fearyng of hym As God sendeth thē so must we enioy with feare either aduersitie or prosperitie The vsage of hypocrites The errour of Hierome What it is to forsake the worlde No pleasure dureth with a man alwayes Agaynst Monkish lyfe Agaynst workes of mās choyce and deuise Wisedome is to want or be free from foolishnes Salomons exercises It is vanitie for a man to gouerne hym selfe after his owne deuise Princes deuises are vayne Ouermuch care to encrease ryches is reprehended The more thou drinkest water the more thou desirest it A mās vocation must be applyed and good successe desired and looked for of God. A rolle or register of Salomons workes Seruaūts borne in their maisters houses What wisdome Salomon vnderstādeth in this place The impediments of pleasures We must enioye thynges present Wise mens deuises frustrated Examples The successe is not aunswerable to wise mens deuises Deuises are of men but successe of God. We must not put trust in our owne deuises and commit the successe of them to God. Hee that made vs gouerneth vs. Both wisdome and temeritie without Gods gouernaunce is vnhappy We must not trust in our own deuises Our affayres must be cōmended to the kyng that made vs. All things through obliuion are buryed forgottē Nothyng is of continuaunce in this world Lycurgus Augustus Nero. Salomon Roboam Alteration of common weales and religions Salomon speaketh not of persons but of those things that men doe What this phrase to lyue signifieth How we must lyue The life of man is miserable we must not be carefull for to morrow The principall conclusion of the whole booke True mirth or ioye is the gift of god The godly vse their goodes with peace and myrth but the vngodly haue no peace All the workes of man haue a tyme to be begon to be done to be finished in How we be rulers Lordes of Gods creatures Man is no Lord but a bayliue of his lyfe Euery mā is apointed his certein houre to dye in We must vse the goods that God hath geuen vs. God appointeth all men a tyme and season Men cānot enioye the things that god geueth them They that are content with their state vse their goods present The saying of S. Hierome Thinges to come must be commēded to God things present must be enioyed What is most pleasaunt to a man. Gods workes are stable but mans fraile vnsure Therefore will God haue the workes of men to be vncertaine because he he will be feared The difference betweene the workes of God and man. Gods workes mans are not all one Vnrighteousnes in common weales The saying of Frederike Duke of Saxony A cōplaint of the confusion of mans lyfe to the outward sight agaynste which the worde of God must be set For ther is a difference betwene the godly vngodly The houre of death is vncertaine It seemeth that men beastes haue both one kinde of death but there is yet a great difference for the soules are immortal the bodies of men shall be reuiued All thyngs liuyng shall returne into dust of the earth Men in their miseries are cōforted with hope of eternall lyfe The vngodly doubte of the immortalitie of the soule The opinion of godly men which beleeue the immortalitie of the soule A cōplainte of the miserie of mans lyfe from which without the helpe of God hee can not be deliuered Sclander or reproche Oppression of good mē If the godly had no consolatiō it were better not to be borne then to lyue in so great miserie An other kynde of mans misery enuie hatred cōtention vsed in this lyfe Men must not leaue their vocatiō because of the euill will or vnthākfulnes of others We must follow our vocatiō although mē enuye or hate vs. Warninges and comforted Euangelicall How a mā may lyue All things can not be redressed Whom Salomon calleth fooles To folde the handes together a signe of some euill lucke To eate ones owne flesh is to vexe hym selfe Men must be content with meane estate The couetous are reprooued A commēdation of cōmunitie of goodes for goodnes will communicate it selfe The deprauyng of this place Cōmunion of benefites is a band of humane cōsolation He reprehendeth ambition Labour is cōmaunded but care forbidden The affayres of man passe wōderfully and are not ruled by our deuises The education of a kyng Our deuises deceaue vs. Nero. Heliogabalus Cōmodus Good princes are rare seldeom Roboam did degenerate Labour endeuour are not condemned but mens owne deuise and carefulnes The abuse of this booke Why churches and assemblies of people were instituted Why he biddeth thē to looke to their feete Our doings deuises must be ruled by the word of God. To harken to the worde of God is better then the sacrifices of fooles Who be fooles Hypocrites know not how much hurte they doe The foolishenes of hypocrites He warneth vs to auoyde offences The onely sonne of God is to be followed as our teacher nothing must be taught contrary to Gods worde Ostentatiō of wisdome ouermuch that reprehended God must be heard