either for that hee hath vertues more then humane or that hee is so contemptible and meane in respect of Man that he is vnworthy to approach neere him But let him know which doth affect solitarinesse because he doth surpasse all men in vnderstanding and vertue that he ought to repell that humour and to condescend by humilitie and meekenesse to the imperfections of others labouring for the good of the Church or Common Wealth either by word or worke For what are all those perfections more then shaddowes and obscure traces of those perfections that are in Iesus Christ notwithstanding he tooke vpon him our shape and conuersion among men that thereby he might saue them and winne soules to heauen Therefore to conclude this point If to flie from the World bee a vanity how much more to follow it If vices and torments do harbour in the desart how much more in presses and throngs of people Truely if vanity bee in euery place let vs say that all is torment and affliction of Spirit CHAP. XI Of old and decrepit age BVt in the meane time that man is busied about al these vaine conceits while he is pushing time with his shoulder endeauouring nothing all dayes of his life but to rise and to goe to bed to apparell himselfe and to make himselfe vnready to fill his belly and to euacuate his stomacke which is no more then a circle of the selfe same importuning occupations much like vnto a Millers horse that alwaies treads one compasse While he is thus busied with such occasions behold old age stealingly arriueth to which few doe attaine and all desire But if any doe peraduenture gaine that time they desire to haue it prolonged to the vtmost this age being as Grapes which haue lost their iuyce and as the sincke of mans life is without question the most vnhappy for those men that are worldly as no the contrary it is most blessed for such as are godly For worldly men in this age are doubly possest with way wardnes their feare and distrust doth increase their iudgement waxeth weake begins to diminish Wherefore we do wrongfully call a melancholy humor wisedome a dis-abilitie sobriety because old age leaueth not pleasure but pleasure leaueth it And therefore he doth vndeseruedly complaine that the time and manners of men are changed into worse while nothing is changed but himselfe for in his youth all things pleased him if they were neuer so bad in his old age all things dislike him if they were neuer so good Like vnto those which being in a Ship thinke that the banks moue when it is onely themselues It is also a vice incident to this Age to speake much because they are no more able to performe any thing and that they also thinke themselues most fit to propose precepts to youth and to declare things of time long since Like vnto a declining State as that of the Romane Empire where there are many talkers but few valiant not much different from the aged time of the world where are many curious disputers but few of the true Religion In this Age also doth increase the loue of wealth and earthly cares doe summon new forces against man he waxeth all gray and euery thing in him beginneth to wither onely his vices excepted That auncient man of whom the Apostle maketh often mention beeing ready to dote waxeth not old in worldly age but then he is in full vigour He therefore feareth approching death and holdeth his life like vnto an Eele which slideth away In the meane time he determineth of tedious designes and heapeth vp riches as if death stood a farre off and durst not appeare But now that age is come and the time that he ought to rest his griefes and dolours are renewed the heart afflicted the braine troubled the face withered the body crooked the sight dimmed the hayres falne and the teeth rotten and to be short the body is as it were asimilitude of death yet doth he prepare himselfe least to gaine the future blisse and though many times death takes for a gage one part or other of his body as an arme an eye or a legge to serue for an aduertisement that he will shortly fetch the rest yet he is so affianced to the earth that he is vnwilling to goe to it when nothing remaineth in him but euill CHAP. XIII Of DEATH THus after Man hath sorrowed all his dayes vnder the heauy burthen of his sinnes and in conclusion of all this vnprofitable wearisome trauell behold the approch of death before he hath learned to liue much lesse to dye The most part beeing taken out of this world before they know to what end they entred in they would willingly prolong the date of their life but death admits no composition for it hath feet of wooll but armes of iron it cōmeth vnsensibly but hauing taken once hold it neuer looseth her prize To this pace or step man commeth so slowly as possibly he can For if a Ship should sinke among the waues two hundred leagues from Land notwithstanding euery Passenger would striue to swim not with an intent to saue his life but to repell death for some minutes and to render nature her last ineuitable tribute Euery man trembleth at this passage and laboureth to settle himselfe here yet is forced at last to yeeld vnto Death and yet by no meanes may bee knowne after what manner hee shall end his life Some there bee that are forced to dye by hunger others by thirst others by fire others by water others by poison others are smothered others are torne in pieces by wilde beasts others deuoured of the Fowles of the aire others are made meat for Fishes and others for Worms yet for all this Man knoweth not his end when hee thinketh himselfe most at rest hee sodainly perisheth What a dreadfull sight is it to see him lying in his bed that is oppressed with the paines of Death What shaking and changing of all the bonds of nature will he make the feete will become cold the face pale the eyes hollow the lips and mouth to retire the hands diminish the tongue waxeth blacke the teeth doe cloze the breath faileth the cold sweat appeareth by the violence of sicknes All which is a certaine token that nature is ouercome But now when it commeth to the last gaspe or at the sorrowfull departure that the soule maketh from his habitation all the bands of Nature are broken Besides when the Diuell or wicked spirit is assured of our end what furious assaults will hee make against our soules to make vs despaire of Gods mercy It is the houre when as Satan doth his power to striue against GOD for to hinder the saluation of mankind and he is more boisterous in these latter dayes for that he knoweth that his time is but short and that the end of his kingdome is at hand and therefore he is the more enflamed for he neuer
