I doe not reckon nor rest vpon those common felicities to haue the Hatt put off to them to be men of countenance and respect to haue seruants to attend them to be sought vnto for their counsell and aduise felicities which doe not happen to all old men But I haue a regard to the true felicities whereof our next Chapter shall treate In so much that it was wisely spoken that old age doth resemble the Images called Silenes which a farre off and without appeared to bee grossely carued and very ill fauouredly made but neere hand were of excellent workemanship and seemed to haue in them I know not what that was more then humaine Such is properly old age if the life past hath beene wisely ordered and if old men doe truely know their state and condition But in mine opinion there are foure Reasons wherefore many old men doe impatiently beare the burthen of old age The first is that by their fretfull impatience they doe aggrauate their inevitable miseries a great deale more then is fitting or there is cause giue out in speech that they are worse then they be and being too sensible of them regarding altogether the present paines and euils which they feele and suffer doe not comfort themselues with the remembrance of their felicities past nor with the hope of the felicities of come The second is an euill education which is so preuailing potent and powerfull that custome is almost a nature and habit doth vtterly depraue mens manners and wholly corrupt them Therefore the saying of a wise auncient man is of a authoritie that it is fit betimes to trayne vp young men to take delight or paines in such things wherein it is meete for them to recreate themselues or to bee busied or take paines Euen as it is good to make them fit for honest trades or occupations and to envre them to good imployments seruices and to well-doing which no age ought to refuse For if wee should draw the shoulder from vnder the yoke and shunne all studie and industrie we should make no reckoning of vertue whereunto we doe not attaine but by the way that is narrow vneasie and painefull to clyme whereunto hauing attained our care is that we be not carryed beyond our bounds and misled by the vices which we hate and avoyde It is sayd that good house-keepers make vse of any thing be it neuer so small a rag and why shall not wise old men haue the wisedome and skill to drawe and distill good out of the euils which they suffer Phisitians finde infinite remedies and wonderfull medicinall properties in plants herbes and fruits which wee would neuer thinke to haue such excellent vertues if daily experience did not make it manifest and probat vnto vs. Shall it then be forbidden to those whom so many years haue enabled to be wise to extract from the time and from the sundry accidents and occurrences of their life past some remedie and refuge against the miseries which doe assaile and besiege them All things are mutually helpfull and ayding to the good of those that loue God And what ought then wise old men to hope for and expect if betimes they haue learned some documents and lessons touching their true office and dutie The third cause of impatience is that we who make profession of Iesus Christ and speake highly of the Church of Religion of the seruice of God of faith of good workes and say there is nothing so true as the Gospel haue but a weake faith and beliefe in the Gospell or in the assured promises of him who cannot deceiue nor be deceiued From this source and fountaine doe issue and flow all those euils which our fore-fathers and we haue seene What euils doth incredulitie and hardnesse of beliefe in gender and beget How often doth our Lord finde fault with his Disciples for it whom hee sawe so dull and slow to comprehend and vnderstand what hee taught them Old men doe torment and vexe themselues when they feele their sensitiue and carnall life to shorten and melt away but as for the life eternall Angelicall blessed the neerer it approacheth to them the lesse they apprehend and perceiue it If a man of honour or credite did promise you this or that this promise should passe for ready pay and for money told on the nayle and a hard matter it should be to make you in the least manner to thinke that his purpose should bee to falsifie or breake his word with you Beholde God doth tell you and when you are ready to depart out of the world promiseth that you shall liue for euer and your minde wauers and floates vpon the waues of doubt and hardnesse of beleefe This is not to know that there is a God nor who hee is this is by the sin of incredulity grieuously to offend Iesus Christ the Lord and master of all them which beleeue this is to imagine a Christian dwelling in the house of faith a man without faith without hope The fourth cause of our impatience is that old men know not what the oyle of saluation is the oyle of ioy the oyle whose flaming light neuer goes out or if they doe in some small measure know it they care not for it nor haue any minde or fancy to seeke it and begge it of the Lord. This oyle is the vnction of the holy Ghost wherewith Christians being inwardly annoynted are made strong not onely to resist death but the gates of hell also The ancient manner was to annoynt wrastlers with oyle and old men which are to combate and fight against the terrours of death haue very great need of this oyle and spirituall vnction Let them take heed then that they quench not the spirit 1. Thess 5. 19. But to vse another comparison let them bee carefull to kindle the gift of God in them by a daily supply of this oyle crauing with a zealous affection the increase thereof as King Dauid did with a loud voyce in the one and fiftith Psalme O God cast me not off from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me Restore to me the ioy of thy saluation and let thy free Spirit sustaine and establish mee This Spirit doth renew vs to the end wee like Eagles which soare directly aloft in the ayre to the Sunne might flye vp to heauen there to see our selues pluckt and stripped of the vaine light feathers of corruption couetousnesse anger impatience distrust and of many wordly lusts and desires which like lymetwigges doe stay and detaine foolish old men euen as it were pyles of wood rammed into the earth where their hearts are buryed hauing their soules more vntowardly crooked then their heads and shoulders so that they consume their dayes in sighes waylings and torments being wholly vnprouided of fit remedies to temper and sweeten the woes and sorrowes of this life nor hauing the power of themselues to leaue and forsake this world but as they must perforce
THE WISE-VIEILLARD OR OLD MAN TRANSLATED OVT OF French into English by an obscure Englishman a friend and fauourer of all wise Old-Men ECCLVS 25. 4. 5. O how pleasant a thing is it when gray-headed men minister judgement and when the Elders can giue good counsell O how comely a thing is Wisedome vnto aged men c. PRO. 16. 31. Age is a crowne of glorie when it is found in the way of righteousnesse LONDON Printed by Iohn Dawson 1621. TO THE RIGHT VVORSHIPFVLL VVORTHIE REVEREND AND LEARNED DIVINE Mr IOSEPH HALL Doctor of Diuinitie and Deane of Worcester the Author doth Dedicate this Translation as the first fruit and essay of his FRENCH Studies WORTHIE SIR This translation of the sage Vieillard being the fruit of certaine vacant and divorced houres I purposed to dedicate in a singular respect to a worshipfull Gentleman your good friend and neighbour Mr Henry Archer late of Thaydon Garnon in Essex who was well versed in the French language But his death disappoynted me of my purpose made my pen fall out of my hand lye still and stirre no further hauing then more then halfe finished the Booke The second yeare after whose death well weighing with my selfe that it was a Worke might yeeld some profit to my Countrie men of England I tooke vp my Pen againe and at starts and tymes finished it And then withall considering with my selfe that a good Booke in these dayes had need of a good man to Patronize it I called to mind that your worthy selfe hauing beene in Fraunce and other forraine partes might be a fit Maecenas to support my weake labours therein and so boldly adventured to Dedicate the Patronage thereof to your good Worship And I was the rather imboldened thereunto vpon hope that for your