stiled Ladie mistresse of the world that will not bee courted nor yet cast off Yet is she but vox tantum a thing next to nothing Solo timenda sono Better is it called a transfiguration or transmigration from life by death to life againe Exitus non transitus Transitus quem ire non intelleximus transissesentimus The graue is but a withdrawingroome to retyre in for a while a going to bed to take rest sweeter then sleepe And when it is time to rise cum expergiscar then I shall bee satisfied saith the Prophet Dauid In the meane time it is common to all Death common to all Mors etiam saxis nominibusque venit Yet this fauour nature hath done Quod grauissimum fecit fecit commune vt crudelitatem fati consolaretur aqualitas Who liues and shal not see death Quisquis ad vitam nascitur ad mortem destinatur it respects none Equat omnes cinis It is as naturall to die as to be borne Licet impares nascimur pares morimur No sooner borne but hastening to die Orimur morimur We come into the world with a sheete about vs as no sonner borne but going to bee buried For all this man is euen with Death Nunquam enim magnis ingenijs cara in corpore mora est nay the good Soule aegre fert has angustias Therefore what great thing doth death in hastening dayes This shewes infirmitie rather then power Age doth more nil enim non longa demolitur vetustas Death onely shortens time not life for lifes time shortens by lengthening Morimur quòd mortibus viuimus morieris non quia aegrotas sed quia viuis This all men are to know that mortis meritum is peccati debitum Both imposed on man for sinne Sith then Life but a dying death it is a Statute made in heauen omnibus semel mori and that life is so momentanie and death so certaine splendemus licèt Hêu quà m citò frangimur corpora vitrea Since life it selfe is no true liuing but a dying being and such a being as euery day pants for breath which nature fawnes vpon it for a while Mors fugacempersequitur virum And since death is no death but a going vnto heauen and heauens comming vnto vs How can a man but thinke it a well spent life alwayes to be meditating vpon death But saith Zenophon Cur vitam contemnendamputas habes I will not inquire nor require more of death but death Err as enim qui in terrogas Quid sit mors Et propter quod mortempetam Quaeris enim aliquid supra summum But if a man dye shall he liue againe saith Iob. Yes Life after Death saith Saint Paul we that are in this Tabernacle sigh and are burthened because we would not be vnclothed but cloathed vpon that Immortalitie might bee swallowed vp of life Phoenix sponte crematur Vt redeat proprioq solet pubescere letho Ste tu corpus coactum Discere mutatâ melior procede figurâ The bright dayes die into dark nights but rise againe a mornings Though the body sleepe awhile in the dust yet shal it arise after thy likenesse The Soule which departed for a season shall as Saint Paul said of Onesimus come againe and bee receiued for euer That bodie which was sowen a naturall body shall rise a spirituall bodie Sow in teares reape in ioy who so goe forth weeping and carrie precious seede shall returne with ioy and bring their sheaues with them Yet caro ista Pulueries this clod of earth must lye a while in Dust Sed resurget tandem as the Queenes daughter all glorious within For if in this life holinesse maketh the face of a man to shine by an Irradiation from the heart what shall be the beauty of the bodie glorified Surely though it be not deifyed yet shall it be purified perfected and immortalized Our vile bodies shall be changed saith Saint Paul and fashioned like vnto his glorious body Such glory haue all his Saints If the exchange bee such who would not be willing yea glad to die Nilminus est hominis occupati quam viuere Quos autem felicitas grauat exclamant illi Mihi viuere non licet It is a good minde to bee content to dye and willing to liue But to be willing to dye and content to liue is the mind of a strong Christian Diligimus mortem pariter pariterque timemus Ipse metus te noster amat When the Senator Cato was asked a question concerning Death Si Deus inquit ille mihi largiatur vt repuerascam valde recusem Nec tum me vixisse poenitet quia bene vixi nec timeo mori quod ex hospitio non domo discedam Wherefore though death be not to be sought in the errour of youth as the Preacher saith respects it may bee desired Death desireable for three respects Portus est aliquando petendus nunquam recusandus As first that sowe may betimes leaue off to sinne since sin liues in vs and leaues vs not till Death Dixit Socrates Appropinquante