shew it selfe in Religion for what he thinketh touching the seruice of God doth manifestly appeare by his exteriour actions In matters of newes wee doe sooner beleeue one that hath seene it then the common report But in matters of Religion it is contrarie for most doe follow the vulgar opinion which is as much as to maintaine that which is most absurd and then to hide himselfe amongst the multitude Obserue many other things which any may easily perceiue to be most ridiculous As to cloath in Silke and Gold the images of men while that a poore Begger goeth naked which is the Image of God To weare a Crosse hanging downe vpon the belly while that the belly is an enemy to the Crosse of Christ In going to a Bawdy-house or returning from some wicked fact to say certaine Pater-nosters To kneele downe at the boxe which keepeth the Host when it returneth empty from some sicke body as when it went full To adore the Host passing by a little boxe and not to respect it in a mans bodie which is come newly from receiuing it To make their Creator with words and presently to deuoure him vvith their teeth To bee insolent and deboshed one day before Lent and the next day following to bee very graue and sorrowfull To imploy their blessed Beades for to obtaine remission of their sinnes After the death of any great Personage to cloath with blacke the Image of our Lady to the end that shee may participate of their griefes To whip themselues in publique for to content God or to release a soule out of Purgatory In honour of the Saints to burne Candles in the midst of the day To conclude man hath forged many strange things in his braine and would haue God to approue them Nay he is come to that passe that hee doth assume to himselfe the distribution of Offices in Paradise making one Protector of a Countrey another a healer of some particular disease as if little Ants had power to dispose of affaires belonging to the Crowne of France This is also a vanity of vanities and an extreme imbecilitie of iudgement Our selues which haue the true Word of God for a rule to frame our actions by are not exempted and our folly and vanity doth mixe it selfe with our best actions For in our ciuill actions if we haue need of counsell wee presently addresse our selues to some friends But in matters of Gods diuine seruice we take counsell of our minds and concupiscences which are our domesticall enemies If money be due vnto vs from one we had rather alwayes haue the money then his promise in celestiall matters it is contrary For the holy Gospell is an obligation by which God hath promised vs saluation and hath sealed it with the bloud of his Sonne but we had rather keepe the obligation then receiue the paiment which is due at the day of death nay wee doe endeuour to prolong the date of it Some doe record in the Emperor Honorius a great simplicitie and childish weakenesse that hauing a Hen nominated by him Rome which he did cherish and so infinitely affect that when one came vnto him and said that his Rome was lost he answered very sorrowfully Alas she was here but euen now But the other replying said And it please your Highnes I speak not of a Hen but of your Citie of Rome which hath beene surprized and sacked by Alario Goth. The Emperor hearing this was somewhat comforted thinking that losse to bee more tolerable Such is our simplicitie wee will not suffer one to touch our riches but we will indure any to entice vs to Vice to seduce vs into errour and to poison our soules It is a great folly to refuse a medicine because the Physician is not eloquent Why doe wee not then make account and estimation of the preaching of the Gospell if the Preacher bee not eloquent seeing that the holy Gospell is the medicine of our soules Is it not then an extreme brutishnes for some vicious person to slighten the holy Writ because it is not adorned with Flowers of Rhetoricke What is the reason then that the Word of God doth please vs if it be not decked with Flowers and composed with Art seeing that it is that sacred worke and Doctrine of Reconciliation with God Wee doe not receiue willingly the correction of our Parents if it bee not very milde This is also a vanity distaste and childish humour Touching our Iudgement which we haue of others either in esteeming or contemning them it is most vaine and ridiculously ignorant For if there be a question about burthens wee account him most strong which can carry the heauiest On the contrary about quarrels wee esteeme him the most valiant which can beare nothing attributing force and valour to weakenesse and impatience In matters of ornament we doe not iudge of the goodnesse of a sword by the beauty of a scabberd nor of the metall of a Horse by the fairenesse of a Bridle and Saddle Why doe we then measure our estimation of a man either by his good or bad apparell And if it be necessary that we salute one for the stuffe of his cloathes which he weareth why doe wee not salute the same stuffe in the Shops Why doe wee iudge discreetly in the estimation of vaine and triuiall things when as in a matter of such importance as of the estimation of man we are most voide of reason So some doe respect a Merchant or Rent-gatherer because hee summeth vp exactly his accounts when hee liueth in such fashion that he cannot giue an account vnto God Some labour to till their Gardens and other grounds and by it winne much praise when as themselues are barren bring forth no fruit of good workes Wee are much vaine and childish in our feares as in any other thing For as little Infants doe play with fire burne themselues but feare when they see their Father comming masked with a frowning countenance towards them So men desiring to dally with pleasures because of their lustre at the length lose themselues amongst them yet notwithstanding they feare God their Father when he commeth vnto them vnder the maske of afflictions or death Also man doth ingender in himselfe either foolish or pernicious feares Some one being iealous that his wife doth affect others endeuoureth to espy and search out that which he feareth to finde and by this meanes angreth her so that she seeketh to be reuenged in such nature which hee formerly suspected Some other fearing to liue without honour committeth such things as subiect his body to some cruell torment and staineth the memory of him with perpetuall infamy Some other feareth the want of riches but hee shall want it and dye without it Some againe feareth he shall die before marriage but God well obserues that time and by wedlocke will make him twice miserable When I consider what humane wisedome is I finde it
