yee it not amiss to pass the moity of your ages in dreames and folyes Yee sleepe with soules as black as Hell what repose can yee enjoy at the eue of your everlasting restlesness The Heaven though insensible quaketh for horrour at the clamour the great noise of this Trumpet The earth though immooveable doth thence tremble for feare The Angells themselues in their purity and all the Saints jointly in their innocence are toutched with astonishment allthough they are not capable of feare and yet yee sleepe during the time of this publique alarum's being which fright 's all Nature Awake yee speedily and prepare your selues to render an account even of the least idle word which yee haue let fall Ah! how out of frame yee are when yee wake it seemeth to me that yee haue set by to dye in shew yee will dye now in earnest Let me see how it is with yee Yee are at a bay for feare and dread Oh! how profitable would theise agonyes bee found vnto yee if yee would oftentimes vndergoe the paines to apprehend liuely God's judgments but your spirits avers'd from so serious thoughts are the cause of your missprise thereof without reflecting on your loss therby that 's à pitty alas I perceiue that yee are risen to dress your selues and yee are never vnready to deck your bodyes repleat with infections but forbeare a while I pray then look out of the window there 's a spectacle for yee to meditate on that stinking carcass which is carried to be buryed the same with whom two dayes since yee contested with for beauty it 's now as yee see borne to the tomb and yee will follow it thither it 's but a pace before yee it 's not knowen as yet wether yee arriue all three together thither This dreadfull Trumpet soundeth dayly and yee trace the ground incessantly and run the self same race Obserue a right how it doth agree to judgment that yee bee seen buryed in the way one while to frisle your haires for to hide your nitts another time to make white your teeth those little bones whose least infected ruineth your graces and thus much is in favour of your bodyes which apparantly doe putrify and hence the wormes expect their prey in this world and the infernall spirits in the other What is the benefitt which your soules doe reape by the graces of your faces Thinck yee that at the hower of your deathes your Confessour will demand of yee how many yee haue enthrall'd enchained and made your slaues No no but at larg namely how long it hath been that yee haue employ'd your time in so vnhappy a beeing at such rate in so commiserable a state There is no further talke of your excellent persons your rares faces their graces shall possess no places no more shall they domineere your soules onely shall pleade their causes God grant that they want not plea to obtaine their suites O how faire is the employment of this second dayes entertainment it's passed off in admiring and tricking your selues meaning thereby to tempt and attrap weake persons to idolatrise But alas I find yee farr more simple yet It doth appeare that yee labour onely to advance and advantadg the fiends of Hell since at the dayes end they cary with them away all your spoiles Further heerevnto adjoine their conquestes of your selues It 's confess'd that yee are ritchely cloth'd that there can not bee added aught to the stately curiosity which serue as a new lustre to your enticements But whither bend yee your way so nicely deckt if it bee to a Comedy Ah! how Cleopatra that young Princess representeth a dolefull personage on the stage the Theather of her marriage in the Tragedy of King Philip her deere husband's death for she dyed by the same stroke of misfortune which caryed that great Monark to his tomb Shee was as faire as are yee How comes it to pass that yee are happyer She was as yong as yee What reason haue yee not to apprehend her misery her missfortune sensibly The Trumpet which cited yee to death and judgment soundeth incessantly thither doth each one make their recours in troupes and croudes Who can assure yee that yee shall not appeare there this very day since that yee make your way as fast as the rest Is that a reposed life is it to possess tranquillity to perceiue your selues dye without your beeing prepared for death will yee expose those things to so great a perill Which yee can not loose but once Yee liue not but for Eternity for the life of this world is not properly a life and yet yee let pass your time without reflecting once thinking of Eternity which will last as long as God Almighty What will it not turne to your reproach that on Earth yee shall bee found to haue donne nothing else but dress and deck your bodyes of earth Oh! what a rare exercise would it bee if so your soules were of the same matter Oh! the sweet entertainement if it were not expressely necessary to dye if so one were to liue for ever but daily to liue the eue of an eternall loss and passing all the time to the dressing and decking of your carcasses by consequence it must follow that Hell will bee your recompense