afflictions haue not thy teares and bitternesse of thy sorrow otherwise mollified thine heart canst thou benefit thy selfe no whit by the remembrance of thy miseries past that thou mightest be humbled so as thy humilitie might entreat the iustice of God and conâ—ure his goodnes In the end I came to this and in reuoluing all these discourses in my brayne I began to rayse vp againe mine hope which the greatnesse of my sinne had vtterly benummed Het And thus I sayd within my selfe the Lord hath yet shewed me great fauour and grace in that he hath not vtterly cast me off but hath geuen me my voyce to call vpon him for mercy For a man shall at last finde alwayes pitie and compassion in him if so be he will patiently attend his good pleasure and leysure The Sunne neither riseth nor falleth but it seeth his mercy His goodnes spreddeth it selfe ouer all the earth neyther is there any corner thereof which beareth not his marke And furthermore I say that the Sunne shineth not but to be seene and to cause to see O Lord our God how great is thy goodnes how assured is thine ayd how certaine is thy word and how infallible thy promise As for my selfe I wil trust in none but in thee and if so be I may haue thy grace and fauour for my portion I care for none of the rest My soule is fully resolued hereof and do feele it say vnto my conscience that she putteth all her trust in thee and layeth vp her saluation in thy hands Thet. How can she do better For God neuer halted with them which put their trust in him for at one time or another either early or late he hath shewed them that his goodnes is infallible and that the hart which seeketh it findeth it farre or neere and that the soule which desireth it obtaineth in either soone or late We must therefore wayt for it patiently and not murmure if God come not vnto vs at the first call let vs hold our peace and let him do it and he will in the end do that which she shall see to be most for his glory most necessary for our saluation For great things are not brought to passe nor made perfect but with patience and long suffering And let vs not despaire if so be things fall not out as we would wish at the first chop For he doth nothing but for our good for as he is Almightie so is he also only good and as he is only good so is he also only wise and that which we thinke many times to be most against vs is most profitable for vs and the wholesomest medecines are commonly most bitter Beleeue me it is a good thing for a man a little to beare the yoke in his youth that is to say to haue afflictions which may somewhat bow and bend his neck and abate his pride Iod. Let a wise man therefore which feeth him selfe fallen into any great calamitie be quiet and say nothing but patiently beare his yoke and the more that his miserie encreaseth let him be the more couragious and yet neuerthelesse let him lift vp his eyes vnto heauen and cry God mercy and imagine thus with him selfe that it can not be but that he hath done amisse seeing that the hand of God doth so visit him Let him prostrate him selfe vpon the ground and clothe him selfe with sacke and cast ashes on his head to see if he can any way appease the wrath of God and although he hath no hope thereof yet let him quiet him selfe and let him patiently beare the iniuries that are done him offer his cheeke to him that will strike him and satisfie him selfe as well with reproch as another man would fill him selfe with bread Coph And why so forsooth because he right well knoweth that God will in the end appease his wrath and that after that men shall haue driuen him to the ground that God will take him vp in his lap and although he let him alone for once yet will he in the end haue compassion vpon him according to the greatnes and multitude of his mercies For God taketh no pleasure in seeing men afflicted and it is much against his heart to torment them yea euen when his iustice enforceth and strayneth him thereto And he doth it for the benefit of men because he feareth that his ouer-great indulgence will cast them downe so headlong into sinne as that they shall neuer be able to recouer them selues any more For he correcteth them as a good father doth who in chastising his sonne weepeth with griefe that he driueth him thereunto not meaning thereby to do him any hurt but rather good Lamed It is not beleeue me the purpose of God to tread men vnder his feet and to triumph ouer them in their afflictions much lesse to hold them fast bound and posternd as the trophees of his power Neither is it his meaning to throw them into miserie pouertie and there to leaue them for he knoweth best what they haue need of and iudgeth aright what is most profitable for them He is nothing like vnto those wicked Iudges which take pleasure in nothing but in cuffing and boxing of men and to haue occasion to hang and torture them vpon the wheele He neuer beholdeth our sinnes but with sorrow of heart neither hateth he any thing so much as to punish And