any thing is to disproue the same There are two sorts of people in the Court which hate one the other each knowing of it notwithstanding there is alwayes an emulation betwixt them which should first attempt any point of Honour to doe the other seruice and bee the last that should end it But such ridiculous complements are like vnto Anticke actions Enuy which doth supplant and deceiue his neighbour or that doth snarle in secret is there perpetually and to appease it there is no way but by miserie Vices and degenerate actions are esteemed among Courtiers as precepts and part of their composition Not to bee corrupted by them there requireth more faith then a graine of Mustard-seed As Crowes build their nest among the highest boughes so doth the diuell among the highest of men where spreading his wings he clocketh for his little ones which are his Vices because there they remaine more exposed to the sight and neuer appeare but vvith authoritie There also shall you see Caualiers who out of their gallant disposition will kill one the other vpon the interpretation of a word a manifest confession that their life is not much worth sith they will sell it so good cheape Notwithstanding these kinde of men that are in these occasions so valiant do fly away when they should suffer the least thing for Gods cause Surely many such are required to make one good Martyr for the holy Gospell There be some kinde of Courtiers so subtill and crafty that they doe play as the Fisherman who as soone as he hath gotten any thing in his Net giueth ouer the Court and goeth his way Other some there be that play all out and other that remaine vntill they become wondrous rich and in the end they are made to restore all backe againe There are also others that doe nothing but inuent meanes to inlarge their owne treasures and become vvealthy with spoiling poore people Princes doe by them many times as wee doe by our hogges wee let them fatten to the end we may eate them afterwards so likewise are they suffered many times to enrich themselues to be disposed afterwards when they are fat and one that is new come oftentimes is preferred in their places By this you may see that Courtiers oftentimes doe sell their liberty to become rich for they must obey all commandements they must frame themselues to laugh when the Prince laugheth to weepe when hee weepeth approue that which hee approueth and condemne that which he condemneth They must alter and change their natures to bee seuere with those that are seuere sorrowfull with those that are sorrowfull and in a manner transforme themselues according to the nature of him whom they will please or else they shall get nothing To bee briefe they must frame themselues according to his manners nature and yet many times one little offence stayneth all the seruice they haue done in the life before Many in Princes Courts put off their caps to them whom they would gladly see cut shorter by the head and often bow their knees to do them reuerence whom they wish had broken their neckes Here you may see the life of a great number of vicious Courtiers which is no life but rather a lingring death heere you may see wherein their Youth is imployed which is no youth but a transitory death for when they come to age they bring nothing from thence but gray heads their feet full of Gouts their backes full of paine their hearts full of sorrow and their soules filled with sinne CHAP. V. The life of Magistrates and wicked Iudges NOw our discourse of Courtiers being past it is requisite we speake of things done in the ciuill life and to how many miseries it is subiect For although it be at this day a degree most noble necessary for the peace of mans life yet shall we finde that it deserues to haue his part in this Pilgrimage as well as others and if there be any delectation pleasure or Honour depending thereon yet it is transitory and inconstant First knowing that all the actions of Magistrates passe before the eyes of the common people whose iudgements in matters of State be but simple yet haue they a certaine smell or sauour to know the good from euill Wherefore those that be Iudges and Magistrates be subiect as in a Play to bee hissed at and chased away with shame and confusion For the haire-brain'd people vvhich is compared to a Monster with many heads are mutable vncertaine fraudulent apt to wrath and mutinie ready to praise or dispraise without wisedome or discretion variable in their talke vnlearned and obstinate Therefore it behooueth that the life of a Iudge or Magistrate bee sincere and vertuous For as he iudgeth openly so shall hee be iudged of the people seuerally not onely in matters of waight and importance but in those of small consequence For alwayes the rude people will find somewhat to reforme as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at their Law-maker Licurgus for that he went alwayes holding downe his head The Venecians defamed wise Cato in his eating and accounted Pompeius vnciuill for that he would scratch with one finger onely yet these are but few in comparison of other good men that the common sort haue persecuted banished and in the end put to death If that great Oratour Demosthenes were aliue hee could say some-what who after he had a long time been a iust and faithfull Gouernour of the Common-wealth of Athens was in the end without cause vniustly banished Moses and many other holy men haue so many times tasted the fury of the common people that if they were this day liuing they would powre out most grieuous complaints against them Now wee haue shewed and set forth the miseries that proceede from common people so must wee in like sort put into the ballance the errours and corruptions that are found in wicked Iudges of the which sort some are corrupted with feare for such feare they haue that rather then they will displease a Prince or a great Lord will violate Iustice like Pilate that condemned Christ for feare that hee had to displease the Emperour Tiberius Other Magistrates are corrupted by loue as was Herod who for to please the foolish loue of a Damsell that danced condemned Saint Iohn Baptist although that hee knew that hee was iust and innocent Some are many times corrupted by hatred as was the chiefe Priest that condemned Saint Paul to bee stoned to death though he deserued it not Some Magistrates are corrupted by siluer and gold and other gifts presents as were the children of the Prophet Samuel and this disease is so contagious that I feare at this day many are infected with it They all loue rewards saith the Prophet they all looke for gifts they doe not right to the Orphane and the Widdowes complaint commeth not before them And in another place Woe be to you that are corrupted by money by hatred
more tormenteth those whom he doth possesse then when he knoweth that he must depart But now when Man hath passed the bitter anguish of Death where is then become his glories Where are his pomps and triumphs Where is his Voluptuousnesse and Wantonnesse Where is his Maiestie excellency and holinesse They are vanished as the shadow and it is chanced to them as to the garment that the wormes haue eaten or as the wooll that the moth hath deuoured Let vs behold Man when hee is in the graue Who euer saw a Monster more hideous then the dead carkasse of Man behold his excellency Maiestie and Dignity couered with a lumpe of earth Heere you may see him that was cherished reuerenced and honoured euen to kisse his hands and feet by a sodaine mutation become a creature most abominable and to them it happeneth as Salomon writeth in his booke of Wisedome What hath it profited saith he the pride and great aboundance of riches All these things are passed as is the Arrow shot to the white or as is the smoke that is dispersed with the winde The sole memory of Death mournfull Funerals and the reading of Inscriptions engrauen in Sepulchers doth make the very haire to stare and stand an end and strikes