sound a retraite froÌ„ sin alwaies remembring Christ crucified For as Bernard saith The remembrance of Christ crucified crucifieth sinne And as S. Augustine saith Then Christ dooth sleepe in thee when thou hast forgot his passion The readiest way direct path to goe to Heauen is to swim through the red sea of Christes blood The droppes of Christs precious blood raigning downe from the clowdes of his mercie must queÌ„ch the angry flame of Gods wrath which wee cannot extinguish by the vertuous water of any merrit It is the oyle of Grace which must purge our defiled harts It is the dewe of heauen which will make vs florish beeing ingrafted into the true Oliue It is the welspring of our saluation it is the heauenly manna which all of vs should gather vp in the wildernes of this world Loue this good thing in which all goodnes is it is enough for thee yea obserue but this short lesson which Augustine giueth thou art a good Christian Ama deum et amices in deum et inimicos propter deuÌ„ et beatus es Loue Christ who loueth thee loue his friends that loue Christ and thee loue Christes enemies that hate Christ and thee then thou shalt be beloued of Christ for louing him thou shalt bee beloued of Christ for louing theÌ„ that hate Christ thee the haters shall perrish yet thou louing shalt be beloued Loue GOD without measure theÌ„ shalt thou be happy without measure Loue God withal thy hart whoÌ„ thou shalt behold without end loue without pride praise with out wearines Therfore if men did but obserue this briefe lesson wee need not feare death but welcome him vvith a thousand kisses for that messenger doth bring vs gladde tidings for by him we change transitory mortall and corruptible things for certaine immortall and incorruptible treasures earth for heauen sin for godlines darknes for light feare for security trauell for quietnesse sicknesse for health death for life the company of men for the companie of the omnipotent God and heauenly angels the vile pleasures of this world for the inestimable ioyes of heauen Oh therefore let vs hartily wish to be losoned froÌ„ this life that we may come to appeare before the presence of God let vs say with Dauid Like as the Hart desireth the water brookes so longeth my soule after thee ô God O GOD thou art my God early will I seek thee my soule thirsteth for thee my flesh also longeth after thee in a barren and dry land where no water is Let vs say with Iob It grieueth my soule to liue longer in this mortall body Let vs say with holy Toby O Lord deale with me according to thy will and command my spirit to be receiued in peace For wheÌ„ the liuely threds of our life vntie the spindle vndoe the web riue and our naturall life endeth yet the spirituall and essentiall part namely the soule shall be receiued with Angels carried to heauen most louingly as a precious relique into the kingdome of heauen It shal be like a Doue carried on the wings of Angels into this heauenly Palace For as Augustine saith It is the office of Angels to carry soules to the company of the blessed Now therefore when Death shal breake vp your mortall house imprint this lesson in the forefront of your languishing flesh yea euen when you are halfe berest of life that you remember Christ crucified remember him to be the onely Sauiour remember God the Father to bee a most mercifull Father Fixe the eyes of your faith on Iesus Christ on his merrits on his passion death on his blessed body breaking and his most precious blood shedding on his triumph and victory ouer fathan and his hellish army Forget not that all your sinnes are washed away in Christes blood that by vertue of his death and passion you are made beyre of euerlasting saluation Fight a good fight be not discouraged by the paines of death neuer shrink in Deaths battell call vppon Iesus for no baulme will be more comfortable to a wound theÌ„ the name of Iesus to deaths wound Put on the Helmet of saluation the brest-plate of righteousnes the girdle of truth the shield of faith the sworde of the spirit and your feete shod with the preparation of the Gospell of peace Feare not stand fast quit your selues like men for in this spirituall battell you sight vnder the banner of the mighty victorious Emperor Iesus Christ onely continue with these weapons the day is yours If sathan tempt you you may with hartie prayers good Orators for your saluation inchant that Dragon that hee may sleep while your soule is translated to tast of the golden fruite of blessed soules perseuere in this battell which is the true complement of vertue The paine of the battel is small the glorie of the triumph shall abide for euer euer For so saith the scripture To him that ouercoÌ„mmeth I will giue to eate of the tree of life which is in the midst of Paradice be faithful vnto the death and I wil giue thee a crowne of life Hee that ouercommeth I wil make a piller in the temple of my God and hee shall go no more out yea to him that ouercoÌ„math wil I grant to sit with me in my seate These precious promises rewards may make vs couragious against death folow your captaine Christ you cannot erre for he is the way belieue christ you cannot be deceiued for hee is the truth abide and remaine in Christ and you cannot die the death euerlasting for he is the life wherfore cleaue with strong faith to Christ and say with that wise man My minde is rooted and built in Christ and then you neede not feare