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
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
bee for ever Then rouse your selues and since yee can not gainesay this eternall necessity to dye dye valiantly with armes in your hands The benefit thereby had is companion of glory Amidst all the tortures which cruelty hath invented ever it 's esteemed that thereis never any of more rigour then that it of watching What an vnquietness is it to sleep never But if so bee it that for having slept too much in this world yee prooue condemned to watch incessantly in the other what affliction say I is it to bee kept awake I meane not on your downe beds your delicate coutches well made and in curious order but rather on beds of fire of flames which by Devine vertue will burne without consuming yee I tremble for feare yea even to horrour each time wherein I meditate heeron I find not any thing of less worth in life then is sleep and they who haue compared it to death therein haue found as pregnant reason as proportion It 's true wee daily dye but when the new death of fleep doth sursurprise vs can not wee say that wee dye twice at once Our soules haue somewhat to doe to handle in their follies the life of dreames wherewith they are then all taken vp it 's a kind of death vnto them as prooveth the light of reason which doth onely rule their facultyes in so much as that they who sleep much are more sottish then others and also more subject to a suddaine death as if so that their continuall action dying twice did conferre vnto this heavy accident I returne vnto yee At lenght God bee thank'd yee are awakened How meane yee to pass the rest of the dayes journey I am assur'd that yee ought to haue leisure to bee dress'd atleast consider amidst theise vaine entertainements the deplorable manner of life yee liue vnder day and night namely to cloth and vncloth your miserable carcasses whilst Time hath prepared each one's sepulcher I l'e tell yee yet againe that the trade vnder which yee are ever apprentises is a lamentable state and beeing Liue yee not a strange life to change your clothes very often there 's each day somewhat to say for the manner of them differ in so much as what is now in fashion hardly will suite with yee and serue your turnes to morrow so certaine is the world in it's inconstancy as are your humours Ladyes there are not found other clothes which change not fashion but your winding sheetes they allwayes are the same but as each one chooseth the colour's they best like of if your mournefull one 's agree not with your present humours yet accustome your selues therevnto taking your measures of them each night in your beds the ground therein to be found and the necessity will render vnto yee in the end an object which will suite with yee not distast yee a jot Ah no. I neither enquire whither nor to what places yee direct your steps your paces in your carotches the weither is so faire that it inviteth yee to goe abroad and take the aire I will attend yee with my thoughts according to my wonted manner to know the subiect and ground of your time's enternainement what it may prooue to bee Behould yee in a curious garden there seated nigh a fountaine vnder the shaddow of many trees whose branches on their tops are joyned together or very nigh Your intentions in so doeing are to lend your gracious eares a while vnto the nightingale but the letter's sense of her warblings I must declare vnto yee shee telles yee in her language in her manner such as it is that it's good to salute the Sunne each morning likewise in the evening To tender vnto the Moone some curious musick or other Theise maling Planetts desist not by the influences of their cours to giue a speedy end vnto her Kingdome in such sort that her shouts her turnes her divisions her quaverings and redoublings are so many griefes on the vnhappiness of her state since that shee hath no voice but to invite the world to her funerall rites hence is shee constrain'd to dye the sooner through the necessity of her singing Likewise the Turtell who seeketh in vaine her companion lamenteth her misfortune in an other tune which doth shew vnto yee that Time is greedily gaping after the ruine of each thing And though that the Eccho bee but a sound a voice Time beeing vnable to make it cease by degrees devoureth the rockes which giue it a rebound No no Ladyes Time doth not forbeare any thing What though Time were decev'd once as it is mention'd in the fable when Orpheus requir'd of Him Euridices Time hath had memorable reveng as may bee seen in the Historyes of all the Poets who to that end gaue him their counsailes But how well are yee placed it seemeth to mee that it 's to meditate at your ease and repose on that all which God Allmighty hath created heere below and that it all doth participate of the same nature that doe the flowers and fountaines which yee see since that all glideth like to the swiftness of their waves passages their currants Yes Ladyes the World is a garden of flowers various in their graces their beautyes colours and their odours but all theise according to Nature are of the same matter I l'e declare my self more clearely God Allmighty in the space of his Creation planted all what soever yee admire heere below in the garden of the Vnivers namely flowers of diuers colours allso of valiew but all of the same matter for there is not one of them exempt from corruption Theise truely are the flowers disclos'd in the morning displayd at midday faded in the evening and of which Time who is the gardener croppeth what hee will and then when it best pleaseth him Certes Ladyes the world is a fountaine and whatsoever it 's composed of are its waues which properly haue nothing in their nature but swiftness passing by This is essentiall to what soever that 's heere below Yee may please your