an ineuitable mischiefe I had none other recourse but vnto mine eyes My teares haue trickled downe aboundantly and haue bitterly bewayled my mishap and the misery of my fellow citizens and of thee my best beloued Ierusalem Ain And as our miseries neuer ceased no more also did mine eyes so as a man would haue verely sayd that through affliction mine heart was in the presse to squeeze teares out of it as men squeeze water out of a spunge Thus did I leade my life continually vntill such time as I had enforced thee ô Lord to haue pitie on me and had with my teares quenched the heat of thine anger What other thing should I haue done when as I sawe before mine eyes so many Cities destroyed so many houses burnt so many Templs cast downe so many men slayne and so many mayds forced and defloured And surely I had had a very steely hart if I could haue held my self from weeping and although it had bene of steele yet had my dolor bene strong and able inough to haue molten it into weeping Sade Ha what a thing is this they draue vs before them as men driue cattle We fled from our enemies and yet they pursued vs we yelded our selues vnto them and yet they massacred vs and all this they did not geuing them any occasion of offence They led me into the bottome of the arse of a ditch and tyed a stone about my necke as they do about a dogs necke when they meane to drowne him And verely I had like to haue bene drowned for mine afflictions had aboundantly runne ouer the very crowne of mine head and had almost choked me and all the help that I had was to cry out and say O Lord I dye haue mercy vpon me Coph I was as it were in a bottomlesse depth in the hole of a prison I knew not but by my memorie whether there had bene eyther Stye or Sunne in the world so monstrous darke was the place wherein I was And yet ceased I not to call vpon thee my Lord my God and sent vp my faith whither my senses could by no meanes reach And thou neuer reiectedst me but receiuedst my prayer for my sobs in the end moued thee and made thee turne againe vnto thy first resolution I felt thee forthwith to assist and help me yea euen at the very first instant I say that I began to pray vnto thee And still me thought I heard thee say vnto my soule be of good courage feare not Resch And so ô Lord thou canst tell that as great a sinner as I am that thou wilt help and succour me euen for thy Christ his sake and for thy mercy promise and truth sake For thou that vnderstandest the very bottoms of our harts canst truly iudge that my soule hath bene carryed away vnto sinne by her senses and concupiscence but as soone as she felt thy rods she conuerted vnto thee her creator and redeemer from whom alone as she hath had life so also aduoweth she the restauration thereof after sinne For the question ô Lord is of the iudging betweene mine enemies and me whether it be reasonable that my misery should serue them for a sport or whether it be hye time that they should beare part of the punishmēt Iudge it ô Lord thou that knowest the righteousnes of my cause For thou knowest their thoughts their cruell purposes the plagues which they haue prepared for me I haue mine health by reason of their inhabilitie for if they had as great power as they haue will I had abidden as much as they had bene able to haue layd vpon me Syn. Thou hast sufficiently seene ô Lord that they haue dealt with me as farre as they might and thou knowest also that there is no iniury which they haue not committed and spoken against me And I do be short thou hast very well knowne their counsels and thoughts And I do verely thinke that there was neuer word came out of their lips wherwith they purposed not to hurt me and beleeue me their minds were neuer vnoccupied in finding out some cunning deuise or other to hurt me And cōsider I beseech thee whether euer they arose or lay downe that their talke was not on me neyther had they euer any other matter to sing on but to speake euil of me Tau Go to then ô Lord seeing they haue ouer come thy patience wilt thou not daunt their malice and sith nothing can driue them to repentance wilt thou not punish them And seeing they take so great pleasure in ill doing shall they not feele and abide thy displeasure by course For once I am sure that thou art iust and sith thou art so thou must needs pay them home according to the works of their owne hands And seeing that through their pride and arrogancie they haue forsaken thee to follow their own presumption thou must needs leaue them in their error and they must needs perseuere in their sinne and this hard scale of impenitencie must of force couer ouer their whole hearts and a greater curse canst thou not lay vpon them then this then to blinde their minds and take away from them their senses For when thou shalt come at once in the day of vengeance with a rod of iron in thine hand and breake them all in shards like a potters vessell there