1 The clearest wine by standing comes in time to haue lees and dregges and tartnesse so the purest part of our age doth in time gather the dregs of lothsome old age and becomes tart and sowre to our selues and full of morositie and frowardnesse to others And as it is in wines so it is often in our liues the purest part of our dayes seeme to runne away swiftly but the dregs of tedious olâ— age stick long by vs. Fâ—r euery one is caried in Times chariot which is drawne with the two restlesse steedes Motion and Mutation which neuer standeth still till she be by death discharged of her passengers Doth it not often come to passe that as forward springs are nipped by sharpe frosts and kindly slips broken off when they are tender so the brauest gallant is cut off in the flower of his age and being arrested by death in the prime of his youth is caried violently to the graue But suppose the fatall dart be a while escaped yet as the apple falleth from the tree by ripenesse and the fire goeth out of it selfe though it be not quenched so man if by no fatall accident yet by the course of nature turnes at last to earth from whence he was taken Sensun sine sensu Cic. de senceÌ„t The shadow of the dyall paceth it so slowly that the motion thereof is not to be discerned yet we see that in a dayes space it will go from the East to the West so the life of mâ—n passeth away very slily yet is he quickly at the West and declining of his dayes before he be aware Euen whilest thou art reading this whosoeuer thou art albeit thou doest not consider it the threed of thy life is wearing the oyle of thy lampe wasting and time is carying thee to the habitation of darknesse Sen epi. 71. initio The mariners first lose the sight of their friends then of the cities and at last of the shores and bankes so is euery man by degrees depriued first of his youth then of his middle age and lastly of his hoarie dayes if haply he be not preuented by vntimely death For indeed there is nothing more certaine then death yet nothing more vncertain then the times and kindes of death as antiquities together with dayly experience can testifie Fabian pars 7. cap. 225. William Rufus a king of England was slaine with an arrow shotte at a Hart by a knight as Basilius Macedo the Romaine Emperour was with the stroke of a Hart in hunting Carus and F. Valerius Anastasius the Emperours perished by lightning Ioh. Bap. Ignatius Rom. princip libris 1 2 Sucton in vita Claud. Caesar c. 27. Young Drusus Pompey the son of the Emperor Claudius was choked with a peare which he cast vp and caught in his mouth in sport Gaguin de gestis Fran. lib. 9. in vit Caroli sexti Charles a king of Nauarre had a straunge death for being sewed in a sheete by night that hee might be bathed in it hee that sewed it by burning off the threed with a candle set fire vpon the sheete wherewith the king being pitifully burned died within three daies after Eurypides the Poet was torne with dogs Anacreon as Plinie writeth was choked with the stone of a raisin Plin hist natu li. 7 7 cap. 7. and Marius with a haue in a messe of milke yea Plinie himselfe perished by the strange fire of mount Vesevus Munster Cosmogr in descrip Ital. whilest he was seeking to know the reason and nature of it But why go I about to particularize those things that are infinite yea when some haue ended their liues by laughing Valer. Maâ— lib. 9. Aul Gel. noct Aâ— Seneca Ep. 71. For the eternall Law hath giuen vs one kind of entrance into life but diuerse yea innumerable passages forth of it and albeit the Sunne knoweth his going downe Psal 104.19 yet the sonnes of men know not the setting of their dayes and the Vesper of their life 2 As youth is fraile and fading Temeritas est adolescentiae Cic. de senâ—ct so is it enuironed with many follies It is rash inconsiderate in enterprises as might be instanced in such as Terentius Varro who succeeding warie Fabius in the Dictatorship Plutarc in vita Fab. lost in one battell through his rashnesse 64000. souldiers But that wofull renting of the kingdomes of Israel and Iuda caused by the rash and indiscreete aduice of Rehoboams young counsellors 2. Kin. 12.8 may sufficiently demonstrate this True it is that young men many times haue sharpe wits Hieron ad Nepot ferè initio but as the fire in greene wood is suffocated by moist vapors that it cannot shine brightly so wisedome in youth is hindred and smoothered by temptations and concupiscence that it cannot shine and shew foorth her brightnesse Againe youth is full of arrogancie rancor and reuenge so that humilitie and mildnesse is verie rare amongst young men And therefore Saint Chrysostom compareth youth to the surging sea Serm. cum Presbyter esset designatus full of rough windes and raging waters and old age to the hauen of the mindes tranquillitie But why do I endeuor to reckon vp the enormities of youth which is prone to all manner of sinne carying in his bosome the fire and fuell of iniquitie For now the vngodly hauing