when death shall giue your soule the winges of true libertie to depart out of your fraile flesh and to flie vp to heauen and rest within Abrahams bosome for theÌ„ you shal rest from your labors trauels For so saith the scripture the soules of the righteous are in thy haÌ„d ô God the paine of death shall not touch them In the sight of the vnwise they appeare to die but they are in peace they are as the Angells of God they are clad with white garmeÌ„ts haue golden crownes vpon their heads They doe stand day night before his Maiesty there they haue all ioy solace and harts contentments By death we passe from earth to heauen from men to Angells from warre to peace from paine to pleasure from griefe to gladnesse from miserie to perpetuall felicitie we passe by death from this life which is like a bubble in the water like a weauers Shettell like a smoake like a vapoure like a shaddowe like a flower that fadeth like grasse that withereth it is but a span-long it is a warfare it is like a ruinous house euer readie to fall it is like a cloude in the element whereof wee are vncertaine where and when it falleth This cloude sometimes melteth in the cradle sometimes in the chaire Death is like the Sunne whensoeuer it shineth it melteth our cloudie life be the cloude thereof neuer so thicke or thin in yeares this life is like an vncertaine wethercocke which turnech at euery blast like a Waue that mounteth at euery storme like a reede that boweth at euery whistling wind This world is an exile a vale of miserie a wildernesse of sorrowes a dungeon of sinners a sea of miseries where wee passe away the wauering daies of this vncertaine life sayling as Pilgrims on the waters of this world tossed by the tempests of aduersitie and oppressed by sundry Pyrats the flesh sin and the deuill and yet by the Barke of a liuely faith and by the Marriner death wee shall bee transported from the flesh pots of Egipt to eate of comfortable Manna not in the wildernesse but in new Ierusalem Therefore hast ô good God to deliuer me froÌ„ this painfull life to that glorious life from this wretched mansion to that excellent tabernacle from this stormie worlde to the calme country of heauen where I shall haue liberty without imprisonment health without sicknes ioy without sorrowe pleasure without paine in such securitie eternitie and perpetuitie as passeth all thoughts Come therefore Death thou art welcome thou art thrice welcome death For when the Tree of my life shall fall downe heere vpon earth and I shall see my father dust my mother ashes yer my soule shall be carried into Abrahams bosome Adiew vile life farewell life sinfull life adiewe and welcome Death the Embassador from my louing Sauiour for by thee my misery shall end So that O Death thou art welcome VVelcome sicknes for my Lord Iesus hath nowe sent thee to fetch mee from this prison to his Pallace from a strange pilgrimage to dwell in the restfull Country of Canaan from these teares and mourning to the day of mariage sweet Iesus to bee espoused to thee in thy merrits for euermore where I shall liue like a Demie-god hauing the sight of the glorious Trinitie and the companie of holie Patriarks Prophets Apostles Martirs and blessed Saints inherite such ioyes as neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor hart euer conceiued Therefore welcome death welcome sweet death for thou shalt remooue me out of this prison deliuer me froÌ„ this body of sinne to enter into the amiable tabernacles of my Lord where one day is better then a thousand else-where I shal no more weep by the waters of Babilon when I shal remember thee ô Sion for now I shall be in Sion and dwell there for euermore Come therfore ô death to mee at thy pleasure for it is a pleasure for me to die com death ô my ioy for it is a ioy for mee to enioy thee VVelcome death the beginning of ioy the first fruite of pleasure when thou commesâ—â—ar well sorowes adiew miseries death is the Prince of delights Arise therfore make hast ô my beloued my delight my comfort for at thy comming my winter is past and the tempestuous waters of miseries are ceased thou art ioâ—es messenger and gladde tidings bringer ô life thou art my death ô death thou art my life this life is a coÌ„tintiaÌ„ll death but after this death hath ceased vpon my body theÌ„ shal my soule go vnto her life Adiew therfore ô myserable liâ—e welcome thrice welcome death farewell also ô death welcome immortall life Laus Deo FINIS
thy mouth but record therein day and night Their Lawes should be axioms arising out of their owne deedes but they themselues are the readiest to infring the same Now then when the lease of the liues of these Stewards who hold all their possessions by seruice is expired and shall be summoned by death to appeare before their Land-lord to giue there accounts how beneficially they haue imployed their talents then they will beginne to haue a feeling sense of there owne miserie seeing how ill they did gouerne the people ouer the which the Lord had made them ouerseers We reade that Dauid being chosen of God to feede his people in Iacob and his in heritance in Israell did feede them according to the simplicity of his hart and guided thee by the discretion of his handes These Dauids be few now adaies and as the Poeth saith Rex bonus est sapiens qualem vix repperit vnum Mellibus e cunctis hominum consultus Apollo A good King and wise such a one as Apollo