shall be nothing vnder the heauens by many thousands of degrees so miserable as they for they shall find no mercy at all because they themselues were mercylesse they shall be poore and there shall be none to helpe them and they shall be afflicted and none shall comfort them In the meane while ô Lord haue thou an eye vnto vs and second our patience with thine holy mercy to the end that as long as thou shalt please to exercise vs with the iniuries and opprobries of the wicked our hearts fayle vs not and that our soules may alwayes be able to lift them selues vp vnto thee and looke for thine ayde taking the miseries which it pleaseth thee to send vs for a tryall of our faith hoping that after our long patiēce thou wilt crowne vs as victorious wrastlers and cause vs triumphantly leade the wicked against whome we continually wrastle here in this life CHAPTER IIII. Aleph I Knowe O Lord right well that we must yeeld vnto thy will and that we do but kicke against the pricke in complayning of thee Neuerthelesse I can not keepe in my griefes much lesse my sighs when as I behold this strange desolation And although my soule biddeth me hold my peace yet can not mine heart keepe it selfe from sighing For who ô Lord would not haue pitie of this to see all the beawtifull golden walls of thy temple bescrabled and scraped all the goodly golden vessels so finely wought now melted and clipt in pieces all the ritch Iasper Porphirie of thy sanctuary brokē layd in gobbets cast about all the corners of the Citie in so
foretold of the afflictions that should light vpon poore Ierusalem It is euen I that so often haue announced her misery and stirred her vp therewith vnto repentance but as my spirit of prophesie hath done her no good in her obstinacie no more hath it also done me For I my selfe am ouertaken with the common destruction as well as the rest For when the wrath of the liuing God commeth vppon a people it ordinarily cutteth downe the corne with the tares and darnell and bindeth vp as it were in one sheafe both the good and the bad For he hath suffred me sith it is so his pleasure to be led into a darke place of abode and hath bereaued me both of day and light I was confined and limited into a fearefull and darke prison where I saw neither sunne nor moone I may very well say that he hath borne an hard hand vpon me and that his grace was turned into an implacable indignation which had neither ease nor end Bet. He made me waxe old before my time my skinne wrinkled with sorrow and griefe my flesh fell away and my bones payned me as if they had bene broken in pieces Now the long continuance in prison made me thus feeble for I saw my selfe closed vp as I had bene walled in round about geuing me nothing but gall to feed on and torment to exercise my selfe withall But vnderstandest thou where they shut me vp verely euen in more obscure and darke places then those wherein the damned soules are Gimel What Must I haue such wide walles to keepe me in and must I haue such bolts and shackles at my heeles for feare of running away But alasse God was not pleased only thus to confine and limit me in such an hidious prison but after that the gates and windowes were shut he also closed vp his cares when I called vpon him In so much as that my soule was captiued as well as my body and was depriued of that sweet comfort which she was wonted to haue with God her comforter And this in very deed was the thing that astonyed me when as I sawe all my hope cut off at once For all my hope and trust was in God for when I had lost his fauour I then right well felt that I was in very deed a prisoner and that I had vtterly lost all my directions and that I was shut vp within a wall farre stronger then any stone or brasen wall for all the prisons in the world are nothing so cruell vnto a man as to be without the grace and fauour of God Daleth For he that should meete with an hungry Beare in the middest of a wildernesse could nor be in greater danger then my selfe nor he that should meete a roaring Lyon hunting after his pray could not be more afrayd then I. For I sawe my selfe vtterly vndone not knowing what way to take For the wrath of God cut off the way from me in euery place it went out more speedily then any Lyon and layd on farre more stoutly then any Beare and then what resistance was I able to make and what else remayned for me but vtterly to despaire Thou wouldest verely and properly haue sayd that God had bound and set me vp as a Butt for him to shoote all the arrowes of his fury at me He. He drew out of the Treasure of his wrath as out of a well furnished Quiuer his arrowes of affliction and torment where-with he shot mee through and through brake in sunder my loynes euen as a man would breake a dogs backe with a great leauer O poore miserable broken backt wretch that I am I am pulled strayned ioynâ— by ioynt and am left a laughing stocke vnto the whole world