strength and other oportunities answering his disposition Iob 20.11.12 Fils his bones with sinne and wickednesse is sweet in his mouth Pro. 7.6 It was a young man that Salomon saw intrapped in the wily snares of the strange woman and that makes him thus to taxe by an ironicall reproofe this licentious age Reioyce ô young man in thy youth Ecclâ—s 11.9 and let thy heart cheare thee in the dayes of thy youth and walke in the wayes of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes What would the Preacher perswade youth to dissolutenesse nothing lesse but hee doth onely expresse the dissolutenesse of young men which set open the windowes of their eyes enlarge the closet of their hearts and make speedie the feete of their affections to act and accomplish that which is euill This Dauid did acknowledge Psal 25.7 when he desired pardon for the sinnes of his youth Jâ—r 31.19 and Ieremy when being conuerted by repentance he was ashamed yea euen confounded because he did beare the sinnes of his youth In regard of all which I may iustly conclude in Salomons words Eccle. 11.10 Childhood and youth are vanitie Forasmuch then as flourishing youth hath such following inconueniences as siâ—knesse old age and death with such preiudiciall companions as indiscretion rashnesse pride and prophanenesse why is it hâ—d in such admiration as we see it is Yea forasmuch as it is a flaming fire and a surging sea of sinne haue we not rather cause to desire that this fire were quenched this water calmed and our selues arriued at the quiet hauens
of stayed old age But sithence the Almightie hath decreed the varietie of our dayes and that we must tast of the adiuncts peculiar to euery age wherein we liue let those that are young thinke vpon Salomons exhortation Eccles 12.1 Remember thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth an exhortation very needfull For most do liue loosly in their youth reseruing old age for godlinesse offering sinne and Sathan the flower of their daies and keeping rottennesse for the Lord but with such sacrifices God wil not be pleased besides that these mens continuance in sinne in their youth makes it so habituall that it will hardly be shâ—ked off when they are old Let those that are young therefore cleanse their wayes by taking heede thereunto according to Gods word Psal 119.9 And let them season the yong vessels of their soules with the sweet wholsome liquor of piety that they may sauour of the same so long as they liue SECTION 2. Of Beautie Strength and Agilitie WHen man was first created as diuine vertues adorned his minde so glorious maiestie beautie shined in his face and shape but through his fall the ornaments of his soule were defaced and by the same the seemlinesse of his bodie was deformed quantum mutatus ab illo He that had seene Adam in Paradise and afterwards met him in the vast fields would neuer haue knowne him to be the same man and in this defaced and deformed image Gen. 5.3 did he beget his posteritie so that the reliques of our moderne beautie are but like the ruinous walles of a razed citie the rotten stocke of a flourishing tree and the withered stemme of a fragrant flower Yet is this defaced and deformed beautie too much set by though it be vaine in substance variable in durance dangerous to the beholder and oft-times hurtfull to the possessour 1 Those were words worthy the mother of Salomon Fauour is deceitfull Pro. 31 30· and beautie is vaine As many flowers are faire to the eye which are nothing pleasing to the smell and as many a stinking and stinging nettle groweth with the sweete smelling rose so the painted sepulchers of this vile bodie haue nothing buried in them but filthinesse and oft times vnder the faire countenance there lurkes very foule conditions thus is fauour deceitfull 2. And what is not beautie like the drops of deaw which are either drawne vp with the Sunne or dried vp with the winde For sicknesse will change it sorrow will waste it age will wither it and death consume it What an alteration will a poore tertian feauer make in a faire face When Naomi returned to Bethlehem Ruth 1. shee was so chaunged with the griefe of her husband and sons deaths that euery one wondred at her saying Is not this Naomi And though beautie escape sorrow and sicknesse yet age will seize vpon it whose propertie it is to set wrinkles in the smooth forehead and to change the snowie and vermilion face into a wan and swarthie colour neither is it more possible to preuent this then to stay the course of time There was neuer any so beautifull by the vnion of symetricall proportions oâ— the wel disposing of colours which things concurre to the perfection of beautie but shee might say in time with Naomi Call me not Naomi but call me Marah And when as sicknesse sorrow and old age haue battered the faire forts of beautie death dischargeth her Cannons and layeth her flat vpon the earth and then the fairest face that euer was by nature or art must be trampled vpon with