obeyed The doctrine of vowing What things may be vowed The vowes of the olde testament The vowes of Monkes What our vowes and wishes be To vowe virginitie is a thyng impossible God is angry wyth scorners cōtemners Contempte of God cōdemned What the Hebrew worde Sigaion signifieth Where many cares be there are many dreames vanities The sūme of this doctrine What the Scripture vnderstandeth by vowing An admonition agaynst the offēce takē when good men are oppressed The saying of Doctour Sulpitius Good politike men are rare The offēce taken of naughty gouerning the commō weale The saying of Frederike the third Emperour The doctrine of this booke is that in the commō miseries of this life we should keep faith fast a good cōscience and quyet hart in God. That God is the reuēger of all wickednes Wherfore the Magistrate is ordeyned of God. The dutie of kynges The vice of couetousnes What a couetous man is The goods of the couetous consumed by others What it is to gather riches Moderate labour commaunded How we ought to vse our goods A doctrine how we ought to vse our goods and to beare the common miseries of this life The goods of many are hurtful to the owners Examples George Duke of Bauarye We must get goods but to our owne and others godly vses That that Christ will not take the Chequere will. Apply thy labour and aske and looke for good successe of God. How we should vse our goods To labour agaynst the wynde What lyght and darkenes signifieth in the Hebrewe toung What it is to eate in darcknes The conclusion of the whole booke oftētimes repeated Of what rich and couetous mā Salomon here speaketh What maner of riche man he describeth in this place The miserable state of couetous men A rich man couecous is a miser What this phrase meaneth to looke on the
be taken away and the golden Ewer broken THat is before thine eating and drinking slake which is cōpared to a siluer corde and to a rundlet of golde or whéele or ringe of golde For as a whéele or circle runneth about and commeth to his circle againe So meate and drinke alwaies returne and are in déede lyke to a siluer string because our lyfe hangeth and dependeth on them Before the Pytcher be broken at the well and the wheele at the Cesterne THat is before thy breath and lyfe faile thée Our body is lyke to a pitcher which hath alwayes néede of reparation The whele vpon the cesterne is the stomacke and other members which giue instrument to the body And the dust returne to the earth as it was in the beginning SAlomon hath a respect to the place of Genesis 2. Chapiter as if he should say After death dust returneth to earth as it was before We were all dust therefore when we dye we returne to dust as we were before And the spirit returne to God that gaue it ANd here also he hath respect to an other place of Gene. in the same chapter The Lorde God breathed into the face of man breath of lyfe He appointeth not whether the spirit goeth but saith it returneth to God from whence it came For as we know not whereof God made the spirit euen so we know not whether it goeth Vanitie of vanities sayth the Preacher and all is but vanitie HE concludeth hys booke with the same saying wherewith he begonne it and addeth a cōmendation to his doctrine and an exhortation that we should not be led about with straunge and diuers learninges but abide in that that hath béene taught vs For this is a great misery that when God hath sett vp his worde and good teachers by and by start vp heretikes and wicked teachers which through emulatiō draw the people after thē Thus all the Apostles care was to keepe vs in holsome doctrine But thys peruersenes is the holsome doctrine and worde of God compelled to beare when God rayseth vp his worde in come heretikes and Apes that will counterfet hys word Moses appointed a seruice for god and certeine Ceremonies and forthwith certeine Apes erected Idols Thus in all Artes and Sciences it commeth to passe If there be a good Poet he wanteth not his zoili If there be a good Artificer there will be counterfets to follow hym Thus all Artes haue their imitators that is their destroyers But this of all other is the worst that the multitude foloweth these fooles and preferre them before the true Artificers as Christ sayd of them They shall deceaue many This is it that Salomon in this place complaineth on This Preacher was not onely wyse but also taught the people knowledge he was very diligent sought forth and gathered together many Parables THat is this preacher gaue himselfe altogither to teach the people truely but it succéeded not nor followed He was a very diligent man he sought how to set all thinges in good order he was diligent in teaching He appointed ordered many thinges in excellent wyse but where are they that listen to hym and receaue his learning There foloweth no more fruite but wordes For eyther he hath no hearers or els wicked teachers