we in the presence of Men Angels Nature and of God himselfe endure somwhat that may shew we can accommodate our selues vnto the Lawes of the World and to the Will of our Soueraigne Pompey being Ambassadour for the Romanes was surprised by King Gentius that indeauoured to wrest from him Publique affaires but to shew him there was no torture that could draw it from him he put his owne Finger in the Fire and suffered it to burne vntill that Gentius himselfe plucked it away He sought torment to make shew of the strength of his fidelitie And shall we betray our Soule if torments befall vs And forget the duetie we owe vnto that that is Diuine in vs Shall we then beare a deiected minde and inthrall it to our body to condole and suffer paines equall with it Farre more generous was that braue Anaxarchus that halfe bruized in the Tyrants Morter would neuer confesse his minde to be touched with paine Stampe on quoth he the case of Anaxarchus for as for him you cannot hurt Hence came that faire resolution Hence as from a quick-spring did flow that Constancie whereby he had learned to despise the body as a thing that is not our owne nor in our power and vse it as a borrowed garment to make shew for a time of our minde vpon this low and transitorie Theater Now were not he ouer-nice that should howle and cry out because his Gowne were spoyled or a Hooke had grapled it or some one going by had torne it some base Broker that would make gaines of such Ware would complaine of it A Prince a great Man a wealthy Citizen would laugh at it and in comparison of the rest of his wealth would make no reckoning of it Let vs value our selues as we ought to doe let vs be curious of our Honour and quietnesse and we shall make little account of all our body can suffer in this World Yea but the paine will be so great we shall lose our Life by it and shall see the Thread of our yeeres cut off in the verie middle Who can free himselfe from the Feare of this blow that euen Nature her selfe doth abhorre for though Death comes in due time yet it is dreadfull How much worse will it be when it is hastened and gathereth vs vp fresh and greene in the very prime of our Youth We deceiue our selues our Death hath nothing dreadfull of her selfe more then our Birth Nature hath nothing that is strange and terrible Death is amongst vs euerie day and doth not scare vs We dye euerie day and euerie houre of our Life that is past is dead It is not the last drop comes out of the Bottle emptieth it but finisheth it and the last moment of our Life doth not cause Death but only sheweth it The chiefest part of Death consisteth in that wee haue liued the more wee desire to liue the more wee desire Death should gaine by vs but from whence comes this desire Euen from the Opinion of the Vulgar that measures all by the Yard and deemes nothing precious that is not great whereas exquisite and excellent things are commonly thinne and slender It is the part of a skilfull workman to enclose much in a little space and we may say that it is almost fatall to illustrious men to dye quickely great Vertue and long Life seldome meetes together Life is measured by the End so that it bee good all the rest hath its proportion quantitie auayleth nothing to make it more or lesse happy a little Circle is as round as a great it is Figure doth all Yet you will say one would wish to die quietly in his bed amongst his owne people comforting them and receiuing comfort from them againe It is a pittifull thing to bee killed in a Corner and be depriued of decent Funerals So many men that goe to the wars and take Post to bee present at a Battell are not of this Opinion They are going to die all aliue and burie themselues among their enemies Little children feare masked men vncouer their faces they feare them no more Euen so beleeue mee Sword and the flames of Fire terrifie vs in the manner as we imagine them take off the maske the Death wherewith they threaten vs is the very same whereof women and little children die But I shall leaue behinde little children without helpe or assistance as if those children belonged more vnto you then vnto God as if you loued them more then he which is the first and truest Father or as if you had more meanes to keepe them safe then hee No no they shall haue the common Father of all the world that shall watch ouer them and preserue them vnder the wings of his fauour as he doth all his creatures from the greatest to the least Euils then are neuer so great as our Ambitious Opinion setteth them foorth vnto vs shee doth fright vs by her guile But shee doth altogether marre and corrupt vs when as shee striues to perswade vs that in such occasions we must grieue and pine our selues Certainely if the sorrow it bringeth had nothing worse then the deformitie wherewithall it is accompanyed wee ought to flye from it with might and maine Obserue it as soone as shee getteth