Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	draw_v	young_a	youth_n	72	3	7.7806	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A05099	The second part of the French academie VVherein, as it were by a naturall historie of the bodie and soule of man, the creation, matter, composition, forme, nature, profite and vse of all the partes of the frame of man are handled, with the naturall causes of all affections, vertues and vices, and chiefly the nature, powers, workes and immortalitie of the soule. By Peter de la Primaudaye Esquier, Lord of the same place and of Barre. And translated out of the second edition, which was reuiewed and augmented by the author.; Academie françoise. Part 2. English	La Primaudaye, Pierre de, b. ca. 1545.; Bowes, Thomas, fl. 1586.	1594 (1594)	STC 15238; ESTC S108297	614,127	592

from bruzing and wasting There is also in many places a certaine humour which serueth to annoint the ioynts and their ligaments and the small endes of the gristles For moisture helpeth motion very much and preserueth those partes that are mooued as wee see by experience in chariot wheeles For when the axeltrees are greazed about which they mooue they doe not onely turne about more easily but also last and continue longer whereas although they were all of yron yet they woulde weare away and be set on fire of themselues if they were not annointed and moistned with some humour Nowe let vs come to consider of the couering of mans body As therefore a man vseth not one onely garment but diuers so is it with the body For first hee is clothed with three skinnes that are great long and large with which hee is couered cleane ouer from the sole of the foote to the toppe of the head The first is a little skinne very thinne which of it selfe hath no feeling being made of the second skinne which it couereth and this second skinne is made of sinewes flesh and litle veines and in some places of little arteries being as it were of a middle nature betweene the sinewes and the flesh Therefore this skinne hath feeling throughout and is not without blood as the first is There is also a third skinne vnder the second which is more fleshy and therefore it is thicker and more strong vnto which the muscles cleaue and through which very thinne arteries and productions of sinewes passe which tie it with the other skinne The fatte of the body is betweene these two skinnes which serue the whole body not onely for a couering but also for an ornament especially those that are most without which in mens bodies stand in steade of that skinne wherewith the bodies of beasts are couered Besides these three skinnes that couer all the body there are within many other particular skins of diuers sortes to couer the members that are there which the Physicions call Membranes and Tunicles with such other names agreeable to their Arte to distinguish them one from an other according to each of their offices For there are many in the head to couer folde vp and to containe the inward partes thereof and of the braine as also in the breast and consequently in other partes and members within Among the rest some are like to nettes and coiffes others resemble littl● sackes or bandes according as those members are which they are to couer seruing also for defence vnto them and to distinguish and separate the partes one from an other Wee will leaue to the Physicion to number and to distinguish them and to name euery one by their proper name and nowe come to consider the last couering which is vpon the body in certaine places especially vpon the head and that is the haire which principally aboundeth in the head both in men and women because it proceedeth out of a moyst and soft place And to the ende it might take the better roote there the skinne that is vnderneath it is very thicke and fleshy The profite of the haire is great and serueth for many thinges First it is the ornament and beauty of the head For as the face woulde bee euill fauoured and vnsightly if it were hairy so contrariwise the head woulde bee very deformed if it were skinnelesse where it is couered with haire as we may iudge by them that haue balde heades Therefore because it is the toppe of the building of mans body God woulde haue it adorned with such a couering which also standeth him in some steade to defend his braine and to consume the grossest and most fumy excrements of which the haires of the head are ingendred so that they are a kinde of purgation for it Besides it serueth for a couering to the head which it may vse at pleasure as neede requireth against both heate and colde For it doeth not alwayes neede to bee alike couered at one time and in one age as at an other Therefore a man may let them growe or cut them or shaue them cleane off as is most commodious for euery one And when they waxe gray and white through age they put men in minde of two things First that they drawe towards the graue and death to the ende they might in good time frame themselues thitherward and if they haue gone astray in youth and forgotten God that then at length they should bethinke themselues and consider that they are no more yong and that they must shortly die for although it be late yet better late then neuer But it is best to follow Salomons counsell who admonisheth yong men to remember God before the Almond tree flourish comparing an olde man that is gray and white with age to a blossomed tree by reason of the whitenes of the floures For when a man flourisheth in this sort his floures put him in minde that the tree of his body drieth vp and that it looseth his naturall strength whereas the floures of trees are testimonies of the vigor that is yet in them to beare fruit Therfore we are very miserable if we do not glorify God in our youth neither thinke vpon any other life then this For we come farre short of the life of trees and are not of so long continuance neither