so all the calamities which he layeth vpon vs are but as threatning words to aduertise vs to runne vnto his grace before he enter into iudgement with vs to the end that wheÌ„ he would coÌ„demne vs we might plead the pardon and remission of our sins which he shall haue graunted vs. Mem. It may be ye will say vnto me â—hat is it then that so tormeÌ„teth men seeing ye say that it commeth not froÌ„ God who is altogether good and that iâ— is not hee which commandeth it Commeth not both good and ill from the most high Doth not he distribute the same vnto vs in such manner and measure as pleaseth him selfe O wretched poore man why murmurest thou against God Is it not enough that he hath geuen thee life and that without him thou shouldest be nothing Thou wilt contest against him euen thou a creature against thy creator thou a vile sinner against him that is altogether iust thou that art altogether weake against him that is Almightie Nun. Our miseries come not from God but from our selues let vs examine our liues and lay open our actions and if we search well we shall finde the cause of them to proceede from our selues For the roote of them is in our owne hearts which being infected corrupt and marre what so euer commeth out of them Let vs therefore cut off sinne by the stumps let vs teare and pull in pieces the hart strings of iniquitie and in stead of this concupiscence which buddeth and bringeth forth naught else but sinne and damnation replant therein the liuely and pure loue of
which is the cause of the dimming of thy sight vnto the other go thou and drie vp the catarre which is the occasion of thy deafenesse and then thou that art blindish shalt see our excellent paintings and thou that art deaffish shalt heare our delicate and pleasant songs For as the pleasure of the sences cannot be well tasted nor relished but by such as haue whole and sound bodies no more can the contentation and delight of the minde wherein resteth our chiefe felicitie be perceiued by any but by such as haue cleansed their soules of all sinfull and corrupt lusts which as filthie botches and blaines extinguish the vitall spirits in that part of the body wherein they are engendred Heere then you see what you must do if you determine to make your selues capable to taste of the fruits of this euerlasting happinesse I right well know that ye are so brought vp euen from your youth in the pleasures of your sences and make so much of them as that you are afeard yee shall lose them without I leaue this as a pawne vnto you which will bring vnto you farre more infinite greater pleasure and wherewith I will feast you and quickly shew it you But who is able to make men that are no better then dust and ashes to see the estate and disposition of a pure and innocent soule whose action is perfectly blessed and altogether heauenly wherin consisteth this most excellent contentation In very deed you presse me too too sore and craue at my hands more then I am able to do But because I am loth to discourage you and make you mal-content I wil do for you whatsoeuer I am able And I will deale with you as the carriers about of monsters do For they set vp their pictures at the corners of the streets and hang out the portraitures of them at their owne lodgings and when the people haue paid their money at the comming in of the gate then they shew them their naturall and liuely bodies Now the sight which I inuite you to see is this VVisedome which we may rightly say to be the very truth and knowledge of all things but especially of heauenly things which is full of vnspeakeable cleerenesse brightnesse and splendure and which also if we might behold face to face and in her naturall excellencie would rauish vs with her loue and cause vs hate these base and earthly things with the loue of which we are so farre sotted euen to our very destruction I will heere hang vp as it were vpon the beaten high waies pictures and images so that if ye be disposed to go right on to the gate yee shall see both the image and the embosting of them which is without all doubt most maruellous and when you haue paid your custome and passed the borders and limits of this life you shal see that which no tongue is able to vtter nor eare able to heare But to make you acknowledge at length what this is and plainly to prick out vnto you some draughts hereof I beseech you consider euen of the things which you so wonder at heere in this world and so greedely and egerly labour for and hunt after and you shall finde that if you go onely step by step on them and follow still your way that they will at last bring you vnto the knowledge of that which you at this day desire But because that in stead of going on them you settle your selues and sit fast down vpon them you your selues become most vile and filthie by them Now let vs see a little why you thus satisfie your sences and from whence this pleasure and tickling delight springeth wherein you establish the seat of your worldly felicitie