They made songs of me which they song euery day in the open streetes God gaue me most bitter drinke and made me very dronke with wormewood wine Vau. Alasse what a kinde of entertainement call ye this he made me eate bread that was halfe flintie and my poore teeth were brokeÌ„ with these dayntie morsels And me thought I was very well when as my bread was halfe â—noden with ashes and in the end I grew very impatieÌ„t for my soule could neither abide the present miserie wherein I was nor yet hope for any better hereafter to come and so descryed she her selfe so that the ayd which I looked for at Gods hand was lost in very deed all my hope was cut off that side I must no more make accompt of his grace for hee hath brought me sith it so liketh him vnto the end both of my miseries and also of my dayes Zain Neuerthelesse I straightway tooke my selfe with the manner said Our alasse poore Ieremiah canst thou tell what thou doest Is this all the benefit which thou hast reaped by thine 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 it 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
THE HOLY LOVE OF HEAuenly VVisdome With many other godly Treatises Newly set forth perused and augmented by the Author Translated out of French into English by Tho. Sto. Gent. ANCHORA SPEI LONDON Printed by Richard Field for Thomas Man 1594. The names of the treatises contained within this volume 1 The holy loue of heauenly Wisdome 2 The Epistle of S. Basile of a solitary life 3 An exhortation vnto a ciuil life dedicated vnto Mounsi L. 4 A Meditation of the 7. Psalmes of Dauid his repentance 5 A Meditation of the 7. Psalmes of Dauid his consolation 6 A Meditation of the Lordes Prayer 7 Meditations of the Lamentations of Ieremiah 8 The song of Ezechias Isaiah 38. The Translator to the Christian reader THou shalt receiue here I hope Christian Reader vnto thy great comfort these short discourses and meditations if thou reade them with iudgement and according to sobriety the titles of which thou shalt finde set downe seuerally and a part in the next page before Accept therefore I beseech thee both the great paine of the Author and my poore trauell in translating of them which I trust I haue faithfully done according to his meaning and looke what benefit thou reapest by them be first thankefull vnto God and next vnto him and so I commit them to thy gentle acceptation The holy loue of heauenly Wisedome WE are like vnto that kinde of people who hauing bene led captiue into some farre countrey when they were yong haue not onely lost their time but haue forgotten also both their countrey naturall language and the amitie of their own kindred For we are no sooner out of our cradle and swadling cloutes as it were but that our peruerse and froward affections surprize vs as a man would say like violent windes and filling the sayles of our desires with a thousand delicat gales make vs mightely degenerate from our owne naturall inclination driuing vs therby from all true and right reason For let our soule continue neuer so litle a while in this banishment she by and by forgetteth her originall being leeseth the remembrance of her principall benefite and good and in the end which is a farre greater mischiefe she forgetteth likewise the knowledge of her self Now then there remaineth nothing why we are not altogether like vnto these miserable captiues For if they after their long captiuitie haue neuer so little hope of their returne or do but heare their countrie spoken of a man shall perceiue their hearts to leape with ioye in their bodies so greatly doth this kinde of newes please and like them But contrariwise we vtterly mislike those men who labour to call vs home againe vnto the place where we had our first being and abhorre nothing more then when we see them marke out vnto vs the ready way to come thereto These men will leaue the fortunate Islands and returne vnto the Ithaque set fast like a neast built vpon the very top of a sharpe steepie rocke And we will not onely leaue the mire and dirte wherein we sit fast mortrized rather then we would possesse and enioy most assured and euerlasting felicitie Now some man may peraduenture say vnto me I beseech you Sir where is that felicity which you talke of shew it vnto vs for that is it that we desire for what man is he that would refuse to be happie and blessed Alas my good friends I know that the worde liketh you well but without doubt yee flie from the thing it selfe or at least yee follow naught else but the shadow and leaue the bodie flying from you and hunting after a vaine cloude of delight reiect the true sound and incomparable pleasure Where then is it say you shew vnto vs the way and tract that we may speedely take hold thereof Shall I tell you my good friends one thing and that is this would it not thinke you make you laugh to see a pore or sand blinded man come vnto Pylon a most excellent counterfeitor in painting and importune him to shew him his pictures and exquisite paintings or to see a deaffe man presse in to heare the sweet musicke and hermonie of Bayf a most excellent musition would not the first man say vnto the sand blinded man go thy way and remoue first from thee that running humor 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 hand 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