are wee yeerely renued as they are which seeming to be dead in winter florish and wax greene in spring time as if they became yong againe Which thing we are not to looke for in this worlde wherein we flourish contrary to trees namely in winter which is our olde age Secondly gray and white haires warneth men to haue such manners as becommeth that age and colour that they may make olde-age reuerent according to that saying of the wise man The glory of the aged is the gray head For such are those ancient men whome God in his Law commaundeth to be honoured when hee saieth Thou shalt rise vp before the horehead and honour the person of the olde man and dread thy God I am the Lorde The same consideration also ought to be in the beard which is a great ornament to the face and serueth to distinguish the sexes and likewise the ages of men vnto whome they bring authoritie and maiestie For this cause the auncients did shaue or powle their beardes and haire in the time of mourning and affliction so that when the Prophets denounced some great aduersitie and desolation they foretolde that euery head should he ●ald and cut and shauen and the beards in like manner as it appeareth in the Prophecie of Esay against Moab and such like Wee 〈◊〉 also that Hanun king of the Ammonites shaued off the halfe of the beards of Dauids messengers to bring them in derision whereupon they would not shewe themselues openly to the people vntil their beards were growen Concerning womens haire Saint Paul testifieth expresly that God

that his 〈◊〉 ●●●cheth ouer all that the soule of man is immortall and that after this l●se there is a place of happinesse for the good and of torments for the wicked is as I may terme it a supernaturall error or rather cleun● againsst 〈◊〉 religion nature and all The trueth whereof appeareth both by the common consent of all nations who haue generally approo●ed those points as inuiolable principles and maximes in nature and also by the iudgement of the sounder sort of Phylosophers and Lawmakers amongst the Heath●● who knowing that all mens consciences did naturally acknowledge not onely a being of a diuine power but a subiection also thereunto pret●nded that their lawes and superstitions came from some one or other of their supposed gods goddesses as Minos King of the Cretensians made the people beleeue that he had receyued his lawes of Iupiter Lycurgus the D●●●demonian lawmaker of Apollos oracle Numa Pompilius a Roman● king of Aegeria the Nimph and so the rest of others And in tru●th they that deny the diuine essence what do they but deny themselues and the being of all things in the world besides For as Aratus the heathen Poet 〈…〉 is also confirmed vnto vs by the Apostle Paul In God we liue 〈…〉 haue our being so that without him it is impossible wee should haue any being one moment of an houre And it is strange to consider 〈◊〉 these reaonable beastes for men I dare not call them standing so 〈◊〉 vpon reason and sense as they would seeme to do cannot in reason 〈◊〉 that this great variety exquisite order which they behold and see in nature natural things must of necessity haue some superiour cause from which they receiued both their first beeing and their conti●●al 〈◊〉 in the same When they looke vpon any excellent picture they presently iudge as the truth is that it was wrought by some cunning painter and euery 〈◊〉 building leadeth all men to the consideration of some exquisite master builder that framed it And shall not the view of the worlde and the knowledge of so many admirable things therein as are subiect to all our senses constra●●●●s to acknowledge a superiour cause and creator of them all Doeth any shippe sayle his right course without a Pilot or is there any Citie well gouerned without a Magistrate And shall any surmize that the celestiall lights could obserue their right motions without the direction of him that made them or that the terrestriall globe of the earth coulde 〈◊〉 so well ordered by the course of nature were it not that all things are 〈◊〉 by him that 〈◊〉 them all But such is the blockishnesse of these 〈…〉 that they will beleeue nothing but that which they may see with their eyes and 〈◊〉 knowledge of by the light of their bodies As though if their eyes were plucked out of their heads there could be no sunne in the 〈…〉 nor light in the worlde because themselues were in darkenesse and coulde see nothing How many things are there in nature which 〈…〉 and yet no man maketh any question of their being no not they 〈◊〉 who notwithstanding deny that there is any diuine nature any 〈◊〉 soule Angell or spirite because they are not visible and sub●ect to ●ight Can any of them see the winde looke vpon the voice of a man beholde the sweete harmony of musicke Nay can they take a viewe of the heartes in their bodies or of the braines in their heades Are they therefore without heart and brainelesse Surely it seemeth they are cleane voyde of brayne ●it and common sense that nayle all their beliefe so fast to the sight of their b●dily eyes And yet were it so that they would not most wilfully 〈…〉 the euidence of their owne hearts they should there behold with the eyes of their mind as it were in a christall glasse that which may bee knowen of God Nay the holy Ghost proceedeth further and telleth vs that euen our bodily eyes may and doe after a sort looke vpon the eternall powe● and Godhead which are seene by the creation of the worlde being viewed in the workes thereof And because it may so fall out by the 〈◊〉 iudgement of God that these beetle-eyed Atheists may aswell be depriued of their bodily eyes as they want the sight of their mindes the creator and Lorde of the whole worlde hath set such markes of his diety in his workes that such as haue onely the direction of nature may euen with their eyes closed vp touch and handle him if they will but grope after him in whom we all liue mooue