into vs shee filleth vs with such a shame wee dare not shew our selues openly nor so much as in priuate to our friends after we are once seized on by this passion we seeke nothing but an odde corner to lye dreaming in and shun the sight of men we will haue no witnesses to our actions the sight of our friends is troublesome to vs what is the meaning of this but onely that she condemneth her selfe and doth acknowledge how vncomely she is would not you thinke she were a woman that had been catcht in the act that hideth and concealeth her selfe and is afraid to be knowne or Terentius his Chaerea that hauing attired himselfe like an Eunuch to performe a peece of knauerie is ouertakē in the midst of the street or in a strange house It is indeed to apparell men like Eunuchs yea geld thē altogether as to suffer them to fall into that sorrow which bereaueth them of whatsoeuer they haue manly and generous and giueth vs all the countenances and infirmities of women So the Thracians put men that mourned into womens apparell either to make them ashamed of themselues or to cause them to giue ouer quickly such vncomely and effeminate behauior But what need was there of such clothes for that for it seemes to me their countenances and their actions might haue been a sufficient token to shew they were no more men It was in my opinion a publike disgrace the Lawes inflicted vpon them for their pusillanimitie a summons to remember themselues and put on againe their manly courage The Roman Lawes that were more generous haue not sought remedies by disgrace against these effeminate lamentations for they haue vtterly prohibited them by their first and purest ordinances
vpon vs conceiued great melancholy thereby insomuch that this sorrow ouercomming his health weakened already by age hee fell sicke vpon it During the time of his sicknesse hee was visited by the most famous men of the Towne and because I was his neighbour and that I loued and honoured him much I went thither often The day before hee died a great number of Learned men being about him and finding himselfe more at quiet then hee was wont to be many discourses and questions were mooued specially about the condition of good men that were called to great Places which is almost euer wretched their Vertue being rewarded with Rage and Enuy for the sweetest Recompences and Iniuries and Wrongs for the most vsuall Some one chanced to say That yet the Religion wee were brought vp in gaue vs much aduantage vpon the Ancients proposing to vs the remuneration of our Labours in the life to come and letting vs know that the best part of vs out-liueth our Body nay that euen our Body doth rot and putrifie to spring out and be renewed one day in a happier life wherein Vertue shal receiue the Crowne shee hath deserued Whether the others which had no knowledge but by the gloomie light of Nature could not reach nor stretch their hopes any further then Death nor consequently haue any other comfort but that of this World which certainely is very small This good Lord raysing his head from the Pillow and leaning on his Elbow I did quoth he entertaine my selfe some part of the Night with this Subiect and after long musing vpon it I concluded That the strongest and most certaine comfort wee can take is the assurance of a second and more happy Life And though our Faith giueth it vs and that the Spirit of God hath specially reuealed it vnto vs yet I doe not beleeue the ancient Philosophers haue beene ignorant of it and that so much Vertue as they had did want this consolation vnlesse they haue reiected it when as Nature with her owne hand hath offered it them And I thinke if I could rehearse vnto you all that ran in my minde this Night about it you would confesse it to bee so Then framing his countenance and speech according as hee was wont to doe when hee intended to continue a Discourse wee prepared our selues also with a great silence to heare him and hee proceeded much after this manner Amongst all the things of the World in the knowledge of whom wee may erre there is none whose ignorance is more pernicious and hurtfull then that of the estate of our Soules after this frayle and mortall life for thence is deriued a perplexed anxietie and miserable vnquietnesse which is the cause that men finding nothing happy in this world and looking for no certaintie after it thinke they are sent hither as to a fatall Torment wherein they must liue and die in griefe and calamitie They hate Life and feare Death and least they should fall into what they feare they take what they despise As Vlysses did in Homer who to saue himselfe from drowning embraced a wilde Figge-tree not for any loue hee bore vnto it but for feare that forsaking it hee should fall into Charybdis which hee saw vnder him Contrariwise those which are fully perswaded that the Soule is here but in Pilgrimage on the way to a more happy place