Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A15117
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A dayly exercyse and experyence of dethe, gathered and set forth, by a brother of Syon Rycharde Whytforde; Dayle exercice and experience of dethe.
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Whitford, Richard, fl. 1495-1555?
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1537
(1537)
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STC 25414; ESTC S105105
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67,532
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233
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¶ A dayly exercyse and experyence of dethe / gathered and set forth by a brother of Syon Rycharde Whytforde ⧠Vnto the deuout reders IN our lorde god moost swete sauyour Iesu salutacyon This lytle tretie or draght of deth dyd I wryte more then .xx. yeres ago / at the request of the reuereÌ„de Mother Dame Elizabeth Gybs / whome Iesu perdon / theÌ„ Abbes of Syon And by the oft callyng vpon / and remembraunce of certeyne of hyr deuout systers And nowe of late I haue ben compelled by the charytable instance and request of dyuers deuout persones to wryte it agayne agayne And bycause that wrytynge vnto me is very tedyouse I thought better to put it in print / wherunto I was the rather moued / that I perceyued by the prynters you haue thankfully taken suche other poore labours as we before haue sende forth Rede this I pray you ones ouer after as you lyke it is but very short and therfore haue I not deuyded it into chapytours but only into .ii. partes In the fyrst parte wherof is intreated of the fere / or drede of deth to be excluded exiled and vtterly put awaye In the .ii. parte is put forth The dayly exercyse and experyence of deth ⧠Of the dayly exercyse of deth the fyrst parte whiche is of the feare or drede of deth / to be excluded exyled and to vtterly be put away REuerende Mother and good deuout sisters you haue many oftentymes with great instance requyred me to wryte vnto you some breue / or short lesson of deth and howe you shulde prepare and ordeyne your selfe dayly therunto This lesson is very short playne after saynt Augustine De teÌ„pore serm ii c. xxxix for he sayth the lest lesson and the best meane to dye well is well to lyue For who so well lyueth saythe he may nat euyll dye Then done we lerne to dye well / whan we lerne well to lyue / and that lesson can you teche me better thaÌ„ I you For you haue longer vsed the crafte and gyuen more dilygeÌ„ce therunto Notwithstandynge somwhat in parte to satisfye your deuout myndes somwhat / after our poore vnderstandynge shall we say But fyrst as semeth vnto me it is necessarye spedefull that we inforce and gyue dilygence to auoyde exclude exyle and put ferre away that chyldyssh vayne and folyssh feare and drede of deth that many persones haue for doubtles it is both vayne and folye to feare drede that thynge that by no meane may be auoyded yet some persones ben so a frayde of deth / that they shrugge tremble and quake whan they here speke therof and renne or departe out of company / bycause they wyll nat here tell of dethe And to excuse theyr folye they take auctoryte of Aristotle the great Philosophour iii. EthicoruÌ„ ca. i. tra ii M. xxvi d. Mar. iiii d. L. xxii T ii Co. v. a. that sayth that of al terryble thynges deth is moste terryble / ouer that our sauyour byfore his passyon was afrayde of deth and naturally dyd abhorre it for the payne therof Saynt Paule sayth also / that we wolde nat be spoyled of our bodyes / and yet wolde we haue the clothynge of immortalyte vpon whiche / and apon lyke auctorytes they coÌ„clude that deth is peynfull and therfore to be feared and dred For declaracyon hereof you must vnderstande that the drede of deth may be taken .ii. wayes for .ii. causes / one for the payne that is in the departynge of the soule / and the body by deth And an other waye / or cause for the vncertente of the houre of deth and of the state of the ê‘son in that houre or tyme. This feare drede of deth shulde euery person haue euery houre But as vnto the fyrst feare that is for the drede of the payne in deth that feare is vayne For in deth is no payne or ryght lytle to be feared / as after we shall shewe Arystotle sayth in dede Vbi su that deth is terryble fearefull / but that is vnto them alone sayth he that doubt