beeing asked counsell of coulde scarce finde one among all men Yet thanks be giuen to God who by his blessed prouidence hath elected a second Dauid to raigne ouer vs whose loynes are girded with righteousnesse and faithfulnesse the buckle of his raines in whose throne Astraea sits weying euery mans merrits by the equall ballance of their actions whose minde is inuironed against vice with the cleere streames of sweet vertue And therefore sith it hath pleased God to set a temporal transitory crowne of glorie on his head he needs not feare but that in the world to come he shall be crowned with a farre surpassing weight of glorie there shall tast the heauenly Manna and drinke the nectar of ioy But as for other Princes who heere doe tast the Roses of prosperitie shal in the world to come for their wickednesse drinke the worme-wood of aduersitie when they shall recount with themselues that they haue touched the Lords annointed and done his Prophets harme iniured the fatherlesse oppressed the innocent prophaned the sanctuary of God onely delighted themselues with the vaine pompe of this world how can they hope that their impure soules shoulde bee translated to this pure place of endlesse comfort So likewise to descend lower by a lineall degree throughout all the pedigrees of men Behold the Ministerie who haue the ouer-sight of our soules see if they can boldly run vnto the goale of death who haue not ledde theyr liues according to their inioyned vocations The Ministers which should haue two eyes as Gregory saith one of famous learning the other of an vpright godly life many of them haue one of these eyes but want the other And as the same Gregory saith Many declare that in wordes vvhich in life and manners they goe against These haue the eye of learning but want the eye of honest life Yea manie are blinde of both eyes but they be worse then the former For the Ministers should by their endeuours and honest coÌ„uersation reclaime the wicked from the brink of perdition they should inuent medicinable receits against the gostly maladies of sinners they should in the generall famine of spirituall foode prepare with Ioseph abundance of the breade of Angels for the repast of theyr soules Yea they should studie spirituall Phisicke and be trauelled in the scrutinie of the soules diseases and be acquainted with the beating and temper of euery mans pulse they should purge theyr flock from the leaprosie of sinne they should lift vp theyr voyce like a trumpet and shewe the people their offences and the house of Iacob theyr sinnes They are the Prophets of the Lord that shal bring the messages from the Mountaines and proclaime peace They be the light of the VVorlde the salt of the earth they be watch-men which for Sions sake should not holde theyr tongues for Ierusalems sake should not cease Nowe when they shall remember that they haue beene dumbe dogges which did not bark wheÌ„ the wolues did teare their flocks And as Gregory saith Thou hast seene the wolfe and hast escaped saying by chance I haue escaped all Thou hast escaped because thou hast kept silence Thou hast been heere in body thou hast escaped in spirit Or as Saint Bernard saith when they shall remember they were Ministri Christi sed serni anti Christi or call to mind the straight commandemeÌ„t giuen by christ to Peter to feede Christes flocke and they haue been rather wolues theÌ„ shepheards which did rather fleece and oppresse them then protect them when they did imitate Souldiers in habit husbandmen in gaine indeede they were neither because they did neither fight against the Wolues as Souldiers nor as husbandmen labour in Gods Vineyarde nor as Clarkes preach the Gospell in the Church and while they desire both they confound both As Bernard saith therefore their consciences will be perplixed their mindes distracted nor shall they perceiue the melodious harmonie of excusing thoughts or perswade themselues of that comfortable assurance that the opening of the booke will showe that their names are written in heauen or shall they tast that continuall feast of a cleere conscience the soules blessed banquet they shall wring their hands for griefe when they might haue clapt for ioy they shall tremble when they might haue triumphâ—d they shall weepe when they might haue laught they shall wish that the Mountaines would couer them hide them from the sight of God and these bee the causes why so vnwillingly they yeeld to dy yea euen wheÌ„ their forces languish their senses impaire their body droupeth and on euery side the ruinous cottage of their fraile body threatneth a fall yea when they may behold their grasse wasted their grapes gathered their house broken and nothing remaining but the stocke of the grapes the skinne of the flesh and but one only blast of life yet notwithstanding they will say with Callimachus I am too old to liue and too young to die and they are afraid to close vp their eies when they heare the Bell of death knelling in their eares but had rather fight still in this Campe of miserie then by deaths paspot to bee conducted out of this world They had rather with Aristippus prolong life then with Socrates yield to die and the causes bee these because they haue not beene carefull in their functions but haue beene carelesse in their liues dissolute in their actions they were not the instruments of God hauing a sound to teach well but the bones of the deuill because they did want the feeling and therefore they hauing deuoted their liues only to the deuill their conscience doe assure them that they hauing gorged the deuill with the fairest fruites of their liues God will not feede vppon the scrappes of his leauings gleane the reproofe of his haruest and therefore they bee vnwilling to depart out of this life But to passe ouer the spirituall gouernors and come to ciuell Magistrates The Lawyers