trifle not away the time in complayning of Thornes and Brambles that scratch them as they goe by nor in gathering and making Nose-gayes with the Flowers they finde but being carryed away with a liuely ardour to finde such a resting place they rush through and neglect whatsoeuer they meete so much excepted as is needefull for their Voyage Now I will neuer beleeue that this ordinary power of God which is commonly called Nature which in all other things hath beene so propitious to men hath denyed them at any time the knowledge of that which was most necessarie for their good and to get the perfection of their being Rather I will thinke that those which denyed this immortalitie bee of that number which the Word of God pronounced by Saint Paul declareth inexcusable in regard they had the degrees of things visible sufficient and able to reach to the inuisible if they had not imployed them rather to descend then to ascend Ambitious people to their owne ruine which haue taken away force from the discourse which might haue made them happy to giue it vnto that which will make them vnhappy It seemeth vnto me it were enough to confound them to bring forth against them the common opinion of all the Nations of the World which what Age soeuer they liued in what part of the Earth soeuer they did inhabite what Manners and Customes soeuer they obserued haue layd this Beleefe for a foundation of all their Actions Ciuill Gouernments and Societies That their Soule suruiued their Bodyes and was not subiect to death Otherwise why should they haue Deified the most famous men amongst them and ordayned so many honourable Ceremonies to their Memories The Indians and Draides were esteemed the wisest of all the ancient Heathens which more deepely searched into the Bosome of Nature and purchased the highest Secrets of Wisdome They had so certaine a knowledge of this Immortalitie that they ran headlong vnto this corporall Death that is the entrance thereof and did chearefully embrace all honourable occasions that could bring them to it This Opinion hath wrought diuerse effects in diuerse Nations but euery one hath had it And if any may be excepted which beleeued the contrary when as they came to frequent and resort vnto others they held againe the same Opinion Which sheweth plainely that this Beleefe is bred with man and therefore it is naturall right and true For the Vniuersall Nature that is not corrupted by our particular Vice doth not put in our minde any other but sound and pure Opinions As shee guideth our Appetite and that of other Creatures onely to such Meates as are fit to nourish them so shee doth not incline our Vnderstanding to any thing else but to comprehend the Truth and to consent and yeeld vnto it as to his true Obiect and Foode which being represented to it accommodates it selfe presently euen as an Image is fitted to the Mould it was first cast vpon But for as much as those men despise for the most part Popular Iudgements and thinke Truth dwelleth not amongst the Vulgar and beleeue rather that Nature hath buried it very deepe in the ground where it must be found with the Diuine Rod of Philosophy and draw it out with the labour of a great and painefull Meditation let vs put backe whole Nations and bring forth onely such as haue got the glory in all Ages to be the wisest and most learned Pythagoras Solon Socrates Plato Aristotle and such a number of others that to name them all one had neede to haue as much time as it is since they liued haue not onely
Apprenticeship of our Soules which after the Time and Labours that are prescribed vnto them shall be relieued from their Watching set at Libertie and restored to Eternall Rest which will affoord them wherewithall to satisfie that desire of Diuine being whereof they haue cast forth the first Sparkes through this heauie and cumbersome Flesh From her wee learne furthermore that after this Life our Soules doe not onely finde another more happie but euen our Bodyes rotting heere as Seede in the Ground shall spring into a new Fruit and shall be raysed vnto an Estate of Glorie and Perfection Therefore Diuinitie descending from Heauen mingled her selfe againe with Flesh to mould and kneade againe our Humanitie disfigured and defaced by Sinne ioyned her selfe to vs that shee might draw vs to her humbled her selfe to exalt vs quickned her Humanitie after death to make vs liue in the hope of that glorious Resurrection whereof shee was pleased to bee the First Fruites and by the which wee shall bee brought into the Inheritance of Glorie receiuing in Body and Soule the incomprehensible Splendour of Eternall Light But the passage to arriue thereunto is Death Desirable Death seeing it makes vs change Liues with so much profit Death not Death seeing it is the beginning of true Life and that wee are in this Body onely as the Chicken in the Shell which must bee broken ere it can be hatched