Notwithstanding what heerein is fore delivered behould yee pass your time in seeing a Comedy at the Burgugnion house but know yee not that yee there act your parts and are at the end of each interclude giving occasion of laughter and scorn to all the sage Democrites for the vaine employments of your times yet it is expedient that I extract your gaines out of your losses Atleast thinke yee during this your entertainements of time that the world is a Theater where even new yee represent those persons whom God hath endowed for Eternity Doe yee well or ill yee shall not appeare but this time solely on the Theater yee play your parts for ever the Angells and the Diuells are your lookers on expecting the end of the last act whence yee are to receiue praises or reproaches I meane recompense or chastisement Yee haue a faire petition to deliver descended from the Theather into your sepulcher Oh! giue vs leaue to rise againe wee will liue better then in former times wee haue The intercludes are passed The play is ended The candells are extinguish'd each one shall receiue his guiderdon according to his merit and for an Eternity O fearfull judgment But what'is more dreadfull yet is that the Trumpet doth summon yee thither amongst the disorder wherein yee liue I leaue yee to consider heere on seriously AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The third Dayes Worke. HAPPY are they vvho rest in our Lord Ladyes then 〈…〉 yee for 〈…〉 to the 〈…〉 I find yee your 〈…〉 are as black as possâ—â—◠〈…〉 though your faces 〈…〉 white Behold yee are bridled vnder the chinne as are little infants with a mask lined with waxed linnen to fright them Oh! how
facultyes of my soule on the meditation of thy longanimity in so much that I shall never haue other obiect then Thee no other sight then speculating on Thee Doth it not follow necessairily that I loue thee entirely If I abhorre all that flyeth thee that forsaketh thee If I seriously misprise each transitory am not I constrain'd to esteeme thee perfectly Let no man speake to mee but of Eternity each crime not returning to the same displeaseth mee nay rather doth mee notable injury In a word if therebee any taken sensibly with aught by how much the greater it is the more doth it's excess menace vs of it's privation Presuppose Ladyes that in this world yee bee both faire and ritch It 's much But I pray tell mee what is their permanence Had I to dispose of an age I would alow yee to enjoy the full terme of it But at the last moment what would remaine vnto yee What would accrew vnto yee your beautyes would not subsist but in your owne transitory times and your treasures though now possessed shall bee farr from yee as constrained to abandon them for ever Your cases are thus all the goods of Fortune which yee enjoyed changing their names propertyes and natures will afflict yee to thincke of It 's truely even so that it 's solely Eternity which can quenche our hearts continuall thirst AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The fourth Dayes Worke. WHAT say'd the wife of Rosidates to her self with a voluble tongue and very nimble as passionate indeed when she heard the dolefull Trumpet sound at her doore signifying vnto her the decree of her death by the command of her brother King Hertodorus Oh! Ladyes how much more dreadfull is that Trumpet which doth summon yee to God Allmightyes judgment This Rosidates liv'd and dyed a Heathen but yee who are destin'd for Heaven will yee pass your times on Earth solely for Hell It will soone bee noone by the watch of your liues as well as by the town clock it self Where is your dayes work If in such sort yee pass the rest thereof carelesly either sleeping or besotting your selves it will be found at lenght that yee liv'd here in this world no otherwise then dreaming and that in the other there yee shall liue perpetually awakened amidst the heates of eternall flames everlasting fire Perceived yee not clearely that the Sunne the other day blamed yee notably and such like slothfull people as are yee but yee never the less will make it as your happiness to sleepe and drouse This starr which measureth the moments of your liues leaveth not a whitt to run his wonted race his cours to traile yee to your graues Rouse your selves vp Remember yee not that yee are invited to a solemne feast of marriage I must needes waite on yee bee it but onely to obserue your carriadge I l'e take notice of your vanityes and giue account vnto the world how fantasticall yee are Take yee your time to dress your selues in the meane while I l'e contemplate somwhat and also exercise my patience Let mee approach vnto yee nigher To what vse are those gally potts of pomada those boxes of pouder those violls of distill'd waters and those papers of vermillion which I see vpon your cabinets by your night dothes Is it a part of art which yee put in practise to make yee seeme more faire then yee are in despite of Heauen and Nature Oh! what bitter Oh! what salt teares will these vanityes extract from yee