Commeth this from the obiect of naturall things that are growne vnto perfection Are these the well mingled sorted and setled colours and the exactly obserued proportions and dimensions which thus please the eyes What other thing admire you in a medow ennameled with a thousand goodly and odoriferous floures and so richly in diuerse places with sundrie colours bedecked What other thing admire you in the stately buildings of kings in their Bracelets Chaines and other Iewels and in the Tables of most excellent Pictures but onely this curious obseruation Yea what other estimation make you of the most faire sweete faces of women with whom yee effeminately burne in loue but an equall proportion and exact diligence of nature in the conformitie and assemblie of many things differing one from another What other thing is the sweetnesse of one especiall voice of a man or the melodie of many together in consort but a iust and orderly continuation of them all together or suddaine motion of many voices according to a naturall rule and proportion of the same And what other thing is the most pleasant and sweete sauour that a man can possiblie smell but a certaine temperature both of heate and moisture and a certaine qualitie imprinted in a bodie by the suddaine motion of one or many causes Neither is any thing sweet and pleasant in the most delicate meates and sauoures but a certaine measure of well mixed licoures Neither doth the touching of them bring or yeeld any other pleasure but a certaine equalitie and length which we finde in naturall bodies Now marke then all the pleasures which your sences can possibly receiue yee consume the whole time of your life onely about thē for for them alone ye wearie your bodies with continuall toiling moiling and for them alone yee striue against the winds and crosse the seas If then yee finde that all these particular things do possesse your minds by a certaine vaine shew of beauty and excellencie what will yee then say when as yee shall consider of them all at once and at one view euen from their first beginning vnto the highest degree of their perfection Shall yee not see the selfe and the same difference betweene them that is betweene one stone alone and an whole proude and costlie Pallace and betweene one voice and a complet and full noise of musick and betweene one finger and the whole bodie What matter can you make of all these particular things especially of these earthly things when as in lifting vp your eyes towards the Sunne and Starres yee behold the world from the highest part of heauen to the lowest part of the earth euen from the beginning of the same vnto the end thereof and consider how many wonderfull things are depainted and set foorth on euery side If so be then we haue done it to feed and satisfie our sences onely with the communicating of these beautifull and excellēt things it must needs be that we haue done it at the least by reason of the whole workmanship and frame of the same the elegancie whereof consisteth in the accordance and assembly of all the other particular beauties ornaments thereof But our soule which lancheth and stretcheth forth her desires and wishes farre
aboue the reach of our sences without we will violently captiuate choake and strangle her hath no desire to stay heere For she findeth nothing heere which can any way retaine or yet containe her But she is more honourable then so for she embraceth heauen and earth compasseth all the whole world pierceth the bottomlesse depths knoweth all things and bestirreth and manageth her selfe and is so glorious as that if we conserue her in her naturall excellencie all the rest of the things of the world in respect of her will seeme to be most filthie and ouglie After she hath beheld her selfe and exercised her selfe about the searching out of causes and sciences finding nothing in all this no not any thing in her selfe that liketh her selfe and resting her selfe in a desire which she hath to learne she is enforced to lift vp her selfe farre aboue the world yea and farre aboue her selfe and suffereth her selfe to be guided by the workes of the worke-maister And there she seeth all at once all sorts of beauties and perfections abutting and assembling themselues euen from their very first originall and by so much the more they appeare most excellent and wonderfull by how much the nearer they come from thence from whence they first came Altogether like vnto the Sunne beames which the nearer they are the bodie from whence they shoote and spred themselues the greater the purer and the brighter they do appeare I vse especially in this behalfe this comparison because that of all things which we know heere below nothing more proportionably agreeeth with our soule then our sight which is the most noble liuely quickest action of all our sences nor nothing more proportionable vnto God then the light which is the most pure and most excellent thing in the world And the ancient wise men haue said