busied about the paines of the disease I am vigor quasso languent in corpore vires The Physician is then conferring with thee of the state of thy body The Lawyer is consulted with about thy worldly state The Minister touching thy soules health Thy friends are then vnwelcome strangers trouble thee visites offend thee thy owne seruants cannot please thee other mens discourses tire thee to speake thy selfe spends thee and to be silent grieues thee not to bee told how thou doest vexes thee to be told how ill thou art discomforts thee but it most of all afflicts thee to see thy wife children and kindred weeping and lamenting by thee Thus miserably we poore men at this time are distressed and distracted made vnfit for any thing when as God knowes a due preparation to death requires all the faculties and strength of a sound perfect and whole man Euery man naturally when hee comes neere the goale of death euen for some intrinsicall cause though vnknowne to himselfe is then weary of himselfe entertaines life with a tedious dislike Tunc iniucunda est rei poenitendae recordatio distasting euery thing neglecting the very thought of all humane affaires Nec iuueni lusus qui placuere iuuant But then thinkes O how am I straitned till it be accomplished This should haue beene done when strength of vnderstanding serued Nam serum est tunc viuere incipere cum desinendum est The little Bee so soone as flowers spring goes abroad viewes the gay diapry and the diuersitie of the flowerie fields suckes the choisest of them fraights her thighes carries to her hiue makes a cuurious combe and so by times hoards vp honey in Summer against the Winter Why is the winter harder to the Grashopper then to the Ant onely prudencie and imprudency differs them Thinke not thou the winter of thine age a time fit enough for this worke Mauna must bee gathered in the morning it is too late to prepare when time is past before you begin Repentance also begun in the time of sicknesse Repentance when to be practised is commonly as sicke as the party yeelding then when it cannot resist and then preparing and repenting when all other helps and hopes faile Sound repentance and fit preparation must both be timely not then forsaking sinne when sinne forsakes vs and wishing time when time is past Omnis motus naturalis velocior est in fine the end of time affoords little time Holy Iob tels vs If thy bones be full of the sinnes of thy youth they will lie downe with thee in the dust Sed mortantur ante mortem vitia ad iudicium non sequantur Whē death hath folded vp thy dayes all opportunitie is past The Cocke crowed but that Gallicinium so soft a voice could not awake thee Therfore Signicinium lowder musicke must end the Scene It is a great masse of sinnes that we haue wound vp in the dayes of a long mis-led life it will aske long time to vntwist this bottome nay to rauell it out in many ends will aske great labour Great labour and little time suite not Therefore worke while it is day The night commeth when no man can worke Vse not time as ill husbands doe their Farmes let their Lease runne out before they bee e're the better by their Farmes Few and euill are the dayes of the longest liued man and yet to euery man there is a Triduum lent the space of three dayes at least but sleepe not vsque Quatriduum lest it be said Hee hath lyen foure dayes in the graue Iam foetet Flatter not thy selfe by the theeues example who repented but in illa hora. That is not set for imitation but to keepe from desperation It is a strange thing to see that old men wil not see death though it be before their faces nor young men though it stand at their backes The old gray-headed man to seeme young had coloured his haire blacke but the diuell told him hee would not bee so cozened Nō omnes fall is scit te Proserpina canum The common fashion is to put men in mind of their death when we doubt they cānot liue Till the Physician findes some ill symptomes the patient may not bee dis heartened with the name of death But hee is the good Physician of my soule that tells mee of death when he sees me liue in sin There is not any man so wicked who with his good wil would die in his sinnes yet most so liue as if they beleeued permission were the Article of their faith all their life long and the Article of remission of sinnes were reserued till the point of death But terrible will death be when the dying man with griefe for opportunitie lost will repent that euer he liued and count it happinesse enough if then he might die and be no more But that will not be quia Mors est sine morte Semper viuit semper occidit sed nunquà mpraeoccidit That which ends all is without all end Remember the parable of the fiue foolish virgins and the faire warning Christ giues Bee yee readie for the Sonne of Man comes at an houre when yee looke not Ecce venio sicut fur that is when you sleepe best and thinke least of him Now as it is wisedome to bee prepared for death Settlement in Religion the best preparatiue for Death so if you will die with peace of conscience bee well resolued in point of Religion before you die neuer any man was a looser by beleeuing for faith is euer recompensed with glory while thou liuest it is not amisse to make doubts but thou shalt finde it a fearefull thing to die in doubt and the happiest thing vnder heauen to be well assured and cleerely resolued in the trueth of thy faith before thou diest This done then be of good cheere for thou shalt heare Christ say vnto thy sicke soule as he said vnto the sinfull woman Goe in peace thy faith hath saued thee And let all conceited humanists remember what their master Aristotle said when he died Anxius vixi dubius morior O Ens entium miserere mei Now of the way to die well Non est res magna viuere Hoc omnes faciunt sed pauci bene moriuntur Et illi Mors grauis iucumbit qui notus omnibus ignotus moritur sibi Man is readie to die before hee liues and therefore liued in the world that hee might die to the world his yeeres come to an end as a tale that is told his dayes deceiue him for they passe as a shadow by Moone-shine then appearing longest when they draw neerest to an end Wee that now liue liue by death for had not Christ dyed wee had not liued Therefore saith S. Paul My life is not deare vnto mee so as I may finish my course with ioy Doe you desire to liue a long time the sonne of Sirach saith A man that is made perfect in a short time fulfils a