Ladyes Bee it that your Ladishipps haue the least leasure lent yee to repent yee It 's to be granted that your bodyes doe daily require the charity of pomada of rare odour to cover the defects of your teints Your tresses can not hide their greasiness without pouder Your tawny-dusky faces after they haue been made happy by the Alimbeck expect the vermillion least that their dead colour appeare not at all but yee obserue not that yee labour to fill pots which are perced as did the Danaides Where shall one find Pomada which may agree with yee and contend with your stenches What is that pouder that can dry the clammy greate of your heads What water can serue the fullness of your desires And what vermillion can make appeare on your cheekes which Nature hath not planted there Thence yee discover plainely that your actions containe in them solely vanityes for their obiects They rest vnto yee for your recompense Oh what braue conquests yee looke not after aught but airery toyes your heades are full of crotchetts Yee like nothing but what is smoke witness the teares discover'd on your eyes See what'is the fruite of the course of your liues behold the guiderdon which doth attend yee at the end of your race Oh! how pretious was the Pomada of Saint Elizabeth who made vse of it to parfume the feete of whom of the indigent the poore Oh! how odoriferous was the pouder and the ashes where Saint Marie the Egyptienne covered her head the day of her penitence Oh! how the teares of her repentance where rapt and possess'd with Devine vertue in so much as her body and her soule in an instant were embellished Oh! how strang it is the blush of her shame for her sinne was farre more liuely then what yee daily vse Grant me this boone for my paines hither to seen no less I beseech yee to breake your lookinglass which dayly flatter yee nor ever take to yee other then such as I deliver vnto yee heere Yet thus much say'd yee will keepe on your wonted wayes Now yee are dress'd Now at the feast and suddainly will all varietyes of sweetmeates bee seru'd in there is the end What I would put into your minds is that all solemnityes haue but their times On Earth a feast is not to bee had but of the fruits of its own garden and as theise fruites haue nothing proper but their corruption even so that aliment from day to day doth naught else but increase your infections they can never satisfy your appetits The succeeding day yee will sensibly find the vanityes of your pleasures had at table since that they vanish with the table cloth it self Likewise seriously ponder when yee are amidst your jollityes that the self same howers which yee haue employ'd in the pampering of your carcasses are registred in the scrole of their ruine since that whither yee eate or laugh Time leadeth yee to your tombe Theise are the banquetts of Cleopatra which are solemnely celebrated though in shipps even floting hence learne wee that each where wee chang fortune through the perpetuall decline of our liues all our actions tend thither what destroyeth vs is ours in proper But to goe on in conclusion behold your retourne vnto your houses the dance is ended likewise the feast Oh Ladyes meditate a little space but attentively I beseech yee humbly on this passage this phantasyes All theise pastimes theise wordly pretty toyes symbolize are of the like nature with theise
AN ALARVM FOR LADYES BY THE SIEVR DE LA SERRE Historiographer of France Nevvly turn'd out of Franch into English by FRANCIS HAWKINS dravving on to the tenth yeare of his age A PARIS Chez NICOLAS IEAN de la COSTE au mont S. Hilaire à l'Escu de Bretagne M.DC.XXXVIII Francois Hawkins tirant a l'aage des dix ans Francis Hawkins about the age of Ten yeares See here th' effigies of a Child whose witt So farr outstripps his yeares ruderthronge That at Ten yeares he doth teach with what 's ' fitt For their behavour from a forraigne tongue TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE EDVVARD SAKVILE EARLE OF DORSET One of his Majestye's most Honourable Priuy Councell Knight of the Noble Order of the Garter and Lord Chamberlaine to the Queene's Majesty c. RIGHT HONOVRABLE Truely though I am vnder tender yeares yet my ambition sore's so high as to call your Excellence the Patron of this my Treatise My lovv degree then myne age to censure strictly alas suite not properly to offer vp aught in this nature vnto your Honour Deigne though in your benignity to connive at this my boldness for vvhich I cannot produce express defence vnless this may agree vvith your propitiousness that it may not seeme vnto you amiss to bee honour'd by each one even from shrub to Cedar Right honourable I take my most submissiue leaue Your honour's devoted Servant FRANCIS HAWKINS THE PREFACE GENTLE READER The first Treatise I presented the vvith vvas of good behaviour I had thy candor favour and honour as a benigne receiver of that my labour vvhich encourag'd mee to vvaite on the againe vvith another of an higher straine and of a rarer nature allso of a more