and peruerters succéede He sought to finde out pleasaunt wordes and vprightly to write the worde of trueth THat is he laboured to profit mē with holesome and worthy wordes or as Paule speaketh it with wordes worthy of all acceptation and he truly wrote the wordes of trueth He did not wrappe or folde them vp in darknes as these imitators doe who by reason they vnderstoode not thinges rightly can not teach rightly For Aristotle sayth it is a tokē that a man hath knowledge that can teach well And Demosthenes being demaunded how a man should teach well aunswered if he spake nothing but that he knew and vnderstoode well For he that hath good vnderstāding is able well to teach And this is a commendation of the author as if he should say he taught very well and plainely in so much that by his booke a man may vnderstand what to thinke what to take in hand what to doe or to leaue vndone The wordes of the wyse are lyke goades and like nayles fastened by the masters of the Assemblies and geuen by one Pastour HEre he exhorteth vs that we be not led about with diuers and straunge doctrines as if he should say you haue a notable master and teacher beware therfore of new teachers For the wordes of this master are goades and nayles that is they are planted and set fast They be fastened Such are the words of Dauid and of the Prophets The words of the inconstant wauering mē be as skūme vpon the water And of this place I coniecture there were certeine bookes and histories and to digeste them into certeine annalles and Chronicles of the Hebrewes and to compacte all other bookes in order thereby to purchase authoritie vnto the bookes and to ratifie and allow those that were worthy to be read So there are many authors that haue written Bibles But of them all those onely are receaued and allowed which at this day we call the Bible This it is therfore that he would say Take héede my sonne that thou stick fast to those bookes that are receaued as for other set them at naught because these wyse men haue set them at naught For it commeth to passe that when one good booke is set forth ten other euil be set forth again as may be séen in our dayes But the words of the wyse are firme true which a man may take holde on For they are nailes fastened they haue their authoritie of the men of the congregation Other bookes are not lyke them But are geuen by one Pastour THat is to say one kyng being Pastour hath appointed wisemen to peruse and allow bookes These men in this booke haue acknowledged the holy ghost and allowed it to be had of the people Thus were the Gospelles receaued and allowed of the Fathers that is the Fathers acknowledged the holy Ghost to be in them Now we must not hereof inferre therefore the Church or Fathers are aboue the Gospelles As it followeth not I know God to be the true and lyuing God and his worde Ergo I am aboue God and his worde As he is not aboue the Prince that acknowledgeth the Prince nor aboue his father that acknowledgeth his father euen so in this These men teach not this Pastour but receaue of our Pastour So I make a difference among bookes and say this Epistle is Apostolike and this is not Now this is nothing els but to beare witnes vnto the trueth Now followeth the exhortation ¶ Of other bookes beside these my sonne take thou heede THat is followe those bookes which are allowed of them that haue the holy ghoste and haue acknowledged them to be geuen
of God in this place where God is woorshipped preached there be not to hasty to speak that is become not a teacher but suffer thy selfe to be taught The wicked after they haue heard the woorde doo by by barke and murmure at it some on the left hand other some on the right both of thē being swift to speake before God while they will place their doctrines in steede of Gods. Therfore follow not y neither thine owne nor their woordes but harkē what the Lord sayth as Iames teacheth thee Be not many maisters The meaning is be not a master of thy selfe or of other neyther harken to thy selfe or to other but onely to the woord of god For one is your Maister and teacher which is Christ who is in heauen heare him Dreaming commeth through multitude of cares THese be two prouerbes which he applyeth to his saying for it cometh to passe that where many cares and cogitations go before in the daye that dyuers dreames follow in the night euen by the iudgement of the Phisitions This generall prouerbe thus he applyeth If thou reason be carefully busied in thy minde how to order thinges and wilt take care for all matters there will ensue nothing but dreames which will delude thee when thou art waked that is at length thou shalt conclude but vayne matters 1. Timoth. Knowing not what they say nor whereof they affirme So where we others appoint many ways yet none of thē is followed much more when we preferre our cogitations and counselles before the word of