Man with an horrour and apprehension of it Some represent Death terrible to the aspect and depriued of flesh other consider it with compassion mixt with dread Some particular man which not long since was clad in Silke and shined with Diamonds is now assaulted with troupes of Wormes and breathes forth intolerable sents while that his heyre doth laugh in secret and enioyeth the fruit of all his labour which he himselfe neuer enioyed And neuerthelesse in this his very dust corruption doth appeare an Ambition and pride doth rest within his Tombe For then behold stately Sepulchers engraued stones that report some famous actions and proud titles vpon his Tombe set out with false Narrations to the end that Passengers by may say Here lyeth a goodly stone and a corrupted body CHAP. XIV Of the terrible Iudgement Seat of God BEing dead in this world hee must then appeare before the Iudgement Seat of God with such a terrour to those that consider it well that there is no member but trembleth It is the Day that the Lord will come like a tempest when euery ones heart shall faile them and all the world shall bee astonied for euen as Lightning which riseth from the East and extendeth to the West so shall the comming of the Sonne of Man be Tribulation shal then be so extreme and great as the like hath not beene seene since the beginning of the world till now nor euer shal be the like The Sunne shall be darkened and the Moone shall giue no more light the Starres shall fall from Heauen and the waues of the Sea shall rage men shall bee amazed with feare and the powers of Heauen shall moue Woe shall be in those dayes to them that are with child and to them that giue sucke For as it was in the dayes before the Flood they did eate drinke marry and were married euen vnto the day that Noah entred into the Arke and knew nothing till the Flood came and tooke them all away So shall the comming of the Lord be and then all kinreds of the earth shall mourne and shall hide themselues in Dens and Caues and in the Mountaines and shall say vnto them Fall vpon vs hide vs from the face of him that sitteth vpon the Throne Blow out the Trumpet saith the Prophet Ioel that all such as dwell in the world may tremble at it for the Day of the Lord commeth and is hard at hand a darke day a gloomy day yea and a stormy day Before him shall be a consuming fire and behinde him a burning flame Then the dead that are in the graues shall rise and come forth the bones and the other parts shall finde out their ioynts for to ioyne againe together with the body that the earth hath putrified and corrupted All those that the Beasts and Birds of the ayre haue deuoured all those that the Sea hath swallowed vp all those that are vnvapoured in the earth and all those that the fire hath consumed shall bee reduced and brought to their former estate All the bloud that Theeues Pyrats Murderers Tyrants and false Iudges haue vniustly shed shall then appeare before the Maiestie of God So that there shall not one drop of bloud bee lost from the time of Abel that was the first slaine of men vnto the last so that there shall not one haire perish If the vaile of the Temple did breake with the Earthquake the Sunne darken and change his brightnesse for the wrong that was done vnto IESVS CHRIST being on the Crosse although in nothing he did offend what countenance may the poore sinners shew that haue offended him innumemerable times who then shall abide the shining brightnesse of Gods Maiestie sitting vpon his Throne of glory It is the dreadfull houre when wicked Monarkes Kings and Princes shall giue account of their vnlawful exactions that they haue made vpon their Subiects and of the bloud that they haue wrongfully spilled It is the houre wherein Merchants and such as haue traded in the circle of the world that haue beguiled and sold by false weights and measures shall render a iust account of the least fraud that they haue committed It is the houre that couetous men and Vsurers that haue beguiled some vndone others shall pay themselues the cruell interest of that which they haue ill gotten It is the houre when Magistrates and wicked Iudges that haue corrupted violated and suspended Iustice shall be accountable for their corruption and iniquities It is the very houre wherein Widdowes Orphanes and other afflicted persons shall make their complaints before God of the wrong and oppression that haue beene shewed them It is the houre wherein the wicked shall say repenting in themselues troubled with horrible feare Behold these which in times past we had in derision infamy reproach are now accounted among the children of God whose portion is amongst the Saints It is the houre wherein foolish and dumbe persons shall be more happy then the wise eloquent Many Shepheards and Carters shall bee preferred before Philosophers many Beggers before rich Princes and Monarches and many simple and ignorant before the witty and subtile Let vs therefore that are Christians looke to our selues and take heed wee bee not counted vnder the iudgement and sentence of the most greatest miseries of all miseries The which sentence is recited in the 25. Chap. of S. Mathew where it is said Goe yee cursed into euerlasting fire CHAP. XV. Of HELL MAny and great are the miseries which man suffreth in this world but yet all of them are but as Roses in respect of the Thorns which follow for the vanity and trauaile of the temporall life
is a happinesse in regard of the torments of eternall death which doth swallow the most part of men It is a large way which leadeth to perdition and few doe find the way of Saluation Death commeth here to leuy soules for Hell and doth enroll great and small learned and ignorant rich and poore yea many which are esteemed holy and liue couered vnder the cloake of Hypocrisie to the end that they might goe to Hell with the lesse noise and not be stayed by the way This Hell is a place of flames and yet there is perpetuall darknesse where soules doe waxe old and yet neuer die and where they liue continually to die Where they burn without consuming where they mourne without compassion are afflicted without repentance where torment is without end and past imagination There the vnpappy rich man which refused to giue poore Lazarus a crumme of bread doth now beg of him a drop of water although whole Riuers bee not sufficient to extinguish his heat What if the rods that God doth punish his Infants withall doe sometimes make them almost despaire and euen curse the day of their Natiuitie as Iob and Ieremy did What are those afflictions that hee doth oppresse his Aduersarie withall It is a horrible thing saith the Apostle to fall into the hands of the Liuing God For because hee saith in his anger as it is written in the 32. Chapter of Deuteromie I haue lifted my hands towards heauen and said I am the euerliuing God If I whet my glittering sword and my hand take hold on iudgement I will execute vengeance on mine enemies and will reward them that hate me Praised be God which hath deliuered vs and drawne vs from that burning furnace of hell by his Sonne Iesus Christ who as S. Paul saith to the Galatians was reuiled for our sakes hath called vs our of perpetual darknes to his maruellous light 1. Pet. 2. 