vsefull matter It vvas a Formulair of Compliments to bee expressed by voice and Missiue Letters the one and th' other reduc'd vnder their proper Titles In my Preface there annex'd I said that I vvould present thee vvith another Piece and make my Posy one compil'd of three Behold heere my just tender Though this each vvhere agree not vvith thine eare yet may'st thou heerein discover theise times vice even in perspicuous cypher Fare-vvell AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The first Dayes Worke. AWAKE yee Ladyes awake yee at the dreadfull sound or this Trompet It 's the summon of your apparance in the name of God to that inevitable judgment such is it to which all human Nature must obey must bow It 's a judgment that astonisheth the most innocent and causeth the most just to sighe yea rather through feare to tremble Awake yee forsake your though nice coutches speedily come yee out of them as if they were no other then your graues where the worme of your consciences doth devoure yee Heare attentiuely the last time the finall decree of your safety or loss your liues or deaths Open your eyes to this dolefull light of the Sunne which this day sendeth his beames soe bright into your chambers which I may well enstile dolefull for who well knoweth whether each streame of this Planet bee not a funerall torch which surroundeth your beds as your first coffins since that our liues haue not in proper one sole moment Surely it were to much purpose to number your yeares the bells call on yee to the buriall of one of your company much yonger alas then are yee How is it possible that in the proper posture wherein yee lye yee once reflect not on your deathes on your last end Behold yee stretcht forth at lenght to your vttermost extents in that self same linnens which likely will serue yee in lieu of your winding sheetes It 's well indeed that yee can breath as yet this witness of your liues is the signe of your deathes since that each respiratiō doth denote a minute of the clock of your lungs vntill the last breath the last sigh make yee know the last hower of your retreits And as all your other actions necessarily returne thither can yee bee sensible of life without feeling your selues to dye and dying void of thinking that the self same day which by grace hath been lent yee may by justice bee your very last where you must render a strict account of each moment which haue fore-run even from your births At the lenght behold yee risen but wherewith doe you entertaine your pretious time yee make your address vnto your lookinglass and giue your selues the first therein by yee the day is given over to the good morrow to all th' inchantments of your faire face alas It were requisite that some one or other should whisper in your eares as it was formerly to the wife of Mithridates Sooner or later death will attend on you it will come inevitably Is it credible that your bloods even frozen with feare and horrour become not changed into very ice where ruines may bee plainely discovered by the enticements whereby yee appeare idolatresses This mighty as vnhappy graced by beauty made caresses and homage as doe too many others of yee to her face in her lookinglass alas even when shee was tould that she must dye there was newes indeed How is it now Ladyes doth not one daily sing the self same song vnto yee were yee happy of the least memory it would certainely cause yee to reflect seriously that there are very many of your companions dead and I can assure yee that yee trace them apace Are yee confident to gaze on your faces with self delights in your lookinglasses ever since that beauty dooth flitt daily daily fade and giveth it's adieu Yee admire with eyes idolatress not weighing seriously that your selues are the sacrifices lay'd vpon the Altar This world at the mercy of the Deuine justice the officer of wich is Time doth though by slow paces vsher yee to death where yee must endure eternall paines for your offences What curiosity see yee what rare gemmes contemplate yee on in the lookinglasse that there yee stay so long Maketh it shew vnto yee that your foreheads are as smooth as glass alas The one and other hath deceiu'd yee farr Your foreheads coutch their wrinkles vnder the vaile of your owne arts for yee daily paint them And besides your lookinglass which flattreth yee by a new deuise of the cunning artificer who to oblige yee doth decypher yee such as yee would bee not the same yee are what novelty admire yee now your eyes It would ever grieue me if they ouerflow not in teares to deplore their miseries Is it your mouths It suffiseth mee to know that they can not vtter words of more validity then are theise which declare and divulg the trueth of your calamityes And for your tinctures delicateness they impose on me charitable silence fearing to wrong them by the sole aire of my breath Can I not impose silence with patience on my self as yet that yee may rest in peace since that yee are seriously intertained so Where there are found more dreames then grounds then reasons which I must needes beleiue