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 incoÌ„parable ioy to make vs generally scorne these fleeting perishing shing delights al these fading chaÌ„geable 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 â—nto 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 lewes 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 froÌ„ 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 meÌ„ 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 souÌ„d of the holy voice of this Prophet crying Make straight plaine 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 itselfe and cast the Chaffe into euerlasting fier Seeing then that we desire this great felicitie and that before we present our selues 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 alittle 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 cleanse our selues and let vs see from whence and which way we are fallen that thereby we may perceiue by what meanes we may be able to lift vp our selues againe For God saw nothing amongst all his workes which any thing drew neare vnto his perfection and therefore he himself was then desirous to mould and fashion a liuing image of his Deitie which should be his chiefe and especiall worke and set him in the middest of the world Whereupon man forthwith shewed himselfe in the middest of the earth so perfect and complete as that nothing could be wished to be more excellently perfect For he being made a liuely image and being also as it were but a short and halfe picture hauing withall many the lineaments both of the aire and of the grace of the principall subiect or matter was most wonderfully perfect The holy fier which God had breathed into him being very pure enlightened his vnderstanding and filled him with the knowledge of all things in so much that he hauing truth for his guide and vertue for his ayde all his actions passed within the compasse of reason and turning him selfe continually vnto his Creator receiued to himselfe as in a very cleere looking glasse the forme and fashion of the Deitie in beholding of whome he fixed and stayed all his thoughts and thereby became very blessed for he liued in God and God in him But when as this mirror which was beautified and adorned with the obiect of the Deitie would needs runne him selfe amongst the troublesome and dangerous stormes and thereby defile and sully him selfe then this immortall brightnesse disdained any more to shew himselfe vnto him and left him altogether to remaine in darkenesse obscuritie So that man before such time as he had turned his back vpoÌ„ God being filled with a most sure knowledge of all things is now as it were become brutished and in stead of truth is full of error and lying and in stead of a ruled and moderate will is now full of burning lust so as all his thoughts which before were reunited to the beholding of his creator haue now spread themselues ouer the creatures roame about at all adueÌ„tures without either guide or reason This concupiscence and lust then hauing thus prostituted her selfe forthwith conceiued sin which comming to a ful growth amended death And death in deed brought forth the extremitie of al euils and death I say the hope of all horror and obscuritie wherein all the while that maÌ„ was swadled wrapped was neuer since euer able to receiue the brightnes of the immortal light ne yet attaine againe vnto the conduct of the truth the only beholding
bodies as the necessary instrument of the spirit But we must not so deale with our bodies as men deale with the garments of the magnificence of Princes which are so stiffened with embrodery and Goldsmithes worke and so beset with Pearles precious stones as that a man can scarsly stir himselfe when they are on his back but we must make vs such a garment as must serue for euery day and take such a fold as pleaseth vs to giue it There is also another thing which hindreth our soules no lesse theÌ„ these passions wherof we haue already spokeÌ„ And that is choler which to speake truly is the fairest flower of follie and that is that passion which blindeth vs all at once when as it hath once taken hold of vs maketh things appeare vnto vs as it were through a clowd cleane otherwise then in deed they are is so much the more dangerous a guest by how much the more that they that are possessed therewith are mighty of great power authority for the choller of princes which is aided by reason of their power flyeth out like lightning breaketh out before such time as a