morte multò es diuinior Secondly the Soule that soone departs facilius ad superos iter facit quia minùs facis ponderisque traxit In this passage betweene life and death what 's the distance So little as with the Ancients the Embleme of life was oculus apertus Mortis clausus but not extinctus nec plus interesse putauerunt inter mortem vitam quam ictum oculi Man is onely a winke of life his life and death ioyned as neere as ioy and griefe where teares expresse both Thirdly that we might the sooner come to liue indeede Vita aeterna est illa vita vitalis ista est tantùm mortalis For this cause saith Bernard praecipitat quisque vitam suam fuiuri desiderio laborat praesentium taedio Men commonly say There is nullum tempus praeter Nune. But this present is not that which contents the Soule Nimis angustat gaudia qui praesentibus acquiescit They are onely creatures of inferiour nature that are pleased with the present Man is a future creature his soule lookes at what is beyond this life Scrutatur quod vltra mundum futura praeterita illum delectant Haec expectatione illa recordatione It would make a man heauenly proud but to thinke of how Diuine a nature and qualitie his Soule is The Heathens could say it was Diuinae particula Aurae Epicurus makes it a Spirit mixt of fire and ayre Others define it to bee a selfe-mouing number Seneca said Quid aliud est anima quam Deus in corpore humano hospitans Neuer could any giue it such a definition that either an other or himselfe could conceiue it And no wonder that a man cannot conceiue what his Soule is Because it suffered a composure before it selfe was Therefore Admiration rather then Search becomes a man in such a secret Tully said Mihi quidem nunquam persuaderi potuit animos dum in corporibus essent
yeeres tossed vp and downe the world as in a troubled sea will bee glad of Death as of Mount Ararat a resting place for his tyred Soule As an Apprentise patiently vndergoeth seuen yeeres labour to bee made a Freeman or as a bondman waites for the yeere of Iubile So doth the Soule for her deliuerance Lastly death doth vs not the least pleasure in freeing vs from phantasmes and vaine pleasures Pleasure may stand with innocencie for God loues to see his creatures happy But commonly the pleasure of the body is the poyson of the soule A man smothered in Roses meetes with Death though in sweetnesse Delicatas enim mentes eneruat felicitas In vaine mirth there is no true ioy nor gladnesse in laughter Nam res est seuera verum gaudium Delight in pleasures and you shall finde your greatest pleasures become your bitterest paines in their losse A man whose soule is conuersant with God finds more pleasure in the desart and in death then in the Palace of a Prince The benefits that come by death FVlnesse of grace The benefits by death which heere we haue but in part Viuere velinthomines vt perfectisint Mori volunt perfecti sunt Heere wee haue but arrham Spiritus there we shall haue pretium Secondly perfection of glory Erimus participes non spectatores gloriae Enioy with these eyes visionem illam beatificam ioy vnspeakeable And saith S. Iohn your ioy shall no man take from you Thirdly inseparable fellowship with Christ They follow the Lambe whithersoeuer hee goeth There wee shall bee married to him heere we are but contracted Desponsabo te mihi saith the Prophet Those fauours and loue-tokens I haue heere receiued doe but inflame not satisfie desires and I am willing to part with them lest they should make mee loth to depart to him that gaue them Meretricius est amor plus amicum quà m sponsum diligere Lastly it brings mee where I would be into my owne countrey into Paradise where I shall meete not as in the Elysium of the Poets Catones Scipiones Scaeuolas but Abraham Isaac and Iaeob The Patriarks my Fathers the Saints my Brothers the Angels my Friends my wife children kindred and seruants that are gone before me and doe there attend mee looking and longing for my ariuing there Therefore with Dauid I will say Lord when shall I come and appeare before thee Like as the Hart panteth for the water brookes so panteth my soule for thee O God I had rather be a doore-keeper keeper in thy house then dwell heere though in chambers of pleasure Touching the second generall Diuision II. The feares or ioyes that death brings NAturally men feare Death The feares of death because it ends being which Nature would preserue Rachel mourned for her children and would not be comforted because they were not When Moses Rod was turned into a Serpent it was fearefull But when God bids Feare not to