Were yee awakened then would resound the direfull Trompet which call's yee to the day of Doome where each one must appeare in proper person and answeare for himself in particular Set before yee now the confusion and disorder yee shall bee brought vnto Is it not likely that yee will blush for shame as often as yee haue lay'd white on your faces will they not become pale with feare as often as yee haue lay'd on them red therein yee will betray your selues publiquely discovering the secrets of your guilty slights I excuse Narcissus in the fable where as it 's found that there hee became his own enamoured the adorer of himself How was hee deceived Alas poore Narcissus thou never didst discover thy self in that guise and manner But how can one pardon yee or in any wise conniue at the errours found in yee of the like nature Can yee make the least question of your defects since that yee are fully fraught with them And for your forgettfulness of your miseryes it 's strang What yee fe'ele a thousand times a day can not butt make yee confess that yee are not pasted of aught else nor formed of any other matter Awake yee then speedily redeeme your selues out of this earthly sloth wherewith your soules are burthned are indeed heavily oppressed and lending an attentiue eare vnto the dreadfull sound of this Trumpett which summoneth the Vnivers to judgment ponder seriously that it giveth not a vaine warning since that each moment an infinity of soules come thither in troupes See in what case yee would bee found if death should surprise yee even then when your faces are painted your phantasyes charged with vanityes and your soules soyled with a thousand kinds of crimes Oh God of justice who will not feare thee at the day of thy vengeance Belieue me Ladyes since that your death's are inevitable since that yee must expressely dye indeed sollicitously note your dayly demeanours It seemth to any one who observeth the care which yee employ on your faces that you liue for them onely The fairest of your company who yesterday dyed suddainely to day affrighted her vassals and though yee bee tender to maintaine her former beauty yet I assure mee that yee defye to come nigh her without stopping your noses Enstyle yee those horrours graces which appeare on her face those her eyes suncke those her wanne lippes I tell yee truely that hew of death that it's tincture would as it where even make mee hate your sexe were I not a fruite of the same tree The rootes and body of the tree are of the self same stamp The leaues and flowers are of the self same nature there is not a pinne to choose To apply my self more nigh vnto yee I will state it thus that there is amongst yee one who is the flower the mirrour the wonder of this age what honour what lucre what returne of profitt will hence accrew vnto her were it that one sing her praises in each tongue there will not be found aught but aire in diuers fashions Should one erect and consecrat vnto her Altars she must bee the sacrifice for having been the Idole Were it that shee could impose lawes to all mortalls she can not exempt her self from beeing subject to all their miseryes Were that courtly Fortune led her by the hand to the height of thrones the self same may occasion her to fall into the precipice of a lamentable prison there to dye through greif as it was to Darius his wife I l'e goe further namely that herrenowned beauty had the vant in the judgment of many ages what then where may be found her aduantag therein A thousand honours will bee ascribed vnto her What will the world render vnto her where shee is no more nor ever shall bee and likely shee shall then burn in Hell there so remaine eternally Her body I say shall bee food for wormes Her soule for the flames and somtimes her name and fame shall bee celebrated heere below Where lyeth the honour now My spirits doe suffer in theise contemplations through their conceiu'd feare and astonishment Ladyes in what a miserable condition are they who solely haue beauty for their share for their part What rate set yee on beauty alone I say it 's no other then to haue a gay posy of flowers wherewith one may deck and dress one's self trimmely in the morning during the space that they are fresh butt about noone indeed so soone one leaueth the regard as well of the flowers as stemme even so at the approach of night this admired obiect the self same ment is misprised of the Vnivers Truely what soever is say'd I find nothing good but Vertue the rest passeth by and vanisheth One of tall and comely stature stoopeth A cleere voice changeth And a polite wit sometimes looseth it self through Vanity Vertue is it which is solely stable solely permanent on it's one ground never giving vs over to our ruine Bee yee then Ladyes since so yee will needes haue it as faire as was Cypris say'd to bee in the fable yet yee will gaine but an apple for your recompense Admitt yee bee as beautifull as was Lucretia famed to bee in the