man can see the flash or heare the crack thereof as the thunder and lightning breaketh a sword in the scabard eueÌ„ so doth choller punish without knowing any cause insomuch that they pursue their actions for the most part with most â—edious and vnprofitable repentance being able to do no more as great as they are but to wish that that which is ill done were vndone For as Tyndare saith God himself hath no other power ouer that that is past but to forget and so they are for the most part driuen to repent them of that at leisure which in their hast they had committed Howbeit for the repressing of this furious hast we must frame a moderatioÌ„ of the spirit which we call Clemency by which our wils being vnaduisedly prickt forward to wish euill to another and the desire of reuenge are restrained repressed when as we shall haue this clemency rightly framed in vs by the perfect obseruation of our maners she will temper vs with such a milde and gratious behauiour as shall defend our reason from such a tedious and strong impression as choller is She will make vs take leisure to iudge of things by weight and measure to counsell our friends therunto and disswade vs from beleeuing and trusting too much to our owne selues Wherefore she will infinitely serue vs to perswade our selues that we cannot be offended but with our selues neither yet once keepe in our brests those iniuries which others haue done vnto vs. For if our actions be pure and sound and our life holy and innocent can our venimous and hatefull tongue change it selfe against our neighbour And if we at any time propound vnto our selues to liue to the good liking of any one man wheÌ„ shall we be able to find the meanes to please all the world and content both good and bad together if we iustifie vs before God and our selues haue cleane and vndefiled consciences nothing shall then do vs hurt Thou wouldest hurt me in my good name and thinkest by falsly accusing me of my life greatly to wrong me and I haue God men and mine owne conscience to testifie against thee to assure and iustifie me Thou maiest haue a will to hurt me howbeit I need not feele it without I will Thou takest and carriest away my goods from me all this inooueth me not or the time was that I had none or I had them when I was so yong as that I knew not what to do with them and lastly although thou haddest left them vnto me yet carried I not them with me when I dyed and I must either leaue them or else they must leaue me And why should I be more sorie for the one then for the other Well thou greeuest me in my body thou beatest and hurtest me and behold the Souldier which returneth very ioyfully from the skirmish carrying his arme in a scarfe maketh more account of his wound then he doth of his life if so be he bring from thence a great gash either in his head or in his face the more he beholdeth himselfe the more he wondereth at himselfe If he come home with the string halt of one of his legges he goeth not a step but he reioyceth that he was so gloriously marked Wherefore they are not our wounds that do so greeue and trouble vs but the occasions for the which we receiue them they bring vs either honor or dishonor neither is any thing esteemed for the thing it selfe but for the end why we do it If we endure all things for the honor of God and for the saluation which we shall obtaine through ouâ— patience then that which we call euilâ— shall turne to our good and that whicâ— once seemed to vs to be bitter shall iâ— the end be found very sweet The patience which this moderation of spirâ—… shall bring vs will be a secret testimonie vnto vs that we are the faithfulâ— seruants of our maister that we sparâ— our selues no whit at all to obey him nor yet refuse any trauell or paine tâ— put his commandements in execution There is nothing surely so honourable in this world euen in the iudgement of the very heathen aâ— to vnderstand how to forgiue and pardon The lawes permit euerâ— man to pursue the wrong done vnto him but to pardon and forgiue belongeth vnto a Prince alone Anâ— therefore if thou wilt be a king ouer thy selfe forgiue thy selfe freely for the glory of a Christian consisteth chiefly in this loue by which he bindeth his neighbour to loue him and to be voide of this worldly desire of reuenge which as a worme gnaweth the hart of those which are infected therewith tosseth turmoileth them all the day and keepeth them waking all the night And therefore the spirit will compose it selfe with this equalitie as that it will not suffer it selfe to be carryed away with hatred and euill will And from thence will ensue another excellent disposition of the soule which is modesty moderation which bringeth with it a certaine comlinesse vnto all the actions of the body and is a testimonie by them of gentlenesse goodwill vertue which can do more then all the rest to make vs sociable to get vs the friendship of those with whom either our nature good hap or choise coÌ„ioineth vs. This gratious maner is so agreeable vnto meÌ„ as nothing more for she wringeth out of theÌ„ that which force is no way able to do for she desireth no superiority ouer the rest but according to reason which is a kind of weapon that will cut deeper then either yron or steele But these proud frowning and scornefull people which looke at all the world ouer their shoulders which are therwith swolne so full as their skinnes can hold and looke at their tailes like vnto proud