mortalibus viuere cum exijssent ex ijs emori Let mee euer worship the great God of this little god my Soule Et ne plus vltra Onely this I know That to no creature else God hath giuen a liuing soule nor is there hope in any creature else but man and this hope is giuen for sustentation of his soule Hee that contemplates these things wil beare himselfe too loftily and thinke himselfe too good to looke so low as vpon the sublunarie things of this life Angustus est animus quem terrena delectant How then can this Beautie bee pleased to inhabit long contubernio isto All it needs to care is but Sepulture to that body which once had the Honour to be the Temple of such a ghest But because many times the houses of the dead and the vrned bones doe meete with foule hands for this also Nature hath prouided vt disertè ait Maecenas Nec tumulum quaero sepelit Natura relictos It is one of the daily petitions of euery good Soule Adueniat Regnum tuum Thy Kingdome come O Lord Yet saith Ambrose Hoc nitimur reluctamur For Quis sine querela moritur Quis non gemens quis non recusans exit Quis cum accesserit non tergiuersatur timet plorat In all things else Mans crosse Nature obserue how contrarily wee carry our selues The labourer from his work hasts to his bed The Mariner rowes hard to gaine the Port. The Traueller is glad when hee is within kenning of his Inne yet we when Death comes to put vs into our Port shun it as a rocke Wee feare what wee should wish and wish what we should feare O fortunatiorem Marcellum eo tempore quo exitum suum Bruto approbauit Mans better choice quà m quo populo Romano consulatum Heare O Christian what the Pagan saith Quid ni non timeat qui mori sperat It is harder to make a true Philosopher patient of life then of Death Hic spe mortis patienter dolet taedio doloris libenter moritur Hunc fert illam expectat sed expectata Mors tardè venit I am in a straight betwixt two said Saint Paul whether to liue in the flesh were profitable for mee and which to chuse I wote not Yet at last resolued liue or die Christ was to him aduantage Therefore to bee loosed and to bee with Christ was best of all Till then God grant that I may haue vitam in patientia mortem verò in desiderio So shall I fulfill my course with ioy life not deare nor death grieuous In elder times both wise men great men Life and death compared and vaine men had Death in such estimation and so vndervalued life as they fondly said Had man beene worthy to know what life was before he receiued it hee would haue beene loth to accept it Nemo vitam acciperet si daretur scientibus Life would haue kept vs in slauerie but that Death freed vs. They counted death but the retreite of life optimum Naturae inuentum for by it euery man might make himselfe happy no man be longer miserable then he will Placet no vita viue Non placet licet co reuerti vnde venisti They thought no state miserable but that which Death could not remedy Wherefore say they a wise man liues but so long as he should not so long as hee can If Death were not in our power wee should desire it more then now wee feare it Magistra rerum ratio taught them that common safety lay in Death inuitum qui seruat idem facit occidenti Life was subiect to many fortunes sed in eo qui scit mori nil posse fortunam This made them cherish these desperate conceits Nil referre faciatne finem an accipiat For though life be not yet Death is at a mans command Mori nihil aliud est quà m velle in which respect no man could complaine of life Quia neminem tenet If any man did complaine this was their wish Mors vtinam pauidos vitae subducere nollet sed virtus hanc sola daret In scorne some said Egone expectem vel morbi crudelitatem vel hominis cum possim medio exire tormento aduersa discutere But their brauest conceit was worst that it was genus mortis generosum for a man to be author of his owne death say they if permitted to desire death why ill to giue it to themselues Sed furor est ne moriare mori They seemed thus to maintaine their assertion by reason as wellas courage Death is naturall therefore we come Viuere noluit qui mori non vult hee is sorry that he was a man that is not glad to dye It is ineuitable therefore we must be resolute feras non culpes quod vitari non potest Fooles fly it old men attend it wise men wish it Nay some so prided themselues in this way that for Care Feare or Griefe they would not dye Non inferam mihi manus propter dolorem nor yet for feare stultum est timore Mortis mori Nor yet the threats of torments Sic mori vinciest Sed si coeperat suspecta esse Fortuna si multa occurrebant molesta tranquillitatem turbantia then it was Fortitude to dispatch themselues How or with what it mattered not Scalpello aperitur ad illam magnam libertatem via puncto securitas constat