or like the Child in his Mothers Wombe which must bee left ere wee can see the Day Let vs suffer them to feare it who thinke that all perisheth with the Body or them which expect after it the punishment of their Wickednesse And seeing wee haue so many Testimonies and so certaine Tokens of our future Life and being sure that dying here in the feare of God in the Faith of his beloued Sonne and trust in his Goodnesse wee shall liue againe aboue and enter into Glorie with him in the Throne of his Diuine Maiestie Let vs passe chearefully and lay downe the Burthen that hindereth and stayeth vs as wee would doe prophane Garments at the entrance of a holy Temple As for mee my Friends I feele my selfe almost in the Harbour with a great comfort of my Afflictions past and immediately for the Felicitie I expect I haue floated in the World in great and dangerous Stormes They tossed my Soule but they could not thankes bee to God ouerthrow it I know very well that the Condition of Humane Infirmitie hath put mee backe as shee doth all others from the perfection God requireth in vs but howsoeuer it neuer made mee loose the certaine and constant desire to aduance his Honour and Glory nor abate any thing of the good affection a good Subiect oweth vnto his Countrey My Conscience beareth mee this Witnesse and this Witnesse makes Death sweete and pleasant vnto mee I could wish euen at the last Gaspe I might doe the Publicke some Seruice but hauing no other meanes for it I will returne vnto you which are my best Friendes and it s too and for the last Office I can doe vnto this so holy Friendship I will coniure you that since you remayne heere to shut vp the end of a most Wretched Age you settle your Mindes by braue and constant Resolutions to withstand vndauntedly the Violence of the Tempest that threateneth this State and your particular Fortunes For all the Ages past haue seene fewe Miseries and Calamities but that you are like to see in your dayes The inside the outside of the kingdome great and small are like vnto mad men bent to its ruine and desolation You shall bee amazed one of these dayes when as you shall see the Lawes ouerthrowne the Gouernment altered all put into confusion those that shall haue the Gouernement beare the intent to loose both themselues and their owne Countrey and good men shall not bee suffered to open their Mouth and giue good and wholesome Counsell Remember then you are men and true hearted subiects vnto this crowne Let not your courage run away from you with your good Fortune Stand fast vpon Right and Reason and if the Waues and Billowes must carry you away let them ouerwhelme you with the Rudder in your hand still Behold the the time that you must present your brest against Fortune for the defence of the State and couer your countries body with your owne Certainely this ruine cannot bee auoyded without a great and generous courage of such as shall oppose themselues against it which all good men in my opinion are bound to doe Neuerthelesse you must qualifie by Prudence what an obstinate austeritie would but exasperate and make worse and follow Destinie without forsaking Vertue Doing well you shall shall runne into great hazards and shall suffer many iniuries but what can there happen so strange and horrible that the hope of the soueraigne good wherein I shall preuent you doth not aswage There is well-neere the same words that were vttered vnto vs by that great and wise Personage I rehearsed them vnto you against my Will knowing full well that the weakenesse of my Memorie and harshnesse of my Tongue would loose much of the weight of his Reasons and of the grace of his Discourse But if you had heard him himselfe with his sweete and pleasing fashion hee had kindled in your soules so liuely and ardent a desire of eternall felicitie that there is no affliction in the world the sense whereof hee had not taken away from you There Linus ended his speech and I beeing heartened and cheered vp sayd Certainly this was a very fine Discourse seeing that you who in all other things giue mee such satisfaction seemed vnto mee in the recitall of this to goe beyond your selfe I beleeue the Idea and remembrance of that great personage that is yet fresh and present in your Memorie for the honour and loue you bore vnto him quickned your tongue and inspired into you some thing more then humane Would to God this speech might continue as long as our miseries I am sure I should haue my Eares full of such Discourses and my Minde free from Sorrowes I sweare vnto you that since the time this Calamitie fell vpon vs I found nothing that made this Life more tolerable vnto mee then what I heard from you three these three last dayes but specially to day It is reported That Ptolomaus was forced to forbid Egesias the Cyrenian to discourse any more in publick of the Immortalitie of the Soule because the most part of those which