and haue our being What should I presse them with the certayne testimony of their owne hearts and consciences which will they will they drawe them to a fearefull acknowledgement of the mighty power of God whensoeuer eyther by his terrible voyce of thunder he shaketh their heartes or by some irrecouerable disease as a messenger of death hee 〈◊〉 them to appeare before his tribunall seate and throne of iusti● But there needeth no other proofe to co●●nce them then the wordes of their owne mouthes For doe not their horrible oathes whereby they blasph●● the Maiesty of God and asmuch as lyeth in them teare him in pieces ●e a●e ●●●nesse against themselues that the Lorde whom they despite in that 〈…〉 hath a being howsoeuer otherwise they deny the same And if no reason will sinke into their braines yet mee thinks the waight of Gods iudgement which haue from time to time seased extraordinarily vpon these Atheists that haue sprung vp in the world should cause them more seriously to consider of their miserable estate It is reported of Protagoras who was one of the first of that stamp that being banished from Athens and his Books publikely burnt he was drowned in the sea as he sailed into Sicilia Diagoras was violently slaine by certain men whom the Athenians had hired with mony for that purpose Epicurus also who placed his felicitie in corporall pleasures died miserably in a vessell of hot water after that he hadbin foureteene daies together extremely tormented with the stone in the bladder Lucianus surnamed by his owne countrimen the Blasphemer as he behaued himselfe most currishly in barking both against the gods of the Heathen and against Christ Iesus the Sauiour of the worlde so his ende was thereafter by being torne in peeces and deuoured of dogges Plinie the elder denying the immortalitie of the soule of man and placing Nature a creature in the steade of God the Creatour whilest he was ouer-curious in searching out the cause of the burning of Aetna was choaked with the smoke that issued from it A iust punishment for him to ende his life by smoke who esteemed his soule to be no better then a little vapour Cassius being a professed Scholler of Epicurus Brutus most brutishly railing vpon the prouidence of God because his enterprises against Caesar succeeded not to his

and of the waters and cloudes contayned therein and in what perils men are 〈◊〉 why the soule and blood are put one for another of the temperature of the humors necessarie for the health and life of the body of the causes of health and of diseases and of life and death Chap. 65. 368 Of the vses and commodities of the humors ioyned with the blood and what vessels are assigned vnto them in the body and of their nature and offices and first of the cholericke humor and of the spleene then of the flegmaticke humor and of the kidneys and other vessels which it hath to purge by Chap. 66. 373 Of the names whereby the humors of the body are commonly called with the causes wherefore of the comparison betweene the corruption and temperature of the humors of the body and betweene the manners and the affections of the soule of the meanes whereby the humors corrupt and of the feauers and diseases engendred thereby of the sundry naturall temperatures in euery one Chap. 67. 379 Of the diuers temperatures and complexions of men according to the nature of humors that beare most sway in them of the disposition whereunto they are naturally mooued by them eyther to vertues or vices of the means to correct the vices and defects that may be in our naturall inclinations Chap. 68. 383 Of the restauration and reparation of all natures created by the generatiue power and vertue that is in them and namely in man what generation is and what the generatiue power of the soule is what the seede is and how generation proceedeth of strength and of infirmity Chap. 69. 388 Of the powers of the generatiue vertue and of their offices of the principall cause why God gaue to man the power of generation in what sence the reines are taken for the seate of generation how we ought rightly to consider of the generation of man Chap. 70. 393 Of the fashion of a childe in the wombe and how the members are framed one after another in the mothers belly of the time and daies within which a child is perfectly fashioned Chap. 71. 398 Of childbirth and the natural causes thereof of the great prouidence of God appearing therein of the image of our eternall natiuitic represented vnto vs in our mortall birth Chap. 72. The tenth dayes worke 404 WHy God created man naked and with lesse natural defence then he did all other liuing creatures how many wayes he recompenceth this nakednesse of the generall beauty of the whole body of man ioyned with profite and commodity Chap. 73. 409 Whether the life of the body can proceede eyter of the matter or of the composition forme and figure or of the qualities thereof or else of the harmony coniunction and agreement of all these whether any of these or al of them together can be the soule of the length and shortnes of the diuers degrees and ages and of the ende of mans life of death and of the causes both of life and death of the difference that is betweene naturall and supernaturall Philosophy in the consideration of things Chap. 74. 414 Of the causes generally of the length and shortnesse of bodily life of naturall and of violent death in what maner the life of man consisteth in his breath of the principall things required to life and without which it cannot be of the difference betwixt the life of men and the life of beastes of the image of the spirituall death in the corporall of the true comfort which wee ought to haue therein Chap. 75. 420 Of the chiefe consolations which the wisest among the Pagans and Infidels could draw from their humane reason and naturall Philosophy against death of the blaspemies vsed by Atheists and Epicures against God and nature what nature is and who they be that attribute vnto it that which they ought to attribute to God Chap. 76. 