeuored to comprehende briefly after this manner Mans body is infirme and subiect to all iniuries euerie member hath his especiall malladie And as for his minde it is exceeding sicke and vnquiet blinde and improuident neither doth vvyll suffer it selfe to be lyghtned being much lyke the taste of a sick man desiring those thinges that be hurtfull and lootheth those things that be wholsome vnruely and intractable towarde such as would cure him all his affections are out of order and whole man is a seruaunt of those thinges vvhich are needfull for him vvherof he vvas sometime Lord and maister Thus man lyeth in this sicknesse as it vvere in his death bedde vntill he giue vp the goast vvhich is called Death vvheras mannes byrth might more aptly be tearmed Death as Manilius vvriteth Nascentes morimur finisque ab origna peÌ„det Such a continuall death is laide vppon Adams children for a punishment of his transgression being much more bytter then if he had immediatly dyed Thus we sée the estate of this our sorrowfull and short lyfe some part wherof aâ— Seneca wryteth vve spende in doing euil a greater part in doing nothing and the greatest part of al in doing those thinges that appertayne nothing vnto vs. These thinges moued Theophrastus to vtter his lameÌ„table complaint That Nature is rather a stepdame to mankind then a louing mother For whereas she hath dealt with brute Beastes lyberally and louingly geuing vnto many of them a long lyfe seruing to no purpose She hath lent to man a verie short time vnto whome moe yeares had bene conuenient to the ende he might haue commen to perfite knowledge in wisdome which is mannes chiefe felicitie Besides these thinges she hath expelled him into this worlde poore and weake not able to do any thing but with howling and crying to foreshew his miserable estate and coÌ„dition Albeit I am not ignoraunt that Theophrastus saying hath beene reprehended both of humaine and deuine wryters of these because he vsurped the woord Nature as they suppose for God himselfe so charged the Creatour with the faulte of she Creature And it can not be denyed but that both Philosophers and Diuines haue tearmed God by the name of Nature For so speake not onely Hippocrates Seneca but also Lactantius although else where hee séemeth to mislyke that phrase As for those wordes of Saint Augustine Omnis quippe natura vel Deus est qui nullum habet autorem vel deus non est qui ipsum habet autorem Are not to this purpose for the worde Nature there hath a farre other signification And y great Phylosopher of our tyme Mattheus Beroaldus amongst many significations of the worde alloweth that manner of spéeche yet the wordes of his Maister Iohn Caluine please me much better writing hereof after this manner I graunt that vve may godly vse this phrase Nature is God so it proceede of a sincere minde but because the speache is harde and vnproper for that Nature is an order appointed by God It seemeth vnto mee very daungerous and hurtfull in matters of so great moment and vvherein there ought to be a singular Religion to vvrappe and confounde the eternall God vvith the inferiour course of his handy vvorkes Of the same mynde was Lactantius wryting That the subuersion of true Religion brought forth the name of Nature For they being eyther ignoraunt by vvhome the vvorlde vvas made eyther desirous to perswade that nothing vvas made by God sayd that Nature vvas the mother of all thinges meaning that all things sprang of their owne accord vvherin they opened their great vnskilfulnesse For if prouidence and Gods povver be set apart Nature is plainly nothing And if they call God Nature vvhat peruersenesse is it to tearme it Nature rather then God Nature verily is not God but the vvorke of God. But in my opinion Theophraste who had that name geuen him partlye for his diuine sentences of God and his prouidence and partly for his swéete vaine in wryting vsed not the woorde Nature in any such sence but rather for vitious corrupte qualities which haue infected this diuine workemanshippe Hereof that common saying commeth that the beginning of vertue is of Nature to wyt of Perfect Nature and that vices procéede of Nature verily of corrupt and poysoned Nature And if any man thinke that I thus conuÌ„erre Theophrastes wordes ledde with ioylfulnesse to discent from others rather then with a desyre to séeke oute Truth let him vnderstand that I haue not sucked this out of my owne conceit but haue receiued the same of that learned father Saint Augustine who alleadging the very same sentence cyted out of Theophraste by Cicera pronounceth thereof after this manner The same Tullie in his third booke of a common wealth writeth that man is brought forth into this lyfe not of a Mother but of a stepdam in body both naked weake and infyrme and in his minde perisiue in sorrowes abiecte in feare faint in labours prone to lecherie vvherein notwithstanding there is couered certaine dâ—â—â—sâ— sparkes of vvitte and vnderstanding VVhat saye you to these things he saue the disease but he was ignoraunt of the cause Hitherto Augustine who notwithstanding myslyketh this complaint if it be applied to Nature sincerre and incorrupt But to the ende that this matter may bee more easily discussed you shall vnderstande that the worde Nature as we reason of it in this place hath two significations as Saint Augustine in sundry places hath obserued The fyrst estate of man vvhich vvas sincere and vvithout sinne is properly called mans Nature but by translation we vse it