That the light was Gods bodie and the truth his soule representing shewing and giuing vs a taste as it were heereby of one of the greatest secrets of the Godhead We must therefore open and vnseele the eyes of our minde that we may pearse into this heauenly light euen vnto the depth of the euerlasting truth If we will neuer so little helpe our selues and lift vp our soule that she may ascend by those steppes which offer themselues vnto her and hoise vp her saile on hie what delight and pleasure might she not hope for but wish not wish for but say not say but thinke which we enioy not in full measure yea such pleasure as that we should feele encrease and redouble in vs vntill the time that being ascended vnto the feast we should be ioined vnto that first and most high light So as we then being compassed with brightnesse and rauished with the sight of this wonderfull beautie should feele the pleasure most infinitly to be encreased be filled with incōparable ioy to make vs generally scorne these fleeting perishing delights al these fading chāgeable sweet pleasures which occupie our minds here belowe and none otherwise to be desired then as a small sparke of beautie spred ouer vs like a scarfe Then shall we enter into the shop where all these rare and strange workes were cast in a mould where we shall not onely see the patternes of them and not onely handle the tooles and instruments but shall also see and familiarly know the very workemaster of them who will not onely shew vnto vs his workemanship nor descifer only vnto vs his purposes but will also teach vs his arte and science and make vs all perfect and godly according to him selfe There shall we see the beames of this Deity spread all ouer and reunite it selfe vnto this body of light whereunto when we shall see our selues conioyned in thought we shall then perceiue at once all the causes and effects of the eternall wisedome which particularly and separably may seeme to be able to be furnished with matter to our great contentment Here then we see wherein consisteth our felicitie that is to say in this vndriable spring-head of beauties in this deepe sea of all bounties whereinto all the riuers streames of the world must run That is to say into this original light vnto whom we must turne our selues and vpon whome we must fast fixe and set the eyes of our soules if so be we loue the eternall blessednesse Alas how excellent was this last sigh of the Philosopher Plotin who hauing now his soule geuing vp her selfe betweene his lips called his schollers vnto him giuing them this farewell My good friends God graunt you to liue both now and hereafter in blisse for euer and alwayes turne that godlinesse that is in you vnto that auncient principall Deitie O noble speech and worthie the closing vp of the mouth and life of a Philosopher But what shall we do for the returning of our selues vnto God and to approch reunite and become one with him Shall we present our selues vnto his maiestie in that estate wherein we commonly stand No surely for if we before such time as we lift vp the eyes of our soules towards this cleere and bright burning light do not wipe and cleanse our selues we shall in stead of enioying this glorious and pure light haue that little sight that we haue vtterly put out For as in the lawe of the Iewes the woman that offred her selfe vnto the triall of the ielousie offering receiued no hurt by the bitter cursed water if she were chast and sound but was quit and free frō all blame suspicion and contrariwise if she had broken her mariage promise faith remained infected and so rotted and burst in sunder euen so also those mē who as the members of the Church of God haue maried his only Sonne if they offer themselues poluted and defiled to touch the holy fier of his holy spirit are rather blinded then enlightened yea rather consumed then warmed And this is the reason why God when as he hauing compassion of our ruine fall is willing for our saluation to disclose vnto the world this light of wisedom he sendeth his herault before to wash make cleane the soules of all such as he would haue behold the brightnes of his glory We heare euery where the soūd of the holy voice of this Prophet crying Make straight plain◠the wayes of the liuing God repent and bring forth the fruites worthy of repentance for he will come with his fanne in his hand to winnow the Corne from the Chaffe lay vp the Corne by it selfe and cast the Chaffe into euerlasting fier Seeing then that we desire this great felicitie and that before we present ourselues vnto him we must cleanse our harts and minds and make them capable to conceiue of heauenly things let vs see what remedies we haue for that purpose Howbeit let vs somewhat a little before consider how and in what sort we haue so defiled our selues that we might thereby the more easily finde out the meetest meanes to