426 That there is but one soule in euery seuerall body that one and the some soule hath in it all those vertues and powers whose effects are dayly seene of the seate of the soule in the body and of the principall instrument thereof of the vnion of the body and soule of the diuers degrees of nature and of the excellency that is in it of the fountaines and bounds of all the powers and vertues of the soule Chap. 77. 432 Of the nature and varietie of the animal spirits how they are only instruments of the soule and not the soule it selfe of the nature of those bodies wherin the soule may dwell and worke of the difference that is not onely betweene the soule and the instrumente by which it worketh but also betweene the instruments themselues and their natures and offices and which of them are nearest or farthest off of the degrees that are in the vnion and coniunction of the soule with the body Chap. 78. 438 Of the diuisions of man made in the holy scriptures aswell in respect of the soule as of the body in what significations the names of soule spirit and heart are vsed therein and the causes why of the intier sanctification of man how the soule is taken for the life and for the members and instrumentes of nourishment and for nourishment it selfe Chap. 79. 444 What is meant by a liuing soule what by a sensuall and naturall body and what by a spirituall body how the name of soule is taken for all the desires of the flesh and for all things belonging to this life and not onely for the whole person aliue but also for the person being dead and for a dead 〈…〉 for the spirite sep●rate from the body Chap. 80. The Eleuenth dayes worke 490 WHether the soule of man is engendred with the body and of the same substance that the body is of or whether it be created by it selfe and of another substance whether it be needefull for vs to knowe what the soule is and what is the e●●ence thereof or onely to knowe of what qualitie it is with the workes and effects thereof Chap. 81. 495 Whether there be any thing mortall in the soule of man of the distinction betweene the soule and the powers of it of the opinion of Philosophers and what agreement is betweene them touching the soule of brute beasts and the nature and substance of it of their opinion that deriue the soule of man and the soule of beasts from one sou●taine of them that ascend higher and of their reaso●● Chap. 82. 499 Of the opinion of Galen of Plato and of Aristotle touching the substance and nature of mans soule of the opinion of Occ●m touching the vegetatiue and sensitue power thereof and of the distinction of soules he maketh in man of the sentence of the Platonists and of Origen touching the creation birth and nature of the soule of the coniunction of the soule with the body and the estate thereof in the same Chap. 83. 503 Of the opinion of the Platonists and some others touching the substance of mens

word of God But forasmuch as the darkenesse which sinne hath brought with it keepeth man from hauing any sound and perfect knowledge of God or of heauenly things as he had in his first estate it is necessary therefore that hee should restore and kindle againe in him this diuine and perfect life which hee hath lost by the benefite of regeneration and spirituall renouation as if hee created him anew giuing him a minde to vnderstand his worde and a will to followe and to embrace it This is that which I thought we were to note and learne concerning the meanes that bring vs certaine knowledge of such things as we ought to iudge and accompt for true Let vs nowe consider howe the spirit of man being enriched in measure with heauenly gifts and graces doeth finally attaine to the ende of all inquisition and searching out of trueth which is contemplation that followeth iudgement as iudgement followeth reason and the discourse thereof Therefore doe thou ACHITOB take vpon thee to discourse of this matter subiect and so ende all speaches of this dayes worke concerning vnderstanding that afterward wee may looke particularly into the will which is the second part and vertue of the highest and most soueraigne power of the soule How the vertues and powers of the soule shew themselues by litle and litle and by degrees of contemplation and of the good that is in it of that true and diuine contemplation which we looke for after this life Chap. 32. ACHITOB. I was much troubled oftentimes about the vnderstanding of these two words Soule and Spirite in seeking to find what difference or agreement they haue one with another seeing that many times I sawe one of them taken for the other and also opposed as repugnant one to another In the ende I learned of skilful men that wee might vse the worde Soule to signifie man as hee is borne hauing onely the giftes of a humane soule namely the humane senses and those other powers and vertues both animall and naturall of which wee haue already spoken And as for the Spirite that wee must vnderstand thereby whatsoeuer heauenly grace and knowledge of the trueth is giuen to man by the spirite of God dwelling in him which guideth and leadeth him to the contemplation of the diuine nature wherein consisteth his good and felicitie Moreouer wee may see in sundrie places of the Scriptures according to the Hebrew phrase the worde Soule taken not onely for the life of man and for all things belonging thereto but also for the whole nature of man and thus also is the worde Flesh taken Therefore when the flesh is opposed and set against the spirite in man wee vnderstand thereby not the body only but also the soule of man I meane such a one as it was at the beginning when being left vnto it selfe it followed the corruption of it owne nature And likewise by the spirite wee meane that which is regenerated in euery part of man