the feete eaten with wormes or consumed with lothsome rottennesse and then what difference can a man finde betweene Thersites and Narcissus The Epitaph of Rosamund that mirrour of beauty is worthy the remembrance Hac iacet in tumba Rosamundi non Rosamunda c. The worlds sweet rose not Rosamund This earthen vault doth shield And lothsome smels not redolent Her bodie now doth yeeld Thus is beautie vaine Yea the more the beautie the greater the vanitie As the softest stone is easily pierced the finest lawne quickliest stained and the freshest flower soonest withered so the most resplendent beautie is foonest consumed 3 As beautie is vaine and variable so is it dangerous to the beholder whereof Salomon hauing had wofull experience warneth his son not to d sire the beautie of the strange woman Pro· 6.25 nor to let her take him with her eye lids And there is reason of his borrowed speech for beautie is an enchauntresse and bewitcheth a net and entangleth a fire and enflameth a baited hooke and catcheth Gen. 6.1 The sonnes of God saw the daughters of men that they were faire and they tooke them wiues of all that they liked 2. Sam. 11.12 Dauid from the top of his pallace saw beautifull Bathsheba washing her selfe and his heart was inflamed towards her Loe those that for their religious education were called the sonnes of God and hee that for his vertuous conuersation was counted a man after Gods owne heart are insnared by beautie and the one makes prophane mariages the other commits vnlawfull adulterie The wise mans counsell is therefore worthy the taking Eccles 9.8 Turne away thine eyes from beholding a beautifull woman And his reason is worth the noting for many haue perished by the beautie of women The truth of which the deadly broiles raised betweene the Phoenicians and the Grecians Herod in Clio. initio through their mutuall rapes can sufficiently testifie 4 Neither are these the hurtfull bounds of beauties snares thus to hurt the beholder but like as the Basiliske by beholding himselfe in a glasse As to Lucretia and Virginia Liu. lib. 1. 3. is killed with the reflecting of his owne poyson so doth beautie many times turne to the bane of the possessour Gen. 34. If Dina had not bene faire it is like she had neuer bene deflowred So that as Absalon perished with his owne haire which hee kept very curiously 2. Sam. 18. so diuers haue bene destroyed by their beautie which they haue preserued most carefully Gen 12. Gen. 26. This Abraham in Egypt and Isaac in Palestina considered when they feared to acknowledge their owne wiues lest their beautie might haue bene the losse of the womens honestie and the husbands liues And this was the Poets obseruation in Peneius speech to his daughter Daphne Votoque tuo tua forma repugnat Ouid. Met. lib. 1. that rare beautie and perpetuall virginitie would hardly dwell together Yea happie had many a one bene if she had bene deformed for then she had neuer bene defiled And is beautie thus vaine then learne to despise it is it so dangerous then haue a care to shunne it Oh what cost and care and art doe many vse to nourish a secret enemie to themselues and an engine for others Is beautie a vanitie then pray with Dauid Psal 119.37 Turne away mine eyes O Lord from
wake with the little tender babe And as children grow in age and stature so doth the cost and care of parents grow and increase The health the honestie the credite and good estate of the children is the continuall meditation of the parents and if they prooue towardly impes yet is the future hope conceiued of theÌ„ very doubtfull and the comfort variable but the care most certaine and infallible Children should be like the oliue plants Psal 128.3 yeelding the oyle of gladnesse chearefulnesse vnto their parents faces but many by their vngracious behauiours doe make their faces shine with teares and doe couer them with shame They should be as arrowes of protection in the hands of the strong Psal 127.4 but they become swords and darts of sorrow and anguish to pierce their pareÌ„ts hearts What a heart-breake was that vnto Adam Gen. 4.8 that hauing but two sonnes the one of them should murther his owne and onely brother And what a thing was it that when as Isaac had but two children the one of them married with wiues that were a griefe of mind to his mother Gen. 26.35.27.46 and made her wearie of her life But thus doe parents often hatch such filthie egges as proue vgly serpents Sometime it happeneth that contrarie to the course of nature the parents performe the funerall rites to their children and the fame is exceeding grieuous to them 2. King 4. How is the Shunamite distracted for the death of her sonne and how doth Dauid fast and lye on the ground 2. Sam. 12. vpon the sicknesse of his child and if that nature be not extreame in this respect they haply liue to their farther discomfort He that hath married his daughter saith a wise man hath performed a waightie worke Eccles 7.25 but I may say truly howsoeuer passion