end to commaund the sinnewes to moue or not to moue Let him then if he will lay open his stomacke and see how his life is mainteined how the meates sent downe into the stomacke are transformed by a secret and incomprehensible power how by laboring and stirring in the stomack they runne into the paunch how the good iuice floweth through the small vaines into the liuer which is the shop of the bloud how the liuer dischargeth her superfluities into the gall splene and kidneys how it distributeth the bloud into the veynes and how it is sent into the heart to be there made thin and subtilized euen vnto the confection of the vitall spirites If he behold the moouing and breathing of the lights which refresheth and moderateth the heat of the heart if he see the artificiall turnings and wreathings of the guts let him not thinke the same to be fallen out of the clouds neither yet that he seeth any other thing within then he seeth without Howbeit when as he shall come to consider of the head which is the treasure of the sences and seat of reason let him dreame amongst other things what an especiall worke the eye is and with how many filmes and thin skinnes this lightsome spirit is garnished and defended which in very truth is the pleasure of the life he shall remaine as it were astonished and amazed but yet not so much as when he commeth to pierce the braine where he shall perceiue the manner whereon the portracture and images of things are borne by the sences as faithfull messengers and interpreters to be receiued and exercised therein by the common sence and afterward to be ordered and placed within the custodie of the celles of the memorie But the thing that most astonisheth vs is this when as we desire to vnderstand what our soule is which manageth gouerneth all this whole workemanship what a power it is of that thus strangely moueth and worketh which awaketh when we sleepe comprehendeth so easily and things reacheth into the deepest matters and by discourse findeth out the cause and reason of the most secret things And we see and feele these effects in our selues and yet we can neither see nor yet conceiue them Certainly when we in the contemplation of these things are lifted vp by faith we feele our selues forthwith led vnto the author of these workes And to say truly when as we see so many maruelous things dispersed throughout the whole face of the earth for what other purpose serue they but to be as a booke left wide open for vs to read out thereof the greatnesse and almightie power of God who is heereby so gloriously expressed The onely beholding whereof is able to stay our sences and spirits and furnish them with an aboundant and sufficient contentment whereon hangeth our felicitie This is it whereon we should studie day and night and not content our selues with the bare looking of the couer onely but diligently to way the periodes yea euen to pluck out the sillabes and meanest points which containe excellent and holy secrets And this was a very good answer in my opinion which the good Heremite S. Anthonie as Socrates writeth made vnto a Philosopher who asked him how he could possiblie dwell in a solitarie place without hauing of bookes about him Surely quoth he I lacke no bookes for the world is my booke and my studie is the contemplation of nature wherein I reade day and night of the glory of my God howbeit I can neuer attaine to the end thereof O happie life voide of such a number of boiling sorrowes and greefes which vndermine and consume our yeares gladding and reioycing in this gratious rest and hauing good leaue to thrust our hands vp to the elbowes into the treasures of the Deitie which feedest the desires of the soule with the knowledge of immortalitie and swondest and diest within the burning flames of eternall wisdome These are the delights and these are the alluring baites which kept Acepsenas a recluse within his cell in the wildernesse full threescore years These are the allurements which stayed that Simeon all his life long vpon the top of a piller What a merueilous desire thinke you had those men who being lifted vp aboue the earth did swim in the ayre communicated with the Angels and beautified themselues before they dyed Without doubt our bloud is wonderfully congealed and grosse about our heaâ—t and we very dull and as it were in a swound if we admire not their blessednesse neither haue we compassion of our owne miseries our spirits are mightely mortified if so be we comprehend not that in this life in this contemplation and in the knowledge of this eternal verity our consolation contentation felicitie lâ—eth consisteth and resteth Now God who loueth vs as his children meaneth not to leaue vs vnto the darknesse of this world and to make vs seeke after gropingly as it were amongst his workes for this his truth But hauing left his spirit with vs he hath also left vnto vs his worde as an interpretor of his will wherein we shall be sure to finde sure and faithfull directions to bring vs vnto this veritie and easily vnderstand his maruelous workes This is that voice which is called