whereby hee being withdrawen from the peruerse desires and corrupt affections of his nature is lift vp to the contemplation of celestiall and eternall things But our God vseth in such sort to apply himselfe to the nature and abilitie of his creatures that by little and little and by degrees he dispenseth vnto them those things which hee will bestowe vpon them alwayes keeping that order which hee hath vsed and followed in the creation of the worde For as Moses testifieth hee first created it of nothing Then hauing created the matter of all natures hee brought it into a woorke and gaue vnto it a forme and so polishing it by degrees and day by day at length hee set it in that perfection which hee minded to bestowe vpon it Wee see likewise that in the continuation of his woorkes hee beginneth alwayes at the basest and least thing and so goeth on encreasing augmenting and ascending vp vntill hee hath placed them in their perfection whereof we haue daily experience principally in plants and liuing creatures For the generation of plants commeth of their seedes from which they take their beginning And when the seede which is the least part of the whole plant is put into the ground it taketh roote therein and then commeth foorth encreasing dayly vntill it come to those bounds that are alotted vnto it by the Creatour which it can not passe because it can not attaine to greater perfection being of that kinde but then daily falleth to decay vntill it be wholly consumed and returned to the elements from whence it was taken The like is done in the generation of all liuing creatures and namely in that of man For what is his beginning and what is his conception natiuitie childehoode adolescencie youth mans estate and then old-age Wee see howe small his beginning is and howe hee groweth steppe by steppe and from age to age vntill hee commeth to the flower of his age and to his full strength as plantes doe and from thence the neerer hee draweth to olde-age the more hee fadeth and decayeth vntill hee come to death whereby the body returneth to the Elements out of which it is taken For as God hath giuen him a beginning so hath hee appointed him limites vnto which hee may ascend vp vntill hee come to his highest and then hee is to descend as the ordinance of God shall leade him As for the soule the same can not befall it in regard of bignesse seeing it is not corporall as the body is neither yet in respect of death seeing it is immortall For it can not be resolued as the body may to returne into the elements out of which it is not taken but it abideth alwayes in that substance and nature which first it had because it is of a celestiall and diuine nature But if the question be of the faculties powers and vertues thereof the seedes of which it hath in it selfe wee see by experience howe they shewe themselues more and more perfect and howe the vse of them is greater in one age then in an other For as long as the infant is in his mothers wombe no man can perceiue that as yet hee vseth anie other vertue and facultie of the soule that is in him then that which heeretofore wee called the vegetatiue or nourishing facultie by which hee is nourished as plants are After when hee is borne hee continueth a long time like to other liuing creatures as though he had only a vegetatiue and sensitiue soule as they haue Then by little and little as hee groweth from one age to an other those vertues of the soule whereby hee differeth from beastes appeare euery day more and more And yet hee hath no other soule in substaunce nor any other senses and minde throughout his whole life then hee had when it first mooued as also hee hath no other body But a man may easily iudge that this cōmeth not of the nature of the soule but of the instruments it hath in

iudgementes of God whereby he punisheth men neuertheles these water-floods which we alwaies carie about vs ought to admonish and induce vs to feare him to call vpon him by prayer and day and night yea hourely to recommend our life vnto him seeing he can take it from vs by stopping our breath yea by a very small matter or at least depriue vs of all motion and sense as though our bodies had neither soule nor life in them but were like to poore dead carkases For the doing hereof hee needeth not to thunder or lighten from heauen against vs but onely to cause a small showre of water to powre downe from our head which is the highest the goodliest and most noble part of all the bodie and as it were the heauen of the litle world or if it please him to cause a fewe droppes onely to distill downe vpon the sinewes and ioyntes it will torment men more grieuously then if they were in some continuall torture as the daily songs of such gowtie persons doe testifie who are impatient and voyde of the feare of God Now besides this profitable aduertisement which euery one may take by that which hath bin here vttered wee ought on the other side to consider the prouidence and goodnesse of God towardes men in that as he holdeth vp in the aire and cloudes the water that hangeth ouer vs not suffering them to breake downe vpon vs all at once to ouerwhelme all the earth by them with all the beastes and other creatures conteined in it but distributeth them by good and iust measure so dealeth he with the humours that ascend vp continually and are kept in our braine where they haue their vessels to retaine them in as it were in sponges which yeeld foorth water according as they are either loosened or restrayned and closed together And as for that which is said of the testimony which we haue of the frailtie of our life appearing in the principal and most noble part of our bodie as the like was shewed vs before in that instruction which we learned by the office that God assigned to our lungs and to the passages allotted by him for the taking in end letting out of the aire so wee haue a very notable lesson in the