9. Is it possible for vs to be ignorant what that torment is not know how much he hath suffred for to retaine vs in feare and to make vs know the greatnesse of the grace of God and the excellence of our Redemptiō in Iesus Christ his Son who is also God eternally blessed This precedent discourse hath led vs through all ages and through all the most ordinary conditions of humane life yet in this voyage we haue knowne nothing but vanity and torment of spirit And it hath chiefely appeared when we haue cast our eyes vpon the diuine prouidence of God which doth from the highest Heauens view all the actions of man not as an idle spectator but as a wise Conductor and iust Iudge And there from aboue he laughes at the designes of great men frustrateth their enterprises destroyeth their tongues spirits of Babylonian builders ruineth their greatnes and breaketh their Scepters into shiuers teaching man that he is nothing but dust and his wisedome but meere blindnes to the end that hee may learne to contemne the world aud transport his hopes from earth to heauen that hauing seene some beames of this terrestriall splendour which vanisheth as Lightening he doth say with S. Peter It is good that we be here let vs make our selues heere Tabernacles Happy is that man which hauing well knowne the vantiy of this world doth retire towards God thot he beeing in a sure Hauen a farre off and that being vnder his shaddow as vnder a sure couered place may contemplate the ruine of the wicked the instability of their designes the folly of their hopes and the effects of the Iudgement of God Thereupon the Prophet Dauid in Psal 92. saith also O LORD how glorious are thy workes and thy thoughts are very deepe an vnwise man knoweth it not and a foole doth not vnderstand this When the wicked grow as the grasse and all the workes of wickednes doe flourish then they shall be destroyed for euer It behoueth vs heere to note carefully that this Psalme is intituled A Song for the Sabbath day for by it hee doth aduertise vs that this meditation requireth a quiet and resting spirit which beeing restrained from the presse of humane actions doth retire it selfe into the House of God according to that which hee saith in the 73 Psalme where he doth confesse that the prosperity of wicked men hath offended him and that hee could hardly digest it vntill that he had entred into the Sanctuary of the Almighty and considered the end of such men For to vnderstand what the true happinesse is and to vnmaske himselfe to the imaginary felicitie of this world it is not necessary to goe to Philosophicall schooles or to build his resolutions vpon the opinion of the Vulgar but to enter into the holy House of God and there learne what the difference is betweene the riches which he scattereth vpon this great multitude and that which he reserueth for his little ones what the vncertainty of this worldly prosperitie is in respect of the certainty of Gods promises But vvith what insensible chaines doth Satan lead men into perdition How doth he triumph ouer those which triumph in this world how they that thinke themselues most sure are vpon the point of their ruine and perpetuall destruction Let vs furthermore consider how vaine the glory of man is in that some one doth boast of his particular strēgth wherein it is impossible for him euer to equall a Bull. Some other doe glory in their beauty when as it is onely a superficiall colour which couereth the bloud bones and braines hideous things to see It is also a thing that age and many maladies haue power to deforme Some other doth glory of his honour and greatnesse when indeed he is possest in this state with most trouble and feare and lesse liberty besides he is mounted so high that he cannot fall but with breaking of his owne necke Some other doth glory to bee more drunke then his companions but if his belly bee greater in capacitie then others notwithstanding it will neuer exceed a Barrell These former things are generall for vanities and miseries are common to all men since that sinne hath subiected mankinde to them But notwithstanding there are some more then other which are made examples of extreme misery As poore beggers which are constrained through necessitie to lye vpon the bare pauement as Gally-slaues and as those miserable slaues which are made mercenaries The hundreth part of humane kinde doth imperiously and impiously torment the rest and those that are feeble and meane serue as preyes to the mighty Amongst the Turkes and Pagans which possesse three parts of the world men are bought and sold in the same fashion as horses in a Faire for the buyer marketh their fight maketh them shew their teeth and feeleth the sinnewes of their armes and legges Great Princes keepe millions of chained Slaues for to labour in making of Sugar in working of Mines to serue in Gallies
our selues vpon him The heauen moueth alwayes and yet it is the place of our rest On the contrary the earth resteth alwayes and yet it is the place of our motion The Quadrants and Horologies imitate the motion of heauen but the faith of the beleeuers doth imitate the Rest which is aboue all Vlysses did more esteeme the smoake of his owne house than the flame of anothers How much more then would he esteeme the flame of his owne chimney than the smoake of anothers Wee are heere strangers this is not our house our habitation is in heauen Let vs compare the smoake of this strange house and the darkenesse of the earth with the beauty and splendor of our owne dwelling which is the in Kingdome of heauen Here is the reigne of Satan there the Kingdome of God here is a valley of teares there the height of mirth here wee sowe in sorrow there wee reape in ioy here wee see the light of the Sunne through two little holes which are called the eyes there wee receiue light from God on euery side as if wee were all eyes Therefore because God is all in all to him be honour and glory in this world and in the world to come Amen FINIS ON THE WORTHY NAME OF MY NOBLE and learned Author that excellent Diuine Monsieur PIERRE DV MOVLIN the Mirror of our age PRaise mis-bestow'd on him t' whom none belongs ILl fits the Praised and the Praiser wrongs ERror in praising may the prais'd defame RAising vp worth on an vnworthy Name REst weake-wing'd Muse striue not this worth to raise ELated by its selfe its selfe can praise DV MOVLIN'S worth I meane whose sacred skill VNder ha's brought Romes Champion to his will MY Muse bee mute forbeare his worth t' expresse O! Wrong not that by praise to make it lesse VNto the world's broad Eye what riches rest LOck't in the closet of His pious brest IS cleerely seene and specially appeares NOw more transcendent in 's Heraclits Teares Deuoted to your Vertues ABR DARCIE THE TRANSLATOR TO the vnpartiall Reader all Prosperity ALl is corrupt and naught all eu'ry where BElow high Heau'n Ther 's not a corner Cleare RIch subtill worldlings wise cramd with wealths store ARe but the fooles of Fate exceeding poore HOnor Wealth Beauty Pompe i' th' best degree ARe subiect all to change no State liues free MONARKS nor Kings the glory they liue in DEath shall deface as if th' had neuer bin ATtend faire Vertue then Vice dis-respect REbuild thy sunke foundation Architect CLimbe Heau'n braue spirits let your Teares expell IN faire Repentance showr'd the worst of hell EVer to gaine those Ioyes no tongue can tell FINIS * This Princely Dame is a blest branch of these famous Trees of Honour the most ancient House of Derby and the Noble family of the Spencers * Honorable branches of Honour sprung from the Noble House of Bridgewater * Noble Twigs of vertue issued from the Illustrious family of the Paulets Marquises of Winchester Eccles 12. 