the burning worde this is that word which is called the light which as Eusebius saith is like vnto fier because it doth not only heate lighten and make ripe but also melteth softeneth and hardeneth And therefore we should follow those good Egiptian fathers whose liues Philo describeth who loosing their eyes to looke farre aboue the workes of God cast them forthwith into the reading of the Prophets and of the holy books as vpon the commentarie and interpretor of their meditations And these are they that haue most profoundly entred into the diuine wisedome and who for that occasion are in the scriptures called Seers for they are they by whom we haue had the mysteries of eternitie reuealed and not by any humaine industrie but by the inspiration of the spirit of God haue communicated vnto vs the miracles of heauen and opened the entrie into wisdome with the which when as our soule is mixed and from thence hath receiued her forme and perfection she must then bring forth her fruite according as the same Philo hath taught vs That that is the propertie of euery perfect thing The fruite of a meditating soule or rather the infant thereof if we will speake as Eusebius doth is praier which being conceiued in the inward part of our thought discloseth it selfe betwixt our lips euen as the child is conceiued in the mothers wombe For the knowledge of God the effectuall feeling of his goodnesse which are imprinted in vs by an holy cogitation engendreth also in vs this motion of courage which Mercurie the great calleth The inward word which being well fashioned within and aided by the spirit the body thrusteth out it selfe and vttereth this outward word which we call praier
obserued in good order so as in the xxiiij houres of the day and night we must bestow this one houre about our body and all the rest of the time must be spent in spirituall exercises We must make but short sleepes that we may wake quickly and our sleepe must be after the manner of our life which is oftentimes interrupted by great and earnest cogitations For to be tyed to a deepe sleepe as if all our members were benummed and by such rest to geue place vnto dreames and foolish imaginations is to dye alwayes Their morning which make a deuout profession is midnight for then do they take their time to prayse God because that when as the rest of the night turneth away their hearts from whatsoeuer might occupie their eyes eares it keepeth their thoughts fixed on God geueth them the means to amend their consciences by recording of their sinnes and to set barres vnto their soules to keepe them from euill and to implore the goodnes of God that it might worke together in them this perfection of life which they hope to aspire and come vnto AN EXHORTATION of a ciuile life vnto Monsieur de L. I Am very glad that there is some-thing passed my hand which liketh you And I neuer thinke my watchings better bestowed then when as they content such as with their friendship honor me and vnto whome I haue vowed my seruice as I haue done to you Howbeit if the Epistle of Saint Basile which I haue put forth into French haue done you any pleasure it is not to me that you should shew the fauour not vnto me I say who haue rather empared then amended the worke of so great a Clarke in making it to change the toong and to speake out french language Truly amongst all the Fathers of the Grecians there is not one amongst them all that I better like of then I like of him Euery man hath his liking and I will leaue other men to the commending of that which they best like of but as for mine owne part I will rather vse this man which pleaseth me for this is the man that I chiefeliest make accoumpt of Neuerthelesse there is one thing in your letter which you wrote vnto me that misliketh me and that is this You write that the often reading of this Epistle which you say you read ouer as it were euery day hath brought you into a desier to get you into some Monasterie and there to passe the rest of your dayes that you might turne away your eyes from beholding the great miseries which this miserable ciuill warre hath hatched and brought foorth and wholy conuert your mind and thoughts vnto the honor and seruice of God This purpose of yours I must needs confesse proceedeth from a most godly hart and a very good forecasting meane to bring vnto you in your owne particular cause some quietnes of mind and peace of conscience which I suppose to be one of the greatest benefits which wee can any way locke for But it would sore grieue me to be bereaued of so sweete and deere companie and so great hurt vnto the common weale You should beleeue me in my poore opinion doo maruellous wrong both vnto your countrey and to your friends and euery man is to seeke his owne benefit but yet so as that it be not to the hurt of another For wee are not borne heere in this world for our selues and besides we are but the lesser part of the whole and therefore binde and tye your selfe vnto the great and