of any other lyfe after this present lyfe Obiecti ∣ on yet say they that euery man doth abhorre and lothe dethe and dothe what he can to auoyde deth / and to prolonge lyfe / and that is generall in all lyuynge thynges / vnto that I say Aunswe ∣ re that nature dothe worke / and cause in all thynges the appetyte and desyre to be contynued and to endure and last for euer / and therunto dethe infors as muche as nature may / other in them selfe or in theyr frute and kynde But therof doth nat folowe that any peyne is in deth ne any feare or drede to be takyn therfore As by example of trees and frutes as well as of sensyble bestes The trees when they wexe olde don naturally put forth newe sprynges from the rote and the frutes when they be grene and yonge wyll nat departe from the tree nor the sedes from the herbe / or grayne excepte vyolence but when they ben full rype / then wyll they naturally of them selfe / and by them selfe departe without any vyolence So is it in man after a lyke maner that when the person is in nature yong grene lusty and stronge / and in the body conformyte / and lyke state of complexcyons deth is then horrible hugsum and fearefull vnto the persone bycause it is then vyolent But when the persone is full rype that is to say / worne by age or sekenes vnto the point of deth Then is nat deth vnto that person any thynge lothsome fearefull ne peyneful / but rather swete pleasant and desyrous and so sayth Arystotle in his boke of naturall philosophye Phi. v. Mors senum dulcis est Iuuenum vero violenta The dethe of aged persones sayth he is swete and pleasaunte / but the dethe of yonge persones is vyolent and greuous / yet say I that the feare is nat for the peyne of deth in departynge of the soule For then is no peyne / but all the peyne is in the sekenes disease / and affliccyon before dethe For the persones that as I sayde ben worne or wasted vnto the poynte done dye and departe this life nat only without sorowe or peyne but also with gladnes swetnes and pleasure And so sayth the same philosophour Arystotle in an other boke Aristot de vita morte Cicero .i. Tusc And so dothe also an other greate philosophoure / and lerned Tullie And I dare well say that in dethe is lesse peyne vnto suche persones then is in the prycke of a pynne or nedyll vnto a whole persone The feare than that our saui-had before his passyon / was nat for the peyne of deth but it was of the fraylte of our nature in his carnall flesshely parte for the paynes that he knewe wel shulde precede / and go before dethe And the peyne doth our sensualyte / and
Paradiso Thys day shalt thou be with me in paradyse it is than nother the longe tyme nor the short nor yet the penaunce that dothe put away or make lesse that payne of it selfe but the loue of god / for whose sake that penauÌ„ce is done and that loue may be in a persone feruente in shorte tyme as well as in longe / and all the penaunce that is done Grego probatio a mortis is nothynge but a profe of that loue / so as longe as we byde in this corruptyble sory bodye we must loue / and euer proue that loue by contynuall penaunce and good werkes forsakynge all synne For els is all the penaunce the workes voyde and loste But yet foloweth nat therof that we shulde desyre longe lyfe ne shorte but as he wyll For to gyue vnto god frely fully and holly our wyll / so that we haue no wyll but his is the greattest gyfte that we can gyue vnto god and the thynge that he chefely requireth desyreth of vs / for he doth nat desyre our affliction ne penauÌ„ce / but gyue me saith he thyne hert that suffyseth me Than so to gyue vnto him the thynge that he fyrst gaue frely vnto vs that is fre wyll is that thyng that may best auoyde or make lesse that payne And so to say thynke wyl that yf he wolde haue vs longer in payne / we shulde consent and wyll so to be / yet forther we shuld rather chuse desyre payne ê‘petuall after his wyl thaÌ„ ioy euerlastyng contrarye vnto his wyll And this wil may be had iÌ„ fewe yeres shore tyme. To wyll than Marcu trismâ—g ad Eâ—â—lâ— pium and to desyre to be with god / by longe or shorte payne or withoute any payne as beste shall please hys gracyous goodnes / is the best meane nexte remedy and moost sure waye to auoyde fle and to minysshe payne / and in that wyll without feare drede of deth / or rather dispysynge deth to tary byde / in euery thing to suffre his wyll pleasure / euer