take it vp it may well be handled Timeat mortem qui Deum non timet sed si sperare desideras desine timere It is well said Pompa Mortis magis terret quam mors ipsa Groanes convulsions and a discouloured face shew death terrible But that Philosopher is not to bee followed who to prepare himselfe the better for death set forth death most fearefully nor yet that Emperour to be praised who so little esteemed of death that hee dyed in a complement Feare of death kills vs often where death it selfe can doe it but once The Philosophers thought that if death as bad as men count it were not mingled with bitternesse men would runne to it with desire and indiscretion Ergo mortem concupiscentes timentes aeque obiurgat Epicurus It is true life would not willingly be troubled with too much care nor death with too much feare Feares betray cares trouble those succours that reason would yeeld to both Multi ad fatum venêre suum dum fata timent Feares multiply euils Faith diminishes them yet most men wish vt mors potius semel incidat quam semper impendeat because nothing is so painefull as to dwell long vnder the expectation of some great euill Conscience of dying giues the right sence of death and the true science of liuing For by death absoluitur anima resoluitur corpus gaudet quòd absoluitur quòd resoluitur non sentit Therefore said the Heathen man Non nego poenas esse quibusdam post mortem sed quid ad mortem quod post mortem est If there be any feares in death saith a wise man Quare iuuenes non timent fieri senes But it is the nature of feare to make dangers greater helpes lesse then they are When Anaxagoras had word brought him that his deare and onely sonne was dead Scio said hee me genuisse mortalem The sonnes condition satisfied the fathers passion without more words Hee can neuer be at ease nor liue contentedly that liues continually in feare of death Nil in morte metuamus si nihil timendum vita nostra commisit There is no such gentle remoouall of all life's discontents as a quiet death Hee that knowes not how to end his time hath lost all his time Nescire mori miserrimum Socrates de morte disputabat vsque ad ipsam When Otho and Cato had prepared all things for their death they setled themselues to sleepe when they awaked and found themselues vpon the stroke of execution all they said was Vita supplicio data est mors remedio Cruell tyrants haue beene told to their faces that their threates of death were promises of life Their swords were fauours to the sufferer Mortall wounds made them immortall Viuere non potest qui mori non audet Though it be true that it is in vaine to feare what wee cannot shunne and feare of death as a tribute due to Nature is a weakenesse yet feares be not alwayes ill symptomes before death nor in death at that instant nature will reluct for loue sake to keepe still her being But grace thus distinguishes of being To the wicked the best thing of all were not to haue beene Non nasci optimum His next best were to liue long It was ill with him that he was borne worse that he must dye for hee not being sure of a better would faine be sure of this Conscious to himselfe that this dying life will bring him to a liuing death His hope is no longer then his breath His word is Dum spiro spero he flutters inter mortis metum vitae tormentum viuere nolit merinescit With good men it is otherwise to them the best thing of this life is to haue been for this leades the way ad beatitudinem patriae to the fruition of their faith Quid huius viuere est saith hee sed dijs mori His word is Cum expiro spero his hopes faint not when his breath failes him Patienter viuit delectabiliter moritur To this man mori
hee liue the arrest of Death shall not alwayes keepe him Well said S. Austine The bodies of Saints shall bee raised tanta falicitate quanta felicitate with as much ease as happinesse Nam mors tantum intermittit vitam non eripit death doth not disanul but discontinue life By our rising wee are remitted to our better right a life which neuer dyes a morning which hath no Eue nor ending Me thinkes I heare death say of life as Iohn the Baptist said of Christ He that commeth after mee is before me Which is life O sweet word Life The best Monasyllable in the world Gods owne Attribute Deus viuit And my soule saith Iob shall liue for my Redeemer liueth And is this life but the child of this word Death then blessed also bee the word Death the mother of life I will no more call thee Marah but Naomi for thou art not bitter but sweet more pleasant though swifter in thy gate then the Row or Hinde The Stoike