selues to cast your eyes on all the objects which yee find every where about yee There is not one onely which doth not returne yee the like adieu which yee giue them since that yee runne the same race all together though diversely and by different wayes and manner into the gulphe of the tomb For all that hitherto hath been say'd make vnto yee a posy of flowers but in gathering those flowers-deluces those roses those pincks and gilly-flowers thinck that Time likewise is daily busy in the gardens of your faces there cropping sometimes the flower-deluce of your paintings other times the roses of your cheekes then the gilly-flowers of your lipps Whereof hee composeth a nosegay of your inconstancyes Yee sensibly apprehend this verity other proofes are not requisite How now Ladyes All theise will fade in your sights like a flower All theise will glide before your selues as waues and yee as if insensible will not stirr a jot no
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
not a jot never nor reflect the least on the necessity of dying from which God Almighty after the delivery of the law would not exempt himself no not himself But if the sole thought of death amaze yee meditate a little how our sweete Saviour hath the first quenched the thirst within the Chalice which hee presented to the end that at once hee might take from yee both feare and bitterness acquitt yee of such like weaknesse Death is not terrible but to the impious It 's true that it oftentimes astonisheth the most just through apprehensions of Gods judgment but by degrees this feare becommeth weaker through the faculty of their reason having much more hope of mercy then feare of justice their consciences will them soe in such manner that in their agonyes Nature is sole Authour of the feares wherewith they are shaken Truely I know not where I am heerein But what is that which I heare it's the great bell of the town which giveth yee notice that the gates thereof will speedily bee shut Ladyes why lend yee not likewise the eares of your imaginations to the noyse of this Trumpet of judgment which never ceaseth and doth advertise yee that the gates of Paradise are at the point of beeing shut for all Eternity and that yee shall never enter there if yee change not your liues Ah Eternity how thou do'st rejoice mee and jointly astonish mee See Ladyes at lenght your dayes journey hath it's end and it wlll be found to bee well spent for your turnes if so that yee haue made your benefits of theise important trueths which I haue set before your eyes Even so will pass all the other jorneys of your dayes to your loss and confusion if at least you take noe notice of this trueth that they runne their race they pass by Reflect seriously with your soules on that meditation and it will prooue impossible that speedily yee make not an accrew of good deedes an amass in favour of your soules They haue nothing proper to them selues but them onely They will bee all their treasures all their greatness and all their felicities whereof God shall bee the object the end the measure If yee knew Ladyes the true hearts content which on enjoyeth who hath lived well when so one cometh to one's stand abbay one 's last end one's death yee would labour with all care from this instant forward in your conversions on which yee would bee more intent If yee doubt the least of this trueth and yet alas enquire of your selues how it was with yee at your last sickness The anxietyes yee had for your offences likely increas'd your greifs and further set before your eyes the joyes and vnspeakable conforts wherewith an innocent life might haue cōsol'd hearts Truely I can not conceiue that there is aught more pleasant more delightfull assuredly there 's nothing in the Vniuers more delicious AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The Seauenth and last Dayes Worke. LADYES how is it with yee I yet awaken yee againe I am the same this very day in God's name since that hee giveth leaue that this Alarum come to your hands to looke on so long as your eares vvill dispose them selues to heare attentiuely the harmony therein to bee found for the benefit of your soules I speake to day as a day of repose wherein yee ought to meditate of happy Eternity vvhich is proposed vnto yee for your reward but as it is the last entertainement vvhich I am to haue vvith yee it ' is expedient that I make yee partakers of my solitude knowing through long experience the profits vvhich hence yee vvill receaue bee it that yee follovv my counsaile Represent your selues make your approatch for God hath provided from all Eternity that this little booke should fall into your hands either for your benefits or for your vtter losses for your profits to your benefits if yee obserue th' instructions which I giue and which God himself hath inspired mee with To your losses if yee shall misprise what is heerein delivered this very booke doth convince yee of voluntary blindness and declare the admirable favours which the infinit bounty shall hereby haue shewen vnto yee for your safety it 's in yee as yet to choose I l'e tell yee then for your instructions how profitably yee are to pass your journey From the time yee are awakened let your hearts bee as sensible of the new present which God hath given yee this new day as your eyes are pleased in admiration of his light Then vvithout merchandizing vvith your beds vvhat time yee vvill further assigne to your selues for your sluggisness get out of them and as soone as yee are on your knees before a Crucifix make that it your lookinglasses it 's there where yee may indeed become in loue with your selues weighing your valiew by the price of that blood vvhich hath bought yee O rare miroir Oh! lookinglass to admire indeed Render thanks vnto your Saviour that yee vvere borne and for your instructions in the Christian