12. Pyrrus King of Epirots that valiant and victorious warriour is killed by a silly woman with a tile stone He who had filled the earth with the Trophees of his deedes and triumphs of his victories Alexander of Macedonia that most famous Monarch died impoysoned by his owne seruants The chiefe of the Greekes hauing escaped so many perils in the Troyans warres is cruelly murdered before his Castle Great Pompey hauing shunned the bloudy hand of his enemies is killed by his deare obliged friend That victorious French Monarch Henry of Bourbon the 4. of that name whose inuincible valour made Spaine quake Rome treÌ„ble is in time of peace lamentably murdred in his Coach in the midst of his Royall citie of Paris These examples do euidently shew the worlds mutability and inconstancie Eccl. 1. 14. Of Infancy Of Youth Youth compared to yong trees That Kings and Soueraignes are not more free from misery then other inferiour persons The inuenters if new Patents Enuious insatiable Courtiers Wealth inticeth men to sinne New Duels doe adde to one much reputation for as it is a shame for a man to come into the world so they hold it an honour to send him out of it Mens reward for those follies and deboistnesse committed in their Youth Magistrates and wicked Iudges A Notable adâ—ertisement for Judges and Magistrates The Author as before craues pardon of all modest Religious and vertuous women whose vertue hee doth honour and reuerence Mat. 15. 36. 6. 27. 1. Tim. 6. Couetousnes the source and originall of all wickednes and abomination Of Enuie that cruell abominable and bloudy vice which doth generaly raigne now in this our degenerate age Of Ambition the cause of our fall and ruine Bernard Ambitiosorum Arcana sunt periculosissima Maledictus superbus est tam impudens voluntartè se separeta Deo Mans felicitie and happinesse doth not depend onely vpon greatnesse and degnity for contentment exceedeth riches Take Fees with both hands gull their Clients and make them like bare-headed Vassals pray and pay soundly for their importunate bawling An excellent Simile The vanity simplicitie and folly of aged men Hee that knowes much and knowes not himselfe knowes nothing Simile Such minds incite whores rather then chaste and vertuous women With good reason S. Austin said That Man pleaseth God the best that circled with beauties in the mids of Princes magnificent Palaces could fly their alluring temptations A notable comparison to confound the folly of men who thinke to auoid temptations by rendring and making themselues Anchorites and Hermites Non quaere-Christus Iesus glariam suam omnia Igitur relinqnere debes etiam te ipsum spernere abnegare vt frauris amicitia Ihesu Christi Simile A pittifull example of Mans Wolfe-like appetite his insatiate desire of riches and vgly terror of deformiâ—y Than the Day of Death there is nothing more certaine nor nothing vncertaine * Nota. This is weighty to be obserued not ouely of the poore and inferiour persons but more to be apprehended with feare by theÌ„ most mighty Soueraignes and greatest men of this world that they may not build their happinesse vpon the deceitfull ground of their riches and transitory possessions Death is a terrour to those ignoble minds whose pride of life makes them weake timerous most vndoubted Cowards to the least obiect Death shal present The Rich vnprofitable Mizerburns in Hell for his Auarice while his sonne in the world dancing a Whore on his Lap sets all prodigally flying Tunc Post vnam voluptatem sequuntur mille dolores Simile Most worthy to be read and considered with terrour and true repentance Ver Aeternum plenisfima delitiarum quam pura es The Maiesty of God in the generall Judgement Day shall be more terrible to the impious Monarks of the earth then either the world on fire round about them Hell gaping to swallow the vgly Fiends to torture or the paines of Hell can affright them Remember Hell t is not a feined but a place most fume most fearefull Poenitentia sera raro vera How Gods incomprehensible Prouidence frustrates the designes of men making their enterprises of no validity Luke 9. 99. Consider the subtilty of Satan and mans sudden ruine Memento decimo sexto die Octobris â—â—ilo Antiquo quinto die Octob. slilo Nouo MDCXXIII Of the vaine glory of men most corruptible and transitory The iust reward of Kings proud mounting Fauorites Necessitas non habet legem Of the vanitie of humane thoughts desires and iudgements Idle most vnprofitable thoughts Read Swetons Worke. A true Simile of those that build Castles in the Castles in the ayre A principall and most worthy obseruation The profit of solitarinesse Death terrible to the foole Mans vncertainty where to rest Foolish and vaine desires Despaire animates man to hasten the destruction The strong operation of conceit The vaine and superstious follies of ignorant Idolaters Grosse errors which like a foggy mist blind and confound the sight and sense of men Adherents of the Church of Rome We must not thinke to make with our wealth and worldly riches a composition and truce with Death for Nature requires a tribute at our hands * A Simile worthy of obseruation a Wee are so rooted in this worlds abomination that we prefer a minute of worldly pleasure before heauens euerlasting ioyes incomprehensible and immutable Men ought not to be regarded not respected for their gallant and gorgeous apparell only but more for their vertues Man Iull'd in the Labyrinth of pleasures knowes not how to get out The custome of the world Marriage without loue and meanes breeds the most wofull experience of a miserable life Worldlings most wise in knowing the way to get riches but to seeke after the riches of Heauen dull Animals Omnia sub sole vanitas Happy the man that followes this blest example The world 's a Where full of deceitfulnesse There is no true friendship but among good men very scant in this Age. God in his infinite mercy ruinates the building of sinne in the body to re-build the Soule an euerlasting Mansion in Heauen The Alpes be inexasible high great Mountains which diuide France from Italy Man borne in misery most miserable euen froÌ„ his Cradle Mans life assaultod by peril I and eminent dangers No man free from sorrows miseries There is a time pre-ordained for euery thing Humilitie the Queene of Vertues Pride the Princesse of Vice * Belarmine He also by his most excelent and admirable Booke intituled The BVCKLER OF THE FAITH doth vtterly confound the Romane Church And many Iesuites in presuming to dispute with this rare Diuine are put to their Non plus vltra Yea the most famous of theÌ„ Mr. Arnoux the Iesuite is put to his Shifts and Euasions