heard him hastened their death with their owne hands That makes mee beleeue hee was ill acquainted with the Subiect hee handled For I beleeue there is nothing in the World giueth vs more courage to endure patiently our Miseries then the Reasons I learned euen now from you which in few wordes represented vnto vs what is the cause and the end of our Afflictions and what recompence our Patience findeth when wee can perseuer in it vnto the end Wherefore I could wish for the comfort of my poore distressed Countrey contrarie to that which was done to Egesias you should bee constrayned all three to continue in publicke such a Discourse But for as much as it is a thing I cannot hope for I am resolued to preserue carefully in my Memorie all that I learned from you about it and at my first leysure if our fortunate Studyes can get any set it downe in Writing to leaue it vnto Posteritie for to instruct in like occasions those that shall come after vs and let them know that in a most corrupted Age and amongst men strangely depriued of all Naturall Affection wee haue liued with a great compassion of the publicke Miserie and yet with a farre greater desire to bee able to helpe it FINIS
see our State tottering it is in vaine wee offer to proppe it vp it is in vaine we endeauor our selues to resist them that vndermine the foundations of it it is in vaine that wee are troubled to know what side wee should follow Is it not the surest and wisest to take the partie of Destinie and follow Prouidence when wee know her inclination or howsoeuer were it not better for vs to lie still and rest then to rowle this stone ouer and ouer againe that will fall at last doe what we can I haue seene certainly the wisest of our age much troubled about it seeing the iuster ouerthrowne by the stronger partie Some haue with an vndanted courage withstood whatsoeuer seemed iniust vnto them and euen as of purpose wrought their owne ruine by it Some others like vnto Marriners haue tacked about when they could not go straight forward and going aside auoyded the dangers which they thought impossible to shun without shipwracke I would desire to know of you which of the two we ought rather to imitate and if we see the striuing of Vertue against Violence to proue vnprofitable to the publike and hurtfull to our selues whether wee ought to forsake all publike actions and withdraw vs wholly from businesse or whether Vertue ought euen amidst the greatest stormes keep on her course and rather suffer her selfe to bee ouerwhelmed then to goe backe or whether there bee euer a a middle path betweene an obstinate austeritie and a shamefull seruitude by the which an innocent prudence may bee saued harmelesse from these ciuill broyles and craged cliffes wherewith we are on all sides enuironed To the end that doing the Common-wealth seruice as farre as we are able we may passe away this mortall life waiting for the houre wherein we shall be called to the next that is immortall As I see quoth Linus it will be in this as it is in Princes feasts those that entertaine first doe it best cheape the charge and magnificence is euer greater for the last But since you come as vnbidden guests and that you take me vnprouided I shall giue you but course Fare which I would not doe at all were it not rather to giue you satisfaction and entertainment then for any hope I haue to handle worthily so troublesome a subiect being no manner of wayes prepared for it I haue beene in the like opinion my selfe heretofore as you are now and it seemed wiser and safer to me in the beginning to yeeld vnto Violence and giue way as you say to Destinie Because it is labour lost to be vexed for a thing you despaire to obtaine It is hope onely that giueth life and heart to our trauell He were not onely a foole but worst then mad that should hope to preuaile against Prouidence But as it fals out commonly that those obiects wee see a farre off appeare otherwise then they are when wee come neere euen so searching narrowly into this proposition which at the first sight seemed wise vnto me yea godly religious I found it vnaduised nay impious perceiued it was nothing else but a faint-heartednesse that seeketh to withdraw vs from the Sunne and labour to set vs in the shaddow and at rest Which she doth with such pretences as are easie to be discouered by any one that will boldly draw the Curtaine and behold the plaine and naked truth Why should wee say wee ought to bee idle in the time of publike calamitie lest wee should oppose our selues against Prouidence and Destinie There is a Prouidence it is true there is a Destinie I beleeue it and we cannot hinder their effects But I pray you how doe we know what Prouidence is minded to doe How can wee guesse at the intent of her counsels By how much shee is certaine and vnchangeable in her will by so much are wee vncertaine and ignorant what is her will God hath couered