TWO Treatises THE FIRST ENtituled THE FOODE OF the Faithfull THE SECOND Deaths welcome AT LONDON Printed by I. R. for Iefferie Charlton Anno Dom. 1605. To the right honorable Thomas Lord Garrarde Barron of Garrardes Bromley and to the right worshipfull his brother in lawâ— Sir Peter Leigh of Lime I. C wisheth health honor happinesse in this life and in the life to come I Socrates the Athenians Orator right honorable calleth Nobilitie the pillar of learning and Plato saith that a true noble man is a faithfull fauorite of the learned And for this reason the Philosophers Orators Poets Diuines and all other writers consecrate their labors to the Patronage of such worthymen who are placed in the high sobeare of greatnesse and seated in the Throne of Nobilitie who can with power and may with authoritie defend them vnder the fauorable winges of their safe protection In like manner I who am neither sound Philosopher nor eloquent Orator nor good Poet nor profound Diuine haue presumed to dedicate to your gracious viewes these two Treatises whose rudenesse are far vnsutable to weare the Liueries of your names for two especiall considerations The first is because you two be the great fauorits of learning and in you liue the sparkes of Augustus liberallitie to cherrish the Muses who now for want of succor are almost famished The second is which mooueth me most of all to giue you a liuing memoriall of the louing duty I bare to your honored deceased mother vnto whom for many singular good fauors I will euer recognise my selfe infinitly bounden for whose sake I suppose I haue passed the bonds of modesty in this presumptious attempt Yet notwithstanding perswaded by my friends earnest intreaties and mooued by that priuate dutie which I owe to that vertuous Lady your mother who is now a cohabitor with God I haue emboldened my bashfull nature and as he saith Commasculaui frontem pudoris limites transilire Accept therefore most renowned Patrons this gratefull testimonie of my dutie and thankfulnesse which I tender for manifold benefits vnto you both whom I make as honorable twinns vnited in the vnion of my zealous and duteous affection I confesse it is a trifle nor a fit obiect to be bee viewed by your seuere eies yet I hope you will receiue it as a token and earnest pennie of my long concealed loue and dutie according to your accustomed and incomparable gentelnesse Phillip of Maccedon did accept a bunch of grapes giuen by a Country-swaine and Apollo did vouchsafe to take a wodden dish as a great gift So I trust that you sithence my abilitie serueth to no better purpose nor you expect a kind of remuneration will receiue it in curteous manner and grant this abortiue brat which should haue wanted a Godfather had I not chosen you to shelter vnder the defensiue shadowes of your patronage giuing it the Almes of your approouiug commendation to cloath the naked beggarie of his threed-bare inuention which if it shall please your good honors to couer like Minerua this forsaken deformed Owle vnder the sure target of your tumon it shall be as secure from Critickes as Vlisâ—es was free from the Greekes being defended with Aiax buckler So hoping of your wished defence I commit it with all submission to your protection saying that which Gratian sayd to his Patron Vobis soluo quod debebam et ad huc debeo quod soluam So duly and daily praying for you and yours I humbly take my leaue Your honors in all duty to commaunde I. C. Honoratissimo viro Domino Gerardo omnibus sapientiae et virtutis luminibus clarissimo TE mea si tantum anderet sperare patronum Geraâ—dum optaret rustica Musa sibi GerarduÌ„ at queÌ„ phoebe viruÌ„ qui lumine meÌ„tis excellit Phoebum Phoebigenumque chorum O quem te memorem Phoebum tu doctior illo Mercurium linguae laurea danda tibi Catonem longe superas consultus agendo an Maecenatem laudat Apollo magis Ergo Gerardus eris quo dicinomine gandent Macenas Phoebus Mercuriusque Cato MIte supercilij iubar iubarque sororum Et decus Auglorum presentis gloria saecli Spe maguus fama melior virtutibus amplus Gratus ades nostris falix allabere captis Vine meis sed nec curabis vivere mecum Aeternum victure tuis Gerarde trophais Ad dignissimum et clarissimum Equitem Petrum Leigh BEnignitate gloria honore claritudine tuum praeesse cateris sit omen Places Deo places patriae omnibusque faues literis foues literatos hae metae honoris macte A Spice laetanti librum dignissime vultu quo fallas vitae taedia longa breuis Hic Christus satiat sitibundas sanguine fauces et prandere iubet corpore famelicos Accipe gratuito caelestia fercula Christi hospitium caelum Christus et hospes erit Mensa itidem caelum conuiuae deniquae sancti vt sedeas gustes prouocat ipse Deus Nilest quod renuas nam dantur pharmaca meÌ„tis haec medicina animae pharmacopola Deus Qui te faelicem lataâ—tem glorifie antem corpore mente polo per sua philtra dabit Ergo laudetur placeat metuatur ametur hospès et hòspitium phármacepola Dèus To