History yet dyed shee through greif All the beautyes who haue appeared on the earth since the instant of it's hauing beeing make but à hillock of it's gross dust It 's vertue solely which lead's vs beyond our tombs But whither goe yee now so well accoutred so neately dressed If it bee to Confession to make that desseigne your good morrows since that it 's the first Sunday of the moneth then reflect how yee haue prepared your selues In lieu of examining your consciences before a Crucifixe yee haue been curious to enquire the state and being of your faces before a lookinglass Yee goe to craue pardon for your offences and a new trangress yee in the same which calls for justice Yee part I say from the Confession chaire to the Altar there to receiue your Saviour with soules more disposed to offend heere after then resolu'd to repent of what is passed in your former liues Is not this to crye for vengeance against your selues Me thinckst I see the rare sainct Francis to appeare with that perfect charity which enflamed him on earth and by the self same fire wherewith the Seraphins are surrounded and entertained happily in Heauen and yet hee thought himself vnworthy to take vpon him the order of Preisthood Yet will yee bee so audacious so shameless as to receiue your owne Creatour with impure mouths and prophane hearts the sole thought of this crime doth put my spirits out of frame caused through confusion and astonishment AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The second Dayes Worke. I Warne yee Ladyes in the name of God for it's himself who giveth yee notice that yee neither know the day nor hower when this Trumpet which calleth yee to his judgment will giue the last summon How is it with yee Thinck
dances and feasts each of them flitte incessantly it 's sure that death approatcheth nigh howerly Were all your dayes spent in the solemnityes which frequently are found when so that marriages are pompously celebrated Oh! how direfull would your last day appeare vnto yee since then must yee render account of your time past in laughter and dance Reflect a while how many are the dances and feasts wherein you haue entertained your times hence take counsaile secretly of your memoryes then vse your judgments and see what is left vnto yee yee shall never haue other for your pleasures And what will it not bee reproach vnto yee that yee sould your portions for nothing which yee pretended for Heauen I haue heard say that Lysimachus did exchang his Crown for a glass of water but when Ladyes obserue then it was so with him at that time when hee was even as it were reduc'd to ashes by the same heate of thirst which burn'd his entrailles in so much as beeing in such plight in rendring his dying spirit hee chang'd naught else but wind but breath for water But to see how remissely yee giue over your pretensions of eternall consolations of everlasting joyes for toyes such I may truely terme them which beare no other titles then of meere deprauations of your phantasyes of your imaginations Where is that self affection whence yee seeme to become so passionate Is it not to hate your selues that you affect not aught else but what doth flit it's not it when yee dye what will bee left yee of your passed time but a present greif and too late such whose anguishes will never cease Yee never dreame of other thing then to enquire after new pastimes to the ruine of your times Alas Nor consider yee aright that Time doth ruine yee for in seeking to pass it yee must find death How so is it possible that yee striue to pass over it which so swiftly glideth by yee as doe your phantasyes light though they bee they can not over take it And what more seriously yee ought to ponder is that all the time of your liues hath for its terme its limit a sole moment on wich though such doth depend for ever and a day your calamityes or your felicityes that 's a misery in torment which hath no end this a bliss in glory which will be permanent beyond all ages illimited indeed Oh! how pretious are the contemplations of the last period of our liues How is it so that thou art not as inseparable to our soules as is the shaddow to the body Oh! how sweet is the memory of our death Why is it so that our memory is not for the most part in such sort all taken vp with thee as that it never forget thee Oh Deuine is the meditation on Eternity Art thou not as sensible of our soules as our respiration is of the preseruation of our hearts How Dauid liketh mee well when hee cryed out aloud that hee had often meditated and that seriously indeed on the dayes for ever where God Allmighty is solely the light Oh faire dayes I wonder not that yee haue no night the Sunne which sheweth it self on yee is bright and borroweth not it's light no. Oh dayes most happy say no more or thus I am not one whit astonished if so bee it that yee remaine for ever the Planet which gaue yee a beeing possesseth Eternity in cheif in proper Truely my soule is extasyed rapt as it were in this sweet contemplation with