deceased good friend and neighbours sake to whom it should haue beene Dedicated you would not refuse it at least for the workes sake being a mixt Subiect of morall and diuine documents and instructions And further I hope that it will not be accompted presumption to dedicate a good Booke to the learned and vertuous Howsoeuer it is my dutie to craue pardon for presuming to dedicate it to your worship my selfe being a man of an obscure and humble condition And therefore I doe further craue your pardon that I may not make my selfe otherwise knowne vnto your worship then by the two Alphabeticall letters of my name here-vnder printed Yet haue I alwayes beene since I first knew you and still doe rest a man which doth vnfainedly reuerence you T. VV. ¶ To the Reader I AM loath to woce thee by styling thee courteous kinde gentle Reader but rather desire that the subiect matter of the Booke might allure thee to read it The French Author thereof hath intituled it TheWise Old Man by which title hee seemes to implie that all are not wise that are old which if it be so hee then seemes to glance at our English Prouerb No foole to the old foole Howsoeuer hee lessons both young and old what they should be As for my part I thinke it not fitting to preface the wholesome documents and instructions contained in it which as good Viandes are offered to thy taste least I should take away thine appetite to read it and make thee to surfeit before thou hast fed All that I haue to doe and lesse I cannot doe is to craue thy fauourable construction of that I haue done For I modestly confesse I haue beene too ouerweening and bold to take vpon me to translate so worthy a Worke of the worthy French Author thereof Monsieur Symon Goulart my selfe being no higher a graduate in learning then a common Grammarian and no better skilled in the French language then what mine owne practise and study hath enhabled mee to be But vpon the first reading of him I was so delighted that my fingers did euen itch to set pen to paper and to vnclaspe so good a Worke which was shut vp from thy vse and benefit vnder a strange tongue Make much I pray thee of him now because hee speakes to thee in English and if he speake it not well I craue thy pardon for I am in fault that haue taken vpon mee to make him speake our language before I well vnderstand his Yet I hope I haue hit of his meaning though I vary from his wordes as all Translators must doe And now I am a suiter for pardon I doe wooe thee by these Epithites of courteous kinde gentle Reader charitably to censure mee for taking vpon me to put into English so worthy a Worke with so weake a hand which fauour I hope I shall the rather obtaine at thy hands for that I haue done it out of a good will to thee and not out of any skill in mee which I doe disclaime and therefore I desire to hide mee from thee and not otherwise to be knowne vnto thee then I am to the worthy Gentleman to whom I haue beene hold to commend the patronage of this Worke. And so I leaue thee courteous Reader to God and wish thee to be with God when thy time is to goe to him and will still bee thy well wisher in all good things T. W. THE CONTENTS OF THE twentie Chapters of this Booke Chapter 1. OF long life and the desire men haue to liue long in the world Page 1. Chapter 2. Of such persons as haue liued long namely the Patriarches before the Flood Page 11. Chapter 3. Of the Tree of Life and of the Tree of Knowledge of good and euill Page 16. Chapter 4. What old age is and how many Species and kindes of old age there be Page 22. Chapter 5. The Spring-head of old age and the causes and occasions of it Page 28. Chapter 6. Of the Climactericall Yeares Page 41. Chapter 7. The complaints of the miseries of old age aduisedly discussed Page 44 Chapter 8. Foure causes propounded by Cicero of the miseries of old age reduced to two to wit the miseries of the bodie and of the minde Page 48. Chapter 9. A more speciall Catalogue or numbring vp of some miseries in old men in regard of their bodies Page 53. Chapter 10. The miseries of old men in regard of their mindes Page 63. Chapter 11. Of the causes that old age is burthensome and tedious to old men Page 82. Chapter 12. Of the benefit or good of old age Page 86. Chapter 13. Of the profit which wise old men may reape from the doctrine contained in the Writings of Philosophers and Heathen Authors Page 96. Chapter 14. Assured consolations against all infirmities of bodie and minde Page 107. Chapter 15. An aduise to wise old men containing the summarie and substance of their dutie vntill their last gasp Page 126. Chapter 16. Worthy meditations for all persons especially the wise Vieillard of what quality or condition soeuer he be Page 136 Chapter 17. Consolations against death and how it ought to be feared or not feared Page 145. Chapter 18.
made a representation of the Kingdome of heauen and to this latter signification our Lord seemes to referre when to the Theefe vpon the Crosse who repented acknowledged his Sauiour and made so excellent a confession of his faith as no Christian can make a better he said This day shalt thou bee with me in Paradise Luke 23. 43. Concerning the tree of Life Saint Augustine in his 26. Chapter of the fourth Booke De ciuitate Dei and other antient an moderne Diuines doe thinke that the tree of Life was so called not because the fruite of it sustained man in life as other fruits doe but that by a speciall blessing the fruit of it did maintaine Adam and Eue in life and strength of body that they were not troubled with any disease They gather their exposition on from this that Adam after his fall was by the commandement of God banished with his wife out of the garden of Eden to this end that he should not stretch forth his hand to gather and eat of the fruit of this tree whereby hee might liue for euer And from the Cherubins which with a wauing and flourishing sharpe edged sword were placed towards the East part of the garden to keepe him from comming that way to the tree of life Gen. 3. 22. 24. Some Diuines said that after Adams reuolt the passage way to the tree of life was barrocadoed and shut vp not that God feared that Adam after he had receiued his doome and iudgement to returne to the dust of the earth from whence hee was taken could by eating of the fruit of the tree of life recouer immortalitie but that he hauing made himselfe a mortall creature and lost his dignity should haue his scutchion of honour taken from him and trampled vnder feet and all the ornaments badges and markes of the fauour of God and immortality For otherwise to speake properly God alone is the head spring of life Psal 36. 10. Nay he is our life and the length of dayes Deut. 30. 20. And not any tree nor the fruit of a tree And wittily doth Aristotle scoffe at Hesiodus and his other fellow Poets who tooke vpon them to make a materiall bread and drinke for the liuing gods which they called Nectar and Ambrosia S. Augustine in his eight booke vpon Genesis seemeth out of the wordes of the text very fitly to resolue this point of doctrine when hee saith that all the fruits of other trees were giuen to man for the nourishment and food of his body but the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and euill were giuen him in the nature and quality of a Sacrament Other Diuines whose opion I reiect not doe hold that the tree of life was a figure of the Gospel and the tree of knowledge of good and euill was a figure of the Law that Adam and Eue by eating of the fruit of this latter tree might now come to know good and bad vertue and vice right and wrong iustice or iniustice or by their disobedience to God in doing that which he had forbidden them might learne to their owne confusion from what an excellent state they were fallen and into what an abisse and bottomlesse gulfe of confusion they had plunged themselues Many ancient learned men doe write that the tree of life did signifie wisedome planted in the middest of the garden that is ingraffed or infused into the heart of man which is in the middest of his body And for proofe hereof they alledge the place in the third chapter of the Prouerbes where it is said That wisedome is a tree of life to those that lay hold of it We thinke no lesse but that Salomon in that sentence doth allude to the tree of life in the garden of Eden which was to our first Parents a Sacrament of the life which they had receiued of God and which had beene perpetuated to them if they had not rebelled against him And that he doth also admonish vs that the meanes to recouer that happy life to enioy Gods fauour againe is to apply our selues to that study of wisdome which is taught vs chiefly in the Gospel of which S. Paul saith We speake not the wisdome of the world but the wisedome of God in a mystery which is a hid wisedome 1. Cor. 2. 