the Reader MAy I presume gentle Reader out of my penurie to throw a mite into the Treasurie of the Church when others which haue larger talents bury theÌ„ in silence nor will let theyr labors be perused by the common Argos of the vngratefull multitude yet I like a blind Babius haue boldly attempted this hastie birth of my weake brame to come abroad hoping that all curteous Readers will shroude it vnder theyr fauourable wings suffer these feare-blasted fruites to shelter vnder the defensiue shaddowes of gentle acceptation So blushing that this newe spoone-feathered â—mbrion of my rude Inuention hath so soone passed the limits of immodestie humbly desiring you to pardon my too rash audacitie I take my leaue S. G. Ad Lectorem FAelices animae pascuntur semine verbi AmbrosiaÌ„ comedunt nectare deinde potant Hic gratia sluvij spatioso vortice stillant Et vita pleno gurgite currit aqua Si sitis mimergas fauces in flumine sacro I seris inuenias ferula lauta Iouis Ad hanc te mensam voco caena parata Tantum dicenda est gratia gratis habes Tu gratus conuiua Deo gratiosus et ille Qui te commuam reddidit angelicum The food of the soule Iohn cap. 6. verse 35. I am the bread of life he that commeth to me shall not hunger and hee that belieueth in me shall neuer thirst WHen our Sauiour Christ had performed that heauenly miracle in feeding fiue thousand men with fiue loues and two fishes the people which were satisfied with that gratis cheer did followe him to the Citty Capernaum But when Iesus perceiued theyr hypocrisie that they were fleshly and carnall hearers and as a good Writer saith Parasiti quâ—s patina conglutinat hypocrites and
this bread is the bread of heauen which giueth life vnto the world Therefore be carefull to seeke for this breade for Christ doth not forbid vs to seeke for this bread hee saith in Mathew the sixt chapter Bee not carefull what you shal eate or what you shal drink behold the fowles of heauen they sow not neither reape nor carry into theyr barnes yet your heauenly Father feedeth them the Lillies doe not labour nor spin yet Salomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these therefore take no thought saying what shall wee eate or what shall we drinke or how shall we bee claothed but seeke yee the Kingdome of heauen and all these things shall bee ministred vnto you yet in all these exemplified admonitions of our Sauiour Christ he doth not forewarne vs to bee carelesse for seeking of this bread of life will Christ forbid vs to seeke himselfe Christ is this bread of life feede on his flesh and nourish your soules hee is the oyle and lampe with which the fiue Virgines entered into the Bridgromes chamber He is the Lord of life the way of life the bread of life Belieue in this Lord come vnto this way eate of this bread you shall neuer hunger or thirst after But some man peraduenture may obiect can bread extinguish hunger and thirst When a man is dry and thirsty he doth not vse to eate bread I aunswere that the Hebrewes doe vse this phrase panem comedere pro caenare for to sup as Maister Caluin heere well noteth so wee say in the Lords prayer danobis quotidianum panem giue vs our daily bread signifying all necessary things belonging to a man eate of this bread of life and you shall not neede to say giue vs our daily breade for you shall neuer hunger or thirst after Hee that commeth to mee shall not hunger accedat ad Christum omnis anima let euery soule come to Christ and hee will refresh it I will saith he feede the hungry soule and refresh all faint harts I am the strength of the feeble the succor of the hungry a refuge against euill weather a shadow against heate I am a continuall feast where all hungry languishing soules may satisfie thēselues with celestiall food O well are they and happy shall they be which sit at this heauenly Table and eate of this blessed and spirituall meate the price and redemptian of theyr soules Heere is Manna which the childrē of Israel shal neuer lothe the wise Ethnick mans saying vpon a feast heere taketh no place Prima cratera saith he ad sitim pertinet secunda ad hilaritatem tertia ad voluptatem quarta ad insaniam The first cuppe belongeth to thirst the second to mirth the third to pleasure and the fourth to insobrietie But at this feast of the Soule it is quite contrarie for the more thou drinkest tanto propriores ad animae sanitatem et salutem thou art so much the neerer to the health and welfare of thy soule Calistenes said to Alexander that he had rather carouse olde graines with Diogenes in his dish thē new grapes with Alexander in his cup for of all the Gods quoth hee I loue not Esculapius But whosoeuer drinketh in this cup shall not neede Aesculapius phisicke for it is a present remedy a soueraigne restoratiue against the maladies of a sinfull soule it is an excellent potion and a most wholsome purgation to expell the leprosie of a sinne-seauered soule The precious stone Sandastra hath nothing in outward appearance but being brokē it poureth forth beams like the sun so this bread of life hath not an outward glea of superexcellent goodnes but taste it and then it poureth forth such admirable excellencie that thou shalt neuer hunger any more Therfore the sheepheards of Christes flock should onely feede his lambes with this bread of life VVhen they bee hungry they should fill them with this Breade of life They should cry vnto them alwaies Come vnto