principall parts thereof with most straight bonds which allow vs not to withdrawe our selues in this dangerous season without violating and breaking both the bonds of charitie and also of godlynesse And yet for all this I would not haue you thinke that I will gaynesay or yet diminish the commendation which Saint Basile and so many auncient Fathers and my selfe with them haue geuen vnto solitarie life for I greatly commend it yea and I loue it it may be too well But I wish you did loue it as they doo and vppon the selfe-same considerations and not for any discouragement the rather to auoyde the thwart and tedious dealings of a ciuile life then for to followe the pleasure that is in contemplation Followe if you please the examples of the auncient Fathers but followe them with that wisedome and moderation which they doo Beleeue mee if you will it is now no time for their example of life to call such men as you are vnto solitarie life For monasticall life came not in in a troublesome time ne yet for such men as whose wisedome and fidelitie was necessarie vnto the gouernment of the weale publicke Neyther doo wee see that in the fyrst beginning of the Christian Church although it was euerie manner of way and with all sorts of troubles and afflictions tossed and turmoyled that the Fathers withdrewe themselues into the deserts and solitarie places there to serue God quietlie But their liues beeing full of actions and those publicke also hindered them to establish the Churches to discipline the people to conserue the peace and vnion of cities and prouinces and to serue for examples of modestie and temperance vnto the whole world But when as the Christians had full libertie and assurance and that the Emperours and chiefe Gouernors had embraced the Religion and kept the same vnder the couert of their armes and power and fauored such as made profession therof the peace then of it being established and the common weale being able as it were to be maintained of it selfe vpon the good and sure foundations which so many wise and holie personages had before layd it was permitted vnto great learned men to enioy the sweetnesse of solitarie life But of what age were they when they thus did Forsooth it was euen then when they had spent the strength of their yong yeares in the gouernment of the ciuile life and in worldly affaires amongst men And about this age and after this manner did Saint Basile and Saint Ierome withdrawe them selues And yet notwithstanding when as the necessitie of the common state required their ayd some of them were called away and enforced to enter againe into their former charge for the good of the common weale And othersome of them remained all their liues long in solitary life and it was by reason they were not tâ—…ght competent and necessary meâ— about those affayres which then were eminent And to say truly what man is able to abide to see during the tempest when as the billowes rowle most hye the sea fometh most furiously the winds blow most outragiously the most expert pylots leaue the helme vnto passengers to fall to their sleepe For so long as it is calme euery man may guide the stâ—rne for then skill is to small purpose and ignorance doth no great hurt But so long as the storme continueth the direction and wisedome of him that gouerneth is seene vppon whose direction and
the sea do But alasse the sea hath sometimes calme winds and thou ô Syon hast in thine affliction nothing but stormes and tempests the sea hath ports and hauens to come into and thou billowest continually in trauell and payne O poore Ierusalem who shall then be able to saue thee seeing thy misery is greater then either heauen or earth from whence then shalt thou finde remedy Nun. Shall thy Prophets do it which haue so long troubled thine head which haue deliuered vnto thee their dreames and old wiues tales and entertayned thee with vanities and leasings whereas they should haue boldly told thee of thy sinnes and so thereby haue called thee backe vnto repentance But they imagined and thought vpon Anticks and being sotted and in loue with their owne shadowe◠presumptuous opiniōs vndid them selues in all their discourses and enterprises Samech Behold in what a case thou now standest ô poore desolate Syon for thou receyuest herein both losse and shame together for now all they that go by clap their hands and shake their heads at thee saying Is this that so braue and honorable Citie that was so full of all magnificence and more full of all delights and pleasures then all the Cities of the earth beside Phe. There is not one that passeth by thee which hath not a cast at thee to bite and sting thee and who will not after their groining manner thus say we wil now haue it we wil deuoure it and nothing shall keepe vs from it this is the day which we haue so long looked for and now is the houre which we haue dayly hoped after Ain Behold Ierusalem the reason why God preserued thee so long is because thou wert worthie of it Thou