said Seneca when he bled to death Cato will die because the Commonwealth declined Nerua because the lawes were not kept Siluianus because he would not liue at the mercy of his enemy Lucretia to couer a dishonour But Plato and his Socrates were of another minde Death was to be expected till Nature called for it or Iustice tooke it For Religions sake men may ponere animas but suas not for ostentation nor in discontent Inde facult as fuit non ponendi animam sed pendendi Bona res est mori suâ morte Life was giuen to manage to the vtmost and to make the best of it Euery one was heere set sentinell not to depart the place till his Captaine calls him off Non est optima quae placet sed quaedecet That Death was best which was well recollected quietly suffering what it could not possibly preuent Fortiter ille facit qui miser esse potest It is not enough to die with a Romane courage nor that the cause of Death be iust but it must bee also necessarie vnsought ineuitable But let goe this discourse my Contemplation lyes another way The kindes of Death as of life are two The one bodily The kinde of death the other spirituall As bodily life is the coniunction of body and soule So bodily Death is the separation of soule and body And as a godly man hath three degrees of life The first in this life when Christ liues in him for the soule of a good mans soule is the Spirit of God within The second when his body returnes
Death to doe them the kindnesse to take them soone out of the world counting a short death the happiest houre of a mans life And for this saith Tully a man is most beholding to Nature Quòd vnum introitum ad vitam dedit exitus vero multos Sed non sic itur ad astra Christians know better wayes as how to liue in grace that they may die in peace And to whom this grace is giuen for him glory is reserued saith Saint Paul Many a good man is sore troubled to see men of the best liues to haue distempered and perplexed ends Some rauing some despairing some dying suddenly and seldome haue any so bitter draughts as those whom God loues best It is fit therefore to take notice of the causes that be naturall Despaire in dying may arise as well from weakenes of nature as from trouble of minde but in neither case can this preiudice him that hath liued well Marke the righteous and behold the perfect man for the end of that man is peace Rauings and other strange passions are many times rather the effect of the disease then mouing from the minde For vpon deaths approaches choler fuming to the braine wil cause distempers in the most patient soule In these cases the fairest and truest iudgement that can be made is that sinnes of sicknesse occasioned by violence of the disease in a patient man are but sinnes of infirmitie and not to be taken as ill signes or presages I will not despaire in respect of that mans impatient dying whom the worme of conscience had not troubled or deuoured liuing Dauid in this case the better to make his way prayed and cryed Lord spare mee a little O spare me that I may recouer strength before I goe hence and be no more Indeede to Ezekias some yeeres of dayes were lent but we are not worthy of that fauour wee must time it as we may and bee content to liue and die at vncertainties As a sicke man hearkens to the clocke so let vs watch Death For sudden comming of death finding a weake soule vnprepared makes it desperate leaues it miserable Sudden death of it selfe is not therefore euill What death is to bee counted suddaine because it is sudden but because it may take vs away suddenly our soules vnprepared The good man neuer dyes vnprepared because his perseuerance in goodnesse is a prouidence against sudden death If a man bee alwayes prepared and haue set all euen betwixt heauen and his conscience sudden death is but a quicker passage to heauen and is not to be accounted a sudden death but a sudden departure because it came not vnlookt for Though the righteous be preuented by Death saith the Booke of Wisedome yet shall hee bee at rest because hee hath made his peace beforehand His departure is no miserie for his hope is full of eternitie Ezekiel the Prophet so often stiled Sonne of man to him God sayes I take away from thee the delight of thine eyes which was his wife with a stroke suddenly and yet thou shalt not weepe Let not the present pleasures of this life allure thee nor the cares thereof possesse thee and sudden death cannot surprise thee Improuisa nulls Mors cui prouida Vita But if a man doe not prepare to die he may liue seuen yeeres in a consumption and yet die a sudden death For any time is sudden to him that is vnprepared They take their marke amisse who iudge a man by his outward behauiour in his death If you know the goodnesse of a mans life iudge him not by the strangenesse of his death When a man comes to bee iudged his life and not the manner of his death shall giue the euidence with him or against him Many that liue wickedly would seeme to die holily more for feare to be damned then for any loue to goodnesse To these men there is malum triplex quod manet in septima Which is Horrour in exitu Dolor in transitu Pudor in conspectu Dei If my life please God I am sure my death shall please me for hee that liues well is sure to die well but he that liues ill is not sure to dâ—e well Vitae praesentis finem talem esse oportet quale futurae est principium It is a great happinesse to die in ease Quis tam facile quando vult dormit as he that layes downe his life in peace Yet a good man doth not alwayes die in the exercise of his goodnesse But as a wise man when hee sleepes leeses