6 7. And the same Iesus Christ which by God was made wisedome for vs is our resurrection and life Concerning the tree of knowledge of good euill many doe wonder that it was planted in the terrestriall and earthly Paradise seeing it was the occasion and materiall cause of the death of Adam and Eue. But Diuines and namely S. Basil and S. Augustine doe wisely make answere That God planted no tree that was euill neither made he death neither did he set or plant any such tree in the garden to be the occasion of mans ruine and destruction but to prooue his obedience and to beget in him an habite of abstinence and to weane him to sobrietie so that although this tree was pleasant to beholde yet was it not meete that Adam and Eue should climbe it to satisfie their greedy appetites but should abstaine and forbeare so to doe because God had for bidden them to gather and eate of the fruit thereof To conclude with S. Augustine The Lords will was that the reasonable creature should see that he was not to be at his owne caruing and appointment but as a creature to yeeld all obedience to his Creatour and in yeelding obedience should finde it to be best for his health and welfare Thus then Adams estate was excellent and aboue all things to be desired wherein hee abounded in all ioy integrity iustice and holinesse if hee had continued in this happy estate wherein God created him But after hee had eaten of the forbidden fruit of a man iust happy and immortall he became a sinner miserable and mortall These things being so wee the miserable posterity of Adam who haue tasted of the forbidden fruit transgressed in the thing forbidden and by our disobedience brought vpon vs the first and second death seperated and estranged our selues from God the author of our life and of our good being and welfare are exhorted and put in minde to haue our recourse in true faith vnto that Mediatour who by his death and resurrection hath opened vnto vs the celestiall Paradise who giueth vs to eate of the tree of life planted in the Paradise of God Apocal. 2. 7. not of a figuratiue and typicall tree but that we might haue a right and interest in Iesus Christ the true tree of life and in the heauenly Ierusalem which is euerlasting life Apocal. 22. 14. For in our Sauiour is the truth and the accomplishment of all types and figures and whosoeuer beleeueth in him shall not come to condemnation but shall goe from death to life Vpon this sentence S. Paul in the first Chapter of his Epistle to the Romanes 17. Verse doth ground this
layes in the graue more children and men of fiue and twentie and thirtie yeares old then those that bee older and young men are commonly sooner infected then old Let vs then giue ouer vnwisely to obiect vnto old men and to vpbraide them with their calamities and miseries seeing that the youngest men feele more which doe put them to more paine and torment Whereas old men are reproched that they haue giuen ouer Tennys-play reuellings dancing dallying courting leaping vaulting and hoyting and gallopping vp and downe as the wise Barzillay saith when hee requested King Dauid to giue him leaue to leaue the court and to liue quietly at home by himselfe 2. Sam. 19. So it is that old men are distasted and weary of such sports and delights and on the contrary are glad and greatly reioyce that they are free from the desires and lusts of young men which doe tyrannize ouer them and it is a great ioy of heart vnto them that being altogether vnapt to exercise the vanities and sensuall delights and pleasures of the world they haue the more leasure and vacant time to imploy themselues to mortifie their carnall lusts and affections and to meditate vpon the life to come Good God what a wrong doe wee doe to our selues to insert and put into the catalogue and bedroll of our euills and afflictions things which doe bring health vnto vs and are very necessary documents and instructions vnto vs There are no people more miserable then those who foolishly boast They know not what sorrow and misery meanes nor neuer had any The euills of the world are euills because men thinke them so but indeed and in truth they are not euills As for example our bodily infirmitie men that are truely wise and religious make a good and profitable vse of it Wee will take for our second example the approch and comming of death which the neerer it comes to vs the neerer we shall be to our Port and the sooner wee shall be within the kennyng and discouery of our true countrey Thirdly death it selfe is the end of our life and the beginning of our happinesse which all good men wish for Let vs then abandon the company of those idiots who when old age is farre off from them wish and desire it and when it is come neere and almost at them reuile and condemne it CHAP. VIII Foure causes propounded by Cicero of the miseries of old age reduced to two to wit the miseries of the body and of the minde THere is no day houre minute or moment of our life which doth not put vs in minde that we are mortall and it is a brutish stupiditie and sencelessenes both in yong and old men to promise to themselues to morrow But why doe wee refuse to liue according to the conditions agreed vpon when wee came into the world to wit to leaue life in youth or in age when death cals vs and bids vs to take our leaue of it And whence is it that wee beare so impatiently that which cannot be shunned or avoyded What moues vs to look for knotts in Bull-rushes and to make doubts and difficulties in so plaine a case We doe but peruersly blame and accuse the iudge of the world when we speake of old age saying it is miserable in regard it makes vs vnseruiceable men and vnfit to mannage and meddle with worldly affaires enfeebles our bodies putts vs beside and barres vs almost of all pleasures being moreouer the next neighbour to death Cicero in his Dialogue of Old-age putteth such like cases and answering them denyes that wise old men are idle bodies and as for those which make it their recreation and take pleasure to be ignorant and to sit still and doe nothing they are vnworthie the worthie name of Old men and deserue rather to be called Idolles and Statues which artificially are moued by vises gynnes Great and important affaires are not effected by the strength nimblenesse and agilitie of the bodie but by counsell authoritie iudgement and example And as Salust sayth in Iugurth the minde is the guide chiefe Captaine and conductor of mens actions and liues But seeing that Old men haue alwayes beene esteemed to be endued with sound counsell wisedome grounded vpon long experience by reason whereof all those that haue eminent places of charge in the Church and Common-weale are wont to bee called Senators and Elders Why shall we thinke them lither idle persons who direct and prescribe vnto others what is to be done and how and in what order and manner things are to be done and though they sit still themselues yet the whole burthen of the businesse lyes vpon them Euen as wee see Pilots of Ships who without much troubling themselues or stirring from their places sit quietly at the sterne and holding the Rudder in despite of boystrous windes and waues doe cond and carry their Ships laden with men and merchandize safely to their vnlading port And this is the cause why in euery well gouerned Common weale old men are had in great reuerence and honour which they iustly deserue and young men frequent their company and are conuersant with them to benefit themselues by their counsels and instructions On the contrarie wise old men are no gybing and iesting Buffones who with their armes a crosse take pleasure to trifle out the time and to idle it at home in their houses but they meditate imagine and contriue and are alwayes doing one good deed or other teaching good lessons as they grow old and growing old as fast as they