could say Mors est quae efficit vt nasci non sit supplicium But what saith S. Iohn I heard a voice from heauen saying Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord whose workes follow them they die no more death hath no more power ouer them all teares are wiped from their eyes Compare together the benefits of life and death and you shall clearely see how that death which seemes to dispossesse vs of all puts vs in possession of more thē that al. Per varios casus per tot discrimina rerū Tendimus in Latium sedes vbi fata quietas Ostendunt It is but being which wee haue by Nature or by Birth our better being is by Grace but our best being is in glory there wee cannot bee till death haue conueyed vs thither Esse naturae est benè esse gratiae optimum esse gloriae Better therefore is our last being by death then was our first being by birth Dicique beatus ante obitum nemo Birth brought mee into the world but that was misery allowing no vacation to sorrowes Ne natalem quidem excipit For crying was the first note of my being Calamitatis futurae propheta Death carries me from a world of miseries to a world of felicities Dies mortalis est fatalis Natiuitas Heere I dwell in a house of clay whose foundation is dust Death brings to an habitation made without hands euerlasting in the heauens Ad excelsa sublatus inter felices currit animus excipitque illum coetus sacer Birth brought mee to conuerse and haue commerce with men death brings mee to haue communion with Saints and fellowship with Angels yea to enioy visionem illam beatificam The immediate fruition of God and Christ Old father Iacob when he was told of his sonne Iosephs power in Egypt was not satisfied to heare of his honours but enquires of his life intimating that life to come is better then all the honours that are in Egypt or fortunes that are on earth nor yet did Iosephs life content him without being present with him and therefore said I will goe downe and see him counting it better to behold with the eye and yetmost sinnes begin and creepe in at the eyes then to walke in desires Implying that the best things that are pleasure vs not in their being but in our enioying them What then shall bee the ioy The ioy soule dy at the meeting when soule and body separated for a season shall meete againe in ioy and mutually enioy one the other The sense of this delight and contentment did well appeare in that meeting betwixt Iacob and Ioseph whom mutuall losse and separation for a while did more endeare each to other Intermission of comfort hath this aduantage that it sweetens our delight more in the returne then was abated in the forbearance And was Iacob glad to leaue his countrey the land of Promise to see his yonger sonne Ioseph though in Egypt What then shall bee the soules ioy to end a pilgrimage in a strange land and goe to see his elder brother Christ in heauen an inheritance more pleasant then that land of Goshen freed from all the encombrances of this Egypt Therefore said S. Paul I desire to be dissolued that I may bee with Christ For this tedious mortalitie pleasant it how man can will be intollerable if death doe not disburthen it because long liuing so loads vs with sinne as the burthen thereof tyres euery man at last It is such an inmate as will roost in vs as long as life affords it house-roome nor wil it lodge alone but still one sinne will call in another but through death the very body of death and burthen of sinne are both cast out together Sith then the life I now enioy is beset with death tends to death and ends in death I will no longer mistake tearmes calling that death which is life and that life which is death Hanc esse mortem quam nos vitam putamus Illam vitam quam nos pro morte timemus said Lactantius More diuinely said S. Austine Per vitam ad mortem transitus est per mortem ad vitam reditus est Therefore the Pagans did not ill to celebrate the day of their death with mirth and the day of their birth with mourning For although the soule be then infused when man is made Death the regeneration of the soule yet it is new borne when man dyes His bodie being the wombe and death the midwife which deliuers that to sorrow this to glory The Prophet Ieremie so little ioyed in his birth that he said Let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed Quis pauet quis flet quis eget quis errat Solus heusortes homo sperat optat alget voluit explorat queritur Malorum omnia plena said a diuine Poer But to assure there are ioyes in death What saith the Scripture vnto well dying men Reioyce and lift vp your heads for now