who can and wyll delyuer vs if not corporally yet spiritually if not our body yet our soule For it was the same God that deliuered the thrée children out of the fierie fornace and suffered the Machabeis to bée consumed with fyre They singe in the fyre and these dye and yet hée was the same God of them both He delyuered them to confound the Idolles of Babilon and suffred the other to perish in their bodies that the paine and damnation of their persecutours might bée the greater It commeth to passe also sometyme that the godly and vngodly suffer in this worlde together but for diuerse respectes and endes They in the distruction of their bodies doo in a momente and spéedely lay aside the vncleanenesse of their fleshe and are so brought to euerlasting peace and reste but the other doo then but beginne to feele fearfull and endles torments of body and minde And that saying of Dauid hath place herein In the hande of the Lorde there is a cuppe and the wine is redde in it it is full myxt and he powreth out of the same As for the dregges thereof all the vngodlye of the earth shall drynke of them and sucke them out When therfore we stande in some perylles lyke braunches to be cutte of the body of the trée or lyke valiant souldiers to fall in the forefront of this battell let vs comforte our selues with the consideration of these things Let vs be assured that God can deliuer vs if he wyll but if he wyll not it is for great and weighty causes and the same tending to our owne best profite For hée eyther closeth our eyes with good King Iosias that we should not behold the wofull estate of our countrey and Church which shall ensue or else he taketh vs awaye in our best tyme least malyce and wickednesse should alter our harts and in the meane tyme hee maketh vs worthy vesselles to testifie his honour and glorie euen before most cruell tyrauntes and ryddeth vs shortlie out of temporall miserie to the ende we maye spéedelie passe into endlesse felicitie And if we geue our lyues vnto death for these thinges as the matter is most excellent and lawdable so is it not so terryble and fearefull to the mortified and spirituall man as fleshe and bloode woulde make vs beléeue For if the Heathen souldiours doo abyde a long and sharpe warfare eyther to defende their owne countrey or to enlarge their dominions shall we shrinke to passe the pykes to the ende wee maye keepe our faith and possesse those dominions that are most excellent and endlesse Codrus king of Athens vnderstoode by an Oracle that if hee were preserued his Countrey shoulde perishe hee therefore purposely procured his owne death and shall we sticke to giue our lyues for our heauenlie Ierusalem That noble Romane Marcus Curtius cast him selfe headlong into a bothomles lake for his Cittie and Countrey and shall we feare imprisonment and daungers temporall that we maye possesse Pallaces and lyberties eternall Shall Zopirus the Persian cause his seruaunts to whippe him to cutte off his noose his eares and lyppes and that so comming to Babilon he myght the more spéedily obtaine credite of them to haue some authoritie whereby hee might betraye and yéelde the Cittie otherwyse inuinsible vnto his Maister King Cyrus and shall Christyans faynt with lyke tormentes to purchase not for others but to rerayne and keepe that Cittie alreadye prouyded for them by Christe Surelie these thinges made Iob to exclame Albet he kyll mee yet wyll I trust in him And the Apostles departed from the counsayle reioysing that they were counted worthy to suffer rebuke for the name of Iesus And Saint Paule certyfied by Agabus the Prophet of the calamyties and miseries which he should suffer at Ierusalem and his case much bewayled by the Brethren aunswered VVhat doo you weeping and vexing my harte for I am not onely ready to be bounde but also to suffer death for the name of the Lorde Iesus So spake Ignasius in â—â—ke case I am ready to abide the fire beastes sworde and crosse so that I may see Christ my sauiour who dyed for me And againe Let all paines and tormentes most exquisitly deuised by the diuell himselfe be executed vpon me alone so that I may haue the fellowship of Iesus Christ Fynallie the blessed and happye exchaunge of temporall paine into euerlasting ioye which the godlie shall possesse in the worlde to come ought to make them abide these short afflictions manfully whereof wee haue an euident example in the ritche man and Lazarus Abraham sayde to the ritche man Sonne remember that thou hast receyued vveale in thy life and Lazarus woe But nowe he is in ioye and thâ—â— art in tormentes Our sauiour Christ also sayeth to his Apostles You shall vvepe and lament but the vvorld shall reioyce You shall be full of sorrow but your sorrowe shall be turned into love VVhen a vvoman traueileth shee hath paine bicause hir howre is come but vvhen she is deliuered she remembreth not hir paine bicause a man chylde is borne into the vvorlde And you novv shall haue sorrovve but I vvyll see you againe and your hart shall reioyce and your ioye shall no man take avvay from you Although there are no greater paynes then in Chyldebâ—…th yet after delyueraunce the Mother for ioye of hir Chylde forgetteth all Euen so the godlie in this worlde â—…de wonderfull tormentes but after they haue passed this lyfe they neuer thinke of worldlie sorrowes by meanes of that vnspeakeable ioye of Heauen Which as yet the eye hath not séene the eare hath not hearde neyther hath it entered into the harte of man For our lyght affliction vvhich is but for a time causeth vnto vs a farre more excellent and an eternall waight of glorie Whereof he Apostle saint Peter wryteth thus VVe are regenerate to an inheritaunce immortall and vndefiled and that fadeth not away reserued in heauen for you The man of God nameth the celestiall inheritance immortall bicause it neuer fleeteth nor vanish away as the ioyes of this world doo Whether they be honour or ryches or power or friendshippe all these perish and decaye he calleth it vndefiled bicause it is voyde of all sorrowe heauinesse and sinne it is pure sincere and permanent he sayth also that it fadeth not away bicause there is no fulnesse nor wearinesse of it These ioyes are in a vision expressed more largelye in the Reuelation And after these I beheld and loe a great multitude vvhich no man could number c. stoode cloathed vvith long vvhite robes and palmes in their handes These are they which come out of great tribulation and haue vvashed their long robes and haue made their long robes vvhite in the blood of the Lambe Therefore are they in the presence of the throne of God and serue him day and night in his Temple