Apostolique and Roman Faith as the onely vvay of safety Then offring vp vnto Him all the cogitations the vvords and actions of the journey yee are now about beseech Him submissiuely to illuminate the one and animate the other to governe theise and to bee the object of them all together so farre forth as what yee shall think and say may bee received by Him gratefully Let the end of this prayer bee the beginning of your necessary affaires to cloth your selues but entertaine the least time therein that yee can without trouble or curiosity I forbid yee not the pouder since yee are no other But expressely the pomada and vermillion For though theise are harmeless in themselues yet they may prooue pernicious indeed not blameless through the ills which they may produce and as yee shall haue been found complices of crimes so likewise by consequence of paines As soone as yee are dress'd prepare your selues to goe to Mass where yee shall persever to render thanks to God for an infinity of his gratious favours conferr'd on yee nor ever let your spirits bee diverted aught from this principall and Divine object which yee tooke your selues vnto as well by reasons as by recognizance Present your selues in such manner that though God bee in each place our Saviour is both in body and soule on the same Aultar where yee offer vp your prayers It ought to cause yee to bee humbly graue and wary even to the not daring once to turne your heads without necessity nor speake one single word vnless compulsarily At return from Church each one hath somewhat to entertaine their times with according to their qualityes never to bee found idle expecting dinner time where gormandizing will bee remarked for an offence so disgracefull in a yong Gentlewoman as enormous before God Shee who therein can not command her self is a slaue all her life Are yee invited to a feast goe thither but so that it prooue a
himself in your nothing before all ages I say loved yee even to the conferring on yee a thousand sortes of benignityes of which many other 's of your sexe are deprived Adore yee adore yee Ladyes this Devine Providence which in such manner hath ordained in your favour without your retributes without your deserts Bee not yee proud of the admirable qualityes which yee possess aboue your companions least that God punnish yee and take vengeance on yee for it If yee bee very faire bee yee likewise very humble to the end that the world may honour yee when yee can not bee beloved more How many haue I known who in one self same day were highly pris'd mervailously esteem'd of and jointly admired for piety by all the world Humility in Ladyes hath more winning grace in it self then all the guifts of Nature join'd together In all your good deeds let not Paradise bee the sole object and scope of your workes for as interessed and mercenary yee would loose parcell of their merits but say with Saint Augustine Lord were it even so that thou hadst not a Paradise to bestow I would not desist to loue thee solely for thou art perfectly amiable and further by meanes of loving thee I feele to my advance the delights of the self same Paradise which thy mercy maketh mee to hope for My Lord following on also I should not cease to feare thee hadst thou not a Hell to punish mee since that each time I offend thee I find my self incessantly tormented and I beginne to suffer the paines wherewith thy justice doth menace mee Ladyes good is to bee beloved for it self and as God Allmighty is the fountaine thereof yee must forbid your hearts that they never sighe but for the loue of him if so yee will that the very Angells bee passionate in your behalfs Bee not yee one of those faint-hearted who wax pale and wanne for feare when one tells yee of death nay farre otherwise like of the discours well and the meditations thereon to the end that yee may accustome your selues betimes to pass that over fairely which yee must vndergoe of necessity namely finish the worke which yee haue begun from the first moment of your liues and wherein yee goe on incessantly Oh how terrible is death to them who never haue meditated thereon Let then each of yee shew your selues oftentimes vnto your selues in some private retire and enquire where yee shall bee hence fiftie yeares to come more or less and elevate your spirits on this serious subject Yee see what it delivereth It 's true that then the same bodyes which now haue soules and on which even now set so great a valiew will become no other then hillockes of dung where the wormes will make their seate But what will become of your soules wherewith will they entertaine their times during this long Eternity Is it that they must burn in Hell in expiation of their crimes At theise last words breake your silence and if yee bee in a retired place where yee can not bee heard cry out aloud and boldly with Saint Augustin say Lord burn cut in pieces and reduce into pouder this miserable body of myne I abandon it before the fury of thy justice so that thou pardon my soule in the other Ladyes Oh! what mervailes would theise words produce recited often for the assuring of your safetyes but in it experience will make yee sensible of much more then can I heereon deliver I end here with this last advise which I offer vp vnto yee as one of the most importants and of most benefit that yee take vnto yee a particular devotion to the Virgin daily saluting her with some Hymne in her praise On whom one of the devout cryeth out that the Angells bow vnto the Heaven humbleth it self vnto and that all Nature trembleth with honour and feare before this incomparable Marie since that her womb served for a cradle to her Creatour her brests for nouriture and her armes for a rest Truely she who perfectly knoweth to honour her is not aught wanting in what shee ought to vnderstand for the good of her safety FINIS