your Redemption draweth neere The third generall diuision III. When Death is to be prepared for and how IT was the saying of the diuine Philosopher Plato There is nulla salutar is Philosophia The time when but perpetua mortis meditatio and sine ista meditatione tranquillo esse animo nemo potest Scipio was wont to say Mortis meditatio Is vita sapientis and that it was the most honourable Philosophy to study a mans mortality Politiques say Totâvitâ discendum est viuere But saith Seneca Hoc magis miraberis Totâ vitâ discendum est mori Fooles would faine doe in the end that which wise men doe in the beginning Prepare for their end but carelesse men thinke that the signiory and gouernment of times is at their commands to doe what they list when they list We haue little power ouer the present much lesse ouer the future Therefore King Dauid cryed betimes Lord let me know mine end and the measure of my daies what it is and
right way Herein bee as great a questionist as were those religious Ladies of Rome who neuer let Saint Hierome rest for questions which was the readiest way to heauen If a man would but compare the Forenoone of his age with the Afternoone how long the one is and how short the other is euery man would be dying dayly Palmarios posuisti dies The longest liuer hath but a handfull of dayes Life it selfe is but a circle alwayes beginning where it ends Erat quando non erat sed erit Time was when man was not But how late a beginning soeuer man had yet after death hee shall be sure neuer to see end With the Ancient of dayes there are no dayes And the time shall be when time shall be no more There be two common errours which deceiue most men Two common errors First that a man enters not into eternall life till he dyes when as his calling heere begins his life eternall To Zacheus Christ said This day is saluation come vnto thy house Faith preuents time and makes things future present The godly man that hath his present life hid with Christ in God so liues heere as if his conuersation were in heauen carrying himselfe not onely honestly ciuilly and humanely but beyond naturall condition his life seemes super-humane diuine and spirituall The second errour is that howeuer a man liues yet if at last he seeme to die well then all is well and his soule is sure to bee saued this is a bold and a dangerous conceit for though Misery be the obiect of Mercy and Hope the miserable mans god yet humane life hath not a greater friend nor many times a greater foe then Hope Many would dye did not hope sustaine them more haue dyed flattered with vaine hope Whoso hopes too much cozens himselfe at last Be not deceiued God is not mocked not euery one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of Heauen In this mortall life enter into the first degree of life eternall or thou mayest die eternally with Lord haue mercy vpon vs in thy mouth But haue thy part heere in the first Resurrection which is from sinne to Grace and then thou shalt enioy the second Resurrection which is from dust to Glory The third step to well dying To die by little and little the third step is to die by little and little Totâ die mortificamur Naturally wee are euery day dying by degrees The faculties of our mind the strength of our bodies our common senses euery day decaying paulatim He that vseth this course euery day to dye by little and little to him let death come when it will it cannot be either terrible or suddaine If wee keepe a Courser to runne a Race wee leade him euery day ouer the place to acquaint him by degrees with all things by the way that when he comes vpon his speed he doe not start or turne aside for any thing he sees So let vs enure our soules and then wee shall run with boldnesse the race that is set before vs. To die by little and little is first to mortifie our lesser sinnes and not to say with Lot Is it not a little one Wee may not wash our hands from crying and from bloody sinnes and yet hugge in our bosome some beloued and Herodian sinne Certainely great sinnes will neuer be conquered if little sinnes be cherished Saint Cyprian writing consolatory Epistles to the Martyres of his time told them that he that once hath ouercome death in his owne person doth dayly ouercome him in his members if you mortifie the members of your flesh by little and little you will not feare the crueltie of any exquisite death the Tyrant can deuise There be a sort of little deathes as sicknesse of body troubles of minde losse of friends and the like vse these rightly in their kinde and you may make them kindely helpes to dying