God. And multitude of wordes bewrayeth a foole THat is to dispute of dyuers matters to be to wise in our owne opinions to teach and prescribe all men argueth a foole Therby is a foole to be knowen when he will seeme to be wise Ouer-hasty wysedome and righteousnes commeth neuer to perfection as one sayd I hate that boy that is wise to soone This therfore is his counsell that we should not be so ready to dispute and reason as to harken and doo And this text might haue bene cōcluded in two words Heare and holde thy peace For he that can geue good eare we say in our Dutch prouerbe he will be a wise man And he that with many wordes much disputing wil séeme to redresse matters is a foole and setteth thinges the more backeward These are therefore notable prouerbes for manners and which may be spoken agaynst those which through their owne deuises will get their lyuing or which through their workes will prescribe God a rule c. Euen as Iudas calleth them dreamers which will order appoint the Church without the worde of God. For God is in heauen but thou art on the earth THat is remember thy state or condition The greate maiestie of God is in heauen thou art but a worme on the earth Thou must not talke of Goddes workes after thine owne iudgement let God rather speake dispute not of Gods Counselles nor goe not about to bringe thine own matters to passe through thine owne counsels It is God alone that can dispose and bring all matters to passe for he is in heauen All this we thus expresse in the Germaine toung fewe wordes holde thy toung Thou shalt appoint God no rule These men therfore offend on the left hand which will not heare the word of God but they will helpe matters to goe forward and teach God what he hath to doe These men he thus beateth downe Heare and holde your peace and doe that which God commaundeth appointeth you which if you will not doe you shall offende and so become a dreamer and a foole When thou hast vowed a vowe vnto God differre not to pay it for he delighteth not in fooles Paye therfore that thou hast vowed It is better that thou vowest not thē to vow and not perfourme THis place is greatly tossed in the Church and kyngdome of the Pope as the onely foundation whereon they buylde and set vp their Monkish vowes We dispute not whether vowes are to be perfourmed or not but whether the vowes which they vaunte of be vowes yea or no. Hierome and Lyra agrée both in this that a vow ought to be such as is possible for vs to perfourme and concerneth the glory of god This they call a foolishe vowe to gather vp strawes from the grounde and to claw the head wyth one finger And Moses reciteth diuers kyndes of vowes and what thyngs may be vowed namely a fielde an house meate cloth our owne bodye all which are in our power Thus the Iewes vowed their lyfe and body to the Priestes to serue them for a certain time appointed Furthermore Moses hath no perpetuall vowe but one which he calleth Anathema namely a vowe of death in the last of Leuit. that that must be slayne whether it were man or beast that was vowed as did Iepthe in the eleuenth of Iudges Wherfore if Monkes will bragge of their perpetuall vowes they must by by be killed if they will defende theyr vowes by Moses authoritie Otherwyse all vowes be possible and for a tyme so that thou mayst vow thy bodye to God also thy fielde thy medow thy garment for a certain tyme c. that the Leuite or Priest may haue the vse of it This kinde of vow was very profitable for the Leuits for their better maintenaunce finding And God appointed this for their prouision Our vowes are vtterly foolishe if I say not impious For we vow poueruertie and obedience which are cōmaunded in the Gospell to all Christians To vow virginitie is impossible Ergo by Hierome and Lyra his iudgement they are no vowes Howbeit this place of Salomon séemeth to me to pertain to those that are on the right hand who hearyng that their owne wayes profit them not will afterward doe nothing at all For thus the foole disputeth if by mine owne care and deuise I can not bryng that I will to passe then will I not perfourme that I haue vowed c. Against these contemners he sayth Doe that that God commaundeth I quit thée not from labouring but I appoint thée to doe that the God hath commaunded He commaundeth thée to pay or perfourme that thou hast vowed Conclude all these sayinges thus Harken holde thy peace and doe that thou hast to doe that is that God commaundeth thee For he is not delighted in fooles NOw confirmeth he his saying with a threatening from God he speaketh of such fooles after the manner of Scripture as contemne and regarde not the worde of God Be not reachles make not light of it for you shall not escape vnpunished but abyde such payne as is ordained for them whom God forsaketh and is angry with Suffer not thy mouth to make thy fleshe to sinne neyther say before the Angel that this is ignoraunce least god be angry with thy saying and destroy the woorkes of thyne handes Many wordes are but dreames and