such singular content it 's in such guise as that really it hath no desire to be otherwise Ladyes in a word it 's so that yee must arriue to the dayes end and returne thither from whence yee came in the morning for it 's but one dayes iourney Yee haue a fine time of it to bee lazing The Sunne who sendeth forth his beames for yee will that yee goe as fast as doth hee Dance laugh sleepe vntill noone day the shippe of your liues leaueth not it's cours it sayleth evermore incessantly on the sea of it's proper miseryes onely by the wind of your respirations it cannot stay it self vntill it arriue at the hauen of the sepulcher Ladyes it 's the hauen to which Doomes Trumpet doth summon yee Take yee heed least it bee not found a rock vnto yee where yee may encounter too dreadfull a shock the calamity thereby is for Eternity and repentance vnprofitable In good earnest at what time soever I think of Eternity nothing that 's wordly doth please mee I am not bold to say so much that each parcell of the Vniuers made such by a Soveraigne power and absolute from it having it's soule it 's beeing it 's life is not in it self admirable and adorable in it's Creatour but as there are so many obiects of change or of corruption my heart not well appeas'd sigheth after the fountaine of the lesser springs as after it which is onely capable to quench the thirst of my desirs Ladyes would yee but distast the word's pleasures yee haue a ready way to fill your best thoughts on the delights of Eternity for such is the inequality that common sense will lead yee will suffise to make yee misprise them and earnestly desire theise AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The fift Dayes Worke. COME to my ayde my Lord cryed out Saint Hierome a thousand times a daye I dye for feare at the resound of that Trumpet which doth summon mee to thy judgment Ah Ladyes if this glorious Saint amydst the deserts and amydst the austerityes of a life all devoted to pennance found himself reduced at a bay at a stand for feare and dread can yee frame with the vanityes of the world when yee doe but once meditate on the necessity of your deaths from which there 's not one exempt This innocent doth tremble at it and are yee not aught sensible of it This harmeless quakes persist yee senseless This just man I say againe cryed out incessantly for help and succour though hee where soe pure yet will yee not bee awakened though infirme by the example of his astonishment Can yee take rest in the ships of your bodyes and on the world 's tempestuous sea 's without fore discerning that Time who is the Pilott puts yee one the shore of your sepulcher Awake your selues then suddainely and as your liues are but dreames at your waking dreame againe what trades yee intend to vse whilst yee are in this long Eternity to which yee make your howerly approatch God hath giuen yee and each one of yee since the time wherein yee haue been of reason a pencill in your hands as to Zeuxis that renown'd Painter who painted according to his beleif n'aught else but Eternity this is a paterne for yee such as it sheweth yee that all your works should haue for object and ayme no other thing In summe all which yee meditate on say and doe is painted in oile colours of Eternity I would yee vnderstood mee aright all
bee conserv'd as her proper this hath nothing in peculiar but the necessity of decay In so much that when one persuadeth her that shee is mervailously faire shee should take theise as ordinary discourses since her beauty passeth by is of like nature to the praises which are given her meere aire Will you haue more of her It 's true that shee hath the fairest eyes that ever the world beheld but when when they are cleare after dinner and why not before I l'e giue yee an answere The mornings entertainment is to take care of her gummy eyes or eye-browes There can not bee seen a nose better shap'd then is hir's I confess it but shee must haue supplied vnto her a cleane handkercher and that every day I must likewise ingenuously averre that her mouth is very little and pretty but it 's too streight a passage for her stinking breath Her complexion is delicate even to perfection it 's evidently seen but thus much is say'd to the end that shee might apprehend all things The Sunne the Fire the Aire it self are her enemyes which make a perpetuall warre against her vntill Time hath donne his worke whereby shee may bee hidden vnder earth Shee hath an excellent wit doubt yee not therof a whit for shee vttereth rare and curious passages it were much better that shee would apply her self to piety to goodness One doth enquire of workes rather then of words What is it to purpose if shee haue a faire manner and demeanour in speach the true measure of her deeds shall judg her She sing's admirably well Had shee n'aught else but her voice shee could not enthralle otherwise then by the eare they who haue not affaires wherewith to entertaine their times in passing by for their pleasure would giue eare vnto her but when shee