Time to come with a thicke cloud that cannot bee pierced with the eyes of our weake vnderstanding Wisely indeede and happily for vs. For if man had beene sure of the good fortunes that are to befall him it would haue made him so vnquiet and he would haue carried so high a minde that hee could not haue beene kept within the bounds of his obedience And on the other side the certaintie of future euils would haue driuen him into such a perplexitie and brought him downe so low that hee could not haue beene cheered vp by any meanes possible Seeing then that future things are so vncertaine and that our hopes and feares beguile vs alike what assurance can wee take to resolue our selues for feare of time to come to forsake our present dutie God is resolued will wee say to ruine our Towne wee see many signes of it There is a number of ambitious and wicked men that turne vpside downe all Order Lawes and politicke Gouernment I will let them alone for I cannot withstand them O faint and cowardly speech who made you so wise in a little time and acquainted you with Gods counsels to vnderstand his designes Hath not the vncertaintie of humane things taught vs yet how those wee esteeme surest are soonest ouerthrowne and those wee thinke ready to fall are set vp againe and strengthened on a sodaine And though we were sure that we were not able to saue our countrey should wee forsake it for all that Wee doe not forsake those that are stricken with incurable diseases It is no small smatter in my opinion to make death gentle and easie to them which cannot auoyde it and giue them lenitiue remedies when others can doe no good There is a kinde of comelinesse in dying handsomely and they esteeme it a friendly office to close vp their friends eyes and lay all the parts of their bodie in a decent and orderly posture at their death Though wee were not able to doe any more why should not we yeeld this last office vnto our country And farre lesse ought wee to forsake it in great commotions seditions and publike calamities the malady can neuer bee so desperate that wee ought to despaire of recouery But the difficultest thing to be resolued on in such a case is whether we be bound necessarily to take the better and iuster partie and follow it or keepe our selues quiet in that wherein wee are engaged expecting opportunitie of working the reconciliation of both and bring those that haue strayed from their dutie to the acknowledgement of their fault For it is not a question to be asked whether wee ought to further and helpe the partie wee know to be vniust but onely by those that haue neither Vertue nor Conscience The Law of Solon seems vnto me very prudent and wise which ordained that in ciuill diuisions euery one should presently chuse his side because of two factions the one being still in the wrong and that offers iniury to the other the subiect is inexcusable that forsaketh the party of the lawes and publike welfare to
left vs a testimonie of their Beleefe in the memorie of men but euen deliuered it in writing Yea they haue set this Maxime of the Immortalitie of the Soule as the Center of Philosophie where met and ended all other Rules and whatsoeuer else could bee introduced honest and wholesome for the conseruation of Ciuill Life and specially for that part they haue so much laboured about which they call the Tranquillitie of the Soule If there were any doubt in that matter yet the testimonie of such men so well agreeing in it should haue cleared it and ought to reduce vnto this Opinion those that esteeme them so much which ought to suffer themselues to bee ouercome by the authoritie of those great Naturallists seeing that euen doing so they better their condition But industrious to their owne Euill to make voyde the authoritie of those great men they say they regard nothing but Reason which they will separate from the persons to the end they may weigh them all pure and that Truth be not in this Question ballanced or suppressed by the weight of the Name or Fame of any one Therefore they would binde this Discourse to Schoole-Rules and desire wee should prooue by demonstration what wee would haue them to beleeue They would willingly beeled euen by the Sences vnto the knowledge of that which is propunded them or at least gather our Conclusions for that which wee will perswade them out of the Maximes that are collected from the Sences Too vniust and partiall in that and little considering the nature of the matter that is handled There must bee discoursing and discussing to know the things whose formes are drowned in the matter Wee must vse the Sences then and by the meanes of what wee touch and see ascend as by degrees vnto the intelligence of that which is further from vs. But for one to thinke to vnderstand the nature of our Soule in this fashion it is as much as not to bee willing to know it for beeing simple as shee is shee must