Christ and he wil giue you the bread of life so that you shall neuer hunger or thirst any more The Ministers should haue a cōtinuall cry not like the Swallows which haue matutinū cantum a morning song or as the Grashoppers meridianum cantum a noone song or as the Owles vespertinum cantum an euening song or as the Cocks antelucanum cantum a song before morning but they shold haue a morning song a noone song an euening song and a song before day light to awake Christes slumbering sheepe to come vnto Christ and eate of this bread of life so they shal neuer hūger or thirst more He that commeth to me shall not hunger he that belieueth in me shall neuer thirst To belieue in Christ is the totall summe of all Christian religion For our fayth in the death and passion of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ is the sure foundation of our saluation Fides in Christo saith S. Ierome est fundamentum humanae saluationis Faith in Christ is the foundation of mans saluation without this fayth all our vertuous actions good endeuours be in vaine So saith S. Augustine Sine fide falsa est omnis virtus without faith all vertue is in vaine Sine fide impossibile est placere Deo with out faith it is impossible to please God Sine fide omnis labor vacuuo VVithout faith all our labour is frustrate Faith is the porter of heauen gate and not Saint Peter He that hath faith yea but as much as a graine of mustard seede shall be able to remooue Mountaines VVherefore let vs labour to get this faith which being obtained we shal not neede any other treasury let vs lay vp this iewell in our harts which will inrich vs euer after The Anotomists say that in the heart of a man there is a little whole which hath nothing in it VVhereupon a good writer sayth that this little Cabinet and Cell of the heart God doth reserue for himselfe to be a chamber and a priuate mansion for him to dwell keepe therin let vs therfore bestow vpon our gracious Lord this pretious gemme this excellent ornament to adorne and beautifie this inward chamber That when it shall please the Lord to call vs to the high starre-chamber ouer our heades hee may Antipelargein that is requite vs with farre more sumptuous iewells and richer ornaments making vs cohabitors with Angells and the admired paragons of all perfection let vs therefore confidently belieue in Christ desiting him most heartily and vnfainedly to giue vs of this breade of life which is the only restoratiue against hunger and thirst Auicen like a foole sayd in his Aphorismes that golde was the best restoratiue No no this bread of life is the most heauenly remedie against al diseases it is a poyson for vice but a life-giuing potion for vertue It is the bread of death for carnall gluttonie but it is the bread of life for spirituall hunger If thou beest famished eate of this bread
Sarepta may cast away her cruse and her meale for shee shal be satisfied vvith heauenly manna Then may the blessed Father Saint Ierome take his rest who in his watchings made no difference betweene dayes and nights beating his breast in his deuour prayers and fighting against the violence of the old serpent Then Ieremy need not renew his tragicall note in his prophecie saying O that my head were a well of vvater and my eye-lidds fountaines of teares that I might weepe day night for the slaine of the Dangliters of my people Then may the stout harted Souldiers lay downe theyr swords and spears for there is a region of peace and a place of tranquilitie for euery one in that Cittie enioy the fruite of sweet peace That Citty is situated aboue all the Elements where no cloudes can arise no stormy winds can blow no tempetuous waues can come There is the lambe of God Christ Iesus embracing his deere spouse the Church saying My sister my spouse how fayre how pleasant art thou ô my Loue in pleasures thy lippes my spouse drop as honny combes Hony and milke is vnder thy tongue my spouse is as a Garden enclosed with Roses and Lillies ô Paradise of Gardens ô well of liuing waters ô my vvel-beloued thou art the fairest among women O ioyfull time when we shall see face to face Christ Iesus and heare the sweet communication betweene him and the Church his beloued Spouse Blessed are they saith holy Tobias that loue thee and enioy thy peace VVherefore Bernard might well say If any man should tast in his heart howe great the pleasantnesse of the heauenly reward is then euery thing in the earth will seeme bitter euerie comly thing shamefull and all ioy sorrowfulnes Also in another place he saith In comparison of heauenly ioy all pleasure is griefe all delights sorrow all sweetnes bitternesse and all honor horriblenesse VVherfore I will exhort all godly Christians with the graue sentence of blessed S. Augustine where he saith O man be feruent in the loue desire of Eternall life where euery action is without labor rest without idlenes praise without disdaine life without defect where there is no want but all superfluitie where there is no good hidden and no euill present Oh into what an Ocean of ioyes my ioyfull tongue leades me my eyes waxe dim at the sunne-shine of this glory my penne begins to tyre and yet I will not like a badde Historian speake of the meanest ioyet and cut of the course of the greatest happinesse Therefore my tongue mine eyes my penne each of them shall sing a part to make vp the harmonie of this excessiue felicitie It is an vnspeakable