thoughtest that his threats had bene vayne and friuolous and now thou seest whether he be a lyer or not and whether he be able to performe that which he promiseth yea or no. For he foretold thee that if thou obeyedst not his lawe that he would destroy thee make thee an heape of stones and see now if he hath mist it Yea he hath ruined thee without remission and made thee a scorne vnto thine enemies and geuen them all power and authoritie ouer thee Sade But God in the end began to waxe weary of their insolency because they carryed thē selues too too proudly of their conquest for after they had troden vnder feet the greatnes of Ierusalem they meant againe to deale with his maiestie and blaspheme his name and hauing ouerthrowne the walles of this holy Citie they bragged that they would make warre against God him selfe and triumph ouer the spoyles of his Temple Let their example ô Ierusalem serue thy turne and take occasion to appease God by thy repentance that he may turne the punishment which he hath prepared for thee vpon thine enemies Let thine eyes forthwith burst into bloudy teares and weepe continually day and night geue no rest to thy sighes let thy pitifull eyes speake for thee and looking vp still vnto heauen attend thou thine ayde from thence Coniure by thine humble lookes this diuine mercy that it may ease thy weakenes and conuert his iustice vnto the chastising of the insolency of thine enemies Coph Lift vp lift vp I say both thy body and soule all at once and before it be day so soone as thou shalt awake put thy selfe in a readinesse to pray vnto God to prayse and thanke him for that he by the torments which he hath caused vs to abide hath brought thee back into the right way as men do oxen with the goade vnto the knowledge of his name and the acknowledging of thine iniquities And before his face that is to say when thou hast obtayned fauour at his hand to looke vpon thee and seest him to haue compassion on thee distill thine heart through thine eyes and melt it all into teares by thine earnest repentance euen as the Sunne would melt the snow newly fallen into water But if so be that thy teares will not touch him and bring him to haue compassion of thy miserie lift vp thy hands yet at the least vnto him and beseech him to be contented with thy miseries and not extend them vnto thy poore innocent childrē who are there dispersed dying of hunger and weakenesse in corners saying vnto him Resch O Lord if thou haue any eyes behold this pitifull spectacle and if thou haue any cares harken vnto our prayers and consider how great our miserie is Behold how thou hast bene auenged of vs and see what a spoyle thou hast made of vs. And in very deed I must needs confesse that we haue deserued it and I do protest that we are vnworthie of thy mercy and do also vow that we our selues are the causes of our owne miserie But what haue these poore and wayling children done whom thou seest screaking out them selues faintly drawing their breath Why should the child whom hunger torment had drawne out before the time of the mothers womb was ready to deliuer it which is not as it were so great as a mans hand be rent in pieces by her which should bring it forth and so be eaten by her and the same to go downe by peece-meale into the body out of which it came whole and sound Surely happy and twise happy are the Tygres and Lyons whelps in comparison of these whose dammes will aduenture their own liues against whatsoeuer violence shall be offred their yong ones rather then they would suffer them to take any hurt at all O Lord how canst thou abide this horrible dealing Is it possible that thou which art altogether good gratious wouldest abide such great impietie to be wrought that thou which art so wise wouldest allow of such a cruell acte and that thou which art Almightie wouldest suffer such a strange outrage Shew thy selfe ô Lord shew thy selfe as thou art and although for a time thou art determined to exercise thy seueritie and iustice yet thinke vpon this also that thy mercy must reigne haue her course Content thy selfe that so much bloud is spilt for the appeasing of thine heauie wrath Thou hast not bene pleased with the bloud of our sheepe and oxen alone but wilt needs also haue thine Aulters couered with the bloud of thine owne Priests for they haue sacrificed their owen liues and thy Prophets likewise haue bene offred vp in oblation and yet thou art no whit appeased Syn. What more wouldest thou haue at out hands Thou hast seene abroad in the fields the gray haired and decreped old men and women lye vpon the ground crying out groaning and weeping thou hast seene lying within our walles the slaughter of our youths our streetes strawed all ouer with legs and armes our riuers running ouer with bloud and neyther sexe or yet age spared Thou hast seene amongst the dead the yong and tender maydens with their haires sheueled about their heads hauing their breasts lying open with great wounds out of which gushed