well The right way to bring any thing to a good end is to proceed by degrees God himselfe made nothing absolute at first This great God loues to haue degrees kept degreeingly to grow to greatnesse is the course of the world so by little and little to goe out of the world per gradus not per saltum is the way to Heauen Let a man goe out of the world as he came into the world which was first by a life of Vegetation then of Sense afterwards of Reason Dauid prescribes vs this order when hee sayes Doce me duce me Domine Hee will not runnetill hee bee taught to goe Teach mee to doe thy will and leade me into the land What land is that There is terra quam terimus land on earth which yeelds vs all pleasures that 's not it There is terra quam gerimus refined earth beautified bodies which we beare about vs nor is this it There is terra quam quaerimus the glorious land of promise that 's the land we seeke Into this land duce me Domine For the manner of dying AMongst men it is a matter of chiefe marke the manner of a mans death All men as men die naturally as Christians they should die religiously The good man equally can die or liue for he knowes if hee liue God will protect him if he dyes God will receiue him The Prophet Dauid in a Contemplation of Death ingeminates the word saying Domine Domine exitus Mortis The issues of Death belong to thee A good man by his good will would die praying and doe as the pilgrim doth goe on his way singing and so addes the paine of singing to that of going Yet by this Surplus of paine vnwearies himselfe of paine But some wretches thinke God rather curious then they faulty if a few sighes with a Lord haue mercy vpon vs be not enough at the last gaspe There is no spectacle in the world so profitable or more terrible then to behold a dying man to stand by and see a man dismanned Curiously diddest thou make man in the lowest part of the earth saith Dauid but to see those elements which compounded made the body to see these diuided and the man to be dissolued is rufull So dependant is the life of man that it cannot want one element Fire and Ayre these fly vpward Water and Earth they sinke downeward So liuing man becomes a dead carkase Seneca thought a man might choose his own death which was some ease to him Quemadmodum nauim elegam nauigaturus domum habitaturus Ita mortem vtique quá sum exiturus è vita But better saith another Stultè haec cogitantur vitam alijs approbare quisquam debet mortem verò sibi But since it is so great a matter to die so necessarie to die well so dangerous to die ill Let your life be an acting of death Certainely Death hath great dependancie on the course of a mans life There bee many that choose rather to die quickely then to liue long sickely Some that will inuite
violently both by destinie all men by Decree Quē dederat cursum natura peregi said the Poet. But the Diuine tels vs though Moses dyed vpon one Hill Aaron vpon another Hill yet both where they might see the land of Promise How familiarly did Moses heare of Death when there was no more betwixt God and him But Moses goe vp and dye With such a sociable compellation are good men inuited to Death as to a Feast Nec mihi Mors grauis est posituro morte labores Mors mihi merces erit The assurance of life after Death ALthough my flesh bee eaten with wormes Assurance of life after death these wormes turned to dust this dust blowne through the earth yet after thou hast turned all to destruction Againe thou sayest Come againe you children of men Redemptor meus is the word of assurance My Father and your Father saith the Gospel Meum and tuum are words of Assurance to mens soules though in mens states they make all Controuersies I know that my Redeemer liueth How doe I know it not by Opinion but by Faith Fides non creditur sed cernitur Things are not so because we are perswaded they are so but because they bee so therefore wee are so perswaded The woman with child knowes shee is with child when shee feeles it stirre liuely So the Spirit of God assures our spirit when wee feele his Spirit in vs. Holy Iob saith Though after the skinne wormes destroy the body yet in my flesh I shall see God for my selfe and mine owne eyes shall behold him and not an others Which numerall Identity giues certaintie that this soule of mine impersonated anew and so inanimating my body againe shall giue a new being and a better being vnto both That soule the lost pearle which to finde a man would haue giuen all that he had shal there be found ingrauen in gold where as heere it was found set but in clay The fourth generall