as the prouerbe sayth knowen mischiefes are best We must not therefore so flye and abhorre aduersities considering we know that the ende of all mē is to haue enuye flaunder myseryes and death Therefore if thou wilt wade through them all thou must learne these things by continuall vse Such griefes come vpon fooles vnlooked for but to the Godly by reason of long vse they séeme light as vnto whom this worlde is counted but as donge and death séemeth pleasaunt And in that they lyue they lyue onely for gods sake which will haue them so to lyue And the liuing shal lay it to his hart THe lyuing is he that liueth in wealth and pleasure The naturall lyfe the Hebrewes cōmonly call the soule and the vsuall and pleasaunt lyfe they call to liue He truely expresseth what the experience of aduersitie doth namely that he that lyueth in pleasure layeth it to his hart that is that he is compelled in mynde or harte to learne by such aduersities And he that wil not suffer aduersitie learneth nothing and so remayneth still a foole Anger is better then laughter for by a sad looke the harte is made better THis is all one saying with that afore But how agreeth this with that he sayd afore We must not be angry but reioyce in all our labor And here he saith anger is better then laughter I aunswere He speaketh rather of sadnes then anger not that foolish sadnes which men counterfet But euen as he speaketh of the house of mourning so he speaketh of anger so that anger is a kinde of sadnes or gréefe that causeth a kinde of heauynes as when it was tolde Dauid that all the kinges children were slayne he fell sadd There is the same worde that is in this place which surely can not there signifie anger but heauynes so that it is all one with that we say in the Dutch tounge He was abashed and much troubled Aduersities dusken the countenance and make it heuye So he that is in office publicke or pryuate Such a one can leaue his laughing so that he be a good man and will doo his duetye truely there shall he finde such gréefe that he shall be compelled to saye The deuyll be a burrow master or gouernour for there is nothing but more sorow trouble in it Such sorowes cause sadnes in the countenaunce of those men as wish all thinges well in so much that they thus reason and thinke cease of geue ouer thou nothing preuailest but gettest thy selfe griefe and enuie Here Salomon withstandeth these thinges counselleth and warneth thée saying yelde not but goe thorough with it For it is better thou take indignatiō be sad that thou must bite away the same laughing that thou shewe heauines in thy countenaunce and behauiour and that thou be compelled to shewe it namely by reasō of griefe then to laugh The reason is Because thorough a sadde countenaunce the hart is made better THis may be vnderstāded two wayes first through a sad countenaunce the hart to say of others is amended So Paule in a Byshop requireth grauitie in manners and cōuersation that he offend not men by reason of lightnes c. So Salomon would haue him that is in auctoritie to reioyce in hart but to shew himselfe graue outwardly that other might thereby be amended For if a mā behaue himself in such wise that his hart be meary and his countenaunce graue so that he shew no lightnes in his apparell and gesture him will other feare and reuerēce and his familie will be of no dissolute demeanour Secondly it may thus be expounded In an heauy countenaunce the hart goeth well that is there is no cause but the hart may be meary although the countenaunce outwardly be heauy so that the meaning may be thus It is better to leade a graue and seuere lyfe thē a lyght and dissolute The Hebrewes call laughing such a kynde of lyfe as our Papistes lead which liue most dissolutely contemning and deriding all thinges And thys meaning pleaseth me better then that whereby it is thought that the hart of a foole or godles body can be corrected by any mās sadnes or grauitie It may séeme that a wicked body feareth the grauitie of an other but his hart is all one still I take this saying therfore to be vnderstanded of thine owne hart that in the middle of troubles it may be good It is an Hebrew phrase a good hart for a pleasaunt and meary hart And Salomon speaketh after this sort to dyrect his hearer to the marke of his meaning that is to teach them to be meary howsoeuer the world goeth But where before he sayd It is good to reioyce c. here he séemeth to affirme a contrary Sadnes is better then laughter Surely these two séeme not to agrée but godly matters are alwayes difficulte they are alwayes wrested to a contrary sence If we teach that nothing iustifieth but onely faith then the wicked neglecte all good works Againe if we teach that faith must be declared by workes then they attribute