consideration of the liuer and of the blood of which that is the forge and fountaine and of the distribution thereof into all the partes and members of the bodie by meanes of the veynes as wee hearde yesterday For as a man may iudge by outward appearance that the life of man consisteth in his breath and that he giueth vp both soule and life when hee dyeth as it were in giuing vp the last gaspe so it seemeth also that it is placed in the blood as that which goeth as it were with the blood so that when the blood is drawen out of a mans bodie the life also may seeme to bee drawne out therewithall Herevpon as the soule is oftentimes in holy Scripture put for the life because it giueth life to the bodie so it is also put for the blood and the blood likewise called soule because it is the instrument and meanes whereby the soule giueth life and when the Lorde forbiddeth his people to case the flesh with his soule that is the blood thereof Whereby his meaning is to teach men to abhorre the effusion of mans blood and therefore hee sayeth further I will require your blood euen the blood of your soules Wherefore hee that sheadeth blood doeth as much as if hee drewe the soule out of the bodie Nowe forasmuch as the blood is so necessarie vnto life wee are likewise to vnderstande that as it is either pure and sounde or vnpure and corrupted so is it disposed either to health or sicknesse and to life or death For as the naturall life of man consisteth especially in heate and moysture so a man may easily iudge that as euery thing is bred by meanes of them chiefely liuing and sensible creatures so nothing can bee preserued in this bodily life without these two qualities that are proper to the ayre and to blood as wee haue alreadie hearde But these qualities must bee so tempered that there bee no excesse on either side And for this cause GOD woulde haue all the humours to bee mingled together with the blood that so it might bee tempered as is requisite for the life of man For if it bee too hote and drie or too moyst and colde it cannot doe that office for the performance whereof it is ordayned but in steede of bringing health and life it will breede diseases and in the ende cause death For naturall death commeth onely of diseases amongest which olde age is to bee reckoned which is an incurable sicknesse that lasteth vntill death Neither doe diseases proceede but onely of the distemperature that is in mens bodies and in the humours of which they are compounded For as long as they are in a good moderate and proportionable temper and are distributed to all the partes of the bodie according as neede requireth so that none of them exceedeth then is there an equalitie in all the bodie which doeth not onely preserue it in life but in health and good disposition For there is the like concorde and harmonie betweene these humours that is betweene the partes of a good consort of musicke agreeing well together or of an instrument of musicke well tuned from which you shall heare nothing but pleasaunt melodie Whereas if all the partes thereof agree not well together there will bee no musicall harmonie but onely a very vnpleasant discorde The like may bee saide of all the concordes and discordes that may fall out in the humours of our bodies And therefore GOD had so tempered them in the first creation of man as was requisite so that hee woulde haue preserued him in a perpetuall life if by true obedience hee had alwayes beene knit and vnited vnto God his Creatour But since man fell at variance with God through sinne all this goodly concorde which God had placed not onely in mans bodie but also betweene the rest of his creatures hath been troubled and turned into discord by meanes of sinne So that all this goodly temperature and harmonie of the humours in which mans bodie was created was dissolued and broken asunder and that in such sort that it was neuer since sounde and perfect in any man of howe good constitution soeuer hee hath beene For euen in the best complexions there is alwayes some defect or excesse in some of the humours so that if there were no other cause yet no body coulde naturally bee immortall For alwayes in the ende the excesse or defect that is in it woulde cause it to decay and finally bring it to corruption But besides this there are so many other wantes and superfluities throughout the whole life of man whereby this euill alreadie become naturall is so much augmented that there die moe without

their helping hand The woman likewise laboureth and helpeth as much as she is able and the childe falling downward with his head turned towardes the mouth of the wombe maketh way for all the rest of his bodie and so casteth it selfe foorth at whose issuing out the humour wherewithall it was before abundantly moistened helpeth very much by reason that both the childs body and the way also is thereby made more gliding and slippery Wherein wee haue a great argument of Gods prouidence to be obserued For the childs head being of a round fashiō his comming forth cannot be so hindred as we see it is when the child offreth it selfe crosse-wise or when the armes or legs come forwarde Besides all the rest of the members are greatly benefited hereby both because the way is alreadie made before them as also because themselues are thereby the better placed to preuent all impediments with which otherwise they might encounter For we see by experience what inconueniences fall out in childbirths in what dangers the mothers children are how often the death of the one or the other or of both ensueth when the child commeth otherwise then by this order which is most naturall most ordinary Wherefore women with child haue great occasiō offred to recommend themselues vnto God especially at that time For howsoeuer the child cōmeth we must then acknowledge the almighty hand of God his help assistāce both towards the mothers their