vpon the outcries and clapping of the hands of the people which fauour the course that we take in hand no more then a valiant Champion readie prepared in the lists to fight the combat doth but let it rather hasten vs to run the swiftlier vnto the goale garland of prize which attendeth our victorie and lift vp our soules with such a cogitation as that all our actions being referred to this end may be full of that ioy contentmeÌ„t wherein consisteth our whole blessednes Niether may we ne yet can we coÌ„tinually tie our selues vnto the affaires and businesse of this world for after labor ensueth rest which is in very deed the true operatioÌ„ of the soule and that is Meditation And in very truth most blessed are they whose vocation is wonderfully far â—hest off from the care of these worldly affaires and whom God hath withdrawn from the tempests and stormes of the world and placed them as it were in a calme peaceable hauen to behold a farre off the ship wrack of others And this me ditation consisteth only of the knowledge of the truth and glory of God which we must seeke after as wel by the contemplation and exact consideratioÌ„ of his works our of which shineth forth euery where his power incomparable goodnes as by the ordinary reading of his word by which he openeth vnto vs the treasure of his wisedome and draweth the curtaines of heauen to make vs see his maiestieâ— face to face as much as our infirmitieâ— is able to beare And the works of Goâ— vndoubtedly are as scaling ladders seâ— vp for vs euery where to climb vp vnto him For let vs turne our selues which way soeuer we will and we shall finde here in the world wonderfull things for if we looke downe into the deph of the bowels of the earth we shall see there such a number of veines of gold and siluer such a sort of pertious minerals and such spring heads of liuely waters as is wonderfull Again if we looke vpon the face of the earth we shal finâ— such varietie of hearbs floures fruits trees beasts of the fields and in then such vertues and secret properties 〈◊〉 that it would make vs altogether astonished And are the seas lesse admirable by reason of their ebbing flowing the multitude of fishes and the diuersitie of monsters which they feeâ— bring forth And will not the ayreâ— replenished with foules clouds raineâ— snowes hayles lightnings thundeâ— make vs wonder And when as we liâ—… vp our eyes far higher and behold the curtaines of heauen spread vpon the face of the earth behold the brightnesse of the Sunne the clearnesse of the Moone and the ruling of their course obserue marke the goodly beautifull order of the Starres their course effects influeÌ„ces must it not needs altogether amaze vs And yet al this geare together coÌ„sidered in grosse is nothing in respect of the matters which we haue now in hand wheÌ„ as we shall haue examined theÌ„ a part and by peecemeale for wheÌ„ as we shall haue seene that the very least things in the world haue in their constitution such a maruelous prudence wisedome we must of necessitie find out the author creator of them in heauen Let man but looke into himself consider with himselfe what maner a things he is and how so litle a moyst humor could make him grow vnto such a fashion to be framed a body of so many sundry parts with such proportion And let him not content himselfe to see himselfe stand vpright vppon his feete with his face vpward his eyes open and remouing all his members but let him a litle vncouer his skin and ghesse how the flesh and the bones are so workemanlike set together and vnderstand how many sinewes and muskleâ— are drawne downe euen from the neck vnto the most base outermoâ— parts of the body to bind loose and remoue to all the parts vnto all sort of mouings and let him behold hoâ—… so many veines are spread throughouâ— the body to carry the bloud and nourishing iuice vnto euery member Leâ— him also see what a number of arteries are guided from the heart and deuided to accompanie all the sineweâ— and veynes to hold in the vitall spirits in euery part as the messengers of his will to the end to commaund the siâ—newes to moue or not to moue Leâ— him then if he will lay open his stomacke and see how his life is mainteâ—ned 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 whiâ—… is the shop of the bloud how the liue dischargeth her super fluities 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 â—urnings 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 things 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 woâ—ke 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 perceâ—ue 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 all 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 not 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