iustification to workes A foole alway swerueth too much on one side So hard a thyng it is to kéepe the highe way So here Salomon requireth neither sadnes alone nor mirth alone but will haue a meane kept betwéene them bothe The mynde must be meary at libertie settled bearing it selfe euen in worldly matters betyde whatsoeuer aduersitie or prosperitie In the sadnes of the countenaunce c. AS if he should say I distinguishe betwéene sadnes of countenaunce and sadnes of hart I will haue all mē meary in hart inwardly for it can not be but outwardly some sadnes will happen As the Apostle saith 2. Cor. 6. As sad and alwayes meary c. so that the one must be referred to the outward sadnes the other to inward The hart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the hart of fooles is in the house of myrth ALl these things seeme cōtrary to that he hath sayd before except we make a difference betwene these two the inward myrth and the outward and inward sadnes and outward He contynueth on in cōforting exhorting saying follow not those fooles which chaunge their mindes with euery chaunge of thinges in hart cleaue to them they be meary in prosperitie but when aduersitie commeth they mourne and are sad In the house of mourning THe Hebrewes call a house not that building onely which is made of tymber and stone but what place so euer any thing is donne in So with their Grammariās euery letter is a house of words that beginneth with the same letter But why is the hart of the wise in the house of mourning Because wise men are not ouercomed of aduersitie neither chaunge with euery alteratiō Fooles follow outward myrth and flye aduersytie a most troublesome kinde of men taking many things in hande with great rashenes and feruencie and when neuer so lytle trouble appeareth
their harts all the dayes of their lyfe THis is againe a copiousnes of Salomon as though he should saye The worlde is all together vnquyet and vnkinde there is as small remembraunce of good men as of euell This is to be vnderstanded on the worldes behalfe not on Gods. The righteous men that lyue are conteyned of the world and in the world But with God they stand in good case as he sayd before He that feareth the Lord it shall goe well with him The worlde rewardeth the good and the bad alyke This is the woorst of all things that are donne vnder the Sunne THat is mans hart is to weake to heare this peruersenes They that haue not the feare of God can not patiētly suffer this ingratitude and that there should be no difference betwéene good mē and euill but that it should happen to both alyke This is the cause therefore that mēs hartes are fylled with wyckednes THat is to say with indignation Intollerable sorow Because they haue not vnderstanding nor can not frame them selues to doe as God doth which sendeth rayne to the good and euyll alyke I suppose that the Philosophers Monkes are here quipped which because they could not beare with these thinges forsooke the worlde They would not serue in such an vnkinde worlde But Salomon will haue vs to be busyed in the worlde and to know the worlde and not to be feared with the ingratitude thereof from doing but to follow our heauenly father which letteh his sunne to arise vppon the good and euill Math. v. And foolishnes remayneth in their hartes vntill they dye THat is they die without hauing done any worke euen as though they had neuer lyued They are lyke a shadow in this lyfe profitable to no body None enioyeth any part of their seruice or goodnes And that they hope after is preuented by death So their ende is nothing but death they leaue no goodnes for posteritie But doe thou so order thy lyfe that thou séeke to be meary and to doe good vnto others For among all men lyuing hope is chosen for a lyuing dogge is better then a dead Lyon. BY this place Salomon prepareth an exhortation for vs to doe good whyle we are able that we be nothing mooued with the ingratitude of the worlde but that we holde on in doing our dutye and haue a good hope and trust Because there is hope in all men as long as they lyue as if he should say Doe not so contemne or despise this lyfe that thou eyther despayre or forsake the felloship of men for hope or trust is the best thing that is among men For as long as men are lyuing there is hope Therfore we must doe as much as we are able For because of the remnaunt we must serue the whole Thus a good minister of the worde of God for the good Citizēs sake preacheth the worde of God although many blame the same So if a good schoolemaster haue two good schollers he must take paynes for their sakes although he haue twenty other naughty disposed and hopeloftes Thus must ech magistrate also doe if he can not bring the whole City to doe their dutie yet he shal perhaps finde some one or two whom he shall bring to good passe c. This is it therefore that Salomon sayth Let vs not be discouraged