teach them not that they would seeme men of knowledge themselues but that others by reaping the fruits of their labours might feelingly perceiue that true pietie and vertue are the guides of their actions Concerning the weaknesse of their bodies as young men content themselues with a proportiall and competent strength and affect not to be so strong as Bulls Cammells or Elephants so old men for their part are content with that condition which it pleaseth God to lay vpon them and fancie not to be so strong as they were in their youth It is very decent and fit that a man obserue and giue way to his owne nature attempting nothing aboue his owne strength but to doe as much as he can and no more Therefore Milo of Cretona made himselfe a ridiculous spectacle who being growne old and beholding his withered armes wept dolefully complaining that they were starke dead Whereupon Cicero vseth these words Doth the vertue and honour of a man lie in his armes It is not rather a mature wisedome which makes him renowned to his dying day Old age doth not by and by so weaken a man but that by diuers exercises wherewith he may invre his bodie and minde and by ordering himselfe well in his drinking eating sleeping by giuing himselfe ease vacancie and rest and not tyring himselfe and spending his spirits with much labour and studie he may keepe himselfe from bending in the hammes
they imitate and act the foule enormities and scandalous manners of some wilfull impudent young men But if according to the opinion of Seneca there is nothing more wretched in the world then the man who hath neuer had any misfortune crosse or affliction Let vs deeme him happy which beareth his afflictions in such sort that hee is confident and assured quickely to haue a release and end of them to his credite and true contentment But to proceed old men are not without laudable exercises imployments and delightfull studies and meditations If their feet bee slow of pace their mindes are quicke enough and ready to conceiue and apprehend as Euripides saith If young men doe know how to vse the Stoccado the Punto reuerso and are expert and cunning in their weapon it is old men doe direct them how to mannage a quarrell and when to fight for their aduantage and honour if heerein wee will giue credit to Plutarch wh writes that it belongs to young men to beare Armes and for old men to consult and determine what is best and profitable for the good and welfare of the State Old men then are the heads of the politicke body and young men are the armes As for holy meditations wherewith the soule is rauished and transported aboue the clouds they require not great strength of body but on the contrary when the wise Vicillard or Old man cannot without great paine stirre hand and foote and lies bedred hee comforteth and cheeres vp himselfe with diuine meditations sitting to his age and while fooles and dissolute persons confound themselues in base shamefull pleasures hee is priuately conuersant and talking with God hearkens vnto him inwardly speaking to him not daring once to looke vp with his eyes doth question and expostulate with him humbly prayes and sues to him preuailes and obtaines fauour of him to grant him his humble request and desires Young men that are so forward and bold to prouoke old men to anger and displeasure feele now and then that old men haue strong and forcible resistances sharp swords and words to to daune and dismay the stoutest of them As in our time it hath chanced to many great and meane persons who in regard of their age weakenesse of body being esteemed as dead men haue made young men to tremble and quake who earst purposed to plucke their skin ouer their eares before they had beene laide in their beds asleepe S. Ierome glanceth at these things and toucheth them by the way in his letters to S. Augustine I pray you saith hee doe not challenge and dare one that hath been an old beaten Souldier both by sea and land to single combate and to hand blowes with you who are but a young nouice and fresh-water Souldier remember Dares and Entellus in Virgil c. Cicero writeth that Agamemnon the chiefe Generall of the Grecian Army was wont to wish for tenne Nestors that is eloquent and wise counsellours and not for ten Aiaxes or stout Captaines and bold daring warriours Valerius Maximus in his eight booke chap. 1. maketh mention of certaine old men who being deepely strooken in yeares would not giue ouer to doe seruice for their Countrie and to the State and had good successe in their enterprises Among others hee nameth Marcus Valerius Coruinus who liued a hundred yeares and was sixe times Consul Also Metellus who being a very aged man was notwithstanding chosen chiefe Pontifex and worthily discharged the place Lastly Appius surnamed the blinde who in his decrepit old age caused his Litter to be made ready wherein he was carried to the Senate house where hee gaue his negatiue voyce and crossed the treatie of a dishonourable peace with Pyrrhus that it went not forward Some doe obiect that old age is to be feared because it bleares mens eyes or puts them out quite But will you reproach Appius that he was blinde who gaue eyes to his weake sighted countrey to see what was honourable and behoouefull for it I solemnely affirme that losse of sight is a discommodity which doth diuersly sometimes blast and smite young men from their cradle either thorough some defect in nature or by accident Some see best a farre off others neerer hand some cannot indure to looke vpon the Sunne others are so weake sighted that the light of the day doth offend their eyes some are borne starke blinde and some purblinde Howsoeuer this may bee yet old men are not without the comfort which blinde Asclepiades had who pleasantly said That hee had this benefit by his blindnesse that before he went all alone by himselfe but since hee was blinde hee went not abroad any whether but hee had the company of him that did lead him The solace and comfort of a wise old man who is become starke blinde or sees but very little is that hee hath no more the ill hap to see so many dissolute lasciuious arrogant impudent mad-braine-sicke and lewd persons with whom the earth is ouerspread Hee can make the same answere which a good Father made to Iulian the Apostata who to mocke and scoffe so much the more at Christians reproched and hit him in the teeth with his imperfection of sight I prayse God said the good Father that he hath giuen mee the grace not to see so wicked a man as thou art Let vs adde that which the good Anthony heretofore liuing a Hermites life not farre from AEgypt said to Didymus the blinde man of Alexandria a very pious and religious person and of singular learning as Sozomene reports in his third booke chap. 14. Thou oughtest not friend Didymus to hold it grieuous or molestfull to haue lost thy sight which myce lynxes and other brute beasts haue very piercing and quicke but rather to be glad and to iudge thy condition happie that thou hast eyes like the eyes of the holy Angells by whose helpe thou beholdest the Lord and doest perfectly see and discerne the causes of his workes But what auayles it to haue eyes in our head if our vnderstanding bee sensuall and brutish if it bee clouded with the darkenesse of ignorance Briefly if in question and discourse of good things wee be beetle-blinde and see no more then a mole How great cause haue we then to begge of the Lord with Dauid 119. Psalme To open our eyes that wee may be able to behold the wonderfull mysteries of heauenly knowledge The soule as Basil said in his first booke against Eunomius is glad and reioyceth which inquiring into things that bee diuine hath so good eye sight that shee can penetrate and pry into things that are not to bee perceiued by sense and can contemplatiuely behold the Lord with whom she shall dwell for euer Some find fault with and complaine of their memory the infirmitie whereof Seneca the Oratour in the first booke of his controuersies doth number among the principall hazards of old age and sayth it doth first faile and decay that in times past hee had a very