that minute for hee will come like a thiefe in the night suddenly before with a winke thou canst locke vp thine eye or in thy braine create the nimblest thought Canst thou then hope to stand iustified in thy Makers presence when thou hast cramd the deuill with thy sappe of strength and full gorg'd him with the purest Acorne Mast of thy siowy virility if at last thou come limping on Times tottering crutches to present vnto him the off all huskes and morosity of thy doting decrepit age What thanke is it to pardon our enemies when wee cannot hurt them to giue away our goods when wee can enioy them no longer to abandon our pleasures when wee cannot vse them to forsake sinne when it biddes farewell to vs and at last onely to surcease to offend when ability of offending is taken from vs No no hee will then paralell thee with the sluggard that neuer would acquire foode till hee was first starn'd and ranke thee with the sottish ideot that could not know a fish till hee was already stung with a Scorpion thy palsie-shaken prayers will bee like Cains oblation vnacceptable to the Lord and noisome to his nostrils Thinkest thou to expiate Gods Iustice when thou hast prodigally swealed out the blazing lampe of thy brightest day in the Deuils chappell if at last thou come creeping when thy breath lies twinkling in the socket of thy nostrils to set it vp in Gods Sanctuary hoping then and there to haue it replenish't with his all-sauing grace and mercie O mocke not thy soule with these deluding phantasma's for as Alexander seeing one of his souldiers whetting his dart when others of his fellowes went foorth to fight casheer'd him saying Hee 's vnfit to beare armes that hath them to make ready when hee should skirmish So will God send thee packing as hee did the foolish Virgins with this retorsion Thou comest disfurnish't with no oyle in thy lampe and thou deseruest no mercie that neuer desiredst it till now in miserie Gather thy selfe betimes then within the weapons of Faith Hope Charity Repentance and Perseuerance and let Prayer stand perpetuall Sentinell for if the Diuell once get footing within thee he will hardly bee eiected so wily is he in peruerting thee that thou canst not bee too wary in preuenting him For as Iphicrates answered his Generall who asked him why hee surrounded his souldiers with a Wall when there was no feare of foe-mens approach A man cannot be too prouident in preuenting obuious and occurrent dangers So canst thou not bee too cautelous in repelling the perillous stratagems of the Diuels assaults therefore may I cloze vp the precedencie with that worthy saying of a more worthy Epigrammatist No man needes feare that feares before hee needes O cleanse and purifie thy heart then by earnest prayer and powerfull ciaculations which is made the loathsome cage of sinne the silent receptacle of diabolicall cogitations and the dismall dungeon of malignant motions that the Spirit of grace may there finde harbour and take delight to bee thy inmate Remember O thou mighty man that swelling titles of Honour are but the leaues of vanity Remember O thou rich man that terrene and transitorie pleasures are like the Bee though they yeeld honey yet carry they a sting and are but as the Lillies of the earth more delectable in show then durable in continuance Remember O thou extortioner thou cruell man thou Murtherer thou Adulterer thou deceitfull man thou vnconscionably deteinest the hirelings wages and thou that actest inexorable villanies secretly in the darke imprisoned from the worlds dull eye that if the Eagle can discerne as one hath it the Hare vnder the Bush and the Fish vnder the Waues much more can God who is the Creator of creatures penetrate the closet of thy heart with his all-seeing eye and discerne thy clandestine sinful practices before and in their very conception and for them hee will bring thee to iudgement Remember O thou that swayest the Sword of Iustice to strike or saue as thou art suggested by thine owne ends profits or affections that though thy couert proiects be not envulgard to the worlds generall eye yet a day of Reuelation will come when all thy partiall and priuate practices shall bee stript euiscerate and laid as apparantly open as the sheepe vpon the Gambrell But now with reuerence and Doue-like humilitie to you which are Iehouahs Embassadors the light of the world and salt of the earth doe I addresse my speech mustered vp in the meanest and mildest ranke of words O I could wish that all of you stood without the list of that reprehension of Vices which once an ancient and honest Historian twitted the Monkes of Canterbury with Some rise early in the morning to see their hounds pursue the prey but not to pray some delight to catch Fowles but not Soules some take pleasure to cast a Dye well but not cast to die well Doth the wilde Asse bray saith Iob when he hath grasse or loweth the Oxe when he hath fodder But I dare not say No more doe some of you preach when you haue once got a Benefice If there bee any that entertaine Religion with their Lord preach the praise of their Patrons preaching in the Pulpit chatter in their Chambers suiting their Linsie Wolsey professions with their seuerall ends O let those remember how God met with a mischiefe that notorious Nestorius who for his temporizing inconstancie set wormes a worke to eate out his tongue O let them looke into the Story of one Hecebolus a Sophister who accommodating his profession to the fashions of the Emperours fained himselfe in the dayes of Constantius to be a most feruent Christian But when Iulian the Apostata was Ruler presently he turned Paynim and in his Orations proclaimed Iulian a god And when Iulian was dead in Iouinians time hee would haue turned backe to Christianitie Wherevpon for his mutabilitie and lightnesse in his Religion his horrid conscience draue him to the Church gates and there hurling himselfe flat cryed and bellowed with a lowd voice Trample me vnder your feete vnsauoury salt that I am entirely wishing out of his soules agony that he had neuer seene the light or at his conception his tongue had been riuetted to the roofe of his mouth Lastly and indefinitely to all Remember so to liue as you still may bee prepared for the stroke of Death then will you desire to be dissolued and to sleep in peace reclusiuely frō the turbulent sea of earthy carefull miseries discerning cleerely by the spirituall eye of vnderstanding that mans life is a wayfare because it is short and a warfare for that it is sharpe and that worldly delights are deceitfull and of no durabilitie like the water-Serpent no sooner bred but dead Collecting likewise out of humane experience that the best life is but a weary and tedious pilgrimage feeles no touch of true solace till at the euening of his dayes he lodge at the Inne of