not his knowledge no more doth a good man his graces though he die in distemper For habitudes of goodnesse doe not then leaue him though they cannot then do their office for him But the vulgar opinion if a man die quietly and goe away like a lambe which in Consumptions and dul diseases all men doe then sure hee goes to Heauen But if he die distempered and of franticke behauiour which happens to many through extreame inflammations then sure he goes to hell is a iudgement from nature not of Religion and in this case trust not Natures iudgement for it is arted with subtilties of physicke Serenitie ioy and peace in a dying man is a hopefull behauiour yet wee see the cleere starres that are so delightfull to behold bring forth their Rayes by sparkelings and dartings as though they were deliuered of their light by trauell and hard assayes So good men in their death haue great varietie of accidents many languors many agonies many iterated endeauours trauailing of Death as in a Childbirth But when the passages of the soule lye open to God without opposition of worldly cares then it peaceably makes egresse with a sweetnesse and without disturbance Naturall causes haue their operations but it is the God of nature that commands them It is Gods propertie sometimes to worke supernaturally by nature But trust to this beleeue aright and liue as you beleeue and you shall be sure to die in safety and the way to end life quietly is to render it willingly Let no contentment of the world so fixe you to the world as to make you desire longer life Saepe in hoc esse Bene non diu Shortnesse of life is no vnhappinesse Citiùs mori vel tardiùs adrem non pertinet bene mori aut malè adrem spectat The Booke of Wisedome saith Hee was suddenly taken away least ill should alter his vnderstanding or deceit beguile his soule Had present death beene euill or long life good Cain had beene slaine and Abel had suruiued But Death commonly begins first where God loues best His soule saith the sonne of Sirach pleased God therefore hasted hee to take him away Wee see the best men liue not longest And indeede it were iniurious to wish that goodnesse should hinder any man from happinesse Hee that lends good men to the world owes them a better turne then to let them liue long in the world One man seemes to die casually another
vespere examine his heart Quid nocte vel die praecedente hath hee thought hath he said hath he done Et in quo peccati labem inuenerit Let him mend it cum proposito efficaci simili non peccare This if it be done daily I dare boldly say Vix fieri poterit vt quis moriendo peccet aut peccando moriatur Inter these thoughts I had these things in Contemplation 1. First what Death was and the kinds of death 2. Secondly what feares or ioyes death brought 3. Thirdly when death was to be prepared for and how 4. Fourthly death approching what our last thoughts should then be Of these I thus resolued THat Death was a fall What death is which came by a fall Our first framed father Adam falling in him wee all fell Cecidimus omnes saith S. Bernard super acerbum lapidem in luto vnde inquinati vulneratisumus Therefore wee needed water in Baptisme to wash vs Blood in the Eucharist to heale vs. This falling sicknesse infected not only the person but the nature such is the infection of euill alwayes worse thē the Act making man that was immortall subiect to Death as are Birds and Beasts whereas before wee were differenced from them in this condition though made of the same matter Dust. Yet as wee now stand the fault is ours if that fall be not our rise the aduantage wee haue by Christ being more then the damage wee had by Adam ideo qui stat videat ne cadat For relapse may turne vs againe to be as Birds and Beasts that haue no ioy but being no sorrow but dying Consider Death originally or in his owne nature and it is but a departed breath from dead earth inliuened at first by breath cast vpon it Take the dimension of it and it is but a point of Time interiected betweene two extremes A Parenthesis which interposed breakes no sense when the words meete againe When Seneca was asked Quid est Mors he answered Aut finis est aut transitus Rogatus Secundus Philosophus said to the Emperour Adrian Mors est aeternus somnus Diuitum Pauor pauperum desiderium incerta peregrinatio ineuitabilis euentus latro hominis fuga vitae resolutio omnium Plato said it was Lex Naturae Tributum mortalium Scaliger defines it to bee but the cessation of the soules functions All men graunt the cause of Death was iust yet few can tell who was the Author or what 's the name or nature of it Estimemus singula famâ remotâ quaeramus quid sint non quid vocentur In Nature it can be nothing for it hath no cause efficient The nature of Death but deficient Post mortem nihil est ipsaque Mors nihil It hath no Essence though Existence It is no substance but priuation no creature but creaturarum sepultura Therefore curiously to search the efficient of it were to labour the eye to see darknesse God made it not saith the booke of Wisedome nor is it mentioned as any of his workes God that made all things saw that all things which he had made were good Omne ens bonum omne bonum estens Therefore good Saint Augustine said finely Lord thou hast not made Death wherefore I beseech thee suffer not that which thou hast not made to reigne ouer that which thou hast made It is no errour to say that man made death For curiositie the itch of mans Soule affecting to know that which God neuer made which was the euill of death thinking it had been good to know euill by desiring to know it made it