bee driuen out of it although misery doth assayle and afflict them on euery side CHAP. XII Of the benefit or good of old age WE doe now speake of some commodities of old age and doe parcell out the benefits and good thereof Wee speake heere of a well framed and well ordered old age and of that age which is from fiftie fiue yeeres or there abouts vntill threescores and tenne or fourescore yeares Touching those casuall miseries as childish humours and doting manners paulsies faintnesse feeblenesse and the like infirmities either of minde or body these art not heere to be considered for all old men doe not bring forth commendable fruits and effects of their liues being become sots leud and men altogether rude and ill nurtured And who would thinke to goe to gather grapes of thornes figges of thistles and to finde hony in a gall Ancient men had a Prouerb as Dauid reports 1. Sam. 24. 14. That wickednesse doth proceed from the wicked But we doe maintaine that there are vertues not common which are to bee found in old men who are vertuous wise and fearing God who only are worthy and none else as Basil saith of the worthy name of old men although they haue faint and languishing bodies and lye bedred Speaking then of good we doe consider diuers sorts of good There is a naturall good a politique a supernaturall and a good which is opposed to that which is vitious and bad vnpleasing painefull vnprofitable hurtfull Wee doe take vpon vs to make it appeare that these diuers species and sorts of good doe all meete in old men And first to speake of the naturall good What thing is there so agreeable to nature as ripenesse of iudgement Now this is found properly and altogether in old men For pregnant and forward wittes are of an extraordinary last and doe seldome last long Men of ripe age doe vndoubtedly perceiue the ouerboyling blood and passions of youth to waxe luke-warme and to freeze in them they feele ordinarily many salt rheumes and Catarrhes to consume and dry vp in them they are macerated and leane and they know their iudgement decayes It is a naturall good to dye old for a man to bee carefull of himselfe and his health which is sounder in old men then in young who for the most part regard not the good gouernment of their bodies and liues Concerning the ciuill or politique good it chiefely consisteth in honour which being the Magnificent and Maiesticall reward of vertue hath beene the cause that wise old men haue alwayes iudged that there was no good so commodious as this The Spartanes and many other people did honour very much the ancients and elders who in the common-weale of Israel were superintendents and had the charge of publique and State affaires committed to them And Saint Paul 1. Timoth. 5. 17. willeth That the elders that rule well bee esteemed worthy of double honour All constitutions and ordinances doe decree that old men command and yong men obey The Athenians obseruing an ancient decree of Solon did honour old age in such sort that the ancientest men of the citie had the prime voyce and spake first in all their common counsells and assemblies and they esteemed it very expedient for the good of their state to respect the counsell of old men Young Plinie in the eight booke of his Epistles writeth that there was an ancient constitution to this effect That young men should learn of old men not only how to behaue themselues in their speeches and words but also in their carriage and gesture of body The father was tutor to the sonne and if the father dyed the ancientest man of the place where he dyed or of some other place was to haue the tuition and wardship of his sonne The Apostle sath to Timothy his scholler Rebuke not an elder but exhort him as a father and the elder women as mothers Concerning the goods of the minde which are morall as prudence temperance continency and those which are supernaturall and infused as the true wisedome the sincere knowledge of God the zealous inuocation of his name the discussion of Theologicall controuersies the dexterity and skill of managing and ordering Church discipline there was neuer no doubt made but it is agreed vpon of all men that old men haue a larger measure of knowledge heerein and without comparison more vnderstanding to direct then young men Certainely young men who are of sober and discreet conuersation and manners and plentiously furnished qualified with graue counsells as Timothy the Euangelist was doe deserue very great commendation and applause 1. Timoth. 4. 12. But Saint Paul doth not mynce and dissemble the matter but that such greene heads are often time in trauell and whurried about with intemperate lusts and desires and further will not admit that the Pastour and Minister of the Church should be a young scholler or fresh-man least being puffed vp with pride hee fall into the condemnation of the Arch Calumniator the Diuell 1. Tim. 3. 6. Hee forbiddeth the young widdowes to meddle in things set a part for the seruice of the Church 1. Timoth. 5. 12. It is euident what opinion old men in times past had of young men Homer in his Vlisses declares that young men vsually are inconsiderate and heedlesse Aristotle writeth That they are not very capable of morall knowledge for lacke of iudgement and experience which they could not attaine vnto but by succession of time Cicero propoundeth this sentence That young men are rash and heady and old men are aduised and stayed Besides many others haue shot forth the like bolts and censures whereof this is the totall summe and substance I neuer saw wisedoms and youth both together dwell Nor him a good commander that did neuer obey well I will heereunto adde further this Stanza of verses of the same quill Suddenly to resolue and rashly to beleeue all Not to discerne and friends voyce from a flatterers call Young headed counsell and new seruants put in trust Haue oftentimes laid high estates in the dust It is recorded in Histories that many Common-weales hauing beene disturbed turned topsie turuie and brought to ruine by the bold forwardnesse and rashnesse of young Counsellours haue beene reestablished and at length reduced to a good forme of gouernment by the counsell of old men The kingdome in the house of Dauid in the time of Rehoboam the Common-weale of Athens many times and of Rome in the conspiracie of Catiline are a proofe heereof So then the fruits which old age doth yeeld and bring forth are manifold whereof some redound to the glory of God as old men haue more deuotion and religion then other men their prayers are more powerfull and frequent they doe more vsually and daily extoll and magnifie the grace fauour prouidence of God whereof they haue many testimonies and experiences in their owne persons There are other fruits which old age doth yeeld which doe serue to the benefit and
will that they should be short and miseerable which hee hath done to this end that we should with good Abraham hauing our fill full loade and backe burthen of dayes packe away and remoue from this life not as from a house of ease and delight but as from a base beggarly Inne making all the speed wee can to goe hence to enjoy that life which is free from all feare of death from sorrow errour and false dealing and is euerlasting O how blessed are they to whom God hath vouchsafed to reueale the way of life who by and through Iesus Christ haue obtained the fulnesse of ioy and those euerlasting pleasures which are in Gods right hand For although it be elsewhere promised that such persons being planted in the houshold and family of the Lord shall bring forth fruit aboundantly in their white old age shall bee in good case alwayes flourishing that their youth shall bee renewed as the Eagles yet is to be vnderstood rather of their spiritual vigour strength then of the strength of the body in which respect Lions Elephants Eagles doe farre surpasse vs. Whereupon the saying of the Prophet doth consent and agree that those which are the Lords followers and doe attend and wait vpon him doe renew their strength their wings doe spread and inlarge as the wings of an Eagle they runne and shal not be wearied they trauell and walke vp and downe and shall not bee tyred nor faint Isaiah 40. 31. The might and power of God doth so support and vphold them that they ouercome difficulties and hard vsage they can passe ouer and vndergoe all troubles whatsoeuer by the meanes of Iesus Christ who doth assist and strengthen them and doe at last happily end their dayes Neuerthelesse we grant and acknowledge that God doth sometimes set foorth vnto vs notable examples of hardy old men who for their strength of body and courage of minde may be wondred at Such a one was Moses of whom it is said Deut. 34. 