pleasure to a christian whē he shall arriue at this blessed hauen shall turne back and looke vpon the course of his nauigation wherein he hath sailed in the tempestuous sea of his former life whē he shall remember the waues where-with hee hath been tossed the rocks which he hath escaped the Pyrats namely the deuill and his Angels whom hee hath happily auoyded VVhen he shal cōsider this transitory world to be but a dungeon of sinners where the growth of Vertue is poysoned with the puddle water of penurie where rancor despight chiefely raigneth and all goodnes is ouer-whelmed in malice where vertue is a handmaide to sugred hypocrisie smooth malice hidden ambition smiling enuie wicked tyranny Besides when he shall behold so many thousand soules descending into hell and that it hath pleased the omnipotent King among so many millions of damned persons thou shalt be one of that predestinated companie which should obtaine such vnexpressable felicitie and glory Yea what a glorious sight will it bee to thee to see so many persons hauing on their heads golden Crownes and to see the Kingly seats of heauen filled vp and that Citty builded and the noble Ierusalem repayred againe Yea what a ioy will it bee to thee to see Archangells Angells the soules of Saints the companie of Martirs the Sunne the Moone the glistering Starres and all other things each one of them in their course and qualitie showe themselues obedient to his will giuing veneration glory and praise singing this sweete song praise and honor and power and glory bee vnto him that sitteth vppon the Throne and vnto the Lambe for euermore Is not this a glorious companie a ioyfull countrey a happy life who shall be these so fortunate and so happy that are elected for thee Happy shall I be if the remnant of my posteritie might come to see the clearenes of this Ierusalem To behold her gates wrought with Emeraldes and Zaphires and all the circuit of her walls built with precious stones her streetes paued with polished marble and in all her parts shall be sung Alleluia It seemeth a presumption to desire thee and yet I will not liue without the desire of thee for by the grace of God which grace I hope in Christ shall more and more daily abound in mee I purpose to refuse no labours paines and trauels so that at the end of my naturall life my soule may rest with my Redeemer Let tribulations afflict me let diseases molest mee let my daies be consumed with weeping and teares alwaies runne downe by my cheekes let mee alwaies drinke the bitter wormewoode water of aduersitie let lamentation and mourning alwaies accompanie me let me be persecuted with captiuitie Nay let my head be cut off with Iohn Baptist or let mee be stoned to death with Stephen yea let my eies be pulled out of my head or my flesh be torced with pincers let vexations poure downe as thicke as haile so that all that passe by may behold and see if there bee any sorrowe like vnto my sorrowe Yet all these griefes would I willingly sustaine if it would please my God that when pal◠death shall shut vp the eies of my body that my eies of my soule might still behold and looke vpō my Red emer And that when I shall bee stripped out of this mortall weede and turned both out of the seruice and houseroome of this world yet at last I may arriue at that blessed Hauen the celestiall Ierusalem there to be placed among the glorious company of the holy Angells and Saints receiue an immortall incorruptible crowne of glory For what will it grieue a man to haue a troublesome-night so that ioy commeth in the morning The Mariner will not regard a short tempest so that presently after the storm there followeth a quiet calme euen so should it seeme to vs. Although for a short season we suffer sorrowe in this world yet for that short sorrowe wee shall reape euerlasting ioy Therefore let vs constantly endure to the end of our sorrowes for he that endureth to the end shall be saued Would we not esteeme him a foolish man who would refuse to suffer patiētly the tortures of one moment so that after hee should inioy perpetuall happinesse VVell saith S. Augustine So
great is the fairenes and pleasure of Eternall light that if one might not liue there longer then one day for thys onely innumerable yeeres full of the delights of this life and aboundance of temporall goods he might rightly worthily be cōtented For in heauen we shal haue light without end brightnesse without comprehension peace without inuasion In this world our sences are benummed frozen with the extremitie of miseries coldnesse but in heauen there shal such vnexpected blisse shine vppon vs that all the parts of our body and soule shal be miraculously cherished with the lightning of selicitie In this world if the whole worthinesse of all humane creatures vvere comprised in the globe of one mans breast yet were not that one man so happy as the least Saint in Heauen In this world wee are but as it vvere ships without a Pylot tumbling vp and downe in vncertaine waues till we runne vpon the rocks of selfe deuision or bee ouerthrowne by the stormie winde of forraine inuasion In this VVorld we are but as it were tenisbals tossed by the racked of iniurious fortune but in heauen vve need not feare the tempests of aduersitie for there wee shall dwell vvith Saints vnited in perfection there we shall tast the golden fruite of blessed soules there wee shal haue Christ a guide vnto