ouerthrowe mee They will hang vp a cloake of righteousnesse before theyr theeuish purposes and vnder pretence of lawe vndoe and defame mee But ô thou diuine Iustice who with an all-seeing eye scatterest the clowdes of sclaunders abroad and grauntest day vnto the innocent shine vpoÌ„ me a little make them vnderstand that truth pierceth through and beholdeth all their crafty iugling and maketh way to appeare before thee ô thou seueare and vncorrupt Iudge the only comfort of the afflicted 2 Thou art my strength and my defence and vppon thee alone resteth mine innocencie I made readie my selfe to fight against the craftie deuises of these deceiuers which assayle me and haue dreamed of a thousand arguments to conuince them withall and do make an accompt rightly to deduct my reasons But when as I had throughly considered that thou keepest in minde the knowledge of my cause as my God my gardian and protector I haue sayd alone to my selfe for what purpose serue all these goodâ— syllogismes for my Iudge knoweth the truth of the fact and vnderstandeth the equitie of my cause What can be hid from him who is present at all things and what can any man declare and shew vnto him that is righteousnesse him-selfe who hath established lawes and vnto whome it belongeth to interpret them I therefore put my selfe into thy armes my God my strength and refuge Iudge my cause and rid me from the sclaunders of the wicked But why reiectest thou me my God I haue a long while called vppon thee and yet thou hast not come vnto me In the meane while mine enemies oppresse me and I am no more able to abide But now thou my sweet yea my most sweet soule why art thou so heauie and sad and God be some-what slacke in comming to help thee all the while the wicked are afflicting of thee why losest thou thy courage thus and geuest thy selfe ouer vnto sorrow and griefe That that is deferred is not altogether lost for he will come seeing he hath promised it 3 Come therefore my Lord my God and spread out the beames of thy diuine light vppon me and seeing thou art the father of truth leaue not this thy poore captiued daughter in the wicked and vniust hands of her acâ—…sers If thou louest innocencie deliuer her then from the bonds of these false accusations For now O Lord malâ—ce lieth hidden in the darke and if thou let her haue day light she is ouercome and if she be acknowledged she is vndone I beseech thee therefore O my God let thy light and truth assist my righteousnesse for I haue loued them all my life long and from my youth haue I made much of them They haue bene they my Lord which first led and guided me before thee and presented me vnto thee vppon thine holie mountaine set me in the middest of thy Tabernacle brought me into thy Church and gaue me an honorable place in thine house 4 There it is ô Lord where I haue chosen my mansion and mine aboad is with thee My rest ô Lord is onely in thee and all my glory is to serue thee Assuring my selfe then vpon thy support stay and trusting in thy grace I will present my selfe vnto thee who knowest my conscience and in knowing it iudgest it in iudging it esteemest it and in esteeming of it thou confoundest the common enemies of mine honor and of thy seruice I will goe vnto thine Aulter which I haue seâ— vp to blesse sanctifie thy name and call vppon thee my God which fillest my youth with gladnesse and inspiring in minde heart the holie flame of thine holie loue doest heape vpon me pleasure delight and ioy 5 And therefore will I sound out vpon mine harp in mine hand the confessing of thy magnificence and tune with my voyce the sweet notes of thy prayse one while I wil sing thy immeasurable power one while thy exceeding goodnesse and another while thy infinite clemency and in the end I wil fâ—nish with this wonderful iustice which hath saued me froÌ„ the oppressioÌ„ of the vngodly and made the shame of their wicked purposes rebound leape vpoÌ„ their owne faces Why wilt thou then be sad my soule why vexest thou mee thus and takest in ill part the opprobries and sclanders of the wicked as if their venemous tongs could any way hurt an innocent conscience No no a burning torch thrust into the water can no sooner be extinquished then the sclanderous reports of a man that leadeth an innocent life 6 Trust therfore in God ô my soule reioyce in his fauour for I right well knowe that he is well pleased with his prayses by my lips All my life long â—ill I prayse him and declare and confesse him to be the God of truth the God of iustice God the tutor of the