7. that dying when hee was a hundred and twentie yeares old his sight was not dimme neither was his strength of body decayed Caleb also that valient chanpion and faithfull seruant of God who being fourescore and fiue yeares old said to Ioshua Chap. 14. I am as strong of body as I was when Moses sent mee for a Commander being more then fortie yeares since and I am as able to doe seruice in the warres and to march and trauerse my ground as I was then Saint Ierome writeth thus to Paul of Concorda Behold this is the hundred yeare compleate of thy life and yet thy sight is good thou marchest stoutly thou art quicke of hearing thy teeth are sound thou hast a shrill and eloquent voyce thy body is strong and lustly thy face ruddy and well coloured wherat thy white haires seeme to enuy and thy strength is such that thou art taken to bee younger then thou art thy blood which freezeth and is cooled doth not he betate and dull thy ready and quicke wit nor the wrinkles of thy forehead make thee looke strene and gastly We haue seen in our time many venerable old men there are to bee found many worthy Diuines that are threescore and tenne and fourescore yeares old whose age hath no whit diminished their strength of minde or sharpenesse of wit but that they are still to this day by their graue counsells godly communications and learned writings very helpefull to their Friends and doe good seruice to the Church to their Prince and Common weale and like Appius surnamed the blinde see more apparantly what is good and behoouefull for their countrey then those that sit neere the helme and gouernment of the State I affirme confidently of them that they are trees surely rooted and well grounded And that those verses of Virgill the Poet are wisely inuented where he saith The life of man at the best is as a vanishing dreame Old age doth furrow his forehead with sorrowes extreame And after many diseases and sore trauell without rest Death comes at last and lockes him vp in a chest Those that curiously search into the nature of things haue from time to time obserued that wee are no sooner borne but a certaine heat doth preserue our naturall and radicall moysture which at last especially in old age by extreame cold his contrary is cooled and quenched so as man hath not a iot of time left him to cherish his vitall powers or to maintaine the good temperature of his body wherein those of Pythagoras sect did hold life to consist But to conclude with experience and the saying of a wise man Although the Physitian vse as much art as he can to keepe vs aliue by purging our bodies of peccant humours and diseases yet at last he that is to day a King shall die to morrow Plato doth iudge That Common-weale miserable and not the best Where Physitians are sought to and are in request By whose account there is little regard to bee made of the chiefest townes and cities in Europe But let it be our dutie in all good manner to honour and adore the soueraigne Physitian who pardoneth all our iniquities the fountaines and causes of all our miseries and euills who healeth all our diseases who by the hope of a blessed resurrection doth secure our life from death who doth compasse vs with louing mercies and compassions Let vs pray vnto him to giue vs the true Aqua coelectis All those that haue their hope in him need not to complaine of the shortnesse or miseries of this present life seeing that such is the will of our Father in heauen that whosoeuer beleeueth in this soueraigne Physitian hath euerlasting life doth rise againe at the last day and aswell in body as in soule liueth and enioyeth eternall happinesse in the paradise of God CHAP. II. Of such persons as haue liued long namely the Patriarches before the flood IT is the saying of an ancient man that it is a thing indifferent and not against reason for a right good man to wish death or to desire to enjoy the life present in this world which to some is prolonged for their condemnation and to others as a speciall fauour of God so as wee bee alwayes ready according as it shall please God to yeeld vp our life or to keepe it still Life is to bee desired not so much for it selfe as for that we doe thereby attaine to the wisedome and knowledge of many and sundry things especially of things Diuine for the attainement whereof God who is Almightie and good bestowed vpon the first Patriarches the gift of long life The times before the vniuersall flood had herein a great priuiledge in regard of the off-springs and progeny of Seth. For though they were intangled and cumbred with many miseries as from the name Henoch is collected which signifies a man of misery and from the name of Noah whose father Lamech gaue him that name vpon the hope he
nayles into our owne wounds nor to add as we say fewell to the fire but rather let vs daily pray to our heaunly Father who being our sole Creator is likewise soly he who can reforme and regenerate vs that by the vertue and efficacie of his spirit hee may represse all our corrupt and inordinate affections in such sort that as children of God nor of Sathan or of Cain we may be cloathed with the new man created according to God may be couteous one towardes another mercifull mutually forgiuing one another all offences as our Lord hath graciously pardoned all our sinnes in Iesus Christ But it is not requisite to proceede further in the discourse of anger or choller the turpitude and deformitie whereof is sufficiently knowne to wise old men who haue read the excellent Treatises which haue beene aunciently written of it especially in the Bookes of Seneca and Plutarch Afterward in our tyme by Iohn de L'Espine in his graue Discourses of the contentment of the minde Whosoeuer will adde to these that which Turtullian and Cyprian Doctors of the Church haue written of patience can require to know nothing further of this subiect vnlesse he may bee pleased to adde that which S. Basile and S. Chrysostome haue written in diuers Homilies against anger and the great desire of reuenge which is to be lamented in all men and beyond all measure to bee abhorred of a wise old man As for many late writers which in Latine Italian Almaigne or any other Language besides the French haue written of choller or anger and of the helpes and remedies against it which they haue called out of Bookes of Diuinitie naturall Philosophie and Phisicke We need not now to make a Catalogue of them they making nothing to our principall intention in this Discourse There remaineth to speake something of diffidence and distrust the mother of impatience and almost of all other vices Our Lord correcteth this euill in those that are his whom he calleth sometimes men of little faith shewing the remedies for it to bee contained in the consideration of the gracious power of our God If any men be bound to such contemplation wise old men are who seeing themselues at their iourneies end and feeling their strength to faile ought to profit in faith and in the meditation of the prouidence and mercie of God It is that whereunto S. Paul seemes to haue regard when he willeth old men to sober discreete aduised sound in the faith in charitie and patience Tit. 2. 2. What is the cause of the frowardnesse and impatience in old men Euen this that they forget so many great fauours and benefits which God hath bestowed vpon them hauing mercifully drawne them from their mothers belly tenderly brought them vp protected them from infinite dangers so that they haue great cause to prayse God at all times as Dauid exhorteth them by his example in diuers Psalmes especially in the 34. 71. and 118. Psalmes which all young and old men ought to know by rote and by heart As also we recommend vnto them the seuen and thirtith Psalme which may be called the shield against impatience because we may finde therein that which is able to settle and assure a conscience wauering and perplexed with the scandalls and offence to see the eminent prosperitie of Atheists and prophane persons Put the case that the skie fall that the earth melt into the deepes and that the elements of fire and water be mingled together shall we suffer therefore melancholie fretting and impatience to deuoure vs when on the contrarie our Sauiour exhorts vs at that very time to lift vp our heads to heauen because our deliuerance drawes neere and is at hand Luke 21. 