He that knew all other things knew not this one thing that hee knew enough So diuine a thing is knowledge that wee see innocencie it selfe was ambitious of it Life did not content that was thought but the act of knowledge knowledge was the life the soule looked at That yet begets a studious scrutinie to discouer things wee can neuer know So we see that although Nature be moderate in her desires yet conceit is vnsatiable But since God hath reuealed more then we can know enough to make vs happy let vs learne sober knowledge and contented ignorance Who then was the Author of Death The Autho◠of Death The booke of Wisedome saith that through enuie of the diuell death came into the world and they that hold on his side finde it But if the Diuell was the father Sinne was the mother For saith Saint Iames sinne being finished trauaileth in child-birth like a mother to bring foorth death Adam falling sin followed him Man being tempted Death attempts him and by sinne death entred Death had no interest in man till sin had dispossessed him of the freehold hee had in God There was no trust in Gods seruants saith Eliphaz but euen Angels were charged with folly And to doe the Diuell right hee did but perswade not compell It was in mans choice to stand or fall Adam acceperat posse quod vellet non velle quod posset nos accepimus posse quod volumus velle quod possumus ille posse non mori nos non posse mori sic Augustinus Power of standing man had from God but possibilitie of falling from himselfe Therefore though wee may thanke our first parents for our birth-sinne Yet wee may thanke our selues for improouing of it wherefore said the old Letanie Ame salaa me Domine All mans natiue vertues were giuen him but in trust and vnder a condition Hee abused the trust and brake the condition so incurred the penaltie For that is mans nature euer subiect to extremities either dull in want or wanton in fruition Ne moriemini was a faire warning but hee cared not for it when Satan tempted hee consented Had the mind gouerned the eye the Apple could not haue beguiled though it was faire to see to The proud aspiring thought was hatched in man The Diuell was but the deuiser sinne was the Author and wee being partners in the sinne shared likewise in the punishment Facinus quos iniquinat aequat Since then Death stole in at the eare by our hearkening to ill counsell let vs now cast it out by the eares through hearkening to Gods Word the word of life the life of Death For the name of Death The name of Death Saint Iohn cals it a sleepe Amicus noster Lazarus dormit Of Saint Steuen it was said and when hee had thus spoken hee slept The Patriarkes and Kings of Iudah slept with their Fathers Transitum ad vitam aliqui appellant mortem saith Saint Bernard Sed ideo Scriptura dormientes appellat vt euigilaturos minimè desperemus Hee is not dead saith Dauid but sleepeth whose flesh doth rest in hope The night sauours of mortalitie and sleepe is but the shadow of death and where the shadow is the body cannot bee farre off But let it be Mors à morsu which our first Parents tasted or Mors à mora which yet tarries for vs all Let her bee
stiled Ladie mistresse of the world that will not bee courted nor yet cast off Yet is she but vox tantum a thing next to nothing Solo timenda sono Better is it called a transfiguration or transmigration from life by death to life againe Exitus non transitus Transitus quem ire non intelleximus transissesentimus The graue is but a withdrawingroome to retyre in for a while a going to bed to take rest sweeter then sleepe And when it is time to rise cum expergiscar then I shall bee satisfied saith the Prophet Dauid In the meane time it is common to all Death common to all Mors etiam saxis nominibusque venit Yet this fauour nature hath done Quod grauissimum fecit fecit commune vt crudelitatem fati consolaretur aqualitas Who liues and shal not see death Quisquis ad vitam nascitur ad mortem destinatur it respects none Equat omnes cinis It is as naturall to die as to be borne Licet impares nascimur pares morimur No sooner borne but hastening to die Orimur morimur We come into the world with a sheete about vs as no sonner borne but going to bee buried For all this man is euen with Death Nunquam enim magnis ingenijs cara in corpore mora est nay the good Soule aegre fert has angustias Therefore what great thing doth death in hastening dayes This shewes infirmitie rather then power Age doth more nil enim non longa demolitur vetustas Death onely shortens time not life for lifes time shortens by lengthening Morimur quòd mortibus viuimus morieris non quia aegrotas sed quia viuis This all men are to know that mortis meritum is peccati debitum Both imposed on man for sinne Sith then Life but a dying death it is a Statute made in heauen omnibus semel mori and that life is so momentanie and death so certaine splendemus licèt Hêu quà m citò frangimur corpora vitrea Since life it selfe is no true liuing but a dying being and such a being as euery day pants for breath which nature fawnes vpon it for a while Mors fugacempersequitur virum And since death is no death but a going vnto heauen and heauens comming vnto vs How can a man but thinke it a well spent life alwayes to be meditating vpon death But saith Zenophon Cur vitam contemnendamputas habes I will not inquire nor require more of death but death Err as enim qui in terrogas Quid sit mors Et propter quod mortempetam Quaeris enim aliquid supra summum But if a man dye shall he liue againe saith Iob. Yes Life after Death saith Saint Paul we that are in this Tabernacle sigh and are