redy for dethe and lokynge euery houre for deth with ferueÌ„t desyre / and wysshe to be with hym and to abyde here / for nothynge but only for hym / so that he be as saynt Paule sayth all our lyfe / and deth for his sake be vnto vs lucre Phil. i. gaynes wynnynge and auauntage The pagane Cicero sayeth In Tus that a wyse man wyll neuer feare dethe The reason why is that deth by reason of vncertayne chauÌ„ces doth dayly and hourely fall happye sodenly come vnto euery sorte / degre and maner of ages / and also because of the shortnes of our lyfe dethe can nat be longe absent from vs. For as saynt Ambrose sayeth we may be in certente that yf we lyue very longe yet shall we dye shortly De bono mortis ca. i. ix For the longest of our lyues is very shorte / and specially yf we compare it vnto the longe life of eternite than is it nothynge nat so moche as one mote vnto the whole erthe / yet the commune people whan a yonge person departeth doth saye oh alas Vbi su it is pytie that such a ê‘son shuld dye thus and departe before his tyme / but hereunto he doth answere Before the tyme sayeth he / what tyme done they meane other that tyme that they wolde set and desyre or els that tyme that god hathe determyned and appoynted If they meane theyr tyme I wyll nat dispute ne reason with them But if they meane goddes tyme / than wyll I saye / that almyghtye god dothe nat gyue lyfe vnto any ê‘son for euer / as his owne thyng but rather dothe lende it As dette to be payde whaÌ„ so euer it shal be axed and nat at any certayne day appointed / and as the detter may vse the dette so lent whyle he hathe it / and yet hath no wronge although it be axed soner than he wolde or yet than he supposed So in lyke maner god hath lent euery person lyfe but he poynted no daye whan he wyll axe and haue it agayne / that he dyd bycause he wolde that man shulde be alway redy to paye whan so euer he were called vpon Howe than may any person complayne or grudge whaÌ„ so euer he is taken by deth / syth he receyued life by that condicyon yet syr sayd they / the credytour and lender is called harde that calleth for the dette before the borower haue any gaynes or profet therof / so done we thiÌ„ke that god dealeth hardely with the yonge persones / because he taketh theyr lyfe before they haue any pleasure thereof Hereto nowe saye I they done suppose by erroure that is nothynge trewe / that is that in this lyfe shulde be pleasure / whiche in very dede well consydered is contrarye that is to say displeasure payne miserie wo and dethe And therfore those persones that come to dethe in theyr youthe / ben moch bounde to thaÌ„ke our lorde that hath delyuered theÌ„ from those incommodytes and miseryes that they shulde haue had and suffred in lenger lyuynge And here the coÌ„mune people suppose an other great errour that is / that longe lyfe shulde be good and pleasaunt where in dede longe lyfe taketh awaye all maner of goodes pleasures of this lyfe / that is to say the goodes of fortune / as landes possessyons golde syluer and other goodes and cattell For age in longe life spendeth all / and getteth nothynge It taketh away also the senses and wyttes of man / as hearynge Cicero vbi sup syght smellynge tastynge and touchyng / with the other goodes of nature as youthe strength beaute and agilyte / nymlesse and quickenes And yet the goodes that ben more precyous and dere than al these that is to say memorye and remembraunce / reason vnderstandynge connynge and knowlege / maketh many tymes the wyll frowarde And doth rendre and make whole man bothe in soule and body full dull in deuocyon and in all maner of goodnes and vertue wherfore the wysman sayd Ec. vi b. Better is he and more happy that dyeth at the mothers wombe forthwith after his byrth / than is he that lyueth longe No person therfore of any age hath wroÌ„ge by deth for euery person by the lawe of synÌ„e is in the fyrste day of byrthe or rather in the fyrst day of lyfe mortall and subdued vnto deth / and in the fyrste daye of lyfe euery person begynneth to dye Augusti And therfore is it nat agayne the lawe for any persoÌ„ to dye at any tyme yonge or olde Let vs therfore good deuout chrystyanes put clene away and vtterly exyle this frayle and fals opinyon of deth / and let vs thynke verely and beleue / that in dethe is no wroÌ„ge but all ryght no payne but great pleasure In tus vbi sup all good nothyng euyll For as the