through dispayre nor yet presume or take so much vpon vs For we must not so despayre of the lyuing as we doe of the dead of whome there is no hope We must beare with the importunities of men and not despayre of all men although many be wicked and vngratious For a lyuing dogge is better then a dead Lyon. HE enter laceth a prouerbe meanyng thus It suffiseth to correcte redresse something in the worlde as a lyue dog although he be a beast of no great accompt yet is he better then the great carcasse of the strōgest Lyon. This we speakē and vtter in this wyse Better is a Sparrow sure in hand then a Crane in doubt Againe in the Dutch toung The childe must not be poured out with the water that it hath beene bathed in For the lyuing know that they shall die but the dead know nothing at all neyther haue they any more a rewarde for their remembraunce is forgotten Also their loue and their hatred and their enuy is now perished and they haue no more portion for euer in all that is done vnder the Sunne THe lyuing sayth he know they shal die therfore in their life they haue this hope Let them not therefore put of frō day to day to worke and to doe well lyke fooles maycockes which alwayes looke on other mens examples and wyll neuer geue any onset by themselues before they see other beginne to doe well The dead know nothing at all neither are they rewarded any more SAint Hierome wrested this place foolishly to the rewarde of the dead which were in purgatory For Salomō séemeth to thinke that the deap are without all manner of féeling And I thinke there is not a place in the scripture of more force for the dead that are fallen in sléepe vnderstanding naught of our state and condition against the inuocation of Saintes and fiction of Purgatory It is an Hebrew phrase They haue no more any rewarde WHich we thus expresse in the Dutch speach It is all in vaine with thē that be dead All they can doe is of no auayle they now can doe nothing that may profite them lyke as is sayd other wheres thy worke shall be rewarded And as Paule sayth your trauell shall not be in vayne ¶ Their loue their hatred c. VNderstand all these thinges actiuely as before that is to say the benefits they did by louing by obeying c. are forgotten And where as Saint Hierome caueleth that although they know not what is donne in the worlde yet they know the thinges that are donne in heauen it is an error and a folly ¶ Moreouer they haue no parte or portion in this worde THat is they haue nothing to doe with vs He describeth the dead as lyke to sensles Carkasses He will therfore haue vs vse this lyfe while we may and to labour all that we are able We are compelled to leaue the greater parte of the world vnto Satan we can scarce bring the thousandth parte vnto god Therefore if the Lyon dye kyll not the Dogg also Goe therefore and eate thy breade with ioy and drinke thy wine wyth a cherefull hart For now thy works please God. AS Salomon is wont after a rehersal of vanitie in this worlde to ioyne immediately some comfort and exhortation for vs to be meary and of good cheere euē so doth he in this place as though he should say Seing we are constrayned to lyue in this peruersitie it shall be best for vs to be meary and quyet For we can not chaunge these thinges neyther shall we
and put not oyle into the fier as the prouerbe sayth Be thou neyther in loue ne yet in sadnes be meary and enioy thy goods And vse thy selfe hereto in thy youth that thou mayst know how to doe in thine age For they that liue quietly and pleasauntly in their youth shall come also vnto a pleasaunt age ¶ Remember thy Creator now in thine youth before the euell dayes come the yeares approch where in thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them ALl these thinges say I vnto thée because I would haue thée free from all youthly affections that thou mayst feare God and vse those thinges which he geueth thée Before the euell dayes come that is before thou waxe olde For age of it selfe is a sicknes although it haue none other dysease besyde For olde men lose the strength of mynde and body both He describeth age by many wordes and fygures and how age hath nothing but euell dayes and is vnprofitable to be entangled with busynes Whiles the sonne is not darke nor the light nor the Moone nor the Starres nor the Cloudes returne after the rayne LYght signifieth felicitie darkenes affliction and miserye as where it is sayd A light is risen vp in darknes to them that be true of harte This he meaneth Before the infelicitie and misfortune of age come when neyther the sunne shall be pleasaunt to thée nor the light delighteth thée There the cloudes returne after the rayne that is to saye there is a continual entercourse of tribulation and sadnes In other ages as in youth and myddle age c. there is a kinde of enterchaungeable myrth and after a tempest cometh cleare weather after sadnes myrth