children For let there be neuer so good concord and agreement in the ioynt-labour of the child of the mother of the womb yet the work being so difficult who wil not wonder that euer it could be borne Who would euer beleeue that a child should come forth or that it could be drawn out of the mothers belly without cleauing the same asunder in the midst or without the death of the one of them if not of both but that wee see the experience thereof daily before our eies Galen who made such an idol of nature confesseth that he knoweth not how the child can find any issue and passage out therfore wondreth at it very much Auicenna thinketh that there is an opening of some bones but he is deceiued for it cannot be so neither hath experience euer shewed the same Wherfore both Philosophers Physicions but especially Epicures Atheists must needs be driuen into an astonishment at this haue their mouthes stopped closed vp except they wil open them to giue glory to God to acknowledge and magnifie his great prouidence goodnes towards men singing with Dauid O God how precious are thy thoughts vnto me how great is the summe of them If I shoulde count them they are moe then the sand It was thou that didst draw me out of the wombe thou gauest me hope euen at my mothers breasts But wee haue here to note that there are many causes which hasten forward the child-birth but we speak here of thē that are most cōmon ordinary Children that are borne at the sixt moneth or sooner liue not as not hauing then their whole perfection They that are borne in the seuenth moneth may liue for then is the fruit perfect And yet they that are borne at the eight moneth commonly die and the reason is because the child stirreth very much in the seuēth moneth preparing it self for the birth So that if the child be of a strong nature it commeth thē into the light but if it be yet weake it cannot come forth but tarieth two moneths longer in the womb to gather new strength For it remoueth from the one side of the wombe to the other Therfore when the child after the seuenth moneth is presently borne in the eight it cannot liue For nature was weak in the first endeuour neither could it be to purpose before the matter receiueth motion after the criticall time with which name the Philosophers call the seuenth moneth Moreouer double motion weakneth the strength of the childe For it had remoued vnto the other side of the womb as is said presently after it came into the light but the nature of the child cannot sustaine two brunts one in the neck of another so that death followeth thereupon The Astrologians likewise allege these reasons why the seuenth moneth is critical namely either because the sunne is caried into a signe that is opposite to the signe of conception or els because euery planet answering his seueral moneth the eight moneth is giuen to Saturne who is an enemie to them that are borne Now for the end of this matter we wil consider two things in our generation birth which offer vnto vs great cause both of humilitie and of spiritual ioy First then we see how God would haue vs humbled in our generation by creating vs of a matter that is but slime and dung wherunto notwithstanding he hath giuen such an excellent and goodly forme to the end that his powerfull vertue wisdome iustice and kindnesse should bee so much the better manifested vnto vs and that in our selues so that we shal not need to seeke for testimonies thereof elsewhere So that as our beginning ought to take out of our heart all swelling and pride euen so the forme and beautie wherewithall God hath honoured this mire of which hee hath made men and the great graces which hee hath communicated with them especially in regarde of the soule which hee hath ioyned to the body ought to teache vs to acknowledge and to celebrate incessantly his prouidence and great goodnes towards vs. To conclude wee ought to consider the image and similitude we haue of our eternall natiuitie in this our mortal birth and that birth whereby we are borne vnto an immortal life as here on earth we are borne to enioy a life that is subiect to mortality For first as man is formed and fashioned in dark places in the belly of his mother that afterward he might come forth and enioy the light of the world so likewise being come hither he is after a manner so vpon the earth as if he were to be borne againe For this worlde is vnto him as his mothers wombe wherein the light is to him as darkenesse and as a very obscure night in comparison of that other diuine and eternall light in which he is to enioy a happie and an immortall life And therefore as the childe is prepared in the darkenesse of his mothers bellie that after hee may come foorth into the light of the world so are we prepared in this dim light that wee may attaine to that other diuine light which is farre greater and more excellent without comparison Againe when the time of birth approcheth the life and vigour of the wombe which is as it were the childs mother withereth and decayeth and the childe likewise is as if hee were dead in regard of that kinde of life which he enioyed in his mothers bellie For as he liueth