burthened because we would not be vnclothed but cloathed vpon that Immortalitie might bee swallowed vp of life Phoenix sponte crematur Vt redeat proprioq solet pubescere letho Ste tu corpus coactum Discere mutatâ melior procede figurâ The bright dayes die into dark nights but rise againe a mornings Though the body sleepe awhile in the dust yet shal it arise after thy likenesse The Soule which departed for a season shall as Saint Paul said of Onesimus come againe and bee receiued for euer That bodie which was sowen a naturall body shall rise a spirituall bodie Sow in teares reape in ioy who so goe forth weeping and carrie precious seede shall returne with ioy and bring their sheaues with them Yet caro ista Pulueries this clod of earth must lye a while in Dust Sed resurget tandem as the Queenes daughter all glorious within For if in this life holinesse maketh the face of a man to shine by an Irradiation from the heart what shall be the beauty of the bodie glorified Surely though it be not deifyed yet shall it be purified perfected and immortalized Our vile bodies shall be changed saith Saint Paul and fashioned like vnto his glorious body Such glory haue all his Saints If the exchange bee such who would not be willing yea glad to die Nilminus est hominis occupati quam viuere Quos autem felicitas grauat exclamant illi Mihi viuere non licet It is a good minde to bee content to dye and willing to liue But to be willing to dye and content to liue is the mind of a strong Christian Diligimus mortem pariter pariterque timemus Ipse metus te noster amat When the Senator Cato was asked a question concerning Death Si Deus inquit ille mihi largiatur vt repuerascam valde recusem Nec tum me vixisse poenitet quia bene vixi nec timeo mori quod ex hospitio non domo discedam Wherefore though death be not to be sought in the errour of youth as the Preacher saith respects it may bee desired Death desireable for three respects Portus est aliquando petendus nunquam recusandus As first that sowe may betimes leaue off to sinne since sin liues in vs and leaues vs not till Death Dixit Socrates Appropinquante morte multò es diuinior Secondly the Soule that soone departs facilius ad superos iter facit quia minùs facis ponderisque traxit In this passage betweene life and death what 's the distance So little as with the Ancients the Embleme of life was oculus apertus Mortis clausus but not extinctus nec plus interesse putauerunt inter mortem vitam quam ictum oculi Man is onely a winke of life his life and death ioyned as neere as ioy and griefe where teares expresse both Thirdly that we might the sooner come to liue indeede Vita aeterna est illa vita vitalis ista est tantùm mortalis For this cause saith Bernard praecipitat quisque vitam suam fuiuri desiderio laborat praesentium taedio Men commonly say There is nullum tempus praeter Nune. But this present is not that which contents the Soule Nimis angustat gaudia qui praesentibus acquiescit They are onely creatures of inferiour nature that are pleased with the present Man is a future creature his soule lookes at what is beyond this life Scrutatur quod vltra mundum futura praeterita illum delectant Haec expectatione illa recordatione It would make a man heauenly proud but to thinke of how Diuine a nature and qualitie his Soule is The Heathens could say it was Diuinae particula Aurae Epicurus makes it a Spirit mixt of fire and ayre Others define it to bee a selfe-mouing number Seneca said Quid aliud est anima quam Deus in corpore humano hospitans Neuer could any giue it such a definition that either an other or himselfe could conceiue it And no wonder that a man cannot conceiue what his Soule is Because it suffered a composure before it selfe was Therefore Admiration rather then Search becomes a man in such a secret Tully said Mihi quidem nunquam persuaderi potuit animos dum in corporibus essent
to the earth and his soule to God that gaue it The third at the end of the world when body and soule revnited shal enioy heauen So likewise a wicked man hath three distinct deaths Dead in sinne while he liues dead in soule when hee dyes dead in body and soule when both are adiudged to eternall condemnation Malis fit mors sine morte fin◠fine fine defectus sine defectu Quia mors viuit fints semper incipit desicere defectus nescit To labour not to lye is labour in vaine it is to deferre not to auoid To forget to dye and hope to liue is dangerous securitie This let a wise man doe quod ne cesse est ne timeat quod incertum est semper expectet Seeke not consolation against death but let Death bee thy consolation for there is no comfort against death but in death Supremum necoptes nec metuas diem Mortem optare malum timere peius Now to make Death easie Thinke of the glory that followes it Who will not endure a few pangs for infinite pleasures The bitter pill promising health is swallowed willingly Mors non anfert vitam sed in melius transfert That the aspect of Death may not trouble thee looke not vpon Death in death but looke beyond it Thinke not so much of it as of the happinesse that comes by it Erit somnus dilectis initium refrigerij scala montis haereditas secura Ianua vitae ingressus in tabernaculum Therefore saith Iob From sixe troubles it deliuereth thee in septima that is at point of death non tanget te malum Fit your selfe for it and you will neuer feare it doe by it as you doe in other things when you would goe sleepe you put off your cloathes you draw the curtaines and goe to bed Thus as it were acting sleepe before you goe to sleepe So addresse your selfe to death before hand