diuision IIII. What our last thoughts should be AS in greatest extremities good Physicians leaue drugges and minister onely Cordials so deale by thy soule when death approaches cast away all worldly cares entertaine onely thoughts that will animate thy weake body and refresh thy thirstie soule as did that dew of Hermon falling vpon the Hill of Sion nor will I feare how this body of mine shall appeare an other day For I am promised by him that will performe it shall not be found naked But this couering of flesh being cast off I shall take this body againe cloathed with glory as with an other garment This doth Saint Paul most elegantly and diuinely expresse saying Wee know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle bee destroyed wee haue a building giuen of God that is a house not made with hands but eternall in the heaueus For therefore wee sigh and desire to be cloathed with our house which is from heauen Because that if wee be cloathed wee shall not be found naked For indeede we that are in this Tabernacle figh and are burthened because we would not be vncloathed but cloathed vpon that immortalitie might be swallowed vp of life And hee that hath created vs for this thing is God who also hath giuen vs the earnest of his Spirit Therefore we are alwayes bold though we know that whilst we are at home in the bodie wee are absent from the Lord. For wee walke by faith and not by sight Neuerthelesse we are bold and loue rather to remoue out of the body and to dwell with the Lord. 2. Cor. 5. This is so promising and so sweet as it seemes to transport a man aliue from earth to Heauen Hîc in via es sed illic eris in Patria Therefore baite not too long vpon pleasures by the way All the while I liued said a good man I was going on my iourney towards my countrey but now that I am dying I finde my selfe neere home I am now come to Mount Sion the Citie of the liuing God the heauenly Hierusalem I will not therefore sit downe on this side Iordane but hasten to the Citie whither when I come I shall there see my God face to face Heare my Sauiour say Euge bone serue It is my Fathers will to giue thee a kingdome Is it not enough that my God is gone vp to prepare a place for me but will hee giue mee a kingdome also And shall not I bee glad when God shall come and fetch mee to inthrone mee in this kingdome Absit Now mee thinkes I heare my soule say Cur non accedis Domine Quid moraris I haue too long dwelt in this sepulchre of earth And woe is me that I still remaine in Mesech and dwell in these tents of Kedar It is enough Lord as Elias said in the wildernesse Take now away my life for I am no better then my Fathers were Nay my soule is now growne so high minded that shee saith Maior sum ad maiora genitus quà m vt mancipium sim huius corporis Thus rich in thoughts and great in expectation doth diuine Contemplation make vs. God hath not giuen a soule to any creature else but Man Therefore it is but duety in Man to know the dignitie of his Soule which is so heauenly ambitious as it will not let heauen alone till it may see as it is seene Grauata est anima mea my bodie is a burthen to my soule It hath had honour enough to haue beene so long companion with my Soule wherefore now as Saint Hierome said Egredere anima egredere The Hermite sitting on his turft said to his soule Sexaginta annos seruiuisti Deo nunc mori times Goe out of this Arke of flesh O my soule for I smell the sauour of rest Celeritas nunc in desiderio mora est Though my soule as a bird for necessitie sake hath been faine to stay awhile heere vpon earth yet willingly would she be soring in the skies But I finde that ista vita est mihi impedimento ad id propter quod viuitur Specially when I heare my Sauiour say Father I will that those whom thou hast giuen mee be with mee also where I am That they may behold my glory To him that is faithfull vntill death I will giue a Crowne of life Therefore desiderio desideraui ergastuli huius egressum that I may see facie ad faciem him whom my soule loueth and to bee Lord where thou enioyest thy selfe and glorified spirits enioy thee Entertaine thy last houres with such like thoughts Et hatibi dabunt ad aeternitatem Iter in itinere subleuabunt They will Angelize thy body and imparadise thy soule before thou commest into Heauen yeeld a sweetnesse farre beyond the bitternesse of Death Certainely a good soule thus imploying it selfe in ista hora will not leaue the felicitie it shall haue in such a transmigration from death to life for all the ioyes that life past did euer render her Good Saint Austine