enioy whatsoeuer GOD hath prepared for it euen that which is most agreeable and proper to the nature thereof Wherefore wee may say that the death of man is a separation or a departure of the soule from the body wherein GOD propoundeth vnto vs a perfect image of our separation and departure from him which commeth by the meanes of sinne For wee see what becommeth of the body when the soule is gone from it and what it is during the time that it is ioyned therewith The difference is very great Let vs then propound our soule as if it were in the place of the bodie and imagine that God were insteade of the soule in it as wee fee the soule is in the body Then let vs consider what might be the estate of the soule both when it is ioyned with GOD and when it is separated from him For there is greater difference betweene the soule separated from GOD then betweene a body separated from his soule Forasmuch as there is no bodie so stincking nor so infected when it is separated from the soule as the soule is when it is separated from GOD if wee will compare spirituall things with corporall things And contrariwise wee may iudge of the estate thereof when it is ioyned with God by the estate of a body ioyned with his soule and by that difference which is betweene a dead body and a quicke Nowe if wee woulde well consider these things and compare the corporall death of the bodie with the spirituall death of the soule wee woulde abhorre sinne in greater measure then wee doe and bee more afraid of it then of anie thing that may come vnto vs. For there is nothing either in heauen or earth that can hurt vs but sinne as in deede nothing can bring dammage to vs but that which can hurt the soule But it is sinne onely that is able to hurt the soule because by it those meanes are taken away from the soule whereby GOD bestoweth spirituall life vpon it Therefore wee ought not to thinke that bodily death can anie way hurt the soule vnlesse it be in regarde of the euill life past It is true that seeing GOD hath created man to bee of such a nature as to be compounded of a bodie and of a soule and that his true and perfect estate consisteth heerein that they shoulde liue vnited and ioyned together it is very like that there is some euil in the seuering of thē asunder especially if any of them corrupt and perish and the euill may seeme to be doubled if both of them should corrupt perish as many epicures and atheists would haue it For if it be euill to haue but halfe a beeing the euill and imperfection is much more not to be at all seeing there is nothing more goodly or more excellent then to haue a beeing And if it be an excellent thing to bee then to bee well is a farre more goodly and excellent thing For therein consisteth the perfection and absolute felicitie of man Nowe there is no sound or perfect estate of anie man but onely that in which and for which GOD created him And although man bee fallen from that estate yet it hath pleased GOD not onely to restore him againe thereunto by his Sonne Iesus Christ but also to make it vnto him more entire and more perfect yea much more sure and stedfast then it was in the beginning For this cause if besides the benefite of creation wee consider also that of regeneration and of the restauration and repairing of man wee shall finde therein ample matter of true and sound consolation against death For wee knowe that this tabernacle of our body which is infirme faulty corruptible fraile and tending to putrifaction shall bee destroyed and as it were pulled downe to the ende that afterwardes it may bee restored vnto a perfect firme incorruptible and celestiall glorie Wee see that by death wee are called backe againe from a miserable exile to the ende that wee may dwell in our countrie euen in our heauenly countrie In a worde wee are assured by death to enioy such a blessed and permanent estate as the like whereof appeareth no where vpon the earth And if the brute beastes euen the insensible creatures as Saint Paul teacheth vs as wood and stone hauing some sence of their vanitie and corruption doe waite for the day of iudgement that they may bee deliuered from the same shall not wee bee very miserable hauing both some light of nature and also boasting that wee are inspired with the spirite of GOD if wee doe not lift vp our eyes aboue this earthly corruption when the question is concerning our beeing Shall wee not contemne and disdaine the vanitie of the worlde to aspire after the good beeing of the immortalitie to come Let vs knowe then that wee can not finde any true and sound consolation without this consideration and hope which is most assured to them that beleeue in Christ Iesus Therefore they that went not beyond the boundes of naturall Philosophie coulde neuer enioy anie true consolation either against the miseries of mans life or against corporall death And although they beleeued that together with the body whatsoeuer is in man was extinguished or otherwise that after the death of the body the soule remained immortall yet notwithstanding some haue done nothing else but mourne and complaine in this life insomuch as they haue laid violent handes as it were vpon Nature reuiling her and calling her the stepmother rather then the mother of mankind others haue doubted of their future estate and condition not being able to learne and knowe whether their soules should liue either in ioy and rest or els in paine torment but only by opinion Of which if we would discourse at large and consider particularly of their reasons we should be confirmed more and more in that true consolation that ought to bee in the heart of euery Christian against the honour of death Therefore I greatly desire ACHITOB to heare thee discoursing vpon this matter Of the chiefe consolations which the wisest amongst the Pagans and Infidels coulde drawe from their humane reason and naturall Philosophie against death of the blasphemies vsed by Atheists and Epicures against God and Nature what Nature is and who they bee that attribute vnto it that which they ought to attribute vnto God Chap. 76. ACHITOB. Trees haue their seasons in which they beginne to budde and afterwards do blossome which blossome in conuenient time taketh the forme and fashion of the fruite and after that it continueth growing vntill it becommeth ripe and beeing come to the greatest maturitie and ripenesse that it can haue it falleth down of it selfe and still consumeth more and more The same may bee saide of leaues But this happeneth not to all nor yet altogether after the self same maner to all those vnto whō it doth happen For some fruits perish euen in the very bud or els