may crosse reason that he which hath buried his child in the feare of God hath perfourmed a waightier worke For much care and feare is thereby escaped I am not ignorant that the death of Children hath brought the graye heads of some parents with sorrow to the graue but who knoweth not which is worse that the life of children doth often bring their gray heads with sorrow and â—hame to their sepulchers In such a case there is iust cause of wering a mourning weede The most sort of parents I confesse through their folly do turne this temporall blessing into a curse and this comfort into a corrasiue and make it both vanitie and vexation of spirit Such are they that bring vp their children too nicely tenderly or else doe vtterly neglect their education to their owne discomfort and their childrens ouerthrow This was the fault of Dauid who loued his sonne Absolon too tenderly 2. Sam. 14. and would neuer displease Adoniah froÌ„ his childhood 1. Râ—g 1.6 The fruite of which indulgence appeared afterwards when the one attempted to depose his father the other sought to disinherite his brother But the iudgement of God was very grieuous vpon old Eli 1. Sa. 2.24 4. cap. a remisse man who when his sonnes deserued seuere chastisements for their notorious wickednesse onely rebuked them with a verbal reproofe Most parents are very prouident for their childrens profits and those things that belong to their bodies but few haue care of the things that appertain to their soules they decke them in braue apparell build them faire houses and purchase theÌ„ goodly lands but do litle regard their vertuous and godly education Thus as if it were enough for the husbandman to sow his corne but neuer weede it and the gardener to plant a tree and neuer prune it so they thinke it enough to haue children though they neuer haue care of their good bringing vp whereby they peruert the principall ends of marriage and procreation For whereas they should haue endeuoured to haue had of so many childreÌ„ so many heires of the kingdome of heauen they haue alas for pitie prepared so many firebrands for hell This may be a warning to al parents who doe fondly dote vpon their children and a reason to moderate their affections that their hearts be no more set vpon them then is expedient that the current of their loue runne the right way that they doe not cocker and nuzle them vp in vanity and vice but breede them vp in the instruction and information of the Lord. Eph. 6.4 That howsoeuer they prouide for their outward estate they indeuour to make them rich in faith and gracious in their conuersation for this shall tend to the fathers credite the childrens comfort and Gods glorie Psal 127.5 Happie is that man that hath his quiuer full of such arrowes he shall not be ashamed when he speaketh with his enemie in the gates SECT 14. Of Recreations THe estate and conditioÌ„ of mankinde is such both in respect of his bodie and his minde that neither the one nor the other is able substantially to performe prosecute those offices that belong vnto them if they shall be conuersant in continuall agitatioÌ„ and motion The reason hereof is because the vitall and animall spirits are to the bodie and the minde like the oyle to the lampe which if it be not sometimes repaired will be quickly extinguished Now as nature challengeth some intermission for her better refreshing so hath Almightie God herein condescended to mans necessitie permitting to him some libertie for the relaxation both of minde and bodie by Recreations consonant to them both and not dissonant froÌ„ that holy profession which becommeth a Christian For the bodie 2. Sa. 1.18 such exercises as shooting and slinging which were practised for recreations in peace and were necessarie also for defence in the time of warre and the praises of men exquisite in that skill are mentioned in the booke of Iudges Jud. 20.16 as the seuen hundred Beniamites that could sling at a haires breadth meaning by an extensiue kind of speech very neare For the mind some such as ingenious sober riddles are as that of Sampsons Iud. 14.14 Out of the eater came meate and out of the strong came sweetnesse And such no doubt were diuerse of the Queene of Shebaes questions 1. Kin. 10.3 wherewith she prooued Salomon To this purpose serueth Musicke 2. Chro. 9.1 by meanes whereof Dauid that excellent Musitian did calme and pacifie the minde of Saul 1. Sam. 16.24 vexed and disquieted with a melancholicke humour stirred vp by an euill spirit Yet are these and the like recreations and exercises nothing else but meere vanities Amongst all the recreations that haue bene deuised there is in my conceit none comparable to that heaueÌ„ly science of Musicke which causeth Salomon to single it out from the rest Eccles 2.8 Yet behold his censure of it When he had prouided him men-singers and women-singers the delights of the sonnes of men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vide Tremel in hunc locuÌ„ harmonie and harmonies that