Bring your selfe acquainted with it that when it comes you may entertaine it non vt hostis sed vt hospes not as a foe but as a friend not as a stranger but as a guest that you had long looked for and bid welcome Death more blessed then thy Birth What a griefe is it to see some great men build stately houses as if they should alwayes liue and yet they to liue as if they had but mortall soules It is good counsell Effice mortem tibi familiarem vt possis cum sors tulerit illi laetus alacriter obuiam exire Those Philosophers were more mortified who had their graues alwayes open before their gates that going out or comming in they might alwayes thinke of Death Good Ioseph of Arimathea built his Sepulchre in the middest of his garden So doe thou amid all thy pleasures and delights thinke of death and that wil coole and temper all thy vaine desires It will so qualifie thee to the world and the world to thee as thou wilt not much care for it In this world wee are all Benonies the sonnes of Sorrow The way to Heauen is by weeping crosse Hi motus animorum atq haec certamina tanta Pulueris exigut tactu cōpressa quiescunt It is obserued that most of other creatures liue long but dying perish all to nothing Man that is short-liu'd he dying liues eternally Thinke but of this and you will thinke as S. Bernard did that life was little better then hell were it not for the hope of Heauen Surely Christ would not haue dyed but that wee might die with safety Hee by death in death did deliuer vs from death And did Christ dye for mee that I might liue with him I will not therefore desire to liue long from him It is a token of little loue to God to be loth to goe to God All men goe willingly to see him whom they loue Our brother Ioseph liueth therefore though with Iacob I cannot say I will goe see him before I dye Yet Lord let mee dye that I may see him whom my soule loueth Liuing I cannot but dying I shall Let no difficulties hinder for since Adams fall none passeth vnto Paradise but by burning Seraphims The way to Canaan is cumbersome but knowing that our iourney leades to the land of promise wee passe it pleasantly Yet before wee come at Hierusalem we take in our way the valley of teares The swift Riuer of Iordan must be crossed before wee come to the sweet Waters of Siloam Let no delights tempt you prosperous fortunes may hinder a cheerefull dying but if pleasures of life allure not feares of death will neuer trouble Neminem aduersa conuincunt nisi quem secunda decipiunt Adam was set vpon in Paradise Iob on the dunghill yet Iob fortior in stercore quam Adam in Paradiso The very place of pleasure is dangerous In Paradise Adam could not be innocent but out of Paradise he was a good man For any thing in life lose not the cause of life nor iudge not of things by the face of things For life and death haue deceiueable vizards vnder the faire face of life lurkes griefe vnder the foule feature of death which is but fancy lies felicity Take off the mask and you shall change your minde loath that you loued and loue that you loathed Vita habitu casto cum non sit casta videtur Mors praeter cultum nil meretricis habet Now for the freedomes that come by Death Freedo by deat First it frees from all worldly iniuries Mors multorum malorum finis nullius boni Heere good men doe but liue and suffer benè agere male pati It is their portion and it is good for mee saith Dauid that I haue beene afflicted Non sentire mala non est hominis sed non ferre non esset viri Sufferings are greater trials then actions Secondly it ends all miseries Man in misery saith Iob longs for death and digs for it more then treasure Mors finis est non poena Nay saith one Nec finis nec paena bonis lex est non paena perire Death ends sinnes not life it reformes but doth not destroy Nature Vitiorum est Sepultura virtutum Resurrectio Thirdly it frees vs from all corporall infirmities Mors omnium dolorum solutio Life it selfe is a disease and we dye by corruption of humours whether they be of body or manners who thinke to heale all infirmities with an easier plaister then Death Delineamenta potius quam remedia podagraesuae ponunt Fourthly it frees vs from all bodily labours So saith the Spirit Blessed are they that die in the Lord they rest from their labours Adeo iuuat occupatum mori Fiftly it eases vs of all troubles Refrigeries est animae Refection to the Soule Were wee but in a throng wee thinke that man at ease who gets out first Noah when hee had beene tossed but a yeere vpon the waters Mount Ararat was to him a gladsome place for there the Arke rested So likewise miscrable man after many wearisome
whose strength faileth that is now in his last age and vexed with all things and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience But contrariwise O death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lyeth at rest in his possessions vnto the man that hath nothing to vexe him and that prospereth in all things yea to him that is yet able to receiue meate Certainly to this man that thus liues at ease in delicacie with affluence of all things for euen to vse happinesse is as difficult as to forbeare it to him it is a sad and bitter meditation to thinke that death must take him from all these ioyes wherein his heart tooke pleasure O quam amara mors mundum amantibus Euery poore contentment glues his affections to that he likes When as the best of this worlds contentments are but contemptible If thy heart bee set on Heauen thy soule will haue no pleasure in these low things looke vpward Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri The minde