come in all naked into our Vnderstanding beeing to fill all the place whatsoeuer shee should bring along with her should hinder her Euen the feeling of things sensible whose sence is very sharpe is done so suddenly that wee cannot tell how it is made Likewise of things intelligible those that are altogether pure seize vpon our Vnderstanding so speedily that you can say onely they are but you are not able to tell how For they doe not seeke for borrowed Testimonies to make themselues knowne they open and manifest themselues better then any thing else that would commend them Therefore the true way how to know the nature of our Soule is to rayse her vp aboue the Body and draw her backe vnto her selfe to the end that by her owne reflection shee may know her selfe by her selfe Neuerthelesse if there bee any so opinionate that they will not see her but drowned in the Flesh and iudge of her Greatnesse by the shadow of her effects as they doe of the Moone by the shadow of the Earth yet through this dull and heauie Masse wherewithall shee is wrapped shee casteth sparkes nay flames so liuely of her Immortalitie that those which behold her must needes confesse eyther they see her or else they are blinde They perceiue that this Beame of Diuine Nature wrapped in this little Cloud of Flesh casteth its Light from one end of the World to the other After it hath measured that which is limitted it reacheth to the Infinite comprehends the formes of all things and transformeth it selfe into them receiueth Contraries Fire and Water Heat and Cold without alteration or corruption How then can they suppose any matter in her that hath such Actions seeing that all matters is limitted and bounded by certaine Dimensions receiueth nothing bigger then it selfe is capable but of one onely substantiall forme and cannot containe at one time contrary things If it be not materiall how can it bee mortall Seeing that Death by their owne saying is nothing else but the separation of the matter from the forme And if like vnto others they define it the end of motion where shall they finde it in the Soule For wee see that Will which is her principall part beeing free as they acknowledge it themselues and hauing consequently in it selfe the Principle of its Motion who can take it away from her Seeing that nothing giueth an end vnto it selfe voluntarily that which is mooued after its owne will shall euer mooue and consequently shall haue no end of Lasting but onely of Desire and Intention which is limitted onely by Infinitie And as for Vnderstanding which is the other chiefest part or rather Vertue of the Soule Doe not wee see it goe out of it selfe embrace all things and then come into it selfe againe and by this continuall reflection as by a Circular Motion testifie that it hath no end Which it doth make appeare yet as plainely by the nature of the Obiects it chuseth its ordinary exercise and in a manner for its foode and nourishment For it feedeth and entertaineth its selfe onely with the knowledge of vniuersall things of Ideaes and species which Phylosophers deeme vnchangeable and immortall The sences which are corporall instruments mingled amongst corruptible matter stand indeed vpon particular things and consider euery obiect according to the weake and momentarie qualities of it but vnderstanding which contemplateth the true Nature and Essence of things comprehendeth that which is generall and equally diffused in all the particulars and indiuiduals as a firme permanent and immutable Being Now it is needfull that all things which are borne to opeperate and effect be proportioned vnto their obiect In vaine should a workeman labour on a matter harder then his toole in vaine should you make things mortall and corruptible to digest and vnderstand things that are incorruptible and immortall And what that insatiate desire of learning which is naturall to our vnderstanding doth it not testifie the same Who hath euer seene knowne or learned so much in whom Science hath not kindled againe and encreased the desire of knowledge in stead of quenching and appeasing it If I had saith an Ancient a foote in the graue yet I would learne still What meaneth that It is that the appetite of our stomacke may be filled because Nature hath proportioned it to a limited thing that is the necessarie meate for nourishment but that of our soule sheweth it selfe vnsatiable in this world because she hath proportioned it vnto the eternall Truth which being hindered by the body shee cannot enioy freely in this life hauing nothing else giuen her to gather it but the Danaides vessell that cannot receiue much at once and yet is pierced in the bottome with that wretched hole of Forgetfulnesse through which runneth out most part of that she receiueth So that a mans whole life if you consider exactly the actions of those which gouerne themselues by true Reason is nothing else but a