death for death is the path of life a Gaole-deliuery of the soule a perfect health the hauen of heauen the finall victory of terrestriall troubles an eternall sleepe a dissolution of the body a terrour to the rich a desire of the poore a pilgrimage vncertaine a thiefe of men a shadow of life a rest from trauell an Epilogue to vaine delight a consumption of idle desires a scourge for euill a guerdon for good it dis-burdens vs of all care vnmanacles and frees vs from vexation solicitude and sorrow Of all those numberlesse numbers that are dead neuer any one returned to complaine of death but of those few that liue most complaine of life On earth euery man grumbles at his best estate The very elements whereby our subsistence or being as the secondarie cause is preserued conspire against vs the fire burnes vs the water drownes vs the earth annoyes vs and the aire infects vs our dayes are laborious our nights comfortlesse the heat scorcheth vs the cold benummes vs health swels vs with pride sicknesse empaleth our beauties friends turne Swallowes they will sing with vs in the Summer of prosperitie but in the winter of tryall they will take wings and be gone Enemies brand our reputations with deprauing imputations and the enuious man hurleth abroad his gins to ensnare our liues who would then desire to liue where there is nothing that begets content for this world is a Theater of vanities a Chaos of confusions an Embassador of mischiefe a Tyrant to vertue a breaker of Peace a Fauorite of Warre a friend of Vices a coyner of Lies an Anuile of Nouelties a table of Epicurisme a furnace of Lust a pit-fall to the rich a burthen to the poore a Cell of Pilgrims a den of Theeues a calumniator of the good a renowner of the wicked a cunning Impostor and a deceiuer of all How is the progresse of poore proud mans life violently agitated like the riuer Euripus with contrarious motions The pleasure of the wyly world thus inueigles him Come vnto mee and I will drowne thee in delight The corruption of the luxurious flesh thus ingles him Come vnto me and I will infect thee the Diuell he whispers this in his eare Come vnto mee and I will cheate and deceiue thee But our sweet and sacred Sauiour Iesus Christ with perswasiue inducements thus intreates him Come vnto me I pray thee that art heauy laden and I will receiue and exonerate thee and with the mighty arme of my mercy and compassion lift off that vnsupportable loade which crusheth downe to Hell thy groaning soule Study then to liue as dead to the world that thou maist liue with God for the iust man is said neuer to liue till after death Endeuor thy selfe to march faire through this worlds Labyrinth not to squander and looke asquint vpon the Circean allurements thereof But without turning either to the right or left hand runne straight on in that Eclipticke line which will conduct thee to that celestiall Ierusalem where with that immaculate Lambe Iesus Christ thou shalt enioy pleasure without pain wealth without want rest without labour ioy without griefe and immensiue felicitie without end Moreouer the contempt of the world born of the loue of God shall at length grow to hatred of the world when that besides the vanity and misery of it he shall contemplate the mischiefe and enmitie against the Almighty vvhich there raigneth when besides that vanity which some doe lay open to the view of all hee will represent to himselfe the iniquities which are closely kept and the Treasons Adulteries Murthers which are priuately and lurkingly committed when he shall consider the vials of Gods wrath and displeasure powred generally vpon all man-kinde for in the consideration of this world it behooueth vs to leaue out no part of it but to obserue all manner of nations and people amongst which there are many Pagans which not onely by a consequent but also by expresse profession adore the deuill The East Indies dedicate their temples to him and reuerence him with all respect The West Indies are afflicted and tormented ordinarily with euill spirits In most part of the North lurking deceits and assuming strange shapes are very common among the Inhabitants Sorcery is there an ordinary profession and the Diuell reigneth without contradiction In that Countrey which did once flourish where the Apostles had planted so happily the holy Ghost the Churches are now changed into Mosques and Temples of Idolatry In the West the head of the visible Church is become an earthly Monarch and banks are erected in those places where in times past was the House of God Amongst those erroneous and enuious people are scattered the Iewes which blasphemed against Iesus Christ and hauing persecuted him in his life doe iniuriously wrong him after his death The Countrey from whence came Decrees and Orders for Religion hath in it publike Brothel-houses and Sodomy is there an vsuall custome Here it is also where doubts in Religion that concerne a mans faith are decided in the middest of corruption There onely remaineth in the world a handfull of people which serue Iesus Christ in truth and verity and they can scarce receiue breath in this ayre which is so contrary to them beeing here as fishes without water as the remainders of great Massacres as pieces of boords scattered after the breaking of a great vessell and yet neuerthelesse among these few that are substracted out of the rest of the world corruption doth increase as a Canker or Vlcer Quarrels Vanity Superfluity in Apparell Auarice Ambition Sumptuousnesse which spendeth foolishly doth infect the one part of this small troupe for GOD is ill serued in priuate families their almes are cold they pray seldome and reade neuer IN briefe a contagion of vices by conuersing with our aduersaries doth infect vs which is the first steppe to superstition for errour creeps in to vs by vice and spirituall fornication by corporall If therefore where God is most purely knowne hee bee there ill serued how much more amongst the rest of the world If vices doe harbour in the Sanctuary how much more in the body of the church and habitation of the wicked Therefore Christ doth rightly call Satan The prince of the world and Peter doth iustly write in the second of the Acts Saue your selues from that peruerse generation for Satan lieth in ambush for vs all This age is infectious vices are like vnto glue temptations strong our enemies mighty our selues feeble and ignorant and the way of saluation narrow and full of thornes And few there bee saith Christ that finde it And those which finde it doe not alwayes keepe it but many hauing knowne the trueth doe leaue it and returne to their vomit Let vs know then a place so dangerous that wee may passe by as strangers which doe not onely passe but also runne from it flying from the world to come vnto God for wee shall neuer haue repose vnlesse wee rest