28. Is there any heauinesse or anguish which the promised comforter who is more mightie then all the world may not abolish and take away Prouided we leaue the matter to him and banish and cast of all distrust and impatience Then to what vse should so many promises of the sonne of God serue and what should that charitable and ardent prayer availe which he made a little before his death described in the 17. Chapter of S. Iohn But if wee will conserue and keepe our soules in peace and in true ioy let vs carefully keepe faith and a good conscience and let vs endeuour with S. Paul and after his example to hope that the resurrection of the dead as well of the iust as of the vniust shall come and to haue our conscience vnblameable towardes men Act. 26. 15. 16. Thus doing wee shall alwayes haue ioy in God Phillip 4. 4. The heart which is glad and reioyceth in the Lord is a perpetuall banquet Pro. 15. 15. So the vncleane and froward spirit the horror of sinne the sense and feeling of the wrath of God shall vanish and depart from vs and wee shall sing in triumph with the Apostle these excellent sayings If God be on our side who shall be against vs He which hath not spared his sonne but gaue him for vs all to death shall not he bountifully giue vnto vs also all things with him I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angells nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature is able to seperate vs from the loue which he hath manifested vnto vs in Iesus Christ our Lord Rom. 8. 30 c If sometimes we feele our faith to languish and droope and our soules to be heauy and pensiue let vs spurre and rouze vp our selues with the goad that Dauid vseth in the two and fortith Psalme 12. v. My soule why art thou cast downe and why art thou disquieted within me waite on God for I will yet giue him thankes hee is my present helpe and my God Let vs then discard and cast from vs the execrable suggestions of the flesh of Sathan and hearken to the counsell of the Sonne of God who doth dehort and diswade vs from the perplexed vnprofitable vaine and prophane cares of the world in the sixt chapter of Saint Matthew and doth encourage vs to all confidence and affiance and to an inuincible hope in him when hee saith You shall haue affliction in the world and peace with me but bee of good courage I haue ouer come the world Iohn 16. CHAP. XI Of the causes that old age is burthensome and tedious to many old man A Well framed minde reioyceth in prosperitie and is sensible of afflictions But the euill and mischiefe is that many men casting their eye awry vpon euils giue good things a shrewed vnhappie and wrong name speake sinisterly and ill of them or doe not iudge of them as they ought Whereupon it followes that old age is tedious and vnpleasing vnto them because they haue not learned wherof to reioyce and to complaine nor know not the felicities of old age what they are nor haue not saluted or congratulated them a farre off nor neere hand
afflictions wee are made the more fit for laudable actions And as Cicero sayth in his booke of Tusculane questions If at the exercise of wrastling the champions contemne bruises and hurts and their paines and tuggings in the presence of noble personages are easily borne set light by and not a whit blencht at why should we make any difficulty stoutly to thwarte and resist the dangers which in the wayes of vertue offer themselues What magnanimitie can be of more fame and note then that which is seene in the hazard of dangers and in bearing those euills which must be vndergone and cannot be auoided for so long as the heart keepes his hold vnmoued vndaunted not fainting not quayling all is well And this resolution is much more excellent then the possession of the treasures and goods of the world which a great minde commonly contemnes as things flitting transitory and vaine Againe by the testimony of Seneca vnintermitted and daily aduersitie and euill at least as we call it hath this good and commodity that those that are tempested vexed and exercised therewith are the more hardy to beare and endure But why should hee which knowes and takes himselfe to be a man and triumphes and glories to be called a man refuse to put vnder his shoulder and stoope to those ieopardies burthens and crosses which are incident and casuall to a man Moreouer the Heathens doe tell vs of other stayes and helpes to old age whereby to prolong it and make it more easefull as well in regard of the body as of the minde Cicero sayth We must make head and striue against old age carefully correct helpe and redresse her defaults and defects and neither more nor lesse resist it then wee would doe some disease Let vs haue then a care of our health let our bodily exercises be moderate let vs eat and drinke to restore and not to oppresse and ouerthrow that bodily strength which remaines Hee that is old cannot be young againe and death is ineuitable but it is possible to corroborate and strengthen old age by good gouernment and order of diet and to keepe the heart from fainting and dying on a suddaine Wise old men are taught and prescribed of learned and Christian Physicians reamedies outward and inward of good and sound health which they are carefull to obserue that so they might hold out and continue the longer to doe good in the sight of God to themselues and their neighbours For which cause as Cicero said besides the tendring and cherishing of their weake bodies which daily doe languish and pine away they are much more thoughtfull of their minde and intellectuall and memoratiue parts which by little and little decay if we doe not euen as a Lampe is with oyle maintaine and keepe them exercised Long trauell tyrings and toylefull labours make our bodies vnweldy sluggish and lither on the contrary continuall exercise and study doe recreate reuiue and cherish our mindes If old men be scoffed and mockt at in the Theaters and common assemblies as dolts mad fooles and dotardes it is onely meant of such as be credulous obliuious voluptuous and dissolute persons These are vices of young and old but not of all persons alike For the wise Vieillard hath alwayes his minde bent and intent vnto vertue All his desire is to keepe himselfe immaculate and pure before God well affectioned to his countrey carefull for the building of that spirituall temple which is called the Church gouerning and bringing vp his family in the loue of pietie righteousnesse holinesse verity shining by his graue counsells and sayings and by his worthy actions and deedes as a sun among men to the ioy of his friendes and well willers and to the astonishment at home and abroad of the enemies and enuiers of the splendour and eminency of those excellent gifts which the holy Ghost hath liberally communicated and conferred vnto him The wise Vieillard desirous to liue long in this estate for the good of many hath most noble and worthy thoughts and agreeing to his age though hee bee farre spent with yeares his heart is strong to doe wonderfull matters ere hee depart hence and yet the best of his life is in his inwardest part the soule But I know not what false opinion or wretched ignorance of the truth doth possesse vs that in stead of taking pleasure in our owne happinesses we cease not to torment vex our selues about euills which wee make much greater then they are so that almost ordinarily and without much thinking thereon wee voluntarily runne our selues headlong into voluntary carkings and fits and into continuall anxieties disquiets and troubles of minde making that part of our life extreamely miserable which should with glory crowne all that is past No whit remembring what wise Plato said That what things soeuer the outward senses desire or feare they are almost no other but stadowes and dreames CHAP. XIIII Assured consolations against all the infirmities of bodie and minde ALthough the Heathen Greeke and Latine Philosophers among others Plutarch and Seneca seeme to haue gloriously discoursed of all whatsoeuer concernes the tranquilitie and contentment of the minde thereby to make the troubles and discommodities of this present life more easily borne Yet must it be confessed as wee haue else