innocent God the father of saluation and God mine only defence I will haue mine eye alwayes fixed on him and my face continually turned towards him for I haue found no saluation but in him O my God who from the beginning of the world reachest out thine armes vnto the afflicted which hast alwayes receyued into thy protection the oppressed and comfortest the iust vniustly tormented graunt me O Lord both comfort and courage to the end that I taking my spirits vnto me againe which were halfe in a dead sleepe through affliction may glorifie thee with all my force and strangle by the strength of my voyce the blasphemies of the wicked which goe about to defame thine honor and not being able to reach thee rush and runne vppon the good and godly men thaâ— faithfully serue thee All people harken and geue c. Psalme 46. 1 COme vnto mee all yee stronge nations dâ—awe neere yee people that are farthest off come yeâ— from all coasts to heare that which ye shall neuer heare else-where Passe ye the seas mountaines and let not any hardnesse of tho way stop ye for the prize of your nauigation shall be greater then he â—hat sayleth from the East to the West lâ—den with pearles and diamonds And the reward of your sweatings shall be more pretious then the Trophees of those that conquer the nations of the earth Shore vp your eares therefore harken attentiuely vnto that which I shall now say vnto you O I would to God that ye were all eares and that all the rest of your benummed senses might strengthen your hearing to conceiue that which I will deliuer vnto you 2 Come come all ye that call your selues the children of the earth which thinke to attribute your originall being vnto nothing but vnto the earth and your being borne vnto none but vnto your fathers and suppose nothing to be more auncient here in this world then they and nothing greater then your selues In very deed yee are the right children of the earth for ye are as insensible as it is and of no more vnderstanding then images made of clay and annealed in the fornace Come
geuen them all power and â—…thoritie ouer thee Sade But God in the end began to waxe weary of their insolency because they carryed theÌ„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 into 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 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 childreÌ„ 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 eares harken vnto out 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 are 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 owne 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 our hands Thou hast scene abroad in the fields the gray haired and â—ecreped old men and women lye vpon the ground crying out groaning and â—eeping thou hast seene lying with 〈◊〉 our walles the slaughter of our youths our streetes strawed all ouer with legs and ames 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 streames of bloud and thou hast seene them lying on their backs with their eyes vp vnto heauen beseeching thine ayde And thou ô Lord hast notwithstanding all this turned away thine eyes from them and as if thou haddest bene a God not to be intreated hast without either pitie or mercy run through them all with the sword of thy fury Tau Thou hast inuited all my neighbour nations round about me to come to my discomfiture as it were vnto a mariage and to take part of my spoiles Thou hast brought them in such great multitudes to take possession of me and to compasse me as that I can not deuise which way to escape theÌ„ Thou thy selfe hast sounded to the assault animated them to my destruction and stopped vp the passages for feare that any of vs should be saued And truly thy will hath bene done vpon all the children which I haue brought vp nay there is not one of them saued mine enemies haue made a shambles of theÌ„ they haue murdered and massacred them till they cryed hoe withall and lo seest thou them weary with killing yet carest thou not to see them do it to let them to do it and to cause them do it Hath the remembrance of our sins made thee forget the remembraÌ„ce of thy clemency Hast thou created vs in thy mercy to destroy vs in thy fury Be thou then no more Almightie if thou wilt not become both all curteous all kind To be short be thou no more God without thou wilt be likewise pitifull Ha ô Lord why hast thou called vs thy people if thou wilt be no more our protector Why hast thou called vs thy childreÌ„ if thou wilt not deale with vs as a father Haue therefore ô Lord compassion vpon vs and feeing thy mercy is infinite euer since before the world was cause that thine ire which was neuer vntill our sins were may take end and dye with them and that as our repeÌ„tance hath set vs againe into the especiall way of obedience godlinesse so also it may bring vs againe into thy fauour CHAPTER III. Aleph IT is I euen I my selfe that hath so many times foreseene and