maketh an end of her songes they begin to meditate on something I l'e say no more If soe it happen that there bee praises of her given vnto her they will returne the aire which she hath lent them Iudg yee whither shee will bee well content In summe let her bee ritch as was Semiramis and more faire then Hellen. The one confess'd on her Epitaph which shee caus'd to bee engraved on her tomb-stone that she never possessed aught in proper when shee had her treasure but corruption and misery The other after shee had entrapped insensible hearts by her subtle charmes strook pitty vnto her greatest enemyes onely hearing of her misfortunes Ladyes flatter not your selues One sighe of repentance for your vanityes will yeild yee more glory and more benefit then all the teares yee can make your enthrall'd slaues poore forth In the meane while night warneth yee to retreit behold your dayes journey at an end now render account vnto your lookinglass of the number of your conquests But in earnest how treate yee with it It 's true that yee haue made many an one sighe if yee bee proud thereof the aire will remaine with yee n'aught else haue they return'd vnto yee They haue sayd true that yee are very faire it 's enough for yee to shew your selues at the window and there to remaine a while in the evening's aire to giue eare to the harmonious Salute the serenade in fashion which is offred vp vnto yee longer yee will not bee least your cheekes bee swollen by defluxion Iudg yee then without flattring your selues whether one can loue yee long since that solely your beautyes are the causes that yee are esteemed of at all How many haue I seen of theise Idolatressess of their own beautyes who after they had made publiquely profession to enthrall the hearts of the most insensible haue come atlenght to such distress to such misery through their deformity that they were soe farre from beeing beloved as that they proved rather an affright to the world rather despis'd then pitty'd Truely Ladyes if yee knew to how many accidents your beautyes are subject it would be vnto yee perpetually rather the object of your neglect and misprise then of your wonder I deny not but that it 's one of the maister-pieces of Nature yet the self same is become a stepdame giving it self over to a thousand sortes of mischeifes It 's true indeed there is not aught more Divine on Earth nor more enchanting but this Divinity is alike to that which one doth attribute to Alexander the Great whose blood trickling out of his veines shamefully profaned all the Aultars which were dedicated vnto him such are theise charmes they are meere illusions which deceiue and abuse weake soules Verily Ladyes yee must come to this point that is to belieue that vertue solely hath allurements and graces which are approv'd by Time and Death All the inticements and all the charmes of Nature are by degrees despoil'd together with it self And though it seemeth to conserue it self yet by it's proper ruine finding it's establishment in it's decay Time ceaseth not to abbreuiate from hower to hower the terme of the others raigne whilst hee dooth cōsume himself In such sort that for your comfort all that yee see doth vanish with your sight All what yee heare doth disperse it self with the aire wherewith your eares are filld and so for the rest without that there bee aught found permanent on Earth Ladyes it 's solely Eternity which changeth not it 's it which doth remaine as long as your soules and your soules as long as it Wheresoever yee take your courses it 's immenisty will fill all and it will bee the bounds of your affaires what soever they bee After one hundred thousand yeares it will not bee an instant of Time's permanence after one hundred thousand millions of yeares that instant of which I speake vnto yee will not bee though expired How Lord shall I persever to offend thee ever know I not that thou art just to all Eternity and hence is it that thou punishest sinners with torments which haue no limits To burne eternally Oh how the fire which brought Saint Laurence to ashes doth invite mee to meditate on eternall flames on to bee deprived Lord for ever of the pleasures had in glory Oh! how the burthen of thy cross is sweet and light if it bee compared with the paines of our privation which never will haue end I can say no more I can goe no further It 's necessary that I meditate on this so serious a subiect AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The sixt Dayes Worke. IT 's read that the Tyrians were forty dayes whithout shutting their eyes for rest the continuall alarum's were such vnder which they liu'd where they saw themselues together with their towne become cenders Oh! Ladies how can yee close vp an eye within the trenches of perpetuall feare misery and calamity where the direfull sound of this Trumpet for judgment doth hold the most stout the most bold in awe and dread This heere doth not menace one sole burning to ashes but rather a thousand death 's together Further the torments are to