contemplating Heauen walkes beyond eye sight and at so farre a distance discernes God as if hee were at hand there is his true solace to conuerse with God Who euer they bee that dwell in Contemplation of heauenly things goe off rich in thoughts satisfied in their expectation For an antidote against Death hate sinne and the pleasures thereof then will death bee delightfull nor life dolefull nay death it selfe looking thee in the face knowing thy heart will change countenance looke vpon thee facie non horrendâ sed blandâ non terribili sed amabili This very day of death Dies iste quem tanquam extremum aliqui reformidant tibi aterni natalis erit The good mans hope is euen in death the world-louer ends both hope and happinesse when he dyes Plato discoursing vnto one de contemptu mortis and speaking strangely vpon it was answered Fortiùs loqueris quà m viuis At ille dicebat non quemadmodum viueret sed quemadmodum viuendum esset How euer the Contemplation of death pleases yet the sufferance of death pinches A man satisfied that death is nothing but a bridge to passe him ouer to an other shore where life stands and lookes for his landing yet while hee is vpon the Bridge which is but a short step betwixt two liues his vertiginous braine wil grow giddie and hee will before troubled in the passage Did not the word Ibis ad Patres sweeten the contemplation as did that wood cast by Moses into the the waters of Marah turning bitternesse into sweetnesse the thought of death though it be but a gathering to our Fathers would be an vnpleasing contemplation But feares being past which are but shadowes set off ioyes the better Therefore now to see What ioyes death brings OVt of the bitter came sweet The ioyes brought by death said Sampson When wee thinke vpon the separation of bodie and soule then it is a sweet contemplation to consider the coniunction of our bodies and soules with Christ which being once made by the bond of the Spirit in this life shall neuer afterwards be cancelled For let death wilde beasts or birds deuoure and teare the body from the soule yet neither body nor soule are thereby seuered frō Christ Non curo saith Ignatius si ferarum dentes me moluerint modo pura fiam farina Christo. And yet the body thus consumed liues not in the graue or belly of the beast nor yet receiues life or sense from the soule while it is in this seate vntill the great Assizes that generall Venite comes But then looke what the condition of Christ was in his death the like shal be of his members The body soule of Christ were seuered as farre as Heauen and the Graue were distant and yet neither of them were seuered from the godhead but both existed in his person so likewise our bodies and soules though rent and pulled in sunder millions of miles distant yet neither of them is seuered or disioyned from Christ our head Qui praedixit reuixit this serues to work it Humane wisedome cannot comprehend this Weake faith lookes for meanes and is put to shifts when shee sees meanes faile But omnipotency workes by improbabilities and tels vs. There is no faith where there is either meanes or hopes Difficulties and improbabilities are the obiects of Faith Through the Spirit saith S. Paul wee waite for the hope of righteousnesse in faith Yet in nature we see that in winter season trees which seeme as dead reuiue againe in the Spring because the body graines armes of the trees are ioined to the root where the sap lyes all the Winter and by meanes of coniunction it conueyes vegitation to all parts of the tree euen so mens bodies haue their winter when they are turned into dust Homo arbor inuersa cuius Radix in caelis rami in terra Their life is hid in Christ with God Yet in the day of resurrection by reason of this mysticall coniunction diuine and quickening vertue shall streame from Christ to his Elect and cause them to resurge from the graue to life eternall For the head wil not be without the members where he is there they shall be also It is noted how in that transfiguration the body of Moses which was hid in the valley of Moab appeared in the hill of Tabor which assures that this body of ours lodge it where you will is not lost but layed vp to bee raised in glory as it was laid downe in corruption The incineration and dissipation of this dust shall haue a recollection in that day of resurrection In the valley of dead bones did not the Spirit say to Ezekiel Prophesie vpon these bones and say O ye dry bones I will cause breathto enter into you I will lay sinewes vpon you and will bring vp flesh and you shall liue If any thinke The difference betwixt the resurrection of the vngodly and the iust this Resurge againe which is so wonderfull is not peculiar but common vnto all both good and bad as good men loue not to bee happy alone its truth yet it is not by the same cause nor to the same end For the wicked rise by the power of Christ to be iudged and condemned But the godly rise by the vertue of Christs resurrection to receiue eternall life Vita mortem assumpsit vt mors vitam assumeret Therefore they collect truely who say that the rotting of our bones is no death but a being asleepe and that sleepe must needs be sweet which hath peace with rest and rests in safety Awake then thou that sleepest arise come and liue hee whom thou louest sleepeth but thou wilt come to awake him till when his couch of ease is his coffin the graue his bed wherein he lyes neuer troubled with dreames or fancies what shall become of his bodie till it rise againe I am the resurrection and the life saith Christ He that beleeueth though hee were dead yet shall