But in olde men after cloudes come rayne One mischaunce vpon another one foule weather vpō an other And thus the Poetes called age sad or heauye ¶ When the Reapers of the house shall tremble THese are descriptions and very pictures of age This he meaneth Acquaint thy selfe to beare aduersitie liue in the feare of God before the keepers of the house tremble or shake that is before thine handes tremble For the handes are the Protectours of the body as Aristotle calleth the hand the instrument of instruments Because it serueth so many vses namely all the members wherein all other membres haue their distinct and seuerall offices and duetyes For our body is lyke as it were an house wherein a man may beholde a president both of publicke and priuate gouernment the kinge of which publicke gouerment is the hed and the hands are the kéepers or garde c. †And the strong men shall bowe them selues THat is when the legges and knées shall waxe faint and yelde For vnto the bones and legges is attributed the strength of man as in the Psalme The Lord hath no pleasure in the strength of a mans legges When the Grinders shall cease because they are fewe OLde age is toothles The téethe are the grinders of the meate and the mouth is as the Myll There is euell grinding where the teeth be fallē out ¶ And they waxe darke that looke out at the wyndowes THat is whē the eyes waxe to be dimme of sight For age hath no cleare sight by reason that the strength of all senses in olde men is diminished And the streat dores be shut without the base sounde of the grinding waxe weake THat is when the mouth and chawes hang downe and are not fast For the mouth is the dore of the hart Math. 17. Out of the hart procede c. The throte shutteth in the voyce making it small Thus the doores are shutt For the twoo lippes are the doores or gate out of the which our hart commeth forth euen as by a doore into the streate This doore in olde men is shutt because they can not singe hallowe and speake out yea they can scarse drawe their breath When they shall ryse at the peping of the byrde and all the daughters of singing shall waxe fainte THat is they shall not onely speake with much paine but hardely catch any sleape For by reason of the drynesse of humors in olde men the roote and cause of sleape is taken away For sleape hath his feeding of the humors in man Olde men therefore are awaked with euery litle chirping of a byrde where younge men sleape lyke hogges and though the Cockes do crowe the Dogges doe barke or it thunder they sleape still The daughters of singing ARe bothe the eares It is an hebrewe phrase as the Sonne of helpe of light of darkenes as hath beene declared heretofore So the eares are called the daughters of singing that is they that are busied in hearing of songes These daughters of singing waxe fainte or weake They become weake and feble c. that is Olde mens eares waxe deaf they delight not in musicke When the height shal be afrayed feare in the waye THat is the olde man shall goe stowping with shoulders and head For the head and shoulders are the heigth of the body This heigth feareth that it waxeth crooked This he meaneth olde men go fearefully in euery place because they goe hanging downe their head and shoulders as they vse that are afrayed ¶ When the Almonde Tree shall florish THat is when the head waxeth white For the Almond tree of all others beareth whitest flowers Of this florishing Almond trée he boroweth his metaphor of hoary Age. †When the Grashopper shall be a burthen THat is such an olde man is lyke to a grashopper The whole bodie is nothing but skinne and bone For his bones sticke out and his body is worne away And so he is become a very Image and Counterfet of death When pleasure and delight abateth FOr thus had I lieffer to enterpretate the hebrewe worde for he vnderstandeth not the venerous pleasure which chiefly in olde men is ceased but also all other kinde of lawfull honest pleasure as if he should saye An olde man taketh delight in nothing but is vnfitt to all such purposes There is no pleasaunt taulke or familiaritye with him but he is euen a liuing corps Thou séest therefore that he speaketh here of decrepite Age good for nothing not of such age as is able yet to be occupied in such businesses For man shall goe into the house of his age and the mourners shall goe about in the streat HE entermedleth a place which enforceth me to vnderstand this chapter of age This he meaneth It remayneth the man must goe to the house of his eternitie that is to his graue For the graue is the house of his eternitie or worlde because he goeth thyther and returneth not againe yet we mourne and bewaile him thus going to his graue With houling and mourning is he brought to his graue Serue God therfore before thou waxe olde for then there remayneth nothing but that thou must be carryed to the graue Before the siluer corde