our waies and a Gardian to our persons there Christ shall be light vnto our eyes musick vnto our eares sweetnes to our tast contentment to our soules The state of the Church militant heere in this world is like the Arke floting vpon waters like a lilly growing among thornes like Christs ship in the 8 of Mathew couered vvith waues and yet not drowned But in the second worlde it shall be triumphant where it shal gloriously raigne for euermore Man in this world is but an Anatomy of misery or a spectacle of a dolorous ending tragedie but in the world to come he shall be a paragon of glory and a patterne of endlesse happinesse Therefore sith the reward of our godly endeuours shal be so well recompenced in the future life let vs abandon all vicious pleasures neuer be recalled to the vomit of carnall desires Let vs fight manfully vnder the banner of our grand captaine Christ vntill we vanquish all his enemies the denill his angels and for that good seruice performed in Christes quarrell we shall receiue at his handes a large pay namely an euerlasting life and an immortall crowne of glory Now therefore sith I haue as it were lighted a candle to the glorious sun-shine of this heauenly glorie which cannot any way be better shadowed out with the best pensil then by couering it ouer with the vaile of silence I will speake but verie little more concerning this happines but will onely compare the torments of hell to the ioyes of heauen For as beautie seemes more excellent when it is paralelled with deformitie so wil heauen show more glorious when it is compared to hell For as it is an axiome with the Logicians Of contrarie things the reason is contrarie so in this contrarietie in heauen and in hell hee which doth perceiue the ioyes in heauen may easily coniecture at the torments in hell If the ioyes in heauen cannot bee expressed by the tongues of Angells then the torments of hell cannot be declared by the best Orator For as those two places be distant in qualitie so their ioyes and paines be equall in quantitie If that the ioyes of heauen be infinite the paines of hel must consequently followe to be infinite Now then sith these two opposite places bee distinguished with such a contrarietie the ioyes of the one euery man would gladly enioy the paines of the other euery man would willingly eschewe it followeth that this is the greatest impediment for a man not willingly to welcome death because he is wonderfully afraid least he should bee punnished for his sinnes in these hellish torments these torments doe ingender such a feare in a man that hee horridly quaketh at the mention of death For when a man shall recount with himselfe that he offered the May crop of his life to the deuill that hee sacrificed his blooming yeares to the seruice of the deuill and that now the flowers of his youth are blasted the fruite perrish the body of the Tree groweth to decay then hee shall thinke with himselfe that hee being voyde of the sap of good fruites shall become fuell for hell fire When he shall lie on his departing bed burdened with the heauy loade of his trespasses and vexed with the worme of conscience and feeling the crampe of death wresting his harts strings and ready inpathed in his finally voyage and not farre from the period of his daies Oh how hee shall be distracted in his senses when he should make a free gift of his body and soule to God and by bequeathment to dispach the whole menage of all eternitie and of the treasures of heauen Oh how shall he bee mazed when he shall consider how the morning pleasures of his youth lulled him a sleepe in sinne how the violent heat of the noone of his age did prouoke and excite sinfull affections and therefore in the coole and calme of his euening how can hee hope to retire to a Christian rest and close vp the day of his life with a cleare sunset wanting the light of grace without which euery one shall abide in euerlasting darkenesse These considerations I say will make a man tremble at the mention of death for peccati stipendium mors the reward of sinne is death and these torments in hell fire therefore when hee shall thinke with himselfe that the most vertuous can scarce attaine to heauen in mountenance of yeares whose liues were died in the beautifull graine of vertue how then shall hee wretched sinner hope to obtaine heauen since all his life time hee hath perseuered in sinne that now death hauing taken away abilitie in sinning and left him to the lees of his dying daies how shall he beleiue to be infranchised in that heauenly Citty which is not so penurious of friends that it should bee made salable for the refuse and reuersion of euery sinners life A King which hath liued like an Epicure heere vppon earth and in nothing tooke delight but like a Nero to oppresse the innocent shall not inioy the heauenly happinesse For as Bernard saith It is impossible to ioyne present and future delights And as the same father in another place addeth He that is fed with earthly pleasures is counted vnworthy of eternall ioyes The shining title of worldly glory shall nothing helpe to the happines of that life they be like bladders which are puffed vp with the winde of prosperitie and only doe affect the smoke of vaine glory they doe not obserue the precept giuen by Moses vnto Princes Princes must reade the Lawe all the daies of their liues and as Iosua let not the booke of this Lawe depart out of