where obserued vpon the foresaid Philosophers that their discourses are weake and insufficient yea altogether impertinent being compared to the doctrines of heauenly wisedome Notwithstanding let vs speake this word by the way touching the reading of such Authors who endeauour according to their poore skill to reclaime vs from vice wherein worldlings wallow and dabble ehemselues to their confusion to the end to settle and habituate vs in laudable thoughts and in noble exercises of vertue They are men guided by a darke light by which some glympses and glymmerings of truth are seene and appeare which doe not sufficiently direct and point out the way yet setue they to make knowne well enough to them that are wide and strangers to the true light that they are euery way miserable And such by schooles doe teach sober young and old men to redeeme the time and to make all hast to bee admitted betimes into the holy Academie there to bee fully resolued of the doubts and hard questions which humane wisedome cannot assoyle and discusse Ploto in his Philche is of the minde that the ancient Authors are to bee read which in his opinion are the neerer streames to the fountaine of truth and consequently the purer If this be so what shall we say of Moses Dauid Salomon the Prophets whose writing were before those of the Heathen with what eye of regard and how heedfully and accurately ought wee to read the holy Euangelistes and Apostles replenished and full of so many necessary and important doctrines for all sorts of persons Who dares contradict them but an Atheist and horrible monster condemned by the testimony of his conscience wherein hee beares the written doome and
to ouercome and stand against the slights and assaults of the Deuill and hauing ouercome all things stand fast Stand fast then hauing your loynes girded about with veritie hauing on the brest-plate of righteousnesse and your feete shod with the preparation of peace Aboue all laying hold on the shield of faith wherewith you may quench all the fierie darts of the wicked one Take also the helmet of saluation and the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God Praying alwayes with all manner of prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseuerance These are the words of the Apostle But because it is not enough to name and shew weapons to a man if he know not how rightly to vse and to handle them We are more particularly to enquire after and to discourse and set forth the practise of this military Art as much as the consolation which we purpose to propose to wise old men doth require Saint Ambrose in his commentary vpon the sixt Chapter to the Ephesians speakes well to the purpose that although the Apostle names many specialties and partes of Armour yet faith it is that makes vs keepe to our tackling and to stand fast and whereof principally we haue need in this spirituall combat In deed what auailes it to read much to heare many Sermons of the prouidence grace and mercy of God if faith be not added to his Word And what auailes it to beleeue this word to be true if you tremble not when it soundes lowder in your eares then vsually it hath done if you stedfastly settle not your ioy and assurance in the promises of saluation which it propoundeth vnto you if you doe not in humilitie revere and honour your heauenly Father if you dread not his wrath indignation more then ten thousand deathes if you bee not wholly resolued that God speakes to condemne you if you perseuere and goe on to prouoke him and to offer you grace if you amend your liues and beleeue in the Gospell To what purpose serue so many Sermons touching Iesus Christ his obedience his merit his miracles his loue to saue his elect And what are so many exhortations good for if this Sauiour dwell not in your hearts by faith if he doe not rule amend and reforme them if by his spirit of sanctification and adoption he seale them not vp in them if he doe not stampe and engraue his loue and truth in them The Apostle S. Iohn speaking of the speciall graces of God who is Almighty and good to his children wisely and necessarily ioynes these two together To wit that he hath giuen vs eternall life that this life is in his Sonne so that whosoeuer hath the Sonne consequently hath an assured guard of defence against death and all the temptations which goe before and precede it Afterward that God hath giuen vs knowledge and vnderstanding to the end we may know him and be certainely assured that hee herein is true in this Author of all good which is Christ The same Apostle doth vpon good right call this assurance our victorie that is our warlike furniture and armour wherewith we ouercome the world and throw downe to the ground all her strong holdes For this cause according to the example of the Apostles wee ought deuoutly to pray to God to giue vs faith and daily to increase it in our hearts What dastardes and cowardes were the Disciples of our Lord What a hard harsh diffused noyse was it and not to be endured to heare of their Maisters death before the vertue and efficacie of a liuely faith did actuate and enlarge it selfe in them Wee may see what the Euangelistes sayde of them Saint Matthewe Chapter 16. verse 23. Saint Luke 18. 34. Saint Iohn 16. 6. The eleauenth Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrewes contaynes a great number of worthie examples by which we may learne how great the efficacie and power of a true and liuely faith is in all manner of afflictions Wee reade the same in the auncient and moderne Historie of the Church where wee see a great number of men and women of diuerse and differing Ages of young boyes and girles that made proofe of an inuincible Faith as well in the fierie Furnace of persecutions as in the deepe dungeon and prison of all sortes of troubles and calamities and had the victorie and now are crowned with prayse and immortall glorie in the Pallace of GOD in his triumphant Church So wee must conclude with the Prophet in the Psalme 73. that God is good to Israell yea to all those which serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of their life although on the contrary the flesh the world and Sathan doe grumble gnash their teeth and snarle at it And in another place Psalme 66. the Prophet sayth O inhabitants of the earth blesse our God and sound aloud his prayse It is he that hath reestablished our soule in life and hath not suffered our feete to slip For thou O God hast prooued vs thou hast tryed and purified vs as siluer is tryed and purified As if he did say iustly thou mightest consume vs and thou art content to try vs cleansing vs from the filth of so many scandâ—lls and imputations wherewith we haue beene disgraced and diffamed Wee are fallen into the fire of afflictions which should burne and waste vs to nothing and are vp to the eares in the water of extreame anguish and agonie of bodie and minde where if we had our deserts we should be stifled and strangled but thou hast enlarged and set vs at ease The peace and holy libertie which we enioy by thy free gift is as a Mansion or dwelling in a large pleasant country to all those that desire to liue and without ceasing to prayse thee Behold how faith doth accommodate it selfe is willing and readie sweening and mitigating all the paines griefes and discommodities of this present life quenching also all the fierie dartes of Sathan especially despaire and distrust It is shee which hath the custodie and charge of all the Armour of God which shrowdes vs vnder the helmet of saluation with the strong shield of affiance hath the sword of the word of truth in her hand is well shod with the preparation of the Gospell of peace doth crosse and resist all impediments and letts and bestirres her selfe on euery side in the enemies campe If then as S. Cyprian sayth writing to those of Thibara men practise and learne to fence and to fight pell mell not sparing life nor lymme making great reckoning of a corruptible Crowne which is set vpon their heads in the presence of the Emperour how much more excellent and glorious is the combat whereof God is the Emperour and soueraigne and his Angels are not onely spectators but moderators and Iudges and propound to vs a Crowne of glorie Let vs then arme our selues sayth he with a simple and pure vnderstanding a sound and sincere faith and